New York Times, Tuesday, October 17, 2017
| Author: | Jeff Chen |
| Editor: | Will Shortz |
My mother-in-law's name is Patsy, and I'm a big fan of Patsy Cline — "Walkin' After Midnight" is one of my favorites. Not hard to see where I got the idea for the puzzle.
What is hard to see is PATSY CLINE in the grid. She could have gone where PIGEON COOP is, but my mother-in-law in a crossword where PATSY is associated with CHUMP, SUCKER, and MARK ... hmm.
Locking CON MEN and MARK ANTONY into place made for some teeth-gnashing. After my first pass, I ended up with CON MEN crossing ... NEOCON. Is that a dupe? Not really, since one CON stands for CONFIDENCE and the other CONSERVATIVE, two words with different etymologies.
But every time I tried to convince myself that it was perfectly fine, it bothered me mightily. Maybe having something that looks like a DUPE is appropriate for this puzzle (groan), but I just couldn't live with it. There went another few hours, into the garbage.
Apologies to anyone whose sensibilities were offended by PORKY'S, but talk about a cult classic. It's hard to believe they got away with naming a character "Beulah Balbricker."
I had fun working on the lower right, trying over and over to maximize my impact with those long slots. I'm a fan of Latin phrases, physics, and throwbacks to the 80s, so QUO VADIS, BETA RAY, UNDEROOS made me happy. Talk about a disparate trio of terms.
I also spent a ridiculous amount of time debating the middle section. I was in finance for years, so I've always found the term I BANKER (investment banker) colorful. (Not always ethical, but colorful.) Was it worth ORANG? I've heard people say ORANG before and I'm fine with it, but I realize it's not everyone's cup of tea. I could have gone with something like STINKER instead, but really, isn't an I BANKER the same thing? (*rim shot*)
ADDED NOTE: Jim didn't know what an I BANKER was, and had a hard time convincing himself that it could possibly be correct. Maybe I've spent too much time in finance ... dang it, maybe I should have gone with STINKER!
1 M | 2 I | 3 C | 4 A | 5 L | 6 O | 7 L | 8 A | 9 A | 10 V | 11 E | 12 R |
|||
13 A | T | O | N | 14 I | M | A | X | 15 S | P | O | R | E |
||
16 G | E | N | T | 17 P | I | G | E | 18 O | N | C | O | O | P |
|
19 I | M | T | O | 20 A | S | T | 21 R | O | A | D | I | E |
||
22 I | N | D | Y | 23 I | 24 R | A | 25 L | O | C | A |
||||
26 B | 27 A | N | Y | A | N | 28 B | A | N | 29 C | O | A | L |
||
30 C | H | U | M | P | C | 31 H | A | N | G | 32 E | ||||
33 C | H | E | S | T | 34 E | N | G | 35 S | 36 Q | 37 U | 38 I | 39 D |
||
40 S | 41 U | C | K | E | 42 R | P | U | N | C | H |
||||
43 C | 44 C | 45 U | 46 P | 47 C | H | E | 48 E | R | O | D | E | S |
||
49 O | R | S | O | 50 O | E | R | 51 D | I | V | E | ||||
52 N | E | U | R | 53 O | N | 54 B | E | T | A | R | 55 A | 56 Y |
||
57 M | A | R | K | A | N | 58 T | 59 O | N | Y | 60 D | O | T | E |
|
61 E | S | P | Y | S | 62 C | R | E | E | 63 I | O | T | A |
||
64 N | E | S | S | 65 M | E | G | S | 66 S | S | N | S |
| Across | Down | |
| 1. Flaky mineral : MICA 5. She "walked like a woman and talked like a man," in a Kinks song : LOLA 9. Say with conviction : AVER 13. Lots : ATON 14. Film format that's sometimes in 3-D : IMAX 15. Mushroom's reproductive cell : SPORE 16. Refined chap : GENT 17. Base for long-distance carriers? : PIGEONCOOP 19. "This is looking extremely bad for me!" : IMTOAST 21. Person setting the stage? : ROADIE 22. Archaeologist played by Harrison Ford, informally : INDY 23. Lyricist Gershwin : IRA 25. Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida ___" : LOCA 26. South Asian shade tree : BANYAN 28. Prohibit : BAN 29. Fuel that contributes to global warming : COAL 30. A mere pittance : CHUMPCHANGE 33. What "X" might represent on a treasure map : CHEST 34. An official language of Canada: Abbr. : ENG 35. Ink-squirting creature : SQUID 40. Unexpected hit : SUCKERPUNCH 43. Size in a lingerie shop : CCUP 47. Rebel on many T-shirts : CHE 48. Wears away : ERODES 49. "... ish" : ORSO 50. "The Star-Spangled Banner" contraction : OER 51. Hardly an upscale bar : DIVE 52. Cell that fires on impulse : NEURON 54. Emission from radioactive decay : BETARAY 57. Cleopatra's lover : MARKANTONY 60. Shower affection (on) : DOTE 61. Annual athletic awards : ESPYS 62. Canadian Plains tribe : CREE 63. Wee bit : IOTA 64. Eliot who chased Capone : NESS 65. File size units, informally : MEGS 66. IDs collected by H.R. : SSNS |
1. Storied traveling trio : MAGI 2. Unit in an online cart : ITEM 3. "I'm listening ..." : CONTINUE 4. Stop and go, e.g. : ANTONYMS 5. "Sing" without singing : LIPSYNC 6. Leave out : OMIT 7. Fall behind : LAG 8. Body spray brand : AXE 9. High-level H.S. class with integrals : APCALC 10. It has its charms : VOODOO 11. Beethoven's Third : EROICA 12. Undo, as a law : REPEAL 15. ___-Cat (winter vehicle) : SNO 18. Chimp's relative : ORANG 20. Grows fur for the winter, say : ADAPTS 23. Pro at building financial worth, slangily : IBANKER 24. Kitchen appliance : RANGE 26. Secretive email option : BCC 27. "That's the spot!" : AHH 31. Actress Anne of "Donnie Brasco" : HECHE 32. ___ de corps : ESPRIT 36. 1951 film featuring Nero : QUOVADIS 37. Brand of kids' wear with Superman and Batman options : UNDEROOS 38. Filler for a cooler : ICE 39. Some A.L. sluggers : DHS 41. N.C.A.A. women's basketball powerhouse : UCONN 42. Overnight flights : REDEYES 43. People who target the starts of 17-, 30-, 40- and 57-Across : CONMEN 44. Paper fold : CREASE 45. Takes by force : USURPS 46. Raunchy 1981 comedy with two sequels : PORKYS 53. Intl. group headquartered in D.C. : OAS 54. Rare blood type, for short : BNEG 55. Memo heading abbr. : ATTN 56. Pro votes : YEAS 58. Channel showing old films : TCM 59. Valuable rock : ORE |
Answer summary: 6 unique to this puzzle, 2 unique to Shortz Era but used previously.
Found bugs or have suggestions?