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Threba Johnson
Threba Johnson

The Distaff Side

New York Times, Sunday, September 20, 1959

34-Down : Poetic verb form.

Author:
Threba Johnson
Editor:
Margaret Farrar
Rows: 23, Columns: 23, Words: 172, Blocks: 87, Avg Word Len: 5.14, Missing: { Q X }, Scrabble score: 713 (avg 1.61)
Open Squares: 128, Cheaters: 12, FITB: 19, XRef: 5, Words that never appeared in a previous NYT crossword: 33, Grid flow: 20.7 Grid has duplicate clues.
Threba Johnson has 31 known pre-Shortz puzzles in our database.
Jim Horne notes:

"The distaff side" is the old idiom for the female line of a family. The male-line equivalent is the spear side (sometimes the sword side or the agnatic line).

  • The distaff is a tool used in spinning wool or flax, which was historically considered women's work (representing the maternal line).
  • The spear represents warfare and hunting, which was traditionally associated with men (representing the paternal line).
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© 1959, The New York TimesNo. 3,719
Across
1
A fair lady. : ELIZA
6
A gambler's lady. : LUCK
10
Undine lost to this lady. : BERTALDA
18
Mode of living: Comb. form. : BIOSIS
19
Shortly. : ANON
20
Antipathies. : AVERSIONS
22
Fisherman's skill. : CASTING
23
Care or Fortune. : DAME
24
Gershwin's admonition. : LADYBEGOOD
26
Brew. : ALE
27
Observation: Comb. form. : SCOPY
29
Useful fiber. : BAST
31
Old-time cart. : WAIN
32
Girl of song. : SUE
33
Kind of lady who leases. : LAND
35
Thick slices. : SLABS
37
Tee activity. : DRIVING
39
King of Israel. : OMRI
40
Namesakes of an oread. : ECHOS
42
Trickles. : DRIPS
44
Correct. : AMEND
45
Summary. : BRIEF
46
Dress. : CLOTHE
48
"The Lady is a ___" (song title). : TRAMP
50
D.A.R., for one. : ORG
51
Ailment. : MALADY
52
Loud laughs. : HAWHAWS
54
Last-ditcher. : DIEHARD
56
"___ and the Paycock." : JUNO
57
The very first lady. : EVE
58
Extol. : LAUD
60
Ingenuous. : NAIVE
61
She blundered in "The Rivals." : MALAPROP
65
Longest muscle in human body. : SARTORIUS
68
Old dress. : RAG
69
TV group. : PANEL
70
Peak of P. I. : APO
71
Baseball name. : OTT
72
Noisy place. : BABEL
74
Countenances. : FACES
75
Snares. : PITS
76
First name of Hemingway lady. : BRETT
79
Lost color. : PALED
80
Linens at throat of nuns' habits. : BARBS
81
Whether ___. : ORNOT
82
Heroine of lost Euripides play. : AUGE
83
Actress Oberon. : MERLE
84
She played 1 Across. : JULIE
85
Stage signal. : CUE
86
Chair part. : LEG
87
Grievous. : SORRY
88
Likewise not. : NOR
89
Shakespeare Festival town. : STRATFORD
94
What Miss Bennet became. : MRSDARCY
96
___ of Heaven (conscience). : HOUND
98
Cowpoke's mount. : HOSS
99
Greek letter. : RHO
100
Be guided by. : OBEY
101
Cushion for lady passenger on horseback. : PILLION
103
Made of a certain grain. : WHEATEN
105
Meaning. : IMPORT
108
Emergency Management outfit: Abbr. : OEM
109
Nine: Comb. form. : ENNEA
111
Magistrate of ancient Athens. : ARCHON
112
Teardrop: Fr. : LARME
113
Metal bar. : TBEAM
115
Famous "Lady of the Camellias." : GARBO
117
Motif. : THEME
118
"Green Hat" girl. : IRIS
119
Mary of "Frankenstein" fame. : SHELLEY
121
Scorches. : SEARS
123
Silver: Abbr. : STER
124
Air: Abbr. : ATM
125
Genus of swans. : OLOR
126
On the crest. : ATOP
128
Adjective suffix. : ISTIC
130
Native of: Suffix. : ITE
131
Lady who had trouble with the mails. : CHATTERLEY
134
Famous Jenny. : LIND
136
Infuriated. : ENRAGED
138
Mother of Nero. : AGRIPPINA
139
Joint. : KNEE
140
___ counter. : GEIGER
141
Districts of cities. : EASTENDS
142
"The ___ the limit." : SKYS
143
Lady who was a Langhorne. : ASTOR
Down
1
Last name of a first lady. : EISENHOWER
2
His wife was curious. : LOT
3
Goddess from 1700 B.C. : ISIS
4
Galvanizes. : ZINCS
5
"As good ___." : ASGOLD
6
Lyndon Johnson's wife. : LADYBIRD
7
Lady of the Red Cross Knight. : UNA
8
Lorelei had a golden one. : COMB
9
Work dough. : KNEAD
10
This lady is a cake. : BALTIMORE
11
Miss St. Clare. : EVA
12
Small thrush. : REDWING
13
"___ stop me." : TRYAND
14
"___ as a house." : ASBIG
15
Property claim. : LIEN
16
Nana, for one. : DOG
17
Loss of sense of smell. : ANOSMIA
18
Scene of Light Brigade charge: Var. : BALACLAVA
21
Became bitter. : SOURED
22
In Quebec, two-wheeled vehicles. : CALECHES
25
Make a god of. : DEIFY
28
Role. : PART
30
See 97 Down. : SRA
34
Poetic verb form. : DOTH
36
Isabella's land. : SPAIN
38
___ antique (green marble). : VERD
39
Lowest deck. : ORLOP
41
Home of a Tennyson lady. : SHALOTT
43
Maligned. : SMEARED
45
Trite. : BANAL
47
Gladstone's middle name. : EWART
49
Small bottle. : PHIAL
51
Ladies' slippers. : MULES
53
___ generis. : SUI
55
Mean: Abbr. : AVG
56
Grey and Austen. : JANES
59
"___ Was a Lady." : DUBARRY
61
One of Shakespeare's ladies. : MACBETH
62
Sadie Thompson's play. : RAIN
63
Vision: Comb. form. : OPTO
64
Emily of etiquette. : POST
66
___ bag. : TOTE
67
The "darling of my heart." : SALLY
69
Juliet's betrothed. : PARIS
73
Quilting party. : BEE
74
___ la. : FAL
75
Foreword: Abbr. : PREF
76
Fragrant oil. : BALM
77
Remorseful one. : RUER
78
Breakfast food. : EGGS
79
This lady was wife to Hotspur. : PERCY
80
What Fry's lady was not for. : BURNING
81
Extra section of a magazine. : OUTSERT
83
Town SE of Paris. : MORET
84
Unit of work. : JOULE
85
Soft cloth. : CASHA
87
Khachaturian dance. : SABRE
88
___. pros. : NOL
90
Line of seats. : ROW
91
"The Lady ___." : ORTHETIGER
92
Instrument for measuring velocity of flow. : RHEOMETER
93
Stunned: Scot. : DONNERED
95
Condemns. : DOOMS
96
Asian peaks. : HIMALAYAS
97
Ladies: Span. : DONAS
101
This lady is Beatrice Lillie. : PEEL
102
Fifty daughters of a sea god. : NEREIDES
104
Words of distress: Ger. : ACHS
105
Of ancient Troy. : ILIAC
106
First name of a first lady. : MARTHA
107
Freight fee to ship's owner. : PRIMAGE
108
Ohio college. : OBERLIN
110
Down with: Fr. : ABAS
113
She wrote "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight." : THORPE
114
Came upon. : MET
116
___ y Gasset, Spanish writer. : ORTEGA
119
What the husband of 106 Down did "here." : SLEPT
120
Parts of 78 Down. : YOLKS
122
Terms in geometry. : SINES
125
"Miss ___ Regrets" (song title). : OTIS
127
Lady made of gin and grenadine. : PINK
129
Reviewer's forte: Abbr. : CRIT
132
___ la. : TRA
133
Object. : END
135
French marshal. : NEY
137
Past. : AGO

Answer summary:
13 unique to this puzzle, 20 debuted here and reused later, 8 appeared only in pre-Shortz puzzles.

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Crosswords published prior to Nov. 21, 1993 are provided by David Steinberg and The Pre-Shortzian Puzzle Project.

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