-----------------
Sunday, November 29, 2009
PUNS AND ANAGRAMS, Puzzle by Mel Taub, edited by Will Shortz
This type of puzzle is a play on words and this puzzle is indeed cryptic. Every clue is, well, either a pun or an anagram. This Sunday's perfect example is not without a groan or so when the answer materializes, and even then when the answer appears only from crosses, it can remain a mystery.
Across: 1. Where worshipers, with much ado, gasp, PAGODA; 8. Separate verse, SEVER; 13. Violinist and heathen in one, PAGANINI; 14. One who fits in the Rialto, TAILOR; 16. Nine seas, somehow, IN A SENSE; 17. Peace’s way out, ESCAPE; 18. Writes in “Sterne”, ENTERS; 19. Vinancial vorveit, VINE; 21. 21. Diamondback, MEG; 22. I, sir, was a muckraker, RIIS; 23. Making HENS meet (goal of a chicken social network); 24. W = E, WISE; 25. Any 100 yrs., CEN; 26. Vulgar scars, CRASS; 28. Reached ingot, GOT IN; 29. Satire with a new hero, EREWHON; 31. Re TNT or flood, TORRENT; 33. Rear deer, HIND; 34. Down with Arabians rejecting Iran: Fr., ABAS; 35. Transportation in a bad epic, PEDICAB; 38. Raises making Stu flip, LIFTS UP; 42. Orate about a figure in myth, ERATO; 43. Shoelace part at Gate 50, AGLET; 45. Girl in Monaco, ONA; 46. It gives me an identity, NAME; 47. Symbol for adding up: Sl., PLUS; 48. Camels ‘ave ‘em, UMPS; 49. He’s a peasant at heart, ASA; 50. Country a long way from Lima, MALI; 51. Who did Ana see in Troy?, AENEAS: 53. Small lump of egg & nut, NUGGET; 55. Real score of zero in tennis, TRUE LOVE; 57. Agrees it can spatter on a stove, GREASE; 58. In re rail service, it’s an alternative, AIRLINES; 59. He makes the grade, EDGAR; 60. Like the food Rod eats, ROASTED.
Down: 1. Could Anne rip basket?, PANNIER; 2. Like a stone for Anita, e.g., AGATINE; 3. What sages use for heating, GASES; 4. Difference between a Barron and a baron, ONER; 5. Things heard in stadiums, centrally, DINS; 6. T or F, in San Jose, ANS; 7. Strains to see one palindromic girl around another, SIEVES; 8. They’re found in machine gun nests, STENS; 9. See a way to comfort, EASE; 10. Tim’s companion, VIC; 11. Who did Ali meet long ago?, ELAMITE; 12 Manages to get one person, ROPES IN; 13. President Gore, PIERCE; 15. Concerning chap who is a university V.I.P., REGENT; 20. Where stabled horses are found, INSTALLED; 23. H & O, HANDBALL; 24. Defeat “W.” sort, WORST; 26. Smart, with nothing to suggest a Marx brother, CHICO; 27. Friend of Nora, RONA; 28. Contemporary of J. Cagney and H. Bogart, GRAFT; 30. Isle of WHITE (Antarctic atoll); 32. Award for obstetrics, I.e., OBIE; 35. Where Ann & Peg met in Malaysia, PENANG; 36. Use rare elimination, ERASURE; 37. Injured as mother got older, DAMAGED; 39. Unknown person on moon, see?, SOMEONE; 40. How might a country road in Va. End up, UNPAVED; 41. Spares a quarterback, at times, PASSES; 44. What kind of string did Ira tug?, GUITAR; 47. Parent, mostly, PATER; 48. Until a lamp goes on, it’s this, UNLIT; 50. It’s almost the same as a plateau, MESA; 51. Austria? It’s lacking atmosphere, AURA; 52. Lee’s fish, EELS; 54. Choke on a joke, GAG; 56. City that’s patriotic to the core, RIO.
Click on image to enlarge.
Puzzle available on the internet at
If you subscribe to home delivery of The New York Times you are eligible to access the daily crossword via The New York Times - Times Reader, without additional charge, as part of your home delivery.
