10.16.09 -- Into the Copse

Oak wood at Piles Copse Dartmoor, Archie Miles

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Friday, October 16, 2009

Puzzle by Karen M. Tracey, edited by Will Shortz

A thicket of vague clues and odd entries is the main ingredient of this Saturday-wannabe Friday crossword.

Across: 1. It’s often said with the eyes closed, AMEN; 5. Stunned, AGASP; 10. Floppy headgear, TAMS; 14. Writer of the history “Ab Urbe Condita”, LIVY; 15. “Beloved” heroine, SETHE; 16. Chick chaser?, ADEE; 17. London broil, often, FLANK STEAK; 19. Cleave, REND; 20. Part of Christmas, SILENT T; 21. Longtime name in photography, MINOLTA; 23. “Where people go to dance the night away,” in song, TUXEDO JUNCTION; 25. Bucolic call, BAA; 26. Limnological study, LAKE; 37. Coastal island colonists, EIDERS; 28. Up to, UNTIL; 30. Lusatian NEISSE (German/Polish border river); 32. 1930s bomber, B-TEN; 33. Brush, COPSE; 34. Some displays, briefly, CRTS; 38. What you probably have a head for, SHOWER; 40. Summer Olympics event, SKEET; 41. Like some checkups, ANNUAL; 44. 1980s Argentine president RAUL Alfonsin; 46. It has four bases, DNA; 47. Châteaubriand accompaniment, often, BEARNAISE SAUCE; 50. Kids in funny shorts, OUR GANG; 51. Recipients of dollars for quarters?, LESSORS; 53. Reader’s digest founder of 1984, UTNE; 54. Cut off, DISINHERIT; 56. Vote in der Bundesrat, NEIN; 57. Modern way to request participation, EVITE; 58. Male protagonist in William Inge’s “Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff”, RAFE; 59. “Nuts!”, DRAT; 60. Start over, in a way, RESET; 61. Multitude, SLEW.

Down: 1. Film composer Clausen and others, ALFS; 2. Unlike doves, MILITANT; 3. Gauge, EVALUATE; 4. 1997 Bell Atlantic acquisition, NYNEX; 5. Court figure: Abbr., ASST DA; 6. More than merely meet, GET TO KNOW; 7. Partook of, ATE; 8. Popular aquatic performer, SHAMU; 9. Toy developed in China, PEKINESE; 10. Set for a reading, TAROT DECK; 11. Emperor’s relative, ADELIE; 12. Guide, MENTOR; 13. Typical taxis, SEDANS; 18. Sound ominously, KNELL; 22. Spinoff of CBS’s “JAG”, NCIS; 24. “Golly!”, JEEPERS; 25. Sonny, BUB; 20. Young Turk, e.g., INSURGENT; 31. Old covenant keeper, ISRAELITE; 33. Draining aid, COLANDER; 35. Its skeleton may be used to make jewelry, RED CORAL; 36. Largest of the Canary Islands, TENERIFE; 37. Platform place: Abbr., STA; 39. Easternmost town on Maui, on one end of 52 miles of twisty highway, HANA; 40. Fractional bit?, SLASH; 41. Be everywhere, so to speak, ABOUND; 42. Fix, NEUTER; 43. Setting for C.S. Lewis’s “The Last Battle”, NARNIA; 45. Early online discussion setting, USENET; 48. “You win”, I GIVE; 49. Detox population, USERS; 52. Fuss, STEW; 55. Familial title, SIS.

Into the copse!

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