Puzzle No. 3209 Puzzle No. 3209
ACROSS 1 A means to access the subconscious is a constitutional right (4,11) 9 Outside, he hollers back for coat (7) 10 Arouses one ugly insect (7) 11 Gordon captured by sweeping camera shot—his performance is disappointing (5,2,3,3) 13 Communicate with cooked escargots (3,6) 15 Renaissance poet to bring donkey inside (5) 16 Portia rarely sports a headband (5) 18 For example, spider or honeybee’s head stuck in broken trapdoor (9) 21 Part of the infrastructure to call John Paul II, for instance (9,4) 24 I retain irrational resistance to change (7) 25 Hawks bicycles on the radio (7) 26 Oliver’s trash is nearby (6,5,4) DOWN 1 Stiff, intoxicated nights after initial slugfests (10) 2 In the end, inventive segment by colony member is tasteful (7) 3 God recalling prince to Western city (5) 4 Lease condominium in part, usually the lower part (7) 5 151–100—he’s wiped the floor with, made mincemeat of, and so forth (7) 6 Hawk and I practice, irregularly (9) 7 I sent no Baroque chants (7) 8 Northeast street is home for some (4) 12 Subversive, low reds, conniving in silence (10) 14 Hooker entering backwards (etc.) in Southern city (9) 17 Eccentric red coat, in a style from the 1920s (3,4) 18 Pavement brings snake to a stop (7) 19 Unsatisfactory report includes zero for soldier (7) 20 Harrow or a plow in act affecting the needy (4,3) 22 Grant termination that hurts (5) 23 Bowling equipment cut up (4) ACROSS 1 F + RAPPE (paper anag.) 4 S(K[e]Y)LIGHT 10 ET(IO + LATE)D 11 ZE(V)ON (zone anag.) 12 anag. 14 CHES[t]S 16 hidden 18 2 defs. 20 SA(P)ID 22 “ex-tension chord” 26 S + US + HI 27 2 defs. 28 FI(NAG)LES 29 VE(R)NAL DOWN 1 2 defs. 2 ARIA + DNE (end rev.) 3 P + YLON (only anag.) 5 KUD(Z)U 6 anag. 7 G + OVER + NS 8 2 defs. 9 S + TALKING 13 PADDE(D C)ELL (pedalled anag.) 15 S + MOO + THING 17 anag. 19 T + REASON 21 PRO NO U.N. 23 NOOS + E (rev.) 24 hidden 25 A(S I)F
Sep 27, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3208 Puzzle No. 3208
ACROSS 1 Shake fist at first, then rewrite paper (6) 4 Key’s edges fit in small opening in ceiling (8) 10 Feeble guess about a takeoff: “Around ten, behind schedule” (9) 11 Rocker Warren in free zone, taking five (5) 12 Rearrange iron and lumber first, for example (7,6) 14 Game boxes lacking tiles, originally (5) 16 Find one Siamese capturing island nation (9) 18 Floods, e.g., in Divine Comedy routines (4,2,3) 20 Remarked about taste of pomegranate: “Flavorful!” (5) 22 Electric implement sounds like a former part of a thriller soundtrack (9,4) 26 Japanese food principally swept America along with Hawaii (5) 27 Exactly where you wear a pince-nez (2,3,4) 28 Deviously obtains records about a horse (8) 29 Mercenary embraces beginning of Rite of Spring (6) DOWN 1 Ali’s extremities, making a weak foundation (4,2,4) 2 She didn’t want to lose the thread of a song with reversed coda (7) 3 Parking illegal (only with traffic cone) (5) 5 African antelope swallowing Zulu’s vine (5) 6 Idler is confused by zeal, son (9) 7 Rules of gravity over the poles (7) 8 High-class award (4) 9 Obsessive pursuit of satisfactory speech (8) 13 Pedalled madly around D.C., a place for lunatics (6,4) 15 Ironing small, low object (9) 17 Sad, staid, upset and provocative artists (8) 19 Start of the motivation for betrayal (7) 21 One like them, advocating the abolition of a world body? (7) 23 Loop turning east in the near future (5) 24 Annie celebrates hosting a relative (5) 25 A loud Spanish “yes” within? Yeah, right (2,2) ACROSS 1 BUFF + A + LOWINGS 10 anag. 11 OR + AT + OR 12 rev. hidden 14 2 defs. 17 & 23D “innocence” 19 [b]LOND ON B + ROIL 22 HO(THOU)SE 24 & 18 MI + NUET + IN C (tune anag.) 27 “sin, sin, natty, chilly” 28 anag. DOWN 2 “you’ve, you’ll, uh” 3 F(ISH) OIL (his anag.) 4 init. letters, & lit. 5 WAS + T[here]E 6 N(ERVO)US (sun rev., over anag.) 7 anag. 8 A BLOOM 9 AS + THMA (math anag.) 13 S + CAN 15 NICO + TINED (coin anag.) 16 A + V(O)W 18 I(THAC)A (chat anag.) 19 “lay ocean” 20 BRIO + CHE 21 anag. 25 U TILE 26 palindrome
Sep 20, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3207 Puzzle No. 3207
ACROSS 1 Polish a cow’s utterances to create menu item (7,5) 10 Menu item (burp!) tosses slurs all over the place (8,7) 11 Speaker placing conjunction beside conjunction (6) 12 Running back through Utah, pat one celebratory monument (8) 14 Menu item requires money from a folder? (6,5) 17 and 23 Speak of naïveté, so to speak (2,1,5) 18 See 24 19 Towhead, on shifting front to back, to whip up menu item (6,5) 22 You in stockings? That’s pretty steamy (8) 24 and 18 After musical note, avant-garde tune incorporated composition by J.S. Bach (6,2,1) 27 Menu item makes vice and immorality smart and cool, so they say (10,5) 28 “Love Me Tender”: off-key menu item (6,6) DOWN 2 Say, you have… you will… uh… something hanging down the back of your throat (5) 3 Wrapped in foil, his synthetic substance with health benefits (4,3) 4 Primarily, lay (or lie) lazily! (4) 5 Garbage was there, outside (5) 6 Rising star gulps, overstressed and on edge (7) 7 Auto sails around town near the Golden Gate Bridge (9) 8 Leopold, to name one, is flowering (6) 9 Like complicated math, it can take your breath away (6) 13 At first, student can read (4) 15 Tobacco-stained coin, bent with prongs (9) 16 Assert a German car takes in oxygen (4) 18 Chat distractedly in Iowa, where some Ivy Leaguers can be found (6) 19 Asian ballad: “Sea Whispers” (7) 20 “Liveliness”: in Italy, what describes a baked good (7) 21 A vital developing nation (6) 23 See 17 25 Useful and necessary for playing “QUIZ” in Scrabble (5) 26 Going up and down, it’s the same guy (4) ACROSS 1 INCAS + E 4 COAL + ES(C)E (see anag.) 9 anag. 11 T + ANGLED 12 hidden 13 COMP[l]ETE 14 L + ARK 15 T(OIL)ETRIES (Trieste anag.) 18 anag. 21 ST(A)Y 22 STA(N)DEE (seated anag.) 24 anag. 27 hidden 28 LEG ENDS 29 (F/W)IND (W/F)ARM 30 FR + OWNS DOWN 1 anag. 2 anag. 3 S + CRAM 5 anag. 6 anag. 7 S + OLVE (love anag.) 8 END(L)ES + SLY (dense anag.) 10 CELL + O 14 LAST + STRAW (warts rev.) 16 IN TH(E) K + NOW (think anag.) 17 TR(AD)E-OFF (effort anag.) 19 [st]ATELIER 20 E(QUA)L 23 [c]ALVIN 25 C(I + G)AR 26 R + USES
Sep 14, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3206 Puzzle No. 3206
ACROSS 1 Ancient Peruvians facing east as a precaution (2,4) 4 Fuse “clean” fossil fuel, and see distortion: “carbon captured!” (8) 9 Sir, I act subversively—like Jonathan Swift (7) 11 Football formation, slanted and complex (7) 12 Smoother malefactor concealing a type of renewable energy (7) 13 Liberal leader withdraws from all-out struggle (7) 14 Bird left boat (4) 15 For instance, soap and shampoo and oil discovered in Trieste? Maybe (10) 18 LA personal: “eccentric with source of clean energy” (5,5) 21 Pen surrounding a lodge (4) 22 Doctor seated around no one with no seat (7) 24 Mysterious nuclear meltdown (7) 27 Orchestra violinists full of Italian food (7) 28 Stories of feet? (7) 29 Swapping heads, find warm source of clean energy (4,4) 30 France has expressions of displeasure (6) DOWN 1 Encrusted Baroque stein (5) 2 Church hater clad in tatters (9) 3 Go away, short stuff! (5) 5 Capitol is dysfunctional—it’s a kind of illusion (7) 6 Insect’s weird tonal hum (4,4) 7 What you’re trying to do, primarily: send love all about (5) 8 Dense plastic encircles large arch without limits (9) 10 Compartment with old musical instrument (5) 14 Blemishes rising underneath endure as fatal danger for a camel? (4,5) 16 Well-informed engineer: “Think about energy immediately” (2,3,4) 17 Frantic effort to hide notice of quid pro quo (5-3) 19 Saint abandons loftier workshop (7) 20 Identical, as in a Chicago train (5) 23 Religious reformer decapitated a chipmunk (5) 25 Invest one grand in automobile for Havana, perhaps (5) 26 Republican employs deceptive practices (5) ACROSS 1 2 defs. 9 “faro” 10 2 defs. 11 ARM + STRONG 12 “beaut” 13 2 defs. 15 anag. 17 anag. 18 anag. 21 NAF + TA (rev.) 22 anag. 25 TO(URIS)T 26 anag. 27 2 defs. (it green anag.) DOWN 1 RE + PEALS 2 C + HASM (hams anag.) 3 anag. 4 SC + HMO 5 IR(RIGA)TES (rites anag.) 6 NOT A + BEN E. 7 hidden 8 TUR[n]KEYS 14 2 defs. 15 anag. 16 S(TEAL)ING 17 rev. hidden 19 P(A)RO + LEE 20 AL(UM)NI (nail anag.) 23 H. [f]ONDA 25 hidden
Sep 6, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3205 Puzzle No. 3205
ACROSS 1 Arugula expert? You don’t have to be one to make a salad (6,9) 9 Former Egyptian autocrat’s game under discussion (7) 10 Snake that might unnerve you? (7) 11 He took one small step, having a limb in good shape (9) 12 Western city sounds like a doozy (5) 13 Like some sex, it might be hidden in an office (4) 15 Northern Europeans’ surprising sensation… (9) 17 …tattered raincoats for Southern Europeans (9) 18 Pale, distraught, 11 took a giant one (4) 21 Dubious Clinton achievement: pushing back at supporter (5) 22 Trash plus other stuff (9) 25 In sum, novelist is a traveler (7) 26 For instance, 5-man rule is chaotic (7) 27 Non-fractional quantity in a program makes it green? (7,8) DOWN 1 As for tolls, the opposite of 3 (7) 2 100 hams, baked in a pit (5) 3 Illegal stance passes into law (6) 4 Jerk’s South Carolina medical plan (5) 5 Waters of capital city involved in exotic rites (9) 6 King of pop music supports any pitch from B to G— take heed! (4,4) 7 Uncomfortable letters from Abigail, late as ever (3,2,4) 8 Jailers releasing initiator of network failures (7) 14 Crossing the line with fallen arches, perhaps? (4,5) 15 Judge outer lava to be roiling (9) 16 Blab about dabbler’s thievery (8) 17 Nobelist in retrospective written accurately (7) a 19 Bit of argyle lining for Marvin—he’s getting out of prison (7) 20 Bent nail captivates University of Michigan graduates (6) 23 Actor who played T. Joad abandons loud car (5) 24 Bathrobe conceals pulse (5) ACROSS 1 anag. 6 anag. 9 HOTSPO + T (photos anag.) 10 “ice ore” 11 SIMI (LARIT) [valle]Y (trial anag.) 12 2 defs. 14 M + ANITOBA (in a boat anag.) 15 HI + JACK 17 2 defs. 19 anag. 22 “loot” 23 C(L OVER L)EAF (face anag.) 26 AL(LEG)ES 27 A SIN, IN E 28 Y(E)ARN 29 WEE + KNIGHT DOWN 1 anag. 2 OTTOM (rev.) + AN 3 IMP(OLITE)LY (Eliot anag.) 4 anag. 5 S(LEUT)H (lute anag.) 6 M[aybe] + EEK 7 anag. 8 S + HEEP’S KIN 13 anag. 14 anag. 16 anag. 18 PA(T)ELLA 20 anag. 21 anag. 24 FLEE + T (feel anag.) 25 EGA + N (rev.)
Aug 30, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3204 Puzzle No. 3204
ACROSS 1 Economist at play :( <3 (9) 6 Ancient king is mad when disturbed (5) 9 Photos distorted by time in radioactive location (3,4) 10 Ugly sight and sound of material from which diamonds can be extracted? (7) 11 Correspondence from Simi Valley, finally holding amended trial (10) 12 Improvise with siren (4) 14 Where Thompson and Brandon are married in a boat at sea (8) 15 Rob greeting John familiarly (6) 17 Endow with flexibility (6) 19 Vice president: ridiculous job I need (3,5) 22 Instrument is stolen goods, I hear (4) 23 Face-off taking 50/50 in highway feature (10) 26 Claims part of trip is restricted by porters (7) 27 Foolish pride: what it is and how it ends (7) 28 Long story about Egyptian leader (5) 29 Small and noble, it might require an early bedtime (9) DOWN 1 Those crazy societal beliefs! (5) 2 Raise watchword over an imperialist of old (7) 3 Rudely insinuate Eliot is drunk inside (10) 4 Rogue bat violently bellowed and whistled, with a kind of sneeze in the middle (8) 5 Detective keeps quiet about 22, strangely (6) 6 Timorous at first: “Maybe there’s a mouse!” (4) 7 Dismantle AM radio to create museum exhibit (7) 8 Diploma school’s principal bestowed on Uriah’s family (9) 13 Liberating nonsense, like the libretto of H.M.S. Pinafore (10) 14 Mary’s role: disturbing legendary Chicagoan (3,6) 16 Choice decision overawed radical (3,1,4) 18 Bone and tri-tip in Spanish dish (7) 20 Indulge carelessly in combat (7) 21 “Two heads are better than one”—for example, Oswald’s maneuvering (3,3) 24 Feel queasy at start of the fast (5) 25 Pulitzer-winning novelist’s New Age rearing (4) ACROSS 1 2 defs. 4 anag. 9 2 defs. 10 BOB + DOLE 11 & 12 2 defs. 13 hidden 15, 20 & 28 STAR + SKY + AND + HUTCH 17 R + OTATED (Odetta anag.) 18 ATTIC + A 22 C IN CODE (Charlie) + MAY + O 25 anag. 26 TR(IV)IAL 27 SATYR P + LAY (party’s anag.) DOWN 1 F(LO)URS 2 TRYING + OUT 3 LIP + PI 4 HEAD + ST+ AND 5 ROB + IN 6 anag. 7 G + LOOM 8 2 defs. 14 2 defs. 15 “C-worthy” 16 anag. 17 2 defs. 19 MO + OLAH (rev.) 21 DE(L)FT 23 NADA + L 24 EDIT + H
Aug 24, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3203 Puzzle No. 3203
ACROSS 1 Cheesy position? (5) 4 Baroque era’s eight legacies (9) 9 Dukakis encountered in Washington (7) 10 Republican politician to cut welfare (3,4) 11 and 12 Someone who can do everything, like 3 (11,3) 13 Margot Chapman embraces one kind of journalism (6) 15, 20 and 28 ’70s TV show is celebrity heaven and a home for animals (7,3,5) 17 Turned right, disturbing Odetta (7) 18 Top story: altercation beginning in New York prison (6) 20 See 15 22 Charlie may come before October’s opening celebration (5,2,4) 25 Adelphi reconstructed landing spot…(7) 26 …inside test tube—that’s insignificant (7) 27 Ribald performance of wild party’s song (5,4) 28 See 15 DOWN 1 Look in coats for meals (6) 2 Auditioning is difficult in public (6,3) 3 Sass an irrational painter (5) 4 Main Street with tough balancing act (9) 5 Take popular English thief (5) 6 Mutant battles L.A. in The Gastropod Killer (5,4) 7 General Weaver’s dark mood (5) 8 With a serious demeanor—like a famed violinist? (7) 14 What a playful, thrifty chef might do to a puttanesca recipe? (3,1,5) 15 By the sound of it, good enough to pass the class and stay afloat (9) 16 Engineer solicits a collectivist (9) 17 Fish for bugs (7) 19 Rising religious figure’s symbol and mantra: “Do-Re-Mi” (6) 21 Bit of lacquer found in skillful pottery (5) 23 Tennis champ has zero (love) at first (5) 24 Woman’s correct hits (5) ACROSS 1 DADDY + WAR (rev.) + BUCKS 9 BE + LUSH + I 10 COT(TAG)E 11 2 defs. 12 PI(NBA)LL 14 EX + HALE + D 16 LEE + CHE + S 18 hidden 20 S + HEER (here anag.) + STOCKING + S 24 E(PSIL)ON (lisp rev.) 25 P + LASTER (alters anag.) 26 anag. DOWN 1 DEB + T 2 D + ALLIANCE 3 YES(HI)VA 4 A + GIN + G 5 anag. 6 CA(TFI)SH (fit anag. 7 hidden 8 MESS + I DO + R 12 POLISH ED 13 L(U)SITANIA (Italians anag.) 15 LIT + I + GATOR 17 HUR(D)LER 19 EPI(C)ARP (papier anag.) 21 hidden 22 CUP + ID 23 hidden NBA TEAMS: Bucks, Nets, Kings, Spurs, Heat
Aug 10, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3202 Puzzle No. 3202
ACROSS 1 Comic-strip character pops back uncooked cabbage (5,8) 9 Live and drunk, one comic actor (7) 10 Write graffiti in shelter or small house (7) 11 Document storage: solution for smoothing out advisory councils? (6,8) 12 Game medicine enthralls teams, five of which can be found in the completed diagram (7) 14 Once healthy, 500 let breath out (7) 16 Two rebels, Southern parasites (7) 18 Goethe: a terrific source for drama (7) 20 After Sunday, doctor here supplying piece of surgical hose (5,9) 24 In a very long time, reversed speech impediment the tiniest bit (7) 25 Phosphorus alters mushy and gooey substance (7) 26 Astonishingly, Ma spies murder case involving eggs (8,5) DOWN 1 Young socialite with heart—ultimately, that’s a liability (4) 2 Leader of Decency Coalition’s amorous byplay (9) 3 Yes, Virginia, there is a greeting inside school (7) 4 A drink suitable for the whole family? This is getting old (5) 5 A Schubert composition for a European city (9) 6 Hunter fit poorly in capital (7) 7 Trash a message to hide embarrassment (5) 8 Disorder I do recall at the beginning, for a month in revolutionary France (8) 12 Suave Sullivanski? (8) 13 Frustrated Italians surround university — Germans destroyed it (9) 15 Lawyer smashed head of insolent Florida athlete (9) 17 Runner and pitcher skirting defense (7) 19 Peel top from cherry, in papier-mâché (7) 21 Keep some containers for salts (5) 22 Athletic supporter with label for naked boy (5) 23 Lemon, say, in the middle of street (4) ACROSS 1 UN + REEL (leer rev.) 4 anag. 9 ANG(L)ER 10 [i]SLANDERS 12 D + AIRY 13 INSUL(A)T + OR 15 anag. 17 EP + ICENE (niece anag.) 18 OR + LAND + O 20 MUS(KRA)T (ark rev.) 22 DAM + A + SCENE (a mad rev.) 23 B + LING 25 anag. 27 hidden 28 anag. 29 rev. hidden DOWN 1 anag. 2 letter bank (R, I, N, G) 3 anag. 5 init. letters 6 anag. 7 anag. 8 R + ESUR + GENT (ruse rev.) 11 GIR + A + SOLE (rig rev.) 14 anag. 15 2 defs. 16 LANDS + LID + E 19 anag. 21 RAIMEN + T (airmen anag.) 23 anag. 24 anag. 26 rev.
Jul 27, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3201 Puzzle No. 3201
ACROSS 1 Spin out, as 192 countries take a covetous look back (6) 4 Reps hoot rudely for Jordan, once (8) 9 Fisherman’s rage when taking Lebanon’s premier hostage (6) 10 Libels leaderless residents of Comoros, say (8) 12 Djibouti’s opening lofty type of farm (5) 13 Arab chief invested in offense or protective layer (9) 15 Symbols of power upset Algeria (7) 17 Record niece shattered, blurring the sexes (7) 18 Florida city’s gold to secure Morocco, at last (7) 20 Need to assume Noah’s craft returned for rodent (7) 22 A crazy retrospective: stage located in a Middle Eastern capital—like the 2008 summit of the Arab League (all of whose members are here) (9) 23 First portion in Bahrain: cod with flashy trimmings (5) 25 Shockingly, go in for second slates, e.g. (8) 27 In Qatar, are lyricists found? Seldom (6) 28 Flexible Sudanese ballerina (8) 29 Bush’s backing up in Israel—try Mauritania (6) DOWN 1 It helps make Saudi…(2,3) 2 …chains from ring’s elements (7) 3 Yemen breaking up opponent (5) 5 The actual origins of Operation Iraqi Liberty? (3) 6 Palestine suffering punishments… (9) 7 …from violent settler frame (7) 8 Republican man concealing deception on the rise—and on the rise again (9) 11 Rig up a single Jerusalem artichoke (8) 14 Unstable Emirates getting hotter (8) 15 Called for more supplies, like Yasir’s letters in Syria (9) 16 Kuwait and Somalia, for instance, top Europe at first in spectacular victory (9) 19 Oman, PLO skewered in satire (7) 21 Airmen flying to Tunisia’s capital for clothing (7) 23 Roll all over Libya (5) 24 Egypt in turmoil, like the sun (1-4) 26 Hoisting flag is what we need, in huge amounts (3) ACROSS 1 TRAIN + OF + TH[e] + OUGHT 9 FL + OUNCE 10 G-ELATIN[g] 11 FOOT + BALL + CO + ACH 13 LIB + I DO 15 HA + R(D)TACK (track anag.) 17 anag. 19 hidden 22 BUS ONE’S + DI + SHE’S (bonuses anag.) 25 LO + NG AGO (a gong anag.) 26 2 defs. 27 ate both anag. DOWN 1 TUFT[s] 2 A + LOOF (rev.) 3 NO + NWORD (rev.) 4 “flue buy” 5 H + EGELIAN (lineage anag.) 6 UN + LACED (rev.) 7 2 defs. 8 anag. 12 2 defs. 14 anag. 16 anag. 18 DEN + MARK 20 “yacht Z” 21 MI(SF + I)T 23 rev. 24 2 defs.
Jul 12, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto
Puzzle No. 3200 Puzzle No. 3200
Stumped? The authors explain “How to Work The Nation’s Cryptic Puzzles” at thenation.com/puzzle-rules.
Jun 28, 2011 / Crossword / Joshua Kosman and Henri Picciotto