12.17.11 — Solemn Saturday


Saturday, December 17, 2011

Puzzle by Tom Heilman / Edited by Will Shortz

Gnarly and thorny, this solemn Saturday crossword yields its mediocre answers from aloof clues with seeming regret and grudge.

Across — 1. Spicy blend, SALSA DIP; 9. Building supports, JOISTS; 15. One who works with combs, APIARIST; 16. Secret target, ARMPIT; 17. Potential result of a 56-Across, REVERSAL; 18. Kind of pants, PAJAMA; 19. Sack, AXE; 20. Winner over NYY in the 2001 World Series, ARI; 21. Like suckers, DELUDED; 22. Black and white, SQUAD CAR; 25. Have a heated phone exchange?, SEXT; 26. Old Testament outdoorsman, ESAU; 28. Make unfathomable, ENCRYPT; 30. “There’s no hope!”, ALL IS LOST; 32. With 60-Across, Michelle Kwan or Michelle Wie, ASIAN; 36. Slow exercises, TAI CHI; 37. Record achievement, GRAMMY; 38. John SPEKE, English explorer who named Lake Victoria; 39. Fax forerunners, TELETYPES; 42. “Go! Go! Go!, FLOOR IT; 44. Heroine of Bulwer-Lytton’s “The Last Days of Pompeii”, IONE; 45. Bit of emotional damage, SCAR; 48. Outdoor dining place, MESS TENT; 50. Like stocking caps, TAPERED; 52. Lowest number on a clock, SIX; 53. TV title lawyer Stone, ELI; 56., Legal action, APPEAL; 57. Rum-flavored desserts, TORTONIS; 59. “Prego” preceder, GRAZIE; 60. See 32-Across, AMERICAN; 61. Still, SILENT; 62. Time for crisis management, RED ALERT.

Down — 1. Actress Rue of “Rules of Engagement”, SARA; 2. Culmination, APEX; 3. Denies who one really is, LIVES A LIE; 4. Bill accompanier: Abbr., SAE; 5. Pianist Claudio ARRAU; 6. Powerful friend of Queen Victoria, DISRAELI; 7. Reiterated refusal, I SAID NO; 8. Scandalous 1980s inits., PTL; 9. Jests, JAPERY; 10. Kind of rinse, ORAL; 11. “That’s my two cents”, I’M JUST SAYIN’; 12. One in a dark suit, SPADE; 13. Durable ticker?, TIMEX; 14. German town, STADT; 21 Feathered flier, DART; 23. Way to preserve food freshness, QUICK FREEZE; 24. Mails a dupe, CCS; 26. Manducates, EATS; 27. Response to an affront, SLAP; 29. Break up, PART; 31. Author Silverstein, SHEL; 33. Weakness, IMPOTENCE; 34. “Exactly right!”, AMEN; 35. Where Loews is “L”, NYSE; 37. Run down, GET TIRED; 39. Drove diagonally, TOED; 40. Stretcher settings: Abbr., ERS; 41. Easily bent, LISSOME; 43. Diner order, OMELET; 45. Dos for dudes, STAGS; 45. Kind of pants, CAPRI; 47. Dismay, in Dover, APPAL; 49. Spare, EXTRA; 51. Pour, RAIN; 54. One guilty of pseudo logia, LIAR; 55. “Who ISN’T?”; 57. Pine product, TAR; 58. Pine product, OIL.

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