dannmann's NYT crossword puzzle ramblings

tuesday, october 30, 2007
gary steinmehl / will shortz

difficulty factor: yet again, my stubbornness cost me a bit here

theme: as suggested at 57A: "misspells, say, as a ghost might at 20A, 28A, 37A and 50A?": MAKES A BOO BOO. here a li'l misspelling spell is cast upon a fairly common expression and... switch-a-roo! a goulish pun is born...

• 20A HUMPBACK WAIL
• 28A BATTLE CREAK
• 37A FARM GROAN
• 50A BELL AND HOWL

hey all... happy halloween een!

(late start due to a doctors appt... don't ask... all's well...)

was it just my stubbornness or was this a tad nastier that a tuesday puzzle should be? i painted myself into a "manic" corner at 18A PANIC... and again at 30D REGAL with "royal"... and i just couldn't seem to recover...

oh, well...

i useta love saturday mornings as a kid... not many cartoons, but the real mc coys, sky king and 10A FURY were great! (what WAS the other show?! there were FOUR half hours...)

my favorite clue/answer today was 36A "theory's start": IDEA. no publishing, writing, proving, testing, positing... or anything else till the very idea is formed... brilliant!

i'm...

-ed!

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keep on keepin' on...

dann

all elements of the puzzle (grid layout, clues, and answers), NYT, NY Times, and The New York Times logo are ©2007 The New York Times

1. peak 5. chattered incessantly 10. tv horse introduced in 1955...or a plymouth model introduced in 1956 14. partiality 15. seeing red 16. prime draft status 17. drug-yielding plant 18. opposite of serenity 19. cartoonist al 20. scary sound from the ocean? 23. park, e.g., in n.y.c. 25. "sting like a bee" athlete 26. having seniority 28. scary sound from a war zone? 33. juillet's season 34. kodiak native 35. physics unit 36. theory's start 37. scary sound from a cornfield? 41. splinter group 44. motel-discount grp. 45. sales slips: abbr. 49. galley implement 50. scary sound from a steeple? 53. tedious 55. boot part 56. "whew!" 57. misspells, say, as a ghost might at 20-, 28-, 37- and 50-across? 62. abominate 63. african antelope 64. hot rod's rod 67. _____ lackawanna railroad 68. countryish 69. boot part 70. card game for three 71. walk leisurely 72. stealth bomber org. 1. charles gibson's network 2. a.f.l.- _____ 3. cane cutter 4. biblical son who sold his birthright 5. wavelet 6. language whose alphabet starts alif, ba, ta, tha... 7. child's caretaker 8. suffix with hypn- 9. part of a bottle or a guitar 10. kind of point 11. helpless? 12. filled to the gills 13. big fat mouth 21. country just south of sicily 22. moo goo gai pan pan 23. lawyers' org. 24. kilmerof "the doors" 27. _____ irvin, classic artist for the new yorker 29. cowlick, e.g. 30. fit for a king 31. blunder 32. "long _ and far away ..." 36. creep (along) 38. name that's an anagram of 27-down 39. _____ de mer 40. egyptian dry measure equal to about five-and-a-half bushels 41. soak (up) 42. tag for a particular purpose 43. neighbor of slovenia 46. co. addresses, often 47. a duo 48. crafty 50. tournament pass 51. like some music 52. musically improvise 54. sport utilizing a clay disk 58. hospital shipments 59. styptic agent 60. part of a fishhook 61. island with waimea bay 62. gentlemen 65. meadow 66. shoemaker's helper, in a fairy tale