The names of thirteen current US senators are strewn throughout the chamber. The names of the Republican senators are more crossword-friendly than the Democrats, which might be to the chagrin of The Nation readers. Eight of the thirteen are Republicans (colored red in the solution), three are Democrats (blue), and the two nominal independents who function as virtual Democrats.
The short names result in the grid having no long lights, so there were more clues than usual (see Hozom's September 21 comment: Counting Words). The grid is spiced up (and an additional connection added) by the pair of three-letter words in the center.
By my count, there are six more senators that could reasonably go into a crossword: Boxer, Carper, Coons, Graham, Kirk, and Tester. There are more if you stretch a little and allow other proper nouns as definitions.
Difficulty (by standards of this weekly puzzle): Mostly easy, especially if you follow
politics.
Political
content: see theme.
Musical content:
6d (part of wordplay).
Solution and explanation below the fold.
Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like;
"<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted;
"_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the
clue, “^” first letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters
Across
1a
|
*SESSIONS
|
*[NOISE + SS]
“repeatedly in one case” is a tip that one of the letters in NOISE is
used multiple times in the anagram
|
6a
|
*COATS
|
*TACOS (anagram indicated by “shredded”)
|
10a
|
*ON GUARD
|
*A GROUND (anagram indicated by “breaking”)
A very slight bending of the rules, but you’ve been
amply warned.
|
11a
|
DE(<ADP<)AN
|
DEAN (“school official”) containing (“takes”)
<PDA< (“handheld device”, reversal indicated by “back”)
|
12a
|
_KING_
|
rumplestilts_KIN G_leefully (hidden word indicated by
“traps”)
|
13a
|
PA(U)L
|
PAL (“friend”) containing (“embracing”) ^U^nitarian
(first letter indicated by “leader”)
The evangelist referenced is St.
Paul (Saul of Tarsus).
|
14a
|
F | LAKE
|
^F^rigid (first letter indicated by “source”) + LAKE
(“body of water”)
|
15a
|
{R{EMOTE
|
EMOTE{R{ (“expressive person”, relocated letter
indicated by “back at the front”)
|
17a
|
RUB NOSES
|
Spoonerism of NUB (“point”) + ROSES (“flowers”)
A play on the pop cultural image of Eskimo people
rubbing noses as a greeting
|
19a
|
DIP_
|
^DIP^hthong (“two vowels”, selection of first three of
nine letters indicated by “one third”)
Clues like this make it worth having some three-letter
words in the grid from time to time.
Not to mention the unusual pattern in the center.
|
20a
|
PICK(E_T)ED
|
PICKED (“chose”) containing (“to surround”)
E_stablishmen_T (first and last letters indicated by “entrance and exit”)
Exclamation point since “chose to surround” is also
the definition
|
21a
|
SH(AD)OW
|
AD (“commercial) contained in (“interrupting”) SHOW
(“program”)
|
24a
|
BLUNT
|
Double definition (“blunt” is a slang term for a cigar
filled with marijuana)
|
26a
|
<REED<
|
<DEER< (“ruminant,” reversal indicated by
“returns”)
|
27a
|
B(U)RR
|
BRR (“it’s cold”) containing (“around”) j^U^ne (second
letter indicated by “second of”)
|
29a
|
*IFFIEST
|
*FIFTIES (anagram indicated by “counterfeit”)
|
30a
|
*SHU(T)TLE
|
*HUSTLE (anagram indicated by “criminal”) containing
(“smuggling”) loo^T^ (last letter indicated by “ultimately”)
|
31a
|
HATCH
|
Double definition
|
32a
|
*SENATORS
|
*TREASON (anagram indicated by “unacceptable”)
|
Down
2d
|
ERGO | NO MIC
|
ERGO (“therefore”) + NO MIC (“with no amplification”)
|
3d
|
SCAR_
|
^SCAR^cely (selection of half the word indicated by
“half)
|
4d
|
OR | DEAL
|
OR (†) + DEAL (“agreement”)
|
5d
|
*SADDLE UP
|
*SLAP DUDE (anagram indicated by “senseless”)
|
6d
|
CHA(FF)IN | CH
|
FF (“very loud”) contained in (“held by”) CHAIN
(“string”) + CH (“church”)
|
7d
|
_ALPHA_
|
cruci_AL PHA_se (hidden word indicated by “part of”)
|
8d
|
SAN(<DER<)S
|
<RED< (“flushed”, reversal indicated by “up”)
contained in (“in”) SANS (“without”)
|
9d
|
COR(K)ER
|
CORER (“kitchen utensil”) containing (“to keep”) K
(“kosher”)
|
16d
|
*T(WENT)IETH
|
*IT THE (anagram indicated by “blast”) containing
(“outside”) WENT (“disappeared”)
|
17d
|
RID_
|
RID_e (“trip”, omission of last letter indicated by
“cut short”)
|
18d
|
*SODBUSTER
|
*DEBTS OURS (anagram indicated by “reorganized”)
|
19d
|
*DETRITUS
|
*I TRUSTED (anagram indicated by “unfortunately”)
|
20d
|
PU(B | LI)SH
|
PUSH (“sell drugs”) containing (“covering”) B
(“Brooklyn”) + LI (“Long Island”)
|
22d
|
~WARREN
|
~WARRING (“going at it”, homonym indicated by “we
hear”)
|
23d
|
*NELS | ON
|
ON (†) following (“after”) *LENS (anagram indicated by
“cracked”)
|
25d
|
UN(F)IT
|
UNIT (“one”) containing (“grabbing”) ^F^ood (first
letter indicated by “a piece of”)
|
28d
|
JUST
|
Double definition
|
Strictly speaking, the four Evangelists are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John; the Apostle Paul is not one of them. So this was rather jarring. Otherwise I love your elegant puzzles.
ReplyDeleteI was ready to ding Hot and Trazom over that too, but when I wrote up the annotation, I decided to let it slide, since Paul would qualify as a small "e" evangelist. Considering that I've spoken here of we solvers as being evangelists for our pastime, I figured I was fully invested in the broader definition.
Delete