Godspell (Solution No. 3,319)

Light of the World

Scroll down for the solution to puzzle no. 3,319

A little theater for you in honor of this week’s theme: Bangle and Sabers in the church’s production of Godspell.  More pictures here.

Catchy music, colorful costumes, and a cast made up of kids from 3 to 18. That’s a sure-fire recipe for a real crowd-pleaser.  Kudos to music director Rae Ann Anderson for all her work on the production, and for having such confidence in the kids.

[ed. note: this post was back-dated to keep the solutions in order]

Solution to The Nation Puzzle No. 3,319 

Link to puzzle: http://www.thenation.com/article/179040/puzzle-no-3319

Degree of difficulty: moderate to hard.

Themework:  As indicated in 31a, there were 11 Tony Award winning plays and musicals among the acrosses, in symmetrical pattern as Hot and Trazom inform us they try for.

Legend: "*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed; "( )" letters inserted; "_" or lower case: letters deleted; "†" explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶“ letter bank

Across

1a	*CATS	*ACTS (anagram indicated by “recklessly”)
3a	*FI(O)REL LO	*FLIER (anagram indicated by “disoriented”) + ^LO^st (first two letters indicated by “half”) containing (“circling”) ^O^’Hare (first letter indicated by “at first”)
9a	*UPBR AID	AID (“help”) following (“after”) *BURP (anagram indicated by “rude”)
10a	CO(*NTAC)T	*CAN’T (anagram indicated by “doctor”) contained in (“in”) COT (“bed”)
12a	_NINE_	solutio_N IN E_very (hidden word indicated by “letters from”)
13a	G(*UESSWO)RK	GRK (“Chesterton” [George R, author]) containing *US SWORE (anagram indicated by “terribly”)
15a	PA *SSION	PA (“father”) + *IS SON (anagram indicated by “painful”) Timely, considering the issue date is Holy Week.
16a	RA IS IN	RA (“ancient god”) + IS IN (“has become popular”)
19a	K *ISMET	K (“a thousand”) + *TIMES (anagram indicated by “confounded”)
21a	*CABARET	*A BAR ETC (anagram indicated by “it consists of”) Exclamation point because the entire clue functions as wordplay and definition.  This is one of those classic anagrams like ASTRONOMERS/NO MORE STARS that must have appeared in some previous puzzles, but it’s too good to pass up.
24a	*OVERSTATE	*VOTER’S TEA (anagram indicated by “parties”)
26a	}R{ENT	{L}ENT (“advanced,” replacement of L with R indicated by “after left-to-right conversion”)
28a	TIT *ANIC	TIT (“bird”) + *CAIN (anagram indicated by “dismembered”)
29a	CH(ANNE)L	CH (“chapter”) + L (“50”) containing ANNE (“Tyler” [author of The Accidental Tourist])
30a	APPLA(US)E	APPLE (“computer company”) containing (“captivating”) US (“a nation”)
31a	TONY	Double definition

Down

1d	CLUB	Double definition with cross-reference to 21a, “Cabaret.”
2d	TAB BI_ES	TAB (“bill”) + BI_t_ES (“chomps,” omission of middle letter indicated by “heartlessly”)
4d	INDI_ GENT	INDI_e_ (“unaffiliated,” omission of last letter indicated by “practically”) + GENT (“man”)
5d	RACKET	Pun
6d	LO(N)GS	LOGS (“pieces of timber”) containing (“including”) N (“northern”)
7d	OR *ATORS	OR (“Oregon”) + *ROAST (anagram indicated by “disrupted”)
8d	§VASELINE	§VASE LINE
11d	T(A KE N)OTE	A KEN (“a doll”) contained in (“in”) TOTE (“a bag”)
14d	SPOKE OUT	Pun.  Note misdirection from using “verbalized” as definition rather than indicator.
17d	*ARBO REAL	*BOAR (anagram indicated by “wild”) + REAL (“existing”)
18d	*S(CI)ENCES	*SCENES (anagram indicated by “shocking”) containing (“involving”) fas^CI^sts (middle letters indicated by “at the core”)
20d	*SPECTRA	*CARPETS (anagram indicated by “damage”)
22d	RAN I *NTO	RANI (“queen in India”) + *NOT (anagram indicated by “surprisingly”)
23d	<GAR< CIA	<RAG< (“tabloid,” reversal indicated by “upset”) + CIA (“spies”)
25d	<SU NUP<	<PUN (“joke”) + US (“family”)< (reversal of whole thing indicated by “rising”)
27d	S(L)AY	SAY (“e.g.”) containing (“to conceal”) ^L^arceny (first letter indicated by “trace of”)