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New York Times, Thursday, June 4, 2009

Author:
Peter A. Collins and Joe Krozel
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
19-Across : Shooter on the playground
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
1205/2/200610/26/202414
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
713254116108
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
6331.5658749%
Peter A. Collins
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
877/7/20066/14/201815
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
4147242621
CircleScrabDebutFresh
51.4849785%
Joe Krozel

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 72, Blocks: 31 Missing: {JKQVYZ} Featured in Will Shortz's favorite puzzles. This is puzzle # 23 for Mr. Collins. This is puzzle # 22 for Mr. Krozel. Thursday freshness: 99%
Constructor notes:

JOE: This puzzle was one of my favorite to construct. The theme idea originated with Pete Collins, who envisioned the base path as SINGLE, DOUBLE, TRIPLE and HOMER. The problem was that they weren't the same length, so the grid faced symmetry challenges. I struggled for hours ... even making each theme entry plural. Subconsciously, I avoided the past tense — thinking they would be the same length as the plurals and harder to finesse into a coherent wording of the theme. But I was wrong. When I finally came around to trying that notion, it was like hitting the jackpot; everything just fell into place. My advice to other constructors: look hard for natural symmetry and focus on variations that don't fight the fill process.

PETE: This was Joe and my fourth collaboration out of nine (and counting?). I think it was my favorite, along with our first (Sunday, August 3, 2008). Our early collaborations usually arose from me coming up with a crazy idea, getting stymied trying to construct a grid, then throwing the grid at Joe and begging him to finish it. Joe never backed down from a challenge — even if it did result in hours of teeth-gnashing and hair-pulling. I'm especially proud that this puzzle landed in "Will Shortz Picks His Favorite Puzzles".

1
H
2
A
3
M
4
L
5
E
6
T
7
D
8
E
9
I
10
S
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T
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S
13
P
O
S
T
U
R
E
14
R
E
S
O
R
T
15
S
16
I
N
T
A
I
L
S
17
A
L
L
R
I
S
E
18
C
O
O
P
S
19
T
20
A
W
21
A
B
B
I
E
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A
R
L
O
23
F
S
L
I
24
C
25
S
U
M
P
26
R
E
A
27
A
L
I
E
N
O
28
R
29
T
O
E
30
D
E
T
31
O
N
A
T
E
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L
E
33
G
E
N
D
34
P
E
T
E
35
R
O
S
E
36
H
37
I
38
T
S
A
T
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M
O
R
E
L
40
A
41
N
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D
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E
O
E
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R
A
45
R
E
B
I
T
46
I
E
R
47
A
D
M
48
S
49
X
E
N
O
N
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A
L
A
E
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P
I
P
E
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T
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C
U
T
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I
G
E
T
A
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E
D
U
A
R
56
D
O
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I
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G
N
O
R
E
D
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D
E
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E
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C
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S
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S
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D
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S
L
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A
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S
© 2009, The New York Times6/4/9 ( No. 21,758 )
Across
1
Source of the line "Frailty, thy name is woman!" : HAMLET
7
Some believers : DEISTS
13
Poor thing about a slouch : POSTURE
14
Vacation destinations : RESORTS
16
Dressed for a white-tie affair : INTAILS
17
Order in the court : ALLRISE
18
Some urban digs : COOPS
19
Shooter on the playground : TAW
21
Old Al Capp strip "___ an' Slats" : ABBIE
22
He preceded Joan at Woodstock : ARLO
23
Former org. protecting depositors : FSLIC
25
Water collector : SUMP
26
Mens ___ (criminal intent) : REA
27
One who is no longer entitled : ALIENOR
29
Golf club part : TOE
30
Set off, in a big way : DETONATE
32
Bigger-than-life persona : LEGEND
34
With 35-Across, one who has done the circled things, combined, more often than any other major-league player : PETE
35
See 34-Across : ROSE
36
Attempts to strike : HITSAT
39
Georgia birthplace of Erskine Caldwell : MORELAND
43
Want ad abbr. : EOE
44
Cheese dish : RAREBIT
46
Hotel addition? : IER
47
U.S.N. brass: Abbr. : ADMS
49
Photographic flash gas : XENON
50
Latin wings : ALAE
51
Lab tube : PIPET
53
Action stopper : CUT
54
"Can ___ Witness" (Marvin Gaye hit) : IGETA
55
___ Sánchez, co-director of "The Blair Witch Project" : EDUARDO
57
Turned a blind eye toward : IGNORED
59
Last of the French? : DERNIER
60
Lemonlike fruit : CITRONS
61
Spoke rudely to : SASSED
62
Classic brand of liniment : SLOANS
Down
1
Mother, on the second Sunday in May : HONOREE
2
Whence Elaine, in Arthurian lore : ASTOLAT
3
Highest peak in the Philippines: Abbr. : MTAPO
4
Baseball All-Star Tiant : LUIS
5
Goethe's "The ___-King" : ERL
6
Where to take an exam : TESTSITE
7
Attract : DRAWIN
8
Fish that may be caught in a cage : EEL
9
Puerto Rico, por ejemplo : ISLA
10
Gathers on a surface, chemically : SORBS
11
Reason for a medley, perhaps : TRIBUTE
12
Apostle called "the Zealot" : STSIMON
13
Enterprise-D captain : PICARD
15
Permeated, with "into" : SEEPED
20
On the safe side : ALEE
23
Political proposal from some conservatives : FLATTAX
24
Fill, as with a crayon : COLORIN
27
Lend ___ : ANEAR
28
Kind of button : RESET
31
Special ___ : OPS
33
Breast enlargement material : GEL
35
Branch of technology : ROBOTICS
36
Like some spoonfuls : HEAPED
37
Salt add-ins : IODIDES
38
Japanese restaurant offering : TEMPURA
39
Restaurant offering : MENU
40
Bank controller : AILERON
41
Tidies : NEATENS
42
Rastafarian's do, for short : DREADS
45
34 & 35-Across's 4,256 career hits, e.g. : RECORD
48
Penn and others : SEANS
50
Pythagoras' square : AGORA
52
Speaker of the diamond : TRIS
54
Digging : INTO
56
Near failure : DEE
58
Apt name for an ichthyologist? : GIL

Answer summary:
2 unique to this puzzle, 3 debuted here and reused later, 3 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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