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New York Times, Thursday, January 5, 2006

Author:
Victor Fleming
Editor:
Will Shortz
9-Down : The doctor in "Daktari"
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
473/29/200512/29/202125
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
75107666
CircleScrabDebutFresh
21.5522358%
Victor Fleming

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 16 Words: 75, Blocks: 38 Missing: {JXZ} Spans: 2 This is puzzle # 4 for Mr. Fleming. Thursday freshness: 88%
Victor Fleming notes:

Fifty-one weeks before this puzzle was published, I submitted it to Will. The transmittal note saved in my computer files doesn't reflect this, but I am pretty sure I hand-wrote a P.S., in which I pointed out that the substance of Wilde's quotation was perfect for a puzzle that broke with the 15x15 conventional grid.

Getting quip puzzles accepted at the Times is tough. Always has been. Always will be. There has to be something above-and-beyond about the quip, other than that it's never before been in a puzzle. I suspect the only reason this Wilde quote had never been in a puzzle is that the constructor simply has to go with a 16-block-wide grid for the 16-12-16 parsing. The quip parses at 13-3-12-3-13, but in that configuration, both of the 3's are the word THE.

I could be wrong. There may be other ways to do this quip, via something other than a traditional symmetrical grid. I was just lucky enough to be the one to submit a puzzle at a time when Will had decided to accept some 16-wides.

1
O
2
S
3
C
4
A
5
R
6
F
7
L
8
I
9
T
10
S
11
R
12
I
13
M
14
S
15
R
O
L
L
O
16
A
U
D
R
A
17
U
N
I
T
18
A
L
I
A
S
19
S
T
O
A
T
20
M
I
C
R
21
C
O
N
S
I
22
S
T
E
N
C
Y
23
I
S
T
H
E
24
L
E
G
25
E
P
S
26
T
Y
R
A
27
S
A
E
28
E
D
Y
29
S
30
U
T
31
A
32
G
33
R
E
E
T
34
M
35
A
R
A
C
36
A
37
S
38
R
I
L
L
S
39
L
A
S
T
R
E
F
U
40
G
E
O
F
41
S
42
N
A
R
K
43
T
R
I
P
L
E
T
44
P
O
U
T
S
45
T
E
E
46
S
47
T
48
D
49
S
50
I
S
R
51
I
52
R
53
A
54
Q
55
R
A
56
L
57
R
E
T
58
T
H
E
59
U
N
I
M
A
60
G
I
N
A
61
T
I
V
E
62
T
I
A
S
63
M
I
N
E
O
64
L
A
B
O
R
65
E
R
T
E
66
E
N
D
E
R
67
A
M
A
I
N
68
R
T
E
S
69
S
O
A
K
S
70
W
I
L
D
E
© 2006, The New York Times1/5/6 ( No. 20,512 )
Across
1
With 70-Across, source of the quip at 21-, 39- and 58-Across : OSCAR
6
Travels erratically : FLITS
11
They're missed by airballs : RIMS
15
Nancy's wealthy pal in the comics : ROLLO
16
Actress Lindley of "Three's Company" : AUDRA
17
Condo, e.g. : UNIT
18
Identity hider : ALIAS
19
Brown-coated ermine : STOAT
20
Little: Prefix : MICR
21
Start of a quip : CONSISTENCYISTHE
24
Cramp site : LEG
25
Mini-albums, for short : EPS
26
Banks on a runway : TYRA
27
Ed.'s request : SAE
28
Popular ice cream : EDYS
30
Tony-winning Hagen : UTA
32
Say "aloha," say : GREET
34
A pair of rattlers : MARACAS
38
Tiny channels : RILLS
39
Quip, part 2 : LASTREFUGEOF
41
Lewis Carroll creature : SNARK
43
Part of a rare birth : TRIPLET
44
Thrusts out a lip or two : POUTS
45
Where a drive might start : TEE
46
Criteria: Abbr. : STDS
50
Syr. neighbor : ISR
51
Country whose flag says "God is great" : IRAQ
55
N.C.'s capital : RAL
57
Abbr. after many a general's name : RET
58
End of the quip : THEUNIMAGINATIVE
62
Padre's hermanas : TIAS
63
He played Krupa in "The Gene Krupa Story" : MINEO
64
Management counterpart : LABOR
65
Art Deco alias : ERTE
66
Rear-___ : ENDER
67
With a full head of steam : AMAIN
68
U.P.S. drivers have them : RTES
69
Tosspots : SOAKS
70
See 1-Across : WILDE
Down
1
Revered answerer : ORACLE
2
Did an aria : SOLOED
3
Like sheets right out of a dryer : CLINGY
4
"How sad!" : ALAS
5
Actress Perez : ROSIE
6
What a pace horse is noted for : FASTSTART
7
It has strings attached : LUTE
8
"___ get it!" : IDONT
9
The doctor in "Daktari" : TRACY
10
Debaucher : SATYR
11
Jamaican spirits : RUMS
12
Per se : INITSELF
13
One of the archangels : MICHAEL
14
Ordinal numbers in Los Angeles, e.g. : STREETS
22
Sudden growth : SPURT
23
"No argument here" : IAGREE
29
On the ball : SMART
31
Service expert? : ACER
33
Ugly scenes : RIOTS
35
Warmly welcomes : ASKSIN
36
In ___ of anger : AFIT
37
Higher-ups : SUPERIORS
39
Achievement honoree : LAUREATE
40
Collect slowly : GLEAN
41
Camel, notably : SPITTER
42
Start of a warning sign for restaurant customers : NOSHIRT
47
Like some elders : TRIBAL
48
Without, with "of" : DEVOID
49
Laurence who wrote "A Sentimental Journey" : STERNE
52
Winter coats : RIMES
53
Kind of group, in chemistry : AMINO
54
Speaker's finale : QANDA
56
1980's-90's Emmy-winning drama : LALAW
59
Takes advantage of : USES
60
Uncool sort : GEEK
61
Suspense novelist ___ Hoag : TAMI

Answer summary:
4 unique to this puzzle, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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