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ARTFUL THINKING

New York Times, Sunday, July 21, 2013

Author:
Tracy Bennett
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
34-Down : What Morehouse College lacks
TotalDebutLatest
67/21/201312/3/2023
SunMonTueWedThuFriSatVariety
20101101
ScrabDebutFresh
1.574079%
Tracy Bennett

This puzzle:

Rows: 21, Columns: 21 Words: 140, Blocks: 70 Missing: none – this is a pangram. Puzzle has duplicate clues. This is the debut puzzle for Ms. Bennett. Sunday freshness: 57%
Tracy Bennett notes:

My favorite puzzles to solve are those with punny themes like those by Merl Reagle. The phrase FEET OF KLEE came to me, and though it didn't make the grid, it started the wheels turning. First I identified reasonably familiar names of artists that would lend themselves to punning. Eventually I pared the list down to only painters. The phrases played on had to be solidly in the language, especially as I'd be offering puns that were not quite sound-alikes (groaners). For a while I wanted only musical phrases, but there weren't enough for a Sunday grid.

The original cluing scheme featured a reference to the artist's period or style while giving a nod to the original sense of the underlying phrase. These clues weren't consistently clever — some were good, some were strained — and they weren't unified as a set. Will reworked the clues, making them more coherent stylistically and more accessible to solvers unfamiliar with the periods/styles of the artists.

My mentor, Vic Fleming, found a discouraging number of weak entries in the first fill I came up with; I reconfigured the entries and moved blocks until I got better fill. Will tweaked the opening NW corner, which happily provided the letters needed for a pangram. This was my debut puzzle for the Times. I studied every editorial change like it was a koan. I aim to make increasingly refined puzzles that are reliably well-conceived and well-clued. Still learning.

1
J
2
I
3
N
4
X
5
P
6
A
7
R
8
C
9
A
10
G
11
H
12
A
13
S
14
T
15
H
16
E
17
N
18
S
19
A
M
O
K
20
A
M
O
R
21
M
E
A
G
E
R
22
E
V
I
L
23
W
A
D
E
24
I
N
T
H
E
25
W
A
T
T
E
A
U
26
R
I
T
E
27
A
X
E
28
R
I
O
29
D
E
J
A
30
O
M
E
31
L
E
T
T
E
32
P
33
E
R
C
O
34
C
E
T
35
T
36
E
L
S
37
A
W
A
I
T
38
U
39
N
O
S
40
O
N
B
41
O
A
R
D
42
V
I
E
43
T
I
S
T
44
H
45
E
46
C
E
Z
A
N
N
E
47
P
E
N
G
48
U
49
I
50
N
51
A
N
I
52
O
N
A
D
A
R
E
53
D
E
T
54
A
N
N
E
55
H
O
T
56
S
P
O
T
S
57
T
58
E
59
E
U
P
60
L
U
G
A
R
61
M
A
S
C
62
B
63
O
O
D
L
E
S
64
A
G
E
N
T
65
A
66
S
67
S
O
C
68
H
69
E
L
L
O
D
A
L
I
70
C
U
R
E
S
71
S
H
A
K
A
72
A
Q
U
A
M
A
N
73
C
74
I
T
I
75
C
A
L
E
B
76
B
U
E
N
A
77
P
O
L
A
N
78
S
79
K
80
I
81
A
L
M
A
82
S
U
I
83
N
84
O
85
B
A
L
L
S
86
P
E
N
87
P
L
A
N
88
E
T
S
89
Q
90
U
E
S
E
R
A
S
E
91
U
R
A
T
92
D
Y
E
93
M
U
S
T
S
E
E
94
F
I
N
S
95
S
96
H
97
A
M
E
98
N
A
M
E
99
I
S
E
100
A
101
S
102
Y
O
N
103
P
A
K
I
S
104
T
A
N
105
R
106
A
F
T
107
L
I
E
108
K
109
I
110
A
111
I
T
E
R
112
W
I
T
113
H
F
L
Y
I
114
N
G
K
A
115
H
L
O
S
116
T
H
E
O
117
I
S
R
A
E
L
118
N
O
A
H
119
B
E
N
T
120
S
A
M
S
121
T
H
A
M
E
S
122
G
R
E
S
123
O
R
S
O
© 2013, The New York Times7/21/13 ( No. 23,266 )
Across
1
Whammy : JINX
5
Where les enfants might play : PARC
9
Rendered speechless : AGHAST
15
Female lobsters : HENS
19
Every which way : AMOK
20
Subject for a mariachi band : AMOR
21
Insubstantial : MEAGER
22
Like Voldemort : EVIL
23
Artist's favorite spiritual? : WADEINTHEWATTEAU
26
Ablution, e.g. : RITE
27
Firefighter's need, maybe : AXE
28
Summer Olympics host after London : RIO
29
___ vu : DEJA
30
Food item a cook might flip : OMELETTE
32
Prescription pain medication : PERCOCET
35
Nos. in a directory : TELS
37
Look for : AWAIT
38
Several, in Seville : UNOS
40
Cool with what others are doing : ONBOARD
42
Go (for) : VIE
43
Christmas song line from an artist? : TISTHECEZANNE
47
Batman villain : PENGUIN
51
What Mississippi cheerleaders ask for a lot : ANI
52
How you might do something gross : ONADARE
53
Cagney or Lacey: Abbr. : DET
54
Daughter of James II : ANNE
55
Where there's Wi-Fi availability : HOTSPOTS
57
Get ready to drive : TEEUP
60
Former six-term senator from Indiana : LUGAR
61
More yang than yin: Abbr. : MASC
62
Monetary bribes, in slang : BOODLES
64
What a star probably has : AGENT
65
N.R.A. piece?: Abbr. : ASSOC
68
Artist's favorite Broadway musical? : HELLODALI
70
Revival meeting miracles : CURES
71
___ Zulu (warrior dubbed Africa's Napoleon) : SHAKA
72
Atlantean superhero of DC Comics : AQUAMAN
73
___ Field : CITI
75
Defrocked villain on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" : CALEB
76
Vista opener? : BUENA
77
Roman of film : POLANSKI
81
Michigan college : ALMA
82
___ generis : SUI
83
Part of an umpire's count : NOBALLS
86
Put in writing : PEN
87
Parts of an orrery : PLANETS
89
Artist's expression for "Such is life"? : QUESERASEURAT
92
Easter purchase : DYE
93
Worth all the hype, as a film : MUSTSEE
94
Snorkeling aids : FINS
95
"Tsk!" : SHAME
98
Finger : NAME
99
Cuts some slack : ISEASYON
103
"Zero Dark Thirty" locale : PAKISTAN
105
Castaway's construction : RAFT
107
Rough position? : LIE
108
Sedona maker : KIA
111
The Roman way : ITER
112
How the expert artist passed her exam? : WITHFLYINGKAHLOS
116
"The Cosby Show" boy : THEO
117
Last word in the Torah : ISRAEL
118
Rain man? : NOAH
119
Inclination : BENT
120
___ Club : SAMS
121
River that "sweats oil and tar" in T. S. Eliot's "The Waste Land" : THAMES
122
Predoctoral tests, for short : GRES
123
Approximately : ORSO
Down
1
Tatooine race in the "Star Wars" saga : JAWA
2
What's big at the movies? : IMAX
3
Like old unrecyclable bottles : NODEPOSIT
4
Certain Jaguar : XKE
5
Pre-exam feeling, maybe : PANIC
6
Playground retort : AMTOO
7
South Korea's ___ Tae Woo : ROH
8
Buffet cabinet : CREDENZA
9
Key of Schubert's "Trout" Quintet: Abbr. : AMAJ
10
Bronze : GETATAN
11
Topper : HAT
12
Ancient : AGEOLD
13
Patchwork quilts have lots of them : SEAMS
14
"Good point" : TRUE
15
Artist's line of weary resignation? : HEREWEGAUGUIN
16
"On This Night of a Thousand Stars" musical : EVITA
17
Capone's top henchman : NITTI
18
Wintry mix : SLEET
24
Flawed, as mdse. : IRR
25
Party host's convenience : WETBAR
31
Reposed : LAIN
33
"Laborare ___ orare" (Freemasons' motto) : EST
34
What Morehouse College lacks : COEDS
36
Before, poetically : ERE
38
Home of Kings Peak : UTAH
39
Little muchacho : NINO
41
What the tipsy artist had at the bar? : ONETOOMANET
42
Liz of "Garfield," e.g. : VET
44
Pay to cross town, maybe : HOPACAB
45
First chimp to orbit Earth : ENOS
46
Pay to cross town, maybe : CATCHABUS
47
Pop icon? : PEPSICOLA
48
"The Odd Couple" role : UNGER
49
Daft : INANE
50
"Phooey!" : NERTS
53
Gauntlet thrower's challenge : DUEL
56
What the artist confused people with? : SMOKEANDMIROS
58
Norse source for Loki lore : EDDA
59
Dash : ELAN
60
Dairy consumer's enzyme : LACTASE
62
Erotic : BLUE
63
Good wife in "The Good Earth" : OLAN
65
Org. protecting music copyrights : ASCAP
66
"Congress ___ make no law ..." : SHALL
67
Actress Hayek : SALMA
69
Prefix with poise : EQUI
74
Pain and suffering : ILLS
77
"Gay" capital : PAREE
78
Summer lawn sight : SPRINKLER
79
New Jersey's ___ University : KEAN
80
QB mistakes: Abbr. : INTS
82
Holy mlle. : STE
84
Turn to bone : OSSIFY
85
Apiarist's woe : BEESTING
88
Watchful ones? : EYES
89
Holy city of Iran : QUM
90
Access charge, of a sort : USERFEE
91
Debatable sighting : UFO
93
Words to live by : MANTRA
95
Blurts (out) : SPITS
96
___ yoga : HATHA
97
Arabic name meaning "wise" : AKEEM
98
J. Carrol ___, Oscar nominee for "Sahara" : NAISH
100
Phycologist's study : ALGAE
101
Some templegoers : SIKHS
102
Pro vote : YEA
104
Birdbrain : TWIT
106
"___ fair ..." : ALLS
109
Discoveries of Michael Faraday : IONS
110
Regarding : ASTO
113
Easter purchase : HAM
114
___'easter : NOR
115
"Boardwalk Empire" network : HBO

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

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