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New York Times, Monday, September 10, 2012

Author:
Andrea Carla Michaels
Editor:
Will Shortz
Blog:
15-Down : "It's ___ country!"
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
866/12/20007/8/202455
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
762122300
RebusCircleScrabDebutFresh
241.6430623%
Andrea Carla Michaels

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 78, Blocks: 42 Missing: {JXZ} Spans: 1 This is puzzle # 34 for Ms. Michaels. Monday freshness: 50%
Andrea Carla Michaels notes:

I liked coming up with different phrases around EVIL. QUEENOFMEAN and SIDVICIOUS led me to wanting them all to be people, but it was not to be.

Fretted that SOMETHINGWICKED 15 was but a partial of the full Bradbury title of SOMETHINGWICKED this way comes, but finally went with it, because the book is often referred to as SOMETHINGWICKED and it perfectly summed up the theme. Now don't be cruel...

1
F
2
A
3
R
4
C
5
E
6
A
7
P
8
E
9
S
10
S
11
A
12
M
13
A
L
T
E
R
14
N
15
A
T
I
V
E
16
A
N
O
17
Q
U
E
E
N
O
F
M
E
A
N
18
F
I
R
19
S
I
S
20
T
R
E
S
21
O
22
B
A
M
A
23
A
24
C
T
E
25
R
U
R
A
L
26
H
27
E
28
A
R
N
O
E
29
V
30
I
31
L
32
M
I
L
E
33
A
L
I
T
O
34
A
N
E
35
W
36
S
O
M
E
T
37
H
38
I
N
G
W
I
39
C
40
K
41
E
42
D
43
E
R
I
E
44
N
A
O
M
I
45
A
46
L
47
E
48
C
49
S
I
D
50
V
51
I
C
I
O
U
S
52
F
O
R
U
53
M
54
E
D
E
N
55
G
N
O
M
E
56
E
57
A
R
L
58
Q
59
B
60
S
61
H
E
T
62
D
63
O
N
T
B
E
64
C
65
R
U
E
L
66
A
L
I
67
I
N
D
I
S
R
E
P
A
I
R
68
N
Y
C
69
C
O
S
T
70
O
M
I
T
S
© 2012, The New York Times9/10/12 ( No. 22,952 )
Across
1
Outrageous comedy : FARCE
6
Big galoots : APES
10
"Play It Again, ___" : SAM
13
Plan B : ALTERNATIVE
16
"I'll take that as ___" : ANO
17
Leona Helmsley epithet : QUEENOFMEAN
18
Tree with needles : FIR
19
Bro's sibling : SIS
20
Uno y dos : TRES
21
Quayle : Bush :: Biden : ___ : OBAMA
23
Entr'___ (musical interlude) : ACTE
25
Urban's opposite : RURAL
26
Words under a monkey with his hands over his ears : HEARNOEVIL
32
Go the extra ___ : MILE
33
Samuel on the Supreme Court : ALITO
34
Again from the top : ANEW
36
Start of a Ray Bradbury title ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 26-, 49- and 62-Across : SOMETHINGWICKED
43
New York State's ___ Canal : ERIE
44
Supermodel Campbell : NAOMI
45
Frequent "S.N.L." host Baldwin : ALEC
49
One of the Sex Pistols : SIDVICIOUS
52
A funny thing happened on the way to this, in an old musical : FORUM
54
Utopia : EDEN
55
Little guy in the garden : GNOME
56
Rank below a marquis : EARL
58
Football passers, for short : QBS
61
All ___ up (agitated) : HET
62
1956 #1 Elvis hit : DONTBECRUEL
66
"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee" boxer : ALI
67
Falling apart : INDISREPAIR
68
Big Apple inits. : NYC
69
Price : COST
70
Fails to mention : OMITS
Down
1
Queries on the Internet, for short : FAQS
2
His: Fr. : ALUI
3
Blvds. and rds. : RTES
4
Not-so-impressive grade : CEE
5
Suffix with north or south : ERN
6
"Stop staring ___!" : ATME
7
Slapstick props : PIES
8
One of the Gabors : EVA
9
Mister in Mexico : SENOR
10
African hunt : SAFARI
11
Zebra or zebu : ANIMAL
12
Esprit de corps : MORALE
14
"What's ___ like?" : NOTTO
15
"It's ___ country!" : AFREE
22
Mooch, as a cigarette : BUM
23
Johnson who said "Ver-r-r-ry interesting!" : ARTE
24
Bill worth 100 smackers : CNOTE
26
Possesses : HAS
27
"Don't Bring Me Down" rock group, for short : ELO
28
Order between "ready" and "fire" : AIM
29
Equipped with sails, as a windmill : VANED
30
Gerund suffix : ING
31
___ Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's birth name) : LEW
35
Look that may accompany a groan : WINCE
37
Mins. and mins. : HRS
38
Jr.'s junior : III
39
Brother of Abel : CAIN
40
"Kitchy-kitchy-___!" : KOO
41
Aussie bird : EMU
42
Run down, in slang : DIS
45
Kabul native : AFGHAN
46
Feeling friendless : LONELY
47
XXX-rated : EROTIC
48
Summa ___ laude : CUM
50
Words after nouns : VERBS
51
Do-nothing : IDLER
53
Combat doc : MEDIC
56
Terminates : ENDS
57
Going ___ tooth and nail : ATIT
58
Paris's ___ d'Orsay : QUAI
59
"___ ever so humble ..." : BEIT
60
Some cameras, for short : SLRS
63
Singer Yoko : ONO
64
Corp. bigwig : CEO
65
33 1/3, 45 or 78, briefly : RPM

Answer summary:
2 unique to this puzzle, 1 debuted here and reused later, 1 unique to Modern Era but used previously.

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