6.26.2011

06.26 Sun (calendar)

S U N D A Y
June 26, 2011 (calendar)
Merl Reagle


[Note: This is the puzzle that appears in the Sunday L.A. Times newspaper. If you don't get the paper, you can find the puzzle here. Scroll down to see today's syndicated puzzle.]


Theme: "Pattern Recognition" — There's something unusual about all the V's in the puzzle. Apparently the mystery will be revealed to us next week.

Theme answers:

  • 27A: Start of a query (WHAT'S UNUSUAL ABOUT).
  • 60A: Query, Part 2 (THE LOCATIONS OF ALL OF).
  • 94A: End of the query (THE V'S IN THIS PUZZLE).
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Everything Else 1A: Member of the Addams family? (CHAS); 5A: Ones with war stories (VETS); 9A: Old CIA foe (KGB); 12A: Work on successfully (SOLVE); 17A: Enticed (LURED); 19A: Nymph who loved her own voice (ECHO); 20A: Scatter's first name (ELLA); 22A: Actor Diffring or Walbrook (ANTON); 23A: Flexible (AGILE); 24A: Tennessee's state flower (IRIS); 25A: Wiener schnitzel need (VEAL); 26A: Not phony (LEGIT); 31A: Crowd's cry (OLÉ); 32A: Numbers on letters (ZIPS); 33A: Flair (ELAN); 34A: Pitchfork-shaped letter (PSI); 35A: Abbr. for emeu or iglu (VAR.); 36A: Tightfisted types (MISERS); 39A: Star on the horizon? (COMER); 41A: Toe-shoe jumps (JETÉS); 43A: Luciano's love (AMORE); 44A: Deals (with) (COPES); 45A: Pertaining to a king's deputy (VICE REGAL); 49A: Tries to ease, as an ache (RUBS); 50A: Plug-in Chevy (VOLT); 51A: Not phony (VALID); 52A: Do-it-yourself maven Bob (VILA); 53A: Corp. bigwigs (VP'S); 54A: Photo IDs (VISAS); 55A: View through a pay telescope (VISTA); 56A: Sun screen? (VISOR); 57A: Having feathers, as an arrow (VANED); 58A: Disgusting (VILE); 59A: Catherine's role in "Chicago" et al. (VELMAS); 65A: Says out loud (VOICES); 66A: Norman's place: abbr. (OKLA.); 67A: Squiggle over an "n" (TILDE); 68A: Helps, as a fugitive (ABETS); 69A: Whips up (MAKES); 71A: Item that's fit for a king? (SHEET); 72A: "Real Time with Bill Maher" night: abbr. (FRI.); 75A: Dodgers' spring training city for 59 years, ___ Beach, Fla. (VERO); 76A: Pie-in-the-face comic (SALES); 77A: Bombard (PELT); 78A: Custard creation (FLAN); 79A: Worship (ADORATION); 81A: Collection of directors (BOARD); 83A: Bite at the ballpark (FRANK); 84A: Hopeful list (SLATE); 85A: Rises to breathe, as a whale (VENTS); 86A: Writer de Tocqueville (ALEXIS); 87A: Copier nuisance (JAM); 90A: Abbr. after Acre (ISR.); 91A: On the ocean blue (ASEA); 92A: "Truer words were never spoken" (AMEN); 93A: "___ combination thereof" (OR A); 101A: Go nuts, as a crowd (ERUPT); 103A: Shoot!" (DANG); 104A: Countless centuries (EONS); 105A: Painkiller withdrawn in 2004 (VIOXX); 106A: Sing like an Austrian, maybe (YODEL); 107A: British gun of WWII (STEN); 108A: Pooch in pictures (ASTA); 109A: Oddly familiar (EERIE); 110A: Nobel, for one (SWEDE); 111A: Grads-to-be, briefly (SRS.); 112A: Count (on) (RELY); 113A: Roast setting? (DAIS); 1D: Hammer part (CLAW); 2D: "House" star's first name (HUGH); 3D: Solo selection (ARIA); 4D: Club sodas (SELTZERS); 5D: Thin blue lines, maybe (VEINS); 6D: Stationery shade (ECRU); 7D: "I was ___ close ..." (THIS); 8D: "I was wrong. What can I say?" ("SO SUE ME"); 9D: Bulletproof vest material (KEVLAR); 10D: Find out, in a way (GLEAN); 11D: Tell (BLAB); 12D: More R-rated, as dialogue (SALTIER); 13D: Part that starts (ONE); 14D: Statehouse equiv. of a backup QB (LT. GOV.); 15D: Kin of "presto!" (VOILÀ); 16D: ATM button (ENTER); 18D: U2 hit of 1988 (DESIRE); 21D: Baldness (ALOPECIA); 28D: Increases (UPS); 29D: Tall orders, maybe (ALES); 30D: Spanish pronoun (USTED); 36D: Sportscaster Albert (MARV); 37D: Late riser's "all right already!" ("I'M UP!"); 38D: Cries out loud (SOBS); 39D: Piña ___ (COLADA); 40D: Chooses (OPTS); 41D: Abandon before I do? (JILT); 42D: Barber's setting (SEVILLE); 44D: Trig function, briefly (COSEC); 45D: Bouquet holders (VASES); 46D: Thingamajig's other spelling (GISMO); 47D: "Half ___ is better ..." (A LOAF); 48D: Scandinavian name (LARS); 50D: Trattoria quaffs (VINOS); 51D: Lithuania's capital (VILNA); 54D: Lowlands, to poets (VALES); 55D: Bass ___ (VIOLS); 56D: Grassy plain, in Africa (VELDT); 57D: Flight paths (VECTORS); 58D: Minnesota pros, briefly (VIKES); 59D: Parker at the hotel (VALET); 60D: Go ___ (turn in) (TO BED); 61D: Glyph opening (HIERO); 62D: Subway slug (TOKEN); 63D: Rest of the group (OTHERS); 64D: Area of expertise (FIELD); 65D: "Voom" preceder (VA-VA); 69D: Restaurant VIPs (MAÎTRE D'S); 70D: Health-food-store phone greeting? (ALOE); 71D: Knockdown, drag-out's opposite (SPAT); 72D: Raw material for Rumpelstiltskin (FLAX); 73D: Royal that sounds like a boy's name (RANI); 74D: Contents of some cartridges (INKS); 76D: Secret supply (STASH); 78D: Wild (FRENZIED); 80D: Somewhat (A LITTLE); 81D: "___ waiting long?" (BEEN); 82D: Out of control (ON A TEAR); 83D: River to the sea, in French (FLEUVE); 85D: Winning gestures (V-SIGNS); 86D: Item with a treble knob (AMP); 87D: Young hoppers (JOEYS); 88D: Traffic light feature (ARROW); 89D: Brassy role for Bea (MAUDE); 91D: Voice actor in "Up" (ASNER); 92D: Analyze, as ore (ASSAY); 95D: Cousins of tanks (VATS); 96D: Engine conduit (HOSE); 97D: Wd. in many airport names (INTL.); 98D: Author ___ Neale Hurston (ZORA); 99D: Total days in July and August, to Caesar (LXII); 100D: Old flames (EXES); 102D: Bi or mo ending (-PED).

11 comments:

Mokus said...

Anybody there? Anybody? I enjoyed this puzzle a lot and had to chuckle near the end. I spent a while studying a list of French rivers only to realize from crosses that I should have been looking for a French word. C'est la vie!

My best guess is that what is unusual is that all of the Vs start a word or, in many cases, two words. If there's more to it than that I hope someone will explain.

My thanks to Merl Reagle for a terrific puzzle.

CoffeeLvr said...

I am still a bit unsure what is so special about the V's. @Mokus is right, of course, but that explanation is unsatisfying to me. I had hoped that seeing them all highlighted, as PG did in pink, would reveal a pattern.

Pretty good Sunday puzzle. I did it Friday night, so don't remember a lot about the solve. I had lsTS before VATS, thinking military tanks instead of wine making.

JIMMIE said...

I also notice that every V is on a block with a 5 in it, and every block with a 5 has a V in it. But what means V5 or 5V?


Great Puzzle Merl, and thanks PG.

JIMMIE said...

And V is Roman for 5, so maybe that's the connection: all 5s have Vs and vv.

Ayush Patel said...

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Sandala said...

In addition to Jimmies theory, the word FIVE has a V in it

Sandala said...

Oh, and one more idea: V is the fifth letter from the end of the alphabet.

merlbaby said...

yes, you've essentially got it -- since V is 5 in roman numerals, every square that contains a numeral 5 has a V in it. --m.r.

Anonymous said...

Take the odd prime numbers (1,3,5,7,9,11,13,17,19 and 21). Multiply any of them by 5, and there will be a V in that position in the puzzle. In addition, all squares 50 through 59 also contain V (without double counting 5*11)

Anonymous said...

Oops. I know 9 isn't a prime! So it's 3 squared. I'm not really happy about this mixture of primes (but not 2), 1 squared & 3 squared (but not 2 or 4 squared), and all the 50s. That's a really strange explanation for the pattern. Anyone got better idea?

Anonymous said...

Wow, such mistakes I made... I should have thought back to high school 60 years ago before my first post! The solution is still not elegant, though: V occurs at squares whose value is 5 *
- odd primes (1,3,5,7,11,13,17,19)
- 3*3, 3*5, and 3*7
- and numbers 50 through 59