Games

Two different games are being played in this puzzle, but they go by the same name. The unclued central Across entry supplies this name and explains why some answers appear disordered in the diagram and others seem not to fit their allotted spots. Eight answers are capitalized; 3 Down is uncommon but made of common parts; and 4 Down is a variant.

The instructions above are for this month's puzzle only. See a complete introduction to clue-solving.

See the solution to last month's Puzzler.

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1. Little pieces trimmed in the ear for couples (8)

7. Derby jockey mopes (5)

11. Eager, right before a call (6)

12. Oscar-winning director does a shot around 2:00 (8)

13. Let loose emotions in episode, losing head (4)

14. Contemptible fellow's second-rate match? (8)

15. Here in Orleans, East Street is worst in winter (6)

18. Eccentric returns and keeps wandering in adventure (7-2)

19. Sheds around ocean shores (6)

21. Addict I put in ward (5)

24. Have plenty, as crops in one spring (6)

25. Look pleased, and leave with unloved Yank (6)

27. Dish whipped up in summer in Guernica (8)

30. Squat on ground with interpreter for the Pilgrims (7)

31. Record one's mannerisms in procedural planning (9)

32. Stake through the heart of Romanian teenager (4)

33. Criminal investigators love getting into tight spots (8)

34. Going public with a piece of Indian jewelry (6)

35. Full-length garment worn by chief of Nootka island kingdom (5)

36. Not exactly quick steed and buggy carrying second in command (5-4)

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1. Halfway over in nobleman's territory (8)

2. Qualities of a satiric writer that is in chains (7)

3. Blend one hue with another, entering it mixed (10)

4. First-rate model legged it (4-4)

5. Control some of the weather by speaking? (4)

6. Decline article's author and astronomer (5)

8. Leaves carrying one of the NY Giants' greatest stews (8)

9. Tiring amid wrong official ceremony (8-2)

10. In the 1960s, stylish and radical knight (6)

16. Getting up for shellfish on Northern strait (10)

17. Disorderly duo sparring with jailer of a sort (6,5)

20. Wandering centaurs from an old part of Italy (8)

22. Teenager's punishment after first going in circles (8)

23. Have designs in nary a computer game company (8)

26. Farm in grand mountain chain (6)

27. Leaders of marches usually like capering—that's fine (5)

28. Alternatively, a high point's speakers (7)

29. Wet vapor includes oxygen (5)