The Puzzler

by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

Honeycomb

Evidently this comb of 37 hexagons was made by a spelling bee, for each cell contains a letter, and around each numbered cell a six-letter word is spelled out clockwise or counterclockwise. The 24 unchecked border cells, reading clockwise from a cell to be determined by the solver, will spell out a complete cryptic clue to hexagon No. 37. Answers include two proper nouns and a prefix; 1 is an alternate spelling; 9 has a common root but is not in frequent use (at least not in our neck of the woods).

The solution to last month’s Puzzler appears on page 105.

Clues

1. Coins that have Abraham Lincoln engraved right on their faces

2. Praise cook while eating bit of lunch

3. Pure heroin copped by group of Indians

4. Westerner cut a hand getting a trim

5. Father heartlessly nabs vamps

6. Flower raised in row

7. Daze brought about by bender, from the sound of it

8. Andre’s broken shop tool

9. Squirrelly TN duet went acorngathering

10. Wise guys used strokes by ones?

11. “Private I” turned snide

12. Make dock less sharp

13. Love packaging of the Spanish eats

14.Baseball stats editor deleted

15 Refined the ore with a different start?

16 Article carried by little backtracking pack animals

17. Surrounded by a fog outside of Denver’s capital

18. Refrained from using short cut

19. Green forest area that’s cultivated

20. Liane’s sick of sodium chloride

21. Cupid: a lady lacking ethical standards

22. In Greek poet’s embrace, I will be more comfortable

23. A tree’s marred with a girl’s name

24. Peg interrupts series of songs performed with piano

25. Spot a General Electric system of ducts

26. Confesses about the termination of George Burns?

27. Smart person collects one large amount of grain

28. In wizard’s place, sorcerer made a picture

29. Smoother, but coarser-sounding

30. Columbian ship carrying a Spanish bundle of toys

31. Blemish right in Superman’s first cape

32. Wearing green, a pet

33. Governor, e.g., swallowed by fissure

34. One who schedules Christian in films

35. Provide oxygen to alien region the wrong way

36. Gait of someone with a negative attitude?

Note: The instructions above are for this month’s puzzle only. It is assumed that you know how to decipher clues. For a complete introduction to clue-solving, send an addressed, stamped long envelope to The Atlantic Puzzler, 745 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 02116.

ANSWERS TO THE JULY PUZZLER

“Patchwork”

Threads. a. REQUITALS (anag.) b. TRAPE(ZO + I)D (rev.) c. S(A + X + OP)HONE d. BRA(IN + WAS) + HE’D e. FLORET (anag.) f. PAGE + ANTS g. M(YRIA)DS (airy rev.) h. SECOND (double def.) i. WI(E)LDER j. F + LITTER k. AL(BUM)INS (nails anag.) l. JO(US)TS m. HAMME(RHEA)D n. Z + ITHERIST (thirties anag.) o. COC(APT)AIN(e) p. V(AN)ILLA q. BL + EN(D)IN (rev.) r. FRA(G-MEN)TS Patches. 1. TOUCHDOWN (Spoonerism of Dutch town) 2. FIR + MAME(N)T 3. JET + TI(SO)NS 4. T + HUMBLES + 5. AS + P + HALTED 6. I + CELANDER (homophone of slander) 7. CAV(ALI)ERS 8. BR(AZIL)IAN (Liza rev.) 9. EASTWARDS (a steward’s with e moved to front) 10. FOR(MALI)TY 11. END + ANGER’S 12. PHI + LANDER (hip anag.) 13. P(AT + HOG)ENS 14. FIN + A + LIZ + ED 15. PR(OX)IMATE 16. SO + BRIQUET