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J U L Y  1 9 9 9

Puzzler The June Puzzler
by Cox and Rathvon


Family Reunion
Previous Puzzlers:

  • "Mismatches"
    June, 1999
  • "Lawbreakers"
    May, 1999
  • "Mystery Box"
    April, 1999
  • "Hide and Seek"
    March, 1999
  • "Central Square"
    February, 1999
  • "Cross-Training"
    January, 1999
  • "Criss-Crossing"
    December, 1998
  • "Back in the Labyrinth"
    November, 1998
  • "Rite of Passage"
    October, 1998
  • "Service With a Smile"
    September, 1998
  • "In Common"
    August, 1998
  • "Nine-Hole Course"
    July, 1998
  • "Guidelines"
    June, 1998
  • "Picnic"
    May, 1998
  • "Three-Ring Circus"
    April, 1998
  • "Marching Orders"
    March, 1998
  • "Step by Step"
    February, 1998
  • "Celebrating the First"
    January, 1998
  • "Cryptacrostic"
    December, 1997
  • "Chessboard"
    November, 1997
  • "Haunted House"
    October, 1997
  • "Double-Crossers"
    September, 1997
  • "Scoreboard"
    August, 1997
  • "Celebrating the Fourth"
    July, 1997
  • "Fortune Cookies"
    June, 1997
  • "Slide Show"
    May, 1997

    		•  THIS puzzle brings together a certain family, which will occupy all the squares in the grid that are divided by slanted lines. Each of these squares accommodates two letters -- one from an Across entry (which should be entered below the slanted line) and one from a Down entry (which should be entered above it). Some divided squares receive only one letter from a clue answer (going either across or down). The missing letters, which must be deduced, complete the family and, when read column by column from left to right and from top to bottom, also identify it. Starting squares are indicated by their letter coordinates. If bars were shown, they would form a pattern that would be the same when rotated 180 degrees. Nine clue answers are capitalized; others include two colloquialisms, a combining form, and a common French word.

    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.

    Clues

    Across
    al. Antiterrorist team hit quickly (4)
    ap. A heap of mulch spread around yard (6)
    bl. Let's go on either side of lodge with a brownish color (8)
    bu. What hungry chickens do with part of a bushel (4)
    cl. Punk cut Ray, a worker at an insurance company (7)
    ct. Crazy Rod is back as a starter (5)
    dl. Standard article for invader of England (6)
    ds. Sister embraces business grad with pride in Africa? (6)
    ep. Playing Handel, I took a breath (7)
    fl. Rouse a woman with a male doll (6)
    fs. Reviewed show about right and left spirals (6)
    gn. Swing and bop with one having built-in copper bath (7)
    hl. Zhivago portrayer's nearly acute condition (6)
    hs. Doll with both ends of Q-tip in the ear (6)
    il. Calvino edited Lolita, skipping the introduction (5)
    ir. Left former prisoner in possession of one reference book (7)
    jl. Leave cheese sandwiches with French (4)
    jq. Shift V Eight at the start into second (8)
    ko. Spiritual following Democratic banquet (6)
    ku. Oral exercise for members of the flock (4)

    Down
    la. Humble footwear worn by country's leader in disgrace (7)
    lh. Old Asian land sleeps at last an hour after midnight? (4)
    ma. Koresh, principally, in Texas town! (5)
    mf. A tiny puss playing with big, strong dogs (6)
    ne. True indignation about a bird (7)
    oa. So sneaky, going behind dilapidated hut (6)
    pa. Parrot beginning to mimic a raven's cry (5)
    pg. Clouds printed across denim bib (5)
    qf. Fiery immortal from California involved in UNLV upset (6)
    ra. Assembly on a fifth of vodka found in tampered-with cocoa tin (11)
    sa. Prime food coloring put back into livestock feed (6)
    ta. A minor taken in by Los Angeles bloodsucker (5)
    tg. Dole, Republican, beat pattern (5)
    uf. With regard to consuming a French wine, gorge (6)
    va. Bread is scattered for gull, perhaps (7)
    wa. Russian city OKs AM broadcast about victory (6)
    wg. Underground figure in grand gold-rush town (5)
    xa. Some runners in sprints kiss (4)
    xe. Rises in discussion, and agrees (7)

    Copyright © 1999 by The Atlantic Monthly Company. All rights reserved.
    The Atlantic Monthly; July 1999; The Puzzler - 99.07; Volume 284, No. 1; page 99.