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Wordplay
WEDNESDAY PUZZLE — Word ladders are fun puzzles where you change one letter at a time to make new words until you get to your “destination” word. Today, David J. Kahn hones our solving skills by not making a point, at least in the beginning.
There are nine starred clues in Mr. Kahn’s puzzle, and each one hints at a word in the ladder. You might miss the fact that it’s a ladder if you don’t start at 1A, which is generously clued as “*Not pointed … and the start of an eight-step word ladder.” The answer is BLUNT. And just so you can see the one-rung-at-a-time changes, here is the entire ladder:
BLUNT
BLURT
BLART (It helps to be up on your mall movies for this one.)
BLARE
BLADE
SLADE
SHADE
SHARE
SHARP
I like how there is a progression from one word to a related one here. We’ve seen this before, but it’s still a very cool thing to watch a constructor pull off.
Just watch yourself on the edges of the grid; not only is there a BLADE in the middle, but Mr. Kahn has also strategically placed a RAZOR and a KNIFE on the perimeter.
■ 11A: I am in an undisclosed location right now, dropping off my younger child at college for his first semester and watching him fledge the nest. I am doing my very best not to coddle him. Oh, right: EGG. The answer to “It may be coddled” is EGG. Sorry about that.
■ 17A: I didn’t do it.
■ 42A: Nice wordplay here. “What comes in waves?” sounds like it could be referring to nausea or grief, but today the answer comes to us in sound waves (RADIO).
■ 47A: If you weren’t familiar with SLADE, you probably do know one of their biggest hits:
■ 55A: “Cabbage or kale” sounds like a hint at clean eating, but today we’re in slangsville: Cabbage, kale and DO RE MI are all slang for money.
■ 59A: A “pad” is a groovy way of referring to one’s crib or one’s home. So an “Ice pad?” is not something you would put on a bruise, it’s an IGLOO.
A big thanks to actor Kevin James for this one. If he hadn’t come up with BLART as the last name of the mall cop in his 2009 comedy, who knows if BLUNT to SHARP is even possible. The other piece of luck is that this particular ladder isn’t too long for a 15×15 and that the middle rung is BLADE. This allowed me to logically add RAZOR and KNIFE to the grid.
Your thoughts?
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Not Pointed – The New York Times
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