The Atlantic Puzzler

By Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

ABSOLUTELY!

In this month’s puzzle, 17 answers are too long to fit into the diagram. Solvers will find that they can resolve this difficulty by treating the answers . . . absolutely. Answers include 9 proper nouns.

The solution to last month’s Puzzler appears on page 125.

ACROSS

1. Mark, a bachelor, has a bug (6)

5. Wager about poor serviceman’s lodgings (6)

10. Banner displaying a queen (4)

11. Family fate is kept secret (11)

12. Foppish, silly ad did fine (9)

13. Adam learns all about an amphibian (10)

14. Rejecting jogs, I’d get out of shape (7)

17. Enlisted soldier gets in before command performance? (6)

19. Chinese guy mended drain (8)

20. Doctor cited finer toothpaste (10)

22. Birds let loose showed irritation (8)

26. Made a counter-argument end in a rush (8)

28. Ugly crone pinches rear of stick figure (6)

30. Litigant in run-of-the-mill squabble (9)

32. TV shows presenting foods to audience (7)

33. Close to a barker (4)

34. Tess upset about kiss that’s wettest? (8)

35. Boston University involved in hackneyed praise (7)

36. A king hiding in ale container (6)

37. Tiny particles could make no mess (6)

DOWN

1. Gloomier start of season (summer) (6)

2. Vehicle filled with neat new fuels (7)

3. Comedian running into embarrassed victims of jokes (10) (2 words)

4. Harmony with a “C” string (6)

5. Live a decade sapped of strength (6)

6. I make a hit with religion (5)

7. Louisiana, North Dakota, and Texas withholding a payment (7) (2 words)

8. Green haystack in Irish town (8)

9. Implement that makes kitten fur be ruffled (11) (2 words)

15. Painter makes most of entrance (6)

16. Outlaw eats half-cooked rat (9)

18. Group of spies holding ceremony with royal standards (8)

21. Celebrity accepts order to attack rising bigots (7)

22. Orchestra type includes fancy bass (9) (2 words)

23. Scandinavian person on a lurching subway? (9)

24. Poet penning misdirected passage for society girl (9)

25. lO After Flipper’s, over, personality comes up with cold symptoms (8)

27. Duck a sailor (5)

29. Choose a chopper (4)

31. Hesitation is found in no ruler (4)

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, write to The Atlantic Reprint Department, 8 Arlington Street, Boston, Mass. 02116, enclosing a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Answers to the August Puzzler, “ASTEROIDS”

Across. 1. PA(R)SEC (anag. + r); L(O)PS 2. IDEA (hidden); S-HARP 3. TRAGEDIANS (anag.) 4. COLUMBIA (anag.) 5. HIMALAY-AN (hail may anag.) 6. T-RACE; TAGS (t + anag.) 7. DE-ED-ED (Ed rev.); REMS (hidden rev.) 8. AND-ROMEDA (roamed anag.) 9. R-ESHOT (r + anag.); CARP (double def.) 10. SEAM-AN; IONIA (in a anag.) 11. S(A-TELL)ITES 12. KEROSENES (anag.) Down. a. PIT-CH(ea)D-ARK b. ADROIT(N)ESS (anag. + n) c. REAL-M; RED SEA (homophone) d. SAG-A; AERA-TE (rev.) e. SELDOMER (anag.) f. EDUCE (alternate letters); HAL-O g. C-HI(M)ED; MONS (hidden) h. A-BATE (beta anag.); TI(L)E i. LAN(YAR)D (ray rev.); CO-IN j. O-SAGE; ANTE (rev.) k. PRIM-ARIES 1. S-PANS (rev.); S(P-A)S