The Puzzler

By Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

COMPACT DISC

In this disc, each Radial word 1-20 is to be entered with its letters in mixed order. To fix the positions of these letters, Concentric words occur in each ring A—E. The Concentric words are clued in order and proceed clockwise starting from sector 1 in each ring. Some extra music is crammed into this compact disc. That is to say, five Radial words are one letter too long for their sectors and must pack two letters into one space. Each ring contains one instance of this packing; taken from ring A inward to ring E, the five pairs of letters compose a musical phrase appropriate to our compact disc. Answer lengths are not given for the Radial clues. Two answers are proper nouns.

The solution to last month’s Puzzler appears on page 118.

RADIAL

1. Compact disc’s ultimate advance

2. Your tin ear initially muffles Beethoven’s Fifth

3. Dumb string-player talk-show host rejected

4. Play a trumpet loud and long, in nude

5. Drink Dvorak tossed right out

6. Moppet number in canal of song

7. Furnishes Latin finales

8. Dance observed in many pieces

9. Start off “Earth Song”

10. Transposed rag on keyboard

11. Bagpipers’ gear left in tool sets

12. After awful din, is guitar string held?

13. Monotonous music Nero fiddled after five centuries in Rome

14. Fruit that can be instrumental in doing our dance

15. Plain record in E minor is flipped

16. Playing last E flat

17. Big Elgar flops

18. Badly want run in lines of sheet music

19. Mighty peculiar Top Ten

20. Hooters’ sounds, except one

CONCENTRIC

A. 1. Made some guitar music pack

into compact disc (7)

2. More sprightly and free during “Shake” (8)

3. To Segovia, the flat number (6)

B. 1. Hootenanny gains rap following

(8)

2. Blues instruments getting worn out(8)

3. Pitch pipe’s first small coverings

(5)

C. 1. What listeners found in chime

practicing (10)

2. Spies jug-band percussion upon return (6)

3. In audience, grabs breaks during the music (5)

D. 1. Jazz pianist covering bop-styled

Elvis features? (8)

2. Heard flattening, sharpening (7)

3. Let go a burst played smoothly

(6)

E. 1. Make sense of one French

composer (7)

2. Arranged most of key in gospel (6)

3. Steady hum from sax interrupting feast (8) (two words)

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 envelope to The Atlantic Puzzler, 745 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 02116.

Answers to the February Puzzler

“HEARTBROKEN’

Across. 7.S(O)LID 9, T(I)ROL(1) 11. BIBELOT (anag.) 12. COR(ON)AL 14. R-ENO (one rev.) 15. E(R(>DCA (are rev.) 16. V-0-T(h)E 17. AGANA ( hidden) 18. A-LAS (homophone) 19. GE(t)-LID 20. A(D)DITION (d+anag.) 21. (f)EEES 22. HO(NIN)G 24. (v)AGUK 25. BET-A 26.S(HE)P 30. ON-US 31. DISCO DANCE (anag.) 32.PO-RING 33. (t)ROTTED 34. TO(m)RS 35. ND (hidden) Down. 1. HOBNAILED (anag.) 2. PL(EON)A.STIC 3. Gl-LEAD 4. VIR(A)GC) 5. PR(OVEN)ANCE 6. MO(NO-LOG)UE 7. SIEGE (odd letters) 8. DOR-ADO {rod rev.) 9. TOCSIN (homophone) 10. LA-Tl-N 11. B-RACE 13. E-EDGE 22.HAS-P 23. GO(i)NG 26. S(C)OOT 27. H-OR-TON 28. ED(IT)-ED 29. PANES (homophone)