Cryptic Puzzle

Mapping Your Way

Mapping Your Way

By Tom Toce

Once again we have a puzzle created by Bob Fink and Jerry Miccolis. Bob designed the grid and wrote most of the clues; Jerry came up with a good number of clues. Eric Klis and I helped with editorial comments and test solving.

In this puzzle, you, the solver, will find that four of the clue answers will not fit into the grid.  Every letter goes into the grid; it’s up to you to figure out how.  Hints for doing this are provided.

Once you have completed the grid, you then have to unlock the map’s secret.  To do this, start at the square in the lower left-hand corner and enter the map heading east.  You then move along straight lines through the map, turning as indicated when you land on squares which contain “mapping directions.”  As you proceed, you will find several spots “marked.”  Here you will dig, one level deeper each and every time you encounter a “marked spot,” to find the letters that spell out what is buried in the map.

There are two proper nouns and one two-word answer.  All other words are playable in Scrabble, and every letter is used at least once.  Ignore punctuation, as it is often used to deceive.

Across Down
1.  Spacious Camp Lee Center (5) 1.  Liquid remaining in a quaff after full female leaves (4)
4.  Low moon not quite full (3) 2.  Cuts up yard flower (5)
6.  Donkey found in shortened tunnel (5) 3.  Sexpot exhibits arrangement (4)
9.  Run around jar (3) 4.  Communist unknown in New York college (7)
10.  Bubbly for each one of Kentucky’s guardians (5) 5.  Roxy nipped street drug (3)
11.  Lumberjack cut head off IRS agent (5) 6.  Picnic fare for unruly child (4)
12.  Watch and hear me subjectively (3) 7.  Red radical Minotaur is a thinker (9)
13.  Dumps Jill (for the most part) and starts to tour solo (5) 8.  Admit grownups without limits (3,2)
15.  Break for naps at sea (4) 14.  Centaur hides Greek letter (3)
19.  Confused expert leads Tempest’s first appearance (7) 16.  Went quickly after taking hearts of Casper and Freddy (4)
21.  Nun wed at complex is not desired (8) 17.  Take back Rene and two leaders from General Electric (6)
23.  Phobias develop as Dot grows older (7) 18.  80’s timepiece example (6)
25.  Bend backward for heartless recurring love (7) 20.  Fanatic former spouse set trim randomly (9)
26.  Bit of strange time (4) 22.  Picked sage from tangled rag weeds (4)
27.  Burning, Erica cut Emily in the midsection (5) 24.  Attack snitch oddly (3)
28.  Apple kernel found in horse edifice (4) 25.  Changed wheels then went to bed (7)
33.  Broadcast Jimmy’s jackpot (5) 26.  Criticism with strange pun inside it (5)
34.  Drive confused composer (5) 29.  A stand-in, in the middle of his texting, upset Art (5)
35.  Again, tennis opening love – love (3) 30.  Stumbled loudly over branch (4)
36.  Entire heads of Triassic octopi toured around Libya (5) 31.  Mickey’s girlfriend voiced dwarf (4)
37.  Touchdown includes a drop (3) 32.  Poor town habit (4)
38.  Bungling in apartment (5) 34.  Animal doctor is ex-military (3)

 

What is buried in the map?

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Previous Issue’s Puzzle—Crypto Acrostic

  1. KHAKIS—kishka anagram
  2. EVADED—EVAD + ED
  3. NIMBLE—deNIM BLEnd
  4. NYMPHO—N + Y + MPH + O
  5. EFFACED—jEFF + ACED
  6. DISCOMFORT—DISCO+ M + FORT
  7. YAHOO—narY A HOOsier
  8. ADVISE—adhesive anagram – he
  9. TAINT—Double Definition
  10. UNEARTH—near hut anagram
  11. SHEIK—chic homonym
  12. NITWIT—NITW + IT (twin anagram)
  13. ANYHOW—mANY HOWl
  14. GEISHA—miraGE IS Hallucinatory
  15. REWARD—drawer reversed
  16. ATTAINS—ATlas mounTAINS
  17. DAWDLE—waddle anagram
  18. UNWIND—dUaNe WaIt NeDs
  19. ATROPHIED—ipod hater anagram
  20. TITHE—TI + THE (IT reversed)
  21. ITCHINESS—bITCHINESS
  22. OLDEST—cOLDEST
  23. NANNY—N(ANN)Y

Solvers

Team AALO (Kristen Bischoff, Danny Clark, Kristen Detwiler, Alec Pirritano), Jina and Michael Accardo, Steve Alpert, Anthony Amodeo, Dean Apps, Jack Brauner, Bob Campbell, Lois Cappellano, Victoria Carter, Tim Connor, Todd Dashoff, Mick Diede, Michael Dolan, Deb Edwards, Mendy Friedman, Bruce Fuller, Phil Gollance, Ruth Johnson, Jason Helbraun, Wade Hess, J & J Holloman, Eric Klis, Paul Kolell, Mike Kosciuk, Doug Kraft, Ken Kudrak, Jocelyn LeBlanc-Courchaine, Philip Lew, Ben Lynch, Michael Manos, Jack Martin, Dave McGarry, Jon Michelson, Brett Miller, Becky Moody, Jim Muza, David and Corinne Promislow, Alan Putney, Jay Ripps, Robert Rorex, Dan Schwallie, Bill Scott, Andrew Shewan, Sally Smith, Zig Swistunowicz, Doug Szper, T. O. C. E. (Josh DenHartog and Sean Donohoe), Tom Toce, Betsy and James Uzzell, Joshua Wallace, Jim Wickwire, Michael Zurhellen

 

TOM TOCE is a senior manager for actuarial services with Ernst & Young in New York and is a member of the Jeopardy Hall of Fame. Solutions may be emailed to him at Thomas.Toce@ey.com. In order to make the solver list, your solutions must be received by Nov. 30, 2019.

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