Several crosswords by Alex Eaton-Salners have been published in the
New York Times and
Los Angeles Times since November 2016. His puzzle today includes ten half-answers which, collectively, go around the edges of the grid:
Like thinkers: MINDS
Bonobo, for one: APE
Scotland's island: BRITAIN
Blue Ridge rang : SMOKIES
Considerable achievement: SUCCESS
Wheeler Peak's national park: BASIN
Dogs in the AKC's Working Group: DANES
Oldest of the Seven Wonders: PYRAMID
"Holy cow!": SCOTT
"Atta girl!": JOB
"Landmark that, in a way, is a border feature of this puzzle and a hint to what's missing from 10 answers" is GREATWALL. GREAT needs to be added to the beginning of each theme answer -- and the theme answers form a wall around the grid. Very clever!
Great Danes originated in Germany, not Denmark. They were originally known as German boarhounds. In 1755, French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, who had seen the dogs in Denmark, referred to the breed as "Le Grand Danois" in his
Histoire Naturelle, Générale et Particulière. Partly because of increasing tensions between Germany and Denmark (and other European nations), "Great Dane" soon replaced the name "German boarhound." Leclerc's illustration can be seen at
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b23002520/f29.item"Great Smokies" is the common local nickname for the Great Smoky Mountains, the mountain range that straddles the Tennessee-North Carolina. Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most-visited national park in the United States.
"Familia member" is MADRE, which is not used in English. "Paris parting" is ADIEU, which is not used in English. "Together, in Toulon" is UNIE, which is not used in English.
"More diverse" is MOTLIER. "Motley" is an adjective meaning "incongruously varied in appearance or character; disparate." The word comes from the Middle English
motlei, which means "variegated" and derives from
mot, which means "speck." Shakespeare referred to a "motley fool" in
As You Like It and sailing ships are often said to have a "motley crew." But "motlier"? Not only does the word
sound awkward, it appears in very few dictionaries.
I am not going to make one of my usual bad puns. I know how my puns tend to "great" on people.
Oops.
