The Atlantic | April 2003

Contents | April 2003

More Puzzlers from The Atlantic Monthly.

The Atlantic Monthly | April 2003

The Puzzler

Circular Logic

by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon

.....

Answers to this puzzle's Radial clues, which may be six, seven, or eight letters in length, are to be entered inward from the grid's perimeter. The eighth letters, when positioned properly on the line in the middle, will provide an answer to a certain problem in circular logic. Each of the six outer Rings accommodates a sequence of clue answers along with one unclued but fitting entry and one unused letter. The sequence, which proceeds clockwise and whose clues are given in order, may begin anywhere within the Ring. The unused letter (coming from a crossing Radial answer) will always fall between two Ring entries (clued or unclued). The seventh Ring consists of a single unclued word (whose starting point is not given) describing the logical conclusion. Some of its letters are not used by Radial entries; these uncrossed letters and the six unused Ring letters may be circled and read clockwise from twelve o'clock to reveal the character responsible for all this head-spinning logic. Seven clue answers are capitalized.

The instructions above are for this month's puzzle only. See a complete introduction to clue-solving.

See the solution to last month's Puzzler.

RADIAL

1. Cryptic, coarse in outline
2. Best using brainwork first off, you idiot
3. A collection of opinions on old Olympian
4. Sort of pencil or pen and piece of paper, by some sort of quirk
5. Time article about eastern sea
6. Sumerian city disrupted by certain shark
7. Keep frames satisfactory in color again
8. Most curious cause of sleepiness in Spain? No final answer
9. Culprits altered ring on the face (two words)
10. Liane's tailored some skirts (hyphenated)
11. Glass covers among napkins and such
12. Expose man's wrong in Britain
13. Suddenly, one crackpot has run (three words)
14. Hens I let hosts place in a farm structure
15. Puts back some rocks, in pursuit of balance
16. Ominous bit of machinery inside of loud convertible

RINGS

a. Waterproof aquatic creature
    Shook like bolts in a case
    Weasel immediately eating goose egg

b. Chinese gooseberry has edible bulb
    Chiron's home page, "Tail of the Cat
    Part of the psyche, for example, involved in something forbidden

c. Nutty Stooge attends (two words)
    Young wildebeests and swan high above
    Silly as one half of a golf course

d. I attempt packing in time for travel plan
    On the way back, encountered current article
    Once again recognized Marvin when speaking

e. Turning form of a lycanthrope, run
    Help CIA, playing drunk in Providence
    Guinness stout, possibly cold

f. Publishes Italian children's author retrospectively
    Audited bags for department store
    Service provided by AAA to political faction