PUZZLING Crosses to Bear

Each of the cross shapes below represents a flattened-out cube. If you were to cut them out and fold along the lines, the cubes would be reconstituted. Artsy-craftsy types may even enjoy doing this while their puzzle-solving brethren work out the words. In any case, these are this month’s crosses to bear.



Instructions

Very simple. Fill the crosses with words. Here’s how. Start working on a set of five-letter words and the corresponding set of four-letter words. Each set is arranged so the answers are in alphabetical order. You get every four-letter word from one of the five-letter words by dropping a letter and then, if necessary, rearranging the remaining letters. Each four-letter word is to be entered clockwise in one of the squares of its cross, and its dropped letter goes in the circle in the middle of that square.

Letters must be entered so that if the cross were folded into a cube, wherever two edges joined they would each have the same letter. The other requirement is that when a cross is finished, the center circles taken in order must spell an intelligible word. A couple of letters are provided to help you along.

Note: “A” of the four-letter words will not necessarily bear any relationship to “A” of the five-letter words, nor will either of them necessarily have any relation to square number 1 of their cross. Also, two of the clue answers are proper names.

At the end of your travail, the two words from the circles will reveal what you are whiling away working this puzzle.

Each clue indicates the answer in more than one way. In addition to straightforward definitions, clues may also contain puns, plays on words, anagrams (“The ability to lead people in confusion is a charm”- CHARISMA), or embedded spellings (“How it zeroes in distinguishes a cannon”). Another common type of clue is word construction, where the answer is built of component parts. Example: “American leader required identification in gift” (PRESIDENT = I.D. inside PRESENT).

All abbreviations are acceptable as long as they are in current usage (e.g., TV, p.d.q., etc.). Isolated letters may be indicated in a variety of ways -as compass points, Roman numerals, grades or scores (A, F, “zero” = O, “love” as in tennis = O), musical notations (P, F for soft or loud respectively). Parts of words may be used (IVE or just V might be indicated by “MidwIVEs”

The one paramount rule is that the clue sentence, with a little repunctuation, will tell exactly how to get the answer.

Send the completed puzzle (or reasonable facsimile) by September 9 to Puzzling, D Magazine, 1925 San Jacinto, Dallas, Texas 75201. All correct solutions will be held for one week after receipt of the first entry, at which time a drawing will take place to determine the winners. First winner will receive a $25 cash prize. Runner-up will receive a free one-year subscription to D. Winners and completed puzzle will appear in the October issue.