Sunday Puzzle is a regular weekly series. The puzzle party begins Sunday mornings at 9:30 am Eastern time / 6:30 am Pacific time, and you're invited.
But the puzzles in the Sunday Puzzle series can sometimes be a little intimidating to newcomers. So now there's also Sunday Puzzle for beginners to give new people an introductory version of the types of puzzles you'll find in the regular series. Sunday Puzzle for beginners posts Saturday evenings at 8:30 pm Eastern time / 6:30 pm Pacific time.
Each week Sunday Puzzle for beginners features an introductory version of the types of puzzles you'll find in the regular series, plus the answers to the previous week's puzzle.
Today's puzzle is a 12-clue JulieCrostic. You'll find the clues right below the DK squiggle...
Section I: today's puzzle
Here are the clues for today's acrostic. (If you haven't done JulieCrostics before, don't panic; you'll find a complete explanation of how these puzzles work, plus a completed grid for last week's puzzle, a little farther down the page.)
1. places where you'll see dead bodies
2. those who wait
3. restraining devices
4. construction workers
5. barriers
6. unhealthy looking
7. makes holy
8. where the water isn't deep
9. frighten
10. frees from suspicion of wrong-doing
11. soothsayers
12. broad-leafed salad green
Section II-a: clues to last week's puzzle
1. broil
2. minister
3. echoes
4. pointed objects
5. exchanges
6. most beloved
7. add color
8. candy-filled object
9. leader
10. surrenders
11. belief systems
12. wrinkled
13. look hard
14. indications
15. drug groups
16. last name of a noted political figure whose first name is Howard
17. large drinking cup
18. more depressing
Section II-b: answers to last week's puzzle
1. roast P 2. pastor R 3. parrots
4. darts E 5. trades E 6. dearest
7. paint A 8. pinata C 9. captain
10. cedes R 11. creeds A 12. creased
13. stare C 14. traces L 15. cartels
16. Baker E 17. beaker L 18. bleaker
The verticals spell out PEARCE RECALL. (If you don't know what that's referring to, check out the DKU notes section, farther down in the diary.)
Section III: how to solve JulieCrostics
Here are the rules for JulieCrostics:
Read the clues provided below, then fill in words to match the clues in the appropriately numbered spaces in the diagram.
Each word in a row has all the letters of the previous word in that row, plus one new letter. Write the new letter in the space between the answers. For example, if the answers in a row were TREE, METER, and REMOTE you'd place an "M" in the box between TREE and METER and an "O" between METER and REMOTE.
When you have filled in all the spaces correctly, the columns formed by the added letters should spell out related words. It might be a person's name, such as CHARLES DICKENS (spelled out in two columns). It might be the title of a book or movie, such as GONEW ITHTH EWIND (spelled out in three columns). It might be almost anything. Your challenge is to figure out what the verticals say and what they mean.
Section IV: DKU notes
DKU note # 1:
Clue # 16 in last week's acrostic read:
16. last name of a noted political figure whose first name is Howard
The answer to this was BAKER -- a reference to Howard Baker, a senator from Tennessee from 1967 to 1985. Baker was involved with the senate investigation of the Watergate scandal, and is famous as the person who said: "What did the President know and when did he know it?"
DKU note # 2:
The verticals of the acrostic read: "Pearce recall". This is a reference to the successful effort by Arizona progressives to recall state senator Russell Pearce. Pearce is the Republican who drafted Arizona's notorious SB 1070.
Good diaries about the Pearce recall include Pearce Recalled! and Russell Pearce becomes first Arizona state legislator to face recall election.