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Now available for preorder:
The San Francisco Panorama.
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- - - - O N E M O R E F O R T H E R I D D L E R . BY DENNIS MAHONEY September 24 We'll get to today's puzzle in a minute, but occasionally, we like to answer some some of the most common queries, questions, and calls for clarification that are sent to Brain Exploder HQ week after week: "Dear Carlton, The deadline for the Brain Exploder is always "noon Friday." Is this Eastern Time? Pacific Time? GMT? Can you be more specific?" The Brain Exploder staff is not generally made up of what you would call "sticklers." Our legal department insists we have a deadline in there, and of course we want to give ourselves enough time to wade through the replies, pull out the eligible entries, and choose a winner before next week's puzzle is due. That said, if you have the answer and there's still a place on the planet where it's not yet "noon Friday," you're probably safe. "Dear Carlton, I got most of these answers on my own, but I used one of those Internet "anagram generators" to help me with the last one so I shouldn't be eligible for a prize. It was a fun puzzle, though. Thanks." Week after week, we are moved by the honesty of Brain Exploder readers. I can't even count how many people who, along with their answers, have confessed that they used some internet application or sought the aid of a co-worker in figuring out that week's puzzle. Today, I am putting an end to the guilt. If you're not having fun doing a puzzle then you're doing it wrong. If the help of a friend or a website or an old thesaurus can make it more enjoyable for you, by all means go for it. We're aware of tools which can give some people an advantage, or help them solve a puzzle faster. That's why, in most cases, the prize does not necessarily go to the individual who answers first. A few weeks ago we produced an especially difficult puzzle and stated that if people wanted a little help, we'd give them a clue, but preference for that week's prize would go to readers who had figured it out on their own. When we suggested that entrants were "on the honor system," we only meant that if your answer was clue-aided, you should say so. If there's a tool at your disposal, use it. Or don't. The only rule is to have a good time doing it. Now, on to this week's Brain Exploder. Actor Frank Gorshin, "The Riddler" on TV's Batman, turns sixty-nine-and-a-half next week and the Brain Exploder doesn't want to wait until he's dead before we pay tribute. This week's B.E. is courtesy of Dennis Mahoney, who penned this for another, as-yet-unpublished project, but we are grateful to be able to scratch our heads over it today. As always, send your solutions and guesses to carltondoby@hotmail.com by noon Friday, September 26. First is fanged, howling wild
Fifth is sucked and spilled to grief
Ninth is ripeness gathered in
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