Cryptic Puzzle TOM TOCE
Operas and Presidents
THE 2011 CRYPTIC PUZZLES
ARE PROUDLY SPONSORED BY
I GET ASKED ALL THE TIME ABOUT PREPARING FOR “JEOPARDY!” One can prepare, of course,
and the best way to start is by watching a lot of shows. Certain categories occur over and over. Learning the
basics of those categories, especially lists of things, is a great way to start.
Nijinsky says, “No more, mon Dieu, no more!”
It’s not a bad
way to practice puz-
zle-solving, either.
For this puzzle, I’ve
chosen two com-
mon “Jeopardy!”
categories—operas
and presidents—
and put them into a
cryptic puzzle. Each
of the 14 lines of the
following sonnet
contains the ana-
grammed name of
either an opera or
the last name of a
U.S. president, in
one or two words.
operas and presidents
The diva sang her heart out on the coast,
To aid a voter turnout effort there.
The President—vote-loser—did his share,
By showing tan and serving as the host.
Five maids on tiptoe saw Nijinsky’s ghost.
“He called us fat,” they said, “but we don’t care.”
The backstage crew gave Geritol to Cher,
Who hit the lows in all her songs, almost.
Observe as mad Lucia plays her scene!
As fatties count to ten, then pirouette!
And Cher—ah, yes!—concludes her Farewell Tour!
Tout Rand and folks may think that you’re just mean.
The last Progressive Age ran up the debt.
The two-word ana-
grams always involve consecutive words. The other words in the
poem are meaningless, at least as far as clueing goes.
There are six operas and eight presidents. The operas aren’t ob-
scure. You wouldn’t be surprised to find any of them in a standard
crossword puzzle. I drew them from a list of the 20 most-performed
operas in North America, from Opera World.com. Not all the operas
are one-word titles, and some foreign words are involved.
Two years ago, I published a puzzle in the September/
October 2010 Contingencies called “I Never Do Anything
Twice.” Lest you think that this puzzle is a repeat of “Ars
Poetica” from the January/February 2011 issue of the
magazine, I would point out that the poem in that puzzle
was a Shakespearean sonnet. This sonnet is Petrarchan,
which is totally different. Also, the earlier puzzle contained
anagrammed cities, not operas or presidents.
This puzzle might be difficult if you’re not up on your op-
eras (or your presidents). Let me know if you solve it without
help from a reference source. Also tell me if you solve it in less
than 15 minutes. Otherwise, just send me the names of the six
operas and the eight presidents.
AP PHOTO / KEVORK DJANSEZIAN
TOM TOCE is a senior manager for actuarial services
with Ernst & Young in New York and is a member of the
Jeopardy Hall of Fame. Solutions may be e-mailed to him
at Thomas. Toce@ey.com.
Solutions may be e-mailed to
Thomas.To ce@
ey.com. In order to make the solver list, your
solutions must by received by July 31, 2011.
1
M
14
A
17
I
20
M
23
S
33
B
41
A
44
S
47
T
64
T
67
A
70
B
2
A
R
R
O
W
34
O
N
C
E
59
L
A
R
A
3
S
C
O
R
E
35
A
N
O
N
60
I
C
O
N
4
S
A
N
T
A
25
S
42
U
T
E
61
F
E
M
A
21
A
T
L
36
E
A
S
T
62
E
T
A
L
5
O
15
P
18
A
L
26
O
I
L
48
S
51
H
E
6
L
U
R
I
24
D
37
G
S
45
U
52
E
X
65
I
68
T
71
S
7
E
L
I
T
E
38
H
T
S
53
A
P
O
R
T
8
S
P
A
Y
S
39
T
A
U
54
R
E
T
I
A
22
T
K
27
O
43
T
A
49
W
63
C
A
G
Y
9
R
16
A
19
M
A
28
R
40
E
E
L
E
55
C
T
10
A
R
A
B
29
E
L
M
50
B
R
A
66
I
69
D
72
S
11
M
E
L
L
30
L
I
E
46
S
56
E
N
D
U
E
12
P
A
L
E
31
S
A
N
E
57
S
C
O
N
E
13
S
S
S
32
E
S
T
A
58
T
Y
L
E
R
Answers to Previous Issue’s Puzzle—Some People
