A BUNCH OF BOXES, A
COLLECTION OF CLUES
Greg Pliska
Each clue answer is also a collective noun for an animal group. Solvers might notice this on their own, or with the aid of the puzzle title, but the surest way to get to that step of the puzzle is to Google a number of the answer words. A number of useful websites will appear.
The animal plurals – which are almost exclusively the first options given in 11C – are entered into the diagram criss-cross style. While a number of seven-letter animal plurals could go into the central bold-bordered boxes, all the answers will fit uniquely into the grid and leave that box empty. When the grid is completely filled in the grey boxes spell, from top to bottom, left to right:
FORTY-TWO GALLONS OF CRUDE
This is one of the 11C definitions of “barrel”, and is also the collective noun for monkeys, which fits into the final unfilled grid space.
MONKEYS is the answer to this puzzle.
Clue answers (organized, as in the puzzle, by length of animal group):
ANIMALS |
GROUP |
CLUE |
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elk |
gang |
China's
"___ of Four" (4) |
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apes |
shrewdness |
Clever
discernment or hardheaded acumen (10) |
mice |
mischief |
1985 Doug
McKeon movie (8) |
owls |
stare |
To look
fixedly at, as if in a schoolyard contest (5) |
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bears |
sleuth |
1972
Olivier-Caine movie (6) |
bison |
thunder |
It
follows lightning (7) |
boars |
singular |
Opposite
of plural (8) |
clams |
flaccidity |
Detumescence
(10) |
crows |
murder |
Homicide
(6) |
doves |
dole |
Clinton's
opponent in '96 (4) |
flies |
business |
Sloan
School subject (8) |
foxes |
skulk |
To move
in a stealthy or furtive manner; malinger (Brit. slang) (5) |
geese |
skein |
A loosely
coiled length of yarn (5) |
hawks |
kettle |
Water-boiling
vessel that whistles (6) |
larks |
exultation |
"Sing,
choirs of angels, sing in ____" (10) |
lions |
pride |
"___
and Prejudice" (5) |
moles |
labour |
Tony
Blair's party (6) |
rooks |
clamour |
"I
never saw the heavens so dim by day. A savage ___!" (Shakespeare) (7) |
seals |
bob |
Hope or
Geldof (3) |
sheep |
hurtle |
"Unknown
spears suddenly ___ before my dream-awakened eyes" (Yeats) (6) |
swans |
whiteness |
A
characteristic of snow or rice (9) |
wasps |
pail |
Container
for Jack and Jill (4) |
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eagles |
convocation |
An
assembly of bishops and representative clergy of the Church of England (11) |
hyenas |
cackle |
To laugh
harshly (like a witch, say) (6) |
marten |
richness |
Abundance
of wealth, as that which Teyve might wish for (8) |
otters |
romp |
A
one-sided victory; an episode of lovemaking (4) |
plover |
wing |
Buck-and-___
(4) |
ravens |
unkindness |
Cruelty
(10) |
sharks |
shiver |
"___
me timbers!" (6) |
skunks |
surfeit |
"For
as a ___ of the sweetest things / The deepest loathing to the stomach
brings" (Shakespeare) (7) |
snakes |
pit |
Location
for traders, racecar drivers or musicians (3) |
tapirs |
candle |
You get
only one on your first birthday cake (6) |
tigers |
ambush |
Attack by
surprise (6) |
whales |
gam |
Leg, in
slang (3) |
zebras |
zeal |
Fanatical,
sometimes religious, devotion (4) |
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baboons |
congress |
The U.S.
legislature (8) |
badgers |
cete |
Sea
monsters (Latin neut. pl.) (4) |
beavers |
lodge |
American
statesman Henry Cabot (5) |
buffalo |
obstinacy |
Stubbornness
(9) |
choughs |
clattering |
Making a
rattling sound (10) |
ferrets |
fastening |
Tying,
buttoning or nailing (9) |
finches |
charm |
A
fundamental quark that has an electric charge of + 2/3 and a measured |
locusts |
plague |
"The
___ ", Camus novel (6) |
magpies |
tittering |
"Walk
sober off, before a sprightlier age comes ___ on…" (Pope) (9) |
parrots |
prattle |
To make
meaningless sounds suggestive of the chatter of children (7) |
peafowl |
ostentation |
Excessive
display or pretentiousness (11) |
pigeons |
kit |
___ and
caboodle (3) |
toucans |
Durante |
Entertainer
Jimmy "Schnozzola" (7) |
turkeys |
rafter |
Roof beam
(6) |
turtles |
turn |
Word
repeated in Byrds song title (4) |
weasels |
sneak |
Quarterback
___ (football play) (5) |
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cheetahs |
coalition |
"____
of the willing" (9) |
crickets |
orchestra |
They are
led by a conductor (9) |
giraffes |
corps |
Word with
Marine or Peace (5) |
leopards |
leap |
Behave
like Lords, according to a Christmas song (4) |
pheasant |
bouquet |
Floral
arrangement; nosegay (7) |
raccoons |
mask |
Catcher's
headwear (4) |
sparrows |
ubiquity |
Omnipresence
(8) |
thrushes |
mutation |
Process
which creates X-Men, generally (8) |
vultures |
wake |
Vigil
held prior to burial (4) |
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elephants |
parade |
Macy's
Thanksgiving event (6) |
flamingos |
flamboyance |
Strikingly
elaborate behavior (11) |
hedgehogs |
array |
A number
of mathematical elements arranged in rows and columns (5) |
jellyfish |
smack |
Heroin,
slangily (5) |
squirrels |
scurry |
Hurry-___
(turmoil) (6) |
starlings |
murmuration |
The
utterance of low continuous sounds or complaining noises (11) |
swordfish |
flotilla |
A navy
organizational unit consisting of two or more squadrons of |
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|
alligators |
congregation |
Priest's
audience (12) |
crocodiles |
float |
Entrant
in Macy's Thanksgiving event (5) |
orangutans |
buffoonery |
Foolish
or playful behavior or practice (10) |
polarbears |
aurora |
Roman
goddess of dawn (6) |
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woodpeckers |
descent |
1995
computerized combat game featuring full 3D movement (7) |
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nightingales |
watch |
Dick
Tracy's had a videophone (5) |
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hippopotamuses |
bloat |
To cause
abdominal distension (in) (5) |
Grid fill:
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