Prison Break
◆ · By Wendy Walker · Published 2024-09-01T05:00:09.872Z
Meta Prompt
The meta answer is an eight-letter phrase.
Happy September, Muggles! Hope you find this puzzle to be Smooth Sailing indeed, unlike the way a prison break should be.
The photo shows our local county prison, which made the international news a year ago when the five-foot-tall double murderer Danilo Cavalcante escaped by crabwalking up a brick wall and over a fence. He eluded his pursuers for two crazy weeks but was finally captured, behind a farm equipment store and wearing a stolen Philadelphia Eagles hoodie, by a handsome Belgian Malinois named Yoda (extra rations for this good boy!). Cavalcante is serving a life sentence without parole for the murders and on Aug. 30, 2024, was sentenced to an additional 15 to 30 years for the escape.
(Full story and great photos: https://www.inquirer.com/crime/danilo-cavalcante-hearing-prison-break-20240830.html.)
Back to the puzzle: thanks to Alan Kennan, Cap'n Rick, and a friend who wants to remain anonymous for test-solving, and as always to Joe Ross for his formatting lessons. Nudges later today!
Lunchtime nudges: You know how Mike Shenk's puzzle titles are often literal? Well, this one is, too. How do you suppose BREAK might be literally applied in a crossword grid?
Well, yeah, it might mean the break at the end of each row, but that would be too tricky for an SSS puzzle, especially one on a holiday weekend (Labor Day here in the USA). The black squares in the grid would certainly be a more obvious breaking point, don't you think?
Go back to the title. PRISON (or, perhaps, synonyms thereof) is what has been broken.
Checking for previous play data...
Clever and fun, Wendy!1A
Hermione or Professor McGonagall
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Across
- 1AHermione or Professor McGonagall
- 6ABullring bravos
- 10A"___ Come Undone" (The Guess Who hit)
- 14ASound often followed by "Bless you"
- 15ABack of the neck
- 16AHeroine of "A Doll's House"
- 17AGovernment overthrows
- 19A"Come ___, the water's perfect!"
- 20ALight switch positions
- 21ABecome sleepy
- 22ADirected one's eyes toward
- 24AMad ___ hatter
- 25ASoil
- 26AGive it all you've got
- 30ADomicile
- 32ANumero ___
- 35ACome up
- 36A"For ___ us a child is born"
- 37ASurpass
- 38ATrig is one branch of it
- 39APays to play
- 41A___ Cooper (popular small car)
- 42AAliens, for short
- 43AStomped (on)
- 44ABLT component
- 45ASusan of "L.A. Law"
- 46A"She just made ___ million on that tech stock!"
- 48ADelete
- 49ACustard dessert
- 50ASuitable
- 52AObnoxious diatribe
- 55A"The Thin Man" dog
- 56AFall behind
- 59A"Squee!"
- 60AThe answer to this question depends on your local legal code
- 63A"You Shook Me All Night Long" band
- 64AB ___ (Monopoly railroad)
- 65A___ Burr, third U.S. vice president
- 66ABig party
- 67AGrand ___ (baseball feat)
- 68AFull of good cheer
Down
- 1DBaylor University city
- 2DClickable image
- 3DConsequently
- 4DPolice officer
- 5DKidnapping victim
- 6DThree cheers, minus two
- 7DDelayed
- 8DGovt. anti-pollution agency
- 9DBands' performance sheets
- 10DSchnozzola
- 11D"___ if you're a silly goose"
- 12DOne of the Great Lakes
- 13DComposition of 25D
- 18DInsult
- 23DCookie that has its name stamped on it
- 25DOceanside knoll
- 26D___ the system (exploited a loophole)
- 27DMake a speech
- 28DLike the spider that climbed up the water spout
- 29DKinda sorta
- 31DSurpass
- 32DNew York hometown of Annette Funicello
- 33DTaboos
- 34DExpress one's views
- 39DDreamlands
- 40DLunch hour for many
- 41DDeface
- 43DStory
- 44DClark E. Tripe's newest video toy! He'll be happy to demonstrate once he pops in a new cassette.
- 47DFinal chant in a meditation session
- 49DGo and get
- 51DSchool fundraising org.
- 52DCOVID test kit component
- 53D___-Cola
- 54DMcKuen and Laver, for two
- 55DVerdi opera set in Egypt
- 56DSuburban train to NYC
- 57DOmnia vincit ___
- 58DMillenials
- 61DIts first cast included Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner
- 62DCarly ___ Jepsen ("Call Me Maybe" singer)