METACROSTIC #3: Quote
#3: Backup Clues
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#3: Backup Clues HOME PAGE
A. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 147 34 146 131 16 45 120 138 247
An old, eclectic school of art,
But you don't have to be a genie,
To know that on the boulevard
It 's featured with linguine.
B. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 104 246 48 119 112 150 18 70 59 205 176 152
These clues could make you flustered
Or lead to echolalia.
This flower's often clustered
And is akin to the azalea.
C. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 239 140 19 186 217 224 189 77 165 153 171
This is quite an opportunity;
You should buy it in a thrice.
Enjoy it with impunity
And resell at twice the price.
D. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 3 215 204 115 161
Be careful with that emery
Your flesh you want to keep.
If I am served by memory,
Beauty's just skin deep.
E. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 151 20 251 74 53 9 107 44 227 94
If you know of this igneous sulfate
Then your knowledge is better than mine.
Lest you don't solve this clue by the pull-date;
It was named for a place near the Rhine.
F. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 167 116 145 212 43 206 69
Please guide us from our evil ways
Protect us from temptation.
Or maybe just heap on the praise
To save us from damnation.
G. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ ______ 35 17 93 201 168 127 174 55 232
Of everything that's come to light,
Three goals are worth the bother.
I'm not too rich, I'm not too bright
And I forget the other.
H. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 84 250 141 27 108 95 130 198 86 233 117 223 2 210 54 110
While walking down the bridal trail
The groom would thus disparage:
Although I bought this suit on sale
It's tailor made for marriage.
I. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 237 192 47 75 203 7 64 52
In keeping with the theme above.
It's now fifteen years later.
And those who promised faith and love
Are using a vibrator.
J. _____ _____ _____ 79 28 181
There are as many names for God
As leaves upon a vine.
The letters used are rather odd;
You go Yahweh, I'll go mine.
K. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 67 139 228 38 76 159 82
We've now divided his stuff:
Between his sister and his mother.
And those who didn't get enough
Are clawing at each other.
L. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 191 231 87 255 12 143 33 238 122 101
You measure solar declination
Or squeeze blood from a stone
Or while taking recreation
You find flowers on your own.
M. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 123 235 58 109 129 80 5 175 226 32
Where to start, it's all so vast
The subject's too immense.
From here to there, from first to last
And then from whence to thence.
N. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 155 42 113 23 96 65 240 219 102 249 62 134 196 11 170 180 245
Who wants to go where wild things sleep,
Just to find what's lurking?
To venture down into the deep
Is an idea that needs reworking.
O. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 50 193 207 216 121 29
It's a province found in Russia
(Or an expression of frustration).
In any case this clue's a crusher
And deserves your indignation.
P. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 136 85 63 187 1 46 163 105 26 222
I once was farther down the road
But stellar forces make me awkward.
I'm losing ground, if truth be told,
One step forward, two steps backward.
Q. _____ _____ _____ _____ 41 90 177 241
When crossword clues say "At a loss,"
It's "atsea" they represent.
You'd consider it a double-cross
If at this is what they meant.
R. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 190 24 142 114 10 257 97 229 60 220
We're each assigned a certain lot;
This much is stipulated.
But we can never tell which one we've got
Or how it's indicated.
S. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 225 13 88 30 244 144 154
Words usually fail to quite convey
The vision and the power.
But please believe me when I say
That you look like a flower.
T. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 213 160 61 185 188 81 202 128 6
Like Shangri La in the movie,
And Valhalla on the stage,
This place is much more groovy
On the printed page.
U. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 208 49 89 31 248 194 111 25 71 124 236
From Mom I got my joie de vivre;
From Dad my calm reserve.
But what I never could conceive,
Is where I got my nerve.
V. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 182 137 40 98 14 51 230 66 209 156 254 197 83
Auntie's up to her old tricks;
I see it in her eyes.
She's got a box of week old chicks
For her pets to gormandize.
W. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 173 100 73 21 256 56 183 36 199
I just took a relaxant
But still it's not a bobble
That I'm pronouncing the accent
On the wrong word or syllable.
X. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 252 37 200 22 149
Some people give a shudder
At the thought of grabbing one;
But I just chew my cud or
Scratch my leg; I'm having fun.
Y. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 243 164 92 57 179 195 214 133 125 118 218
The hen has had a terrible strain
She's shaky in both legs.
If this is so it might explain
What's the matter with her eggs.
Z. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 211 15 234 135 158 99 106 72 148 178
That's such an incredible gown
It's really quite transparent.
To wear such a dress into town,
Would leave all the men incoherent.
AA. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 162 172 91 39 126 103 221 157 242 166 4
Where was she when I asked her,
She couldn't tell me at the time.
It was either in Alaska
Or in some condition of mind.
BB. _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ 169 8 132 68 78 253 184
His actual role is nominal
He doesn't do or be much
But his image is so phenominal
It requires little retouch.
© 1996 Arthur Bloch