Sunday NYT Puns and Anagrams Crossword by Mel Taub

This isn’t the first puns and anagrams puzzle I’ve seen, as Mel Taub had one of his puzzles in the New York Times during the week where every composer had been composing puzzles for the New York Times for at least 50 years.

I have a beautiful vision where American crossword composers will roll percentage dice, and if the number is above a certain value, give a clue that is like the clues in this puzzle. This puzzle is as close as American solvers get to the UK kind of crossword puzzle. I don’t want to give the answers, but I will give a lot of hints.

1 Across – Where worshippers worship is the thing you’re trying to find. The answer is an anagram of “ado, gasp”
8 Across – Separate is the clue, the answer is an anagram of verse
9 Across – Violinist is the clue, the answer comes from “heathen in one,” but it’s not an anagram.
14 Across – One who fits is the clue, the answer is an anagram of Rialto
16 Across – Somehow is the clue, the answer is an anagram of “nine seas” (The strange part of a clue is usually the part where you get the letters from.)
17 Across – “way out” is the clue, the answer is an anagram of Peace’s
18 Across – “Writes in” is the clue, the answer is an anagram of Sterne
19 Across – Whatever the answer is, it’s going to be a word with an f in it, replaced by a v. Alternate clue: “‘I’m looking for a source of grapes!” Sam Ervin exclaimed”
21 Across – The presence of back in a clue is a hint that either the letters making up the answer are in reverse order, or the answer should be in reverse order.
22 Across – muckraker is the clue, the answer is an anagram of “I, sir.” Alternate clue: “In Capri, I saw Jacob”
23 Across – A regular clue, which appears in UK crosswords from time to time
24 Across – A pun on equals
25 Across – A regular clue
26 Across – Vulgar is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of scars
28 Across – Reached is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of ingot
29 Across – Satire is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of “new hero”
31 Across – flood is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of “Re TNT or”
33 Across – Is Rear the clue, or is deer the clue? Maybe both
34 Across – I got this from other letters, but when you see the word rejecting in a clue, that’s a clue that certain letters are to be omitted from the answer, which is an anagram of the letters in Arabians, but not using the letters in Iran. Got that?
35 Across – Transportation is the clue, the answer is an anagram of “bad epic”
38 Across – Raises is the clue, the answer is an anagram of “Stu flip”
42 Across – A figure in myth is the clue, the answer is an anagram of orate. Sometimes (but not this time) when the word about is in a clue, it means the word before about contains some of the first and some of the last letters of that word. Got that? By the way, this figure in myth is in a lot of regular crossword puzzles.
43 Across – Shoelace part is the clue, and the answer comes from “Gate 50″ (Roman numerals involved)
45 Across – Girl is the clue, the answer comes from the letters in Monaco (but not the first or the last, otherwise the girl wouldn’t be “in” Monaco. Got that?”)
46 Across – A regular clue. Alternate clue “He knew who he was when the war in Viet Nam ended.”
47 Across – Symbol for adding is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of “up: Sl.”
48 Across – This is like 19 Across; the answer will ‘ave something done to it.
49 Across – This is like 45 Across. Alternate clue: Rep. Hutchinson is a peasant, at heart. “At heart” in this clue is like the “in” in 45 Across. Got that?
50 Across – Country is the clue, the answer is an anagram of Lima, and is a long way from Lima
51 Across – A person having something to do with Troy is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of “Ana see.”
53 Across – Small lump is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of “egg & nut.” As far as I can tell, the & is there strictly to confuse would be solvers.
55 Across – The answer is made by putting together a synonym for real, and a synonym for “score of zero in tennis.” It’s a little bit like 13 Across
57 Across – “It can spatter on a stove” is the clue, and the answer is an anagram of agrees
59 Across – The clue is a male name, and the answer is an anagram of grade.
60 Across – I didn’t like this clue. I would have preferred “Food cooked the way Rod eats.” The answer is an anagram of “Rod eats”

I think that this gives you an idea for solving this puzzle.

The very first anagram for Mel Taub returned by the Anagram Server is quite possibly the best: Mutable