LAST SUNDAY’S ANSWERS

ACROSS

1. SHELL not swell. “A dangerous” SHELL links up directly to the phrase “war-torn area.” “A dangerous” swell could appear in a wide variety of “beach” areas, not just “formerly war-torn” ones.

4. FISH not wish. It could be obvious that the “daughter” is FISHING “for a compliment;” whereas, she might keep her wishes to herself.

5. RING not rink. An inexperienced skater need not be “extra cautious” at a community recreation rink, which is often monitored because beginner skaters are on the ice along with children. It’s a different situation for a novice in a boxing RING, where he would need to be “extra cautious” about defending himself.

6. GUN not sun. Filming in a “desert,” naturally, the expectation would be that the sun would be “hot,” with wardrobe and makeup personnel perhaps taking precautionary measures prior to the film shoot. However, it might take a while for a metallic GUN to become “hot,” either from the sun’s heat or from the action of firing it.

8. MENIAL not mental. She might not have been “suited for” a “job” involving MENIAL tasks because she didn’t have the necessary temperament for it. But in terms of intellect, it would be more a matter of whether she was mentally capable of doing such a “job.”

9. DOING not dying. DOING is best. The clue words “fatally shot” are redundant with dying.

10. HEN not men. If the men suddenly appeared on the “edge of” the “highway,” they might have had the wherewithal to step off the “highway” in the face of oncoming traffic. But a HEN would probably continue to cross the road no matter what the circumstances, thereby causing the “driver” to collide with “another car.”

13. DEFY not deny. In order for the teen to “rebel” against “authority” and its rules, he must first accept that they exist; in other words, he can’t legitimately deny them, but he can DEFY them.

16. VOCAL not local. VOCAL is apt. It would, naturally, be local “support” that a community “mayor” would receive, rather than statewide or national “support,” making local superfluous.

19. GLASS not gloss. “Light” can “shine through” GLASS but gloss reflects “light.” DOWN

1. SNIPE not swipe. A “soldier” might “miss” shooting his “target” (i.e., SNIPE) if “feeling emotional,” but because a swipe is defined as a hard, sweeping blow, the “target” has already been hit.

2. DICTION not fiction. Since fiction is imaginary, it can often include a complex storyline. Therefore, the “teacher” wouldn’t necessarily be complaining about it, but might well expect it. However, if the story’s being read “out loud” and the DICTION is hard to understand, that would be a viable reason to complain.

3. PUT not cut. “Being” PUT “off” by a “cute guy she likes” would certainly be cause for her to feel “dejected.” However, “being” cut “off” on a “phone” is usually infuriating, at least initially, and it often causes a feeling of anger rather than sorrow.

7. CALL not fall. The “father” might have questioned “her about” the boys who CALLED “for her” or came by to pick her up. But a “boy” could have fallen “for her” without her reciprocating so that the “father” would never have known anything about him.

8. MUDDLING not meddling. MUDDLING is a good answer. One would assume that someone at the bargaining table such as a “company co-owner” would have a right to be there; in other words, he couldn’t be accused of meddling (defined as: not having permission to be involved or to interfere).

12. STORMS not stores. The prepositional phrase “prepare for” matches up well with STORMS. An explorer’s supplies (e.g., stores) would simply be “prepared.”

15. DOGS not logs. DOGS makes a good answer. It would be a tree’s “bark” that would be researched rather than a log’s.