The MISSISSIPPI river runs down the middle of the grid, just like it runs down the middle of the country, dividing the country in half. The circled letters represent states that are separated by the river, and they are placed accurately from north to south. Pretty cool. The only downside, I guess, is that the clue for TERRE Haute, Ind. had to appear west of the river. :P DENALI, on the other hand, is accurate.
PLAGIARISMS (Copyright wrongs) is an odd construction, but I understand that finding a word with both LA and MS must have been challenging. And as with so many early week puzzles, a lot is done in service to a theme. Here, the theme merits it, and so we tolerate the odd EKED and TTOP, and the somewhat outdated term SIAMESETWIN.
- Horace
Hi Horace! I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. So clever that the states are in the correct north to south positioning on the west and east sides of the river.
ReplyDeleteHey there! I liked that too! :)
ReplyDelete