These entries are very close to 69-Across, with some intersecting letters in place, so I was very happy to fill in THE SOUTHEAST. I took a quick look at the crossdown entries and noticed one clue with two possible answers in 56D. The “word before flight” I saw had to be “home”, which intersects with the southeast in America. However, I thought it might be a “horse” so I moved on.
In this way, Mr. Siegel fooled me so thoroughly that several subsequent thematic hints made me pause. For example, in 2-Down, he received five letters from applications for “his 69-Across attraction, part of America’s first national park.” The way they fell into place certainly looked like Old Faithful. yellowstone geyserBut uncertainty prevailed. I thought that the “69 Akros attraction that withstands dozens of lightning strikes a year” in 37 Akros was probably somewhere in the south. Similarly, 4-Down is a “69-Across attraction approximately 2,000 feet deep.”
The jig then went up a lot as we reached 28 Acros, “69 Acros Sights, which once froze for half an hour in 1848.” Almost all the crossed characters were here, like NIAG_RA _A_LS. There was no more room for error.
If you look at 69-Across, there are four cross-over entries with two logical answers one letter apart. Available in 56D, HORSE or HOUSE flies. 59D, “In some dialects there is also ‘no'”, which could be NAE or NAW. In 66D, PAT or PET means “gently touching.” 70D, “Tennis Match Division”, both the match segment, SET, and the physical divider, NET, are fine.
Now we have the ingredients for four possible correct outcomes for 69-Across. Now that I think about it, this strikes me as a very clever hint. “Locations of attractions in this puzzle (actually all 8!)”. ” Let’s take a look: 69-Across is THE when using NET, HORSE, NAE, and PAT N○RT.H.EAThe same entry becomes THE when using ST. NET, HORSE, NAW, PET. N○RT.H.weST. If you enter SET, HOUSE, NAW, PET, THE S○UT.H.weST appears. Using SET, HOUSE, NAE, PAT: S○UT.H.EAST.
