WORDPLAY
INTELLIGENT EXERCISE
by RYAN SLABAUGH
BOOK REVIEW
THE CITY BENEATH THE SNOW WITH HER BELLWETHER Prize-winning novel Correcting the Landscape — a tale of journalism and urban development — Marjorie Kowalski Cole put Fairbanks, Alaska, on the literary map. Her posthumously published story collection “The City Beneath the Snow” again brings to life the people of that outpost in the boreal forest, besieged by winter for six months of the year. Recognizing the complicated reality behind the myth of The Last Frontier, many of Cole’s stories focus on those for whom, in the Lower 48, “land ran out too soon” — the restless, displaced and bereaved, those who keep seeking second chances: “It’s looking at this house no different than a dozen others on this street, and wanting to start over again with a girl and a cabin.”
by DANIEL A. FINAN
| edited by WILL SHORTZ
In this subarctic melting pot, fish processors mingle with geography teachers, bush pilots with social workers. Engineers take art classes, and women “doing a man’s work” still look good in loose sweaters and snow pants. Love blossoms at 40 below but remains brittle where “oil money eroded all the usual connections” between people. Skeptical readers could accuse Cole of stereotyping, but even her secessionist junkyard owner, who attacks the mayor at a Golden Days Parade — with a Viking mace, no less — rings eerily true. A Fairbanks resident for more than 40 years, Cole gets the details just right, from the urethane-sprayed Quonset home complete with chicken yard to the aerobatics of dumpster-
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Split the tab Left McEnroe rival Under development? Put on microfiche, maybe Golfer with an “army” 1997 Will Smith/ Tommy Lee Jones flick Van Gogh or Monet vista “Frosty” air? Knicks star Anthony, to fans Hikers’ wear General refusal? Attention getter Bishop’s locale Preventive measure, proverbially Yesteryear Huge, to Hugo Prima donnas’ features Skip over water, as stones Some game Headstone phrase Camaro ___-Z Fraction of a min. Phony: Prefix Commercial suffix with Power Baskin-Robbins unit Smooths Athlete wearing a calligraphic “D” logo Lurid 1979 film about John
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Hoofing it Coercion Multipurpose Private investigator, in slang Do a semester’s worth of studying in one night, say Breakfast items often eaten with spoons “Amscray!” Total “Bad Moon Rising” band, for short Yellowfin tuna OFF! target Ex-senator Bayh Reply to “Gracias” Security crises Where skaters skate Where skaters skate V components Org. Big name in the diamond business? Set (against) It’s often slanted What [wink wink] may signify ___ about (approximately) Dungeons & Dragons figure “Dianetics” author ___ Hubbard “Want me to draw you ___?” Bedews Certain angel ___ school Canonized mlle. 45, e.g.
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Western U.S. gas brand Locale for many a lounge chair Lounge lizard’s look Sasquatch’s kin Torpedo Does some yard work Pan handler Virginia athlete, informally Get ready What a texter of “:-(” might be “Xanadu” group, for short “Oh yeah? ___ who?!” Glimpse Retainers, e.g. N.B.A. forward Lamar ___ “Game of Thrones” protagonist ___ Stark Father of a grand duke Word on a cornerstone Person with a safe job? Sleepers Run nicely Home of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame Leave thunderstruck Tyrannosaurus rex, archetypally Prepare, as cotton candy “Wake up and smell the coffee!” Not kosher
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Cockney greeting Head turner Cross to bear Dieter Deutsch marks? Percussion instrument with a pedal Afore Wiggle room “Why not?!” Quits, slangily Not stay the same Went back to brunette, say
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This book review originally appeared in the High Country News (hcn.org).
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diving ravens. She perfectly captures the vibe of laid-back, sometimes throwback, Interior Alaska. “This is a different place,” one protagonist says. “Not as tense as California. It’s hard to live here but people seem to have a good time with less.” Less can be more, and Cole’s sketches succeed at depicting this “landlocked land” and its breed where many a more ambitious novel has failed.
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Dillinger’s girlfriend, with “The” Went downhill fast Misses part of a movie, maybe Contortionist’s bendy part Letter seen twice in Philadelphia Stray sounds? Blocks (up) Masculine principle “To be on the safe side …” Bank take-back Seasonal potation Hook hand Stone-pushing Winter Olympian Japanese native Golf ace Rogers’s partner Swiss cheese concoction ___ driver The Royal Game of India Russia’s ___ Mountains “There is ___!” Refuges One who looks friendly but isn’t 31-Across, for one Like some bad language Hammy, say Compos mentis Spouse’s acquiescence Perched
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The City Beneath the Snow: Stories Marjorie Kowalski Cole 276 pages, hardcover; $22.95 Univ. of Alaska Press, 2012
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Make ___ at An Obama girl Check for fit Drink with a lizard logo Slips in pots Bar car? Onetime aid in psychotherapy “Bah!” Gardner of “The Barefoot Contessa” Tic-tac-toe winner
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