DIANA WELLS, LIVES OF THE TREES — The Norfolk Island pine... is most often... sold as a perfect little indoor Christmas tree. ...[I]f you keep it for too many Christmases you may have to make a hole in your ceiling. In the wild it can reach two hundred feet high.
| A. | Walk unsteadily, tremble as one moves | DODDER |
| B. | In principle; to a T | IDEALLY |
| C. | Without delay (2 wds.) | ATONCE |
| D. | One who's a pain in the rear | NUDNIK |
| E. | "Spring" topping on a "four seasons" pizza | ARTICHOKE |
| F. | Add to the conversation (2 wds.) | WEIGHIN |
| G. | Beseech, implore | ENTREAT |
| H. | Potential cutback consequence | LAYOFF |
| I. | Crass and ill-mannered, neanderthal | LOUTISH |
| J. | Show with a laugh track | SITCOM |
| K. | Restrained, subdued (hyph.) | LOWKEY |
| L. | Platform for the game Angry Birds | IPHONE |
| M. | Ardent apostle; worshiper | VOTARY |
| N. | Willing to wear another's shoes | EMPATHIC |
| O. | Bob, prune or crop | SHORTEN |
| P. | Long, serpentlike giant of the deep | OARFISH |
| Q. | True-to-life replica | FACSIMILE |
| R. | Bill with the phrase "We the People" (hyph.) | TENSPOT |
| S. | Painter of "A Rake's Progress" | HOGARTH |
| T. | Terrible offense; outrageousness | ENORMITY |
| U. | Representative, as a distinctive mark of a clan or group | TOTEMIC |
| V. | Writer in the style of Tolstoy or Flaubert | REALIST |
| W. | Snarl in a retiary device | ENMESH |
| X. | Ancient name for the Po River | ERIDANUS |
| Y. | Food item whose name literally means "blown up" | SOUFFLE |