BILL MCKIBBEN, LONG DISTANCE — Snow is an enchantment. It turns the sleek fat: bulbous cars, puffy spruces. It turns the world silent... . It mutes color. ... The Eskimos... may not have fifty-six words for snow, but doubtless they can catalog... that many varieties... .
| A. | Sport testing speed and accuracy | BIATHLON |
| B. | Neck of land | ISTHMUS |
| C. | "Cast Away" prop (2 wds.) | LIFERAFT |
| D. | Soil that makes the Yellow River yellow | LOESS |
| E. | Material for a Mountie's fur hat | MUSKRAT |
| F. | Under an elevated cover | CANOPIED |
| G. | Tough to puzzle out, complicated | KNOTTY |
| H. | Maker of some heavy coats (2 wds.) | ICESTORM |
| I. | Crayola hue formerly called Cranberry | BLUSH |
| J. | Biblical name for sulfur | BRIMSTONE |
| K. | Go dormant in the summer | ESTIVATE |
| L. | "All Things Considered," for one | NEWSCAST |
| M. | Temporary downsizing | LAYOFF |
| N. | Eruption, riot, upheaval | OUTBURST |
| O. | Dairy option for dieters | NONFAT |
| P. | Theater where "Wicked" had its Broadway premiere | GERSHWIN |
| Q. | Cast-iron kettle with a tight lid used over an open fire (2 wds.) | DUTCHOVEN |
| R. | Microchips for cats or dogs, e.g. | IMPLANTS |
| S. | What a blanket might provide | SECURITY |
| T. | Bill undergoing a sex-change operation? | TWENTY |
| U. | Deplorable, nasty, terrible | AWFUL |
| V. | Megalopolitan area of the U.S. | NORTHEAST |
| W. | Afflicted with strabismus (hyph.) | CROSSEYED |
| X. | Discharge from a chimney or tailpipe | EXHAUST |