MARY (HUNTER) AUSTIN, (THE) LAND OF LITTLE RAIN — The yucca bristles with bayonet-pointed leaves, dull green, growing shaggy with age, tipped with panicles of fetid, greenish bloom. After death,... the ghostly hollow network of its woody skeleton... makes the moonlight fearful.
| A. | Extinct giant herbivore of North America | MASTODON |
| B. | Product derived from oil sands | ASPHALT |
| C. | Chuckwalla, skink or gecko | REPTILE |
| D. | Trees symbolic of immortality | YEWS |
| E. | Harsh, spartan, bare-bones | AUSTERE |
| F. | Raise, elevate, boost | UPLIFT |
| G. | Protective cover for a blade | SHEATH |
| H. | Sam Shepard play set on the outskirts of Los Angeles (2 wds.) | TRUEWEST |
| I. | Not at all secure; questionable | IFFY |
| J. | Crepuscular bird also called a goatsucker | NIGHTHAWK |
| K. | Big trade in the Pacific Northwest | LOGGING |
| L. | Deity or dollar descriptor | ALMIGHTY |
| M. | Arid region of Israel | NEGEV |
| N. | Melancholy, low, morose | DOWNCAST |
| O. | Column with four sides that taper to an apex | OBELISK |
| P. | Pull back in surprised alarm | FLINCH |
| Q. | Individualist, maverick (2 wds.) | LONEWOLF |
| R. | Stain on an analyst's record? | INKBLOT |
| S. | Arboreal amphibian (2 wds.) | TREETOAD |
| T. | In need of quenching | THIRSTY |
| U. | Plant toxic to grazing cattle | LOCOWEED |
| V. | Cholesterol-free source of protein (2 wds.) | EGGWHITE |
| W. | Energized; given new life | REFRESHED |
| X. | Material used in many a Spanish mission | ADOBE |
| Y. | Lepidopteran with prominent eyespots (2 wds.) | IOMOTH |
| Z. | Study of clouds | NEPHOLOGY |