NYTX & words

I LOVED the theme for today's puzzle (completed last night, admittedly in just under 1 hour, with a bit of Google help): Antagonyms (words that can mean opposite things...that are the same word.)

Matt Ginsberg, the constructor, gave us Rex-fans a list of words he was consulting for the puzzle. Fascinating:

sanction
cleave (join/separate)
clip (attach/separate)
inoculate (protect/infect)
cull (select/reject)
alight (settle/dismount)
went off (start/stop)
ravel (tangle/disentangle)
screen (dispaly/hide)
oversight
trim (remove from/add to an xmas tree)
enjoin (direct/forbid)
dust (remove dust from the table, add it to the cake)
secrete (give off, conceal)
can (save peaches, fire worker)
settle (move/stop moving)
garnish (add/take away wages)
snap (break into pieces/fasten together)
wear (last under use/erode under use)
weather (wear/survive)
crop (plant/cut)'
fast
custom (everyone does it/just for you)
go off/went off (made noise/stopped)
left (still here, not here)
strike (hit/not hit)
trip (move gracefully/move clumsily)
mad (enthusiastic/annoyed)
wild (enthusiastic/annoyed)
think better of (to like more/to like less)
wind up (start/stop)
fix (solution/problem -- in a fix)
buckle (attach/bend and break)
citation
bolt (secure/run away)
first degree (most severe murder/least severe burn)
flog (whip/promote)
give out (distribute/stop production)
out (visible stars/invisible lights)
transparent (invisible/obvious)
unbending (rigid/relaxing)
variety (specific type/a general type)
act (pretend/actually do it)
bound (moving to/not moving)
commencement (beginning/end=graduation)
cool (agreeable/less than agreeable)
enduring (long lasting/suffering through)
execute (end a person,start a program)
handicap (edge in sports/disadvantage)
lease (lend/borrow)
lurid (pale/colorful)
original (unchanged/new)
rent (buy/sell)
reservation (confirmation/uncertainty)
seed (add seeds/remove seeds)
stain (color purposefully/purposelessly)
nothing is better
mean (poor,excellent)
was blown away [enjoyed an amazing thrill or suffered a horrible defeat]
kicked around [considered or treated inconsiderately]
foughtwith [battled hand in hand or toe to toe]
knock off [copy or eliminate]
blow up [enlarge or reduce to pieces]
a hell of a time

My musings/memories about NYC earlier today were felt even more sharply when I read Rex's comments and saw how many folks are gearing up for the Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Brooklyn this weekend. I want to go so bad, someday, and I will, gosh dang it. I know Neil supports me in this hobby, and we're both fans of turning a non-local event (such as a marathon or a tourney or whatever) into a Weekend. Maybe I can earn a trip to Brooklyn by doing this puzzle every day, studying the answers through both Google and Rex's posts, so I won't be in total last place there. I know I won't be much of a contestant--I'm not a 40-year veteran or anything--but it just looks so geeky-fun. Kind of like a Magic tournament without the adolescent mustaches and criminally high loser attendance.
I'm already excited about the prospect of showing him the Museum of Television & Radio (was that it?) in the Bronx, going to Junior's, visiting the Ugly Doll section in FAO Schwartz, seeing the city as the cab drives us into town, people-watching from sidewalk-seating restaurants and from our hotel window, deciding what show he would enjoy, going to the MoMA store, buying a NYC guide book to help us decide what else to discover...