Pitt County Crossroads

I read in the Reflector recently about “The Play That Goes Wrong,” which made its East Carolina University debut in April. And it lives up to its title. Actors get stuck on their lines, doors get stuck on the set, walls won’t stand up and a corpse won’t lie down. But that means the cast and crew are just doing their jobs, because the play is written that way.

So it made me think of a riddle. A university student studying 25-Across was writing a take-off on a play by 41-Across. But the play had one 1-Across after another: ancient Rome with automobiles, airplanes, and the internet, for example. What was the name of the play? The title was taken from a well-known play of 1594, but the last word in it is different.

To get the answer, rearrange the circled letters and place them in the blanks below the grid. (Anagram answer for previous puzzle: WHAT’RE COLORS)

Across

1 Untimely mistake?

12 Nomadic Arab

13 Chin stroker's words (1,3)

14 Rio beach of song

15 Baseball number

16 Deadens

18 City where Lech Walesa worked

19 Frozen queen

20 Connecticut headquarters of ESPN

22 Flat ___ pancake (2,1)

25 Stage presentation

26 Suffix with access

27 Quietly thinking

28 Post-accident reassurance (2,2)

32 Easy on the eyes

34 Having a ho-hum attitude

35 Tibetan holy man

36 Defeat decisively

39 Heroic saga

40 Vientiane dweller

41 He wrote for the Globe

Down

1 Tolerate

2 Everest is on its border

3 Name of two U.S. Presidents

4 Debate side

5 Color shades

6 Hoop at a court

7 Like a short stop (2,1,4)

8 La ___ (winter weather worry)

9 Really likes (2,4)

10 Motion detector

11 In a mild manner

17 Diddles the expense account

18 Turkey topper

20 Peanut candy

21 Harness the wind

22 Delicious and more

23 Angel with six wings

24 Lack of vitality

29 All the rage

30 Movie trophy

31 Nancy Drew's creator

33 Bulletin board item

34 Cartoon vamp Betty

37 Dorm VIPs

38 Western Native American

ANSWERS