Theme: Say Again - Common phrases are humorously re-interpreted with their heteronym meanings. Heteronyms are words with identical spellings but different meanings and pronunciations.
23A. Understudy's crime? : LEAD POISONING
33A. Short ovation? : MINUTE HAND
49A. Instrument with colored bands? : STRIPED BASS
68A. Compliment on a skillful asphalt job? : GOOD EVENING
84A. Anesthetist's error? : WRONG NUMBER. Numb-er, stuff that numbs you.
101A. Fight among forest females? : DOES' BATTLE
117A. Clean kielbasa? : POLISH SAUSAGE
16D. Telescope? : METEOR SHOWER. Show-er. We've seen C-SPAN clued as "House shower" before.
64D. Jeans feature after a barbed wire encounter? : TRAIL OF TEARS
I bet Clear Ayes had fun with this puzzle. She's talked about & linked heteronym, homophone & homonym a few times on the blog.
This theme has been done before. Still fun to solve. Outstanding grid layout and fill. Lots of sparkly phrases.
Across:
1. Woodcutter who knew the magic words : ALI BABA. "Open sesame!"
8. Wide divide : CHASM
13. Tribal magicians : SHAMANs.
20. European triumvirate : BENELUX. Belgium is so stuffy, including their Etam lingerie shops. Their "words of support" (a la Grumpy & Splynter yesterday) just don't feel sexy.
21. Variety show : REVUE
22. Catches the show : TUNES IN
25. Steamy stuff : EROTICA
26. Israeli weapons : UZIs
27. With 116-Down, "Bed-In for Peace" co-organizer : YOKO. And ONO (116D. See 27-Across).
28. Make amends : ATONE
30. Be a disincentive to : DETER
31. Eager, in dialect : RARIN
36. Sound on Old MacDonald's farm : OINK
37. Responses to the obvious : DUHs. D'ohs too.
39. Office orders : REAMS
40. __ Shore : JERSEY
42. The Joker portrayer : ROMERO (Cesar). I can only remember Heath Ledger.
45. Spot for "Spot" : TAG. Got me.
47. Concordes: Abbr. : SSTs. Crossing SSN (47D. No. under the year on many tax forms). Constructors' crutch fill.
48. Triumphant shout : AHA
55. Seafaring salutations : AHOYs
59. Some tablets : PCs
60. Official declaration : EDICT
61. "The Gates of Hell" sculptor : RODIN. See here.
62. Goes __: deteriorates : TO POT
63. Like some advanced research, briefly : POSTDOC (Postdoctoral)
65. Cues from a stage coach : LINEs. Theater stage. Not the wagon.
66. "Trust me!" : I SWEAR
67. Epps of "House" : OMAR
72. Mother of the Valkyries : ERDA. Drew a blank.
73. Short summaries : RECAPs
75. Garfield's creator : DAVIS (Jim). Gimme for JD/eddyB.
76. Clue room : LIBRARY
78. Shinto temple gateway : TORII. Wouldn't it be nice to clue it as Torii Hunter and cross-reference LAA (86A. A.L. West team, on scoreboards)? Hunter is the right fielder for the Angels.
79. Enter, as data : KEY IN
80. Start a rally : SERVE. Tennis.
82. Ballpoint brand : BIC
83. Fishhook-to-line connection : SNELL. Learned from doing Xword.
87. Vow : OATH
89. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" band : YES
90. Still in the outbox : UNSENT. Mine is in the Draft.
92. Andre's love : STEFFI (Graf)
95. 10% donation : TITHE
99. One might go around on the patio : SPIT. Lovely clue. Skewer.
100. __ Neuf: Paris bridge : PONT
105. Mitigates : EASES
109. Rubber tree yield : LATEX
111. Astound : FLOOR
112. Tug : YANK
114. Kennel sound : YELP
115. Got one's money's worth at the buffet : ATE A LOT. Only if they have pickled herrings. Then I might pig out.
120. Pottery casserole dish : TERRINE
121. "You're __ talk!" : ONE TO
122. Unpredictable : ERRATIC
123. Therapy time : SESSION
124. Exorcist's foe : DEMON
125. Old West gang : DALTONS. The Dalton Gang.
Down:
1. "It was over so fast" words : A BLUR. It's all a blur.
2. TV host Gibbons : LEEZA
3. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR
4. Like some comforting manners : BEDSIDE
5. Mont Blanc, e.g. : ALP
6. Lift : BUOY
7. Geometry class list : AXIOMS. All a blur to me, my geometry class years.
8. Serenade, perhaps : CROON
9. Fox's prey : HEN
10. Pilot : AVIATE
11. Naturally brewed beverage : SUN TEA. Lovely.
12. A lot of resistance : MEG OHM. OHM is resistance measure.
13. "The Feast of Saint Nicholas" painter : STEEN (Jan)
14. Judah Ben-__ : HUR
15. Give __ to: okay : A NOD
17. Currently : AS IT IS
18. Like a noted creed : NICENE. Nicene Creed.
19. Crotchety : SNARKY. Like some blog comments.
24. Go downhill fast? : SKI. I'm picturing Marti in action.
29. "If I Ruled the World" rapper : NAS
32. Helped get healthy : NURSED
34. Impulse : URGE
35. Short spinners? : DJs. "Short" implied an abbr. in answer.
38. Ballpark staples : HOT DOGS
41. Virginie-Occidentale et al. : ETATS. Virginie-Occidentale is French for West Virginia.
42. Close connections : RAPPORTs
43. "You can't be serious" : OH COME ON. Good entry.
44. Blowout on the court : MASSACRE. Crushing defeat!
45. First O, say : TIC. Tic-tac-toe.
46. Fitting : APT
50. Diamond wearer in "Copacabana" : RICO. Spanish for "rich".
51. With accuracy or distance, a golf stat : DRIVING. Nice clue.
52. Fox forensic drama : BONES
53. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN. See this map.
54. Spanish ayes : SI SI
56. In working order : OPERABLE
57. "Rocky" catchphrase : YO ADRIAN. Great one.
58. Future adoptee, perhaps : STRAY CAT. Meow!
65. "Deathtrap" playwright : LEVIN (Ira)
66. "You win" : I GIVE UP
69. Baltic Sea feeder : ODER
70. "The Banana Boat Song" opening : DAY-O
71. Workers' rights agcy. : NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). No idea.
74. Rice preparation : PILAF. Like pilaf, Bill?
77. Longtime collaborator with Elton : BERNIE (Taupin). He wrote most of Elton John's songs.
79. Util. unit : KWH
80. You might do it after hiring a lawyer : SUE. Interesting turn of event in the ex-IMF chief case. Still a bad guy.
81. Marxism extremes? : EMs. The both ends of the word.
85. "Wrong, comrade" : NYET. Russian for "No".
88. Three times daily, on an Rx : TID. Ter in die.
91. Spends the night in : STAYS AT
92. Evidence of egg toss errors : SPLATS
93. Just right : TO A TEE. Always tricky to parse.
94. Goes on stage : ENTERS
95. Business card no. : TEL
96. 14-legged crustacean : ISOPOD
97. "The First Billion is the Hardest" author Pickens : T BOONE.
98. Cotton Club site : HARLEM. Not familiar with the Cotton Club, a nightclub in NY in Prohibition era, a la Wiki.
99. Had a hunch : SENSED
102. Regularly : OFTEN
103. "Sounder" Oscar nominee : TYSON (Cicely). No idea. She was married to Miles Davis.
104. __-di-dah : LAH
106. Defense gp. formed in Manila : SEATO. Gone in 1977.
107. Classic watch : ELGIN
108. See-thru wear? : SPECS. Great clue.
110. Super Bowl at which Tom Petty performed : XLII. 2008 Super Bowl. I was clueless.
113. Two-season "American Idol" judge DioGuardi : KARA
118. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO (Midori)
119. Web ID : URL
Answer grid.
C.C.
103. "Sounder" Oscar nominee : TYSON (Cicely). No idea. She was married to Miles Davis.
104. __-di-dah : LAH
106. Defense gp. formed in Manila : SEATO. Gone in 1977.
107. Classic watch : ELGIN
108. See-thru wear? : SPECS. Great clue.
110. Super Bowl at which Tom Petty performed : XLII. 2008 Super Bowl. I was clueless.
113. Two-season "American Idol" judge DioGuardi : KARA
118. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO (Midori)
119. Web ID : URL
Answer grid.
C.C.
Greetings, fellow cruciverbalists!
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle, Sam D.! Really enjoyed the heteronyms! Loved GOOD EVENING, WRONG NUMBER and several others. Great write-up, CC.
I watched two episodes of Wilfred on FX. (No nudity here.) Probably not acceptable viewing for many of our bloggers. Anybody see episodes? Fascinating, if one can gloss over the rectal references. One reviewer said it was an instant cult classic, almost even if not shown! It is an adaptation of an Australian (darker) classic. Elijah Wood is really very good!
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteFun theme today. I doubt you'd actually be able to see (let alone show) a meteor with a telescope, but that's OK.
Some unknowns today, including BENELUX (sounds like a brand name), BERNIE and TERRINE, and I swear I always thought the plural of SHAMAN was SHAMEN. Oops. Other than that, though, pretty smooth sailing throughout.
DJ gets clued as an abbr. but PC doesn't? No like.
ReplyDelete45 D own had me stumped. First O? I had nothing I looked at for a awhile I finally answered it due to working around it and the rest fell into place.
ReplyDeleteLate Show Fun Fact:
The favorite rock band of 61% of electricians is AC/DC.
Scientists who've been studying pigeons say they're definitely up to something.
Dave Letterman Book of Fun Facts.
Enjoy your Sunday.
Good Morning, C.C., and friends. This was a really fun Sunday puzzle. The title made me think that the theme would have repeating words, but after getting GOOD EVENING, I knew the direction in which we were going.
ReplyDeleteI wanted John instead of YOKO for the Bed-In for Peace co-organizer. Nice mislead there.
My favorite clue was One May Go Around on a Patio = SPIT.
I went to a memorial service for a dear friend yesterday. She was musicians, so the first hour was a beautiful musical recital. Her 6 year old grandson had a violin solo. It was a nice tribute to my friend.
Enjoy the 4th of July holiday.
QOD: A cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal. ~ Winston Churchill
Any one have an idea for 45-Across. Spot for "Spot" : TAG?
ReplyDeleteThe name on his ID tag on his collar?
ReplyDeleteI took 45A to be a convoluted reference to Dick & Jane's "dog" as being the first half of military DOGTAG.
ReplyDeleteHi There ~!
ReplyDeleteA very fun puzzle; I was just yesterday saying that I had to "Polish" my car after a wash and wax - I need to write these things down for my own puzzles~!
I got all the tough areas OK, but stumbled on FLOOR/OFTEN/TERRINE, and so DOES BATTLE was the last to fall.
Loved BASS, NUMB-ER, and TEARS.
Thanks, C.C., for explaining how TIC and first O were related.
Can you name all the rooms in the original CLUE before looking here?
It's been too long since I played.
Splynter
Good Morning C.C. et al.
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, C.C.! I loved your take on 78A TORII. That would have been cool to link it to 86A, but if Sam did, I probably would have passed right over that clue. As it was, I tried to remember our discussions here, and eventually remembered the answer!
I thought WRONG NUMBER and LEAD POISONING were really fun. There was some great fill, too, like I SWEAR, OH COME ONE, SNARKY (fun word!) and YO, ADRIAN!
NICENE had me stumped for a while because I thought the adjective ("like" in the clue) would require the form "NiceAN". Sigh, wrong again!
But other than that, a really smooth solve and a fun way to spend some time on this fine Sunday morning!
Good morning, C.C. and Sunday solvers. Thanks for the explanations.
ReplyDeleteI caught the theme early and it did help get some of the entries. I finally got down to one letter remaining. Yep, that intersection of _AG/_IC. I guess I was over thinking it as nothing really looked like it belonged there. Well, 'mind blowing' would have been great for the down clue, but it wasn't going to fit so I finally settled on the 'T' as the most likely candidate.
By the way, did you read about the guy that jumped off the PONT Neuf yesterday? Obviously he was in Seine.
I guess Janet from yesterday blew my cover. I'm not that cute. Not even close.
ReplyDeleteC.C.: This is Torii Hunter robbing Barry Bonds of a home run in the first inning of the 2002 all-star game. That was the game that ended in a tie because it went into extra innings and they ran out ot pitchers.
Argyle: I think anon@715a was correct. The spot where you'll find the name "Spot" would be on his/her collar.
I was almost 3/4 finished with the cross world puzzle when I closed down my internet browser by accident. So I started over & it appears like a finished a Sunday puzzle in 24 minutes. Amazing how I remembered so many entries.
ReplyDeleteMy favorites were 39A office orders--REAMS. I did not figure out the clueing until I read the Blog. Although it wasn't stated, a light went on in my head. I also liked LINES, SERVE & SPECS. Good misleads for me.
We recently had a clue like 100A ___ Neuf: Paris bridge--PONT (or something similar).
Sam, I really liked the puzzle. CC, great writeup.
I meant to say TAG, not collar.
ReplyDeleteSeen, I'm not convinced...but it's best idea so far.
ReplyDeleteGood Day C.C. and all,
ReplyDeleteGreat write-up, C.C.; thanks.
Really cool puzzle. Daughter, son and I worked together on this one. Made it go fast, which is what was needed this AM; and we each got our ‘brain’ strokes.
Theme was delightful. Lots of laughs here. May be developing ‘next generation’ cwers.
My only gripe is the arrogance of 41D. Should a proper place or name be changed by language?
Have a nice pre 4th day.
Creature, I didn't see any arrogance in using the French translation of West Virginia to indicate that the entry would be a french word. We Americans do the same thing to place names in other countries. Italians go to Firenze. Americans go to Florence.
ReplyDeleteToday's retro Avatar is the earliest image of yours truly that is in my possession. The note on the back says I was one year old at the time.
Hi C.C. et al, what a barrel of fun for a Sunday. I laughed out loud at the theme answers (WRONGNUMBER my fav)!! The west needed some help but ROMERO (went crazy trying to remember Heath Ledger – never did) came like a bolt from the blue and TORII and SNELL were learning moments.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-I’ve never seen a millisecond of JERSEY Shore or NAS but they are ingrained in our culture. OMG!
-Goes SOUTH? Nope, TOPOT
-Hey, C.C. I know where TORII started his career!
-Oh, that Andre. STE_ _ _ was STELMO for awhile.
-Buffets make big bucks on my wife and me! Granddaughter loves HUHOT, we don’t!
-“Over so fast” – not so good in the boudoir!
-I saw BEN-HUR at 12 years old in a reserved seat theater. It holds up well.
-Two burgers (no dogs), 2 fries and two bottled waters cost $24 at AAA game in Omaha last night.
-MASSACRE is definitely more severe than love game
-Seems IMF guy was only guilty of infidelity. Yup, still bad guy!
-DAYO song is now at ball parks!
First O? Do you remember yours?
ReplyDeleteGood Morning All, heteronyms galore! C.C. is correct. I really enjoyed the puzzle. I got the theme early on with LEAD POISONING. They all brought a smile, but my favorite was 68A/GOOD EVENING. Shouldn't our old pal FLOWER have made an appearance?
ReplyDeleteI fell for 42A as LEDGER too. I had totally forgotten about ROMERO.
115A, I like pickled herring a lot too. The Scandinavian way is to "dollop" them with sour cream. I like with or without it. (Is dollop a verb? Sure, in crosswordese, why not?)
JD's Olan Mills photo with her dog is classic! My latest is the 1960 engagement photo. Looking hopefully and dreamily into the future...Oops! That one didn't take.
Not much time to check in for a few days.
I want to wish everyone a Happy 4th. If you have a little time, here's a 1945 Frank Sinatra tribute to America, the way we always want it to be. The House I Live In.
Fun theme and good puzzle. Parts of it were tough for me and I'm thinking it took longer than usual. WRONG NUMBER was excellent. I agree with Barry's nit. One would never use a telescope to observe a meteor shower. The only way to see a brief and fast-moving meteor in a telescope would be by a fortuitous accident. Even binoculars are counter productive.
ReplyDeleteGary, bottled water at a baseball game? Why not not use the money to get some beer and peanuts and use the drinking fountain if necessary? I'm not sure if I've ever paid for water.
C.C., yes I like rice pilaf. In fact, I like rice most any way at all but I don't know why you asked. Something I said before but forgot? My favorite is fried rice from a local restaurant. I don't know what they do to it but it's really special.
I get pickled herring in a jar at the supermarket. It comes in sour cream.
CA, did you have a clue in mind for FLOWER? Do you know something that is both?
ReplyDeleteActually, Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics, and Elton John the music for their collabarations; there was an old tv special showing them working together, separately.
You all have forgotten Jack Nicholson's turn as the Joker? I will never forget that purple suit.
Off to do something....
I did get Romero, but had to wait for a lot of perp help. I thought of Nicholson, but never did think of Ledger. The clue for Tic was very original, IMO. Tag, not so much. But still, fun puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI won't provide any toxic earworms that are puzzle related (i.e. No Manilow), but I will give a nod to a Jersey Girl
Greetings on this beautiful weekend,
ReplyDeleteAll the new avatars are delightful.Remember how we ALL laughed at Olan Mills photos?Ah yes, and good grief, why the dog??! Must have been a freebie as I had no money. I paid my weekly $5 food allotment with magazine coupons.One of my "get me through" college jobs was a coupon counter at a local supermarket.
CA, enjoyed the Sinatra tribute.
Lemon, what about Blue Flower? (Six letters)
ReplyDeleteAlso, how about World Famous Tower? (Three letters)
Do any of you watch Sunday Morning on CBS? It's such a well-done, low-key news magazine. I always enjoy their short nature segment at the end.
Well, I had a real hoot looking through old photos to find this one. And I must admit, I dug up more than a few cobwebs along the way.
ReplyDeleteHusker, I also put "south" instead of TO POT, for "Deteriorates". Somehow, I just didn't visualize using pot as deteriorating...I thought it made everything better?
Lemon, I am not sure if it was so much, "Serious", as it was, "Pissed off that I have to sit here in this ugly dress when I could be out catching frogs in the pond..."
ReplyDeleteBill G., I know, paying for water is stupid and lazy but we don’t drink beer and didn’t want any fizz and enjoy having the water at our seat. Waddaya gonna do? Also, we had Chinese food the other night and I asked if he had plain, old steamed rice that wasn’t fried or full of ancillary materials. Stunned, he said yes and went back and got me some.
ReplyDeleteMarti, the guy I played golf with yesterday who had on his “recovery (sobered up”) T-shirt laughed out loud when we teed off next to a large marijuana patch. He said, “I used to kind of have a problem with that stuff!” He needs something to improve his golf game, which has gone south. That ditch weed might not improve his game but it’ll probably lower his standards.
Big fireworks in town tonight. Ah, KFC and fireworks, what a country!
CA, I enjoyed the short film. Very moving. I wasn't even aware of its existence. Where did you find it?
ReplyDeleteWhat's more American than baseball?
ReplyDeleteThe New York Times just covered a local story.
I lived .5 mi. from the stadium for its first 10 years and attended weekly. I've been to every opening day and still go several times a year. Many people thought it would never fly.
Just a "feel-good" story for the times.
Really nice feel-good baseball story Seen. If I lived in the area, I'd be there too. It would be a pleasure to see some high-quality baseball without the exorbitant salaries, high prices and traffic jams.
ReplyDeleteGotta agree. That Dayton Baseball story is time very well spent. Thanks for sharing that Seen.
ReplyDeleteAnyone here seen the movie Tree of Life with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn?
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteI liked the TAG clue better than the TIC one. TIC felt more contrived to me.
I lucked out and already had the O in for the last letter in the Joker clue, so my mind went straight to ROMERO instead of either of the others.
CA, they played that short of Sinatra's on TCM this afternoon, just before "On The Town". I thought it was very moving, and wiped away a few tears...
Have a Happy Fourth!
Annette
@Hahtool
ReplyDeleteLong time lurker. I've been thinking about seeing it. Tell me how you like it.
Fireworks at Riptides on the River, Clays Ferry, Kentucky.
ReplyDeleteWelcome, CrazyCatLady.
ReplyDeleteHello Crazy Cat Lady, that's a handsome cat you have chosen for your avatar. I am a sucker for cats. My cat knows this. :-)
ReplyDeleteCrazyCatLady: Welcome! I have seen better and I have seen worse movies than Tree of Life. I thought it was rather pretentious. I enjoyed the scenery, since much seemed to have been filmed in the south. Many people walked out of the theater within the first 30 minutes.
ReplyDeleteHow fun that you appear CCL on a day when STRAY CAT is in the puzzle. Welcome.
ReplyDeletePhew! Warm afternoon with lots of company. Bill G. and Annette, I did catch the beginning of "On The Town" on TMC before the family got here and that is when I saw the Sinatra short film. Just a quick Google look-up from there and found the link.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is some time on a friend's houseboat. I have to stay out of the sun, so while everyone else is splashing in the water, I'll be sitting in the shade with a margarita. Seems fair to me. There will be a BBQ and then watching fireworks with the grandkids. I plan on embarrassing them by singing every patriotic song I know...and I know a lot!
Hahtool, our area isn't known for showing "arty" movies, so I'll have to wait for Netflix for "The Tree of Life". I've heard it is a "difficult" movie to watch (boring??).
Hi, CrazyCatLady. Hope you enjoy the company here.
Stray Cats
ReplyDeleteFermatprime,
ReplyDeleteHow utterly knock-out! Stunning.
Thanks for sharing.