Theme: "Short Changes" - Short E sound is changed into a short A sound, changing spelling when needed. (Added later: Not as tight as I pictured. SHORT E sound is changed into three different sounds. Thanks, everyone!)
23A. Trio in a leather factory? : THE THREE TANNERS. Three Three Tenors.
37A. Riffraff lacking direction? : RABBLE WITHOUT A CAUSE. Rebel Without a Cause.
50A. Place to raise simians? : MONKEY RANCH. Monkey wrench.
70A. "Leave tiny bugs alone!"? : DON'T SWAT THE SMALL STUFF. Don't sweat the small stuff. SWEAT (64D. Word before pants, shirts or socks) should not have appeared in this puzzle.
92A. Encouragement for a sailing maneuver? : TACK SUPPORT. Tech support.
103A. Swap headgear with the priest? : PUT A FATHER IN YOUR CAP. Put a feather in your cap. The theme answer is a bit stretched for me. I also pronounce "Father" differently. Not short A.
125A. Moderate building expansion? : LIMITED ADDITION. Limited edition. My "Addition" has a schwa starts.
Sound
change theme is always hard for me to grasp. I mentioned on the blog
before that the short A and short E are my biggest problem as a
foreigner. I call tell the differences when others say BAD and BED, but
when I open my mouth, they're the same.
Sigh. But I solved this puzzle without a glitch. I just don't get the RACE clue "130. Election lead-in". Senate race, presidential race. How can it be "lead-in?"
Across:
1. Perennial '90s-'00s presidential candidate : NADER. Thought of PEROT first.
6. Artist van __ : GOGH. These two are mine.
10. Pear type : BOSC
14. Fairylike : ELFIN
19. How two hearts may beat : AS ONE
20. Fencing tool : EPEE
21. Choral part : ALTO
22. Transitional point : VERGE
26. Start of a historic B-29 name : ENOLA
27. Car user, perhaps : LESSEE
28. Techie on "24" : CHLOE. Got via crosses.
29. "You said it!" : AMEN
31. Witticism : MOT
32. Pub. VIPs : EDs. Publication/Editors. I thought of Public first.
34. Tout's territory, initially : OTB
35. Mixes : STIRS. Slight dupe with 126. Cookbook direction : MIX. Software can't catch this kind of dupe. Constructors & editors do try their best to avoid this.
36. Farm sound : MOO
44. Take advantage of, in a way : IMPOSE ON
45. Org. with an online Patriot Index : DAR. New trivia to me.
46. Deli pockets : PITAs. Have you tried Sabich, Steve/Lemonade?
49. Nitwit : BOOB
56. Aria, for one : SOLO
57. Religious faction : SECT
59. Coll. prep test : PSAT
60. Song of praise : PAEAN
62. " ... o'er the dew of __ high eastward hill": Shak. : YON
63. Common batteries : AAs. I finally have a new Timex. My old one has been slowly losing time the past few months, even with the new battery.
65. SEC overseer : NCAA. Not NYSE.
68. Bend at a barre : PLIE
69. Game-winning combination : OOO
77. "Gotcha!" : OHO
78. '90s Saturn maker : SEGA. Got via crosses also.
79. Put-ons : ACTS
80. Biblical verb ending : ETH
81. Slight amount : DAB. Like your eye cream. A little bit will do.
82. Counts' equals : EARLS
84. Former "formerly" : ERST
87. Appear to be : SEEM
90. Silver sources : ORES. With O??S, then "Silver", I wanted OATS. Read the full clue, dummy!
96. Fires : AXES
98. Gobs : SALTS
100. Expressions of pleasure : AHS
101. Most sylvan : WOODIEST
109. Loan letters : APR. Annual Percentage Rate. I wanted SBA, which came shortly at 113. Entrepreneur-helping gp.
111. Colorful marble : AGATE
112. Controversial war zone, briefly : NAM. China fought against Vietnam in late 1970s also.
114. DI doubled : MII
115. Succumb to flattery : MELT
116. Word in many music genres : METAL
118. More than concerns : ALARMS
123. Open, in a way : UNZIP. I wanted UNRIP.
128. Engraved pillar : STELE. Have not seen this word or STELA for a long time.
129. Joyce's home : ERIN
131. Coal __ : STOVE. Not MINER.
132. Made less harsh : EASED
133. Deli call : NEXT
134. Barrie's bosun : SMEE. Also 122. Bygone blade : SNEE
135. Homebound student, perhaps : TUTEE
Down:
1. N.L. part: Abbr. : NATL
2. Court icon Arthur : ASHE
3. Bucks' partners : DOES
4. "The Lord of the Rings" race : ENTS
5. Cobbles, in a way : RE-HEELS
6. Whiz start : GEE
7. Cartel acronym : OPEC
8. Really start selling : GET HOT
9. __ insurance : HEALTH. Wish everyone is entitled to the same type of quality medical care, regardless of their income or past history.
10. Undoing : BANE
11. Corrida cheer : OLE
12. Layers : STRATA
13. Kind of ray or dust : COSMIC
14. Ties, as a score : EVENS UP
15. Author Deighton : LEN
16. Beatles' title lyric that follows "With love" : FROM ME TO YOU. Again, the answer filled itself.
17. Northern abode : IGLOO
18. "Cool!" : NEATO
24. Exchange for cash : REDEEM
25. Nary a soul : NOBODY
30. Big band, for one : ERA
33. Descend suddenly : SWOOP
35. One may be over your shoulder : STRAP. Nice clue.
37. Kid : RIB
38. Wally of cookie fame : AMOS
39. Org. with antlers on its logo : BPOE
40. Maneuverable tractor brand : BOBCAT
41. Lodging locales : INNS
42. Syr. and Eg., once : UAR. United Arab Republic.
43. Family nickname : SIS
47. Above it all : ALOOF
48. Ibn, in Arabic names : SON OF
51. "Critique of Pure Reason" author : KANT
52. Sketch opening : ETCH-A
53. California tourist area near Santa Rosa : NAPA. Do you like Napa cabbage?
54. Block component : CELL
55. Ethiopia's Selassie : HAILE
58. Calais cup : TASSE
61. Fits one inside the other : NESTS
66. Former nuclear agcy. : AEC. Nailed it.
67. __ in the right direction : A STEP
70. Extinct birds : DODOS
71. Catherine of "Best in Show" : O'HARA
72. Awards since 1901 : NOBEL PRIZES. Wish Angela Merkel won this year's Nobel Peace.
73. Indian shrine site : AGRA
74. Powder source : TALC
75. New car letters : MSRP
76. Up in __: uncertain : THE AIR
83. Glide along : SKATE
85. Planted : SOWN
86. NFL analyst Aikman et al. : TROYS. I have his rookie card. OK condition. Probably worth two dollars.
88. Corp. VIP : EXEC
89. Colorado's __Verde National Park : MESA
91. Actor Erwin : STU
93. Sound of silence? : SHH
94. Web discussion venue : USENET
95. "Sorry that didn't work out" : TOO BAD
97. Auto performance brand : STP
99. Ended for good, with "out" : STAMPED
102. Believer in a pair of opposed eternal principles : DUALIST. Learning moment to me. Yin and Yang stuff?
104. Mature : AGE
105. Cast out of heaven : FALLEN
106. Getup : ATTIRE
107. Some critics : RATERS
108. Introduction to a madam? : I'M ADAM. Nailed it also.
109. Entertain : AMUSE. Was confused by Splynter's On/Wa/Rd link yesterday until I finished reading his write-up.
110. 1492 vessel : PINTA
116. Hotel pillow topper : MINT. I rarely travel now. Do they still have mints in hotel pillows?
117. Make more potent, in a way : LACE
119. Westernmost Aleutian island : ATTU. No ATKA today.
120. Million laughs : RIOT. Got via crosses.
121. Game play : MOVE
124. __-de-France : ILE
127. Sandra who played Gidget : DEE
C.C.
33 comments:
Hello Puzzlers -
I found this big thing pretty easy for the most part, but at the time I was baffled by block component = Cell. That light finally came on. However, I still don't get the connection between SEC and NCAA. Liked the punny theme, and smiled right out loud at the grid spanner.
Morning, C.C.! That's the first I've heard of Napa cabbage. Looks a bit like bok choy.
Greetings!
Thanks, Jim, for a nice, workable (w/o head scratching) Sunday offering! Thanks, CC, as usual for great, Chinese-flavored write-up!
Got the funny theme right away. Loved THE THREE TANNERS. (Have CDs and videos.)
I, too, had Perot before NADER. CHLOE was a gimme.
NetWord puzzle with capital cities was lots of fun!
Bedtime! (Still sick.)
Cheers!
Agree about SEC. (One head-scratcher.)
Really like napa cabbage. Good mixed with boo chop, mushrooms and onions!
There once was a man, a dyed-in-wool DUALIST
Said, "To understand women is on my to-do list.
The fairer sex
Is most complex,
They're both the kindest and the cruelest!"
A fun toy is the ETCH-A-sketch,
For girls and boys of either sex.
They twist two knobs
And something bobs
And sometimes there's surprise effects!
Hi there~!
the basketball SEC, not the financial SEC - got me, too. Also fell into the PEROT trap as well....
Splynter
Morning, all!
Fun, punny puzzle today. Lot of white space my first pass through, and I didn't actually catch onto the theme until I got down to LIMITED ADDITION, but then things really started getting enjoyable as I went back and started my second pass.
Not overly fond of WOODIES (I would have preferred WOODSIEST, personally).
Shot myself in the foot a bit in the NW by putting in LESSOR instead of LESSEE at 27, which led me to go with RESOLES instead of REHEELS (which is why I didn't get either of the first two theme answers the first time around). Once I got the theme, though, I knew 37A had to start with RABBLE and that was enough to set me straight.
The clue for NCAA threw me for a loop, since I was associating SEC with Securities and Exchange Commission.
Oh, and C.C. -- I took 130A to mean that the race between candidates leads up to the actual election, which is the culmination of the race. I agree it doesn't make much sense if you think of the entire campaign as the election, but in this sense the election is the actual act of choosing the candidate at the end.
Good morning!
This one seemed overly easy for a Sunday. Hand up for PEROT. Also tried ALOFT before ALOOF raised its ugly head. I actually understood the SEC reference; imagine that. The other SEC would have been the NYSE's overseer, not the other way around.
C.C., I agree that the sound changes aren't consistent. SWAT and FATHER have a different vowel sound from TANNER, RANCH and TACK. And ADDITION makes a third. My nextdoor neighbor is named TANNER.
Nice CSO to Misty, our resident Joyce scholar, with ERIN.
I worked with a DUALIST in the awl patch. He believed that the earth was about 5 billion years old and that petroleum and coal were the fossilized remains of plants and animals from millions of years ago. He was also a fundamentalist and believed that the earth was created about 6,000 years ago. When I asked him how he could believe both, he said, "I don't think about it. I just believe it."
SEC equals South East Conference, a college football association.
Before you win an election, you run a race.
I was about to add a comment about SWAT having a short-o sound rather than short-a, but d-o beat me to it. I interpreted the theme as a little broader, just changes from short-e. Not necessarily to short-a.
WBS about RESOLES, although that changed quickly when 23A became "THE THREE somethings". Another one temporarily misled by the SEC. Speaking of TLAs (three-letter acronyms), I also tried NRC before AEC, but NRC is current so doesn't qualify. No problem with SBA, though. Took a while to recall CHLOE -- how could I forget her? Liked having SMEE and SNEE, and Madam I'M ADAM.
Agree that the non-theme clues did not seem Sunday-level, and I completed this in record time for a Sunday.
Thanks Jim, and CC for the summary!
Faster than most Sundays. No unknowns. I thought the theme was merely the change from short e to any a, akin to Howard's comment.
There! I used akin without a qualm. On the news this morning the commentators were discussing the bright early morning light, saying the landscape was AWASH with light and all AGLOW. I still don't understand why these common A words engender such scorn here.
I suspect WOODIEST is legit, but I, too, prefer Woodsiest.
The Three Tenors are a favorite of mine.
I have eaten NAPA cabbage. And I've had NAPA wine to drink. LOL. Our supermarkets abound with every kind of fresh greens. There! Another fine A word used automatically, without a forethought.
My washer quit on Oct. 30 and my dryer is on its last legs. I have my laundry equipment in an alcove and the newer models are too deep to fit there. I am still searching.
In addition, I am reading that new UL fire safety rules make using vented dryers, especially in a small space, more difficult. Has anyone else heard this?
SEC is Southeastern Conference, NCAA of course is the governing authority over college sports
Good Morning:
No real problems, although I had a few w/os: DMZ/Nam, Eire/Erin, song/solo, and miner/stove. I thought Put a Father.....was a stretch and I agree with CC about sweat, especially with it crossing "Swat the small stuff." I always get Smee and Snee confused. Perot was my first thought but I waited on the perps. I've never had Napa cabbage, or Savoy, for that matter, just plain, old cabbage-cabbage, which I can take or leave.
Thanks to Jim and CC for the Sunday stroll and summary.
YR, glad to hear that Alan got some relief. I hope he continues to feel better.
We have a beautiful, sunny day with cooler temps; Indian Summer is over, I guess. Time to bring the fleece out!
Have a great day.
Block component = cell refers to a prison, as in a cellblock. "Cellblock: a group of cells constituting a subdivision of a prison."
Did not appreciate Mr. Holland's political comment about universal health insurance, a controversial topic that has no place in the write-up.
CC - I've never had a sabich, but I'm cooking with a Napa cabbage as we speak, I'm making Pad Thai!
Channeling my inner Thumper on the puzzle, though. Did Rich take the day off?
I enjoyed the puzzle and found the theme quite amusing. But I agree with Steve and C.C. on some of the edits. In addition to those already mentioned, in the palindrome, it's phrased: madam, I'm Adam. The clue implies I'm Adam comes first.
As for food, we tried Pho for the first time yesterday. Delicious!
Good Sunday morning,
5 Down: i Went through a progression here, and knowing that a cobbler REPAIRS shoes, I wrote that in first; that didn't work so I went to RESOLES. Finally found REHEELS to be the correct entry.
80 Across:The biblical verb ending that came to mind was EST:("How readest thou?", Luke 10:26). Forgot about the other one, ETH: ("he stinketh", John 11:39). But I don't much use the KJV anymore in favor of the ESV and NASB translations.
A very enjoyable puzzle that overall did not stink, but like several others here, I thought WOODIEST smelled kind of funny.
Avg Joe, was that true Pho or faux Pho? Apparently, you're no Pho foe, but a friend of Pho. Aw phooey!
Thanks Jim, for a fine Sunday puzzle. Once I got the theme it really helped with the other longs. PUT A FATHER IN HIS CAP took the longest to get.
Perps helped get most of them. I had 2 red letters popping out when I switched on the "training wheels". nEC for AEC and iTH for ETH.
I liked CHLOE the best on "24" but I forgot she was a computer tech.
My Kindle ODE says WOODIEST is ok. But since WOODSY is a North American word, I also like it better. To me, WOODY describes some object. And there is ALSO a N. American VULGAR SLANG use for WOODY, which may be why WOODSY is used more here.
Thanks CC for the great write up. Anonymous at whatever is ignorant of how much time you and others put into explaining the clues so we solvers can get them.
I regards to the RACE before the election. Do you recall the big SNAFU of the 2000 election between Al Gore and George W. Bush? The media made predictions before the polls closed. NADAR also ran in that race. We had the "hanging chads" controversy and the Supreme Court had to be called in. The result wasn't called until Dec. 12, 2000. CHADS
Yellowrocks, if your old machines are from a good manufacturer, Say Maytag, before it went cheap, it may be better to find a GOOD repairman and fix them. My repairman says the newer, digital machines are having many EXPENSIVE repair issues. So far I have been able to just replace parts [a belt and later an ELECTRONIC starter for the dryer.]
VS
A fun Sunday puzzle--not too easy, not too tough, just right--many thanks, Jim. And always love your write-ups, C.C. So glad I can come to the Corner after doing my Sunday puzzle these days.
Desper-otto, how kind of you to remember my James Joyce specialty! I still had to wait to see if the answer was going to be ERIN or EIRE.
Fermatprime, take good care of yourself, and feel better soon.
Have a great Sunday, everybody!
I really loved the phrases this gimmick generated! I’m late to the dance because I had to read every syllable about the Husker’s fabulous win last night
.
Musings
-He had a MONKEY RANCH
-It’s a point of discussion if NADER cost Gore the 2000 RACE
-I can’t make being a LESSEE seem logical for us
-Hearing MOO may not be the first sense activated by this Nebr. feedlot
-Rock solid PSALM held me up until PEAEN forced its way in
-This fabulous song (6:40) has the lyric “and here she’s ACTING happy inside her handsome home”
-EARLS, Lords and Ladies, Oh My!
-The miners getting silver ORE out of the Comstock Lode had to contend with scalding hot water flowing at those deep levels in Nevada
-Fans who wanted Husker FB coaches AXED are now rethinking their views
-I wonder if any METAL music aficionados dig ARIAS
-SWOOPING in on that infamous yearly day
-Did anyone survive escape from this CELL?
-TROY left Oklahoma for UCLA when the Sooners went back to the wishbone
-DUALIST Einstein said “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”
Loved all the theme answers, which made this a fast Sunday. Favorite theme answer: DON'T SWAT THE SMALL STUFF -- which is a great mental picture about not not sweating the small stuff, something I always need to work on.
Thought of HG when the Huskers got a win in the final seconds last night. Congrats!
Thanks CC and Jim!
Hello Everyone, I don't get the LA Times crossword in my Sunday Paper. But we do get the NY Times puzzle every Sunday. I see a familiar name as the constructor this week. C.C. I believe that is your name at the top today. Well done. I don't usually do the NY Times puzzle, but will try it this week--especially since the answers are in the paper as well.
Happy Day, everyone. It is clouding up here and we expect more rain this weekend into Monday. It is so needed.
Thanks, Jim, for a nice, workable puzzle to start the week! Liked the theme answers. Cute!
C.C. great write-up, as usual. Thanks for your hard work!
Hi all -
Nothing big to add to WES; I had all the same hangups as almost everyone except the SEC/NCAA. I really didn't like the IMADAM. For some reason my brain didn't think about the palindrome and I read it as I MADAM which didn't make a bit of sense until I came here. Too much repetition for me although I enjoyed how quickly I finished. And I got the theme!!!
Thanks for the lovely write up C.C.
Wishing you all a great Sunday afternoon...
tawnya
Hi Y'all! The fun puns were fairly easy to get. Thanks, Jim! Always interesting, C.C.
Some clues weren't easy: USENET, IMADAM. Thanks for the explanation on the latter. No clue here.
The controversial war zone wasn't DMZ but NAM. Meh! I wasn't comprehending the abreviations: Eg. for Egypt; UAR/DAR crossing; NCAA/AEC.
I was amused by SWEAT crossing SWAT but surprised it was allowed. That corner had me stumped. REHEELS next to REDEEMS: just had a lot of "E's" for awhile. SWOOP was unexpected.
Don't get me started on HEALTH CARE. My biggest problem is not insurance but that doctors don't hear what I tell them or believe me.
MESA VERDE is a mystical experience. I've been there four times.
I've never had a MINT on my pillow in a hotel. Such a deprived life I've led! Do you think I should make a suggestion about MINTs to Motel 6. Maybe not. At least they're nice enough to leave the light on for me. LOL!
To Husker Gary--
Thanks for the Harry Chapin link. He's my all-time favorite!
Anonymous G
Pretty much What You All Said. I enjoyed the sound change gimmick, enjoyed much of the NEATO cluing, and shook my head at some of the less neato entries and cluing. For example MOT for witticism; a BON MOT is a witticism, and is what a French person would say. Now I'll go look it up and find that I'm probably wrong about that. Hand up for entering PEROT.
PK, I sympathize with you about doctors who don't really listen. I can count three times my doctor rolled her eyes or wrinkled her nose at things I told her about my reaction to certain meds, etc, as if she knew better, that I was exaggerating or embellishing. "It makes you dizzy? Naw, that's not one of the typical side effects."
We've had Napa cabbage. For cabbage, it's not bad.
Sometimes my wife can't hear the difference in vowel sounds, and she always pronounces certain ones wrong. Her biggest problem is between short e and short i, as in bed and bid. I've learned to understand her nevertheless. So, C.C., just curious, how do you pronounce 44 in Chinese? To my ear, many Taiwanese pronounce words like ten, four, death, and lion all the same. I know, of course, it's a matter of local accent, analogous to the southern accent or Boston accent in the US.
Misty, I also immediately thought of you with the ERIN clue.
Chickie, we're getting rain here too.
Best wishes to you all.
Sure enough. "Mot: a pithy or witty saying. Short for bon mot." Dang.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Jim Holland, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
Got through this puzzle easier than I normally do on a Sunday. Enjoyed it.
Got NADER easily after a couple downs.
BPOE was easy. I am one.
I'M ADAM was slow in coming, but got it with perps. I did not realize the whole thing was a palindrome. I will try to remember that.
NAPA came slowly. After a perp or two it hit home. Saw the NAPA cabbage note. Funny thing. I bought some green cabbage earlier this week to make golabki. They charged me for NAPA cabbage. I saw it when I went home and looked at the bill. Much more expensive. I went back the next day and got a refund of $10.29.
Liked the theme after I figured it out. Took me a while to do that.
Remembered ATTU. That island has been in puzzles forever.
No idea who OHARA is for 71D.
Tried PSALM for 60A. After nothing else around it worked I slowly changed it to PAEAN. OK with me.
Had our chili cook off today at church. I did not win again, but came close.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
I agree, INRE 130 across. Unless you are having a "race election", race isn't an election lead-in. Otherwise, a fairly easy Sunday puzzle.
Filled it early today and had to go out of town. I didn't notice the E to A switch but caught the switching theme and easily filled it in my usually 30 minute Sunday time. After STELE, EPEE, BPOE, SNEE, SMEE, ATTU, SALTS, Madam I'M ADAM ( & Gobs) & DAR I was beginning to see old crossword fills from years gone past. I was waiting for A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL,PANAMA AND JAI ALAI, ANIL, ARIL, and I had a couple of unknowns- CHLOE & O'HARA- filled by perps but the rest were easy or easily guessed.
DUALIST- never heard the term before
BOBCAT- never knew the made a tractor; only seen their mini-dozers or forklifts
MSRP- total joke and only fools pay it
SEC overseer- Alabama after stomping on LSU last night
BOOB- if only Splynter were doing the write up.
Election RACE- just a namecalling and mud slinging contest.
MINT on my pillow and the 'bed turned back'- what doofus came up with those ideas; I rented the room, so stay out except to clean up the next day.
Abejo,
Catherine OHARA didn't ring a bell for me either. Much of her work was with the Canadian SCTV and the "mockumentaries" of Christopher Guest.
WIKI_OHARA
However, she played the Mom in Home Alone, and I do remember that.
HOME_ALONE
VS
Jayce,
I pronoun 44 like four, ten, four. No leveling tone "lion". Cantonese has a slight "lion" tone.
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