Theme: "Wait, What?" - Long A sound is changed into short U sound.
23A. Good-natured complaint? : SMILEY FUSS. Like Gary and D-Otto's nits, if they have any. Base phrase is "smiley face".
29A. Everything you eat? : GUT RECEIPTS. Gate receipts.
36A. Skilled diver's advantage? : JUMPING OFF PLUS. Jumping off place.
65A. Fashion show photographer? : STRUT SHOOTER. Straight shooters.
71A. Inept painter? : MUCK-UP ARTIST. Make-up artist.
99A. Shore breezes caused by flapping wings? : GULL- FORCE WINDS. Gale force winds. NEAR GALE (86D. 7 on the Beaufort scale) should not have been in the grid. Easy to overlook this kind of dupe in a sound change grid.
106A. Potato expert? : KING OF SPUDS. King of spades.
119A. Prop for the gravedigger scene in "Hamlet"? : SKULL MODEL. Scale model.
Great title. Captures the puzzle gimmick perfectly.
Nora
Pearlstone is Rich's alias, anagram for "Not a Real Person". Always a
treat when Rich makes the puzzle. Can you believe he has not made any puzzle for the NYT since 2008 yet he still is the 3rd most published constructor under Will Shortz era?
I'm always grateful that Rich allows 144 words for LAT Sundays. He's a pro and totally understands the difficulties in coming up with clean fill for a 21*21 grid, esp for rookie constructors. Can Rich go low on word count? Of course he can. He made tons of themeless puzzles for LAT, NYT & other venues. He also authored this great book (don't think it has anything to do with USA Today puzzles). But he chose a 144-worder, which gives us a cleaner and smoother grid.
I'm always grateful that Rich allows 144 words for LAT Sundays. He's a pro and totally understands the difficulties in coming up with clean fill for a 21*21 grid, esp for rookie constructors. Can Rich go low on word count? Of course he can. He made tons of themeless puzzles for LAT, NYT & other venues. He also authored this great book (don't think it has anything to do with USA Today puzzles). But he chose a 144-worder, which gives us a cleaner and smoother grid.
 |
| Rich and his wife Kim |
Across:
1. Relieved reaction : WHEW
5. __ fit : HISSY. Not HONDA.
10. PC debut of 1981 : MS-DOS
15. Cabbage dispensers? : ATMs. Gimme for veteran solvers.
19. Emanating quality : AURA
20. Sadat of Egypt : ANWAR
21. Ring-shaped ocean formation : ATOLL
22. Fellow : CHAP
25. Wynonna's mother : NAOMI. The Judds. Look so young.
26. Olympian queen : HERA
27. "Key & __": Comedy Central series : PEELE. Anon T's favorite comedians.
28. Meditation class chorus : OMs
31. Cousin of com : ORG
33. Computer stylus battery : AAAA
35. Big strings : CELLI. One more I plural word: 112. Voices below soprani : ALTI
43. Exercise in a pool : DO LAPS. Also 7. Like some triathlon segments : SWUM
46. One, to Juanita : UNA
47. Political fugitives : EMIGRES
48. Sgt., e.g. : NCO
50. Tampico tots : NENEs
51. Slap (on), as cologne : DAUB
53. Attorney-__ : AT-LAW
54. Flora and fauna : BIOTA
56. Bank material : SILT. Not SAND. We also have 69. Bank construction : LEVEE
57. Teen attachment? : AGERS. Teenagers. Hard to tell if the answers is singular or plural with this type of clue.
59. Quincy of '70s-'80s TV et al. : MES. Never watched the show. I figured it might be MDS.
60. Outfits : EQUIPS
62. "... against a __ of troubles": Hamlet : SEA
63. Saharan dust swirlers : SIROCCOS. Sparkly fill.
68. Cote call : COO
70. Like some marked-down mdse. : IRR. Do you have Marshalls in your area? I scored quite a few great deals there over the years.
76. Book supplement : ADDENDUM
81. Angle preceder, in texts : IMO. Viewpoint "angle".
82. Playtime : RECESS
83. 2016 Cactus Bowl sch. : ASU.
No idea. Never paid attention to those bowls. Wiki said West Virginia
beat Arizona State. Rich is an avid sports fan. He knows these updated
sports trivia.
84. Not cramped : ROOMY
85. Bread sometimes prepared with chutney : NAAN. Also 93. Indian lentil dish : DAL. Split peas or lentils.
87. 11-Down, say : DATUM. And 11. Sports figure : STAT. I wanted STAR.
88. Kama __ : SUTRA
90. Key in : TYPE
91. First name in skin care : ESTEE
94. Limited carry-on items : LOTIONS. Boomer always gets the TSA-Pre lane. No idea why. Big
relief though, as taking off & putting on shoes is getting difficult
for him, then you have added pressure from the agent and the impatient
passengers behind.
96. Always, in verse : E'ER
97. Key below E : D SHARP. Already had DS* in the slot.
102. Present in court : ARGUE. Verb "Present".
104. Garden resident : ADAM. Eden.
105. Gum ball : WAD
110. "There you are!" : AHA
113. __ Alavesa: Spanish wine : RIOJA. All crosses. Not into wines.
117. Sitar music : RAGA
118. Language that gave us "shawl" : FARSI
121. Law school newbie : ONE-L
122. Esteemed group : ELITE. Not A-LIST.
123. Hides : PELTS
124. Modest dress : MIDI
125. Close attention : CARE
126. "The Dance Class" painter : DEGAS
127. Product, as of labor : FRUIT
128. Huff relative : SNIT
Down:
1. Winged stinger : WASP
2. "A propensity to hope and joy is real riches" philosopher : HUME (David). I don't remember studying him in schools.
3. Pennsylvania snowbelt city : ERIE
4. Smack : WALLOP. Another nice word.
5. __ fever : HAY
6. Dope : INFO
8. Root beer source : SASSAFRAS.
The root is also widely used in traditional Chinese medicine. Cantonese slow-cooked soup tends to incorporate some kind of dried root & herbal stuff.
9. Cen. components : YRS
10. How-to : MANUAL
12. Means of access : DOOR
13. Early Mexican civilization : OLMEC
14. Did a deli job : SLICED
15. Greek warrior famous for his weak spot : ACHILLES
16. Title role for which Adrien Brody won an Oscar : THE PIANIST. Haunting survival story. Did you see the movie, Jayce? There's a pickle scene.
17. Shopping spot : MART. Not MALL.
18. Body wrap offerers : SPAS
24. Like "Halloween" music : EERIE
29. Mountain passes : GAPS
30. Tesla Motors CEO Musk : ELON.
I tried his full name in a puzzle two years ago. Rich asked me to
remove it, as it's not widely familiar to solvers. Might be good for a
themeless. No one debuted it yet.
32. HUD financing gp. : GNMA. Ginnie Mae. FNMA as well.
34. Number of good men? : A FEW
36. Traitor : JUDAS
37. Eel, at sushi bars : UNAGI. The smell of freshly grilled unagi is pure heaven.
38. Joe __, only MLB catcher with three batting titles : MAUER. Met him a few times. Incredibly gracious. He has twin daughters.
39. Cuban base, familiarly : GITMO
40. Unwelcome looks : OGLES
41. Sole : UNIQUE
42. Enemy lines infiltrator : SCOUT
44. Martinique volcano : PELEE. Got via crosses.
45. Astronomical red giant : S STAR
49. Singer Redding : OTIS
52. Record-breaking base stealer Lou : BROCK. We pulled an augrophed card of him from a Topps Heritage set a while ago.
54. Flat hat : BERET
55. Rose pest : APHID
58. Really clean : SCOUR
61. Hurting more : SORER
64. Dealt : COPED
65. Quake : SEISM
66. Sets in dens : TVs
67. Contrary afterthought : OR NOT
69. "Star Trek" regular ultimately promoted to Cmdr. : LT. SULU. Easy crosses a well.
71. Worked in a shaft : MINED. Before I read the clue, I already had ?INED in this slot, then ?UCK UP in Across. Was dazed for a second.
72. Member of the NCAA's A-10 Conf. : UMASS
73. Makeshift car door opener : COAT HANGER. Does this work on modern cars?
74. West Point, e.g.: Abbr. : ACAD
75. Label again : RE-TAG
76. Not still anymore : ASTIR
77. Red pig : DUROC. This got me last time. Again today.
78. Elder statesman : DOYEN. Don't associate this word with "statesman". Elder/senior, yes.
79. Called on the field : UMPED. Thought of CAWED.
80. "SNL" alum Mike : MYERS
83. Ford, for one : AUTOMAKER. I was not fooled, but it does have the same letter count as PRESIDENT.
88. Dozing place, perhaps : SOFA
89. Once more : ANEW
92. Therefore : ERGO. Hello Husker Chuck!
94. Honorary legal degs. : LLDs
95. Bee team : SWARM
98. Swollen, with "up" : PUFFED
100. LPGA member? : LADIES.
First word of LPGA. Ryder Cup will be played here in MN this year. Too
stiff a price. We do go to Sondheim Cup though. Much more affordable & fun. (Correction: Solheim Cup. Thanks, KenoRunner.)
101. They're not literal : IDIOMS
103. Virtual transaction : E-SALE
106. Ray of fast food : KROC
107. Collector's suffix : IANA. ANA suffix is more common.
108. Prude : PRIG
109. Court org. : USTA. WNBA too.
111. Netflix competitor : HULU
114. Chief Norse god : ODIN
115. Yoda trainee : JEDI
116. Landed : ALIT
119. Sunblock letters : SPF. Do any of you take Vitamin D? I feel that I should with the cold Minnesota winter.
120. Versatile ETO carrier : LST
C.C.
31 comments:
FIW again. Yesterday had 3 cells wrong (SERIAL instead of SERIES was my bane), today 4. I_NA+R_GA had been a WAG anyway. UNO instead of UNA and DASH instead of DAUB gave the other three, crossing a pair of ballplayers I had no clue of. The theme entries were IRR. enough that they didn't give me much help until the bitter end either.
There was a girl named NAOMI
Who had a place that was homey.
Till one day her souffle
Out of hand, got away,
And PUFFED up, now her kitchen is foamy!
There once was a mule named SASSAFRAS,
No horse in the county ran half as fast!
Until a politician
Gave him competition
Cuz the mule and the man were both half-ass!
Before trying the KAMA SUTRA,
Best stock up on the LOTIONS that suit ya,
Cuz once in a tangle
With bits all a-dangle
The MART is a place you can't scoot ta!
Greetings!
Thanks, Rich and CC!
Had a feeling that it was Rich again!
No cheats, but lots of things were perped:
PEELE, ASU, RIOJAGNMA, DUROC, BROCK.
Have a great Sunday!
Cheers!
Morning, all!
Got the theme early on and got through most of this one fairly easily, but the middle of the west coast nearly proved to be my Waterloo. Neither MUCKUP ARTIST nor JUMPING OFF PLUS would come to me off the clues, despite knowing the theme. The only Joe I could think of in baseball that would fit (sorry, Mr. DiMaggio) was TORRE. Never heard of that MAUER guy. BROCK was another complete unknown. And I mistakenly went with UNO instead of UNA (which I should have realized right away was wrong since the clue referred to Juanita instead of JUAN).
I finally took out TORRE and stared at the white space with fresh eyes. Got COPED, which gave me both COO and SCOUR. Suddenly, SIROCCOS bubbled up from somewhere deep down in the depths. Then, MUCKUP ARTIST! AGERS! JUDAS! UNAGI! JUMPING OFF PLUS! DAUB! BAM! BAM! BAM! BROCK was filled in completely by the perps and looked reasonable. And that's when I finally realized that UNO should be UNA and tried MAUER. TADA! Of course, it could have just as easily been UNO and MOUER, I suppose, so my victory was a bit muted...
Good morning!
"February 21st, 2016 -- a date which shall live in ignominy", to misquote Roosevelt. That's two DNFs in a row! "Unheard of, absurd!", to quote Tevye.
I was doing pretty well until I ran smack into those two side-by-side baseball names in California. Splat! Hand up for UNO and DASH, among others. Yes, C.C., I also wanted STAR and MALL. Will I remember MAUER and BROCK in the future? Extremely doubtful.
Was so addled by the time I got to the bottom that I put LUKE where JEDI needed to be, and almost failed to see the error. D'oh! This just wasn't my day.
HI Y'all! Read the name and thought "AHA, Rich is at it again." Found the theme phrases amusing even if some of the fill was tough. I've passed a threshold where tough challenges me and no longer annoys and intimidates. Thanks, Rich! Good expo, C.C.
Didn't know any of the baseball names. All perps.
Flat hat = BERET, I rejected until late because I don't think of it as flat on the head, but sorta draped.
Quake wasn't SpaSM but SEISM. Don't think I've heard that term before.
Funny coincidence, we once had a Senator named DOYEN. Didn't help me with the puzzle because I didn't know the definition. Wonder if he knew it. Probably thought it was his destiny.
C.C., I take Vitamins D, C, B6, B12 & a multiple vitamin daily. Then if there is room, I take food. LOL!
I noticed the U substitution at FUSS & PLUS. I found it an easy puzzle to complete, even though I a ton of perp fills- PEELE (PELEE I knew), NENES (nino + nina = NENES???), THE PIANIST, RIOJA, LT SULU, S-STAR, DAL-RAGA-NAAN (Indian theme day), MES (Medical Examiners- WHEW on that one because I didn't get it until your write up) and others. I remembered the DUROC from a few weeks back. Changed MAYAN to AZTEC to OLMEC, SCRUB to SCOUR, ANTSY to ASTIR, and PUFF to PANT to SNIT to finish.
But doing my best to be honest it was a DNF. Not watching movies, tv shows, or following BASEBALL (sorry C.C.) MAUER was a complete unknown and I filled UNO instead of UNA. I looked at the feminine JUANITA and thought about changing O to A but didn't. But I do remember Tony Oliva.
SASSAFRAS Tea = root beer
GNMA- the only 'solvent' MAE a few years back
AAAA battery- I never knew they existed until crossword puzzles enlightened me
C.C.- I noticed the Gale-Gull---'FLAP' but remember 'NORA' is in charge and 'don't bite the hand that feeds you'
Barry G- after reading your comments for a while it seems that you and I seem to miss and mess up the same fills quite often.
Thank you Rich and C.C. I, too, got hung up in the Midwest by not knowing Mr. Mauer. I confidently wrote in "uno" as in "uno, dos, tres" etc.
Although I finally got it, I would have preferred a painting reference for "daub" since that area already was difficult.
I love solving clues with perps; puzzles would be boring if you didn't need them.
Have a lovely day, everyone.
Is the Sondheim Cup a tournament for composers who play golf?
Musings
-A delightful Sunday excursion, Rich!
-GULL FORCE WINDS gave me the gimmick and GUT RECIEPTS made me laugh out loud and unlocked the NE corner
-STRUT fail/fall (:41) you can see coming!
-I could MUCK UP a 2’ birdie putt ☺ (SMILEY FUSS!)
-The Husker King of HISSY fits and SNITS
-The Judds give off a lovely AURA
-ANWAR’s peace efforts cost him his life in a troubled part of the world with many EMIGRES
-Exercise can be a verb, Gary!
-We hope the NOLA LEVEES will not be found wanting again!
-The symbol should tell you who EQUIPS the Belmont women’s BB team
-A lot of education occurs at RECESS
-Kids in school today KEY IN as much as they WRITE IN
-This game requires much CARE and was the only one grandma had
-A FEW GOOD MEN and GITMO are inextricably entwined
-Gotta run, read y’all later!
Hello, puzzler friends!
Thank you, Rich and C.C.! Great fun today although DNF in some unexpected places. I knew it was HULU but HULA got in through my subconscious. Thinking about Hawaii I guess. Almost toward the end I caught on to the theme which helped me completer some of the long fill. Spelled SIROCCCOS correctly!
I hope you all have a splendid Sunday!
Nice challenge - took me the first half of the Chelsea v Man City FA Cup game (English soccer for you sports fans out there). JUMPING OFF PLACE was my last fill - I've only used/seen "jumping off point" up until now.
SASSAFRASS caused me conniptions - I wanted SASPARILA for absolutely no good reason, especially as I spelled it incorrectly!
Second half coming up - tied 1-1 at the break. Go Chelsea!
Wees,
I see I made the same false starts as everyone else...
CC: If you know Richs birthday, I would like to link him a cake.
(but it may be under a pseudonym.)
(or anagrammed)
(P.S., try looking up the past tense of anagram...)
Of most interest (to me) was 69D Star Trek regular ultimately promoted to Cmdr.
& without a single perp, it could have been anybody, across multiple series.
(heck, they are so old, they have all been promoted...)
But the one that stuck out in my mind was Chekov.
Sorry, this is going to take 2 links to explain...
You see, Cmdr. is not enough for Chekov...
Aw nuts, I forgot to link Sassafras!
Of special interest to me as I find it all over place when hiking.
It is the only plant in the world that has three separate leaf shapes on the same tree!
Every part of the Sassafras tree has been used in one way or another,
but beware if you want to make your own Root Beer, because Safrole oil is banned in the United States for use in commercially mass-produced foods and drugs by the FDA as a potential carcinogen.
Sorry, but this theme was ripe for linking...
Smiley Fuss? (Obviously this emoticon is not a crossword solver...)
Gut Receipt? (Pls do not print what I ordered...)
Jumping off plus (Thank goodness for family...)
Sorry, but I did not get past this great idea(or really bad idea) for kids parties.
My idea of a muck up artist.
Sorry, but I did not get past this when researching gull force winds...
Somehow King of Spuds gave me the puzzle theme...
& finally, If I played Hamlet...
A fun Sunday puzzle, tough but pretty doable and I almost, almost got the whole thing. But GUT RECEIPTS really did me in, I wouldn't have gotten that in a million years. I did get both SASSAFRASS and SIROCCOS, and am proud of myself for that. Liked SKULL MODEL for Hamlet's Yorick speech, and the reference to DEGAS' "Dance Class."
So, many thanks, Rich, and C.C., for getting our Sunday morning off to a delightful start!
Have a great weekend, everybody!
Nifty sound change gimmick; I liked it. Some of them made me laugh. Like Steve, I also wanted SASPARILA, even knowing that is not how it is spelled. At least I spelled "SIROCCCOS" correctly, Lucina! Spelled ACHILLES right, too. And, believe it or not, I was also briefly nonplussed at _INED and _UCKUP. DO LAPS reminded me of our earlaps discussion a few days ago. PK, I agree with you about BERET not really being flat; I was trying to think of a 5-letter synonym for spinner.
I studied HUME in grad school but don't remember much other than his observation that one event following another does not prove one caused the other. He thought, and wrote, a lot about what causality is.
C.C., I saw the movie THE PIANIST, but don't remember much other than how morose Adrian Brody was. I don't remember any pickle scene at all. It's one of many movies that I didn't remember much of after a month or two.
Yes, I recommend vitamin D supplements during winter. Without looking at the label, I think the ones I take are 1000 IU, one pill each day with food.
Boomer is lucky they don't make him take his shoes off in the airport. I would have to wear sandals so that I could slip them back on easily, or I'd be out of luck. Either that or bring along one of those shoehorns that are 3 feet long. But they might think that to be some sort of weapon and take it away from me.
Apparently our neighbor doesn't wear shoes in their house. When you go in the front door, in the entryway there are a couple dozen various shoes, slippers, sandals, and flip-flops arrayed on the floor. They grant me special dispensation, though, and let me wear my slippers in their house. I appreciate that.
Sunday lurker say...
Yes C.C. I do like Key & PEELE. Here's an early sketch from Mad TV. What I love about their comedy is they take an issue dead on and hit the extremes while not dissin' their audience. While I love Carlin too, he was sometimes preachy. Williams (awesome!) was from another planet.
Jayce - get yourself a Global Entry card . Not only do you get to go in the 'special' line w/ your shoes on but coming home you can zip through Customs. Mine took about 2 weeks; but they already knew me 'cuz I had a clearance. YMMV.
CED - LOL links! Thanks. Sassafras is a wonderful tree. In Boy Scouts we'd make Sassafras tea in the spring to thin our blood for summer - at least that's what we thought we were doing. The leaves, while interesting, have a certain smell that let's you know it's not poison sumac (of course, if it was, it's too late :-))
MIL is all moved in and the paper got transferred to her new digs. She now has the Inter-webs too. I told her to lurk for a bit, come up w/ an blogonymn (and TxMs is taken), and come play.
Cheers, -T
Slow and steady puzzle today - took a while to figure out the theme since I had STAR instead of STAT - didn't know what GUR RECEIPTS were - DOH!
I'm a big fan of Key & PEELE too - love their intros of players at the "East/West" Bowl
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODZzSOelss
Thanks, CC and Rich
I-Hikers Key & PEELE link for your conveinence. IH - yeah that schtuff is funny too. Thanks. C, -T
When I say they take stuff head on - Watch this K&P. Evokes a grimace and yet is down-right funny. I mean, could you imagine being passed over at auction? Wait, wha? C, -T
U Mass in in the Big 10
When reading the post from Jayce,
I thought I could help by finding "the pickle scene."
Well, I have not seen this movie, & was very disturbed by its content.
I did not find anything about pickles, but I did find a scene from Schindlers List
I was going to link.
But after watching all the Key & Peele clips,
I don't want to break up the mood...
The delights of being over 75, I can leave my shoes on at the airport!
Ooh, I forgot. The most memorable scene from The Pianist is when Adrian Brody was playing the abandoned piano in a bombed out building and the German lieutenant heard him. The expression on his face was priceless.
CED- w/ DHS today, he sure would have been in pickle. . Sense of humour has escaped the airport. C, -T
To Ann @ 5:08 pm
UMass is in the Atlantic 10 (A-10) not the Big 10
Dr J (Julius Erving) played basketball for them in the early '70s.
Never heard of Key & "Peele" (ESP) since I've not watched Comedy Central in the past - my loss, for sure, since K&P's last episode was in September 2015 per Wiki. Thanks, Anon-T! I loved the hilarious clips, and yes, I don't think I was prepared for the auction skit. But you're absolutely correct about their comedic brilliance.
(lurking Houstonian)
Darn auto-fill - TX Ms said "Never heard..."
Jayce said "At least I spelled "SIROCCCOS" correctly", perhaps not. I was thinking of the VW Scirocco and added the extra C after the S, not like Jayce, who had three Cs in a row.
These puzzles used to be enjoyable. It has gotten to the point where some of the clues are so offbeat and far stretches of the imagination that they are not fun anymore.
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