Theme: Time for "A" Change - Words with long A sound are replaced by their homophone.
20. Sumo wrestler's asset?: HAZARDOUS WAIST. Hazardous waste.
30. Consequence of overtweezing?: RAZED EYEBROWS. Raised eyebrows.
49. Hawaiian tour company specialist?: LEI PERSON. Lay person.
58. Common sight on "L.A. Law"?: DEY IN COURT. Day in court.
80. Mid-morning coffee, say?: BREAK FLUID. Brake fluid.
89. Problem for Roman Britain?: GAEL FORCE. Gale force.
104. Said goodbye, dog-style?: BAYED FAREWELL. Bade farewell.
121. Low-voiced choir member's goal?: GET TO FIRST BASS. Get to first base.
This is a very tight theme set. All homophones. All go through spelling changes of course.
David
is a linguistic genius. He has found so many ways to play with
the addition/deletion/replacement themes. All of his themes are very
tight. Always an extra layer.
Across:
1. Followers who may be friendly or hostile: POSSE. We don't often see a black square at the starting corner. It makes clean fill possible.
6. Word of Gallic gratitude: MERCI. A few more French: 54. Him, to Henri: LUI. 55. Cannes concept: IDEE. And 81. French article: UNE.
11. Voltaire's faith: DEISM.
16. Bring up to date: CLUE IN.
17. "Am I awake?": PINCH ME. Great fill. And 25. Source of ignition: MATCH.
19. Game for two or four: TENNIS. And 25. Source of ignition: MATCH.
22. Car starter: ENGINE.
23. Agenda entry: ITEM.
24. Avid: EAGER.
27. Altered by time: AGED. Our crossword regular ALBA. No aging at all.
28. Skunk cousin: POLECAT.
33. Halloween follower: Abbr.: NOV.
34. Gutenberg's movable invention: TYPE.
35. Comic-Con attendee: NERD.
36. Met acquisition: ART.
39. Revolver, maybe: DOOR. Revolving door.
41. Rent what you've rented: SUBLET.
45. Dizzy's jazz genre: BEBOP.
52. Greeted, with "to": SAID HI.
56. Locations: SITES.
61. Disproportionate reactions: TO-DOS.
63. Disgraced: SHAMED. Public shaming in China. The placards have their names & the word "robber".
65. Three-syllable limerick foot: ANAPEST.
66. Like much testimony: ORAL.
68. Restorative: TONIC.
70. Social climber: SNOB.
71. Current site of ancient Carthage: TUNISIA.
74. Gazed lasciviously: LEERED.
77. Go wild on Twitter: TREND.
83. Presidents' Day phenomena: SALES. We'll probably get our Santa Fe at Veterans Day next year.
Hyundai gives veterans a nice discount.
85. Crosby, Stills & Nash, e.g.: TRIO.
86. Previously: AGO.
87. Problem for a claustrophobic driver: TUNNEL. Tough when you need a MRI.
91. Kidney-related: RENAL.
94. Standard of measurement: METRIC.
96. Loyal: TRUE.
97. "__ Blues": Beatles song with the line "Even hate my rock and roll": YER.
98. Help to withdraw: WEAN.
100. Confront: FACE.
102. Natter: GAB.
110. Some chalets: A-FRAMES.
114. ET vehicles, in theory: UFOS.
115. Lariat: REATA.
116. Overhang: LEDGE.
118. Main squeeze: BEAU.
119. Hired escort: GIGOLO.
124. Tony winner Tammy: GRIMES. Won a Tony for "The Unsinkable Molly Brown". Unknown to me.
125. Do: EXECUTE.
126. Niños' needs?: TILDES. The squiggles.
127. Affirmatives: YESES.
128. Support framework: TRUSS.
129. Base stealer's asset: SPEED.
Down:
1. Socrates' pupil: PLATO.
2. Eurasian blackbird: OUZEL. Learning moment for me also.
3. Many mariners: SEAMEN.
4. Word of respect: SIR.
5. Attempts: ENDEAVORS.
6. King novel that shared the first Bram Stoker Award (1987): MISERY.
7. Covers completely: ENWRAPS.
8. 1929 purchaser of Victor: RCA.
9. Wind instrument?: CHIME. Sweet clue.
10. :-(: I'M SAD. One day my brother closed his WeChat with me with "🥣安 ". I had to ask him what it meant. Turns out 🥣 is a bowl. So " 🥣安" means "good night". "Bowl" and "evening" are pronounced the same but they're two different characters. Jayce probably would get it. I just sighed.
11. Lair: DEN.
12. Sword-wielder's cry: EN GARDE.
13. Architect Jones: INIGO. Wiki says "Jones was the first person to introduce the classical architecture of Rome and the Italian Renaissance to Britain."
14. Tendon: SINEW.
15. Advanced teaching degrees: Abbr.: MS EDs.
16. Dip holder: CHIP.
17. Wrinkly little dog: PUG.
18. Suffix with kitchen: ETTE.
19. Tiny chuckle: TEHEE.
21. Nose bag particle: OAT.
26. Nixon of "Sex and the City": CYNTHIA. Also ran for governor last year.
29. Encrypt: CODE.
31. Consort of Hera: ZEUS.
32. Texter's "I will return shortly": BRB.
34. What a plighter plights: TROTH.
36. Landed: ALIT.
37. Try again: REDO.
38. Had a few: TIED ONE ON.
40. Medical suffix: OSIS.
42. No-goodniks: BADDIES.
43. Make up a story, maybe: LIE.
44. Eponymous ice cream maker: EDY.
46. Muffin fruit: BLUEBERRY. Our state muffin.
47. Hers and mine: OURS.
48. Surname of father-and-son British prime ministers: PITT. William Pitt & William Pitt the Younger. Read more here.
50. Geographical symbol of Middle America: PEORIA.
51. Cool: NEAT.
53. Hostelries: INNS.
57. Burn without flames: SMOLDER.
59. Tilt: CANT.
60. Iberian wine city: OPORTO. North of Lisbon.
62. Regina's prov.: SASK.
64. KC-to-NYC dir.: ENE.
67. Hoist: LIFT.
69. Outcropping: CRAG.
71. Vanishing ski lift: T BAR.
72. Hankering: URGE.
73. Bryn Mawr graduates: ALUMNAE.
75. Induce euphoria in: ELATE. And 78. Pleasant: NICE. 92. Fab equivalent: AWESOME.
76. Road sign ruminant: DEER.
79. One who doesn't just think about it: DOER. That's D-Otto! Just dug out this pic from my Ginger Roots blog. D-Otto mentioned said then: "A 1970 snapshot at the control console of the shipboard radio station during the final cruise of the carrier Bon Homme Richard. I stumbled across that one in an online copy of the ship's cruise book."
82. Pass gone seriously astray: Abbr.: INT.
84. Hard-hitting contests: SLUGFESTS.
88. __ insurance: LIFE.
90. Cause of tremors, at times: FEAR.
93. Conducted: LED.
95. Insensitive: CALLOUS.
99. Locks that are picked: AFROS.
101. Chin indentations: CLEFTS.
103. Blather on: BABBLE.
104. Full of glitches, as programs: BUGGY.
105. Flaming: AFIRE.
106. Hindu mystics: YOGIS.
107. Steamed state: RAGE.
108. Kindle reading, e.g.: E-TEXT.
109. Do a gardening task: WATER. We're having the wettest year in Minnesota history.
110. Growth-oriented field?: Abbr.: AGR.
111. Civil War general: MEADE.
112. Abated: EASED.
113. Figure (out): SUSS.
117. Cease to function: DIE.
120. "__ Misérables": LES.
122. Big 12 rival of Baylor: Abbr.: TCU.
123. Bit of inside information: TIP.
C.C.
26 comments:
People GAB, gab, gab all the time,
BABBLE on their phone waiting in line.
Is this a TREND
That will see no end?
Well, I've become addicted to mine!
A limerick should be ANAPEST.
I do it only some times at best.
Poetic form is fluid.
I ignore a SNOB who'd
Have me change my ways at his behest!
{B+, A-.}
Good morning!
Got the theme and got 'er done. Chuckled at some of the theme answers. Tried SMU before TCU, but that was my only booboo. Nicely done, D.A.B. and C.C.
TUNNEL: Luckily, I'm not claustrophobic. I've been in that MRI tunnel numerous times.
BLUEBERRY: Our local Wally-World sells mini-muffins in a variety of flavors. The blueberry muffins are often sold out, but there're always plenty of banana muffins.
PEORIA: Will it play there?
SMOLDER: I always want to put a U in there. Looked it up, and I see that's a variant spelling.
REGINA: Gimme. Had a board game in my ute involving cross-continent bus routes. One of the stops on a northern route was Regina.
FIW x 2. Had RAZEr EYEBROW (akin to razor burn?), and that Knew that "emoji" wasn't right, but emoticon wouldn't fit. Also had OnORTO x ANAnEST, which I am agnostic and apathetic about. (I don't know, and I don't give a damn.)
Erased true for ORAL, ToOTH, Ebook, and Grant for MEADE.
I thought POLE CAT and skunk were the same critter. Don't want to mess with either.
"Beatles album" wouldn't fit for "revolver", so it had to be DOOR.
I once saw a bumper sticker declaring "Socrates Eats Hemlock".
Back from camping, and brought the charging cord for the printer instead of the laptop, my usual instrument of torture here at the Corner. If my speling is even worst than usual, that's why.
Good Morning:
For a Sunday grid, this was markedly lacking in unknowns, particularly proper name unknowns, as well as the bane of Sunday offerings, an over abundance of three letter words. I only needed perps for Ouzel and Anapest and I don't think I had any w/os. I liked Gab crossing Babble and the Lei ~ Lie duo. My favorite theme answers: Break Fluid, Lei Person, and Bayed Farewell. CSOs to Spitz and DO (Nice pic, BTW) at Seamen and to CanadianEh at Sask.
Nicely done, DAB, and thanks to CC for a detailed and defined summary, especially the observations from the "pro's" point of view.
In the last month or so, I have replaced my electric blanket, my telephone/answering machine, and my favorite, but aging bed pillow. So far, no buyer's remorse, especially with the blanket, as it has an underside of soft and cozy fleece. I'm also happy with My Pillow, even though its spokesman is a tad over the top.
We have a dreary, rainy, windy Fall day, not pleasant at all. Glad I can stay put. I'm without my car, anyway, as I loaned it to my nephew who flew in from Florida to be with his mom (my sister Peggy) after her fall/surgery. She is in rehab and doing well, so we're hoping she'll be home soon.
Have a great day.
Musings
-Reading Gallic (“go raibh maith agat” as it turns out) not Gaelic (MERCI) slowed top center
-Interesting, shocking picture for SHAMING, C.C. Your brother’s “good night”, hmmm… Word play must abound in your family!
-I’ve never asked our friend BEAU how SHE got that first name.
-Hilarious SEAMEN scene (:25)
-I told a “white LIE” to my lovely bride last night but it was for a good reason
-CANT on a railroad car
-Once we finally got to Regina, we still had to go 317 miles NNW to get to Lac La Ronge for my one fishing trip
-David did not add NICE to his French references.
-D-Otto, you were the Adrian Cronauer of that ship! Good Morning Bon Homme Richard!
-An INT with one minute left saved the Husker’s bacon yesterday in a SLUGFEST with Northwestern
-I have LED thousands of teenagers through power plants, space installations and theme parks
-The guy who took my science job was named Ogden, so,uh, he went by YOGI.
-C.C., all that WATER in Minn. finds its way to Omaha
Loved this puzzle with all its funny homonyms. CED, the Ledger really messed up the title today. I didn't realize those odd marks were quotation marks and did not see the word CHANGE that was double spaced and far away from the beginning. I sussed the clever theme regardless. FIR
CC, Japanese has that kind of pun, too, based on characters. And they think their language is straight forward!
I wanted EBOOK for the longest time. I swore I could never get used to ebooks and now I am a convert, preferring them to paper, but only on a tablet, not on the computer. Never too old to learn new tricks.
I think the greatest charm of limericks is the ANAPEST TRIMETER, even more important to me than the necessary humor and rhyme scheme.
OUZEL was new to me. I have heard of Tammy GRIMES, but didn't know why. Same with INIGO Jones.
I read GAELIC at first. When I saw GALLIC, it was so easy to get MERCI.
My BIL called Grandma's friends in the nursing home her POSSE. As senility set in she mistrusted her family and biggest boosters and instead trusted her spurious friends in her posse who turned her against us. BIL finally had her main instigator jailed. He wanted her money, which was meager.
IM, glad to hear Peggy is recovering nicely.
Alan has been phoning me constantly yesterday and today. He seems very needy because he didn't come home. I will go there this afternoon and take him out for an early dinner.
Delightful Sunday puzzle, David--many thanks. I got big chunks of this one before I needed help, and was happy that even when I wasn't sure about things like names (INIGO, GRIMES) perps helped. I did remember CYNTHIA Nixon, though--loved her on "Sex and the City." That little PUG seems to be coming up a lot in puzzles lately. My favorite item was RAZED EYEBROWS. Lots of fun, and again, thanks for the pictures and information in your always helpful write-up, C.C.
Irish Miss, isn't there a commercial with a little song that ends in My Pillow? So glad to hear that Peggy is recovering and doing well. Many thanks for keeping us posted.
Have a good week coming up, everybody.
Hello everyone.
I printed out Sunday's cw since our local paper doesn't carry the LAT cw. Since the Sunday morning news shows have gotten so wearisome, this was not a hard choice.
NEAT 'A' homophone substitution for the theme. Solve was mostly on the easy side - only wite-out used was I had 'ebbed' before EASED.
25a source of ignition - MATCH - - German Streichholz, L. German Striekholt (literally: stroke wood.) Curiously, Dutch is 'lucifer'. (maybe because sulphur is associated with the devil?)
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
Husker - - Not to quibble, but only an extremely small area in SW MINN is in the Missouri Basin - parts of 5 counties. Most goes to the Mississippi and small bits go to L. Superior or the Red River of the North.
IM - You are one NICE Aunt loaning your car to your Nephew. Hope your sister recovers quickly.
Hi everybody. Well, I got it all including the theme answers. However, I would have had a hard time explaining the theme the way CC did. Good job all around.
Gary, interesting article on CANT. Thanks.
Go Dodgers!
YR, Misty and Spitz ~ Your kind thoughts are appreciated.
Spitz, it really was no sacrifice to lend my car as I had no plans or appointments scheduled. I'll have the car back on Tuesday, as my nephew is returning to Florida that evening. He probably drove more miles in a week than I would in several weeks.
Misty, you're thinking of the jingle for MyPillow.com which goes something like, "Get the best night's sleep in the whole wide world, with MyPillow.com"! The company is located in Boomer and CC's home state and the commercials, with the spokesman founder, Mike Lindell, are as ubiquitous as LiMu and Doug, Flo and Jamie, and the Geico Gecko!
I liked this puzzle and got a kick out of the "A" changes. BREAK FLUID gave me a big chuckle. Sometimes my wife and I call our morning coffee Fuel Oil. My favorite clue is "What a plighter plights." Second fave is "Locks that are picked."
So KANSAS wasn't the symbol of middle America after all, that lariat was not a LASSO, and those no-goodniks were not BAD GUYS."
Not sure how long I'll remember OUZEL. Of course my first entry, RAVEN, was wrong.
Yeah I get the "Bowl"--"Good night" pun, but, like CC, only after being CLUED IN that that funny-looking icon was a bowl. Both "bowl" and "evening" are pronounced "wan" and the following character is pronounced "an." (It's the same "an" as in Xi'an, CC's home town.) "Wan an" means "good night." Gosh, a good joke shouldn't take that long to explain.
One look at a photo of me in my 20's and of me now shows clearly how I have AGED. You know you are getting old when you sit on the toilet and your scrotum gets wet.
Pittsburgh, where I was born, was named for William PITT the Elder.
ANAPEST makes me think of a religious sect.
I used to date a Bryn Mawr student. (We used to call them Bryn Mawr girls but I just can't bring myself to call them girls these days.)
Good wishes to you all.
Clever play on words theme from David! I went for RAVEN before OUZEL as the E was first to fill in and ....I had never heard of OUZEL :)
My youngest son went to Baylor and my niece went to TCU - so they always trash talk each other- so that was a gimme.
Thanks CC and David for a fun early afternoon.
I keep wondering if David grew up in the Kansas City area - I had a friend in high school whose older brother was David Bywaters who was quite bright!
Is there a name associated with 10 D?
Good Afternoon. Just got back in town and worked the puzzle while watching the Saints beat Tampa Bay. I had a SLUGFEST with DAB to finish it correctly. Two major problem areas. Had to convince myself that TODOS (TO-DOS) was correct for 'Disproportionate reactions'- still don't get it. I had no idea that plight had anything to do with a marriage proposal-TROTH was all perps and I just left it.
But the toughest area was the CANT-OPORTO-ANAPEST-PITT-LUI zone. I'd heard of PITT and OPORTO but the other three were unheard of unknowns, along with OUZEL, GRIMES, INIGO Jones and MISERY.
I wish there was public shaming in America but it has been considered 'cruel & unusual punishment'. Bowl and evening sound the same? Cantonese or Mandarin? Okay, just like all the theme answers today.
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, David Alfred Bywaters, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
Puzzle started fairly easily, but I got bogged down after a while. Lots of tough ones (to me).
Liked the theme. LEI PERSON ws my first. Liked BREAK FLUID.
OUZEL was slow in coming. Had to get the rest of that corner first. That took some time.
INIGO was unknown. Maybe Steve knows the guy.
I, also, never heard of Tammy GRIMES. Perps.
BLUEBERRY muffins are fine. Just plain blue berries in a bowl are much better.
Have to run. See you tomorrow.
Abejo
( )
Jayce @ 1:47--
"ANAPEST makes me think of a religious sect."
Oe perhaps of BUDAPEST'S older brother?
Yes Yellowrocks,
That title in the Star Ledger was very confusing.
I cannot even replicate it here with my keyboard...
Then again, I thought the symbol for the center of America was "peanut" for a while...
Pole cats look a lot like Ferrets.
they also like to get into tight spaces...
Big Easy, that would be Mandarin.
Michael, Budapest's older sister, Ana?
Yes, Irish Miss--that's the commercial I was wondering about!
Sorry, but I'll be picky: (1) commonly Posse's are NEVER "friendly" (2) OUZELS are common the Sierra Nevada - I've taken several photos of same - (3) Only a real estate agent would call an A frame cabin a "chalet"! Let's be a bit more realistic with your defs! Otherwise a challenging Sunday pastime!
Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, David and C.C.
I FIRed and saw the homophones, but missed the fact that they were all the same long A sound.
Thus, I was confused by the title (Time for "A" Change) because it was only a change of the letter A in Day-DEY. Thanks for the lightbulb moment C.C.
I'll echo Jayce "My favorite clue is "What a plighter plights." Second fave is "Locks that are picked."
Big Easy, the old version of the wedding vows:
“I take thee to be my wedded wife/husband,
To have and to hold from this day forward,
For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer
In sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,
till death us do part, according to God’s holy ordinance;
And thereto I plight thee my troth.”
The last line is updated nowadays to "I give you my solemn vow".
(Betrothed refers to an engagement promise)
IM, glad to hear your sister's recovery is progressing well.
Off to watch Anne with an E.
There IS public shaming in America, Big Easy. Didn't you experience some a week or so ago when you suggested a young, teenager was an "idiot".
Or was that Jinx with you only supporting him?
Anon @ 1902:
"There IS public shaming in America"
Of course there is -- just watch the evening news!
Monday's (10/7/19) edition of the Wall Street Journal has a crossword puzzle (I Get Around) constructed by Constance Burnikel & C.C. Burnikel.
The Burnikel's Puzzle
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