22A. Note to self before appearing on "America's Got Talent"?: CAPTIVATE AUDIENCE. Captive audience.
59A. Ancient Greek warrior's pet monkey?: AMAZON PRIMATE. Amazon Prime.
79A. Try to cure the effects of a skunk invasion on a semi?: AERATE FREIGHT. Air freight.
118A. Best Reader Award winner?: PICK OF THE LITERATE. Pick of the litter.
15D. "That's not a baby bump?"?: SURELY YOU GESTATE. Surely you jest.
37D. Liven up the science fair?: ACTIVATE VOLCANOS. Active volcanos. I use "volcanoes".
There's an extra "Dined in" sound in 79A, though different spelling.
Only 6 themers, but they're mostly very long. We have a total 105 theme squares. About our average.
Across:
1. Arctic "snowshoe" critters: HARES. Snowshoe hare.
6. Musical Mama: CASS.
10. Meter users: BARDS. Poetic meter.
15. Bit of beer, say: SIP.
18. Cluster of stars?: A-LIST. Well, this is a great cluster, except that he has Kevin Spacey.
19. Myanmar, at one time: BURMA.
20. Look forward to: AWAIT.
21. Colorful card game: UNO.
25. MGM rival: RKO.
26. Tile setter, often: KNEELER.
27. Firing offense?: ARSON. Oldie but goodie.
28. Well-mannered: GENTEEL. C'est tres gentil!
30. Bits of energy: ERGS.
32. Stable dwellers: MARES.
34. Dresses down: SCOLDS.
35. "What do you __?": MEAN.
39. Where to find Reubens and Cubans: DELI. Never had a Cuban sandwich before.
41. They're in the air: GASES.
43. Today, to Tomás: HOY. And 4. 90° from norte: ESTE. 36. Mes con 31 días: ENERO. 81. Spanish 101 word: ERES.
44. Coop up in a coop: ENCAGE. I use CAGE.
46. Take a load off: EASE.
48. Cry out loud: SOB.
50. Soapmaking compounds: LYES.
53. Put a damper on: DETER.
54. Gospel travelers: MAGI. 94D. One of the 54-Across: CASPAR.
55. Fire sign: FLAME.
57. Not just primary, as an heir: SOLE.
58. Uzi's brother in "The Royal Tenenbaums": ARI. No idea. You can read more here.
63. Take advantage of: USE.
64. Place to see X's and O's: LOVE NOTE.
66. Witch: CRONE.
67. Like the soles of walking boots: RIDGED.
69. Put on a pedestal: ADORE.
70. Cinematic Sergio: LEONE. Spaghetti Western. "Once Upon a Time in the West", etc.
71. Actor's nickname that sounds like a golf term: BOGIE. Humphrey Bogart.
72. Posy pieces: PETALS.
74. '90s candidate who opposed NAFTA: PEROT.
75. Walter Reed hospital city: BETHESDA.
78. Night before the big day: EVE.
82. Carol opener: TIS.
83. Jeans name: LEVI. D-Otto's brand.
85. Like some probes: LUNAR.
86. "LOTR" menaces: ORCS. The Lord of the Rings.
87. Leaders: HEADS.
89. Jumbo tail?: TRON. Jumbotron.
90. Vicious with a bass: SID. Sid Vicious was a bassist.
91. Pea opener in toons?: SWEE. Swee'Pea. Popeye's kid.
92. Fly over Africa: TSETSE. Thank God they do not fly over our head.
93. Express opp.: LOC. Local.
95. __ academy: NAVAL.
98. Go a round or two: SPAR.
100. Many August births: LEOS.
101. Spa offering: FACIAL.
104. Rope maker's supply: SISAL.
106. Tried to make up for lost time: SPED.
108. Part of it is now a desert: ARAL SEA.
110. Whale tracker: SONAR.
112. Short end of the stick: RAW DEAL.
117. Cru output: VIN.
121. Classic auto: REO.
122. Adjust: ALTER.
123. Cybersales: E-TAIL. Have any of you tried Uniqclo or Everlane?
124. Noted 2001 bankruptcy: ENRON.
125. Solid start?: ESS. Solid.
126. Word in a Morton Salt motto: RAINS.
127. Thin change: DIME.
128. 1951 Reagan co-star: BONZO.
Down:
1. Modern-day break-in: HACK.
2. Snape portrayer Rickman: ALAN.
3. Ready in the field: RIPE.
The Asian store had a few cut-up pieces of jackfruit on sale the other
day. Carmen (my pal in Guangzhou) told me that it tasted more like
durian rather than pineapple. So I was expecting the melt-in-your-mouth
taste of durian. So disappointed.
 |
| Jackfruit |
 |
| Durian |
6. "Scene's over!": CUT.
7. 51, for one: AREA.
8. Insincere flattery: SMARM.
9. Pepperoni alternative: SAUSAGE. These are Guangzhou-style sausages. Best in the world.
10. ... Fitzgerald, __, Milhous ...: BAINES. JFK, LBJ, Nixon.
11. Stunned state: AWE.
12. Summoned to the door: RANG.
13. Does some meal prep: DICES.
14. Foul quality: STENCH.
16. Signed: INKED.
17. Backyard amenities: POOLS. Not in our yard.
19. Canal craft: BARGE.
23. Mesa __ National Park: VERDE.
24. Toon adventurer: DORA.
29. They get the job done: TOOLS.
31. Scandalous stuff: SLEAZE.
33. With 52-Down, bagel flavoring: SESAME. 52. See 33-Down: SEED.
35. Competition carrot: MEDAL. Reward "carrot".
38. Dundee denial: NAE.
40. "I hate the Moor" speaker: IAGO. 70. "Why, then, __ soldier drink!": 40-Down: LET A.
42. Victoria's Secret competitor: SOMA. Have yet to try this brand.
45. Hiker's handful: GRANOLA.
47. More honest: SINCERER.
49. Promise to marry: BETROTH.
51. End of an ultimatum: ELSE.
54. Down Under bud: MATE.
55. Hot concert spot: FRONT ROW.
56. No surprise to a Disney World arrival: LINE. Gary knows full well.
60. Delightful bites: MORSELS.
61. Prosecutor's burden: PROOF.
62. Pieces of pie, often: EIGHTHS.
65. Educator LeShan: EDA.
68. Common game piece: DIE.
71. More than just asks: BEGS.
72. Hide in the forest?: PELT. Noun "hide".
73. Happily-after link: EVER.
74. Critters with black eye patches: PANDAS.
75. Guns that don't shoot: BICEPS. Must have been photoshopped.
76. Playground comeback: DID SO.
77. Pack animals: ASSES.
80. Machu Picchu or Chichén Itzá: RUIN.
84. How tuna might be packed: IN OIL. And 88. Skinny swimmer: EEL. Not a fan of tuna. But love roasted eels.
91. Not straight up: SLANTED.
92. Pleasant surprise: TREAT.
96. Golfers' headgear: VISORS.
97. Beginning with: AS OF.
99. 102-Down month: APRIL. 102. Fire sign: ARIES.
101. Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Brett: FAVRE. Was a Viking for a short period of time.
103. "The Pearl Fishers" priestess: LEILA. Another unknown.
105. "The Good Fight" actress: LAHTI (Christine)
107. Social misfit: DWEEB.
109. When the story starts on stage: ACT I.
111. Copy paper purchase: REAM.
113. Early Bond foe: DR NO.
114. Pull down: EARN.
115. Familiar gamut: A TO Z.
116. Car-collecting comic: LENO.
119. "Country Music" chronicler Burns: KEN.
120. Bit of perjury: LIE.
C.C.
34 comments:
Good morning!
No major problems with this one. D-o even managed to get the theme, for a change. Tried GALES before GASES blew in, but that was the only misstep. The clue for LAHTI was a little off. I looked her up, and yes, she did appear in The Good Fight, but only in two episodes. Maybe somebody confused her with Christine Baranski? Thanx, Pam and C.C. (those sausages look hot!).
"Cluster" -- usually used in a different sense.
BAINES -- Boomer could sing her praises. Luci, that is.
LEONE -- Probably best known for his work with Clint Eastwood: Hang 'em High, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
SOMA -- I remember it as the drug in Huxley's Brave New World. Didn't know it was a clothing brand.
LEVI -- Yup, as soon as I break out a new pair of 505's, I buy a replacement and keep in on the shelf awaiting the next "formal" occasion.
This is the latest I have seen with no comments; I guess it is a stay under the covers morning. It hit the 50s here in SoFla!
I really like Pam's puzzle but this one clanked a bit with so many theme inconsistencies - adding ATE, adding only AT, changing the spelling, not changing...
Some very random clue/fill like Mes con 31 días: ENERO ; Not just primary, as an heir: SOLE
Ah well, thank you, Pam and C.C.
This seemed difficult before I fully understood the theme. I thought it was just add ATE. When I realized that ATE was added to other phrases with possible spelling changes I loved it and moved along quickly. I especially liked the spelling changes.This had so many delightful misdirections. Meter users/bards. Gospel travelers/Magi. Hide in the forest/pelt. Where to find Reubens and Cubans/deli.
We love Reubens. Alan I like them open with the cheese melted under the broiler. David likes them closed with the bread grilled. I served Cuban sandwiches as a waitress, but never tried them.
I enjoyed Eda LeShan's books, especially The Hurried Child. Children mature at different rates. Our upwardly mobile professionals expected their children to learn to read and write at a high level in kindergarten. Some kids were ready for this; some were not. When I taught older grade levels in the same school, I found the early readers were not much ahead of the late readers. Those who had been most pressured did not enjoy reading. It was not a pleasure for them.
Mention of Venice canals brings to mind the tragic flooding and loss of historic treasures there.
Venice flooding
I wondered, is it Kaspar or Caspar. C seemed more likely, but I didn't think LOCAL. Thanks, CC. SOMA was all perps. It took a while to parse LETA as LET A.
Good Morning:
A major part of my enjoyment in solving this was the almost total lack of unknown proper names, normally my nemesis. The only one I never heard of was Soma and, IMO, it's a rather bland brand name to be in competition with Victoria's Secret. Another pleasing factor of my solve was the mix of creatures, great and small: Hares, Mares, Tse Tse, Leos (Lions), Aries (Rams), Asses, Eel, Bonzo, Pandas, Primate, and, in a stretch, Sole and Pelt. Only two w/os: Gaspar/Caspar and Lade/Ease. CSO to moi and Abejo at April and Aries. Learning moment: Aries is a fire sign. Whoda thunk? Certainly not this Astrology illiterate. Favorite C/A was Where to find Reubens and Cubans=Deli.
Thanks, Pam, for a fun romp and thanks, CC, for being such a faithful Sunday Sherpa. Loved all the visuals.
Have a great day.
I still don't get biceps?
Good morning. Thank you, Pam. Thank you, C.C.
The first answer first theme answer, coupled with the title, pretty much removed any doubt where this puzzle's theme was headed. Add ate.
Pretty neat and creative. I couldn't have devised it, but I had fun solving it.
Solved the first 5 or 6 rows in their entirety, and then solved the left side 5 or 6 columns. Then the bottom rows, followed by the right side. Middle last. As such, my last fill was the L in LEONE and LET A. That was a tap in putt. No chance of missing it. I liked almost all of those spaghetti westerns.
"When the story starts on stage" - Entered ACT and did not wait for perps.
Did not know:
SOMA
LEILA
CASPAR
but the perps were kind.
Forgot BONZO's name. I've only seen a video clip or two of the moview.
Liked the BOGIE clue / answer.
My first answer for "Express opp." was boo. Nice clue. Had to change express from a verb to a noun, and change the abbreviated word from opposition to opposite. Make that a great clue.
Other than mules befor ASSES, I think that may have been my only type over.
All in all, a nice Sunday puzzle. YMMV.
Oops, missed a comma in my opening statement.
BobB, guns is a slang term for biceps.
Yellowrocks, me too on Reuben sandwiches. Sometimes I have them hold the sauerkraut, and sometimes I have them hold the dressing. Sometimes I just like corned beef on rye with mustard. After writing that, I think I'm going to go buy a corned beef for supper this evening.
I've also yet to try a Cuban sandwich.
[Citations:] {1911 Van Loan Big League 56: He's peggin' 'em [baseballs] down to second [base] like they was shot out of a gun!} 1929 N.Y. Times (June 2) IX 2: A player's arm is his "gun" or his "wing."
The biceps is thought of as a throwing weapon in baseball and as a punching weapon in boxing.
I always liked The Pearl Fishers, but haven't heard it in years. Today I LIU the plot and played an aria on YouTube.
SMARM is not charming. Actually, I find it a huge turnoff. Eddie Haskell, ugh!
I was fine with a cluster of stars being people. Google says,"a group of similar things or people positioned or occurring closely together."
No visit from Alan this weekend and no church. Most of Halloween week I had gastroenteritis. It was followed by a viral cold the next week so I thought nothing of a slight sore throat. This Friday I had an all over rash and tested positive as bacterial strep. I am taking Amoxicillin, but both the cold and the strep symptoms are increasing. I feel like Typhoid Mary.
Guns, as a slang for biceps, comes from bodybuilding, and is always plural.
I sure made a lot of typos in my first comment.
FIR, but erased want for MEAN, padded for RIDGED, deify for ADORE, and had to fix SLEeZE. UNTIE!!!
I love Cuban sandwiches, but didn't know that delis carry them. My favorites come from any of the Mojo Grills in the Ocala area.
I knew that Uzi's brother was AK-47, but it wasn't allowed.
For "actor's nickname that sounds like a golf term", my first thought was Mr. T.
Turns out that H. Ross PEROT was right about many things. Too bad GM didn't elect him to chairman instead of buying out his seat on the board.
Racing sailors don't have ropes containing sisal. Kevlar and Technora at a few dollars per foot. What is it about me and expensive hobbies?
Reagan once said "And believe me, 'Bedtime for Bonzo' made more sense than what they were doing in Washington." Some things never change.
If Victoria's Secret was a band, their competition would be Barenaked Ladies. If I had $1,000,000.
FLN: WC, Can Hieronymous Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness? was a quirky movie that came out in the late 60's (that may explain a lot) that became a cult hit.
Thanks to the fun challenge, Pam. My favorite fill was ASSES, but I'm trying to put that behind me. And thanks to CC for the interesting comments.
When I LIU before, I saw a lot of references to guns in body building. I wondered if they took the older sports references about guns as weapons and just kept the term for biceps (and tricepts). I chose the older references to show the possible origin, but I am no sports expert, just a word junkie.
Hola!
Thank you, Pam Amick Klawitter and C.C. This puzzle is PROOF that a good way to CAPTIVATE me on a Sunday morning is solving crosswords! I enjoyed the journey and nothing can DETER me. Even the bout of nausea I had last night but after vomiting I felt fine and slept well.
This was a blast from the past with PEROT, LEONE, and LBJ as well as BOGIE. Then we had ENRON and BONZO. And of course, the ancient past, MAGI and CASPAR.
SOMA is likely not as well known as Victoria's Secret except to those who favor Chico's brand of clothes to whom it is a sister product.
Time to go. More later. I wish you all a fantastic Sunday!
Stick to your guns, YR. :)
I took it that, as WWII battleships had 16-inch guns (diameter of their shells), bodybuilders would boast of their 16-inch biceps.
That was fun. Two days in a row solving on my phone, which is slower. Enjoyed finding the 8 in the themers.
Thank you, Pam and C.C., for making this Sunday morning fun. Like Yellowrocks, I loved the clues for MAGI and PELT. And, Irish Miss, thank you for pointing out all the sweet critters in the puzzle. Have a great Sunday, everybody.
Musings
-Adding AT or ATE and using homynyms? Way cool!
-Watching Perry Mason on AMAZON PRIME is like using Mr. Peabody’s Time Machine
-A clerk with DREMA on her name tag said it was pronounced DREA MUH not DREH MUH and I asked if she had heard of CASS Elliott. She rolled her eyes and said, “Yes”
-My friends with rental property love Stable Dwellers
-My eraser got a real workout around BETHESDA
-Fans always think the officials are giving their team a RAW DEAL
-Do you know the name of the mule who pulled the BARGE in the Erie Canal Song?
-No, Bob Uecker, you are not in the FRONT ROW
-Call it a que if you like, but it’s still a long wait for Space Mountain
-HM, a Sunday puzzle on a phone? Yikes! :-)
GH, the mule was Sal.
Interesting puzzle. Pam's creativeness really was on display today. I feel satisfied that I solved it without having to look anything up. I didn't understand "Express opp." or LOC until reading the excellent explanation here. The same with guns=biceps.
The mule’s name is Sal.
Great puzzle, and I agree with Irish Miss that the fewer unknown proper names the better. My favorite long answer was Pick of the Literate.
Sunny and 82 in Dana Point - good day for a sail. Weird weather for November.
I’ve heard of “gun show” as a description of someone with ripped biceps doing some activity.
Hi everybody. I enjoyed today's puzzle but I always have trouble figuring out a theme that involves "changing spelling as needed." I had everything pretty much all sussed out but I didn't understand the differences among some of the theme answers. Oh well...
I'm about halfway through Sunday Morning so far. I didn't care for the female boxing segment but I loved the one about the beautiful songbirds.
Wendybird, I'd ask you to stop at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier and pick me up but my tendency to get seasick has kept me firmly aboard dry land.
I was just going to type 'Sal' but I guess I won't bother. :>)
Wendybird, I have so many great memories of sailing in SoCal. Before GPS was invented and before loran became affordable, I remember navigating at night using the Dana Point radio beacon while racing down the coast in the Marina del Rey to San Dieigo and the Newport to Ensenada races. I'll never forget the Morse code for "DP". I learned to sail out of San Pedro (aka hurricane gulch), but most of my "career" I raced out of Marina del Rey's Windjammers Yacht Club.
I remember a non-racing Superbowl Sunday when I was out tooling around in the boat in the del Rey channel. I was wearing a tee shirt and a pair of cutoffs, looking at the snow capped mountains and thinking that there were a lot of folks skiing up there. That made me realize how special the area really was.
CC, your roasted eel made my mouth water. I love Japanese grilled eel. One of my favorite sushi is unagi, grilled eel.
Lately I have wondered why my tuna salad is no longer tasty. Alan prefers to get it from the deli. Looking up recipes I see they all use tuna in oil. I have been using water packed tuna. I will go back to oil.
Can one of you fans of the band "journey" explain today's Jumble? I tried googling and connection between Journey and reckless, but too much chaff to find anything.
I ATE this puzzle up, going NW to SE, only changing ARE SO to DID SO and MULES to ASSES. I had no idea what the Spanish words for today & Sp. 101 were and had to wait for ERES & HOY to fall. Ditto for ARI & Uzi. But ESTE & ENERO show up on a weekly basis.
SOMA, we never sold much of that drug until some junkie discovered a combination with another drug made the sales roar. That was BEFORE the feds made it a controlled substance. Oh, there's another SOMA? Not known by me and I haven't tried any of their products SOMA either. Wouldn't look good on me. You must be thinking, George SURELY YOU GEST-(ATE).
FAVRE- Slidell, LA to Kiln, MS( where Brett Favre is from) 25 miles, separated by the Pearl River. In Slidell, it's pronounced Fav-RAY. In Kiln, it's pronounced 'Farve. Go figure.
Golfers' Headgear-VISORS; not for this bald headed golfer.
Jinx- I voted for H. Ross in 92. As for sailing with LORAN, I always plotted on a map to the buoys I wanted to get to, put them in the LORAN, and when I got there I stopped. I erased my estimate and put the actual place in the LORAN. On the way back, I knew my points were spot on.
Big Easy:
You might want to shop for your wife at SOMA. They sell lovely lacy underthings.
Piss puzzle.
FLN, LL'sM, That's why we have this previous chat room. Somehow, upon the realization that crossword talk is the most boring subject after pets and meds, this and some other like blogs were created. Thank you, CC.
CASPAR again. I keep mixing him up with that character in "The Man with the Twisted Lip", 'the Lascar scoundrel'
I did manage to FIR but I had trouble with those boots as I had them RIbbED not RIDGED. I did spot the jest pun but how to spell the NAVAL hospital slowed me down.
That Reagan chimp reminded me of this Seinfeld episode where George wants to be called "T-Bone" and ends up being called BONZO- oops it was Koko.
YR, the biceps is more of a hindrance than an aid for throwing. Useful for hitting homeruns though. But, best wishes for a quick recovery.
Thx Jinx. I missed that "Classic".
HG, I do everything on my cellphone.
Great xword and along with others I always get culture from CC's write-ups
WC
Pissy post
Just work it for the puzzle piss-zzaz!
OKL - JUMBLE: "... audience left with...Reckless a-band-done." (very punny) Since the caption didn't include "band" but only mentioned "they ended the concert...", I guessed the words "band" and "done" would be the hyphenated word for abandon.
Good Monday morning, folks. Thank you, Pam Amick Klawitter, for a fine puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine review.
Finished this yesterday, but got so busy no time to log on. DSop, here I am.
Puzzle went through fairly easily. The theme eluded me for a while, then I caught it with ATE used in all.
Liked PEROT for 74A. I voted for him twice. He was the man!
BONZO came easily. Remember him from Reagan's campaign.
Last to get was RIDGED at 67A. I had RIBBED.
I am a PEPPERONI pizza guy. Not a sausage pizza guy. That is how I grew up. In Erie, I don't even remember sausage pizzas as a youth. I am sure they are there now.
Anyhow, I have to get going and guard the crossing. See you later today.
Abejo
( )
A little perplexed by the inconsistency in the theme answers, some had hononymns, some play on words, some used the E, others didn’t. Not real impressed.
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