Theme: "Eye Exam" - Letter I is inserted into each familiar phrase.
24A. Workplace movie screen?: OFFICE IMAX. OfficeMax.
43A. Apple product for unmarried men?: BACHELOR IPAD. Bachelor pad.
53A. List of PGA players with pictorial links to their bios?: PROS AND ICONS. Pros and cons.
73A. Order to a construction worker?: RAISE THE I-BAR. Raise the bar.
82A. Apple media player for silly songs?: LOONEY ITUNES. Looney Tunes.
104A. Brew with a hint of chocolate?: HERSHEY IPA. Hershey PA.
36D. Perfect one of three meals?: SQUARE IDEAL. Square deal.
39D. Kauai breakfast restaurants?: ISLAND IHOPS. Island hops.
Ideally we just have an iPad or iTunes, not both, since it's the same iThing. But Mike's choices are quite limited. Words like IRAN, IRON just won't work.
ICON & IDEAL works perfectly since they share no root with the original CON or DEAL.
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| Mike Peluso |
5. Style: MODE.
9. Dark film genre: NOIR.
13. __ Sticks: drain-cleaning aid: SANI. Never tried this. Good?
17. Sweet-talk: COAX.
18. Barn-raising group: AMISH.
20. Worth a rave review, in show biz: BOFFO. Learned from doing xwords.
21. University near Durham, NC: ELON. Give MUSK a break.
22. Half-off sale acronym: BOGO. Buy One, Get One free.
23. Destination for aficionados: MECCA.
26. Small Kia SUV: SPORTAGE. Can the front passenger seat be raised?
28. Street show: RAREE.
30. "Dust in the Wind" rockers: KANSAS.
31. Tampico abode: CASA. It's JIA in Chinese. Wo Jia Zai Minnesota (I live in Minnesota).
32. Silas with a loom: MARNER.
33. Chicago-to-Indianapolis dir.: SSE.
34. Good news, in a metaphor: MUSIC.
37. Chill-inducing: EERIE. And 109. Cleveland's lake: ERIE.
38. Prepared for surgery, in a way: STERILE.
42. Titles for attys.: ESQS.
47. Frites seasoning: SEL.
48. Generate, with "up": DRUM.
49. "I Left Something Turned __ Home": 1997 Trace Adkins hit: ON AT.
50. Côte d'__: AZUR.
51. Court game word: ALAI. Jai alai.
52. Actress Lupino: IDA.
57. Fist bumps: DAPS. Like this.
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58. Action movie staple: CAR CRASH.
60. Worked with a crew, maybe: OARED.
61. Utah range: UINTA. Google shows that "Uinta is derived from the Ute word Yoov-we-teuh, which means pine tree or pine forest." We also have 77. Utah Valley University city: OREM.
62. Upper class: ELITE.
63. Graceful: FLUID.
64. Checked out in advance: CASED.
66. Trojan king: PRIAM. Father of Hector and Paris.
68. Some steaks: LOINS. Click here for D-Otto's legendary potato dumplings. Very labor-intensive.
69. Contentious filings: LAWSUITS.
72. Swimsuit designer Gernreich: RUDI. We just had him before.
76. __ polloi: HOI.
78. Corrida cries: OLES.
79. Diamond's opposite, on the Mohs scale: TALC. 1 on the Mohs scale. 10 for diamond.
80. Parachute necessity: CORD.
81. Ovine cry: BAA.
86. __ facto: IPSO.
87. E.T.'s Earth pal: ELLIOTT. "E.T., stay with me"
89. Eat away: ERODE.
90. Day of the PGA: JASON. Here he is. Hi Lemonade!
91. Arrest: NAB.
92. "Which one will it be?": CHOOSE.
94. Cheater's device: CRIB.
96. Emulate Earhart: AVIATE.
99. "Silent Night" et al.: HYMNS.
100. The NFL had two of them in 2018: TIE GAMES. Why didn't they go overtime?
106. Gets a ride, but not a Lyft: UBERS.
108. Jazz club group: TRIO.
110. Dorm diet staple: RAMEN. Instant noodles just became popular
when I entered college in 1990. KFC entered Xi'an shortly after. It
was cool to eat at KFC or have instant noodles for lunch. So dumb.
111. Puerto Rico's third-largest city: PONCE.
112. U. of Maryland athlete: TERP.
113. Like Span. o-ending nouns: MASC. El Nino.
114. Nor. neighbor: SWED.
115. Test for jrs.: PSAT.
116. Summer quaffs: ADES.
Down:
2. Chicago district, with "the": LOOP.
3. "Othello" villain: IAGO.
4. Event in a classic William Peter Blatty novel: EXORCISM. Not a fill we see often.
5. Half a '60s quartet: MAMAS.
6. Last of 24: OMEGA. Greek alphabet.
7. Cut into cubes: DICE.
8. Upper left key: ESC.
9. Like some ATM withdrawals: NO FEE. And 54. "True dat!": NO LIE.
10. Proposal: OFFER.
11. "__ had known ... ": IF I.
12. Standouts in a field: ROCK STARS.
13. One with net income?: SEINER. Seine net.
14. Charity: ALMS.
15. Weather-monitoring gp.: NOAA. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
16. "Devil Inside" band: INXS.
25. Alleviated: EASED.
27. It may be an X or an O: TAC.
29. Seed pod: ARIL. These pomegranate seeds are called arils.
32. Conductor Zubin: MEHTA.
34. "M*A*S*H" figure: MEDIC.
35. Vitamin spec: USRDA. U.S. Recommended Daily Allowances.
37. Bitcoin, e.g.: E CASH.
38. Twirled: SPUN.
40. Vaulted: LEAPT.
41. Donovan of "Clueless": ELISA.
43. Title Kazakh in a 2006 spoof: BORAT. Played by Sacha Baron Cohen.
44. Win by __: A NOSE.
45. Beat anxiously: RACED.
46. Brand that once sported a crocodile: IZOD.
51. Bye that's bid: ADIEU.
53. Stiffly proper: PRIM.
55. Intimidate: DAUNT.
56. Type of whiskey: IRISH. Hi there Irish Miss!
59. Assert: CLAIM.
61. Cold War enemy: USSR.
63. "All That Jazz" choreographer: FOSSE (Bob)
64. Suspension bridge support: CABLE.
65. Surveillance plane acronym: AWACS. Airborne Warning and Control System.
66. Investigation: PROBE.
67. Like much of Nebraska: RURAL. Anyone else from Nebraska other than Husker Gary, Avg. Joe and Brad?
68. Form of security: LIEN.
69. Balaban of "Definitely, Maybe": LIANE. Stranger to me. Beautiful.
70. Trunk: TORSO.
71. Lebanese port: SIDON. Another learning moment.
73. Dad's and Mug: ROOT BEERS.
74. Much: A LOT.
75. Chopin work: ETUDE.
80. Holey Italian bread: CIABATTA. For panini.
82. Reluctant: LOATH.
83. Loyal servant: YEOMAN.
84. Press: IRON.
85. 50-50 chance: TOSS UP.
88. "Hang on ... ": IN A SEC.
90. It may be up, with "the": JIG.
92. Opine, with "in": CHIME.
93. Promoted to excess: HYPED.
94. Around: CIRCA.
95. Trip odometer function: RESET.
96. Throaty attention-getter: AHEM.
97. Aloe __: VERA.
98. Flower from the Greek for "rainbow": IRIS. We used to have a regular named Iris, right, Agnes?
100. Second place?: TENS. Column, right?
101. "A horse is a horse" horse: MR ED.
102. Cork's home: EIRE.
103. Absorbs, with "up": SOPS.
105. Deviate from a course: YAW.
107. Conk: BOP.
Happy
Birthday to Dudley, a regular on our blog a few years ago.
Dudley started the "Rabbit, Rabbit" tradition. This picture was taken
during Montana's visit to Northeast in September, 2013. How time flies!
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| Left to right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana |
C.C.
Good morning from still chilly South Florida- 48 degrees! Well, we are spoiled. This was an unusual Sunday for me, with the theme almost immediately apparent, but chockful of unknowns.
ReplyDelete61A. Utah range: UINTA ; 13D. One with net income?: SEINER ; 19D. African capital once known as Salisbury: HARARE ; 69D. Balaban of "Definitely, Maybe": LIANE jump to mind.
It was nice to see the pic of Montana, Hondo, Dudley, and marti with Hondo and Montana hanging in with us, and the reminder of the late Eddy B., our own Mr. Ed.
Also, the CSO to yours truly was a nice touch to see upon awakening. Mike P. is an old pro and always welcome here.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteAren't you glad nobody gave you CIABATTA as your spelling bee word? Yup, d-o saw that SO to IRISH Miss. Needed an alphabet run to get that J for the JASON/JIG cross. (Did you know that in Elizabethan days a "jig" was a joke or gag? Me, neither.) But the alphabet run didn't help for the S at the SANI/SEINER cross. Couldn't get the internet out of my mind, and stumbled into yet another DNF. Rats. Never heard of SANI Sticks -- how are they supposed to work? Do you use one to dig out the clog? Thanx, Mike and C.C. (While solving I made a note "Seat raised?" Now my mind ran to a toilet seat. Oh, car seat. So, C.C., have you solved the issue with the passenger seat in that new Santa Fe?)
Following up on what Lemonade and D-O have said: Good morning from the Rockies where it is 18 degrees on the porch. The theme came quickly to light and, fortunately, I have been near the UINTA range many times so I knew that one. I had seen commercials for SANI sticks but it took a while to remember the name. I think that you use them to prevent clogs and not to clear and existing clog. HARARE was mostly perps with a bit of slow motion recall. LIANE was all perps. A year of college Italian helped with the spelling of the bread.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. Kudos to Mike for, what they call in Spanish, "rompecabeza" which loosely translates to "head breaker".
ReplyDeleteCC. to answer your question about the two tie games in 2018:
In 2010 the NFL altered the regular season rules to give both teams the opportunity to possess the ball at least once in overtime unless the team that receives the overtime kickoff scores a touchdown on its first possession. If the score is still tied at the end of the overtime period, the result of the game will be recorded as a tie.
Lemonade, as a neighbor in South Florida I agree with you the cold wind blowing in from the North is an unpleasant rarity , but made a little warmer with the exciting Dolphins win over the Raiders last night! No OT, because of a missed Extra Point attempt.
Happy Holidays!!
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteGood puzzle today; no real issues. Cute theme. Only wite-out was I had Duke before ELON. Too quick out of the chute.
COAX - Wanted 'schmooze' but it wouldn't fit.
MEHTA - Is a Parsi.
SEINER - An inflected form of 'his' in German.
ADIEU - Also used by German speakers. A derivative, Tschüüs, is Low German and especially heard in the Hamburg area.
Enjoy the day.
ReplyDeleteGood morning. Thank you, Mike, and thank you, C.C.
Happy Birthday, Dudley !
One error today. The first R in RAREE. I think we have had that relatively recently, but it just didn't register, and the unknown perp today didn't help.
Blue IRIS was from Kansas, I believe. She was always very pleasant, and if IIRC, a pretty good solver. I mentioned one time that my mother had amassed a collection of Flow Blue china and Blue Iris was a collector as well.
Thanks for the link to D-O's Potato Dumpling recipe. I think I'd have to cut the recipe in half.
FLN, Dash T, actually, Malodorous Manatee mentioned Tom Lehrer's tie in with "Electric Company" in an earlier post. Thanks for that hour long video on the program. Watched it this morning around 3 to 4 before finally getting back to sleep. I really enjoyed it. I didn't recall much more than the name of it from so many years ago, but I know it kept the young ones entertained.
Wilbur, I settled in to watch the Dolphins / Raiders game and promptly fell asleep. I may have seen the kickoff to start the game. I didn't see SwampCat's 7:35 post until this morning...
Swampcat, it was a big game for the playoff implications in the AFC. Nothing against the Saints. I am a long time Drew Brees fan.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteSunday puzzles are not my favorites because, often, the theme feels contrived or way too cutesy; today’s offering had neither of those faults, IMO. The theme was clever and, although obvious early on, still required some brain power. There were the usual unknown proper names to wrestle with, but easily perpable: Sport Age, Sani, Kansas, Sidon, and Harare, all strangers to me. In addition to the very low three letter word count, the puzzle is a pangram, a rarity and something I normally wouldn’t even notice. I liked the Eerie/Erie, Irish/Eire, Erie/Eire duos and I always enjoy seeing one of my favorite conductors, Zubin Mehta. Sadly, I FIW due to the crossings of Elisa/Uinta (I had E as the ending vowel ) and Priam/Prim (I had G instead of the more sensible M ending letter). Nice CSO’s to Lemony (Jason), Rural Nebraska (HG and Ave Joe), and Moi (Irish).
Thanks, Mike, for a very enjoyable Sunday solve and thanks, CC, for your insider’s analysis and comments and for the CSO, as well. Yes, Blue Iris was a regular commenter but she had health issues that made it difficult for her to post.
Have a great day and stay safe and warm.
Musings
ReplyDelete-Another Muslim country? ALSOIRAN (an ALSO RAN is a horse that didn’t win the race)
-It looks like Mike is not at an I-HOP but is here
-RAREE is another of those fills I pull out of my, uh, memory
-The vaccines have been MUSIC to all our ears
-Employees who DRUM UP business are also called this
-On the ET ride at Universal Florida, you get your own bicycle
-C.C. is a ROCK STAR in this field!
-Our RURAL areas are becoming less populated because one farmer can cultivate thousands of acres
-When the JIG IS UP, Poirot summons everyone to a meeting
BTW, I have tried SANI-STICKS and found them to be not very effective. The end of the Dolphin game was insane, but satisfying to this local boy.
ReplyDeleteToo many I didn't know in the NE and section below that.
ReplyDeleteSEINER? I'm not a fisherman!
Didn't know SANI Sticks. Forgot INXS and KANSAS nor ELON in NE.
Never heard of DAPS or UINTA.
But my favorite clues were HERSHEY IPA and LOONEY ITUNES. LOL!
Fun theme but an awful lot of proper nouns, and too many that were not really gettable unless you had ALL of the crossings, like UINTA/AWACS/SIDON. And some obscure words like RAREE and SEINER. This puzzle felt like it had way more obscure answers than usual.
ReplyDeleteI was stymied by the SANI/SEINER/NOAA crossings in the NE, with no way out.
Thank you, Mike, for a real stumper today, and C.C. for elucidating. Never heard of Sani Sticks, and FIW in the NE. I got RAREE thanks to perps, and now have to go look it up! Cheers, all!
ReplyDeleteCrunchy but delightful Sunday puzzle, Mike--many thanks. And Husker Gary is right, C.C., you are definitely the ROCK STAR of our blog. And it's especially nice to get your great commentaries on Sundays.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who spent years in Pennsylvania, with family still living there, it was great to get AMISH, HERSHEY, and ERIE. I really wanted RADAR (a favorite of mine) for the M.A.S.H. figure, but it turned out to be just a MEDIC.
Have a great Sunday, everybody!
Spitz @ 9:07, is it not spelled Tschüß?
ReplyDeletePuzzling thoughts:
ReplyDeleteAgree, HERSHEY IPA was a great find
My usual Sunday write-overs and WAG’s
Satisfying my masochistic needs by watching the Steelers implode. How do you go 11-0 and then lose the next 4? Assuming today doesn’t change ...
CM @ 1406 - - It has variations. Tschüüß, Tschüüs, Tschüs, and Tüüs are a few I've seen.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI wasn't worried, were you Moe ? :>)
Yes, this was a tough one today. I FIW but not where I was expecting, at the cross of HARARE and RAREE, neither of which I was familiar with. Got lucky there with my WAG, but missed at ELISe and UINTe, also unknown. (Hi, Irish Miss) Other areas were tricky too: "Duke" before ELON slowed down SEINER (someone who uses a seine for fishing, I guessed) and the rest of that corner. A funny connection for me was realizing it was PA for Pennsylvania after HERSHEY, not "pa" for father. Thanks for pointing out the puzzle is a pangram, Irish Miss. I hadn't noticed that. It's been ages since we had the last pangram. The theme was easy enough to figure out. Thanks, Mike, for the Sunday fun. Thanks, C.C., for clearing up my puzzlements. Onward to Monday's offering.
ReplyDeleteWe also said Tschüss for goodbye in Bonn, Germany, when we lived there thirty years ago. Tschüss to you all today. See you tomorrow.
Late to the party today. We have a new paper delivery person who didn't come through on time. As such, I was only able to complete about 80%until it was time to leave for Mass. Then after a hearty breakfast out and return home, it ended up a DNF solely due to the extreme NE. I got Elon, alms and NOAA, but for the life of me could not figure out Sani or Kansas. Oh well. It was a fair, mostly fun, exercise after all was said and done.
ReplyDeleteSunday Lurk Say...
ReplyDeleteD-O: I looked up the SANI Sticks. Looks like you drop it down the drain and it sits in the p-trap releasing enzymes to break up gunk. I might try this in Eldest's sink where the A/C drains and water backs-up 'cuz gunk. Link to Amazon.
//Kitchen or bathroom sinks Lem?
TTP - oops. But glad you enjoyed the Electric Company link regardless.
Kansas was quoted to Socrates in Bill & Ted's Excelent Adventure.
If you've not heard this Kansas song [Carry On Wayward Son - 4:26]... well, there you are.
A little backstory on how it came to be.
We miss you Blue Iris.
Happy Birthday Dudley!
Cheers, -T
Thanks Mike Peluso and C.C. for a nice puzzle and expo.
ReplyDeleteFour little letters kept me from finishing today: Box #13, #21, #28 and #29. It would have been worse, had I not wagged ELLIOTT. That’s another movie I’ve never watched all the way through.
I had quite a few perps too. Didn’t proofread (Why bother?), so when I read the expo, I noticed a couple more errors thrown in for good measure.
Bah! Humbug!
Not much to add that hasn’t already been mentioned.
Speaking of ties, I have to admit that TIE games in the NFL always wreaked havoc with the standings and the playoff implications. I was generally supportive of them, depending on whose ox was being gored. They usually didn’t affect the fortunes of my teams anyway.
On a sad note, I just saw on the internet that Phil Neikro has died. From a comment on the MLB.com site:
“Seven Hall of Fame players have passed away in 2020, the most in a calendar year - a sad and heartbreaking note. If you have a moment to reflect, think of the lives of Phil Niekro, Lou Brock, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Joe Morgan and Tom Seaver. Legends lost.”
FLN, da Bears are alive and well, risen from the ashes. And, I've got to see Trading Places.
ReplyDeleteNE just killed me. I actually knew ELON. SEINER??? KANSAS is familiar; INXS not. I thought of EFiler for net income. All I had was ALMS and iMAX. Biggest DNF in years and first FIW in awhile.
.
And Zimbabwe was Rhodesia too.
Having tAUNT I missed PROS AND ICONS. I didn't edit the rest since I was so lost in NE.
Wilbur says hi to MR ED.
Speaking of "No OT". ATL missed a chip shot FG to get into OT. My fellow alum Matty(ICE) Ryan had a helluva game. I knew someone would explain TIES.
C-Moe, Ben and the 'ers pulled it out.
We came close on the pangram last week but no J. Well, there was a and a Z.
Not just MLB. Here's a list which doesn't include KC Jones.
WC
ReplyDeleteDash T, of course I wasn't calling you out for making a mistake. I just wanted to make sure that credit goes where credit is deserved, and that was Malodorous Manatee. I'm new to this whole Tom Lehrer thing, but I did take time to replay his Silent E song again today.
In addition to making braised ribs today (they are in the oven now), I also have captured all of the A to Z songs played so far on the local classic rock station and put them in a spreadsheet. To what end, IDK, except to create a huge playlist some day. Fool On The Hill by The Beatles is playing now. It's a long way to Z, but hey, what else to do ? I'm bored to tears.
ReplyDeleteI should have added that I am so bored that yesterday Irish Miss sent me a simple question and I think I wrote twelve paragraphs answering her.
She sent me a very polite response and asked me basically the same question again. :>)
TTP —> when it was 24-7 I didn’t stop watching. I saw the entire game. Was happy to see them enjoy themselves a bit more. Needed win.
ReplyDeleteDitto to WC.
ReplyDeleteChairman, they didn't have the game on TV in this market. I had that weak NFL.com app open in a window on the pc, but closed it at 24-7. The running game amassed 20 yards, but it's all good. Where is a Bettis type when you need him ? They clinched 24th Division Title in the last 50 years, the most in the NFL by any team since the merger.
Tackled the puzzle very late - we were at my mom's in KC (she is back to baseline after her October COVID scare) having a very low key day - when my brother came with his son and grandson. The younger two like to race to my mom's door and the 7 yr old knocked the 25 yr old down (25 year old is on the spectrum and mental/social age of a 5 yr old) - lots of scrapes and bruised lip/cheek - but then obvious elbow fracture - so we watched my brother's dog and his grandson (masked) while my brother took his son to ER for xrays of elbow and CT to see if he had facial fractures. I made cut out sugar cookies with my grandnephew.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the creative theme - especially HERSHEY IPA!
Thanks CC, and Mike!
Happy birthday Dudley!
Elon University is not near Durham North Carolina. It’s in the city of Burlington. Durham is about 45 miles away
ReplyDelete