Theme: "Shear Madness" - The letters LITTLE are orderly removed from the top of each theme entry.
3. *Body art of a beloved's silhouette?: LINKED IN PROFILE.
5. *Advisors on robe or wand selection?: IMAGE CONSULTANTS.
8. *Beer that belongs in a museum?: TALE AS OLD AS TIME.
11. *Faithful helpers who are less helpful after some time off?: TRUSTY SIDEKICKS.
14. *Practicing to be worthy of elite double Dutch equipment?: LEARNING THE ROPES.
16. *Sumerian king's image?: EPIC OF GILGAMESH.
Reveal:
105. With 108-Across, instruction given to a barber, or how the answers to the starred clues were literally formed: A LITTLE.
108. See 105-Across: OFF THE TOP.
Congrats to Landon Horton on his first LAT Sunday!
All the theme entries are placed on the very top to make the theme work. This requires a left to right grid rather than our normal symmetry. And of course, the reveal are symmetrically placed at the bottom also.
Across:
1. Mideast title: EMIR.
5. Upset with: MAD AT.
10. Heeded a wake-up call: AROSE.
15. Stratford-__-Avon: UPON. Birthplace & burial place of Shakespeare,
19. Top left Battleship coordinate: A ONE.
20. Saunter: AMBLE.
21. Required amount: QUOTA.
22. Actor Liu: SIMU. Born in Harbin, China. He was one of the Ken dolls.
23. Brand of smart TVs: ROKU.
24. Neon and xenon: GASES.
25. Wedding attendant: USHER.
26. Protective wound cover: SCAB.
27. Refutes: DENIES.
29. Turn to face the pitcher: AT BAT.
31. Captivate: ENAMOR.
33. Brake parts: DISCS.
34. Like a chimney: SOOTY.
35. Rice __: PILAF.
36. Melodic composition: ARIOSO. Literally "airy". Aria means "Air".
38. "As if!": YOU WISH.
40. Stable sounds: NEIGHS.
43. Musician Sean Ono __: LENNON.
44. Key for special characters: ALT.
45. Spy org.: CIA.
46. Good-natured: GENIAL.
47. See 17-Down: EPPS. 17. With 47-Across, "House" actor: OMAR.
48. NorCal law force, for short: SFPD.
50. Air carrier: DUCT.
52. Writer Wiesel: ELIE.
53. Boomer follower: XER. I'm one.
54. College treasurer: BURSAR. Third appearance this year.
56. "You __!": "Indeed!": BETCHA.
58. M.A. seeker's hurdle: GRE. 110. J.D. seekers' hurdles: LSATS.
59. Song often played at Dodger Stadium: I LOVE LA. Gimme.
61. Quivered: SHOOK.
63. A quarter after five of: TEN PAST.
65. Thief count in the Ali Baba folktale: FORTY.
66. Country singer Clark: TERRI.
67. Sound for imitating a car: VROOM.
68. "I'm baffled!": NO IDEA.
70. Cockney or Geordie: DIALECT. Geordie is the dialect from the Tyneside region of North East
England.
72. Most unusual: ODDEST.
75. European peninsula: BALKAN.
76. Brief chats?: IMS.
77. Hit the slopes: SKI.
78. Iran, formerly: PERSIA.
79. Carpeting calculation: AREA.
80. Bonsai, e.g.: TREE.
82. Wise: SAGE.
84. Melville captain: AHAB.
85. "Mi __ es su __": CASA.
87. American acquisition: TWA.
90. "Just wait __!": A SEC.
92. Trades jabs: SPARS.
95. 1980s perm style: JHERI CURL. Pedro Martinez. Gosh, so long ago.
100. Greek moralist: AESOP.
104. Bluefin and albacore: TUNAS.
106. __-Roman architecture: GRECO.
107. By oneself: ALONE.
111. Tire abbreviation: PSI.
112. Bit of henna art: TATTOO.
114. Two-rod antenna: DIPOLE. Another new word.
116. Brain __: 2024 Oxford Word of the Year: ROT.
117. Spy-fi novelist Deighton: LEN.
118. Sprinkled: STREWN.
119. Brunch option: OMELET.
120. PC's "brain": CPU.
121. Garage fig.: EST.
122. Soup server: LADLE.
123. iPods that replaced Minis: NANOS.
124. In vogue: HIP.
Down:
1. The "E" of ENT: EAR.
2. Determining factor in playlist selection, perhaps: MOOD.
4. Homecoming events: REUNIONS.
6. Gather: AMASS.
7. Safeties in the NFL, briefly: DBS. Defensive Backs
9. Do a trial run on: TEST OUT.
10. Like some Summer Olympics events: AQUATIC.
12. "Amazing!": OOH.
13. Like some black diamond runs: STEEP.
15. Ship in 1898 news: USS MAINE.
18. Well-used pencil: NUB.
28. "That __ true!": IS SO.
30. Stern's counterpart: BOW.
32. Downwind: ALEE.
36. 1990s soccer star Lalas: ALEXI. Don't know him.
37. Ward off: REPEL.
38. Prattles on: YAPS.
39. __ monde: fashionable society: HAUT.
41. Some forensic evidence: HAIRS.
42. Icy rain: SLEET.
49. Skirmish: FRAY.
51. Security letters: CCTV. CCTV is also China's national broadcaster.
54. Kentucky college: BEREA.
55. Emu kin: RHEAS.
56. Fails to hold, in a way: BORES.
57. Battery bit: ANODE.
60. Drink also known as a Cape Cod: VODKACRAN. Vodka Cranberry.
62. 68-Down team in Fla.: ORL. 68. Org. for Suns and Rockets: NBA.
64. "Star Wars" sporting vehicles: PODRACERS. Unknown also.
69. Rowing blade: OAR.
70. Half of a craps pair: DIE.
71. Madre's hermana: TIA.
73. "Elastic Heart" singer: SIA.
74. Bygone soda in pink cans: TAB.
81. TV friend of Sheldon: RAJ.
83. "Red Notice" actress Gadot: GAL.
86. Favorable qualities: ASSETS.
87. Musical interval also called "the devil's interval": TRITONE. Googling result: a tritone is a musical interval of three whole tones (or six semitones) between two notes. In those pious days of the Middle Ages, the tritone was so unpleasing that it was considered the work of the devil, leading church authorities ban its use in ecclesiastical music.
88. Accompanied by: WITH.
89. Pursued, as a tip: ACTED ON.
91. Bald baby?: EAGLET. Cute. Also 97. Small nocturnal bird of prey: ELF OWL.
92. Basic need: STAPLE.
93. Throbs: PULSES.
94. Consecrate: ANOINT.
96. Furnished with a handle: HAFTED. Don't know the verb usage.
98. Final syllable: ULTIMA. Latin for "last".
99. Investigate anew, as a cold case: RE-OPEN.
101. Look online: SEARCH.
102. Ink squirters: OCTOPI.
103. Prepare for a pass, in basketball: POST UP.
108. Other, in Spanish: OTRA.
109. Sport with horses: POLO.
113. Delta HQ: ATL.
115. "__ Misérables": LES.
Belated Happy 91st Birthday to Parsan, who lives in the same area as Agnes (Irish Miss). Hope you had a great day yesterday celebrating, Parsan!
C.C.
I saw all the letters
ReplyDelete“off the top” but didn’t know what linked them until the reveal. And I wondered when I saw “jh” together. Other than that, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle, other than that it took a considerable amount of time to complete. Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Jheri Redding started Redken and Nexxus hair care products in addition to Jheri curl.
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteStruggled to make the first word of 5d MAGIC before sussing the theme. D'oh. DBS was a mystery, as was JHERI CURL. Changing ISnt to IS SO broke Oregon open. Noticed the missing first letters, but even with the reveal, d-o never snapped that they spelled LITTLE. Impressive debut Landon. Thanx for 'splainin', C.C.
A well crafted grid with a bit of crunch and some good cluing and a clever title, just right for a Sunday. I was just as happy to figure out the L I T T L E off the top as I was to FIR in 33:43. As C.C. noted, the east/west symmetry was also appreciated, a departure from the usual. Unknowns included ALEXI, CCTV, and TRITONE. Perps to the rescue to get the reveal. I got EPPS which of course gave me OMAR, and knew just enough Spanish to get CASA. Last fill was a WAG for the J in the unheard of JHERI CURL. Vowel heavy “Geordie” would be good Saturday fill clued as “Northeast England dialect”. Thanks Landon for the morning fun, and congrats on your Sunday LAT debut, and to C.C. for your insights!
ReplyDeleteFIR, but it was a struggle. This was a bit crunchy in my opinion. Also I really dislike vertical puzzles, just a pet peeve of mine.
ReplyDeleteI had to take a few WAG's here and there, like jhericurl. What?
I saw a pattern to the theme but it took the reveal for me to fully get it.
Overall this was definitely NOT an enjoyable puzzle.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteLike DO, I completely missed the spelling-out of L I T T L E factor. This extra feat increased my admiration for the construction and execution, but this type of puzzle really doesn’t appeal to me. While I laud the creativity and craftsmanship involved, I find the theme cluing and fill too forced and confusing.
Thanks for our considerable efforts, Landon, and congrats on your debut and thanks, CC, for guiding us along.
Have a great day.
Stupid theme!!
DeleteYour efforts, not our! 😂
ReplyDeleteIt was a DNF this am. Even though I completed all the theme answers, the triple crosses of CCTV, BORES, and BETCHA stumped me. E-PIC OF GILGAMESH was an unknown and I only got it by a correct guess of "i" on the unknown SIMU. Didn't watch the Barbie movie either. My knowledge of Sumerian kings is zero, plus PIC is an abbr. Thank you C.C. for explaining the missing L.I.T.T.L.E letters that were positioned because I couldn't figure it out.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE LA, Brain ROT, ALEXI, TERRI, VODKACRAN, PODRACERS, ELF OWL, TRITONE, ULTIMA,- I had NO IDEA about those unknowns but got 'em anyway.
"Safeties" are two things in FB. Two-pointers for a safety and DBS.
I've heard the term brain rot all my life. Now it's the "word of the year"?
I bought a Vizio brand ROKU television for $129, A lot of brands make ROKUs. They also make a device similar to an Amazon Firestick.
FIR, but needed three WAGs that all magically worked (S_MU, JH_ _RICURL). I at least recognized “PIC” might fit with the cluing of 16D, so maybe that wasn’t a complete WAG. In retrospect, _LFOWL should have been obvious, but all I could focus on was the FOWL part. I got the H only because there was no alternative to HAFTED. CC’s “Don't know the verb usage” is about as polite as one could possibly get. Filling in OMAR and EPPS solidified the term “ektorp” for me. I have a couple of more eyebrow raisers I could mention, but having looked at the online discussion about the “tricky” NYT puzzle theme this morning, I guess it could have been worse.
ReplyDeleteIf I never see another "add/subtract a letter" gimmick it'll be too soon. The gimmick answers filled in easily with perps, and the result was a alk in the ark for this rossword.
ReplyDeleteHahaha
DeleteFIR, but ariosa->ARIOSO (UNTIE!,) ladel->LADLE (UNTIE!,) wow->OOH, and mia->ORL.
ReplyDeleteFor baseball music in LA, I only think about Helen Dell, the organist for the Dodgers when I lived out west and went to the games. She was to ballpark music what Vin Scully was to ballpark play-by-play.
Ham radio operators know all about DIPOLE antennas. For 80 meter operations (where I cut my ham radio teeth,) a full-wave DIPOLE antenna is over 100 feet long. For those low frequencies, half-wave and quarter-wave DIPLOEs are much more practical.
VROOM is also a competitor to Carvana.
Never heard of an ELF OWL, but I love the concept. Google says there are some 200 owl and owl-like bird types. Great little critters.
Were the EAGLETS that were lost to the high winds the same ones that a lot of Cornerites were watching? So sad.
I've got to say that I enjoyed yesterday's puzzle more than this one, even though I FIW yesterday and FIR today. GILGAMESH, JHERICURL and VODKA CRAN sucked the fun out of this one for me. But I did like ALE and ALEE appearing in close proximity and thought "a quarter after five of" for TEN PAST was very clever. And thanks to CC for another fun review.
Jinx@10:04. I do not know about those EAGLETS. How heartbreaking! I watch the ones in Big Bear Valley. I am happy to report that both EAGLETS survived last night's snowstorm and seem to be doing well.
DeleteMusings
ReplyDelete-The complexity of this puzzle amazed me and it was a delight to solve.
-One issue was first seeing the omitted “L” at LINKED… and LEARNED… making me think omitting the “L” was going to be gimmick.
-I first even did not see MAGE… had omitted a vowel and not a consonant.
-Cluing for XER, TEN PAST and EAGLET made me giggle just a little
-Did anyone else think of this much-criticized clue on April 5th “36. Brown bread specialist: BURSAR”
-Liza finally did rid herself of her Cockney accent
-Clothes in our daughter’s bedrooms were much more STREWN than sprinkled
-The sinking of the USS MAINE engendered what Secretary Of State John Hay called, “The delightful little war.”
-For the tenth time, Gary, ANOINT is not spelled ANNOINT.
-We are off to Lincoln for a $22 BRUNCH to celebrate youngest granddaughter’s 20th birthday. Unlimited bacon!!
YP here ~ yes Gary, I did remember the clue for BURSAR, which is the only reason I knew it today with the more direct clue.
DeleteI'm so stumped with A" quarter after five of" and "Ten Past". Can you explain? Predicting I will groan LOL
DeleteAnonymous at 11:26 AM: Fifteen minutes (AKA '"a quarter") after "five of" [the hour] is "ten past" [the hour].
DeleteDNF. Too many unknowns for me this morning, but I did "Remember the Maine!" and have always been a fan of Aesop and his fractured fairytales, so I've at least got that goin' for me.
ReplyDeleteRight in my wheelhouse with its RUSTY and Brains! And I don't find vertical themers to be a "downer," just more challenging. Needless to say, I found this one refreshing like a VODKA CRAN.
ReplyDeleteI had most of the northern hemisphere filled in before I sussed the theme, and even then it was hard to parse some of them. But Landon stuck the landin' with a perfect reveal. I should've noticed the missing letters spelled LITTLE, that would have be icing on the cake!
Can someone tell me what the F.I.R acronym means that I keep seeing on here? Maybe 'Finished In Record(time)? I know DNF means Did Not Finish but cannot find what FIR means regarding crosswords, not even google seems to know lol
ReplyDeleteFIR = Finished It Right
DeleteFIW = Finished It Wrong
There's a link to a list of these somewhere along the right side of the blog.
DeleteI really enjoyed Landon's puzzle today, and even though I saw that a little was taken off the top, I didn't realize it was actually L-I-T-T-L-E until C.C. spelled it out. I had even written the letters above the top row to help me see what was happening! FIR on paper, no cheating. Changed rice "a-roni" to PILAF. DNK the country singer or the musical interval.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks to Landon for a puzzling experience, and to C.C. for making sure we appreciated it fully.
PSA to those unfamilar with FIR, DNF, FIW, DNK, etc.:
ReplyDeleteOn the home page of this blog, right side column, you'll find "Comments Section Abbrs" under OLIO.
I could just say, "whatever Naomi said"
ReplyDeletebecause those were all my experiences with the puzzle. Creative and amusing theme
One gimme was JHERI CURL - I was working in an inner city ministry in the early 80's and that was a very common hair product. It was all new to me
which is why it got stuck in my brain then
Thanks CC for the blog and congrats to Landon for the debut
Happy birthday Parsan - each year is a milestone in your 90's
I am in great admiration of the theme gimmick in this puzzle, which I did actually fully understand eventually. Lots of false starts and wrong answers impeded me, but I eventually fixed them for a correct solve. The last cell I filled was that H crossing JHERICURL and HAFTED.
ReplyDeleteReally good reading you all.
Oh, I once did business with a fellow who lived just outside the city of Leeds, and he liked to throw me for a loop by speaking Geordie at unexpected times. I couldn't understand any of it. It didn't sound like a dialect of English to my ears; it sounded like a completely different language.
ReplyDeleteA very impressive construction. For quite a while I thought today was gonna be a DNF, but I persisted. I was in awe of LH when I FIR in 30+, and looked for the theme. I had figured out it was a missing letter theme, but that the missing letters would spell "LITTLE" is hard to believe. Brilliant! Thanx LH for this very impressive CW. 78A coulda been IBERIA, but that didn't perp. 116A coulda been FART, but that wouldn't fit. Anyway, very well constructed CW. NOT a big fan of the 22 names, but only DNK 6 as clued, including JHERICURL. Never heard of it. Thanx too to C.C. for the excellent write-up. All your efforts to make this blog a success, and FUN, are VERY much appreciated. HBD PARSAN.
ReplyDeleteDNF. I too don’t like vertical themes. Somehow I have difficulty reading the long sentences vertically, so I gave up the effort. Of course in retrospect I admire the construction of this CW. However there were more conversational bits than I’m comfortable with and several unknowns. I got Á ONE but how is it á fill for top left Battleship coordinate? NO IDEA.
ReplyDeleteThank you CC. Great catch on the L I T T L E.
Happy birthday Parsan. 🎉🎊🎂
The game Battleship uses a grid to represent the coordinates in the "ocean" that the player's ships are hidden on. First square in the top row is A1 (A ONE), second in same row is A2. The row below that starts with B1 and so on.
DeleteThank you RustyBrain.
DeleteThanks to Landon for his clever & challenging puzzle! I had only parts of all the themers until I found the reveal. When I saw the L-I-T-T-L-E missing from the top the fun began and I was able to complete the themers. Ultimately I had a 2-box FIW because I just could not see the W & N in STREWN and became impatient. Now it seems obvious. Well done, Landon!
ReplyDeleteThanks to C.C. for her expert analysis!
Happy Birthday, Parsan!!
Hola! This was a lot more challenging than usual for a Sunday but I finally finished with many wite-out spots! I don't know which I like more, "L)EARNING THE ROPES or A(T)ALE AS OLD AS TIME. Both are superb! IMO
ReplyDeleteThank you, Landon Horton. I'm sorry, but I can't help thinking of "Horton Hears a Who", Dr. Seuss. I read it so many times to my grandchildren.
AESOP over GRECO, that's a good one!
I love my ROKU TV!
Enjoy your day, everyone!
Super Sunday. Thanks for the fun, Landon and C.C.
ReplyDeleteI saw the missing first letters with I-MAGE, but was having trouble with the other themers. But the reveal had me returning and putting LITTLE on the top. (I actually had Take a Bit OFF THE TOP before A LITTLE.)
Even then, it was a workout to get the complete haircut.
My favourite was TALE AS OLD AS TIME from Beauty and the Beast.
Hand up for rice Aroni before PILAF.
This Canadian had to wait for perps for the Dodger Stadium song.
HAFTED caused a nose wrinkle, and I had never heard of JHERICURL (I LIUed to confirm that H).
I wanted Accent but DIALECT finally fit.
I have been telling you all about Canadian SIMU for a while. His original claim to fame was on Kim’s Convenience sitcom set in Toronto. His book, We were Dreamers, outlines his struggles with his Chinese heritage and parents’ expectations, and his dream of acting.
Happy Birthday Parsan.
Wishing you all a good evening.
Ooh! I too started with RiceAroni.
DeleteWell, didn’t have any problem with reading the verticals — but I still nose-plowed on this one; did not know the KY university, or BURSAR (had “purser”) so hosed myself there, and then below put in “jerricurl”, which 86’ed ELF OWL. Talk about getting it all wrong 🤣
ReplyDeleteBut Landon’s gimmick was a fun one — I grokked it with ALE AS OLD AS TIME, which led me on to INKED IN PROFILE (Linked-In is the one and only social media platform I’m on — no FacePlant or Insta-Poop for this here boy!) and the others eventually sussed out. So even with the FIW, it was still quite the enjoyable Sunday play. And thanks, C.C., for the enlightening review 🤙🏽😎
====> Darren / L.A.