Theme: "Zero G" - G is removed from each common phrase.
23. Judges in a best brie competition?: CHEESE RATERS. Cheese graters.
31. Truly blessed commuter line?: THE HOLY RAIL. The Holy Grail.
48. Tirade that begins, "Why can't those Sirens just shut up!?," e.g.?: ULYSSES' RANT. Ulysses Grant.
66. Rotate crops of corn?: SWITCH EARS. Switch gears.
68. The weather forecast Snap, Crackle, and Pop were hoping for?: RAIN OF RICE. Grain of rice.
84. Party debriefs?: HOST STORIES. Ghost stories.
101. Intercom message when a young boy arrives at the office?: LAD TO SEE YOU. Glad to see you.
115. Cause of longing in a long-distance marriage?: A BRIDE TOO FAR. A bridge too far.
The last one is the only entry where G is removed from inside. Easier to drop it from the start.
Very impressive grid for a Sunday debut. Congrats, Matt!
He used 142 words and only 69 blacks squares. I always have to use up all the 78 black squares allowed for a 21x21 LAT.
Across:
1. Sporty Mazdas: MIATAS.
7. Kilt feature: PLEAT.
12. Covert org.: CIA.
15. Adobe exports: PDFS.
19. "It's five __ somewhere!": O'CLOCK.
20. Israeli port city: HAIFA.
21. "Ta-da!": AND VOILA. And
25. Lusty reaction: VAVA VOOM. Crossing the stack of 7's. Lovely.
26. Mata __: HARI.
27. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner: PESCI. He's also in "Casino", one of Boomer's favorite movies.
28. Small, in France: PETIT.
29. Dove sound: COO.
30. Env. directive: ATTN.
34. Michael of "Barbie": CERA.
35. 102-Down goddess: GAIA. 102. Realm of 35-Across: EARTH.
37. Party-planning site: EVITE.
38. Geographic pit: BASIN.
39. MMA org.: UFC.
42. Pinkberry rival: TCBY. Never been to this place.
44. Joan of folk music: BAEZ.
45. Insert marks: CARETS.
46. Gets on, as a horse: MOUNTS.
52. Phony: POSER.
53. Unite while away: ELOPE.
54. "The Yearling" animal: DEER.
55. Espy: SPOT.
59. Comics sound effect: THWACK. Consonants-heavy.
61. Roll on a field: TARP.
63. Soybean paste: MISO.
65. Buckeyes' sch.: OSU.
71. Philosophy associated with yin and yang: TAO. 72. New Mexico art hub: TAOS. Not dupe. Different roots.
73. Glasses, colloquially: SPEX.
75. Hardwired: INNATE.
76. Harmonized, with "in": SYNC.
78. Eats: SUPS.
80. Poe's middle name: ALLAN.
82. French __ soup: ONION.
87. In a crass way: RUDELY.
88. Dr. Evil's sidekick: MINI-ME.
91. "May I say ... ": AHEM.
92. Iowa college city: AMES.
94. Tabloid: RAG.
95. Mixed in with: AMONG.
96. Japanese beer: KIRIN. Same as Chinese Qilin. Mythical creature with a dragon's head, deer's body, and ox's tail. Symbol of good fortune & prosperity.
98. Follow the rules: OBEY.
100. Back muscles, to trainers: LATS.
105. Pillbox letters: AM PM.
109. Previously: AGO.
110. Prince of Troy: PARIS.
111. Cancel: ABORT.
112. Dance in "Lilo & Stitch": HULA.
113. Snack with green filling: MINT OREO.
118. Diamond in the rough, e.g.: UNCUT GEM. I can't tell.
119. Hanukkah fare: LATKE.
120. Mysteriously alluring: EXOTIC.
121. Spec item: DEET.
122. Mantra syllables: OMS.
123. Musical theater legend Merman: ETHEL.
124. Hoedown go-round: DO-SI-DO.
Down:
1. Chocolaty cafe order: MOCHA.
2. Bygone Apple messaging tool: ICHAT.
3. Heads-up: ALERT.
4. __ the line: TOEING.
5. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS. Gorgeous weather here in MN.
6. Doubters: SKEPTICS.
7. Segment: PHASE.
8. Gate closer: LATCH.
9. "With a moo moo here ... " preceder: E I E I O.
10. Sahara continent: Abbr.: AFR.
11. Prof aides: TAS.
12. Word of warning: CAVEAT.
13. How tic-tac-toe often ends: IN A TIE.
14. Motrin competitor: ADVIL.
15. PBS documentary film series: POV.
16. Bishop's territory: DIOCESE.
17. Put the pedal to the metal: FLOOR IT.
18. Some Pacific Islanders: SAMOANS.
22. Large container: VAT.
24. Amy Winehouse hit: REHAB.
28. Highly valued: PRIZED.
32. Renter: LEASER.
33. Part of YSL: YVES.
34. Supermarket supply: CARTS.
36. Work like a magnet: ATTRACT.
38. Prohibit: BAN.
39. Official behind a catcher: UMP.
40. Walking path: FOOTWAY.
41. Chair softener: CUSHION.
43. "The King and I" star Brynner: YUL.
44. Avoid: BYPASS.
45. "The Tonight Show" icon: CARSON. Here's Johnny.
47. Small salamander: NEWT.
49. Tolkien epic, familiarly: LOTR. The Lord of the Rings.
50. Late tourney round: SEMI.
51. Control: REIN IN.
53. Barely manage, as a win: EKE OUT.
56. Actor/director Sidney: POITIER.
57. Seminole leader of the 19th century: OSCEOLA. We had him before.
58. First pt. of many a short week: TUE. OK, Monday off. Tuesday
is always my hardest day, as I took 4 methotrexate in the
morning, then 4 in the afternoon. All my future SIMPONI ARIA infusions
are on Tuesdays also. The first one starts on 5/20. Will see if I can
hit the high notes soon. Expensive stuff.
60. Gliding ballet move: CHASSE.
62. Early tourney round: PRELIM.
64. Futile: OF NO USE.
66. City map lines, briefly: STS.
67. Egyptian reptiles: ASPS.
69. Tricycle rod: AXLE.
70. Cape Town currency: RAND.
74. Aside containers, for short: PARENS. Parenthesis.
77. Does pull-ups: CHINS.
79. Beginnings: STARTS.
81. Light __ feather: AS A.
83. MetLife Stadium team, on scoreboards: NYG.
85. "Wowzers!": OMG.
86. Mississippi tributary: OHIO.
87. Countered, in a debate: REBUTTED.
88. "The Natural" novelist: MALAMUD. Roy Hobbs.
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89. Visualize: IMAGINE.
90. Never, or at least twice: NOT ONCE.
93. Roger who played James Bond seven times: MOORE.
96. NBA legend Abdul-Jabbar: KAREEM.
97. Phrases that don't translate well: IDIOMS.
99. Some Swift characters: YAHOOS. Jonathan Swift. "Gulliver's Travels".
101. Key __: LARGO.
103. Plug-in transport: EBIKE.
104. Peak performance?: YODEL. Alpine peak.
106. Muslim cleric: MUFTI.
107. Kilt feature: PLAID.
108. Name called out in a swimming pool: MARCO. Polo.
110. Coffee unit: POT.
114. Scolding syllable: TUT.
115. Pub order: ALE.
116. Stand at the plate: BAT.
117. Kitchen brand: OXO.
C.C.
22 comments:
For once, I got the
gimmick from the title (that doesn’t happen for me very often). And it was pretty much smooth sailing from there. FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Caught the theme early and zipped right through this one. D-o only needed the trusty Wite-Out to correct Aleve to ADVIL. Impressive Sunday debut, Matt. Thanx for making it all make sense, C.C.
We decided to avoid the Mother's Day rush and eat out on Saturday. Big mistake. As it turns out, some couples have two mothers, and they "treat" one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. We haven't had two mothers in 25 years, and none for 10 years. It never occurred to us. We left restaurant #1 -- too crowded. Got a booth at restaurant #2, where the service was slow and the food was so-so. Live 'n' learn.
FIR, but hara->HARI, portier->POITIER, cup->POT, and tsk->TUT.
Here's Alan Jackson and buddy Jimmy Buffett singing It's Five O' CLOCK Somewhere.
I got hung up on recent pillbox hats from recent puzzles, and even thought about those deadly WWII strongholds. Doh, it's just the little 7-day medicine reminders that I've used in the AM and the PM for years.
REHAB turned into a sad tune. It recounts the efforts of people to convince Winehouse that she needed to get clean by entering REHAB, and her ultimate refusal. She died of alcohol poisoning a short time later.
Our Harris Teeter (a subsidiary of Krogers) discontinued providing the tote baskets folks used for picking up just a few things. Instead, they bought a lot of small CARTS to supplement the standard-sized ones. Apparently, the locals were stealing too many of the baskets.
And the Crossie award for creative cluing for trite fill goes to..............."Tricycle rod" for AXLE!
Thanks to Matt for the fun workout, and to CC for another enjoyable review.
FIR. Mostly easy for a Sunday puzzle. But I had to take a WAG at the crossing of parens and Kirin to get the win.
I got the theme at the first long answer and that helped a lot with the solve.
Overall an enjoyable puzzle.
Good morning. It's been a weekend of DNF for me. But on a plus side, it's also been a weekend of C.C. Yesterday, she hit a double with the LA Times puzzle and the large Saturday WSJ puzzle. And today we get C.C. explaining the missing G puzzle. Keep up the good work.
I noticed the missing G at CHEESE RATERS. All the theme fills' missing Gs were the first letter except A BRIDE TOO FAR, which I had completed by perps before seeing the clue. But I couldn't finish at the crosses of three unknowns- MALAMUD, MINI ME, and CHASSE
A town about 5 miles away is Belle Chasse and it's pronounced 'chase'.
PARENS- Matt had to make up a clue for that one.
Very clever and enjoyable puzzle. SW corner was the toughest for me. Thanks Matt and CC.
FIR and found this to be a fun puzzle. Some grin-inducing theme answers and fair perps for the unknowns and the non-words. Could have done without DEET, and SEMI and PRELIM could have used a “for short” in the clue. PARENS should be taken out into the backyard and buried. Had to hold off on POITIER (could have been POLLACK) until some of the letters got filled in. The PLEAT/PLAID duo required a rework. I couldn’t remember the Florida tribe and kept saying “if I only I had seen Key Largo recently!” Then Key Largo made its own appearance and separately, OSCEOLA filled in nicely. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of 40D (what DOES a footway?)
96d formerly known as lew alcindor
Jinx – One of our local grocery stores also eliminated the baskets. It first happened during COVID, and then all the small carts started to disappear. Now they’ve got a vast fleet of small carts, all with signs on them saying there’s some sort of theft prevention mechanism installed on the wheels. Some sort of geo-tracking with braking if the cart's in the wrong place. That couldn’t have been cheap.
Good thing I hadn't gotten around to today's Penny Dell crossword before the Jinx Acadamy awarded the coveted Crossie award for "creative cluing for trite fill" to "Tricycle rod" for AXLE. "Large kangaroo" for EURO would have given "Tricycle" a run for its money.
Good Morning:
There were several unknowns, some as clued, but the perps were more than fair and plentiful, so no complaints on that end. Actually, I have no complaints at all, but Sunday grids aren’t my favorite solves. Usually, the title and the first or second themer signals the theme, which not only makes the solve easier, but totally diminishes the surprise factor. The solve, therefore, becomes more rote than rigorous. I did enjoy the quantity and quality of much of today’s fill, as well as some clever cluing.
Thanks, Matt, and congrats on an impressive debut and thanks, CC, for the professional viewpoint. Best of luck with your upcoming infusion.
Happy Mother’s Day!
I had fun with this puzzle. Yes, quite easy for á Sunday, since the clues were mostly free of proper names (I did know MALAMUD) and the theme was obvious from the first entry but that made it interesting trying to figure the others.
I did leave the N of KIRIN and PARENS blank. I didn’t know the beer and was clueless what aside containers could possibly mean.
I usually spell SPEX SPEcs. We had OSU and OHIO. I don’t get DEET as clued.
Is there an end to OREO flavors? I’ll have to pay attention next time I’m at the supermarket.
Thank you CC for your review.
No time for the puz until late today due to sons (yes all buoys, no gulls - poor Mrs. Brain) coming by to pay homage.
Happy Mother's Day to all, without whom we wouldn't be here.
I think DEET is Patti-speak for "detail." Specification is abbreviated, so details is shortened into whatever DEET is.
Spec: Towers higher than 100' (I made that up) must be painted in standard aviation colors.
DEET: Paint colors shall be Aviation Orange 12197 and Outside White 17875.
Musings
-What a pleasant solve. The gimmicks were fun and I really liked C.C.’s title!
-Sporty rear wheel drive cars like MIATAS don’t fare well in our winters
-I watched PESCI and TOMEI in the wonderful My Cousin Vinny last night. Joe was 22 years older than Marissa and wore a wig and stretch metal clips to make himself look younger.
-The LATS play a big role in rotating the body in a golf swing
-Burt Lahr’s take on Lay’s Potato Chip’s famous CAVEAT. BTW, I can’t!
-Nebraska’s own Johnny Carson’s gift to UNL
-No NCAA men’s basketball teams got beat in the PRELIMS or SEMIS this year. All four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four
-A new Honda will run you about R380,000 in Johannesburg
-The Natural had all the elements of a very entertaining movie. I could start the lament of “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore” but I won't. :-(
-58 Japanese IDIOMS where some do and some don’t translate very well
-We are thinking of you C.C. and hoping you get relief!
Hola! Good Sunday puzzle, thanks to Matt and C.C. I loved VAVAVOOM! But not PARENS! I'll have to look that up. FOOTWAY also seems strange. Pathway, yes.
MALAMUD took all perps. A BRIDE TOO FAR was also great. Time to go.
Have a wonderful day and happy Mothers' Day!
I liked this puzzle. Happy Mother's Day.
Wouldn't a 106D be a scholar rather than a cleric? They might also be a cleric but don't have to be?
Nice casual cruise to the FIR on this one, although not without its casualties — locking MALAMUD and MINI-ME together is a bit on the ragged side, and I really don’t buy SPEX as a proper spelling of the colloquialism. But, what the hey, it fit, and let AXLE fall into place.
The theme hook was a gimme, and I like the way Matt moved the excised G’s around; it made for good entertainment. Plus, the proper names were at least well-known for the most part; hand up for putting in Sydney Pollack for the director instead of POITIER (yes, he made cameo appearances in many of his films, like “Electric Horseman”, one I worked on years ago).
Happy Mom’s Day to all our mothers!
====> Darren / L.A.
Osceola, malamud, kirin, yahoos, afr.
Isn’t there a tense issue with 76 Across? Harmonized vs sync in?
I think if something is (in) SYNC, it’s harmonized @Cross@words 😎
====> Darren / L.A.
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