Theme: "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT" - Each common phrase is re-imagined as description of two things being contrasted.
22. Ice versus Stone?: AGE DISPARITY.
30. Cotton versus silk?: MATERIAL DIFFERENCE.
46. Dibbling versus broadcasting?: SOWING DISSENT.
67. Stilton versus cheddar?: SHARP CONTRAST.
90. Octopus versus starfish?: ARMED CONFLICT.
105. Foil versus saber?: POINTS OF CONTENTION. Both have pointed tips.
118. Agar versus broth?: CULTURE CLASH.
I got a chuckle out of ARMED CONFLICT clue. I didn't know "dibbling" is a planting method or that "broadcasting" can mean scattering seeds.
In each theme entry, the first word is taken literally instead of in its usual figurative sense. That shift lets the phrases capture the "verse" setup in the clues.
Across:
1. Be a nuisance: IMPOSE. For 3 or 4 days last week, I didn't get any of your comments in my email box due to a blog glitch.
7. Natters: GABS.
11. Places to kick back: SPAS.
15. Reservoir structure: DAM.
18. Xylophone tool: MALLET.
19. Comic strip unit: PANEL.
20. __ in a blanket: PIGS.
21. JFK fig.: ETA.
24. Lena of "Romeo Is Bleeding": OLIN. Don't know the movie.
25. Good bit of French?: BON. "Good" in French.
26. Brewer's supply: YEAST.
27. Date tree: PALM. Chinese dates just grow on trees.
28. Penalty kick target: GOAL.
29. Common sacrifice: BUNT.
35. Italian beer brand: PERONI. Named after the founder Francesco Peroni.
38. Sticks together: CLEAVES. Or Splits apart.
39. "Family Matters" nerd: URKEL.
40. Pequod captain: AHAB.
41. Zilch: NIL.
44. Talked privately, for short: DM'e
45. __ Arbor, Michigan: ANN.
50. Inheritance law subjects: ESTATES.
54. Jacked, slangily: SWOLE.
55. With great skill: ABLY.
56. Lower leg fronts: SHINS.
58. Have another go: REDO.
59. Pet in a 51-Down: NEWT. 51. Home for a pet skink: TERRARIUM.
61. Impossibly long stretches: EONS.
63. Dec. 31: NYE.
64. Tiny amount: DRIB.
65. __ tai: MAI.
72. "The Crying Game" actor Stephen: REA. He was married to an IRA bomber.
73. Cupid counterpart: EROS.
75. Finish off: EAT.
76. Unadorned: BARE.
77. Hindu god: SIVA.
79. Port, e.g.: WINE.
80. __ Canyon National Park: BRYCE. 83. Utah city northeast of 80-Across: MOAB.
85. Pumps (up): FIRES.
88. Final leg: LAST LAP.
93. Bygone space station: MIR. In operation from 1986 to 2001.
94. Director Kazan: ELIA. Saw his "East of Eden".
95. __ polloi: HOI.
96. Pixar film set by the Ligurian Sea: LUCA. 2021 movie.
97. Massage targets: ACHES.
100. Five-time Emmy winner Laurence: OLIVIER.
103. Seinfeld neighbor: KRAMER.
109. Country where the Amazon originates: PERU.
110. __ tikki: potato patties: ALOO.
111. Taylor-Joy of "Emma": ANYA.
112. Got together: MET UP.
116. Poetic preposition: ERE.
117. Deli side: SLAW.
121. "The Late Great Johnny __": Paul Simon tune: ACE.
122. "That's a __ order": TALL.
123. Inuit craft: UMIAK. They also gave us Kayak.
124. Worked, as clay: MOLDED.
125. Article in a French paper?: LES. Definite article.
126. Bygone organizers, for short: PDAS.
127. Abandon ship: BAIL.
128. Smudges: SMEARS.
Down:
1. "It's possible": I MAY.
2. Sorcerer: MAGE.
3. Court response: PLEA.
4. Carmaker whose last new model was the Alero: OLDSMOBILE.
5. Meat substitute: SEITAN. Made from gluten. We call it mianjin in Chinese.
6. Sci-fi figures: ETS.
7. Cook's clove: GARLIC. And 37. Sliced burger toppings: RAW ONIONS.
8. Cracker shape: ANIMAL.
9. Casino action: BET.
10. Foxy: SLY.
11. Lampooned: SPOOFED.
12. Rice sides: PILAFS.
13. Light on one's feet: AGILE.
14. 1040 fig.: SSN.
15. Put to bed, as a rumor: DEBUNK.
16. En masse: AT ONCE.
17. "The Mirror & the Light" novelist Hilary: MANTEL. The last of the Cromwell trilogy. This is the first one.
19. Pre-Carson host of "The Tonight Show": PAAR.
23. 120-Down's face shields, masks, etc.: Abbr.: PPE. Personal Protective Equipment. And 120. Ambulance crew, briefly: EMS.
28. Hand out, long ago: GIVETH.
29. Saint __: dog breed: BERNARD.
31. Sound that may ring a bell?: TING. Bell sound.
32. Intro, in journalism jargon: LEDE.
33. Curses: DAMNS.
34. Smallest of a litter: RUNT.
35. "No thanks": PASS.
36. DIY help site: eHOW.
42. Nev. neighbor: IDA.
43. New York WNBA team: LIBERTY.
45. Put a value on: ASSESS.
47. Ticker info: NEWS.
48. Food in a trough: SLOP.
49. Bring into alignment: SYNC.
50. Singer born Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA. Seal even has a longer name.
52. Falco of "Nurse Jackie": EDIE.
53. Noodles in dashi: SOBA. I like cold soba.
57. At hand: IN REACH.
60. Future lawyer's hurdle, colloquially: THE BAR.
62. Cry loudly: SOB. And
65. Cry softly: MEWL.
66. Opera highlight: ARIA.
68. Senior advocacy group: AARP.
69. Driver's license line: NAME.
70. Walked over: TROD.
71. Little disagreement: TIFF.
74. Prix fixe feature: SET MENU.
81. Patchy cat: CALICO.
82. "Wicked" actress Cynthia: ERIVO.
84. "You stink, ump!": BOO.
86. __ homo: ECCE.
87. Headliner: STAR.
89. Planning aid: LIST.
91. Water source: MAIN.
92. Director Caro of 2020's "Mulan": NIKI. New Zealander.
94. Tiny predatory birds: ELF OWLS.
97. Post-verdict challenge: APPEAL.
98. Strong-arm: COERCE.
99. People brought on board: HIREES.
100. "Well, look at you!": OO LA LA.
101. Latin "and others": ET ALII.
102. Many a prom tux: RENTAL.
104. "The Hating Game" genre: ROM COM.
106. Food from a bar: SALAD.
107. Stooge's signature laugh: NYUK.
108. Paving gunk: TAR.
113. "That was my trick!": TA DA.
114. __ interface: USER.
115. Advanced postgrad degs.: PHDS.
117. Oil treatment brand: STP.
118. Ursa minor?: CUB. Cute.
119. Thurman of Hollywood: UMA.
C.C.
25 comments:
Some parts of this cw
were a little spotty, such as the crossing of “seitan” and “Peroni” as well as certain obscure names. Nevertheless, I managed to get through this. At least, all the themed answers were common in-the-language phrases so I’ll give them that.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
Thought "Jacked" meant STOLE, but it was the cross of SEITAN and PERONI that sent the bus over the cliff. Interesting theme, though. Thanx, ZDL and C.C.
A lot of unknown NAMEs to overcome in this one, MANTEL, NIKI, ERIVO, and the ones that hung me up most, RIVA/VILLANELLE, my last fill being a WAG at the V in that crossing. Other DNKs which needed perps, MAGE, SEITAN, and SWOLE (a “word” not from my generation). Any four letter potato dish is usually ALOO, no matter how it’s referenced. Managed a FIR in 34:56. Thanks ZDL for the puzzle, I liked the theme and enjoyed the solve. Also thanks to C.C. for the after puzzle enlightenment.
inane obscurity. titt
FIR, but only had sporadic fun. I liked the theme fills, but as usual the excessive A&E crap sucked up most of the joy of solving. To wit: Killing Eve, Jody Comer, and Villianelle - I don't know any of them, nor do I care.
You don't abandon ship until your attempts to BAIL don't work. (An old sailor's saying is "the best bilge pump is a frightened man with a bucket.")
CC beat me to the dual and opposite meanings of CLEAVE. I like this category of terms, which must drive (crossword-favorite) ESL students nuts.
Fortunately, I wasn't yet on the wagon the last time I visited Italy. Drank my share of PERONI while there, and probably your share too.
Although I'm not schooled in the law, I'm very familiar with THE BAR, especially THE one just down the street. I'll bet they miss me.
Thanks to CC for another fun Sunday review.
YP here ~ there are many words like CLEAVES, which can have opposite meanings depending on the context, they are called contronyms or contranyms.
Good Morning:
This was a notch above a normal Sunday, theme-wise, difficulty-wise, and fill-wise, IMO. It was a clever theme, executed perfectly, and challenging enough to reward the solver. I was impressed by the freshness of such fill as, Oldsmobile, Terrarium, Villanelle, Elf Owls, Set Menu, In Reach, not to mention the strong, solid themers. I also appreciated the tricky cluing that evoked smiles rather than frowns from this solver.
Thanks for an enjoyable Sunday outing, ZDL, and thanks, CC, for the synopsis and commentary.
Congrats to the Blue Jays. No further comment. 😢
Have a great day.
FIW and CAB (crashed and burned), with several WAGs that were just plain wrong. I wish someone could point me to a source that says its OO LA LA and not OOH LA LA or OH LA LA. The only OO LA LA I’ve seen is a French fashion brand (yeah another proper name) and this puzzle. Not a church goer, but maybe turn the other cheek is my most charitable response to this puzzle. Of course, my real feelings are to use both cheeks and moon this sucker.
FIR. This, for a Sunday, had a little too much bite to it. And it took a WAG to fill the crossing of seitan and Peroni. When it comes to beer I'm in the dark since I don't drink. Brands and types of alcohol mean nothing to me. Perhaps I should learn since they seem to come up a lot?
The number of proper names in today's presentation was really over the top. And most of them were completely obscure.
But the saving grace today was a clever theme that made.it somewhat fun.
But overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I noticed the theme AT ONCE but the NE had me stumped. Mickey Mantle I know but Hilary MANTEL, nope. ERIVO, ANYA, and NIKI were unknown but I did get the other women OLIN, ENYA, UMA, ANN (Arbor), and EDIE. Where are the men? Why they are at THE BAR having a PERONI. KRAMER, AHAB, and URKEL are fictitious, ELIA and OLIVIER are dead, BERNARD doesn't count, he's a dog. REA was living dangerously, married to to a bomber.
Too many proper names today.
AT ONCE never made it either. Most of the puzzle was easy. SEITAN came only from perps; I'll take a pork chop or filet.
My last fill on my DNF attempt was a guess of two A&E unknowns, LUCA and VILLANELLE (is it Villa Nelle or Villan Elle).
Musings
-A meat substitute crossing an Italian beer and a Hindu God crossing an obscure author took some of the fun out of this for me. The obscure director had sufficient help.
I encountered very few stumbling blocks, and those were easily perped. This puzzle had just the right amount of challenge, and a few clues that gave me pause as I pondered multiple possibilities.
This puzzle was everything that yesterday’s mess wasn’t.
I somehow enjoyed this difficult CW in spite of some names I didn’t know. But between WAGS and perps I made it out of the forest. I particularly liked the theme.
I read Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall and saw the fantastic PBS video of the book.
I’ve always liked beer, though I practically don’t drink it anymore, so I was familiar with PERONI.
As a rule I like ZDL’s puzzles. This one was no exception.
Thank you CC for your review.
That was Monkey above. As happens every once in a while, I had lost my identity.
DNF, and didn't much enjoy this obscure crossNAME puzzle. I'll ECHO Jinx on this one.
16 down seems wrong. En masse means as one, as in as a group, not at once as in immediately.
Didn’t like this one.
How does TING ring a bell? Very annoying incorrect clue unless someone can explain how this makes sense as written?
Took 15:50 today to settle the disputes.
Lots of unknown names today, but luck was on my side. I knew the Actress of the Day (Uma), but not whatever "villanelle" is.
I'd like to go back to Bryce Canyon. It's so cool to look at, but it rained when we were there, which made hiking slippery/dangerous. Moab, UT is a really cool city. I'd like to spend some more time there too.
That's why I didn't get AT ONCE. I agree with you.
Wees, and WHGS... (What HG Said.).
Theme answers helped in their simplicity, without ever understanding what the theme was...
Learning moment: Umiak.
Possible cross eyed interpretations:
exhibit A
exhibit B
And it's not like that....
Nope, not what I expected...
Another challenging but still enjoyable Sunday puzzle--many thanks, Zachary, for this treat. And it's so wonderful to always have you giving us a helpful and interesting commentary on these Sundays, C.C.--thank you so much for that too.
Well, this was indeed a Sunday puzzle of ARMED CONFLICT, one after another, beginning with silly problems like AGE DISPARITY. Everybody has some of that, even children in the same grade, although theirs are few and not very serious. And people with different incomes are bound to have MATERIAL DIFFERENCES, and it wouldn't be surprising if some of their opinions had
SHARP CONTRASTS, causing them to be SOWING some DISSENT.
So yes, this puzzle had a lot of CULTURE CLASH I wish we could figure out how to create some peace here. One probable possibility that I could find that might bring people together was the one created by ANIMAL affection--wanting to give critters some LIBERTY so that they can get along together, or having people share a love of PIGS maybe, or enjoying hanging out by a TERRARIUM where they give the RUNTS in a litter--like the ELF OWLS--some food. That might make us say OO LA LA!
Have a lovely Sunday, everybody.
Same here.
Hola! Nope, not an enjoyable solve today. While I got the majority of the fill, actually almost all of it, PERONI eluded me as did that little area. I've never seen or used E-HOW and this is the first I've heard of SEITAN.
For me, TING-a-ling is the complete phrase. ANYA has become a common fill as has ALOO. I failed to understand DMED though it emerged.
SWOLE is another unknown.
And what? There is another besides the GRAND Canyon? Oh, that one to the north, BRYCE Canyon. I heard Ron Howard say he named their daughter BRYCE when visiting there; hmm, food for thought.
I hope you are all enjoying your day and weekend.
Thanks IM. They are hot today so far too!!!
If you think “all at once” it makes sense
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