Sunday, December 28, 2025 Zhouqin Burnikel

"What's The Matter"

Welcome to another C.C. Sunday puzzle.

Hi All! It's Anonymous -T sitting in for C.C. 'cuz it'd be silly for her to review her own puzzle.

Anyway, today we are given an in-the-language "<word> matter" clue and we need to ink a thing that fits. You'll see:

22. Weighty matter?: HEAVY CREAM. Heavy is a synonym for weighty and Heavy Cream is a thing.

24. Pressing matter?: FRUIT JUICE. In 2008, DW & I were leaf peeping in VT at a 27a -- they served us fresh pressed apple cider at breakfast.

47. Dark matter?: BLACK LICORICE. One of my favorite candies.

I get a dozen at a time

67. Small matter?: FINE PRINT. Fine is a synonym for small. But, in contracts, it's no small matter.  Youngest will tell you all about it in few more semesters :-)

87. Private matter?: BASIC TRAINING. Ha! A military Private.

111. Sensitive matter?: TOUCH PANEL. Some Touch Panels are sensitive while others, like the printer at my office, havta be whacked with a knuckle to get it's attention.

115. Grave matter?: BURIAL SITE. Yep.

35. Gray matter?: HUMAN ANATOMY. This was my favorite of the themers. I kept thinking of Poirot's "little gray cells" but "brain" didn't fit. Gray's Anatomy is the reference book of human anatomy. Oh, it's also a TV show with Dr.s hooking up -- I've never seen an episode but it was in the zeitgeist.

40. Laughing matter?: NITROUS OXIDE. N₂O -- aka "laughing gas."

I'm not sure why the title doesn't have a question mark but otherwise, it's a matter of fun. Onward [Apologies to Splynter] to the fill's review!

Across:

1. Caravan's refueling spot: OASIS.

6. Inner ears?: COBS. That's corny :-)

10. Coil in a garden: HOSE.

14. Hinge and Her: APPS. Both are dating apps.

18. Cackling carnivore: HYENA.

19. Reebok rival: AVIA. Sneakers, tennies, running shoes.

20. Peak performances: BESTS. SpeedySolver can tell us his bests.

21. Heartfelt sign-off: LOVE. Love, <your name here> - AI generated love note, maybe :-)

22. [See: Theme]

24. [See: Theme]

26. Capri, for one: ISLE.

West of Naples.

27. Cozy Vermont stopovers: INNS.

Here is where DW & I stayed during leaf peeping.

28. "Well, lah-di-__!": DAH.

Chris Farley's Motivational Speaker

29. Space to maneuver: ROOM.

30. Part of a flight: STAIR.

32. Author with morals: AESOP.

Aesop & Son

34. Beach protection: SUN HAT.

38. Big name in orange soda: FANTA. Not Crush?

R.E.M. - Orange Crush live

41. Coin toss choice: TAILS.

43. Letters before xis: NUS.

45. Encourage a comedian: LAUGH. This fill is why HYENA wasn't clued as a laughing carnivore @18a. When setting a grid, it's easy to miss a dupe like this - that's how you know C.C.'s a pro.

46. "Is that true about me?": AM I.

47. [See: Theme]

51. Nintendo Switch avatar: MII. I guess a MII for your WII :-)

52. Dull learning method: ROTE.

54. Popped the question: ASKED. But the answer is always 42*

55. Dry run: DRILL. Think fire DRILL.

56. Autograph hounds: FANS.

57. Wall paintings: MURALS.

Click here for more Houston murals

59. Dances to an upbeat song: BOPS.

61. Playful mockery: TEASING.

63. Saws logs: SNORES.

64. Copenhagen native: DANE.

65. First woman, in Greek myth: PANDORA. She had a box with all the evils, but, when she opened it, all save hope escaped. Just like Eve, she's blamed for all the evils in the world.

66. Skipjack, for one: TUNA.

Click for a Sportsman's Guide to Tuna

67. [See: Theme]

69. Lens care brand: RENU.

71. Chain known for its Beauty Insider perks: SEPHORA. A makeup store I got dragged to once.

73. Sits in the sun: TANS.

74. Ones who never butter up?: VEGANS.

76. Craft few people practice now: LOST ART.

77. Wave radio maker: BOSE. I kept thinking CC Wave Radio but that's the Skywave.

78. Thrillingly hot: EROTIC.

79. Call alternative: TEXT.

80. Only country with a nonrectangular flag: NEPAL.

Click for the Mathematical Properties of the Flag

82. Control jointly: CO-OWN.

85. Crepe served with sambar: DOSA. Wanna hear a funny? I didn't know this fill but, after completing the puzzle, we went to an Indian restaurant and Eldest ordered it w/o hesitation. DOSAs are delicious.

Dosa

86. "Vive le __!": ROI. Long live the [French] King!

87. [See: Theme]

90. Utility closet tool: MOP.

91. Not on a major label: INDIE. Think music.

93. Vietnamese New Year: TET.

94. "Interstellar" actress Burstyn: ELLEN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Her Wikipedia page.

95. Liam of One Direction: PAYNE. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ibid.

97. __ together: PIECED.

99. Symptoms: SIGNS. Is my failing eyesight a sign of aging? That's what I'm chalking it up to.

101. Moth-repellent wood: CEDAR. I put cedar chips in my sweater storage bags. Living in Houston, I need sweaters about 3 weeks a year so,... [I have sweaters from brick-n-mortars that closed in the '90's].

103. Recycle bin, e.g.: ICON. Cute. An ICON on your "desktop."

105. Pet doc: VET.

106. Result of a good pitch: SALE. Nice clue. I was thinking C.C. would go with baseball's strike or foul and only perps saved me from filling foul.

107. Stack-selling chain: IHOP. International House of Pancakes.

111. [See: Theme]

115. [See: Theme]

117. Lift with a bent elbow: CURL.

118. Unholy things: EVILS. The crossing of apse @104d stalled this fill far too long.

119. Word said with a sigh: ALAS. I could have prefaced above's response w/ this fill :-)

120. Karate rank indicators: BELTS.

121. Distance between markers: MILE. Highways. In some states, especially on long bridges [looking at you I-10 over LA swamps], I've seen 1/10 mile markers.

122. Refuse to admit: DENY.

123. Mixed-breed dog: MUTT.

124. Spot to boop a doggo: SNOOT.

Down:

1. "Well, hello there": OH, HI.

2. House calls?: AYES. Think Congress.

3. Mammal that barks and claps: SEAL.

4. Play the market: INVEST.

5. Blurt out: SAY.

6. Pork in a burrito: CARNITAS.

Yummers!

7. Roasting pan holder: OVEN RACK. Not an insulated pot holder.

8. Partiality: BIAS.

9. "Unholy" singer Smith: SAM.¯\_(ツ)_/¯ It's ok to dupe a clue [see: 118a]

10. Respectful reference in court: HER HONOR. It's remarkable that, coming from a language w/o (I think) gendered pronouns, C.C. "gets it." In college, I worked at a wastewater testing lab w/ a guy from China (a PhD candidate in ChemE) who kept using "its" for him/her. I was befuddled until he explained Chinese doesn't use gendered pronouns (and it's silly that English does, he said).

11. Sch. whose mascot is a buckeye nut: OSU.

Brutus Buckeye

12. Cake mix instruction: STIR. Youngest has been building from scratch since she was 9 yrs old. And her cakes get quite elaborate.

Youngest's Mardi Gras Cupcakes

13. These, in Tijuana: ESTOS. English to Spanish.

14. Smith College graduate: ALUMNA. Smith is an all girls college; ALUMNA is gendered alumni.

15. Introductory food for keiki: POI. Keiki is Hawaiian for offspring. Poi is a taro dish. You do the math :-)

16. Pipe plastic, for short: PVC. Polyvinyl chloride - hard plastic.

17. "What did I say!?": SEE. Oh, I usually ask that question not 'cuz I was right but when someone gets peeved at me :-)

20. Degs. for graphic designers: BFAS. We got a Fine Arts major that didn't go to grad school :-)

23. Org. in many spy thrillers: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency.

25. Unit of energy: JOULE. I know the EEs got this. To everyone else, it's 0.0009478 BTUs.

28. "Being the Ricardos" role: DESI. I 🩷 Lucy.

31. Key above Caps Lock: TAB.

32. "Chores finished!": ALL DONE.

33. Early Boston settlers: PURITANS.

35. [See: Theme]

36. Gerontologist's focus: AGING.

37. "Totally agree!," on social media: THIS. In the Discord channels I frequent, it's an pointy-up finger emoji [☝].

38. Rural businesses: FARMS.

39. Word on receipts: AMOUNT.

40. [See: Theme]

42. Practice depicted in the Japanese film "Flower and Sword": IKEBANA. It's the art of arranging flowers.

44. Mum: SILENT.

48. Young lady: LASS.

49. DJ's stack in the 1990s: CDS. 90's Disk Jockeys with Compact Disks instead of vinyl  -- unless they were a Rap DJ that needed to scratch a sample :-)

50. Decked out: CLAD.

53. Sincere: EARNEST.

56. Hot-headed deity?: FIRE GOD.

58. Jumped: LEAPT.

60. __-Bismol: PEPTO. Susan Stamberg's Mother-in-law's cranberry relish recipe results in the hue of Pepto.

62. More tender: SORER. Not a fillet but your own muscles after exercise.

64. Desserts with crushed Oreos: DIRT PIES.

Recipe

65. Natural disinfectant: PINE OIL.

67. __ green: FOREST.

68. Troublemakers: RASCALS.

70. People might sing in it: UNISON. All together now.

72. Flower, in Japanese: HANA. HANAs in 42d Ikebana :-)

74. Kind of circle diagram: VENN.

Don McMillan

75. Garlic __: pungent stalk: SCAPE.

76. "Madam Secretary" star: LEONI.

77. Diner fave: BLT.

79. Voyage: TRIP.

81. With true effort: ACTIVELY.

83. Diamond size: ONE CARAT.

84. Menu with reds and whites: WINE LIST. I'll let Chairman Moe bring one out.

87. Tree with a "copper" variety: BEECH.

Everything you want to know

88. Payment for a flat: RENT.

89. Stat on a transcript: GPA. Grade Point Average.

92. Frozen spike: ICICLE.

96. Up and about: ARISEN.

98. Sussed (out): DOPED.

100. Some toothpastes: GELS.

102. "Narcos" org.: DEA. Drug Enforcement Administration.

104. Cathedral part: NAVE. Apse was right out.

106. Enterprise navigator: SULU. Star Trek.

Sulu

108. County seat of Hawaii County: HILO.

109. "Beetle Bailey" dog: OTTO.

110. Irksome insect: PEST.

111. Old film channel: TCM. Turner Classic Movies.

112. "Okay by moi": OUI.

113. Address with slashes: URL. An internet address.

Composition of a URL as per RFC 1738

114. "Delta of Venus" author: NIN. NIN means metal's Nine Inch Nails to Splynter & me :-)

115. "Pow!": BAM.

116. Abbr. on barbells: LBS.

You can get fake barbells on Amazon :-)

The Grid:

The Grid

WOs: Pilgrims was started but too many boxes @33d; LPs -> CDs; APSE -> NAVE; BurCH->BEECH; Trek->TRIP.
ESPs: DOSA, SAM as clued, LEONI, ELLEN, DOPED, IKEBANA, NIN and probably others.
Fav: I'm going w/ FANTA 'cuz of this Gabriel Iglesias bit. //Don't watch too long unless you start from the beginning.

Cheers, -T
*HHGTTG [Scientific American]