Theme: "REPAIR WORK" - A pair of identical letters are replaced by another matching pair.
27. Irresistibly cute river animal?: AN OTTER YOU CAN'T REFUSE. An offer you can't refuse.
42. "Get that pool float out of my way!"?: MOVE THE NOODLE. Move the needle.
55. Question about a new romantic partner?: WHO ARE YOU KISSING. Who are you kidding?
78. Photo taken as milk spreads over a table?: THE SPILLING IMAGE. The spitting image.
91. Goo or ga, for a baby?: HALF THE BABBLE. Half the battle.
108. Working the barbecue at the corn festival?: GRILLING FROM EAR TO EAR. Grinning from ear to ear.
I've mentioned last time. This is our Jill Singer, a filmmaker in the Boston area.
Great title, Jill! I would have struggled mightily to find a title that captures the gimmick so perfectly. Only six theme entries, but they're all long.
Across:
1. Bottom of a platter?: SIDE B. Vinyl record,
6. Singer Guthrie: ARLO.
10. Actress Mireille: ENOS. Her husband is Alan Ruck, who was in "Succession".
14. Beta preceder: ALPHA.
19. Solo: ALONE.
20. Shakespearean king: LEAR.
21. Catholic leader: POPE. We also have 73. Prayer ender: AMEN. And 77. "__ Maria": AVE.
22. Prepare for a long drive: TEE UP.
23. Santa Ana __: WINDS.
24. Miami-__ County: DADE.
25. Risks a "TMI" response: OVERSHARES.
30. Video game thief Sandiego: CARMEN.
31. Learning ctr.: SCH.
32. Pastoral people of Kenya: MASAI. Also spelled as Maasai.
33. Actor Sean: ASTIN.
36. Equivalent: SAME.
38. Update a cartographer's work: RE-MAP.
47. Fury: OUTRAGE.
49. Obey, with "by": ABIDE.
50. Early show since 1975, briefly: GMA. Good Morning America.
51. Aspiring atty.'s hurdle: LSAT.
53. Freelancer's job: GIG.
54. __ a one: NARY.
61. Ostrich kin: EMU.
62. Sausages served with sauerkraut, for short: BRATS.
63. Sonoma product: WINE.
64. Swimmer's unit: LAP. Two lengths.
65. "Have a bite": TASTE IT. Xi'an-style sandwich.
67. Juniper-flavored liquor: GIN.
68. Huge favors: BIG ASKS.
72. Zoo doc: VET.
75. Astonish: AMAZE.
83. Figure skating gold medalist Nathan: CHEN. He's becoming a doctor now.
84. Email signature info: TEL.
85. Catches: NABS.
86. Apple variety: MAC.
87. Bars under cars: RAILS.
88. Gulf of Mexico structures: OIL RIGS.
96. Show off in the mirror: PREEN.
97. Give a hoot: CARE.
98. Davenport citizen: IOWAN.
99. G-Shock watchmaker: CASIO.
102. Some British sports cars: MGS.
104. Superficially attractive: GILDED.
114. Unit in Chagall's "Four Seasons": MOSAIC TILE.
115. "Another thing ... ": ALSO.
116. Pay stub data: WAGES.
118. K.T. of country music: OSLIN.
119. Airline figs.: ETAS.
120. Narrow inlets: RIAS.
121. Basketball great Shaquille: O'NEAL.
122. Ignominy: SHAME.
123. Hall of Fame safety Ronnie: LOTT.
124. Chooses, as a replacement: TAPS.
125. Square: NERDY.
Down:
1. Glimpsed: SAW.
2. __ crest: pelvis part: ILIAC.
3. Disco legend Summer: DONNA.
4. "Return of the Jedi" forest moon: ENDOR.
5. Brit's close pal: BEST MATE.
6. Like some pasta: AL DENTE. I like chewy udon noodles.
7. __ admiral: REAR.
8. British title: LADY.
9. Cookies similar to Trader Joe's Joe-Joe's: OREOS. Never had Joe-Joe's.
10. Momentous: EPOCHAL.
11. Bossa __: NOVA.
12. Enticing words on a gift box: OPEN ME.
13. Sealy rival: SERTA.
14. Fundamentally: AT HEART.
15. Less raked: LEAFIER.
16. Home of the Spectacled Bear Conservation Society: PERU. Wikipedia says "Spectacled Bear is the only living species of bear native to South America". Learning moment for me.
17. Shades: HUES.
18. Church recess: APSE.
26. Soon-to-be grads: SRS.
28. Musician and radio host John: TESH.
29. The Tritons of the NCAA: UCSD.
34. Gold block: INGOT.
35. Spanish "Stop!": NO MAS.
37. Honeydew, e.g.: MELON.
39. Crèche figures: MAGI. I saw them during Christmas.
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40. Opposin': AGIN.
41. Simon of "The Boys": PEGG.
42. Impressionist douard: MANET.
43. "The Light We Carry" writer Michelle: OBAMA.
44. Self-replicating malware: VIRUS.
45. Ice cream maker Joseph: EDY.
46. Paddle kin: OAR.
47. Shipbuilding wood: OAK.
48. Employ: UTILIZE.
52. Take to court: SUE.
55. Cuneiform, e.g.: WRITING.
56. Panama, for one: HAT.
57. "Dallas" surname: EWING.
58. __ and yang: YIN.
59. Wise one: SAGE.
60. Massage locale: SPA.
62. Page: BEEP.
66. Den sets: TVS.
67. X, Y, or Z intro: GEN. I'm a Gen Xer.
68. Purse: BAG.
69. Hindi title: SAHIB.
70. Rejoice with pride: KVELL. Consonants-heavy.
71. Get a feeling about: SENSE.
73. Clerical robe: ALB.
74. "Supernatural" actor Collins: MISHA.
75. Rare Italian violin: AMATI.
76. "__ Man": Village People hit: MACHO.
78. Mustang roof option: T TOP.
79. Successor: HEIR.
80. French pronoun: ELLE.
81. __ Vegas Raiders: LAS.
82. Global finance org.: IMF. The International Monetary Fund, based in D.C.
83. Hired ride: CAB.
87. Was almost out of: RAN LOW ON.
89. Win back: RECLAIM.
90. Waiting, perhaps: IN A LINE.
92. Coveted territory in the air?: ARM REST. Fun clue.
93. Brickmaker: LEGO.
94. "That's disgusting!": EW GROSS.
95. Angler's supply: BAIT.
97. "__, ergo sum": COGITO.
100. "I know this is wrong," from an editor: SIC.
101. Spy collection: INTEL.
103. Like some watches: SMART.
105. Silas of the Continental Congress: DEANE. This is pretty sad.
106. Enthusiastic: EAGER.
107. Anticipate with fear: DREAD.
108. Engineered foods, for short: GMOS.
109. __ Hashana: ROSH.
110. Cuba, por ejemplo: ISLA.
111. Like an open can of soda, eventually: FLAT.
112. Director Kazan: ELIA. He directed "East of Eden".
113. "Right now!": ASAP.
117. Underhanded: SLY.
C.C.
16 comments:
It was a simple letter
substitution puzzle, albeit with double letters. We usually have some variation of this on Sunday. And not too tough , as it turned out.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Started badly at 1a with BSIDE, but D-o still got an A on this one. Twice. Where they shouldn't have been. KVaLL/CHaN and COGITa/LaTT. Bzzzzzt. The theme answers were cute. Thanx, Jill and C.C.
113D. Please note Right Now is immediate and STAT not ASAP.
88A. is Gulf of America now
Look em up.
Just because a fascist dictator says something doesn't make it so.
Titt way too many names for my liking
I'm orginally from central Connecticut and aroad south of Hartford is the Silas Deane Highway. A gimme.
Good Morning:
Great title and very smooth execution by Jill. Although this theme type is not my cup of tea, I admire the craftsmanship and creativity necessary for construction. There were a few unknowns, such as, Carmen, Chen, Lott, Peru, Pegg, Misha, and Deane, but the perps were fair, so no complaints. There were none of the usual Sunday obscurities, so the solve was pretty straightforward and fairly easy, IMO.
Thanks, Jill, and thanks, CC, for the analysis and commentary. Nice photo of you and Margaret.
Have a great day.
Teek 17:38 today.
Lots of proper names. I didn't know: Chen, Pegg, Misha, Oslin, Deane, and was iffy on Tesh. "Sahib" was new to me and I didn't like it abutting "kvell." I don't remember the Tritons of UCSD.
The clue for "armrest" was cute.
FIR, getting my WAGs @ ENOS x EPOCHAL and CHEN x KVELL. But coen-> CHEN, lord->LADY, maji->MAGI, and recon->INTEL.
Our military has rank inflation. We have more admirals than ships.
Oh, it's not PEGG Simon, it's Simon PEGG? And he selected PEGG for his stage name because it was so much more British than Buckingham? Methinks that someone's a little too full of himself.
"Paddle kin" had to be OAR, because "handcuff" and "blindfold" were too long.
Here we say IN LINE. In NY and NJ they say "on line." (They also think that "tegular coffee" means "with cream and sugar." You've been warned.)
Thanks to Jill for the fun Sunday challenge. Being a big fan of puns, every one of the theme entries made me chuckle. And thanks to CC for the interesting review, but I do think you could have explained KVELL so that legions of Cornerites wouldn't have to LIU.
To Jinx - re “regular coffee”. Reminded me of a time when I ordered a coffee in New Hampshire. Meaning to differentiate between decaf, I asked for regular coffee. The nice lady noticed my Kentucky accent and correctly clarified the order, and she explained to me the cream and sugar thing. That’s good information to know.
FIR. This was a bit crunchy for a Sunday, with way too many proper names, the sheer quantity of which was obnoxious.
I had to take a WAG at the crossing of Chen (?) and kvell (?). I've never heard of either.
This puzzle's saving grace was a clever theme that added a modicum of fun.
But overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
I agree with the previous comment about there being too many proper nouns for (some of our) liking. Still, a whole lotta fun. Thanks, Jill and C.C.
9:47. This was WAY too easy. it was over so fast that I don't feel like I could even enjoy any of it.
FIW. Missed it by one square (GMAS/ASLIN instead of GMOS/OSLIN---was thinking additive and not organism). In retrospect, even with the ridiculously obscure proper name, I should have seen GMAS wasn’t right because GMA appeared elsewhere in the puzzle. Would have still had to do a vowel run at the crossing of CH_N and KV—LL (KEVELL?!?!?) Anyway, still pretty enjoyable, but alas, no success.
In re: Coffee. A British couple of our acquaintance recounted their first visit to the US and NYC. They wandered into a coffee shop with the typical urban demographics and asked for "White Coffee." All ended well with a good laugh by all.
Speaking of language are we again recognizing that the word “actress” actually exists? Is someone about to lose their PC Society membership card?
Musings
-Clever and fun. GRILLING FROM EAR TO EAR brought a smile to this Cornhusker’s face.
-Booker T and MG’S Green Onions was a B-SIDE that overtook the A-SIDE very quickly and is a fav of mine
-I have an in-law who OVERSHARES every time we talk-
-A Minneapolis LEARING (SIC) CENTER has been much in the news this month.
-The GPS in my 2020 Buick needs updating. It shows me driving out in cornfields.
-When I had dinner with constructor Jess Rucks last month, I never told her how much I disliked the sauerkraut that was in the Rueben she ordered. :-)
-Ronnie LOTT is widely considered to be the hardest hitting safety of all time. Many of his hits would be flagged under today’s rules.
-How can you listen to DONNA’S Last Dance without moving
-Was your animal conservation society PETA first?
-My friend keeps busy repairing PAGERS in Omaha hospitals
-I guess you can either KVETCH or KVELL
-The LAS Vegas Raiders had the worst NFL record and will pick first in the draft. Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza knows they will take him.
I would have liked this puzzle a lot more if it hadn’t been for all those names. So I’ll kvetch not KVELL, though I did finish it and found it easy and the theme a lot of fun.
Am I wrong in thinking there are no Mustangs with T TOP roof option?
Thank you CC for the review and pictures.
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