Theme: "EXTRA PADDING" - P is added to each common phrase.
23. Jaunty coast-to-coast race?: CROSS-COUNTRY SKIP. Cross-country ski.
39. Arizona running back's evasive maneuver?: CARDINAL SPIN. Cardinal sin.
58. Incomprehensible peace treaty?: A HARD PACT TO FOLLOW. A hard act to follow.
80. "Sesame Street: Sing the Alphabet," perhaps?: BEST-SPELLING ALBUM. Best-selling album.
99. Painters who specialize in portraits of imps?: SCAMP ARTISTS. Scam artist.
120. "Better not throw a changeup"?: SCRATCH THAT PITCH. Scratch that itch.
You need to read the title as P-ADDING. Very clever. When I first glanced at the title, I thought the letters EXTRA were orderly added to each common phrase.
A nice variety where P is added to the start, the end and the middle. You can't get free letter fill-ins.
Katie, Patti's assistant, is also a terrific constructor. She's been generous with her time and guidance to all constructors.
Across:
1. Noise that repeats nine minutes after snoozing: ALARM. The default snooze interval is 9 minutes.
6. Home of the NWSL's Royals: UTAH. The National Women's Soccer League.
10. La __: Italian opera venue: SCALA.
15. Good spot to check for loose change: SOFA.
19. Red __: playground game: ROVER.
20. Bond villain with an underwater lair: DR NO.
21. Islamic dietary standard: HALAL. Opposite of haram.
22. Video game franchise set on ring-shaped worlds: HALO.
26. Shiraz's land: IRAN.
27. Attached with thread: SEWED ON.
28. Cassowary relative: EMU.
29. Tried something new: HAD A TASTE. Have you had hōjicha tea before?
31. Tic-__-toe: TAC.
32. Scrapping: AXING.
34. Legitimate: LICIT.
35. Relax completely: BLISS OUT.
44. "Good to go!": A-OK.
45. American short story writer Bret: HARTE.
47. Padre's hermana: TIA. Father's sister.
48. Shot administrator: NURSE.
49. Hosted, for short: MCED.
51. Skewed view: BIAS.
53. "Licorice Pizza" setting: ENCINO. LA area.
57. "Close this program" key: ESC.
62. __ it up: YUK.
63. Beijing money: YUAN. Here's one Yuan. My dad's salary was 49
Yuan ($8) per month for a long while. I learned to take care of my
clothes at an earlier age, as we didn't get new clothes until the
Chinese New Year.
64. "Oh boy": MAN.
65. Midflight info: ALT.
66. "What difference __ it make?": DOES.
67. Tidy up: CLEAN.
69. Turned off?: WENT BAD. And
72. Gets even?: IRONS. Fun clues.
74. "__ she blows!": THAR.
75. Arriving soon: DUE.
77. Vegan milk choice: OAT. Grew up drinking soy milk.
78. Years, in Italian: ANNI.
79. Bowl edge: RIM.
87. "Midsommar" director Aster: ARI.
88. Photoshop tool: ERASER.
89. Absence: LACK.
90. Time long past: YORE.
91. Latest fad: MANIA.
93. Year divs.: MOS.
95. Maldon and Himalayan pink: SALTS. Never tried Himalayan pink salt.
98. In the past: AGO.
104. Beef stroganoff, e.g.: MEAT STEW.
106. Romantasy novelist __ J. Maas: SARAH. She wrote the "Throne of Glass" series.
107. "__ been warned": YOU'VE.
109. Co. founder's second title, often: CEO. Not co-founder. Company founder.
110. Literary 1-Down: PLOT LINES. 1. Characters' journeys: ARCS.
114. Cocktail shaker noisemaker: ICE.
115. Tubes: TEEVEES.
119. Actor Liu: SIMU.
123. Blueprint detail: SPEC. This P is the only non-theme P in the grid.
124. Rock opera by The Who: TOMMY.
125. Chemist's building block: ATOM.
126. __ de tigre: ceviche marinade: LECHE. Tiger's milk. Google
result: "Leche de Tigre is usually made using lime juice, sliced onion,
chillies, salt, pepper and of course the wonderful juices of the fish it
helps to marinate. It's sometimes served with the ceviche and sometimes
in a separate glass." No milk is involved.
127. Totally flop: TANK.
128. Got going: AROSE.
129. Looks at: SEES.
130. Shared values: ETHOS.
Down:
2. Ancient tales: LORE.
3. Swear: AVOW.
4. Unplugs and plugs back in, say: RESETS.
5. Low-sodium seasoning brand: MRS DASH. I have this bottle.
6. Japanese noodle: UDON.
7. "Ur correct": TRU. Too lazy to add an E.
8. Additional wing: ANNEX.
9. Source of some political gaffes: HOT MIC.
10. A little short: SHY. And
11. Till filler: CASH.
12. Basic compound: ALKALI.
13. Stored up: LAID IN.
14. Fleecy camelid: ALPACA.
15. Acupressure massage: SHIATSU. Literally finger pressure.
16. Couple of rowers: OARS.
17. London apartment: FLAT.
18. Primo: A ONE.
24. Brown shade: COCOA.
25. Cost: RUN AT.
30. Up to the moment: TIL NOW.
32. Story accessed by ladder, maybe: ATTIC.
33. Sorrow: GRIEF.
35. Iron Bowl team, familiarly: BAMA. Iron Bowl is the rivalry between Alabama Crimson Tide and Auburn Tigers.
36. Highlands water: LOCH.
37. Malm bed seller: IKEA.
38. __ Outfitters: URBAN.
40. "Pantheon" voice actor Paul: DANO.
41. Target, as for a con: PREY ON.
42. Magazine productions: ISSUES.
43. Bottle parts: NECKS.
46. Words on a Wonderland cake: EAT ME.
50. Wash day appliance: DRYER.
52. Superfan: STAN.
54. Covered (in): CLAD.
55. Sick: ILL.
56. Paying careful attention to: NOTING.
59. With 111-Down, "Illusion" singer: DUA. 111. See 59-Down: LIPA.
60. Insincerely aim to please: PANDER.
61. Using pointe shoes: ON TOE.
66. Fancy mat: DOILY.
67. French president before Sarkozy: CHIRAC. Jacques Chirac (1995-2007). Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012).
68. Thin coating: LAMINA.
69. Preps, as a Slip 'N Slide: WETS.
70. Marble, for one: BALL.
71. Mercator projection book: ATLAS.
73. Vaccine molecule: RNA.
74. Amusement park rides: TRAMS.
76. Winners of the first FIFA Women's World Cup: USA. 1991. USA defeated Norway 2-1 in the final in Guangzhou.
78. Maxi skirt terminus: ANKLE.
80. "Little help here": BE A PAL.
81. Not entirely: SEMI.
82. Like tedious text: PROSY.
83. Start of a classic boast: I CAME. I saw. I conquered.
84. Craft sometimes shaped like a swan: BOAT.
85. Strong impulse: URGE.
86. Mouser's call: MEOW.
92. "Little help here": I'M STUCK.
94. Showing no feelings: STOIC.
96. "Don't play," in music: TACET. Related to tacit.
97. Church topper: STEEPLE.
100. Record label launched by Clive Davis: ARISTA.
101. Deep hatred: RANCOR.
102. Dynamics prefix: THERMO.
103. "An example being ...?": SUCH AS.
105. Part of USSR: SOVIET.
108. Chevy sports car, for short: VETTE.
110. "Hey, can you keep a secret?": PSST.
112. Sign from above: OMEN.
113. __ Club: SAM'S.
115. Scots' bonnets: TAMS.
116. Make a nameplate, perhaps: ETCH.
117. Sound in an empty room: ECHO.
118. Patrick Swayze's "__ Like the Wind": SHE'S.
121. Sheridan of "Mud": TYE. He also starred "Ready Player One"
122. Garden tool: HOE.
C.C.
26 comments:
Some parts were
easier than others, although nothing specific comes to mind right now.
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Good morning!
After SKIP and SPIN showed up, d-o thought we were looking for some sort of playground actions. Nope. HARD PACT broke the mental logjam. Clever theme, Katie. This one wasn't a quick solve, running right up against the self-imposed time limit. Thanx for 'splainin' it all, C.C.
Thank you, Katie Hale, and thank you, C.C.
I liked that title. Unfortunately, I didn't see it until after the solve as the WaPo website doesn't provide it.
Just a few thoughts:
Never heard of the video game HALO.
No to hōjicha tea. I very rarely have hot tea. It's been years. Probably a decade or longer.
PSST, Can you keep a secret? - I also saw a stray P at PLOT LINES.
I had my larder LAID IN before the bitter weather got here. Now at 16 days and counting where the temp hasn't been above freezing. I believe that the lowest we got so far this winter season was -11.9 ºF air temperature and -35 ºF wind chill.
Watching the Weather Channel coverage of the winter storm in the Carolinas. Snowfall and low temp records are being shattered across the southeast. Charlotte had 11.8 inches of snow. The previous record was .9 inches.
Time to make coffee. Back later.
FIR, but cardnial spin->CARDINAL SPIN, ham->YUK, eta->ALT, story line->PLOT LINES, lucy->SIMU, mocha->COCOA, some->SEMI, and tacit->TACET.
Cost as a clue for RUN AT? RUN to, sure. RUN AT? The closest I could get was "Diesel will run at $3.25 next weekend," but in the real world it would be "Diesel will run $3.25 next weekend." IM STUCK.
Are all superfans stalkers these days?
I wanted veni, but it didn't have enough letters.
I thought the theme clues and fill were very clever. However, the rest of the puzzle had far too many names and too much showbiz dreck. I am hereby AXING you not to do that. Thanks to CC for the interesting explanations.
Took 19:35 today to finish this ppuzzle.
One day, I'll notice the title before solving a Sunday.
A little more crunch than a typical Sunday IMO, to be expected in a solo by Katie, and I do enjoy the challenge. FIR in 40:49, last fill being a correct WAG at the H in the unknown SHIATSU/HALO cross. Perps needed for DANO, SARAH, TYE, LECHE, EN CINO and SIMU, hadn’t heard of him and thought wrongly that Liu was his first name. Haven’t heard the expression LAID IN, or seen TEEVEES abbreviated as such, except maybe in a CW where the E’s are handy fill. MRS DASH is simply named DASH now, rebranded in 2020, they dropped the MRS, as seen in C.C.’s pic. Thanks to Katie and C.C. for the morning entertainment!
Good Morning:
I’ll admit that Sunday puzzles are not high up on my list of favorites, nor are add/subtract a letter type themes. So, while today’s offering was clever enough and mostly well-executed, the solve was lacking enthusiasm. What I did notice, however, were two examples of the seemingly loosening of the “in-the-language” usage rule, namely, the entries of Bliss Out and Meat Stew, both Green Paint, IMO, by any measure. This is one rule that I would hate to see ignored, or worse, completely erased.
Thanks, Katie, and thanks, CC, for your always perceptive observations about the constructor’s craftsmanship and execution. Always enjoy your personal asides.
Have a great day.
FIR. This was somewhat crunchy for a Sunday. And the plethora of proper names was insane, even two crossing, Lipa and Simu, a definite no-no.
I got half of the theme as I saw a letter had to be dropped, but I failed to see it was always a "D".
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
A ‘P’ was added, a ‘D’ was not dropped, unless I am missing something. P ADDING
Indeed, clever theme, but the rest left me cold. As already mentioned, way too many names. I lost interest.
Thank you C.C. for the review and info.
Musings
-The gimmick and title were oh so clever. This baseball fan loved SCRATCH THAT PITCH.
-Positioning the vowels in DUA LIPA is hard for me, esp. when it crosses S_MU
-Do you agree that there are fewer and fewer peeps who actually have change in their pockets
-RED ROVER and dodge ball are banned by some schools but…
-Hõjicha tea? I’m not sure C.C. and I shop at the same stores. :-)
-AOK is a phrase that originated from NASA in its early (nascent seemed too fancy :-)) days.
-Visitors from the planet Earth will be arriving soon on the Moon
-The creators of Better Call Saul, Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, didn’t really know where they were going. They just let PLOT LINES organically develop as they wrote.
-DANO: Of course, I had no idea but I did learn “Book ‘em DANNO” had two “N’s”
-Patti seems to be fine with letting ominous STAN (STalkerfAN) have a more benign meaning.
-The fact that a Mercator projection makes Greenland look way bigger than it is has been in the news these days
-The start of California Dreamin’ has a TACET section just after the opening guitar riff
-Many will remember this lyric: A sign from above (sign from above) On the wings of a dove (wings of a dove)
-As usual, I agree with Irish’s “green paint” notions
15:40. An incredibly boring experience.
Too many names, especially for unrealistic clues. It seems as though the editors think the solvers should be taught (by them) to learn names of D-list celebrities, writers, directors, movies, TEEVEE shows, authors, singers, and actors. Throw in foreign words and text abbr.- UDON, SHIATSU, YUAN, LECHE, CHIRAC, TIA. At least Caesar's boast- I CAME- was in English.
Noticing the extra P was obvious from the start. NO problems filling those.
The 'Royals' team I remember was in Cincinnati with Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas, not a women's soccer team in UTAH.
BLISS OUT is something I've never heard. Easy to fill by perps. I knew BAMA and figured the one-letter short bed MALM would be from IKEA. I'm sure they have a store in MalmO.
I have no knowledge of HALO but an atoll is shaped like one.
I've 'belonged' to SAMS Club for at least 30 years. It's close, between my house and that old crossword staple Mel OTT Center where I play pickleball. And yes, their baked chickens are still $4.98 and their hot dog-drink combo is still $1.38. Costco is across the river. If I need hearing aids, I might join their club. I've read it's worth it, if only for that reason, if you need them.
There was also a HALO TV series (Paramount+, Netflix) based on the game, which was why I knew this.
I'll Echo Irish Miss on this one. I thought the theme was clever, but the avalanche of unknown D list names and A&E clues sucked most of the enjoyment out for me. Like Monkey, I ran out of interest halfway through, and turned on the red letters to fill it out. I wish that constructors who rely on names instead of WORDS would at least give us clues with a couple of shots, such as "John or Bruce" for WAYNE, as I remember it used to be done.
Greenland doesn't need the Mercator help. It's more than 150,000 square miles bigger than Alaska, and more than triple the size of Texas.
Average Sunday difficulty led to average solve time of 22:03, but it felt like a slog to get there. CARDINALSPIN was the first themer I solved, and made it too easy to suss the others.
Just kind of a joyless exercise for me today, but maybe that’s on me for expecting a puzzle with more “oomph” from a seasoned constructor.
Not a fan of turned off/WENTBAD and cost/RANAT, nor the abundance of Monday-level fill that felt “mailed in.”
5/10.
Red Rover was a popular schoolyard game in the 60’s, but only at recess, never as a sanctioned activity (unlike dodgeball).
At one family barbecue, a bunch of us kids (there were 20 cousins on that side of the family) started up a game and were surprised when my dad, five uncles, and a few older teen cousins decided to join.
It turned into a scene from Braveheart. Blood was spilled.
Indelible memory of happy family times!
Those Royals teams also featured the vastly underrated Hoosier, Tom Van Arsdale.
I rarely solve Sundays anymore because they usually are more time consuming than they're worth. This one seemed about average on that score, but the puns landed, so thanks Katie.
It got down to 34 here in Fort Lauderdale last night, which I know from my brother in Iowa is nothing special, but is rare in these parts. I even had to put socks on!
Thanks, C.C., I didn't notice how the title parsed until I came here. And that stray "P"...
I remember back in Elementary school, we would play dodgeball with everybody against the auditorium wall. The teacher would throw the first ball, and the student who got hit threw until they hit someone else.
FIR after also correcting SuMU/LuPA. Agree with previous comments, particularly regarding RUNAT. Wasn’t a fan of AROSE as clued either, but all-in-all, a decent puzzle.
Anon @ 12:57, the Van Arsdale twins had remarkably similar NBA careers. Each played 12 seasons, Tom played 929 games and Dick played 921. Many of their statistical totals differed by only ~5% or less. Their stats were even closer at IU (both played a total of 72 games and Tom scored 1252 pts and Dick scored 1240!) Nature or nurture?
For once, not a bad thing to be P-ed off! Yeah, too many pop-world names and a couple of “say what?” fills (RUN TO? Uh-uh…) but a nice collection of snazzy clues and a fun hook to the themers saved it for me; it had just enough oomph to keep things fun, so I’ll give Ms. Hale a 🤙🏽😎 for this’un.
STAN is getting too much press as idol-worship; time to start using Mr. Lee, or “country suffix” as the base for it in our CW’s.
Katie apparently is an iPhone user — that non-adjustable 9-minute snooze has been a sore spot among Apple users for as long as I can remember! Leave well enough alone with all this Liquid Glass crap, Apple, and give us a changeable snooze time, will ya?? Even my old junk Nokia let me vary the snooze 🤬
Clive Davis was an icon in the recording industry; a list of all the artists he nurtured will fill a whole page in this paper; and “nurtured” is the right word to use here — he was known to be a straight-shooter in a business rife with sleazy dealers…
One of the things I learned with 27 years of aikido training was the practice of kiatsu, a close relative of SHIATSU. The basics are similar, but, rather than the rhythmic pressing of the point, kiatsu utilized the flow of ki energy; it really works well, and I’ll still use it to relieve sore friends.
Thanks, Katie and C.C., for the entertainment!
====> Darren / L.A.
I had trouble with the southwest corner because I had "some" instead of "semi" and I couldn't remember Chirac but it finally came together. I enjoyed the theme, very clever and "a little help here". I enjoyed the recap CC. 49 yuan per month is hard to believe. I'll be glad to see this Virginia ice leave.
I mostly enjoyed solving this puzzle and especially liked the P-added gimmick. WEES about the plethora of names, etc.
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