Theme: "WE DID IT!" - We is added to each theme entry.
22. Motto of an intrepid cotton farmer?: I WILL FEAR NO WEEVIL. I will fear no evil.
33. Presentation on professorial fashion trends?: TWEED TALK. Ted talk.
38. Light lunch in a haunted cafe?: COBWEB SALAD. Cobb salad.
66. Like text anyone is allowed to edit?: YOURS FOR THE TWEAKING. Yours for the taking.
96. Data from a middle school track meet?: TWEEN SPEEDS. Ten-speeds.
100. "I like the cut of your jib!"?: SWEET SAIL. Set sail.
117. Take new profile pics at the gym?: SWEAT FOR A PORTRAIT. Sat for a portrait.
So happy to see the great Jeffrey back! It's been over two years since we saw his byline.
Jeffrey
is a master in this type of letter addition/deletion/swapping theme.
Today is another strong example of his craftsmanship.
Across:
1. Some neutral tones in a designer's palette: GRAYS.
6. Jokers: WITS.
10. The "B" of RBG: BADER. The Notorious RBG.
15. "Dear old" family member: DAD.
18. Shakespeare hero in the lyrics of Taylor Swift's "Love Story": ROMEO. 49. Last words of 18-Across: I DIE. Then he died.
19. French cap: BERET.
20. Nimble: AGILE.
21. Patterned after: A LA.
25. "Fresh Air" broadcaster: NPR.
26. Abandons all hope: DESPAIRS.
27. Stuns: AMAZES.
28. Feathery, perhaps: AVIAN.
30. Hardly encountered: RARE.
31. Apple product: MAC.
32. For one: A PIECE.
42. Small crowns: TIARAS.
43. "Or so": ISH.
45. Gulliver of "Gulliver's Travels": LEMUEL. Don't think we had him before.
46. Paris's Paris's Musée d'__: ORSAY. Home to many Impressionist masterpieces.
47. Thing that may be open and shut: CASE.
49. Things: ITEMS.
50. Adages: SAWS.
54. Some guinea pigs: PETS.
55. Component of some firm-textured fabrics: WORSTED.
57. Turns red, say: DYES.
59. Sportage maker: KIA.
60. Matthew of "Stranger Things": MODINE. He played Dr. Martin Brenner.
62. First word of "Simple Gifts": TIS.
64. Winemaker's concern: AGING.
72. Thicket: COPSE.
73. __ milk: SOY.
74. Fencing sword: RAPIER. 70. Fencing sword: EPEE.
75. Assent asea: AYE.
76. Wise one: SAGE.
80. Harvested: GLEANED.
82. Accomplishes: DOES.
86. __ salt: ROCK. Lots of Chinese desserts feature rock sugar.
88. "Great performance!": BRAVO.
90. Lyft service: RIDE.
91. Concentrated: DENSE.
92. Act as an intermediary: LIAISE.
94. Big flower pot: URN.
95. Life, for one: CEREAL.
103. Bring back: REVIVE.
104. Grocery payment sys.: EBT. Electronic Benefits Transfer.
106. "What __ is new?": ELSE.
107. Goddess of peace: IRENE.
108. Angelic being: SERAPH.
111. With 116-Across, useful tool for some crossword solvers: ERASABLE. And116. See 111-Across: PEN.
120. __ Alamos, New Mexico: LOS.
121. Yankee manager between Showalter and Girardi: TORRE (Joe) 1996-2007. We also have 19. Yogi in the Hall of Fame: BERRA. That's Whitey Ford in the middle.
122. Transmit: RELAY.
123. Marsh wader: EGRET.
124. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO.
125. One-for-one deals: SWAPS.
126. Silly sort: TWIT.
127. Summer of disco: DONNA.
Down:
1. Crossword component: GRID.
2. Mike of "Dirty Jobs": ROWE. Some dirty jobs pay very well.
3. French friends: AMIS.
4. Site for maligning poor dining: YELP.
5. Basis for standard timekeeping: SOLAR DAY.
6. Ferret kin: WEASEL.
7. Not perfect, as mdse.: IRR. Irregular.
8. Midmorning hr.: TEN AM.
9. Tolerate: STOMACH.
10. Folk legend Joan: BAEZ.
11. "The African Queen" screenwriter James: AGEE. The original novel is written by C. S. Forester.
12. Pts. of sports leagues: DIVS. Divisions.
13. Yale grad: ELI.
14. Setback: RELAPSE.
15. Webster who had a way with words: DANIEL.
16. Andes grazer: ALPACA.
17. "Well, I'll be __!": DARNED.
23. Authoritative orders: FIATS.
24. Baylor University city: WACO.
29. Little bottles: VIALS.
32. Treat quite poorly: ABUSE.
33. Former Corvette option: T-TOP.
34. Send a telegram: WIRE.
35. Memphis-to-Chattanooga direction: EAST.
36. "In Praise of Folly" writer: ERASMUS. Google says Erasmus wrote the work in about a week while staying at Sir Thomas More's estate in England.
37. Mugs: KISSERS.
39. Alphabetical order?: BLT.
40. Garden invader: WEED.
41. "The Bear" award: EMMY. "Yes, Chef!"
44. Good to go: SET.
47. Do: COIF.
48. River of Florence: ARNO.
51. Similar (to): AKIN.
52. Improvise, with "it": WING.
53. Submit to gravity: SAG.
55. Dict. entries: WDS.
56. __ alcohol: ETHYL.
58. Sushi pairing: SAKE. We've also seen SOJU in the gird. It's the Korean liquor.
61. Useful minerals: ORES.
63. Uses a colander: STRAINS.
65. Skyscraper beams: GIRDERS.
66. Cellist Ma: YO-YO. Yo means "friend" in Chinese. Ma means "Horse".
67. Cartel founded in Baghdad in 1960: OPEC.
68. Like food truck orders: TO GO.
69. Lip gloss applicator: WAND.
71. Help: AID.
72. Saturn or Mercury: CAR.
77. Demean: ABASE.
78. Climber's asset: GRIP.
79. Fluency: EASE.
81. "To __ is human ... ": ERR.
83. Draft status: ONE A.
84. Actor Morales: ESAI.
85. Hawk: SELL.
87. Vox co-founder Ezra: KLEIN. He has a popular podcast.
89. Capital of Vietnam?: VEE. Vietnam.
91. Couldn't stand: DETESTED.
93. Takes stock?: INVESTS. Literally.
94. Basic interface for a PC: USB PORT.
95. Civil rights activist Chavez: CESAR.
96. Big hit: TRIPLE.
97. "It's time, everyone! Break a leg!": WE'RE ON.
98. "Despite that ... ": EVEN SO.
99. Part of CODA: DEAF. Child Of Deaf Adult.
101. Shed tears over: WEEP AT.
102. Judy Jetson's brother: ELROY.
105. Lost on purpose: THREW.
108. Organic fluids: SERA.
109. Wyatt of Tombstone: EARP.
110. GPS offerings: RTES.
112. Golden Fleece ship: ARGO.
113. Rural structure: BARN.
114. Bank claim: LIEN.
115. "Tell Mama" singer James: ETTA.
118. "Incredible!": WOW.
119. Journalist Velshi of MS NOW: ALI.
C.C.
I failed to notice the
ReplyDelete“title” but the gimmick became clear pretty early on. Fun puzzle. Very “witty.”
Anyway, FIR, so I’m happy.
Well I am much happier than SubG to have the return of JefWex to the LA Times puzzle. I am really looking forward to the response from all of the solvers who have coming to the Corner for many years, I will be back for more words after comments start coming in. Welcome home Jeffrey
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteLong time, no see, Mr. Wechsler. Welcome back!
Failed to read the title, (Natch), but caught the theme early on. Laughed out loud at COBWEB SALAD and YOURS FOR THE TWEAKING. Loved the puzzle, and finished in almost record time for a Sunday grid. EPEE crossing RAPIER was classic. The only unknowns were EBT and CODA (not in the musical sense). Thanx, Jeffrey and C.C.
ROCK salt -- Growing up in the frozen northland, we always kept a bag of ROCK salt to strew on the sidewalks after shoveling.
FIR, but fixed I WILL sEeR NO WEVIL. Got my WAG @ ORSAY x ERASBUS. (Guess ERAS BUS could have been clued as "how Taylor Swift's roadies got between tour cities.")
ReplyDeleteI remember ROCK salt from making ice cream as a kid.
Mike ROWE is an interesting man. Although he now bills himself as champion of the common man (and woman,) he is an accomplished opera singer. He started a foundation (MikeRoweWorks.org) to provide scholarships for people looking for the skills required for jobs in the trades. His current series, How America Works, is an interesting peek inside the world that most of us take for granted. The current season is available on Fox Business Network.
I don't know what VOX is other than "Voice Operated Relay" in ham radio, but my favorite brand of hand tools is KLEIN.
Thanks to JeffWech for a delightful Sunday puzzle. I hope we see your work here much more frequently. You have been sorely missed. And thanks to CC for the fun tour.
After inquiring for the last couple years, “wherefore art thou Jefferey”?, it’s nice to see his return with a Sunday puzzle! I remembered to look at the title and it did aid in the solve, which I scored a FIR in 28:28. Lots of clever fill with the addition of “WE”. It helped that I knew most of the names, and friendly perps took care of the unknowns LEMUEL, MODINE, ALI, and KLEIN. Thank you Jefferey for the very enjoyable solve, hope to see more of your fine work! And thanks to C.C. for your expo!
ReplyDeleteI thought Jeffrey’s name sounded familiar. Great puzzle, right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteI felt as if I were in familiar territory. For one thing I own a BERET, I’ve been to the musée d’ORSAY, and I used to teach ERASMUS’ “In Praise of Folly”. In spite of its age, this essay is still relevant, hilarious, and full of truths.
As to be expected, I encountered some unknown names, but just a few and perps were kind.
The CODA clue was the last to fill and I didn’t know why DEAF was the answer.
We also had ABASE and ABUSE, I DIE and DYES.
Fun puzzle.
Thank you CC for the recap.
FIR. Pretty smooth sailing this AM. I thought this was a good one. Perps helped me assure that Mathew was not kin to Jethro. I have to wonder why my first thought at seeing _ _ _ EAL was ordEAL but happy when CEREAL emerged. Only questionable crossing IMO was pairing BLT (as clued) with LEMUEL. LIAISE gave me pause, but maybe because in a former life, being made a “liaison” was considered the last stop before the door.
ReplyDeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely surprise to see JW’s byline after such a long absence, particularly on a Sunday grid. Friday’s were his specialties and the symbiosis shared by JW and Lemonade, his blogger, was very special. Jeffrey was the master of word play and Lemony was the master interpreter. No wonder why we miss those exciting and challenging Fridays of long ago!
Today’s offering is pretty straightforward, theme wise, and clueing and fill wise. Of course, the title was an early hint to the theme, as well. My favorite themer was Cobweb Salad, which made me laugh out loud. Because of the last few days of comments critical of too cutesy or too devious clueing, I couldn’t help but notice how simple and direct JW’s clues were throughout the grid. I always said that JW was one of my favorite constructors and that is still true. I just wish he wasn’t such a stranger.
Thank you, Jeffrey, for this surprise appearance and an enjoyable solve and thanks, CC, for reminding us of JW’s talents and strengths, and for your always appreciated inside observations. As a Yankee fan, thanks for highlighting Joe and Yogi!
Have a great day.