Theme: "EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITIES" - A mode of transportation if added to each common phrase.
23. Most popular member of a 1960s television family?: FAVORITE JETSON. Favorite son.
38. "People walk all over me," "No one appreciates my rugged good looks," etc.?: CARPET PEEVES. Pet peeves.
41. Just a hint of flavor in some ice cream?: VANILLA TEASE. Ill at lease.
66. With 71-Across, terse rejection note?: SUBMISSION. 71. See 66-Across: IMPOSSIBLE. Mission Impossible.
95. Part-time gig at a summer camp?: CABINSIDE JOB. Inside job.
98. Perfect nursery gift for a future astronomer?: PLANET MOBILE. T-Mobile.
117. Sign of overwork for a bird of prey?: EAGLE EYESTRAIN. Eagle eyes.
Congrats to Sheldon on his LAT debut!
What a creative take on a common addition theme. So inventive. Great title also.
Across:
1. Does some chiropractic work: ADJUSTS.
8. Story links: STAIRS.
14. Southeast Africa's "Sunshine City": HARARE. Zimbabwe's capital city.
20. __ suit: LEISURE. Popular in the 1970s. Learning moment for me.
21. Move quietly: TIPTOE.
22. Takes a hand in Vegas, perhaps: ELOPES.
25. Keep time with rhythmically: CLAP TO.
26. Actor Guinness: ALEC.
27. Shields on some helmets: VISORS.
28. Clock sound: TOCK. Tick-tock.
30. Pinch: DRIB.
31. "I won't __ words ... ": MINCE.
32. Reading with medium comprehension?: AURA. OK, psychic reading.
33. Pore strip brand: BIORE.
34. National park in Maine: ACADIA.
45. Read quickly: SCAN.
46. Antidiscrimination in the workplace inits.: EEO.
47. Hold firmly: GRIP.
48. Party planners: HOSTS.
49. Den fixture: HDTV.
51. Display an unfair lack of confidence in: SELL SHORT.
54. Great pain: AGONY. Had more intense reaction to my second Shingles shot.
58. Cornstarch brand: ARGO.
62. Acceptable: OKAY.
63. Nebraska city: OMAHA.
64. Less substantial: AIRIER.
73. Expressway entrance: ON RAMP.
74. Smock stain: PAINT.
76. Grilled fruta on some tacos: PINA. Tacos al pastor.
77. "Get outta here!": SCAT.
78. Panna __: Italian dessert: COTTA.
79. High-fiber cereal ingredient: WHEAT BRAN.
84. Heath bar alternative: SKOR.
87. Cut: SAWED.
89. Anderson of "WKRP in Cincinnati": LONI. Born in St. Paul.
90. BOLO kin: APB.
93. __ Games: Fortnite company: EPIC.
101. Brick-and-mortar workers: MASONS.
102. Apply (for): PUTIN.
103. Digital read: E MAG.
104. Bypasses: SKIPS.
107. Pt. of YMCA: ASSN.
108. Spellbound: RAPT.
109. Naval fleet: ARMADA.
111. Sticky stuff: GLUE.
115. Cesar who played the Joker: ROMERO.
120. Summer months in Argentina: ENEROS.
121. Ankle-related: TARSAL.
122. Taken for granted: ASSUMED.
123. Focus group?: LENSES. Camera focus.
124. Register: ENROLL.
125. Catch of the day choice: SEA BASS. Huge.
Down:
1. Italian auto, familiarly: ALFA.
2. "Agreed!": DEAL.
3. "__ Talkin'": 1975 Bee Gees hit: JIVE.
4. Games org. that added a "P" to its initials in 2019: USOC. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.
5. California's Big __: SUR.
6. Not even a little important: TRIVIAL.
7. Took hold: SET IN.
8. Missouri city nickname: ST JOE. Jesse James was killed in St. Joseph on April 3, 1882.
9. Subscription level: TIER.
10. Bldg. units: APTS.
11. Part of FWIW: IT'S.
12. Unearth: ROOT UP.
13. Spanish gentlemen: SENORES.
14. "Darn it all to __!": HECK. Do you use this in your daily conversation?
15. Everyone: ALL.
16. Band aide: ROADIE.
17. Rubber-stamp: APPROVE.
18. Pensioner: RETIREE.
19. Anka song with a Spanish title: ESO BESO.
24. Key near F1: ESC.
29. Like a good advertising jingle: CATCHY.
31. Thou squared: MIL.
32. Amount to: ARE.
33. Inclination: BENT.
34. Many sports nos.: AVGS. 44. Inexact fig.: EST.
35. Give a darn: CARE.
36. Source of indigo: ANIL.
37. Tact-ical experts?: DIPLOMATS. Great clue.
38. Purr former: CAT.
39. Breakfast tea variety: ASSAM.
40. Cushion: PAD.
42. Nautical greetings: AHOYS.
43. The Raptors, on schedules: TOR. Toronto Raptors.
50. Unknown qualities: VARIABLES.
52. __ milk: SKIM.
53. Locking device: HASP.
55. Trot or canter: GAIT.
56. Omega, in physics: OHM. Ω (omega) is the symbol for the ohm, the SI unit of electrical resistance.
57. Snooze: NAP.
59. Barbecue bone: RIB.
60. Take shape: GEL.
61. Mine deposit: ORE.
63. "Got this, boss": ON IT.
64. Java's home: ASIA. Java is the 13th largest island in the world.
65. Ain't right?: ISN'T.
66. Brillo rival: SOS. Been loving Scrub Mommy. Prettier than Scrub Daddy.
67. Mom's bro: UNC.
68. Bali garment: BRA.
69. Big day for a co.: IPO.
70. Protein bar grain: OAT.
72. News stands?: OP-EDS. Fresh clue!
75. Sounding congested: NASAL.
78. Black Sea peninsula: CRIMEA.
79. "Wonder Woman" backdrop, briefly: WWI.
80. Lady bird: HEN.
81. Spanish red: ROJO.
82. Soon, quaintly: ANON.
83. Pen tips: NIBS.
85. Eager: KEEN.
86. Take one's pick: OPT.
88. 1860s prez: ABE.
90. Outfits: APPAREL.
91. Guest's guest: PLUS ONE.
92. Some cricket players: BATSMEN.
94. Try for the title: COMPETE.
95. Smoke, briefly: CIG.
96. Deadlock: IMPASSE.
97. Some govt. lawyers: DAS.
99. SF NFL team: NINERS.
100. Luzon peninsula on Manila Bay: BATAAN. Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines.
104. Olfaction: SMELL.
105. "Funny Face" actress Thompson who wrote the "Eloise" books: KAY.
106. Think tank output: IDEAS.
108. Dress for Less discount store: ROSS. Never been to a Ross store.
109. To boot: ALSO.
110. "It's been __!": REAL.
111. Vittles: GRUB.
112. Tibetan monk: LAMA.
113. Informal reversals: UIES.
114. Winds down: ENDS.
116. Fish-to-be: ROE.
118. "So frustrating!": GRR.
119. PreCheck org.: TSA.
Belated "Happy Birthday" to Barry G, hope all's well in your world. Thanks for remembering my birthday.
Thank you to everyone for your sweet birthday wishes.
C.C.
Eventually, I saw all the
ReplyDelete“vehicles” and found this puzzle quite clever.
FIR, so I’m happy.
Welcome Sheldon, I wonder if your parents were big fans of THE BIG BANG THEORY ? A fun Sunday with a new theme and a remarkable number of 3 and 4 letter fill. No real roadblocks just needed persistence to unravel the them. Happy belated birthday to Barry G. the subGenius of his time. We had an amazing amount of fireworks 💥 in our area to accompany those from all the cities nearby. It was a rainy day until it was time to light up the skies which I enjoyed and make endless noise which was not a joy but they stopped at midnight so it was all good. Enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend and thanks Sheldon stop by and tell us about yourself
ReplyDeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteThis one ran up against the time limit. ALFA and OMAHA were SO's to Dash-T and Husker Gary. Very clever theme, Sheldon. I remember wearing LEISURE suits to work 50+ years ago. The BATAAN peninsula was just south of our aircraft carrier's home-away-from-home in Subic Bay. LONI had a parade of husbands; Burt Reynolds was the only well-known spouse. This was a nice outing. Thanx for 'splainin' it all, C.C.
Our neighborhood was well-behaved last night. All was quiet once the official fireworks displays had finished. Our cats took the whole thing in stride.
It turns out Sheldon had his first published puzzle in The NY Times in 2021, has had 2 more there and at least one more in the WSJ. He is a pediatrician from Cincinnati. Based on his profession I would speculate he about 49 and I now know he is married.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sheldon and C.C.
ReplyDeleteBack on my A game today. Saturday's failure may have been due to only getting 5 hours of sleep the night before. I was about 10 minutes into today's solve when I realized I didn't have the theme title to help me. I didn't bother to open another site to get it. I looked for what was in common to that point. I saw JET, NET and PET. That didn't pan out.
I enjoyed it. No nits.
Great pain: AGONY. "Had more intense reaction to my second Shingles shot." - I would say that reaction may have been bad, but not as bad as having shingles. They were the pits.
I laid down at 5:30 and slept through most of the fireworks, waking up after 10 PM. I learned this morning that we had heavy rains again overnight. About 5 miles north of me, where Abejo lived, 7.64 inches in the last three days. Heat indexes in the hundreds and rain showers every day. Reminds me of Houston.
Today should be better.
FIR. This was a relatively easy Sunday puzzle. I raced through it so fast I never noticed the vehicles in the long answers. I was having too much fun just solving.
ReplyDeleteOverall a very enjoyable puzzle.
I guess I'm an outlier here. Although I FIWed (by some miracle), the theme was pretty lame and the NE corner was an atrocity (DRIB?). I was absolutely shocked to see the "Congratulations!" message pop up.
ReplyDeleteAs in "dribs and drabs"?
DeleteThis was the cleverest Sunday puzzle I can remember seeing. Thanks Sheldon and CC.
ReplyDeleteFIR, but zine->EMAG, hombres->SENORES, add->ARE, wee->WWI, and eats->GRUB.
ReplyDeleteROSS would have been better clued as "________ Dress For Less." "Dress For Less" is part of the name of the store, not a prepositional phrase or a slogan.
I worked with a guy in Santa Monica who used to wear a lime green polyester LEISURE suit to the office every couple of weeks.
Big SUR again today. Beautiful area.
CSO to most Cornerites @ RETIREE.
My second-grade teacher's husband was a survivor of the BATAAN death march. He was the school's AV guy, running the film projectors and setting up TVs in the auditorium for special events like World Series games and Mercury space program launches. He was kind of an oddball, and I wondered why our sweet teacher married him. As an adult I learned about the terror of that death march, and the nobility of standing by a loved one after he returns from war a different and broken man.
LONI? Jan Smithers (Bailey Quarters) was my WKRP crush.
Thanks to Sheldon for the fun Sunday workout. And thanks to CC for another solid review.