Theme: "SOUND CHECK" -The last word of each familiar phrase takes on a new meaning when pronounced differently.
63A. Business run by a bunch of hens?: CHICKEN COOP. Co-op.
73A. Swiped refills for a mechanical pencil?: TOOK THE LEAD.
96A. One who is always pointing at shooting stars?: METEOR SHOWER. Show-er, one who shows.
115A. Anesthetic for a noted Italian chemist?: AVOGADRO'S NUMBER. Numb-er, something that numbs.
17D. Musical instrument made off the coast of South America?: CHILEAN SEA BASS. Not the fish.
48D. Rips caused by large reptiles?: CROCODILE TEARS.
The last word of each familiar phrase (except 63A) is reinterpreted as a heteronym, right? Same spelling, but a different pronunciation and meaning. I love the CHICKEN CO-OP and its clue.
I think this is our Emma Oxford. Very cool.
Across:
1. Course most look forward to: DESSERT. Sweet clue!
8. Imposing construction: EDIFICE.
15. Supports: BACKS.
20. Unmasks: EXPOSES.
21. Brunch cocktails: MIMOSAS.
22. Not cool: UNHIP.
25. "Goosebumps" series writer: STINE (R. L.) The Stephen King of children's literature.
 |
26. Remove adverbs and add punctuation, maybe: EDIT.
27. PlayStation maker: SONY.
28. __ Reader: UTNE.
29. Actress Swinton: TILDA.
30. Inventor Handler played by Rhea Perlman in "Barbie": RUTH. I didn't know that she invented the Barbie dolls.
.jpg)
31. "__ we good?": ARE.
32. Vexation: IRE.
33. Church perches: PEWS.
36. Moose kin: ELK.
37. NNW opposite: SSE.
41. Coastal inlets: BAYS.
42. Insta post: PIC.
43. Male turkey: TOM.
44. One of Paul's letters to the Ephesians?: EPSILON. The letter E in Ephesians. The Epistle to the Ephesians was written in Greek.
46. Herbal infusion from Peru: COCA TEA. Also 68. Chinese brew: CHA.
50. Rationalist's belief: DEISM.
53. Places to perch: ROOSTS.
56. Estate units: ACRES.
57. Sgt., e.g.: NCO.
59. Shoe designer Jimmy: CHOO. Same character as the Zhou in my name.
61. Pamper: DOTE ON.
62. Many August babies: LEOS.
66. IM pioneer: AOL.
67. Top card in a Broadway straight: ACE. A Broadway straight runs from ten to ace.
69. Frying need: OIL.
70. Pts. that often result in dances: TDS. Touchdown dance.
71. U.K. network: BBC.
72. Mattel game: UNO.
76. Julia of "The Addams Family": RAUL.
78. Simplified language: PIDGIN.
80. Wows: AWES.
81. Not just most: ALL.
82. Worth a second bite: TASTY.
83. Competed in the Figawi, say: SAILED. The Figawi is an annual sailing race from Hyannis to Nantucket. Learning moment for me.
84. Prefix with net or com, but not org: INTER.
86. "OK, got it": YES I SEE.
88. Tempts: LURES IN.
91. Fuel additive brand: STP. Scientifically Treated Petroleum.
93. Young fellow: LAD.
94. [Clears throat]: AHEM.
100. Take advantage of a bear market, perhaps: BUY.
103. Stomach: GUT.
104. "What You Need" band: INXS.
105. Kanga's kid: ROO.
106. Badger: NAG.
107. Figure in Norse mythology?: RUNE. "Figure" here means a written character or symbol.
108. Lies for, maybe: ABETS.
110. Forget about: OMIT.
112. Supermodel Banks: TYRA.
113. Incantation syllables: ABRA.
114. Fish with a big net: TRAWL.
118. New employee: HIREE.
119. Wright of "Black Panther": LETITIA. She played Shuri.
120. Italian football powerhouse: AC MILAN.
121. Strong point: ASSET.
122. Rival one loves to hate: FRENEMY.
123. Sneaks: WEASELS.
Down:
1. Yields (to): DEFERS.
2. Book that tells the story of Moses: EXODUS.
3. Soft drink with a seasonal Winter Spiced Cranberry flavor: SPRITE. I've never had Sprite.
4. Quaint truth: SOOTH.
5. Subj. for a non-native speaker: ESL.
6. Manicotti topping: RED SAUCE.
7. Abbr. on a weather map: T-STORM.
8. Posthumous award for Chadwick Boseman: EMMY. Boseman won a posthumous 2022 Primetime Emmy for his voice performance as T'Challa in the animated series "What If...?"
9. Run out of power: DIE.
10. "Positive": I'M SURE.
11. Jodie with two Best Actress Oscars: FOSTER.
12. "Love __ Open Door": "Frozen" song: IS AN.
13. Treat on a stick: CAKE POP.
14. Jargon suffix: ESE.
15. Hits 22, perhaps: BUSTS. Blackjack.
16. Not in favor of: ANTI.
18. With gentleness: KINDLY.
19. Holds forth: SPEAKS.
24. Not up to the task: INEPT.
32. Online "I can relate": IT ME. As in "That's me".
34. Chargeable cars, briefly: EVS.
35. Goofballs: WEIRDOS.
38. Morse clicks: DITS.
39. "We have that in common": SO DO I.
40. "KPop __ Hunters": DEMON.
41. Italy's shape: BOOT.
42. Bel __ cheese: PAESE.
45. Circuit: LOOP.
46. Ore. neighbor: CAL.
47. Micronesia's region: OCEANIA.
49. Dried poblano: ANCHO.
51. Most disgusting: ICKIEST.
52. Seashore souvenir: SHELL.
54. Absolutely adorable: TOO CUTE.
55. 1975 TV debut, familiarly: SNL.
58. "Queen of Funk" Khan: CHAKA.
60. In base eight: OCTAL.
64. "Hallelujah" songwriter Leonard: COHEN. I love Jon Bon Jovi's version.
65. "It's strange ... ": ODDLY.
68. Denounce: CONDEMN.
71. Challah feature: BRAID. These remind me of Chinese mahua.
72. FedEx competitor: UPS.
73. Part of a pricing plan: TIER.
74. Strong string: TWINE.
75. Soil: EARTH.
77. Soap ingredient: LYE.
79. In the doldrums: GLUM.
82. Bygone ruler: TSAR.
85. Canadian fuel giant: ESSO.
87. Class: ELEGANCE.
89. "On the Basis of __": Ginsburg biopic: SEX.
90. "We're done": IT'S OVER.
92. Miyazaki film about a goldfish who longs to be human: PONYO.
94. Kathryn's "WandaVision" role: AGATHA.
95. Fatal flaw in classic myths: HUBRIS.
97. Beginning: ORIGIN.
98. Turn: ROTATE.
99. Polish capital: WARSAW.
100. __ bath: BUBBLE.
101. Hard to believe: UNREAL.
102. Aches (for): YEARNS.
104. Archipelago unit: ISLET.
107. "Groundhog Day" director Harold: RAMIS. He also directed "Caddyshack".
109. Overly precious: TWEE.
111. Bit of dust: MOTE.
112. Printer part: TRAY.
115. Fuzzy 1980s sitcom character: ALF.
116. Low-lit: DIM.
117. Actress Thurman: UMA.
C.C.
The “ Italian chemist”
ReplyDeletewas pretty tough. Otherwise, I didn’t have too much trouble with this puzzle, which was a lot of fun.
FIR, so I’m happy.
FIW, missing with the unknown COCo TEA x the unknown PoESE, and MiTE x AViGADROS NUMBER (which was my favorite clue/answer.) Also vid->PIC, epsitol->EPSILON, tea->(the equally wrong) CHi, pidgon->PIDGIN, egot->EMMY, and cage pop->(equally unknown) CAKE POP. CSO to me at UNHIP.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know the race, but I'm certain about the ORIGIN without looking it up. There's an old sailing joke about navigation. Seems there was once a Polynesian tribe named the Figawi that was renowned for their navigation prowess. Everybody who was anybody in the sailboat community recruited a member of the tribe to be their navigator. Whenever the captain wanted a position fix he'd call out "where the Figawi?"
Robert John's biggest hit was Sad Eyes:
"Looks like IT'S OVER, you knew I couldn't stay
She's coming home today
We had a good thing, I'll miss your sweet love
Why must you look at me that way
IT'S OVER"
Thanks to Emma for the Sunday workout. My favorite was AViDADROS NUMBER, even though I can't spel his name, Least favorite was TWEE, and the overabundance of A&E junk which I've grown to expect. And thanks to CC for your comments.
There was to be a similar gag on the 60's ABC sitcom "F Troop" but the censors changed the name of the Native tribe from Fugawi to Hekawi
DeleteGood morning!
ReplyDeleteStruggled here and there: IT ME, PONYO, and CAKE POP looked wrong after they'd filled. "OCEANIA and PACIFIC have the same number of letters." he said, reaching for the Wite-Out. When I heard it, it was spelled "fugawi." Cute construction, Emma. Thanx for 'splainin' it all, C.C.
Guilty for the above.
DeleteGood Morning:
ReplyDeleteI found this unusually challenging for a Sunday but I stuck with it and, with the exception of the Avogadro/Ponyo crossing, finished correctly. Some themers were stronger than others, but they were all aligned with their clueing. Chilean Sea Bass was my favorite and was also the first indicator of the theme. Overall, it was an above average Sunday grid, theme-wise and execution-wise.
Thanks, Emma, and thanks, CC, for the detailed explanation of the theme and, as always, your insider’s viewpoint.
Have a great day.
Great Sunday workout! Slow and steady finally got me there and I had a lot of fun along the way. Favorites were AVOGADROS NUMBER and the clue for EPSILON. But all were very clever.
ReplyDeleteThanks to Emma for the delightful outing, and to CC for the informative review. I didn’t get the reference for BUSTS until you set me straight.
I had fun with the theme which became evident with the first entry. What I didn’t like was the abundance of people’s names. Way too many for my taste.
ReplyDeleteI hope IT ME becomes obsolete very quickly. Jinx, thank you so much for the Figawi explanation. New to me.
Thank you CC for the review. Leonard COHEN was one of my favorite poets, but I had never heard Bon Jovi’s version of Hallelujah. By the way CSO to CanadianEh!.
Bravo. This has to be the cleverest Sunday puzzle I've ever had the pleasure of working on.
ReplyDeletenever heard of avogadros but have heard of abe vigoda of barney miller
ReplyDeleteAvogadro was the first to determine the number of particles in a mole of a substance. I found the following factoids online. They may even be true.
DeleteAvogadro’s number of softballs would fill a sphere the size of the Earth.
One mole of red blood cells is more than all the red blood cells of every person alive right now.
Avogadro’s number of donuts would cover the Earth with a layer 5 miles deep.
A mole of moles (the animal) would weigh about half the mass of the Moon.
If you were given Avogadro’s number of pennies at birth, spent a million dollars every second of every day, and lived to age 100, you’d still have 99.99% of the pennies left.
It’s 18 milliliters of water molecules.
FIR. This was a workout complicated by a raft of proper names no one should know off the top of their head. Avogadro? Really? At least give us a chance of finishing the puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI got the theme early on and that helped with the solve and was the only clever thing this puzzle had to offer in my opinion.
Overall not an enjoyable puzzle.
Well, this was a learning moment... (don't bother reading if you are easily bored....)
ReplyDeleteJust my take on this,
Avogadro, to me, was a character in a computer game called Call of Duty Zombies, Tranzit.
It is no longer supported and cannot be played, as there are now many newer versions.
this was the only Avogadro I ever heard about.
Later versions of the game conjure up a complete history of this "ghoul." I won't even pretend to understand it all. But now at least I understand where they got the name
Interesting, (to me anyway...)
P.s., this is CE:D who forgot to choose a comment as option. (Again...)
FIR w/out help in 28:07, much thanks to benevolent perps which got me the unknowns, RUTH, COCA TEA, LETITIA, TWEE, and PIDGIN. Got RAUL/BRAID because only an R worked, then I remembered what challah is. Also never heard of a CAKE POP, is that a regional thing? Last fill was a WAG at the O in the PONYO/Italian chemist cross. A very enjoyable solve, thanks Emma for your fine and clever construction. and to C.C. for the recap.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone remember the term Emma coined regarding not knowing a clue, but able to suss the fill by something in the context of a clue?
Ektorp
DeleteThanks TTP
DeleteFIW., otherwise what everyone else said.
ReplyDeleteGreat theme cluing!! Fun! Didn’t know a few names - TY “perps”: Ramis, AC Milan, “bel paese”. My fave misdirect - maybe ever: “epsilon”, NOT “epistle”. Thx to Emma & CC. Everyone have a great week!!
ReplyDeleteI had a lot of fun solving this puzzle today. I like that kind of wordplay.
ReplyDeleteICYDK: On this day in 1853, occasional CW visitor Elisha OTIS, sold his first elevator.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea and construction. Spoiled by proper name crosses.
ReplyDeleteHand up AVOGADRO'S NUMBER was the hit of the entire puzzle. Anyone who ever took a chemistry class in high school learned this. It was a brilliant discovery that you could actually count the sub-microscopic molecules in a substance long before there were modern powerful microscopes.
Unlike passing POP culture, AVOGADRO'S NUMBER should be committed to memory.