Thursday, April 14th, 2016 Mike Peluso

Theme: Double Crosses.

18A. Start of an old news announcement : EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

32A. Stipulation on le menu : PRIX FIXE. Food! The fixed-price menu in French restaurants; the daily specials. Most restaurants in France offer a prix fixe menu which is usually the the best value - and the best foo (as opposed to ordering à la carte).

41A. Where gas and lodging may be found : NEXT EXIT. The food! choices tend to be pretty limited.

60A. Nachos, e.g. : TEX-MEX DISH. Food! Here's a chicken fajitas, a classic Tex-Mex dish.

3D. Historic Chicago-to-Santa Monica route : SIXTY SIX. Too good to pass up for a music link. Get your kicks with the Rolling Stones before they started writing their own songs.

38D. When translated to English, beer brand that hints at the common feature of the five other longest puzzle answers : DOS EQUIS

What a great journey through 11 (count 'em!) X's and some Z's, W's, Q's and other Scrabble-tastic letters thrown in for good measure.

I loved the concept, the execution and I enjoyed the fill around those pesky X's but ..... CLANG! The reveal says "the five other longest puzzle answers" which rather insults the lovely ARSENALS and UNEARTHS which each sport eight letters - just like PRIX FIXE, NEXT EXIT and SIXTY SIX. Details, details.

Anyway - thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, thank goodness for great crosses for the obscure stuff, and a one-cup-of-coffee time for me.

Let's see what else we've got that jumps out:

Across:

1. Tousle : MUSS. No fuss with this muss.

5. F and G, e.g. : CLEFS

10. Soaks (up) : SOPS. See how you have to wait before deciding between MOPS and SOPS?

14. Bad thing to be caught in : A LIE. Because "a speed trap" or "a rip tide" didn't fit.

15. Spells : HEXES

16. Virginie, par exemple : ÉTAT. French king Louis XIV  (great crossword name!) pretty much started the wheels of the revolution turning with his assertion "L'Etat, c'est moi." - "I am the State". It all ended rather badly for the French royal family, and around 40,000 others.

17. "Need You Tonight" band : INXS

20. Frequent Lemmon co-star : MATTHAU

22. Chimney : STACK

23. Dublin-born poet : YEATS

24. AWOL trackers : MPS

26. Tiny : WEE

27. Shine, in Cambridge : LUSTRE. British spelling. For those of you that remember the picture of the crew "Boat Race" passing Chiswick Eyot on the blog a couple of weeks ago, Cambridge University was the boat on the right.

29. Ammunition dumps : ARSENALS

31. Request to Sajak : AN "I"

34. Numerical prefix : HEXA. -decimal. Base 16. I have fond(?) memories of an activity called "dump-cracking". When your IBM-mainframe program aborted, you were presented with a printed "dump" of the computer memory at the time of the error which usually measured at least a foot tall pile of of fan-fold paper, and you were left alone for a while trying to figure out what "Data Exception Error at location 9EF867D81" could possibly mean.

36. Progressive pitcher? : FLO

37. When there's no turning back : D-DAY

46. Tulsa sch. : ORU. Oral Roberts makes an appearance.

47. Brings to light : UNEARTHS

50. Pitcher, for one : VESSEL

52. Cambodia's Lon __ : NOL. Crosses, thank you.

53. Enzyme suffix : -ASE

54. Moisten, in a way : BASTE. Food! A pointless activity to spoon fat from the bottom of the roasting dish to the top of the roast. All you do is lose heat from the oven, probably burn your wrist on the oven shelf and make zero difference to the flavor of the end product.

55. Northeastern octet : IVIES. There's an acronym or mnemonic somewhere in the deepest, darkest regions of my mind to remember Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Cornell. I guess HYPPBCDC isn't it.

57. Old but coveted : ANTIQUE

64. Peach __ : FUZZ

65. Landed : ALIT

66. Ken Jenkins's "Scrubs" role : KELSO. It didn't help that I read "Ken Jennings" and was away with the "Jeopardy" thinking. When was Ken Jennings in a Scrubs episode? Crosses and sanity eventually prevailed.

67. CVI halved : LIII

68. Old map divs. : SSRS

69. "Dallas" Miss : ELLIE

70. North-of-the-border gas : ESSO. Also 6,000 miles east of the border in the UK, but it's not quite as much of a snappy clue.

Down:

1. Injure badly : MAIM

2. Radius neighbor : ULNA

4. Largish combo : SESTET. Hand up for "SEXTET" - with all the X's going on today it seemed a natural. Not.

5. Proctor's concern : CHEATER.

6. Infiniti competitor : LEXUS

7. No. after a phone no. : EXT. Are extensions still a thing? It seems an awfully long time since I asked to be put through to one.

8. Not agin : FER

9. Fed. benefits agency : S.S.A.

10. Stimulating message : SEXT.

11. Senators' home : OTTAWA. I tried to fit all kinds of Washington, D.C and other stuff into here. Finally the penny dropped.

12. Part of UPS : PARCEL

13. Betting specifications : STAKES

19. County bordering Suffolk : ESSEX. Easy for me. Tough for you. I lived in Essex - 60 miles from London, and a 2 1/2 hour commute from the office. When Warner Bros. offered me a transfer to Los Angeles it didn't take a whole lot to convince me!  Here's a snippet of the old map now hanging on my wall - my house was the little black dot in the yellow highlight beneath the "B1053" road designation. It was very quiet out there! The house was more than 400 years old.

21. Dwell annoyingly (on) : HARP

24. "Fantastic" Dahl character : MR. FOX

25. Initials on a radial : P.S.I. Pounds per Square Inch. Where's the "per"?

27. "Well, __-di-dah!" : LAH

28. Lyon article : UNE. One Feminine Article en France. I pitched a tent on a roundabout in Lyon once - I was hitch-hiking and dropped off at midnight by a truck driver. It was very dark and I had no idea I was standing on a traffic circle. When I woke up in the morning at rush hour, I was startled to find three lanes of traffic circling my campsite. The gendarmes who arrived shortly after were nice, but bemused.

29. Weigh station counts : AXLES

30. Composer Rorem : NED

33. "__ shoe fits ... " : IF THE. Cinderelly?

35. Literary assortment : -ANA. Very much in the "crosswordese" field. Shakespeareiana, Grishomiana. You get the idea.

39. "We __ Marshall": 2006 film : ARE. I cried. I cry in a lot of movies, but this one was a bawler.

40. Brynner of filmdom : YUL. Completely missed this during the solve, crosses filled him in for me.

42. Wipe off : ERASE

43. Some Cadillacs : XT'S. Not sure they'd give the XKE's a run for their money.

44. Scott classic : IVANHOE. Great book. Robin Hood's modern-day reputation owes much to this novel.

45. Try : TEST

47. Hall of Fame Colts quarterback : UNITAS. Peyton Manning? Not yet, be patient.

48. Grisham output : NOVELS.

49. Potion : ELIXIR. Lovely word.

51. Suppress : STIFLE

54. Low voices : BASSI

56. First responders, initially : EMTS

58. Israeli arms : UZIS

59. Opera star Pinza : EZIO. Along with the previous entry, a couple of Z's are thrown into the scrabble-fest today.

61. Classic Jag : XKE. The E-Type. Jaguar announced recently that they are going to complete the production run of the "Lightweight" low-drag coupe. There were plans to make 18 of these cars, only 12 were built between 1963 and 1964. Don't expect to see the missing six available for purchase on the open market. Here's one of the originals.

62. "Small Wonder" state: Abbr. : DEL. aware.

63. In need of treatment : ILL

And ... here's the grid.


Steve

Sunday Oct 25, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Now You See It ..." - C is removed from each theme answer.

22A. Coleridge love poem? : RIME OF PASSION. Crime of passion.

34A. Knight's comment when he was mistakenly put in the corner? : I'M NOT A ROOK. I'm not a crook. Nixon.

49A. King of the sea? : LEAR SAILING. Clear sailing. Does this answer sound a bit stretched to you?

68A. North African hops drier? : BARBARY OAST. Barbary Coast.

85A. Citrus high? : ORANGE RUSH. Orange Crush. I grokked the theme gimmick here.

102A. Encouraging simian? : APE OF GOOD HOPE. Cape of Good Hope.

2D. Backtalk in the Everglades? : ALLIGATOR LIP. Alligator clip. New term to me.

 

55D. John and Peter's woodwind? : APOSTLES' REED. Apostles' Creed.

Look, no stray C 's in the theme answers. You know Mike put extra effort in getting us this tight set. Three deletions occur at the first words, five the last words,  but all removed C's are consistently the starts of the key words. Pure letter deletion, no spelling changes involved.

Most of our Sunday grids have 144-words. This one only has 140, with four intimidating corners. Even with cheaters in four corners, those space are very hard to fill cleanly. I'd have chickened out and broken 20D/74D into two.

Across:

1. Varnish resin : MASTIC. New word to me.

7. Online cash-back deal : E-BATE. Never got an e-bate. You? I seldom shop on line.

12. God for whom Wednesday was named : WODEN. I forgot. We had this a while ago.

17. Peru's El Misti, e.g. : VOLCANO. Got via crosses. And 74. 17-Across output : ASH

18. Submit servilely : GROVEL

19. Sounded alike : RHYMED

21. Not kosher : ILLEGAL. I was thinking of TREF.

24. Problems for parades : RAINS

25. Nerds : DWEEBS

27. Quick way to reduce fat? : LIPO. Thought DIET first.

28. N.Y. engineering sch. : RPI. Why did you quit after one year, Splynter?

29. Yen : URGE

30. Form : SHAPE

 

31. NFL great Brown and meteorologist Cantore : JIMs

32. Bern's river : AARE

33. Fed. benefits agency : SSA

 

37. Words after lost or missed : A STEP

38. Hardly laid-back : TYPE A

40. La Corse, par exemple : ILE. La Corse is French for Corsica.

 

41. Early ascetic : ESSENE. Nailed it.

42. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO SOAP

43. Serious oil problem : SPILL

46. To's partner : FRO

47. Sun. delivery : SER

48. Sides in a Wells—or Welles—war : WORLDS. The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles. H. G. Wells. We also have 77. 1938 broadcaster of Welles radio dramas : CBS

52. Workers' gp. in a 1955 merger : AFL

53. Step : PHASE

54. Easy chore : CAKEWALK

58. Welcoming rings : LEIS. So happy that they're now married.

60. Actor Kinski : KLAUS. Crossing 60. Pink Nintendo icon : KIRBY. The crossing K is knotty. I'd go with this KIRBY, of course!

 61. Sporty Nissans : Z-CARS. Not into sports cars, so draw a blank on this entry.

63. Lodge letters : BPOE

64. Sheriff's assistants : DEPUTIES

66. Sierra __ : LEONE

67. Charity's URL ending : ORG

71. Equilibrium : STASIS

78. "Jersey Boys" role : VALLI

79. Bikini blasts, briefly : N-TESTS

80. Like some protein drinks : CHALKY. All crosses. Never had protein drinks.

82. Vocalized "Psst!" : HEY

83. Ford flop : EDSEL

84. Maguire of "Spider-Man" : TOBEY

90. Waffle center? : EFS. Waffle.

93. Permeate : SOAK. Tried SEEP first.

94. Alternatives to fries : TOTS. I call them full name "Tater tots". You?

96. Ripley's closing words : OR NOT

97. GM sticker datum : MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price).

98. RR stop : STN

99. Celestial sci. : ASTR

100. Little burger : SLIDER

101. Natalie's "West Side Story" role : MARIA

105. How gazelles bound : AGILELY

107. "Dang!" : DARN IT. Same root, no?

108. Put out : DOUSED

109. Mistletoe may hang from them : LINTELS. Also a learning moment to me. The empty spot is called LINTEL?

110. Original environment : ROOTS

111. Energetic mount : STEED

112. Reliable : STEADY

 

Down:

1. Canine cousins : MOLARS. I"m seeing the periodontist on Nov 24. My poor teeth!

3. Crime __ : SCENE

4. Facebook links : TAGS. Photo tagging. I don't associate tags with "links".  They actually are. 

5. Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 : IN A. Put in IN?, then waited.

6. Winter time : COLD SNAP

7. Port NE of Canton, OH : ERIE PA

8. B-47, for one : BOMBER

9. Madison et al.: Abbr. : AVEs

10. Racer Fabi : TEO. This has become a gimme.

11. Diminutive : ELFLIKE

12. Deli offerings : WRAPS

13. Very : OH SO. Tricky little words.

14. Start to function? : DYS. Dysfunction.

15. Dubai-based airline : EMIRATES. The answer filled itself.

16. Synthetic used to insulate wet suits : NEOPRENE. Fashion world's new fabric darling.

17. Bug : VIRUS

18. Awe-inspiring : GREAT

20. Kiev's river : DNIEPER. Totally stranger.

23. Absent-minded Milne title character : PIM. Mr. Pim.

26. Immortal first baseman : WHO. "Who's on First?".  I loved this clue so much that I shouted at Boomer who was watching TV downstairs:

Me: Lao Gong, the clue is "Immortal first baseman", three-letter answer,  who's the guy?

Boomer: OTT.

Me: Who?

Boomer: OTT, O-T-T...

31. La __: San Diego resort area : JOLLA

32. Intractable beast : ASS

34. Apple product : IPOD.  The only Apple stuff I have.  

35. Ft. or in. : MEAS (Measurement)

36. Essential __ : OILS

37. In unison : AS ONE

39. Haute couture monogram : YSL

41. Composer Satie et al. : ERIKS. Et this Erik.

Erik Agard

42. Free, as a checking account : NO FEE

43. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior : SEAU

 44. Mountain route : PASS

45. Where Gubbeen Cheese is made: Abbr. : IRE. Never heard of the cheese. I had I?? and figured it might be Italian.

46. Highway warning : FLARE

48. Saxony woodland : WALD. German for "wood". New to me also.

49. High capital : LHASA

50. Risky boot camp response : I CAN'T

51. BHO's predecessor : GWB. Oh, hello, I drew a blank on your initials.

53. Common people : PLEBS

56. Nocturnal Indian primate : LORIS. Oh, hello, I don't know your name.

57. Powder holders : KEGS

59. Hero : SUB

61. Ardor : ZEAL

62. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI

65. Like paint when it's nearly dry : TACKY. Had STICKY first.

66. Texter's guffaw : LOL

69. KOA users : RVers

70. Sisterhood name in a Rebecca Wells novel : YA-YA

71. Regs. : STDs

72. Radio host John : TESH

73. Enzyme ending : ASE

74. Mopes : ACTS SAD

75. What duffers don't expect to do : SHOOT PAR. True for me.

76. Hot, hot pepper : HABANERO. You'll lose your mind eating these peppers.

79. Gray and tan : NEUTRALS

81. Coin in Tirana : LEK

82. Souped-up cars : HOT RODS

86. Like an ideal negotiation : NO-LOSE

87. Complained : GRIPED

88. Done : ENDED

89. Sturgeon delicacy : ROE

91. Ruffled : FRILLY

92. Renders unproductive? : SPAYS. Nailed it.

94. Some NCOs : TSGTS (Technical Sergeants). SSGTS fit the clue also. So you have to wait.

95. Plains tribe : OTO

97. European island nation : MALTA

99. Have __: lose it : A FIT

100. "Adventures in Babysitting" co-star : SHUE. Again, the answer filled in itself.

101. Cry under a pop-up : MINE

103. Plastic __ Band : ONO

104. Ellipsis element : DOT

106. "Scram, ya varmint!" : GIT

 

So I finally got my enhanced ID yesterday. It looks the same as my last driver's license, but with an American flag to the right of Class D. I needed birth certificate, my citizenship papers and some tax return stuff. All forms have to be original.

Boomer is still waiting for his, after several visits to the place. He lost his SSN card some time ago, and just did not have the correct document.

Do you have enhanced IDs in your state?

C.C.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme: "therein lies a tale" - to paraphrase Shakespeare.

18A. Ruthless adversary : MORTAL ENEMY

27A. Serious software problem : FATAL ERROR. Dreaded blue screen.

39A. '60s-'70s "Hollywood Squares" semi-regular : RUTA LEE. Her website.

49A. Wisenheimer : SMART ALECK

62A. Truth known only to a few ... and a hint to a word hidden in 18-, 27-, 39- and 49-Across : INSIDE STORY

Argyle here. A little twist; a synonym for STORY is what's hidden in the theme entries. All three ways to split TALE are used with two and two in the center. A step up from Monday.

Across:

1. Attorneys' degs. : JDs. (Juris Doctor)

4. Clipper or Laker, briefly : NBAer. Basketball player.

9. Up to now : SO FAR

14. Sup : EAT

15. Get up : ARISE

16. Jigsaw puzzle unit : PIECE

17. Norse war god : TYR

20. Planting ground : SOIL

22. Have debts : OWE

23. Joints often sprained : ANKLES

24. Words before card or lock : PICK A. Any card.

26. Precious : CUTE

30. "Rats!" : "DANG!"

34. Hyundai luxury model : AZERA. Currently the AZERA slots between the midsize Sonata and the Genesis sedan. Car and Driver were not impressed. Story.

35. Victor's cry : I WIN

37. Besides : TOO

38. Actress Hagen : UTA. Bio.

42. __ bind: stuck : IN A. The Devil was in a bind when he down to Georgia.

43. Video game letters : NES. (Nintendo Entertainment System)

44. Circular imperfection in wood : KNOT

45. Slip-on shoes : PUMPS. Jimmy Choo's idea of pumps.

47. One with a killer serve : ACER

52. Obsessed whaler captain : AHAB

54. Boating stopover : ISLET

55. Half of the hip-hop duo Black Star : MOS DEF

58. Certain NCO : SGT.

59. Billions of years : EONS

65. Agcy. with narcs : DEA. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

66. Mark with a sale price, say : RETAG

67. Greek goddesses of the seasons : HORAE. ( literally translated as "the hours")

68. Vex : IRK

69. Airline seat choice : AISLE

70. Hinged fasteners : HASPS

71. McMahon and Sullivan : EDs

Down:

1. One of two MetLife Stadium NFL teams : JETS. The other's the Giants.

2. Belafonte hit : DAY O. (The Banana Boat Song)

3. Erotic dance : STRIP TEASE

4. "Platoon" war zone : NAM

5. WWI era English poet Rupert : BROOKE. Bio.

6. High-flying battles : AIR WAR

7. East, in Mexico : ESTE

8. "Michael Collins" actor Stephen : REA

9. Exhausted : SPENT

10. Made a pig of oneself? : OINKED

11. Have a hunch : FEEL

12. Summit : ACME

13. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George : REYS. Margret and H. A. Rey

19. Doctor House portrayer Hugh : LAURIE. More links please.

21. Prevaricator : LIAR

25. Lewis' partner : CLARK. Can you believe I drew a blank here?

26. Monastic hood : COWL

27. Flora's partner : FAUNA

28. Ancient Mexican : AZTEC

29. Rodeo rope : RIATA

31. Life-ending season in Ecclesiastes : A TIME TO DIE

32. Socially insensitive, in a way : NON-PC

33. "__ your mother" : GO ASK

36. Tibet neighbor : NEPAL

40. More than a little risky : UNSAFE

41. Mausoleum : TOMB

46. 1997 movie beekeeper : ULEE

48. Tire type : RADIAL

50. Hardships : RIGORS

51. Letter-shaped shoe fastener : T-STRAP

53. Line of shrubbery : HEDGE

55. Juan's "Look!" : "¡MIRA!"

56. "Dedicated to the __ Love" : ONE I

57. Grounded fast planes, briefly : SSTs. (Supersonic transport)

58. Spartan promenade : STOA

60. Techie, stereotypically : NERD

61. Fifth Avenue retailer : SAKS

63. Librarian's rebuke : "SHH!"

64. "Amen!" : "YES!". The end. After my write-up I realize this is harder than I originally thought.

           Dang me! I forgot to color the center TALE.

Argyle

Note from Mike Peluso:

"Joe Krozel helped me design the grid. It was quite tricky with a 7-letter word right in the middle, and I was having no luck designing the grid. I e-mailed Joe and he was happy to help me, and I was able to complete the puzzle. Thanks, Joe!"

Tuesday, June 2, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme:  SPIT IT OUT. The first word can precede TALKING.

4. *Round before the Elite Eight : SWEET SIXTEEN. Sweet talking. Elite Eight are the eight final teams in the NCAA regional finals or national quarterfinals.

6. *Ball carrier's maneuver depicted by the Heisman Trophy : STRAIGHT ARM. Straight talking.

26. *Two over par : DOUBLE BOGEY. Double talking.

23. Pundits ... and what the first words in the answers to starred clues literally are : TALKING HEADS

Four wrong answers snagged me until I got those untangled, aside from that, very do-able, just right for a Tuesday. 

melissa here.

Across:

1. Tostitos dip : SALSA

6. #, in music : SHARP

11. Swabbing need : MOP

14. Makes furrows in fields : PLOWS

15. Universal donor's group : TYPE O

16. Sports drink suffix : ADE

17. Roof overhangs : EAVES

18. Check the total of : RE-ADD.  Tried ADDED first.

19. Musician's booking : GIG

20. Gallic gal pal : AMIE.  Tried LASS first.

21. Paving goo : TAR

22. Adorable ones : CUTIES

24. Thor Heyerdahl's raft : KON-TIKI. I had no idea of this interesting story.

26. Lady of Lisbon : DONA. Portuguese title of address equivalent to Mrs. or Madam.

27. Beijing skyline haze : SMOG. Awful.

28. Home of the Raiders : OAKLAND

32. Video game brother : MARIO

35. High, in the French Alps : HAUT

37. Swiss painter Paul : KLEE. Very recognizable and colorful style.

38. Green card in the credit world : AMEX

39. Wild guesses : STABS

40. Brainchild : IDEA

41. Breathe heavily : PANT. Tried GASP first.

42. Hair clipper brand : WAHL

43. Twist into knots : GNARL. Tried BRAID first.

44. More vertical : STEEPER

46. Periodical with a URL : E-MAG

48. Oater actor Jack : ELAM

49. Chess pieces that move only diagonally : BISHOPS

53. Venus, e.g. : PLANET

56. Dress for success, with "up" : TOG.  If this is common crosswordese, I didn't remember. So out of practice.

57. Gardner of mystery : ERLE. 

58. Old nuclear agcy. : AEC

59. Repair, as faulty software : DEBUG

61. Morocco's capital : RABAT

62. Pixar collectible : CEL

63. Loon kin : GREBE

64. Official command : EDICT

65. Nonstandard product-tracking no. : SKU. Stock Keeping Unit.

66. College paper : ESSAY

67. "Bone" prefix : OSTEO

Down:

1. Command to Fido : SPEAK

2. "Drive Happy" rental company : ALAMO

3. "Good __": 1966 Young Rascals hit : LOVIN

5. Biblical mount : ASS

7. Martha of "Some Came Running" : HYER. 1959 Movie.

8. Therapists' org. : APA. American Psychological Association.

9. Revolutionary soldiers : REDCOATS

10. Middle-of-nowhere town : PODUNK

11. Star-struck trio? : MAGI.  Nice clue.

12. Drooly toon dog : ODIE

13. Cribbage pieces : PEGS

21. Bout decision : TKO

25. Texter's "I think ..." : IMO. "In My Opinion."

29. "M*A*S*H" star : ALDA. Hawkeye Pierce. IMO, Radar is the most endearing character. 

30. At no time, in poems : NE'ER.  Fare thee well, for ne'er shall we meet again ...

31. Negotiation ender : DEAL. Sneaky clue.

32. Plans (out) : MAPS

33. Amo, amas, __ : AMAT

34. Philosopher Descartes : RENE

36. Contented sigh : AAH

39. Cool weather clothes : SWEATERS

43. Fun time : GAS

45. Telethon promise : PLEDGE

47. Russian fighter : MIG

50. Heavenly path : ORBIT

51. "Peyton __" : PLACE

52. Spat : SET-TO. Got hung up here, thinking of Spat as a verb. The first T, crossing RABAT was my last to fill in. 

53. Lobbying orgs. : PACS

54. Scallion kin : LEEK

55. First Amendment defender: Abbr. : ACLU

56. Oom-pah maker : TUBA

60. Wanna-__: pretenders : BE'S

61. Popular Roaring Twenties auto : REO

melissa

Sunday, May 17, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Elements of Style" - Each element is replaced by its atomic symbol.

22A. Pirate once portrayed by Orson Welles : LONG JOHN AG. Long John Silver.

24A. Relative of the Marquis and Montclair : HG MONTEREY. Mercury Monterey. It's a bit tricky to fill the area cleanly with this type of HGM* cluster of consonants.

47A. Annoying with trivialities : NI AND DIMING. Nickel-and-diming.

67A. Electronics tool : SOLDERING FE. Soldering iron.

90A. "Quit dilly-dallying!" : GET THE PB OUT. Get the lead out.

114A. Cartoonist known for his intricate contraptions : RUBE AUBERG. Rube Goldberg.

118A. Music publishing nickname : SN PAN ALLEY. Tin Pan Alley.

35D. Kesselring comedy about the murderous Brewster sisters : AS AND OLD LACE. Arsenic and Old Lace.

40D. Dickens classic : DAVID CUFIELD. David Copperfield.

So when did you grok the theme? I cottoned onto the gimmick early on, but I did not remember some of chemical symbols. So I struggled a bit.

Lots of theme material in today's grid. Nine theme entries with 97 dedicated squares. Mike could have skipped the middle 11 and gone with eight entries & 86 squares (Rich's minimum is 84), but he's not one to take the easy way out. And he's a skilled grid builder.

  

Today's puzzle reminds me of this huge periodic table George Barany showed us when we toured their chemistry department (University of Minnesota) last winter. You can even touch some of the elements.

Across:       

1. Light wood : BALSA

6. Purged : RID. So is OFF.

9. Tray contents : ASHES

14. "High Voltage" band : AC/DC. I was confused by the ACD* start in Kevin's puzzle last Thursday.

18. With 108-Down, tired comment : I NEED. And 108. See 18-Across : A NAP

19. "O mio babbino __": Puccini aria : CARO

20. Speed : TEMPO

21. It's sometimes held in a deli : MAYO. I saw Wasabi mayo in our local grocery store.

26. Genesis twin : ESAU

27. Enjoys an afternoon snack, across the pond : TAKES TEA

29. Old Burma neighbor : SIAM

30. Paradise : EDEN

32. Defense secretary under Nixon : LAIRD (Melvin). Not familiar with the guy. Nixon looks happy in this picture.

34. Pond sounds : CROAKS. Frogs.

38. Shake : DODDER

41. Autobahn rollers : OPELS

43. Some MIT grads : EEs

45. "Got it" : I SEE

46. Co-star of Janeane in "The Truth About Cats & Dogs" : UMA. I like the movie. Just couldn't get into Uma's "Pulp Fiction".

50. Inside information? : X-RAYS

51. __ ordo seclorum: Great Seal words : NOVUS. Latin for "New order of the ages". Such a gap between "age" & "seclorum".

53. Rural expanses : LEAS

54. Smoke source : STACK

56. Sask. neighbor : NWT (Northwest Territories). Unknown abbr. to me.

57. Quiet : NOISELESS

59. Composer Saint-Saëns : CAMILLE.  "Danse Macabre".

61. Forest female : DOE

62. Rash type : DARER

63. The Dodgers' Yasiel Puig, for one : CUBAN. Harrowing journey to the US. Every immigrant has a story to tell.

64. Accompany : ESCORT

66. It may be applied: Abbr. : SCI

71. Honorary legal deg. : LLD

72. Sites for sweaters? : SAUNAS. Sweat-ers.

74. Say "ma'am," say : ELIDE

75. Syrian president : ASSAD. Maybe it's better that he's still in power.

77. E.T. from Melmac : ALF

78. With an edge : TESTILY

80. Grainy course : RICE PILAF. Simple & tasty clue.  I like my rice bland though.

84. Him, in Le Havre : LUI

85. Shortens : TRIMS

86. Grassy cluster : TUFT

87. Gulf State native : OMANI

88. Skipped Denny's, say : ATE IN. Do you like Denny's?

94. CCV doubled : CDX. 410.

95. Target of a military press : DELT

96. Bigeye tuna : AHI

97. 10-Down creation : WIMPY. And 10. "Thimble Theatre" creator : SEGAR. I totally blanked on the creator. We also have 98. Friend of 97-Across : POPEYE

100. Attaches : ADDS ON

102. Civil rights org. : NAACP

104. File __ : MENU

105. Coastal raptor : ERNE

107. When some seafood is available : IN SEASON. Miss fresh seafood.

110. 1987 "Crying" duettist with Orbison : LANG (K. D.). Gimme for Argyle.

120. Tiny particle : ATOM

121. Morning staple for some : LATTE

122. Sharp-tasting : TART

123. More fetching : CUTER

124. Thriller set in the seaside town of Amity : JAWS

125. Hair net : SNOOD

126. One of two Mad rivals : SPY. Oh. "Spy vs. Spy".

127. VP before Nelson : SPIRO

Down:

 1. Acrimony : BILE

2. Yucatán years : ANOS

3. Singer Horne : LENA

4. Naturally followed : SEGUED

5. Sm., med. or lge. : ADJ. Of course I was thinking of Sizes.

6. Standing : RANK

7. "Dies __" : IRAE

8. Iditarod conveyances : DOG SLEDS

9. State of disbelief? : ATHEISM. Great clue. I'm still in a state of disbelief.

11. "Let me see ..." : HMM

12. "Aeneid," for one : EPOS. Learned from doing xwords.

13. Thunder predecessors : SONICS. Seattle Sonics relocated to Oklahoma City in 2008.

14. Autobiographical subtitle : A MEMOIR

15. Elevator feature : CAR

16. Color : DYE

17. Like one saying "Moi?" : COY

19. Detective fond of aphorisms : CHAN (Charlie). Chan = Chen. Same character in Chinese. Chan is the Cantonese spelling. So you know just from the name that Jackie Chan is from Hong Kong where Cantonese is spoken.

23. Funny Cheri : OTERI

25. Salt : TAR

28. Anklebones : TALI

31. Worse, as fog : DENSER

33. Making an impression : DENTING

36. Google entry : KEYWORD. Type in Tilt in your Google search and see what happens.

37. Six-line sonnet section : SESTET

38. Brooks' singing partner : DUNN

39. "Typee" sequel : OMOO

41. Most of a deceptive wad : ONES. I got via crosses. Dumb!

42. Apples, sometimes : PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants)

44. Alike, to Pascal : EGAL

48. 1999-2004 Olds : ALERO

49. "What __?": Twain dialogue : IS MAN

50. Sporty Jags : XKEs

52. Bolt of Jamaica : USAIN. Fastest man on earth.

55. Idle colleague : CLEESE (John). Eric Idle. Another great clue. John Cleese had a fantastic interview with Fresh Air last winter.

58. Inferior : LESSER

59. Like cottage cheese : CURDY

60. Rose's title partner : ABIE. Abie's Irish Rose.

63. Provide with a roof : CEIL. Don't see this verb often. 

65. It may be filed : CLAIM

66. Showed respect, in a way : SALUTED

68. Rapper's demand : LET ME IN. Of course I was thinking of the singer "Rapper". Here it refers to "knock on the door" rap.

69. Hardly paparazzi quarry : D LIST

70. De __: actual : FACTO

72. Brand named for an old Indian tea garden : SALADA. Did not know this trivia.

73. Envelope abbr. : ATTN

76. Precise : SPOT ON

79. [Alas!] : SIGH

80. Kentucky's __ Arena : RUPP. Name after their basketball coach Adolph Rupp. 

81. "One __ land, ..." : IF BY

82. Barney's boss : ANDY. "The Andy Griffith Show"

83. Idée __ : FIXE

86. Storms : TEMPESTS

89. Evidently : IT SEEMS

91. Performed like Buck Owens : TWANGED

92. Minute Maid drinks : HI-Cs

93. Ivy League sch. : U PENN. We have two kids here in Mpls who were accepted by all the Ivy League schools.

96. Invalidates : ANNULS

99. Come to a halt : PULL UP

101. Vivaldi's hour : ORA

103. __-surface missile : AIR TO

104. Protective trench : MOAT

106. '60s Israeli deputy prime minister : EBAN (Abba)

109. Agile : SPRY. One of Boomer's bowling buddy is 92 years old. Still rocks his motorcycle.

111. Some choristers : ALTI

112. Elided adverb : NE'ER

113. Lamb sandwich : GYRO. Gosh, I feel like my screen is still tilted.

114. "The Big Bang Theory" astrophysicist : RAJ

115. Hagen of the stage : UTA

116. Hair accessory : BOW

117. Eisenhower's WWII purview : ETO

119. Carrier units, briefly : ACs

Jazzbumpa sent me these two beautiful pictures from her mom's 94th birthday dinner yesterday. Does your mom solve crosswords, Ron?

Ron, his sister Pat and their Mom

Ron's mom (standing) with her twin sister