Theme: - "Oh, No!" - O is removed from a common phrase with an OU bigram.
23A. "$%*#& computer!"? : CRASH CURSE. Crash course.
25A. Spillane's inspiration? : MICKEY MUSE. Micky mouse. Mickey Spillane.
54A. Like PETA members? : DOWN ON ALL FURS. Down on all fours.
83A. Sugar daddy? : FUNDING FATHER. Founding father.
112A. Keyboard technique suggested by the instruction "attacca"? : PIANO LUNGE. Piano lounge. John is a pianist.
116A. Well-mannered sisters? : PROPER NUNS. Proper nouns.
37D. "Thanks, Pierre, nice mug!"? : MERCI, BEAU CUP. Merci beaucoup. A rare word split, but John's OU to O candidates are very limited. You'll know when you try this approach.
42D. Short anchor? : CURT REPORTER. Court reporter.
Of the 8 entries, 2 have O's removed from the first word. Quite consistent.
Naturally it's a pangram grid (every letter is used at least once) & cheater free & full of fun clues, John's hallmarks.
This
puzzle also has lots of sparkly long fill. Just look at the left
quadrant alone: OKAY BY ME, SQUEEZE IN, BARE SKIN, STEAMY & SABBATH.
All done without any cheater. Incredible craftsmanship.
Across:
1. Fix things : ATONE
6. Egret kin seen in hieroglyphs : IBIS. He is a picture John took. He said it's "American White Ibis, hunting for aquatic prey".
10. "Paw" on "The Beverly Hillbillies" : JED
13. Courage : METTLE
19. Give room for growth, as seedlings : RE-POT
20. Slacker's word : CAN'T. And 22. Slacker's lack : ENERGY
21. Program file extension : EXE
27. Networking, maybe : ON-LINE. The first time I went on line is 1999. How about you?
28. Predictions affected by storms, briefly : ETAs
30. Dance step : TOE TAP
31. Fancy wheels : ROLLS
33. Apt name for a truck driver? : MAC. Oh, Mack truck.
35. Wagner's "__ Rheingold" : DAS
36. ER part: Abbr. : EMER
40. Armor-breaking weapon : MACE
43. "Sure" : OKAY BY ME. Lovely entry.
46. Sherlock's adversary Adler : IRENE. River Doc just mentioned her yesterday.
47. Add to a busy schedule : SQUEEZE IN. Another great entry.
50. Prior to A.D. : BCE
51. Some OPEC ministers : QATARIS
53. It's about 10% larger than Australia : EUR
57. Fresno campus inits. : CSU (California State University)
58. Birch flower clusters : CATKINS
60. Pigged out : ATE A TON. I can eat a ton of rice noodle rolls.
61. __ of fare : BILL
62. Mechanical learning : ROTE
63. Way up : HIGH
65. "No way!" : NOT ON A BET
67. Takedown expert? : STENO. Great clue.
69. Sculls : OARS
70. Father : SIRE
71. Mr. Rogers and others : FREDS
72. Flash mob? : PAPARAZZI. Look at the crossings. So clean.
74. Tear : REND. Verb "tear".
75. Goya's "The Duchess of __" : ALBA
76. Bygone theaters : RKOS
77. Antlered Eurasians : ROE DEER
79. The 2006 novel "Hannibal Rising," for one : PREQUEL. Never saw it. Must be the prequel to "The Silence of the Lambs".
82. "__ durn tootin'!" : YER
86. 1880s pres. monogram : CAA. Chester Alan Arthur.
87. Interweave : ENTWINE
89. Actress Hagen : UTA
90. More than dull : DRY AS DUST
92. Mug at a bar : STEIN. I like this clue also.
93. Detect intuitively : SMELL OUT
95. Fencing tool : EPEE
96. On the fence : TORN
97. __ room : REC
99. Old touring car : REO
100. Sniggler : EELER
103. Kitschy garden figures : GNOMES
106. Scary contest : DUEL
108. Where to find baked blackbirds : IN A PIE. I once had IN A RUG in a grid. Rich said it's a partial.
118. Drawing power : ALLURE
119. When Le Havre gets hot : ETE
120. Rain-deflecting aid : EAVE
121. Grimm baddies : OGRES
122. Cleaver : MEAT AX
123. Leb. neighbor : ISR
124. One in a flight : STEP
125. 2013 Daytime Emmy winner Gibbons : LEEZA
Down:
1. Violist's direction : ARCO. "With the bow". Learned it from doing xwords.
2. "One good __ deserves another": birder's quip : TERN. Fun clue.
3. Aussie gem : OPAL
4. "Fat chance!" : NO SIREE
5. Centric opening : ETHNO
6. "ER" setting : ICU
7. Nudist's covering? : BARE SKIN. Nice clue/answer. Have you ever been to a nude beach?
8. Technical sch. : INST
9. Hot and heavy : STEAMY
10. Atticus Finch's son : JEM
11. Way out : EXIT
12. Figure out : DECODE
13. Boy-girl link : MEETS. Boy meets Girl.
14. Grammy-winning Celtic musician : ENYA
15. Andrew Wyeth medium : TEMPERA. This word is so close to Tempura.
16. "__ Calling": 2000s Eliza Dushku TV series : TRU. Never heard of it.
17. Optimus F3 cellphones : LGs
18. Batting organ : EYE. Here is another photo from John. He said: "The compound eye of a Crane Fly, which is approximately 1 mm in diameter".
24. Frame of Bugs, e.g. : CEL. 55. Bugs : NAGS.
26. Mauna __ : KEA
29. Holy day : SABBATH
32. Chain with popcorn : LOEWS
34. Bike : CYCLE
38. Like Crusoe : ENISLED. Only in xwords.
39. Outcomes : RESULTS
40. 1/60,000 of a min. : MSEC
41. Cyan shade : AQUA
44. "Wheel" purchase : AN "O"
45. Biological pigment : MELANIN
46. Commonly mistyped word : IT'S. I mistyped THE more often.
48. Piece polisher : EDITOR
49. Region : ZONE
51. Repeat exactly : QUOTE
52. New Yorker cartoonist Peter : ARNO
56. Former Calif. base : FT. ORD
59. Hawaiian storms : KONAS. I only know Kona the coffee.
61. Backyard Jul. 4 event : BAR-B-Q
63. Obscured : HAZED
64. Metal named for a blue line in its spectrum : IRIDIUM. Does this word have the same root as Blue Iris? (Added later: The Across Lite clue is: Metal named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow.)
66. Jags or Vikes : NFLers. Star Tribune has lots of coverage on the new head coach for the Vikings.
67. Most nimble : SPRYEST
68. Fallen for : TAKEN TO
69. Protective layer : OZONE
70. One whose efforts were feudal : SERF. What a great clue! Futile.
73. Have __ of good luck : A RUN
74. Entertained : REGALED
75. Field : AREA
78. Key with an arrow : ENTER. Does your SHIFT have an arrow also?
79. Neo- or bryo- ender : PHYTE
80. Comfort : EASE
81. Overdue : LATE
83. Dart part : FIN. Don't play darts. No idea on FIN.
84. Flap : ADO
85. Soul mate : TRUE LOVE. Hope Splynter finds his soon.
88. Hand-tightened fastener : WING NUT. We had this entry a few years ago, and the constructor is ???. Guess!
91. Make bananas? : DERANGE. So many nice clues today.
93. Curtain-raising time : SCENE I
94. Watchmakers' aids : LOUPES
97. Pricey watch : ROLEX
98. Avian Aussie : EMU
101. Concern in the rough : LIE. Golf.
102. Join, in London : ENROL. We use Enroll.
104. __ Barnacle, wife of James Joyce : NORA. Gimme for Misty, our expert on James Joyce.
105. Snorkel et al.: Abbr. : SGTS
107. Q.E.D. part : ERAT
109. Utter : PURE
110. R&B singer Foxx : INEZ. Not a familiar name to me.
111. She, in Salerno : ESSA
112. Spray in the pantry : PAM
113. Seine sight : ILE
114. Bit of culinary jargon : A LA
115. Bard's adverb : E'ER
117. Spirit : PEP
C.C.
