google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Jun 22, 2014

Sunday June 22, 2014 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" - Long E sound is changed into short O or "Ah" sound.

23A. Clancy explaining the spelling of his name? : THERE IS NO "I" IN TOM - There is no "I" in team. Tom Clancy would have confused me if he did explain so.

38A. Victoria's Secret seasonal line? : SUMMER BRAS. Summer breeze.

64A. Trading Clue, Monopoly, Life and Boggle? : FOUR-GAME SWAP. Four game sweep. World Series.

75A. Monastery grounds? : LAND OF THE FRA. Land of the free.

98A. Bathrooms decorated in denim? : LEVI'S JOHNS. Levi's Jeans.

116A. Character in "Satanic Star Trek"? : SPOCK OF THE DEVIL. Speak of the devil.

17D. Gorgeous farm gal feeding the pigs? : SLOPPING BEAUTY.  Sleeping Beauty.

49D. Stain left by a pool disinfectant? : CHLORINE BLOTCH. Chlorine bleach.
 
I hope I got the theme correctly. Sound change gimmick is always hard for me. I don't have problem with consonants or long vowel sound. It's those short ones that bother me, esp short E and short A. I pronounce "bad" & bed" the same.
 
Mike Peluso is a language expert. He taught French, German, Spanish and Latin at high school level. 
 
Today's grid is hard to fill. Look at the 18 7-letter entries alone! 6 pairs are stacked along the edges, intersecting at least 3 answers of 6-, 7- or 8- letter long. And a 140-worder. You rock, Mike!

The clue for  PASS GO (19D) should be "Round the Boardwalk corner". Cruciverb has "Round the Broadway corner". 
 
Across:

1. Favoring Mideast unity : PAN-ARAB. I wanted PRO-ARAB, but 2D said "No" immediately.

8. Jungle chopper : MACHETE

15. Creator of a cocky hare : AESOP

20. One who stole from thieves : ALI BABA. Also China's biggest e-commerce company.

21. Like spring jackets : UNLINED

22. __ fast one : PULL A

25. Walks heavily : PLODS

26. Costa __ : RICA

27. It's nothing to Hollande : RIEN. It's human nature to sin. God can't help us.


28. B followers : CDE

29. Blue gem, briefly : LAPIS

30. Provo neighbor : OREM

31. CXXII x V : DCX. 610.

32. 1978 film based on a Harold Robbins novel : THE BETSY. Never saw the film.


36. Square problem? : PEG. Nice clue.

37. Many OCS grads : LTS (Lieutenants)

40. Soup with a bento : MISO. You won't find Miso soup inside a Bento box though. Bento is for cold food. Miso is hot.

41. Run on : GAB

44. Sonora Mrs. : SRA

45. Like adobe : EARTHEN

47. One leading a Spartan lifestyle : ASCETIC

51. Barely move : INCH

54. Serenaded : SANG TO

57. Distinguished types : SCHOLARS

59. Bite-size appetizer : PUPU.  Pu-pu platter.

62. Treasury secretary under Clinton : RUBIN (Robert). From Wiki: He received more than $126 million in cash and stock during his tenure at Citigroup. 

63. Bear's cry : SELL

69. Photo lab process: Abbr. : ENL

70. First album in a Green Day trilogy : UNO. News to me. The ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy.


71. Pro Football Hall of Famer Nagurski : BRONKO. Unknown figure.


72. Chances to golf with Mickelson or McIlroy : PRO-AMS. Yes to Mickelson. What a  gentleman!

73. Salty assent : AYE. The sailor "salt". And 34D. Salt : TAR

74. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER

77. I'm-here link : OUTA. I use "outta".

78. Susan's "All My Children" role : ERICA

80. Sailing, perhaps : ASEA

81. Attacker of Athens, per Plato : ATLANTIS

83. Type A, often : DYNAMO

85. Reddish horse : ROAN

88. [Headslap] : SILLY ME!

89. Spewed out : EGESTED

93. Itinerary word : VIA

95. Nevada city on US 50 : ELY. What's it famous for?

96. Melville title starter : MOBY

102. Four in a gal. : QTS. I did not see the . after gal.

105. Rose of rock : AXL. Of Guns N' Roses.

106. Cabbage side : COLE SLAW

107. Word with order or reel : GAG

109. Exec : SUIT

110. Rhone tributary : SAONE

112. Prez, to GIs : CIC. We just had this in Splynter's post yesterday: Commander In Chief.

113. Latin 101 verb : ESSE

114. Mozart's "__ kleine Nachtmusik" : EINE

115. Choir voices : ALTOS

120. Legal decrees : DICTA

121. Tiny stinger : FIRE ANT

122. How many a management group is trained : AS A TEAM. Oh, I read "How many" as a unit. Don't. Split it. 

123. One of Israel's 12 tribes : ASHER

124. Spoons : CUDDLES

125. "Don't beat around the bush!" : YES OR NO

Down:

1. Keep the beat? : PATROL. Another nice clue.

2. "Sugar Lips" trumpeter : AL HIRT

3. Holiday visitors, perhaps : NIECES

4. Garfield's middle name : ABRAM

5. Nunavut's __ Strait, named for an explorer : RAE. Named for John Rae.

6. "__ in the hand ..." : A BIRD

7. ABCs : BASICS

8. Subatomic particle : MUON

9. Singer DiFranco : ANI

10. "Hot enough for ya?," e.g. : CLICHE

11. Block : HINDER. Deluge in our area due to the excessive rain. Luckily the plumber arrived in time last week, otherwise, our basement might be totally flooded.

12. 1976 airport raid site : ENTEBBE

13. Formula One racer Fabi : TEO

14. Oilers, on NHL scoreboards : EDM (Edmonton)

15. Be relevant : APPLY

16. Faulkner vixen Varner : EULA. So hard to remember her name.

18. Many playlist entries : OLDIES

24. Connecting point : NEXUS. Or what's in D-Otto's hand.

32. Still destroyer : T-MAN. I googled and found out "Still" refers to the "Distilling device".

33. Many a presidential term, historically : ERA. Clinton era, e.g.

35. Bygone fliers : SSTS

39. It may be done on one foot : MRI. I was thinking of some tricky Yoga maneuver. Can you do this, Marti?


40. File __ : MENU

41. Natural sci. : GEOL

42. The pond, in the U.K. : ATL

43. Former Nigerian secessionist state : BIAFRA. No idea. Wiki said it existed from 1967 to 1970, "taking its name from the Bight of Biafra (the Atlantic bay to its south)".

46. Strings with pedals : HARPS

47. Fictitious : ASSUMED

48. Attraction for shutterbugs : SCENERY

50. Sing like Bing : CROON

52. One for whom Apr. is the cruelest month? : CPA. Fun clue.

53. Disgruntled word : HUMPH

55. Father of Tulip Victoria : TINY TIM. Never heard of Tulip Victoria.

56. Like most fleet cars : ON LEASE

58. __ Islands: Malay Archipelago group : SUNDA. So, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Timor are all part of the chain. Good to know.

60. Mari de la mère : PERE. Mari = Husband.

61. Lady Liberty's land, proudly : US OF A

65. Bygone theaters : RKOs

66. Menial helper : GOFER

67. __ and all : WARTS

68. Charlotte __ : AMALIE. Capital of the Virgin Islands.

71. Find fault with : BLAME

76. Eastern ideal : TAO. Literally "way". Spelled as "Dao" in Mandarin.

77. No more than : ONLY

79. Sly : CAGY

82. Every one : ALL

84. Scandinavian capital : OSLO

86. Declare frankly : AVOW

87. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH

90. __ Aviv : TEL

91. Apple consumer : EVE. I like this clue also.

92. Strife : DISCORD

94. Teen phase, often : ANGST

96. Israeli desert fortification : MASADA. I bet this is a gimme for Hahtoola, Yellowrocks  & Lucina.

97. Wood sorrel genus : OXALIS. We had this before. Some articles says it's tart and tasty, and that the Algonquin Indians considered it an aphrodisiac.



99. Cut through : SLICED

100. Canine predator : JACKAL

101. Walk casually : SASHAY. Hi there Lucina!

102. Shake : QUIVER

103. Strategic WWII island in the Northern Marianas : TINIAN. Total stranger to me.

104. High seas patron : ST. ELMO

106. Activist Chavez : CESAR

108. Monogamous waterfowl : GEESE

109. Take care of : SEE TO

111. Take heed : NOTE

113. Young newts : EFTS

116. Army E-7: Abbr. : SFC

117. More, on a score : PIU. Italian for "more".

118. 1300 hours : ONE

119. German article : DAS

Hope to see some of you at the third Minnesota Crossword Tournament this afternoon.
  
C.C.