Theme: Just One of Those
23A: Wish me luck!: HERE GOES NOTHING
34A: Stop what you're doing: DROP EVERYTHING
55A: Vigorously: LIKE ANYTHING
80A: No holds barred: ANYTHING GOES
94A: All the bells and whistles: EVERYTHING ON IT
114A: Not directed at you: NOTHING PERSONAL
16D: A Skeleton in the closet: SOMETHING TO HIDE
43D: Approximate age: THIRTYSOMETHING
Out of those 8 theme answers, I had trouble understanding 80A & 55A. "No holds barred" was not a familiar phrase to me. I might have heard of the expression "LIKE ANYTHING" before, but I had never bothered to check what it means.
I go to dictionary for help only if the new word is long, complicated and exotic looking. "LIKE ANYTHING" just sounds too simple for me to spend extra energy to find its exact definition. Lots of nuances in English language. That's why sometimes my solving experience differs from yours. These little things often trip me, besides those familiar-to-you but foreign-to-me names (TV series or singers/movie stars).
Anyway, I enjoyed this puzzle. Nothing frustrating. Was very annoyed in the beginning by the repetitions of NOTHING, ANYTHING, SOMETHING & EVERYTHING in the theme answers, musing "Why not construct a 15*15 grid instead by using simply one of the above things". Then I noticed the 180-degree rotational symmetry. Take 23A & 114A for example, they are thematically opposite each other, 23A ends with NOTHING, and 114A starts with NOTHING. Same with the other 3 pairs. Obviously lots of thoughts were given to the construction of this puzzle. And they were noticed and appreciated.
Across:
9A: Twangy guitarist Eddy: DUANE. Unknown to me. Probably a gimme for Melissa/KittyB. He is in Rock and Roll HOF, and is "acclaimed as the most successful rock and roll instrumentalist of all time".
14A: State of India: ASSAM. The tea state.
19A: Acceptable excuse: ALIBI. And 91A: Commit a perjury: LIE
20A: Heat exchanger: CONDENSER. I had no idea that "CONDENSER" is a word.
22A: Replay gimmick: SLO MO
28A: Barnyard fowl: GOOSE. And the Hawaii GOOSE NENE (12D: State bird of Hawaii)
39A: "Raging Bull" boxer: LAMOTTA (Jake). No idea. Have never seen "Raging Bull".
33A: Burgundy wine: PINOT
38A: Daughter of Loki: HEL. Stranger to me. "Goddess of Dead" in Norse myth. Kind of like Hades in Greek I suppose. Another two Nordic references are: 73A: Gudrun's poetic victim: ATLI. Knew "Attila the Hun", but did not know that he had a wife named Gudrun, which sounds like a man's name. Also YMIR (81D: Norse giant).
41A: Chummy: MATEY. Besides the British, I think Australians also use "MATEY" for "Pal".
46A: Italian boyfriend: AMICO. Girlfriend is AMICA.
48A: Turkish title: AGHA
53A: Ecclesiastical council: SYNOD
62A: Like last night's pajamas?: SLEPT IN. Do you really wear pajamas to sleep? I don't, never.
65A: Osprey's cousin: ERN. This is the best picture I've ever fished out of the Google Ocean. Superb!
67A: German-French Dadaist Jean: ARP. And the movement ARP cofounded DADA (107D: Art of the absurd). Very interesting clue. Dadaism itself was not absurd, it just focused on the absurdities in daily life.
69A: Currency exchange fee: AGIO. Foreign to me, and I've changed many different currencies before.
70A: Einstein's field: PHYSICS. I tried SCIENCE first.
75A: Makes more rewarding: ENRICHES
79A: Miss from the highlands: LASS. And more girl power. 117A: Portuguese ladies: DONAS And 41D: Address for a lady is MA'AM.
84A: Laxative derived from aloe: ALOIN. No. Got it from the perps.
88A: Tennis situation: AD IN
90A: Cost of Morocco: RIF. I crossed the River Lethe on this word. Saw this clue before. Great map here. Why is it called Er RIF?
92A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Flowing & flexible & flawless swing, amazing! He had total 82 PGA wins in his career. Another golf related entry is DOG LEG (21D: Fairway bend).
107A: "The Blue __": DAHLIA. Here is the poster. I've never seen the movie. DAHLIA is Mexico's national flower. Just learned earlier that DAHLIA is named after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
109A: Twinned crystal: MACLE. No, unknown to me. I got it from the down clues. What is "Twinned crystal"?
113A: Like an old woman: ANILE
118A: Right to enter: ADMISSION
120A: Gut-wrenching feeling: ANGST. Feel the ANGST? (The Scream - Edvard Much).
122A: Part of PST: STD. I wonder if anyone will object STD appears on a Sunday puzzle. It's an innocent shortened form in this case though.
DOWN:
1D: 1986 Indy winner: RAHAL (Bobby). Not a familiar name to me. Had no idea that he is the co-owner of the RAHAL Letterman Racing team.
3D: U.S. Grant's first name: HIRAM. Wow, who knows?
4D: Penny picture?: ABE. Good one.
5D: Intolerance: BIGOTRY
6D: Frozen region: ICE CAP. Another great picture.
10D: Immoral: UNHOLY
15D: Irish bay: SLIGO. See this map. I've never heard of this bay.
31D: Old music halls: ODEA
29D: Dog's first name: RIN. Dislike this clue. "Dog star" is more apt.
33D: Mountaineer's spikes: PIT-ONS
35D: Overrefined: EFFETE. Are they really interchangable?
40D: Waterproof cloth: LODEN. No idea. Is it really made from sheep wool? How can it be waterproof then?
47D: Nearsighted: MYOPIC
55D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. New to me. Nice photos.
56D: Final innings: NINTHS
60D: Talk of the town: GOSSIP
66D: Endorse: RATIFY
68D: Long John Silver feature: PEG LEG. No idea. I did not know who Long John Silver was until today.
70D: Rio de la ___: PLATA. "Silver' in Spanish.
71D: Bill __ and the Comets: HALEY. I've never heard of Bill HALEY. Are they very famous?
72D: Trapper's traps: SNARES. "Traps" alone is sufficient.
76D: Frisco hill: NOB
92D: Animated Homer or Bart: SIMPSON. No need for "Animated".
95D: Int. broadcasters: VOA
96D: Computer geek: TECHIE
97D: One seeing the whole as greater than the sum of its part: HOLIST. Only familar with the "Holistic approach" in health healing.
98D: Belgian seaport: OSTEND. Unheard of. It's located in West Flanders. They must be speaking Flemish there.
99D: Not e'en once: NE'ER
104D: Song for nine: NONET. Pieced it together from the across clues. ENNEAD was clued as "Group of nine" in yesterday's puzzle.
C.C.
23A: Wish me luck!: HERE GOES NOTHING
34A: Stop what you're doing: DROP EVERYTHING
55A: Vigorously: LIKE ANYTHING
80A: No holds barred: ANYTHING GOES
94A: All the bells and whistles: EVERYTHING ON IT
114A: Not directed at you: NOTHING PERSONAL
16D: A Skeleton in the closet: SOMETHING TO HIDE
43D: Approximate age: THIRTYSOMETHING
Out of those 8 theme answers, I had trouble understanding 80A & 55A. "No holds barred" was not a familiar phrase to me. I might have heard of the expression "LIKE ANYTHING" before, but I had never bothered to check what it means.
I go to dictionary for help only if the new word is long, complicated and exotic looking. "LIKE ANYTHING" just sounds too simple for me to spend extra energy to find its exact definition. Lots of nuances in English language. That's why sometimes my solving experience differs from yours. These little things often trip me, besides those familiar-to-you but foreign-to-me names (TV series or singers/movie stars).
Anyway, I enjoyed this puzzle. Nothing frustrating. Was very annoyed in the beginning by the repetitions of NOTHING, ANYTHING, SOMETHING & EVERYTHING in the theme answers, musing "Why not construct a 15*15 grid instead by using simply one of the above things". Then I noticed the 180-degree rotational symmetry. Take 23A & 114A for example, they are thematically opposite each other, 23A ends with NOTHING, and 114A starts with NOTHING. Same with the other 3 pairs. Obviously lots of thoughts were given to the construction of this puzzle. And they were noticed and appreciated.
Across:
9A: Twangy guitarist Eddy: DUANE. Unknown to me. Probably a gimme for Melissa/KittyB. He is in Rock and Roll HOF, and is "acclaimed as the most successful rock and roll instrumentalist of all time".
14A: State of India: ASSAM. The tea state.
19A: Acceptable excuse: ALIBI. And 91A: Commit a perjury: LIE
20A: Heat exchanger: CONDENSER. I had no idea that "CONDENSER" is a word.
22A: Replay gimmick: SLO MO
28A: Barnyard fowl: GOOSE. And the Hawaii GOOSE NENE (12D: State bird of Hawaii)
39A: "Raging Bull" boxer: LAMOTTA (Jake). No idea. Have never seen "Raging Bull".
33A: Burgundy wine: PINOT
38A: Daughter of Loki: HEL. Stranger to me. "Goddess of Dead" in Norse myth. Kind of like Hades in Greek I suppose. Another two Nordic references are: 73A: Gudrun's poetic victim: ATLI. Knew "Attila the Hun", but did not know that he had a wife named Gudrun, which sounds like a man's name. Also YMIR (81D: Norse giant).
41A: Chummy: MATEY. Besides the British, I think Australians also use "MATEY" for "Pal".
46A: Italian boyfriend: AMICO. Girlfriend is AMICA.
48A: Turkish title: AGHA
53A: Ecclesiastical council: SYNOD
62A: Like last night's pajamas?: SLEPT IN. Do you really wear pajamas to sleep? I don't, never.
65A: Osprey's cousin: ERN. This is the best picture I've ever fished out of the Google Ocean. Superb!
67A: German-French Dadaist Jean: ARP. And the movement ARP cofounded DADA (107D: Art of the absurd). Very interesting clue. Dadaism itself was not absurd, it just focused on the absurdities in daily life.
69A: Currency exchange fee: AGIO. Foreign to me, and I've changed many different currencies before.
70A: Einstein's field: PHYSICS. I tried SCIENCE first.
75A: Makes more rewarding: ENRICHES
79A: Miss from the highlands: LASS. And more girl power. 117A: Portuguese ladies: DONAS And 41D: Address for a lady is MA'AM.
84A: Laxative derived from aloe: ALOIN. No. Got it from the perps.
88A: Tennis situation: AD IN
90A: Cost of Morocco: RIF. I crossed the River Lethe on this word. Saw this clue before. Great map here. Why is it called Er RIF?
92A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Flowing & flexible & flawless swing, amazing! He had total 82 PGA wins in his career. Another golf related entry is DOG LEG (21D: Fairway bend).
107A: "The Blue __": DAHLIA. Here is the poster. I've never seen the movie. DAHLIA is Mexico's national flower. Just learned earlier that DAHLIA is named after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.
109A: Twinned crystal: MACLE. No, unknown to me. I got it from the down clues. What is "Twinned crystal"?
113A: Like an old woman: ANILE
118A: Right to enter: ADMISSION
120A: Gut-wrenching feeling: ANGST. Feel the ANGST? (The Scream - Edvard Much).
122A: Part of PST: STD. I wonder if anyone will object STD appears on a Sunday puzzle. It's an innocent shortened form in this case though.
DOWN:
1D: 1986 Indy winner: RAHAL (Bobby). Not a familiar name to me. Had no idea that he is the co-owner of the RAHAL Letterman Racing team.
3D: U.S. Grant's first name: HIRAM. Wow, who knows?
4D: Penny picture?: ABE. Good one.
5D: Intolerance: BIGOTRY
6D: Frozen region: ICE CAP. Another great picture.
10D: Immoral: UNHOLY
15D: Irish bay: SLIGO. See this map. I've never heard of this bay.
31D: Old music halls: ODEA
29D: Dog's first name: RIN. Dislike this clue. "Dog star" is more apt.
33D: Mountaineer's spikes: PIT-ONS
35D: Overrefined: EFFETE. Are they really interchangable?
40D: Waterproof cloth: LODEN. No idea. Is it really made from sheep wool? How can it be waterproof then?
47D: Nearsighted: MYOPIC
55D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. New to me. Nice photos.
56D: Final innings: NINTHS
60D: Talk of the town: GOSSIP
66D: Endorse: RATIFY
68D: Long John Silver feature: PEG LEG. No idea. I did not know who Long John Silver was until today.
70D: Rio de la ___: PLATA. "Silver' in Spanish.
71D: Bill __ and the Comets: HALEY. I've never heard of Bill HALEY. Are they very famous?
72D: Trapper's traps: SNARES. "Traps" alone is sufficient.
76D: Frisco hill: NOB
92D: Animated Homer or Bart: SIMPSON. No need for "Animated".
95D: Int. broadcasters: VOA
96D: Computer geek: TECHIE
97D: One seeing the whole as greater than the sum of its part: HOLIST. Only familar with the "Holistic approach" in health healing.
98D: Belgian seaport: OSTEND. Unheard of. It's located in West Flanders. They must be speaking Flemish there.
99D: Not e'en once: NE'ER
104D: Song for nine: NONET. Pieced it together from the across clues. ENNEAD was clued as "Group of nine" in yesterday's puzzle.
C.C.
