Theme: White House Insiders - The initials of eight presidents, their number of the presidency indicated in the brackets, are embedded inside each familiar phrase.
23A. *Obligation payable within a year (37): SHORT-TERM NOTE. Richard Milhous Nixon.
38A. *Ceremonial, as Anglican ritual (31): HIGH CHURCH. Herbert Clark Hoover.
54A. *Line dancer? (18): CHORUS GIRL. Ulysses S. Grant. His real first name is Hiram, which appears in crossword occasionally.
75A. *Double martini, e.g. (32): STIFF DRINK. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
92A. *AOL service (44): WEB HOSTING. Barack Hussein Obama.
110A. *Arizona attraction (34): PAINTED DESERT. Dwight David Eisenhower. Ike.
16D. *Hurting for money (33): CASH STRAPPED. Harry S. Truman.
60D. *Aviation pioneer (40): WILBUR WRIGHT. Ronald Wilson Reagan.
84D. Clothing embroidery, maybe, and a hint to finding the "insiders" in the answers to starred clues: MONOGRAM
All of the initials span two words. I don't think it's possible to find phrases containing JFK & LBJ due to their consonant combination.
After seeing the puzzle title and the bracketed numbers in the starred theme clues, I grokked the theme immediately. Unfortunately it did not help my solve much, as I only know the presidency numbers of Obama and Reagan. And I only know the middle initials of FDR, DDE & HST.
A few thorny spots here and there. Overall a very pleasant solve. Great to see Mike Peluso's byline. It's been a long time. The Valentine's Day last Sunday might have bumped Mike's President's Day puzzle to today.
Across:
1. Chatterbox: MAGPIE. Noisy.
7. Seven Sisters school: VASSAR. Jackie Kennedy attended Vassar.
13. PSAT takers: JRS
19. Some L-shaped wrenches: ALLENS. The hexagonal wrenches.
20. Substandard: CRUMMY
21. Moray, say: EEL
22. Palindromic Altar: ARA. Latin for "altar".
25. Visits: STOPS BY
27. PC key: TAB. Would prefer just "Computer key". PC suggests abbreviation. TAB is not.
28. Dutchman who painted "Gypsy Girl": HALS (Frans). Here is the "Gypsy Girl".
29. Blonde bombshell Diana: DORS. Very Marilyn-like.
30. Beauty, to Keats: TRUTH. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty".
31. Illness: MALADY
33. "__ match?": GOT A
34. Two-time U.S. Open champ: AGASSI (Andre). He has such a soft voice.
37. Can, after "is": ABLE TO
42. Turkey, maybe: TOM. Mr. Turkey.
43. Web addresses, briefly: URLS
44. In a few minutes: SOON. So is ANON.
46. Californie, e.g.: ETAT. State. Californie is French for California. We also have Spanish for states ESTADOS (6D. Tejas y Nuevo México, por ejemplo).
47. Span. title: SRTA (Señorita). And MADAME (120A. Frau, in France). Frau is German for Madam.
48. Authority to decide: SAY-SO
50. Kiss, to Luis: BESO. As in Paul Anka's song "Eso Beso" (That Kiss).
53. Tic or twinge: SPASM
57. Use FedEx: SHIP. Thought of MAIL first.
58. Audi rival: BMW
63. Filled French fare: CREPES. Nice alliteration.
66. Eave droppers: ICICLES. Great clue.
68. Mountain man, maybe: LONER. "Deliverance" is a scary movie.
69. Santiago native: CHILEAN. Santiago is the capital of Chile.
70. Synagogue text: TALMUD (TAHL-mood). Literally "instruction" in Hebrew.
71. Leisurely stroll: PASEO. New word to me.
72. Mob enforcer: GOON
74. Auction activities: BIDS
77. When repeated, 1963 hit with alleged obscene lyrics determined by the FBI to be "unintelligible at any speed": LOUIE. Faintly remember someone mentioned "Louie Louie" on the blog before. Sex & drug lyrics, I presume.
80. Come up short: FAIL
81. Self-reproach: SHAME
86. He orbited Earth 314 days before John: YURI (Gagarin)
87. Agreement: PACT
88. Polite rural reply: YES'M
90. Hymn starter: O GOD
91. State so. of Queensland: NSW (New South Wales)
96. Nearby: AROUND
98. Ancient invader of Greece: XERXES. The Persian king. Quite creepy in the movie "300".
100. Remedy: CURE
101. Punic Wars general: SCIPIO (SIP-ee-oh). The Roman general who defeated Hannibal. Stymied me.
102. "Able was __ ...": I ERE I. The famous palindrome "Able was I ere I saw Elba".
104. Woody's son: ARLO (Guthrie)
105. Theodore, to Wally: BEAV. "Leave it to Beaver".
106. L on a tag: Abbr.: LGE (Large). Not fond the clue. Letter repetition.
108. RSVP option: REGRETS
113. Ultimate degree: NTH
114. Old "King" Cole: NAT. Why "Old"?
115. Way of the Romans?: APPIAN. The Appian Way. Ancient Roman road.
116. Genesis peak: ARARAT. Where Noah's Ark landed.
117. Relaxed, in a way: SAT
118. Chicken general?: TSO. General Tso's Chicken.
119. Save: RESCUE
Down:
23A. *Obligation payable within a year (37): SHORT-TERM NOTE. Richard Milhous Nixon.
38A. *Ceremonial, as Anglican ritual (31): HIGH CHURCH. Herbert Clark Hoover.
54A. *Line dancer? (18): CHORUS GIRL. Ulysses S. Grant. His real first name is Hiram, which appears in crossword occasionally.
75A. *Double martini, e.g. (32): STIFF DRINK. Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
92A. *AOL service (44): WEB HOSTING. Barack Hussein Obama.
110A. *Arizona attraction (34): PAINTED DESERT. Dwight David Eisenhower. Ike.
16D. *Hurting for money (33): CASH STRAPPED. Harry S. Truman.
60D. *Aviation pioneer (40): WILBUR WRIGHT. Ronald Wilson Reagan.
84D. Clothing embroidery, maybe, and a hint to finding the "insiders" in the answers to starred clues: MONOGRAM
All of the initials span two words. I don't think it's possible to find phrases containing JFK & LBJ due to their consonant combination.
After seeing the puzzle title and the bracketed numbers in the starred theme clues, I grokked the theme immediately. Unfortunately it did not help my solve much, as I only know the presidency numbers of Obama and Reagan. And I only know the middle initials of FDR, DDE & HST.
A few thorny spots here and there. Overall a very pleasant solve. Great to see Mike Peluso's byline. It's been a long time. The Valentine's Day last Sunday might have bumped Mike's President's Day puzzle to today.
Across:
1. Chatterbox: MAGPIE. Noisy.
7. Seven Sisters school: VASSAR. Jackie Kennedy attended Vassar.
13. PSAT takers: JRS
19. Some L-shaped wrenches: ALLENS. The hexagonal wrenches.
20. Substandard: CRUMMY
21. Moray, say: EEL
22. Palindromic Altar: ARA. Latin for "altar".
25. Visits: STOPS BY
27. PC key: TAB. Would prefer just "Computer key". PC suggests abbreviation. TAB is not.
28. Dutchman who painted "Gypsy Girl": HALS (Frans). Here is the "Gypsy Girl".
29. Blonde bombshell Diana: DORS. Very Marilyn-like.
30. Beauty, to Keats: TRUTH. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty".
31. Illness: MALADY
33. "__ match?": GOT A
34. Two-time U.S. Open champ: AGASSI (Andre). He has such a soft voice.
37. Can, after "is": ABLE TO
42. Turkey, maybe: TOM. Mr. Turkey.
43. Web addresses, briefly: URLS
44. In a few minutes: SOON. So is ANON.
46. Californie, e.g.: ETAT. State. Californie is French for California. We also have Spanish for states ESTADOS (6D. Tejas y Nuevo México, por ejemplo).
47. Span. title: SRTA (Señorita). And MADAME (120A. Frau, in France). Frau is German for Madam.
48. Authority to decide: SAY-SO
50. Kiss, to Luis: BESO. As in Paul Anka's song "Eso Beso" (That Kiss).
53. Tic or twinge: SPASM
57. Use FedEx: SHIP. Thought of MAIL first.
58. Audi rival: BMW
63. Filled French fare: CREPES. Nice alliteration.
66. Eave droppers: ICICLES. Great clue.
68. Mountain man, maybe: LONER. "Deliverance" is a scary movie.
69. Santiago native: CHILEAN. Santiago is the capital of Chile.
70. Synagogue text: TALMUD (TAHL-mood). Literally "instruction" in Hebrew.
71. Leisurely stroll: PASEO. New word to me.
72. Mob enforcer: GOON
74. Auction activities: BIDS
77. When repeated, 1963 hit with alleged obscene lyrics determined by the FBI to be "unintelligible at any speed": LOUIE. Faintly remember someone mentioned "Louie Louie" on the blog before. Sex & drug lyrics, I presume.
80. Come up short: FAIL
81. Self-reproach: SHAME
86. He orbited Earth 314 days before John: YURI (Gagarin)
87. Agreement: PACT
88. Polite rural reply: YES'M
90. Hymn starter: O GOD
91. State so. of Queensland: NSW (New South Wales)
96. Nearby: AROUND
98. Ancient invader of Greece: XERXES. The Persian king. Quite creepy in the movie "300".
100. Remedy: CURE
101. Punic Wars general: SCIPIO (SIP-ee-oh). The Roman general who defeated Hannibal. Stymied me.
102. "Able was __ ...": I ERE I. The famous palindrome "Able was I ere I saw Elba".
104. Woody's son: ARLO (Guthrie)
105. Theodore, to Wally: BEAV. "Leave it to Beaver".
106. L on a tag: Abbr.: LGE (Large). Not fond the clue. Letter repetition.
108. RSVP option: REGRETS
113. Ultimate degree: NTH
114. Old "King" Cole: NAT. Why "Old"?
115. Way of the Romans?: APPIAN. The Appian Way. Ancient Roman road.
116. Genesis peak: ARARAT. Where Noah's Ark landed.
117. Relaxed, in a way: SAT
118. Chicken general?: TSO. General Tso's Chicken.
119. Save: RESCUE
Down:
1. Caravel feature: MAST
2. Granada palace: ALHAMBRA (al-HAM-bruh). Literally "the red one" in Arabic. Dictionary says The Alhambra is the finest example of Moorish architecture in Spain. Unknown to me.
3. How multi-nationals trade: GLOBALLY
5. Because: IN THAT
7. TV add-ons: VCRS
8. A slot machine has one: ARM
9. Partial rainbow: SUNDOG. Also new to me. Why "dog"?
10. Glib: SMOOTH
11. Amphibious vehicle: AMTRAC. No idea. It stands for Am(phibious) + Trac(tor), carrying troops from sea to shore.
12. Bar array: RYES. Was picturing drinks.
13. Fun: JEST
14. Take back: RETRACT
15. Shed, with "off": SLOUGH. Clear Ayes/Kazie/Lemonade just mentioned the different pronunciations of this word when it denotes different meaning.
17. Wall St. hedger: ARB (Arbitrager)
18. St. Pete athlete: RAY. Tampa Bay Rays.
24. Nevada Northern Railway Museum city: ELY. I glanced at the cheat sheet.
26. School gp.: PTA
32. Not as much: LESS
33. Knife hyped on TV: GINSU. But "WAIT, there's more (52A).
35. DTs sufferers: SOTS. DT = Delirium Tremens.
36. Islamic leader: IMAM
37. Country N. of Slovenia: AUS (Austria)
38. Makers of beds?: HOERS. Flower beds. Tricky clue.
39. Judge, e.g.: HEARER. Oh well, you can just about ER-ize any verb.
40. Water and elec.: UTILS
41. Snitch: RAT
45. Sarrusophone cousins: OBOES
47. Pitch: SPIEL. Sales pitch.
49. Form a certain front, in meteorology: OCCLUDE (uh-KLOOD). First encounter with this word.
51. Bone formation: OSTOSIS
52. Remove, as a silly grin: WIPE OFF
53. Reduces: SHRINKS
55. Listens to: HEEDS
56. Thief, in slang: GANEF. Hebrew for "thief". Stumper for me.
2. Granada palace: ALHAMBRA (al-HAM-bruh). Literally "the red one" in Arabic. Dictionary says The Alhambra is the finest example of Moorish architecture in Spain. Unknown to me.
3. How multi-nationals trade: GLOBALLY
5. Because: IN THAT
7. TV add-ons: VCRS
8. A slot machine has one: ARM
9. Partial rainbow: SUNDOG. Also new to me. Why "dog"?
10. Glib: SMOOTH
11. Amphibious vehicle: AMTRAC. No idea. It stands for Am(phibious) + Trac(tor), carrying troops from sea to shore.
12. Bar array: RYES. Was picturing drinks.
13. Fun: JEST
14. Take back: RETRACT
15. Shed, with "off": SLOUGH. Clear Ayes/Kazie/Lemonade just mentioned the different pronunciations of this word when it denotes different meaning.
17. Wall St. hedger: ARB (Arbitrager)
18. St. Pete athlete: RAY. Tampa Bay Rays.
24. Nevada Northern Railway Museum city: ELY. I glanced at the cheat sheet.
26. School gp.: PTA
32. Not as much: LESS
33. Knife hyped on TV: GINSU. But "WAIT, there's more (52A).
35. DTs sufferers: SOTS. DT = Delirium Tremens.
36. Islamic leader: IMAM
37. Country N. of Slovenia: AUS (Austria)
38. Makers of beds?: HOERS. Flower beds. Tricky clue.
39. Judge, e.g.: HEARER. Oh well, you can just about ER-ize any verb.
40. Water and elec.: UTILS
41. Snitch: RAT
45. Sarrusophone cousins: OBOES
47. Pitch: SPIEL. Sales pitch.
49. Form a certain front, in meteorology: OCCLUDE (uh-KLOOD). First encounter with this word.
51. Bone formation: OSTOSIS
52. Remove, as a silly grin: WIPE OFF
53. Reduces: SHRINKS
55. Listens to: HEEDS
56. Thief, in slang: GANEF. Hebrew for "thief". Stumper for me.
57. "Danke __": SCHON. "Thank you very much" in German.
58. Drill insert: BIT
59. 1988 Motown acquirer: MCA
64. __-de-vie: brandy: EAU
67. Early 10th century year: CMIII. 903.
68. Not prompt for: LATE TO
69. Stored ropes, e.g.: COILS
71. Intimidate mentally, with "out": PSYCH
72. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer: GRIEG (Edvard). Nope. Don't know this Norwegian composer.
76. Pop singer Taylor __: DAYNE. I wanted SWIFT.
77. Wildcat with tufted ears: LYNX. Also the name of our Minnesota WNBA team.
78. River of Yorkshire: OUSE (ooz).
82. Lobe dangler: HOOP. Earrings.
83. 2000 Best New Artist Grammy winner: AGUILERA (Christina). Beautiful voice.
87. Euro preceders: PESETAS (puh-SEY-tuh). The Spanish money.
89. Paving material: MACADAM. Named after the Scottish engineer who invented this material.
92. Failed to be: WEREN'T
93. Abrasion: SCRAPE
94. Blooms from bulbs: TULIPS
95. Having a twist: IRONIC. Had to bend my brain into a pretzel to think of the answer.
97. Yankee who is the A.L. career leader in saves: RIVERA (Mariano). From Panama. I like players who spend their entire career with one team.
99. Signer, at times: XER
101. But, to Cassius: SED. Like in "Non vi sed virtue" (not by force but by virtue). Yet one more new word to me.
103. What a colon means, in analogies: IS TO
104. On __ with: A PAR
105. Nota __: BENE. Literally "note well" in Latin.
107. Kitchen trailer?: ETTE. Kitchenette.
108. Some OR personnel: RNS
109. SFO info: ETA. ETA seems to appear more than ETD.
111. Cross shape: TAU
112. Down: SAD. "Where do you go when you're blue?...". Beautiful song. I love The Corrs.
58. Drill insert: BIT
59. 1988 Motown acquirer: MCA
64. __-de-vie: brandy: EAU
67. Early 10th century year: CMIII. 903.
68. Not prompt for: LATE TO
69. Stored ropes, e.g.: COILS
71. Intimidate mentally, with "out": PSYCH
72. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer: GRIEG (Edvard). Nope. Don't know this Norwegian composer.
76. Pop singer Taylor __: DAYNE. I wanted SWIFT.
77. Wildcat with tufted ears: LYNX. Also the name of our Minnesota WNBA team.
78. River of Yorkshire: OUSE (ooz).
82. Lobe dangler: HOOP. Earrings.
83. 2000 Best New Artist Grammy winner: AGUILERA (Christina). Beautiful voice.
87. Euro preceders: PESETAS (puh-SEY-tuh). The Spanish money.
89. Paving material: MACADAM. Named after the Scottish engineer who invented this material.
92. Failed to be: WEREN'T
93. Abrasion: SCRAPE
94. Blooms from bulbs: TULIPS
95. Having a twist: IRONIC. Had to bend my brain into a pretzel to think of the answer.
97. Yankee who is the A.L. career leader in saves: RIVERA (Mariano). From Panama. I like players who spend their entire career with one team.
99. Signer, at times: XER
101. But, to Cassius: SED. Like in "Non vi sed virtue" (not by force but by virtue). Yet one more new word to me.
103. What a colon means, in analogies: IS TO
104. On __ with: A PAR
105. Nota __: BENE. Literally "note well" in Latin.
107. Kitchen trailer?: ETTE. Kitchenette.
108. Some OR personnel: RNS
109. SFO info: ETA. ETA seems to appear more than ETD.
111. Cross shape: TAU
112. Down: SAD. "Where do you go when you're blue?...". Beautiful song. I love The Corrs.
