Theme: Changing Sides - The first and last word of familiar phrases are swapped.
23A: Miners' detritus?: LITTER OF THE PICK (Pick of the Litter, the best of the bunch.)
38A: High ground at Graceland?: HILL OF THE KING (King of the Hill, the most powerful person in the group.)
61A: Like an estate seller?: FREE OF THE LAND (Land of the Free, America.)
85A: "Nova" episode about out sun?: SHOW OF THE STAR (Star of the Show, the headliner.)
103A: Heirs?: PEOPLE OF THE WILL (Will of the People, upon which democracy is founded.)
15D: Manor owner's jewelry?: RINGS OF THE LORD (Lord of the Rings, Tolkien novel)
48D: Moments when an omen appears?: TIMES OF THE SIGN (Sign of the Times, something that signifies the nature of the current society.)
I have never heard of idiom "King the Hill" before. Dictionary says British call it "King of the Castle".
I do love the entry HILL OF THE KING a lot. Joe Jackson should learn from Priscilla Presley, though I doubt he could transform Neverland into another Graceland.
I did not jump around today. Solved the puzzle systematically from upper left to lower right. Struggled with the multiple-word entries again.
Across:
1A: Knotted sash: OBI. Nice to have a gimme start.
4A: Easy __: AS ABC. Thought of DOES IT first. Easy DOES IT.
9A: Magnitogorsk's river: URAL. I've never heard of Magnitogorsk, a Russian mining and industrial city located by the URAL River.
13A: "Green __": ACRES. The Eva Gabor TV series.
18A: Cool, in a way: FAN. Verb here.
19A: Attacked: CAME AT
21A: She played Roz on "Frasier": PERI (Gilpin)
22A: Toast indicator: CLINK. Nice crossing with CLANG (14D: Sound from a forge).
26A: Like Mr. Fix-it: HANDY
27A: One way to think: LOUD
28A: Prepare for a job transfer, perhaps: RETRAIN. And REHIRE (78D: Brings back to board). I like both of the clues, neither indicating a RE answer directly.
29A: Fictional oil family name: EWING. Of "Dallas".
33A: Mag. stand item: ISS (Issue)
34A: Tries to hit: SWINGS AT
41A: Plastic __Band: ONO. No idea. According to Wiki, it's a conceptual band (1969-1975) formed by John Lennon and Yoko ONO before the dissolution of Beatles. Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were once members.
42A: "Wonder Dog" of comics: REX. Nope. Have never heard of Rex the Wonder Dog.
43A: "Free" gym gear: Abbr.: WTS. Weights? Why is "Free" in quotation mark?
44A: Operate with a beam: LASE. LASE/LASER. TASE/TASER.
45A: __ concern: OF NO. Had problem obtaining this multiple world answer.
46A: Fragrant extract: ATTAR. And LEI (94A: Fragrant gift). The latter stumped me.
51A: Spread choice: PATE. Tried OLEO first.
52A: Subbed: SAT IN
53A: Cheats: CHISELERS. New word to me. Looks like a person who chisels.
55A: Passé demo item: TAPE. Passé indeed.
56A: Tries to sell: PUSHES. I can't stand CNBC's Jim Cramer.
57A: Hit the trail, in a way: CAMPAIGN
58A: Thames islets: AITS. Often clued as "River islets".
59A: "Purgatorio" writer: DANTE. "Divine Comedy" writer as well.
60A: 2002 baseball All-Star Game result: TIE. An embarrassing moment for Bud Selig.
64A: Word in southwestern place names: LOS. As in LOS Angeles.
67A: Go after: SET AT
69A: Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS. Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
70A: Democracy, e.g.: IDEOLOGY
72A: Does an Act of Contrition: ATONES. Did not know "Act of Contrition" is a prayer. No wonder the phrase is capitalized.
74A: People Magazine's 1999 Sexist Man Alive: GERE (Richard). I guessed PITT (Brad).
75A: Idealist' bane: REAL WORLD
76A: Support: BE FOR
77A: "Symphony in Black" artist: ERTE. Gimme to you, right? I've linked "Symphony in Black" a few times before.
78D: Fishing gear: RODS
79A: Where lines met: NODES. Why? I wanted CORNER.
80A: Two-timers: RATS
81A: Tug's burden: SCOW. Flat-bottomed boat.
82A: Alter, perhaps: SEW
84A: Pompeii burier: ASH
89A: Outsourced item, perhaps: JOBS
92A: Timon and Uncle Max, in "The Lion King": MEERKATS. New word to me. They are also called suricates. Members of the mongoose family.
95A: Where It.'s at: EUR (Europe). It.=Italy.
96A: Guitar __: video game: HERO. Unknown to me.
97A: Like a fleabag: SEEDY
98A: Inn Crowd member: BOARDER. Wordplay on "In Crowd".
100A: "Foolish Games" singer: JEWEL. Here is the clip. Reminded me of Samuel A Donaldson's "Closing Acts" puzzle, PINK, JEWEL, SEAL & PRINCE.
101A: Not exactly vertical: ATILT
106A: It makes sense: LOGIC. Yes, indeed.
107A: Tombstone lawman: EARP
108A: Looked happy: SMILED
109A: Fed. income supplement program: SSI (Supplemental Security Income). Unknown to me.
110A: "Dune" director David: LYNCH. I've yet to experience the utter bliss David LYNCH often experiences in his Transcendental Meditation.
11A: Chop __: SUEY. SUEY is literally "pieces".
112A: '90 "SNL" regular Cheri: OTERI. Friendly vowel & consonant combination.
Down:
2D: Pearl of "St. Louis Woman": BAILEY. Got the answer from Across fills. Have never heard of this singer/actress.
3D: Sing, as Gregorian chant: INTONE
5D: Fraternal org. since 1889: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). DAR is Daughters of American Revolution.
7D: Happened to: BEFELL
8D: Friend of Anthony: CATT. Carrie Chapman CATT & Susan B. Anthony. Both suffragists. Stumped me.
9D: Snooty: UPPISH. Wanted UPPITY.
11D: It's measured in degrees: ARC. True.
12D: "Me, too": LIKEWISE
13D: Sore: ACHING
16D: Nip in the bud: END
17D: Word with jack or box: SKY. Skyjack = Sky & (Hi)jack.
20D: Using coupons, say: THRIFTY
25D: Bridge positions: EASTS. Could also be WESTS.
30D: Choice from a list: WINE. I was thinking of the computer drop-down list.
32D: Fan mag graphics: PIX. Singular is PIC.
34D: Inline item: SKATE
35D: Poker whiz __ Duke: ANNIE. I recognized her face when I googled.
36D: Popeye et al.: TOONS
38D: Next life: HEREAFTER. Do you believe in next life?
39D: Dominates, in sports lingo: OWNS. PWNS in computer talk. Easy to accidentally hit the P instead of O key when typing.
40D: Slip by: ELAPSE
42D: Sing like Satchmo: RASP. Did not know RASP can be a verb. Satchmo is the nickname of Louis Armstrong.
45D: Hops drier: OAST
46D: S & L holding: ACCT. S & L= Savings & Loans.
47D: Cuisine using jasmine rice: THAI. Love THAI food, not jasmine rice though. Dislike the taste.
49D: Father, biblically: BEGET
50D: D-day invasion river: ORNE. See this map. The "Caen river".
51D: Maze option: PATHS
52D: Evening cocktail, to a Brit.: SUNDOWNER. Drink taken at sundown. New to me.
54D: Turkey tender: LIRAS. Turkish money. Got me. I was picturing the bird turkey.
55D: Mr. or Mrs.: TITLE
56D: Comics frame: PANEL
58D: Smoking, probably: AFIRE
59D: Tots' pops: DADAS. Chinese babies talk the same thing: DADA/BABA.
62D: Ali's pair of socks: ONE-TWO. The ONE-TWO punch, a left-hand jab immediately followed by a right cross. Nicely misleading "pair of socks".
63D: Spread canards: LIED
65D: Eye up and down: OGLE. Too bad EYE is also the answer for 37A: Check out.
66D: Pink Floyd's Barrett et al.: SYDS
68D: Space chimp: ENOS. Of 1961.
71D: Life rival, once: LOOK. I have this RFK issue. The tears.
72D: Norm of "This Old House": ABRAM. Immediately thought of our Al.
73D: Get on: TEASE
74D: Becomes: GROWS. Becomes/GROWS fond of.
75D: "Lady Jane Grey" playwright: ROWE. Can never remember the playwright's name.
77D: Adaptable subspecies: ECOTYPES. New word to me also.
81D: Atlantic catch: SHAD. Roe source.
82D: Diamond theft?: STEAL. Baseball diamond. Nailed it immediately.
85D: Police artist's work: SKETCH. Cool word, with only one vowel.
86D: Obsolescent data holder: FLOPPY
87D: Deem appropriate: SEE FIT
88D: One with a shell: TURTLE. Was picturing oyster.
89D: Like some delis: JEWISH. Wrote down KOSHER first.
90D: Ominous words: OR ELSE
91D: Mess (up): BOLLIX. Need to use this word often.
93D: Trace of the past: RELIC
96D: Chop down: HEW
98D: Put to sleep, so to speak: BORE
99D: Major -__: DOMO. New word to me. Chief steward/butler. DOMO/Dome, house.
100D: Sci-fi knight: JEDI. The "Star Wars" knight
101D: The whole shebang: ALL. Love the clue.
102D: Happy meal throw-in: TOY. Not any more, right? I used to collect those Madame Alexander McDonald's toys. Very cute.
104D: __ minérale: EAU. French for mineral water, like Évian.
105D: Self starter?: HER. Herself.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A: Miners' detritus?: LITTER OF THE PICK (Pick of the Litter, the best of the bunch.)
38A: High ground at Graceland?: HILL OF THE KING (King of the Hill, the most powerful person in the group.)
61A: Like an estate seller?: FREE OF THE LAND (Land of the Free, America.)
85A: "Nova" episode about out sun?: SHOW OF THE STAR (Star of the Show, the headliner.)
103A: Heirs?: PEOPLE OF THE WILL (Will of the People, upon which democracy is founded.)
15D: Manor owner's jewelry?: RINGS OF THE LORD (Lord of the Rings, Tolkien novel)
48D: Moments when an omen appears?: TIMES OF THE SIGN (Sign of the Times, something that signifies the nature of the current society.)
I have never heard of idiom "King the Hill" before. Dictionary says British call it "King of the Castle".
I do love the entry HILL OF THE KING a lot. Joe Jackson should learn from Priscilla Presley, though I doubt he could transform Neverland into another Graceland.
I did not jump around today. Solved the puzzle systematically from upper left to lower right. Struggled with the multiple-word entries again.
Across:
1A: Knotted sash: OBI. Nice to have a gimme start.
4A: Easy __: AS ABC. Thought of DOES IT first. Easy DOES IT.
9A: Magnitogorsk's river: URAL. I've never heard of Magnitogorsk, a Russian mining and industrial city located by the URAL River.
13A: "Green __": ACRES. The Eva Gabor TV series.
18A: Cool, in a way: FAN. Verb here.
19A: Attacked: CAME AT
21A: She played Roz on "Frasier": PERI (Gilpin)
22A: Toast indicator: CLINK. Nice crossing with CLANG (14D: Sound from a forge).
26A: Like Mr. Fix-it: HANDY
27A: One way to think: LOUD
28A: Prepare for a job transfer, perhaps: RETRAIN. And REHIRE (78D: Brings back to board). I like both of the clues, neither indicating a RE answer directly.
29A: Fictional oil family name: EWING. Of "Dallas".
33A: Mag. stand item: ISS (Issue)
34A: Tries to hit: SWINGS AT
41A: Plastic __Band: ONO. No idea. According to Wiki, it's a conceptual band (1969-1975) formed by John Lennon and Yoko ONO before the dissolution of Beatles. Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were once members.
42A: "Wonder Dog" of comics: REX. Nope. Have never heard of Rex the Wonder Dog.
43A: "Free" gym gear: Abbr.: WTS. Weights? Why is "Free" in quotation mark?
44A: Operate with a beam: LASE. LASE/LASER. TASE/TASER.
45A: __ concern: OF NO. Had problem obtaining this multiple world answer.
46A: Fragrant extract: ATTAR. And LEI (94A: Fragrant gift). The latter stumped me.
51A: Spread choice: PATE. Tried OLEO first.
52A: Subbed: SAT IN
53A: Cheats: CHISELERS. New word to me. Looks like a person who chisels.
55A: Passé demo item: TAPE. Passé indeed.
56A: Tries to sell: PUSHES. I can't stand CNBC's Jim Cramer.
57A: Hit the trail, in a way: CAMPAIGN
58A: Thames islets: AITS. Often clued as "River islets".
59A: "Purgatorio" writer: DANTE. "Divine Comedy" writer as well.
60A: 2002 baseball All-Star Game result: TIE. An embarrassing moment for Bud Selig.
64A: Word in southwestern place names: LOS. As in LOS Angeles.
67A: Go after: SET AT
69A: Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS. Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.
70A: Democracy, e.g.: IDEOLOGY
72A: Does an Act of Contrition: ATONES. Did not know "Act of Contrition" is a prayer. No wonder the phrase is capitalized.
74A: People Magazine's 1999 Sexist Man Alive: GERE (Richard). I guessed PITT (Brad).
75A: Idealist' bane: REAL WORLD
76A: Support: BE FOR
77A: "Symphony in Black" artist: ERTE. Gimme to you, right? I've linked "Symphony in Black" a few times before.
78D: Fishing gear: RODS
79A: Where lines met: NODES. Why? I wanted CORNER.
80A: Two-timers: RATS
81A: Tug's burden: SCOW. Flat-bottomed boat.
82A: Alter, perhaps: SEW
84A: Pompeii burier: ASH
89A: Outsourced item, perhaps: JOBS
92A: Timon and Uncle Max, in "The Lion King": MEERKATS. New word to me. They are also called suricates. Members of the mongoose family.
95A: Where It.'s at: EUR (Europe). It.=Italy.
96A: Guitar __: video game: HERO. Unknown to me.
97A: Like a fleabag: SEEDY
98A: Inn Crowd member: BOARDER. Wordplay on "In Crowd".
100A: "Foolish Games" singer: JEWEL. Here is the clip. Reminded me of Samuel A Donaldson's "Closing Acts" puzzle, PINK, JEWEL, SEAL & PRINCE.
101A: Not exactly vertical: ATILT
106A: It makes sense: LOGIC. Yes, indeed.
107A: Tombstone lawman: EARP
108A: Looked happy: SMILED
109A: Fed. income supplement program: SSI (Supplemental Security Income). Unknown to me.
110A: "Dune" director David: LYNCH. I've yet to experience the utter bliss David LYNCH often experiences in his Transcendental Meditation.
11A: Chop __: SUEY. SUEY is literally "pieces".
112A: '90 "SNL" regular Cheri: OTERI. Friendly vowel & consonant combination.
Down:
2D: Pearl of "St. Louis Woman": BAILEY. Got the answer from Across fills. Have never heard of this singer/actress.
3D: Sing, as Gregorian chant: INTONE
5D: Fraternal org. since 1889: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). DAR is Daughters of American Revolution.
7D: Happened to: BEFELL
8D: Friend of Anthony: CATT. Carrie Chapman CATT & Susan B. Anthony. Both suffragists. Stumped me.
9D: Snooty: UPPISH. Wanted UPPITY.
11D: It's measured in degrees: ARC. True.
12D: "Me, too": LIKEWISE
13D: Sore: ACHING
16D: Nip in the bud: END
17D: Word with jack or box: SKY. Skyjack = Sky & (Hi)jack.
20D: Using coupons, say: THRIFTY
25D: Bridge positions: EASTS. Could also be WESTS.
30D: Choice from a list: WINE. I was thinking of the computer drop-down list.
32D: Fan mag graphics: PIX. Singular is PIC.
34D: Inline item: SKATE
35D: Poker whiz __ Duke: ANNIE. I recognized her face when I googled.
36D: Popeye et al.: TOONS
38D: Next life: HEREAFTER. Do you believe in next life?
39D: Dominates, in sports lingo: OWNS. PWNS in computer talk. Easy to accidentally hit the P instead of O key when typing.
40D: Slip by: ELAPSE
42D: Sing like Satchmo: RASP. Did not know RASP can be a verb. Satchmo is the nickname of Louis Armstrong.
45D: Hops drier: OAST
46D: S & L holding: ACCT. S & L= Savings & Loans.
47D: Cuisine using jasmine rice: THAI. Love THAI food, not jasmine rice though. Dislike the taste.
49D: Father, biblically: BEGET
50D: D-day invasion river: ORNE. See this map. The "Caen river".
51D: Maze option: PATHS
52D: Evening cocktail, to a Brit.: SUNDOWNER. Drink taken at sundown. New to me.
54D: Turkey tender: LIRAS. Turkish money. Got me. I was picturing the bird turkey.
55D: Mr. or Mrs.: TITLE
56D: Comics frame: PANEL
58D: Smoking, probably: AFIRE
59D: Tots' pops: DADAS. Chinese babies talk the same thing: DADA/BABA.
62D: Ali's pair of socks: ONE-TWO. The ONE-TWO punch, a left-hand jab immediately followed by a right cross. Nicely misleading "pair of socks".
63D: Spread canards: LIED
65D: Eye up and down: OGLE. Too bad EYE is also the answer for 37A: Check out.
66D: Pink Floyd's Barrett et al.: SYDS
68D: Space chimp: ENOS. Of 1961.
71D: Life rival, once: LOOK. I have this RFK issue. The tears.
72D: Norm of "This Old House": ABRAM. Immediately thought of our Al.
73D: Get on: TEASE
74D: Becomes: GROWS. Becomes/GROWS fond of.
75D: "Lady Jane Grey" playwright: ROWE. Can never remember the playwright's name.
77D: Adaptable subspecies: ECOTYPES. New word to me also.
81D: Atlantic catch: SHAD. Roe source.
82D: Diamond theft?: STEAL. Baseball diamond. Nailed it immediately.
85D: Police artist's work: SKETCH. Cool word, with only one vowel.
86D: Obsolescent data holder: FLOPPY
87D: Deem appropriate: SEE FIT
88D: One with a shell: TURTLE. Was picturing oyster.
89D: Like some delis: JEWISH. Wrote down KOSHER first.
90D: Ominous words: OR ELSE
91D: Mess (up): BOLLIX. Need to use this word often.
93D: Trace of the past: RELIC
96D: Chop down: HEW
98D: Put to sleep, so to speak: BORE
99D: Major -__: DOMO. New word to me. Chief steward/butler. DOMO/Dome, house.
100D: Sci-fi knight: JEDI. The "Star Wars" knight
101D: The whole shebang: ALL. Love the clue.
102D: Happy meal throw-in: TOY. Not any more, right? I used to collect those Madame Alexander McDonald's toys. Very cute.
104D: __ minérale: EAU. French for mineral water, like Évian.
105D: Self starter?: HER. Herself.
Answer grid.
C.C.
