TITLE: SQUAD
Our Sonny and Cher of Crosswordland strike again on Sunday after a four week hiatus and for awhile Don (theme originator) and C.C. could have sung, I Got You Babe because I was clueless about the gimmick. Halfway through it occurred to me, "Boy there's a lot of S's in these theme answers" and then I, disguised as Captain Obvious, saw S-QUAD as in quad/four S's per theme fill and had to forget about Mod Squad, Police Squad, et al. SSSSweet!
Here is an S-QUAD more amenable to my level!
The Double 16 verticals really stand out in the grid. How long must that have taken?
ACROSS THEME ANSWERS:
22. "Forever" purchase : FIRST CLASS STAMP - While not "Forever" you could have used this FIRST CLASS STAMP to send me a card in the year of my college graduation
46. Government meeting for delicate subjects : CLOSED SESSION - It turns out that the committee did not have to go into CLOSED SESSION to find Charlie innocent after Col. Slade's fabulous speech in Scent Of A Woman. Charlie had his 89. Judge's (Committee's) decree : CASE DISMISSED
55. Simple to use, in adspeak : NO FUSS NO MUSS - Exhibit A
80. Corporate uncertainty : BUSINESS RISK - Selling these units here seems to fit the description
115. It has a November kickoff : CHRISTMAS SEASON - A verboten phrase in most schools
DOWN THEME ANSWERS:
14. "Aha!" : JUST AS I SUSPECTED - Another great someecard
35. Great Sioux War of 1876 event : CUSTER'S LAST STAND - This turned out to be a Pyrrhic victory for the native people who then became relentlessly pursued by the U.S. Army
THEME REVEAL:
104. Twisty turns ... and the "quad" in each of this puzzle's eight longest answers : ESSES - I count at least QUAD ESSES in this Hana Highway on Maui
Across
1. Check some figures? : OGLE
5. Mulching material : PEAT
9. Hot spot : RANGE
14. It leaves trails : JET
17. Song often sung in Italian : ARIA - Roy's big voice with a 4-octave range has been described as operatic. I wonder how he'd do on Nessun Dorma or how Pavarotti would do on Pretty Woman?
18. Tiny tank plant : ALGA
19. Brain freeze-causing drinks : ICEES
20. Photo subject for NASA's New Horizons : PLUTO
25. Broad-leaved ornamental : HOSTA - What started as the Omaha HOSTA Society's modest plantings decades ago has turned into the fabulous 100 acre Lauritzen Gardens today.
26. Desert climate feature : DRY HEAT
27. Blog updates : POSTS
28. Like easier-to-swallow pills : COATED - Not quite "a spoonful of sugar"
29. "__ Miniver" : MRS - Greer Garson won an Academy Award for her title role and gave the longest acceptance speech in academy history. They began a time limit the next year.
30. Strain to lift : HEFT
32. Humana rival : AETNA
33. Chinese gambling mecca : MACAO - Put it on Black at the roulette table when you're there
36. Sloppy, as security : LAX
37. Sauce with a kick : TABASCO - Still made on Avery Island, LA where over half the 200 person workforce also lives
41. "The Simpsons" disco guy : STU
44. "Suits me fine!" : I SURE DO - "Do you enjoy blogging, Gary?"
49. Storage medium : DISK - My old 360 K floppy DS/DD disk pales in storage comparison to my 3 Terabyte iMac
50. Bulgarian capital : SOFIA
52. Enterprise counselor : TROI
53. Capital with a Viking Ship Museum : OSLO
54. Prohibition era gun : GAT - This mug tried to chisel me and went on the lam and so I offed him with my GAT and a shyster helped me beat the rap
58. Reminders on cards : CUES - Johnny Carson's opening monologue CUE card from his last show
59. "Feliz año nuevo" time : ENERO
61. "You __ right!" : ARE SO
62. Champion : TITLIST - My daughter gets me TITLIST Pro V1's that say this on the back
64. Like Gen. Powell : RETD
66. More painful : SORER
69. __ year : LEAP
70. WWII Navy vessel named for the 29th state : USS IOWA - It had an elevator and was fitted with a bathtub when it carried FDR to Mers El Kébir, Algeria in WWII
73. Ocular sign of mischief : GLEAM
76. On the ball : ALERT
79. Puerto Rico, por ejemplo : ISLA
84. Cedar Rapids campus : COE
85. Marsh duck : TEAL
86. Hindu deity : RAMA
87. Salentina Peninsula country : ITALY - The "heel" of Italy's boot
88. Bowl over : STUN
93. Three-syllable foot : ANAPEST - A metrical foot of three syllables in the pattern of "unstressed, unstressed, stressed" e.g. Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
95. FDR successor : HST - "Uh, Harry, we have this super bomb in New Mexico that no one has told you about."
96. Erode : EAT INTO
97. "Kung Fu" actor Philip : AHN
99. Gets one's feet wet : WADES
100. Bombards with e-junk : SPAMS
102. Yucatán native : MAYA
104. Billion-year span : EON
105. Takes in, say : ALTERS - My alterations are going the other way
107. Weapon in a scabbard : SABER
110. Nutmeg State team : HUSKIES - The U Conn Lady HUSKIES just won their fourth national championship in a row
114. Kingdom : REALM
118. Kunta __ of "Roots" : KINTE - Roots attracted a then-record audience for a miniseries and is credited with changing attitudes toward slavery
119. Ritzy retreat : VILLA
120. "Oy vey!" : AH ME
121. Figure of interest? : RATE
122. Blue : SAD
123. Great __ Mountains : SMOKY
124. Orgs. that donate to runners : PACS - Political runners
125. Do some cleaning : DUST
Down
1. Clumsy type : OAF
2. Electrical system : GRID - A very nice off-the-GRID house in Washington
3. New York MTA-owned commuter line : LIRR - Long Island Railroad
4. Patsy : EASY MARK - He went to his grave saying he was a Patsy
5. Treasure map units : PACES
6. "__ Enchanted": 2004 film : ELLA
7. Aunt in P.G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories : AGATHA
8. Prof's aides : TA'S - Get used to them, the prof has to "publish or perish"
9. Ristorante rice dish : RISOTTO
10. Play times? : ACTS
11. Trim : NEAT
12. Peridot and garnet : GEMS
13. Claim subject to debate : ESP- Will this tell you if you have ESP?
15. Relative of -let : ETTE
16. Pond hopper : TOAD
20. Instagram fodder : PHOTOS
21. Wells Fargo product : LOAN
23. Pain usually pluralized : THROE - A Police Chief in the THROES of pain after taking a 50,000 volt Taser jolt as a publicity stunt to get Tasers for his officers
24. UV-blocker rating syst. : SPF
28. Gospel singer Winans : CECE - Also a phonetic representation of one of our constructors today
31. Takes out : EXCISES
32. St. Clare's town : ASSISI - The Poor Clares of Cincinnati extending a blessing on the 800th anniversary of the founding of their order in ASSISI
33. Tiny biting fly : MIDGE
34. Like most people : ASIAN
36. Sponge made from a vine fruit : LOOFA
38. Regarding : AS TO
39. Highway noise barrier : BERM - Many ball parks offer cheap BERM seating
40. Score after deuce : AD OUT - The server loses if the she loses the next point
42. Vacancy sign : TO LET - I'll be you know the song this picture and fill represents
43. Pizzeria chain, familiarly : UNOS
45. Brit. military award : DSO
47. Loop on the range : LASSO - From our LASSO, Riata, Noose, Bolas department
48. Get-together : SOCIAL
51. What a Sphynx cat lacks : FUR - An acquired taste?
55. "Don't look at me!" : NOT I - Said Judas to Jesus
56. 53-Across locale, to natives : NORGE - Jeg kommer fra NORGE (I am from Norway)
57. Cardinal cap letters : ST. L.
60. Flea market deal : RESALE
63. Reporter's source : LEAK - Mark Felt
65. Bio info : DOB - Get to ready to recite your Date Of Birth 20 times a day if you're in a hospital
67. Borden spokescow : ELSIE
68. Tour de France downtime : REST DAY - What was Lance taking on those days?
70. __ directed : USE AS
71. Lousy sausages? : WURSTS
72. "Ditto" : AS AM I
74. Altar up above : ARA
75. 87-Across fashion center : MILAN
77. Stir : ROUSE and 94. Got up : AWOKE
78. Places for cots : TENTS
79. Sign of a recent bite : ITCH
81. Hacker's cry : I'M IN
82. Harper's Weekly caricaturist : NAST - He created modern image of Santa and the GOP's elephant
83. Bawling, for crying out loud: Abbr. : SYN - Synonyms. Four crying out loud = QUADS, er, babies not S's
88. Don Quixote, for one : SPANIARD
90. "Gosh!" : DEAR ME
91. Brand with a paw print in its logo : IAMS
92. "The rumor is ... " : SOME SAY
98. "Very funny!" : HA HA HA
101. Hit with hail, say : PELT
103. Museum pieces : ART
105. Torah holders : ARKS
106. Luke's twin : LEIA - I wonder what they got Darth for Father's Day?
107. Thin strip of wood : SHIM - Used to plumb and level doors here
108. Woody's son : ARLO - Arlo said his famous Alice's Restaurant lasted 18 min and 38 sec just like the gap in Richard Nixon's Watergate tape
109. Take for a ride : BILK
111. "Semper Fi" org. : USMC - I hope Dennis will comment today
112. Biblical name meaning "hairy" : ESAU
113. They're often pickled : SOTS - So many euphemisms
115. Walgreens rival : CVS - So far they can't get the ground in our town to build next to the Walgreens here as is often their wont
116. Hiking guide : MAP
117. Ping-Pong need : NET
My SteadfaStneSS led to many SuceSSeS and I finished without requiring multiple SeSSionS.
Let'S See what otherS have to Say:
