Theme: "Musical Variations" - Definitions of three musical notes.
23A. SHARP : STYLISHLY DRESSED
31A. SHARP : PUNGENT IN TASTE. The answer made me think of Kimchi.
41A. SHARP : SHREWD GAMBLER
66A. NATURAL : CRAPS WINNER. New to me. Never played Craps. Boomer loves it. He once played in the same table as Dr. J.
93A. FLAT : BRIT'S DWELLING
102A. FLAT : NO LONGER BUBBLY
115A. FLAT : TROUBLE ON THE ROAD
We also have these PIANO (19. With 62-Across, many a sonata) and 62. See 19-Across : PIECE
Theme
answers in definition puzzles are often made-up, more suited to be
clues. I tried a few myself. It's really hard to make them in the
language and match one another in letter count.
Across:
1. Kitchen cover : APRON. This made RAYS (3D. One of eight teams that never won a World Series) easy to get, unless you thought of REDS. They have has 5 titles.
6. Outlaw played by Tyrone in 1939 : JESSE
11. Speculate : MUSE. Felt silly not to nail MASON (11. Layer of bricks). I was not thinking of lay-er, of course.
15. Letter-shaped beam : Z-BAR. Just filled in ?BAR and moved on.
20. Skateboard maneuver : OLLIE
21. Copied : APED
22. Living __ : A LIE
26. Student's complete file, to a teacher : CUME. Cumulative. Learning moment for me.
27. Enters carefully : EASES IN
28. Hardships : WOES
29. Trees whose fruit yields a moisturizing butter : SHEAS. Tempted to buy the pure shea butter on Amazon.
30. Author Rand : AYN
36. Some U.S. Army transports : UTES
39. Palmer with trophies : ARNIE
40. Nasty smiles : SNEERS. Not SMIRKS.
46. Mole's activity : SPYING
49. Cause of an allergic response : CAT. And 51. Unwelcome sign for a 49-Across owner : NO PETS
50. Pilot maker : HONDA
54. Actress Vardalos : NIA
55. Western, calendar-wise : GREGORIAN. Might have nailed if "chant" was referenced.
57. Medicated : DOSED
58. Cravings : URGES
60. Tech sch. overlooking the Hudson : RPI. 125. 60-Across, e.g.: Abbr. : INST. Both Spitzboov and his son went there. Splynter was there for a year as well.
61. Signing, perhaps : OK'ING
63. Ruth around bases : BABE
72. Tests for advanced-deg. seekers : GREs. Also 14. Teacher's deg. : EDD. Doctor of Education.
73. Didn't feel well : AILED
75. Drawn: Abbr. : ILLUS. OK, illustrated
76. Sense of self : EGO
78. Burning up : IRATE
79. Old enough : OF AGE
80. Game show host for 50 years : BOB BARKER. The Price is Right.
86. __ garden : ZEN
87. Capital of Kazakhstan : ASTANA. Well, Borat knows.
89. Earthen building material : ADOBE
90. Before, in verse : ERE
91. 1990s TV judge : ED KOCH. I only knew him as the New York City mayor.
97. Ferris Bueller's girlfriend : SLOANE. No idea. I did see the movie though.
100. Tough as __ : NAILS
101. Some deposits : ORES
106. Incidentally, in texts : BTW. Also 115D. "Enough details, please" : TMI
108. Kindle reading, briefly : EMAGS. Not EBOOK, which would not need the "briefly" tag.
109. Online search results : URLS. Not HITS.
110. Ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby champion : BARBARO. He had a false start and broke his leg.
114. Fighting : ANTI. Not AT IT.
120. Connections : TIES
121. "Sweet is the breath of __": Milton : MORN
122. Bordeaux bye : ADIEU
123. Time being : NONCE
124. Dost possess : HAST
126. Fall plantings : BULBS. We finally moved the three vibrant plants Irish Miss sent to me to our little garden. Don't think the cold weather will return.
127. Boss mocked by Nast : TWEED
Down:
1. Church area : APSE
2. Naan relative : PITA. This
is the famous Xi'an-style Pita. The pork is cooked for many hours, with
various spices. Xi'an has a large Muslim population. They normally use
beef/ lamb and cumin.
4. Like many fleet autos : ON LEASE
5. Cacophonous : NOISY
6. He frequently toured with Joel : JOHN
7. Architectural add-on : ELL
8. Sneaky : SLY
9. Comical Caesar : SID
10. Slogan ending? : EER. Just sloganeer.
12. Political surprises : UPSETS. And 112. Political contest : RACE
13. Welcomes : SEES IN
15. President before Millard : ZACHARY. All crosses.
16. Ma Rainey, notably : BLUES SINGER. Wiki said she's called "Mother of the Blues". Another learning moment for me.
17. Draw a bead on : AIM AT
18. Dodger teammate of Robinson : REESE (Pee Wee)
24. Preacher's subject : SIN
25. Lady in a lea : EWE
29. Increases : STEPS UP
31. Devil's wear, in a 2006 film : PRADA. "The Devil Wears Prada".
32. Dispirit : UNMAN
33. Bird's beak : NIB. Can also be NEB (119D. First st. admitted to the Union after the Civil War).
34. Shampoo, e.g. : GEL. I actually drew a blank.
35. Cozy home : NEST
36. Maritime safety gp. : USCG
37. Whaler's direction : THAR
38. Deco designer : ERTE
39. Latin lambs : AGNI. I thought Agnes' name originated in "lambs". But Wiki says it means "holy" and "pure".
42. Smack : WHOP
43. Architectural order including circular column tops : DORIC. Hi there, Dudley.
44. Mushroom in Japanese cuisine : ENOKI. In Chinese cooking as well.
45. Violinist's supply : ROSIN
47. Bridget Fonda, to Jane : NIECE
48. Noble __ : GASES
52. "Milk" Oscar recipient : PENN (Sean)
53. One of a cube's dozen : EDGE
56. Receive : GREET
57. Look for water : DOWSE
59. Strictness : RIGOR
63. Faux felt : BAIZE. Billiard table cover.
64. Put on : AIRED
65. Tabulae rasae : BLANK SLATES. Nice long entry.
67. Life of the party : RIOT
68. Radio code opener : ALFA
69. Backup option : PLAN B
70. Sweets : SUGAR
71. Jewish spiritual leader : REBBE. Same as Rabbi?
74. Parish officials : DEACONS
77. Hebrides native : GAEL
80. Herb in pesto : BASIL
81. "Strange as it may seem ... " : ODDLY
82. Shows of respect : BOWS.
Seems harsh these days. But I kowtowed to my old relatives when we
visited them during Chinese New Year. Then they gave me red envelops
with money inside. Normally it's one jiao. My older uncle, who was a
doctor, always gave me two jiao, little over 2 American cents. How
things have changed!
83. Dullea of "2010: The Year We Make Contact" : KEIR. Never saw the movie.
84. Fish-eating flier : ERNE. Not TERN or GULL.
85. Stds. of conduct : REGS. OK, regulations.
88. Plush carpet : SHAG
92. Academic expert, facetiously : OLOGIST. Never heard of it.
94. Like Shostakovich's "Symphony No. 2" : IN B
95. Folder aid : TAB
96. Hardly intellectual : LOWBROW
98. Impulse-conducting cell : NEURON
99. Proofer's finds : ERRORS
102. Not o'er : NEATH
103. __ vincit amor : OMNIA.
104. Direct : BLUNT
105. PC port : USB
106. "Phooey!" : BAH
107. Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor : TRENT. Only know Senator Lott.
110. A/C units : BTUs
111. Tops : A-ONE
113. Pigged out (on) : OD'ED
116. Chocolate pet : LAB
117. Student's email ending : EDU
118. Van Gogh work : OIL
C.C.
