Theme: Watch the Finish
23A: Thrilla in Manila, e.g.: BOXING MATCH
34A: Fielding feat: DIVING CATCH
46A: Extra door security: SAFETY LATCH
67A: Magician's secret: ESCAPE HATCH
81A: Blooming plot: FLOWER PATCH
109A: How the best cakes are made: FROM SCRATCH
114A: Chocolate chip collective: COOKIE BATCH
FLOWER, COOKIE and "How the best cakes are made", so sweet!
The constructor used up every *ATCH phrase for his theme entries. *Watch does not rhyme, and he put it in his theme title. Very clever. It would be perfect if he squeezed in NATCH somewhere.
I think I mentioned this before: When there is an odd number of theme entries, the middle one must be structured in the very heart of the puzzle, and it must have an odd number of letters. See today's ESCAPE HATCH. The symmetry of the grid demands so.
I had a very smooth solving today. Caught the theme very early on and was able to fill in all the finishing letters of the theme answers.
I love the FISH clue (81D: Catch some rays?). I was thinking of BASK since TAN & SUN did not fit. It finally dawned on me that "rays" are fish, not sunshine.
Across:
1A: Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAYA. Yes, PAPAYA does look like melon, the taste is totally different though.
11A: Rhythmic swing: LILT. And YODELS (47D: Alpine songs).
20A: Lomond or Ness, for example: LOCH. I would not have got CCCP (9D: Cyrillic USSR) without LOCH. Somehow I can never remember CCCP. Someone mentioned "Charlie's Cold Chicken Pie" as a mnemonic last time.
21A: Member of a stand: TREE. I don't understand this one, why?
26A: S. American nation: ECUA. Its capital is Quito.
27A: Work-shoe protection: TOECAP. New to me. So TOECAP protects the shoe, not your toe?
30A: Sally Field movie: NORMA RAE. Good to see its full name.
40A: Ophelia's brother: LAERTES. I googled his name. He killed Hamlet with a poisoned blade.
43A: Layer beneath membrane: ECTOPLASM. Opps: ENDOPLASM. New to me.
57A: U.K. ref. set: OED. It has 20 volumes. Amazing. But who reads it?
58A: Dundee of boxing: ANGELO. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he worked with ALI (112A: The Greatest) for many years. What is "a bucket guy"?
63A: Japanese vegetables: UDOS. Have you had UDOS before? I might have had it in some miso soup before. Could not remember their flavor.
78A: Membrane of grasses: PALEA. Plural is PALEAE. See this diagram. New word to me.
79A: Hale-Bopp or Kohoutek: COMET. I guessed.
90A: Doofus: SCHMO
91A: Deejay's gimmick: AUTOCUE. I don't understand this one. Why does Deejay needs AUTOCUE?
103A: Guide to Valhalla: VALKYRIE. No idea. It's "any of the beautiful maidens attendant upon Odin who bring the souls of slain warriors chosen by Odin or Tyr to Valhalla and there wait upon them". Kind of like Muslim Houri, isn't it?
105A: Travel channel?: LANE
106A: Unaspirated, like B or D: LENIS. This is also a new word to me.
107A: "___ Howser, M. D.": DOOGIE. I googled, then I realized that I had searched for this TV series before.
109A: Indigo dye: ANIL. What exactly is ANIL?
117A: Jewish month: ADAR. I bet this has become a gimme for all the TMS puzzle solvers. It's always ADAR if the clue is "Jewish month" (4 letters).
119A: Dar es__ Tanzania: SALAAM. Ha, I forgot this city again. Searched this name before. Literally, "abode of Peace". The largest city in Tanzania.
123A: Govt. issued securities: T-BILLS
Down:
1D: Dangerous insulation mtl.: PCB. I obtained this word from across fills.
2D: Orinoco tributary: ARO. It's clued as "Venezuelan river" last time. If you find a map, please share with us. This Rio Orinoco is the only thing I got.
14D: Riot queller: TEAR GAS
15D: Roman autocrat: CEASAR. He said "Veni, vidi, vici" & "Et tu, Brute?".
18D: Moors: HEATHS
28D: Flintonstones' pet: DINO
44D: :S: in music: PRESA. No idea. I don't understand the clue neither, waiting for Kittyb's explanation.
49D: Aussie rockers: AC/DC. OK, here is their "You Shook Me All Night Long".
52D: Well-plumed bird: EGRET
60D: "__ Cane": MONDO. I saw it before, very strange film.
65D: School for Sartre: ECOLE. "School for Simone" too of course. What a beautiful relationship between Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre! True love does not mean that you have to own each other physically.
68D: Hammerin' Hank: AARON. He has 755 home runs, the true home run king!
80D: Battery brand: EVEREADY. I've never heard of EVEREADY before. It does not exist any more, right?
84D: God of thunder: THOR. He always carries a hammer. Thursday is named after him.
85D: 951: CMLI
88D: Part of NRC: NUCLEAR. NRC is Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
89D: Fictional sleuths: TECS. Our editor likes to clue it as "Gumshoes".
92D: Muse of astrology: URANIA. Here is a picture. She usually holds a globe on her left hand.
93D: Pick-me-ups: TONICS
94D: Denver concoction: OMELET. Denver OMELET, looks delicious!
101D: Handlelike parts: ANSAE. Singular form is ANSA, often clued as "Latin handle".
115D: "__ Pinafore": H.M.S. Not familiar with this comic opera.
C.C.
23A: Thrilla in Manila, e.g.: BOXING MATCH
34A: Fielding feat: DIVING CATCH
46A: Extra door security: SAFETY LATCH
67A: Magician's secret: ESCAPE HATCH
81A: Blooming plot: FLOWER PATCH
109A: How the best cakes are made: FROM SCRATCH
114A: Chocolate chip collective: COOKIE BATCH
FLOWER, COOKIE and "How the best cakes are made", so sweet!
The constructor used up every *ATCH phrase for his theme entries. *Watch does not rhyme, and he put it in his theme title. Very clever. It would be perfect if he squeezed in NATCH somewhere.
I think I mentioned this before: When there is an odd number of theme entries, the middle one must be structured in the very heart of the puzzle, and it must have an odd number of letters. See today's ESCAPE HATCH. The symmetry of the grid demands so.
I had a very smooth solving today. Caught the theme very early on and was able to fill in all the finishing letters of the theme answers.
I love the FISH clue (81D: Catch some rays?). I was thinking of BASK since TAN & SUN did not fit. It finally dawned on me that "rays" are fish, not sunshine.
Across:
1A: Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAYA. Yes, PAPAYA does look like melon, the taste is totally different though.
11A: Rhythmic swing: LILT. And YODELS (47D: Alpine songs).
20A: Lomond or Ness, for example: LOCH. I would not have got CCCP (9D: Cyrillic USSR) without LOCH. Somehow I can never remember CCCP. Someone mentioned "Charlie's Cold Chicken Pie" as a mnemonic last time.
21A: Member of a stand: TREE. I don't understand this one, why?
26A: S. American nation: ECUA. Its capital is Quito.
27A: Work-shoe protection: TOECAP. New to me. So TOECAP protects the shoe, not your toe?
30A: Sally Field movie: NORMA RAE. Good to see its full name.
40A: Ophelia's brother: LAERTES. I googled his name. He killed Hamlet with a poisoned blade.
43A: Layer beneath membrane: ECTOPLASM. Opps: ENDOPLASM. New to me.
57A: U.K. ref. set: OED. It has 20 volumes. Amazing. But who reads it?
58A: Dundee of boxing: ANGELO. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he worked with ALI (112A: The Greatest) for many years. What is "a bucket guy"?
63A: Japanese vegetables: UDOS. Have you had UDOS before? I might have had it in some miso soup before. Could not remember their flavor.
78A: Membrane of grasses: PALEA. Plural is PALEAE. See this diagram. New word to me.
79A: Hale-Bopp or Kohoutek: COMET. I guessed.
90A: Doofus: SCHMO
91A: Deejay's gimmick: AUTOCUE. I don't understand this one. Why does Deejay needs AUTOCUE?
103A: Guide to Valhalla: VALKYRIE. No idea. It's "any of the beautiful maidens attendant upon Odin who bring the souls of slain warriors chosen by Odin or Tyr to Valhalla and there wait upon them". Kind of like Muslim Houri, isn't it?
105A: Travel channel?: LANE
106A: Unaspirated, like B or D: LENIS. This is also a new word to me.
107A: "___ Howser, M. D.": DOOGIE. I googled, then I realized that I had searched for this TV series before.
109A: Indigo dye: ANIL. What exactly is ANIL?
117A: Jewish month: ADAR. I bet this has become a gimme for all the TMS puzzle solvers. It's always ADAR if the clue is "Jewish month" (4 letters).
119A: Dar es__ Tanzania: SALAAM. Ha, I forgot this city again. Searched this name before. Literally, "abode of Peace". The largest city in Tanzania.
123A: Govt. issued securities: T-BILLS
Down:
1D: Dangerous insulation mtl.: PCB. I obtained this word from across fills.
2D: Orinoco tributary: ARO. It's clued as "Venezuelan river" last time. If you find a map, please share with us. This Rio Orinoco is the only thing I got.
14D: Riot queller: TEAR GAS
15D: Roman autocrat: CEASAR. He said "Veni, vidi, vici" & "Et tu, Brute?".
18D: Moors: HEATHS
28D: Flintonstones' pet: DINO
44D: :S: in music: PRESA. No idea. I don't understand the clue neither, waiting for Kittyb's explanation.
49D: Aussie rockers: AC/DC. OK, here is their "You Shook Me All Night Long".
52D: Well-plumed bird: EGRET
60D: "__ Cane": MONDO. I saw it before, very strange film.
65D: School for Sartre: ECOLE. "School for Simone" too of course. What a beautiful relationship between Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre! True love does not mean that you have to own each other physically.
68D: Hammerin' Hank: AARON. He has 755 home runs, the true home run king!
80D: Battery brand: EVEREADY. I've never heard of EVEREADY before. It does not exist any more, right?
84D: God of thunder: THOR. He always carries a hammer. Thursday is named after him.
85D: 951: CMLI
88D: Part of NRC: NUCLEAR. NRC is Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
89D: Fictional sleuths: TECS. Our editor likes to clue it as "Gumshoes".
92D: Muse of astrology: URANIA. Here is a picture. She usually holds a globe on her left hand.
93D: Pick-me-ups: TONICS
94D: Denver concoction: OMELET. Denver OMELET, looks delicious!
101D: Handlelike parts: ANSAE. Singular form is ANSA, often clued as "Latin handle".
115D: "__ Pinafore": H.M.S. Not familiar with this comic opera.
C.C.
