Theme: Legal-Easy
23A: Star of Arthur Baer quote: BETTING IS PRETTY
47A: Part 2 of quote: MUCH LIKE LIQUOR: YOU
67A: Part 3 of quote: CAN MAKE IT
92A: Part 4 of quote: ILLEGAL, BUT YOU CAN'T
119A: End of quote: MAKE IT UNPOPULAR
I was not familiar with Arthur Baer. Wikipedia says he was the reported source of Babe Ruth's nickname "The Sultan of Swat".
Had a tough time solving this puzzle. It's not that difficult, but I made it so with a few confident false starts. Filled in NORMA for 7D: Actress Shearer (MOIRA) and ADAM for 52A: Scott of the PGA (HOCH). And I made a total mess in the lower left corner.
So now I have in front of me a very ugly finished puzzle. I could not even get NETSUKE (68D: Japanese collectibles). I just sat besides a hardcore NETSUKE collector on a wedding not so long ago. He bored me with his collections. These are so erotic.
I thought "Red leader?" is a better clue for INFRA (14A: Red beginning?). Infrastructure is another potential word to clue INFRA. "Structure beginning?" sounds good.
Across:
1A: Waggable appendage: TAIL. Is "waggable" a real word?
5A: Leggy legs: GAMS. This answer made me question my sanity. I was convinced that the intersecting 7D ("Actress Shearer") is NORMA rather than MOIRA. I wish the clue were "Ballerina Shearer".
9A: James and Tommie: AGEES. James AGEE drank too much in his life. I've never seen Tommie AGEE play baseball. This is his 1970s Topps cards.
27A: Police officer, at times: ARRESTER
37A: Greenish blue: CYAN. What's the difference between CYAN and teal?
39A: Musical practice piece: ETUDE. Chopin's ETUDE "The Winter Wind".
45A: No. cruncher: CPA
57A: Home port of War of 1812: ERIE. I guessed. I was not aware of the Battle of Lake ERIE (1813).
58A: Sicilian resort: ENNA. "Sicilian Volcano" is ETNA.
59A: Money managers of a sort: LAUNDERERS. So true!
66A: Kernel's coat: TESTA. The outer, hard cover. ARIL is the soft coat.
71A: Most-wanted group: A LIST. I like this clue, though I was thinking of "American's Most Wanted" criminals.
77A: Scottish Gaelic: ERSE. The clue should be changed to "Irish tongue" because of GAELS (108A: Some Highlanders).
78A: "Exodus" co-star: SAL MINEO. I've never seen "Exodus", have you?
80A: Unblemished: IMMACULATE. And 106D: Blemished: ACNED. I only knew the noun.
88A: Mountain passes: COLS. I got it from down fills.
89A: Teton Sioux tribe: OGLALA. Crazy Horse was a member of OGLALA Lakota, so was Red Cloud. Very cool names.
96A: Peg with a concave top: TEE. Golf TEE, right?
99A: Former deejay Casey: KASEM. How can I remember his name? KASEM sounds so Muslim.
111A: Accelerate!: STEP ON IT. And 14D: Will, by all expectations (3 wds). Strange to have "3 wds", totally unnecessary.
122A: Illinois city near St. Louis: ALTON. See this map. It's 15 miles north of St. Louis. Famous for the 7th debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. Completely unknown to me.
126A: Feudal lord: MESNE. Another stranger to me. I am used to LIEGE as an answer to "Feudal lord".
128A: Icelandic literary work: EDDA. Most of the Norse mythology came from the two EDDAS.
Down:
1D: Big brass: TUBAS. I was surprised to learn that the tuba player is called tubist.
3D: Technical details: INTRICACIES
6D: Infamous Hiss: ALGER. Last time ALGER was clued as "Ragged Dick" author.
10D: Lobbed missile: GRENADE
12D: Those, south of the border: ESTAS. Vs. ESOS. And 15D: North of Mexico: NORTE. Vs. SUR.
13D: Sutherland movie: S*P*Y*S. I got this movie title from the across fills.
16D: Improvisational performance: FREE STYLE
25D: Flower part: PISTIL. See this diagram. It's opposite of stamen.
30D: Viewer's magazine: TV GUIDE
33D: Type of toast: MELBA. Looks delicious. Needs some foie gras though.
35D: Old, ugly woman: BELDAME. New word to me. How strange, since BEL means "good".
38D: Life-drawing subjects: NUDES
40D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE
41D: Area meas.: SQ IN
46D: __ cochere (sheltered entrance): PORTE. Here is a great picture. PORTE is simply "door" in French.
48D: Like dunce caps: CONIC. I always want CONED.
49D: Barbera's partner in cartoon: HANNA. I googled this one. HANNA-Barbera Cartoons now belongs to Time Warner.
51D: Country characteristic: RURALISM. I checked, it's a real word, so is urbanism.
53D: Hot period: HEAT WAVE
59D: Dam's creation: LAKE. I wish this clue were "57A, e.g." (ERIE).
60D: Mild yellow cheese: EDAM. What's your favorite cheese?
62D: __ de Triomphe: L'ARC. It's not grand at all in the daylight. Quite beautiful in the evening time.
63D: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. Another google. This guy always gives me trouble. He looks like a bad Japanese guy in our elementary history book.
70D: Indian drum: TABLA. Here is a picture. I can only think of sitar, which is a lute.
72D: 2005 Jessica Alba film: INTO THE BLUE. I've never seen this film, is it good?
73D: Cast net: SEINE. I was fooled again. SEINE is more than a river. SEINE with a SEINE in SEINE.
76D: Mexican peninsula: YUCATAN
80D: Mother of Horus: ISIS. I linked ISIS feeding Horus last time when ISIS was clued as "Goddess of fertility".
81D: Miss: Fr.: MLLE. SRTA in Spain.
82D: Abuses: MALTREAT. Did you try MISTREAT first?
83D: Droop: LOLL
93D: French river: GARONNE. Very frustrating intersection with MESNE. I knew neither of them. I can only find GARONNE Canel.
95D: Prepare to advance: TAG UP. Baseball term. After a flyball, the runner has to return and touch the base before advancing.
103D: Sort of strings?: APRON. APRON string. Not a cute clue to me.
110D: Turkish gulf: SAROS. See this map. I got it from across fills. Have never heard of Gulf of SAROS.
111D: Body toss: SLAM. Boxing term?
112D: TV part?: TELE. Greek prefix for "far".
113D: Apple offering: iMAC
117D: __ Linda, CA: LOMA. See this map. It appeared in our puzzle before.
120D: Author Follett: KEN. His name emerged after I got the surrounds. Have never heard of this author before. He has dimples too.
121D: Shoshone: UTE. I am bored by this clue.
C.C.
23A: Star of Arthur Baer quote: BETTING IS PRETTY
47A: Part 2 of quote: MUCH LIKE LIQUOR: YOU
67A: Part 3 of quote: CAN MAKE IT
92A: Part 4 of quote: ILLEGAL, BUT YOU CAN'T
119A: End of quote: MAKE IT UNPOPULAR
I was not familiar with Arthur Baer. Wikipedia says he was the reported source of Babe Ruth's nickname "The Sultan of Swat".
Had a tough time solving this puzzle. It's not that difficult, but I made it so with a few confident false starts. Filled in NORMA for 7D: Actress Shearer (MOIRA) and ADAM for 52A: Scott of the PGA (HOCH). And I made a total mess in the lower left corner.
So now I have in front of me a very ugly finished puzzle. I could not even get NETSUKE (68D: Japanese collectibles). I just sat besides a hardcore NETSUKE collector on a wedding not so long ago. He bored me with his collections. These are so erotic.
I thought "Red leader?" is a better clue for INFRA (14A: Red beginning?). Infrastructure is another potential word to clue INFRA. "Structure beginning?" sounds good.
Across:
1A: Waggable appendage: TAIL. Is "waggable" a real word?
5A: Leggy legs: GAMS. This answer made me question my sanity. I was convinced that the intersecting 7D ("Actress Shearer") is NORMA rather than MOIRA. I wish the clue were "Ballerina Shearer".
9A: James and Tommie: AGEES. James AGEE drank too much in his life. I've never seen Tommie AGEE play baseball. This is his 1970s Topps cards.
27A: Police officer, at times: ARRESTER
37A: Greenish blue: CYAN. What's the difference between CYAN and teal?
39A: Musical practice piece: ETUDE. Chopin's ETUDE "The Winter Wind".
45A: No. cruncher: CPA
57A: Home port of War of 1812: ERIE. I guessed. I was not aware of the Battle of Lake ERIE (1813).
58A: Sicilian resort: ENNA. "Sicilian Volcano" is ETNA.
59A: Money managers of a sort: LAUNDERERS. So true!
66A: Kernel's coat: TESTA. The outer, hard cover. ARIL is the soft coat.
71A: Most-wanted group: A LIST. I like this clue, though I was thinking of "American's Most Wanted" criminals.
77A: Scottish Gaelic: ERSE. The clue should be changed to "Irish tongue" because of GAELS (108A: Some Highlanders).
78A: "Exodus" co-star: SAL MINEO. I've never seen "Exodus", have you?
80A: Unblemished: IMMACULATE. And 106D: Blemished: ACNED. I only knew the noun.
88A: Mountain passes: COLS. I got it from down fills.
89A: Teton Sioux tribe: OGLALA. Crazy Horse was a member of OGLALA Lakota, so was Red Cloud. Very cool names.
96A: Peg with a concave top: TEE. Golf TEE, right?
99A: Former deejay Casey: KASEM. How can I remember his name? KASEM sounds so Muslim.
111A: Accelerate!: STEP ON IT. And 14D: Will, by all expectations (3 wds). Strange to have "3 wds", totally unnecessary.
122A: Illinois city near St. Louis: ALTON. See this map. It's 15 miles north of St. Louis. Famous for the 7th debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. Completely unknown to me.
126A: Feudal lord: MESNE. Another stranger to me. I am used to LIEGE as an answer to "Feudal lord".
128A: Icelandic literary work: EDDA. Most of the Norse mythology came from the two EDDAS.
Down:
1D: Big brass: TUBAS. I was surprised to learn that the tuba player is called tubist.
3D: Technical details: INTRICACIES
6D: Infamous Hiss: ALGER. Last time ALGER was clued as "Ragged Dick" author.
10D: Lobbed missile: GRENADE
12D: Those, south of the border: ESTAS. Vs. ESOS. And 15D: North of Mexico: NORTE. Vs. SUR.
13D: Sutherland movie: S*P*Y*S. I got this movie title from the across fills.
16D: Improvisational performance: FREE STYLE
25D: Flower part: PISTIL. See this diagram. It's opposite of stamen.
30D: Viewer's magazine: TV GUIDE
33D: Type of toast: MELBA. Looks delicious. Needs some foie gras though.
35D: Old, ugly woman: BELDAME. New word to me. How strange, since BEL means "good".
38D: Life-drawing subjects: NUDES
40D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE
41D: Area meas.: SQ IN
46D: __ cochere (sheltered entrance): PORTE. Here is a great picture. PORTE is simply "door" in French.
48D: Like dunce caps: CONIC. I always want CONED.
49D: Barbera's partner in cartoon: HANNA. I googled this one. HANNA-Barbera Cartoons now belongs to Time Warner.
51D: Country characteristic: RURALISM. I checked, it's a real word, so is urbanism.
53D: Hot period: HEAT WAVE
59D: Dam's creation: LAKE. I wish this clue were "57A, e.g." (ERIE).
60D: Mild yellow cheese: EDAM. What's your favorite cheese?
62D: __ de Triomphe: L'ARC. It's not grand at all in the daylight. Quite beautiful in the evening time.
63D: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. Another google. This guy always gives me trouble. He looks like a bad Japanese guy in our elementary history book.
70D: Indian drum: TABLA. Here is a picture. I can only think of sitar, which is a lute.
72D: 2005 Jessica Alba film: INTO THE BLUE. I've never seen this film, is it good?
73D: Cast net: SEINE. I was fooled again. SEINE is more than a river. SEINE with a SEINE in SEINE.
76D: Mexican peninsula: YUCATAN
80D: Mother of Horus: ISIS. I linked ISIS feeding Horus last time when ISIS was clued as "Goddess of fertility".
81D: Miss: Fr.: MLLE. SRTA in Spain.
82D: Abuses: MALTREAT. Did you try MISTREAT first?
83D: Droop: LOLL
93D: French river: GARONNE. Very frustrating intersection with MESNE. I knew neither of them. I can only find GARONNE Canel.
95D: Prepare to advance: TAG UP. Baseball term. After a flyball, the runner has to return and touch the base before advancing.
103D: Sort of strings?: APRON. APRON string. Not a cute clue to me.
110D: Turkish gulf: SAROS. See this map. I got it from across fills. Have never heard of Gulf of SAROS.
111D: Body toss: SLAM. Boxing term?
112D: TV part?: TELE. Greek prefix for "far".
113D: Apple offering: iMAC
117D: __ Linda, CA: LOMA. See this map. It appeared in our puzzle before.
120D: Author Follett: KEN. His name emerged after I got the surrounds. Have never heard of this author before. He has dimples too.
121D: Shoshone: UTE. I am bored by this clue.
C.C.
