Theme: Must "C" Movies
23A: Movie about George M. Cohan's sweet tooth?: YANKEE DOODLE CANDY (DANDY)
43A: Movie about interpreter fees?: COST (LOST) IN TRANSLATION
63A: Movie about a rain forest chef?: THE JUNGLE COOK (BOOK)
91A: Movie about a kennel owner's purchase: A FISTFUL OF COLLARS (DOLLARS)
114A: Movie about a versatile container?: A CAN (MAN) FOR ALL SEASONS
16D: Movie about a dance troupe?: THE CAST (LAST) WALTZ
62D: Movie about a sleuth's heavenly helper? THE CLUE (BLUE) ANGEL
Such a clever theme. Perfect theme title as well.
I thought of the movie "Some Like it Hot", but the "C" change will result "Come Like it Hot", probably too DF. "Annie Hall" is a great candidate too, but it's impossible to clue "Annie Call" grammatically. "Fargo" (Cargo) does not have enough letters to be a theme answer.
Of the above 7 movies, the only movie I've seen is LOST IN TRANSLATION. And the only movie I've never heard of is A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.
I seriously doubt the GOLD clue (109A: Fort Knox cache) is the constructors' original. They are far too experienced a team to make clue/answer (65D: Military stronghold: FORT) duplication mistake.
The cluing mistake for DETENTE (17D: International accord) somehow comforts me. I thought I am the only one who is often confused by DETENTE and ENTENTE. What can I say? Confused minds think alike?
I loved the clue for SPA (117D: Bath, for one). Very clever. Bath is a city in England famous for its spas. See the map? It's to the west of London, close to Bristol.
Across:
1A: Fuzzy fruit: KIWI. Fuzzy indeed. But really we don't call KIWI "Chinese gooseberry" in China.
5A: Use elbow grease: SCRUB. I wonder why NASA prefers SCRUB over cancel when they call off the shuttle launch.
10A: 6-pointers: TDS. I still think "NFL" is needed in the clue for abbreviation hint. 6 is not good enough for me.
19A: Seed protector: ARIL. Testa is the hard, outer coating.
20A: Bath sponge: LOOFA. This is how it looks like before it enters your bathroom. Very tasty when stir-fried with a little bit of meat.
21A: Location of Bradley University: PEORIA. I googled. Caterpillar Headquarters is based here also. And WACO (57A: Baylor U. location). U should not have been abbreviated. Dr. Pepper Museum is in WACO.
29A: Printer's measures: PICAS
30A: Beckham's game: SOCCER. We call it football in China.
36A: Yarn bundle: HANK. Like a skein? I've never heard of HANK used as "Yarn bundle" before.
37A: Close-knit group: CLIQUE. Coterie is one letter too long.
39A: Salami type: GENOA. Can you believe that I've never had salami?
40A: Adriatic gulf: TRIESTE. See Gulf of TRIESTE. It's at the north end of Adriatic Sea. New to me also. Such a sad looking word, so close to TRISTE in spelling.
48A: Deserve: RATE. How so? I wanted EARN.
50A: "Leave it to Beaver" co-star: TONY DOW. Would not have got his name without the surrounds.
63A: Grilled sandwich: PANINI. This veggie PANINI looks so good. When do you use the singular form panino then?
67A: Bremen exclamation: ACH. I guessed. Not familiar with this city/state Bremen.
75A: Twisted treat: PRETZEL
79A: Rose extract: ATTAR. I wonder how many rose petals it takes to make a drop of rose oil.
80A: Rhine siren: LORELEI. Also spelled as LORELEY, which can also refer to the rock along the Rhine River where the siren LORELEI lured the sailors. Too bad, Kazie, I simply forgot it again. All I could think of is Circe.
83A: Legendary Hun king: ATLI. I can't understand why Attila the Hun is also called ATLI.
89A: Disco of "The Simpsons": STU. Learned his name from doing Xword. MOE is the bartender in "The Simpsons".
96A: Hack's question: WHERE TO
99A: Baker's item: PIE PAN. What kind of pie did you have for Thanksgiving?
104A: Ancient letters: RUNES. The first six letters of RUNES are F, U, TH, A, R, K, hence Futhark.
108A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). Normally I like the original song, but this medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" is so beautiful.
110A: Osaka Okay: HAI. The same with "Cantonese Okay". "Mandarine Okay" is "Shi".
119A: Block: SCREEN
123A: Grandstander: HOTDOG
Down:
1D: Danny or Stubby: KAYE. Got this name from across fills. I know neither of them.
5D: Make glossy: SLEEKEN. New verb to me.
6D: Musical wrapups: CODAS
9D: Undesirable individual: BAD PENNY. New slang to me.
15D: "Banana Boat" shout: DAY-O. I've never heard of "Banana Boat" before. I like that guy's voice. The tune sounds so similar to "Come Mr. Taliban".
18D: Breathing device: SNORKEL
24D: Boredom: ENNUI
33D: Brainpower meas.: IQ TEST. Nice answer.
39D: Small cave: GROT. Only knew grotto. Also, I did not know that cavern is a big cave. Always thought cavern is smaller.
44D: Final strike: THREE. Great clue. Oh by the way, Babe Ruth’s jersey number is 3. Mantle's is 7. Kirby Puckett's number is 34. He died too young.
55D: Hit by the Stones: ANGIE. Is that Mick Jagger? He looks so different.
60D: Kin of CHiPs: LAPDS. But the official acronym for California Highway Patrol is CHP, isn't it?
63D: Opinion leader: PUNDIT
64D: Biotic beginning?: ANTI. Antibiotic. Very unexpected clue.
66D: Home decor co.: IKEA. Do you like the Swedish style food at IKEA?
73D: Bout-stopper: TKO (Technical knockout). The clue needs "for short".
82D: Immature newt: EFT
83D: Estrange: ALIENATE. I like this word "Estrange". I also like espouse.
86D: Hines footwear: TAP SHOES. I guessed. Have never heard of "Hines footwear" before.
89D: Eddied: SWIRLED. I wanted TWIRLED.
94D: Richly appointed: OPULENT. I did not know that "appoint" can mean "furnish".
103D: Monteverdi opera "L'__": ORFEO. Another google. ORFEO is Italian for Orpheus. He shouldn't look back when he tried to bring his wife Eurydice from Hades. Kind of like Lot's wife Pillar of Salt story, isn't it?
104D: Pine product: ROSIN. Never know when to put ROSIN and when to put RESIN.
106D: Pulverize: MASH
107D: Behold, to Guido: ECCO. Italian for ECCE I presume. Guido is the guy who invented the musical notation. Remember the ELA (Guido's high note)?
111D: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Very easy to mix ANKH with the Punjab religion SIKH.
C.C.
23A: Movie about George M. Cohan's sweet tooth?: YANKEE DOODLE CANDY (DANDY)
43A: Movie about interpreter fees?: COST (LOST) IN TRANSLATION
63A: Movie about a rain forest chef?: THE JUNGLE COOK (BOOK)
91A: Movie about a kennel owner's purchase: A FISTFUL OF COLLARS (DOLLARS)
114A: Movie about a versatile container?: A CAN (MAN) FOR ALL SEASONS
16D: Movie about a dance troupe?: THE CAST (LAST) WALTZ
62D: Movie about a sleuth's heavenly helper? THE CLUE (BLUE) ANGEL
Such a clever theme. Perfect theme title as well.
I thought of the movie "Some Like it Hot", but the "C" change will result "Come Like it Hot", probably too DF. "Annie Hall" is a great candidate too, but it's impossible to clue "Annie Call" grammatically. "Fargo" (Cargo) does not have enough letters to be a theme answer.
Of the above 7 movies, the only movie I've seen is LOST IN TRANSLATION. And the only movie I've never heard of is A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.
I seriously doubt the GOLD clue (109A: Fort Knox cache) is the constructors' original. They are far too experienced a team to make clue/answer (65D: Military stronghold: FORT) duplication mistake.
The cluing mistake for DETENTE (17D: International accord) somehow comforts me. I thought I am the only one who is often confused by DETENTE and ENTENTE. What can I say? Confused minds think alike?
I loved the clue for SPA (117D: Bath, for one). Very clever. Bath is a city in England famous for its spas. See the map? It's to the west of London, close to Bristol.
Across:
1A: Fuzzy fruit: KIWI. Fuzzy indeed. But really we don't call KIWI "Chinese gooseberry" in China.
5A: Use elbow grease: SCRUB. I wonder why NASA prefers SCRUB over cancel when they call off the shuttle launch.
10A: 6-pointers: TDS. I still think "NFL" is needed in the clue for abbreviation hint. 6 is not good enough for me.
19A: Seed protector: ARIL. Testa is the hard, outer coating.
20A: Bath sponge: LOOFA. This is how it looks like before it enters your bathroom. Very tasty when stir-fried with a little bit of meat.
21A: Location of Bradley University: PEORIA. I googled. Caterpillar Headquarters is based here also. And WACO (57A: Baylor U. location). U should not have been abbreviated. Dr. Pepper Museum is in WACO.
29A: Printer's measures: PICAS
30A: Beckham's game: SOCCER. We call it football in China.
36A: Yarn bundle: HANK. Like a skein? I've never heard of HANK used as "Yarn bundle" before.
37A: Close-knit group: CLIQUE. Coterie is one letter too long.
39A: Salami type: GENOA. Can you believe that I've never had salami?
40A: Adriatic gulf: TRIESTE. See Gulf of TRIESTE. It's at the north end of Adriatic Sea. New to me also. Such a sad looking word, so close to TRISTE in spelling.
48A: Deserve: RATE. How so? I wanted EARN.
50A: "Leave it to Beaver" co-star: TONY DOW. Would not have got his name without the surrounds.
63A: Grilled sandwich: PANINI. This veggie PANINI looks so good. When do you use the singular form panino then?
67A: Bremen exclamation: ACH. I guessed. Not familiar with this city/state Bremen.
75A: Twisted treat: PRETZEL
79A: Rose extract: ATTAR. I wonder how many rose petals it takes to make a drop of rose oil.
80A: Rhine siren: LORELEI. Also spelled as LORELEY, which can also refer to the rock along the Rhine River where the siren LORELEI lured the sailors. Too bad, Kazie, I simply forgot it again. All I could think of is Circe.
83A: Legendary Hun king: ATLI. I can't understand why Attila the Hun is also called ATLI.
89A: Disco of "The Simpsons": STU. Learned his name from doing Xword. MOE is the bartender in "The Simpsons".
96A: Hack's question: WHERE TO
99A: Baker's item: PIE PAN. What kind of pie did you have for Thanksgiving?
104A: Ancient letters: RUNES. The first six letters of RUNES are F, U, TH, A, R, K, hence Futhark.
108A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). Normally I like the original song, but this medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" is so beautiful.
110A: Osaka Okay: HAI. The same with "Cantonese Okay". "Mandarine Okay" is "Shi".
119A: Block: SCREEN
123A: Grandstander: HOTDOG
Down:
1D: Danny or Stubby: KAYE. Got this name from across fills. I know neither of them.
5D: Make glossy: SLEEKEN. New verb to me.
6D: Musical wrapups: CODAS
9D: Undesirable individual: BAD PENNY. New slang to me.
15D: "Banana Boat" shout: DAY-O. I've never heard of "Banana Boat" before. I like that guy's voice. The tune sounds so similar to "Come Mr. Taliban".
18D: Breathing device: SNORKEL
24D: Boredom: ENNUI
33D: Brainpower meas.: IQ TEST. Nice answer.
39D: Small cave: GROT. Only knew grotto. Also, I did not know that cavern is a big cave. Always thought cavern is smaller.
44D: Final strike: THREE. Great clue. Oh by the way, Babe Ruth’s jersey number is 3. Mantle's is 7. Kirby Puckett's number is 34. He died too young.
55D: Hit by the Stones: ANGIE. Is that Mick Jagger? He looks so different.
60D: Kin of CHiPs: LAPDS. But the official acronym for California Highway Patrol is CHP, isn't it?
63D: Opinion leader: PUNDIT
64D: Biotic beginning?: ANTI. Antibiotic. Very unexpected clue.
66D: Home decor co.: IKEA. Do you like the Swedish style food at IKEA?
73D: Bout-stopper: TKO (Technical knockout). The clue needs "for short".
82D: Immature newt: EFT
83D: Estrange: ALIENATE. I like this word "Estrange". I also like espouse.
86D: Hines footwear: TAP SHOES. I guessed. Have never heard of "Hines footwear" before.
89D: Eddied: SWIRLED. I wanted TWIRLED.
94D: Richly appointed: OPULENT. I did not know that "appoint" can mean "furnish".
103D: Monteverdi opera "L'__": ORFEO. Another google. ORFEO is Italian for Orpheus. He shouldn't look back when he tried to bring his wife Eurydice from Hades. Kind of like Lot's wife Pillar of Salt story, isn't it?
104D: Pine product: ROSIN. Never know when to put ROSIN and when to put RESIN.
106D: Pulverize: MASH
107D: Behold, to Guido: ECCO. Italian for ECCE I presume. Guido is the guy who invented the musical notation. Remember the ELA (Guido's high note)?
111D: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Very easy to mix ANKH with the Punjab religion SIKH.
C.C.
