Theme: Den of Thieves - CON is added to each phrase.
23A: Builder's political clout?: CONTRACTOR PULL
34A: Patronizing part of the digestive tract?: CONDESCENDING COLON
47A: Lacking partners?: OUT OF CONSORTS
60A: Oppose, while tippling?: CONFRONT LOADED
68D: Lawyer in line for a title shot: LEGAL CONTENDER
86A: "Da" or "ja"?: CONSENT ABROAD
93A: Angel on one's shoulder? MASTER OF CONSCIENCE
113A: Charge of the TV?: CONSOLE CUSTODY
Five of the CON's are prefixed to the first word, three are to the second word. Nice theme title. Reminds me of James Steward's "Den of Thieves" (a book about inside trading).
Descending colon was new to me, but CONDESCENDING part was not tough to get. LOADED is an adjective, how could it describe a verb CONFRONT?
"Da" is Russian for "yes". Russian "no" is NYET. "Ja" is German for "yes", and we have the "no" NEIN (87D: Kurt refusal?) in the grid. Good play on "curt refusal".
I had another struggle. The sheer size of Sunday puzzle just intimidated me. Also, lots of sports references in this puzzle. I can picture how Kazie reacts.
Across:
1A: Apple variety: IMAC. I thought of FUJI apple again.
5A: "Hi and Lois" pooch: DAWG. Unknown to me.
9A: Like a 112-Across game: TIED. And ONE ONE (112A: Score in a pitchers' duel). What a boring game!
13A: Chalk talk, perhaps: LESSON
19A: "Me neither": NOR I. Or the rice ball/sushi wrapping seaweed NORI.
20A: City known for lake-effect snow: ERIE. I like the new clue.
21A: Actress Skye: IONE. Wrote down IONA.
22A: Colts fullback Alan who famously scored the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL championship game: AMECHE. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy is the cousin of actor Don AMECHE.
26A: Hair dryer brand: CONAIR
27A: Screen names, e.g.: USER IDS
28A: Pointillism marks: DOTS
29A: Race that once began in Wasilla: IDITAROD. Where does it start now? Anchorage? The terminus is Nome.
31A: Dinosaur, so to speak: RELIC
32A: Turn down: VETO
33A: "Right away, boss": I'M ON IT. Still have problem adjusting to multiple words.
41A: U.K's Gordon Brown et al: PMS. I was thinking of Labor Party.
44A: Him, to Henri: LUI. Her is ELLE.
48A: Hockey East college town: ORONO. More used to the "University of Maine town". Had no knowledge that there is even a Hockey East conference.
53A: Where to see Hamilton, informally: TEN SPOT. Did not know it's a slang for a ten-dollar bill. Sawbuck, yes.
55A: Bama rival: OLE MISS
56A: Affectedly dainty, in Dover: TWEE. No idea. It's a baby-talk alteration of sweet.
57A: Key contraction: O'ER. Francis Scott Key. National Anthem.
59A: Macho types: HE-MEN
64A: Mainland Africa's smallest nation: GAMBIA. See the map. It's surrounded by Senegal. A former British colony. I've never heard of it.
67A: Jeer leaders: BOOERS. Ah, "Cheer leader?" would be a great clue for CEE.
74A: Bothered to no end: ATE AT. And NAGS AT (95D: Bothers incessantly).
79A: Tin Woodsman's prop: AXE. "The Wizard of Oz". I only know him as the "Tin man".
81D: Being hunted, perhaps: AT LARGE
83A: Deodorant choices: ROLL-ONS
88A: Birch kin: ALDER
89A: City on the Orne: CAEN. Forgot. Might have seen ORNE clued as "Caen's river" before.
91A: Aution ending?: EER. Auctioneer.
92A: Scrub sites, briefly: ORS (Operation Rooms). Surgical scrub. Hence the TV series name "Scrubs".
100A: Old marketplaces: AGORAE. The Greek marketplace. I wrote down AGORAS.
101A: Near-eternity: AEON. Or EON.
102A: On the nose: EXACT
106A: Exurban resident: VILLAGER
109A: Toasted breakfast brand: EGGO
110A: Honda Ruckus, e.g.: SCOOTER. Not familiar with the Honda Ruckus brand.
116A: Claim holder: LIENOR
117A: Personnel list: ROTA. I forgot this word. It's British for roster.
118A: Stereotypical lab name: IGOR. The lab assistant in"Young Frankenstein".
119A: Model Sastre: INES. Wow, is this an intentional wardrobe malfunction? She is a Spanish model/actress.
120A: Burnout cause: STRESS
121A: Baseball's "Walking Man" Eddie: YOST. Hmmm, I might have this 1959 Topps reprint. Could not recall him or his nickname.
122A: Shopper's aid: TOTE
123A: "__ la vie": C'EST
Down:
1D: Run up: INCUR
2D: Meat favored by Sarah Palin: MOOSE. Brought back last year's MOOSE raves.
3D: Cellulose fiber: ARNEL. New word to me. Strange, a fiber without ON (orlon, nylon).
4D: Like ugli fruit: CITRIC
5D: Pooped out: DEAD
7D: Wilde, notably: WIT. Thought of GAY first.
8D: Crystal-lined rocks: GEODES
9D: Try to avoid detection, in a way: TIPTOE
10D: Chits: IOUS
11D: 8X10, e.g.: Abbr.: ENL
12D: Separate into fields: DELIMIT. New word to me. Sounds like "get rid of limit", doesn't it?
13D: Pre-skating chore: LACING
14D: Face with a hyphen for a nose, say: EMOTICON. :-)
15D: Ottawa NHLers: SENATORS. Twins were once Washington SENATORS.
16D: Easily recalled facial mark: SCAR. Wanted MOLE.
17D: Kent State locale: OHIO
19D: Societal klutz: NERD
25D: Uniformed campus org: ROTC
30D: Aid financially: DONATE TO
32D: Way to a man's heart?: VEIN. Couldn't cram in "through his stomach". Great clue.
35D: 2008 LA-Phila. showdown: NLCS (National League Championship Series). Phillies won of course.
36D: Pairs: DUOS
37D: Gunpowder ingredient: NITER
38D: Bounded along: LOPED
40D: Jotted down: NOTED
41D: Pal of Piglet: POOH. Winnie-the-POOH.
42D: Prospector's beast: MULE. No idea. Why?
43D: Goblet feature: STEM
48D: First watch on the moon: OMEGA. Oh, I did not know this.
49D: Set in stone: FINAL
50D: Ferret cousin: STOAT
51D: Dominate, in sports: OWN. PWN in leetspeaks.
53D: Field zebra: REF
54D: First name in legal fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
57D: __ close to schedule: ON OR
60D: Cannes showing: CINE. Cannes Film Festival.
61D: Needing a seat belt extender, say: OBESE. China is super-sizing its economy as well as its children.
63D: Sirius or Vega, e.g.: A STAR. I can never remember the star type: O, B, A, F, G, K & M (Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me).
65D: Thom __ shoes: MCAN
65D: Place to find hit records?: BOX SCORE. Great clue.
68D: Super Bowl XIV player: LA RAM. No idea. LA RAMS moved to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season, according to Wikipedia.
69D: Deadly virus: EBOLA
70D: Neuters: GELDS
71D: Low-budget prefix: ECONO
72D: "The Sound of Music" extra: NUN. Julie Andrews is in Bo Derek's "10" too.
73D: Around-the-horn MLB plays: DPS (Double Plays).
75D: Switch back?: EROO. Switcheroo. Good clue.
76D: Thickening agent: AGAR
77D: Turner and Mack: TEDS. Don't know TED Mack.
81D: Suit to __: A TEE
82D: Glacier-formed lake: TARN. Can never commit this word to my memory.
84D: Not to mention: LET ALONE
85D: Spaghetti sauce herbs: OREGANOS
86D: Winans of gospel: CECE
90D: Quite removed (from): A FAR CRY
94D: "All politics is applesauce" speaker: ROGERS. Will ROGERS is of Cherokee root.
96D: Utah state flower: SEGO. SEGO lily.
97D: "Calm down!": COOL IT
98D: Top suits: CEOS. Suit is a slang for business executive, as they often wear suit. Needs an abbreviation hint.
99D: Type of dancer: EXOTIC
103D: Say an Act of Contrition: ATONE
104D: Hands over: CEDES. Britain handed over Hongkong to China in 1997. And Portugal handed over Macau to China in 1999.
105D: It could be cheating: TRYST. Indeed.
106D: Lady __ Tenn. team: VOLS. University of Tennessee women's athletic teams. I was stumped again.
107D: Embroidered ltr.: INIT (Initial)
109D: Fangom Forest denizens: ENTS. Tolkien's talking tree ("The Lord of Rings") again. It's just clued as "Treebeard's kin" yesterday.
110D: Connery, by birth: SCOT. I liked Sean Connery in "Entrapment".
111D: Medical breakthrough: CURE
114D: Queenside castle, in chess notation: O-O-O. I know nothing about chess.
115D: It may be inflated: EGO. Saw this clue before. Still like it.
Thanks for the answers/comments, everyone.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A: Builder's political clout?: CONTRACTOR PULL
34A: Patronizing part of the digestive tract?: CONDESCENDING COLON
47A: Lacking partners?: OUT OF CONSORTS
60A: Oppose, while tippling?: CONFRONT LOADED
68D: Lawyer in line for a title shot: LEGAL CONTENDER
86A: "Da" or "ja"?: CONSENT ABROAD
93A: Angel on one's shoulder? MASTER OF CONSCIENCE
113A: Charge of the TV?: CONSOLE CUSTODY
Five of the CON's are prefixed to the first word, three are to the second word. Nice theme title. Reminds me of James Steward's "Den of Thieves" (a book about inside trading).
Descending colon was new to me, but CONDESCENDING part was not tough to get. LOADED is an adjective, how could it describe a verb CONFRONT?
"Da" is Russian for "yes". Russian "no" is NYET. "Ja" is German for "yes", and we have the "no" NEIN (87D: Kurt refusal?) in the grid. Good play on "curt refusal".
I had another struggle. The sheer size of Sunday puzzle just intimidated me. Also, lots of sports references in this puzzle. I can picture how Kazie reacts.
Across:
1A: Apple variety: IMAC. I thought of FUJI apple again.
5A: "Hi and Lois" pooch: DAWG. Unknown to me.
9A: Like a 112-Across game: TIED. And ONE ONE (112A: Score in a pitchers' duel). What a boring game!
13A: Chalk talk, perhaps: LESSON
19A: "Me neither": NOR I. Or the rice ball/sushi wrapping seaweed NORI.
20A: City known for lake-effect snow: ERIE. I like the new clue.
21A: Actress Skye: IONE. Wrote down IONA.
22A: Colts fullback Alan who famously scored the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL championship game: AMECHE. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy is the cousin of actor Don AMECHE.
26A: Hair dryer brand: CONAIR
27A: Screen names, e.g.: USER IDS
28A: Pointillism marks: DOTS
29A: Race that once began in Wasilla: IDITAROD. Where does it start now? Anchorage? The terminus is Nome.
31A: Dinosaur, so to speak: RELIC
32A: Turn down: VETO
33A: "Right away, boss": I'M ON IT. Still have problem adjusting to multiple words.
41A: U.K's Gordon Brown et al: PMS. I was thinking of Labor Party.
44A: Him, to Henri: LUI. Her is ELLE.
48A: Hockey East college town: ORONO. More used to the "University of Maine town". Had no knowledge that there is even a Hockey East conference.
53A: Where to see Hamilton, informally: TEN SPOT. Did not know it's a slang for a ten-dollar bill. Sawbuck, yes.
55A: Bama rival: OLE MISS
56A: Affectedly dainty, in Dover: TWEE. No idea. It's a baby-talk alteration of sweet.
57A: Key contraction: O'ER. Francis Scott Key. National Anthem.
59A: Macho types: HE-MEN
64A: Mainland Africa's smallest nation: GAMBIA. See the map. It's surrounded by Senegal. A former British colony. I've never heard of it.
67A: Jeer leaders: BOOERS. Ah, "Cheer leader?" would be a great clue for CEE.
74A: Bothered to no end: ATE AT. And NAGS AT (95D: Bothers incessantly).
79A: Tin Woodsman's prop: AXE. "The Wizard of Oz". I only know him as the "Tin man".
81D: Being hunted, perhaps: AT LARGE
83A: Deodorant choices: ROLL-ONS
88A: Birch kin: ALDER
89A: City on the Orne: CAEN. Forgot. Might have seen ORNE clued as "Caen's river" before.
91A: Aution ending?: EER. Auctioneer.
92A: Scrub sites, briefly: ORS (Operation Rooms). Surgical scrub. Hence the TV series name "Scrubs".
100A: Old marketplaces: AGORAE. The Greek marketplace. I wrote down AGORAS.
101A: Near-eternity: AEON. Or EON.
102A: On the nose: EXACT
106A: Exurban resident: VILLAGER
109A: Toasted breakfast brand: EGGO
110A: Honda Ruckus, e.g.: SCOOTER. Not familiar with the Honda Ruckus brand.
116A: Claim holder: LIENOR
117A: Personnel list: ROTA. I forgot this word. It's British for roster.
118A: Stereotypical lab name: IGOR. The lab assistant in"Young Frankenstein".
119A: Model Sastre: INES. Wow, is this an intentional wardrobe malfunction? She is a Spanish model/actress.
120A: Burnout cause: STRESS
121A: Baseball's "Walking Man" Eddie: YOST. Hmmm, I might have this 1959 Topps reprint. Could not recall him or his nickname.
122A: Shopper's aid: TOTE
123A: "__ la vie": C'EST
Down:
1D: Run up: INCUR
2D: Meat favored by Sarah Palin: MOOSE. Brought back last year's MOOSE raves.
3D: Cellulose fiber: ARNEL. New word to me. Strange, a fiber without ON (orlon, nylon).
4D: Like ugli fruit: CITRIC
5D: Pooped out: DEAD
7D: Wilde, notably: WIT. Thought of GAY first.
8D: Crystal-lined rocks: GEODES
9D: Try to avoid detection, in a way: TIPTOE
10D: Chits: IOUS
11D: 8X10, e.g.: Abbr.: ENL
12D: Separate into fields: DELIMIT. New word to me. Sounds like "get rid of limit", doesn't it?
13D: Pre-skating chore: LACING
14D: Face with a hyphen for a nose, say: EMOTICON. :-)
15D: Ottawa NHLers: SENATORS. Twins were once Washington SENATORS.
16D: Easily recalled facial mark: SCAR. Wanted MOLE.
17D: Kent State locale: OHIO
19D: Societal klutz: NERD
25D: Uniformed campus org: ROTC
30D: Aid financially: DONATE TO
32D: Way to a man's heart?: VEIN. Couldn't cram in "through his stomach". Great clue.
35D: 2008 LA-Phila. showdown: NLCS (National League Championship Series). Phillies won of course.
36D: Pairs: DUOS
37D: Gunpowder ingredient: NITER
38D: Bounded along: LOPED
40D: Jotted down: NOTED
41D: Pal of Piglet: POOH. Winnie-the-POOH.
42D: Prospector's beast: MULE. No idea. Why?
43D: Goblet feature: STEM
48D: First watch on the moon: OMEGA. Oh, I did not know this.
49D: Set in stone: FINAL
50D: Ferret cousin: STOAT
51D: Dominate, in sports: OWN. PWN in leetspeaks.
53D: Field zebra: REF
54D: First name in legal fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
57D: __ close to schedule: ON OR
60D: Cannes showing: CINE. Cannes Film Festival.
61D: Needing a seat belt extender, say: OBESE. China is super-sizing its economy as well as its children.
63D: Sirius or Vega, e.g.: A STAR. I can never remember the star type: O, B, A, F, G, K & M (Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me).
65D: Thom __ shoes: MCAN
65D: Place to find hit records?: BOX SCORE. Great clue.
68D: Super Bowl XIV player: LA RAM. No idea. LA RAMS moved to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season, according to Wikipedia.
69D: Deadly virus: EBOLA
70D: Neuters: GELDS
71D: Low-budget prefix: ECONO
72D: "The Sound of Music" extra: NUN. Julie Andrews is in Bo Derek's "10" too.
73D: Around-the-horn MLB plays: DPS (Double Plays).
75D: Switch back?: EROO. Switcheroo. Good clue.
76D: Thickening agent: AGAR
77D: Turner and Mack: TEDS. Don't know TED Mack.
81D: Suit to __: A TEE
82D: Glacier-formed lake: TARN. Can never commit this word to my memory.
84D: Not to mention: LET ALONE
85D: Spaghetti sauce herbs: OREGANOS
86D: Winans of gospel: CECE
90D: Quite removed (from): A FAR CRY
94D: "All politics is applesauce" speaker: ROGERS. Will ROGERS is of Cherokee root.
96D: Utah state flower: SEGO. SEGO lily.
97D: "Calm down!": COOL IT
98D: Top suits: CEOS. Suit is a slang for business executive, as they often wear suit. Needs an abbreviation hint.
99D: Type of dancer: EXOTIC
103D: Say an Act of Contrition: ATONE
104D: Hands over: CEDES. Britain handed over Hongkong to China in 1997. And Portugal handed over Macau to China in 1999.
105D: It could be cheating: TRYST. Indeed.
106D: Lady __ Tenn. team: VOLS. University of Tennessee women's athletic teams. I was stumped again.
107D: Embroidered ltr.: INIT (Initial)
109D: Fangom Forest denizens: ENTS. Tolkien's talking tree ("The Lord of Rings") again. It's just clued as "Treebeard's kin" yesterday.
110D: Connery, by birth: SCOT. I liked Sean Connery in "Entrapment".
111D: Medical breakthrough: CURE
114D: Queenside castle, in chess notation: O-O-O. I know nothing about chess.
115D: It may be inflated: EGO. Saw this clue before. Still like it.
Thanks for the answers/comments, everyone.
Answer grid.
C.C.
