Theme: Organ Transplant - The organ is each organ-embedded common phrase is transplanted to another non-organ containing common phrase.
24A: Pool hall "Better luck next time"?: (HEART)FELT CONDOLENCES
30A: Sound of a breakup?: (EAR)SPLITTING NOISE
43A: Columbus college funds?: OHIO STATE BUCK(EYE)S
52A: Temper tantrum? (BRAIN)STORMING SESSION
73A: Steinway's idea for a large piano?: GRAND (BRAIN)CHILD
80A: Minimum for a Maybeline ad shoot?: FORTY (EYE)LASHES
91A: Place-marking lessons for readers? DOG(EAR) TRAINING
102A: Sorrows behind bars?: JAIL (HEART)BREAKS
Each of the organ is successfully transplanted to its grid symmetrical partner. Excellent!
I have never heard of base phrase FORTY LASHES, so I had a bit of trouble understanding 80A. Kidney is probably the most common type of organ plant. Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has sparked a heated debate over his rather quick liver transplant.
There are quite a few nice long Down answers in this puzzle. I especially loved the below two-word entries:
16D: It's pressed in distress: PANIC BUTTON
61D: Segment of the western Pacific: CHINA SEAS
62D: Picnic side: POTATO SALAD
75D: "Twister" actress: HELEN HUNT
The answer just popped up to me with one or two letters filled in.
I really hope Dan will not change his style just to avoid annoying solvers with one or two obscure fills. Heavy themage, lots of non-theme fills of 6 or more letters (Dan Naddor Index) and low word count are his hallmarks.
It's like the predominance of yellow color in van Gogh's painting. It's just van Gogh. It's his style.
Across:
1A: "Satisfied?": HAPPY. Yes!
6A: Controversial initiation practice: HAZING
12A: Concert dancing areas: MOSH PITS. New phrases to me.
20A: What Mexican Olympians go for: EL ORO. "The gold" in Spanish.
21A: "Kick it up a notch!": EMERIL. "Bam"!
22A: Internal company info-sharing system: INTRANET
23A: Rockies music festival site: ASPEN. No idea. I always associate ASPEN with the ski resort and the ASPEN trees.
26A: Garish: LOUD
28A: Rock outcroppings: CRAGS
29A: Golfer Woosnam: IAN. Ha ha, I just mentioned the "hot-tempered Welsh golfer IAN" yesterday. But I misremembered his surname as Woosman.
33A: Elmer, to Bugs: DOC
35A: Squirreled-away item: ACORN
37A: Fighters' home: AIRBASE
41A: Body language?: TATTOO. Excellent clue.
48A: Colombian city: CALI. I have this image of CALI awash in drug dealing and kidnapping activities.
50A: Managed care gps: HMOS. Hopefully they will pay for your organ transplant.
57A: N.J. town on the Hudson: FT. LEE. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
58A: Junior: SON
59A: Itty-bitty bit: IOTA. And A TON (37D: Hardly hardly).
60A: They may be girded before battle: LOINS. Gird one's LOINS.
61A: Zagreb native: CROAT. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia.
62A: Furthermore: PLUS
65A: MP quarries: AWOLS. MP = Military Police.
67A: Text alternative: PHONE
68A: Romulus, e.g.: TWIN. Romulus & Remus are twins.
69A: AT&T rival, once: MCI. Acquired by Verizon in 2006.
76A: China setting: ASIA. "Japan setting" is better due to CHINA SEAS.
77A: Play a mean sax, say: WAIL. New definition to me.
78A: Stretching discipline: YOGA. Sanskrit for "union".
85A: Surgical solution: SALINE. Probably is needed for organ transplant.
87A: Back: ENDORSE. Don't you think Tiger Woods should ENDORSE Buick for free now?
90A: Concorde, e.g.: SST
99A: "24" superagent: BAUER. Jack BAUER. Played by Kiefer Sutherland.
100A: Markers: IOUS. I did not know "marker" is a slang for IOU.
106A: Cuban dance: RUMBA
107A: Taxpayer's headache: IRS AUDIT. Loved the answer.
108A: Go off on: RANT AT
109A: Diarist Nin: ANAIS
110A: Distribution slips?: MISDEALS. Poker I suppose.
111A: Ore appraisals: ASSAYS. Always thought ASSAY is a verb only.
113A: Old lab heaters: ETNAS
Down:
1D: Gets better: HEALS. Hope our fellow LAT solver Doreen is getting better now.
2D: 1940-'70s journalist Stewart: ALSOP. No idea. I do know his brother Joseph ALSOP though, from reading all those JFK books.
3D: Resident count: POPULATION
4D: Meteorologist, at time: PREDICTOR. Hmm, WM, add your comments here.
6D: "Battle Cry" actor Van: HEFLIN. Nope. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says he was also in "Shane".
8D: Woody Allen mockumentary: ZELIG. Simply forgot. Googled this film before. Woody Allen was dogged by the Soon-Yi distraction at Terry Gross's last "Fresh Air" interview.
9D: NYC subway line: IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit)
10D: Composer Paganini: NICCOLO. No idea. Bet this is a gimme for Crockett. He always nails those composer clues, including yesterday SUK (Czech composer Josef).
11D: Morning __: flowers: GLORIES. Mine have not bloomed yet.
12D: Gnatlike insect: MIDGE
14D: N.L. Central team: STL. St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols is now a US citizen.
15D: Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. OTTO I is the first HRE emperor.
17D:Machu Picchu builder: INCA
25D: "If I Ruled the Word" rapper: NAS. His original given name is NASIR.
27D: Just plain awful: ATROCIOUS
34D: Sun or Moon: ORB. Poetically.
38D: Amtrak's "bullet train": ACELA. The name is meant to be evocative of acceleration & excellence.
39D: It's similar to sporting clays: SKEET
40D: Salinger heroine: ESME. From his "For ESME – with Love and Squalor".
42D: Chorus line: ALTO. Nice play on "A Chorus Line".
44D: Old what's-__-name: HIS. I guessed. It's either HIS or HER. Don't understand the clue though. Why "Old"?
46D: Half of an old radio duo: AMOS. The other half is Andy. AMOS 'n' Andy.
49D: Farm workers? ANTS. Ant farm.
53D:__Bornes: card game: MILLE. Unknown to me. MILLE is just a thousand in French. Bornes is "boundary".
54D: John of England: ELTON. ELTON John. I was thinking of the toilet john.
56D: Cassette half: SIDE B
57D: Swiss capital: FRANC. "Capital" here refers to its money, not the capital city BERN. Switzland is not an EU memeber, so no EURO.
63D: Will: SHALL. Gosh, I can't believe the clue is this simple.
65D: Illegal firing?: ARSON. Barry Silk used this identical clue a while ago.
67D: __-dieu: PRIE. The prayer bench.
69D: Revolutionary soldier: MILITIAMAN
70D: The Kennedys, e.g.: CLANS. Timely clue.
71D: Loaf at work: IDLE. And RYE (74D: Loaf in a deli). Nice "loaf" echos.
73D: "Let's Get it On" singer: GAYE (Marvin). Here is the clip.
77D: Wild place?: WEST. Wild, Wild WEST. I thought Dan was talking about Minnesota Wild, our NHL hockey team.
81D: Jr. and sr.: YRS
82D: Subject with many unknowns: ALGEBRA. Stumped me.
83D: Milieu for John Muir, with "the": SIERRAS. John Muir founded the Sierra Club.
84D: "Isn't __ bit like you and me?": Beatles lyrics: HE A. No idea. It's from their "Nowhere Man".
86D: Request to Sajak: AN I. Wheel of Fortune. Vowels. AN A/E/I/O/U.
89D: Estate lawyer's specialty: TRUSTS. Because he knows how to set up trust fund?
91D: Dashes: DARTS
92D: In the open: OUT
93D: Rodeo rope: RIATA. Sometimes it's REATA.
94D: Wine mentioned in Hungary's national anthem: TOKAY. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Have never heard of TOKAY wine either.
95D: Egypt-Sudan region: NUBIA. Verdi's Aida is set in NUBIA.
96D: Calm water metaphor: GLASS
98D: Catcall: HISS
99D: Leave quickly, in slang: BAIL. No idea. I wanted SCAT.
102D: Dandy dude?: JIM. JIM-dandy is new to me. Dictionary defines it as "one that is very pleasing or excellent of its kind".
104D: Author LeShan: EDA. This has become a gimme.
105D: USNA grad: ENS (Ensign)
106D: English singer Corinne Bailey __: RAE. Got her name from Across fills. She looks exotic.
Answer grid.
C.C.
24A: Pool hall "Better luck next time"?: (HEART)FELT CONDOLENCES
30A: Sound of a breakup?: (EAR)SPLITTING NOISE
43A: Columbus college funds?: OHIO STATE BUCK(EYE)S
52A: Temper tantrum? (BRAIN)STORMING SESSION
73A: Steinway's idea for a large piano?: GRAND (BRAIN)CHILD
80A: Minimum for a Maybeline ad shoot?: FORTY (EYE)LASHES
91A: Place-marking lessons for readers? DOG(EAR) TRAINING
102A: Sorrows behind bars?: JAIL (HEART)BREAKS
Each of the organ is successfully transplanted to its grid symmetrical partner. Excellent!
I have never heard of base phrase FORTY LASHES, so I had a bit of trouble understanding 80A. Kidney is probably the most common type of organ plant. Steve Jobs (Apple CEO) has sparked a heated debate over his rather quick liver transplant.
There are quite a few nice long Down answers in this puzzle. I especially loved the below two-word entries:
16D: It's pressed in distress: PANIC BUTTON
61D: Segment of the western Pacific: CHINA SEAS
62D: Picnic side: POTATO SALAD
75D: "Twister" actress: HELEN HUNT
The answer just popped up to me with one or two letters filled in.
I really hope Dan will not change his style just to avoid annoying solvers with one or two obscure fills. Heavy themage, lots of non-theme fills of 6 or more letters (Dan Naddor Index) and low word count are his hallmarks.
It's like the predominance of yellow color in van Gogh's painting. It's just van Gogh. It's his style.
Across:
1A: "Satisfied?": HAPPY. Yes!
6A: Controversial initiation practice: HAZING
12A: Concert dancing areas: MOSH PITS. New phrases to me.
20A: What Mexican Olympians go for: EL ORO. "The gold" in Spanish.
21A: "Kick it up a notch!": EMERIL. "Bam"!
22A: Internal company info-sharing system: INTRANET
23A: Rockies music festival site: ASPEN. No idea. I always associate ASPEN with the ski resort and the ASPEN trees.
26A: Garish: LOUD
28A: Rock outcroppings: CRAGS
29A: Golfer Woosnam: IAN. Ha ha, I just mentioned the "hot-tempered Welsh golfer IAN" yesterday. But I misremembered his surname as Woosman.
33A: Elmer, to Bugs: DOC
35A: Squirreled-away item: ACORN
37A: Fighters' home: AIRBASE
41A: Body language?: TATTOO. Excellent clue.
48A: Colombian city: CALI. I have this image of CALI awash in drug dealing and kidnapping activities.
50A: Managed care gps: HMOS. Hopefully they will pay for your organ transplant.
57A: N.J. town on the Hudson: FT. LEE. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
58A: Junior: SON
59A: Itty-bitty bit: IOTA. And A TON (37D: Hardly hardly).
60A: They may be girded before battle: LOINS. Gird one's LOINS.
61A: Zagreb native: CROAT. Zagreb is the capital of Croatia.
62A: Furthermore: PLUS
65A: MP quarries: AWOLS. MP = Military Police.
67A: Text alternative: PHONE
68A: Romulus, e.g.: TWIN. Romulus & Remus are twins.
69A: AT&T rival, once: MCI. Acquired by Verizon in 2006.
76A: China setting: ASIA. "Japan setting" is better due to CHINA SEAS.
77A: Play a mean sax, say: WAIL. New definition to me.
78A: Stretching discipline: YOGA. Sanskrit for "union".
85A: Surgical solution: SALINE. Probably is needed for organ transplant.
87A: Back: ENDORSE. Don't you think Tiger Woods should ENDORSE Buick for free now?
90A: Concorde, e.g.: SST
99A: "24" superagent: BAUER. Jack BAUER. Played by Kiefer Sutherland.
100A: Markers: IOUS. I did not know "marker" is a slang for IOU.
106A: Cuban dance: RUMBA
107A: Taxpayer's headache: IRS AUDIT. Loved the answer.
108A: Go off on: RANT AT
109A: Diarist Nin: ANAIS
110A: Distribution slips?: MISDEALS. Poker I suppose.
111A: Ore appraisals: ASSAYS. Always thought ASSAY is a verb only.
113A: Old lab heaters: ETNAS
Down:
1D: Gets better: HEALS. Hope our fellow LAT solver Doreen is getting better now.
2D: 1940-'70s journalist Stewart: ALSOP. No idea. I do know his brother Joseph ALSOP though, from reading all those JFK books.
3D: Resident count: POPULATION
4D: Meteorologist, at time: PREDICTOR. Hmm, WM, add your comments here.
6D: "Battle Cry" actor Van: HEFLIN. Nope. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says he was also in "Shane".
8D: Woody Allen mockumentary: ZELIG. Simply forgot. Googled this film before. Woody Allen was dogged by the Soon-Yi distraction at Terry Gross's last "Fresh Air" interview.
9D: NYC subway line: IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit)
10D: Composer Paganini: NICCOLO. No idea. Bet this is a gimme for Crockett. He always nails those composer clues, including yesterday SUK (Czech composer Josef).
11D: Morning __: flowers: GLORIES. Mine have not bloomed yet.
12D: Gnatlike insect: MIDGE
14D: N.L. Central team: STL. St. Louis Cardinals. Albert Pujols is now a US citizen.
15D: Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. OTTO I is the first HRE emperor.
17D:Machu Picchu builder: INCA
25D: "If I Ruled the Word" rapper: NAS. His original given name is NASIR.
27D: Just plain awful: ATROCIOUS
34D: Sun or Moon: ORB. Poetically.
38D: Amtrak's "bullet train": ACELA. The name is meant to be evocative of acceleration & excellence.
39D: It's similar to sporting clays: SKEET
40D: Salinger heroine: ESME. From his "For ESME – with Love and Squalor".
42D: Chorus line: ALTO. Nice play on "A Chorus Line".
44D: Old what's-__-name: HIS. I guessed. It's either HIS or HER. Don't understand the clue though. Why "Old"?
46D: Half of an old radio duo: AMOS. The other half is Andy. AMOS 'n' Andy.
49D: Farm workers? ANTS. Ant farm.
53D:__Bornes: card game: MILLE. Unknown to me. MILLE is just a thousand in French. Bornes is "boundary".
54D: John of England: ELTON. ELTON John. I was thinking of the toilet john.
56D: Cassette half: SIDE B
57D: Swiss capital: FRANC. "Capital" here refers to its money, not the capital city BERN. Switzland is not an EU memeber, so no EURO.
63D: Will: SHALL. Gosh, I can't believe the clue is this simple.
65D: Illegal firing?: ARSON. Barry Silk used this identical clue a while ago.
67D: __-dieu: PRIE. The prayer bench.
69D: Revolutionary soldier: MILITIAMAN
70D: The Kennedys, e.g.: CLANS. Timely clue.
71D: Loaf at work: IDLE. And RYE (74D: Loaf in a deli). Nice "loaf" echos.
73D: "Let's Get it On" singer: GAYE (Marvin). Here is the clip.
77D: Wild place?: WEST. Wild, Wild WEST. I thought Dan was talking about Minnesota Wild, our NHL hockey team.
81D: Jr. and sr.: YRS
82D: Subject with many unknowns: ALGEBRA. Stumped me.
83D: Milieu for John Muir, with "the": SIERRAS. John Muir founded the Sierra Club.
84D: "Isn't __ bit like you and me?": Beatles lyrics: HE A. No idea. It's from their "Nowhere Man".
86D: Request to Sajak: AN I. Wheel of Fortune. Vowels. AN A/E/I/O/U.
89D: Estate lawyer's specialty: TRUSTS. Because he knows how to set up trust fund?
91D: Dashes: DARTS
92D: In the open: OUT
93D: Rodeo rope: RIATA. Sometimes it's REATA.
94D: Wine mentioned in Hungary's national anthem: TOKAY. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Have never heard of TOKAY wine either.
95D: Egypt-Sudan region: NUBIA. Verdi's Aida is set in NUBIA.
96D: Calm water metaphor: GLASS
98D: Catcall: HISS
99D: Leave quickly, in slang: BAIL. No idea. I wanted SCAT.
102D: Dandy dude?: JIM. JIM-dandy is new to me. Dictionary defines it as "one that is very pleasing or excellent of its kind".
104D: Author LeShan: EDA. This has become a gimme.
105D: USNA grad: ENS (Ensign)
106D: English singer Corinne Bailey __: RAE. Got her name from Across fills. She looks exotic.
Answer grid.
C.C.
