Theme: Why, Yes! - punning on "Y, Yes!". Y sound is inserted in familiar phrases. (Please go to the Comments section and read the constructor's 11:18am post for more explanation.)
24A. Designer Christian doing a pirouette?: REVOLVING DIOR. Revolving Door. Christian Dior was a French fashion designer.
33A. Unadulterated moonshine?: PURE SPIRITS. Poor Spirits.
52A. "Actor Laurie goes after you"?: HUGH'S NEXT?. Who's Next? Hugh Laurie stars in in TV drama "House".
69A. Pool tool in the army rec room?: MILITARY CUE. Military Coup.
87A. Sign at a broken gas pump?: NO FUELING. No Fooling.
104A. Ongoing dispute about chemical use in farming?: ORGANIC FEUD. Organic Food.
115A. Former Vietnamese president's dining reservation?: TABLE FOR THIEU. Table for Two. Thieu (tyoo) was the Vietnamese president from 1967–75.
3D. Gorgeous newborns?: BABY BEAUTIES. Baby Booties.
5D. Speechless moments?: MUTE POINTS. Moot Points.
65D. Coastal Norse horse?: FJORD MUSTANG. Ford Mustang. Fjords are those long, narrow inlets with steep sides in Scandinavian countries.
77D. Late '70s Wimbledon headline? BJORN AGAIN. Born Again. Björn Borg won 5 consecutive Wimbledon singles: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
Not sure I understood the theme and theme title correctly. I am terrible at pronunciations and puns.
DIOR & Door does not really fit the oo to yoo pattern. And FJORD & BJORN feel a bit repetitive. Maybe Dan can explain to us his rationale at the Comments section.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle. My favorite is DEAR ABBY (86D. Support column?).
Across:
1. 1987 film about Ritchie Valens: LA BAMBA. And BIOPIC (123A. 1-Across, e.g.). Our crossword stalwart ESAI Morales was in this movie.
8. Birthplace of St. Francis: ASSISI. A town in central Italy.
14. Airheads: DUMBOS
20. Hurrying: IN A RUSH
21. Ahab or his craft: WHALER. His craft is Pequod.
22. Accustoms: ENURES. More used to INURES.
23. Lhasa native: TIBETAN. Lhasa is the capital of Tibet.
26. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. No idea. I only recognized Michael J. Fox.
27. __ disease: tick-borne illness: LYME. Kind of arthritis, isn't it?
30. Hip-hoppers Salt-N-__: PEPA. Easy guess. Have never heard of these girls before.
38. Hydrocarbon suffix: ANE
39. Praying figure: ORANT. Same root as oration. Look at this ORANT figure, with outstretched arms. I learned it from doing Xword.
41. John, Paul and John Paul: POPES. Nice clue.
42. Gusto: ELAN
44. Grazing ground: LEA
45. "What an exhausting day!": I'M BEAT
47. Like musically challenged ears?: TIN. Tin ear.
48. Ancient mystic: ESSENE (ESs-een). The Ancient Jewish ascetic. I simply forgot.
50. Radii neighbors: ULNAS. The plural can be ulnas too.
55. Clinch, with "up": SEW
56. Quarreling: AT IT. Here we go again.
57. Singer Lopez: TRINI
59. Pioneering electronic calculators: CASIOS. My first one is a CASIO.
61. Leaves port: SAILS
62. End of __: AN ERA
64. Martin/Tomlin comedy: ALL OF ME. No idea. I like neither of them, so no Netflix for me.
68. Long haul: TREK
73. In __: stuck: A JAM
74. Lives: RESIDES
76. Diner's decision: ORDER. Dan mentioned that the seed entry for his last GO puzzle is SOUTHEAST ASIAGO. He saw ASIAGO on a menu and was inspired by the ASIA GO combination.
77. N.L. career stolen base leader Lou: BROCK. Hall-of-Famer of course. I once pulled an authenticated autographed card of Lou BROCK. Rickey Henderson holds the MLB record.
78. Nobleman's address: MILORD. New word for me. Derived from "my lord".
81. Done to __: repeated too often: DEATH. New idiom to me as well. Like ad nauseam I suppose.
83. Creep: JERK
91. Ate too much, as chips: OD'ED ON. OD = Overdose.
93. Sgt., e.g.: NCO
94. State of mind: TEMPER
96. Unruly locks: MOP
100. Jack's fairy tale victim: GIANT. Not familiar with the fairy tale "Jack the GIANT Killer".
103. Old Mideast assn.: UAR (United Arab Republic). The former Egypt-Syria alliance (1958-61).
108. Talkative bird: MYNA
109. Cousin of calypso: SKA. Precursor to Reggae.
110. Invite for a nightcap: ASK IN
113. "The meek shall inherit the Earth, but not its mineral rights" speaker: GETTY (J. Paul). I was unaware of the origin of the quote.
120. How some stunts are done: ON A DARE. Love this fill.
122. Prepare to leave one's plane seat: UNBELT
124. Wheel adjuster: ALIGNER
125. Seaman's "Help!": MAYDAY
126. Declines: SAYS NO
127. Breaks a promise: RENEGES.
Down:
1. Hardly figurative: LITERAL. Such a straightforward clue.
2. Oily compound used in dyes: ANILINE. No idea. Only knew ANIL the indigo dye.
4. Son of Zeus: ARES. The Greek war god.
6. Troop gp.: BSA (Boy Scouts of America). I was thinking of military troops.
7. Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN. I just mentioned last time that the name AHN (Korean) = ANG in Chinese, as in ANG Lee.
8. Haywire: AWRY
9. Brother of Moe and Curly: SHEMP. Could only think of Larry, who was a friend of the Howard brothers. Wikipedia says the original "The Three Stooges" cast consisted of Moe, Shemp and Larry, and Shemp was later replaced by Curly.
10. Put aside: SAVE UP
11. UN workers' agcy.: ILO (International Labor Organization). Nobel Peace winner 1969. What a burden for Obama to be awarded Nobel so earlier in his presidency.
12. French seasoning: SEL. French for salt.
13. "Mr. Chicago" journalist Kupcinet: IRV
14. Teeth: Prefix: DENTI. What is "Tooth, prefix" then?
15. Felix the neatnik: UNGER. No idea. From "The Odd Couple".
16. Chocoholic desserts: MUD PIES. Want some?
17. Brush hairs: BRISTLES. Oh, the hairs of a brush. I thought the clue was asking for a verb.
18. War on Poverty org.: OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Unknown to me.
19. Lith., e.g., once: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)
25. AOL and MSN: ISPS
32. Blue Ribbon brewer: PABST. Have you tried Tsingtao beer?
34. "Portnoy's Complaint" author: ROTH (Philip). See the book cover.
35. Protestant denom.: EPISC. Episcopal I suppose.
36. Medicinal shrub: SENNA
37. On one's rocker?: SANE. Great clue. Off one's rocker = insane.
40. Sesame paste: TAHINI. Yummy, yummy.
43. Fresh: NEW
46. Set the radio dial on: TUNE TO
48. Banishment: EXILE
49. Small-strip aircraft acronym: STOL. No idea. It stands for Short Takeoff and Landing.
51. Rapper with the debut album "Hard Core": LIL' KIM. One of her most famous dresses.
53. Yankee manager Joe: GIRARDI. He replaced the other "Yankee manager Joe (Torre) last year. Here is a photo of them together. I don't believe in miracles when Twins face the Yankees, esp in Yankee Stadium, new or old.
54. Isaac's eldest: ESAU. Jacob's twin.
56. Bern's river: AARE. It joins the Rhine River at the Swiss-German border.
58. "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo __": Irish classic: RAL. Here is Bing Crosby's version.
60. Skyrocketed: SOARED. Wrote down SPIKED first.
61. Narrow waterway: Abbr.: STR (Strait)
63. Impassioned: ARDENT
66. Keystone Cops creator Sennett: MACK. How can I remember his name?
67. Mass. senator's monogram, 1962-2009: EMK (Edward Moore Kennedy). Man, I thought his middle initial is F, just like JFK and RFK.
70. __ use: avails: IS OF
71. Sound barrier breaker Chuck: YEAGER. Dennis loves to quote this guy.
72. PC component: CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube). Old PC component.
75. Bedrock pet: DINO. Bedrock threw me off. I am used to "The Flintstones" clue.
79. Written in mystical letters: RUNIC. Wrote down CODED first.
80. Cappuccino request: DECAF
84. Comfy footwear: MOC
85. Personal: Prefix: IDIO. As in idiosyncrasy.
90. Caught in the act: SEEN
92. Iditarod vehicle: DOG SLED
97. Strength symbol: OAK TREE
98. Mass communications?: PRAYERS. Another great clue.
100. NFL Hall of Famer Marchetti: GINO. One of the greatest defensive ends, too bad I've never heard of him.
101. Dutch export: TULIPS
105. Cub Scout leader: AKELA (uh-KEE-luh). Named after Akela the leader of the wolf pack in Kipling's "The Jungle Books". New to me also
106. Excellent: NIFTY
107. Expected to arrive: DUE IN
112. Osso __: BUCO. Stew with veal shank. Literally "bone hole" in Italian. Osso = bone. Buco = hole.
115. "Cats" cat Rum __ Tugger: TUM. Got the answer from crosses.
117. NFL ball carriers: RBS (Running Backs). Adrian Peterson is the RB for the Vikings.
118. __ Maria: liqueur: TIA. Coffee liqueur.
119. José 's "today": HOY. How to pronounce HOY?
120. Row: OAR. I was thinking of ADO.
121. Braves' div.: NLE (National League East)
Answer grid.
C.C.
24A. Designer Christian doing a pirouette?: REVOLVING DIOR. Revolving Door. Christian Dior was a French fashion designer.
33A. Unadulterated moonshine?: PURE SPIRITS. Poor Spirits.
52A. "Actor Laurie goes after you"?: HUGH'S NEXT?. Who's Next? Hugh Laurie stars in in TV drama "House".
69A. Pool tool in the army rec room?: MILITARY CUE. Military Coup.
87A. Sign at a broken gas pump?: NO FUELING. No Fooling.
104A. Ongoing dispute about chemical use in farming?: ORGANIC FEUD. Organic Food.
115A. Former Vietnamese president's dining reservation?: TABLE FOR THIEU. Table for Two. Thieu (tyoo) was the Vietnamese president from 1967–75.
3D. Gorgeous newborns?: BABY BEAUTIES. Baby Booties.
5D. Speechless moments?: MUTE POINTS. Moot Points.
65D. Coastal Norse horse?: FJORD MUSTANG. Ford Mustang. Fjords are those long, narrow inlets with steep sides in Scandinavian countries.
77D. Late '70s Wimbledon headline? BJORN AGAIN. Born Again. Björn Borg won 5 consecutive Wimbledon singles: 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 and 1980.
Not sure I understood the theme and theme title correctly. I am terrible at pronunciations and puns.
DIOR & Door does not really fit the oo to yoo pattern. And FJORD & BJORN feel a bit repetitive. Maybe Dan can explain to us his rationale at the Comments section.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle. My favorite is DEAR ABBY (86D. Support column?).
Across:
1. 1987 film about Ritchie Valens: LA BAMBA. And BIOPIC (123A. 1-Across, e.g.). Our crossword stalwart ESAI Morales was in this movie.
8. Birthplace of St. Francis: ASSISI. A town in central Italy.
14. Airheads: DUMBOS
20. Hurrying: IN A RUSH
21. Ahab or his craft: WHALER. His craft is Pequod.
22. Accustoms: ENURES. More used to INURES.
23. Lhasa native: TIBETAN. Lhasa is the capital of Tibet.
26. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. No idea. I only recognized Michael J. Fox.
27. __ disease: tick-borne illness: LYME. Kind of arthritis, isn't it?
30. Hip-hoppers Salt-N-__: PEPA. Easy guess. Have never heard of these girls before.
38. Hydrocarbon suffix: ANE
39. Praying figure: ORANT. Same root as oration. Look at this ORANT figure, with outstretched arms. I learned it from doing Xword.
41. John, Paul and John Paul: POPES. Nice clue.
42. Gusto: ELAN
44. Grazing ground: LEA
45. "What an exhausting day!": I'M BEAT
47. Like musically challenged ears?: TIN. Tin ear.
48. Ancient mystic: ESSENE (ESs-een). The Ancient Jewish ascetic. I simply forgot.
50. Radii neighbors: ULNAS. The plural can be ulnas too.
55. Clinch, with "up": SEW
56. Quarreling: AT IT. Here we go again.
57. Singer Lopez: TRINI
59. Pioneering electronic calculators: CASIOS. My first one is a CASIO.
61. Leaves port: SAILS
62. End of __: AN ERA
64. Martin/Tomlin comedy: ALL OF ME. No idea. I like neither of them, so no Netflix for me.
68. Long haul: TREK
73. In __: stuck: A JAM
74. Lives: RESIDES
76. Diner's decision: ORDER. Dan mentioned that the seed entry for his last GO puzzle is SOUTHEAST ASIAGO. He saw ASIAGO on a menu and was inspired by the ASIA GO combination.
77. N.L. career stolen base leader Lou: BROCK. Hall-of-Famer of course. I once pulled an authenticated autographed card of Lou BROCK. Rickey Henderson holds the MLB record.
78. Nobleman's address: MILORD. New word for me. Derived from "my lord".
81. Done to __: repeated too often: DEATH. New idiom to me as well. Like ad nauseam I suppose.
83. Creep: JERK
91. Ate too much, as chips: OD'ED ON. OD = Overdose.
93. Sgt., e.g.: NCO
94. State of mind: TEMPER
96. Unruly locks: MOP
100. Jack's fairy tale victim: GIANT. Not familiar with the fairy tale "Jack the GIANT Killer".
103. Old Mideast assn.: UAR (United Arab Republic). The former Egypt-Syria alliance (1958-61).
108. Talkative bird: MYNA
109. Cousin of calypso: SKA. Precursor to Reggae.
110. Invite for a nightcap: ASK IN
113. "The meek shall inherit the Earth, but not its mineral rights" speaker: GETTY (J. Paul). I was unaware of the origin of the quote.
120. How some stunts are done: ON A DARE. Love this fill.
122. Prepare to leave one's plane seat: UNBELT
124. Wheel adjuster: ALIGNER
125. Seaman's "Help!": MAYDAY
126. Declines: SAYS NO
127. Breaks a promise: RENEGES.
Down:
1. Hardly figurative: LITERAL. Such a straightforward clue.
2. Oily compound used in dyes: ANILINE. No idea. Only knew ANIL the indigo dye.
4. Son of Zeus: ARES. The Greek war god.
6. Troop gp.: BSA (Boy Scouts of America). I was thinking of military troops.
7. Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN. I just mentioned last time that the name AHN (Korean) = ANG in Chinese, as in ANG Lee.
8. Haywire: AWRY
9. Brother of Moe and Curly: SHEMP. Could only think of Larry, who was a friend of the Howard brothers. Wikipedia says the original "The Three Stooges" cast consisted of Moe, Shemp and Larry, and Shemp was later replaced by Curly.
10. Put aside: SAVE UP
11. UN workers' agcy.: ILO (International Labor Organization). Nobel Peace winner 1969. What a burden for Obama to be awarded Nobel so earlier in his presidency.
12. French seasoning: SEL. French for salt.
13. "Mr. Chicago" journalist Kupcinet: IRV
14. Teeth: Prefix: DENTI. What is "Tooth, prefix" then?
15. Felix the neatnik: UNGER. No idea. From "The Odd Couple".
16. Chocoholic desserts: MUD PIES. Want some?
17. Brush hairs: BRISTLES. Oh, the hairs of a brush. I thought the clue was asking for a verb.
18. War on Poverty org.: OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Unknown to me.
19. Lith., e.g., once: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)
25. AOL and MSN: ISPS
32. Blue Ribbon brewer: PABST. Have you tried Tsingtao beer?
34. "Portnoy's Complaint" author: ROTH (Philip). See the book cover.
35. Protestant denom.: EPISC. Episcopal I suppose.
36. Medicinal shrub: SENNA
37. On one's rocker?: SANE. Great clue. Off one's rocker = insane.
40. Sesame paste: TAHINI. Yummy, yummy.
43. Fresh: NEW
46. Set the radio dial on: TUNE TO
48. Banishment: EXILE
49. Small-strip aircraft acronym: STOL. No idea. It stands for Short Takeoff and Landing.
51. Rapper with the debut album "Hard Core": LIL' KIM. One of her most famous dresses.
53. Yankee manager Joe: GIRARDI. He replaced the other "Yankee manager Joe (Torre) last year. Here is a photo of them together. I don't believe in miracles when Twins face the Yankees, esp in Yankee Stadium, new or old.
54. Isaac's eldest: ESAU. Jacob's twin.
56. Bern's river: AARE. It joins the Rhine River at the Swiss-German border.
58. "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo __": Irish classic: RAL. Here is Bing Crosby's version.
60. Skyrocketed: SOARED. Wrote down SPIKED first.
61. Narrow waterway: Abbr.: STR (Strait)
63. Impassioned: ARDENT
66. Keystone Cops creator Sennett: MACK. How can I remember his name?
67. Mass. senator's monogram, 1962-2009: EMK (Edward Moore Kennedy). Man, I thought his middle initial is F, just like JFK and RFK.
70. __ use: avails: IS OF
71. Sound barrier breaker Chuck: YEAGER. Dennis loves to quote this guy.
72. PC component: CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube). Old PC component.
75. Bedrock pet: DINO. Bedrock threw me off. I am used to "The Flintstones" clue.
79. Written in mystical letters: RUNIC. Wrote down CODED first.
80. Cappuccino request: DECAF
84. Comfy footwear: MOC
85. Personal: Prefix: IDIO. As in idiosyncrasy.
90. Caught in the act: SEEN
92. Iditarod vehicle: DOG SLED
97. Strength symbol: OAK TREE
98. Mass communications?: PRAYERS. Another great clue.
100. NFL Hall of Famer Marchetti: GINO. One of the greatest defensive ends, too bad I've never heard of him.
101. Dutch export: TULIPS
105. Cub Scout leader: AKELA (uh-KEE-luh). Named after Akela the leader of the wolf pack in Kipling's "The Jungle Books". New to me also
106. Excellent: NIFTY
107. Expected to arrive: DUE IN
112. Osso __: BUCO. Stew with veal shank. Literally "bone hole" in Italian. Osso = bone. Buco = hole.
115. "Cats" cat Rum __ Tugger: TUM. Got the answer from crosses.
117. NFL ball carriers: RBS (Running Backs). Adrian Peterson is the RB for the Vikings.
118. __ Maria: liqueur: TIA. Coffee liqueur.
119. José 's "today": HOY. How to pronounce HOY?
120. Row: OAR. I was thinking of ADO.
121. Braves' div.: NLE (National League East)
Answer grid.
C.C.
