Theme: Literal Translation - Familiar phrases consisting of an anagrammed word of the capitalized theme clue and anagram indicators.
23A. TOG?: GOT TURNED AROUND. GOT was turned around and became TOG.
38A. GLIBNESS?: MIXED BLESSING. BLESSING was mixed and became GLIBNESS.
51A. FELT?: LEFT IN DISARRAY. LEFT was in disarray and became FELT.
66A. GOES?: ALTER EGOS. EGOS was altered into GOES.
69A. RAGE?: GEAR SHIFT. GEAR was shifted into RAGE.
89A. SING?: OUT OF ORDER SIGN. SIGN was out of order and became SING.
97A. EARTH?: CHANGE OF HEART. Heart was changed into EARTH.
118A. STOP?: POST REFORMATION. POST was reformed into STOP.
I realized the theme is about reverse anagram after seeing all those capitalized theme clues. But I am not a cryptic fan, so the puzzle was a bit tough for me to unscramble. Cheated very early on.
All the above theme answers are actually clues, and the clues are answers. That's why all the clues are capitalized. Correct, Jerome?
I feel this puzzle is to be admired afterward. Lots of cleverly twisted clues.
Across:
1. Soft drink option: SODA POP
8. Regal rod: SCEPTER. Symbol of authority.
15. Get ready to eat?: RIPEN. Delicious clue. "Ready to eat?" would be great for RIPE too.
20. Blue books?: EROTICA. The question mark hints at the risqué meaning of "blue".
21. Way over the ocean: AIR LANE
22. Overcome glossophobia: ORATE. Glossophobia is fear of public speaking. New word to me.
25. Law school subject: TORTS
26. Pot creators: ANTES
27. NASA rank: CMDR (Commander). Stumped me.
28. One of Jason's men: ARGONAUT. Jason and the Argonauts. Jason's ship is ARGO.
30. Country's Acuff et al.: ROYS. Roy Acuff, King of Country Music. Rang a dim bell to me.
31. Annual parade city since 1890: PASADENA. Rose Bowl city.
35. Like the vb. "be," e.g.: IRR (Irregular)
36. Shipbuilding wood: TEAK. Water resistant, isn't it?
44. H, as in "Hera": ETA. The letter H in Greek goddess Hera is a vowel.
47. Multicolored: PIED. Ah, the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
49. Cantina fare: TAMALE
50. Symphonic wind: OBOE. Wind instrument.
55. Song on the Beatles' "Revolver" album: TAXMAN. Here is a clip.
57. Political position: STANCE
58. Mecca for N.Y.C. art lovers: MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)
59. Penguin on skates, for short: NHLER. The Pittsburgh Penguins.
61. Nautical pronoun: SHE
62. 1968 self-titled folk album: ARLO. Arlo Guthrie.
63. Cock and bull: MALES. Nice play on "a cock and bull story".
64. Pieces of 8?: ARCS. Is it because of the shape of 8?
74. Squeezes (out): EKES. Ekes out a living.
75. Cancels: NULLS. Thought of nixes first.
76. Island accessories: LEIS. Island in Hawaii.
78. Monk's address: FRA
81. Shocked intakes: GASPS. Nice clue.
84. "All __": 1984 film featuring an old song of the same name: OF ME. Nope. Not familiar with the movie or the song.
85. Overly affected: TOO-TOO
87. Confessions may be given under it: DURESS. Great clue too. I fell into Dennis' trap yesterday and really thought he was adopted.
92. Old Roman road: ITER
93. Picked: CHOSEN
95. Silverware point: TINE
96. Light period: DAY. "Light" indeed.
101. Micro ending: COSM. Microcosm. My initial thought was SOFT.
103. Mortgage pmt. component: INT (Interest)
104. Canal locale: INNER EAR. Not the waterway canal.
106. B'way ticket abbr.: ORCH (Orchestra). Was stymied.
110. "Says who?": IS THAT SO
115. Nitwit: SIMP
116. Mild cigar: CLARO. Learned from doing Xword. Spanish for "clear".
117. It's traditionally placed to the right of the knife: SPOON
123. "Not possible": I CAN'T
124. 12:30, on a ship: ONE BELL. See this list. Are they still using the bell to indicate time?
125. Beckett contemporary: IONESCO (Eugène). No idea. He's a Romanian/French playwright. Theater of the Absurd pioneer. Samuel Beckett was an Irish dramatist. Nobel Literature winner 1969.
126. Stuffs: SATES. Read "Stuffs" as noun.
127. Bargain hunter's stop: TAG SALE
128. Like some markets: OPEN AIR. I miss farmer's markets.
Down:
23A. TOG?: GOT TURNED AROUND. GOT was turned around and became TOG.
38A. GLIBNESS?: MIXED BLESSING. BLESSING was mixed and became GLIBNESS.
51A. FELT?: LEFT IN DISARRAY. LEFT was in disarray and became FELT.
66A. GOES?: ALTER EGOS. EGOS was altered into GOES.
69A. RAGE?: GEAR SHIFT. GEAR was shifted into RAGE.
89A. SING?: OUT OF ORDER SIGN. SIGN was out of order and became SING.
97A. EARTH?: CHANGE OF HEART. Heart was changed into EARTH.
118A. STOP?: POST REFORMATION. POST was reformed into STOP.
I realized the theme is about reverse anagram after seeing all those capitalized theme clues. But I am not a cryptic fan, so the puzzle was a bit tough for me to unscramble. Cheated very early on.
All the above theme answers are actually clues, and the clues are answers. That's why all the clues are capitalized. Correct, Jerome?
I feel this puzzle is to be admired afterward. Lots of cleverly twisted clues.
Across:
1. Soft drink option: SODA POP
8. Regal rod: SCEPTER. Symbol of authority.
15. Get ready to eat?: RIPEN. Delicious clue. "Ready to eat?" would be great for RIPE too.
20. Blue books?: EROTICA. The question mark hints at the risqué meaning of "blue".
21. Way over the ocean: AIR LANE
22. Overcome glossophobia: ORATE. Glossophobia is fear of public speaking. New word to me.
25. Law school subject: TORTS
26. Pot creators: ANTES
27. NASA rank: CMDR (Commander). Stumped me.
28. One of Jason's men: ARGONAUT. Jason and the Argonauts. Jason's ship is ARGO.
30. Country's Acuff et al.: ROYS. Roy Acuff, King of Country Music. Rang a dim bell to me.
31. Annual parade city since 1890: PASADENA. Rose Bowl city.
35. Like the vb. "be," e.g.: IRR (Irregular)
36. Shipbuilding wood: TEAK. Water resistant, isn't it?
44. H, as in "Hera": ETA. The letter H in Greek goddess Hera is a vowel.
47. Multicolored: PIED. Ah, the Pied Piper of Hamelin.
49. Cantina fare: TAMALE
50. Symphonic wind: OBOE. Wind instrument.
55. Song on the Beatles' "Revolver" album: TAXMAN. Here is a clip.
57. Political position: STANCE
58. Mecca for N.Y.C. art lovers: MOMA (Museum of Modern Art)
59. Penguin on skates, for short: NHLER. The Pittsburgh Penguins.
61. Nautical pronoun: SHE
62. 1968 self-titled folk album: ARLO. Arlo Guthrie.
63. Cock and bull: MALES. Nice play on "a cock and bull story".
64. Pieces of 8?: ARCS. Is it because of the shape of 8?
74. Squeezes (out): EKES. Ekes out a living.
75. Cancels: NULLS. Thought of nixes first.
76. Island accessories: LEIS. Island in Hawaii.
78. Monk's address: FRA
81. Shocked intakes: GASPS. Nice clue.
84. "All __": 1984 film featuring an old song of the same name: OF ME. Nope. Not familiar with the movie or the song.
85. Overly affected: TOO-TOO
87. Confessions may be given under it: DURESS. Great clue too. I fell into Dennis' trap yesterday and really thought he was adopted.
92. Old Roman road: ITER
93. Picked: CHOSEN
95. Silverware point: TINE
96. Light period: DAY. "Light" indeed.
101. Micro ending: COSM. Microcosm. My initial thought was SOFT.
103. Mortgage pmt. component: INT (Interest)
104. Canal locale: INNER EAR. Not the waterway canal.
106. B'way ticket abbr.: ORCH (Orchestra). Was stymied.
110. "Says who?": IS THAT SO
115. Nitwit: SIMP
116. Mild cigar: CLARO. Learned from doing Xword. Spanish for "clear".
117. It's traditionally placed to the right of the knife: SPOON
123. "Not possible": I CAN'T
124. 12:30, on a ship: ONE BELL. See this list. Are they still using the bell to indicate time?
125. Beckett contemporary: IONESCO (Eugène). No idea. He's a Romanian/French playwright. Theater of the Absurd pioneer. Samuel Beckett was an Irish dramatist. Nobel Literature winner 1969.
126. Stuffs: SATES. Read "Stuffs" as noun.
127. Bargain hunter's stop: TAG SALE
128. Like some markets: OPEN AIR. I miss farmer's markets.
Down:
1. Olive Oyl's creator: SEGAR (E. C.). Can never remember his name.
2. Maine town named for a Penobscot chief: ORONO. Good to know.
3. Eccentric: DOTTY
4. Bear witness: ATTEST
5. __ XII, WWII pope: PIUS. There are 12 pope named Pius.
6. Text-interpreting technology, briefly: OCR (Optical Character Reader)
7. Flattened: PANCAKED. Did not know pancake can be a verb.
8. Gulf War foe: SADDAM
9. Poet John who translated Dante's "Divine Comedy": CIARDI. Stranger to me.
11. Mideast political gp.: PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Rival of Hamas.
12. Letter before upsilon: TAU. Greek T.
13. Sicilian resort: ENNA. The Sicilian volcano is ETNA.
14. Put through one's paces again: REDRILL. RETRACE jumped to my mind.
15. Copter blades: ROTORS
16. Curling gadget: IRON
17. Legal opening?: PARA. Paralegal.
18. Rebuke before the senate: ET TU. Roman senate. "Et tu, Brute?", Caesar's dying rebuke.
19. Cheep place to stay?: NEST. Puns on "cheap".
24. Ambulance letters: EMS
29. Welcoming ones: GREETERS
31. Revolutionary pamphleteer: PAINE (Thomas)
32. Crowd seen at a film festival?: EXTRAS. Excellent clue.
33. Around the corner: NEAR
34. Marketing pro: ADMAN
37. "Beowulf," for one: EPIC. Beowulf is an epic poem.
39. Indiana senator: BAYH (Evan)
40. Beantown team, casually: SOX. Red Sox.
41. Certain PCs: IBMS
42. Early matchmaker: NOAH. Noah collected a pair of each animal on his ark. Brilliant clue.
43. Type of therapy: GENE. Have never heard of gene therapy before.
44. Film feline: ELSA. The "Born Free" lioness.
45. Aquarium swimmer: TETRA
46. Riding for __: acting overconfidently: A FALL. Courting for danger. New idiom to me also.
48. Yankees' #5, familiarly: DIMAG. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.
52. Govt. security: T-NOTE. OK, T-Bills mature in one year or less. T-Notes mature in two to ten years. And Treasury Bonds mature in ten or more years.
53. Flight training milestone: SOLO
54. Iowa State home: AMES
56. Classy entranceway: ARCH. Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
60. Metallica drummer Ulrich: LARS. Gimme for Matt (Red State Democrat) I am sure. Alien to me.
2. Maine town named for a Penobscot chief: ORONO. Good to know.
3. Eccentric: DOTTY
4. Bear witness: ATTEST
5. __ XII, WWII pope: PIUS. There are 12 pope named Pius.
6. Text-interpreting technology, briefly: OCR (Optical Character Reader)
7. Flattened: PANCAKED. Did not know pancake can be a verb.
8. Gulf War foe: SADDAM
9. Poet John who translated Dante's "Divine Comedy": CIARDI. Stranger to me.
11. Mideast political gp.: PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization). Rival of Hamas.
12. Letter before upsilon: TAU. Greek T.
13. Sicilian resort: ENNA. The Sicilian volcano is ETNA.
14. Put through one's paces again: REDRILL. RETRACE jumped to my mind.
15. Copter blades: ROTORS
16. Curling gadget: IRON
17. Legal opening?: PARA. Paralegal.
18. Rebuke before the senate: ET TU. Roman senate. "Et tu, Brute?", Caesar's dying rebuke.
19. Cheep place to stay?: NEST. Puns on "cheap".
24. Ambulance letters: EMS
29. Welcoming ones: GREETERS
31. Revolutionary pamphleteer: PAINE (Thomas)
32. Crowd seen at a film festival?: EXTRAS. Excellent clue.
33. Around the corner: NEAR
34. Marketing pro: ADMAN
37. "Beowulf," for one: EPIC. Beowulf is an epic poem.
39. Indiana senator: BAYH (Evan)
40. Beantown team, casually: SOX. Red Sox.
41. Certain PCs: IBMS
42. Early matchmaker: NOAH. Noah collected a pair of each animal on his ark. Brilliant clue.
43. Type of therapy: GENE. Have never heard of gene therapy before.
44. Film feline: ELSA. The "Born Free" lioness.
45. Aquarium swimmer: TETRA
46. Riding for __: acting overconfidently: A FALL. Courting for danger. New idiom to me also.
48. Yankees' #5, familiarly: DIMAG. Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.
52. Govt. security: T-NOTE. OK, T-Bills mature in one year or less. T-Notes mature in two to ten years. And Treasury Bonds mature in ten or more years.
53. Flight training milestone: SOLO
54. Iowa State home: AMES
56. Classy entranceway: ARCH. Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
60. Metallica drummer Ulrich: LARS. Gimme for Matt (Red State Democrat) I am sure. Alien to me.
63. Slob's creation: MESS
65. Farm storage spots: SILOS
67. Ticker tapes, briefly?: EKGS. The heart ticker chart.
68. Second time to the top: REASCENT. Well, I guess you can just RE anything.
69. Sass: GUFF. Also a new word to me.
70. Pollster Roper: ELMO. Another unfamiliar name. He was the the first to develop the scientific poll for political forecasting. And he predicted the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt correctly, all three times ((1936, 1940, 1944).
71. Warning: ALERT
72. Far from fragrant: FETID
73. New York town on the Susquehanna: TIOGA. No idea. See this map. I presume it's a Native Indian word. What does it mean, Argyle?
75. Reagan biographer Peggy: NOONAN. "When Character Was King" has been sitting on my bookshelf forever, unread.
77. Discman maker: SONY
78. S&L protector: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
79. Dr. who wrote "Sex for Dummies": RUTH
80. Word after Bay, gray or play: AREA. Bay is capitalized.
82. Magic word: POOF
83. Bite-sized food: SUSHI. Hmm, yummy yummy.
85. Pavarotti, e.g.: TENOR. Oh, by the way, I don't Italian food.
86. Metal containers: ORES. Wow, big containers then.
88. Seaside raptor: ERNS
90. Member of many an idol's fan base: TEEN
91. "Catch Me If You Can" star: DICAPRIO (Leonardo). Great movie.
94. Trendy club: HOT SPOT
98. Super Bowl XLII champs: GIANTS
99. Act as middleman, perhaps: RESELL. A rather commonly used re word.
100. It's not important: TRIFLE
102. Liquefied by heat: MOLTEN. Molten hell.
105. Rock music genre: EMO
107. Mrs. Gorbachev: RAISA. A secret fashionista.
108. Spring bloomers: CROCI. Plural of crocus. I was picturing pansies.
109. Accept, as a coupon: HONOR
110. Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Sister and wife of Osiris.
111. Shelter org.: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Animal shelter.
112. Exactly: TO A T. "To a tee" is more common, isn't it?
113. Give an edge to: HONE. I liked this clue too.
114. Disney duck princess: OONA. No idea. Is this princess named after Oona Chaplin?
116. Support staff?: CANE. Got me.
119. Geom. class line part: SEG
120. Airer of baseball's Division Series: TBS
121. Stephen of "Interview With the Vampire": REA. He and ENYA are probably the most famous Irish names in our Xword world, outshining Bono.
122. Swab: MOP
Answer grid.
C.C.
65. Farm storage spots: SILOS
67. Ticker tapes, briefly?: EKGS. The heart ticker chart.
68. Second time to the top: REASCENT. Well, I guess you can just RE anything.
69. Sass: GUFF. Also a new word to me.
70. Pollster Roper: ELMO. Another unfamiliar name. He was the the first to develop the scientific poll for political forecasting. And he predicted the election of President Franklin D. Roosevelt correctly, all three times ((1936, 1940, 1944).
71. Warning: ALERT
72. Far from fragrant: FETID
73. New York town on the Susquehanna: TIOGA. No idea. See this map. I presume it's a Native Indian word. What does it mean, Argyle?
75. Reagan biographer Peggy: NOONAN. "When Character Was King" has been sitting on my bookshelf forever, unread.
77. Discman maker: SONY
78. S&L protector: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)
79. Dr. who wrote "Sex for Dummies": RUTH
80. Word after Bay, gray or play: AREA. Bay is capitalized.
82. Magic word: POOF
83. Bite-sized food: SUSHI. Hmm, yummy yummy.
85. Pavarotti, e.g.: TENOR. Oh, by the way, I don't Italian food.
86. Metal containers: ORES. Wow, big containers then.
88. Seaside raptor: ERNS
90. Member of many an idol's fan base: TEEN
91. "Catch Me If You Can" star: DICAPRIO (Leonardo). Great movie.
94. Trendy club: HOT SPOT
98. Super Bowl XLII champs: GIANTS
99. Act as middleman, perhaps: RESELL. A rather commonly used re word.
100. It's not important: TRIFLE
102. Liquefied by heat: MOLTEN. Molten hell.
105. Rock music genre: EMO
107. Mrs. Gorbachev: RAISA. A secret fashionista.
108. Spring bloomers: CROCI. Plural of crocus. I was picturing pansies.
109. Accept, as a coupon: HONOR
110. Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Sister and wife of Osiris.
111. Shelter org.: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Animal shelter.
112. Exactly: TO A T. "To a tee" is more common, isn't it?
113. Give an edge to: HONE. I liked this clue too.
114. Disney duck princess: OONA. No idea. Is this princess named after Oona Chaplin?
116. Support staff?: CANE. Got me.
119. Geom. class line part: SEG
120. Airer of baseball's Division Series: TBS
121. Stephen of "Interview With the Vampire": REA. He and ENYA are probably the most famous Irish names in our Xword world, outshining Bono.
122. Swab: MOP
Answer grid.
C.C.
