Theme: Teeing Off - FORE is inserted in common phrases. Immediately upon teeing off, golfers might yell "Fore!" if they fear that their wild shots could endanger the spectators/players ahead.
23A. Sharp rock used by early hominids?: BLADE (FORE)RUNNER. Does the base phrase Blade Runner refers to the Harrison Ford movie?
33A. Choose Mounds over Almond Joy?: (FORE)GO NUTS. Go Nuts. Reminded me of Dan Naddor's "Gone nuts, horsewise" suggestion for Jerome's GELDING.
53A. Like the elbow of Rodin's "The Thinker"?: (FORE)VER BENDING. Plays on Verb Ending. Hard base phrase to parse.
70A. Anti-park service career advice?: DON'T BE A (FORE)ST RANGER. Don't Be a Stranger.
87A. According to predictions in the show "Medium"?: AS (FORE)SEEN ON TV. As Seen on TV.
103A. What Ali did often at the Rumble in the Jungle?: HIT (FORE)MAN. Hit Man. Foreman here refers to George Foreman, who lost to Ali in the historic bout in Rumble of the Jungle.
119A. "Clear skies tonight," to an astronomer?: ALL STAR (FORE)CAST. All-Star Cast.
And PAR (81D. 72, often). What's your best round? I've only had a couple under 90.
Also a bit of car/traffic undercurrent:
19A. Mercury or Saturn: AUTO. Not planet.
22A. Last Olds model: ALERO
93A. Went two ways: FORKED. I tried PARTED first.
118A. Family auto: SEDAN. Don't like the auto/AUTO duplication.
94D. Like a road section with a flagger, maybe: ONE-LANE
Nice pangram. One more W, we would have had a double pangram, i.e., all the 26 letters would have been used at least twice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. It held my attention throughout. Worked from bottom up and realized the FORE gimmick immediately, then filled in all the possible FORE's. When I first read the theme title, I thought letter T might be cut off from common phrases, but then the title would be "Tee Off" rather than "Teeing Off".
As usual with the Sunday puzzle. I double bogeyed my round. Had to peek at the cheat sheet a few times. Sunday puzzle is just too formidable to me. Always a few new names to learn and a few traps to fall into.
Across:
1. Archie Bunker oath: JEEZ. Shock and Awe scrabbly start.
5. Spice (up): JAZZ. Four Z's, two J's, two X'es, and Two Q's in this grid.
9. Refracting device: PRISM
14. Fashions: MAKES. Verb.
20. __ fixe: IDEE. French for "idea".
21. Soprano Mitchell: LEONA. Have never heard of this name before.
26. One paid to make hoops, briefly: NBAER. And CLE (35A. Cavs, on scoreboards) & SHAQ (107A. Teammate of LeBron). LeBron James and Shaq O'Neal are both with Cleverland Cavaliers now.
27. Get rolling: BEGIN
28. __ paradoxes: ZENO'S. Zeno of Elea. Don't confuse him with Zeno of Citium (the stoic Zeno).
29. Refinement: ELEGANCE
32. It might be given orally: EXAM
37. Former Giants manager: ALOU (Felipe, 2003-2006)
39. Prone to prying: NOSY
40. Rained out, e.g.: Abbr.: PPD. Postponed. Not a familiar abbr. to me.
43. Not gun-shy?: ARMED. Great clue.
47. Scary movie reaction: SCREAM
56. "The Kitchen God's Wife" novelist: AMY TAN. I love her "The Joy Luck Club". The stories echo with me.
58. Box: CRATE
60. Singer Vannelli: GINO. His name escaped me again. Gino is Italian for Gene.
62. Reproductive cells: OVA
63. Vino __: dry wine: SECO. Spanish for "dry". SEC is French.
64. Capital of Pakistan's Punjab province: LAHORE. Pakistan's second-largest city, after Karachi.
68. Earth tones: SIENNAS. Isn't this earth tone beautiful?
75. Monarch's spouse: CONSORT
76. 1980s timekeeping fad: SWATCH. Still a fad in China.
77. Omnia vincit __: AMOR. "Love conquers all" in Latin.
79. Prefix with fauna: AVI. Prefix for birds.
82. Briny greeting: AHOY
84. Ocho minus uno: SIETE. Spanish for seven. Eight minus one.
85. Wet floor?: SEABED. Ocean floor. Nice clue too.
92. Bald eagle relative: ERNE
95. Lasso: REATA. Or RIATA.
96. "That's right," quaintly: 'TIS
97. MBA subject: ECON
99. Language that gave us "khaki": URDU. Would not have got it without the crossing USNA (100D. Sen. McCain's alma mater).
101. "M*A*S*H" NCO: CPL (Corporal). And PFCS (40D. 101-Across's subordinates). PFC = Private First Class.
111. Ageless pitcher Satchel: PAIGE. Love the "Ageless" clue. He pitched until he's 60 years old. He said his aging secret is fried food and hot shower.
115. "Spamalot" co-creator: ERIC IDLE. Unknown to me. Always good to see a full name.
116. Major muddle: SNAFU
117. Turkish coins: LIRAS. I thought the plural form is LIRE as well.
123. Wind, as a river: SNAKE
124. When la luna rises, usually: NOCHE. Spanish for "night" I suppose.
125. Falafel holder: PITA. Have never tried falafel, not fond of chickpeas or any bean.
126. Blue-green hue: AQUA
127. Fished using pots, perhaps: EELED. True.
128. Turn out: END UP
129. Farm team: OXEN. Real farm team. Not the minor league affiliates.
130. Reading material for some?: LIPS
Down:
1. "Star Wars" gangster: JABBA. No idea. Have never seen "Star Wars". Jabba the Hutt.
2. Swiss mathematician: EULER. Same pronunciation as Oiler. Stumped me again.
3. Floor, in France: ETAGE
4. 12-part belt: ZODIAC. D'oh.
5. Skippy competitor: JIF. Chunky chunky!
6. Napping: ADOZE. Man, it's a real word.
7. Antifreeze brand: ZEREX. Keep learning and unlearning this damned brand. What's the name origin of Zerex?
8. Ethan Frome's sickly wife: ZEENA. Nope. Only know the basic plot line.
9. And: PLUS
10. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons: REN. Stumped by the new clue. From "The Ren and Stimpy Show".
13. 4 Seasons hit of 1963: MARLENA. Waiting for Argyle for the correct link. I've never heard of the song.
14. Tropical fruits: MANGOS. Sweet!
15. Capital west of Boston, MA: ALBANY, NY. Abbreviation of the state in the clue, abbrevivation of the state in the answer.
16. Reeves of "Speed": KEANU. What's your favorite Keanu Reeves movie?
17. Upright: ERECT
24. Shackle: ENSLAVE
25. It's up the coast from Napoli: ROMA. Easy guess.
30. Bloated condition?: EGOMANIA. Bloated head. Awesome clue.
33. Convergence points: FOCI. Plural for focus.
34. Boondocks possessive: OURN. Ours?
36. Afore: ERE
38. Source of some '60s trips: LSD
41. Studied in detail: PORED OVER
42. Extremely unforgiving: DRACONIAN. Derived from the Greek harsh lawgiver Draco.
44. Richie's dad, to the Fonz: MR. C
45. African virus: EBOLA. Named after the Ebola River in Congo.
46. Joltless joes?: DECAFS. Another good clue. Thought of Shoeless Joe immediately.
48. Silly Putty holder: EGG
50. Amends: ATONEMENT
51. Vocalist who gave his farewell performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin: PAVAROTTI. Did not know this trivia.
54. Jackets facetiously called bum-freezers: ETONS. Was ignorant of this trivia also.
55. Not at all: NO HOW
57. Big name in showerheads: MOEN
61. Leb. neighbor: ISR. The answer always seems to be Israel.
65. __ pro nobis: ORA. Latin for "pray for us".
66. Pave over: RETAR
67. Artist who explored infinity in his work: ESCHER (M. C.). Did not know the "infinity" connection. Here is his famous "Drawing Hands".
69. Marsh of whodunits: NGAIO. Always have trouble remembering her name. Maori origin. Some kind of tree.
71. Rent: TORE. Rent here is the past tense of rend. Tricky clue.
72. Primary author of the Mayflower Compact: BRADFORD (William). Total stranger to me. Wikipedia says he is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.
73. UFO pilots, ostensibly: ETS
74. More than that: THOSE. And "these" in Spanish ESTAS (114D. Spanish pronoun). Could also be ESTOS.
75. Docket item: CASE
78. Guns: REVS
84. Drink with a Real Fact on each bottle cap: SNAPPLE. Easy guess.
86. Some women's mag photos: BEEFCAKE. Ryan Reynolds, husband of Scarlett Johansson.
88. Arctic seabird: SKUA
89. Common office plant: FERN
90. Uneven?: ODD. As in number.
98. Neologized: COINED
102. Not of the clergy: LAICAL. LAIC is more often seen in the puzzle.
103. Frankfurt's state: HESSE
104. 1935 Nobelist Joliot-Curie: IRENE. Only know her mother Marie.
105. Word with basin or flat: TIDAL
106. Dieter's breakfast: MELON. I've got to eat real food for breakfast, or lunch/dinner.
108. Curly-haired pantomimist: HARPO. Harpo Marx.
109. Paste on: AFFIX
110. Dealer's offering: QUOTE
112. Kirkuk native: IRAQI. Lots of oil in Kirkuk.
113. Refuel: GAS UP
120. Calculator display, briefly: LCD
121. Moo __ pork: SHU. Cantonese again. Mu Xu Pork in Mandarin Chinese.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A. Sharp rock used by early hominids?: BLADE (FORE)RUNNER. Does the base phrase Blade Runner refers to the Harrison Ford movie?
33A. Choose Mounds over Almond Joy?: (FORE)GO NUTS. Go Nuts. Reminded me of Dan Naddor's "Gone nuts, horsewise" suggestion for Jerome's GELDING.
53A. Like the elbow of Rodin's "The Thinker"?: (FORE)VER BENDING. Plays on Verb Ending. Hard base phrase to parse.
70A. Anti-park service career advice?: DON'T BE A (FORE)ST RANGER. Don't Be a Stranger.
87A. According to predictions in the show "Medium"?: AS (FORE)SEEN ON TV. As Seen on TV.
103A. What Ali did often at the Rumble in the Jungle?: HIT (FORE)MAN. Hit Man. Foreman here refers to George Foreman, who lost to Ali in the historic bout in Rumble of the Jungle.
119A. "Clear skies tonight," to an astronomer?: ALL STAR (FORE)CAST. All-Star Cast.
And PAR (81D. 72, often). What's your best round? I've only had a couple under 90.
Also a bit of car/traffic undercurrent:
19A. Mercury or Saturn: AUTO. Not planet.
22A. Last Olds model: ALERO
93A. Went two ways: FORKED. I tried PARTED first.
118A. Family auto: SEDAN. Don't like the auto/AUTO duplication.
94D. Like a road section with a flagger, maybe: ONE-LANE
Nice pangram. One more W, we would have had a double pangram, i.e., all the 26 letters would have been used at least twice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. It held my attention throughout. Worked from bottom up and realized the FORE gimmick immediately, then filled in all the possible FORE's. When I first read the theme title, I thought letter T might be cut off from common phrases, but then the title would be "Tee Off" rather than "Teeing Off".
As usual with the Sunday puzzle. I double bogeyed my round. Had to peek at the cheat sheet a few times. Sunday puzzle is just too formidable to me. Always a few new names to learn and a few traps to fall into.
Across:
1. Archie Bunker oath: JEEZ. Shock and Awe scrabbly start.
5. Spice (up): JAZZ. Four Z's, two J's, two X'es, and Two Q's in this grid.
9. Refracting device: PRISM
14. Fashions: MAKES. Verb.
20. __ fixe: IDEE. French for "idea".
21. Soprano Mitchell: LEONA. Have never heard of this name before.
26. One paid to make hoops, briefly: NBAER. And CLE (35A. Cavs, on scoreboards) & SHAQ (107A. Teammate of LeBron). LeBron James and Shaq O'Neal are both with Cleverland Cavaliers now.
27. Get rolling: BEGIN
28. __ paradoxes: ZENO'S. Zeno of Elea. Don't confuse him with Zeno of Citium (the stoic Zeno).
29. Refinement: ELEGANCE
32. It might be given orally: EXAM
37. Former Giants manager: ALOU (Felipe, 2003-2006)
39. Prone to prying: NOSY
40. Rained out, e.g.: Abbr.: PPD. Postponed. Not a familiar abbr. to me.
43. Not gun-shy?: ARMED. Great clue.
47. Scary movie reaction: SCREAM
56. "The Kitchen God's Wife" novelist: AMY TAN. I love her "The Joy Luck Club". The stories echo with me.
58. Box: CRATE
60. Singer Vannelli: GINO. His name escaped me again. Gino is Italian for Gene.
62. Reproductive cells: OVA
63. Vino __: dry wine: SECO. Spanish for "dry". SEC is French.
64. Capital of Pakistan's Punjab province: LAHORE. Pakistan's second-largest city, after Karachi.
68. Earth tones: SIENNAS. Isn't this earth tone beautiful?
75. Monarch's spouse: CONSORT
76. 1980s timekeeping fad: SWATCH. Still a fad in China.
77. Omnia vincit __: AMOR. "Love conquers all" in Latin.
79. Prefix with fauna: AVI. Prefix for birds.
82. Briny greeting: AHOY
84. Ocho minus uno: SIETE. Spanish for seven. Eight minus one.
85. Wet floor?: SEABED. Ocean floor. Nice clue too.
92. Bald eagle relative: ERNE
95. Lasso: REATA. Or RIATA.
96. "That's right," quaintly: 'TIS
97. MBA subject: ECON
99. Language that gave us "khaki": URDU. Would not have got it without the crossing USNA (100D. Sen. McCain's alma mater).
101. "M*A*S*H" NCO: CPL (Corporal). And PFCS (40D. 101-Across's subordinates). PFC = Private First Class.
111. Ageless pitcher Satchel: PAIGE. Love the "Ageless" clue. He pitched until he's 60 years old. He said his aging secret is fried food and hot shower.
115. "Spamalot" co-creator: ERIC IDLE. Unknown to me. Always good to see a full name.
116. Major muddle: SNAFU
117. Turkish coins: LIRAS. I thought the plural form is LIRE as well.
123. Wind, as a river: SNAKE
124. When la luna rises, usually: NOCHE. Spanish for "night" I suppose.
125. Falafel holder: PITA. Have never tried falafel, not fond of chickpeas or any bean.
126. Blue-green hue: AQUA
127. Fished using pots, perhaps: EELED. True.
128. Turn out: END UP
129. Farm team: OXEN. Real farm team. Not the minor league affiliates.
130. Reading material for some?: LIPS
Down:
1. "Star Wars" gangster: JABBA. No idea. Have never seen "Star Wars". Jabba the Hutt.
2. Swiss mathematician: EULER. Same pronunciation as Oiler. Stumped me again.
3. Floor, in France: ETAGE
4. 12-part belt: ZODIAC. D'oh.
5. Skippy competitor: JIF. Chunky chunky!
6. Napping: ADOZE. Man, it's a real word.
7. Antifreeze brand: ZEREX. Keep learning and unlearning this damned brand. What's the name origin of Zerex?
8. Ethan Frome's sickly wife: ZEENA. Nope. Only know the basic plot line.
9. And: PLUS
10. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons: REN. Stumped by the new clue. From "The Ren and Stimpy Show".
13. 4 Seasons hit of 1963: MARLENA. Waiting for Argyle for the correct link. I've never heard of the song.
14. Tropical fruits: MANGOS. Sweet!
15. Capital west of Boston, MA: ALBANY, NY. Abbreviation of the state in the clue, abbrevivation of the state in the answer.
16. Reeves of "Speed": KEANU. What's your favorite Keanu Reeves movie?
17. Upright: ERECT
24. Shackle: ENSLAVE
25. It's up the coast from Napoli: ROMA. Easy guess.
30. Bloated condition?: EGOMANIA. Bloated head. Awesome clue.
33. Convergence points: FOCI. Plural for focus.
34. Boondocks possessive: OURN. Ours?
36. Afore: ERE
38. Source of some '60s trips: LSD
41. Studied in detail: PORED OVER
42. Extremely unforgiving: DRACONIAN. Derived from the Greek harsh lawgiver Draco.
44. Richie's dad, to the Fonz: MR. C
45. African virus: EBOLA. Named after the Ebola River in Congo.
46. Joltless joes?: DECAFS. Another good clue. Thought of Shoeless Joe immediately.
48. Silly Putty holder: EGG
50. Amends: ATONEMENT
51. Vocalist who gave his farewell performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin: PAVAROTTI. Did not know this trivia.
54. Jackets facetiously called bum-freezers: ETONS. Was ignorant of this trivia also.
55. Not at all: NO HOW
57. Big name in showerheads: MOEN
61. Leb. neighbor: ISR. The answer always seems to be Israel.
65. __ pro nobis: ORA. Latin for "pray for us".
66. Pave over: RETAR
67. Artist who explored infinity in his work: ESCHER (M. C.). Did not know the "infinity" connection. Here is his famous "Drawing Hands".
69. Marsh of whodunits: NGAIO. Always have trouble remembering her name. Maori origin. Some kind of tree.
71. Rent: TORE. Rent here is the past tense of rend. Tricky clue.
72. Primary author of the Mayflower Compact: BRADFORD (William). Total stranger to me. Wikipedia says he is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.
73. UFO pilots, ostensibly: ETS
74. More than that: THOSE. And "these" in Spanish ESTAS (114D. Spanish pronoun). Could also be ESTOS.
75. Docket item: CASE
78. Guns: REVS
84. Drink with a Real Fact on each bottle cap: SNAPPLE. Easy guess.
86. Some women's mag photos: BEEFCAKE. Ryan Reynolds, husband of Scarlett Johansson.
88. Arctic seabird: SKUA
89. Common office plant: FERN
90. Uneven?: ODD. As in number.
98. Neologized: COINED
102. Not of the clergy: LAICAL. LAIC is more often seen in the puzzle.
103. Frankfurt's state: HESSE
104. 1935 Nobelist Joliot-Curie: IRENE. Only know her mother Marie.
105. Word with basin or flat: TIDAL
106. Dieter's breakfast: MELON. I've got to eat real food for breakfast, or lunch/dinner.
108. Curly-haired pantomimist: HARPO. Harpo Marx.
109. Paste on: AFFIX
110. Dealer's offering: QUOTE
112. Kirkuk native: IRAQI. Lots of oil in Kirkuk.
113. Refuel: GAS UP
120. Calculator display, briefly: LCD
121. Moo __ pork: SHU. Cantonese again. Mu Xu Pork in Mandarin Chinese.
Answer grid.
C.C.
