Theme: Schwalterations - Common phrases with a schwa sound are altered into OF connecting phrases, which are humorously interpreted and clued. The schwa sound remains.
23A. Passion for Ferris wheels and funnel cakes?: TORRID LOVE OF FAIRS. Torrid Love Affairs. The A in "Affairs" is a schwa sound, so is the O in OF. Have never had funnel cakes. Not aware of its fair connection.
40A. Bozeman native named after a "Star Wars" character?: HAN OF MONTANA. Hannah Montana. The Miley Cyrus character. Ah is a schwa sound. Han Solo.
66A. Mom's bearing?: AIR OF PARENT. Heir Apparent. Letter A.
74A. Mary Poppins outburst?: HOOT OF NANNY. Hootenanny. Thingamajig. New slang to me. Letter e is schwa.
98A. Math class curse?: HEX OF DECIMAL. Hexadecimal. A numeral system with a base of 16. New to me. Letter a again.
117A. Occasion to hang up the fangs?: RETIREMENT OF COUNT. Retirement Account. Letter A also. Count here refers to Count Dracula, right?
3D. Country's military organization?: CORPS OF NATIONS. Coronation. Letter O. Thought of corporation first.
61D. Describe a trip to work?: TELL OF COMMUTE. Telecommute. The E in my dictionary is not shown as schwa. It has a short i sound.
Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English. Besides the A, O, E in the above theme answers, u in "circus", i in "pencil", y in "syringe" all have schwa sounds.
I got all the theme answers without much struggle. But as a non-native English speaker who is constantly struggling with English pronunciation, the base phrases took me some time to nail down. I hope my understanding of the theme is correct.
Liked the three "Ignited" echo clues:
36A. Ignited: SPARKED
116A. Ignited: LIT
60D. Ignited: AFLAME
Across:
1. Start of a kids' learning song: ABCDE
6. It may be spiked: PUNCH. The spiced beverage.
11. Prof's pointer: LASER
16. Disposed: APT
19. Mid-ninth century pope: LEO IV. Who knows?
20. Italian town NW of Venice: ASOLO. No idea. I bet the constructor was pleased to find this is an actual place when he needed this fill.
21. Get used (to): INURE
22. Former CNN anchor Dobbs: LOU. He was great when he focused his attention on the Enron guys.
26. Is for all of us?: ARE. Plural of "Is".
27. iPhone add-on: APP
29. Least scarce: AMPLEST
30. Runs: COSTS
32. Strikes a chord: RESONATES
35. One may be yellow or chocolate: LAB. Labrador.
38. Affected type: SNOB
39. Spot playmate: REX
42. Mattress spec: FIRM
44. Schrödinger equation symbols: PSIS. The pitchfork-shaped letters. I did not know what Schrödinger equation is. Still don't. All Greek to me.
46. Ray, Jay or A: ALER (American Leaguer). Rhyme.
47. Super Bowl XLIV runner-up, briefly: INDY. Indianapolis Colts.
48. Grass bristle: AWN. Like this.
50. Built from: MADE OF
52. Amt.: QTY
53. AM frequency meas.: KHZ (Kilohertz)
59. Diggs of "Rent": TAYE. Great body.
64. Grub: EATS
65. One-named Nigerian singer: SADE. I am in the mood for her "Someone Already Broke My Heart".
69. Isolde's lover: TRISTAN
71. Carmen, e.g.: MEZZO. Wanted OPERA.
73. Silent film star who played Carmen in "Blood and Sand" (1922): LILA LEE. No. Nope. She looks glamorous. Nice consecutive "Carmen".
76. Start of a run: SNAG. Stockings.
78. Like molasses in January: SLOW
79. "King Kong" heroine: ANN. Easy guess.
80. "Wow!": GEEZ
81. Affirmative reply: YES I AM
83. Was brilliant: SHONE
84. Coldcocks, briefly: KOS (Knockouts). Coldcock is a new word to me. It means "to knock (someone) unconscious, as with the fist". I was picturing a frozen banana.
85. __ Maria: liqueur: TIA
87. Resulting from this: HEREBY
89. G-man: FED
90. It stops at la estación: TREN. Spanish for train. La estación is the station I suppose.
93. "__ Three Lives": '50s TV drama: I LED. Another guess.
96. "South Park" kid: ERIC. No idea.
101. Book end?: ISH. Bookish. Great clue.
103. Tip respectfully: DOFF
106. Red Sea nation: ERITREA. One less letter than Ethiopia.
107. "Whether __ nobler ...": Hamlet: 'TIS. "To be, or not to be..."
108. Cookie nut: MACADAMIA. The only nut I don't like.
110. Social order: CASTE
111. Sugar pill, say: PLACEBO
114. Land in l'océan: ILE. Island in French.
115. Half a cocktail: MAI. Mai tai.
122. Muse of poetry: ERATO
123. Be hospitable to: ASK IN
124. Haitian capital?: AITCH. Spelled out H. The capitalized letter in Haitian.
125. Place to turn in: BED
126. Full at the table: SATED
127. Wine characteristics: NOSES
128. Turns tail: FLEES
Down:
1. Wedding settings: ALTARS
2. Show willingness to listen: BE OPEN
4. Compass pt.: DIR
5. Dasani competitor: EVIAN. Ours is Aquafina.
6. Taste: PALATE
7. GI support gp.: USO
8. Celestial phenomena: NOVAS. It's often NOVAE.
9. Pitcher Labine of the '50s Dodgers: CLEM. Not familiar with this guy.
10. To-dos: HOOPLAS
11. One of 20 on the Titanic: LIFEBOAT. Ha ha, I knew the trivia.
12. Literary collections: ANAS
13. "I'm down with that": SUITS ME
14. Get knocked out of the spelling bee: ERR
15. Checkout correction, perhaps: RESCAN
16. Sarah Palin, e.g.: ALASKAN. And IDITAROD (86. Mushers' race). Great fill, the latter.
17. Forebode: PORTEND
18. Third in a sequence: TUESDAY. Didn't come to me immediately.
24. Greg's TV partner: DHARMA. I peeked at the cheat sheet.
25. Spanish dessert: FLAN
31. David __, baseball's "Big Papi": ORTIZ. Was with the Twins for several years. Hurt all the time.
33. Geisha's band: OBI
34. Consume: EXPEND. And USE (121. Consume).
37. Last speaker in many an old cartoon: PORKY PIG. "That's all, folks!".
40. LP player: HI-FI
41. Reach via jet: FLY TO
45. Grave: SOLEMN
48. Big name in soul: ARETHA
49. Become annoying to: WEAR ON
51. Senator Feinstein: DIANNE
52. Surprise in class: QUIZ. Pop Quiz.
54. Make good as new: HEAL
56. Sibilant "Ahem!": PSST
58. Rapper who feuded with Dr. Dre: EAZY-E. Another stranger to me.
62. Common soccer score: ONE-ONE. And TIE (119. 62-Down game, e.g.).
63. Worried: STEWED
65. Good place to err: SAFE SIDE. Err is an answer to 14D. Duplication.
67. More promising: ROSIER
68. Foolhardy: RASH
70. Like some orders: TO GO
72. New Age superstar: ENYA
75. San Diego State athlete: AZTEC. I forgot.
77. Aslan's land: NARNIA. We often see ASLAN clued as "Chronicles of Narnia" lion.
83. Six-Day War country: Abbr.: SYR (Syria)
84. California berry farm founder: KNOTT (Walter). Another alien name to me. Is he very famous?
88. Interest: BEHALF
90. Auto security device hawked in infomercials: THE CLUB
91. Poker ploy: RE-RAISE
92. Was once there: EXISTED
94. Grabbed, as an opportunity: LEAPT AT
95. One playing near a bag?: BASEMAN. One more baseball reference.
97. Mrs. McKinley: IDA
99. Bordeaux brothers: FRERE. French for "brothers". Alliteration.
100. They rest on pads: MICE. Oh, now I get it. Computer mouse. The plural is mice too? How strange!
102. Progeny: SCIONS
104. Groom-to-be: FIANCE
105. Belief systems: FAITHS
108. Frock wearers: MONKS
109. Regular alternative: DECAF
112. Dieter's word: LITE. Boring! Drink real drink. Eat real food.
118. Important period: ERA
120. Manet, maybe: OIL. Here is his Olympia again.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A. Passion for Ferris wheels and funnel cakes?: TORRID LOVE OF FAIRS. Torrid Love Affairs. The A in "Affairs" is a schwa sound, so is the O in OF. Have never had funnel cakes. Not aware of its fair connection.
40A. Bozeman native named after a "Star Wars" character?: HAN OF MONTANA. Hannah Montana. The Miley Cyrus character. Ah is a schwa sound. Han Solo.
66A. Mom's bearing?: AIR OF PARENT. Heir Apparent. Letter A.
74A. Mary Poppins outburst?: HOOT OF NANNY. Hootenanny. Thingamajig. New slang to me. Letter e is schwa.
98A. Math class curse?: HEX OF DECIMAL. Hexadecimal. A numeral system with a base of 16. New to me. Letter a again.
117A. Occasion to hang up the fangs?: RETIREMENT OF COUNT. Retirement Account. Letter A also. Count here refers to Count Dracula, right?
3D. Country's military organization?: CORPS OF NATIONS. Coronation. Letter O. Thought of corporation first.
61D. Describe a trip to work?: TELL OF COMMUTE. Telecommute. The E in my dictionary is not shown as schwa. It has a short i sound.
Schwa is the most common vowel sound in English. Besides the A, O, E in the above theme answers, u in "circus", i in "pencil", y in "syringe" all have schwa sounds.
I got all the theme answers without much struggle. But as a non-native English speaker who is constantly struggling with English pronunciation, the base phrases took me some time to nail down. I hope my understanding of the theme is correct.
Liked the three "Ignited" echo clues:
36A. Ignited: SPARKED
116A. Ignited: LIT
60D. Ignited: AFLAME
Across:
1. Start of a kids' learning song: ABCDE
6. It may be spiked: PUNCH. The spiced beverage.
11. Prof's pointer: LASER
16. Disposed: APT
19. Mid-ninth century pope: LEO IV. Who knows?
20. Italian town NW of Venice: ASOLO. No idea. I bet the constructor was pleased to find this is an actual place when he needed this fill.
21. Get used (to): INURE
22. Former CNN anchor Dobbs: LOU. He was great when he focused his attention on the Enron guys.
26. Is for all of us?: ARE. Plural of "Is".
27. iPhone add-on: APP
29. Least scarce: AMPLEST
30. Runs: COSTS
32. Strikes a chord: RESONATES
35. One may be yellow or chocolate: LAB. Labrador.
38. Affected type: SNOB
39. Spot playmate: REX
42. Mattress spec: FIRM
44. Schrödinger equation symbols: PSIS. The pitchfork-shaped letters. I did not know what Schrödinger equation is. Still don't. All Greek to me.
46. Ray, Jay or A: ALER (American Leaguer). Rhyme.
47. Super Bowl XLIV runner-up, briefly: INDY. Indianapolis Colts.
48. Grass bristle: AWN. Like this.
50. Built from: MADE OF
52. Amt.: QTY
53. AM frequency meas.: KHZ (Kilohertz)
59. Diggs of "Rent": TAYE. Great body.
64. Grub: EATS
65. One-named Nigerian singer: SADE. I am in the mood for her "Someone Already Broke My Heart".
69. Isolde's lover: TRISTAN
71. Carmen, e.g.: MEZZO. Wanted OPERA.
73. Silent film star who played Carmen in "Blood and Sand" (1922): LILA LEE. No. Nope. She looks glamorous. Nice consecutive "Carmen".
76. Start of a run: SNAG. Stockings.
78. Like molasses in January: SLOW
79. "King Kong" heroine: ANN. Easy guess.
80. "Wow!": GEEZ
81. Affirmative reply: YES I AM
83. Was brilliant: SHONE
84. Coldcocks, briefly: KOS (Knockouts). Coldcock is a new word to me. It means "to knock (someone) unconscious, as with the fist". I was picturing a frozen banana.
85. __ Maria: liqueur: TIA
87. Resulting from this: HEREBY
89. G-man: FED
90. It stops at la estación: TREN. Spanish for train. La estación is the station I suppose.
93. "__ Three Lives": '50s TV drama: I LED. Another guess.
96. "South Park" kid: ERIC. No idea.
101. Book end?: ISH. Bookish. Great clue.
103. Tip respectfully: DOFF
106. Red Sea nation: ERITREA. One less letter than Ethiopia.
107. "Whether __ nobler ...": Hamlet: 'TIS. "To be, or not to be..."
108. Cookie nut: MACADAMIA. The only nut I don't like.
110. Social order: CASTE
111. Sugar pill, say: PLACEBO
114. Land in l'océan: ILE. Island in French.
115. Half a cocktail: MAI. Mai tai.
122. Muse of poetry: ERATO
123. Be hospitable to: ASK IN
124. Haitian capital?: AITCH. Spelled out H. The capitalized letter in Haitian.
125. Place to turn in: BED
126. Full at the table: SATED
127. Wine characteristics: NOSES
128. Turns tail: FLEES
Down:
1. Wedding settings: ALTARS
2. Show willingness to listen: BE OPEN
4. Compass pt.: DIR
5. Dasani competitor: EVIAN. Ours is Aquafina.
6. Taste: PALATE
7. GI support gp.: USO
8. Celestial phenomena: NOVAS. It's often NOVAE.
9. Pitcher Labine of the '50s Dodgers: CLEM. Not familiar with this guy.
10. To-dos: HOOPLAS
11. One of 20 on the Titanic: LIFEBOAT. Ha ha, I knew the trivia.
12. Literary collections: ANAS
13. "I'm down with that": SUITS ME
14. Get knocked out of the spelling bee: ERR
15. Checkout correction, perhaps: RESCAN
16. Sarah Palin, e.g.: ALASKAN. And IDITAROD (86. Mushers' race). Great fill, the latter.
17. Forebode: PORTEND
18. Third in a sequence: TUESDAY. Didn't come to me immediately.
24. Greg's TV partner: DHARMA. I peeked at the cheat sheet.
25. Spanish dessert: FLAN
31. David __, baseball's "Big Papi": ORTIZ. Was with the Twins for several years. Hurt all the time.
33. Geisha's band: OBI
34. Consume: EXPEND. And USE (121. Consume).
37. Last speaker in many an old cartoon: PORKY PIG. "That's all, folks!".
40. LP player: HI-FI
41. Reach via jet: FLY TO
45. Grave: SOLEMN
48. Big name in soul: ARETHA
49. Become annoying to: WEAR ON
51. Senator Feinstein: DIANNE
52. Surprise in class: QUIZ. Pop Quiz.
54. Make good as new: HEAL
56. Sibilant "Ahem!": PSST
58. Rapper who feuded with Dr. Dre: EAZY-E. Another stranger to me.
62. Common soccer score: ONE-ONE. And TIE (119. 62-Down game, e.g.).
63. Worried: STEWED
65. Good place to err: SAFE SIDE. Err is an answer to 14D. Duplication.
67. More promising: ROSIER
68. Foolhardy: RASH
70. Like some orders: TO GO
72. New Age superstar: ENYA
75. San Diego State athlete: AZTEC. I forgot.
77. Aslan's land: NARNIA. We often see ASLAN clued as "Chronicles of Narnia" lion.
83. Six-Day War country: Abbr.: SYR (Syria)
84. California berry farm founder: KNOTT (Walter). Another alien name to me. Is he very famous?
88. Interest: BEHALF
90. Auto security device hawked in infomercials: THE CLUB
91. Poker ploy: RE-RAISE
92. Was once there: EXISTED
94. Grabbed, as an opportunity: LEAPT AT
95. One playing near a bag?: BASEMAN. One more baseball reference.
97. Mrs. McKinley: IDA
99. Bordeaux brothers: FRERE. French for "brothers". Alliteration.
100. They rest on pads: MICE. Oh, now I get it. Computer mouse. The plural is mice too? How strange!
102. Progeny: SCIONS
104. Groom-to-be: FIANCE
105. Belief systems: FAITHS
108. Frock wearers: MONKS
109. Regular alternative: DECAF
112. Dieter's word: LITE. Boring! Drink real drink. Eat real food.
118. Important period: ERA
120. Manet, maybe: OIL. Here is his Olympia again.
Answer grid.
C.C.
