Theme: The Long and Short of It - Long E sound in EE/EA + LL(s) combination in the last word of each familiar phrase is changed into short I.
25A. Wiring woes? : ELECTRIC ILLS. Electric eels.
30A. Pickle processor's invitation? : LET'S MAKE A DILL. Let's make a deal. Awesome entry.
49A. Fruity medication? : BANANA PILL. Banana peels.
61A. Black, gooey knolls near Charlotte? : NORTH CAROLINA TAR HILLS. North Carolina Tar Heels. Nice grid-spanner. But clue/answer duplication with BRAGG (100A. North Carolina fort). I guess there's no other easy way to clue the latter. Still, very bad.
78A. Factories with good morale? : HAPPY MILLS. Happy Meals.
94A. Moonshine equipment that's frozen solid? : COLD HARD STILL. Cold Hard Steel.
103A. Documents bequeathing tiny exercise devices? : HAMSTER WILLS. Hamster Wheels.
Very consistent theme pattern. All the last words have one syllable. I can't think of a good phrase with possible feel/fill & keel/kill transformation. You?
This might be Scott's first Sunday puzzle. If so, congratulations! Fun theme and plenty of entertaining clues. One X away from a pangram.
Across:
1. Cuba libre ingredient : COLA. Lime too.
5. Grocery unit : BAG
8. Govt. securities : T-BONDS. Could be T-BILLS also.
14. Pester : NAG AT
19. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER. Wanted EZRA.
20. Flabbergast : AWE
21. Greek sun god : HELIOS. S ending in Greek always suggests a male figure. As in Zeus.
22. Steer clear of : AVOID
23. Place to park a parka : COAT TREE. Didn't come to me readily.
27. Like Humpty Dumpty, ultimately : IN PIECES. He fell to pieces.
28. Places to go in Gloucester? : LOOS. Gloucester is for alliteration purpose. Great clue.
29. Ballot fallout : CHADS
33. British pop singer Lewis : LEONA. No idea. Looks pretty.
34. Spring mo. : APR
35. Constitutional aid? : CANE. Was thinking of US Constitution rather than physical health.
36. Holiday veggies : YAMS
37. Denali et al.: Abbr. : MTS
40. Disguise for illegal activities : FRONT. Mostly. The ones for FBI/CIA are legal, aren't they?
43. Eponymous dish inventor : PETRI
45. Hi from a float : WAVE. Nice clue.
46. Duff : SEAT
47. Common Market inits. : EEC (European Economic Community)
48. Bobby Orr, once : BRUIN. Boston Bruins.
51. Uneasy desire : ITCH
53. 1953 Leslie Caron film : LILI. Gigi is 1958.
54. Malarkey : BUNK
55. Prefix with trafficker : NARCO. Drew a blank. Narco-trafficker.
56. Hideous : GRUESOME
58. Foot specialist? : BARD. Metrical foot.
59. Toll rd. : TPK (Turnpike)
68. Nonverbal syst. : ASL (American Sign Language)
69. Christmas setups : FIRS
70. "Émile, or On Education" author : ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Not familiar with the book.
71. Lieu : STEAD
75. Cap'n's crew member : BO'S'N
76. "You're So __": Carly Simon hit : VAIN. Whom is it about again?
77. Ten percenters: Abbr. : AGTS
81. __ State Broncos: Western Athletic Conf. team : BOISE. I know nothing about college sports.
82. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
83. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. First encounter with the band, and the song.
84. Apple with tunes : IPOD. Mine is full of podcast.
85. Soldier, in slang : GRUNT
86. Site of India's Red Fort : DELHI. Pure guess.
88. Math proof letters : Q.E.D.
89. Sweat spot : BROW
90. Support gp. created in 1942 : WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
91. RVer's refuge : KOA
92. Disney's middle name : ELIAS. I forgot.
101. Doughnut shapes : TORI. Plural of torus. Stumped many last time. It looks like this.
102. Chosen one : SELECTEE
106. Rocky address : YO ADRIAN. Great entry.
107. Justice since 2006 : ALITO (Samuel)
108. "Mas Que Nada" bandleader : MENDES. Peeked at the answer sheet.
109. Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect : LIN (Maya)
110. One way to store data : ON CD
111. Eponymous scout Chisholm : JESSE. No idea. Wikipedia says the Chisholm Trail is named after him.
112. Elusive big Scot? : NESSIE. Lock Ness Monster.
113. Calculus prereq. : ALG
114. Ken of "Wiseguy" : WAHL. Nope. He looks familiar though.
Down:
1. Mining magnate Rhodes : CECIL. Of Rhodes Scholar fame.
2. Triatomic pollutant : OZONE
3. Bounded : LEAPT
4. Old guild member : ARTISAN
5. Rail amenity : BAR CAR. Have never been to one.
6. "Eight Days __" : A WEEK
7. Skein fliers : GEESE
8. It's usually disregarded when alphabetizing : THE. Fresh clue.
9. "I puritani" composer : BELLINI. Gimme for Jayce.
10. Fútbol shout : OLE OLE. Fútbol is Spanish for football.
11. Williamson of "Excalibur" : NICOL. About King Arthur I presume.
12. Things to connect : DOTS. Connect the dots.
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR
14. Football party munchies : NACHOS. So messy.
15. Winged, perhaps : AVIAN
16. Yitzhak Rabin's predecessor : GOLDA MEIR. Full name in clue. Full name in answer.
17. Has a cold : AILS
18. Jerry Rice's 208, briefly : TDS. Is that a record?
24. Offer chocolates to, as a dieter : TEMPT
26. Bygone deliverers : ICEMEN
31. In "Rent," it starts with "Seasons of Love" : ACT II. Needed crossing help.
32. "Aw, phooey!" : DARN
33. Hot flower : LAVA. Flower = Thing that flows. Can't fool me.
36. Tug : YANK
38. Rash protection : TALC
39. D-Day target city : ST LO. Also CAEN.
40. Simulate : FEIGN
41. Rocket opening : RETRO. Retrorocket.
42. Come to pass : OCCUR
43. Original : PRIMAL
44. Basel-born mathematician : EULER. OK, Bill G, tell us the highlight of this guy's career.
45. Movie fish : WANDA
46. New Age music player, often : SPA. I've never heard of New Age Health Spa. So the cleverness of the clue is lost on me.
48. Voting groups : BLOCS
49. "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker : BURNS (George). So he kept dating younger women?
50. Egyptian crosses : ANKHS. Always have trouble remembering the spelling.
52. Riled (up) : HET. Het up.
54. Scot's tot : BAIRN. Literally "child".
57. Like groves : SHADY
58. Euphoria : BLISS
59. One looking for the way? : TAOIST. Tao = Way (in Chinese).
60. Compote fruit : PRUNE
62. From way back when : OF OLD
63. Prepare for a run : TRAIN. I find running makes my legs thick.
64. Metaphor words : IS A
65. By the book : LEGAL
66. Gate fastener : LATCH
67. It's often served with ginger and wasabi : SUSHI. Wasbi is really hot!
71. Celt since 8/4/2010 : SHAQ. Man, I thought he's still in Cleveland.
72. Lacking spice : TAME. Does this refer to food?
73. Skin graft material : EPIDERMIS. such a sophisticated word.
74. Galoot : APE
75. Karate chop, e.g. : BLOW
76. Speak (for) : VOUCH
79. Desert illusion : MIRAGE. Loved "The English Patient".
80. NYSE events : IPOS
81. Thin nail : BRAD. Learned from doing Xword.
85. Pisa airport name : GALILEI. Named after Galileo Galilei.
86. Took two pills, say : DOSED
87. Have humble pie : EAT CROW. Worse than EAT DIRT.
89. Hallux : BIG TOE. Did not know the meaning of hallux.
90. __ Fair : WORLD'S
91. "Constant Craving" vocalist : K. D. LANG. Lois loves her.
93. Endures : LASTS
94. Fountain contents, often : COINS
95. Sanctuaries : ASYLA. Plural for asylum I infer.
96. Try to quiet, as a persistent squeak : REOIL
97. Turner memoir : I, TINA. We had this clue before.
98. Percolate : LEACH
99. 1985-'87 U.S. Open champ : LENDL (Ivan). Nadal today.
100. Loft bundle : BALE. Hi, there, Windhover!
101. Hardly macho, in Manchester : TWEE. Another alliteration.
103. Pilgrimage to Mecca : HAJ
104. LBJ successor : RMN. Can never remember Nixon's middle name. Milhous.
105. Bakersfield-to-L.A. heading : SSE. Educated guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
25A. Wiring woes? : ELECTRIC ILLS. Electric eels.
30A. Pickle processor's invitation? : LET'S MAKE A DILL. Let's make a deal. Awesome entry.
49A. Fruity medication? : BANANA PILL. Banana peels.
61A. Black, gooey knolls near Charlotte? : NORTH CAROLINA TAR HILLS. North Carolina Tar Heels. Nice grid-spanner. But clue/answer duplication with BRAGG (100A. North Carolina fort). I guess there's no other easy way to clue the latter. Still, very bad.
78A. Factories with good morale? : HAPPY MILLS. Happy Meals.
94A. Moonshine equipment that's frozen solid? : COLD HARD STILL. Cold Hard Steel.
103A. Documents bequeathing tiny exercise devices? : HAMSTER WILLS. Hamster Wheels.
Very consistent theme pattern. All the last words have one syllable. I can't think of a good phrase with possible feel/fill & keel/kill transformation. You?
This might be Scott's first Sunday puzzle. If so, congratulations! Fun theme and plenty of entertaining clues. One X away from a pangram.
Across:
1. Cuba libre ingredient : COLA. Lime too.
5. Grocery unit : BAG
8. Govt. securities : T-BONDS. Could be T-BILLS also.
14. Pester : NAG AT
19. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER. Wanted EZRA.
20. Flabbergast : AWE
21. Greek sun god : HELIOS. S ending in Greek always suggests a male figure. As in Zeus.
22. Steer clear of : AVOID
23. Place to park a parka : COAT TREE. Didn't come to me readily.
27. Like Humpty Dumpty, ultimately : IN PIECES. He fell to pieces.
28. Places to go in Gloucester? : LOOS. Gloucester is for alliteration purpose. Great clue.
29. Ballot fallout : CHADS
33. British pop singer Lewis : LEONA. No idea. Looks pretty.
34. Spring mo. : APR
35. Constitutional aid? : CANE. Was thinking of US Constitution rather than physical health.
36. Holiday veggies : YAMS
37. Denali et al.: Abbr. : MTS
40. Disguise for illegal activities : FRONT. Mostly. The ones for FBI/CIA are legal, aren't they?
43. Eponymous dish inventor : PETRI
45. Hi from a float : WAVE. Nice clue.
46. Duff : SEAT
47. Common Market inits. : EEC (European Economic Community)
48. Bobby Orr, once : BRUIN. Boston Bruins.
51. Uneasy desire : ITCH
53. 1953 Leslie Caron film : LILI. Gigi is 1958.
54. Malarkey : BUNK
55. Prefix with trafficker : NARCO. Drew a blank. Narco-trafficker.
56. Hideous : GRUESOME
58. Foot specialist? : BARD. Metrical foot.
59. Toll rd. : TPK (Turnpike)
68. Nonverbal syst. : ASL (American Sign Language)
69. Christmas setups : FIRS
70. "Émile, or On Education" author : ROUSSEAU (Jean-Jacques). Not familiar with the book.
71. Lieu : STEAD
75. Cap'n's crew member : BO'S'N
76. "You're So __": Carly Simon hit : VAIN. Whom is it about again?
77. Ten percenters: Abbr. : AGTS
81. __ State Broncos: Western Athletic Conf. team : BOISE. I know nothing about college sports.
82. "__ du lieber!" : ACH
83. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. First encounter with the band, and the song.
84. Apple with tunes : IPOD. Mine is full of podcast.
85. Soldier, in slang : GRUNT
86. Site of India's Red Fort : DELHI. Pure guess.
88. Math proof letters : Q.E.D.
89. Sweat spot : BROW
90. Support gp. created in 1942 : WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps)
91. RVer's refuge : KOA
92. Disney's middle name : ELIAS. I forgot.
101. Doughnut shapes : TORI. Plural of torus. Stumped many last time. It looks like this.
102. Chosen one : SELECTEE
106. Rocky address : YO ADRIAN. Great entry.
107. Justice since 2006 : ALITO (Samuel)
108. "Mas Que Nada" bandleader : MENDES. Peeked at the answer sheet.
109. Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect : LIN (Maya)
110. One way to store data : ON CD
111. Eponymous scout Chisholm : JESSE. No idea. Wikipedia says the Chisholm Trail is named after him.
112. Elusive big Scot? : NESSIE. Lock Ness Monster.
113. Calculus prereq. : ALG
114. Ken of "Wiseguy" : WAHL. Nope. He looks familiar though.
Down:
1. Mining magnate Rhodes : CECIL. Of Rhodes Scholar fame.
2. Triatomic pollutant : OZONE
3. Bounded : LEAPT
4. Old guild member : ARTISAN
5. Rail amenity : BAR CAR. Have never been to one.
6. "Eight Days __" : A WEEK
7. Skein fliers : GEESE
8. It's usually disregarded when alphabetizing : THE. Fresh clue.
9. "I puritani" composer : BELLINI. Gimme for Jayce.
10. Fútbol shout : OLE OLE. Fútbol is Spanish for football.
11. Williamson of "Excalibur" : NICOL. About King Arthur I presume.
12. Things to connect : DOTS. Connect the dots.
13. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR
14. Football party munchies : NACHOS. So messy.
15. Winged, perhaps : AVIAN
16. Yitzhak Rabin's predecessor : GOLDA MEIR. Full name in clue. Full name in answer.
17. Has a cold : AILS
18. Jerry Rice's 208, briefly : TDS. Is that a record?
24. Offer chocolates to, as a dieter : TEMPT
26. Bygone deliverers : ICEMEN
31. In "Rent," it starts with "Seasons of Love" : ACT II. Needed crossing help.
32. "Aw, phooey!" : DARN
33. Hot flower : LAVA. Flower = Thing that flows. Can't fool me.
36. Tug : YANK
38. Rash protection : TALC
39. D-Day target city : ST LO. Also CAEN.
40. Simulate : FEIGN
41. Rocket opening : RETRO. Retrorocket.
42. Come to pass : OCCUR
43. Original : PRIMAL
44. Basel-born mathematician : EULER. OK, Bill G, tell us the highlight of this guy's career.
45. Movie fish : WANDA
46. New Age music player, often : SPA. I've never heard of New Age Health Spa. So the cleverness of the clue is lost on me.
48. Voting groups : BLOCS
49. "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker : BURNS (George). So he kept dating younger women?
50. Egyptian crosses : ANKHS. Always have trouble remembering the spelling.
52. Riled (up) : HET. Het up.
54. Scot's tot : BAIRN. Literally "child".
57. Like groves : SHADY
58. Euphoria : BLISS
59. One looking for the way? : TAOIST. Tao = Way (in Chinese).
60. Compote fruit : PRUNE
62. From way back when : OF OLD
63. Prepare for a run : TRAIN. I find running makes my legs thick.
64. Metaphor words : IS A
65. By the book : LEGAL
66. Gate fastener : LATCH
67. It's often served with ginger and wasabi : SUSHI. Wasbi is really hot!
71. Celt since 8/4/2010 : SHAQ. Man, I thought he's still in Cleveland.
72. Lacking spice : TAME. Does this refer to food?
73. Skin graft material : EPIDERMIS. such a sophisticated word.
74. Galoot : APE
75. Karate chop, e.g. : BLOW
76. Speak (for) : VOUCH
79. Desert illusion : MIRAGE. Loved "The English Patient".
80. NYSE events : IPOS
81. Thin nail : BRAD. Learned from doing Xword.
85. Pisa airport name : GALILEI. Named after Galileo Galilei.
86. Took two pills, say : DOSED
87. Have humble pie : EAT CROW. Worse than EAT DIRT.
89. Hallux : BIG TOE. Did not know the meaning of hallux.
90. __ Fair : WORLD'S
91. "Constant Craving" vocalist : K. D. LANG. Lois loves her.
93. Endures : LASTS
94. Fountain contents, often : COINS
95. Sanctuaries : ASYLA. Plural for asylum I infer.
96. Try to quiet, as a persistent squeak : REOIL
97. Turner memoir : I, TINA. We had this clue before.
98. Percolate : LEACH
99. 1985-'87 U.S. Open champ : LENDL (Ivan). Nadal today.
100. Loft bundle : BALE. Hi, there, Windhover!
101. Hardly macho, in Manchester : TWEE. Another alliteration.
103. Pilgrimage to Mecca : HAJ
104. LBJ successor : RMN. Can never remember Nixon's middle name. Milhous.
105. Bakersfield-to-L.A. heading : SSE. Educated guess.
Answer grid.
C.C.
