Theme: Rowdy Bunch - WILD can precede the first word of each starred answers.
22A. *Old library aid : CARD CATALOG. Wild card.
32A. *Soda fountain choice : CHERRY COKE. Wild cherry.
64A. Maurice Sendak kids' book, and the starts of starred answers : WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Lovely unifier.
97A. *Ragtime dance : TURKEY TROT. Wild turkey.
110A. *'60s Haight-Ashbury type : FLOWER CHILD. Wild flower.
3D. *Political mantra : PARTY LINE. Wild party.
20D. *Drug problem : SIDE EFFECT. Wild side. Do you have a wild side?
67D. *One side of a defunct wall : WEST BERLIN. Wild west.
76D. *A cappella leader's gadget : PITCH PIPE. Wild pitch.
Fun puzzle. Made me think of Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing in "Major League": Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.
Terrific theme answer interlock in this grid. Awesome grid design. It takes luck as well as skills to make them work.
22A. *Old library aid : CARD CATALOG. Wild card.
32A. *Soda fountain choice : CHERRY COKE. Wild cherry.
64A. Maurice Sendak kids' book, and the starts of starred answers : WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Lovely unifier.
97A. *Ragtime dance : TURKEY TROT. Wild turkey.
110A. *'60s Haight-Ashbury type : FLOWER CHILD. Wild flower.
3D. *Political mantra : PARTY LINE. Wild party.
20D. *Drug problem : SIDE EFFECT. Wild side. Do you have a wild side?
67D. *One side of a defunct wall : WEST BERLIN. Wild west.
76D. *A cappella leader's gadget : PITCH PIPE. Wild pitch.
Fun puzzle. Made me think of Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing in "Major League": Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.
Terrific theme answer interlock in this grid. Awesome grid design. It takes luck as well as skills to make them work.
Quite a few baseball references to delight me, but I was stumped by O'DOUL (28A. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty). Of course I wanted GROVE. Lefty Grove was a Hall-of-Famer. Wiki shows O'Doul won the batting champ in 1929 & 1932. Too long ago.
Another possible stumper for some might be ENOKIs (94A. Japanese mushrooms), which are part of my diet, so no problem here.
Across:
1. Move to a larger container, say : REPOT. Plant.
6. Office exchanges : MEMOS
11. Put a dent in : MAR
14. "Woe __!" : IS ME
18. In any way : AT ALL. Man, I had trouble getting this little answer.
19. Aromatic resin : ELEMI
20. "¿Quién __?" : SABE. Spanish for "Who knows?". Not me.
21. Where the Pecos R. begins : N MEX
24. Gadget, for one: Abbr. : INSP (Inspector). Not familiar with Inspector Gadget.
25. Water turbidity cause : SILT
26. Book after Neh. : ESTH
27. "Midnight Cowboy" con man : RATSO. Disturbing movie.
29. Motorcade VIP : PRES. OK, President.
30. Hit a lot of high notes : YODELED
34. Societal ideals : VALUES
36. What obsolete things fall into : DISUSE
38. Bananas : DAFT. I like nuts on bananas.
39. "Marley & Me" actress : ANISTON (Jennifer). Love her. Can't understand Angelina Jolie's appeal.
41. React to boredom, perhaps : NOD OFF. Thought of YAWN AT first.
43. Defeats : LOSSES. Noun.
47. Port of Crete : CANEA. Stumped me again.
48. Cockney toast starter :
50. Souvenirs at the park, usually : FOULS. Foul balls. I was picturing pins/caps/bats, etc.
52. Controversial "gift" : ESP. Why controversial? I wanted GAB.
53. Fresno-to-Bakersfield dir. : SSE. I trust it's correct.
54. Not __ Town: anti-hate-crime movement : IN OUR. New to me.
56. Procter & Gamble toothpaste : GLEEM
58. Salad cheese : FETA
59. Sail motions : FLAPS. I don't get this one. TIDES wouldn't work.
60. Not of the cloth : LAIC
61. Bombed : PIE-EYED. Both slang for "drunk".
69. One way to anticipate : EAGERLY. Then we have 85A. Eager beaver : DYNAMO. Slight dupe. But I did like the clue for the latter.
70. 8 x 10 phots., e.g. : ENLs
71. "... but maybe I'm wrong" : OR NOT
72. "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" dramatist : INGE (William). Easy guess.
73. Job jar items : TASKS
75. Thomas Paine's belief : DEISM
76. __ band: school rally performers : PEP
79. "Golden Age" Hollywood studio : RKO
80. Kept awake, maybe : ATE AT
82. Bruce of "The Astronaut Farmer" : DERN
83. "There is __ in the affairs of men ...": Brutus : A TIDE. Do you like this kind of quote clue?
87. '70s-'80s FBI sting : ABSCAM
90. Like some markers : GENETIC. Wow, first encounter with this DNA term "Genetic marker".
92. Swedish tennis great : BORG (Björn)
96. Chops up : MINCES
100. Spa service : MUD BATH. Nice one.
102. Big name in pineapples : DOLE
103. First toothbrush to go to the moon : ORAL B
104. One leading a charmed life? : COBRA. Charmed by the snake charmer.
105. The first one was founded in 1824 Eng. to protect carriage horses : SPCA. Good to know this trivia.
108. James or Jones of jazz : ETTA
109. __-mutuel : PARI
112. Lent organs? : EARS. Lend me your ears.
113. Harrow rival : ETON
114. Saintly qualities : AURAS
115. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ
116. Make a chart of, as land : PLAT
117. Safety feature for some walkers : NET
118. Conforms : OBEYS
119. Stieg Larsson was one : SWEDE. Quite popular after his death.
Down:
1. Regatta : RACE. Thought of Gunghy.
2. H-like letters : ETAS
4. Fixer-upper, often : OLD HOUSE
5. Dr. Mom's forte : TLC
6. Heavy __ : METAL
7. Made joyous : ELATED
8. Alice's restaurant? : MEL'S DINER. "Alice" the sitcom.
9. 1847 novel based on its author's time in the Society Islands : OMOO. Melville novel.
10. Milano Mr. : SIG. OK, Signore.
11. Impressive house : MANOR
12. Inane relative? : ABSURD
13. E-mail option : REPLY ALL. I Like this entry too.
14. Popular restaurants : IN SPOTS
15. Smug grin : SMIRK
16. A beanball might lead to one : MELEE
17. Personal organizer nos. : EXTs.
23. Part of a playground exchange : ARE SO
28. Very : OH SO. SO easy to have a dupe for a Sunday puzzle.
31. One who spiffs up your wheels : DETAILER
32. It's chewed in leas : CUD
33. Corp. fiscal VIPs : CFOs
34. Little suckers? : VACS (Vacuums). And 111. Small change? : CTS (Cents). Both "little" and "small" mean "in shortened form".
35. Santa __: West Coast winds : ANAs
37. Popular pad : SOS
40. Abecedarian : NEOPHYTE
42. One of them? : FOE. Nice clue.
44. "I'm outta here!" : SEE YA
45. Perfume compound : ESTER
46. One in a black suit : SPADE. Playing cards again.
49. Scammer's ploy : RUSE
51. Calling strikes, e.g. : UMPIRING
55. NFL part: Abbr. : NATL
56. Maddens : GALLS
57. Eye shades : LIDS
58. Suffix with song : FEST
59. Lacking dates : FREE. In a way, yes.
60. Patty alternative : LINK. We could only afford to eat meat once in a year in my childhood. Lots of stuff were rationed until I was about 10.
62. Getaway places : INNS
63. Typical Bond villain's malady : EGOMANIA
64. Uncanny : WEIRD
65. Good thing to have at a tearjerker : HANKY
66. Prod : EGG ON
68. Weed whacker : HOER
74. Battery spec : AAA
75. "Disclosure" co-star : DEMI MOORE. Beautiful hair.
77. Falco of "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE
78. Push-up targets : PECs
80. Unrestrainedly : AMOK
81. Unwrapped excitedly : TORE OPEN. Like my Xmas morning.
82. U.S. terr., 1861-'89 : DAK
84. Circus : TENT SHOW
86. Keep __ of: stay current with : ABREAST. Dennis would have fun with this clue.
88. Persnickety sort : SNOB
89. Collapsible bed : COT
91. Put in a cell : EMBAR
93. Pirouette : GYRATE
95. Seller of the $5 FOOTLONG : SUBWAY. Eat Fresh.
97. Add up to : TOTAL
98. Extreme : ULTRA
99. Occult medium : TAROT
101. Kind of shoes or blues : DRESS. I remember Monica's blue dress.
102. Sea, with "the" : DEEP
104. Country place? : CLUB. Country club.
106. Not in one's birthday suit : CLAD
107. Cutter with a bent blade : ADZE. This guy is using one. I'd like to see this word in Jerome puzzle.
110. __ Schwarz: NYC toy store : FAO
Answer grid.
C.C.
