Theme: The Play's The Thing - The starred answers are eight Toy HOF items.
23A. *They're educational and stackable : ALPHABET BLOCKS
38A. *Construction set invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son : LINCOLN LOGS. Interesting trivia.
23A. *They're educational and stackable : ALPHABET BLOCKS
38A. *Construction set invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son : LINCOLN LOGS. Interesting trivia.
47A. *Street hockey gear : ROLLER SKATES
68A. Rochester, N.Y., institution whose inductees include the eight answers to the starred clues : NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME. Nice grid spanner. Has any of you been there?
91A. *Shipping container : CARDBOARD BOX. Now how can this be inducted into the Hall? I do know some of the old basewball card wrappers/boxes are highly collectible.
98A. *Dual-knobbed drawing device : ETCH A SKETCH
119A. *Kindergartner's boxful : CRAYOLA CRAYONS
15D. *Board game with color-coded cards : CANDY LAND
81D. *Cuddly bedmate : TEDDY BEAR
Fun theme. Was any of the plaything in your childhood missing from the theme set? I just learned that Scrabble & View-Master are in the Hall too.
Neat theme answer arrangement also. It always impresses me when theme entries intersect and more so when no fill is compromised.
Doug Peterson is a real pro. He's one of the very few active constructors in this country who steadily produce fluid early week day puzzles & hard themeless & smooth Sundays.
Across:
1. Cause for fishing hole excitement : BITE. Incredible feeling.
5. Gate approx. : ETD. Wanted EST.
8. Fleshy-snouted mammal : TAPIR
13. Fearless Fosdick's creator : AL CAPP. I only know his "Li'l Abner".
19. Airline with a Ben Gurion hub : EL AL. Literally "To the Skies".
20. Book flap feature : BIO
21. Ridiculous : INANE
22. Comfortable shoe : LOAFER
26. Unlearned : INNATE
27. Long-tailed songbird : PIPIT. Is her tail long?
28. Shade of green : PEA
29. It's done in some circles : SEWING. I don't get this clue.
31. Sturdy wagon : DRAY
32. Santa __ winds : ANA
33. Actor Estevez : EMILIO. Charlie Sheen's brother.
36. "A Taste of Honey" dramatist : DELANEY (Shelagh). Not familiar with the book or its author.
41. DMV document : LIC
42. Vaquero's plain : LLANO
46. Arles affirmatives : OUIs
50. Port-du-__: French cheese : SALUT. Looks good. Needs a bit of wine. Salut!
53. Script section : SCENE
55. Word between surnames : NEE
56. PBS series since 1974 : NOVA
57. City SSW of Moscow : OREL. Doug might have it clued as Hershiser related. He's a baseball fan.
58. Breezy good-byes : CIAOs
60. QB's try : ATT. No idea. Attempt?
62. First name among disrespected comedians? : RODNEY (Dangerfield). "I get no respect".
64. Pollution-free power sources : WIND FARMS. We have quite a few of them in Xinjiang region.
66. Links highlight : ACE. Hole in one.
67. Itty-bitty, in Inverness : SMA. Scottish for "little".
75. Jenny, e.g. : ASS
76. "Reliable Sources" airer : CNN
77. Picnic favorite : BEAN SALAD. I like potato salad for picnic.
78. Tiny bit : TITTLE
82. Tool used in a bed : HOE. Oh, garden bed.
83. Swedish imports : SAABs
84. Winged goddess : NIKE
85. War of 1812 shipbuilding port : ERIE. Nice to know this fact.
86. Half a dance : CHA
88. "Gone With the Wind" Oscar winner : LEIGH (Vivien)
90. Dramatist Chekhov : ANTON
94. "How __ refuse?" : CAN I. And 39. "What else __ do?" : COULD I.
96. Hardly posh : SEEDY
97. '80s missile shield prog. : SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Star Wars.
104. Home of Chichén Itzá : YUCATAN
107. Hullabaloo : HOOPLA
108. "Bingo!" : AHA
109. Crime lab item : SWAB
112. Not spontaneous : STAGED
114. Come up short : OWE
115. "King Lear" daughter : REGAN. The other two are Goneril and Cordelia.
117. Ripped to pieces : TORE UP
122. Mystical secrets : ARCANA
123. "True Grit," for one : OATER. Do you like the Cohen Brothers' remake?
124. 20th-century composer Harris : ROY. Tell me about him, Jayce.
125. Logical connector : ERGO. I wanted THEN.
126. 1943 Allied conference site : TEHRAN. Unknown trivia to me.
127. Campout treat : S'MORE
128. 34th pres. : DDE. Man, I wanted ABE. Dumb! I can't count.
129. Look to be : SEEM
Down:
1. "Little help here, bud?" : BE A PAL
2. "Fighting" team : ILLINI. Fighting Illini. Not enough space for my IRISH.
3. __ Zee Bridge : TAPPAN
4. Pre-coll. catchall : EL-HI. Mostly in crosswords.
5. Flow's counterpart : EBB
6. Ascot fasteners : TIEPINS
7. "I'm listening!" : DO TELL
8. Up to, in brief : TIL
9. "__ Amours": 1984 César Award-winning film : A NOS. Nope. Have never heard of the film. Literally "To our Love".
10. Walked worriedly : PACED
11. Bygone writing aid : INKWELL. Still needs it for Chinese calligraphy.
12. Able to overcome adversity : RESILIENT. Lucina asked how we obtained protein in those years without meat. I guess from corn. We ate corn bread for every meal. It's not really tasty as it's made of water & corn flour & salt only. No added milk/sugar/oil, which were all highly rationed. Even wheat flour was a luxury then.
13. Bring into harmony : ALIGN
14. Contemporary of Boris : LON (Chaney)
16. Where some worship from : AFAR
17. Anti-leather gp. : PETA
18. Zebras, to lions : PREY. I like this clue.
24. Did lunch, say : ATE OUT
25. Scott of "Happy Days" : BAIO. Rare name, three consecutive vowels.
30. Iridescent jewelry material : NACRE
34. 1,051, to Hadrian : MLI
35. Fiends of fantasy : OGRES
37. Buckskin source : ELK
40. Elroy, to George Jetson : SON
43. Oodles : A TON
44. Snow in Milano : NEVE. Oh really? Had no idea. Bye, Campbell!
45. Anthem beginning : O SAY
48. Percolate : LEACH
49. Sunday deliveries : SERMONS
50. Planted : SOWN
51. "Turandot" highlight : ARIA. Just for Sallie.
52. Period of sacrifice : LENT
53. O.T. prophet : SAML
54. Bulk-purchase club : COSTCO. Went there once. Man, everything is just so big.
58. 1988 A.L. MVP : CANSECO (Jose). Can't stand him & his "Juiced".
59. Funds for later yrs. : IRAs
61. Leaves home? : TEABAG. Tea leaves.
63. Bozos : OAFS
65. Newborn Arabian : FOAL. Horse. Hey, Creature!
66. Objectivism advocate Rand : AYN
67. Healthy portion : SLAB
69. Spaghetti pkg. unit : ONE LB
70. Remini of "The King of Queens" : LEAH. She believes in Scientology. Leah is also our Chickie's real name.
71. Author Flagg : FANNIE. She was in a relationship with Rita Mae Brown.
72. Hit the ground : ALIT
73. Speedy shark : MAKO
74. Idyllic setting : EDEN
78. Gumshoes : TECs. Short for detective.
79. "Dies __" : IRAE
80. Flag : TIRE. Don't get the connection.
82. Crunchy Mexican munchies : HARD TACOS
83. NBA's __ Man of the Year Award : SIXTH
87. Tackles : HAS AT
89. Classified letters : EOE
90. Capital south of the Black Sea : ANKARA (Turkey)
92. Mitt Romney's alma mater: Abbr. : BYU. Barry G's too.
93. Family tree, e.g. : DIAGRAM
94. Peninsula north of Martha's Vineyard : CAPE COD
95. Silent communication syst. : ASL
99. "Groovy!" : COOL
100. Three Stooges family name : HOWARD
101. First non-European literature Nobelist (1913) : TAGORE. He's very famous in China.
102. Meter feeder's need : CHANGE
103. Quaint carriage : HANSOM
105. It covers D.C. : C-SPAN. Remember the "House shower" clue? Shower = Show-er.
106. "Groovy!" : NEATO
109. Fan's factoid : STAT
110. Modeled : WORE
111. Raise, as an eyebrow : ARCH
113. Tannery worker : DYER
116. Checks out : EYES
118. Uruguayan article : UNA
120. Stuff in a seam : ORE. Was ignorant of the geology term "seam".
121. Sourdough alternative : RYE
Answer grid.
Does anyone else also use a Reebok CYC 10 bike? Our console seems to have broken. It uses no batteries, the power is supplied by a generator when pedaling. The data keeps flicking and the resistance level just can't be adjusted. The current setting is so high that I can hardly move.
C.C.
