Theme: SALE ! Today's theme relates to the "two month" period preceding the end of business for a company filing Chapter 11 -
23A. Week 1 : BUY ONE GET ONE FREE
39A. Week 2 : INVENTORY REDUCTION
57A. Week 3 : DEEP DISCOUNTS
67A. Week 4 : HUGE SAVINGS
82A. Week 5 : BLOW-OUT PRICES
97A. Week 6 : STORE-WIDE CLEARANCE
115A. Week 7 : EVERYTHING MUST GO
129A. Week 8 : CLOSED
I was there for the final days of a local hardware/paint store Pergament in 2001.
Splynter, filling in for today's blogger, who is actually today's co-constructor - C.C.~!
See both C.C. and Don's note at the end of the comments.
And Away We Go~!
ACROSS:
1. Lifetime job : CAREER
7. "Let __ eat cake!" : THEM
11. "__ meant was ..." : ALL I
15. "Loser" rocker : BECK - music; for me, his first 'hit', and "I" get mentioned at 2:00
19. Commonly thorny tree : ACACIA
20. Whit : IOTA
21. Like people in pews : LAIC - not 'of the cloth'
22. Wheel shaft : AXLE
26. No View, No Touch Trap maker : D-CON rat traps
27. Sis's sib : BRO
28. Like an ant. : OPPosite - antonym
29. Org. that can help you get started : AAA quite some clechos today; 4D. Car starter? : ECO. Ecocar.
30. Fastens, as a ship's rope : BELAYS "Belay that belaying~!" I think of Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation
32. One-named New Ager : YANNI - lots of music today, but this one y'all can link for yourselves....
35. Some strings : VIOLAS
38. Common Latino newspaper name : EL SOL
45. Catch word? : HOWEVER - don't "get" it
48. Beans spiller : STOOLIE
49. Many NASA astronauts were in it : BSA - Boy Scouts of America - tricky; I was looking for something much more "rocket science" - then again, isn't that a badge? I was never in.
50. "__ seen the light!" : I'VE
51. 1997-2006 U.N. leader : ANNAN
54. Foot or fathom : UNIT - of measure, in this case length; a fathom is 6 feet
55. Team : SQUAD
61. "Understood" : I HEAR YA
63. Els with clubs : ERNIE
64. 1968 U.S. Open champ : ASHE -, Arthur - the Queens, NY US Open tennis stadium is named for him
65. Put into law : ENACT
66. Group with the 1979 #1 hit "Babe" : STYX - sorry, but "lame", no link
71. __ world : ARAB
75. Silly : INANE - crossword standard
77. Lincoln in-law : TODD
78. Refrain syllables : TRA LA
79. Yacht feature? : SILENT C - love this, had the 'silent' part, and wondered if it was the "A" or "H", too - technically, it's "YOT"
86. Degrade : ABASE
87. Zeus' jealous wife : HERA
89. Chicago Eight defendant : SEALE - Bobby, the Black Panther co-founder, was the eighth member, and had his trial severed from the other seven
90. Mess up : ERR
91. Club __ : MED - I remember the commercial, the "antidote to civilization"
92. "Li'l Abner" and "Doonesbury," e.g. : SATIRES
95. Inner-city genre : GANGSTA - as in gangsta rap
102. Exeter's county : DEVON - map
103. As much as one cares to see : EYEFUL - went to Hooters for the hockey game, got my EYE FULL...
104. They may be childproofed : HOMES - I never had a baby, but I have been in these types of homes, where everything has a secondary catch on it
108. Place saver : DOG-EAR - as a book page
110. Got the gold : WON
112. __ Grande : RIO
113. Word to a masseuse : AAH
114. The mi. in Mile-High City : ELEVation
122. Ax : FIRE - Canned, 86'ed
123. Floor piece : TILE
124. Yahtzee quintet : DICE
125. Hall of Fame subject of "The Last Boy" : MANTLE - baseball, I am sure a C.C. contribution, Mickey Mantle
126. Lob : TOSS
127. Stops hedging : OPTS
128. Ton : SCAD
DOWN:
1. Hack : CABBY - hesitated, wanted CABBIE at first
2. Legend creator : ACURA -this car
3. Silky synthetic : RAYON
5. German article : EIN and, 33A. Freudian "never" : NIE
6. Arctic explorer John : RAE
7. Men's wear accessory : TIE PIN
8. East Asian stew : HOT POT - Wiki
9. Ike's command: Abbr. : ETO - Another crossword standard, the European Theater of Operations
10. "Oh, brother!" : MAN
11. Communications opener : ALFA - as in the pilot's alphabet, BRAVO CHARLIE, etc.
12. Zhivago's love : LARA
13. It's not good to get caught in one : LIE
14. Cool color for contacts : ICE BLUE - gotten cliche as 'vampire'
15. Rotten apples, so to speak : BAD LOT
16. Legendary sword : EXCALIBUR - have to link this
17. Sate : CLOY - I thought this meant annoy, as in "I forget his name, and it cloys at me"
18. 50-year-old dolls : KENS - D'oh~!, I was thinking Barbie
24. Rules : GOVERNS
25. Routine grounder, say : EASY OUT - baseball again
31. F1 neighbor : ESC - keyboard, top row
34. Intrude upon, as one's space : INVADE
36. Part of 81-Down : LOS Angeles
37. Gallery fare : ART
38. Cutting, maybe : EDITING
40. One of a Latin trio : VENI - Veni, vidi, vici - I didn't know this, but "I came, I smoked, I quit" - the quitting part 4 years ago.
41. Silver and Glass : RONs
42. Yale Bowl rooter : ELI and 93D. Tarzan portrayer Ron : ELY
43. Anthem start : O SAY can you see...
44. Zippo : NADA - anyone else think lighter first?
45. Keeps secret : HIDES immediate clecho;
46. Hardly secret : OVERT
47. Squirt : WEENY
52. Confined, after "in" : A CAGE - this rocks
53. Inhaler? : NOSE - clecho, two "in" clues in a row
55. Dry, as wine : SEC
56. Doha native : QATARI - map #2
58. Playful sprites : PIXIES - had NAIADS at first
59. Hesitating sounds : UHS - had UMS first, made my Arthur "ASME" (64A)
60. "Peachy!" : NEAT-O
62. Owns : HAS
65. Assume, as a role : ENDUE
67. Bowler, for one : HAT
68. Let loose : UNCHAIN - gotta link it
69. Altar assurance : VOW immediate clecho;
70. Altar assurances : I DOs - and I had them reversed; I DO, then VOWS
72. Darts : RACES
73. It may be red : ALERT - Star Trek again
74. Iraqi seaport : BASRA
76. Manila-to-Seoul dir. : NNE
78. Dug-out area : TRENCH - ah, semi-baseball
79. __ Club: Costco rival : SAM'S
80. "Yeah, right!" : I BET
81. Six-time World Series-winning MLB franchise : L.A. DODGERS
82. Party wheel : BRIE - cheese wheel
83. It may be grand : LARCENY - as OPPosed to Petit
84. Manila tongue : TAGALOG - I have heard the word
85. Blueprint : PLAN
88. Airport stat. : ETD - Estimated Time of Departure
92. Affirmed in court : SWORE TO
94. "Get it?" : SEE?
96. Old Prizm maker : GEO - interesting history
98. "Speed" actor : REEVES
99. Uncle Tom rescues her from drowning : EVA - from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, Harriet Beecher Stowe - and an awesome song from Warrant
100. Aardvarks' land : AFRICA - Argyle had this Monday; linked one of my favorite all-time songs
101. Undone : RUINED
105. Dillon and Damon : MATTs
106. Hole in one, e.g. : EAGLE - the rarest of eagles, or "two under par" on a par three
107. Did a smithy's job : SHOED
108. Nimble : DEFT - I think the word sounds DEFT; crafty and skilled
109. Mixed bag : OLIO
110. Whip mark : WELT
111. Mined metals : ORES
116. Big shot : VIP
117. Favre's 508, briefly : TDs - Brett Favre, Quarterback, and his 1A touchdown passes
118. Fruit drink named for a vitamin : Hi-C
119. III x DCC : MMC - Roman math, 3 X (500+100+100) = 2100(1000+1000+100)
120. "Friendly skies" co. : UAL - United Airlines
121. __-Cat : SNO - image
Splynter
Notes from C.C. & Don:
This "Sale" idea first came to us last August. We had to change a few theme entries that are either too plain or did not resonate with Rich. We originally had different clues for the theme entries. Rich went a step forward and came up with the "Week 1, 2..." idea. Putting the final punch line CLOSED in the lower right corner created the greatest challenge to completing the fill smoothly. It took 8 months of back and forth with Rich before the puzzle was finally accepted.
