Theme: And/or - OR is added to common phrases.
23A. Important meeting for Domingo and colleagues? : THE BIG TENOR CONFERENCE. The Big Ten Conference.
33A. Pulpit tirade? : BLAST FROM THE PASTOR. Blast from the past.
50A. Sale of swampland? : MORASS MARKETING. Mass marketing.
63A. Disloyal union member? : LABOR RAT. Lab rat.
69A. "Babe," e.g.? : PIG STORY. Pig sty.
83A. Really conservative Conservatives? : OLD SCHOOL TORIES. Old school tie.
92A. Comment about a recently razed vacation complex? : THE RESORT IS HISTORY. The rest is history.
114A. Maine travel agency's come-on? : MORE BANGOR FOR YOUR BUCK. More bang for your buck.
Some ORs are inserted to the end of the word, some in the middle. Can you think of one with OR attached to the beginning?
Did the theme clues make you laugh? One of the challenges in letter addition/deletion/substitution theme is to come up with entertaining clues.
I still don't know who Verge is. Alias name, perhaps. I feel it's a he.
Across:
1. Missouri range : OZARKS. Scrabbly start.
7. Very friendly with : CLOSE TO
14. Legitimate : LAWFUL
20. Incisor neighbor : CANINE. Tooth.
21. Lost it : HAD A COW. "Don't have a cow, man!"
22. His team has an orange-and-black logo : ORIOLE. Baltimore Orioles.
26. Cabin fever, e.g. : ANGST
27. Salon supply : HAIR GEL
28. "Hmm ..." : I WONDER. And 115D. "Hmm ..." : GEE
29. Glom : COP. Did not know "glom" can mean "steal".
30. Hesitant sounds : UMs
32. A long time : YEARS
43. Like a hawk's perspective : AERIAL
44. __ agreement : ORAL
45. Recipe amount : CUP
46. Carides of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" : GIA. No idea. The movie is good. I like her hair.
49. Scottish psychiatrist R.D. __ : LAING. Another no idea. I bet Lois knows him.
55. Windows predecessor : MS-DOS
56. Sharp sensation : PANG
57. Transfix : AWE
58. "... __ mention ..." : NOT TO
59. Ornamented, as curtains : TASSELED
62. Sharpness : ACUMEN
68. Half of vingt : DIX. Dix = Ten. Vingt = Twenty. You won't see Splynter clue his DIX this way.
71. "Anchorman" producer Judd : APATOW
72. Place for a large E : EYE CHART
74. Wine grape : PINOT
75. Tournament break : BYE
77. Part of a roof : EAVE
78. Boundary : AMBIT
87. Welsh breed : CORGI
88. 2010 Mark Twain Prize winner : FEY (Tina). So talented.
89. Diving seabird : AUK. What is he doing?
90. Didn't spoil : KEPT
91. Meaningful interval : PERIOD
97. Region on the South China Sea : MACAO. Gambling mecca in Asia. They speak Cantonese there also.
100. Lunch letters : BLT
101. Looney Tunes animator Avery : TEX. Got via crosses.
102. Might well : IS APT TO
104. Plymouth passenger carrier : RAILCAR.
109. Self-congratulatory cries : TA-DAs
117. Online memos : E-NOTEs. Dennis likes to title his email subject line as "Note".
118. Microsoft reference : ENCARTA. No new updates.
119. Italian desserts : GELATI
120. Out of fashion : DEMODE
121. Tough teammate to handle : EGOTIST. Randy Moss, e.g.
122. Obeyed a canine command : HEELED
Down:
1. Prefix with -hedron : OCTA. Prefix for "eight".
2. Journalist Paula : ZAHN
3. Rare blood type: Abbr. : A NEG
4. Cage components : RIBS
5. Work with needles : KNIT
6. Circ. part : SEG
7. Hardly top-of-the-line : CHEAPO
8. Legal scholar Guinier : LANI. I can never remember her name.
9. Stimulus used in aversion therapy : ODOR.
23A. Important meeting for Domingo and colleagues? : THE BIG TENOR CONFERENCE. The Big Ten Conference.
33A. Pulpit tirade? : BLAST FROM THE PASTOR. Blast from the past.
50A. Sale of swampland? : MORASS MARKETING. Mass marketing.
63A. Disloyal union member? : LABOR RAT. Lab rat.
69A. "Babe," e.g.? : PIG STORY. Pig sty.
83A. Really conservative Conservatives? : OLD SCHOOL TORIES. Old school tie.
92A. Comment about a recently razed vacation complex? : THE RESORT IS HISTORY. The rest is history.
114A. Maine travel agency's come-on? : MORE BANGOR FOR YOUR BUCK. More bang for your buck.
Some ORs are inserted to the end of the word, some in the middle. Can you think of one with OR attached to the beginning?
Did the theme clues make you laugh? One of the challenges in letter addition/deletion/substitution theme is to come up with entertaining clues.
I still don't know who Verge is. Alias name, perhaps. I feel it's a he.
Across:
1. Missouri range : OZARKS. Scrabbly start.
7. Very friendly with : CLOSE TO
14. Legitimate : LAWFUL
20. Incisor neighbor : CANINE. Tooth.
21. Lost it : HAD A COW. "Don't have a cow, man!"
22. His team has an orange-and-black logo : ORIOLE. Baltimore Orioles.
26. Cabin fever, e.g. : ANGST
27. Salon supply : HAIR GEL
28. "Hmm ..." : I WONDER. And 115D. "Hmm ..." : GEE
29. Glom : COP. Did not know "glom" can mean "steal".
30. Hesitant sounds : UMs
32. A long time : YEARS
43. Like a hawk's perspective : AERIAL
44. __ agreement : ORAL
45. Recipe amount : CUP
46. Carides of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" : GIA. No idea. The movie is good. I like her hair.
49. Scottish psychiatrist R.D. __ : LAING. Another no idea. I bet Lois knows him.
55. Windows predecessor : MS-DOS
56. Sharp sensation : PANG
57. Transfix : AWE
58. "... __ mention ..." : NOT TO
59. Ornamented, as curtains : TASSELED
62. Sharpness : ACUMEN
68. Half of vingt : DIX. Dix = Ten. Vingt = Twenty. You won't see Splynter clue his DIX this way.
71. "Anchorman" producer Judd : APATOW
72. Place for a large E : EYE CHART
74. Wine grape : PINOT
75. Tournament break : BYE
77. Part of a roof : EAVE
78. Boundary : AMBIT
87. Welsh breed : CORGI
88. 2010 Mark Twain Prize winner : FEY (Tina). So talented.
89. Diving seabird : AUK. What is he doing?
90. Didn't spoil : KEPT
91. Meaningful interval : PERIOD
97. Region on the South China Sea : MACAO. Gambling mecca in Asia. They speak Cantonese there also.
100. Lunch letters : BLT
101. Looney Tunes animator Avery : TEX. Got via crosses.
102. Might well : IS APT TO
104. Plymouth passenger carrier : RAILCAR.
109. Self-congratulatory cries : TA-DAs
117. Online memos : E-NOTEs. Dennis likes to title his email subject line as "Note".
118. Microsoft reference : ENCARTA. No new updates.
119. Italian desserts : GELATI
120. Out of fashion : DEMODE
121. Tough teammate to handle : EGOTIST. Randy Moss, e.g.
122. Obeyed a canine command : HEELED
Down:
1. Prefix with -hedron : OCTA. Prefix for "eight".
2. Journalist Paula : ZAHN
3. Rare blood type: Abbr. : A NEG
4. Cage components : RIBS
5. Work with needles : KNIT
6. Circ. part : SEG
7. Hardly top-of-the-line : CHEAPO
8. Legal scholar Guinier : LANI. I can never remember her name.
9. Stimulus used in aversion therapy : ODOR.
10. Puppeteer Tony : SARG. Know this guy only from doing Xword.
11. Behold, to Brutus : ECCE
12. Prepare the factory : TOOL UP
13. Hold one's __ : OWN
14. Early movie mogul : LOEW (Marus). Founder of MGM.
15. Gully : ARROYO
16. Cybernetics pioneer Norbert : WIENER. Maybe Bill G knows him. I've got no idea.
17. 1981 Hepburn co-star : FONDA. "On Golden Pond". Henry Fonda. Also Jane Fonda.
18. Gastric woe : ULCER
19. Rude looks : LEERS
24. God in a chariot : THOR. Thunder god.
25. Rift : FISSURE
29. Grey Cup sports org. : CFL (Canadian Football League)
31. Large-beaked talker : MACAW. Melissa style picture. Lovely.
33. Soothing application : BALM
34. Green spans : LEAs. Nice clue. Would be even better if the answer is singular. It's hard to be Greenspan.
35. Requiring irrigation : ARID
36. Chinese: Pref. : SINO. Sino-US relationship.
37. They may put players out : TAGs
38. Poetic times : MORNs
39. Play genre : TRAGEDY
40. Suffers from : HAS
41. Some city lines : ELs
42. Toll rd. : TPK
46. Cuban base, familiarly : GITMO. "You can't handle the truth!".
47. Bury : INTER
48. Torment : AGONY
50. Movie-rating org. : MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)
51. Beer-making aid : OAST
52. Magazine that began as a comic book : MAD
53. Some refs. : ENCs
54. Build up : TOUT
59. Experian, formerly : TRW. Forgot also.
60. It's made up : LIE. Quite true.
61. Passage : EXCERPT
62. Player rep. : AGT
63. __ luxury : LAP OF
64. Make __ of money : A PILE
65. Exchange, as words : BANDY
66. Onetime Siouan natives : OTOs
67. Campus military prog. : ROTC
69. Smooth, in a way : PAVE
70. Ticks off : IRES
72. Sniggler's target : EEL
73. 2010 earthquake site : HAITI
75. Historic Kentucky county : BOURBON. Whiskey.
76. Simple country type : YOKEL
78. Scores 90+ on : ACEs
79. Satirist Sahl : MORT
80. Liveliness : BRIO
81. Borodin prince : IGOR
82. Uncluttered : TIDY
84. Possess, to a Scot : HAE
85. Ring ruling : TKO (Techinical knockout)
86. Poetic contraction : O'ER
91. Photos : PIX
92. __-CD conversion: music collection updating system : TAPE TO
93. Breeding ground : HOT BED
94. Bad way to come on : STRONG
95. Visit overnight : STAY AT
96. Legend subject : HERO. Made me think of Killebrew. Nicest player I've ever met. TwinsFest wouldn't be the same without him.
97. Acted quietly? : MIMED
98. "... world will live __": "Imagine" : AS ONE
99. Bank : CAROM. Pool.
103. Facilitate an arrest, in a way : TASE
105. Oil acronym : ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company). I just thought it's a name, Argyle!
106. "__ first ..." : IF AT
107. Actress Singer : LORI. She's famous for?
108. LCD flat panel displays have replaced many of them : CRTs
109. Bush overshadower : TREE. Oh, not President Bush.
110. Up to it : ABLE
111. Like a Jekyll and Hyde personality : DUAL
112. Comédie part : ACTE
113. Slide wildly : SKID
116. Word of disgust : UGH
Answer grid.
Hope Barry G comes back to us. All too sudden yesterday.
C.C.
