Theme: Undercover Copse - Different tree spans each theme entry.
26A. *Supercorporation's revenues : GLOBAL SALES. Balsa.
32A. *Lithium or sodium, e.g. : ALKALI METAL. Lime.
45A. *House arrestee's device : ANKLE MONITOR. Lemon.
55A. *One blowing off steam : TEA KETTLE. Teak. Great clue. Vivid image.
69A. Different ones are hidden in 12 starred answers : TREES. Dead center in the middle of the grid.
79A. *Having one Corkonian parent, maybe : HALF-IRISH. Fir. Any Irish blood in your vein, Steve?
90A. *Liable to spontaneously combust : SELF IGNITING. Fig. Trader Joe's Fig Butter is so good.
101A. *"Gypsy" star : ETHEL MERMAN. Elm.
108A. *Freud essay based on a mythical monster : MEDUSA'S HEAD. Ash.
3D. *Cereal pitched by a trio : COCOA KRISPIES. Oak.
16D. *Popular music magazine VIP : SPIN EDITOR. Pine. The Spin magazine. This answer, or Vogue/Elle/People editor for that matter, does not feel solid to me. Tough to come up with a PINE span though.
60D. *Place to go to launch in Florida : CAPE CANAVERAL. Pecan.
74D. *"Dallas" character who died in Pam's season-long dream : BOBBY EWING. Yew.
Love the title. Love the variety of trees. Much more interesting than the old style all ELM-hidden puzzle.
Of the 12 trees, quite a few are short 3-letter trees, some can actually be tougher to span than the longer trees.
Across:
1. Voice of Mr. Magoo : BACKUS (Jim). I drew a blank.
7. Eponymous German aeronaut : ZEPPELIN
15. "Baloney!" : PSHAW
20. Immediately : AT ONCE
21. __ Fagan, Billie Holiday's birth name : ELEANORA. Used this in one of our published puzzles.
22. Left on board : APORT
23. San __: holiday VIP, in Italy : NICOLA. Italian for St Nickolas.
24. Pudding starches : TAPIOCAS. Spell Check does not like the pluralized form.
25. Stuns at the altar : JILTS
28. Ladd and Freed : ALANs
30. Shot : STAB
31. Hi-__ monitor : RES
38. Singer Minogue : KYLIE. She dated the "Unfaithful" Olivier Martinez for a few years. Now, look at her legs, don't google, can you guess how tall she is?
40. Clever comeback : BON MOT
42. Villain's demise, usually : BAD END
43. Water filter brand : PUR
48. Pupil's place : IRIS. Not the classroom.
49. Final words : EPILOG
51. 1997 U.S. Open champ : ELS (Ernie)
52. Latin clarifier : ID EST. ie.
54. Music symbols : RESTS
59. Half of a rhyming incantation : HOCUS. Hocus-pocus.
63. Stadium souvenirs : CAPS. LaLaLinda, do you also stand in line for hours just get a stadium giveaway bobblehead?
64. Taipan's frypan : WOK. Taipan = "Big Boss" in Cantonese. Tai = Big. Pan = Boss. In Mandarin, it's Da Ban. Quite different.
65. ''Star Wars'' royalty : LEIA
66. "The Story of Civilization" co-author Ariel or Will : DURANT
67. Verdi's "__ tu" : ERI
68. Boomer's kid, probably : XER
71. Cacophony : DIN
72. Prefix with perfect : PLU. Pluperfect.
73. Military school freshmen : PLEBES
75. Hammer end : PEEN
76. Chicken __ : POX
77. Near-eternity : AEON. I finally got my Lady Gaga pink lipstick.
78. Chicken supplier to much of the fast-food industry : TYSON
82. Record holder? : EX-CON. Oh, criminal record.
83. Eddie of men's clothing : BAUER
85. Battleship letters : USS
86. Butterflies : UNEASE
87. Ruiner of a perfect report card : ONE B
95. Springfield's Flanders : NED. "The Simpsons".
96. Draft again : RE-TYPE
98. Some navels : OUTIES
99. Narrow groove : STRIA. So, what's its plural? Strias? Striae?
103. NBA position : CTR
104. "South Park" rating : TV-MA
107. Every seven days : A WEEK
112. Frenzy : MANIA
114. Alcohol, vis-à-vis driving ability : IMPAIRER. Not a welcome ER word.
118. Unpolished : COARSE
119. Clubs for pros : IRONS. Golf pros.
120. Little biters : NIBBLERS
121. Protect in glass, say : ENCASE
122. Hogwash : BILGE
123. It may be regular : GASOLINE
124. Vegas job : DEALER.
Down:
1. Beatles hair style : BANGS. I've been wearing blunt bangs forever.
2. Not straight up : ATILT
4. Like some knees : KNOBBY
5. Bruins' sch. : UCLA
6. Signet-bearing jewelry : SEAL RING
7. Zorba's snore? : ZETAS. "Zzzzz ..." in Greek. I don't think Zorba himself could get this answer.
8. Skyward, in Hebrew : EL AL
9. Toon Le Pew : PEPE
10. Buddy : PAISANO. Close to "peasant" in French.
11. Ambient music pioneer : ENO (Brian)
12. Opp. of express : LOC
13. "Deathtrap" dramatist Levin : IRA
14. Twangy : NASAL
15. __ bottoms : PAJAMA. Do you all wear pajamas to sleep? I can't stand them.
17. Piece keeper : HOLSTER. Nice clue.
18. "All __ is but imitation of nature": Seneca : ART
19. Mg. and kg. : WTs
27. Go after : SEEK
29. Free, in France : LIBRE
33. K-O connection : LMN
34. Japanese carp : KOI. Here is a quiet koi pond. Do you like Zen-feel, Creature?
35. Fifth-century scourge : ATTILA. The Hun.
36. Songwriter DiFranco : ANI
37. Mormons, initially : LDS
39. Landlocked Asian country : LAOS
40. Composer Bartók : BELA
41. Siberian city : OMSK. Over a million people there.
43. Mental impression : PERCEPT. More familiar with perception.
44. Catching the worm? : UP EARLY. I'm an early riser. Dennis also. Marti too. I think. Argyle is a saint. He does not sleep.
46. Onion relative : LEEK
47. Lyrical tribute : ODE
50. Sgt.'s superiors : LTs
53. Duck : SHUN
55. Craggy crest : TOR. Here is all you need to know about TOR. Click Archive, you'll find all the little words in alphabetical order. Don't forget the Clever Clue of the Month. Lots of gems in Paul's website.
56. 1985 Kate Nelligan title role : ELENI. The Nicholas Gage memoir. I don't know the actress.
57. Athletic supporter? : TEE. Why question mark?
58. It's in an old way : 'TIS
61. Set free : UNLOOSE
62. In awe : STUNNED
64. Guitar great Montgomery : WES. Splynter can tell you more about him.
66. Twice cinq : DIX. Ten in French.
68. TV princess : XENA
69. Business card no. : TEL
70. Foul caller : REF
71. "Stupid me!" : DOH
75. Bingo setting : PARLOR
76. Soft attention-getter : PSST
77. Can : AXE
79. Bit of a giggle : HEE
80. Mysterious character : RUNE. I was picturing a person.
81. Fertility goddess : ISIS
82. M.I.T. grad, often : ENGR
84. "I'm here to help" : USE ME
86. Like calls whose source isn't determined : UNTRACED
87. Rush find : ORE. Gold rush.
88. Pay in your pocket : NET
89. Still product : ETHANOL. Tricky "Still".
91. Giant sound : FUM. "Fee, fi, fo, fum".
92. Call-day link : IT A
93. Cheap saloon : GIN MILL
94. Adherents' suffix : ISTs
97. "The magic word" : PLEASE
100. Cornell University city : ITHACA. Bill G's alma mater. Argyle went there too.
102. Squeezing (out) : EKING
103. Hex : CURSE
105. Tricky billiards shot : MASSE. Also CAROM.
106. Run like __ : A DEER
109. "... kissed thee __ killed thee": Othello : ERE I
110. "Jurassic Park" co-star : DERN (Laura)
111. Acoustical unit : SONE. Learned from doing Xword.
112. Marble not used as a shooter : MIB. Shooting marble clues/answers always drive me bananas. TAW is another one.
113. Jackie's "O" : ARI
115. "Mamma __!" : MIA
116. "Nova" network : PBS
117. Blood system letters : ABO
Answer grid.
Sad news about our LAT constructor Gary Steinmehl, who passed away last Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Gary had over 200 crosswords puzzles published by LA Times, NY Times, NY Sun, USA Today, etc. Read my interview with him here. Thanks for the puzzles and inspiration, Gary!
C.C.
26A. *Supercorporation's revenues : GLOBAL SALES. Balsa.
32A. *Lithium or sodium, e.g. : ALKALI METAL. Lime.
45A. *House arrestee's device : ANKLE MONITOR. Lemon.
55A. *One blowing off steam : TEA KETTLE. Teak. Great clue. Vivid image.
69A. Different ones are hidden in 12 starred answers : TREES. Dead center in the middle of the grid.
79A. *Having one Corkonian parent, maybe : HALF-IRISH. Fir. Any Irish blood in your vein, Steve?
90A. *Liable to spontaneously combust : SELF IGNITING. Fig. Trader Joe's Fig Butter is so good.
101A. *"Gypsy" star : ETHEL MERMAN. Elm.
108A. *Freud essay based on a mythical monster : MEDUSA'S HEAD. Ash.
3D. *Cereal pitched by a trio : COCOA KRISPIES. Oak.
16D. *Popular music magazine VIP : SPIN EDITOR. Pine. The Spin magazine. This answer, or Vogue/Elle/People editor for that matter, does not feel solid to me. Tough to come up with a PINE span though.
60D. *Place to go to launch in Florida : CAPE CANAVERAL. Pecan.
74D. *"Dallas" character who died in Pam's season-long dream : BOBBY EWING. Yew.
Love the title. Love the variety of trees. Much more interesting than the old style all ELM-hidden puzzle.
Of the 12 trees, quite a few are short 3-letter trees, some can actually be tougher to span than the longer trees.
Across:
1. Voice of Mr. Magoo : BACKUS (Jim). I drew a blank.
7. Eponymous German aeronaut : ZEPPELIN
15. "Baloney!" : PSHAW
20. Immediately : AT ONCE
21. __ Fagan, Billie Holiday's birth name : ELEANORA. Used this in one of our published puzzles.
22. Left on board : APORT
23. San __: holiday VIP, in Italy : NICOLA. Italian for St Nickolas.
24. Pudding starches : TAPIOCAS. Spell Check does not like the pluralized form.
25. Stuns at the altar : JILTS
28. Ladd and Freed : ALANs
30. Shot : STAB
31. Hi-__ monitor : RES
38. Singer Minogue : KYLIE. She dated the "Unfaithful" Olivier Martinez for a few years. Now, look at her legs, don't google, can you guess how tall she is?
40. Clever comeback : BON MOT
42. Villain's demise, usually : BAD END
43. Water filter brand : PUR
48. Pupil's place : IRIS. Not the classroom.
49. Final words : EPILOG
51. 1997 U.S. Open champ : ELS (Ernie)
52. Latin clarifier : ID EST. ie.
54. Music symbols : RESTS
59. Half of a rhyming incantation : HOCUS. Hocus-pocus.
63. Stadium souvenirs : CAPS. LaLaLinda, do you also stand in line for hours just get a stadium giveaway bobblehead?
64. Taipan's frypan : WOK. Taipan = "Big Boss" in Cantonese. Tai = Big. Pan = Boss. In Mandarin, it's Da Ban. Quite different.
65. ''Star Wars'' royalty : LEIA
66. "The Story of Civilization" co-author Ariel or Will : DURANT
67. Verdi's "__ tu" : ERI
68. Boomer's kid, probably : XER
71. Cacophony : DIN
72. Prefix with perfect : PLU. Pluperfect.
73. Military school freshmen : PLEBES
75. Hammer end : PEEN
76. Chicken __ : POX
77. Near-eternity : AEON. I finally got my Lady Gaga pink lipstick.
78. Chicken supplier to much of the fast-food industry : TYSON
82. Record holder? : EX-CON. Oh, criminal record.
83. Eddie of men's clothing : BAUER
85. Battleship letters : USS
86. Butterflies : UNEASE
87. Ruiner of a perfect report card : ONE B
95. Springfield's Flanders : NED. "The Simpsons".
96. Draft again : RE-TYPE
98. Some navels : OUTIES
99. Narrow groove : STRIA. So, what's its plural? Strias? Striae?
103. NBA position : CTR
104. "South Park" rating : TV-MA
107. Every seven days : A WEEK
112. Frenzy : MANIA
114. Alcohol, vis-à-vis driving ability : IMPAIRER. Not a welcome ER word.
118. Unpolished : COARSE
119. Clubs for pros : IRONS. Golf pros.
120. Little biters : NIBBLERS
121. Protect in glass, say : ENCASE
122. Hogwash : BILGE
123. It may be regular : GASOLINE
124. Vegas job : DEALER.
Down:
1. Beatles hair style : BANGS. I've been wearing blunt bangs forever.
2. Not straight up : ATILT
4. Like some knees : KNOBBY
5. Bruins' sch. : UCLA
6. Signet-bearing jewelry : SEAL RING
7. Zorba's snore? : ZETAS. "Zzzzz ..." in Greek. I don't think Zorba himself could get this answer.
8. Skyward, in Hebrew : EL AL
9. Toon Le Pew : PEPE
10. Buddy : PAISANO. Close to "peasant" in French.
11. Ambient music pioneer : ENO (Brian)
12. Opp. of express : LOC
13. "Deathtrap" dramatist Levin : IRA
14. Twangy : NASAL
15. __ bottoms : PAJAMA. Do you all wear pajamas to sleep? I can't stand them.
17. Piece keeper : HOLSTER. Nice clue.
18. "All __ is but imitation of nature": Seneca : ART
19. Mg. and kg. : WTs
27. Go after : SEEK
29. Free, in France : LIBRE
33. K-O connection : LMN
34. Japanese carp : KOI. Here is a quiet koi pond. Do you like Zen-feel, Creature?
35. Fifth-century scourge : ATTILA. The Hun.
36. Songwriter DiFranco : ANI
37. Mormons, initially : LDS
39. Landlocked Asian country : LAOS
40. Composer Bartók : BELA
41. Siberian city : OMSK. Over a million people there.
43. Mental impression : PERCEPT. More familiar with perception.
44. Catching the worm? : UP EARLY. I'm an early riser. Dennis also. Marti too. I think. Argyle is a saint. He does not sleep.
46. Onion relative : LEEK
47. Lyrical tribute : ODE
50. Sgt.'s superiors : LTs
53. Duck : SHUN
55. Craggy crest : TOR. Here is all you need to know about TOR. Click Archive, you'll find all the little words in alphabetical order. Don't forget the Clever Clue of the Month. Lots of gems in Paul's website.
56. 1985 Kate Nelligan title role : ELENI. The Nicholas Gage memoir. I don't know the actress.
57. Athletic supporter? : TEE. Why question mark?
58. It's in an old way : 'TIS
61. Set free : UNLOOSE
62. In awe : STUNNED
64. Guitar great Montgomery : WES. Splynter can tell you more about him.
66. Twice cinq : DIX. Ten in French.
68. TV princess : XENA
69. Business card no. : TEL
70. Foul caller : REF
71. "Stupid me!" : DOH
75. Bingo setting : PARLOR
76. Soft attention-getter : PSST
77. Can : AXE
79. Bit of a giggle : HEE
80. Mysterious character : RUNE. I was picturing a person.
81. Fertility goddess : ISIS
82. M.I.T. grad, often : ENGR
84. "I'm here to help" : USE ME
86. Like calls whose source isn't determined : UNTRACED
87. Rush find : ORE. Gold rush.
88. Pay in your pocket : NET
89. Still product : ETHANOL. Tricky "Still".
91. Giant sound : FUM. "Fee, fi, fo, fum".
92. Call-day link : IT A
93. Cheap saloon : GIN MILL
94. Adherents' suffix : ISTs
97. "The magic word" : PLEASE
100. Cornell University city : ITHACA. Bill G's alma mater. Argyle went there too.
102. Squeezing (out) : EKING
103. Hex : CURSE
105. Tricky billiards shot : MASSE. Also CAROM.
106. Run like __ : A DEER
109. "... kissed thee __ killed thee": Othello : ERE I
110. "Jurassic Park" co-star : DERN (Laura)
111. Acoustical unit : SONE. Learned from doing Xword.
112. Marble not used as a shooter : MIB. Shooting marble clues/answers always drive me bananas. TAW is another one.
113. Jackie's "O" : ARI
115. "Mamma __!" : MIA
116. "Nova" network : PBS
117. Blood system letters : ABO
Answer grid.
Sad news about our LAT constructor Gary Steinmehl, who passed away last Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. Gary had over 200 crosswords puzzles published by LA Times, NY Times, NY Sun, USA Today, etc. Read my interview with him here. Thanks for the puzzles and inspiration, Gary!
C.C.
