Theme: "Going Daffy" - S sound (in various spellings) is changed to "TH".
23A. Quite somber Independence Day? : FOURTH OF GRAVITY. Force of gravity.
32A. Expandable waistline, say? : GROWTH MARGIN. Gross margin. Boomer likes pants with expandable waist.
55A. Ghost from outer space? : ALIEN WRAITH. Alien race.
75A. Big bag of wind? : MIGHTY MOUTH. Mighty mouse.
91A. Jet bridge? : BOARDING PATH. Boarding pass.
108A. The truth about Zeus, Apollo, etc.? : MYTH INFORMATION. Misinformation. Funny clue, "The truth".
37D. Texas Hold'em player's confidence? : POKER FAITH. Poker face.
47D. Parisian pals? : FRENCH KITH. French kiss.
A nice mixture of CE, SS, SE, S to TH conversion. Some first word, some last word. There is no TH sound in Chinese, so "These" and "Those" are quite tricky for me in the beginning, esp "Those". My "The" sounded like "de". A recent NYT puzzle used this exact gimmick.
Marti likes sound change themes, which reflect her innate humor and talent. As a non-native speaker, I often find them hard to grasp and always depend on Lemonade's write-up to guide me on Fridays.
Congratulations to Marti on her first Sunday! You made it. Simple & Elegant grid design & super smooth fill.
Across:
1. Bon mot : JEST
5. Supplies with gear : EQUIPS. With a rare letter Q.
11. Spa sounds : AHs
14. Class without struggle : EASY A. I don't remember any Easy A's in my classes, politics being the most difficult subject, esp after the Tiananmen Square incident.
19. Ticklish Muppet : ELMO
20. Gopher's route : TUNNEL
21. Fire : VIM
22. The sun, for one : G-STAR. I think I asked Spitzboov & Bill G about this or some other * STAR before.
26. Garden hose gasket : O-RING
27. Was perfectly tailored : FIT TO A TEE. TO A TEE or TO A T is not easy to parse.
28. Senators' holdings : SEATS
30. Cornerstone word : ANNO
31. Held title to : OWNED
35. Golf gimme : TAP IN. Yips are not easy to overcome.
38. Corner : TRAP
39. Bart Simpson's grampa : ABE
40. Common blood type, briefly : A POS. Oh, A Positive.
41. Set up for a fall : FRAMED
44. Cape Cod feature : GABLE. Marti was just vacationing there.
47. Dietary supp. watchdog : FDA
50. Car registration datum : MAKE
51. "Return of the Jedi" dancer : OOLA. Learned from doing Xword.
52. Like always : UNALTERED
54. Sooner than, to a bard : ERE
59. Lean : TEND. Make sense when "to" is added.
60. Fence-sit : STRADDLE
62. Conserve, in a way : RE-USE
63. Short hops : JAUNTS
65. They're often full of hot air : FLUES. Lovely. Santa Argyle will like it.
66. Stick (on) : PASTE
67. Bubbly mixer : TONIC
68. Diminished : ABATED
70. Soda bottle size : LITER
71. Chat with colleagues : TALK SHOP. Great entry.
74. Award coveted on "Mad Men" : CLIO
77. Penn of "Harold & Kumar" films : KAL. Very active in politics, one of those Obama re-election co-chairs.
78. Yellowstone feature : HOT SPRING. Nice.
81. Deal : COPE
82. Polynesian pendant : TIKI
83. Country W. of Somalia : ETH (Ethiopia). Do they also have Couscous?
84. Posh : RITZY
85. Rubbernecked : CRANED
87. Break __: take the lead : A TIE
88. RNC's group : GOP
89. Navy mascot : GOAT. Bill the Goat. A live mascot.
90. Else : OTHER
97. Part of an act : SCENE
100. "Say it isn't so!" : OH NO
101. They may be tall : TALES. "May be" in the clue is often challenging but entertaining.
102. Tick off : ENUMERATE
106. Light bulb units : WATTS
111. "Un Ballo in Maschera" aria : ERI TU. Very grid-friendly letter combo, hence its frequent appearances.
112. Capable, facetiously : EPT
113. Incapably : POORLY
114. Had too much : OD'ED
115. Scout's mission : RECON
116. Uneffusive : SHY. Not Marti. She's a passionate person.
117. Blood pressure elevator : STRESS
118. Cold War news service : TASS
Down:
1. Comedian Foxworthy : JEFF
2. Cliff-dwelling race in a 2002 film : ELOI. I definitely needed a "The Time Machine" reference in the clue.
3. Blue stuff : SMUT
4. Storied surprise winner : TORTOISE. Love this answer.
5. Patriot Allen : ETHAN
6. Bartlett specialty : QUOTE. Anyone though of Jason Bartlett first?
7. In need of nourishment, most likely : UNFED
8. "Picnic" playwright : INGE
9. A pop : PER
10. '70s radical gp. with a seven-headed cobra symbol : SLA. Was unaware of their symbol. Quite a disturbing image.
11. "__ From the Bridge": Miller : A VIEW
12. Try to whack : HIT AT. And 80. Hit the ball hard : RIP IT. Force!
13. Rocker Patty married to John McEnroe : SMYTH
14. It may be inflated : EGO
15. Equally unlikely : AS RARE
16. Undercover op : STING
17. "Live at the Acropolis" musician : YANNI
18. Incandescent bulb gas : ARGON. I just learned that Argyle has Scottish blood. I always thought he's of Polish root.
24. Word with mining or steel : TOWN
25. Cognac bottle letters : VSOP
29. Inconsequential : SMALL. You can see what a caring person Irish Miss is by the way she treats her ice-maker. I was also moved by the trouble D-Otto and his wife went through to save the squirrel.
32. Test for M.A. hopefuls : GRE. Aren't you amazed by the high GRE/GMAT scores of those foreign students?
33. "Totally awesome!" : RAD
34. Help with a heist : ABET
35. Brings to heel : TAMES
36. Needing assembly : APART
38. Counterfeiter-catching agt. : T-MAN. Seen asked YKK the other day. Did you know some of them are fake?
41. Like most mailed letters : FOLDED
42. Agitates : ROILS
43. On the calmer side : ALEE
44. Pretense : GUISE
45. Pay to play : ANTE
46. Ebenezer's epithet : BAH
48. Parking lot misfortune : DENT
49. Does sum work : ADDS
53. Tweezers holders : ETUIS
55. Together, to Toscanini : A DUE
56. Rage : WRATH
57. Trip odometer button : RE-SET
58. Rogers rival : AUTRY (Gene)
61. Some singers : ALTOS
63. Shocked : JOLTED
64. Egyptian royal cross : ANKH
66. One of five in a kids' rhyme : PIGGY
67. Tannish gray : TAUPE.
68. Snow shoveling aftermath, maybe : ACHE. Not a happy thought.
69. Bad thing on a record : BLOT
70. Austrian city with a torte named after it : LINZ. Linzer Torte. Not familiar to me. Have some!
71. This puzzle's honoree, for one : TOON
72. Jack of "The Great Dictator" : OAKIE
73. Hard worker : PLIER. Not a PLIER here, just a "Hard worker", with curious eyes. Looks like the Saturday Stud is left-handed.
75. Cambridge sch. : M.I.T.
76. Exam for future docs : MCAT
79. Poke : PROD
82. Ore-Ida item : TATER TOT. So many ways to cook potatoes. I liked fried, you?
85. Army sack? : COT
86. Bowl cheer : RAH
88. Capri attraction : GROTTO
89. Deep cut : GASH
90. Most fit to serve : ONE A
91. Leafy alcove : BOWER
92. ORD, on an airline ticket : O'HARE
93. Bit of high jinks : ANTIC. Funny link from CrossEyedDave yesterday. I never knew cleavage is a term in mineralogy.
94. Handles : NAMES
95. Mayan calendar symbol, e.g. : GLYPH. Let's see what happens on Dec 21, 2012.
96. Trivial : PETTY
97. Vibrating night sound : SNORE. Alright, "Vibrating"!
98. Biceps exercises : CURLS
99. Ed Asner septet : EMMYS. His is a record by a male actor.
102. Get an __ effort : E FOR
103. 1871 Cairo premiere : AIDA
104. Sandal revelations : TOES
105. Cuts off : ENDS
107. Icarus's undoing : SUN
109. Tape player spec. : IPS. Inches per second. I googled this before.
110. "Just kidding!" : NOT
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A. Quite somber Independence Day? : FOURTH OF GRAVITY. Force of gravity.
32A. Expandable waistline, say? : GROWTH MARGIN. Gross margin. Boomer likes pants with expandable waist.
55A. Ghost from outer space? : ALIEN WRAITH. Alien race.
75A. Big bag of wind? : MIGHTY MOUTH. Mighty mouse.
91A. Jet bridge? : BOARDING PATH. Boarding pass.
108A. The truth about Zeus, Apollo, etc.? : MYTH INFORMATION. Misinformation. Funny clue, "The truth".
37D. Texas Hold'em player's confidence? : POKER FAITH. Poker face.
47D. Parisian pals? : FRENCH KITH. French kiss.
A nice mixture of CE, SS, SE, S to TH conversion. Some first word, some last word. There is no TH sound in Chinese, so "These" and "Those" are quite tricky for me in the beginning, esp "Those". My "The" sounded like "de". A recent NYT puzzle used this exact gimmick.
Marti likes sound change themes, which reflect her innate humor and talent. As a non-native speaker, I often find them hard to grasp and always depend on Lemonade's write-up to guide me on Fridays.
Congratulations to Marti on her first Sunday! You made it. Simple & Elegant grid design & super smooth fill.
Across:
1. Bon mot : JEST
5. Supplies with gear : EQUIPS. With a rare letter Q.
11. Spa sounds : AHs
14. Class without struggle : EASY A. I don't remember any Easy A's in my classes, politics being the most difficult subject, esp after the Tiananmen Square incident.
19. Ticklish Muppet : ELMO
20. Gopher's route : TUNNEL
21. Fire : VIM
22. The sun, for one : G-STAR. I think I asked Spitzboov & Bill G about this or some other * STAR before.
26. Garden hose gasket : O-RING
27. Was perfectly tailored : FIT TO A TEE. TO A TEE or TO A T is not easy to parse.
28. Senators' holdings : SEATS
30. Cornerstone word : ANNO
31. Held title to : OWNED
35. Golf gimme : TAP IN. Yips are not easy to overcome.
38. Corner : TRAP
39. Bart Simpson's grampa : ABE
40. Common blood type, briefly : A POS. Oh, A Positive.
41. Set up for a fall : FRAMED
44. Cape Cod feature : GABLE. Marti was just vacationing there.
47. Dietary supp. watchdog : FDA
50. Car registration datum : MAKE
51. "Return of the Jedi" dancer : OOLA. Learned from doing Xword.
52. Like always : UNALTERED
54. Sooner than, to a bard : ERE
59. Lean : TEND. Make sense when "to" is added.
60. Fence-sit : STRADDLE
62. Conserve, in a way : RE-USE
63. Short hops : JAUNTS
65. They're often full of hot air : FLUES. Lovely. Santa Argyle will like it.
66. Stick (on) : PASTE
67. Bubbly mixer : TONIC
68. Diminished : ABATED
70. Soda bottle size : LITER
71. Chat with colleagues : TALK SHOP. Great entry.
74. Award coveted on "Mad Men" : CLIO
77. Penn of "Harold & Kumar" films : KAL. Very active in politics, one of those Obama re-election co-chairs.
78. Yellowstone feature : HOT SPRING. Nice.
81. Deal : COPE
82. Polynesian pendant : TIKI
83. Country W. of Somalia : ETH (Ethiopia). Do they also have Couscous?
84. Posh : RITZY
85. Rubbernecked : CRANED
87. Break __: take the lead : A TIE
88. RNC's group : GOP
89. Navy mascot : GOAT. Bill the Goat. A live mascot.
90. Else : OTHER97. Part of an act : SCENE
100. "Say it isn't so!" : OH NO
101. They may be tall : TALES. "May be" in the clue is often challenging but entertaining.
102. Tick off : ENUMERATE
106. Light bulb units : WATTS
111. "Un Ballo in Maschera" aria : ERI TU. Very grid-friendly letter combo, hence its frequent appearances.
112. Capable, facetiously : EPT
113. Incapably : POORLY
114. Had too much : OD'ED
115. Scout's mission : RECON
116. Uneffusive : SHY. Not Marti. She's a passionate person.
117. Blood pressure elevator : STRESS
118. Cold War news service : TASS
Down:
1. Comedian Foxworthy : JEFF
2. Cliff-dwelling race in a 2002 film : ELOI. I definitely needed a "The Time Machine" reference in the clue.
3. Blue stuff : SMUT
4. Storied surprise winner : TORTOISE. Love this answer.
5. Patriot Allen : ETHAN
6. Bartlett specialty : QUOTE. Anyone though of Jason Bartlett first?
7. In need of nourishment, most likely : UNFED
8. "Picnic" playwright : INGE
9. A pop : PER
10. '70s radical gp. with a seven-headed cobra symbol : SLA. Was unaware of their symbol. Quite a disturbing image.
11. "__ From the Bridge": Miller : A VIEW
12. Try to whack : HIT AT. And 80. Hit the ball hard : RIP IT. Force!
13. Rocker Patty married to John McEnroe : SMYTH
14. It may be inflated : EGO
15. Equally unlikely : AS RARE
16. Undercover op : STING
17. "Live at the Acropolis" musician : YANNI
18. Incandescent bulb gas : ARGON. I just learned that Argyle has Scottish blood. I always thought he's of Polish root.
24. Word with mining or steel : TOWN
25. Cognac bottle letters : VSOP
29. Inconsequential : SMALL. You can see what a caring person Irish Miss is by the way she treats her ice-maker. I was also moved by the trouble D-Otto and his wife went through to save the squirrel.
32. Test for M.A. hopefuls : GRE. Aren't you amazed by the high GRE/GMAT scores of those foreign students?
33. "Totally awesome!" : RAD
34. Help with a heist : ABET
35. Brings to heel : TAMES
36. Needing assembly : APART
38. Counterfeiter-catching agt. : T-MAN. Seen asked YKK the other day. Did you know some of them are fake?
41. Like most mailed letters : FOLDED
42. Agitates : ROILS
43. On the calmer side : ALEE
44. Pretense : GUISE
45. Pay to play : ANTE
46. Ebenezer's epithet : BAH
48. Parking lot misfortune : DENT
49. Does sum work : ADDS
53. Tweezers holders : ETUIS
55. Together, to Toscanini : A DUE
56. Rage : WRATH
57. Trip odometer button : RE-SET
58. Rogers rival : AUTRY (Gene)
61. Some singers : ALTOS
63. Shocked : JOLTED
64. Egyptian royal cross : ANKH
66. One of five in a kids' rhyme : PIGGY
67. Tannish gray : TAUPE.
68. Snow shoveling aftermath, maybe : ACHE. Not a happy thought.69. Bad thing on a record : BLOT
70. Austrian city with a torte named after it : LINZ. Linzer Torte. Not familiar to me. Have some!
71. This puzzle's honoree, for one : TOON72. Jack of "The Great Dictator" : OAKIE
73. Hard worker : PLIER. Not a PLIER here, just a "Hard worker", with curious eyes. Looks like the Saturday Stud is left-handed.
75. Cambridge sch. : M.I.T.76. Exam for future docs : MCAT
79. Poke : PROD
82. Ore-Ida item : TATER TOT. So many ways to cook potatoes. I liked fried, you?
85. Army sack? : COT
86. Bowl cheer : RAH
88. Capri attraction : GROTTO
89. Deep cut : GASH
90. Most fit to serve : ONE A
91. Leafy alcove : BOWER
92. ORD, on an airline ticket : O'HARE
93. Bit of high jinks : ANTIC. Funny link from CrossEyedDave yesterday. I never knew cleavage is a term in mineralogy.
94. Handles : NAMES
95. Mayan calendar symbol, e.g. : GLYPH. Let's see what happens on Dec 21, 2012.
96. Trivial : PETTY
97. Vibrating night sound : SNORE. Alright, "Vibrating"!
98. Biceps exercises : CURLS
99. Ed Asner septet : EMMYS. His is a record by a male actor.
102. Get an __ effort : E FOR
103. 1871 Cairo premiere : AIDA
104. Sandal revelations : TOES
105. Cuts off : ENDS
107. Icarus's undoing : SUN
109. Tape player spec. : IPS. Inches per second. I googled this before.
110. "Just kidding!" : NOT
Answer grid.
C.C.
Notes from Marti (HeartRx on the blog):
This puzzle started out as a simple Monday-level theme with "s" sound switched for "th". My title was "Going Daffy". Rich really liked the idea, but was concerned that some might think we were making fun of a lisp. So he suggested that I make it into a Sunday puzzle, in order to use the whacky title. I was lucky to fit eight theme entries into the grid, spaced both across and down. I also had to be careful not to use any phrases that contained a word with any extra "s" in it. I hope you enjoy it.
