Theme: "Flipping Out" - A (Verb) THE B (Noun) is flipped into B (Verb) THE A (Noun)
24A. Pay attention to a word game? : MIND THE BOGGLE. I find Boggle difficult. Scrabble is more fun. Boggle the mind.
38A. Ask, "Is this really diet?" : QUESTION THE POP. Pop the question.
57A. Trade with Marineland? : DEAL THE SEAL. Seal the deal.
59A. Find out whether a strikeout king is doping? : TEST THE ACE. Ace the test. Don't know whether I should trust Roger Clemens.
72A. Advertise some prime real estate? : MARKET THE CORNER. Corner the market.
90A. Present a styling award? : HONOR THE DO. Gisele's hair is to be honored. Do the honor. I use the plural "honors" though. Do the honors.
93A. Fill a cargo bay? : LINE THE HOLD. Hold the line.
108A. Move a chess piece? : POSITION THE MAN. So I googled Man the position, and was surprised by what came up.
127A. Redecorate a castle? : CHANGE THE KEEP. Keep the change.
Lots
of work went into this puzzle. Steve had to mine all the A THE B
phrases and eliminated entries like "Bite the bullet" where B can't be a
verb or does not make surface sense when flipped.
The
grid design is also masterful. Heavy themage & cheater-free. Look at
the 16 seven-letter entries in this grid, esp those stacked in upper
left/middle & lower middle/right & the intersecting entries.
Just beautiful. BRIOCHE!
The clues are also entertaining. My favortie is PUN (80A. "Doing a crossword with a broken pencil is pointless," for example).
Across:
1. Psychiatrist's diagnosis : COMPLEX. Excellent 1-Across entry.
8. Biblical patriarch : ABRAHAM
15. Jet set : ELITE. So that's how military brass connect with the local community. Valet parking!
20. How shrimp cocktail may be served : OVER ICE
21. Period named for an element : IRON AGE
22. Flash lamp gas : XENON
23. Join, as a lucrative deal : GET IN ON
26. Culinary tide-me-over : SNACK. What's your favorite snack? By the way, Michele, I like Miso soup also.
27. __-ran : ALSO
29. Critic, at times : HATER
30. "Stand" band : R.E.M.
31. Mentalist's claim : ESP. I told Boomer on the morning of Nov 7th that we needed a big scandal, since the election was over and I had nothing to be occupied with. Boom! The Petraeus Gate broke. I'm amazing!
33. Like Charles Bronson : MACHO. OK, then.
36. Fellowship : SOCIETY
44. Sympathetic : KIND
45. Lines at the market? : UPC. Like ATM, this answer is fun to clue.
46. Where many races are seen, briefly : OTB (Off-Track Betting)
47. Evergreen shrubs : ERICAs. New to me.
49. High roller's quarters : SUITE. Brilliant clue.
52. "Stupid __ stupid does": Forrest Gump : IS AS. Gary Sinise, Lt Dan in the movie, is a workhorse for the wounded soldiers.
54. Picnic remnants : COBS
62. Has permission to : MAY
63. Loose things to tie up : ENDS
64. One might be significant : OTHER. Significant other.
65. Busts : BOSOMS
69. Little rascal : IMP. That's Spitzboov!
71. Inventing initials : TAE. Thomas Alva Edison.
77. Yang counterpart : YIN. Ginger is Yang, so are dates. Cucumber is Yin.
81. It may share a kit with a 113-Down : TOM TOM. And 113. Percussion pair : HI-HAT
82. Djokovic rival : NADAL (Rafael). Man, I'm glad we don't need to fill in DJOKOVIC.
86. Cicero's love : AMOR
88. "Gimme a __" : SEC
98. Corduroy feature : PILE
99. Delay cause : SNAG
100. With 116-Across, noted finger-pointer : UNCLE. 116. See 100-Across : SAM. Love this poster Marti created.
101. Sands of Chad : SAHARA
103. Connections : INs
105. Texter's "two cents" lead-in : IMO (In My Opinion)
106. Made haste : HIED
112. So on : WHAT NOT
115. Godzilla creator, in the story : H-BOMB
117. Suffer : AIL
118. Baldwin and Guinness : ALECs
121. Somber genre : NOIR
123. Jewish teacher : RABBI
131. Ruling periods : EMPIRES
133. West of hip-hop : KANYE. Dating Kim K.
134. Payback : REVENGE
135. Butcher's array : FILLETS
136. Amusing zoo creature : OTTER
137. Indulged at Thanksgiving : ATE A TON. I'm good at pigging out on authentic Wonton noodles & Rice noodle rolls, not Thanksgiving food.
138. Skeptic's retort : SAYS WHO
Down:
1. Minor players : COGS
2. Item most frequently heated up for dinner? : OVEN. Our oven is underused. Stove is often enough for me.
3. Intro to physics? : META. Metaphysics.
4. Comparison shopper's data : PRICES
5. Connects with : LINKS TO
6. "Baudolino" author : ECO (Umberto). Has anyone read the book? Irish Miss?
7. Gabrielle's rescuer : XENA
8. Targets : AIMS AT
9. Café pastry : BRIOCHE. Have some!
10. Howard of Hollywood : RON. 35. 10-Down played him : OPIE
11. "So?" : AND
12. Possesses, biblically : HATH. This reminds me of the Mo Tzu we had on Thursday. See, in modern China, we use Pin Yin system, so it's Mo Zi, not Mo Tzu. The other philosopher is Lao Zi, not Lao Tzu. Wade–Giles romanization of Chinese is old & outdated & Cantonese heavy, since Wade lived in south China in the 19th century.
13. Ottoman VIP : AGHA
14. Assembles : MEETS
15. Cast out, as demons : EXORCISE
16. Relay race part : LEG
17. Piece of the pie? : INGREDIENT. Great clue.
18. Sign of a clean apartment? : TO LET. Another great clue.
19. Opposition : ENEMY
25. "It's going to __" : BE OK
28. K-O connection : L M N. Alphabetically.
32. Selling technique : PITCH. Very classy for Rick Porcello to agree to trade his No. 48 to Torii Hunter and donate the money to Hurrican Sandy relief.
34. Do the impossible with cats, proverbially : HERD
37. Restroom door sign : IN USE
38. Capital at 9,350 feet : QUITO. Capital of Ecuador. La Paz even higher.
39. Improbable win : UPSET
40. PayPal currency : E-CASH
41. Wind in a pit : OBOE
42. Andean staple : OCA. Like this.
43. Hurricane-resistant tree : PALM. Wow, I did not know this. Palms are never uprooted?
48. It takes you up and down but never moves : STAIR. In case you think of elevator.
50. "Look!" : TA DA
51. Besides : ELSE
53. Apple projection : STEM. Real apple!
55. Infant : BABE
56. Big name in paper products : SCOTT. Argyle's real name. Here is young Scott and his dog Rags.
58. Choir selection : HYMN
60. It may be laid or set : TRAP. I find "It may be this or that" type of clue challenging.
61. This, in Seville : ESTO. ESTA too.
66. Unit of resistance : OHM
67. Christian denom. : METH. Steve/Rich probably does not like the drug reference.
68. Parlor utensil : SCOOP
70. Restricted, with "up" : PENT
73. Exhilarated reaction : RUSH
74. Many pray on them : KNEES. When I was a kid, we had to kneel down to pay respect to old relatives. How things have changed.
75. Potent start? : OMNI. Omnipotent.
76. Bleachers support : RAHS
77. Chinese border river : YALU. Between North Korea and China. Literally "Duck Green". Ya =Duck. Lu = Green.
78. "Sign me up!" : I'M IN
79. Careless? : NONCHALANT. Great clue/Answer.
83. Biker's fabric : DENIM
84. "Battlestar Galactica" commander : ADAMA. No idea.
85. Enter one's credentials : LOG ON
87. Ignited again : RE-LIT
89. Dry and crack : CHAP
91. Actress Lena : OLIN
92. Allows to use temporarily : RENTS
94. "Glee" extra : TEENAGER. The show gives us the beautiful LEA Michele. Ewe can forget the "Grazing area".
95. "Well now!" : OHO
96. Lid hair : LASH. Oh eyelid.
97. Bit : DRIB
102. In a single attempt : AT ONE GO. Can't parse my answer.
104. How the riot act is usually read : SHARPLY
107. 1996 runner-up : DOLE (Bob). "Easy, Boy!"
109. "Nothing on my calendar" : I'M OPEN
110. Asian sash : OBI
111. Weightless correspondence? : EMAILS. Enlighten me, I'm not seeing anything clever here with the ?.
112. Not firing on all cylinders : WACKO
114. Aquarium favorite : TETRA
119. Jazzman Baker : CHET
120. Golfer Ballesteros : SEVE. Excellent short game.
122. Ones on the field who aren't team players? : REFs
124. Coffee or tea : BREW. Tea please!
125. "Little Women" woman : BETH
126. Playground rebuttal : IS SO
128. Science guy Bill : NYE
129. Mauna __ : KEA. Literally "White", so "White mountain". LOA means "Long".
130. Tolkien tree creature : ENT
132. Fla. airport : MIA. Steve lives around this area, I think.
C.C.
Happy Birthday to dear Jimbo! I miss your comments. How's bowling this year?
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| Left to right, Jimbo's son, Jimbo's granddaugter, his grandson and Jimbo |
