Theme: Spring Forward - DST (Daylight Saving Time) is hidden inside each theme entry.
23A. Booze : HARD STUFF. Have you heard of Maotai? So-called China's National drink. Really hard stuff. High price too.
25A Furrier's service : COLD STORAGE
41A. Ron Howard, once : CHILD STAR. Opie.
47A. Chris Evert forte : GROUND STROKE. Or GROUNDSTROKE, one word.
70A. "On the Waterfront" actor : ROD STEIGER. Watched the movie long time ago.
74A. Beef often braised : ROUND STEAK
97A. One roaming on the range : WILD STALLION
100A. News grabber : LEAD STORY
121A. Circulatory system component : BLOOD STREAM. Or BLOODSTREAM as one word.
123A. Economical heater : WOOD STOVE
133A. Annual cause of losing an hr.'s sleep hidden in this puzzle's 10 longest answers : DST
Very consistent, all in the pattern of ?D ST*.
Ten
theme entries is a lot, actually 11 if you count the short DST. We
often see 7 or 8 entries on Sundays, occasionally 9. Luckily most of
them are relatively short. When theme entries have 9/11 letters, or
10/10 letters, Gail and Bruce can put two in one row, which makes
gridding easier.
I like that all the theme entries are placed in Across, visually they make all the DST stand out.
Also nice to see SOCK clued as "38. Argyle, for one". Has to be a shout-out to our Argyle.
1. Badge bearer : COP
4. Ancient: Pref. : PALEO.
9. English : C :: Greek : __ : GAMMA
14. "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" playwright : ALBEE (Edward)
19. Rah relative : OLE
20. Like basic switches : ON/OFF
21. "__ Gold": 1997 film : ULEE'S. Hard life.
22. Fine partner : DANDY
27. Not under wraps : OVERT
28. "30 Rock," e.g. : SITCOM
30. Pasha in the Nixon White House, and others : YORKIES. I only know Checkers.
31. Salacious stuff : SMUT
34. Holiday dishes? : CHINA. You were picturing food!
35. Salmon yield : ROE
36. Spots in a Senate race, say : ADS
39. Most golf pencils lack one : ERASER
51. Coll. helpers : TAs
52. Port, e.g. : WINE
53. Env. contents : ENCS
54. Private club, briefly? : USO. Oh, soldier.
55. Uses an acetylene torch : WELDS
57. Took a little off : PARED
58. "Okey-__!" : DOKEY
60. Get via scheming : WANGLE. Only know "Finagle".
62. Word on an "evacuation route" sign : TSUNAMI
64. Mischief-maker : RASCAL. Hi there Spitzboov!
67. Tending to arouse : SENSUAL.Or Sensuous?
69. Annoying noise : DIN
76. Equal : ARE
76. Equal : ARE
77. Herbal brew : SAGE TEA. Never had it before.
79. Exchange worker : TRADER
80. Some Broadway performers : DANCERS
82. Game opener : ANTHEM. Not coin toss.
84. Big name in game shows : SAJAK (Pat)
88. Former TWA owner : ICAHN (Carl). I can never remember his name. Weird spelling.
89. Where glasses may be raised? : OPERA. Another great clue.
90. Cooler cooler : ICE
93. Stroll in the shallows : WADE
94. 32 years elapsed between his first and most recent Emmys : ALDA. Click here. His recent one is for "The West Wing" 2006. Shouldn't it be 34 then?
95. Slice of history : ERA
103. __ del Fuego : TIERRA
103. __ del Fuego : TIERRA
104. WWII carrier : LST
105. Vegas opening : LAS
106. Can't get enough of, in a way : OGLES
109. Cristie Kerr's org. : LPGA. Boomer likes Cristie Kerr a lot.
111. Relief : RESPITE
115. Lumber problem : DRY ROT
117. Felt sore : ACHED
126. Put out : ISSUE
127. __-Whirl : TILT-A
128. Connecting points : NODES
129. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson : LEN
130. Holds, as an arena : SEATS
131. Clampett player : EBSEN
132. Stingray relative : SKATE
Down:
1. Silver salmon : COHO. I looked. It's not Dennis!
2. Patron saint of Norway : OLAV
3. Euro pop? : PERE. French. Mon père, ma mère.
4. Drivers of red-white-and-blue vans : POSTMEN
5. Colony member : ANT
6. Teammate of Babe : LOU (Gehrig). Do you think the film of "The Pride of the Yankees" was flipped? Gehrig was left-handed. Gary Cooper was right-handed and never learned how to hit/throw properly left-handed.
7. Pair of duffers? : EFFS
8. Cop : OFFICER
9. Big name in leather bags : GUCCI
10. Crazy as __ : A LOON
11. '40s-'60s dinnerware brand : MELMAC. Never heard of the brand.
12. Sweatshirt size: Abbr. : MED
13. Ancient empire on the Tigris : ASSYRIA. Gimme for JD.
14. Liked loads : ADORED
15. Carefree diversion : LARK
16. __ B'rith : B'NAI
17. Benefit of one-upmanship : EDGE
18. Seeing things : EYES. I like this clue a lot.
24. HMO members : DRS
26. Level and bevel : TOOLS. Rhyme time.
29. Confused : THROWN
32. Language of Pakistan : URDU. Written from right to left.
33. Sputnik reporter : TASS. Now Itar-Tass.
36. Started to pucker up? : AGED. Not ready to be kissed!
37. Reclusive 1962 film villain : DR NO
40. Longshoreman's chore : STOWAGE
42. Nos. on driver's licenses : HTS. 5'4'' for me, the height for average American women.
43. It's depicted by a cello melody in "The Carnival of the Animals" : SWAN. No idea.
44. Angry outburst : TIRADE
45. Lack of vigor : ANEMIA
46. It's bad for business : RED INK
48. Tech callers : USERS. Our Qwest support is based in India.
49. Places for 61-Downs : KEGS. 61. Kind of collectible handle : ALE TAP
50. "Oklahoma!" aunt : ELLER
56. Signify : DENOTE
57. Vital signs : PULSES
59. China's Sun __ : YAT-SEN. Father of Modern China. He helped overthrow Qing, the last imperial dynasty in China.
62. Treat for Tabby : TUNA
63. Teen safety org. : SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). I thought it's Students Against Drunk Driving.
65. Barely burn : SEAR
66. They may be bummed, briefly : CIGS
68. Infer : SURMISE
70. Bias-ply alternative : RADIAL
71. Ancient prophet : ORACLE
72. "Gracias" reply : DE NADA
73. Agree to more issues : RENEW. Magazines.
75. Netful of shrimp, say : TRAWL
78. Abruzzo town in a Longfellow poem : ATRI. "The Bell of Atri".
81. Libya neighbor : CHAD
83. Bit of horse show gear : HALTER
85. Barred room : JAIL
86. Hullabaloos : ADOS
87. Margate's county : KENT. What's so special about Margate?
89. Stroked tool : OAR
91. SW corner key : CTRL
92. Frontier lawman : EARP
95. Dakota du Sud and Floride, e.g. : ETATS. South Dakota & Florida, in French.
96. Floral ornament : ROSETTE
98. Renounces : DISOWNS
99. "Louisiana Real & Rustic" chef/author : LAGASSE (Emeril). Who's your favoirte TV chef?
101. Arrives home safely, perhaps : SLIDES. Baseball. 111. 12 of these is the single-player record for an MLB game : RBIs. Guess who held the record? And 113. 1998 N.L. MVP : SOSA
102. Alpine melodies : YODELS
107. Prepare, as pizza cheese : GRATE
108. The "L" in L. Frank Baum : LYMAN. Oh, I did not know this.
110. One way to enjoy being in a cast : ACT
112. Other than this : ELSE
114. Mope : POUT. Hi Baby!
116. Helped oneself to : TOOK
118. Believe : HOLD
119. Pre-holiday periods : EVES
120. Ding, but not dong : DENT. Ha ha.
122. Umbrella part : RIB
124. Harem room : ODA
125. "Law & Order" title: Abbr. : DET. Learned a lot about NY from Detective Lennie Briscoe.
Happy Birthday to our no-nonsense guy Avg Joe, who posted one of the best comments (What if, 4:26pm) I've read in this blog. What's on the stove today? Or are you eating out??