Theme: Disorderly Conduct - The initial consonant sounds of the "A THE B" phrases are switched. All conversions experienced spelling changes.
23A. Avoid caviar? : SHUN THE ROE. Run the show.
28A. Rouse a duck? : WAKE THE TEAL. Take the wheel.
34A. Back beachgoers? : STAKE THE TANNED. Take the stand. Was surprised by the two "Takes".
51A. Strongly desire daredevils? : CRAVE THE BOLD. Brave the cold.
61A. Respond to a face-licking? : KISS THE MUTT. Miss the putt. (Correction: Miss the cut. Thanks, Barry!)
77A. Work for nothing? : WAIVE THE PAY. Pave the way.
88A. Forgo long stories? : SKIP THE TALES. Tip the scales.
102A. Select one's jousting weapon? : CHOOSE THE LANCE. Lose the chance.
111A. Apportion a side dish? : DOLE THE RICE. Roll the dice.
121A. Bench a cab company softball team player? : SIT THE HACK. Hit the sack.
Quite
a sophisticated theme for a non-English speaker. Spelling changes
always make the gimmick harder for me. When did you grok the theme?
Bold
grid arrangement today, esp considering there are 10 theme entries.
Four 10-letter non-theme entries placed in Across. Sometimes they
confuse solvers as to whether those are theme entries. But today's theme
clues all have question marks, so there shouldn't be any confusion.
I'd be a coward and black out squares 20, 25 & their symmetrical partners. Alan Arbesfeld (on the right) is a real pro.
Across:
1. 1994 Nobel Peace Prize sharer : RABIN. Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin.
6. Campfire rod : SPIT. 26. Camp sight : TENT
10. Biblical king of Israel and a captain : AHABs. Not familiar with the king.
15. Small matter? : ATOM. Can't fool me.
19. Coral reefs, e.g. : ECOSYSTEMS
21. Amazon tributary : NEGRO. Never heard of it.
22. Roof pointer : VANE
24. Sheets for jotting : SCRAP PAPER. I have my pretty little notebooks.
27. Sign : OMEN
29. Stella __: cookie brand meaning "star of gold" : D'ORO. Very helpful clue.
31. "__ tree falls ..." : IF A
33. Cigarette ad phrase : LESS TAR
39. 2000 title role for Renée : IRENE. In "Me, Myself & Irene". Not an easy clue.
42. HMS component : HER
43. Marx observation : QUIP. The Marx Brothers.
44. Tiny : WEE
45. Düsseldorf direction : OST. East.
47. See 82-Down : CAN. 82. With 47-Across, 2008 campaign slogan : YES WE.
48. Saharan : ARID
50. NBA scoreboard item : PTs
55. Weirdo : CREEP
57. What an applauding audience may want : MORE
59. Academy founder : PLATO. I was thinking of Oscar.
60. Word on a dollar : ORDO. Novus Ordo seclorum. Latin for "New Order of the Ages".
64. Over : ATOP
65. Thor's father : ODIN
66. Python in "The Jungle Book" : KAA
67. Guesses : STABS
69. Routine : ACT
71. For fear that : LEST
74. Golfer Jay : HAAS. Saw him in 3M Championship. His son Bill Haas plays in the PGA Tour.
83. Iams competitor : ALPO
84. Title role for Michael and Jude : ALFIE
86. Whole bunch : SCAD. Often in plural.
87. V-formation fliers : GEESE
91. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone : LIA. We used to have fun with this entry.
94. Polite title : SIR
95. Put a coat on? : WAX. Nice clue.
96. Inside look, briefly? : MRI
97. LAX postings : ETDs
99. "Charlotte's Web" monogram : EBW. E. B. White.
100. In reserve : ON ICE
106. "Can you imagine?!" : THE IDEA. Can you imagine TTP goes 0/7 this week?
109. N.L. Central team : STL
110. Massachusetts Bay city : LYNN. Unknown to me also.
114. Jeté, say : LEAP
117. Familia members : TIAS
120. With "The," Frederick Forsyth thriller : ODESSA FILE. Lemonade might have read this book. He's into thrillers.
124. Doctor's orders : DOSES
125. Pasta that doesn't sound very appetizing : VERMICELLI. "Little worms". Have you ever had Chinese bean thread noodles? They're often translated as Vermicelli.
126. Hardy heroine : TESS
127. New followers? : AGERS. New Agers.
128. Roles : USES
129. Bear, to Brutus : URSUS
Down:
1. Leftovers : REST
2. Feel pain : ACHE
3. Parental settings : BOUNDARIES. Oh, set the boundaries.
4. Falls short of being acceptable : ISN'T OK
5. News initials since 1851 : NYT. Let me check LA Times... 1881.
6. Part of a goblet : STEM
7. Parent to Philippe : PERE
8. "Leave that to me" : I'M ON IT
9. "The Waste Land" monogram : TSE
10. Looped handle : ANSA. Classic Xword word.
11. Give a hard time at the comedy club : HECKLE
12. "Deal!" : AGREED!
13. Nightmares for nana : BRATS
14. Campus group : SOPHS
15. 2009 James Cameron epic : AVATAR
16. Save for later playing : TAPE-RECORD. Wish I had tape-recorded some family stories my grandma & dad told me.
17. Most fit to serve : ONE-A
18. Jazz keyboardist Saunders : MERL. The guy on the left. I must have googled him before.
20. Grow dramatically : SHOOT UP
25. Dress designation : PETITE
28. Baseball Hall of Famer Paul or Lloyd : WANER. Husker Gary mentioned last time that Paul is the "Big Poison". Lloyd "Little Poison".
30. Like basic courses: Abbr. : REQ
32. "The Burning Bed" star : FAWCETT (Farrah). Never saw the movie.
35. Country singer Clark : TERRI
36. Casino request : HIT ME. Boomer will be bowling at Treasure Island today. Fantastic buffet at the casino.
37. __ Downs : EPSOM
38. Tide table term : NEAP
40. Nita of silents : NALDI
41. __ a sour note : END ON
45. "Beetle Bailey" dog : OTTO. And 112. "Garfield" pooch : ODIE
46. Patronize : SHOP AT
49. Big Apple locale? : DESKTOP. Not New York.
52. Big name in pickles : VLASIC. Love this word. Love pickles.
53. Put away : EAT
54. Coverings for tiny toes : BOOTEES. Do you spell it as BOOTIES as well?
56. Educ. fundraiser : PTA
58. Georgia neighbor : RUSSIA. Georgia is always the country in Xwords, unless it's Ty Cobb related.
62. Comedy club sounds : HA HA HA
63. Fancy marble : TAW. Learned from doing Xwords.
68. Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh, e.g. : BASSIST
70. Use MC or Amex : CHG. OK, MasterCard. Charge.
71. Roy Rogers prop : LASSO
72. "The Magic Kingdom" novelist Stanley : ELKIN. No idea.
75. "Potent Potables for $200, __" : ALEX. Misty loves him. Not me.
76. Back on board : AFT. Back of the ship.
78. Parking lot runner, perhaps : VALET
79. Head of Hollywood : EDITH. Edith Head the costume designer.
80. Tulips and dahlias : PERENNIALS. We had an awful experience dealing with Michigan Bulb last year.
81. Easy __ : AS ABC
85. Sesame Street giggler : ELMO
89. Brief online updates : TWEETS
90. Uneven : EROSE
92. Long Island university : ADELPHI. Well, I'm sure the Saturday Stud nailed it. Splynter has beautiful handwriting, by the way.
98. Shifty : SLY
101. Storage units : CHESTS
102. Red shade : CERISE
103. Arm raiser on the street, often : HAILER. Hail a taxi.
104. Magazine awards : ELLIEs. From Wiki: They are generally considered the highest award in the magazine industry; in the magazine world, they are roughly equivalent to the Pulitzer Prizes.
105. Stamen part : ANTHER
107. "If __ Hammer" : I HAD A
108. Get the mist off : DEFOG
111. Knucklehead : DOLT
113. British tax : CESS
115. To be, to Brigitte : ETRE
116. 20 holders, briefly : ATMs
118. Rights gp. : ACLU
119. They're worn on moguls : SKIs. Slope moguls.
121. "Law & Order: __" : SVU. I don't like this spinoff at all.
122. Bygone French coin : ECU
C.C.
