Theme: "Subway Series" - ELS is added to each theme entry.
23A. "I say! Lovely places to worship!"? : JOLLY GOOD CHAPELS. Jolly good chap.
36A. Teflon advisory groups? : NON-STICK PANELS. Non-stick pans.
57A. IOU? : VOWELS OF POVERTY. Vow of poverty. Great clue!
81A. Really bad nursery color schemes? : CRIMINAL PASTELS. Criminal past.
99A. Ones who control the markets? : GROCERY CARTELS. Grocery cart.
120A. What to grab for an early morning flight? : BAGELS AND BAGGAGE. Bag and baggage.
I
always try to guess the theme after I download the puzzle and read the
title. So my mind immediately went to the baseball Subway Series! But
the theme quickly revealed itself. Loved the title!
Only 6 theme entries, but they're all quite long, a total of 90 squares. Rich's minimum is 6 entries with 84 squares.
Across:
1. "___ Mia!" : MAMMA
6. Botanist's study : FLORA. I'm going to plant yellow tea roses this year, if spring ever comes to Minnesota. Still snow on the ground. I can almost smell the scent.
11. Economics pioneer Smith : ADAM
15. Evite letters : RSVP
19. Victim of Artemis : ORION. She unwittingly killed him. Love stories often have a sad ending.
20. Chewy chocolate treats : ROLOS
21. Wrap alternative : PITA. Do you like alfalfa sprouts? I don't. Bean sprouts, yes.
22. Sport with touches : EPEE
26. Summers of Food Network's "Unwrapped" : MARC. I like "Unwrapped". Fun to learn food history.
27. Ancient concert venues : ODEA
28. European chain : ALPS. Mountain chain. Not IKEA.
29. Functional clothing accessory : TIE TAC
30. Mount near Olympus : OSSA
31. __-am: kids' book character : SAM I
33. Symphonic finale : CODA
34. Sleep inducer of a sort : SANDMAN. Mr. Sandman.
42. Cry over, maybe : RUE
43. Division word : APIECE
44. Surg. workplaces : ORs
45. Concerns in substance abuse therapy : ENABLERS. Not an easy clue for me.
50. Insert "@#$%!," say : CENSOR. Shouldn't you remove the curses rather than insert?
51. RAZR MAXX manufacturer : MOTOROLA. They have a big factory in Tianjin, hometown of Barry G's wife. Hope everyone is feeling better today, Barry.
55. Its first maps were pub. in 1905 : AAA
56. Central Eur. power until 1806 : HRE
61. Western treaty gp. : OAS
62. Speakeasy difficulty : RAID. "Difficulty" did not make me think of RAID.
64. Horn of Afr. country : ETH
65. King and queen : TITLES. So literal.
66. Filled Italian fare : RAVIOLI. Like Chinese dumplings, except no cheese in Chinese cooking.
69. Showed (in) : USHERED
72. White House middle name : DELANO. The D of FDR.
75. Religious sch. with the motto "Make no little plans here" : ORU. I like the new clue.
77. Latin I word : AMAS
78. Pod resident : PEA
86. 24-hr. banking service : ATM
87. She played Mia in "Pulp Fiction" : UMA
88A. It was held outside of California only once, in 1942 : ROSE BOWL. From Wiki: "Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the 1942 game was moved to Duke University's Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, as officials were wary of allowing such a large crowd to congregate anywhere on the West Coast due to World War II security concerns."
89. "Memoirs of a __" : GEISHA. The Geisha's real name was disclosed in the book. A big no-no. She later did write her own biography "Geisha, a Life". Yellowrocks probably read it.
92. Ristorante topper : PARMESAN
96. Comfy top : TEE
97. Salon supplies : RINSES
98. Pretense : ACT
104. Curious box opener : PANDORA. Also the music station.
108. February deity : EROS. For Marti, who was born on Valentine's Day.
109. Frankfurt's river : ODER
110. Suffix with smack : EROO. Smackeroo.
111. "Food, Glorious Food" musical : OLIVER
113. Lyon lover's word : AIME. "Je t'aime."
115. Shopping list entry : ITEM
119. __ hall : TOWN
123. Agt. after tax evaders : T-MAN
124. DOE part: Abbr. : ENER
125. Half a historic bomber : ENOLA. Enola Gay.
126. VW and BMW : AUTOS
127. Sisterhood name in a Rebecca Wells novel : YA-YA. "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood".
128. Hardly leave wanting : SATE
129. Latin for "he holds" : TENET. Etymology!
130. Food often spilled? : BEANS. Not MILK.
Down:
1. Charm : MOJO
2. Fading star of the East? : A-ROD. AL East. So true.
3. 1,760 yards : MILE
4. Sugar refining byproduct : MOLASSES. Important part of Spitzboov's breakfast.
5. Whichever : ANY
6. Gambol : FROLIC
7. Roller coaster inversion : LOOP
8. Road travel pioneer : OLDs
9. Mythical flying giant : ROC
10. Kutcher of "That '70s Show" : ASHTON
11. Word with sex or snob : APPEAL
12. Downsizing program? : DIET. Another great clue.
13. World carrier : ATLAS
14. Maybelline purchase : MASCARA. Lots of LIARs (74. Makeup artist?) tout Maybelline's Great Lash mascara. It smudges so badly. Get yourself a water-proof Clinique.
15. Update, in a way : REMODEL
16. Muscle malady : SPASM
17. Vice __ : VERSA
18. Pie nut : PECAN. Never liked pecan.
24. More sordid : GAMIER
25. Helper : AIDE
32. Onetime Yes label : ATCO. ATlantic COrporation. So, what's the most famous song of Yes?
33. Social group : CASTE
35. Crux : NUB
36. Cheese-topped chip : NACHO
37. Palais Garnier performance : OPERA. I always call it Opéra de Paris.
38. Tiger's front and back? : NINES. Tiger Woods. So strange what he did on Friday. He knew the rules.
39. Dragon's island : KOMODO. Komodo dragon is a giant lizard. Is that a dead tree branch in his mouth?
40. Figurehead place : PROW.
Wiki said "A figurehead is a carved wooden decoration found at the prow
of ships largely made between the 16th and 19th century".
41. Confident leader? : SELF. Self-confident.
46. Siesta : NAP
47. Eponymous inventor Tupper : EARL. Tupperware. Did not know this trivia.
48. It might be going : RATE. Going rate.
49. What Simon does : SAYS
52. Soccer stadium shout : OLE
53. Alphabetic run : RSTU
54. July 4th reactions : OOHs
57. Jury trial Amendment : VII. Here is a detailed list.
58. Señorita's other : OTRA
59. Joins the race : VIES
60. SFO approximation : ETD
62. Indian royal : RANI
63. Lady's business? : AVON. Avon lady.
66. St. Louis player : RAM. Originally Cleveland Rams (1936–1945), then LA Rams (1946-1994).
67. Prunes : LOPS
68. Wrath, in a hymn : IRAE. Dies Irae.
70. Eponymous comet tracker : HALLEY
71. Maximum trio? : EMS
72. Bra spec : D-CUP. And 102. Victoria's Secret purchase : CORSET.
73. Funny Bombeck : ERMA
76. PC port : USB
78. Far from in vogue : PASSE. Splynter linked a similar shoe image a few weeks ago. Lady Gaga is actually a sweet person.
79. Merman of Broadway : ETHEL
80. Squirrel away : AMASS
82. College Football Hall of Fame inductee 29 years after Knute : ARA (Parseghian). Notre Dame.
83. Like epics : LONG
84. Beach bags : TOTES
85. Still-life vessel : EWER
89. Like drinkable milk : GRADE A. Did you ever drink sheep milk?
90. Beckett's homeland : EIRE
91. Mystery writer's forte : INTRIGUE. Yes, Gary, “What's up, Tianlang?”. Or possibly "What's up, Ah Lang", or "What's up, Lang Zai". Cantonese like to add "Ah" in front or "Zai" after the last character to show familiarity.
93. Frequent child companion? : MADONNA. Oh, Madonna and Child.
94. Earth-friendly prefix : ECO
95. Some disco lighting : STROBES
100. Admire to the max : REVERE
101. Hurler Hershiser : OREL
103. Fight : COMBAT
104. Picayune : PETTY
105. Therapy prefix : AROMA. Aromatherapy.
106. "When pigs fly!" : NO WAY. NO CHANCE yesterday.
107. Ex of Rod Stewart : ALANA
112. "__ a Kick Out of You": Cole Porter : I GET
113. Soon : ANON
114. Like chitchat : IDLE. And 122. Chitchat : GAB. Look forward to Lucina & California Coven's gabbing report! Argyle has been thinking of a similar gathering in NY area. Anyone interested?
116. "Bye" : TA TA
117. Bespectacled Ghostbuster : EGON. Got me last time.
118. Neatnik's bane : MESS
121. Prop- suffix : ANE
C.C.
