Theme: "Lip Service" - X is removed from each theme entry.
23A. Intuition of some "Star Wars" villains? : THE SITH SENSE. The Sixth Sense.
34A. Weaknesses of a prof's helper? : TA LIABILITIES. Tax liabilities.
59A. Holiday elves who can't get along? : ARCTIC FOES. Must be Santa's fault! Arctic foxes.
81A. Coughing and sneezing? : STATE OF FLU. State of flux.
98A. Fashion collaboration of actor James and a one-named rock-'n'-roller? : MASON-DION LINE. Mason–Dixon line. James Mason & Dion.
22D. "Stop adding milk and sugar to these brews!"? : DON'T MESS WITH TEAS. Exactly how I drink tea. Only tea. Don't Mess with Texas.
32D. Dutch South Africans in need of exercise? : HEAVYWEIGHT BOERS. Heavyweight boxers.
115A. Unexpected affection, and an alternate title for this puzzle : STOLEN KISSES
Another
grid with theme entry intersection. Lovely. Seldom can I make this
approach work, so I'm always in awe when others make it happen.
Also
loved the fact that the constructor stole all the kisses away. You can
find 25 letters in this grid. Just no X. Tough love!
Across:
1. Sphere of influence : AMBIT. Not an easy start for me.
6. Making waves? : ROWING. great clue.
12. Inbox clogger : SPAM
16. Solstice mo. : DEC
19. Video game princess : ZELDA. And 80. "Super Mario" brother : LUIGI. And 10D. 19- and 80-Across letters : NES.
20. One making bread : EARNER
21. Wiry-coated terrier : AIREDALE
25. Bullied : HECTORED
26. Airport pickup concern, briefly : ETA
27. Good things to keep about you : WITS. Keep your wits about you.
28. Bob or weave : COIF
30. Actress Campbell : NEVE. Loved "Party of Five".
31. Lint roller target, maybe : CAT HAIR
39. Stage direction : ENTER
41. Back : REAR
42. Purell target : GERM
43. Showy display : ECLAT. There is a booth at the flea market yesterday with "Free Tattoo" sign on. I'm going to explore more next week.
46. Church official : DEACON
48. Penniless one : HAVE NOT
52. Surrendered : WAIVED. Look what's in his hands? Ready to surrender! Dudley, maybe Dave or Gary can teach you how to upload pictures. Or you can just open a blogger account.
 |
| CrossEyedDave |
54. Hibachi residue : ASH
55. Help-wanted ad periods : AFTs
57. Not all : SOME
58. Daytime __ : EMMY
63. Mane character in Narnia : ASLAN
64. Gush : SPEW
65. Posthumous 2009 George Harrison album : LET IT ROLL. No idea. Wiki said "The track list was selected by George's widow, Olivia Harrison, with some assistance from close friends and family."
66. To the sky : UPWARD
67. British heiress __ Khan : JEMIMA. Lots of tabloid coverage when she dated Hugh Grant, who's now dating a Chinese.
69. Stud spot : EAR
70. Find on the dial : TUNE IN
72. Ten-armed species : SQUIDs
74. Goalie's protective wear : NECK GUARD. For Splynter. Did you listen to our advice and give up the Home Depot girl?
77. See 85-Across : TRUE. And 85. With 77-Across, "Amen!" : TOO
82. Flashy promotion : HYPE
83. Hardly hard up : RICH
84. Wisecrack : JEST
86. Call for : ENTAIL
88. Cowboy hat : STETSON
90. Doyle's narrator : WATSON
93. Wee : EENSY
94. Tug or tub : BOAT
95. Roof rim : EAVE
96. Led Zeppelin's "Whole __ Love" : LOTTA
103. Much-kneaded treatment? : MASSAGE. Nice clue also.
107. Up to it : ABLE
108. Little cut : NICK
109. Like eyes "you can't hide," in an Eagles song : LYIN
111. Time chunk : ERA
112. "Ghastly grim and ancient" poem title critter : THE RAVEN
120. Jersey output : COW'S MILK. Jersey cows. Like HEN'S EGG I saw in a grid sometime ago, COW'S MILK strikes me as redundant, as I connect milk with cows, and eggs with hens. GOAT MILK/GOAT'S MILK is fine.
121. Fancy : ORNATE
122. Verbatim line : QUOTE
123. MD office posting : HRS
124. Skip over : PASS. Good advice to some grumpy anons. Skip over! We like our tomato & pizza & mundane talks.
125. Monster's nickname : NESSIE
126. Flower part : SEPAL
Down:
1. Montezuma subject : AZTEC
2. Maestro Zubin : MEHTA. He's an Indian Parsi. Freddie Mercury is another one. Vidwan said Parsis are very talented or some other adjective.
3. Pasture cry : BLEAT
4. Dog tags, say : IDs
5. __ chi ch'uan : TAI
6. Put back to work : RE-HIRED
7. Brewer's kiln : OAST
8. Pull with effort : WREST
9. Country stopover : INN
11. Like Keats's urn : GRECIAN
12. Indian title : SAHIB
13. Battles with thrown weapons : PIE FIGHTS
14. Orbit bit : ARC
15. 49-Down, as a rookie : MET. And 49. Holder of numerous pitching records who never won a Cy Young Award : NOLAN RYAN. You all nailed this, right? At least, TTP did. I asked on the blog a few months ago how many Cy Young Awards Nolan Ryan won.
16. "Is this too big a chance?" : DARE I
17. French student : ELEVE
18. Hands over : CEDES
24. Noodlehead : TWIT
29. Boathouse item : OAR
33. Get in the game : ANTE
35. Pritzker Prize winner : ARCHITECT. Their Nobel. The Pritzker family owns the Hyatt hotels.
36. Name of 13 popes : LEO
37. Green expanses : LEAs
38. Journalist Kupcinet : IRV
40. Chemical experiment substances : REACTANTS
43. Pasture moms : EWES
44. Tent site : CAMP
45. Gimlet ingredient : LIME JUICE. I like lemon, but not lime.
47. European wine region : ASTI
50. General Bradley : OMAR
51. Lean : TEND. I don't get how these two are equivalents.
53. Some surrealist works : DALIs
55. IM pioneer : AOL
56. Was embarrassed : FELT A FOOL
60. Sleep lab letters : REM. Rapid Eye Movement.
61. Coot relative : CRAKE. Learning moment for me.
62. Overlooked : FORGOTTEN
63. O'Neill's "The Hairy __" : APE
66. Inordinate : UNDUE
68. Early 16th-century date : MDI. 1501.
71. High-tech address : URL
72. Some 35mm cameras : SLRs
73. Pack it in : QUIT
75. Scarf down : EAT
76. Crop circle makers, supposedly : UFOs
78. "Breaking __ Hard to Do" : UP IS. I used to think Neil Sedaka has Japanese roots because of his surname.
79. Long and slimy : EELY
81. Guards : SENTINELS
84. Fonda's "The Grapes of Wrath" role : JOAD
87. Acrobats' gear : NETS
89. Lamont, to Fred Sanford : SON. Sanford and Son.
90. Continues strolling : WALKS ON
91. Prefix with fauna : AVI
92. One who is honored and hopeful : NOMINEE
95. Cause of an env. bulge : ENC. Mine is mainly because of baseball cards inside.
97. Do miserably, in slang : TANK
98. Stick in a box : MATCH. D'oh moment.
99. Not fancy at all : ABHOR
100. Gobs : SLEWS
101. Porcine patter : OINKS. This meaning of "patter" is new to me. I thought it's just a made-up word (one who pats).
102. Those girls, in Oaxaca : ELLAs
104. Memorable moralist : AESOP
105. Actress Scacchi : GRETA. Never heard of her. Italian-Australian.
106. Gallery item : EASEL
110. "Tintin in Tibet" creature : YETI. Onager guess.
113. "MTV Unplugged" lack : AMP
114. Through : VIA
116. Uno e due : TRE
117. Clip-__: ties : ONs
118. High nos. for rocket scientists? : IQs
119. Try to take to the cleaners? : SUE
C.C.
