Theme: "Particle Mechanics" - ION is transferred from one theme entry to its exact symmetrical partner in the grid. Here are the four pairs:
23A. Arsonist's pursuit? : BURNING QUEST(ION). I'm copying Lemonade's strike-through.
122A. 17th-century anti-witch application? : SALEM'S LOT(ION). So the ION from 23A is moved to 122A.
30A. Amer. armed forces traitor? : US MILITARY RAT(ION). OK, you thought of Chelsea Manning, didn't you? Rat or whistleblower?
107A. Fighting unit in the barnyard wars? : CHICKEN LEG(ION). ION from above is moved here.
57A. Commuters per hour, e. g.? : RAILWAY STAT(ION)
81A. Tryout for a CPA? : IRS AUDIT(ION) - Audit and Audition have the same root, no?
16D. Failure in treaty talks? : PEACEKEEPING MISS(ION)
39D. Behind-the-scenes romance? : BACKSTAGE PASS(ION)
Reveal entry right in the middle of the grid:
69A. Chemical reaction phenomenon, and what occurs in four symmetrical pairs of long answers in this puzzle : ION TRANSFER
Fantastic
theme & execution. Heavy themage, of course, it's Julian Lim.
Total 115 theme squares. The minimum for LAT Sunday is 84.
The
two black squares (to the right of square 15 & left of square
129) might be added later. I think Julian was going for stacked 8's in
the upper right and lower left. That's his signature.
Was surprised to see SEN (105A. Cong. member) & SENATE (131A.
Filibuster site) in one grid. Rich is normally very strict with word
dupe, and rightly so. I know some of you will propose an easy SET
change, but it dupes TEA SET in 75A.
Across:
1. Like some windows : ARCHED. Good start for me.
7. All-nighter cause : FINAL
12. Thousandth of a meg : ONE-K. Easy guess. 1024 KiloBytes = 1 MegaByte. TTP's domain.
16. Holy Communion receptacle : PYX. New word to me and it crosses the tough X at XLI (18D. First year of Claudius' reign).
19. In person : BODILY
20. When the plot thickens, often : ACT II. Did not come to me easily.
21. Ate : HAD A MEAL
25. TV spin-off set in Florida : CSI: MIAMI
26. "Whatever you say, honey" : YES DEAR. Husker Gary's wise philosophy. Congrats on your hole-in-one!
27. Legendary Dolphins coach : SHULA (Don). This is sweet.
29. Math subj. with integrals : CALC
34. For fear that : LEST
37. Caps Lock neighbor : TAB. You peeked!
40. Public pair : ITEM
41. High seas quaff : GROG
42. Actor, usually : FAKER. One letter too long for the LIAR I had in mind.
43. Company with a stork in its logo : VLASIC. Love this word.
46. AWOL hunters : MPs
48. Activist Bonner who married Sakharov : YELENA. Total stranger. Her husband too.
50. AQI monitor : EPA. Air Quality Index.
51. Like he-men : MACHO
52. Church closings : AMENs
54. "The Office" network : NBC
55. Truncation abbr. : ETC. I felt stupid not nailing this one.
56. Invite across the threshold : ASK IN
61. Moshing site : PIT
62. Word on the street, maybe : SLANG. Great clue.
64. Ample, in verse : ENOW
65. Early Alaskan : ESKIMO
67. Part of IOC: Abbr. : INTL
74. Cabinet dept. formed under Carter : ENER. Boomer mentioned huge inflation under Carter, or maybe Ford.
75. Dollhouse accessory : TEA SET
77. Jazzy improvisation : SCAT
78. Whitman's "__ the Body Electric" : I SING
80. Soak, in British dialect : SOG. Guilty of using this word myself.
86. Mell Lazarus comic strip : MOMMA. Stumped me last time.
89. Big heart : ACE
90. Hägar creator Browne : DIK
91. Shoreline changers : TIDES
92. "__ Irish Rose" : ABIE'S
93. Shear (off) : LOP
94. Green wheels : ECO-CAR
98. Cancels (out) : X'ES
99. Isn't fictional : EXISTS. Look, still hot from Paris Fashion Week. Trash bag style purse. PK & Creature will be shaking their head. More here.
100. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR
102. Yemen's capital : SANA
103. __ opportune moment : AT AN
106. Gas brand born in 1926 : ESSO. Nice trivia.
112. Big draw : STAR
114. Words students fear : SEE ME
115. Some arm candy : ESCORTS. The plural form of "Arm candy" is still "Arm candy"?
119. Plant animals? : CHIA PETS. & 125. "The Tempest" sorcerer : PROSPERO. I floundered in this area.
126. White house? : IGLOO. Nailed it.
127. Expatriate : EMIGRE
128. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons : REN
129. Body suit? : SKIN. Ha ha.
130. '90s-'00s heartthrob band : 'N SYNC. Loved "It's Gonna Be Me".
Down:
1. "Dear __" : ABBY. No JOHN or SIRS dilemma today. 26A too easy.
2. Man without morals : ROUE
3. Writable storage media, for short : CD-Rs. Compact Disc-Recordable.
4. Veda devotee : HINDU
5. Nobelist Wiesel et al. : ELIEs
6. Peppy : DYNAMIC
7. Web help source : FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
8. Hosp. area : ICU
9. Desert trial : N TEST
10. Tyler of "The Talk" : AISHA. I remember a girl named Aisha with the Food Network or some other food channel.
11. Arrangement of church services : LITURGY
12. Neil Sedaka hit : OH CAROL. For Carole King. Here
is a song for LaLaLinda & our other Linda. You'll hear Linda at 1
minute mark. That singer is Jacky Cheung, an extremely popular singer in
Hong Kong.
13. "If I Ruled the World" rapper : NAS
14. King's order : EDICT
15. __ Sutra : KAMA
17. Holiday veggie : YAM
22. Jovovich of "Resident Evil" films : MILLA. She was born in Russia, I think. The kind Splynter loves. How can their skin be so flawless?
24. Sand in food, say : GRIT
28. Deceptive-sounding instrument? : LYRE. Liar.
31. Logic proposition : LEMMA. Another new word to me.
32. JFK Library architect : I.M. PEI. Gimme!
33. Sales rep : AGENT
35. Seventh fencing position : SEPTIME. Another new word. Looks like "Ninth fencing position" to me.
36. Field vehicle : TRACTOR
37. "True Blood" rating : TV MA
38. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS
42. Judge's concerns : FACTS
44. Con game decoys : SHILLS
45. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA
47. NBC comedy staple : SNL
49. Celts, e.g. : NBAers
52. Cornstarch brand : ARGO
53. Fail to chill : SWEAT IT. Thanks for the crossings.
58. "Run" author Patchett : ANN. We've seen her before.
59. Rocky greetings : YOs
60. Personal ad abbr. : SWF (Single White Female). Did you see the movie also?
63. Kind of acid used in fertilizers : NITRIC
66. "Star Wars" mentor Obi-Wan __ : KENOBI
67. "No way that's true!" : IT'S A LIE
68. Recent rightists : NEO-CONS
70. Fed. hush-hush group : NSA
71. Ft. Worth school : TCU
72. "Sweet!" : RAD
73. One, in Oldenburg : EINS
76. Down source : EIDER
79. Big name in theaters? : IMAX
82. Tiny bit : SKOSH. Rooted in Japanese word "sukoshi", meaning "a tiny bit".
83. B.O. purchases : TIX
84. Paragon : IDEAL
85. Left on Spanish maps? : OESTE. West.
87. Pass (out) : METE
88. Professional gp. : ASSN
95. "Rolling along" item in an Army song : CAISSON.
"... As the caissons go rolling along..". I faintly recall Spitzboov
explained this to me before. He should be back to us as soon as his wife
Betty leaves the hospital, next Tuesday the earliest.
96. Clear conclusion? : ANCE. Clearance.
97. Collects lots of : RAKES IN
99. Exiles, perhaps : ENISLES. Only in crosswords.
101. Tiny bits : IOTAs
104. Quite a while : AGES
107. Small stream : CREEK
108. Browser's reading, briefly : EMAGs. Does the "Browser" here refer to Firefox/ Internet Explore the browser or me? I browse, hence I'm a browser too.
109. Poet Sachs : NELLY. Poet from her today, Yellowrocks?
110. Carol opening : O COME
111. Running an errand, say : NOT IN
113. iPhone programs : APPS. Android too. The genius D-Otto solved a big problem for us last week.
116. Baltic capital : RIGA
117. Lawsuit basis : TORT
118. Old-time knife : SNEE
119. Response to an arrest, initially : CPR. Of course I was thinking of cop arrests.
120. Charles V's domain: Abbr. : HRE
121. Prefix with -pod : TRI
123. Millions of lifetimes : EON
124. Casual shoe : MOC
C.C.
