Theme: "And 100 More!" - C is added to each familiar phase. Love the title.
22A. Big tips on cruises? : LINER C-NOTES. Liner notes.
32A. Beginning piano student's first scale? : C MAJOR DISASTER. Major disaster.
49A. Shockproof battery? : PADDED C CELL. Padded cell.
63A. Channel for channel surfers? : SHORT ATTENTION C-SPAN. Short attention span.
79A. Food problem at the front? : C RATIONS OUT. Rations out.
93A. Tech news site's nefarious plan? : NOTHING BUT CNET. Nothing but net.
107A. Painfully out-of-tune note? : RAZOR C SHARP. Razor-sharp.
This
would be very cool if there were no other C's other than those in the
theme entries. But then the fill would not be sparkling.
Typical Jeff Chen grid. Fun theme/fill and super smooth. Spoiler alert: Jeff also has today's NY Times. A rare Sunday doubleheader.
I've been enjoying Jeff's notes on those NYT puzzles. He points out the strength and weakness in each grid and his comments are always observant & informative. Sometimes he's goofy.
Across:
1. Brief regrets, maybe : RSVPs
6. Agitated state : STEW
10. Order from on high : FIAT
14. DJIA stock : IBM. Their ThinkPad is owned by Lenovo, a Chinese company.
17. Nobelist Root : ELIHU
18. Source of heat : STOVE
19. It's for the dogs : ALPO. Indeed.
20. Campus center : QUAD
24. Chicken __ : KIEV. Boomer made more General Tso's Chicken last night. But he added in some cashew nuts, which are mostly used in Kung Pao Chicken.
25. Many a jazz combo : TRIO
26. Willing to listen : OPEN
27. Peace Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE
28. One good at stretching? : LIAR. Stretching the truth. Of course I was thinking of Ichiro.
29. Tubular carb source : PENNE
30. Green sage of films : YODA. Why is he green?
36. Stars and Stripes squad : TEAM USA
39. They're noted for their neutrality : SWISS
40. Civil offenses : TORTS
41. LAX listing : ARR (Arrival)
42. Sassy : PERT
44. Fútbol cheer : OLE
45. Panther's color? : PINK. Pink Panther.
46. Nigerian people : IBO. Learned from doing xwords.
52. Stumblebums : OAFS
53. Multiple millennia : AEON
54. Latin 101 verb : ESSE. In esse.
55. Code breakers' cries : AHAS
56. Sugar bowl fans : ANTS. Ha ha.
57. Capital of Belarus : MINSK
58. __ Aires : BUENOS
61. Twosome in the news, or the news itself : ITEM. Nice clue as well.
62. Appear eventually : TURN UP
67. Sitcom lover of Chachi : JOANIE. Was unaware of "Joanie Loves Chachi", a spinoff of "Happy Days".
68. Give up : CEDE
69. Start of a balcony delivery : O ROMEO
70. Queen __ lace : ANNE'S
71. Via, informally : THRU
72. Locking horns : AT IT
73. City on the Arno : PISA
77. Manufactured locks : WIGS. Another great clue. "Locks" always refer to "hair" in xwords.
78. Startled cries : EEKS
82. One of several H.S. subjects : SCI
83. Black Friday event : SALE
84. Owing : SHY
85. Rough patch? : ACNE. Oh I have a question: can you pluralize ACNE?
86. Slick, perhaps : WET
87. Hugo title word : NOTRE. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame".
89. Deliveries at Lincoln Center : ARIAS
91. "CHiPs" co-star : ESTRADA (Erik)
97. Sorority letters : PHIS
98. Nonspecific checkbox : OTHER
99. "Born Free" lioness : ELSA
100. Skye of film : IONE. "Say Anything..." is pretty good.
102. Classic muscle cars : GTOS
105. URI's hoops conference : A TEN. Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10). I drew a blank.
106. "Sometimes you feel like __ …" : A NUT. Hence the 105A clue. Jeff does not want two consecutive "a..." style partial clues.
110. Hamburger man : HERR. So people from Hamburg are called "Hamburger"?
111. Miller __ : LITE
112. John Paul's Supreme Court successor : ELENA
113. Out-and-out : UTTER
114. Playa del __: L.A. coastal region : REY
115. Pic to click : ICON
116. Binds : WEDS
117. Arnold's art : POESY. Which "Arnold" are we talking here?
Down:
1. HR dept. concern : RELO
2. Err : SLIP
3. Oenophile's vacation destinations : VINEYARDS
4. Promising whiz : PHENOM
5. California's Big __ : SUR
6. Vulcan in demeanor : STOIC. Spock.
7. Tribal emblems : TOTEMS
8. Holiday preceder : EVE
9. Director Craven : WES
10. Muslim ascetics : FAKIRS. Forgot. We had this before.
11. Homer classic : ILIAD
12. Appetite stimulants : APERITIFS
13. "Mazel __!" : TOV
14. Measure of brightness : IQ TEST
15. Color in the original "Crayola 48" : BURNT SIENNA. And 64. Motto on an inspirational cat poster : HANG IN THERE. Jeff made great use of the long slots.
16. It was admitted as a free state as part of the Missouri Compromise : MAINE. Also a learning moment. I know nothing about Missouri Compromise.
18. NBC staple : SNL
21. Shaker, so to speak : DOER. Not your salt/pepper shaker. Tricky clue.
23. Quit : CEASED
28. Get shellacked, say : LOSE
29. Part of PRNDL : PARK
31. Pigeon : DUPE
33. Delinquents of a sort, briefly : AWOLS
34. Memorable climber : JILL. Jack and Jill.
35. George Foreman's five Georges : SONS. This would be very confusing to me.
36. Record, in a way : TAPE
37. Historical periods : ERAS
38. Things known to a select few : ARCANA
43. Knickknack : TCHOTCHKE. Yiddish, isn't it?
45. He played Arnold on "Happy Days" : PAT MORITA. More familiar with his role in "The Karate Kid".
47. Short deck hand? : BOSUN (Boatswain)
48. Doing mil. drudge work : ON KP
50. Fillets : DEBONES
51. Hunters' holidays : EASTERS. Egg hunters.
52. A smidgen : ONE IOTA
53. Preps for a snack, as corn : AIR-POPS
56. Long-distance letters : AT&T
57. Ponder : MUSE. Hi there Gary!
59. "Exodus" novelist : URIS
60. Hot time in Quebec : ETE
61. Like Beethoven's Sonata Op. 109 : IN E
62. Airer of vintage films : TCM
63. NBAer until 2008 : SONIC. Now the Thunder.
65. URL tag : EDU
66. Observe : NOTICE
67. Steel-toothed Bond villain : JAWS. In "The Spy Who Loved Me".
71. Like some anchors : TELEGENIC. Who's your favorite TV anchor?
72. Early Indo-European : ARYAN
74. Big 12 wrestling powerhouse : IOWA STATE
75. Went after : SUED
76. "__ boy!" : ATTA
78. Make : EARN
79. In : CHIC
80. Without a buyer lined up : ON SPEC
81. Belg. neighbor : NETH
83. The cooler : STIR
84. Span. miss : SRTA
88. Writer with an award named for him : O HENRY
89. "Pride and Prejudice" novelist : AUSTEN
90. Grabbed : SEIZED
92. "You betcha!" : RIGHTO
93. Father of Shem, Ham and Japheth : NOAH
94. Aquatic frolicker : OTTER
95. Belushi's "Animal House" role : BLUTO. Needed crossings.
96. Cel mates? : TOONS. Cute clue.
101. Org. that sticks to its guns : NRA
103. Metal refinery input : ORES
104. Nimble : SPRY
106. Frazier's Fight of the Century foe : ALI. Have you seen this clip from the Jack Parr show? Ali is a good rapper.
107. Clicker button : REW
108. Microbrew selection : ALE
109. Slangy "How's things?" : SUP
1) Our local Star Tribune has a nice article on Twin Cities crossword community. Click here. George Barany & Victor Barocas are featured. Nodding my head at George's comment: "It’s probably one of the lowest-paying jobs you could find on a hourly basis. It’s strictly a labor of love." Victor's puzzle is not for the LA Times, by the way, it's for the Chronicle of Higher Education.
2) For those Gmail users,
if you don't want Google to group all your emails with the same
subjection into one line in the inbox, please click on Settings, then
under "Conversation View", click "Conversation view off". I really dislike the one lump. So messy and hard to file.
C.C.
