Theme: "Featured Article"- Article THE spans across each two-word theme entry.
23A. Organic farming staple : COMPOST HEAP. My sister-in-law has a compose pile in her backyard. (Added later: I meant compost pile.)
25A. Co-beneficiary : JOINT HEIR
38A. Batsman's protection : CRICKET HELMET
49A. Slim down and shape up, say : GET HEALTHY. Oh, Jayce & Lucina, I never head of yesterday's Crab Rangoon either. Cheese does not exist in real Chinese cuisine.
68A. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" author : ERNEST HEMINGWAY
89A. Stand up to : MEET HEAD-ON
97A. Government appropriations session : BUDGET HEARING
117A. Became discouraged : LOST HEART
119A. Floor-warming technique : RADIANT HEAT
121D. Featured article hidden in this puzzle's nine longest answers : THE
Simple theme. Very consistent T & HE split.
Notice
Gail placed THE at the last Down slot. Not the last Across. Had she
done latter, there would be triple-stacked 7's (not easy to fill
cleanly) besides the 3's, or she would have to put two cheaters besides
the final THE.
Across:
1. Spanish desserts : FLANS. Sweet start.
6. Loads of fun : A HOOT. And 21A. Words after make or devise : A PLAN. Also 91A. "That's __!": director's cry : A WRAP. Now you see why the first two are not clued as straight partials.
11. Loaded, in Limoges : RICHE. Alliteration is often used in foreign word entry. See also 79D. Tijuana title : SENOR
16. Local geog. division : TWP (Township)
19. Bar mitzvah reading source : TORAH
20. Help with the kids : NANNY
22. Member of the flock : EWE
27. Honshu city : KYOTO. Literally "Capital city". Tokyo means "Eastern capital", east of Kyoto, of course.
28. Regarding : AS PER
30. Pleads not guilty : DENIES IT. Not easy to parse.
31. Flimsy : LAME
33. Minimal effort : EASE
34. Salt in chem class : NaCL
35. Like some access : LIMITED
44. Hydrocarbon suffix : ENE
45. Second-smallest st. : DEL
47. Keema __: meat-stuffed bread : NAAN.
Never had it. Did you really had Mexican food & beer after doctor's visit the other day, D-Otto? Or were you just kidding?
48. Compact coloring : ROUGE
54. Devices that can correct diplopia : PRISMS. Did not know "double vision" is called "diplopia".
57. Single, for one: Abbr. : SYN (Synonym). Single & One are synonyms. Lovely clue.
58. '60s "Super!" : GROOVY
59. Shows of support : YEAS
61. Garfield's "purebred clown" : ODIE
62. Energizes, with "up" : PEPS
63. Emulated a pirate : STOLE
64. Puts up : ERECTS
66. Food critic's criticism : NO TASTE.
I like Cantonese food the most, the authentic one. It's a bit mild.
Fresh seafood/fruits/veggie all year round there. No need to spice
things up.
72. Water, often : DILUTER
75. Needles : TEASES
76. Drifters : HOBOS
80. Respond to "Let's hear it ..." : CLAP
81. Response to a capitán : SI, SI
84. Picked at random : DREW
85. Comfort : SOLACE
86. "Antz" effects, for short : CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery)
87. Opera set on Cyprus : OTELLO
93. Separate mil. service since 1947 : USAF
95. Thai language : LAO. Lots of Lao people in China too. We have 56 ethnic groups. Over 90% are Han.
96. Latin I verb : AMO
102. More significant : GREATER
105. Switch back? : EROO. Switcheroo. .
106. Hungarian castle city : EGER
107. Ranking symbol : STAR
108. Actor born Alphonso D'Abruzzo : ALAN ALDA. Vowel rich, like ED ASNER, hence their frequent appearances.
112. Jacksonville's county : DUVAL. Need crossing help.
114. Will of "Blue Bloods" : ESTES. Stranger to me.
122. Make a scene? : ACT. Nice clue.
123. Dangerous snake : ADDER
124. Idyllic regions : EDENS
125. Stagger : LURCH
126. Cross-country need, perhaps : SKI. I was amazed at the dry wall stuff Marti did, and the various DIY projects TTP accomplished. My rose water spray and body scrub are DIYed though :-)
127. "Needless __ ..." : TO SAY
128. Tailor's tucks : DARTS
129. Cropped up : AROSE
Down:
1. Consumer protection org. : FTC
2. "Get a load of that!" : LOOK
3. Multitude : ARMY
4. City mentioned in the song "That's Amore" : NAPOLI. Naples.
5. Aimed for : SHOT AT
6. Tiny Amazon : ANT. Amazon ant. Never heard of it.
7. "Good one!" : HA HA
8. "Be right with ya" : ONE SEC
9. Even (with) : ON A PAR
10. Enters : TYPES IN
11. Indian friend of TV's Sheldon and Leonard : RAJ. Do you still love "The Big Bang Theory", Irish Miss?
12. It can help you carry a tune : iPOD
13. Customer : CLIENT
14. "Steel Magnolias" actress Daryl : HANNAH. I watched the "Steel Magnolias" long time ago. Can't remember any detail.
15. Decoys : ENTICERS
16. Golf bag items : TEES
17. Big conflict, briefly : WWII
18. Flippant : PERT
24. Eventually : SOMEDAY. Any luck yesterday, Splynter?
26. "You there?" : HELLO
29. Sports news staple : RECAP
32. Pulitzer-winning biographer Leon : EDEL. I'm surprised to see this guy. We got him a lot in the old Tribune Daily puzzles.
35. Hose in a shell : L'EGGS
36. Motionless : INERT
37. "Ditto" : ME TOO
39. Big name in syrups : KARO
40. Oklahoma city named for a Tennyson character : ENID. "Idylls of the King".
41. Inspiration sources : MUSES
42. Karnak's country : EGYPT. Has any of you visited Karnak?
43. Wound up : TENSE
46. Parsec's 3.26, roughly: Abbr. : LT-YRS (Light-years)
50. Hide : HOLE UP
51. Chris known for her ground strokes : EVERT
52. Auto antifreeze brand : HEET
53. Regatta entry : YACHT
55. Joins the chorus : SINGS
56. Catty remark? : MEOW. Can picture the smile from LaLaLinda.
60. Mount : STEED
62. Radio bribe : PAYOLA
64. Like many King novels : EERIE.
Stephen King had a great interview with "Fresh Air" last year. I loved
what he said below about God and his view change over the years.
"I choose to believe it. ... I mean, there's no downside to that. If you
say, 'Well, OK, I don't believe in God. There's no evidence of God,'
then you're missing the stars in the sky and you're missing the sunrises
and sunsets and you're missing the fact that bees pollinate all these
crops and keep us alive and the way that everything seems to work
together. Everything is sort of built in a way that to me suggests
intelligent design. But, at the same time, there's a lot of things in
life where you say to yourself, 'Well, if this is God's plan, it's very
peculiar,' and you have to wonder about that guy's personality — the big
guy's personality. And the thing is — I may have told you last time
that I believe in God — what I'm saying now is I choose to believe in
God, but I have serious doubts and I refuse to be pinned down to
something that I said 10 or 12 years ago. I'm totally inconsistent."
Click here for more.
65. Excessive flattery : SMARM
67. Lake near Squaw Valley : TAHOE
69. Tweet source : NEST
70. "Uh-huh" : I SEE
71. Handrail post : NEWEL
72. 1983 Mr. T comedy : DC CAB
73. 20th-cen. largely female labor org. : ILGWU. I had to google: International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union.
74. Scottish landowner : LAIRD
77. Lacking a knack for : BAD AT
78. Carol opening : O COME
82. Swing around : SLUE
83. To whom Rick said "We'll always have Paris" : ILSA. I can watch "Casablanca" again and again.
85. Cut : SHORTEN
87. Collapsible headgear : OPERA HAT
88. Propelled in a regatta, maybe : OARED
90. Follows (along) : TAGS
92. Deal sealer : AGENT
94. "Exactly what I thought" : FIGURED
98. City on Lake Erie : TOLEDO
99. Surfing wannabes : HODADS
100. More than 70% of its population lives in Clark County : NEVADA. What's your favorite spot in Las Vegas, Steve?
101. Landscaping machine : GRADER. Wow, I never knew this is called grader.
103. "Stand and Deliver" Calif. setting : EAST LA
104. Garfield's successor : ARTHUR
108. Quaint plaint : ALAS
109. It may be picked : LOCK. Oh, hair.
110. Piedmont product : ASTI
111. Forte : AREA
113. Fluffy stuff : LINT
115. First name in Finnish American architects : EERO (Saarinen)
116. Egg holders : SACS
118. Not give up : TRY
120. Balaam's mount : ASS
C.C.
