Theme: "Seeing Stars" - All theme entries are in the pattern of "Superb"+ noun, and are all clued as "Five-star" + noun.
23A. Five-star auctioneer? : BEST SELLER. I went to a barn auction once. So noisy. Had no idea how the owner had so many mini baseball bats (all stadium giveaways).
25A. Five-star bridal accessory? : MODEL TRAIN
36A. Five-star Ponzi scheme? : GREAT PYRAMID. We have a local Ponzi guy named Tom Petters, who owned Polaroid for a few years.
46A. Five-star pageboy? : PRIME CUT
65A. Five-star secluded getaway? : FIRST-CLASS CABIN. Lovely.
83A. Five-star flugelhorns? : TOP BRASS
93A. Five-star spiel? : PERFECT PITCH. Reminds me of Tony Robbins.
111A. Five-star competition? : IDEAL MATCH. Happy that Badgers won yesterday.
113A. Five-star headgear? : SUPER VISOR. Massive change from the original theme entry. I do rather like the result.
Last week we have 7 themers. This week 9. With the same theme squares, 9 is harder to grid than 7.
Kurt Krauss must be a baseball fan. Look at these few entries:
10A. Houston ballplayer, for short : STRO. Astros. Our Vikings are called Vikes by some.
115A. Dodger manager before Mattingly : TORRE (Joe). I have lots of Don Mattingly cards.
8D. Nickname for baseball's Durocher : THE LIP. Leo Durocher. He used to argue with the umpires.
13D. 1993 A.L. batting champ John : OLERUD. He wore a helmet playing defense.
Also 89A. Tuxedo accessory : DICKEY. OK, not clued baseball-wise, but I bet R. A. Dickey was in Kurt's/Rich's mind.
Across:
1. Ranted (at) : RAILED
7. Texter's "Oh, I should also mention ... " : BTW
14. Building blocks : LEGOS
19. Picador's target : EL TORO. "The bull".
20. "Bingo!" : AHA!
21. One might get caught off base : AWOL
22. "Waterworld" orphan girl : ENOLA. I forgot. Rich used this clue last month in a Barry Silk themeless. He does not use the same clue in the same month.
27. About to explode : IRATE
28. Like NASA and FEMA : ALL-CAPS
30. Clear up : RESOLVE
31. __ death: repeat too often : DO TO
32. Longest river in France : LOIRE
33. Sonata, e.g. : OPUS
35. They're hung by drivers : UIES. Sometimes it's UEYs.
40. Explosive experiment : A-TEST
41. Thai appetizers : SATAYS.
With peanut sauce. By the way, JJM, I did not find your favorite Hot
Giardiniera Relish at our local Walmart. I did get a bottle of Mezzetta Hot Mix. I then chopped the mix finely, added minced olives and made my own soon-to-be-world-famous C.C. Hot Giardiniera.
44. Author Follett : KEN
45. E.U. member : SWE
49. "Big four" record company : EMI
51. Leather ending : ETTE. Leatherette.
53. 0.0000001 joules : ERG
56. 1953 Pulitzer-winning dramatist : INGE (William)
57. "SNL" alum alongside Hartman and Carvey : NEALON (Kevin)
59. Thinks better of it : DARES NOT
61. Once called : NEE
62. Go-to guy : MAIN MAN. Argyle is my main man then. On and off the blog.
64. Cigar size : ROBUSTO
69. CNN news anchor __ Paul : CHRISTI. Looks familiar. But I don't recall her name.
72. Baronial headpiece : CORONET
73. Hardly around the corner : FAR
76. Put under : ETHERIZE
78. Knocks on : RAPS AT
79. Purina product : ALPO
80. Qing Dynasty general of culinary fame : TSO. Don't be surprised if you can't find General Tso's Chicken in China.
81. Deutschland donkey : ESEL. So surprised to see this word.
82. Slip-__: shoes : ONs
86. Backstabber : RAT
87. Acquisition transaction, briefly : LBO (Leveraged Buyout)
90. Carried on : RAGED
99. Times to get ready : EVES. And 108. Break for mom : NAP TIME. Tiny clue/answer dupe. Hard to avoid in a 21*21.
100. Five-O booking agent : DANO
101. Golden : AURIC
102. Magi origin : EAST
106. Mythological hybrid : CENTAUR. Part-man, part-horse.
110. Trumpeter Louis : PRIMA. Another stranger to me.
116. Bad end : DOOM
117. Like some phone nos. : UNL. Unlisted.
118. Designer McCartney : STELLA. Paul McCartney's daughter.
119. Related maternally : ENATE. "Related paternally" is AGNATE.
120. Massachusetts motto opener : ENSE. Learned from doing crosswords.
121. The Carolinas' __ Dee River : PEE
122. Strengths : ASSETS
Down:
1. Bridge action : RE-BID
2. Last Olds made : ALERO
3. Where __ : IT'S AT
4. Pick 6, for one : LOTTO GAME. Lovely long answer.
5. Language that gave us "galore" : ERSE
6. __-eyed : DOE
7. Cast selection? : BALLOT. Great clue.
9. Shout during a charge : WAR CRY. Battlefield charge.
10. Native corn porridge : SAMP. Never used this word. Same as grits I suppose, D-Otto.
11. Couple : TWOSOME
12. Hot __ : ROD
14. "Why don't we!" : LET'S
15. Coming or going : EN ROUTE
16. Deke victim : GOALIE. My favorite, of course!
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| Splynter the Goalie |
17. Tapenade ingredients : OLIVES
18. Least likely to blow : SANEST
24. Like a fantasy land? : LA LA. La La Land. Hi there, LaLaLinda!
26. Beethoven's "__ Adieux" sonata : LES
29. Bubbly beginning? : AER. As in "Aerator", adding air to the fish tanks.
34. Yearned : PINED. Did you ever meet with that Philly girl again, TTP?
37. Manhattan part : RYE. The drink.
38. Bailout key : ESC
39. Like, with "to" : AKIN
40. Slightly : A WEE BIT
41. Remedy from a doctor? : SPIN. Spin doctor.
42. "Alfred" composer : ARNE
43. Buster Brown's dog : TIGE
45. Photographer's accessory : STROBE. And 91. Fashion photographer Richard : AVEDON. He's incredible. Tina Brown brought him to the the New Yorker in 1992.
47. Fitting most people : UNI-SIZE. Like helmets.
48. Home on the range : TENT
49. Hebrew for "skyward" : EL AL
50. Rainier, for one : MONACAN
52. Port on Italy's "heel" : TARANTO. Any of you been there?
53. Some dashes : ENS. Or EMs.
54. "Balderdash!" : ROT
55. Flip side of Ronny & the Daytonas' "Hot Rod Baby" : GTO
58. Station for film buffs : AMC
60. Nearest star to Earth : SUN
62. Not see properly : MISREAD
63. Whistler, e.g. : ARTIST. This lady's son.
65. Old cry of disgust : FIE
66. Illegal payments : SOPS
67. Mortarboard sporters: Abbr. : SRs
68. A wall may need a second one : COAT. Fun clue.
69. This, in Toulouse : CET. Gosh, I've forgot most of what I learned. How is this different from Ceci?
70. Brooklyn __, N.Y. : HTS
71. Density symbol, in physics : RHO
73. Criticism : FLAK
74. Abbey nook : APSE
75. Looking up : ROSY
77. Actress Barkin : ELLEN
78. Rain protection : ROOF
79. Bow-and-arrow sets : ARCHERIES. Spell check does not like the plural form.
84. Wash. summer hrs. : PDT
85. Lighter name : BIC
86. Remedy for a freeze : RE-START
88. Back-to-back '90s Super Bowl champs : BRONCOS
90. Reel off : RECITE. My dad could recite every line of Mao's Little Red Book. He learned how to write his name only after he joined Chinese Army.
92. Family subdivisions : GENERA
93. Strut : PARADE
94. "The Purloined Letter" monogram : EAP (Edgar Allan Poe)
95. Dices : CUTS UP
96. Godhead, for one : TRIUNE
97. Blemish : PIMPLE
98. Java Freeze brand : ICEE
100. Doo-wop syllable : DUM. Thank crosses.
103. United divider? : AISLE. United Airlines.
104. Young salmon : SMOLT
105. "__ Bulba": Gogol novel : TARAS
107. On the safer side : ALEE
109. World-weary words : AH ME
110. Ryan and Benjamin: Abbr. : PVTS (Privates)
112. Big load : TON
114. Golfer Ernie Els' homeland : RSA. JD visited his winery there.
Happy
Birthday to Irish Miss, our gentle & kind Agnes. Agnes always asks
& follows up on the blog whenever a regular has some health, job or
family issue. She also writes me privately whenever a regular is missing
for quite some time (like Owen, PK and Jayce). We're so lucky to have a
caring and attentive friend like Agnes.
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| Eileen (sister of Agnes) & Agnes, Nov 22, 2013 |
Happy Birthday also to Abejo (Bradley), who's always busy traveling and volunteering for various good causes. Brad worked in Iran for a few years before the Shah was toppled. Abejo is Persian for "beer". Brad loves and is very knowledgeable about beer. Oh, gardening too. He's a master gardener.
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Bradley and his Tuba, Church Fat Tuesday Event
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