Theme: - "French Twists" - The last word in each theme entry is replaced by a homophonic word rooted in French.
27A. Testy lover? : CROSS BEAU. Crossbow. *EAU ending is common in French.
29A. Musical work expressing resentment? : BITTER SUITE. Bittersweet.
39A. Napped fabric, without a doubt? : EASILY SUEDE. Easily swayed.
52A. Bridezilla's fabric of choice? : POWER TULLE. Power tool. Fun clue.
72A. Measly computer storage? : PETTY CACHE. Petty cash. The verb is cacher, "hide".
85A. Surviving spouse's irritation? : WIDOW'S PIQUE. Widow's peak. New to me. I googled, then found out I don't have "widow's peak". Quite a sad name.
96A. The latest in foal fashions? : ARABIAN CHIC. Arabian sheik.
98A. Beauty needing a lift? : BLUE BELLE. Bluebell.
I had no idea that both SUITE and SUEDE are rooted in French. I guess SUAVE too, the way it's pronounced. SU+ another vowel.
Super
smooth grid with only 134 words. It helps that there are only 84 theme
squares (minimum for Rich), but this would be a 142 or 144 in my weak
hands.
Tracy Bennett is an accomplished crossword constructor. She made the puzzle one for this year's ACPT tournament.
By the way, did you see the picture of the contestant dressed in pope's costume? You can click here for more pictures. I wish they had captions.
Across:
1. Show no humility : BRAG. Boomer bowled no 300 this season. He's stuck at 18.
5. Golf club feature : LOFT
9. Refers (back), as to a prior subject : HARKS
14. Apprehends : GRABS
19. Old wisdom : LORE
20. Transportation network app : UBER. Our first "app" clue for UBER. "Ultra" & "Very" can take a rest.
21. So long, in Avignon : ADIEU
22. He had a way with words : ROGET. Indeed.
23. Hops drier : OAST
24. '30s Lorre role : MOTO. Mr. Moto.
25. 1959 Broadway family name : TRAPP. "The Sound of Music" .
26. Multicolored marble : AGATE
31. Musical symbols : NOTES
32. Ikea offering : SOFA. Have you tried the meatballs in Ikea?
33. Came to fruition : RIPENED
34. Key of Mozart's 40th symphony : G MINOR
36. 'Mongst kin? : TWIXT
38. Cops on base : MPs
41. Camaro __-Z : IROC
43. Southwestern hill : LOMA. I could only think of MESA.
47. Quaker abolitionist Lucretia : MOTT
48. Eagles' 84-Acrosses : AERIES. And 84. Chick's starter home : NEST. "Starter home" makes me smile. Also 77. Latin 84-Across builder : AVIS. Latin for "bird".
49. Bustle : TODO
50. Beyond the horizon : AFAR
51. Wedding followers : TRAINS. Oh, wedding dress trains.
54. Like Catwoman, e.g. : MASKED
58. Less fusty : NEWER
60. City once sought by Sir Walter Raleigh : EL DORADO. At least, he mapped out the Amazon.
61. Revival chorus : AMENSs
62. Primed for a fight : RILED
64. Stimulating nut : BETEL
65. Act without restraint : GO TO TOWN. New meaning to me.
69. Worrywart, at times : PACER
71. One-named Tejano singer : SELENA
74. Sprain application : ICE BAG. Frozen peas work also.
76. Doubting words : I BET
78. Irregular : SPOTTY
79. Brylcreem applications : DABS. Clue echo with 74A.
83. "I'm all __" : EARS
87. Gal follower? : PAL. Gal pal.
88. __ curls : BICEP
89. Sentence component : CLAUSE
90. Citrus refreshment : LIMEADE
94. More than satisfy : SATE
95. Queen of Kings : SHEBA. Queen of Sheba. Books of Kings.
102. Cristiano Ronaldo's longtime jersey number : SEVEN. He's the world's highest paid soccer player. We also have 107. Common fairy tale number : THREE. Mantle & Ruth.
103. Doth proceed : GOETH
104. Olympic event involving runners : LUGE. Did not know those blades are called runners.
105. Calendar col. : TUES
106. Still : INERT
108. Swing and others : ERAS
109. City whose name differs by one letter from a nearby volcano : ENNA. Etna.
110. Micronite filter cigarettes : KENTS
111. Monastery sights : HOODS
112. Hurston's "Their Eyes __ Watching God" : WERE
113. Pepper and Stubby: Abbr. : SGTs. Never heard of Stubby. Turns out he's a dog.
Down:
1. Allied voters : BLOC
2. 2013-'14 Katy Perry hit : ROAR
3. One with a burning passion : ARSONIST. You nailed it, right?
4. Wastes no time : GETS ON IT
5. Place for cutting boards : LUMBERYARD
6. Orchestral winds : OBOES
7. Vegan Greek salad omission : FETA. I admire those vegans. I don't eat dairy products (few Chinese do), but seafood is too tasty to give up.
8. Slangy slacks : TROU
9. Cloche carriers : HAT BOXES
10. Out of control, at sea : ADRIFT
11. Rodeo catcher : RIATA
12. Wouldn't surrender : KEPT
13. Big one on a runway : SUPER MODEL. Gisele remains my all-time favorite. Still can't believe my Gisele/Giselle goof last time.
14. Apprehends : GRASPS
15. Rapscallion : ROGUE
16. "There you go __": Reagan : AGAIN
17. Davis of "Dead Ringer" : BETTE
18. "... a __ flying fearless and fleet": Longfellow : STEED
28. Small one on a runway, briefly : STOL (Short TakeOff and Landing)
30. Chute mechanism : RIPCORD. New word to me.
32. Glancing blow : SIDESWIPE
34. Little shiner : GEM
35. "Women hold up half the sky" proclaimer : MAO. Gimme.
36. Winter Olympics host before Vancouver : TURIN
37. "Mad Men" creator Matthew : WEINER. Gimme. No relation to Carlos Danger.
40. Diver's milieu : SEA
41. Olympian Midori : ITO
42. Investment firm T. __ Price : ROWE
43. Victory emblem : LAUREL
44. Recently : OF LATE
45. "The Streets of San Francisco" co-star : MALDEN (Karl). Stumper. OK, another police drama. Nothing beats "NYPD Blue". Sipowicz, LaLalinda!
46. Iris ring : AREOLA. It's back.
51. Ready to snap : TESTY
52. Steep cliff : PRECIPICE
53. "Ain't Too Proud __": Temptations hit : TO BEG. Got via crosses.
54. Chatty flier : MAGPIE
55. Pond protozoan : AMOEBA
56. Popular gundog : SETTER
57. Fife player : KNOTTS (Don). Barney Fife.
59. That woman, in Brasilia : ELA. Also 101. Those women, in Bolivia : ESAS
63. Solve, in a way : DECODE
66. It precedes Oilers games : O CANADA
67. Kindred spirits are often on the same one : WAVELENGTH. I'm seldom on the same wavelength with those Saturday constructors.
68. CBS maritime drama : NCIS
70. Pave anew : RE-TOP
71. Obeys a shooter : SAYS CHEESE
73. Post-FDR prez : HST
75. Texter's afterthought intro : BTW
78. Alternates : SWITCHES
79. Hyperglycemia cause : DIABETES. High blood sugar. Poor Boomer has to poke his finger every day.
80. Apparatus co-invented by Cousteau : AQUALUNG. Lovely entry.
81. Do diner work : BUS
82. "… blind, but now I __" : SEE
86. Roman commoner : PLEB
87. Oils, e.g. : PAINTS. Oh, oils is a verb here then.
88. Tempted : BAITED. And 99. Tempt : LURE
90. Type of refractive surgery : LASIK. Who on our blog had LASIK surgery?
91. Sherlock's adversary Adler : IRENE
92. Connoisseur : MAVEN
93. His final blog post closes with "I'll see you at the movies" : EBERT
94. Courageous woman : SHERO. Never heard of this word before. Looks like a combo of She & hero.
95. Sweets-lover's craving : SUGAR. I learned from Barry G. It's key to good pasta sauce.
97. Pacific salmon : COHO
98. Erupted : BLEW
100. Forgoing time : LENT
I'm
sad to learn from Lucina that we lost Dodo (Dorothy Dodson, hence Dodo)
last Thursday. Dodo was very active on the blog for a few years. Very
loving and caring. Our Californian Coven (Chickie, JD and Garlic Gal)
visited
Dodo every year when Lucina traveled to California. Chickie talked to Dodo from
time to time. Dodo would be 90 years old this Oct.
 |
| Left to right: Chickie, Lucina, Garlic Gal, JD, and Dodo, June 4, 2014 |
C.C.
