Theme: Tea Party. Adding a TE, TEE or TY to a common phrase for a punny result was enough, but C.C. and Don also made a vowel sound in the new phrase with an alternate spelling. This made for a delightful "TEA PARTY" that is short on finger food but long on wit and cleverness.
It was a hoot to work and I am tickled to try to 'splain some of the wonderful fill these two great constructors have provided us! I am so pleased C.C. chose this FAULTY GUY to blog her and Hard G's construction!
Theme Answers
23A. Profitable agreement? : PLUM TREATY - Some of those treaties were more plum for one side than the other. One side didn't get so much as a PLUM TREE
37. Sherpa's responsibilities? : MOUNTAIN DUTY - After having a MOUNTAIN DEW?
81. Search for the right beard? : GOATEE HUNTING - You could GO HUNTING among these for what you want. Do you recognize all the famous owners?
103A. Adoring father-to-daughter words? : THAT'S MY CUTIE - When she looks at me like that, THAT'S MY CUE to tell her what a cutie she is!
113. Result of substituting fabric strips for chips? : RAGGEDY ANTE - Yeah, substituting these for poker chips might make for a sloppy game even for RAGGEDY ANN
Across
1. Walk casually : AMBLE
6. Work : OPUS - A compilation of Michael Jackson's work
10. Soul, to Aristotle : ANIMA
15. In addition : ALSO
19. Place for highlights : SALON - Before and after
20. Walked out : WENT
21. Complete : TOTAL
22. __-pedi : MANI - I had one of these in a SALON and felt like a fish out of water
25. Path : TRAIL
26. Organic food giant : EDEN - New to me
28. Canadian roadside sign : ESSO
31. Ideal chaser? : ISM. Idealism.
33. "Wanderlust" actor Alan : ALDA - He'll always be Hawkeye, won't he?
35. "Love Jones" co-star Long : NIA - Okay, new to me
42. Elantra competitor : CIVIC - Kelly Blue Book says it was the 9th best selling vehicle in 2014
44. "Head and Shell" artist : ARP - One of Jean's pieces
45. Cal. listing : APPT - I've got APPT's with four different doctors this upcoming week just for checkups
46. Exhausted : BEAT - Have you ever heard exhaustd as, "All in but your shoelaces!"
48. Aleve alternative : ANACIN - You're near my age if you remember this
52. Chilling spot : SOFA
54. Shanghai locale : ASIA
56. Stick together : COHERE
59. Lennon's love : ONO - Our ubiquitous crossword resident
60. "Edda" author __ Sturluson : SNORRI (11-79 - 1241) - Yeah, if you thought I knew this guy, I've got some ocean front property in the Nebraska Sandhills I'd like to sell you
66. First, second and third : ORDINALS - Here compared to Cardinal numbers
69. More work : UTOPIA - Thomas More's 1516 work
70. Sea damaged by Soviet-era waterworks : ARAL - In 1989 and 2014
71. Like some breezes : GENTLE
72. Windows runners : PCS - We now officially have nary a Windows machine in our house!
73. "Murdering Airplane" and "The Hat Makes the Man" : ERNSTS - This is Dadaist Max Ernst's 1920 "Murdering Airplane" collage that depicts man's powerlessness against modern warfare
75. Mountain lake : TARN - From the Scandinavian tjǫrn
77. H.S. cooking class : HOME EC - My Family and Consumer Science colleagues bristled when I said Home Ec. BTW, no one takes "Shop" anymore either.
79. According to, with "in" : AS STATED
84. Waffle : SEESAW - To be or not to be, make a decision already, Hamlet!
86. Bach's "Mass __ Minor" : IN B - Sure, I guess...
87. Surfing needs : BOARDS
88. 4 for He, e.g. : AT WT - 4x heavier than H, but doesn't blow when used in blimps!
91. Spanish surrealist : DALI - For him time didn't fly, it melted
92. Rankle : FESTER - Let it go, already!
94. Talk back to : SASS
96. Exercise consequence, maybe : ACHE
99. __ cat : LAP - Ours is named Lily
100. Early Indo-European : ARYAN
106. Eddy : WHIRL
109. Poseidon's realm : SEA
111. Bullring cries : OLES
112. Chicago's __ Center : AON - At 200 East Randolph Drive
116. Condé __ : NAST
118. Societal troubles : ILLS
122. Run in place : IDLE
123. Jetson at the Little Dipper School : ELROY - George and Jane's 'toon boy
126. Traffic sound : TOOT - Road rage ain't worth it!
127. Provide, as money : PUT UP - As noted above, Harry Frazee sold the Babe so he could PUT UP money for theatrical productions
128. Mid-seventh-century year : DCLI - Into each puzzle some compromise must fall
129. Way around Paris : METRO - A single ride ticket is €1,80. Unlimited day pass €7 ,00 and up
130. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
131. Hit hard, biblically : SMOTE - Adam's youngest son was SMOTE by his older brother
132. Check : TEST
133. Time-time link : AFTER - A lovely song by Cyndi Lauper
Down:
1. Some hieroglyphic squiggles : ASPS - There he is
2. Niger neighbor : MALI - Sure, it's between Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger
3. Indistinct memory : BLUR - Joann said we had the month of March this year, but it's a BLUR to me
4. Chinese menu offering : LO MEIN
5. Upper-level doc? : ENT - These docs work on our upper-levels
6. Is behind, perhaps : OWES
7. "Frankenstein" torchbearers : PEASANTS - Pitchforks too
8. Incalculable : UNTOLD
9. Babe's home : STY
10. Naan flour : ATTA - New to me
11. Like a shutout : NO RUN - Don Larsen's no hit, NO RUN, perfect game in the 1956 World Series
12. Right-leaning, in a way : ITALIC
13. Curaçao cocktail : MAI TAI
14. Side (with) : ALLY
15. Longtime de facto U.S. national anthem : AMERICA - Rasmussen Reports survey said 82% of Americans favor keeping The Star Spangled Banner
16. Weighed down : LADEN - See Sherpa above
17. Stealthy sort : SNEAK
18. Pen emanations : OINKS
24. Update, as charts : REMAP - Before the Corps of Engineers channelized the Missouri River, the Nebraska/Iowa border had to be REMAPPED every so often
29. Lot : FATE - My feeling on FATE
30. Pickling liquids : BRINES
32. __-puf: old laundry product : STA
34. Home to the skyscraper Burj Khalifa : DUBAI
37. Considerable number : MASS
38. Maine college town : ORONO -Proud home of
39. Available to the highest bidder, say : UP FOR GRABS - If you don't buy Boardwalk when you land there, it's this
40. Bar brew, briefly : IPA - India Pale Ale that is regularly on tap here
41. Rides for tycoons : YACHTS - From the Dutch word Jacht which means "hunter". They were originally fast boats for chasing pirates
43. "Esthetic" and "egis" : VARIANTS - Can also be spelled Aesthetic and Aegis
47. Miss Gulch's bane : TOTO
49. Large-grain seasoning : COARSE SALT - They sell 'em both
50. "__ Dinka Doo" : INKA - A signature song for Jimmy Durante who wrote the music
51. December number : NOEL - One more Christmas Carol in December and I might have lost it
53. Gung-ho : ARDENT
55. Uses Gchat, e.g. : IMS - Instant Messages. See 29A. in theme answers above for a stupid one
57. Plugs : HYPES - We'll be hearing HYPE from now until Nov. 3, 2016
58. 34-Down dignitaries : EMIRS
61. Dog star's first name? : RIN - A staple of my youth
62. Supposedly : IN THEORY - Bobby Burns warning on what should work
64. Prada competitor : GUCCI - C.C. have you got $750 for Stonewashed GUCCI jeans to go with your Jimmy Choo shoes? ;- )
65. Covered in ink, with "up" : TATTED - Don't complain if you interview with all your TATS showing and fail to get a sniff at the job
67. Word heard coming and going : ALOHA - I hope to say this to our friend Chef Wendy on Kauai someday
68. Nocturnal primate : LEMUR
72. Watched the cats, say : PET SAT - Our dear neighbors PET SAT Lily while I was in the hospital. It was very comforting to know she was in good hands
74. Motor oil letters : S.A.E. - Society of Automotive Engineers.
75. Week-ending cry : TGIF - Everyday is Friday when you're retired!!
76. Crackerjack : A-ONE
78. Pencil points and erasers : ENDS - Johnny Carson's pencils famously didn't have both
79. Cut taker: Abbr. : AGT
80. __ Lama : DALAI
82. Big band era singer Ray : EBERLE - Sang with Glenn Miller
83. Sounding stuffy : NASAL
85. Picnic cleaner : WIPE - A staple at our house
89. Yuletide quaffs : WASSAILS
90. Where to see old MGM movies : TCM - Gets a lot of play here
93. They often have concentric circles : TARGETS - I think most of you know that the highest score in Darts is not in the innermost concentric circle or Bull's Eye.
95. Tongue site : SHOE
97. Marriott competitor : HYATT
98. Car starter? : ECO - Ecocars.Some of these cars are routinely getting over 100 MPG
101. Shelter : ASYLUM
102. Not far from : NEAR TO
104. Bridge holding : TENACE - Holding a broken honor sequence such as A❤ Q❤. Our Bridge players knew that.
105. Danny Kaye was its first celebrity goodwill ambassador : UNICEF
106. Blog, say : WRITE
108. Digs in the snow? : IGLOO
110. Have __: be ready with an excuse : AN OUT - My sister always has one when she skips family functions and she fools no one
114. Acct. entries : DEPS - Early in our marriage, our DEPS and W/D's were pretty close
115. Blog, say : TYPE
117. Sulky state : SNIT
119. Ex-senator Trent : LOTT - Did LOTT's wife looked back when she left D.C.
120. Traditional accounts : LORE - I wonder if C.C. remembers any folkLORE tales from her days in Guangzhou (From C.C.: Have any of you heard of Cantonese opera? It's steeped in Cantonese folklore)
121. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR - Love 'em
124. Banned pesticide : DDT
125. Sumac of Peru : YMA
Husker Gary
