Theme: "All Together Now" - Each theme answer is a group of surnames of well-known people with the same given names hinted in the clue.
22A. Gene pool? : KELLY RODDENBERRY AUTRY. All in entertainment business.
39A. Bills piling up? : GATES MURRAY COSBY BLASS. I recall seeing OUTSTANDING BILLS clued with a group of Bill's.
68A. Art gallery? : GARFUNKEL MONK BUCHWALD
92A. Robins' nest? : QUIVERS TUNNEY WILLIAMS. The first two might be challenging to some. Robin Quivers is with The Howard Stern Show. Robin Tunney is known for her role in The Mentalist.
113A. Buddy list? : RICH EBSEN HACKETT HOLLY. All famous. Works perfectly with the clue.
In
the old Tribute Media Daily puzzles, this type would be clued just as
"Three Mikes", "Three Toms", "Three more Toms", etc, regardless
whether the clues are solid in-the-language phrase hinting at the
collection of surnames.
Mark furthers restricted his theme entries to 21-letters, hence the omission of Carney and Linkletter for 68A, in case you wonder. Five spanners are very hard to maneuver on Sundays.
Across:
1. National animal of Malaysia : TIGER. I know this trivia.
6. Place for a speaker : DAIS
10. Paper pieces : OP-EDS
15. Hand-off recipients: Abbr. : RBS. Running backs. Got me.
18. Tone sequence : SCALE
19. Many an Indian : HINDU
20. It doesn't happen often enough : RARE TREAT. Love the clue/answer.
25. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO (Midori)
26. Plant : SOW. Not SPY.
27. Unimpressive bunch : SAD LOT
28. Beatles song with the line "And she promises the earth to me" : GIRL
29. 1898 chemical discovery : NEON. Look at this neon text message. Amazing.
31. Eye or sun : ORB
33. Chairman __ : MAO
34. Emilia's husband : IAGO. "Othello".
38. Wedding column word : NEE
44. Jazz guitarist Montgomery : WES
45. Hammock happenings : NAPS. I could not find that picture of you solving crossword in a hammock, Dave. Where did it go?
46. Animal groups : FAUNAE. Crossing 43. Onion cousin : LEEK. So no *E or *S dilemma.
47. Rock band with the hit "Edison's Medicine" : TESLA
50. Square with roots : SOD. Nice clue.
51. Name names : SING
52. Shoulder muscle, for short : DELT
55. Come into : INHERIT
57. Map of Alaska, often : INSET
60. "Think this looks good on me?" : LIKE IT?
62. Frozen Four org. : NCAA
63. Bar entertainment : KARAOKE. Weekly actively when I lived in Tsingtao area.
65. Pool color : AQUA
67. Rain-__: bubble gum brand : BLO
72. Seer's supposed skill : ESP
73. Work with feet? : POEM. Noun "Work" here. Also 122. Type of 73-Across : ODE
74. Part of it is now a desert : ARAL SEA
75. Staging __ : AREA
76. Go back and forth : SEESAW
78. ___ Islands: Taiwan Strait archipelago : MATSU. It's spelled as Mazu in Chinese.
79. Flash drive slot : USB PORT
81. Mouth build-up : SILT. River mouth.
82. Utah city on I-15 : OREM
84. Shipping rope : TYE. Wow, have not seen this word for a long time.
86. Conditioner bottle directive : RINSE
87. (Having) come up : ARISEN
89. Hatchet relative : ADZE
91. It may be made or laid : BET
100. Member of the fam : UNC (Uncle)
101. Morales of "Caprica" : ESAI. He needs to get into a big movie to stay relevant.
102. Deadly snake : ASP
103. Toledo title: Abbr. : SRA
104. Lose it : SNAP
105. Busy : AT IT
107. Sugarcane-scraping machine : RASPER. Learning moment to me. Like this?
110. Pack animal : ASS
112. Warning from a small house : GRR
119. Showed, in a way : TELEVISED
120. Picked : CHOSE
121. Ninja Turtles' human pal April __ : O'NEIL. Stranger to me as well.
123. More than ready to go : ANTSY. Boomer
got his National Senior Games credentials on Friday. Inspiring crowd.
The guy behind us in the check-in line is a 91-year-old golfer from New
Mexico.
124. Company with collectible trucks : HESS
125. Very small : TEENY
Down:
1. It may be accompanied by finger-wagging : TSKING
2. Arnold Palmer ingredient : ICE TEA. I still prefer Iced tea.
3. Stumblebum : GALOOT. Also 70. Hardly dexterous : KLUTZY
4. Legal side? : ELL. Legal.
5. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George : REYS
6. Impersonated : DID
7. Afterthoughts : ANDs
8. Brainstorming tool : IDEA MAP
9. Components of a very long month? : SUNDAYS. Month of Sundays.
10. Milk go-with : OREO
11. Biased : PARTISAN
12. Goof : ERR
13. "N __ Say": Nelly song : DEY. Not familiar with the song. What does N Dey mean?
14. RR stop : STA
15. Eye part : RETINA
16. Dance studio aids : BARRES
17. Dos : STYLES
19. Texter's greeting : HOW R U?
21. Persian, e.g. : RUG
23. Shares a place (with) : ROOMS. Those idealistic college years.
24. Allied group : BLOC
30. Symbol of a fresh start : NEW LEAF
32. Moravian city : BRNO. Largest city there. Second largest in Czech.
35. Put __ in one's ear : A BUG
36. MD for women : GYN
37. One of the Minor Prophets : OBADIAH. Here is the list.
40. Barely burn : SEAR
41. Goodyear offering : RADIAL
42. Out __: confused : OF IT
47. Nuances : TINGES
48. Fully surrounds : ENCASES
49. Chinese dog breed : SHAR PEI. Literally "Sand skin". Cantonese.
50. Claim, with "out" : STAKE
51. Taken for : SEEN AS
53. Early upscale Chrysler : LeBARON. Another unknown to me.
54. Farm machines : TILLERS
56. "__, right?": "You said it!" : I KNOW
58. Polite refusal : NO MA'AM
59. Hybrid tennis garment : SKORT. Golf too.
60. Vader creator : LUCAS (George)
61. As of now : TO DATE
64. "Everybody Hurts" band : R. E. M.
65. Six-pack makeup : ABs
66. Netflix list : QUEUE
69. In hot water : UP A TREE
71. Forest rangers? : WAPITIS. Cute clue.
77. Pole, for one : SLAV
78. Source of many an order : MENU. Have any of you tried sesame balls before? For many years, two freshly-made sesame balls were my standard breakfast.
80. Belgian balladeer Jacques : BREL
82. Mount between Pelion and Olympus : OSSA
83. Ones out of work : RETIREES
85. Conifers yielding elastic wood : YEWS
88. Org. with complex schedules : IRS
89. Susan of "Five Easy Pieces" : ANSPACH. Another stranger to me. This puzzle is quite name-heavy.
90. __ Mode: English band : DEPECHE. What's their most famous song?
91. Great time : BLAST
92. Book size : QUARTO
93. Trip-inducing, as shoelaces : UNTIED
94. Eaves dropper? : ICICLE
95. "Candy is dandy" poet : NASH
96. Fuming : IRATE
97. "Eat Drink Man Woman" director : ANG LEE. I saw the movie ages ago. Food feast.
98. Miami athlete : MARLIN
99. With pep in one's step : SPRYLY
106. Widely read article? : THE. Indeed. I often skip THE. Chinese does not have definite article.
108. Hardy of old films : ANDY
109. Bygone theaters : RKOs
111. No longer usable : SHOT
114. Green of "Penny Dreadful" : EVA. Also the Bond Girl in Casino Royale.
115. Bargain __ : BIN
116. JFK sight, once : SST
117. It has two of itself in it : ESS. Easy in retrospect.
118. Unified : ONE
C.C.
