Theme: ALL SQUARE. In the words of those two great American philosophers, Huey Lewis and Sponge Bob, It's Hip To Be SQUARE.
You had to be pretty sharp to get hip to the theme that the eight long horizontal fills were all SQUARE in shape! C.C. is very interested in how many will suss out the theme with no reveal. Couple that with her usual clever cluing and you have a wonderful Sunday adventure! Now let's get SQUARED up and see where we finish.
23. Refrigerator message : STICKY NOTE - A 3M staple. These are 3" x 3"
25. Fight spot : BOXING RING - Somewhere between 16' x 16' and 25' x 25'.
80. Picnic purchases : PAPER NAPKINS - Usually 6" x 6"
Now for the not so SQUARE fills:
Across
1. Palms in your hands : PDAS - Smart phones have replaced them and lots of other devices!
9. Washington or Ford : ACTOR - Denzell and Harrison e.g.
14. __ shot : SLAP - The start of one
19. Bug : ANNOY
21. Milan-based fashion house : PRADA - What the devil wears
22. Duel measure : PACE - Hamilton and Burr were back to back, strode ten PACES, turned and shot. Hamilton got second place
27. Toe preceder? : TAC - I had to let TIP go. In War Games, the computer had to learn that some games have no winners, including Tic TAC Toe and Global Thermonuclear Warfare
28. Really hot : ON A TEAR - Let it ride!
30. Attach, in a way : PIN - Tail on the donkey e.g.
31. Fair attractions : RIDES - You game? Me either!
32. Ball standout : BELLE
34. Weasel relative : STOAT - A group of STOATS is a "caravan". You're welcome.
36. Barfly : SOT
37. Spinner? : PR MAN - No, no no! That wasn't a gaffe, what my candidate meant was...
45. Agree to another tour : RE-UP - A military tour
46. Campus bigwig : DEAN
47. Surfing mishap : WIPE OUT - Also the most famous rock 'n roll drum riff?
48. __ Center: L.A. skyscraper : AON
49. "X-Men" actor McKellen : IAN
50. Yellowstone sight : ELK
51. Hi-__ monitor : RES
52. SFO info : ARR - ARRIVAL. Some say the O in SFO stands for San FranciscO, some say San Francisco/Oakland and some say it stands for nothing
53. "The Long, Hot Summer" director : RITT - 1958 classic where Martin RITT directed Mr. and Mrs. Paul Newman in this movie the year they got married
58. Last courses : DESSERTS - Bad guy get their just deserts
60. Buy from : SHOP AT
61. 2000 MapQuest acquirer : AOL
62. Morph- ending : EME - Smallest grammatical unit in a language
63. Too cute, in Chelsea : TWEE - Just like our Brit Steve!
64. Not real : ERSATZ - Is oleo ERSATZ butter?
67. "Raging Bull" Oscar winner : DE NIRO - Some say De Niro and Scorsese's best work
69. Attention : CARE
71. __-wop : DOO
72. CBS hit set in Vegas : CSI - ...and Miami and NY...
74. License : PERMIT
78. Tour of taverns : PUB CRAWL - A sometimes dangerous 21st birthday exercise
83. Any one of a 1963 all-brothers Giant outfield : ALOU - Jesus, Matty and Felipe on Hondo's team!
84. Enjoy some courses : EAT
85. Bodega pronoun : ESA - In slang, ESA is a word for Spanish "homegirl"
86. Big name in lip balms : EOS - Cute container
88. N.Y school overlooking the Hudson : RPI - The fightin' Redhawks of Rennsellaer Polytechnic Institute
89. Expanse : STRETCH - We once drove the STRETCH from Cheyenne to Yellowstone. Not much to see.
91. Downward movements : SAGS - The less said the better
92. Award named for a Muse : CLIO - For excellence in advertising, design and communication
96. Invitee : GUEST - Even anon's are welcome GUESTS here and add to the mix even when snarky or rude
97. Pink label : RCA - We don't have any of her music. Do you?
98. Cockamamie : INANE
99. Lover of balance and harmony, so they say : LIBRA
100. Like TV's "Wayward Pines" : EERIE
103. Swabbie : GOB - American sailor. Origin unknown
105. Where most people get into hot water : BATHTUB
108. __-K : PRE
115. Puffed-up : VAIN - In your You're So Vain, Carly has claimed she is is talking about a composite of three men
116. Track bet : PLACE - If you bet $2.00 for American Pharoah to PLACE (come in second) in the Belmont Stakes, you won $2.80
117. Unit of purity : KARAT - 18K gold is 18/24 or 75% gold and 25% other metals to make it more durable
118. Move with a mouse : DRAG
119. "Anything __?" : ELSE - "Will that complete your order?" is now McDonald's version
120. Its mascot uses fowl language : AFLAC - Ubiquitous insurance duck
121. Seasoned salts : TARS - Some more GOBS
122. Blue-bottled vodka : SKYY
Down
1. "Over here!" : PSST
2. Records concern : DATA BREACH - In 2014, Target and these
3. 2013 Literature Nobelist : ALICE MUNRO - No clue
4. Instant : SEC
5. Two-time U.S. Open winner Stewart : PAYNE - A natty dresser and fine gentleman who died at 42 in a plane accident
6. Actress Paquin : ANNA - Once again, no clue but perps to the rescue
7. How some games are won, briefly : IN OT - Overtime
8. Spoils : DOTES ON - What? You think we're spoiling our kitty?
9. SFPD alert : APB - All Points Bulletin.
10. Midriff-revealing wear : CROP TOP - A public service to those of you who didn't know what one was...
11. Airport arrival : TAXI - How a pilot gets to the gate at SFO or a passenger can get to SFO on the road
12. Asgard head : ODIN - Asgard is one of the nine worlds of Norse mythology
13. Tried to win, with "for" : RAN - Lifelong Minnesotan Harold Stassen RAN for president 10 times between 1940 and 2000
14. Quick squirt : SPRITZ
15. Set, as a trap : LAID - The best LAID plans of men and mice...
16. Troubling spots : ACNE - Ah, one of the many vagaries of my ute
17. Spots for coats : PEGS
20. First Literature Nobelist from Ireland : YEATS - William Butler YEATS
24. German city, to Germans : KOLN - Not Cologne
26. Tiler's need : GROUT
29. City SSE of Santa Fe : ROSWELL - Home of the International UFO Museum
33. Tablet holder : LAP
35. "__ man should have money in his head, but not in his heart": Swift : A WISE
36. Eggs on : SPURS - I don't know if American Pharoah's jockey used spurs but he used his whip 32 times in the home stretch at the Kentucky Derby
37. Goody two shoes : PRISS
38. One taking a selfie : CELL - Now you can use a selfie stick
40. Software instruction file : READ ME - I don't
41. __ Tracey, one of the original Mouseketeers : DOREEN - She wasn't Annette but still...
42. Rumble in the Jungle setting : ZAIRE - They used the 25 Across SQUARE
43. Lenya of "From Russia With Love" : LOTTE - My LOTTE LENYA is a name in Mack The Knife
44. Tolkien tree giants : ENTS
46. Ownership consequences, often : DEBTS
51. Carnival city : RIO - Probably won't find a 37 D PRISS in their parade (finally found a picture modest enough to display)
53. Edit a lot : REWORK - Rich's job here. Either with a scalpel or a chainsaw ;-)
55. Brief glance : APERCU - In a sentence - "Gaston Boissier, L'Afrique (1895), is a picturesque but somewhat superficial APERCU of the principal Roman ruins." Again, you're welcome.
56. Less adorned : BARER - What many other Carnival pictures I found were!
57. Passion tea maker : TAZO
59. Throat condition : STREP
62. Singer Adams : EDIE - Mrs. Ernie Kovacs and cigar pitcher
65. Pop-up producer : ADWARE - nasty stuff
66. Pre-Aztec Mesoamerican : TOLTEC
69. Mea __ : CULPA - A husband's Latin motto!
70. Hot and bothered : ABOIL
72. Game show with a Red Light Challenge : CASH CAB
73. Place for peels : SPA
75. Milwaukee Brewers' home : MILLER PARK - Looks like a theme park from I-94
76. Disorderly : IN DISARRAY
77. Letter-shaped opening : T-SLOT
78. 3, 4 and 5 : PARS - The USGA says any hole longer than 691 yards is a PAR 6 and there are hardly any of them
79. MetLife competitor : AETNA
80. Praline piece : PECAN
81. Back : REAR
82. Nutmeg-flavored quaffs : NOGS
89. Order to attack : SIC 'EM
90. Area south of SoHo : TRIBECA - Triangle Below Canal Street
91. "What did I tell you!" : SEE THAT
92. Baby panda : CUB
94. Holy threesome : TRIUNE - Often used as another name for the Holy Trinity
95. Talent : KNACK
96. "Shadow Dancing" singer Andy : GIBB
99. Craves, with "for" : LUSTS - Even Jimmy Carter admitted to looking at women with LUST in his heart
100. Gutter locale : EAVE - I had Boomer's LANE first
101. Carrier with a King David Club : EL AL - Every passenger is interviewed before boarding
102. Jeter's 1,311, briefly : RBIS - Runs Batted In. Some now write RBI since Runs is already plural. 75 RBI sounds odd to us old, er, veteran baseball fans
103. Holey pursuit? : GOLF - A Par 6? Holey Moley!!
104. Track : OVAL - Here's a banked OVAL - no SQUARE here!
106. Vindictive goddess : HERA
107. Onetime Russian monarch : TSAR - 1917 was their swan song
109. Liable to snap : EDGY
111. Nos. expert : CPA - Only they speak fluent IRS
112. __ hall : REC
114. Pigs out (on), for short : ODS - Get those Fritos out of sight!
Like Teddy Roosevelt in the early 20th century, C.C. has given us a SQUARE DEAL on this enjoyable Sunday exercise. Was anyone else surprised she didn't include a certain SQUARE that is 90' x 90' with rectangles at three corners and a pentagon at the fourth? I'll bet she gave it some thought.
