Theme: "Playing With Your Food"- One word in each theme entry is replaced by its homophone.
23A. Diet for ice cream lovers? : A MONTH OF SUNDAES. A month of Sundays.
39A. Farce set in a sandwich shop? : RYE COMEDY. Wry comedy, new term to me.
60A. Top for a beach cookout? : MUSSEL SHIRT. Muscle shirt.
85A. Cake recipe overhaul? : TORTE REFORM. Tort reform.
102A. Thanksgiving week for a baker? : LIFE OF PIE. Life of Pi.
122A. Affair for dessert-loving bovines? : BULL MOUSSE PARTY. Bull Moose Party.
15D. Group that thrived during the borscht years? : BEET GENERATION. Beat Generation. I never had borscht.
52D. Period of terror induced by a brat? : WURST NIGHTMARE. Worst nightmare.
Sweet, yes? Perfect puzzle for our Steve, who loves food and witty wordplay. There's a limited supply of food homophones, hence four desserts.
I like Amy's grid design. Putting 14's in Downs eased up fill a bit. The four 8's non-theme fill are all sparkly.
I'm curious to know where you finished last in this puzzle. Which is your last filled answer?
Across:
1. Chariot-riding god : ARES. Easy start.
5. Athletic org. since 1894 : USOC (United States Olympic Committee). I thought of USGA. Same year.
9. They might be game : FOWL. Got via crosses. So dumb.
13. Monastery head : ABBOT
18. Two-thumbs-up review : RAVE
19. Obeyed a court order : STOOD
21. Olympic sword : EPEE
22. Hymn to Apollo, say : PAEAN
26. George who was the A.L. batting champ in three different decades : BRETT. Royals Hall of Famer. Husker Gary knows that girl.
27. Like some lashes : FALSE. Never tried falsies.
28. Intro to physics? : ASTRO. Astrophysics.
29. Man cave focus : HD TV
31. Ordinal extremes : NTHs
32. Gently or quietly, e.g. : ADVERB. You nailed it, right?
34. Rubik's creation : CUBE
36. Annoy your bedmate : SAW LOGS. And 105D. Annoying bedmate : SNORER
38. __ Bo : TAE
43. Doggie bag goodie : T-BONE. And 86. Dog, in a way : TAIL
44. Like Simba : REGAL
45. "In __ of gifts ... " : LIEU
47. Previously, to Byron : ERE NOW. And 37. Byron, for one : LORD. I thought of BARD.
50. Premier League soccer anchor Rebecca : LOWE. Not familiar with her.
53. Many a Mormon : UTAHN
56. Inked on TV's "Ink Master" : TATTED
58. Juan's first lady : EVA. Peron.
59. Israeli statesman Barak : EHUD
62. Arrogant "South Park" kid : ERIC. Never watched the show. "South Park" kid is often KYLE or STAN.
63. "Kinda" kin : SORTA
65. Lover's end? : PHILE. Like Anglophile. The clue stumped me.
66. Frog haunts : LILY PADS
68. Brownie accessory : SASH
70. Put on __ : A SHOW
73. Issue : EMIT
74. Wayne Manor ringer : BAT PHONE. Nice!
78. Impressionist's forte : APING. Wanted APERY.
81. One of more than four billion : ASIAN
84. __ wolf : LONE
89. "The Addams Family" adjective : OOKY
90. Down Under school : UNI. University is called so in Australia.
91. Lima resident, maybe : OHIOAN. Not PERUVIAN.
92. Half a droid name : DETOO
93. Tiny evidence samples : DNAs. Are both DNA and RNA plurable, D-Otto?
94. Ziggy Marley's genre : REGGAE
96. Fries, say : SIDE
98. Off-the-wall : OUTRE
100. Chorus of laughs : HA HAs
105. Tex.-based carrier : SWA. Southwest Airlines.
108. Layered pastry : STRUDEL. Want some apple strudel? This is the same place that hosts the 3M Championship Tour each year. TPC Twin Cities.
110. Gillette razor word : TRAC
111. Relative of A-flat major : F MINOR
113. Word heard when pulling a string : MAMA. Dolls. I saw this Chatty Cathy at flea markets often.
114. "Find Your Own Road" sloganeer : SAAB
116. Spaceship Earth setting : EPCOT
119. In : AMONG
120. Isn't exactly humble : BRAGS
125. What toadies do : AGREE
126. Latin 101 word : ERAT. Not ESSE.
127. It sets in Spain : EL SOL
128. Rocky subj.? : GEOL
129. Almonds, e.g. : SEEDS. Not TREES.
130. Little bits : DABS
131. To-do list item : TASK
132. Coastal fisher : ERNE
Down:
1. Longtime PLO chairman : ARAFAT
2. Wyndham-owned brand : RAMADA. Easy crosses. Unaware of its parent company.
3. Advance in the race? : EVOLVE. Human race.
4. Sixth __ : SENSE
5. Show to a seat, in slang : USH. Not a verb I use.
6. Greek meeting site : STOA
7. Gut reactions? : OOFs
8. Sam's competitor : COSTCO. We were members for a year. Gift from my sister-in-law Barbara.
9. Janet Yellen's org., with "The" : FED
10. Large deep-water fish : OPAH
11. Bed intruders : WEEDS. Garden bed. I don't like the clue. Brings unpleasant images to me.
12. Rice title vampire : LESTAT. Nailed it this time.
13. Call to cruisers, briefly : APB
14. Without exception : BAR NONE
16. Censor's targets : OATHS
17. Blasting supplies : TNTs
20. Pasta wheat : DURUM. I miss the pumpkin noodles my grandma used to make for me. I never had luck finding a good Kabocha pumpkin in America. Maybe the Kabochas here taste the same, my taste has changed.
24. Land in Paris? : TERRE
25. Prize since 1901 : NOBEL
30. Bug in a garage : VW BEETLE
33. Quaint words of determination : BY GUM. I'm going to surprise Boomer when he's back home.
35. Fixes a draft : EDITS
40. Flip over : EAT UP
41. What opposite personalities often do : CLASH
42. "Why not?!" : YEAH
44. Procedural impediment : RED TAPE
46. Monthly exp. : UTIL
48. "Amores" author : OVID
49. MacArthur's "best soldiers" : WACS. Got via crosses. Not "Abbr." hint is needed because it's what MacArthur's said.
50. Paul in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame : LES
51. "The jig is up!" : OHO
54. Early Chinese dynasty : HSIA.
This will stump 99.9% of the native Chinese. Just Google Hsia Dynasty
and see what comes up. No one calls it Hsia in China. It's Xia dynasty.
55. Dick Van Patten's "Mama" role : NELS. No idea. Knotty HSIA/NELS/PHILE/A SHOW area.
57. Pod opener? : TRI. Tripod.
61. Operettist Franz : LEHAR. "The Merry Widow" guy.
62. Season finale, e.g. : EPISODE
64. Pipe remains : ASH
67. Sumac from Peru : YMA
69. Explosion sources : HOTHEADS. Boomer is one.
71. Column with a slant : OP-ED
72. Emilia, to Iago : WIFE
74. Fuzzy memory : BLUR
75. Second to none : A-ONE
76. "There's __ in ... " : NO I
77. Love deity : EROS
79. __ this world : NOT OF. I had OUT OF first.
80. __ project : GROUP
82. Letters for John Smith? : AKA. Got via crosses. Argyle explained to me that "John Smith is a common fictitious name, an alias and AKA might indicate his real name."
83. Buffalo locale: Abbr. : NYS. New York State.
87. Send a Dear John letter : END IT
88. Artistic theme : MOTIF
91. Surfing mecca : OAHU
95. Like privately owned classic cars : GARAGED. Not a word I used. Some of our common baseball cards are garaged then.
97. Violinist Zimbalist : EFREM
99. Update to reflect new routes : RE-MAP
101. SpongeBob's home : SEABED
103. "Annabel Lee" poet, in some of his personal letters : E. A. POE. Guilty of using it myself.
104. Paranormal : OCCULT
106. Hot-and-sour alternative : WONTON. This is how wontons are served in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. With noodles. The broth is made of shrimp shells & pork bone.
107. Sweater pattern : ARGYLE. Hi there, Santa.
108. Boot camp barker : SARGE
109. "Little House" lass : LAURA
112. Pixel pattern : IMAGE
113. Degrees for CEOs : MBAs. Our Marti has one. Jazzbumpa too, I think.
115. Tattle : BLAB
117. Peak of Greek myth : OSSA
118. General __ chicken : TSO's
121. His, to Henri : SES. Despite Splynter's distaste for French, he actually knows quite a bit.
123. Many USMA grads : LTS (Lieutenants)
124. Animal in a rut : ELK
I
thought I'd share with you this letter from Danny Mann, a regular L.A.
Times Sunday crossword solver. He wrote the piece after he heard of
Merl's passing.
Also, Swenglish Mom left this message on Friday's blog:
"On the main page of the mobile version scroll down all the way. There's a link to the web version. Using that will give access to all the goodies."
Does it help with your mobile viewing, Dave/Freond?
C.C.
