Theme: "C Battery" - C is added to each theme answer, changing spellings as needed.
23A. Film monster at a construction site? : CRANE OF TERROR. Reign of terror.We also have DESPOT (28. Unrestricted ruler).
39A. Peat moss heist? : NURSERY CRIME. Nursery rhyme.
44A. Double without a seatbelt? : UNSECURED CLONE. Unsecured loan. Notice all the C's are added to the start of one word in each themer? Consistency!
69A. Exclusive editing websites? : WIKI CLIQUES. WikiLeaks.
92A. Marx feature? : CRAZED EYEBROWS. Raised eyebrows. Groucho Marx.
96A. Garden center bulk purchase? : CASE OF SPADES. Ace of spades.
114A. Be tearfully grateful about comfy shoes? : CRY ON THE CROCS. Rye on the rocks. Double-action entry, like last Friday's PRISM. Double-action entry often placed as the last themer for maximum effect.
I think this might
be our Mark MacLachlan, a chemistry professor at the University of
British Columbia. This is his debut puzzle. Huge congratulations!
I
had a sense of what the theme might be after I glanced at the puzzle
title. Spelling change gimmick is much more challenging than the simple
adding/deleting letter approach. You need to be very imaginative.
There
are four nice sets of triple-stacked 7's, two of the sets cross another
7 & 8. The grid does also have lots of 3-letter entries (38).
Across:
1. Fads : MANIAS
7. They were introduced to Western pop music during the British Invasion : SITARS. Instruments, not singers as I first thought.
13. Quantities like mass and volume : SCALARS. New word to me.
20. Earth pigment : SIENNA
21. Slow movement : ADAGIO. Ad-agio, Italian for "at ease".
22. Hamlet's friend : HORATIO
25. Subject for Dumbledore : ALCHEMY. Dumbledore is the headmaster of the Hogwarts.
26. Plane staff : CREW
27. Kitchen top : LID
30. Govt. intel org. : NSA
31. Co-star of "Suspect" (1987) : CHER. Never saw the movie.
32. Author Rand : AYN
33. Spanish eye : OJO
35. Confine, as on a farm : PEN IN
37. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone : LIA. Hello, old friend!
38. Civil War prez : ABE
48. Sticks often with curved tops : CANES
49. Ones having a bite : EATERS. Thought of Da Fan Tong Jayce.
50. Former "Daily Show" correspondent Samantha : BEE. Now she has her own show.
51. Recipe words : A DASH. Partial.
54. Vietnam's last emperor Bao __ : DAI. No idea. Dai is the same as Chinese Da, meaning "big".
55. Update the machinery : RETOOL
57. Bagel topper : LOX. Barry G's breakfast staple. Hope you're getting better, Barry.
59. Apprehensive of : FEARING
61. Art opening? : POP. Pop art.
64. Reason to call the landlord : NO HEAT. Arbitrary phrase.
66. Something in the air : NITROGEN. Nice clue.
67. "Return of the Jedi" dancer : OOLA. This has become a gimme.
71. Adored speaker : BOSE. "Adored" because it's a popular brand?
72. Gerard Trenité poem about eccentricities of English pronunciation : THE CHAOS. Complete stranger. Read here.
74. Not dressy : CASUAL
75. Part of PST: Abbr. : STD
76. Historic metropolitan district : OLD TOWN. I lived in the old town part of Guangzhou & loved very much the neighborhood.
77. Miss piggy? : SOW. Great clue. I did read it as "Miss Piggy".
78. Astronomer Celsius : ANDERS. Did not know Celsius' given name.
82. Time, e.g., briefly : MAG
83. Iraqi port : BASRA
85. French pen name : BIC. French for "pen"? I wanted NOM. (Updated: BIC is French. Thanks, D-Otto. Never knew that.)
86. Research : GO INTO
90. "... __, mean, fightin' machine!": John Candy in "Stripes" : A LEAN
99. Carbohydrate ending : OSE
100. "Dinosaur Train" watcher : TOT. Easy guess.
101. WWII German minesweeper : R BOAT. No idea, Spitzboov. I only know U-boat and E-boat.
102. 6, on a phone : MNO
103. __ instinct : GUT
104. Riot squad spray : MACE
105. Munich lament : ACH
108. Tree in a tray : BONSAI. Well, nobody outdoes Dave for birthday cake links. But look at these two bonsai trees I found, Dave!
110. Breakfast morsel : OAT
111. Prying : NOSY
112. Go before : PRECEDE
119. Ursa Minor star : POLARIS
120. Interfere : MEDDLE
121. "Real love __ me through": Steve Winwood lyric : TO PULL. A rare 6-letter partial.
122. Matching tops worn together : TWIN-SET
123. Franklin writings : ESSAYS
124. Large furniture chain : ASHLEY. Drew a blank. I don't think we have one in our neighborhood.
Down:
1. Advanced math deg., in Canada : M.SC. OK, Master of Science.
2. Carrier with a Shanghai hub : AIR CHINA.
Nailed it. The flag carrier in Taiwan is called China Airlines. There
was no direct flight from Taiwan to mainland China until 2003. You had
to fly to Hong Kong first.
3. Qatar locale : NEAR EAST
4. __ peace : INNER
5. Yet again : ANEW
6. Brazil map word : SAO
7. Observed, maybe : SATIN
8. Fingered : ID'ED
9. Sailor : TAR
10. Cabinet dept. : AGR. We see ENER more often.
11. Aldi supermarket juice brand that translates to "river of gold" : RIO D'ORO. No idea either. Helpful "river of gold" hint. I go to Aldi weekly. Never saw this brand though.
12. Ticked : SORE
13. Machine shop tool : SHAPER
14. Groups of bats or beavers : COLONY. Oh, I only associate ants with colony.
15. Northernmost freshwater fish : ARCTIC CHAR. Steve might have had it. Not me.
16. "Well, __-di-dah!" : LAH
17. UMass's conference : A-TEN. Alright, Atlantic 10 Conference.
18. Edges : RIMS
19. Tofu source : SOYA.
Trader Joe's has the best extra-firm Tofu. They also have the best
veggie Jiaozi (Gyoza). I recall TTP mentioned that his wife likes their
shrimp Gyoza.
24. Handbill : FLYER
29. 1994 film set on a bus : SPEED. Loved the film. I watched the Cantonese version.
31. Game with a rope : CLUE
32. "Perched upon __ of Pallas": "The Raven" : A BUST. Partial.
33. Fairy tale opener : ONCE
34. Summer mo. : JUL
36. Org. for marksmen : NRA
38. 43,560 square feet : ACRE
40. Junk food, in ads : SNAX
41. Dyes used for blue jeans : INDIGOS
42. Most Grinch-like : MEANEST
43. Digitally endorsed : E-SIGNED. Also 46. Nook downloads : E-BOOKS. Do any of you use Audible.com?
45. Bard's "always" : E'ER
47. Home of Humayun's Tomb : DELHI. Unfamiliar with the tomb.
52. Off the beaten path : AFIELD
53. Puts in rollers : SETS
56. Dip ingredients : ONIONS
57. Award-winning courtroom drama : LA LAW
58. Elevator innovator : OTIS
60. Hold up : ROB
61. Chesapeake Bay feeder : POTOMAC
62. "C'est magnifique!" : OOH LA LA
63. Telethon commitments : PLEDGES
65. Maker of Cage golf shoes : ECCO. Boomer just got a much-lighter Big Bertha from 2nd Swing. He thinks he's going to hit straighter and 20-30 yards farther.
66. Subtlety : NUANCE
68. Be on a role? : ACT
69. Trumpet sound : WA WA
70. "Brokeback Mountain" actor : QUAID (Randy). Never saw the movie. The plot is so moving.
73. Schmoozers : HOBNOBBERS
77. 1986 Starship chart-topper : SARA. This got me last time.
79. Spew out : EGEST
80. Obi-Wan's attire : ROBE
81. Title of honor : SIR
84. Tax audit needs: Abbr. : RCPTS
85. Smooch from Sofía : BESO. For Bill G.
87. Absolutely no one : NOT A SOUL. Can you think of a clue without using "no"?
88. Type of engine or oil : TWO-CYCLE. New concept to me as well.
89. Bone: Pref. : OSTE
91. Fizzy prefix : AER
93. Looks up to : ADMIRES
94. __ garden : ZEN
95. What "comes but once in a lifetime": Longfellow : YOUTH
97. "Jamie" reader : FOODIE. What is "Jamie"? Anything to do with Jamie Oliver?
98. Most stable : SANEST
103. Defense secretary before Panetta : GATES (Robert)
104. Transform, in sci-fi : MORPH
105. iCal entry : APPT. Gary must use his iCal app often.
106. Bad avian omen in much mythology : CROW
107. Prefix with port : HELI
109. Peak : ACME
110. Just : ONLY
111. Sgts. and cpls. : NCOS
113. Discharge : CAN
115. NFL stat : YDS
116. "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown : ODA. Ditto.
117. Greek vowel : ETA
118. Cagey : SLY
I've
been enjoying Peter Gordon's Newsflash Crosswords the past few years.
His entries and clues are super current and full of fun trivia.
MERRICK GARLAND appeared in Peter's grid two days after he was nominated for
the Justice post. Please click here and back his project if you love crosswords and news. You'll love each handcrafted gem from him.
C.C.
