Theme: "Holding Out" - OUT is removed from the starting of one word in each theme entry.
27A. Exertion while getting up? : STANDING EFFORT. Outstanding effort.
41A. Angry reaction to insolent trick-or-treaters? : HALLOWEEN FIT. Halloween outfit.
60A. Pickup shtick that needs refinement? : ROUGH LINE. Rough outline.
70A. Place for perjurers? : LYING AREA. Outlying area.
86A. Ship's secure containers? : BOUND FREIGHT. Outbound freight.
102A. Wing for rugby's Wallabies? : AUSTRALIAN BACK. Australian outback. Wiki said Wallabies is the nickname for Australia's rugby team. Learning moment for me.
37D. Gregarious play group? : SOCIAL CAST. Social outcast.
45D. Blog entry about garden edging? : BORDER POST. Border outpost. Boomer bought this plant from Walmart two weeks ago, but he did not keep the flower tag. Do you know the name?
Though
the OUTs in the original OUT* phrase are mostly prefixes, Gail kept the
OUTless phrases far away in meaning as possible. The theme looks simple
(Gail makes everything look simple), but it's hard to nail it.
Themers are placed Across and Down for the smoothest fill, though often Down themers rob the grid of sparkling long fill.
Across:
1. Hyde Park carriage : PRAM
5. One with ropelike tresses : RASTA
10. Enjoys King and Queen : READS. Stephen King. Ellery Queen. We also have 114. King creation : NOVEL
15. Water carrier : DUCT. Not PAIL.
19. Seat of Allen County, Kansas : IOLA. No idea. What's it famous for?
20. __ Bell: Emily Brontë pen name : ELLIS. Learning moment for me also.
21. Run the show : EMCEE
22. Morales of "Jericho" : ESAI
23. Mongolian for "waterless place" : GOBI
24. Half a Yale cheer : BOOLA. Also 53. Member of college music's Whiffenpoofs : ELI
25. Order to attack : SIC 'EM
26. Reason to ban a book : PORN.
Once I had PORN and ORGY in one grid. Rich asked me to remove one. Lots
of stuff to consider when filling a puzzle: number of abbrs, partials,
names, etc. Do not put G-SPOT in LAT, do not put CEE/PEE/ELOAN in WSJ, do not put LGE in NYT.
30. Crystallized mist : ICE FOG
32. Shows some spunk : DARES
33. Leather piercers : AWLS
34. Aspirant : WANNABE
35. Take under one's wing : ASSIST. Not MENTOR.
38. Tel __ : AVIV
39. Had a row? : OARED. Did not fool me.
40. Many August births : LEOS
45. Short deli order? : BLT
48. Russian retreat : DACHA
50. Pressure source : PEER. Peer pressure.
51. Completed with one stroke : ACED. This refers to hole-in-one, right?
52. Really come down : POUR
54. Long Island airport town : ISLIP. All crosses.
56. Shock source : TASER
58. __ pants : CARGO. Not CAPRI.
59. Bug-loving org. : NSA
62. Attacked without warning : RAIDED
63. Somewhat soft, as a sound : LOWISH. Not a word I use.
65. Ref's call : TKO
66. Capital east of the Black Hills : PIERRE. Pretty city. Boomer took me there in 2001.
68. Spa treatment : FACIAL
72. MD associates : RNs And 85. Ambulance VIP : EMT
75. Three-time Olympics host country : ITALY. China only hosted one.
76. They may be emotional : SCARS, which we all have.
78. Express disdain (at) : SNIFF. Not SNEER.
79. Cioppino cooker : POT. Never had Cioppino. Looks delicious, Irish Miss/D-Otto.
80. Curious to a fault : NOSY
81. Steinbeck surname : JOAD
82. Some light beers : BUDS. Tiny clue/answer dupe with 84. Not-too-potent potable : NEAR BEER.
83. Cyberjotting : E-NOTE
90. Salinger title teen : ESME
91. Collectors' items? : DEBTS. Lovely clue. Of course I was thinking those eBay items.
92. Go on : LAST
93. Too violent, perhaps : R-RATED
95. Split the tab : GO DUTCH
98. Fourth down play : PUNT
99. Bit of ugly politics : SMEAR
101. Extremely : EVER SO
107. Retina feature : CONE. Another learning moment to me.
108. "Invisible Man" author Ellison : RALPH
110. Chan portrayer : OLAND (Warner). Learned from doing crosswords.
111. Supply-and-demand sci. : ECON
112. Rock band famous for face paint : KISS
113. Often-bricked surface : PATIO
115. Northern terminus of I-79 : ERIE
116. Some Neruda poems : ODES
117. Old will? : SHALT. Thou shalt ...
118. Noisy fliers : GEESE. Not GNATS.
119. Peace Nobelist Cassin : RENE. Never heard of him.
Down:
1. Fairy tale trio : PIGS
2. Underlying cause : ROOT
3. Goya's "Duchess of __" : ALBA
4. It often includes sides : MAIN DISH.
For years, my lunch was a hot bowl of rice noodle soup. Cantonese
noodle soup is similiar to Vietnamese Pho. Tasty slow-cooked broth, a
few pieces of meat & green veggie, but no bean sprouts or basil on
top. Cilantro is the only herb Chinese use.
5. Second coming : REBIRTH
6. How writers usually work : ALONE. Same as 95% (or more) of the crossword constructors.
7. Plods (through) : SLOGS
8. Scrabble piece : TILE
9. Without obligation : AS A FAVOR
10. Work out : RESOLVE. Some of you were aware that I wanted this soybean paste,
but Amazon sent me soy sauce, which I stupidly opened. Amazon asked me
to keep the soy sauce, but I had to re-order the paste and they would
not offer me free shipping. Sigh! I did not re-order. I bought another container of red miso at
the Asian market yesterday, Yellowrocks!
11. Qatari bigwigs : EMIRS
12. Part of IRA: Abbr. : ACCT. Stock market was violent again last week.
13. Wood finish? : DEE. Just the last letter.
14. Like parts of the Great Plains : SEMI-ARID
15. Count (on) : DEPEND
16. D.C. location, familiarly : US OF A
17. Chocolate substitute : CAROB. The chocolate mint plant I bought last time lost its chocolate flavor when seeped in hot water, TTP/Anon-T. Still very minty though.
18. Hint : TINGE
28. Court figs. : DAs
29. Texter's "Just sayin'" : FWIW
31. Site for techies : CNET
34. Nilla product : WAFER
35. Pilgrim John : ALDEN
36. They can make good impressions : SEALS. I had ?EALS in place and thought of MEALS first. They do make good impressions.
38. Hebrew opener : ALEPH. First letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
39. First word of "The Raven" : ONCE
42. Distinctive mark : A PLUS
43. "Gone With the Wind" actress : LEIGH (Vivien). Victim of bipolar.
44. Assuage : EASE
46. Winter Games vehicle : LUGE
47. Walked (on) : TROD
49. United route : AIR WAY
52. Two of a kind : PAIR
55. It covers a lot of ground : SOIL. Nice clue also.
56. Maori carvings : TIKIs
57. Like many an Internet troll: Abbr. : ANON Also 88. Frantic monologue : RANT
58. Wine order : CARAFE
61. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR. Light-year.
62. Navigation hazard : REEF
64. Slick : OILY
66. Cincy-based consumer products giant : P AND G
67. Like Oscar Wilde : IRISH
68. "Whatever floats your boat" : FINE
69. Energy source : ATOM
70. "This Gun for Hire" actor : LADD (Alan)
71. Astronaut's garb : G-SUIT. Watch this clip from Gary if you missed it last time. You won't forget his voice.
73. Innocent words : NOT ME
74. Mount to mount : STEED
76. Word in two state names : SOUTH
77. Soup aisle array : CANS
81. Department of Labor training program : JOB CORPS. Also a learning moment to me.
82. "Hang in there" : BE STRONG
86. Gets in the pool, maybe : BETS
87. Seasonal pharmacy offering : FLU SHOT
89. Potter's pedal : TREADLE
91. Arm-twisting : DURESS
94. Took off : RAN
95. Tropical lizard : GECKO
96. Like jellybeans : OVOID
97. Like urban population : DENSE. We have over 75,000 people here in Brooklyn Park, MN. 15% are Asian.
98. One learning the ropes : PUPIL
99. Toil (away) : SLAVE
100. Bores for ore : MINES
102. Wasatch Mountains resort : ALTA. Got via crosses.
103. Burn remedy : ALOE
104. Spread measurement : ACRE
105. Mint product : COIN
106. Often-skinned spot : KNEE
109. Fan reaction? : AAH. I wanted BOO.
C.C.
