Theme: "Volumizing" - BODY is added to each theme entry.
23. Obstruct one's buddies during a hockey game? : BODY CHECK MATES. Checkmates.
32. Crimson Tide wrestler? : ALABAMA BODY SLAMMER.
Boomer never heard of Alabama Slammer. I read the Wiki ingredients. He
said "Oh, it sounds girly." His likes Manhattan on the rocks.
52. Snoop's job? : BUSYBODY WORK. Busy work.
69. Royal with a broadcasting award? : PRINCESS AND THE PEABODY. Princess and the Pea. PEABODY is not rooted in BODY, hence an ideal choice in letter addition/deletion/replacement gimmick.
88. Central garage item? : BODY SHOP LIFT. Shoplift.
104. Benchmark for a movie daredevil? : BODY DOUBLE STANDARD. Double standard.
119. Immunology-themed gala? : ANTIBODY SOCIAL. Anti-social.
When I read the title, I figured something would be added. BODY appeared rather earlier, so I had plenty of free letters.
March 21, 2013 is the last time we saw Alex Bajcz's byline. Since then he has had two puzzles published by the New York Times. But today is his very first Sunday grid. Congrats, Alex! Bajcz is pronounced like "Badges", by the way.
Alex
is bold with his grid design. Those paralleled 11's in the upper right
and lower left are hard to pull off cleanly, esp since they're
intersecting two long Across themers. I can probably do a paralleled 9's
or 10's with one themer Across. You rock, Alex!
Across:
1. Eliminate, as a vacancy : FILL
5. Chin-up muscle, briefly : LAT
8. Car window options : TINTS
13. Capital of Eritrea : ASMARA. Vowel aplenty.
19. "I've got it!" elicitor : IDEA
20. Peyton's brother : ELI
21. NSX automaker : ACURA
22. Cavatappi and such : PASTAS.
Never heard of Cavatappi. Wiki says it's "an Italian word created by
compounding "cava tappi", which literally means "tap extractor" (a
corkscrew)".
26. Strapless accessory : CLUTCH. Consonant-rich. Was thinking of the strapless bras.
27. Norwegian for "sloping track" : SLALOM
28. Baking site : KILN. Not OVEN.
29. "Heat of the Moment" band : ASIA. Not AC/DC.
31. Scrape (by) : EKE
37. Movement suffix : ISM
40. One more time : ANEW
41. Brooding rock genre : EMO
42. Agree to a friending request : ACCEPT. Husker Gary is the first person who accepted my Friend Request.
43. Talk : CHAT
45. Paneer cheese go-with : NAAN. Never had Paneer. You?
48. Los Angeles rarity : SNOW. Lucky!
50. "__ where it hurts!" : HIT 'EM
56. Nick time? : NITE
58. Payless box letters : EEE
59. Bio lab organism : MICROBE
60. Dublin-to-Blackpool dir. : ENE. Already the E in place. Hence ENE. No NNE or SSE dilemma.
61. Home of The Hague: Abbr. : NETH
62. Pres. and veep : LDRS (Leaders).
63. Elroy Jetson's best friend : ASTRO
65. It might be a mirage : OASIS. Have you had fresh dates before?
67. Pumps up : ELATES
74. Right-hand pages : RECTOS. Vs. VERSOS.
75. Tapped : CHOSE
76. Car buyer's choice : COUPE
77. Pocket rockets, in poker : ACES. Learned from doing crosswords.
78. Quaint contraction : 'TWAS
80. JFK speechwriter Sorensen : TED
82. Churro relative : CRULLER.
I believe Churro came from China. We call it Youtiao. Youtiao & soy
milk is the standard breakfast in Shanghai/Taiwan. Jayce love it.
86. Often laceless shoe : MOC. Drew a blank.
87. Bygone autocrat : TSAR
90. [What a snoozefest!] : SNORE
92. Watson outburst : I SAY
94. "Go __ Watchman": Harper Lee novel : SET A
95. 90 degrees from norte : ESTE. East. Then we also have NL WEST (96. Gp. including the Rockies).
98. Bk. fair organizer : PTA
100. Try to convince : URGE. Boomer just would not put an ad on our local Star Tribune for our one-day garage sale yesterday. Alas, it's a bust. Street signs were not enough. Craigslist did bring us a few visitors, including one persistent "Have you heard the good news.... " lady. Boomer said she's a Jehovah's Witness.
103. Beast of burden : ASS
109. One in a rack : RIB
110. Org. led by a Grand Exalted Ruler : BPOE
111. Three-and-out follower, in football : PUNT
112. Muss : TOUSLE
116. Relaxed : AT EASE
122. Eccentric sort : GEEZER. Always old.
123. Compete in an impromptu "contest" : STARE. Got via crossed.
124. White House accounting gp. : OMB. OK, Office of Management and Budget.
125. Sleek : TRIM
126. Pointers : ARROWS
127. Varieties : TYPES
128. The G in LGBT : GAY
129. Round Table honorifics : SIRS
Down:
1. Tells tales : FIBS
2. Carrie Underwood, for one : IDOL. Fourth season winner.
3. Helen of Troy's mother : LEDA
4. 1992 Best Rock Song Grammy winner : LAYLA. Easy crossing.
5. Big name in 2008 financial news : LEHMAN
6. Lagunitas product : ALE
7. Pass by, as time : TICK AWAY
8. The Miracles' label : TAMLA. Never heard of it.
9. Promising "Are you available?" response : I CAN BE. Not YES I AM.
10. Baklava morsel : NUT
11. Walk all over : TREAD ON
12. Impertinent : SASSY
13. Math course for coll. credit : AP CALC. Very helpful clue.
14. __ Khan, online academy founder : SAL. I wanted ALY.
15. The NCAA's Spartans : MSU
16. Tried proving that one could : ATTEMPTED TO
17. Engaged in organized crime : RACKETEERED
18. One of Israel's 12 tribes : ASHER. This stumped me last time.
24. Vending machine choice : COLA
25. Sister of Khloé : KIM
30. Witness' statement : I SAW IT
33. Sprees : BENDERS
34. Trans-Siberian Railway city : OMSK. Easy crossings.
35. Need ice, maybe : ACHE
36. Soong __-ling: Madame Chiang : MEI.
She's the youngest of the Soong Sisters. The middle sister Ching-Ling
married Dr. Sun Yat-sen. The oldest sister married the then richest man
in China. They were all educated here in the US.
 |
| Left to right: Ai-ling, Ching-ling and Mei-ling. |
37. Disarmament subj. : ICBM
38. Feng __ : SHUI
39. Gram. gender : MASC
44. Absolute rulers : TYRANTS
46. Leave speechless : AWE
47. "Stop! You're ruining everything!" : NO NO NO. Also 107. "So that's __?" : A NO. Probably should have gone with the Spanish year clue direction.
49. "Hold that thought" : ONE SEC
51. Like some breakups : MESSY
53. "Psycho" shower scene blood, actually : BOSCO. Good to know.
54. Beseeches : OBTESTS. Do you use this word in your daily life? I never heard of it.
55. Entertains with a bedtime story : READS TO
57. Capital since 2002 : THE EURO. Does "The" feels unnecessary to you?
61. Bethesda medical agcy. : NIH
62. "Lady Marmalade" singer : LABELLE. I'm more familiar with this version.
64. Coveted statuettes : OSCARS
66. Fury and Silver of classic TV : STEEDS. Not HORSES.
68. Eagerly consume : LAP UP. We also have 79. Watch (for) : WAIT UP. Tiny dupes like UP, AT, THE are OK.
69. London strollers : PRAMS
70. Keep tabs on the enemy : RECONNOITER. I always use RECON.
71. Ballpark vendor's cry : ICE-COLD BEER. Sparkling 11.
72. Contented sounds : AHs
73. Diving duck : POCHARD. New word to me. We always get SMEW for this clue. Her eyes are red.
81. Vat filler : DYE. And 117. Nitrogenous 81-Down : AZO
83. Former L.A. Sparks All-Star __ Leslie : LISA. Amazing career.
84. Young newts : EFTs
85. Numbered rds. : RTEs
87. Drove, with "off" : TEED
88. Modern storage unit : BYTE
89. Nonhuman film substitute : STUNT DOG. Wow. I only know stuntman.
91. Letters after either Cowboy St. senator's name : R-WY. Goofy answer.
93. In spades : APLENTY
97. Gets serious : SOBERS
99. Have grand plans : ASPIRE
101. "Great" literary hero : GATSBY
102. Switch end : EROO. Switcheroo.
104. NW Portuguese city : BRAGA. Unfamiliar to me.
105. Talk oneself up : BOAST
106. Straws, e.g. : TUBES. Simple in retrospect.
108. Sources of tears : DUCTS. Simple in retrospect.
113. Popular assistant : SIRI. This lady gives me pause all the time, unless she's clued explicitly.
114. Private retreat : LAIR
115. Shade trees : ELMS
118. Be in a bee : SEW. Sewing bee.
120. Gentle attention-getter : TAP
121. "The Peruvian Songbird" Sumac : YMA
Happy
Birthday to dear Don G, my talented mentor and close friend. Don has
been quite busy with his piano projects, but continues to work with me
and help me when he's free.
C.C.
