Theme: "A Fee for Victory" - V is changed into F, all key words go through spelling changes.
23A. Municipal tennis court? : COMMUNITY SURFACE. Community service.
38A. Crowded dorm symptom? : A ROOM WITH A FEW. A Room with a View.
66A. Embellishment on Arabic calligraphy? : ALIF GARNISH. Olive garnish. Holy smoke, I pronounced ALIF wrong all these years. I thought A has the schwa sound.
75A. Last log entry? : FINAL RECORD. Vinyl record.
118A Request at the poultry farm? : I'D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL. I'd like to buy a vowel.
99A. Animal always without a home? : PERMANENT WAIF. Permanent wave.
16D. Cause of playtime sadness? : LOSING ONE'S NERF. Lose one's nerve.
51D. Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen? : SIBLING RIFLERY. Sibling rivalry.
I
bet many of you figured out the gimmick by looking at the title alone. I
did also. The more I solve/make this type of sound change puzzle, the
more I realize how hard it is to find a non-self-evident title that
captures the gimmick.
Judging
by the byline order, Donna came up with the theme idea, then she and
Bruce brainstormed the theme entries together. Then Bruce designed the
grid (Intersecting long theme entries is his hallmark). Then maybe Bruce
filled the grid and Donna clued the whole grid. Or they each filled
half and clued half.
Loved the theme. Donna and Bruce are total pros.
Unless you brainstorm this type of sound change theme yourself, you
won't realize how much imagination and skills are involved in coming up
with a consistant set.
Across:
1. "Ring Around the Rosie" word : ASHES. Sigh. Never heard of this nursery rhyme.
6. Belts : SWIGS. Both verb/noun works.
11. Drop : OMIT.
15. Firefly emanation : GLOW
19. Regatta racer : SCULL. Not ROWER.
20. Bacon in a parlor game : KEVIN. Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. I was picturing real bacon.
21. Rare state bird : NENE
22. Apple's apple, e.g. : LOGO
26. Nobel Peace Center home : OSLO
27. Jackson ejector : ATM
28. Goes bad : ROTS
29. Father __ Sarducci: "SNL" character : GUIDO
30. "Good __!" : GRIEF. Not GRAVY.
31. Artist Mondrian : PIET
33. Rudely awaken : ROUST
36. Throat trouble? : FROG. Nice clue.
37. __ Tin Tin : RIN
41. Bayer that might cause a headache? : BEAGLE. I don't get this clue. Why "headache"? Also 86. 41-Across, e.g. : BREED
44. Après-ski option : SPA. Not RUM.
45. "Jurassic Park" threat : TREX
46. Cause of a municipal alert : SMOG. Quite serious in my hometown Xi'an last winter.
48. Online ref. since 2000 : OED
49. Radiographer's tests : CT SCANS. We also have 40. The "A" often seen in 49-Across : AXIAL. The latter is unknown to me.
53. Guadalajara gal pal : AMIGA
56. WWI French battle site : ARGONNE. Stumped me last time.
58. "La donna è mobile," for one : ARIA. Hey, we have Donna!
59. In a proper manner : DULY
61. Francis of "What's My Line?" : ARLENE
63. Conk : BEAN
64. Massage : RUB
65. Feature of ths clue : TYPO
68. Contradict : BELIE
70. Israeli statesman Abba : EBAN
72. Buster? : NARC. Another great clue.
73. Like __: probably : AS NOT
78. Otherwise : ELSE
80. Show one's humanity : ERR
81. "Aw, fudge!" : DANG. I had DARN. By the way, Rich does not allow DAMN any more.
82. Potential benefit : UPSIDE
83. Editor's "Let it be" : STET. And 113. Opposite of 83-Across : DELE
84. Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket : DR NO
85. Quadratic formula course : ALGEBRA. Googled afterward. Knew that formula in Chinese, which gave me headache in high school.
87. "I'm not afraid of __; I just don't want to be there when it happens": Woody Allen :
DEATH
89. Mucinex relative : SUDAFED. Where did the drug company pick up this name?
91. Neighbor of Leb. : ISR
92. Biryani base : RICE. Never heard of Biryani. You?
94. Senator Bail Organa's adopted daughter : LEIA. I thought he's a real US Senator. "Star Wars".
96. Written guffaw : LOL
97. Taken over : SEIZED
105. Adversary : FOE
106. Eldest Bennet daughter in "Pride and Prejudice" : JANE
107. __ Soleil: 17th-/18th-century royal : LE ROI. The Sun King.
108. On Vine St., say : IN LA
110. Spaniard's "L'chaim!" : SALUD
112. Chased from the closet : OUTED
114. Ices : OFFs
116. Business card abbr. : TEL
117. Not odd at all : EVEN
122. Geeky sort : NERD
123. Wedding cake layer : TIER
124. Detroit's Joe __ Arena : LOUIS
125. Holmes of "The Kennedys" : KATIE. She does look like Jackie Kennedy.
126. Temperance advocates : DRYs
127. Head of France? : TETE
128. DeMille specialties : EPICs
129. Wood that sinks in water : EBONY. Got via crosses.
Down:
1. Music rights gp. : ASCAP
2. Old Roman name for Ireland : SCOTIA. Oh, I did not know this.
3. Large '90s-'00s SUV : HUMMER
4. Boston's Liberty Tree was one : ELM
5. Disparage : SLUR
6. Bunny slope conveyance : SKI TOW
7. Scuba gear : WET SUIT
8. Brown, for one : IVY. Gimme for our regulars.
9. Vets-to-be : GIs
10. Cozy : SNUG
11. Having a heck of a winning streak : ON FIRE
12. Pastures : MEADOWS
13. Disguised, briefly : INCOG. A common topic in old Chinese novels. High officials, including emperors, often go incognito to villages.
14. Driver's aid : TEE.
Golf. Does Champions Tour stop in your area, TTP? It's free here. 3M also gives each spectator a bag of goodies: Scotch tape, Post-It notes, etc. Here is Boomer on Friday.
15. Meathead's wife in '70s TV : GLORIA. No idea. All in the Family,
17. Act like a wolf : OGLE
18. Pound sound : WOOF
24. Rouen's region : NORMANDY
25. Elizabethan neckwear : RUFF. Also a learning moment.
30. One of the Allman Brothers : GREGG. Cher's ex.
32. Scarpia's killer, in a Puccini opera : TOSCA
34. Errant : STRAY
35. Him and her : THEM
39. WWII cost-stabilizing agcy. : OPA. No idea. Office of Price Administration
41. Wood-damaging insect : BORER. Gluey word.
42. "Stormy Weather" singer : LENA HORNE. We don't see her full name often.
43. Place with a serpent problem : EDEN
47. Handcuffs : MANACLES
49. Atkins no-no : CARB
50. Kind of test : TRUE-FALSE. Sparkly.
52. Powerful campaign force : SUPER PAC. Sparkly.
54. Humdrum routine : GRIND
55. Bravo preceder : ALFA
57. Geishas' sashes : OBIs
60. Sections of the brain : LOBES
62. "Snowy" wader : EGRET
65. It may be taken in the afternoon : TEA. Suddenly none of the local grocery stores carries Bigelow Jasmine tea right now. Strange.
66. Battery terminal : ANODE
67. "Sorry, lad" : NAE
69. Kansas-born playwright : INGE
71. H2SO4, e.g. : ACID
74. Stepped : TROD
76. Gruesome : LURID
77. Kingdom : REALM
79. Make a fool of : STULTIFY. New word to me.
81. Place of honor : DAIS
83. Really impress the critics : SHINE
84. __ Lama : DALAI. So much wisdom in Tibetan Buddhism.
88. Color like aqua : TEAL
90. Information company co-founder Charles : DOW. Did not know his given name.
93. Shoulder decoration : EPAULET
95. Good for the heart and lungs : AEROBIC
98. "Gadzooks!" : ZOUNDS
100. Complete : ENTIRE And 103. Completely : IN TOTO
101. Stink : REEK
102. Easy to use, in adspeak : NO FUSS
104. Arrived from above : FLEW IN
106. Best Actress between Cher and Jessica : JODIE
(Foster). Got via crosses. Googled and found out that she won Oscar in
1989 for "The Accused". I thought it's for "The Silence of the Lambs".
109. Strike zone? : ALLEY. Nailed it.
110. Transmit : SEND
111. Maintain : AVER
115. Benefit : SAKE. For the sake of.
118. Hairy Addams cousin : ITT
119. Outdo : TOP
120. Avignon agreement : OUI
121. '60s quartet adjective : FAB. Four.
C.C.
