Theme: "Lend Me Your Ears" - EAR is added to each theme entry.
22A. Candy served on a corporate blimp? : GOODYEAR GUMDROPS. Goody gumdrops. We also have Goodyear's headquarters AKRON (45. City on the Ohio and Erie Canal).
36A. Often censored musical groups? : SWEARING BANDS. Swing bands.
67A. Rather uninspired cocktail? : DREARY MARTINI. Dry martini.
95A. What happens at the southern terminus of Interstate 65? : MOBILE APPEARS. Mobile app.
115A. Pair of lustrous Kleenex? : TWO PEARLY TISSUES. Two-ply tissues.
15D. First asp most likely to bite when the group is disturbed? : NEAREST OF VIPERS. Nest of vipers is a new phrase to me.
42D. How sundaes are often served? : BEARING CHERRIES. Bing cherries. I would not know how to clue the entry to give it surface sense.
Jeffrey has been raising the bar on letter addition gimmick. No one-letter for him. Most of his puzzles has 3 or more letter strings. Very hard to pull off. He's a master.
Jeffrey has been raising the bar on letter addition gimmick. No one-letter for him. Most of his puzzles has 3 or more letter strings. Very hard to pull off. He's a master.
The ten 8-letter fill really shine in this grid. Eight of them are stacked in a 140-word grid. Stunning.
Across:
1. "That's a __" : SHAME. Tricky clue, as the answer could be BIG IF, FIRST, GIVEN, etc.
6. Brie-ripening agent : BACTERIA
14. SASEs, e.g. : ENCs
18. Skulking milieu, with "the" : SHADOWS. This is a new expression for me.
20. Considering identical : EQUATING
21. Aviation prefix : AERO
24. "Better Call ___" : SAUL. "Breaking Bad" spinoff.
25. Fine netting : TULLE. Named after the French city where it's first made.
26. Discipline that often emphasizes breathing : YOGA
27. LAX report : ETA
28. "Rigoletto" composer : VERDI
29. Uses a rudder : STEERS
31. "Say it soft and it's almost like praying" song : MARIA. "West Side Story".
34. "Success!" : I MADE IT. Sparkling fill.
40. Former NBA exec Jackson : STU. Don't know him.
41. Network with its HQ in Ottawa : CBC
44. Very long time : EON
46. Put into words : STATED
48. Harvest units : SHEAVES
50. Airline with blue-striped jets : EL AL. What's the best airline you've flown?
52. Get bluffed out, say : LOSE
53. Biblical landing site : ARARAT
54. __ agent : SECRET
58. Disengaged : ALOOF
61. Element #5 : BORON
62. Quotable late athlete : BERRA
63. "In spades!" : IS IT EVER. Another great fill.
66. Label for the Swedish duo Roxette : EMI. Guessed.
71. Suffix with concert : INO. Not INA.
72. Prom limo, e.g. : RENT A CAR
74. Alberto VO5 competitor : BRECK. I use neither.
75. Barcelona bar fare : TAPAS
77. Fancy dos : GALAS. Not hairdos. Look at her braids. Lovely.
78. Rusty nail liquor : SCOTCH. Here is the recipe. With Drambuie.
80. Ancient warship with two decks of oars : BIREME. Learned from doing crosswords.
81. Connect with the space station : DOCK
83. Eucalyptus, for one : TREE
85. Bucket list list : DESIRES. They're indeed all desires.
86. Ready to mate : IN HEAT
89. 2005 "Survivor" island : PALAU
92. Nemo's realm : SEA
93. High-speed letters : DSL. I'm jealous of TTP's high speed.
94. Stroke from Venus? : ACE. Venus Williams.
99. Relevant : GERMANE
101. Iraqi port : BASRA
102. Fluid transfer tool : SIPHON
107. Jones with nine Grammys : NORAH
108. Ring legend : ALI
111. Italian man : UOMO.
I know it simply because of Giovanna, who used to be the
editor of L'Uomo Vogue. Leggy, but she just got married, Splynter!
113. Sycophant : TOADY
114. "Amores" author : OVID. Also 23. Like 114-Across : ROMAN
119. Oracle : SEER
120. Thwart bigtime : SABOTAGE. Another great fill.
121. Take umbrage : BRISTLE. Ditto.
122. Celtic language : ERSE
123. Landscape ruiners : EYESORES. Ditto.
124. Prepare for a dubbing : KNEEL
Down:
1. Make oneself heard : SHOUT
2. Oahu outsider : HAOLE. Cantonese call foreigners "Gweilo", literally "Ghost". Derogatory in its origin, but no negative tone these days.
3. Confuse : ADDLE
4. Press secretary under LBJ : MOYERS (Bill). We also have 43. LBJ biographer Robert __ : CARO. I learned quite a bit about LBJ from Caro's "Fresh Air" interview.
5. Pastoral parent : EWE
6. Nonchooser? : BEGGAR. Saw similar clue before. So no problem.
7. Some tanks : AQUARIA. Spell check needs to recognize that this is a word.
8. Magna __ laude : CUM
9. Little bit : TAD
10. French 101 infinitive : ETRE
11. Card relative? : RIOT. This "Card" clue gets me all the time.
12. Hurting : IN PAIN
13. Power players in state law: Abbr. : AGs
14. Brought slowly (into) : EASED
16. Bite-size veggies : CRUDITES. Great use of the bell pepper.
17. What loners seek : SOLITUDE
18. Snorkel and his peers: Abbr. : SGTs
19. "As I'm thinking about it ... " : SAY
28. Sprawling : VAST
30. "I like that!" : SWEET!
32. It's held in a pen : INK. Not PIG.
33. Share an opinion : AGREE. Boomer unfriended a friend because of political differences.
35. OR personnel : MDs
37. Dawn goddess : EOS
38. Head for the hills : BOLT
39. Tokyo-based airline : ANA (All Nippon Airways)
41. Auto design element : CHROME
47. Natural emollient : ALOE
48. Napoleonic Wars weapon : SABER
49. Property destroyer : VANDAL
51. Ophthalmologist's procedure : LASIK. Any of you had LASIK surgery?
54. Cook, as scallops : SEAR
55. Make the wrong move : ERR
56. Overreact to spilt milk : CRY
57. Film series Vietnam veteran : RAMBO. Also 59. Vietnam Veterans Memorial designer : LIN
60. Canal problem? : OTITIS. Ear canal.
62. Creature : BEAST
63. Bite result, often : ITCH. Our Saturday flea market is located in a big plot of farmland full of trees and weeds. Man, the mosquitoes are wild.
64. Cookware coating : ENAMEL
65. Gift from a lover : ROSES
68. 45 rpm record pioneer : RCA
69. Busts and such : ART. Also 85. Busting org. : DEA
70. __ room : REC
73. Receipts : TAKE
76. Parched : ARID
78. Salmon predator : SEAL. 80. Salmon predators : BEARS. Another clue echo.
79. "E! News" subject : CELEB
81. Evaluate symptoms : DIAGNOSE
82. Superficial look : ONCE-OVER
84. Venerable N.Y. tech school : RPI. Alma mater for Spitzboov.
87. Eastern nursemaid : AMAH. We just had this last Sunday.
88. Cargo measure : TON
90. Gp. following gas prices : AAA
91. Rapid increase : UPSURGE
92. Of ill repute : SEAMY
96. Leave town for a bit : BE AWAY. Not fond of this BE AWAY or IS BAD type of answer.
97. "1984" working class : PROLES. We just had the singular PROLE last month.
98. Audits a course, say : SITS IN
100. Familia member : MADRE
103. Western sheriff's aid : POSSE
104. __ cuisine : HAUTE
105. 1961 Newbery Medal winner Scott __ : O'DELL. For this book.
106. Where KO means Coca-Cola : NYSE. 110. 106-Down debuts : IPOs
109. Brain segment : LOBE
112. Gambling option in many sts. : OTB
115. "The Waste Land" monogram : TSE (T. S. Eliot)
116. DDE's command : ETO
117. River within Switzerland : AAR
118. Drive up the wall : IRK. Our "Hot Cooktop" (GE smoothtop range) light stays on hours after we're done cooking. Very annoying. YouTube has a solution. But too complicated. I think we'll wait until the light burns out.
C.C.
C.C.
