Sunday December 16th, 2018 Joe Kidd

Theme:  "In Other Words" - Each word highlighted in red is an anagram of the clue. The other word in the theme entry is an indicator of the anagram gimmick.
 

23A. EARTH: HEART BROKEN. We've seen BROKEN HEART clued as "Earth" before. Or "Hater".

25A. AIDE: CRAZY IDEA.

49A. CRANED: EXOTIC DANCER.

83A. MISO: I'M SO CONFUSED.
  

106A. AMOUNT: ODD MAN OUT.

109A. FIENDISH: FINISHED OFF.

31D. SMITE: TROUBLED TIMES.

35D. RESIST: TWISTED SISTER.

When I spot the first theme clue, I thought this might be a definition type, which often has clues in caps.

This is a classic Sunday grid, with 8 entries totally 90 theme squares. Very manageable themage.

Across:

1. Pole, e.g.: SLAV.

5. Old toon feline with an alley gang: TOP CAT. Never heard of it.

11. Pro Football Hall of Fame state: OHIO. Canton, Ohio.

15. Moonwalker Shepard: ALAN.

19. Pad starter: HELI.

20. Stir up: AROUSE.

21. Early sci-fi captain: NEMO. Captain Nemo (Jules Verne).

22. Travels randomly: GADS.

27. Muss up, as hair: TOUSLE.

28. Soup kitchen service: FREE MEAL.

30. Leave slack-jawed: STUN.

32. Shrub with a purple fruit: SLOE. Looks like blueberries.

34. Lab dish eponym: PETRI.

38. Workout aftermath, often: SORENESS.

42. Grizzled seafarers: OLD SALTS.

47. Harmless cyst: WEN.

48. Eastern path: TAO. Literally "way". Same character as the "do" in Judo, which means "Gentle way".

51. You take them at your own risk: TIPS.

52. Kwik-E-Mart owner: APU.

53. Belief system: CREDO.

54. Bar assn. member: ATTY.

55. "Strange __ may seem ... ": AS IT.

56. Impediment: RUB.

57. Sugar portions: CUBES. Someone noticed the Snickers wrapper in my VA picture. So observant.

58. Bookstore adjuncts: CAFES.

60. Inscription on a spine: TITLE.

61. Tickled pink: PLEASED.

63. Tijuana toast: SALUD. SALUT in French.

64. Nursery rhyme girl: BO PEEP.

65. "Snowy" sight in Florida: EGRET.

66. Edible pockets: PITAS. Xi'an style. Best sandwich ever. The pork meat is slow-cooked for hours, with a few spices.

67. Carried on: WAGED.

68. Starts over: RE-DOES. Dupe: 116. No longer fastened: UNDONE.

70. Fixed looks: GAZES.

71. Vague discomfort: MALAISE. Low blood pressure people know how this feels.

73. They aren't pros: ANTIS.

74. More fetching: CUTER.

75. Some court pleas, for short: NOLOS. Nolo contendere.

76. Forbes rival: INC.

78. Hindu titles of respect: SRIS.

79. Party or movie ending: GOER.

80. City on the Ruhr: ESSEN.

81. Weekly talk with a msg.: SER. Sermon.

82. "Mad Men" actor Jon: HAMM.

87. La-la lead-in: TRA.

88. Clothing dept. size: LGE.

89. Like many an injured arm: IN A SLING.

90. Fail big-time: LAY AN EGG. I enjoyed the continued boiled egg thread in our blog. TTP is a serious foodie now.

92. Simple type of question: YES/NO.

94. La., once: TERR. OK, Louisiana Territory.

96. Less than hardly: NARY.

97. Like much FM radio: IN STEREO.

102. Keats and Shelley: ODISTS.

114. Aviation-related prefix: AERO.

115. Troll's cousin: OGRE. There's a lady in our flea market who sells these ugly trolls. Some are quite pricey.

117. Region: AREA.

118. Like positive outlooks: ROSY. 

119. Heckles: BOOS.

120. Tennis wear: SKORTS.

121. Oz. and lb.: QTYS.

Down:

1. Hospital reminder, perhaps: SHH. And 108. Hosp. personnel: DRS.

2. Protected side: LEE.

3. In the way of: A LA.

4. Patience, they say: VIRTUE.

5. House of Dana fragrance: TABU.

6. Rink star and a "Catch-22" pilot: ORRS.

7. Backyard party centerpiece: POOL.

8. Pickled veggies: CUKES. Graybar hosted the annual retiree Christmas luncheon on Thursday. I had some chicken noodle dish. Can you see the yellow flower decoration on the upper left? What's it called?

Boomer's Steak

9. Enzyme suffix: ASE. And 17. Soothing suffix for a hot day: ADE.

10. Like an increase from six to sixty: TENFOLD.

11. At some former time: ONCE.

12. "__ we go": HERE.

13. Mosque leader: IMAM.

14. Move like molasses: OOZE. Spitzboov eats oatmeal with molasses every morning.

15. Deft: AGILE.

16. Bloke: LAD.

18. Code-breaking org.: NSA.

24. Metric weight: TONNE.

26. Sounds at pounds: YAPS. Rhymes.

29. Hawthorne cover image: RED A.

30. Get all sudsy: SOAP UP.

33. El Pollo __: southwestern restaurant chain: LOCO.

36. Stack again: RE-PILE.

37. Boot part: INSTEP.

38. Take the main part: STAR.

39. They may be lame: EXCUSES.

40. Between-courses serving: SORBET. This looks refreshing.

41. Silver, for one: STEED.

43. Goof-ups: SNAFUS.

44. Made a scene?: ACTED. Great clue.

45. "Why don't we?": LET'S.

46. Crack: TRY.

50. Some entrance requirements: IDS.

51. Asian island capital: TAIPEI. Below are Chinese characters. The top is how Taipei is written in Taiwan. The bottom is how it's written in Mainland China.

57. Gives a hoot: CARES. Boomer loved the email from Janet (Prairie Woman on our blog). Fighting cancer is indeed very much a mental game.

58. Do wedding work: CATER.

59. Word said with a sigh: ALAS.

60. Senate wear: TOGAS. Roman Senate.

62. Conceit: EGOISM.

63. Concern for a tailor: SIZE.

64. "Horsefeathers!": BALONEY. Another great fill.

66. Security guard's duty: PATROL.

67. Solidarity leader Lech: WALESA. Won Nobel Peace in 1983. 

68. Without thinking: RASHLY.

69. Cause to turn red, maybe: ENRAGE.

70. Stab: GUESS.

71. Iraqi city on the Tigris: MOSUL.

72. "E" in a classic equation: ENERGY.

74. Extended time out?: COMA. We normally see the "Food ___" clue angle.

75. Abbr. on a bounced check: NSF.

77. Rocky outcropping: CRAG.

79. Collins ingredient: GIN.

80. Software pro, in want ads: ENGR.

84. Name in a footnote: CITE.

85. A trusted friend: ONE OF US.

86. "Inferno" poet: DANTE.

89. New Rochelle college: IONA.

91. Tech-heavy exchange: NASDAQ. Still up for the year.

93. "In Search of..." host: NIMOY. Unaware of the series.

95. Lively movement: RONDO.

98. Pretentious sort: SNOB.

99. Like drive-thru orders: TOGO.

100. Mark's replacement: EURO. German Mark.

101. Fwys., e.g.: RTES.

103. Couture giant: DIOR.

104. "It __ my fault": ISN'T.

105. Hens and heifers: SHES.

106. Galley need: OAR.

107. __ volente: DEO.

110. Press agent's goal: INK.

111. Scrap for Rover: ORT.

112. "30 Rock" creator: FEY (Tina)

113. B-flats in an F major scale: FAS.

Boomer Updates:

We met Dr. Thomas Downs on Wednesday. Boomer's PSA is now 3.29. It was 11.25 on Nov 14, 2018. We're very happy with the progress.

Boomer will have another blood draw on Dec 27th and every month in 2019. They need to closely monitor his liver and kidney due to Zytiga (chemo drug), which Boomer will continue to take every day.

The radiation is still working. Boomer's back continues to feel better. He'll be back to his beloved bowling lane tomorrow morning.

C.C.