19. Beats it: SCATS.
23. On easy street: IN THE LAP OF LUXURY.
32. Curtail: TRUNCATE.
40. Sedentary sort: COUCH POTATO.
51. Battery terminal: CATHODE.
55. Orchestra section leader: FIRST CHAIR.
77. Lively musical piece: TOCCATA.
84. Chart with branches: FAMILY TREE.
92. Pinpoint: LOCATE.
97. Track foundation: RAILROAD BED.
113. Excoriate: SCATHE. Only familiar with "scathing".
115. Opposite of commends: CALLS ON THE CARPET.
Reveal:
114. One of six hidden in this puzzle, each sitting on an apt location: CAT.
Cute, right? All the CATs are fully embedded in another words. The place where each cat sits is a discrete word in a longer phrase.
Across:
1. Medical chart entry: AGE.
4. Author Janowitz: TAMA. One of the literary "brat pack".
8. Green eggs and ham promoter: SAM I AM.
14. USPS deliveries: LTRS.
18. Brown of jazz: LES.
21. Thorny shrub: ACACIA. Never saw one in person. Very pretty.
22. "That's not good": OH OH.
26. Beer buy: CASE.
27. Hall of Famers: GREATS. My all-time favorite.
28. Put away: ATE.
29. Knife holder: SHEATH.
31. Demands: NEEDS.
37. "__ fair ... ": ALL'S.
38. My Chemical Romance 2-Down: EMO. 2. Category: GENRE.
44. They pick up things: SENSORS. Nice clue.
48. Mailed: SENT TO.
49. Get ready to eat?: RIPEN.
50. Muffin topping: OLEO.
53. Assure: PROMISE.
57. Response in court: PLEA.
59. Blues singer James: ETTA.
60. Tiny lab subjects: AMOEBAS.
61. competitor: REO. Never heard of Maxwell automobile. Read more here. We also have 89. Former Fords: LTDS.
63. "If it's handcrafted, ... it's on __": ETSY. I've been eyeing a disc necklace there for a few months.
64. Designing initials: YSL.
65. Airline to Stockholm: SAS.
66. Most Dresden residents: GERMANS.
68. H.S. class: BIO.
71. Medical suffix: OMA. .And 74. Anatomical canal: ITER. We also had 93. Harem room: ODA.
76. Its "B" is sometimes turkey: BLT.
81. 1993 Literature Nobelist Morrison: TONI.
83. Brings home: NETS.
86. Chaotic but appealing person: HOT MESS. I learned this phrase from an article about Britney Spears ages ago.
88. Powerless motion?: GLIDING. Another great clue.
90. Boosts, e.g.: AIDS.
91. Sneak off to Vegas, maybe: ELOPE.
95. Part of a Shakespearean soothsayer's warning: THE IDES. Of March.
99. Parenthesis, essentially: ARC.
100. Film __: NOIR.
101. To begin with: AS A START.
105. Bridge positions: EASTS.
110. Repair, as sewn-together edges: RE-SEAM.
112. A in French: UNE.
114. Queens' __ Field: CITI.
121. Choir voice: ALTO.
122. Conservative foe, in the U.K.: LABOUR. Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, etc.
123. Suddenly paid attention: SAT UP.
124. "Yo te __": AMO.
125. Stereotypical angst sufferer: TEEN.
126. Wears slowly: ERODES.
127. High-tech workers: BOTS.
128. Gymnast's goal: TEN. Who's your favorite gymnast?
Down:
1. Adjust, as car wheels: ALIGN.
3. Cosmetician Lauder: ESTEE.
4. African menaces: TSETSES.
5. Orthopedic surgery targets, initially: ACLS.
6. Kid's cry: MAA. Farm kids.
7. For face value: AT PAR.
8. Longtime "The Avengers" comics artist Buscema: SAL. Learning moment for me.
9. Pressure lead-in: ACU.
10. Nth degree: MAX.
11. Post-OR area: ICU.
12. Affectations: AIRS.
13. Perchance, old-style: MAYHAP. Not familiar to me.
14. Hour in a pilot's announcement: LOCAL TIME.
15. Response to sad news: THAT'S A PITY. Very nice parallel long entries
16. Hebrew for "head": ROSH.
17. "__ Loves You": Beatles hit: SHE.
20. Annual Jan. speech, in Twitter hashtags: SOTU. State of the Union.
24. Ate: HAD.
25. Bog: FEN.
30. Ecuadoran gold region: EL ORO.
32. Holy scrolls: TORAHS.
33. Emailed a dupe to: CC'ED.
34. Bang-up: A-ONE.
35. "For shame!": TUT.
36. Outer: Pref.: ECT.
39. Deerskin attire: MOCCASINS.
41. Aspirations: HOPES.
42. Proficiency determiners: TESTS.
43. 1992-'93 NBA Rookie of the Year: O'NEAL. Shaq.
44. Slight, as a chance: SLIM.
45. Architect Saarinen: EERO.
46. Attendance count: NOSES.
47. Penn, e.g.: Abbr.: STA.
48. Aching to a larger degree: SORER.
50. Birds-feather link: OF A.
52. Staff builders: HIRERS.
54. Dancer who played a scarecrow: RAY BOLGER. "The Wizard of Oz".
56. Not yet on the sched.: TBA.
57. Quintet: PENTAD. 70. Group of eight: OCTAD.
58. Capt.'s inferiors: LTS.
62. Fed. fiscal agency: OMB. Office of Management and Budget.
66. Acquire: GET.
67. 1966 Michael Caine title role: ALFIE.
69. Aloof: ICY.
71. Wise start?: OTHER. Otherwise.
72. Loot: MOOLA.
73. 2006 Dunst title role: ANTOINETTE.
75. Big name in electric cars: TESLA.
77. Soldier's helmet: TIN HAT.
78. R&B vocalist India.__: ARIE.
79. "Bill & __ Excellent Adventure": TED'S.
80. '50s political initials: AES. Adlai Ewing Stevenson.
82. Self-destruction: IMPLOSION.
85. Charles River sch.: MIT.
87. Like TV's "Supernatural," e.g.: EERIE.
88. Mother of the Titans: GAEA.
94. "60 Minutes" network: CBS.
96. Antarctic features: ICECAPS.
98. Expert in futures?: ORACLE.
102. 252 wine gallons: TUN.
103. Unwanted workers: ANTS.
104. Detox program: REHAB.
106. Berne's river: AAR.
107. Fifth-century bishop in Ireland, familiarly: ST PAT.
108. Most crosswords have one: THEME. Except those low-word count Saturdays.
109. Determined about: SETON.
110. Upset and then some: RILE.
111. Photographer Dora who had a relationship with Picasso: MAAR.
113. Cottontail's tail: SCUT.
116. Certain corp. takeover: LBO.
117. Airport near Tel Aviv: LOD.
118. Go after, in a way: SUE.
119. Surg. sites: ORS.
120. Ike's WWII arena: ETO.
Happy birthday to our cool Jazzbumpa (Ron), who's having a very busy month. He'll be back to guide us next month.
C.C.
