Sunday May 30, 2021 Paul Coulter

Theme: "What's My Line?" - Each profession is punnily rephrased fitting the person in the clue.

23. Researcher with an outgoing personality?: SOCIAL SCIENTIST.

37. Clergyman who builds cupboards?: CABINET MINISTER.

49. Bleep button operator?: CROSSWORD EDITOR. Read it as CROSS WORD EDITOR.

68. Dietitian?: MIDDLE MANAGER.

87. Drug kingpin?: TRAFFIC ENGINEER.

96. Getaway driver?: FLIGHT ATTENDANT.

118. Fishing guide?: CASTING DIRECTOR.

Ha ha, we can just call Rich a "bleep button operator". All the other theme entries will make me smile. Lovely theme, Pau1!

Grid design is our standard LAT, 144 words with 76 black squares. Very much my style, though I often I reach 78 black squares.

Across:

1. Space station launched in 1973: SKYLAB. First U.S. space station.

7. "__, Inc.": 2001 film: MONSTERS.

15. Commonly green dish: SALAD.

20. South American naval force: ARMADA. Spanish for "naval fleet".

21. Turkey, mostly: ANATOLIA. Asia Minor. Asian part of Turkey.

22. Torment: AGONY.

25. Terry O'Quinn's "Lost" role: LOCKE (John). I don't recall seeing a O'qu* style surname before.

26. Big bunch: SCAD.

27. Floors: STUNS. Verb "floors".

28. Clamp shape: CEE.

29. Leveled, with "up": TRUED.

30. Dot-commerce: E-TAIL.

32. Two-time Super Bowl QB Manning: ELI.

34. Country name last used in 1949: SIAM.  Thailand's former name. "One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble. Not much between despair and ecstasy...". Argyle really loved the song. He was in Bangkok for a few days in his Marine days.

35. R&B singer's hyphenated stage name: NE-YO. Wiki says "The stage name Ne-Yo was coined by Big D Evans, a producer with whom Ne-Yo once worked, because Evans claimed that Ne-Yo sees music like the character Neo sees the Matrix."

44. Links scores: BOGEYS.

46. Lena of "Chocolat": OLIN.

47. Lennon's love: ONO.

48. Fall Out Boy genre: EMO.

53. __ boom: SONIC.

55. "Elder" or "Younger" Roman statesman: CATO.

56. Stuns: AWES.

57. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

58. Marine snail: WHELK.

59. Home of Hercules' lion: NEMEA.

61. Loafer, e.g.: SHOE.

64. Mikey, Mouth or Chunk, in an '85 film: GOONIE. Alright, the film is "The Goonies".

 

65. TV monitoring org.: FCC.

72. Ground cover: SOD.

73. Friend of Athos: ARAMIS. "The Three Musketeers".

75. Big name in pet food: IAMS.

76. Hard-to-ride horse: BRONC.

78. Moved to a quieter table, say: RE-SAT.

79. Special __: OPS.

81. Old apple spray: ALAR.

82. Dept. of Labor arm: OSHA.

86. Football's Terrell, nicknamed "T.O.": OWENS. Hall of Famer.

92. "Yuck!": FEH.

93. Bank offering, for short: IRA.

94. Advanced: LENT. Verb "advanced".

95. Ancient ascetic: ESSENE. Jewish ascetic.

102. Former Fords: LTDS.

103. Mmes., in Madrid: SRAS.

104. CVS pickups: RXS.

105. Conger catcher: EELER.

107. Chopper blade: ROTOR.

109. __ Beach, composer of the first symphony composed by an American woman: AMY. Learning moment for me. Thanks for finding this new clue angle, Paul!

111. Mimic's talent: APERY. We just had APED last Sunday.

113. "To be" is one, poetically: IAMB.

117. Busybody: SNOOP.

122. Liveliness: VERVE.

123. Like some hard drives: EXTERNAL.

124. Altogether: IN TOTO.

125. Tradesperson: PLYER.

126. Reveal: DISCLOSE.

127. 1980 TV series with the episode "Harmony of the Worlds": COSMOS.

Down:

1. Undesirable freshness: SASS. Cute clue.

2. Fast food magnate who once owned the San Diego Padres: KROC (Ray). Nice trivia.

3. Pool site, often: YMCA.

4. Spotted: LAID EYES ON.

5. Nabokov novel: ADA.

6. Light wood: BALSA.

7. Retinal area subject to degeneration: MACULA. I bet Lemonade nailed this one.

8. "Come __!": "Welcome!": ON IN.

9. Dundee denials: NAES.

10. RR stop: STN.

11. "Sesame Street" watcher: TOT.

12. Bring out: ELICIT.

13. Angry reaction: RISE.

14. Fill to the max: SATE.

15. Short-lived 1979 nuclear treaty: SALT II.

16. Ancient assembly areas: AGORAS.

17. Temporary substitute that means "place holder" in Latin: LOCUMTENENS. Wow, never heard of this word, you?

18. Huber of tennis: ANKE. Forgot. We had her before. German.

19. Like some blond hair: DYED.

24. Bic Clic __ pen: STIC.

31. Small dogs: TOYS.

32. "National Velvet" author Bagnold: ENID.

33. Filmmaker Riefenstahl: LENI. German. Known for her Nazi propaganda.

34. __-cone: SNO.

35. "A Doll's House" heroine: NORA.

36. Awards acronym: EGOT.

38. They're ripped in gyms: BODS.

39. Martinique, e.g.: ILE.

40. Anchor: MOOR.

41. About, on a memo: IN RE.

42. __ Barzini, Vito's rival in "The Godfather": EMILIO. Barzini. He killed Don Corleone's oldest son Sonny, the hot-tempered one.

43. Disturbed greatly: ROCKED.

44. Discreetly send a dupe email to: BCC.

45. Hindu teachers: SWAMIS.

50. Was shy?: OWED. Good old clue.

51. Interpret: READ.

52. "Accordingly ... ": THEN.

53. Like much testimony: SWORN.

54. "Look here!": OHO.

60. Gives forth: EMITS.

61. Last word of "America the Beautiful": SEA.

62. "Let's see ... ": HMM.

63. Allied gp. since 1948: OAS.

64. "Seinfeld" friend: GEORGE (Costanza). Played by Jason Alexander.

65. Remote: FAR OFF.

66. Embroidery yarn: CREWEL.

67. Patient record: CASE HISTORY.

69. When repeated, Cult Jam vocalist: LISA.

70. Competent: ABLE.

71. Nana: GRAN.

74. "Wow!": MAN.

77. Negatively affects the flow in: CONSTRICTS.

79. Other, to Ortiz: OTRA.

80. Fall preceder?: PRAT. Pratfall.

81. Court records: ACTA.

83. Schedule competitively, as a tournament: SEED.

84. Coop group: HENS.

85. Is for a few: ARE.

88. Bend: FLEX. I never made the connection of the "drip, drip" noise in our bedroom/bathtub wall with rain until I read TTP's comment. Then we had steady rain on Thursday and I heard the annoying noise on Thursday evening non-stop. Here's our downspout. The association guy actually replaced the bottom bending part earlier this year as the old one was broken.

89. Marshy areas: FENS.

90. Not Rep. or Dem.: IND.

91. "Cast Away" setting: ISLE.

93. Part of TGIF: IT'S.

97. It's on the record: GROOVE.

98. Susan B. Anthony biographer Ida Husted __: HARPER. Also learning moment for me. Both Lemonade and Melissa have a granddaughter named Harper. See here.

99. No-tell motel events: TRYSTS.

100. Pine __: NEEDLE.

101. Garr of "Tootsie": TERI.

106. Songlike: LYRIC.

107. Invite request: RSVP.

108. Turow novel set at Harvard: ONE L.

109. Finished perfectly: ACED. Amazed at Moe's astute observations of Friday's theme.

110. Dress style: MAXI.

111. __ Domini: ANNO.

112. Annual May golf tournaments, familiarly: PGAS.

114. Tiny bit: ATOM.

115. Con __: briskly: MOTO.

116. Frat dudes: BROS.

119. Shamus: TEC.

120. Offline, briefly: IRL.

121. Brian of rock: ENO.

I'm very pleased to tell you that Fermat Prime (Lorraine) is doing well, though she does not get out much, according to her friend Malcolm. Here's a picture from her backyard last Monday.

Looks who's in town this week! Andrea Carla Michaels. Guess who the other cool guy is. Boomer will show you another picture tomorrow.

Andrea, Boomer and the Guy, 5/26/2021