Theme: "Sounds of the Sea"- Word in each theme entry is replaced by a soundalike sea creature.
23. Commander of primitive fish?: STURGEON GENERAL. Surgeon general.
35. Festival for dugong relatives?: MANATEE FAIR. Vanity Fair.
49. Tiny crustacean herald?: KRILL THE MESSENGER. Kill the messenger.
67. Help for little fish?: HERRING AIDS. Hearing aids.
82. Reason to go to a seafood restaurant?: JUST FOR THE HALIBUT. Just for the hell of it.
94. Crustacean seller?: PRAWN BROKER. Pawnbroker.
115. Marine mammal in the air?: A HIGHER PORPOISE. A higher purpose.
No Jill Singer in our blog label. Must be a debut. Congratulations, Jill!
I mentioned before that I often struggled with this type of theme. Somehow I just could not see Vanity Fair. Had to send an SOS to D-Otto.
Some of you might remember this puzzle we had a few years ago. That one had a tight set.
Across:
8. Like some goods: DAMAGED.
15. Minimal: LEAST.
20. How big dogs may travel: IN CARGO.
21. Berry, for one: ACTRESS. Halle Berry.
22. Not warranted: UNDUE.
25. Goes (through) carefully: COMBS.
26. Ginseng and rooibos: HERBAL TEAS. Never had ginseng tea. But
ginseng chicken is a very popular Korean dish. The deep red thing is
date. Koreans and Cantonese like to put dates in soup.
27. Early hrs.: AMS.
28. Muslim judge: HAKIM. New to me.
29. NFL commentator Michael: IRVIN.
30. Leave out: OMIT.
32. Longings: DESIRES.
34. Open-__ shoes: TOED.
40. Rage: IRE.
41. Disney's "__ and the Detectives": EMIL. Learning moment for me.
43. Tons: SLEWS.
44. Burn lightly: SINGE.
46. Went for the worm: BIT.
54. Lose it: ERUPT.
56. Blood system letters: ABO.
57. Informal clothes: CASUALS.
58. Former Yugoslav leader: TITO. Josip Broz Tito. Somehow he's very famous in China. His Chinese name is 铁托, sounds very steely.
59. Key next to D: C SHARP.
62. Unsurpassed: ALL TIME.
66. Italian wine region: ASTI.
71. Words with a hand up, maybe: I CAN.
72. Magician who is a two-time "America's Got Talent" winner: SHIN LIM.
New to me also. Wikipedia said that his parents were born in Singapore.
This reminds me of constructor Julian Lim. The Lim is the same as
Chinese Lin, meaning "forest".
74. Natural light refractor: CORNEA.
75. Eco-friendly certification letters: LEED. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
76. Most stylish: TONIEST.
80. Pirate's cry: YAR. ARR too.
81. Jumping, as a joint: ALIVE.
88. Danson of TV: TED.
89. Disney's vision of tomorrow: EPCOT.
90. Make up (for): ATONE.
91. Pre-storm state: CALM.
93. Warrior prefix: ECO.
98. "Terrible" czar: IVAN. Ivan the Terrible. First Russian to be called "czar".
102. Status car: PORSCHE.
105. Contrary to popular belief, throwing it won't endanger birds: RICE.
106. Architect Jones: INIGO. Learned from doing crosswords.
107. Dispensed, with "out": METED.
108. Bout decision: TKO.
111. Amazing: PHENOMENAL. Great fill.
114. Actor Quinn: AIDAN.
117. Silly joke response, perhaps: SNORT.
118. Symbol of love: RED ROSE.
119. Without value: USELESS.
120. Baden-Powell who co-founded the Girl Guide movement: AGNES. Maybe Irish Miss knows more about more her.
121. Marginal moves: INDENTS.
122. 2002 Soderbergh sci-fi film: SOLARIS. Starring George Clooney.
Down:
2. Opposite of retro-: ANTERO- Google shows it's "from the Latin anterior meaning before".
3. Reduced-speed road sign symbol: S CURVE. Also 51. Angle iron: L BAR.
4. Union __, Dow Chemical subdivision: CARBIDE. They have a big factory in Guangzhou.
5. Skin, e.g.: ORGAN.
6. Shampoo brand: T GEL. Anti-dandruff .
7. What sweeps sweep: SOOT.
8. Discoverer of the first ocean route to India: DA GAMA.
9. Nails the final: ACES IT. Also 63. Suggestion for a sprain: ICE IT.
10. High pt.: MTN.
11. Neighborhood: AREA.
12. Origin: GERM.
13. Those, to José: ESAS.
14. Connection letters: DSL.
15. Vader creator: LUCAS (George). Darth Vader.
16. Sukiyaki ingredient: ENOKI. I often put them in my miso soup. So good.
17. Looking up to: ADMIRING.
18. Sink: SUBMERGE.
19. QBs' targets: TES. Tight ends.
24. "And the people bowed and prayed / To the __ god they made": Paul Simon, "The Sound of Silence": NEON.
28. Nautical pronoun: HER. Thought of Spitzboov! Hope he can tough this one out and get back home soon.
31. New Age musician John: TESH.
32. Talk out of, with "from": DISSUADE.
33. One reading signs: SEER.
35. Peace, in Russian: MIR.
36. Boxer Laila: ALI.
37. Power source: Abbr.: ELEC.
38. Disaster response gp.: FEMA.
39. Stupefies: AWES.
42. NYSE, e.g.: MKT. Followed by 44. React to falling prices, perhaps: SELL.
45. Gradually impart: INSTILL.
46. Almost-ready products: BETAS.
47. Word with whiskey or wolfhound: IRISH. And "Miss".
48. Solo's opposite, in music: TUTTI.
50. Comic actor Bert: LAHR. Known for his Cowardly Lion role in "The Wizard of Oz".
52. Amos at the piano: TORI.
53. Chips partner: SALSA.
55. Indicate: POINT TO.
59. Twill fabric: CHINO.
60. Degree of uncommonness, in some games: SEMI-RARE.
61. Pittsburgh's __ Park: PNC.
64. Author Binchy: MAEVE. Irish novelist.
65. Stopped: ENDED.
68. Many a Prado painting: GOYA.
69. Name near Uzbekistan, on maps: ARAL.
73. It's often an attic: LOFT.
77. Jazzy James: ETTA.
78. Demonstrate: SHOW.
79. Besides Mo., the only state that borders eight others: TENN.
81. NHL Flames' home: ATL.
82. Off-road vehicle: JEEP.
83. Yet to happen: UPCOMING.
84. Got a goal against: SCORED ON.
85. Lang. of about 200,000 Americans: HEBR. Hebrew.
86. Letters in old dates: BCE.
87. Old Mideast org.: UAR.
92. Seat of New York's Nassau County: MINEOLA. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says Lenny Bruce was born here.
94. Prof.'s degree: PHD.
95. Most developed: RIPEST.
96. Earth tones: OCHRES.
97. Hang on to: KEEP.
99. More jungly: VINIER. Both words trigger spell check red line.
100. 1999 ATP Player of the Year: AGASSI (Andre).
101. To boot: NO LESS.
103. Look parents caution children about: STARE.
104. __ on the dollar: CENTS.
106. Urge forward: IMPEL.
108. "If so ... ": THEN.
109. 17th-century privateer: KIDD. Captain Kidd.
110. Folklore fiend: OGRE.
112. Toi et moi: NOUS.
113. Roughly: OR SO.
114. Simile words: AS A.
115. NFC West team: ARI. Arizona Cardinals.
116. Term of endearment: HON.
C.C.
