Sunday June 19, 2022 Ed Sessa

Theme: "Switching Sides" - The first part & second part of each common phrase is switched.

23. Part-time job for teenage waterfowl?: DUCK-SITTING. Sitting duck.

28. Extravagant and elaborate way of going around slowpokes?: FANCY PASSING. Passing fancy.

37. Breather in the ballroom?: DANCING BREAK. Breakdancing.

44. Glee found on horseback?: RIDING JOY. Joyriding.

64. First-rate dog shelter?: STERLING POUND. Pound Sterling.

85. Extremely blah coif?: NOTHING DO. Do nothing.

90. Cattle that may tip over?: LISTING STOCK. Stock listing.

101. "Life's too short for dull razors," e.g.?: SHAVING POINT. Point shaving.

107. Queue for lottery tickets?: DRAWING LINE. Line-drawing.

Hmm, am I missing some extra layer that tightens the set? There are lots of 2-word or 2-part phrases that can be swapped.  

Interesting Ed put RIDING JOY in 44A rather than 25A. In most grids, if theme entries are all placed in Across spots, the longest fill length is always shorter than the shortest theme entry.

Across:

1. Fish tacos fish, familiarly: MAHI. We also have 8. Tuna in poke bowls: AHI.

5. Department store founder depicted in "Miracle on 34th Street": R H MACY.

11. __ de fideo: Mexican noodle soup: SOPA. Fideo = Noodle.

15. Top: BEST.

19. Comparison words: AS AN.

20. "Oh, cry me a river": BOOHOO.

21. Neighbor: ABUT.

22. Ski area in Utah's Wasatch Mountains: ALTA. The other 4-letter ski area is VAIL in Colorado. ALPS too.

25. Hard on the eyes: UGLY AS SIN.

27. Egyptian goddess: ISIS. The assistant to Boomer's radiation doctor is from Egypt.

30. "Sadly ... ": I FEAR.

32. "__ be an honor!": IT'D.

35. Appearance: MIEN.

36. Devoutness: PIETY. Filial piety is big in China. It's in my bones.

40. New Year's __: EVE.

42. Quirky: ODD.

43. Bless with oil: ANOINT.

50. Spring: LEAP.

52. "Nashville" actress Blakley: RONEE.

53. Gives a little: BENDS.

54. "My Kind of Country" singer McEntire: REBA.

55. Big name in baby food: GERBER. The original Gerber baby just passed away.

57. Middle Alou brother: MATTY.

58. Heavy __: METAL.

59. Mass book: MISSAL.

61. Thus far: TO NOW.

62. Retort from a self-appointed authority: SAYS ME.

63. Chap: LAD.

68. Water under le pont: EAU. le pont = the bridge.

69. "Gotcha": OH I SEE.

71. Comedy duo Garfunkel and __: OATES. Learning moment for me.

72. Gold units: KARATS.

74. Greek god of the underworld: HADES.

75. Not straight: CURLY.

76. Celebrated, as a holiday: MARKED. Nina's husband Mark ran the Grandma's Marathon yesterday. In ASICS, probably.

78. Landed: ALIT.

79. Cooking stove: RANGE.

80. Tropical veranda: LANAI. Nice and quiet.

81. Lairs: DENS.

87. Temperature unit: KELVIN.

88. Calendario square: DIA. Calendar.

89. Singer Carly __ Jepsen: RAE. So much fun with those "Call Me Maybe" covers. 

93. Out of whack: ASKEW.

97. Poet Silverstein: SHEL.

99. Tavern quaff: ALE.

100. Some charity runs: TEN-KS.

105. Effortlessness: EASE. I've watched a ton of "Butter". You wonder how BTS succeeded so long as a group. Just watch this practice video.  Talk about professionalism.

106. Subject of PETA's traveling exhibit "Without Consent": LAB ANIMAL.

113. North Carolina campus: ELON. We also have 92. Some electric cars: TESLAS.

114. Dorky sort: NERD.

115. New version of an old film: REMAKE.

116. Jessica of "L.A.'s Finest": ALBA.

117. Traps in an attic?: WEBS.

118. Change for a five: ONES.

119. "The Right Stuff" figure: YEAGER (Chuck)

120. Deck chair piece: SLAT.

Down:

1. Fuming: MAD.

2. Sun Devils sch.: ASU.

3. Southwest estate: HACIENDA. Large casa.

4. Squid organ: INK SAC.

5. Grand slam quartet, briefly: RBIS. Who has the most RBIs in a season? Don't google.

6. In great demand: HOT.

7. Witticism: MOT.

9. NCAA div.: CONF. Conference.

10. Surface for shavasana: YOGA MAT.

11. Apple product?: SAUCE. Real apple.

12. Maternity ward doc: OB-GYN.

13. Juicer refuse: PULP.

14. "Right Back __": Spice Girls song: AT YA.

15. Deep opera voices: BASSI.

16. "McFarland, USA" actress Fisher: ELSIE.  Also in "Eighth Grade"

17. Stretch on the job: STINT.

18. Like lemonade: TANGY. Ours is sweet. Baby Charlotte.

24. iPad speaker: SIRI.

26. Resort town on Colorado's Roaring Fork River: ASPEN.

29. Suffix with neat or beat: NIK.

30. Pop star: IDOL.

31. Gradually vanish: FADE.

32. Lowly: IGNOBLE.

33. Chophouse choice: T-BONE. We dined at the VA cafeteria last Wednesday. I had two tasty chicken wraps.

34. Less damp: DRIER.

38. Talk through the whole movie?: NARRATE. Great clue.

39. WSW opposite: ENE.

40. Mini vortex: EDDY.

41. Meas. reduced by fog: VIS. Visibility.

44. Pave anew: RE-TOP.

45. Halved: IN TWO.

46. Earl __ tea: GREY. Got some really good matcha at the Asian store the other day. So good in this hot weather.

47. Globetrotting group: JETSET.

48. Former White House quartet: OBAMAS.

49. New Haven sch.: YALE U.

51. Pts. of a book: PGS.

53. Forehead-covering hair: BANGS. The iconic Jane Birkin bangs.

56. Tricky road curves: ESSES.

57. Rupees and rubles: MONEY.

58. 102-Down's mother: MADRE. 102. 58-Down's son: NINO.

59. Hawaiian "thank you": MAHALO. Xie xie in Chinese.

60. Admission of guilt: I DID IT.

61. Magazine name: TITLE.

62. Not straight: SNAKING.

63. "Mean Girls" star Lindsay: LOHAN. Rachel McAdams & Amanda Seyfried are in this film also.

65. Drinks for the house: ROUND.

66. Key __: LARGO.

67. Kyiv's country: UKRAINE. Notice the Kyiv spelling.

70. Writer/actor Rogen: SETH.

73. Throw in: ADD.

75. Zoo enclosure: CAGE.

76. Valletta's island: MALTA.

77. Block that often falls on Wile E. Coyote: ANVIL.

79. Genetic material: RNA.

80. "__ Misérables": LES.

82. "Modern Family" co-star: ED O'NEILL. With Sofía Vergara.

83. Little cut: NICK.

84. Nordstrom rival: SAKS.

86. Conservationist Bindi: IRWIN.

87. Season wood, in a way: KILN DRY. New term to me.

90. Tropical garland: LEI.

91. Male deer: STAG.

93. Heaps: A SLEW. of.

94. Thin-layered rock: SHALE.

95. Shish __: KABOB. Popular street food in Xi'an. Often seasoned with cumin.

96. Chris who plays Captain America: EVANS.

97. Extra: SPARE.

98. Wrestling moves: HOLDS.

103. FBI guys: G MEN.

104. Beech or peach: TREE.

105. Dept. formed after the 1977 oil crisis: ENER.

108. Reddit Q&A session: AMA.

109. Droll sort: WAG.

110. "The Mindy Project" actor Barinholtz: IKE. Here with Mindy.

111. Org. with Thunder and Heat: NBA.

112. Gulp down: EAT. Boomer lost another 10 lbs since his surgery. His oncologist said "get fat!". He ordered Boomer to drink more Ensure, eat more food. He said the chemo drug needs to bind with protein to work. Poor Boomer gets stomach ache if he eats more than usual.

A few extra notes:

1) Thanks for the comments on Boomer's debut last Thursday. He was so happy to read your feedback. 

2) We had a very busy week. The ortho nurse said that Boomer's wound was healing nicely. We'll have one more MRI scan on July 11th and meet with the surgeon for follow-up. Hopefully Boomer can take off the sling then.

The meeting with the radiation doctor also went smoothly. Boomer is scheduled to have 5 sessions of radiation starting on June 27th.

The meeting with the oncologist went great also. Boomer will start a new oral chemo called Olparib after he completes his radiation. He'll also receive a bone strengthener infusion on July 1. Hope the side effects are less than Zometa infusion Boomer received a few years ago.

On the PT front, Boomer started the pendulum exercises last Thursday. Baby steps. He'll continue his regular PT next Monday and Thursday. We also hope to get a bone scan done next week somewhere near our home. The VA scanning place got flooded on Friday.

C.C.