Theme: "Exchanging Words" - One word in each common phrase is replaced by X.
21. Big name in health insurance associations: BLUE X BLUE SHIELD. Blue Cross Blue Shield.
35. Quaint emporium: FIVE AND X CENT STORE. Five-and-ten-cent store.
47. Preschool activity with crayons: COLOR X NUMBER. Color by number.
67. Go it alone: X OUT ON ONE'S OWN. Strike out on one's own.
87. Hopeful expression after two failures: THIRD X A CHARM. Third time's a charm.
96. Tony Award-winning musical based on a Manuel Puig novel: X OF THE SPIDER WOMAN. Kiss of the Spider Woman.
116. Irving Stone novel about Michelangelo: THE AGONY AND THE X. The Agony and the Ecstasy.
We've had a few puzzles in which X has different meanings. I don't recall such a replacement approach.
Hard to believe, but this is Tracy's first LAT Sunday. She's a veteran constructor known for her creative themes.
Low-word count. Only 138 entries. Our average is between 142 and 144.
Across:
8. Bear claw or beaver tail: PASTRY. Unfamiliar with beaver tail.
14. Hunk of granite: SLAB.
18. Seething: AT A BOIL.
19. Former first lady, familiarly: JACKIE O. Often see musty Life & Look magazines at our local flea market. So many articles about her.
20. Room: SPACE.
23. Foam art medium: LATTE.
24. Lacking: SANS.
25. Like many Etsy shops: ARTSY.
26. "Don't change a thing!": I ADORE IT.
28. Mirror fogger: STEAM.
31. Old Pontiac muscle car: GTO.
32. Long time: EON.
34. Tabloid twosome: ITEM.
41. "The Voice" coach Gwen: STEFANI. No Doubt.
45. Measles symptom: RED DOT.
46. Pop star: IDOL.
51. Bogus: NOT REAL.
53. Big exporter of saffron: IRAN. Vidwan probably has this from time to time.
54. Tart-tasting fruit: SLOE.
55. Firewood protector: TARP.
58. Nintendo princess: ZELDA.
59. Sheet type: FITTED.
62. Mmes., in Mérida: SRAS.
64. Electronic control mechanisms, briefly: SERVOS. Learning moment for me.
66. Base for some sashimi: ICE.
70. Actress Vardalos: NIA.
73. Squanders: WASTES.
74. Entwined: WOVE.
75. Line that intersects a circle in two places: SECANT.
77. Three-dimensional: CUBIC.
80. 61-Down follower: TRES. 61. 80-Across preceder: DOS.
82. Belgian surrealist Magritte: RENE.
84. "Hold __ your hat!": ON TO.
85. Like pedi-showing shoes: OPEN TOE.
91. Lemon drinks: ADES.
92. European capital known as the "City of a Hundred Spires": PRAGUE.
95. Melodic passages: ARIOSOS.
101. Like the Atacama Desert: ARID.
102. __ port in a storm: ANY.
103. Mork's planet: ORK.
104. Software test versions: BETAS.
108. "__ Files": long-running true-crime series: FORENSIC.
111. Structural girder: I BEAM. And 115. WWII sub: U BOAT.
113. __ snuff: UP TO.
121. Where Ducks and Penguins play?: RINKS. Great clue.
122. Diehards: ZEALOTS.
123. Same old same old: ROUTINE.
124. Garlands of okika or pikake: LEIS. Did you know that the plural of lei is still lei in Hawaiian language?
125. Star-shaped bloomers: ASTERS.
126. Prodded: EGGED ON.
Down:
2. Book replaced by GPS: ATLAS.
3. Short excursion: JAUNT.
4. Like Nero Wolfe: OBESE.
5. Cured salmon: LOX. Also 76. Silver salmon: COHO.
6. Ad follower: LIB.
7. Penne __ vodka: ALLA.
8. Turn down: PASS ON.
9. Heading for the whirlpool, say: ACHY.
10. Enjoy Stowe: SKI.
11. Knotted accessory: TIE.
12. Repaired, as car brakes: RE-LINED.
13. Jedi who said, "Always in motion is the future": YODA.
14. Extras in trunks: SPARE TIRES. And
15. Newer, as an automobile: LATE MODEL. 19. Passat alternative: JETTA. 65. 19-Down and others, briefly: VWS.
16. When Alexander meets Eliza, in "Hamilton": ACT I.
17. Borscht base: BEET.
20. Roulette wheel components: SLOTS.
22. Craving: URGE.
27. "Same for me!": DITTO.
29. Many miles off: AFAR.
30. Cable series about an erotic magazine for women: MINX. Unknown to me.
32. Put forth, as energy: EXERT.
33. Med. condition portrayed on "Monk": OCD.
36. French wines: VINS.
37. Beats by __: DRE.
38. Amateur: NON-PRO.
39. Map line: ROAD.
40. Spanish "she": ELLA.
41. Hugo Award genre: SCI-FI.
42. Cheerio-shaped: TORIC.
43. Make happy: ELATE.
44. Arial, for one: FONT.
48. Belfast's province: ULSTER.
49. Despondent: MOROSE.
50. "Ivy and __": kid-lit series by Annie Barrows: BEAN.
52. Breakout area, to dermatologists: T ZONE. Real thing, guys.
56. "Yours" alternative: AS EVER.
57. Deal with an email error message, maybe: RESEND.
60. On the money: EXACT.
63. Farm noun or verb: SOW.
68. Speaks: UTTERS.
69. Onigiri wrapper: NORI. Cute.
70. Grannies: NANAS.
71. Prologue: INTRO.
72. Bohr model subjects: ATOMS.
73. Series of successes: WIN STREAKS. And 79. Chef Boyardee concoction: BEEFARONI. Nice stack here.
77. Cable cable, familiarly: COAX.
78. Off-the-neck hairstyle: UP DO.
81. Prepare for an 83-Down, say: STUDY.
83. Apt rhyme for "cram": EXAM.
86. Slanted columns: OP-EDS.
88. Laugh half: HEE.
89. Many a Saudi native: ARAB.
90. French film: CINE.
93. Southwestern people: APACHES.
94. Negroni need: GIN.
97. Help for those at sea: HINTS.
98. Many "Westworld" characters: ROBOTS.
99. Builders of dome-shaped nests: WRENS.
100. "Works for me!": OKAY.
105. Mozart's "Così fan __": TUTTE.
106. Peony pest: APHID.
107. __ pad: STENO.
108. Roll up: FURL.
109. Stage honor: OBIE.
110. Chichén __: pyramid site: ITZA.
111. Grammy-winning album for Tyler, the Creator: IGOR.
112. Female horse: MARE. And
114. Yoked bovines: OXEN.
117. Scarf down: EAT. Plenty of food and drinks in this grid.
118. Hoppy quaff: ALE. And
119. Eggy quaff: NOG.
120. Sought buried treasure, perhaps: DUG.
C.C.
