Sunday November 26, 2023 Ricky Sirois

Theme:  "Lend Me Your Ears!" - The first word of each theme entry ends with an EAR sound, and EAR is dropped from the start of the last word.

22. Promo for a production at the Globe Theatre?: SHAKESPEARE PLUG.

33. Sign of impending bad weather?: ATMOSPHERE DROP.

49. Essay by the author of "The Martian"?: ANDY WEIR PIECE.

67. Jewelry displayed next to keychains and fridge magnets?: SOUVENIR RINGS.

87. Polish for posh light fixtures?: CHANDELIER WAX.

102. School friends in Troy, New York?: RENSSELAER BUDS.

116. Soreness after a long day working at Sotheby's?: AUCTIONEER ACHES.

I don't think there's any extra layer to further cohere the set, right? 49A is an exception with 3 words. All those EAR sounds have different spellings.

Sunday debut for Ricky Sirois. Congrats, Ricky!

Across:

1. Kid around: JEST.

5. Agcys.: ORGS.

9. "The Goonies" role for Ke Huy Quan: DATA. Unknown to me. He was born in Saigon, South Vietnam. Quan is a Chinese surname. He's of Chinese descent.

13. Wind instrument?: CHIME. 45. Crash site?: SPARE BED. 35. Euro pop?: PERE. All fun clues.

18. Chapati flour: ATTA.

19. Former Ford div.: MERC.

20. Discover, as a solution: HIT ON.

21. Organ __: DONOR.

25. Cygnets' parents: SWANS.

26. Comics unit: PANEL.

27. Proprietor: OWNER.

28. Image file type: GIF.

30. Bobby honored at Boston's TD Garden: ORR. His statue.

31. Pitch tents: ENCAMP.

38. Scuba spot: REEF.

39. Pup's bark: YAP.

41. Canadian prov.: PEI.

42. Escarole kin: ENDIVE. Curly endive.

43. Doone of fiction: LORNA.

48. Madre's sister: TIA.

53. Country with the southernmost capital city in the Americas: URUGUAY.

55. "Yes __, Bob!": SIREE.

56. Rich dessert: TORTE. Graybar used to have this on their Christmas luncheon menu.

57. Fall loosely: DRAPE.

58. Memorizes: LEARNS.

60. Tennis do-over: LET.

61. "We've all __ there": BEEN.

62. Milky birthstone: OPAL.

66. "Crikey!": ACK.

72. "No seats" sign: SRO.

73. Bygone depilatory brand: NEET.

75. GPS lines: RTES.

76. Chinese tea: CHA. Yum cha is a Cantonese tradition. Cha & dim sum. Retired folks do this almost every day. Very affordable.

77. "Whichever": EITHER.

79. Bit the dust: ATE IT.

81. Invents, as a word: COINS.

83. Taurasi who was the first WNBA player to score more than 9,000 points: DIANA. I knew this!

84. Regular expense for an employer: PAYROLL.

90. Taking after: ALA.

91. Shoe reinforcement: TOE PLATE. Never had this.

93. Parsonage: MANSE.

94. Jibes: AGREES.

96. French masculine pronoun: LUI. Opposite Elle.

97. Winter Games gp.: IOC.

98. Quaint contraction: TWAS.

107. Angular abode: A-FRAME.

109. __ World Service: international news org. based in London: BBC.

110. Oil field apparatus: RIG.

111. "Bridesmaids" actor Chris: O'DOWD. Irish actor.

113. Wears: HASON.

114. Expansive: BROAD.

120. Room brighteners: LAMPS.

121. Home of the southeast route to Everest: NEPAL. And 124. Home of the northeast route to Everest: TIBET.

122. Pixar clownfish: NEMO.

123. NBA legend Bryant: KOBE.

125. Dutch cheese: EDAM.

126. Tiny particle: ATOM.

127. Wet septet: SEAS.

Down:

1. Fforde who writes the "Thursday Next" mystery novels: JASPER. Learning moment for me. Never saw a word with ff start.

2. Hydrocarbon gas: ETHANE.

3. Position: STANCE.

4. Gamble (on): TAKE A FLYER.  Not famliar with this expression.

5. Sounds of meditation: OMS.

6. Bank's takeback: REPO.

7. Lost intimacy, say: GREW APART.

8. Negligible: SCANT.

9. Quick swim: DIP. I took a dip the other day and bumped into Boomer's old colleague Steve. He said he saw me there a few times but "is she, isn't she?". Guess how tall he is? I was wrong about Tom Pepper's height.

 

                                                     Boomer, Steve, Jerry & J.C. 12/8/2009

10. The Hawks, on scoreboards: ATL.

11. Head-scratcher: TOUGHIE. 14. [Scratches head]: HOW ODD.

12. Harmon of "Rizzoli & Isles": ANGIE.

13. LP successors: CDS.

15. Two-time Best Director Oscar winner Alejandro González __: INARRITU. For "Birdman" and "The Revenant".

16. Liberia's capital: MONROVIA.

17. Triage ctrs.: ERS.

20. Protagonist: HERO.

23. Furniture wood: ELM.

24. Sleep cycle letters: REM.

29. Allowed to graze: FREE RANGE.

32. Funeral rite pile: PYRE.

34. __ bar: SPACE.

36. Land: END UP.

37. Austin __: Tennessee university: PEAY. Learned from doing xwords.

40. Singer DiFranco: ANI.

44. Berlin Olympics star Jesse: OWENS.

45. Part of an emergency warning system: SIREN.

46. Frilly underskirt: PETTICOAT.

47. Martin Van __: BUREN.

49. Narnia lion: ASLAN.

50. Female kin: NIECE. And 51. Male mallard: DRAKE.

52. Flag bearers: POLES.

54. Cable TV's Nat __ Wild: GEO.

57. Agnus __: DEI.

59. Player who pouts after a rout: SORE LOSER. 78. Mustang's prints?: TIRE TRACKS.  Two great fill. 

61. __ new: BRAND.

63. "As if!": PSHAW.

64. Place for matches: ARENA.

65. "I speak for the trees" Seuss character: LORAX.

68. Practical: UTILE. I just use "useful".

69. Zoo doc: VET.

70. Cologne's river: RHINE.

71. Heads and tails: SIDES.

74. La Brea abundance: TAR.

80. "Completely," casually: TOTES.

81. Committee leader: CHAIR.

82. Like some chocolate: SEMI-SWEET.

84. Jack of early talk TV: PAAR.

85. Ninth grade math course, often: ALGEBRA I.

86. Crafty street art: YARN BOMB.

87. "Professor Plum, in the library, with the candlestick" board game: CLUE.

88. Southeast Asian language: LAO. Laos celebrate the New Year in April.

89. Peru native: INCA.

92. Troubled greatly: PLAGUED.

95. Get away from it all: ESCAPE.

99. Nevada's second-most populous county: WASHOE.

100. Pond protozoan: AMOEBA.

101. Has a feeling: SENSES.

103. "Big Little Lies" novelist Moriarty: LIANE. Knew it before I used this clue once.

104. More than simmer: BOIL.

105. Asparagus-like vegetable in some miso soup recipes: UDO. Our local Asian store does not carry this veggie.

106. Disco legend Summer: DONNA.

108. Govt. mortgage insurer: FHA.

112. Many a helpful video, for short: DEMO.

114. Letters on a lunch menu: BLT.

115. "Spring forward" letters: DST.

117. Bk. reviewer?: CPA.

118. Flat cap: TAM.

119. __-com: ROM.

C.C.