Sorry to tell you folks, you're stuck with me again.
I'm not sure what's on C.C.'s plate, but I'm sure she needs a break regardless.
I knew there was a reason I don't do Sunday puzzles, and now I remember - too many words for this dyslexic. //I clued a Sunday LAT with C.C. once... Once! [Johnny Dangerously]
OK, let's get going...
Opposite Day!
The Constructors take in-the-vernacular phrases and flips one word opposite for whimsy. Take a look:23. Drill sergeant, perhaps?: PRIVATE ENEMY NUMBER ONE. As opposed to Public Enemy Number One - aka the dude on the Wanted poster.
A Drill Sgt's goal is to get the platoon to work as a team. He makes it a point to become the PVTs' common enemy. Ask me how I know. #GoArmy
36. Collective action by society women?: DEBUTANTE STRIKE. As opposed to a Debutante Ball - think baseball's strikes & balls.
49. Farm bird that never topples?: NO FALL CHICKEN. No Spring Chicken - we ain't getting any younger.
66. Amendment proposed by a technophile?: RIGHT TO ONES OWN DEVICES. Left To One's Own Devices - only using what (little) God gave you.
Lawsuits were filed and folks won the right-to-repair. [See: Apple / Deere lawsuits. Interesting story: when Russians stole Ukrainian farm equipment, John Deere remotely disabled all of them.]
78. Like a typical ride on a mechanical bull?: A FEW BUCKS LONG. A Few Bucks Short - not enough money to ride the bull again.
92. Endure within a group of peers?: LAST AMONG EQUALS. First Among Equals - The Crème de la Crème (in your circle) or to last through/put-up with their airs.
109. Death and taxes, per Benjamin Franklin?: UNIVERSAL BASIC OUTCOME. Universal Basic Income - what some in D.C. argue for instead of what out-goes every April 15th (when's Canada's tax due, C,Eh!?).
A very cute and well-executed theme. Debutante STRIKE threw me for a while 'cuz I was thinking, "what's opposite for Deb?"
And now, for the rest of the fill:
Across:
1. Cat's attention-getter, maybe: PAW. Some Cornites report their cats paw them awake them for their (cats') breakfast.
4. Car once advertised as a "well-built Swede": SAAB. A man called Ove cherished his.
8. Endpoint for some boots and skirts: THIGH. Just above the (67d) TIBIA.
13. Like cookies soon after the Cookie Monster spots them: EATEN. Nom, nom, nom.
18. Equine parent: SIRE. The daddy-horse that begat.
20. Anti-censorship org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union. I wanted EFF (fights for right-to-repair) before I saw I needed to ink four squares.
21. Provençal mayo: AIOLI. Garlic and oil mayonnaise.
22. Only just: NEWLY. Minted.
23. [See: Theme]
27. New York, for one: STATE. And a city, and a county.
Ghost Busters - City, County, and, STATE
28. Lubricate: GREASE. For the squeaky-wheel.
29. Return: PROFIT. One's ROI [Return On Investment].
30. Audrey Hopburn letters: IPA. Indian Pale Ale. I assume this is a beer. Note the Hop(s) and not Hep.
31. Distribution parties: ISSUERS. People handing out stuff, not galas with swag.
34. Ellington composition: RAG. Duke.
Soda Fountain Rag
35. Inning's trio?: ENS. Not OUTs - There's three 'N's in iNNiNG. I'd like to speak with management about these types of clues/answers :-)
36. [See: Theme]
41. French bread?: EURO. Bread, dough, money. France was one of the first countries to eschew their currency and adopt the Euro on 1 Jan 1999.
43. Part of an underwater forest: KELP. Dried & spiced, it's Eldest's favorite snack.
44. One-eighty: UIE. U-turn.
45. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. Cute.
47. Pick up: DETECT. Sense. You have five (or six if you're "special").
49. [See: Theme]
55. Wrath: IRE. The IRE of Khan [Star Trek] doesn't have the same ring to it.
Khaaaaan!
56. Honeycomb unit: CELL.
57. Rep. from the Bronx: AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the representative from the City of the New York. //Remember - no politics :-)
58. WWF, e.g.: NGO. World Wildlife Fund is a Non-Governmental Organization.
World Wrestling Federation lost a lawsuit to the NGO inre: WWF moniker so now they're WWE (Entertainment) - that ordeal made a comic Hahtoolah posted a bit back very LOL.
59. Mountain goats' terrain: CRAGS.
62. Temperamental: MOODY.
63. Org. with the largest-circulation magazine in the U.S.: AARP. American Association of Retired Persons. Bzzt - you don't have to be retired for them to start sending you membership forms when you hit 50 :-) //and how do they know?
65. Corner store: MART.
66. [See: Theme]
70. Cut and paste, say: EDIT. Editing commands to a computer (CTRL-C & CTRL-V / CMD-C & CMD-V [Apple]) or what folks physically did (with scissors & GLUE (11d)) before going to press.
71. Ibex range: ALPS. CRAGS there, too, I bet.
72. Drops: OMITS. Leaves out.
73. Invite for: ASK TO. A bit gluey fill, no?
74. Gretchen of "Boardwalk Empire": MOL. I've never watched this so ESP (Every. Single. Perpendicular.) #1.
75. La Liga cheer: OLE. LaLiga is Spain's futbal division. Only English speakers add the space between La and Liga. I guessed the fill but thank Google for the expo.
76. Contact __: LENS.
77. Carol contraction: 'TIS the season to be jolly...
78. [See: Theme]
83. Some Japanese TVs: SANYOS.
86. "I don't care!": SO SUE ME. Can't get blood from a turnip.
87. Terr. divided in 1889: DAK. Into North & South DAKotas.
88. Kiwi-shaped: OVAL. The fruit, not the bird nor the people of New Zealand.
90. Color of Montana's flag: BLUE. Hi, Montana!
92. [See: Theme]
97. __ carte: ALA.
98. "Hair Love" voice actress Issa: RAE. ESP #2
100. Strapless bralette: BANDEAU. ESP #3.
101. "__ Lasso": TED. If you have Apple+ TV, I highly recommend the show. Touching & funny at the same time.
Trailer
102. Passing remark?: GO DEEP. Football - for the "Hail Mary" pass.
104. Slides (over): SCOOTS. Skootch was a letter too long (and shows my Midwest upbringing).
107. Hides in plain sight?: TIPIS. ESP #4. I guess this is an alternate spelling of Tepees(?) made of animal hide. If I'm right (I am, I looked it up), this is really cute.
109. [See: Theme]
114. Contributed: ADDED. Y'all will get your chance to contribute / ADD commentary.
115. French 101 verb: AVOIR. Fr. for Have. //another ESP. #5.
116. Ziggurat level: TIER. I got this from "level." A ziggurat is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. [WikiP]
117. Shoestring catch?: SNAG. A trippy-moment or SNAG'n' a ball near your feet in the outfield? We should be told.
118. Creates a Maillard reaction on a steak, say: SEARS. Interaction of sugars with amino acids. She'll explain:
119. Gave back, as land: CEDED. Tense, -T, tense. See Gave (past) in the clue? (I didn't at first).
120. Be worthy of: EARN. You earned it.
121. Nestlé's __-Caps: SNO.
Down:
1. Nintendo : DS :: Sony : __: PSP. Sony's PlayStation, Portable, 1EA :-) //a joke for the Vets.
2. Measure typically given in knots: AIR SPEED. A nautical mile well above the waters.
3. Like some data disks: WRITABLE. I hope they were at least once writable or there's nothing on them.
4. Chili-based Vietnamese condiment: SATE SAUCE. Looks like very hot salsa.
5. The "A" of LGBTQIA+, for short: ACE. Perps.
6. The "A" of 30-Across: ALE. It's been a while, but remember 30a? It, Audrey Hopburn, was an IPAle.
7. __ cord: BUNGEE.
The Girls loved Veggie Tales (and it was funny)
8. Maximally vanilla: TAMEST. Not fair to vanilla - it's my fav w/ peaches or malted milk (or both!).
9. "Howdy there!": HI YA. HolA fit, didn't it Lucina? My only ink-over.
10. Cyclotron particles: IONS. A Cyclotron is a ring of magnets that speed IONS to near light just to smash 'em into other particles. Subatomic physics. #Fermilabs
11. "I'm rubber, you're __ ... ": GLUE. Your insults bounce off me and stick on you.
12. That guy: HIM. I have a buddy who's "catch-line" was "That guy" as he thumb'd at someone nearby. I was the butt of that bit when we were at .conf in Vegas. He taught me Blackjack, so there's that.
13. Fired up: ENERGETIC.
14. Prefix with Mexico: AERO. Aeromexico is an airline.
15. BOGO deal: TWOFER. Buy-One/Get-One aka a Two-for-One deal. I thank WC talking about his BOGO deals at Publix for knowing this.
16. Weather-affecting Pacific current: EL NINO.
17. Politburo nos: NYETS. Not numbers but NO! in Russia before 1991.
19. Noblezada of "Easter Sunday": EVA. A&E I didn't know. A three-letter actor/actress with EV_ can only end with an A or E. No?
24. Bumping heads: AT IT. A row, a fight, going AT IT.
25. Drops the ball, say: ERRS. Oy! Boss-man: "Where are we regarding..." Me: "D'Oh!, I dropped the ball."
26. __-free plastic: BPA. BisPhenol A is a synthetic organic compound used in making certain plastics. It's thought to be harmful if ingested; they're probably right.
30. Brief "Beats me!": IDK.
Story: I texted Youngest, "When will you be home?" She texts back, "idk"
I respond, "What's idk?"
Youngest: "I don't know"
Me: "Then why would you text me idk if you don't know what idk means?"
The penny dropped a microsecond after I hit send. #EggFace #EmojiGigglesEnsued.
Why would you tell me you have a plethora if you don't know what it means to have a plethora?
32. Fit of pique: SNIT. Yet another ado.
33. Great Basin native: UTE.
34. Sends off the soccer pitch: RED CARDS. Did y'all hear about the ref that Red-Carded himself?
37. Far from relaxed: UPTIGHT.
38. Color TV pioneer: RCA. Hi Misty!
39. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life.
40. Kenan's "Good Burger" co-star: KEL.
42. Sch. that competes against Notre Dame for the Jeweled Shillelagh: USC. ESP #6. University of Southern California. Some history of the trophy.
46. [Crossing my fingers!]: I HOPE. Or, if behind your back, you're telling a lie.
48. German "first": ERST.
49. Bright shades: NEONS. Remember the '80's?
50. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE.
51. Eschew a co-pilot: FLY SOLO.
52. Real talent: KNACK. With "The" you get My Sharona
53. Wading bird: EGRET.
54. "Au contraire!": NOT SO. Oui, Oui! More French.
56. Member-owned grocery: CO-OP. A COOPerative.
59. Espresso froth: CREMA. I'm assuming Italian spelling of Crème(?) When DW & I were in Italy, I'd just quit smoking (again) so I loved to end the day with espresso & gelatto before our last bit of wine.
60. Free from: RID OF. Toss it if it doesn't bring joy. Or not: I'm just sure I can use this again ;-)
61. Fleet of foot: AGILE.
62. Chemistry class model: MOLECULE.
63. Filling with wonder: AWING. Gluey IMHO.
64. Children's song marchers: ANTS. The ANTS go marching/One by one/The ANTS go...
65. Text in a long-distance relationship, maybe: MISS YOU. Or, just mid-day texts to Significant Other.
67. Tibia neighbor: TALUS. Dem Bones/Dem Bones...
68. Spilled salt, to some: OMEN. Throw a bit over your left-shoulder and the demon goes away, so they say.
"kill -9 all" makes the daemons go away [*nix joke for the techies]
I wrote "kill -9 all | sort -god out" on a buddy's white-board. He left the company 5 years ago, but the quip is still on the wall.
69. Thinking a song is about oneself, say: VAIN. Cue Carly Simon.
75. Music store supply: OBOE REEDS. We get both OBOE and REED in the same fill!
77. Roll the dice, say: TAKE A TURN. My first thought was TAKE A risk.
79. Pacific Northwest sch.: WSU. Washington State University.
80. Hawaiian for "white": KEA. Ok, now the Hawaiian mountain's names make sense.
81. Texting tech: SMS. Short Messaging Service.
82. "If we must die, O __ us nobly die": McKay: LET.
83. Herb used in some smudging rituals: SAGE. DW's PhD department was so toxic - one night, she and fellow candidates took bunched SAGE, lit it, and smudged every office. You could smell the sweet for a week.
84. Big hands?: OVATIONS. Cute - give Brian & Brooke a big round of applause.
85. Word in an Arthur Miller title: SALESMAN. The Death of a...
87. RPG with a 20-sided die: DND. Dungeons-n-Dragons is a Role Playing Game. An icosahedron (20-sided die, aka a 20d) is used to determine chance of survival from an orc / dragon / random-monster attack. Or, if your character is strong, hit-points against a foe. I oft played a Paladin Ranger, so I'd usually end up w/ a 12d (dodecahedron) for hit-points. //the rules have changed since I played the 2nd edition (D&D is now on v5e) and now I have to keep up with Eldest's knowledge.
89. Acid initials: LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. More trippy-stuff (or so I am told).
90. Strawberry __: BLONDE. This took forever 'cuz I kept thinking margarita, jam, or preserve. Cue BLONDiE.
Call Me
91. Highfalutin: LA-DI-DA. Mr. Fancy Pants.
93. "All __!": ABOARD. Rise (think court-room) was too short so I got on the train.
94. Rolls in yoga class: MATS.
95. In the office: ON SITE. Post-Covid vaccines, a few departments are still 100% remote, but our team is ON-SITE, IRL, three days a week.
97. __ frescas: fruit drinks: AGUAS.
99. Passover's month, often: Abbr.: APR. April. I was expecting this fill to be in Hebrew. Not that I speak it but, silly me, waited for perps.
103. Even once: EVER. Have you Ever...
That Dog
104. Back up: SAVE. Your data on Writable data disks or in "The Cloud."
105. Graceless one: CLOD. Some days, yes, that's me. //EVER just turn into a wall instead of the doorway thinking you were one step later?
106. Four Tops singer Benson: OBIE. Renaldo "Odie" Benson [WikiP]
108. Some laptops: PCS. Personal ComputerS.
110. __ fly: SAC. Short for Sacrifice. #Baseball! A SAC fly is when there's a runner at 3rd, fewer that 2 outs, and you hit it deep knowing you'll be out but hoping the out-fielder can't get the ball to home before the runner tags-up and takes off. I suppose, with less that two outs, you could SAC to move the runner to 3rd - but that's a risky bet.
111. Spy-fi org.: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency - USA's spooks. //Back in the day, at hacker conferences, we'd play spot-the-spook to figure out who was .gov. Eventually, they started recruiting us :-)
112. Not 'neath: O'ER. Poetry and more carols... "the river and through the woods..."
113. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. We recently had her in the grid - and I remembered!
Phew! That was a lot of words.
Well, I hope y'all had fun with the grid and the expo.
Thanks Brian & Brooke for the puzzle!
Cheers, -T
Oh, yeah, insert the Grid you Big Dummy.
29. Return: PROFIT. One's ROI [Return On Investment].
30. Audrey Hopburn letters: IPA. Indian Pale Ale. I assume this is a beer. Note the Hop(s) and not Hep.
31. Distribution parties: ISSUERS. People handing out stuff, not galas with swag.
34. Ellington composition: RAG. Duke.
Soda Fountain Rag
35. Inning's trio?: ENS. Not OUTs - There's three 'N's in iNNiNG. I'd like to speak with management about these types of clues/answers :-)
36. [See: Theme]
41. French bread?: EURO. Bread, dough, money. France was one of the first countries to eschew their currency and adopt the Euro on 1 Jan 1999.
43. Part of an underwater forest: KELP. Dried & spiced, it's Eldest's favorite snack.
44. One-eighty: UIE. U-turn.
45. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. Cute.
47. Pick up: DETECT. Sense. You have five (or six if you're "special").
49. [See: Theme]
55. Wrath: IRE. The IRE of Khan [Star Trek] doesn't have the same ring to it.
Khaaaaan!
56. Honeycomb unit: CELL.
 |
| Perfect Little Hexagons |
57. Rep. from the Bronx: AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the representative from the City of the New York. //Remember - no politics :-)
58. WWF, e.g.: NGO. World Wildlife Fund is a Non-Governmental Organization.
World Wrestling Federation lost a lawsuit to the NGO inre: WWF moniker so now they're WWE (Entertainment) - that ordeal made a comic Hahtoolah posted a bit back very LOL.
59. Mountain goats' terrain: CRAGS.
62. Temperamental: MOODY.
63. Org. with the largest-circulation magazine in the U.S.: AARP. American Association of Retired Persons. Bzzt - you don't have to be retired for them to start sending you membership forms when you hit 50 :-) //and how do they know?
65. Corner store: MART.
 |
| Apu's Quick-E-Mart |
66. [See: Theme]
70. Cut and paste, say: EDIT. Editing commands to a computer (CTRL-C & CTRL-V / CMD-C & CMD-V [Apple]) or what folks physically did (with scissors & GLUE (11d)) before going to press.
71. Ibex range: ALPS. CRAGS there, too, I bet.
72. Drops: OMITS. Leaves out.
73. Invite for: ASK TO. A bit gluey fill, no?
74. Gretchen of "Boardwalk Empire": MOL. I've never watched this so ESP (Every. Single. Perpendicular.) #1.
 |
| Gretchen Mol |
75. La Liga cheer: OLE. LaLiga is Spain's futbal division. Only English speakers add the space between La and Liga. I guessed the fill but thank Google for the expo.
76. Contact __: LENS.
77. Carol contraction: 'TIS the season to be jolly...
78. [See: Theme]
83. Some Japanese TVs: SANYOS.
86. "I don't care!": SO SUE ME. Can't get blood from a turnip.
87. Terr. divided in 1889: DAK. Into North & South DAKotas.
88. Kiwi-shaped: OVAL. The fruit, not the bird nor the people of New Zealand.
90. Color of Montana's flag: BLUE. Hi, Montana!
 |
| Montana's State Flag |
97. __ carte: ALA.
98. "Hair Love" voice actress Issa: RAE. ESP #2
100. Strapless bralette: BANDEAU. ESP #3.
101. "__ Lasso": TED. If you have Apple+ TV, I highly recommend the show. Touching & funny at the same time.
Trailer
102. Passing remark?: GO DEEP. Football - for the "Hail Mary" pass.
104. Slides (over): SCOOTS. Skootch was a letter too long (and shows my Midwest upbringing).
107. Hides in plain sight?: TIPIS. ESP #4. I guess this is an alternate spelling of Tepees(?) made of animal hide. If I'm right (I am, I looked it up), this is really cute.
109. [See: Theme]
114. Contributed: ADDED. Y'all will get your chance to contribute / ADD commentary.
115. French 101 verb: AVOIR. Fr. for Have. //another ESP. #5.
116. Ziggurat level: TIER. I got this from "level." A ziggurat is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. [WikiP]
 |
| A Ziggurat |
117. Shoestring catch?: SNAG. A trippy-moment or SNAG'n' a ball near your feet in the outfield? We should be told.
118. Creates a Maillard reaction on a steak, say: SEARS. Interaction of sugars with amino acids. She'll explain:
119. Gave back, as land: CEDED. Tense, -T, tense. See Gave (past) in the clue? (I didn't at first).
120. Be worthy of: EARN. You earned it.
121. Nestlé's __-Caps: SNO.
 |
| Sno-Caps |
Down:
1. Nintendo : DS :: Sony : __: PSP. Sony's PlayStation, Portable, 1EA :-) //a joke for the Vets.
2. Measure typically given in knots: AIR SPEED. A nautical mile well above the waters.
3. Like some data disks: WRITABLE. I hope they were at least once writable or there's nothing on them.
4. Chili-based Vietnamese condiment: SATE SAUCE. Looks like very hot salsa.
5. The "A" of LGBTQIA+, for short: ACE. Perps.
6. The "A" of 30-Across: ALE. It's been a while, but remember 30a? It, Audrey Hopburn, was an IPAle.
7. __ cord: BUNGEE.
The Girls loved Veggie Tales (and it was funny)
8. Maximally vanilla: TAMEST. Not fair to vanilla - it's my fav w/ peaches or malted milk (or both!).
9. "Howdy there!": HI YA. HolA fit, didn't it Lucina? My only ink-over.
10. Cyclotron particles: IONS. A Cyclotron is a ring of magnets that speed IONS to near light just to smash 'em into other particles. Subatomic physics. #Fermilabs
11. "I'm rubber, you're __ ... ": GLUE. Your insults bounce off me and stick on you.
12. That guy: HIM. I have a buddy who's "catch-line" was "That guy" as he thumb'd at someone nearby. I was the butt of that bit when we were at .conf in Vegas. He taught me Blackjack, so there's that.
13. Fired up: ENERGETIC.
14. Prefix with Mexico: AERO. Aeromexico is an airline.
15. BOGO deal: TWOFER. Buy-One/Get-One aka a Two-for-One deal. I thank WC talking about his BOGO deals at Publix for knowing this.
16. Weather-affecting Pacific current: EL NINO.
 |
| Difference between EL NINO & LA NINA |
17. Politburo nos: NYETS. Not numbers but NO! in Russia before 1991.
19. Noblezada of "Easter Sunday": EVA. A&E I didn't know. A three-letter actor/actress with EV_ can only end with an A or E. No?
24. Bumping heads: AT IT. A row, a fight, going AT IT.
25. Drops the ball, say: ERRS. Oy! Boss-man: "Where are we regarding..." Me: "D'Oh!, I dropped the ball."
26. __-free plastic: BPA. BisPhenol A is a synthetic organic compound used in making certain plastics. It's thought to be harmful if ingested; they're probably right.
30. Brief "Beats me!": IDK.
Story: I texted Youngest, "When will you be home?" She texts back, "idk"
I respond, "What's idk?"
Youngest: "I don't know"
Me: "Then why would you text me idk if you don't know what idk means?"
The penny dropped a microsecond after I hit send. #EggFace #EmojiGigglesEnsued.
Why would you tell me you have a plethora if you don't know what it means to have a plethora?
32. Fit of pique: SNIT. Yet another ado.
33. Great Basin native: UTE.
34. Sends off the soccer pitch: RED CARDS. Did y'all hear about the ref that Red-Carded himself?
37. Far from relaxed: UPTIGHT.
38. Color TV pioneer: RCA. Hi Misty!
39. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life.
40. Kenan's "Good Burger" co-star: KEL.
42. Sch. that competes against Notre Dame for the Jeweled Shillelagh: USC. ESP #6. University of Southern California. Some history of the trophy.
46. [Crossing my fingers!]: I HOPE. Or, if behind your back, you're telling a lie.
48. German "first": ERST.
49. Bright shades: NEONS. Remember the '80's?
 |
| The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) Rocked It |
50. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE.
51. Eschew a co-pilot: FLY SOLO.
52. Real talent: KNACK. With "The" you get My Sharona
53. Wading bird: EGRET.
54. "Au contraire!": NOT SO. Oui, Oui! More French.
56. Member-owned grocery: CO-OP. A COOPerative.
59. Espresso froth: CREMA. I'm assuming Italian spelling of Crème(?) When DW & I were in Italy, I'd just quit smoking (again) so I loved to end the day with espresso & gelatto before our last bit of wine.
60. Free from: RID OF. Toss it if it doesn't bring joy. Or not: I'm just sure I can use this again ;-)
61. Fleet of foot: AGILE.
62. Chemistry class model: MOLECULE.
 |
| Water |
63. Filling with wonder: AWING. Gluey IMHO.
64. Children's song marchers: ANTS. The ANTS go marching/One by one/The ANTS go...
65. Text in a long-distance relationship, maybe: MISS YOU. Or, just mid-day texts to Significant Other.
67. Tibia neighbor: TALUS. Dem Bones/Dem Bones...
68. Spilled salt, to some: OMEN. Throw a bit over your left-shoulder and the demon goes away, so they say.
"kill -9 all" makes the daemons go away [*nix joke for the techies]
I wrote "kill -9 all | sort -god out" on a buddy's white-board. He left the company 5 years ago, but the quip is still on the wall.
69. Thinking a song is about oneself, say: VAIN. Cue Carly Simon.
75. Music store supply: OBOE REEDS. We get both OBOE and REED in the same fill!
77. Roll the dice, say: TAKE A TURN. My first thought was TAKE A risk.
79. Pacific Northwest sch.: WSU. Washington State University.
80. Hawaiian for "white": KEA. Ok, now the Hawaiian mountain's names make sense.
81. Texting tech: SMS. Short Messaging Service.
82. "If we must die, O __ us nobly die": McKay: LET.
83. Herb used in some smudging rituals: SAGE. DW's PhD department was so toxic - one night, she and fellow candidates took bunched SAGE, lit it, and smudged every office. You could smell the sweet for a week.
84. Big hands?: OVATIONS. Cute - give Brian & Brooke a big round of applause.
85. Word in an Arthur Miller title: SALESMAN. The Death of a...
87. RPG with a 20-sided die: DND. Dungeons-n-Dragons is a Role Playing Game. An icosahedron (20-sided die, aka a 20d) is used to determine chance of survival from an orc / dragon / random-monster attack. Or, if your character is strong, hit-points against a foe. I oft played a Paladin Ranger, so I'd usually end up w/ a 12d (dodecahedron) for hit-points. //the rules have changed since I played the 2nd edition (D&D is now on v5e) and now I have to keep up with Eldest's knowledge.
89. Acid initials: LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. More trippy-stuff (or so I am told).
90. Strawberry __: BLONDE. This took forever 'cuz I kept thinking margarita, jam, or preserve. Cue BLONDiE.
Call Me
91. Highfalutin: LA-DI-DA. Mr. Fancy Pants.
93. "All __!": ABOARD. Rise (think court-room) was too short so I got on the train.
94. Rolls in yoga class: MATS.
95. In the office: ON SITE. Post-Covid vaccines, a few departments are still 100% remote, but our team is ON-SITE, IRL, three days a week.
96. Word after rage or force: QUIT. Rage quit or force quit.
- Rage quit - Youngest @9p night b/f post explained Rage quit: it's when you're so mad at something / someone you just stop fiddling / texting.
- Force quit - Stopping (ending) an unresponsive application on your Windows or Apple device. Ctrl+Alt+Del on Windows devices, and Option-Command-Esc on a Mac.
99. Passover's month, often: Abbr.: APR. April. I was expecting this fill to be in Hebrew. Not that I speak it but, silly me, waited for perps.
103. Even once: EVER. Have you Ever...
That Dog
104. Back up: SAVE. Your data on Writable data disks or in "The Cloud."
105. Graceless one: CLOD. Some days, yes, that's me. //EVER just turn into a wall instead of the doorway thinking you were one step later?
106. Four Tops singer Benson: OBIE. Renaldo "Odie" Benson [WikiP]
108. Some laptops: PCS. Personal ComputerS.
110. __ fly: SAC. Short for Sacrifice. #Baseball! A SAC fly is when there's a runner at 3rd, fewer that 2 outs, and you hit it deep knowing you'll be out but hoping the out-fielder can't get the ball to home before the runner tags-up and takes off. I suppose, with less that two outs, you could SAC to move the runner to 3rd - but that's a risky bet.
111. Spy-fi org.: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency - USA's spooks. //Back in the day, at hacker conferences, we'd play spot-the-spook to figure out who was .gov. Eventually, they started recruiting us :-)
112. Not 'neath: O'ER. Poetry and more carols... "the river and through the woods..."
113. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. We recently had her in the grid - and I remembered!
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| Ego Nwodim |
Phew! That was a lot of words.
Well, I hope y'all had fun with the grid and the expo.
Thanks Brian & Brooke for the puzzle!
Cheers, -T
Oh, yeah, insert the Grid you Big Dummy.
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| The Grid |
