Theme:
Prix Fixe Menu - Common prefixes are added to the start of the first word of each common phrase.
23A. Where there's no rest for the weary? :
DISCOMFORT STATION. Comfort station.
38A. Precinct high jinks? :
MISCHIEF OF POLICE. Chief of police.
47A. Adman's demo reel? :
PRODUCT TAPE. Duck tape.
63A. Engross the financial district? :
PREOCCUPY WALL STREET. Occupy Wall Street.
82A. Court defense team? :
ADVICE SQUAD. Vice Squad.
88A. Where meteorologists relax and talk shop? :
FORECASTING COUCH. Casting couch.
109A. Overpromotion of a Stephenie Meyers fantasy novel series? :
TWILIGHT POLLUTION. Light pollution.
All the seemingly prefixes are parts of the words rather than real prefixes. So quite consistent.
When I downloaded the puzzle and saw the title, I thought "Boy, food! CrossEyedDave will have trouble concentrating again".
Across:
1. Venomous African snake :
MAMBA
6. Slants :
SKEWS
11. Actor Keach :
STACY. He played Mike Hammer. Stacy is also the first name of Fergie (The Black Eyed Peas).
16. Martes, por ejemplo :
DIA. Martes = Tuesday, in Spanish.
19. Pan Am rival :
US AIR
20. "Delta of Venus" author Nin :
ANAIS. Gimme for our Passionate Kisser PK.
21. Actor/public speaker who often began "Unaccustomed as I am to speaking ..." :
HARPO. News to me.
22. Before, in ballads :
ERE
26. And not :
NOR
27. Exhibit presenters, briefly :
DAs. Oh, evidence exhibit in court.
28. Swedish imports :
SAABs
29. Some Deco collectibles :
ERTEs
30. Agent Scully on "The X-Files" :
DANA. She's quite cool.
31. Consider judicially :
HEAR
32. Old Cleveland-based gas company :
SOHIO. Merged with BP in 1987.
34. Got burning again :
RE-LIT
35. Word from a crib :
MAMA. This seems to be universal. Same in Chinese. Our father is Ba Ba though.
43. Multiple choice options :
A B OR C
45. Rural "What if ...?" :
S'POSE.
46. "Damn Yankees" role :
LOLA
50. Mason's jobs :
STONEWORK
55. Fruity wine concoctions :
SANGRIAs. Stay cool, Bill!
56. Rifleman's aid :
SCOPE
57. "Permit Me Voyage" poet James :
AGEE
58. NBC sketch series :
SNL. Lots of parodies of "Call me, Maybe?" on YouTube.
The original is so good. Surprised by the ending? "...
Hey, I just met you, And this is crazy, But here's my number, So call me, maybe?..." . Has to be the most catchy lines in the whole summer.
59. Staircase shape :
SPIRAL
62. Sports venue :
ARENA
69. __ d'Alene :
COEUR. "Heart" in French. Lemonade would comment on CoeurRx here.
70. Can't-miss :
NO LOSE
71. Links target :
PAR
72. Yank or Jay :
AL'er (American Leaguer). I know we don't say this in real life, but...
73. Whomp, biblically :
SMITE
75. Learning period :
SEMESTER
80. Cadenzas in concertos, say :
SOLO PARTS
85. Soccer great who wore #10 :
PELE. Never paid attention to his jersey number.
86. Court conclusion starter :
I REST. " I REST my case".
87. Home of Oral Roberts University :
TULSA
95. Draft picks :
ALES. Can't fool me any more.
96. Birds named for a Greek titan :
RHEAS
97. Big name in wrap :
ALCOA
98. Turkic tent :
YURT. See
here. Lots of yurts in Mongolia.
100. Utopia :
EDEN
101. __ Cup: classic candy :
MALLO. Dennis probably carried this in his old store.
103. Extremely tiny :
MICRO. So Romney is a fan of the tiny Snookie?
105. Actress Farrow
: MIA
108. Large expanse :
SEA
113. Elevator compartment :
CAR
114. German wine region :
BADEN. Marti & Kazie probably know. I've got no idea.
115. Glacial ridge :
ARETE
116. Port-du-__: French cheese :
SALUT
117. Prince Valiant's boy :
ARN
118. Puppeteer Lewis :
SHARI
119. Epic accounts :
SAGAS
120. Bobby pin target :
TRESS. How can we live without bobby pins?
Down:
1. California college Harvey __ :
MUDD. What's it famous for?
2. China setting :
ASIA
3. __ media :
MASS
4. Flickable lighter :
BIC
5. Materialized :
AROSE
6. Jaunt through the jungle :
SAFARI. Hi there, JD!
7. Turning point? :
KNOB. Great clue.
8. Aardvarks have long ones :
EARS
9. Quipster :
WIT
10. Sound of a leak :
SSS
11. Zhivago portrayer :
SHARIF (Omar). "Doctor Zhivago" is so moving.
12. Skin tones? :
TATTOO. I like this clue.
13. Singer India.__ :
ARIE
14. Navy NCOs :
CPOs. I have a "Citizen's Guide to the US Navy", thanks to Spitzboov.
15. Hither's partner :
YON
16. Highest North American peak, to natives :
DENALI
17. Like "Big deal!" :
IRONIC
18. Do a worm's job :
AERATE. Worms take their job seriously.
24. Hat-tipper's word :
MA'AM
25. Giggle :
TE-HEE
30. New Jersey/Pennsylvania border river :
DELAWARE
31. What a
gal has that a
gent doesn't? :
HARD G. That's Don. Nice fill & nice clue.
32. Visit Amazon.com, say :
SHOP
33. Seine tributary :
OISE
34. Part :
ROLE
35. Meteorology tools :
MAPS
36. Hocus-pocus opening :
ABRA
37. Full __ :
MOON. Always a full moon on Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, a national holiday. I love moon cakes.
39. Retired jets :
SSTs
40. Tax prep pro :
CPA
41. Hardly a jolly good show :
FLOP
42. Bread in a skillet :
PONE
44. Screen blinker :
CURSOR
48. POTUS's alternate title :
CINC (Commander-in-Chief). "Hey...
And this is crazy, But here's my number, So call me, maybe?..." The guy in black T-shirt & black eyeglasses in the very start is Michael Phelps, right?
49. Soft mineral :
TALC
50. Fish feature :
SCALE
51. Usage fee of a kind :
TOLL
52. Molding style
: OGEE
53. Monthly expense :
RENT
54. New Zealand parrot :
KEA. Wow, look at her wings.
56. Ladies of Sp. :
SRAs
59. Windex targets :
SPOTS
60. Pulitzer journalist killed in combat in 1945 :
PYLE (Ernie)
61. 1945 battle setting, familiarly :
IWO
62. Collar :
ARREST
63. Links shirt :
POLO
64. Angler's favorite dance? :
REEL. Another nice clue.
65. From the Continent :
EUROPEAN. Are British Europeans? If so, my
favorite European. "Hey...
And this is crazy, But here's my number, So call me, maybe?..."
66. Part of BTU :
UNIT
67. An article may be written on it :
SPEC
68. Get under control :
TAME
69. __ in Charlie :
C AS
73. Pamplona parlor :
SALA
74. C-ration successors :
MREs
75. In __: as found :
SITU
76. Crouch down :
SQUAT
77. "Aqualung" band Jethro __ :
TULL
78. Fluency :
EASE
79. Dietary amts. :
RDAs. Now RDIs.
81. Muscle mag display :
PECS
82. Cornstarch brand :
ARGO. Also the title of the new Ben Affleck movie.
83. Ten up front? :
DECA. Prefix for "ten". Hard clue.
84. Brandy label letters :
VSO
86. Undercover, for short :
INCOG (Incognito)
88. Diet Squirt alternative :
FRESCA
89. Worrywart's words :
OH DEAR
90. Gain again, as trust :
RE-EARN. Tough to gain back. So honor your promises at the first place.
91. Mutt, vis-à-vis Jeff :
TALLER. "Mutt and Jeff".
92. "Fighting" college team :
ILLINI
93. Pedals :
CYCLES
94. Fling :
HURL
99. Rudely awaken :
ROUST
101. [Air kiss] :
MWAH. The kiss sound. "Mwah, Mwah", from Minnesota!
102. Elton John/Tim Rice musical :
AIDA
103. Video file format :
MPEG
104. Little bit of Greek? :
IOTA
105. Wide margin :
MILE
106. Debtors' letters
: IOUs
107. Hill workers :
ANTS. Not Capitol Hill.
109. Conan's network :
TBS. CrossEyedDave is more entertaining.
110. Isn't without :
HAS
111. Vocal syllable :
TRA
112. Road crew's supply :
TAR
Answer grid.
Happy Birthday to dear
D-Otto! Any luck in the casino yesterday?
Here is a young D-Otto in his Navy days. He said it's "A 1970 snapshot at the control console of the shipboard radio station during the final cruise of the carrier Bon Homme Richard. I stumbled across that one in an online copy of the ship's cruise book."
C.C.
