Theme:
Them's Fightin' Words - Part of a common phrase is punnily replaced by a similar sounding fightin' word.
23A. Protective gear for public disorder? :
RIOT GUARD. Playing on Right Guard, the deodorant brand.
28A. Condiments aisle dispute? :
CATSUP BATTLE. Catsup Bottle. We just call it catchup.
43A. Looker in a free-for-all? :
THE BELLE OF THE BRAWL. The Belle of the Ball.
67A. Hostility between pinky wrestlers? :
FINGER FEUD. Finger Food.
69A. Couple that's always at it? :
CLASHMATES. Classmates. Then John gives us
BRA (120A. Uplifting garb) and a consecutive
ASSES (121. Boobs). He's deviously DF.
90A. Grammar class skirmishes? :
PREPOSITIONAL FRAYS. Prepositional phrases.
106A. Table game for tusslers? :
SCUFFLE BOARD. Shuffleboard.
117A. Pasta before an affaire d'honneur? :
DUEL CARBS. What is this playing off? Dual Carb(buretors)? I've never heard of it before. Affaire d'honneur ="Affair of honor".
I liked how 67A & 69A are placed side by side in Row 11 (very central row) of the grid, separated by a black square it the middle. Technically you can place 23A & 117A in that row too, separated by a group of three squares. Won't look as pretty though.
Fun theme and fun clues, which all have some sort of skirmish words as hints.
Pangram. And no helper/cheater squares. Really takes time and effort to accomplish these two goals. Lower than average block count and word count too. As usual, I green-highlighted all the terrific clue echos.
Just mentioned yesterday that E is the most common vowels in crossword. This one has 52. I think R & S & T are the mostly common consonants. 37 R's in this grid.
Across:1. Stop at sea, with "to" :
HEAVE. New expression to me.
6. CD changers, at times :
DJS9. Tossed in :
ADDED14. Seasonal flue shouts :
HO HOS. From Darling Santa. Nice play on "seasonal flu shots".
19. "The Wizard of Oz" tunesmith :
ARLEN (Harold)
20.
__ race :
RAT.Crossing
DRAG (6D.
__ race). Fill-in-the-blank clues can't get better than this.
21. NPR host Hansen :
LIANE. Of "Weekend Edition Sunday". Wife of Neal Conan, host of "Talk of the Nation" (NPR).
22. Critic with an influential thumb :
EBERT (Roger). Film critic.
25. Crossword components :
GRIDS. Sweet!
26. Roger Bannister, notably :
MILER27. Handlers in a bucket :
ICE TONGS. I was picturing a person rather than a tool "handler".
30. Slip :
ERR31. "Evita" role :
CHE. The narrator.
32. Certain dancer's hope :
RAIN. Why? A reference to "Singin' in the Rain"?
33. Ending with Japan :
ESE. Japan
ese.
34. Poking tool :
AWL37. Talk turkey? :
GOBBLE. Lovely clue.
40. Diet guru Jenny :
CRAIG42. Worry :
FRET47. __ avail :
TO NO48.
Monogram pts. :
LTRS. And
R.E.L. (41D. Confed.
monogram). R. E. Lee. Confederate. Wicked clue.
49. Lecture site :
HALL50. Dagger handles :
HAFTS54. Knotty situation? :
NODUS. New word to me. Nodus is Latin for "knot".
56. Solid alcohol :
STEROL. What? There's solid alcohol?
58. Bookplate words :
EX LIBRIS. Bookplate inscription. Never know how to spell the words libris correctly. It means "library", right?
61. Dogsledding gear :
PARKA63. Like some Byzantine art :
ICONIC. Most are icons.
65.
Bodybuilder's target, briefly :
LAT. I wanted ABS. And
FLAB (42D.
Bodybuilder's target). And
HE-MAN (14D. Bodybuilder). Shout-out to our MOREL guy Dennis.
66. Rep. :
AGT72. Eroded, with "away" :
ATE73. Bit of baloney :
LIE. Tasty clue.
74. Flap-doored homes :
TEPEES76. Redder inside :
RARER. Meat.
77.
Agate and jasper :
QUARTZES. Super scrabbly. And
TIGER'S EYE (52D.
Agate relative).
80. "m" and "n" sounds :
NASALS82. Like 2-Down :
NORSE. Cross-referenced with
ERIC (2D. "The Red" guy). Eric the Red.
84. Binge :
SPREE85. Broadway successes :
HITS87. Pro follower :
RATA. Pro rata = proportionately.
89. Some fuel suffixes :
ANES. Hydrocarbon suffixes. Plural of an chemical suffix is never desirable.
95. Drama opening? :
MELO.
Melodrama.
98. Main blood line :
AORTA99. Golfer's "flat stick" :
PUTTER. Most putters actually have some degree of loft.
100. Baseball's Durocher :
LEO.
Hall of Famer. More famous as a manager than a player.
101. Botanist Gray :
ASA102. Gardner that sounds like a peer :
ERLE. And
EARL (91D. Peer that sounds like a Gardner). Erle Stanley Gardner. We also have
STREET (18D. Mason's assistant).
103. Kid :
TOT104. Double-digit sign? :
VEE. Good clue.
110. Ice cream order :
ONE SCOOP. I don't eat ice cream.
115. It's trolled at Christmas :
CAROL116. Like fall air, often :
NIPPY. Fleeting summer here.
118. Bizet work :
OPERA. "Carmen".
119. Some jazz combos :
TRIOS122. Principle :
TENET123. Skillful :
ADEPT124. Nile snake :
ASP125. Not a good way to come up :
SHORT. Come up short.
Down:1. Spy name :
HARI. Mata Hari.
3. Burn balm :
ALOE4. Stingray, e.g., for short :
'VETTE5. Swallow greedily
: ENGORGE7. Honey holders :
JARS. I love honey.
8. Part of EST: Abbr. :
STD9. Pool owner's concern :
ALGAE10. Tabloid fodder :
DIRT11. Speaker's platform :
DAIS12. Like minor hardships :
ENDURABLE. Didn't come to me readily.
13. Very blue state :
DESPAIR. Was thinking of California.
15.
Ultimate words? :
OBIT. Terrific clue. And
OR ELSE (17.
Ultimate words).
16. With 55-Down, Beatles song with the line "You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer" :
HELTER. And
SKELTER (55. See 16-Down). Helter Skelter. Not a familiar song to me.
24. Open, as a scroll :
UNROLL28. Toque wearer :
CHEF. Was surprised that toque stumped some in Donna's hat pun last time.
29. Anaheim stadium nickname :
BIG A. The Big A. Probably hard for non-baseball fans.
31. Shaved to the max :
CLOSE-CUT. I wanted an EST-ending word.
34. Env. directive :
ATTN35. Celebrate in a big way :
WHOOP IT UP36. Listen :
LEND AN EAR. Two great multi-words in a row.
38. Alphabetical
orders? :
BLTS. I figure it can't be BCDE cluster, the real "Alphabetical orders". Also
RODENTIA (57. Mouse
order). Composed of rodents. Another new word. I was thinking of computer mouse order: click.
39. Jeeves's boss __ Wooster, in Wodehouse novels :
BERTIE. No idea. I bet Lemonade knows.
40. Communion cups :
CHALICES44. Village :
BOURG. Thought it means "town". Confused it with burg.
45. Tele- ending :
THON. Telethon.
46. "Song of Myself" poet :
WHITMAN51. Like the Elks :
FRATERNAL53. Ret. fliers :
SSTS59. T-shirt orders :
XLS60. "If I Were King of the Forest" singer :
LAHR (Bert). Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".
62. McCain's st. :
ARIZ64. Empty, as a desk :
CLEAR OUT67. Online sidebar headings :
FAQS. FAQ = Frequently Asked Question.
68. Charge card charge :
FEE. Triple alliteration.
70. Like italics :
ASLANT. And
AROAR (71. Cheering in a big way). Two consecutive A words.
75. Tense time? :
PAST. Past tense.
78. Taken-back auto :
REPO79. Curlew or plover :
SHOREBIRD81.
Ballpark figure :
STAT. And
OR SO (112.
Ballpark figure follower). Different ballparks.
83. Old U.S. gas :
ESSO86. Violin add-on :
IST. Violin
ist.88. Brit's school exam :
A-LEVEL. No idea. Taken by whom? For what?
92. Italian cornmeal dish :
POLENTA93. Apple product :
IPOD94. Citrus drinks :
FRESCAS. Coca-Cola.
95. Smokey Bear, e.g. :
MASCOT96. Beach book genre :
ESCAPE97. Polo designer :
LAUREN (Ralph)
102. Key of four Beethoven piano sonatas :
E-FLAT. I peeked at the answer sheet.
103. Lovers' liaison :
TRYST105. It's disposable online :
E-CASH. Do you call PayPal money e-cash?
107. Shout after a hook, maybe :
FORE. Or after a slice. Golf.
108. Andy's kid :
OPIE. "The Andy Griffith Show" kid.
109. Per :
A POP110. Nuptial pronoun :
OURS111. Twice-monthly tide :
NEAP113. Fräulein's upper :
OBER. I only know
UBER (over).
114. Sibilant signal :
PSST117. Corp. alias :
DBA (Doing Business As)
Answer grid.Here is a link to Gunghy's Meteor Crater shots from his Picaca Web Album. Click on each one, his wonderful captions will show up. Man, he's a great photographer, don't you think?
C.C.