Theme: Torn Fabric
23A: As it was formerly known, channel with the slogan "play every day": GAME SHOW NETWORK (Mesh)
32A: "Enough": THAT WILL DO (Twill)
43A: Waldo of kids' books, e.g.: HIDDEN IMAGE (Denim)
60A: Couldn't rush at rush hour: SAT IN TRAFFIC (Satin)
82A: "That used to be the cases": NOT ANY LONGER (Nylon)
96A: It can be seen from the Seine: EIFFEL TOWER (Felt)
103A: Safe bronzing product: SPRAY-ON TAN (Rayon)
123A: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, e.g.: ONLINE NEWSPAPER (Linen)
Another smooth puzzle from Gail Grabowski. Very creative theme and great theme title. Out of those 8 long theme answers, I have never heard of Game Show Network. I only watch a bit of news and ball games every day. I faintly remember that the Seattle Post - Intelligencer went totally online in March. ONLINE NEWSPAPER is my favorite theme entry. It's topical. And I like the unexpected hidden LINEN fabric.
I thought all fabrics are all natural, you know, cotton, linen, satin/silk, mesh, twill, felt, etc. Nylon, rayon are man-made. I guess I am wrong.
I imagine Ms. Grabowski has a very pretty vegetable garden: tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans and various herbs. But I don't believe she grows or likes lima beans. Nobody ever calls lima beans LIMAS alone (64A: Succotash staples).
Someone asked last time what a cheater/helper square is. In today's grid, the single black square on the upper right corner (directly above NERO (22D: Fictional sleuth Wolfe) and lower left corner (directly below SPCA (103D: Gp. advocating adoption) are two examples. They are used to shorten fills (thus eliminate obscure answers) without increasing the word count.
Across:
1A: Dance floor flasher: STROBE. Is anyone a Phish fan?
14A: Big name in hotels: RITZ. Reminds me of PUT ON THE DOG last time. I wanted PUT ON THE RITZ.
16A: Biblical landfall: ARARAT. Noah's Ark landed on Mount ARARAT.
20A: Farm eatery?: LEA. Excellent clue.
21A: 2000s scandal subject: ENRON. My ENRON golf balls are not worth much.
26A: "The Cider House Rules" Oscar winner: CAINE (Michael). Unknown to me. Not familiar with the movie.
27A: Name to a position: APPOINT
28A: Gauguin's retreat: TAHITI. Here is Gauguin's "Two Women on the Beach" once again.
30A: Defeat: LOSS. Thought the clue was asking for a verb.
34A: Marine predator: ORCA. The killer whale.
42A: Cutter's cousin: SLOOP. Both Single-masted.
47A: Took the role of: ACTED AS
52A: Legal hurdle: BAR EXAM. And PRE-LAW (112A: Future litigator's study)
54A: Mil. bigwigs: GENS
55A: Olympics cheer: USA. Wanted OLE.
56A: Flimsy: LAME
57A: Platte River settler: OTO. "Prefix for ear" as well.
58A: Some e-mail receiver: PDAS. Wish I had some Research in Motion (the Blackberry manufacturer) stock.
63A: Candied veggie: YAM
66A: Yukon, e.g.: Abbr.: TERR. I was thinking of Yukon gold potato.
67A: Tiny arachnids: MITES. And GNAT (116D: Itty-bitty biter).
68A: Crew members: OARSMEN. Helsmen too.
70A: Broadway "Music Man" portrayer Robert: PRESTON. No idea. Wikipedia says he was in the film musical as well.
78A: Site of many styles: SALON. D'oh, hairstyle.
86A: Time alert: DING. Not fond of the clue, as ALERT is the answer for 106D: On one's toes.
87A: Short flight: HOP
88A: "Bonanza" brother: ADAM. Easy guess.
89A: Strauss's "__ Heldenleben": EIN. Stumped. It's literally "A Heroic Life".
90A: Lambaste: SLAM
92A: Rub the right way: MASSAGE. I love this clue.
94A: Hard to dispute, as a theory: TENABLE
98A: Select group: A-LIST. Wanted ELITE.
101A: Ben-Gurion Airport is its hub: EL AL. Hebrew for "skyward".
108A: Watch for cops, e.g.: ABET
113D: Intending: AIMING
117A: Seasonal dancing center?: MAYPOLE. No idea. Dictionary says people dance around the MAYPOLE during May Day celebration. Must be in Europe then.
128A: More chilling: EERIER
129A: Corpse sniffer of film: ASTA. "The Thin Man" dog.
131A: Web page stats: HITS
132A: Celtic rivals: LAKERS. Is it because last year's playoff? Why not "Clippers' rival"? Both of them are based in LA after all.
Down:
1D: Major account: SAGA. Love the clue. Last time our editor clued it as "Big account".
2D: Spider web, say: TRAP. "Golf hazard" too. There seems to be a golf term in every LAT puzzle. Rich Norris is a golfer. Today it's STANCE (99D: Golf lessons subject).
3DL Cloverleaf part: RAMP
4D: Cakesters brand: OREO. Holy moley, have never heard OREO Cakesters. Looks tasty.
5D: Herb garden herb: BASIL. The only herb I use is chives.
6D: Prefix with centric: ETHNO. Ethnocentric is a new word to me. I do know ETHNO is a prefix for culture though.
8D: Blogger's indulgence: RANT
9D: It might be harebrained: IDEA. Love this clue too.
11D: Slow-moving critters: SLOTHS. Penned in SNAILS first.
12D: Lofty: AERIAL. New definition of AERIAL to me. Can I say "It's an AERIAL goal"?
13D: Jabber: YAK
14D: Expense report need: RECEIPT
15D: Counting everything: IN ALL
16D: Warble: TRILL
17D: Subdivided: ZONED. Got the answer with Across help.
24D: NFL fifth quarters: OTS. Or "MLB 10th-inning".
25D: "The noblest frailty of the mind": Shadwell: WIT. Again, obtained the answer with Across help. I was not familiar with his line "And WIT's the noblest frailty of the mind".
29D: Like many families: TWO-CAR. Are you OK with the clue?
33D: Pub proposal: TOAST
34D: "I can hardly wait!": OH BOY
35D: Gaucho's lasso: RIATA. The ranch in "Giant" is REATA.
36D: Circ. info holder: CD-ROM
37D: Stock add-on: ADE. Stockade.
41D: Group meeting in the Palais du Luxembourg: SENAT. I did not know French Senate meet in the Palais du Luxembourg. I thought of NATO, whose members actually meet in Brussels.
44D: Clarify: EXPLAIN
45D: Bottom point: NADIR
48D: Small and sprightly: ELFIN. Can't get PIXIE out of my mind.
49D: Bonkers: DAFT
50D: Nice friend: AMIE. Nice is the French city.
55D: Like suspicious e-mail, usually: UNREAD. My first response: JUNKED.
59D: Biblical lion wrestler: SAMSON. Samsonite is named after this Biblical strongman.
68D: "Dreams From My Father" memoirist: OBAMA. See the bookcover.
69D: Track long shots: NAGS. What a shocking performance by Mine That Bird at the Derby yesterday. I picked No Where to Hide, but he turned out to be a No Where to Be Found.
71D: Icky stuff: SLIME
72D: Harmonic and melodic: TONAL. Mandarin Chinese/Cantonese are TONAL too. Cantonese has 9 tones, Mandarin 4.
73D: Gray area?: Abbr.: ANAT. Why?
74D: Valuable vein: LODE
77D: Ruckus: MELEE
79D: It's a wrap: SHAWL. Last time SARI was clued as "It's a wrap".
80D: Subject of Randy Wyatt's play "Synonymy": ROGET. Easy guess. Have never heard of the play. Did not know who Randy Wyatt is.
81D: Mimics: APERS
83D: Cowardly: YELLOW. Did not know YELLOW is slang for "cowardly". I actually thought cowardly is an adverb.
84D: '60s protest: LIE-IN. Like what John Lennon and Yoko ONO did?
85D: Epitome of thinness: RAIL. Really RAIL thin.
91D: Juilliard deg.: MFA. Master of Fine Art I presume. Why single out "Juilliard"?
95D: It includes Napa and Sonoma counties: BAY AREA. Unknown trivia to me. San Francisco is a lovely city.
97D: Southernmost of the 48 sts.: FLA
100D: Watched from behind: TAILED
104D: "The Devil Wears __": PRADA. Fun movie. Anna Wintour herself loves the film.
105D: Bank takebacks: REPOS
107D: Abbr. between a first and last name, maybe: NMI (No Middle Initial)
109D: Upscale auto: BMW. Just found out that BMW now owns Rolls-Royce.
111D: Very competitive: TYPE A. I was thinking of a normal adjective. Tricky clue. Dennis is a TYPE A, don't you think so?
114D: Foot part: INCH
115D: Radar's soda: NEHI. Learned from doing Xword. I've never had NEHI. Wikipedia says it's a a brand of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group now.
118D: Find a space: PARK
119D: Bee's charge?: OPIE. The Mayberry kid. This has become a gimmie to me. Ron Howard is so talented.
120D: Unwelcome eyeful: LEER. No LEER/OGLE wobbling this time.
Answer grid.
C.C.
23A: As it was formerly known, channel with the slogan "play every day": GAME SHOW NETWORK (Mesh)
32A: "Enough": THAT WILL DO (Twill)
43A: Waldo of kids' books, e.g.: HIDDEN IMAGE (Denim)
60A: Couldn't rush at rush hour: SAT IN TRAFFIC (Satin)
82A: "That used to be the cases": NOT ANY LONGER (Nylon)
96A: It can be seen from the Seine: EIFFEL TOWER (Felt)
103A: Safe bronzing product: SPRAY-ON TAN (Rayon)
123A: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, e.g.: ONLINE NEWSPAPER (Linen)
Another smooth puzzle from Gail Grabowski. Very creative theme and great theme title. Out of those 8 long theme answers, I have never heard of Game Show Network. I only watch a bit of news and ball games every day. I faintly remember that the Seattle Post - Intelligencer went totally online in March. ONLINE NEWSPAPER is my favorite theme entry. It's topical. And I like the unexpected hidden LINEN fabric.
I thought all fabrics are all natural, you know, cotton, linen, satin/silk, mesh, twill, felt, etc. Nylon, rayon are man-made. I guess I am wrong.
I imagine Ms. Grabowski has a very pretty vegetable garden: tomatoes, bell peppers, green beans and various herbs. But I don't believe she grows or likes lima beans. Nobody ever calls lima beans LIMAS alone (64A: Succotash staples).
Someone asked last time what a cheater/helper square is. In today's grid, the single black square on the upper right corner (directly above NERO (22D: Fictional sleuth Wolfe) and lower left corner (directly below SPCA (103D: Gp. advocating adoption) are two examples. They are used to shorten fills (thus eliminate obscure answers) without increasing the word count.
Across:
1A: Dance floor flasher: STROBE. Is anyone a Phish fan?
14A: Big name in hotels: RITZ. Reminds me of PUT ON THE DOG last time. I wanted PUT ON THE RITZ.
16A: Biblical landfall: ARARAT. Noah's Ark landed on Mount ARARAT.
20A: Farm eatery?: LEA. Excellent clue.
21A: 2000s scandal subject: ENRON. My ENRON golf balls are not worth much.
26A: "The Cider House Rules" Oscar winner: CAINE (Michael). Unknown to me. Not familiar with the movie.
27A: Name to a position: APPOINT
28A: Gauguin's retreat: TAHITI. Here is Gauguin's "Two Women on the Beach" once again.
30A: Defeat: LOSS. Thought the clue was asking for a verb.
34A: Marine predator: ORCA. The killer whale.
42A: Cutter's cousin: SLOOP. Both Single-masted.
47A: Took the role of: ACTED AS
52A: Legal hurdle: BAR EXAM. And PRE-LAW (112A: Future litigator's study)
54A: Mil. bigwigs: GENS
55A: Olympics cheer: USA. Wanted OLE.
56A: Flimsy: LAME
57A: Platte River settler: OTO. "Prefix for ear" as well.
58A: Some e-mail receiver: PDAS. Wish I had some Research in Motion (the Blackberry manufacturer) stock.
63A: Candied veggie: YAM
66A: Yukon, e.g.: Abbr.: TERR. I was thinking of Yukon gold potato.
67A: Tiny arachnids: MITES. And GNAT (116D: Itty-bitty biter).
68A: Crew members: OARSMEN. Helsmen too.
70A: Broadway "Music Man" portrayer Robert: PRESTON. No idea. Wikipedia says he was in the film musical as well.
78A: Site of many styles: SALON. D'oh, hairstyle.
86A: Time alert: DING. Not fond of the clue, as ALERT is the answer for 106D: On one's toes.
87A: Short flight: HOP
88A: "Bonanza" brother: ADAM. Easy guess.
89A: Strauss's "__ Heldenleben": EIN. Stumped. It's literally "A Heroic Life".
90A: Lambaste: SLAM
92A: Rub the right way: MASSAGE. I love this clue.
94A: Hard to dispute, as a theory: TENABLE
98A: Select group: A-LIST. Wanted ELITE.
101A: Ben-Gurion Airport is its hub: EL AL. Hebrew for "skyward".
108A: Watch for cops, e.g.: ABET
113D: Intending: AIMING
117A: Seasonal dancing center?: MAYPOLE. No idea. Dictionary says people dance around the MAYPOLE during May Day celebration. Must be in Europe then.
128A: More chilling: EERIER
129A: Corpse sniffer of film: ASTA. "The Thin Man" dog.
131A: Web page stats: HITS
132A: Celtic rivals: LAKERS. Is it because last year's playoff? Why not "Clippers' rival"? Both of them are based in LA after all.
Down:
1D: Major account: SAGA. Love the clue. Last time our editor clued it as "Big account".
2D: Spider web, say: TRAP. "Golf hazard" too. There seems to be a golf term in every LAT puzzle. Rich Norris is a golfer. Today it's STANCE (99D: Golf lessons subject).
3DL Cloverleaf part: RAMP
4D: Cakesters brand: OREO. Holy moley, have never heard OREO Cakesters. Looks tasty.
5D: Herb garden herb: BASIL. The only herb I use is chives.
6D: Prefix with centric: ETHNO. Ethnocentric is a new word to me. I do know ETHNO is a prefix for culture though.
8D: Blogger's indulgence: RANT
9D: It might be harebrained: IDEA. Love this clue too.
11D: Slow-moving critters: SLOTHS. Penned in SNAILS first.
12D: Lofty: AERIAL. New definition of AERIAL to me. Can I say "It's an AERIAL goal"?
13D: Jabber: YAK
14D: Expense report need: RECEIPT
15D: Counting everything: IN ALL
16D: Warble: TRILL
17D: Subdivided: ZONED. Got the answer with Across help.
24D: NFL fifth quarters: OTS. Or "MLB 10th-inning".
25D: "The noblest frailty of the mind": Shadwell: WIT. Again, obtained the answer with Across help. I was not familiar with his line "And WIT's the noblest frailty of the mind".
29D: Like many families: TWO-CAR. Are you OK with the clue?
33D: Pub proposal: TOAST
34D: "I can hardly wait!": OH BOY
35D: Gaucho's lasso: RIATA. The ranch in "Giant" is REATA.
36D: Circ. info holder: CD-ROM
37D: Stock add-on: ADE. Stockade.
41D: Group meeting in the Palais du Luxembourg: SENAT. I did not know French Senate meet in the Palais du Luxembourg. I thought of NATO, whose members actually meet in Brussels.
44D: Clarify: EXPLAIN
45D: Bottom point: NADIR
48D: Small and sprightly: ELFIN. Can't get PIXIE out of my mind.
49D: Bonkers: DAFT
50D: Nice friend: AMIE. Nice is the French city.
55D: Like suspicious e-mail, usually: UNREAD. My first response: JUNKED.
59D: Biblical lion wrestler: SAMSON. Samsonite is named after this Biblical strongman.
68D: "Dreams From My Father" memoirist: OBAMA. See the bookcover.
69D: Track long shots: NAGS. What a shocking performance by Mine That Bird at the Derby yesterday. I picked No Where to Hide, but he turned out to be a No Where to Be Found.
71D: Icky stuff: SLIME
72D: Harmonic and melodic: TONAL. Mandarin Chinese/Cantonese are TONAL too. Cantonese has 9 tones, Mandarin 4.
73D: Gray area?: Abbr.: ANAT. Why?
74D: Valuable vein: LODE
77D: Ruckus: MELEE
79D: It's a wrap: SHAWL. Last time SARI was clued as "It's a wrap".
80D: Subject of Randy Wyatt's play "Synonymy": ROGET. Easy guess. Have never heard of the play. Did not know who Randy Wyatt is.
81D: Mimics: APERS
83D: Cowardly: YELLOW. Did not know YELLOW is slang for "cowardly". I actually thought cowardly is an adverb.
84D: '60s protest: LIE-IN. Like what John Lennon and Yoko ONO did?
85D: Epitome of thinness: RAIL. Really RAIL thin.
91D: Juilliard deg.: MFA. Master of Fine Art I presume. Why single out "Juilliard"?
95D: It includes Napa and Sonoma counties: BAY AREA. Unknown trivia to me. San Francisco is a lovely city.
97D: Southernmost of the 48 sts.: FLA
100D: Watched from behind: TAILED
104D: "The Devil Wears __": PRADA. Fun movie. Anna Wintour herself loves the film.
105D: Bank takebacks: REPOS
107D: Abbr. between a first and last name, maybe: NMI (No Middle Initial)
109D: Upscale auto: BMW. Just found out that BMW now owns Rolls-Royce.
111D: Very competitive: TYPE A. I was thinking of a normal adjective. Tricky clue. Dennis is a TYPE A, don't you think so?
114D: Foot part: INCH
115D: Radar's soda: NEHI. Learned from doing Xword. I've never had NEHI. Wikipedia says it's a a brand of Dr. Pepper Snapple Group now.
118D: Find a space: PARK
119D: Bee's charge?: OPIE. The Mayberry kid. This has become a gimmie to me. Ron Howard is so talented.
120D: Unwelcome eyeful: LEER. No LEER/OGLE wobbling this time.
Answer grid.
C.C.
