Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 Daniel A. Finan

Theme? The clue is a part of the answer... The three theme answers all end with a word that indicates a fraction of a whole, and the clue word is contained as part of each of the first words.

20. Pan?: COMPANION PIECE. PAN is a PIECE of the word COMPANION. A companion piece is one work that compliments another, like the two movies: Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, each tells the "same" story from a different perspective. 

33. With 44-Across, ten?: SENTENCE.  44. See 33-Across: FRAGMENT.  TEN is a FRAGMENT of the word SENTENCE.  I accidentally the whole thing.

54. Kin?: SMOKING SECTION. KIN is a SECTION of the word SMOKING. Is this subject still a hot button for an argument about rights?  The statement I remember setting off a war was something like this: Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool.

Hi all, Al here.  I finally saw the light... Only three theme answers. They all left me puzzled, and didn't help with solving.  No unifier clue anywhere, either. The clue words are contained in position 4-6 of all the answer words. The parts given as the clues all end with an "N", preceded in order by a vowel, in order, A,E,I.  I was pulling out the last of my hair trying to see what was right in front of me.  At first, I noticed that of the three, only smoking -kin = smog made another word, sence might make sense if you're British, and comion isn't a word, so it didn't appear to be letter drops in common. So how are the clues related to the answers? Argyle finally gave me the clue I needed from an interview that Daniel had given Sept 3, 2009:

 "To me the perfect puzzle is a simple, elegant, and subtle gimmick puzzle. I really like the crosswords that have a metapuzzle. For example, with some (themed) puzzles, I can fill in the entire grid, and I still don't "get it." So I have to really dig deep to find the theme... it's then that I get that satisfying "Aha!" moment. I wonder how many people miss the whole point of subtle puzzles like that."

I went back and re-read the whole  interview, and he had talked about PARTS of speech as the theme from another of his puzzles, and suddenly the light came on...

ACROSS:

1. Flying group: CREW. Captain and crew on an (air) ship.

5. Comic Johnson: ARTE. Soundbite from Laugh-in: "Very interesting."

9. Hyphenated dessert name: JELL-O.

14. Half dodeca-: HEXA. Prefixes for 12 and 6, respectively.

15. Liner danger: BERG. Ocean liner, ice berg.

16. Hater of David, in Dickens: URIAH. Heep.

17. Theater giant?: IMAX. As Ed Sullivan might say, a really big shoe. 70 mm film instead of the standard 35 mm and 300 foot screens.

18. In __: confused: A FOG.

19. High humor?: JINKS.  Hijinks. From an old party game where guests threw dice to determine who would perform some silly task or down a large drink. Either outcome would cause amusement to everyone present. Kind of like truth or dare, but with drinking instead of truth.

23. Relative of -like: OID. Suffixes for similar. For example, android means human-like. (Greek "andro" means "human".)

24. Wine bar offerings: PORTS. From the Portugese city of Oporto (the port). Less-known 4-letter wines: Hocks (German Hochheim region), Tents (Spanish reds "tinta"), and Sacks (Spanish white, a precursor to Sherry).

25. Moshe Dayan's "oxygen of the soul": FREEDOM.

29. Guff: GAS. Empty noise, nonsense. Oh, you're just a bag of gas.  Guff, like a puff of air, vaguely onomatopoetic.

30. Moo chew?: CUD. Come to Wisconsin and smell our dairy air.

35. Change genetically: MUTATE.

37. Former lover of Riker on "Star Trek: T.N.G.": TROI. in "The Next Generation" of Star Trek, Marina Sirtis played Deanna Troi, an empath who was the ship's counselor. William Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, was the first mate to Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean Luc Picard.

38. Pontiff's wear: ALB.

40. Foreshadowing: OMEN.

41. Service station vessel: OIL CAN. That takes me back.  All I have seen for a long time now are plastic bottles.

47. Org. whose members are concerned with lies: PGA. Ask not where your ball lies. And don't tell any lies about it, either.

48. Birling roller: LOG. The lumberjack contest to see who can stay upright longest on a spinning log.

50. Radius, e.g.: ARM BONE. Along with the ulna and the humerus.

51. San __: San Francisco Bay city: MATEO.

53. Airline to Copenhagen: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines System.

60. Centipede maker: ATARI. One of the early 8-bit video arcade games with a tracking ball instead of a joystick.

61. Spice: ELAN.

62. Yes-__ question: OR NO.

63. Veal piccata ingredient: LEMON. Veal sliced, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter, and spices, usually parsley.

64. Part of Caesar's boast: VENI. vidi vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.

65. N.L. East squad: NATS. National League Baseball, the Washington Nationals.

66. Country sound: TWANG.

67. Golden Fleece vessel: ARGO. From "The Odyssey", Jason's ship.

68. Sin in the film "Se7en": ENVY. The "deadly" sin that the killer was guilty of.

DOWN:

1. Very smart: CHIC. Fashionably smart.  Meaning "sharp, severe, stinging," related to  "quick, active, clever" probably from the notion of "cutting" wit, words, etc. expanded to the meaning of "trim in attire".

2. San __: REMO. On the Italian Riviera.

3. Student's stressor: EXAM.

4. Emulate Cyrano: WAX POETIC. In Edmond Rostand's highly fictionalized play, Cyrano was the source of the love poems for his romance to Roxanne through the handsome but less articulate Christian.

5. It may be reckless: ABANDON.

6. Update mtge. terms: REFI.nance a mortgage.

7. Band: TROOP.

8. Quaff garnished with nutmeg: EGG NOG. Quaff perhaps from Low German quassen "to overindulge (in food and drink)," with -ss- misread as -ff-.

9. Technique of ancient samurai: JU JITSU. The gentle, or yielding art.  The (mostly) weaponless technique of using an opponent's own momentum against them using balance and leverage, because that was more effective than trying to simply hit someone wearing armor.

10. Some native New Yorkers: ERIES.

11. Afro-sporting "Mod Squad" character: LINC. Three young people in trouble with the law are allowed to avoid jail in exchange for infiltrating the counter-culture and exposing bad guys.

12. Vacation location: LAKE.

13. Cries of understanding: OHS.

21. Hill worker: AIDE. Capitol Hill, not an ant hill.

22. Buggy relative: PRAM. A baby buggy.

25. Depth-of-field setting: F-STOP. Camera terms.

26. Outfit again: RE-RIG.

27. __ Gay: ENOLA. The B29 that dropped "little boy" on Hiroshima, named for the pilot's mother, Enola Gay (Tibbits).  Pilot: Paul Tibbits.

28. George Strait label: MCA. Music Corporation of America.

30. Actor's day job?: CAMEO. Because waiter was too long.

31. SEC school that retired Peyton Manning's number: U TENN. South Eastern Conference, University of Tennessee.

32. Pasta al __: DENTE. "to the tooth", just a little chewy.

34. Santa's 21-Down: ELF.

36. O.K. Corral town: TOMBSTONE.

39. It's usually uplifting: BRA.

42. Diced and served in a mushroom cream sauce: ALA KING.

43. "Don't look at me!": NOT I.

45. Hall of fame: ARSENIO. Hall as a famous last name, not as a place of recognition.

46. Ally Financial Inc., formerly: GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation.

49. City on the Rhone: GENEVA. Today's geography map.

51. Jerk: MORON. American English carnival slang, perhaps from jerkwater town, where a steam locomotive crew had to take on boiler water from a trough or a creek because there was no water tank. This led to an adj. use of jerk as "inferior, insignificant." Moron is directly from Greek for "foolish, dull". Still, connotatively, these don't really feel synonymous to me...

52. Stare master?: OGLER. A play on words for stair master exercise equipment.

54. Ratatouille, for one: STEW. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise. It originated in the area around present day Occitan Provença and Niça (French: Nice). Derived from ratouiller and tatouiller, two expressive forms of of the French verb touiller, meaning to stir up.

55. Doll's word: MAMA. You'd say mama too, if someone kept tipping you upside down until you made noise.

56. Did some selling out: SANG. Ratted on. Snitched.

57. Mashhad is its second-largest city: IRAN.

58. Airing: ON TV.

59. Intrusive: NOSY.

60. PC key: ALT. Used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. Most computers today use the ASCII character set, which only needs 7 of the 8 bits in one byte to represent all the numbers and letters, both upper and lower (and punctuation, plus certain special signal sequences).  The ALT key was originally used to set the "extra" 8th bit so an extended value could be entered, but because of the requirements of internationalization of character sets, it no longer works that way, but instead alters what other keys do depending on the program being used at the time.  TMI, right?

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday, April 13 2011, Michael Blake

Theme: Pay the Piper. each theme answer is a phrase beginning with a synonym for bill.

20A. Unable to reach a human, no matter which buttons one presses : IN VOICE MAIL JAIL.  anymore, that describes pretty much every call to any business. when i have to call my son's school it takes several minutes just to get to the part where i can push a button. if i need to actually talk to someone at the bank ... i need to take the afternoon off.

25A. Word processor setting : TAB ALIGNMENT. remember physically setting the sliding tabs on ibm typewriters?

42A. 1791 legislation : BILL OF RIGHTS. first ten amendments of the us constitution.

48A. Verify ahead of time, and a hint to what 20-, 25- and 42-Across have in common : CHECK BEFOREHAND. beforehand = in advance. i wonder why no one says afterhand? 

fun, just-right wednesday level puzzle, with two grid-spanning theme answers, and some fresh and fun clueing. we've seen michael blake twice before here at the corner. he had a perfect score at the 2008 silicon valley puzzle day.  i found this article, and this image.

melissa blogging.

Across:

1. Explorer Vasco da __ : GAMA. Had no clue (yuk yuk). Portuguese navigator who led an expedition at the end of the 15th century that opened the sea route to India by way of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa.

5. Political channel : C-SPAN

10. Blabbers : GABS. too short to be a plural noun, had to be a verb.

14. Actor Sharif : OMAR. holds a degree in mathematics and physics from cairo university. best known for playing sherif ali in lawrence of arabia (1962) and the title role in doctor zhivago. 

15. Broom rider of comics : HILDA. coincidentally, blake used this same clue/answer in one of his two previous puzzles blogged here (by c.c.). in the comic, broom hilda is atilla the hun's ex-wife.  kazie commented before: an obvious play on the name Brunhilde from the legend on which Wagner based his "Der Ring des Nibelungen" opera, and provided this link.

16. Brother of Daniel, William and Stephen : ALEC

17. Titanic bane : BERG. images of the actual iceberg that sunk the titanic. roughly only 8%-11% of an iceberg is visible above the surface of the ocean - thus the phrase 'tip of the iceberg.'

18. Alaskan native : INUIT

19. "Battle for __": Peter Yates WWII book : ST. LO

23. Highest ordinal number? : NTH

24. Changed course : VEERED

31. Ryder rival : U-HAUL.  i just drove a 14-foot one in february. 350 miles. in the snow. little scary.

32. Screech owls don't make them : HOOTS. cute.

33. 'Hood pal : BRO

36. It may be put in a washer : BOLT

37. Bingo relative : LOTTO

38. Pet plaint : MEOW

39. Observe : EYE

40. First of 12 popes : PIUS I. don't know my popes.

41. Bed that can be stored during the day : FUTON. 

44. Prison in 1971 headlines : ATTICA. new york. riot based in part upon prisoners' demands for better living conditions.

47. Some pop-ups : ADS. some are not ad-related ...

55. Skye of film : IONE

56. Mythical weeper : NIOBE. queen of thebes, one of the more tragic figures of greek mythology. after her husband and 14 children were slain she turned to stone, and a stream (the Achelous) formed from her ceaseless tears. She became the symbol of eternal mourning.

57. Baking soda target : ODOR

58. Let go : DROP

59. Swashbuckling Flynn : ERROL

60. Mosaic piece : TILE

61. Without : SANS

62. Type in again : RE-KEY

63. White man's makeup? : SNOW. snowman.

Down:

1. Mongolian desert : GOBI

2. Congregational yes : AMEN

3. Wonderful, in slang : MARV. marvelous.

4. Mythical sailor : ARGONAUT

5. Affectedly elegant : CHI-CHI. hm. i'm guessing this is pronounced "shee-shee," perhaps based on chic. i work at a chi-chi-foo-foo spa. pronounced a different way, it means something entirely different.

6. Trig function : SINE

7. Fellow suspect of Mustard : PLUM. from the board game clue.

8. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA

9. Hailing from : NATIVE TO

10. Stove nozzle : GAS JET

11. Hitching post? : ALTAR. great clue.

12. Prove false : BELIE

13. Bawl out : SCOLD

21. "__ have to do" : IT'LL. what'll i do?

22. Camera eye : LENS

25. Poster mailer : TUBE

26. Greeting from a deck : AHOY

27. Hayride seat : BALE. who's been on a hayride?

28. Grave robber : GHOUL

29. False : NOT SO

30. Theme : MOTIF

33. Sister of Meg, Jo and Amy : BETH. little women.

34. Carrot or cassava : ROOT

35. Has title to : OWNS

37. Tiny Yokum's big brother : LI'L ABNER

38. Pictures of perps : MUG SHOTS. 

40. Elect : PICK

41. Bona __ : FIDE. latin. "in good faith."

42. Curl beneficiary : BICEPS. cute.

43. Hardly ever : RARELY

44. Etching supplies : ACIDS

45. Birch of "American Beauty" : THORA

46. Mortise's mate : TENON

49. Galway's land : EIRE. in my high-tech days we had a site in galway - always liked working with them just to hear the accent.

50. Driver's decision point : FORK. pssst - take the one less traveled by.

51. Bassoon kin : OBOE

52. Server's edge, in tennis : AD IN

53. Court plea, for short : NOLO. nolo contendere. lemonade and/or hahtool can expain better than i.

54. Depicted : DREW

Answer grid. 

melissa

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 Jerome Gunderson

Theme: No Middle Ground - The unifier (37Across) says ON and OFF can be placed in front of each of the other two-word entries. This will take some explaining.

17A. Where sea meets sand : SHORELINE. Not necessarily sand, NH has only 14 miles. Onshore: either a wind blowing towards the shore or something already on the shore. Offshore: the opposite except things offshore be much farther away. On-line and off-line are usually thought of these days as Internet connections.

25A. Behind-the-scenes worker : STAGEHAND. Workers associated with a stage, roadies are also behind the stage workers but not in one spot. Onstage and offstage are just that. On hand and offhand are not just opposites. Onhand means in one's possession, while offhand means in an informal or casual manner.

37A. Light controller—either of its first two words can precede either part of 17-, 25-, 51- and 61-Across : ON/OFF SWITCH

51A. Distract : SIDETRACK. Originally referred to trains. For the most part, onside and offside are sports-related terms. On track is keeping to a schedule and off track is more like something that isn't directly associated with the matter at hand.

61A. Sentry's job : GUARD DUTY. To many these days, Guard duty involves being shipped overseas. Being on guard will prevent you from being caught off guard. On duty and off duty are just that.

Argyle here. It seems funny to have a Jerome puzzle without puns. Well, I may have wasted too much time on the theme; I better get busy on the rest of it.

Across:

1. Poker Flat chronicler Harte : BRET, His short story, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" was first published in January 1869 in the magazine Overland Monthly

5. Syrup brand : KARO. Light corn syrup.

9. Scatter : STREW

14. Plane opening? : AERO. Aeroplane.

15. Farsi-speaking republic : IRAN. Farsi 1878, modern Persian language, the usual Iranian word for it, from Fars, Arabic name for region of Pars (no "p" in Arabic) in Iran.

16. Sports venue : ARENA

19. Like most attics : DUSTY

20. Mob enforcer : HITMAN

21. Gp. concerned with fluoride safety : ADA. American Dental Association.

23. Links elevator? : TEE. Golf.

24. Old Great Lakes natives : ERIEs

28. Christmas mo. : DEC.

29. Water temperature gauge? : TOE

31. Pro vote : YEA

32. USPS carrier's assignment : RTE.

33. Words of sympathy : "I CARE"

35. Potato cutter : RICER. Has anyone bought one since the last time we had this item.

40. Flora eaters, perhaps : FAUNA. Occasionally, it works the other way. Venus Flytrap.

42. Brief and forceful : PITHY

43. Pilot's no. : ALT. Altitude.

44. Toothed tool : SAW

47. Unused : NEW

48. Rock guitarist's aid : AMP

54. Spring time : APRIL

56. Place for a pint : BAR

57. Place for a cup : BRA. (hee, hee, hee)

58. Anatomical ring : AREOLA. (hee, hee, hee)

59. Steppes native : TATAR. Good map of the steppes

63. Carrying a lot of weight : OBESE. One of the nicer ways to say 'fat'.

64. Cold capital? : OSLO. Norway.

65. Largest continent : ASIA

66. Used hip boots : WADED

67. Feat : DEED

68. Winemaking waste : LEES. The dregs.

Down:

1. Lambasted : BASHED

2. Put to work again : REHIRE

3. Titillating : EROTIC

4. Singer with the Mel-Tones : TORMÉ. Some good info with this mellow number. Willow Road(3:01) from 1946.

5. Brick baker : KILN

6. George W.'s first press secretary : ARI. Ari Fleischer.

7. Attacked with clubs and such : RAN AT

8. In the future : ONE DAY

9. Glum : SAD

10. Liar's undoing : TRUTH

11. Fact-finding process : RESEARCH

12. Understanding between nations : ENTENTE. From French, as you might expect.

13. Method : WAY

18. It stretches from Maine to Florida : EAST COAST

22. Make better, as cheddar : AGE

25. Lord's laborer : SERF. Lord of the manor, that is.

26. Falling object's direction : EARTHWARD

27. __ Spiegel: German magazine : DER. Europe's leading news magazine.

30. Stumblebum : OAF

33. Roadside rest stop : INN

34. Clairvoyance, briefly : ESP

36. Like many a slick road : ICY

37. Passé : OUTDATED

38. Lash flash? : WINK. Good one.

39. Suffix with cord : ITE. A smokeless explosive powder consisting of nitrocellulose, nitroglycerin, and petrolatum that has been dissolved in acetone, dried, and extruded in cords.

40. Scale fourths : FAs. JzB?

41. Fictional Arabic woodcutter : ALI BABA

45. Wall St. hedger : ARB.. Arbitrageur.

46. Ares or Mars : WAR GOD. Greek or Roman.

48. Stimulate : AROUSE

49. Uncle __: Berle nickname : MILTIE

50. Western dry lakes : PLAYAs. Pictures.

52. How to turn something into nothing? : ERASE

53. Effect's partner : CAUSE

55. Go by bike : PEDAL

58. Youngest to reach 500 HRs : A-ROD. Third baseman for the New York Yankees.

59. Auto club offering : TOW

60. What mad people see? : RED

62. Pint contents : ALE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, April 11, 2011 Gareth Bain

Theme: Address - The first word of the theme entries are the labels on the lines of most forms we have to fill out.

18A. "I'll pay whatever you're asking" : "NAME A PRICE"

30A. Cost to the customer, as of illicit drugs : STREET VALUE

36A. Smooth urbanite : CITY SLICKER

44A. Subject of a highly classified file : STATE SECRET

59A. "Not another word!" : "ZIP YOUR LIP!"

Argyle here, not really awake but can't get to sleep either. I'm blaming it on the warm weather; I don't know how to handle it anymore.

So about today's puzzle, is it fresh or mundane? It may just be I've been filling out too many forms for taxes that it seems old but I can't say I've ever seen it done before. All in all, a good job.

Across:

1. Dance move : STEP

5. Give a free ticket to : COMP. Shortened form of 'complimentary' and can be a noun, meaning things like tickets given without extra charge, or the act of giving these items, a verb. Can also be an adjective.

9. __-Abyssinian War: 1936 Mussolini triumph : ITALO. The Second Italo–Abyssinian War (also referred to as the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy (Regno d'Italia) and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia). per Wiki. Map. After 1936, Mussolini's official title was "His Excellency Benito Mussolini, Head of Government, Duce of Fascism, and Founder of the Empire".

14. Task list heading : TO DO

15. Foot's curve : ARCH

16. Grinding tooth : MOLAR

17. Bird sacred to Tut : IBIS. King Tut, that is.

20. Doves' homes : COTEs

22. Holy smoke : INCENSE

23. "Rock and Roll, Hoochie __": 1974 hit : KOO. "Lordy mama, light my fuse"(3:48)

24. Sportage automaker : KIA. Compact SUV, from South Korea's second largest automobile manufacturer.

27. As __ as Methuselah : OLD. Methuselah is the oldest person whose age is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible.

28. "... three men in a __" : TUB. Nursery rhyme.

33. Toon storekeeper from India : APU. TV's The Simpsons.

34. Problem for Pauline : PERIL. The Perils of Pauline is a motion picture serial shown in weekly installments. There were also movies, as late as 1967.

35. Brake component : DISC

40. Campus VIP : BMOC. Big Man On Campus.

42. Double-reed winds : OBOEs

43. "She Done __ Wrong": Mae West film : HIM

50. Small bill : ONE

51. Mustard's rank: Abbr. : COL. Colonel Mustard, from the board game, Clue( also known as Cluedo.)

52. Audible dance style : TAP

53. Pub purchase : ALE

54. Homemade shorts : CUT-OFFS

57. Lazy __: revolving tray : SUSAN

62. Use UPS : SHIP

63. Sound that might accompany 37-Down : SNORT

64. French franc successor : EURO

65. "The __ Love": Gershwin song : MAN I. Clip.(3:07)  Originally part of a 1924 score but dropped, it became more famous as an independent popular song than as one from a Broadway musical.

66. Moorehead of "Bewitched" : AGNES. She was Endora, Samantha's mother.

67. Chess standoff : DRAW

68. Yemen city on its own gulf : ADEN

Down:

1. Pick-up __: toy : STICKS. I think last time we has this clue, many people hadn't heard of the game. Image.

2. Also : TO BOOT

3. Newspaper bigwig : EDITOR

4. Model's stance : POSE

5. Is able to : CAN

6. "... man __ mouse?" : OR A

7. Early 20th-century year : MCMI. 1901

8. Early antiseptic compound : PHENOL. It was widely used as an antispetic, which seems much safer.

9. Get in the way of : IMPEDE

10. In a dilemma : TORN

11. "The Guns of Navarone" author MacLean : ALISTAIR. A Scottish novelist who died in 1987.

12. Hiking boots, e.g. : LACE-UPS

13. Galena or hematite : ORE

19. Civil rights gp. : ACLU

21. Trapshooting : SKEET

25. "Lord knows __!" : I TRY

26. Rent-a-car option : AVIS

29. Tampa NFLer : BUC, Buccaneers.

31. "Beowulf," e.g. : EPIC

32. Dole out : ALLOT

35. Genealogy abbr. : DESC. Descendants

36. Discover fortuitously : COME UPON

37. Scoffer's words : "I BET"

38. __ Nostra : COSA

39. Hangs on to : KEEPS

40. Pres. after GWB : BHO. Barack Hussein Obama.

41. Chopping, as garlic : MINCING

44. Runs fast : SCOOTS

45. Vegan staple : TOFU

46. Director Hitchcock : ALFRED

47. "Cosby" actress Phylicia : RASHĀD. She was married to football player, Ahmad Rashād. He proposed to her during a Thanksgiving pregame show in 1985.

48. Jerry's female friend, on "Seinfeld" : ELAINE

49. Part of a daunting split, in bowling : TEN PIN

55. Rugby radial : TYRE. Rugby the town in England.

56. Cast aspersions on : SLUR

58. West Point inits. : USMA. United States Military Academy.

59. When doubled, a Gabor : ZSA

60. Savings vehicle for later yrs. : IRA

61. Comics punch sound : POW

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday April 10, 2011 Susan Miskimin

Theme: Heavy Duty - Tax can precede each part of the theme answer. "Heavy duty" indeed!

22A. *Memorabilia at a reunion : YEARBOOKS. Tax year. Tax book.

33A. *Venus's undoing, perhaps : SERVICE BREAK. Tax service. Tax break. Venus Williams.

41A. *Reason to agree to a pact : TREATY BENEFIT. Tax treaty. Tax benefit.

68A. *Political platform buzzword : PRO-LIFE. Tax pro. What is "tax life"?

89A. *One profiting from bad debts : BILL COLLECTOR. Tax bill. Tax collector.

98A. *Frequent health care event : RATE INCREASE. Tax rate. Tax increase.

113A. *Contract seeker : FREE AGENT. Tax-free. Tax agent.

25D. *Sales promotion component : REBATE FORM. Tax rebate. Tax form.

60D. *Many a bank record : CREDIT FILE. Tax credit. Tax file.

1D. With 115-Down, make a required contribution : PAY

115. See 1-Down, and word that can precede both parts of the answers to starred clues : TAX

We also have:

74. 1040 ID : SSN

87. 1040, line 32 deduction : IRA

Timely theme. The rich ore of "tax" words made it possible for the constructor to pick up common words/phrases instead of making up wacky phrases for the double "precede" gimmick.

Quite a few sailing terms:

31A. Harbor-at-dawn skyline highlights : MASTS

97A. Sailing teams : CREWS

5D. Sailor's array : KNOTS

81D. Stem : PROW. New word to me. Ship's front.

82D. Tools for 97-Across : OARS

112D. Nautical rope : TYE. New word to me also.

Maybe the constructor loves sailing.

Total 84 black squares in the grid, more than our normal offering. Could be the result of the theme entry intersection.

Across:

1. Shut (in) : PEN. Pigs might nail this answer. Not me. Actually I'm a pig.

4. It may have rollers : SKATE

9. Jilt : SPURN. Jilted lover.

14. Health care reform lobbying group : AARP

18. Affirmative often repeated : AYE

19. About to undergo : IN FOR

20. Simplifies : EASES

21. Sand's "which" : QUEL. French for "which". George Sand was a French writer. Chopin's lover. Great clue!

24. Santa kisser of song : MOMMY. "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".

25. Cardinal manager Tony La __ : RUSSA

26. VW antecedents? : STU. Alphabet.

27. Dance step : TOE TAP. And 100A. Line dance : CONGA &  23D. Latin dance : RUMBA. Dance clechos.

29. Preserve, in a way : CAN. Put in ICE first.

30. All gone : EATEN

36. Carping comments : BARBS

39. Gussy up : PREEN

40. Peter, Paul and Mary : SAINTS. Not the trio.

46. Ones with "Esq." on the door : ATTs

47. Ballpark figure : UMP. Not EST.

48. Italian fashion giant : ARMANI. So are Gucci, Prada & Versace.

49. Boonies pests : SKEETERS. Mosquitoes.

53. GPS part: Abbr. : SYST

55. Vientiane's land : LAOS. Has anyone tried Bánh mì? Bill G might have.

56. Opinion : BELIEF

58. Long. partner : LAT

59. Chills : ICEs

61. Carnegie __ University : MELLON

63. Cheri of "SNL" : OTERI. Very crossword-friendly name.

65. Indiana cagers : PACERS

70. Lost parcel inquiry : TRACER

71. Skyline highlight : SPIRE

72. '50s-'60s teen idol Frankie : AVALON. Now it's all about that kid Justin Bieber.

73. Caper : ROMP

75. Not solid, linewise : DOTTED

77. Representation : ICON

79. Dog food brand : ALPO

83. Sunrise liquors : TEQUILAS. Tequila Sunrise.

85. Cooking oil seed : CANOLA. From the unpleasant-sounding rapeseed. I wanted SESAME.

88. Accident investigation agcy. : NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)

93. Nancy Reagan designer : ADOLFO (Domínguez). Not familiar with the name.

96. Piano part : PEDAL

103. It might be civil or criminal : TRIAL

104. Part of a self-satisfied laugh : HEH. Heh Heh!

105. Dog asleep on a roof : SNOOPY. "Peanuts".

107. Tina's ex : IKE (Turner)

110. Wash away slowly : ERODE

111. Last Supper query : IS IT I

116. Forfeit : LOSE

117. "Fiddler on the Roof" dairyman : TEVYE. Tradition! Tradition! Tradition!

118. Bliss in Texas et al. : FORTS. Fort Bliss. Named after a soldier with a surname Bliss.

119. 1959 Kingston Trio hit : MTA

120. Scand. land : SWED

121. Beef source : STEER

122. Narc's discovery : STASH

123. "A __ of this gout!": "King Henry IV, Part 2" : POX

Down:

2. Watchers : EYES

3. Shipshape : NEAT

4. Sis or bro : SIB

6. Happening : AFOOT

7. Puffs of grass? : TOKES. Marijuana.

8. Before, before : ERST

9. Gyrene's motto : SEMPER FI. First encounter with gyrene, an alteration of GI + (ma)rine. We also have USMC VET (11. John P. Sousa, e.g.). Both Dennis & Argyle are.

10. Kung __ chicken : PAO

12. Sit tight : REMAIN

13. Justin Timberlake's former band : 'N SYNC

14. Fish keeper : AQUARIST

15. "Emma" novelist : AUSTEN

16. Move, as a restaurant patron : RESEAT

17. Political objectives : PLANKS. 

28. Quaker at a ski resort? : ASPEN. Tree.

32. Caracas hrs. : AST

34. Portuguese king : REI. Rey in Spanish.

35. Big name in cosmetics : ESTEE

36. A/C units : BTUs

37. Military force : ARMY. My Dad served in the Chinese army.

38. Gym count : REPs (Repetitions)

42. Certain locks : YALES

43. Support providers : BRAs

44. Rock genre that evolved from punk : EMO

45. "If I Ruled the World" rapper : NAS

46. Similar : AKIN

49. Gin fizz flavoring : SLOE

50. Like some heat: Abbr. : ELEC

51. More red than pink : RARE. Meat.

52. Foment, with "up" : STIR

54. Level : TIER

56. Russian pancake : BLIN. Plural is blini.

57. Little helper : ELF

61. Shape : MOLD

62. "Evil Woman" gp. : ELO

64. Cantina appetizer : TAPA. Always in plural form, no?

65. Surreptitious signal : PSST

66. Basilica area : APSE

67. Six preceder : CINQ. French for "five". Six is just six. Two French for Splynter!

68. Ryan and Benjamin: Abbr. : PVTs (Privates)

69. "Norma __" : RAE

70. Harmonic : TONAL

72. Words after run or split : A TAB

73. Vegas toss : ROLL

76. "Come on down!" announcer : OLSON (Johnny)

77. "Monsters, __" : INC

78. Doves do it : COO. So do lovers.

80. Not as rich, commercially : LITE

84. Decaf, facetiously : UNLEADED

85. More chic : CLASSIER

86. Wrench name : ALLEN

89. Center of activity : BEEHIVE

90. Mont. neighbor : IDA

91. Lines from the heart, briefly : ECG. EKG too.

92. Online guy with a list : CRAIG. Cragslist.

93. Soviet cooperatives : ARTELS. Learned from doing Xword.

94. Scopes Trial attorney : DARROW(Clarence). Monkey Trial.

95. Futile : OTIOSE. Man, it's a real word. Listed in the dictionary.

96. Modern oven option : PRESET

99. Vouchers : CHITS

100. Barbizon school artist : COROT. Wiki said he's the leading painter of the Barbizon School of France in the mid-nineteenth century. Landscape painter.

101. It may be comic : OPERA

102. Novgorod negatives : NYETs. I was ignorant of the Russian city Novgorod.

106. Does away with : OFFs

108. Dole running mate : KEMP (Jack)

109. Within: Pref. : ENTO. Opposite of exo.

114. Hardwood tree : ASH

Answer grid.

Do come back next Sunday for Dan Naddor's final puzzle.

C.C.