google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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May 22, 2011

Sunday May 22, 2011 Verge

Theme: And/or - OR is added to common phrases.

23A. Important meeting for Domingo and colleagues? : THE BIG TENOR CONFERENCE. The Big Ten Conference.

33A. Pulpit tirade? : BLAST FROM THE PASTOR. Blast from the past.

50A. Sale of swampland? : MORASS MARKETING. Mass marketing.

63A. Disloyal union member? : LABOR RAT. Lab rat.

69A. "Babe," e.g.? : PIG STORY. Pig sty.

83A. Really conservative Conservatives? : OLD SCHOOL TORIES. Old school tie.

92A. Comment about a recently razed vacation complex? : THE RESORT IS HISTORY. The rest is history.

114A. Maine travel agency's come-on? : MORE BANGOR FOR YOUR BUCK. More bang for your buck.

Some ORs are inserted to the end of the word, some in the middle. Can you think of one with OR attached to the beginning?

Did the theme clues make you laugh? One of the challenges in letter addition/deletion/substitution theme is to come up with entertaining clues.

I still don't know who Verge is. Alias name, perhaps. I feel it's a he.

Across:

1. Missouri range : OZARKS. Scrabbly start.

7. Very friendly with : CLOSE TO

14. Legitimate : LAWFUL

20. Incisor neighbor : CANINE. Tooth.

21. Lost it : HAD A COW. "Don't have a cow, man!"

22. His team has an orange-and-black logo : ORIOLE. Baltimore Orioles.

26. Cabin fever, e.g. : ANGST

27. Salon supply : HAIR GEL

28. "Hmm ..." : I WONDER. And 115D. "Hmm ..." : GEE

29. Glom : COP. Did not know "glom" can mean "steal".

30. Hesitant sounds : UMs

32. A long time : YEARS

43. Like a hawk's perspective : AERIAL

44. __ agreement : ORAL

45. Recipe amount : CUP

46. Carides of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" : GIA. No idea. The movie is good. I like her hair.

49. Scottish psychiatrist R.D. __ : LAING. Another no idea. I bet Lois knows him.

55. Windows predecessor : MS-DOS

56. Sharp sensation : PANG

57. Transfix : AWE

58. "... __ mention ..." : NOT TO

59. Ornamented, as curtains : TASSELED

62. Sharpness : ACUMEN

68. Half of vingt : DIX. Dix = Ten. Vingt = Twenty. You won't see Splynter clue his DIX this way.

71. "Anchorman" producer Judd : APATOW

72. Place for a large E : EYE CHART

74. Wine grape : PINOT

75. Tournament break : BYE

77. Part of a roof : EAVE

78. Boundary : AMBIT

87. Welsh breed : CORGI

88. 2010 Mark Twain Prize winner : FEY (Tina). So talented.

89. Diving seabird : AUK. What is he doing?

90. Didn't spoil : KEPT

91. Meaningful interval : PERIOD

97. Region on the South China Sea : MACAO. Gambling mecca in Asia. They speak Cantonese there also.

100. Lunch letters : BLT

101. Looney Tunes animator Avery : TEX. Got via crosses.

102. Might well : IS APT TO

104. Plymouth passenger carrier : RAILCAR.

109. Self-congratulatory cries : TA-DAs

117. Online memos : E-NOTEs. Dennis likes to title his email subject line as "Note".

118. Microsoft reference : ENCARTA. No new updates.

119. Italian desserts : GELATI

120. Out of fashion : DEMODE

121. Tough teammate to handle : EGOTIST. Randy Moss, e.g.

122. Obeyed a canine command : HEELED

Down:

1. Prefix with -hedron : OCTA. Prefix for "eight".

2. Journalist Paula : ZAHN

3. Rare blood type: Abbr. : A NEG

4. Cage components : RIBS

5. Work with needles : KNIT

6. Circ. part : SEG

7. Hardly top-of-the-line : CHEAPO

8. Legal scholar Guinier : LANI. I can never remember her name.

9. Stimulus used in aversion therapy : ODOR

10. Puppeteer Tony : SARG. Know this guy only from doing Xword.

11. Behold, to Brutus : ECCE

12. Prepare the factory : TOOL UP

13. Hold one's __ : OWN

14. Early movie mogul : LOEW (Marus). Founder of MGM.

15. Gully : ARROYO

16. Cybernetics pioneer Norbert : WIENER. Maybe Bill G knows him. I've got no idea.

17. 1981 Hepburn co-star : FONDA. "On Golden Pond". Henry Fonda. Also Jane Fonda.

18. Gastric woe : ULCER

19. Rude looks : LEERS

24. God in a chariot : THOR. Thunder god.

25. Rift : FISSURE

29. Grey Cup sports org. : CFL (Canadian Football League)

31. Large-beaked talker : MACAW. Melissa style picture. Lovely.

33. Soothing application : BALM

34. Green spans : LEAs. Nice clue. Would be even better if the answer is singular. It's hard to be Greenspan.

35. Requiring irrigation : ARID

36. Chinese: Pref. : SINO. Sino-US relationship.

37. They may put players out : TAGs

38. Poetic times : MORNs

39. Play genre : TRAGEDY

40. Suffers from : HAS

41. Some city lines : ELs

42. Toll rd. : TPK

46. Cuban base, familiarly : GITMO. "You can't handle the truth!".

47. Bury : INTER

48. Torment : AGONY

50. Movie-rating org. : MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)

51. Beer-making aid : OAST

52. Magazine that began as a comic book : MAD

53. Some refs. : ENCs

54. Build up : TOUT

59. Experian, formerly : TRW. Forgot also.

60. It's made up : LIE. Quite true.

61. Passage : EXCERPT

62. Player rep. : AGT

63. __ luxury : LAP OF

64. Make __ of money : A PILE

65. Exchange, as words : BANDY

66. Onetime Siouan natives : OTOs

67. Campus military prog. : ROTC

69. Smooth, in a way : PAVE

70. Ticks off : IRES

72. Sniggler's target : EEL

73. 2010 earthquake site : HAITI

75. Historic Kentucky county : BOURBON. Whiskey.

76. Simple country type : YOKEL

78. Scores 90+ on : ACEs

79. Satirist Sahl : MORT

80. Liveliness : BRIO

81. Borodin prince : IGOR

82. Uncluttered : TIDY

84. Possess, to a Scot : HAE

85. Ring ruling : TKO (Techinical knockout)

86. Poetic contraction : O'ER

91. Photos : PIX

92. __-CD conversion: music collection updating system : TAPE TO

93. Breeding ground : HOT BED

94. Bad way to come on : STRONG

95. Visit overnight : STAY AT

96. Legend subject : HERO. Made me think of Killebrew. Nicest player I've ever met. TwinsFest wouldn't be the same without him.

97. Acted quietly? : MIMED

98. "... world will live __": "Imagine" : AS ONE

99. Bank : CAROM. Pool.

103. Facilitate an arrest, in a way : TASE

105. Oil acronym : ARCO (Atlantic Richfield Company). I just thought it's a name, Argyle!

106. "__ first ..." : IF AT

107. Actress Singer : LORI. She's famous for?

108. LCD flat panel displays have replaced many of them : CRTs

109. Bush overshadower : TREE. Oh, not President Bush.

110. Up to it : ABLE

111. Like a Jekyll and Hyde personality : DUAL

112. Comédie part : ACTE

113. Slide wildly : SKID

116. Word of disgust : UGH

Answer grid.

Hope Barry G comes back to us. All too sudden yesterday.

C.C.