Theme: "East Enders" - E (For East) is added to the end of each well-known phrase.
23A. Quit sugar cold turkey? : KICK THE CANE. Kick the can. "Do you ever feel like a plastic bag..." I'm amused by Katy Perry's "Fireworks".
25A. Small hawk that delivers papers? : PRESS KITE. Press kit.
47A. Water cooler gossip? : BUSINESS TRIPE. Business trip.
91A. Canadian hockey player's tantrum? : MAPLE LEAF RAGE. Maple Leaf Rag.
113A. Tree for Scotland Yard? : BOBBY PINE. Bobby pin. Kids nowadays are so lucky. So many cute bobby pins.
118A. Midlife issue for a big cat? : THE THIN MANE. The Thin Man. Won't happen to the cute Maru. The part when he jumps into and out of the big box was very familiar. Maybe Spitzboov or Bill G linked that one directly from Maru's own channel before.
37D. Luxury lodgings at the zoo? : GORILLA SUITE. Gorilla suit.
42D. Terse Dear John? : FORGET-ME NOTE. Forget-me-not.
Like
Steve last Sunday, you can be sure John has more funny theme
candidates. For Sunday puzzles, constructors always have a few extras,
just in case one or two of their submitted entries fail to amuse Rich.
Unlike
most of John's puzzles, today's grid is not a pangram. Gridding can be
challenging at times, so constructors shift their focus to get the
cleanest fill possible rather than put scrambly letters in.
Still, only 68 black squares, that's 10 fewer than our norms.
Across:
1. Portrait subject, maybe : SELF
5. Skewered servings : KABOBS. Plump shrimp & fresh pineapple. My favorite.
11. "Aida" segments : ACTS
15. Cell signal strength indicators : BARS
19. "Aida" segment : ARIA
20. Men or women, e.g. : PLURAL. Great clue.
21. Draped garment : SARI
22. Hardly happy : BLUE. Lemonade & Marti are always happy & cheerful. I wish I could be like them.
27. Best way to sing : IN KEY
28. "Stop right there!" : HOLD IT. Nice entries do not have to be long. This is a good example.
30. Fuzzy fruit : KIWI
31. __ facto : IPSO
33. Past things : BYGONES
36. Gold brick : INGOT
40. Ply with praise, possibly : SOFTEN UP
44. Salon sweepings : HAIR
45. Sweater wool : ANGORA
46. Hoopla : ADO
51. Flew the coop : RAN
52. Earthen embankment : BERM
54. One with convictions : FELON. Oh, that convictions.
55. Dweeb : TWERP
56. Rural, as a town : HICK
57. Stop a banking session, say : LOG OFF. Boomer handles all our money. I've never banked.
59. Balt. Sea country : LITH (Lithuania)
61. Giant star : IDOL
62. "Winnie __ Pu": Latin version of a Milne work : ILLE. Who wants to read a Latin version?
63. Año beginner : ENERO
64. Sheriff who killed Billy the Kid : GARRETT (Pat). New to me also.
66. Irritated : NETTLED
68. Man of the cloth? : TAILOR. Not PRIEST.
70. Shucker's unit : EAR
71. "You fell for it!" : GOTCHA
72. Some 101-Downs : SIMILES. And 101. Language learner's challenge : IDIOM. So true. I've been here for over 11 years, still struggling with idioms.
74. Big-billed bird : PELICAN. Here are two great photos John took.
He said:
"This is a Brown Pelican fishing in Key West. A Laughing Gull is perched
on top waiting to steal any fish the pelican catches. Such behavior is
called kleptoparisitism and is quite common throughout the animal kingdom.
Even humans do it, as when you swipe a french fry when your friend
isn't looking.
76. Fundamental : BASAL
79. Mideast's Gulf of __ : ADEN
80. Spanish 101 word : ESTA
82. Improvise vocally : SCAT
83. Cloyingly sweet : SYRUPY
84. __-deaf : TONE
85. Ranch rope : RIATA
87. Irving Berlin's "__ a Piano" : I LOVE. I mentioned before, both John & Rich are pianists.
89. Fred and Wilma's pet : DINO
90. __-Aztecan languages : UTO
94. Half a score : TEN. I learned the meaning of "score" from President Lincoln.
95. Bad moonshine : ROTGUT
97. Turow book set at Harvard : ONE L
98. Pod vegetables : SNAP PEAS. I like sugar peas more.
100. They're in the air at yuletide : NOELS. I went to Kohl's last Wednesday to buy a beanie hat, they were playing "Call Me Maybe".
101. As a substitute : INSTEAD
104. Rick's flame : ILSA. This is so good.
105. Signed off on : OK'ED
107. You might get it with a key card : ACCESS
109. Like days of yore : OLDEN
120. Lot measure : AREA
121. Like some excuses : POOR
122. Changed to yet another shade : RE-DYED
123. Parmenides' home : ELEA. Zeno's home also. Zeno of Elea.
124. Loaf or loafer part : HEEL. Fantastic clue.
125. Cocksure : SMUG
126. Do taxing work? : ASSESS. Works without ? also.
127. Topsoil : DIRT
Down:
1. "The Square Egg" author : SAKI. H.H. Munro.
2. Emerald Isle : ERIN
3. Canine kiss : LICK
4. Put on an act : FAKE IT
5. Alberta speed meas. : KPH. Kilometers per Hour.
6. Drafty establishment? : ALE HOUSE
7. Osso __ : BUCO
8. Reach rival : ORAL B
9. Toss about, as ideas : BANDY
10. Rides on runners : SLEIGHS
11. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" killer : ASP
12. Volt, for one : CAR
13. Safaris, e.g. : TREKS
14. Pedro's "Positively!" : SI, SI. In Chinese, it's "Shi, Shi". Cantonese is "Hai, Hai", same as Japanese.
15. "The Thrill Is Gone" singer : B B KING. Hello, Splynter, "The Thrill Is Gone!"
16. Model/actress Landry : ALI. The Doritos girl.
17. Boring routine : RUT
18. Date : SEE
24. Easygoing : TYPE B. I'm certainly not. You?
26. Mud wallowers : SWINE
29. "Here's mud in your eye!" is one : TOAST. New "toast" line to me. How strange. Mud.
32. Tobacco in a pinch : SNUFF
34. Dim bulb, so to speak : NITWIT
35. Bobbled the ball : ERRED
38. Delphic seer : ORACLE
39. Went belly up : TANKED
40. Fancy fur : SABLE. I scored a leopard make-up bag yesterday.
41. Classical theater : ODEON
43. Building support : PILLAR
45. Short program : APPLET
48. "The Maltese Falcon" film genre : NOIR
49. Jambalaya, e.g. : ENTREE. Never had Jambalaya.
50. Heat-sensitive patch : IRON ON
53. Glacial deposit : MORAINE. I bet Spitzboo filled it in without any hesitation.
56. Really have an impact : HIT HARD
58. Fencing weapon : FOIL. I'm so used to EPEE now.
60. Recovers : HEALS
64. Contents of some columns : GOSSIP. Like Bill G, MSNBC is my go-to page for news. I like their Entertainment section.
65. Nixon's older daughter : TRICIA
67. Beriyo smoothie maker : TCBY
69. Eye lasciviously : LEER AT
71. Everglades denizens : GATORS. We used to have a regular with a handle Gator Mom.
72. Second-largest planet : SATURN
73. "Same here" : I DO TOO
74. Communion plates : PATENS. I'm stealing Dave's picture.
75. Baby hippo : CALF
77. Sleep clinic concern : APNEA
78. Interpol headquarters : LYONS. Gimme.
81. Prey grabber : TALON
83. "Just Shoot Me" co-star : SEGAL (George)
86. Prince Arn's mom : ALETA. Her husband is Prince Valiant.
88. Disappears : VANISHES
91. Like some perfume : MUSKY
92. Euripides heroine : ELECTRA. Sister of Orestes, who was pursued by the Three Furies after he killed his mother Clytemnestra in this picture.
93. Maker of Stylus Pro printers : EPSON
96. Word with economy or warming : GLOBAL
99. Concealed, in a way : PALMED
102. Postgame assortment, maybe : ACHES
103. Owners' documents : DEEDS
106. "The Mod Squad" actor : EPPS (Omar). Only knew the TV. Not the movie.
108. Lid irritation : STYE
110. Painter of limp watches : DALI
111. Power dept. : ENER. Headed by Steve Chu. Spelled as Zhu in Chinese. Kind of like Chou/Zhou En-Lai.
112. Peachy-keen : NEAT
113. "Pshaw!" : BAH
114. Get a lode of this : ORE
115. Buzzer : BEE
116. __-turn : NO-U
117. Not much work? : ERG. Work unit. 0.0000001 joules.
119. Some card nos. : IDs
C.C.
