Theme: "Cooked Books" - Each theme entry sounds like a well-known novel. (Added later: I did not catch the theme fully. Please click here to read Orange's explanation. Two of the words in each book title rhyme with the original words.)
25A. Tolstoy novel about game hunting? : BOAR AND GEESE. "War and Peace".
31A. London novel about gentlemen coming to blows? : BRAWL OF THE MILD. "Call of the Wild".
52A. Salinger novel about an alien abduction? : SNATCHER IN THE SKY. "Catcher in the Rye"
70A. Dreiser novel about a prominent British prince? : MISTER HARRY. "Sister Carrie".
82A. Brontë novel about the rigors of ballet training? : SMOTHERING TIGHTS. "Wuthering Heights".
104A. Forster novel about the mysterious death of Tutenkhamen? : A TOMB WITH A CLUE. "A Room with a View". King Tut.
115A. Steinbeck novel about a spiritual vegan? : OF RICE AND ZEN. "Of Mice and Men".
Did I miss any extra layer that further coheres the theme?
When
I read the puzzle title "Cooked Books", I thought it might be an
anagram. Consulted with our Oracle Argyle, he said "It doesn't pay to
analyze puns too much".
I'm eager to read what you guys have to say.
Across:
1. Skye cap : TAM. Saw this clue before, so an easy start.
4. Long yarn : SAGA. Bob, who reads but not comments on our blog, sent me these pictures last night. It's carved from a single tree trunk. Total length: 12.286 meters. Click here to for more. 4 years. Talk about patience.
8. Wide open areas? : SPACES
14. Fix after an outage, as a clock : RE-SET
19. Genetics lab study : RNA
20. Yemen neighbor : OMAN
21. Old Spanish sailing force : ARMADA
22. Small egg : OVULE
23. Fingers : IDs. Verb.
24. __ the Merciless: Flash Gordon foe : MING
27. Most texts : MESSAGES. Do you texting or calling your kids, PK?
29. Informer : RAT
30. Intimidated : DAUNTED
35. Assembled : MET
36. Computer acronym : ASCII
37. Get : SEE
38. DDE rival : AES (Adlai Ewing Stevenson)
40. "__ Miniver" : MRS
43. Murder mystery staple : CORPSE
45. Credit (to) : ASCRIBE
49. Court happening : TRIAL
51. Spot for a pad : KNEE
56. Good, in Hebrew : TOV. "Mazel tov!"
57. Clear : RID
58. Bygone bringers of blocks : ICEMEN
59. Spanish appetizer : TAPA. I like Korean appetizers (Banchan). I like all pickled stuff.
63. Stir up : WAKEN
65. Tinted : HUED
68. Despicable : BASE
69. "What a shame!" : ALAS
72. Big name in elevators : OTIS
73. Daffy : BATS
74. NFL pick sixes, e.g. : INTS (Interceptions)
75. Red dye : EOSIN. Rooted in Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn. Hence red, I suppose.
76. Guy dolls : KENS
77. Check : ARREST. One-word clue can be very tricky.
79. Belief: Suff. : ISM
80. Cleo's undoing : ASP
87. One may overlook a loch : BRAE
91. Perfume with myrrh, say : CENSE. Valid word, as Yellowrocks showed us once. Please ignore those snarky anons, Kathy, do tell you about your visit to Israel. What's their typical breakfast? Do they have bagel shops there?
92. Crowd __ : PLEASER
93. Crowd : THRONG
95. More than feasts (on) : ODs
96. Pancake-making facilitator : MIX
97. Photo __ : OPS
100. Swiss mathematician : EULER
101. Email attachment, briefly : PDF
109. Gulf War missile : PATRIOT
113. Former president of Pakistan : ZIA. Wiki said he's Pakistan's longest-serving head of state, ruling eleven years.
114. Lozenges, e.g. : SOOTHERS
118. "__.0": Comedy Central show : TOSH. Never watched the show. Hosted by Daniel Tosh.
119. Bad opening? : DYS. Like Dysfunctional.
120. Booze : SAUCE. Drunk.
121. R or X : RATING
122. Curved molding : OGEE
123. Not leave, with "up" : USE
124. Corners, in a way : TREES
125. Preoccupy : OBSESS
126. "O, let me not be mad" speaker : LEAR.
I bet no Shakespearean clue can stump our Keith. He and Misty
are both professors at the University of California, Irvine, though I
don't think they've met each other.
127. Times in want ads : PMs
Down:
1. Sculpt, as hedges : TRIM BACK
2. "Winesburg, Ohio" author Sherwood : ANDERSON. Never heard of this guy or the book.
3. Total drubbing : MASSACRE
4. Horn of Africa natives : SOMALIS
5. Baja buddy : AMIGO
6. Crooks, in slang : GANEFS. Learned from doing xwords.
7. Unsettled feelings, in Frankfurt : ANGSTE. New word to me. Quite close to our Angst.
8. Buffalo hockey player : SABRE. I don't think I know any player from Buffalo Sabres, Splynter.
9. Tournament kickoff, perhaps : PRO-AM
10. Cremona craftsman : AMATI. Violin.
11. Beetle, for one : CAR.
12. Author LeShan : EDA
13. Bank deposit : SAND. Great clue.
14. Scoundrel : ROGUE
15. Affair : EVENT
16. Haggis ingredient : SUET. Suet is beef fat. Lard is pig fat.
17. "What __ is new?" : ELSE
18. Began a round, with "off" : TEED
26. Farm mom : DAM
28. Lift : SWIPE
32. __ wave : HEAT
33. Den : LAIR
34. Actress Mazar : DEBI
39. House mate?: Abbr. : SEN. Senate. I was stumped.
40. Pair, as two odd socks : MIS-MATE. This is the clue & Answer dupe (mate/MATE) Anon-T referred the other day.
41. Earns copiously : RAKES IN
42. Cunning : SLYNESS
44. Approx. : EST
46. Cliffside debris : SCREE
47. Violin parts : CHIN RESTS
48. Great American Ball Park player : RED
49. Cannabis compound : THC
50. Nike rival : REEBOK. Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, some kind of gazelle.
53. Sure to end badly : NO-WIN
54. "Stop, sailor!" : AVAST
55. Considerable : TIDY
59. Hot stuff : TABASCO. I bet Lucina has a bottle in her fridge.
60. Fearful : ALARMED
61. Arts supporters : PATRONS
62. Furniture and fixtures, say : ASSETS
64. Gold meas. : KTs (Karats)
65. Eats : HAS
66. Dickens' Heep : URIAH
67. "The Hat Makes the Man" artist : ERNST (Max)
70. Wee bit : MITE
71. Pal, slangily : HOMIE
78. Lady, e.g. : SHE
79. Supermarket franchise initials : IGA
81. L.A. hours : PST. I think Rich does read our blog, Bill G, probably not every day, as he's extremely busy with all the puzzle submissions/editing/reader mails and other newspaper stuff we're not aware of.
83. Turning meas. : RPM
84. Hip bones : ILIA
85. Call in a bakery : NEXT
86. Develop : GROW
87. "Scottish Fantasy" composer : BRUCH (Max). Jazzbumap knows him. Not me. German composer. Died in 1920.
88. In a ball : ROLLED UP
89. Arterial problem : ANEURYSM
90. Exits : EGRESSES
94. Subtly mottled, as fabric : HEATHER. Oh I know the pattern. Just don't know it has a specific name.
98. Starter's gun : PISTOL
99. Easy mark : STOOGE
101. Damage, so to speak : PRICE. I don't get this one. Can you give me a sentence to show how these two are equivalents?
102. Cubes in the kitchen : DICES. Verb "Cubes"!
103. Antagonist : FOE
105. Harriet's TV spouse : OZZIE
106. Appearances : MIENS. Also learned from doing xwords.
107. Beatle trademark : BANGS
108. Old Testament prophet : HOSEA. Needed crossing help.
109. Put up : POST
110. At a distance : AFAR
111. Faithful : TRUE
112. Poi source : TARO
116. Collar : NAB
117. Sot's problem : DTS
I'm excited to show you a recent picture of Agnes, our loving and witty Irish Miss. She said:
"I am on the right next to my sister, Eileen. This was taken Friday night (Nov 22, 2013) at my sister Peggy's house, celebrating her 6 year old granddaughter's Luau-themed birthday party."
Notice her rings? Read here for details. She has since added a new ring.
