Theme: "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" - Long E sound is changed into short O or "Ah" sound.
23A. Clancy explaining the spelling of his name? : THERE IS NO "I" IN TOM - There is no "I" in team. Tom Clancy would have confused me if he did explain so.
38A. Victoria's Secret seasonal line? : SUMMER BRAS. Summer breeze.
64A. Trading Clue, Monopoly, Life and Boggle? : FOUR-GAME SWAP. Four game sweep. World Series.
75A. Monastery grounds? : LAND OF THE FRA. Land of the free.
98A. Bathrooms decorated in denim? : LEVI'S JOHNS. Levi's Jeans.
116A. Character in "Satanic Star Trek"? : SPOCK OF THE DEVIL. Speak of the devil.
17D. Gorgeous farm gal feeding the pigs? : SLOPPING BEAUTY. Sleeping Beauty.
49D. Stain left by a pool disinfectant? : CHLORINE BLOTCH. Chlorine bleach.
I
hope I got the theme correctly. Sound change gimmick is always hard for
me. I don't have problem with consonants or long vowel sound. It's
those short ones that bother me, esp short E and short A. I pronounce
"bad" & bed" the same.
Mike Peluso is a language expert.
He taught French, German, Spanish and Latin at high school level.
Today's
grid is hard to fill. Look at the 18 7-letter entries alone! 6 pairs
are stacked along the edges, intersecting at least 3 answers of 6-, 7-
or 8- letter long. And a 140-worder. You rock, Mike!
The clue for PASS GO (19D) should be "Round the Boardwalk corner". Cruciverb has "Round the Broadway corner".
Across:
1. Favoring Mideast unity : PAN-ARAB. I wanted PRO-ARAB, but 2D said "No" immediately.
8. Jungle chopper : MACHETE
15. Creator of a cocky hare : AESOP
20. One who stole from thieves : ALI BABA. Also China's biggest e-commerce company.
21. Like spring jackets : UNLINED
22. __ fast one : PULL A
25. Walks heavily : PLODS
26. Costa __ : RICA
27. It's nothing to Hollande : RIEN. It's human nature to sin. God can't help us.
28. B followers : CDE
29. Blue gem, briefly : LAPIS
30. Provo neighbor : OREM
31. CXXII x V : DCX. 610.
32. 1978 film based on a Harold Robbins novel : THE BETSY. Never saw the film.
36. Square problem? : PEG. Nice clue.
37. Many OCS grads : LTS (Lieutenants)
40. Soup with a bento : MISO. You won't find Miso soup inside a Bento box though. Bento is for cold food. Miso is hot.
41. Run on : GAB
44. Sonora Mrs. : SRA
45. Like adobe : EARTHEN
47. One leading a Spartan lifestyle : ASCETIC
51. Barely move : INCH
54. Serenaded : SANG TO
57. Distinguished types : SCHOLARS
59. Bite-size appetizer : PUPU. Pu-pu platter.
62. Treasury secretary under Clinton : RUBIN (Robert). From Wiki: He received more than $126 million in cash and stock during his tenure at Citigroup.
63. Bear's cry : SELL
69. Photo lab process: Abbr. : ENL
70. First album in a Green Day trilogy : UNO. News to me. The ¡Uno!, ¡Dos!, ¡Tré! trilogy.
71. Pro Football Hall of Famer Nagurski : BRONKO. Unknown figure.
72. Chances to golf with Mickelson or McIlroy : PRO-AMS. Yes to Mickelson. What a gentleman!
73. Salty assent : AYE. The sailor "salt". And 34D. Salt : TAR
74. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER
77. I'm-here link : OUTA. I use "outta".
78. Susan's "All My Children" role : ERICA
80. Sailing, perhaps : ASEA
81. Attacker of Athens, per Plato : ATLANTIS
83. Type A, often : DYNAMO
85. Reddish horse : ROAN
88. [Headslap] : SILLY ME!
89. Spewed out : EGESTED
93. Itinerary word : VIA
95. Nevada city on US 50 : ELY. What's it famous for?
96. Melville title starter : MOBY
102. Four in a gal. : QTS. I did not see the . after gal.
105. Rose of rock : AXL. Of Guns N' Roses.
106. Cabbage side : COLE SLAW
107. Word with order or reel : GAG
109. Exec : SUIT
110. Rhone tributary : SAONE
112. Prez, to GIs : CIC. We just had this in Splynter's post yesterday: Commander In Chief.
113. Latin 101 verb : ESSE
114. Mozart's "__ kleine Nachtmusik" : EINE
115. Choir voices : ALTOS
120. Legal decrees : DICTA
121. Tiny stinger : FIRE ANT
122. How many a management group is trained : AS A TEAM. Oh, I read "How many" as a unit. Don't. Split it.
123. One of Israel's 12 tribes : ASHER
124. Spoons : CUDDLES
125. "Don't beat around the bush!" : YES OR NO
Down:
1. Keep the beat? : PATROL. Another nice clue.
2. "Sugar Lips" trumpeter : AL HIRT
3. Holiday visitors, perhaps : NIECES
4. Garfield's middle name : ABRAM
5. Nunavut's __ Strait, named for an explorer : RAE. Named for John Rae.
6. "__ in the hand ..." : A BIRD
7. ABCs : BASICS
8. Subatomic particle : MUON
9. Singer DiFranco : ANI
10. "Hot enough for ya?," e.g. : CLICHE
11. Block : HINDER.
Deluge in our area due to the excessive rain. Luckily the plumber
arrived in time last week, otherwise, our basement might be totally
flooded.
12. 1976 airport raid site : ENTEBBE
13. Formula One racer Fabi : TEO
14. Oilers, on NHL scoreboards : EDM (Edmonton)
15. Be relevant : APPLY
16. Faulkner vixen Varner : EULA. So hard to remember her name.
18. Many playlist entries : OLDIES
24. Connecting point : NEXUS. Or what's in D-Otto's hand.
32. Still destroyer : T-MAN. I googled and found out "Still" refers to the "Distilling device".
33. Many a presidential term, historically : ERA. Clinton era, e.g.
35. Bygone fliers : SSTS
39. It may be done on one foot : MRI. I was thinking of some tricky Yoga maneuver. Can you do this, Marti?
40. File __ : MENU
41. Natural sci. : GEOL
42. The pond, in the U.K. : ATL
43. Former Nigerian secessionist state : BIAFRA. No idea. Wiki said it existed from 1967 to 1970, "taking its name from the Bight of Biafra (the Atlantic bay to its south)".
46. Strings with pedals : HARPS
47. Fictitious : ASSUMED
48. Attraction for shutterbugs : SCENERY
50. Sing like Bing : CROON
52. One for whom Apr. is the cruelest month? : CPA. Fun clue.
53. Disgruntled word : HUMPH
55. Father of Tulip Victoria : TINY TIM. Never heard of Tulip Victoria.
56. Like most fleet cars : ON LEASE
58. __ Islands: Malay Archipelago group : SUNDA. So, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Bali, Timor are all part of the chain. Good to know.
60. Mari de la mère : PERE. Mari = Husband.
61. Lady Liberty's land, proudly : US OF A
65. Bygone theaters : RKOs
66. Menial helper : GOFER
67. __ and all : WARTS
68. Charlotte __ : AMALIE. Capital of the Virgin Islands.
71. Find fault with : BLAME
76. Eastern ideal : TAO. Literally "way". Spelled as "Dao" in Mandarin.
77. No more than : ONLY
79. Sly : CAGY
82. Every one : ALL
84. Scandinavian capital : OSLO
86. Declare frankly : AVOW
87. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH
90. __ Aviv : TEL
91. Apple consumer : EVE. I like this clue also.
92. Strife : DISCORD
94. Teen phase, often : ANGST
96. Israeli desert fortification : MASADA. I bet this is a gimme for Hahtoola, Yellowrocks & Lucina.
97. Wood sorrel genus : OXALIS. We had this before. Some articles says it's tart and tasty, and that the Algonquin Indians considered it an aphrodisiac.
99. Cut through : SLICED
100. Canine predator : JACKAL
101. Walk casually : SASHAY. Hi there Lucina!
102. Shake : QUIVER
103. Strategic WWII island in the Northern Marianas : TINIAN. Total stranger to me.
104. High seas patron : ST. ELMO
106. Activist Chavez : CESAR
108. Monogamous waterfowl : GEESE
109. Take care of : SEE TO
111. Take heed : NOTE
113. Young newts : EFTS
116. Army E-7: Abbr. : SFC
117. More, on a score : PIU. Italian for "more".
118. 1300 hours : ONE
119. German article : DAS
Hope to see some of you at the third Minnesota Crossword Tournament this afternoon.
C.C.
