Thursday, November 26th, 2015 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Opposites Attract - the four theme entries start with a pair of antonyms:

18A. Present to a large degree : OUT IN FORCE. 

May the force be out in force with you

23A. "Pontoon" Grammy-winning country group : LITTLE BIG TOWN. Crosses all the way, I've never heard of 'em. Was "Little Big Horn" too much of a gimme for a Thursday?

57A. City in a classic Sinatra song : OLD NEW YORK. "... I'll make a brand new start of it, in old New York ...". Frank seemed to have a lot of "favorite" cities. Chicago, Las Vegas - I guess eventually he worked his way around to this one, no harm in currying favor with the locals, sells lots of records.

50A. Digressing : OFF ON A TANGENT. A tendency of we bloggers, it's hard to resist sometimes.

Good morrow! Steve here from Nottingham, home of Robin Hood and the dastardly sheriff. There's even a street called "Maid Marian Way" - I think they might be going a little far with this. Fun place though, I'm staying a stone's throw from Nottingham Castle - should be pretty easy to shoot an arrow through the portals if I get the urge.

Teaching Robin Hood some archery skills

Enough of that tangent, let's get down to some puzzle.


There's a familiar name on the masthead today, and a tight theme with some of C.C.'s signature long downs - four in this case, stacked in pairs. I needed all the perps for 23A (never heard of 'em) but the others slipped in pretty easily once the theme emerged. I like the Thursdays where now it seems you get theme-age and no reveal entry; part of the fun for me is figuring out the theme.

Across:

1. Letters before Choice, Prime or Select : USDA. Food! The top three grades of steak as inspected by the US Department of Agriculture. You're unlikely to find Choice in your local market - almost all of it goes to specialty butchers and high-end steak houses. Choice-grade 30-day dry-aged bone-in rib-eye medium-rare? Oh, go on then, twist my arm (and I'm running out of hyphens).

5. Filter target : SPAM

9. Hockey legend Phil, to fans : ESPO. Mr. Philip Esposito on his mail.

13. Fork locale : ROAD. As the great Yogi Berra said - "When you get to a fork in the road, take it".

14. "Meet John Doe" director : CAPRA

16. Kept in the email thread : CC'ED. Can you have a CSO to yourself? Nice one, C.C!

17. Folk singer Guthrie : ARLO

20. Farm kids' hangout : LEA. Goats or the farmer's offspring and friends? Works either way.

21. "Very cute!" sounds : AWS

22. Trojan who survived the fall of Troy : AENEAS. If "survived" is a euphemism for "fled before things got serious" then we're OK here. Apparently he was only following the instructions of the gods. Yeah, right.

27. Dyes : COLORS

28. Head for the hills : SCRAM. The gods' instructions to Aeneas?

29. "Same here" : AS AM I. Un-parsed, I saw ASAMI and decided that would be a great brand name for ponzu sauce.

30. Mother of the Titans : GAEA. Nailed it! Well, sorta, after I tried GIEA, GAIA, ummm, no wait, ummm ....

31. When said thrice, "and so on" : YADA

35. Sleep stage : REM. "To sleep, perchance to dream whilst in that bless'd state of slumber beknow'st as REM".

36. Civil War nickname : ABE

38. "Unbelievable" rock band : EMF. What is unbelievable is that this was released in 1990. Where did the time go?

40. Bit of advice : TIP

41. Thin nail : BRAD

43. Tiny army members : ANTS

45. Peel and Stone : EMMAS. One character, one actress. Let's go with Diana Rigg's portrayal of Ms. Peel in "The Avengers".

47. Ill-fated energy company : ENRON

49. Tough as nails, e.g. : SIMILE. Took me a little while to see this, although I'm getting more used to seeing "e.g" in a clue as a warning sign: "Do not take this literally". This whole section needed some serious attention due to the peculiar letter progressions in "ATM INSIDE". I'll talk more about that later.

53. Obnoxious type, in slang : CREEPO

54. Recycled container : CAN.

55. Blubber : SOB

60. Cellar dweller? : WINE. My favorite cave-denizens.

61. Loving murmurs : COOS

62. Flood deterrent : LEVEE

63. Birth of an invention : IDEA. Aha! Light Bulb! Eureka! Plenty of crossword-fodder around these.

64. Youngest Brontë : ANNE

65. Complimentary ticket : PASS

66. Class struggle? : TEST. Aced it!

Down:

1. River through Kazakhstan : URAL. Are there any others? I'm sure there are, not in these pages through.

2. Poor sport : SORE LOSER

3. "My religion is kindness" speaker : DALAI LAMA. I hope I'm using the right term with "stacked" regarding down answers, but C.C's pretty good at stacking, and intersecting her theme entries.

4. Rumpus : ADO

5. Displeased looks : SCOWLS

6. Short stop : PAUSE

7. Well-suited : APT

8. Sports doc's order : MRI

9. Thrifty management : ECONOMY

10. Common fastener : SCREW

11. Bakery nut : PECAN

12. Some Ben Jonson poems : ODES. Including one to himself. Seems a little ego-centric!

15. No more stars, to astronomers : ANAGRAM. Loved it. I like anagrams.

19. Greek pizza topping : FETA

21. Well-lit courts : ATRIA

24. "Bad as Me" singer Waits : TOM

25. Troop gp. : B.S.A. I always forget about this group when crosswords come up. Boy Scouts of America.

26. Frozen treats : ICEES

27. Paleo diet no-no : CARB. The diet itself is controversial (as all these diets eventually are) as the magic-cure all. There's plenty of doubt around the basis of the diet, but if it works for you, then stick with it.

30. Piazza de Ferrari city : GENOA

32. Sign appealing to short people? : ATM INSIDE. Great clue, and just from the way the crosses were falling it took me quite a while to parse this correctly. When I see "short people" and I have A*MIN*N**** I'm already seeing "MINI" and trying to fit something around that. This corner was my last and probably took as long as the rest of the puzzle.

33. Land line signals : DIAL TONES. Not heard one of these for a while. I've not had a land line for at least 10 years.

34. Church niche : APSE

37. White-faced predator : BARN OWL

39. Make a false show of : FEIGN

42. Department created during the Truman administration : DEFENSE. Wow, I was surprised it was so recent.

44. Big bang cause : TNT. Dynamite clue!

46. Fr. title : MME. Mademoiselle in Marseille.

48. "Uh-uh!" : NOPE

49. Ladders' counterparts : SNAKES. Scary board gave this three-year-old some unsettling dreams back in 1960-ahem. They weren't happy, cartoon-ey snakes, they were nasty buggers that wanted to eat small children.

50. DuPont acrylic : ORLON

51. Was nourished by : FED ON. Children to board-game snakes.

52. Lots and lots : ACRES

53. __-Cola : COCA

56. Exhausted : BEAT

58. "Uh-huh!" : YEP

59. Lab eggs : OVA

60. Clever one : WIT

That's all from me - here's the grid.

Steve

Notes from C.C.: 

1) Hello, handsome archer! Yeah, I'd call those four long Downs "stacks". Thanks for being here for us today and every Thursday. What's that on your right wrist? 

2) I'd also like to thank Argyle, Melissa, Ron, Gary, Lemonade, Splynter for their brilliant write-ups week after week. Dear Marti too. I'm so grateful for your time, commitment & friendship. Thank you for always being there for me off the blog as well. I'm so blessed and lucky to have you on our team.

3) And my heartfelt "Thank you" to Rich Norris, his assistant Patti Varol, his test solvers, his fact checker and all LAT constructors. Thanks for the daily entertainment. I can't tell you how many half-baked ideas I've sent to Rich. He's always so patient & gentle. Rich tightens up my themes like this TIME FRAME. It was not that orderly when I first made it. I'll never forget how Rich improved drastically this TRIATHLON puzzle I made. Look at the skeletal grid I attached at the end of Argyle's write-up. Rich also spices up my clues, today's ATM INSIDE is a good example. Rich does this for every constructor, day after day.

4) My "Thank you" also goes to our faithful readers, esp our regulars. My life would be hard without D-Otto's guidance or Barry G's always reliable feedback. Thanks for your generous donations, comments & emails. Thanks for the hard-boiled egg tips, poems, hilarious cat/dog video clips, thanks for being part of our little community.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 25, 2015, Victor Borocas

THEME: BABY I'M YOURS!

Victor's clever Thanksgiving Eve offering takes the phrase BODY AND SOUL and uses these words to precede corresponding words in two-word fill phrases. 

17. Yorkshire pudding or bangers and mash : ENGLISH FOOD or 

BODY ENGLISH (Yaz '75)

SOUL FOOD (Beats Haggis!)

31. Game-ending declaration : CHECKMATE or

BODY CHECK

SOUL MATE (Mine!)

49. Genre of the '60s hits "Pipeline" and "Wipe Out" : SURF MUSIC or

                                                         BODY SURF

SOUL MUSIC

THEME REVEAL:

65. Wholeheartedly, or words that can precede the first and second parts, respectively, of 17-, 31- and 49-Across : BODY AND SOUL - Also a 1930 Jazz Standard covered recently by these two

Across      
   
1. Stop the launch : ABORT - When things aren't AOK

6. Perfume compound : ESTER

11. Sailor : TAR

14. Off-the-cushion shot : CAROM - What the hockey players are doing above

15. Usually multilayered dessert : TORTE

16. Load off one's mine? : ORE - C'mon, that's cute!

19. Sundial topper : XII - Oh my, I'm late, it's V after XII already!

20. Classic Belafonte song opening : DAYO - Heard in baseball parks today because fans want the runner to come home (Daylight come and me wan' go home)

21. Not tricked by : ONTO - Fool me once...

22. Homeric classic : ILIAD

24. Where heros are made : DELI

26. __ button : PANIC 

28. Sufferer healed by Jesus : LEPER - There's a powerful scene in the 1959 movie Ben-Hur showing a LEPER colony

35. Bledel of "Gilmore Girls" : ALEXIS 

37. Creative output : ART

38. Where billions live : ASIA - Over half the world lives inside this circle

39. Watch someone's kids : SIT - Care.com says the avg. babysitting rate is $13/hr

40. Lightweight shirts : CAMISES - I had a great time looking for examples but I'll leave it to you

43. Television : SET

44. Ellington's "Take __ Train" : THE A - "Soon you'll be on Sugar Hill in Harlem"

46. "Et alia" lang. : LAT

47. Letter-erasing key : DELETE

52. Wyoming's __ Range : TETON

53. Benjamin of "Law & Order" : BRATT - What a team!

54. Ibuprofen target : ACHE 

56. Trapdoor location : FLOOR - "Uh, we decided to work as a duo"

58. Capital south of Lillehammer : OSLO - "How do I clue thee? Let me count the ways?"

60. Ottawa-based law gp. : RCMP

64. Not in the clergy : LAY

68. __ well : OIL - Awl if you're from the oil patch 

69. Actress Téa : LEONI

70. "Inferno" poet : DANTE

71. Opposite of post- : PRE - Way to go, Paul (whoever you are)!

72. Diving ocean birds : ERNES

73. Prince Charming's mount : STEED - One cartoonish member of the RCMP had a STEED he named, uh, Horse

Down

1. More than just passed : ACED

2. See 25-Down : BANA - Okay

3. Frenzied revelry : ORGY

4. Low-tech card file : ROLODEX

5. "No more details, please" : TMI - "Then after they opened my lower colon..."

6. Sharing a common culture : ETHNIC

7. Low on the Mohs scale : SOFT - From talc to diamonds

8. Highway officers : TROOPERS - For a real time warp hoot, play these episodes on YouTube!

9. WWII area : ETO - European Theater of Operations

10. Symbol of losses : RED INK - Ken (64A) was in the (68A) business and accumulated a lot of this

11. Dead weight in a portfolio : TOXIC ASSET - Owning a company with a lot of 10D

12. Opera number : ARIA

13. Senator Harry : REID

18. Sun, in Sonora : SOL - A sunny taco?

23. Peru's largest city : LIMA - 73F forecast for today

25. With 2-Down, "Hulk" star : ERIC - Okay

27. Did something : ACTED - Carpe Diem for crying out loud!!

28. Endures : LASTS

29. Philanthropist Yale : ELIHU - Some on his campus want its John C. Calhoun Resident College renamed 

30. "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor : PETER BOYLE

32. French-speaking island country : HAITI - Annual per capita income is $350

33. Connect with : TIE TO - A POSSE might TIE their STEEDS TO this

34. Consumed : EATEN

36. Pierre's toast : SALUT - or "à votre santé" - To your health!

41. Elephant ancestor : MASTODON

42. Son of Adam : SETH - Genesis says when  Adam was 130 yrs. old, he  had SETH to replace Abel

45. __-American : AFRO

48. Ogles obliquely : LEERS AT

50. Sculptor's medium : MARBLE - The David took Michelangelo 2 years after he took over the project

51. French port on the Strait of Dover : CALAIS - One ETO strategy was to convince Hitler that D-Day would occur at the much closer Calais. p.s. Do you see some cwd friends on this map?

55. Sell a bridge to, say? : CON

56. Producer's nightmare : FLOP

57. Hideaway : LAIR - Remnants of Hitlers first military headquarters - The Wolf's LAIR

59. Word sung after the ball drops : SYNE

61. Construction area marker : CONE

62. Remote button : MUTE   

63. Begged : PLED

66. Not 'neath : OER

67. Canine doc's deg.? : DDS - Am I the only one who chose DVM first?

Arts/Sports crossover - I'll bet most of you know the Broadway play where Joe Boyd (Avg. Joe?) received a BODY to be a great baseball player by selling his SOUL to the devil.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: Edit - ED is added to the first part of each plural compound noun and formed three synonyms for "tired". Each new entry is then clued humorously.

20. Tired bowling groups? : BUSHED LEAGUES. Bush Leagues

38. Tired janitors? : DRAINED CLEANERS. Drain Cleaners

56. Tired groupies? : EXHAUSTED FANS. Exhaust Fans

Argyle here. A few trouble spots but an amusing theme. Seven X's on the way to a pangram.

Across:

1. Alter, as a pet : SPAY

5. Coif adjusted with a pick : AFRO

9. Less uncertain : SURER. More certain.

14. Bring under control : TAME

15. Bar sign light : NEON

16. Goodnight girl of song : IRENE. Recorded under one of those bar lights.

17. Poolside hue : AQUA

18. Big reference vols. : OEDs

19. Utah city near the Golden Spike : OGDEN

23. Unconvincing excuse, probably : LIE

24. Ballot markings : Xes

25. Not strict at all : LAX

26. __ Mahal : TAJ

29. Go on until : END AT

31. Buzzers around blossoms : BEEs

33. Cornfield construction : MAZE. They are very creative.

34. Antianxiety drug : XANAX. First released by Upjohn and now a part of Pfizer.

36. Relationship __: Facebook feature : STATUS

42. Automatons : ROBOTS

43. Refuge in a desert : OASIS

44. Physics particle : ATOM

45. It's pitched at camp : TENT

47. Security concerns : LEAKS

51. Beer, to a Brit : BEV. Short for Beverage.

52. Driver's license datum : SEX

53. Cooler in a cooler : ICE

55. Lucy of "Elementary" : LIU. On CBS.

60. Plastic alternative : PAPER

62. Give kudos to : LAUD

63. Common conjunctions : ANDs

64. Construction site sight : CRANE

65. Shoreline-altering phenomenon : TIDE

66. Item on an actor's résumé : ROLE

67. Scarecrow stuffing : STRAW

68. Vehicle in many a Jack London story : SLED

69. Black gem : ONYX

Down:

1. Place for ponies : STABLE

2. Anna of "True Blood" : PAQUIN. Canadian-born New Zealand actress. "True Blood" is on HBO.

3. Brought a smile to : AMUSED

4. Slangy assent : "YEAH"

5. Battery pole : ANODE

6. Experiences regret : FEELS BAD

7. Biked : RODE

8. Marked down : ON SALE

9. Sitting Bull's tribe : SIOUX

10. Hard-to-resist impulse : URGE

11. Republican-voting area, on an election map : RED STATE

12. Peoria-to-Detroit dir. : ENE

13. Neurotic toon dog : REN and Stimpy.

21. Not destroyed or lost, as an old document : EXTANT

22. Fuels (up) : GASSES

27. France's Cote d'__ : AZUR

28. Zooey's "New Girl" role : JESS. Zooey Deschanel / Jessica Day

30. Geometric truth : AXIOM

32. Prior prisoner, for short : EX-CON. (convict)

33. Pastor's abode : MANSE. Echo of Sunday.

35. Lipton rival : NESTEA

37. Kept tabs on from behind : TAILED

38. Hardly eye-catching : DRAB

39. Repetitive learning technique : ROTE

40. Better than expected : ABOVE PAR

41. North-south coordinate : LATITUDE. Partnered with longitude.

46. Rejoices : EXULTS. Exalt is to hold in high esteem.

48. Post-rehab support group : AL-ANON

49. "Thank you __, ma'am" : KINDLY

50. English Channel county : SUSSEX

52. "The Taming of the __" : SHREW

54. Formally gave up : CEDED

57. Powerful TV princess : XENA

58. Breeze (along) : SAIL

59. Casino game : FARO. An old card game but casinos probably have figured a way to increase the house cut.

60. HP products : PCs

61. Word after clip or pop : ART

Argyle

Monday, November 23, 2015 Clement McKay

Theme: Just a Theory - Tribute puzzle.

17A. Online matchmaker : eHARMONY

22A. = : EQUALS SIGN

34A. "U Can't Touch This" rapper : MC HAMMER

46A. Looked ready to fight : SQUARED OFF

53A. See 42-Down : EINSTEIN

42D. With 53-Across, physics Nobelist who devised the formula that begins 17-, 22-, 34- and 46-Across : ALBERT

Argyle here. Rows: 15, Columns: 14, Words: 73; did you notice? A bit more serious than Clement's first puzzle. link here.

Albert Einstein's paper “Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?” was published in the journal "Annalen der Physik" on November 21, 1905.

Across:

1. Popeye's nemesis : BLUTO

6. Electrolux, briefly : VAC. (vacuum cleaner)

9. Nos. on beach lotion labels : SPFs. (Sun Protection Factor)

13. Pachelbel composition : CANON

14. Tel Aviv's country: Abbr. : ISR. (Israel)

15. Opera highlight : ARIA

16. Small thicket : COPSE

19. "Look before you __" : LEAP

21. School course with slides : BIOLOGY

25. Lawyer's charge : FEE

26. Carry with effort : LUG

27. Partner of hither : YON

28. For the lady : HERS

29. Inlaid designs : MOSAICS

32. Apple music players : iPODS

36. Web destinations : SITES

38. Worded : PHRASED

42. They're usually divided into scenes : ACTS

43. Wisecracking West : MAE

44. MLB's Indians, on scoreboards : CLE. (Cleveland Indians)

45. __ Vegas : LAS

50. Obscure from view, as in an eclipse : BLOT OUT. or Wite-Out, as in ....

52. Continually : EVER

55. Vacant : EMPTY

58. San __: Riviera resort : REMO

59. Ambient music pioneer Brian : ENO

60. Bete __ : NOIRE. French: literally, black beast (a person or thing strongly detested)

61. Tijuana three : TRES

62. Athletic center : GYM

63. Pig's sniffer : SNOUT. Ever had them pickled?

Down

1. Secretly keep in the email loop, for short : BCC. Blind carbon copy; semi-CSO to our leader.

2. Philosopher __-tzu : LAO

3. Disconnects from the outlet : UNPLUGS

4. Where sailors go : TO SEA

5. Ryan or Tatum : O'NEAL. Father and daughter actors.

6. Compete : VIE

7. Hearth receptacle : ASH BIN

8. Online guy with a list : CRAIG. Started in 1995.

9. O.T. prophet : SAML. (Samuel)

10. Reviewed for errors : PROOFED

11. Piano players? : FINGERS. Cute one.

12. Make a proposer smile : SAY YES. Crosses eHarmony. Also cute.

18. Director Howard : RON. Little Opie all grown up.

20. Gives a pep talk, with "up" : PSYCHS

22. Stately tree : ELM

23. Status __ : QUO

24. Slugger Sammy : SOSA

28. Bar mitzvah dance : HORA

30. Bill totals: Abbr. : AMTS. (amount)

31. Cocktail rocks : ICE

32. Announcement upon arrival : "I'M HERE!". No ice at Tinbeni's.

33. For each : PER

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

36. Like large reptiles, compared to smaller ones : SCALIER

37. "My treat" : "IT'S ON ME"

39. Many a November birth, to astrologers : SCORPIO

40. Helper for Santa : ELF. I had to let this little guy go.

41. Dict. entry : DEF. (definition)

43. Problem on the Caine : MUTINY

46. Drunkard : SOT

47. Captain of the Caine : QUEEG. He was the real problem but not a sot.

48. Coin toss call : EVENS. I'd say "TAILS".

49. Exorcism target : DEMON

51. General __ chicken : TSO'S

54. __ de plume : NOM. Pseudonym adopted by an author

56. Capote nickname : TRU. Real name, Truman Streckfus Persons. Bio

57. To this point : YET

Argyle

Sunday Nov 21, 2015 Pam Amick Klawitter

Theme: "Forced Re-entry" - REE sound is added to each theme entry, changing spelling as needed.

23A. Forgetting to put the milk in the fridge? : GROCERY NEGLIGENCE. Gross negligence.

51A. Backdrop for a gangster film? : CRIME SCENERY. Crime scene.

83A. Warning sign for an art dealer? : FORGERY AHEAD. Forge ahead.

111A. Well-protected garment room? : BULLETPROOF VESTRY. Bulletproof vest.

16D. A little Egyptian magic? : SORCERY OF THE NILE. Source of the Nile.

 

37D. Well-designed room for a tot? : PRACTICAL NURSERY. Practical nurse.

I like 23A and 16D the best, as the transformed words and the old ones have different roots. But not many nouns ending in workable *RY, so Pam's choices are rather limited.

Maybe I've had Paris/Brussels in mind the past days. Noticed quite a few PARIS (5D. Métro home) ties, with mostly alliterative clues:

43A. Between, in Bordeaux : ENTRE

86A. French royalty : NOBLESSE

12D. Brest brainstorms : IDEES 

30D. Mer shade : AZUR 

33D. Seine sun : SOLEIL

70D. Reims rejection : NON

112D. Fleur-de-__ : LIS. Or LYS at times.

Across:

1. Italian seaport : BARI. Easy start. Otherwise, I might not have got BUG (1D. Spy's favorite plant?).

5. Lupone on Broadway : PATTI

10. Alligator relative : CAIMAN

16. Old boomer : SST. Old and retired.

19. Conversant with : UPON

20. Like most people : ASIAN

21. Shout from Speedy Gonzales : ANDALE. "Hurry up" in Spanish.

22. "... the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied __ with the pale cast of thought": Hamlet :

O'ER

26. HDTV brand : RCA

27. Flights connect them : STORIES. Lovely clue.

28. Country rocker Steve : EARLE

29. Actress Dash : STACEY. No idea. She looks familiar though.

31. Sail support : MAST

32. Blue state : SADNESS

34. Pieces of pizza in Plymouth? : ZEDS. Just the two letters in pizza.

35. Secures, as a package : TAPES

38. "Arbitrage" star : GERE. All crosses.

39. Words from the unconvinced : OH SURE. Not "I doubt".

42. "Catch-22" pal of Yossarian : ORR

46. Religious zeal : IDOLATRY

49. Omani money : RIAL

54. __ bran : OAT

57. Treat made with ground almonds : MACAROON. Yeah, Paris!

59. Succeeds : MAKES IT

60. Some PX patrons : PFCs

61. Braid, e.g. : ENTWIST. Not a word I use. Twist, yes.

62. Top (out) : MAX

63. Agent : DELEGATEE. Not a word I use. Delegate, yes.

65. Rascally sort : IMP. Hi there, Spitzboov!

66. Price place : TAG

67. Jump in the pool, perhaps? : BET. Tricky little clue.

68. Durable wood : ASH

69. Another time : ONCE AGAIN

73. "The Beverly Hillbillies" dad : JED

74. Blood-filtering organs : SPLEENS

78. Sound of the wind, perhaps : MOAN. All crosses.

79. Skin blemish : AGE SPOT

81. Working for Christmas, say : SEASONAL

82. NBC weekend fixture : SNL. Marc Maron finally got his white whale.

 

85. In __: unmoved : SITU

88. Auditing giant __ & Young : ERNST And 91. Credit __: Zurich-based financial group : SUISSE. Both have offices in Guangzhou.

90. Delay : LAG

92. Razor brand : ATRA

94. Wiesbaden wheels : OPELS

96. PC key : CTRL

97. Honeymoon options : SAFARIS. Where did you spend your honeymoon?

101. Islamic branch : SHIA

103. Mary Hartman portrayer Louise : LASSER. Stranger to me. Wiki said she was married to Woody Allen for a few years.

106. Desi's daughter : LUCIE

107. Players with masks : GOALIES. Hello, Stud! You really do have it.

110. Keats' "__ to Psyche" : ODE

115. Flat filler : AIR. Tire.

116. Panini cheese : ASIAGO

117. Skateboarding leap : OLLIE

118. Pro foe : ANTI. Also 55. Pro : ACE

119. Round Table knight : KAY. King Arthur's foster brother.

120. Trojan War sage : NESTOR

121. Pops, to tots : DADAS

122. Bread often served with ghee : NAAN. Muslims in China make this kind of naan. It's not brushed with ghee, nor does it have any dairy ingredient. Delicious though.

Down:

2. Car loan nos. : APRS. Annual Percentage Rates.

3. Cheer : ROOT

4. It's often personal : INCOME

6. So far : AS YET

7. Spam holders : TINS. Real spam. Steve loves Spam musubi.

8. The Wizard of Menlo Park, initially : TAE

9. Ready to roll : IN GEAR

10. Stone memorial : CAIRN. Just pile of stones.

11. Right __ : ANGLE

13. Part of many superhero names : MAN. Tiny dupe with 50. Posse members : LAWMEN

14. World Series qualifier: Abbr. : ALCS. American League Championship Series.

15. Hair removal choice : NEET

17. Break away : SECEDE

18. Cube holders : TRAYS. Ice cubes.

24. Clean the slate : ERASE

25. Work on the docks : LADE

32. Come across as : SEEM

35. "It Wasn't All Velvet" memoirist : TORME. Easy guess due to "The Velvet Fog" nickname.

36. Suffix with Unit : ARIAN. Every Sunday puzzle has a few "Meh" entries.

38. It might be silly : GRIN

40. Twain contemporary : HARTE

41. Disorderly digs : STY

44. Boot camp VIPs : NCOs

45. Word with turkey or fox : TROT

46. "That's disgusting!" : ICK. Have any of you had Durian before? It smells awful, banned on some planes, trains. So tasty. Pricey too.

47. Formally turned over, as land : DEEDED

48. Beginning : ONSET

52. Periodical with a URL : EMAG

53. Early rock horn : SAX

56. "Four Quartets" monogram : TSE

58. Big name in morning talk : RIPA

60. Leisurely walks : PASEOS. Not a word I use.

62. Parsons' places : MANSES

64. Sadie Hawkins Day suitors : GALS

66. Supermodel Cheryl : TIEGS. She grew up here in MN.

67. Testing stage : BETA

69. Meditation sounds : OMS

71. Suffolk slammers : GAOLS. Alliteration again.

72. Matches : AGREES

73. Something to jump for : JOY. What I did when Rich accepted my first puzzle. 

74. John in Dublin : SEAN

75. Protective sports equipment : PADS

76. Birth-related : NATAL

77. Wallops : SLUGS

80. Start to date? : PRE. Predate.

81. Hospital fluids : SERA

83. Some NFL ball carriers : FBS (Fullbacks)

84. Towel specification : HER'S

87. Spa supplies : OILS

89. Fabric often decorated with pastoral scenes : TOILE

 

91. Arenas : STADIA

92. "What __!": "I've been had!" : A RIP

93. Steering apparatus part : TIE ROD

95. Pal : PAISAN. This looks like PAYSAN, French for "peasant".

96. Potter's made him invisible : CLOAK. Harry Potter.

98. __ once : ALL AT

99. En __: on a streak, in sports slang : FUEGO. "Fire" in Spanish. Not slang in our little household.

100. One with a part : ACTOR. Nailed it.

101. Balkan capital : SOFIA

102. They're loaded : HAVES. All crosses.

104. "Voice of Israel" author : EBAN (Abba).

105. Sly tactic : RUSE

107. Olympian's prize : GOLD

108. Italian hot spot : ETNA

109. Miss, overseas: Abbr. : SRTA

113. Ending with pay : OLA

114. Yang counterpart : YIN. Dates and ginger are Yang. Cucumbers and most green veggies are Yin.

How do you normally prepare hard-boiled eggs? Do you remove eggs from heat as soon as water comes to a boil like this one? I just cook them in hot boiling water for 10 minutes, but can never get an easy-to-peel perfect egg. 

C.C.