Theme: "Movers"- Parse it as Move-Rs. Letter R's are moved backwards.
23A. Screwballs in the hayloft? : BARN FLAKES. Bran flakes. Notice in each original phrase, letter R is the second letter? Very consistent.
25A. Where crooks learn their trade? : PERP SCHOOL. Prep school.
43A. Cookie cooks? : DISC BAKERS. Disc brakes. Oh, this reminds me of Anon-T and his Pizzelle.
83A. Dealt with unproductive mollusks? : FIRED CLAMS. Fried clams.
102A. Restaurant reservation for fish? : CARP'S TABLE. Craps table. Boomer's encounter with Dr. J happened at a craps table in the old Stardust in Vegas.
104A. Result of Uncle Sam frequenting Papa John's? : PIZZA BEARD. Funny image. Pizza bread.
36D. Like surfers? : BOARD-MINDED. Broad-minded.
39D. Group of body shop specialists? : BUMPER CORPS. Bumper crops. Tiny stray R in BUMPER.
Nora Pearlstone is the alias name of Rich Norris, anagram of "Not a Real Person". See here for a full list of the alias names Rich uses.
Always
a treat when Rich makes a puzzle. These days he's very busy editing the
LA Times crosswords. Prior to 2010, Rich constructed tons of puzzles
for the NYT, LAT, CrosSynergy and other venues.
I don't think we've seen a themeless from Rich in the LAT, but he's an extremely accomplished themeless constructor. So he can really go low on Sunday word account, but he chose a 142 for clean fill today. Rich also allows 144 words for Sundays. Trust me, it makes a huge difference.
Across:
1. __ act : CLASS. Fill-in--the blank clues are no gimmes.
6. Graceful bird : SWAN
10. Manhattan sch. : CCNY
14. Baggage check requirement : ID TAG
19. Primer sequence : A E I O U
20. Trillionth: Pref. : PICO
21. Surprised greeting : OH HI
22. Actress Thomas : MARLO. Can you believe she's 80 years old?
27. Enjoying a wilderness vacation, maybe : ON SAFARI.
28. Two-mile-high city : LHASA. I linked this once. Both Shanghai and Lhasa are two-character names in Chinese. We use La Sa spelling.
30. Caged, with "up" : COOPED
31. Very long tooth : TUSK
32. Pouch occupants : JOEYs
33. Fronded tree : PALM
34. Picasso, for one : CUBIST. Same letter count as ARTIST.
37. Med. prefix : NEUR. Nerve.
38. Income statement write-offs : BAD DEBTS. And "income" clue echo with 42. Live-income filler : ON ONE
46. Cosmonaut Gagarin : YURI
47. Film-rating org. : MPAA
48. Elec. instrument : SYNTH
49. "Later" : TA TA
50. "The Simpsons" character Sideshow __ : MEL. Unknown to me. We see APU/STU more often.
51. Faller of 2001 : MIR
52. "Hmm ... don't think so" : UH NO
53. Northumbrian monk, briefly : ST BEDE.
According to Wiki, he was "an English monk at the monastery of St.
Peter and its companion monastery of St. Paul in the Kingdom of
Northumbria of the Angles".
55. __ facto : IPSO
56. Slowish movement : ANDANTE
58. Leafstalks : PETIOLES. Learning moment for me.
60. Interfere (with) : MESS
61. Mickey and Jerry : MICE. What a great surprise! Thought the answer would be a plural surnames.
62. Strict diet restriction : NO CARBS
63. Blacken : SEAR
65. "... dark, __ the blaze of noon": Milton : AMID
67. Prizes in a case : TROPHIES
69. Feline named for an island : MANX CAT. Isle of Man.
72. Sensible : SANE
73. Tardy with : LATE ON
74. Team across the state from the Marlins : RAYS. Tampa Bay Rays.And 16. 74-Across' stadium, casually, with "The" : TROP. Tropicana Field.
75. Artist Yoko : ONO
76. Decked : KO'D
77. Zany Martha : RAYE
78. They're heavier than foils : EPEES
80. Villain named Julius : DR NO. He was born in Beijing.
81. Russian city : OREL. South of Moscow.
85. Easy putt : TAP IN
86. Faithfulness : FIDELITY
88. Showing skill : ABLY. Big Easy sent me this.
89. Order givers : BOSSES
90. Ending with ortho- : DOXY
91. Bar, at the bar : ESTOP. First Bar is verb. Second noun.
93. Algebra, e.g. : MATH
94. Rabbitlike rodent : AGOUTI
97. Arctic temperature word : BELOW
98. Inherited : CAME INTO
106. Link with : TIE TO
107. Banned for a rules infraction, informally : DQ'ED. Disqualified.
108. Marginally : A TAD
109. Kate's sitcom pal : ALLIE. Kate & Allie.
110. Above it all : ALOOF And 3. Above-it-all attitude : AIRS
111. Old pol. divisions : SSRs
112. Toon explorer : DORA
113. Window insert : GLASS
Down:
1. Mexican resort, familiarly : CABO. Cabo San Lucas.
2. Not fatty : LEAN
4. Clementi composition : SONATINA. Did not know Clementi. Rich himself plays piano.
5. Fill, as with light : SUFFUSE
6. Lively quality : SPARK. Yeah, Misty, we love to see you healthy and happy.
7. User-edited site : WIKI
8. Top performer : ACE
9. Pretty darn good : NO SLOUCH. Rich is also no slouch when it comes to golf. Scratch golfer.
10. Patient share : CO-PAY
11. Game with capturing : CHESS
12. Dragsters' org. : NHRA.National Hot Rod Association.
13. Shelter sound : YIP
14. "Brr!" : I'M COLD
15. Former name of Benin : DAHOMEY. Another learning moment for me.
17. Burn soother : ALOE
18. Top prize : GOLD
24. Bottom position : LAST
26. Many : SCADS
29. Rosemary, e.g. : HERB. I've been loving rosemary-roasted potatoes. Simple to make. Nothing as complicated as D-Otto's potato dumplings.
32. Fun : JEST
33. Celebratory procession : PARADE
34. Run-on sentence's lack, probably : COMMA
35. Remove, as a brooch : UNPIN
37. El __ : NINO
38. Stimulating leaves : BETELS. I was told that that betel leaves are used in Indian weddings.
40. Long lock : TRESS
41. Storage cylinders : SILOS
43. 10 micronewtons : DYNE
44. Wear : ATTIRE
45. Cookout fare on sticks : KABOBS.
Xi'an style kabobs. Lots of red pepper flakes. Sichuan province is our
neighbor, so our cooking is a bit similar. But we mainly use red hot
pepper. They use both red hot pepper and the peppercorn. Their food is numbingly spicy. Our food is simply "hot".
48. "Fiddler on the Roof" village : SHTETL. Consonant-heavy.
52. The Tar Heels of the NCAA : UNC
53. Spray 'n Wash target : STAIN
54. Much of Lamb's legacy : ESSAYS
55. High-resolution film format : IMAX
57. Help on the Hill : AIDE
58. Character who uses "yam" as a verb : POPEYE. And 71. 58-Down et al. : TOONS
59. Repeated : ECHOED
62. __ public : NOTARY
64. USN rank : ENS
65. Require from : ASK OF
66. Like about 15% of New Zealanders : MAORI. Over 10% of their population are Asians.
68. It's unlikely : RARITY
69. Fannie __: securities : MAEs
70. Musical in which FDR is a character : ANNIE. Easy guess.
74. __ Martin Cognac : REMY
78. Skateboarder's protection : ELBOW PAD. Lovely fill.
79. Crab's sensor : PALP
80. Hammett who created Nick and Nora : DASHIELL. Don't recall seeing his given name before. Nice.
82. Was a factor in : LED UP TO
83. Handy "Mr." : FIX IT. Look at TTP's work.
84. Roman statesman : CATO
85. Reward for a donation, maybe : TOTE BAG
87. Beaucoup : LOTS OF
89. Perennial NCAA football powerhouse : BAMA
91. Conger catcher : EELER. Thank God for Old Fisherman. So tasty!
92. Snow-covered hill sights : SLEDS
93. "Zoom-Zoom" sloganeer : MAZDA
94. Official records : ACTA
95. Windy-sounding woman's name : GAIL. Our Gail G.
96. Sandwich cookie : OREO
97. Some fam. meals : BBQs
98. Mogul : CZAR
99. Simba's mate : NALA
100. Speaker of Cooperstown : TRIS. I faintly recall TTP's mom worked in his ranch.
101. Poems of honor : ODEs
103. Spots on the tube : ADs
105. Midori on the ice : ITO
C.C.
