Theme: "Career Counseling" - Common phrases are humorously reinterpreted as if they're the advice given to the person in the clue.
22. Advice to an aspiring preacher?: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL.
39. Advice to an aspiring organizer?: DON'T THROW IT ALL AWAY.
57. Advice to an aspiring journalist?: DON'T FORGET TO WRITE.
83. Advice to an aspiring ballet dancer?: LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.
99. Advice to an aspiring history professor?: THERE'S NO FUTURE IN IT. Made me chuckle.
121. Advice to an aspiring stationer?: PUSH THE ENVELOPE.
Did I miss anything extra? A full set of "Don't" advice would be a tighter set, but probably Trent found them repetitive and too simple.
This is Trent's first Sunday puzzle for the LA Times. Perfect 100 theme squares. So many sparkling fill & fun clues, typical of his grids. You can find more of his work at Grid Therapy.
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| Trent Evans |
Across:
5. Hawkeye's title workplace: MASH.
9. Global warming word: MELT.
13. Stumbling block: SNAG.
17. "Are you hurt?" response: I'M OK. After the painful slip last year, I bought these Yaktrax grips.
18. Soprano showpiece: ARIA.
19. Far from clueless: AWARE.
21. It's not a bear: KOALA. Anyone else tried this salt? It has eucalyptus in it. Smells nice.
25. Gives the boot: OUSTS. And
26. Give a lift: ELATE.
27. Finger-wagging word: SHAME.
28. It's nothing to Caesar: NIHIL.
32. Esteem to the extreme: IDOLIZE.
44. NFL's Falcons: ATL.
47. Vatican farewell: CIAO.
48. Messy place: STY.
49. Fictitious: MYTHIC.
50. Dalai Lama's former home: LHASA. And
53. China's Zhou __: ENLAI. Most respected & loved politician in China. Also 5. Red Warhol subject?: MAO.
56. "Watch me do this!": HERE I GO. And 59. "You can't be serious": OH C'MON. 89. "You betcha!": SURE WILL. Love these colloquial phrases.
63. 2020, for many: ORDEAL. Vaccines are coming.
64. "I know! I know!": OOH OOH.
65. Philly Ivy: PENN.
66. Middle schooler, probably: PRE-TEEN.
70. Prairie howlers: COYOTES.
73. Collars, as a perp: NABS.
78. Seyfried of "Big Love": AMANDA.
82. "We __ Farmer's, bum ba dum bum bum bum bum": ARE.
88. Salts, say: SEASONS.
90. Govt. security: T NOTE.
91. Unexpected mug shot feature: SMILE.
92. Bring into harmony: ATTUNE.
93. Exec concerned with hacking: CIO. Chief Information Officer.
96. "__ girl!": ATTA.
98. First name in supervillains: LEX. Luthor.
105. Simple meteorological tool: VANE.
106. Treater's adamant words: I INSIST.
107. Rap caps, perhaps: DO-RAGS.
111. Breaks down: WEEPS.
113. Cosmic comeuppance: KARMA.
117. Devoid of any pleasure: NO FUN. 3. Musical deficiency: NO EAR.
118. Aim high: GO BIG.
125. Speed skater Ohno: APOLO. Also won "Dancing with the Stars".
126. Some fitness ctrs.: YMCAS.
127. Hawaiian seafood salad: POKE. Diced raw fish.
128. Tolkien trilogy, initially: LOTR. The Lord of the Rings.
129. Radio piece: DIAL.
130. Kindle display: E INK. Learned from doing an old NYT puzzle.
131. Ruth's sultanate?: SWAT. Babe Ruth is called "Sultan of Swat"
132. Greens in regulation, e.g.: STAT. And 42. Tiger's target: HOLE. Tiger Woods.
Down:
2. Quite big enough: AMPLE.
4. Got by on one's reputation alone, perhaps: SKATED.
6. Canine chorus: ARFS.
7. Evil sci-fi order: SITH.
8. LOL, verbalized: HA HA.
9. Used what was available: MADE DO.
10. Sheep related to you?: EWE. Homophone.
12. Holy threesome: TRINITY.
13. The one: SOULMATE.
14. "Old Town Road" rapper Lil __ X: NAS.
15. PC shortcut key: ALT.
16. Teslas don't need it: GAS.
20. "My Fair Lady" lady: ELIZA.
21. Japanese garden fish: KOI.
23. Lotto cousin: KENO.
24. Gulf States bigwig: EMIR.
29. Ram's protection: HELMET. LA Ram, right?
31. Mandela's org.: ANC. African National Congress.
33. Painful sequence: OWS.
34. Illuminated: LIT.
36. For a bit: A WHILE.
37. Vietnam War hot spot: SAIGON.
38. Mogul: TYCOON.
40. Cake level: TIER.
41. Drink mix made famous by NASA: TANG. Also 123. Frenemy of Lando: HAN.
My hometown Xi'an was the capital city of four Chinese dynasties: Zhou,
Qin, Han, Tang. I have Zhouqin. Our puzzle has HAN & TANG.
43. Harp relative: LYRE.
44. Big name in footwear: ALDO.
45. Son of Odin: THOR.
46. Touch down: LAND.
51. Dance moves: STEPS.
52. Nowhere close: AFAR.
54. Right this minute: AT ONCE.
55. Olympic skating medalist Midori: ITO.
56. Kermit's greeting: HI HO.
58. Praise for a torero: OLE.
60. Seek the affections of: WOO.
61. Rob __: ROY.
65. One of a biblical 150: PSALM.
67. Jefferson bills: TWOS.
68. "OMG, a mouse!": EEK. We finally caught the mouse with our glue traps. Wow, he was sneaky.
69. Ease up: EBB.
71. Eastern "way": TAO. We say "Dao" in China.
72. Birds that boom and grunt: EMUS. Wow, I don't know. Sounds so noisy.
73. Channel that provided coverage of the New Horizons Pluto flyby: NASA TV. Gary probably watches it regularly.
74. Respectful singer?: ARETHA. One of her songs is "Respect".
75. Taken down: BEATEN.
77. Back on the boat: AFT.
79. Scientist __ deGrasse Tyson: NEIL. Harvard classmate of constructor Andrea Carla Michaels.
80. View from a hill: DALE.
81. Top of a hill: APEX.
83. Like the Texas flag's star: LONE. Hi there my Texas T's!
84. Baby's outfit: ONESIE.
85. Crowd eruption: ROAR.
86. Rock ending?: ETTE. Rockette.
87. Mountain legend: YETI.
93. Take over or take in: CONSUME.
94. Hypotheticals: IFS.
95. Yes, to Yves: OUI.
97. "Your point is?": AND.
100. Chilly: NIPPY.
101. Finger-wagging sound: TSK TSK.
102. Four Corners state: UTAH.
103. Skye of "Say Anything...": IONE.
104. Fishes, in a way: TROLLS.
108. On, as Sherlock's game: AFOOT.
109. Sanjay of CNN: GUPTA. Is this a common Indian surname, Vidwan? We have a Dr. Gupta in our VA hospital also.
110. Hägar's dog: SNERT.
112. Film director's challenge: EGO.
114. Gym set: REPS.
115. "May I have some tuna, please?": MEOW. Such a polite cat.
116. "My Way" lyricist: ANKA.
118. Wander (about): GAD.
119. Big name in nail polish: OPI.
120. Slithery squeezer: BOA.
122. Bio or chem: SCI.
124. Lab coat checker?: VET. Labrador.
C.C.
