Thursday, June 15 2017 Brian Thomas

Theme: Un-hip Paragon- as the 1960's flower child might describe her squeaky-clean parent.

The reveal sits across the middle of the grid:

36A. With some unscrambling, the contents of each set of circles : PERFECT SQUARE

The four nine-letter scrambles are, clockwise from the North-West: SIXTY-FOUR, THIRTY-SIX, EIGHTY-ONE and FORTY-NINE, or 8x8, 6x6, 9x9 and 7x7.

Very inventive puzzle from Brian, and it also appears to be his LAT debut; if so congratulations! I did a little Googling and found a namesake of his who occasionally comments over on Amy Reynaldo's blog. Stop in at the Corner, Mr. Thomas and tell us something about yourself!

This was a fun puzzle to solve. It took me way longer than my regular Thursday time but fortitude paid off. My last fill was the A of ULTIMA/ABT which was, quite honestly, a toss-up between A and O, ballet not being my strong suit.

Regarding the theme, I filled in the "49" square first, and was thinking about NFL teams but that didn't last long.

I did find it a little "bitty" with a slew of 3's, 4's and 5's, but crafting around those four cubes isn't easy. Nothing really annoyed me though. Maybe ABT did, a tad.

Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

1. Port initials : USB. I started off on the wrong foot here by filling in FOB and feeling smug that I was hep to shipping terms.

4. Fallon's predecessor : LENO

8. Negative quality : MINUS partnering 8D's MERIT. Very nice.

13. Late July arrival : LEO

14. No longer hung up on : OVER

15. Composed : SERENE

16. Going rate? : TAXI FARE

18. Younger daughter of Hi and Lois, in comics : TRIXIE. No clue, thank you crosses.

19. Admission of defeat : I LOST! Which I would have done if I'd have given up early on this puzzle

20. Petal pusher? : FLORIST. Hand up for reading "pedal" and trying to work out why CYCLIST should be clued with a question mark. I left it alone and when I came back to it I read the clue properly.

22. Baseball's Wills and TV's Povich : MAURYS

24. __ zone: shallowest oceanic region that sunlight doesn't reach : BATHYAL. Pure learning moment. Or, as a southern Mom might say to her muddy tyke - BATH, Y'ALL

27. Co. once led by Baryshnikov : A.B.T. American Ballet Theatre. I tried MET first which fit nicely with BOX OUT but this area required some serious unpicking at the finish.

28. Sap sucker : APHID

31. Green prefix : ECO-

32. Suffix with Bieber : MANIA.Not from me.

34. Like aged cheddar : SHARP

40. Invoice word : REMIT

41. Blow one's fuse : ERUPT

42. Once-sacred snake : ASP

43. Straight sides of a pizza slice, e.g. : RADII. Food! I don't eat a lot of pizza, but there's a joint near me where the chef is credited with inventing the barbecue chicken pizza, one of CPK's best sellers.

45. Relaxation destination : SPA

48. Low-down prank? : HOT FOOT. I'd never heard of this.Setting someone's shoelaces on fire. Seems like a recipe for instant and unpleasant revenge.

51. __ torpedo: "Star Trek" weapon : PHOTON

54. Symbol of complementary principles : YIN-YANG

57. Watching intently : EYING

58. Bakery-café chain : PANERA. Food! They make pretty good sandwiches. Soup's nice too.

60. Man of steel? : CARNEGIE

62. "Wild" author Strayed : CHERYL. Very good book. She didn't hold anything back, she's a strong woman to reveal some of the things she'd done in her life.

63. Actor Baldwin : ALEC

64. Tillis of country : MEL. Crosses filled this in for me.

65. "Sonatine Bureaucratique" composer : SATIE. Erik. Born Éric Alfred Leslie Satie. Not sure if you've ever heard anything he composed? Yeah, you have.

66. Soothing succulent : ALOE

67. Pitches during breaks : ADS. Warm-ups from the bullpen? No, C.C. isn't here today.

Down:

1. Word's last syllable : ULTIMA. Torn. Ultima/Ultimo. Both seemed reasonable. As I said at the top of the blog, I WAG'd it.

2. Aquanaut's base : SEALAB. Cartoon Network had a big hit with their late-night animation of the same name.

3. Block during rebounding, in basketball : BOX OUT. The NBA finals just finished. Lots of fun. Contrast and compare "finals" with "final" at 37D.

4. Up in the air : LOFTY. Anyone taller than 6' tall when I was growing up in England was guaranteed to be nicknamed "Lofty", I made it to 6' even, so never was awarded the moniker. It annoyed my elder brother to heck though, he only made 5'11" and only accepted that I was taller than him during a family visit a couple of years ago. He's still grumpy about it.

5. Actress Longoria : EVA

6. Soft toy brand : NERF

7. Russian city where Turgenev was born : OREL. Mr. Hershiser gets a rest from clue duty today.

8. Positive quality : MERIT. Great pairing with 8A today.

9. "Fighting" Indiana team : IRISH. Gimme. This is me at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu in 2008. I didn't have anything better to do that year, so why not Christmas on Oahu watching the Irish?

10. When some fans have to wait till : NEXT YEAR. Most fans. Most years. My UK soccer team, Chelsea, won the Premier League this year, so no waiting in 2017 for me. My Champions T-Shirt is en route.

11. Solitary prefix : UNI-. Tard. Cycle. Vision? I'm sure there's plenty more, but I've run out of ideas.

12. "Told you!" : SEE?

15. Fine fiddle : STRADivarius.

17. Med. nation : ISR.ael.

21. Sapporo sash : OBI

23. Reasonable : SANE. Took a while to see this, but if you make a sane argument, you're being pretty reasonable.

25. Zoning unit : ACRE

26. Cut : LOP

29. Shot : PIC

30. Word repeated twice in a Roger Ebert title about bad movies : HATED. I tried to look this up, but I drew a blank - even IMDb doesn't list a title which has Roger Ebert credited? What did I miss?

32. Injured pro's test, perhaps : MRI

33. Toward the stern : AFT. Get back there, you salty swab.

34. "What's doin'?" : 'SUP?. Obligatory man-nod required. Upwards chin-tilt, not the downwards one. Try it. "'Sup?" (Upwards chin-tilt) See? You'll be hanging with your new homeys in no time.

35. Haberdasher's item : HAT

36. Latin American capital : PESO. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Capital as in currency.

37. Like some late-game hockey goals : EMPTY NET. The last goal of this NHL season was an empty-netter scored by Pittsburgh against Nashville in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final. Now, look back to 3D and try and explain Finals vs Final.

38. Hindu title : SRI

39. Wisecrack : QUIP

40. Fan sound : RAH! 

43. __ blue : ROYAL

44. Words with clip or crossroads : AT A

45. Mark of shame : STIGMA

46. Paid (up) : PONIED

47. Cloud dwellers? : ANGELS

49. Guy in the kitchen : FIERI. He's a horrible cook, a terrible food critic but a great host and personality. Dear Food Network, please stop him critiquing other people's food and get him to stick to being a natural on TV. You notice he doesn't have his own cooking show any more?

50. Deli order : ON RYE. Food! Pastrami, please. At Katz's Deli on Houston in the lower East Side in Manhattan. Pickle spear. Fries if you must. Don't lose the ticket they give you on the way in, I believe you get thrown in the East River if you can't produce it on your way out to show what you ate and cash out.

52. For this reason : HENCE. Hence don't lose your ticket at Katz's

53. "Listen up," to Luis : OYE!

55. Indiana-based sports org. : NCAA. Two Indiana shout-outs today. South Bend for Notre Dame, and these wonderfully organized, rational and non-profit-making people in Indianapolis.

56. Chutzpah : GALL

58. Best Buy buys : PCS. I bought the Lenovo I'm composing this compostable blog at Best Buy a couple of months ago.

59. "That's it!" : AHA!

61. Flying Cloud, for one : REO. I really only know the Speedwagon, and that's because of the band. What a lovely car - this one is from 1931.

What's left? I'm sure I'm forgetting something ... oh wait - the grid!

Steve (Rory McIlroy to win the US Open, you heard it here first)

Wednesday, June 14, 2017, Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: UNDER IT ALL

Husker Gary here again on a Wednesday with the distinct pleasure of reviewing yet another puzzle by our favorite new pair of constructors - Agnes and Zhouqin - aka Irish Miss and C.C. 

These two lovely ladies went vertical today as the theme fill and the reveal shown below were all standing up. The themers are all highlighted in red and green and the reveal is in all green because each green part of the theme answers can have SHEET appended to their, uh, BOTTOMS to make another common phrase.

Theme answers with SHEET appended

3*Regarding the subject at hand..." : ON THAT SCORE/SCORE SHEET - Here is what I regard as the most famous SCORE SHEET ever. It shows the twenty-seven Dodgers who came up against Don Larsen and were all retired in order in Larsen's 1956 Perfect World Series Game.

19. *Like leisure suits and Nehru jackets : OUT OF STYLE/ STYLE SHEET - All blogs have "STYLE SHEETS" that can be modified with elements at the top for presentations like what we bloggers use here 

21. *Nike competitor : NEW BALANCE/BALANCE SHEET - America's BALANCE SHEET has been out of whack for quite a while

24. *Major-league : BIG TIME/TIME SHEET - Some have issues with the machine that generates TIME SHEETS

And the reveal for Agnes and C.C.:

25. Bed cover ... or, literally, what the end of each answer to a starred clue is : BOTTOM SHEET - Yeah, constructing puzzles and getting that BOTTOM SHEET on is not always that easy

Now for the DOPE SHEET on the rest of their always fun fill:



Across

1. Wall St. debuts : IPOS

5. Land formerly ruled by a shah : IRAN and  27. 5-Across capital : TEHRAN

9. Political Ron or Rand : PAUL - Rand went into Dad's trade

13. Van starter? : MINI

14. Stuffed shells : TACOS

16. Data, for instance : INFO

17. "Big __" Delaney: "Sons of Anarchy" character : OTTO

18. "Tsk tsk" : SHAME ON YOU

20. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAS  Or burgers from Pulp Fiction 

22. " ... bug in __" : A RUG - Snug as a...

23. Skating jump : AXEL - Wow!

24. Petrol pumper : BRIT - About  £1.19/liter or $5.74/gallon

25. Went for the lure : BIT

28. Decide : OPT

30. Starbucks amenity : WIFI - Nothing else there is free 

32. As an example : FOR ONE - Yeah, I believe Ken Jennings would think that. :-) 

34. "Street Dreams" rapper : NAS

35. Hosiery hue : BEIGE

37. Get : FETCH

38. Stretchy synthetic : LYCRA - My daughter wants me to buy some LYCRA biking shorts that have padding in very sensitive areas. I don't want to look like a 70-yr-old guy trying to look like he's 25.

40. Inc. relative : LTD

41. Ravi Shankar's instrument : SITAR - Ravi wasn't into the 60's hippie scene despite what was written about him

42. How some tuna is packed : IN OIL

43. Swiss chocolatier since 1845 : LINDT

45. Mama bear, in Tabasco : OSA

46. Standard : NORMAL

48. More than a few : MANY

49. Bishops and knights : MEN - Here a bishop and a knight have the King (who as usual is only in a supporting role) checkmated

50. Animal common in rebus puzzles : EWE

51. Permission slip : NOTE

53. "Too bad" : ALAS - poor Yorick...

55. Pac-12 team : UCLA

56. King of fiction : STEPHEN - Whenever I see a '57 Plymouth Fury...

59. Deep-fried carnival confection : FUNNEL CAKE

63. Dad, to Dumas : PERE - Alexandre Dumas' PERE a été Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

64. Morales of "The Brink" : ESAI

65. Corn Belt towers : SILOS - Omaha artists have made SILOS into works of art along I-80

66. Toy brand with a Ninjago line : LEGO

67. It's outstanding : DEBT

68. Small pie : TART

69. Thames school : ETON - On June 10, ETON lost to Wellington in Threepenny 1 Cricket by 50 runs. Bit of a sticky wicket!


Down

1. "No harm done" : I'M OK - Ah, back to my counseling days and Transactional Analysis

2. Baba ghanouj bread : PITA

4. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

5. "So not true!" : IT'S A LIE

6. Cheers from tiers : RAHS

7. Obamacare, briefly : ACA - Affordable Care Act

8. Baseball analyst Garciaparra : NOMAR - NOMAH at Fenway

9. "And the Putter Went ... __": golf history book : PING - But Joann, it's on sale!

10. "__ questions?" : ANY


11. Blur in a tabloid pic : UFO - They never seem to land on the lawn at MIT

12. Fox Business anchor Dobbs : LOU

15. Letter flourish : SERIF - Agnes Davidson and C.C. Burnikel - One with SERIF and one sans SERIF

26. As a precaution : IN CASE

28. How much shopping is done : ON LINE

29. Webpage option under an invoice : PAY NOW

31. Top off, say : FILL - Nah, I've still got 60 miles worth in there...

33. Retailer that abstained from Black Friday in 2015 and launched an #OptOutside movement instead : REI - I didn't do either but I like their thinking!

36. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA

39. Cup lip : RIM

44. Crime lab procedure : DNA TEST - "Uh, Number 2, we'd like to you stay"  I used this graphic on a March puzzle, but I thought it bore repeating!

47. Sprawls on the couch : LOLLS

52. Implied : TACIT

54. Cobbler fruit : APPLE

55. Foot or furlong : UNIT - I remember Dan and Jane as Parental UNITS from when SNL was funny

56. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR - A fav of mine

57. Thus : ERGO


58. Flashy light : NEON - Times Squares now OPTS for LED lights

59. Served dinner to : FED

60. Take advantage of : USE

61. Arrest : NAB

62. Menu catchphrase : ALA - This is the third Puzzle ALA Irish and C.C. I have blogged and they have all been a pleasure! 


Well, I am finished between the sheets. You?

Tuesday, June 13 2017, Parikshit S. Bhat

Theme: Right Out of the GATE. Anagrams.

18. Beverage from China's Wuyi Mountains : OOLONG TEA. The best tea I ever had was from a tea room in San Francisco's China Town - Oolong Formosa, selling for $30 an ounce. It tastes like caramel and butter. The complexity of teas from the highest peaks in Taiwan are becoming harder to come by as land is reclaimed to prevent erosion. Tragic.

 3. Make terrific progress : GO GREAT GUNS

5. Protective vests, gas masks, etc. : RIOT GEAR

28. Rep seeking promising performers : TALENT AGENT

42. "Stop sweating the small stuff!" : GET A LIFE

60. Attend a party uninvited ... and a literal hint to five sets of circled letters : GATE CRASH.  

Melissa here. "Crash" indicates the circled letters are scrambled. This was a little crunchy for a Tuesday - the circles helped fill in a few unknowns. Fun to see theme answers both across and down.

Across

1. Composer heard at graduations : ELGAR. Sir Edward Elgar composed Pomp and Circumstance, traditionally heard at graduation ceremonies.

6. Exerciser's target : FLAB

10. Rescue from trouble, with "out" : BAIL

14. Actress Watts of the "Divergent" films : NAOMI

15. Change the decor of : REDO

16. "... __ and for all!" : ONCE

17. Medical prefix with -plasty : ANGIO. Not rhino.

20. Insertion marks : CARETS

22. World's longest river : NILE

23. Accessory usually not worn on casual Fridays : TIE

24. Bearded antelope : GNU

26. Cast a spell on : BEWITCH

31. From time immemorial : AGE OLD

34. Eritrea's capital : ASMARA. Oh sure, I knew that. In the Horn of Africa, east of Sudan, and just west of the Red Sea.

35. Opel model meaning "stars" in Latin : ASTRA

37. Ears in the field : CORN

39. Move wearily : PLOD

40. On-call doctor's gadget : PAGER. Still?


41. Flightless Aussie bird : EMU

42. Ballpark figure : GUESS. Love this clue.


43. Lie adjacent to : ABUT

44. Small songbird : WREN. Did you know wrens can be colorful? Above is a variegated fairy-wren, and at left is a purple crowned wren.

45. German artist Max : ERNST. (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) Painter, sculptor, graphic artist, poet.

46. Movie theater : CINEMA

48. Six-line sonnet section : SESTET

50. Subjugate : ENSLAVE

52. Salty expanse : SEA

53. Nav. VIP : ADM

56. Drought-stricken : SERE. What? Is this Tuesday?

58. Torment : PLAGUE

65. Passport, e.g.: Abbr. : IDENT. Not GovID.

66. Like a thesis defense : ORAL

67. James of jazz : ETTA. A Sunday kind of love 💘.

68. Backyard border : FENCE

69. Flamingo color : PINK

70. Unhappy fate : DOOM

71. Fragrant compound : ESTER

Down

1. Make official, as a law : ENACT

2. Hawaiian island, or Hawaiian porch : LANAI

4. French sweetie : AMIE

6. To and __ : FRO

7. Novelist Uris : LEON. Known for his historical fiction novels.


8. Improvise on stage : AD LIB

9. Algebra type : BOOLEAN

10. Marsh : BOG

11. Pantry pest : ANT

12. Cubes in a tray : ICE

13. Grassy field : LEA

19. The first "N" of CNN : NEWS. Cable News Network.


21. __-cone : SNO

25. Stomach woe : ULCER

27. Contaminated : IMPURE. Sneaky, I was looking for a verb.

29. White symbol on Switzerland's flag : CROSS

30. Owned, old-style : HADST

32. Storybook sister who pushed the hag into the oven : GRETEL

33. Semicircular roofs : DOMES

35. Speedily : APACE

36. Polio vaccine developer : SABIN

38. Mystical letters : RUNES

44. Was indecisive : WAVERED

47. Opposite of fem. : MASC

49. Autumnal equinox mo. : SEP

51. Muse for poets : ERATO

54. Nincompoop : DUNCE

55. Taxi calculator : METER

57. This, in Spain : ESTO

59. Summer refreshers : ADES

60. Republican org. : GOP

61. Shapiro of NPR : ARI

62. Shade provided by the sun? : TAN. Great clue.


63. Moose kin : ELK

64. Popular Easter entrée : HAM

Monday, June 12, 2017 Ed Sessa

Theme: Witch Doctor - is missing but you can find three other doctors to choose from. Choose wisely.

20. Challenging response to provocation: "YOU AND WHO ELSE?". Doctor Who

33. Ruthless strategy: TAKE NO PRISONERS. Dr. No

39. Nestlé chocolate chip treat: TOLL HOUSE COOKIE. Dr. House

49. Words on Lucy's "Psychiatric Help - 5¢" sign ... and a hint to 20-, 33- and 39-Across: [THE DOCTOR IS IN]

Argyle here. Interesting mix today. Some newbies might not recognize some of the old crosswordese we take for granted. Two grid spanners. A lot of music; the muse, Erato, must have been busy.

Across:

1. Aesop's lazy grasshopper, for one: IDLER

6. One of many in an ovation: CLAP

10. Critter catcher: TRAP. Alliteration clue.

14. "Stars and Stripes Forever" composer: SOUSA. #1 Clip(3:27)

15. __ Hashanah: Jewish New Year: ROSH

16. Beatles meter maid: RITA. #2 Clip(3:05)

17. Classic violin: AMATI

18. Eight-armed mollusks: OCTOPUSES. Octopuses or octopi, InfoPlease

22. Like many a villainous fictional scientist: MAD. Or villainous fictional Doctor.

23. Baseball tool: BAT

24. Strut on a runway: SASHAY

28. Newsman Huntley: CHET. "Goodnight, Chet"

30. Word with chick or split: PEA

36. Operatic highlight: ARIA

37. America's National Tree: OAK

38. Fish-catching bird: ERNE

44. George Carlin hosted the first one, briefly: SNL. (Saturday Night Live)

45. Yours and mine: OURS

46. Warned, like a cornered cat: HISSED

47. Appropriate: APT

48. Actor Mineo: SAL. He died in 1976.

56. Always masked one's true self: LIVED A LIE

58. Fuming: IRATE

59. Cheese in a red wax coating: EDAM

60. "Cheerio": "TATA!"

61. Father-son senators from Tennessee: GOREs. Jr. and Sr.

62. Jupiter and Neptune, e.g.: GODS

63. Like Mr. Hyde, e.g.: EVIL. #3 Clip(4:19)

64. Phishing nets?: SCAMS

Down:

1. Words to an old chap: "I SAY ... "

2. "__ arigato": Japanese "thanks a lot": DOMO. #4 Clip(5:34)

3. Bash with tiki bars: LUAU

4. This, to Juan: ESTA

5. 1988 Hoffman title role: RAIN MAN. "One minute to Wapner"

6. Ballpark filler: CROWD

7. With 55-Down, monster's lake: LOCH 55-Down. See 7-Down: NESS

8. Regarding: AS TO

9. Ditzy "Friends" friend and singer Snow: PHOEBEs. I was confused because Phoebe Buffay was a "singer", too.

10. Bond between friends: TRUST

11. Stand up: RISE

12. Chowed down: ATE

13. Kent and Kettle: PAs. They never met. More alliteration though.

19. Aristotle's teacher: PLATO

21. "The Banana Boat Song" word: DAY O. #5 Clip(3:07)

24. 755 HRs and 2297 RBIs for 25-Down, e.g.: STATS

25. Slugger Hank: AARON. Hammerin' Hank had a mastery with a BAT.

26. Mastery: SKILL

27. Recover from wounds: HEAL

28. Tactless: CRASS

29. Walk on a trail: HIKE

30. Exec's extras: PERKS

31. Bert's buddy: ERNIE

32. Plant __: start something: A SEED. Every time that I plant a seed

He said, "Kill it before it grows"

34. Do the honors, at a winefest: POUR

35. Modernists, briefly: NEOs

40. Wished: HOPED

41. Render obsolete: OUTDATE

42. Transportation secretary Elaine: CHAO

43. Drillers at sea: OIL RIGS

47. Throat-clearing sounds: AHEMs

48. Take unlawfully: STEAL

49. Plug on the small screen: TV AD

50. Norse king: OLAV

51. __ Field: Mets' stadium: CITI

52. Camaro __-Z: IROC. (International Race of Champions)

53. Poet Teasdale: SARA

54. Tabloid couple: ITEM

56. Chicken serving: LEG

57. Altar vow: "I DO"

One more Doctor.

Argyle

Tournament Notes from C.C.:

Below is a picture of all the constructors for the Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament. You can click here for a few more. Marcia Brott's team won the Team champions. Alyssa Mondelli is the Amateur Division champion and Carl Voss is the Expert champion. Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to Victor for his tireless work editing all the puzzles, esp for helping me with my theme. His puzzle this year is very clever, like all his puzzles.

Andrea Carla Michaels and Mark McClain (not present) made another smooth puzzle despite some difficult letter combos. Andrea is coming to MN next week and I look forward to our lake walk.

George and Chris elevated a common puzzle gimmick. Wonderful local tie-in.

David Hanson's puzzle has a tight and consistent theme set. Great title too. Ages ago, David used to comment on our blog as Rosebud.

Andy's theme is lovely. Sparkly theme entries, fill and thoughtful clues.

Jeffrey the Artist was busy working, but we had a few quick spurts of chat. He's truly passionate about puzzle making and constantly challenges himself.

David Liben-Nowell's puzzle is another masterpiece. Just amazing!

Tom's puzzle is a crowd-pleaser. Incredibly clean (his trademark). One solver walked up to him afterwards marveling at the middle theme answer.

Andrew's themeless has a gorgeous stagger stack. He also had the tough job of writing three different sets of clues for the finals.

Thanks to the Friends of the St. Paul Public Library for hosting this event every year. Thank you, Liz, all the sponsors and volunteers!

Thanks also to Argyle & D-Otto for test-solving my puzzle and giving me constructive feedback. I love you guys!

Left to right: George Barany, Jeffrey Wechsler,Victor Barocas, David Hanson, C.C., Andrew J. Ries, Chris Adams, Tom Pepper &  David Liben-Nowell

Sunday June 11, 2017 James Sajdak

Theme:  "Getting Old" - AGE is added to each familiar phrase.

23A. "Reduce, reuse, recycle"? : MESSAGE OF GREENS. Mess of greens. New term to me. Looks like just collard greens. Notice GREENS changes meaning also.

32A. Harm caused by some lodge builders? : BEAVER DAMAGE. Beaver Dam. Beaver remains the same.

47A. Black Friday scene? : ENTRY RAMPAGE. Vivid picture. Entry ramp.. Entry remains the same, in a way.

64A. Shredder fodder? : CLERICAL GARBAGE. Clerical garb. Clerical changes also.

82A. Inventory alert at the highway sign supplier? : STOP SHORTAGE. Stop short. Not much change.

98A. Aromatic oils? : MASSAGE MEDIA. Mass media. Media changes also.

111A. Saw you can't discuss publicly? : CLASSIFIED ADAGE. Classified ad. Classified changes meaning.

Two AGEs are attached to ends of the first words, five the second words. Consistent. No odd man out. I like when the non-key word change meanings also.

So nice to have James Sajdak back again. He is one of those very few constructors who're good at both themed and themeless grids.

Across:

    
1. Actually existing : IN ESSE

7. Bottle in a playpen? : BABA Just baby talk.

11. [Not my mistake] : SIC

14. Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire : AMAR'E. Can never remember his name.

19. Beethoven's "Appassionata," e.g. : SONATA

20. Designer Cassini : OLEG

21. Anguish : WOE

22. Meet competitor : MILER

26. "__ Mio" : O SOLE,  "My sunshine."

27. Involving a lot of tossing, perhaps : SLEEPLESS. Motrin PM helps Boomer.

28. Go wrong : ERR

29. Stunt setting : AIR SHOW

31. About six weeks on the liturgical calendar : LENT

34. Cod and others : CAPES
 
37. Ups : RAISES

38. Tap output : ALES

39. Mantilla material : LACE. Mantilla is a new word to me.

40. Teach improperly? : LEARN. I don't get this clue.

42. Pejorative : SLUR

44. Half a score, or a perfect one : TEN. Nice clue.

51. On topic : GERMANE

54. Gets going : INITIATES

55. First name in Solidarity : LECH (Walesa)

58. It may be set in stages : OATER

59. Certain dancer's accessory : FAN. Fan dance. We also have 65. Half a dance : CAN

60. In any way : EVER

61. Michelangelo work : PIETA. In St. Peter's Basilica

63. Unborn, after "in" : UTERO

68. "Heavens!" : OH GOD!

71. Tasteless : TACKY

72. Swear words : OATH

73. Got an __: aced : A ON.  Filled in AN A. Not reading the clue.

76. Gold standard : KARAT. Also 80. Good as gold, e.g. : ANALOGY

77. Went under : SANK

78. Means more than : OUTWEIGHS

85. NFL advances : YDs

86. Actor Morales : ESAI

89. They come from têtes : IDEES. Followed by 90. Sans opposite : AVEC

91. Season, in a way : SALT

94. Got into the market : TRADED

96. Gay song locale : PAREE. Gay Paree. Cheerful Paris.


101. Pelts : FURS

103. Problem when using a well? : INK SPOT. Inkwell! Not the well problem of TTP's neighbor.

104. Sheltered side : LEE

105. 1898 Dewey victory site : MANILA BAY. Learning moment for me. George Dewey. I only know Dewey in Dewey Defeats Truman guy.

110. Airheads : TWITS

114. Late, in Los Cabos : TARDE. Probably same root as our TARDY.


115. Farm layer : HEN
 
116. River to the Caspian : URAL

117. Evasive tactic : END RUN

118. Guatemala girls: Abbr. : SRTAs

119. "Go on ... " : AND

120. Hand off : PASS

121. Boundary marks : STAKES

Down:

1. Beliefs : ISMS

2. Coward often quoted : NOEL. Noel Coward.

3. Massachusetts motto opener : ENSE. "Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem". Mouthful. OK, it means "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty."

4. Freelancer's enc. : SASE

5. Gun insert : STAPLE. Staple gun.

6. "Tequila Sunrise" group : EAGLES

7. Lift : BOOST

8. UFO pilots : ALFs. ALF stands for Alien Life Form. Got via crosses.

9. Request a pardon? : BEG

10. Seeing eye to eye : AGREEING

11. Changes course suddenly : SWERVES

12. It's charged : ION

13. Activist Chavez : CESAR

14. Seeing no evil? : AMORAL. Nice clue also.

15. Long-distance lover's question : MISS ME?

16. Nickname based on a salutation : ALOHA STATE. Also 70. Island entertainment symbol : GRASS SKIRT. These ladies seem to have fun.

17. Enter again : RE-LOG

18. "Maid of Athens, __ part": Byron : ERE WE

24. Bard's nightfall : EEN

25. Significant times : ERAS

30. "__ you to try it!" : I DARE

32. Vamp Theda : BARA. Our old friend is back.

33. Community coll. class : ESL

34. Tropical plant with large foliage : CANNA. Another learning moment for me.

35. Join the cast of : ACT IN

36. Sassy : PERT

37. Gavel sounds : RAPs

39. Adventurer Ericson : LEIF. Second son of  Erik the Red.

40. More recent : LATER

41. Professor __ : EMERITA

43. "Gross!" : UGH

45. Cabinet dept. formed under Carter : ENER. Slight clue dupe with 64. Energy source : COAL

46. Lyre-playing emperor : NERO

48. Retreat in the face of : YIELD TO. Look, this big tree yielded to my kick.

49. Wild party : RAVE

50. Formal lament : ELEGY

52. Less polished : ROUGHER

53. Game-ending call : MATE. Oh, checkmate.

56. Pilot's announcement: Abbr. : ETA

57. Do some serious bar-hopping : CAROUSE. Good old days.

61. Scout carriers : PACKS

62. Type : ILK

66. Realty ad count : BATHS

67. Lawrence Welk's upbeat : A TWO

68. Approve : OKAY

69. Set of cards : HAND

73. Mescal source : AGAVE

74. "Wow!" : OH GEE.  I shouted "oh, wow" a few times after D-Otto showed me some mad programming skill. Boomer asked me "So, what's Tom's bowling average?"

75. Infinitesimal span, for short : NSEC

77. PBS part: Abbr. : SYS. Error, right? PBS has no System. Public Broadcasting Service.

78. Piece of one's mind? : OP-ED

79. __-Tass : ITAR

81. Start : GET GO

83. Prepares for guests : TIDIES UP. Our house is quite messy.

84. Classical theaters : ODEA. Also learned from doing crosswords.

87. Bill passer? : ATM. Great clue.

88. Swift's birthplace : IRELAND. Jonathan Swift. Not Taylor.

92. Legal drama fig. : ASST DA

93. Lost moments : LAPSES

95. Citrus drinks : ADEs

96. Serengeti families : PRIDES. Lions.

97. Not upright : ASLANT

98. Diamond equipment : MITTS. By the way, TTP was right last week. This catcher is A. J.

99. Co-Nobelist with Menachem : ANWAR

100. __ Sketch : ETCH A

101. Some are epic : FAILS

102. Article in Le Monde? : UNE. DES/LES too.

105. Curators' credentials, on a C.V. : MFAs

106. "__ dash of ... ": recipe words : ADD A

107. Request for Alpo? : BARK

108. Feverish feeling : AGUE

109. Itches : YENS

112. Quarterback Dawson : LEN. Hall of Famer.

113. Novelist Levin : IRA

Looking forward to seeing some of you at the Sixth Minnesota Crossword Tournament this afternoon. 

C.C.