Theme: "Away Game" — Familiar phrases have a word removed from them to create new phrases which are clued ?-style.Theme answers:
- 23A: Wash away: knee-jerk gossip? (AUTOMATIC DISH[wash]ER)
- 37A: Walks away: Big Apple aspect? (SIDE[walks] OF NEW YORK)
- 58A: Lock away: pro perpetual motion? (ANTI[-lock] BRAKES)
- 82A: Throw away: just-showered ([throw] IN THE TOWEL)
- 99A: Take away: swallow pins? ([take] DOWN A PEG OR TWO)
- 120A: Break away: winners' extreme diet? ([break]FAST OF CHAMPIONS)
- 16D: Back away: change under the cushion? (ARMCHAIR QUARTER[back])
- 45D: Cast away: general reporting? (BROAD[cast] JOURNALISM)
Everything Else — 1A: Fasten sheets (STAPLE); 7A: USN officer (CDR); 10A: Ginsberg opus (HOWL); 14A: Bogart part (SPADE); 19A: Aiken or Hilton (CONRAD); 20A: Minnehaha's man (HIAWATHA); 22A: Buenos --- (AIRES); 25A: Big books (TOMES); 26A: Gussy up (PRIMP); 27A: Newsman Roger (ONEIL); 28A: Blog bit (ENTRY); 30A: Nos. runner (CPA); 31A: Large snake mackerel (ESCOLAR); 33A: Go figure? (ADD); 35A: Terrestrial (EARTHLY); 42A: "Airplane!" star Robert (HAYS); 43A: Planet (ORB); 46A: Mammoth trap (TARPIT); 47A: Dusk, to Donne (EEN); 48A: "... --- saw Elba" (EREI); 50A: "The King/I" star (KERR); 52A: Italian leader Aldo (MORO); 53A: Act as usher (SEAT); 54A: Chest beater (HEART); 56A: Cutters' cousins (SLOOPS); 61A: "Sine-non" link (QUA); 63A: Waikiki locale (OAHU); 64A: Wrap (SHAWL); 65A: Like some milk (SPILT); 66A: Koblenz conjunction (UND); 67A: Beat (CADENCE); 69A: Feel bad (AIL); 71A: Catchphrases (SLOGANS); 73A: Modifying wd. (ADJ); 74A: Wojtyla who was John Paul II (KAROL); 77A: José's houses (CASAS); 80A: Porterhouse order (RARE); 81A: Feline sign (LEO); 84A: Spunk (METTLE); 86A: "Search me!" (DUNNO); 88A: Tip off (WARN); 89A: It may be a stretch (LIMO); 91A: It may be for the birds (SEED); 92A: --- Park, Queens (REGO); 93A: Raw resource (ORE); 94A: Gaea's children (TITANS); 96A: B&B, etc. (RRS); 97A: Galilee town (CANA); 103A: Hot (ONAROLL); 105A: Alicante aunt (TIA); 106A: Itty-bitty (TEENTSY); 110A: Popeye's Olive (OYL); 111A: "--- say more?" (NEEDI); 114A: Hit the sack (CRASH); 117A: Uncanny (EERIE); 118A: River of Nantes (LOIRE); 123A: Map within a map (INSET); 124A: Green (IMMATURE); 125A: Beguile (SEDUCE); 126A: Beat (TEMPO); 127A: Nair rival (NEET); 128A: Conducted (LED); 129A: Prepare Parmesan (GRATES); 1D: Grace or goat opener (SCAPE); 2D: Goes on the road (TOURS); 3D: Shenanigan (ANTIC); 4D: TV plugs (PROMOS); 5D: Brightened by a beacon (LAMPLIT); 6D: Writer LeShan (EDA); 7D: Gab (CHIN); 8D: Game cubes (DICE); 9D: Refulgent (RADIANT); 10D: Owns (HAS); 11D: "Top --- mornin'!" (OTHE); 12D: Question of time (WHEN); 13D: Ali of "Obsessed" (LARTER); 14D: Woodland luster (SATYR); 15D: Early Californian Pico (PIO); 17D: Very much (DEEPLY); 18D: Lamb creations (ESSAYS); 21D: Dorian Gray's creator (WILDE); 24D: "Corrida" figure (TORERO); 29D: Libertine (RAKEHELL); 32D: Ansel or Abigail (ADAMS); 34D: Dorky sort (DWEEB); 36D: "--- -Team" (THEA); 38D: Queen of talk (OPRAH); 39D: Apple of rock (FIONA); 40D: 1066 and 1776 (YEARS); 41D: Available (ONTAP); 43D: Approves (OKS); 44D: Added ammo (RELOADED); 49D: Do museum work (RESTORE); 51D: Mies van der --- (ROHE); 53D: Chip material (SILICON); 55D: Mole, for one (TUNNELER); 57D: Conning like Kutcher (PUNKING); 59D: Bygone carrier (TWA); 60D: Post Office goal (KISS); 62D: Spots (ADS); 64D: GE Building muralist (SERT); 67D: Oriole Ripken (CAL); 68D: Pet (CANOODLE); 70D: Allred's area (LAW); 72D: Hoods' rods (GATS); 75D: "Awesome!" (OHWOW); 76D: Master (LEARN); 78D: Baseball honcho (SELIG); 79D: O'Connor's successor (ALITO); 83D: Pick up the tab (TREAT); 84D: Three-card con (MONTE); 85D: Asner and Harris (EDS); 87D: At hand (NEAR); 90D: Coolidge or Washington (MARTHA); 94D: Lachrymose (TEARFUL); 95D: Street cleaner (SWEEPER); 97D: "Chill!" (COOLIT); 98D: Whomever (ANYONE); 100D: Fiber from alkenes (OLEFIN); 101D: Embroidery loop (PICOT); 102D: New York lake (ONEIDA); 104D: "... and --- grow on" (ONETO); 107D: Brook catch (TROUT); 108D: Because (SINCE); 109D: Aye answers (YESES); 112D: "South Pacific" song subject (DAME); 113D: Words after woe (ISME); 115D: Section section (ACRE); 116D: Molt (SHED); 119D: Agt. (REP); 121D: Sylvester, to Tweety (TAT); 122D: Chinese menu letters (MSG).
14 comments:
I don't know how, between the constructor, test solvers, and newspaper editors, nobody caught this:
50A: "The King/I" star (KERR)
It's offputting in its wrongness. I can see no earthly reason for the slash to be replacing "and.'
@Orange, while we're at it, how about "Prepare Parmesan" for GRATES?! The verb disagreement GRATES on my ear, and I refused to put it in for a while. I think that's even more egregious than your error. But sometimes it feels like the Bursztyn puzzles aren't proofread as carefully as the syndicated ones.
Still, my best calendar puzzle time, so I'm not complaining. Okay, I am. :)
Oh yeah, I thought the theme was interesting. My favorites were FAST OF CHAMPIONS, which reminds me of the time I got to see Kurt Vonnegut speak, just a few years before he died, and ARMCHAIR QUARTER.
@Orange, have you thought about blogging the calendar puzzle on your own blog? You seem to be doing it, since you commented. I don't like the applet, but I've been using Alex's shell script to turn the puzzle into AcrossLite even since this blog started.
@Badir, yes, we noticed the GRATES mismatch too. Puzzle people are too meticulous not to notice such things! Two indisputable errors in a single puzzle? I don't know that the 60 LAT and NYT crosswords a month edited by Rich Norris and Will Shortz have two such errors in the whole batch.
Between the errors, the general aridness of the puzzles, and the lesser degree of challenge, I don't wish to blog the puzzle.
Can anyone tell me what "scapegrace" means?
My dictionary says "archaic": a mischievous or wayward person, esp. a young person or child; a rascal. Emphasis on the "archaic"—there's not much need for the word any more as rascal, imp, and scalawag pretty much do the job.
I printed this puzzle and did it, and it felt like just plugging away, no great fun. Decent theme, some good fill, mostly sub-great fill. I also noticed the Parmesan (used Pecorino Romano this evening) problem, and the King/I. Sloppy. I liked seeing "Howl" and Hiawatha. This is a big puzzle with not one rewrite. That means it's a little too easy.
Sort of a late comment, but my paper had "King and I".
Well, I have the actual dead tree LAT copy of the puzzle here, and while there is absolutely no excuse for GRATES, the King/I error is fixed in the print version. It reads as it should, "The King and I star" with the movie title italicized. How odd that it wasn't corrected in the online version.
I seem to remember something like this happening with a NYT puzzle last year, where there were two incredibly awkward/incorrect clues in the online version of the puzzle, and then in the print version, they were both phrased better(although as I recall, one of the clues was still factually incorrect). One of the clues had to do with ethnic food of some sort, if memory serves.
By the way, the Merl Reagle puzzle "Test Your Fortytude" was included in the LAT Magazine, and was easily my favorite puzzle today. Orange, since you already blog about Reagle's Sunday puzzles on your blog, any chance of covering those on this blog too, since they appear both in the Philadelphia Inquirer and the LAT mag? Reagle was one of my favorite discoveries when I first started solving puzzles, and for the new crossword solvers that follow this blog, he might prove to be a great find too.
And by the way, as usual, terrific job, everyone! :)
Had problems with this puzzle in the corners, don't know why, it may have been the Little League game I was trying to watch.
I generally like some of the fill since it has some good "learning" answers that comes forth in other puzzles.
@Rex - Side note: That's one big-assed dent in your skull - What's the origin?
Anon, rumor has it Rex was a private detective in a previous life. The details are sketchy. A leggy dame. A love turned as sour as month-old milk. Harsh words. A conveniently placed tire iron. A week of unconsciousness. The upshot? Guy with a permanent scowl to match the pronounced dent in his skull.
@Orange - Time to start writing cheap detective novels. Since you are working late, please explain the second uni-brow if you could
Where is Sylvia's Puzzler in the May 24th edition of the SUnday LA Times? There is a pathetic replacement instead. Let me know at jzanier468@aol.com.
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