Theme: "The Long and Short of It" — A long E sound in familiar phrases is changed to a short I sound and clued wackily.
[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]
Theme answers:
- 25A: Wiring woes? (ELECTRIC ILLS).
- 30A: Pickle processor's invitation? (LET'S MAKE A DILL).
- 49A: Fruity medication? (BANANA PILL).
- 61A: Black, gooey knolls near Charlotte? (NORTH CAROLINA TARHILLS).
- 78A: Factories with good morale? (HAPPY MILLS).
- 94A: Moonshine equipment that's frozen solid? (COLD HARD STILL).
- 103A: Documents bequeathing tiny exercise devices? (HAMSTER WILLS).
Crosswordese 101 Round-up:- 82A: "__ du lieber!" (ACH).
- 92A: Disney's middle name (ELIAS).
- 13D: Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. (SSR).
- 39D: D-Day target city (ST.-LÔ).
- 97D: Turner memoir (I TINA).
- 103D: Pilgrimage to Mecca (HAJ).
Everything Else — 1A: Cuba libre ingredient (COLA); 5A: Grocery unit (BAG); 8A: Govt. securities (T-BONDS); 14A: Pester (NAG AT); 19A: Former Israeli president Weizman (EZER); 20A: Flabbergast (AWE); 21A: Greek sun god (HELIOS); 22A: Steer clear of (AVOID); 23A: Place to park a parka (COAT TREE); 27A: Like Humpty Dumpty, ultimately (IN PIECES); 28A: Places to go in Gloucester? (LOOS); 29A: Ballot fallout (CHADS); 33A: British pop singer Lewis (LEONA); 34A: Spring mo. (APR.); 35A: Constitutional aid? (CANE); 36A: Holiday veggies (YAMS); 37A: Denali et al.: Abbr. (MTS.); 40A: Disguise for illegal activities (FRONT); 43A: Eponymous dish inventor (PETRI); 45A: Hi from a float (WAVE); 46A: Duff (SEAT); 47A: Common Market inits. (EEC); 48A: Bobby Orr, once (BRUIN); 51A: Uneasy desire (ITCH); 53A: 1953 Leslie Caron film (LILI); 54A: Malarkey (BUNK); 55A: Prefix with trafficker (NARCO); 56A: Hideous (GRUESOME); 58A: Foot specialist? (BARD); 59A: Toll rd. (TPK.); 68A: Nonverbal syst. (ASL); 69A: Christmas setups (FIRS); 70A: "…mile, or On Education" author (ROUSSEAU); 71A: Lieu (STEAD); 75A: Cap'n's crew member (BOS'N); 76A: "You're So __": Carly Simon hit (VAIN); 77A: Ten percenters: Abbr. (AGTS.); 81A: __ State Broncos: Western Athletic Conf. team (BOISE); 83A: 1975 Pure Prairie League hit (AMIE); 84A: Apple with tunes (IPOD); 85A: Soldier, in slang (GRUNT); 86A: Site of India's Red Fort (DELHI); 88A: Math proof letters (QED); 89A: Sweat spot (BROW); 90A: Support gp. created in 1942 (WAAC); 91A: RVer's refuge (KOA); 100A: North Carolina fort (BRAGG); 101A: Doughnut shapes (TORI); 102A: Chosen one (SELECTEE); 106A: Rocky address (YO ADRIAN); 107A: Justice since 2006 (ALITO); 108A: "Mas Que Nada" bandleader (MENDES); 109A: Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect (LIN); 110A: One way to store data (ON CD); 111A: Eponymous scout Chisholm (JESSE); 112A: Elusive big Scot? (NESSIE); 113A: Calculus prereq. (ALG.); 114A: Ken of "Wiseguy" (WAHL); 1D: Mining magnate Rhodes (CECIL); 2D: Triatomic pollutant (OZONE); 3D: Bounded (LEAPT); 4D: Old guild member (ARTISAN); 5D: Rail amenity (BAR CAR); 6D: "Eight Days __" (A WEEK); 7D: Skein fliers (GEESE); 8D: It's usually disregarded when alphabetizing (THE); 9D: "I puritani" composer (BELLINI); 10D: Fútbol shout (OLE OLE); 11D: Williamson of "Excalibur" (NICOL); 12D: Things to connect (DOTS); 14D: Football party munchies (NACHOS); 15D: Winged, perhaps (AVIAN); 16D: Yitzhak Rabin's predecessor (GOLDA MEIR); 17D: Has a cold (AILS); 18D: Jerry Rice's 208, briefly (TD'S); 24D: Offer chocolates to, as a dieter (TEMPT); 26D: Bygone deliverers (ICEMEN); 31D: In "Rent," it starts with "Seasons of Love" (ACT II); 32D: "Aw, phooey!" ("DARN!"); 33D: Hot flower (LAVA); 36D: Tug (YANK); 38D: Rash protection (TALC); 40D: Simulate (FEIGN); 41D: Rocket opening (RETRO); 42D: Come to pass (OCCUR); 43D: Original (PRIMAL); 44D: Basel-born mathematician (EULER); 45D: Movie fish (WANDA); 46D: New Age music player, often (SPA); 48D: Voting groups (BLOCS); 49D: "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker (BURNS); 50D: Egyptian crosses (ANKHS); 52D: Riled (up) (HET); 54D: Scot's tot (BAIRN); 57D: Like groves (SHADY); 58D: Euphoria (BLISS); 59D: One looking for the way? (TAOIST); 60D: Compote fruit (PRUNE); 62D: From way back when (OF OLD); 63D: Prepare for a run (TRAIN); 64D: Metaphor words (IS A); 65D: By the book (LEGAL); 66D: Gate fastener (LATCH); 67D: It's often served with ginger and wasabi (SUSHI); 71D: Celt since 8/4/2010 (SHAQ); 72D: Lacking spice (TAME); 73D: Skin graft material (EPIDERMIS); 74D: Galoot (APE); 75D: Karate chop, e.g. (BLOW); 76D: Speak (for) (VOUCH); 79D: Desert illusion (MIRAGE); 80D: NYSE events (IPO'S); 81D: Thin nail (BRAD); 85D: Pisa airport name (GALILEI); 86D: Took two pills, say (DOSED); 87D: Have humble pie (EAT CROW); 89D: Hallux (BIG TOE); 90D: __ Fair (WORLD'S); 91D: "Constant Craving" vocalist (K.D. LANG); 93D: Endures (LASTS); 94D: Fountain contents, often (COINS); 95D: Sanctuaries (ASYLA); 96D: Try to quiet, as a persistent squeak (REOIL); 98D: Percolate (LEACH); 99D: 1985-'87 U.S. Open champ (LENDL); 100D: Loft bundle (BALE); 101D: Hardly macho, in Manchester (TWEE); 104D: LBJ successor (RMN); 105D: Bakersfield-to-L.A. heading (SSE).
8 comments:
85 A is grunt...76 D is vouch
Fixed. Thanks.
I haven't seen Steve B. in quite a while. A good ol' Southern boy coming into the used bookstore each day and started every conversation with "What's the deal". But the accent sounded like "What's the dill". We gave him so much crap for that. This puzzle reminded me of that. Good times.
Cheers!
Ah yes, the Spanish “I” sound pervades a very well-contructed puzzle theme.
I found very little to grouse about, so I won’t.
I always thought the plural of CHAD was CHAD, but I see in the infamous Florida election news items that they use CHADS and God only knows, the news media are always correct. Well, I guess lately we’re getting a lot of political BUNK from them.
HELIOS is a familiar word for me. I did some BP artwork in which I juxtaposed a sunflower (Helianthus annuus) with their logo to emphasize the research in solar energy. The painting was entitled HELIOS, so named after the young Greek god of the sun. Now with the BP oil spill I’m ashamed of the display of that painting.
Reading 49D and chuckling at George BURNS quote: “I’d go out with women my age, but there are no women my age”. I’m beginning to relate to that.
As in puzzles before, I always like mini-themes about math. Seeing words like, EULER, QED, ALG, and TORI pleases me.
I’m not exactly sure what “ACH du lieber” means, but I find myself saying that more and more.
When I finished this very difficult puzzle, I just wanted to shout YO, ADRIAN, I DID IT!
(What a great movie that was!)
Time to WAVE goodbye. Have a funday Sunday, y’all !
So, does it count as a natick when two parallel obscure words are joined by a cryptic clue? As in BELLINI x LOOS x NICOL? It should.
Another natick in the SE: WAHL x LENDL.
Feh.
"Rocket opening" -> RETRO is incorrect. The term doesn't refer to part of a rocket, but rather an entire rocket with a particular purpose. RETRO is short for "retrorocket", which in turn is short for "retrograde rocket", which is "a rocket engine providing thrust opposing the motion of a spacecraft, thereby causing it to decelerate." [Wikipedia]
But I liked "One looking for the way?" as a clue for TAOIST, and "Constitutional aid?" for CANE, and "Ballot fallout" for CHADS.
Didn't know either GALILEI or ROUSSEAU, but got both through crosses and guesswork (educated in the former case, not so much in the latter). Nice to see an airport named for a scientist! In North America, only politicians seem to get airports named after them -- I guess they're the ones doing the naming, and they're so VAIN they don't think any other human endeavour merits the honour :-(
@Eric
RETRO is correct for "Rocket opening" because the word opening is not describing a part of a rocket (like a venturi), but rather it implies a prefix to the word "Rocket", hence RETROrocket. In crossword puzzles the words opening, lead, start of, beginning, etc often refer to an entry word that prefices or goes before the clue word
@John: Yup, I missed that "opening" means "prefix" here. D'oh! Thanks for setting me straight.
@Eric I share your disdain for public works named for politicians who used taxpayer money to build them. One nice exception is John Wayne Airport here in Orange County CA which was named to honor a well known local resident of Newport Beach.
Post a Comment