Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sunday June 26, 2011 Mike Torch

Theme: High Comedy - GH is omitted in each familiar phrase.

23A. Unforgettable louse? : A NIGHT TO REMEMBER. "A Night to Remember". Fun clue & answer.

33A. Waterway for sinners? : STRAIGHT TO HELL. Straight to hell. Nice one too.

44A. Uncovers a serious flaw in municipal building plans? : CAN'T FIGHT CITY HALL. Can't fight city hall.

62A. Barely visible English pubs? : BRIGHT SPOTS ON THE HORIZON. Bright spots on the horizon.

74A. Ohio sweaters? : KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS. Knights of Columbus.

92A. Low cost pay-per-view match? : BOUGHT FOR A SONG. Bought for a song.

103A. Where to get a copy of "The Communist Manifesto"? : RED-LIGHT DISTRICT. Red light district.

Slow in grokking the theme today. First thought long I in IGH was replaced by short I, but STRAIT TO HELL quickly said no. Then BOUT FOR A SONG further proved I was wrong. Odd entry. I'd love the theme better if GH is dropped from all the *IGHT phrases. You?

The grid design is rather ambitious, with week-day like three finger blocks. Hence a rather low 132 word count.

Across:

1. Bit of schoolyard disagreement : AM SO. And 14. States as fact : SAYS SO.

5. Stuff in a box on the street : SNAIL MAIL. Was thinking of those free newspaper.

20. 1978 medical thriller : COMA

21. Like some items in downloads : NON-SECURE. Often feel helpless against computer errors.

22. __ Island, N.Y. : STATEN

25. "Broadway Joe" : NAMATH

26. Indian lentil stew : DAL. Bill G, what's for lunch today?

27. Loses everything : BUSTS

28. Juan's ones : UNOs

30. Milk: Pref. : LACTO. Lactose.

31. Promote at work : ELEVATE

36. Tightwads : MISERs

37. Turn down in an ugly way : SPURN. Like love.

39. Tested : ASSAYED

40. Has the stage : IS ON

41. Expensive outing, probably : SPREE. Shopping spree?

42. Goes on strike, in slang : WALKS. I like this clue.

48. Seemingly forever : AGES

52. Top of the morning? : ONE AM

53. Clerical vestments : ALBs. Classic crosswordese.

54. Rodeo ride : BRONC

55. Like the larger-eared elephant : AFRICAN. I thought it's just "large-eared".

59. Sham : FALSE

61. Look for help from : TURN TO

66. Volcanic rock : BASALT

67. Incursions : RAIDs

68. "Rad!" : AWESOME

69. Talus joint : ANKLE

70. Brew : SUDs

71. Words with bike or wave : RIDE A

73. Grey Goose competitor : SKYY. Vodka.

81. Volleyball coup : SPIKE. And 102D. It precedes 81-Across : SET

83. Tennyson's Enoch : ARDEN. "Enoch Arden". Not familiar with the poem.

84. Westchester, N.Y., college : IONA

85. "Most likely ..." : ODDS ARE. Nice entry.

89. Reuben essential : SWISS

90. Aviation force : THRUST

95. Ristorante red : CHIANTI

96. Befuddled : AT SEA

97. Comic who wrote jokes for JFK : SAHL (Mort)

98. Shoe parts : SOLES

100. Covert fed. group : CIA

101. Maid concerns : METERS. Meter maid.

107. Antarctic penguin : ADELIE. Happy couple. Happy feet.

108. Pennsylvania's state dog : GREAT DANE. State dog? Unknown to me.

109. Sommer of cinema : ELKE

110. Most convinced : SUREST

111. Controls : HARNESSES

112. "The Swiss Family Robinson" writer : WYSS (Johann). Was ignorant of the book and the author.

Down:

1. Hypothetical : ACADEMIC

2. Immortal wife of Francesco del Giocondo : MONA LISA. Thanks to da Vinci.

3. Is favorable to : SMILES ON

4. Muffin choice : OAT

5. Tapir features : SNOUTS

6. Longship crewmen : NORSE. Longships were used by the Vikings.

7. Works without __ : A NET

8. Philosophies : ISMs

9. Poe's "Annabel __" : LEE

10. Turn-of-the-century year : MCM. 1900.

11. 2010 Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton's alma mater : AUBURN. Gimme for Husker Gary, I bet. He seems to know a lot about college football.

12. "The Faerie Queene" woman : IRENA. Guessed.

13. "Vive __!" : LE ROI

14. IRS info : SSN

15. Baffled : AT A LOSS

16. Steinway competitor : YAMAHA

17. Actress Dash of "Clueless" : STACEY. First encounter with this actress. She's pretty.

18. Come to terms : SETTLE

19. Waiting for tech support, often : ON HOLD. Those overseas tech support can drive you nuts.

24. Way to the top : T-BAR

29. Delays : STALLs

32. Let off steam : VENT

33. Mutton fat : SUET. Lard is pork fat.

34. Small spade : TREY. Poker.

35. "For shame!" : TSK

37. Humane Soc. ally : SPCA

38. Victorian : PRIM

41. Worker with a pad : STENO

42. Former 49ers coach Bill : WALSH. Surprised I know him.

43. "Seascape" Pulitzer-winning playwright : ALBEE

45. Bo's'n's quarters : FO'C'SLE. Can never remember how to spell it, Spitzboov/eddyB!

46. Unfitting : INAPT

47. Desists : HALTS

48. "Mrs. __ Goes to Paris": 1992 TV film : ARRIS. Stumped me again.

49. Bananas : GONZO. Nuts!

50. Branch of zool. : ENTOM. OK, entomology.

51. Tea biscuit : SCONE

54. Chest : BUREAU. Furniture was not in my mind.

55. Arafat's successor : ABBAS

56. Direct : FRANK. Adjective "direct".

57. Full of pitfalls : RISKY

58. 2006 World Cup winner : ITALY. Soccer is huge in China.

59. Pass off (on) : FOIST

60. Plus : AND

61. Item on a rack : TOWEL

63. Place for a donut : TRUNK. Tire! Tricky clue.

64. "Sexy" Beatles woman : SADIE

65. Sported : HAD ON

70. Sun Valley visitors : SKIERS

71. Country mail rtes. : RFDs. RFD = Rural delivery service

72. Summer coolers : ICEs

75. Cut : SAWN. Spell check doesn't like it.

76. Not a dup. : ORIG

77. Oscar winner Sorvino : MIRA. She speaks Chinese.

78. In an animated way : BOUNCILY. I've only used adjective form bouncy.

79. Opens with effort, as a window : UNSTICKS

80. Stuffs : SATIATES

81. Wild vacations? : SAFARIs. Oh, wild animal, not the real wild vacation in Ibiza. JD has had a few wild ones.

82. For : PRO

85. "Dreams From My Father" family : OBAMAS

86. College address ending : DOT EDU. Felt stupid not to nail it.

87. Long riding coat : DUSTER

88. Addison's publishing partner : STEELE (Richard). Joseph Addison. Both strangers to me.

89. Plumber's alloy : SOLDER

90. Doctors' works : THESES

91. H.S. subject : HIST (History)

93. Cry of exasperation : AARGH

94. He-Man's twin sister : SHE-RA

95. "Crazy" singer : CLINE (Patsy). Thought of Jerome's mom.

98. Regs. : STDs (Standards)

99. Harem rooms : ODAs. Splynter wants one.

104. PC linkup : LAN

105. Mineral suffix : ITE

106. Remote button : REW

Answer grid.

C.C.

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