Theme: I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 8....
Today I get to ESPouse some comments on this ESPcially fun puzzle by our Extra Special Puzzlemistress C.C.!
Seeing SPIRIT and SPEED early sent me down a blind theme alley but then I saw the very clever ESP grouping split between two words as either ...E SP... or ...ES P... Seven Across and two Down. Coupled with her always fun cluing made for an enjoyable time on this last Sunday of 2014.
Theme Answers
23A. Nonconformist : FREE SPIRIT
33A. Roadword warning : REDUCE SPEED
45A. Candy that comes in three colors : REESES PIECES - E.T's favorite!
70A. X Games pursuits : EXTREME SPORTS - Knock yourself out! Probably will.
89A. Position held three times by Henry Clay : HOUSE SPEAKER - LBJ knocked heads together and got more things done than as VP.
103A. Athlete's setback : ANKLE SPRAIN
117A. Pledge drive talk, essentially : SALES PITCH - Like during this fabulous show
15D. Colorado Gold Rush area : PIKES PEAK - The temp dropped 50˚F as we rode the Cog R.R. to the top
80D. Polite acceptance : YES PLEASE
...and the Reveal:
97D. One with the ability hidden in nine puzzle answers : PSYCHIC - The reveal! How come they aren't getting rich by betting on football or playing the lottery?
Across
1. Holed, as a putt : SUNK - "It's in the hole!" Caddyshack
Today I get to ESPouse some comments on this ESPcially fun puzzle by our Extra Special Puzzlemistress C.C.!
ESP Testing in Ghostbusters. Remember which subject did well?
Seeing SPIRIT and SPEED early sent me down a blind theme alley but then I saw the very clever ESP grouping split between two words as either ...E SP... or ...ES P... Seven Across and two Down. Coupled with her always fun cluing made for an enjoyable time on this last Sunday of 2014.
Theme Answers
23A. Nonconformist : FREE SPIRIT
33A. Roadword warning : REDUCE SPEED
45A. Candy that comes in three colors : REESES PIECES - E.T's favorite!
70A. X Games pursuits : EXTREME SPORTS - Knock yourself out! Probably will.
89A. Position held three times by Henry Clay : HOUSE SPEAKER - LBJ knocked heads together and got more things done than as VP.
103A. Athlete's setback : ANKLE SPRAIN
117A. Pledge drive talk, essentially : SALES PITCH - Like during this fabulous show
15D. Colorado Gold Rush area : PIKES PEAK - The temp dropped 50˚F as we rode the Cog R.R. to the top
80D. Polite acceptance : YES PLEASE
...and the Reveal:
97D. One with the ability hidden in nine puzzle answers : PSYCHIC - The reveal! How come they aren't getting rich by betting on football or playing the lottery?
1. Holed, as a putt : SUNK - "It's in the hole!" Caddyshack
5. Gives and takes : SWAPS
10. Unlit : SOBER - Clever.
15. Showy display ; POMP - Hey, whatever floats your boat...
19. Neat as : A PIN - A wifely trait that my daughter's didn't get
20. ____ firma : TERRA - Some of California's TERRA sometimes is not so firma
21. Butt (in) : CHIME
22. Google Nexus competitor : iPAD - Joann always seems to have hers out despite not wanting one initially
25. Predecessor of Begin : RABIN
26. Superman's cover : KENT - Really? The glasses and the curl fooled you?
27. Choice cut : FILET
28. Went for a seat : RAN - My best friend's son ran for and now has a seat in the U.S. Senate
29. British aristocrat : EARL - My favorite contribution by an Earl
30. Get hot on Twitter : TREND
31. Longtime Guardian cartoonist Asquith : ROS
37. Equally not : AS MAD - as a wet hen?
39. Rosemary relative : OREGANO
41. Tolkien forest giant : ENT - We might as well learn it. It's not going away
42. "Moneyball" Oscar nominee : BRAD PITT
44. Boneheads : NINNIES
48. "Gimme __!": start of a Rutgers cheer : AN R 42. "Moneyball" Oscar nominee : BRAD PITT
44. Boneheads : NINNIES
49. "10538 Overture" band : ELO
51. Good buddy : PAL
52. HDTV brand : RCA - Now made by S. Korean Company, On Corp, in China
53. Pulls a fast one on : SNOWS - Can anyone say Bernie Madoff
56. Don McLean song that begins "Starry, starry night" : VINCENT
58. Large spitz : AKITA - Built for when it 53A's
62. Parts of teacups : EARS - A tea connoisseur like C.C. would know
63. Central Utah city : OREM
65. Pomegranate color : RED - I only learned last week how to eat a Pomegranate
66. Dragon roll ingredient : EEL
68. Room to chill : DEN - Mine's my sunroom
69. Still undecided, briefly : TBA - Like televised college football games
73. Permitted : LET - In tennis LET serves are not permitted
74. Huge load : TON
75. Uni, in sushi bars : ROE
76. You, to Goethe : SIE
77. Tax-sheltered accts. : IRAS - This is the time of year we wished they were Roth IRA's
78. They may be placed : BETS - A scene where the guy on the left BETS on 22 Black on Bogie's advice
79. Delivery expert, briefly : OB/GYN Leonard, "Raj you should be an OB/GYN like your dad". Raj, "My God Leonard, I can't even look a woman in the eye!"
81. Canal transport : GONDOLA
83. Forward : PUSHY
84. "Ich bin __ Berliner" : EIN - JFK gave Berlin hope 36 years before the wall came down
86. Has too much, briefly : ODS
87. Styling stuff : GEL - Yeah, it really works on you!
88. Pop holder : CAN - It was glass in my ute and I got 2 cents for returning them
94. Troop support mission : AIR DROP - These kept Berlin alive in '48 and '49
98. Looks for flaws in : INSPECTS - Did anyone ever get one of those bikini inspector jobs?
99. "The Royal Tenenbaums" director Anderson : WES
101. Eavesdrops, with "in" : LISTENS
102. Stretch : SPELL - Whether is a bad SPELL of weather
107. Ottoman governor : BEY - Why do I think they weren't elected?
108. "You __ right!" : ARE SO
110. Olympian war god : ARES
111. Auction group : LOT
112. Stern with a bow : ISAAC
114. South Pacific capital : APIA - Looks pretty good from the cold prairie in December
115. Tea grade : PEKOE
119. Brings together : WEDS
120. Revise, as text : EMEND - Certainly part of this process
121. Map fleck : ISLET
122. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI
123. Hebrides tongue : ERSE
124. Fellas : DUDES
125. Insincere : PHONY
126. Teeny amt. of time : NSEC - Time it takes for the idiot behind me to honk his horn when the light turns green. .000000001 sec
Down:
1. Paella ingredient : SAFFRON - Do you know the same song I do with SAFFRON in the lyric?
2. Existing independent of experience, in logic : A PRIORI - True by definition - All triangles have three sides? Yes. All tall people like basketball? Nope!
3. Eponymous market analyst : NIELSEN - We hated being a NIELSEN family
4. Joint where kids are welcome? : KNEE - even on artificial ones
5. Son of a Gun! vinyl protectant maker : STP
6. Oddballs : WEIRDOS - Big Bang is making Oddballs more mainstream
7. Pianist Claudio : ARRAU - No chance
8. Royal issue : PRINCE - There's probably one in the POMP picture above
9. Held court : SAT
10. Junkyard metal : SCRAP - We got $20 for our old barbecue grill
11. Midwest hub : O'HARE - a "gots to have" even when just connecting through O'HARE
12. Fundamentalist region : BIBLE BELT - I think I live in the buckle of that belt
13. Longtime Brit. music label : EMI
14. Second-home income, perhaps : RENT
16. Feature of club nights for wannabes : OPEN MIC
17. Official order : MANDATE
18. Safeco Field summer hrs. : PDT - Beautiful home of the Seattle Mariners close to the Puget Sound
24. Stretches to the limit : STRAINS
29. Where el sol rises : ESTE
31. Extremists : RADICALS - One man's radical is another's champion
34. Ernest Moniz's dept. : ENER - The present's Secretary of Energy
35. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON - Substitute Kenneth Lay for Bernie Madoff from above
36. Who and No: Abbr. : DRS - or J and Dre
38. Rehab hurdle : DTS - My dad went through these
40. Chews (on) : GNAWS
43. National Humor Mo. : APR
46. Blunted blades : EPEES - Could someone look up how often we've had this word in 2014?
47. Construction site sight : SANDPILE
49. Continually : EVER -"ForEVER and EVER, Hallelujah, Hallelujah" are words in of one of the most beautiful vocal pieces ever penned
50. Citrus drink : LIME SODA - Usually Lemon/Lime
53. Squabble : SET TO
54. Big wheel : NABOB - Would have remained in obscurity without Spiro Agnew needing alliteration with Nattering and Negativity
55. Borneo rainforest denizen : ORANG - My daughter's friend was told to stay behind the orange line when walking by the ORANG cages at the Omaha Zoo. They were smart, strong and had long arms.
57. Words to live by : CREED
59. Wastes time : IDLES
60. Brush targets : TEETH - Joann tell the grandkids "It's time to tickle the ivories"
61. Fidgeting : ANTSY - Ever teach a Kindergarten class?
63. Good Grips kitchenware brand : OXO
64. Google Maps offering: Abbr. : RTE
66. Depression __ : ERA - Even with expendable cash, Joann's mother still shops like it's the dirty 30's
67. "The X-Files" extras : ETS -Spielberg had the one that liked REESE'S PIECES "phone home" in his movie
70. Two-time British Open champ : ERNIE ELS - It's said his swing is identical to Michelle Wie's. Not much else ;-)
72. __ exam : ORAL - Never had to take one
78. Cake pan trademark : BUNDT
81. Gets buff? : GOES NAKED
82. Role-playing game beasts : OGRES
83. Carrot cousin : PARSNIP - I've never crossed the path of this veggie
85. Pres. advisory team : NSC - JFK and the NSC said no to missiles in Cuba and Khrushchev blinked
88. DXV ÷ V : CIII - If the forum has DXV togas and V senators, how many does each get?
89. "To each __ own" : HIS - this song was #1 for three performers in my birth year
90. Hypothetically : ON PAPER - Where this made sense
91. Handles for surfers : USER IDS
92. National org. with the slogan "everychild. onevoice" : PTA
93. "Babe" extras : EWES - Did they say their lines sheepishly?
94. Twelve Steps support group : ALA TEEN - Could'a used that growing up
95. Money-back lures : REBATES - Just take 'em off the price and save some paper
96. Plot size, perhaps : ONE ACRE
100. Make waves, in a way : SPLASH
104. Danish coin : KRONE
105. Victoria Quarter city : LEEDS - Third largest city in the UK. Been there, Steve?
106. Rich boy in "Nancy" comics : ROLLO - Richie Rich was in a different venue
109. Rebuttal piece, perhaps : OP-ED
113. Fire __ : SIGN - Ares, Leo and Sagittarius
114. Leave wide-eyed : AWE
116. Feathered six-footer : EMU - Not that's a REAL Big Bird!
117. Nurse : SIP
118. Muddy home : STY
My ESP tells me I'd better get busy with my chores! Thanks for a lovely Sunday Puzzle and all you do for us "Denizens Of The Puzzle"!
Three more days until 2015. Does anyone know of any unbreakable resolutions?
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