Title: Kevin Garnett - Our lovely leader has chosen a fun initial gimmick with two word theme answers wherein the first word starts with a K and the second with a G. Her reveal shows this KG idea phonetically as CAGEY 38. Shrewd ... and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's four longest answers : CAGEY - As a Minneapolis resident, C.C. was inspired by Kevin Garnett who spent the first part of his career playing in that city before moving to Boston.
As you can see, her fun theme answers that are placed symmetrically - Two 10'S Across touching the left and right borders and Two Down 9's touching the top and bottom borders! Great!
16. Shade lighter than jade : KELLY GREEN - One of the team colors of the aforementioned KG
59. London co-creator of the International Plant Names Index : KEW GARDENS - Captain Bligh was gathering bread fruit in Tahiti for KEW GARDENS when the men on the HMS Bounty took issue with his command
10. Super-strong adhesive brand : KRAZY GLUE - Ah yes, I remember their ads
33. Extreme care : KID GLOVES - People always think debate moderators treat their candidate's opponent with KID GLOVES
Well let's KEEP GOING and see what other gifts C.C. has for us today. Across 1. Welcomed at the door : SAW IN 6. "Shame on you!" : TSK 9. German trick-taking card game : SKAT - Have never played a hand
13. St. Teresa's town : AVILA - One of many Carmelite 39. Creatures of habit? : NUNS - in 16th century Spain 14. Use as a source : CITE 15. Egg on : URGE 18. Reckless act instigator : DARE - These two words can cause some very stupid behavior 19. Witty Bombeck : ERMA 20. Euros replaced them : LIRE 21. Buffoons : BOZOS 22. Target Field, e.g. : STADIUM - An easy drive from C.C.'s home
24. Nowhere near cool : DORKY 26. N.L. mascot whose head is a large baseball : MR. MET 28. Cracks up : LAUGHS 31. Finnish telecommunications company : NOKIA 34. Lindsay of "Freaky Friday" (2003) : LOHAN - A Disney star who "went south" 36. Bud's partner : LOU - Bud asked, "Who's on first?" LOU replied, "Yes!" 37. Exclude from the list : OMIT 40. Like Mars, visually : RED 41. Storybook elephant : BABAR 42. Sneaks a look : PEEKS 43. Points of view : ANGLES 45. Sleeping giant : SERTA - Love this clue 47. Actors memorize them : LINES - He's in a world of hurt!
49. Riddle-ending question : WHAT AM I - Stunning playground retort!
53. Chew out : SCOLD 55. "Now it makes sense" : I SEE 57. One-named supermodel : IMAN - Lovely Somali-born woman who is now 61 58. __ Scotia : NOVA - New Scotland in Latin 61. Meryl's "it's Complicated" co-star : ALEC - Rotten Tomatoes gave it a "meh" 54%
62. Chevy subcompact : AVEO 63. Pasta tubes : PENNE 64. Skip a turn : PASS 65. Headed up : LED 66. Infuriated with : MAD AT Down 1. Sushi bar brews : SAKES 2. Prevent : AVERT 3. Bedrock wife : WILMA 4. Words starting a confession : I'LL ADMIT 5. Lawmaker's rejection : NAY - That's how they do it
6. 22-Across level : TIER 7. Energetic mount : STEED - Dudley's "trusty STEED" was named, uh, Horse
8. He's a doll : KEN - Barbie's main squeeze 9. Numbers game : SUDOKU 11. Soil-related prefix : AGRO - BOZOS took AGRI off my grid 12. Pro shop bagful : TEES 14. Forensics facility : CRIME LAB 17. Feeling blue : GLUM - Al Capp's poster child for this emotion - The man whose last name is vowelless
21. Cereal component : BRAN 23. Nest egg letters : IRA 25. Big name in facial scrubs : OLAY 27. Forum robes : TOGAS 29. Traffic alert : HONK 30. Puzzle (out) : SUSS 31. Screenwriter Ephron : NORA 32. It may be a bad sign : OMEN 35. "Fasten your seatbelts" : HERE WE GO
38. Violin protector : CASE 39. "Swell suggestion!" : NEAT IDEA 41. Calisthenics movement : BEND 42. After-school org. : PTA 44. Shrubs with lavender blooms : LILACS 46. Perlman of "Cheers" : RHEA - Ree' uh not Ray or Ray uh 48. Colander cousin : SIEVE 50. Change, as a motion : AMEND 51. Old Testament food : MANNA 52. Illustrator's close-up : INSET 53. Easy-peasy task : SNAP 54. Picnic soft drink : COLA 56. Neighbor of Nor. : SWED 59. __ Kan pet foods : KAL 60. Tach reading : RPM Now it's your time for our CAGEY bloggers to give us their pertinent and impertinent remarks!
TITLE: POSSESSION This wonderful C.C. Sunday puzzle, which she told me is her favorite of the year, is clever on many levels. As I sometimes do, I decided to put the grid at the front of the write-up to better display her the intricacy of her work. Her gimmick is revealed in the lengthy clue of 52. Ownership claim ... and a hint to the relationship of each answer to a starred clue to a word it intersects : IT'S MINE. As you can see below she intersected an entire word (clued with an *) with the front or back part of a multiple word phrase. The icing on this word cake was that the stand-alone word required adding an 'S so that the conjoined phrase made sense and truly showed the title of "IT'S MINE". Wow!
Stupid me barged through this exercise oblivious to the juxtaposition of two words that are connected (darn trees do block the forest). When I ran across the reveal, I laughed out loud and quoted that great American philosopher Homer Simpson by exclaiming, "Doh!" Coupled with C.C.'s always fiendish/clever cluing this was truly a great time. She said it was a very difficult construction but we all benefit from her efforts. Let's take a look at her possessive pairing genius: 5. *Second-longest reigning British monarch : VICTORIA and 22. Ill-kept confidence : OPENSECRET yield VICTORIA'S SECRET by making the first word possessive and using the second word in OPEN SECRET. Wearing items from here might guarantee you will have a very OPEN SECRET...
9. *First of all? : ADAM and 24. Seasonal drink : APPLECIDER yield ADAM'S APPLE by making ADAM possessive and using the first word in APPLE CIDER. This is the Laryngeal Prominence on the thyroid cartilage that is usually much more prominent in men.
75. *Noted WWII lifesaver : SCHINDLER and 39. Consequence of the telemarketing boom : NO CALL LISTyield SCHINDLER'S LIST. (I think you have the idea). I only made it halfway through this powerful movie and left after a scene with children.
42. *English surgeon Henry : GRAYand44. Vet student's workplace : ANATOMY LAB yield GRAY'S ANATOMY. Here is Henry's original drawing of the larynx with the Thyroid Notch/Adam's Apple
93. *First human woman, in Greek myth : PANDORA and 117. Specialized slicing tools : BOX CUTTERS yield PANDORA'S BOX that of course contains all the evils of the world. It appears that Pan might be shopping at VICTORIA'S SECRET
Now for I. Indiana home for Jackson 5 - GARY and II. Court ruling without a trial - SUMMARY JUDGEMENT which yield GARY'S SUMMARY: Across 1. Twinkler : STAR
5. Block from the White House : VETO - C.C.'s original clue was Block from Obama and Rich modified it. I like 'em both 9. Sunburn salve : ALOE 13. Others, in Oaxaca : OTROS - OTROS también les encantará este rompecabezas (Others will also love this puzzle) 18. Almond __: candy : ROCA - I have learned that this is a thing
19. Like jeggings : TIGHT - Standard clothing in schools today 20. Fist bumps : DAPS - A more complicated DAP
21. Talked a blue streak? : SWORE 26. Tossed a bone to : PLACATED 27. Playground retort : AM SO - Are not, AM SO, Are not, AM SO, ad nauseum 28. Up-to-the-minute : LATEST 29. "I never __ purple cow ... ": Burgess : SAW A - "I'd rather see one than be one" 30. New Mexico county bordering El Paso : OTERO and 27. Chicago's __ Center : AON. Natick for me -I chose unwisely at their crossing for my standard one bad Sunday cell 32. Dance partner : ESCORT 34. Mr. or Mrs. : ABBR and 83. Country on St. George's Channel : IRE. 36. Hard-to-imagine period : EON 37. It's charged : ION - Here are two atoms becoming charged IONS and voila - Sodium Fluoride
38. Winds up or winds down : ENDS 45. Talks like Daffy : LISPS 47. Mo. town : ST.L. - Sorry ST.L., the Rams belong in L.A. 48. Like a paddling surfer : PRONE 49. With 113-Across, "Funeral in Berlin" author : LEN and 113. See 49-Across : DEIGHTON 50. Waikiki wingding : LUAU 51. Sounded nostalgic about : SIGHED AT - One man's lament
55. Tiger, e.g. : CAT 56. Churchill, notably : ORATOR - "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat" May 1940 58. Curaçao cocktail : MAI TAI 60. American Red Cross founder Barton : CLARA 62. Prankster's missile : WATER BOMB
64. "Popeye" pirate : SEA HAG 66. Racing Unsers : ALS 68. Zen garden piece : STONE and 74. Potted dwarf : BONSAI - I feel peaceful just looking at it
69. Match made in heaven : SOUL MATES 71. Kept from squeaking : OILED 73. Lifesaver, initially : EMT 77. Sticks figure : YOKEL 79. Drive-thru burger chain whose name has two hyphens : IN-N-OUT 81. Make a home : RESIDE 82. Squat : NIL - Nuttin'
84. Summary : OVERVIEW 86. It has Air, Mini and Pro versions : I-PAD 88. Part of a circ. : SEG(ment) 89. Fervently wishes : PRAYS 91. Stooge with a bowl haircut : MOE - MOE's younger brother Curly replaced their brother Shemp in the trio 92. Center of Florida? : EPCOT 94. Govt. guidelines : STDS 95. Name on the 1984 album "My Kind of Country" : REBA 96. Cologne cooler : EIS - Ich möchte keine EIS in meinen Scotch (I don't want any ice in my scotch) Tin? 97. NYC commuter letters : MTA 98. Thunder sound : PEAL 100. Pains : THROES 103. Courier and Roman : FONTS - or a seasonal one
105. King with a pipe : COLE 108. Very destructive : LETHAL 111. Nursery cry : MAMA 115. 1990 #1 rap hit : ICE ICE BABY 119. Chugged, say : DRANK 120. Links seen at pga.com : URLS - Electronic links not grass ones 121. Doctoral candidate's hurdles : ORALS - Not intimidating at all
122. Furry sci-fi creature : EWOK 123. Huffy states : SULKS 124. Duma vote : NYET - Nyet, Nyet Nannette! 125. Lose intensity : WANE 126. Prevent : DENY Down 1. Letters connected to theater capacity : SRO - Sure, you can get some SRO tix to see the Cubs in their first World Series in 71 years!
2. Collectible baseball card brand : TOPPS - C.C. gave me a George Brett TOPPS card that is prominently displayed in my sunroom 3. Boston-to-D.C. rail service : ACELA 4. Took off : RAN AWAY 6. Blue heron kin : EGRET 7. Peter Benchley thriller : THE DEEP 8. Giants great Mel : OTT - A 1933 Doudney Mel OTT rookie card will set you back $532
10. Slip : LAPSE 11. Facing : OPPOSITE - Our crossword friends, recto and verso, are opposite/facing pages 12. Bilingual subj. : ESL 13. Award declined by George C. Scott : OSCAR - Goldie Hawn shrieked, "Oh my God, the winner is George C. Scott!" She knew he had said he would not show up. 14. Company with a blue bird logo : TWITTER 15. Used Lyft, say : RODE 16. Mining haul : ORES 17. Barcelona-born muralist : SERT - File under Learned/Forgot 19. Leaves for a Chinese dinner : TEA 23. Line crosser : SCAB - A 2000 movie with a more gentle name for football SCABS who crossed a union line
25. SpaceX CEO Musk : ELON 31. Carlo __: wine brand : ROSSI 33. Money immediately available : COLD CASH 35. Book jacket entry : BLURB 40. It's in our genes : DNA
41. Disappeared from view : SET 42. Looks really happy : GLOWS 43. Upgrade, as on Yelp : RERATE 46. Send for : SUMMON 47. Type of massage : SHIATSU 48. Student advocacy gp. : PTA 50. Folk tales : LORE 53. Earth goddess : GAEA 54. Subj. with unknowns : ALG
57. Approaching the hour : TEN TO 59. Coarsely insulting, as language : ABUSIVE 61. Vice squad incursions : RAIDS 63. Classic for which Pavarotti won a Grammy : O SOLE MIO 65. Frenzied : HECTIC 67. Did some farm work : SEEDED - The Sower on top of the capital in Lincoln, Nebraska
70. Legal scholar Guinier : LANI 71. Lacking width and depth : ONE-D 72. Worst of the worst : DREGS 74. Drink, in Dover : BEV 76. Hot : IRATE 78. Foreman stat : KO'S 80. Have a loan from : OWE TO 82. "Fresh Air" airer : NPR 85. *Memorable 1968 role for Mia : ROSEMARY'S - Somethin' ain't right with that BABY
87. Treat on a stick : POPSICLE 90. "Really, Captain Obvious?" : YA THINK? 94. Scheduled : SLOTTED 96. Perry's creator : ERLE - Stanley Gardner 97. CalArts degree : MFA - Maybe not the best degree to find a job 99. Eight, to Mozart : ACHT - He wrote his first symphony when he was ACHT 101. Street fare seekers : HACKS - aka Taxis. Named for Hackney Cabs in Britain. Hackney is the name for a horse suitable for driving or riding
102. Luxurious fur : SABLE - Wearing this fur can be risky 104. Bonnie or Clyde : TEXAN 106. Lerner collaborator : LOEWE 107. Company with an ironically crooked logo : ENRON - Many pensions at Nebraska Natural Gas disappeared with them 108. Shadow targets : LIDS
109. Beige shade : ECRU 110. Marsh duck : TEAL 112. Computer game title island : MYST 114. Gloomy fellow : GUS
116. Ballerina's hairdo : BUN 117. Tool for Cupid : BOW 118. Hawk's domain : SKY Now it's time for I. McGuffey book - READER and II. Viewer's opinion - AUDIENCE FEEDBACK which yield READER'S FEEDBACK:
