Sunday July 3, 2011 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: Say Again - Common phrases are humorously re-interpreted with their heteronym meanings. Heteronyms are words with identical spellings but different meanings and pronunciations.

23A. Understudy's crime? : LEAD POISONING

33A. Short ovation? : MINUTE HAND

49A. Instrument with colored bands? : STRIPED BASS

68A. Compliment on a skillful asphalt job? : GOOD EVENING

84A. Anesthetist's error? : WRONG NUMBER. Numb-er, stuff that numbs you.

101A. Fight among forest females? : DOES' BATTLE

117A. Clean kielbasa? : POLISH SAUSAGE

16D. Telescope? : METEOR SHOWER. Show-er. We've seen C-SPAN clued as "House shower" before.

64D. Jeans feature after a barbed wire encounter? : TRAIL OF TEARS

I bet Clear Ayes had fun with this puzzle. She's talked about & linked heteronym, homophone & homonym a few times on the blog.

This theme has been done before. Still fun to solve. Outstanding grid layout and fill.  Lots of sparkly phrases.

Across:

1. Woodcutter who knew the magic words : ALI BABA. "Open sesame!"

8. Wide divide : CHASM

13. Tribal magicians : SHAMANs.

20. European triumvirate : BENELUX. Belgium is so stuffy, including their Etam lingerie shops. Their "words of support" (a la Grumpy & Splynter yesterday) just don't feel sexy.

21. Variety show : REVUE

22. Catches the show : TUNES IN

25. Steamy stuff : EROTICA

26. Israeli weapons : UZIs

27. With 116-Down, "Bed-In for Peace" co-organizer : YOKO. And ONO (116D. See 27-Across).

28. Make amends : ATONE

30. Be a disincentive to : DETER

31. Eager, in dialect : RARIN

36. Sound on Old MacDonald's farm : OINK

37. Responses to the obvious : DUHs. D'ohs too.

39. Office orders : REAMS

40. __ Shore : JERSEY

42. The Joker portrayer : ROMERO (Cesar). I can only remember Heath Ledger.

45. Spot for "Spot" : TAG. Got me.

47. Concordes: Abbr. : SSTs. Crossing SSN (47D. No. under the year on many tax forms). Constructors' crutch fill.

48. Triumphant shout : AHA

55. Seafaring salutations : AHOYs

59. Some tablets : PCs

60. Official declaration : EDICT

61. "The Gates of Hell" sculptor : RODIN. See here.

62. Goes __: deteriorates : TO POT

63. Like some advanced research, briefly : POSTDOC (Postdoctoral)

65. Cues from a stage coach : LINEs. Theater stage. Not the wagon.

66. "Trust me!" : I SWEAR

67. Epps of "House" : OMAR

72. Mother of the Valkyries : ERDA. Drew a blank.

73. Short summaries : RECAPs

75. Garfield's creator : DAVIS (Jim). Gimme for JD/eddyB.

76. Clue room : LIBRARY

78. Shinto temple gateway : TORII. Wouldn't it be nice to clue it as Torii Hunter and cross-reference LAA (86A. A.L. West team, on scoreboards)? Hunter is the right fielder for the Angels.

79. Enter, as data : KEY IN

80. Start a rally : SERVE. Tennis.

82. Ballpoint brand : BIC

83. Fishhook-to-line connection : SNELL. Learned from doing Xword.

87. Vow : OATH

89. "Owner of a Lonely Heart" band : YES

90. Still in the outbox : UNSENT. Mine is in the Draft.

92. Andre's love : STEFFI (Graf)

95. 10% donation : TITHE

99. One might go around on the patio : SPIT. Lovely clue. Skewer.

100. __ Neuf: Paris bridge : PONT

105. Mitigates : EASES

109. Rubber tree yield : LATEX

111. Astound : FLOOR

112. Tug : YANK

114. Kennel sound : YELP

115. Got one's money's worth at the buffet : ATE A LOT. Only if they have pickled herrings. Then I might pig out.

120. Pottery casserole dish : TERRINE

121. "You're __ talk!" : ONE TO

122. Unpredictable : ERRATIC

123. Therapy time : SESSION

124. Exorcist's foe : DEMON

125. Old West gang : DALTONS. The Dalton Gang.

Down:

1. "It was over so fast" words : A BLUR. It's all a blur.

2. TV host Gibbons : LEEZA

3. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR

4. Like some comforting manners : BEDSIDE

5. Mont Blanc, e.g. : ALP

6. Lift : BUOY

7. Geometry class list : AXIOMS. All a blur to me, my geometry class years.

8. Serenade, perhaps : CROON

9. Fox's prey : HEN

10. Pilot : AVIATE

11. Naturally brewed beverage : SUN TEA. Lovely.

12. A lot of resistance : MEG OHM. OHM is resistance measure.

13. "The Feast of Saint Nicholas" painter : STEEN (Jan)

14. Judah Ben-__ : HUR

15. Give __ to: okay : A NOD

17. Currently : AS IT IS

18. Like a noted creed : NICENE. Nicene Creed.

19. Crotchety : SNARKY. Like some blog comments.

24. Go downhill fast? : SKI. I'm picturing Marti in action.

29. "If I Ruled the World" rapper : NAS

32. Helped get healthy : NURSED

34. Impulse : URGE

35. Short spinners? : DJs. "Short" implied an abbr. in answer.

38. Ballpark staples : HOT DOGS

41. Virginie-Occidentale et al. : ETATS. Virginie-Occidentale is French for West Virginia.

42. Close connections : RAPPORTs

43. "You can't be serious" : OH COME ON. Good entry.

44. Blowout on the court : MASSACRE. Crushing defeat!

45. First O, say : TIC. Tic-tac-toe.

46. Fitting : APT

50. Diamond wearer in "Copacabana" : RICO. Spanish for "rich".

51. With accuracy or distance, a golf stat : DRIVING. Nice clue.

52. Fox forensic drama : BONES

53. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN. See this map.

54. Spanish ayes : SI SI

56. In working order : OPERABLE

57. "Rocky" catchphrase : YO ADRIAN. Great one.

58. Future adoptee, perhaps : STRAY CAT. Meow!

65. "Deathtrap" playwright : LEVIN (Ira)

66. "You win" : I GIVE UP

69. Baltic Sea feeder : ODER

70. "The Banana Boat Song" opening : DAY-O

71. Workers' rights agcy. : NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). No idea.

74. Rice preparation : PILAF. Like pilaf, Bill?

77. Longtime collaborator with Elton : BERNIE (Taupin). He wrote most of Elton John's songs.

79. Util. unit : KWH

80. You might do it after hiring a lawyer : SUE. Interesting turn of event in the ex-IMF chief case. Still a bad guy.

81. Marxism extremes? : EMs. The both ends of the word.

85. "Wrong, comrade" : NYET. Russian for "No".

88. Three times daily, on an Rx : TID. Ter in die.

91. Spends the night in : STAYS AT

92. Evidence of egg toss errors : SPLATS

93. Just right : TO A TEE. Always tricky to parse.

94. Goes on stage : ENTERS

95. Business card no. : TEL

96. 14-legged crustacean : ISOPOD

97. "The First Billion is the Hardest" author Pickens : T BOONE.

98. Cotton Club site : HARLEM. Not familiar with the Cotton Club, a nightclub in NY in Prohibition era, a la Wiki.

99. Had a hunch : SENSED

102. Regularly : OFTEN

103. "Sounder" Oscar nominee : TYSON (Cicely). No idea. She was married to Miles Davis.

104. __-di-dah : LAH

106. Defense gp. formed in Manila : SEATO. Gone in 1977.

107. Classic watch : ELGIN

108. See-thru wear? : SPECS. Great clue.

110. Super Bowl at which Tom Petty performed : XLII. 2008 Super Bowl. I was clueless.

113. Two-season "American Idol" judge DioGuardi : KARA

118. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO (Midori)

119. Web ID : URL

Answer grid.

C.C.