23A: Fishy multi-talented celebrity?: OPAH WINFREY (Oprah Winfrey)
25A: Fishy musician?: PIANO TUNA (Piano Tuner)
39A: Fishy age recognition?: BIRTHDAY COD (Birthday Card)
57A: Fishy Brinks vehicle?: ARMORED CARP (Armored Car)
81A: Fishy Florida ballot?: HANGING SHAD (Hanging Chad)
93A: Fishy weakness?: ACHILLES' EEL (Achilles' Heel)
114A: Fishy warship?: MINNOW WAR (Man O' War)
116A: Fishy amplifiers?: HERRING AIDS (Hearing Aids)
I did not know that Man O' War is a kind of warship. Always thought it's a racing horse and is connected to Seabiscuit somehow. I actually think "Fishy thoroughbred?" is a better clue than "Fishy warship?" because of the annoying War/WAR duplication.
I liked this puzzle a lot. Caught all of the fish very early on and sailed through most of the puzzle storm-free.
I don't quite understand the clue for NO-HIT (4D: Pitch near perfection). I am confused by the grammar structure. NO-HIT is an adjective, right? A NO-HIT game. "Pitch near perfection" is a noun phrase, isn't it? No-hitter is a noun. Nolan Ryan threw seven no-hitters in his career, a major league record. None of them is a perfect game though.
Across:
11A: Heckler's partner in firearms: KOCH. Have never held a gun in my life. Not familiar with Heckler ">CASTLED
33A: Stimpy's pal: REN. Learned this dog name from doing Xword. Stimpy is a cat.
46A: Unbeatable opponents: NEMESES. Singular is NEMESIS.
53A: River of Hades: LETHE. River of forgetfulness. Styx is the River of Hate, forming "the boundary between the upper and lower worlds". Has anyone read "The Divine Comedy" or "Inferno"?
69A: German automaker: OPEL
61A: Pastry cement: MASTIC. No idea. I found some MASTIC sealant though. Is this cement somehow
108A: English philosopher of Herbert: SPENCER. I googled his name. Wikipedia says he coined the phrase "Survival of the Fittest". I thought it's Darwin original quote.
110A: Siren: LORELEI. The Rhine Siren, to be exact. Chinese lore does not have similar siren who lures those restless sailors.
124A: Some chasers: POSSE
Down:
2D: Kal Kan rival: ALPO. Know ALPO. Have never heard of Kal Kan brand. Don't own any pet.
5D: Reacting to Sinatra: ASWOON. Very interesting clue. Why Sinatra instead of Clooney?
8D: Stupor: pref: NARCO. As in narcosis. New to me. I only know NARC as "DEA agent".
11D: Astronomer Johannes: KEPLER. Another google. He was a German astronomer. That's an excellent portrait.
24D: "Newsboy" painter: INMAN (Henry). I forgot all of him. Wikipedia says nearly a dozen of his 30 Native American portraits are in the collection of the White House. Here is "Newsboy" once again.
26D: Infamous cow owner: O'LEARY (Catherine)
29D: Speaker of diamonds: TRIS. Ah, baseball. TRIS Speaker is in HOF of course.
32D: Pre-Mayan civilization: OLMEC. OLMEC, Maya ">ASSAM. The tea state. South of Himalaya Mountains.
36D: Sanskrit aphorism: SUTRA. Hmm, "Kama SUTRA". Kama is god of erotic desire/love in Sanskrit.
41D: Persuade: COOPT. "Persuade"? Not a familiar definition to me.
43D: Humdinger: DILLY. I often mix "Humdinger" with "harbinger".
45D: Reference citation: FOOTNOTE
47D: Whatnot shelves: ETAGERES
55D: Structural beam: I-BAR. Have only heard of I-BEAM. It's the same, I suppose.
56D: Emphasizes: POINTS UP. New phrase to me.
58D: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). So hard to remember this abbreviation.
64D: Henning and McClure: DOUGS. DOUG Henning was a Canadian magician. DOUG McClure was an actor. I knew neither of them.
51D: Early computer: ENIAC
95D: Calyx parts: SEPALS
98D: Twilled fibrics: SERGES. Be prepared. Everytime SERGE appears in our puzzle, I will link SERGE Gainsbourg. I think Jane Birkin's moaning is sexier than Brigitte Bardot's.
107D: Growl: GNAR. Knar is a knot on the tree. Both exist only in crossword world in my opinion.
111D: City near Brussels: LIER. See this map. It's in Antwerp. Too obscure a clue.
115D: Assn. for boxers: WBA (World Boxing Association)
117D: "Kidnapped" author: RLS (Robert Louis Stevenson). Here is the bookcover. I doubt I will ever read it.
C.C.
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