TURNS OF PHRASE
Spencer Leach is a third-year mechanical-engineering student at Virginia Tech. Their engineering background influences how they generate themes — for this puzzle, they used a custom bit of Python code to compare a list of homonyms against common phrases. Spencer is currently in the midst of a summer-internship search and hopes any would-be employers enjoy this puzzle! ACROSS 1 ‘‘Let me repeat . . . ’’6 Musical speeds 11 When repeated, a cry of approval 15 Like many creatures in modern sci-fi movies, for short 18 Light wood 19 Cross figure 20 New Jersey’s Sea ____ City 21 Spot for a shot 22 Spook some creatures in an aquarium’s touch tank? 24 Fiery matches? 26 Band with the 1994 hit ‘‘What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?’’ 27 Some vocal solos 28 In the style of 30 ‘‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?’’ playwright Edward 31 Bad material for a silk purse, proverbially 33 Deliver a blow to Dracula? 37 With ‘‘the,’’ a sudden flip from attraction to disgust, in modern parlance 38 Brand whose stock price increased 50 percent in the first six months of 2020 40 Blooms named for their shape 41 Set of selections 43 ‘‘You sure?’’ 44 Before45 No. calculated from letters 47 References a Vatican Library source? 49 Went down a slippery slope 50 ____ Palmas, Canary Islands 51 Kind of history 52 About, on a memo 53 Certain Ivy Leaguer 54 Support 55 ‘‘Forget it!’’ 57 Welcomes at the door 59 Tender spots 60 Referees a Tennessee football game poorly? 64 Common pet fish 67 Superlative held by the Atacama Desert 68 ‘‘Barry’’ or ‘‘Ballers’’ 72 Stadium sounds 73 Plain 74 Cap’s place 76 It might be a stretch 77 Suffix with Manhattan or meteor 78 Fortitude 79 Write an ode to a caffeinated soda? 82 Airport abbr. 83 Addresses online 84 Sound unit found in many Asian languages 85 Nip and tuck, so to speak 86 Like some teas 88 Kind of edition with bonus tracks, perhaps 89 Stadium cheer 90 Start preparing borscht? 92 Fully commit 96 Court cry 97 Garnet is its birthstone: Abbr. 98 Sculpting stuff 99 Super ____ (Gamecube predecessor) 101 ‘‘Bather in the Woods’’ painter 104 Make smash burgers? 108 Pretty cool stuff 109 Burn a little 110 Decides that one will 111 Major artery 112 ____ cha beef (Chinese dish) 113 Jumped over, as a checkers piece 114 Michelangelo work whose name translates to ‘‘compassion’’ 115 Suddenly think of
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1 Letter-shaped support piece 2 Certain corporate department 3 Mission San Antonio de Valero, more familiarly 4 Neighbor of Leb. 5 World’s oldest capital city, settled in the third millennium B.C. 6 Taylor Swift song that begins, ‘‘Combat, I’m ready for combat’’ 7 Makes a gaffe 8 ‘‘Mamma ____!’’ 9 ‘‘Gangnam Style’’ rapper 10 Comment from someone exiting the mall on Black Friday 11 Pedal-operated instrument 12 That, in Toledo 13 Umbrella term for eboys or goth girls 14 Struck out 15 Stealthy criminal 16 City feature that’s been found to improve mental health 17 ‘‘None for me, thanks’’ 19 Kind of seeds in a healthful smoothie 23 Footslog 25 Balm ingredient 29 ____ Luthor, nemesis of Superman 32 Vintage restaurant items? 33 Spoil, with ‘‘on’’ 34 Git 35 ‘‘Just a little longer!’’ 36 Lauder of cosmetics 39 Do some light work on? 41 Barcelona museum subject 42 H’s on some college houses 43 ‘‘The Lorax’’ setting 44 Actress Cravalho who voiced Moana 46 Doesn’t just assume 47 Swindle 48 Wedding-cake layer 49 Survive 53 Chuck, slangily 54 Final phase of a video game, perhaps 56 Big name in records 57 [Actually, don’t change that] 58 Sounds of doubt 59 ____-Caps (candy) 61 Birds known for their loud, complex songs 62 Royal title 63 Assist in a crime 64 Gooey pairing with fig jam 65 Economic-justice catchphrase 66 Its water is nearly 10 times saltier than ocean water 69 Animal product 70 Foreboding sign 71 ‘‘Impressive!’’ 73 Who cries, ‘‘You get a car, you get a car!’’ in a viral meme 74 Toy brand for a budding engineer, maybe 75 ‘‘I don’t like that,’’ in Spanish 78 Take away 79 Police captain on ‘‘Brooklyn Ninenine’’ 80 Burden 81 Enthusiastic agreement 84 Genre for many a boy band 87 GPS suggestions: Abbr. 88 Part of the D.O.J. 89 It’s a four-letter word, aptly 90 Neighbors of the Navajos 91 One-named singer born in Reykjavik 93 What Ove’s name was changed to for the American film adaptation of ‘‘A Man Called Ove’’ 94 Like neon 95 ‘‘Groovy!’’ 98 Sibilant summons 100 ‘‘South Park’’ boy 102 Density symbol, in engineering 103 1990s Indian prime minister 105 Sch. in N.Y. 106 Quebec’s Festival d’____ 107 ‘‘You’re accusing me?!’’