Clothes That Fit

Riding in late on the coattails, another who loved this CRAFTy puzzle. The theme was pure invitation to imagine the visuals and that cast a glow on the rest of the fill. Not that a glow was needed, with such as [Two for a buck] ANTLERS and the deserving CANNIBAL. [Thanks for the Twilight Zone reminder, y'all!] Cute to have SEAMLESS HOSE in the grid, though some would argue SEAMed HOSE have more je ne sais quoi. After yesterday, hard not to wonder if the SAND MICE MAN catches his rodents in JUST DESERTS.

The old brain's stuck in second, so I didn't think of the plumber's tankTOP, but thought PUMPS might replace CLOGS, esp if the plumber was Josephine. A few others, though pale in comparison to R/Elke's and Johanna's :
Racecar driver wore a SHIFTandHOOD
British drivers wore BOOTSandBONNETS
British jockeys wore an ASCOTandaDERBY
Math teachers wore PLUS_FOURS and.... a few imaginary numbers
Electrician wore SHORTSandaWIRE
Nurse wore a BANDAGEdress and HEELS

Nice one, Joel F! Thanks for the reminder that you're always well-dressed when you wear a smile.

59D was confusing to this Prius driver. :) Couldn't find any other nits to pick for this outstanding Sunday offering.

Very fun puzzle. I may have missed a comment about it, but the "cannibal" response and clue for it reminded me of a Twilight Zone episode where aliens came to Earth. Misguided Earthlings thinking a book of theirs, "How to Serve Man", was a service manual, found out later that it was a cookbook.

A good workout. Not exactly a slide down a piste.

Deja vu time: Martin and I had a discussion in this forum a few years ago on what the plural of blini is (or are). Still blini.

I know it’s hard to believe but I never saw any of the Rocky movies. He was Rocky BalBOA, a boxer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mk82j1jQw_8

Add my name to growing list of those who enjoyed this puzzle. Smiled at every theme answer, esp. SLACKSANDLOAFERS. Only hesitation was a moment of doubt about TRIBE next to TRIBUTE.
@Deb: at AMHERST the student newspaper publishes an annual parody edition called The HAMSTER.

@Johanna had a better answer than the puzzle! TANK is more apt than TUBE! We have LINES, PIPES, DRAINS, even SNAKES to clear CLOGS, but no one says, "We need a new TUBE in here."

Enjoyed this puzzle very much.
Fave Groaner: 1D for the clue and answer combo....despite being at the Breakfast table.
Biggest slow-down: 101A. 22nd of 26. Head-table.
34 seconds on the Mini--an All-Fagliano Fest!
Onward!

I know the NCIS issue has been addressed, just wanted to comment that the original CSI took place in Las Vegas and the fpiniffs were Miami, New York and Cyber (which didn't last long). All version are now off the air. NCIS was originally a spinoff from JAG and had its own spinoffs in LA and New Orleans, but only NCIS LA stars LLCoolJ.

This was a fun puzzle my fave (giggle-inducing) was cannib

Oh, how I LOVED this puzzle! With every colorful theme answer there's an even more delightful visual waiting for you. Plus, any puzzle that prompts me to join in is at the top of the list of the puzzles I love .... did I mention that I LOVED this puzzle?

Lewis, I too, had TANK before TUBE ... they both work, right?

I wonder what a skier wears when speeding down a PISTE? UNDERARMOURANDAJUMPER?

The maid wore her .... GLADRAGSANDADUSTER.

Joel, this was the perfect lift for my Sunday morning, thank you!

Now I'm off to order a TURTLENECKBOA on line ...

I expect no less from ONE OF our fearless leaders. Kind of an old-time Sunday puzzle. My favorite is SLACKS AND LOAFERS. Liked TIE over the SUIT. Good ending to the week.

Very enjoyable puzzle. Pretty much junior high level puns but still a lot of fun and very impressive to fit that much theme material into the grid.

I filled in the top half smoothly from top to bottom (rare for me). CANNIBAL was a gimme for those of us old enough to remember The Twilight Zone (It's a cookbook!). Was proud of myself for getting L'ETAT.. with only about a 10 second pause.

Got a little tougher in the bottom and I had to bounce around, but mostly worked it out. Last thing I filled in was the I at the cross of BLINI and PISTES. Wasn't entirely sure about the former and the latter was a complete unknown. I wasn't just looking at the 'I' - I also reviewed all the crosses of PISTES, but just couldn't see anything that could change so I typed it in. And no happy pencil. After substituting various vowels with no success I finally hit 'check all' and found out my issue was with NELAN / ERS. Yeah, NOLAN is a much more common surname, but NELAN also exists and in fact I'd just never looked at that. Of course I'd considered ORS but then forgot all about it.

There are some clues for NOLAN that I would have known, and that line of thought eventually led me to a Leapy sequence:

Eva Marie Saint Christopher Lloyd NOLAN Ryan Howard Carter.

I'm sure she can do better.

Great. Fun, clever theme, expertly done.

A gem. Polished, clean, and shining. A clever theme, soaked dry (how many additional answers can you come up with -- I could conjure only one about an electrician wearing cords and shorts), and smile producing. An island-free grid. A lovely title. Enough grit to work the solving muscles, but enough light coming through the cracks (hello Leonard Cohen) to reward persistence. Oh, I wanted a TANKTOP rather than a TUBETOP for that plumber, but shame on me for nitting like that on such a pleasurable Sunday puzzle. Bravo, Sir Joel!

It was fun to see ALDA as the answer for Vinick straight away as I've been watching series 7 of West Wing in which he is prominent. It was also fun to get L'ETAT C'EST MOI, and continue down east most of the way. In fact this was a really fun puzzle from start to finish. I'm glad Jeff gave Joe a POW! BTW, Joe, I am interested in what construct is agonize about, and think your got the balance right today.

My first theme answer was 62, right in the middle, but I had it slightly wrong with TURTLE NECK top. I got several more answers before correcting that when ENABLED seemed the only word for47D. Luckily I caught all my errors without checking, so no black triangles, which makes a change for me.

So now, in addition to Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" and election horrors, the image of my plumber in a TUBE TOP AND CLOGS is seared into my mind. Thanks, I guess.

and Elke
What a fun and SEAMLESS way to end the XWord week.
While most of the clothes fit, I have to agree with DL, I would prefer to see more than a TUBETOP on plumbers, to cover an awkward VEE maybe.....
Noticed some clothing left hanging in the grid : TIE, VEST, TAILS, SABOTS, BRA(SALE), even A POLO shirt...
For car mechanics, the at-tire could be mufflers and jumpers.
A geographer could wear his jersey with a fez or homburg.
Some great clues ,especially 1D for CANNIBAL and 8A for CONGAS.
Thanks to all for explaining GET OPEN.
A good night and good week.

Very clever theme finding clothing with alternate meanings. Briefly had hooks for the boxer before SOCKS. A fun Sunday.

Martin, why would anyone put socks and a belt on a dog?

Very nicely done, Joel.

Yes, some of the themers were a bit contrived. Well, actually they all were, which was sort of the point and a lot of the fun. The contrivances made me giggle more than once. The one that prompted the most giggles was TUBE TOP AND CLOGS, what with the clue summoning thoughts of plumber's ... uh ... behind. Put it all together and the mental picture is quite wonderful!

Even as a non-driver, I liked the ONRAMP/EXITLANE duo, because it made me think.

I don't understand 57D at all, so I'm going to assume it's something sports-related and very very insiderish. Or maybe martial and equally insiderish. If not, maybe someone will explain.

Some things I didn't know (at least as clued) but got from the crossings: LA WOMAN, NOLAN, ICEMAN, NCISLA (someone parse please), LOIS, a few others.

Stickiest spot was in the middle of the West Coast: The problem was that I had BUT instead of OUT for [Excuse] at 54D, and I was trying for some sort of basketball equivalent to RBI at 53D. Finally saw POT and untangled that.

A nice Sunday puzzle. Thank you.

Deb,

Your photo emus got the caption wrong. It's "Buckwheat blini with mushroom caviar," not "mushroom and caviar." Although blini and caviar are wonderful, there's no caviar in this dish.

Many Russian zakuski, or appetizers, are called "caviar," like "mushroom caviar" or "eggplant caviar." Usually, the vegetable base is minced and looks a bit more like real caviar, but this one is nicely coarse for (I think) better texture.
http://happykitchen.rocks/russian-mushroom-caviar/

The Russian name for this is gribnaya ikra. "Ikra" is caviar. The word for salmon roe in a sushi bar, "ikura," is a Russian loanword. Since Hokkaido and Sakhalin Island are only 25 miles apart, this is not as odd as it may seem.

enjoyed it. good level of difficulty. liked bloomers and hose best. last to fall was the SW corner. got the Late, Late Show and that was that!

At last! A puzzle with big fills, sensible and straightforward theme, NOT tedious, but not a breeze either. Also some nice clues with a smattering of ahas. Well done! Thank you.

This was fast and fun. Just what I needed after a day spent shopping (or mostly waiting for my wife as she shopped).

"L'état, c'est moi"
comes a bit too soon
peut-être