Sun., 9/7 Julian Lim

[magus]

THEME:   phrases with an added long IO combined sound
   
GOOD ONES:    
Contest to win an objet d'art?   RACE FOR THE CURIO [race for the cure, long U]   
TV station mascot?   STUDIO CHICKEN [stewed chicken /long u/]   
Man of steel? ROBOT [unless he's made of titanium or plastic, which I guess they will be]   
Comprehensive command   SAVE ALL [didn't think computers]   
Sandwich ingredient for many?   SILENT D [irritating elision of the D-sound in the word my relatives (and I) pronounced "sangwich" --- probably from sangua, It. for blood]    
Domingo number  ARIA [could've been a Sunday hymn in Spain]   
   
BTW:   
I OWE YOU ONE title seems backwards as the I and O were placed there by the constructor (I); we have an I and O too many. Maybe "I'm O'd a Refund."

"DO HONOR to" seems below standard because HONOR works without the detritus.   
   
BS DEGREES:  Always thought my degrees in English should have been so termed leaving the science degrees for something less suggestive or descriptive.   
   
I was unaware of having engaged in CANOODLING, but let be be quick to state unequivocally: we never inhaled!   
   
Crossing MASHIE with both POUTINE and SHEA (butter) seems a tad Scrooge-like .

RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

Does Merl Reagle read these posts? Is he starting to panic? I complained about all the three- and four-letter words that appear in several puzzles every week. I began a month-long study to determine the most-used words in the six different crosswords that appear in four local newspapers. In three days I will post the results. In today's Los Angeles Times crossword, Reagle announced that he's taking a break from the three- and four-letter words which he refers to as "the workhorses of crossword puzzles." Each answer in today's puzzle is at least five letters long. Was he taking my comments to heart? Or was today's puzzle his own idea? At any rate, I enjoyed doing the puzzle.

The answers included several little-used phrases, such as  PITCREWS, GLASSSNAKE, HAIRSPRAYS, STACYKEACH, DULLACHE. TRACKSHOES, LETSSEENOW, and SLINGINK ("Write for a living, slangily"), and none of the usual Crosswordese. Way to go, Merl!