Quicklinks:
The full solution to today’s crossword that appears in the New York Times
The full solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword that appears in all other publications
THEME: A River Puns Through It … all the theme answers contain the names of rivers, and “sound like” (or pun) well-known expressions:
– MISSOURI LOVES COMPANY (misery loves company)
– YANGTZE DOODLE DANDY (“Yankee Doodle Dandy”)
– TOMORROW NEVA DIES (“Tomorrow Never Dies”)
– YALU JACKET (yellowjacket)
– ODER EATERS (Odor Eaters)
– YUKON GO HOME AGAIN (you can go home again)
– THAMES FIGHTIN’ WORDS (them’s fightin’ words)
– WE”RE ALL INDUS TOGETHER (we’re all in this together)
COMPLETION TIME: 33m 44s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … EN LAI (EN LEI), DAAE (DEAE)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
Before the Milano, Pepperidge Farm produced what they called the Naples cookie, a vanilla wafer with chocolate on top. But, this lovely morsel had problems when stored or transported in a warm environment as the cookies stuck to each other, The solution was to put the filling between two wafers, and the Milano cookie was born.
14. Chocolate substitute : CAROB
The carob is a tree or shrub, in the pea family. It is mainly grown for its seed pods. The carob seeds are dried or roasted, and when powdered or chipped make a good substitute for chocolate.
The sports teams of the University of Oregon are known as the Oregon Ducks. The big rivals to the Ducks are the Oregon State Beavers, a rivalry that has been dubbed “the Civil War”. The two schools’ football teams play a game every year for the Platypus Trophy.
23. With 24-Across, why a Midwest river has so many tributaries? : MISSOURI
24. See 23-Across : LOVES COMPANY
From “misery loves company”.
The Missouri is of course the longest river in North America at 2,340 miles in length. It rises in the Missouri Headwaters State Park near the town of Three Forks, Montana, and empties into the Mississippi River just a few miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.
Moët & Chandon is a French winery, one of the world’s largest producers of champagne. The company was founded by wine trader Claude Moët in 1743. The name was changed to Moët & Chandon in the 1830s when Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, an in-law to the Moët family, was given co-ownership. Moët & Chandon owns the famous Dom Pérignon brand name, honoring the Benedictine monk who did so much to improve the quality of champagne.
Harrison Ford played at least three celebrated, recurring roles in movies: Han Solo in the “Star Wars” series, the title character in the “Indiana Jones” series, and Jack Ryan in the movie versions of Tom Clancy novels. In the early days, Ford became a self-taught carpenter in order to put bread on the table while he looked for acting roles. As a carpenter he worked as a stagehand for the rock band “The Doors”, and he built a sun deck for actress Sally Kellerman (from the movie “M*A*S*H”). George Lucas hired him to build cabinets in his home, and then gave him a part in “American Graffiti”, after which I think Ford hung up his tool belt …
From “Yankee Doodle Dandy”.
46. Literary title character from the planet Antiterra : ADA
The reference here is to the 1969 novel by Vladimir Nabokov, “Ada”. The story takes place in the 1800s on Antiterra, an Earth-like planet that has a history similar to ours but with interesting differences. For example, there is a United States, but the country covers all of North and South America. What we call eastern Canada is a French-speaking province called “Canady”, and western Canada is a Russian-speaking province “Estody”. The plot-line is about a man called Van Veen who, when 14 years old, meets for the first time his cousin, 11-year-old Ada. The two cousins eventually have an affair, only to discover later that they are in fact brother and sister.
From “Tomorrow Never Dies”
“Tomorrow Never Dies” is the second of the James Bond films to star Pierce Brosnan as 007. Unlike most of the Bond movies, the storyline and title didn’t come from an original Ian Fleming book, as all the books had already been adapted for the big screen. The original title given to the film was “Tomorrow Never Lies”, but this was read as “Tomorrow Never Dies” on a garbled fax by MGM, the film’s distributors. MGM liked the “Dies” and they insisted it be used.
The Neva is a very large river that spills into the Gulf of Finland at the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. The river forms an expansive delta as it reaches the Baltic Sea, and the delta gives rise to numerous islands, with the number of islands further increased by a network of canals. The historic part of the city is built on these islands, giving St. Petersburg a very Venetian feel. I had the privilege of visiting the city some years ago, and I can attest that it is indeed spectacular …
“Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” was one of many songs credited to Lennon/McCartney, that was actually written by just one of the pair. Paul McCartney wrote this one, a song that John Lennon really did not like at all. Apparently he was quite obstructionist during the recording of the song, even walking out at one point.
Aunt Bee was a character in “The Andy Griffith Show”. The character’s full name was Beatrice Taylor but everyone in Mayberry called her “Aunt Bee”. In the storyline she was the aunt of the protagonist, Sheriff Andy Taylor. Aunt Bee was played by actress Frances Beaver.
61. “I Shot Andy Warhol” actress Taylor : LILI
“I Shot Andy Warhol” is a largely realistic exploration of the life of Valerie Solanas, the woman famous for having attempted to kill pop artist Andy Warhol in 1968. Solanas was a radical feminist writer and authored a tract called the “SCUM Manifesto” in which she encouraged male gendercide and the setting up of an all-female society. In the movie, Solanas is played by actress Lili Taylor.
64. Old-timey oath : NERTS
Nerts is a slang term, a corruption of “nuts!”
66. Life vest worn on a Korean border river? : YALU JACKET
From “yellowjacket”.
A large section of the border between China and North Korea runs down the center of the Yalu River. Yalu is the Chinese name for the river, whereas it is known as the Amnok in Korean. The valley through which the western part of the river flows was the site of many, many dogfights during the Korean War, and was famously known as “MiG Alley”.
From “Odor Eaters”.
Piranhas are reputed to be able to strip an animal to its bones in seconds, but this is somewhat of a myth. Piranhas are not in fact strict carnivores, and usually are more of a nuisance to fishermen rather than a danger, as they tend to eat bait intended to catch other fish. Much of the reputation of the piranha is owed to the description written by President Theodore Roosevelt in this book “Through the Brazilian Wilderness”. He was somewhat hoodwinked though, as local fishermen put on a special “show” for him. They dumped hordes of hungry piranhas into a dammed section of a river and then tossed in a sliced up cow. President Roosevelt was pretty impressed by the orchestrated feeding frenzy.
76. Speed of sound : MACH I
The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is it’s speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane travelling at Mach 2 for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1877 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.
While I found “American Beauty” to be an enjoyable and interesting film (loved Annette Bening in it), I also found it very depressing. If you haven’t seen it, the main story is about a man having a midlife crisis (Kevin Spacey) and developing an infatuation for his teenage daughter’s flirtatious friend. Definitely worth watching, and it did get huge accolades when it was released in 1999. A blog reader kindly pointed out to me that that film’s title is a reference to the American Beauty rose. The rose features prominently in the sexual fantasy sequences, with the Kevin Spacey character dreaming about the young girl lying naked on a bed of rose petals.
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89. ___ dixit : IPSE
“Ipse dixit” is Latin, meaning “he himself said it”.
92. Request to an Alaskan river to return to its headwaters? : YUKON GO HOME AGAIN
From “you can go home again”.
The Yukon River is the longest river in Alaska, and also passes though Canada’s Yukon territory. Along its length of almost 2,000 miles, there are only four, just four, vehicle-carrying bridges. Amazing …
When I was growing up in Ireland, a “bathroom” was a room that had a bath and no toilet. The separate room with the toilet was called “the toilet” or sometimes the W.C. (the water closet). Apparently the term closet was used because in the 1800s as toilets moved indoors they often displaced clothes in a “closet”, as a closet was just the right size to take the commode. It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from Waterloo (water-closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure.
99. Atlanta-based cable inits. : TNT
TNT stands for Turner Network Television. It made a big splash in the eighties when it started to broadcast old MGM movies that had been “colorized”, not something that was a big hit with the public. In recent years, the TNT programming lineup is governed by the tag-line “We Know Drama”, and includes shows like “Judging Amy”, “ER” and “Cold Case”.
From “them’s fightin’ words!”
The Thames is the second longest river in England (after the Severn), most famous as the principal river of London. The river used to be tidal in London, before locks were build downstream. However, tidal flooding is still a major concern, so the famous Thames Barrier was built (opened in 1984), the second largest movable flood barrier in the world. The barrier was closed to prevent flooding four times in the eighties, 35 times in the nineties, and 75 times in the first decade of this century. I can see a pattern …
107. The merchant of Venice : ANTONIO
Famously, at the climax of William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, Antonio goes on trial because he cannot repay a loan to Shylock of 3,000 ducats. Faced with non-payment, Shylock demands his legal right to “a pound of flesh”.
“The End of the Affair” is a largely autobiographical novel by Graham Greene. There have been a couple of movie adaptions of the book, including a 1999 Neil Jordan version starring Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore and Stephen Rea.
109. Tad : SKOSH
“Skosh” is a slang term meaning “a little bit”, originally military slang that came out of the Korean War. “Skosh” derives from the Japanese word “sukoshi” which translates as “few, little, some”.
116. “Buon ___” : GIORNO
“Buon Giorno” is the Italian for “good morning” (literally “good day”).
120. With 123-Across, what minor rivers of Pakistan say at their junctions? : WE’RE ALL INDUS
123. See 120-Across : TOGETHER
From “we’re all in this together”.
The Indus river rises in Tibet and flows through the length of Pakistan and empties into the Arabian Sea, the part of the Indian Ocean lying to the west of the Indian subcontinent. The Indus gives its name to the country of India as “India” used to be the name of the region (now in modern-day Pakistan) along the eastern banks of the river.
125. Train track beam : I-RAIL
I’ve heard of an I-beam, but never an I-rail …
Gertrude Ederle was an American swimmer, from New York City. Ederle became the first woman to cross the English Channel, in 1926. Only five men had made the same swim before Ederle, with the fastest crossing being in 16 hours 33 minutes. Ederle blew that record “out of the water”, arriving in Dover in 14 hours 39 minutes.
The New Jersey Devils are the professional ice hockey team based in Newark. The club was founded in 1974, in Kansas City, originally as the Mohawks, but was quickly renamed the Scouts. The franchise moved to Denver in 1976, becoming the Colorado Rockies. The move to Newark happened in 1982, when the team was renamed the New Jersey Devils.
130. V.M.I. athletes : KEYDETS
The Virginia Military Institute is one of the six senior military colleges in the country, and is located in Lexington, Kentucky. The sports teams of VMI are known as the Keydets, southern slang for “cadets”.
Down
Phil Simms was an NFL quarterback and works as a broadcaster with CBS.
4. Priests’ changing room : VESTRY
A vestry is where a priest dresses for services. Like so many English words, “vestry” came into our language via Anglo-Norman, from the Latin “vestarium” meaning “wardrobe”.
5. U2 collaborator on “Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1” : ENO
“Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1” was a collaboration between the Irish band U2 and Brian Eno, an album of songs written for imaginary movies. Go figure …
6. Hold ’em alternative : STUD
Stud poker is the name given to many variants of the game, all characterized by the dealer giving each player a mix of cards face-down and face-up. The cards facing downwards are called “hole cards”, cards only visible to the individuals who hold that particular hand. That gives rise to the phrase “ace in the hole”, a valuable holding that only the player with the ace is aware of.
8. Illinois home of Black Hawk College : MOLINE
Black Hawk College is a community college with campuses in Moline and Galva, Illinois.
9. With 11-Down, prehistoric period : IRON
(11. See 9-Down : AGE)
Ancient societies can be classified by the “three-age system”, which depends on the prevalence of materials used to make tools. The three ages are:
– The Stone Age
– The Iron Age
– The Bronze Age
The actual dates defined by each age depend on the society, as the transition from the use of one material to another varied across the globe.
“My Name Is Asher Lev” is a novel by Rabbi Chaim Potok, first published in 1972. The story follows the experiences of Asher Lev, a Hasidic Jewish boy in New York City. His story continues in the sequel “The Gift of Asher Lev”.
16. Narrow inlets : RIAS
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord. Both are formed when the sea level raised and flooded the valley. A ria can be confused with a fjord, but the difference is that a ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.
17. Sommelier’s prefix : OENO-
In Greek mythology Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us “oeno-” as a prefix meaning “wine”. Oenology, for example, is the study of wine.
18. ___ Mawr : BRYN
I used to live not far from Bryn-mawr (also Brynmwar) in Wales, the town with the highest elevation in the country. Appropriately enough, bryn mawr is Welsh for “big hill”. There is also a Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania (note the different capitalization), named after its Welsh counterpart. At the Pennsylvania location there’s a Brynn Mawr college, a private women’s school that was the first American university to offer graduate degrees to women.
25. Shield border, in heraldry : ORLE
In heraldry, an orle is a decorative band that lies close to the edge of the front surface of a shield. With such a design, the orle necessarily takes on the shape of the shield.
Jamie Farr played the cross-dressing Corporal Max Klinger on the TV version of “M*A*S*H”. His character was always trying to get out of Korea, usually by looking for certification as someone mentally incompetent. There was a deliberately ironic twist in the final episode that aired, as Klinger was the only character to voluntarily stay on in Korea (he had married a local woman).
34. Lickspittle : TOADY
Someone who is “lickspittle” is toady, a sycophant. It’s a term that entered the language in the early 1800s.
Nero is of course famous for “fiddling while Rome burned”, so they say …
The Great Fire of Rome raged for five and a half days in 64 AD. Of the fourteen districts of Rome, three were completely destroyed, and seven more suffered serious damage. The emperor at the time was of course Nero, although reports that he fiddled, played his lyre or sang while the city burned, those accounts are probably not true. In fact, Nero was staying outside of Rome when the fire started, and rushed home on hearing the news. He organized a massive relief effort, throwing open his own home to house many of the citizens who were left living on the street.
38. California governor who was recalled in 2003 : DAVIS
Gray Davis was the Democratic Governor of California from 1999 until he was recalled (kicked out of office) in 2003, and Arnold Schwarzenegger took over. Davis was basically removed from office by the voting population who were upset at an increased tax burden.
39. Workers’ rights org. : NLRB
The National Labor Relations Board was set up in 1935. It is an independent government agency, with the roles of conducting elections for labor unions, and investigating and rooting out any labor practices that are deemed to be unfair.
I’m a bit jaded with big, stage musicals I must admit, but I will always have time for Andrew Lloyd Weber’s masterpiece “The Phantom of the Opera”. It is the longest running musical in the history of Broadway, and deservedly so. And now there is a sequel, which I would dearly love to see, so let’s hope it gets over here soon. “Love Never Dies” opened in the West End in London in March 2010, but the opening in the US has been delayed while Lloyd Weber recovers from surgery for prostate cancer.
42. 2006 World Cup champion : ITALY
The 2006 FIFA World Cup (i.e. soccer) was held in Germany. Italy beat France in the final, but only by virtue of a penalty shootout.
The SS Andrea Doria was an Italian ocean liner with the home port of Genoa. She was named after Andrea Doria, a 16th-century general from the city. As always seems to be the case with ships that go down, the Andrea Doria was the pride of the fleet, deemed to be the biggest, fastest and safest of Italy’s ships in the fifties. Her end came in 1956 when she collided with the MS Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket Island. Such was the damage to the side of the vessel, that she quickly and severely listed to starboard, rendering half her lifeboats unusable. Nonetheless, 1660 crew and passengers were rescued by vessels that came to her aid. Only 46 lives were lost, mainly in the collision itself. The Andrea Doria capsized and sank, eleven hours after the collision.
49. “Confessions of an English ___-Eater” : OPIUM
“Confessions of an English Opium-Eater” was an autobiographical work by the author Thomas de Quincey. The book is his most famous work and tells of his addiction to laudanum. Laudanum is an extremely addictive mixture of opium and alcohol.
Ione Skye is an American actress, born in Hertfordshire in England. She is best known for portraying the character Diane Court in the 1989 high school romance movie “Say Anything …”, starring opposite John Cusack, Skye is the daughter of the Scottish folk singer Donovan.
54. Father, as a mudder : SIRE
A mudder is a racehorse, one that runs well on a wet or muddy track.
59. H as in Hera : ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.
In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and was noted for her jealousy and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character in Roman mythology was Juno.
Before “Shrek” was a successful movie franchise, it was a children’s picture book called “Shrek!” authored and illustrated by William Steig. The title “Shrek!” came from the German/Yiddish word Schreck, meaning “fear” or “terror”.
68. ___-deucey : ACEY
Acey-deucy is a fast-played variant of backgammon. Apparently the game has been a favorite with members of the armed forces since the days of WWI.
(47. See 69-Down : ENLAI)
Zhou Enlai (also Chou En-Lai) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China, and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. He ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss . He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, leading to unrest and a change in political direction for the country.
Actor Chris Pine played a very young Captain James T. Kirk in the 2009 “Star Trek” film. The word is that he will be the fourth actor to play the role of Jack Ryan in the film series from the Tom Clancy novels (after Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck).
73. Hemingway, once : EXPAT
Ernest Hemingway moved around a lot. He was born in Illinois, and after leaving school headed to the Italian front during WWI. There he served as an ambulance driver, an experience he used as inspiration for “A Farewell to Arms”. He returned to the US after being seriously wounded, but a few years later moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent. He covered the Spanish War as a journalist, from Spain, using this experience for “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. During the thirties and forties he had two permanent residences, one in Key West, Florida, and one in Cuba. In the late fifties he moved to Ketchum, Idaho, where he committed suicide in 1961.
80. Silly singing : SCAT
Scat singing is a vocal improvisation found in the world of jazz. There aren’t any words as such, just random nonsense syllables made up on the spot.
82. Prefix with carpal : META-
There are five metacarpal bones in each hand. They make up the framework of the palm and the back of the hand. Each metacarpal is connected to a finger and the wrist.
84. ___ apparatus (cell organelle) : GOLGI
We all remember learning about the Golgi apparatus (also Golgi body) when studying cell structure in biology class, right? This cell component was discovered in 1897 by Camillo Golgi who gave it his name. The Golgi apparatus plays an essential role in processing the larger molecules used in metabolism i.e. lipids and proteins.
Hogwarts is of course the boarding school in the “Harry Potter” books.
Herman Melville (whose family home I was lucky enough to visit not too long ago) mined his own experiences for his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later, and lived with natives,actually cannibals, on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate heading for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).
88. Rock, in modern lingo : WEAR
This modern lingo is beyond me. I have no idea how “rock” and “wear” are connected …
93. Neighborhood west of the Bowery : NOHO
NoHo is short for North of Houston (street), and is the equivalent area to SoHo, South of Houston, both in New York City.
101. Acronym for a small-runway aircraft : STOL
STOL is an acronym, and stands for Short Take-Off and Landing.
Van Gogh painted his “Irises” while he was in an asylum in the south of France, the year before he committed suicide. The original owner was a French art critic and supporter of Van Gogh who paid 300 francs to purchase the painting. “Irises” was sold for $53.9 million in 1987 making it the most expensive painting sold up to that point. But, the buyer didn’t actually have the necessary funds, so it had to be resold in 1990. It was bought by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where you can see it today.
111. 0.2% of a ream : SHEET
A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper is called a “short ream”.
There was a sixties dance craze called “The Swim”, inspired by the Bobby Freeman hit “C’mon Let’s Swim”. The words of the song call out the moves, so let’s all do it together, shall we?
C’mon everybody, c’mon in
Bobby’s gonna show you how to do the swim
Kinda like the monkey, kinda like the twist
Pretend you’re in the water and you go like this
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Just like the dog but not so low
Like the hully gully but not so slow
Now baby swim, baby do the swim
Do what you wanna, do like you wish
C’mon baby now and swim like a fish
Risk is fabulous board game, first sold in France in 1957. It was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse, and he called his new game “La Conquete du Monde” (The Conquest of the World). A game of Risk is a must during holidays in our house …
116. Rook : GULL
A gull or a rook is a swindler or a cheat.
121. The Silver State: Abbr. : NEV
The official nickname of Nevada is the “Silver State”. The unofficial nickname is the “Battle Born State”. “Battle Born” is a reference to Nevada being awarded statehood during the American Civil War.
122. Soft & ___ : DRI
Soft & Dri is an antiperspirant.
124. Ice cream mogul Joseph : EDY
Dreyers’ ice cream sells its products under the name Dreyers in the Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dryer and Joseph Edy.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Most debonair : SUAVEST
8. Cookie with a geographical name : MILANO
14. Chocolate substitute : CAROB
19. More than just leaning toward : INTENT ON
21. The Ducks of the N.C.A.A. : OREGON
22. Basketmaking material : OSIER
23. With 24-Across, why a Midwest river has so many tributaries? : MISSOURI
24. See 23-Across : LOVES COMPANY
26. Big name in bubbly : MOET
27. Attacks dinner : DIGS IN
29. Popular Ford : HARRISON
30. Devour, with “up” or “down” : SNARF
32. She’s prone to brooding : HEN
33. Exemplary : STELLAR
35. Fop who makes idle sketches of a Chinese river? : YANGTZE DOODLE DANDY
42. They’re checked at check-in : IDS
45. Move, in Realtor-ese : RELO
46. Literary title character from the planet Antiterra : ADA
47. See 69-Down : ENLAI
48. “If you don’t meet my demands within 24 hours, I’ll blow up a Russian river”? : TOMORROW NEVA DIES
55. Corner : TRAP
56. Not give ___ : A RAP
57. Start of a Beatles refrain : OB-LA-DI
58. Pained expression? : YOWIE
60. Aunt of 1960s TV : BEE
61. “I Shot Andy Warhol” actress Taylor : LILI
62. Fail to notice : MISS
64. Old-timey oath : NERTS
66. Life vest worn on a Korean border river? : YALU JACKET
71. Piranhas in a German border river? : ODER EATERS
76. Speed of sound : MACH I
77. ___ spell : SIT A
79. One often going by limo : EXEC
80. “American Beauty” director Mendes : SAM
83. Corporate shuffling, for short : REORG
85. Stand-up guy? : NO SHOW
89. ___ dixit : IPSE
90. Workers : CREW
92. Request to an Alaskan river to return to its headwaters? : YUKON GO HOME AGAIN
95. Played one’s part : ACTED
97. Can of Cornwall? : LOO
98. Provoke : GOAD
99. Atlanta-based cable inits. : TNT
100. Aggressive posturin’ on an English river? : THAMES FIGHTIN’ WORDS
107. The merchant of Venice : ANTONIO
108. Stephen of “The End of the Affair” : REA
109. Tad : SKOSH
113. Bookish : STUDIOUS
116. “Buon ___” : GIORNO
119. Dull discomfort : ACHE
120. With 123-Across, what minor rivers of Pakistan say at their junctions? : WE’RE ALL INDUS
123. See 120-Across : TOGETHER
125. Train track beam : I-RAIL
126. Channel crosser Gertrude : EDERLE
127. Connected, as circuit elements : SOLDERED
128. Fountain orders : MALTS
129. Team whose home ice is the Prudential Center : DEVILS
130. V.M.I. athletes : KEYDETS
Down
1. N.F.L. commentator Phil : SIMMS
2. Labor party? : UNION
3. Adrift, say : AT SEA
4. Priests’ changing room : VESTRY
5. U2 collaborator on “Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1” : ENO
6. Hold ’em alternative : STUD
7. Tubes, e.g. : TORI
8. Illinois home of Black Hawk College : MOLINE
9. With 11-Down, prehistoric period : IRON
10. “My Name is Asher ___” : LEV
11. See 9-Down : AGE
12. Snacked : NOSHED
13. Reachable by pager : ON CALL
14. Cold war term of address : COMRADE
15. Hopeful : ASPIRANT
16. Narrow inlets : RIAS
17. Sommelier’s prefix : OENO-
18. ___ Mawr : BRYN
20. One who doesn’t retire early : NIGHT OWL
25. Shield border, in heraldry : ORLE
28. “___ you!” : SEZ
31. Jamie of “M*A*S*H” : FARR
33. Pop : SODA
34. Lickspittle : TOADY
36. Last Julio-Claudian emperor : NERO
37. Semiliquid lump : GLOB
38. California governor who was recalled in 2003 : DAVIS
39. Workers’ rights org. : NLRB
40. Christine ___, “The Phantom of the Opera” heroine : DAAE
41. “Wow!” : YIPE
42. 2006 World Cup champion : ITALY
43. Andrea ___, famous shipwreck : DORIA
44. Minute : SMALL
49. “Confessions of an English ___-Eater” : OPIUM
50. Pinpoint, say : NAME
51. Works on copy : EDITS
52. Actress Skye : IONE
53. It has a big mouth : EWER
54. Father, as a mudder : SIRE
59. H as in Hera : ETA
63. “I thought ___!” (“My feeling exactly!”) : SO TOO
65. “Shrek!” author William : STEIG
67. Unsettle : JAR
68. ___-deucey : ACEY
69. With 47-Across, onetime Chinese premier : CHOU
70. 2009 sci-fi role for Chris Pine : KIRK
72. – : DASH
73. Hemingway, once : EXPAT
74. Fly catcher : RESIN
75. Whiff : SCENT
78. Expensive bar : INGOT
80. Silly singing : SCAT
81. Main : ARCH
82. Prefix with carpal : META-
84. ___ apparatus (cell organelle) : GOLGI
86. School whose motto is Latin for “Never tickle a sleeping dragon” : HOGWARTS
87. “Typee” sequel : OMOO
88. Rock, in modern lingo : WEAR
91. Cry of accomplishment : WE MADE IT
93. Neighborhood west of the Bowery : NOHO
94. Kicks in : ADDS
96. Stonewallers’ statements : DENIALS
101. Acronym for a small-runway aircraft : STOL
102. Sent to the free-throw line : FOULED
103. Like some jokes and jobs : INSIDE
104. Van Gogh painting that sold for a record $53.9 million in 1987 : IRISES
105. Prefix with con : NEO-
106. Cut a fine figure? : SKATED
110. Earth shade : OCHRE
111. 0.2% of a ream : SHEET
112. Tends, as sheep : HERDS
113. 1960s dance, with “the” : SWIM
114. Trillion: Prefix : TERA-
115. Risk territory east of Ukraine : URAL
116. Rook : GULL
117. Cozy corner : NOOK
118. Look badly? : OGLE
121. The Silver State: Abbr. : NEV
122. Soft & ___ : DRI
124. Ice cream mogul Joseph : EDY