Day: October 26, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Boors : SCHLUBS
A “schlub” is a clumsy, stupid person. The term comes into English via Yiddish, possibly from the Polish “żłób“ meaning “blockhead”.

8. Latin dances : SALSAS
The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

14. Opponent of 14-Down, in sports : ALI
{14D. See 14-Across : FOREMAN)
George Foreman is a former World Heavyweight Champion boxer and Olympic gold medalist. Famously, Foreman lost his title to Muhammad Ali in the 1974 title fight that was billed as “the Rumble in the Jungle”. Foreman is also known for promoting the George Foreman Grill, and for naming all five of his sons “George”.

21. Opponent of 3-Down, in Greek myth : HERCULES
(3D. See 21-Across : HYDRA)
“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called Heracles.

The Lernaean Hydra was a sea snake that had multiple heads. Heracles had to slay the Hydra of Lerna as the second of his Twelve Labors.

22. Opponent of 9-Down, in classical literature : HECTOR
(9D. See 22-Across : ACHILLES)
Achilles is a Greek mythological figure, the main protagonist of Homer’s “Iliad”. Supposedly when Achilles was born his mother attempted to make him immortal by dipping him into the River Styx. As he was held by the heel as he was immersed, this became the only vulnerable point on his body. Years later he was killed when a poisoned arrow struck him in the heel. The arrow was shot by Paris.

As described in Homer’s “Iliad”, Hector was a Trojan prince and a great fighter. Hector was slain during the Trojan War, as the Greeks lay siege to Troy. If we are to believe the 2004 film “Troy”, Hector actually died at the hands of Achilles, while fighting a duel. Homer’s “Iliad” is less specific about the circumstances of Hector’s death.

25. Product once pitched by Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey : PEPSI
The Jackson Five agreed in 1983 to promote Pepsi products in a deal worth $5 million, which at the time was a record for a celebrity endorsement. While the brothers were filming a Pepsi Cola commercial in 1984, pyrotechnics accidentally set Michael Jackson’s hair on fire causing second-degree burns.

Mariah Carey started endorsing products in 2006, including the Intel Centrino computer chip. In a partnership with Pepsi and Motorola, Carey recorded a “Time of Your LIfe” ringtone, using a jingle that she sang in a Pepsi commercial.

27. Where some “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” is done : IN A TREE
The somewhat cruel kid’s rhyme goes:

“Jack” and “Jill” sitting in a tree:
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
First comes love,
then comes marriage,
then comes baby in a golden carriage!

31. The “L” of “A = L x W” : LENGTH
The area of a rectangle (A) is its length (L) multiplied by its width (W).

33. Mexico City sight : SMOG
“Smog” is a portmanteau word formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.

37. Banjoist Fleck : BELA
Béla Fleck is a banjo player who performed with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck was born in New York City and was given the name Béla Anton Leoš Fleck. He was named after Hungarian composer Béla Bartók, Austrian composer Anton Webern, and Czech composer Leoš Janáček. That’s quite a name to live up to, but by all accounts Fleck is one of the most technically proficient banjo players the world has ever known.

39. Steep slope : ESCARP
An escarp or escarpment is a steep slope or cliff. The term is also used for the inner wall of a ditch that is dug around a fortification.

41. March birthstone, traditionally : JASPER
The mineral known as jasper is a form of quartz. Usually colored red, jasper can be used as a stone in semi-precious jewelry. In fact, jasper is the March birthstone.

45. “Siegfried,” e.g. : OPERA
Richard Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” is more properly called “Der Ring des Nibelungen”, and is composed of four very, very long operas. The individual operas are:

– “Das Rheingold”
– “Die Walkure”
– “Siegfried”
– “Gotterdammerung”

47. Yellow diner packet : SPLENDA
Splenda and Equal are brand names for the artificial sweetener sucralose.

49. Google ___ : GLASS
Google Glass is a computer that one can wear, just like a pair of spectacles. In terms of hardware, Glass has a camera, a touchpad and a microphone. There has been a lot of discussion back and forth about Google Glass. The new technology has a lot of fans, but there are also many who have concerns about the use of Glass to invade someone’s privacy.

51. Opponent of 28-Down, in comics : BATMAN
(28D. See 51-Across : THE PENGUIN)
The Penguin is an enemy of Batman in the comic book series and its spinoffs. The villain first appeared in 1941 and was inspired by the advertising mascot of Kool cigarettes at that time, a penguin with a hat and cane. Famously, the Penguin was played by Burgess Meredith in “Batman” TV series in the 1960s. The character was also portrayed by Danny DeVito in the 1992 film “Batman Returns”.

53. Martial artist Jackie : CHAN
Jackie Chan is an actor from Hong Kong who is noted for his action and martial arts films. When Chan was 17-years-old he featured as a stunt actor in Bruce Lee movies. He also starred in the 1982 Hong Kong action film “Dragon Lord” which includes a fight scene that required an amazing 2900 takes, a record in the movie industry.

54. Animal also known as a hog-nosed coon : COATI
A coati is a member of the raccoon family and is also known as the Brazilian aardvark, or the snookum bear. The coati is native to Central and South America, but can also be found in the southwest of the United States.

60. Opponent of 49-Down, in film : KING KONG
(49D. See 60-Across : GODZILLA)
“King Kong vs. Godzilla” is a Japanese sci-fi movie, the first of two films that pit the monsters against each other. King Kong wins …

66. NPR’s Shapiro : ARI
Ari Shapiro is the very able White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR).

67. It may be taken from the neck of a superhero : PEZ
PEZ is an Austrian brand name for a particular candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name PEZ comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

68. Red topper : FEZ
“Fez” is the name given to the red cylindrical hat worn mainly in North Africa, and by Shriners here in the US. The fez used to be a very popular hat across the Ottoman Empire. The etymology of “fez” is unclear, although it might have something to do with the Moroccan city named Fez.

71. Baja aunt : TIA
Baja California is both the most northern and the most western of the Mexican states. The name translates from Spanish as “Lower California”.

72. Female gametes : OVA
A gamete is a reproductive cell that has half the full complement of genes needed to make a normal cell. In sexual reproduction, it takes two gametes, one from each parent, to fuse into one cell which then develops into a new organism. The female gamete is the ovum, and the male the sperm.

75. Relative of neo-soul : ACID JAZZ
The musical genre known as “acid jazz” is also called “club jazz”. The genre originated in London clubs in the 1980s.

79. Hatfields or McCoys : CLAN
The Hatfield and McCoy families of West Virginia and Kentucky were involved in a notorious feud that lasted from 1863 to 1891. The feud was somewhat resurrected in 1979 when representatives from both families appeared on the game show “Family Feud”. The McCoys came out ahead on TV and went home with over $11,000 and a pig.

80. “What ___?” (Mark Twain essay) : IS MAN
“What Is Man?” is a 1906 essay written by Mark Twain. It takes the form of a conversation between a Young Man and Old Man, as they discuss the nature of man. The title comes from Psalm 8:4
What is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?

83. Unusual diacritic used in Portuguese : OTILDE
An “otilde” (sometimes O-tilde) is the combination of the letter O with the tilde diacritic mark i.e. “Õ”. Otildes are used in languages such as Estonian, Portuguese and Vietnamese.

85. Jack on “24” : BAUER
Jack Bauer is the main character in the television show “24”. Bauer is played by the actor Kiefer Sutherland.

86. Long-distance swimmer Nyad : DIANA
Diana Nyad is a long-distance swimmer. Nyad holds the distance record for a non-stop swim without a wet-suit, a record that she set in 1979 by swimming from Bimini to Florida. In 1975 she became the fastest person to circle Manhattan in a swim that lasted 7 hours 57 minutes. More recently, in 2013, she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage. She was 64 years old when she made that swim!

87. Lila ___, Oscar winner for “Zorba the Greek” : KEDROVA
Lila Kedrova was a Russian-born French actress best-known for playing Mme. Hortense in the 1964 film “Zorba the Greek”. Kedrova won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for that performance.

90. Opponent of 64-Down, in the Bible : DAVID
(64D. See 90-Across : GOLIATH)
In the story of David and Goliath, the Israelites and the Philistines faced each other in battle at the Valley of Elah. Goliath was the warrior champion of the Philistines and each day he challenged the Israelites to send out their champion to decide the battle in a one-on-one fight. No one was courageous enough to accept the challenge until young David agreed to face the mighty Goliath. David felled the giant soldier with a stone from his sling.

92. Brackish water locales : DELTAS
Some rivers deposit a lot of silt at the river’s mouth, where it empties into a sea or ocean. That deposit of silt makes the river more shallow, and so the volume of water spreads out laterally, into a triangular or delta-shape.

93. Missouri tributary : PLATTE
The Platte River used to be called the Nebrakier, which is an Oto word meaning “flat river”. Indeed, the state of Nebraska takes its name from “Nebrakier”. For a while it was also called the River Plate as “plate” is the French word “flat”. Later this became “Platte”, the phonetic spelling of the French “plate”.

96. Opponent of 78-Down, in fable : HARE
(78D. See 96-Across : TORTOISE)
“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

97. Cousin of ibid. : LOC CIT
Loc. cit. is short for “loco citato” meaning “in the place cited”. Loc. cit. is used in a footnote instead of op. cit. as it refers not only to a prior work, but also to the same page in that work.

Ibid. is short for the Latin word “ibidem” and is typically found in footnotes and bibliographies. Ibid. is used to refer the reader to the prior citation, instead of giving the same information all over again (title, author etc.).

101. Opponent of 86-Down, in games : KASPAROV
(86D. See 101-Across : DEEP BLUE)
Deep Blue was a computer developed by IBM specifically for playing chess. In 1996 it became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion. The champion in question was the great Garry Kasparov, although he came out on top in the end by winning the 6-game competition 4-2.

114. Where to emulate the locals, it’s said : IN ROME
The proverb “when in Rome, do as the Romans do” probably dates back to the days of St. Augustine. St. Augustine wrote a letter around 390 AD in which he states:

When I go to Rome, I fast on Saturday, but here [Milan] I do not. Do you also follow the custom of whatever church you attend, if you do not want to give or receive scandal?

116. English city where the Magna Carta originated : ST ALBANS
St. Albans is a city just north of central London. The city takes its name from St. Alban, the first British martyr, who was beheaded there sometime before AD 324. St. Alban died in St. Albans Abbey, which is also where the first draft of the Magna Carta was drawn up. If you’ve ever seen the excellent movie “Birthday Girl” starring Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin, it is set in St. Albans (although it was actually filmed in Australia, to suit Ms. Kidman’s schedule!).

The Magna Carta is a landmark document issued in England in 1215. It represents the first time that an English king had to submit to the will of his subjects, a group of barons who sought to limit the powers of the monarchy. In particular the Magna Carta calls out that no freeman could be punished except through the law of the land. And of course, the Magna Carta was an inspiration for the United States Constitution.

119. Ideal world : UTOPIA
The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More for his book “Utopia” published in 1516 describing an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

Down
2. Wassail : CAROL
“Wassail” is ale or mulled wine used for toasting at festivals, especially Christmas. The term “wassail” comes from Old Norse “ves heill” meaning “be healthy”. The term can also be used to describe a Christmas carol that is sung while “wassailing”, drinking wassail during the December festival.

4. Part of many a silo : LAUNCHER
There are still hundreds Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) in service, with most of them dotted around the landscape of the plain states. I was driving through the area a couple of years ago and counted five missile silos and two launch control centers, just sitting there, at the side of the road.

5. Address letters : URL
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

7. Postpaid encls. : SASES
A self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) might be an enclosure (enc.) sent with a letter.

8. The 12 of the Pac-12: Abbr. : SCHS
Pac-12 is an abbreviation for the Pacific-12 Conference, a college athletic conference in the western US. The Pac-12 has won more NCAA National Team Championships than any other conference. The Pac-12 was founded in 1915 as the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC). Over time as it grew, the conference went by the names Big Five, Big Six, Pacific-8, Pacific-10 and became the Pacific-12 in 2011.

10. Inc.’s cousin : LLC
A limited liability company (LLC) is a company structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners.

13. Sardinelike fish : SPRAT
A sprat is a forage fish that travels in large schools with other species of fish, and that looks like a baby sardine. Although sprats are found all over the world, they are particularly associated with the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe.

16. Dutch financial giant : ING
ING is a huge Dutch banking institution created via a merger in 1991. The company headquarters is in a spectacular building in Amsterdam called simply ING House. ING stands for Internationale Nederlanden Groep.

17. Acidity measures, informally : PHS
As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

20. The ___ City (New Orleans) : CRESCENT
One of the nicknames for New Orleans is “Crescent City”. This is a reference to the crescent-shape course taken by the Lower Mississippi River as it flows through the city.

26. W.W. II craft : PT BOAT
PT boats were motor torpedo boats: small speedy vessels that used torpedoes as their primary weapon against large surface ships. The “PT” stands for “Patrol Torpedo”. The most famous PT boats that served during WWII were probably PT-41 that carried General Douglas MacArthur and his family from Corregidor to Mindanao in his escape from the Philippines, and PT-109 that was commanded by Lieutenant John F. Kennedy, future President of the United States.

30. Prefix with plunk : KER-
KerPlunk is a children’s game that has been around since 1967. It’s all about trying to remove straws from a web without dropping a ball … kerplunk!

34. Windy City terminal code : ORD
O’Hare International is the fourth busiest airport in the world. The original airport was constructed on the site between 1942 and 1943, and was used by the Douglas Aircraft Company for the manufacture of planes during WWII. Before the factory and airport were built, there was a community in the area called Orchard Place, so the airport was called Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field. This name is the derivation of the airport’s current location identifier: ORD (OR-chard D-ouglas). Orchard Place Airport was renamed to O’Hare International in 1949 in honor of Lieutenant Commander Butch O’Hare who grew up in Chicago. O’Hare was the US Navy’s first flying ace and a Medal of Honor recipient in WWII. As an aside, Butch O’Hare’s father Edward was a lawyer friend of Al Capone who eventually worked undercover for the IRS and helped get the famous gangster convicted on tax evasion. Some years later, Edward was shot to death while driving his car.

35. Collection of marks, for short? : GPA
Grade point average (GPA)

38. Leader of ancient Ephesus? : EPSILON
The word “Ephesus” (an Ancient Greek city) starts with the Greek letter epsilon (E).

40. ’70s radical grp. : SLA
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was founded in 1973 by an escapee of the prison system, Donald DeFreeze. The group’s manifesto promoted the rights of African Americans although, in the 2-3 year life of the group, DeFreeze was the only black member. Famously, the SLA kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974. Hearst apparently fell victim to what is called the Stockholm syndrome and became sympathetic to her captors’ cause. She joined the SLA and assumed the name “Tania”.

41. Good thing to hit : JACKPOT
The term “jackpot” dates back to the 1800s and is from the game of poker. In some variants there are progressive antes, meaning that players have to “ante up” when no player has a pair of “jacks” or better … building a “jackpot”.

43. What “America” has four of : STANZAS
The patriotic song “America” is also known by its first line, “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee”. The song was written by Samuel Francis Smith in 1831, and was the de facto national anthem of the country until “The Star-Spangled Banner” was declared the official anthem.

44. Beer ___ : PONG
The game of beer pong is also known as “Beirut”. Beer pong reputedly originated as a drinking game in the fraternities of Dartmouth College in the fifties, when it was played with paddles and a ping pong net on a table. The origin of the “Beirut” name is less clear, but it probably was coined in while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in late seventies and the eighties.

46. Arafat successor : ABBAS
Mahmoud Abbas took over as Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization in 2004 after the death of Yasser Arafat. Abbas is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority, equivalent to “head of state”.

Yasser (also Yasir) Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, the son of two Palestinians and the second-youngest of seven children. Arafat was beaten by his father as a child and so did not have a good relationship with him. Arafat did not attend his father’s funeral, nor did he visit his grave. The beatings were apparently administered because the young Arafat was repeatedly attending religious services in the Jewish quarter of Cairo. Arafat’s explanation was that he wanted to “study the mentality” of the Jewish people.

47. Stanley, for one : STEAM CAR
A “steam car” is an automobile that is powered by a small steam engine. Steam cars evolved out of steam locomotives, and were around about one hundred years before cars with internal combustion engines. The most successful steam car was the Stanley Steamer, which was produced from 1896 to 1924.

59. Squares : PIAZZAS
“Piazza” is Italian for “square”.

61. One of the brands of Yum! Brands : KFC
The famous “Colonel” of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame was Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur from Henryville, Indiana. Although not really a “Colonel”, Sanders did indeed serve in the military. He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1906 at the age of 16, lying about his age. He spent the whole of his time in the Army as a soldier in Cuba. It was much later, in the 1930s, that Sanders went into the restaurant business making his specialty deep-fried chicken. By 1935 his reputation as a “character” had grown, so much so that Governor Ruby Laffoon of Kentucky gave Sanders the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel”. Later in the fifties, Sanders developed his trademark look with the white suit, string tie, mustache and goatee. When Sanders was 65 however, his business failed and in stepped Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. Thomas simplified the Sanders menu, cutting it back from over a hundred items to just fried chicken and salads. That was enough to launch KFC into the fast food business. Sanders sold the US franchise in 1964 for just $2 million and moved to Canada to grow KFC north of the border. He died in 1980 and is buried in Louisville, Kentucky. The Colonel’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices is indeed a trade secret. Apparently there is only one copy of the recipe, a handwritten piece of paper, written in pencil and signed by Colonel Sanders. Since 2009, the piece of paper has been locked in a computerized vault surrounded with motion detectors and security cameras.

63. What fog might delay, for short : ETA
Expected time of arrival (ETA)

65. Hall-of-Fame outfielder Roush : EDD
Edd Roush was a big hitter who played Major League Baseball, starting in 1913 for the Chicago White Sox. He jumped ship to the Federal League in 1914, a league set up to compete with the already well-established National and American Leagues. The upstart league only lasted a couple of seasons. When Edd Roush passed away in 1988 at the age of 94, he was the last surviving player from the short-lived Federal League.

75. ___ Zion Church : AME
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church was formed in New York City. The church was established by African American Christians who faced discrimination when attending other churches. Initially the African American congregations were led by Caucasian Methodist ministers, with the first African American being ordained in 1820.

81. 3 x 3 x 3 container? : SUDOKU
Number puzzles similar to our modern-day Sudoku first appeared in French newspapers in the late 1800s. The format that we use today was created by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old freelance puzzle constructor from Connersville, Indiana and first published in 1979. The format was introduced in Japan in 1984 and given the title of “Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which translates to “the digits are limited to one occurrence”. The rather elaborate Japanese title was eventually shortened to Sudoku. No doubt many of you are fans of Sudoku puzzles. I know I am …

85. Riboflavin, e.g. : B-VITAMIN
Riboflavin is vitamin B-2.

87. Autobahn speed meas. : KPH
Kilometres per hour (kph)

88. She, in Rio : ELA
“Ela” is Portuguese for “she”.

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Years Day in 1502.

92. Start of a bear market : DIP
The terms “bull” and “bear” markets come from the way in which each animal attacks. A bull thrusts his horns upwards (an “up” market), whereas a bear swipes with his paws downward (a “down” market).

95. ___ fly : TSETSE
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.

98. Vice of Dorian Gray : OPIUM
“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel by Oscar Wilde, in fact Wilde’s only novel. In the story, the title character is a young man appearing in a painting. Jokingly, Dorian sells his soul to the devil so that the painting would age rather than he.

99. “The Divine Comedy” division : CANTO
A canto is a section of a long poem, and is a term first used by the Italian poet Dante. “Canto” is the Italian for “song”.

Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” is an epic poem dating back to the 14th century. The first part of that epic is “Inferno”, which is the Italian word for “Hell”. In the poem, Dante is led on a journey by the poet Virgil, starting at the gates of Hell on which are written the famous words “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here”.

102. Civil war president : ASSAD
Dr. Bashar al-Assad is the current President of the Syrian Arab Republic and the son of the former President Hafez al-Assad whom he replaced in 2001. President Assad is a medical doctor, speaks fluent English and conversational French. Assad was studying ophthalmology in London when he met his wife, who is an Englishwoman.

103. North African capital : RABAT
Rabat is the capital city of the Kingdom of Morocco. After WWII, the United States maintained a major Air Force Base in Rabat, part of Strategic Air Command (SAC). Responding to pressure from the Moroccan government of King Mohammed V, the USAF pulled out in 1963.

104. Missouri tributary : OSAGE
Much of the Osage River in Missouri is now taken up by two large reservoirs created behind two dams that provide power for St. Louis and the surrounding area. The two reservoirs are the Truman Reservoir and the Lake of the Ozarks.

111. Drug sold in microdots : LSD
LSD was sold in tablet form, with the tablets having varied shapes and sizes. The most famous were the small pills that were commonly called “microdots”.

113. Singer DiFranco : ANI
Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a “feminist icon”, and in 2006 won the “Woman of Courage Award” from National Organization of Women.

117. Form of digital communication?: Abbr. : ASL
It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Boors : SCHLUBS
8. Latin dances : SALSAS
14. Opponent of 14-Down, in sports : ALI
17. Park place : PLAY AREA
18. Woodworker’s vise : C-CLAMP
19. Flip ___ : A COIN
21. Opponent of 3-Down, in Greek myth : HERCULES
22. Opponent of 9-Down, in classical literature : HECTOR
23. Certain marked-down item: Abbr. : IRREG
24. Like court testimony : SWORN
25. Product once pitched by Michael Jackson and Mariah Carey : PEPSI
27. Where some “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” is done : IN A TREE
29. Least taut : SLACKEST
31. The “L” of “A = L x W” : LENGTH
33. Mexico City sight : SMOG
36. Any ship : HER
37. Banjoist Fleck : BELA
39. Steep slope : ESCARP
41. March birthstone, traditionally : JASPER
45. “Siegfried,” e.g. : OPERA
47. Yellow diner packet : SPLENDA
48. Cue user, maybe : ACTOR
49. Google ___ : GLASS
51. Opponent of 28-Down, in comics : BATMAN
53. Martial artist Jackie : CHAN
54. Animal also known as a hog-nosed coon : COATI
55. “___ sûr” (“Of course”: Fr.) : BIEN
56. Mouth, slangily : TRAP
60. Opponent of 49-Down, in film : KING KONG
62. 18 or 21 : LEGAL AGE
66. NPR’s Shapiro : ARI
67. It may be taken from the neck of a superhero : PEZ
68. Red topper : FEZ
69. Snaps : FOTOS
70. Rough track condition : MUD
71. Baja aunt : TIA
72. Female gametes : OVA
73. A case might be made for one : CRIMINAL
75. Relative of neo-soul : ACID JAZZ
77. Challenge : TEST
79. Hatfields or McCoys : CLAN
80. “What ___?” (Mark Twain essay) : IS MAN
82. The works : A TO Z
83. Unusual diacritic used in Portuguese : OTILDE
85. Jack on “24” : BAUER
86. Long-distance swimmer Nyad : DIANA
87. Lila ___, Oscar winner for “Zorba the Greek” : KEDROVA
90. Opponent of 64-Down, in the Bible : DAVID
92. Brackish water locales : DELTAS
93. Missouri tributary : PLATTE
94. Chirpy greeting : HI HO!
95. Knot : TIE
96. Opponent of 78-Down, in fable : HARE
97. Cousin of ibid. : LOC CIT
101. Opponent of 86-Down, in games : KASPAROV
106. Ornamental pond feature : LILY PAD
108. Tickle : AMUSE
110. Pasta seasoner : BASIL
112. Rear : RAISE
114. Where to emulate the locals, it’s said : IN ROME
116. English city where the Magna Carta originated : ST ALBANS
118. Take over : ANNEX
119. Ideal world : UTOPIA
120. Soothed : ASSUAGED
121. Part of a clown outfit : WIG
122. Second : MOMENT
123. X’s : DELETES

Down
1. A whole lot : SLEWS
2. Wassail : CAROL
3. See 21-Across : HYDRA
4. Part of many a silo : LAUNCHER
5. Address letters : URL
6. Obsolescent summoner : BEEPER
7. Postpaid encls. : SASES
8. The 12 of the Pac-12: Abbr. : SCHS
9. See 22-Across : ACHILLES
10. Inc.’s cousin : LLC
11. Subbed (for) : SAT IN
12. ___ friends : AMONG
13. Sardinelike fish : SPRAT
14. See 14-Across : FOREMAN
15. Sleep (with) : LIE
16. Dutch financial giant : ING
17. Acidity measures, informally : PHS
19. Diver’s supply : AIR
20. The ___ City (New Orleans) : CRESCENT
26. W.W. II craft : PT BOAT
28. See 51-Across : THE PENGUIN
30. Prefix with plunk : KER-
32. Wave catcher? : EAR
34. Windy City terminal code : ORD
35. Collection of marks, for short? : GPA
38. Leader of ancient Ephesus? : EPSILON
40. ’70s radical grp. : SLA
41. Good thing to hit : JACKPOT
42. Attain : ACHIEVE
43. What “America” has four of : STANZAS
44. Beer ___ : PONG
46. Arafat successor : ABBAS
47. Stanley, for one : STEAM CAR
49. See 60-Across : GODZILLA
50. Be behind : LAG
52. Not do well : AIL
54. By force : COERCIVELY
57. Knock : RAT-A-TAT
58. Reservation holder? : ARIZONA
59. Squares : PIAZZAS
61. One of the brands of Yum! Brands : KFC
63. What fog might delay, for short : ETA
64. See 90-Across : GOLIATH
65. Hall-of-Fame outfielder Roush : EDD
69. Getting just a slap on the wrist, say : FINED
74. Loony : MAD
75. ___ Zion Church : AME
76. Lock up : JAIL
78. See 96-Across : TORTOISE
81. 3 x 3 x 3 container? : SUDOKU
84. Day-care attendee : TOT
85. Riboflavin, e.g. : B-VITAMIN
86. See 101-Across : DEEP BLUE
87. Autobahn speed meas. : KPH
88. She, in Rio : ELA
89. Sweetie pie : DARLING
91. Tuna often served seared : AHI
92. Start of a bear market : DIP
95. ___ fly : TSETSE
98. Vice of Dorian Gray : OPIUM
99. “The Divine Comedy” division : CANTO
100. Download alternative : CD-ROM
102. Civil war president : ASSAD
103. North African capital : RABAT
104. Missouri tributary : OSAGE
105. Creepers : VINES
107. Latin law : LEX
109. Essential part : MEAT
111. Drug sold in microdots : LSD
112. Like some talent and emotions : RAW
113. Singer DiFranco : ANI
115. Reveal, poetically : OPE
117. Form of digital communication?: Abbr. : ASL

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