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CROSSWORD SETTER: Matt Ginsberg
THEME: Literally Speaking … each of today’s themed answers contains a set of letters that are circled in the grid. The arrangement of these letters is referred to literally by the themed answer:
20A. Result of a successful audition : CALLBACK (LLAC)
25A. Instant : SPLIT SECOND (S-ECOND)
37A. In bits : TORN TO SHREDS (TO-SHREDS)
46A. Kind of pie : MINCEMEAT (M-E-AT)
54A. Lose that loving feeling : DRIFT APART (DRIF-T)
62A. Diner offering : SCRAMBLED EGGS (SEGG)
72A. Art type : MIXED MEDIA (IEDMA)
83A. # # # : HASH MARKS (ASMRK)
90A. Like 0’s and 1’s in binary numbers : INTERMINGLED (TRINE)
105A. Card sharp’s deception : FAST SHUFFLE (ATSF)
112. Whole : UNBROKEN (U-N)
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 19m 55s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Tiny bit : 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”.
11. Brit. pounds : STG
The official name of the currency of the UK is the pound sterling (plural “pounds sterling”). The most plausible suggestion for the etymology of the term “sterling” is that it derives from the Old English “steorra” meaning “star”, with the diminutive “-ling”. The resulting “little star” or “sterling” referred to a silver penny used by the English Normans.
14. Morales of “NYPD Blue” : ESAI
The actor Esai Morales is best known for his role in the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai).
“NYPD Blue” is a police drama that was originally aired in 1993, and ran until 2005. Stars of the show are Dennis Franz, David Caruso, Jimmy Smits and Rick Schroder. The show created a bit of a fuss back in the nineties as it featured a relatively large amount of nudity for broadcast television.
18. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands : ARUBA
Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands. The ABC Islands is the nickname given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
19. Grammy-nominated song by Alanis Morissette : THANK U
Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After releasing two pop albums in Canada, in 1995 she recorded her first album to be distributed internationally. Called “Jagged Little Pill”, it is a collection of songs with more of a rock influence. The album was a huge success, the highest-selling album of the 1990s, and the highest-selling debut album by any artist at any time (selling over 30 million units).
22. Yam, e.g. : TUBER
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially found in Africa.
28. Yellow ___ : SEA
The Yellow Sea is located between China and the west side of the Korean Peninsula and is the northern part of the East China Sea. There are four seas named for colors in English: the Yellow Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the White Sea.
29. William who invented the steam shovel : OTIS
William Otis invented the steam shovel, a precursor to our modern excavator or digger. The patent for the invention was issued in 1839. William was a cousin of Elisha Otis, the inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling.
30. “Fifty Shades of Grey” woman : ANA
“Fifty Shades of Grey” is an incredibly popular erotic novel by British writer E. L. James. “Fifty Shades of Grey” is the fastest-selling paperback of all time. And there are two other titles to complete the trilogy: “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed”.
31. Boat in “Jaws” : ORCA
“Jaws” is a thrilling 1975 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. The film has a powerful cast, led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. “Jaws” was perhaps the first “summer blockbuster” with the highest box office take in history, a record that stood until “Star Wars” was released two years later.
33. Sunni or Shia : SECT
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.
45. Nebraska county or who once lived there : OTOE
Otoe County is located in the southeast of Nebraska, on the border with Iowa and Missouri. The county seat is Nebraska City, the oldest incorporated city in the whole state.
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.
46. Kind of pie : MINCEMEAT (M-E-AT)
Today’s mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, alcoholic spirits and spices. The mincemeat of yesteryear always contained minced meat with the fruit, hence the name.
52. Green topper : SOD
A green on a golf course might be topped with sod.
56. Sylvia of jazz : SYMS
Sylvia Syms was a jazz singer from New York. Frank Sinatra called Syms the “world’s greatest saloon singer”. Syms actually died on stage, suffering a heart attack at the age of 74.
69. False god : BAAL
The name “Baal” was used for several gods and sometimes human officials by ancient Semitic peoples. In the Hebrew Bible, Baal is notably cited as a false god. As a result, we sometimes use the term “baal” today to mean a false god or an idol.
71. One standing on deck : SWAB
“Swabbie” (also “swabby, swab, swabber”) is a slang term for a sailor, which we’ve been using since the late 1700s. A “swab” was originally a member of the crew assigned to the swabbing (mopping) of the ship’s decks.
78. “Ben-Hur” studio of 1925 and 1959 : MGM
The celebrated Charlton Heston movie “Ben-Hur” is a dramatization of a book published in 1880 by Lew Wallace titled “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ”. The 1959 epic film won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat that has been equaled since then but has never been beaten. The other winners of 11 Oscars are “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Rings”. “Ben-Hur” was also a silent movie released in 1925, with an even earlier 15-minute version released in 1907.
79. Be observant of Lent, say : ATONE
In Latin, the Christian season that is now called Lent was termed “quadragesima” (meaning “fortieth”), a reference to the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning his public ministry. When the church began its move in the Middle Ages towards using the vernacular, the term “Lent” was introduced. “Lent” comes from “lenz”, the German word for “spring”.
80. Battery ends : ANODES
A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.
81. Concert pieces : AMPS
An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.
83. # # # : HASH MARKS (ASMRK)
The “#” symbol is usually referred to as the “number sign”, but here in the US the name “pound sign” is very common as well, as is “hash mark”.
89. Pinkish bloom : TEA ROSE
The first tea roses were so called because they had a fragrance reminiscent of Chinese black tea.
90. Like 0’s and 1’s in binary numbers : INTERMINGLED (TRINE)
We use a base ten numbering system, with ten digits (0 – 9). The binary system, or base two, uses just two digits (0 & 1). The binary system is used at a fundamental level in computing, because the number 0 and 1 can be represented by microcircuits being switched “on” or “off”.
97. Part of a Latin 101 conjugation : AMAT
“Amo, amas, amat: … “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”, in Latin.
100. Beverage that may be served au lait : THE
In French, a cup of tea (thé) might be served with milk (au lait).
110. “Red” Holy Roman emperor : OTTO II
Otto II was also called Otto the Red. He was the son of the Otto the Great and ruled the Saxon or Ottonian dynasty, becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 967 AD.
111. Farm stores : SILOS
“Silo” is a Spanish word that we absorbed into English, originally coming from the Greek word “siros” that described a pit in which one kept corn.
113. “Taken” star : NEESON
Irish actor Liam Neeson got his big break when he played Oskar Schindler in the Spielberg epic, “Schindler’s List”. Neeson was in the news a few years ago when he lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a tragic skiing accident in 2009.
“Taken” is a fabulous thriller movie released in 2008. It stars Liam Neeson as kind of an older James Bond-ish character, and he is great in the role. “Taken 2” followed in 2012 and it wasn’t a bad sequel, I must say. 2014’s “Taken 3” was just “okay” …
115. When H-Hour happens : D-DAY
The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operations are to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.
117. Screen Bean : ORSON
Orson Bean is an actor, perhaps best known for his appearances on television game shows in the sixties, seventies and eighties. His most famous game show role was that of a panelist on “To Tell the Truth”. Interestingly, Bean (real name Dallas Burrows) is a first cousin, twice removed, of President Calvin Coolidge.
118. California’s ___ Museum : GETTY
The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles is one of the most visited museums in the country. Like many museums in developed countries these days, the Getty has been embroiled in disputes about ownership of artifacts. The curators of the Getty have gone so far as to repatriate some items in recent years, especially to Greece and Italy. The J. Paul Getty Museum has to locations. The Getty Center is the primary location, and houses art from the Middle Ages to the present. The associated (and beautiful) Getty Villa displays art from ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.
Down
1. ___ Rizzo of film : RATSO
Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man, played by Dustin Hoffman.
4. Acts of deference : OBEISANCES
“Obeisance” is an attitude of deference usually marked by gestures of respect such as a bow or a curtsey.
7. Corn syrup brand : KARO
Karo is a brand of corn syrup, an industrially manufactured sweetener derived from corn.
9. Lush locales? : SKID ROWS
The term “skid row” is used to describe a run-down urban neighborhood. “Skid row” appears to have originated in the Pacific Northwest where a “skid road” was a wooden pathway used for “skidding” logs through forests and over bogs. The terms “skid road” and “skid row” came to be used for logging camps and mills, and then somehow was applied to run-down areas in cities up and down the west coast of North America.
“Lush” is a slang term for a heavy drinker. Back in the 1700s, “lush” was slang for “liquor”.
10. Roman scourge : HUN
The Huns were a nomadic people who originated in Eastern Europe in the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.
11. ___-free : SCOT
The phrase “scot-free” means “free from punishment, restraint or obligation”. The term derives from the Old English “scotfreo” meaning “exempt from royal tax”, with “scot” being a royal tax.
16. Zenith : ACME
The “acme” is the highest point, coming from the Greek word “akme” which has the same meaning.
The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, that pointing immediately above, is called the zenith.
17. Company with a lot of manual work? : IKEA
I think the idea is that furniture purchased from IKEA needs to be assembled, needs some manual work. Or, one has to refer to instructions in a “manual” to assemble the items.
The furniture chain IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, when he was just 17-years-old. IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (don’t forget now!). Elmtaryd was the name of the farm where Ingvar Kamprad grew up, and Agunnaryd is his home parish in Sweden.
21. Successor to Holder as attorney general : LYNCH
Loretta Lynch is the current Attorney General of the US, having assumed office in April of 2015. Lynch is the first African-American woman to hold the post, and only the second woman (Janet Reno was the first).
Eric Holder was the Attorney General of the United States from 2009 to 2015, the first African American to hold the position. Holder was close to President Obama during the presidential campaign. Holder was the campaign’s legal advisor and was also one of the three members on the Obama vice-presidential selection committee, which of course opted for Vice-President Joe Biden.
26. Capital on the Willamette River : SALEM
Salem is the state capital of Oregon. It is thought that the city takes its name from the older city of Salem, Massachusetts.
The Willamette River in northwestern Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The Willamette flows through the state capital of Salem, as well as through Portland, Oregon’s largest city.
32. Foe in “Rocky” : CREED
In the “Rocky” series of films, Rocky Balboa was given the ring name “The Italian Stallion”. Rocky’s first real opponent was Apollo Creed, known in the ring as “The Master of Disaster” and “The Count of Monte Fisto”.
36. Said “mea culpa,” say : RUED
Many Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.
38. Inner tubes, topologically : TORI
A torus (plural “tori”) is a shape resembling a doughnut or a tire tube.
47. Repeated film role for Skippy : ASTA
Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.
53. Nickname : DUB
Kneel, and the Queen might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.
57. Hustles : SCAMS
The slang term “scam” meaning a swindle may come from the British slang “scamp”.
58. 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.
62. “Soldier of Love” singer, 2009 : SADE
Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although she was born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).
63. Boston’s Liberty Tree, for one : ELM
The original Liberty Tree was an elm tree that stood near Boston Common and marked the place where folks would rally in the build-up to the American Revolution. The symbolism of the Liberty Tree migrated across the Atlantic during the French Revolution. Revolutionaries planted “Les arbres de la liberté” as symbols of revolutionary hope.
65. Stone in Hollywood : EMMA
The actress Emma Stone really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”. My favorite film in which Stone appears is 2011’s “The Help”.
66. Smallish London lodgings : TWO-ROOM FLAT
“Flat” is a word more commonly used in the British Isles than here. A flat is basically an apartment or condominium. The word “flat” is Scottish in origin, in which language it meant a “floor in a house”.
67. “Big” star : HANKS
Tom Hanks is a such a great actor, I think. He has played so many iconic roles in a relatively short career. Hanks is from California, and studied theater for a couple of years in Hayward, California not far from here. Hanks is married to the talented actress Rita Wilson.
“Big” is a fun movie, released in 1988. It is a romantic comedy with an unusual plot involving a young boy who is aged to adulthood overnight (played by Tom Hanks). Who can forget the scene where Hanks and the owner of a toy store hop around on a giant piano keyboard. Remember what they played? “Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks” …
72. Country once known as French Sudan : MALI
The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa, south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.
75. Curfew for a vampire : DAWN
“Dracula” is a novel written by the Irish author Bram Stoker and first published in 1897. Dracula wasn’t the first vampire of literature, but he certainly was the one who spawned the popularity of vampires in theater, film and television, and indeed more novels. Personally, I can’t stand vampire fiction …
77. Inspiration for Isaac Newton : APPLE
Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most influential people in history, the man who laid the groundwork for all of classical mechanics. The story about an apple falling on his head, inspiring him to formulate his theories about gravity, well that’s not quite true. Newton often told the story about observing an apple falling in his mother’s garden and how this made him acutely aware of the Earth’s gravitational pull. However, he made no mention of the apple hitting him on the head.
79. Tom Wolfe’s “___ in Full” : A MAN
“A Man in Full” is a 1998 novel by Tom Wolfe.
The American author Tom Wolfe started out his career as a journalist, and was very much at the center of the New Journalism literary movement of the sixties and seventies. His first book of note was “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” that tells the story of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. Wolfe also wrote “The Right Stuff” about the post-war test pilots and the Project Mercury astronauts.
91. Right-hand page : RECTO
The left and right pages of a book or magazine are known in publishing circles as verso and recto. Recto comes from the Latin for “right”, and verso comes from the Latin word for “turned”. The idea is that the left side of the page is “turned” and is the reverse of the recto/right side.
102. Isle of exile : ELBA
I had a lovely two-week vacation in Tuscany once, including what was supposed to be a two-night stay on the island of Elba. I had envisioned Elba as a place full of history, and maybe it is, but it is also overrun with tourists who use it as a beach getaway. We left after one day and we won’t be going back again …
107. “Semper paratus” grp. : USCG
The US Coast Guard (USCG) has the distinction of being the country’s oldest continuous seagoing service. The USCG was founded as the Revenue Cutter Service by Alexander Hamilton in 1790. The USCG motto is “Semper Paratus”, a Latin phrase meaning “Always Prepared”.
110. Lennon’s love : ONO
Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Move, as a plant : REPOT
6. Tiny bit : SKOSH
11. Brit. pounds : STG
14. Morales of “NYPD Blue” : ESAI
18. Part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands : ARUBA
19. Grammy-nominated song by Alanis Morissette : THANK U
20. Result of a successful audition : CALLBACK (LLAC)
22. Yam, e.g. : TUBER
23. Found on this page : HEREIN
24. “Sure, that’s fine” : OKAY BY ME
25. Instant : SPLIT SECOND (S-ECOND)
27. Like a parental lecture : STERN
28. Yellow ___ : SEA
29. William who invented the steam shovel : OTIS
30. “Fifty Shades of Grey” woman : ANA
31. Boat in “Jaws” : ORCA
33. Sunni or Shia : SECT
35. Part of a dealership : CAR LOT
37. In bits : TORN TO SHREDS (TO-SHREDS)
42. Means of achieving things : AVENUES
44. Like many patches : SEWED ON
45. Nebraska county or who once lived there : OTOE
46. Kind of pie : MINCEMEAT (M-E-AT)
48. Dealer in futures? : SEER
49. Exact : SPOT-ON
51. Fill ___ (be of use) : A NEED
52. Green topper : SOD
54. Lose that loving feeling : DRIFT APART (DRIF-T)
56. Sylvia of jazz : SYMS
57. “You nailed it!” : SO TRUE!
60. Puffed ___ : OATS
61. Sneaky : SLY
62. Diner offering : SCRAMBLED EGGS (SEGG)
66. However, briefly : THO
69. False god : BAAL
70. Not believable : FLIMSY
71. One standing on deck : SWAB
72. Art type : MIXED MEDIA (IEDMA)
78. “Ben-Hur” studio of 1925 and 1959 : MGM
79. Be observant of Lent, say : ATONE
80. Battery ends : ANODES
81. Concert pieces : AMPS
83. # # # : HASH MARKS (ASMRK)
86. Attention-grabbing : LOUD
87. Try to grab : SWIPE AT
89. Pinkish bloom : TEA ROSE
90. Like 0’s and 1’s in binary numbers : INTERMINGLED (TRINE)
93. Tent alternative : LEAN-TO
94. Home paper : DEED
95. Learn (of) : HEAR
96. Go (for) : OPT
97. Part of a Latin 101 conjugation : AMAT
100. Beverage that may be served au lait : THE
103. Fissure : CLEFT
105. Card sharp’s deception : FAST SHUFFLE (ATSF)
108. When one might get a pep talk : HALFTIME
110. “Red” Holy Roman emperor : OTTO II
111. Farm stores : SILOS
112. Whole : UNBROKEN (U-N)
113. “Taken” star : NEESON
114. Art : CRAFT
115. When H-Hour happens : D-DAY
116. Quash : END
117. Screen Bean : ORSON
118. California’s ___ Museum : GETTY
Down
1. ___ Rizzo of film : RATSO
2. Blow : ERUPT
3. “No. 1” person : PUBLIC ENEMY
4. Acts of deference : OBEISANCES
5. Agreeably biting : TART
6. Tom’s partner : SHE CAT
7. Corn syrup brand : KARO
8. Repetitive, as in criticism : ONE-NOTE
9. Lush locales? : SKID ROWS
10. Roman scourge : HUN
11. ___-free : SCOT
12. Assumes : TAKES ON
13. Reproving looks : GLARES
14. Go out : EBB
15. “___ you!” : SAYS
16. Zenith : ACME
17. Company with a lot of manual work? : IKEA
19. Something to pay through? : THE NOSE
21. Successor to Holder as attorney general : LYNCH
26. Capital on the Willamette River : SALEM
27. Workshop power tool : SANDER
32. Foe in “Rocky” : CREED
34. Military strength : TROOPS
36. Said “mea culpa,” say : RUED
38. Inner tubes, topologically : TORI
39. Italian girl’s name ending : -ETTA
40. Word with fire or trap : DOOR
41. Email folder : SENT
42. Collect : AMASS
43. Old records : VINYL
44. Charge : STORM
47. Repeated film role for Skippy : ASTA
49. Excessively theatrical : STAGY
50. Some congratulations : PATS
53. Nickname : DUB
55. They’re hard to see through : FOGS
57. Hustles : SCAMS
58. Shield border, in heraldry : ORLE
59. Figure often dressed in green : ELF
62. “Soldier of Love” singer, 2009 : SADE
63. Boston’s Liberty Tree, for one : ELM
64. Adorn, in old literature : DIGHT
65. Stone in Hollywood : EMMA
66. Smallish London lodgings : TWO-ROOM FLAT
67. “Big” star : HANKS
68. Big, big, big : OBESE
69. Hooked up with : BEDDED
71. Rub some sticks together, as at camp : START A FIRE
72. Country once known as French Sudan : MALI
73. Aware of : IN ON
74. Delete : X OUT
75. Curfew for a vampire : DAWN
76. “Maybe …” : I MIGHT …
77. Inspiration for Isaac Newton : APPLE
79. Tom Wolfe’s “___ in Full” : A MAN
82. Tend to : SEE AFTER
84. Intercedes : STEPS IN
85. Shrubby wasteland : HEATH
87. Supporting players : SIDEMEN
88. They vary with circulation : AD RATES
91. Right-hand page : RECTO
92. Informal approval : ME LIKE
93. Bottle in a beach bag : LOTION
98. High : ALOFT
99. Apt to snap : TESTY
100. Landing sound : THUD
101. Crew member : HAND
102. Isle of exile : ELBA
104. Repulse, with “off” : FEND
106. Medium : SO-SO
107. “Semper paratus” grp. : USCG
109. Linger in the hot sun : FRY
110. Lennon’s love : ONO
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Salem OR was named after Salen, NJ
I always like your additions, Bill. Today was interesting at the very end, with the story about Yoko Ono and the nail. I hadn't heard that one. Enjoy the rest of your vacation.
Utterly worthless theme. Take the stupid circles out, leave the rest of the puzzle and be done with it.
43:20, no errors. I appreciate your blog, Bill. Even after completing the puzzle the them did not register with me. Needed your explanation to see what the setter was trying to do. Today's theme was a complete MI(SHMA)SH.
Noting Drjeffm's erroneous "Salen, NJ" above,
I second Anonymous' "Utterly worthless theme … "
and add: "OUTside of North America the [#] symbol is called 'hash' and the corresponding telephone key is called the 'hash' key", and the term 'pound sign' usually describes the British currency symbol '£'" ["STG" as herein?] … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Number_sign
So, since there can never be too much trivia and we all need more arcane, semi-useless facts, I want to add that in technology, the hash mark (#) is called an octothorpe. I didn't research it but I suspect the term originated in telephony – that's where I learned of it. If so, yet another thing to lay at the feet of the Bell Labs crew.
I've noticed a commonality of clues between the NYT and a puzzle published by the Tribune Content Agency edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis. The puzzle today (8/16/15) by Clive Probert used the identical clue("Big" Star = Hanks) as today's NYT puzzle. Both puzzles appear in our local paper on 8/16/15. This seems to happen way too often for it to be a coincidence – I notice it more than half the time. Because of the syndication delay (usually 2 weeks) maybe this isn't obvious to many. I usually do the Norris/Lewis puzzle right before the syndicated NYT on Sunday morning.