0816-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 16 Aug 15, Sunday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Don Gagliardo & Zhouqin Burnikel
THEME: As It Were … each of today’s themed answers ends with a word that can be used as the past tense of a verb:

124A. Back then … or a hint to the ends of the answers to the starred clues : IN THE PAST

22A. *Pricey wrap : MINK STOLE (from “to steal”)
23A. *Triple Crown winner who himself sired a Kentucky Derby winner : SEATTLE SLEW (from “to slay”)
51A. *Carpenter’s tool with a cord : POWER SAW (from “to see”)
94A. *Deep Throat’s identity : MARK FELT (from “to feel”)
122A. *Start a construction project : BREAK GROUND (from “to grind”)
13D. *Smidgen : LITTLE BIT (from “to bite”)
36D. *Tom Seaver, e.g. : NEW YORK MET (from “to meet”)
45D. *Dr. Seuss’ genre : KIDDIE LIT (from “to light”)
48D. *Challenge for a right-handed golfer : DOGLEG LEFT (from “to leave”)
83D. *W.W. II propagandist : TOKYO ROSE (from “to rise”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 20m 40s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

10. Jacques who was “alive and well and living in Paris” : BREL
Jacques Brel was a songwriter from Belgium whose songs were most popular in France, although English translations of his works became hits for artists all around the world. One of the more famous English translations was for the song “Season in the Sun”, a big hit in 1974 for Canadian singer Terry Jacks.

14. Island near the Mariana Trench : GUAM
Guam is a US territory in the western Pacific Ocean, the largest of the Mariana Islands. Guam is also the first territory in the United States to see the sun rise on any particular day. As such, the territory has adopted the motto, “Where America’s day begins”. During WWII, the US territory of Guam was occupied by the Japanese for 31 months until it was liberated in the Battle of Guam in July 1944. Of the 18,000 Japanese men holding the island, only 485 surrendered, so almost all perished in the invasion. One Japanese sergeant hid out on the island for an incredible 28 years, finally surrendering in 1972!

The Mariana Trench is the lowest elevation on the surface of the Earth’s crust. The Mariana Trench takes its name from the nearby Mariana Islands in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

19. Places for light gatherings? : ATRIA
In modern architecture an atrium (plural “atria” or “atriums”) is a large open space usually in the center of a building and extending upwards to the roof. The original atrium was an open court in the center of an Ancient Roman house. One could access most of the enclosed rooms of the house from the atrium.

21. Mario who played Enrico Caruso : LANZA
Mario Lanza was a classical tenor and Hollywood actor from Philadelphia who had a very successful, but very short career. Lanza’s most famous movie performance was playing Enrico Caruso in the 1951 biopic “The Great Caruso”. Lanza struggled with overeating and alcohol abuse, and died in 1959 at only 38 years of age.

23. *Triple Crown winner who himself sired a Kentucky Derby winner : SEATTLE SLEW
Seattle Slew was a thoroughbred racehorse who won the Triple Crown in 1977. Although Seattle Slew was the tenth to win the Triple Crown, he was the only horse to have done so undefeated.

26. ___ bar : TAPAS
“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

33. Dodger manager with two World Series rings : LASORDA
Tommy Lasorda had been with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for over sixty years when he retired in 1996 (although he did spend one season playing with the Kansas City Athletics).

34. Shout from the crow’s-nest : LAND HO!
“Land ho!” yelled the sailor, when he caught sight of land …

A crow’s nest is a structure atop the mainmast of a ship that is used as a lookout point. The first crow’s nest was erected in 1807, and was simply a barrel that was lashed to the tallest mast. Supposedly, the structure is named for the crows or ravens that Vikings carried with them on their voyages. The birds were released and used as navigation aids as invariably, the crow or raven headed straight for the nearest land.

37. Seminary subj. : REL
Religion (rel.)

Originally, a “seminary” was where plants were raised from seeds, as “semen” is the Latin for “seed”. The first schools labelled as seminaries were established in the late 1500s. Those first schools were more likely to be academies for young ladies back then, rather than for trainee priests.

42. “Skedaddle!” : OUT!
“Skedaddle ” is a slang term meaning “run away” that dates back to the Civil War.

54. “Dogs” : WIENIES
What we call a wiener in this country is known as a Vienna sausage in Germany. It was first produced by a butcher from Frankfurt who was living in Vienna, hence the name “Wiener”, which is German for “of Vienna”. Paradoxically, the same sausage is called a Frankfurter in Vienna, as it was created by someone from Frankfurt. It’s all very confusing …

57. Black rock : ONYX
Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.

58. White-tailed raptor : ERNE
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle or sea-eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

62. Fed. property agency : GSA
The US Government’s General Services Administration (GSA), as the name suggests, provides general services to other federal agencies. So for example, the GSA manages office space for the other agencies, and transportation.

63. Black ___ : OPS
“Black ops” is the name given to covert operations, activities that are usually outside of standard military protocol and may even be against the law. Funding for black ops is usually provided by a secret “black budget”.

65. Half a Beatles title : OB-LA-DI
“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 Lennon was quite obstructionist during the recording of the song and even walked out at one point.

67. Like the telecast of the 1954 Rose Bowl parade, notably : IN COLOR
Color television was introduced in the US in 1953, The first national color television broadcast took place on 1 Jan 1954, the parade for that year’s Rose Bowl.

The oldest of all the bowl games is the Rose Bowl and so has the nickname “The Granddaddy of the Them All”. The first Rose Bowl game was played in 1902.

69. ___ Macmillan, 1950s-’60s British P.M. : HAROLD
Harold Macmillan was the UK’s prime minister from 1957 until 1963. Macmillan was also a veteran of WWI who was wounded three times and left partially immobile for the rest of his life.

80. Drink with spices : NOG
It’s not really clear where the term “nog” (as in “eggnog”) comes from although it might derive from the word “noggin”, which was originally a small wooden cup that was long associated with alcoholic drinks.

81. On the ___ (at large) : LAM
To be “on the lam” is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

82. ___ Hall, shortest Harlem Globetrotter : TOO TALL
Jonte “Too Tall” Hall plays basketball for the Harlem Globetrotters. At only 5 foot 2 inches in height, Hall is the shortest player ever to play for the team.

85. Irving protagonist : GARP
John Irving’s 1978 novel “The World According to Garp” is somewhat biographical. In fact, Irving’s mother found parts of the novel difficult to read, recognizing elements of herself in Garp’s mother, Jenny Fields.

87. Pit bull biter : FLEA
Sadly, the pit bull breed of dogs have earned themselves a poor reputation. I just read that pit bulls make up about 2% of the dogs in the US but about 40% of the dog attacks in the country have been attributed to the breed.

90. Dirt pie ingredient : OREO
Dirt cake is a dessert usually made by breaking up Oreo cookies and scattering the pieces over chocolate pudding, and then adding gummy worms on top. Sounds delicious …

94. *Deep Throat’s identity : MARK FELT
Mark Felt was the Associate Director of the FBI during the Watergate scandal of the early seventies. Felt was also the secret informant who provided secret information to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of “The Washington Post”, who broke the story. Felt was given the pseudonym “Deep Throat” by the newspaper’s managing editor, and was a reference to the “deep” background information that was provided and was a play on the “Deep Throat” pornographic film that was released in 1972. To their credit, Woodward and Bernstein refused to reveal the identity of Deep Throat for almost three decades. It was Felt who actually gave up his name to the public, in 2005, after which Woodward and Bernstein confirmed the facts.

96. Rogen and Green : SETHS
Seth Rogen is a Canadian comedian who got a lot of credit for his supporting role in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin”. That led to him being cast as the lead in the 1970 film “Knocked Up”. More recently, Rogen co-directed and and co-starred in the movie “The Interview”, which created a huge ruckus in North Korea.

Seth Green is an actor and comedian best-known by many as creator and voice actor on the animated television series “Robot Chicken”. I know him best for playing “Napster” in the 2005 film “The Italian Job”.

100. Hunger : YEN
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!

109. “Two New Sciences” author : GALILEO
“Two New Sciences” is a 1638 work by Renaissance scientist Galileo Galilei. It was his last book, and dealt with most of the work that Galileo had accomplished in the field of physics over the preceding three decades.

117. Features of green rooms : SOFAS
A “green room” in the world of show business is a lounge area used by performers before and after a show, or when they are not required on stage. There are several etymologies cited for the term that relate to specific theaters, but it does seem clear that the original green rooms were indeed decorated mainly in green.

129. Giovanni, in “Don Giovanni” : SERENADER
“Don Giovanni” is a comic opera by Mozart, with the libretto in Italian by Lorenzo Da Ponte. The opera follows the adventures of Don Giovanni, a young rakish nobleman who finally comes to a bad end.

130. Russo of “30-Down” : RENE
(30D. Wielder of the hammer Mjölnir : THOR)
The lovely and very talented actress Rene Russo is a native of Burbank, California. Russo went to highschool (with actor/director Ron Howard), but dropped out in tenth grade. At seventeen, she was given the opportunity to train as a model and within a very short time appeared on the cover of “Vogue”. As her modelling jobs slowed down in her early thirties, Russo made a career change and studied theater and acting. I am so glad she did, as Rene Russo is one of my favorite actresses …

The 2011 movie “Thor” is yet another film based on a comic book hero. Even though I won’t be seeing it (I don’t do comics), I must admit it does have an impressive cast. Chris Hemsworth plays Thor, supported by Natalie Portman, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins. And to crown it all, Kenneth Branagh is the director.

131. Morales of “La Bamba” : 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).

Down
2. French act : FAIT
I’m not sure that “fait” actually translates into “act”. HOwever, it does translate to “fact”.

6. D.C. ballplayer : NAT
The Washington Nationals baseball team started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats. There are only two Major Leagues teams that have never played in a World Series, one being the Mariners and the other the Nats.

8. Patisserie buy : ECLAIR
The name for the pastry known as an “éclair” is clearly French in origin. The French word for lightning is “éclair”, but no one seems to be too sure how it came to be used for the rather delicious bakery item.

A patisserie is a French bakery that sells pastries, or “tartes”.

13. *Smidgen : LITTLE BIT
Our word “smidgen”, meaning a small amount, might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

16. Luxury Hyundai : AZERA
The Hyundai Azera was the name used worldwide for the model known as the Hyundai Grandeur in its homeland of South Korea. The Azera was produced from 1986 to 1992.

17. Gaping things : MAWS
“Maw” is a term used to describe the mouth or stomach of a carnivorous animal. “Maw” is also used as slang for the mouth or stomach of a greedy person.

20. Relative of the Contour Plus : ATRA
Fortunately for crossword constructors, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.

21. Poe poem : LENORE
“Lenore” is a poem written by Edgar Allen Poe that was published in 1843. The name “Lenore” illustrates Poe’s penchant for using a dominant “L” sound in the names for females characters e.g. Annabel Lee, Eulalie and Ulalume. The opening lines of “Lenore” are:

AH, broken is the golden bowl! the spirit flown forever!
Let the bell toll!—a saintly soul floats on the Stygian river;
And, Guy De Vere, hast thou no tear?—weep now or nevermore!

24. Like “Annabel Lee” among all Poe poems : LAST
“Annabel Lee” was the last complete poem written by Edgar Allan Poe. The opening lines are:
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea.

30. Wielder of the hammer Mjölnir : THOR
Mjölnir is the name of the hammer associated with the Norse god Thor. The name “Mjölnir” translates as “crusher”.

34. Slimming surgery, informally : LIPO
Liposuction dates back to the 1920s when it was developed by a surgeon in France. However, the procedure quickly lost favor when a French model developed gangrene after surgery. As a result it wasn’t until the mid-seventies that modern liposuction took off, after being popularized by two Italian-American surgeons in Rome.

35. River through Bristol : AVON
The River Avon that flows in the southwest of England is sometimes referred to as the Lower Avon or Bristol Avon. The extra wording is to distinguish it from a number of other River Avons in the country, including the famous one through William Shakespeare’s Stratford. The Lower Avon passes through the cities of Bristol and Bath.

Bristol is the most populous city in the southwest of England. Bristol is a port city, one that had an important role in growth of slavery in America. Manufactured goods from the UK were shipped from Bristol to West Africa where they were traded for Africans who were forcibly transported across the Atlantic for trade in the Americas. The slave ships brought back plantation goods to Bristol.

36. *Tom Seaver, e.g. : NEW YORK MET
George Thomas “Tom” Seaver is a former baseball pitcher, noted for his ten-year stint with the New York Mets from 1967 to 1977. Seaver earned the nickname “Tom Terrific”, and is the only Met player to have his jersey number retired. When he quit baseball he moved out here to California and opened up a small winery in Calistoga. Keep an eye out for the vineyard’s name, “Seaver Family Vineyards”, and their cabernets “Nancy’s Fancy” and “GTS”.

39. At 3,000 feet above sea level, the highest provincial capital in Italy : ENNA
The city of Enna sits very high up in the hills of Sicily, overlooking the whole island below. Enna is the capital of the province that bears its name, which is the highest province in the whole of Italy.

43. ___ cake (dim sum staple) : TARO
Taro cake is Chinese dish made mainly from rice flour and the vegetable taro. As a dim sum dish, it is usually pan-fried and then cut into squares for the table.

Dim sum is a Chinese cuisine made up of small portions of various dishes. The tradition of serving dim sum is associated with the serving of tea, when small delicacies were offered to travelers and guests along with tea as a refreshment. The name “dim sum” translates as “touch the heart” implying that dim sum is not a main meal, just a snack “that touches the heart”.

45. *Dr. Seuss’ genre : KIDDIE LIT
Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel was commander of the Animation Department of the USAF during WWII. He was behind many propaganda films including one called “Our Job in Japan”. Even though the film was produced specifically as propaganda, this same movie was used after the war as a basis for the short feature “Design for Death”, a study of Japanese culture released in 1947 and winner of an Oscar for best Documentary.

46. Mysterious sighting : YETI
A yeti is a beast of legend, also called an abominable snowman. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

49. Newsman David : ENSOR
David Ensor worked for thirty years as a journalist with National Public Radio. Ensor was appointed as the Director of Voice of America in 2011.

52. John McCain, for one : EX-POW
John McCain went into the US Naval Academy in 1958, following a family tradition as his father and grandfather were both four-star admirals. The younger McCain did not achieve the same rank, retiring from the Navy as a captain in 1981, but his career development was interrupted by almost six years spent as a prisoner of war (POW) in North Vietnam. John McCain has been a US Senator from Arizona since 1987.

53. Sports org. with the teams Sun and Sky : WNBA
The Women’s National Basketball Association includes the Connecticut Sun and the Chicago Sky.

61. Household brand name with a lowercase first letter : D-CON
“d-Con” is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years.

66. Google Wallet alternative : APPLE PAY
Apple Pay is a payment service that operates with many of Apple’s mobile devices. Apple Pay competes directly with Google Wallet. Much as I like the idea behind Apple Pay and Google Wallet, they just don’t seem to be gaining any traction at all in the retail market …

73. Pad thai ingredient : EGG
The delicious dish called Pad Thai is a meld of stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus a mix of vegetables and possibly tofu, meat or fish. It is usually topped with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. The name “Pad Thai” translates as “fried Thai-style”.

77. Actress Diana nicknamed the “Blonde Bombshell” : DORS
I remember Diana Dors in the movies of my youth. Dors was considered the English equivalent of the “blonde bombshell” of Hollywood in the fifties. She was so successful early in her career that at the age of 20 she became the UK’s youngest registered owner of a Rolls Royce car.

79. Strong sideless wagon : DRAY
A dray is a side-less, 4-wheeled cart used for hauling goods.

83. *W.W. II propagandist : TOKYO ROSE
“Tokyo Rose” was the nickname given to several English-speaking female propaganda broadcasters who supported the Japanese cause during WWII. The person most associated with “Tokyo Rose” was Iva Toguri D’Aquino, an American citizen from Los Angeles who earned a degree in zoology from the University of California. Toguri travelled to Japan in mid-1941, and got stranded there after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She responded to pressure from coerced Allied service members to help them with their propaganda broadcasts, providing a female voice. According to many accounts, Toguri did her work unwillingly and did what she could to provide support to the prisoners-of-war. After the war she was arrested and spent a year in jail before being released due to lack of evidence of wrongdoing. She was then transported to the US, where she stood trial on eight counts of treason. After a long and expensive trial she was found guilty on one count and served over six years in prison. In 1977, President Gerald Ford granted her a full and unconditional pardon.

88. Holy Land line : EL AL
El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”.

93. Funny-car fuel, informally : NITRO
Laughing gas is the common name for nitrous oxide. Nitrous oxide is used as an anesthetic, particularly by dentists. It is also used in motor racing to increase the power output of engines. Laughing gas was first synthesized by the English chemist Joseph Priestly, but it was Humphrey Davy who discovered its potential as an anesthetic. Once it was realized that the gas could give the patient a fit of the giggles, “laughing gas parties” became common among those could afford them.

Funny Cars are drag racing vehicles built with the engine mounted in the forward part of the vehicle, in front of the driver. The first Funny Cars were introduced in the sixties, with name coming from the vehicle’s “funny” appearance.

95. Danish king who conquered England : KNUT
Cnut was a Danish king who Conquered England and acceded to the English throne in 1018. Often referred to in English as “Canute”, he is king of legend who demonstrated to the “yes men” in his court that he was a mere mortal. He sat in his throne by the shore and commanded in vain the tides not to come in.

97. Boondocks : STICKS
“Boondocks” is a term used in North America for a remote, usually rural area. Often the term is used derogatively, implying that a remote location is unsophisticated. “Boondocks” was first used by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines in the early 1900s. The word evolved from the Tagalog “bundok” meaning “mountain”.

106. Al Jolson standard : SWANEE
“Swanee” was written in 1919 by George Gershwin. Gershwin was very young at the time and came up with the music in just ten minutes while riding on a Manhattan bus. Al Jolson was already a star, and he heard Gershwin playing the song at a party. Jolson made a deal to include the song in his show “Sinbad”, and then it just took off.

109. Songstress Eydie : GORME
Eydie Gorme is best known for her work with her husband, Steve Lawrence. The duo have been recording traditional popular music together since the late fifties.

110. “You’re ___ One, Mr. Grinch” : A MEAN

You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel,
You’re as cuddly as a cactus, you’re as charming as an eel, Mr. Grinch,
You’re a bad banana with a greasy black peel!

111. Köln coin : EURO
Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Koln” in German.

114. Stars, at the Forum : ASTRA
“Astra”, the Latin for “stars”, as in “Ad Astra”, the motto of my alma mater, University College Dublin …

The Roman forum was the public space in the middle of a city, taking it’s name from the Latin word “forum” meaning “marketplace, town square”.

119. Put on board : LADE
The verb “lade” meaning “to load” comes from an Old English word “hladan”. Lade also used to mean “to draw water” and indeed gave us our word “ladle”. So “lade” and “ladle” are close cousins.

120. Grieg’s “___ Death” : ASE’S
“Ase’s Death” is a movement in Edvard Grieg’s beautiful “Peer Gynt” suite. The suite is a collection of incidental music that Grieg composed for Ibsen’s play of the same name. Ase is the widow of a peasant, and the mother of Peer Gynt.

121. Violins and violas: Abbr. : STRS
Strings (strs.)

123. U.S.’s largest labor union, in brief : NEA
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

125. Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix film : HER
2003’s “Her” is a rather unusual film. It stars Joaquin Phoenix as a man who develops a relationship with a computer operating system called “Samantha”, which is voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

126. “The Two Towers” denizen : ENT
Ents are those tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings” consists of the three volumes:

– “The Fellowship of the Ring”
– “The Two Towers”
– “The Return of the King”

“The Lord of the Rings” was written as a sequel to Tolkien’s 1937 novel “The Hobbit”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Engaged : AFFIANCED
10. Jacques who was “alive and well and living in Paris” : BREL
14. Island near the Mariana Trench : GUAM
18. Pueblo Indian rite : RAIN DANCE
19. Places for light gatherings? : ATRIA
21. Mario who played Enrico Caruso : LANZA
22. *Pricey wrap : MINK STOLE
23. *Triple Crown winner who himself sired a Kentucky Derby winner : SEATTLE SLEW
25. When repeated, an aerobics class cry : STEP!
26. ___ bar : TAPAS
28. New faces : STRANGERS
29. Rejecting higher authority? : ATHEISTIC
33. Dodger manager with two World Series rings : LASORDA
34. Shout from the crow’s-nest : LAND HO!
37. Seminary subj. : REL
38. Giggle syllable : HEE
40. Prefix with state : TRI-
41. “___ seen enough!” : I’VE
42. “Skedaddle!” : OUT!
44. Impressed with : TAKEN BY
47. Village V.I.P. : ELDER
51. *Carpenter’s tool with a cord : POWER SAW
54. “Dogs” : WIENIES
56. Single : LONE
57. Black rock : ONYX
58. White-tailed raptor : ERNE
60. Dad-blasted : DRATTED
62. Fed. property agency : GSA
63. Black ___ : OPS
65. Half a Beatles title : OB-LA-DI
67. Like the telecast of the 1954 Rose Bowl parade, notably : IN COLOR
69. ___ Macmillan, 1950s-’60s British P.M. : HAROLD
72. Plants above the timberline : ALPINES
75. Skin conditioners : TONERS
76. Ungainly : AWKWARD
78. Identified : PEGGED
80. Drink with spices : NOG
81. On the ___ (at large) : LAM
82. ___ Hall, shortest Harlem Globetrotter : TOO TALL
85. Irving protagonist : GARP
87. Pit bull biter : FLEA
90. Dirt pie ingredient : OREO
92. ___ shake : PROTEIN
94. *Deep Throat’s identity : MARK FELT
96. Rogen and Green : SETHS
98. “Show me” type : SKEPTIC
100. Hunger : YEN
101. Budgetary excess : FAT
102. N., E., W. and S. : PTS
104. Thumbs-up vote : YEA
105. Lean-___ : TOS
107. With understatedness : SUBTLY
109. “Two New Sciences” author : GALILEO
112. Hedge clippings, grass cuttings, etc. : YARD WASTE
115. Ideal setting for a fan : HOME COURT
117. Features of green rooms : SOFAS
118. “That’s the way the cookie crumbles” : ALAS
122. *Start a construction project : BREAK GROUND
124. Back then … or a hint to the ends of the answers to the starred clues : IN THE PAST
127. Save up : AMASS
128. Bone: Prefix : OSTEO-
129. Giovanni, in “Don Giovanni” : SERENADER
130. Russo of “30-Down” : RENE
131. Morales of “La Bamba” : ESAI
132. Very cold : HEARTLESS

Down
1. Ones holding hands? : ARMS
2. French act : FAIT
3. Comment before “Be that way!” : FINE
4. Stamping need : INK PAD
5. Some campaign purchases : ADS
6. D.C. ballplayer : NAT
7. It’s worth 100 smackers : C-NOTE
8. Patisserie buy : ECLAIR
9. Sunken, as eyes : DEEP-SET
10. Low voices : BASSI
11. It may be lined with mailboxes: Abbr. : RTE
12. Different rooms in a museum, maybe : ERAS
13. *Smidgen : LITTLE BIT
14. Cooker with a dial : GAS GRILL
15. Having no head : UNLED
16. Luxury Hyundai : AZERA
17. Gaping things : MAWS
20. Relative of the Contour Plus : ATRA
21. Poe poem : LENORE
24. Like “Annabel Lee” among all Poe poems : LAST
27. See 89-Down : AT LAW
30. Wielder of the hammer Mjölnir : THOR
31. Lower chamber : HOUSE
32. Some stadium noise : CHEERING
34. Slimming surgery, informally : LIPO
35. River through Bristol : AVON
36. *Tom Seaver, e.g. : NEW YORK MET
39. At 3,000 feet above sea level, the highest provincial capital in Italy : ENNA
43. ___ cake (dim sum staple) : TARO
45. *Dr. Seuss’ genre : KIDDIE LIT
46. Mysterious sighting : YETI
48. *Challenge for a right-handed golfer : DOGLEG LEFT
49. Newsman David : ENSOR
50. Brings up : REARS
52. John McCain, for one : EX-POW
53. Sports org. with the teams Sun and Sky : WNBA
55. In the mail : SENT
59. Wing : ELL
61. Household brand name with a lowercase first letter : D-CON
64. Crib strip : SLAT
66. Google Wallet alternative : APPLE PAY
68. Kind of switch : ON/OFF
69. They hover over some icons : HALOS
70. In the know : AWARE
71. Release to the public, informally : DROP
73. Pad thai ingredient : EGG
74. Coal locale : SEAM
77. Actress Diana nicknamed the “Blonde Bombshell” : DORS
79. Strong sideless wagon : DRAY
83. *W.W. II propagandist : TOKYO ROSE
84. Suit to ___ : A TEE
86. Directive in some automated messages : PRESS
88. Holy Land line : EL AL
89. With 27-Down, firm figure: Abbr. : ATTY
91. “Stop your nonsense!” : OH PLEASE!
93. Funny-car fuel, informally : NITRO
95. Danish king who conquered England : KNUT
97. Boondocks : STICKS
99. Catch in the North Atlantic : CODFISH
103. Tough going : SLOG
106. Al Jolson standard : SWANEE
108. “Aw, c’mon” : BE A PAL
109. Songstress Eydie : GORME
110. “You’re ___ One, Mr. Grinch” : A MEAN
111. Köln coin : EURO
113. “Same here” : AS DO I
114. Stars, at the Forum : ASTRA
115. Letter-shaped girder : H-BAR
116. Sounds of scolding : TUTS
119. Put on board : LADE
120. Grieg’s “___ Death” : ASE’S
121. Violins and violas: Abbr. : STRS
123. U.S.’s largest labor union, in brief : NEA
125. Oscar-nominated Joaquin Phoenix film : HER
126. “The Two Towers” denizen : ENT

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2 thoughts on “0816-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 16 Aug 15, Sunday”

  1. Regarding 68 down: Holy Land Line. The answer "ELAl implies that the State of Israel is synonymous with the Holy Land. Much of what took place in the Bible occurred elsewhere, e.g., The West Bank, Syria, few of whose residents would regard ElAl as their (air)line. Political statements, I would hope, should not have a place in the puzzle.

  2. Hi Bill, Enjoy your column every week.

    114 down: The Roman Forum…….taking it's name…..

    I hope that's a typo Bill.

    Regards,
    David

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