1213-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 13 Dec 15, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Pomeranian, e.g. : LAPDOG
The Pomeranian is a breed of small dog, named for the Pomerania region of Europe (part of eastern Germany and northern Poland). The breed was much loved by the royalty of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian. Due to the notoriety of the monarch’s pet, the Pomeranian was bred for small size, so that during the Queen’s admittedly long reign, the size of the average “pom” was reduced by 50% …

12. Slow musical movements : ADAGIOS
An adagio is a piece of music with a slow tempo. The “adagio” marking on the score is an instruction to play the piece slowly and in a stately manner. The word adagio is Latin for “at ease”.

19. “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” e.g. : CAROL
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” is a favorite Christmas carol of mine. Note the correct punctuation. For years I thought the first line was “God rest you, merry gentlemen”. In fact, the verb “rest” here means “keep, continue to remain”. Rewriting the line in contemporary English might be “May God keep you happy, gentlemen”.

20. Available, as a London limo : ON HIRE
Apparently “on hire” is the same as “for hire” on the other side of the Atlantic. I lived there, but don’t remember this usage.

22. Elevated sight in the Windy City : CHICAGO TRAIN (Chicago & Train)
The rock band called Chicago was formed in … Chicago. The band’s biggest hits are “If You Leave Me Now” (1976) and “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” (1982). The band’s lineup has changed a lot over the years. The most tragic reason for a change was in 1978 when Terry Kath, one of the band’s founding members, died from an accidentally self-inflicted gun wound. Kath enjoyed playing with guns and as a joke held a pistol with an empty magazine to his temple and pulled the trigger. A round in the chamber killed him instantly.

Train is a rock band from San Francisco that was founded in 1993. Train’s 2003 hit “Calling All Angels” became an unofficial anthem for the LA Angels baseball team in 2010.

26. Quest for the unknown? : ALGEBRA
Algebra is a branch of mathematics in which arithmetical operations are performed on variables rather than specific numbers (x,y etc). The term “algebra” comes from the Arabic “al jebr” meaning “reunion of broken parts”.

29. Itinerary abbr. : ARR
Arrival (arr.)

30. Some are 13-/14-Down : NARCS
(13. With 14-Down, figs. in the war on drugs : DEA
14. See 13-Down : AGTS)
“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated with illegal drugs, with “narcotics”.

35. Key state geographically or electorally?: Abbr. : FLA
Florida is a key state geographically, as it is home to the Florida Keys. It is a key state electorally as it is a swing state, a state in which no one party has an overwhelming majority in recent elections.

36. All the cars going the same way : ONE-DIRECTION TRAFFIC (One Direction & Traffic)
One Direction is a UK-based boy band. Each member of the band competed in the reality show “The X Factor”, and didn’t do very well. The five were then combined in a boy band at a later stage of the competition. They only finished in third place, but I don’t think they care. They’re doing very, very well for “losers” …

Traffic was an English rock band that was popular in the late sixties and early seventies. The most famous musician in the lineup was guitarist and singer Steve Winwood.

44. “Grand” name in the frozen food aisle : EDY
Dreyer’s 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. Dreyer’s has always described its product as “Grand Ice Cream”.

46. Arch type : OGEE
An ogee is a type of S-curve. Specifically it is a figure consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite directions (like an S) but both ends of the curve end up parallel to each other (which is not necessarily true for an S). An ogee arch is composed of two ogees, with one being the mirror of the other and meeting at the arch’s apex.

47. Fatty liquid : OLEIN
Triolein (also called “olein”) is a triglyceride, a liquid fat. Triolein is found in various amounts in most fats and oils. For example, olive oil can contain up to 30% triolein.

49. Brewery kiln : OAST
An oast is a kiln used for drying hops as part of the brewing process. Such a structure might also be called an “oast house”.

51. Twaddle : UTTER ROT
“Twaddle” is a trivial talk, and is a word that has been around since the late 1700’s. It probably evolved from the earlier term “twattle” that had the same meaning.

55. “Absolutely!” : YES, NO DOUBT (Yes & No Doubt)
Yes are a rock band from London, England known for their progressive and symphonic style. The band went by the name “Yes!” when it first formed in the late sixties.

No Doubt is a rock band from Anaheim, California whose most famous member is the lead vocalist Gwen Stefani.

58. “The King of Queens” co-star Remini : LEAH
Leah Remini is an actress and comedian who is best known for playing Carrie Heffernan on the sitcom “King of Queens”. More recently, in 2013, Remini competed on “Dancing with the Stars”. Since then, Remini has appeared as a guest co-host on the show several times.

61. Certain sorority member, informally : DELTA
Delta Sigma Theta is a sorority that was founded at Howard University in 1913. Delta now has over 300,000 members and more than 1,000 chapters worldwide.

62. They’re seen spread on the back of a quarter : EAGLE’S WINGS (Eagles & Wings)
The American quarter is a little unusual in the world of decimal currency if you think about it. Most currencies have a “20-cent” coin, easier to work with mathematically. The US went for the quarter in deference to the practice of dividing Spanish Milled Dollars into eight wedge-shaped “bits”. That’s also why the quarter is sometimes referred to as “two bits”. State quarters were introduced in 1999, but prior to that the quarter had an eagle on its reverse.

The Eagles band formed in 1971, with the founding members being Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner. Frey and Henley were hired as session musicians by Linda Ronstadt. The four then played live together backing Ronstadt in a gig at Disneyland in 1971, and recorded their debut album together in England the following year.

Wings is a rock band that Paul and Linda McCartney formed after the Beatles disbanded. Wings had some tremendous hits including “Live and Let Die”, “Jet”, “Band on the Run” and “Mull of Kintyre”.

65. Title ship in a 1997 Spielberg movie : AMISTAD
“Amistad” is a 1997 historical drama directed and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells the true story of the slave ship “La Amistad”. The newly captured slaves on board escaped and took over the ship off the coast of Cuba. The ship was then captured by a US military vessel and the slaves taken into custody. The captives were eventually freed when their case was decided in the US Supreme Court, with John Quincy Adams pleading for the imprisoned Africans.

69. Former baseball boss Bud : SELIG
Bud Selig was the Commissioner of Baseball for Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2015. Selig became acting commissioner in 1992 after the resignation of Fay Vincent. The team owners searched for a new commissioner for six years, and finally gave the permanent job to Selig in 1998.

71. Times when shops close : SIESTAS
We use the word “siesta” to describe a short nap in the early afternoon, taking the word from the Spanish. In turn, the Spanish word is derived from the Latin “hora sexta” meaning “the sixth hour”. The idea is that the nap is taken at “the sixth hour” after dawn.

72. Kind of pie or doughnut : BOSTON CREAM (Boston & Cream)
The Boston cream pie was declared the official dessert of Massachusetts in 1996. And, it’s actually a cake, and not a pie at all.

Boston is a rock band from … Boston. Boston’s biggest hit was “Amanda”, released in 1986. It just so happens that I was at a Christmas rock concert today in which long-time Boston guitarist
Gary Pihl performed.

Cream were a “supergroup” from Britain, meaning the band was comprised of musicians from other successful groups. The band’s members were Eric Clapton (from the Yardbirds), and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (both from the Graham Bond Organisation).

76. Medium for cuneiform writing : CLAY
Cuneiform writing is a very early form of written expression that uses characters that are variants of a wedge shape. The first form of cuneiform writing was developed in Sumer (in modern-day Iraq), and was largely a system of pictographs. Over time, the number of characters decreased and became smaller and simpler, until they eventually evolved into the characters that we use in alphabetic writing today.

77. Victoria’s home: Abbr. : AUST
Victoria is the most densely populated state in Australia, with most inhabitants living in the state capital of Melbourne. Just like the Australian state of Queensland, Victoria was named for Queen Victoria, the British monarch at the time the state was founded.

78. Like child-safe cleaning products : POISON-FREE (Poison & Free)
Poison is a glam rock band that formed in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania in 1980. Poison’s biggest hit is 1988’s “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”.

86. Cold War capital : BONN
After WWII, Bonn was chosen as the capital of West Germany, a choice promoted by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer who was from the area. After German reunification, the capital was moved to Berlin.

91. ___ Claire, Wis. : EAU
Eau Claire, Wisconsin is named for the Eau Claire River, which in turn was named by French explorers. The explorers had been travelling down the muddy Chippewa River and diverted into the clear water of what is now called the Eau Claire River. They exclaimed “Voici l’eau claire!” meaning “Here is clear water!” The French phrase “Voici l’eau claire” is now the city’s motto that appears on the city seal.

94. Org. in “The Martian” : NASA
“The Martian” is a very intriguing 2015 science fiction film starring Matt Damon as an astronaut who is accidentally stranded on Mars. The movie is based on a 2011 novel of the same name by Andrew Weir. One thing that I liked about the film is that the science cited is fairly realistic. In fact, NASA collaborated with the filmmakers extensively from script development to principal casting.

95. Lark for a Halloween hooligan : FUN SMASHING PUMPKINS (Fun & Smashing Pumpkins)
Fun (often written as “fun.”) is an indie rock band that formed in 2008. Fun won two Grammys in 2013, for Best New Artist and Song of the Year.

The Smashing Pumpkins are an alternative rock band that formed in 1988 in Chicago.

101. Chemical suffix : -ASE
The names of enzymes usually includes the suffix “-ase”. Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

102. ___ Mellark, Katniss Everdeen’s partner in “The Hunger Games” : PEETA
“The Hunger Games” is a 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins, the first in a trilogy of titles that also includes “Catching Fire” (2009) and “Mockingjay” (2010). “The Hunger Games” was adapted into a very successful movie released in 2012, with the sequels following soon after. Amazon.com reports more sales of “The Hunger Games” series books than even the “Harry Potter” series.

103. Bar snacks : 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.

107. Home Depot competitor : LOWE’S
Lucius S. Lowe opened the first Lowe’s hardware store in 1921, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lucius only knew the one store, as it was family who expanded the company after he passed away in 1940.

110. Land on the Red Sea : ERITREA
Eritrea is a country located in the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. Some scientists believe that the area now known as Eritrea was the departure point for the anatomically modern humans who first left Africa to populate the rest of the world.

117. What many Black Friday shoppers do at midnight : RUSH THE DOORS (Rush & The Doors)
In the world of retail, “Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving in the US. Black Friday is when many stores start the holiday shopping season, and so offer deep discounts to get ahead of the competition.

Rush is a Canadian rock band that has been around since 1968. The band has three members: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart.

The Doors formed in 1965 in Los Angeles. The band chose their name from a book by Aldous Huxley called “The Doors of Perception”.

123. Like Crimea, now : ANNEXED
Crimea is a peninsula jutting out into the Black Sea that is almost completely surrounded by water. It is connected to the Ukrainian mainland to the north by the Isthmus of Perekop, and is separated from the nearby Russian region of Kuban by the narrow (less than 10 miles) Kerch Strait. Crimea has been occupied by foreign powers many times over the centuries, and now control of the region is disputed by Ukraine and Russia.

Down
1. Capital of Ghana : ACCRA
Accra sits on Ghana’s coast and is a major seaport as well as the country’s capital city. The name “Accra” comes from a local word “Nkran” meaning “ants”, a name chosen because of the large number of anthills found in the area when the city was founded.

2. Bill for cable TV : MAHER
Bill Maher is a stand-up comedian and political commentator. Maher has an HBO television show called “Real Time with Bill Maher” which is essentially a follow-on from the very successful “Politically Incorrect” program that started out on Comedy Central.

3. Early spring blooms : PRIMROSES
In Europe, the primrose is one of the first plants to flower in spring. As such, the “primrose” name comes from an older term meaning “first rose”. That said, the primrose is not very closely related to true roses.

4. “Livin’ La Vida ___” : LOCA
“Livin’ La Vida Loca” is a 1999 single recorded by Ricky Martin, the title of which translates as “living the crazy life”.

5. Lover of Sir Lancelot : ELAINE
In Arthurian legend, Elaine of Astolat is a maiden who dies from unrequited love for Sir Lancelot, one of the Knights of the Round Table. You may be familiar with Alfred Lord Tennyson’s famous “The Lady of Shalott”, well, the “Lady” of the poem is based is Elaine of Astolat.

6. John : LOO
When I was growing up in Ireland, a “bathroom” was a room that had a bath and no toilet. The separate room with the commode was called “the toilet” or sometimes the W.C. (the water closet). Apparently the term closet was used because in the 1800s when homeowners started installing toilets indoors they often displaced clothes and linens in a “closet”, as a closet was 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. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo” in which the pot was called the loo!

Sir John Harington was an author and a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I of England. However, Harington is perhaps best remembered as the inventor of the flush toilet. Our slang term “john” meaning “toilet” is thought to be a reference to John Harington.

8. “Wheel of Fortune” category : PHRASE
Contestants have been spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” since the game show first aired in 1975.

10. Nee: Abbr. : ORIG
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

12. Bosox division : AL EAST
The Boston Red Sox is one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams and so commands a large attendance, but only when on the road. The relatively small capacity of Boston’s Fenway Park, the team’s home since 1912, has dictated that every game the Red Sox has played there has been a sell out since May of 2003.

13. With 14-Down, figs. in the war on drugs : DEA
14. See 13-Down : AGTS
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was set up in 1973 while President Nixon was in office.

17. Peacock’s “eyes” : OCELLI
An ocellus (plural “ocelli”) is an eye-like marking, or eyespot. A good example of ocelli are the eyespots on the elaborate display feathers of a peacock.

18. Northwest airport named for two cities : SEA-TAC
Sea-Tac Airport is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

21. Big bankruptcy of 2001 : ENRON
After all the trials following the exposure of fraud at Enron, several of the key players ended up in jail. Andrew Fastow was the Chief Financial Officer. He plea-bargained and received ten years without parole, and became the key witness in the trials of others. Even Fastow’s wife was involved and she was sentenced to one year for helping her husband hide money. Jeffrey Skilling (ex-CEO) was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months. Kenneth Lay (CEO) died in 2006 after he had been found guilty but before he could be sentenced. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of pertinent documents and deleting emails and files (a decision that the Supreme Court later overturned on a technicality). But still, Arthur Andersen collapsed under the weight of the scandal and 85,000 people lost their jobs (despite only a handful being directly involved with Enron).

37. No de Cologne? : NEIN
“Nein” is German for “no”, and “ja” means “yes”.

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Koln” in German.

41. Kind of wheel : FERRIS
The first Ferris Wheel was built for the Chicago World’s Fair (officially known as the “World’s Columbian Exposition”) in 1893. That wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. who lent his name to wheels built from then on.

43. Order at McSorley’s : ALE
A few years ago, I brought my wife and sister-in-law into McSorley’s. I was foolish enough to ask what kind of wine they had for the ladies. The gruff answer was “McSorley’s Light Ale or McSorley’s Dark Ale”.

51. Carrier inits. : UAL
United Airlines (UAL) has a complicated history, but can trace its roots back to Aviation Enterprises, founded in 1944 and later called Texas International. The first use of the “United” name in the company’s history was when airplane pioneer William Boeing merged his Boeing Air Transport with Pratt & Whitney to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) in 1929. The Air Mail Act of 1934 required that UATC be broken up into United Aircraft (which became United Technologies), the Boeing Aircraft Company and United Air Lines.

53. Actress Kurylenko of “Quantum of Solace” : OLGA
Olga Kurylenko is a Ukrainian actress and model. Kurylenko played the Bond girl Camille Montes in “Quantum of Solace”.

56. Travelmate in “On the Road” : DEAN
Neal Cassady was a member of the Beat Generation, the group of post-WWII writers who became prominent in the 1950s. Cassady was the inspiration for the character Dean Moriarty in Jack Kerouac’s novel “On the Road”.

58. China’s Chou En-___ : LAI
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. Zhou Enlai 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, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

59. Goads : EGGS ON
The verb “edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way, “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “to egg on” meaning “to goad”.

66. Undergo ecdysis : MOLT
“Ecdysis” is a process of molting in invertebrate animals, an example being a crab’s shedding of its exoskeleton. The term arises from the Greek “ekduo” meaning “to strip off”.

67. Who said “Aristotle is my friend – but my greatest friend is truth” : ISAAC NEWTON
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.

Aristotle was actually a student of Plato in Ancient Greece (and in turn, Plato was a student of Socrates). Aristotle’s most famous student was Alexander the Great.

68. Apple Pencil, for one : STYLUS
The Apple Pencil is a stylus designed for the iPad Pro tablet computer released in 2015. The Apple Pencil is quite “smart”, and has a pressure sensitive tip. It also includes a bluetooth device for additional connectivity to the computer system itself,and not just the screen. Another nice feature is a Lightning connector, so that the computer can charge the stylus for half an hour’s use in only 15 seconds.

79. Lead role in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” : FINN
“Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens” is the much-anticipated seventh episode in the “Star Wars” series of films. Some favorite characters return in “Star Wars VII”, including Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and General Leia Organa (or “Princess Leia” in earlier films, played by Carrie Fisher).

81. Golfer Ernie : ELS
Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He is a former World No. 1 and has won four majors: the US Open (1994 & 1997) and the British Open (2002 & 2012).

82. LeShan who wrote “It’s Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It” : EDA
Eda LeShan wrote “When Your Child Drives You Crazy”, and was host of the PBS television show “How Do Your Children Grow?”

84. Typing test fig. : WPM
Words per minute (WPM)

85. Pronto : ASAP
As soon as possible (ASAP)

The Spanish, Italian (and now English) word “pronto” is derived from the Latin “promptus” meaning “ready, quick”.

89. Baked ___ : ZITI
Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

92. Candy Crush Saga, for one : APP
“Candy Crush Saga” is an “app” version of the browser video game “Candy Crush”. Apparently it is very, very popular. Not with me …

93. Czar’s decree : UKASE
In Imperial Russia, a “ukase” was a proclamation issued by the government or the tsar.

95. Singer/actress Lola : FALANA
Lola Falana is a singer, dancer and actress who grew up in Philadelphia. In the sixties Falana had an affair with, and later became good friends with, Sammy Davis Jr. Davis helped get her act into Las Vegas where she was very successful, eventually earning Falana the nickname “Queen of Las Vegas”. With her success came money, and so she became the highest paid female performer in Vegas at that time. Sadly, Falana suffers from multiple sclerosis, a disease that forced her to cut short her career as an entertainer.

96. One of the majors : US OPEN
The US Open is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, having started out as the US National Championship in 1881. Today, the US Open is the last major tournament in the Grand Slam annual series, following the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.

97. Favored at the 96-Down, say : SEEDED
A “seeded” player or team in a tournament is one given a preliminary ranking that is used in the initial draw. The intention is that the better competitors do are less likely to meet each other in the early rounds.

100. San ___, Argentina : ISIDRO
San Isidro is an affluent municipality in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Among San Isidro’s many claims to fame is that it is known as “the National Capital of Rugby” for the country.

105. Writer Bret : HARTE
Bret Harte was a storyteller noted for his tales of the American West, even though he himself was from back East, born in Albany, New York. One work attributed to him is “Ah Sin”, a disastrously unsuccessful play written by Bret Harte and Mark Twain. The two writers didn’t get on at all well during the writing process, and when the play was produced for the stage it was very poorly received. Nevertheless, Twain suggested a further collaboration with Harte, and Harte downright refused!

106. TV’s ___ twins : OLSEN
I know very little about the Olsen twins, but I am told that folks believe Mary-Kate and Ashley to be identical twins. They look very much alike, but are in fact fraternal twins. The sisters were cast as Michelle Tanner on the eighties sitcom “Full House”, taking turns playing the role.

108. Start of a Mozart title : EINE
Mozart’s Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, is better known as “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”, which translates into “a little serenade”, but the more literal English translation of “a little night music” is often used. It is a delightful piece in four, very recognizable movements, although there is much debate about a “lost” fifth movement.

109. Classic record label for R&B and soul : STAX
Stax Records was founded in 1957 as Satellite Records. The biggest star to record with Stax was the great Otis Redding.

111. Book that begins “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land” : RUTH
The Hebrew Bible’s Book of Ruth is named from Ruth the Moabitess, who was the great-grandmother of David.

116. Sport-___ : UTE
A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sports utes and crossover utes.

118. ___ Fridays (restaurant chain) : TGI
I think that there is an apostrophe missing in the clue, which should read “Friday’s”.

T.G.I. Friday’s is an American restaurant chain, founded in 1965 in New York City. Today there are over a thousand T.G.I. Friday’s restaurants in over 50 countries. I think that Friday’s has always been particularly successful overseas. I used to visit one a lot with my family when we lived in the Philippines, and I believe the most successful Friday’s restaurant anywhere in the world is the one in Haymarket Leicester Square in London in the UK.

119. Ad follower : HOC
The Latin phrase “ad hoc” means “for this purpose”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Plentiful : AMPLE
6. Pomeranian, e.g. : LAPDOG
12. Slow musical movements : ADAGIOS
19. “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen,” e.g. : CAROL
20. Available, as a London limo : ON HIRE
21. A touch of class : ELEGANCE
22. Elevated sight in the Windy City : CHICAGO TRAIN (Chicago & Train)
24. “Why didn’t I think of that?!” : NEAT IDEA!
25. Forward, as a letter : REMAIL
26. Quest for the unknown? : ALGEBRA
28. Aid for a flood-prone house : STILT
29. Itinerary abbr. : ARR
30. Some are 13-/14-Down : NARCS
33. It’s for the birds : ROOST
35. Key state geographically or electorally?: Abbr. : FLA
36. All the cars going the same way : ONE-DIRECTION TRAFFIC (One Direction & Traffic)
42. Nominative or accusative : CASE
44. “Grand” name in the frozen food aisle : EDY
45. “Eww, gross!” : YUCK!
46. Arch type : OGEE
47. Fatty liquid : OLEIN
49. Brewery kiln : OAST
51. Twaddle : UTTER ROT
55. “Absolutely!” : YES, NO DOUBT (Yes & No Doubt)
58. “The King of Queens” co-star Remini : LEAH
60. Job-related move, for short : RELO
61. Certain sorority member, informally : DELTA
62. They’re seen spread on the back of a quarter : EAGLE’S WINGS (Eagles & Wings)
65. Title ship in a 1997 Spielberg movie : AMISTAD
69. Former baseball boss Bud : SELIG
71. Times when shops close : SIESTAS
72. Kind of pie or doughnut : BOSTON CREAM (Boston & Cream)
74. Public spat : SCENE
76. Medium for cuneiform writing : CLAY
77. Victoria’s home: Abbr. : AUST
78. Like child-safe cleaning products : POISON-FREE (Poison & Free)
83. Strong and unwavering : STALWART
86. Cold War capital : BONN
87. Investor’s concern : YIELD
88. Recipe amounts : CUPS
89. Skyrocket : ZOOM
91. ___ Claire, Wis. : EAU
94. Org. in “The Martian” : NASA
95. Lark for a Halloween hooligan : FUN SMASHING PUMPKINS (Fun & Smashing Pumpkins)
101. Chemical suffix : -ASE
102. ___ Mellark, Katniss Everdeen’s partner in “The Hunger Games” : PEETA
103. Bar snacks : TAPAS
104. “Now the truth comes out!” : OHO!
107. Home Depot competitor : LOWE’S
110. Land on the Red Sea : ERITREA
113. A wink or a nod, maybe : SIGNAL
115. Gift : APTITUDE
117. What many Black Friday shoppers do at midnight : RUSH THE DOORS (Rush & The Doors)
120. Newborns : NEONATES
121. “We’ve been approved!” : IT’S A GO!
122. Deliverer’s assignment : ROUTE
123. Like Crimea, now : ANNEXED
124. Sound-related : PHONIC
125. Time and time again : OFTEN

Down
1. Capital of Ghana : ACCRA
2. Bill for cable TV : MAHER
3. Early spring blooms : PRIMROSES
4. “Livin’ La Vida ___” : LOCA
5. Lover of Sir Lancelot : ELAINE
6. John : LOO
7. Symbol of industry : ANT
8. “Wheel of Fortune” category : PHRASE
9. Ratchet (up) : DIAL
10. Nee: Abbr. : ORIG
11. No-name : GENERIC
12. Bosox division : AL EAST
13. With 14-Down, figs. in the war on drugs : DEA
14. See 13-Down : AGTS
15. It may be jaunty : GAIT
16. Not taking sides : INDIFFERENT
17. Peacock’s “eyes” : OCELLI
18. Northwest airport named for two cities : SEA-TAC
21. Big bankruptcy of 2001 : ENRON
23. Open spot in a woods : GLADE
27. Something bound to sell? : BOOK
31. Relieve (of) : RID
32. Yelp : CRY OUT
34. Show, with “out” : TROT
37. No de Cologne? : NEIN
38. Dermatological sac : CYST
39. Sound of disapproval : TUT
40. Dating datum : AGE
41. Kind of wheel : FERRIS
42. Like the comment “Maybe, maybe not” : COY
43. Order at McSorley’s : ALE
48. Silently acknowledge : NOD TO
50. Humiliates : ABASES
51. Carrier inits. : UAL
52. Professors’ reading : THESES
53. Actress Kurylenko of “Quantum of Solace” : OLGA
54. Fling : TOSS
56. Travelmate in “On the Road” : DEAN
57. Clunker : OLD CAR
58. China’s Chou En-___ : LAI
59. Goads : EGGS ON
62. American ___ : ELM
63. Chinese: Prefix : SINO-
64. Pipsqueak : WEENY
65. They may be taught with a song : ABCS
66. Undergo ecdysis : MOLT
67. Who said “Aristotle is my friend – but my greatest friend is truth” : ISAAC NEWTON
68. Apple Pencil, for one : STYLUS
70. Put away : EAT
73. Place to get stuck : RUT
75. Films : CINEMA
78. Spectacle : POMP
79. Lead role in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” : FINN
80. Solve by logic : REASON OUT
81. Golfer Ernie : ELS
82. LeShan who wrote “It’s Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It” : EDA
84. Typing test fig. : WPM
85. Pronto : ASAP
86. Weigh (down) : BOG
89. Baked ___ : ZITI
90. Traveling : ON A TRIP
92. Candy Crush Saga, for one : APP
93. Czar’s decree : UKASE
95. Singer/actress Lola : FALANA
96. One of the majors : US OPEN
97. Favored at the 96-Down, say : SEEDED
98. “___ to you!” : HERE’S
99. Area code 801 resident : UTAHAN
100. San ___, Argentina : ISIDRO
105. Writer Bret : HARTE
106. TV’s ___ twins : OLSEN
108. Start of a Mozart title : EINE
109. Classic record label for R&B and soul : STAX
111. Book that begins “In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land” : RUTH
112. He, in Italian : ESSO
114. Slip : GOOF
116. Sport-___ : UTE
118. ___ Fridays (restaurant chain) : TGI
119. Ad follower : HOC

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