1227-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 27 Dec 15, Sunday

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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
Solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword in all other publications
Solution to today’s New York Times crossword found online at the Seattle Times website
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: Don Gagliardo & Zhouqin Burnikel
THEME: Binary Code … each of today’s themed clues is a pair of letters. That pair of letters appears in the first word of the corresponding themed answer, and is cleverly (and cryptically) referred to by the answers itself. And, each answer is a common phrase:

23A. PP SHOPPING CENTER (there are two letters P at the center of “shopping”)
36A. DD DEAD ENDS (there is a letter D at either end of “dead”)
46A. AA NCAA FINALS (the final letters of “NCAA” are two letters A)
64A. WW WINDOW FRAME (there are two letters W framing, at either end of, “window”)
82A. OO ONION RINGS (two letters O look like rings in “onion”)
95A. ZZ JAZZ DUET (there are two letters Z, a duets of Zs, in “jazz”)
110A. NN MINNESOTA TWINS (there are two letters N, twins, in “Minnesota”)
15D. RR MARRIED COUPLE (there are a couple of letters R in “married”)
52D. FF LEADOFF DOUBLE (there is a double-F at the end of “leadoff”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 17m 27s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … ABASES (abates!!!), SANGRITA (Tangrita)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

12. Je t’aime : French :: ___ : Spanish TE AMO
“I love you” translates in “te amo” in Spanish, and “je t’aime” in French.

19. Female toon with a “dollink” Boris NATASHA
Natasha Fatale is a cartoon character who hangs out with Rocky and Bullwinkle in the cartoon series from the sixties. Natasha is a spy in the cartoon storylines, hence the “Fatale” name.

21. Grackles and grebes AVIANS
Grackles are birds native to North and South America. Examples are the Nicaraguan grackle and the Colombian mountain grackle.

A grebe is a small to medium-sized freshwater diving bird. Although they appear to be very different, recent molecular studies have shown that grebes and flamingos are closely related.

25. Attic GARRET
A garret is a room on the top floor of a house, under a gabled roof. It can be another word for an attic.

26. Horror franchise beginning in 2004 SAW
The “Saw” franchise of movies is gruesome in the extreme. I’ve only seen a few minutes of “Saw” footage (accidentally). The stories are about imprisoned victims who are faced with having to mutilate themselves to escape. Ugh …

30. Melee FRAY
Our word “melee” comes from the French “mêlée”, and in both languages the word means “confused fight”.

31. Street of film fame ELM
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film, released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” nor “horror”, I only learned relatively recently that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

32. You might take it out for a drive IRON
That would be the golf club sometimes used to drive the ball.

33. Court, for short RHYME
“Court” rhymes with “short”.

35. Pile of stones used to mark a trail CAIRN
A cairn is a man-made pile of stones that can have various uses. A cairn might be a prosaic trail marker, or a distinctive landmark or monument. Our term “cairn” derives from the Gaelic “carn” meaning “rocky hill, heap of stones”.

39. First antibacterial soap brand DIAL
Dial was the first antibacterial soap introduced in the US. It was given the name “Dial” as it was touted as offering “round-the-clock” protection against any odors caused by perspiration.

45. Portrait on Chinese renminbi bills MAO
Even though we generally refer to the currency of China as the “yuan”, the yuan is actually the basic unit of the “renminbi”. Similarly, “sterling” is the official currency of the UK, with the “pound” being the basic unit of sterling.

53. The Jedi and the Sith, e.g. FOES
The Sith are characters in the “Star Wars” universe who use the “dark side” of “the Force”, and as such are the antithesis of the Jedi Knights.

55. Alaska tourist attraction AURORA
The spectacular aurora phenomenon is seen lighting up the night sky at both poles of the earth (the Aurora Borealis in the north, and the Aurora Australis in the south). The eerie effect is caused by charged particles colliding with atoms at high latitudes.

57. Director of 2015’s “Chi-Raq” LEE
“Chi-Raq” is a 2015 musical film directed by Spike Lee. A satirical movie, it is based on the classical Greek comedy play “Lysistrata” by Aristophanes. “Chi-Raq” deals with gang violence in the Englewood neighborhood of Chicago, with the title being a portmanteau of “Chicago” and “Iraq”.

58. Capital with the Norsk Folkemuseum OSLO
The Norsk Folkemuseum (Norwegian Museum of Cultural History) is located on the Bygdøy peninsula on the western side of Oslo. The Bygdøy peninsula is also home to the Viking Ship Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum.

60. Travel info source, for short AAA
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

61. London cathedral ST PAUL’S
The famous and very beautiful St. Paul’s Cathedral in London was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. St. Paul’s was completed in 1708 and was constructed as part of a rebuilding program necessary after the devastation of the Great Fire of London of 1666. St. Paul’s is the second largest church building in the country, after Liverpool Cathedral.

68. Historic German admiral Maximilian von ___ SPEE
Maximilian Graf von Spee was actually born in Denmark, but of a noble German family. By the time WWI started, Spee had risen to the rank of Rear Admiral in the German Navy. He was killed in the Battle of the Falkland Islands (the original 1914 version!). He gave his name to the powerful pocket battleship, the Admiral Graf Spee, which was damaged in the Battle of the River Plate during WWII. The Graf Spee took refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo and when the boat was expelled by the government of Uruguay, the captain scuttled her rather than face the Allied flotilla waiting for her just outside the port.

71. Michael of “Saturday Night Live” CHE
Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 1914 as co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show.

72. Cry to a husky MUSH!
“Mushing” is the use of one of more dogs to pull a sled. “Mush” is thought to come from the French “marche” meaning “go, run”.

76. Locale for cranberries BOG
When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which later evolved into “cranberry”.

85. Hodges who managed the Mets to a World Series title GIL
Gil Hodges was a professional baseball player and manager. Perhaps Hodges’ most celebrated achievement was managing the New York Mets team (the “Miracle Mets”) that won the 1969 World Series. Hodges died from a heart attack just a few years later in 1972, when he was only 48 years old.

86. Little Rascals boy FARINA
Farina is a character in “The Little Rascals” (also known as “Our Gang”) series of comedy shorts. Farina is played by child actor Allen Hoskins, who appeared in “Our Gang” from the age of one year old until eleven.

88. Tolkien tree creatures ENTS
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”.

89. Mars features, mistakenly CANALS
Back in 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli reported observing a network of long straight lines on the surface of the planet Mars. Schiaparelli called the phenomena “canali”, which was translated into English as “canals”, although the meaning “channels, gullies” is also accurate. In the following decades, other astronomers confirmed the sighting, whereas others disagreed that such lines could be seen. Some observers even suggested that the lines were irrigation canals built by an intelligent civilization that resided on the planet. It turns out that the “canals” were actually illusions caused by the chance alignment of craters and other natural features on the planet’s surface, illusions that were only observed at the limit of the resolution available in telescopes of the day.

94. Peeps heard by Bo Peep BAAS
The lines that are most commonly quoted for the rhyme about “Little Bo Peep” are:

Little Bo-Peep has lost her sheep,
And can’t tell where to find them;
Leave them alone, And they’ll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them.

But, there are actually four more verses, including this one:

It happened one day, as Bo-peep did stray
Into a meadow hard by,
There she espied their tails side by side,
All hung on a tree to dry.

97. When repeated, a Yale fight song BOOLA
“Boola Boola” is a fight song of Yale University that was composed in 1900, although it was based on a song called “La Hoola Boola” that had been around in the 1800s. The tune of “Boola Boola” is used by the University of Oklahoma for its fight song, “Boomer Sooner”.

98. Playwright Clifford ODETS
Clifford Odets was a playwright, screenwriter and director from Philadelphia. Odets wrote a play called “Golden Boy” that was first performed in 1937 on Broadway. There was a film adaptation released in 1939 that starred a young William Holden. “Golden Boy” was the film that launched Holden’s career. There was also a 1964 musical of the same name that was based on the play.

101. Modern TV feature, for short DVR
DVR (Digital Video Recorder)

103. Grps. with the motto “Every child. One voice” PTAS
The National Parent Teacher Association (National PTA) was founded back in 1897 as the National Congress of Mothers. The PTA uses the slogan “everychild. onevoice” (sic).

104. Conquest of 1953 EVEREST
Mount Everest was first summited in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hillary and Norgay were part of an expedition from which two pairs of climbers were selected to make a summit attempt. The first pair were Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, and they came within 330 feet of their goal but had to turn back. The expedition sent up the second pair two days later, and history was made on 29 May 1953.

107. Susan of “The Partridge Family” DEY
The actress Susan Dey first appeared on “The Partridge Family” when she was 17-years-old when she had no acting experience. Years later, Dey won a Golden Globe for playing the leading role of Grace Van Owen in “L. A. Law”.

108. Silas in “The Da Vinci Code,” notably ALBINO
In Dan Brown’s novel “The Da Vinci Code”, Silas is a Opus Dei monk who is an albino. He is a sinister character, someone who self-flagellates and who kills while convinced that he is saving the Catholic Church. In the movie, Silas is played (extremely ably) by English actor Paul Bettany.

110. NN MINNESOTA TWINS
The Minnesota Twins baseball team started out life as the Kansas City Blues in 1894, before becoming the Washington Senators in 1901. The team arrived in Minneapolis in 1961.

113. Dances at the Tropicana Club SALSAS
The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

The Tropicana Club is a world-famous cabaret in Havana, Cuba.

114. Santa Claus portrayer in 81-Across ED ASNER
(81A. See 114-Across ELF)
“Elf” is a comedy movie released for the 2003 Christmas season. “Elf” was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Will Ferrell in the title role with James Caan supporting, and Ed Asner playing Santa Claus. It’s all about one of Santa’s elves who finds out he is human and goes to meet his father in New York City.

116. Witherspoon of “Legally Blonde” REESE
“LEGALLY blonde” is a 2001 comedy film starring Reese Witherspoon as a girlish sorority president who heads to Harvard to earn a law degree. “LEGALLY blonde” was successful enough to warrant two sequels as well as a spin-off musical that played most successfully in London’s West End (for 974 performances).

117. Shot put and long jump EVENTS
Shot put, or events like shot put, have been around for millennia, but the first events that truly resemble today’s track and field event had to come with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “putt” (throw) cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day-one, with an American winning the gold in the first games in 1896, one Robert Garrett.

118. “Auld Lang Syne” and others POEMS
The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written as a poem by Scottish poet Robbie Burns, and the tune is that of a traditional folk song. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

Down
3. Agricultural figure in “The Canterbury Tales” PLOWMAN
Canterbury is a city in the southeast of England in the county of Kent. Canterbury is famous for Canterbury Cathedral where Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170, making it a pilgrimage destination for Christians. It was one of these pilgrimages that was the inspiration for Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales” written in the 14th century.

4. Alley ___ OOP
“Alley Oop” is a comic strip that ran for four decades starting in 1932. “Alley Oop” was drawn by V. T. Hamlin. The title character lived in the prehistoric kingdom of Moo, although for much of the strip’s life, Alley Oop had access to a time machine. Alley Oop also had a girlfriend called Ooola. I had assumed that Ooola’s name was a play on “hula hoop”, but that wasn’t invented until the 1950s (a kind blog reader informs me) …

5. Pep Boys competitor NAPA
The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) is a retailers’ cooperative that supplies replacement parts for cars and trucks.

The Pep Boys automotive stores started out in Philadelphia when four friends pooled their money ($800, in 1921) to open an auto parts store. The name “Pep” was taken from a Pep Valve grinding compound that they carried. They changed the name to Pep Boys as at least one local used to refer to the store as “the boys at Pep”. One of the friends cashed out of the business, and the remaining trio eventually rebranded the store as “The Pep Boys – Manny, Moe & Jack”.

9. Spicy fruit beverage often used as a tequila chaser SANGRITA
“Sangrita” is a spicy and citrus non-alcoholic beverage that is often served as a chaser to a straight shot of 100% agave tequila. The name “sangrita” translates from Spanish as “little blood”, a reference to its bright red color. One sangrita recipe includes the juice of Seville oranges, lime and pomegranate, along with chili powder to add heat.

11. Singer Crow SHERYL
Sheryl Crow famously dated cyclist Lance Armstrong from 2003-2006. Armstrong has stated publicly more than once that Crow’s music cured his cancer.

13. A Perón EVA
Eva Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón who was in office from 1946 to 1955. The Argentine First Lady was known affectionately by the people as “Evita”, the Spanish language diminutive of “Eva”. “Evita” was also the follow-up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, and was based on the life of Eva Perón.

16. Like macho push-ups ONE-ARM
A man described as “macho” shows pride in his masculinity. “Macho” is a Spanish word for “male animal”.

20. Calla lily family ARUM
The Calla Lily is a common name for a lily of the genus Zantedeschia. There is a lily genus called Calla, but the Calla Lily isn’t in it. Now that, that is confusing …

22. “Gypsy” composer STYNE
Jule Styne was an English songwriter who made a name for himself in America with a series of popular musicals. Styne wrote a number of famous songs including “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from “Funny Girl”, “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” from “Gypsy”.

“Gypsy” is a 1962 musical film based on the book by Gypsy Rose Lee titled “Gypsy: A Memoir”. Stars of the movie are Natalie Wood as Louise Hovick (Gypsy’s real name) and Rosalind Russell as Gypsy’s mother Rose Hovick. By the way, the real-life Gypsy Rose Lee became a fiction author in 1942 when her mystery thriller was published called “The G-String Murders”. The novel was adapted into a movie a couple of years later and released as “Lady of Burlesque” starring Barbara Stanwyck.

29. Gasless car TESLA
Tesla Motors is a manufacturer of electric vehicles based in Palo Alto, California. Tesla is noted for producing the first electric sports car, called the Tesla Roadster. The current base price of a roadster is about $100,000, should you be interested …

34. Java order that packs less of a punch HALF-CAF
Back in 1850, the name “java” was given to a type of coffee grown on the island of Java, and the usage of the term spread from there.

35. What Brits call “red sauce” CATSUP
“Catsup” is an American spelling of “ketchup” that is sometimes used, especially in the south of the country.

37. Major-___ DOMO
A majordomo is a person in charge, or the senior person who might act in the absence of a boss. The term derives from the Latin “major domus” meaning “senior in the house”.

38. Muse for D. H. Lawrence ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of lyric poetry and is often depicted playing a lyre.

D. H. Lawrence was very much a reactionary novelist, in the sense that his work tended to decry the social impact of the industrial revolution. His novels were also criticized for their erotic content, so much so that Lawrence was publicly labelled as a pornographer by the end of his days. His most famous novels are “Sons and Lovers”, “The Rainbow”, “Women in Love” and “Lady Chatterley’s Lover”.

43. Put away ICE
“To ice” is to kill, to put away.

44. Annapolis grad. ENS
Ensign (ens.)

The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is located in Annapolis, Maryland. The USNA was founded in 1845 and educates officers for both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. The motto of the USNA is “Ex Scientia Tridens”, which translates as “From Knowledge, Sea Power”.

46. It comes before one NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

49. Susan who wrote “The Orchid Thief” ORLEAN
“The Orchid Thief” is a 1998 book by journalist Susan Orlean about the poaching of the rare Ghost Orchid from a Florida State Park. The book was adapted into the 2002 film “Adaptation” starring Meryl Streep as the author Orlean.

56. Dorm V.I.P.s RAS
RAs are resident assistants or resident advisers, the peer leaders found in residence halls, particularly on a college campus.

57. Durable stocking fabric LISLE
Lisle is a cotton fabric that has been through an extra process at the end of its manufacture that burns off lint and the ends of fibers leaving the fabric very smooth and with a clean edge.

61. X-rated material SMUT
“Smut” means “dirt, smudge” and more recently “pornographic material”. The term comes from the Yiddish “schmutz”, which is a slang word used in English for dirt, as in “dirt on one’s face”.

63. D.C. athlete 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.

65. Pest control brand D-CON
“d-Con” is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years.

67. Tori of pop/rock AMOS
Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. Amos started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. She was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music (I lead such a sheltered life …)!

70. Symbol of Middle America PEORIA
Peoria is the oldest European settlement in the state of Illinois, having been settled by the French in 1680. The city is famous for being cited as “the average American city”. The phrase, “Will it play in Peoria?” is used to mean, “Will it appeal to the mainstream?” It is believed the expression originated as a corruption of, “We shall play in Peoria”, a line used by some actors in the 1890 novel “Five Hundred Dollars” by Horatio Alger, Jr.

73. Big name in 35-Down HEINZ
(35D. What Brits call “red sauce” CATSUP)
The HJ Heinz Company is an American concern, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded in 1869, by Henry John Heinz. It was Heinz himself who came up with the marketing slogan of “57 Varieties”. The “57” really doesn’t have any relevance to the range of products available as Heinz chose the “5” because it was his lucky number, and the “7” because it was his wife’s lucky number.

78. Some TVs and smartphones LGS
LG is a very large, South Korean manufacturer of electronics, chemicals and telecom products. LG used to be known as Lucky-Goldstar.

80. The Impaler VLAD
Vlad III was a 15th century ruler in modern-day Romania. He was given the name “Vlad the Impaler” after he died, and this suggests that he was in the habit of impaling his enemies. His father, Vlad II, was known as Vlad Dracul, which translates as Vlad the Devil or Dragon. As a result, Vlad the Impaler was also known by the diminutive form of his father’s name, i.e. Dracula! Bram Stoker borrowed this name for his famous 1897 novel titled “Dracula”.

83. Fort Knox valuable INGOT
Fort Knox is actually a US Army base, but it lends its name to the adjacent facility that is more correctly called the United States Bullion Depository. Most of the US gold reserves are in “Fort Knox”, although it isn’t the biggest gold repository in the US. That honor goes to the vault under the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Manhattan. Most of the gold stored in the New York vault belongs to foreign nations and banks.

89. West Pointer CADET
West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and today about 15% of all new cadets are women.

90. Opposite of an early adopter LUDDITE
In contemporary usage, a “Luddite” is someone who is slow to adopt new technology. This usage has even been extended to “Neo-Luddism”, meaning the active opposition to some technologies. It has been suggested that the term “Luddism” commemorates a youth called Ned Ludd, who smashed two mechanical knitting machines in 1779, in the belief that they represented automation that took away jobs. In the following decades, Luddism became an active movement, with Luddites going on rampages, smashing equipment that was deemed to create unemployment.

92. Arafat’s successor as Palestinian president ABBAS
Mahmoud Abbas took over as Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 2004 after the death of Yasser Arafat. Abbas is also the President of the Palestinian National Authority, equivalent to “head of state”.

93. Budget alternative DOLLAR
Dollar Rent A Car was founded in 1965. Chrysler acquired the company in 1990 and merged it with Thrifty Car Rental, which Chrysler had purchased a year earlier.

The Budget Rent a Car company started out in 1958 with the intent of undercutting the existing price of renting a car at airports. Budget was founded by Morris Mirkin. Mirkin enlisted Julius Lederer as a co-founder the following year. Lederer was the husband of newspaper columnist “Ann Landers”.

96. Meetings arranged through Ashley Madison TRYSTS
In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a prearranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting.

AshleyMadison.com is an online dating siervice that is based in Canada. The business’s slogan seems to encapsulate its mission quite well: “Life is short, Have an affair.” There is no Ashley Madison in reality, as the company name was simply created from the two popular female names “Ashley” and “Madison”.

99. Helen Mirren, e.g. DAME
Helen Mirren, one of my favorite English actresses, won her Best Actress Oscar for playing the title role in the marvelous 2006 film “The Queen”. Mirren has played three different queens on film and television including Queen Elizabeth II. She also played the title role in the TV drama “Elizabeth I”, and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, wife of the title character in the 1994 film “The Madness of King George”.

105. ___ diagram VENN
Englishman John Venn was an expert in the field of logic, and introduced the Venn diagram in his book “Symbolic Logic” in 1881. Venn diagrams are used in Set Theory, to illustrate the logical relationships between sets of variables.

106. ‘Vette choice T-TOP
A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

The Chevrolet Corvette was introduced to the world in 1953, and was named after the small maneuverable warship called a corvette. The Corvette has legs. It is the only American sports car that has been around for over 50 years.

109. “N.Y. State of Mind” rapper NAS
Rapper Nas used to go by another stage name, Nasty Nas, and before that by his real name, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. Nas released his first album “Illmatic” in 1994, and inventively titled his fifth studio album “Stillmatic”, released in 2001. Not my cup of tea, I would say …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Savor, as a drink SIP ON
6. Takes down a peg ABASES
12. Je t’aime : French :: ___ : Spanish TE AMO
17. Sell at a discount, say UNLOAD
19. Female toon with a “dollink” Boris NATASHA
21. Grackles and grebes AVIANS
23. PP SHOPPING CENTER
25. Attic GARRET
26. Horror franchise beginning in 2004 SAW
27. Lasting for years and years AGELONG
28. Dirt road hazards RUTS
30. Melee FRAY
31. Street of film fame ELM
32. You might take it out for a drive IRON
33. Court, for short RHYME
35. Pile of stones used to mark a trail CAIRN
36. DD DEAD ENDS
39. First antibacterial soap brand DIAL
40. “Oh, please, that’s enough” SPARE ME
42. Derisive sounds SNORTS
43. Abbr. in many airport names INTL
44. Jubilant ELATED
45. Portrait on Chinese renminbi bills MAO
46. AA NCAA FINALS
48. Extra bed, maybe COT
51. Bad thing on a record BLOT
53. The Jedi and the Sith, e.g. FOES
54. “Thursday Night Football” airer CBS
55. Alaska tourist attraction AURORA
57. Director of 2015’s “Chi-Raq” LEE
58. Capital with the Norsk Folkemuseum OSLO
60. Travel info source, for short AAA
61. London cathedral ST PAUL’S
62. Volunteer’s response I CAN
64. WW WINDOW FRAME
68. Historic German admiral Maximilian von ___ SPEE
69. Fizzy drink SODA POP
71. Michael of “Saturday Night Live” CHE
72. Cry to a husky MUSH!
74. “When I was a ___ …” LAD
75. Riot opportunist LOOTER
76. Locale for cranberries BOG
77. Very much A LOT
79. Uniform EVEN
81. See 114-Across ELF
82. OO ONION RINGS
85. Hodges who managed the Mets to a World Series title GIL
86. Little Rascals boy FARINA
88. Tolkien tree creatures ENTS
89. Mars features, mistakenly CANALS
92. Befuddling ADDLING
94. Peeps heard by Bo Peep BAAS
95. ZZ JAZZ DUET
97. When repeated, a Yale fight song BOOLA
98. Playwright Clifford ODETS
100. “How ___!” RUDE
101. Modern TV feature, for short DVR
102. Hazy memory BLUR
103. Grps. with the motto “Every child. One voice” PTAS
104. Conquest of 1953 EVEREST
107. Susan of “The Partridge Family” DEY
108. Silas in “The Da Vinci Code,” notably ALBINO
110. NN MINNESOTA TWINS
113. Dances at the Tropicana Club SALSAS
114. Santa Claus portrayer in 81-Across ED ASNER
115. Greet from behind the wheel TOOT AT
116. Witherspoon of “Legally Blonde” REESE
117. Shot put and long jump EVENTS
118. “Auld Lang Syne” and others POEMS

Down
1. Figured (out) SUSSED
2. Has an inspiration INHALES
3. Agricultural figure in “The Canterbury Tales” PLOWMAN
4. Alley ___ OOP
5. Pep Boys competitor NAPA
6. Whites, informally ANGLOS
7. Strips shortly after getting up in the morning? BACON
8. Rate ___ (be perfect) A TEN
9. Spicy fruit beverage often used as a tequila chaser SANGRITA
10. Cornerstone abbr. EST
11. Singer Crow SHERYL
12. Identifies in a Facebook photo TAGS
13. A Perón EVA
14. Soaring cost? AIRFARE
15. RR MARRIED COUPLE
16. Like macho push-ups ONE-ARM
18. Explore deeply DIG INTO
20. Calla lily family ARUM
22. “Gypsy” composer STYNE
24. Techies, stereotypically NERDS
29. Gasless car TESLA
34. Java order that packs less of a punch HALF-CAF
35. What Brits call “red sauce” CATSUP
37. Major-___ DOMO
38. Muse for D. H. Lawrence ERATO
39. Some lab samples DNAS
41. Assets for food critics PALATES
43. Put away ICE
44. Annapolis grad. ENS
46. It comes before one NOON
47. Building beam I-BAR
49. Susan who wrote “The Orchid Thief” ORLEAN
50. Hit with a stun gun TASED
51. “Chill out, will you” BE COOL
52. FF LEADOFF DOUBLE
53. Wig out FLIP
56. Dorm V.I.P.s RAS
57. Durable stocking fabric LISLE
59. Like courtroom witnesses SWORN IN
60. Floor AWE
61. X-rated material SMUT
63. D.C. athlete NAT
65. Pest control brand D-CON
66. Sarcastic “Wonderful” OH GREAT
67. Tori of pop/rock AMOS
70. Symbol of Middle America PEORIA
73. Big name in 35-Down HEINZ
76. Gaudy wrap BOA
77. Industrious workers ANTS
78. Some TVs and smartphones LGS
80. The Impaler VLAD
83. Fort Knox valuable INGOT
84. To some degree IN A SENSE
85. Beholds GAZES AT
87. It’s heard at a hearing ALL RISE
89. West Pointer CADET
90. Opposite of an early adopter LUDDITE
91. Morning run time, maybe SEVEN AM
92. Arafat’s successor as Palestinian president ABBAS
93. Budget alternative DOLLAR
94. Next to BESIDE
95. Peers in a box JURORS
96. Meetings arranged through Ashley Madison TRYSTS
99. Helen Mirren, e.g. DAME
100. Like an alarm clock, night after night RESET
103. It may be struck on a runway POSE
105. ___ diagram VENN
106. ‘Vette choice T-TOP
109. “N.Y. State of Mind” rapper NAS
111. ___ system (luxury car option, briefly) NAV
112. Romance WOO

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7 thoughts on “1227-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 27 Dec 15, Sunday”

  1. Average go of it for me today. Figured out the theme pretty quickly, but I misread 114A and put in Will "Ferrell"OK theme, it just didn't catch my attention.

  2. 37:06, no errors. Grrr. I spent the last five minutes of my time trying to figure out how SIPON could possibly fit the clue for 1A, which, in the Denver Post, was "Church leaders". I finally saw that there was a second 1A clue ("Savor, as a drink", which did fit). Then I remembered that the puzzle for 1129-15 (published in the Post on December 6, 2015) had exactly the same error. One imagines that this must be the result of some kind of cut-and-paste operation gone wrong. In any case, except for the paper's error, I enjoyed the puzzle, which was pretty easy. Perhaps, next Sunday, I'll remember to check for an extra 1A clue before I start … 🙂

  3. 35:09, no errors. Good puzzle. Enough difficulty to make me think I couldn't finish, until I finished.

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