0124-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 24 Jan 16, Sunday

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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers

CROSSWORD SETTER: Francis Heaney & Brendan Emmett Quigley
THEME: Initial Turn … each of today’s themed answers is a common phrase starting with a three-letter word. However, the second and third letters of that word have been switching in order, giving us a three-letter initialism instead:

23A. Two things on Ronald Reagan’s mind? : SDI AND NANCY (from “Sid and Nancy”)
30A. “We’ll tell you what soda we’re serving later”? : TBA COLA (from “Tab cola”)
32A. Brute working on the Human Genome Project? : DNA SAVAGE (from “Dan Savage”)
48A. Soggy computer brain? : CPU OF NOODLES (from “Cup of Noodles”)
50A. H&R Block employee’s biceps? : CPA GUNS (from “cap guns”)
65A. Origami BlackBerry, e.g.? : PDA OF PAPER (from “pad of paper”)
68A. Amusing baseball scoring play? : RBI TICKLER (from “rib-tickler”)
91A. Drink in an old Pontiac? : GTO MILK (from “got milk?”)
93A. “An A/C measure? Are you kidding me?”? : BTU? SERIOUSLY? (from “but seriously …”)
104A. Sign in a restaurant that doesn’t serve white bread? : BYO WONDER (from “Boy Wonder”)
108A. Chef who explains in detail how sausages are made? : TMI COOK (from “Tim Cook”)
117A. Financial aid plan for a school in Provo? : BYU ON CREDIT (from “buy on credit”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 26m 32s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Home of Garden State Plaza, one of the largest shopping centers in the U.S. : PARAMUS
The borough of Paramus is in New Jersey, but is a suburb of New York City. Paramus is noted for its retail facilities. The main shopping area has more retail sales annually than any other zip code in the whole of the US.

The Westfield Garden State Plaza shopping mall in Paramus, New Jersey opened back in 1957, becoming the first large-scale shopping mall in the state. By 1961, it was the largest shopping mall in the world. Many larger malls have been built since then, but Garden State Plaza is still the largest in New Jersey.

11. Greenish blue : TEAL
The beautiful color of teal takes it name from the duck called a “teal”, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

19. The Rebels : OLE MISS
Ole Miss is the nickname for the University of Mississippi located in Oxford, Mississippi. The name “Ole Miss” dates back to 1897, the first year a student yearbook was published. The graduating class held a competition to name the yearbook and “Ole Miss” emerged as the winner. The name stuck to the yearbook, and also as a nickname for the school itself. The University of Mississippi sports teams were originally named the Mississippi Flood, but this was changed to the Rebels in 1936. At that time, the school adopted Colonel Reb as a team mascot, changing this to the Rebel Black Bear in 2010.

20. Org. with suits and cases : ABA
American Bar Association (ABA)

21. Rights grp. : ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.

22. Morales of “Criminal Minds” : 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).

“Criminal Minds” is a police drama that has aired on CBS since 2005. I haven’t seen this one …

23. Two things on Ronald Reagan’s mind? : SDI AND NANCY (from “Sid and Nancy”)
One of the positive outcomes of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI, also “Star Wars”) was a change in US defense strategy. The new approach was to use missiles to destroy incoming hostile weapons, rather than using missiles to destroy the nation attacking the country. The former doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction went by the apt acronym of MAD …

Nancy Davis was working as a Hollywood actress when she met Ronald Reagan for the first time in 1949. Prior to starting a relationship with the future US president, Davis had dated some famous actors, including Clark Gable, Robert Stack and Peter Lawford. Reagan and his first wife, actress Jane Wyman, divorced the year before he met Nancy Davis. Davis and Reagan married in 1952, with actor William Holden serving as the best man.

“Sid and Nancy” is a 1986 film that tells the life of Sid Vicious, the famous bass player with the Sex Pistols. The “Nancy” in the title refers to Nancy Spungen, Sid Vicious’ girlfriend. The title characters are played by Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb.

30. “We’ll tell you what soda we’re serving later”? : TBA COLA (from “Tab cola”)
To be advised (TBA)

Tab was the first diet cola introduced by the Coca-Cola company, in 1963. It was produced as a competitor to the very successful Diet Rite cola that was made by RC Cola. The name “Tab” was used as the beverage was aimed at people who wanted to keep “tabs” on their weight.

32. Brute working on the Human Genome Project? : DNA SAVAGE (from “Dan Savage”)
The genome is all the hereditary information needed to reproduce an organism, in other words, all of its chromosomes. When scientists unravel the human genome it takes up an awful lot of computer storage space, and yet all of this information is in almost every cell in our bodies. Each and every cell “knows” how to make a whole human being.

Dan Savage is an author and journalist who is famous for writing a sex advice column under the title “Savage Love”. “Savage Love” is directed towards the gay community and is syndicated in several dozen newspapers across the world.

35. 1900s, e.g.: Abbr. : CEN
Century (cen.)

42. Tuna that’s often served seared : AHI
Yellowfin tuna is usually marketed as “ahi”, its Hawaiian name. Yellowfin tuna is one big fish, often weighing over 300 pounds.

47. Rhein rejection : NIE
“Nie” is the German word for “never”.

The river running through Europe that we know in English as the Rhine, is called “Rhein” in German, “Rhin” in French and “Rijn” in Dutch.

48. Soggy computer brain? : CPU OF NOODLES (from “cup of noodles”)
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main component on the “motherboard” of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

50. H&R Block employee’s biceps? : CPA GUNS (from “cap guns”)
Certified public accountant (CPA)

The tax preparation company called H&R Block was founded in 1955 In Kansas City by two brothers, Henry and Richard Bloch. The Bloch brothers changed the spelling of their family name to “Block” for the company moniker, in order to avoid mispronunciation.

53. Renaissance fair instruments : LUTES
A lute player is a “lutenist”. A nice bit of trivia …

54. Hartsfield-Jackson airport code : ATL
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the world’s busiest airport, as measured by passenger traffic. Atlanta has had that distinction since 1998, and was the world’s busiest in terms of take-offs and landings from 2005 until 2013. Over 50% of Atlanta’s traffic comes from Delta Airlines.

55. “Game of Thrones” actress Dormer : NATALIE
English actress Natalie Dormer has appeared in some famous films and TV shows. Dormer plays a very devious Anne Boleyn on the Showtime historical drama “The Tudors”, and a manipulative Margaery Tyrell in HBO’s “Game of Thrones”. She also plays the criminal mastermind Irene Adler/Jamie Moriarty on the CBS’s “Elementary”.

60. Theodore who directed “St. Vincent,” 2014 : MELFI
Theodore Melfi is a film director and screenwriter from Brooklyn, New York who is best known for writing and directing the 2014 movie “St. Vincent” starring Bill Murray.

63. Onetime Iranian leader : SHAH
The last Shah of Iran was Mohammed-Reza Shah Pahlavi, as he was overthrown in the revolution led by the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979. The post-revolution government sought the extradition of the Shah back to Iran while he was in the United States seeking medical care (he had cancer). His prolonged stay in the United States, recovering from surgery, caused some unrest back in Iran and resentment towards the United States. Some say that this resentment precipitated the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran and the resulting hostage crisis.

65. Origami BlackBerry, e.g.? : PDA OF PAPER (from “pad of paper”)
Personal digital assistant (PDA)

The PDA known as a BlackBerry was given its name because the keyboard on the original device resembled the surface on the fruit of a blackberry.

Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane. The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

68. Amusing baseball scoring play? : RBI TICKLER (from “rib-tickler”)
Run batted in (RBI)

74. Boehner’s successor : RYAN
Paul Ryan was the Republican nominee for Vice President in the 2012 election, on the ticket with Mitt Romney. Off the political stage, Ryan is famous for his fitness regime. He has shared that much of his motivation to work out and to watch his diet is because there is a history of heart attacks at an early age in his family. Ryan was elected as Speaker of the House of Representatives in 2015 after John Boehner resigned. At 45, Ryan then became the youngest Speaker since 1875.

76. Ingredient in a Spanish omelet : HUEVO
In Spanish, one needs at least one “huevo” (egg) to make an omelet.

77. “Without ___” (1990 live Grateful Dead album) : A NET
The Grateful Dead were a rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area that was founded in 1965. “The Dead” disbanded in 1995 following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Grateful Dead fans (including my wife) refer to themselves as “Deadheads”.

83. Last king of Spain before Juan Carlos : ALFONSO
Alfonso XIII was a King of Spain from his birth in 1886. He was on the throne until he had to flee the country in 1931 when republicans swept into power and declared the Second Spanish Republic. Alfonso eventually settled in Rome, where he died in 1941.

Juan Carlos I is a former king of Spain. He became king in 1975, taking up the throne just two days after the death of Spanish dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco. The new king immediately introduced the reforms necessary to transition his country into a democracy, and a constitutional monarchy. Juan Carlos abdicated in 2014, handing over the throne to his son Felipe VI.

86. Tourette’s symptom : TIC
Tourette syndrome is an inherited disorder characterized by physical and vocal tics. A small minority of sufferers are also prone to spontaneously making socially inappropriate remarks. The syndrome is named for French physician Georges Gilles de la Tourette.

87. “Friendship is like ___, easier made than kept”: Samuel Butler : MONEY
Samuel Butler was a British novelist and satirist. His best known novels are “Erewhon” (1872) and “The Way of All Flesh” (1903). Butler also made translations of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey” that are still widely used.

89. Narrow-minded views : MYOPIAS
Near-sightedness or short-sightedness is known as myopia. Far-sightedness or long-sightedness is known as hyperopia.

91. Drink in an old Pontiac? : GTO MILK (from “got milk?”)
The Pontiac GTO was produced by GM from 1964 to 1974, and again by a GM subsidiary in Australia from 2004 to 2006. The original GTO’s design is credited to Pontiac chief engineer at the time John DeLorean, who later was found the DeLorean Motor Company.

The “got milk?” advertising campaign was funded originally by the California Milk Processor Board and later by milk processors and dairy farmers. The “got milk?” ads encourage us to drink cow’s milk, and lots of it.

93. “An A/C measure? Are you kidding me?”? : BTU? SERIOUSLY? (from “but seriously …”)
In the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), the power of a heating or cooling unit can be measured in British Thermal Units (BTUs). This dated unit is the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water so that the water’s temperature increases by one degree Fahrenheit.

95. Patriotic men’s org. : SAR
The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) is an organization that was founded in Fraunces Tavern in New York City in 1889, with William Osborn McDowell being the driving force in setting up the group. The following year, McDowell worked with six women to set up the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Membership to the SAR is open to any male of sufficient age who can demonstrate descent from someone who actively supported the American Revolution.

96. Crafty e-tailer : ETSY
Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

97. Scottish John : IAN
The name “John” translates into Scottish as “Ian”, and into Irish as “Seán”.

99. Basic vocabulary level in Common Core programs : TIER I
The Common Core State Standards Initiative lays out what K-12 students should know in English and mathematics. The standard is intended to standardize requirements across all states.

103. VW head? : STU
in the alphabet, the letter string STU precedes the letters VW.

104. Sign in a restaurant that doesn’t serve white bread? : BYO WONDER (from “Boy Wonder”)
Bring Your Own (BYO), usually applied to Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

Wonder Bread was introduced in 1921, a bread produced by the Taggart Baking company of Indianapolis. Back then Wonder Bread was unsliced, with the sliced version being introduced nationally in the 1930s.

108. Chef who explains in detail how sausages are made? : TMI COOK (from “Tim Cook”)
Too much information! (TMI)

Tim Cook has been Apple’s CEO since 2011, when he succeeded Steve Jobs. Cook had joined the company back in 1998 as senior vice president in charge of worldwide operations. He came out as gay in October of 2014, making Cook the first openly gay CEO on the Fortune 500 list.

110. Star employee : EDITOR
An editor might work for a newspaper named “The Star”.

113. Now, in Nogales : AHORA
Nogales (properly called “Heroica Nogales”) is a city in the Mexican State of Sonora. Nogales lies right on the Mexico-US border, opposite the city of Nogales, Arizona.

117. Financial aid plan for a school in Provo? : BYU ON CREDIT (from “buy on credit”)
Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has about 34.000 students on campus making it the largest religious university in the country. The school was founded in 1875 by Brigham Young, then President of the Mormon Church.

121. Bird with a two-pointed tail : TERN
Terns are seabirds that are found all over the world. The Arctic Tern makes a very long-distance migration. One Arctic Tern that was tagged as a chick in Great Britain in the summer of 1982, was spotted in Melbourne, Australia just three months later. The bird had traveled over 14,000 miles in over those three months, an average of about 150 miles a day. Remarkable …

122. Rule of crime? : ANN
Ann Rule is a true-crime writer who comes from a crime-fighting family, with sheriffs, a medical examiner and a prosecutor around her as she grew up. She started off writing with a male pen name (Andy Stack) as it was perceived that she would have more success in the genre, after a virtual “sex change”.

123. “The Silence of the Lambs” heroine : CLARICE
Clarice Starling is the FBI Agent in the Thomas Harris novel “The Silence of the Lambs”. In the movie, Clarice was played by Jodie Foster.

124. “Bill ___ History of the United States” (1894 humor book) : NYE’S
Edgar Wilson Nye was a journalist and humorist who founded the Wyoming newspaper known as the “Laramie Boomerang” in 1881. Nye named the paper after his mule “Boomerang”. While serving as editor for the “Boomerang”, he also wrote humorous articles for the newspaper under the pseudonym “Bill Bye”.

125. Arcade giant : SEGA
Sega is a Japanese videogame company headquartered in Tokyo. Sega actually started out 1940 in the US as Standard Games and was located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The owners moved the operation to Tokyo in 1951 and renamed the company to Service Games. The name “Sega” is a combination of the first two letters of the words “Se-rvice” and “Ga-mes”.

127. Not an original : RETREAD
A retread tire is one that has been recycled, possibly more than once. The tread of the old tire is buffed away, and and new rubber tread is applied to the “bare” tire using some special process that seems to work really well. Retreads are a lot cheaper, and obviously are relatively friendly to the environment.

Down
2. John of the Plymouth Colony : ALDEN
John Alden is said to have been the first person to disembark from the Mayflower and to have set foot on Plymouth Rock in 1620. Alden himself was not a Pilgrim as such, and was a carpenter working on the Mayflower before it sailed. He apparently decided to travel with the ship at the last minute, perhaps in pursuit of the passenger who would become his wife, Priscilla Mullens. Alden ended up in a love triangle with Priscilla and Captain Miles Standish, a relationship which is recounted in the Longfellow poem “The Courtship of Miles Standish”. John and Priscilla were the parents of a son, John Alden, who was later to be accused during the Salem witch trials.

3. Royal in un palacio : REINA
In Spanish, a “reina” (queen) often lives in “un palacio” (a palace).

6. EUR competitor : USD
Both the euro (EUR) and the US dollar (USD) are currencies.

7. Tax ID : SSN
Social Security Number (SSN)

8. One that might reach a tipping point : CANOE
The boat called a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

9. Opening of a kid’s song : A, B, C, D …
“The Alphabet Song” was copyrighted in 1835 in the US. The tune that goes with the words is the French folk song “Ah! vous dirai-je, Maman”, used by Mozart for a set of piano variations. The same tune is used for the nursery rhyme “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

10. Country singer Collin : RAYE
Collin Raye is the stage name of country music singer Floyd Wray. Wray also used the stage name Bubba Wray, while a band member of the Wrays in the eighties.

14. Lower back pain : LUMBAGO
Lumbago is pain in the lower back. The name “lumbago” is a Late Latin term describing a “weakness of the loins and lower back”. The term comes from the Latin “lumbus” meaning “loin”.

17. Daily schedule for filming : CALL SHEET
The “daily call sheet” is used by the cast and crew making a film as a production schedule. It basically tells everyone when and where they need to report for a day of filming.

31. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL
Playwright Athol Fugard was born in South Africa. Fugard became involved in the theater, writing plays that opposed apartheid, many of which had to be produced outside of South Africa given the political climate at home. Fugard now lives in San Diego, California.

33. One making a U turn? : VANNA
Vanna White is the lady who turns the letters on the “Wheel of Fortune” game show. White is big into knitting and crochet, and has her own line of yarns called “Vanna’s Choice”.

46. When doubled, a Washington city, county or river : WALLA
The Washington city of Walla Walla used to be called Steptoeville, named for Edward Steptoe, an officer in the US Army who served in the Indian Wars. Walla Walla is a Native American phrase meaning “place of many waters”.

49. Actress Eliza of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” : DUSHKU
Eliza Dushku is an actress noted for playing Faith on TV’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and the spinoff “Angel”. Dushku also starred in two sci-fi series “Tru Calling” and “Dollhouse”.

56. Creature formed from Medusa’s blood : ASP
In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the monstrous female creatures known as Gorgons. According to one version of the Medusa myth, she was once a beautiful woman. But she incurred the wrath of Athena who turned her lovely hair into serpents and made her face hideously ugly. Anyone who gazed directly at the transformed Medusa would turn into stone. She was eventually killed by the hero Perseus, who beheaded her. He carried Medusa’s head and used its powers as a weapon, before giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. One myth holds that as Perseus was flying over Egypt with Medusa’s severed head, drop of her blood fell to the ground and formed asps.

58. Follower of upsilon : PHI
Phi is the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet.

64. Sound of sternutation : ACHOO!
“Sternutation” is the act of sneezing. The term comes from the Latin “sternuere” meaning “to sneeze”.

66. Oom-___ (polka rhythm) : PAH
The polka is a dance from central Europe, one that originated in Bohemia in the mid-1800s. It’s thought that “polka” comes from a Czech word meaning “little half”, reflecting the little half-steps included in the basic dance.

67. Weakness : ANEMIA
The term “anemia” (or “anaemia” as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition.

68. Pony Express riders, e.g. : RELAYS
The Pony Express mail service operated for only 19 months, from 1860 until 1861. The service comprised a relay of horseback riders operating between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California across the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.

69. Pals 4 life : BFFS
Best friend forever (BFF)

71. “___ Go” (hit song from “Frozen”) : LET IT
“Let It Go” is an incredibly successful song from the Disney animated film “Frozen” released in 2013. It was performed in the movie by Idina Menzel, who also was the voice actor for the character Elsa. “Let It Go” is one of the very few Disney songs to make it into the Billboard Top Ten.

72. Pandora’s box contents : EVILS
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. Pandora was created by the gods, with each god bestowing on her a gift. Her name can be translated from Greek as “all-gifted”. Pandora is famous for the story of “Pandora’s Box”. In actual fact, the story should be about Pandora’s “Jar” as a 16th-century error in translation created a “box” out of the “jar”. In the story of Pandora’s Box, curiosity got the better of her and she opened up a box she was meant to leave alone. As a result she released all the evils of mankind, just closing it in time to trap hope inside.

73. Trainer in “Creed” : ROCKY
“Creed” is a 2015 boxing movie, the seventh in the “Rocky” franchise. Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, but this time as a trainer. Rocky trains Apollo Creed’s son Adonis. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in the film. It was the first Academy Award nomination had received since the first “Rocky” film, which was released almost forty years earlier.

81. Fête des Lumières city : LYONS
The city of Lyon in France, is also known as “Lyons” in English.

The French city of Lyon holds the Festival of Lights (“Fête des Lumières”) annually between December 6th and 9th. Honoring Mary, mother of Jesus, the festival involves almost every house placing lighted candles outside all windows.

82. View from the Gulf of Catania : MOUNT ETNA
Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-guage railway, and two ski resorts. The third of Italy’s famous volcanoes is Stromboli.

84. Marsh of mystery : NGAIO
Dame Ngaio Marsh was a crime writer from New Zealand. Marsh is known as one of the four original “Queens of Crime”, namely: Dorothy L. Sayers, Margery Allingham, Agatha Christie, and Marsh. All her novels feature her hero, a British CID detective, Roderick Alleyn.

88. Mello ___ (soft drink) : YELLO
Like so many beverages introduced by the Coca-Cola Company, Mello Yello was launched to compete against a successful drink already on the market. Mello Yello first hit the shelves in 1979, and was designed to take market share from Pepsico’s “Mountain Dew”.

92. “Cabaret” song with a German title : MEIN HERR
The musical “Cabaret” is based on “I Am a Camera”, a 1951 play written by John Van Druten. In turn, the play was adapted from a novel “Goodbye to Berlin” written by Christopher Isherwood. The action in the musical takes place in the 1930s, in a seedy Berlin cabaret called the Kit Kat Club. “Cabaret” is a great stage musical, although the 1972 film of the musical isn’t one of my favorites.

94. Shares on Tumblr, say : REPOSTS
Tumblr.com is a website that hosts private blogs.

95. Commercial prefix with foam : STYRO-
Styrofoam is an extruded polystyrene foam made by The Dow Chemical Company. Styrofoam has loads of applications, including home insulation and use as a buoyancy aid. It is also formed into “peanuts” used as a packaging filler.

102. Maxima : ACMES
The “acme” is the highest point, coming from the Greek word “akme” which has the same meaning.

105. Smith who wrote “The Hundred and One Dalmatians” : DODIE
“The Hundred and One Dalmatians” is a children’s book by Dodie Smith that was first published in 1956. Even though there’s a movie sequel called “102 Dalmatians”, Smith wrote a sequel novel titled “The Starlight Barking”.

106. Writer Jong : ERICA
The author Erica Jong’s most famous work is her first: “Fear of Flying”, a novel published in 1973. Over twenty years later she wrote “Fear of Fifty: a midlife memoir”, published in 1994.

107. Like businesses on Yelp : RATED
yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”. I have a young neighbor here who used to work for yelp …

108. Tax fraud detector, informally : T-MAN
A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (T is for Treasury).

109. Artist Paul : KLEE
The artist Paul Klee was born in Switzerland, but studied art in Munich in Germany. You can see many of Klee’s works in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. If you get to Bern in Switzerland, even more of them can be seen at the Zentrum Paul Klee that was opened in 2005.

112. Newcastle’s river : TYNE
The River Tyne is in the northeast of England. The most famous city on the river is Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne in the North of England is home to the famous Newcastle Brown Ale.

118. Big A.T.M. maker : NCR
NCR is an American company that has been in business since 1884, originally called the National Cash Register Company. The company has done well in a market where new technologies seem to be constantly disrupting the status quo.

119. The Browns, on a ticker : CLE
The Cleveland Browns football team was a charter member of the All-American Football Conference, formed in 1946. Cleveland is the only NFL city that has never hosted nor sent a team to the Super Bowl.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Home of Garden State Plaza, one of the largest shopping centers in the U.S. : PARAMUS
8. One staying in a lot? : CAR
11. Greenish blue : TEAL
15. High in calories : RICH
19. The Rebels : OLE MISS
20. Org. with suits and cases : ABA
21. Rights grp. : ACLU
22. Morales of “Criminal Minds” : ESAI
23. Two things on Ronald Reagan’s mind? : SDI AND NANCY (from “Sid and Nancy”)
25. Cousin of pow! or wham! : BOOM!
26. One in your corner : ALLY
27. Really small : EENSY
28. Negotiation failure : NO DEAL
30. “We’ll tell you what soda we’re serving later”? : TBA COLA (from “Tab cola”)
32. Brute working on the Human Genome Project? : DNA SAVAGE (from “Dan Savage”)
35. 1900s, e.g.: Abbr. : CEN
37. 20-Across members: Abbr. : ATTYS
38. Completely : IN ALL
39. Like : AS THOUGH
42. Tuna that’s often served seared : AHI
44. Planted : SOWN
47. Rhein rejection : NIE
48. Soggy computer brain? : CPU OF NOODLES (from “Cup of Noodles”)
50. H&R Block employee’s biceps? : CPA GUNS (from “cap guns”)
52. Upbeat : CHIPPER
53. Renaissance fair instruments : LUTES
54. Hartsfield-Jackson airport code : ATL
55. “Game of Thrones” actress Dormer : NATALIE
57. Bleed (through) : SEEP
59. ___ speak : SO TO
60. Theodore who directed “St. Vincent,” 2014 : MELFI
62. Refuses to settle? : SUES
63. Onetime Iranian leader : SHAH
65. Origami BlackBerry, e.g.? : PDA OF PAPER (from “pad of paper”)
68. Amusing baseball scoring play? : RBI TICKLER (from “rib-tickler”)
74. Boehner’s successor : RYAN
75. Weight : HEFT
76. Ingredient in a Spanish omelet : HUEVO
77. “Without ___” (1990 live Grateful Dead album) : A NET
80. Place of control : HELM
83. Last king of Spain before Juan Carlos : ALFONSO
86. Tourette’s symptom : TIC
87. “Friendship is like ___, easier made than kept”: Samuel Butler : MONEY
89. Narrow-minded views : MYOPIAS
91. Drink in an old Pontiac? : GTO MILK (from “got milk?”)
93. “An A/C measure? Are you kidding me?”? : BTU? SERIOUSLY? (from “but seriously …”)
95. Patriotic men’s org. : SAR
96. Crafty e-tailer : ETSY
97. Scottish John : IAN
98. Quality of beef : LEANNESS
99. Basic vocabulary level in Common Core programs : TIER I
101. Place for plugs : SCALP
103. VW head? : STU
104. Sign in a restaurant that doesn’t serve white bread? : BYO WONDER (from “Boy Wonder”)
108. Chef who explains in detail how sausages are made? : TMI COOK (from “Tim Cook”)
110. Star employee : EDITOR
113. Now, in Nogales : AHORA
114. Hat-tipping word : MA’AM
115. Opening in a schedule : SLOT
117. Financial aid plan for a school in Provo? : BYU ON CREDIT (from “buy on credit”)
120. Get the pot started : ANTE
121. Bird with a two-pointed tail : TERN
122. Rule of crime? : ANN
123. “The Silence of the Lambs” heroine : CLARICE
124. “Bill ___ History of the United States” (1894 humor book) : NYE’S
125. Arcade giant : SEGA
126. Visibly embarrassed : RED
127. Not an original : RETREAD

Down
1. Asked : POSED
2. John of the Plymouth Colony : ALDEN
3. Royal in un palacio : REINA
4. Piling up : AMASSING
5. Quorum for Jewish worship : MINYAN
6. EUR competitor : USD
7. Tax ID : SSN
8. One that might reach a tipping point : CANOE
9. Opening of a kid’s song : A, B, C, D …
10. Country singer Collin : RAYE
11. Bounces around a restaurant : TABLE-HOPS
12. Prefix with terrorism or tourism : ECO-
13. Loads : A LOT
14. Lower back pain : LUMBAGO
15. Flinch, say : REACT
16. Stands by : IS LOYAL TO
17. Daily schedule for filming : CALL SHEET
18. “Hello there” : HIYA!
24. Billiard player’s calculation : ANGLE
29. Malfunction : ACT UP
31. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL
33. One making a U turn? : VANNA
34. Most wanted : A-LIST
36. Free, as banking : NO-FEE
39. More sore : ACHIER
40. Secret collectors : SPIES
41. Turmoil : UNREST
43. “That ___ last year” : IS SO
44. Rogue : SCAMP
45. Chose, with “for” : OPTED
46. When doubled, a Washington city, county or river : WALLA
49. Actress Eliza of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” : DUSHKU
51. Make one : UNIFY
52. Lead : CLUE
56. Creature formed from Medusa’s blood : ASP
58. Follower of upsilon : PHI
61. Strengths : FORTES
64. Sound of sternutation : ACHOO!
66. Oom-___ (polka rhythm) : PAH
67. Weakness : ANEMIA
68. Pony Express riders, e.g. : RELAYS
69. Pals 4 life : BFFS
70. “What was ___ do?” : I TO
71. “___ Go” (hit song from “Frozen”) : LET IT
72. Pandora’s box contents : EVILS
73. Trainer in “Creed” : ROCKY
75. Acclaims : HAILS
77. Both: Prefix : AMBI-
78. Fewer : NOT AS MANY
79. Not mumble : ENUNCIATE
81. Fête des Lumières city : LYONS
82. View from the Gulf of Catania : MOUNT ETNA
84. Marsh of mystery : NGAIO
85. Toss around : STREW
88. Mello ___ (soft drink) : YELLO
90. Poseur : PSEUD
92. “Cabaret” song with a German title : MEIN HERR
94. Shares on Tumblr, say : REPOSTS
95. Commercial prefix with foam : STYRO-
100. Greatly enjoy, as a joke : ROAR AT
102. Maxima : ACMES
104. Tied up : BOUND
105. Smith who wrote “The Hundred and One Dalmatians” : DODIE
106. Writer Jong : ERICA
107. Like businesses on Yelp : RATED
108. Tax fraud detector, informally : T-MAN
109. Artist Paul : KLEE
111. Construction piece : I-BAR
112. Newcastle’s river : TYNE
116. URL ending : ORG
118. Big A.T.M. maker : NCR
119. The Browns, on a ticker : CLE

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10 thoughts on “0124-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 24 Jan 16, Sunday”

  1. Dave Kennison here, signing in using my Google account (as a test) … 37:23, no errors … a rather thoughtful solve for me, with a good bit of head-scratching and an extra five minutes spent making sure I completely understood all the theme entries, which struck me as clever and pleasantly thought-provoking (but perhaps I'm easy to please … :-). "Collin RAYE" and "Eliza DUSHKU" were the only completely unfamiliar references.

  2. Okay … I'm probably the only poster here who didn't know this, but just in case … If you post comments using a Google account ID (or, I assume, an "OpenID", whatever that is), you have the option of deleting the post at a later time. I've only wanted to do this on a couple of occasions (when I realized I had made an obvious error and/orsaid something more idiotic than usual … :-), but it's nice to know how to do it.

  3. 1 hour flat, 2 errors. 84D NG_IO, 95A S_R. Did not even venture a guess. A puzzle for those that enjoy serious challenges.

  4. "Ngaio Marsh" is one of those names I know only because I have encountered it repeatedly in crossword puzzles. Until today, I thought it referred to a male author of crime novels, rather than a female, and I had no idea that she was from New Zealand. Her first name is Maori, it is pronounced with a silent "g" and three separate vowel sounds (something like "Na-ee-oh"), and it is also used as the name of a tree native to New Zealand. Glad I finally looked this up … 🙂

  5. Tried my best on this, giving up with about five or six still blank. Figuring out the theme about midway through helped a lot on several of the other answers. I get better as I continue to do these puzzles and am pleased with my progress.

  6. Bill, may I correct you on your comment about Ronald Reagan. He did not divorce Jane Wyman—she divorced him. She had an affair although he wanted to let it go by. Too late, the marriage ended.

  7. In lockstep with Lou and Manny. I can't believe there was a team of two working hard on something this STUPID. 55:56 and 3 mistakes. Was just glad I finished at all, given how utterly forced this "theme" was.

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