0221-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Feb 16, Sunday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Patrick Berry
THEME: Awesome! … each of today’s themed answers is a common word or phrase, but with a short “o-sound” changed to an “awe-sound”.

23. Burlesque theater? : BAWDY BUILDING (from “bodybuilding”)
31. Moviegoers who can’t afford concession stand snacks? : POPCORN PAUPERS (from “popcorn poppers”)
42A. Bad kid’s Christmas tree? : NAUGHTY PINE (from “knotty pine”)
61A. Sealant used by NASA? : SHUTTLE CAULK (from “shuttlecock”)
67A. B-roll from “Splendor in the Grass”? : STALK FOOTAGE (from “stock footage”)
87A. Owners of large enthusiastic dogs? : PAWED PEOPLE (from “pod people”)
92A. Writing implement from Planters? : CHALK FULL O’NUTS (from “chock full o’nuts”)
106A. Supporting actors in a Bea Arthur sitcom? : THE MAUDE SQUAD (from “The Mod Squad”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 23m 23s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

21. Shakespeare character who says “Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; good night, good night” : OPHELIA
In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Ophelia is courted by Hamlet, the man himself. Ophelia is the daughter of nobleman Polonius. She dies …

23. Burlesque theater? : BAWDY BUILDING (from “bodybuilding”)
“Burlesque” came into English from French, although the word is rooted in the Italian “burla”, the word for a joke, or mockery. A burlesque is work of literature, drama or music that is intended to amuse and cause laughter. Burlesques in the US took on a variety show format and were popular in the US from the 1860s. Over time, the variety acts started to include female striptease, and the term “burlesque” has come to be mainly associated with such entertainment. The derivative verb “to burlesque” means “to imitate mockingly”.

30. Group engagement : GIG
Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz.

37. Killers at sea : ORCAS
The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

41. Class with derivatives, briefly : CALC
The Latin word “calculus” was originally used for a reckoning or an account, and originally applied to a pebble that was used to maintain a count. The Latin word came from the Greek for a pebble, “khalix”.

Remember doing calculus at school, and all those derivatives and integrals? Well, you probably also remember that an integral calculates the area under a curve (for example), and a derivative calculates the slope of a tangent at a particular point on a curve.

49. Old Testament prophet : EZRA
Ezra the Scribe, also called Ezra the Priest, is the central character in the Book of Ezra in the Hebrew Bible.

50. Page views? : OP-EDS
Op-Ed is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-Eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

51. “Eldorado” poet : POE
“Eldorado” is an Edgar Allan Poe poem that was first published in 1849. The poem tells of a gallant knight who spends much of his life in search of the legendary “Lost City of Gold” called El Dorado.

52. Political opponent of Ike : ADLAI
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

53. Guy Fawkes Day mo. : NOV
Guy Fawkes was a Catholic who plotted to kill the Protestant King James in 1605. Fawkes’s plan was blow up the Houses of Parliament when King James was in attendance. However, he was discovered in the basement of the building, along with several barrels of gunpowder. Fawkes was taken to the Tower of London where he was tortured for over two months, before being hanged. The assassination attempt is referred to as the Gunpowder Plot, and is commemorated across the UK on November 5th each year as “Bonfire Night”.

54. Brother, in Brittany : FRERE
“Frère” is the French word for “brother”.

A Breton is a native of Brittany. Brittany is a large peninsula in the northwest of France, known in French as “Bretagne”.

61. Sealant used by NASA? : SHUTTLE CAULK (from “shuttlecock”)
The term “caulk” comes from old Norman French “cauquer”, and described the action of filling gaps with lime. “Caulk”has the same root as our word “chalk”.

A “shuttlecock” is the conical, feathered projectile used in the game of badminton. Previously referred to as a “shuttlecork”, the object is probably so named because it is “shuttled” back and forth over the net, and because the feathers resemble those on a cockerel.

63. Viscount’s inferior : BARON
(47D. Viscount’s superior : EARL)
In Britain, there are five ranks of peer, namely duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron, in descending order.

66. Centurion weapon : SWORD
A centurion was a professional officer in the Roman army. A centurion was in command of a “centuria”, a group of about one hundred men.

67. B-roll from “Splendor in the Grass”? : STALK FOOTAGE (from “stock footage”)
“Splendor in the Grass” is a 1961 film with an Oscar winning screenplay by William Inge. The film stars Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty, and even Inge himself makes a brief appearance as a clergyman.

In contemporary parlance, a “b-roll” is secondary footage that is spliced into the main footage. The secondary footage is often used to hide undesirable content in the main footage, such as camera zooms or other distractions.

73. It’s divided into nine circles : HELL
In Dante’s “Inferno”, Hell is represented as nine circles of suffering. The nine circles of Hell are:

– Limbo
– Lust
– Gluttony
– Greed
– Anger
– Heresy
– Violence
– Fraud
– Treachery

74. Shutterbugs’ settings : F-STOPS
Varying the f-stop in a lens varies how big the lens opening (the aperture) is when a photograph is taken. Smaller apertures (higher f-stop values) admit less light, but result in a greater depth of field (more of the photograph is in focus).

A “shutterbug” is an enthusiastic amateur photographer, someone who likes to hear the click of that shutter, like me …

75. 2014 Cooperstown inductee Joe : TORRE
As a manager, Joe Torre was part of four World Series wins, all of them with the New York Yankees baseball team. Torre is an Italian American who was born in Brooklyn, New York. During the run up (pun intended!) to the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Torre carried the Olympic flame part of the way through Florence in Italy, handing it over to the next runner at the famous Ponte Vecchio. I’d guess that was quite a thrill for him …

Cooperstown is a village in New York that is famous as the home to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The village was named for Judge William Cooper, Cooperstown’s founder, and the father of the noted writer James Fenimore Cooper.

78. Certain H&R Block worker : CPA
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.

79. DuPont creation of 1941 : ORLON
Orlon is the brand name used by the DuPont Corporation for the acrylic fibers the company developed in 1941.

87. Owners of large enthusiastic dogs? : PAWED PEOPLE (from “pod people”)
The original “pod people” were the extraterrestrial creatures in the 1955 novel “The Body Snatchers”, which was the source for the 1956 film “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. These aliens spawn in large seed pods that have fallen from space. They then take over (snatch) the bodies of human beings. The noun phrase “pod people” is now used figuratively to describe stupid and unfeeling, machinelike people.

89. Cooler unit : CELL
The cooler, the pen, the slammer … prison.

92. Writing implement from Planters? : CHALK FULL O’NUTS (from “Chock full o’Nuts”)
Chock full o’Nuts is a brand of coffee that originated with a chain coffee shops in New York City founded by William Black. Black used to sell nuts in Times Square to theater patrons, and eventually built up a chain of stores in the area in the 1920s under the brand name “Chock full o’Nuts”. During the Great Depression, he converted the stores to lunch counters serving coffee and sandwiches. It was Black’s full-strength coffee that became famous, and in 1953 it started to appear on supermarket shelves, using the unusual “nutty” name.

98. Lover of Radames, in opera : AIDA
“Aida” is a famous opera by Giuseppe Verdi, actually based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, who also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first performed in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radames is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then of course complications arise!

99. Feature of the Tokyo Imperial Palace : MOAT
A “moat” is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say, or a an exhibit in a zoo. A moat may or may not be filled with water.

The Tokyo Imperial Palace is a beautiful estate in the center of Tokyo and is the main residence of the Emperor of Japan and many of his family members. It is a relatively large park-like area, featuring a number of moats and bridges. The palace covers about seven and a half square kilometers of prime real estate in the city. During the Japanese property bubble of the eighties, the palace grounds were believed to have been worth more money than all of the real estate in the state of California!

100. Greenland natives : INUITS
The Inuit peoples live in the Arctic, in parts of the US, Russia, Greenland and Canada.

Greenland is the largest island in the world. Geographically, Greenland is part of the continent of North America, but culturally and politically is considered part of Europe. The island became a Danish colony in 1815, and joined the European Economic Community (EEC) with Denmark. Greenland withdrew from the EEC after a referendum in 1983. Since 2009, Greenland has been relatively autonomous, with the Danish government retaining control of foreign affairs, defence and the judicial system.

103. Carol Brady on “The Brady Bunch,” e.g. : STEPMOM
In TV show “The Brady Bunch”, the mom is Carol Brady, formerly Carol Martin, played by Florence Henderson.

106. Supporting actors in a Bea Arthur sitcom? : THE MAUDE SQUAD (from “The Mod Squad”)
The seventies sitcom “Maude” starred Bea Arthur as the title character Maude Findlay. “Maude” was a spin-off of “All in the Family”, as Findlay is a cousin of Edith Bunker.

The 1999 movie “The Mod Squad” was an adaptation of the seventies television show of the same name. The part of Lincoln “Linc” Hayes was played by Omar Epps, Claire Danes played Julie Barnes and Giovanni Ribisi played Peter Cochran.

113. Legendary lover of Abelard : HELOISE
Peter Abélard was a French philosopher who did most of his teaching in the 12th century. He is renowned not only for his theological writings, but for his legendary affair with Héloïse d’Argenteuil. Héloïse became pregnant by Abélard and was sent away from her home on the grounds of Notre-Dame in Paris to Brittany where she gave birth to a son. The loving couple married in secret, but when they were discovered Héloïse’s uncle separated the two sending his niece off to a convent in Argenteuil, where years later she became the prioress. The uncle’s vengeance on Abélard was more brutal, as he had him castrated. Soon after, Abélard himself went into the church and became a monk. Yowza …

114. Blake who composed “I’m Just Wild About Harry” : EUBIE
James Hubert “Eubie” Blake was a composer and pianist from Baltimore, Maryland. Blake was a noted composer and performer of ragtime music. The 1978 musical revue “Eubie!” features his music. Apparently Blake claimed to have started smoking cigarettes at the age of 10 years, and died 85 years later in 1983. Blake’s celebrity status and long life as a smoker was often cited by politicians who opposed anti-tobacco legislation.

115. Crossed the sill : ENTERED
A “sill plate” or simply “sill” is an architectural term for a bottom horizontal member to which vertical members are attached. A “window sill” is specific sill plate that is found at the bottom of a window opening.

116. Border disputer with Ethiopia : 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.

Down
2. Wallachian prince who inspired “Dracula” : 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”.

3. “The Bridges of Madison County” setting : IOWA
“The Bridges of Madison County” is a novel by Robert James Waller, and a movie directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Both book and film are about an Italian woman living in sixties Madison County, Iowa who has an affair with a photographer from out of state. The lead roles are played by Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in the movie.

4. Her fans are called Little Monsters : LADY GAGA
The devout fans of singer Lady Gaga refer to their idol as “Mama Monster”. In turn, “Mama” refers to her fans as “Little Monsters”. Gaga has gone so far as to tattoo the words “Little Monsters” onto her arm.

6. Drubbing : ROUT
A drubbing is a beating, given either literally or figuratively. The term “drub” dates back in English to the 17th century when it was imported from the Arabic word for a beating, “darb”.

7. Longtime employer of Helen Thomas, in brief : UPI
Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) was one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a handful of employees.

The journalist Helen Thomas was a long-time member of the White House press corps. Thomas first became a White House correspondent for UPI, in 1961 during the Kennedy administration. Thomas covered all the subsequent presidents until she retired while President Obama was in office. She was known as the First Lady of the Press and sat in the front row at press briefings. She was known for ending presidential press conferences with the words “Thank you, Mr. President”. Thomas did however fall out of favor with President George W. Bush, and found herself in the back row of his conferences for a few years.

8. Rangers’ org. : NHL
The New York Rangers is an NHL team, one of the oldest in the league, having joined in 1926. When the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1928, they became the first American team to do so.

10. Fight of the Century loser : ALI
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had three memorable fights. The first was billed as the “Fight of the Century” and took place in 1971 in Madison Square Garden. It was a fight between two great boxers, both of whom were undefeated up till that point. Frazier won in a unanimous decision after fifteen rounds. A couple of years later, in 1973, Frazier lost his title to George Foreman. Ali and Frazier had a non-title rematch in 1974, with Ali coming out ahead this time, also in a unanimous decision. Later that year, Ali grabbed back the World Heavyweight Title in “The Rumble in the Jungle”, the famous “rope-a-dope” fight against George Foreman. That set the stage for the third and final fight between Ali and Frazier, “The Thrilla in Manila”. Ali won the early rounds, but Frazier made a comeback in the middle of the fight. Ali took control at the end of the bout, so much so that Frazier wasn’t able to come out of his corner for the 15th and final round. He couldn’t come out of his corner because both of his eyes were swollen shut, giving Ali a victory due to a technical knockout (TKO).

11. Egocentric tyrant : TIN GOD
A “tin god” is a person who claims authority and is full of self-importance. The use of “tin” is apt as it is a base metal with relatively little value.

13. Ones helping people up? : SHERPAS
In the Tibetan language, “Sherpa” means “eastern people” (sher = east, pa = people). Sherpas are an ethnic group from Nepal, but the name is also used for the local guides who assist mountaineers in the Himalayas, and particularly on Mount Everest.

14. “___ vobiscum” (Mass salutation) : PAX
“Pax vobiscum” is a Latin phrase meaning “peace be with you”, a phrase used in Latin version of the Roman Catholic Mass.

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

16. Like iceberg lettuce : CRISP
Iceberg lettuce is the most popular lettuce consumed in the US. Also known as “crisphead”, it is considered by many experts to be one of least flavorful varieties of lettuce available.

19. What the Olympic sport of skeleton involves : SLEDS
The skeleton is a small sled for only one person, on which the rider lies face-down and goes down the hill head-first. The skeleton can be compared to the luge, a sled used by one or two people and on which the rider(s) lies face-up and feet-first.

28. Like the Mesopotamian people : ANCIENT
Mesopotamia was the land that lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, that flow through modern-day Iraq. The name “Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”.

32. Ethylene ___ : OXIDE
Ethylene oxide is a colorless gas with mildly sweet odor that is very flammable. It is used as an important raw material in the manufacture of many industrial chemicals.

34. Community leader? : CEE
The leading letter in the word “community” is the letter C (cee).

35. Bernina, for one : ALP
Piz Bernina is the fifth-highest mountain in the Alps, and is located in southeastern Switzerland.

36. One of the so-called “Public Ivies” : UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) gets more applications from students than any other university in the country. UCLA also has more students enrolled than any other university in the state.

A “public ivy” is a public university that has the reputation of delivering an Ivy League education, but at the price of a public school. The term was coined by Richard Mill in his 1985 book “Public Ivies: A Guide to America’s Best Public Undergraduate Colleges and Universities”. Moll’s original list of such schools was:

– College of William & Mary
– Miami University
– University of California
– University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
– University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
– University of Texas at Austin
– University of Vermont (Burlington)
– University of Virginia (Charlottesville)

45. Program with plugs : ADWARE
Adware is “advertising-supported software”, an application that includes ads in some form so that the developed can generate revenue. Sometimes deceptive practices can be used to entice a user to install such programs, so adware can sometimes be classed as malware (malicious software).

56. Some people movers : ELS
Elevated railroad (El)

67. Like Derby entrants : SHOD
Our use of the word “derby” to mean a race started in 1780 with the English Derby horse race, which was founded then by the 12th Earl of Derby. Ultimately, the term “derby” derives from the old English shire of “Deorby”, a word meaning “deer village”.

68. Garr of “Tootsie” : TERI
The lovely Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

“Tootsie” is a hilarious 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman in the title role, a male actor who adopts a female identity in order to land an acting job. Jessica Lange won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the film. “Tootsie” was also provided Geena Davis with her first movie role.

69. Game with a 64-square board : OTHELLO
The game of Reversi is also sold as Othello. The name Othello was chosen as a nod to the play by William Shakespeare.

72. Eastwood’s role on “Rawhide” : YATES
The actor and director Clint Eastwood is a native of San Francisco, California. As many of us perhaps remember, Eastwood’s big break was playing the supporting role of Rowdy Yates in the TV show “Rawhide” in the late fifties and early sixties. He then became the face of the spaghetti western genre of movie in the sixties, most notably in the classic “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. In later years Eastwood has branched out into directing and producing with remarkable success. And in the late eighties he also served as mayor of his hometown, Carmel-by-the-Sea.

76. Augural observations : OMENS
The verb “to augur” means “to bode”, to serve as an omen. The term comes from the name of religious officials in Ancient Rome called augurs whose job it was to interpret signs and omens.

77. Johnny Bench’s team : REDS
Johnny Bench is a former Major League Baseball catcher who played for the Cincinnati Reds. Bench is now a spokesman for the Stryker Corporation, makers of medical implants. After a career as a baseball catcher, his natural hip joint was in bad shape and so he had very successful replacement surgery in 2004. Bench isn’t just a spokesman for Stryker, he’s a customer.

82. Classico competitor : RAGU
The Ragú brand of pasta sauce is owned by Unilever. The name ” Ragù” is the Italian word for a sauce used to dress pasta, however the spelling is off a little. In Italian the word is “Ragù” with a grave accent over the “u”, but if you look at a jar of the sauce on the supermarket shelf it is spelled “Ragú” on the label, with an acute accent. Sometimes I think we just don’t try …

Classico is a brand of pasta sauce. One of Classico’s marketing techniques is to sell its products in Mason jars.

92. Social stratum : CASTE
Many creatures organize themselves into a social structure, a phenomenon known as “eusociality”. Examples of such creatures would be ants, bees and wasps, where there are queens, workers and soldiers. The groups within such a hierarchical structure are known as castes. The word “caste” was borrowed from the class divisions in Indian society (although the word “caste” and hierarchical concept was actually introduced by the Portuguese).

97. Vowel’s value in Scrabble : ONE
The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

101. Bass instrument : TUBA
The tuba is the lowest pitched of all the brass instruments, and one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra (usually there is just one tuba included in an orchestral line-up). “Tuba” is the Latin word for “trumpet, horn”. Oom-pah-pah …

104. I.S.S. forerunner : MIR
The Russian Mir Space Station was a remarkably successful project, with the station still holding the record for the longest continuous manned presence in space, at just under ten years. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station (ISS) drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001.

105. Pindaric composition : ODE
Pindar was an Ancient Greek poet, best known perhaps for composing a series of Victory Odes that celebrated triumph in competition, most notably the Olympian Games of the day.

107. New Haven student : ELI
Eli is the nickname for a graduate of Yale University, a term used in honor of the Yale benefactor Elihu Yale.

The city of New Haven, Connecticut was founded in 1638 by Puritan immigrants from England. New Haven is home to Yale University. The city also initiated the first public tree planting program in the country. The large elms included in the program led to New Haven being called “the Elm City”.

108. Vocabulaire entry : MOT
A “mot” (word) is part of a “vocabulaire” (vocabulary) in French.

111. ___ Peres (St. Louis suburb) : DES
The suburb of St. Louis called Des Peres takes its name from the River Des Peres, which doesn’t actually flow through the city, although two tributaries do. The river’s name translates to “River of the Fathers”, a reference to a mission of Catholic priests that lived nearby.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Harmful aspects : EVILS
6. Go long : RUN LATE
13. Surveillance equipment : SPYCAMS
20. Balloon : BLOAT
21. Shakespeare character who says “Good night, ladies; good night, sweet ladies; good night, good night” : OPHELIA
22. “Wet look” product : HAIR GEL
23. Burlesque theater? : BAWDY BUILDING (from “bodybuilding”)
25. Make amends for : EXPIATE
26. Bathed in the sun : DAYLIT
27. Toothy turner : GEAR
29. Exceeded a limit : SPED
30. Group engagement : GIG
31. Moviegoers who can’t afford concession stand snacks? : POPCORN PAUPERS (from “popcorn poppers”)
37. Killers at sea : ORCAS
40. Prepared for takeoff : TAXIED
41. Class with derivatives, briefly : CALC
42. Bad kid’s Christmas tree? : NAUGHTY PINE (from “knotty pine”)
44. Loses : MISPLACES
49. Old Testament prophet : EZRA
50. Page views? : OP-EDS
51. “Eldorado” poet : POE
52. Political opponent of Ike : ADLAI
53. Guy Fawkes Day mo. : NOV
54. Brother, in Brittany : FRERE
55. Like many food drive offerings : CANNED
58. Showing signs of age : WORN
59. Utilized : DREW ON
61. Sealant used by NASA? : SHUTTLE CAULK (from “shuttlecock”)
63. Viscount’s inferior : BARON
65. “Quit talking!” : SHUSH!
66. Centurion weapon : SWORD
67. B-roll from “Splendor in the Grass”? : STALK FOOTAGE (from “stock footage”)
70. Formal : DRESSY
73. It’s divided into nine circles : HELL
74. Shutterbugs’ settings : F-STOPS
75. 2014 Cooperstown inductee Joe : TORRE
78. Certain H&R Block worker : CPA
79. DuPont creation of 1941 : ORLON
81. Creator of plot holes? : HOE
82. Ardent lover : ROMEO
83. Can of worms? : BAIT
84. Broke up : DISPERSED
87. Owners of large enthusiastic dogs? : PAWED PEOPLE (from “pod people”)
89. Cooler unit : CELL
90. Kicks off : BEGINS
91. Sustains : FUELS
92. Writing implement from Planters? : CHALK FULL O’NUTS (from “chock full o’nuts”)
97. ___-repeated : OFT
98. Lover of Radames, in opera : AIDA
99. Feature of the Tokyo Imperial Palace : MOAT
100. Greenland natives : INUITS
103. Carol Brady on “The Brady Bunch,” e.g. : STEPMOM
106. Supporting actors in a Bea Arthur sitcom? : THE MAUDE SQUAD (from “The Mod Squad”)
112. Up on deck : TOPSIDE
113. Legendary lover of Abelard : HELOISE
114. Blake who composed “I’m Just Wild About Harry” : EUBIE
115. Crossed the sill : ENTERED
116. Border disputer with Ethiopia : ERITREA
117. Works as a trader : DEALS

Down
1. Regression : EBB
2. Wallachian prince who inspired “Dracula” : VLAD
3. “The Bridges of Madison County” setting : IOWA
4. Her fans are called Little Monsters : LADY GAGA
5. Smart : STYLISH
6. Drubbing : ROUT
7. Longtime employer of Helen Thomas, in brief : UPI
8. Rangers’ org. : NHL
9. Was in charge : LED
10. Fight of the Century loser : ALI
11. Egocentric tyrant : TIN GOD
12. Fired up : EAGER
13. Ones helping people up? : SHERPAS
14. “___ vobiscum” (Mass salutation) : PAX
15. Toy dog’s bark : YIP
16. Like iceberg lettuce : CRISP
17. Visibly amazed : AGAPE
18. Word with parking or postage : METER
19. What the Olympic sport of skeleton involves : SLEDS
24. Highly successful : BIG
28. Like the Mesopotamian people : ANCIENT
31. Writing assignment : PAPER
32. Ethylene ___ : OXIDE
33. Tailor’s supply : PINS
34. Community leader? : CEE
35. Bernina, for one : ALP
36. One of the so-called “Public Ivies” : UCLA
37. Nonstop : ON END
38. Shower accessory : RAZOR
39. Trick questions, e.g. : CURVEBALLS
40. Do data entry : TYPE
43. Roughly removed : TORN OFF
44. Common pay period : MONTH
45. Program with plugs : ADWARE
46. Heavenly painting? : CLOUDSCAPE
47. Viscount’s superior : EARL
48. Deteriorate : SINK
51. Comma, to an orator : PAUSE
54. Food sticker : FORK
55. Finishes all at once, in a way : CHUGS
56. Some people movers : ELS
57. One on the web at daybreak? : DEWDROP
60. Strong punch : WALLOP
61. Figure : SHAPE
62. Geological sample : CORE
64. Inclusions in safer passwords: Abbr. : NOS
65. Rose : STOOD
67. Like Derby entrants : SHOD
68. Garr of “Tootsie” : TERI
69. Game with a 64-square board : OTHELLO
71. Tanker mishap : SPILL
72. Eastwood’s role on “Rawhide” : YATES
75. Specifically : TO WIT
76. Augural observations : OMENS
77. Johnny Bench’s team : REDS
80. Guitar part : NECK
82. Classico competitor : RAGU
83. Posh shop : BOUTIQUE
85. Flag thrower : REF
86. Hung out with the riffraff : SLUMMED
87. Gift that may be gold-plated : PEN
88. Gave off : EFFUSED
90. Rub the wrong way : BOTHER
92. Social stratum : CASTE
93. Make advances toward : HIT ON
94. No slouch : ADEPT
95. Instance of forgetfulness : LAPSE
96. Pool cue maker’s tool : LATHE
97. Vowel’s value in Scrabble : ONE
100. Impression : IDEA
101. Bass instrument : TUBA
102. Set ___ (embark) : SAIL
104. I.S.S. forerunner : MIR
105. Pindaric composition : ODE
107. New Haven student : ELI
108. Vocabulaire entry : MOT
109. Intangible quality : AIR
110. Expend : USE
111. ___ Peres (St. Louis suburb) : DES

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2 thoughts on “0221-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Feb 16, Sunday”

  1. 32:05, no errors. Not the easiest Sunday I've encountered. Had to be wary of getting hung up in any one spot, so the puzzle went through a sort of Swiss-cheese phase and ended with a lot of hole-filling.

  2. 37:08, no errors. Pretty much the same issues as Dave, a lot of jumping around and backfilling. Enjoyed the theme, and once discovered, could use it to solve 6 of the 8 theme answers.

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