0626-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 26 Jun 16, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Foyer fixture : COATRACK
“Foyer”, meaning “lobby”, is a French word that we’ve imported into English. In French, “foyer” is used for what we would call a “green room”, a place where actors can gather when not on stage or on set.

9. Paratroopers’ gear : CHUTES
The term “parachute” was coined by Frenchman François Blanchard, from “para-” meaning “defence against” and “chute” meaning “a fall”.

15. Building material for an 80-Across (in two different ways?) : ADOBE
(80A. See 15-Across : ABODE)
“Adobe” is a building material that might be used to construct an “abode”, and the letters in the word “adobe” are used to make the word “abode”.

21. Warhol’s “Campbell’s Tomato Juice Box,” e.g. : POP ART
Andy Warhol went through a period of painting iconic American products, including Coca-Cola bottles and Campbell’s tomato soup cans. In 1964 he participated in a gallery show called “The American Supermarket”. Along with other pop artists he contributed works including a painting of a can of Campbell’s tomato soup. He priced the painting at $1,500, and sold autographed cans of soup for $6 a piece.

22. Italian vessel? : CRUET
A cruet is a small glass bottle for holding a condiment or perhaps a dressing. The word “cruet” comes from the Old French word for an earthen pot.

Don’t try asking for Italian dressing in Italy, as it’s a North American invention. Italians are fond of dressing their salads with olive oil, vinegar, salt and maybe some black pepper. Try it!

26. Asia’s ___ Sea : ARAL
The Aral Sea is a great example of how humans can have a devastating effect on their environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

27. Geological flat top : MESA
“Mesa” is the Spanish for “table”, which gives rise to our English usage of “mesa” to describe a geographic feature.

28. Staple at a luau : POI
The corm of some taro plants is used to make poi, the traditional Hawaiian dish (that I think tastes horrible). When a taro plant is grown as an ornamental, it is often called Elephant Ears due to the shape of its large leaves.

29. Orange Pixar character : NEMO
“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

30. Main character in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” : SAMSA
“The Metamorphosis” is a famous novella by Franz Kafka, regarded by many as one of the greatest pieces of short fiction written in the 20th century. The story tells of the metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa into a gigantic insect. His sister, Grete Samsa, becomes his caregiver.

32. River ___ (tributary of the Thames) : LEA
The River Lea is a major waterway that meets up with the River Thames within the city of London. There have been persistent rumors over the past few years that a large predator lives in the Lea, as witnesses have seen Canada geese and other birds dragged vertically underwater. A favorite explanation from the tabloid press is that there is a crocodile lurking in the area, something that has been strenuously denied by the authorities.

44. Dura ___ (brain membrane) : MATER
The three membranes that envelop the brain and spinal cord are referred to as the meninges. From the inside to the outside, these membranes are known as:

– the pia mater (“tender mother” in Latin)
– the arachnoid mater (“spider-like mother”)
– the dura mater (“tough mother”)

46. “That’s more than I want to know!” : TMI
Too much information! (TMI)

52. Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, e.g. : HOVERCAR
When the original “Star Wars” movie was in development, the lead character was called “Anakin Starkiller”. The character was also a gnarly, old war hero, and then a younger female. Eventually that character developed into Luke Skywalker.

54. “The Governator” : ARNIE
The body-builder, actor and politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was born in Graz in Austria, the son of the local police chief. Schwarzenegger’s family name translates into the more prosaic “black plough man”. In his bodybuilding days, he was often referred to as the Austrian Oak. When he was Governor of California he was called “the Governator”, a play on his role in the “The Terminator” series of movies.

55. Focus of study for Niels Bohr : ATOM
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist, who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, Bohr was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project that developed the first atomic bomb. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein had a series of public debates and disputes in the twenties and thirties. Although the two respected each other very highly, they held very different views on quantum theory, different views on the laws of physics at the atomic level. The passage of time has shown that Bohr won out in those debates.

59. Winter Palace resident : TSAR
The Winter Palace is a magnificent building in St. Petersburg in Russia, home to the Russian tsars (and tsarinas). The Winter Palace houses the famous Hermitage Museum. I was lucky enough to visit the Palace and museum some years ago, and I have to say that I have rarely been more impressed by a historical building.

61. Particulars, in slang : DEETS
“Deets” is slang for “details”.

65. Eight days after the nones : IDES
There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” (nones) were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed at the 15th day of a month. Well, actually the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

67. Choice word? : EENIE

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

69. Cold War synopsis : YANKEES DEFEAT REDS
The phrase “cold war” was first used by the novelist George Orwell in a 1945 essay about the atomic bomb. Orwell described a world under threat of nuclear war as having a “peace that is no peace”, in a permanent state of “cold war”. The specific use of “cold war” to describe the tension between the Eastern bloc and the Western allies is attributed to a 1947 speech by Bernard Baruch.

74. Rimes with rhymes : LEANN
LeAnn Rimes has been a country music star since she was 13 years old. In 2008 she disclosed publicly that she suffered from the autoimmune disease psoriasis. She has been active since then in raising money to fight the disease and helping fund cancer research as well. So, not only did Rimes win three Grammy Awards in 1997, she also won a 2009 Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Country Music.

75. Othello, for one : MOOR
The most famous Moor in literature has to be Othello, the title character in William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello, the Moor of Venice”. The word “Moor” describes various peoples of North Africa, usually of the Muslim faith. At the height of their geographic influence the Moors occupied much of the Iberian peninsula, calling it Al Andalus (from which modern Andalusia gets its name).

88. Roger Bannister, notably : MILER
The 4-minute barrier for the mile run was first broken in 1954 by Roger Bannister, when he finished in just over 3m 59s. The record for males now stands at 3m 43s. If you plan on running a 4-minute mile, you should probably be warned that this means you have to run the whole race at an average speed of over 15 mph (do the math!).

89. Word repeated in James Brown’s “It’s a ___ ___ ___ World” : MAN’S
James Brown released the celebrated song “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” in 1966. The title is a play on the excellent comedy film “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” that was released three years earlier.

94. Show of respect at the Vatican : PADRES BOW TO CARDINALS
Vatican City is a sovereign city-state that is walled off within the city of Rome. Vatican City is about 110 acres in area, and so is the smallest independent state in the world. With about 800 residents, it is also the smallest state in terms of population. Although the Holy See dates back to early Christianity, Vatican City only came into being in 1929. At that time, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed a treaty with the Holy See on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy that established the city-state.

99. Wood in Lucius Malfoy’s wand : ELM
Lucius Malfoy is a character in the “Harry Potter” series of novels. Lucius is the father of Draco Malfoy, a cowardly bully who is in the same year as Harry in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft.

104. Incapacitate, in a way : TASE
“To tase” is to use a taser, a stun gun.

105. “Inside the N.B.A.” airer : TNT
TNT stands for Turner Network Television. The TNT cable channel made a big splash in the eighties when it started to broadcast old MGM movies that had been “colorized”, not something that was a big hit with the public. In recent years, the TNT programming lineup is touted with the tagline “We Know Drama”, and includes shows like “Judging Amy”, “ER” and “Cold Case”.

106. Yemen, once : SHEBA
Sheba is referenced in the Bible several times. The “Queen of Sheba” is mentioned as someone who traveled to Jerusalem to behold the fame of King Solomon. No one knows for sure where the kingdom of Sheba was located, although there is evidence that it was actually the ancient Semitic civilization of Saba. The Sabeans lived in what today is Yemen, on the Arabian Peninsula.

111. Subj. for a radio astronomer : SETI
SETI is the name given to a number of projects that are searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

113. One in a gray suit, for short : REB
During the Civil War, the personification of the Southern states was “Johnny Reb”. The northern equivalent was Billy Yank.

115. Most-applied-to sch. in the U.S. : 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.

126. Smart ___ : ALECK
Apparently the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

127. Only guest host in the 21 years of Leno’s “The Tonight Show” : COURIC
Katie Couric left NBC’s “The Today Show” in 2006 and took over as news anchor for “CBS Evening News”. In so doing she became the first solo female anchor of a broadcast network evening news program. Couric also has the honor of being the only person to guest-host on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. In fact she “swapped jobs” on that particular day, and Leno filled in for Couric on “The Today Show”. Since 2012, Couric has a hosted a daytime talk show called “Katie” on ABC.

129. City of Light, informally : PAREE
The French capital Paris is nicknamed “La Ville Lumière” (The City of Light). There are two justifications cited for the moniker. Firstly, the city played a leading role during Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, in the 18th century. In fact, the French refer to the era as “the Century of Lights”. Secondly, and more literally, Paris was one of the first cities in Europe to adopt widespread gas street lighting. There were about 56,000 gas lights illuminating the streets of Paris in the 1860s.

Down
2. John who wrote “Appointment in Samarra” : O’HARA
“Appointment in Samarra” was John O’Hara’s first novel, published in 1934. Samarra is a city north of Baghdad in Iraq, although the story itself takes place in a fictional town in Pennsylvania. The novel deals with the last three days in the life of Julian English, describing how he destroys himself with a series compulsive acts leading up to his suicide. This one doesn’t qualify as light reading for the plane …

3. Hussein : Obama :: ___ : Garfield : ABRAM
President James Abram Garfield was born in Orange Township in Ohio, the youngest son of Abram Garfield. Abram had moved from New York to Ohio specifically to court his childhood sweetheart Mehitabel Ballou. When Abram arrived in Ohio, however, he found that Mehitabel had already married. Abram did manage to join the Ballou family though, as he eventually married Mehitabel’s sister Eliza.

Despite rumors to the contrary, I am pretty sure that Barack Hussein Obama II was indeed born in Hawaii. President Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii.

4. “Through many dangers, ___ and snares I have already come” (“Amazing Grace” lyric) : TOILS
“Amazing Grace” is a very, very famous hymn, with words written by John Newton in 1779. The words have been set to a number of different melodies, and what we are used to hearing today is music from a tune called “New Britain”.

5. Burgundy of “Anchorman” : RON
Ron Burgundy is the title character in the movie “Anchorman” series of films. Burgundy is a news anchor played by comedian Will Ferrell. Apparently Burgundy loves a glass of scotch, poetry, and his dog Baxter.

8. Big name in headphones : KOSS
Koss is a manufacturer mainly of headphones based in Milwaukee. The company was founded in 1958 by John C. Koss, the inventor of the first stereo heasphone.

9. Number cruncher, for short : CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

10. Short shorts : HOT PANTS
Hot pants were quite the fad. They were introduced in fashion shows in the winter of 1970/71, and became a huge sensation in the summer of ’71. By the end of the year, hot pants were “gone”.

12. The Seal of Solomon and others : TALISMANS
The Seal of Solomon is a legendary signet ring that gave Solomon power over demons and genies, and the ability to speak with animals.

14. Letters on many a racecar : STP
STP is a brand name for automotive lubricants and additives. The name STP comes from “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.

15. Part of a plot : ACRE
At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. This was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one furlong wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. A area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

18. Queen ___ : BEE
A queen bee has a stinger, just like worker bees. When a worker bee stings, it leaves it stinger in its victim. The worker bee dies after losing its stinger as the loss rips out part of its insides. However, a queen bee can sting with impunity as the stinger’s anatomy is different.

19. SAT org. : ETS
The Educational Testing Service (ETS) was founded in 1947, and produces standardized tests for students from kindergarten through college. Perhaps most famously, ETS operates the SAT testing process.

24. Raft material : BALSA
Balsa is a very fast growing tree that is native to parts of South America. Even though balsa wood is very soft, it is actually classified as a hardwood, the softest of all the hardwoods (go figure!). Balsa is light and strong, so is commonly used in making model airplanes. Amazingly, in WWII a full-size British plane, the de Havilland Mosquito, was built largely from balsa and plywood. No wonder they called it “The Wooden Wonder” and “The Timber Terror”.

25. Pentium creator : INTEL
Intel is the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. The company was founded in 1968, and the name “Intel” is a derived from the term “int(egrated) el(ectronics)”. Recognition of the Intel brand has been greatly helped by the success of the “Intel Inside” campaign that started back in 1991.

35. Supercontinent of 200 million years ago : PANGAEA
Pangaea was a supercontinent that existed during the age of the dinosaurs, the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. Pangaea broke apart due to movement of tectonic plates in the Earth’s crust. All of today’s continents were once part of Pangaea.

38. Scope : AMBIT
An ambit is an outer boundary or limit, a circumference. The term can also be used to mean the sphere or scope of influence. “Ambit” comes from the Latin “ambire” meaning “to go around”.

41. World of Warcraft beast : ORC
“World of Warcraft” is an online role-playing game. My son informs me that the game is not that great. Like I would know …

42. Waver of a wand : TSA AGENT
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks. TSA personnel carry out the baggage and body searches at US airports. The TSA has a Trusted Traveler program that allows certain passengers to move more quickly through security screening. These passengers pay the TSA a one-time fee that covers a background check after which successful applicants are issued a Known Traveler Number (KTN).

43. Bathroom tile shade : ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

47. Cowardly Lion harasser : TOTO
Toto is Dorothy’s dog in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, and in the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. Toto was played in the movie by a dog called Terry, but Terry’s name was soon changed to Toto in real life due to the success of the film.

48. Bathroom bar : IVORY
Ivory soap is one of Procter & Gamble’s oldest products, introduced way back in 1879. Ivory soap is noted for its “purity” and also because of its property of floating in water. Despite urban myths to the contrary, the property of floating in water was developed deliberately by a chemist at the time Ivory was being formulated. The soap floats because the ingredients are mixed longer than necessary for homogenization, which introduces more air into the product.

49. The Pink Panther, in “The Pink Panther” : GEM
A lot of people think that the Inspector Clouseau character (played originally by Peter Sellers) is “The Pink Panther”. It’s actually the jewel that was stolen in the original movie. Would you believe there are eleven “Pink Panther” movies in the whole series?

51. Seventh film in the “Rocky” series : CREED
“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 he had received since the first “Rocky” film, which was released almost forty years earlier.

57. “___ the season …” : ‘TIS
The music for the Christmas song “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “tra-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in 19th century. “‘Tis the season to be jolly …”

60. Hardly original works : RETREADS
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.

64. Police blotter letters : AKA
Also known as (aka)

A police blotter is (or used to be) a daily record of arrests made.

66. Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.

68. Org. with the Eddie Eagle safety program : NRA
The Eddie Eagle program was introduced by the National Rifle Association and is designed to train children to avoid causing harm if they encounter a firearm. The basic mantra of the program is “Stop, don’t touch, run away, tell a grown-up”.

70. Tree with catkins : ALDER
Alder trees are deciduous (i.e. not evergreen), and the fruit of the tree is called a “catkin”. The tree carries both male and female catkins that look very similar to each other, but the male catkin is longer than the female. Alders are pollinated by wind usually, although bees can play a role.

73. Delicacy usually eaten as an appetizer : SNAIL
In order to eat snails, apparently they have to be “purged” before killing them. That means starving them or feeding them on something “wholesome” for several days before cooking them up. Ugh …

79. Queen ___ (pop music nickname) : BEY
Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2003, two years after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”.

81. Deli roll : BIALY
“Bialy” is a Yiddish name for a small onion roll, which takes its name from Bialystok, a city in Poland.

82. Rubens or Raphael : OLD MASTER
Peter Paul Rubens was a Flemish painter who worked in the city of Antwerp in Belgium. Rubens was knighted by two monarchs: Philip IV of Spain, and Charles I of England. When Rubens was 53-years-old, four years after the death of his first wife, he married a 16-year-old girl. It was his young wife who inspired many of the voluptuous figures with whom Rubens became associated later in his career.

Raphael was an artist and architect from Central Italy. Raphael was active during the High Renaissance and is often considered alongside Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci who were active in the same timeframe in Italy,

90. Leave runny on the inside, say : SOFT-BOIL
That would be a soft-boiled egg.

96. Welcome to the fold? : BAA!
A “fold” is an enclosure for sheep, or an alternative name for a “flock”.

98. Go haywire : ACT UP
“Haywire” is wire used to bind bales of hay. Haywire is very springy, and coils of the wire are difficult to keep under control. That characteristic gives us informal meaning of “haywire”, namely “erratic, crazy”.

107. OutKast chart-topper : HEY YA!
OutKast is a hip hop duo comprising rappers André 3000 and Big Boi.

109. Southern beauty : BELLE
A “beau” is the boyfriend of a “belle”, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

112. Take a hit : TOKE
“Toke” is a slang term for a puff on a marijuana cigarette or on a pipe containing the drug.

114. Sein : German :: ___ : French : ETRE
The verb “to be” is “sein” in German, and “être” in French.

116. Cotton or country follower : CLUB
The Cotton Club was a famous jazz club in Harlem in New York City that thrived during the days of prohibition. Although the stars on stage were mainly African-American, including Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, the club generally denied admission to African-American patrons.

117. Siberian river : LENA
The Lena River is in northern Russia, in Siberia, and empties into the Arctic Ocean.

121. ___ russe : A LA
When a meal is served “à la russe” (in the Russian style), courses are brought to the table sequentially. This contrasts with a meal served “à la française” (in the French style), in which all the courses are brought to the table at the same time.

123. Deli offering : LOX
Lox is a cured salmon fillet, finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.

124. Alternatives to Macs : PCS
The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

125. What a constant hand-washer probably has, for short : OCD
Apparently obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as common as asthma.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Foyer fixture : COATRACK
9. Paratroopers’ gear : CHUTES
15. Building material for an 80-Across (in two different ways?) : ADOBE
20. Unsympathetic response to a complainer : OH BOOHOO
21. Warhol’s “Campbell’s Tomato Juice Box,” e.g. : POP ART
22. Italian vessel? : CRUET
23. Conflict at sea : MARINERS BATTLE PIRATES
26. Asia’s ___ Sea : ARAL
27. Geological flat top : MESA
28. Staple at a luau : POI
29. Orange Pixar character : NEMO
30. Main character in Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis” : SAMSA
32. River ___ (tributary of the Thames) : LEA
34. Balls or fire preceder : SPIT
37. Way off : AFAR
40. Decides, in a way : VOTES ON
44. Dura ___ (brain membrane) : MATER
46. “That’s more than I want to know!” : TMI
47. Parenting problem at a zoo : TIGERS CAN’T HANDLE CUBS
52. Luke Skywalker’s landspeeder, e.g. : HOVERCAR
53. Spill one’s secrets : SING
54. “The Governator” : ARNIE
55. Focus of study for Niels Bohr : ATOM
56. Lead-in to dealer or dialer : AUTO-
59. Winter Palace resident : TSAR
61. Particulars, in slang : DEETS
62. Logician’s word : NOR
63. Show weariness : SAG
65. Eight days after the nones : IDES
67. Choice word? : EENIE
69. Cold War synopsis : YANKEES DEFEAT REDS
74. Rimes with rhymes : LEANN
75. Othello, for one : MOOR
76. “Kewl!” : RAD!
77. Catch : NAB
80. See 15-Across : ABODE
83. It may be recounted : TALE
85. Be highly esteemed : RATE
87. Not mad : SANE
88. Roger Bannister, notably : MILER
89. Word repeated in James Brown’s “It’s a ___ ___ ___ World” : MAN’S
91. “Please show some compassion!” : HAVE PITY!
94. Show of respect at the Vatican : PADRES BOW TO CARDINALS
99. Wood in Lucius Malfoy’s wand : ELM
100. Dear one? : DIARY
101. Rapt : FOCUSED
102. Twosome : DYAD
104. Incapacitate, in a way : TASE
105. “Inside the N.B.A.” airer : TNT
106. Yemen, once : SHEBA
111. Subj. for a radio astronomer : SETI
113. One in a gray suit, for short : REB
115. Most-applied-to sch. in the U.S. : UCLA
119. Split pair : EXES
120. Overthrow of a monarchy : NATIONALS TOPPLE ROYALS
126. Smart ___ : ALECK
127. Only guest host in the 21 years of Leno’s “The Tonight Show” : COURIC
128. It requires a balancing act : UNICYCLE
129. City of Light, informally : PAREE
130. Gives the old heave-ho : EXPELS
131. Faulty connections? : BAD DATES

Down
1. Food ___ (feelings after big meals) : COMAS
2. John who wrote “Appointment in Samarra” : O’HARA
3. Hussein : Obama :: ___ : Garfield : ABRAM
4. “Through many dangers, ___ and snares I have already come” (“Amazing Grace” lyric) : TOILS
5. Burgundy of “Anchorman” : RON
6. “Pardon …” : AHEM …
7. Heart : CORE
8. Big name in headphones : KOSS
9. Number cruncher, for short : CPA
10. Short shorts : HOT PANTS
11. Until : UP TO
12. The Seal of Solomon and others : TALISMANS
13. Before, poetically : ERE
14. Letters on many a racecar : STP
15. Part of a plot : ACRE
16. ___ queen : DRAMA
17. Pitched poorly : OUT OF TUNE
18. Queen ___ : BEE
19. SAT org. : ETS
24. Raft material : BALSA
25. Pentium creator : INTEL
31. Profess : AVER
33. Long stretch : EON
35. Supercontinent of 200 million years ago : PANGAEA
36. “___ be my pleasure” : IT’D
38. Scope : AMBIT
39. Climbs : RISES
41. World of Warcraft beast : ORC
42. Waver of a wand : TSA AGENT
43. Bathroom tile shade : ECRU
45. Prepped : READIED
47. Cowardly Lion harasser : TOTO
48. Bathroom bar : IVORY
49. The Pink Panther, in “The Pink Panther” : GEM
50. Takes the place of, in batting : HITS FOR
51. Seventh film in the “Rocky” series : CREED
52. ___ characters (basic means of writing Chinese) : HAN
57. “___ the season …” : ‘TIS
58. Leftover : ODDMENT
60. Hardly original works : RETREADS
63. Curled one’s lip : SNEERED
64. Police blotter letters : AKA
66. Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
68. Org. with the Eddie Eagle safety program : NRA
70. Tree with catkins : ALDER
71. Charms : ENAMORS
72. Long stretch : ERA
73. Delicacy usually eaten as an appetizer : SNAIL
78. Marching band? : ANTS
79. Queen ___ (pop music nickname) : BEY
80. Stoked : AMPED
81. Deli roll : BIALY
82. Rubens or Raphael : OLD MASTER
84. Gets fitted for a suit? : LAWYERS UP
86. Drive-___ : THRU
87. Pool site : SPA
90. Leave runny on the inside, say : SOFT-BOIL
92. Compete : VIE
93. Leftovers : ENDS
95. Once-common campus event : SIT-IN
96. Welcome to the fold? : BAA!
97. Downside : CON
98. Go haywire : ACT UP
103. Clear for takeoff? : DEICE
107. OutKast chart-topper : HEY YA!
108. On the button : EXACT
109. Southern beauty : BELLE
110. Low mounts? : ASSES
112. Take a hit : TOKE
114. Sein : German :: ___ : French : ETRE
116. Cotton or country follower : CLUB
117. Siberian river : LENA
118. Dry : ARID
120. Time out? : NAP
121. ___ russe : A LA
122. A card? : ACE
123. Deli offering : LOX
124. Alternatives to Macs : PCS
125. What a constant hand-washer probably has, for short : OCD

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