0821-16 New York Times Crossword Answers 21 Aug 16, Sunday

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

CROSSWORD SETTER: Kathy Matheson & Jeff Chen
THEME: Wonder-Ful!
Today’s grid contains loads of references to US national parks. Some of those references are just themed answers, but others are found as circled letters in the grid. Those circled letters from shapes reminiscent of the feature named within:

DENALI (mountain-shaped)
OLD FAITHFUL (gushing into the air)
ARCHES (arch-shaped)
HALF DOME (shaped like a half-dome)
GRAND CANYON (canyon-shaped)

32A. Home to more than half the world’s active geysers : YELLOWSTONE
69A. Subject of many Ansel Adams photos : YOSEMITE
80A. Federal agency established on August 25, 1916 : NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 19m 01s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. “It’s a pity other cars aren’t built this way” cars : SAABS
SAAB stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. SAAB was, and still is, mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.

6. Fischer, to Spassky, e.g. : RIVAL
Boris Spassky is a Russian chess grandmaster, and currently the oldest living world champion. Here in the US, Spassky’s most famous match was in 1972, at the height of the Cold War. That was when Spassky lost the world championship to American player Bobby Fischer in a clash that was billed as the “Match of the Century”.

11. “Stop!,” at a port : AVAST!
“Avast” is a nautical term used to tell someone to stop or desist from what they are doing. The word comes from the Dutch “hou vast” meaning “hold fast”.

18. Verdi aria : ERI TU
Every crossword constructors’ favorite aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

21. Rap’s ___ Boys : BEASTIE
Beastie Boys are a hip hop band from New York that formed back in 1981.

29. Life force in Chinese philosophy : CHI
In Chinese culture “qi” or “chi” is the life force in any living thing.

30. High-powered guns : UZIS
The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

32. Home to more than half the world’s active geysers : YELLOWSTONE
Yellowstone was the first National Park to be established in the world, when it was designated as such by President Grant in 1872. What a great tradition it started! The American National Parks truly are a treasure.

37. Enigmatic one in “The Hobbit” : RUNE
A rune is a character in an alphabet that is believed to have mysterious powers. In Norse mythology, the runic alphabet was said to have a divine origin.

38. Dunham of “Girls” : LENA
Lena Dunham is a co-star in the HBO series “Girls”, and is also the show’s creator. Dunham garnered a lot of attention for herself during the 2012 US Presidential election cycle as she starred in ad focused on getting out the youth vote. In the spot she compared voting for the first time with having sex for the first time.

41. Approver of new meds : FDA
The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approves drugs for specific conditions. It is quite legal for a healthcare professional to prescribe an approved medication for a use that is different to the FDA-approved indication. This usage of the drug is described as “off-label”.

43. Snack brand whose name hints at its flavor : NILLA
As one might expect, “Nilla” is a shortened from of “vanilla”. However, you won’t find any vanilla in Nilla cookies or wafers. They have always been flavored with vanillin, which is synthetic vanilla. Is nothing sacred …?

44. Zika monitoring org. : CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

The Zika virus causes the disease known as Zika fever, and is mainly spread by the yellow fever mosquito. While the majority of cases of infection result in minor symptoms or even no symptoms at all, Zika virus infections of pregnant women may be linked to newborn microcephaly. Microcephaly is a birth defect in which a baby’s head is smaller than normal.

46. Alternative regimen to an 84-Down, informally : PALEO
(84D. Regimen adopted by Bill Clinton in 2010 : VEGAN DIET)
The paleolithic or caveman diet is a fad diet that became popular in the 2000s. The idea is to eat wild plants and animals that would have been available to humans during the Paleolithic era (roughly the Stone Age). This period precedes the introduction of agriculture and domestication of animals. As a result, someone on the diet avoids consuming grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. The diet consists mainly of lean meat (about 45-65% of the total calorie intake), non-starchy vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts.

54. I C U, e.g. : REBUS
A rebus is a puzzle that uses pictures to represent letters and groups of letters. For example, a picture of a “ewe” might represent the letter “U” or the pronoun “you”.

59. Highly rated Bond? : MOORE
Roger Moore is best known in the US for taking on the role of 007 in seven James Bond movies from 1973 to 1985. In my part of the world we remember him playing a very debonair hero called Simon Templar in a TV series called “The Saint” from 1962 to 1969. Moore’s Templar character could very easily have morphed into a great James Bond, but by the time he was offered the part I personally think that he was just a tad too long in the tooth to pull off a credible 007.

61. Telenovela, e.g. : DRAMA
A “telenovela” is a “television novel”, a form of programming that is very popular in Latin America. A telenovela is sort of like a soap opera that has an end in sight, and that runs for less than a year. I like this quote from an executive at Telemundo:
“A telenovela is all about a couple who wants to kiss and a scriptwriter who stands in their way for 150 episodes.”

64. Result of many years of study, for short : PHD
PhD is an abbreviation for “philosophiae doctor”, Latin for “teacher of philosophy”. Often, candidates for an earned PhD already hold a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so a PhD might be considered a “third degree”.

65. Halley of Halley’s comet : EDMOND
Edmond Halley was an English astronomer who lived at the turn of 17th and 18th centuries. In 1705 he declared that comet sightings recorded in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 were in fact observations of the same comet returning to fly by Earth at regular intervals. He predicted that this comet would return in 1758, and he was right, and so the comet was named after him: Halley’s Comet. Sadly, Halley didn’t live long enough to see his prediction come true.

67. Like Serbs, but not Hungarians : SLAVIC
The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:

the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
the South Slavic (including Bulgarians and Serbs)

69. Subject of many Ansel Adams photos : YOSEMITE
As an avid amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

71. Mortgage, often : HOME LOAN
Our word “mortgage” comes from the Old French “mort gaige” which translated as “dead pledge”. Such an arrangement was so called because the “pledge” to repay “dies” when the debt is cleared.

73. “The Simpsons” character in a green jacket : APU
The fictional Kwik-E-Mart store is operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on “The Simpsons” TV show. Apu is married to Manjula, and the couple have eight children. The convenience store owner doesn’t seem to be making much use of his Ph.D in computer science that he earned in the US. Apu’s undergraduate degree is from Caltech (the Calcutta Technical Institute), where he graduated top of his class of seven million students …

78. Bethesda-based research agcy. : NIH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.

86. Region of ancient Greece : IONIA
The geographic region called Ionia is located in present day Turkey. Ionia was prominent in the days of Ancient Greece although it wasn’t a unified state, but rather a collection of tribes. The tribal confederacy was more based on religious and cultural similarities than a political or military alliance. Nowadays we often refer to this arrangement as the Ionian League.

92. Oprah’s BFF : GAYLE
Gayle King is a co-anchor on the news magazine show “CBS This Morning”. King met Oprah Winfrey in 1976, with the pair now describing each other as best friends.

96. Like Sherpas : NEPALESE
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.

102. Subatomic particle named for the weak force : W BOSON
Particle physics is beyond me, but bosons are subatomic particles. They can be elementary, like for example photons, or composite, like mesons, which are composed of one quark and one antiquark. “Bosons” are named for the Indian physicist Satyendra Nath Bose who developed Bose-Einstein statistics along with Albert Einstein.

108. House majority leader before DeLay : ARMEY
Dick Armey is a Republican politician who served as House Majority Leader from 1995 until 2003. Notably, Armey was one of the principal authors of the Republican Party’s “Contract with America”, along with Newt Gingrich.

110. Good fact-checking types : PEDANTS
A pedant, someone who is pedantic, is a person “who trumpets minor points of learning”, a person who tends to nit-pick. “Pedant” comes via Middle French from the Italian word “pedante” meaning “teacher”.

115. “Three Coins in the Fountain” fountain : TREVI
The Trevi Fountain is a huge fountain in Rome, the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The tradition is that if one throws a coin in the fountain then one is guaranteed a return visit to the city. Tourists throw in an amazing 3,000 euros (over $4,000) every day. The money is collected and is used to stock a supermarket for the needy of the city.

124. Nina Totenberg’s milieu : NPR NEWS
Nina Totenberg is a very able legal affairs correspondent who works for National Public Radio. Totenberg’s main focus is on the activities of the US Supreme Court. Famously, she was the journalist who uncovered the allegations of sexual harassment by Clarence Thomas made by Anita Hill.

Down
2. Painkiller containing caffeine : ANACIN
Anacin is a pain reliever, with aspirin and caffeine as active ingredients.

3. Neighbor of Ger. : AUS
The name “Austria” is a Latin variant of the German name for the country, “Österreich”. “Österreich” itself means “Eastern borderlands”, a reference to the country’s history as a prefecture of neighboring Bavaria to the west.

8. The Henry who founded the House of Tudor : VII
The Wars of the Roses was a series of civil wars fought for the throne of England between the rival Houses of Lancaster and York. Ultimately the Lancastrians emerged victorious after Henry Tudor defeated King Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. Henry was crowned King Henry VII, and so began the Tudor dynasty. Henry Tudor united the rival houses by marrying his cousin Elizabeth of York. Henry VII had a relatively long reign of 23 years that lasted until his death, after which his son succeeded to the throne as Henry VIII, continuing the relatively short-lived Tudor dynasty. Henry VIII ruled from 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry VIII was the last male to lead the the House of Tudor, as his daughter Queen Elizabeth I died without issue. When Elizabeth died, the Scottish King James VI succeeded to the throne as James I of England and Ireland. James I was the first English monarch of the House of Stuart.

9. Raiders’ org. : ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is today part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The ATF has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. “Explosives” was added to the ATF’s name when the bureau was moved under the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the reorganization called for in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

10. Erupter at 32-Across : OLD FAITHFUL
(32A. Home to more than half the world’s active geysers : YELLOWSTONE)
Old Faithful is a geyser in Yellowstone National Park. It erupts almost every 63 minutes on the nose, making it one of the most predictable geographic features on the planet. It was this predictability that led to the name “Old Faithful”. In the early days of Yellowstone’s existence as a park, the geyser was used as a laundry. Dirty linen clothing was placed in the geyser’s crater during the quiet period. The clothing was ejected during the eruption, thoroughly washed.

11. Radio host Shapiro : ARI
Ari Shapiro is the very able White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR)

14. Henry W. ___, Union major general during the Civil War : SLOCUM
Henry Warner Slocum was one of the youngest major generals in the Union Army during the Civil War. In his later life, Slocum served as a Representative for the State of New York in the US House.

15. Disco relative : TECHNO
Techno is a type of electronic dance music that originated in Detroit in the eighties. Techno involves a heavy beat in common time, and what seems to be a lot of repetition. Not for me …

16. “So You Think You Can Dance” judge : ABDUL
Paula Abdul is primarily a singer and dancer, and someone who endeared herself even more to the American public in recent years as a judge on “American Idol”. Abdul had a famous husband for a couple of years, as she was married to actor Emilio Estevez from 1992-94.

17. Wire message : TELEX
Telex grew out of the world of the telegraph. What Telex brought to telegraphy was the ability to route messages. Instead of having to talk to an operator to route a particular message to the intended party, the user of a telex could route the message directly to another telex machine by way of a rotary dial, very similar to that on a telephone.

19. Harris’s role in “The Right Stuff” : GLENN
John Glenn is a retired Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and US Senator. As an astronaut, Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, in 1962. He later became the oldest person to fly in space, in 1998 at the age of 77.

Ed Harris is a very talented actor, noted for two great performances in movies about the Space Program. Harris played John Glenn in “The Right Stuff” in 1983, his “breakthrough” role. Twelve years later he had a “stellar” performance as flight director Gene Kranz in “Apollo 13”.

The 1983 movie “The Right Stuff” was adapted from a 1979 book of the same name by Tom Wolfe. It tells the story of the group of test pilots who were selected as the first astronauts, those who flew in space in the Project Mercury program.

26. Gran Paradiso, e.g. : ALP
Gran Paradiso is a mountain in the Graian Alps in southern Europe. Mont Blanc is the highest peak in the Alps and is located nearby, straddling the border between France and Italy. Gran Paradiso is the highest mountain that lies totally within the territory of Italy.

28. It’s as good as XXX : OOO
That would be in tic-tac-toe.

33. Dog created by Jim Davis : ODIE
Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle. Both are characters in Jim Davis’s comic strip named “Garfield”.

34. Actor Wheaton : WIL
Wil Wheaton is the actor who grew up playing Ensign Crusher on the best of the “Star Trek” TV series, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. In recent years Wheaton has become a de facto spokesman for the so-called “geek” or “nerd” community via a weblog that he writes called “Wil Wheaton Dot Net”. He has been playing Dungeons & Dragons for years, and is also someone you’ll see at celebrity poker games on TV.

35. France’s so-called “Capital of the Ruins” : ST LO
Saint-Lô is a town in Normandy that was occupied by Germany in 1940. Saint-Lo stood at a strategic crossroads and so there was intense fighting there during the Normandy invasion of 1944. After a prolonged bombardment, very little of the town was left standing.

45. Harry’s Hogwarts enemy : DRACO
Draco Malfoy is one of the regular “bad guys” in the “Harry Potter” stories. Malfoy is one of Potter’s fellow students, the one who sneers a lot. Draco’s father is Lucius Malfoy, a character who becomes more and more relevant as the storyline in the series of books progresses.

50. Beethoven’s “Sinfonia ___” : EROICA
Beethoven originally dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic” or “valiant”.

55. Feature of the Six Million Dollar Man : BIONIC EYE
I so much preferred “The Bionic Woman” than the original show, “The Six Million Dollar Man”, but that was probably because I was “at that age” in the mid-seventies when the star Lindsay Wagner was attracting my attention! Wagner played Jaime Sommers who was badly injured in a parachute jump, and so was treated by the implanting of robotic devices that gave her speed, strength and exceptional hearing.

56. Samovar, e.g. : URN
The samovar originated in Russia, and is often a very elegant water boiler, usually for making tea. As such, there is often an attachment on top of a samovar to keep a teapot warm.

57. “Capeesh?” : SEE?
“Capeesh?” is a slang term meaning “do you understand?” It comes from the Italian “capisce” meaning “understand”.

66. Tyrant : DESPOT
A “despot” is a ruler with absolute power, often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century, ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.

67. Islamic law : SHARIA
Sharia Law is the Islamic legal system that governs many things like crime, politics and economics as well as many aspects of personal behavior. Sharia Law is based on the Quaran as well as the Hadith, a set of opinions and life examples from the prophet Muhammad.

70. Defeat in a Nathan’s Famous contest : OUTEAT
Nathan’s Famous has held a Hot Dog Eating Contest every July 4th since 1916, and always at the same location on Coney Island.

82. PolitiFact finding : LIE
PolitiFact is a project in which reporters and editors primarily from the “Tampa Bay Times” fact-check statements made by politicians and related parties. Statements can be graded from “True” at one extreme, to “Pants on Fire” at the other.

83. Actor Penn : KAL
Indian-American actor Kal Penn made a name for himself in the “Harold & Kumar” series of comedy films. These so called “stoner comedies” are not my cup of tea, but I enjoyed him playing his more mainstream roles on TV’s “House” and “24”. He left the world of acting when President Obama won the 2008 election and now works as an Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement (although he did leave the White House briefly to film the “Harold & Kumar” sequel).

84. Regimen adopted by Bill Clinton in 2010 : VEGAN DIET
A vegan is someone who stays away from animal products. A dietary vegan eats no animal foods, not even eggs and dairy which are usually eaten by vegetarians. Ethical vegans take things one step further by following a vegan diet and also avoiding animal products in other areas of their lives e.g. items made from leather or silk.

President Bill Clinton had a quadruple heart bypass in 2004, and then had two coronary stents implanted in his heart in 2010. After the latter experience, he became a vegan and now eats a diet of whole plant-based foods.

85. Clancy’s Red October, e.g. : SUB
Tom Clancy was an incredibly successful novelist who was noted for his technically-detailed military and espionage thrillers. Clancy’s first novel was “The Hunt for Red October”, published in 1984. Although “Red October” was to be his most successful work, I personally preferred his second book “Red Storm Rising”, published in 1986. Clancy passed away in 2013.

88. Born : NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

90. Store head: Abbr. : MGR
Manager (mgr.)

91. Mayo container? : ANO
In Spanish, “mayo” (May) is one of the months of the “año” (year).

97. Annual athletic honors : ESPYS
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.

98. For whom the Edgar awards are named : POE
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (the Edgars) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America.

100. Wall St. “500” : S AND P
Standard & Poor’s (S&P) is a financial services company, famous for its stock market indices, especially the S&P 500. The company also publishes credit ratings for sovereign governments, and in 2011 famously lowered the rating of the US federal government from AAA to to AA+.

104. Webmaster’s medium : HTML
HTML is HyperText Markup Language, the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).

105. Cookie with a Thins variety : OREO
For those of us counting calories, Oreo Thins were introduced in 2015. There are only 40 calories in each thin cookie, compared to 53 calories in the real deal.

106. Oscar winner for “Dallas Buyers Club” : LETO
Jared Leto is an actor and musician. In the world of music, Leto is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. In the film world, one of his most critically acclaimed role was that of a heroin addict in “Requiem for a Dream”. He also appeared in “American Psycho”, “Panic Room” and “Lord of War”. Leto won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for portraying a transgender woman in 2013’s “Dallas Buying Club”.

107. Part of Y.S.L. : YVES
Yves Saint-Laurent (YSL) was a French fashion designer, actually born in Algeria. Saint-Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint-Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

109. Thom ___ shoes : MCAN
Thom McAn footwear was introduced in 1922 by the Melville Corporation (now CVS Caremark). The brand was named after a Scottish golfer called Thomas McCann. The Thom McAn line is epitomized by the comfortable leather casual and dress shoe, so sales have really been hurt in recent decades by the growing popularity of sneakers.

111. Virgin Mary’s mother : ANNE
Tradition states that Mary, Mother of Jesus was the daughter of Joachim and Anne.

112. Zippo : NADA
The word “nothing” translates to “nada” in Spanish.

The use of the words “zip” and “zippo” to mean “nothing” dates back to the early 1900s when it was student slang for being graded zero on a test.

113. Ninny : TWIT
“Twit” is a word not used very often here in America. It’s a slang term that was quite common in England where it was used for “someone foolish and idiotic”.

118. A.M.A. members : DRS
American Medical Association (AMA)

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “It’s a pity other cars aren’t built this way” cars : SAABS
6. Fischer, to Spassky, e.g. : RIVAL
11. “Stop!,” at a port : AVAST!
16. Ring around a classical column : ANNULET
18. Verdi aria : ERI TU
19. Spots for auto logos : GRILLES
21. Rap’s ___ Boys : BEASTIE
22. Flat-bottomed boat : SKIFF
23. Passionate kiss : LIP-LOCK
24. Busy time for malls: Abbr. : DEC
25. Nascar unit : LAP
27. Row maker : HOE
29. Life force in Chinese philosophy : CHI
30. High-powered guns : UZIS
32. Home to more than half the world’s active geysers : YELLOWSTONE
37. Enigmatic one in “The Hobbit” : RUNE
38. Dunham of “Girls” : LENA
39. Organized hikes : EXPEDITIONS
40. Follower of Joel : AMOS
41. Approver of new meds : FDA
43. Snack brand whose name hints at its flavor : NILLA
44. Zika monitoring org. : CDC
46. Alternative regimen to an 84-Down, informally : PALEO
49. Surrender : CEDE
51. Whacks : OFFS
54. I C U, e.g. : REBUS
58. Highly rated bond : AAA
59. Highly rated Bond? : MOORE
61. Telenovela, e.g. : DRAMA
63. Fury : IRE
64. Result of many years of study, for short : PHD
65. Halley of Halley’s comet : EDMOND
67. Like Serbs, but not Hungarians : SLAVIC
68. What might replace you? : ONE
69. Subject of many Ansel Adams photos : YOSEMITE
71. Mortgage, often : HOME LOAN
73. “The Simpsons” character in a green jacket : APU
74. Disney dwarf : DOC
75. Kind of treatment : SPA
77. Cousin of goth : EMO
78. Bethesda-based research agcy. : NIH
80. Federal agency established on August 25, 1916 : NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
85. Like some oaths : SOLEMN
86. Region of ancient Greece : IONIA
87. Insult, say : DEMEAN
89. Election night graphic, for short : US MAP
90. Annual N.Y.C. fund-raising event : MET GALA
92. Oprah’s BFF : GAYLE
93. “Keep fighting the good fight!” : BE STRONG!
96. Like Sherpas : NEPALESE
99. Very, very : EVER SO
102. Subatomic particle named for the weak force : W BOSON
104. “Mind … blown!” : HOLY COW!
108. House majority leader before DeLay : ARMEY
110. Good fact-checking types : PEDANTS
115. “Three Coins in the Fountain” fountain : TREVI
116. Light and breezy entertainment, informally : MIND CANDY
119. Dazzled : IN AWE
120. Portions : METES
121. Concerted efforts : ENDEAVORS
122. Break up with someone : END IT
123. Untethered : LOOSE
124. Nina Totenberg’s milieu : NPR NEWS
125. Milk dispensers? : TEATS

Down
1. Blessed thing? : SNEEZE
2. Painkiller containing caffeine : ANACIN
3. Neighbor of Ger. : AUS
4. Luncheonette order, for short : BLT
5. Six, in Italy : SEI
6. Dazzling : RESPLENDENT
7. Annoy : IRK
8. The Henry who founded the House of Tudor : VII
9. Raiders’ org. : ATF
10. Erupter at 32-Across : OLD FAITHFUL
11. Radio host Shapiro : ARI
12. Kind of pass : VIP
13. Nothing but : ALL
14. Henry W. ___, Union major general during the Civil War : SLOCUM
15. Disco relative : TECHNO
16. “So You Think You Can Dance” judge : ABDUL
17. Wire message : TELEX
19. Harris’s role in “The Right Stuff” : GLENN
20. Jumps higher than, in sports slang : SKIES
26. Gran Paradiso, e.g. : ALP
28. It’s as good as XXX : OOO
31. Partner of sound : SAFE
32. Word of support : YEA
33. Dog created by Jim Davis : ODIE
34. Actor Wheaton : WIL
35. France’s so-called “Capital of the Ruins” : ST LO
36. Exit key : ESC
37. Sprint : RACE
42. Parts of a Jerusalem skyline : DOMES
45. Harry’s Hogwarts enemy : DRACO
46. Drivel : PAP
47. “Man, that feels good!” : AAH!
48. Indoor plants popular in waiting rooms : LADY PALMS
49. Like the name Nguyen in Vietnam : COMMON
50. Beethoven’s “Sinfonia ___” : EROICA
52. Purchase at an optometrist’s : FRAMES
53. “Help!” : SAVE ME!
55. Feature of the Six Million Dollar Man : BIONIC EYE
56. Samovar, e.g. : URN
57. “Capeesh?” : SEE?
60. Had too much of, briefly : ODED ON
62. Term of address for a noble : MILORD
66. Tyrant : DESPOT
67. Islamic law : SHARIA
70. Defeat in a Nathan’s Famous contest : OUTEAT
72. Cracker shape : ANIMAL
73. Win by ___ : A NOSE
76. Feeling of hunger : PANG
79. Mends : HEALS
81. Not quite right : IMPRECISE
82. PolitiFact finding : LIE
83. Actor Penn : KAL
84. Regimen adopted by Bill Clinton in 2010 : VEGAN DIET
85. Clancy’s Red October, e.g. : SUB
88. Born : NEE
90. Store head: Abbr. : MGR
91. Mayo container? : ANO
94. Egg: Prefix : OVO-
95. “It’s the ___” (“I’ve changed”) : NEW ME
97. Annual athletic honors : ESPYS
98. For whom the Edgar awards are named : POE
100. Wall St. “500” : S AND P
101. Drive-thru decision : ORDER
102. Bob alternative … or partner : WEAVE
103. At this point : BY NOW
104. Webmaster’s medium : HTML
105. Cookie with a Thins variety : OREO
106. Oscar winner for “Dallas Buyers Club” : LETO
107. Part of Y.S.L. : YVES
109. Thom ___ shoes : MCAN
111. Virgin Mary’s mother : ANNE
112. Zippo : NADA
113. Ninny : TWIT
114. Goes down : SETS
117. Tavern attachment : INN
118. A.M.A. members : DRS

Return to top of page