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CROSSWORD SETTER: Grant Thackray
THEME: 111-Across!
Today’s themed answers are in pairs. Together, each pair of answers reveals a key element in a famous movie’s storyline. So, we need to be ALERT as that movie may be SPOILED for us, if we haven’t seen it already:
111A. Warning for solvers of this puzzle : SPOILER ALERT!
22A. It’s actually made of 55-Down : SOYLENT GREEN
55D. See 22-Across : PEOPLE30A. Who 93-Down was all along : LUKE’S FATHER
93D. See 30-Across : VADER45A. It turns out to be 99-Down : PLANET OF THE APES
99D. See 45-Across : EARTH66A. It really is an 8-Down : ROSEBUD
8D. See 66-Across : SLED83A. What 11-Down does, shockingly : KILLS DUMBLEDORE
11D. See 83-Across : SNAPE100A. To whom the title “45-Down” was referring the whole time : NORMAN BATES
45D. See 100-Across : PSYCHO
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 25m 38s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
I am still on vacation in Chicago with my two brothers from Ireland, and am finding it tough to get to the blog each evening. I’ll get to the full post in a week or so and am in the meantime publishing this abbreviated effort containing the bare essentials.
Thank you for your understanding, and for the kind messages wishing me a good time. So far, that’s exactly what we’re having!
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Poor-weather driving aid : CHAINS
7. Pale-faced : ASHY
11. Texting format, for short : SMS
14. Indonesian island : BALI
18. Possible weapon in a bar fight : POOL CUE
19. Resting place for a polar bear : FLOE
20. “I totally crushed that!” : NAILED IT!
22. It’s actually made of 55-Down : SOYLENT GREEN
24. Companion of Jason : ARGONAUT
25. Wood that makes up the foundation of much of Venice : ALDER
26. Clomped (on) : TROD
27. Basil who designed England’s Coventry Cathedral : SPENCE
28. Level : TIER
29. “___ All That” (1999 rom-com) : SHE’S
30. Who 93-Down was all along : LUKE’S FATHER
35. Product of Boston or Chicago : SONG
36. Part of a KFC order : LEG
37. Enthusiastic assent in Madrid : SI SI!
38. Cambodia’s Lon ___ : NOL
39. What flows in une rivière : EAU
40. The “E” of Q.E.D. : ERAT
42. Boat with a very fine net : SHRIMPER
44. “Phooey!” : DANG!
45. It turns out to be 99-Down : PLANET OF THE APES
49. Beefcake’s pride : BOD
50. Fresh : SASSY
51. House call? : NAY
52. Up to this point : YET
53. Bad luck, old-style : UNHAP
56. Joke, slangily : YUK
57. Metal band around a pencil eraser : FERRULE
61. Peeping aid : SPY HOLE
63. Fashion : CREATE
66. It really is an 8-Down : ROSEBUD
69. Has pegged, say : IS ONTO
70. Disappointment for someone looking for a parking spot : HYDRANT
72. Record-holder for the most times hosting the Academy Awards : BOB HOPE
74. Limit : CAP
75. Studio sign : ON AIR
76. Ga. neighbor : ALA
79. Indonesia’s ___ Islands : ARU
80. Nothing, in Latin : NIHIL
82. Having a spare tire, maybe : FAT
83. What 11-Down does, shockingly : KILLS DUMBLEDORE
88. Computer-controlled players, in gaming lingo : BOTS
90. Relating to the sun : HELIACAL
91. Tolkien’s trilogy, for short : LOTR
92. Cut : AXE
93. U.S. broadcaster overseas : VOA
94. ___ row : SKID
95. The end: Fr. : FIN
96. “Dies ___” : IRAE
100. To whom the title “45-Down” was referring the whole time : NORMAN BATES
103. Big name in headphones : BOSE
104. Hindu god of destruction : SIVA
105. Trims : ADORNS
106. Kids’ character who says “A day without a friend is like a pot without a single drop of honey left inside” : POOH
107. Annual meal : SEDER
108. Learned inside and out : MASTERED
111. Warning for solvers of this puzzle : SPOILER ALERT!
114. Source of one’s sense of balance : INNER EAR
115. Many resting places : URNS
116. Plant that’s the source of a caffeine-free tea : REDBUSH
117. One way to sit by : IDLY
118. Squeeze (out) : EKE
119. Figure in statistics : MODE
120. Altercation : SCRAPE
Down
1. “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper : COOLIO
2. Tomboy : HOYDEN
3. Subjects of some food package warnings : ALLERGENS
4. Cake finisher : ICER
5. Extra in “The Sound of Music” : NUN
6. Make it clear how things are going to go : SET THE TONE
7. Natural dos : AFROS
8. See 66-Across : SLED
9. Ground breaker : HOE
10. Itch : YEN
11. See 83-Across : SNAPE
12. Muddles : MARE’S NESTS
13. Accept, as a package : SIGN FOR
14. “The Devil and Daniel Webster” author : BENET
15. Nabokov novel : ADA
16. Lucy of “Charlie’s Angels” : LIU
17. TV “Cousin” : ITT
18. Jrs. take them : PSATS
21. Good person to ask for directions : LOCAL
23. Actor Kinnear : GREG
27. Not covering much : SKIMPY
29. Picket, e.g. : SLAT
30. Pre-euro money : LIRE
31. Govt. cultural org. until 1999 : USIA
32. Big cheese : HEAD HONCHO
33. Suffix with Jacob : -EAN
34. Throw on the floor? : RUG
37. Sound in the stacks : SHH!
41. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” protagonist : REY
42. Lead-in to foam : STYRO-
43. Oh follower : PEE
44. “Tiny Bubbles” singer : DON HO
45. See 100-Across : PSYCHO
46. Hill of R&B : LAURYN
47. Inquired about : ASKED AFTER
48. Jamie of “M*A*S*H” : FARR
49. Falls for : BUYS
54. Brightest star in Aquila : ALTAIR
55. See 22-Across : PEOPLE
57. Swamp : FEN
58. Kind of port : USB
59. Regulus’s constellation : LEO
60. Draw back : EBB
62. Slapstick prop : PIE
64. Puccini pieces : ARIAS
65. Stolen item in “Alice in Wonderland” : TART
67. Moving aid : U-HAUL
68. State quarters? : DORM
71. Rest : TAKE A BREAK
73. Penguin and others : PUBLISHERS
77. Lead-in to Jon or Wayne : LIL
78. Exclusive groups : A-LISTS
80. Nothing but ___ : NET
81. Player of Nelson Mandela in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom” : IDRIS ELBA
84. Interest for a limnologist : LAKE
85. Some core classes: Abbr. : SCIS
86. Treehouse builder, maybe : DAD
87. Unattended : LONE
88. Exclusion : BAN
89. Big name in kitchen utensils : OXO
90. Center of a roast : HONOREE
93. See 30-Across : VADER
95. Jester : FOOL
97. Cause a wedgie : RIDE UP
98. Opposed : AVERSE
99. See 45-Across : EARTH
101. Bucko : MATEY
102. Major John ___, Benedict Arnold’s co-conspirator : ANDRE
103. Western capital : BOISE
106. Koi’s habitat : POND
107. Baghdad’s ___ City : SADR
108. Early millennium year : MII
109. Not to mention : AND
110. Show with a “cold open,” for short : SNL
111. Excel command : SUM
112. For : PRO
113. Remote button : REC