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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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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: Jerry Miccolis
THEME: Initial Description
Each of today’s themed clues can be used two ways. Read as a word, it points to the answer. Read as an initialism, it gives us the first letters of each word in the answer:
23A. SWAN : SWIMMER WITH ARCHED NECK
34A. MARS : MOSTLY ARID RED SPHERE
55A. ATLAS : AID TO LOCATE A STREET
78A. TRIO : THREE ROLLED INTO ONE
97A. OKAY : OTHERWISE KNOWN AS YES
117A. WASP : WINGED AND STINGING PEST
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 18m 13s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
7. Title film character played by Tyler Perry : MADEA
Tyler Perry is an actor best known for playing “Madea”, a character that Perry plays in drag.
20. Togalike Roman cloak : ABOLLA
Ancient Greeks and Romans wore a cloak-like garment known as as “abolla”. The abolla fastened at one side of the neck, leaving one arm and shoulder completely unencumbered. We are perhaps most familiar with the abolla worn by Roman soldiers in films set in those times.
23. SWAN : SWIMMER WITH ARCHED NECK
An adult male swan is called a “cob”, and an adult female is a “pen”. Young swans are called “swanlings” or “cygnets”.
26. Crunchy green vegetable : SNAP PEA
Sugar peas are also known as snap peas. These peas are eaten before the seeds mature, and the whole pod is consumed.
33. They contain libidos : IDS
Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The super-ego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.
“Libido” is a term popularized by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s usage was more general than is understood today, as he used “libido” to describe all instinctive energy that arose in the subconscious. He believed that we humans are driven by two desires, the desire for life (the libido, or Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos). Personally, I don’t agree …
34. MARS : MOSTLY ARID RED SPHERE
The surface of the planet Mars has a very high iron oxide content, so Mars is red because it is rusty!
43. Largest city of Yemen : SANA’A
Sana (also Sana’a) is the capital city of Yemen. Within the bounds of today’s metropolis is the old fortified city of Sana, where people have lived for over 2,500 years. The Old City is now a World Heritage Site. According to legend, Sana was founded by Shem, the son of Noah.
44. French region now part of the Grand Est : ALSACE
Of the 27 regions of metropolitan France (i.e. the territory of France within Europe), the smallest is Alsace. Alsace sits at the very east of the country, right on the border with Germany.
46. Hershey product similar to a Heath bar : SKOR
Skor is a candy bar produced by Hershey’s. “Skor” is Swedish for “shoes”, and the candy bar’s wrapping features a crown that is identical to that found in the Swedish national emblem. What “shoes” have to do with candy, I don’t know …
47. Part of a domain name : DOT
A domain name is basically the address of a website on the Internet. For example, the addresses of my crossword blogs, the domain names, are LAXCrossword.com and NYTCrossword.com.
51. Foreboding atmosphere : MIASMA
The word “miasma” was first used for the poisonous atmosphere thought to arise from swamps and rotting matter, and which could cause disease. Nowadays, a miasma is just a thick cloud of gas or smoke.
55. ATLAS : AID TO LOCATE A STREET
The famous Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator published his first collection of maps in 1578. Mercator’s collection contained a frontispiece with an image of Atlas the Titan from Greek mythology holding up the world on his shoulders. That image gave us our term “atlas”.
64. “Once in Love With ___” : AMY
“Once in Love With Amy” is the best-remembered song to come out of the musical “Where’s Charley?” that debuted on Broadway in 1948.
65. Objectivist Rand : AYN
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born Alisa Rosenbaum. Her two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” from 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan. Rand described herself as “right-wing” politically, and both she and her novel “Atlas Shrugged” have become inspirations for the American conservatives, and the Tea Party in particular.
66. Fat substitute brand : OLEAN
Olean is a brand name for the fat substitute, Olestra. Naturally occuring fats are made of a glycerol molecule holding together three fatty acids. Olestra is instead made of several fatty acid chains held together by a sucrose molecule. Olestra has a similar taste and consistency as natural fat, but has zero caloric impact as it is too large a molecule to pass through the intestinal wall and passes right out of the body. Personally, I would steer clear of it. Olestra is banned in Britain and Canada due to concerns about side effects, but I guess someone knows the right palms to grease (pun intended!) here in the US, and so it’s in our food.
67. Pride parade letters : LGBT
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
The first pride parades were held all on the same weekend in 1970, in New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
69. Self-referential : META
In recent decades the prefix “meta-” has started to be used as a standalone adjective. In this sense “meta” means “self-referential”, describing something that refers to itself. For example, “This sentence starts with the word ‘this’ and ends with the word ‘this’” might be called a meta sentence. A movie that is about the making of the very same movie could also be described as meta.
71. Fifth-century pope dubbed “the Great” : ST LEO
The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.
74. Martinique, par exemple : ILE
The island of Martinique in the eastern Caribbean is actually a part of France, and is referred to as an “overseas department”. As such, Martinique is part of the European Union and even uses the euro as its currency. The island is fully represented in the French National Assembly and Senate, just like any department within France. It’s sort of like the status of Hawaii within the US.
76. Musical instruments that lie flat : ZITHERS
The zither is a stringed instrument, one in which the strings do not extend beyond the bounds of the sounding box. That means that the instrument has no neck, unlike a guitar say.
84. Jose ___ (tequila brand) : CUERVO
Tequila is a city in Mexico that is located about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. The city is the birthplace of the drink called “tequila”. Local people made a variety of a drink called mezcal by fermenting the heart of the blue agave plant that is native to the area surrounding Tequila. It was the Spanish who introduced the distillation process to the mescal, giving us what we now know as “tequila”.
85. ___ the Explorer : DORA
“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases.
86. Chapel Hill sch. : UNC
The University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill started enrolling students way back in 1795, making it the oldest public university in the country (the first to enrol students).
103. ___ es Salaam : DAR
Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania, and sits right on the east coast of Africa. The city’s name is usually translated from Arabic as “Haven of Peace”.
104. Of a heart chamber : ATRIAL
The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze the blood into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.
108. Stop, in sailor’s lingo : HEAVE TO
The nautical command “heave to” is an instruction to bring a vessel to a halt. The command especially applies to the maneuvering of a sailing vessel into the wind and trimming the sails so that they act against each other, hence keeping the head of the boat pointed into the wind.
120. Opening letters? : ACRONYM
Strictly speaking, words formed from the first letters or other words are known as “initialisms”. Examples would be FBI and NBC, where the initials are spoken by sounding out each letter. Certain initialisms are pronounced as words in their own right, such as NATO and AWOL, and are called “acronyms”. So, acronyms are a subset of initialisms. As I say, that’s “strictly speaking”, so please don’t write in …
121. One of the Wahlbergs : DONNIE
Donnie Wahlberg is a singer and actor. As a singer, Wahlberg is one of the founding members of the Boston band New Kids on the Block. As an actor, he stars alongside Tom Selleck in the TV cop show “Blue Bloods”. Donnie is the older brother of actor Mark Wahlberg.
123. Introversion : SHYNESS
The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung popularized the terms “Introvert” and “extrovert”, although he believed that we all have introverted and extroverted sides to us. Nowadays we tend to think of extroversion and introversion as extremes on a continuum. We sad bloggers sitting at home glued to our laptops tend to the introverted end of the scale …
124. Idol worshiper : PAGAN
A pagan is someone who holds religious beliefs that are different from the main religions of the world. In classical Latin “paganus” was a villager, a rustic.
125. Yoga poses : ASANAS
“Asana” is a Sanskrit word literally meaning “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.
Down
1. Musical Mama : CASS
Cass Elliot was one of the four singers in the Mamas and the Papas, a sensational group from the sixties. “Mama Cass” was performing sold-out concerts in London in 1974 when she was found dead one morning, having had a heart attack. She was only 32 years old. Eerily, Elliot died in the same flat (on loan from Harry Nilsson) in which the Who’s drummer Keith Moon would die just four years later.
5. Capital of Uganda : KAMPALA
Kampala is the capital city of Uganda. The airport that serves Kampala is in the town of Entebbe. Entebbe airport is well known for the daring hostage-rescue carried out by Israeli Defense Forces in 1976 following a hijacking.
8. Second first lady : ABIGAIL
Abigail Adams (born Abigail Smith) had a unique distinction being married to John Adams. Abigail was the first Second Lady of the US, and then became the second First Lady! That said, the titles of “Second Lady” and “First Lady” were not used in her day.
9. Foolish oldsters : DOTARDS
A dotard is a person who is in his or her dotage, someone who has become senile.
10. K thru 12 : ELHI
“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from grades 1 through 12, i.e. elementary through high school.
11. King who spoke at Kennedy’s inaugural ball : ALAN
Alan King was a comedian and satirist, famous for joking about his Jewish culture. He was also an actor, and starred in many movies over a 50-year period, including “I, the Jury (1982), “Author! Author!” (1982), “Casino” (1995) and “Rush Hour 2” (2001).
12. Lugs : SCHLEPS
Our word “schlep” means “to carry, drag”. “Schlep” comes from Yiddish, with “shlepen” having the same meaning.
13. Samuel Adams, e.g. : ALE
Samuel Adams beers (sometimes ordered as “Sam Adams”) are named in honor of the American patriot who played a role in the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. Samuel Adams came from a family associated the brewing industry, mainly involved in the production of malt.
14. Rich supply : LODE
A lode is a metal ore deposit that’s found between two layers of rock or in a fissure. The “mother lode” is the principal deposit in a mine, usually of gold or silver. “Mother lode” is probably a translation of “veta madre”, an expression used in mining in Mexico.
15. Natl. Guard counterpart : USNR
United States Navy Reserve (USNR)
16. Small, as Beanie Babies : TEENIE
There were originally just nine Beanie Babies when Ty Warner introduced the stuffed animal in 1993. In the late nineties the toy became a real fad, largely due to innovative marketing techniques. For example, there was no mass marketing with constant TV ads, and the production volume was limited pushing the line into the realm of collectibles. Beanie Baby models were also “retired” on a regular basis, fueling a “must have” behavior in the market.
17. 1961 title role for Charlton Heston : EL CID
“El Cid” is an epic film released in 1961 that tells the story of the Castilian knight who was known as El Cid. The two big names at the top of the cast were Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren, but just who was the biggest star? When Loren discovered that a huge billboard promoting the movie in Times Square showed that her name was below Heston’s, she sued the movie’s producers.
18. A comic called Wanda : SYKES
Wanda Sykes is a very successful American comedienne and comic actress. Interestingly, Sykes spent her first five years out of school working for the NSA. I saw her perform in Reno not that long ago, and she is very, very funny.
21. Burglar frightener : ARF!
The crime of burglary is the breaking into and entering of a building with the intent to steal. The actual theft itself is a separate crime.
24. ___ Nui (Easter Island) : RAPA
“Rapa Nui” is the Polynesian name for what we are more likely to call Easter Island. The European name was coined by the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen, who came across the island on Easter Sunday in the year 1722. Chilean-owned Easter Island is inhabited and is a location that is remarkably distant from neighboring civilization. The nearest inhabited island is Pitcairn Island, which is almost 1300 miles away.
25. Mooers’ mouthfuls : CUDS
Animals that “chew the cud” are called ruminants. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work.
30. Muse of lyric poetry : ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of lyric poetry, and is often depicted playing a lyre.
34. Publisher’s pile: Abbr. : MSS
Editors (eds.) might read or edit a manuscript (MS)
36. Commercial lead-in to Caps : SNO-
Sno-Caps are a brand of candy usually only available in movie theaters. Sno-caps have been around since the 1920s, would you believe?
37. “___ Boom-De-Ay” : TA-RA-RA
“Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay” is an old music hall song from the late 1800s. The tune was used in 20th century for the theme song for the children’s TV show “Howdy Doody”, using the title “It’s Howdy Doody Time”.
38. Certain house … or house dressing : RANCH
Ranch dressing has been the best selling salad dressing in the country since 1992. The recipe was developed by Steve Henson who introduced it in the fifties to guests on his dude ranch, Hidden Valley Ranch in Northern California. His ranch dressing became so popular that he opened a factory to produce packets of ranch seasoning that could be mixed with mayonnaise and buttermilk. Henson sold the brand for $8 million in 1972.
39. Land next to Peru: Abbr. : ECUA
“Ecuador” is the Spanish word for “equator”, which gives the country its name.
47. Banned insecticide : DDT
DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.
48. Desdemona’s husband, in opera : OTELLO
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Otello” was first performed in 1887 at La Scala Theater in Milan. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and is considered by many to be Verdi’s greatest work.
52. Bobby of the Black Panthers : SEALE
Bobby Seale is the civil rights activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party with Huey Newton.
53. Stephenie who wrote the “Twilight” series : MEYER
The author Stephenie Meyer is best-known for her “Twilight” series of vampire romance novels. The “Twilight” books are aimed at young adults. Meyer also wrote a 2008 adult sci-fi novel called “The Host”, which went straight to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list.
54. Periodic table figs. : AT NOS
The atomic number of an element is also called the proton number, and is the number of protons found in the nucleus of each atom of the element.
56. Actor Holm : IAN
English actor Sir Ian Holm is very respected on the stage in the UK, but is better known for his film roles here in the US. Holm played the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in two of the “Lord of the Rings” movies, and he also played the character who turns out be an android in the film “Alien”.
59. Wonder Woman is one : AMAZON
Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named for the Greek mythological figure. Wonder Woman had several signature expressions, including “Merciful Minerva!”, “Suffering Sappho!” and “Great Hera!”.
60. City, but not county, leader? : SOFT C
The word “city” starts with a soft letter C.
61. Yale of Yale University : ELIHU
Elihu Yale was a wealthy merchant born in Boston in 1649. Yale worked for the British East India Company, and for many years served as governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai) in India. After India, Yale took over his father’s estate near Wrexham in Wales. It was while resident in Wrexham that Yale responded to a request for financial support for the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701. He sent the school a donation, which was used to erect a new building in New Haven that was named “Yale” in his honor. In 1718, the whole school was renamed to “Yale College”. To this day, students of Yale are nicknamed “Elis”, again honoring Elihu.
62. La ___ (notre planète) : TERRE
In French, “notre planète” (our planet) is “la terre” (the earth).
68. Neuter : GELD
“To geld” is to castrate a male animal. “Geld” comes from the Old Norse word “gelda” meaning “castrate”.
71. Stop: Abbr. : STN
Station (stn.)
72. That life evolves, to Darwin : THESIS
Englishman Charles Darwin studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland but neglected his studies largely due to his interest in nature and natural history. In the early 1830s, a friend put forward Darwin’s name as a candidate for the post of “collector” on the voyage of HMS Beagle. The Beagle was intending to spend two years at sea primarily charting the coast of South America. The voyage ended up taking five years, during which time Darwin sent back copious letters describing his findings. Back in Britain these letters were published as pamphlets by a friend and so when Darwin eventually returned home in 1836, he had already gained some celebrity in scientific circles. It was while on the Beagle that Darwin developed his initial ideas on the concept of natural selection. It wasn’t until over twenty years later that he formulated his theories into a scientific paper and in 1859 published his famous book “On the Origin of the Species”. This original publication never even mentioned the word “evolution” which was controversial even back then. It was in 1871 that Darwin addressed head-on the concept that man was an animal species, in his book “The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex”.
77. Global sports org. : IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894, and has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
80. Cole Porter’s “Well, Did You ___?” : EVAH
“Well, Did You Evah!” is a song from the 1939 Cole Porter musical “DuBarry Was a Lady”. A more famous rendition of the song was by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in the 1956 movie “High Society”.
81. Actress Anderson : LONI
Loni Anderson’s best-remembered role was Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati”. Anderson has been married four times, most famously to actor Burt Reynolds from 1988 to 1993.
95. Willa Cather’s “My ___” : ANTONIA
American novelist Willa Cather wrote what’s referred to as the “prairie trilogy”, books that tell the story of Swedish immigrants living in Nebraska. The titles in the trilogy are “O Pioneers!”, “The Song of the Lark” and “My Antonia”. Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for another novel, “One of Ours”, that is set in Nebraska and the French battlefields of WWI.
97. Writer who coined the term “banana republic” (1904) : O HENRY
O. Henry was the pen name of writer William Sydney Porter from Greensboro, North Carolina. O. Henry is famous for his witty short stories that have a clever twist in the tail.
98. Drab songbird : WREN
A wren is a small songbird belonging to the family troglodytidae and the genus troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests.
99. Airport amenity : WI-FI
“Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a trademark, a trademark registered by an association of manufacturers of equipment that use wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology. A device labeled with “Wi-Fi” has to meet certain defined technical standards, basically meaning that the devices can talk to each other. The name “Wi-Fi” suggests “Wireless Fidelity”, although apparently the term was never intended to mean anything at all.
100. Realm chronicled by C. S. Lewis : NARNIA
Apparently it’s not certain how C. S. Lewis came to choose Narnia as the name of the fantasy world featured in his series of children’s books, including “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. There was an ancient city in Umbria that the Romans called Narnia, but there is no evidence of a link.
106. Ghostbuster Spengler : EGON
Egon Spengler is one of the lead characters in the films “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II”. Spengler was played by Harold Ramis.
107. ___ Préval, two-time president of Haiti : RENE
René Préval is a politician who served as President of Haiti from 1996 to 2001, and again from 2006 to 2011.
110. Brandy grade, briefly : VSOP
Brandy is a spirit distilled from wine. The term “brandy” ultimately comes from the Dutch “gebrande wijn” meaning “burnt wine”. The length of this aging of the spirit defines the various grades of brandy:
- VS: Very Special … at least 2 years storage
- VSOP: Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale … at least 4 years storage
- XO: Extra Old … at least 6 years
- VSO: Very Superior Old … 12-17 years
111. Volcano at the meeting point of the African and Eurasian plates : ETNA
Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.
113. Pet protection agcy. : SPCA
Unlike in most developed countries, there is no “umbrella” organization in the US with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.
115. Greek peak : OSSA
Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mt. Pelion in the south, and the famed Mt. Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ascribes, with “up” : CHALKS
7. Title film character played by Tyler Perry : MADEA
12. Hails : SALUTES
19. Showy gymnastics maneuver : AERIAL
20. Togalike Roman cloak : ABOLLA
22. In an attentive manner : CLOSELY
23. SWAN : SWIMMER WITH ARCHED NECK
26. Crunchy green vegetable : SNAP PEA
27. Profitable : GAINFUL
28. Sportscaster Johnson : ERNIE
29. Show up : APPEAR
31. Wet blanket? : DEW
33. They contain libidos : IDS
34. MARS : MOSTLY ARID RED SPHERE
43. Largest city of Yemen : SANA’A
44. French region now part of the Grand Est : ALSACE
45. Ally (with) : SIDE
46. Hershey product similar to a Heath bar : SKOR
47. Part of a domain name : DOT
49. Gists : NUBS
51. Foreboding atmosphere : MIASMA
55. ATLAS : AID TO LOCATE A STREET
60. Fixed fee : SET RATE
63. Spa sound : AAH!
64. “Once in Love With ___” : AMY
65. Objectivist Rand : AYN
66. Fat substitute brand : OLEAN
67. Pride parade letters : LGBT
69. Self-referential : META
71. Fifth-century pope dubbed “the Great” : ST LEO
73. An evergreen : FIR
74. Martinique, par exemple : ILE
75. Exist : ARE
76. Musical instruments that lie flat : ZITHERS
78. TRIO : THREE ROLLED INTO ONE
84. Jose ___ (tequila brand) : CUERVO
85. ___ the Explorer : DORA
86. Chapel Hill sch. : UNC
87. It’s a long story : SAGA
91. Squealed : SANG
93. Really bothers : NAGS AT
96. Drew useful material from : MINED
97. OKAY : OTHERWISE KNOWN AS YES
101. Fiery end? : ASH
103. ___ es Salaam : DAR
104. Of a heart chamber : ATRIAL
105. Direct : STEER
108. Stop, in sailor’s lingo : HEAVE TO
112. Shudder of emotion : FRISSON
117. WASP : WINGED AND STINGING PEST
120. Opening letters? : ACRONYM
121. One of the Wahlbergs : DONNIE
122. One way to pay : IN CASH
123. Introversion : SHYNESS
124. Idol worshiper : PAGAN
125. Yoga poses : ASANA
Down
1. Musical Mama : CASS
2. Cut : HEWN
3. Something delivered by a diva : ARIA
4. Droopy : LIMP
5. Capital of Uganda : KAMPALA
6. Nearly out? : SLEEPY
7. Gullet : MAW
8. Second first lady : ABIGAIL
9. Foolish oldsters : DOTARDS
10. K thru 12 : ELHI
11. King who spoke at Kennedy’s inaugural ball : ALAN
12. Lugs : SCHLEPS
13. Samuel Adams, e.g. : ALE
14. Rich supply : LODE
15. Natl. Guard counterpart : USNR
16. Small, as Beanie Babies : TEENIE
17. 1961 title role for Charlton Heston : EL CID
18. A comic called Wanda : SYKES
21. Burglar frightener : ARF!
24. ___ Nui (Easter Island) : RAPA
25. Mooers’ mouthfuls : CUDS
30. Muse of lyric poetry : ERATO
32. Flight of fancy : WHIMSY
34. Publisher’s pile: Abbr. : MSS
35. ___ Park, Ill. : OAK
36. Commercial lead-in to Caps : SNO
37. “___ Boom-De-Ay” : TA-RA-RA
38. Certain house … or house dressing : RANCH
39. Land next to Peru: Abbr. : ECUA
40. Obligation : DEBT
41. Drop a line, say : EDIT
42. Raise : REAR
47. Banned insecticide : DDT
48. Desdemona’s husband, in opera : OTELLO
50. Candidate’s goal : SEAT
52. Bobby of the Black Panthers : SEALE
53. Stephenie who wrote the “Twilight” series : MEYER
54. Periodic table figs. : AT NOS
56. Actor Holm : IAN
57. Where cultures thrive? : LAB
58. Horse bit : OAT
59. Wonder Woman is one : AMAZON
60. City, but not county, leader? : SOFT C
61. Yale of Yale University : ELIHU
62. La ___ (notre planète) : TERRE
68. Neuter : GELD
69. Med. scan : MRI
70. Poetic time : E’EN
71. Stop: Abbr. : STN
72. That life evolves, to Darwin : THESIS
74. Pressed : IRONED
75. Apothegm : ADAGE
77. Global sports org. : IOC
79. German for “first” : ERST
80. Cole Porter’s “Well, Did You ___?” : EVAH
81. Actress Anderson : LONI
82. They may match presidential administrations : ERAS
83. Train : TUTOR
88. Nonspecific amount : ANY
89. Mild exclamation : GEE
90. Supplemental work for actors : ADS
92. Golden ___ (General Mills cereal) : GRAHAMS
94. Winter Olympics activity : SKATING
95. Willa Cather’s “My ___” : ANTONIA
96. Bad-mouths : MALIGNS
97. Writer who coined the term “banana republic” (1904) : O HENRY
98. Drab songbird : WREN
99. Airport amenity : WI-FI
100. Realm chronicled by C. S. Lewis : NARNIA
101. ___ expected (predictably) : AS WAS
102. 1991 Wimbledon champ Michael : STICH
106. Ghostbuster Spengler : EGON
107. ___ Préval, two-time president of Haiti : RENE
109. Say further : ADD
110. Brandy grade, briefly : VSOP
111. Volcano at the meeting point of the African and Eurasian plates : ETNA
113. Pet protection agcy. : SPCA
114. White House spokesman Spicer : SEAN
115. Greek peak : OSSA
116. Some degrees : NTHS
118. Bad start? : DYS-
119. Col.’s superior : GEN
27:40, no errors.
Bill, if you are not going to finish the vacation puzzles, have the decency to say so!
Adam Cywar –
Bill has been doing this and the LA Times blog for about 8 years now which translates to roughly 6000 puzzles and write ups he's done. Do you know what he has charged us for that service? Not one red cent. He's been through travel, sickness, family emergencies and whatever else over those years and manages to get this blog done regardless.
In light of all of this, if you find a few unfinished write ups an unforgivable transgression, then please go elsewhere. I've seen malcontents gripe about specific puzzles before, but I've never seen a complaint of the person who generates this blog daily. This might be the most decent (to use your word) blog I've ever come across on any subject.
I unapologetically speak for all who come here in saying that your tone is both unwelcome and offensive. Constructive comments are always welcome here. Your tone is not.
@Adam … What Jeff said! He most certainly expressed my reaction to your comment!
Jeff, well-said!
I think that Jeff speaks for 99.99% of the people who use this site.
I live in Syndyland so I'm late to comment. I can't agree with you more on Adam's mini rant. Bill does this blog without any snarky comments like other Blogmeisters. It's informative and well done without judgement of puzzle "quality." Maybe Adam should go to Rex Parker's site. He would fit right in. We appreciate you Mr. Butler.
What a mess I made of this one. 58 mins, 56 seconds, struggling all the way, and ended up with 15 errors. Just was not feeling it at ALL with this one.
My husband and I look so forward to these puzzles each morning because of Bill's commentaries. We are both in our 80's and look forward to learning what he ha in store for us. Our timing doesn't compare with most of you, but I'm sure the enjoyment we derive does. Shame on you, Adam!
1 error (bad guess, 20A-9D), 54 minutes.
No time today due to phone running out of juice (but easily pushing 40 minutes). Three errors. Totally unfamiliar with MADEA and ABOLLA, and DOTARD didn't come to mind; so 9D RETARD and associated crossing errors.
I concur with previous posters. I am very grateful to Bill for the effort he puts into this blog. It is poor form to complain that something received for free is not adequate.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone. My goal is to complete the abbreviated posts before they go into syndication. "Time" will tell if I can find the "time"! 🙂
I would like to echo the thanks even though I'm late to the party (my local paper publishes the NYT Sunday puzzle one week late). The absolute best solutions site I've found. Obviously a labor of love and that labor IS appreciated. Thanks for doing what you do. The only "complaint" I can register is the humility lesson I get each week when I see the completion times. Awestruck with regularity!