0423-17 New York Times Crossword Answers 23 Apr 17, Sunday

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CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR: Olivia Mitra Framke
THEME: A Century of Song
There’s a note with today’s puzzle:

When this puzzle is done, draw a line connecting the 11 circled letters, starting and ending in square #28, so as to spell a phrase related to the puzzle’s theme.

If we connect the circled letters in the order QUEEN OF JAZZ, we draw the outline of a crown. We also have some themed answers related to the QUEEN OF JAZZ, Ella Fitzgerald:

68A. With 70-Across, nickname for a celebrated performer born on April 25, 1917 : LADY …
70A. See 68-Across : … ELLA

21A. 1938 #1 hit for 68-/70-Across, which was inspired by a nursery rhyme : A-TISKET, A-TASKET
119A. Notable quote by 68-/70-Across : I SING LIKE I FEEL
15D. Repeated collaborator with 68-/70-Across : LOUIS ARMSTRONG
47D. Signature tune of 68-/70-Across : HOW HIGH THE MOON

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 19m 20s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

12. ___ Coast, scenic area near Capri : AMALFI
Amalfi is a coastal town on the Gulf of Salerno located about 30 miles southeast of Naples. The town gives its name to the popular tourist destination known as the Amalfi Coast.

19. “Dallas” actress ___ J. Wilson : SHEREE
Sheree J, Wilson plays April Stevens Ewing on the prime-time soap “Dallas”. She also plays Alex Cahill-Walker on the TV show “Walker, Texas Ranger”.

20. Mermaids’ home in Neverland : LAGOON
Neverland is the fictional location where Peter Pan lives in the works of J. M. Barrie. The name actually evolved in Barrie’s works, starting out as “Peter’s Never Never Never Land”. Also, Barrie used the names “the Never Never Land”, “the Neverland” and “the Neverlands”. Famously, entertainer Michael Jackson renamed Sycamore Valley Ranch as Neverland Valley Ranch when he took ownership in 1988, in a nod to “Peter Pan”.

21. 1938 #1 hit for 68-/70-Across, which was inspired by a nursery rhyme : A-TISKET, A-TASKET
“A-Tisket, A-Tasket” was a hit for Ella Fitzgerald. The song is quite unusual in that the lyrics are taken from a nursery rhyme. In 1938, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman took the words of the rhyme, extended them and created what is now a jazz standard.

23. Listless feelings : ENNUIS
“Ennui” is the French word for boredom, a word that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported that we haven’t anglicized and actually pronounce “correctly”.

25. Popular pairing with steak au poivre : CABERNET
The Cabernet Sauvignon grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the Cabernet franc and Sauvignon blanc grapes.

The traditional French dish called a “pepper steak” or “steak au poivre” is usually a filet mignon coated with cracked peppercorns prior to cooking. The filet is mostly pan-fried, and often a pan sauce is made to cover the steak by adding cognac and heavy cream to the residue left in the bottom of the pan after the steak has cooked. “Poivre” is French for “pepper”.

27. And the following: Abbr. : ET SEQ
The Latin phrase “et sequens” or “et sequentia” is used in English to mean “and following”, and is abbreviated to “et seq”.

29. Longbow wood : YEW
Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

33. Congestion site : SINUS
In anatomical terms a sinus is a cavity in tissue. Sinuses are found all over the body, in the kidney and heart for example, but we most commonly think of the paranasal sinuses that surround the nose.

35. Wyatt of the Old West : EARP
Wyatt Earp is famous as one of the participants in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and also in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp was also deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona where the O.K. Corral gunfight took place. Years later, Earp joined the Alaska Gold Rush and with a partner built and operated the Dexter Saloon in Nome.

37. Extremely loud, in music : FFF
The musical term “pianissimo” is abbreviated to “pp”, and is an instruction to the performer to sing or play very softly. The concept can be extended to “ppp”, short for “pianississimo”, an instruction of play even more softly. The opposite instructions are fortissimo (ff) and fortississimo (fff), instructions to perform very loudly, and even more loudly.

39. Soft drink brand : DAD’S
Dad’s root beer was developed by Ely Klapman and Barney Berns in 1937, and was given the name “Dad’s” in honor of Klapman’s father who used to make root beer for his family at home.

40. Love interest for Anastasia in “Anastasia” : DIMITRI
“Anastasia” is an animated musical from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The storyline is based on the urban myth that Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, survived the family’s execution by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Anastasia is voiced by Meg Ryan, although when Anastasia sings, her voice is dubbed by Liz Callaway.

48. Vintner’s cask : TUN
A “tun” is a barrel, often a large barrel used in winemaking. The term “tun” came to be a measure of volume, originally 256 gallons of wine. The weight of such a volume of wine was referred to as a “tun”, which evolved into our contemporary unit “ton”.

49. Old car named for an explorer : DE SOTO
The DeSoto brand of car was built by Chrysler from 1928 to 1961. The line was named after the Spanish explorer and conquistador, Hernando de Soto, widely reported as the first European to have crossed the Mississippi River (although Cabeza de Vaca had at least discovered one of the mouths of the Mississippi twenty years earlier).

51. Elder Lannister son on “Game of Thrones” : JAIME
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy television drama that is adapted from a series of novels by George R. R. Martin called “A Song of Ice and Fire”. “Game of Thrones” is actually filmed in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland.

53. Stone Age relics : NEOLITHS
A neolith is a stone tool that was produced during the Neolithic Era, the last part of the Stone Age.

56. Piñata smasher, maybe : NINO
Piñatas originated in Mexico, probably among the Aztecs or Mayans. Today piñatas are usually made from cardboard that is brightly decorated with papier-mâché. Traditionally a piñata was made out of a clay pot, adorned with feathers and ribbons and filled with small treasures. During religious ceremonies the clay pots would be suspended and broken open so that the contents would spill out onto the ground at the feet of a god as an offering.

65. Kama ___ : SUTRA
The “Kama Sutra” is renowned for its descriptions of positions that can be used for sexual intercourse, but the sutra includes many other texts that deal with various matters of a sexual nature including how to woo a woman, the conduct of a “chief wife”, the conduct of “other” wives, how to make money as a courtesan and much, much more, as if that isn’t enough …

68. With 70-Across, nickname for a celebrated performer born on April 25, 1917 : LADY …
70. See 68-Across : … ELLA
Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, had a hard and tough upbringing. She was raised by her mother alone in Yonkers, New York. Her mother died while Ella was still a schoolgirl, and around that time the young girl became less interested in her education. She fell in with a bad crowd, even working as a lookout for a bordello and as a Mafia numbers runner. She ended up in reform school, from which she escaped, and found herself homeless and living on the streets for a while. Somehow Fitzgerald managed to get herself a spot singing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. From there her career took off and as they say, the rest is history.

72. Dog whose tail curls over the back : SPITZ
Spitz-type dogs are those with long thick fur that is usually white. Most spitz-type dogs seem to have originated in the Arctic and/or East Asia. Examples of breed described as spitz-type are the Alaskan Malamute and the Canadian Eskimo Dog.

74. Great Lakes natives : ERIES
The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.

76. Sister of Helios and Selene : EOS
In Greek mythology, Eos is the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora.

77. Polish coin : ZLOTY
The zloty is the currency of Poland, with word “zloty” translating into English as “golden”. The zloty has been around since the Middle Ages.

87. Frank : HOT DOG
A hot dog is a sausage served in a split roll. The term “hot dog” dates back to the 19th-century and is thought to reflect a commonly-held opinion that the sausages contained dog meat.

89. Rapa ___ (locale of many monoliths) : NUI
“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.

98. Road offense, for short : DUI
In some states, there is no longer a legal difference between a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Other states retain that difference, so that by definition a DUI is a lesser offence than a DWI.

103. Green who was a four-time vocal coach on “The Voice” : CEELO
CeeLo Green is the stage name of rapper Thomas DeCarlo Callaway. Apparently Green is one of the coaches for the contestants on the singing TV show “The Voice”. That’s all I need to know …

117. Record label that looks like the name of a radio station : K-TEL
K-Tel was founded in 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by one Philip Kives. K-Tel’s recipe for success was the sale of inexpensive goods with a simple sales pitch and mail-order distribution.

118. Lao-tzu follower : TAOIST
Lao Tse (also “Lao-Tzu”) was a central figure in the development of the religion/philosophy of Taoism. Tradition holds that Lao-Tzu wrote the “Tao Te Ching”, a classical Chinese text that is fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.

122. Five Pillars of Islam, e.g. : TENETS
Followers of the Muslim tradition believe in the Five Pillars of Islam, five obligatory acts that underpin Muslim life. The Five Pillars are:

  1. The Islamic creed
  2. Daily prayer
  3. Almsgiving
  4. Fasting during the month of Ramadan
  5. The pilgrimage to Mecca (haj) once during a lifetime

125. State representatives? : STARS
Legend has it that Betsy Ross made the first American flag for General George Washington. However, this story only surfaced during the centennial celebrations of 1876, and although Betsy Ross was indeed one of several flag makers in Philadelphia in the days of George Washington, sadly there’s no definitive evidence that Ross provided that first stars and stripes.

126. Ride and Field : SALLYS
Sally Ride was a physicist and astronaut, who flew two missions on the space shuttle Challenger. In 1983, she became the first American woman in space, having been preceded by two female cosmonauts (in 1963 and 1982). Ride was 32 years on that first mission, making her the youngest astronaut ever to make it into space. In another first, Ride was the first LGBT astronaut, a fact that was revealed after her death in 2012.

Actress Sally Field first came to the public’s attention in the sixties with title roles in the TV shows “Gidget” and “The Flying Nun”. She has two Best Actress Oscars: one for “Norma Rae” (1979) and one for “Places in the Heart” (1984).

Down
1. Sacred choral works : MOTETS
A motet is a simple musical composition based on a sacred text, usually sung without an accompaniment. The term “motet” is a diminutive form of “mot”, the French for “word”.

2. Melodic passages : ARIOSI
An arioso (plural “ariosi”) is a solo vocal piece in a classical work such as an opera or an oratorio. An arioso’s structure lies somewhere between that of a full-blown aria and speech-like recitative.

4. Jan. inits. : MLK
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a US Federal holiday taking place on the third Monday of each year. It celebrates the birthday of Dr. King, and was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983, and first observed in 1986. However, some states resisted naming the holiday MLK Day, and gave it alternative names (like “Civil Rights Day”). It was officially celebrated as MLK Day in all 50 states from the year 2000 onwards.

5. “Smart” one : ALEC
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.

6. Skewered Asian dish : SATAY
The dish known as “satay” originated in Java, Indonesia and is marinated pieces of meat served on a skewer in a sauce, often a spicy peanut sauce. “Satay” is the Indonesian spelling, and “sate” is the Malay spelling.

9. “Family Matters” ubernerd : URKEL
Steve Urkel is a character on the TV show “Family Matters” that originally aired in the late eighties and nineties. The Urkel character was the archetypal “geek”, played by Jaleel White. Urkel was originally written into the show’s storyline for just one episode, but before long, Urkel was the show’s most popular recurring character.

11. Winter celebration abroad : TET
The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

12. Sheltered at sea : ALEE
“Alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing “aweather”.

13. Japanese comic style : MANGA
The Japanese word “manga” means “whimsical pictures” and is an apt term to describe the Japanese style of comic book. Manga publications are more diverse than American comic books and have a larger audience. Manga cover many subjects including romance, sports, business, horror, and mystery.

14. Mass recitation : AGNUS DEI
“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”, a term used in Christian faiths for Jesus Christ, symbolizing his role as a sacrificial offering to atone for the sins of man.

15. Repeated collaborator with 68-/70-Across : LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1900. Armstrong had a poor upbringing, and only stayed in school till he was 11 years old. The exact origin of Louis’s nickname “Satchmo” seems to be a little unclear. One story is that he used to dance for pennies in New Orleans as a youngster and would hide those pennies in his mouth away from the other kids. For this he earned the nickname “satchel mouth”, which was shortened to “Satchmo”.

18. Big blow : GALE
A gale is a very strong wind that is defined by Beaufort Wind Scale as a wind with speeds from 50 to just over 100 kilometers per hour.

26. Close buds : BFFS
Best friend forever (BFF)

34. Unlikely book club recommendation : SMUT
“Smut” means “dirt, smudge” and more recently “pornographic material”. The term comes from the Yiddish “schmutz”, which is a slang word used in English for dirt, as in “dirt on one’s face”.

36. Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette ___” : RIEN
“La Môme Piaf” (the Little Sparrow) was the nickname of France’s most famous singer, Édith Piaf. What a voice this woman had, and what gorgeous ballads she sang. Édith Piaf lived a life that was not without controversy. She was raised by her mother in a brothel in Normandy, and had a pimp as a boyfriend in her teens. She had one child, while very young, born illegitimately and who died at 2-years-old from meningitis. Her singing career started when she was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée. Leplée was murdered soon after, and Piaf was accused of being an accessory to the murder but was later acquitted. During World War II she was branded a traitor by many as she frequently performed for the German occupying forces, although there are other reports of her supporting the resistance movement. Later in her life she was seriously injured in no less than three, near-fatal car accidents, including one with her friend, Charles Aznavour. While recovering from her injuries she became addicted to pain medication, an addiction that lasted for the rest of her life. When she died in 1963 she was denied a Catholic funeral mass because of her lifestyle, but the crowds that turned out for her funeral procession managed to stop all traffic in Paris, the only time that has happened since the end of WWII.

38. Name on a blimp : FUJI
There is an important difference between a “blimp” (like the Goodyear Blimp) and an airship (like a Zeppelin). An airship is a rigid structure with an internal framework that helps maintain the shape of the airbag, whereas a blimp uses the pressure of the helium gas inside the airbag to give it shape.

42. ___ Nast (magazine publisher) : CONDE
Condé Nast has a very large portfolio of publications, including “Vogue”, “GQ”, “House and Garden”, “Golf Digest”, “Wired”, “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker”.

50. One-named singer with the 2016 #1 hit “Cheap Thrills” : SIA
Sia is the stage name of Australian singer Sia Furler from Adelaide. Sia is a cousin of Australian Christian Rock musician Peter Furler.

52. Slip in a book : ERRATUM
“Errata” is the past participle of the Latin word “errare” meaning “to err”. We use “errata” (singular “erratum”) to mean a list of errors that have been noted in some publication.

54. Café additive : LAIT
“Café au lait” (coffee with milk) is usually strong drip coffee to which one adds steamed milk. At least that’s the way we tend to make in this country.

66. Wrinkly fruit : UGLI
The ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine, first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today. “UGLI” is a trademark name that is a variant of “ugly”, a nod to the fruits unsightly wrinkled rind.

69. Gossipmonger : YENTA
Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody, a gossip.

73. Portion of a penny : ZINC
The original one-cent coin was introduced in the US in 1793 and was made of 100% copper. The composition varied over time, and was 100% bronze up to the 1940s. During WWII there was a shortage of copper to make bronze, so the US Mint switched to zinc-coated steel for production of one-cent coins in 1943. The steelie is the only coin ever issued by the US mint that can be picked up by a magnet. Today’s one-cent coin is comprised mainly of zinc.

75. Where Nice is en France : SUD
In French, the city of Nice is in the “sud” (south), “en France” (in France).

77. Tough draws in the game Bananagrams : Z TILES
Bananagrams is a fun game that was introduced in 2006. Bananagrams is a little like Scrabble in that letter tiles are used to make interlocking words.

82. Vegan staple : TOFU
Tofu is another name for bean curd, and is a Japanese word meaning just that … bean that has “curdled”. Tofu is produced by coagulating soy milk, using either salt or something acidic. Once the protein has coagulated, the curds are pressed into the familiar blocks. Personally I love tofu, but my wife, she absolutely hates it …

84. Van Gogh’s “Le Café de ___” : NUIT
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

86. Beverage sponsor of the old “Little Orphan Annie” radio show : OVALTINE
Ovaltine is a milk-flavoring product that was developed in Berne, Switzerland in the early 1900s. It is still called by its original name in its native Switzerland, namely “Ovomaltine”. The “ovo-maltine” name reflects the main ingredients back then: eggs and malt.

88. Biblical quartet : GOSPELS
“Gospel” is a term that came to us via Old English. The Old English term is “godspel” meaning “good story”, and referred to the glad tidings announced by Jesus. There are four Gospels in the Christian New Testament: the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

94. East German secret police : STASI
The Ministry for State Security in East Germany was commonly referred to as the Stasi. “Stasi” is an abbreviation for “Staatssicherheit”, which translates as “State Security”.

96. Perfumer’s liquid : ACETAL
Acetals are a class of organic compounds, the smaller of which are volatile solvents. The simplest of the group is named simply “acetal”, and is a solvent and ingredient used in cosmetics. A much larger example of an acetal is cellulose.

97. Summer piazza treat : GELATO
Gelato (plural “gelati”) is the Italian version of American ice cream, differing in that it has a lower butterfat content than its US counterpart.

99. Near ringer : LEANER
In the game of horseshoes, a ringer is scored when the tossed shoe lands around the target stake. A leaner is almost as good as a ringer, and is scored when a horseshoe lands upright or leans against the stake.

102. Occurrences in the 30s, say : SLEETS
Apparently “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets, smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.

104. Skating champ Brian : ORSER
Brian Orser is a retired Canadian figure skater. Orser was one of the “combatants” in the Battle of the Brians, the name given to the rivalry between Brian Orser and US skater Brian Boitano. Orser moved onto coaching after retiring from competition. He coached two Olympic champions: Kim Yuna (2010) and yuzuru Hanyu (2014).

109. Polynesian carvings : TIKIS
A tiki is a large carving of wood or stone resembling a human form that is found in Polynesian cultures. The carvings often mark out boundaries surrounding sites that are sacred to the locals.

113. Takeoff figs. : ETDS
Estimated time of departure (ETD)

116. Singer with the 1984 hit “99 Luftballons” : NENA
Nena is a German singer (“Nena” became the name of her band as well) who had a big hit with one of my favorite songs of the eighties “99 Luftballons”. The English translation of the German title (“99 Red Balloons”) isn’t literal, with the color “red” added just so that the title had the right number of syllables for the tune. “Luftballon” is the name given to a child’s toy balloon in German.

119. Part of T.G.I.F. : IT’S
“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

120. Cuba or Catalina: Abbr. : ISL
Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. The exact etymology of the name “Cuba” seems a little unclear. Most believe “Cuba” to be derived from the Taíno terms for “where fertile land is abundant” (cubao) or “great place” (coabana).

Catalina Island off the coast of California is more correctly referred to as Santa Catalina Island. Santa Catalina is one of the Channel Islands of California, and is located in Los Angeles County. Santa Catalina has been a major tourist destination since the early 1920s when William Wrigley, Jr. of chewing gum fame invested millions of dollars to develop needed infrastructure to attract visitors. Wrigley owned the Chicago Cubs at the time, and so he made the Chicago Cubs use the island for spring training, as part of a publicity campaign. The Cubs trained there until 1951.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Italian relatives : MAMMAS
7. Part of the earth : CRUST
12. ___ Coast, scenic area near Capri : AMALFI
18. Brutish sort : GORILLA
19. “Dallas” actress ___ J. Wilson : SHEREE
20. Mermaids’ home in Neverland : LAGOON
21. 1938 #1 hit for 68-/70-Across, which was inspired by a nursery rhyme : A-TISKET, A-TASKET
23. Listless feelings : ENNUIS
24. Many August births : LEOS
25. Popular pairing with steak au poivre : CABERNET
26. Charm : BEGUILE
27. And the following: Abbr. : ET SEQ
29. Longbow wood : YEW
30. Detached : ALOOF
32. One for the plus column : ASSET
33. Congestion site : SINUS
35. Wyatt of the Old West : EARP
37. Extremely loud, in music : FFF
39. Soft drink brand : DADS
40. Love interest for Anastasia in “Anastasia” : DIMITRI
42. ___ Reports : CONSUMER
45. Suffix with sheep or hawk : -ISH
48. Vintner’s cask : TUN
49. Old car named for an explorer : DE SOTO
51. Elder Lannister son on “Game of Thrones” : JAIME
53. Stone Age relics : NEOLITHS
56. Piñata smasher, maybe : NINO
57. “___ parvis magna” (“Greatness from small beginnings”: Lat.) : SIC
58. H.S. big shots : SRS
60. Talk endlessly to : JAW AT
61. Act like : APE
63. Illustrator software maker : ADOBE
65. Kama ___ : SUTRA
67. For grades 1-12, briefly : ELHI
68. With 70-Across, nickname for a celebrated performer born on April 25, 1917 : LADY …
70. See 68-Across : … ELLA
71. Dreary : GRAY
72. Dog whose tail curls over the back : SPITZ
74. Great Lakes natives : ERIES
76. Sister of Helios and Selene : EOS
77. Polish coin : ZLOTY
78. Promising action on a fishing line : TUG
79. Picks out of a lineup, informally : IDS
81. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT
83. Button on the bottom of a multipage form : CONTINUE
85. Ring : PHONE
87. Frank : HOT DOG
89. Rapa ___ (locale of many monoliths) : NUI
90. Sports team V.I.P.s : GMS
91. Set piece? : TV CAMERA
93. Natural history museum sights : FOSSILS
96. Turkish title : AGHA
98. Road offense, for short : DUI
99. The hots : LUST
100. Bluish shades : TEALS
103. Green who was a four-time vocal coach on “The Voice” : CEELO
105. Question asked while extending the hand, maybe : TRUCE?
108. Reassuring touch : PAT
110. Fixture on a fishing dock : SCALE
112. One state symbol of Massachusetts : ELM TREE
114. Introduces slowly : PHASES IN
117. Record label that looks like the name of a radio station : K-TEL
118. Lao-tzu follower : TAOIST
119. Notable quote by 68-/70-Across : I SING LIKE I FEEL
121. Set oneself right, in a way : ATONED
122. Five Pillars of Islam, e.g. : TENETS
123. “Bonehead” and “numbskull,” e.g. : INSULTS
124. Solitudinarians : LONERS
125. State representatives? : STARS
126. Ride and Field : SALLYS

Down
1. Sacred choral works : MOTETS
2. Melodic passages : ARIOSI
3. Accidentally hit “reply all” on, say : MISSEND
4. Jan. inits. : MLK
5. “Smart” one : ALEC
6. Skewered Asian dish : SATAY
7. Arctic food fish : CHAR
8. Close again, as a purse : RESNAP
9. “Family Matters” ubernerd : URKEL
10. Manage : SEE TO
11. Winter celebration abroad : TET
12. Sheltered at sea : ALEE
13. Japanese comic style : MANGA
14. Mass recitation : AGNUS DEI
15. Repeated collaborator with 68-/70-Across : LOUIS ARMSTRONG
16. Thwarted : FOILED
17. Maps of Alaska and Hawaii, often : INSETS
18. Big blow : GALE
19. Flight attendant : STEWARD
22. Red as ___ : A BEET
26. Close buds : BFFS
28. “Enough already!” : QUIT IT!
31. Be ___ use : OF NO
34. Unlikely book club recommendation : SMUT
36. Edith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette ___” : RIEN
38. Name on a blimp : FUJI
41. Gets some air : INHALES
42. ___ Nast (magazine publisher) : CONDE
43. Good name for an Irish carpenter? : O’TOOLE
44. Bubs : MACS
45. For laughs : IN JEST
46. Arctic young ‘un : SEAL PUP
47. Signature tune of 68-/70-Across : HOW HIGH THE MOON
50. One-named singer with the 2016 #1 hit “Cheap Thrills” : SIA
52. Slip in a book : ERRATUM
54. Café additive : LAIT
55. Trade jabs (with) : SPAR
57. Flavors : SEASONS
59. Approve : SAY YES
62. Hollywood job title : EDITOR
64. Freedom Caucus, e.g. : BLOC
66. Wrinkly fruit : UGLI
69. Gossipmonger : YENTA
73. Portion of a penny : ZINC
75. Where Nice is en France : SUD
77. Tough draws in the game Bananagrams : Z TILES
80. No fun, as a party : DEAD
82. Vegan staple : TOFU
84. Van Gogh’s “Le Café de ___” : NUIT
86. Beverage sponsor of the old “Little Orphan Annie” radio show : OVALTINE
87. One in line? : HEIR
88. Biblical quartet : GOSPELS
92. Silence : MUTE
94. East German secret police : STASI
95. Quantity of toys on Santa’s sleigh : SACKFUL
96. Perfumer’s liquid : ACETAL
97. Summer piazza treat : GELATO
99. Near ringer : LEANER
101. Nowadays : LATELY
102. Occurrences in the 30s, say : SLEETS
104. Skating champ Brian : ORSER
106. Sore : UPSET
107. Setting for a fine meal : CHINA
109. Polynesian carvings : TIKIS
111. Bracket shapes : ELLS
113. Takeoff figs. : ETDS
115. Three-stripers: Abbr. : SGTS
116. Singer with the 1984 hit “99 Luftballons” : NENA
119. Part of T.G.I.F. : IT’S
120. Cuba or Catalina: Abbr. : ISL

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