1126-17 NY Times Crossword Answers 26 Nov 2017, Sunday

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Constructed by: Jeff Chen
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Inside Out

Each of today’s themed answer is a common phrase, one that apparently has nothing to do with the clue. However, the clue refers us to two words, one that is placed INSIDE the other. The placing of the inside word is indicated by circled letters in the grid:

  • 22A. Lists about a port on the Black Sea : ROYAL TASTERS (“rosters” about “Yalta”)
  • 28A. Neighborhoods surrounded by crime : THE FAR EAST (“areas” surrounded by “theft”)
  • 43A. Metal pin stuck in parts of sinks : DRIVETRAINS (“rivet” stuck in “drains”)
  • 68A. Flourishes around monsoon events : BRAIN SURGEONS (“burgeons” arounds “rains”)
  • 92A. Fear among underground workers : MIND READERS (“dread” among “miners”)
  • 109A. Coming up in vetoes : NIXON TAPES (“on tap” in “nixes”)
  • 116A. Crew found inside again and again : THROWING RICE (“rowing” found inside “thrice”)

Bill’s time: 15m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7. Per ___ : DIEM

“Per diem” is the Latin for “by the day”. We tend to use the term for a daily allowance for expenses when traveling for work.

11. Feature on the back of some pajamas : FLAP

Our word “pajamas” (“PJs” for short) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. In the British Isles the spelling is “pyjamas”.

15. Conversation interrupter in a car, at times : GPS

The modern Global Positioning System (GPS) system that we use today was built by the US military who received the massive funding needed because of fears during the Cold War of the use of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. We civilians, all round the world, owe a lot to President Ronald Reagan because he directed the military to make GPS technology available to the public for the common good. President Reagan was moved to do so after the Soviet Union shot down KAL flight 007 carrying 269 people, just because the plane strayed accidentally into Soviet airspace.

18. Cured salmon : GRAVLAX

Gravlax is the Swedish name for a dish consisting of raw salmon cured in salt, sugar and dill. Gravlax dates back to the Middle Ages when fishermen fermented salted salmon by burying it in the sand above the high-tide line. The name gravlax comes from the Scandinavian “grav” meaning “grave, hole in the ground” and “lax” meaning “salmon”.

19. Jazzy Anita : O’DAY

“Anita O’Day” was the stage name of the jazz singer Anita Colton. She chose the name as “O’Day” is Pig Latin for “dough”, a slang term for “money”. O’Day had problems with heroin and alcohol addiction leading to erratic behavior, and earning her the nickname “The Jezebel of Jazz”.

22. Lists about a port on the Black Sea : ROYAL TASTERS (“rosters” about “Yalta”)

Yalta is a resort city on the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula. The Crimea is very much in the news in recent years as ownership of the territory is in dispute between Russia and the Ukraine. Yalta was also in the news at the end of WWII as it was the site of the Yalta Conference, a meeting between the leaders of the three main Allies.

27. Referring to this clue within this clue, e.g. : 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.

28. Neighborhoods surrounded by crime : THE FAR EAST (“areas” surrounded by “theft”)

In geographical terms there are three “Easts”. The Near East and Middle East are terms that are often considered synonymous, although “Near East” tends to be used when discussing ancient history and “Middle East” when referring to the present day. The Near/Middle East encompasses most of Western Asia and Egypt. The term “Far East” describes East Asia (including the Russian Far East), Southeast Asia and South Asia.

30. 1970s-’90s chess champion : KARPOV

Russian grandmaster Anatoly Karpov was the official world chess champion from 1975 until 1985.

36. Laura of “ER” : INNES

Laura Innes is actress who is best known for playing Dr. Kerry Weaver on the long-running TV show “ER”. She also played the lead role of Sophia in the short-running TV drama “The Event” in 2010-2011.

37. Provide cover for, say : ABET

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

40. Blue-green hue : TEAL

The beautiful color of teal takes it name from the duck called a teal, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

42. Style of Radio City Music Hall, informally : DECO

New York City’s Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center opened for business in 1932. Originally to be named International Music Hall, the current name was chosen in honor of the Radio Corporation of America, which was one of Rockefeller Center’s first tenants.

43. Metal pin stuck in parts of sinks : DRIVETRAINS (“rivet” stuck in “drains”)

The drivetrain of a car is made up of the components that deliver power to the driving wheels. The drivetrain excludes the engine, which produces that power. The combination of the engine and the drivetrain is known as the powertrain.

47. Figure skater Sonja : HENIE

Sonja Henie was a World and Olympic Champion figure skater from Norway from the days when “amateur” sports stars were not paid. Henie made up for her lack of income from competing by developing a career in Hollywood. She was one of highest-paid film stars at the height of her movie career.

49. Shout after seeing Godzilla : RUN!

The terrifying monster Godzilla is a Japanese invention. The first in a very long series of “Godzilla” films was released way back in 1954. The original name in Japanese was “Gojira”, but this was changed to Godzilla for audiences outside of Japan. “Gojira” is a combination of “gorira” and “kujira”, the Japanese words for gorilla and whale, apt because Godzilla is a big ape-like creature that came out of the deep.

51. ___ ammoniac : SAL

Sal ammoniac is a mineral made up of ammonium chloride. It is fairly rare as it is very soluble in water and is quite soft. It is most often found around volcanic vents. Sal ammoniac used to be an ingredient in cookies, making them very crispy.

54. Capital of the world’s happiest country, per a 2017 U.N. survey : OSLO

Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiana. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling of the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiana.

55. QB’s cry : HUT

The quarterback (QB) starts each play in football with a “snap” (also called a “hike”). He announces to his teammates the exact moment of the snap by calling out signals, usually including the word “hut” one or more times in a prearranged sequence.

58. The dark side : YIN

The yin and the yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

59. One of the principal deities in Hinduism : SHIVA

The Hindu Trinity comprises Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also Siva) the destroyer or transformer.

61. Sliding item on a car : MOONROOF

A sunroof is a panel in the roof of a car that can be pulled back to let in light and air. A moonroof is similar, but in a moonroof there is an option to slide back a fabric-covered panel to expose a glass panel that allows in light, but not air.

64. Carne ___ (taco option) : ASADA

The name of the dish called “carne asada” translates from Spanish as “roasted meat”.

68. Flourishes around monsoon events : BRAIN SURGEONS (“burgeons” arounds “rains”)

“To burgeon” is to sprout, to put forth new buds. The term can also be used more figuratively to mean to grow or develop rapidly.

The term “monsoon” was first used in India in the days of the British Raj, when it was used to describe the seasonal winds that brought rain from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea from June to September. “Monsoon” is derived from the Portuguese “monção”, which in turn comes from the Arabic “mawsim” meaning “season”.

71. Sample-collecting org. : EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

73. Lush : DIPSO

Dipsomania is a craving for alcohol to the point of damaging one’s health. “Dipsa” is the Greek for “thirst”, hence dipsomania is a “manic thirst”.

“Lush” is a slang term for a heavy drinker. Back in the 1700s, “lush” was slang for “liquor”.

75. React to a haymaker : SEE STARS

A haymaker is a wide, swinging punch. It is so called because the action involves using one’s weight and shoulder power to deliver the blow, with a motion much like using a scythe to cut hay.

79. Heaters : GATS

“Gat” is slang for “gun”. The term is derived from the Gatling gun, the precursor to the modern machine gun. The Gatling gun was invented by Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861. Apparently he was inspired to invent it so that one man could do as much damage as a hundred, thereby reducing the size of armies and diminishing the suffering caused by war. Go figure …

80. Major investors in start-up cos. : VCS

Venture capitalist (VC)

87. 1972 #1 hit with the lyric “No one’s ever gonna keep me down again” : I AM WOMAN

The successful singer Helen Reddy was born in Melbourne, Australia. In 1966, Reddy won a talent contest, and earned herself a trip to New York City for an audition. The 25-year-old single mother decided to stay in the US, and a few years later was able to launch a successful singing career. Her hit song “I Am Woman”, released in 1972, was the first recording by an Australian artist to reach #1 in the US charts.

90. Ranger’s wear : BERET

Army Rangers belong to a Special Operations unit known as the 75th Ranger Regiment. The modern Army Rangers have roots that go back to Ethan Allen’s Green Mountain Boys, a militia organization that served in the Revolutionary War.

97. First name in 1950s comedy : DESI

Desi Arnaz was famous for his turbulent marriage to Lucille Ball. Arnaz was a native of Cuba, and was from a privileged family. His father was Mayor of Santiago and served in the Cuban House of Representatives. However, the family had to flee to Miami after the 1933 revolt led by Batista.

98. Actor John of the “Harold & Kumar” films : CHO

John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but who has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

99. Nordstrom competitor : SAKS

Saks Fifth Avenue is a high-end specialty store that competes with the likes of Bloomingdale’s and Neiman Marcus. The original Saks & Company business was founded by Andrew Saks in 1867. The first Saks Fifth Avenue store was opened on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1924. There are now Saks Fifth Avenue stores in many major cities in the US, as well in several locations worldwide.

100. Shades of tan : ECRUS

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

102. “Pimp My Ride” network : MTV

“Pimp My Ride” is a reality show that used to air on MTV, that was hosted by rap star Xzibit. The show covers the restoration of cars in poor condition.

115. Licorice-flavored extract : ANISE OIL

Liquorice (also licorice) and aniseed have similar flavors, but they come from unrelated plants. The liquorice plant is a legume like a bean, and the sweet flavor is an extract from the roots. The flavor mainly comes from an ether compound called anethole, the same substance that gives the distinctive flavor to anise. The seedpods of the anise plant are what we know as “aniseed”. The anise seeds themselves are usually ground to release the flavor.

120. Spy novelist Deighton : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

121. Poet ___ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and playwright, the third woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (in 1923 for “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver”). Millay was noted not only for her work, but also for the open arrangement that she and her husband had in their marriage. Millay took many lovers, including the poet George Dillon, for whom she wrote a number of sonnets.

123. “Fawlty Towers” or “The Vicar of Dibley” : BRITCOM

“Fawlty Towers” might just be the world’s greatest sitcom, and is popular on both sides of the Atlantic. It was written by, and starred, John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth. There were two series, one broadcast in 1975, and the other in 1979. There have been three attempts to remake the series in the US, one of which starred John Larroquette as Basil Fawlty, but none of the remakes worked at all.

Down

3. Does his name ring a bell? : IVAN PAVLOV

Ivan Pavlov was studying gastric function in dogs in the 1890s when he observed that his subject dogs started to salivate before he even presented food to them. This “psychic secretion”, as he called it, interested him so much that he changed the direction of his research and studied the reactions of dogs to various stimuli that were associated with the presentation of food. Famously, he discovered that a dog could be conditioned to respond as though he was about to be fed, just by sensing some stimulus that he had come to associate with food. This might be a bell ringing, an electric shock (poor dog!) or perhaps the waving of a hand. Nowadays we might describe someone as “Pavlov’s Dog” if that person responds just the way he/she has been conditioned to respond, rather than applying critical thinking.

9. Something pressed against a conch : EAR

Although “conch” is now used as a generic term for largish sea snails and their shells, the true conch belongs to a specific group of gastropods. The “meat” is very popular, and so the conch is the second most popular edible snail after “escargot”. The conch shell can be used as a wind instrument, and the true conch is also a good source for pearls.

10. Game predecessor of Riven : MYST

In the days when I played the occasional video game, the best of the bunch was undoubtedly Myst. It is a game full of puzzles with the player wandering through a beautifully-designed (for its day) interactive world.

13. The “I” of “The King and I” : ANNA

“The King and I” is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on a book by Margaret Landon called “Anna and the King of Siam” first published in 1944. Landon’s book is based on a true story, told in the memoirs of Anna Leonowens. Leonowens was the governess of the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s, and she also taught the king’s wives.

14. ___ dish : PETRI

Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist and was the man after whom the Petri dish is named. The petri dish can have an agar gel on the bottom which acts a nutrient source for the specimen being grown and studied, in which case the dish plus agar is referred to as an “agar plate”.

17. Mounties’ hats : STETSONS

Stetson is a brand name of hat, manufactured by the John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri. The so called “cowboy hat” that Stetson pioneered was such a success that the company became the largest hat maker in the world, producing over 3.3 million hats per year.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (the Mounties, RCMP) is an unusual police force in that it provides all policing for the whole country. The RCMP works on the national level, and right down to the municipal level. The force’s distinctive uniform of red serge tunic, blue pants with a yellow stripe, stetson hat etc. is known internally as “Review Order”. The red uniform dates back to the days of the North-West Mounted Police, which was one of the existing forces that were merged in 1920 to form the RCMP.

18. Understand : GROK

To grok is to understand, and is a slang term that’s really only used in “techie” circles. “Grok” is the creation of science fiction author Robert Heinlein, who coined the term in his 1961 novel “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

29. Hindu exercise system : HATHA YOGA

Hatha yoga is a yoga system developed in 15th century India. Traditional Hatha yoga is a more “complete” practice than often encountered in the west, involving not just exercise but also meditation and relaxation.

34. Broadcaster of many Ken Burns documentaries : PBS

Ken Burns directs and produces epic documentary films that usually make inventive use of archive footage. Recent works are the sensational “The War” (about the US in WWII) and the magnificent “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea”, as well as 2014’s “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History”. His latest offering is 2017’s “The Vietnam War”.

41. Benghazi native : LIBYAN

Benghazi is the second largest city in Libya, after the capital Tripoli. It is a port city lying on the Mediterranean Sea.

43. Waste : DROSS

When metals are smelted, there is a scum made up of impurities that floats on the surface of the molten metal. This scum is called “dross” and is drawn off and discarded. The term “dross” has come to mean any waste or impure matter.

44. Actress Phylicia of “Creed” : RASHAD

Phylicia Rashād is an actress best-known for playing Clair Huxtable (wife of Cliff Huxtable, Bill cosby’s character) on “The Cosby Show”.

“Creed” is a 2015 boxing movie, the seventh in the “Rocky” franchise. Sylvester Stallone returns as Rocky Balboa, but this time as a trainer. Rocky trains Apollo Creed’s son Adonis. Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for his supporting role in the film. It was the first Academy Award nomination he had received since the first “Rocky” film, which was released almost forty years earlier.

45. “Fighting” collegiate team : ILLINI

The Illini (also “Fighting Illini”) are the athletic teams and marching band of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. “Illinois” is a French name that was given to the people who lived in the area (called “Illiniwek”).

46. Stella ___ (beer) : ARTOIS

The Belgian beer Stella Artois is named for the brewer Sebastianus Artois. Artois was the master brewer at the Den Horen Brewery in Leuven, Belgium in the early 1700s. The Den Horen Brewery has been around at least since 1366 … yes, 1366!

48. Another name for Dido : ELISSA

Dido was the founder of Carthage, and the city’s first queen. Some sources use the name “Elissa” for the same person.

51. Hybrid activewear : SKORTS

The garment called a “skort” is a hybrid between shorts and a skirt.

53. Santa ___ winds : ANA

The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.

62. Blood type of a “universal donor” : O-NEGATIVE

The most important grouping of blood types is the ABO system. Blood is classified as either A, B, AB or O, depending on the type of antigens on the surface of the red blood cells. A secondary designation of blood is the Rh factor, in which other antigens are labelled as either positive or negative. When a patient receives a blood transfusion, ideally the donor blood should be the same type as that of the recipient, as incompatible blood cells can be rejected. However, blood type O-neg can be accepted by recipients with all blood types, A, B, AB or O, and positive or negative. Hence someone with O-neg blood type is called a universal donor.

63. Ardent : FERVID

Our word “fervid”, meaning “heated in spirit, burning”, derives ultimately from the Latin “fervere”, meaning “to boil”.

70. Annual event viewed live by hundreds of millions of people, with “the” : OSCARS

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

81. Besmirch : SMEAR

“Besmirch” is a derivative of “smirch”, with both words meaning to “make dirty”. In particular, to besmirch is to sully someone’s reputation.

83. Magazine places : ARSENALS

Our word “arsenal” comes from the Italian “arzenale”, a work adapted from the Arabic for “workshop”. There was a large wharf in Venice called the Arzenale that became associated with the storage of weapons and ammunition, and this led to our contemporary usage of “arsenal”.

The word “magazine” was originally used to denote a place for storing goods, particularly military arms and ammunition, back in the late 1500s. This usage was extended to include packs of ammunition attached to automatic weapons. The first use of “magazine” in the sense of a periodical or journal dates back to 1731, with the publication of “Gentleman’s Magazine”. “Magazine” had come to mean a printed list of military stores, and the idea was that the new periodical was to be a “storehouse” of information.

84. Don Quixote’s unseen beloved : DULCINEA

The full name of Cervantes’s novel is “The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”. In the story, Don Quixote is a retired country gentleman who heads out as a knight-errant and who renames himself Don Quixote of la Mancha. In his mind he designates a neighboring farm girl called Aldonza Lorenzo as his lady love, and renames her Dulcinea del Toboso.

92. Hosts, for short : MCS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

96. The Blues Brothers and others : DUOS

The Blues Brothers is a blues band created in 1978 for a Saturday Night Live sketch. The original Blues Brothers were Dan Aykroyd (Elwood Blues) and John Belushi (“Joliet” Jake Blues).

101. Emulate Snidely Whiplash : SNEER

Dudley Do-Right appeared on the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, a cartoon that appeared on television in a couple of different versions from 1959-1964. Dudley was a bungling Mountie who struggled with his nemesis, the evil Snidely Whiplash, while pursuing the romantic intentions of Nell Fenwick (who always seemed to prefer Dudley’s horse!).

107. Costa Ricans, in slang : TICOS

Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua in the north, and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army … permanently!

108. Modern education acronym : STEM

The acronym STEM stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology.

110. Brouhaha : TO-DO

“Brouhaha”, meaning “ado, stir”, was a French word that back in the 1550s meant “the cry of the devil disguised as clergy” . Wow!

113. “I call that!” : DIBS!

The phrase “to have dibs on” expresses a claim on something. Apparently, the term “dibs” is a contraction of “dibstone”, which was a knucklebone or jack used in a children’s game.

118. Second Amendment org. : NRA

The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. The actual text of the amendment is:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The wording and punctuation in the original text has led to some controversy over the years, some debate over the original intent. That might be an understatement …

119. U.S.O. audience : GIS

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of FDR “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Per : APIECE
7. Per ___ : DIEM
11. Feature on the back of some pajamas : FLAP
15. Conversation interrupter in a car, at times : GPS
18. Cured salmon : GRAVLAX
19. Jazzy Anita : O’DAY
20. Top-shelf : A-ONE
21. Go bad : ROT
22. Lists about a port on the Black Sea : ROYAL TASTERS (“rosters” about “Yalta”)
24. Guaranteed to succeed : CAN’T LOSE
26. Auspice : OMEN
27. Referring to this clue within this clue, e.g. : META
28. Neighborhoods surrounded by crime : THE FAR EAST (“areas” surrounded by “theft”)
30. 1970s-’90s chess champion : KARPOV
33. Fill-in : TEMP
35. ___ Store : APP
36. Laura of “ER” : INNES
37. Provide cover for, say : ABET
39. Fad dance move of 2015 : DAB
40. Blue-green hue : TEAL
42. Style of Radio City Music Hall, informally : DECO
43. Metal pin stuck in parts of sinks : DRIVETRAINS (“rivet” stuck in “drains”)
47. Figure skater Sonja : HENIE
49. Shout after seeing Godzilla : RUN!
50. Motorsports vehicle : RALLY CAR
51. ___ ammoniac : SAL
52. Good times : BLASTS
54. Capital of the world’s happiest country, per a 2017 U.N. survey : OSLO
55. QB’s cry : HUT
56. Unpleasant : ICKY
58. The dark side : YIN
59. One of the principal deities in Hinduism : SHIVA
61. Sliding item on a car : MOONROOF
64. Carne ___ (taco option) : ASADA
67. ___ Dimas, Calif. : SAN
68. Flourishes around monsoon events : BRAIN SURGEONS (“burgeons” arounds “rains”)
71. Sample-collecting org. : EPA
73. Lush : DIPSO
75. React to a haymaker : SEE STARS
76. Slack-jawed : AGAPE
78. Pot note : IOU
79. Heaters : GATS
80. Major investors in start-up cos. : VCS
82. Its filling contained lard until 1997 : OREO
83. Dangerous vipers : ADDERS
86. Ka-boom! : BAM!
87. 1972 #1 hit with the lyric “No one’s ever gonna keep me down again” : I AM WOMAN
89. Regret : RUE
90. Ranger’s wear : BERET
92. Fear among underground workers : MIND READERS (“dread” among “miners”)
95. It goes downhill : SLED
97. First name in 1950s comedy : DESI
98. Actor John of the “Harold & Kumar” films : CHO
99. Nordstrom competitor : SAKS
100. Shades of tan : ECRUS
102. “Pimp My Ride” network : MTV
103. Curry of the N.B.A. : SETH
105. Moves, as a plant : REPOTS
109. Coming up in vetoes : NIXON TAPES (“on tap” in “nixes”)
112. Got 100 on : ACED
114. “I’ll get this done” : ON IT
115. Licorice-flavored extract : ANISE OIL
116. Crew found inside again and again : THROWING RICE (“rowing” found inside “thrice”)
120. Spy novelist Deighton : LEN
121. Poet ___ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA
122. Kook : YO-YO
123. “Fawlty Towers” or “The Vicar of Dibley” : BRITCOM
124. Need a lift? : SAG
125. Looking up : ROSY
126. And others, for short : ET AL
127. Gets fresh with : SASSES

Down

1. Nose of a wine : AROMA
2. Single-___ (like a certain health care system) : PAYER
3. Does his name ring a bell? : IVAN PAVLOV
4. Pipe joint : ELL
5. “Cool” sort : CAT
6. Reason to pull an all-nighter : EXAM
7. Partner of a crossed “t” : DOTTED I
8. Creative sort : IDEA MAN
9. Something pressed against a conch : EAR
10. Game predecessor of Riven : MYST
11. Certain spa treatment : FACE PEEL
12. Baker’s container : LOAF PAN
13. The “I” of “The King and I” : ANNA
14. ___ dish : PETRI
15. Bad puns : GROANERS
16. Song with verses by four or more rappers : POSSE CUT
17. Mounties’ hats : STETSONS
18. Understand : GROK
23. “Go” preceder : SET
25. Give for a while : LEND
29. Hindu exercise system : HATHA YOGA
31. “Do as I say!” : OBEY!
32. Climbing plant in the pea family : VETCH
34. Broadcaster of many Ken Burns documentaries : PBS
38. Something to work through with a therapist : TRAUMA
41. Benghazi native : LIBYAN
43. Waste : DROSS
44. Actress Phylicia of “Creed” : RASHAD
45. “Fighting” collegiate team : ILLINI
46. Stella ___ (beer) : ARTOIS
48. Another name for Dido : ELISSA
51. Hybrid activewear : SKORTS
53. Santa ___ winds : ANA
56. Tailor’s measure : INSEAM
57. See 74-Down : CRUST
60. Take in : ABSORB
62. Blood type of a “universal donor” : O-NEGATIVE
63. Ardent : FERVID
65. “Oh heavens!” : DEAR ME!
66. Take off an invisibility cloak : APPEAR
69. Lit a fire under : ROUSED
70. Annual event viewed live by hundreds of millions of people, with “the” : OSCARS
72. Big stretches : AEONS
74. With 57-Down, something filling fills : PIE
77. Graceful losers, e.g. : GOOD SPORTS
81. Besmirch : SMEAR
83. Magazine places : ARSENALS
84. Don Quixote’s unseen beloved : DULCINEA
85. Sign with an antlered pictogram : DEER X’ING
86. Award won by “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” : BEST PLAY
88. Speedboat follower : WAKE
91. Continues : REMAINS
92. Hosts, for short : MCS
93. Words of empathy : I HEAR YA
94. “You shouldn’t’ve done that” : NOT COOL
96. The Blues Brothers and others : DUOS
101. Emulate Snidely Whiplash : SNEER
104. Hack down : HEW
106. Chilled : ON ICE
107. Costa Ricans, in slang : TICOS
108. Modern education acronym : STEM
110. Brouhaha : TO-DO
111. Lid irritant : STYE
113. “I call that!” : DIBS!
117. Very in : HOT
118. Second Amendment org. : NRA
119. U.S.O. audience : GIS

19 thoughts on “1126-17 NY Times Crossword Answers 26 Nov 2017, Sunday”

  1. 36:27 Only real trouble spot was the area around DIPSO. But that was mainly because when I filled in the answer for 86D I wrote BsSTPLAY which made it hard to see BERET at 90A which made it hard to see ABSORB. Fixed the error finally and everything else fell quickly. Didn’t love the theme.

  2. 55:16 – I had the same reaction as Marc to DIPSO. Kind of got a kick out of the theme. Some clever cluing as usual from Jeff Chen.

    Best –

  3. Loved the Oreo clue – for those of us who grew up eating Hydrox since Oreos weren’t kosher it was a no brainer!

  4. Got this puzzle today , DNF due to problems limited to the NW corner.

    Did the Japanese really think Godzilla looked like a giant APE? ?

  5. 33:14, no errors. I, too, had difficulty seeing the justification for many of the theme answers.

    @Veronica: the clue has to broken down very literally. “Crew found inside again and again”. The sport of ‘crew’ is also known as ‘rowing’. Finding it ‘again (twice)and again (thrice)’. So the word ‘rowing’ is found inside the word ‘thrice’, giving the fill ‘throwing rice’. I hope this made sense, I wasn’t a fan of the logic behind this clue either.

  6. Theme was obscure in my paper because there were no circles in the grid, so it was not clear what was wanted. I got the clues solved by crosses, but had to come to this website to find out what the theme was.

    1. My paper didn’t publish circles either. I don’t think it made much difference, though! Not my fav crossword!

  7. Interesting. A couple of days ago I could not complete a Thursday puzzle when everyone else seemed to find it easy. Today’s puzzle came pretty easy to me (except for a few exceptions). I often feel that sometimes I “click” with the author and sometimes I just don’t. I enjoyed this one.

  8. I am amazed that I havent seen any comments regarding the ‘correct’ answer to 103 Across. Clue is : Curry of the NBA- isn’t the true answer “STEPH” not Seth???????? C’mon, this same clue has been used many times and the correct answer is always Steph

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