Constructed by: Adam Fromm
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme: Math Hysteria
Themed clues are quite “punny”, and feature mathematical symbols:
- 22A L x A : LOS ANGELES TIMES
- 39A x – y = x – y : SAME DIFFERENCE
- 47A (A- or B+)/7 : SEVENTH GRADE
- 67A √666 : ROOT OF ALL EVIL
- 86A $$$/X : CASH DIVIDEND
- 95A 3.BB : THREE-POINT SHOT
- 116A XEsq : POWER OF ATTORNEY
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
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Bill’s time: 23m 20s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
19 Exodus figure : PHARAOH
The Book of Exodus is the second book in the Bible, and deals with Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt. The name “Exodus” comes from the Greek “exodos” meaning “departure”.
21 “The Nutcracker” protagonist : CLARA
Today, Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular ballets in the repertoire, although that popularity really only emerged in the late sixties. It’s “must-see ballet” during the Christmas holidays.
22 L x A : LOS ANGELES TIMES
The “Los Angeles Times” newspaper started out life in 1881 as the “Los Angeles Daily Times”. The paper has a turbulent history, especially in the early 1900s when management and unions were at loggerheads. In 1910, two union members bombed the “Los Angeles Times” building causing a fire that killed 21 newspaper employees.
25 Vodka in a blue bottle : SKYY
Skyy Vodka is produced in the US, although the operation is owned by the Campari Group headquartered in Italy. Skyy first hit the shelves in 1992 when it was created by an entrepreneur from San Francisco, California.
26 Test for college srs. : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.
27 Instrument that represents the duck in “Peter and the Wolf” : OBOE
As is the case for many I am sure, Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” was my introduction to the world of classical music, as it was played for us at school many, many moons ago. Prokofiev wrote the piece as a commissioned work for the Central Children’s Theater in Moscow, in 1936. He loved the idea of the project, and wrote the story and music in just four days!
30 The Caribbean’s ___ Islands : CAYMAN
The Cayman Islands consist of three islands located just south of Cuba in the Caribbean: Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman. The Caymans are a British Overseas Territory, and are the fifth-largest banking center in the whole world.
36 Mystery Writers of America trophy : EDGAR
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (“Edgars”) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America. There are several categories of awards. For example, the Ellery Queen Award honors “writing teams and outstanding people in the mystery-publishing industry”. The Raven Award is presented to non-writers, who contribute to the mystery genre.
46 Fishmonger, at times : SCALER
The suffix “-monger” indicates a dealer or trader. For example. A fishmonger sells fish, an ironmonger sells hardware, and an ideamonger deals in ideas..
50 Postwar German sobriquet : DER ALTE
Konrad Adenauer was the first Chancellor of West Germany after WWII, taking office in 1949 at the age of 73. Adenauer was 87 years old when he left office. Understandably perhaps, his nickname was “Der Alte”, German for “the old man”. Adenauer spent much of WWII in prison, courtesy of Herr Hitler.
55 Brest friend : AMIE
Brest is a port city in northwest France, and is the second largest military port in the country. Brest was an important base for German U-boats during WWII when France was occupied by the Nazis. Brest is the most westerly city in the whole country.
59 Theresa May, for one : TORY
“Tory” comes from the Irish word “tóraí” meaning “outlaw, robber”. The term “tory” was originally used for an Irish outlaw and later became a term of abuse for Irish rebels. At the end of the reign of King Charles II in Britain, there was a political divide with one side being called “Whigs” and the other “Tories”. Historically, the term “Tory” evolved to basically mean a supporter of the British monarchy, and today is used for a member of the British Conservative Party.
Theresa May won a leadership election to become UK prime minister in 2016. May came to power following the resignation of David Cameron immediately after the nation decided to withdraw from the EU (“Brexit”). As such, May became only the second female prime minister in the UK, after Margaret Thatcher.
62 Only places to find anteaters in the U.S. : ZOOS
Anteaters tear open ant and termite nests using their sharp claws and then eat up the eggs, larvae and mature ants using their tongues. They have very sticky saliva which coats the tongue hence making the feeding very efficient. The tongue also moves very quickly, flicking in and out of the mouth at about 150 times per minute.
63 Caboose : HEINIE
The slang term “heinie”, meaning “rear end”, is probably a contraction of “hind end”.
The word “caboose” originally came from Middle Dutch and was the word for a ship’s galley. When the last car in a train in North America was given a stove for the comfort of the crew, it took on the name “caboose”. The term has also become slang for a person’s backside.
67 √666 : ROOT OF ALL EVIL
“666″ is the “number of the beast” that is linked to Satan or the Anti-Christ according to the Book of Revelation in the Bible. The fear of the number 666 has been given a name: Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Don’t forget …
71 Dawn goddess : EOS
In Greek mythology, Eos was 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 was Aurora. Rather delightfully, Homer referred to Eos as “rosy-fingered dawn” in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.
74 Drop acid : TRIP
LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …
75 Tennis’s Nadal : RAFAEL
Rafael “Rafa” Nadal is a Spanish tennis player. He is noted for his expertise on clay courts, which expertise earned him the nickname “The King of Clay”.
77 “Bus Stop” playwright : INGE
“Bus Stop” is a marvelous play written by William Inge in 1955. The famous 1956 movie of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe is only very loosely based on the play.
78 Short cuts : BOBS
A bob cut is a short hairstyle in which the hair is cut straight around the head, at about the line of the jaw. Back in the 1570s, “bob” was the name given to a horse’s tail that was cut short, and about a century later it was being used to describe short hair on humans. The style became very popular with women in the early 1900s (as worn by actress Clara Bow, for example), with the fashion dying out in the thirties. The style reemerged in the sixties around the time the Beatles introduced their “mop tops”, with Vidal Sassoon leading the way in styling women’s hair in a bob cut again. Personally, I like it …
79 “Hey ___” : SIRI
Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.
90 Spanish-speaking Muppet on “Sesame Street” : ROSITA
On the children’s television show Sesame Street, Rosita is a character who is fluent in both English and Spanish. Rosita is operated by Puppeteer Carmen Osbahr. Osbahr originally worked on “Plaza Sésamo”, which is the version of Sesame Street that is broadcast in Mexico.
94 Brewery named for a New York river : GENESEE
One of Genesee Brewing Company’s most famous beers is Genesee Cream Ale, which was introduced in 1960. If you’re ordering a Genesee Cream Ale, you might ask for a “screamer”, which is what some Genesee drinkers call the bottle or can the beer comes in.
95 3.BB : THREE-POINT SHOT
A BB gun is an air pistol or rifle that shoots birdshot known as BBs. Birdshot comes in a number of different sizes, from size 9 (0.070″ in diameter) to size FF (.230″). Birdshot that is size BB (0.180″ in diameter) gives the airgun its name.
100 Mullah’s decree : FATWA
In the Muslim tradition, a fatwā is a religious opinion issued by an Islamic scholar (a “mufti”) on a matter of Islamic law. There is a common misconception that a fatwā is a death sentence imposed on a person, and although such a drastic directive is a possible component of the opinion, it is a very rare occurrence.
102 Box score bit : STAT
In baseball, the line square is a summary set of statistics for the game. It is seen at every baseball stadium, and includes the number of runs scored by each team per innings, as well as the total number of hits and errors. The more comprehensive box score includes the line score, but also shows the individual performance of each player.
103 Noted dog trainer : 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.
106 Founder of Egypt’s 19th dynasty : RAMSES I
Ramesses (also “Ramses”) was the name taken by eleven of the Egyptian pharaohs. “Ramesses” translates as “Born of the sun-god Ra”.
108 W.S.J. announcements : IPOS
An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).
“The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ) is a daily newspaper with a business bent that is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company. The WSJ has a larger US circulation than any other newspaper, with “USA Today” coming in a close second place.
115 Some giggling dolls : ELMOS
The Tickle Me Elmo toy was a sensational fad in the late nineties, with stores raising prices dramatically above the recommended retail price to take advantage of demand. Reportedly, prices as high as $1500 were paid at the height of the craze. The toy’s manufacturer, Tyco, originally planned to market the “tickle” toy as Tickle Me Tasmanian Devil (after the “Looney Tunes” character), but then went with “Elmo” after they bought the rights to use “Sesame Street” names.
116 XEsq : POWER OF ATTORNEY
The title “esquire” is of British origin and is used differently today depending on whether one is in the US or the UK. Here in America the term is usually reserved for those practicing the law (both male and female). In the UK, “esquire” is a term of gentle respect reserved for a male who has no other title that one can use. So a mere commoner like me might receive a letter from the bank say, addressed to W. E. Butler Esq.
124 Actress Portia : DE ROSSI
Portia de Rossi is an actress from Australia who played Nellie Porter on “Ally McBeal” and Lindsay Bluth/Fünke on “Arrested Development”. Off the screen, de Rossi is famous as the wife of Ellen DeGeneres, whom she married in 2008.
Down
1 Two-stripe NCOs: Abbr. : CPLS
A non-commissioned officer (NCO) might be a sergeant (sgt.) or a corporal (cpl.).
7 1,000 large calories : THERM
A therm is a unit of heat energy. One therm is equivalent to 100,000 British thermal units (BTUs).
8 K’ung Fu-___ (Chinese name for Confucius) : TSE
The sayings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (anglicized from “K’ung Fu-Tse”) are collected in a work called “The Analects” or “Linyu”. It wasn’t Confucius who wrote down his thoughts though, but rather his pupils, some 40 or so years after his death in 479 BC.
9 “Now I get it!” : AHSO!
The slang term “ahso” is used in American English to mean “I see”. The term derives from the Japanese expression “Ah so desu ka” meaning “Oh, that’s how it is”.
11 OxyContin, e.g. : OPIOID
The name of the class of drugs called “opioids” comes from the word “opium”, which describes the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy. Drugs derived from opium are known as “opiates”. The broader term “opioids” covers both natural and synthetic drugs that behave in the same way as opiates, i.e. those drugs that bind to opioid receptors in the brain.
12 Archenemy : NEMESIS
Nemesis was a Greek goddess, the goddess of retribution. Her role was to make pay those individuals who were either haughty or arrogant. In modern parlance, one’s nemesis (plural “nemeses”) is one’s sworn enemy, often someone who is the exact opposite in character but someone who still shares some important characteristics. A nemesis is often someone one cannot seem to beat in competition.
13 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.
15 Fashionable set : GLITTERATI
“Glitterati” is a melding of the words “glitter” and “literati”.
16 Angular measurement : RADIAN
The radian is a unit of angular measure. The poor radian has been demoted, as the SI unit of angular measure if the steradian.
17 Relating to radioactive element #92 : URANIC
The isotope of uranium that is mostly found in nature in uranium-238. Natural uranium also contains a small amount (less than 1%) of uranium-235. When uranium is “enriched”, the percentage of uranium-235 is increased. Uranium containing 80% or more uranium-235 is known as “weapons grade”.
29 First female singer to have three simultaneous solo top 10 singles : ADELE
“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US.
31 Elvis’s middle name : ARON
Elvis Aron Presley (aka “the King”) was the younger of two identical twins. His brother was stillborn, and delivered 35 minutes before Elvis. The brother was named Jesse Garon Presley. So, although born a twin, Elvis was raised as an only child.
32 Guitar inlay material : NACRE
Nacre is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed.
34 Seller of Famous Bowls : KFC
The famous “Colonel” of Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fame was Harland Sanders, an entrepreneur from Henryville, Indiana. Although not really a “Colonel”, Sanders did indeed serve in the military. He enlisted in the Army as a private in 1906 at the age of 16, lying about his age. He spent the whole of his time in the Army as a soldier in Cuba. It was much later, in the 1930s, that Sanders went into the restaurant business making his specialty deep-fried chicken. By 1935 his reputation as a “character” had grown, so much so that Governor Ruby Laffoon of Kentucky gave Sanders the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel”. Later in the fifties, Sanders developed his trademark look with the white suit, string tie, mustache and goatee. When Sanders was 65 however, his business failed and in stepped Dave Thomas, the founder of Wendy’s. Thomas simplified the Sanders menu, cutting it back from over a hundred items to just fried chicken and salads. That was enough to launch KFC into the fast food business. Sanders sold the US franchise in 1964 for just $2 million and moved to Canada to grow KFC north of the border. He died in 1980 and is buried in Louisville, Kentucky. The Colonel’s secret recipe of 11 herbs and spices is indeed a trade secret. Apparently there is only one copy of the recipe, a handwritten piece of paper, written in pencil and signed by Colonel Sanders. Since 2009, the piece of paper has been locked in a computerized vault surrounded with motion detectors and security cameras.
40 Opening to an apology : MEA …
Many Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.
43 Nonmoving part of a motor : STATOR
The stator is the stationary part of a machine such as an electric generator. The moving part is called the rotor.
44 Blobbish “Li’l Abner” creature : SHMOO
The Shmoo is a cartoon creature who first appeared in the Al Capp comic strip “Li’l Abner” in 1948. Apparently, shmoos are delicious to eat, and love to be eaten. They’ll even jump into the frying pan themselves!
52 Wynken, Blynken and Nod, e.g. : TRIO
“Wynken, Blynken and Nod” is a children’s poem written by Eugene Field, first published in 1889. The original title of the work was “Dutch Lullaby”.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
Sailed off in a wooden shoe —
Sailed on a river of crystal light,
Into a sea of dew.
“Where are you going, and what do you wish?”
The old moon asked the three.
“We have come to fish for the herring fish
That live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we!”
Said Wynken, Blynken, and Nod.
61 Soldier food, for short : MRE
The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.
65 Father-and-daughter boxing champs : ALIS
Laila Ali is the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali and is a very capable boxer in her own right. Laila’s professional record is an impressive 24 wins, including 21 knockouts. Now retired, she never lost a fight, and nor did she ever draw. One of those victories was against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, daughter of her father’s nemesis Joe Frazier. Laila is not a bad dancer either, coming in third place in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”.
66 Phnom ___ : PENH
Phnom Penh (also “Pnom Penh”) is the capital of Cambodia, and has been so since the French colonized the country in the late 1800s. The city’s name translates from the Khmer language as “Hill of Penh”.
70 Former national airline of Brazil : VARIG
Varig was Brazil’s first airline. VARIG is an acronym standing for “Viação Aérea Rio-Grandense”.
78 Verve : BRIO
“Brio” is borrowed from Italian, in which language the term means “vigor and vivacity”. “Con brio” is a musical direction often found on a score, instructing the musicians to play “with energy, vigor”.
84 Sappho, e.g. : POETESS
Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet born on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sappho was much admired for her work, although very little of it survives today. She was renowned for writing erotic and romantic verse that dealt with the love of women as well as men. It was because of this poetry that the word “lesbian” (someone from Lesbos) is used to describe a gay woman.
85 Annual athletic awards show : ESPYS
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.
91 Contraction in a Christmas song : ‘TIS
The music for the Christmas song “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “f-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in 19th century.
“’Tis the season to be jolly, Fa la la la la la la la!”
92 Like Quakers : ANTIWAR
Members of the Religious Society of Friends are known as Friends or Quakers. The Christian sect started in England in the 1640s, led by George Fox. The principal tenet at that point was that Christians could have direct experience of Jesus Christ without the mediation of clergy, a reflection of the increasing dissatisfaction with the established church at that time. The term “Quaker” is thought to have been used earlier in reference to foreign religious sects whose followers were given to fits of shaking during religious fervor. Somehow that term became used for members of the Religious Society of Friends.
95 Actor Gibson of “2 Fast 2 Furious” : TYRESE
Tyrese Gibson is singer-songwriter and actor who is known simply as “Tyrese”. Tyrese is best known for playing the character Roman Pearce in the “Fast And Furious” series of movies.
104 Lab-assisted, after “in” : VITRO
In vitro fertilization is the process in which egg cells are fertilized by sperm cells outside of the body in vitro. The phrase “in vitro” translates from Latin as “in glass”. The process is usually carried out in a glass culture dish.
109 ___-chef : SOUS
The “sous-chef de cuisine” is the “under-chef of the kitchen”, the second-in-command.
114 Fictional Mr. : HYDE
Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published in 1886. There are many tales surrounding the writing of the story including one that the author wrote the basic tale in just three to six days, and spent a few weeks simply refining it. Allegedly, Stevenson’s use of cocaine stimulated his creative juices during those few days of writing.
118 Part of T.G.I.F.: Abbr. : FRI
“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.
119 W.W. II rationing agcy. : OPA
President Franklin D. Roosevelt set up the Office of Price Administration (OPA) during WWII, with the intent of stabilizing prices and rents during the emergency.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Get along : COEXIST
8 New York’s longest parkway, with “the” : TACONIC
15 Eats : GRUB
19 Exodus figure : PHARAOH
20 Well-turned : SHAPELY
21 “The Nutcracker” protagonist : CLARA
22 L x A : LOS ANGELES TIMES
24 Actor Gillen of “Game of Thrones” : AIDAN
25 Vodka in a blue bottle : SKYY
26 Test for college srs. : GRE
27 Instrument that represents the duck in “Peter and the Wolf” : OBOE
28 Lacework technique : TATTING
30 The Caribbean’s ___ Islands : CAYMAN
33 Put at stake : RISK
35 Police group with an assignment : DETAIL
36 Mystery Writers of America trophy : EDGAR
39 x – y = x – y : SAME DIFFERENCE
42 Certain red algae : SEA MOSS
45 Middling mark : CEE
46 Fishmonger, at times : SCALER
47 (A- or B+)/7 : SEVENTH GRADE
50 Postwar German sobriquet : DER ALTE
54 Abbr. on a phone dial : OPER
55 Brest friend : AMIE
56 Single hair on a carpet, maybe : CLUE
59 Theresa May, for one : TORY
60 “Likewise” : I AM TOO
62 Only places to find anteaters in the U.S. : ZOOS
63 Caboose : HEINIE
65 On point : APT
67 √666 : ROOT OF ALL EVIL
71 Dawn goddess : EOS
72 Blank section at the start of a cassette : LEADER
74 Drop acid : TRIP
75 Tennis’s Nadal : RAFAEL
77 “Bus Stop” playwright : INGE
78 Short cuts : BOBS
79 “Hey ___” : SIRI
80 Director Caro : NIKI
83 Free all-ad publication : SHOPPER
86 $$$/X : CASH DIVIDEND
90 Spanish-speaking Muppet on “Sesame Street” : ROSITA
93 A short while? : THO’
94 Brewery named for a New York river : GENESEE
95 3.BB : THREE-POINT SHOT
100 Mullah’s decree : FATWA
101 Like unbaked bread : YEASTY
102 Box score bit : STAT
103 Noted dog trainer : PAVLOV
106 Founder of Egypt’s 19th dynasty : RAMSES I
108 W.S.J. announcements : IPOS
110 Drop to zero battery : DIE
111 Curse word : OATH
115 Some giggling dolls : ELMOS
116 XEsq : POWER OF ATTORNEY
120 Prognosticators : SEERS
121 Hobbyist : AMATEUR
122 Turned yellow, say : RIPENED
123 Goes off course : ERRS
124 Actress Portia : DE ROSSI
125 One way to turn : ON A DIME
Down
1 Two-stripe NCOs: Abbr. : CPLS
2 “Sure, I guess” : OH, OK
3 “No sweat” : EASY
4 Airport security apparatus : X-RAY CAMERA
5 Follower of Christ? : -IAN
6 Like cornflakes, after sitting for a while : SOGGY
7 1,000 large calories : THERM
8 K’ung Fu-___ (Chinese name for Confucius) : TSE
9 “Now I get it!” : AHSO!
10 Russian blue or Egyptian Mau : CAT BREED
11 OxyContin, e.g. : OPIOID
12 Archenemy : NEMESIS
13 Martinique, par exemple : ILE
14 Dermatologist’s concern : CYST
15 Fashionable set : GLITTERATI
16 Angular measurement : RADIAN
17 Relating to radioactive element #92 : URANIC
18 Wrist ornament : BANGLE
21 Booking for a wedding : CATERER
23 Grassy stretches : LEAS
29 First female singer to have three simultaneous solo top 10 singles : ADELE
31 Elvis’s middle name : ARON
32 Guitar inlay material : NACRE
34 Seller of Famous Bowls : KFC
36 Gas brand with an oval logo : ESSO
37 Pitched low : DEEP
38 Attempted something : GAVE IT A GO
40 Opening to an apology : MEA …
41 Tapering haircut : FADE
43 Nonmoving part of a motor : STATOR
44 Blobbish “Li’l Abner” creature : SHMOO
48 Painter whose masterwork is said to be the Scrovegni Chapel frescoes : GIOTTO
49 Earth Science subj. : ECOL
51 The ___ Road in America (Nevada’s Highway 50) : LONELIEST
52 Wynken, Blynken and Nod, e.g. : TRIO
53 Things that people are warned not to cross : EYES
57 Letters sometimes followed by 😀 : LOL
58 Handle online : USER ID
61 Soldier food, for short : MRE
62 Throw in the microwave, slangily : ZAP
63 R&B group with the 1991 #1 hit “I Like the Way” : HI-FIVE
64 She, in Portuguese : ELA
65 Father-and-daughter boxing champs : ALIS
66 Phnom ___ : PENH
68 Mystical ball, e.g. : ORB
69 Kind of year: Abbr. : FISC
70 Former national airline of Brazil : VARIG
73 Sticks on the tongue? : DEPRESSORS
76 Made an attempt : ENDEAVORED
78 Verve : BRIO
79 1993 Salt-N-Pepa hit whose title is a nonsense word : SHOOP
81 Didn’t doubt : KNEW
82 Notion : IDEA
84 Sappho, e.g. : POETESS
85 Annual athletic awards show : ESPYS
87 For sale in malls : AT STORES
88 Theater reproof : SHH!
89 Dope : INFO
91 Contraction in a Christmas song : ‘TIS
92 Like Quakers : ANTIWAR
95 Actor Gibson of “2 Fast 2 Furious” : TYRESE
96 Doctor : HEALER
97 Demolition tool : RAMMER
98 Stick on, as a poster : TAPE TO
99 Exclamation that might accompany a curtsy : TA-DA!
104 Lab-assisted, after “in” : VITRO
105 Admit : LET IN
107 Device that comes with 79-Across : IPAD
109 ___-chef : SOUS
112 Years in the Roman Empire : ANNI
113 Abound : TEEM
114 Fictional Mr. : HYDE
117 Old-fashioned cry of despair : O ME!
118 Part of T.G.I.F.: Abbr. : FRI
119 W.W. II rationing agcy. : OPA
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15 thoughts on “0310-19 NY Times Crossword 10 Mar 19, Sunday”
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26:32 after fixing a stupid error: I thought 124A was “DI ROSSI” and “thought” (to use the word rather loosely and inappropriately) that “OMI!” was some kind of Shakespearean thing I’d never heard of (perhaps transcribed from the Klingon original). All I can say at this point is, “O, my!”
58:02. I really enjoyed the theme. You know it’s a good theme when you’re disappointed you’ve gotten all of them.
I did the same thing as Dave – putting OMI because I’d seen OMIGOSH in puzzles before. I also put ePA before OPA, but ATTeRNEY was an easy fix.
I still don’t get the connection of “guitar” and NACRE. Is a guitar some sort of mollusk I don’t know about, or do they actually line guitars with NACRE. I GOOGLED for a minute or two and gave up trying to figure it out.
Best –
…a week later I’ve found out that sometimes there are decorative “inlays” in the wood surface of the guitar. These inlays can be made of wood, plastic, or (drum roll please)..NACRE. Now I’ll sleep better…
Nacre inlays used in fine instrments is typically from abalone shells. You won’t find it in ukuleles, guitars, mandolins, etc. unless you are going to plop down a thousand bucks or more. Typically used for fret markers and other ornamentation.
A short while??? THO???
What am I missing here?
@Lou …
Consider the following sequence: 1) “While it’s true that …”; 2) “Although it’s true that, …”; 3) “Though it’s true that, …”; 4) “Tho’ it’s true that, …”
Dave, thanks for the explanation. Wouldn’t have made that leap in a zillion years.
This was the one square I couldn’t get. “Tho” and aT stores”? Don’t get either one clue – and the answers don’t make sense.
After 2 hours my timer ran out but I kept at it and finished this ********* puzzle only to find 2 errors. I had seller for scaler at 46 across. This puzzle STINKS.
Untimed (probably in the 40-50 min range); 2 errors O M(Y)/D(Y)ROSSI. Required a lot of mental gymnastics today. Ambitious theme, but the root symbol for 67A and the power depiction for 116A did not translate very well in my newspaper. I believe ‘Esq’ should have been a superscript for X; perhaps X^Esq would have been a better representation.
Bruce –
For what it’s worth, Esq was indeed a superscript in the original online version of the puzzle. Doesn’t do you any good now, but..
39:57, no errors. Not too terrible.
Not too tough for a Sunday, THO I had issues with a few clues.
93A, “A short while” (tho), is a very weak clue, still doesn’t make much sense to me. And 87D, At stores, is also weak, it gone done by itself, fortunately. I thought AT stores, but those don’t exist. Nevertheless an interesting puzzle.
Bill – just finished the syndicated Sunday NYT – 103. across: “Noted dog trainer” – “Pavlov” – reminded me of a Steven Wright one-liner: “Does the name Pavlov ring a bell”?