0425-21 NY Times Crossword 25 Apr 21, Sunday

Constructed by: Jeremy Newton
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Stretching Exercises

The grid includes the familiar names of muscles (in circled letters) that might be STRETCHED while EXERCISING. Those muscles STRETCH over two rows in the relevant down-answers:

  • 23A Sheep’s milk product that’s often grated : PECORINO CHEESE
  • 26A Course taken in shorts, often : PE CLASS
  • 28A 765-foot-long “water coaster” on Disney cruises : AQUADUCK
  • 31A SWAT team or Navy SEAL group, e.g. : ELITE SQUAD
  • 57A Withstand : ABIDE
  • 61A “Oh, hell yes!” : ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY!
  • 59A Like bread made from almond flour : GLUTEN FREE
  • 61A “Oh, hell yes!” : ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY!
  • 71A Grammy category won multiple times by Kendrick Lamar : BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
  • 77A Racy selfie posted for likes on social media, in modern lingo : THIRST TRAP
  • 99A They often come to professors with excuses : LATE PAPERS
  • 104A Get snake eyes, say : ROLL A TWO
  • 113A Oscar winner for his role as a Mexican narc in “Traffic” : BENICIO DEL TORO
  • 119A Miniature for a World War II buff : MODEL TANK

Bill’s time: 23m 48s

Bill’s errors: 3

  • INFECT (infest)
  • AQUADUCK (AquaDunk)
  • CHIC (shin!!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Muhammad Ali’s “Me! Whee!,” e.g. : POEM

Boxer Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Islam in 1964. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta?

5 “S.N.L.” alum Hartman : PHIL

Phil Hartman was a Canadian actor and comedian who got his big break on “Saturday Night Live” in the late eighties. He was particularly known for his impersonations of President Bill Clinton. Sadly, Hartman was murdered in 1998 by his wife.

23 Sheep’s milk product that’s often grated : PECORINO CHEESE

Pecorino is a family of hard cheeses from Italy, with the name coming from the Italian “pecora” meaning “sheep”. The most famous variety here in North America is Pecorino Romano, which we often refer to simply as “Romano”.

25 Classic name for the land north of England : SCOTIA

“Scotia” has been the Latin word for “Scotland” since the Middle Ages, and is sometimes used in poetry as the name for the country. Paradoxically, the Ancient Romans used the name “Scotia” for the island of Ireland. The meaning mutated over the centuries.

26 Course taken in shorts, often : PE CLASS

Physical education (PE)

30 Countertenor : ALTO

In choral music, an alto (plural “alti”) is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.

31 SWAT team or Navy SEAL group, e.g. : ELITE SQUAD

“SWAT” is an acronym standing for Special Weapons and Tactics. The first SWAT team was pulled together in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1968.

“SEAL” is an acronym used by the US Navy’s SEa, Air and Land teams. The SEALs were born out of the Navy’s special warfare groups from WWII, like the Underwater Demolition Teams and the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons. The Navy SEAL unit was established soon after President Kennedy’s famous speech in which he announced the plan to put a man on the moon, as in the same speech the president allocated $100m of funding to strengthen special operations forces. The Navy used some of this money to set up guerrilla and counter-guerrilla units, which soon became the SEALs.

37 Epitome of smoothness : SILK

The more common meaning of “epitome” is “perfect example of a group, quality, type”. An epitome is also an abstract or summary of a book or article.

39 “Roots” author Haley : ALEX

Not only did Alex Haley author the magnificent novel “Roots”, he was also the collaborator with Malcolm X on “The Autobiography of Malcolm X”. His 1976 novel “Roots” is based on Haley’s own family history, and he claimed to be a direct descendant of the real life Kunta Kinte, the slave who was kidnapped in the Gambia in 1767. If you remember the original television adaptation of “Roots”, you might recall that Kunta Kinte was played by LeVar Burton, who later went on to play another famous role, Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: the Next Generation”.

40 Shocker, at times : EEL

“Electrophorus electricus” is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric “eel” isn’t an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.

46 Gaming novice, slangily : NOOB

“Noob” is a not-so-nice slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

51 Act as a blueprint for, as DNA for proteins : ENCODE

Nucleobases are molecules that form the backbone of DNA and RNA chains. It is the sequence of these bases in the DNA chain that makes up the so-called “genetic code”. In DNA, the four bases are adenine (A), guanine (G), thymine (T) and cytosine (C). The same bases are found in RNA, except that thymine is replaced by uracil (U). In DNA, the nucleobases exist in “base pairs”.

53 Brawled, in the backwoods : RASSLED

“Rassle” is a slang word meaning “wrestle”.

59 Like bread made from almond flour : GLUTEN FREE

Gluten is a protein mixture found in foods processed mainly from wheat. The sticky properties of gluten are used in making bread, giving dough its elasticity and making the final product chewy. “Gluten” is the Latin word for “glue”.

65 Certain formal duds : TUX

Apparently, the style of men’s evening dress called a “tuxedo” was first worn to a country club event in 1886 in New York. The use of a dark dinner jacket without tails became fashionable at the club with the members, and the tradition spread from there. The country club was located in Tuxedo Park, New York, giving the style of dress its name.

“Duds” is an informal word meaning “clothing”. The term comes from the word “dudde” that was used around 1300 as the name for a cloak.

66 Nice round number? : PAR

That would be a round of golf.

67 Bollywood megastar Aishwarya ___ : RAI

Not only is Aishwarya Rai one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actresses, she is a a former Miss World, having won the pageant in 1994.

“Bollywood” is the informal name given to the huge film industry based in Mumbai in India. The term “Bollywood” is a melding of “Bombay” (the former name of Mumbai), and “Hollywood”.

71 Grammy category won multiple times by Kendrick Lamar : BEST RAP PERFORMANCE

Kendrick Lamar is a hip-hop singer from Compton, California. Lamar’s full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, with the singer’s given name honoring Motown artist Eddie Kendricks. Notably, his 2017 album “Damn” won a Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz album to do so.

88 There’s a famous “half” one in Yosemite National Park : DOME

Half Dome is a famous peak in the Yosemite National Park in California. It is a granite crest that rises to almost 5,000 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley. Coin collectors can see Half Dome in the background of the California State Quarter, along with naturalist John Muir and the California condor.

90 Vessel protected by Hera : ARGO

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts sailed on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece. The vessel was called “Argo” in honor of the ship’s builder, a man named Argus.

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

102 Hoodwink : SCAM

“To hoodwink” has had the meaning “to deceive” since about 1600. Prior to that it meant simply “to blindfold”, and is simply a combination of the words “hood” and “wink”.

104 Get snake eyes, say : ROLL A TWO

“Snake eyes” is a slang term describing a roll of two dice in which one pip turns up on each die.

113 Oscar winner for his role as a Mexican narc in “Traffic” : BENICIO DEL TORO

Benicio Del Toro is an actor from Puerto Rico. He is an Academy Award winner, for the role he played in “Traffic”, released in 2000. He also played the title role in the 2008 movie “Che”.

“Traffic” is a crime drama film released in 2000 that is focused on the illegal drug traffic that enters the US over the southern border. The movie is actually an adaptation of a British television series called “Traffik”.

118 Major piece : OPUS

The Latin for “work” is “opus”, with the plural being “opera”. We sometimes use the plural “opuses” in English, but that just annoys me …

119 Miniature for a World War II buff : MODEL TANK

A buff, fiend, junkie or nut is one who is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a subject, someone who is a devotee.

123 Recess for prayer : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

Down

2 It’s 50/50 : ONE

50 divided by 50 comes to 1.

4 Buckaroos : MOOLA

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

“Buck” is a slang term for “dollar”. The term has been around at least since 1856, and is thought to derive from the tradition of using buckskin as a unit of trade with Native Americans during the frontier days.

5 Mint : PRISTINE

Something described as pristine has its original purity, is uncorrupted.

6 Fictional pilot with the line “You like me because I’m a scoundrel” : HAN SOLO

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

8 Milk for un café : LECHE

In Spanish, “un café” (a coffee) might be served with “leche” (milk).

18 Wood that’s resistant to warping : TEAK

Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family that is commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia. Teak’s tight grain and high oil content make it very suitable for constructing outdoor furniture, where weather resistance is valued. For the same reason, teak is the wood of choice for wooden decks on boats.

20 Mountain chain that stretches from Kazakhstan to the Arctic : URALS

The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

The Republic of Kazakhstan in Central Asia is the world’s largest landlocked country. Kazakhstan was also the last of the former Soviet Republics (SSRs) to declare itself independent from Russia.

24 Do a waving motion by the ocean, say : HULA

The hula is a native dance of Hawaii that uses arm movements to relate a story. The hula can be performed while sitting (a noho dance) or while standing (a luna dance).

29 “That proves it” : QED!

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

32 Shade similar to verdigris : TEAL GREEN

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

38 Region with a Unification Flag for sporting events : KOREA

The 2018 Winter Olympic Games was held in Pyeongchang, a county in the north of South Korea.The games were somewhat overshadowed by political tension in the region in the wake of the testing of nuclear weapons by North Korea. With several nations threatening to pull out of the games due to security concerns, the North and South Korean governments made the gesture of having their athletes participate in the opening ceremony under a Korean Unification Flag.

43 It really blows : GALE

A gale is a very strong wind, one defined by the Beaufort scale as having wind speeds from 50 to just over 100 kilometers per hour.

45 Knucklehead : DODO

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1681) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when man arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

47 Flinch (at) : BALK

To balk is to stop and refuse to go on. It’s not just a baseball term …

50 Cable network with movies like “Sharktopus” and “Mansquito” : SYFY

Syfy is a cable television that used to be known as “Sci-Fi Channel”, which of course specializes in broadcasting science fiction shows. The brand name “Syfy” was chosen because “Syfy” could be trademarked whereas the generic term “sci-fi” could not.

52 Least klutzy : DEFTEST

A klutz is an awkward individual, with the term “klutz” coming from Yiddish. The Yiddish word for a clumsy person is “klots”.

56 Pending : IN LIMBO

In the Roman Catholic tradition, “Limbo” is a place where souls can remain who cannot enter heaven. For example, infants who have not been baptized are said to reside in Limbo. Limbo is said to be located on the border of Hell. The name was chosen during the Middle Ages from the Latin “limbo” meaning “ornamental border to a fringe”. We use the phrase “in limbo” in contemporary English to mean “in a state of uncertainty”.

58 Risqué communiqué : SEXT

Sexting (a portmanteau of “sex” and “texting”) is the sending of explicit dialog and images between cell phones. The term “sexting” was coined by the UK’s “Sunday Telegraph Magazine” in a 2005 article.

60 Ancient home to Priam’s Treasure : TROY

Priam was King of Troy during the Trojan War. Reputedly, Priam was father to fifty sons and many daughters with his many wives. His eldest son and heir to the throne was Hector. Paris was another of Priam’s sons, the man who caused the Trojan War by eloping with Helen, Queen of Sparta.

69 Cold that just won’t go away? : ICE AGE

Ice ages are periods in the Earth’s history when there are extensive ice sheets present in the northern and southern hemispheres. One might argue that we are still in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago, as evidenced by the presence of ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.

71 Gooey spread : BRIE

Brie is a soft cheese that is named for the French region in which it originated. Brie is similar to the equally famous (and delicious) Camembert. Brie is often served baked in puff pastry with fig jam.

72 Where gymnast Simone Biles won four golds : RIO

Simone Biles holds the record for the most gold medals won by an American gymnast in a single Olympic Games. She achieved the feat at the 2016 games held in Rio.

73 One-celled organism : AMEBA

An ameba (also “amoeba”) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

75 Photog’s setting : F-STOP

Varying the f-stop in a lens varies how big the lens opening (the aperture) is when a photograph is taken. Smaller apertures (higher f-stop values) admit less light, but result in a greater depth of field (more of the photograph is in focus).

76 Name of the girl on “Game of Thrones” who said “A girl has no name” : ARYA

Maisie Williams is the English actress who plays the tomboyish young girl Arya Stark on the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones”.

78 Beehive material : HAIR

That distinctive beehive hairstyle is also called a B-52, because the round, beehive-shape also resembles the bulbous nose of a B-52 bomber! The style originated in 1958, and is credited to Margaret Vinci Heldt, the owner of a hair salon in downtown Chicago. I’m not a fan of the beehive, but I do have to say that Audrey Hepburn carried it off in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”, as did Dusty Springfield in her heyday.

79 Annual May race, informally : INDY

The Indianapolis 500 race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race is run around a 2.5 mile oval, hence requiring 200 laps for completion. The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly, that was the first ever use of a rear-view mirror on a motor vehicle.

84 One of three characters in “M*A*S*H” : ASTERISK

“M*A*S*H” has only three stars (three asterisks, that is). These asterisks first appeared on the poster for the 1970 movie, but they were omitted in the opening titles. The TV series went on to use the asterisks from the poster.

95 Gillette razor name : TRAC

Gillette introduced the Trac II in 1971. The Trac II was the world’s first twin-blade razor.

97 Literature Nobelist Bellow : SAUL

Saul Bellow was the only writer to win the National Book Award three times. He also won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. Bellow was a Canadian-born American writer, and among his most famous works were “Herzog” and “Humboldt’s Gift”.

100 Sandwich supposedly named after low-income New Orleans workers : PO’ BOY

A po’ boy is a submarine sandwich from Louisiana. There are a lot of theories about where the name came from, and none sound too convincing to me. A po’ boy differs from a regular submarine sandwich in that it uses Louisiana French bread, which is soft in the middle and crusty on the outside.

101 Begins a triathlon : SWIMS

An Ironman Triathlon is a race involving a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon run of just over 26 miles. The idea for the race came out of a debate between some runners in the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay. They were questioning whether runners, swimmers or bikers were the most fit athletes. The debaters decided to combine three local events to determine the answer, inviting athletes from all three disciplines. The events that were mimicked in the first triathlon were the Waikiki Roughwater swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). The idea was that whoever finishes first would be called “the Iron Man”. The first triathlon was run in 1978, with fifteen starters and only twelve finishers. The race format is used all over the world now, but the Hawaiian Ironman is the event that everyone wants to win.

103 Like the clue for 103-Down? : META

In recent decades the prefix “meta-” has been 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.

106 Hard vehicle to park : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

109 Telenovela, e.g. : SOAP

A telenovela is a “television novel”, a form of programming that is very popular in Latin America. A telenovela is somewhat like a soap opera that has an end in sight, and that runs for less than a year. I like this quote from an executive at Telemundo:

A telenovela is all about a couple who wants to kiss and a scriptwriter who stands in their way for 150 episodes.

114 Org. with lots of money to waste? : EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Muhammad Ali’s “Me! Whee!,” e.g. : POEM
5 “S.N.L.” alum Hartman : PHIL
9 Start off on the wrong foot, maybe? : TRIP
13 Contaminate : INFECT
19 What may be in a star’s orbit : ENTOURAGE
21 Throw with power : HURL
22 Alleviate : SOOTHE
23 Sheep’s milk product that’s often grated : PECORINO CHEESE
25 Classic name for the land north of England : SCOTIA
26 Course taken in shorts, often : PE CLASS
27 “Ya don’t say!” : HUH!
28 765-foot-long “water coaster” on Disney cruises : AQUADUCK
30 Countertenor : ALTO
31 SWAT team or Navy SEAL group, e.g. : ELITE SQUAD
34 Name that sounds like two letters of the alphabet : ARI
37 Epitome of smoothness : SILK
39 “Roots” author Haley : ALEX
40 Shocker, at times : EEL
41 With 44-Across, it goes around every hour : BIG …
44 See 41-Across : … HAND
46 Gaming novice, slangily : NOOB
48 Secured skates, with “up” : LACED …
50 Float component : SODA
51 Act as a blueprint for, as DNA for proteins : ENCODE
53 Brawled, in the backwoods : RASSLED
55 “Howdy, everybody!” : HI, Y’ALL!
57 Withstand : ABIDE
58 Fly off the shelves : SELL
59 Like bread made from almond flour : GLUTEN FREE
61 “Oh, hell yes!” : ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY!
64 Turn red, say : DYE
65 Certain formal duds : TUX
66 Nice round number? : PAR
67 Bollywood megastar Aishwarya ___ : RAI
68 “My dear man” : SIR
71 Grammy category won multiple times by Kendrick Lamar : BEST RAP PERFORMANCE
77 Racy selfie posted for likes on social media, in modern lingo : THIRST TRAP
80 Not a problem : EASY
81 Kennel club category : BREED
82 Makeup table : VANITY
83 “Dead serious!” : I MEAN IT!
85 “And, uh, that about covers it” : SO, YEAH
86 Supporting role : AIDE
87 New students at Princeton or Yale in 1969 : COEDS
88 There’s a famous “half” one in Yosemite National Park : DOME
90 Vessel protected by Hera : ARGO
91 Uninteresting : DRY
92 Encouraging cry : RAH!
94 Bottom : BUTT
96 Saves, with “away” : PUTS …
98 “Ain’t dead ___!” : YET
99 They often come to professors with excuses : LATE PAPERS
102 Hoodwink : SCAM
104 Get snake eyes, say : ROLL A TWO
107 Lacking experience : RAW
108 Aligns, in a wood shop : TRUES UP
112 Set straight : ORIENT
113 Oscar winner for his role as a Mexican narc in “Traffic” : BENICIO DEL TORO
117 Price to pay, informally : DAMAGE
118 Major piece : OPUS
119 Miniature for a World War II buff : MODEL TANK
120 Were running mates? : ELOPED
121 Quite a jerk : YANK
122 Make an appearance : SHOW
123 Recess for prayer : APSE

Down

1 Verve : PEP
2 It’s 50/50 : ONE
3 “That kinda stuff”: Abbr. : ETC
4 Buckaroos : MOOLA
5 Mint : PRISTINE
6 Fictional pilot with the line “You like me because I’m a scoundrel” : HAN SOLO
7 “Here ___ again” : I GO
8 Milk for un café : LECHE
9 Onetime MTV reality series filmed near Hollywood : THE HILLS
10 Recall regretfully : RUE
11 Auditing org. : IRS
12 Courtroom statements : PLEAS
13 Bone to pick : ISSUE
14 Lighter than lite : NO-CAL
15 Word after soul or solid : … FOOD
16 “You, too?!,” playfully : ET TU?!
17 Smart : CHIC
18 Wood that’s resistant to warping : TEAK
20 Mountain chain that stretches from Kazakhstan to the Arctic : URALS
24 Do a waving motion by the ocean, say : HULA
29 “That proves it” : QED!
32 Shade similar to verdigris : TEAL GREEN
33 Distinguish oneself : EXCEL
34 Positioned to win : AHEAD
35 Shared with for quick feedback : RAN BY
36 Cut into : INCISE
38 Region with a Unification Flag for sporting events : KOREA
41 Pen pa? : BOAR
42 Just hanging out : IDLE
43 It really blows : GALE
45 Knucklehead : DODO
47 Flinch (at) : BALK
49 Ending for a dean’s address : EDU
50 Cable network with movies like “Sharktopus” and “Mansquito” : SYFY
52 Least klutzy : DEFTEST
54 Made a boo-boo : SLIPPED UP
55 “I won’t ___ it!” : HEAR
56 Pending : IN LIMBO
58 Risqué communiqué : SEXT
60 Ancient home to Priam’s Treasure : TROY
62 Out of practice : RUSTY
63 Quick refresher : NAP
68 Visibly scornful : SNEERY
69 Cold that just won’t go away? : ICE AGE
70 Super-popular : RED HOT
71 Gooey spread : BRIE
72 Where gymnast Simone Biles won four golds : RIO
73 One-celled organism : AMEBA
74 Enter unannounced, in a way : RAID
75 Photog’s setting : F-STOP
76 Name of the girl on “Game of Thrones” who said “A girl has no name” : ARYA
77 Spot between programs, e.g. : TV AD
78 Beehive material : HAIR
79 Annual May race, informally : INDY
84 One of three characters in “M*A*S*H” : ASTERISK
85 Ones behind the scenes : SET CREW
87 Consider, with “on” : CHEW …
89 High-priority item : MUST-DO
92 Vocalist’s asset : RANGE
93 Directly criticized on Twitter with an “@” : ATTED
95 Gillette razor name : TRAC
97 Literature Nobelist Bellow : SAUL
99 Bit of faulty logic : LEAP
100 Sandwich supposedly named after low-income New Orleans workers : PO’ BOY
101 Begins a triathlon : SWIMS
103 Like the clue for 103-Down? : META
104 Teased incessantly : RODE
105 Kind of cavity : ORAL
106 Hard vehicle to park : LIMO
109 Telenovela, e.g. : SOAP
110 Some drink dispensers : URNS
111 Extend (out) : POKE
114 Org. with lots of money to waste? : EPA
115 Order member : NUN
116 “Ver-r-ry interesting!” : OOH!

10 thoughts on “0425-21 NY Times Crossword 25 Apr 21, Sunday”

  1. 42:27 with a couple look-ups. I was doing this between midnight and 1:00 a.m. and got stuck in the block for 77A, 82A, 86A, 91A and apparently my Xword lizard brain was asleep. So I got impatient and did some lookups. I got the theme of repeating the grayed cells about 20 minutes in, but didn’t realize they represented muscles until I was finished. But the whole left 1/3 of the puzzle seemed to give me trouble.

  2. 20:03, the final 2-ish to find and fix a couple errors. Warmup for the last ACPT puzzle today.

    Never thought I’d see “ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY” in the puzzle, which made me smile.

  3. 36:30 after finding and fixing a one-square fat-fingering from early in the solve. (Getting real tempted to go back to working on paper … at least on Sunday … as I’ve said before, large grids simply don’t work well on an iPad Mini … 😳.)

  4. 29:09. Saw the theme early and used it often. Very clever construction that, strangely, made the puzzle a little easier.

    I have some TEAK furniture outside and love it. You have to stain it annually to keep it the original honey color. Otherwise, it turns gray/silver which looks nice on a ranch but not by a pool.

    Good one today.

    Best –

  5. Well, that was a thing. 55:52 with some lookups. Never got the flow going. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought there were a lot of obscure clues/answers in this one. Did not enjoy.

    1. Not just obscure, but some pretty lame clue answers. The logic for some was “a stretch.”

  6. 51:22 Also solved between midnight and 1:30 AM, no major issues other than initially having “aquadeck” instead of “aquaduck”, which I resolved via my daughter one time zone earlier. Took a while to get the theme/gimmick as I try to solve the Sunday puzzle without looking at the puzzle name.

  7. The only good thing about this one is that it’s over and I will never (hopefully) ever see it again👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎👎.
    Stay safe😀

  8. 43:46, no errors. Apparently we have been exposed to THIRST TRAPS every time we log onto the internet. Just never realized there was a simple term for egotistical prima donna’s.

  9. Took longer than expected.. got the theme early enough but still got hung up in places where clues like “in lingo” scare me.. there were a couple I’ve never heard of..

    Just recently saw SICARIO with BENICIO DEL TORO… Wow, powerful performance.. that guy is something else.

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