Constructed by: Christina Iverson & Katie Hale
Edited by: Will Shortz
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme: Body Language
Themed answers each reference a body part. The appearance of the answer in the grid is needed to fully interpret each answer:
- 30A With 12-Down, spend much more than a fair price : PAY (through THE NOSE)
- 12D See 30-Across : THE NOSE
- 69A With 74-Across, gesture of approval : PAT (on THE BACK)
- 74A See 69-Across : THE BACK
- 83A Petty : small-MINDED
- 113A Insincere, as a remark : TONGUE in CHEEK
- 7D Walk around at a rest stop, say : stretch ONE’S LEGS
- 110D With 111-Down, in cooperation : SIDE by SIDE
- 111D See 110-Down : SIDE
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… a complete list of answers
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Bill’s time: 24m 20s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
10 Portrayer of the boxer Clubber Lang in “Rocky III” : MR T
Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.
“Rocky III” is the movie in which Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) goes up against Clubber Lang (Mr. T). “Rocky III” is a forgettable film, but Mr. T was grateful for his role no doubt as it launched his career and landed him a spot on television’s “The A-Team”. Also making an appearance was professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, an appearance that raised his profile as well and kick-started his career outside of the ring. But for me the most memorable thing is the song “Eye of the Tiger”, which was commissioned for “Rocky III”. A great tune …
20 Govt. organization with a two-syllable acronym : OSHA
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
22 Kind of clarinet : ALTO
The clarinet is a lovely-sounding instrument, isn’t it? The name “clarinet” comes from the Italian word “clarino” meaning “trumpet”, with the “-et” suffix indicating “small”.
24 It empties into the Bay of Bengal : GANGES RIVER
The River Ganges rises in the western Himalaya and flows through the northeast of India before crossing into Bangladesh where it enters the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges is worshiped by Hindus as the goddess Ganga, and is the most sacred of all rivers in Hinduism.
The Bay of Bengal, in the Indian Ocean, is the largest bay in the world.
26 Radar spot : BLIP
Scientists have been using radio waves to detect the presence of objects since the late 1800s, but it was the demands of WWII that accelerated the practical application of the technology. The British called their system RDF standing for Range and Direction Finding. The system used by the US Navy was called “Radio Detection And Ranging”, which was shortened to the acronym “RADAR”.
32 Lay ___ to : SIEGE
Our word “siege” comes from a 13th-century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.
34 Question that’s not one of the five W’s : HOW?
The Five Ws (or “Five Ws and one H”) is a journalistic concept used for gathering information. For a story to be complete, six questions need to be answered:
- Who is it about?
- What happened?
- Where did it take place?
- When did it take place?
- Why did it happen?
- How did it happen?
37 Ticket fig. : MPH
The first speed limit introduced on a road system was in 1861 in the UK. The limit back then was 10 mph, and this was reduced a few years later to 4 mph in the country, and 2 mph in towns. The highest speed limit ever posted was in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates from 2005 to 2010, a maximum of 160 km/hr (99 mph). Famously, the autobahns of Germany have no speed limit in rural uncongested areas.
40 Wisteria and honeysuckle : CREEPERS
Wisteria is a genus of flowering plants in the bean family. As such, wisterias climb up any available support by twining their stems around that support. They have been known to climb as high as 65 feet off the ground, and can spread over very large areas. The largest known single wisteria plant has spread over an acre of ground, and is estimated to weigh about 250 tons.
42 Video game character in a hit 2020 film : SONIC
Sonic the Hedgehog is a title character in a videogame and the mascot of Sega, the computer game developer. Sonic was set up as a rival to Nintendo’s mascot Mario.
45 Belief of roughly 25% of the world’s population : ISLAM
Over 50% of the world’s population consider themselves to be adherents of the “big three” Abrahamic religions: Christianity (2-2.2 billion), Islam (1.6-1.7 billion) and Judaism (14-18 million).
46 Director Craven : WES
Wes Craven was a very successful film director and writer specializing in movies of the horror genre, which means that I don’t watch them! He was responsible for “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and the “Scream” films. Craven passed away in August 2015.
55 Vape’s lack : ASH
An electronic cigarette (also called an “e-cigarette”) is a battery-powered device that resembles a real cigarette. The e-cigarette vaporizes a solution that contains nicotine, forming a vapor that resembles smoke. The vapor is inhaled in a process called “vaping”, delivering nicotine into the body. The assumption is that an e-cigarette is healthier than a regular cigarette as the inhaled vapor is less harmful than inhaled smoke. But, that may not be so …
56 Martini & Rossi product, familiarly : ASTI
The company that is today known as Martini & Rossi was started in the mid-1800s in Italy, by Alessandro Martini and Luigi Rossi (and a third partner who sold out years later). From day one it was focused on bottling the fortified wine known as vermouth. Nowadays, the company is also famous for its sparkling wines, and its sponsorship of Grand Prix racing teams. And yes, the famous cocktail is probably named for Mr. Martini.
57 Emmy-winning Ward : SELA
Actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. More recently, Ward played a lead role on “CSI: NY” and was a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast. And, Ward played Dr. Richard Kimble’s murdered wife in the 1993 film version of “The Fugitive”.
59 Fly around Africa : TSETSE
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.
65 Deseret News reader, typically : UTAHAN
When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag. In 1959, “Industry” was even chosen as the state motto, for the term’s association with the beehive.
67 Professor ___ : EMERITA
“Emeritus” (female form “emerita”, and plural “emeriti”) is a term in the title of some retired professionals, particularly those from academia. Originally an emeritus was a veteran soldier who had served his time. The term comes from the Latin verb “emerere” meaning to complete one’s service.
80 Feudal land : FIEF
In the days of feudalism, a “fief” was basically a “fee” (the words “fee” and “fief” have the same origins) paid by a Lord in exchange for some benefit to him, perhaps loyalty, or military service. The fief itself was often land granted by the Lord. We use the term “fiefdom” (and sometimes “fief) figuratively, to describe a sphere of operation controlled by one dominant person or entity.
81 O’s, but not P’s or Q’s : TEAM
The Baltimore Orioles (also the O’s, the Birds) are one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team had roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.
84 Some posers : YOGIS
A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.
86 Self-titled rock album of 1958 : BUDDY HOLLY
Famously, Buddy Holly had a tragically short career as a professional musician. Holly was killed in a plane crash in 1959, along with fellow-performers Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (aka “the Big Bopper”). Buddy’s family name was actually spelled “Holley”, with the “Holly” spelling arising due to an error on the contract that he signed with Decca Records in 1956. He decided to adopt “Buddy Holly” as a stage name from then on, although the “Holley” spelling appears on his gravestone in Lubbock, Texas.
91 Smoking spot, for short? : PSA
Public service announcement (PSA)
92 Former baseball commissioner Bud : SELIG
Bud Selig was the Commissioner of Baseball for Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2015. Selig became acting commissioner in 1992 after the resignation of Fay Vincent. The team owners searched for a new commissioner for six years, and finally gave the permanent job to Selig in 1998.
98 Ending with bear or bull : -ISH
The terms “bull market” and “bear market” come from the way in which each animal attacks. A bull thrusts his horns upwards (an “up” market), whereas a bear swipes with his paws downward (a “down” market).
99 “Uncle!” : YOU WIN!
To say uncle is to submit or yield. This peculiarly American use of “uncle” dates back to the early 1900s, but nobody seems to know how “uncle!” came to mean “stop!”
101 Rocker Rose : AXL
Axl Rose is the lead vocalist of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses.
105 Letters that might change your mind? : LSD
LSD (known colloquially as “acid”) is lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist named 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 …
116 Kristen of “Bridesmaids” : WIIG
“Bridesmaids” is a 2011 comedy movie co-written by and starring Kristen Wiig. I wasn’t crazy about this film until Chris O’Dowd turned up as a traffic cop. Wiig and O’Dowd were great together, I thought. Pity about the rest of the movie …
118 Jaunty : PERT
Our words “jaunty” and “genteel” are related in that they both derive from the French “gentil” meaning “nice, pleasing”. In modern usage, someone described as jaunty has a buoyant air. Someone described as genteel is refined in manner.
121 Old Icelandic work : EDDA
“Poetic Edda” and “Prose Edda” are two ancient works that are the source for much of Norse mythology. Both Eddas were written in 13th-century Iceland.
122 Fivers : ABES
The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.
124 Greek performance venue : ODEON
In ancient Greece, an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.
125 Alternative to Wranglers : LEES
The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.
Wrangler is a manufacturer of jeans headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina. Wrangler jeans were first made in the mid-1940s and were designed specifically for use by cowboys in rodeos.
Down
1 Blues group, for short? : NHL
The St. Louis Blues hockey team takes its name from the song “St. Louis Blues”, a jazz and popular music classic.
3 Loretta who sang “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” : LYNN
Singer Loretta Lynn is sometimes referred to as the First Lady of Country Music. Lynn was born in 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Kentucky to a coal miner and his wife, and so famously is also referred to as “the Coal Miner’s Daughter”. Her much younger sister (by 19 years) is the singer Crystal Gayle.
4 Cold climate cryptids : YETIS
The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.
5 “The ___ they are …” : BIGGER
… the harder they fall.
6 Messenger ___ : RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.
8 “Bus Stop” playwright : INGE
During his career, dramatist William Inge was known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”, as many of his works were set in the American heartland and explored small town life. When Inge was 60 years old, he committed suicide by poisoning himself with carbon monoxide. He was buried in his hometown of Independence, Kansas. Inge’s grave is marked with a headstone that reads simply “Playwright”.
“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.
11 Invitation letters : RSVP
“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.
14 Actress Burstyn : ELLEN
Ellen Burstyn is a wonderful actress from Detroit, Michigan. My favorite Burstyn performance is in the 1978 movie “Same Time, Next Year” opposite Alan Alda. Actually, she had appeared since 1975 in the original stage play that inspired that film. On stage, Burstyn acted opposite Charles Grodin in “Same Time, Next Year”, and won a Tony for her performance.
21 Indo-___ languages : ARYAN
The Indo-Aryans are a collection of peoples that speak languages that share the same linguistic roots, traced back to the ancient Indo-Iranian peoples. Included in the Indo-Aryan group of peoples are the Bengali people, the Gurkhas, the Kashmiri people and the Punjabi people.
25 They’re numbered in Microsoft Excel : ROWS
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program included in the Microsoft Office suite of applications. Microsoft’s first spreadsheet program was introduced back in 1982 and called Multiplan. Multiplan’s popularity waned due to the success of the competing product Lotus 1-2-3. Microsoft then introduced Excel, initially just for the Macintosh. When Excel was extended to Windows, Lotus was slow to respond and Microsoft took over the market.
33 Theodor ___ a.k.a. Dr. Seuss : GEISEL
“Dr. Seuss” was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel first used the pen name while studying at Dartmouth College and at the University of Oxford. Back then, he pronounced “Seuss” as it would be in German, i.e. rhyming with “voice”. After his books found success in the US, he went with the pronunciation being used widely by the public, quite happy to have a name that rhymes with “Mother Goose”.
36 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones film franchise, for short : MIB
“Men in black” (MIB) are said to have appeared in the past whenever there have been reports of UFO sightings. Supposedly, these men are government agents whose job it is to suppress reports of alien landings. The conspiracy theorists got their day in the movies with the release of a pretty good sci-fi comedy in 1997 called “Men in Black”, starring Will Smith (as Agent J) and Tommy Lee Jones (as Agent K).
37 Flat-earther? : MESA
“Mesa” is the Spanish for “table” and is how we get the term “mesa” that describes the geographic feature. A mesa is similar to a butte. Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, taller than it is wide.
46 Take by force : WREST
The verb “to wrest” can mean to obtain by violent twisting and pulling. The term comes from the Middle English “wresten” meaning “to twist”. Our word “wrestling” has the same etymology.
48 Wood strip : LATH
The words “lath” and “lattice” have the same root in Old French. Laths are thin strips of wood that are nailed across a frame forming a backing to which plaster can be applied to finish a wall. The term is also used for the main elements in a trellis, or the lengths of wood in a roof to which shingles are nailed.
49 Peak in the “Odyssey” : OSSA
Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mount Pelion in the south, and the famed Mount Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.
“Odyssey” is one of two epic poems from ancient Greece that are attributed to Homer. “Odyssey” is largely a sequel to Homer’s other epic “Iliad”. “Odyssey” centers on the heroic figure Odysseus, and his adventures on his journey home to Greece following the fall of Troy. We now use the term “odyssey” to describe any long series of adventures.
50 One of the five W’s : WHEN
The Five Ws (or “Five Ws and one H”) is a journalistic concept used for gathering information. For a story to be complete, six questions need to be answered:
- Who is it about?
- What happened?
- Where did it take place?
- When did it take place?
- Why did it happen?
- How did it happen?
52 Arcane matters : ESOTERY
Something described as esoteric is meant only for a select few with special knowledge. The term “esoteric” comes from the Greek “esoterikos” meaning “belonging to an inner circle”.
53 Panache : FLAIR
Someone exhibiting panache is showing dash and verve, and perhaps has a swagger. “Panache” is a French word used for a plume of feathers, especially one in a hat.
54 Leave gobsmacked : STUPEFY
“Gobsmack” is slang from Britain and Ireland. “Gob” is also slang, for “mouth”. So someone who is gobsmacked has received a smack in the “mouth”, is stunned.
63 Flatten : RAZE
To raze (“rase”, in UK English) is to level to the ground. I’ve always thought it a little quirky that “raise”, a homophone of “raze”, means “build up”.
64 Lilies with bell-shaped flowers : SEGOS
The sego lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.
72 City SW of York : LEEDS
I went to school for a while not far from Leeds in West Yorkshire in the north of England. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, Leeds was a major center for the production and trading of wool, and then with the onset of mechanization it became a natural hub for manufacture of textiles. These days Leeds is noted as a shopping destination and so has been dubbed “the Knightsbridge of the North”.
76 Instruments with endpins : CELLI
The word “cello” (plural “celli” or “cellos”) is an abbreviation for “violoncello”, an Italian word for “little violone”, referring to a group of stringed instruments that were popular up to the end of the 17th century. The name violoncello persisted for the instrument that we know today, although the abbreviation “‘cello” was often used. Nowadays, we just drop the apostrophe.
80 F on a gauge : FULL
When gassing up a car, the fuel gauge might go from empty (E) to full (F).
86 Vegas venue with an iconic fountain : BELLAGIO
The Bellagio is a hotel and casino in Las Vegas that is named for the Italian town of Bellagio located on Lake Como. Famously, the hotel features its own artificial lake that covers 8 acres on the front of the property in which there is a large dancing water fountain.
89 Candy bar fillings : NOUGATS
“Nougat” is an Occitan word (Occitania being a region of Southern Europe) that translates as “nut bread”.
92 Vikings’ foes : SAXONS
Germanic tribes invaded Great Britain from the early 5th century and created the nation that we now call England. The Anglo-Saxons (sometimes simply “Saxons”), as these tribes came to be called, held sway in the country until the Norman Conquest in 1066. The Anglo-Saxons were descendants of three Germanic tribes:
- The Angles, from Angeln in Northern Germany (and the tribe that gave the name “England”).
- The Saxons, from Lower Saxony and Holland.
- The Jutes, from the Jutland peninsula in Denmark.
The Vikings were a Germanic people from northern Europe who were noted as great seafarers. Key to the success of the Vikings was the design of their famous “longships”. Made from wood, the longship was long and narrow with a shallow hull, It was also light, so that the crew would actually carry it small distances over land and around obstacles. Longships were designed to be propelled by both sail and oars.
95 A goose egg : ZILCH
We use the term “zilch” to mean “nothing”. Our current usage evolved in the sixties, before which the term was used to describe “meaningless speech”. There was a comic character called Mr. Zilch in the 1930s in “Ballyhoo” magazine. Mr. Zilch’s name probably came from the American college slang “Joe Zilch” that was used in the early 1900s for “an insignificant person”.
The use of the phrase “goose egg” to mean “zero” is baseball slang that dates back to the 1860s. The etymology is as expected: the numeral zero and a goose egg are both large and round.
96 One reporting to an underboss : CAPO
More properly called a caporegime, a capo is a high-ranking member of the Mafia (Cosa Nostra).
97 Nauseate : SICKEN
Nausea is a sick feeling in the stomach. The term “nausea” derives from the Greek “naus” meaning “ship”. Originally, nausea was associated only with seasickness.
103 One holding things together, perhaps : DOWEL
A dowel is a rod made from plastic, wood or metal. In its complete form, it is referred to as a “dowel rod”. We are perhaps more used to the rod cut into short lengths known as “dowel pins”.
104 “___, Can You Hear Me?” (Oscar-nominated song from “Yentl”) : PAPA
“Yentl” is a play that opened in New York City in 1975. The move to adapt the play for the big screen was led by Barbra Streisand, and indeed she wrote the first outline of a musical version herself as far back as 1968. The film was eventually made and released in 1983, with Streisand performing the lead role.
108 Lemon or cheese product : CURD
When milk curdles it separates into two parts, the solid curds and the liquid whey.
114 Sea-___ Airport : TAC
Sea-Tac Airport (SEA) is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.
115 Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
“Equal Employment Opportunity” (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Almost : NEARLY
5 Oven setting : BROIL
10 Portrayer of the boxer Clubber Lang in “Rocky III” : MR T
13 In case : LEST
17 When repeated, old-time call to listen : HEAR YE
18 Part of a prank : IN ON IT
20 Govt. organization with a two-syllable acronym : OSHA
22 Kind of clarinet : ALTO
23 Came to know, old-style : LEARNT
24 It empties into the Bay of Bengal : GANGES RIVER
26 Radar spot : BLIP
27 Bringing in, as income : EARNING
29 “Keen!” : NEATO!
30 With 12-Down, spend much more than a fair price : PAY (through THE NOSE)
31 Department store department : MEN’S
32 Lay ___ to : SIEGE
34 Question that’s not one of the five W’s : HOW?
35 Big consideration for the expecting : NAMING
37 Ticket fig. : MPH
40 Wisteria and honeysuckle : CREEPERS
42 Video game character in a hit 2020 film : SONIC
43 Educator/writer ___ Johnson McDougald, first African American female principal in New York City public schools : ELISE
45 Belief of roughly 25% of the world’s population : ISLAM
46 Director Craven : WES
47 Downstairs : BELOW
51 Kept in : SUPPRESSED
53 Lets out : FREES
55 Vape’s lack : ASH
56 Martini & Rossi product, familiarly : ASTI
57 Emmy-winning Ward : SELA
58 Took down, in a way : SLEW
59 Fly around Africa : TSETSE
62 Doughy dinner item : HOT ROLL
64 Drug agent’s seizure : STASH
65 Deseret News reader, typically : UTAHAN
66 Did nothing : SAT
67 Professor ___ : EMERITA
69 With 74-Across, gesture of approval : PAT (on THE BACK)
70 On fire : ABLAZE
73 Chomping at the bit : EAGER
74 See 69-Across : THE BACK
78 One cutting down, so to speak : DIETER
79 What babies do faster than college students : GROW
80 Feudal land : FIEF
81 O’s, but not P’s or Q’s : TEAM
83 Petty : small-MINDED
84 Some posers : YOGIS
86 Self-titled rock album of 1958 : BUDDY HOLLY
88 Quaint contraction : ‘TISN’T
91 Smoking spot, for short? : PSA
92 Former baseball commissioner Bud : SELIG
93 Sound, e.g. : INLET
94 Moves like muck : OOZES
96 I.T. help center, often : CALL DESK
98 Ending with bear or bull : -ISH
99 “Uncle!” : YOU WIN!
101 Rocker Rose : AXL
102 Heard in court : TRIED
104 Promotion : PLUG
105 Letters that might change your mind? : LSD
107 Prepare, in a way, as eggs : POACH
109 Irritable : CROSS
112 En voz ___ (aloud: Sp.) : ALTA
113 Insincere, as a remark : TONGUE in CHEEK
116 Kristen of “Bridesmaids” : WIIG
118 Jaunty : PERT
119 Counterpart of “adios” : HOLA
120 “Yes” or “No” follower : … SIRREE
121 Old Icelandic work : EDDA
122 Fivers : ABES
123 Idiosyncrasy : TIC
124 Greek performance venue : ODEON
125 Alternative to Wranglers : LEES
Down
1 Blues group, for short? : NHL
2 Fully ready to listen : all EARs
3 Loretta who sang “You Ain’t Woman Enough (To Take My Man)” : LYNN
4 Cold climate cryptids : YETIS
5 “The ___ they are …” : BIGGER
6 Messenger ___ : RNA
7 Walk around at a rest stop, say : stretch ONE’S LEGS
8 “Bus Stop” playwright : INGE
9 Be in store : LIE AHEAD
10 “Who, me?” : MOI?
11 Invitation letters : RSVP
12 See 30-Across : THE NOSE
13 Subjects of some tests : LAB MICE
14 Actress Burstyn : ELLEN
15 What some insects and insults can do : STING
16 Primo : TOPS
19 Bit of bad weather, on a weather map : T-STORM
21 Indo-___ languages : ARYAN
25 They’re numbered in Microsoft Excel : ROWS
28 More agreeable : NICER
33 Theodor ___ a.k.a. Dr. Seuss : GEISEL
36 Will Smith/Tommy Lee Jones film franchise, for short : MIB
37 Flat-earther? : MESA
38 Like many a stuffed toy : PLUSH
39 Aware of : HIP TO
41 Word that, fittingly, contains all four different letters of APPEAL : PLEA
42 Question following a clever trick : SEE WHAT I DID THERE?
44 Shows scorn toward : SPITS AT
46 Take by force : WREST
48 Wood strip : LATH
49 Peak in the “Odyssey” : OSSA
50 One of the five W’s : WHEN
52 Arcane matters : ESOTERY
53 Panache : FLAIR
54 Leave gobsmacked : STUPEFY
58 Scatter : STREW
60 Sudden sharp pain : STAB
61 Have seconds and thirds and fourths and … : EAT A TON
63 Flatten : RAZE
64 Lilies with bell-shaped flowers : SEGOS
68 Rachel Zegler’s role in 2021’s “West Side Story” : MARIA
70 Allow entry : ADMIT
71 Forehead mark on Hindu women : BINDI
72 City SW of York : LEEDS
75 Safe bettor : HEDGER
76 Instruments with endpins : CELLI
77 Some sources of leafy greens : KALES
80 F on a gauge : FULL
82 It’s just not true! : MYTH
85 Easy opportunity for a basket : OPEN SHOT
86 Vegas venue with an iconic fountain : BELLAGIO
87 Who might be on the trail : HIKER
89 Candy bar fillings : NOUGATS
90 Emergency request : TOW
92 Vikings’ foes : SAXONS
95 A goose egg : ZILCH
96 One reporting to an underboss : CAPO
97 Nauseate : SICKEN
99 Bankrupt : BELLY up
100 Bizarre : OUTRE
103 One holding things together, perhaps : DOWEL
104 “___, Can You Hear Me?” (Oscar-nominated song from “Yentl”) : PAPA
106 Sub station? : DELI
108 Lemon or cheese product : CURD
110 With 111-Down, in cooperation : SIDE by SIDE
111 See 110-Down : SIDE
114 Sea-___ Airport : TAC
115 Fair-hiring inits. : EEO
117 Option for a range : GAS
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