0925-22 NY Times Crossword 25 Sep 22, Sunday

Constructed by: Meghan Morris
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Take Two

Each themed clue only WORKS WITHOUT AN “ET”, only matches the answer when we drop the letters “ET”:

  • 121A Has no plan B … or, when parsed differently, what each of the starred clues does vis-à-vis its answer? : WORKS WITHOUT A NET or WORKS WITHOUT AN “ET”
  • 23A *What’s in your wallet : ELECTRICAL OUTLET (What’s in your wall?)
  • 32A *Press junket : FAKE NEWS (Press junk)
  • 43A *Barbershop quartet : SHAVING CREAM (Barbershop quart)
  • 49A *Rocket scientist : GEOLOGIST (Rock scientist)
  • 68A *Security blankets : USERNAME AND PASSWORD (Security blanks)
  • 92A *A drop in the bucket : INFLATION (A drop in the buck)
  • 95A *Ticketmaster : EXTERMINATOR (Tick master)
  • 106A *Ballet movements : DRIBBLES (Ball movements)
  • Bill’s time: 24m 55s

    Bill’s errors: 0

    Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

    Across

    1 Do some backup dancing? : TWERK

    Twerking is a dancing move in which someone (usually a woman) shakes her hips up and down causing a lot of “wobbling”. It’s possible that “twerk” is a portmanteau of “twist” and “jerk”. The term may have been coined back in the early 2000s with the song “Whistle While You Twurk” released by the Ying Yang Twins. Twerking became a real phenomenon in 2013 when Miley Cyrus posted a video of herself twerking in a unicorn suit to the 2011 song “Wop” by J. Dash. That video went viral on YouTube, amassing over 4 million views in no time at all.

    14 Musical whose name is an anagram of the members of a musical : CATS

    Andrew Lloyd Webber’s source material for his hit musical “Cats” was T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. Eliot’s collection of whimsical poems was published in 1939, and was a personal favorite of Webber as he was growing up. “Cats” is the second longest-running show in Broadway history (Lloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” is the longest and is still running; deservedly so in my humble opinion). My wife and I have seen “Cats” a couple of times and really enjoyed it …

    “Cats” is an anagram of “cast”.

    21 Many a donor, for short : ALUM

    An alumnus (plural “alumni”) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural “alumnae”). The term comes into English from Latin, in which an alumnus is a foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or alumnus.

    22 “You may disagree, but …,” to a texter : IMHO …

    In my humble opinion (IMHO)

    26 Actress ___ Flynn Boyle : LARA

    Actress Lara Flynn Boyle played Donna Hayward on “Twin Peaks” and Helen Gamble on “The Practice”.

    27 Confidence-building mantra : YES I CAN

    A mantra is a word that is used as a focus for the mind while meditating. The term is Sanskrit in origin, and is now used figuratively in English to describe any oft-repeated word or phrase.

    30 Dash dial : TACH

    The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

    Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

    34 Country whose capital is named after an early U.S. president : LIBERIA

    Liberia is a nation in West Africa. The country was founded in 1847 by former American slaves who were repatriated to Africa. As a result, the Liberian flag resembles the US flag, and the country’s motto is “The love of liberty brought us here”.

    37 Odd-numbered page, typically : RECTO

    The left and right pages of a book or magazine are known in publishing circles as verso and recto. Recto comes from the Latin for “right”, and verso comes from the Latin word for “turned”. The idea is that the left side of the page is “turned” and is the reverse of the recto/right side.

    41 Bird watcher’s org., once : NBA

    Larry Bird played basketball for the Boston Celtics from 1978 to 1992. Bird has a lot of very loyal fans, and some might even be described as fanatical. In 2005 an Oklahoma City man was convicted of a crime involving a shooting. On being sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, the guilty man requested that the sentence be changed to 33 years so that it matched the number on Larry Bird’s jersey. The judge obliged. Or so the story goes …

    43 *Barbershop quartet : SHAVING CREAM (Barbershop quart)

    Two pints make up a “quart”, which is a “quarter” of a gallon, hence the name.

    53 Lines on which music is written : STAVE

    The set of five horizontal lines and four spaces used in Western musical notation can be called a staff or stave. Either way, the plural form is “staves”.

    54 Opera whose title character is a singer : TOSCA

    Unlike so many operas, Giacomo Puccini’s “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. Currently, “Tosca” is the eighth-most performed opera in America.

    56 Hermanos de la madre : TIOS

    In Spanish, a “tio” (uncle) is the “hermano del padre o de la madre” (brother of the father or the mother).

    58 Like Legolas in “The Lord of the Rings” : ELFIN

    English actor Orlando Bloom’s breakthrough on the big screen came when he was chosen to play Legolas, a Sindarin Elf, in “The Lord of the Rings” series of films.

    60 Muscle used in a pull-up, informally : TRI

    The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates from Latin to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

    63 R&B’s India.___ : ARIE

    India.Arie is an American soul and R&B singer who was born India Arie Simpson in Denver, Colorado.

    74 “Black Jeopardy!,” for one : SNL SKIT

    NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.

    76 Qantas hub, on luggage tags : SYD

    Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans dating back to the 1940s to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city.

    Qantas is the national airline of Australia. The company name was originally an acronym standing for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services”. QANTAS has featured a koala in advertising campaigns for many years, although the company’s logo is a kangaroo and the company’s nickname is “Flying Kangaroo”.

    77 Org. that merged with 41-Across in the 1970s : ABA
    (41A Bird watcher’s org., once : NBA)

    The American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. The ABA used a ball with the colors red, white and blue. The NBA uses a more traditional orange ball.

    78 Off-limits : TABOO

    The word “taboo” was introduced into English by Captain Cook in his book “A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean”. Cook described “tabu” (likely imitative of a Tongan word that he had heard) as something that was both consecrated and forbidden.

    84 Cargo : LOAD

    Cargo is freight carried by some vehicle. The term “cargo” comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

    87 Likely to offend, in brief : NON-PC

    Non-politically correct (non-PC)

    90 Author Ellison : RALPH

    Author Ralph Ellison’s most famous book is “Invisible Man”, which won the National Book Award in 1953. Ellison’s full name is Ralph Waldo Ellison, as he was named for Ralph Waldo Emerson.

    92 *A drop in the bucket : INFLATION (A drop in the buck)

    “Buck” is a slang word meaning “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.

    95 *Ticketmaster : EXTERMINATOR (Tick master)

    Ticks are very small arachnids that live off the blood of mammals and birds. They are external parasites, and commonly infect their hosts with bacteria, viruses and protozoa. One of the most-famous tick-borne illnesses is Lyme disease.

    98 United hub, on luggage tags : SFO

    San Francisco International Airport (SFO) served as the main base of operations for Virgin America (sold to Alaska Airlines), and is also the maintenance hub for United Airlines. Even though SFO is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport is located to the south in San Mateo County.

    100 League designation for the Durham Bulls and Salt Lake Bees : AAA

    The Durham Bulls are the Triple-A minor league baseball team based in Durham, North Carolina. The team was established in 1902 as the Durham Tobacconists, and are now the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. It was the Durham Bulls who featured in the 1988 movie “Bull Durham” starring Kevin Costner and Susan Sarandon.

    101 Cut choice : FILET

    A fillet is a boneless cut of meat or fish. The term “fillet” comes from the Old French “filet” meaning “small thread, filament”. Apparently, we applied the term to food because the piece of fish or meat was tied up with string after it was boned. Here in the US, we tend to use the French spelling “filet”.

    103 Power : WATTAGE

    “Wattage” is a colloquial term meaning “electric power in watts”. Electric power is the rate at which electrical energy is transferred by a circuit. In the SI system, electric power is measured in joules per second, i.e. watts.

    James Watt was a Scottish inventor. He figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, and was named in his honor.

    106 *Ballet movements : DRIBBLES (Ball movements)

    In sports, one can “dribble” a ball, advancing it by bouncing or giving it a series of short kicks.

    111 Game of who, what and where : CLUE

    Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

    112 Ancestor of Methuselah : ENOS

    Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve, and nephew of Cain and Abel. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.

    Methuselah was the son of Enoch and the grandfather of Noah, and the man in the Bible who is reported to have lived the longest. Methuselah passed away seven days before the onset of the Great Flood, and tradition holds that he was 969 years old when he died.

    120 ___ mater : ALMA

    The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. The phrase was used in ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

    123 Having South Asian roots : DESI

    People from the Indian subcontinent might refer to themselves as “desi”.

    125 Summers on the Seine : ETES

    The Seine is the river that flows through Paris. It empties into the English Channel to the north, at the port city of Le Havre.

    126 Chorus section : TENORS

    A tenor (plural “tenori”) is a male voice that falls between that of a countertenor and a baritone. The word “tenor” comes from the Latin “tenere” meaning “to hold”. This etymology refers to the tenor part that carries the sustained melody (canto fermo) of a traditional polyphonic composition.

    129 Laura of “Big Little Lies” : DERN

    Actress Laura Dern is the daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Among her many notable roles, Laura Dern played the Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the 2008 movie “Recount”, and Dr. Ellie Sattler in the 1993 blockbuster “Jurassic Park”.

    “Big Little Lies” is a 2017 TV miniseries that is based on a 2014 novel of the same name. It stars Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley as three women who, while dealing with their own emotional problems, find themselves involved in a murder investigation. I haven’t seen this one, but hear very good things …

    Down

    6 Airer of the crime drama “Luther” : BBC

    “Luther” is a British television series starring Idris Elba in the title role as Detective Chief Inspector John Luther. There has been talk about developing a US version of “Luther”, and a Russian version first broadcast in 2016 using the title “Klim”.

    11 John Legend’s “___ Me” : ALL OF

    “John Legend” is the stage name of singer-songwriter John Stephens. He has received many awards, and made many memorable performances. Notably, he played Jesus Christ in a live concert version of the rock opera “Jesus Christ Superstar” produced for NBC in 2018. In 2019, Legend started appearing as a coach in the TV show “The Voice”. He married model Chrissy Teigen in 2013.

    12 ___ Park, city west of Anaheim : BUENA

    The California city of Buena Park is in Orange County. It is perhaps best known by outsiders as the home to Knott’s Berry Farm, which is by far the city’s largest employer.

    13 Lifesaver, for short : EMT

    Emergency medical technician (EMT)

    14 Pico de gallo ingredient : CILANTRO

    What we know here in North America as cilantro is called coriander in the UK and other parts of the world. “Cilantro” is the Spanish name for the herb.

    Pico de gallo is a Mexican condiment made from tomato, onion and chili peppers. “Pico de gallo” is Spanish for “beak of rooster”. Apparently this name was given as eating of the condiment with the thumb and forefinger resembled the pecking of a rooster. An alternative name for pico de gallo is “salsa fresca”, which translates literally as “fresh sauce”.

    34 Twitch problem : LAG

    Twitch is a live-streaming platform used primarily by gamers. Folks playing games can broadcast their game play live to an audience.

    36 Power (up) : BOOT

    The verb “to boot”, as used in the world of computers, comes from the phrase “pull oneself up by one’s bootstraps”. The idea is that the software that has to be loaded before a computer can do anything useful is called a “bootstrap load”.

    38 Like the head of a badminton racket : OVAL

    The game of badminton was developed in the mid-1700s by British military officers in India. There was already an old game called battledore and shuttlecock, so the creation of badminton was essentially the addition of a net and boundary lines for play. The game was launched officially as a sport in 1873 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in England, hence the name that we now use.

    44 Modern reproductive tech inits. : IVF

    In vitro fertilization (IVF) 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.

    45 Some votes in the Bundestag : NEINS

    In German, one might answer “ja” (yes) or “nein” (no).

    The German parliament is known as the “Bundestag”, and has been since its founding in 1949. The Bundestag meets in the magnificent Reichstag building in Berlin.

    46 Spanish 101 verb : ESTAR

    The Spanish verb “estar” translates as “to be”.

    50 Tool chain : LOWE’S

    Lucius S. Lowe opened the first Lowe’s hardware store in 1921, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lucius only knew the one store, as it was his family who expanded the company after he passed away in 1940.

    57 “Chandelier” singer, 2014 : SIA

    “Chandelier” is a 2014 song by Australian singer Sia. I don’t know the song myself, but it sounds like it’s a bit of a downer, dealing with alcoholism, addiction and excessive hedonism.

    64 Period in curling : END

    I think curling is such a cool game (pun!). It’s somewhat like bowls, but played on a sheet of ice. The sport was supposedly invented in medieval Scotland, and is called curling because of the action of the granite stone as it moves across the ice. A player can make the stone take a curved path (“curl”) by causing it to slowly rotate as it slides.

    66 “Schitt’s Creek” role for Sarah Levy : TWYLA

    “Schitt’s Creek” is a very entertaining Canadian sitcom created by two of the four leading actors: Dan Levy and his father Eugene Levy. The other two leads are played by Catherine O’Hara and Annie Murphy. It is about a very wealthy family who lose their money and relocate to a small town called Schitt’s Creek, which they had once purchased as a joke. Recommended …

    67 Title play character who never shows up : GODOT

    “Waiting for Godot” is a play by novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett that premiered in 1953. Irishman Beckett actually wrote the piece in French, under the title “En attendant Godot”. He then translated the play into English himself.

    70 Maker of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game : ATARI

    Founded in 1972, electronics and video game manufacturer Atari was once the fastest-growing company in US history. However, Atari never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.

    71 “What’s up, ___?” : DOC

    Bugs Bunny debuted in the 1940 animated short “A Wild Hare”. Since then, Bugs has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character.

    72 ___ sci : POLI

    Political science (poli sci)

    80 German chancellor Scholz : OLAF

    Olaf Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel as the chancellor of Germany in 2021. Prior to leading the country, Scholz had served as Merkel’s vice chancellor for almost four years. Scholz is the first Chancellor of Germany not to belong to a church, but was the second to take the oath of office without reference to God (after Gerhard Schröder in 1998).

    81 Sir Isaac Newton work on the fundamentals of light : OPTICKS

    Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most influential people in history, and the man who laid the groundwork for all of classical mechanics. The story about an apple falling on his head, inspiring him to formulate his theories about gravity, well that’s not quite true. Newton often told the story about observing an apple falling in his mother’s garden and how this made him acutely aware of the Earth’s gravitational pull. However, he made no mention of the apple hitting him on the head.

    85 Opera that aptly premiered in Egypt : AIDA

    “Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

    86 Good name for an archaeologist? : DOUG

    “Doug” sounds like “dug”.

    “Archaeology” is a word that looks like it’s British English, and one might be forgiven for using the spelling “archeology” in American English. Even though the latter spelling has been around for a couple of hundred years, the former is the standard spelling on both sides of the Atlantic.

    88 Idiot : PEABRAIN

    The unsavory term “idiot” was formerly used by the medical community to describe someone with moderate to severe mental retardation. The term comes from the Greek “idiotes” meaning “person lacking professional skill, layman”. Back in the early 1900s, IQ tests were used to classify those suffering from mental retardation into categories:

    • “idiot” … IQ of 0-20
    • “imbecile” … IQ of 21-50
    • “moron” …IQ of 51-70

    94 Jennifer Affleck ___ Lopez : NEE

    “Bennifer” is a portmanteau used for the super-couple pairing of actors Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Other supercouples are/were:

    • Tomkat – Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes
    • Grant ‘n’ Hurley – Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley
    • Posh and Becks – Victoria and David Beckham
    • Brangelina – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

    96 It’s bad overseas : MAL

    In French, something might be “mal” (bad), or hopefully “bon” (good).

    97 What the Beatles never did : REUNITE

    John Lennon and Paul McCartney made an agreement before they became famous that they would always give joint credit for their songs. In the early days, the duo wrote their songs together, working alongside each other. Soon they would write songs individually, with one giving the other limited input. Regardless, the Lennon-McCartney attribution was used for all the songs they wrote either individually or together right up to 1974. The partnership was officially dissolved in December 1974, in the Polynesian Resort in Walt Disney World, Florida. There, John Lennon put his signature to official documents couriered to him by Apple’s lawyers (Apple being the Beatles record label).

    105 One of South Africa’s official languages : TSWANA

    Tswana is a Bantu language that is spoken primarily in southern Africa.

    106 Longtime Miami Heat great, to fans : D-WADE

    Dwyane Wade is a basketball player who started his NBA career with the Miami Heat in 2003. “D-Wade” was chosen as the “Sports Illustrated” Sportsman of the Year in 2006.

    109 Wood that sinks in water : EBONY

    Ebony is a dark black wood that is very dense, one of the few types of wood that sinks in water. Ebony has been in high demand so the species of trees yielding the wood are now considered threatened. It is in such short supply that unscrupulous vendors have been known to darken lighter woods with shoe polish to look like ebony, so be warned …

    118 Tesla, for one : SERB

    Nikola Tesla was born in Serbia, but later moved to the US. Tesla’s work on mechanical and electrical engineering was crucial to the development of alternating current technology, the same technology that is used by equipment at the backbone of modern power generation and distribution systems.

    119 Website with a Home Favorites page : ETSY

    Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

    122 QVC alternative : HSN

    The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982.

    The QVC shopping channel was founded in 1986 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The company now has operations not only in the US but also in the UK, Germany, Japan and Italy. That means QVC is reaching 200 million households. The QVC initialism stands for Quality, Value and Convenience.

    Complete List of Clues/Answers

    Across

    1 Do some backup dancing? : TWERK
    6 Things with wires, often : BRAS
    10 Sweets : BABE
    14 Musical whose name is an anagram of the members of a musical : CATS
    18 “Here, take this” : HAVE IT
    20 Hit hard : BELT
    21 Many a donor, for short : ALUM
    22 “You may disagree, but …,” to a texter : IMHO …
    23 *What’s in your wallet : ELECTRICAL OUTLET (What’s in your wall?)
    26 Actress ___ Flynn Boyle : LARA
    27 Confidence-building mantra : YES I CAN
    28 Burdens with : DUMPS ON
    29 Trimmer : RAZOR
    30 Dash dial : TACH
    31 Stretches of time : ERAS
    32 *Press junket : FAKE NEWS (Press junk)
    34 Country whose capital is named after an early U.S. president : LIBERIA
    37 Odd-numbered page, typically : RECTO
    39 Take in : EAT
    40 Buzzing about : ADO
    41 Bird watcher’s org., once : NBA
    43 *Barbershop quartet : SHAVING CREAM (Barbershop quart)
    49 *Rocket scientist : GEOLOGIST (Rock scientist)
    53 Lines on which music is written : STAVE
    54 Opera whose title character is a singer : TOSCA
    55 Complete : A TO Z
    56 Hermanos de la madre : TIOS
    58 Like Legolas in “The Lord of the Rings” : ELFIN
    60 Muscle used in a pull-up, informally : TRI
    61 Word between “what” and “that” : … WAS …
    63 R&B’s India.___ : ARIE
    65 Profit : NET GAIN
    68 *Security blankets : USERNAME AND PASSWORD (Security blanks)
    74 “Black Jeopardy!,” for one : SNL SKIT
    75 Apocalypse : DOOM
    76 Qantas hub, on luggage tags : SYD
    77 Org. that merged with 41-Across in the 1970s : ABA
    78 Off-limits : TABOO
    82 Letters to ___ (rock group) : CLEO
    84 Cargo : LOAD
    87 Likely to offend, in brief : NON-PC
    90 Author Ellison : RALPH
    92 *A drop in the bucket : INFLATION (A drop in the buck)
    95 *Ticketmaster : EXTERMINATOR (Tick master)
    98 United hub, on luggage tags : SFO
    99 Expected : DUE
    100 League designation for the Durham Bulls and Salt Lake Bees : AAA
    101 Cut choice : FILET
    103 Power : WATTAGE
    106 *Ballet movements : DRIBBLES (Ball movements)
    111 Game of who, what and where : CLUE
    112 Ancestor of Methuselah : ENOS
    113 Is grating : WEARS
    114 Start of a literary series : BOOK ONE
    116 Cottoned on (to) : GOT WISE
    120 ___ mater : ALMA
    121 Has no plan B … or, when parsed differently, what each of the starred clues does vis-à-vis its answer? : WORKS WITHOUT A NET or WORKS WITHOUT AN “ET”
    123 Having South Asian roots : DESI
    124 Small table fare? : ANTE
    125 Summers on the Seine : ETES
    126 Chorus section : TENORS
    127 Global brand of men’s dress shirts : ETON
    128 Pair : DYAD
    129 Laura of “Big Little Lies” : DERN
    130 Consulted for feedback about : RAN BY

    Down

    1 Designation on some pronoun pins : THEY
    2 Rapper with the 2011 hit album “Ambition” : WALE
    3 The before-times? : EVES
    4 Reel off : RECITE
    5 Auto hobbyist’s project, maybe : KIT CAR
    6 Airer of the crime drama “Luther” : BBC
    7 Circulation unit : READER
    8 Draws : ALLURES
    9 Stands : STOMACHS
    10 Steps up to the plate : BATS
    11 John Legend’s “___ Me” : ALL OF
    12 ___ Park, city west of Anaheim : BUENA
    13 Lifesaver, for short : EMT
    14 Pico de gallo ingredient : CILANTRO
    15 Leave slack-jawed : AMAZE
    16 Confuse : THROW
    17 Doesn’t just increase : SOARS
    19 Faint pattern : TRACING
    24 Occupy : INHABIT
    25 Weekend destination for an N.Y.C. getaway, maybe : UPSTATE
    29 Twitch, for instance : REACT
    33 Fountain of youth? : KEG
    34 Twitch problem : LAG
    35 “The very ___!” : IDEA
    36 Power (up) : BOOT
    38 Like the head of a badminton racket : OVAL
    42 How you should “take me,” in a phrase : AS I AM
    44 Modern reproductive tech inits. : IVF
    45 Some votes in the Bundestag : NEINS
    46 Spanish 101 verb : ESTAR
    47 Bitter : ACRID
    48 Major water source : MAIN
    50 Tool chain : LOWE’S
    51 Missouri county on the Arkansas border : OZARK
    52 Moved fast : TORE
    57 “Chandelier” singer, 2014 : SIA
    59 Suffix with bad, mad, sad and glad : -NESS
    62 Huff : SNIT
    64 Period in curling : END
    66 “Schitt’s Creek” role for Sarah Levy : TWYLA
    67 Title play character who never shows up : GODOT
    68 Open, as a gift : UNBOX
    69 Bias : SLANT
    70 Maker of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial video game : ATARI
    71 “What’s up, ___?” : DOC
    72 ___ sci : POLI
    73 They’re heard in a chorus : AMENS
    74 Reasonable : SANE
    79 Focus of many a law : BAN
    80 German chancellor Scholz : OLAF
    81 Sir Isaac Newton work on the fundamentals of light : OPTICKS
    83 “Let’s begin our adventure!” : OFF WE GO!
    85 Opera that aptly premiered in Egypt : AIDA
    86 Good name for an archaeologist? : DOUG
    88 Idiot : PEABRAIN
    89 Grumps : CRABS
    91 Excavated, with “out” : HOLLOWED …
    93 Give for a time : LOAN OUT
    94 Jennifer Affleck ___ Lopez : NEE
    96 It’s bad overseas : MAL
    97 What the Beatles never did : REUNITE
    102 With 104-Down, playground fixture : TEETER-
    104 See 102-Down : TOTTER
    105 One of South Africa’s official languages : TSWANA
    106 Longtime Miami Heat great, to fans : D-WADE
    107 Subleased : RELET
    108 Playground comeback : I AM SO!
    109 Wood that sinks in water : EBONY
    110 “More or less” : SORTA
    115 Green-lit : OK’ED
    117 Zero ___ : IN ON
    118 Tesla, for one : SERB
    119 Website with a Home Favorites page : ETSY
    121 Crumple (up) : WAD
    122 QVC alternative : HSN

    13 thoughts on “0925-22 NY Times Crossword 25 Sep 22, Sunday”

    1. 20:40. A little slow going. I found the theme to be pretty obvious, but the puzzle seemed like it had a lot of singers that I didn’t really know.

      Also, I wouldn’t really say that the TRIcep is used much in a pull-up, at least not compared to the lats, traps, and biceps. Certainly no one who wants to work the triceps does pull-ups for that purpose.

    2. 1 hour 4 mins, 2 errors: TSWAN(U); R(U)N BY.
      Totally agree with Tom R, change the clue for 60A from ‘pull-up’ to ‘push-up’. Triceps extend the arm.

    3. 1:26:14 Completed on Monday….sigh. fwiw, Bill, you have “poly sci” as answers for both 72D and 73D in the WikiAmozGooglies section.

      1. Drove me nuts with only about 80% correct/complete answers…
        Congratulations on a job very well and fiendishly done! 😉

    4. Well over 2 hours and still had 13 missing or wrong letters.
      Hats off to anyone who figured out this theme and or finished this piece of crap👎👎
      Stay safe😀

    5. Got the paper (for some reason)… 36:37, no errors. Definitely a slog/chore and nothing fun or that interesting about it. May or may not do it again in three weeks. Dunno.

    6. (three weeks later) 29:52, no errors. I never know if there’s necessarily a huge advantage redoing these. There’s always *some* (obviously) but I’m surprised in a way that these things don’t fall much faster. Guess I forget enough of them.

    7. I started put wondering “what is going on here?”. Then I put it down.
      Came back and said “ok, let’s try this again”. This, after I even got 121A , but I hadn’t parsed it correctly yet.
      I bet I got over 70% done before the light bulb went off. Then everything made sense.
      It took me a long time. Well over an hour.

    8. I think the clue “League designation for the Durham Bulls and Salt Lake Bees” (100 Across; Answer: AAA) is inaccurate. AAA denotes a class or level of the minor leagues. In fact, Durham is in the International League, and Salt Lake is in the Pacific Coast League.

      OK, I feel better now.

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