0324-24 NY Times Crossword 24 Mar 24, Sunday

Constructed by: John Kugelman
Edited by: Joel Fagliano

Today’s Theme: Feeling Possessive

Themed answers are common phrases with the first word ending in a letter S. That first word has been turned into a POSSESSIVE, i.e. with an ‘S at the end:

  • 23A Oil futures? : FUEL’S SPECULATION
  • 35A Castle moat? : HOLD’S WATER
  • 55A Sugar and cocoa content? : FUDGE’S FACTS
  • 79A “Lights! Camera! Action!”? : TAKE’S ORDERS
  • 110A Stock prices? : EXCHANGE’S NUMBERS
  • 15D Noodles and floaties? : POOL’S RESOURCES
  • 49D Leaf fossils? : PLANT’S EVIDENCE

Bill’s time: 21m 17s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Commuting options : BUSES

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a carriage “for all”.

21 Snack brand with a hyphen in its name : JELL-O

If you like Jell-O, then you might want to stop by LeRoy, New York where you can visit the only Jell-O museum in the world. While at the museum, you can walk along the Jell-O Brick Road …

22 Simoleons : ONES

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

26 The Australia-shaped “Pride of Australia,” for one : OPAL

The largest opal ever found, and the most valuable, is the Olympic Australis. It was discovered in South Australia in 1956. That same year, the Summer Olympics were being held in Melbourne so the newly discovered stone was given the name “Olympic Australis”.

35 Castle moat? : HOLD’S WATER

A moat is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say, or an exhibit in a zoo. A moat may or may not be filled with water.

39 ___ Scott-Heron, writer of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” : GIL

Gil Scott-Heron was a jazz poet and musician who is best remembered as a spoken word performer from the seventies and eighties. Scott-Heron’s most famous work is the poem and song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”, the title of which became a popular slogan for the Black Power movements in the sixties.

41 Kind of rating system in chess : ELO

The Elo rating system is used to compare the skill levels of competing players in games like chess and Scrabble. The system is named for a Hungarian-born professor of physics called Arpad Elo, who was also a master-level chess player active in the US Chess Federation.

53 Ed of “Up” : ASNER

“Up” was the tenth movie released by Pixar studios, and features the wonderful animation that we have come to expect from Pixar. The film earned itself two Academy Awards. The main voice actor is Ed Asner, whose animated persona as Carl Fredricksen was created to resemble Spencer Tracy, as Tracy appeared in his last film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”.

54 Daredevil Knievel : EVEL

Daredevil Evel Knievel contracted hepatitis C from the many blood transfusions that he needed after injuries incurred during stunts. He had to have a liver transplant as a result, but his health declined after that. Knievel eventually passed away in 2007.

57 ___ the Orange (Syracuse mascot) : OTTO

The current Syracuse mascot, Otto the Orange, was introduced unofficially in 1980, and gained official recognition by the University in 1995.

61 Auto company headquartered in Yokohama : ISUZU

Isuzu is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines. The company was named for the Isuzu River, with “isuzu” translating into English as “fifty bells”.

Yokohama is the second-most populous city in Japan. It lies on Tokyo Bay, and is just a 40-minute drive from the nation’s capital.

63 Veg-O-Matic maker : RONCO

Ronco was a company that manufactured and sold products mainly for the kitchen. Over the years, the company was closely associated with the “-O-Matic” suffix, and particularly the “Veg-O-Matic” vegetable slicer. Ronco was also associated with the phrase “set it and forget it”, which was used for the Showtime Rotisserie Grill. Ronco went bankrupt in 2018.

70 International date line? : TE AMO

“I love you” translates into “te amo” in Spanish, “Ich liebe dich” in German, and “je t’aime” in French.

72 Bordeaux besties : AMIS

Bordeaux is perhaps the wine-production capital of the world. Wine has been produced in the area since the eighth century. Bordeaux has an administrative history too. During WWII, the French government relocated from Paris to the port city of Bordeaux when it became clear that Paris was soon to fall to the Germans. After the Germans took France, the capital was famously moved to Vichy.

83 Midas’ downfall : GREED

King Midas of Greek mythology might be termed an alchemist as he had the power to turn everything he touched into gold i.e. the Midas touch. That power became a curse, as everything he touched turned to gold, including his food and drink, and even his children.

86 Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible : TSARS

Peter the Great (aka “Peter I”) was perhaps the most successful of the Romanov tsars, and was famous for modernizing Russia and expanding the country’s sphere of influence, creating the Russian Empire. He ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725.

The Grand Prince of Moscow, and first Tsar of Russia, Ivan IV became known as “Ivan the Terrible”. The name “terrible” is a translation from Russian, and perhaps creates the wrong impression about the man. The Russian word is “Grozny”, which is more akin to “strict” and “powerful” rather than “cruel” or “abominable”.

87 Pale purple : MAUVE

The name given to the light violet color that we know as “mauve” comes via French from the Latin “malva”. The Latin term translates as “mallow”, the common name of several species of plants, many of which have mauve-colored flowers.

89 Police alerts, for short : APBS

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

91 What goes around the head at Diamond Head : LEI

Diamond Head on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was given its name by British sailors in the 1800s. These sailors found calcite crystals in the rock surrounding the volcanic tuff cone and mistook the crystals for diamonds.

94 The “en” in “enby” : NON-

The non-binary (NB, enbie, enby) spectrum of gender identities covers those that do not qualify as exclusively masculine or feminine.

101 Fed. statute that took down the Gambino crime family : RICO

The RICO Act is more fully called the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The law was used largely to prosecute members of the Mafia in the seventies, and has been applied more broadly since.

John Gotti was the boss of the Gambino crime family from 1985. He was known as the “Teflon Don” and took over leadership of the family from Paul Castellano when he was gunned down, allegedly on Gotti’s orders. Gotti remained head of the New York family until he was sentenced to life in prison in 1992. Gotti died of throat cancer after ten years behind bars.

104 He literally jumped the shark on “Happy Days” : FONZ

The phrase “jumping the shark” has been used since 1977 to describe the moment in the life of a TV show when it starts to decline in popularity. The expression comes from a scene in the hit sitcom “Happy Days” when the character Fonzie gets on water skis and is seen literally jumping over a shark. “Happy Days” never recovered.

105 85 to 115, typically : IQ RANGE

Although it is correct these days to say that the abbreviation IQ stands for “intelligence quotient”, the term was actually coined by German psychologist William Stern, and so is actually an abbreviation for the German “Intelligenz-Quotient”.

109 Skier Lindsey : VONN

Lindsey Vonn is a World Champion alpine ski racer from Saint Paul, Minnesota. She is one of the few women to have won World Cup races in all five alpine racing disciplines: downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined. In fact, Vonn is the most successful US ski racer in history.

115 Rapper with seven posthumous albums : TUPAC

Rapper Tupac Amaru Shakur adopted the inventive stage name “2Pac”. He was a hard man, spending eleven months in prison for sexual assault. He was killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas at only 25 years of age.

117 Quantum ___ : LEAP

In the world of quantum theory, a quantum jump is the abrupt transition, of say an atom, from one quantum state to another. The concept was introduced by Niels Bohr, and the term “quantum jump” was coined around 1920. The use of “quantum leap” appears around 1930, in the same context of quantum theory. Today, “quantum jump” is used exclusively in the world of physics, whereas “quantum leap” is used figuratively to describe any abrupt change.

Down

1 Some email attachments : PDFS

Portable Document Format (PDF)

3 “I’m done talking” : OVER

In radiotelephony, the word “OVER” is used to indicate the end of a transmission from one party, handing over the airwaves to another party to respond.

8 Actual title of “The Piña Colada Song” : ESCAPE

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

10 Comet alternative : AJAX

Ajax cleanser has been around since 1947, and it’s “stronger than dirt!” That was the most famous slogan over here in the US. On my side of the pond, the celebrated slogan was “it cleans like a white tornado”.

14 Pays (up) : PONIES

“To pony up” means “to pay”. Apparently, the term originated as a slang use of the Latin “legem pone” that was once used for “money”. “Legem Pone” was the title of the Psalm that was read out on March 25 each year, and March 25 was the first payday of the year in days gone by.

16 Chess move with a French name : EN PASSANT

“En passant” is a French term that means “in passing”, and describes a special pawn capture in chess. To make an en passant capture, the capturing pawn moves to the square that the enemy pawn passed over, as if the enemy pawn had only moved one square. The enemy pawn is removed from the board. The en passant rule ensures that a pawn cannot use its two-square move to safely skip past an enemy pawn.

17 Render more youthful, as with C.G.I. : DE-AGE

Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

18 Sweden has more than 200,000 of them (of which only 1,000 are inhabited) : ISLES

The country of Sweden emerged during the Middle Ages, and became one of the great powers of Europe in the days of the Swedish Empire in the 17th and early 18th century. Since then Sweden’s influence has waned. What was the eastern part of Sweden was lost to Russia in the early 1800s, and is now modern-day Finland. In the 20th century Sweden has adopted a very non-aggressive stance and was neutral in both World Wars. Sweden is a member of the European Union, although the country does not use the euro as its currency.

25 God’s first word on the first day : LET

The phrase “Let there be light” was originally written in Hebrew, as it comes from the Book of Genesis in the Bible. It is included in the opening verses:

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, and it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.

30 With 12-Down, world champion boxer who retired an undefeated 24-0 : LAILA 12D See 30-Down : ALI

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”.

33 Novelist Cather : WILLA

American author Willa Cather wrote what’s referred to as the “Prairie Trilogy”, novels that tell the story of Swedish immigrants living in Nebraska. The titles in the trilogy are “O Pioneers!”, “The Song of the Lark” and “My Ántonia”. Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for another novel “One of Ours”, which is set in Nebraska and the French battlefields of WWI.

36 Late-night host John : OLIVER

John Oliver is a British comedian and satirist who has been hosting the late-night talk show “Last Week Tonight” since 2014. He moved to the United States in 2008 to host “The Daily Show” on Comedy Central, after having worked as the show’s Senior British Correspondent since 2006. Back in his native land, Oliver was awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire), but he declined the honor citing his discomfort with the words “British Empire”. Good for him …

38 Breed of cattle : ANGUS

The full name of the Angus cattle breed is Aberdeen Angus, which is also the name used around the world outside of North America. The breed was developed by crossbreeding cattle from the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland. The breed stands out in the US as Angus cattle don’t have horns.

44 “The Empire of the ___” (H.G. Wells short story) : ANTS

The full name of the English author known as H. G. Wells was Herbert George Wells. Wells is particularly well known for his works of science fiction, including “The War of the Worlds”, “The Time Machine”, “The Invisible Man” and “The Island of Doctor Moreau”. He was a prolific author, and a prolific lover as well. While married to one of his former students with whom he had two sons, he also had a child with writer Amber Reeves, and another child with author Rebecca West.

46 Lions or Tigers, on a scoreboard : DET

The origins of the Detroit Tigers baseball team’s name seems a little unclear. One story is that it was taken from the Detroit Light Guard military unit who were known as “The Tigers”. The Light Guard fought with distinction during the Civil War and in the Spanish-American War. Sure enough, when the Detroit baseball team went into the Majors they were formally given permission to use “The Tigers” name by the Detroit Light Guard.

The Detroit Lions are the NFL team that play home games at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The team was founded way back in 1929 as the Portsmouth Spartans from Portsmouth, Ohio. The Spartans joined the NFL during the Great Depression as other franchises collapsed. However, the Spartans couldn’t command a large enough gate in Portsmouth so the team was sold and relocated to Detroit in 1934.

47 Theater sign : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

49 Leaf fossils? : PLANT’S EVIDENCE

Originally, the term “fossil” described anything that was unearthed, dug up. We tend to define the term more narrowly today, reserving it for the geological remains of a plant or animal. “Fossil” comes from the Latin “fossilis” meaning “dug up”.

51 Brand whose sales spiked after an appearance on “Stranger Things” : EGGO

Eggo is a line of frozen waffles and related products made by Kellogg’s. When they were introduced in the 1930s, the name “Eggo” was chosen to promote the “egginess” of the batter. “Eggo” replaced “Froffles”, the original name chosen by melding “frozen” and “waffles”.

“Stranger Things” is a sci-fi horror TV show made for Netflix that aired its first season in 2016. I don’t do horror, and so haven’t seen it …

52 Portrayer of Bob Newby on “Stranger Things” : SEAN ASTIN

Sean Astin is best known for playing the title role in the 1993 film “Rudy” and the character Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings” movies. You might also have seen him playing Lynn McGill in the 5th season of “24”. Astin is the son of actress Patty Duke, and the adopted son of actor John Astin (of “The Addams Family” fame).

62 Garden variety? : ZEN

Japanese Zen gardens are inspired by the meditation gardens of Zen Buddhist temples. Zen gardens have no water in them, but often there is gravel and sand that is raked in patterns designed to create the impression of water in waves and ripples.

66 Inits. on a “Choice” label : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies meat into eight different grades:

  • Prime
  • Choice
  • Select
  • Standard
  • Commercial
  • Utility
  • Cutter
  • Canner

68 Indian spice mixture : MASALA

“Masala” is a Hindi word meaning “mixture”, and describes a mixture of spices. A dish named “masala” uses the spices incorporated into a sauce that includes garlic, ginger, onions and chili paste. Who doesn’t love Indian cuisine? Yum …

71 Org. with the tagline “No More Victims” : MADD

Candace Lightner lost her 13-year-old child to a drunk-driver in 1980. Soon after, Lightner formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

73 Something furry on a fir : MOSS

There is a traditionally-held belief that in the northern hemisphere there is a heavier growth of moss on the north-facing side of trees. The assumption is that the sun creates a drier environment on the south side of the tree, an environment that is less conducive to the growth of moss.

74 Practices mise en place : PREPS

“Mise en place” is a French term that translates literally as “putting in place”. It is used in culinary circles to describe the laying out of all the ingredients needed prior to cooking.

75 “___ Q” (rockabilly classic) : SUSIE

The song “Susie Q” was written by, and originally released by, Dale Hawkins in 1957. It was covered By Creedence Clearwater Revival (as “Suzie Q”) in 1968.

76 James Bond studio : MGM

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

78 Machine learning model that mimics the human brain : NEURAL NET

It used to be that “neural network” was just the name given to a network of nerve cells in an organism. In the modern world, the term “neural net” (short for “neural network”) also applies to virtual or electronic devices designed to mimic the function of the human brain, and in particular learning from past experiences.

80 Company whose misconduct helped spawn the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) : ENRON

After all the trials following the exposure of fraud at Enron, several of the key players ended up in jail. Andrew Fastow was the Chief Financial Officer. He plea-bargained and received ten years without parole, and became the key witness in the trials of others. Even Fastow’s wife was involved and she was sentenced to one year for helping her husband hide money. Jeffrey Skilling (ex-CEO) was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months. Kenneth Lay (CEO) died in 2006 after he had been found guilty but before he could be sentenced. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of pertinent documents and deleting emails and files (a decision that the Supreme Court later overturned on a technicality). But still, Arthur Andersen collapsed under the weight of the scandal and 85,000 people lost their jobs (despite only a handful being directly involved with Enron).

84 Record label that famously turned down the Beatles : DECCA

Decca Records started out in 1929 as a British record label. The US branch of Decca was opened up in 1934, but the UK and US entities went their separate ways starting in WWII. Famously, Decca turned down a chance to record the Beatles in 1962 taking the position “Guitar groups are on the way out”. That said, Decca did sign the Rolling Stones.

86 Supercell, e.g., for short : T-STORM

The word “thunder” precedes the word “lightning” in the phrase “thunder and lightning”. However, thunder comes after lighting in reality, at least to the observer. The observer sees the flash of lightning and then seconds later hears the crash of thunder. That’s because light travels faster than sound.

90 Europeans who speak a non-Indo-European language : BASQUES

Basque Country is an area that covers north-central Spain and southwestern France, and is home to the Basque people.

96 Skin condition : ECZEMA

Eczema is a form of dermatitis. The term “eczema” comes from the Greek for “to boil over”.

99 ___ Gay : ENOLA

The Enola Gay was the B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb, the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in August 1945. Enola Gay was the name of the mother of pilot Col. Paul W. Tibbets, Jr.

101 Bacardi, por ejemplo : RON

Rum was first distilled by slaves on the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 1800s, with the tradition being that the very first production came from Barbados.

The Bacardi company is still family-owned and operated, and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. The company was founded in Santiago de Cuba and became successful by selling a refined form of rum, something new to a market that was used to a crude, dark rum. The Bacardi family opposed the Castro regime as it came to power, so the company had to relocate to Bermuda.

105 Playwright William : 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”.

107 Mortarboard tosser : GRAD

Tasseled mortarboards, or square academic caps, are associated with school graduations all over the world, although traditions do differ. For example in Ireland (where I come from), mortarboards are only worn by female graduates.

113 Coltrane’s instrument : SAX

John Coltrane was a jazz saxophonist who also went by the nickname “Trane”. John’s son Ravi Coltrane is also a noted jazz saxophonist.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “No ___, Bob” : PROB
5 Commuting options : BUSES
10 Thunderstruck : AGASP
15 Lead-in to cure or cab : PEDI-
19 Peace symbol : DOVE
20 Absolutely necessary : A MUST
21 Snack brand with a hyphen in its name : JELL-O
22 Simoleons : ONES
23 Oil futures? : FUEL’S SPECULATION
26 The Australia-shaped “Pride of Australia,” for one : OPAL
27 Pool side : STRIPES
28 Crest : APEX
29 Sack : PILLAGE
31 Parent’s exhortation : EAT!
32 Real bind : SPOT
33 People who might answer “What’s up?” with “The sky” : WISEASSES
35 Castle moat? : HOLD’S WATER
39 ___ Scott-Heron, writer of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” : GIL
40 Entitled guys? : SIRS
41 Kind of rating system in chess : ELO
42 Audio option : MONO
43 Slangy greeting : HOLLA
45 Sales prospects : LEADS
48 Smoky tendrils : WISPS
50 Shoves, to a poker player : GOES ALL IN
53 Ed of “Up” : ASNER
54 Daredevil Knievel : EVEL
55 Sugar and cocoa content? : FUDGE’S FACTS
57 ___ the Orange (Syracuse mascot) : OTTO
58 Scoop, so to speak : DETAILS
60 Braces might fix them : GAPS
61 Auto company headquartered in Yokohama : ISUZU
63 Veg-O-Matic maker : RONCO
64 Over there : YON
65 Humble home : HUT
67 Wavy dos : PERMS
70 International date line? : TE AMO
72 Bordeaux besties : AMIS
74 They prevent accidental scribbles : PEN CAPS
76 ___ room : MEN’S
79 “Lights! Camera! Action!”? : TAKE’S ORDERS
82 Biblical twin : ESAU
83 Midas’ downfall : GREED
85 Reprimand to a rubbernecker : DON’T STARE
86 Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible : TSARS
87 Pale purple : MAUVE
88 N.B.A. analyst Burke : DORIS
89 Police alerts, for short : APBS
91 What goes around the head at Diamond Head : LEI
92 Preposterous : RICH
94 The “en” in “enby” : NON-
95 “And … cut!”? : SET’S AT EASE
98 Personal theory that isn’t in the source material : HEADCANON
101 Fed. statute that took down the Gambino crime family : RICO
102 Mama’s boy : SON
103 Not working, say : ON LEAVE
104 He literally jumped the shark on “Happy Days” : FONZ
105 85 to 115, typically : IQ RANGE
109 Skier Lindsey : VONN
110 Stock prices? : EXCHANGE’S NUMBERS
114 Monthly utility bill: Abbr. : ELEC
115 Rapper with seven posthumous albums : TUPAC
116 Persona : IMAGE
117 Quantum ___ : LEAP
118 Utility figure : RATE
119 “Killers of the Flower Moon” tribe : OSAGE
120 Wears on : TAXES
121 River swirl : EDDY

Down

1 Some email attachments : PDFS
2 Beat handily : ROUT
3 “I’m done talking” : OVER
4 Called into question : BELIED
5 Binary : BASE-TWO
6 Homebodies? : UMPS
7 Go after : SUE
8 Actual title of “The Piña Colada Song” : ESCAPE
9 Drunken state : STUPOR
10 Comet alternative : AJAX
11 Come down with : GET
12 See 30-Down : ALI
13 Pours poorly : SLOPS
14 Pays (up) : PONIES
15 Noodles and floaties? : POOL’S RESOURCES
16 Chess move with a French name : EN PASSANT
17 Render more youthful, as with C.G.I. : DE-AGE
18 Sweden has more than 200,000 of them (of which only 1,000 are inhabited) : ISLES
24 Sudden contractions : SPASMS
25 God’s first word on the first day : LET
30 With 12-Down, world champion boxer who retired an undefeated 24-0 : LAILA
32 Put up with : STOOD
33 Novelist Cather : WILLA
34 Not authorized : ILLICIT
35 Cut : HEWED
36 Late-night host John : OLIVER
37 Finish behind : LOSE TO
38 Breed of cattle : ANGUS
39 Swinger’s attire : GOLF SHIRT
43 Hinged fastener : HASP
44 “The Empire of the ___” (H.G. Wells short story) : ANTS
46 Lions or Tigers, on a scoreboard : DET
47 Theater sign : SRO
49 Leaf fossils? : PLANT’S EVIDENCE
51 Brand whose sales spiked after an appearance on “Stranger Things” : EGGO
52 Portrayer of Bob Newby on “Stranger Things” : SEAN ASTIN
55 Parade sight : FLOAT
56 Carriers of master keys, informally : SUPES
59 ___ blue : ICE
62 Garden variety? : ZEN
64 At 78, she became the oldest artist to have a #1 dance hit : YOKO ONO
66 Inits. on a “Choice” label : USDA
68 Indian spice mixture : MASALA
69 Necessities for retiring? : SPARES
71 Org. with the tagline “No More Victims” : MADD
73 Something furry on a fir : MOSS
74 Practices mise en place : PREPS
75 “___ Q” (rockabilly classic) : SUSIE
76 James Bond studio : MGM
77 Memorable time : ERA
78 Machine learning model that mimics the human brain : NEURAL NET
80 Company whose misconduct helped spawn the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (2002) : ENRON
81 Muse with a lyre : ERATO
84 Record label that famously turned down the Beatles : DECCA
86 Supercell, e.g., for short : T-STORM
90 Europeans who speak a non-Indo-European language : BASQUES
93 Can’t not : HAVE TO
95 Encouragement at karaoke night : SING IT!
96 Skin condition : ECZEMA
97 Turn on : ENABLE
98 What drones and anxious parents do : HOVER
99 ___ Gay : ENOLA
100 Hub : NEXUS
101 Bacardi, por ejemplo : RON
104 Part of a clock : FACE
105 Playwright William : INGE
106 Call for : NEED
107 Mortarboard tosser : GRAD
108 Catch a glimpse of : ESPY
111 Many an I.R.S. employee : CPA
112 Witch : HAG
113 Coltrane’s instrument : SAX

10 thoughts on “0324-24 NY Times Crossword 24 Mar 24, Sunday”

  1. 43:32, no errors. Had to overcome my tendency to spell LAILA ALI’s name as Layla (ala Eric Clapton). Apparently, YOKO ONO can produce listenable dance music when not screeching like fingernails on a blackboard.

  2. 55:57, both loved and hated the clueing on this one, some really devious plays on words. I was tempted to check out the song referenced in 64 down, but once heard it can’t be unheard, so…”not gonna do it, wouldn’t be prudent”

  3. Bill, I believe you omitted 95A from your list of theme answers: “set’s at ease.”

  4. Wow actually explained Elo. Thanks but headcanon???
    No fair crossing two obscure writers Cather and Scott heron with
    Holla. Holla is not a word, hola is.

  5. Long solve.. but no errors? Hmmm.

    There were the usual never heard of but crosses helped.

    I felt like I was in some sort of crossword teaser course. Go down one path and all of a sudden I’m changing direction. That happens sometimes but seemed like a lot on this one. Might explain the amount of time it took plus all the ink smears on my paper.

  6. Hate this puzzle.
    A few errors all in the same immediate area , viz., the last empty squares remaining for me in this snooze-fest, in which I impatiently slammed in Hail Mary’s just to get this monkey off my back. Scuse the mixed metaphors. The constructor’s sense of humour may have rubbed off on me. Scary thought.
    The 33D/39A natick of obscure write first names, Willa and Gil, was a biatch and the theme punch lines were a stretch —and not even funny for your money.
    After reading some of the posts, that’s not all that’s a stretch.
    X-words 4 fun

    1. Not that I buy everything Parker pens but glad I’m not alone on this one. My thought exactly re “fudge’s facts”; that one was the mother of lame crossword gimmicks.
      “I don’t even know where to begin with how inadequate this theme is. How limp and last-century it is. It’s giving nothing. It doesn’t even have corniness going for it. Our job is to imagine … apostrophes? Look, if you’ve got a simple (very simple) gimmick that yields great results, hey, go for it. Go. For. It. But this ain’t it. This. Ain’t. It. I cannot conceive why this was made, let alone why it was accepted. The clues aren’t even trying to be amusing / entertaining / zany. Yes, a castle’s moat is, phrased differently, a hold’s water. The sugar and cocoa content are indeed facts about any given fudge. Where is the … joke? The fun? The … anything?”
      Rex Parker

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