0903-23 NY Times Crossword 3 Sep 23, Sunday

Constructed by: Dylan Schiff
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Computer Games

Themed answers come in pairs. Those in the top half of the grid include visual representations (in circled letters) of a themed answer in the bottom half of the grid:

  • 22A Derby, for one : HAT(E MAIL)
  • 65A What a paper clip may indicate online … as represented in 22-Across : EMAIL ATTACHMENT
  • 29A Wander around online : SURF THE NET
  • 92A Excel offering … as represented in 29-Across : SPREADSHEET
  • 35A Chicago neighborhood with a namesake zoo : LINCOLN PARK
  • 100A It may lead to a 404 error page … as represented in 35-Across : BROKEN LINK
  • 59A Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves : THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
  • 109A Browser annoyances … as represented in 59-Across : POP-UP ADS

Bill’s time: 17m 52s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 45s and LPs : DISCS

The first vinyl records designed to play at 33⅓ rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first long play (LP) 33⅓ rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

18 Middle-earth creature : ORC

Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction as well as in fantasy video games.

20 Singer whose second album, in 2011, topped the Billboard chart for a record 24 weeks : ADELE

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US. “30” followed in 2021.

21 Hindu scripture on meditation : TANTRA

Tantrism (sometimes “Tantra”) is a relatively recent class of religious ritual and meditation that has its roots in 5th century India. The tantras are sometimes considered as advanced teachings that extend the basic tenets of several Indian religions including Buddhism and Hinduism.

22 Derby, for one : HAT

I think that a bowler hat is usually called a derby here in the US. The bowler was first produced in 1849 in London by hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler, hence the name. The alternative name of “derby” comes from the tradition of wearing bowler hats at the Derby horse race (a major race held annually in England).

24 Writer Zora ___ Hurston : NEALE

Zora Neale Hurston was an American author who was most famous for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.

26 Last-minute bidder on eBay : SNIPER

Auction sniping is a relatively new phenomenon, a phenomenon that is associated with online auctions. A sniper waits until the final seconds of an auction and drops in a slightly higher bid, winning the auction as other bidders have no time to respond. Auction sniping is often executed with the help of a software application, or by using an online service.

27 Fish-and-chips fish : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

32 Clumsy sorts : GALOOTS

“Galoot” is an insulting term describing an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

34 Paris is found in it : ILIAD

“Iliad” is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer that tells the story of the ten-year siege of “Ilium” (i.e. “Troy”) during the Trojan war. “The Odyssey”, also attributed to Homer, is sometimes described as a sequel to “Iliad”.

44 “___ for Tinhorns” (“Guys and Dolls” number) : FUGUE

“Guys and Dolls” is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. It was first produced on Broadway, in 1950, and ran for 1200 performances. The show was based on a book written by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows, which in turn was inspired by the short stories “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” and “Blood Pressure” by Damon Runyon. “Guys and Dolls” was chosen as winner of a Pulitzer in 1951, but the award was canceled as Abe Burrows was having problems with the House Un-American Activities Committee at the time.

46 Trattoria dessert : TORTA

“Torta” is the Italian and Spanish word for “cake”.

47 Comedian Margaret : CHO

Margaret Cho is a very successful stand-up comedian, and also a fashion designer with her own line of clothing. Cho acts as well, and you might have seen her in the John Travolta/Nicolas Cage movie “Face/Off” in which she played John Travolta’s FBI colleague.

48 A.A.A. service : TOW

The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

50 It ain’t just a river in Egypt! : DENIAL

Depending on definition, the Nile is regarded generally as the longest river on the planet. The Nile forms from two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which join together near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From Khartoum the Nile flows north, traveling almost entirely through desert making it central to life for those living along its length.

59 Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves : THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered over a period of years, between 1947 and 1956, in eleven caves (the Qumran Caves) on the shores of the Dead Sea. The scrolls are believed to have been written by an ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, although this has been called into question recently. Many of the texts are copies of writings from the Hebrew Bible.

62 Give up, in wrestling : TAP OUT

In combat sports, a person can submit to his or her opponent by tapping out, usually tapping the floor or the opponent’s body with a hand.

64 Like medium vis-à-vis well done, say : PINKER

We can use the French phrase “vis-à-vis” as a preposition meaning “compared with”. When used as an adverb or adjective, it means “face-to-face”, which is a more literal translation from French.

71 Jonathan Van ___ of “Queer Eye” : NESS

Hairdresser Jonathan Van Ness is best known as the grooming expert on the TV show “Queer Eye” (the Netflix revival of the original series). He joined the cast in 2018.

74 Ways of doing things, in brief : MOS

“Modus operandi” (plural “modi operandi”) is the Latin for “mode of operating”, a term we’ve been using since the mid-1600s. It’s often used by the police when referring to the methods typically employed by a particular perpetrator of a crime, and is usually abbreviated to “M.O.”

77 Drink whose name derives from its country of origin : SCOTCH

We use the spelling “whiskey” for American and Irish versions of the drink, and “whisky” for scotch, the Scottish version.

81 Roger who wrote “Life Itself: A Memoir” : EBERT

Roger Ebert was a film critic for “The Chicago Sun-Times” for 50 years. He also co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed. Ebert was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, which he did in 1975. He was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer in 2002, and finally succumbed to a recurrence of the disease in April 2013.

85 Subject of the 2003 book “Power Failure” : 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).

86 Italian fashion house : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family from participating in the running of the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

87 “___ the Roof” (1962 hit for the Drifters) : UP ON

The Drifters are doo-wop group that formed in 1953 and are still going strong. That said, the Drifters lineup has changed many, many times. The four-man group has had over 60 vocalists over the decades, including the great lead singer Ben E. King. Among the hits recorded by the Drifters are “There Goes My Baby” (1959), “This Magic Moment” (1960), “Save the Last Dance for Me” (1960), “Up on the Roof” (1962) and “Under the Boardwalk” (1964).

89 Staff symbol : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

90 Henry VI founded it in 1440 : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provide free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

92 Excel offering … as represented in 29-Across : SPREADSHEET

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.

99 Big name in magic : PENN

Penn Jillette is one half of the duo of magicians known as Penn & Teller (Penn is the one who talks). Penn teamed up with Teller on stage in 1981, having met him through a friend back in 1974. As well as being talkative onstage, Penn is very vocal offstage when it comes to his causes and beliefs. He is a devout atheist, a libertarian and a supporter of free-market capitalism.

100 It may lead to a 404 error page … as represented in 35-Across : BROKEN LINK

An HTTP 404 error is one of the common errors encountered when browsing the World Wide Web. The error is returned when a user accesses a site successfully, but cannot find the page that is requested. Usually, this 404 Not Found error is encountered when clicking on a broken or dead link.

103 Class speakers, for short : PAS

Public address (PA) system

104 World’s largest peninsula : ARABIA

The Arabian Peninsula (also “Arabia”) is part of Western Asia that is located just north-east of Africa. The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the northeast by the Persian Gulf, and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is taken up by Saudi Arabia, but also included are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen. And, it’s the largest peninsula in the world, covering about 1¼ million square miles.

106 Ginger of old Hollywood : ROGERS

I am a huge Ginger Rogers fan. She is famous as the on-screen and dancing partner of Fred Astaire. However, my favorite films are those romantic comedies she made later in her career, especially “The Major and the Minor” and “Monkey Business”. There is a musical stage show about Ginger Rogers’ life called “Backwards in High Heels: The Ginger Musical” that debuted in 2007. The title is taken from a 1982 “Frank & Ernest” cartoon about Fred & Ginger” with the words:

Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did – backwards and in high heels.

112 Shiny balloon material : MYLAR

Mylar is a brand of polyester film with many uses, one of which is to make reflective surfaces. Mylar can be used to make reflective solar sails, which are a fascinating form of spacecraft propulsion. Believe it or not, reflecting photons of light each provide a small amount of thrust, and enough of them can propel an object in the vacuum of space.

113 Tours with? : AVEC

Tours is the largest city in the Centre region of France. Sitting on the Loire river, it is said that the people of Tours speak the “purest” form of French in the whole country. The French spoken by a local is also said to be free of any accent.

114 Broadway actress Phillipa : SOO

Phillipa Soo is an actress and singer who is perhaps best known for portraying Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the title character’s wife in the original Broadway production of “Hamilton”.

116 Hawks : SELLS

The verb “to hawk” has a Germanic origin, and comes from the Low German word “hoken” meaning “to peddle”. A hawker is actually slightly different from a peddler by definition, as a hawker is a peddler that uses a horse and cart, or a van nowadays perhaps, to sell his or her wares.

117 House of ___-Coburg and Gotha : SAXE

Saxony was the name given at different times in history to states along the Elbe river in central Europe. As the various states broke up, they spawned many duchies that retained the name “Saxe”. The most famous of these duchies was probably Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two united duchies in Germany that ceased to exist after WWII. A notable branch of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House is the British Royal Family, as Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. King George V of the United Kingdom changed the name of the family to the House of Windsor in a politically sensible move during WWI.

Down

1 Eponymous mineralogist Friedrich : MOHS

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs. Basically Mohs took minerals and scratched them with other minerals. In this way he was able to determine which minerals were hardest (most scratch resistant) and which softest. On the scale, diamond is the hardest (and rated 10), while talc is the softest (and rated 1).

3 Martial artist’s stance : ACTION POSE

Martial arts are various fighting traditions and systems used in combat or simply to promote physical well-being. The term “martial” ultimately derives from Latin and means “Arts of Mars”, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war.

5 Sound heard at the start of every MGM movie : ROAR

There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until Jackie took over from Slats in 1928 that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.

6 Grammy winner DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a feminist icon, and in 2006 won the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women.

7 Alternatives to tablets : GELCAPS

Gelatin capsules (gelcaps) might be an issue for those on a strict vegan diet. The gelatin used in the capsule is made from collagen extracted from animal skin and bone.

12 When Romeo says he “saw true beauty” before seeing Juliet : NE’ER

Here are some passionate lines from William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that are spoken by Romeo:

Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne’er saw true beauty till this night.

13 Soup stock in Japanese cuisine : DASHI

Dashi is a style of cooking stock used in Japanese cuisine. Most notably perhaps, “dashi” is the stock that is used as the base for miso soup. Traditional dashi is a fish stock to which is added edible kelp called kombu and shavings of preserved and fermented skipjack tuna called katsuobushi.

16 First Nations people : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

“First Nations” is a term used in Canada describing the ethnicity of Native Americans who are neither Inuit nor Métis people.

21 Line on a spine : TITLE

In the US, the convention is to write the title on the spine of a book from top-to-bottom. In most of Europe, the convention is to write the title from bottom-to-top. We have a lot of books in the “library” in our house from both sides of the Atlantic, and so there is much movement of the head from left to right as we glance along our bookshelves.

23 Hesiod’s “Theogony” and “Works and Days” : EPICS

Hesiod was a poet from ancient Greece, one often compared with another famous Greek poet Homer. Hesiod’s most famous poem is probably “Works and Days”, a piece based on the principles that labor is the lot of man, and those willing to work will get by. It’s not a short poem, as it has about 800 verses.

28 Neutrogena competitor : OLAY

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1952. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

35 Titular love object on old TV : LUCY

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertzes are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

36 Czech composer Janáček : LEOS

Leoš Janáček is considered one of the triumvirate of great Czech composers, alongside Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.

41 Bucolic bundles : BALES

The word “bucolic”, meaning “rustic, rural”, comes to us from the Greek word “boukolos” meaning “cowherd”.

45 Food safety agcy. : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

48 Longtime host of Food Network’s “Chopped” : TED ALLEN

Ted Allen is a TV personality who found fame as the food and wine expert on the Bravo show “Queer Eye”. He started as host of the cooking competition show “Chopped” in 2009.

50 Something that’s hand-cut? : DECK

That would be a deck of cards.

52 Object of a dubious sighting : YETI

The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a beast of legend. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. 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.

54 Org. opposed to fur farming : PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a large animal rights organization, with about 300 employees and two million members and supporters worldwide. Although the group campaigns for animal rights across a broad spectrum of issues, it has a stated focus in opposition of four practices:

  • Factory farming
  • Fur farming
  • Animal testing
  • Use of animals in entertainment

65 Run the show : EMCEE

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

67 Ptolemy was one, famously : ASTROLOGER

Claudius Ptolemy was an Egyptian of Greek ethnicity who lived in the days when Egypt was ruled by ancient Rome. Ptolemy was, among other things, a mathematician and astronomer. He published a famous treatise on astronomy called “Almagest” which included a list of 48 constellations in a star catalog. The Ptolemaic system described the cosmos geocentrically, with the Earth at the center and other celestial bodies orbiting. Ptolemy also wrote a work titled “Geography”, which compiled much of the geographical knowledge of the Roman Empire at that time. Centuries after Ptolemy died, Christopher Columbus used the maps in “Geography” to aid him on his voyages of discovery.

68 Listed below a recipient, maybe : CC’ED

I wonder if the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle? A kind blog reader pointed out to me a while back that the abbreviation has evolved and taken on the meaning “courtesy copy” in our modern world.

70 TV personality often referring to himself in the third person : 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!”.

77 Word with dollar or bank : SAND …

A sand dollar is a burrowing sea urchin found just below the low water line of sandy or muddy beaches. They have hard skeletons, which are often found washed up on beaches.

78 Weight : HEFT

The heft of something is its weight, its heaviness. The term “heft” is derivative of the verb “to heave” meaning “to lift, raise”.

82 React, but just barely : BAT AN EYE

At least as far back as the 1800s, the term “batting” was used in falconry to describe the fluttering of a hawk’s wings while on a perch or a fist, as if the bird intended to fly away. The usage of “batting” extended to the fluttering of a human’s eyelids, giving us the expressions “batting an eye” and “batting an eyelid”.

83 Amazon wrappers? : BOAS

Boa constrictors are members of the Boidae family of snakes, all of which are non-venomous. Interestingly, the female boa is always larger than the male.

86 Basic knitting stitch : PURL

As all of us knitters know, the purl stitch and knit stitch are very similar, one being sort of the inverse of the other. Yes, I’ve knitted a few sweaters in my day …

87 Major in astronomy? : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

88 Establishments for shampooing pooches : PET SPAS

Back in the 1760s, the verb “to shampoo” was an Anglo-Indian word meaning “to massage”. A century later we started to shampoo our hair.

93 Group on “the 11th day of Christmas” : PIPERS

The fabulous Christmas carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, though it may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.

94 Zhuzh (up) : SPRUCE

Our verb “to spruce up” means “to make trim or neat”. The term comes from the adjective “spruce”, meaning “smart, neat”. In turn, the adjective comes from “spruce leather”, which was a Prussian leather that was used in England in the 15th and 16th centuries to make a popular style of jerkin that was widely considered to look quite smart.

100 Oktoberfest order, casually : BRAT

A bratwurst (sometimes simply “brat” in the US) is a German sausage. The name comes from “brät-” meaning “finely chopped meat”, and “Wurst” meaning “sausage”.

Oktoberfest is a 16-day beer festival in Munich that actually starts in September. About six million people attend every year, making it the largest fair in the world. I’ve attended twice, and it really is a remarkable party …

102 “Big Blue” machines : IBMS

The origin of the IBM nickname “Big Blue” seems to have been lost in the mists of time. That said, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the IBM logo is blue, and almost every mainframe they produced was painted blue. I remember visiting IBM on business a few times in my career, and back then we were encouraged to wear white shirts and blue suits “to fit in” with our client’s culture.

104 ___ predator : APEX

An apex predator is at the top of a food chain, and has no other natural predators. Examples are the orca (“killer whale”) in the oceans, the lion in Africa, and the Tyrannosaurus in the days of the dinosaurs.

108 “Wonder Woman” star Gadot : GAL

Gal Gadot is an actress and former Miss Israel. She played Gisele Yashar in the “Fast & Furious” film franchise, and then began portraying Wonder Woman in superhero movies.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 C.E.O.’s deg. : MBA
4 Perch for a mountain goat : CRAG
8 Airplane seating area : CABIN
13 45s and LPs : DISCS
18 Middle-earth creature : ORC
19 First-class : A-ONE
20 Singer whose second album, in 2011, topped the Billboard chart for a record 24 weeks : ADELE
21 Hindu scripture on meditation : TANTRA
22 Derby, for one : HAT
24 Writer Zora ___ Hurston : NEALE
25 Biblical name that means “one who struggles with God” : ISRAEL
26 Last-minute bidder on eBay : SNIPER
27 Fish-and-chips fish : COD
29 Wander around online : SURF THE NET
31 “Quit stalling!” : DO IT!
32 Clumsy sorts : GALOOTS
34 Paris is found in it : ILIAD
35 Chicago neighborhood with a namesake zoo : LINCOLN PARK
37 It’s a lot, for some : ACRE
39 Wild guess : STAB
42 Org. with a Click-N-Ship option : USPS
43 “Gently, now” : EASY
44 “___ for Tinhorns” (“Guys and Dolls” number) : FUGUE
46 Trattoria dessert : TORTA
47 Comedian Margaret : CHO
48 A.A.A. service : TOW
49 What you get as you grow older, it’s said : WISER
50 It ain’t just a river in Egypt! : DENIAL
51 Impatient agreement : YES YES!
53 Fork over : SPEND
55 Membership category : TIER
57 Cask contents : ALE
58 Pip or pit : SEED
59 Ancient manuscripts discovered in the Qumran Caves : THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS
62 Give up, in wrestling : TAP OUT
64 Like medium vis-à-vis well done, say : PINKER
65 What a paper clip may indicate online … as represented in 22-Across : EMAIL ATTACHMENT
71 Jonathan Van ___ of “Queer Eye” : NESS
74 Ways of doing things, in brief : MOS
75 Tilt : LIST
76 ___ of the world : CARES
77 Drink whose name derives from its country of origin : SCOTCH
79 Medical attendants at boxing matches : CUTMEN
81 Roger who wrote “Life Itself: A Memoir” : EBERT
83 Darling : BAE
84 Hopper car contents : ORE
85 Subject of the 2003 book “Power Failure” : ENRON
86 Italian fashion house : PRADA
87 “___ the Roof” (1962 hit for the Drifters) : UP ON
89 Staff symbol : CLEF
90 Henry VI founded it in 1440 : ETON
91 “Achoo!” inducer : DUST
92 Excel offering … as represented in 29-Across : SPREADSHEET
95 Entree often served with onions : LIVER
97 Pitches in : ASSISTS
99 Big name in magic : PENN
100 It may lead to a 404 error page … as represented in 35-Across : BROKEN LINK
103 Class speakers, for short : PAS
104 World’s largest peninsula : ARABIA
106 Ginger of old Hollywood : ROGERS
107 Relative of cream : BEIGE
109 Browser annoyances … as represented in 59-Across : POP-UP ADS
111 Not inclined : AVERSE
112 Shiny balloon material : MYLAR
113 Tours with? : AVEC
114 Broadway actress Phillipa : SOO
115 Like one-word commands : TERSE
116 Hawks : SELLS
117 House of ___-Coburg and Gotha : SAXE
118 A little help around the holidays? : ELF

Down

1 Eponymous mineralogist Friedrich : MOHS
2 Waves aggressively : BRANDISHES
3 Martial artist’s stance : ACTION POSE
4 Snapped out of it : CAME TO
5 Sound heard at the start of every MGM movie : ROAR
6 Grammy winner DiFranco : ANI
7 Alternatives to tablets : GELCAPS
8 Honesty : CANDOR
9 Beverage suffix : -ADE
10 Antichrist figure, in Revelation : BEAST
11 Bad treatment : ILL USAGE
12 When Romeo says he “saw true beauty” before seeing Juliet : NE’ER
13 Soup stock in Japanese cuisine : DASHI
14 With good sense : IN REASON
15 Have one’s day in court : STAND TRIAL
16 First Nations people : CREE
17 Preserve, in a way : SALT
21 Line on a spine : TITLE
23 Hesiod’s “Theogony” and “Works and Days” : EPICS
28 Neutrogena competitor : OLAY
30 Match making? : FIRE
32 Bother, with “at” : GNAW …
33 “All right, you win” : OK, FINE
35 Titular love object on old TV : LUCY
36 Czech composer Janáček : LEOS
38 Game over, so to speak : CURTAINS
40 Even a little : AT ALL
41 Bucolic bundles : BALES
45 Food safety agcy. : USDA
46 Tony-nominated actor Mann : TERRENCE
48 Longtime host of Food Network’s “Chopped” : TED ALLEN
49 Unionized? : WED
50 Something that’s hand-cut? : DECK
52 Object of a dubious sighting : YETI
53 Closes : SHUTTERS
54 Org. opposed to fur farming : PETA
56 “Winning ___ everything” : ISN’T
59 Preschoolers : TOTS
60 Fencing option : EPEE
61 Frozen yogurt mix-in : OREO
63 French bread : PAIN
65 Run the show : EMCEE
66 Organize, as a campaign : MOUNT
67 Ptolemy was one, famously : ASTROLOGER
68 Listed below a recipient, maybe : CC’ED
69 Torment : HARASS
70 TV personality often referring to himself in the third person : MR T
72 Diamond theft : STOLEN BASE
73 Film megastar : SCREEN IDOL
77 Word with dollar or bank : SAND …
78 Weight : HEFT
80 Handles : MONIKERS
82 React, but just barely : BAT AN EYE
83 Amazon wrappers? : BOAS
86 Basic knitting stitch : PURL
87 Major in astronomy? : URSA
88 Establishments for shampooing pooches : PET SPAS
89 Like a low blow : CHEAP
91 Slow to catch on : DENSE
93 Group on “the 11th day of Christmas” : PIPERS
94 Zhuzh (up) : SPRUCE
96 Writer’s block? : VERSE
98 Developed ability : SKILL
100 Oktoberfest order, casually : BRAT
101 Wander about : ROVE
102 “Big Blue” machines : IBMS
104 ___ predator : APEX
105 Since : AS OF
108 “Wonder Woman” star Gadot : GAL
110 Fraternal twins come from different ones : OVA