0811-19 NY Times Crossword 11 Aug 19, Sunday

Constructed by: Alex Eaton-Salners
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Bird Play

Circled letters in the grid spell out the names of BIRDS. Those BIRDS participate in some wordPLAY in their themed answers. In the lower half of the grid, a set of themed answers describe that wordPLAY:

  • 19A Best Actress winner of 1999 and 2004 : HILARY (SWAN)K
  • 15D City on the Nile : A(SWAN)
  • 116A … and in 19-Across : SWAN DIVE
  • 25A “Curiouser and curiouser …” : THE PLOT THICKENS …
  • 106A … in 25-Across : HEADLESS CHICKEN
  • 41A Jeer : SCOFF
  • 49A In-group at school : POPULAR KIDS
  • 81A What’s depicted by the circled letters in 41-/49-Across : OFF ON A LARK
  • 52A Preach the gospel : EVANGELIZE
  • 84A … in 52-Across : SPREAD-EAGLE

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 18m 36s

Bill’s errors: 2

  • TAC (tic!)
  • PAAVO (Paivo)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Screen org.? : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

13 William H. Bonney ___ Billy the Kid : AKA

I’m guessing that the notorious Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid was of Irish stock as his family name was McCarty. Although he usually used the alias William H. Bonney, another indication of an Irish connection is that he also went by William Antrim, Henry Antrim and Kid Antrim, as Antrim is one of the six counties in the north of Ireland.

16 Mathematician taught by Bernoulli : EULER

Leonhard Euler was a brilliant Swiss mathematician and physicist, and a pioneer in the fields of logarithms and graph theory. Euler’s eyesight deteriorated during his working life, and eventually became almost totally blind.

18 Most populous nation not in the U.N. : TAIWAN

Prior to 1945, the island that we know today as Taiwan was called “Formosa”, the Portuguese word for “beautiful”. Portuguese sailors gave the island this name when they spotted it in 1544. The official name for the state of Taiwan is the “Republic of China”.

19 Best Actress winner of 1999 and 2004 : HILARY SWANK

The actress Hilary Swank had her first major role in “The Next Karate Kid” released in 1994, in which she played the first female student of the sensei Mr. Miyagi.

23 Surname of Princess Leia : ORGANA

The full name of the character played by Carrie Fisher in the “Star Wars” series of films is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and later Leia Organa Solo. Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the daughter of Anakin Skywalker (aka “Darth Vader”) and Padmé Amidala. Leia is raised by her adoptive parents Bail and Breha Organa. She eventually marries Han Solo.

24 Midwest college town : AMES, IOWA

The city of Ames, Iowa is famous for holding the now-defunct Ames Straw Poll (also “Iowa Straw Poll) in advance of presidential elections. The poll in question was used to gauge the level of support for two or more Republican candidates, although non-Republicans were allowed to cast a vote. To vote one had to be an Iowa resident and had buy a ticket to the fundraising dinner at which the vote is taken. The event got a lot of coverage, so it boosted the local economy as journalists hit the town. It was a very successful fundraiser for the Republican Party in Iowa as well, but the usefulness of the straw poll in predicting the eventual winner of the nomination was less clear. There were six straw polls from its inception in 1979, and just 2 out of the 6 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination. The Republican Party decided to pull the plug on the event in 2015.

25 “Curiouser and curiouser …” : THE PLOT THICKENS …

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole and finds a bottle labelled “DRINK ME”. When she drinks the contents, it causes her to shrink. She also sees a cake adorned with the words “EAT ME” written using currants, and when she eats the cake she grows so big she finds it hard to stand up. After eating the cake, she utters the words, “Curiouser and curiouser”.

29 Grand onstage : PIANO

A grand piano is one with the frame supported horizontally on three legs. An upright piano has the frame and strings running vertically. Grand pianos come in many sizes. For example, the length of a concert grand is about 9 feet, a parlor grand is about 7 feet, and a baby grand is about 5 feet.

30 Place to swim or work out, informally : THE Y

The YMCA (“the Y”) is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.

36 Major name in petrol : ESSO

The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

39 Language from which “jackal” and “jasmine” come : FARSI

“Farsi” is one of the local names for the Persian language.

40 “La Traviata” composer : VERDI

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “La Traviata” was originally titled “Violetta” after the main character in the piece. The title “La Traviata” translates into “The Woman Gone Astray”, reflecting Violetta’s life as a courtesan.

46 Part of a three-in-a-row : TAC

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

47 Greasy in the Pro Football Hall of Fame : NEALE

Greasy Neale was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1941-1950.

56 Longtime “All Things Considered” host Robert : SIEGEL

“All Things Considered” is the flagship news broadcast by NPR that airs for two hours every evening.

57 Screenwriter Ephron : NORA

Nora Ephron had many talents, including writing film scripts and novels. Many of the movies that she wrote, she also directed. These would include some of my favorite movies of all time like “Sleepless in Seattle”, “You’ve Got Mail” and most recently, the wonderful “Julie & Julia”. And, did you know that Nora Ephron’s second marriage was to journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame? She wrote an autobiographical novel based on her life with Bernstein, which deals in particular with Bernstein’s affair with the daughter of British Prime Minister James Callaghan.

59 Chinese liquor made from sorghum : MAOTAI

Maotai is a Chinese liquor that is distilled from fermented sorghum. It is named for the town of Maotai in Guizhou Province, where there is a long history of distilling alcoholic spirits in volume.

66 Internet content typically viewed alone : PORN

The word “pornography” comes from the Greek “pornographos” meaning “writing of prostitutes”.

68 Italian scooter brand : VESPA

Vespa is a brand of motor scooter that was originally made in Italy (and now all over the world) by Piaggio. “Vespa” is Italian for “wasp”.

73 Part of the resistance? : OHM

The unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (with the symbol omega) named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. Ohm was the guy who established experimentally that the amount of current flowing through a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied, (V=IR) a relationship that every school kid knows as Ohm’s Law.

74 Some pickup info on rideshare apps: Abbr. : ETDS

Estimated time of departure (ETD)

80 Man’s name that means “my God” : ELI

According to both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Mark in the Christian Bible, Jesus uttered the words “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”) while hanging on the cross. This phrase is the only one that appears in more than one of the four gospels.

88 Swimmer in a Himeji Castle moat : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

93 Alter, as a manuscript : EMEND

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

97 Places for speakers : DAISES

A dais is a raised platform for a speaker. The term “dais” comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that the original daises had such a shape.

98 Common people : PLEBS

In ancient Rome, the patricians were the members of the families in the ruling classes. Those Romans who were not patricians by birth were known as plebs.

104 Stylish ballroom dance : SALSA

The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

112 Brown powder : COCOA MIX

The beverages hot cocoa and hot chocolate differ from each other in that the latter contains cocoa butter, whereas the former does not.

115 Nashville university, familiarly : VANDY

Vanderbilt University is a private school in Nashville that was established in 1873. Construction started following a $1 million donation by Cornelius Vanderbilt, the wealthiest man in America at that time.

116 … and in 19-Across : SWAN DIVE

A swan dive is one in which the diver holds the arms outspread until just before hitting the water. Over on the other side of the Atlantic, the same dive is often called a swallow dive. Sometimes we use the verb “to swan-dive” to describe something that plummets, suddenly decreases. The stock markets swan-dives every so often …

118 Princess of Avalor, in children’s TV : ELENA

“Elena of Avalor” is a Disney Channel TV show about a Latina princess and her family. The title character is a 16-year-old crowned princess of the magical king of Avalor.

119 Machiavellian : SLY

Niccolo Machiavelli’s political treatise entitled “The Prince”, and the philosophical opinions expressed therein, gave rise to the term “Machiavellian” meaning “cunning and devious”, especially at the level of state politics. Indeed, it is said that the reception of Machiavelli’s work was such that he lent his name “Niccolo” to the language as the derivation of the term “Old Nick”, meaning “the Devil”,

121 Oboes and saxes, e.g. : REEDS

Woodwind instruments are a subcategory of wind instruments that were traditionally made of wood, although some are now made from metal. There are two main classes of woodwind: flutes and reed instruments. Flutes produce sound by blowing air across the edge of a hole in a cylindrical tube. Reed instruments produce sounds by blowing into a mouthpiece, which then directs the air over a reed or reeds, causing them to vibrate.

Down

4 Bowling : TEN-PINS

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

8 Serving with carrots and celery, maybe : RANCH DIP

Ranch dressing has been the best selling salad dressing in the country since 1992. The recipe was developed by Steve Henson who introduced it in the fifties to guests on his dude ranch, Hidden Valley Ranch in Northern California. His ranch dressing became so popular that he opened a factory to produce packets of ranch seasoning that could be mixed with mayonnaise and buttermilk. Henson sold the brand for $8 million in 1972.

11 Virtual people : SIMS

SimCity is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. SimCity was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

12 Bitter, e.g. : ALE

What’s known as “bitter ale” in the UK corresponds to “pale ale” in the US. I’m a fan …

14 Noncapital city whose name means “capital city” : KYOTO

The city of Kyoto was once the capital of Japan, and in fact the name “Kyoto” means “capital city” in Japanese. Kyoto is sometimes referred to as the City of Ten Thousand Shrines.

15 City on the Nile : ASWAN

The Egyptian city of Aswan lies in the south of the country, on the River Nile. Aswan is famous for its stone quarries, going back to ancient times. The most celebrated granite rock from the area is called syenite. Stone from Aswan was shipped northwards along the Nile and used in the construction of the pyramids. From ancient times right up to 1970, the annual flooding of the Nile was a significant event in Egypt. The flooding allowed the deposition of fertile silt far beyond the banks of the river, helping the region’s agriculture. However, the flooding was unpredictable. So the Aswan Dam was built in the sixties and from 1970 the flooding was brought under control.

18 Band with the 1983 #1 hit “Africa” : TOTO

Toto is an American rock band dating back to 1977. As well as their big hit “Rosanna”, Toto also sang another good tune titled “Africa”.

21 Kit ___ : KAT

I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid, as the chocolate confection has been around since the thirties. Kit Kats didn’t hit the shelves in the US until the seventies. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat over in the UK, such as an orange-flavored version, but haven’t seen anything like that over here.

26 Dedicator of Iceland’s Imagine Peace Tower : ONO

“Wish Tree” is a series of living art installations by Yoko Ono. The series consists of native trees planted under her direction, Ono invites viewers to tie written wishes to the trees. Ono has been installing “Wish Tree” exhibits in locations around the world since the 1990s. She does not read the wishes, but collects them for burial under the Imagine Peace Tower, a memorial to John Lennon located on an island near Reykjavik, Iceland. There are over a million such wishes under the memorial today.

27 Ocelli : EYESPOTS

An ocellus (plural “ocelli”) is an eye-like marking, or eyespot. A good example of ocelli are the eyespots on the elaborate display feathers of a peacock.

31 Challenges for movers : SOFAS

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

33 ___ Nurmi, 1920s Olympic runner nicknamed the “Flying Finn” : PAAVO

Paavo Nurmi was one of a group of Finnish runners to earn the nickname “the Flying Finn”. Nurmi dominated middle and long distance running in the 1920s. He was the most successful athlete at the 1924 Paris Olympics, winning five gold medals.

34 Bud of baseball : SELIG

Bud Selig was the Commissioner of Baseball for Major League Baseball from 1998 to 2015. Selig became acting commissioner in 1992 after the resignation of Fay Vincent. The team owners searched for a new commissioner for six years, and finally gave the permanent job to Selig in 1998.

37 Subject of lessons at an island resort : SCUBA

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

38 Roman sun god : SOL

Helios was the god of the Sun in Greek mythology. He was the brother of Selene, the goddess of the moon, and Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Helios drove his chariot of the sun across the sky during the day, returning to the East at night be travelling through the ocean. The Roman equivalent to Helios was Sol.

40 Team at an upscale restaurant : VALETS

A varlet was an attendant or servant, and perhaps a knight’s page. The term “varlet” comes from the Old French “vaslet” meaning “squire, young man”. “Vaslet” also gave us our contemporary word “valet”. The term “varlet” came to be pejorative, describing an unprincipled person.

43 Cowboy’s home, informally : BIG D

“Big D” is a nickname for the city of Dallas, Texas.

44 Middle of the month : IDES

There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed at the 15th day of a month. Well, actually the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

45 Best Play Tony winner with a geographical name : OSLO

“Oslo” is a 2016 play by J. T. Rogers that dramatizes the behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the Oslo I Accord between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. Rogers came to write the play when he became acquainted with Norwegian diplomat Terje Rød-Larsen, who played a pivotal role in the negotiations.

48 Jellied delicacies : EELS

Jellied eels are a traditional British dish associated with the working class East End of London. Historically, the eels used were caught in the River Thames. The dish is prepared by boiling up eels that have been chopped into rounds in a seasoned stock and then allowing it to set. The eel contains a lot of gelatinous protein so the stock forms a jelly as it cools.

50 Cry from Juliet : O ROMEO!

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo’s reply includes the famous lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

51 ___ club (annual show presenter) : KENNEL

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the organization that handles registration of purebred dogs The AKC also promotes dog shows around the country, including the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

53 Diaper, in Britspeak : NAPPIE

“Diaper” is another word that I had to learn when I moved to America. What are called “diapers” over here, we call “nappies” back in Ireland. The term “diaper” is actually the original term that was used in England for the garment, where “diaper” referred to the cloth that was used. The term “diaper” was brought to the New World where it stuck. Back in Britain, “diaper” was displaced by the word “nappy”, a diminutive of “napkin”.

54 Chef Lagasse : EMERIL

Emeril Lagasse is an American chef who was born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved celebrity as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

60 Crossword constructing, e.g. (no, really!) : ART

“Cruciverbalist” is a term developed in the 1990s to describe crossword enthusiasts. The word comes from the Latin for cross (crux) and word (verbum). “Cruciverbalist” is sometimes limited to those who actually construct the puzzles. Over on the other side of the Atlantic, we often call such people “setters”.

61 AirPod pairing target : IPHONE

AirPods are Apple’s line of bluetooth earpods. When AirPods were introduced in 2016, the market reacted with some skepticism. The left and right AirPods are not connected by any wire, so there was concern that individual earbuds could fall out of the ear, and possibly get lost. Another concern is Apple’s stated intent to abandon the wired headphone socket on new iPhone models.

64 “Paradise Lost” tempter : SATAN

“Paradise Lost” is an epic poem written by Englishman John Milton. It is indeed an epic work, published originally in ten volumes with over ten thousand lines of verse. The “paradise” that is “lost” is the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God in the “Fall of Man”.

65 Site of Jesus’ crucifixion : GOLGOTHA

According to the Gospels of the Christian New Testament, Jesus was crucified just outside the walls of Jerusalem at the location called Golgotha. The Bible translates “Golgotha” as the “place of the skull”. This phrase translates into Latin as “Calvariæ Locus”, from which we get the English name “Calvary”.

68 Word with life or flak : … VEST

“Flak” was originally an acronym standing for the German term for an aircraft defense cannon (FLiegerAbwehrKanone). “Flak” then became used in English as a general term for antiaircraft fire and ultimately a term for verbal criticism, as in “to take flak”.

70 See the future with a crystal ball : SCRY

To descry is to catch sight of, to discern. The derivative verb “to scry” is used to mean “to see images that reveal the past or foretell the future”.

72 Track meet divisions : HEATS

The term “heat”, meaning a qualifying race, dates back to the 1660s. Originally a heat was a run given to a horse to prepare it for a race, to “heat” it up.

79 Pristine places : EDENS

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

85 Pronoun in a picture rebus : EWE

A rebus is a puzzle that uses pictures to represent letters and groups of letters. For example, a picture of a “ewe” might represent the letter “U” or the pronoun “you”, and a picture of an “oar” might represent the letter “R” or the conjunction “or”.

97 Dit’s partner : DAH

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

100 Magazine that named Barack Obama its first-ever Person of the Year (2009) : EBONY

“Ebony” is a lifestyle magazine founded in 1945 that is marketed towards the African-American community. Way back in 1957/58, “Ebony” was home to a monthly advice column penned by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Titled “Advice for Living”, he used the column to answer many of letters that the magazine received that were addressed to Dr. King personally. Having recently read a few of those columns, I must say that they provide some fascinating insight into race relations in the 1950s …

103 “J. ___” (2011 Clint Eastwood biopic) : EDGAR

“J. Edgar” is a 2011 film directed by Clint Eastwood that deals with much of the adult life of former FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. I saw this one, and I am afraid my high expectations weren’t really met …

104 Missile first used in the Yom Kippur War : SCUD

Scud missiles were developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The Soviets called them R-11 missiles at first, with later versions known as R-17 and R-300 Elbrus. The name “Scud” was actually the name NATO used for the missile, a name created by Western intelligence officers. Ballistic missiles haven’t been used a lot in actual warfare, the exception being the German V-2 rocket attacks on England during WWII. After the V-2, the second most-used ballistic missile in warfare is the Scud, which featured in a number of conflicts:

  • used by Egypt against Israel in the Yom Kippur War of 1973
  • used by the USSR in Afghanistan
  • used by Libya against a US Coast Guard station in the Mediterranean in 1986
  • used by Iranians and Iraqis in the Iran-Iraq War of 1980-88
  • used by Iraq in the Gulf War of 1990-91

The Yom Kippur War started on October 6 in 1973 with a surprise move by Syria and Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. The conflict quickly escalated into a confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union, as both superpowers rushed arms to the opposing states. Within a week, Israeli forces had regained the land that had been lost and two weeks later had advanced within striking range of both Cairo and Damascus. A UN-brokered ceasefire brought the war to an end on October 25, after just 19 days of fighting.

105 Non-Macs : PCS

The IBM PC entered the personal computer market in 1981 and was by all accounts a surprising success, even to many IBM executives. The PC was directed at the business world, and in 1983 IBM made its first foray into the home computing world with the introduction of the PCjr. Codenamed “Peanut” during development, the PCjr has been described as one of the biggest commercial flops in computing history. Various reasons have been cited for the failure, including the poorly-designed keyboard, relatively high price and lack of compatibility with existing IBM products.

108 Number in brackets? : SEED

“Bracketology” is a term used to describe the process of predicting which college basketball teams will advance in a bracket in the annual NCAA Basketball Tournament. President Barack Obama famously participates in an ESPN segment called “Baracketology” in which he predicts the outcome of the tournament, game by game.

110 Poet ___ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA

Edna St. Vincent Millay was an American poet and playwright, and the third woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (in 1923 for “The Ballad of the Harp-Weaver”). Millay was noted not only for her work, but also for the open arrangement that she and her husband had in their marriage. Millay took many lovers, including the poet George Dillon, for whom she wrote a number of sonnets.

111 Diana who was the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of shark protection (2013) : NYAD

Diana Nyad is a long-distance swimmer. Nyad holds the distance record for a non-stop swim without a wetsuit, a record that she set in 1979 by swimming from Bimini to Florida. In 1975 she became the fastest person to circle Manhattan in a swim that lasted 7 hours 57 minutes. More recently, in 2013, she became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the protection of a shark cage. She was 64 years old when she made that swim!

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Share on social media : POST
5 Blackens : CHARS
10 Screen org.? : TSA
13 William H. Bonney ___ Billy the Kid : AKA
16 Mathematician taught by Bernoulli : EULER
18 Most populous nation not in the U.N. : TAIWAN
19 Best Actress winner of 1999 and 2004 : HILARY SWANK
22 It’s just part of the act : SCENE
23 Surname of Princess Leia : ORGANA
24 Midwest college town : AMES, IOWA
25 “Curiouser and curiouser …” : THE PLOT THICKENS …
28 Bother : EAT AT
29 Grand onstage : PIANO
30 Place to swim or work out, informally : THE Y
31 Business that has cut prices : SALON
32 Entertaining : OPEN TO
34 Went over the limit, say : SPED
36 Major name in petrol : ESSO
39 Language from which “jackal” and “jasmine” come : FARSI
40 “La Traviata” composer : VERDI
41 Jeer : SCOFF
43 Bit on a book jacket : BIO
46 Part of a three-in-a-row : TAC
47 Greasy in the Pro Football Hall of Fame : NEALE
49 In-group at school : POPULAR KIDS
52 Preach the gospel : EVANGELIZE
55 Rip off : ROB
56 Longtime “All Things Considered” host Robert : SIEGEL
57 Screenwriter Ephron : NORA
58 Anchor, e.g. : LEG
59 Chinese liquor made from sorghum : MAOTAI
62 “Consequently …” : AND SO …
63 Verbal alternative to a shoulder tap : PSST!
65 Beginnings of ideas : GERMS
66 Internet content typically viewed alone : PORN
68 Italian scooter brand : VESPA
71 What 1-Down has that 1-Across lacks : SHORT E
73 Part of the resistance? : OHM
74 Some pickup info on rideshare apps: Abbr. : ETDS
78 Stir : EXCITE
80 Man’s name that means “my God” : ELI
81 What’s depicted by the circled letters in 41-/49-Across : OFF ON A LARK
84 … in 52-Across : SPREAD-EAGLE
87 Rehearse a play from start to finish, in theater lingo : RUN IT
88 Swimmer in a Himeji Castle moat : KOI
89 Nursery floor hazard : TOY
90 Unfamiliar with : NEW TO
91 Informal “What if …?” : S’POSE …
93 Alter, as a manuscript : EMEND
95 Bird’s home : NEST
96 Bird’s home : CAGE
97 Places for speakers : DAISES
98 Common people : PLEBS
102 Close up, say : HEAL
104 Stylish ballroom dance : SALSA
105 Investigation : PROBE
106 … in 25-Across : HEADLESS CHICKEN
112 Brown powder : COCOA MIX
114 French cake : GATEAU
115 Nashville university, familiarly : VANDY
116 … and in 19-Across : SWAN DIVE
117 Go to : ATTEND
118 Princess of Avalor, in children’s TV : ELENA
119 Machiavellian : SLY
120 Tape deck button : REC
121 Oboes and saxes, e.g. : REEDS
122 Aid for a detective : LEAD

Down

1 Real pain : PEST
2 Reaction to pain : OUCH!
3 Berth place : SLEEPER CAR
4 Bowling : TEN-PINS
5 Cause of a supermarket parking mishap : CART
6 Tripping : HIGH
7 Expected : AWAITED
8 Serving with carrots and celery, maybe : RANCH DIP
9 Meander : SNAKE
10 Lighter-air link : … THAN …
11 Virtual people : SIMS
12 Bitter, e.g. : ALE
13 Alternative to Times New Roman : ARIAL
14 Noncapital city whose name means “capital city” : KYOTO
15 City on the Nile : ASWAN
17 As (to) : RELATING
18 Band with the 1983 #1 hit “Africa” : TOTO
20 Far offshore : ASEA
21 Kit ___ : KAT
26 Dedicator of Iceland’s Imagine Peace Tower : ONO
27 Ocelli : EYESPOTS
31 Challenges for movers : SOFAS
32 Habitually : OFTEN
33 ___ Nurmi, 1920s Olympic runner nicknamed the “Flying Finn” : PAAVO
34 Bud of baseball : SELIG
35 Veep’s boss : PREZ
37 Subject of lessons at an island resort : SCUBA
38 Roman sun god : SOL
40 Team at an upscale restaurant : VALETS
42 Brother : FRIAR
43 Cowboy’s home, informally : BIG D
44 Middle of the month : IDES
45 Best Play Tony winner with a geographical name : OSLO
48 Jellied delicacies : EELS
50 Cry from Juliet : O ROMEO!
51 ___ club (annual show presenter) : KENNEL
53 Diaper, in Britspeak : NAPPIE
54 Chef Lagasse : EMERIL
60 Crossword constructing, e.g. (no, really!) : ART
61 AirPod pairing target : IPHONE
64 “Paradise Lost” tempter : SATAN
65 Site of Jesus’ crucifixion : GOLGOTHA
67 Prefix with directional : OMNI-
68 Word with life or flak : … VEST
69 Brand of markers : EXPO
70 See the future with a crystal ball : SCRY
72 Track meet divisions : HEATS
73 Worth keeping around : OF USE
75 Peacefully protests, as during the national anthem : TAKES A KNEE
76 Flier on a mission : DRONE
77 Loses traction : SKIDS
79 Pristine places : EDENS
82 Fairy tale alter ego : FROG
83 Crushed in competition : ATE ALIVE
85 Pronoun in a picture rebus : EWE
86 Increase quickly : ESCALATE
92 Mixing board : PALETTE
94 Wrongly predict, as an election : MISCALL
97 Dit’s partner : DAH
98 Places for figureheads : PROWS
99 Not express : LOCAL
100 Magazine that named Barack Obama its first-ever Person of the Year (2009) : EBONY
101 Bit of sweat : BEAD
103 “J. ___” (2011 Clint Eastwood biopic) : EDGAR
104 Missile first used in the Yom Kippur War : SCUD
105 Non-Macs : PCS
106 Kind of mind : HIVE
107 Suit : EXEC
108 Number in brackets? : SEED
109 Without : SANS
110 Poet ___ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA
111 Diana who was the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without the aid of shark protection (2013) : NYAD
113 Russian for “peace” : MIR