1009-22 NY Times Crossword 9 Oct 22, Sunday

2022-10-062022-10-06

Constructed by: Jessie Trudeau & Ross Trudeau
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Rise to the Challenge

We have a ladder of letters H going right up the middle of the grid, and themed answers are professionals who use ladders. The answers start on one line, climb a specified number of rungs, and finish on a line above. Very inventive …

  • 65A Advances through corporate ranks … and what the answer to each starred clue in this puzzle does : CLIMB THE LADDER
  • 8D Visual depiction of the apparatus used by the starred professionals : HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
  • 25A *Worker with a brush [three rungs] : CHIMNEY SWEEP
  • 56A *Captain with a periscope [four rungs] : SUBMARINE COMMANDER
  • 90A *Seasonal orchard worker [eight rungs] : CHERRY PICKER
  • 101A *Worker for AT&T or Verizon [four rungs] : TELEPHONE REPAIRMAN
  • 123A *One putting a coat on outside [three rungs] : HOUSE PAINTER

Bill’s time: 18m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Like the protagonist at the start of “28 Days Later” : IN A COMA

“28 Days Later” is a 2002 horror film about a man who wakes from a coma, 28 days after an outbreak of a virus that threatens the end of the world. There is a 2007 sequel that bears the inventive title “28 Weeks Later”.

14 Lady Macduff, e.g. : SCOT

Thanes were Scottish aristocrats. The most famous thanes have to be the Shakespearean characters Macbeth (Thane of Glamis, later “Thane of Cawdor”, and still later “King of Scotland”) and MacDuff (Thane of Fife). Other thanes in “Macbeth” are Ross, Lennox and Angus, as well as Menteith and Caithness.

21 Male deer : HART

Nowadays, a hart is a male red deer over five years old. A hind is a female red deer.

22 “My ___” (#1 hit for the Knack) : SHARONA

“My Sharona” is a hit single from 1979 released by a band called the Knack. The group’s guitarist wrote the song after meeting a 17-year-old girl named Sharona, who later became his girlfriend. Young Sharona appears on the cover sleeve for the record. Three decades later, Sharona was a real estate agent in LA.

23 One of the two main branches of Buddhism : MAHAYANA

The Buddhist tradition has two major branches. The Theravada is “the School of the Elders”, and the Mahayana is “the Great Vehicle”. The Theravada is the older of the two schools, whereas the Mahayana split from the Theravada around the 1st century CE.

27 Fuel option : DIESEL

There are two main types of internal combustion engine. Most cars in the US use spark injection engines (gasoline engines) in which a spark plug sparks in order to ignite the fuel-air mixture. A diesel engine, on the other hand, has no spark plug per se, and uses the heat generated by compressing the air-fuel mixture to cause ignition.

Rudolf Diesel was a German engineer, and the inventor of the diesel engine. Diesel died under mysterious circumstances, having disappeared from a passenger vessel sailing from Antwerp to London. Whether death was due to an accident, suicide or murder is the subject of much speculation.

29 “Ciao!” : TATA!

“Ciao” is Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.

38 A.C.C. school : UVA

The University of Virginia (UVA) sports teams are known officially as “the Cavaliers”. The unofficial nickname is “the Wahoos”.

The collegiate athletic conference known as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) was founded in 1953. The seven charter members of the ACC were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest.

40 Maker of Pilots and Passports : HONDA

The Honda Pilot is a mid-size crossover SUV that was introduced in 2002. The luxury version of the vehicle is sold as the Acura MDX.

The Honda Passport SUV was basically the same car as the Isuzu Rodeo. Honda desperately needed an entry into the growing SUV market in the early nineties and so made a deal with Isuzu to use their existing design.

42 “___ Canto” (2001 Ann Patchett novel) : BEL

Ann Patchett is an author who lives in Nashville, Tennessee. Patchett’s most famous work is probably her novel “Bel Canto”, published in 2001. In 2012, “Time” included her in the magazine’s list of 100 most influential people in the world.

“Bel canto” is a term used in Italian opera, the literal translation of which is “beautiful singing”. The term specifically describes a style of singing that emphasizes beauty of tone over dramatic power.

43 Structure resembling a pergola : ARBOR

A pergola looks somewhat like a gazebo in structure, but it is an open walkway with vines trained up the sides and over the top. “Pergola” ultimately derives from the Latin “pergula”, the word for a covered eave.

47 Airport with a BART station : SFO

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

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a commuter rail system serving the San Francisco Bay Area.

50 Mail, e.g. : ARMOR

Mail is a type of armor that was worn as far back as 300 BCE. Chainmail is basically a mesh made of metal rings that are linked together and fashioned into a protective garment.

52 Otis who founded the Otis Elevator Company : ELISHA

Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the “safety elevator”, a design that he showcased at the 1853 World’s Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.

56 *Captain with a periscope [four rungs] : SUBMARINE COMMANDER

The prefix “peri-” is Greek in origin and means “around”. An example of its use is “periscope”, a device on a submarine for looking “around”.

58 Some military wear, informally : CAMO

Our word “camouflage” (often abbreviated to “camo”) evolved directly from a Parisian slang term “camoufler” meaning “to disguise”. The term was first used in WWI, although the British navy at that time preferred the expression “dazzle-painting” as it applied to the pattern painted on the hulls of ships.

61 Former make of Ford : EDSEL

The Edsel brand of automobile was named for Edsel Ford, son of Henry. Sadly, the name “Edsel” has become synonymous with “failure”, which was no fault of Edsel himself who had died several years before the Edsel line was introduced. When the Ford Motor Company introduced the Edsel on 4 September 1957, Ford proclaimed the day to be “E Day”.

71 “Mon ___!” : DIEU

“Mon Dieu!” is French for “My God!”

74 Singer Grande, to fans : ARI

Ariana Grande is a singer and actress from Boca Raton, Florida. Grande plays the role of Cat Valentine on the sitcom “Victorious” that aired for four seasons on Nickelodeon. Grande’s singing career took off with the release of the 2011 album “Victorious: Music from the Hit TV Show”.

76 Celebrity gossip show with an exclamation point in its title : E! NEWS

E! Entertainment Television started out in 1987 as Movietime, and hired on-air hosts such as Greg Kinnear and Paula Abdul. It was renamed in 1990 to E! Entertainment Television, underscoring the focus on Hollywood gossip and the like.

79 Map inits. until 1991 : USSR

When the former Soviet Union (USSR) dissolved in 1991, it was largely replaced by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). The formation of the CIS underscored the new reality, that the former Soviet Republics (SSRs) were now independent states. Most of the 15 former SSRs joined the CIS. Notably, the three Baltic SSRs (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) opted not to join the new commonwealth, and in 2004 joined NATO and the EU.

80 Pest control brand : D-CON

d-CON is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years. The name is an abbreviation for “decontamination”. The d-CON Company was founded in 1950 by Chicago businessman Lee Ratner, yes, “Ratner” …

87 Writer known for his anthropomorphic animal characters : AESOP

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

To anthropomorphize is to put into human form something that is not human. The noun “anthropomorphism” comes from the Greek “anthropos” meaning “human and “morphe” meaning “form”. The term only dates back to the mid-1700s, when it applied to the then heretic offense of applying human form to the God of Christianity. The concept of anthropomorphism dates back to ancient times, with examples being characters in Aesop’s fables such as the Hare and Tortoise.

93 Staple of Dutch Golden Age art : TULIP

We usually associate the cultivation of tulips with the Netherlands, but they were first grown commercially in the Ottoman Empire. The name “tulip” ultimately derives from the Ottoman Turkish word “tulbend” that means “muslin, gauze”.

95 Feeling while watching a volcanic eruption, perhaps : AWE

Our word “volcano” comes from “Vulcano”, the name of a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. The island’s name comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans believed that the island of Vulcano was the chimney of the forge belonging to the god Vulcan. The Romans also believed that the eruptions on Mount Etna in Sicily were caused by Vulcan getting angry and working his forge so hard that sparks and smoke flew out of the top of the volcano.

98 Narwhal’s tusk : TOOTH

The narwhal is a whale species in which the male has a large tusk. The “tusk” is actually a canine tooth that projects from the jaw through the lip. Usually only one tusk develops, on the left side of the jaw. Occasionally, a second tusk develops as well, on the right side of the jaw. The tusk is unlike a tooth in that it contains many nerves, making it a sensory organ. It is rarely used in an act of aggression.

100 Pen that aptly rhymes with “click” : BIC

Société Bic is a company based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

101 *Worker for AT&T or Verizon [four rungs] : TELEPHONE REPAIRMAN

The original AT&T Corporation was known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, hence the contemporary abbreviation.

The telecommunications company that we know today as Verizon was founded in 1983 as Bell Atlantic, and was one of the “Baby Bells” that were formed after the breakup of AT&T. Bell Atlantic merged with fellow Baby Bell NYNEX in 1997, and then merged with GTE in 2000 to form Verizon. The new company name is a portmanteau of “veritas” (“truth” in Latin) and “horizon”.

104 Sound on Old MacDonald’s farm : OINK!

There was an old American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O) that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the older US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

109 Worker who probably isn’t paid enough : PEON

A peon is a lowly worker who has no real control over his/her working conditions. The word “peon” comes into English from Spanish, in which language it has the same meaning.

115 1/100 of a franc : CENTIME

The French franc was made up of 100 centimes, before being replaced by the Euro.

120 Googles, e.g. : SEARCHES

The Google search engine was originally called “BackRub” would you believe? The name was eventually changed to “Google”, an intentional misspelling of the word “googol”. A googol is a pretty big number, 10 to the power of 100. That would be the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Down

1 Communications on Slack, e.g. : IMS

Slack is a messaging app aimed at businesses. At its core, Slack is an instant messaging system. Slack also provides tools designed to increase collaboration within teams.

2 Org. funding Covid-19 research : NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) organization is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.

4 Roughly : CIRCA

“Circa” is a Latin word meaning “around, near, about the time of”. We use “circa” directly in English to mean “about the time of”, as well as in derivative words such as “circle” and “circus”.

5 “Then again …,” in a tweet : OTOH …

On the other hand (OTOH)

6 Upscale hotel room fixture : MINIBAR

Minibars were first introduced into rooms in the Hong Kong Hilton in 1974. They were so popular and profitable that they were added to almost all Hilton hotel rooms in 1975.

7 One calling for a tow, maybe : AAA MEMBER

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.

13 Mario who founded a fashion empire : 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 …

17 “Cya!” : TTYL!

Talk to you later (TTYL)

19 “How ___ Your Mother” : I MET

“How I Met Your Mother” is a sitcom that CBS has been airing since 2005. The main character is Ted Mosby, played by Josh Radnor. Mosby is also the narrator for the show looking back from the year 2030 (the live action is set in the present). As narrator, the older Mosby character is voiced by Bob Saget.

26 Mafia : Sicilia :: Camorra : ___ : NAPOLI

Naples (“Napoli” in Italian) is the third largest city in Italy. The name “Napoli” comes from the city’s Ancient Greek name, which translates as “New City”. That’s a bit of a paradox as today Naples is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world.

29 Latin for “trumpet” : TUBA

The tuba is the lowest-pitched of all brass instruments, and one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra (usually there is just one tuba included in an orchestral line-up). “Tuba” is the Latin word for “trumpet, horn”. Oom-pah-pah …

31 Temple text : TALMUD

The Talmud is a collection of writings by thousands of rabbis and is a central text in Rabbinic Judaism, second only to the Torah.

34 Beach in Rio de Janeiro, informally : COPA

Copacabana is a neighborhood in the city of Rio de Janeiro that is home to a famous (and much-used) beach. The neighborhood is named for a chapel there, dedicated to the Virgen de Copacabana (Our Lady of Copacabana). The Virgen de Copacabana is the patron saint of Bolivia, with the original Copacabana being a Bolivian town located on the southeastern shore of Lake Titicaca.

36 1600, in ancient Rome : MDC

In Roman numerals, “XL x XL” (40 x 40) is “MDC” (1,600).

39 ___-by-the-Sea, Calif. : CARMEL

Carmel-by-the-Sea is a city located on the Monterey Peninsula in California. Carmel is and has been home to many celebrities, including Clint Eastwood, who served two years as mayor in the 1980s.

46 Narcissist’s treasure : EGO

Narcissus was a proud and vain hunter in Greek mythology. He earned himself a fatal punishment, falling in love with his own reflection in a pool. So, taken was he by his own image that he could not leave it, and wasted away and died by the pool. Narcissus gives us our term “narcissism” meaning “excessive love of oneself”.

49 Output from Sappho : ODES

Sappho was an Ancient Greek poet born on the Greek island of Lesbos. Sappho was much admired for her work, although very little of it survives today. She was renowned for writing erotic and romantic verse that dealt with the love of women as well as men. It was because of this poetry that the word “lesbian” (someone from Lesbos) is used to describe a gay woman.

57 Boxer Laila : 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”.

58 Stephen who said “Think books aren’t scary? Well, think about this: You can’t spell ‘Book’ without ‘Boo!'” : COLBERT

Stephen Colbert is a political satirist who hosted his own show on Comedy Central, “The Colbert Report”. Colbert’s first love was theater, and so he studied to become an actor. He then moved into comedy, and ended up on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart”. He left “The Daily Show” in 2005 to set up his own spin-off, “The Colbert Report”. In his own inimitable way, Colbert likes to use a “French” pronunciation for the name of his show, so “The Colbert Report” comes out as “The Col-bear Rep-oar”. Colbert took over the “Late Show” when David Letterman retired.

59 Director DuVernay : AVA

Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on her husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. DuVernay also directed the 2014 film “Selma” about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

66 Play title that superstitious actors avoid saying aloud in theaters : MACBETH

There is a superstition in the theatrical world that uttering the name “Macbeth” in a theater will bring disaster of some sort. To avoid this, the euphemism “the Scottish Play” is used instead.

68 Currency to which the Maltese scudo is pegged : EURO

Euro coins are issued by all the participating European states. The reverse side is a common design used by all countries, whereas the obverse is a design specific to each nation. For example, the one euro coin issued by Malta features the Maltese Cross. That Maltese euro is legal tender right across the eurozone.

69 Opus ___ : DEI

Opus Dei is a Roman Catholic institution that was founded in Spain in 1928, and officially approved by the church in 1950. In 2010, Opus Dei had over 90,000 members, mostly lay people. The institution’s mission is to promote certain aspects of Roman Catholic doctrine. Opus Dei was portrayed as a sinister organization by Dan Brown in his novel “The Da Vinci Code”.

71 Sci-fi novel made into films in 1984 and 2021 : DUNE

The less-than-successful 1984 movie “Dune” (directed by David Lynch) was an adaptation of the spectacularly successful 1965 novel of the same name written by Frank Herbert.

2021’s epic film “Dune” is the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. The version of “Dune” did a lot better than the 1984 big-screen adaptation of the same novel, which really flopped at the box office.

77 Sushi condiment : WASABI

Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

80 “Silly me!” : D’OH!

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

82 Pope of 1963-78 : PAUL VI

Pope Paul VI was head of the Roman Catholic Church from 1963 to 1978. He was born in the village of Concesio in Lombardy, Italy as Giovanni Battista Montini. The future pope’s mother was from a noble family, and his father was a member of the Italian parliament.

85 Preppy clothing brand : J.CREW

J.Crew is a clothing and accessory retailer. Never been there, but I’ve seen the name turn up on credit card statements somehow …

86 Ending with leuko- or oo- : -CYTE

White blood cells protect the body against infection and are part of the immune system. They are formed in the bone marrow and are found mainly in the blood and lymphatic systems. White blood cells are also known as leukocytes, from the Greek “leuko-” meaning “white”.

An oocyte is an immature egg cell involved in reproduction.

91 One with a marsupium, affectionately : ROO

Marsupials are mammals that carry their young in a pouch called a marsupium. Better-known marsupials are kangaroos, koalas, wombats and Tasmanian devils. As you can probably tell from this list, most marsupials are native to the Southern Hemisphere.

92 Bacardi, e.g., in México : RON

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.

97 Antelopes with twisty horns : ELANDS

The eland (plural “eland, elands”) is a large African antelope, in fact the largest antelope on the planet. Both male and female eland have horns, and those horns have a steady spiral ridge along their length.

101 Immune system agent : T CELL

T cells are a group of white blood cells that are essential components of the body’s immune system. T cells are so called because they mature in the thymus, a specialized organ found in the chest.

105 Pet rescue org. : SPCA

Unlike most developed countries, the US has no umbrella organization with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.

107 “The Black Cat” author : POE

“The Black Cat” is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe that was first published in 1843. It is a dark tale about a man who murders his wife and is taunted by the couple’s black cat.

108 Genderqueer identity : ENBY

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

111 Soccer star Messi, familiarly : LEO

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi was awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award from 2009 to 2013. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.

112 Delta ___ Chi, house in “Animal House” : TAU

The very funny 1978 movie “Animal House” has the prefix “National Lampoon’s …” because the storyline came out of tales that had already appeared in “National Lampoon” magazine. “Animal House” was to become the first in a long line of successful “National Lampoon” films. The main pledges in the movie are Tom Hulce (Pinto), who later played a magnificent “Amadeus”, and Stephen Furst (Flounder), who later played a regular role on television’s “Babylon 5”.

113 B&O and Reading: Abbr. : RRS

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was one of the oldest in the country. Construction started on the railroad in 1828 in order to offer a method of transportation inland from Baltimore. This was deemed necessary as Baltimore was losing business to New York City after the completion of the Erie Canal (which cheaply and efficiently moved goods inland).

The Reading Railroad, which was absorbed by Conrail in 1976, started out as the Philadelphia and Reading Railway in 1833. The Reading Railway has a square for itself in the original game of Monopoly.

114 Either half of pocket rockets, in poker slang : ACE

A pair of aces are referred to as pocket rockets, particularly when holding them in the hand (the pocket) in the popular variant of poker known as Texas hold ‘em. The term “rockets” is used as the letters A written side-by-side look like two small rockets on the launchpad (AA).

116 ___ Jima : IWO

Iwo Jima is a volcanic island located south of Tokyo that today is uninhabited. The name is Japanese for “Sulfur Island”, referring to the sulfur mining on which Iwo Jima’s economy once depended. There were about a thousand Japanese civilians living on the island prior to WWII. In 1944, there was a massive influx of Japanese military personnel in anticipation of the inevitable US invasion. As the Japanese military moved in, the civilians were forced out and no one has lived there since. Control of the island was wrested from the Japanese in the five-week Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Said battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific theater in WWII.

117 Rx from a doc, e.g. : MED

There seems to be some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Like the protagonist at the start of “28 Days Later” : IN A COMA
14 Lady Macduff, e.g. : SCOT
18 Group of fighters : MILITIA
19 One way to recoil : IN HORROR
21 Male deer : HART
22 “My ___” (#1 hit for the Knack) : SHARONA
23 One of the two main branches of Buddhism : MAHAYANA
24 N.B.A. All-Star Gobert : RUDY
25 *Worker with a brush [three rungs] : CHIMNEY SWEEP
27 Fuel option : DIESEL
29 “Ciao!” : TATA!
32 Completely pooped : BEAT
38 A.C.C. school : UVA
39 Place with counselors : CAMP
40 Maker of Pilots and Passports : HONDA
41 Team ___ : USA
42 “___ Canto” (2001 Ann Patchett novel) : BEL
43 Structure resembling a pergola : ARBOR
47 Airport with a BART station : SFO
50 Mail, e.g. : ARMOR
52 Otis who founded the Otis Elevator Company : ELISHA
54 Expelled from the body : EGESTED
56 *Captain with a periscope [four rungs] : SUBMARINE COMMANDER
58 Some military wear, informally : CAMO
60 Carpet specification : PILE
61 Former make of Ford : EDSEL
62 [I’m frustrated!] : [GAH!]
63 Lab eggs : OVA
64 Animation and sculpting, for two : ARTS
65 Advances through corporate ranks … and what the answer to each starred clue in this puzzle does : CLIMB THE LADDER
71 “Mon ___!” : DIEU
74 Singer Grande, to fans : ARI
75 Center : HUB
76 Celebrity gossip show with an exclamation point in its title : E! NEWS
79 Map inits. until 1991 : USSR
80 Pest control brand : D-CON
84 “Really good work!” : NICE JOB!
86 Sung by a group : CHORAL
87 Writer known for his anthropomorphic animal characters : AESOP
89 “When r u coming?” : ETA
90 *Seasonal orchard worker [eight rungs] : CHERRY PICKER
93 Staple of Dutch Golden Age art : TULIP
95 Feeling while watching a volcanic eruption, perhaps : AWE
96 According to : PER
98 Narwhal’s tusk : TOOTH
99 Pleasant speech cadence : LILT
100 Pen that aptly rhymes with “click” : BIC
101 *Worker for AT&T or Verizon [four rungs] : TELEPHONE REPAIRMAN
103 Common wall mirror shape : OVAL
104 Sound on Old MacDonald’s farm : OINK!
105 Chicken scratch : SCRAWL
109 Worker who probably isn’t paid enough : PEON
110 Really, really spicy : ULTRAHOT
115 1/100 of a franc : CENTIME
119 Dirt clump : CLOD
120 Googles, e.g. : SEARCHES
121 Like people in crowds, whether intentionally or not : ELBOWED
122 Donations for the needy : ALMS
123 *One putting a coat on outside [three rungs] : HOUSE PAINTER
124 Surreptitious assents : SLY NODS

Down

1 Communications on Slack, e.g. : IMS
2 Org. funding Covid-19 research : NIH
3 In the manner of : A LA
4 Roughly : CIRCA
5 “Then again …,” in a tweet : OTOH …
6 Upscale hotel room fixture : MINIBAR
7 One calling for a tow, maybe : AAA MEMBER
8 Visual depiction of the apparatus used by the starred professionals : HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
9 “___ wise guy, eh?” : SO, A
10 Like some humor : WRY
11 Important stretch : ERA
12 Stretch longer than an 11-Across : EON
13 Mario who founded a fashion empire : PRADA
14 Snowboards well, informally : SHREDS
15 Rabble-rouse : CAUSE A STIR
16 Something taken by a waiter : ORDER
17 “Cya!” : TTYL!
19 “How ___ Your Mother” : I MET
20 Con’s vote : NAY
26 Mafia : Sicilia :: Camorra : ___ : NAPOLI
28 Harden : INURE
29 Latin for “trumpet” : TUBA
30 Disinclined : AVERSE
31 Temple text : TALMUD
34 Beach in Rio de Janeiro, informally : COPA
35 “From now ___ won’t be hanging around” (bluegrass lyric) : ON I
36 1600, in ancient Rome : MDC
37 Tick off : MAKE MAD
39 ___-by-the-Sea, Calif. : CARMEL
44 Welcomes, as the new year : RINGS IN
46 Narcissist’s treasure : EGO
48 Perceived : FELT
49 Output from Sappho : ODES
51 Cloud : OBSCURE
53 Adjustable bike part : SEAT
55 “I don’t wanna hear it” : SPARE ME
57 Boxer Laila : ALI
58 Stephen who said “Think books aren’t scary? Well, think about this: You can’t spell ‘Book’ without ‘Boo!'” : COLBERT
59 Director DuVernay : AVA
66 Play title that superstitious actors avoid saying aloud in theaters : MACBETH
67 Certain sib : BRO
68 Currency to which the Maltese scudo is pegged : EURO
69 Opus ___ : DEI
70 Hypnotized, say : ENRAPT
71 Sci-fi novel made into films in 1984 and 2021 : DUNE
72 Skeptical reply to “That’s true” : IS IT?
73 Activity one tries to get out of? : ESCAPE ROOM
77 Sushi condiment : WASABI
78 Strand, perhaps : SNOW IN
80 “Silly me!” : D’OH!
82 Pope of 1963-78 : PAUL VI
83 Government bonds? : ALLIANCES
85 Preppy clothing brand : J.CREW
86 Ending with leuko- or oo- : -CYTE
88 Quick kiss : PECK
91 One with a marsupium, affectionately : ROO
92 Bacardi, e.g., in México : RON
94 Threat from a squealer : I’LL TELL
97 Antelopes with twisty horns : ELANDS
101 Immune system agent : T CELL
102 Like luxurious pillows : PLUSH
103 Breakfast that may be prepared overnight : OATS
104 Former N.F.L. QB Kyle : ORTON
105 Pet rescue org. : SPCA
107 “The Black Cat” author : POE
108 Genderqueer identity : ENBY
111 Soccer star Messi, familiarly : LEO
112 Delta ___ Chi, house in “Animal House” : TAU
113 B&O and Reading: Abbr. : RRS
114 Either half of pocket rockets, in poker slang : ACE
116 ___ Jima : IWO
117 Rx from a doc, e.g. : MED
118 Newsroom heads, for short : EDS