0106-19 NY Times Crossword 6 Jan 19, Sunday

Constructed by: Zhouqin Burnikel
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Breaking News

Themed answers point us to letters within those answers. And, those letters spell out the words “DEAR JOHN”. Clever!

  • 117A. Things used for dumping … or a literal hint to the answers to the starred clues? : DEAR JOHN LETTERS
  • 22A. *Stereotypical movie outcome : HOLLYWOOD ENDING (the letter D)
  • 34A. *Startling disclosure : EYE-OPENER (the letter E)
  • 46A. *Bringer of cold weather : ARCTIC FRONT (the letter A)
  • 53A. *Law enforcement target : RINGLEADER (the letter R)
  • 69A. *Battery boost : JUMPSTART (the letter J)
  • 87A. *Moved closer to home? : STOLE THIRD (the letter O)
  • 89A. *Help for users : REHAB CENTER (the letter H)
  • 99A. *Very soon : ANY SECOND (the letter N)

Bill’s time: 21m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. 19,000+-foot Peruvian volcano : EL MISTI

El Misti is a volcano that is also known as “Guagua-Putina”. It is located in Southern Peru near the city of Arequipa.

8. Husband of Lara in “Doctor Zhivago” : PASHA

“Doctor Zhivago” is an epic novel by Boris Pasternak that was first published in 1957. I haven’t tried to read it the book, but the 1965 film version is a must-see, directed by David Lean and starring Omar Sharif in the title role. The story centers on Yuri Zhivago, a doctor and poet, and how he is affected by the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War.

13. Quarters : ABODE

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

24. Instigated, with “on” : EGGED

The verb “to edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “to egg on” meaning “to goad”.

25. “The Matrix” character : NEO

Neo is the character played by Keanu Reeves in “The Matrix” series of films.

32. “Contact” org. : SETI

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects that are searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

“Contact” is a sci-fi novel by Carl Sagan that was first published in 1985. Sagan had written “Contact” originally as a screenplay in 1979, but when plans for the film stalled, Sagan decided to go ahead and create the novel. An excellent film did eventually hit the theaters in 1997, and starred Jodie Foster.

42. Fig. usually expressed as a percentage : RDA

Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII, and were replaced by Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs) in 1997.

43. ___-Town (city nickname) : CHI

The city of Chicago is sometimes referred to as “Chi-Town”.

56. Grammy winner Morissette : ALANIS

Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After releasing two pop albums in Canada, in 1995 she recorded her first album to be distributed internationally. Called “Jagged Little Pill”, it is a collection of songs with more of a rock influence. The album was a huge success, the highest-selling album of the 1990s, and the highest-selling debut album by any artist at any time (selling over 30 million units).

57. Constitutional Amendment about presidential election procedures : XII

The Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution was ratified in 1804, and redefines procedures used by the Electoral College during a presidential election. Prior to the amendment, each member of the Electoral College cast two electoral votes, after which the candidate with the most votes was elected president, and the candidate with the second-most votes was elected vice president. As a result of the amendment, each member of the Electoral College casts one vote for president, and one vote for vice president. So, the Twelfth Amendment makes it unlikely that we end up with a vice president who is not supportive of the president, as the victorious pair probably campaigned together on the same ticket, and had not been rivals in the election.

61. One of eight in “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” : OINK!

There was an 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 US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

63. ___ Valley : SIMI

Simi Valley, California is perhaps best known as home to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. The library is a great place to visit, and there you can tour one of the retired Air Force One planes.

72. “___ makes man wiser and clear-sighted”: Vladimir Putin : CHESS

Vladimir Putin became acting President of Russia at the very end of 1999 when Boris Yeltsin resigned. Putin was elected in his own right in 2000, re-elected in 2004, and then ran up against a term limit in 2008. In 2008 Putin was appointed by his successor, President Dmitry Medvedev, to the position of Prime Minister. Putin is a controversial figure, inside and outside Russia. On the one hand he led the country out of an economic crisis into a period of stability and relative prosperity. On the other hand he has been associated with government corruption and accused of allowing private concerns to have undue influence on government actions. And then, along came the 2016 US presidential election …

73. Fish dish that Nobu restaurants are noted for : BLACK COD

Nobu Matsuhisa is celebrity chef from Japan. Nobu was invited to open a Japanese restaurant in Lima, Peru in 1973, and while in South America developed his own Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine. He moved to the US a few years later, and now there are “Nobu” and “Matsuhisa” restaurants all over the world.

75. Ref. works that can run $1,000+ : OEDS

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

76. Bill Clinton or Barack Obama : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

77. March ___ : HARE

The March Hare is a character in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. It was the March Hare who hosted the tea party near the start of the story, in which we are introduced to another famous character, the Mad Hatter.

81. Morning fix, slangily : CUP O’ JOE

It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.

85. Like Benadryl: Abbr. : OTC

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs don’t need a prescription (Rx).

ZzzQuil, Benadryl, Unisom and Sominex are all brand names for the antihistamine diphenhydramine, which is a drug that also has sedative properties.

87. *Moved closer to home? : STOLE THIRD (the letter O)

That would be baseball.

92. Plains tribe : OSAGE

The Osage Nation originated in the Ohio River valley in what we now call Kentucky. The Osage were forced to migrate west of the Mississippi by the invading Iroquois tribe. Most of the tribe members now live in Osage County, Oklahoma.

94. Rain-___ (bubble gum brand) : BLO

Rain-Blo bubble gum balls were introduced in 1940 by Leaf Confectionery, a company that was then based in the Netherlands.

95. Continental trade grp., once : EEC

The European Economic Community (EEC) was also known as the “Common Market”. The EEC was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union (EU).

105. Criticism : FLAK

“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”.

109. Nirvana, e.g. : TRIO

Nirvana is a rock band, formed in Washington in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The band effectively disbanded in 1994 after Cobain committed suicide.

110. Biblical son who was nearly sacrificed by his father : ISAAC

According to the Bible, Abraham’s son Isaac was born to Abraham’s wife Sarah when she was beyond her childbearing years and when Abraham was 100 years old. Isaac himself lived until he was 180 years old. When Isaac was just a youth, Abraham was tested by Yahweh (God) and told to build an altar on which he was to sacrifice his only son. At the last minute, an angel appeared and stopped Abraham, telling him to sacrifice a ram instead.

113. Woman famously evicted from her home : EVE

In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This went against the bidding of God, and was at the urging of the serpent. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

115. “No way!” : IXNAY!

Pig Latin is in effect a game. One takes the first consonant or consonant cluster of an English word and moves it to the end of the word, and then adds the letters “ay”. So, the Pig Latin for the word “nix” is “ixnay” (ix-n-ay), and for “scram” is “amscray” (am-scr-ay).

117. Things used for dumping … or a literal hint to the answers to the starred clues? : DEAR JOHN LETTERS

The expression “Dear John letter” originated in WWII among American troops who were serving abroad. The servicemen highly valued letters from girlfriends and wives back home, and almost invariably those missives started out with “Dearest”, or “My Darling” or some other expression of affection. A curt, “Dear John” set the tone for a letter which was likely to contain news of a new love interest in the life of the girlfriend or wife. The contemporary equivalent missive from a male to a female is a “Dear Jane letter”.

123. Sun block? : ECLIPSE

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into the shadow cast by the earth from the light of the sun, in other words when the earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon. The more spectacular solar eclipse takes place when moon passes in front of the sun, so that the earth falls into the shadow cast by the moon.

125. Sitting posture in yoga : ASANA

“Asana” is a Sanskrit word literally meaning “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

126. Enter again, as data : RELOG

The word “logbook” dates back to the days when the captain of a ship kept a daily record of the vessel’s speed, progress etc. using a “log”. A log was a wooden float on a knotted line that was dropped overboard to measure speed through the water.

127. Many East Asian World Heritage Sites : TEMPLES

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is better known by the acronym “UNESCO”. UNESCO’s mission is help build peace in the world using programs focused on education, the sciences, culture, communication and information. The organization’s work is aimed in particular at Africa, and gender equalization. UNESCO also administers a World Heritage Site program that designates and helps conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to humanity across the world.

Down

1. Suffix of ordinals : -ETH

Ordinal numbers express a position in a series, i.e. first, second, third etc.

2. Bird with blood-red eyes : LOON

The bird known as a loon here in North America is called a diver in the British Isles. The name “diver” comes from the bird’s habit of swimming calmly and then suddenly diving below the surface to catch a fish. The name “loon” comes from an Old English word meaning “clumsy” and reflects the awkward gait of the bird when walking on land.

3. Big name in notebooks : MOLESKINE

Moleskine is a papermaking company based in Milan, Italy. Moleskine’s products include luxury stationery and associated items.

4. Houses that may include tunnels : IGLOOS

The Inuit word for “house” is “iglu”, which we usually write as “igloo”. The Greenlandic (yes, that’s a language) word for “house” is very similar, namely “igdlo”. The walls of igloos are tremendous insulators, due to the air pockets in the blocks of snow.

5. Sushi sauce : SOY

Soy sauce is made by fermenting soybeans with a mold in the presence of water and salt. Charming …

6. Triple-A jobs : TOWS

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.

11. Mead ingredient : HONEY

Mead is a lovely drink that’s made from fermented honey and water.

13. Course rarity : ACE

One well-documented hole in one (ace) was during a round of the British Open in 1973. American golfer Gene Sarazen achieved the feat that day, at the age of 71. A less well-documented series of holes in one was reported by the North Korean press in a story about the Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The report was that Kim Jong-il scored 11 holes in one in his one and only round of golf.

14. Continuing source of irritation : BUGBEAR

A bugbear is a character from English folklore, a goblin in the form of a bear who was said to eat naughty children. Our contemporary bugbear is less scary and is simply something that is annoying or irritating.

15. Radio City Music Hall has a famous one : ORGAN

New York City’s Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center opened for business in 1932. Originally to be named International Music Hall, the current name was chosen in honor of the Radio Corporation of America, which was one of Rockefeller Center’s first tenants.

16. Caterpillar alternative : DEERE

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

Back in the early 1900s, Benjamin Holt invented a steam tractor that was able to move over soggy land. The new vehicle crawled over the ground using wheels that drove tracks. Someone apparently noted that the tractor moved along like a caterpillar, and so the enterprise that was to be known as the Caterpillar Tractor Company was born.

20. Pieces of three-pieces : VESTS

Here’s another word that often catches me out. What we call a vest here in the US is a waistcoat back in Ireland. And, the Irish use the word “vest” for an undershirt.

28. Pricey mushroom : PORCINI

The porcini is an edible mushroom that is highly prized in many cuisines. “Porcini” is Italian for “little pigs”.

31. Roughly estimated : BALLPARK

The phrase “in the ballpark” means “within an acceptable range of approximation”. The term was coined in the mid-fifties as jargon used by scientists developing atomic weapons. The first “ballpark” in this sense was the broad area within which a missile was forecast to return to earth.

33. Many a craft brew : IPA

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

35. Common email attachments : PDFS

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. PDF documents can be shared between users and read using many different applications, making them more universally accessible than documents saved by one particular program.

37. Prison weapon : SHIV

“Shiv” is a slang term describing a weapon crudely fashioned to resemble a knife. Mostly we hear of shivs that have been fashioned by prison inmates to do harm to others.

41. Sea whose Wikipedia article is written in the past tense : ARAL

The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

45. It’s in your jeans : DENIM

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

47. The Browns, on scoreboards : CLE

The Cleveland Browns football team was a charter member of the All-American Football Conference, formed in 1946. Cleveland is the only NFL city that has never hosted nor sent a team to the Super Bowl.

50. Rust, e.g. : OXIDE

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

51. Course halves : NINES

There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

52. Hand-carved Polynesian statues : TIKIS

A tiki is a large carving of wood or stone resembling a human form that is found in Polynesian cultures. The carvings often mark out boundaries surrounding sites that are sacred to the locals.

60. Range rovers : BISON

There two species of bison left (four species are extinct). We are most familiar with the American bison (commonly called the American buffalo), but there is a also a European bison, which is sometimes called a “wisent”.

65. Symbols of sovereignty : SCEPTERS

A scepter is a ceremonial staff, one often held by a monarch.

69. Peru’s ___ Chávez International Airport : JORGE

Peru’s main airport is Jorge Chávez International Airport (LIM), and is located just a few miles from the nation’s capital Lima. The facility is named for Jorge Chávez, a pioneering Peruvian aviator who died in 1920 while attempting the first air crossing of the Alps.

74. Dream up : CONCOCT

To decoct is to extract the flavor of a liquid by boiling down and increasing the concentration. A related term is “to concoct”, meaning “to boil together”. We use the verb “to concoct” in a figurative sense to mean to contrive, devise.

76. “Hasta ___” : LUEGO

“Hasta luego!” translates literally from Spanish as “until later!”, and is used to say “see you later!”.

82. Apollo 13 commander : JIM LOVELL

Jim Lovell is a retired astronaut who commanded the famous Apollo 13 mission that almost ended in disaster with three crew members lost in space. Lovell wrote an account of the dramatic mission in a book called “Lost Moon”. “Lost Moon” was the basis of the excellent movie “Apollo 13” in which Tom Hanks portrayed Lovell.

88. Pitcher Hideo Nomo, e.g., by birth : OSAKAN

Hideo Nomo is a former professional baseball pitcher from Osaka, Japan. After achieving success in Japan, Nomo became the first Japanese-born player to appear in Major League Baseball in the US. Nomo threw two no-hitters while playing here in the Majors. He is the only Japanese-born player to have thrown even one no-hitter.

96. Pitchers’ awards? : CLIOS

The Clio Awards are the Oscars of the advertising world and are named after Clio, the Greek Muse of History. Clio was also the recorder of great deeds, the proclaimer and celebrator of great accomplishments and a source of inspiration and genius. The Clio Awards were first presented in 1959.

100. Connection : NEXUS

A nexus is a means of connection, or a center where many connections come together. “Nexus” is a Latin word meaning “that which ties or binds together”. The Latin “nexus” is the past participle of the verb “nectere” meaning “to bind”.

101. Buttinsky : YENTA

Yenta (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody, a gossip.

102. “Oyez! Oyez!,” e.g. : ORDER

“Oyez” is an Anglo-French word, traditionally called out three times, with the meaning “hear ye!”

103. Princess Charlotte, to Harry : NIECE

Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (b. 2015) is the second child of Prince William and Catherine, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Charlotte has a relatively high ranking in succession to the British throne compared to her female ancestors. Before the rules were changed in 2011, Charlotte would have been bumped down the line of succession when her younger brother Louis was born in 2018, just because he was a male and she was not.

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex is the younger of the two sons of Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales. Famously, Prince Harry married American actress Meghan Markle in 2018. The groom’s name was Prince Henry of Wales until the marriage, at which time his name changed officially to “Prince Harry”.

106. Lead-in to “-ville” : ASHE

Samuel Ashe was the Governor of North Carolina from 1795 to 1798. North Carolina’s Ashe County and the cities of Asheboro and Asheville are named in his honor.

114. First name in courtroom fiction : ERLE

I must have read all of the “Perry Mason” books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.

118. ___ Bravo : RIO

The Rio Grande (Spanish for “big river”) is a river forming part of the border between Mexico and the United States. Although we call the river the Rio Grande on this side of the border, in Mexico it is called the Río Bravo or Río Bravo del Norte (Spanish for “furious river of the north”).

119. Image file extension : JPG

The JPEG file format (also “.jpg”) was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), hence the name.

120. Pro ___ : TEM

“Pro tempore” can be abbreviated to “pro tem” or “p.t.” “Pro tempore” is a Latin phrase that best translates as “for the time being”. It is used to describe a person who is acting for another, usually a superior. The President pro tempore of the US Senate is the person who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President of the US. It has been tradition since 1890 that the president pro tem is the most senior senator in the majority party. The president pro tem ranks highly in the line of succession to the presidency, falling third in line after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

121. Method: Abbr. : SYS

System (sys.)

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. 19,000+-foot Peruvian volcano : EL MISTI
8. Husband of Lara in “Doctor Zhivago” : PASHA
13. Quarters : ABODE
18. “That’s way better than I can do” : TOO GOOD
19. As we speak : EVEN NOW
21. Moisturizer brand : CUREL
22. *Stereotypical movie outcome : HOLLYWOOD ENDING (the letter D)
24. Instigated, with “on” : EGGED
25. “The Matrix” character : NEO
26. Wallops : SLUGS
27. Thought-provoking : DEEP
29. Reveal : BARE
30. [Poor, pitiful me!] : SOB!
32. “Contact” org. : SETI
34. *Startling disclosure : EYE-OPENER (the letter E)
36. Demands serious effort (of) : ASKS A LOT
40. Vacation spot offering a warm welcome? : SPA
42. Fig. usually expressed as a percentage : RDA
43. ___-Town (city nickname) : CHI
44. Gave a thumbs-up : LIKED
46. *Bringer of cold weather : ARCTIC FRONT (the letter A)
53. *Law enforcement target : RINGLEADER (the letter R)
56. Grammy winner Morissette : ALANIS
57. Constitutional Amendment about presidential election procedures : XII
58. Get soaked, say : OVERPAY
59. Duke and others : NOBLEMEN
61. One of eight in “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” : OINK!
62. Polish off : EAT
63. ___ Valley : SIMI
64. Pilot follower, maybe : EPISODE I
66. According to : AS PER
69. *Battery boost : JUMPSTART (the letter J)
72. “___ makes man wiser and clear-sighted”: Vladimir Putin : CHESS
73. Fish dish that Nobu restaurants are noted for : BLACK COD
75. Ref. works that can run $1,000+ : OEDS
76. Bill Clinton or Barack Obama : LEO
77. March ___ : HARE
78. Like priests : ORDAINED
81. Morning fix, slangily : CUP O’ JOE
85. Like Benadryl: Abbr. : OTC
86. Ticks off : ANGERS
87. *Moved closer to home? : STOLE THIRD (the letter O)
89. *Help for users : REHAB CENTER (the letter H)
92. Plains tribe : OSAGE
93. Ticked off : MAD
94. Rain-___ (bubble gum brand) : BLO
95. Continental trade grp., once : EEC
97. Without principles : AMORALLY
99. *Very soon : ANY SECOND (the letter N)
105. Criticism : FLAK
107. ___-mo : SLO
108. Cross : MEET
109. Nirvana, e.g. : TRIO
110. Biblical son who was nearly sacrificed by his father : ISAAC
113. Woman famously evicted from her home : EVE
115. “No way!” : IXNAY!
117. Things used for dumping … or a literal hint to the answers to the starred clues? : DEAR JOHN LETTERS
122. Adorable sort : CUTIE
123. Sun block? : ECLIPSE
124. “In a perfect world …” : IDEALLY …
125. Sitting posture in yoga : ASANA
126. Enter again, as data : RELOG
127. Many East Asian World Heritage Sites : TEMPLES

Down

1. Suffix of ordinals : -ETH
2. Bird with blood-red eyes : LOON
3. Big name in notebooks : MOLESKINE
4. Houses that may include tunnels : IGLOOS
5. Sushi sauce : SOY
6. Triple-A jobs : TOWS
7. Massive star : IDOL
8. Stock holder? : PEN
9. Plus : AND
10. Cutting : SNIDE
11. Mead ingredient : HONEY
12. “That’s so kind of you!” : AW GEE!
13. Course rarity : ACE
14. Continuing source of irritation : BUGBEAR
15. Radio City Music Hall has a famous one : ORGAN
16. Caterpillar alternative : DEERE
17. Box ___ (tree) : ELDER
19. Beat by a nose : EDGE
20. Pieces of three-pieces : VESTS
23. Booted : OUSTED
28. Pricey mushroom : PORCINI
31. Roughly estimated : BALLPARK
33. Many a craft brew : IPA
35. Common email attachments : PDFS
36. Height: Prefix : ACRO-
37. Prison weapon : SHIV
38. ___ anchor (stay still, nautically) : LIE AT
39. “Sounds good!” : OKAY!
41. Sea whose Wikipedia article is written in the past tense : ARAL
45. It’s in your jeans : DENIM
47. The Browns, on scoreboards : CLE
48. Increasingly outmoded circus roles : TAMERS
49. All thumbs : INEPT
50. Rust, e.g. : OXIDE
51. Course halves : NINES
52. Hand-carved Polynesian statues : TIKIS
54. Empire once spanning three continents : GREECE
55. Lopsided win : ROMP
60. Range rovers : BISON
61. “I know the answer!” : OOH OOH!
63. Out-of-the-blue : SUDDEN
65. Symbols of sovereignty : SCEPTERS
66. Can’t stand : ABHOR
67. Shade of gray : SLATE
68. Leave thirsty : PARCH
69. Peru’s ___ Chávez International Airport : JORGE
70. Some intersections : TEES
71. Supplement : ADD TO
74. Dream up : CONCOCT
76. “Hasta ___” : LUEGO
79. Works in a museum : ART
80. “Gotcha” : I SEE
81. One keeping a secret, metaphorically : CLAM
82. Apollo 13 commander : JIM LOVELL
83. Word-of-mouth : ORAL
84. Drain feature : EDDY
86. Up to it : ABLE
88. Pitcher Hideo Nomo, e.g., by birth : OSAKAN
90. Be a good designated driver : ABSTAIN
91. Flag thrower : REF
96. Pitchers’ awards? : CLIOS
98. Certain keg attachment : ALE TAP
99. Female friend: Lat. : AMICA
100. Connection : NEXUS
101. Buttinsky : YENTA
102. “Oyez! Oyez!,” e.g. : ORDER
103. Princess Charlotte, to Harry : NIECE
104. Handyperson : DO-ALL
106. Lead-in to “-ville” : ASHE
111. Came from on high : ALIT
112. Give up : CEDE
114. First name in courtroom fiction : ERLE
116. Verily : YEA
118. ___ Bravo : RIO
119. Image file extension : JPG
120. Pro ___ : TEM
121. Method: Abbr. : SYS