0206-22 NY Times Crossword 6 Feb 22, Sunday

Constructed by: Stephen McCarthy
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Sci-Fi Showdown

The across-answer in the center of the grid can be either “STAR WARS” or “STAR TREK”, as both “WARS” and “TREK” work for the crossing down-clues. Themed answers refer to one of the two SCI-FI films cited:

  • 70A The better of two major sci-fi film franchises? : STAR WARS or STAR TREK
  • 25A Good side in 70-Across : REBEL ALLIANCE
  • 38A Major role in 70-Across : HAN SOLO
  • 3D Memorable quote from 70-Across : DO OR DO NOT, THERE IS NO TRY
  • 70A The better of two major sci-fi film franchises? : STAR WARS or STAR TREK
  • 99A Major role in 70-Across : MR SPOCK
  • 115A Good side in 70-Across : THE FEDERATION
  • 17D Memorable quote from 70-Across : SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER
  • 47D Ones involved in a transaction : PAYERS or PAYEES
  • 55D Let out, in a way : LEASED or LEAKED
  • 67D Body part that precedes “band” : WAIST- or WRIST-
  • 71D “It’s a ___!” : WRAP or TRAP

Bill’s time: 13m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Goal for many a T.A. : PHD

“Ph.D.” is an abbreviation for “philosophiae doctor”, Latin for “teacher of philosophy”. Often, candidates for a PhD already hold a bachelor’s and a master’s degree, so a PhD might be considered a “third degree”.

Teaching assistant (TA)

4 There’s a Winter one in St. Petersburg and a Summer one in Beijing : PALACE

The Winter Palace is a magnificent building in St. Petersburg in Russia that was home to the Russian tsars (and tsarinas). Today, the Winter Palace houses the famous Hermitage Museum. I was lucky enough to visit the Palace and museum some years ago, and I have to say that I have rarely been more impressed by a historical building.

16 QVC alternative : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982.

The QVC shopping channel was founded in 1986 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The company now has operations not only in the US but also in the UK, Germany, Japan and Italy. That means QVC is reaching 200 million households. The QVC initialism stands for Quality, Value and Convenience.

19 Grande preceder : RIO …

The Rio Grande (Spanish for “big river”) is a waterway that forms 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”).

20 Many a video game player has one : AVATAR

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of online presences one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

22 Major N.Y.S.E. events : IPOS

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

24 Vainglory : EGO

Vainglory is a undue pomp, “vain glory”.

27 Reid of “Sharknado” : TARA

Tara Reid is an actress known for roles she played on television and the big screen. My guess is that her best-known performances were in the “American Pie” series of movies in which she played Vicky. Sadly, Reid succumbed to the pressure to alter her looks with plastic surgery. In interviews, she has shared that her first experience under the knife “went wrong” leading to more surgeries in attempts to rectify the resulting deformity.

“Sharknado” is a 2013 tongue-in-cheek disaster movie that was made for the Syfy television channel. The basis of the plot is a freak hurricane that hits Los Angeles, resulting in a flood that leaves man-eating sharks roaming the city. I don’t think so …

28 Grade school basics : THREE RS

The “three Rs” (RRR) are reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic.

31 Points all around? : LOCUS

In mathematics, a locus (plural “loci”) is the set of all points that satisfy a given requirement. For example, the locus called a circle is the set of all points equidistant from a single point.

32 Celsius of the Celsius scale : ANDERS

Anders Celsius was a Swedish astronomer. The temperature scale that Celsius created was the reverse of that used today, with “zero” representing the boiling point of water and “100” representing water’s freezing point. This scale was “upended” (in 1744) just after Celsius died, by the Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus. The resulting temperature scale then became known as the “centigrade” scale for over 200 years, until in 1948 it was decided to adopt the degree “celsius”. So, anyone still using “degrees centigrade” is actually way behind the times …

33 Director Nicolas : ROEG

Nicolas Roeg is a film director from England with quite the pedigree when it comes to association with great movies. He contributed to 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”, and he himself directed noted films like “Walkabout” (1972), “Don’t Look Now” (1973) and “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976).

38 Major role in 70-Across : HAN SOLO

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

41 Smartphone forerunners, in brief : PDAS

Personal digital assistant (PDA)

42 “___ kingdom come …” : THY

The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew, the last line of the prayer is “deliver us from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke, the last line is “lead us not into temptation”. The last words of the prayer most often used today are:

For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen

59 Capital-B Belief : THEISM

Broadly speaking, theism is the belief that there is at least one god. The term “theism” is also used to describe the belief in just one god, although the term “monotheism” is perhaps more accurate. Followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam would all be classified as theists or monotheists.

64 Outback offering : STEAK

Outback Steakhouse is a chain of restaurants that was established in 1987, with the first Outback opening in Tampa, Florida. Outback serves largely American food in an Australian-themed dining locale.

65 Locale of the 2002 and 2022 World Cups : ASIA

The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in the sport of soccer. The competition has been held every four years (excluding the WWII years) since the inaugural event held in Uruguay in 1930. The men’s World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, even outranking the Olympic Games. And, the women’s World Cup is fast catching up …

68 Some copywriting 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.

69 The volcano Emi Koussi is its highest point : SAHARA

The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic. The Sahara is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

70 The better of two major sci-fi film franchises? : STAR WARS or STAR TREK

“Star Wars” is the highest-grossing film media franchise of all time, and the second highest-grossing media franchise in general. The highest-grossing media franchise? That would be “Pokémon”.

When Gene Roddenberry first proposed the science fiction series that became “Star Trek”, he marketed it as “Wagon Train to the Stars”, a pioneer-style Western in outer space. In fact, his idea was to produce something more like “Gulliver’s Travels”, as he intended to write episodes that were adventure stories on one level, but morality tales on another. Personally, I think that he best achieved this model with the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (TNG). If you watch individual episodes you will see thinly disguised treatments of moral issues such as racism, homosexuality, genocide etc. For my money, “The Next Generation” is the best of the whole franchise …

73 Gives a bad hand? : ABETS

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

77 Voice heard by 500 million people : SIRI

Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

80 Pump choice : 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.

86 Regular at Citi Field : METS FAN

Citi Field is a relatively new baseball stadium used by the New York Mets that sits right next door to the site of Shea stadium, where the Mets had played for decades. The new facility’s name comes from corporate sponsor Citigroup.

91 Ian McKellen, e.g. : SIR

Sir Ian McKellen is a marvelous English actor, one who is comfortable playing anything from Macbeth on stage to Magneto in an “X-Men” movie. On the big screen, McKellen is very famous for playing Gandalf in “The Lord of Rings”. In the UK, Sir Ian is noted for being at the forefront of the campaign for equal rights for gay people, a role he has enthusiastically embraced since the eighties.

92 Skin-care brand with an accent over its last letter : BIORE

Biore is a skincare brand owned by the Kao Corporation of Tokyo.

94 Mens ___ : REA

“Mens rea” is Latin for “guilty mind” and is a central concept in criminal law. The concept is expanded to “actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea” meaning “the act does not make a person guilty unless the mind be also guilty”. In other words, someone should not be deemed guilty of an act, unless he or she had a “guilty mind”, intended to do wrong.

95 Sends a Telegram, in brief? : IMS

Instant message (IM)

99 Major role in 70-Across : MR SPOCK

Leonard Nimoy played the logical Mr. Spock in the original “Star Trek” television series. Spock has to be the most popular character on the show, and he kept popping up in “Star Trek” spin offs. Nimoy first worked alongside William Shatner (Captain Kirk) in an episode of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (I loved that show as a kid!), with Nimoy playing a bad guy and Shatner playing an U.N.C.L.E. recruit.

106 Newton of the Black Panther Party : HUEY

Huey P. Newton is best known as a co-founder of the Black Panther Party (BPP), along with Bobby Seale. The pair founded the party in 1966 while attending community college in Oakland, California. The original name of the organization was the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, and it advocated the right of self defense for black people in the US. The founders assigned themselves posts in the party, with Seale becoming Chairman, and Newton Minister of Defense.

110 Who wrote “April is the cruellest month” : TS ELIOT

T. S. Eliot (TSE) wrote his poem called “The Waste Land” in 1922. “The Waste Land” opens with the famous line, “April is the cruellest month …”

114 Dramatic accusation : ET TU?

It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

119 Cousin of a skimmer : TERN

Terns are a family of seabirds. They are similar to gulls, but are more slender and more lightly built. Many species of tern are known for their long-distance migrations, with the Arctic tern migrating so far that it is believed to see more daylight in a year than any other animal.

120 ___ One : MARINE

Marine One is the call sign used by a Marine Corps helicopter when it is carrying the US president. In fact, the call sign can be used by any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president, but usually refers to either a Sea King or White Hawk helicopter that is used routinely in transportation to and from the White House.

122 Brown of HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” reboot : ELI

“Gossip Girl” is a series of young adult novels by American author Cecily von Ziegesar. The Gossip Girl in the title is the narrator of the tale, a gossip blogger who recounts the experiences of two friends, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.

123 WaPo competitor : NYT

“The New York Times” (NYT) has been published since 1851, and is sometimes referred to as “the Gray Lady”. These days a viable alternative to buying the paper is to read the news online. NYTimes.com is the most popular online newspaper website in the country.

“The Washington Post” (WaPo) is the oldest paper still being published in the DC area, having been founded in 1877. Famously, “The Post” reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein led the media’s investigation into what we now called the Watergate scandal. “The Washington Post” was purchased in 2013 by Jeff Bezos, the founder and CEO of Amazon.com.

125 Bumper attachments : DECALS

A decal is a decorative sticker. “Decal” is a shortening of “decalcomania”. The latter term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

126 Sazerac cocktail ingredient : RYE

The classic New Orleans cocktail known as a Sazerac is a mixture of rye, absinthe, bitters and sugar. The use of rye is a little incongruous, given that the cocktail is named for Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of Cognac that was originally the base spirit.

Down

2 Time for a shootout : HIGH NOON

I am not a huge fan of western movies, but “High Noon” works for me. The film has a great cast, with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly in the lead roles. I suppose I like the film because it doesn’t fit the mold as a typical western with lots of predictable action sequences. That said, when “High Noon” first hit theaters it was not popular with audiences, largely because moviegoers were expecting the formulaic western film. One interesting feature of the storyline is that the sequence of events takes place in approximate real time.

8 Diet Coke doesn’t have a single one: Abbr. : CAL

I wish we’d stop using the term “calorie”, because it is so confusing. In terms of physics, a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celsius (at one atmosphere of pressure). The so-called “food calorie” is one thousand times as large, as it is defined in terms of kilograms instead of grams. In attempts to differentiate between these two definitions, the former is sometimes referred to as the “small calorie” and is given the symbol “cal”. The latter is referred to as the “large calorie” and given the symbol “Cal”, with a capital C. If only we’d use the SI system of units, we’d be thinking in just joules, instead of large and small and food calories.

Diet Coke is a sugar-free version of Coca-Cola that was introduced back in 1982. If you drink Diet Coke around the world, you’ll receive a slightly different drink depending on where you are. Various artificial sweeteners are banned as health risks in various countries, so Coke varies its formulation to comply with local laws.

10 “The Clan of the Cave Bear” heroine : AYLA

Ayla is a little Cro-Magnon girl who is orphaned and then adopted by a Neanderthal tribe, as told in “The Clan of the Cave Bear”, the first of a series of novels written by Jean Auel that set in prehistoric times. I haven’t read any of Auel’s books myself, but they are on my reading to-do list as my wife recommends them. They sound interesting …

11 What’s raised in a ruckus : CAIN

As Cain was the first murderer according to the Bible, he is associated with evil or trouble. The idiom “raise Cain” is the equivalent of “raise Hell” and “raise the Devil”. In all cases, the meaning is to bring back evil or to cause trouble.

The word “ruckus” is used to mean “commotion”, and has been around since the late 1800s. “Ruckus” is possibly a melding of the words “ruction” and “rumpus”.

12 Waste of an election? : CHADS

We are all familiar with “hanging chads” after the famous Florida election recounts of 2000. A chad is any piece of paper punched out from a larger sheet. So, those round bits of paper we’ve all dropped over the floor when emptying a hole punch, they’re chads.

17 Memorable quote from 70-Across : SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER

The original “Star Trek” TV show opened each episode with a speech from Captain Kirk, played by William Shatner:

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

26 A target for Target, say : LOGO

Target Corporation was founded by George Draper Dayton in 1902 in Minneapolis, Minnesota as Dayton Dry Goods Company. Dayton developed into a department store, and the company opened up a discount store chain in 1962, calling it Target. Today, Target is the second-largest discount retailer in the country, after Walmart.

29 It might be a shocker : EEL

“Electrophorus electricus” is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric “eel” isn’t an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.

31 “The Simpsons” character : LISA

Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith. In a 2008 episode of the show, Lisa enters a crossword tournament. Crossword celebrities Merl Reagle and Will Shortz make appearances in that episode, basically playing cartoon versions of themselves.

34 Partner of one : ONLY

The one and only …

38 ___ teeth (proverbial rarity) : HEN’S

Something might be described as scarcer than hen’s teeth, as hens don’t have teeth at all!

44 Slanders : SMEARS

The word “libel” describes a published or written statement likely to harm a person’s reputation. It comes into English from the Latin “libellus”, the word for a small book. Back in the 1500s, libel was just a formal written statement, with the more damaging association arising in the 1600s. The related concept of slander is defamation in a transient form, such as speech, sign language or gestures.

49 Nutty confections : PRALINES

A praline is a candy made out of nuts and sugar syrup. The first pralines were made in France in the 17th century for an industrialist named Marshal du Plessis-Praslin, who gave his name to the confection.

51 So-called “Breakfast of Champions” : WHEATIES

Wheaties were introduced to the world in 1924, making it the oldest cereal produced by General Mills. The idea of mixing wheat and bran together into a cereal was the result of an accidental spill of wheat bran into a stove. The product was first called Washburn’s Gold Medal Whole Wheat Flakes, and this was changed to Wheaties after an employee contest to find a better name.

54 Sound of a jaguar : ROAR

The four “big cats” are the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. The largest of the big cats is the tiger, and the smallest is the leopard.

64 Albert who developed a polio vaccine : SABIN

Albert Sabin developed the oral polio vaccine. Sabin’s vaccine was a “live” controlled vaccine. The equally famous Salk vaccine was a “killed” vaccine.

69 One of the Prairie provinces: Abbr. : SASK

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan (Sask.) takes its name from the Saskatchewan River. The river in turn takes its name from the Cree name, which translates as “swift flowing river”. The capital of Saskatchewan is Regina, although the biggest city in the province is Saskatoon.

Canada’s three Prairie Provinces are Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.

71 “It’s a ___!” : WRAP

When shooting of a film is concluded the movie is said to wrap, and everyone heads to the wrap party. There is one story that “wrap” is actually an acronym for “wind, reel and print”, a reference to the transition of the filming process into post-production. But, this explanation is disputed.

74 Question of confusion or disgust : WHAT IS THAT?

I’ve no idea …

79 Sound of a Jaguar : PURR

Auto manufacturer Jaguar started out as a manufacturer of sidecars for motorcycles back in 1922, when the company was known as the Swallow Sidecar Company (SS for short). The company changed its name to Jaguar after WWII, because of the unfortunate connotations of the letters “SS” in that era (i.e. the Nazi paramilitary organization).

84 Kind of card : SIM

Most cell phones have SIM cards these days. SIM cards hold the personal information of the subscriber, with the acronym being short for “Subscriber Identity Module”.

85 The “quail” in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony : OBOE

Ludwig van Beethoven completed his magnificent “Symphony No. 6” (The Pastoral) in 1808. He composed the Pastoral at the same time that he was working on his iconic “Fifth Symphony”. Both symphonies premiered on the same night, at a lengthy concert in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna.

90 Q preceder? : LGBT

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)

93 Aloof : ICY

I suppose one might guess from the “feel” of the word “aloof” that it has nautical roots. Originally “aloof” meant “to windward” and was the opposite of “alee”. A helmsman might be instructed to stay aloof, to steer the boat into the weather to keep a distance from a lee-shore. It is from this sense of maintaining a distance that aloof came to mean “distant” in terms of personality. Interesting, huh …?

98 Devices in atomic clocks : MASERS

A MASER is a device that was around long before LASERs came into the public consciousness. A MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is similar to a LASER, but microwaves are emitted rather than light waves. When the storyline for “Star Trek” was being developed, the writers introduced a weapon called a “phaser”, with the name “phaser” derived from PHoton mASER.

An atomic clock is the most accurate tool known for keeping track of time. Most clocks work using some sort of an oscillation that takes place at a regular interval, like a pendulum. In the case of an atomic clock, the oscillation that is measured is between the nucleus of an atom (usually a cesium atom) and its surrounding electrons.

100 Converse, e.g. : SHOE

The Converse shoe company was founded in Malden, Massachusetts in 1908 by one Marquis Mills Converse. The company grew steadily, and introduced its first athletic shoe in 1915, a shoe designed for playing tennis. The Converse brand really took off in 1917 with the launch of a shoe designed especially for basketball, which was called the “All Star”. Basketball player Chuck Taylor really liked the new design and was hired by Converse as a salesman and a spokesman. Taylor suggested a refinement to the design, including a patch on the side to protect the ankle. A star logo (representing the “All Star” brand) was added to the patch, with Chuck Taylor’s signature being added to the logo as an endorsement in 1923. The Chuck Taylor All Star became the best selling basketball shoe of all time, and the star became the logo for the Converse company.

102 Common waiting room viewing : CNN

CNN (Cable News Network) was launched in 1980 by the Turner Broadcasting System, and was the first television channel in the world to provide news coverage 24 hours a day. CNN headquarters is located in Atlanta.

105 Shock treatment, for short : DEFIB

You might find a defibrillator (defib.) in an emergency room (ER) of a hospital.

111 “Girls” creator Dunham : LENA

Lena Dunham is a co-star in the HBO series “Girls”, and is also the show’s creator. Dunham garnered a lot of attention for herself during the 2012 US Presidential election cycle as she starred in an ad focused on getting out the youth vote. In the spot, she compared voting for the first time with having sex for the first time.

112 Carded, informally : ID’ED

Identity document (ID)

113 Tabbouleh go-with : PITA

Tabbouleh is a Middle Eastern dish made from tomatoes, and chopped parsley, mint, bulgur and onion, along with olive oil, lemon juice and salt. The name “tabbouleh” comes from the Arabic “taabil” meaning “seasoning”. I love tabbouleh …

115 “Enough already!” : TMI!

Too much information (TMI)

116 Suffix in organic chemistry : -ASE

The names of enzymes usually include the suffix “-ase”. Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Goal for many a T.A. : PHD
4 There’s a Winter one in St. Petersburg and a Summer one in Beijing : PALACE
10 Confront : ACCOST
16 QVC alternative : HSN
19 Grande preceder : RIO …
20 Many a video game player has one : AVATAR
21 Hebrew name of God : YAHWEH
22 Major N.Y.S.E. events : IPOS
24 Vainglory : EGO
25 Good side in 70-Across : REBEL ALLIANCE
27 Reid of “Sharknado” : TARA
28 Grade school basics : THREE RS
30 Scoundrel : SO-AND-SO
31 Points all around? : LOCUS
32 Celsius of the Celsius scale : ANDERS
33 Director Nicolas : ROEG
35 Good cheer : SUNNINESS
37 People to pick from : POOL
38 Major role in 70-Across : HAN SOLO
41 Smartphone forerunners, in brief : PDAS
42 “___ kingdom come …” : THY
43 Big stretch : EON
44 Bluish-gray shade : STEEL
46 Mobile ___ : APP
48 Time might be shown on the side of one : GRAPH
50 Score of 8, in golf slang : SNOWMAN
52 Events where one person’s trash may be another person’s treasure : YARD SALES
56 Pull back (in) : REIN
59 Capital-B Belief : THEISM
61 Family name on TV’s “Succession” : ROY
62 Vote in favor : YEA
63 Prefix with futurism : AFRO
64 Outback offering : STEAK
65 Locale of the 2002 and 2022 World Cups : ASIA
67 Long-term damage : WEAR
68 Some copywriting awards : CLIOS
69 The volcano Emi Koussi is its highest point : SAHARA
70 The better of two major sci-fi film franchises? : STAR WARS or STAR TREK
72 Climb (up) : SHINNY
73 Gives a bad hand? : ABETS
74 “But ___ counting?” : WHO’S
75 Gentle hill : RISE
76 Grams, by another name : NANAS
77 Voice heard by 500 million people : SIRI
78 ___ Majesty : HER
79 Not for moi? : PAS
80 Pump choice : DIESEL
82 Spot for a patch, perhaps : KNEE
83 Begins to like : WARMS UP TO
86 Regular at Citi Field : METS FAN
89 Small spot for a castaway : ISLET
91 Ian McKellen, e.g. : SIR
92 Skin-care brand with an accent over its last letter : BIORE
94 Mens ___ : REA
95 Sends a Telegram, in brief? : IMS
97 Not looking good : GRIM
99 Major role in 70-Across : MR SPOCK
102 Stop at the liquor store? : CORK
103 Comforting phrase : DON’T BE SAD
106 Newton of the Black Panther Party : HUEY
107 “___ Darko” (2001 cult film) : DONNIE
109 Distend : BLOAT
110 Who wrote “April is the cruellest month” : TS ELIOT
113 Scratch-and-sniff page, e.g. : PRINT AD
114 Dramatic accusation : ET TU?
115 Good side in 70-Across : THE FEDERATION
118 Misfortune : ILL
119 Cousin of a skimmer : TERN
120 ___ One : MARINE
121 “Do you mind?” : IS IT OK?
122 Brown of HBO Max’s “Gossip Girl” reboot : ELI
123 WaPo competitor : NYT
124 “There’s not much hope” : IT’S BAD
125 Bumper attachments : DECALS
126 Sazerac cocktail ingredient : RYE

Down

1 Records in advance : PRE-TAPES
2 Time for a shootout : HIGH NOON
3 Memorable quote from 70-Across : DO OR DO NOT, THERE IS NO TRY
4 Apple device : PARER
5 Affirms : AVERS
6 Some college classes : LABS
7 “Thanks, but I already ___” : ATE
8 Diet Coke doesn’t have a single one: Abbr. : CAL
9 Wipes out : ERASES
10 “The Clan of the Cave Bear” heroine : AYLA
11 What’s raised in a ruckus : CAIN
12 Waste of an election? : CHADS
13 Confesses : OWNS UP
14 Bad thing to be stuck in : SECOND GEAR
15 On-line connection? : … THE …
16 Arrive at, as a solution : HIT ON
17 Memorable quote from 70-Across : SPACE: THE FINAL FRONTIER
18 “Take your time” : NO RUSH
23 Audacious : SASSY
26 A target for Target, say : LOGO
29 It might be a shocker : EEL
31 “The Simpsons” character : LISA
33 Social media star Addison : RAE
34 Partner of one : ONLY
36 French skin-care and cosmetics giant : NARS
38 ___ teeth (proverbial rarity) : HEN’S
39 Noble title : LADY
40 Follower of black or special : OPS
44 Slanders : SMEARS
45 Director Waititi : TAIKA
47 Ones involved in a transaction : PAYERS or PAYEES
49 Nutty confections : PRALINES
51 So-called “Breakfast of Champions” : WHEATIES
53 They might end on a high note : ARIAS
54 Sound of a jaguar : ROAR
55 Let out, in a way : LEASED or LEAKED
57 Some contents of golf bags : IRONS
58 Needing to butt out : NOSY
60 Potato or pea preparer : MASHER
64 Albert who developed a polio vaccine : SABIN
66 Leaves in a huff, with “off” : STORMS …
67 Body part that precedes “band” : WAIST- or WRIST-
68 Innocent : CHASTE
69 One of the Prairie provinces: Abbr. : SASK
71 “It’s a ___!” : WRAP or TRAP
72 Show of scorn : SNEER
74 Question of confusion or disgust : WHAT IS THAT?
79 Sound of a Jaguar : PURR
81 Reassuring words : I’M OK
83 “___ Hiring” (business sign) : WE’RE
84 Kind of card : SIM
85 The “quail” in Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony : OBOE
87 By plane, say : AERIALLY
88 Obvious untruth : NAKED LIE
90 Q preceder? : LGBT
93 Aloof : ICY
95 “Seems so” : I’D BET
96 Like the inside of a lava cake : MOLTEN
98 Devices in atomic clocks : MASERS
100 Converse, e.g. : SHOE
101 Rank : PUTRID
102 Common waiting room viewing : CNN
104 Jeer : TAUNT
105 Shock treatment, for short : DEFIB
107 Slobber : DROOL
108 Noises that come from pens : OINKS
111 “Girls” creator Dunham : LENA
112 Carded, informally : ID’ED
113 Tabbouleh go-with : PITA
115 “Enough already!” : TMI!
116 Suffix in organic chemistry : -ASE
117 Quirk : TIC