1201-19 NY Times Crossword 1 Dec 19, Sunday

Constructed by: Patrick Merrell
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Actually …

Themed answers look like one thing, but are ACTUALLY something else:

  • 25A … It abuts water on only one of its four sides : RHODE ISLAND
  • 32A … It’s an ellipse : ST PETER’S SQUARE
  • 59A … It was predominantly German : HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
  • 83A … It’s an American name for a German game : CHINESE CHECKERS
  • 108A … They’re of Indian origin : ARABIC NUMERALS
  • 118A … It’s a woodwind from Central Europe : ENGLISH HORN
  • 4D … It’s a rodent native to the Andes : GUINEA PIG
  • 16D … It’s a legume : PEANUT
  • 85D … They’re lousy places to sleep : RESTROOMS
  • 100D … It usually comes from sheep : CATGUT

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

Bill’s time: 17m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bird growing up Down Under : EMU

The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

19 Apt move when dancing the salsa? : DIP

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

20 Home of the Huskies, informally : UCONN

The UConn Huskies are the sports teams of the University of Connecticut. I wasn’t able to uncover the derivation of the “Huskies” moniker. Although it is true that “UConn” sounds like “Yukon”, that isn’t the derivation of the “Huskies” nickname. The school didn’t become the University of Connecticut (UConn) until 1939, and the Huskies name has been used since 1933.

25 … It abuts water on only one of its four sides : RHODE ISLAND

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, and is the second most densely populated. (after New Jersey). Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State, largely because about 14% of the state’s area is made up of ocean bays and inlets. Exactly how Rhode Island got its name is a little unclear. What is known is that way back in 1524, long before the Pilgrims came to New England, the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano likened an island in the area to the Island of Rhodes in the Mediterranean. There were subsequent references to “Rhode Island” in English publications, before the colonists arrived.

28 Possible result of late payments, informally : REPO

Repossession (repo)

30 Verb on a candy heart : LUV

The forerunner to Sweethearts candy was introduced in 1866, with the famous sayings written on the candy tailored for use at weddings. One of the original expressions was, “Married in pink, he will take a drink”. The original candy was a lot bigger, to fit all those words! The smaller, heart-shaped candy hit the shelves in 1901. We’ve been able to buy Sweethearts with the words “Text me” since 2010.

31 Tithing portion : TENTH

Traditionally, a tithe is a payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

32 … It’s an ellipse : ST PETER’S SQUARE

Saint Peter’s Square is the huge plaza that sits in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The square was designed in the mid-1600s with the intent of providing an open space where the greatest number of people could see the Pope and receive his blessing.

36 “Little House on the Prairie” girl : LAURA

Laura Ingalls Wilder was an author from Pepin, Wisconsin who is best remembered for her “Little House” series of children’s novels. The series was based on her own childhood in a pioneer family that moved from Wisconsin to Kansas and back again.

45 Source of Andrew Carnegie’s fortune : STEEL

Andrew Carnegie was an industrialist and philanthropist from Scotland who made his fame and fortune in the US steel industry. He founded the Carnegie Steel Company in 1892, which was destined to become US Steel. After he sold Carnegie Steel, making his fortune, Carnegie devoted the rest of his life to philanthropy. Famously, he built Carnegie Hall in New York, founded Carnegie Mellon University in PIttsburgh, and set up several charitable trust funds that are still doing valuable work today.

59 … It was predominantly German : HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) existed from 962 to 1806 AD and was a territory of varying size over the centuries that centered on the Kingdom of Germany. The HRE was a successor to the western half of the Ancient Roman Empire.

64 Sci-fi character depicted as a glowing red dot : HAL

In Arthur C. Clarke’s “Space Odyssey” (famously adapted for the big screen as “2001: A Space Odyssey”) the computer system that went rogue was called HAL 9000, or simply “HAL”. HAL stands for “Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer”. Even though, Clarke denied it, there’s a good argument that can be made that the acronym HAL is a veiled reference to IBM, the big player in the world of computing at the time of the novel’s publication (1968). The acronym HAL is just a one-letter shift from the initials “IBM”.

65 Punjab’s capital : LAHORE

Lahore is a large city in Pakistan that is second in size only to Karachi. It is known as the Garden of the Mughals (or in English, Moguls) because of its association with the Mughal Empire. The Mughals ruled much of India from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.

Punjab is the most populous province in Pakistan and is home to over half of the country’s citizens. “Punjab” (also “Panjab”) translates as “Five Waters”, a reference to five rivers that form tributaries to the Indus River: Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej.

66 Things around a cloverleaf : EXIT SIGNS

Cloverleaf interchanges allow two highways to cross without the need for stopping traffic. They are so called as when viewed overheard they look like the leaves of a four-leaf clover.

72 Jennifer who wrote the Pulitzer-winning “A Visit From the Goon Squad” : EGAN

Jennifer Egan is an author who grew up in San Francisco. Egan’s 2010 work “A Visit from the Goon Squad” won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Usually termed a novel, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” is structured in such a way that it is sometimes described as a collection of linked short stories.

77 Van Gogh masterwork : IRISES

Van Gogh painted his “Irises” while he was in an asylum in the south of France the year before he committed suicide. The original owner was a French art critic and supporter of van Gogh who paid 300 francs to purchase the painting. “Irises” was bought for $53.9 million in 1987, making it the most expensive painting sold up to that point. But, the buyer didn’t actually have the necessary funds, so it had to be resold in 1990. It was picked up by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where you can see it today.

83 … It’s an American name for a German game : CHINESE CHECKERS

The board game known as Chinese Checkers has nothing to with checkers, nor anything to do with China. It was invented in Germany in 1892, under the name “Stern-Halma”. The Chinese Checkers moniker was the creation of the Pressman Company which purchased the rights to the game in the US in 1928.

87 Gambling game akin to bingo : KENO

The name of the game keno has French or Latin roots, with the French “quine” being a term for five winning numbers, and the Latin “quini” meaning “five each”. The game originated in China and was introduced into the West by Chinese immigrants who were working on the first Transcontinental Railroad in the 1800s.

88 Drift ice pieces : FLOES

An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the ocean.

91 Letters on an incomplete syllabus : TBA

Something not yet on the schedule (“sked” or “sched.”) is to be advised/announced (TBA).

“Syllabus” (plural “syllabi”) is the Latin word for “list”.

98 Rapper Tone ___ : LOC

Tone Lōc is the stage name of rapper Anthony Smith.

101 ___ the Orange (Syracuse mascot) : OTTO

The current Syracuse mascot, Otto the Orange, was introduced unofficially in 1980, and gained official recognition by the University in 1995.

105 Defibrillator pros : EMTS

A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an emergency medical technician (EMT).

108 … They’re of Indian origin : ARABIC NUMERALS

The numbers that we use in English and most other languages (0, 1, 2, 3 etc.) are Arabic numerals, also called Hindu-Arabic or Indo-Arabic numerals. The concept of positional numbers was developed by the Babylonians, and the first use of “zero” is attributed to mathematicians in the Indian subcontinent.

114 It’s often performed by 105-Across : CPR
(105A Defibrillator pros : EMTS)

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has for decades involved the simultaneous compression of the chest to pump blood using the heart, and artificial respiration by blowing air into the lungs. Nowadays emergency services are placing more emphasis on heart compressions, and less on artificial respiration.

118 … It’s a woodwind from Central Europe : ENGLISH HORN

The English horn is also known by its French name “cor anglais”. It is a double-reed woodwind instrument.

127 Yang’s opposite : YIN

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

128 Cool red giants : S STARS

Red giants are very large stars with a relatively low mass. The atmosphere of a red giant is also very inflated and extends a long way into space so the surface of that atmosphere that we see is relatively cool, which gives it a red color. Stars are classified by their spectral characteristics, basically the color of the light they emit. As such, red giants are classified as M stars. Cool red giants are of a color beyond the usual range, and are classified as S stars.

129 U.S. viticulture region : NAPA

The first commercial winery in Napa Valley, California was established way back in 1858. However, premium wine production only dates back to the 1960s, with the region really hitting the big time after its success at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The story of that famous blind wine tasting is told in the entertaining 2008 film “Bottle Shock”.

130 Printing hues : CYANS

“Cyan” is short for “cyan blue”. The term comes from the Greek word “kyanos” meaning “dark blue, the color of lapis lazuli”.

131 It starts in Mar. : DST

On the other side of the Atlantic, daylight saving time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring (“spring forward”), and backwards in the fall (“fall back”) so that afternoons have more daylight. Here in the US, DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and ends on the first Sunday of November.

Down

2 They’re compacter than compacts : MINIS

The original mini was a fabulous car, one that I drove all over Ireland in my youth. It had a unique front-wheel-drive layout that took up very little space, allowing for a lot of room (relatively speaking) for passengers and baggage. One space-saving trick was to mount the engine transversely, so it sits rotated 90 degrees from the norm. That engine had a capacity of only 848cc. In 1961, a Mini Cooper model was introduced, which was a sporty version. The Mini Cooper was a phenomenal hit, especially after repeated wins in the Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini marque has been owned by BMW since 1994.

4 … It’s a rodent native to the Andes : GUINEA PIG

The guinea pig species of rodent is also known as a cavy. Guinea pigs aren’t related to pigs, and not are they from Guinea (in West Africa). Guinea pigs actually come from the Andes. They were commonly used for research in the 1800s and 1900s, and as a result we use the term “guinea pig” for a test subject to this day.

6 Unidentified person in a suit : ROE

Though the English court system does not use the term today, “John Doe” first appeared as the “name of a person unknown” in England in 1659, along with the similar “Richard Roe”. An unknown female is referred to as “JaneDoe ”, and the equivalent to Richard Roe is Jane Roe (as in Roe v. Wade, for example). Variants of “John Doe” used outside of the courts are “Joe Blow” and “John Q. Public”.

7 Big name in the soup aisle : KNORR

When I was growing up in Ireland, we never saw Campbell’s soup on the shelves. It was basically all Knorr products, and dehydrated soup from a packet at that. How times have changed. Knorr is a German brand, now owned by the Anglo-Dutch Company Unilever.

9 Highly decorated : BAROQUE

Something described as baroque is extremely ornate and convoluted. The term comes from the Baroque Period of the early 17th to mid-18th century. Many of the arts focused on great detail and elaborate design during that time.

11 When doubled, a Yale football song : BOOLA

“Boola Boola” is a fight song of Yale University that was composed in 1900, although it is based on a song called “La Hoola Boola” that had been around in the 1800s. The melody of “Boola Boola” is used by the University of Oklahoma for its fight song, “Boomer Sooner”.

13 ___ Lanka : SRI

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

16 … It’s a legume : PEANUT

I have to say it, but it drives me crazy. Peanuts aren’t nuts, they’re legumes, a plant in the bean and pea family. The flowers of the peanut plant last only one day and then wither. The fertilized ovary develops an elongated “peg” that grows downwards, pushing the ovary down into the soil. The ovary develops underground into a mature peanut pod containing between one and four seeds, which we call “nuts”. But they aren’t nuts. Did I say that already …?

17 Hindu tradition that’s two men’s names in reverse : TANTRA

The word “Tantra” comprises the names “Art” and “Nat” written in reverse.

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

18 Trite : OLD HAT

The use of “old hat” to mean something “out of date, stale” started about 1911. Before that, the term “old hat” meant something very different, and very vulgar. “Old hat” was the name given to a very private part of the female anatomy, the idea being that it was “often felt” (as in a “felt hat”). I just don’t know what to say …

29 Exam for many sophs. and jrs. : PSAT

Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)

34 Kitt who played Catwoman on TV : EARTHA

Eartha Kitt really did have a unique voice and singing style. Her rendition of “Santa Baby” has to be one of the most distinctive and memorable recordings in the popular repertoire. Some of you will no doubt remember Eartha playing Catwoman on the final series of the 1960s TV show “Batman”.

Catwoman, the alter ego of Selina Kyle, is a supervillain who is usually depicted as an adversary of Batman in comics. In the sixties television show “Batman”, Catwoman was first portrayed by actress Julie Newmar, but then the more memorable Eartha Kitt took over, with the marvelously “feline voice”. On the big screen, Catwoman has been played by Lee Meriwether in “Batman” (1966), Michelle Pfeiffer in “Batman Returns” (1992), Halle Berry in “Catwoman” (2004) and Anne Hathaway in “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012).

35 In ___ development : UTERO

“In utero” is a Latin term meaning “in the uterus”. The Latin “uterus” (plural “uteri”) translates as both “womb” and “belly”. The Latin word comes from the Greek “hystera” that also means “womb”, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

42 Home to the Sundance Film Festival : UTAH

The Sundance Film Festival is the largest independent film event in the country, and takes place every year around the Sundance Resort near Provo, Utah. The festival has its roots in the Utah/US Film Festival which started in Salt Lake City in 1978. Management of the festival was taken over by Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in 1985. The festival has become a bit of a media feeding frenzy in recent years, as a lot of A-list celebrities attend. The Festival organizers introduced a “Focus on Film” campaign in 2007 to try to offset some of the madness.

43 Salt’s hip-hop counterpart : PEPA

Salt-N-Pepa are an all-female hip hop trio from New York made up of “Salt” (Cheryl James), “Pepa” (Sandra Denton) and “DJ Spinderella” (Deidra Roper). The group’s 1991 song “Let’s Talk Sex” created quite a fuss as the lyrics explored the subject of sex, and safe sex in particular. A later version addressed the dangers of AIDS.

48 Vintage-looking shade : SEPIA

Sepia is that rich, brown-grey color so common in old photographs. “Sepia” is the Latinized version of the Greek word for cuttlefish, as sepia pigment is derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish. Sepia ink was commonly used for writing and drawing as far back as ancient Rome and ancient Greece. The “sepia tone” of old photographs is not the result of deterioration over time. Rather, it is the result of a deliberate preservation process which converts the metallic silver in the photographic image to a more stable silver sulfide. Prints that have been sepia-toned can last in excess of 150 years.

52 Preventive medicine, slangily : VAX

A vaccine is a modified virus that is administered to an individual to stimulate the immune system into developing immunity. British physician Edward Jenner came up with the first vaccine, injecting people with the cowpox virus in order to prevent smallpox. The term “vaccination” comes from the Latin “vaccinus” meaning “from cows”, with “vacca” translating as “cow”.

53 “Star Wars” nickname : ANI

Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in the first six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:

  • Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
  • Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
  • Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
  • Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
  • Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
  • Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …

57 Pixelatedness, for short : RES

One way of censoring an image is to pixelate the area to be hidden, in a process known as “pixelization” (which is different than “pixelation”). For example, we often see license plates and faces blurred out, on television news shows. That’s pixelization. On the other hand, pixelation is an effect noticed when digital photographs are enlarged to an extent that individual pixels can be discerned.

63 Umami enhancer, for short : MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until 1985 that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

71 Gilded chest in the Bible : ARK

According to the Book of Exodus, the stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed were placed in a chest called the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was built according to instructions given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai.

73 Cathy’s comics cry : ACK!

“Cathy” is a comic strip drawn by Cathy Guisewite. The strip was largely based on Guisewite’s own life experiences. For decades, cartoon Cathy was a single woman dealing with food, love, family and work. Cathy married her longtime boyfriend Irving in 2005, and the strip ended its run in 2010 with the revelation that Cathy was expecting a baby girl.

76 High-grade U.S.M.C. enlistee : NCO

Non-commissioned officer (NCO)

United States Marine Corps (USMC)

78 Lima lady: Abbr. : SRA

Lima is the capital city of Peru. Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem.

94 Huffington of journalism : ARIANNA

“The Huffington Post” (now “HuffPost”) is a news website founded in 2005 by Arianna Huffington. It is a very active site, with 3,000 people contributing blog posts (including many celebrities and politicians), and readers leaving over one million comments every month. “The Huffington Post” was sold to AOL in 2011 for $315 million, with Arianna Huffington staying on as editor-in-chief.

95 Septennial symptom? : ITCH

The phrase “seven year itch” had been used by psychologists to describe declining interest in staying monogamous after seven years of marriage.

99 Throws in one’s two cents : OPINES

To put in one’s two cents is to add one’s opinion. The American expression derives from the older English version, which is “to put in one’s two pennies’ worth”.

100 … It usually comes from sheep : CATGUT

Catgut is indeed made from the fibers found in the intestine of animals. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, and sometimes other animals, but never cats. It may be that catgut is an abbreviation of “cattlegut”. Ugh!

102 Dash dial : TACH

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hoofs of the horses. Quite interesting …

107 Silty spot : DELTA

A river delta is a triangular landform at the mouth of a river created by the deposition of sediment. The Nile Delta in Northern Egypt is one of the world’s largest river deltas, and covers 150 miles of coastline on the Mediterranean. The most famous “delta” in the United States isn’t actually a delta at all. The Mississippi Delta is an alluvial plain that lies 300 miles north of the river’s actual delta, yet it is known as the “Mississippi River Delta”. Very confusing …

111 Eponym of a London insurer : LLOYD

Back in the 17th and 18th centuries, members of the shipping industry community were in the habit of meeting regularly in Lloyd’s Coffee House in London, an establishment owned by one Edward Lloyd. The coffee house’s owner catered to his clientele by providing regular news about the shipping industry. The shipping merchants discussed deals among themselves, forming syndicates that insured vessels and cargo, for each other and for others in the business. The members of the group eventually relocated to a permanent headquarters, but maintained the name “Society of Lloyd’s”, which exists to this day.

112 Highway haulers : SEMIS

A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

119 AARPers : SRS

“AARP” is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Bird growing up Down Under : EMU
4 Russian novelist Maxim : GORKI
9 Honey : BABE
13 Suddenly stand at attention : SNAP TO
19 Apt move when dancing the salsa? : DIP
20 Home of the Huskies, informally : UCONN
21 “He’s like ___ to me” : A SON
22 Undo, legislatively : REPEAL
23 Notwithstanding : IN SPITE OF
25 … It abuts water on only one of its four sides : RHODE ISLAND
27 Attach, as a ribbon : TIE ON
28 Possible result of late payments, informally : REPO
30 Verb on a candy heart : LUV
31 Tithing portion : TENTH
32 … It’s an ellipse : ST PETER’S SQUARE
36 “Little House on the Prairie” girl : LAURA
37 Italian “darling” : CARA
38 Like drumheads : TAUT
39 Frankish finish : ENDE
41 Inker’s artwork : TAT
42 Meeting expectations : UP TO PAR
45 Source of Andrew Carnegie’s fortune : STEEL
47 Heir extension? : -ESS
49 Lambaste : TEAR INTO
51 Competitor : RIVAL
54 Of all time : EVER
58 Impersonator’s skill : APING
59 … It was predominantly German : HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE
64 Sci-fi character depicted as a glowing red dot : HAL
65 Punjab’s capital : LAHORE
66 Things around a cloverleaf : EXIT SIGNS
67 Footprint maker : SOLE
70 Give ___ on the wrist : A SLAP
72 Jennifer who wrote the Pulitzer-winning “A Visit From the Goon Squad” : EGAN
73 Currently : AT PRESENT
77 Van Gogh masterwork : IRISES
80 Move offshore, say : EBB
83 … It’s an American name for a German game : CHINESE CHECKERS
85 Fuel mileage, for example : RATIO
87 Gambling game akin to bingo : KENO
88 Drift ice pieces : FLOES
89 Vouch for : ATTEST TO
91 Letters on an incomplete syllabus : TBA
93 Serious : STAID
97 Like par 2 holes among all holes in miniature golf : EASIEST
98 Rapper Tone ___ : LOC
101 ___ the Orange (Syracuse mascot) : OTTO
104 Pretentious : ARTY
105 Defibrillator pros : EMTS
106 Some rectangular tablets : IPADS
108 … They’re of Indian origin : ARABIC NUMERALS
113 Wind-up toys? : KITES
114 It’s often performed by 105-Across : CPR
115 Sounds of enlightenment : AHAS
116 Like bicycle chains : OILED
118 … It’s a woodwind from Central Europe : ENGLISH HORN
121 Onetime home of the Vikings and the Twins : METRODOME
124 Make litter-proof? : NEUTER
125 Wholehearted endorsement : AMEN
126 Flanged structural support : I-BEAM
127 Yang’s opposite : YIN
128 Cool red giants : S STARS
129 U.S. viticulture region : NAPA
130 Printing hues : CYANS
131 It starts in Mar. : DST

Down

1 Make amends? : EDIT
2 They’re compacter than compacts : MINIS
3 Miffed : UPSET
4 … It’s a rodent native to the Andes : GUINEA PIG
5 Mo. when the N.F.L., N.B.A., N.H.L. and M.L.B. all have games : OCT
6 Unidentified person in a suit : ROE
7 Big name in the soup aisle : KNORR
8 Overruns : INFESTS
9 Highly decorated : BAROQUE
10 Eruption particulates : ASH
11 When doubled, a Yale football song : BOOLA
12 Survive : ENDURE
13 ___ Lanka : SRI
14 Spoons, e.g. : NESTLES
15 Cop ___ : A PLEA
16 … It’s a legume : PEANUT
17 Hindu tradition that’s two men’s names in reverse : TANTRA
18 Trite : OLD HAT
24 Popular microwave snack : POPCORN
26 What avengers get : EVEN
29 Exam for many sophs. and jrs. : PSAT
33 Second most popular Vietnamese surname (after Nguyen) : TRAN
34 Kitt who played Catwoman on TV : EARTHA
35 In ___ development : UTERO
40 Expunges : DELETES
42 Home to the Sundance Film Festival : UTAH
43 Salt’s hip-hop counterpart : PEPA
44 Aerobatic maneuver : TAILSPIN
46 Tart dessert : LIME PIE
48 Vintage-looking shade : SEPIA
50 La-la lead-in : OOH-
52 Preventive medicine, slangily : VAX
53 “Star Wars” nickname : ANI
55 Short story : VIGNETTE
56 West end? : -ERN
57 Pixelatedness, for short : RES
60 Abhors : LOATHES
61 Slices of life: Abbr. : YRS
62 Historic discovery : RELIC
63 Umami enhancer, for short : MSG
65 What diet products often contain : LESS FAT
68 Alternative indication : OR NOT
69 First, last, male or female name : LEE
71 Gilded chest in the Bible : ARK
73 Cathy’s comics cry : ACK!
74 Not just any : THE
75 Fish that’s 69-Down reversed : EEL
76 High-grade U.S.M.C. enlistee : NCO
78 Lima lady: Abbr. : SRA
79 Regard : ESTEEM
81 Atoms : BITS
82 A rancher might pull one over a calf : BOOT
84 Cornerstone abbr. : ESTAB
85 … They’re lousy places to sleep : RESTROOMS
86 “To repeat …” : AS I SAID …
90 Subdued : TAME
92 More overbearing : BOSSIER
94 Huffington of journalism : ARIANNA
95 Septennial symptom? : ITCH
96 Charismatic : DYNAMIC
98 Compares (to) : LIKENS
99 Throws in one’s two cents : OPINES
100 … It usually comes from sheep : CATGUT
102 Dash dial : TACH
103 Unmatched sock, informally : ORPHAN
107 Silty spot : DELTA
109 Welcoming whiff : AROMA
110 Phrase before a date : USE BY …
111 Eponym of a London insurer : LLOYD
112 Highway haulers : SEMIS
117 Parking lot souvenir : DENT
119 AARPers : SRS
120 Part of a gym set : REP
122 Bagged leaves? : TEA
123 Dashed : RAN