0606-21 NY Times Crossword 6 Jun 21, Sunday

Constructed by: Robyn Weintraub
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme Olio

Unusually, we have a themeless puzzle this Sunday, a grid with an OLIO (mixture) of clues and answers.

Bill’s time: 20m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

12 Emulates a chipmunk, say : SCAMPERS

Chipmunks are rodents found almost exclusively in North America. It has been suggested that the name “chipmunk” comes from the Ojibwa word “ajidamoo”, which translates literally as “head first”. The idea is that the chipmunk was viewed as a red squirrel noted for descending tree trunks “head first”.

23 Pork-cutting option : LINE-ITEM VETO

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

Pork-barrel politics have been around for a long time. The term “pork barrel” originated in 1863 in a story by Edward Everett Hale called “The Children of the Public”. Hale used the phrase in a positive way, describing any public spending by government for the benefit of citizens. By the 1870s the term “pork” had negative connotations, with references in the press to “pork-barrel bills” in Congress. Nowadays “pork” really applies to any government project designed to benefit a relatively small group of citizens (usually potential voters for a particular politician) with the bill being paid by the citizenry as a whole.

24 Ingredient in an Alabama slammer : AMARETTO

Amaretto is an Italian liqueur with a sweet almond flavor. Even though the drink is sweet, it has a bitterness lent to it by the bitter almonds that are often used as a flavoring. The name “amaretto” is a diminutive of the Italian word “amaro” meaning “bitter”.

An Alabama Slammer is a cocktail served over ice in a Collins glass. A common recipe is:

  • ¾ oz. Amaretto
  • ¾ oz. Southern Comfort
  • ¾ oz. Sloe Gin
  • top up with orange juice

25 Revise : AMEND

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

26 Word with “two” or “three” to describe a sloth : -TOED

All four of the extant species of three-toed sloths are native to South and Central America. Cousins of the three-toed sloths are the two-toed sloths, of which there are two species still living.

29 Abstract artist Mondrian : PIET

Piet Mondrian was a painter from the Netherlands who also lived and worked in Paris, London and New York. Mondrian’s works ranged in style from Impressionism to Abstract.

30 Thomas Hardy title character : TESS

In Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the heroine and title character is Tess Durbeyfield. Her father is an uneducated peasant and when he hears that his name is a corruption of the noble name of “D’Urberville”, the news goes to his head.

32 Traveled like Charon : FERRIED

The River Styx of Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between the Earth and the Underworld (or “Hades”). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferry boat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.

35 One for whom underwear is pants : BRIT

The term “pants”, meaning “trousers”, is an abbreviated form of “pantaloons” and first appeared in the 1840s. Pantaloons were a kind of tights named for a silly old male character in Italian comedy named “Pantaloun” who always wore tight trousers over skinny legs.

39 Three-dimensional : SPATIAL

A spatial relation defines how an object is related in space to another object, i.e. where the two objects are positioned relative to each other.

43 “Have You Never Been ___,” #1 album for Olivia Newton-John : MELLOW

Olivia Newton-John is an Australian singer and actress, although she was born in Cambridge, England. Newton-John’s father was an officer in the British Security Services and worked on the Enigma code-breaking project during WWII. Through her mother, Olivia is also the granddaughter of Max Born, the atomic physicist and Nobel Prize winner.

44 Origami designs thought to bring good fortune : CRANES

Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane (“orizuru“). The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

45 One receiving a congratulatory email from eBay : HIGHEST BIDDER

There have been some notable things sold on eBay over the years. For example:

  • Ad space on a guy’s forehead, in the form of a temporary tattoo – $37,375
  • William Shatner’s kidney stone – $25,000
  • A cornflake shaped like Illinois – $1,350
  • A single corn flake – $1.63
  • A box of 10 Twinkies – $59.99
  • The original Hollywood sign – $450,400
  • The meaning of life – $3.26

50 Scratch : MOOLA

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

51 Tablet taken before going to bed, maybe : IPAD

The groundbreaking iPad was introduced by Apple in 2010. The iOS-based iPads dominated the market for tablet computers until 2013, when Android-based tablets (manufactured by several companies) took over the number-one spot.

52 Portrayer of Marvel’s Hawkeye : RENNER

Jeremy Renner is an actor from Modesto, California whose big break came playing the lead role in the 2008 movie “The Hurt Locker”. Since then, Renner has broken into the world of superhero movies, playing Hawkeye in 2012’s “The Avengers”. I liked him best though in the 2012 action film “The Bourne Legacy”.

57 Rapper who co-founded Mass Appeal Records : NAS

Rapper Nas used to go by an earlier stage name “Nasty Nas”, and before that by his real name “Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones”. Nas released his first album “Illmatic” in 1994, and inventively titled his fifth studio album “Stillmatic”, released in 2001.

58 Green liqueur : PERNOD

The drink usually called just “Pernod” is a French beverage more correctly called “Pernod Anise”. The brand name was created by Henri-Louis Pernod in the late 1700s when he opened an absinthe distillery in Switzerland.

59 Dinosaur of kids’ TV : BARNEY

Barney the purple dinosaur is the title character in the young children’s TV show “Barney & Friends”.

65 Camaro, for one : COUPE

The type of car known as a “coupe” or “coupé” is a closed automobile with two doors. The name comes from the French word “couper” meaning “to cut”. In most parts of the English-speaking world the pronunciation adheres to the original French, but here in most of North America we go with “coop”. The original coupé was a horse-drawn carriage that was cut (coupé) to eliminate the rear-facing passenger seats. That left just a driver and two front-facing passengers. If the driver was left without a roof and out in the open, then the carriage was known as a “coupé de-ville”.

The Chevrolet Camaro is a car produced by General Motors from 1966 to 2002, and reintroduced in 2009. The Camaro shared much of its design with the Pontiac Firebird, and was introduced as a potential competitor to the Ford Mustang.

67 Birth day presence? : DOULA

A doula is a person who provides non-medical support for women and their families during childbirth as well as in the period immediately following the arrival. The term “doula” comes from the Ancient Greek word “doule” which means “female slave”. Given such a negative association, “doula” is often dropped in favor of “labor companion” or “birthworker”.

68 “All in the Family” subject : BIGOTRY

“Bigot” is a French word that back in the late 1500s meant “sanctimonious person, religious hypocrite”. We use the term today to describe someone who is biased towards his or her own group, and who is intolerant of those outside of that group.

“All in the Family” is an American sitcom, and a remake of the incredibly successful BBC show called “Till Death Us Do Part”. Both the UK and US versions of the sitcom were groundbreaking in that the storyline brought into focus topics previously considered unsuitable for a television comedy, including racism, homosexuality, women’s liberation, menopause and impotence. “All in the Family” is one of only three TV shows that has topped the Nielsen ratings for five consecutive seasons (the other two are “The Cosby Show” and “American Idol”). Stars of the show are:

  • Carroll O’Connor as Archie Bunker
  • Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker
  • Sally Struthers as Gloria Stivic née Bunker
  • Rob Reiner as Michael Stivic

73 Families-and-friends support group : AL-ANON

Al-Anon and Alateen are fellowships for relatives and friends of alcoholics. Alateen specifically supports teens who are affected by another’s drinking, whereas Al-Anon focuses on people of all ages.

78 Matthew of “The Americans” : RHYS

“The Americans” is a very engaging drama series set during the Cold War that features two KGB spies living as a married couple just outside Washington, D.C. The show was created by Joe Weisberg, who is a novelist and former CIA officer. The lead roles in “The Americans” are played by real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.

79 Save for later, in a way : DVR

Digital video recorder (DVR)

82 Like Queen Anne’s lace? : HERS

Queen Anne was the last of the Stuarts to rule in Britain and Ireland, and the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain (after England and Scotland united). Anne was the last of the Stuart line because she died without any surviving children, despite having been pregnant seventeen times.

87 Onetime hair removal brand : NEET

The hair removal product “Neet” was launched in Canada in 1901, and was also sold as “Immac”. Today, it is sold under the name “Veet”.

90 Stage name for hip-hop’s Sandra Denton : 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.

94 Post-distraction segue : AS I WAS SAYING …

A segue is a transition from one topic to the next. “Segue” is an Italian word that literally means “now follows”. It was first used in musical scores directing the performer to play into the next movement without a break. The oft-used term “segway” is given the same meaning, although the word “segway” doesn’t really exist. It is a misspelling of “segue” that has been popularized by its use as the name of the personal transporter known as a Segway.

97 Light-filled room : SOLARIUM

A solarium (plural “solaria”) is a sunroom or sun lounge, a structure usually built onto the side of a house that contains a lot of glass to let in the sun.

99 Hitchcock’s forte : SUSPENSE

Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director from Leytonstone, just outside London. A very good friend of mine is a close friend of one of his granddaughters, and met “Hitch” many times in her youth. She tells a very nice story of sitting in a restaurant with the family when someone came over to the table to say “hi”. That was Jimmy Stewart …

101 Like bison vis-à-vis beef : LEANER

There are 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 also a European bison, which is sometimes called a “wisent”.

Down

1 Key for Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise : A-FLAT

Chopin’s “Polonaise in A-flat major” has the nickname “Polonaise héroïque” (Heroic Polonaise). The piece was given the nickname by Chopin’s longtime lover, the author George Sand (aka Baroness Dudevant).

5 Joy of MSNBC : REID

MSNBC was founded in 1996 as a partnership between Microsoft (“MS”) and GE’s “NBC” broadcasting operation. Microsoft only owns a minority share in MSNBC today, but is still an equal partner in the separate company that runs msnbc.com.

8 Pacific birds? : DOVES

The dove is a symbol of peace, and the hawk is a symbol of war.

15 Adriatique, e.g. : MER

In French, a “mer” (sea) is a large body of “eau” (water).

The Adriatic is the sea separating Italy from the Balkans.

16 Task for a sous-chef : PREP

The “sous-chef de cuisine” (a French term) is the “under-chef of the kitchen”, the second-in-command.

17 Like sirens : ENTICING

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were seductive bird-women who lured men to their deaths with their song. When Odysseus sailed close to the island home of the Sirens he wanted to hear their voices, but in safety. He had his men plug their ears with beeswax and then ordered them to tie him to the mast and not to free him until they were safe. On hearing their song Odysseus begged to be let loose, but the sailors just tightened his bonds and the whole crew sailed away unharmed. We sometimes use the term “siren” today to describe a seductively charming woman.

31 They might be wireless : BRAS

The word “brassière” is French in origin, but it isn’t the word that the French use for a “bra”. In France, what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the neck”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.

33 Surname of Harry Potter’s adoptive family : DURSLEY

In the famous JK Rowling series of books, Harry Potter lived with the Dursley family as a child. Rowling took the name “Dursley” from a town in Gloucestershire, England that she used to visit as a child, a town that she hated.

35 Pop star nickname, with “the” : … BIEB

Justin Bieber is a young pop singer from London, Ontario. Bieber was actually discovered on YouTube by talent manager Scooter Brown. Fans of Bieber call themselves “Beliebers”. Personally, I’m no believer in Bieber …

38 Mythical nymph : NAIAD

The Naiads of Greek mythology were water nymphs associated with fountains, wells, springs and streams. The saltwater equivalents of the freshwater Naiads were the Oceanids.

40 Inspiration for the Frisbee : PIE PAN

The Frisbee concept started back in 1938 with a couple who had an upturned cake pan that they were tossing between each other on Santa Monica Beach in California. They were offered 25 cents for the pan on the spot, and as pans could be bought for 5 cents, the pair figured there was a living to be earned.

43 Filet ___ : MIGNON

The filet mignon cut of beef is taken from muscle in the back of the cow. That muscle is not load-bearing and contains very little connective tissue, which makes it more tender as meat. The name “filet mignon” translates as “tender/delicate fillet”.

46 Half of a notorious outlaw duo : BONNIE

“Bonnie and Clyde” were criminals who robbed and killed their way across the central US during the Great Depression. Clyde Barrow was born a desperately poor young boy just south of Dallas, Texas. He was always in trouble with the law, first getting arrested at the age of 16. He met Bonnie Parker in 1930 at a friend’s house, and the smitten Parker followed Clyde into a life of crime. The pair were killed by a posse of Texas police officers just four years later in Louisiana.

47 Added to the language : COINED A PHRASE

To coin a phrase is to invent a new phrase or expression. The greatest “coiner” of them all has to be William Shakespeare. Here are a few everyday expressions that were created by the Bard:

  • The game is afoot (Henry IV, Part I)
  • Brave new world (The Tempest)
  • Break the ice (The Taming of the Shrew)
  • Dead as a doornail (Henry VI, Part II)
  • Eaten me out of house and home (Henry IV, Part II)
  • Forever and a day (As You Like It)
  • For goodness’ sake (Henry VIII)
  • Knock knock! Who’s there? (Macbeth)
  • Set my teeth on edge (Henry IV, Part I)
  • Wild-goose chase (Romeo and Juliet)

50 First little piggy’s destination : MARKET

This little piggy went to market,
This little piggy stayed home,
This little piggy had roast beef,
This little piggy had none,
And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home.

52 Key hit with a pinkie : RETURN

The use of “pinkie” or “pinky” for the little finger or toe comes into English from “pinkje”, the Dutch word for the same digit. Who knew …?

56 Creations for Mardi Gras : FLOATS

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

58 Particles composed of two up quarks and one down quark : PROTONS

A proton is a subatomic particle, with at least one found in the nucleus of every atom. A proton is not a “fundamental particle”, as it itself is made up of three quarks; two up quarks and one down quark.

Quarks are elementary atomic particles that combine to make composite particles called “hadrons”. I’m really only familiar with the really stable hadrons i.e. protons and neutrons. There are six types of quarks (referred to as “flavors”). These flavors are up, down, strange, charm, bottom and top. The term “quark” was borrowed from James Joyce’s book “Finnegans Wake”, by physicist Murray Gell-Mann. However, the word coined by Joyce is pronounced “kwark”, and the particle’s name is pronounced “kwork”.

59 Did a TV marathon, say : BINGED

I’m a big fan of binge-watching, the practice of watching perhaps two or three (even four!) episodes of a show in a row. My wife and I will often deliberately avoid watching a recommended show live, and instead wait until the whole series has been released online. I’m not a big fan of “tune in next week …”

64 Happy ___ : HOUR

I personally think that Happy Hour is best enjoyed shaken, not stirred; and with a good crossword …

66 Come back around : BOOMERANG

The complete etymology of the word “boomerang” is a little unclear, but it definitely comes from the aboriginal name for a “returning throw-stick”. We tend to be impressed by the fact boomerangs, when thrown correctly, return to the thrower. In fact, it is likely that the first returning boomerangs were developed by accident, when thousands of years ago hunters were trying to change the shape of their weapons, in order to make them fly straight!

67 Bits of hijinks? : DOTS

A tittle is a small diacritical mark used in writing. Examples are the cedilla and tilde used in some languages, and the dot over the lowercase letters i and j in English.

68 What Mr. Clean, Captain Picard and Michael Jordan have in common : BALDNESS

Mr. Clean is a brand of household cleaner from Procter & Gamble. Mr. Clean is sold as Maestro Limpio in Mexico, Monsieur Propre in France, and as Monsieur Net in French Canada.

When Gene Roddenberry was creating the “Star Trek” spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, I think he chose a quite magnificent name for the new starship captain. “Jean-Luc Picard” is imitative of one or both of the twin-brother Swiss scientists Auguste and Jean Felix Piccard. The role of Picard was played by the wonderful Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart.

Michael Jordan is considered by some to be the greatest basketball player of all time. Not only is he a talented sportsman, but he is also very successful in the business world. He became the majority owner of the Charlotte Hornets NBA team in 2010. Fans refer to Jordan as “His Airness”.

69 Thought expressed in American Sign Language by extending the pinkie, thumb and index finger : I LOVE YOU

It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

70 Compilations of funny film faux pas : GAG REELS

The term “faux pas” is French in origin, and translates literally as “false step” (or “false steps”, as the plural has the same spelling in French).

71 Soeur’s sibling : FRERE

“Soeur” is the French word for “sister’. “Frère” is the French word for “brother”.

78 Maintain, in a way, as a highway : REPAVE

Back in Ireland, the “pavement” is what we call the “sidewalk, footpath” (because the footpath is “paved”, often with “paving” stones!). It’s very confusing when you arrive in this country from Ireland, and a little dangerous when one has been taught from a young age to “walk on the pavement” …

81 Michael whose initials match those of his famous comedy troupe : PALIN

Michael Palin is a marvelously talented comedian and actor, most famous as one of the “Monty Python” team. Palin is well known as a travel writer and has made some outstanding travel documentaries for television. He did one show called “Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days” in which he followed the route called out in the Jules Verne classic, without using airplanes. Palin also made “Pole to Pole”, a journey from the North to South Poles, along the 30 degree line of longitude. Currently, Michael Palin was the President of the Royal Geographical Society for several years.

The zany comedy show called “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” first aired in 1969 on the BBC. The show ran for four seasons and finished up soon after John Cleese decided to leave the team and move onto other projects.

83 “___ and Majnun” (Arabic story that inspired a Clapton hit) : LAYLA

“Layla” is one of the great rock anthems of the seventies, released by Derek and the Dominos as a single in 1971. It is a masterpiece of composition, with the first half of the song a great vehicle for the guitar-playing talents of Eric Clapton. The second half is a beautifully melodic piano coda (a coda … taking up half the length of the track!). To top things off we have the “unplugged” version recorded by Clapton in 1992, a fabulous and inventive variation on the original.

Layla, you’ve got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind.

84 One of the “holy trinity” ingredients in Cajun cuisine : ONION

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

90 Taverna staple : PITA

Pita is a lovely bread from Middle-Eastern and Mediterranean cuisines. Pita is usually round, and has a “pocket” in the center. The pocket is created by steam that puffs up the dough during cooking leaving a void when the bread cools.

91 Spice related to nutmeg : MACE

The fruit of the nutmeg tree yields two very different spices. What we call “nutmeg” comes from the seed of the tree. “Mace” is the dried covering of the seed.

93 Argentite, e.g. : ORE

Argentite is a mineral ore that yields silver metal. It comprises mainly cubic silver sulfide. However, argentite is relatively unstable at room temperature and so some mineralogists argue that it cannot strictly be called a “mineral”.

95 Fifth of eight : SOL

The sol-fa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

96 Show filmed at Rockefeller Ctr. : SNL

Rockefeller Center is actually made of nineteen buildings in Midtown Manhattan. The site was developed by John D. Rockefeller, who first leased the 22-acre lot back in 1928. The original plan was to build a new opera house for the Metropolitan Opera, but the stock market crash of 1929 led to those plans being canceled. Because of the Great Depression, Rockefeller was forced to fund the whole development project himself, a huge undertaking, but a very successful one.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Earners of credits : ACTORS
7 One selling airtime, informally : AD REP
12 Emulates a chipmunk, say : SCAMPERS
20 Like a beaming smile : FROM EAR TO EAR
22 Go out to get some juice? : POWER NAP
23 Pork-cutting option : LINE-ITEM VETO
24 Ingredient in an Alabama slammer : AMARETTO
25 Revise : AMEND
26 Word with “two” or “three” to describe a sloth : -TOED
27 Small kitchen knife : PARER
29 Abstract artist Mondrian : PIET
30 Thomas Hardy title character : TESS
31 Bottom part : BASS
32 Traveled like Charon : FERRIED
34 Schedule keeper: Abbr. : CAL
35 One for whom underwear is pants : BRIT
36 “Wait … what did you just say?!” : HOLD ON!
37 Fuse : UNITE
39 Three-dimensional : SPATIAL
43 “Have You Never Been ___,” #1 album for Olivia Newton-John : MELLOW
44 Origami designs thought to bring good fortune : CRANES
45 One receiving a congratulatory email from eBay : HIGHEST BIDDER
47 Helps secure a loan : CO-SIGNS
48 Recovery center : REHAB
49 Refused to share : HOGGED
50 Scratch : MOOLA
51 Tablet taken before going to bed, maybe : IPAD
52 Portrayer of Marvel’s Hawkeye : RENNER
53 Left the harbor : SAILED OFF
57 Rapper who co-founded Mass Appeal Records : NAS
58 Green liqueur : PERNOD
59 Dinosaur of kids’ TV : BARNEY
60 It’s nothing : NIL
61 Host : ENTERTAIN
63 Signaled slyly : WINKED
64 ___ Top (low-cal ice cream brand) : HALO
65 Camaro, for one : COUPE
66 As one : BONDED
67 Birth day presence? : DOULA
68 “All in the Family” subject : BIGOTRY
71 “Don’t dwell on the past” : FORGET ABOUT IT
73 Families-and-friends support group : AL-ANON
74 Negotiate : BROKER
75 Some diners … and donors : PATRONS
76 Provide a password : LOGON
77 Was rife (with) : TEEMED
78 Matthew of “The Americans” : RHYS
79 Save for later, in a way : DVR
80 Skewered : SPEARED
82 Like Queen Anne’s lace? : HERS
83 Traditional accounts : LORE
87 Onetime hair removal brand : NEET
89 Let out or take in : ALTER
90 Stage name for hip-hop’s Sandra Denton : PEPA
91 It’s all the rage : MANIA
92 “What-EVER” reactions : EYE ROLLS
94 Post-distraction segue : AS I WAS SAYING …
97 Light-filled room : SOLARIUM
98 Way, way off : NOT EVEN CLOSE
99 Hitchcock’s forte : SUSPENSE
100 Clearing : GLADE
101 Like bison vis-à-vis beef : LEANER

Down

1 Key for Chopin’s “Heroic” Polonaise : A-FLAT
2 It might be organized : CRIME
3 Foundation options : TONES
4 Eclipses and comets, perhaps : OMENS
5 Joy of MSNBC : REID
6 Parked it, so to speak : SAT
7 Maximally : AT MOST
8 Pacific birds? : DOVES
9 Bit of thatching : REED
10 Take sides? : EAT
11 Catapulted, say : PROPELLED
12 Bird much seen in cities : SPARROW
13 Reply to a ring : COME IN
14 Not in the dark : AWARE
15 Adriatique, e.g. : MER
16 Task for a sous-chef : PREP
17 Like sirens : ENTICING
18 Be considered perfect : RATE A TEN
19 More than just clean : SPOTLESS
21 Shopping in order to improve one’s mood : RETAIL THERAPY
28 Fire : ARDOR
31 They might be wireless : BRAS
32 Desktop icon : FOLDER
33 Surname of Harry Potter’s adoptive family : DURSLEY
35 Pop star nickname, with “the” : … BIEB
36 Bet strategically : HEDGED
38 Mythical nymph : NAIAD
39 Reliquary : SHRINE
40 Inspiration for the Frisbee : PIE PAN
41 Floored : AGHAST
42 Longtime Ohio State basketball coach Matta : THAD
43 Filet ___ : MIGNON
44 Stopped smoking? : COOLED
46 Half of a notorious outlaw duo : BONNIE
47 Added to the language : COINED A PHRASE
50 First little piggy’s destination : MARKET
52 Key hit with a pinkie : RETURN
53 It helps take the edge off : SANDER
54 Just going through the motions : ON AUTO
55 Complete, as a crossword : FILL IN
56 Creations for Mardi Gras : FLOATS
58 Particles composed of two up quarks and one down quark : PROTONS
59 Did a TV marathon, say : BINGED
62 Start of some no-frills brand names : ECONO-
63 In a lather, with “up” : WORKED …
64 Happy ___ : HOUR
66 Come back around : BOOMERANG
67 Bits of hijinks? : DOTS
68 What Mr. Clean, Captain Picard and Michael Jordan have in common : BALDNESS
69 Thought expressed in American Sign Language by extending the pinkie, thumb and index finger : I LOVE YOU
70 Compilations of funny film faux pas : GAG REELS
71 Soeur’s sibling : FRERE
72 Warehouse loading areas : BAYS
74 *shrug* : BEATS ME
77 “We want all the juicy details!” : TELL US!
78 Maintain, in a way, as a highway : REPAVE
81 Michael whose initials match those of his famous comedy troupe : PALIN
82 Cut through : HEWED
83 “___ and Majnun” (Arabic story that inspired a Clapton hit) : LAYLA
84 One of the “holy trinity” ingredients in Cajun cuisine : ONION
85 Advice to one in a lather? : RINSE
86 Very inclined (to) : EAGER
88 Sting, perhaps : TRAP
90 Taverna staple : PITA
91 Spice related to nutmeg : MACE
93 Argentite, e.g. : ORE
95 Fifth of eight : SOL
96 Show filmed at Rockefeller Ctr. : SNL