0714-19 NY Times Crossword 14 Jul 19, Sunday

Constructed by: Caitlin Reid
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Are We Finished?

Themed answers are common phrases with a letter R added to the end:

  • 23A “Should I not use my oven clock?”? : IS THIS A BAD TIMER?
  • 35A The “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”? : WORKS FROM HOMER
  • 52A Give a ride to an Indiana hoopster? : PICK UP THE PACER
  • 75A Printer’s low-ink alert? : WATCH YOUR TONER!
  • 89A What a plumber did for a clogged drain? : TOOK THE PLUNGER
  • 105A World’s shortest-reigning monarch? : FIVE-SECOND RULER

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

Bill’s time: 18m 38s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

13 Chocolate component : CACAO

The flowers of the cacao tree grow in clusters, directly on the trunk and on older branches. The pollinated flowers turn into ovoid cacao pods, each of which contain 20-60 seeds or beans. The seeds are used as the main ingredient in chocolate.

18 Humans’ closest relatives : APES

The tailless primates known as apes are divided into two main branches: gibbons (lesser apes) and hominids (great apes). The hominids are the great apes, and belong to the family of primates called Hominidae. Extant genera that make up the family Hominidae are:

  • chimpanzees
  • gorillas
  • humans
  • orangutans

20 Alternative sweetener source : AGAVE

Agave nectar (also “agave syrup”) is sweeter than honey, but is much more fluid. The nectar’s sweetness comes from its high fructose content. A lot of agave nectar comes from the blue agave, the same species that is used to make tequila.

21 Trendy superfood : KALE

We hear the word “superfood” a lot these days. I think it’s important that we realize that our friends in marketing coined the term to promote foods that have supposed health benefits, even though there’s no obligation to prove those health benefits exist. Since 2007, the European Union (EU) has banned the use of the term “superfood” in marketing of foodstuffs unless there is credible scientific research to back up any health claim. Good for the EU …

22 Coral formation : ATOLL

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

28 Sends a Dear John letter : DUMPS

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”.

30 Soprano Fleming : RENEE

Renée Fleming is a marvelous soprano from Indiana, Pennsylvania. Famous for her appearances in opera houses and concert halls all over the world, Fleming is also noted for her willingness to bring her craft to the masses. She was a guest on “Sesame Street”, singing “counting lyrics” to an aria from “Rigoletto”, and she has appeared a few times on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”.

31 Numerical prefix from the Greek for “monster” : TERA-

The prefix “tera-” signifies a trillion, and comes from the Greek word “teras” meaning “monster”.

32 Gloria, in the animated “Madagascar” films : HIPPO

“Madagascar” is an animated film released in 2005. It’s a story about zoo animals, used to “the easy life” in captivity, getting shipwrecked on the island of Madagascar off the African coast.

35 The “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”? : WORKS FROM HOMER

Homer was a famous poet of ancient Greece who is believed to be the author of the two classic epic poems “Iliad” and “Odyssey”. However, some scholars believe that Homer did not actually exist, but rather he is the personification of oral tradition that was passed down through the ages.

40 ___ vu : DEJA

“Déjà vu” is French for “already seen”.

43 Father of Zeus : KRONOS

In Greek mythology, Cronus (also “Kronos”) was one of the Titans. Cronus overthrew his father Uranus and took over rule of the Titans. Eventually, Cronus was ousted by own son Zeus.

44 Composer of “The Microsoft Sound,” which, ironically, he wrote on a Mac : ENO

Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, Eno’s most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “startup jingle”, the 6-second sound you hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:

I wrote it on a Mac. I’ve never used a PC in my life; I don’t like them.

47 Its calendar begins in A.D. 622 : ISLAM

What is known as the Muslim era started with Muhammad’s emigration from Mecca to Medina. This time is defined as year 1 in the Muslim calendar, and AD 622 in the Gregorian calendar.

52 Give a ride to an Indiana hoopster? : PICK UP THE PACER

The Indiana Pacers are the professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, who play in the NBA. The name was chosen when the team was formed in 1967. “Pacers” is a homage harness racing pacers (famed in Indiana) and the pace car used in the Indianapolis 500.

56 New Year abroad : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

57 Teacher of the dharma : LAMA

“Lama” is a Tibetan word meaning “chief” or “high priest”.

In the context of Buddhism, “dharma” can mean the collection of teachings and doctrines of the faith. The term is also used to describe proper and correct behavior that maintains the natural order of things.

61 The Kremlin, e.g. : CITADEL

A citadel is a fortress built to protect a town or a city. Both the words “city” and “citadel” come from the Latin word “civis” meaning “citizen”.

I was lucky enough to visit the Moscow Kremlin as a tourist a few decades ago. The Kremlin sits right on Red Square, along with Saint Basil’s Cathedral and the famed GUM department store. “Kremlin” is a Russian word for “fortress”.

63 “___ in the Underworld” (Offenbach opera) : ORPHEUS

Jacques Offenbach was a French composer who was born in Germany. Even though he wrote over 100 operettas, Offenbach is perhaps best known for his unfinished opera “The Tales of Hoffman”.

71 Pope’s “___ on Solitude” : ODE

Alexander Pope was an English poet who was famous for his own compositions as well as for a translation of Homer’s works. One of Pope’s most notable poems is “Ode on Solitude” that opens with:

Happy the man, whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
In his own ground.

Pope wrote that when he was just twelve years old!

75 Printer’s low-ink alert? : WATCH YOUR TONER!

The key features of a laser printer (or copier) are that it uses plain paper and produces quality text at high speed. Laser printers work by projecting a laser image of the printed page onto a rotating drum that is coated with photoconductors (material that becomes conductive when exposed to light). The areas of the drum exposed to the laser carry a different charge than the unexposed areas. Dry ink (toner) sticks to the exposed areas due to electrostatic charge. The toner is then transferred to paper by contact and is fused into the paper by the application of heat. So, that explains why paper coming out of a laser printer is warm, and sometimes powdery.

79 Round product with a wax wrapper : EDAM

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

83 Bygone monitor, for short : CRT

Cathode ray tube (CRT)

89 What a plumber did for a clogged drain? : TOOK THE PLUNGER

Plumbum is the Latin for “lead”, explaining why the symbol of the element in the Periodic Table is “Pb”. It also explains why the original lead weight on the end of a line used to check vertical was called a “plumb line”. And, as pipes were originally made of lead, it also explains why we would call in a “plumber” if one of those pipes was leaking.

95 Top of the Special Forces? : BERET

The US Army Special Forces are known as the Green Berets because they wear … green berets. The Green Beret is also worn by the Royal Marines of the British Army. When US Army Rangers and OSS operatives were trained by the Royal Marines in Scotland during WWII, graduates of the gruelling training program were awarded green berets by their British instructors. The US soldiers, although proud of their new headgear, were not allowed to wear it as part of their uniform. They had to wait until 1961, when President Kennedy authorized the green beret for exclusive use by US Special Forces.

98 Like a Tour de France rider on day 20 vis-à-vis day 10 : SORER

Back in the late 1800s, long-distance cycle races were used as promotional events, traditionally to help boost sales of newspapers. These races usually took place around tracks, but in 1902 the backers of the struggling sports publication “L’Auto” decided to stage a race that would take the competitors all around France. That first Tour de France took place in 1903, starting in Paris and passing through Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and then back to Paris.

99 Classical personification of ideal human beauty : HELEN

According to Greek mythology, Helen (later “Helen of Troy”) was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. When Helen reached the age of marriage, she had many suitors as she was considered the most beautiful woman in the world. Menelaus was chosen as her husband, and he took her back to his home of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, seduced Helen, as she eloped with him and travelled to Troy. This event sparked the Trojan War that waged between the city of Troy and Greece. Because of this war, Helen was said to have “the face that launched a thousand ships”. And because of this phrase, it has been suggested, probably by author Isaac Asimov, that the amount of beauty needed to launch a single ship is one “millihelen”.

101 Overlord, for the Battle of Normandy : CODE WORD

The Allied Invasion of Normandy during WWII was given the codename “Operation Overlord”. The Normandy landings that kicked off the invasion on D-Day (6 June 1944) were given the codename “Operation Neptune”.

112 Flotsam and Jetsam, in “The Little Mermaid” : EELS

“The Little Mermaid” is a 1989 animated feature from Disney that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale of the same name. It tells the story of a mermaid princess named Ariel who falls in love with the human Prince Eric. Ariel’s father is chief merman King Triton. Her best friend is Flounder, who despite his name is not a flounder at all and is actually a tropical fish. Ariel is also friends with Sebastian, a red Jamaican crab whose full name is Horatio Thelonious Ignacious Crustaceous Sebastian.

114 Sign of a packed house : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

Down

2 Locale for a shrine : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

5 Colorful stone in a brooch : AGATE

Agate is a micro-crystalline form of quartz (and so is related to sand/silica). Some agate samples have deposited layers that give a striped appearance, and these are called “banded agate”.

7 Actress Mendes : EVA

I best know the actress Eva Mendes as the female lead in the movie “Hitch”, in which she played opposite Will Smith. Mendes was known off the screen for dating actor Ryan Gosling from 2011 to 2013.

12 La Baltique, e.g. : MER

In French, “la Baltique” (the Baltic), “par exemple” (for example), is a “mer” (sea).

The Baltic is a sea in northern Europe that is much less saline than the oceans. The lower amount of salt in the Baltic partially explains why almost half of the sea freezes over during the winter. In fact, the Baltic has been known to completely freeze over several times over the past few centuries.

13 Big figures in 47-Across : CALIPHS
(47A Its calendar begins in A.D. 622 : ISLAM)

“Caliph” is an Arabic word meaning “successor”. In the Islamic tradition, a caliph is a leader who is deemed to be a successor of Muhammad.

17 ___ Miss : OLE

“Ole Miss” is the nickname for the University of Mississippi. The name “Ole Miss” dates back to 1897, the first year a student yearbook was published. The graduating class held a competition to name the yearbook and “Ole Miss” emerged as the winner. The name stuck to the yearbook, and also as a nickname for the school itself. The University of Mississippi sports teams have been known as the Rebels since 1936. Prior to 1936, they were known as the Mississippi Flood.

24 “___ She Lovely” (Stevie Wonder song) : ISN’T

“Isn’t She Lovely” is a Stevie Wonder song that he released in 1976. The song refers to Wonder’s daughter Aisha Morris, who was born in the prior year.

The great musician Stevie Wonder signed up with Motown Records when he was just 11-years-old. He has been remarkably loyal to the label and is still recording with Motown some 50 years later. The level of Stevie Wonder’s success is illustrated by his 22 Grammy Awards, the most Grammys awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder was born 6 weeks prematurely, and incomplete development of blood vessels in his eyes caused the retinas to detach leaving him blind soon after birth. His mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, co-wrote many of Stevie’s songs when he was a teenager, including “I Was Made to Love Her”, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” and “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”.

25 Neighbor of an Armenian : TURK

Armenia is a landlocked country found east of Turkey, and is a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). Back in the year 301 CE, the ancient Kingdom of Armenia became the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its national religion.

29 Some prom rentals : LIMOS

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

31 Scenic fabric : TOILE

Toile fabric can be used as upholstery, as wallpaper, or even as a fabric for clothing. The name “toile” comes from the French word for “canvas, linen cloth”.

36 Unsolicited mentions online, in the press, etc. : FREE PR

Public relations (PR)

38 It makes you yawn : ENNUI

“Ennui” is the French word for “boredom”, and a word that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported that we haven’t anglicized, and actually pronounce “correctly”.

39 Shelfmate of Webster : ROGET

Peter Mark Roget was an English lexicographer. Roget was an avid maker of lists, apparently using the routine of list-making to combat depression, a condition he endured for most of his life. He published his famous thesaurus in 1852, with revisions and expansions being made years later by his son, and then in turn by his grandson.

Not only is Noah Webster’s name inextricably linked with his series of dictionaries, but he is also renowned as an advocate for English spelling reform. He argued that “traditional” English is hard to learn, and that it should be simplified and standardized (instead of “standardised”). He published spelling books that were used in schools, and from edition to edition he changed the spelling of words in order to simplify the language. Examples are the use of “s” over “c” in words like “defense” (in Ireland we have defence and defense depending on usage), “-re” became “-er” as in center instead of centre (reversing the influence of French), and he dropped one of the Ls in words like traveler (I learned “traveller”). Mind you, he also spelled “tongue” as “tung”, but he didn’t get very far with that one.

46 Subject of an annual festival in Holland, Mich. : TULIPS

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

49 Egyptian ___ (cat) : MAU

The Egyptian Mau is an ancient breed of cat. Illustrations of Egyptian Mau cats have been found in artwork that is over 3,000 years old. Maus can run at over 36 mph, making them the fastest breed of domestic cat.

51 Derbies, e.g. : HATS

I think that a bowler hat is usually called a derby here in the US. The bowler was first produced in 1849 in London by hatmakers Thomas and William Bowler, hence the name. The alternative name of “derby” comes from the tradition of wearing bowler hats at the Derby horse race (a major race held annually in England).

53 Spread out at a banquet? : PATE

Pâté is a rich spreadable paste made from a mixture of ground meat and fat, to which various vegetables, herbs and spices may be added. The most famous version of the paste is pâté de foie gras, which is made from the fattened livers of geese (“foie gras” means “fat liver” in French).

A banquet is an elaborate feast. “Banquet” is a term that seems to have reversed in meaning over time. Coming into English via French from Old Italian, “banquet” is derived from “banco” meaning “bench”. The original “banco” meal was simply a snack eaten on a bench, rather than at a table. I guess we eat more these days …

67 Pops up in a flash? : PHOTOBOMBS

Photobombing is the act of intruding during the taking of a photograph as a practical joke. The term has gotten a lot of usage in recent years due to the proliferation of smartphone cameras. Collins English Dictionary named “photobomb” as Word of the Year for 2014.

69 Common sports injury site, briefly : ACL

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee.

71 Piquant bakery offerings : ONION ROLLS

Something that is piquant is pleasantly sharp in taste and zesty. “Piquant” is the French word for “prickly”.

72 John who pioneered the steel plow : 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.

79 Old dentist’s supply : ETHER

Ethers are a whole class of organic compounds, but in the vernacular “ether” is specifically diethyl ether. Diethyl ether was once very popular as a general anesthetic.

80 Ingredient in insect repellent : DEET

“DEET” is short for N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, an active ingredient in insect repellents. DEET is most often used to repel mosquitoes by applying it to the skin and/or clothing. It is also used to protect against tick bites.

84 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. : STREETS

The most common street name in the US is “Second Street”. “First Street” comes in only at number three, and this is because many cities and towns forego the use of “First” and instead go with “Main” or something more historical in nature. The spooky “Elm Street” appears on the list at number fifteen.

90 “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green” crooner : KERMIT

Kermit has to be the most readily recognized puppet character created by the late great Jim Henson. Henson came up with Kermit way back in 1955 when he appeared on a puppet show called “Sam and Friends” that aired in Washington, D.C. Kermit is loved so much that he even has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

“Bein’ Green” is the signature song of Kermit the Frog, Jim Henson’s puppet character that appeared on “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show”. The song is also known by first line “It’s not easy bein’ green”.

92 Palais des Nations locale : GENEVA

Genève (“Geneva” in English) is the largest city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I’ve been to Geneva only once, and sadly what I remember most is how expensive it is. It is in fact the fourth or fifth most expensive city in the world.

The Palais des Nations was built in the thirties in Geneva, and was designed to house the League of Nations. After WWII, the Palais des Nations was taken over by the UN.

97 Echolocation method : SONAR

Echolocation, when used by animals, is known as biosonar. The best-known example of an animal using biosonar is probably the bat, although not all species of bat use sounds to locate objects.

101 Popular 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO

“Coco” is a 2017 Pixar movie about a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who ends up in the land of the dead by accident. There, he seeks out the help of the great-great-grandfather to get back to his family in the land of the living.

102 “Caboose” : REAR

The word “caboose” originally came from Middle Dutch and was the word for a ship’s galley. When the last car in a train in North America was given a stove for the comfort of the crew, it took on the name “caboose”. The term has also become slang for a person’s backside.

103 Old Bond rival : DR NO

“Dr. No” may have been the first film in the wildly successful James Bond franchise, but it was the sixth novel in the series of books penned by Ian Fleming. Fleming was inspired to write the story after reading the Fu Manchu tales by Sax Rohmer. If you’ve read the Rohmer books or seen the films, you’ll recognize the similarities between the characters Dr. Julius No and Fu Manchu. By the way, author Ian Fleming tells us that Julius No attended medical school in Milwaukee.

104 Hit 2010s HBO series, familiarly : GOT

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy television drama that is adapted from a series of novels by George R. R. Martin called “A Song of Ice and Fire”. “Game of Thrones” is actually filmed in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland. I recently binge-watched the show’s first seven seasons, and enjoyed it. There’s no doubt that the production value of “Game of Thrones” is remarkable, but to be honest, I never became riveted by the storyline …

106 Fish taco fish : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Knock : RAP
4 Amped : EAGER
9 Racket : SCAM
13 Chocolate component : CACAO
18 Humans’ closest relatives : APES
20 Alternative sweetener source : AGAVE
21 Trendy superfood : KALE
22 Coral formation : ATOLL
23 “Should I not use my oven clock?”? : IS THIS A BAD TIMER?
26 “My turn! My turn!” : LEMME!
27 What bankers and prospectors both seek : DEPOSITS
28 Sends a Dear John letter : DUMPS
29 An arm and a leg : LIMBS
30 Soprano Fleming : RENEE
31 Numerical prefix from the Greek for “monster” : TERA-
32 Gloria, in the animated “Madagascar” films : HIPPO
33 Scrubs : ABORTS
35 The “Iliad” and the “Odyssey”? : WORKS FROM HOMER
40 ___ vu : DEJA
41 Some spicy fare : THAI
43 Father of Zeus : KRONOS
44 Composer of “The Microsoft Sound,” which, ironically, he wrote on a Mac : ENO
45 President-___ : ELECT
47 Its calendar begins in A.D. 622 : ISLAM
50 Members of a flock : EWES
51 Put up : HANG
52 Give a ride to an Indiana hoopster? : PICK UP THE PACER
55 Bargain-priced : VALUE
56 New Year abroad : TET
57 Teacher of the dharma : LAMA
58 Orange juice option : PULP
59 “I can’t take this anymore!” : THAT’S IT!
61 The Kremlin, e.g. : CITADEL
63 “___ in the Underworld” (Offenbach opera) : ORPHEUS
65 Show impatience with, as an envelope : RIP OPEN
68 “Cool beans!” : NEAT
70 ___ health : ORAL
71 Pope’s “___ on Solitude” : ODE
74 Shared spirit : ETHOS
75 Printer’s low-ink alert? : WATCH YOUR TONER!
78 How balloons are priced? : A POP
79 Round product with a wax wrapper : EDAM
81 Unwanted looks : LEERS
82 Less outgoing : SHIER
83 Bygone monitor, for short : CRT
84 What no single speaker is capable of : STEREO
86 Offerings in a bridal registry : SETS
88 Cause of an R rating : GORE
89 What a plumber did for a clogged drain? : TOOK THE PLUNGER
93 Given a yellow card, say : WARNED
95 Top of the Special Forces? : BERET
96 Little dippers? : TOES
97 Relish : SAVOR
98 Like a Tour de France rider on day 20 vis-à-vis day 10 : SORER
99 Classical personification of ideal human beauty : HELEN
101 Overlord, for the Battle of Normandy : CODE WORD
104 Supereasy quiz question : GIMME
105 World’s shortest-reigning monarch? : FIVE-SECOND RULER
107 Sphere of influence : ORBIT
108 Tweak, in a way : EDIT
109 In no way reticent : VOCAL
110 Sketch out : PLAN
111 Tries : TESTS
112 Flotsam and Jetsam, in “The Little Mermaid” : EELS
113 Really like : ADORE
114 Sign of a packed house : SRO

Down

1 Bust : RAID
2 Locale for a shrine : APSE
3 Personal favorite on an agenda : PET PROJECT
4 Least taxing : EASIEST
5 Colorful stone in a brooch : AGATE
6 Flaps one’s gums : GABS
7 Actress Mendes : EVA
8 What strawberries become as they ripen : REDDER
9 Cover-up for a robbery? : SKI MASK
10 Notoriously hard-to-define aesthetic style : CAMP
11 Servings from a tap : ALES
12 La Baltique, e.g. : MER
13 Big figures in 47-Across : CALIPHS
14 Back to the original speed, in music : A TEMPO
15 They usually include drinks : COMBO MEALS
16 Relief : ALMS
17 ___ Miss : OLE
19 Sole supporter? : SHOE RACK
24 “___ She Lovely” (Stevie Wonder song) : ISN’T
25 Neighbor of an Armenian : TURK
29 Some prom rentals : LIMOS
31 Scenic fabric : TOILE
32 Improve gradually, say : HONE
33 Doing well (at) : ADEPT
34 Give a false impression of : BELIE
35 Got taken for a ride : WAS HAD
36 Unsolicited mentions online, in the press, etc. : FREE PR
37 “Meeeeeeeeow!” : ROWR
38 It makes you yawn : ENNUI
39 Shelfmate of Webster : ROGET
42 One who gets take-out orders? : HITMAN
46 Subject of an annual festival in Holland, Mich. : TULIPS
48 Mini-program : APPLET
49 Egyptian ___ (cat) : MAU
51 Derbies, e.g. : HATS
53 Spread out at a banquet? : PATE
54 Attire : CLOTHE
55 Parts of a gymnastics routine : VAULTS
59 Calculation for an aerospace engineer : THRUST
60 When doubled, “I agree!” : HEAR
61 Alternative to a condo : CO-OP
62 Certain finish : ENAMEL
64 Comparative in a wedding vow : POORER
65 Flinch or twitch, say : REACT
66 Computer guru, informally : IT PRO
67 Pops up in a flash? : PHOTOBOMBS
69 Common sports injury site, briefly : ACL
71 Piquant bakery offerings : ONION ROLLS
72 John who pioneered the steel plow : DEERE
73 Messed up : ERRED
75 Get bent : WARP
76 Green lights, so to speak : YESES
77 “Stop being such a baby!” : OH, GROW UP!
79 Old dentist’s supply : ETHER
80 Ingredient in insect repellent : DEET
84 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. : STREETS
85 Powerpoints? : OUTLETS
87 Envelop in a blanket : SWADDLE
90 “It’s Not Easy Bein’ Green” crooner : KERMIT
91 Opposites of 76-Down : NOES
92 Palais des Nations locale : GENEVA
94 Say for certain : AVER
97 Echolocation method : SONAR
98 Bull, e.g. : SIRE
99 Half of a children’s game : HIDE
100 Dastard’s doings : EVIL
101 Popular 2017 Pixar film set in Mexico : COCO
102 “Caboose” : REAR
103 Old Bond rival : DR NO
104 Hit 2010s HBO series, familiarly : GOT
105 Late ___ : FEE
106 Fish taco fish : COD