1025-26 NY Times Crossword 25 Oct 26, Sunday

Constructed by:Dylan Schiff & John Kugelman
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: Relatively Speaking

Themed answers are common phrases in which the first word is a noun ending with -er, but that noun is reinterpreted as a comparative adjective:

  • 22A “Firefly vis-à-vis a fruit fly?” : LITTER BUG
  • 24A “Peridot vis-à-vis jade?” : OLIVER STONE
  • 34A “Muscle Beach vis-à-vis Venice Beach?” : BUTCHER BLOCK
  • 49A “Oil vis-à-vis water?” : LIGHTER FLUID
  • 63A “Zipper up vis-à-vis zipper down?” : SHUTTER FLY
  • 67A “Weight room vis-à-vis the cardio room?” : BUFFER ZONE
  • 82A “Maui vis-à-vis Oahu?” : EASTER ISLAND
  • 94A “Blazer vis-à-vis a windbreaker?” : BOMBER JACKET
  • 109A “Delaware vis-à-vis the other 12 colonies?” : SOONER STATE
  • 111A “”OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!” vis-à-vis “good job i guess”?” : HYPER TEXT
Bill’s time: 18m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

I made this tardy and abbreviated post because I was tied up with birthday celebrations with family and friends.

Apologies, and thank you for your understanding.

Bill

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1A “Aladdin” sidekick : ABU
4A Sommelier’s asset : NOSE
8A “Qué ___!” (Spanish “Awesome!”) : BUENO
13A Locale of the food dishes larb and thum mak hoong : LAOS
17A The British throne? : LAV
18A Mexican sandwich : TORTA
19A Encroach on, as space : INVADE
21A Land that poets call Hibernia : EIRE
22A “Firefly vis-à-vis a fruit fly?” : LITTERBUG
24A “Peridot vis-à-vis jade?” : OLIVER STONE
26A N.F.L.’er with horns on his helmet : LA RAM
27A Notwithstanding : DESPITE
29A Low-quality, machine-generated content, in modern lingo : AI SLOP
30A Implied : TACIT
32A Cologne waters : RHINE
33A Southern dish made from hominy : GRITS
34A “Muscle Beach vis-à-vis Venice Beach?” : BUTCHER BLOCK
37A Dal ___ (musical notation) : SEGNO
40A “Right, gotcha” : OH, OK
41A Stark sister from Winterfell : ARYA
42A Goalie’s goal : SAVE
43A Apt rhyme for crop and chop : LOP
46A Music artist on the 2012 album “Yokokimthurston” : ONO
47A “Happy Days” actor Scott : BAIO
49A “Oil vis-à-vis water?” : LIGHTER FLUID
54A Maximally ritzy : POSHEST
56A New hire at a factory : TRAINEE
57A Who can see right through you, in brief? : TSA
58A Chevy S.U.V. : TAHOE
60A Fertile soils : LOAMS
61A Showed again, in a way : RERAN
63A “Zipper up vis-à-vis zipper down?” : SHUTTERFLY
67A “Weight room vis-à-vis the cardio room?” : BUFFER ZONE
70A Sugar amounts : LUMPS
71A Things some checkers check : FACTS
73A Man’s name that means “prosperous” in Arabic : YASIR
74A Thurman of “Pulp Fiction” : UMA
75A “Lizzie ___,” Disney Channel sitcom starring Hilary Duff : MCGUIRE
78A “Poker Face” actress Lyonne : NATASHA
82A “Maui vis-à-vis Oahu?” : EASTER ISLAND
85A Shivering fit : AGUE
86A Apple runs on it : IOS
87A Intelligence org. : NSA
88A Not on solid ground : ASEA
89A Sitarist Shankar : RAVI
91A Pious offerings : ALMS
92A Amphibians taken on at least six different space missions : NEWTS
94A “Blazer vis-à-vis a windbreaker?” : BOMBER JACKET
98A Like a bad apple : MEALY
101A Name on a museum plaque, maybe : DONOR
102A Like ears and brains : LOBED
103A Undivided : ENTIRE
105A Surfer’s navigational aid : SITE MAP
107A Orléans river : LOIRE
109A “Delaware vis-à-vis the other 12 colonies?” : SOONER STATE
111A “”OMG THIS IS AWESOME!!!!” vis-à-vis “good job i guess”?” : HYPERTEXT
114A Face covering? : ACNE
115A Blues singer Ma ___ : RAINEY
116A “___ we all?” : AREN’T
117A Spring for a fancy hotel? : SPA
118A B.B. King’s “___ Dynamite” : SHE’S
119A Subject of inflation : GRADE
120A Brood : MOPE
121A M.L.B.’ers with a red “B” on their caps : SOX

Down

1D Every last one : ALL
2D Illegal thing to jump : BAIL
3D Artistic designs that glow under black light : UV TATTOOS
4D Mainstream sort, slangily : NORMIE
5D Scepter topper : ORB
6D Beefcake : STUD
7D With excitement : EAGERLY
8D “Gandhi,” “”Amadeus” or “Malcolm X” : BIOPIC
9D Break a tie? : UNLINK
10D Digital party request : EVITE
11D Where a congregation congregates : NAVE
12D Keats wrote one to a nightingale : ODE
13D “Time to get moving!” : LET’S ROLL!
14D Garlicky emulsification : AIOLI
15D “… never mind” : … OR NOT
16D Slips through the cracks : SEEPS
18D Cover letters, say? : TEACH
20D Time of one’s life, in modern slang : ERA
23D Record number? : TRACK
25D 37-Across, in English : SIGN
28D Sandy hazard for sailors : SHOAL
31D Backstabber, e.g. : TRAITOR
34D Playful tap on the head : BOOP
35D “Hmm … pass” : UH, NO
36D Homie : BRO
37D Meet, as all the requirements : SATISFY
38D “I can’t ___!” : EVEN
39D Richard who had his first starring role in 1978’s “Days of Heaven” : GERE
42D SeaWorld orca : SHAMU
44D Notable part of “Hey Jude” or “Layla” : OUTRO
45D Fibonacci or Galileo, by birth : PISAN
47D “Heck if I know” : BEATS ME
48D Eponym of a U.S. Open stadium : ASHE
50D “How was ___ know?” : I TO
51D Up for ___ : GRABS
52D Iron compound in magnets : FERRITE
53D Copenhagen native : DANE
55D Start of an unencrypted web address : HTTP
59D Gives off : EFFUSES
60D Spandex trademark : LYCRA
62D “The Snowy Day” author ___ Jack Keats : EZRA
63D Turn on an axis : SLUE
64D Not an extraterrestrial : HUMAN
65D Amherst sch. : UMASS
66D Pugilist Ali : LAILA
68D One displaying enthusiastic devotion : FANGIRL
69D Biblical brother who sold his birthright : ESAU
72D Half a score : TEN
76D Sticking point? : CRAW
77D General idea : GIST
79D Bit of smooth eveningwear : SILK DRESS
80D Typical landing page, online : HOME
81D Executive’s underling: Abbr. : ASST
83D Bra straps might cause them : TAN LINES
84D Sick kid’s in-house caregiver : DR MOM
85D Any of 17 Monopoly spaces: Abbr. : AVE
90D Presidential first name drawn from the Bible : ABRAHAM
91D Nail the test : ACE IT
93D Brontë orphan : EYRE
94D Like a video with an inflated view count, maybe : BOTTED
95D Feature of the jacks of spades and hearts : ONE EYE
96D Dolly Parton classic : JOLENE
97D Cancel, as a NASA mission : ABORT
98D Western landforms : MESAS
99D Father of Methuselah : ENOCH
100D Observe Yom Kippur, say : ATONE
101D “The Crown” role : DIANA
104D Mess up : ERR
105D What one should do periodically while caramelizing onions : STIR
106D Criminal hothead? : PYRO
108D Trade show : EXPO
110D Lose tautness : SAG
112D Zing : PEP
113D Be a burden on : TAX