Frequently Asked Question: Why isn’t the puzzle in my paper the same as the one shown on your blog?
If the puzzle in your paper doesn’t match the one that I solved, it is probably a Sunday crossword. On Sundays, the “LA Times” chooses to publish Merl Reagle’s excellent crossword, and not their own “LA Times” Crossword. The “LA Times” puzzle is still sent out in syndication, and is also published in the “LA Times” online. I’ve been asked to blog about Merl Reagle’s crossword, but frankly I don’t have the time. Sunday puzzles have lots of clues!
Quicklink
Jump to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
CROSSWORD SETTER: Mark Bickham
THEME: All Together Now … each of today’s themed clues is of the form “Given name’ collection”. The corresponding answer is a collection of family names of celebrities with that given name:
22A. Gene pool? KELLY RODDENBERRY AUTRY
39A. Bills piling up? GATES MURRAY COSBY BLASS
68A. Art gallery? GARFUNKEL MONK BUCHWALD
92A. Robins’ nest? QUIVERS TUNNEY WILLIAMS
113A. Buddy list? RICH EBSEN HACKETT HOLLY
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 26m 38s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Place for a speaker DAIS
Ultimately our word “dais”, meaning “raised platform for a speaker”, comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that many a dais was disc-shaped …
10. Paper pieces OP-EDS
“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.
15. Hand-off recipients: Abbr. RBS
In football, one might hand off to the running backs (RBs).
22. Gene pool? KELLY RODDENBERRY AUTRY
The actor and dancer Gene Kelly was from Pittsburgh. Kelly’s best-known performances were in the films “An American in Paris” (1951) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). “Singin’ in the Rain” was co-directed by Kelly and the great Stanley Donen. A few years later, in 1960, Kelly married Jeanne Coyne, Donen’s ex-wife.
Gene Roddenberry is best-remembered for creating the original “Star Trek” TV show. Such was the success of the series that Roddenberry became the first TV writer to with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (in 1985). For a while, Roddenberry was in a relationship with actress Nichelle Nichols who was later to play Uhura on “Star Trek”. After he passed away in 1991, Roddenberry’s body was cremated. Some of his ashes went into space the following year, carried aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. In 1997, some more of his cremated remains were sent into space aboard a Celestis spacecraft, along with remains from twenty-three other people including the psychologist and writer Timothy Leary.
Gene Autry was a so-called singing cowboy who had an incredibly successful career on radio, television and in films starting in the thirties. Autry’s signature song was “Back in the Saddle Again”, and his biggest hit was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. He also had a hit with his own Christmas song called “Here Comes Santa Claus”. There’s even a town in Oklahoma called Gene Autry, named in his honor. Famously, Autry owned the Los Angeles Angels (now the Anaheim Angels) for many years, from 1961 to 1997.
25. 1989 World Champion figure skater ITO
Midori Ito is a Japanese figure skater. Ito was the first woman to land a triple/triple jump and a triple axel in competition. In fact she landed her first triple jump in training when she was only 8 years old …
28. Beatles song with the line “And she promises the earth to me” GIRL
“Girl” is a 1965 song by John Lennon that was released by the Beatles on the “Rubber Soul” album. Years later in 1980, Lennon released his hit single “Woman”, which he described as “a grown-up version of ‘Girl’”.
When I think of all the times I’ve tried so hard to leave her
She will turn to me and start to cry
And she promises the earth to me
And I believe her
After all this times I don’t know why
Ah, girl
Girl
29. 1898 chemical discovery NEON
Neon was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers who chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They warmed the liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.
33. Chairman __ MAO
Mao Zedong (also “Mao Tse-tung”) was born on December 16, 1893 in the Hunan Province of China. As Mao was the son of a peasant farmer, his prospects for education were limited. Indeed he left school at age 13 to work on the family farm but did eventually get to secondary school in Changsha, the provincial capital. In the years following, Mao continued his education in Beijing and turned down an opportunity to study in France.
34. Emilia’s husband IAGO
Emilia and Iago are characters in William Shakespeare’s play “Othello”. Emilia and Iago are a married couple, although Iago kills Emilia late in the play.
38. Wedding column word NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
39. Bills piling up? GATES MURRAY COSBY BLASS
Bill Gates is the former CEO of Microsoft, a company that he co-founded with Paul Allen. Gates has been listed as the wealthiest man in the world on several occasion over the past two decades. Ge now works full-time as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside his wife Melinda. The Gates’ foundation is the largest transparently-operated charitable foundation in the world.
The actor and comedian Bill Murray got his big break on “Saturday Night Live”, replacing the departing Chevy Chase in the show’s second season. Murray then launched an hugely successful film career, starring in a host of hit movies such as “Caddyshack”, “Stripes”, “Tootsie”, “Ghostbusters”, “What About Bob?” and “Groundhog Day”. His film career took off again with a lead role in 2003’s “Lost in Translation”. A favorite Bill Murray for me is 2012’s “Hyde Park on the Hudson”, in which Murray plays Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The entertainer Bill Cosby is from Philadelphia. After working as a standup comedian, Cosby got his big break on television when he landed a starring role in “I Spy” alongside Robert Culp in the sixties. His greatest success on television came in the eighties and early nineties with his own sitcom “The Cosby Show”. At its height, “The Cosby Show” was the number one show in the US for five straight years. For years now there have been allegations of sexual assaults by Cosby, now made by over 40 women. Cosby denies any wrongdoing and no criminal charges have been filed.
Bill Blass was a fashion designer from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Blass volunteered for the US Army during WWII. He had a very creative role in the military, working for the 603rd Camouflage Battalion. The unit’s job was to fool the Germans into thinking Allied troops were in fake locations. Blass worked with the battalion in support of the Battle of the Bulge, the crossing of the Rhine river and the North African campaign.
44. Jazz guitarist Montgomery WES
Wes Montgomery was a jazz guitarist from Indianapolis.
45. Hammock happenings NAPS
Our word “hammock” comes via Spanish from Haiti, evolving from a word used there to describe a fishing net.
46. Animal groups FAUNAE
The fauna (plural “faunae”) is the animal life of a particular region, and the flora (plural “florae”) is that region’s plant life. The term “fauna” comes from the Roman goddess of earth and fertility who was called Fauna. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants, flowers and fertility.
47. Rock band with the hit “Edison’s Medicine” TESLA
Tesla is a rock band from Sacramento, California. Originally called City Kidd, the group changed its name in 1986, choosing the family name of the electrical engineer Nikola Tesla. Nikola Tesla’s great rival was the inventor Thomas Edison, and so I find it interesting that Tesla the band released a track called “Edison’s Medicine” on their 1991 studio album “Psychotic Supper”. “Edison’s Medicine” is a slang term for electroconvulsive therapy, sometimes referred to as electric shock treatment.
52. Shoulder muscle, for short DELT
The deltoid muscle is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.
62. Frozen Four org. NCAA
The semi-finals and finals of the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship tournaments are collectively referred to as the “Frozen Four”. This term is a play on “Final Four”, which is the name given to the final of rounds of the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship tournament.
63. Bar entertainment KARAOKE
In Japanese, “karate”, means “open hand”, and the related word “karaoke” means “open orchestra”.
67. Rain-__: bubble gum brand BLO
Rain-Blo bubble gumballs were introduced in 1940.
68. Art gallery? GARFUNKEL MONK BUCHWALD
Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel performed together as “Simon & Garfunkel”, as I am sure we all know. The friends started singing together way back in the fifties when they were still in school together. The name of their act at that time was “Tom & Jerry”.
Art Monk is a former American football wide receiver who played with the Redskins, Jets and Eagles. Before turning pro he played football at Syracuse University, and now is a member of the SU Board of Trustees.
73. Work with feet? POEM
In poetry, a “foot” is the natural unit of stressed and unstressed syllables which make up the work. For example, an iambic foot consists of an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable.
74. Part of it is now a desert ARAL SEA
The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …
78. ___ Islands: Taiwan Strait archipelago MATSU
The Matsu Islands lie in the Taiwan Strait just off the coast of mainland China. The archipelago is named for Mazu, a goddess who is said to protect seafarers.
81. Mouth build-up SILT
Silt can build up in the mouth of a river.
82. Utah city on I-15 OREM
Orem, Utah was originally known as “Sharon” (a Biblical name), then “Provo Bench”, and in 1914 it was given the family name of a local railroad operator called “Orem”. Orem gave itself the nickname “Family City USA” and sure enough in 2010, “Forbes” rated Orem the 5th best place in the country to raise a family.
Interstate 15 runs north-south from the US-Canada border at Sweet Grass, Montana to San Diego, California.
84. Shipping rope TYE
In the nautical world, a “tye” can be either a chain or a rope and is used to hoist a spar up a mast.
89. Hatchet relative ADZE
An adze (also adz) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe’s blade is set in line with the shaft.
92. Robins’ nest? QUIVERS TUNNEY WILLIAMS
Robin Quivers is a co-host and sidekick on “The Howard Stern Show”, which now airs on Sirius XM Radio. Quivers is a qualified nurse and a veteran of the US Air Force, from which she was honorably discharged at the rank of captain.
101. Morales of “Caprica” ESAI
The actor Esai Morales is best known for his role in the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai).
“Caprica” is a sci-fi television series that was written as a prequel to the show “Battlestar Galactica”. “Caprica” didn’t sit well with the public and was cancelled after just one season.
103. Toledo title: Abbr. SRA
Señora (Sra.)
Toledo is a city in central Spain, located just over 40 miles south of the capital Madrid. Toledo is sometimes called the “City of Three Cultures”, due to the historical co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions.
113. Buddy list? RICH EBSEN HACKETT HOLLY
Buddy Rich was a jazz drummer and bandleader from Brooklyn, New York. In his heyday, Rich was known as “the greatest drummer in the world”.
The actor Buddy Ebsen is best known for playing Jed Clampett in television’s “The Beverly Hillbillies”. Ebsen had been cast in the role of the Tin Man in the 1939 movie “The Wizard of Oz”, but he developed an allergy to the aluminium dust that was used in the makeup. He ended up in hospital and had to walk away from the part. Ebsen blamed “The Wizard of Oz” on persistent problems that he had with his lungs in subsequent years. But Ebsen lived 16 years longer that any of the other major cast members of the film, so maybe he got the last laugh!
Buddy Hackett was a comedian and comic actor from Brooklyn, New York, where he was born Leonard Hacker. My favorite of his on-screen appearances is in the 1963 movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in which he plays alongside Mickey Rooney.
Famously, Buddy Holly had a tragically short career as a professional musician. Holly was killed in a plane crash in 1959, along with fellow-performers Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (aka “the Big Bopper”). Buddy’s family name was actually spelled “Holley”, with the “Holly” spelling arising due to an error on the contract that he signed with Decca Records in 1956. He decided to adopt “Buddy Holly” as a stage name from then on, although the “Holley” spelling appears on his gravestone in Lubbock, Texas.
121. Ninja Turtles’ human pal April __ O’NEIL
The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” started out as a parody of comic book superheroes, first appearing in a self-published comic book in 1984. A couple of years later the characters were picked up by someone who built a whole line toys around the characters, and then television and movies followed. Do you remember the names of all four of the Turtles? Their names were all taken from Renaissance artists:
– Leonardo
– Raphael
– Michelangelo
– Donatello
124. Company with collectible trucks HESS
The Hess Corporation is an oil company based in New York City. In 1964, the company started selling toy trucks with the Hess logo on them, in Hess gas stations. The company has been selling them every since, bringing out new models just before Christmas. Hess toy trucks have become quite collectible and the old ones can fetch a pretty penny.
Down
2. Arnold Palmer ingredient ICE TEA
The drink named for golfer Arnold Palmer is made from lemonade and ice tea. The drink named for fellow golfer John Daly is also made from lemonade and ice tea, but with vodka added …
3. Stumblebum GALOOT
“Galoot” is an insulting term meaning an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.
A “stumblebum” is a clumsy and incompetent person, and particularly applies to a second-rate prizefighter. Back in the 1930s, the term applied to a down-and-out alcoholic, a “bum” who “stumbled” around.
4. Legal side? ELL
There’s a letter L (ell) at either side of the word “legal”.
5. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George REYS
Curious George is a character in a series of children’s books written by Hans Augusto and Margret Rey. The couple wrote the original stories in Paris, taking the manuscripts with them as they fled from the city ahead of the German invasion, in 1940.
8. Brainstorming tool IDEA MAP
A “mind map” (also “idea map”) is a great tool (I think) for brainstorming. It’s a tree-like structure with a central idea at the center and various trains of thought branching outwards. In fact, I used a mind map when I was first thinking about blogging, eventually deciding to focus on crosswords.
9. Components of a very long month? SUNDAYS
That would be a month of Sundays.
13. “N __ Say”: Nelly song DEY
Nelly is the stage name of rap artist Cornell Haynes, Jr. from Austin, Texas.
14. RR stop STA
A station (sta.) is a stop along a railroad (RR).
15. Eye part RETINA
The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cell in the retina that are sensitive to light, called rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.
16. Dance studio aids BARRES
A “barre” is a handrail used by ballet dancers for warm-up exercises and to provide support when practicing certain moves.
24. Allied group BLOC
“Bloc” is the French word for “block”.
32. Moravian city BRNO
Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic (after Prague).
37. One of the Minor Prophets OBADIAH
The Book of Obadiah is the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible, consisting of just one chapter, divided into 21 verses.
41. Goodyear offering RADIAL
The Goodyear tire company was founded in 1898. The company was named for Charles Goodyear, the man who invented vulcanized rubber in 1839. Despite the Goodyear name, Charles Goodyear himself had no connection with the company.
43. Onion cousin LEEK
The leek is a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil), although I don’t think we know for sure how this came to be. One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. Apparently, the battle took place in a field of leeks.
49. Chinese dog breed SHAR PEI
The Shar Pei breed of dog is that one with the wrinkly face and really dark tongue. The breed originated in China, with “Shar Pei” being the British spelling of the Cantonese name.
53. Early upscale Chrysler LEBARON
The Chrysler LeBaron made from 1977 to 1995 was a low-priced mid-sized automobile. However, the original LeBaron made in the 1930s was Chrysler’s luxury model, which competed with other luxury cars such as the Lincoln and the Packard.
59. Hybrid tennis garment SKORT
Skorts are a hybrid between shorts and a skirt.
60. Vader creator LUCAS
The producer and director George Lucas has amassed an incredibly large fortune, primarily due to the phenomenal success of his movie franchises “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones”. Worth about $3 billion, Lucas has gone the way of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, agreeing to give half of his fortune to charity as part of “The Giving Pledge”.
Darth Vader is the main character in the “Star Wars” movies. The villainous adult Vader was portrayed physically by several strapping male actors, the first being English bodybuilder David Prowse. Vader’s wonderful voice was supplies by actor James Earl Jones. However, Jones went uncredited in the first two films released, at his own request. He thought that his contribution to the role was too small to warrant a mention.
64. “Everybody Hurts” band REM
R.E.M. was a rock band from Athens, Georgia formed in 1980. The name “R.E.M.” was chosen randomly from a dictionary, apparently.
65. Six-pack makeup ABS
Abdominal muscles (abs.)
66. Netflix list QUEUE
Netflix was founded in Los Gatos, California in 1997. Although now focused on video streaming, the company delivered its billionth DVD in 2007. I presume the renter wasn’t charged for that movie …
70. Hardly dexterous KLUTZY
A “klutz” is an awkward individual, and the term comes from Yiddish. The Yiddish word for a clumsy person is “klots”.
71. Forest rangers? WAPITIS
The elk (also known as the wapiti) is the one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the “huge” wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely “elk”. The more correct name for the beast is “wapiti”, which means “white rump” in Shawnee. It’s all very confusing …
77. Pole, for one SLAV
The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:
– the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
– the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
– the South Slavic (including Bulgarians and Serbs)
80. Belgian balladeer Jacques BREL
Jacques Brel was a songwriter from Belgium whose songs were most popular in France, although English translations of his works became hits for artists all around the world. One of the more famous English translations was for the song “Season in the Sun”, a big hit in 1974 for Canadian singer Terry Jacks.
82. Mount between Pelion and Olympus OSSA
Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mt. Pelion in the south, and the famed Mt. Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.
85. Conifers yielding elastic wood YEWS
Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.
88. Org. with complex schedules IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.
89. Susan of “Five Easy Pieces” ANSPACH
Susan Anspach is an actress originally from New York City (Paul Simon was once her neighbor). She played the female lead in a Broadway production of “Hair”, and had her break in movies playing opposite Jack Nicholson in the 1970 film “Five Easy Pieces”.
The 1970 film “Five Easy Pieces” stars Jack Nicholson and Karen Black. Nicholson plays a man working on an oil rig, even though as boy he had been a piano prodigy. The “Five Easy Pieces” are five classical works written for the piano, and are all played by characters in the film:
– Fantasy in F minor, by Chopin
– Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, by Bach
– Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, by Mozart
– Prelude in E minor, by Chopin
– Fantasy in D minor, by Mozart
90. __ Mode: English band DEPECHE
Depeche Mode is an electronic music band from England that formed in 1980. Apparently, Depeche Mode are the most successful electronic music band ever. The band’s name is the title of a French fashion magazine “Dépêche mode”, which translates as “Fashion Update”.
92. Book size QUARTO
Some common book formats/sizes are folio, octavo and quarto. For a quarto book, eight pages of text are printed, four pages on each side of a “full-size” piece of paper. The pages are formed by folding the sheet of paper two times in half, giving a group of eight pages printed on four leaves (after separation). The size of the resulting pages of course depends on the size of the original sheet, but each page is one quarter the size of that original (hence the name quarto). Nowadays the quarto size refers to books that are about twelve inches tall.
95. “Candy is dandy” poet NASH
The poet Ogden Nash is well known for his light and humorous verse. Try this one for size:
Candy is dandy but liquor is quicker.
97. “Eat Drink Man Woman” director ANG LEE
Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.
“Eat Drink Man Woman” is a Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee, released in 1994. The film was remade in 2001 in English as “Tortilla Soup”.
98. Miami athlete MARLIN
The Miami Marlins baseball team started out life in 1993 as the Florida Marlins. The franchise changed its name to the Miami Marlins in 2011 when it relocated to the newly constructed Marlins Park.
108. Hardy of old films ANDY
The “Andy Hardy” series of movies were produced in the thirties and forties by MGM, with Mickey Rooney in the title role. There were sixteen films in all, including an attempt at a reboot in 1958 with a movie called “Andy Hardy Comes Home”.
109. Bygone theaters RKOS
The RKO Pictures studio was formed when RCA (RADIO Corporation of America) bought the KEITH-Albee-ORPHEUM theaters (and Joe Kennedy’s Film Booking Offices of America). The RKO acronym then comes from the words “Radio”, “Keith” and “Orpheum”.
114. Green of “Penny Dreadful” EVA
Despite the English sounding name, Eva Green is a French actress. Green played Bond girl Vesper Lynd in the 2006 movie “Casino Royale”, opposite Daniel Craig.
“Penny Dreadful” is a horror TV show that started airing on Showtime in 2014. I don’t do horror, so I haven’t seen the show, despite the fact that it is filmed in Dublin. Characters in the show come from 19th-century fiction from Ireland and Britain, including Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray, Bram Stoker’s Abraham Van Helsing and Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein.
116. JFK sight, once SST
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Concorde was developed and produced under an Anglo-French treaty by France’s Aérospatiale and the UK’s British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). Concordes were mainly operated by Air France and British Airways, with both companies buying the planes with substantial subsidies from the French and British governments. The final Concorde flight was a British Airways plane that landed in the UK on 26 November 2003.
117. It has two of itself in it ESS
There are two letters S (ess) in the word “ess”.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. National animal of Malaysia TIGER
6. Place for a speaker DAIS
10. Paper pieces OP-EDS
15. Hand-off recipients: Abbr. RBS
18. Tone sequence SCALE
19. Many an Indian HINDU
20. It doesn’t happen often enough RARE TREAT
22. Gene pool? KELLY RODDENBERRY AUTRY
25. 1989 World Champion figure skater ITO
26. Plant SOW
27. Unimpressive bunch SAD LOT
28. Beatles song with the line “And she promises the earth to me” GIRL
29. 1898 chemical discovery NEON
31. Eye or sun ORB
33. Chairman __ MAO
34. Emilia’s husband IAGO
38. Wedding column word NEE
39. Bills piling up? GATES MURRAY COSBY BLASS
44. Jazz guitarist Montgomery WES
45. Hammock happenings NAPS
46. Animal groups FAUNAE
47. Rock band with the hit “Edison’s Medicine” TESLA
50. Square with roots SOD
51. Name names SING
52. Shoulder muscle, for short DELT
55. Come into INHERIT
57. Map of Alaska, often INSET
60. “Think this looks good on me?” LIKE IT?
62. Frozen Four org. NCAA
63. Bar entertainment KARAOKE
65. Pool color AQUA
67. Rain-__: bubble gum brand BLO
68. Art gallery? GARFUNKEL MONK BUCHWALD
72. Seer’s supposed skill ESP
73. Work with feet? POEM
74. Part of it is now a desert ARAL SEA
75. Staging __ AREA
76. Go back and forth SEESAW
78. ___ Islands: Taiwan Strait archipelago MATSU
79. Flash drive slot USB PORT
81. Mouth build-up SILT
82. Utah city on I-15 OREM
84. Shipping rope TYE
86. Conditioner bottle directive RINSE
87. (Having) come up ARISEN
89. Hatchet relative ADZE
91. It may be made or laid BET
92. Robins’ nest? QUIVERS TUNNEY WILLIAMS
100. Member of the fam UNC
101. Morales of “Caprica” ESAI
102. Deadly snake ASP
103. Toledo title: Abbr. SRA
104. Lose it SNAP
105. Busy AT IT
107. Sugarcane-scraping machine RASPER
110. Pack animal ASS
112. Warning from a small house GRR!
113. Buddy list? RICH EBSEN HACKETT HOLLY
119. Showed, in a way TELEVISED
120. Picked CHOSE
121. Ninja Turtles’ human pal April __ O’NEIL
122. Type of 73-Across ODE
123. More than ready to go ANTSY
124. Company with collectible trucks HESS
125. Very small TEENY
Down
1. It may be accompanied by finger-wagging TSKING
2. Arnold Palmer ingredient ICE TEA
3. Stumblebum GALOOT
4. Legal side? ELL
5. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George REYS
6. Impersonated DID
7. Afterthoughts ANDS
8. Brainstorming tool IDEA MAP
9. Components of a very long month? SUNDAYS
10. Milk go-with OREO
11. Biased PARTISAN
12. Goof ERR
13. “N __ Say”: Nelly song DEY
14. RR stop STA
15. Eye part RETINA
16. Dance studio aids BARRES
17. Dos STYLES
19. Texter’s greeting HOW R U?
21. Persian, e.g. RUG
23. Shares a place (with) ROOMS
24. Allied group BLOC
30. Symbol of a fresh start NEW LEAF
32. Moravian city BRNO
35. Put __ in one’s ear A BUG
36. MD for women GYN
37. One of the Minor Prophets OBADIAH
40. Barely burn SEAR
41. Goodyear offering RADIAL
42. Out __: confused OF IT
43. Onion cousin LEEK
47. Nuances TINGES
48. Fully surrounds ENCASES
49. Chinese dog breed SHAR PEI
50. Claim, with “out” STAKE
51. Taken for SEEN AS
53. Early upscale Chrysler LEBARON
54. Farm machines TILLERS
56. “__, right?”: “You said it!” I KNOW
58. Polite refusal NO, MA’AM
59. Hybrid tennis garment SKORT
60. Vader creator LUCAS
61. As of now TO DATE
64. “Everybody Hurts” band REM
65. Six-pack makeup ABS
66. Netflix list QUEUE
69. In hot water UP A TREE
70. Hardly dexterous KLUTZY
71. Forest rangers? WAPITIS
77. Pole, for one SLAV
78. Source of many an order MENU
80. Belgian balladeer Jacques BREL
82. Mount between Pelion and Olympus OSSA
83. Ones out of work RETIREES
85. Conifers yielding elastic wood YEWS
88. Org. with complex schedules IRS
89. Susan of “Five Easy Pieces” ANSPACH
90. __ Mode: English band DEPECHE
91. Great time BLAST
92. Book size QUARTO
93. Trip-inducing, as shoelaces UNTIED
94. Eaves dropper? ICICLE
95. “Candy is dandy” poet NASH
96. Fuming IRATE
97. “Eat Drink Man Woman” director ANG LEE
98. Miami athlete MARLIN
99. With pep in one’s step SPRYLY
106. Widely read article? THE
108. Hardy of old films ANDY
109. Bygone theaters RKOS
111. No longer usable SHOT
114. Green of “Penny Dreadful” EVA
115. Bargain __ BIN
116. JFK sight, once SST
117. It has two of itself in it ESS
118. Unified ONE
Started with TSK TSK and got nowhere. I'm too impatient today to finish either the L.A. puzzle, or Merl Reagle's.
I looked at Reagle's and would have never gotten it anyway.
Hey! at least two of my favorites made it to the L.A. puzzle!
BUDDY RICH
WES MONTGOMERY
@Carrie from last night. Thanks, now it makes sense.
@Pookie
No Kidding. As for Reagle, I'm finding his puzzle is crosswordese on top of crosswordese, and I'm like "How can anyone figure this out?" The last puzzle of his I attempted had a answer of LECARRELECARRELECARRE as a response to "With 78 Across, author’s favorite line from a classic Southern song?" (the theme was replacing phrases of the words with soundalike author names)
FWIW, I did find you can play his puzzles online here.
This was quite a challenge. I got everything except a couple of perps I had to look up for 92A, Robins Nest? I never knew Robin Tunney's name before, and Robin Quivers faintly rung a bell. I feel like TUNNEY and ANSPACH is a Natick, and 107a on Anspach could be as well (I didn't have the p for RASPER until I looked ANSPACH up).