LA Times Crossword Answers 7 Aug 16, Sunday

Constructed by: Donna S. Levin & Bruce Venzke

Edited by: Rich Norris

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Theme: A Fee for Victory

Today’s themed answers are common phrases, but with a V-sound replaced with an F-sound:

• 23A…Municipal tennis court?..COMMUNITY SURFACE (from “community service”)
• 38A…Crowded dorm symptom?..A ROOM WITH A FEW (from “A Room with a View”)
• 66A…Embellishment on Arabic calligraphy?..ALIF GARNISH (from “olive garnish”)
• 75A…Last log entry?..FINAL RECORD (from “vinyl record”)
• 99A…Animal always without a home?..PERMANENT WAIF (from “permanent wave”)
• 118A…Request at the poultry farm?..I’D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL (from “I’d like to buy a vowel”)
• 16D…Cause of playtime sadness?..LOSING ONE’S NERF (from “losing one’s nerve”)
• 51D…Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen?..SIBLING RIFLERY (from “sibling rivalry”)

Bill’s time: 20m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies

Across

1…”Ring Around the Rosie” word..ASHES

“Ring a Ring o’ Roses” is a nursery rhyme that I well remember from my childhood.

Ring-a-ring o’ roses,
A pocket full of posies,
A-tishoo! A-tishoo!
We all fall down.

The lyrics tend to be a little different over here in North America:

Ring-a-round the rosie,
A pocket full of posies,
Ashes! Ashes!
We all fall down.

There’s an urban legend that the rhyme refers to the Great Plague that struck England in 1665. The inference is that “ring o’roses” is a rosy rash, and that “posies” of herbs were carried to ward off the disease. Victims would sneeze “a-tishoo” and “all fall down” dead.

6…Belts..SWIGS

A “belt” is a swift swig of hard liquor.

15…Firefly emanation..GLOW

Some living organisms are able to produce light, a phenomenon known as “bioluminescence”. A famous example on land is the firefly, with its glowing tail. There are many marine animals, such as jellyfish, that emit light. The frequently observed bioluminescence on the surface of the sea is usually caused by plankton. This phenomenon may be referred to as “sea fire”.

19…Regatta racer..SCULL

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”.

The word “regatta” is Venetian dialect and was originally used to describe boat races among the gondoliers of Venice on the Grand Canal back in the mid-1600s.

20…Bacon in a parlor game..KEVIN

Kevin Bacon is an actor from Philadelphia who appeared first on the big screen in the 1978 comedy “National Lampoon’s Animal House”. That wasn’t to be the big break that Bacon needed though, which came with “Footloose” in 1984. A fun fact about him is that he is the subject of a popular trivia game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon” in which players have to show that a particular actor can be related to Kevin Bacon in fewer than six links, with each link being a movie in which two actors appear together.

21…Rare state bird..NENE

The bird called a nene is a native of Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is imitative of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful.

22…Apple’s apple, e.g…LOGO

The logo of Apple, the computer company, is a silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. The company’s original logo featured a picture of Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree.

26…Nobel Peace Center home..OSLO

The Nobel Peace Center in Oslo opened in 2005 and is located in a former railroad station. The center is inspired by the Nobel Peace Prize and features exhibits that tell the story of Alfred Nobel, as well as the stories of many recipients of the prize.

27…Jackson ejector..ATM

The 20-dollar bill is called a “Jackson” as it bears the portrait of President Andrew Jackson on the front side of the bill. Jackson’s image replaced that of President Grover Cleveland in 1928, and there doesn’t seem to be any record documenting just why that change was made. Over one-fifth of all notes printed today are 20-dollar bills, and the average life of a “Jackson” is a little over 2 years, after which it is replaced due to wear.

29…Father __ Sarducci: “SNL” character..GUIDO

Father Guido Sarducci is a character played by comedian Don Novello on several shows including “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” and “Smothers Brothers” in the seventies. Most memorably perhaps, Sarducci popped up regularly on “Saturday Night Live”, a show for which Novello was also a writer. Father Guido is a chain-smoker who wears some dark shades.

31…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.

36…Throat trouble?..FROG

Having “a frog in one’s throat” is a temporary condition caused by excessive phlegm. The resulting “croaky” voice sounds similar to the sound made by a frog.

37…__ Tin Tin..RIN

The original Rin Tin Tin was a real-life dog, a puppy discovered by a GI in a bombed-out kennel in France during WWI. The soldier named the pup Rin Tin Tin, the same name as a puppet given to American soldiers for luck. On returning to the US, “Rinty” was trained by his owner and was spotted doing tricks by a film producer. Rinty featured in some films, eventually getting his first starring role in 1923 in the silent movie “Where the North Begins”. Legend has it that this first Rin Tin Tin died in the arms of actress Jean Harlow. Not a bad way to go …

38…Crowded dorm symptom?..A ROOM WITH A FEW (from “A Room with a View”)

E.M. Forster’s novel “A Room with a View” was first published in 1908. The novel’s title refers to the view that was promised two Englishwomen who check into a hotel in Florence. The pair expected a view of the River Arno, and instead get a view of the hotel’s courtyard. A fellow guest offers to swap rooms, and from there the plot thickens! There was a fantastic screen adaptation released in 1985 directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. There is a great cast, including Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench and Daniel Day-Lewis.

41…Bayer that might cause a headache?..BEAGLE

The Beagle breed of dog is a scent hound, developed for tracking small game. Because of this characteristic, Beagles are often used as detection dogs in customs halls around the world. The world’s most famous Beagle is probably Snoopy from the comic strip “Peanuts”.

A “bay” is a prolonged howl, particularly one made by a dog on the scent.

44…Après-ski option..SPA

The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as Spa is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

Après-ski is a French term, meaning “after skiing”, and refers to the good times to be had after coming off the slopes.

45…”Jurassic Park” threat..T REX

The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written T. rex) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard), and the “rex” is of course Latin for “king”. They were big boys, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

“Jurassic Park” is a 1990 novel by Michael Crichton that was adapted into a hugely successful movie by Steven Spielberg in 1993. One of the main premises of the novel is that dinosaur DNA could be harvested from mosquitoes trapped in amber (fossilized tree resin), the DNA coming from the dinosaur blood consumed by the mosquitoes. The dinosaur DNA is then sequenced and used to create clones of the original beasts. A clever idea, but apparently not very practical from what I’ve read …

46…Cause of a municipal alert..SMOG

“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s.

48…Online ref. since 2000..OED

The “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) contains over 300,000 “main” entries and 59 million words in total. It is said it would take a single person 120 years to type it out in full. The longest entry for one word in the second edition of the OED is the verb “set”. When the third edition was published in 2007, the longest entry for a single word became the verb “put”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-quoted author in the OED is William Shakespeare, with his most quoted work being “Hamlet”. The most-quoted female author is George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans).

49…Radiographer’s tests..CT SCANS

A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful, causing damage that is cumulative over time.

53…Guadalajara gal pal..AMIGA

Guadalajara is a populous city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The Mexican city is named after the city of the same name in the center of Spain.

56…WWI French battle site..ARGONNE

The Meuse-Argonne Offensive (also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest) was an Allied offensive along the entire western front that took place in the last few weeks of WWI. Fought by US and French forces against the Germans, the offensive was the biggest operation launched by the American Expeditionary Force in WWI. The Meuse-Argonne was the deadliest battle in US history, as 26,277 US soldiers lost their lives.

58…”La donna è mobile,” for one..ARIA

“La donna è mobile” is a very famous aria from Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto”.

“Rigoletto” is one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous and oft-performed operas. The storyline comes from Victor Hugo’s play “Le roi s’amuse” (usually translated as “The King’s Fool”). Rigoletto is the king’s fool, the jester.

61…Francis of “What’s My Line?”..ARLENE

I only discovered the wonderful old American TV show “What’s My Line?” a few years ago. I was familiar with the show’s British adaptation, but hadn’t spotted the US version until relatively recently in reruns. I fell in love with the beautiful Arlene Francis watching those reruns. She was a regular panelist on the show, and the embodiment of elegance. Host of the show was the erudite and genteel John Daly, a much-respected journalist and broadcaster. Daly became the son-in-law of Chief Justice Earl Warren when he married Warren’s daughter, Virginia.

63…Conk..BEAN

The bean, the conk, the head …

65…Feature of ths clue..TYPO

The spelling “ths” in the clue is a typo, and should be “this”.

66…Embellishment on Arabic calligraphy?..ALIF GARNISH (from “olive garnish”)

“Alif” is the first letter in the Arabic Semitic alphabet, equivalent to the Hebrew “aleph”.

Calligraphy is the art of fine handwriting, and a term derived from the Greek “kallos” meaning “beauty” and “graphein” meaning “to write”.

70…Israeli statesman Abba..EBAN

Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician, born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban in Cape Town, South Africa. While working at the United Nations after WWII, Eban changed his given name to “Abba”, the Hebrew word for “father”. He made this change as reportedly as he could see himself as the father of the nation of Israel.

72…Buster?..NARC

“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated with illegal drugs. “Narc” is short for “narcotics officer”.

83…Editor’s “Let it be”..STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

84…Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket..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. No and Fu Manchu.

A Nehru jacket is very like a regular suit jacket, except that the collar buttons at the neck. It was originally created in the 1940s in India, and then marketed as the Nehru jacket in the west in the sixties. The name Nehru was lifted from Jawaharlal Nehru, the prime minister of India from 1947 to 1964.

85…Quadratic formula course..ALGEBRA

We all remember this from algebra class (!). The two solutions to the general quadratic equation 0 = ax2 + bx + c are given by the quadratic formula

x equals minus-b plus or minus the square root of b-squared minus 4ac all over 2a

87…”I’m not afraid of __; I just don’t want to be there when it happens”: Woody Allen..DEATH

Although I’m no Woody Allen fan, I do like some of his memorable statements. For example:

• I don’t know the question, but sex is definitely the answer.
• Some guy hit my car fender the other day, and I said unto him, “Be fruitful and multiply.” But not in those words.
• Tradition is the illusion of permanence.
• Life doesn’t imitate art, it imitates bad television.
• Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat … college.
• I’m not afraid of death; I just don’t want to be there when it happens.

89…Mucinex relative..SUDAFED

Pseudoephedrine is a drug with decongestant properties, although it is also a stimulant. It is the active ingredient in Sudafed and Mucinex.

91…Neighbor of Leb…ISR

Lebanon (Leb.) and Israel (Isr.) are neighboring countries in the Middle East.

92…Biryani base..RICE

Biryani is a mixed rice dish found on the menu in many Indian restaurants.

94…Senator Bail Organa’s adopted daughter..LEIA

The full name of the character played by Carrie Fisher in the “Star Wars” series of films is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and later Leia Organa Solo. Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the daughter of Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader) and Padmé Amidala. Leia is raised by her adoptive parents Bail and Breha Organa. She eventually marries Han Solo.

96…Written guffaw..LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL, in text-speak)

99…Animal always without a home?..PERMANENT WAIF (from “permanent wave”)

A “waif” is a street urchin or perhaps a stray animal.

“Perm” is the name given to a permanent wave, a chemical or thermal treatment of hair to produce waves or curls. I don’t worry about such things, as it’s a number-one all over for me …

106…Eldest Bennet daughter in “Pride and Prejudice”..JANE

In Jane Austen’s novel “Pride and Prejudice”, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five daughters. They are, ranked from the eldest:

1. Jane (the kind and beautiful daughter)
2. Elizabeth (the witty and sometimes sarcastic daughter)
3. Mary (the bookish and musical daughter)
4. Catherine/Kitty (the daughter easily led by her younger sister)
5. Lydia (the immature and flirtatious daughter)

107…__ Soleil: 17th-/18th-century royal..LE ROI

Louis XIV is perhaps the most famous of the kings (“rois”) of France and was known as the “Sun King” (le Roi Soleil”). Louis XIV was king from 1638 to 1715. That reign of over 72 years is the longest reign of any European monarch.

108…On Vine St., say..IN LA

Vine Street is a famous thoroughfare in Hollywood. Hollywood’s movie industry grew up around the intersection of “Hollywood and Vine”, where Hollywood Boulevard crossed Vine Street. That same intersection is now home to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the collection of brass stars embedded in the sidewalks that are monuments to achievement in the entertainment industry.

110…Spaniard’s “L’chaim!”..SALUD!

“Salud” is Spanish for “health”, and is used as a toast. Salud!

“L’Chaim” is a Hebrew toast meaning “to life”, with “chai” being the Hebrew word for “life”.

112…Chased from the closet..OUTED

Back in the 1950s, to come “out of the closet” was to admit to being an alcoholic. By the seventies, the phrase mainly referred to gay people shrugging off secrecy about their orientation.

114…Ices..OFFS

“To ice” or “to off” is to murder.

118…Request at the poultry farm?..I’D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL (from “I’d like to buy a vowel”)

Contestants have been spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” and “buying vowels” since the game show first aired in 1975.

124…Detroit’s Joe __ Arena..LOUIS

Joe Louis Arena in downtown Detroit is known locally as “the Joe”. The Joe is home to the Detroit Red Wings hockey team. The arena is named for famed boxer Joe Louis, who grew up in Detroit.

125…Holmes of “The Kennedys”..KATIE

Katie Holmes is an actress who first came to prominence in the television drama “Dawson’s Creek”. Off screen, Holmes is famous as the ex-wife of Tom Cruise.

“The Kennedys” is a TV miniseries from 2011 about the Kennedy clan, from the day’s when Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. served as US Ambassador to the UK prior to WWII.

126…Temperance advocates..DRYS

The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution was a great victory for the temperance movement (the “dry” movement), and in 1919 ushered in the Prohibition era. Highly unpopular (with the “wet” movement), Prohibition was repealed in 1933 by the 21st Amendment.

127…Head of France?..TETE

“Tête” is French for “head”.

128…DeMille specialties..EPICS

Cecil B. Demille was a movie director and producer who started his professional career in the silent era. DeMille’s movies were often epic works, such “Cleopatra” (1936), “Samson and Delilah” (1949), “The Greatest Show on Earth” (1952) and “The Ten Commandments” (1956). The Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award is named in his honor, and indeed he was its first recipient.

129…Wood that sinks in water..EBONY

Ebony is another word for the color black (often shortened to “ebon” in poetry). Ebony is a dark black wood that is very dense, one of the few types of wood that sinks in water. Ebony has been in high demand so the species of trees yielding the wood are now considered threatened. It is in such short supply that unscrupulous vendors have been known to darken lighter woods with shoe polish to look like ebony, so be warned …

Down

1…Music rights gp…ASCAP

ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) collects licence fees for musicians and distributes royalties to composers whose works have been performed. BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) provides the same service.

2…Old Roman name for Ireland..SCOTIA

“Scotia” has been the Latin word for “Scotland” since the Middle Ages, and is sometimes used in poetry as the name for the country. Paradoxically, the Ancient Romans used the name “Scotia” for the island of Ireland. The meaning mutated over the centuries.

3…Large ’90s-’00s SUV..HUMMER

“Humvee” is a nickname for the military vehicle developed by AM General. The full name is High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle i.e. HMMWV, or simply “Humvee”. The company introduced a civilian version in 1992, using the “Hummer” brand name.

4…Boston’s Liberty Tree was one..ELM

The original Liberty Tree was an elm tree that stood near Boston Common and marked the place where folks would rally in the build-up to the American Revolution. The symbolism of the Liberty Tree migrated across the Atlantic during the French Revolution. Revolutionaries planted “Les arbres de la liberté” as symbols of revolutionary hope.

7…Scuba gear..WET SUIT

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

8…Brown, for one..IVY

The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

9…Vets-to-be..GIS

The initials “G.I.” stand for “Government Issue” and not “General Infantry” as is often believed. GI was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

13…Disguised, briefly..INCOG

“Incog” is short for “incognito”, the Italian for “unknown”.

14…Driver’s aid..TEE

That would be on a golf course.

15…Meathead’s wife in ’70s TV..GLORIA

“All in the Family” is an American sitcom, 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 (aka “Meathead”)

16…Cause of playtime sadness?..LOSING ONE’S NERF (from “losing one’s nerve”)

Nerf is the name given to the soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. “NERF” is an acronym, standing for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.

24…Rouen’s region..NORMANDY

Rouen is the major city in Normandy in northern France. During the days of Norman Britain, Rouen was one of the capitals of the Anglo-Norman dynasties. Rouen was also where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

30…One of the Allman Brothers..GREGG

Gregg Allman (of the Allman Brothers) and Cher (of Sonny and Cher) were married in 1975. Despite the divorce petition that they filed after only nine days of marriage, they do have a son together. Gregg and Cher separated in 1977, and their divorce came through in 1979.

32…Scarpia’s killer, in a Puccini opera..TOSCA

Unlike so many operas, “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. “Tosca” is currently the eighth-most performed opera in America, although I’ve only seen it once myself …

39…WWII cost-stabilizing agcy…OPA

President Franklin D. Roosevelt set up the Office of Price Administration (OPA) during WWII, with the intent of stabilizing prices and rents during the emergency.

40…The “A” often seen in 49-Across..AXIAL
(49A…Radiographer’s tests..CT SCANS)

Computerized axial tomography scan (CAT scan)

42…”Stormy Weather” singer..LENA HORNE

Lena Horne was an American jazz singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne started out her career as a nightclub singer and then began to get some meaty acting roles in Hollywood. However, she ended up on the blacklist during the McCarthy Era for expressing left wing political views. One of Horne’s starring roles was in the 1943 movie “Stormy Weather” for which she also performed the title song.

49…Atkins no-no..CARB

The eating of relatively few carbohydrates is central to the diet proposed by Robert Atkins. Atkins first laid out the principles behind the Atkins diet in a research paper published in 1958 in the “Journal of the American Medical Association”. He popularized his diet starting in 1972 with his book “Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution”.

51…Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen?..SIBLING RIFLERY (from “sibling rivalry”)

A biathlon is an event requiring expertise in two sporting disciplines. The most common biathlon is the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting. This traditional biathlon was born out of an exercise used in training Norwegian soldiers.

52…Powerful campaign force..SUPER PAC

A Political Action Committee (PAC) is a private group that works to influence the outcome of a particular election or group of elections. Any group becomes a PAC by law when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that PACS that did not make direct contributions to candidates or parties could accept unlimited contributions. These “independent-expenditure only committees” are commonly referred to as “super PACs”.

55…Bravo preceder..ALFA

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu.

57…Geishas’ sashes..OBIS

The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.

62…”Snowy” wader..EGRET

The Snowy Egret is a small white heron, native to the Americas. At one time the egret species was in danger of extinction due to hunting driven by the demand for plumes for women’s hats.

66…Battery terminal..ANODE

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

69…Kansas-born playwright..INGE

Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time was the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway. His name was Paul Newman. Many of Inge’s works are set in the American heartland and so he became known as the “Playwright of the Midwest”.

71…H2SO4, e.g…ACID

Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is extremely corrosive. Sulfuric acid was called “oil of vitriol” by the Medieval alchemists of Europe.

81…Place of honor..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 …

84…__ Lama..DALAI

The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.

88…Color like aqua..TEAL

The beautiful color of teal takes it name from the duck called a “teal”, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

90…Information company co-founder Charles..DOW

Dow Jones & Company was founded as a publishing house in 1882 by three newspaper reporters, Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser. Today, the company’s most famous publication has to be “The Wall Street Journal”. In 1884, Charles Dow started reporting the average dollar value of the stock of eleven companies, an index which spawned a whole host of metrics that carry the Dow Jones name to this day, including the renowned Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also known as the “Dow 30”.

93…Shoulder decoration..EPAULET

Epaulet (or epaulette) comes from French, and literally translates as “little shoulder”.

95…Good for the heart and lungs..AEROBIC

Aerobic exercise is moderate activity, designed to be at a low enough intensity that very little anaerobic activity takes place. In other words, the exercise is at a level where oxygen is taken in to burn fat and carbohydrate to create energy. Anaerobic exercise is more intense and uses carbohydrate (glycogen) in the muscle to provide energy, without the need for oxygen. Aerobics are also called “cardio” as the exercises strengthen the cardiovascular system.

106…Best Actress between Cher and Jessica..JODIE

The 1987 Best Actress Oscar went to Cher for her role in “Moonstruck”. The 1988 award went to Jodie Foster for “The Accused”. Jessica Tandy won in 1989 for “Driving Miss Daisy”.

109…Strike zone?..ALLEY

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

113…Opposite of 83-Across..DELE
(83A…Editor’s “Let it be”..STET)

“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

118…Hairy Addams cousin..ITT

In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor called Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Cousin Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

120…Avignon agreement..OUI

“Oui” is “yes” in French, and “non” is “no”.

Avignon is a city in the southeast of France on the Rhône river. Avignon is sometimes called the “City of Popes” as it was home to seven popes during the Catholic schism from 1309 to 1423.

121…’60s quartet adjective..FAB

The Beatles were described on the sleeve notes of their 1963 album “With the Beatles” as the “fabulous foursome”. The press picked up on the phrase and morphed it into “the Fab Four”.

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Complete List of Clues and Answers

Across

1…”Ring Around the Rosie” word..ASHES

6…Belts..SWIGS

11…Drop..OMIT

15…Firefly emanation..GLOW

19…Regatta racer..SCULL

20…Bacon in a parlor game..KEVIN

21…Rare state bird..NENE

22…Apple’s apple, e.g…LOGO

23…Municipal tennis court?..COMMUNITY SURFACE (from “community service”)

26…Nobel Peace Center home..OSLO

27…Jackson ejector..ATM

28…Goes bad..ROTS

29…Father __ Sarducci: “SNL” character..GUIDO

30…”Good __!”..GRIEF

31…Artist Mondrian..PIET

33…Rudely awaken..ROUST

36…Throat trouble?..FROG

37…__ Tin Tin..RIN

38…Crowded dorm symptom?..A ROOM WITH A FEW (from “A Room with a View”)

41…Bayer that might cause a headache?..BEAGLE

44…Après-ski option..SPA

45…”Jurassic Park” threat..T REX

46…Cause of a municipal alert..SMOG

48…Online ref. since 2000..OED

49…Radiographer’s tests..CT SCANS

53…Guadalajara gal pal..AMIGA

56…WWI French battle site..ARGONNE

58…”La donna è mobile,” for one..ARIA

59…In a proper manner..DULY

61…Francis of “What’s My Line?”..ARLENE

63…Conk..BEAN

64…Massage..RUB

65…Feature of ths clue..TYPO

66…Embellishment on Arabic calligraphy?..ALIF GARNISH (from “olive garnish”)

68…Contradict..BELIE

70…Israeli statesman Abba..EBAN

72…Buster?..NARC

73…Like __: probably..AS NOT

75…Last log entry?..FINAL RECORD

78…Otherwise..ELSE

80…Show one’s humanity..ERR

81…”Aw, fudge!”..DANG!

82…Potential benefit..UPSIDE

83…Editor’s “Let it be”..STET

84…Spy-fi villain in a Nehru jacket..DR NO

85…Quadratic formula course..ALGEBRA

87…”I’m not afraid of __; I just don’t want to be there when it happens”: Woody Allen..DEATH

89…Mucinex relative..SUDAFED

91…Neighbor of Leb…ISR

92…Biryani base..RICE

94…Senator Bail Organa’s adopted daughter..LEIA

96…Written guffaw..LOL

97…Taken over..SEIZED

99…Animal always without a home?..PERMANENT WAIF (from “permanent wave”)

105…Adversary..FOE

106…Eldest Bennet daughter in “Pride and Prejudice”..JANE

107…__ Soleil: 17th-/18th-century royal..LE ROI

108…On Vine St., say..IN LA

110…Spaniard’s “L’chaim!”..SALUD!

112…Chased from the closet..OUTED

114…Ices..OFFS

116…Business card abbr…TEL

117…Not odd at all..EVEN

118…Request at the poultry farm?..I’D LIKE TO BUY A FOWL (from “I’d like to buy a vowel”)

122…Geeky sort..NERD

123…Wedding cake layer..TIER

124…Detroit’s Joe __ Arena..LOUIS

125…Holmes of “The Kennedys”..KATIE

126…Temperance advocates..DRYS

127…Head of France?..TETE

128…DeMille specialties..EPICS

129…Wood that sinks in water..EBONY

Down

1…Music rights gp…ASCAP

2…Old Roman name for Ireland..SCOTIA

3…Large ’90s-’00s SUV..HUMMER

4…Boston’s Liberty Tree was one..ELM

5…Disparage..SLUR

6…Bunny slope conveyance..SKI TOW

7…Scuba gear..WET SUIT

8…Brown, for one..IVY

9…Vets-to-be..GIS

10…Cozy..SNUG

11…Having a heck of a winning streak..ON FIRE

12…Pastures..MEADOWS

13…Disguised, briefly..INCOG

14…Driver’s aid..TEE

15…Meathead’s wife in ’70s TV..GLORIA

16…Cause of playtime sadness?..LOSING ONE’S NERF (from “losing one’s nerve”)

17…Act like a wolf..OGLE

18…Pound sound..WOOF!

24…Rouen’s region..NORMANDY

25…Elizabethan neckwear..RUFF

30…One of the Allman Brothers..GREGG

32…Scarpia’s killer, in a Puccini opera..TOSCA

34…Errant..STRAY

35…Him and her..THEM

39…WWII cost-stabilizing agcy…OPA

40…The “A” often seen in 49-Across..AXIAL

41…Wood-damaging insect..BORER

42…”Stormy Weather” singer..LENA HORNE

43…Place with a serpent problem..EDEN

47…Handcuffs..MANACLES

49…Atkins no-no..CARB

50…Kind of test..TRUE/FALSE

51…Brother-and-sister biathlon training regimen?..SIBLING RIFLERY (from “sibling rivalry”)

52…Powerful campaign force..SUPER PAC

54…Humdrum routine..GRIND

55…Bravo preceder..ALFA

57…Geishas’ sashes..OBIS

60…Sections of the brain..LOBES

62…”Snowy” wader..EGRET

65…It may be taken in the afternoon..TEA

66…Battery terminal..ANODE

67…”Sorry, lad”..NAE

69…Kansas-born playwright..INGE

71…H2SO4, e.g…ACID

74…Stepped..TROD

76…Gruesome..LURID

77…Kingdom..REALM

79…Make a fool of..STULTIFY

81…Place of honor..DAIS

83…Really impress the critics..SHINE

84…__ Lama..DALAI

86…41-Across, e.g…BREED

88…Color like aqua..TEAL

90…Information company co-founder Charles..DOW

93…Shoulder decoration..EPAULET

95…Good for the heart and lungs..AEROBIC

98…”Gadzooks!”..ZOUNDS!

100…Complete..ENTIRE

101…Stink..REEK

102…Easy to use, in adspeak..NO FUSS

103…Completely..IN TOTO

104…Arrived from above..FLEW IN

106…Best Actress between Cher and Jessica..JODIE

109…Strike zone?..ALLEY

110…Transmit..SEND

111…Maintain..AVER

113…Opposite of 83-Across..DELE

115…Benefit..SAKE

118…Hairy Addams cousin..ITT

119…Outdo..TOP

120…Avignon agreement..OUI

121…’60s quartet adjective..FAB

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