Constructed by: C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
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Theme: Possession
Today’s themed answers are in pairs, with a down-answer crossing a related across-answer. The answer to the asterisked clue is converted to POSSESSIVE case, and then paired up with the word that it intersects in the corresponding crossing-answer:
- 52D…Ownership claim … and a hint to the relationship of each answer to a starred clue to a word it intersects..IT’S MINE!
- 42A…*English surgeon Henry..GRAY (giving “Gray’s Anatomy”)
- 44D…Vet student’s workplace..ANATOMY LAB
- 75A…*Noted WWII lifesaver..SCHINDLER (giving “Schindler’s List”)
- 39D…Consequence of the telemarketing boom..NO CALL LIST
- 5D…*Second-longest reigning British monarch..VICTORIA (giving “Victoria’s Secret”)
- 22A…Ill-kept confidence..OPEN SECRET
- 9D…*First of all?..ADAM (giving “Adam’s apple”)
- 24A…Seasonal drink..APPLE CIDER
- 85D…*Memorable 1968 role for Mia..ROSEMARY (giving “Rosemary’s Baby”)
- 115A…1990 #1 rap hit..ICE ICE BABY
- 93D…*First human woman, in Greek myth..PANDORA (giving “Pandora’s box”)
- 117A…Specialized slicing tools..BOX CUTTERS
Bill’s time: 17m 49s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5…Block from the White House..VETO
“Veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The word was used by tribunes of Ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.
13…Others, in Oaxaca..OTROS
Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.
18…Almond __: candy..ROCA
Almond Roca is a brand of chocolate-covered toffee.
19…Like jeggings..TIGHT
Jeggings are a special type of leggings, ones made from a denim/spandex blend. In effect, jeggings have a denim look, but with the elasticity of leggings.
20…Fist bumps..DAPS
The dap is a form of handshake, nowadays often a complicated and showy routine of fist bumps, slaps and shakes. Some say that “dap” is an acronym standing for “Dignity And Pride”.
The fist bump is that tapping of fists together as a form of greeting. It is a more “hip” version of a handshake, a might be called a “pounding of flesh”.
29…”I never __ purple cow … “: Burgess..SAW A
Gelett Burgess was a poet and author who was noted for writing nonsense verse. One of his most famous verses was:
I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I’d rather see than be one.
However, Burgess was a little tired of the amount of praise he earned from these four lines, so he wrote a rebuttal of sorts:
Ah, yes, I wrote the “Purple Cow”—
I’m Sorry, now, I wrote it;
But I can tell you Anyhow
I’ll Kill you if you Quote it!
30…New Mexico county bordering El Paso..OTERO
Otero County, New Mexico is home to a large part of the White Sands National Monument.
34…Mr. or Mrs…ABBR
Mr. is an abbreviation for “master”, and Mrs. is an abbreviation for “mistress”.
36…Hard-to-imagine period..EON
Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:
- supereon
- eon (also “aeon”)
- era
- period
- epoch
- age
42…*English surgeon Henry..GRAY (giving “Gray’s Anatomy”)
“Gray’s Anatomy” is a very successful human anatomy textbook that was first published back in 1858 and is still in print today. The original text was written by English anatomist Henry Gray, who gave his name to the work. The TV medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy” (note “Grey” vs. Gray”) is centered on the character Dr. Meredith Grey, but the show’s title is a nod to the title of the famous textbook.
45…Talks like Daffy..LISPS
Daffy Duck first appeared on the screen in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” in 1937. In the original cartoon, Daffy was just meant to have a small role, but he was a big hit as he had so much sass. Even back then, Daffy was voiced by the ubiquitous Mel Blanc.
47…Mo. town..STL
The city of Saint Louis, Missouri was founded by French explorers in 1763. Sitting on the Mississippi River it grew into a very busy port. By the 1850s was the second busiest port in the country, with only New York moving more freight.
49…With 113-Across, “Funeral in Berlin” author..LEN
113…See 49-Across..DEIGHTON
I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same village in Ireland (probably my only claim to fame!). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.
50…Waikiki wingding..LUAU
Nowadays the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of “poi”, the bulbous underground stems of taro baked with coconut milk.
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, and home to the famous Waikiki Beach. The name “Waikiki” means “spouting fresh water” in Hawaiian.
A wingding is a wild and enthusiastic celebration. This meaning of the term started to be used in the late 1940s. Back in the twenties, “wingding” was hobo slang, a word describing a fake seizure designed to attract attention and sympathy.
55…Tiger, e.g…CAT
Tigers are the largest of all the cat species. They are referred to as “apex predators” (as are lions and humans, for example), meaning that tigers are at the top of the food chain and aren’t the prey of any other animal.
56…Churchill, notably..ORATOR
Soon after Winston Churchill took over as Prime Minister of the UK in 1940, he delivered some stirring speeches that rallied the country in the face of German victories right across Europe. The first of these was his “Blood, toil, tears, and sweat” speech as he reported the formation of a new coalition government designed to unite the country in time of war. The second was his “We shall fight on the beaches” speech, as he reported the successful evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk. The third speech concluded with, “This was their finest hour”, words delivered to Parliament just as France fell, and Churchill pledged that the British Commonwealth would fight on, alone if necessary. The last lines of this third speech, from this magnificent orator, were:
… But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, ‘This was their finest hour’.
58…Curaçao cocktail..MAI TAI
The Mai Tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts Orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum.
The liqueur known as Curaçao comes from the island of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. The liqueur is usually given artificial coloring to make it suitable for use in exotic cocktails. The common colors used are blue and orange.
60…American Red Cross founder Barton..CLARA
Clara Barton was deeply disturbed by her experiences caring for the wounded during the Civil War. She dedicated herself after the war towards American recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was inevitably formed, in 1881, and Barton was installed as its first president.
64…”Popeye” pirate..SEA HAG
The Sea Hag is Popeye’s archenemy, sailing the seas with her pet vulture Bernard, on her boat called “The Black Barnacle”.
66…Racing Unsers..ALS
The Unser family seems to have racing cars in its blood. Al Unser, Sr. won the Indy 500 on four occasions. Al’s brother Jerry was the first of the Unsers to compete at Indianapolis. Al’s other brother Bobby, won the Indy three times. Al’s son, Al Junior, won the Indy twice. Al Junior’s son is also a racing driver who competes at the Indy Speedway.
68…Zen garden piece..STONE
Japanese Zen gardens are inspired by the meditation gardens of Zen Buddhist temples. Zen gardens have no water in them, but often there is gravel and sand that is raked in patterns designed to create the impression of water in waves and ripples.
73…Lifesaver, initially..EMT
Emergency medical technician (EMT)
74…Potted dwarf..BONSAI
The term “bonsai” is used more correctly to describe the Japanese art of growing carefully shaped trees in containers, although it has come to be used as the name for all miniature trees in pots.
75…*Noted WWII lifesaver..SCHINDLER (giving “Schindler’s List”)
Oskar Schindler is the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List”. Schindler was a real person who survived WWII. During the Holocaust, Schindler managed to save almost 1,200 Jews from perishing by employing them in his factories. After the war, Schindler and his wife were left penniless having used his assets to protect and feed his workers. For years the couple survived on the charity of Jewish groups. Schindler tried to make a go of it in business again but never had any real success. He died a pauper in 1974 in Hildesheim, not far from Hanover. His last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi Party to be buried on Mount Zion.
79…Drive-thru burger chain whose name has two hyphens..IN-N-OUT
In-N-Out Burger is a fast food chain that’s very popular out here on the left coast. Unusually for a fast food business, In-N-Out Burger has no franchises and is privately owned. The company also prides itself on paying all employees above minimum wage. Also, if you check the packaging of the food and drink items, you’ll find a bible verse discreetly printed on the bottom of cups and wrappers, reflecting the Christian beliefs held by the company owners.
82…Squat..NIL
“Squat” is a slang word meaning “nothing”, and is a term that probably has a distasteful derivation related to a bodily function.
86…It has Air, Mini and Pro versions..IPAD
The groundbreaking iPad was introduced by Apple in 2010. The iOS-based iPads dominated the market for tablet computers until 2013, when Android-based tablets (manufactured by several companies) took over the number-one spot.
88…Part of a circ…SEG
A segment (seg.) is part of a circle (circ.).
91…Stooge with a bowl haircut..MOE
Moe Howard was the stage name of Moses Harry Horwitz. Howard was one of the Three Stooges. In 1925, he married Helen Schonberger, who was a cousin of Harry Houdini.
92…Center of Florida?..EPCOT
EPCOT Center (now just called Epcot) is the theme park beside Walt Disney World in Florida. EPCOT is an acronym standing for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, and is a representation of the future as envisioned by Walt Disney. Walt Disney actually wanted to build a living community for 20,000 residents at EPCOT, but he passed away without that vision being realized.
95…Name on the 1984 album “My Kind of Country”..REBA
Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom called “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007.
96…Cologne cooler..EIS
In German, “Eis” (ice) is frozen “Wasser” (water).
Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Koln” in German.
97…NYC commuter letters..MTA
The MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). MTA might also refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as the Metro and sometimes the MTA.
105…King with a pipe..COLE
Old King Cole was a merry old soul
And a merry old soul was he;
He called for his pipe, and he called for his bowl
And he called for his fiddlers three.
Every fiddler he had a fiddle,
And a very fine fiddle had he;
Oh there’s none so rare, as can compare
With King Cole and his fiddlers three.
115…1990 #1 rap hit..ICE ICE BABY
“Ice Ice Baby” is 1990 song released by rap artists Vanilla Ice and DJ Earthquake.
120…Links seen at pga.com..URLS
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).
122…Furry sci-fi creature..EWOK
The Ewoks are creatures who live on the moon of Endor, first appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. They’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.
124…Duma vote..NYET
“Nyet” is Russian for “no”, and “da” is Russian for “yes”.
A “duma” is a representative assembly in Russia. The word “dumat” in Russian means “to think, consider”.
125…Lose intensity..WANE
The verbs “to wax” and “to wane” come from Old English. To wax is to increase gradually in size, strength, intensity or number. To wane is to decrease gradually.
Down
1…Letters connected to theater capacity..SRO
Standing room only (SRO)
2…Collectible baseball card brand..TOPPS
Topps was a relaunch of an older company called American Leaf Tobacco, with the Topps name used from 1938. The earlier company was in trouble because it could not get supplies of its Turkish tobacco, so it moved into another chewy industry, making bubblegum. Nowadays, Topps is known for including (mainly) sports-themed trading cards in the packs of gum.
3…Boston-to-D.C. rail service..ACELA
The Acela Express is the fastest train routinely running in the US, getting up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. The brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.
5…*Second-longest reigning British monarch..VICTORIA (giving “Victoria’s Secret”)
Queen Victoria ruled over the UK from 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign saw the expansion of the British Empire, especially with the incorporation of British possessions on the Indian subcontinent. Indeed, for the last quarter century of her reign, Victoria also used the title Empress of India.
Princess Elizabeth became queen Elizabeth II in 1952 when her father, King George VI died. The Princess was on an official visit to Kenya when her husband broke the news to her, that she had become queen. When she was crowned in 1953 in Westminster Abbey, it was the first coronation to be televised. Queen Elizabeth II’s reign is longest in the history of the UK.
Victoria’s Secret was founded in 1977 in San Francisco, California. The founder wanted to create an environment where men were comfortable buying lingerie for their wives or girlfriends, an alternative to a department store.
6…Blue heron kin..EGRET
Egrets are a group of several species of white herons. Many egret species were faced with extinction in the 1800s and early 1900s due to plume hunting, a practice driven by the demand for egret plumes that could be incorporated into hats.
The Great Blue Heron is native to North and Central America, but very occasionally is spotted over in Europe. There is even a Great Blue Heron that isn’t blue at all, but is white. The white Great Blue Heron is found in the Caribbean and southern Florida.
7…Peter Benchley thriller..THE DEEP
“The Deep” is novel by Peter Benchley (who also wrote “Jaws”). “The Deep” was adapted into a 1977 film starring Robert Shaw, Nick Nolte and a very attractive Jacqueline Bisset.
8…Giants great Mel..OTT
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.
9…*First of all?..ADAM (giving “Adam’s apple”)
The voice box or larynx is where pitch and volume of sound are manipulated when we talk. The structure called the Adam’s apple that protrudes from the human neck is formed by the thyroid cartilage that surrounds the larynx. The Adam’s apple of males tends to increase in size during puberty, so the feature tended to be associated more with males in days gone by, perhaps leading to the name “Adam’s” apple.
12…Bilingual subj…ESL
English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
13…Award declined by George C. Scott..OSCAR
“Patton” is an excellent biographical movie about General George Patton and his exploits during WWII. The film was released in 1970 and starred George C. Scott in the title role. “Patton” won seven Oscars including Best Picture and one for Scott as Best Actor. Scott refused his award saying that he disliked “acting competitions”. In so doing, he became the first actor to refuse an Oscar.
14…Company with a blue bird logo..TWITTER
The familiar blue Twitter logo is known as “Larry the Bird”, and was named former Boston Celtics player Larry Bird.
15…Used Lyft, say..RODE
Lyft is a ridesharing service that is based in San Francisco, as is Lyft’s biggest competitor: Uber.
17…Barcelona-born muralist..SERT
José Maria Sert was a painter of murals from Catalan, and a friend of fellow-artist Salvador Dali.
23…Line crosser..SCAB
We first started calling strikebreakers “scabs” in the early 1800s, and before that a scab was a person who refused to join a trade union (back as early 1777). The word probably comes from the use of “scab” as a symptom of a skin disease, and so is a term that is meant to insult.
25…SpaceX CEO Musk..ELON
SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is a space transportation company that was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, veteran of PayPal and Tesla Motors. In 2012, SpaceX became the first private concern to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. Apparently, SpaceX is the lowest-price player in the game.
27…Chicago’s __ Center..AON
The Aon Center in Chicago is the third-tallest building in the city. There is also an Aon Center in Los Angeles that is the second-tallest building in that city.
31…Carlo __: wine brand..ROSSI
Carlo Rossi is a brand of wine produced by E & J Gallo. The name was chosen in honor of a salesman working for the winery named Charles Rossi, who was also a member of the Gallo family by marriage. Charles Rossi used to appear in TV ads for the wine in seventies.
39…Consequence of the telemarketing boom..NO CALL LIST
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established in 1914 with the mission of protecting consumers. The FTC runs the National Do Not Call Registry which can limit the amount of telemarketing calls that consumers receive. To register your number, simply go to the website www.donotcall.gov.
40…It’s in our genes..DNA
DNA was first isolated in 1869 by Swiss physician and biologist. The molecular structure of DNA was identified in 1953, by the American and British team of James Watson and Francis Crick.
43…Upgrade, as on Yelp..RERATE
yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.
44…Vet student’s workplace..ANATOMY LAB
“Vet” is an abbreviation for “veterinarian”, a professional who treat animals for disease and injury. The word “veterinary” comes from the Latin “veterinae” meaning “working animals, beasts of burden”.
47…Type of massage..SHIATSU
“Shiatsu” is a Japanese word meaning “finger pressure”, and is the name given to a style of massage.
48…Student advocacy gp…PTA
Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
53…Earth goddess..GAEA
The Greek goddess personifying the earth was Gaea (meaning “land” or “earth” in Greek). The Roman equivalent goddess was Terra Mater, “Mother Earth”.
54…Subj. with unknowns..ALG
Algebra (alg.) is a branch of mathematics in which arithmetical operations are performed on variables rather than specific numbers (x,y etc). The term “algebra” comes from the Arabic “al jebr” meaning “reunion of broken parts”.
63…Classic for which Pavarotti won a Grammy..’O SOLE MIO
“‘O sole mio” is a famous Italian song from Naples, written in 1898. The song’s lyrics are usually sung in the original Neapolitan, as opposed to Italian. The title translates from Neapolitan into “My Sun” (and not into “O, My Sun” as one might expect). It’s a love song of course, sung by a young man declaring that there is a sun brighter than that in the sky, the sun that is his lover’s face. Awww …
Luciano Pavarotti has to have been one of the most celebrated tenors of all time. He was able to appeal to audiences beyond the traditional fans of opera, helped by his performances “The Three Tenors”, Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Pavarotti made his final performance on stage at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where he sang his famous rendition of the moving aria “Nessun dorma” and brought the house down. Pavarotti passed away from pancreatic cancer the following year, at the age of 71.
70…Legal scholar Guinier..LANI
Lani Guinier was the first African-American woman to achieve tenure at Harvard Law School.
71…Lacking width and depth..ONE-D
The dimension of an object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify each point in the object. Therefore a line is one-dimensional, as you only need an x-coordinate to specify a particular point on the line. A surface is two-dimensional, as you need both an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate to locate a point on the surface. The inside of a solid object is then three-dimensional, needing an x-, y- and z-coordinate to specify a point, say within a cube.
72…Worst of the worst..DREGS
The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), is also called “lees”.
74…Drink, in Dover..BEV
Dover is a town and port in the county of Kent on the south coast of England. Dover lies just 25 miles from the coast of France, and is a terminus on the much-used Dover-Calais ferry service. The town is also famous its magnificent chalk cliffs that are known as the White Cliffs of Dover.
78…Foreman stat..KOS
George Foreman is a former World Heavyweight Champion boxer and Olympic gold medalist. Famously, Foreman lost his title to Muhammad Ali in the 1974 title fight that was billed as “the Rumble in the Jungle”. Foreman is also known for promoting the George Foreman Grill, and for naming all five of his sons “George”.
82…”Fresh Air” airer..NPR
“Fresh Air” is a marvelous radio talk show broadcast on NPR, hosted by Terry Gross. The first broadcast of the program was made in 1975, with Judy Blank hosting. Terry Gross took over a few months later, and Gross has been presenting and producing the show ever since. I had the privilege of hearing Terry Gross give a talk here in my hometown some years ago. What a fascinating woman she is, full of great stories about the her experiences interviewing so many interesting personalities.
83…Country on St. George’s Channel..IRE
St. George’s Channel is a sea channel lying south of the Irish Sea and north of the Celtic Sea, separating Wales from the southeast of Ireland.
85…*Memorable 1968 role for Mia..ROSEMARY (giving “Rosemary’s Baby”)
“Rosemary’s Baby” is a novel by Ira Levin. It is a horror story, and was made into a very creepy 1968 film of the same name starring Mia Farrow. Levin published a sequel in 1997 titled “Son of Rosemary”. He dedicated the sequel to Mia Farrow.
87…Treat on a stick..POPSICLE
The term “ice pop” has been supplanted in the US by “popsicle”, as the Popsicle brand of ice pop became so popular. We still use “ice pop” in Ireland, and in the UK the same thing is called an “ice lolly”, and in Australia it’s an “ice block”.
93…*First human woman, in Greek myth..PANDORA (giving “Pandora’s box”)
According to Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. She was created by the gods, with each god bestowing on her a gift. Her name can be translated from Greek as “all-gifted”. Pandora is famous for the story of “Pandora’s Box”. In actual fact, the story should be about Pandora’s “Jar” as a 16th-century error in translation created a “box” out of the “jar”. In the story of Pandora’s Box, curiosity got the better of her and she opened up a box she was meant to leave alone. As a result she released all the evils of mankind, just closing it in time to trap hope inside.
96…Perry’s creator..ERLE
I must have read all of the Perry Mason books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.
97…CalArts degree..MFA
Master of Fine Arts (MFA)
The California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) is a private school located in Santa Clarita, California. CalArts was founded in 1961 by merging the Chouinard Art Institute and the Los Angeles conservatory, a merger that was very much sponsored by Walt Disney.
99…Eight, to Mozart..ACHT
The Austrian composer’s full name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The name “Wolfgang” translates literally as “wolf journey”. Amadeus translates as “love god”!
101…Street fare seekers..HACKS
Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave it’s name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxi driver or cab.
102…Luxurious fur..SABLE
Sables are small mammals about two feet long, found right across northern Europe and northern Asia. The sable’s pelt is highly prized in the fur trade. Sable is unique among furs in that it feels smooth no matter which direction it is stroked.
104…Bonnie or Clyde..TEXAN
Bonnie and Clyde were criminals who robbed and killed their way across the central US during the Great Depression. Clyde Barrow was born a desperately poor young boy just south of Dallas, Texas. He was always in trouble with the law, first getting arrested at the age of 16. He met Bonnie Parker in 1930 at a friend’s house, and the smitten Parker followed Clyde into a life of crime. The pair were killed by a posse of Texas police officers just four years later in Louisiana.
106…Lerner collaborator..LOEWE
Frederick Loewe was a composer best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, the most famous of which were “My Fair Lady”, “Gigi” and “Camelot”.
107…Company with an ironically crooked logo..ENRON
After all the trials following the exposure of fraud at Enron, several of the key players ended up in jail. Andrew Fastow was the Chief Financial Officer. He plea-bargained and received ten years without parole, and became the key witness in the trials of others. Even Fastow’s wife was involved and she was sentenced to one year for helping her husband hide money. Jeffrey Skilling (ex-CEO) was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months. Kenneth Lay (CEO) died in 2006 after he had been found guilty but before he could be sentenced. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of pertinent documents and deleting emails and files (a decision that the Supreme Court later overturned on a technicality). But still, Arthur Andersen collapsed under the weight of the scandal and 85,000 people lost their jobs (despite only a handful being directly involved with Enron).
108…Shadow targets..LIDS
That would be eye shadow.
109…Beige shade..ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.
110…Marsh duck..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.
112…Computer game title island..MYST
In the days when I played the occasional video game, the best of the bunch was undoubtedly “Myst”. It is a game full of puzzles with the player wandering through a beautifully-designed (for its day) interactive world.
114…Gloomy fellow..GUS
The original “Gloomy Gus” was a pessimistic character in newspaper comics in the early 1900s, introduced by illustrator Frederick Burr.
117…Tool for Cupid..BOW
Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor. The Roman counterpart to Eros was Cupid.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1…Twinkler..STAR
5…Block from the White House..VETO
9…Sunburn salve..ALOE
13…Others, in Oaxaca..OTROS
18…Almond __: candy..ROCA
19…Like jeggings..TIGHT
20…Fist bumps..DAPS
21…Talked a blue streak?..SWORE
22…Ill-kept confidence..OPEN SECRET
24…Seasonal drink..APPLE CIDER
26…Tossed a bone to..PLACATED
27…Playground retort..AM SO!
28…Up-to-the-minute..LATEST
29…”I never __ purple cow … “: Burgess..SAW A
30…New Mexico county bordering El Paso..OTERO
32…Dance partner..ESCORT
34…Mr. or Mrs…ABBR
36…Hard-to-imagine period..EON
37…It’s charged..ION
38…Winds up or winds down..ENDS
42…*English surgeon Henry..GRAY (giving “Gray’s Anatomy”)
45…Talks like Daffy..LISPS
47…Mo. town..STL
48…Like a paddling surfer..PRONE
49…With 113-Across, “Funeral in Berlin” author..LEN
50…Waikiki wingding..LUAU
51…Sounded nostalgic about..SIGHED AT
55…Tiger, e.g…CAT
56…Churchill, notably..ORATOR
58…Curaçao cocktail..MAI TAI
60…American Red Cross founder Barton..CLARA
62…Prankster’s missile..WATER BOMB
64…”Popeye” pirate..SEA HAG
66…Racing Unsers..ALS
68…Zen garden piece..STONE
69…Match made in heaven..SOUL MATES
71…Kept from squeaking..OILED
73…Lifesaver, initially..EMT
74…Potted dwarf..BONSAI
75…*Noted WWII lifesaver..SCHINDLER (giving “Schindler’s List”)
77…Sticks figure..YOKEL
79…Drive-thru burger chain whose name has two hyphens..IN-N-OUT
81…Make a home..RESIDE
82…Squat..NIL
84…Summary..OVERVIEW
86…It has Air, Mini and Pro versions..IPAD
88…Part of a circ…SEG
89…Fervently wishes..PRAYS
91…Stooge with a bowl haircut..MOE
92…Center of Florida?..EPCOT
94…Govt. guidelines..STDS
95…Name on the 1984 album “My Kind of Country”..REBA
96…Cologne cooler..EIS
97…NYC commuter letters..MTA
98…Thunder sound..PEAL
100…Pains..THROES
103…Courier and Roman..FONTS
105…King with a pipe..COLE
108…Very destructive..LETHAL
111…Nursery cry..MAMA!
113…See 49-Across..DEIGHTON
115…1990 #1 rap hit..ICE ICE BABY
117…Specialized slicing tools..BOX CUTTERS
119…Chugged, say..DRANK
120…Links seen at pga.com..URLS
121…Doctoral candidate’s hurdles..ORALS
122…Furry sci-fi creature..EWOK
123…Huffy states..SULKS
124…Duma vote..NYET
125…Lose intensity..WANE
126…Prevent..DENY
Down
1…Letters connected to theater capacity..SRO
2…Collectible baseball card brand..TOPPS
3…Boston-to-D.C. rail service..ACELA
4…Took off..RAN AWAY
5…*Second-longest reigning British monarch..VICTORIA (giving “Victoria’s Secret”)
6…Blue heron kin..EGRET
7…Peter Benchley thriller..THE DEEP
8…Giants great Mel..OTT
9…*First of all?..ADAM (giving “Adam’s apple”)
10…Slip..LAPSE
11…Facing..OPPOSITE
12…Bilingual subj…ESL
13…Award declined by George C. Scott..OSCAR
14…Company with a blue bird logo..TWITTER
15…Used Lyft, say..RODE
16…Mining haul..ORES
17…Barcelona-born muralist..SERT
19…Leaves for a Chinese dinner..TEA
23…Line crosser..SCAB
25…SpaceX CEO Musk..ELON
27…Chicago’s __ Center..AON
31…Carlo __: wine brand..ROSSI
33…Money immediately available..COLD CASH
35…Book jacket entry..BLURB
39…Consequence of the telemarketing boom..NO CALL LIST
40…It’s in our genes..DNA
41…Disappeared from view..SET
42…Looks really happy..GLOWS
43…Upgrade, as on Yelp..RERATE
44…Vet student’s workplace..ANATOMY LAB
46…Send for..SUMMON
47…Type of massage..SHIATSU
48…Student advocacy gp…PTA
50…Folk tales..LORE
52…Ownership claim … and a hint to the relationship of each answer to a starred clue to a word it intersects..IT’S MINE!
53…Earth goddess..GAEA
54…Subj. with unknowns..ALG
57…Approaching the hour..TEN TO
59…Coarsely insulting, as language..ABUSIVE
61…Vice squad incursions..RAIDS
63…Classic for which Pavarotti won a Grammy..’O SOLE MIO
65…Frenzied..HECTIC
67…Did some farm work..SEEDED
70…Legal scholar Guinier..LANI
71…Lacking width and depth..ONE-D
72…Worst of the worst..DREGS
74…Drink, in Dover..BEV
76…Hot..IRATE
78…Foreman stat..KOS
80…Have a loan from..OWE TO
82…”Fresh Air” airer..NPR
83…Country on St. George’s Channel..IRE
85…*Memorable 1968 role for Mia..ROSEMARY (giving “Rosemary’s Baby”)
87…Treat on a stick..POPSICLE
90…”Really, Captain Obvious?”..YA THINK?
93…*First human woman, in Greek myth..PANDORA (giving “Pandora’s box”)
94…Scheduled..SLOTTED
96…Perry’s creator..ERLE
97…CalArts degree..MFA
99…Eight, to Mozart..ACHT
101…Street fare seekers..HACKS
102…Luxurious fur..SABLE
104…Bonnie or Clyde..TEXAN
106…Lerner collaborator..LOEWE
107…Company with an ironically crooked logo..ENRON
108…Shadow targets..LIDS
109…Beige shade..ECRU
110…Marsh duck..TEAL
112…Computer game title island..MYST
114…Gloomy fellow..GUS
116…Ballerina’s hairdo..BUN
117…Tool for Cupid..BOW
118…Hawk’s domain..SKY
29:21, no errors, iPad (because my paper hasn’t been delivered yet). A mercifully easy one. I became aware that there was a theme only when I read the clue for 52D, but forgot to check it out at the end.
At first put off by how easy C.C. Burnikel’s puzzle was, I began to appreciate the cleverness of the theme and had fun with it from about midway on. Nice, if undemanding, Sunday diversion.
Re the Purple Cow rhyme: When I was a kid (in ancient times) milk was not homogenized like it is now. It was pasteurized and delivered in glass bottles to peoples’ doors. Cream in the milk always rose to the top of the bottle resulting in a thin color of the milk, due to not having much milk fat. The famous Purple Cow rhyme was a bit more funny then. It went:
I never saw a purple cow,
I never hope to see one .
But, by the purple milk we get,
I know that there must be one.
I had a tougher time with this one than you guys did. I finished, but I never could get much momentum. I never seemed on the same page with the cluing. I slept in pretty late this morning. Maybe I’ll blame it all on my biorhythms…
NYT Sunday from last week I did today was tougher. Certainly didn’t have my A game today.
Best –
One letter!
Natick for me at A*N/OTER*
Thanks for explaining the theme, Bill.
I never saw it.
And shadow target- LID escaped me as well.
Hey folks!
So Dave, I don’t know what time zone you’re in, but it appears that you’re up just about the time I go to sleep!!!
Pookie! I had the very same Natick as you — I guessed for that “0” , but still a DNF for me. This was a little easier than most Sundays but I was getting tired and cheated on a few.
Sweet dreams~~™???