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Constructed by: Lee Taylor
Edited by: Rich Norris
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Today’s Theme: Right for the Job
Themed answers are inventive names for people who are “right for the job”. They sound like phrases that apply to the occupation cited in the clue:
- 27A. Aptly named therapist? : OPHELIA PAINE (“I feel your pain”)
- 39A. Aptly named dietitian? : EATON WRIGHT (“eating right”)
- 93A. Aptly named easy chair salesman? : RICK KLEINER (“recliner”)
- 108A. Aptly named gardener? : ALONSO GREENE (“a lawn so green”)
- 13D. Aptly named editor? : ADELINE MOORE (“add a line more”)
- 24D. Aptly named sommelier? : MERL O’DALEY (“merlot daily”)
- 59D. Aptly named barber? : LES OFFENBACH (“less off in back”)
- 62D. Aptly named policewoman? : LAURA BIDEN (“law abiding”)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 18m 38s
Bill’s errors: 0
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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. “Rubáiyát” poet : OMAR
Omar Khayyam was a Persian with many talents. He was a poet as well as an important mathematician, astronomer and physician. A selection of his poems were translated by one Edward Fitzgerald in a collection called “Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam”. Here are some famous lines from that collection:
Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse — and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness —
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.
8. Regional UN headquarters since 1946 : GENEVA
The United Nations (UN) headquarters in Manhattan, New York City was completed in 1952. The organization also has three main offices around the world, in Geneva (opened in 1946), in Nairobi (opened in 1996) and in Vienna (opened in 1980).
19. Lead-in for carte or mode : A LA
On a restaurant menu, items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked “table d’hôte” (also called “prix fixe”) is a fixed-price menu with limited choice. “Table d’hôte” translates as “table of the host”.
In French, “à la mode” simply means “fashionable”. In America, the term has also come to describe a way of serving pie. Pie served à la mode includes a dollop of cream or ice cream, or as I recall from my time living in Upstate New York, with a wedge of cheddar cheese.
20. “__ la France!” : VIVE
“Vive la France” is usually translated from French for “Long live France” or “Hurrah for France”.
22. Jobs creation : APPLE
Steve Jobs certainly was a business icon in Silicon Valley. I don’t think it is too surprising to learn that the brilliant Jobs didn’t even finish his college education, dropping out of Reed College in Oregon after only one semester. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976, but in 1985 he was basically fired from his own company during the computer sales slump of the mid-eighties. Jobs then founded NeXT Computer, a company focused on supplying workstations to the higher education and business markets. Apple purchased NeXT in 1996, and that’s how Jobs found himself back with his original company.
23. Australian island state : TASMANIA
Tasmania is the large island lying off the southeast coast of Australia. The Dutch explorer Abel Tasman was the first European to sail past the island, in 1642. Tasman named his discovery Van Diemen’s Land after the Governor of the Dutch East Indies, Anthony van Dieman. The name was officially changed to Tasmania, after the discoverer himself, in 1856. In Australia a more familiar name used is “Tassie”.
26. Capricious notions : WHIMS
Something “capricious” is impulsive or unpredictable. The term comes into English from the Italian “capriccio” meaning “sudden start or motion”, which in turn comes from the Latin word “capreolus” meaning “wild goat”.
31. Like many a tree at Christmas : LIT
The custom of decorating trees at Christmas seems to have originated in Renaissance Germany. Those first trees were placed in guildhalls and were decorated with sweets and candy for the apprentices and children. After the Protestant Reformation, the Christmas tree became an alternative in Protestant homes for the Roman Catholic Christmas cribs. The Christmas tree tradition was imported into Britain by the royal family because of its German heritage. That tradition spread from Britain into North America.
33. Self-described “King of All Media” : STERN
Howard Stern is one of the original “shock jocks” who seems now to have found his niche on uncensored satellite radio (SiriusXM).
35. Frat party wear : TOGA
In Ancient Rome the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.
36. Electric car brand : TESLA
Tesla Motors is a manufacturer of electric vehicles based in Palo Alto, California. Tesla is noted for producing the first electric sports car, called the Tesla Roadster. The company followed the sports car with a luxury sedan, the Model S. The Model S was the world’s best selling plug-in electric vehicle of 2015.
38. One of the Gershwins : IRA
Ira Gershwin was the lyricist who worked with his brother George to create such American classics as the songs “I Got Rhythm” and “Someone to Watch Over Me”, as well as the opera “Porgy and Bess”. After George Gershwin died, Ira continued to create great music, working with the likes of Jerome Kern and Kurt Weill.
42. Capital with a Viking Ship Museum : OSLO
The most famous exhibit in Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum is the completely intact Oseberg ship. Named for the farm where it was discovered, the Oseberg ship was excavated from a large burial mound that dates back to 834 AD. The interment is an example of a “ship burial”, in which a ship was used as a container for a dead body and associated grave goods. The Oseberg ship included the bodies of two elderly females, one of which may have been included as a human sacrifice.
47. Pull a fast one on : HOODWINK
“To hoodwink” has had the meaning “to deceive” since about 1600. Prior to that it meant simply “to blindfold”, and is simply a combining of the words “hood” and “wink”.
52. Mangabeys, e.g. : MONKEYS
There are three genera of mangabeys, all of which are monkeys native to Africa:
- The crested mangabey
- The highland mangabey
- The white-eyelid mangabey
55. Goes back to the front, perhaps : RE-UPS
To re-up is to re-enlist, say in the armed forces.
57. URL ending : ORG
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).
59. Ties off in surgery : LIGATES
In the context of surgery, a ligature is a suture tied around an anatomical structure, usually around a blood vessel. The term “ligature” comes from the Latin “ligare” meaning “to bind”.
61. Cats native to much of the Americas : OCELOTS
The ocelot is found mainly in South and Central America, although there have been sightings as far north as Arkansas. An ocelot doesn’t look too different from a domestic cat, and some have been kept as pets. Perhaps most famously, Salvador Dali had one that he carried around everywhere with him.
66. Unit on the set : TAKE
That would be a take on a movie set.
67. Mexican coin : PESO
The coin called a peso is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.
68. Prominent Dumbo feature : EARS
The 1941 Disney animated film “Dumbo” was made a year after the feature called “Fantasia” was released. “Dumbo” was largely a commercial venture. The film was made quickly and released in theaters as soon as possible, the idea being to recoup the financial losses incurred by “Fantasia”.
70. Mine access : ADIT
An adit is specific type of mine access, a horizontal shaft that extends into the mine. This can be compared with the more traditional vertical shaft that is used for access into most mines. Adits make sense when the ore is located inside a mountain or hill, as opposed to “underground”, as they allow the mine entrances to be on the valley floor.
71. TV’s Buffy and Faith, e.g. : SLAYERS
“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is a TV show about a line of young women known as “Slayers”, who fight against forces of darkness such as vampires and demons. The title character is Buffy Summers, played by Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Faith Lehane is one of the Vampire slayers on the show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”. She is played by actress Eliza Dushku. Dushku was a minor when she joined the show, and had to go through the legal process of emancipation in order to put in the long hours required in production. The 17-year-old went through that process in order to sidestep child labor laws.
73. Moral consideration : SCRUPLE
A scruple is a moral consideration that inhibits certain actions. The term “scruple” comes from the Latin “scrupulus”, which has the same meaning, but is also the word for a small stone. The Latin word was first used in the figurative sense by Cicero to describe a source of uneasiness, most likely drawing on the notion of a pebble in one’s shoe.
79. Shade-tolerant garden plant : HOSTA
The Hosta genus of plant was once classified as a lily, but is now in a family of its own and is described as “lily-like”. The plant was given the name “Hosta” in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host.
80. Old schoolmaster’s disciplinary tool : FERULE
A ferula (also “ferule”) is a flat piece of wood that was used for corporal punishment. A teacher would rap the unfortunate child a few times on the palm of the hand. Sadly, I was on the wrong end of the ferula once or twice in my youth.
86. Bowed, in Basra : SALAAMED
The word “salaam” is an Anglicized spelling of the Arabic word for “peace”. It can describe an act of deference, and in particular a very low bow.
Basra is a Iraq’s main port, and is located in the south of the country, 34 miles from the Persian Gulf. Access to the gulf is via the Shatt al-Arab waterway, a river that discharges into the gulf in the port city of Umm Qasr.
88. Chocolate source : CACAO
Chocolate is made from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree. The seeds are very bitter and the traditional drink made with the seed was called “xocolatl” by the Aztecs, meaning “bitter water”. That’s how our “chocolate” got its name.
89. Constitution VIPs : FRAMERS
By one definition, the Founding Fathers were the leaders of the American Revolution against the British Crown. By another, they were the individuals who signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. The term “Framers” is sometimes confused with “Founding Fathers”. According to the National Archives, the Framers were the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, those who played a key role in drafting the Constitution of the United States. The phrase “Founding Fathers” is a relatively recent term, and one coined by future president Warren D. Harding in 1916.
93. Aptly named easy chair salesman? : RICK KLEINER (“recliner”)
The first reclining chairs were introduced around 1850 in France. Supposedly, the first reclining chair was owned by Napoleon III.
102. Green state? : ENVY
William Shakespeare was one of the first to associate the color green with envy. He called jealousy the “green-eyed monster” in his play “Othello”.
103. Puzzle part : PIECE
Jigsaws are saws designed for the cutting of irregular curves by hand. The original jigsaw puzzles were created by painting a picture on a sheet of wood and then cutting the picture into small pieces using a jigsaw, hence the name. Today, almost all jigsaw puzzles are pictures glued onto cardboard. The puzzle pieces are then die-cut, and there’s no jigsaw involved at all.
107. Woodcutter Ali : BABA
In the folk tale “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, the title character is a poor woodcutter who discovers the magic words “open sesame”, which open the thieves’ den.
111. Thorny plant : BRIAR
“Briar” is a generic name for several plants that have thorns or prickles, including the rose. Famously, Br’er Rabbit lives in a briar patch.
113. “MASH” director : ALTMAN
Film director Robert Altman seemed to have more than his fair share of career ups and downs. He was nominated for the Best Director Oscar five times, but never won. However, he was given an Academy Honorary Award in 2006. He made some great movies, including “MASH” (1970) and “Gosford Park” (2001), but also had some real flops. He directed the terrible film “Popeye” (1980), which was apparently beset by a cast and crew, including Altman himself, that were prone to drug and alcohol abuse.
“M*A*S*H” has only three stars (three asterisks, that is!). These asterisks first appeared on the poster for the 1970 movie, but they were omitted in the opening titles. The TV series went on to use the asterisks from the poster.
115. Scotty on the Enterprise, e.g. : ENGINEER
In the “Star Trek” series on television and in the movies, the colorful character named Scotty was played by the Canadian actor James Doohan. Doohan joined the Royal Canadian Artillery at the start of WWII, and participated in the D-Day Invasion of Normandy. After surviving the landing, that same day Doohan was shot by one of his own men in a tragic mishap. Doohan was hit six times, with a bullet to his chest stopped by a silver cigarette case he was carrying. One of Doohan’s fingers was shot off in the incident. He managed to conceal that injury during his acting career.
117. Spicy cuisine : CREOLE
Creole is the term used in Haiti to describe all of the native people, as well as the music, food and culture of the country. 80% of the Haitian Creole people are so called black creoles, descendants of the original Africans brought to the island as slaves during the French colonial days.
118. Kerfuffles : ADOS
“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.
121. Many-sided evils : HYDRAS
The Hydra of Lerna was a mythical sea snake that had multiple heads. Heracles had to slay the Lernaean Hydra as the second of his Twelve Labors. We now use the term “hydra” figuratively to describe a complex problem that presents new obstacles once once facet is resolved.
123. Cook in a wok : FRY
“Wok” is a Cantonese word, the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.
Down
4. __ Office : OVAL
Although there have been several “oval offices” used by US presidents in the White House, the current Oval Office was designed and constructed at the bequest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The room has four doors. One door opens onto the Rose Garden; a second door leads to a small study and dining room; a third opens onto the main corridor running through the West Wing; the fourth door opens to the office of the president’s secretary.
6. Earhart’s art : AVIATION
Amelia Earhart is as famous today as she was during her lifetime. When she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic she was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Congress, and the Cross of Knight of the Legion of Honor by the French government. She made two attempts to circumnavigate the globe by air (not solo). Her first attempt in March 1937 had to be abandoned when her aircraft was damaged during takeoff. The second attempt in June/July of the same year ended when Earhart and her navigator disappeared flying from Lae, New Guinea to Howland Island in the Central Pacific.
7. Grim character? : REAPER
The Grim Reaper is one of the personifications of death, along with the Hooded One and the Angel of Death. Death has been depicted since the 1400s as a skeleton in a hooded, black cloak and carrying a scythe. The name “Grim Reaper” only dates back to the mid-1800s.
8. Tiny amount : GRAIN
The unit mass known as a grain is equivalent to about 65 milligrams. The term “grain” is a throwback to antiquity, when units of mass were based on units of cereal grains. The modern “grain” was equal to the weight of a single grain of barley, and was equivalent to 1⅓ grains of wheat. The grain isn’t used very widely anymore. The weight of bullets and arrows can be measured in grains, as can some older medicines.
11. Former NHL forward Tikkanen : ESA
Esa Tikkanen is a retired hockey player from Finland. He was on the winning team in five Stanley Cup finals, between 1985 to 1994.
12. Hunter’s meat : VENISON
Venison is the meat of a deer. In days of yore, the term “venison” applied not just to deer, but to any large game. The word ultimately derives from the Latin “venare” meaning “to hunt”.
15. Dashboard letters : MPH
Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hoofs of the horses. Quite interesting …
16. Afterword : EPILOGUE
Our word “epilog” (also “epilogue”) applies to an addition at the end of a play or other literary work. The term ultimately comes from the Greek “epi-” signifying “in addition”, and “logos” meaning “speech”.
24. Aptly named sommelier? : MERL O’DALEY (“merlot daily”)
“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the French term is “sommelière”.
Merlot is one of the main grapes used to make Bordeaux wines, along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.
28. __ Spring : ARAB
The term “Arab Spring” has been applied to the wave of protests, riots and civil wars that impacted the Arab world from 2010 to 2012. The uprisings were sparked by the Tunisian Revolution at the end of 2010 that led to the ouster of the longtime president and the institution of democratic elections. The period of instability that followed in some Arab League countries has been dubbed the “Arab Winter”
30. USA Patriot Act, e.g. : LAW
The USA PATRIOT Act was signed into law in 2001 soon after the September 11th terrorist attacks. The name of the act is actually an acronym, standing for “Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”.
40. Ouzo flavoring : ANISE
Ouzo is an apéritif from Greece that is colorless and flavored with anise. Ouzo is similar to French pastis and Italian sambuca.
48. “Inside the NBA” analyst : O’NEAL
Retired basketball player Shaquille O’Neal now appears regularly as an analyst on the NBA TV show “Inside the NBA”. Shaq has quite a career in the entertainment world. His first rap album, called “Shaq Diesel”, went platinum. He also starred in two of his own reality show: “Shaq’s Big Challenge” and “Shaq Vs.”
49. Japanese port : OSAKA
The Japanese city of Osaka used to be called Naniwa, with the name changing to Osaka sometime before 1500. “Osaka” can be translated either as “large hill” or “large slope”. Osaka is sometimes referred to as “the Chicago of Japan” as it is a major center of commerce and industry. The city has also been named the “nation’s kitchen”, and was a center for Japan’s rice trade for centuries.
50. Kardashian matriarch : KRIS
Kris Kardashian is the matriarch of the Kardashian clan. She was married to the lawyer Robert Kardashian who was one of O. J. Simpson’s lawyers in his 1995 murder trial. The couple divorced in 1990 and Kris then married the celebrated decathlete from the 1976 Olympic Games, Bruce Jenner. That marriage ended in divorce as well, in 2015.
53. Monstrous Tolkien creations : ORCS
Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction and in fantasy games.
60. Labor Day mo. : SEPT
Labor Day is a federal holiday observed every year on the first Monday in September. The tradition of honoring workers with a holiday started in Boston in 1878, when a day of observance was organized by the Central Labor Union, the major trade union at the time. There was a bloody dispute in 1894 between labor unions and the railroads called the Pullman Strike, which led to the death of some workers when the US Military and US Marshals were instructed to maintain order. President Grover Cleveland submitted a “Labor Day” bill to Congress which was signed into law just six days after the end of the strike. The introduction of a federal holiday to honor the worker was a move designed to promote reconciliation between management and unions after the bitter conflict.
63. Loathing : ODIUM
Odium is a strong dislike or aversion. The term is Latin in origin and relates to the Latin word “odi” meaning “I hate”.
64. Information on a spine : TITLE
In the US, the convention is to write the title on the spine of a book from top-to-bottom. In most of Europe, the convention is to write the title from bottom-to-top. We have a lot of books in the “library” in our house from both sides of the Atlantic, and so there is much moving of the head from left to right as we glance along our bookshelves.
67. TA’s boss : PROF
Teaching assistant (TA)
72. Kindle download : E-BOOK
Amazon’s Kindle line of e-book readers was introduced in 2007. The name “kindle” was chosen to evoke images of “lighting a fire” through reading and intellectual stimulation. I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD not that long ago. I’ve started reading e-books for the first time in my life, as well as enjoying other computing options available with the tablet device. I love it …
75. “I copy” : ROGER
The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.
76. Gorbachev’s land: Abbr. : USSR
Mikhail Gorbachev was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until the USSR dissolved in 1991. As well being associated with the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev’s name is linked with the policies of “Perestroika” and “Glasnost”. “Perestroika” (meaning “restructuring”) was his political and economic initiative to make socialism work more efficiently to better meet the needs of consumers. “Glasnost” (meaning “publicity, openness”) was Gorbachev’s policy of increased transparency of government in order to reduce levels of corruption in the Communist Party and government.
84. Himalayan pack animals : YAKS
The English word “yak” is an Anglicized version of the Tibetan name for the male of the species. Yak milk is much prized in the Tibetan culture. It is made into cheese and butter, and the butter is used to make a tea that is consumed in great volume by Tibetans. The butter is also used as a fuel in lamps, and during festivals the butter is even sculpted into religious icons.
85. Wacky : ZANY
Something described as “zany” is clownish and bizarre. “Zany” can also be a noun, a term used for a clown or a buffoon. The original noun was “Zanni”, a Venetian dialect variant of Gianni, short for Giovanni (John). Zanni was a character who appeared in comedy plays of the day, and was someone who aped the principal actors.
87. World’s largest snake by weight : ANACONDA
Anacondas are native to the tropical regions of South America. The green anaconda is one of the world’s largest snakes, growing to 17 feet long and weighing up to 550 pounds! Anacondas are not venomous, and prefer to kill their prey by coiling around it and then squeeeeeezing …
91. To be, in Bavaria : SEIN
Bavaria in southeast Germany is the largest state in the country. The capital and largest city in Bavaria is Munich.
94. “Glee” actress __ Michele : LEA
Lea Michele is both an actor and a singer and started performing as a child actor on Broadway, including appearances in “Les Miserables” and “Fiddler on the Roof”. These days Michele plays Rachel Berry on the Fox TV show “Glee”.
100. Boat shoe brand : SPERRY
The Sperry Top-Sider is a brand of boat shoe that bears the name of company founder Paul A. Sperry. Paul was the brother of writer and illustrator Armstrong Sperry, who was noted for his historical novels set on sailing ships.
103. Corn breads : PONES
“Pone” is another name for corn bread, and comes from the Powhatan term “apan” meaning “something baked”.
107. Warner or Ringling follower : BROS
The Warner Bros. film studio was founded by four Warner brothers, although their original family name was Wonskolaser. The older brothers emigrated from Poland as children with their parents, and changed their name when they landed in Baltimore, Maryland in 1889.
The Ringling Brothers started their circus in 1884 when Barnum & Bailey already had a popular circus that was touring the Midwest. There were six Ringling Brothers in all, and they grew their business at a phenomenal rate. The circus moved from town-to-town by train, extending their reach to the eastern seaboard. So great was their success that the Ringling Brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey operation in 1907.
108. Don Juan’s love : AMOR
Don Juan is a flighty character who has been featured by a number of authors, poets and composers, including Molière, Byron, and Mozart. In the underlying legend, Don Juan ends up talking to the statue of the dead father of one of his conquests. Don Juan dines with the ghost of the dead man and when shaking the hand of the ghost he is dragged away to hell. We now use the term “Don Juan” to describe any womanizer or ladies’ man.
109. In __ land : LA-LA
“La-la land” is a euphemism for a state of unconsciousness.
110. Game of world conquest : RISK
Risk is a fabulous board game, one introduced in France in 1957. Risk was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …
114. Williams in Cooperstown : TED
As well as playing in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams served as a pilot in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War. Williams earned a few colorful nicknames during his baseball career, including “The Splendid Splinter”, “Teddy Ballgame”, “The Thumper” and “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1. Code __ : RED
4. “Rubáiyát” poet : OMAR
8. Regional UN headquarters since 1946 : GENEVA
14. Slather : SMEAR
19. Lead-in for carte or mode : A LA
20. “__ la France!” : VIVE
21. Brought up : RAISED
22. Jobs creation : APPLE
23. Australian island state : TASMANIA
25. Mysterious : ARCANE
26. Capricious notions : WHIMS
27. Aptly named therapist? : OPHELIA PAINE (“I feel your pain”)
29. Misfortunes : ILLS
31. Like many a tree at Christmas : LIT
32. __-friendly : USER
33. Self-described “King of All Media” : STERN
34. Largest continent : ASIA
35. Frat party wear : TOGA
36. Electric car brand : TESLA
38. One of the Gershwins : IRA
39. Aptly named dietitian? : EATON WRIGHT (“eating right”)
42. Capital with a Viking Ship Museum : OSLO
44. With no exceptions : BAR NONE
46. Sharp : ACUTE
47. Pull a fast one on : HOODWINK
51. Small test : QUIZ
52. Mangabeys, e.g. : MONKEYS
54. Thought of but not shared : UNSAID
55. Goes back to the front, perhaps : RE-UPS
57. URL ending : ORG
58. King’s domain : REALM
59. Ties off in surgery : LIGATES
61. Cats native to much of the Americas : OCELOTS
66. Unit on the set : TAKE
67. Mexican coin : PESO
68. Prominent Dumbo feature : EARS
70. Mine access : ADIT
71. TV’s Buffy and Faith, e.g. : SLAYERS
73. Moral consideration : SCRUPLE
77. Set of furniture : SUITE
78. Startling word : BOO!
79. Shade-tolerant garden plant : HOSTA
80. Old schoolmaster’s disciplinary tool : FERULE
81. Avoid trespassing on : STAY OFF
85. Turns sharply : ZIGS
86. Bowed, in Basra : SALAAMED
88. Chocolate source : CACAO
89. Constitution VIPs : FRAMERS
92. Like hands without mittens, maybe : NUMB
93. Aptly named easy chair salesman? : RICK KLEINER (“recliner”)
95. Big time : ERA
97. Works with flour : SIFTS
101. Pub pours : ALES
102. Green state? : ENVY
103. Puzzle part : PIECE
105. Leak : DRIP
106. Hip : MOD
107. Woodcutter Ali : BABA
108. Aptly named gardener? : ALONSO GREENE (“a lawn so green”)
111. Thorny plant : BRIAR
113. “MASH” director : ALTMAN
115. Scotty on the Enterprise, e.g. : ENGINEER
116. Slowly, in music : LENTO
117. Spicy cuisine : CREOLE
118. Kerfuffles : ADOS
119. Rowboat propeller : OAR
120. Brinks : EDGES
121. Many-sided evils : HYDRAS
122. Fail miserably : TANK
123. Cook in a wok : FRY
Down
1. Snitch on : RAT OUT
2. Tick away : ELAPSE
3. Short races : DASHES
4. __ Office : OVAL
5. Knee revealers, and then some : MINIS
6. Earhart’s art : AVIATION
7. Grim character? : REAPER
8. Tiny amount : GRAIN
9. Bring home : EARN
10. Word on Santa’s checklist : NICE
11. Former NHL forward Tikkanen : ESA
12. Hunter’s meat : VENISON
13. Aptly named editor? : ADELINE MOORE (“add a line more”)
14. Makes the cut : SAWS
15. Dashboard letters : MPH
16. Afterword : EPILOGUE
17. Supremely powerful : ALMIGHTY
18. Amends, as corporate earnings : RESTATES
24. Aptly named sommelier? : MERL O’DALEY (“merlot daily”)
28. __ Spring : ARAB
30. USA Patriot Act, e.g. : LAW
34. Including everything : A TO Z
35. Check (off) : TICK
37. Take __: enjoy the pool : A SWIM
39. Lose one’s temper : ERUPT
40. Ouzo flavoring : ANISE
41. Mountain chain : RANGE
43. Pot top : LID
45. Greenish blue : AQUA
47. Elicits an “Ouch!” : HURTS
48. “Inside the NBA” analyst : O’NEAL
49. Japanese port : OSAKA
50. Kardashian matriarch : KRIS
53. Monstrous Tolkien creations : ORCS
56. They may be inflated : EGOS
59. Aptly named barber? : LES OFFENBACH (“less off in back”)
60. Labor Day mo. : SEPT
62. Aptly named policewoman? : LAURA BIDEN (“law abiding”)
63. Loathing : ODIUM
64. Information on a spine : TITLE
65. Spirited mount : STEED
67. TA’s boss : PROF
69. Word of regret : ALAS
72. Kindle download : E-BOOK
74. Relative of a knock : CHIME
75. “I copy” : ROGER
76. Gorbachev’s land: Abbr. : USSR
77. Lines of clothing : SEAMS
80. Winter malady : FLU
81. Prepare, as eggs : SCRAMBLE
82. Fitted : TAILORED
83. Agreeing : ACCEDING
84. Himalayan pack animals : YAKS
85. Wacky : ZANY
87. World’s largest snake by weight : ANACONDA
90. Serious competition : RIVALRY
91. To be, in Bavaria : SEIN
94. “Glee” actress __ Michele : LEA
96. Move from window to aisle, say : RESEAT
98. Done with : FREE OF
99. Tone deafness : TIN EAR
100. Boat shoe brand : SPERRY
103. Corn breads : PONES
104. Goad : EGG ON
107. Warner or Ringling follower : BROS
108. Don Juan’s love : AMOR
109. In __ land : LA-LA
110. Game of world conquest : RISK
112. Had a bite : ATE
114. Williams in Cooperstown : TED
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8 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword Answers 4 Feb 2018, Sunday”
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LAT: 59 minutes, no errors. Half of that time trying to figure out the idiotic theme. Newsday: 18 minutes, 2 errors – one Natick (102A-83D), one sorta-stupid but probably a Natick too (34A-29D).
LAT: 21:35, no errors, cute theme. Newsday: 14:41, no errors. Still no clue about Friday’s WSJ meta.
I encountered ouzo in Athens in 1969. I would have said it was flavored with pine tar … and maybe street sweepings … ?
Cold. Foggy. Headed for the basement to do my back exercises … ?
Are the names those of real people?
38:55. Clever theme, but it would have been more fun if they were real people. I suspect that just wasn’t possible.
Interesting origin of “scruples” – i.e. small annoyances. I guess I just won’t bother with them then….
Best –
I just spent four solid hours working on Friday’s WSJ meta and I think it paid off! With an hour and a half to go, I came up with an answer that is either correct or the absolute mother of all red herrings. We’ll see … ?
And … drat! … I got everything right except the final step! The theme answers suggested the Roman numeral sequence II, VI, XI, LI, CI, and DI, and the title provided an MI to continue that sequence, so I foolishly came up with the 12-letter “proper noun” “Super Bowl LII”, which was played on Sunday in MInneapolis, MInnesota, instead of the correct answer: “Scheherazade” (from “1001 Nights”). I have to believe that the setter understood that some would take that final misstep! Double drat! (But I was lucky to get as much as I did … and I’d like to think that, given a few hours to sleep on it, I might have seen the red herring I was suspicious of.)
Greetings y’all! ?
Still working the puzzle but I’m about 80% done. I avoided looking at the answers and may finish on Monday, but seems pretty easy and I’m glad of that. ?
DAVE!! Remember, close DOES count in crosswords, so good job! And I’ve gotta admire your ability to focus — i completed my 80% of this Sunday puzzle in one sitting, which I NEVER do — even on a great Sunday grid I can’t sit still thru much more than half of it at a time….?
Be well~~™?
Thanks, Carrie. Still feeling a little pain from coming so close and then botching the final step (more so than if I had just shrugged and given up on the meta, as I so often do). Would you call my experience a MetaSporcle? … ?