LA Times Crossword 6 Oct 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: David Alfred Bywaters
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Time for “A” Change

Themed answers are common phrases in which the spelling of an “A” sound has been changed:

  • 20A Sumo wrestler’s asset? : HAZARDOUS WAIST (from “hazardous waste”)
  • 30A Consequence of overtweezing? : RAZED EYEBROWS (from “raised eyebrows”)
  • 49A Hawaiian tour company specialist? : LEI PERSON (from “layperson”)
  • 58A Common sight on “L.A. Law”? : DEY IN COURT (from “day in court”)
  • 80A Mid-morning coffee, say? : BREAK FLUID (from “brake fluid”)
  • 89A Problem for Roman Britain? : GAEL FORCE (from “gale force”)
  • 104A Said goodbye, dog-style? : BAYED FAREWELL (from “bade farewell”)
  • 121A Low-voiced choir member’s goal? : GET TO FIRST BASS (from “get to first base”)

Bill’s time: 15m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Followers who may be friendly or hostile : POSSE

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”.

6 Word of Gallic gratitude : MERCI

The Gauls were a Celtic race, with Gaul covering what is now known as France and Belgium. We use the term “Gallic” today, when we refer to something pertaining to France or the French.

11 Voltaire’s faith : DEISM

Deism (from the Latin “deus” meaning god) is the belief that a supreme being created the universe, a belief based on observation and reason and without the need for faith. Further, a deist does not accept divine intervention and rather believes that the supreme being, having created the universe, leaves the world to it own devices.

“Voltaire” was the pen name of French writer and philosopher François-Marie Arouet. He chose the name “Voltaire” as it is an anagram of “Arovet Li”, the Latinized spelling of his family name “Arouet”.

20 Sumo wrestler’s asset? : HAZARDOUS WAIST (from “hazardous waste”)

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

23 Agenda entry : ITEM

“Agenda” is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

28 Skunk cousin : POLECAT

“Polecat” is a term used for several different animals, most of which are in the weasel family.

Skunks have anal scent glands that can be used as defensive weapons. The glands produce sulfur-containing chemicals that have a really awful smell and that can irritate the eyes and skin.

30 Consequence of overtweezing? : RAZED EYEBROWS (from “raised eyebrows”)

Tweezers are small metal pincers used in handling small objects. Back in the 1600s, “tweeze” was the name given to the case in which such an implement was kept, and over time the case gave its name to the device itself. “Tweeze” evolved from “etweese”, the plural of “etwee”, which in turn came from “étui “, the French word for “small case”.

33 Halloween follower: Abbr. : NOV

November is the eleventh month in our calendar. The name comes from the Latin “novem” meaning “nine”, as November was the ninth month in the ancient Roman calendar.

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

34 Gutenberg’s movable invention : TYPE

The printing press was invented in the mid-15th century by German goldsmith Johannes Gutenberg. Books were printed prior to the invention of the press, but the techniques used were clumsy and slow. Gutenberg introduced the concept of movable, reusable type, which revolutionized book production. Fifty years after the introduction of Gutenberg’s press, over twenty million volumes had been produced in Western Europe.

35 Comic-Con attendee : NERD

San Diego’s Comic-Con was founded in 1970 as the Golden State Comic Book Convention. Held over four days each summer, apparently Comic-Con is the largest show in North America.

36 Met acquisition : ART

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (“the Met”) was founded in 1870 by a group of private citizens. The current museum is huge, with 2 million square feet of floor space.

45 Dizzy’s jazz genre : BEBOP

Dizzy Gillespie was a musician from Cheraw, South Carolina who was best known as a jazz trumpeter. Gillespie was also known for playing a “bent” trumpet, one with the bell projecting upwards at a 45-degree angle. The unusual configuration of the instrument came about accidentally, when a pair of dancers fell on it during a birthday party. The damage to the instrument caused a change in the tone which Gillespie liked, so he left it as is.

49 Hawaiian tour company specialist? : LEI PERSON (from “layperson”)

“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

55 Cannes concept : IDEE

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

58 Common sight on “L.A. Law”? : DEY IN COURT (from “day in court”)

Actress Susan Dey first appeared on “The Partridge Family” when she was 17-years-old when she had no acting experience. Years later, Dey won a Golden Globe for playing the leading role of Grace Van Owen in “L.A. Law”.

“L.A. Law” ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994, and was one of the network’s most successful drama series. It took over from the equally successful “Hill Street Blues” in the Thursday night 10 p.m. slot until, after a six-year run, it was itself replaced by yet another respected drama, “E.R.” The opening credits showed that famous California licence plate. The plate was on a Jaguar XJ for most of the series, but moved onto a Bentley towards the end of the run. For each series the registration sticker was updated, so no laws were being broken.

65 Three-syllable limerick foot : ANAPEST

“Anapest” is the name given to a metrical foot in poetry, one in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed one. Indeed, the name “anapest” is a good example, when pronounced an-a-pest. Here is a better example of a verse using anapest, so let’s all say it out loud together! “‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house”.

No one knows for sure how the limerick got its name, although there does seem to be agreement the name does indeed come from the city or county of Limerick in Ireland. Try this one for size:

There was a young lady named Bright
who traveled much faster than light.
She set out one day
in a relative way,
and came back the previous night.

68 Restorative : TONIC

A tonic is medication that is said to restore health. The original use of the term “tonic” was as an adjective meaning “increasing body tone”.

70 Social climber : SNOB

Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.

71 Current site of ancient Carthage : TUNISIA

The Carthaginian Republic was centered on the city of Carthage, the ruins of which are located on the coast of modern-day Tunisia. The Latin name for the people of Carthage was “Afri”. When the Romans took over Carthage, they created a province they called “Africa”. That name extended over time to include the whole continent.

74 Gazed lasciviously : LEERED

“Lascivious” is such an appropriate-sounding word, I always think. It means “lecherous, salacious”.

77 Go wild on Twitter : TREND

In the world of Twitter, for example, a phrase that is getting “tagged” by users more than other phrases is said to be “trending”.

83 Presidents’ Day phenomena : SALES

What many of us know today as “Presidents’ Day” started out as Washington’s Birthday in 1879. It was originally only observed in the District of Columbia, and on the actual birthday of President Washington: February 22. The holiday was moved to the third Monday in February by Congress in 1971. Paradoxically, this shift means that the holiday takes place between February 15-21, and never on Washington’s actual birthday, the 22nd.

85 Crosby, Stills & Nash, e.g. : TRIO

The supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. The band can grow to “CSNY” when the trio is joined by Neil Young. Fans have been known to call the act “C, S, N and sometimes Y”, a play on the expression that names all the vowels, “A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y”.

87 Problem for a claustrophobic driver : TUNNEL

Claustrophobia is a fear of not being able to escape from a small enclosed space. The term derives from the Latin “claustrum” meaning “a shut-in place” and the Greek “phobos” meaning “fear”.

89 Problem for Roman Britain? : GAEL FORCE (from “gale force”)

A Gael is anyone of a race that speaks or spoke one of the Erse tongues. There are actually three Erse languages. Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

91 Kidney-related : RENAL

Something described as renal is related to the kidneys. “Ren” is the Latin word for “kidney”.

97 “__ Blues”: Beatles song with the line “Even hate my rock and roll” : YER

“Yer Blues” is a John Lennon song, credited to Lennon and McCartney, that is a track on “The White Album”, recorded in 1968. Lennon recorded the song while the band was on retreat in Rishikesh, India, and while Lennon was “trying to reach God and feeling suicidal”.

110 Some chalets : A-FRAMES

An A-frame house is one that has a steeply-angled roof, one forming the shape of the letter “A”. The A-frame design is popular in snowy regions, as the roof is so steeply pitched that it does not collect snow.

“Chalet” is a Swiss-French name for an alpine cottage.

114 ET vehicles, in theory : UFOS

One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).

115 Lariat : REATA

A riata is a lariat or a lasso. “Riata” comes from “reata”, the Spanish word for lasso.

118 Main squeeze : BEAU

Back in the late 1800s, a “main squeeze” was the “most important person”. It wasn’t until almost a century later the one’s main squeeze became one’s sweetheart.

119 Hired escort : GIGOLO

In French, a “gigole” is a “dancing girl, prostitute”. The male form of the word, “gigolo”, came into use in English in the 1920s.

124 Tony winner Tammy : GRIMES

Actress Tammy Grimes is mainly known for her stage work, and won a Tony in 1961 for her performance in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” on Broadway. Grimes’ first husband was fellow-actor Christopher Plummer, with whom she has a daughter Amanda Plummer, who is also a noted actress.

126 Niños’ needs? : TILDES

The tilde diacritical mark (~) is very much associated with the Spanish language. We use the name “tilde” in English, taking that name from Spanish. Confusingly, the word “tilde” in Spanish is used more generally to mean “accent mark, diacritic”, of which a “~” is just one. What we call a “tilde” in English is usually referred to as a “virgulilla” or “tilde de la eñe” in Spanish.

129 Base stealer’s asset : SPEED

That would be baseball.

Down

1 Socrates’ pupil : PLATO

In ancient Greece, Socrates was a respected thinker of his day. One of Socrates’ most clever students was Plato, who spent much of life espousing the work and thinking of his mentor and teacher. In later life, Plato himself had a student who built on the work of both Socrates and Plato. That second-generation student was Aristotle. Socrates fell out of favor with the political leaders in Athens who put him on trial on trumped-up charges. He was found guilty of corrupting the youth of the city-state and of not believing in the gods of the state. The sentence levied was death by drinking hemlock.

2 Eurasian blackbird : OUZEL

The common blackbird is often referred to as the Eurasian blackbird in North America to distinguish is from the New World blackbirds, a group of unrelated species of birds. An older name for the common blackbird is “ouzel”.

6 King novel that won the first Bram Stoker Award (1987) : MISERY

The 1990 film “Misery” is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. I think it’s the only movie of a King book that I’ve watched and enjoyed. I can’t stomach his books, not because of the writing, but because of the gruesome scenes that are part of the plots. The screen version of “Misery” is toned down a little from the original storyline. In the novel, the Kathy Bates character amputates the James Caan character’s foot to incapacitate him. In the movie she just smashes his ankles. Big difference …

8 1929 purchaser of Victor : RCA

The Victrola was a phonograph in which the turntable and horn could be hidden away in a wooden cabinet. The “Victrola” name was used as the phonograph was manufactured by the Victor Talking Machine Company. The Victor Talking Machine Company was sold to RCA, leading to the creation of RCA Victor.

12 Sword-wielder’s cry : EN GARDE!

“En garde” is a French term that has been absorbed into the sport of fencing. Originally a warning (meaning “on guard!”), it is spoken at the start of an encounter to warn the fencers to take a defensive position.

13 Architect Jones : INIGO

Inigo Jones was a British architect, and a native of London. The most famous of Jones’ designs is probably London’s Covent Garden Square.

14 Tendon : SINEW

“Sinew” is another name for “tendon”. Tendons are bands of collagen that connect muscle to bone. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae, which are also connective tissue made out of collagen, but ligaments join bone to bone, and fasciae connect muscle to muscle. We also use the term “sinew” to mean muscular power.

15 Advanced teaching degrees: Abbr. : MSEDS

Master of Science in Education (M.S.Ed.)

17 Wrinkly little dog : PUG

The pug is a breed of dog of Chinese origin. Our current family pet is a boxer/pug cross, and is a good-looking mutt!

26 Nixon of “Sex and the City” : CYNTHIA

Actress Cynthia Nixon is probably best known for playing Miranda Hobbs on the TV show “Sex and the City”. While Nixon was my favorite actress in that show, my favorite of Nixon’s performances is in the 2005 TV movie “Warm Springs”, in which she takes on the role of Eleanor Roosevelt. Off screen, Nixon is very active in progressive politics. She made a very visible run for governor of New York in 2018.

31 Consort of Hera : ZEUS

In Greek mythology, Zeus served as the king of the Olympic gods, and the god of the sky and thunder. He was the child of Titans Cronus and Rhea, and was married to Hera. Zeus was the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter, who had similar realms of influence.

32 Texter’s “I will return shortly” : BRB

Be right back (brb)

34 What a plighter plights : TROTH

There’s a phrase used in some traditional wedding vows that goes “… and thereto I plight thee my troth”. “I plight” is an obsolete way of saying “I pledge”. “Troth” is an old variant of the word truth, and meant “truth” but also “loyalty”. So, “I plight thee my troth” means, “I promise to be loyal to you”.

38 Had a few : TIED ONE ON

“To tie one on” is a slang expression meaning “to get drunk”.

40 Medical suffix : -OSIS

The suffix “-osis” is found in medical terms, indicates a disorder in general, with the prefix providing more specificity. Examples are silicosis (a lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust), and psychosis (a serious mental illness). The plural of “-osis” is usually “-oses”, but “-osises” is out there as well.

44 Eponymous ice cream maker : EDY

Dreyers’ ice cream sells its products under the name Dreyers in the Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dreyer and Joseph Edy.

48 Surname of father-and-son British prime ministers : PITT

William Pitt, the Elder was Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Although a prominent figure in British politics for many years, Pitt refused to accept a title until he took over government of the country. For this refusal, he earned the nickname “The Great Commoner”. It is William Pitt, the Elder who lent his name to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

William Pitt, the Younger was Prime Minister of Britain from 1783 to 1801, and again from 1804 until 1806. When Pitt first took office, he was only 24 years of age, making him the nation’s youngest ever PM. William Pitt is known as “the Younger” as his father, William Pitt the Elder also served as prime minister, from 1766 to 1768.

50 Geographical symbol of Middle America : PEORIA

Peoria is the oldest European settlement in the state of Illinois, having been settled by the French in 1680. The city is famous for being cited as “the average American city”. The phrase, “Will it play in Peoria?” is used to mean, “Will it appeal to the mainstream?” It is believed the expression originated as a corruption of, “We shall play in Peoria”, a line used by some actors in the 1890 novel “Five Hundred Dollars” by Horatio Alger, Jr.

60 Iberian wine city : OPORTO

Portugal’s city of Oporto (“Porto” in Portuguese) gave its name to port wine in the late 1600s. Oporto was the seaport through which most of the region’s fortified red wine was exported.

The Iberian Peninsula in Europe is largely made up of Spain and Portugal. However, also included is the Principality of Andorra in the Pyrénées, a small part of the south of France, and the British Territory of Gibraltar. Iberia takes its name from the Ebro, the longest river in Spain, which the Romans named the “Iber”.

62 Regina’s prov. : SASK

The Canadian province of Saskatchewan (Sask.) takes its name from the Saskatchewan River. The river in turn takes its name from the Cree name, which translates as “swift flowing river”. The capital of Saskatchewan is Regina, although the biggest city in the province is Saskatoon.

71 Vanishing ski lift : T-BAR

A T-bar is a ski lift on which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of a T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, which is a similar device but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

73 Bryn Mawr graduates : ALUMNAE

An alumnus (plural “alumni”) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural “alumnae”). The term comes into English from Latin, in which an alumnus is a foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or alumnus.

Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania is a women’s liberal arts school that was founded in 1885. Bryn Mawr was the first women’s university in the nation to offer graduate education through to a PhD. While the undergraduate program is open only to females, the school opened up the postgraduate program to males in 1931.

76 Road sign ruminant : DEER

Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work. We also use the verb “to ruminate” in a figurative sense, to mean “to muse, ponder, chew over”.

81 French article : UNE

“Une” is the French word for “a”, but only when used with a feminine noun (like “une dame” meaning “a lady”).

82 Pass gone seriously astray: Abbr. : INT

Interception (Int.)

84 Hard-hitting contests : SLUGFESTS

A baseball game in which there are lots of hits and runs might be called a “slugfest”.

95 Insensitive : CALLOUS

Our adjective “callous”, meaning “hardhearted”, comes from the Latin “callus” meaning “hard skin”. We still use the term “callus” in English for a hardened or thickened part of the skin.

104 Full of glitches, as programs : BUGGY

Back in 1947, famed computer programmer Grace Hopper noticed some colleagues fixing a piece of equipment by removing a dead moth from a relay. She remarked that they were “debugging” the system, and so Hopper has been given credit for popularizing the term “bug” in the context of computing.

106 Hindu mystics : YOGIS

A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.

In the West we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

108 Kindle reading, e.g. : E-TEXT

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 several years ago. I started reading e-books for the first time in my life, as well as enjoying other computing options available with the tablet device …

111 Civil War general : MEADE

George Meade was a career army officer with a depth of experience in civil and military operations even before the onset of the Civil War. During the war he rose to the level of Commander of the Army of the Potomac, and is best remembered for leading the Union forces that defeated General Robert E. Lee at Gettysburg in 1863.

120 “__ Misérables” : LES

Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables”has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.

122 Big 12 rival of Baylor: Abbr. : TCU

Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private school in Fort Worth, Texas. TCU used to be called AddRan Male & Female, named after an AddRan Clark, the son of Addison Clark who died at the age of 3-years-old from diphtheria. Poor young AddRan was named after his father and his brother, Addison and Randolph.

Baylor is a private Baptist university in Waco, Texas that was founded in 1845, making it the oldest continuously-operating university in the state. Baylor is named for US Congressman and Baptist minister Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, who co-founded the school. The list of Baylor’s past presidents includes Ken Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Followers who may be friendly or hostile : POSSE
6 Word of Gallic gratitude : MERCI
11 Voltaire’s faith : DEISM
16 Bring up to date : CLUE IN
17 “Am I awake?” : PINCH ME
19 Game for two or four : TENNIS
20 Sumo wrestler’s asset? : HAZARDOUS WAIST (from “hazardous waste”)
22 Car starter : ENGINE
23 Agenda entry : ITEM
24 Avid : EAGER
25 Source of ignition : MATCH
27 Altered by time : AGED
28 Skunk cousin : POLECAT
30 Consequence of overtweezing? : RAZED EYEBROWS (from “raised eyebrows”)
33 Halloween follower: Abbr. : NOV
34 Gutenberg’s movable invention : TYPE
35 Comic-Con attendee : NERD
36 Met acquisition : ART
39 Revolver, maybe : DOOR
41 Rent what you’ve rented : SUBLET
45 Dizzy’s jazz genre : BEBOP
49 Hawaiian tour company specialist? : LEI PERSON (from “layperson”)
52 Greeted, with “to” : SAID HI …
54 Him, to Henri : LUI
55 Cannes concept : IDEE
56 Locations : SITES
58 Common sight on “L.A. Law”? : DEY IN COURT (from “day in court”)
61 Disproportionate reactions : TO-DOS
63 Disgraced : SHAMED
65 Three-syllable limerick foot : ANAPEST
66 Like much testimony : ORAL
68 Restorative : TONIC
70 Social climber : SNOB
71 Current site of ancient Carthage : TUNISIA
74 Gazed lasciviously : LEERED
77 Go wild on Twitter : TREND
80 Mid-morning coffee, say? : BREAK FLUID (from “brake fluid”)
83 Presidents’ Day phenomena : SALES
85 Crosby, Stills & Nash, e.g. : TRIO
86 Previously : AGO
87 Problem for a claustrophobic driver : TUNNEL
89 Problem for Roman Britain? : GAEL FORCE (from “gale force”)
91 Kidney-related : RENAL
94 Standard of measurement : METRIC
96 Loyal : TRUE
97 “__ Blues”: Beatles song with the line “Even hate my rock and roll” : YER
98 Help to withdraw : WEAN
100 Confront : FACE
102 Natter : GAB
104 Said goodbye, dog-style? : BAYED FAREWELL (from “bade farewell”)
110 Some chalets : A-FRAMES
114 ET vehicles, in theory : UFOS
115 Lariat : REATA
116 Overhang : LEDGE
118 Main squeeze : BEAU
119 Hired escort : GIGOLO
121 Low-voiced choir member’s goal? : GET TO FIRST BASS (from “get to first base”)
124 Tony winner Tammy : GRIMES
125 Do : EXECUTE
126 Niños’ needs? : TILDES
127 Affirmatives : YESES
128 Support framework : TRUSS
129 Base stealer’s asset : SPEED

Down

1 Socrates’ pupil : PLATO
2 Eurasian blackbird : OUZEL
3 Many mariners : SEAMEN
4 Word of respect : SIR
5 Attempts : ENDEAVORS
6 King novel that won the first Bram Stoker Award (1987) : MISERY
7 Covers completely : ENWRAPS
8 1929 purchaser of Victor : RCA
9 Wind instrument? : CHIME
10 🙁 : I’M SAD
11 Lair : DEN
12 Sword-wielder’s cry : EN GARDE!
13 Architect Jones : INIGO
14 Tendon : SINEW
15 Advanced teaching degrees: Abbr. : MSEDS
16 Dip holder : CHIP
17 Wrinkly little dog : PUG
18 Suffix with kitchen : -ETTE
19 Tiny chuckle : TE-HEE
21 Nose bag particle : OAT
26 Nixon of “Sex and the City” : CYNTHIA
29 Encrypt : CODE
31 Consort of Hera : ZEUS
32 Texter’s “I will return shortly” : BRB
34 What a plighter plights : TROTH
36 Landed : ALIT
37 Try again : REDO
38 Had a few : TIED ONE ON
40 Medical suffix : -OSIS
42 No-goodniks : BADDIES
43 Make up a story, maybe : LIE
44 Eponymous ice cream maker : EDY
46 Muffin fruit : BLUEBERRY
47 Hers and mine : OURS
48 Surname of father-and-son British prime ministers : PITT
50 Geographical symbol of Middle America : PEORIA
51 Cool : NEAT
53 Hostelries : INNS
57 Burn without flames : SMOLDER
59 Tilt : CANT
60 Iberian wine city : OPORTO
62 Regina’s prov. : SASK
64 KC-to-NYC dir. : ENE
67 Hoist : LIFT
69 Outcropping : CRAG
71 Vanishing ski lift : T-BAR
72 Hankering : URGE
73 Bryn Mawr graduates : ALUMNAE
75 Induce euphoria in : ELATE
76 Road sign ruminant : DEER
78 Pleasant : NICE
79 One who doesn’t just think about it : DOER
81 French article : UNE
82 Pass gone seriously astray: Abbr. : INT
84 Hard-hitting contests : SLUGFESTS
88 __ insurance : LIFE
90 Cause of tremors, at times : FEAR
92 Fab equivalent : AWESOME
93 Conducted : LED
95 Insensitive : CALLOUS
99 Locks that are picked : AFROS
101 Chin indentations : CLEFTS
103 Blather on : BABBLE
104 Full of glitches, as programs : BUGGY
105 Flaming : AFIRE
106 Hindu mystics : YOGIS
107 Steamed state : RAGE
108 Kindle reading, e.g. : E-TEXT
109 Do a gardening task : WATER
110 Growth-oriented field?: Abbr. : AGR
111 Civil War general : MEADE
112 Abated : EASED
113 Figure (out) : SUSS
117 Cease to function : DIE
120 “__ Misérables” : LES
122 Big 12 rival of Baylor: Abbr. : TCU
123 Bit of inside information : TIP