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Constructed by: Brian Callahan
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Theme: Finish Lines
Themed answers each include FIVE letters R:
- 122A Fins, or when parsed differently, a feature of the answers to the starred clues : FIVERS or FIVE Rs
- 27A *Coral Sea structure : GREAT BARRIER REEF
- 46A *Place to chill on the train? : REFRIGERATOR CAR
- 65A *Long-running comic strip about the Patterson family : FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
- 85A *Naval vessel known as a “flattop” : AIRCRAFT CARRIER
- 107A *Dog breed that weighs no more than seven pounds : YORKSHIRE TERRIER
- 14D *Cause of some memory problems : READ/WRITE ERROR
- 47D *Need for a comprehensive background check? : REAR-VIEW MIRROR
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 16m 03s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
4 Oscar-nominated biopic about a Supreme Court justice : RBG
“RBG” is a 2018 documentary about the amazing life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The film was released two years before Ginsberg died. After her passing, it was re-released, with box office profits going to the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU).
13 “If I Were __ Man” : A RICH
If I Were a Rich Man” is a wonderful song from the 1964 musical “Fiddler on the Roof”. The musical is based on stories about “Tevye the Dairyman” by Yiddish author Sholem Aleichem. The song’s title is inspired by a specific Sholem Aleichem monologue entitled “If I Were a Rothschild”, a reference to the wealthy Rothschild family.
18 Good Grips brand : OXO
The OXO line of kitchen utensils and housewares is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average household tools. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.
20 Eyepieces : OCULARS
The ocular lens is the eyepiece of many optical devices, e.g. telescopes and microscopes. In those same devices, light from the observed object is gathered by the objective lens.
22 Soprano Fleming : RENEE
Renée Fleming is a marvelous soprano from Indiana, Pennsylvania. Famous for her appearances in opera houses and concert halls all over the world, Fleming is also noted for her willingness to bring her craft to the masses. She was a guest on “Sesame Street” singing “counting lyrics” to an aria from “Rigoletto”, and she has appeared a few times on Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion”.
26 Disciple of Haile Selassie, informally : RASTA
I must admit that I don’t really know much about Rastafarianism. I do know that a “Rasta”, such as Bob Marley, is a follower of the movement. Some say that Rastafarianism is a religion, some not. I also know that it involves the worship of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.
27 *Coral Sea structure : GREAT BARRIER REEF
The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is a system of almost three thousand individual reefs, and is the largest such system on the planet. The Great Barrier Reef is also the only living thing on Earth that can be seen from outer space.
30 Fawning parents? : DEER
A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and the females called cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …
31 Roland Garros playing surface : CLAY
The tennis tournament that we know in English as the French Open is officially named the Roland-Garros. Roland Garros was a pioneering aviator and a WWI fighter pilot. The Stade Roland-Garros, the major tennis stadium in Paris, is named for him. In turn, the French Open tournament held there every year is named for the stadium.
33 Shows of soft power? : NERF WARS
Nerf is a soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. “NERF” is an acronym, standing for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.
35 Battleship response : MISS
Battleship is a remarkably fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.
36 Webpage standard : HTML
The initialism “HTML” stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).
42 Tribeca neighbor : SOHO
The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in “SoHo Artists Association”, and the name stuck.
“TriBeCa” is a clever little acronym that expands into “TRI-angle BE-low CA-nal Street”. The name of the New York City neighborhood was developed by local residents who basically copied the naming technique used by residents of the adjacent area of SoHo, with “SoHo” being short for “SO-uth of HO-uston Street”.
45 Customizable Wii Sports avatar : MII
Nintendo introduced customizable avatars for the company’s video game consoles starting in 1997. The first customizable avatars for the Wii system were introduced in 2006, and were given the inventive name “Miis”.
55 Word on a whiskey bottle : MALT
Malt is germinated cereal grains that have been dried. The cereal is germinated by soaking it in water, and then germination is halted by drying the grains with hot air.
56 Stadium visitors : AWAY TEAMS
The Greek word “stadion” was a measure of length, about 600 feet. The name “stadion” then came to be used for a running track of that length. That “running track” meaning led to our contemporary term “stadium” (plural “stadia”).
58 DDE rival : AES
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE), once in 1952 and again in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy (JFK) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”
60 __ Xtra: soda brand : PIBB
The soft drink on the market today called Pibb Xtra used to be known as Mr Pibb, and before that was called Peppo. Peppo was introduced in 1972 as a direct competitor to Dr Pepper.
63 Pan Am rival : TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.
64 Track legend Zátopek : EMIL
Emil Zátopek was a long-distance runner from Czechoslovakia who is best-remembered for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He had trained for the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter events, and won both of them. He then decided to run the first marathon of his life, and won that too!
65 *Long-running comic strip about the Patterson family : FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
“For Better or For Worse” is a comic strip drawn by Lynn Johnston from 1979 until 2008. The strip tells the story of the Patterson family from a fictitious suburb of Toronto. “For Better or For Worse” ran in real time, so that the characters actually aged as time progressed. This aging process led to some difficult storylines, such as the death of the family dog “Farley”.
71 First name in game shows : MERV
Merv Griffin was quite the entertainer, and truly a mogul in the business. He started his career as a singer on the radio during the big band era. In the sixties he hosted his own talk show, and then famously developed such great game shows as “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune”.
72 Old Prizm maker : GEO
Geos were small vehicles manufactured by General Motors, mainly in the nineties. They were designed to compete head-to-head with the small imports that were gaining market share at the time in the US. Some Geo models that you might remember are the Metro, the Prizm and the Storm. The cars were actually built as joint-ventures with Japanese manufacturers. The Prizm was a GM/Toyota project, the Metro was GM/Suzuki, and the Storm was GM/Isuzu.
73 Actor Morales : ESAI
Esai Morales is not only a successful actor, he is also a trained martial artist, having studied the Korean martial art of taekwondo since he was a teenager.
74 South, south of the Rio Grande : SUR
The Rio Grande (Spanish for “big river”) is a waterway that forms part of the border between Mexico and the United States. Although we call the river the Rio Grande on this side of the border, in Mexico it is called the Río Bravo or Río Bravo del Norte (Spanish for “furious river of the north”).
75 Liz of fashion : CLAIBORNE
Liz Claiborne was a Belgian-American fashion designer and founder of the Liz Claiborne fashion company. She was the first woman to become CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Indeed, Liz Claiborne Inc. was also the first company founded by a woman to make the Fortune 500 list, doing so in 1986.
84 Fifth cen. pope : ST LEO
The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.
85 *Naval vessel known as a “flattop” : AIRCRAFT CARRIER
The first launching of an aircraft from a ship took place way back in 1910. Aviation pioneer Eugene Burton Ely flew a Curtiss Pusher airplane from a temporary platform erected on the bow of the USS Birmingham, which was anchored off Norfolk Navy Base in Virginia. Ely also recorded the first landing on a ship two months later, touching down on a platform on the USS Pennsylvania anchored in San Francisco Bay.
90 Org. with lots of “Raw” footage : WWE
“WWE Raw” is a professional wrestling TV show. The initialism “WWE” stands for World Wrestling Entertainment. Not my cup of java …
94 Fannie or Sallie follower : … MAE
The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called “Fannie Mae”, a play on the initialism “FNMA”. Fannie Mae was founded during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.
“Sallie Mae” is a nickname for SLM Corporation that was created in 1972 by the US government as the Student Loan Marketing Association. By 2004, the government had severed all its ties with Sallie Mae. Today, SLM is basically a profit-focused lender.
99 Gas additive brand : STP
STP is a brand name of automotive lubricants and additives. The name “STP” is an initialism standing for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.
100 Luge, e.g. : SLED
A luge is a small sled used by one or two people, on which one lies face up and feet first. The luge can be compared to the skeleton, a sled for only one person and on which the rider lies face down and goes down the hill head-first. Yikes!
102 Belle & Sebastian genre : INDIE POP
Belle & Sebastian are an indie pop group from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite the name, the group comprises seven musicians. The band’s name comes from a TV adaptation of a French novel titled “Belle et Sébastien”.
105 Blue Pixar fish : DORY
Pixar’s 2016 animated feature “Finding Dory” is a sequel to the megahit film “Finding Nemo”. “Finding Dory” seems to have built on the success of its predecessor and had the highest-grossing opening weekend ever in North America for an animated movie.
106 Red or Card : NL’ER
When the Cincinnati Reds were a dominating force in the National League in the seventies, the team was given the nickname “the Big Red Machine”.
The St. Louis Cardinals were originally called the “Brown Stockings”, changing their name to the “Perfectos” in 1899. That obviously didn’t go down well with the locals, as the owners changed it one year later to the Cardinals.
107 *Dog breed that weighs no more than seven pounds : YORKSHIRE TERRIER
The Yorkshire terrier is a breed of dog from the county of Yorkshire in the north of England. That part of the country became very industrialized in the 19th-century, and was home to hundreds of clothing mills. The “Yorkie” was developed to catch rats in those mills.
113 Iraq port city : BASRA
Basra is Iraq’s main port, and is located in the southeast of the country, just 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.
116 Centrum alternative : ONE A DAY
One A Day is a line of multivitamins made by Bayer. One A Day was introduced way back in 1940.
120 New __: cap brand : ERA
The New Era Cap Company is a headwear manufacturer based in Buffalo, New York. It is New Era that supplies all the official baseball caps used by the Major League teams.
121 Caterpillar rival : DEERE
John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.
Back in the early 1900s, Benjamin Holt invented a steam tractor that was able to move over soggy land. The new vehicle crawled over the ground using wheels that drove tracks. Someone apparently noted that the tractor moved along like a caterpillar, and so the enterprise that was to be known as the Caterpillar Tractor Company was born.
122 Fins, or when parsed differently, a feature of the answers to the starred clues : FIVERS or FIVE Rs
The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.
123 Retired boomer : SST
Supersonic transport (SST)
124 1040 fig. : SSN
Form 1040, issued by the IRS, is the “US Individual Income Tax Return”. It was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it’s a form that just keeps on giving, or should I say “taking” …?
Down
1 __ Kong : HONG
Hong Kong became part of the British Empire after the First Opium War in 1842. In 1898, Britain signed a 99-year lease to retain control of Hong Kong. That control ended 99 years later in 1997 with a formal transfer of sovereignty back to China.
2 Lifted one’s spirits? : EXORCISED
An exorcist is a religious figure who is believed to be able to cast out demons that have possessed a person or perhaps a building.
6 Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” for one : GAY ANTHEM
“Born This Way” is a 2011 song recorded and co-written by Lady Gaga. Gaga describes it as her “freedom song”, and wrote lyrics that suggest self-empowerment of minority groups.
7 Round up : CORRAL
“Corral” is Spanish word describing an enclosure for livestock that we’ve imported into English. Ultimately, the term comes from the Vulgar Latin “currale” meaning “enclosure for carts”, itself coming from “currus”, the Latin for “cart”.
10 Curved line, in musical notation : SLUR
In the world of music, a slur is a curved line that connects neighboring notes that are to be played smoothly, without separation.
12 “King of the Hill” town : ARLEN
“King of the Hill” is an animated sitcom that ran from 1997 to 2010. The show was co-created by Mike Judge, who also created “Beavis and Butt-Head”.
15 Jeans measure : INSEAM
Denim fabric originated in Nîmes in France. The French phrase “de Nîmes” (meaning “from Nîmes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.
16 Part of etc. : CETERA
The Latin phrase “et cetera” translates as “and other things”. The term is usually abbreviated to “etc.”
17 San Simeon castle builder : HEARST
Hearst Castle is a magnificent mansion and estate on the California coast near the town of San Simeon. Hearst Castle was built over many years, between 1919 and 1947, for William Randolph Hearst the newspaper magnate. If you’re ever in the area, I thoroughly recommend spending a few hours touring the house and grounds. It has to be seen to be believed …
28 Suckerfish : REMORA
Remoras are also called “suckerfish”, which name is descriptive of one of the fish’s basic behaviors. One of the remoras dorsal fins is in the shape of a “sucker”, allowing it to take a firm hold on a larger marine animal, hitching a ride.
34 Pass off (on) : FOIST
The word “foist”, meaning “to pass off fraudulently as genuine”, comes from the Dutch word meaning “take in hand”. The original concept came from playing dice, in which one die was held surreptitiously in one hand.
36 Biker’s wheels : HOG
The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company was founded in the very early 1900s by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson, . Their first design was in effect an engine hooked up to a pedal bicycle, but the 116 cc cylinder capacity simply couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills of their native city of Milwaukee. The pair came up with a redesigned model that had a cylinder capacity of 405 cc, which the partners built in a shed at the back of Davidson’s house. In 1906, the partners built their first factory, located where the company’s headquarters is to this day, on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Famously, Harley motorcycles are nicknamed “hogs”.
37 “The Back-up Plan” actress, familiarly : JLO
“The Back-up Plan” is a 2010 romcom starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin. Lopez plays a woman who wants to be a single mother. The same day that she undergoes artificial insemination, she meets a man who soon begins to pursue her romantically. Things get complicated, but work out in the end.
39 Org. with a community pool : YMCA
The YMCA (the Y) is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.
47 *Need for a comprehensive background check? : REAR-VIEW MIRROR
The Indianapolis 500 race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race is run around a 2.5 mile oval, hence requiring 200 laps for completion. The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly, that was the first ever use of a rear-view mirror on a motor vehicle.
48 Suisse peak : ALPE
In French, “la Suisse” (Switzerland) is a “pays” (country) in the “Alpes” (Alps).
53 Couture initials : YSL
Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)
57 Veers port or starboard : YAWS
The word “yaw” means to deviate from the line of a course and is used mainly at sea and in the air. “Yaw” is derived from the Old Norse word “jaege” which means “to drive, chase”. As such, “yaw” is etymologically related to our word “yacht”.
59 Bell-shaped lily : SEGO
The sego lily is the state flower of Utah. It is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.
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”.
69 Medieval land : FIEF
In the days of feudalism, a “fief” was basically a “fee” (the words “fee” and “fief” have the same origins) paid by a Lord in exchange for some benefit to him, perhaps loyalty, or military service. The fief itself was often land granted by the Lord. We use the term “fiefdom” (and sometimes “fief) figuratively, to describe a sphere of operation controlled by one dominant person or entity.
70 Closing music : OUTRO
In the world of pop music, an outro is the opposite to an intro. An outro might perhaps be the concluding track of an album, for example.
76 “Young Americans” singer David : BOWIE
“Young Americans” is a 1975 song written and recorded by English singer David Bowie as the title track of a studio album he released a couple of weeks later.
77 Son of Ares and Aphrodite : EROS
As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, and Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male. The Roman equivalent of Aphrodite was Venus, and the equivalent of Eros was Cupid.
79 Prime minister before and after Churchill : ATTLEE
Clement Attlee served as leader of Britain’s Labour Party and as Deputy Prime Minister in the coalition government during the war years under the leadership of Winston Churchill, a Conservative. Attlee swept into power right after WWII in a landslide victory over Churchill, and was responsible for major changes not only in Britain but around the waning British Empire. It was under Attlee that former British colonies like India, Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka and Jordan became independent. Also, the Palestine Mandate was terminated in 1948, while he was in office, with the state of Israel being declared the very next day.
82 Stretches out? : LIMO RIDES
The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …
83 2024 and 2028 : LEAP YEARS
I wasn’t sure of the origin of the term “leap year”, and when I checked I found it to be fairly obvious. As a reference, let’s use March 25, 2007, a Sunday. The year before, in 2006, March 25th fell one weekday earlier on a Saturday. That follows the rule that any particular date moves forward in the week by one day, from one year to the next. However, the next year (2008) has an extra day, February 29th. So March 25, 2008 falls on a Tuesday, “leaping” two weekdays forward, not one, as 2008 is a “leap” year. I think I am more confused now than when I started this paragraph …
86 ORD summer hrs. : CDT
The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).
89 Del __ Books: sci-fi publisher : REY
Lester Del Rey was a science fiction author in his own right, as well as the editor at Del Rey Books. Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books that was established in 1977 as a specialty sci-fi and fantasy imprint.
91 2023 award for Lionel Messi : ESPY
Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.
95 Mythical mariner : SINBAD
Sinbad is the hero of a set of fictional tales from the Middle East. He came from the port city of Basra and had fantastic adventures on voyages throughout the sea east of Africa and south of Asia.
97 “__ Fideles” : ADESTE
The lovely Christmas hymn “Adeste Fideles” (entitled “O Come, All Ye Faithful” in English) was written by one John Francis Wade in the 13th century. Well, he wrote the original four verses, with four more verses being added over time. A kind blog reader pointed out to me that the English translation is in fact a little “off”. The term “adeste” best translates from Latin as “be present, attend”, rather than “come”. The verb “come” appears later in the lyrics in “venite adoremus”, meaning “come, let us worship”.
101 Former “Iron Chef America” chef Cat __ : CORA
Cat Cora is yet another celebrity chef. She appears on the reality shows “Iron Chef America” and “Around the World in 80 Plates”.
103 Word on a whiskey bottle : PROOF
Alcoholic proof is a measure of the alcoholic strength of a beverage. In the US, alcoholic proof is twice the alcohol by volume (ABV), and ABV is simply the volume of alcohol in a the beverage compared to its total volume, and expressed as a percentage. Therefore a liquor that is 50% ABV, is 100 proof. The concept of “proof” dates back to the days of British sailors being paid partly with rations of rum. A “proof spirit” was the most dilute spirit that would sustain combustion of gunpowder. Simply stated, if the rum that a sailor was given was so dilute that it doused burning gunpowder, then it was unacceptable to the sailor. The person providing the rum had to give “proof” that the rum would catch light, proving it was strong enough to be used as payment. It was found experimentally that rum of 57.15% ABV was the lowest concentration that could sustain a flame, so this was named as 100 degrees proof. But nowadays we round down to 50% ABV.
104 Instrument in the tanbur family : SITAR
The term “tanbur” describes a family of long-necked string instruments that originated in Asia.
105 P&G detergent brand : DREFT
Dreft is a laundry detergent that was launched by Procter & Gamble in 1933. It was the world’s first synthetic detergent, i.e. a cleansing agent that acts like soap but is made from chemicals instead of fats and lye.
108 Former U.N. chief Annan : KOFI
Kofi Annan was a diplomat from Ghana who served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan was born into an aristocratic family, and had a twin sister named Efua Atta. Efua and Kofi shared the middle name “Atta”, which means “twin” in the Akan language of Ghana. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, winning jointly with the United Nations organization itself.
109 Macedonian or Montenegrin : SLAV
North Macedonia is one of the nations that emerged following the breakup of Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1992. It occupies the northern third of the geographic and historical region known as Macedonia, sharing the area with Greece, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia and Kosovo. North Macedonia used the disputed name “Macedonia” after gaining independence in 1991, but agreed to change the name to “North Macedonia” starting in 2019.
Montenegro is a country in Southeastern Europe that once was part of Yugoslavia. “Montenegro” is a historical Italianate translation of “black mountain”.
110 Aesop character : HARE
“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.
112 Meg of “You’ve Got Mail” : RYAN
“You’ve Got Mail” is a 1998 romantic comedy film starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and directed by Nora Ephron. The film is an adaptation of the Miklos Laszlo play “Parfumerie”. The storyline of “Parfumerie” was also used for the movies “The Shop Around the Corner” (from 1940 starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullivan) and “In the Good Old Summertime” (from 1949 starring Van Johnson and Judy Garland).
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 “That’s sorta funny” : HEH
4 Oscar-nominated biopic about a Supreme Court justice : RBG
7 Pampered pet’s destination : CAT SPA
13 “If I Were __ Man” : A RICH
18 Good Grips brand : OXO
19 In the way of : A LA
20 Eyepieces : OCULARS
22 Soprano Fleming : RENEE
23 Choking hazard warning label : NOT A TOY
25 Like some car engines : REBUILT
26 Disciple of Haile Selassie, informally : RASTA
27 *Coral Sea structure : GREAT BARRIER REEF
30 Fawning parents? : DEER
31 Roland Garros playing surface : CLAY
32 “Far out!” : NEAT!
33 Shows of soft power? : NERF WARS
35 Battleship response : MISS
36 Webpage standard : HTML
37 Delight : JOY
40 Pushover : DOORMAT
41 Quick __ wink : AS A
42 Tribeca neighbor : SOHO
43 Names on a fundraiser’s call list : ALUMS
45 Customizable Wii Sports avatar : MII
46 *Place to chill on the train? : REFRIGERATOR CAR
50 Wander off : STRAY
54 Property transfer need : DEED
55 Word on a whiskey bottle : MALT
56 Stadium visitors : AWAY TEAMS
58 DDE rival : AES
60 __ Xtra: soda brand : PIBB
63 Pan Am rival : TWA
64 Track legend Zátopek : EMIL
65 *Long-running comic strip about the Patterson family : FOR BETTER OR FOR WORSE
71 First name in game shows : MERV
72 Old Prizm maker : GEO
73 Actor Morales : ESAI
74 South, south of the Rio Grande : SUR
75 Liz of fashion : CLAIBORNE
78 Vegetables in fried rice : PEAS
81 Peal : TOLL
84 Fifth cen. pope : ST LEO
85 *Naval vessel known as a “flattop” : AIRCRAFT CARRIER
90 Org. with lots of “Raw” footage : WWE
92 Wrote 36-Across, say : CODED
93 Threesome : TRIO
94 Fannie or Sallie follower : … MAE
95 Salt spray : SEA MIST
99 Gas additive brand : STP
100 Luge, e.g. : SLED
101 Ctrl+C action : COPY
102 Belle & Sebastian genre : INDIE POP
104 Hearty bowlful : STEW
105 Blue Pixar fish : DORY
106 Red or Card : NL’ER
107 *Dog breed that weighs no more than seven pounds : YORKSHIRE TERRIER
113 Iraq port city : BASRA
115 “You had your chance!” : TOO LATE!
116 Centrum alternative : ONE A DAY
117 One who plays a part : ACTOR
118 To the extent that : SO FAR AS
119 Adobe file format : PDF
120 New __: cap brand : ERA
121 Caterpillar rival : DEERE
122 Fins, or when parsed differently, a feature of the answers to the starred clues : FIVERS or FIVE Rs
123 Retired boomer : SST
124 1040 fig. : SSN
Down
1 __ Kong : HONG
2 Lifted one’s spirits? : EXORCISED
3 Traveler’s storage spot : HOTEL SAFE
4 Well-worn : RATTY
5 Amorphous mass : BLOB
6 Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” for one : GAY ANTHEM
7 Round up : CORRAL
8 Nail the midterm : ACE IT
9 Mascara container : TUBE
10 Curved line, in musical notation : SLUR
11 Twosome : PAIR
12 “King of the Hill” town : ARLEN
13 Pt. of ETA : ARR
14 *Cause of some memory problems : READ/WRITE ERROR
15 Jeans measure : INSEAM
16 Part of etc. : CETERA
17 San Simeon castle builder : HEARST
21 Mount : STEED
24 Duracell options : AAAS
28 Suckerfish : REMORA
29 Gift tag field : FROM
34 Pass off (on) : FOIST
35 Tarnish : MAR
36 Biker’s wheels : HOG
37 “The Back-up Plan” actress, familiarly : JLO
38 Sharing word : OUR
39 Org. with a community pool : YMCA
42 Record half : SIDE-B
43 Wear : ATTIRE
44 Handled : SAW TO
47 *Need for a comprehensive background check? : REAR-VIEW MIRROR
48 Suisse peak : ALPE
49 Playful growl : RAWR
51 Hits hard : RAMS
52 French friend : AMIE
53 Couture initials : YSL
57 Veers port or starboard : YAWS
59 Bell-shaped lily : SEGO
61 Sox from Mass. : BOS
62 Cup insert : BRA PAD
65 Experienced : FELT
66 __ hygiene : ORAL
67 Portable drive capacity prefix : TERA-
68 Restorative : TONIC
69 Medieval land : FIEF
70 Closing music : OUTRO
71 Roast hosts, briefly : MCS
76 “Young Americans” singer David : BOWIE
77 Son of Ares and Aphrodite : EROS
79 Prime minister before and after Churchill : ATTLEE
80 Some bottle caps : SCREW-TOPS
82 Stretches out? : LIMO RIDES
83 2024 and 2028 : LEAP YEARS
86 ORD summer hrs. : CDT
87 Weight room unit : REP
88 Help : AID
89 Del __ Books: sci-fi publisher : REY
91 2023 award for Lionel Messi : ESPY
95 Mythical mariner : SINBAD
96 Twist together : ENLACE
97 “__ Fideles” : ADESTE
98 Horn sounds : TOOTS
100 Emotional strain : STRESS
101 Former “Iron Chef America” chef Cat __ : CORA
103 Word on a whiskey bottle : PROOF
104 Instrument in the tanbur family : SITAR
105 P&G detergent brand : DREFT
108 Former U.N. chief Annan : KOFI
109 Macedonian or Montenegrin : SLAV
110 Aesop character : HARE
111 Winds down : ENDS
112 Meg of “You’ve Got Mail” : RYAN
114 “__ you sure?” : ARE
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16 thoughts on “LA Times Crossword 22 Oct 23, Sunday”
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Just about aced it. Messed up HTML. had HTTL then RETORA instead of REMORA at 28D.
No help from the theme since that was the very last word to fall.
I struggled in that area. Didn’t see YORKSHIRE until I finally got ESPY. Had WWF for a long time until WWE fit better.
I was thinking of FINS as maybe shark fins or maybe DANERS??? wasn’t until I got YORKSHIRE ad PROOF that FIVERS finally fell.
Took about 55 minutes.
39:44 – couple of cheat squares. Among them I completely forgot how to spell CLAIBORNE – duh.
Fun puzzle, completely missed (as usual) the theme and didn’t need it.
Be Well.
21 mins, 1 second and needed Check Grid help to tidy up 8 closely bunched fills. This was a fun one, a bit challenging.
Made really good progress on 98% of the puzzle, but fizzled out on several PPPs. No idea on: DORY, DREFT, LIMO RIDES (thought it was French), CORA, ONE-A-DAY. And, only got OUTRO, JLO and ARLEN on crosses.
All in all 47:49 with 6-7 errors.
Don’t understand how the “finish lines” title relates to the five “R’s”
A five-dollar bill (a “fiver”) is sometimes called (or, at least, it sometimes used to be called) a “fin”.
Me, either
Me neither!
Me either!!
Anonymous, as above … the “finish lines” refers to a pun on the last clue … at the bottom …
… 122 Across – Fin, or when parsed differently …. et al.
Hence, “finish’ or “fin– ish ” ( type of fin – ) which leads us to the Five Rs … etc … not a typical Sunday clue.
This was a tough one … took me over an hour and some more time. But the long answers were a dead giveaway ( for me … today – ) so the solving was made much more delightful ….
As is usual , I would like to thank Bill Butler for his dedicated researched entries and explanations, …
… which gave me great pleasure and a fantastic learning tool for me …!!!
I am soo grateful.
Thank You Bill, and God Bless !!
25:16 – much better than Saturday. No errors or lookups. False starts: MEH>HEH, FORAY>STRAY, ROWR>RAWR, GIGA>TERA, DRIFT>DREFT.
A few “New or forgotten,” but not many, including DREFT (which I don’t recall ever seeing in a store before), but I was sure there also was a DRIFT detergent (apparently not).
Got the theme fairly early, and that helped confirm parts of some of the seven theme answers.
DNF. Ran out of steam after getting most of
it. Didn’t know Arlen, shoulda got From
and didn’t know Dreft, shoulda got Dory.
Didn’t completely get the theme but filled
all except ReadWriteError. Oh well….
Horrible theme! What is the point of a theme, if no one can get it?
Totally Agree!!! What does ‘Funish Lines’ have to do with Five R’s…… I Got the Five R’s and the ‘fivers’ for clue 122 across but again what does any of that have to do with Finish Lines. Ugh!!!
106 Across: Red or Card —–> NLER
Seriously? This is totally lame. Even after knowing the correct answer, it made no sense. Even your explanation did not justify this.
3. “Accurate Blood Test Mumbai”