Day: July 6, 2025

Advertisement

Constructed by: Gary Larson & Katie Hale
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme Make a Long Story Short

Themed answers are movie titles with the FINAL letter CUT off:

• 123A Edited version seen in theaters, and what six long answers in this puzzle need to match their clues? : FINAL CUT

• 23A Proposed network television schedule? : AIR PLAN(E!)
• 25A Title for a tell-all about Cinderella’s early social life? : OF MICE AND ME(N)
• 39A Wise men bearing gifts of formula, onesies, and diapers? : PRACTICAL MAGI(C)
• 71A “That guy prefers more formal greetings”? : HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YO(U)
• 103A Horse-drawn carriages delivering Christmas trees? : CHARIOTS OF FIR(E)
• 119A Norm for the dinosaur era? : JURASSIC PAR(K)

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 17m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Parking spot : LOT

The “city lot” sense of “lot” is intertwined with the older practice of “casting lots.” Historically, land division was often determined by chance, particularly in early settlements or when distributing land among a group. “Lots” were physical objects, like stones or slips of paper, marked to represent different land parcels. These were drawn randomly, and the “lot” a person received corresponded to the specific piece of land assigned to that marker. This practice of “casting lots” directly led to the use of “lot” as a term for a defined piece of land, eventually giving us the modern usage in “city lot” and “parking lot.”

13A Finishing touches on a letter? : SERIFS

“Serifs” are the small lines or strokes regularly attached to the end of a larger stroke in a letter or symbol within a particular font or typeface. They originated in ancient Roman stone carving, where scribes would brush guide lines onto stone before carvers finished the letters. It’s thought that the serifs helped “finish” the stroke of the chisel, preventing splintering, and became an aesthetic standard for readability.

20A Biblical sister of Rachel : LEAH

“Leah” was one of the two primary wives of Jacob and the mother of six of the tribes of Israel, according to the Book of Genesis. She is often depicted as having “weak eyes,” a phrase which has been interpreted in various ways, from literally meaning poor eyesight to being a euphemism for being less attractive than her sister Rachel.

21A Pinkish-purple : MAUVE

The name given to the light violet color that we know as “mauve” comes via French from the Latin “malva”. The Latin term translates as “mallow”, the common name of several species of plants, many of which have mauve-colored flowers.

22A Sweet liqueurs : CREMES

A “cream liqueur” is one that includes dairy cream. The most famous example is probably Baileys Irish Cream, which is made from cream and Irish whiskey. A “crème liqueur”, on the other hand, is one that includes a lot of added sugar, but no dairy cream. Examples are crème de cacao (chocolate-flavored), crème de menthe (mint-flavored) and crème de cassis (blackcurrant-flavored).

23A Proposed network television schedule? : AIR PLAN(E!)

The 1980 movie “Airplane!” has to be one of the zaniest comedies ever made. The lead roles were Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) and Elaine Dickinson (played by Julie Hagerty). But it was Leslie Nielsen who stole the show, playing Dr. Barry Rumack. That’s my own humble opinion of course …

25A Title for a tell-all about Cinderella’s early social life? : OF MICE AND ME(N)

The folktale usually known as “Cinderella” was first published by French author Charles Perrault in 1697, although it was later included by the Brothers Grimm in their famous 1812 collection. The storyline of the tale may date back as far as the days of ancient Greece. A common alternative title to the story is “The Little Glass Slipper”.

“Of Mice and Men” is a novella written by American author John Steinbeck, published in 1937. The title comes from the famous poem by Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”. The inspirational line from the poem is “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, gang aft tagley.” Steinbeck actually wrote “Of Mice and Men” as a “novel-play”, intending that the lines from the novel be used as a script for a play. I actually saw the theatrical version on stage for the first time some years ago, and really enjoyed it.

27A Moore of “The Substance” : DEMI

Demi Moore was born Demetria Guynes and took the name Demi Moore when she married her first husband, Freddy Moore. Moore’s second husband was Bruce Willis. She changed her name to Demi Guynes Kutcher a few years after marrying her third husband, Ashton Kutcher. However, Kutcher and Moore split in 2013.

“The Substance” is a horror movie (so I haven’t seen it). It stars Demi Moore and Dennis Quaid, the former portraying an aging film star, and the latter portraying the producer who fires her for being too old. The actress takes “The Substance” a black market drug that creates a younger version of herself. But, there are unintended, and horrifying consequences.

28A Actor Michael : CERA

Michael Cera is a Canadian actor who played great characters on the TV show “Arrested Development”, and in the 2007 comedy-drama “Juno”. Cera is also quite the musician. He released an indie folk album titled “True That” in 2014.

30A Taj __ : MAHAL

“Mahal” is the Urdu word for “palace”, as in “Taj Mahal” meaning “crown of palaces”. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum holding the body of Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The name “Mumtaz Mahal” translates as “the chosen one of the palace”.

37A Genghis Khan follower : TATAR

Tatars (sometimes “Tartars”) are an ethnic group of people who mainly reside in Russia (a population of about 5 1/2 million). One of the more famous people with a Tatar heritage was Hollywood actor Charles Bronson. Bronson’s real name was Charles Buchinsky.

Genghis Khan was the founder of the Mongol Empire that was destined to be the largest contiguous empire in the history of the world. He first built his empire by uniting nomadic tribes of northeast Asia, but once Genghis Khan had consolidated his position, he initiated Mongol invasions throughout Eurasia. At its height, the Mongol Empire stretched from the River Danube to the Sea of Japan.

39A Wise men bearing gifts of formula, onesies, and diapers? : PRACTICAL MAGI(C)

“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, “magi” is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born. In Western Christianity, the three Biblical Magi are:

• Melchior: a scholar from Persia
• Caspar (also “Gaspar”): a scholar from India
• Balthazar: a scholar from Arabia

“Practical Magic” is a 1998 romcom starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as two sisters who are raised as witches. The film is based on a 1995 novel of the same name written by Alice Hoffman.

43A “Something To Talk About” singer : RAITT

“Something To Talk About” is a 1991 song released by Bonnie Raitt. Anne Murray had wanted to record the song several years earlier as the title track for a 1985 album, but her producers rejected it, thinking that it would not be a hit. The song was dropped from Murray’s album, but the title remained “Something To Talk About”.

51A Hershey rival : NESTLE

Nestlé is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation. Founded in 1866 by Henri Nestlé, it began by producing infant formula, which was instrumental in saving the life of a neighbor’s child. Today, Nestlé is the world’s largest food company.

54A Gaggle members : GEESE

A collection of geese is referred to as a “gaggle” when on the ground. When geese are in V-formation in flight, they are referred to collectively as a “skein”.

56A Filmmaker Spike : LEE

Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is known for his films that explore race relations, urban crime and poverty and other political issues, including “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm X,” and “BlacKkKlansman.”

61A RR connection : STA

A station (“stn.” or “sta.”) is a railroad (RR) stop.

65A Monkeyshines : ANTICS

The word “monkeyshines”, meaning “mischievous or playful tricks”, dates back to the mid-19th century. It combines “monkey”, referring to their known playful and often impish behavior, with “shines”, which in this context means “antics” or “pranks.”

69A Dish made with Arborio rice : RISOTTO

Arborio is a short-grain rice that originated in the Italian town of Arborio in the Po Valley.

71A “That guy prefers more formal greetings”? : HE’S JUST NOT THAT INTO YO(U)

“He’s Just Not That Into You” is a line of dialog from the HBO television series “Sex and the City”. The line was lifted and used as the title of a self-help book published in 2004. The book was adapted into a 2009 romantic comedy film with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson. Haven’t seen it …

80A Estadio “Rah!” : OLÉ!

In Spain, one might hear a shout of “olé!” in “un estadio” (a stadium).

84A Argentine prairie : PAMPA

The pampas are fertile lowlands covering a large part of Argentina, Uruguay and some of Brazil. “Pampa” is a Quechua word meaning “plain”.

91A Chaste : VESTAL

In Ancient Rome the priestesses of the goddess Vesta were known as the Vestals. They were also called the Vestal Virgins as they took a vow of chastity, although they weren’t required to be celibate for life. Each priestess entered the order before puberty and promised to live a celibate life for thirty years. The first decade was spent as a student, the second in service, and the final ten years as a teacher. Upon completion of the thirty years the Vestal was free to marry, but few did. Life was a lot better for a woman in the priesthood than it was subject to Roman Law.

96A Gave faithfully? : TITHED

Traditionally, a tithe is a payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

101A Actor Haim : COREY

Corey Haim was a Canadian actor and teen idol. His breakthrough role was in the 1987 film “The Lost Boys”, in which he starred alongside Corey Feldman. The pair appeared together in several films, earning them the nickname “the Two Coreys”. Haim had found success in Hollywood while he was still young, but he also discovered drugs at a very early age and was using by the time he was fifteen years old. Haim died when he was 38, in 2010.

103A Horse-drawn carriages delivering Christmas trees? : CHARIOTS OF FIR(E)

“Chariots of Fire” is British film released in 1981. The movie is based on the true story of two athletes training for and participating in the shorter running events in the 1924 Paris Olympics.

106A Metamorphosis stage : PUPAL

A pupa is a stage in the life of some insects. All four stages are embryo, larva, pupa and imago. Pupae can look like little dolls, hence the name. “Pupa” is the Latin for “doll”.

112A River near Roswell : PECOS

The Pecos River rises north of the village of Pecos in New Mexico, and flows almost a thousand miles before entering the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas. Arguably, the Pecos is the only river in the world that crosses itself. In the late 1800s, settlers near Carlsbad, New Mexico built a series of dams and canals to irrigate the semi-arid Pecos Valley. The irrigation project included a large wooden flume that in its heyday carried 9,000 gallons of water per second, 145 feet above the river. Apparently, that water originated in the Pecos, hence the claim that the Pecos “crossed itself”. I’m a bit skeptical of the physics behind that claim though …

119A Norm for the dinosaur era? : JURASSIC PAR(K)

The Jurassic geologic period lasted from about 200 to 145 million years ago, following the Triassic and followed by the Cretaceous. Limestone strata from the period were first identified in the Jura Mountains in the Western Alps. It is this mountain range that gives us the name “Jurassic”.

“Jurassic Park” is a 1993 Steven Spielberg movie that is based on Michael Crichton’s novel of the same name. According to Spielberg, the terrifying Tyrannosaurus Rex is “the star of the movie”. That may be true, but what’s not true is that the creature existed during the Jurassic period. The T. rex roamed the Earth much later, in the late Cretaceous period.

125A National park in Maine : ACADIA

Acadia National Park in Maine was created in 1919, although back then it was called Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette who famously supported the American Revolution. The park was renamed to Acadia in 1929. It is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi River.

126A Madeline Miller novel featuring Odysseus : CIRCE

“Circe” is a 2018 novel by Madeline Miller that is set within the age of classical Greek mythology. Miller used the “Odyssey” as a source, adapting it from the perspective of the witch Circe. The novel tells Circe’s life story, right up to the romance with Odysseus and Telemachus, Odysseus’ son.

127A Member of the onion family : LEEK

The leek is a vegetable closely related to the onion and the garlic. It is also a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil), although I don’t think we know for sure how this came to be. One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. Apparently, the battle took place in a field of leeks.

128A Artist Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. She met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

130A Custard apple kin : PAPAW

The papaw (also “pawpaw”) tree is native to North America and has a fruit that looks similar to a papaya. Papaw probably gets its name from the word papaya, but papaw and papaya are two distinct species.

The custard apple or sugar apple is the fruit of a small deciduous tree native to the New World. It is also called a “sweetsop” in some parts of the world. The soursop, the fruit of an evergreen tree that’s related to the pawpaw, has a more sour taste.

131A Icelandic epic : EDDA

“Poetic Edda” and “Prose Edda” are two ancient works that are the source for much of Norse mythology. Both Eddas were written in 13th-century Iceland.

Down

1D Cargo : LOAD

Cargo is freight carried by some vehicle. The term “cargo” comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

5D Spit take, e.g. : REACTION

The comic maneuver in which someone spits out a drink in response to a joke or a surprising statement, that’s called a “spit-take”.

6D Riddler accessory : CANE

The “Riddler” is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, an adversary of Batman. He is known for his signature green suit, bowler hat, and often carries a question mark-shaped “cane.”

7D Tenzing Norgay, for one : SHERPA

Mount Everest was first summited in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese-Sherpa Tenzing Norgay. Hillary and Norgay were part of an expedition from which two pairs of climbers were selected to make a summit attempt. The first pair were Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, and they came within 330 feet of their goal but had to turn back. The expedition sent up the second pair two days later, and history was made on 29 May 1953.

9D WWII fliers : RAF

The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the oldest independent air force in the world (i.e. the first air force to become independent of army or navy forces). The RAF was formed during WWI on 1 April 1918, a composite of two earlier forces, the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and the Royal Naval Air Service. The RAF’s “finest hour” was the Battle of Britain, when the vastly outnumbered British fighters fought off the might of the Luftwaffe causing Hitler to delay his plan to cross the English Channel. This outcome prompted Winston Churchill to utter the memorable words

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

10D Search haphazardly (through) : RUMMAGE

Our word “hap” means chance or fortune. It turns up combined in words like “haphazard” and even “happen”. “To happen” originally meant “to occur by hap, by chance”.

13D Graduated, in math : SCALAR

In physics, a scalar is a one-dimensional quantity, whereas a vector has two dimensions. For example, speed is a scalar. On the other hand, velocity is a vector as it is defined by both speed and direction.

15D Poison Ivy feature : RED HAIR

Poison Ivy, whose real name is Pamela Lillian Isley, is a supervillain in the Batman universe, She first appeared,in print, in June 1966. Her abilities typically involve control over plants and immunity to most toxins, which she often uses to protect the natural world from humanity, sometimes coming into conflict with Batman.

16D Vampire’s power : IMMORTALITY

Legends about vampires were particularly common in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans in particular. The superstition was that vampires could be killed using a wooden stake, with the preferred type of wood varying from place to place. Superstition also defines where the body should be pierced. Most often, the stake was driven through the heart, but Russians and northern Germans went for the mouth, and northeastern Serbs for the stomach.

24D Jigsaw unit : PIECE

John Spilsbury was an English cartographer who is best remembered for inventing jigsaw puzzles. Spilsbury’s puzzles were maps affixed to wood, and carved out country by country. They were intended for educational purposes.

26D “Mangia!” : EAT

“Mangia!” is Italian for “Eat!” and is a word often used in the names of Italian restaurants or in brand names of Italian foods.

29D Letters in “You’ve Got Mail” : AOL

“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).

33D DOJ branch : ATF

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) today is part of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The ATF has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. “Explosives” was added to the ATF’s name when the bureau was moved under the Department of Justice (DOJ) as part of the reorganization called for in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

36D Party with glow sticks : RAVE

A glow stick comprises a plastic tube containing two substances that, when mixed, emit light as the result of a chemical reaction (chemiluminescence). One of the materials is confined within a brittle container that is located within a larger, flexible container. The larger container holds the second substance. When the outer container is flexed sufficiently to break the inner container, the two substances are free to mix and hence emit light.

39D Punxsutawney weather forecaster : PHIL

Punxsutawney is a borough in Pennsylvania that is located about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. Punxsutawney Phil is the famous groundhog that lives in the area. Phil comes out of his hole on February 2 each year and if he sees his shadow he goes back into his hole predicting six more weeks of winter weather. February 2 is known as “Groundhog Day”.

40D Foil-wrapped candy : ROLO

Rolo was a hugely popular chocolate candy in Ireland when I was growing up. It was introduced in the thirties in the UK, and is produced under license in the US by Hershey. I was a little disappointed when I had my first taste of the American version as the center is very hard and chewy. The recipe used on the other side of the Atlantic calls for a soft gooey center.

41D Manitoba people : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

Manitoba is the Canadian province that borders the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota. Even though Manitoba has an area of over 250,000 square miles, 60% of its population resides in the province’s capital city of Winnipeg.

47D __ dish : PETRI

Julius Richard Petri was a German bacteriologist and was the man after whom the Petri dish is named. The petri dish can have an agar gel on the bottom which acts as a nutrient source for the specimen being grown and studied, in which case the dish plus agar is referred to as an “agar plate”.

58D Pastrami on rye spread, perhaps : DIJON

Dijon is a city in eastern France in the Burgundy region. Dijon is famous for its mustard, a particularly strong variation of the condiment. The European Union doesn’t protect the name “Dijon” so anyone can use it on a label. That seems fair enough to me, given that 90% of the mustard made in and around Dijon is produced using mustard seed imported from Canada!

In the US, pastrami was originally called “pastrama”, and was a dish brought to America by Jewish immigrants from Romania in the second half of the nineteenth century. The original name may have evolved from the Turkish word “pastirma” meaning “pressed”. “Pastrama” likely morphed into “pastrami” influenced by the name of the Italian sausage called salami.

62D Simoleons : MOOLA

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

64D __ Martin: British automaker : ASTON

Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin. The Aston part of the company name comes from Aston Hill, a famous site for hill-climbing cars that is nearby the original factory. Aston Martin cars are much loved by the British entertainment industry. James Bond was given one in “Goldfinger”, and Michael Caine drove one in the 1969 version of “The Italian Job”. Also, Roger Moore’s character drove a yellow Aston Martin in the seventies television show “The Persuaders!”.

66D Wednesday’s kin : ITT

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

Wednesday Addams is the daughter in the television sitcom “The Addams Family”. In the original cartoon strip, members of the Addams family had no given names. The names were introduced for the television show.

67D Added one’s two cents : CHIMED IN

To put in one’s two cents is to add one’s opinion. The American expression derives from the older English version, which is “to put in one’s two pennies’ worth”.

71D Honorary Oscar winner Keller : HELEN

Helen Keller became a noted author, despite being deaf and blind, largely through the work of her teacher Anne Sullivan. Keller was left deaf and blind after an illness (possibly meningitis or scarlet fever) when she was about 18 months old. She was to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The relationship between Sullivan and Keller is immortalized in the play and film called “The Miracle Worker”. Keller received an honorary Academy Award in 1955 for her inspiring life story,

72D “The Best __ Marigold Hotel” : EXOTIC

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is an outstanding 2012 British film about a group of pensioners who move to a retirement hotel in India. The cast alone is impressive enough, and includes Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson and Penelope Wilton, as well the talented Dev Patel (from “Slumdog Millionaire”) who portrays the hotel’s owner. “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” is a 2015 sequel that includes Richard Gere in the cast. I rate the sequel just as good as the original …

73D Films like “Star Wars” : SPACE OPERAS

Space opera is a type of science fiction with storylines that resemble those in Westerns, but set in outer space in the future. The term “space opera” derives from “horse opera”, which is used to describe formulaic Western films.

81D Actor Stonestreet : ERIC

Actor Eric Stonestreet is best-known for playing Cameron Tucker on the hit comedy show “Modern Family”. Stonestreet is openly straight, but plays the gay partner of the character Mitchell Pritchett. Pritchett is played by openly-gay actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Ferguson jokingly describes Stonestreet as being “gay for pay”.

83D Biodegradable egg containers : SACS

An egg sac is a case made of silk that contains the eggs of a female spider.

86D Do a sommelier’s job : POUR

“Sommelier” is the French word for “wine steward”. If that steward is a female, then the term used in French is “sommelière”.

90D Horn of Africa nation : ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation on the continent (after Nigeria) and, with 90 million inhabitants, the most populous landlocked country in the world. Most anthropologists believe that our Homo sapiens species evolved in the region now called Ethiopia, and from there set out to populate the planet.

The Horn of Africa is that horn-shaped peninsula at the easternmost tip of the continent, containing the countries Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia as well as Somalia. The Horn of Africa is also known as the Somali Peninsula.

91D Aloe __ : VERA

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

95D Tireless campaign : CRUSADE

The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between the 11th and 15th centuries. The term “crusade” came into English via French and Spanish from the Latin “crux” meaning “cross”. The use of the term was retrospective, with the first recorded use in English in 1757. The relevance of “crux” is that most crusaders swore a vow to reach Jerusalem from Europe, and then received a cloth cross that was then sewn into their clothing. The term “crusade” persists to this day, and is now used figuratively to describe any vigorous campaign in pursuit of a moral objective.

97D Dada pioneer : HANS ARP

Jean Arp was a prominent artist and sculptor who played a crucial role in the development of the Dada and Surrealist movements at the beginning of the 20th century. In the early years of his career, Arp experimented with a range of styles, including Expressionism, Cubism, and Futurism. In 1916, he co-founded the Zurich Dada movement with artists such as Tristan Tzara and Hugo Ball. After the Dada movement began to decline in the 1920s, Arp became associated with the Surrealist movement and continued to explore the possibilities of abstraction in his art.

100D Ingredient in some raw dog food : OFFAL

The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal are referred to collectively as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

102D Tries to intimidate, as a Chihuahua might : YAPS AT

Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico that shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. It is the largest state in the country, earning it the nickname “El Estado Grande”. Chihuahua takes its name from the Chihuahuan Desert which lies largely within its borders. The Chihuahua breed of dog takes its name from the state.

105D Rum-soaked British dessert : TRIFLE

Trifle is a splendid dessert from England comprising layers of sponge soaked in sherry, fruit, custard and whipped cream. The sponge and fruit is usually suspended in jello. The Italian version of the same dessert is known as “zuppa inglese”, which translates from Italian as “English soup”.

107D Lahaina loop : LEI

Lahaina, on the island of Maui, was once the capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii, from 1820 to 1845. It was also a major hub for the 19th-century whaling industry. The name “Lahaina” itself means “cruel sun” in Hawaiian, possibly due to the intense sunshine the area receives.

111D Brownish-purple : PUCE

The name of the purple shade known as “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea … or a bloodstain left after a flea is quashed!

113D USSR, in Russia : CCCP

The abbreviation CCCP stands for “Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик”, which translates from Russian as “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics”, the USSR.

115D Committed perjury : LIED

An act of perjury is the willful giving of false testimony under oath. The term “perjury” ultimately comes from the Latin “per” meaning “away” and “iurare” meaning “to swear”.

120D __ bin: penalty box : SIN

The penalty box (less formally “sin bin”) is an area used in several sports for a player to serve out a given time penalty. Sin bins are used perhaps most notably in ice hockey, rugby and roller derby.

121D Classic TV brand : RCA

RCA, or the Radio Corporation of America, played a significant role in the history of television as a pioneer in the industry. RCA developed and introduced the first electronic television system in 1939 at the New York World’s Fair. RCA also created the NTSC (National Television System Committee) broadcast standard, which was adopted in the United States in 1953 and is still used today for analog television broadcasting. Additionally, RCA produced the first color television sets in 1954.

122D London’s __ Gardens : KEW

Kew Gardens is a beautiful location in southwest London that was formerly known as the Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew Gardens has the world’s largest collection of different living plants.