Category: Frank Virzi

Frequently Asked Question: Why isn’t the puzzle in my paper the same as the one shown on your blog?
If the puzzle in your paper doesn’t match the one that I solved, it is probably a Sunday crossword. On Sundays, the “LA Times” chooses to publish Merl Reagle’s excellent crossword, and not their own “LA Times” Crossword. The “LA Times” puzzle is still sent out in syndication, and is also published in the “LA Times” online. I’ve been asked to blog about Merl Reagle’s crossword, but frankly I don’t have the time. Sunday puzzles have lots of clues!

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
21. Bread for burritos? DINERO
Dinero is the Spanish word for money, as well as a slang term for money here in the US.

A burrito is a common dish served in Mexican cuisine, It is a flour tortilla filled with all sorts of good stuff. The term “burrito” is Spanish for “little donkey”, the diminutive of “burro” meaning “donkey”. It’s thought that the name was applied as a burrito looks like a bedroll or pack that might be carried by a donkey.

23. Pair of pooches’ synchronized dash? DOUBLE-DOG DART (from “double-dog dare”)
The idiomatic phrase “double-dog dare” is very American, and dates back at least to the 1940s. One reference from back then cites the incrementally daring sequence of:

– I dare you
– I dog dare you
– I double-dog dare you
– I black-dog dare you
– I double-black-dog dare you

25. Lee of poetry ANNABEL
“It was many and many a year ago, / In a kingdom by the sea …” are the opening lines to the poem titled “Annabel Lee”, the last complete poem written by Edgar Allan Poe.

26. Altar boy ACOLYTE
The word “acolyte” comes from the Greek “akolouthos” meaning “companion, attendant, helper”. In the Christian tradition, an acolyte is an individual who assists some way in a ceremony, by lighting candles for example. In more general terms, an acolyte is a devoted follower or attendant.

28. Language of southern China CANTONESE
Cantonese is the Chinese language that originated in and around Guangzhou (aka “Canton”), the third largest city in the country. In particular, Cantonese is spoken by the majority of people in the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macau, and is the most common Chinese language spoken in overseas Chinese communities around the world.

30. Vegas tip TOKE
“Toke” is an informal term for a tip given to a dealer or other employee at a casino.

38. Malachite and magnetite MINERALS
Malachite is a mineral composed of copper carbonate hydroxide. Samples of the mineral contain opaque green bands. The name “malachite” ultimately derives from the Greek “molochitis lithos” meaning “mallow-green stone”. This is a reference to green leaves of the mallow plant, also known as “malva”. Paradoxically, it is the French name of the malva plant that gives our word “mauve”, referring to the color of the flowers.

Iron ore comes in a number of different forms, like magnetite (the most magnetic of all minerals) and hematite (the most commonly exploited iron ore).

46. “Swans Reflecting Elephants” artist DALI
“Swans Reflecting Elephants” is a painting that Salvador Dali completed in 1937. The title is somewhat self-explanatory. The scene features some swans on a lake, along with their reflections. In the reflection the swans take on the appearance of elephants, with the swans’ necks becoming elephant trunks and wings becoming ears.

49. Guiding principles CREEDS
A creed is a confession of faith, or a system of belief or principles. The word “creed” comes from the Latin “credo” meaning “I believe”.

54. Super Bowl XXXIV champs RAMS
The St. Louis Rams has only won the Super Bowl once, in 1999, against the Tennessee Titans. The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936-45, Los Angeles from 1946-94 and St. Louis from 1995 to the present day.

55. “With a Little Help From My Friends” singer STARR
“With a Little Help From My Friends” is a Lennon/McCartney song from the 1967 “Sgt. Pepper” album. The song-writing duo wrote it specifically for the band’s drummer Ringo Starr, and so it was giving a limited vocal range, except for the last note. The song opens with:

What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you stand up and walk out on me?

Starr had those words changed from:

What would you think if I sang out of tune
Would you throw ripe tomatoes at me?

Ringo was afraid that fans would do just that, if he should ever perform the song live.

57. Utah lily SEGO
The Sego Lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.

58. Rock follower? -ETTE
The famous Rockettes can be seen in Radio City Music Hall. They have an amazing schedule during the Christmas season when they perform five high-kicking shows every day, seven days a week. The troupe has been doing this every Christmas for 77 years.

59. Molecule that carries energy: Abbr. ATP
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a chemical used in the body to transfer energy for cell-to-cell. One of the main uses of ATP is to shorten muscles, so that they can do work.

63. Cub Scout leader AKELA
Akela is the wolf in the “Jungle Book”. He gave his name to the cubmaster in the scouting movement, now known as “Akela”.

66. “We’re boarding the elevator now, chaps!” GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFT (from “Got to Get You into My Life”)
“Got to Get You into My Life” is a Beatles song composed by Paul McCartney that appears on the “Revolver” album released in 1966. The song was released as a single in 1976, and was the last Beatles song to chart in the US, until they released “Free as a Bird” almost 20 years later in 1995.

74. One-celled critter AMEBA
An ameba (or “amoeba” as we spell it back in Ireland) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

75. Rock producer Brian ENO
Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, Eno’s most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “start-up jingle”, the 6-second sound you hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:

I wrote it on a Mac. I’ve never used a PC in my life; I don’t like them.

76. Temperamental TV pooch REN
“The Ren and Stimpy Show” is an animated television show that ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996. The title characters are Marland “Ren” Höek, a scrawny Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a rotund Manx cat. Not my cup of tea …

77. Water, chemically HOH
A water molecule is composed of an oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms on roughly opposite sides (about a 150-degree angle). So, sometimes the molecule is represented by “HOH”, although more usually it’s “H2O”.

78. Old orchard spray ALAR
The chemical name for Alar, a plant growth regulator and color enhancer, is daminozide. Alar was primarily used on apples but was withdrawn from the market when it was linked to cancer.

81. Gp. led by a Grand Exalted Ruler BPOE
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome.

87. Natural source of a Massachusetts dairy product? BOSTON CREAM PIT (from “Boston cream pie”)
The Boston cream pie was declared the official dessert of Massachusetts in 1996. And, it’s actually a cake, and not a pie at all.

94. Dutch astronomer who lent his name to a cloud OORT
Jan Oort was an astronomer from the Netherlands who was a pioneer in radio astronomy. One of Oort’s claims to fame is that he was the first person to find evidence for the actual existence of the elusive “dark matter”, in 1932.

Dark matter is the theoretical material that makes up over 80% of the universe. Astrophysicists use dark matter to explain the discrepancy between the calculated mass of a large object and the mass determined empirically by observing gravitational effects. The term “dark matter” is an apt one as the matter is invisible to telescopes and neither admits nor absorbs light of significance.

The Oort Cloud is a hypothetical spherical cloud of comets that lies about a light-year from the sun. It is postulated that periodic comets that enter our solar systems (like Halley’s Comet) originate in this cloud.

95. South American border lake TITICACA
Lake Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, and the highest navigable lake in the world (navigable by “large” commercial vessels). Lake Titicaca is located in the Andes, on the border between Peru and Bolivia.

97. Valentine figure AMORETTO
An “amoretto” is a cupid, often represented as a little chubby naked boy in artwork.

99. Result of washing political dirty laundry? PARTY LINT (from “party line”)
“Lint”, meaning “fuzz”, is one of those terms that I had to learn when I moved to the US. We call the same thing “fuzz” on the other side of the Atlantic.

104. Flying A rival ESSO
The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

Flying A gas stations were originally owned by the Associated Oil Company that was based in San Francisco and founded in 1901.

105. “Breaking __ Hard to Do” UP IS
“Breaking Up Is Hard to Do” is a song co-written and recorded by Neil Sedaka in 1962, and again in 1975. The 1962 recording was a huge hit, and the much slower version released in 1975 also made it in the charts.

109. “0 calories. 0 carbs” drink DIET PEPSI
Diet Pepsi was introduced in 1964 as a no-sugar version of Pepsi-Cola. The drink had been test marketed for the year before under the brand name Patio Diet Cola. When it was launched as Diet Pepsi it became the first diet cola to be distributed nationwide. Diet Coke didn’t come along until years later, launching in 1982.

118. Course that covers crop circles? PLANT GEOMETRY (from “plane geometry”)
The geometry that most of us learned at school is plane geometry, the geometry of figures existing only in one plane. A more advanced form of geometry deals with three dimensions, and is called solid geometry.

Don’t believe what you hear. Crop circles are hoaxes …

123. Harvey of “The Piano” KEITEL
Harvey Keitel is an actor from New York City who grew up in Brighton Beach. He is best known for playing “tough guy” roles, as he did in “Reservoir Dogs”, “Pulp Fiction” and “Taxi Driver”.

“The Piano” is a 1993 film set and filmed in New Zealand starring Harvey Keitel, Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin. The movie tells the story of a mute piano player and her daughter, and her efforts to regain her piano after it is sold. Holly Hunter managed to get three screen credits in “The Piano”. She was credited for her acting role, for playing her own piano pieces in the film, and for being the sign-language coach for young Anna Paquin.

124. Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland, e.g. SISTERS
The actress Joan Fontaine’s real name was Joan de Havilland, and she was the sister of fellow actress Olivia de Havilland. Fontaine starred in two favorite movies of mine, namely “Rebecca” and “Suspicion”, both directed by Alfred Hitchcock. She won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Suspicion”, making her the only actor to ever win an Academy Award in a movie directed by Hitchock.

Olivia de Havilland is an English actress, born in Tokyo. who came to live in California with her family in 1919. Her younger sister is actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland won two Best Actress Oscars, for “To Each His Own” (1946) and “The Heiress” (1940). Fontaine won a Best Actress Oscar for “Suspicion” (1941). As a result, sisters Olivia and Joan are the only two siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards.

125. Exodus challenge RED SEA
The Red Sea (sometimes called the Arabian Gulf) is a stretch of water lying between Africa and Asia. The Gulf of Suez (and the Suez Canal) lies to north, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses lead the Israelites from Egypt.

Down
1. 1978 Peace co-Nobelist SADAT
Anwar Sadat was the third President of Egypt right up to the time of his assassination in 1981. Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 along with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for the role played in crafting the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1978 at Camp David. It was this agreement that largely led to Sadat’s assassination three years later.

2. Big name in gas AMOCO
Amoco is an abbreviation for the American Oil Company. Amoco was the first oil company to introduce gasoline tanker trucks and drive-through filling stations. I wonder did they know what they were starting …?

6. “Let it be” STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

7. Prefix with meter ODO-
An odometer measures distance traveled. The word derives from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

8. Nipmuc home WIGWAM
The Nipmuc Nation are a Native American people who originated in what is now central Massachusetts and parts of Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Nipmuc were one of the indigenous groups that suffered most with the arrival of European settlers. The main issues in the early days was exposure to smallpox and other diseases to which they had no resistance, and being introduced to alcohol. After joining in a futile rebellion against the English colonists, many of the Nipmuc died as interns on Deer Island in Boston Harbor, while others were executed or transported to the West Indies as slaves.

9. “Bewitched” witch ENDORA
In the television sitcom “Bewitched”, Endora was Samantha’s mother, with both mother, daughter and indeed granddaughter having the magical powers accorded to witches. Endora was played flamboyantly by Agnes Moorehead.

11. There’s a statue of him outside TD Garden ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

TD Garden is a sports arena that was built in the 1990s to replace the aging Boston Garden as home for the Boston Celtics basketball team and the Boston Bruins hockey team.

13. Russian infant emperor, 1740-’41 IVAN VI
Ivan VI of Russia was emperor from 1740 to 1741 and had a relatively short and troubled life. He was proclaimed Emperor of Russia when he was just a few months old, and was overthrown in less than a year resulting him spending the rest of his life as a prisoner. Ivan was treated quite brutally at times, and eventually killed by his guard when he was 23 years old.

14. Video game giant NINTENDO
Nintendo is a Japanese company, the largest manufacturer of video games in the world. Nintendo was founded way back in 1889 and originally made hanafuda cards, Japanese playing cards. The name “Nintendo” translates as “leave luck to heaven”.

16. Panache ELAN
Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours i.e “style” or “flair”.

Someone exhibiting panache is showing dash and verve, and perhaps has a swagger. “Panache” is a French word used for a plume of feathers, especially in a hat.

17. Broccoli __ RABE
Broccoli Rabe is perhaps better known as rapini, and is a vegetable often used in Mediterranean cuisines. It is quite delicious sauteed with garlic …

24. Yamuna River city DELHI
New Delhi is the capital city of India. New Delhi resides within the National Capital Territory of Delhi (otherwise known as the metropolis of Delhi). New Delhi and Delhi, therefore, are two different things.

32. Light wood BALSA
Balsa is a very fast growing tree that is native to parts of South America. Even though balsa wood is very soft, it is actually classified as a hardwood, the softest of all the hardwoods (go figure!). Balsa is light and strong, so is commonly used in making model airplanes. Amazingly, in WWII a full-size British plane, the de Havilland Mosquito, was built largely from balsa and plywood. No wonder they called it “The Wooden Wonder” and “The Timber Terror”.

35. Dr. Leary’s turn-on LSD
Leary was a psychologist and writer, an icon of the sixties counterculture and a promoter of the use of LSD. Leary popularized the phrase “Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out” in the sixties. After he died, some of Leary’s ashes were “buried” in space, launched aboard a rocket that contained the ashes of 24 other people including “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry.

37. CEO, e.g. LDR
A chief executive officer (CEO) is a leader (ldr.) of a company.

42. Bygone blade SNEE
“Snick or snee” is the name given to cut and thrust while fighting with a knife. The phrase is rooted in a pair of Dutch words and it gave its name to a “snee”, a light sword-like knife.

44. Pindar’s Muse ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of Lyric Poetry.

Pindar was an Ancient Greek poet, best known perhaps for composing a series of Victory Odes that celebrated triumph in competition, most notably the Olympian Games of the day.

52. River of Florence ARNO
The Arno is the principal river in the Tuscany region of Italy, passing through the cities of Florence and Pisa. Famously the Arno flooded in 1966, the worst flood in the region for centuries. There were numerous deaths and extensive destruction of priceless art treasures, particularly in Florence.

53. Michener’s “The Bridges at __” TOKO-RI
“The Bridges at Toko-Ri” is James A. Michener novella about American pilots on a mission to destroy bridges during the Korean War. The book was made into a 1954 film of the same name starring William Holden and Grace Kelly. I put “The Bridges of Toko-Ri” high on my list of recommended war movies, if anyone’s interested …

56. English channel THE BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.

64. Some retired faculty EMERITI
Emeritus (female form “emerita”, plural “emeriti”) is a term in the title of some retired professionals, particularly those from academia. Originally an emeritus was a veteran soldier who had served his time. The term comes from the Latin verb “emerere” meaning to complete one’s service.

65. Reagan adviser Nofziger LYN
Lyn Nofziger was a press secretary for Ronald Reagan when he was Governor of California. Nofziger was also a political advisor to the White House during the Nixon and Reagan administrations. One of Nofziger’s legacies is that he managed to convince President Reagan to drop the program to bring metrification to the US.

67. Sauce with sole TARTAR
Tartar sauce is basically mayonnaise with some chopped pickles, capers and onion or chives. The recipe was invented by the French (as “sauce tartare”) with the name somehow linked to the Tatars, a people who once occupied Ukraine and parts of Russia.

69. Dirty Harry’s rank: Abbr. INSP
“Dirty” Harry Callahan was the protagonist in a series of five movies starring Clint Eastwood:

– “Dirty Harry” (1971)
– “Magnum Force” (1973)
– “The Enforcer” (1976)
– “Sudden Impact” (1983)
– “The Dead Pool” (1988)

71. “If __ Hammer” I HAD A
“If I Had a Hammer” is a song written in 1949 by Pete Seeger and Lee Hays. The song has been released by many artists, but my guess would be that the most famous recording was by Peter, Paul and Mary in 1962.

72. Type of acid found in Brussels sprouts FOLIC
Folic acid is also known as vitamin B9. Folic acid occurs as folate in the human body, a substance essential in the synthesis and repair of DNA.

73. Letter after eta THETA
The Greek letter theta is the one that looks like a number zero with a horizontal line in the middle.

78. “SOS” singers ABBA
The ABBA song “S.O.S.” was originally titled “Turn Me On”. In the movie “Mama Mia!”, it is performed by Meryl Streep (brilliantly) and by Pierce Brosnan (terribly).

82. War on Poverty org. OEO
The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was created during the Lyndon Johnson administration. The agency was responsible for administering the War on Poverty programs that were part of the President Johnson’s Great Society agenda. The OEO was shut down by President Nixon, although some of the office’s programs were transferred to other agencies. A few of the OEO’s programs are still around today, like Head Start for example.

83. O.K. Corral brothers EARPS
The famous Earp brothers of the Wild West were Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. All three brothers participated in what has to be the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but took place six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.

88. Bridge opening ONE SPADE
When a bridge player bids “one spade”, he or she is saying “if we play with spades as trump, then I can make seven tricks (six plus one). Of course, as any bridge player will tell you, that bid can mean an awful lot more in the context of the auction. I love bridge …

90. L.A. bus-and-rail org. MTA
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is known as the MTA or Metro.

92. Cacophony DIN
“Cacophony” is such a lovely word, one used to describe a harsh or jarring sound. The term arises from the Greek “kakos” (bad) and “phone” (voice).

96. “__ a Rainy Night”: 1981 chart-topper I LOVE
“I Love a Rainy Night” is a song recorded and co-written by Eddie Rabbitt that reached the top of the country charts in 1981.

101. African insect attracted to the color blue TSETSE
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year. Tsetse flies are attracted to the color blue, so simple traps are made by hanging out blue cloth that has been treated with insecticide.

103. Pepper picker PIPER
The earliest written version of the “Peter Piper” nursery rhyme and tongue twister dates back to 1813 London:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

A peck is a unit of dry volume, equivalent to two gallons. Four pecks then make up a bushel.

106. Page of music PATTI
Patti Page is the stage name of Clara Ann Fowler, the best-selling female artist in the 1950s. Patti Page’s signature song is “Tennessee Waltz”, a big hit for her that spent 13 weeks at number one in the charts in 1950. She also had a number one with “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window” in 1953.

107. Against a thing, to a judge IN REM
“In rem” translates from Latin as “in a thing”. In a lawsuit, an action is described as “in rem” if it is directed against some property. This would be the case if someone disputes ownership of a piece of land, for example. An action “in personam” on the other hand, is directed against a specific individual.

109. ATM transactions DEPS
One might make a deposit (dep.) at an automated teller machine (ATM).

110. Cross inscription INRI
The letters written on the cross on which Jesus died were “INRI”. INRI is an acronym for the Latin “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum”, which translates into English as “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews”.

111. Those caballeros ESOS
“Caballero” is the Spanish for “knight, gentleman”.

115. Golfer Isao AOKI
Isao Aoki is one of Japan’s greatest golfers, now playing on the senior circuit. Aoki’s best finish in a major tournament was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open.

116. FBI agents G-MEN
The nickname “G-men” is short for “Government Men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

119. Soft drink ord. LGE
When I ordered my first soft drink from a fast food restaurant in America, on my first visit from Ireland back in the 1980s, I was shocked at the size I was given. An American “small” was an Irish “large”. Of course sizes have changed now, especially mine!

120. Govt. property org. GSA
The US Government’s General Services Administration (GSA), as the name suggests, provides general services to other federal agencies. So for example, the GSA manages office space for the other agencies, and transportation.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Final approvals SAY-SOS
7. Had to repay for OWED ON
13. Come into INHERIT
20. Total AMOUNT
21. Bread for burritos? DINERO
22. Break, as laws VIOLATE
23. Pair of pooches’ synchronized dash? DOUBLE-DOG DART (from “double-dog dare”)
25. Lee of poetry ANNABEL
26. Altar boy ACOLYTE
27. Broke the tape WON
28. Language of southern China CANTONESE
30. Vegas tip TOKE
31. Angle iron L-BAR
33. Cold response SHIVER
34. Boss’ personal brewing ingredient? ALPHA MALT (from “alpha male”)
38. Malachite and magnetite MINERALS
43. Shoves off SETS SAIL
46. “Swans Reflecting Elephants” artist DALI
48. Dredge, say DEEPEN
49. Guiding principles CREEDS
50. Blast off? START INTO SPACE (from “stare into space”)
54. Super Bowl XXXIV champs RAMS
55. “With a Little Help From My Friends” singer STARR
57. Utah lily SEGO
58. Rock follower? -ETTE
59. Molecule that carries energy: Abbr. ATP
60. “Go, team!” RAH!
61. Not to mention AND
63. Cub Scout leader AKELA
66. “We’re boarding the elevator now, chaps!” GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFT (from “Got to Get You into My Life”)
74. One-celled critter AMEBA
75. Rock producer Brian ENO
76. Temperamental TV pooch REN
77. Water, chemically HOH
78. Old orchard spray ALAR
81. Gp. led by a Grand Exalted Ruler BPOE
84. Part of a flight STAIR
86. Scared, maybe PALE
87. Natural source of a Massachusetts dairy product? BOSTON CREAM PIT (from “Boston cream pie”)
91. Cry of triumph I DID IT!
93. Yogurt flavor BANANA
94. Dutch astronomer who lent his name to a cloud OORT
95. South American border lake TITICACA
97. Valentine figure AMORETTO
99. Result of washing political dirty laundry? PARTY LINT (from “party line”)
102. They’re stuck in corners STAMPS
104. Flying A rival ESSO
105. “Breaking __ Hard to Do” UP IS
109. “0 calories. 0 carbs” drink DIET PEPSI
113. Prompt CUE
114. Tramp VAGRANT
117. Trap ENSNARE
118. Course that covers crop circles? PLANT GEOMETRY (from “plane geometry”)
121. More puffed up PROUDER
122. Way out EGRESS
123. Harvey of “The Piano” KEITEL
124. Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland, e.g. SISTERS
125. Exodus challenge RED SEA
126. Eventually IN TIME

Down
1. 1978 Peace co-Nobelist SADAT
2. Big name in gas AMOCO
3. Concerned query YOU OK?
4. Some rental agreements SUBLEASES
5. Just ONLY
6. “Let it be” STET
7. Prefix with meter ODO-
8. Nipmuc home WIGWAM
9. “Bewitched” witch ENDORA
10. Faculty boss DEAN
11. There’s a statue of him outside TD Garden ORR
12. V-shaped slit NOTCH
13. Russian infant emperor, 1740-’41 IVAN VI
14. Video game giant NINTENDO
15. They may be roasted HONOREES
16. Panache ELAN
17. Broccoli __ RABE
18. Ending for residents -ITES
19. TV segment? TELE-
24. Yamuna River city DELHI
29. Drawing a bead on AIMING AT
32. Light wood BALSA
33. ESPN figures STATS
35. Dr. Leary’s turn-on LSD
36. Bible reading PASSAGE
37. CEO, e.g. LDR
39. Formally end REPEAL
40. Give __ on the back A PAT
41. Univ. staff title LECT
42. Bygone blade SNEE
43. One who’s all skin and bones SCRAG
44. Pindar’s Muse ERATO
45. Tantalize TEMPT
47. One in a pack? LIE
51. Cafeteria carrier TRAY
52. River of Florence ARNO
53. Michener’s “The Bridges at __” TOKO-RI
56. English channel THE BBC
60. CD-__ ROM
62. Bill word DUE
64. Some retired faculty EMERITI
65. Reagan adviser Nofziger LYN
67. Sauce with sole TARTAR
68. Brew servers TAPROOMS
69. Dirty Harry’s rank: Abbr. INSP
70. “Don’t look at me!” NOT I!
71. “If __ Hammer” I HAD A
72. Type of acid found in Brussels sprouts FOLIC
73. Letter after eta THETA
78. “SOS” singers ABBA
79. Good earth LOAM
80. “It will come __ surprise …” AS NO
82. War on Poverty org. OEO
83. O.K. Corral brothers EARPS
85. Justice Dept. staffers ATTYS
86. “Just think” PICTURE IT
88. Bridge opening ONE SPADE
89. One going on and on NATTERER
90. L.A. bus-and-rail org. MTA
92. Cacophony DIN
96. “__ a Rainy Night”: 1981 chart-topper I LOVE
98. Slim candles TAPERS
100. Catches up with old classmates REUNES
101. African insect attracted to the color blue TSETSE
103. Pepper picker PIPER
106. Page of music PATTI
107. Against a thing, to a judge IN REM
108. Panache STYLE
109. ATM transactions DEPS
110. Cross inscription INRI
111. Those caballeros ESOS
112. Hardware item T-NUT
113. Pick in a trick CARD
115. Golfer Isao AOKI
116. FBI agents G-MEN
119. Soft drink ord. LGE
120. Govt. property org. GSA

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