Category: Jerry Miccolis

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Constructed by: Jerry Miccolis
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Diamond Jubilee

Themed answers comprise BASEBALL TEAMMATES strung together:

• 23A With 32-Across, stately sailors fearlessly face full-bodied fish? : ROYAL MARINERS …
• 32A See 23-Across : … BRAVE GIANT MARLINS

• 52A With 66-Across, public park patrollers faced feathered facsimiles? : NATIONAL RANGERS …
• 66A See 52-Across : … MET TWIN BLUE JAYS

• 74A With 92-Across, energetic New Englanders filch furry fledgling felines? : ATHLETIC YANKEES …
• 92A See 74-Across : … PIRATE TIGER CUBS

• 109A Dugout denizens : BASEBALL TEAMMATES
• 125A Contrived competition … and what the 109-Across comprise in this puzzle? : FANTASY LEAGUE

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

Bill’s time: 18m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 “Bein’ Green” singer : KERMIT

“Bein’ Green” is the signature song of Kermit the Frog, Jim Henson’s puppet character that appeared on “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show”. The song is also known by the first line “It’s not easy bein’ green”.

20 Cry from a balcony : O ROMEO …!

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo’s reply includes the famous lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

22 Fats Domino’s first name : ANTOINE

Antoine “Fats” Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, with Creole as his first language. He made it into the big time in 1949 when he recorded an early rock and roll record called “The Fat Man”. That record sold over a million copies, the first rock and roll record to achieve that milestone.

23 With 32-Across, stately sailors fearlessly face full-bodied fish? : ROYAL MARINERS …
32A See 23-Across : … BRAVE GIANT MARLINS

The Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball team was founded in 1969. The team takes its name from the American Royal, a livestock show and rodeo held annually in Kansas City since 1899.

The Seattle Mariners (SEA) are the only Major League team never to have appeared in a World Series. The Mariners are owned by the Nintendo Corporation of America, making them one of three Major League teams owned by businesses. The other two are the Atlanta Braves (owned by Liberty Media) and the Toronto Blue Jays (owned by Rogers Communications).

The Atlanta Braves are the only team to have won baseball’s World Series in three different home cities. They won as the Boston Braves in 1914, the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Atlanta Braves in 1995.

Today’s San Francisco Giants baseball team was founded in 1883 as the New York Gothams. The team’s name was changed to the Giants in 1885, and the franchise moved to San Francisco in 1958.

The Miami Marlins baseball team were founded in 1993 as the Florida Marlins. The franchise changed its name to the Miami Marlins in 2011 when it relocated to the newly constructed Marlins Park.

25 A, to Morse : DOT DASH

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

27 Place for un étudiant : ECOLE

In French, “un étudiant” (a student) is usually older than a “élève” (pupil).

28 Actor Epps : OMAR

Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Gant on “ER”. And, in another link to the world of medicine, Epps was born in Savannah, Georgia to single mom, Dr. Bonnie Epps.

31 Dodger great Hodges : GIL

Gil Hodges was a professional baseball player and manager. Perhaps Hodges’ most celebrated achievement was managing the New York Mets team (the “Miracle Mets”) that won the 1969 World Series. Hodges died from a heart attack just a few years later in 1972, when he was only 48 years old.

38 Sea eagle : ERN

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also known as the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

40 Made foam : SPUMED

Our word “spume” that we use for “froth” comes from the Latin “spuma” meaning “foam”.

45 DDE opponent : 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!”

52 With 66-Across, public park patrollers faced feathered facsimiles? : NATIONAL RANGERS …
(66A See 52-Across : … MET TWIN BLUE JAYS)

The Washington Nationals (“Nats”) started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969, and were the first Major League Baseball team in Canada. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats.

The Texas Rangers Major League Baseball team is based in Arlington, Texas just outside Dallas. The team was founded as the Washington Senators in 1961, and ended up in Texas ten years later. The team is named after the famous Texas Rangers law enforcement agency.

The New York Mets baseball team was founded in 1962 as a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second-to-last in their division. Then along came the “Miracle Mets” (aka “Amazin’ Mets”) who beat the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

The Minnesota Twins baseball team was founded as the Kansas City Blues in 1894, before becoming the Washington Senators in 1901. The team arrived in Minneapolis in 1961.

The Toronto Blue Jays baseball franchise was founded in 1977. The Blue Jays are the only team based outside the US to have won a World Series, doing so in 1992 and 1993. And since the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, the Blue Jays are the only Major League Baseball team now headquartered outside of the US.

58 Yale founder Yale : ELIHU

Elihu Yale was a wealthy merchant born in Boston in 1649. Yale worked for the British East India Company, and for many years served as governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai) in India. After India, Yale took over his father’s estate near Wrexham in Wales. It was while resident in Wrexham that Yale responded to a request for financial support for the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701. He sent the school a donation, which was used to erect a new building in New Haven that was named “Yale” in his honor. In 1718, the whole school was renamed to “Yale College”. To this day, students of Yale are nicknamed “Elis”, again honoring Elihu.

59 Saigon soup : PHO

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a noodle soup from Vietnam that is a popular street food.

60 Cowboy’s catcher : LARIAT

Our word “lariat” comes from the Spanish “la reater” meaning “the rope”.

61 Port abuser, say : WINO

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

64 “Amazing” magician : RANDI

James Randi is a retired Canadian-American magician who had a stage career using the name “The Amazing Randi”. He now spends his time investigating the paranormal, or in fact mainly challenging claims of paranormal activity. If you’re interested, the James Randi Educational Foundation is offering one million dollars to anyone who can demonstrate paranormal activity under controlled test conditions.

70 Hirsute Himalayan : YETI

The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman, is a beast of legend. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

“Hirsute” means “hairy”. The term comes from the Latin “hirsutus” meaning “rough, shaggy”.

72 A, in Austria : EIN

The name “Austria” is a Latin variant of the German name for the country, “Österreich”. “Österreich” itself means “Eastern borderlands”, a reference to the country’s history as a prefecture of neighboring Bavaria to the west.

73 Mosque holy man : IMAM

An imam is a Muslim leader, and often the person in charge of a mosque and/or perhaps a Muslim community.

74 With 92-Across, energetic New Englanders filch furry fledgling felines? : ATHLETIC YANKEES …
(92A See 74-Across : … PIRATE TIGER CUBS)

The Oakland Athletics (OAK) baseball franchise was founded back in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. The team became the Kansas City Athletics in 1955 and moved to Oakland in 1968. Today, the Athletics are usually referred to as “the A’s”.

The New York Yankees (NYY) baseball team has the nickname “the Bronx Bombers”. The nickname reflects where the team plays (the Bronx) and the team’s reputation for hitting (bombers). The Yankees were the first team to retire a uniform number, doing so on July 4, 1939. That day they retired the number 4 in honor of Lou Gehrig.

The Pittsburgh Pirates (nicknamed the Bucs or Buccos) joined baseball’s National League in 1887 just six years after the league was formed. The Pirates played in the first ever World Series in 1903, and won their first World Series in 1909.

The origins of the Detroit Tigers baseball team’s name seems a little unclear. One story is that it was taken from the Detroit Light Guard military unit who were known as “The Tigers”. The Light Guard fought with distinction during the Civil War and in the Spanish-American War. Sure enough, when the Detroit baseball team went into the Majors they were formally given permission to use “The Tigers” name by the Detroit Light Guard.

The Chicago Cubs are one of only two charter members of the baseball’s National League who are still playing, the other being the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs won the World Series in 2016 for the first time since 1908, which is a long time ago. In fact, the Cubs had the longest championship drought of any professional sports team in North America.

82 Scam with spam, say : PHISH

Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PINs, etc.”

85 Munich Mrs. : FRAU

Munich is the capital of the German state of Bavaria, and is the third-largest city in the country (after Berlin and Hamburg). The city is called “München” in German, a term that derives from the Old German word for “by the monks’ place”, which is a reference to the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city in 1158.

86 Texter’s “As I see it … ” : IMHO …

In my humble opinion (IMHO)

87 Eponymous obstetrician Fernand : LAMAZE

The Lamaze technique for childbirth was developed by a French obstetrician called Fernand Lamaze. He introduced the technique in the west after observing similar practices in the Soviet Union during a visit there in 1951.

89 Title for Tom Jones : SIR

Tom Jones … someone with a real voice and a great showman. I saw him in Las Vegas many, many moons ago, and it was one of the best Vegas shows I’ve ever attended. Although “Tom Jones” is a carefully selected stage name (he was born Thomas Woodward) the name isn’t too far from reality as Jones is his mother’s maiden name. The stage name was chosen by his manager to capitalize on the appeal of “Tom Jones”, a filmed version of the Henry Fielding novel that was having a successful run at the time. The name also emphasized Tom’s Welsh roots, as Jones is a very common name in Wales.

98 “Livin’ Thing” gp. : ELO

“Livin’ Thing” is a song written by Jeff Lynne that was recorded in 1976 by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the band that Lynne co-founded.

99 Court chroniclers : STENOS

Stenography is the process of writing in shorthand. The term comes from the Greek “steno” (narrow) and “graphe” (writing).

103 Pitching stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

109 Dugout denizens : BASEBALL TEAMMATES

A dugout is an underground shelter. The term was carried over to baseball because the dugout is slightly depressed below the level of the field. This allows spectators behind the dugout to get a good view of home plate, where a lot of the action takes place.

118 Big-eyed bird : OWL

Much of an owl’s diet consists of small mammals. As a result, humans have used owls for centuries to control rodent populations, usually by placing a nest box for owls on a property. Despite the fact that owls and humans live together in relative harmony, owls have been known to attack humans from time to time. Celebrated English bird photographer Eric Hosking lost an eye when attacked by a tawny owl that he was trying to photograph. Hosking wrote a 1970 autobiography with the wry title “An Eye for a Bird”.

119 Astronaut Shepard : ALAN

Alan Shepard was the first American in space. Shepard’s flight was originally scheduled for October 1960 but a series of delays pushed it out till May 5, 1961. Yuri Gagarin made his celebrated flight on April 12, 1961, just one one month earlier, winning that part of the Space Race for the Soviets. A decade later, Shepard went into space again at the age of 47, as commander of Apollo 14. He was the fifth man to walk on the moon, and indeed the oldest. Shepard was also the only one of the Mercury Seven team to make it to the moon. Famously, he drove two golf balls while on the lunar surface.

120 “Mon __!” : DIEU

“Mon Dieu!” is French for “My God!”

121 Super Mario’s dinosaur : YOSHI

Yoshi is a dinosaur-like character in some Nintendo video games. Yoshi first appeared as a sidekick to Mario and Luigi in the 1991 game called “Super Mario World”.

123 Middle East economic center : TEL AVIV

The full name of Israel’s second largest city is Tel Aviv-Yafo. “Tel Aviv” translates into “Spring Mound”, and is a name that was chosen in 1910.

129 Hurricane warning responder, maybe : EVACUEE

A severe tropical storm is called a hurricane when it occurs in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, a typhoon in the Northwest Pacific, and a cyclone in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Tropical storms form over warm water, picking up energy from the evaporation from the ocean surface.

130 School skipper : TRUANT

“Truant” is such a lovely word. We have been using it to describe someone who wanders from an appointed place since the mid-1400s. Prior to that, a truant was a beggar or a vagabond.

132 Hunting dogs : SETTERS

The breeds of dog known as setters are all gundogs and are used in hunting game.

133 Medicinal shrubs : SENNAS

Sennas are plants in the legume family. Historically, the pods and leaves of the senna plant have been used as a laxative.

Down

1 Hip-hop tops : DO-RAGS

Hip-hoppers might wear do-rags (also “durags”) today, but they have been around for centuries. The etymology of “do-rag” is pretty evident, i.e. a piece of cloth (rag) to hold a hairstyle (do) in place.

2 Steamy : EROTIC

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).

3 Name associated with Jesuit schools : LOYOLA

Saint Ignatius of Loyola (also known as Inigo Lopez de Loyola) was a Spanish knight from a noble family in the Basque region of Spain. He left behind his easy life to become a hermit and a priest, and eventually founded the Society of Jesus (The Jesuit order of the Roman Catholic church).

4 Somali supermodel : IMAN

Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid is a supermodel from Somalia who goes simply by the name “Iman” these days. “Iman” is an Arabic word for “faith”. Iman is a smart cookie. Imam has a degree in Political Science and is fluent in five languages: Somali, Arabic, Italian, French and English. Iman was married to English rock star David Bowie from 1992 until his death in 2016.

5 Poivre partner : SEL

In French, one might season one’s food with “sel” (salt) and “poivre” (pepper).

6 Go deep or go yard : HOMER

In baseball slang, “to go yard” is to hit a home run, to hit the ball the length of the ball “yard”.

7 Former name of the Mariinsky Ballet : KIROV

The Mariinsky Ballet is a company based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in the mid-1700s as the Imperial Russian Ballet, but was renamed to the Kirov Ballet during the Soviet era, in honor of the Bolshevik revolutionary Sergey Kirov. The Kirov was renamed again at the end of communist rule, taking the name of the Mariinsky Theatre where the company was headquartered. The theatre was named for Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who was the wife of Tsar Alexander II.

8 Novelist Zola : EMILE

The most famous work by French writer Émile Zola is his 1898 open letter “J’Accuse!” written to French president Félix Faure. The letter was published on the front page of a leading Paris newspaper, and accused the government of anti-Semitism in its handling of the trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus was a Jewish military officer in the French army, falsely accused and convicted of spying for Germany. Even after the error was discovered, the government refused to back down and let Dreyfus rot away on Devil’s Island rather than admit to the mistake. It wasn’t until 1906, 12 years after the wrongful conviction, that Dreyfus was freed and reinstated, largely due to the advocacy of Emile Zola.

9 Weasel out : RENEGE

To renege on something is to back out of it. It’s a verb commonly used in card games like bridge and whist. A renege is when a player doesn’t follow suit, even though there may be a card of the suit led in his/her hand.

10 West of Hollywood : MAE

Mae West was always pushing the envelope when it came to the “sexy” side of show business, even in her early days in Vaudeville. One of the first plays in which West starred on Broadway was called “Sex”, a work that she penned herself. The show was a sell-out, but city officials had it raided and West found herself spending ten days in jail after being convicted of “corrupting the morals of youth”. She started in movies in 1932, already 38 years old. West used her experience writing plays to rewrite much of the material she was given, and so really she was totally responsible for her own success and on-screen appeal.

12 Company that makes Ball Park Franks : TYSON

The Ball Park Franks brand of hot dogs was introduced in the 1950s, with popularity of the product in the early days very much associated with the Detroit Tigers baseball team. The management of Tigers Stadium were unhappy with the supplier of hot dogs in the stadium in 1958, and so held a competition to find a new supplier. A meat packer called Hygrade came up with a new recipe for the contest, and were awarded the contract. Hygrade held a competition themselves within the company to come up with a name for the new product, which resulted in the brand name “Ball Park Franks”.

14 Arctic parkas : ANORAKS

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

A parka is a hooded jacket that is often lined with fur, and that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment, and it was absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.

15 Addams cousin : ITT

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

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

17 AmericanAirlines Arena city : MIAMI

American Airlines purchased the naming rights for two NBA venues: The AmericanAirlines Arena (home to Miami Heat) and the American Airlines Center (home to the Dallas Mavericks).

18 Williams of “Happy Days” : ANSON

Anson Williams plays the lovable Warren “Potsie” Weber character on “Happy Days”. After “Happy Days” finished its run, Williams moved into directing and has directed episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”, “Xena: Warrior Princess”, “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, “Melrose Place”, “Beverly Hills 90210” and other shows. But Williams’ true claim to fame has to be that he is the second cousin of Dr. Henry Heimlich, who invented the Heimlich Maneuver!

19 Classic sodas : NEHIS

The Nehi cola brand has a name that sounds like “knee-high”, a measure of a small stature. Back in the mid-1900’s the Chero-Cola company, which owned the brand, went for a slightly different twist on “knee-high” in advertising. The logo for Nehi was an image of a seated woman’s stockinged legs, with her skirt pulled up to her knees to hint at “knee-high”.

24 2010 health law: Abbr. : ACA

The correct name for what has been dubbed “Obamacare” is the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ACA).

29 NYC subway org. : MTA

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). “MTA” might also refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as “the Metro” and sometimes “the MTA”.

33 Present-day Persia : IRAN

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

34 Rare blood type, for short : A-NEG

Here is an approximate distribution of blood types across the US population:

• O-positive: 38 percent
• O-negative: 7 percent
• A-positive: 34 percent
• A-negative: 6 percent
• B-positive: 9 percent
• B-negative: 2 percent
• AB-positive: 3 percent
• AB-negative: 1 percent

35 Croupier’s tool : RAKE

A croupier is someone who conducts a game at a gambling table. In the world of gaming, the original croupier was someone who stood behind a gambler, holding reserves of cash for the person in a game. Before that, “croupier” was someone who rode behind the main rider on a horse. “Croup” was a Germanic word for “rump”. So, a croupier used to be a “second”, as it were.

37 Trident-shaped letter : PSI

Psi is the 23rd and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.

41 A, in Argentina : UNA

Argentina is the second largest country in South America (after Brazil), and the world’s largest Spanish-speaking nation. The name “Argentina” comes from the Latin “argentum”, the word for “silver”. It is thought that the name was given by the early Spanish and Portuguese conquerors who also named the Rio de la Plata (the “Silver River”). Those early explorers got hold of lots of silver objects that they found among the native population.

43 Writer Wiesel : ELIE

Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, and is best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also the first recipient of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Award, which was later renamed the Elie Wiesel Award in his honor.

48 Seder prophet : ELIJAH

Once the Grace after Meals has been recited at the Passover Seder, it is customary to pour a cup of wine known as the Cup of Elijah. Tradition is that by doing so, the home is graced by the presence of Elijah the Prophet.

49 Dessert made with mascarpone cheese : TIRAMISU

Tiramisu is an Italian cake. The name “tiramisu” translates from Italian as “pull me up”, and is often translated into our English phrase “pick-me-up”.

50 Bok __ : CHOY

Bok choy is a variety of Chinese cabbage. “Bok choy” translates as “white vegetable”.

51 Attila’s army : HUNS

The Huns were a nomadic people who originated in Eastern Europe in the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.

52 “All Things Considered” network : NPR

“All Things Considered” is the flagship news broadcast by NPR that airs for two hours every evening.

53 “Eureka!” : AHA!

“Eureka” translates from Greek as “I have found it”. The word is usually associated with Archimedes, uttered as he stepped into his bath one day. His discovery was that the volume of water that was displaced was equal to that of the object (presumably his foot) that had been submerged. He used this fact to determine the volume of a crown, something he needed in order to determine if it was made of pure gold or was a forgery.

54 Emmy-winning portrayer of Gary Walsh in “Veep” : TONY HALE

Actor and comedian Tony Hale is probably best known for playing Buster Bluth on the sitcom “Arrested Development”. He also played body man Gary Walsh in the satirical comedy show “Veep”.

55 Enjoying crumpets, maybe : AT TEA

I do love a nice crumpet. Crumpets are made from flour and yeast, with baking soda added to make the characteristic holes in the surface. Served hot, with butter melted into the holes, nothing better …

57 NBC show since 1975 : SNL

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was named “NBC’s Saturday Night” during its first season. This was to differentiate it from the ABC show airing at that time, called “Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell”. Chevy Chase uttered the famous line “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” in the very first SNL episode on October 11, 1975. That careful wording has persisted, even though the NBC show’s name was changed to “Saturday Night Live” after Cosell’s show went off the air in 1976.

62 “Certainement!” : OUI!

In French, an emphatic “oui” (yes) might be said as “certainement!” (certainly!).

68 Trimming tape : INKLE

An inkle is a colored linen tape that is used as trim on clothing.

69 Large penguins : EMPERORS

The emperor is the largest species of penguin, weighing in at 50-100 pounds fully grown. The emperor penguin is known for the incredible journey taken by the adults during the breeding season in the Antarctic winter. Females lay an egg and then trek 30-70 miles from the breeding colony to the sea to feed, returning to feed their chicks.

71 “Lord, is __?” : IT I

At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him that day. According to the Gospel of Matthew:

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

74 Andrews and Edwards: Abbr. : AFBS

Joint Base Andrews is located just outside Washington, D.C. It is noted as the home base for the two Boeing VC-25A (Air Force One) aircraft that serve the US President. Joint Base Andrews is so called as it resulted from the merger of Andrews Air Force Base and the US Navy Naval Air Facility Washington.

Edwards Air Force Base is in a desert area in Southern California. Edwards is a flight test center for the Air Force, and it was here that Chuck Yeager famously broke the sound barrier for the first time. And of course, Edwards was used for many landings of the Space Shuttle.

77 Greek X : CHI

The Greek letter chi is the one that looks like our Roman letter X.

81 Stuffing stuff : SAGE

In Britain, sage is listed as one of the four essential herbs. And those would be “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”.

88 Buddhist discipline : ZEN

Zen is a Buddhist school that developed its own tradition in China back in the 7th century AD. Zen is a Japanese spelling of the Chinese word “chan”, which in turn derives from the Sanskrit word “dhyana” meaning “meditation”.

93 Protected, at sea : ALEE

Alee is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing aweather.

94 Afghanistan’s __ Bora : TORA

The famous cave that almost certainly housed Osama Bin Laden for a while was in Tora Bora in eastern Pakistan. Tora Bora is not far (~ 30 mi) from what used to be an even more famous spot, the Khyber Pass. “Tora Bora” is a Pashto name which translates to “black dust”.

95 Show with Miami and NY spin-offs : CSI

The “CSI” TV show franchise uses hits from the Who as theme music:

• “Who Are You” … “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”
• “Baba O’Riley” … “CSI: New York”
• “Won’t Get Fooled Again” … “CSI: Miami”
• “I Can See for Miles” … “CSI: Cyber”

101 Martini garnishes : OLIVES

The term “martini” probably takes its name from the “Martini & Rossi” brand of dry vermouth, although no one seems to be completely sure. What is clear is that despite the Martini name originating in Italy, the martini drink originated in the US. The original martini was made with gin and sweet vermouth, but someone specifying a “dry” martini was given gin and dry vermouth. Nowadays we use dry vermouth for all martinis, and the term “dry” has become a reference to how little vermouth is included in the drink. Famously, Noël Coward liked his drink very dry and said that a perfect martini is made by “filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy”. The German-American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken referred to the martini as “the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet”.

102 Phillies’ div. : NLE

Philadelphia’s baseball team was founded in 1883 as the Quakers, with the name changing to “Philadelphias” and “Phillies” not long into the team’s history. The Phillies have been based in the same city using the same team name longer than any other team in US professional sports.

104 “The Joy Luck Club” novelist : AMY TAN

Amy Tan lives not too far from here, in Sausalito just north of San Francisco. Tan is an American writer of Chinese descent whose most successful work is “The Joy Luck Club”. “The Joy Luck Club” was made into a movie produced by Oliver Stone in 1993. The novel and movie tell of four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco who start the Joy Luck Club, a group playing Mahjong for money and eating delicious food.

106 Main Milky Way makeup : NOUGAT

“Nougat” is an Occitan word (Occitania being a region of Southern Europe) that translates as “nut bread”.

Having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, I find the Mars Bar to be the most perplexing of candies! The original Mars Bar is a British confection (and delicious) that was first manufactured in 1932. The US version of the original Mars Bar is called a Milky Way. But there is a candy bar called a Milky Way that is also produced in the UK, and it is completely different to its US cousin, being more like an American “3 Musketeers”. And then there is an American confection called a Mars Bar, something different again. No wonder I try not to eat candy bars …

108 Wintry, in a way : SLEETY

Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.

109 Creepy film motel : BATES

Bates Motel and house were constructed on the backlot of Universal Studios for the 1960 HItchcock movie “Psycho”. They are still standing, and for me are highlights of the backlot tour that is available to visitors.

110 Motrin alternative : ALEVE

“Aleve” is a brand name used for the anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

111 Stuttgart starter : SALAT

Our word “salad” comes from the Latin “salare” meaning “to salt”. The Latin “herba salata” translates as “salted vegetables”, which I guess could be a salad …

Stuttgart is the sixth-largest city in Germany, and is located in the south of the country. The city is sometimes called “the cradle of the automobile” as Karl Benz made his first cars and motorcycles there, as were the first VW Beetle prototypes. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche cars are still manufactured in Stuttgart and the surrounding area.

114 Polynesian Disney heroine : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

117 Red Sea resort : EILAT

Eilat (sometimes “Elat”) the most southerly city in Israel. It sits right at the northern tip of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba.

The Red Sea (sometimes “Arabian Gulf”) is a stretch of water lying between Africa and Asia. The Gulf of Suez (and the Suez Canal) lies to the 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.

122 Composer Schifrin : LALO

Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer best known for writing film and television scores. Famously, Schifrin wrote the theme for “Mission: Impossible”, and also for TV shows “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Mannix” and “Starsky and Hutch”.

124 Saturn SUV : VUE

The VUE is a compact SUV made by General Motors under the Saturn brand from 2001 to 2009. The VUE was the best-selling of all Saturn models.

127 Sister : NUN

A nun is a female member of a religious community in several traditions, including Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, Buddhism and Hinduism. Sometimes the term “nun” applies to a religious woman living a contemplative and cloistered life, with the term “religious sister” applying to a woman living a life of prayer and service to the needy.

128 DDE’s WWII command : ETO

General Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was in command of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during WWII.