LA Times Crossword 11 Sep 22, Sunday

Advertisement

Constructed by: Alan Olschwang
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Triple Play

Themed answers each comprise three words, with the second an anagram of the first plus a letter, and the third an anagram of the second plus a letter:

  • 23A Cherries jubilee? : BIG BING BINGE
  • 35A “I mean a different cereal box mascot!”? : NO, NOT TONY
  • 52A Headline after the IT department fixes a bug on Hulu? : TEAM TAMES STREAM
  • 90A Beer brewed by the Royal Family? : REAL REGAL LAGERS
  • 110A Where NHLers serve penalty time? : IN SIN BINS
  • 124A Wading bird that a girl can really look up to? : HER HERO HERON
  • 16D Dolly the sheep, sitting all by herself? : ONE LONE CLONE
  • 64D Cheap perfume? : TEN-CENT SCENT

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

Bill’s time: 14m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Wii or Xbox aficionado : GAMER

An aficionado is an enthusiast. Imported from Spanish, “aficionado” was originally used in English to describe a devotee of bullfighting.

12 Mop & __ : GLO

Mop & Glo is a brand of floor cleaner and polish.

15 Persian Gulf capital : DOHA

Doha is the capital city of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. The name “Doha” translates from Arabic as “the big tree”.

19 Moby Dick, e.g. : WHALE

In Herman Melville’s 1851 novel “Moby-Dick”, the animal named in the title is an albino sperm whale.

23 Cherries jubilee? : BIG BING BINGE

The bing cherry is the most widely grown sweet cherry in the US. The cultivar was created in Oregon in 1875 by Seth Lewelling. Lewelling was a horticulturist, and he named the cherry for his Chinese foreman Ah Bing.

25 Area that separates a nave from a sanctuary : TRANSEPT

A transept is a transverse section that crosses the main body of a building. Transepts are important features in many Gothic Christian churches, which often have a cross-shaped floor plan.

29 Areas of human development : UTERI

“Uterus” (plural “uteri”) is the Latin word for “womb”.

30 “Macarena” band __ del Río : LOS

Here’s a 2002 list of one-hit wonders that VH1 dubbed the top-10 greatest of all time:

  1. “Macarena” – Los del Río (1996)
  2. “Tainted Love” – Soft Cell (1982)
  3. “Come on Eileen” – Dexys Midnight Runners (1982)
  4. “I’m Too Sexy” – Right Said Fred (1991)
  5. “Mickey” – Toni Basil (1982)
  6. “Who Let the Dogs Out?” – Baha Men (2000)
  7. “Ice Ice Baby” – Vanilla Ice (1990)
  8. “Take On Me” – A-ha (1985)
  9. “Rico Suave” – Gerardo (1990)
  10. “99 Luftballons” – Nena (1984)

34 French possessive pronoun : SES

“Ses” is the French word for “his”, “her” or “its” when referring to a group of items or individuals.

35 “I mean a different cereal box mascot!”? : NO, NOT TONY!

Tony the Tiger has been the mascot of Frosted Flakes cereal since the product’s introduction in 1951. As Tony would say, “They’re Gr-r-reat!” Well, I thought they were when I was a lot younger …

37 Actor Holbrook : HAL

Hal Holbrook was an actor from Cleveland, Ohio. Although Holbrook was well known for many roles on the big and small screens, he is best known for a series of plays that he developed called “Mark Twain Tonight!”. Holbrook depicted Twain on stage giving recitations from several of Twain’s writings, varying the script for each performance. “Mark Twain Tonight!” was first performed in 1959, and Holbrook last portrayed Twain in the work in 2017, just before he retired at the age of 92. With well over 2,000 appearances in 58 years, Holbrook portrayed Twain longer than Samuel Langhorne Clemens himself.

42 Brown in the kitchen : ALTON

Alton Brown is a celebrity chef who is behind the Food Network show “Good Eats”, and is the host of “Iron Chef America”.

43 Spring flower : IRIS

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

45 India’s smallest state : GOA

Goa is the smallest state in India, and is located in the southwest of the country. The Portuguese landed in Goa in the early 1500s, at first peacefully carrying out trade, but then took the area by force creating Portuguese India. Portugal held onto Portuguese India even after the British pulled out of India in 1947, until the Indian Army marched into the area in 1961.

47 “Trinity” novelist Leon : URIS

“Trinity” is a 1976 novel by American author Leon Uris. The story is set in Ireland, with a storyline that runs from the Great Famine of the 1840s through the Easter Rising of 1916.

49 Ships with staterooms : LINERS

The use of the word “line” with reference to transportation started in the 1780s, in the context of stagecoaches. Such transportation operated a string of stagecoaches between towns and cities along regular “lines”. The concept shifted to shipping “lines” operating ocean-going “liners” between ports. And then came “airliners”.

52 Headline after the IT department fixes a bug on Hulu? : TEAM TAMES STREAM

Hulu is a video-on-demand service. Although competing directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime, Hulu’s primary focus is the streaming of television shows rather than movies.

57 “Law & Order: SVU” actor : ICE-T

Rapper Ice-T must be tired of having his name come up as an answer in crossword puzzles (I know I am!). Born Tracy Marrow, Ice-T has been interested in acting for decades and made his film debut in the 1984 movie about breakdancing called “Breakin’”. He has also played Detective Fin Tutuola in the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” since the year 2000.

65 Comedian Silverman : SARAH

Sarah Silverman is a comedian, and also a singer and actress. Her material is very “edgy”, as she takes on social taboos such as racism, sexism and religion. She had a celebrity boyfriend for five years as she started dating Jimmy Kimmel in 2002, soon after Kimmel’s divorce from his first wife.

75 Sea nymph of Greek mythology : OCEANID

The Naiads of Greek mythology were water nymphs associated with fountains, wells, springs and streams. The saltwater equivalents of the freshwater Naiads were the Oceanids.

78 Roof with removable panels : T-TOP

A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

80 Defensive trenches : MOATS

A moat is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say, or an exhibit in a zoo. A moat may or may not be filled with water.

82 Birch family trees : ALDERS

Alders are deciduous (i.e. not evergreen) trees with fruit called catkins. The tree carries both male and female catkins that look very similar to each other, but the male catkin is longer than the female. Alders are pollinated by wind usually, although bees can play a role.

85 Reggae great Peter : TOSH

Peter Tosh was a musician from Jamaica, a member of the Wailers reggae band. Sadly, Tosh was murdered in a home invasion and extortion attempt in 1987.

90 Beer brewed by the Royal Family? : REAL REGAL LAGERS

Lager is so called because of the tradition of cold-storing the beer during fermentation. “Lager” is the German word for “storage”.

99 Manitoba First Nations 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.

101 North Carolina college town : ELON

Elon is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina located close to the city of Burlington. Elon University is a private liberal arts school founded in 1889.

109 Former owner of Virgin Records : EMI

EMI was a British music company, with the initialism standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

110 Where NHLers serve penalty time? : IN SIN BINS

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.

113 Game with matchsticks : NIM

Nim is a simple mathematical game of strategy, and an ancient entertainment. Nim involves removing items from distinct piles (say matchsticks). Each player must remove at least one item per turn, and the last person to remove an item is the loser.

115 Fruit jam in Sacher tortes : APRICOT

Sachertorte is a chocolate cake from Austria. It was specifically created in 1832 when Prince Metternich commanded his personal chef to prepare a dessert for some special guests. But his head chef became ill so the task fell to 16-year-old Franz Sacher, an apprentice in the kitchen. That teenager’s dessert is now one of Austria’s most famous dishes.

117 Japanese IT services giant : NEC

“NEC” is the name that the Nippon Electric Company chose for itself outside of Japan after a rebranding exercise in 1983.

118 Mila of “Bad Moms” : KUNIS

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.

“Bad Moms” is a 2016 comedy movie about three stressed-out mothers who go on a fling, shirking their maternal responsibilities for a few days. Those “bad moms” are played by Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell and Kathryn Hahn.

122 Knight spot? : CHESS SET

In the game of chess, the knight is a piece with relatively unusual properties. It doesn’t move in a straight line, but rather moves two squares in one-direction, and one square in the other. Also, the knight is the only piece that can jump over others.

124 Wading bird that a girl can really look up to? : HER HERO HERON

Herons are birds with long legs that inhabit freshwater and coastal locales. Some herons are routinely referred to as egrets, and others as bitterns. Herons look a lot like storks and cranes, but differ in their appearance in flight. Herons fly with their necks retracted in an S-shape, whereas storks and cranes have their necks extended.

128 River in Tuscany : ARNO

The Arno is the principal river in the Tuscany region of Italy, and passes 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.

Tuscany is a beautiful region in central Italy, the capital of which is the city of Florence. Tuscany is considered to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, which was centered around Florence. It was home to great artistic icons such as Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Galileo and Puccini.

129 Before, in ballads : ERE

Our “ballad”, meaning “narrative song”, came into English from the French “ballade”, meaning “dancing song”. The French term derives from the Latin verb “ballare” meaning “to dance”.

131 Battery terminal : ANODE

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

133 Leb. neighbor : SYR

The modern state that we know as Syria was established after WWI as a French mandate. Syria was granted independence from France in 1946.

Down

1 Hudson Riv. crossing : GWB

New York City’s George Washington Bridge (GWB) spans the Hudson River and links the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan with Fort Lee in New Jersey. When the bridge was opened in 1931 it had one deck, allowing six lanes of traffic to traverse the river. The bridge’s designer allowed for the construction of a second deck under the first, and this was added in 1946. Today, the bridge carries 14 lanes of traffic, which is more than any other suspension bridge anywhere. As a result, the GWB is the world’s busiest vehicular bridge. Some locals refer to that second deck as “Martha”, a reference to the president’s wife.

The Hudson River flows through eastern New York State from Henderson Lake in the Adirondacks to the Port of New York and New Jersey. The river is named for the English explorer Henry Hudson, who navigated the waterway in 1609.

3 Official flower of two Southern states : MAGNOLIA

The magnolia is the state flower of both Louisiana and Mississippi.

7 Dresden’s river : ELBE

The River Elbe rises in the Czech Republic and travels over a thousand kilometers before emptying into the North Sea near the port of Hamburg in Germany.

The German city of Dresden was almost completely destroyed during WWII, especially as a result of the famous firebombing of the city in 1945. Restoration work in the inner city in recent decades led to it being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, in 2006 when the city built a highway bridge close to the city center, UNESCO took Dresden off the list. This marked the only time a European location has lost World Heritage status.

8 Margaret Atwood’s “__ Grace” : ALIAS

Margaret Atwood’s 1996 novel “Alias Grace” is a fictionalized account of a real killing that took place in 1843 in Canada. In both novel and reality, two servants were convicted of the murder of their employer and his housekeeper. Atwood’s telling of the story explores the politics of the Irish in a British colony, and the status of women in society. The novel was adapted into a TV miniseries that first aired in 2017.

13 Golfer Ochoa : LORENA

Lorena Ochoa is a retired professional golfer from Mexico who was ranked as the number one female golfer in the world from 2007 to 2010.

16 Dolly the sheep, sitting all by herself? : ONE LONE CLONE

Dolly was the most famous sheep in the world. She was a clone, and was born in 1996 near Edinburgh in Scotland, grown from a cell taken from the mammary gland of a healthy donor sheep. When asked why she was called Dolly, the scientist responsible said, and I quote:

“Dolly is derived from a mammary gland cell and we couldn’t think of a more impressive pair of glands than Dolly Parton’s”.

24 Yule tune : NOEL

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, and ultimately comes from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). “Noel” has come to be used as an alternative for “Christmas carol”.

26 Tucci’s “Road to Perdition” role : NITTI

Frank Nitti was one of the top henchmen working for Al Capone. Unlike American-born Capone, Nitti was actually from Italy and was born near the city of Salerno. When Capone was eventually put away for 11 years for tax evasion, Nitti was convicted of the same crime. Nitti was only imprisoned for 18 months, and when released he was labeled as the new head of Capone’s Chicago Outfit. However the truth seems to be that he was just a frontman, with others making the decisions.

Stanley Tucci is a UK-based, American actor. Of his many fine performances, my favorite is in 2009’s “Julie & Julia” in which he plays the husband of celebrity chef Julia Child. Tucci is quite the cook himself in real life and released “The Tucci Cookbook” in 2012. He is also a co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York.

“Road to Perdition” is a 2002 film based on a 1998 graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The movie was directed by Sam Mendes and stars a great cast headed by Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Daniel Craig. It’s all about a mob war in Chicago during the Great Depression.

31 Gambler’s marker : CHIT

A chit is a note or a short letter. The term “chit” tends to be used these days in the sense of an amount owed (as in a poker game). The word used to be “chitty”, which is now obsolete but was closer to the original Hindi term. I feel a tad obsolete myself, because when we are at school we would be excused from class if we had a “chitty”.

33 Religious doctrine : DOGMA

A dogma is a set of beliefs. The plural of “dogma” is “dogmata” (or “dogmas”, if you’re not a pedant like me!)

36 “Pagliacci” clown : TONIO

“Pagliacci” (“ Clowns” in English) is an opera by Ruggero Leoncavallo that premiered in 1892 in Milan. Included in the opera is one of the most famous arias of all time, “Vesti la giubba” (“put on the costume”).

39 Audre Lorde and Lord Byron, e.g. : POETS

Audre Lorde was and American feminist author and civil rights activists. Lorde spent many years in Germany. She held a visiting professorship at the Free University of Berlin, and while holding that position became a leading light in the Afro-German movement.

George Gordon Byron, known simply as “Lord Byron”, was an English poet active in the early 1800s. Byron was equally as famous for his poetry as he was for the wild excesses in his personal life. Byron lived much of that life outside of England, and fought for revolutionaries in both Italy and Greece. He died from a fever contracted while fighting for the Greeks against the Ottomans.

41 NHL great Bobby : 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. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.

46 Like most of the world’s people : ASIAN

Most of the world’s population lives in Asia (60%), and Asia is the largest continent in terms of landmass (30% of the world). Asia also has the highest population density (246 people per square mile), and the most populous city on the continent is Shanghai, China.

50 Colorful timber tree : RED FIR

The noble fir is also known as red fir, and even “Christmas tree” as it is a popular choice for decoration during the December holiday.

53 Travis of country : TRITT

Travis Tritt is a country singer from Marietta, Georgia.

54 “BoJack Horseman” voice actor Will : ARNETT

Will Arnett is a Canadian actor who got his big break in the Fox show “Arrested Development”. Arnett’s father was the president and CEO of Molson Breweries, and Will was married to actress Penelope Ann Miller and actress/comedian Amy Poehler.

56 BLT spread : MAYO

Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

62 Many dreadlocks wearers : RASTAS

Dreadlocks are matted coils of hair that are usually formed intentionally, although if one lets hair grow out without grooming then it naturally forms twisted and matted dreadlocks. The hairstyle is associated with the Rastafarian movement in which “dread” is a very positive term meaning “fear of the Lord”.

63 Plaza Hotel girl : ELOISE

Kay Thompson wrote the “Eloise” series of children’s books. Kay Thompson actually lived at the Plaza Hotel in New York, the setting she would choose for her “Eloise” stories. Eloise started out as a hit song for Thompson, a success that she parlayed into the book franchise.

The celebrated Plaza Hotel in New York City is named for Grand Army Plaza, which faces the hotel’s main entrance on Fifth Avenue.

66 Mil. mail drop : APO

Army post office (APO)

69 Street of mystery : DELLA

Della Street is Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Street was played on the fifties-sixties TV show by Barbara Hale. Juliet Rylance portrays Street on the more recent HBO “Perry Mason”.

79 Tiny fraction of a min. : PSEC

A picosecond is one trillionth of a second, and is correctly abbreviated to “ps” in the SI system of measurements. I guess that’s what “psec” is meant to be …

84 Golean cereal maker : KASHI

Kashi is a food company that primarily produces breakfast cereals. Founded in 1984, the name “Kashi” is a melding of “kashruth” (i.e. kosher), and “Kushi”. Michio Kushi helped to introduce the macrobiotic diet to the US in the fifties.

88 Massey of old films : ILONA

Ilona Massey was a Hollywood actress, and a native of Budapest in Hungary. Given her cultural background and the period at which she hit the big screen, Massey was marketed by the studios as “the new Dietrich”.

92 Sven of “Frozen,” for one : REINDEER

In the 2013 animated film “Frozen”, Kristoff is a 21-year old iceman who is accompanied by Sven, his reindeer. Kristoff is voiced by Jonathan Groff.

93 Kind of microscope : ELECTRON

An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons rather than visible light to illuminate the sample. Electron microscopes can reveal smaller structures than optical microscopes because the wavelength of an electron beam can be up to 100,000 times shorter than visible light photons.

94 Dallas quarterback after Bledsoe : ROMO

Tony Romo is a former quarterback who spent his entire NFL career with the Dallas Cowboys. Romo is also an avid amateur golfer and has even tried (albeit unsuccessfully) to qualify for the US Open golf championship.

Drew Bledsoe is a former NFL quarterback, one who most famously played for the New England Patriots in the 1990s. Today, Bledsoe is a partner in the Doubleback Winery in Walla Walla, Washington.

98 Picture puzzles : REBUSES

A rebus is a puzzle that uses pictures to represent letters and groups of letters. For example, a picture of a “ewe” might represent the letter “U” or the pronoun “you”, a picture of an “oar” might represent the letter “R” or the conjunction “or”, and a picture of an “awl” might represent the word “all”.

103 Fancy duds : FINERY

“Duds” is an informal word meaning “clothing”. The term comes from the word “dudde” that was used around 1300 as the name for a cloak.

108 “Gilmore Girls” actress Lauren : GRAHAM

Actress Lauren Graham is probably best known for playing Lorelai Gilmore on “Gilmore Girls” and Sarah Braverman on “Parenthood”. Graham is also an author. Her 2013 novel “Someday, Someday, Maybe” made it into the New York Times best seller list.

“Gilmore Girls” is a comedy show that originally aired from 2000 to 2007 on the WB. The title characters are mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. All the action takes place in the fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollow.

110 Early Peruvian : INCAN

The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Túpac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

111 India’s first prime minister : NEHRU

Jawaharlal Nehru was the first prime minister of India, serving from 1947-64. Nehru was basically the heir to his mentor Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s only daughter Indira, also became prime minister (known as Indira Gandhi through marriage, though she was not related to Mahatma).

112 Compound in fireworks : NITER

The chemical name for saltpeter (also “saltpetre, niter, nitre”) is potassium nitrate. The exact origin of the name “saltpeter” isn’t clear, but it may have come from the Latin “sal petrae” meaning “stone salt”. The main use for potassium nitrate is as a fertilizer, a source of potassium and nitrogen. As it is a powerful oxidizing agent, it is also used in amateur rocket propellants. Anyone who has ignited one of those “engines” would have noticed the lilac-colored flame, indicating the presence of potassium.

114 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”.

116 Joliot-Curie who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry : IRENE

Along with her husband Frederick, Irene Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Irene was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, who also won Nobel Prizes. Irene died when she was 58 years old, suffering from leukemia brought on by her exposure to high doses of radiation. Her mother, Marie, died from aplastic anemia, also caused by high exposure to radiation. To this day, Marie’s personal papers are kept preserved in lead-lined boxes as they are highly radioactive, even her personal cookbook.

120 Pols from blue states, usually : DEMS

On political maps, red states are usually Republican and blue states usually Democrat. The designation of red and blue states is a very recent concept, only introduced in the 2000 presidential election by TV journalist, the late Tim Russert. In retrospect, the choice of colors is surprising, as in other democracies around the world red is usually used to describe left-leaning socialist parties (the reds under the bed!), and blue is used for conservative right-wing parties. In election cycles, swing/battleground states are often depicted in purple.

123 Brillo rival : SOS

S.O.S is a brand of scouring pads made from steel wool impregnated with soap. The product was invented as a giveaway by an aluminum pot salesman in San Francisco called Ed Cox. His wife gave it the name “S.O.S” as an initialism standing for “Save Our Saucepans”. Note the punctuation! There is no period after the last S, and that is deliberate. When Cox went to register the trademark, he found that “S.O.S.” could not be a trademark because it was used as an international distress signal. So he dropped the period after the last S, and I hope made a lot of money for himself and his wife.

124 “Succession” network : HBO

“Succession” is a very popular dark comedy-drama series that premiered in 2018. It’s about a family-owned, global media company. The “succession” in question is who will get to run the empire after the passing of the ailing family patriarch. The marvelous Scottish actor Brian Cox plays the head of the company Logan Roy.

125 Food Network host Drummond : REE

Ree Drummond is a food writer and blogger. Drummond’s blog “The Pioneer Woman” recounts her daily life on her family’s working ranch outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

127 Early video game letters : NES

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was sold in North America from 1985 to 1995. It was the biggest selling gaming console of the era. Nintendo replaced the NES with Wii, which is also the biggest-selling game console in the world.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Wii or Xbox aficionado : GAMER
6 Tantalizes : TEASES
12 Mop & __ : GLO
15 Persian Gulf capital : DOHA
19 Moby Dick, e.g. : WHALE
20 Hint at, with “to” : ALLUDE …
21 Long time : EON
22 Unknown author, for short : ANON
23 Cherries jubilee? : BIG BING BINGE
25 Area that separates a nave from a sanctuary : TRANSEPT
27 Nixed, at NASA : NO-GO
28 Make less strict : EASE
29 Areas of human development : UTERI
30 “Macarena” band __ del Río : LOS
31 Topped, in a way : CROWNED
34 French possessive pronoun : SES
35 “I mean a different cereal box mascot!”? : NO, NOT TONY!
37 Actor Holbrook : HAL
38 Swill : SLOP
40 Warn with a horn : TOOT
42 Brown in the kitchen : ALTON
43 Spring flower : IRIS
45 India’s smallest state : GOA
47 “Trinity” novelist Leon : URIS
49 Ships with staterooms : LINERS
52 Headline after the IT department fixes a bug on Hulu? : TEAM TAMES STREAM
57 “Law & Order: SVU” actor : ICE-T
58 All over the place : ERRATIC
59 Headliner : STAR
61 Merrie __ England : OLDE
62 Hold on to : RETAIN
65 Comedian Silverman : SARAH
68 Scrutinized : EYED
70 All __ sudden : OF A
71 Tipped off : ALERTED
73 Neck parts : NAPES
75 Sea nymph of Greek mythology : OCEANID
77 Junior : SON
78 Roof with removable panels : T-TOP
80 Defensive trenches : MOATS
82 Birch family trees : ALDERS
83 Check mark : TICK
85 Reggae great Peter : TOSH
87 Plain : VANILLA
89 Sailing : ASEA
90 Beer brewed by the Royal Family? : REAL REGAL LAGERS
96 Security system component : SENSOR
99 Manitoba First Nations people : CREE
100 __ trip : EGO
101 North Carolina college town : ELON
102 Crook : THIEF
104 “Yeah, right!” : AS IF!
106 Tight-fitting : SNUG
109 Former owner of Virgin Records : EMI
110 Where NHLers serve penalty time? : IN SIN BINS
113 Game with matchsticks : NIM
115 Fruit jam in Sacher tortes : APRICOT
117 Japanese IT services giant : NEC
118 Mila of “Bad Moms” : KUNIS
119 Useless, batterywise : DEAD
121 Small fruit pie : TART
122 Knight spot? : CHESS SET
124 Wading bird that a girl can really look up to? : HER HERO HERON
128 River in Tuscany : ARNO
129 Before, in ballads : ERE
130 Changed into : BECAME
131 Battery terminal : ANODE
132 “Oh, shoot” : NUTS
133 Leb. neighbor : SYR
134 “… if you know what’s good for you!” : … OR ELSE!
135 Repairs : MENDS

Down

1 Hudson Riv. crossing : GWB
2 Sushi-grade tuna : AHI
3 Official flower of two Southern states : MAGNOLIA
4 __ grease : ELBOW
5 Rules : REIGNS
6 Schoolyard game : TAG
7 Dresden’s river : ELBE
8 Margaret Atwood’s “__ Grace” : ALIAS
9 Nightly show with free admission : SUNSET
10 Beats by a whisker : EDGES OUT
11 “Catch my drift?” : SEE?
12 Really bug : GET TO
13 Golfer Ochoa : LORENA
14 Winning steadily : ON A ROLL
15 Some govt. lawyers : DAS
16 Dolly the sheep, sitting all by herself? : ONE LONE CLONE
17 Climb aboard : HOP ON
18 Nasty anagram : ANTSY
24 Yule tune : NOEL
26 Tucci’s “Road to Perdition” role : NITTI
29 Lets loose : UNTIES
31 Gambler’s marker : CHIT
32 Almost unique : RARE
33 Religious doctrine : DOGMA
36 “Pagliacci” clown : TONIO
39 Audre Lorde and Lord Byron, e.g. : POETS
41 NHL great Bobby : ORR
44 Ink mishap : SMEAR
46 Like most of the world’s people : ASIAN
48 Make full : SATE
50 Colorful timber tree : RED FIR
51 Places : STEADS
53 Travis of country : TRITT
54 “BoJack Horseman” voice actor Will : ARNETT
55 “Get lost!” : SCRAM!
56 BLT spread : MAYO
60 Car manufacturer’s woe : RECALL
62 Many dreadlocks wearers : RASTAS
63 Plaza Hotel girl : ELOISE
64 Cheap perfume? : TEN-CENT SCENT
66 Mil. mail drop : APO
67 Fling with force : HEAVE
69 Street of mystery : DELLA
72 Way in : DOOR
74 __ whisper : STAGE
76 Wise words : ADAGE
79 Tiny fraction of a min. : PSEC
81 Catches : SNAGS
84 Golean cereal maker : KASHI
86 Hound : HARASS
88 Massey of old films : ILONA
91 French article : LES
92 Sven of “Frozen,” for one : REINDEER
93 Kind of microscope : ELECTRON
94 Dallas quarterback after Bledsoe : ROMO
95 Cross mood : SNIT
97 Farmyard noises : OINKS
98 Picture puzzles : REBUSES
103 Fancy duds : FINERY
105 Intense : FIERCE
107 Until : UP TO
108 “Gilmore Girls” actress Lauren : GRAHAM
110 Early Peruvian : INCAN
111 India’s first prime minister : NEHRU
112 Compound in fireworks : NITER
114 Taj __ : MAHAL
116 Joliot-Curie who won a Nobel Prize in chemistry : IRENE
120 Pols from blue states, usually : DEMS
123 Brillo rival : SOS
124 “Succession” network : HBO
125 Food Network host Drummond : REE
126 Out of the ordinary : ODD
127 Early video game letters : NES