LA Times Crossword 22 Dec 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Peter Koetters
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: At the Helm

Themed answers each start with a famous CAPTAIN:

  • 112A 1865 classic not written for the characters that start the answers to starred clues : O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
  • 23A *Without hesitation : HOOK, LINE AND SINKER (Captain Hook)
  • 32A *Opponent of the U.S. entry into WWII : AMERICA FIRSTER (Captain America)
  • 48A *”Sheik of … burning sand” in a Ray Stevens hit : AHAB THE ARAB (Captain Ahab)
  • 67A *Back-to-basics food regimen : CAVEMAN DIET (Captain Caveman)
  • 84A *Moments requiring decisive action : CRUNCH TIMES (Cap’n Crunch)
  • 100A *Groups that pervert justice : KANGAROO COURTS (Captain Kangaroo)
  • 16D *Food chain with a roundheaded spokesman : JACK IN THE BOX (Captain Jack)
  • 61D *1990 Paul Simon song, with “The” : … OBVIOUS CHILD (Captain Obvious)

Bill’s time: 14m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 “Modern Family” network : ABC TV

“Modern Family” is a marvelous television show shown on ABC since 2009. The show’s format is that of a “mockumentary”, with the cast often addressing the camera directly. In that respect “Modern Family” resembles two other excellent shows: “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”, both of which might also be described as “mockumentaries”.

16 Bush found in Florida : JEB

Jeb Bush is the son of President George H. W. Bush, and the brother of President George W. Bush. I always thought that Jeb was an American nickname for James or Joseph but I must be wrong, because George and Barbara’s son John Ellis Bush is called “Jeb”. A kind blog reader has suggested the name “Jeb” may have been chosen as JEB are the initials of John Ellis Bush.

19 Taiwanese superstar Jay : CHOU

Jay Chou is a musician, singer and actor who is considered a superstar in his native Taiwan. He made his Hollywood acting debut in the 2011 film “The Green Hornet”, in which he played the title character’s sidekick Kato.

20 Indiana Big Ten school : PURDUE

The Purdue Boilermakers are the athletic teams of Purdue University. The school picked up the nickname in 1891 after a football game with fellow Indiana school, Wabash College. A subsequent newspaper headline referred to Purdue as the “boiler makers”, a reference to the engineering education prevalent in Purdue at the time. And the name stuck …

21 Anne of comedy : MEARA

Anne Meara married fellow comedic actor Jerry Stiller in 1954. The couple’s children are actors Ben and Amy Stiller. Meara co-starred with Carroll O’Connor and Martin Balsam in the eighties sitcom “Archie Bunker’s Place”, a spin-off from “All in the Family”.

22 Kerfuffle : ADO

“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

23 *Without hesitation : HOOK, LINE AND SINKER (Captain Hook)

Captain Hook is the bad guy in “Peter Pan”, the famous play by J. M. Barrie. Hook is Peter Pan’s sworn enemy, as Pan cut off Hook’s hand causing it to be replaced by a “hook”. It is implied in the play that Hook attended Eton College, just outside London. Hook’s last words are “Floreat Etona”, which is Eton College’s motto. Barrie openly acknowledged that the Hook character is based on Herman Melville’s Captain Ahab from the novel “Moby Dick”.

26 “Young Sheldon” network : CBS

“Young Sheldon” is a spinoff prequel to the hit sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” that follows the life of a 9-year-old Sheldon Cooper. The title character is played by child actor Iain Armitage. Jim Parsons, who plays Sheldon on “The Big Bang Theory”, is the narrator for the spinoff, and is also an executive producer. In another link between the shows, young Sheldon’s Mom is played by actress Zoe Perry. Perry is the real-life daughter of Laurie Metcalf, who plays “old” Sheldon’s mom in the original series.

27 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”.

28 Johns in Scotland : IANS

The name “John” translates into Scottish as “Ian”, into Russian as “Ivan”, into Italian as “Giovanni”, into Spanish as “Juan”, into Welsh as “Evan”, and into Irish as “Seán”.

29 Thought of Monet : IDEE

French artist Claude Monet was one of the founders of the Impressionist movement, and indeed the term “Impressionism” comes from the title of his 1872 painting “Impression, Sunrise”. That work depicts the port of Le Havre, which was Monet’s hometown. Later in his life, Monet purchased a house in Giverny, and famously installed lily ponds and a Japanese bridge in the property’s extensive gardens. He spent two decades painting the water lily ponds, producing his most famous works.

30 Farm team links : YOKES

A yoke is a wooden beam used between a pair of animals so that they are forced to work together.

32 *Opponent of the U.S. entry into WWII : AMERICA FIRSTER (Captain America)

The America First Committee (AFC) was the most vocal organized group to oppose the US’s entry into World War II. It was founded in 1940 by several active students, including future US president Gerald Ford. The group’s most visible spokesperson was famed aviator Charles Laindburgh. The AFC disbanded in 1941, just three days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

41 “Speed-the-Plow” playwright : MAMET

“Speed-the-Plow” is a play by David Mamet, and a satire about the American movie business. Later, Mamet was to write the screenplay for a film called “Wag the Dog”, a satire about Hollywood.

45 Upbraids : SCOLDS

To upbraid is to reproach, find fault with. The term “upbraid” is of Swedish origin.

48 *”Sheik of … burning sand” in a Ray Stevens hit : AHAB THE ARAB (Captain Ahab)

“Ahab the Arab” is a 1962 novelty song that was most famously recorded by Ray Stevens. Despite the title, the hero of the song is Clyde the camel.

51 Michelangelo work : PIETA

The Pietà is a representation of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. The most famous Pietà is undoubtedly the sculpted rendition by Michelangelo that is located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. That particular sculpture is thought to be the only work that Michelangelo signed. In some depictions of the Pietà, Mary and her son are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament. Such depictions are known as Lamentations.

52 Curable aliment : HAM

An aliment is an item of food, something that nourishes. The term comes from the Latin “alimentum” meaning “nourishment”.

55 “Death, be not proud” poet : DONNE

John Donne was one of England’s most celebrated poets, and was active at the start of the 17th century. He spent much of his life in poverty and even spent a short time in prison for having married his wife without procuring the appropriate permissions. After his release, his wife bore him 12 children in 16 years, passing away a few days after the twelfth child was born.

I don’t know about here in America, but at school in Ireland we all had to learn John Donne’s “Holy Sonnet X”, also known as “Death, Be Not Proud”.

56 Stylish Christian : DIOR

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped to re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

57 Espresso foam : CREMA

“Crema” is the name given to that brown foam that sits on the top of a freshly prepared cup of espresso. There’s no milk involved; just foamy coffee.

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink, which contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

59 “Death Wish” star Charles : BRONSON

Actor Charles Bronson was was born Charels Buchinsky. He worked in the coal mines of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania, starting from the age of 10 years. He left the mines in 1943 to enlist in the US Air Force, served as an aerial gunner, and was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds he received in combat mission against the Japanese home islands. When his acting career took off, Bronson mainly got tough-guy roles in films such as “The Magnificent Seven”, “The Great Escape”, “Battle of the Bulge”, “The Dirty Dozen” and (most famously) the “Death Wish” series. Bronson was married for many years to English actress Jill Ireland, until her death in 1990.

The “Death Wish” series of movies stars Charles Bronson as a vigilante patrolling the streets of New York dishing out his perfunctory form of justice. The original 1974 “Death Wish” film was based on a 1972 novel of the same name by Brian Garfield.

65 Unkempt : SHABBY

The word “unkempt” means “disheveled, not well-combed”. It derives from the Old English word “cemban” meaning “to comb”. The opposite to the more common “unkempt” is … “kempt”.

66 Automation prefix : ROBO-

Karel Čapek was a Czech writer noted for his works of science fiction. Čapek’s 1921 play “R.U.R.” is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”. The acronym “R.U.R.”, in the context of the play, stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots”.

67 *Back-to-basics food regimen : CAVEMAN DIET (Captain Caveman)

The paleolithic (or “paleo, caveman”) diet is a fad diet that became popular in the 2000s. The idea is to eat wild plants and animals that would have been available to humans during the Paleolithic era (roughly the Stone Age). This period precedes the introduction of agriculture and the domestication of animals. As a result, someone on the diet avoids consuming grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. The diet consists mainly of lean meat (about 45-65% of the total calorie intake), non-starchy vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts.

“Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels” is a Hanna-Barbera animated TV show that aired from 1978 to 1980. The show was a parody on the crime drama “Charlie’s Angels”, that was also airing around that time. Captain Caveman was voiced by the ubiquitous Mel Blanc.

71 “J’Accuse…!” author : ZOLA

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.

72 Middle-earth tongue : ELVISH

Middle-earth is the setting for J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” series.

74 Modeling agent? : EPOXY

That would an epoxy resin used as an adhesive when constructing a model.

75 Rubber glove materials : LATEXES

Latex is a naturally occurring polymer made by some plants, that can also be made synthetically. About one in ten of the flowering plants in the world make the milky fluid called latex. It serves as a defense against insects and is exuded when a plant is injured or attacked by insects. Latex is collected commercially and is the source of natural rubber, which can be used to make things such as gloves, condoms and balloons.

77 Kavanaugh colleague : ALITO

Associate Justice Samuel Alito was nominated to the US Supreme Court by President George W. Bush. Alito is the second Italian-American to serve on the Supreme Court (Antonin Scalia was the first). Alito studied law at Yale and while in his final year he left the country for the first time in his life, heading to Italy to work on his thesis about the Italian legal system.

Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to succeed Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Kavanaugh took the oath of office in 2018, after what can only be described as a contentious confirmation hearing. He has been married since 2004 to Ashley Estes, who served as Personal Secretary to President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2004.

79 Chile con __: cheesy Tex-Mex sauce : QUESO

“Queso” is Spanish for “cheese”.

81 Brit. medal : DSO

The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a British military award that is usually presented to officers with the rank of major or higher.

84 *Moments requiring decisive action : CRUNCH TIMES (Cap’n Crunch)

The first Cap’n Crunch commercials aired in 1963, at the time the product line was launched. The Cap’n’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, would you believe? Crunch’s voice was provided for many years by Daws Butler, the same voice actor who gave us Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. Cap’n Crunch is commander of the S.S. Guppy.

90 Wasatch dweller, perhaps : UTAHAN

The Wasatch Range is at the western edge of the Rocky Mountains and runs through Utah. “Wasatch” is a Ute word meaning “mountain pass”.

92 Believer : THEIST

Broadly speaking, theism is the belief that there is at least one god. The term “theism” is also used to describe the belief in just one god, although the term “monotheism” is perhaps more accurate. Followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam would all be classified as theists or monotheists.

93 Zilch : NADA

We use the term “zilch” to mean “nothing”. Our current usage evolved in the sixties, before which the term was used to describe “meaningless speech”. There was a comic character called Mr. Zilch in the 1930s in “Ballyhoo” magazine. Mr. Zilch’s name probably came from the American college slang “Joe Zilch” that was used in the early 1900s for “an insignificant person”.

94 Greek letter that inspired the euro symbol : EPSILON

Epsilon is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet. The uppercase epsilon looks very similar to our Latin E.

The euro sign (€) looks like a letter C, but with two horizontal lines drawn across the middle. Inspiration for the design comes from the Greek letter epsilon.

97 Aptly named Vt. ski resort : MT SNOW

Mount Snow is a ski area on the peak of the same name in Vermont’s Green Mountains.

100 *Groups that pervert justice : KANGAROO COURTS (Captain Kangaroo)

A kangaroo court is one that acts with disregard to law, justice and accepted norms. The exact origin of the phrase “kangaroo court” seems unclear, as there are lots of claimed etymologies. The rationale for the use of “kangaroo” in describing such a court might be that prosecutors leap like a kangaroo over exculpatory evidence. Another explanation is that such a court might be in the pocket of an individual, in the metaphorical pouch of a kangaroo.

“Captain Kangaroo” is a TV series for children that CBS aired for a long, long time. The show was first broadcast in 1955, and the last episode aired nearly 30 years later in 1984. The title character was played by Bob Keeshan. Apparently Keeshan had to wear heavy makeup in the early years to make him old enough for his role. The show ran so long that Keeshan had to use makeup to look younger in the latter years.

104 Beatnik’s “Got it!” : I’M HIP!

The term “beatnik” was coined by journalist Herb Caen in 1958 when he used it to describe the stereotypical young person of the beat generation that was oft associated with the writer Jack Kerouac.

106 Oscilloscope knob : DIAL

An oscilloscope is an electronic instrument that visually shows the variation in voltage of an electrical signal.

108 PC brain : CPU

The central processing unit (CPU) is the main component on the motherboard of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

111 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame architect : PEI

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can be visited on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 and started inducting artists in 1986. The Foundation didn’t get a home until the museum was dedicated in Cleveland in 1995. I had the great privilege of visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago and really enjoyed myself. The magnificent building was designed by famed architect I. M. Pei.

112 1865 classic not written for the characters that start the answers to starred clues : O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an 1865 poem by Walt Whitman, an elegy written about President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.

O Captain! My Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring:

But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.

119 Action star Lundgren : DOLPH

Dolph Lundgren is an actor and martial artist from Sweden. Lundgren’s debut role was a small one, acting as a KGB henchman in the James Bond movie “A View to a Kill”. His big break was starring opposite Sylvester Stallone in “Rocky IV”, playing a scary Russian boxer named Ivan Drago.

123 “Hasta la vista!” : SEE YA!

“Hasta la vista” is Spanish for “goodbye”. The phrase translates literally as “until the seeing”, i.e. “goodbye until we see each other again”.

124 Digestion aid : ENZYME

The names of enzymes usually include the suffix “-ase”. Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

125 Tender in Havana : PESO

Cuba is the only country in the world that has two official currencies. The Cuban peso (CUP) is referred to as the “national currency”. Government workers are paid in CUPs, and CUPs can be used to pay for government-provided services and price-controlled items such as fruit and vegetables. There is also the Cuban convertible peso (CUC) that was introduced in 1994, when its value was pegged to the US dollar. Most products available in stores are imported, and have to be purchased with CUCs. Cubans with access to CUCs, like hotel workers interfacing with tourists, they tend to have better lifestyles than government workers in general.

Havana is the capital city of Cuba. The city was founded by the Spanish in the early 1500s after which it became a strategic location for Spain’s exploration and conquest of the Americas. In particular, Havana was used as a stopping-off point for treasure-laden ships on the return journey to Spain.

Down

1 Smart speaker brand : ECHO

Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled hardware device that can be used to provide several services including playing radio programs and music, recording of shopping lists, and managing a calendar. The device just sits in the home listening, until it hears a “wake up” command.

5 Drone shelter : APIARY

An apiary is an area where bees are kept, apiculture is beekeeping, and an apiphobe has a fear of bees. The Latin word for “bee” is “apis”.

Drone bees and drone ants are fertile males of the species whose sole role in life seems to be to mate with a queen.

6 Largest division of Islam : SUNNI

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favoured the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

7 Dramatic mus. marking : CRESC

Crescendo (cresc.) is an Italian word meaning “gradually becoming louder”, and is often seen on a musical score. The term with the opposite meaning is “diminuendo” (dim.).

8 Writer LeShan : EDA

Eda LeShan wrote several nonfiction books including “When Your Child Drives You Crazy” and “The Conspiracy Against Childhood”. LeShan was also host of the PBS television show “How Do Your Children Grow?”

10 Youngest of nine Kennedy siblings : TED

Ted Kennedy was the youngest boy in a family that included older brothers Joseph Jr. (killed in action in WWII), John (assassinated) and Robert (assassinated). Ted went into the US Senate in 1962 in a special election held after his brother became US President. He remained in the Senate until he passed away in 2009, making Ted Kennedy the fourth-longest-serving Senator in history. The 2017 movie “Chappaquiddick” gives some insight, albeit somewhat speculative, about the darker side of Ted Kennedy’s life. It focuses on the events surrounding the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in which Kennedy drove off a bridge, resulting in the death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

12 “John Brown’s Body” poet : BENET

Stephen Vincent Benét was an author best known for his lengthy narrative poem “John Brown’s Body” that was first published in 1928, and for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. Benét also wrote the story “The Sobbin’ Women” which was later adapted into the musical “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”.

14 Numero di colori on the Italian flag : TRE

In Italian, the “numero di colori” (number of colors) on the Italian flag is “tre” (three).

15 Verb associated with mileage : VARY

According to all those ads for automobiles, “your mileage may vary”.

16 *Food chain with a roundheaded spokesman : JACK IN THE BOX (Captain Jack)

The Jack in the Box fast-food chain of restaurants was founded in San Diego in 1951. Back then, Jack in the Box was the first chain to focus on drive-through service, and the first to use a two-way intercom system for placing orders.

17 Stefan of tennis : EDBERG

Stefan Edberg is a Swedish tennis player, and former world number one. Sadly, one part of Edberg’s legacy is his involvement in a freak accident at the 1983 US Open. A ball struck by Edberg hit one of the linesmen causing him to topple off his chair, fracturing his skull as he hit the ground. That injury was fatal.

24 Legal encumbrance : LIEN

A lien is the right that one has to retain or secure someone’s property until a debt is paid. When an individual takes out a car loan, for example, the lending bank is usually a lien holder. The bank releases the lien on the car when the loan is paid in full.

31 Elevator guy : OTIS

Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the “safety elevator”, a design that he showcased at the 1853 World’s Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.

33 Ancient Dead Sea kingdom : MOAB

In the Bible, Moab was the first son of Lot, and the founder of the Kingdom of Moab. Moab was located on a plateau above the Dead Sea.

34 Dino’s love : AMORE

“That’s Amore” is a pop standard written by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks in 1952. “That’s Amore” became the signature song for Dean Martin after he sang it (with some help from Jerry Lewis) in the 1953 comedy film “The Caddy”. “When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore …”

Dean Martin was the stage name of singer and actor Dino Crocetti. Martin was famous for his numerous hit songs such as “That’s Amore”, “Volare” and Everybody Loves Somebody”, as well as his film career with Jerry Lewis. Off screen, Martin was a member of the famous “Rat Pack” as he was a great friend of Frank Sinatra. Martin was always associated with Las Vegas and when he passed away in 1995 the lights on the strip were dimmed in his honor.

35 FDR’s dog : FALA

Fala was the famous Scottish Terrier that was ever present at the side of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for many years. The terrier was a Christmas gift to the president from his cousin, who had named the dog Big Boy while she trained him as a puppy. President Roosevelt renamed him after an ancestor of his from Falahill in Scotland, so the dog’s full name was Murray the Outlaw of Falahill. Fala lived on for several years after the president’s passing. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the gravesites of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, and Fala is buried just a few feet away from his master.

36 Cinephile’s website : IMDB

The website called the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) was launched in 1990, and is now owned by Amazon.com. It’s a great site for answering question one has about movies and actors.

37 “Hud” director Martin : RITT

Martin Ritt is best remembered as a television and movie director. During the bad old days of the “Red Scare”, Ritt was working in television until he found himself on a blacklist for supposed support of Communist causes. He turned to the theater for work until the Red Scare had run its course, and then moved into the world of film. Some of his best known movies are “Hud”, “The Great White Hope” and “Norma Rae”.

The modern-day, western movie called “Hud” was released in 1963 and has become a classic. “Hud” stars Paul Newman (in the title role) and Patricia Neal and is an adaptation of a novel by Larry McMurtry called “Horseman, Pass By”. Patricia Neal’s role in the film was relatively small, yet her performance was enough to earn her an Academy Award for Best Actress.

45 Medicinal shrub : SENNA

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

46 Spam holder : CAN

Spam is a precooked meat product that is sold in cans. It was introduced by Hormel Foods in 1937. The main meat ingredients are pork shoulder meat and ham. The name “Spam” was chosen as the result of a competition at Hormel, with the winner earning himself a hundred dollars. According to the company, the derivation of the name “Spam” is a secret known by only a few former executives, but the speculation is that it stands for “spiced ham” or “shoulders of pork and ham”. Spam is particularly popular in Hawaii, so popular that it is sometimes referred to as “the Hawaiian steak”.

47 Garlicky sauce : AIOLI

To the purist, especially in Provence in the South of France, aioli is prepared just by grinding garlic with olive oil. However, other ingredients are often added to the mix, particularly egg yolks.

49 NFL stats : TDS

Touchdown (TD)

50 Bootlegger’s haul : HOOCH

In the Klondike gold rush, a favorite tipple of the miners was “Hoochinoo”, a liquor made by the native Alaskans. Soon after “hooch” (also “hootch”) was adopted as a word for cheap whiskey.

To bootleg is to make or smuggle alcoholic drinks illegally. The term arose in the late 1800s as slang for the practice of concealing a flask of liquor down the leg of a high boot. The term has been extended to mean the illegal production and sale of just about anything.

51 Variegated : PIED

Something described as pied is patchy or blotchy in color, piebald. The term comes from the Middle English “pie”, an old name for the magpie, and is a reference to the bird’s black and white plumage.

53 Mosey : AMBLE

“Mosey” is American slang for “amble”, and is of unknown origin.

54 Chichén Itzá builders : MAYAS

Chichén Itzá is a Mayan ruin located in the Mexican state of Yucatán. It is the second-most visited archaeological site in the country (after the ancient city of Teotihuacan). Chichén Itzá has seen a surge in the number of visitors since the development of nearby Cancún as a tourist destination.

58 Bulldoze : RAZE

The term “bulldoze” comes from the noun “bulldose”, which meant “a severe beating” back in the late 1800s. A bulldose was “a dose fit for a bull”, a beating designed to intimidate mainly black Republican voters in the 1876 US presidential election.

61 *1990 Paul Simon song, with “The” : … OBVIOUS CHILD (Captain Obvious)

“The Obvious Child” is a 1990 Paul Simon song that was released on his studio album “The Rhythm of the Saints”. The song appears in a 2014 film that bears the same name, i.e. “Obvious Child”.

63 Industrial settler? : SMOG

“Smog” is a portmanteau formed by melding “smoke” and “fog”. The term was first used to describe the air around London in the early 1900s. Several cities around the world have a reputation of being particularly smoggy. For example, the most smog-plagued city in Latin America is Mexico City, which is located in a highland “bowl” that traps industrial and vehicle pollution.

68 Like the Impossible Burger : VEGAN

Heme (also “haem”) is an organic structure containing iron, and is a component of hemoglobin, the protein that transports primarily oxygen around the body. It is the “heme” in “hemoglobin” that binds the oxygen atoms. A plant-derived version of heme is the magic ingredient in the famous Impossible Burger that has become so popular lately on vegetarian menus.

69 Heroic poem : EPOS

“Epos” is a Greek word for a story or a poem. We have absorbed the term into English with the same meaning. We also use it in English to mean “epic”, i.e. a long narrative poetic work featuring heroic deeds and ventures.

73 San Bernardino Co. is part of it : SOCAL

Southern California (SoCal)

San Bernardino, California is located about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. The city was named for the Italian priest and Franciscan missionary Bernardino of Siena. One of San Bernardino’s claims to fame is that was home to the world’s first McDonald’s. It is now home to the McDonald’s Museum, which is located on the site of that first restaurant.

76 Tater __ : TOT

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

78 Bing Crosby’s role in “Robin and the 7 Hoods” : ALAN-A-DALE

According to the legend of Robin Hood, Alan-a-Dale was a member of Robin’s outlaw band of Merry Men. Based on the legend, Alan-a-Dale was a wandering minstrel, a lute player.

“Robin and the 7 Hoods” is a 1964 movie musical starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin. The film is basically a loose retelling of the legend of Robin Hood set in the Chicago underworld of the 1920s. Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn wrote the song “My Kind Of Town” for the soundtrack, and I reckon that the song was a lot more successful than the movie …

79 Westernmost South American capital : QUITO

The full name of the capital city of Ecuador is San Francisco de Quito. Quito is the second highest administrative capital city in the world, after La Paz, Bolivia.

84 One-named singer : CHER

“Cher” is the stage name used by singer and actress Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the season’s Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

85 Vegas rival : RENO

The city of Reno’s economy took off when open gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931. Within a short time, a syndicate had built the Bank Club in Reno, which was the largest casino in the world at the time.

86 Caltech, e.g.: Abbr. : INST

Caltech is more properly known as the California Institute of Technology, and is a private research-oriented school in Pasadena. One of Caltech’s responsibilities is the management and operation of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. If you watch “The Big Bang Theory” on television like me, you might know that the four lead characters all work at Caltech.

87 Guy’s grooming portmanteau : MANSCAPE

The practice of men removing ot trimming their body hair is known as “manscaping”, a portmanteau of “man” and “landscaping”.

88 Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO

“Edo” is the former name of the Japanese city of Tokyo. Edo was the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime that ruled from 1603 until 1868. The shogun lived in the magnificent Edo Castle. Some parts of the original castle remain and today’s Tokyo Imperial Palace, the residence of the Emperor of Japan, was built on its grounds.

89 Jug band instrument : SAW

A jug band features a jug player, as well as others playing ordinary objects perhaps modified to make sound. One such instrument is the washtub bass. The “tub” is a stringed instrument that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. A washboard might also be used in a jug band, as a percussion instrument. The ribbed surface of the washboard is usually scraped using thimbles on the ends of the fingers.

A handsaw can be used as a musical instrument by holding the handle between the knees, bending the blade and then using a bow along the blade’s non-serrated edge. The pitch of the sound produced is varied by changing the curve of the blade.

91 __ bar : TIKI

The world’s first tiki bar was called “Don the Beachcomber”, and was opened in L.A. in 1933 by Ernest Gantt (also known as “Donn Beach”). The bar became famous for its exotic rum cocktails. Gantt was called to serve in WWII, and the business expanded dramatically under his ex-wife’s management so that there was a 160-restaurant chain waiting for Gantt when he returned stateside.

94 Auto-injector brand : EPIPEN

EpiPen is a brand of epinephrine auto-injector. An EpiPen delivers a measured dose of epinephrine, which is a common treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.

95 Big citrus fruit : POMELO

A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit native to Southeast Asia.

96 __ Raisin, British whodunit sleuth named for a British writer : AGATHA

The “Agatha Raisin” series of novels were authored by M. C. Beaton, which is a pen name used by writer Marion Chesney, who also writes the “Hamish Macbeth” series of mystery stories. Raisin is a retired public-relations agent who solves murders, and who eventually sets up her own detective agency. I haven’t read any of the books, but I am a big fan of the radio play adaption in which Penelope Keith plays Raisin. I also enjoy the TV adaptation in which Ashley Jensen takes on the title role.

98 Something under the sink : TRAP

Most sinks in a home have a P-trap in the outlet pipe that empties into the sewer line. This P-trap has at its heart a U-bend that retains a small amount of water after the sink is emptied. This plug of water serves as a seal to prevent sewer gases entering into the home. By virtue of its design, the U-bend can also capture any heavy objects (like an item of jewelry) that might fall through the plughole. But the “trapping” of fallen objects is secondary to the P-trap’s main function of “trapping” sewer gases.

101 Chilly : NIPPY

Something cold might be described as “nippy”, having a “biting” chill.

103 Logical “razor” creator : OCCAM

In the world of philosophy, a razor is a technique used to eliminate those explanations for a phenomenon that are unlikely. The most famous such technique is Occam’s razor, which asserts that the simpler explanations are the most likely. The use of the term “razor” comes from the concept of “shaving off” what is less likely to be true.

113 Iowa college : COE

Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.

114 Spleen : IRE

“To vent one’s spleen” means to vent one’s anger, perhaps by shouting and screaming. This expression is rooted in the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that a person’s temperament was dictated by the balance of the body’s four “humors”. The spleen produced the humor known as yellow bile, which was associated with an aggressive and energetic personality.

116 “Les __” : MIZ

The 1980 musical “Les Misérables” is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London’s West End. My wife and I saw “Les Miz” in the Queen’s Theatre in London many years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor who had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn’t really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn’t seem to hang together for me.

117 Stout source : TAP

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Glimpse : ESPY
5 Way up : ASCENT
11 “Modern Family” network : ABC TV
16 Bush found in Florida : JEB
19 Taiwanese superstar Jay : CHOU
20 Indiana Big Ten school : PURDUE
21 Anne of comedy : MEARA
22 Kerfuffle : ADO
23 *Without hesitation : HOOK, LINE AND SINKER (Captain Hook)
26 “Young Sheldon” network : CBS
27 Big-eyed bird : OWL
28 Johns in Scotland : IANS
29 Thought of Monet : IDEE
30 Farm team links : YOKES
32 *Opponent of the U.S. entry into WWII : AMERICA FIRSTER (Captain America)
38 Poop out : TIRE
39 Certain noble’s domain : BARONY
41 “Speed-the-Plow” playwright : MAMET
42 Broadcasts : AIRINGS
44 Underway, in a way : ASEA
45 Upbraids : SCOLDS
47 Bear witness : ATTEST
48 *”Sheik of … burning sand” in a Ray Stevens hit : AHAB THE ARAB (Captain Ahab)
51 Michelangelo work : PIETA
52 Curable aliment : HAM
55 “Death, be not proud” poet : DONNE
56 Stylish Christian : DIOR
57 Espresso foam : CREMA
59 “Death Wish” star Charles : BRONSON
63 Tire material : STEEL
65 Unkempt : SHABBY
66 Automation prefix : ROBO-
67 *Back-to-basics food regimen : CAVEMAN DIET (Captain Caveman)
71 “J’Accuse…!” author : ZOLA
72 Middle-earth tongue : ELVISH
74 Modeling agent? : EPOXY
75 Rubber glove materials : LATEXES
77 Kavanaugh colleague : ALITO
78 Awestruck : AGOG
79 Chile con __: cheesy Tex-Mex sauce : QUESO
81 Brit. medal : DSO
82 Fountain choices : COLAS
84 *Moments requiring decisive action : CRUNCH TIMES (Cap’n Crunch)
90 Wasatch dweller, perhaps : UTAHAN
92 Believer : THEIST
93 Zilch : NADA
94 Greek letter that inspired the euro symbol : EPSILON
96 “__ you done?” : AREN’T
97 Aptly named Vt. ski resort : MT SNOW
99 Small indentation : POCK
100 *Groups that pervert justice : KANGAROO COURTS (Captain Kangaroo)
104 Beatnik’s “Got it!” : I’M HIP!
106 Oscilloscope knob : DIAL
107 Twice tetra- : OCTA-
108 PC brain : CPU
111 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame architect : PEI
112 1865 classic not written for the characters that start the answers to starred clues : O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!
118 Annex : ELL
119 Action star Lundgren : DOLPH
120 Bawl out : RAIL AT
121 Mirrored : APED
122 Silent consent : NOD
123 “Hasta la vista!” : SEE YA!
124 Digestion aid : ENZYME
125 Tender in Havana : PESO

Down

1 Smart speaker brand : ECHO
2 Display : SHOW
3 Lifeguard’s domain : POOL AREA
4 Goofy laugh : YUK!
5 Drone shelter : APIARY
6 Largest division of Islam : SUNNI
7 Dramatic mus. marking : CRESC
8 Writer LeShan : EDA
9 Vow taker : NUN
10 Youngest of nine Kennedy siblings : TED
11 In the thick of : AMIDST
12 “John Brown’s Body” poet : BENET
13 Self-indulgent sort : CAKE-EATER
14 Numero di colori on the Italian flag : TRE
15 Verb associated with mileage : VARY
16 *Food chain with a roundheaded spokesman : JACK IN THE BOX (Captain Jack)
17 Stefan of tennis : EDBERG
18 Heads : BOSSES
24 Legal encumbrance : LIEN
25 Horse fathers : SIRES
31 Elevator guy : OTIS
33 Ancient Dead Sea kingdom : MOAB
34 Dino’s love : AMORE
35 FDR’s dog : FALA
36 Cinephile’s website : IMDB
37 “Hud” director Martin : RITT
39 Barnyard bleat : BAA!
40 Tray filler : ASH
43 Come to, as an agreement : REACH
45 Medicinal shrub : SENNA
46 Spam holder : CAN
47 Garlicky sauce : AIOLI
49 NFL stats : TDS
50 Bootlegger’s haul : HOOCH
51 Variegated : PIED
53 Mosey : AMBLE
54 Chichén Itzá builders : MAYAS
56 Overrule : DENY
58 Bulldoze : RAZE
59 Basketful on the table : BREAD
60 Basketful on the table : ROLLS
61 *1990 Paul Simon song, with “The” : … OBVIOUS CHILD (Captain Obvious)
62 “__ isn’t!”: emphatic rebuttal : NO IT
63 Industrial settler? : SMOG
64 Duty : TAX
65 Tuck away : STASH
68 Like the Impossible Burger : VEGAN
69 Heroic poem : EPOS
70 Pick : ELECT
73 San Bernardino Co. is part of it : SOCAL
76 Tater __ : TOT
78 Bing Crosby’s role in “Robin and the 7 Hoods” : ALAN-A-DALE
79 Westernmost South American capital : QUITO
80 Young __ : ‘UNS
83 Reluctant assent : OH, OK
84 One-named singer : CHER
85 Vegas rival : RENO
86 Caltech, e.g.: Abbr. : INST
87 Guy’s grooming portmanteau : MANSCAPE
88 Pre-1868 Tokyo : EDO
89 Jug band instrument : SAW
91 __ bar : TIKI
92 Cheery refrain : TRA-LA
94 Auto-injector brand : EPIPEN
95 Big citrus fruit : POMELO
96 __ Raisin, British whodunit sleuth named for a British writer : AGATHA
97 Change in form : MUTATE
98 Something under the sink : TRAP
101 Chilly : NIPPY
102 With feigned shyness : COYLY
103 Logical “razor” creator : OCCAM
105 Bean bags? : PODS
109 Bakery array : PIES
110 Reverse : UNDO
113 Iowa college : COE
114 Spleen : IRE
115 Indian 59-Down : NAN
116 “Les __” : MIZ
117 Stout source : TAP