LA Times Crossword 14 Jul 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Mark MacLachlan
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Code Crackers

Each themed answer points us to a letter within that answer. Those letters combine to spell out “FBI AGENTS”:

  • 120A Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle … and who might be called in to decode them : FBI AGENTS
  • 23A One way to enter a pool : FEET FIRST (F)
  • 29A One end of a church key : BOTTLE OPENER (B)
  • 36A Physical location? : MEDICAL CENTER (I)
  • 54A “Mobile” communications device used in law enforcement : DATA TERMINAL (A)
  • 64A Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” has one that includes cannon fire : BIG FINISH (G)
  • 72A 2012 Beyoncé hit with the repeated line “Say you’ll never let me go” : END OF TIME (E)
  • 81A Summing-up words : IN CONCLUSION (N)
  • 102A Guru whose opinions are trusted : THOUGHT LEADER (T)
  • 110A 2019 “Game of Thrones” event : SERIES FINALE (S)

Bill’s time: 20m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Five-O nickname : DANO

Danny Williams is a character on the TV show “Hawaii Five-O”, both in the original version that first aired in 1968 and in the remake that was first broadcast in 2010. The original “Danno” is played by James McArthur. In the remake, Danno is played by Scott Caan, son of Hollywood actor James Caan. Book him, Danno!

21 Reunion attendee : ALUMNA

An alumnus (plural “alumni”) is a graduate or former student of a school or college. The female form is “alumna” (plural “alumnae”). The term comes into English from Latin, in which an alumnus is a foster-son or pupil. “Alum” is an informal term used for either an alumna or an alumnus.

22 King Harald’s father : OLAV

Olav V was King of Norway from 1957 until 1991. Tremendously popular and down-to-earth, Olav V was known as “the People’s King” (“Folkekongen” in Norwegian). He was also a grandchild of Edward VII, who was on the British throne from 1901 to 1910.

King Harald V ascended to the throne of Norway in 1991 when his father King Olav V passed away. The European Royal houses are famously quite “incestuous”, so King Harald V of Norway is in the line of succession for the throne of England (albeit around no. 60).

27 Kenya’s first prime minister __ Kenyatta : JOMO

Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya’s first prime minister in 1963, as the nation finally gained independence from the United Kingdom. Kenyatta then served as Kenya’s first president, from 1964 until he died in 1978. Given his role in his country’s history, he became known as the “Father of the Nation” within Kenya. Kenyatta also earned the unofficial title “Mzee”, a Swahili term that translates as “Grand Old Man”.

31 Amazon assistant : ALEXA

Alexa is a personal assistant application that is most associated with the Amazon Echo smart speaker. Apparently, one reason the name “Alexa” was chosen is because it might remind one of the Library of Alexandria, the “keeper of all knowledge”.

42 Winans of gospel : CECE

CeCe Winans (real name “Priscilla”) is a Gospel music singer. She is part of a duo with her brother, BeBe Winans (real name Benjamin).

51 Delta rival renamed in 1997 : USAIR

From 1953, what we recently referred to as US Airways was called Allegheny Airlines. In the seventies, customers became very dissatisfied with the company’s service levels as it struggled to manage a rapid expansion in its number of flights. These problems earned the airline the nickname “Agony Air”. Allegheny tried to leave the “agony” behind in 1979 and changed its name to USAir, but commuters then just used the nickname “Unfortunately Still Allegheny”. The name was changed again, in 1997, to US Airways. US Airways merged with American Airlines in 2013, and the “US Airways” brand name was gradually replaced with “American Airlines”.

53 Moving aids : VANS

The vehicle we call a “van” takes its name from “caravan”, and is a shortened version of the older term. Back in the 1600s, a caravan was a covered cart. We still use the word “caravan” in Ireland to describe what we call a “mobile home” or “recreational vehicle” here in the US.

60 Jack in a suit : KNAVE

The playing card known as a jack is also known as a knave. “Knave” was the original term, the same term used for a male servant of a king and queen. The term “jack” came into usage in games played by “common folk” in the 1600s.

64 Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” has one that includes cannon fire : BIG FINISH (G)

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s famous “1812 Overture” is more correctly called “The Year 1812 (festival overture in E-flat major)”. Tchaikovsky wrote the piece in 1880 as a commemoration of Russia’s successful defence in face of an 1812 invasion by Napoleon’s French Army and allies. The “1812” is renowned for its use of cannon fire, ringing bells and a robust brass fanfare at its climax.

69 Matching game : LOTTO

Originally, lotto was a type of card game, with “lotto” being the Italian for “a lot”. We’ve used “lotto” to mean a gambling game since the late 1700s.

72 2012 Beyoncé hit with the repeated line “Say you’ll never let me go” : END OF TIME (E)

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2003, two years after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”.

79 Domingo, for one : TENOR

Plácido Domingo is a Spanish tenor who was born in Madrid. Famously, Domingo was one of the Three Tenors, the performing trio that brought classical arias to the masses. The other two “Tenors” were fellow-Spaniard José Carreras and Italian Luciano Pavarotti.

80 One of Australia’s six : STATE

The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of six states:

  • New South Wales
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Tasmania
  • Victoria
  • Western Australia

83 Thin coin : DIME

The term “dime”, used for a 10-cent coin, comes from the Old French word “disme” meaning “tenth part”.

88 Game-winning line : O-O-O

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

89 Hallelujah trio? : ELS

There are three letters L (el) in the word “hallelujah”.

95 Ford contemporary : OLDS

Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer in the automotive industry, and the founder of the Oldsmobile and REO brands. Olds introduced the first modern “stationary” assembly line (Henry Ford’s famous innovation was the “moving” assembly line). As a result, it can be argued that the Oldsmobile Curved Dash was the first mass-produced, low-priced automobile, rather than the Ford’s Model T.

107 Surname on Elm Street : KRUEGER

Freddy Krueger is the creepy serial killer in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Krueger has a burned and disfigured face, wears a brown fedora and a leather glove with metal razors that he uses to kill his victims during their nightmares. He is played by the actor Robert Englund in all of the films.

108 Chiwere-speaking native : OTOE

Chiwere is a Siouan language spoken by the Otoe people, as well as by the Missouria and Iowa.

110 2019 “Game of Thrones” event : SERIES FINALE (S)

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy television drama that is adapted from a series of novels by George R. R. Martin called “A Song of Ice and Fire”. “Game of Thrones” is actually filmed in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland. I recently binge-watched the show’s first seven seasons, and enjoyed it. There’s no doubt that the production value of “Game of Thrones” is remarkable, but to be honest, I never became riveted by the storyline …

114 45, in classic pop : RPM

The first vinyl records designed to play at 33⅓ rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first long play (LP) 33⅓ rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

118 Like many Horace works : ODIC

One of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets was Quintus Horatius Flaccus, or “Horace” as we tend to know him. Horace’s most famous work is probably his collection of Latin lyric poems titled “Carmina” (the Latin for “Odes).

119 Mexican madam : SENORA

In Spanish, a “dama” (lady) might be referred to as “Señora” (Mrs.).

120 Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle … and who might be called in to decode them : FBI AGENTS

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was set up in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), with the name changing in 1935. The Bureau was set up at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt was largely moved to do so after the 1901 assassination of President McKinley, as there was a perception that anarchists were threatening law and order. The FBI’s motto uses the organization’s initialism, and is “Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity”.

122 __ Reader : UTNE

The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. The “Utne Reader” was founded in 1984 by Eric Utne, with management taken over by Eric’s wife Nina Rothschild Utne in 1990.

123 When Hamlet kills Polonius : ACT III

Polonius is an important character in William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”. Polonius is eventually killed by Hamlet, albeit in a case of mistaken identity. Polonius has several memorable lines in the play that are oft-quoted today, including “To thine own self be true”, “Brevity is the soul of wit”, and “Neither a borrower nor a lender be”.

124 Divider of pews : AISLE

A pew is a bench in a church, one usually with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

125 Word in many obituaries : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”. The term “née” is mainly used in English when referring to a married woman’s birth name, assuming that she has adopted her husbands name, e.g. Michelle Obama née Robinson, and Melania Trump née Knavs.

126 Collectible ’90s caps : POGS

The game of pogs was originally played with bottle caps from POG fruit juice. The juice was named for its constituents, passion fruit, orange and guava.

Down

1 Kanye West label : DEF JAM

Def Jam is a US record label, one focused on hip hop music.

Kanye West is a rap singer who was born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago. He also spent some time in Nanjing, China as a child, where his mother was teaching as part of an exchange program. West is married to reality star Kim Kardashian.

2 Ring of color : AREOLE

An areola (sometimes “areole”) in anatomy is a small ring of color, as in the areola surrounding the nipple, and the areola surrounding the pupil of the eye. “Areola” (plural “areolae”) comes from Latin, meaning “small open space”, and is a diminutive of the Latin word “area”, meaning “open space”.

4 2003 holiday comedy : ELF

“Elf” is a comedy movie that was released for the 2003 Christmas season. “Elf” was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Will Ferrell in the title role, with James Caan supporting and Ed Asner playing Santa Claus. It’s all about one of Santa’s elves who finds out he is human and goes to meet his father in New York City.

6 Taj Mahal city : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India. Agra was also the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

  • The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
  • Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
  • Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

8 Blast cause : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

12 Czech track legend Zátopek : EMIL

Emil Zátopek was a long-distance runner from Czechoslovakia who is best-remembered for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics. He had trained for the 5,000 meter and 10,000 meter events, and won both of them. He then decided to run the first marathon of his life, and won that too!

13 Cellular process affecting nucleotide sequences : RNA EDITING

Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA. An added complication is that small changes in the sequence of amino acids specified by DNA sometimes takes place in a process known as RNA editing. This RNA editing occurs after the nucleotide sequence has been transcribed from DNA, but before it is translated into protein.

14 Scene of some “Gunsmoke” action : SALOON

“Gunsmoke” is a Western drama series that originally aired on television from 1955 to 1975, with James Arness starring as Marshall Matt Dillon. The TV show was adapted from a radio show of the same name that ran from 1952 to 1961, with William Conrad playing Marshall Dillon.

15 College address ending : DOT EDU

The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

  • .com (commercial enterprise)
  • .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
  • .mil (US military)
  • .org (not-for-profit organization)
  • .gov (US federal government entity)
  • .edu (college-level educational institution)

16 Actor born Alphonso D’Abruzzo : ALAN ALDA

Alan Alda has had a great television career, especially of course as a lead actor in “M*A*S*H”. He was born Alphonso D’Abruzzo in the Bronx, New York City. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He also won an Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Senator Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

17 First of three Leslie Nielsen comedies, with “The” : NAKED GUN

Leslie Nielsen was a Canadian actor, one famous for playing the zany Sergeant Frank Drebin in “The Naked Gun”. Nielsen’s big break in films came in the innovative comedy “Airplane!”

29 U2 frontman : BONO

Irish singer Bono is a Dubliner who was born Paul David Hewson. As a youth, Hewson was given the nickname “Bono Vox” by a friend, a Latin expression meaning “good voice”, and so the singer has been known as Bono since the late seventies. His band’s first name was “Feedback”, later changed to “The Hype”. The band members searched for yet another name and chose U2 from a list of six names suggested by a friend. They picked U2 because it was the name they disliked least …

30 Whale group : POD

A group of whales can be called a gam, as well as a pod.

34 VCR button : REC

Video Cassette Recorder (VCR)

39 12th Jewish month : ELUL

Elul is the month in the Hebrew calendar that occurs in August-September.

44 Munro pen name : SAKI

H. H. Munro was a British writer who actually was born in Burma. He was most famous for his short stories, which he published using the pen name “Saki”. “The Square Egg and Other Sketches” was a collection of short stories published in 1924, nine years after his death.

47 Fire-suppressing gas : HALON

Halons are compounds that are commonly used in fire suppression and dry cleaning. They are a whole series of hydrocarbons in which one or more hydrogen atoms have been replaced with a halogen atom(s), especially bromine.

50 Med. care provider : HMO

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

52 U.K. fliers : RAF

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

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

59 TV chef Brown : ALTON

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

61 Love of antiques : VIRTU

“Virtu” are objects of art or curios. The same term is used to describe an interest in and knowledge of such objects. The term comes from the Latin “virtus” meaning “virtue, goodness, manliness”. The idea is that “virtu” is an appreciation for the “goodness” of such art.

64 Renowned clown : BOZO

Bozo the Clown is a character created in 1946 by Alan Livingston. Bozo was introduced in the first ever “record reader”, a children’s illustrated read-along book that came with a vinyl recording of the story. The book/record was so successful that Bozo moved to television, and he has been around ever since.

65 Navel formation : INNIE

The navel is basically the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

70 Front-of-bk. list : TOC

Table of contents (TOC)

73 __ Bo : TAE

Tae Bo isn’t an ancient martial art, even though it perhaps sounds like one. The discipline was developed as a form of aerobic exercise in the 1990s by taekwondo expert Billy Blanks who gave it the name Tae Bo, a melding of “taekwondo” and “boxing”.

75 ’70s Israeli prime minister : MEIR

Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before that sobriquet came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.

77 “Music for Airports” producer : ENO

Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the ambient genre of music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”, which was the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks, somewhat inventively, 1/1, 2/1, 2/1 and 2/2.

81 Ruler unit : INCH

Our term “ounce” (abbreviated to “oz.”) comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a “libra”, the Roman “pound”. “Uncia” is also the derivation of our word “inch”, 1/12 of a foot.

83 A piece of cake : DUCK SOUP

The origins of the phrase “duck soup”, meaning anything easily done, aren’t very clear. However, it does at least date back to 1908.

92 Brand with a pitcher-shaped mascot : KOOL-AID

The drink we know today as Kool-Aid was invented by Edward Perkins and his wife in Perkins’ mother’s kitchen in southwest Nebraska. Kool-Aid is now the Official Soft Drink of the state.

93 Bard’s instrument : LUTE

The lute is a stringed instrument with a long neck and usually a pear-shaped body. It is held and played like a guitar, and was popular from the Middle Ages right through to the late Baroque era. A person who plays the lute can be referred to as a “lutenist”.

94 Freudian focus : EGO

Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the superego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The superego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

96 Mo. when Festivus is celebrated : DEC

Festivus is celebrated by some on December 23 each year, and has been done so since 1966. The holiday is an invention of the writer Dan O’Keefe. He introduced is to his family as a way of celebrating the season without falling prey to commercial pressure. Festivus has become popular since it was featured in a 1997 episode of the TV sitcom “Seinfeld”. Dan O’Keefe’s son was a screenwriter for that episode.

97 Beetle Bailey nemesis : SARGE

Sgt. Snorkel (“Sarge”) is Beetle Bailey’s nemesis in the cartoon strip that bears the latter’s name. Snorkel has a dog called Otto that he dresses up to look just like himself. Otto started off as a regular dog, but artist Mort Walker decide to draw him more like his owner, and soon Otto became a big hit.

101 Actress Thompson and ice dancer Virtue : TESSAS

Tessa Thompson is an actress from Los Angeles who is known for playing the supporting role of Jackie Cook on the TV show “Veronica Mars”, and for playing student leader Diane Nash in the 2014 film “Selma”.

Tessa Virtue is a Canadian ice dancer who won the 2010 and 2018 Olympic gold along with her partner Scott Moir. Virtue and Moir have been skating together since 1997, when they were seven and nine years old respectively. That makes them the longest-standing Canadian ice dance team in history.

103 Disney Beetle : HERBIE

“The Love Bug” is a 1969 film from Walt Disney, the star of which is a 1963 Volkswagen Bug named Herbie. Believe it or not, the movie is based on a book called “Car, Boy, Girl” written by Gordon Buford. “The Love Bug” spawned a series of sequels such as “Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo” (1977) and “Herbie: Fully Loaded” (2005).

104 “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” singer Warwick : DIONNE

Dionne Warwick is a very, very successful singer, one with more Top 100 hits than any female vocalist other than Aretha Franklin. Warwick had a pretty successful cousin who was a singer as well … named Whitney Houston.

106 View from Jidda : RED SEA

Jeddah (also “Jidda”) is a Saudi Arabian city on the west coast of the country. Jeddah is the largest port city on the Red Sea, and is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia.

112 Pinot __ : NOIR

The Pinot noir wine grape variety takes its name from the French for “pine” and “black”. The grapes grow in tight clusters shaped like pine cones, and are very dark in color. The Pinot noir grape is most closely associated with Burgundy wines in France, although in recent years the popularity (and price) of California Pinot noir wine has soared after it featured so prominently in the wonderful, wonderful 2004 movie “Sideways”. Grab a bottle of Pinot, and go rent the movie …

113 Grammy winner India.__ : ARIE

India.Arie is an American soul and R&B singer who was born India Arie Simpson in Denver, Colorado.

115 Galileo’s birthplace : PISA

Galileo Galilei may be the most famous son of the city of Pisa in Italy and was considered by many to have been the father of modern science. In the world of physics, Galileo postulated that objects of different masses would fall at the same rate provided they did so in a vacuum (so there was no air resistance). There is a story that he dropped two balls of different masses from the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa to demonstrate this, but this probably never happened. Centuries later, Astronaut David Scott performed Galileo’s proposed experiment when he dropped a hammer and feather on the moon during the Apollo 15 mission and we all saw the objects hit the moon surface, at exactly the same time.

116 Strip __ : MALL

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 College loan co-signer, maybe : DAD
4 Establish as law : ENACT
9 Long-legged birds : WADERS
15 Five-O nickname : DANO
19 Before, poetically : ERE
20 Prepare to surf : LOG ON
21 Reunion attendee : ALUMNA
22 King Harald’s father : OLAV
23 One way to enter a pool : FEET FIRST (F)
25 __ media : SOCIAL
26 Film scene shot without interruption : TAKE
27 Kenya’s first prime minister __ Kenyatta : JOMO
28 Hydroelectric project : DAM
29 One end of a church key : BOTTLE OPENER (B)
31 Amazon assistant : ALEXA
33 Abundant element in Earth’s core : IRON
35 Thingamajigs : DOODADS
36 Physical location? : MEDICAL CENTER (I)
41 Humor : INDULGE
42 Winans of gospel : CECE
43 Most hip : COOLEST
45 Supposed to arrive : DUE
46 Spa sounds : AHS
49 Plotting chuckle : HEH
51 Delta rival renamed in 1997 : USAIR
53 Moving aids : VANS
54 “Mobile” communications device used in law enforcement : DATA TERMINAL (A)
60 Jack in a suit : KNAVE
62 Initial Hebrew letter : ALEPH
63 Mountain melody : YODEL
64 Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” has one that includes cannon fire : BIG FINISH (G)
68 Lose it : GO APE
69 Matching game : LOTTO
71 Total, as a bill : RUN TO
72 2012 Beyoncé hit with the repeated line “Say you’ll never let me go” : END OF TIME (E)
76 Slips through the cracks : OOZES
79 Domingo, for one : TENOR
80 One of Australia’s six : STATE
81 Summing-up words : IN CONCLUSION (N)
83 Thin coin : DIME
86 Digitally approve : E-SIGN
88 Game-winning line : O-O-O
89 Hallelujah trio? : ELS
90 Spanish article : UNA
91 Sharp tingle, as of fear : PRICKLE
95 Ford contemporary : OLDS
98 Discount : CUT RATE
102 Guru whose opinions are trusted : THOUGHT LEADER (T)
107 Surname on Elm Street : KRUEGER
108 Chiwere-speaking native : OTOE
109 Trial subject : CRIME
110 2019 “Game of Thrones” event : SERIES FINALE (S)
114 45, in classic pop : RPM
117 Well-behaved : GOOD
118 Like many Horace works : ODIC
119 Mexican madam : SENORA
120 Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle … and who might be called in to decode them : FBI AGENTS
122 __ Reader : UTNE
123 When Hamlet kills Polonius : ACT III
124 Divider of pews : AISLE
125 Word in many obituaries : NEE
126 Collectible ’90s caps : POGS
127 Put away for later : STORED
128 Kingdom : REALM
129 Important stretch : ERA

Down

1 Kanye West label : DEF JAM
2 Ring of color : AREOLE
3 Regarded : DEEMED
4 2003 holiday comedy : ELF
5 Reason for being barred at a bar : NO ID
6 Taj Mahal city : AGRA
7 Immense : COSMIC
8 Blast cause : TNT
9 Suspected : WAS ONTO
10 Heaps : A LOT
11 Tear channel : DUCT
12 Czech track legend Zátopek : EMIL
13 Cellular process affecting nucleotide sequences : RNA EDITING
14 Scene of some “Gunsmoke” action : SALOON
15 College address ending : DOT EDU
16 Actor born Alphonso D’Abruzzo : ALAN ALDA
17 First of three Leslie Nielsen comedies, with “The” : NAKED GUN
18 Supervises : OVERSEES
24 Venomous : TOXIC
29 U2 frontman : BONO
30 Whale group : POD
32 Pitching staff star : ACE
34 VCR button : REC
37 Masseuse’s target : ACHE
38 Not sure (of) : LEERY
39 12th Jewish month : ELUL
40 Hi-__ graphics : RES
44 Munro pen name : SAKI
46 “Great minds think alike,” e.g. : ADAGE
47 Fire-suppressing gas : HALON
48 Position : STEAD
50 Med. care provider : HMO
52 U.K. fliers : RAF
53 They may be changed by judges : VENUES
55 Place side by side : APPOSE
56 Taking it badly? : THEFT
57 Run in place : IDLE
58 Modernist’s prefix : NEO-
59 TV chef Brown : ALTON
61 Love of antiques : VIRTU
64 Renowned clown : BOZO
65 Navel formation : INNIE
66 Stand-up comic’s seat : STOOL
67 Lock __: come into conflict : HORNS
70 Front-of-bk. list : TOC
73 __ Bo : TAE
74 “Just what I wanted!” : IT’S PERFECT!
75 ’70s Israeli prime minister : MEIR
77 “Music for Airports” producer : ENO
78 Move quickly : SCOOT
81 Ruler unit : INCH
82 Veg out : LOLL
83 A piece of cake : DUCK SOUP
84 More than familiar with : INURED TO
85 Growing up : MATURING
87 “Shoo!” : GIT!
92 Brand with a pitcher-shaped mascot : KOOL-AID
93 Bard’s instrument : LUTE
94 Freudian focus : EGO
96 Mo. when Festivus is celebrated : DEC
97 Beetle Bailey nemesis : SARGE
99 Treats again, as a sprain : REICES
100 Grow older : AGE
101 Actress Thompson and ice dancer Virtue : TESSAS
103 Disney Beetle : HERBIE
104 “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” singer Warwick : DIONNE
105 Drama queen, e.g. : EMOTER
106 View from Jidda : RED SEA
111 Really digging : INTO
112 Pinot __ : NOIR
113 Grammy winner India.__ : ARIE
115 Galileo’s birthplace : PISA
116 Strip __ : MALL
120 Away companion : FAR
121 Rock in a setting : GEM