LA Times Crossword 6 Jun 21, Sunday

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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Deactivated

Themed answers are common phrases with the letters sequence “DE” inserted:

  • 22A Explanatory words on a map of dictators’ homes? : X MARKS THE DESPOT (from “X marks the spot”)
  • 39A Shipping delivery headache? : PACKAGE DETOUR (from “package tour”)
  • 63A Media barrage for Garcia’s band? : DEAD BLITZ (from “ad blitz”)
  • 84A Northeastern fishing fleet? : LOBSTER DETAIL (from “lobster tail”)
  • 105A Valuable painting hanging in the potting shed? : GREENHOUSE DEGAS (from “greenhouse gas”)
  • 15D Why the housing development was postponed? : DELAY OF THE LAND (from “lay of the land”)
  • 45D Post-rush hour elation? : TRAFFIC DELIGHT (from “traffic light”)

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

Bill’s time: 14m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Thompson of “Westworld” : TESSA

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”.

“Westworld” is an HBO series that is based on a 1973 movie of the same name, which was written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton. Westworld is a high-tech theme park populated by androids that interact with the guests.

6 30 minutes at Lambeau Field : HALF

When Curly Lambeau founded his small-town football team in Green Bay in 1919, he was working for the Indian Packing Company. Lambeau went to his employers looking for sponsorship and was given $250 provided that the team was named for the company. And so, the team was originally referred to as the Green Bay Indians, but by the time they took to the field for their first game it had changed to the Packers, and Lambeau was $250 richer. Curly Lambeau passed away in 1965, and two months later the Packers renamed their City Stadium to Lambeau Field in his memory.

10 Tabloid twosome : ITEM

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs Wellcome) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, which described newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

14 Dire March time : IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed leader to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

18 Trade shows : EXPOS

The first “World’s Fair” was held in 1851, known back then as the “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations”. The fair was the idea of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It was held in a magnificent glass and cast-iron structure called the Crystal Palace that was purpose-built for the occasion. The “Great Exhibition” spawned a tradition of what became known as World’s Fairs, expositions that feature national pavilions created by participating countries. The term “Expo” was coined for Expo 67, a 1967 World’s Fair held in Montreal. Since then, we’ve been using “expo” to describe any large exposition or trade show.

19 Hanoi’s home : ASIA

Hanoi (“Hà Nội” in Vietnamese) was the capital of North Vietnam, and Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi was made capital of the reunified state. Saigon, the larger metropolis, was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is located in the delta of the Red River, and is just over 50 miles from the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea.

20 Miffed : SORE

To miff is to put out, to tee off. “To miff” is a verb that has been around since the early 1600s. Interestingly, in 1824 Sir Walter Scott described the word “miffed” as “a women’s phrase”. That should get him a slap, I’d say …

21 That is, in Latin : ID EST

“Id est” is Latin for “that is”, and is often abbreviated to “i.e.” when used in English.

22 Explanatory words on a map of dictators’ homes? : X MARKS THE DESPOT (from “X marks the spot”)

A despot is a ruler with absolute power, and often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century that is ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.

25 Type of wheel or chart : COLOR

A color wheel is a visual device that illustrates the relationship between various colors and hues.

27 Square root of nueve : TRES

In Spanish, “tres” (three) is the square root of “nueve” (nine).

28 Handshake alternatives : DAPS

The dap is a form of handshake, and often a complicated and showy routine of fist bumps, slaps and shakes. Some say that “dap” is an acronym standing for “Dignity And Pride”.

29 Way to heat up your sushi? : WASABI

Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

33 Sled-pulling pooch : SAMOYED

The Samoyed is a Eurasian breed of dog that is named for the Samoyedic people of Siberia. Samoyeds were originally used as hunting dogs, for herding reindeer and for pulling sleds.

34 Strikingly strange : EXOTIC

The word “exotic” means “belonging to another country”, and is derived from the Greek “exo-” meaning “outside”. Exotica are things that are excitingly strange, often from foreign parts.

38 Verb attachment : -OSE

Someone described as “verbose” is said to use too many words. The term comes from the Latin “verbum” meaning “word”.

42 Corp. money execs : CFOS

Chief financial officer (CFO)

43 Medieval musician : LUTIST

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”.

46 Grafton’s “__ for Noose” : N IS

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” feature the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “’A’ Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “‘Y’ is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

49 Memo start : IN RE

The term “in re” is Latin, and is derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to” or “in the matter of”.

50 House attachment : LIEN

A lien is a 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.

52 One may be a lot : ACRE

At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. An area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

54 Garden center brand : ORTHO

Ortho is a brand of weed killer owned by Scotts Miracle-Gro.

56 Author 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?”

61 Disney princess of the kingdom of Enchancia : SOFIA

“Sofia the First” is an animated TV show from Disney that started airing in 2012. The title character is a girl who becomes a princess when her mother marries the King of Enchancia.

63 Media barrage for Garcia’s band? : DEAD BLITZ (from “ad blitz”)

“Blitz”, as it is used in English, means a fast-moving and overwhelming attack. It is a shortened version of the German word “blitzkrieg”. The blitzkrieg was a tactic used by Germany running up to and during WWII. In the original German blitzkrieg, the army and air-force threw everything into a rapid penetration of enemy lines without stopping to reinforce its flanks. The word “blitz” means “lightning” (and “krieg” means “war”). We use the term more generally in English to describe any fast, nonmilitary campaign.

Jerry Garcia was one of the founding members of the rock band, the Grateful Dead. Garcia struggled with cocaine and heroin addiction during most of his life, and died of a heart attack in 1995 in a California drug rehabilitation center.

66 Guy found in kids’ books : WALDO

The series of children’s illustrated books called “Where’s Waldo?” were originally titled “Where’s Wally?” in Britain, where the books originated. The book contains page after page of illustrations with crowds of people surrounding famous landmarks from around the world. The challenge is to find Waldo/Wally, who is hidden in the crowd.

69 Heavy hammer : MAUL

A maul is a large, heavy hammer, one often used for driving stakes into the ground. The term comes from the Old French “mail” and ultimately from the Latin “malleus”, with both meaning “hammer”.

72 “Aladdin” monkey : ABU

Abu is a monkey in the Disney production of “Aladdin”. The character is based on Abu, a thief in the 1940 film “The Thief of Baghdad”.

73 Do what he says : SIMON

“Simon Says” is a kids’ game. The idea is for the players of the game to obey the “controller” who gives instructions. But the players should only obey when the controller uses the words, “Simon says …”. The game has very old roots, with a Latin version that uses the words “Cicero dicit fac hoc” (Cicero says do this).

75 Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD

Cheryl Ladd’s most famous role was Kris Munroe in television’s “Charlie’s Angels”. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett-Majors when the latter opted out of the show. Cheryl Ladd was the daughter-in-law of famed Hollywood actor Alan Ladd, as she was married to Ladd’s son, David. After the couple divorced, Cheryl retained the Ladd name.

When the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” started airing in the mid-seventies, it was a little unusual in that it featured three women playing private detectives, a role usually reserved for men. The name first chosen for the show was “The Alley Cats”, then “Harry’s Angels”, before finally settling on “Charlie’s Angels”.

76 Pizza chain, familiarly : UNO’S

The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Chicago Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.

77 Fords’ White House successors : CARTERS

President Jimmy Carter was the 39th President, and the only US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office (Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama have also been so honored, but while in office).

Gerald Ford was the only person to have served as both Vice President and President of the US, without having been elected to those positions. Ford was nominated by President Richard Nixon to replace Vice President Spiro Agnew after he resigned in 1973. Vice President Ford assumed the presidency the following year after President Nixon resigned.

79 Ref. work that added “livestream” in 2021 : OED

Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.

84 Northeastern fishing fleet? : LOBSTER DETAIL (from “lobster tail”)

A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.

88 Alp ending : -INE

There are eight Alpine countries:

  • Austria
  • Slovenia
  • France
  • Switzerland
  • Liechtenstein
  • Germany
  • Monaco
  • Italy

96 O’Rourke of Texas : BETO

Texas politician Beto O’Rourke really came to the nation’s attention when he ran for the US Senate in 2018, and was narrowly beaten by the incumbent Ted Cruz. He followed up that close-run campaign with a run for the 2020 Democratic nomination for US president.

97 Barbecue rod : SPIT

It is believed that our word “barbecue” (BBQ) comes from the Taíno people of the Caribbean in whose language “barbacoa” means “sacred fire pit”.

101 Glee club voice : ALTO

A glee club is a choir group, usually of males, that sings short songs known as “glees”. A glee is a song scored for three or more voices that is performed unaccompanied.

102 She followed Guthrie at Woodstock : BAEZ

Joan Baez is an American folk singer and a prominent activist in the fields of non-violence, civil rights, human rights and environmental protection. Baez has dated some high-profile figures in her life including Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs (of Apple) and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.

Singer Arlo Guthrie is known for his protest songs, just like his father Woody Guthrie. The younger Guthrie only ever had one song in the top 40: a cover version of “City of New Orleans”. He has lived for years in the town of Washington, just outside Pittsfield, Massachusetts. His 1976 song “Massachusetts” has been the official folk song of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts since 1981.

103 Kunis of “Black Swan” : MILA

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.

The 2010 movie “Black Swan” is a psychological thriller (described by some as a horror film) set against the background of a ballet company staging Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake”. Natalie Portman plays an obsessive ballerina who seems perfect for the role of the White Swan in “Swan Lake”, but doesn’t seem to have the passion to also play the Black Swan. Then things start to go wonky …

104 Noble gas that sounds like a French forest : ARGON

The chemical element argon has the symbol Ar. Argon is a noble gas, and so by definition is relatively nonreactive. The name “argon” comes from the Greek word for “lazy, inactive”. There’s a lot of argon around, as it is the third-most abundant gas in our atmosphere.

The Forest of Argonne is a strip of rocky woodland in the northeast of France. The forest was the site of intense fighting between German and Allied forces during WWI.

105 Valuable painting hanging in the potting shed? : GREENHOUSE DEGAS (from “greenhouse gas”)

Edgar Degas was a French artist who was famous for both his paintings and his sculptures. Some of Degas’ most beautiful works feature female ballet dancers, and others depict women bathing.

Greenhouse gases are those that absorb and emit infrared radiation, meaning that they act as an insulator for our planet. The most abundant greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased by about 40% since 1750, and levels of methane have increased over 150% in the same time frame.

108 Harry and Jack who co-founded Columbia Pictures : COHNS

Columbia Pictures was founded in 1919 as Cohn-Brandt-Cohn Film Sales, by brothers Jack and Harry Cohn, and Joe Brandt. The name was changed to Columbia Pictures in 1924 when the company went public. The Columbia name became closely associated with the wonderful Hollywood screwball comedies of the thirties, thanks to the association with director Frank Capra, and stars like Jean Arthur and Cary Grant.

109 Poet Khayyám : OMAR

Omar Khayyam was a Persian with many talents. He was a poet as well as an important mathematician, astronomer and physician. A selection of his poems were translated by one Edward Fitzgerald in a collection called “Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam”. Here are some famous lines from that collection:

Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse — and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness —
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.

110 Ballet attire : TUTU

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

111 “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” character : COMMA

There is a comma in the centre of the title “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”.

“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” is a martial arts movie released in 2000. Despite the film’s Mandarin dialogue, it still became a huge international hit. “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” grossed well over $100 million in the US alone, and is still the highest-grossing foreign-language film in American history.

112 Span. miss : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

Down

1 Uses WhatsApp or Viber : TEXTS

WhatsApp is a popular messaging service used on smartphones that sends messages and other files from one mobile phone number to another. Launched in 2011, WhatsApp is incredibly popular, and indeed the most popular messaging service used today. Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014, paying over $19 billion.

Viber is an instant-messaging and voice-over-IP application that was introduced in 2010 as a direct competitor with Skype. The software was developed in Israel, and purchased by Japanese multinational Rakuten in 2014.

3 Musk’s Starship developer : SPACEX

SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corporation) is a space transportation company that was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, veteran of PayPal and Tesla Motors. In 2012, SpaceX became the first private concern to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS), and in 2020, the first to send humans to the ISS. Apparently, SpaceX is the lowest-price player in the game.

6 Panama’s place? : HAT RACK

Panama hats are traditional headgear from Ecuador, and have never been made in volume in Panama. The “panama” moniker came about as many of the hats were shipped to the Isthmus of Panama for transportation by sea to the rest of the world. Authentic panama hats are made from the leaves of a palm-like plant known locally as the jipijapa palm.

8 Fairway considerations : LIES

That would be golf.

10 “Insecure” actress : ISSA RAE

Issa Rae is a Stanford University graduate who created a YouTube web series called “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl”. Rae also plays the title role in the series, a young lady named “J”. “Awkward Black Girl” was adapted into an HBO comedy-drama called “Insecure”, in which Issa Rae stars.

11 Company whose signature product resulted from a plan to sell more chewing gum : TOPPS

Topps was a relaunch of an older company called American Leaf Tobacco, with the Topps name used from 1938. The earlier company was in trouble because it could not get supplies of its Turkish tobacco, so it moved into another chewy industry, making bubblegum. Nowadays, Topps is known for including (mainly) sports-themed trading cards in the packs of gum.

12 Bow-toting god : EROS

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

16 Anka hit with a Spanish title : ESO BESO

“Eso Beso” is Spanish for “That Kiss”, and is the title of a 1962 hit song recorded by Canadian-born singer Paul Anka.

21 Start of Caesar’s boast : I CAME …

The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BCE and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

29 Golden State NBAer : WARRIOR

The Golden State Warriors are our local NBA franchise out here in the San Francisco Bay Area and are based in San Francisco, California. The team was founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, becoming the San Francisco Warriors when they moved to City by the Bay in 1962. They changed names again (to Golden State) when they relocated to Oakland in 1971. The statewide name reflected the fact that the team played some of their 1971-72 season games in San Diego, and as such were “California’s” team. The team kept the Golden State name even though they returned to San Francisco in 2019.

31 GPS calculations : ETAS

A global positioning system (GPS) is known as a satellite navigation system (Sat Nav) in Britain and Ireland.

32 C-ration successors : MRES

The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.

35 Pre-Richie TV role for Ron : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

37 “An Essay on Man” poet Alexander : POPE

Alexander Pope wrote the following lines in “An Essay on Man” in 1734:

Hope springs eternal in the human breast;
Man never Is, but always To be blest:
The soul, uneasy and confin’d from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come.

40 Biblical words before and after “for” : AN EYE

The saying “an eye for eye, and a tooth for tooth” originally comes from the code laid down by Hammurabi, King of Babylon (1792-1750 BC). It is also quoted in the Bible in the Gospel of Matthew.

41 Anklebones : TARSI

The tarsals (also “tarsi”) are the ankle bones, and are equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

42 Terra __ : COTTA

The tem “terra cotta” comes to us from Latin via Italian and means “baked earth”. Terra-cotta is a ceramic made from clay which is left unglazed. Maybe the most famous work in terra-cotta is the Terracotta Army, the enormous collection of life-size figures that was buried with Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China around 210 BC. I had the privilege of seeing some of this collection when it toured the US a few years ago, and even the few pieces on display were very impressive.

43 Fictional 16-year-old von Trapp girl : LIESL

The von Trapps portrayed in the musical “The Sound of Music” were a real family, as is well known. In the musical and film, the eldest daughter is Liesl, although in real life her name was Agathe. Agathe came with her family to the US in 1938, and operated a private kindergarten in Baltimore, Maryland for 35 years. Agathe passed away in 2010. Agathe/Liesl was the daughter who was “Sixteen Going on Seventeen”.

45 Post-rush hour elation? : TRAFFIC DELIGHT (from “traffic light”)

The first traffic lights date back to 1868 when they were installed outside the Houses of Parliament in London. They resembled the signals already in use for trains, with semaphore arms and red and green gas lamps for nighttime use. That first system was operated manually, by a policeman at the base. Sadly, one police officer was killed just one year after the light’s installation, when the gas system exploded.

48 Constant news channel feature : CRAWL

A news ticker, or “crawler”, is a text-based graphic that runs across the bottom of a TV screen providing perhaps news headlines or continuous stock quotes.

51 Film review site : IMDB

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

52 Potter son named for Dumbledore : ALBUS

In the “Harry Potter” universe, Albus is the second of three children that Harry has with his wife Ginny Weasley. Albus is the hero of the stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”, and is the cursed child cited in the title.

Professor Albus Dumbledore is the headmaster of the school for wizards called Hogwarts, in the Harry Potter universe. Dumbledore’s specialties are nonverbal spells and alchemy. Author J. K. Rowling chose the name Dumbledore as it is an Early English word for a bumblebee. Apparently she pictured him wandering around, humming to himself.

58 Actor Driver : ADAM

Adam Driver is an actor best known to TV audiences for playing Adam Sackler on the show “Girls” that airs on HBO. Driver’s movie career got a huge boost in 2015 when he played villain Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

59 Big name in polos : IZOD

Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England, producing shirts for King George V as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.

60 Brooklyn “y’all” : YOUSE

The New York City borough of Brooklyn used to be its own city, but was annexed by its larger neighbor in 1989. Brooklyn takes its name from the original village that was settled by the Dutch, which they called Breuckelen. The village in turn took its name from the town of Breukelen back in the Netherlands.

65 It has its tricks : TRADE

Those would be “tricks of the trade”.

68 Reindeer rack : ANTLERS

The reindeer species of deer is also known as the caribou in North America.

74 Wall St. figures : ARBS

An arbitrageur (arb.) is someone one who profits from the purchase of securities in one market and the subsequent sale in another, by taking advantage of price discrepancies across markets.

75 It may be buried : LEDE

The opening paragraph in any work of literature is often just called “the lead”. In the world of journalism, this is usually referred to as “the lede”. The derivative phrase “bury the lede” means to fail to stress the most important aspect of a story.

76 Homely fruit? : UGLI

The ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine that was first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today. “UGLI” is a trademark name that is a variant of “ugly”, a nod to the fruit’s unsightly wrinkled rind.

81 Gold-covered : GILT

Gilding is the application of gold leaf or gold powder to a solid surface, perhaps wood or another metal. The method of application can vary, from the use of a brush to electroplating.

82 Low-calorie mints : TIC TACS

Tic Tacs aren’t American candies (as I always mistakenly believed). Tic Tacs are made by the Italian company Ferrero, and were introduced in 1969.

86 English John : ELTON

“Elton John” is the stage name of English singer and pianist Reginald Dwight. John is an avid football (soccer) supporter, and is especially enthusiastic about Watford Football Club, which was his local team growing up. After he achieved financial success, John was able to purchase Watford FC, and owned the club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 until 2002.

92 Real baffler : ENIGMA

Our term “enigma” meaning “puzzle, riddle” comes from the Greek “ainigma”, which means the same thing.

93 Italian sub layer : SALAMI

“Salame” (note the letter E at the end) is an Italian sausage that is traditionally associated with the peasant classes. The meat in the sausage is preserved with salt, and it can be hung and stored for as long as ten years. The name “salame” comes from “sale”, the Italian word for salt, and “-ame”, a suffix indicating a collective noun. Our English word “salami” is actually the Italian plural for “salame”.

95 “Run” singer Lewis : LEONA

Leona Lewis rocketed to fame after winning the British TV show called “The X Factor” (the show that spawned the UK’s “Pop Idol” and America’s “American Idol”).

97 Cook in a wok, say : SAUTE

“Sauté” is a French word. The literal translation from the French is “jumped” or “bounced”, a reference to the tossing of food while cooking it in a frying pan.

“Wok” is a Cantonese word, and is the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

106 Cleveland __, OH : HTS

Cleveland Heights is a city in Ohio, and a suburb of Cleveland.

107 Reagan Airport, on luggage tags : DCA

Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) is located in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the two main airports serving the nation’s capital, along with Washington Dulles. Washington National opened for business in 1941, and was dedicated to President Ronald Reagan in 1998.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Thompson of “Westworld” : TESSA
6 30 minutes at Lambeau Field : HALF
10 Tabloid twosome : ITEM
14 Dire March time : IDES
18 Trade shows : EXPOS
19 Hanoi’s home : ASIA
20 Miffed : SORE
21 That is, in Latin : ID EST
22 Explanatory words on a map of dictators’ homes? : X MARKS THE DESPOT (from “X marks the spot”)
25 Type of wheel or chart : COLOR
26 Diplomat’s asset : TACT
27 Square root of nueve : TRES
28 Handshake alternatives : DAPS
29 Way to heat up your sushi? : WASABI
30 Business address abbr. : STE
31 Notable stretches : ERAS
32 MLB VIPs : MGRS
33 Sled-pulling pooch : SAMOYED
34 Strikingly strange : EXOTIC
36 Geometry product : AREA
37 Read carefully, with “over” : PORE …
38 Verb attachment : -OSE
39 Shipping delivery headache? : PACKAGE DETOUR (from “package tour”)
42 Corp. money execs : CFOS
43 Medieval musician : LUTIST
46 Grafton’s “__ for Noose” : N IS
47 Plum kin : APRICOT
49 Memo start : IN RE
50 House attachment : LIEN
52 One may be a lot : ACRE
54 Garden center brand : ORTHO
56 Author LeShan : EDA
57 “Whadya know!” : MY MY!
58 Pub orders : ALES
59 In a heated way : IRATELY
61 Disney princess of the kingdom of Enchancia : SOFIA
63 Media barrage for Garcia’s band? : DEAD BLITZ (from “ad blitz”)
66 Guy found in kids’ books : WALDO
67 Set-up punch : LEFT JAB
69 Heavy hammer : MAUL
70 Stir up : ROIL
72 “Aladdin” monkey : ABU
73 Do what he says : SIMON
74 Goals : AIMS
75 Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD
76 Pizza chain, familiarly : UNO’S
77 Fords’ White House successors : CARTERS
79 Ref. work that added “livestream” in 2021 : OED
80 Pre-Easter purchase : EGG DYE
82 In order : TIDY
84 Northeastern fishing fleet? : LOBSTER DETAIL (from “lobster tail”)
88 Alp ending : -INE
89 Man caves, e.g. : DENS
90 End of an ultimatum : … ELSE
91 Support groups : ALLIES
94 Storm refuges : CELLARS
96 O’Rourke of Texas : BETO
97 Barbecue rod : SPIT
98 “Not interested” : NAH
100 They make an effort : TRIERS
101 Glee club voice : ALTO
102 She followed Guthrie at Woodstock : BAEZ
103 Kunis of “Black Swan” : MILA
104 Noble gas that sounds like a French forest : ARGON
105 Valuable painting hanging in the potting shed? : GREENHOUSE DEGAS (from “greenhouse gas”)
108 Harry and Jack who co-founded Columbia Pictures : COHNS
109 Poet Khayyám : OMAR
110 Ballet attire : TUTU
111 “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” character : COMMA
112 Span. miss : SRTA
113 Sounds of scorn : TSKS
114 Part of a plan : STEP
115 Anticipate : AWAIT

Down

1 Uses WhatsApp or Viber : TEXTS
2 Split result : EX-MATE
3 Musk’s Starship developer : SPACEX
4 Organize by size, say : SORT
5 Show curiosity : ASK
6 Panama’s place? : HAT RACK
7 Firepit contents : ASHES
8 Fairway considerations : LIES
9 It’s hot for a while : FAD
10 “Insecure” actress : ISSA RAE
11 Company whose signature product resulted from a plan to sell more chewing gum : TOPPS
12 Bow-toting god : EROS
13 Came together : MET
14 Kid’s comeback : I DO SO!
15 Why the housing development was postponed? : DELAY OF THE LAND (from “lay of the land”)
16 Anka hit with a Spanish title : ESO BESO
17 Big steps : STRIDES
21 Start of Caesar’s boast : I CAME …
23 “__ speaking … ” : STRICTLY
24 Narrowly beat : EDGED
29 Golden State NBAer : WARRIOR
31 GPS calculations : ETAS
32 C-ration successors : MRES
33 Go bad, as milk : SOUR
35 Pre-Richie TV role for Ron : OPIE
36 Opposite of fer : AGIN
37 “An Essay on Man” poet Alexander : POPE
40 Biblical words before and after “for” : AN EYE
41 Anklebones : TARSI
42 Terra __ : COTTA
43 Fictional 16-year-old von Trapp girl : LIESL
44 Cancels : UNDOES
45 Post-rush hour elation? : TRAFFIC DELIGHT (from “traffic light”)
48 Constant news channel feature : CRAWL
51 Film review site : IMDB
52 Potter son named for Dumbledore : ALBUS
53 Texting vehicle : CELL
55 Guy in an exclusive network : OLD BOY
57 Collegiate focus : MAJOR
58 Actor Driver : ADAM
59 Big name in polos : IZOD
60 Brooklyn “y’all” : YOUSE
62 “Could happen” : IT MAY
64 Off the mark : AMISS
65 It has its tricks : TRADE
68 Reindeer rack : ANTLERS
71 Glorify : IDEALIZE
74 Wall St. figures : ARBS
75 It may be buried : LEDE
76 Homely fruit? : UGLI
78 Long stretches : EONS
79 About : OR SO
81 Gold-covered : GILT
82 Low-calorie mints : TIC TACS
83 By mistake : IN ERROR
85 Looks unstable : TEETERS
86 English John : ELTON
87 Secures, as a carton : TAPES UP
89 Mends a sock : DARNS
92 Real baffler : ENIGMA
93 Italian sub layer : SALAMI
95 “Run” singer Lewis : LEONA
96 Stark : BLEAK
97 Cook in a wok, say : SAUTE
99 Goes after : HAS AT
101 Pitchers’ assets : ARMS
102 Ring event : BOUT
103 Kitty comment : MEOW!
105 Picked up : GOT
106 Cleveland __, OH : HTS
107 Reagan Airport, on luggage tags : DCA