LA Times Crossword 1 Dec 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Name Tags

Themed answers are a common phrase reinterpreted as a reference to a famous person:

  • 21A Inspiring Gates? : ELECTRIC BILL (GATES)
  • 24A Upright Fosse? : PLUMB BOB (FOSSE)
  • 49A Refined Bailey? : CULTURED PEARL (BAILEY)
  • 51A Careless Montana? : SLOPPY JOE (MONTANA)
  • 64A Vividly expressive Carney? : GRAPHIC ART (CARNEY)
  • 67A Outgoing Macdonald? : SOCIAL NORM (MACDONALD)
  • 86A Slothful Sontag? : LAZY SUSAN (SONTAG)
  • 89A Seafaring Davis? : NAUTICAL MILES (DAVIS)
  • 113A Forthcoming Tyson? : OPEN MIKE (TYSON)
  • 115A Forceful Kelly? : DOMINANT GENE (KELLY)

Bill’s time: 16m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Milky white kind of glass : OPAL

Milk glass is a glass with a milky white color. It is produced by adding opacifiers to the molten glass, particles that make the glass opaque. Milk glass was first made in 16th-century Venice, with the range of colors available not limited to white. For much of the 19th century, milk glass was referred to as “opal glass”.

5 “Dumb and Dumber” co-star : CARREY

Jim Carrey is a comedian and actor from Newmarket, Ontario. Carrey’s big break in films came with the title role the first “Ace Ventura” film, in 1994. My favorite of his big screen performances is in the fascinating film “The Truman Show”, released in 1998.

“Dumb and Dumber” is a 1994 comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two pretty dumb guys, Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne. There was a prequel released in 2003 titled “Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd”, and a sequel in 2011 called “Dumb and Dumber To”.

18 Stellar phenomenon : NOVA

A nova (plural “novae”) is basically a star that suddenly gets much brighter, gradually returning to its original state weeks or even years later. The increased brightness of a nova is due to increased nuclear activity causing the star to pick up extra hydrogen from a neighboring celestial body. A supernova is very different from a nova. A supernova is a very bright burst of light and energy created when most of the material in a star explodes. The bright burst of a supernova is very short-lived compared to the sustained brightness of a nova.

20 Self-officiated game with a disc : ULTIMATE

Ultimate is a team sport that is similar to football or rugby in that the goal is to get a flying disc into an endzone or goal area. The sport used to be called “Ultimate Frisbee”, but the “Frisbee” was dropped as it is a registered trademark.

21 Inspiring Gates? : ELECTRIC BILL (GATES)

Bill Gates is the former CEO of Microsoft, a company that he co-founded with Paul Allen. Gates has been listed as the wealthiest man in the world on several occasions over the past two decades. He now works full-time as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside his wife Melinda. The Gates’ foundation is the largest transparently-operated charitable foundation in the world.

24 Upright Fosse? : PLUMB BOB (FOSSE)

Bob Fosse won more Tony Awards for choreography than anyone else, a grand total of eight (and another Tony for direction). Fosse also won an Oscar for Best Director for the 1972 movie “Cabaret”, even beating out the formidable Francis Ford Coppola who was nominated that same year for “The Godfather”.

26 Driver’s lic. info : DOB

Date of birth (DOB)

27 Red dye : EOSIN

Eosin is a red dye that fluoresces under light, and that is used in the lab as a stain on microscope slides. It is particularly effective in staining animal tissues. Eosin is also used as a toner in cosmetics.

32 Something read to the rowdy? : RIOT ACT

The Riot Act was a British law that was in force from 1715 to 1967. According to the Riot Act, government entities could declare any gathering of twelve or more people “unlawful”. Our expression “read the Riot Act to” is derived from the requirement for the authorities to read out the Riot Act proclamation to an unlawful assembly before the Act could be enforced.

35 English breakfast __ : TEA

English breakfast tea is a blend of black teas dominated by teas from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. The blends are created to go well with milk and perhaps sugar, as indeed one might drink tea with an English breakfast. Irish breakfast tea is mainly a blend of teas from Assam. It is also created to go well with milk, especially after a few pints of Guinness. Okay, I made up that last bit …

40 Very funny sort : CARD

A very amusing person might be referred to as a card, stitch, wag or riot.

42 Hostess output : CUPCAKES

Hostess CupCake is a bakery product that has been around a long time, with the first being sold in 1919.

44 It has an eye on TV : CBS

CBS used to be known as the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS introduced its “eye” logo in 1951. That logo is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch hex sign.

47 1980s Panamanian dictator : NORIEGA

Manuel Noriega was forcibly removed from power by US forces in 1989 after he spent six years as military dictator of Panama. Noriega was found guilty of several crimes in a US court, including drug-trafficking. He served time with prisoner-of-war status in Florida for 17 years, until 2007. Noriega was extradited from the US to France in 2010, where he served more time for money-laundering. He was then extradited from France to Panama to face trial for human rights violations. Noriega remains in a Panamanian prison to this day.

49 Refined Bailey? : CULTURED PEARL (BAILEY)

Pearl Bailey was an actress and singer who won a Tony Award playing the title role in a 1968 production of the stage musical “Hello, Dolly!”

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which nacre is laid down.

51 Careless Montana? : SLOPPY JOE (MONTANA)

Joe Montana played most of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, and the last two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. With the 49ers, Montana went to the Super Bowl four times, winning every time. In retirement one of his activities is to produce wine, so keep an eye out for his “Montagia” label.

Sloppy joe is a dish usually made of ground beef, onions, ketchup and seasonings, all served on a bun. There are two stories that supposedly explain the origin of the name “sloppy joe”. One is that it comes from Sloppy Joe’s Bar in Key West, Florida; the other is that it was invented by a cook named Joe in Sioux City, Iowa.

53 Type, in Calais : SORTE

Calais is a major ferry port in northern France that overlooks the Strait of Dover, which is the narrowest point in the English Channel. The strait is just over 20 miles wide, making Calais the nearest French town to England.

54 Westminster landmark : ABBEY

The actual name for the Gothic church we know as Westminster Abbey is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. The Abbey is a favored location for coronations and royal weddings and burials.

55 Jumbles : OLIOS

“Olio” is a term meaning “hodgepodge, mixture” that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

56 House shower : C-SPAN

C-SPAN is a privately-funded, nonprofit cable channel that broadcasts continuous coverage of government proceedings.

58 Causes of frequent break-ins? : SPONSORS

Those would be break-ins to tout a sponsoring company on TV and/or radio.

60 IBM competitor : NEC

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

61 1942 Philippine battle site : BATAAN

Bataan is a peninsula in the Philippines that is located on the side of Manila Bay opposite to the capital city. In WWII, Bataan was where American and Filipino forces made their last stand before the Japanese took control of the country. The Battle of Bataan lasted three months, at the end of which 75,000 captured prisoners were forced to march from Bataan to various prison camps. It is thought that between 6,000 and 11,000 men died on the march, many from the physical abuse above and beyond the rigors of the 5-6 day march without food or water. For obvious reasons, the 5-6 day trek is referred to as the Bataan Death March.

63 Cold sheet : FLOE

An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the ocean.

64 Vividly expressive Carney? : GRAPHIC ART (CARNEY)

Art Carney was best known as the actor who played Ed Norton on the fifties television show “The Honeymooners”. Carney walked with a limp for much of his life, as one leg was almost an inch shorter than the other due to a wound he received during the Battle of Normandy in WWII.

67 Outgoing Macdonald? : SOCIAL NORM (MACDONALD)

Norm Macdonald is a standup comedian from Quebec City who is perhaps best known as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” starting in 1993. He also had his own sitcom called “The Norm Show” that ran on ABC from 1999 to 2001.

73 Actor Neeson : LIAM

Irish actor Liam Neeson got his big break when he played Oskar Schindler in the Spielberg epic, “Schindler’s List”. Neeson was in the news some years ago when he lost his wife, actress Natasha Richardson, in a tragic skiing accident in 2009.

74 Fortune-telling aids : TAROTS

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

75 One of the fire signs : LEO

Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:

  • Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
  • Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
  • Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
  • Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

76 Period of the first dinosaurs : TRIASSIC

The Triassic period lasted from about 250 to 200 million years ago. It was during the Triassic that dinosaurs first appeared. A major extinction event at the end of the Triassic that allowed dinosaurs to dominate the landscape throughout the subsequent Jurassic period.

80 State with a panhandle : TEXAS

The Texas Panhandle is the most northerly part of the state. The most populous city in the Panhandle is Amarillo.

81 Plane angle symbol : THETA

The Greek letter theta is commonly used in geometry to represent the angle between two lines (say at a corner of a triangle).

83 Very long time : AEONS

Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

  • supereon
  • eon (also “aeon”)
  • era
  • period
  • epoch
  • age

84 Some corporate jets : LEARS

Learjet is a company making business jets that was founded in 1960 by William Powell Lear. The original Learjet was a modified Swiss ground-attack fighter aircraft.

86 Slothful Sontag? : LAZY SUSAN (SONTAG)

Susan Sontag was a writer and political activist from New York City. Sontag wrote extensively on a number of subjects, including photography. She spent the last decade of her life in a relationship with renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz.

A lazy Susan is a circular tray at the center of a dining table that can be rotated by those partaking in the meal. The term “lazy Susan” was introduced in the early 1900s, first appearing in an article in the magazine “Good Housekeeping”. Before this designation, the device had been called a “dumbwaiter”, a term that we now reserve for a small elevator used for transporting food from the kitchen to the dining room.

89 Seafaring Davis? : NAUTICAL MILES (DAVIS)

Jazz musician Miles Davis was born into a relatively affluent family, so he had plenty of music lessons as a child. After high school, Davis studied at the Juilliard School of Music in New York but he dropped out before finishing his studies. He stated later that the Juilliard classes focused too much on European and “white” music, but he acknowledged that the school gave him a foundation in music theory that helped him in later life.

92 Where to find an idiomatic pig : IN A POKE

“Poke” is an old term meaning “sack”. One wouldn’t want to buy “a pig in a poke”, i.e. in a sack and sight unseen.

93 Family docs : GPS

General practitioner (GP)

96 Outlaw Kelly : NED

Ned Kelly was an Irish-Australian outlaw who is regarded by many as a symbol of resistance against the British ruling class in Australia in the 19th century. There have been two famous films made of his life story. “The Story of the Kelly Gang” was released in 1906, and is recognized today as the first feature film ever made. We might be more familiar with the film called “Ned Kelly” released in 1970, as it starred Mick Jagger in the title role.

97 “Ben-Hur” studio : MGM

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The celebrated 1959 Charlton Heston movie “Ben-Hur” is a dramatization of a book published in 1880 by Lew Wallace titled “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ”. The 1959 epic film won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat that has been equaled since then but has never been beaten. The other winners of 11 Oscars are “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Rings”.

100 Clearasil target : ZIT

Clearasil acne medication was developed in 1940 by Ivan Combe and Kedzie Teller. Combe promoted the product by sponsoring the television show “American Bandstand” for many years.

105 Opposite of piano : FORTE

In musical notation, the Italian word “piano” (p) instructs musicians to play softly, and “forte” (f) to play loudly. The additional notation “pianissimo” (pp) means “very soft”, and fortissimo (ff) means “very loud”.

107 Young socialite : DEB

“Deb” is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “beginner” when referring to a female.

113 Forthcoming Tyson? : OPEN MIKE (TYSON)

Boxer Mike Tyson, nicknamed “Iron Mike”, has said some pretty graphic things about his opponents. For example:

  • About Lennox Lewis: “My main objective is to be professional but to kill him.”
  • To Razor Ruddock: “I’m gonna make you my girlfriend.”
  • About Tyrell Biggs: “He was screaming like my wife.”

115 Forceful Kelly? : DOMINANT GENE (KELLY)

Actor and dancer Gene Kelly was from Pittsburgh. Kelly’s best-known performances were in the films “An American in Paris” (1951) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). “Singin’ in the Rain” was co-directed by Kelly and the great Stanley Donen. A few years later, in 1960, Kelly married Jeanne Coyne, Donen’s ex-wife.

119 Fan of Jerry Garcia’s band : DEADHEAD

The Grateful Dead were a rock band from the San Francisco Bay Area that was founded in 1965. “The Dead” disbanded in 1995 following the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia. Grateful Dead fans (the ranks of whom include my wife) refer to themselves as “Deadheads”.

120 Flea market deal : RESALE

Flea markets are known by various names around the world. In Australia, the term “trash and treasure market” is used. Such outdoor events are called car boot sales, whereas indoor versions might be jumble sales or bring and buy sales.

Down

1 Till stack : ONES

What we usually call a cash register here in North America, we mostly call a “till” in Ireland and the UK. I haven’t heard the word “till” used much here in that sense.

2 Game played in an anagram of itself : POLO

“Polo” is an anagram of “pool”.

The sport of water polo is thought to have originated in Scotland, where it was a feature of fairs and festivals. Men’s water polo was introduced into the Olympic Games in 1900, making it one of the oldest team sports in the games.

4 What loafers lack : LACES

The loafer slip-on shoe dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by Fortnum and Mason’s store in London. The derivative term “penny loafer” arose in the late fifties or early sixties, although the exact etymology seems unclear.

5 Burnable medium, briefly : CD-R

“CD-ROM” stands for “compact disc read only memory”. The name indicates that you can read information from the disc (like a standard music CD for example), but you cannot write to it. You can also buy a CD-RW, which stands for “compact disc – rewritable”, with which you can read data and also write over it multiple times using a suitable CD drive.

8 Browning’s Ben Ezra, e.g. : RABBI

“Rabbi Ben Ezra” is an 1864 poem by Robert Browning. The first verse is:

Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!”

9 Former U.K. recording giant : EMI

The Big Four recording labels were (until EMI was broken up in 2012 and absorbed by what became “the Big Three”):

  1. Universal Music Group
  2. Sony Music Entertainment
  3. Warner Music Group
  4. EMI

10 Fashion initials : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was an Algerian-born French fashion designer. Saint Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

11 “__ want for Christmas … ” : ALL I

“All I Want for Christmas” is a song released by Mariah Carey for the 1994 holiday season. It was to prove to be Carey’s most successful single internationally.

13 __City: computer game : SIM

“SimCity” is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. “SimCity” was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

14 Eclipse shadow : UMBRA

A shadow usually has three distinct parts called the umbra, penumbra and antumbra, with the terms most often used with reference to the shadows cast by celestial bodies. The terms can also be used to describe the levels of darkness in sunspots. The umbra (Latin for “shadow”) is the innermost, darkest part of a shadow. The penumbra (“almost shadow”, from Latin) is a lighter part of a shadow, where part of the light source “leaks” around the body casting the shadow. The antumbra phenomenon is experienced when the object casting the shadow is sufficiently far away from the viewer so that it appears smaller than the light source, with an annular ring around it. When the eye is in the shadow cast by an object that has light passing around it, the eye is in the antumbra.

15 “Streamers” playwright : RABE

David Rabe is an American playwright, a veteran of Vietnam. He is the author of a trilogy of plays that draw on his own experience during the Vietnam War:

  1. The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel (1971)
  2. Sticks and Bones (1969)
  3. Streamers (1976)

16 School since 1440 : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provide free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

20 Parvenus : UPSTARTS

A parvenu is an upstart, someone who has recently achieved wealth or power but who has yet to demonstrate the ability to handle that wealth or power with dignity.

22 Bench press muscles : TRICEPS

The triceps brachii muscle is found at the back of the upper arm. The muscle’s name translates to “three-headed arm muscle”, fitting as it is actually made up of three bundles of muscles.

31 Like some turkey stuffing : SAGY

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

34 Certain Sooner : TULSAN

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma (after Oklahoma City). Tulsa started out as a settlement established by the Loachapoka and Creek Native American tribes in 1836. These early settlers called their new home “Tallasi” meaning “old town”, and this name morphed into “Tulsa” that we use today.

The 1889 Indian Appropriations Act officially opened up the so called Unassigned Lands, land in Oklahoma on which no Native American tribes had settled. Once the Act was signed, those lands became available for settlement. Those people that settled the same lands illegally, prior the date specified, they were termed “Sooners” as their situation was defined in the “sooner clause” of the Act. “Sooner State” is now a nickname for Oklahoma.

36 ESPN Deportes language : ESPANOL

ESPN Deportes Radio is a sports channel that broadcasts in Spanish (Español ). “Deports” is Spanish for “sports”.

39 Symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon : EROICA

Beethoven originally dedicated his “Symphony No. 3” to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic, valiant”.

41 Friend of TV’s Sheldon : RAJ

Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

44 Popular spring break locale, informally : CABO

Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. “Cabo” is sometimes referred to as the “Fort Lauderdale of Mexico”.

45 Uncle Remus title : BR’ER

Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The “Uncle Remus” stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

46 Stone and Stallone : SLYS

Sly and the Family Stone are a rock, funk and soul band from San Francisco that’s still performing today, although their heyday was from 1966 to 1983. They were one of the first rock bands to have a racially-integrated lineup, as well as representatives of both sexes.

If ever there was a movie that defines a career breakthrough for an actor, it would have to be “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a struggling actor in 1975 when a Muhammad Ali fight inspired Stallone to write a screenplay for a boxing movie, which he did in just three days. His efforts to sell the script went well but for the fact that the interested studios wanted a big name for the lead role, and Stallone was determined to be the star himself. Stallone persevered and “Rocky” was eventually made with him playing title role of Rocky Balboa. The movie won three Oscars, and “Sly” Stallone had arrived …

48 Wall St. news : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

49 French Oscar : CESAR

The César Award is the national film award of France. The first César was awarded in 1975, named after the French sculptor César Baldaccini. The awards themselves are reproductions of an actual Baldaccini sculpture.

50 “Barnaby Jones” star : EBSEN

Barnaby Jones is a character on the seventies detective show “Cannon”. The Jones character was played by Buddy Ebsen. Ebsen then starred in the title role of the spin-off show “Barnaby Jones”.

59 Rio greetings : OLAS

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

62 Lombardy-based football club : AC MILAN

The famous Italian soccer club Associazione Calcio Milan is better known as AC Milan. AC Milan has won four world club titles, more than any club in the game anywhere. The team’s home ground is San Siro, which has a capacity of just over 80,000, the highest in the country. AC Milan is owned by former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

67 Early rock horn : SAX

The saxophone was invented by Belgian musician Adolphe Sax. Sax developed lip cancer at one point in his life, and one has to wonder if his affliction was related to his saxophone playing (I am sure not!). I had the privilege of visiting Sax’s grave in the Cemetery of Montmartre in Paris a few years ago.

69 Toledo thing : COSA

Toledo is a city in central Spain that is located just over 40 miles south of the capital Madrid. Toledo is sometimes called the “City of Three Cultures”, due to the historical co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions.

70 “Little House” family name : OLESON

On the iconic television show “Little House on the Prairie”, the proprietor of Oleson’s Mercantile is Nels Oleson, who was played by actor Richard Bull.

74 Green cars : TESLAS

Tesla Motors shortened its name to just “Tesla” in early 2017.

80 Deked, say : TRICKED

A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.

81 Bolshevik’s foe : TSARIST

At the second party congress of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, a split developed. The faction with the most support was led by Vladimir Lenin. As they were in the majority, the group became known as the Bolsheviks, a term derived from the Russian word for “more” or “majority”. Lenin and the Bolsheviks led the October Revolution of 1917, as a result of which Lenin came to power. He headed the new Soviet State during its formative years.

82 March opening : HUP …

Hup two three four …

85 “He’s __ notable coward … “: Shak. : A MOST

Here’s a put down worth remembering. It’s from William Shakespeare’s play “All’s Well That Ends Well”:

… he’s a most notable coward, an infinite and
endless liar, an hourly promise-breaker, the owner
of no one good quality …

88 Santa __ Valley: California wine region : YNEZ

The Santa Ynez Valley is a winegrowing region in Santa Barbara County in California. The Santa Ynez Valley was the setting and location for the wonderful 2004 film “Sideways”.

99 Horace, for one : ODIST

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).

101 “Animal House” party attire : TOGAS

The very funny 1978 movie “Animal House” has the prefix “National Lampoon’s …” because the storyline came out of tales that had already appeared in “National Lampoon” magazine. “Animal House” was to become the first in a long line of successful “National Lampoon” films. The main pledges in the movie are Tom Hulce (Pinto), who later played a magnificent “Amadeus”, and Stephen Furst (Flounder), who later played a regular role on television’s “Babylon 5”.

102 Some UPS deliveries : CODS

Cash on delivery (COD)

103 Duel tool : EPEE

The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, although the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.The sword known as an épée has a three-sided blade. The épée is similar to a foil and sabre, although the foil and saber have rectangular cross-sections.

106 “Just __ is not __”: AT&T slogan : OKAY

The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T, Ma Bell) was a subsidiary of the original Bell Telephone Company that was founded by Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone. AT&T was forced to divest several subsidiaries in 1982 when the company lost an antitrust lawsuit. Those subsidiaries were known as Regional Bell Operating Systems, or “Baby Bells”.

108 Island near Java : BALI

Bali is both an island and a province in Indonesia. It is a popular tourist spot, although the number of visitors dropped for a few years as a result of terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed mainly tourists. Bali became more popular starting in 2008 due to a significant and favorable change in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Indonesian rupiah.

Java is a large island in Indonesia that is home to the country’s capital, Jakarta. With a population of over 130 million, Java is the most populous island in the world, with even more people than Honshu, the main island of Japan.

110 Mardi Gras follower : LENT

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

114 Old reciprocal electrical unit : MHO

Conductance (measured in “mhos”) is the inverse of resistance (measured in “ohms”). The mho has been replaced by the SI unit called the siemens.

116 Mt. Hood’s home : ORE

Mount Hood is a volcanic peak in northern Oregon. It is the highest peak in the state, and is located about 50 miles southeast of Portland. There are six ski areas on the mountain, including a resort called Timberline that has North America’s only lift that operates year-round for skiing.

117 __ culpa : MEA

Many Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” translates as “my most grievous fault”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Milky white kind of glass : OPAL
5 “Dumb and Dumber” co-star : CARREY
11 Confident : ASSURED
18 Stellar phenomenon : NOVA
19 Aspirations : DREAMS
20 Self-officiated game with a disc : ULTIMATE
21 Inspiring Gates? : ELECTRIC BILL (GATES)
24 Upright Fosse? : PLUMB BOB (FOSSE)
25 More tender : SORER
26 DDriver’s lic. info : DOB
27 Red dye : EOSIN
29 Use for a fee : RENT
30 Family nickname : SIS
32 Something read to the rowdy? : RIOT ACT
35 English breakfast __ : TEA
37 Outrage : IRE
40 Very funny sort : CARD
42 Hostess output : CUPCAKES
44 It has an eye on TV : CBS
47 1980s Panamanian dictator : NORIEGA
49 Refined Bailey? : CULTURED PEARL (BAILEY)
51 Careless Montana? : SLOPPY JOE (MONTANA)
53 Type, in Calais : SORTE
54 Westminster landmark : ABBEY
55 Jumbles : OLIOS
56 House shower : C-SPAN
58 Causes of frequent break-ins? : SPONSORS
60 IBM competitor : NEC
61 1942 Philippine battle site : BATAAN
63 Cold sheet : FLOE
64 Vividly expressive Carney? : GRAPHIC ART (CARNEY)
67 Outgoing Macdonald? : SOCIAL NORM (MACDONALD)
73 Actor Neeson : LIAM
74 Fortune-telling aids : TAROTS
75 One of the fire signs : LEO
76 Period of the first dinosaurs : TRIASSIC
80 State with a panhandle : TEXAS
81 Plane angle symbol : THETA
83 Very long time : AEONS
84 Some corporate jets : LEARS
86 Slothful Sontag? : LAZY SUSAN (SONTAG)
89 Seafaring Davis? : NAUTICAL MILES (DAVIS)
92 Where to find an idiomatic pig : IN A POKE
93 Family docs : GPS
94 Widespread : NON-LOCAL
95 One doing stars, say : APER
96 Outlaw Kelly : NED
97 “Ben-Hur” studio : MGM
98 Starts to negotiate, as a price : ASKS FOR
100 Clearasil target : ZIT
102 Formally transfer : CEDE
105 Opposite of piano : FORTE
107 Young socialite : DEB
109 Dependable : SOLID
113 Forthcoming Tyson? : OPEN MIKE (TYSON)
115 Forceful Kelly? : DOMINANT GENE (KELLY)
119 Fan of Jerry Garcia’s band : DEADHEAD
120 Flea market deal : RESALE
121 Part of a pot : ANTE
122 __ overload : SENSORY
123 Absorbs the financial hit : EATS IT
124 “Enough!” : STOP!

Down

1 Till stack : ONES
2 Game played in an anagram of itself : POLO
3 Swear : AVER
4 What loafers lack : LACES
5 Burnable medium, briefly : CD-R
6 Dry as a bone : ARID
7 “Made to be broken” thing : RECORD
8 Browning’s Ben Ezra, e.g. : RABBI
9 Former U.K. recording giant : EMI
10 Fashion initials : YSL
11 “__ want for Christmas … ” : ALL I
12 Hindered, as growth : STUNTED
13 __City: computer game : SIM
14 Eclipse shadow : UMBRA
15 “Streamers” playwright : RABE
16 School since 1440 : ETON
17 Balance on a card, say : DEBT
20 Parvenus : UPSTARTS
22 Bench press muscles : TRICEPS
23 Seized, as an opportunity : LEAPT ON
28 Go down, so to speak : OCCUR
31 Like some turkey stuffing : SAGY
33 Eye care product prefix : OCU-
34 Certain Sooner : TULSAN
36 ESPN Deportes language : ESPANOL
37 Joyous way to break out : IN SONG
38 Surfing wave : ROLLER
39 Symphony originally dedicated to Napoleon : EROICA
41 Friend of TV’s Sheldon : RAJ
43 Stay in shape : KEEP FIT
44 Popular spring break locale, informally : CABO
45 Uncle Remus title : BR’ER
46 Stone and Stallone : SLYS
48 Wall St. news : IPO
49 French Oscar : CESAR
50 “Barnaby Jones” star : EBSEN
52 Numerical prefix : OCTA-
57 Frisk, with “down” : PAT …
59 Rio greetings : OLAS
61 Partial view? : BIAS
62 Lombardy-based football club : AC MILAN
65 Nursery item : PLANT
66 Sound of disapproval : HISSING
67 Early rock horn : SAX
68 Face-to-face exams : ORALS
69 Toledo thing : COSA
70 “Little House” family name : OLESON
71 Second shot : RETAKE
72 Sounded ghostly : MOANED
74 Green cars : TESLAS
76 Sharp flavor : TANG
77 Harvest : REAP
78 Markers : IOUS
79 Like many fine wines : CELLARED
80 Deked, say : TRICKED
81 Bolshevik’s foe : TSARIST
82 March opening : HUP …
85 “He’s __ notable coward … “: Shak. : A MOST
87 Speed : ZIP
88 Santa __ Valley: California wine region : YNEZ
90 More cozy : COMFIER
91 Polar helper : ELF
95 Sites for fights : ARENAS
97 Patches up : MENDS
99 Horace, for one : ODIST
101 “Animal House” party attire : TOGAS
102 Some UPS deliveries : CODS
103 Duel tool : EPEE
104 University VIP : DEAN
106 “Just __ is not __”: AT&T slogan : OKAY
108 Island near Java : BALI
110 Mardi Gras follower : LENT
111 Liking : INTO
112 Insightful : DEEP
114 Old reciprocal electrical unit : MHO
116 Mt. Hood’s home : ORE
117 __ culpa : MEA
118 Bottom line : NET