LA Times Crossword 24 Oct 21, Sunday

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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Sporting Chance

Themed answers each comprise two members of sports TEAMS:

  • 120A They’re on the same side … and a hint to the answers to starred clues : TEAMMATES
  • 23A *Grizzly, for one : BROWN BEAR
  • 25A *Olaf II of Norway, notably : VIKING SAINT
  • 46A *It goes up in cold weather : HEAT BILL
  • 69A *Nickname for Joe DiMaggio : YANKEE CLIPPER
  • 93A *The sun will eventually be one : RED GIANT
  • 117A *ICBM booster until 1987 : TITAN ROCKET
  • 36D *Kipling’s Shere Khan is one : BENGAL TIGER
  • 42D *”Virtuous Woman” reggae singer : WARRIOR KING

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

Bill’s time: 16m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Model in the Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun” : T-BIRD

Ford manufactured the Thunderbird (T-Bird) from 1955 to 2005. Originally a two-seater sporty convertible, the T-Bird was introduced as a competitor to Chevrolet’s new sports car, the Corvette. The “Thunderbird” name is a reference to a legendary creature from the culture of several Native-American peoples. There’s also a story that the name is a direct reference to the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California of which the then chairman of Ford’s board was a member.

“Fun, Fun, Fun” is a 1964 song written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love for the Beach Boys. The English rock band Status Quo released a great cover version of “Fun, Fun, Fun” in 1996, which featured the Beach Boys on backup vocals.

6 “Nightmare” street : ELM

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

19 Subtle glows : AURAE

An aura (plural “aurae”) is an intangible quality that surrounds a person or thing, a “je ne sais quoi”. “Je ne sais quoi” is French for “I don’t know what”.

20 Wasikowska of “Damsel” : MIA

Mia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. Wasikowska’s breakthrough role was playing the title character in Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” in 2010. The only movie I’ve seen her in though is 2011’s “Jane Eyre”, a pretty good adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë classic, I thought …

“Damsel” is a 2018 black comedy film set in the Old West. Despite the setting, the cast is led by Englishman Robert Pattinson and Australian Mia Wasilkowska. I haven’t seen this one …

22 Hudson Bay nation : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

Hudson Bay in northern Canada is the second largest bay in the world, after the Bay of Bengal. Hudson Bay was named by English explorers after Henry Hudson who explored the area in 1610 on his ship “Discovery”. Hudson’s crew mutinied during that voyage and set Hudson and his officers adrift in a small boat. It is presumed that the castaways didn’t survive for very long.

23 *Grizzly, for one : BROWN BEAR

The North American brown bear is usually referred to as the grizzly bear. The name “grizzly” was given to the bear by Lewis and Clark. The term “grizzly” might mean “with grey-tipped hair”, or “fear-inspiring”. Both definitions seem to be apt …

The Cleveland Browns football team was a charter member of the All-American Football Conference, formed in 1946. Cleveland is the only NFL city that has never hosted nor sent a team to the Super Bowl. And, the Browns are the only NFL team without a logo on their helmets.

The Chicago Bears were founded in Decatur, Illinois in 1919 and moved to Chicago in 1921. The Bears are one of only two franchises in the NFL that were around at the time of the NFL’s founding (the other being the Arizona Cardinals, also based in Chicago in 1921).

25 *Olaf II of Norway, notably : VIKING SAINT

Of the many kings of Norway named Olaf/Olav (and there have been five), Olaf II is perhaps the most celebrated, as he was canonized and made the patron saint of the country. Olaf II was king from 1015 to 1028 and was known as “Olaf the Big” (or “Olaf the Fat”) during his reign. Today he is more commonly referred to as “Olaf the Holy”. After Olaf died he was given the title of “Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae”, which is Latin for “Norway’s Eternal King”.

The Minnesota Vikings joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960. Founded in Minnesota, the team’s name reflects the location’s reputation as a center of Scandinavian-American culture.

The New Orleans Saints football team takes its name from the jazz song “When the Saints Go Marching In”, a tune that is very much associated with the city. The team was founded in 1967, on November 1st, which is All Saints’ Day in the Roman Catholic tradition.

28 Earthly : TERRENE

Something described as terrene is mundane, earthly, or pertaining to the earth. Ultimately, the term “terrene comes from the Latin “terra” meaning “earth”.

30 MLB Hall of Famer Fox and journalist Bly : NELLIES

Nellie Fox was a second baseman who played mainly for the Chicago White Sox from 1950 to 1963. After he retired as a player, Fox coached for the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers.

“Nellie Bly” was a pen name used by American journalist Elizabeth Cochran. In 1888, Bly took a trip around the world, emulating the fictional trip of Phileas Fogg in “Around the World in Eighty Days”. She departed from New York and arrived back in San Francisco two days behind schedule, jeopardizing her goal of beating the “eighty days”. The owner of her newspaper chartered a private train for her and she made it back to New York in just over 72 days. Quite a woman …

31 __ a soul : NARY

The adjective “nary” means “not one”, as in “nary a soul” or even “nary a one”.

32 Va. winter hours : EST

Eastern Standard Time (EST)

34 Genesis twin : ESAU

Esau was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described with “Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment”. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother Jacob, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.

37 More klutzy : GAWKIER

A klutz is an awkward individual, with the term “klutz” coming from Yiddish. The Yiddish word for a clumsy person is “klots”.

45 Like some dorms : CO-ED

Coeducation is joint education, the education of males and females in the same institution. The shortened term “co-ed”, was first used in print by Louisa May Alcott in her novel “Jo’s Boys” in 1886.

46 *It goes up in cold weather : HEAT BILL

The Miami Heat basketball team debuted in the NBA in the 1988-89 season. The franchise name was chosen in a competitive survey, with “Miami Heat” beating out “Miami Vice”.

The Buffalo Bills NFL team, founded in 1959, was named after an earlier team with the same name that had merged with the Cleveland Browns back in 1950. The “Bills” name was obviously popular with fans, as the name was chosen in a public contest. The older team had been named for “Buffalo Bill” Cody. The team mascot is Billy Buffalo, and the cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills.

49 Sharply hit baseball : LINER

In baseball, a line drive (“liner”) is a ball that is hit low, hard and straight.

54 Guru’s residence : ASHRAM

“Ashram” is a term used in the Hindu tradition to describe a place of spiritual retreat, one that is typically located in a remote location conducive to spiritual instruction and meditation.

“Guru” is a Hindi word meaning “teacher” or “priest”.

56 Pool concern : ALGAE

Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

57 Loses steam : FLAGS

Our verb “to flag” meaning “to tire” was originally used in the sense of something flapping about lazily in the wind. From this it came to mean “to go limp, droop”, and then “to tire”.

60 Claim no longer allowed on cigarettes : LESS TAR

The partially-combusted particulate matter that is produced as a cigarette burns forms a resinous material called “tar”. Cigarette tar is different from the tar used on roads, but it is still very toxic. Marijuana smoke produces a very similar tar to cigarette smoke, and is just as dangerous.

64 Show with constant cliff-hangers : SOAP

The original soap operas were radio dramas back in the fifties. Given the structure of society back then, the daytime broadcasts were aimed at women working in the home as housewives. For some reason the sponsors of those radio shows, and the television shows that followed, were soap manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Lever Brothers. And that’s how the “soap” opera got its name …

66 Cell division : MITOSIS

Mitosis is the process by which the complement of chromosomes in a cell nucleus replicates and then divides into two identical sets of new chromosomes. Mitosis is followed by division of the cell itself, resulting in two identical cells. Meiosis is a special type of cell division that results in reproductive cells that have half the full complement of chromosomes. The reproductive cells join together, with one cell coming from each parent, to form a new cell with a full complement of chromosomes. That new cell develops into offspring that have characteristics of both parents.

68 NL Central club : STL

The St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team plays at Busch Stadium. Busch Stadium is the third stadium in the history of St. Louis to have the Busch name. The first two were named for Gussie Busch, the brewing magnate and former Cardinals team owner. The current stadium is named for the brewery though, and not Gussie per se.

69 *Nickname for Joe DiMaggio : YANKEE CLIPPER

Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.

Today’s New York Yankees baseball team started out in Baltimore in 1901 as the Orioles. The Orioles moved to New York in 1903 and became the New York Highlanders. The “Yankees” name was adopted officially in 1913.

77 Candy bar with a Nordic name : SKOR

The candy bar named “Skor” is produced by Hershey’s. “Skor” is Swedish for “shoes”, and the candy bar’s wrapping features a crown that is identical to that found in the Swedish national emblem. What shoes have to do with candy, I don’t know …

90 Originally called : 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 husband’s name, e.g. Michelle Obama née Robinson, Melania Trump née Knavs, and Jill Biden née Jacobs.

91 Bête __ : NOIRE

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

93 *The sun will eventually be one : RED GIANT

Red giants are very large stars with a relatively low mass. The atmosphere of a red giant is also very inflated and extends a long way into space so the surface of that atmosphere that we see is relatively cool, which gives it a red color. Stars are classified by their spectral characteristics, basically the color of the light they emit. As such, red giants are classified as M stars. Cool red giants are of a color beyond the usual range, and are classified as S stars.

98 Posse carriers : HORSES

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”.

101 Max Ernst, for one : DADAIST

Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, and a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914”, which was a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

107 Pickup relatives, briefly : UTES

A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sport-utes and crossover-utes.

Pickup trucks are probably so called because they can be used to “pick up” bulky items from say a store, and then deliver them elsewhere.

111 Zip one’s lip : KEEP MUM

The phrase “mum’s the word” has been around since the early 1700s. “Mum” has been used to mean “silent” for centuries, the idea being that “mum” is the sound made when the lips are tightly sealed.

114 “Rugrats” dad : STU

“Rugrats” is a cartoon show that aired on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 2004. The show spawned a series of movies, starting with 1998’s “The Rugrats Movie”.

117 *ICBM booster until 1987 : TITAN ROCKET

Titan was a family of rockets first introduced in 1959. Titan rockets were used to launch man into space in the Gemini Program in the mid-sixties, and were also part of the American ICBM missile deterrent until the eighties.

An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with the range necessary to cross between continents. Being ballistic (unlike a cruise missile), an ICBM is guided during the initial launch phase, but later in flight just relies on thrust and gravity to arrive at its target. It is defined as intercontinental as it has a range greater than 3,500 miles. ICBMs are really only used for delivering nuclear warheads. Scary stuff …

122 Pizzazz : ELAN

Pizazz (also “pizzazz”) is energy, vitality. There’s a kind of cool thing about the “pizzazz” spelling, namely that it is the only 7-letter word in English that cannot be played in Scrabble. You can get close by using the Z-tile with the two blank tiles to get to three of the required four Zs, but there’s no way to get to the fourth Z.

123 Spiritualist Deepak : CHOPRA

Deepak Chopra is a medical doctor who is now an advocate for alternative medicine. Chopra was born in New Delhi, India and immigrated to the US in 1968. He is an advocate for mind/body spiritual healing. I have heard Chopra speak, and he really knows how to get his message across …

124 Bagpiper’s topper : TAM

A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap worn traditionally by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter”.

Bagpipes have been played for centuries all across Europe, in parts of Asia and North Africa, and in the Persian Gulf. However, the most famous versions of the instrument today are the Scottish Great Highland bagpipe and the Irish uilleann pipes, my personal favorite (I’m biased). The bag in the Scottish version is inflated by blowing into it, whereas the Irish version uses a bellows under the arm.

126 Target of a military press : DELT

The deltoid “muscle” is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids (delts) are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.

127 “Dear Evan __”: 2015 musical : HANSEN

“Dear Evan Hansen” is a 2015 stage musical about a young man with awkward social skills and his efforts to make friends.

128 Mahershala of “Moonlight” : ALI

Mahershala Ali is an actor and sometime rapper. Among the more memorable roles Ali has had are lobbyist Remy Danton in TV’s “House of Cards”, and Colonel Boggs in “The Hunger Games” series of movies. He also won Best Supporting Actor Oscars for playing Juan in the 2016 drama “Moonlight”, and Dr. Don Shirley in 2018’s “Green Book”.

“Moonlight” is a 2016 semi-autobiographical film based on an unpublished play by Tarell Alvin McCraney titled “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue”. “Moonlight” won the season’s Best Picture Oscar, thus becoming the first film to do so with an all-black cast, and the first with an LGBT storyline.

129 Grown-up efts : NEWTS

Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

Down

1 Perfume that sounds forbidden : TABU

Tabu is a whole line of cosmetics and perfumes produced by the House of Dana. The company’s brand names were purchased by a Florida company called Dana Classic Fragrances in 1999.

2 VP under Jefferson : BURR

Aaron Burr was the third vice-president of the US, and served under Thomas Jefferson from 1801 to 1805. In the final year of his term in office, Burr fought an illegal duel and killed his political rival Alexander Hamilton. Burr was charged with several crimes as a result, but those charges were eventually dropped. The Democratic-Republican Party had already decided not to nominate Burr as candidate for vice president to run alongside Jefferson in the 1804 election, largely because the relationship between Vice President Burr and President Jefferson was so poor. The subsequent fallout resulting from the killing of Alexander Hamilton effectively ended Burr’s political career.

5 Insurance that covers dams? : DENTAL

A dental dam is a latex sheet used by dentists to isolate the troubled tooth from the rest of the mouth. The dam prevents saliva and possibly microorganisms contaminating the operative site, while protecting debris or even instruments from entering the mouth.

6 Manicurist’s board : EMERY

Emery is a very hard type of rock that is crushed for use as an abrasive. Emery paper is made by gluing small particles of emery to paper. Emery boards are just emery paper with a cardboard backing. And emery boards are primarily used for filing nails.

7 Yarn spinner : LIAR

The phrase “to spin a yarn”, meaning “to tell a tall tale”, originated in the early 1800s with seamen. The idea was that sailors would tell stories to each other while engaged in mindless work such as twisting yarn.

8 Dark area on the moon : MARE

A mare is a large dark area on the moon. “Mare” is the Latin for “sea. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility.

9 Surfboard/kayak hybrid : WAVESKI

A waveski surfboard is a board that allows the rider to sit on top. Also, the rider uses a double-ended paddle to help propel the board. As such, the waveski might be described as a cross between a kayak and surfboard.

10 Yellowfin tuna : AHI

Yellowfin and bigeye tuna are usually marketed as “ahi”, the Hawaiian name. They are both big fish, with yellowfish tuna often weighing over 300 pounds, and bigeye tuna getting up to 400 pounds.

12 Slugger’s creation : SHINER

A shiner is something that shines. The term has been used for a “black eye” since 1904.

15 Smoothie fruit : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

16 Cheese on crackers : BRIE

Brie is a soft cheese that is named for the French region in which it originated. Brie is similar to the equally famous (and delicious) Camembert. Brie is often served baked in puff pastry with fig jam.

17 Telescope part : LENS

The first patent application for a telescope was filed in 1608 in the Netherlands, to eyeglass maker Hans Lippershey. However, research has shown that there is some evidence that telescopes were built before 1608, perhaps as early as the mid-1500s. But it is clear that reports of Lippershey’s design spread quickly around Europe. By 1609, Galileo had built his own telescope and started to explore the night sky.

29 Rookie, briefly : NEWB

The term “rookie”, used for a raw recruit, first appeared in Rudyard Kipling’s collection of songs and poems called the “Barrack-Room Ballads”, which was originally published in 1892.

33 Scrabble piece : TILE

The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

35 Going places? : TOILETS

Our word “toilet” comes into our vocabulary via a tortuous route from the Middle French “toile” meaning “cloth, net”. The French “toilette” is a diminutive of “toile”, and describes a cloth or bag for clothes. From this usage, the English word “toilet” came to mean “fine cloth cover over a dressing table”, and the “the articles used in dressing”. From there, “toilet” described the act of dressing, and then a dressing room. By the early 1800s, a toilet was a dressing room that had a lavatory attached, and eventually the lavatory itself.

36 *Kipling’s Shere Khan is one : BENGAL TIGER

The Bengal tiger is the most populous subspecies of tiger in the world, yet it is still in danger of extinction. There are estimated to be under 2,500 individual Bengal tigers on the planet, with most in India and Bangladesh. The Bengal tiger is the national animal of both countries.

In Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”, the author names his regal tiger character “Shere Khan”. Kipling chose this name as he had met an Afghan Prince in his travels named “Sher Shah Suri”, meaning “The Lion or Tiger King”.

37 Author Sheehy : GAIL

Gail Sheehy was an author and journalist from New York. She penned many influential articles for magazines, and several respected biographies of political leaders of the 20th century.

39 Airline with an all-kosher menu : EL AL

El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”. The company started operations in 1948, with a flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv. Famously, El Al only operates six days a week, not flying on the Sabbath.

41 Turkish bigwigs : AGHAS

A bigwig is someone important. The use of the term “bigwig” harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore … big wigs.

42 *”Virtuous Woman” reggae singer : WARRIOR KING

“Warrior King” is the stage name of reggae singer Mark Dyer from Kingston, Jamaica.

43 Solheim Cup team : USA

The Solheim Cup is a golf tournament held every second year in which teams from Europe and the US compete. It is the female equivalent to the Ryder Cup and is held in alternating years with the male tournament. The tournament is named for Karsten Solheim, a Norwegian-born golf club manufacturer who led the effort to establish the competition. Solheim equipment is sold under the brand name of PING.

44 Fluoride-in-water meas. : PPM

Fluoridation is the addition of a fluoride salt to the public drinking water system, a measure taken to reduce tooth decay. What I find interesting is that bottled water usually has no added fluoride, and most domestic water filters remove the fluoride from the water coming out of the faucet. Maybe that explains why my dental hygienist has been applying a fluoride varnish to my teeth …

54 China __: showy bloom : ASTER

Apparently, most aster species and cultivars bloom relatively late in the year, usually in the fall. The name “aster” comes into English via Latin from the Greek word “astéri” meaning “star”, a reference to the arrangement of the petals of the flower.

59 Pass rusher’s stat : SACKS

That would be football.

67 Singer Ed featured in the 2019 film “Yesterday” : SHEERAN

English singer Ed Sheeran has appeared as an actor quite a few times. After several cameos in various films, Sheeran had a substantial role playing himself in the excellent 2019 film “Yesterday”.

“Yesterday” is a 2019 musical film written by Richard Curtis and directed by Danny Boyle. Star of the movie is English actor Himesh Patel. He plays a struggling musician who wakes up one morning in a world where he is the only person who has heard of the Beatles. Patel starts recording all the Beatles hits, taking credit for writing them. I think this is a must-see movie for fans of the Beatles …

72 Modern Persians : IRANIS

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

74 __ throat : STREP

Streptococcus bacteria multiply and divide along a single axis so that they form linked chains. That behavior gives the genus of bacteria its name, as “streptos” is Greek for “easily twisted, like a chain”. I had to battle with streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) twice in the past few years and it was not at all pleasant, I must say. Another species of streptococcus is responsible for that terrible “flesh-eating” infection that makes the news from time to time.

76 Utopias : EDENS

The word “Utopia” was coined by Sir Thomas More in his book “Utopia” published in 1516 to describe an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

79 Knowledge of spiritual matters : GNOSIS

“Gnosis” is a Greek word meaning “knowledge”. The related term “Gnosticism” describes a religious movement that espouses the belief that only a few people can have special knowledge or insight into the central tenets of that religion.

81 Bareilles of “Waitress” : SARA

Sara Bareilles achieved success with her 2007 “Love Song” with the help of the iTunes online store. In one week in June of that year, iTunes offered the song as “free single of the week” and it quickly became the most downloaded song in the store, and from there climbed to the number spot in the charts.

“Waitress” is a 2015 musical by Sara Bareilles that is based on a 2007 movie of the same name starring Keri Russell in the title role. Both stage show and film are about a waitress and pie chef who is in an unhappy marriage, and who becomes pregnant. Feeling trapped, she sees a pie contest and its grand prize as her way out of her failed marriage.

84 Understanding : KEN

“Ken” is a noun meaning “understanding, perception”. One might say, for example, “half the clues in Saturday’s crossword are beyond my ken, beyond my understanding”.

86 Quote from Homer : D’OH!

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

87 2012 Facebook event, for short : 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).

96 Best Supporting Actress before Ingrid : TATUM

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a competitive Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

“Paper Moon” is a 1973 comedy film that tells the story of a father and daughter during the Great Depression. The onscreen father and daughter are played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. The original choices for the lead roles were Paul Newman and his daughter Nell Potts, but they left the project after director John Huston also dropped out.

The wonderful actress Ingrid Bergman was born in Stockholm and named for Princess Ingrid of Sweden. Three Bergaman performances earned her Academy Awards, i.e.”Gaslight” (1944), “Anastasia” (1956) and “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974). The three Bergman performances that stand out for me are in 1942’s “Casablanca” opposite Humphrey Bogart, in 1944’s “Gaslight” opposite Charles Boyer and in 1946’s “Notorious” opposite Cary Grant. What a stunningly beautiful woman she was …

“Murder on the Orient Express” is a 1974 movie directed by Sidney Lumet that is based on the great novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The story is a Hercule Poirot mystery, and it’s the only whodunit I can think of where the “unveiling” reveals that everyone did it! Albert Finney plays the great detective, and the supporting cast is an impressive lineup including Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Michael York, Jacqueline Bisset and Anthony Perkins.

101 Military alert state : DEFCON

The US military uses the DEFCON scale to move to different stages of readiness (DEFCON: the defense readiness condition). DEFCON 5 denotes normal peacetime readiness. DEFCON 1 is maximum readiness. The scale was created in 1959 by the Joint Chiefs. The highest DEFCON level ever reached (as far as we public folk know) was DEFCON 2 during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, although this only applied to Strategic Air Command. The military reached DEFCON 3 during the Yom Kippur War, and also during the attacks of September 11, 2001.

103 Jack of “Some Like It Hot” : LEMMON

The marvelous actor Jack Lemmon was born in 1925 in a suburb of Boston, in a hospital elevator. The long list of Jack Lemmon movies on my list of favorites includes “Some Like It Hot”, “The Apartment”, “Irma La Douce”, “The Odd Couple” and “Grumpy Old Men”.

“Some Like it Hot” is such a fun movie, It was released in 1959 and directed by Billy Wilder. The big three in the cast are Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon. Several years ago a stage version of “Some Like It Hot” was playing in San Francisco, with Tony Curtis in the cast. This time he played the older man who was wooing the Jack Lemmon character in the movie.

107 It was added to create an everyday quintet in 1990 : UMAMI

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

109 Series finale: Abbr. : ET AL

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names.

112 R&B great James : ETTA

Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

113 Ring at a wedding : PEAL

“Peal”, meaning “a ringing of a bell”, is thought to be a shortened form of “appeal”. The idea is that a bell-ringing can be an appeal or summons to church.

117 Talk acronym : TED

The acronym “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment and Design”. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.

118 Mil. mess duties : KPS

The initialism “KP” is US military slang that stands for either “kitchen police” or “kitchen patrol”.

121 Presidential nickname : ABE

There is a story that just before Abraham Lincoln was elected president in 1860, he received a letter from a 12-year-old girl who criticized Lincoln’s appearance and his pockmarked, gaunt face. The little girl, Grace Bedell from New York, promised to get her brothers to vote for Lincoln if he would just grow a beard. However, Lincoln waited until after the election to grow his famous whiskers, a distinctive look that would forever be associated with his presidency.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Model in the Beach Boys’ “Fun, Fun, Fun” : T-BIRD
6 “Nightmare” street : ELM
9 Middles : WAISTS
15 Demonstrating skill : ABLY
19 Subtle glows : AURAE
20 Wasikowska of “Damsel” : MIA
21 Allergic outburst : AHCHOO!
22 Hudson Bay nation : CREE
23 *Grizzly, for one : BROWN BEAR
25 *Olaf II of Norway, notably : VIKING SAINT
27 Ornamental vase : URN
28 Earthly : TERRENE
30 MLB Hall of Famer Fox and journalist Bly : NELLIES
31 __ a soul : NARY
32 Va. winter hours : EST
34 Genesis twin : ESAU
35 Hose clamp tightener : T-BOLT
37 More klutzy : GAWKIER
40 Prepare, as a contract : DRAW UP
45 Like some dorms : CO-ED
46 *It goes up in cold weather : HEAT BILL
48 Sound of shock : GASP
49 Sharply hit baseball : LINER
51 Relax, maybe : LIE
52 Wolf down : EAT
54 Guru’s residence : ASHRAM
56 Pool concern : ALGAE
57 Loses steam : FLAGS
60 Claim no longer allowed on cigarettes : LESS TAR
62 Fortune : WEALTH
64 Show with constant cliff-hangers : SOAP
66 Cell division : MITOSIS
68 NL Central club : STL
69 *Nickname for Joe DiMaggio : YANKEE CLIPPER
73 Words of understanding : OHS
75 Uses, as a scale : STEPS ON
77 Candy bar with a Nordic name : SKOR
78 Self-reproach : REGRET
80 Thinks : IDEATES
82 Played really badly : STANK
85 Comic book artist : INKER
86 Mentally assimilate : DIGEST
88 A musician usually has a good one : EAR
90 Originally called : NEE
91 Bête __ : NOIRE
92 Willing to listen (to) : OPEN
93 *The sun will eventually be one : RED GIANT
97 Button alternative : SNAP
98 Posse carriers : HORSES
101 Max Ernst, for one : DADAIST
102 True : ALIGN
104 Yearn : ACHE
106 Eye, to a poet : ORB
107 Pickup relatives, briefly : UTES
108 Condemnation : REPROOF
111 Zip one’s lip : KEEP MUM
114 “Rugrats” dad : STU
117 *ICBM booster until 1987 : TITAN ROCKET
120 They’re on the same side … and a hint to the answers to starred clues : TEAMMATES
122 Pizzazz : ELAN
123 Spiritualist Deepak : CHOPRA
124 Bagpiper’s topper : TAM
125 Past pudgy : OBESE
126 Target of a military press : DELT
127 “Dear Evan __”: 2015 musical : HANSEN
128 Mahershala of “Moonlight” : ALI
129 Grown-up efts : NEWTS

Down

1 Perfume that sounds forbidden : TABU
2 VP under Jefferson : BURR
3 Par-3 choice, often : IRON
4 Not even rare? : RAW
5 Insurance that covers dams? : DENTAL
6 Manicurist’s board : EMERY
7 Yarn spinner : LIAR
8 Dark area on the moon : MARE
9 Surfboard/kayak hybrid : WAVESKI
10 Yellowfin tuna : AHI
11 Response to goo : ICK
12 Slugger’s creation : SHINER
13 Shades : TONES
14 “I’m __ to hear from you!” : SO GLAD
15 Smoothie fruit : ACAI
16 Cheese on crackers : BRIE
17 Telescope part : LENS
18 To this day : YET
24 Docking place : BERTH
26 Result of one too many, maybe : SLUR
29 Rookie, briefly : NEWB
31 “I can’t agree to this” : NO DEAL
33 Scrabble piece : TILE
35 Going places? : TOILETS
36 *Kipling’s Shere Khan is one : BENGAL TIGER
37 Author Sheehy : GAIL
38 Relaxed : AT EASE
39 Airline with an all-kosher menu : EL AL
41 Turkish bigwigs : AGHAS
42 *”Virtuous Woman” reggae singer : WARRIOR KING
43 Solheim Cup team : USA
44 Fluoride-in-water meas. : PPM
45 Cat’s weapons : CLAWS
47 Little trickster : ELF
50 Confirms, as a password : RETYPES
53 Sub : TEMP
54 China __: showy bloom : ASTER
55 Use for preservation, as wine barrels : STORE IN
58 Takes off : GOES
59 Pass rusher’s stat : SACKS
61 Small intake : SIP
63 Attacks : HAS AT
65 Story line : PLOT
67 Singer Ed featured in the 2019 film “Yesterday” : SHEERAN
70 “Just kidding!” : NOT!
71 Place for a pad : KNEE
72 Modern Persians : IRANIS
74 __ throat : STREP
76 Utopias : EDENS
79 Knowledge of spiritual matters : GNOSIS
81 Bareilles of “Waitress” : SARA
83 Without ice : NEAT
84 Understanding : KEN
86 Quote from Homer : D’OH!
87 2012 Facebook event, for short : IPO
89 Overhaul : REDO
94 Sunbather’s pride : DARK TAN
95 Poke fun at : GIBE
96 Best Supporting Actress before Ingrid : TATUM
99 Merit : EARN
100 Discolor by burning : SCORCH
101 Military alert state : DEFCON
103 Jack of “Some Like It Hot” : LEMMON
105 To-do : HOO-HA
107 It was added to create an everyday quintet in 1990 : UMAMI
108 Tick off : RILE
109 Series finale: Abbr. : ET AL
110 Huff and puff : PANT
112 R&B great James : ETTA
113 Ring at a wedding : PEAL
114 State of suppressed worry : STEW
115 Reason to cram : TEST
116 List for a versatile tool : USES
117 Talk acronym : TED
118 Mil. mess duties : KPS
119 Before, poetically : ERE
121 Presidential nickname : ABE