LA Times Crossword Answers 1 Apr 2018, Sunday

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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris

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Today’s Theme: Now That’s a Workout!

Happy April Fool’s Day! Themed answers are common phrases that have been clued as though they refer to groups “burning calories”.

  • 27A. Mediators burn calories by __ : RUNNING INTERFERENCE
  • 45A. Employees burn calories by __ : PUNCHING THE CLOCK
  • 64A. Researchers burn calories by __ : SURFING THE WEB
  • 72A. Forensic investigators burn calories by __ : LIFTING PRINTS
  • 93A. Campaigners burn calories by __ : PRESSING THE FLESH
  • 108A. Toadies burn calories by __ : JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS

Bill’s time: 17m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10. The last game there was played 9/28/2008 : SHEA

Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York was named after William A. Shea, the man credited with bringing National League baseball back to the city in the form of the New York Mets. Shea Stadium was dismantled in 2008-2009, and the site now provides additional parking for the new stadium nearby called Citi Field.

14. Olive Garden staple : PASTA

Olive Garden is a chain of Italian-American restaurants that has over 800 locations worldwide. The chain was originally established as part of General Mills. The current owners of the chain also operate Red Lobster restaurants. Apparently there are plans to co-located Olive Garden and Red Lobster eateries so that they have separate entries but share kitchens.

19. __ cuisine : HAUTE

“Haute cuisine”, literally “high cooking” in French, is the name given to skillfully and elegantly prepared food, especially if it is in the French style.

20. Newcastle’s river : TYNE

The River Tyne is in the northeast of England. The most famous city on the river is Newcastle upon Tyne. Newcastle upon Tyne is home to the famous Newcastle Brown Ale.

21. Changes lanes on? : TARS

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call tarmac.

23. Laura’s classic “Dick Van Dyke Show” wail : OH, ROB!

“The Dick Van Dyke Show” is a sitcom that ran from 1961 to 1966 starring Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore as Rob and Laura Petrie. This classic show was created by the great Carl Reiner, who also had a supporting role on screen.

24. Baseball family name : ALOU

Moisés Alou played Major League Baseball, as did his father Felipe and his uncles Matty and Jesús.

32. Short relative? : SIB

Sibling (sib)

34. March family creator : ALCOTT

“Little Women” is a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The quartet of little women is Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Jo is a tomboy and the main character in the story, and is based on Alcott herself.

50. Those, in Tijuana : ESOS

Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

51. 2018 “Sunday Night Baseball” addition : A-ROD

Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, broke a lot of records in his career, albeit under a shroud of controversy due to his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers for $252 million in 2000, it was the most lucrative contract in sports history. In 2007, Rodriguez signed an even more lucrative 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, worth $275 million. Rodriguez retired in 2016.

52. Org. with specialists : AMA

American Medical Association (AMA)

53. Bust unit : KILO

That would be a drug bust.

55. Like many an AARP mem. : RET

“AARP” is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

56. Got glasses on credit? : RAN A TAB

Those would be glasses of beer or wine perhaps.

60. Trent Reznor’s band, initially : NIN

Nine Inch Nails is the name of a rock band that was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988 by singer-songwriter Trent Reznor. Reznor chose the name “Nine Inch Nails” mainly because it abbreviated easily and succinctly, to “NIN”.

61. College near Albany : SIENA

Siena College is a Roman Catholic school, a Franciscan liberal arts college founded in 1937 in Loudonville, New York near Albany. The college is named for Saint Bernardino of Siena, a Franciscan friar who lives in the 15th century.

67. High winds : OBOES

The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”.

70. Monterrey day : DIA

Monterrey is a Mexican city, the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon in the northeast of the country. Monterrey is the second largest city in Mexico in terms of area, but third largest in terms of population (the largest area city in the country is Mexico City, and the most populous are Mexico City and Guadalajara).

71. Blackens, as a flue : SOOTS

The flue in a chimney is a duct that conveys exhaust gases from a fire to the outdoors. An important feature of a flue is that its opening is adjustable. When starting a fire, the flue should be wide open, maximizing airflow to get help ignition.

72. Forensic investigators burn calories by __ : LIFTING PRINTS

In the world of criminology, there are three classes of fingerprints:

  • Patent prints are those which are obvious, easily spotted by the naked eye.
  • Impressed prints are those made when the fingertips apply pressure to a soft material or surface, such as the skin.
  • Latent prints are those that are invisible to the naked eye, but which can be detected using special equipment and materials.

77. Clan symbols : TOTEMS

“Totem” is the name given to any entity that watches over a group of people. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.

81. Bountiful native : UTAHN

The city of Bountiful is in the northern part of Utah, and serves as a bedroom community for Salt Lake City. Bountiful was settled back in 1847, the second settlement in Utah right after Salt Lake City. It was originally called Sessions Settlement after the first settler, Perrigrine Sessions, and later North Canyon Ward. The name Bountiful was adopted in 1855, taking the name of a city in the Book of Mormon.

82. Carides of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” : GIA

Gia Carides is an actress from Australia who is best known in North America perhaps for playing Liz Holt in the 1992 film “Strictly Ballroom” and Cousin Nikki in 2002’s “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. Carides was married for several years to fellow Australian actor Anthony LaPaglia.

83. “Inside the NFL” analyst : ESIASON

Boomer Esiason is a retired NFL quarterback who developed a second career as a sports commentator. Esiason has had the nickname “Boomer” since before he was born. His mother called him “Boomer” because he was constantly kicking away in her womb.

86. Place to go in Gloucester : LOO

It has been suggested that the British term “loo” comes from “Waterloo” (water closet … water-loo), but no one seems to know for sure. Another suggestion is that the term comes from the card game of “lanterloo”, in which the pot was called the loo!

Gloucester is a city in South West England that lies close to the Welsh border. It is the county seat of Gloucestershire.

88. La Scala strain : ARIA

La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its name: “Teatro alla Scala” in Italian.

92. Cabinet dept. with an atom on its seal : ENER

The US Department of Energy (DOE) came into being largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The DOE was founded in 1977 by the Carter administration. The DOE is responsible for regulating the production of nuclear power, and it is also responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons. The official DOE seal features a lightning bolt and symbols denoting five sources of energy: the sun, an atom, an oil derrick, a windmill and a dynamo.

98. Fight in the boonies : RASSLE

“Rassle” is a slang word for “wrestle”.

“Boondocks” (often shortened to “boonies”) is a term used in North America for a remote, usually rural area. Often the term is used derogatively, implying that a remote location is unsophisticated. “Boondocks” was first used by American soldiers stationed in the Philippines in the early 1900s. The word evolved from the Tagalog “bundok” meaning “mountain”.

102. First name in folk : ARLO

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.

105. Broadway’s Hagen : UTA

Uta Hagen was a German-born American actress. Hagen married Jose Ferrer in 1938, but they were divorced ten years later after it was revealed that she was having a long-running affair with Paul Robeson. Her association with Robeson, a prominent civil rights activist, earned her a spot on the Hollywood Blacklist during the McCarthy Era. This forced her away from film, but towards a successful stage career in New York City.

108. Toadies burn calories by __ : JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS

A toady is someone who is very servile, and somewhat of a parasite. Derived from “toad-eater” the term originally applied to the assistant of a quack, a seller of useless potions that had no actual benefit to health. The toady would eat an apparently poisonous toad in front of an audience, so that the charlatan could “cure” him or her with one of the potions for sale.

119. Logical word from Descartes : ERGO

The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum”. This translates into French as “Je pense, donc je suis” and into English as “I think, therefore I am”.

122. Omani money : RIAL

“Rial” is the name of the currency of Oman (as well as Yemen, Iran , Cambodia and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in a rial.

123. Roger succeeded him in Bond films : SEAN

Sean Connery is most famous for playing the original James Bond in the successful series of movies. Back in his native Scotland, Connery is very active in politics and is a member of the Scottish Nationalist Party. He actively campaigns for Scottish independence from Britain and has stated that he believes Scotland will achieve that goal within his own lifetime. Whether that happens or not is the subject of much speculation …

Roger Moore is best known in the US for taking on the role of 007 in seven James Bond movies from 1973 to 1985. In my part of the world we remember him playing a very debonair hero called Simon Templar in a TV series called “The Saint” from 1962 to 1969. Moore’s Templar character could very easily have morphed into a great James Bond, but by the time he was offered the part I personally think that he was just a tad too long in the tooth to pull off a credible 007.

126. Word with ant or brat : ARMY

Army ants are a collection of over two hundred different species of ants. Each species is known for aggressively raiding a certain area en masse, foraging for food. Army ants also stay on the move, never building permanent nests.

127. Churchill, for one : TORY

“Tory” comes from the Irish word “tóraí” meaning “outlaw, robber”. The term “tory” was originally used for an Irish outlaw and later became a term of abuse for Irish rebels. At the end of the reign of King Charles II in Britain, there was a political divide with one side being called “Whigs” and the other “Tories”. Historically, the term “Tory” evolved to basically mean a supporter of the British monarchy, and today is used for a member of the British Conservative Party.

Winston Churchill found time in his busy life to write many, many books. For his efforts, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1953. Although the quality of his historical and biographical works were cited in awarding the prize, quite rightly the citation also included the words “as well as for brilliant oratory in defending human values”. That man could write and deliver a speech …

Down

1. God with a hammer : THOR

The hammer associated with the Norse god Thor is known as Mjölnir. The name “Mjölnir” translates as “crusher”.

2. Iolani Palace island : OAHU

The ‘Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu is unique within this country. It is the only royal palace in the US that was used as an official residence by a reigning monarch. The Kingdom of Hawaii was overthrown in 1893 so the palace was used by successive governments even after Hawaii was awarded statehood in 1959. The palace has been a public museum since 1978.

4. Berkshire boarding school : ETON

Berkshire is a county in England that is referred to as one of the “home counties”. The home counties are those that surround the city of London, outside of London itself. “Home county” is not an official designation but has been in popular use since the 1800s.

7. One of the Jenners : KYLIE

Kylie Jenner is a reality TV star who achieved some level of fame on the show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”. I find it really hard to care …

10. Pequod’s chief mate : STARBUCK

The most famous whale-hunting ship in fiction has to be Herman Melville’s Pequod, which was featured in his novel “Moby Dick”. The Pequod is a skippered by the maniacal Captain Ahab, and the young chief mate is the thoughtful and intellectual Starbuck. Starbuck’s name was lifted and used by a Seattle-based coffee company.

11. __ Moon: Henry Hudson’s ship : HALF

Henry Hudson was an English explorer active in the early 1600s. He is best known for his exploration of present-day Canada and the northeastern US. The general goal of Hudson’s voyages was discovery of a northeast passage to China and Asia. Though he was unsuccessful in this regard, he and his crew did map several locations now named for him, e.g. the Hudson River, the Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. Hudson eventually fell victim to a mutiny in 1611, when he and several crew members were set adrift in Hudson Bay and never seen again.

12. Cat Nation people : ERIES

The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie, in parts of the modern-day US states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.

13. Toon dog sharing a name with an MLB player : ASTRO

“The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had its first run in 1962-1963, and then was recreated in 1985-1987. When it was debuted in 1963 by ABC, “The Jetsons” was the network’s first ever color broadcast. “The Jetsons” are like a space-age version of “The Flintstones”. The four Jetson family members are George and Jane, the parents, and children Judy and Elroy. Residing with the family are Rosie the household robot, and Astro the pet dog.

The Houston baseball team changed its name to the Astros (sometimes “’Stros”) from the Colt .45s in 1965 when they started playing in the Astrodome. The Astrodome was so called in recognition of the city’s long association with the US space program. The Astros moved from the National League to the American League starting in the 2013 season.

14. Used as security, in a way : PAWNED

I remember the bad old days growing up in Dublin, Ireland, when my mother had to go to the pawn shop (I hope she doesn’t read this!). I’d wait outside with my brother, looking up at the pawnbroker’s sign, three gold balls hanging down from a metal bar. This traditional sign used by pawnbrokers is said to date back to the Medici family as the sign had symbolic meaning in the province of Lombardy where the Medici family reigned supreme. Because of this connection, pawn shop banking was originally called Lombard banking.

15. One of the Baldwins : ALEC

The four acting Baldwin brothers are:

  • Alec Baldwin (b. 1958)
  • Daniel Baldwin (b. 1960)
  • William “Billy” Baldwin (b. 1963)
  • Stephen Baldwin (b. 1966)

16. Lonesome fish? : SOLE

The group of flatfish known as soles take their name from “solea”, the Latin word for “sandal”. And, they kind of have that shape.

17. Son of Akhenaten : TUT

“King Tut” is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamun’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

Akhenaten was a pharaoh in ancient Egypt who is perhaps best known these days as the reputed father of Tutankhamun. Akhenaten is also known for abolishing ancient Egypt’s rich pantheon of gods in favor of worshiping the Aten, the disk of the sun.

18. “Mad Men” creations : ADS

“Mad Men” was the flagship show on the AMC television channel for several seasons. Set in the sixties, it’s all about an advertising agency located on Madison Avenue in New York (hence the title). “Mad Men” became the first show created by a basic cable channel to win an Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.

29. Blarney Stone home : EIRE

Blarney is a town in County Cork in the south of Ireland. Blarney is home to Blarney Castle, and inside the castle is the legendary Blarney Stone. “Kissing the Blarney Stone” is a ritual engaged in by many, many tourists (indeed, I’ve done it myself!), but it’s not a simple process. The stone is embedded in the wall of the castle, and in order to kiss it you have to sit on the edge of the parapet and lean way backwards so that your head is some two feet below your body. There is a staff member there to help you and make sure you don’t fall. The Blarney Stone has been labelled as the world’s most unhygienic tourist attraction! But once you’ve kissed it, supposedly you are endowed with the “gift of the gab”, the ability to talk eloquently and perhaps deceptively without offending. The term “blarney” has come to mean flattering and deceptive talk.

30. The Phantom of the Opera : ERIK

In Gaston Leroux’s novel “The Phantom of the Opera”, the young Christine Daaé is obsessively admired by Erik, the “phantom” who lives below the Paris Opera House. Christine is also pursued by her childhood friend Raoul, Viscount de Chagny.

36. Benjamin’s bill : C-NOTE

Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous error in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.

37. Anxious med. condition : OCD

Apparently, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as prevalent as asthma.

39. Russian crepes : BLINI

A blintz (also “blin”, plural “blini”) is a thin pancake similar to a crêpe although unlike a crêpe, a blintz may contain yeast.

42. More than enough, usually : A SLEW

Our usage of “slew” to mean “large number” has nothing to do with the verb “to slew”. The noun “slew” come into English in the early 1800s from the Irish word “sluagh” meaning “host, crowd, multitude”.

43. Odds end? : … TO ONE

Ten to one, two to one, what are the odds?

46. Tandoori bread : NAN

Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

47. “Today” rival, for short : GMA

“Good Morning America” (GMA) is ABC’s morning show, and has been since 1975. There was even a spin-off show called “Good Afternoon America”, although that only lasted for a few months in 2012.

48. Hollywood’s Ken and Lena : OLINS

Ken Olin was one of the stars on the hit television series “Thirtysomething”, playing Michael Steadman. After “Thirtysomething”, Olin moved behind the camera and is now a producer and director.

Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, and clearly someone who had acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, the lovely Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland.

49. Where Kinshasa is : CONGO

Kinshasa is the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The city was formerly known as Léopoldville. Kinshasa is the third largest city in Africa, after Cairo in Egypt and Lagos in Nigeria.

54. Kutcher of “The Ranch” : ASHTON

Ashton Kutcher played the character Michael Kelso on Fox’s “That ‘70s Show”. Kelso was Kutcher’s breakthrough acting role. Kutcher then starred in the sitcom “Two and a Half Men”, replacing the “disgraced” Charlie Sheen. In 2009, Kutcher became the first user on Twitter to get over 1 million followers. I wasn’t one of them …

56. Birds in Kilmer’s “Trees” : ROBINS

The American robin has a reddish-orange breast. This coloring gave the bird its name, due to the similarity to the European robin. The two species are not in fact related, with the American robin being a thrush, and its European cousin an Old World flycatcher. It is the American robin that famously lays light-blue eggs.

The American journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer is primarily known for his 1913 poem titled “Trees”. The original text of the poem is:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Kilmer died a few years after writing “Trees”. He was a casualty of the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31.

57. Memphis middle name : ARON

Elvis Aron Presley (aka “the King”) was the younger of two identical twins. His brother was stillborn, and delivered 35 minutes before Elvis. The brother was named Jesse Garon Presley. So, although born a twin, Elvis was raised as an only child.

58. Quattro maker : AUDI

Audi introduced the Quattro model in 1980. It was the first car to use Audi’s “quattro permanent” four-wheel drive system, hence the name “Quattro”.

63. Goose and hen? : MOTHERS

“Mother Goose” is an imaginary author of nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Even though collections of “Mother Goose” tales have been published over the years, there is no specific writer who has been identified as her creator. “Mother Goose” is a very common pantomime that is staged in the British Isles in the Christmas season.

65. __ Domino : FATS

Antoine “Fats” Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, with Creole as his first language. He made into the big time in 1949 when he recorded an early rock and roll record called “The Fat Man”. That record sold over a million copies, the first rock and roll record to achieve that milestone.

66. Wizard revealer : TOTO

Towards the end of the movie “The Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy’s little dog Toto pulls back a green curtain to reveal the true identity of the Wizard.

68. “Walk, Don’t Run” actress Samantha : EGGAR

The lovely actress Samantha Eggar is from London. Eggar had the honor of starring in the 1966 film “Walk, Don’t Run” beside Cary Grant, which was his last movie.

72. German pistol : LUGER

The correct name for the pistol known as the Luger is the Pistole Parabellum 1908. The Luger’s design was patented by Georg J. Luger in 1898, and became most famous for its use by the Germans during WWII. It was produced from 1900 to 1945, although 200 Lugers were produced recently and sold for over $17,000 each.

73. Rock music memoir : I, TINA

“I, Tina” is the 1986 autobiography of Tina Turner. The book was so successful it was adapted into a movie called “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” The film version was released in 1993 and starring Angela Bassett as Tina Turner.

75. Mikhail’s wife : RAISA

Raisa Gorbachova was the wife of Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. There’s no doubt that Raisa’s charm and personality helped her husband as he worked to change the image of the Soviet Union.

78. Self-named sitcom : ELLEN

Ellen DeGeneres is a very, very successful TV personality, having parlayed her career in stand-up comedy into lucrative gigs as an actress and talk show host. Back in 1997 DeGeneres chose the “Oprah Winfrey Show” to announce that she was a lesbian. Her character on “The Ellen Show” also came out as a lesbian in a scene with her therapist, who was played by Oprah Winfrey. Nice twist!

79. Word in Duncan Hines ads : MOIST

Duncan Hines was a restaurant critic from Bowling Green, Kentucky. HInes had been working for many years as a traveling salesman and pulled together a list of ratings for restaurants that he visited all across the country, initially as a resource for friends. He later published the list in book form, thereby finding his true calling. Some years later, Hines sold the rights to use his name on food-related businesses, which is how we ended up with the Duncan Hines brand.

80. Former frosh : SOPHS

The term “sophomore” has been used for a student in the second year of university since the 1680’s. The original meaning of the word was “arguer”. The term has Greek roots, from two Greek words that have been artificially combined in English. The Greek “sophos” means “wise”, and “moros” means “foolish”.

“Frosh” is a slang term for a college freshman. We call them “freshers” back in Ireland …

84. Co. that spawned Baby Bells : ATT

The original AT&T Corporation was known as the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, hence the contemporary abbreviation. The American Telephone and Telegraph Company (Ma Bell) 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”.

91. Shot target : FLU

Influenza (flu) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.

93. Witness’ lineup choice, ideally : PERP

Perpetrator (perp)

94. Map strip: Abbr. : ISTH

The word “isthmus” (plural “isthmi”) comes the Greek word for “neck”. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that usually connects two large land masses. The most notable examples of the formation are the Isthmus of Corinth in the Greek peninsula, and the Isthmus of Panama, connecting North and South America.

103. Sign of balance? : LIBRA

The constellation of Libra is named for the scales held by the goddess of justice. Libra is the only sign of the zodiac that isn’t named for a living creature.

106. Domino product : SUGAR

The Domino Sugar brand was introduced in 1900 by the American Sugar Refining Company. Back then, American Sugar was one of the original 12 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

108. Multiple Grammy winner Mitchell : JONI

Joni Mitchell is a Canadian singer and songwriter from Fort MacLeod in Alberta. Mitchell is perhaps best known for her recordings “Big Yellow Taxi” and “Woodstock”.

110. Weight unit : GRAM

Today, the gram is defined as one thousandth of a kilogram, with the kilogram being equal to the mass of physical sample preserved by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures. Prior to 1960, the gram was defined as the weight of a cubic centimeter of pure water (at the temperature of melting ice).

111. Stale cookie in crosswords? : OREO

The OREO in crosswords is very, very stale. It turns up way too often as an answer.

112. Ritz-Carlton rival : OMNI

Omni Hotels & Resorts is headquartered in Irvine, California and has properties in the US, Canada and Mexico.

César Ritz was a Swiss hotelier, who had a reputation for developing the most luxurious of accommodations and attracting the wealthiest clientèle. He opened the Hotel Ritz in Paris in 1898 and the second of his most famous hotels, the Ritz Hotel in London, in 1906. Ritz was lucky in his career, as before starting his own hotel chain he had been dismissed from the Savoy Hotel in London, implicated in the disappearance of a substantial amount of wine and spirits. Today’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company was founded in 1983, although the chain has its roots in the properties developed by César Ritz.

114. It’s stopped during a save : PUCK

That would be a hockey puck.

116. All the tea in China? : CHA

“Cha” is a Chinese word for “tea”.

117. Facebook chuckle : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Shopper, at times : TOTER
6. Driving hazard : SKID
10. The last game there was played 9/28/2008 : SHEA
14. Olive Garden staple : PASTA
19. __ cuisine : HAUTE
20. Newcastle’s river : TYNE
21. Changes lanes on? : TARS
22. One way to think : ALOUD
23. Laura’s classic “Dick Van Dyke Show” wail : OH, ROB!
24. Baseball family name : ALOU
25. Got off the horse : ALIT
26. Hit-by-pitch reminders : WELTS
27. Mediators burn calories by __ : RUNNING INTERFERENCE
31. Increased : ROSE
32. Short relative? : SIB
33. __ spot : SORE
34. March family creator : ALCOTT
38. Cancel at NASA : SCRUB
40. Brainstorm : IDEATE
45. Employees burn calories by __ : PUNCHING THE CLOCK
50. Those, in Tijuana : ESOS
51. 2018 “Sunday Night Baseball” addition : A-ROD
52. Org. with specialists : AMA
53. Bust unit : KILO
54. Carve up : ALLOT
55. Like many an AARP mem. : RET
56. Got glasses on credit? : RAN A TAB
60. Trent Reznor’s band, initially : NIN
61. College near Albany : SIENA
62. Earthshaking event : TREMOR
64. Researchers burn calories by __ : SURFING THE WEB
67. High winds : OBOES
70. Monterrey day : DIA
71. Blackens, as a flue : SOOTS
72. Forensic investigators burn calories by __ : LIFTING PRINTS
77. Clan symbols : TOTEMS
81. Bountiful native : UTAHN
82. Carides of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” : GIA
83. “Inside the NFL” analyst : ESIASON
86. Place to go in Gloucester : LOO
87. Collapses : GIVES
88. La Scala strain : ARIA
90. High degree : NTH
91. Buy and sell quickly : FLIP
92. Cabinet dept. with an atom on its seal : ENER
93. Campaigners burn calories by __ : PRESSING THE FLESH
98. Fight in the boonies : RASSLE
100. Offshore : AT SEA
101. Picks on : TAUNTS
102. First name in folk : ARLO
105. Broadway’s Hagen : UTA
106. Pouches : SACS
108. Toadies burn calories by __ : JUMPING THROUGH HOOPS
116. Getting warm : CLOSE
118. Unadorned : BARE
119. Logical word from Descartes : ERGO
120. Positive words from one in a slump : I’M DUE
121. Puts an edge on : HONES
122. Omani money : RIAL
123. Roger succeeded him in Bond films : SEAN
124. Chilling : ON ICE
125. In-crowd : A-LIST
126. Word with ant or brat : ARMY
127. Churchill, for one : TORY
128. Chips : NICKS

Down

1. God with a hammer : THOR
2. Iolani Palace island : OAHU
3. Chance to play : TURN
4. Berkshire boarding school : ETON
5. Renaissance : REBIRTH
6. Big bucks : STAGS
7. One of the Jenners : KYLIE
8. Part of : IN ON
9. German, in Germany : DEUTSCH
10. Pequod’s chief mate : STARBUCK
11. __ Moon: Henry Hudson’s ship : HALF
12. Cat Nation people : ERIES
13. Toon dog sharing a name with an MLB player : ASTRO
14. Used as security, in a way : PAWNED
15. One of the Baldwins : ALEC
16. Lonesome fish? : SOLE
17. Son of Akhenaten : TUT
18. “Mad Men” creations : ADS
28. Words of denial : NOT I
29. Blarney Stone home : EIRE
30. The Phantom of the Opera : ERIK
34. In pieces : APART
35. Attractive one? : LURER
36. Benjamin’s bill : C-NOTE
37. Anxious med. condition : OCD
38. ESPN figures : STATS
39. Russian crepes : BLINI
41. Hardest to hang on to : EELIEST
42. More than enough, usually : A SLEW
43. Odds end? : … TO ONE
44. Cornerstone abbr. : ESTAB
46. Tandoori bread : NAN
47. “Today” rival, for short : GMA
48. Hollywood’s Ken and Lena : OLINS
49. Where Kinshasa is : CONGO
54. Kutcher of “The Ranch” : ASHTON
56. Birds in Kilmer’s “Trees” : ROBINS
57. Memphis middle name : ARON
58. Quattro maker : AUDI
59. Salty solution : BRINE
63. Goose and hen? : MOTHERS
65. __ Domino : FATS
66. Wizard revealer : TOTO
68. “Walk, Don’t Run” actress Samantha : EGGAR
69. Skyline standout : SPIRE
72. German pistol : LUGER
73. Rock music memoir : I, TINA
74. Strong preferences, casually : FAVES
75. Mikhail’s wife : RAISA
76. __ different tune: change one’s mind : SING A
78. Self-named sitcom : ELLEN
79. Word in Duncan Hines ads : MOIST
80. Former frosh : SOPHS
84. Co. that spawned Baby Bells : ATT
85. Theater warning : SHH!
89. In an insightful manner : ASTUTELY
91. Shot target : FLU
93. Witness’ lineup choice, ideally : PERP
94. Map strip: Abbr. : ISTH
95. Least distant : NEAREST
96. Inscribe : ETCH
97. Runway display : FASHION
99. Like the worst excuse : LAMEST
103. Sign of balance? : LIBRA
104. Ecstatic way to walk : ON AIR
106. Domino product : SUGAR
107. Ecstasy’s opposite : AGONY
108. Multiple Grammy winner Mitchell : JONI
109. Purposes : USES
110. Weight unit : GRAM
111. Stale cookie in crosswords? : OREO
112. Ritz-Carlton rival : OMNI
113. Lyrical : ODIC
114. It’s stopped during a save : PUCK
115. Gets : SEES
116. All the tea in China? : CHA
117. Facebook chuckle : LOL

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