LA Times Crossword 28 Jul 19, Sunday

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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: End Game

Themed answers are common phrases that each END with a GAME. Answers are clued with reference to that game:

  • 22A Card game for students? : CLASS WAR
  • 24A Card game for the lovelorn? : LONELY HEARTS
  • 43A Board game for spies? : COVERT OPERATION
  • 66A Card game for plumbers? : BATHTUB GIN
  • 68A Playground game for bellhops? : LUGGAGE TAG
  • 86A Card game for office temps? : SHORT-TERM MEMORY
  • 110A Card game for auto mechanics? : GREASY SPOONS
  • 113A Board game for tightrope walkers? : HIGH RISK

Bill’s time: 20m 58s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Rainbows, e.g. : ARCS

Sunlight shining through airborne water droplets can produce rainbows. The water droplets act as little prisms, dispersing the white light into its constituent colors. Sometimes we see double rainbows. If we look carefully, we can see that the order of the colors in the first and second arcs is reversed.

12 __-Trinity National Forest, California’s largest : SHASTA

Shasta-Trinity National Forest in northern California is the largest forest in the state, and covers over 2 million acres. Located within the bounds of the forest are Shasta Lake and Mount Shasta.

20 Haul contents : LOOT

“Loot” is the name given to anything taken by dishonesty or force, particularly during war. The term came into English from the Hindi “lut” meaning “goods taken from an enemy”.

21 Seafood sauce : TARTAR

Tartar sauce is basically mayonnaise with some chopped pickles, capers and onion or chives. The recipe was invented by the French (as “sauce tartare”) with the name somehow linked to the Tatars, a people who once occupied Ukraine and parts of Russia.

22 Card game for students? : CLASS WAR

War is a card game, one played mainly by children.

24 Card game for the lovelorn? : LONELY HEARTS

Hearts is a fun card game that is in the Whist family of trick-taking games, as are Bridge (my favorite) and Spades.

28 Donnybrook : MELEE

A “donnybrook” is a free-for-all, a melee. It is named for a famous historic fair in Donnybrook, a district in Dublin, Ireland. Donnybrook Fair had the reputation as a place where there was lots of drinking and fighting. I used to hang out a lot in Donnybrook in my student days and didn’t see any fighting. Lots of drinking, but no fighting …

29 Easy __ : AS PIE

The idiom “as easy as pie” is used to describe something that is simple to do. It appears that the reference here is to the simplicity of eating pie, rather than making a pie.

30 Roll call calls : AYES

In a roll call vote, members of an assembly are called on by name to declare their position on a particular issue. This has the effect of registering each member’s vote for record.

34 __ Gherardini, memorable portrait subject : LISA

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.

36 Cub with dingers : SOSA

Sammy Sosa was firmly in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

“Dinger” and “round trip” are familiar terms for a home run in baseball.

37 Abbr. on old maps : SSR

The former Soviet Union (USSR) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the Tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and comprised fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).

38 Quad minus two? : STEREO

Monophonic sound (“mono”) is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speaker. Stereophonic sound is reproduced using two audio channels, with the sound from each channel played out of two different speakers. The pair of stereo speakers are usually positioned apart from each other so that sound appears to come from between the two. Quadraphonic sound (4.0 surround sound) uses four audio channels with the sound played back through four speakers that are often positioned at the corners of the room in which one is listening.

41 Medical implants : STENTS

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

43 Board game for spies? : COVERT OPERATION

The game called Operation was invented by John Spinello and was first produced in 1965 by Milton Bradley. The game is based on the old electric wire loop game where players had to guide a loop along a winding wire without touching it. Touching the wires completed a circuit causing a buzzer to go off and/or a light to come on.

46 Paid military group, briefly : MERCS

Mercenary (merc.)

48 Herr Schindler : OSKAR

Oskar Schindler is the protagonist in the Steven Spielberg movie “Schindler’s List”. Schindler was a real person who survived WWII. During the Holocaust, Schindler managed to save almost 1,200 Jews from perishing by employing them in his factories. After the war, Schindler and his wife were left penniless having used his assets to protect and feed his workers. For years the couple survived on the charity of Jewish groups. Schindler tried to make a go of it in business again but never had any real success. He died a pauper in 1974 in Hildesheim, not far from Hanover. His last wish was to be buried in Jerusalem. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi Party to be buried on Mount Zion.

50 Cpl.’s superior : SGT

Sergeant (sgt.) is a rank above corporal (cpl.).

53 Spock’s father : SAREK

In the “Star Trek” universe, Sarek is the Vulcan father of Spock. Sarek is the son of the first Vulcan ambassador to Earth. Sarak married an earthling, Amanda Grayson, with whom he had the child Spock. Most famously, Sarek was portrayed on both small and large screen by actor Mark Lenard.

59 “For every child” rights group : UNICEF

The United Nations Children’s Fund is known by the acronym UNICEF because the organization’s original name when it was founded in 1946 was the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The original focus of the fund was to provide relief to children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. UNICEF is supported by contributions from governments, but also by individual donors. One of the more successful programs for collecting private donations is the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box that has been a tradition here in North America since 1950.

61 Lyft rival : UBER

Transportation network company Uber was founded in 2009 as “UberCab”. The company name was changed to “Uber” in 2011. The name change was largely driven by complaints from taxi operators in San Francisco.

65 Morlock victims : ELOI

In the 1895 novel by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounter in his travels into the future. The Eloi are the “beautiful people” who live on the planet’s surface. The Morlocks are a domineering race living underground who use the Eloi as food.

66 Card game for plumbers? : BATHTUB GIN

Gin rummy is a faster variant of standard rummy. It was introduced in 1909 by one Elwood Baker and his son.

The term “bathtub gin” is used for any spirit that is made by an amateur. The term arose during the days of prohibition. Gin was the most popular drink in the twenties and cheap version of gin were made by mixing grain alcohol with water and flavorings. The gin bottles were too tall to be topped off with water from a sink faucet, and so a bathtub tap was used instead. Hence, “bathtub gin”.

73 Literature Nobelist Gordimer : NADINE

Nadine Gordimer is an author and political activist from South Africa. Gordimer’s writing was recognized in 1991 when she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. One of the main focuses of her works is the apartheid that was once part of South African culture and law.

74 Big name at The Hershey Company : REESE

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were invented by Harry Burnett “H.B.” Reese. Peanut Butter Cups were originally called penny cups, reflecting the price at which they were sold. Then inflation took over, and maybe that’s why they were broken into smaller “Pieces” …

76 Shade tree : LINDEN

Linden trees are also called lime trees and basswood trees.

78 Flax fabric : LINEN

Flax is mainly grown for its seeds (to make oil) and for its fibers. Flax fibers have been used to make linen for centuries, certainly back as far as the days of the ancient Egyptians. Flax fibers are soft and shiny, resembling blonde hair, hence the term “flaxen hair”.

79 Supporter of arms, for short : NRA

National Rifle Association (NRA)

80 Hispanic leader in a beret : CHE

“Guerrillero Heroico” is the name of an iconic photograph taken Alberto Korda of the revolutionary Che Guevara. With the title translating into English as “Heroic Guerrilla Fighter”, the image shows Guevara in a dark beret, with an “implacable” stare. It is versions of this photo that have been used so many times in tattoos, posters, paintings, etc. The Victoria and Albert Museum in London has determined that “Guerrillero Heroico” has been reproduced more than any other image in the history of photography.

82 Sandwiches for dessert : OREOS

How the Oreo cookie came to get its name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. One theory is that it comes from the French “or” meaning “gold”, a reference to the gold color of the original packing. Another suggestion is that the name is the Greek word “oreo” meaning “beautiful, nice, well-done”.

86 Card game for office temps? : SHORT-TERM MEMORY

Memory is a card game in which all of the cards are placed face down on the playing surface. Each player flips over two cards at each go, looking for pairs. The trick is to remember where unpaired cards are located, so that they can be used in pairs later in the game.

90 Taylor’s on-again, off-again romance : BURTON

The actor Richard Burton was born in South Wales, as Richard Jenkins. The actor took “Burton” as a stage name in honor of his schoolmaster and mentor Philip Burton. Famously, Burton was married to actress Liz Taylor (twice).

Actress Elizabeth Taylor married eight times, to seven husbands. Those marriages were to:

  1. Conrad “Nicky” Hilton, the young hotel heir
  2. Michael Wilding, the English actor
  3. Mike Todd, the film and stage producer
  4. Eddie Fisher, the singer
  5. Richard Burton (twice), the Welsh actor
  6. John Warner, who went on to become a US Senator for Virginia
  7. Larry Fortensky, a construction worker whom Taylor met at the Betty Ford Clinic

93 Unseld of the NBA : WES

Wes Unseld is a former professional basketball player who spent his entire career playing with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets.

95 Fairy queen : MAB

In Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Mercutio refers to the fairy known as Queen Mab. It seems that Queen Mab was Shakespeare’s creation, although she became popular in subsequent works of literature. For example, she is referred to in Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”, in Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility”, and Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote a large poetic work called “Queen Mab: A Philosophical Poem”.

101 Year’s record : ANNAL

“Annal” is a rarely used word, and is the singular of the more common “annals”. An annal would be the recorded events of one year, with annals being the chronological record of events in successive years. The term “annal” comes from the Latin “annus” meaning “year”.

102 Taiwanese tea drink : BOBA

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

105 Caribbean cruise stop : ARUBA

Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands located off the northern coast of Venezuela. “ABC Islands” is a name given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

107 Man of letters? : PAT SAJAK

Pat Sajak took over the hosting of “Wheel of Fortune” from Chuck Woolery back in 1983 and has been doing the job ever since. Sajak had a short run as a talk show host in 1989/1990 and used to sub quite often for Larry King and Regis Philbin.

110 Card game for auto mechanics? : GREASY SPOONS

Spoons is a variant of the card game Donkey. The variant involves placing spoons in the middle of the players, and a mad dash for those spoons at the appropriate juncture …

113 Board game for tightrope walkers? : HIGH RISK

Risk is a fabulous board game that was introduced in France in 1957. It was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

114 Boyd who was married to Clapton : PATTIE

Pattie Boyd was working as a model when she was cast as a schoolgirl in the Beatles movie “A Hard Day’s Night”, although she was 20-years-old at the time. While filming, she met George Harrison, and the pair were married in 1966. They separated in 1974, largely due to Harrison’s infidelities, which included an affair with Ringo Starr’s wife. Boyd met Eric Clapton in the late sixties when he and Harrison started working together. Clapton became smitten with Boyd, and wrote the hit song “Layla” as a proclamation of his love for her in 1970. Boyd and Clapton eventually married in 1979, but the pair divorced five years later.

Can you believe that the great Eric Clapton only had one chart-topper in the US? In 1974, Clapton released a cover version of the Bob Marley classic “I Shot the Sheriff” and ended up selling more copies of that song than Bob Marley did himself. Clapton is the only person to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: once as a member of the Yardbirds, once as a member of the supergroup Cream, and once as a solo artist.

117 Driver’s helper : TEE

That would be golf.

119 Lentil, e.g. : SEED

The Latin name for the lentil plant is “lens”. Because the first lenses were double-convex shaped like a lentil, the glass structures were given the name “lens”.

120 Pinochle combo : MELD

Pinochle is a card game that was developed from the 19th-century French game called bezique.

121 Eight-time Norris Trophy winner : ORR

The James Norris Memorial Trophy is awarded to the top defensive player in the NHL each year, based on votes by members of the professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Bobby Orr won the award every single season from 1967-1975. Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

Down

1 McDonald’s drink orders : MOCHAS

Mocha is a port city in Yemen on the Red Sea and was once the principal port for the capital city of Sana’a. Mocha was the major marketplace in the world for coffee until the 1600s, and gave its name to the Mocha coffee bean, which in turn gave its name to the mocha brown color, and the flavor of coffee infused with chocolate.

5 Former Sony brand : AIWA

Aiwa was a Japanese company that produced consumer electronics, mainly audio and video equipment. Sony bought Aiwa in 2002 and eventually discontinued the brand in 2006. The Aiwa trademark was acquired by a Chicago-based consumer electronics company in 2015.

6 Comic book legend : STAN LEE

Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he had a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

7 John of “Quiz Show” : TURTURRO

Actor John Turturro has played many supporting roles on the big screen in films like “Do the Right Thing”, “Quiz Show”, “The Big Lebowski” and “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Turturro works with director Spike Lee a lot, and has appeared in more Spike Lee movies than any other actor.

“Twenty One” is a TV game show from the fifties. Famously, it was discovered that “Twenty One” was a rigged game, with audience favorite Charles Van Doren (and others) being fed the answers ahead of time. The whole scandal was the inspiration for the 1994 movie “Quiz Show” in which Ralph Fiennes played Van Doren.

8 Apiece, in scores : ALL

Those would be sports scores.

12 Eye sores : STYES

A stye is a bacterial infection of the sebaceous glands at the base of the eyelashes, and is also known as a hordeolum.

15 Nine-time presidential contender Harold : STASSEN

Harold Stassen was Governor of Minnesota from 1939 to 1943, and is largely remembered as a perennial candidate for the Republican nomination for US president. Stassen sought the nomination nine times in all between 1940 and 1992, and never came close to winning.

16 Atlantic game fish : TARPON

There are two species of the fish known as the tarpon: the Atlantic tarpon and Indo-Pacific tarpon. Many fish have swim bladders, organs that are related evolutionarily to the lungs, and are used to control buoyancy. What is unique about the tarpon is that it uses its swim bladder not only for buoyancy, but also as an accessory respiratory organ. In fact, unless the tarpon gets access to air at the water’s surface, it will die.

25 Bizet opera priestess : LEILA

“The Pearl Fishers” (“Les Pêcheurs de Perles”) is the second-most famous Georges Bizet opera, after “Carmen”. “The Pearl Fishers” is about two Ceylon fishermen, Nadir and Zurga, who are lifelong friends. Their friendship is threatened when the two fall in love with the same woman, a priestess named Leila.

35 Most populous continent : ASIA

Most of the world’s population lives in Asia (60%), and Asia is the largest continent in terms of landmass (30% of the world). Asia also has the highest population density (246 people per square mile), and the most populous city on the continent is Shanghai, China.

40 German : Vater :: French : __ : PERE

The English word “father” translates into “Vater” in German, and into “père” in French.

43 French for “mangers” : CRECHES

In the Christian tradition, a nativity scene (also “crèche”) is a display of representing the the scene of the birth of Jesus. Nativity scenes might be subjects for paintings, for example, although the term is usually used for seasonal displays associated with the Christmas season.

A manger is an open box in which feed is placed for livestock. The term “manger” comes from the French verb “manger” meaning “to eat”.

44 Strong “pocket” holding in Hold ’em : PAIR

The official birthplace of the incredibly popular poker game of Texas hold ’em is Robstown, Texas where the game dates back to the early 1900s. The game was introduced into Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan enthusiasts including Doyle Brunson, a champion often seen playing on TV today. Doyle Brunson published a poker strategy guide in 1978, and this really helped increase the popularity of the game. But it was the inclusion of Texas hold ‘em in the television lineup that really gave the game its explosive surge in popularity, with the size of the prize money just skyrocketing.

46 Le Carré’s “The Night __” : MANAGER

“The Night Manager” is a 1993 espionage novel by British author John le Carré. The BBC made an excellent TV adaption of “The Night Manager” in 2015, starring Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Colman.

“John le Carré” is the pen name of David Cornwell, an English author who is famous for his spy novels. Cornwell worked for British Intelligence during the fifties and sixties, even as he was writing his spy thrillers. He left MI6 soon after his most famous 1963 novel “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”, became such a great success.

47 Land on the Red Sea : ERITREA

Eritrea is a country located in the Horn of Africa, and surrounded by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. Some scientists believe that the area now known as Eritrea was the departure point for anatomically modern humans who first left Africa to populate the rest of the world.

50 Soup cracker : SALTINE

F. L. Sommer & Company of St. Joseph, Missouri starting making wafer thin soda crackers in 1876. The crackers were later marketed as Saltines, due to the baking salt that was a key ingredient. The company subsequently lost trademark protection of the term “saltine”.

52 Model Chrissy : TEIGEN

Chrissy Tiegen is a model who has appeared twice in the “Sports Illustrated” Swimsuit Issue, in 2010 and 2014. She co-hosts the reality TV show “Lip Sync Battle” with rap artist LL Cool J. Teigen married singer John Legend in 2013.

53 Induce, as perjury : SUBORN

To suborn someone is to induce him or her secretly to break the law, and especially to commit perjury.

An act of perjury is the willful giving of false testimony under oath. The term “perjury” ultimately comes from the Latin “per” meaning “away” and “iurare” meaning “to swear”.

55 Tater : SPUD

The word “spud” is used as a slang term for a potato and was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

56 Clothing : TOGS

The verb “to tog up”, meaning “to dress up”, comes from the Latin “toga” describing the garment worn in ancient Rome. “Tog” can be also be used as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

60 Big fairy tale character word : FUM

The line “fee-fi-fo-fum” (with various spellings) comes from the famous English fairy tale “Jack and the Beanstalk”. Within the story, the giant at the top of the beanstalk utters a little poem when he detects the presence of Jack:

Fee-fi-fo-fum,
I smell the blood of an Englishman,
Be he alive, or be he dead
I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.

61 Wrinkly fruit : UGLI

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

62 “Très __” : BIEN

“Very good” is written as “sehr gut” in German, and as “très bien” in French.

64 Patrick with a simulcast sports show : DAN

Dan Patrick is a sportscaster and radio personality. He is host of “The Dan Patrick Show” on the radio and is co-host of “Football Night in America” on NBC television.

68 Center, for one : LINEMAN

That would be football.

69 In copious amounts : GALORE

Our word “galore”, meaning “in great numbers”, comes from the Irish phrase “go leór” that translates as “sufficiently, enough”.

72 Golden State Warriors coach Steve : KERR

Steve Kerr is a retired NBA basketball player who moved into team management. Kerr was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the son of an American academic who specialized in Middle East studies. Kerr’s father was assassinated by militant nationalists in Beirut when Steve was 19 years old.

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

75 Amazon speaker brand : ECHO

Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled hardware device that can be used to provide several services including playing radio programs and music, recording of shopping lists, and managing a calendar. The device just sits in the home listening, until it hears a “wake up” command.

77 Female antelopes : DOES

“Antelope” is the name given to just over 90 species of deer-like mammals. As a group, antelopes aren’t defined taxonomically, although they might be described as all members of the family Bovidae that aren’t sheep, cattle or goats.

81 Word before “if you like” on some stickers : HONK …

Honk if you like Saturday crosswords.

83 Eclipse, maybe : OMEN

A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into the shadow cast by the Earth from the light of the Sun, in other words when the Earth is positioned directly between the Sun and the Moon. The more spectacular solar eclipse takes place when the Moon passes in front of the Sun, so that the Earth falls into the shadow cast by the Moon.

84 Sistine Chapel ceiling figures : SERAPHIM

A seraph is a celestial being found in Hebrew and Christian writings. The word “seraph” (plural “seraphim”) literally translates as “burning one”. Seraphs are the highest-ranking angels in the Christian tradition, and the fifth-ranking of ten in the Jewish tradition.

The Sistine Chapel, in the Pope’s residence in Rome, takes its name from Pope Sixtus IV who was responsible for restoring the old Capella Magna in the 15th century. It was about a century later (1508-1512) that Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel under the patronage of Pope Julius II.

89 Pre-head cold feeling : MALAISE

A malaise is a general but undefined feeling of discomfort or illness. The term “malaise” ultimately comes from Old French with the prefix “mal-” meaning “bad” and “aise” meaning “ease”.

95 Cuban rum drink : MOJITO

A mojito is a Cuban cocktail, although the exact origins appear to be unclear, as does the derivation of the name. Want one? Put 4 mint leaves in a glass, and add the juice of half a lime and a teaspoon of powdered sugar. Muddle the ingredients, smashing them together with a muddler or a spoon. Add some crushed ice, two ounces of white rum and stir. Top with a couple of ounces of club soda, and garnish with a sprig of mint and/or a slice of lime. Cheers!

97 Either original “PTL Club” co-host : BAKKER

“The PTL Club” was a daily television show hosted by televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. PTL is short for both “Praise the Lord” and “People that Love”. The show ended its run of over ten years in 1987 when it was revealed that Jim Bakker was involvement in financial and sexual scandals. Bakker served 5 years in jail as part of an 18-year sentence.

101 “Storage Wars” network : A AND E

“Storage Wars” is a reality TV show about buyers looking for great deals when storage lockers are opened and the contents auctioned off due to non-payment of rent.

102 Setting for many a joke : BAR

Seeing as I’m one of three brothers, I have a favorite “So a guy walks into a bar” joke:

So a guy walks into a bar and orders three beers.

The bartender brings him the three beers, and the man proceeds to alternately sip one, then the other, then the third, until they’re gone. He then orders three more and the bartender says, “Sir, I know you like them cold, so you can start with one, and I’ll bring you a fresh one as soon as you’re low.” The man says, “You don’t understand. I have two brothers, one in Australia and one in Ireland. We made a vow to each other that every Saturday night, we’d still drink together. So right now, my brothers have three beers, too, and we’re drinking together.” The bartender thinks it’s a wonderful tradition, and every week he sets up the guy’s three beers. Then one week, the man comes in and orders only two. He drinks them and then orders two more. The bartender says sadly, “Knowing your tradition, I’d just like to just say that I’m sorry you’ve lost a brother.”

The man replies, “Oh, my brothers are fine — I just quit drinking.”

104 One of four direcciones : ESTE

“Este” (east) is a “dirección” (direction), in Spanish.

106 Paleontologist’s discovery : BONE

Paleontology is the study of prehistoric life. My favorite “paleontologist” is Dr. David Huxley played by Cary Grant opposite Katharine Hepburn in the wonderful 1938 comedy “Bringing Up Baby”.

Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 “Welcome” site : MAT
4 Word clarified by the minute hand : PAST
8 Rainbows, e.g. : ARCS
12 __-Trinity National Forest, California’s largest : SHASTA
18 Bullring bravo : OLE!
19 In __: as found : SITU
20 Haul contents : LOOT
21 Seafood sauce : TARTAR
22 Card game for students? : CLASS WAR
24 Card game for the lovelorn? : LONELY HEARTS
27 Waffling : HESITANT
28 Donnybrook : MELEE
29 Easy __ : AS PIE
30 Roll call calls : AYES
31 Hungers (for) : LUSTS
34 __ Gherardini, memorable portrait subject : LISA
36 Cub with dingers : SOSA
37 Abbr. on old maps : SSR
38 Quad minus two? : STEREO
40 Hang (around) as friends : PAL
41 Medical implants : STENTS
43 Board game for spies? : COVERT OPERATION
46 Paid military group, briefly : MERCS
48 Herr Schindler : OSKAR
49 Stable serving : HAY
50 Cpl.’s superior : SGT
53 Spock’s father : SAREK
54 … with __ organized crime : TIES TO
57 Catch : SNARE
59 “For every child” rights group : UNICEF
61 Lyft rival : UBER
63 Place for a dip : POND
65 Morlock victims : ELOI
66 Card game for plumbers? : BATHTUB GIN
68 Playground game for bellhops? : LUGGAGE TAG
70 Hideous folklore figure : OGRE
71 Bull, say : MALE
72 Youngsters : KIDS
73 Literature Nobelist Gordimer : NADINE
74 Big name at The Hershey Company : REESE
76 Shade tree : LINDEN
78 Flax fabric : LINEN
79 Supporter of arms, for short : NRA
80 Hispanic leader in a beret : CHE
82 Sandwiches for dessert : OREOS
85 Meted (out) : DOLED
86 Card game for office temps? : SHORT-TERM MEMORY
90 Taylor’s on-again, off-again romance : BURTON
93 Unseld of the NBA : WES
94 Make bubbly : AERATE
95 Fairy queen : MAB
98 Manual reader : USER
99 Excited about, with “on” : KEEN …
101 Year’s record : ANNAL
102 Taiwanese tea drink : BOBA
103 Skin flick : NUDIE
105 Caribbean cruise stop : ARUBA
107 Man of letters? : PAT SAJAK
110 Card game for auto mechanics? : GREASY SPOONS
113 Board game for tightrope walkers? : HIGH RISK
114 Boyd who was married to Clapton : PATTIE
115 Nullify : UNDO
116 “Of course” : I SEE
117 Driver’s helper : TEE
118 Gets some shuteye : SLEEPS
119 Lentil, e.g. : SEED
120 Pinochle combo : MELD
121 Eight-time Norris Trophy winner : ORR

Down

1 McDonald’s drink orders : MOCHAS
2 They may be blind : ALLEYS
3 Movie preview : TEASER
4 Subtle “Check this out!” : PSST!
5 Former Sony brand : AIWA
6 Comic book legend : STAN LEE
7 John of “Quiz Show” : TURTURRO
8 Apiece, in scores : ALL
9 Shares a place (with) : ROOMS
10 Holiday garland item : CONE
11 First-rate : STELLAR
12 Eye sores : STYES
13 “I told you so!” : HAH!
14 Specialty : AREA
15 Nine-time presidential contender Harold : STASSEN
16 Atlantic game fish : TARPON
17 Con __ : ARTIST
23 Bro’s counterpart : SIS
25 Bizet opera priestess : LEILA
26 High or heavy bodies : SEAS
32 Jazz club units : SETS
33 Had a break between 32-Down : TOOK TEN
35 Most populous continent : ASIA
38 Certain wrench component : SOCKET
39 Boob tubes : TVS
40 German : Vater :: French : __ : PERE
42 Santa’s sackful : TOYS
43 French for “mangers” : CRECHES
44 Strong “pocket” holding in Hold ’em : PAIR
45 Flip-flop : THONG
46 Le Carré’s “The Night __” : MANAGER
47 Land on the Red Sea : ERITREA
50 Soup cracker : SALTINE
51 Reacted to corn, maybe : GROANED
52 Model Chrissy : TEIGEN
53 Induce, as perjury : SUBORN
55 Tater : SPUD
56 Clothing : TOGS
58 In an impoverished way : NEEDILY
60 Big fairy tale character word : FUM
61 Wrinkly fruit : UGLI
62 “Très __” : BIEN
64 Patrick with a simulcast sports show : DAN
67 Farm machine : BALER
68 Center, for one : LINEMAN
69 In copious amounts : GALORE
72 Golden State Warriors coach Steve : KERR
75 Amazon speaker brand : ECHO
77 Female antelopes : DOES
81 Word before “if you like” on some stickers : HONK …
83 Eclipse, maybe : OMEN
84 Sistine Chapel ceiling figures : SERAPHIM
85 Period, e.g. : DOT
86 Groove : STRIATE
87 Pipsqueak : TWERP
88 Lacking a sound basis : TENUOUS
89 Pre-head cold feeling : MALAISE
90 Keg stopper : BUNG
91 Takes by force : USURPS
92 Start the hand over : REDEAL
95 Cuban rum drink : MOJITO
96 Bully, often : ABASER
97 Either original “PTL Club” co-host : BAKKER
100 Relieves : EASES
101 “Storage Wars” network : A AND E
102 Setting for many a joke : BAR
104 One of four direcciones : ESTE
106 Paleontologist’s discovery : BONE
108 Neutrogena shampoo brand : T/GEL
109 Shake off : SHED
111 Pup’s cry : YIP
112 Early Great Plains building material : SOD