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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Theme: Surprise Package
Themed answer each comprise two parts, both of which are kinds of boxes:
- 130A Shipping supply that links the answers to starred clues : BOX
- 22A *Editorial comment : TEXT SUGGESTION (text box & suggestion box)
- 35A *Solid piece of security hardware : STRONG LOCK (strongbox & lockbox)
- 39A *Part of a school kid’s allowance : LUNCH MONEY (lunch box & money box)
- 70A *Online dating coup : TINDER MATCH (tinderbox & matchbox)
- 101A *Tough talk tension easer : ICEBREAKER (icebox & breaker box)
- 104A *Offenbach output : OPERA MUSIC (opera box & music box)
- 121A *Fast talk from the on-deck circle : BATTER’S CHATTER (batter’s box & chatterbox)
- 14D *Traveler’s aid : PACKING LIST (packing box & list box)
- 69D *Bank transaction : CASH DEPOSIT (cash box & deposit box)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 13m 23s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Seuss critter in socks : FOX
“Fox in Socks” is a children’s book by Dr. Seuss. The main characters in the story are Fox and Knox.
4 Singer with a Best Actress Oscar : CHER
“Cher” is the stage name used by singer and actress Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the season’s Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.
8 Best-of-seven MLB semifinal : ALCS
American League Championship Series (ALCS)
12 Put one over on : DUPED
A dupe is someone who is easily fooled, a “live one”, one who can fall victim to deception.
17 Cupid counterpart : EROS
The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).
19 Olympics event since 1964 : LUGE
A luge is a small sled used by one or two people, on which one lies face up and feet first. The luge can be compared to the skeleton, a sled for only one person and on which the rider lies face down and goes down the hill head-first. Yikes!
20 Poi source : TARO
I am a big fan of starch (being an Irishman I love potatoes). That said, I think that poi tastes horrible! Poi is made from the bulbous tubers (corm) of the taro plant by cooking the corm in water and mashing it until the desired consistency is achieved.
21 Aquafina alternative : DASANI
Dasani is a Coca-Cola brand of bottled water. Dasani is simply filtered tap water with some trace minerals added.
Aquafina is a Pepsico brand of bottled water. Aquafina is just plain old municipal water that has been purified.
26 Rainforest rodent : AGOUTI
The term “agouti” is used for some rodents in Central and South America that have fur with bands of light and dark pigmentation.
27 Channel with a gate : SLUICE
A sluice is a water channel with a gate at its head that is used to control the amount of water flowing.
30 Last word in a popular drinking game : … PONG
The game of beer pong is also known as “Beirut”. Beer pong apparently originated as a drinking game in the fraternities of Dartmouth College in the fifties, when it was played with paddles and a ping pong net on a table. The origin of the “Beirut” name is less clear, but it probably was coined while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in the late seventies and eighties.
42 London driver’s unit : LITRE
On the other side of the Atlantic we use the French spelling for measurements that originated in French, so “metre” for “meter” and “litre” for “liter”.
45 Woman on the Sistine Chapel ceiling : EVE
The Sistine Chapel is located in the Pope’s residence in Rome. The chapel 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.
46 Snowballs in a fight, e.g. : AMMO
The word “munitions” describes materials and equipment used in war. The term derives from the Latin “munitionem” meaning “fortification, defensive wall”. Back in the 17th century, French soldiers referred to such materials as “la munition”, a Middle French term. This was misheard as “l’ammunition”, and as a result we ended up importing the word “ammunition” (often shortened to “ammo”), a term that we now use mainly to describe the material fired from a weapon.
48 ’60s protest gp. : SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.
51 Dashboard nos. : RPMS
Revolutions per minute (rpm)
Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …
52 AL West team, in crawl lines : LAA
The Anaheim Angels baseball team is today more correctly called the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (LAA). The “Angels” name dates back to 1961 when the team was founded in the “City of Angels”, Los Angeles. When the franchise moved to Anaheim in 1965 they were known as the California Angels, then the Anaheim Angels, and most recently the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels are also known as “the Halos”.
57 Belgian lager, familiarly : STELLA
The Belgian beer Stella Artois is named for the brewer Sebastianus Artois. Artois was the master brewer at the Den Hoorn Brewery in Leuven, Belgium in the early 1700s. The Den Hoorn Brewery has been around at least since 1366 … yes, 1366!
59 Bethlehem university : LEHIGH
Lehigh University is a private school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that was established in 1865 by railroad pioneer Asa Packer. The list of Lehigh alumni includes Lee Iacocca (ex-CEO of Chrysler) and Jesse W. Reno (inventor of the escalator).
61 Jet Ski rival : SEA-DOO
Sea-Doo is a brand name of personal watercraft (PWC). Other well-known brands are Jet Ski and WaveRunner.
64 Kaley who played Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” : CUOCO
Kaley Cuoco is an actress from Camarillo, California who is best known for playing Penny, the female lead on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”. Cuoco’s love interest in the show is played by Johnny Galecki, and the two were romantically involved in real life for a couple of years. Cuoco is also getting a lot of exposure playing William Shatner’s daughter on priceline.com ads, and playing a genie in Toyota RAV$ commercials.
66 One with dreads : RASTA
Dreadlocks are matted coils of hair that are usually formed intentionally, although if one lets hair grow out without grooming then it naturally forms twisted and matted dreadlocks. The hairstyle is associated with the Rastafarian movement in which “dread” is a very positive term meaning “fear of the Lord”.
70 *Online dating coup : TINDER MATCH (tinderbox & matchbox)
Tinder is a matchmaking app that uses Facebook profiles. Users “swipe” photos of potential matches, either to the right (“like”) or to the left (“not interested”). Users who “match” each other can then chat within the app.
73 Govt. accident investigator : NTSB
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for the investigation of major accidents involving transportation. Included in this broad definition is the transportation of fluids in pipelines. The organization is independent in that it has no ties to other government agencies or departments so that its investigations can be viewed as “impartial”. The NTSB also earns a little money for the US as it hires out its investigation teams to countries who don’t have the necessary resources available on their own soil.
74 Shrinking retailer : KMART
Kmart is the third-largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and Target. The company was founded by S. S. Kresge in 1899, with the first outlets known as S. S. Kresge stores. The first “Kmart” stores opened in 1962, with the “K” standing for “Kresge”. Kmart is famous for its promotions known as “blue light specials”, a program first introduced in 1965 and discontinued in 1991. I remember being in a Kmart store soon after coming to live in the US. That evening an employee installed a light stand an aisle away from me, switched on a flashing blue light and there was some unintelligible announcement over the loudspeaker system. I had no idea what was going on …
77 Mississippi River explorer : DE SOTO
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish conquistador who led expeditions throughout the southeastern US. De Soto’s travels were unsuccessful in that he failed to bring gold or silver back to Spain, and he did not establish any colonies in the Spanish name. What de Soto did achieve was the exposure of local populations to devastating Eurasian diseases. De Soto was the first European to cross the Mississippi River, in 1541. The first European to see the Mississippi (but not cross it) was Alonso Álvarez de Pineda, in 1519.
81 Solution measures : TITERS
Remember those titrations we did in the chemistry lab at school? They were to measure the concentration of solutions, also known as the solution’s titer.
88 Space race initials : USSR
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957 in a development that shocked the establishment in the US. Within months, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, now DARPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Space Race had begun …
90 Pocatello-to-Provo dir. : SSE
Pocatello is a city in the southeast of Idaho. It is home to Idaho State University (ISU). The city was founded as a railroad stop in the days of the gold rush. Pocatello was named for the chief of the Shoshone tribe who granted the right of way for the railroad to pass through the nearby Fort Hall Indian Reservation.
Provo, Utah is a city located just over 40 miles south of South Lake City. Provo is home to Brigham Young University. The city was originally called Fort Utah, and the name was changed to Provo in 1850 in honor of Étienne Provost. Provost was a French-Canadian fur trader who was perhaps the first man of European descent to see the Great Salt Lake.
91 One in a bust : NARC
“Narc” and “narco” are slang terms describing a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated with illegal drugs. Both words are short for “narcotics officer”. Narcs might work for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
93 Raisman with three Olympic gold medals : ALY
Aly Raisman is a retired gymnast. She captained the US gold-winning teams in the Olympics in 2012 (“The Fierce Five”) and in 2016 (“The Final Five”).
97 Local bond, briefly : MUNI
A municipal bond (“muni”) is one that is issued by a city or local government, or some similar agency. Munis have an advantage over other investments in that any interest earned on the bond is usually exempt from state and federal income taxes.
99 “__ Burr, Sir”: song in “Hamilton” : AARON
“Hamilton” is a 2015 musical based on the life of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as described in the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. The show opened off-Broadway in February 2015, and transferred to Broadway in August of the same year. Advance ticket sales for the Broadway production were unprecedented, and reportedly amounted to $30 million. The representations of the main characters are decidedly ground-breaking. The show is rooted in hip-hop and the main roles such as Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are all played by African-American and Hispanic actors.
104 *Offenbach output : OPERA MUSIC (opera box & music box)
Jacques Offenbach was a French composer who was born in Germany. Even though he wrote over 100 operettas, Offenbach is perhaps best known for his unfinished opera “The Tales of Hoffman”.
110 Family card game : UNO
In my youth I remember being taught a great card game by a German acquaintance of mine, a game called Mau Mau. Years later I discovered that UNO is basically the same game, but played with a purpose-printed deck instead of the regular deck of playing cards that’s used for Mau Mau. I hear that Mau Mau is derived from the game called Crazy Eights.
111 URL addresses : IPS
An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label assigned to every device on a computer network. The device that you’re using to read this blog post on has been assigned a unique IP address, as has the computer that I’m using to make this post …
113 Subject of a 2021 packet shortage : CATSUP
“Catsup” is an American spelling of “ketchup” that is sometimes used, especially in the south of the country.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a number of shortages around the world. One such shortage was of individual sachets of ketchup. The shift from indoor dining to takeout resulted in a much higher demand for ketchup packets, which were included with many takeout orders.
115 It’s been shortening for over a century : CRISCO
The Crisco brand of shortening was the first to be made entirely from vegetable oil. Although that sounds like a good thing, it’s actually made by hydrogenating vegetable oil so that it has physical properties similar to the animal shortening it was designed to replace. This hydrogenation turns good fats into bad fats, so medical professionals suggest limited intake.
119 “Broken Arrow” co-star : ANSARA
Michael Ansara played the character Cochise in the fifties Western TV series “Broken Arrow”.
123 Marcus partner : NEIMAN
Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband A. L. Neiman, were partners with a tidy profit of $25,000 from a business they had founded. This was 1907 Atlanta, and they were offered the chance to invest in a new company that was just starting to make “sugary soda drinks”, a company called Coca-Cola. The partners declined, instead returning to their home of Dallas and founding a department store they called “Neiman-Marcus”.
125 Vannelli of pop : GINO
Gino Vannelli is a Canadian singer from Montreal, Quebec. Vannelli is apparently very popular in the Netherlands, and divides his time between homes there and in Oregon in the US.
126 NE syst. with 64 campuses : SUNY
The State University of New York (SUNY) is the largest system of third-level colleges and universities in the world, with almost 500,00 students attending over 60 campuses across the state.
127 Bond’s car starter? : ASTON …
Aston Martin is a British car manufacturer founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin. The Aston part of the company name comes from Aston Hill, a famous site for hill-climbing cars that is nearby the original factory. Aston Martin cars are much loved by the British entertainment industry. James Bond was given one in “Goldfinger”, and Michael Caine drove one in the 1969 version of “The Italian Job”. Also, Roger Moore’s character drove a yellow Aston Martin in the seventies television show “The Persuaders!”.
128 Night sch. awards : GEDS
The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a battery of four tests designed to demonstrate that a student has the academic skills of someone who has graduated from an American or Canadian high school.
129 Exxon, formerly : ESSO
The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.
Down
1 Greek salad topper : FETA
Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep and goat’s milk. The cheese is salted and cured in a brine solution for several months before it is eaten.
3 Love letters? : XOXO
In the sequence letter sequence “XOX”, the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. “OOO” is a string of hugs, and “XXX” a string of kisses. Hugs and kisses …
4 Crossword constructor’s job : CLUING
Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now know as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Shuster & Shuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.
8 Overhead storage : ATTIC
An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.
9 Secular : LAICAL
Anything described as laic (or “laical, lay”) is related to the laity, those members of the church who are not clergy. The term “laic” ultimately comes from the Greek “laikos” meaning “of the people”.
10 King known for his wealth : CROESUS
Croesus was the king of Lydia from 560 to 547 BC. He was noted for his fabulous wealth. As a result, the name “Croesus” entered the English language as a synonym for a wealthy man in expressions such as “rich as Croesus” and “richer than Croesus”.
11 John David, to Denzel : SON
John David Washington is an actor and former professional football player. After four years as a running back with the UFL’s Sacramento Mountain Lions, Washington followed in his father’s footsteps and took up acting. John David’s father is Hollywood actor Denzel Washington.
12 Double-dog action? : DARE
The idiomatic phrase “double-dog dare” is very American, and dates back at least to the 1940s. One reference from back then cites the incrementally daring sequence of:
- I dare you
- I dog dare you
- I double-dog dare you
- I black-dog dare you
- I double-black-dog dare you
16 Man with a World : DISNEY
Walt Disney World, located near Orlando in Florida, is the most visited vacation resort in the world. The resort comprises four different theme parks as well as two water parks:
- Magic Kingdom
- Epcot
- Disney’s Hollywood Studios
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon
- Disney’s Blizzard Beach
21 “L.A. Law” actress : DEY
Actress Susan Dey first appeared on “The Partridge Family” when she was 17-years-old when she had no acting experience. Years later, Dey won a Golden Globe for playing the leading role of Grace Van Owen in “L.A. Law”.
“L.A. Law” ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994, and was one of the network’s most successful drama series. It took over from the equally successful “Hill Street Blues” in the Thursday night 10 p.m. slot until, after a six-year run, it was itself replaced by yet another respected drama, “E.R.” The opening credits showed that famous California licence plate. The plate was on a Jaguar XJ for most of the series, but moved onto a Bentley towards the end of the run. For each series the registration sticker was updated, so no laws were being broken.
23 Flintstones time : STONE AGE
Ancient societies can be classified by the “three-age system”, which depends on the prevalence of materials used to make tools. The three ages are:
- The Stone Age
- The Bronze Age
- The Iron Age
The actual dates defined by each age depend on the society, as the timing of the transition from the use of one material to another varied around the globe.
The theme song for the cartoon show “The Flintstones” was found to be the most recognizable children’s TV theme amongst adults in a survey carried out in 2010. The theme is titled “Meet the Flintstones”. By the way, the theme songs for “Top Cat” and “Postman Pat” came in second and third in the survey.
24 Orange soda brand : SUNKIST
Sunkist Growers is a cooperative of citrus growers from California and Arizona that was founded in 1893 as the Southern California Fruit Exchange. The Sunkist name was adopted in 1952, using the highly successful Sunkist brand that the cooperative introduced in 1907.
28 Songwriters’ org. : ASCAP
ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) collects licence fees for musicians and distributes royalties to composers whose works have been performed. BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) provides the same service.
33 Break in the theater : ENTR’ACTE
The term “entr’acte” comes to us from French, and is the interval “entre deux actes” (between two acts) of a theatrical performance. The term often describes some entertainment provided during that interval.
34 Nice turndown : NON
The French city of Nice is on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of the country. Although Nice is only the fifth most populous city in France, it is home to the busiest airport outside of Paris. That’s because of all the tourists flocking to the French Riviera. Something described as “à la niçoise” is “of Nice”.
36 Pioneering DVR : TIVO
TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful digital video recorder (DVR).
38 Plastic __ Band : ONO
The Plastic Ono Band was a so-called “super-group”, brought together by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1969. Members of the group included John and Yoko, Ringo Starr, George Harrison, Eric Clapton and Keith Moon.
40 Webmaster’s code : HTML
The initialism “HTML” stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the language used to write most Internet web pages (including this one).
41 Unlikely GoFundMe donor : MISER
GoFundMe is what is known as a crowdfunding website, and is based in San Diego.
54 Queequeg’s captain : AHAB
Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.
Queequeg is a character in Herman Melville’s classic tale “Moby Dick”. Queequeg is the chief harpooner on the boat. He is also the son of a South Sea chieftain, and a cannibal who is covered in tattoos.
60 Capital NE of Vientiane : HANOI
Hanoi (“Hà Nội” in Vietnamese) was the capital of North Vietnam, and Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi was made capital of the reunified state. Saigon, the larger metropolis, was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is located in the delta of the Red River, and is just over 50 miles from the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea.
Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, and is situated on the famous Mekong River. The city was originally called the “city of sandalwood” by Buddhist monks, naming it after the valued trees that grew in the area. The French took the Pali words for “city of sandalwood” and rewrote it as the French-sounding “Vientiane”.
62 Part of una semana : DIA
In Spanish, an “año” (year) comprises 52 “semanas” (weeks), and a week comprises 7 “dias” (days).
63 Picketing : ON STRIKE
Back in the late 17th century, a picket was a pointed stake used militarily to defend against attacking forces, and charging cavalry in particular. Ultimately, the term “picket” comes from the French verb “piquer” meaning “to pierce”. The term “pickets” then became the name for troops posted in the front lines, watching for the enemy. A picket line is a unit of soldiers lined up as a team of lookouts. The first use of “picket line” in the sense of labor disputes appeared just after the end of WWII.
65 Mil. training site : OCS
Officer candidate school (OCS)
68 Watson who played Hermione : EMMA
Emma Watson is an English actress famous for playing Hermione Granger in the “Harry Potter” series of movies. Watson continued her education while pursuing her acting career and studied at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
71 Rhinitis docs : ENTS
Rhinitis is irritation and inflammation of the mucous membrane inside the nose. Usually, rhinitis is a result of inhalation of allergens such as pollen and pet dander.
80 Uruguay’s Punta del __ : ESTE
Punta del Este is a resort city in southeastern Uruguay that is located about 85 miles east of Montevideo, the nation’s capital.
84 Works on a route : 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”.
85 Wells race of the future : ELOI
In the 1895 novella by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounters 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.
92 Snobbish attitude : AIRS
Back in the 1780s, a snob was a shoemaker or a shoemaker’s apprentice. By the end of the 18th century the word “snob” was being used by students at Cambridge University in England to refer to all local merchants and people of the town. The term evolved to mean one who copies those who are his or her social superior (and not in a good way). From there it wasn’t a big leap for “snob” to include anyone who emphasized their superior social standing and not just those who aspired to rank. Nowadays a snob is anyone who looks down on those considered to be of inferior standing.
95 “When Will __ Loved?”: 1975 hit : I BE
The song “When Will I Be Loved” was written by Phil Everly, and was a hit for the Everly Brothers in 1960. In 1975, Linda Ronstadt released a cover version that was an even bigger hit.
96 Sheet material : PERCALE
Percale is a fabric that is often used to make bedsheets. It has a very high thread count (200+), and can be made from cotton, polyester or perhaps a bland. The original percale fabric was exported from India in the 1800s.
101 Dora the Explorer’s Isa, e.g. : IGUANA
“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.
102 French film festival site : CANNES
Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.
108 Four Holy Roman emperors : OTTOS
The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) existed from 962 to 1806 AD and was a territory of varying size over the centuries that centered on the Kingdom of Germany. The HRE was a successor to the western half of the Ancient Roman Empire.
111 Caspian Sea land : IRAN
The Caspian Sea is a landlocked body of water lying between Asia and Europe. By some definitions, the Caspian is the largest lake on the planet. The name “Caspian” comes from the Caspi people who lived to the southwest of the sea in the South Caucasus.
114 Trident-shaped frat letters : PSIS
Psi is the 23rd and penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet, and the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.
117 Prefix with -zoic : CENO-
The Cenozoic Era (with “Cenozoic” meaning “new life”) is the most recent geologic era, and covers the period from 65.5 million years ago to the present day. The start of the Cenozoic Era is defined as the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction event, the cataclysm that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The mass extinction allowed mammals to diversify and dominate the planet, and so the Cenozoic is also known as the “Age of Mammals”.
118 Serengeti antelope : ORYX
The oryx is a large antelope species, mainly found in Africa but also in the Arabian Peninsula. One species was introduced by man into the White Sands Missile Range. As a result, the oryx is now considered an invasive species in the neighboring White Sands National Monument.
The Serengeti is a region in Africa located in northern Tanzania and southwest Kenya. The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “Endless Plains”.
120 Word in a Latin love poem : AMO
“Amo, amas, amat” translates from Latin as “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”.
121 Cranberry source : BOG
When early European settlers came across red berries growing in the bogs of the northern part of America, they felt that the plant’s flower and stem resembled the head and bill of a crane. As such, they called the plant “craneberry”, which evolved into “cranberry”.
122 Brain and spinal cord, initially : CNS
Central nervous system (CNS)
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Seuss critter in socks : FOX
4 Singer with a Best Actress Oscar : CHER
8 Best-of-seven MLB semifinal : ALCS
12 Put one over on : DUPED
17 Cupid counterpart : EROS
19 Olympics event since 1964 : LUGE
20 Poi source : TARO
21 Aquafina alternative : DASANI
22 *Editorial comment : TEXT SUGGESTION (text box & suggestion box)
25 Builds : ERECTS
26 Rainforest rodent : AGOUTI
27 Channel with a gate : SLUICE
28 Onboard assent : AYE
29 Family tree fill : KIN
30 Last word in a popular drinking game : … PONG
32 Completely wraps : ENCASES
34 “Well done!” : NICE!
35 *Solid piece of security hardware : STRONG LOCK (strongbox & lockbox)
39 *Part of a school kid’s allowance : LUNCH MONEY (lunch box & money box)
42 London driver’s unit : LITRE
43 She’s no pro : ANTI
44 Making a case for : STATING
45 Woman on the Sistine Chapel ceiling : EVE
46 Snowballs in a fight, e.g. : AMMO
48 ’60s protest gp. : SDS
51 Dashboard nos. : RPMS
52 AL West team, in crawl lines : LAA
55 Doctor’s order : DOSAGE
57 Belgian lager, familiarly : STELLA
59 Bethlehem university : LEHIGH
61 Jet Ski rival : SEA-DOO
64 Kaley who played Penny on “The Big Bang Theory” : CUOCO
66 One with dreads : RASTA
67 Church branch : SECT
70 *Online dating coup : TINDER MATCH (tinderbox & matchbox)
73 Govt. accident investigator : NTSB
74 Shrinking retailer : KMART
76 All together : AS ONE
77 Mississippi River explorer : DE SOTO
79 “That was a brutal workout!” : I’M SORE!
81 Solution measures : TITERS
83 Paper-saving party announcements : E-VITES
87 “I guess not” : NAH
88 Space race initials : USSR
90 Pocatello-to-Provo dir. : SSE
91 One in a bust : NARC
93 Raisman with three Olympic gold medals : ALY
94 Advice from a loser? : DIET TIP
97 Local bond, briefly : MUNI
99 “__ Burr, Sir”: song in “Hamilton” : AARON
101 *Tough talk tension easer : ICEBREAKER (icebox & breaker box)
104 *Offenbach output : OPERA MUSIC (opera box & music box)
106 Slack-jawed look : GAPE
107 They might be holy : TERRORS
109 Removed : SHED
110 Family card game : UNO
111 URL addresses : IPS
113 Subject of a 2021 packet shortage : CATSUP
115 It’s been shortening for over a century : CRISCO
119 “Broken Arrow” co-star : ANSARA
121 *Fast talk from the on-deck circle : BATTER’S CHATTER (batter’s box & chatterbox)
123 Marcus partner : NEIMAN
124 It’s not butter : OLEO
125 Vannelli of pop : GINO
126 NE syst. with 64 campuses : SUNY
127 Bond’s car starter? : ASTON …
128 Night sch. awards : GEDS
129 Exxon, formerly : ESSO
130 Shipping supply that links the answers to starred clues : BOX
Down
1 Greek salad topper : FETA
2 Wash. neighbor : OREG
3 Love letters? : XOXO
4 Crossword constructor’s job : CLUING
5 Group __ : HUG
6 They’re beaten in kitchens : EGGS
7 Put back in a seat : REELECT
8 Overhead storage : ATTIC
9 Secular : LAICAL
10 King known for his wealth : CROESUS
11 John David, to Denzel : SON
12 Double-dog action? : DARE
13 Take advantage of : USE
14 *Traveler’s aid : PACKING LIST (packing box & list box)
15 Lure : ENTICE
16 Man with a World : DISNEY
18 Fog : STUPOR
21 “L.A. Law” actress : DEY
23 Flintstones time : STONE AGE
24 Orange soda brand : SUNKIST
28 Songwriters’ org. : ASCAP
31 Glitzy genre : GLAM
33 Break in the theater : ENTR’ACTE
34 Nice turndown : NON
35 Winter transport : SLED
36 Pioneering DVR : TIVO
37 Rd. map lines : RTES
38 Plastic __ Band : ONO
40 Webmaster’s code : HTML
41 Unlikely GoFundMe donor : MISER
47 Deli array : MEAT
49 Orders : DECREES
50 Run-down area : SLUM
53 Movie industry reps: Abbr. : AGTS
54 Queequeg’s captain : AHAB
56 Intro to physics? : ASTRO-
57 “Likewise” : SO DO I
58 Laundry units : LOADS
60 Capital NE of Vientiane : HANOI
62 Part of una semana : DIA
63 Picketing : ON STRIKE
65 Mil. training site : OCS
67 Tattoo canvas : SKIN
68 Watson who played Hermione : EMMA
69 *Bank transaction : CASH DEPOSIT (cash box & deposit box)
71 Rhinitis docs : ENTS
72 Weed killer : HOER
75 More faithful : TRUER
78 Studio picture taker : TV CAMERA
80 Uruguay’s Punta del __ : ESTE
82 Guilty feeling : REMORSE
84 Works on a route : TARS
85 Wells race of the future : ELOI
86 Match in a studio : SYNC
89 Scoreboard figs. : STATS
91 SSW’s opposite : NNE
92 Snobbish attitude : AIRS
95 “When Will __ Loved?”: 1975 hit : I BE
96 Sheet material : PERCALE
98 Sudden spike : UPSURGE
100 Reviews of books : AUDITS
101 Dora the Explorer’s Isa, e.g. : IGUANA
102 French film festival site : CANNES
103 Not for kids, filmwise : R-RATED
105 Cold sound : AHCHOO!
108 Four Holy Roman emperors : OTTOS
111 Caspian Sea land : IRAN
112 Not a good review : PAN
114 Trident-shaped frat letters : PSIS
116 Concert memento : STUB
117 Prefix with -zoic : CENO-
118 Serengeti antelope : ORYX
120 Word in a Latin love poem : AMO
121 Cranberry source : BOG
122 Brain and spinal cord, initially : CNS
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