LA Times Crossword 25 Nov 18, Sunday

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Constructed by: Gail Grabowski
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: For-gone Conclusions

Themed answers are common phrases with the word “FOR” removed, i.e. “GONE”:

  • 27A. Horses’ feeding period? : STALL TIME (from “stall for time”)
  • 29A. Nightly newscaster’s preparation? : REPORT WORK (from “report for work”)
  • 49A. Easter feast, say? : SPRING DINNER (from “spring for dinner”)
  • 63A. “We’re driving around in circles”? : LOST WORDS (from “lost for words”)
  • 84A. Ticket selling for a major golf event? : OPEN BUSINESS (from “open for business”)
  • 101A. Severe dip in contributions during a telethon? : CAUSE ALARM (from “cause for alarm”)
  • 10A4. Hurricane tracker closeup? : EYE DETAIL (from “eye for detail”)
  • 36D. What may accompany hunger pangs? : FOOD THOUGHT (from “food for thought”)
  • 40D. Result of a faulty tab setting? : MARGIN ERROR (from “margin for error”)

Bill’s time: 18m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9. Jeff who started an online bookstore in 1994 : BEZOS

Amazon.com is the largest online retailer in the world. It is also the most largest Internet company in the world by revenue. The company was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos, in his garage in Bellevue, Washington. I’m a big fan of Amazon’s approach to customer service …

19. Free speech org. : ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.

20. New Balance competitor : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

New Balance is a footwear manufacturer based in Boston, Massachusetts.

25. “Silas Marner” girl : EPPIE

“Silas Marner: The Weaver of Raveloe” is a novel written by George Eliot and first published in 1861. There’s an excellent BBC TV version of the tale (shown on PBS) starring Ben Kingsley in the title role, with Patsy Kensit playing Eppie, the young orphaned child that Marner takes under his wing.

26. Penetrating winds : OBOES

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

31. Burpee product : SEED

The Burpee Seeds company was formed in 1876 by Washington Atlee Burpee (what a name!).

32. It has strings attached : APRON

In Old French, a “naperon” was “small table-cloth”. The term was absorbed into English as “napron”, describing a cloth used to cover the front of a person at work. Over time, “a napron” was heard as “an apron”, giving us our contemporary noun “apron”.

33. Fed. financial gp. : OMB

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the successor to the Bureau of the Budget that was formed in 1970 during the Nixon administration. The main task of the OMB is to prepare the budget for the federal government. The Director of the OMB is a member of the Cabinet.

34. Sight in an unfinished attic : RAFTER

Rafters are the beams that slope from the ridge of a roof down to the tops of the supporting walls.

37. Southwest worker : PILOT

Southwest Airlines is the world’s largest low-cost passenger airline. I’ve always admired the Southwest operation and found that the company knows to keep costs under control while maintaining a high level of customer service. One strategy the company used for decades was only to operate Boeing 737 aircraft, which kept maintenance and operating costs to a minimum. Southwest has over 700 Boeing 737s in service, with each plane making about six flights per day.

39. “You may say I’m a __”: Lennon’s “Imagine” : DREAMER

John Lennon’s magnus opus is his song “Imagine”, released in 1971. “Imagine” was quite successful at the time of its release, but sadly, it only became a number one hit after Lennon was murdered in 1980. According to Lennon, the message behind the song is very simple: a world without countries or religion would be a peaceful place. Love that song …

48. House with layers : COOP

The Old English word “cypa”, meaning “basket”, evolved in the 14th century to the word “coop” to describe a small cage for poultry. We still use that word today.

54. River to South Carolina’s Winyah Bay : PEE DEE

The Pee Dee River, which flows through North Carolina and South Carolina, takes its name from the Pee Dee tribe of Native Americans from the southeast of the United States.

55. Genesis matriarch : EVE

The Book of Genesis is the first book in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Some of the main figures in the book are Adam and Eve, Noah, Moses and Abraham. “Genesis” is a Greek word meaning “origin, creation”.

56. “Megastructures” channel, familiarly : NAT GEO

The National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo) is jointly owned by Fox and the National Geographic Society, and was launched in 2001.

60. Govt. agents : T-MEN

A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (T stands for “Treasury”).

62. Museum posting: Abbr. : HRS

Hour (hr.)

68. Anna’s “The Accountant” co-star : BEN

Actor and filmmaker Ben Affleck started his career as a child actor in the PBS show “The Voyage of the Mimi”. His big break came with the release of the the film “Good Will Hunting” which he co-wrote and co-starred in with his childhood friend Matt Damon. Affleck had a relationship with actress and singer Jennifer Lopez, with the celebrity couple often being referred to as “Bennifer” in the media. He was also married for several years to actress Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children.

Anna Kendrick is a marvelous actress whose big break came when she played the sidekick to George Clooney’s character in the very interesting 2009 film “Up in the Air”. Kendrick can sing as well as act, and played a student a cappella singer in the 2012 movie “Pitch Perfect”.

“The Accountant” is a 2016 crime film about a CPA (played by Ben Affleck) with high-functioning autism. The title character specializes in forensic accounting, unmasking individuals who “cook the books”. Believe it or not, “The Accountant” is somewhat of an action movie, although not one I’d recommend …

69. Red Guard member : MAOIST

Red Guards were young paramilitaries who were mobilized by Chairman Mao during the Cultural Revolution in China in the mid-sixties.

72. Lanai neighbor : MAUI

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian islands. It is sometimes called the “Valley Isle” as it is composed of two volcanoes to the northwest and southeast of the island, each with numerous beautiful valleys carved into them.

Lanai is the sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lanai was first spotted by Europeans just a few days after Captain Cook was killed on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1779. In 1922, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company bought the whole island of Lanai and turned most of it into the world’s largest pineapple plantation. Since then, Lanai has been known as “The Pineapple Island”. Today, 98% of the island is owned by Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, and 2% is owned by the State of Hawaii.

77. Enemy of Mr. Bill, in old “SNL” skits : SLUGGO

Mr. Bill is a clay figure who appeared in shorts broadcast on “Saturday Night Live”. During each episode, Mr. Bill inevitably falls foul of either a clay character called Sluggo or live character called “Mr. Hands”. Mr. Bill first featured in a Super-8 reel that was shot by filmmaker Walter Williams and submitted to the show. Williams went on to become a full-time writer for the show.

79. “Once Is Not Enough” author : SUSANN

Jacqueline Susann was a writer and actress. Her most famous written work is the 1966 novel “Valley of the Dolls”, which has been a huge commercial success. Her next two books were “The Love Machine” and “Once is Not Enough”, both of which also became #1 novels on “The New York Times” Best Seller List. In fact, Susann became the first author to have three consecutive novels that top that coveted list.

82. Nicki Minaj genre : RAP

Nicki Minaj is a rapper from Queens, New York who was born in Trinidad.

84. Ticket selling for a major golf event? : OPEN BUSINESS (from “open for business”)

The four major golf competitions in men’s golf are:

  • the Masters Tournament
  • the US Open
  • the Open Championship (aka “the British Open”)
  • the PGA Championship

87. Puff pastry cheese : BRIE

Brie is a soft cheese that is named for the French region in which it originated. Brie is similar to the equally famous (and delicious) Camembert.

88. Publisher Adolph : OCHS

Adolph Ochs was a former owner of “The New York Times”. Ochs had purchased a controlling interest in “The Chattanooga Times” when he was only 19 years of age, and took control of “The New York Times” in 1896 when he was 38 years old. Soon after taking charge, Ochs coined the paper’s slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print”. It was also Ochs who moved the paper’s headquarters to a new building on Longacre Square in Manhattan, which the city later renamed to the famous “Times Square” after the newspaper. Och’s son-in-law Arthur Hays Sulzberger took over control of “The New York Times” after Adolph died. The Ochs Sulzberger family has owned the paper ever since.

90. Iconic 60-Across boss : NESS
(60A. Govt. agents : T-MEN)

Eliot Ness was the Treasury agent charged with the task of bringing down the notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. When Ness took on the job in 1930, Chicago law-enforcement agents were renowned for being corrupt, for being on the take. Ness handpicked 50 prohibition agents who he thought he could rely on, later reducing the group to a cadre of 15 and ultimately just 11 trusted men. That group of 11 earned the nickname “The Untouchables”, the agents who couldn’t be bought.

95. Historic caravel : PINTA

Famously, Christopher Columbus used three ships in his first voyage across the Atlantic: the Santa Maria, the Niña and the Pinta. The Pinta was the fastest of the three, and it was from the Pinta that the New World was first spotted, by a sailor named Rodrigo de Triana who was a lookout on the fateful day. Pinta was a nickname for the ship that translated as “the painted one”. The Pinta’s real name has been lost in mists of time.

A caravel was a ship of Portuguese origin that was small and very maneuverable. Caravels had triangular lateen-rigged sails which allowed them to sail quite close to the wind. Caravels were indeed quite small, only accommodating a crew of twenty or so sailors. Christopher Columbus’ Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria were all caravels.

97. Escape : LAM

To be on the lam is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

101. Severe dip in contributions during a telethon? : CAUSE ALARM (from “cause for alarm”)

The world’s first telethon was took place in 1949. It was a 16-hour fundraiser hosted by Milton Berle that raised over a million dollars for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The term “telethon”, a portmanteau of “television” and “marathon”, was coined in the news media the day after the event.

104. Hurricane tracker closeup? : EYE DETAIL (from “eye for detail”)

A severe tropical storm is called a hurricane when it occurs in the Atlantic and Northeast Pacific, a typhoon in the Northwest Pacific, and a cyclone in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean. Tropical storms form over warm water, picking up energy from the evaporation from the ocean surface.

110. Italy’s “Supreme Poet” : DANTE

Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet famous for writing his “Divine Comedy”, is known in his native Italy as “the Supreme Poet” (il Sommo Poeta), or simply “il Poeta”.

111. Twitter’s bird, e.g. : LOGO

The familiar blue Twitter logo is known as “Larry the Bird”. The logo was named for former Boston Celtics player Larry Bird.

112. Belgian capital : EURO

The Euro is the official currency of most of the states in the European Union, but not all. The list of EU states not using the Euro includes the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

114. Actress MacDowell : ANDIE

Andie MacDowell is an American actress who seems to turn up in quite a few British productions set in that part of the world. Most famously she was the love interest in the fabulous film “Four Weddings and a Funeral” starring opposite Hugh Grant. I also enjoyed another of her movies, “Groundhog Day”, which is a fun tale set back here in the US.

115. Aviation pioneer Sikorsky : IGOR

Igor Sikorsky was a Russian pioneer in the world of aviation. He designed and indeed piloted the world’s first multi-engine, fixed-wing aircraft in 1913. He moved to the US in 1919 and set up his own aircraft manufacturing business. In the thirties he made the magnificent flying boats that were used by Pan Am in their Clipper era. Sikorsky also developed the world’s first mass-produced helicopter, in 1942.

116. Bond was kicked out of it : ETON

The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders including David Cameron who was British prime minister from 2010 to 2016. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington and George Orwell. Author Ian Fleming was also and Eton alumnus, as was Fleming’s iconic character James Bond, although the 007 was expelled by the school.

120. Number with words : SONG

Apparently, the use of the term “number” to mean “song” dates back to the days of vaudeville. Back then, acts were listed in the program and marked with a number. Somehow, the term “number” came to be more closely associated with songs performed during the show.

Down

2. “Rhyme Pays” rapper : ICE-T

“Rhyme Pays” is a 1987 album released by musician Ice-T. It was the rapper’s first studio album, and is considered in retrospect to be perhaps the album that defined the genre now known as “gangsta rap”.

3. Pet peeve? : FLEA

Fleas are flightless insects, but they sure can jump. Their very specialized hind legs allow them to jump up to 50 times the length of their bodies.

4. Period, to British grammarians : FULL STOP

The punctuation mark used to terminate a sentence is called a “period” in American English, and a “full stop” in British English. The same punctuation mark has no symbol in Morse code, so the word STOP is used instead in telegraphy.

7. Hemsworth of “The Hunger Games” : LIAM

Liam Hemsworth is an Australian actor who is best known these days for playing Gale Hawthorne in “The Hunger Games” series of films. Hemsworth met Miley Cyrus while working on the movie “The Last Song”, and the two actors were engaged for a while. Liam is a younger brother of actor Chris Hemsworth, who plays the superhero “Thor” on the big screen.

9. Pub game with balls : BEER 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 in while the Lebanese Civil War was raging in late seventies and the eighties.

11. Youngest Marx brother : ZEPPO

“Zeppo” was the stage name of Herbert, the youngest of the five Marx Brothers. Although Zeppo appeared in the first five Marx Brothers movies, always playing the straight man and the romantic lead. After he quit acting, Zeppo owned a company called Marman Products, and developed what’s known today as the Marman Clamp. Marman clamps were used to secure the first atomic bombs used by the US military. They are still used today in spaceflight systems.

12. Mythical hunter : ORION

According to Greek mythology, Orion was a giant hunter who was placed in the night sky by Zeus, the king of the gods. Orion is very recognizable as a constellation, especially with the three bright stars known as “Orion’s Belt”. Additionally, the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is said to be Orion’s hunting dog, and this star sits at Orion’s “foot”.

13. Team backer? : -STER

Originally, a teamster was a person who drove a team of animals that pulled a wagon. Over time, “teamster” became a synonym for “truck driver”. The term became more prevalent as the trade union called the International Brotherhood of Teamsters grew in importance during the Depression.

15. Droopy-shaped purse : HOBO BAG

A hobo bag is rather unstructured-looking, a crescent-shaped bag with a long strap and soft sides that tends to slump when set down. It’s called a hobo bag because the shape resembles that of the bundle carried by archetypal hobos on the ends of sticks resting on their shoulders.

16. Bow-toting god : AMOR

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”).

18. Serious extreme? : ESS

There is a letter S (ess) at either end (extreme) of the word “serious”.

28. Garlic relative : LEEK

The leek is a vegetable closely related to the onion and the garlic. It is also a national emblem of Wales (along with the daffodil), although I don’t think we know for sure how this came to be. One story is that the Welsh were ordered to wear leeks in their helmets to identify themselves in a battle against the Saxons. Apparently, the battle took place in a field of leeks.

34. Info-gathering mission : RECON

A reconnaissance is a preliminary survey carried out to gather information. The term “reconnaissance” came into English in the early 19th century from French, from which language it translates literally as “recognition”.

35. Quarters : ABODE

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

37. Bud on a drive : PARD

That would be a cattle drive.

38. First name in ’70s tennis : ILIE

I think that Ilie Nastase was the most entertaining tennis player of the 1970s, the days of Jimmy Connors, Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. No matter how much pressure there was in a match, Nastase always had time to give the crowd a laugh. After retiring from the sport, he had a few novels published (in French) during the eighties. Then Nastase went into politics, making an unsuccessful run for the mayorship of Bucharest in 1996. He made a successful run for the Hungarian Senate though, and has been a senator since May 2014.

40. Result of a faulty tab setting? : MARGIN ERROR (from “margin for error”)

Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the spacebar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

41. Pentathlon gear : EPEES

The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the “modern pentathlon”. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:

  1. pistol shooting
  2. épée fencing
  3. 200m freestyle swimming
  4. show jumping
  5. 3km cross-country running

45. Salvage crew member : DIVER

Salvage is property saved from destruction, and more particularly property such as a ship or its cargo. The term “salvage” comes from the Old French verb “salver” meaning “to save”.

49. Pommes frites condiment : SEL

In French, one might put “sel” (salt) on “pommes frites” (French fries).

French fries are called “chips” back in Ireland where I grew up. And what we call “chips” in the US are known as “crisps” in Britain and Ireland. In France, French fries are known as “pommes frites” (fried potatoes).

51. Maker of Wayfarer sunglasses : RAY-BAN

Ray-Ban sunglasses were introduced in 1937 for the US Army Air Corps. The Ray-Ban Aviator model of glasses became very popular with the pilots, and apparently with General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur was wearing a pair when he was photographed “returning” to the Philippines in WWII.

54. Turn a Monopoly corner : PASS GO

The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman called Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

57. Used Charmin for shenanigans, for short : TP’ED

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

Charmin is a brand of toilet paper made by Procter & Gamble.

I suppose one might be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term, as it certainly sounds Irish. Usually written in the plural, shenanigans are acts of mischief, pranks. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, but was coined in San Francisco and Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.

59. Sea cell : BRIG

A brig is a two-masted sailing vessel, with the name “brig” coming from the related vessel known as a brigantine. Brigs and brigantines are both two-masted, but there is a difference in the sails used. It was the use of retired brigs as prison ships that led to use of “brig” as the word for a jail or prison cell on a seagoing vessel.

65. Former Swedish imports : SAABS

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. A Chinese consortium purchased the assets of SAAB Automotive in 2012, and so SAAB vehicles are in production again. The new vehicles are using the SAAB name, but cannot use the SAAB griffin logo, the rights to which have been retained by the mother company.

66. Bolshoi outfit : TUTU

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

The Bolshoi Ballet company is based in Moscow, Russia. The Bolshoi company has over 200 dancers, making it by far the biggest ballet company in the world. I have very fond memories of attending a performance in the beautiful Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia in the late nineties …

67. Part of 1/2 : SLASH

The punctuation mark “/” has been around for a long time, and has been known by several names including “oblique”, “stroke” and “virgule”. The name “slash” is relatively knew, arising in the very early 1960s and gaining popularity with the proliferation of computers.

69. Passé PC system : MS-DOS

MS-DOS (short for “Microsoft Disk Operating System”) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties.

70. “Off with her head!” head owner : ALICE

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, towards the end of the story Alice finds herself a witness in a trial in front of the King and Queen of Hearts. Alice becomes somewhat obstreperous during the proceedings and earns the celebrated rebuke from the Queen, “Off with her head!” Alice stands her ground and simply retorts, “You’re nothing but a pack of cards!”

74. USCG rank : ENS

Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.

The US Coast Guard (USCG) has the distinction of being the country’s oldest continuous seagoing service. The USCG was founded as the Revenue Cutter Service by Alexander Hamilton in 1790.

79. City near Pisa : SIENA

Siena is a beautiful city in the Tuscany region of Italy. In the center of Siena is the magnificent medieval square called Piazza del Campo, a paved sloping open area made up of nine triangular sections. The square has to be seen to be believed. Twice a year, the famous bareback horse-race called the Palio di Siena is held in the Piazza.

The city of Pisa is right on the Italian coast, sitting at the mouth of the River Arno, and is famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

81. Arcade giant : SEGA

Sega is a Japanese video game company headquartered in Tokyo. Sega actually started out 1940 in the US as Standard Games and was located in Honolulu, Hawaii. The owners moved the operation to Tokyo in 1951 and renamed the company to Service Games. The name “Sega” is a combination of the first two letters of the words “Se-rvice” and “Ga-mes”.

87. Challenging golf hole starting points : BLUE TEES

Most golf courses have three sets of tee markers, each with different yardages. In casual play of the game, anyone can play from any set of tees. That said, there is a common designation that describes the group of players who often tee off from each tee markers, but these designations are somewhat outdated:

  • The back tees, blue tees, championship tees
  • The middle tees, white tees, mens’ tees
  • The forward tees, red tees, women’s tees

95. “The Merchant of Venice” heroine : PORTIA

In William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, Portia is the formidable heroine who takes on the guise of a male lawyer and calls herself “Balthasar”. Portia does this to save the life of Antonio, the play’s title character. Portia makes a famous speech that gives us the oft-quoted phrase, “the quality of mercy” …

The quality of mercy is not strain’d,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes…

96. Some exposed-beam homes : TUDORS

Anyone wanting to see a lot of example of magnificent buildings in the Tudor style of architecture might consider a visit to the English university towns of Oxford and Cambridge.

98. Actress De La Garza : ALANA

Alana De La Garza is an actress from Columbus, Ohio. De La Garza is perhaps best known for her recurring role as Connie Rubirosa on television’s “Law & Order”.

99. Scientific dept. : R AND D

Research and development (R&D)

100. Blocks often disassembled and reassembled : LEGOS

Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

101. Trevi toss-in : COIN

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The tradition is that if one throws a coin in the fountain then one is guaranteed a return visit to the city. Tourists throw in an amazing 3,000 euros (over $4,000) every day. The money is collected and is used to stock a supermarket for the needy of the city.

102. Polly, to Tom : AUNT

Mark Twain’s famous character Tom Sawyer had several family members. He had an Aunt Polly, an Aunt Sally Phelps, a cousin Mary and half-brother Sid.

103. Sistine Chapel ceiling figure : ADAM

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.

104. Bulldog supporters : ELIS

The Yale Bulldogs are the athletic teams of Yale University. The Yale school mascot is “Handsome Dan”, the Yale bulldog. The Bulldogs’ logo features a bulldog in front of a letter Y.

105. Discipline with poses : YOGA

“Asana” is a Sanskrit word literally meaning “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

109. J.E.B. Stuart’s side : CSA

General Jeb Stuart fought with the Confederate States Army (CSA) during the Civil War. The nickname “Jeb” was formed from the initials of Stuart’s full name: James Ewell Brown Stuart.

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1. Minor dustup : TIFF
5. Ladder danger : FALL
9. Jeff who started an online bookstore in 1994 : BEZOS
14. Give form to : SHAPE
19. Free speech org. : ACLU
20. New Balance competitor : AVIA
21. Put on, as pressure : EXERT
22. Development units : HOMES
23. React to too much sun, perhaps : PEEL
24. Overcharge : SOAK
25. “Silas Marner” girl : EPPIE
26. Penetrating winds : OBOES
27. Horses’ feeding period? : STALL TIME (from “stall for time”)
29. Nightly newscaster’s preparation? : REPORT WORK (from “report for work”)
31. Burpee product : SEED
32. It has strings attached : APRON
33. Fed. financial gp. : OMB
34. Sight in an unfinished attic : RAFTER
37. Southwest worker : PILOT
39. “You may say I’m a __”: Lennon’s “Imagine” : DREAMER
43. Waiting room read : E-BOOK
44. Where dos are done : SALON
45. Dire prophecy : DOOM
47. Hang open : GAPE
48. House with layers : COOP
49. Easter feast, say? : SPRING DINNER (from “spring for dinner”)
52. One in a workout count : REP
53. Unexpected : ODD
54. River to South Carolina’s Winyah Bay : PEE DEE
55. Genesis matriarch : EVE
56. “Megastructures” channel, familiarly : NAT GEO
58. Tennis surprise : NET BALL
60. Govt. agents : T-MEN
61. Document preparer : TYPIST
62. Museum posting: Abbr. : HRS
63. “We’re driving around in circles”? : LOST WORDS (from “lost for words”)
68. Anna’s “The Accountant” co-star : BEN
69. Red Guard member : MAOIST
72. Lanai neighbor : MAUI
73. Tour guides, e.g. : LEADERS
77. Enemy of Mr. Bill, in old “SNL” skits : SLUGGO
78. Start a course : EAT
79. “Once Is Not Enough” author : SUSANN
82. Nicki Minaj genre : RAP
83. Unkind remark : DIG
84. Ticket selling for a major golf event? : OPEN BUSINESS (from “open for business”)
87. Puff pastry cheese : BRIE
88. Publisher Adolph : OCHS
90. Iconic 60-Across boss : NESS
91. Consider with care : WEIGH
92. Around the corner : CLOSE
93. Predetermined steps : SET PLAN
95. Historic caravel : PINTA
96. Took in the sights : TOURED
97. Escape : LAM
98. Something in the air : AROMA
100. 98-Across, often : LURE
101. Severe dip in contributions during a telethon? : CAUSE ALARM (from “cause for alarm”)
104. Hurricane tracker closeup? : EYE DETAIL (from “eye for detail”)
109. Case place : COURT
110. Italy’s “Supreme Poet” : DANTE
111. Twitter’s bird, e.g. : LOGO
112. Belgian capital : EURO
113. Scorch slightly : SINGE
114. Actress MacDowell : ANDIE
115. Aviation pioneer Sikorsky : IGOR
116. Bond was kicked out of it : ETON
117. Entered into a deal : ANTED
118. Cross with : MAD AT
119. Fresh answers : SASS
120. Number with words : SONG

Down

1. Brewpub array : TAPS
2. “Rhyme Pays” rapper : ICE-T
3. Pet peeve? : FLEA
4. Period, to British grammarians : FULL STOP
5. “Hurry it up!” : FASTER!
6. Bypass : AVOID
7. Hemsworth of “The Hunger Games” : LIAM
8. Common camp site : LAKE
9. Pub game with balls : BEER PONG
10. Whiz : EXPERT
11. Youngest Marx brother : ZEPPO
12. Mythical hunter : ORION
13. Team backer? : -STER
14. Skeptic’s demand : SHOW ME!
15. Droopy-shaped purse : HOBO BAG
16. Bow-toting god : AMOR
17. Cheat, in a way : PEEK
18. Serious extreme? : ESS
28. Garlic relative : LEEK
30. Agony : TORMENT
32. Without peer : ALONE
34. Info-gathering mission : RECON
35. Quarters : ABODE
36. What may accompany hunger pangs? : FOOD THOUGHT (from “food for thought”)
37. Bud on a drive : PARD
38. First name in ’70s tennis : ILIE
39. Slip into : DON
40. Result of a faulty tab setting? : MARGIN ERROR (from “margin for error”)
41. Pentathlon gear : EPEES
42. Provide more room for growth : REPOT
44. While : SPELL
45. Salvage crew member : DIVER
46. Upright : ON END
49. Pommes frites condiment : SEL
50. How-to lesson : DEMO
51. Maker of Wayfarer sunglasses : RAY-BAN
54. Turn a Monopoly corner : PASS GO
57. Used Charmin for shenanigans, for short : TP’ED
59. Sea cell : BRIG
60. Bi- equivalent : TWI-
64. What diviners interpret : OMENS
65. Former Swedish imports : SAABS
66. Bolshoi outfit : TUTU
67. Part of 1/2 : SLASH
69. Passé PC system : MS-DOS
70. “Off with her head!” head owner : ALICE
71. Star that’s a draw : TOP NAME
74. USCG rank : ENS
75. It’s often merit-based : RAISE
76. Ticket number you don’t want to see : SPEED
79. City near Pisa : SIENA
80. Blood bank quantity : UNIT
81. Arcade giant : SEGA
85. Bard’s bedtime : E’EN
86. Competition in lanes : SWIM MEET
87. Challenging golf hole starting points : BLUE TEES
89. Blow the budget : SPLURGE
92. Center : CORE
94. Hung in there : LASTED
95. “The Merchant of Venice” heroine : PORTIA
96. Some exposed-beam homes : TUDORS
98. Actress de la Garza : ALANA
99. Scientific dept. : R AND D
100. Blocks often disassembled and reassembled : LEGOS
101. Trevi toss-in : COIN
102. Polly, to Tom : AUNT
103. Sistine Chapel ceiling figure : ADAM
104. Bulldog supporters : ELIS
105. Discipline with poses : YOGA
106. Lot purchase : AUTO
107. Resolve, with “out” : IRON
108. Dull, maybe : LONG
109. J.E.B. Stuart’s side : CSA

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