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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Theme: Can You Digit?
Themed answers include circled letters that are used to spell out NUMBERS one through nine. But, the order of those letters has been MIXED up:
- 104A 5½ and 8¾, e.g. … and a hint to this puzzle’s circles : MIXED NUMBERS
- 21A Unite in a common cause : DRAW TOGETHER (hiding mixed “two”)
- 26A Unobstructed view : LINE OF SIGHT (hiding mixed “one”)
- 35A Place to find a hack : TAXI STAND (hiding mixed “six”)
- 46A Post-Civil War economic growth period : THE GILDED AGE (hiding mixed “eight”)
- 62A Fortuitous : HEAVEN-SENT (hiding mixed “seven”)
- 64A On a lark : JUST FOR FUN (hiding mixed “four”)
- 74A With no time to spare : UNDER THE WIRE (hiding mixed “three”)
- 90A Front door, usually : MAIN ENTRY (hiding mixed “nine”)
- 95A What “I don’t wanna” do, in a Zayn/Taylor Swift hit : LIVE FOREVER (hiding mixed “five”)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 17m 27s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Prepared for a selfie : SMILED
A selfie is a self-portrait, one usually taken with a digital camera or cell phone. A “group selfie” is sometimes referred to as a “groufie” or “wefie”. A “couple selfie” is known as an “usie” or “ussie”, although those terms are sometimes also used for a group picture.
7 Pizzeria chain, familiarly : UNO’S
The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Chicago Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.
11 Grey Cup gp. : CFL
The Grey Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the championship team in the Canadian Football League (CFL). The trophy is named for Earl Grey, the ex-governor general of Canada who commissioned the award. Grey had intended that the award be given annually to the country’s senior amateur hockey team, but Sir Montagu Allan beat him to the punch and the Allan Cup has been used for that purpose ever since. And so instead, the Grey Cup went to the sport of football.
14 ER figures : DRS
A doctor (dr.) might be found in an emergency room (ER).
18 Rowling teacher : SNAPE
Severus Snape is a character in the “Harry Potter” novels by J. K. Rowling. He was played by the wonderful Alan Rickman on the big screen.
The author of the amazingly successful “Harry Potter” series of books is J. K. Rowling. Rowling wrote the first book when she was living on welfare in Edinburgh in Scotland, and in longhand. She would often write in local cafes, largely because she needed to get her baby daughter out of the house (she was a single mom), and the youngster would tend to fall asleep on walks. Within five years, the single mom on welfare became a very rich woman, and is now worth about $1 billion!
20 Silk on the Seine : SOIE
The Seine is the river that flows through Paris. The Seine empties into the English Channel to the north, at the port city of Le Havre.
23 Extinct bird : MOA
Moa were flightless birds native to New Zealand that are now extinct. The fate of the Moa is a great example of the detrimental effect that humans can have on animal populations. The Maoris arrived in New Zealand about 1300 AD, upsetting the balance of the ecosystem. The Moa were hunted to extinction within 200 years, which had the knock-on effect of killing off the Haast’s Eagle, the Moa’s only predator prior to the arrival of man. Moa were huge creatures, measuring up to 12 feet tall with their necks stretched upwards.
24 Duds : 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.
25 Official fuel of NASCAR since 2004 : SUNOCO
Back in the late 1800s, Sunoco was known as the Sun Oil Company, hence “Sun-o-co”.
32 Mustard, e.g.: Abbr. : COL
Colonel Mustard is one of the suspects in the board game “Clue”.
33 Bruins legend : ORR
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. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
The Boston Bruins professional ice hockey team goes way back, and has been in existence since 1924. The National Hockey League back then was a Canadian-only league, but was expanded to include the US in 1923. The Bruins were the first US-team in the expanded league.
35 Place to find a hack : TAXI STAND (hiding mixed “six”)
Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave its name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”, and then “stale, uninteresting”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxi driver or cab.
40 Problem for the weary : NO REST
The expression “no peace for the wicked” comes from the Bible, and reflects the sentiment that the eternal torment of Hell is all that awaits a sinner. Over time, the exact wording of the phrase evolved into “no rest for the wicked” and “no rest for the weary”.
42 Nods from NASA : A-OKS
Our term “A-OK” is supposedly an abbreviation for “A(ll systems are) OK”, and arose at NASA in the sixties during the space program.
43 Loner of a fish? : SOLE
The group of flatfish known as soles take their name from “solea”, the Latin word for “sandal”. And, they do kind of have that shape.
44 Prospecting tool : PAN
When prospectors pan for gold, they do so by mixing soil and water in a pan. Because gold is very dense, gravel and soil can be washed over the side of the pan leaving the heavy precious metal at the bottom. The gold has been “panned out”, and so we often use “pan out” figuratively to mean “turn out, succeed”.
45 Laryngitis docs : ENTS
Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)
The suffix “-itis” is used to denote inflammation, as in laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx), otitis (inflammation of the ear), tendinitis (inflammation of a tendon), tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) and sinusitis (inflammation of the sinuses).
46 Post-Civil War economic growth period : THE GILDED AGE (hiding mixed “eight”)
“The Gilded Age” was a phrase coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in a book they wrote together. It describes the period of growth in the economy and the population following the Civil War. One of the men to profit during this time of expansion was Diamond Jim Brady. Brady started out as a bellboy and messenger, but at a young age made his fortune. He was known for having a big appetite for jewels (hence the moniker “Diamond Jim”), as well as a huge appetite for food. One restaurateur described him as “the best 25 customers I ever had”.
51 Food service trade org. : NRA
The National Restaurant Association (NRA) was founded in 1919. Perhaps the most famous name associated with the association is Herman Cain. Cain ran for US president in 2011, with his 9-9-9 tax plan at the center of his platform.
52 Midsummer arrivals : LEOS
Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.
53 Vintage autos : REOS
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale and the REO Flying Cloud.
60 Lord’s domain : FIEF
Feudalism was a legal and military system that flourished in medieval Europe. Central to the system were the concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs. Lords would grant fiefs (land or rights) to vassals in exchange for allegiance and service.
61 Audi’s rings, e.g. : LOGO
The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.
66 Co-star with Goldie, Ruth, Henry, et al. : ARTE
Arte Johnson, as well being a frequent judge on “The Gong Show”, played the German soldier on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. Johnson’s character’s famous catchphrase was, “Very interesting, but …”
“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” was originally recorded as a one-off special for NBC in 1967, but it was so successful that it was brought back as a series to replace the waning spy show “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Personally, back then I loved both shows!
67 Courtroom attention-getter : OYEZ!
“Oyez” is an Anglo-French word, traditionally called out three times, with the meaning “hear ye!”
68 Reference volumes : TOMES
“Tome” first came into English from the Latin “tomus” which means “section of a book”. The original usage in English was for a single volume in a multi-volume work. By the late 16th century, “tome” had come to mean “large book”.
70 Toon bartender : MOE
The regulars on “The Simpsons” hang out at Moe’s Tavern, which is named for and run by Moe Szyslak. The most popular beer at Moe’s is Duff Beer. The name “Duff” is a reference to the real-life Duffy’s Tavern that used to be East 13th Street in Eugene, Oregon. “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening used to frequent Duffy’s regularly, and Moe’s looks very much like Duffy’s in terms of decor and floor plan.
73 Phishing target, briefly : SSN
Social Security number (SSN)
Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PIN numbers etc.”
77 Nero’s 902 : CMII
Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and he had quite the family life. When he was just 16-years-old Nero married his step-sister Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.
79 Six-pack muscles : ABS
The abdominal muscles (abs) are more correctly referred to as the rectus abdominis muscles. They might be referred to as a “six-pack” or even ten-pack” in a person who has developed the muscles and who has low body fat. In my case, more like a keg …
82 “__ Walked Into My Life”: “Mame” song : IF HE
The musical “Mame” opened on Broadway in 1966, with Angela Lansbury in the title role. The musical is based on the 1955 novel “Auntie Mame” written by Patrick Dennis.
83 Love interest of 58-Down : EROS
(58 Love interest of 83-Across : PSYCHE)
In the myth of Cupid (aka “Eros”) and Psyche, the two title characters must overcome many obstacles to fulfill their love for each other. Overcome them they do, and the pair marry and enjoy immortal love.
84 Liability : HANDICAP
The noun “handicap”, an advantage or disadvantage in a competition, comes from the phrase “hand-in-cap”, which was the name of an Old English trading game. In the game, two players agree to trade two possessions. The players and a referee all put some forfeit money into a cap, forming a kitty that can be won. The referee determines the value of the items and declares any difference in worth, an amount that has to added by the owner of the lower-valued item so that the trade is “equal”. The players then put their hands into their pockets and draw out a token coin(s) at the same time, signalling that they agree with the valuation given. If agreement is reached, the referee collects the forfeit as a “fee” and the items are exchanged. If neither player agrees with the valuation they withdraw empty hands from their pockets, then the referee collects the fee and no exchange is made. If only one player agrees to the exchange, then that player collects the forfeit, and again no exchange is made.
86 Aussie leaf munchers : KOALAS
The koala bear really does look like a little bear, but it’s not even closely related. The koala is an arboreal marsupial and a herbivore, native to the east and south coasts of Australia. Koalas aren’t primates, and are one of the few mammals other than primates who have fingerprints. In fact, it can be very difficult to tell human fingerprints from koala fingerprints, even under an electron microscope. Male koalas are called “bucks”, females are “does”, and young koalas are “joeys”. I’m a little jealous of the koala, as it sleeps up to 20 hours a day …
92 Banned bug spray : DDT
DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.
93 Fla. NBA team : ORL
The Orlando Magic were formed in 1989 as an NBA expansion team. A local paper was asked to run a competition to suggest names for the new team and the community came up with its four top picks of “Heat”, “Tropics”, “Juice” and “Magic”. A committee then opted for “Orlando Magic”. A good choice I think …
94 Barcelona bears : OSOS
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain, after the capital Madrid. Barcelona is the largest European city that sits on the Mediterranean coast. It is also the capital city of the autonomous community of Catalonia.
95 What “I don’t wanna” do, in a Zayn/Taylor Swift hit : LIVE FOREVER (hiding mixed “five”)
Zayn Malik is singer from Yorkshire in the north of England who found fame with the boy band One Direction. Malik quit the band in 2015 to launch a solo career. A year later, Malik became the first male artist to hit the number-one spot in both the UK and US charts with both a debut single (“Pillowtalk”) and a debut album (“Mind of Mine”).
Singer Taylor Swift had one of her first gigs at the US Open tennis tournament when she was in her early teens. There she sang the national anthem and received a lot of favorable attention for the performance.
103 __ Today: magazine for teachers : NEA
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.
104 5½ and 8¾, e.g. … and a hint to this puzzle’s circles : MIXED NUMBERS
A mixed number is one that includes a whole number and a fraction, e.g. 5½ and 8¾.
109 RSVP cards, say : ENCS
Enclosure (enc.)
“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.
111 “Come-faithful” filler : … ALL YE …
The lovely Christmas hymn “Adeste Fideles” (entitled “O Come, All Ye Faithful” in English) was written by one John Francis Wade in the 13th century. Well, he wrote the original four verses, with four more verses being added over time. A kind blog reader pointed out to me that the English translation is in fact a little “off”. The term “adeste” best translates from Latin as “be present, attend”, rather that “come”. The verb “come” appears later in the lyrics in “venite adoremus”, meaning “come, let us worship”.
112 Clavell’s “Shogun” sequel : TAI-PAN
“Tai-Pan” is a novel by James Clavell, and the second in his famous “Asian Saga” suite of six titles. The six books are:
- “King Rat”
- “Tai-Pan”
- “Shōgun”
- “Noble House”
- “Whirlwind”
- “Gai-Jin”
114 People fixers: Abbr. : EDS
There used to be a “People” page in each issue of “Time” magazine. This page was spun-off in 1974 as a publication of its own, which we now call “People” magazine. “People” is noted for its annual special editions with features such as “Best & Worst Dressed” and “Sexiest Man Alive”. The “Sexiest Man Alive” edition now appears at the end of November each year. The first choice for “Sexiest Man” was Mel Gibson, in 1985.
115 TV’s “New Girl” : JESS
Zooey Deschanel is an actress and singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. Zooey is the younger sister of Emily Deschanel who plays the title role on the TV show “Bones”. Now Zooey is playing Jess Day, the lead character on the sitcom “New Girl”. In the world of music, Zooey teams up with “M” Ward in the duo that goes by the name “She & Him”.
Down
1 Hangdog : SAD
“Hangdog” is an adjective that can mean shamefaced and guilty, or downcast and intimidated. The word derives from the concept of a lowlife (a “dog”) that is only fit for “hanging”.
2 Cousteau’s sea : MER
Jacques-Yves Cousteau started off his career in the French Navy, aiming for a working life in aviation. Because of a car accident, Cousteau had to abandon his first career choice and instead went to sea. Famously, he co-invented the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA), also called the aqua-lung.
3 Nest egg letters : IRA
Individual retirement account (IRA)
5 Words from Caesar : ET TU
It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (meaning “And you, Brutus?”). They appear in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life (if anything at all) as he was assassinated on on the steps of the Senate in Rome.
6 Cole of “Angie Tribeca” : DEON
Deon Cole is an actor and comedian who worked as a writer with Conan O’Brien, and played Detective DJ Tanner on “Angie Tribeca”.
“Angie Tribeca” is a sitcom created by Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Walls Carell. The title role is an LAPD police detective played by actress Rashida Jones.
9 GM subsidiary until 2017 : OPEL
Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.
10 LPGA star Pak in the World Golf Hall of Fame : SE-RI
Se-Ri Pak is a South Korean golfer playing on the LPGA tour. Having a Korean name, we really should be calling her Pak Se-Ri as she is known in her homeland. Korean names always start with the family name.
14 Dr. Howser of ’80s-’90s TV : DOOGIE
“Doogie Howser, M.D.” is the TV show that gave Neil Patrick Harris his big break. Harris played a teenager who worked as a physician.
16 Largish combo : SESTET
A sestet is a group of six lines of poetry. It is similar to a quatrain, a group of four lines.
20 Word in an iconic cocktail order : STIRRED
Why have a vodka martini shaken and not stirred (as does James Bond, 007)? Well, for one thing the shaken drink tends to be colder. And with more melted ice in the drink, it isn’t as strong. These are my personal observations. No need to write in …
27 Asian menu promise : NO MSG
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring,non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …
28 Inedible wraps : STOLES
A stole is a narrow shawl. It can be made of quite light decorative material, but also can be heavier if made of fur.
29 ‘Vette roof option : T-TOP
A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.
30 Maui’s scenic __ Highway : HANA
Maui’s Hana Highway (commonly “Road to Hana”) is a spectacular stretch of roadway connecting Kahului on the northern coast with Hana in the east, and continuing to Kipahulu in the southeast. Even without stops, the 64-mile drive usually takes 2½ hours. I’ve driven the route a couple of times, and cannot imagine making the trip without several stops to enjoy the amazing ocean and rainforest vistas.
31 Babe’s relatives : OXEN
Paul Bunyan is a character of American myth; Bunyan is a skilled lumberjack, and has a sidekick called Babe the Blue Ox. Both Bunyan and Babe are gigantic in size.
36 Wilson of “Walker, Texas Ranger” : SHEREE
Sheree J, Wilson plays April Stevens Ewing on the prime-time soap “Dallas”. She also plays Alex Cahill-Walker on the TV show “Walker, Texas Ranger”.
“Walker, Texas Ranger” is an action TV show starring Chuck Norris in the title role. The TV show was inspired by the 1983 action movie “Lone Wolf McQuade” in which Norris also played a Texas Ranger.
37 Brown of publishing : TINA
Tina Brown is a British/American journalist and author. Brown wrote “The Diana Chronicles”, a biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, of whom Brown was a personal friend. She emigrated to the US in 1984 to become editor for “Vanity Fair”, and later took the helm at “The New Yorker”.
38 Snack cake brand : HO HOS
Ho Hos snack cakes were first produced in San Francisco in 1967. The “Happy Ho Ho” mascot was created for the brand in the 1970s, and was a cartoon character in a Robin Hood outfit. Ho Hos weren’t the best thing to come out of the sixties I’d say …
43 Comes down hard? : SLEETS
Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.
47 Angelou’s “And Still __” : I RISE
“And Still I Rise” is a 1978 volume of poetry by Maya Angelou. The collection’s title poem is “Still I Rise”, which ends with:
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
49 Movement in some Bach suites : GIGUE
A gigue is a dance from the baroque era. Popular in France, the dance was derived from the British jig.
50 Stiff collars : ETONS
An Eton collar is a wide, stiff, buttoned collar that is still part of the formal school uniform at Eton College near Windsor in England.
51 Snow in le Alpi : NEVE
In Italian, there’s an awful lot of “neve” (snow) in “le Apli” (the Alps).
52 Kay of “Rich Man, Poor Man” : LENZ
Kay Lenz is an American television actress who is most famous for playing Kate Jordache in the TV mini-series adaptation of Irwin Shaw’s novel “Rich Man, Poor Man”. Off the screen, Lenz was noted as the first wife of singer and actor, David Cassidy.
Irvin Shaw’s novel “Rich Man, Poor Man” was adapted into a television miniseries that was originally shown in 1976. The production was the first of its kind, a television miniseries based on a major work of fiction. Ed Asner won an Emmy for playing the lead role of Axel Jordache, one of four Emmy Awards won by the miniseries.
55 Longtime SeaWorld orca : SHAMU
Shamu was the name of the third orca (aka “killer whale”) ever to be featured in a public exhibition. Shamu starred in a popular SeaWorld show in San Diego in the sixties. After she died in 1971, her name lived on as the “stage name” of orca shows in different SeaWorld parks. That original Shamu was retired after she grabbed and refused to let go of the leg of one of her trainers.
56 Eva of Argentina : PERON
Eva Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón who was in office from 1946 to 1955. The Argentine First Lady was known affectionately by the people as “Evita”, the Spanish language diminutive of “Eva”. “Evita” is also the title of a tremendously successful musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice that is based on the life of Eva Perón.
57 Used Yelp, maybe : RATED
yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.
59 Baseball’s Pee Wee : REESE
Pee Wee Reese was a shortstop who played his professional career with the Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Reese is remembered not only for his skill on the field, but for his very visible support for teammate Jackie Robinson, who famously struggled to be accepted as the first African-American player in the majors. As he was an outstanding marbles player as a child, Reese was given the nickname “pee wee” after the name for a small marble.
61 Scientologist Hubbard : L RON
L. Ron Hubbard wrote a self-improvement book in 1950 called “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health”. A few years later, he use the concepts in the book as he founded his Church of Scientology.
63 Bridge positions : NORTHS
The four people playing bridge (the card game) are positioned around a table at seats referred to as north, east, south and west. Each player belongs to a pair, with north playing with south, and east playing with west.
65 Risky kind of kick : ONSIDE
In American football, an onside kick is one in which the ball is kicked a short distance. The intention is for the kicking team to retain possession, although that is a relatively unlikely outcome.
68 Mystic’s deck : TAROT
Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.
71 Kennel double talk? : ARF ARF!
Our word “kennel” meaning “doghouse” comes from the Vulgar Latin word “canile” meaning the same thing. A sheep (“ovus”) was kept in an “ovile”, a horse (“equus”) in an “equile”, and a dog (“canis”) in a “canile”.
73 __ Féin : SINN
Sinn Féin is a political party in Ireland, and one of the largest parties in both the Northern Ireland Assembly and in the Oireachtas (the parliament of the Republic of Ireland). The party has the stated aim of uniting Ireland north and south. “Sinn Féin” is Irish for “we ourselves”.
75 Actresses Brennan and Davidson : EILEENS
I mainly remember actress Eileen Brennan from the great 1973 film “The Sting”, in which she played the brothel madam. However, Brennan’s most famous role was the commanding officer in “Private Benjamin”, a role that she reprised in the spinoff television show of the same name.
Eileen Davidson is best known as a soap opera actress, having played Kristen DiMera on “Days of Our Lives” and Ashley Abbott on “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful”. Davidson started appearing on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” in 2014. She married former tennis pro and World Poker Tour commentator Vince Van Patten in 2003.
76 Vehicle for Hulu and Roku : WEB TV
Hulu is a video-on-demand service. Although competing directly with Netflix and Amazon Prime, Hulu’s primary focus is the streaming of television shows rather than movies.
Roku is a manufacturer of digital media players that allow access to audio and video programming over the Internet that is shown on televisions. Roku was founded in Los Gatos, California in 2002 by Anthony Wood. Wood chose the company name “Roku” as it is the Japanese word for “six”, and Roku is the sixth company that Wood founded.
78 E-file alternative : MAIL-IN
E-file: that’s certainly what I do with my tax return …
80 Pressure: Pref. : BARO-
“Baro-” is a prefix meaning “pressure”, as in “barometer” and “barograph”. The term derives from the Greek “baros” meaning “weight”.
81 Northern __: apples : SPYS
The Northern Spy is an apple cultivar that originated in upstate New York around 1800.
86 Sullivan’s pupil : KELLER
Helen Keller became a noted author despite been deaf and blind, largely through the work of her teacher Anne Sullivan. Keller was left deaf and blind after an illness (possibly meningitis or scarlet fever) when she was about 18 months old. She was to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. The relationship between Sullivan and Keller is immortalized in the play and film called “The Miracle Worker”.
100 Renaissance instrument : LUTE
The lute is a stringed instrument with a long neck and usually a pear-shaped body. It is held and played like a guitar, and was popular from the Middle Ages right through to the late Baroque era. A person who plays the lute can be referred to as a “lutenist”.
101 Yemen neighbor : OMAN
Oman lies on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula and is neighbored by the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Oman is a monarchy, and the official name of the state is the Sultanate of Oman. All of the country’s legislative, executive and judiciary power resides with the hereditary sultan.
106 92-Across banner : EPA
(92A Banned bug spray : DDT)
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
107 Bollywood star Aishwarya __ : RAI
Not only is Aishwarya Rai one of Bollywood’s highest-paid actresses, she is a a former Miss World, having won the pageant in 1994.
108 Popular skit show, for short : SNL
NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Prepared for a selfie : SMILED
7 Pizzeria chain, familiarly : UNO’S
11 Grey Cup gp. : CFL
14 ER figures : DRS
17 What worms help do, soilwise : AERATE
18 Rowling teacher : SNAPE
19 Brewpub choice : ALE
20 Silk on the Seine : SOIE
21 Unite in a common cause : DRAW TOGETHER (hiding mixed “two”)
23 Extinct bird : MOA
24 Duds : TOGS
25 Official fuel of NASCAR since 2004 : SUNOCO
26 Unobstructed view : LINE OF SIGHT (hiding mixed “one”)
29 You, in the Bible : THOU
32 Mustard, e.g.: Abbr. : COL
33 Bruins legend : ORR
34 Lacking freshness : TRITE
35 Place to find a hack : TAXI STAND (hiding mixed “six”)
38 Blood prefix : HEMA-
40 Problem for the weary : NO REST
41 Eight hours per day? : ONE THIRD
42 Nods from NASA : A-OKS
43 Loner of a fish? : SOLE
44 Prospecting tool : PAN
45 Laryngitis docs : ENTS
46 Post-Civil War economic growth period : THE GILDED AGE (hiding mixed “eight”)
51 Food service trade org. : NRA
52 Midsummer arrivals : LEOS
53 Vintage autos : REOS
54 Kid __: reading genre : LIT
55 Shopper’s indulgence : SPREE
58 Newspapers : PRESS
60 Lord’s domain : FIEF
61 Audi’s rings, e.g. : LOGO
62 Fortuitous : HEAVEN-SENT (hiding mixed “seven”)
64 On a lark : JUST FOR FUN (hiding mixed “four”)
66 Co-star with Goldie, Ruth, Henry, et al. : ARTE
67 Courtroom attention-getter : OYEZ!
68 Reference volumes : TOMES
69 Musical markings : NOTES
70 Toon bartender : MOE
71 Circle makers : ARCS
72 Sham : FAKE
73 Phishing target, briefly : SSN
74 With no time to spare : UNDER THE WIRE (hiding mixed “three”)
77 Nero’s 902 : CMII
79 Six-pack muscles : ABS
82 “__ Walked Into My Life”: “Mame” song : IF HE
83 Love interest of 58-Down : EROS
84 Liability : HANDICAP
86 Aussie leaf munchers : KOALAS
89 “Yeah, right!” : I BET!
90 Front door, usually : MAIN ENTRY (hiding mixed “nine”)
91 Week attachment? : -ENDER
92 Banned bug spray : DDT
93 Fla. NBA team : ORL
94 Barcelona bears : OSOS
95 What “I don’t wanna” do, in a Zayn/Taylor Swift hit : LIVE FOREVER (hiding mixed “five”)
99 Crew member : SAILOR
102 Butcher’s cut : LOIN
103 __ Today: magazine for teachers : NEA
104 5½ and 8¾, e.g. … and a hint to this puzzle’s circles : MIXED NUMBERS
109 RSVP cards, say : ENCS
110 Terrible start? : MAL-
111 “Come-faithful” filler : … ALL YE …
112 Clavell’s “Shogun” sequel : TAI-PAN
113 Deli choice : RYE
114 People fixers: Abbr. : EDS
115 TV’s “New Girl” : JESS
116 Involve : ENTAIL
Down
1 Hangdog : SAD
2 Cousteau’s sea : MER
3 Nest egg letters : IRA
4 Action in a legal thriller : LAWSUIT
5 Words from Caesar : ET TU
6 Cole of “Angie Tribeca” : DEON
7 Incalculable : UNTOLD
8 “Guess again” : NAH
9 GM subsidiary until 2017 : OPEL
10 LPGA star Pak in the World Golf Hall of Fame : SE-RI
11 Smartphone feature : CAMERA
12 It’s underfoot : FLOOR
13 Foliage element : LEAF
14 Dr. Howser of ’80s-’90s TV : DOOGIE
15 They involve responsibilities : RIGHTS
16 Largish combo : SESTET
18 Difference between winning and losing, maybe : SECONDS
20 Word in an iconic cocktail order : STIRRED
22 Small racer : GO CART
27 Asian menu promise : NO MSG
28 Inedible wraps : STOLES
29 ‘Vette roof option : T-TOP
30 Maui’s scenic __ Highway : HANA
31 Babe’s relatives : OXEN
36 Wilson of “Walker, Texas Ranger” : SHEREE
37 Brown of publishing : TINA
38 Snack cake brand : HO HOS
39 Scratches (out) : EKES
40 React to a boring speech : NOD OFF
42 “This is only __” : A TEST
43 Comes down hard? : SLEETS
47 Angelou’s “And Still __” : I RISE
48 Up in the air : ALOFT
49 Movement in some Bach suites : GIGUE
50 Stiff collars : ETONS
51 Snow in le Alpi : NEVE
52 Kay of “Rich Man, Poor Man” : LENZ
55 Longtime SeaWorld orca : SHAMU
56 Eva of Argentina : PERON
57 Used Yelp, maybe : RATED
58 Love interest of 83-Across : PSYCHE
59 Baseball’s Pee Wee : REESE
60 Blow one’s top : FUME
61 Scientologist Hubbard : L RON
63 Bridge positions : NORTHS
64 Stand-up fare : JOKES
65 Risky kind of kick : ONSIDE
68 Mystic’s deck : TAROT
71 Kennel double talk? : ARF ARF!
72 Let go : FIRE
73 __ Féin : SINN
75 Actresses Brennan and Davidson : EILEENS
76 Vehicle for Hulu and Roku : WEB TV
77 Pretense : CHARADE
78 E-file alternative : MAIL-IN
79 Talent show entries : ACTS
80 Pressure: Pref. : BARO-
81 Northern __: apples : SPYS
85 How much space debris travels : IN ORBIT
86 Sullivan’s pupil : KELLER
87 Like some bagels : ONIONY
88 It may be unwanted : ADVICE
89 Things to aspire to : IDEALS
90 Walks unhurriedly : MOSEYS
92 Hardly look forward to : DREAD
96 Bar words that make you smile : ON ME
97 Key with four sharps: Abbr. : E MAJ
98 Tick off : RILE
100 Renaissance instrument : LUTE
101 Yemen neighbor : OMAN
105 Tee sizes : XLS
106 92-Across banner : EPA
107 Bollywood star Aishwarya __ : RAI
108 Popular skit show, for short : SNL
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