Day: December 29, 2013

Frequently Asked Question: Why isn’t the puzzle in my paper the same as the one shown on your blog?
If the puzzle in your paper doesn’t match the one that I solved, it is probably a Sunday crossword. On Sundays, the “LA Times” chooses to publish Merl Reagle’s excellent crossword, and not their own “LA Times” Crossword. The “LA Times” puzzle is still sent out in syndication, and is also published in the “LA Times” online. I’ve been asked to blog about Merl Reagle’s crossword, but frankly I don’t have the time. Sunday puzzles have lots of clues!

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. DOL division OSHA
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) was founded as the Bureau of Labor in 1889 under the Department of the Interior. The Bureau’s status was elevated to Cabinet level by President William Howard Taft in 1913, with a bill he signed on his last day in office. The DOL has headquartered in the Frances Perkins Building in Washington, D.C. since 1975. The building was named for Frances Perkins who serves as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945 and who was the first cabinet secretary in US history.

14. The Christina in Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” OLSON
“Christina’s World” is an Andrew Wyeth painting that dates back to 1948. The subject of the work is Christina Olson, a woman who suffered from polio that paralyzed her lower body. In the picture, Wyeth painted Christina crawling across a field towards a house in the distance.

Andrew Wyeth was known as a realist painter and “the painter of the people” in recognition of his popularity with the man in the street. His neighbor, Helga Testorf, posed for a total of 247 paintings over a 14 year period, a series known as “The Helga Pictures”. The remarkable thing is that neither Wyeth’s wife nor Testorf’s husband knew anything about the portrait sessions or the paintings.

19. For this purpose AD HOC
The Latin phrase “ad hoc” means “for this purpose”.

23. Period after one round too many? TEETER TIME (from “tee time”)
A “tee time” is a reservation made at a golf course to start a round of golf (“tee off”) at a particular time.

27. “Golf Begins at Forty” author SAM SNEAD
Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball by teeing off from home plate.

31. Capital of Denmark? DEE
The first letter in the word “Denmark” is a capital D (dee).

33. Signal to begin speaking TONE
Leave your message after the tone …

34. Out-of-favor sunscreen compound PABA
Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), or now its derivatives, is the “active” ingredient in sunscreens in that it absorbs UV radiation. PABA derivatives are used today as PABA itself fell out of favor due to its tendency to stain clothes and to cause an allergic reaction in some users.

47. Herding dogs CORGIS
The Welsh corgi is a herding dog, and one of the oldest breeds in Britain. Corgis aren’t speedy enough to do their job by running around livestock like collies, and instead nip at the heels.

49. Vichy vacation times ETES
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in French-speaking countries.

Vichy is a spa town in the center of France. The people from Vichy are known as Vichyssois. After Paris, was occupied by the Germans in WWII, Vichy was chosen as the seat of government for what was called the French State. The Vichy government had theoretical authority even in occupied France, and is remembered for its collaboration with the German authorities. Vichy was chosen as the new seat of government because of its relative proximity to Paris, and simply because the town had the largest hotel room capacity in the “free zone” of the country.

52. State legal VIPs AGS
Attorneys General (AGs)

56. Stephen of “Interview With the Vampire” REA
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor, whose most famous role was that of the “retired” IRA man in the brilliant 1992 film “The Crying Game”. He also starred in the chilling movie “Stuck”, a 2007 film that is based on a true story about a woman who commits a hit and run on a homeless man. The woman leaves the scene of the crime with the victim still “stuck” in her windshield. The woman then leaves the man to die in her garage. Chilling, eh? But as I said, a true story …

Anne Rice is an American author of erotic and Gothic novels. She was born Howard Allen O’Brien (no wonder she changed her name!). Her famous series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, “Interview with the Vampire”, was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don’t do vampires …

59. Oil can letters SAE
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) sets standards for motor oils, especially with regard to an oil’s viscosity.

60. Paretsky’s Warshawski and Grafton’s Millhone, briefly TECS
“Tec” is a slang term for a private detective, a private investigator (PI).

Sara Paretsky is an American author of detective fiction. Paretsky’s most famous character is a female private investigator called V.I. Warshawski. Warshawski was played by Kathleen Turner in a big screen adaptation of one of her stories in 1991.

Sue Grafton writes detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and is working her way through the alphabet, most recently publishing “’W’ is for Wasted” in 2013. What a clever naming system!

61. Key not used by itself CTRL
The control key (Ctrl.)

67. “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” speaker RHETT
“Take my handkerchief, Scarlett. Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” is a quotation from Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”. The line was spoken by the character Rhett Butler, and was used as written in the famous 1939 film adaptation starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

68. Semisoft cheeses GOUDAS
Gouda is a cheese that originated in the Dutch city of the same name, although today Gouda is produced all over the world and very little of it comes from the Netherlands. Gouda is often smoke-cured, given it a yellowish-brown outer skin and that characteristic smoky taste.

83. Rosy-fingered goddess EOS
In Greek mythology, Eos is the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora.

85. Herbal tea TISANE
“Tisane” is another word for herbal tea. “Tisane” comes into English via French from the Greek “ptisane”, the word for crushed barley.

87. Where Monet got his physical? PAINTER CLINIC (from “pain clinic”)
Claude Monet painted the harbor of Le Havre in the north of France in 1872, giving it the title “Impression, Sunrise”. The painting is not a “realistic” representation of the scene in front of him, hence the name “impression”. It was this very painting that gave rise to the name of the Impressionist movement.

91. JFK alternative LGA
In the New York City area, John F. Kennedy airport (JFK) is an alternative to LaGuardia (LGA).

Fiorello La Guardia was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945, racking up three full terms in office. The famous airport that bears La Guardia’s name was built at his urging, stemming from an incident that took place while he was in office. He was taking a TWA flight to “New York” and was outraged when the plane landed at Newark Airport, in the state of New Jersey. The Mayor demanded that the flight take off again and land at a small airport in Brooklyn. A gaggle of press reporters joined him on the short hop and he gave them a story, urging New Yorkers to support the construction of a new commercial airport within the city’s limits. The new airport, in Queens, opened in 1939 as New York Municipal, often called “LaGuardia” as a nickname. The airport was officially relabeled as “LaGuardia” in 1947.

The Idlewild Golf Course was taken over by the city of New York in 1943 and construction started on a new airport to serve the metropolis and relieve congestion at La Guardia. The Idlewild name still persists, even though the airport was named after Major General Alexander E. Anderson from the first days of the project. When the facility started operating in 1948 it was known as New York International Airport, Anderson Field. It was renamed to John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1963, one month after the President was assassinated.

92. Surname for an unknown DOE
Although the English court system does not use the term today, John Doe first appeared as the “name of a person unknown” in England in 1659, along with another unknown, Richard Roe. The female equivalent of John Doe is Jane Doe, with the equivalent to Richard Roe being Jane Roe (as in Roe v. Wade).

93. Jazzy James ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

96. Low clouds STRATI
Stratus clouds are very common, and as they are wider than they are tall and flat along the bottom, we might just see them as haze in a featureless sky above us. Stratus clouds are basically the same as fog, but off the ground. Indeed, many stratus clouds are formed when morning fog lifts into the air as the ground heats up.

98. “Breaking Bad” lawyer Goodman SAUL
In the AMC hit drama “Breaking Bad”, the shady lawyer called Saul Goodman is played by actor Bob Odenkirk.

I hadn’t seen the AMC drama “Breaking Bad” until relatively recently when my wife borrowed the first and second seasons from our local library. It is a very well written show about a high school teacher stricken by lung cancer who turns to a life of crime to make money.

102. Pandora’s box, e.g. MYTH
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first woman. Pandora is famous for the story of “Pandora’s Box”. In actual fact, the story should be about Pandora’s “Jar” as a 16th-century error in translation created a “box” out of the “jar”. In the story of Pandora’s Box, curiosity got the better of her and she opened up a box she was meant to leave alone. As a result she released all the evils of mankind, just closing it in time to trap hope inside.

103. Three-part figs. SSNS
A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot, as since 2011 SSn’s are assigned randomly.

107. Magnolia St. campus USM
The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) is located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi about 100 miles northeast of New Orleans. The school was founded in 1910, and its athletic teams are known as the Golden Eagles.

109. Tipsy gym helper? TIGHT SPOTTER (from “tight spot”)
In a gym, a “spotter” is a person who watches and guards someone who is training or performing, in order to prevent injury.

113. Flash drive connections USB PORTS
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and deal with electrical power through those connections.

118. Sister of Calliope ERATO
In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses seems to be debated a lot, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

– Calliope (epic poetry)
– Clio (history)
– Erato (lyric poetry)
– Euterpe (music)
– Melpomene (tragedy)
– Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
– Terpsichore (dance)
– Thalia (comedy)
– Urania (astronomy)

119. School acronym ELHI
“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from grades 1 through 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

123. Wheels that are longer than cars? LIMO
The word “limousine” actually derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes anyway …

125. City near Florence 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.

128. Chew (out) REAM
I must admit that I find the slang term “to ream”, with its meaning “to scold harshly”, to be quite distasteful. The usage of the word as a reprimand dates back to about 1950.

Down
1. Pull-down beneficiaries LATS
The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

3. Son of Noah SHEM
According to the Book of Genesis, Noah lived to a ripe old age. Noah fathered his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth when he was 500 years old, and the Great Flood took place when he was 600.

4. 1945 conference site POTSDAM
Potsdam is a city in Germany that lies just on the outskirts of the nation’s capital of Berlin. Famously, Potsdam was the site of a conference between Stalin, Churchill and Truman after the end of WWII in Europe.

6. Gp. opposed to factory farming PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a very large animal rights organization, with 300 employees and two million members and supporters worldwide. Although the group campaigns for animal rights across a broad spectrum of issues, it has a stated focus in opposition of four practices:

– factory farming
– fur farming
– animal testing
– use of animals in entertainment

10. Pre-1000 Celtic language OLD IRISH
Old Irish is the oldest of the Gaelic languages, and so is the ancestor not only of Modern Irish, but also of Scottish Gaelic and Manx (that is spoken on the Isle of Man).

11. Caulk, e.g. SEALER
The term “caulk” comes from old Norman French “cauquer”, and described the action of filling gaps with lime. “Caulk”has the same root as our word “chalk”.

15. Actress Ambrose of “Six Feet Under” LAUREN
Lauren Ambrose is an actress from New Haven, Connecticut who is perhaps best known for playing Claire Fisher on the HBO drama “SIx Feet Under”.

“Six Feet Under” is reportedly a great TV drama aired on HBO, one that I fully intend to take a look at one day. The “six feet under” is a reference to the show’s storyline which features a family funeral business.

24. Atoll former REEF
An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

34. Miserere, for one PSALM
“Psalm 51” in the Bible is also known as the “Miserere”. “Miserere” is the opening word of the psalm in Latin. The first line is “Miserere mei, Deus: secundum magnam misericordiam tuam”, which translates as “Have mercy upon me, O God, after Thy great goodness”.

43. 1970s presidential fundraiser? CARTER RALLY (from “car rally”)
President Jimmy Carter is a graduate of the US Naval Academy. Carter served in the Navy on surface ships and submarines, and chose to pursue a career in the submarine service as he was interested in nuclear power and believed it had a great future in submarine design. As a result, he became an expert in nuclear propulsion. In 1952, the Navy sent the young Carter to the Chalk River Laboratories in Canada to lead the US effort to shutdown the reactor after an accident and partial meltdown of a reactor core. He and his team had to be lowered into the leaking reactor core for mechanical disassembly, staying there for only seconds at a time to minimise exposure to radiation. Decades later as US President, it was this experience that influenced Carter’s decision not to complete the development of the neutron bomb.

48. “You’re the One That I Want” musical GREASE
“Grease” was, and still is, a very successful stage musical with a blockbuster film version released in 1978. “You’re the One That I Want” is a song that was written especially for the movie, one which made it to number one in the charts, followed soon after by the “Grease” theme song.

53. Merchant vessel elision BOSUN
A boatswain works on the deck of a boat. A boatswain is unlicensed, and so is not involved in the navigation or handling of the vessel. He or she has charge of the other unlicensed workers on the deck. Boatswain is pronounced “bosun” and this phonetic spelling is often used interchangeably with “boatswain”. The contraction “bo’s’n” is also very popular.

“To elide” is to pass over, omit or slur a syllable when speaking.

54. Oklahoma’s “Wheat Capital” ENID
Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton, Oklahoma! Enid has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

63. Site of some mammoths’ demise TAR PIT
A tar pit is an unusual geological feature, leakage of bitumen from below ground to the earth’s surface creating a pool of natural asphalt. One of the most famous of these occurrences is the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirsts. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

69. Places for sweaters? SAUNAS
As my Finnish-American wife will tell you, “sauna” is a Finnish word, and is correctly pronounced “sow-nah” (with “sow” as in the female pig).

73. Quite a bit SCADS
The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear, although back in the mid-1800s “scads” was used to mean “dollars”.

74. Wine grape PINOT
The Pinot noir wine grape variety takes its name from the French for “pine” and “black”. The grapes grow in tight clusters shaped like pine cones, and are very dark in color. The Pinot noir grape is most closely associated with Burgundy wines in France, although in recent years the popularity (and price) of California Pinot noir wine has soared after it featured so prominently in the wonderful, wonderful 2004 movie “Sideways”. Grab a bottle of Pinot, and go rent the DVD…

76. Big bang producer TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

80. “‘__ the Arizona Skies”: 1934 John Wayne movie NEATH
John Wayne was called Marion Mitchell Morrison at birth, named after his grandfather who was a Civil War veteran. When young Marion was a little boy, a local fireman used to call him “Little Duke” because he was always seen walking with his large dog called “Duke”. Marion liked the name “Duke” and so he called himself Duke Morrison for the rest of his life. That said, Duke Morrison also used John Wayne as a stage name.

89. “Good Times” actress ROLLE
Esther Rolle was an actress best known for playing the character Florida Evans on the sitcom “Maude” and on the show’s spinoff “Good Times”.

90. Museum funder: Abbr. NEA
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …

95. Pungent cleanser AMMONIA
Amun (also Amon, Amen and “Amun-Ra”) was a god in Egyptian mythology. Amun lends his name to our word “ammonia”. This is because the Romans called the ammonium chloride that they collected near the Temple of Jupiter Amun, “sal ammoniacus” (salt of Amun).

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

101. Ernest of country music TUBB
Ernest Tubb was a pioneering country music singer and songwriter. Tubb’s biggest hit was “Walking the Floor Over You”, which he released in 1941.

106. Pianist Rubinstein ARTUR
The great Arthur (sometimes “Artur”) Rubinstein was a classical pianist from Poland who became a naturalized American citizen in 1946. Rubenstein was particularly respected as a performer of Chopin’s repertoire.

109. Actress Polo TERI
Teri Polo’s most prominent role on the big screen was Pam Focker in “Meet the Fockers” and its sequel. Pam is the wife of the character played by Ben Stiller. Polo also played the wife of Presidential candidate Matt Santos in “The West Wing”.

110. Country on the Caspian IRAN
The Caspian Sea is a landlocked sea 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 South Caucasus.

111. Disputed strip GAZA
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the boundaries of the strip of land on the Mediterranean around Gaza were fixed in the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement. The boundaries were specifically defined but were not to be recognized as an international border. From 1948, the Gaza Strip was occupied and administered by Egypt, until 1967 when Israel took over occupation following the Six-Day War. In 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords which handed over administration to the Palestinian Authority, but with Israel retaining control of the Gaza Strip’s airspace, some land borders and its territorial waters. The intent was to further this agreement, but discussions between the parties broke down. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

112. Mixed bag OLIO
Olio is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture, coming from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

113. Open-organizing org. USGA
The United States Golf Association (USGA) was formed in 1894. The need for a governing body for the sport became evident that year when both the Newport Country Club and the St. Andrew’s Gold Club in Yonkers, declared that the winner of a tournament at each of their courses was the “national amateur champion”. The first president of the USGA was Theodore Havemeyer, and to this day the one and only US Amateur Trophy bears his name.

117. Toledo titles: Abbr. SRAS
Señora (Sra.)

Toledo is a city in central Spain.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Speech therapist’s concerns LISPS
6. Work on the street PAVE
10. DOL division OSHA
14. The Christina in Wyeth’s “Christina’s World” OLSON
19. For this purpose AD HOC
20. Rotten to the core EVIL
21. Be inclined LEAN
22. Scope RANGE
23. Period after one round too many? TEETER TIME (from “tee time”)
25. “Shoot!” DANG!
26. Duplicity GUILE
27. “Golf Begins at Forty” author SAM SNEAD
28. Fertilized egg? CHILD STARTER (from “child star”)
31. Capital of Denmark? DEE
32. It may be blank STARE
33. Signal to begin speaking TONE
34. Out-of-favor sunscreen compound PABA
37. Certainty FACT
40. Flock member BIRD
42. Reacted to a sour note WINCED
46. Like many laps SWUM
47. Herding dogs CORGIS
49. Vichy vacation times ETES
51. Thing to grind AXE
52. State legal VIPs AGS
53. Benefit from barn raising? BETTER THE FARM (from “bet the farm”)
56. Stephen of “Interview With the Vampire” REA
57. Pretends LETS ON
59. Oil can letters SAE
60. Paretsky’s Warshawski and Grafton’s Millhone, briefly TECS
61. Key not used by itself CTRL
62. Isn’t kidding MEANS IT
64. Tom MALE CAT
67. “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” speaker RHETT
68. Semisoft cheeses GOUDAS
70. Advertisers say it sells SEX
71. Musical weakness TIN EAR
73. Reject with contempt SPURN
75. Suitable for most audiences RATED PG
78. Complete with crayons COLOR IN
81. Mention CITE
82. Whirled SPUN
83. Rosy-fingered goddess EOS
85. Herbal tea TISANE
86. Social pest ANT
87. Where Monet got his physical? PAINTER CLINIC (from “pain clinic”)
91. JFK alternative LGA
92. Surname for an unknown DOE
93. Jazzy James ETTA
94. Take a turn ROTATE
95. Tremendously A LOT
96. Low clouds STRATI
98. “Breaking Bad” lawyer Goodman SAUL
100. Usher’s find SEAT
102. Pandora’s box, e.g. MYTH
103. Three-part figs. SSNS
105. Dropped-egg sound SPLAT
107. Magnolia St. campus USM
109. Tipsy gym helper? TIGHT SPOTTER (from “tight spot”)
113. Flash drive connections USB PORTS
118. Sister of Calliope ERATO
119. School acronym ELHI
120. Joking after a midterm? TEST BANTER (from “test ban”)
122. Box cutter, e.g. RAZOR
123. Wheels that are longer than cars? LIMO
124. Push for URGE
125. City near Florence SIENA
126. Cockamamie INANE
127. Car buyer’s aid LOAN
128. Chew (out) REAM
129. Rigged supports MASTS

Down
1. Pull-down beneficiaries LATS
2. Mind matter IDEA
3. Son of Noah SHEM
4. 1945 conference site POTSDAM
5. Crime locale SCENE
6. Gp. opposed to factory farming PETA
7. Enthusiastic AVID
8. Enthusiasm VIM
9. Campaign poster word ELECT
10. Pre-1000 Celtic language OLD IRISH
11. Caulk, e.g. SEALER
12. Crew member HAND
13. Inner turmoil ANGST
14. Life form ORGANISM
15. Actress Ambrose of “Six Feet Under” LAUREN
16. Tizzy SNIT
17. Not look well? OGLE
18. “When hell freezeth over!” NE’ER
24. Atoll former REEF
29. Behavior pattern HABIT
30. Airport structures TOWERS
32. Broadcast online in real time STREAM
34. Miserere, for one PSALM
35. “Shucks!” AW GEE!
36. Need some trough repair? BUST A GUTTER (from “bust a gut”)
38. Do one’s part ACT
39. No-frills beds COTS
41. Loss DEFEAT
43. 1970s presidential fundraiser? CARTER RALLY (from “car rally”)
44. Bring to bear EXERT
45. Coped (with) DEALT
48. “You’re the One That I Want” musical GREASE
50. Bit of strategy TACTIC
53. Merchant vessel elision BOSUN
54. Oklahoma’s “Wheat Capital” ENID
55. And such: Abbr. ETC
58. Big yawn SNORE
61. Complete confusion CHAOS
63. Site of some mammoths’ demise TAR PIT
65. Spearheaded LED
66. Consider it likely EXPECT
67. Museum artifact RELIC
69. Places for sweaters? SAUNAS
72. “Me? Uh-uh!” NOT I!
73. Quite a bit SCADS
74. Wine grape PINOT
76. Big bang producer TNT
77. Bring up the rear GO LAST
79. Cash bar? INGOT
80. “‘__ the Arizona Skies”: 1934 John Wayne movie NEATH
82. Glossy materials SATINS
84. Location SITE
87. Place to buy a tank PET STORE
88. Violent outburst ERUPTION
89. “Good Times” actress ROLLE
90. Museum funder: Abbr. NEA
95. Pungent cleanser AMMONIA
97. Actor Kutcher ASHTON
99. Bronchial woe ASTHMA
101. Ernest of country music TUBB
104. Write letters? SPELL
106. Pianist Rubinstein ARTUR
108. Twitch SPASM
109. Actress Polo TERI
110. Country on the Caspian IRAN
111. Disputed strip GAZA
112. Mixed bag OLIO
113. Open-organizing org. USGA
114. Mushroom piece STEM
115. Hwys. with nos. RTES
116. No-frills shelter TENT
117. Toledo titles: Abbr. SRAS
121. Quaint “before” ERE

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