LA Times Crossword Answers 31 May 15, Sunday

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
5. Immunization letters DPT
The DPT vaccine is combination vaccine providing protection against diphtheria (D), pertussis (P, also known as whooping cough) and tetanus (T).

8. Duped in a good way? CCED
I wonder do the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle?

12. __ Zero COKE
Even though Coca-Cola Zero is in the category of “diet soda”, the marketing folks at Coca-Cola don’t like its association with the word “diet”. The target market for the beverage is young, adult males, so it is described as “calorie-free” rather than “diet”, the assumption being that males associate “diet” with women. Not in this house …

20. Norse trickster LOKI
Loki is a god appearing in Norse mythology. He is a “shape shifter”, a being who can appear in different forms. In one story about Loki, he was punished by other gods for having caused the death of Baldr, the god of light and beauty. Loki is bound to a sharp rock using the entrails of one of his sons. A serpent drips venom which is collected in a bowl, and then his wife must empty the venom onto Loki when the bowl is full. The venom causes Loki great pain, and his writhing results in what we poor mortals experience as earthquakes.

21. Chennai’s continent ASIA
The government of India has been changing the names of cities since the end of British rule in 1947. Bombay was renamed to Mumbai in 1995, and Madras became Chennai a year later, in 1996.

22. “Silkwood” star MERYL STREEP
Meryl Streep has had more nominations for an Academy Award than any other actor, a tribute to her talent and the respect she has earned in the industry. I am not a huge fan of her earlier works but some of her recent movies are now on my list of all-time favorites. I recommend “Mamma Mia!” (you’ll either love it or hate it!), “Julie & Julia”, “It’s Complicated” and ”Hope Springs”.

“Silkwood” is a 1983 film about a nuclear power plant whistleblower. The movie is based on the true story of labor activist Karen Silkwood who was killed in a car accident under suspicious circumstances. She had just alleged wrongdoing at the power plant in which she worked. In real life, the power plant operators were found liable for Silkwood’s death and settled with her estate for $1.3 million.

24. Zira and Cornelius, in a 1968 film APES
In the 1968 film “Planet of the Apes”, Zira is an animal psychologist, and Cornelius is her fiancé and an archaeologist, with both characters being chimpanzees (and not “apes”). Zira was played by Kim Hunter and Cornelius by Roddy McDowall.

26. ATM necessity PIN
One enters a Personal Identification Number (PIN) when using an Automated Teller Machine (ATM).

27. Women’s World Golf Rankings sponsor ROLEX
My most prized possession is a stainless steel Rolex watch that my uncle bought while serving with the RAF in Canada during WWII. Rolex watches were made available to the Canadian servicemen at that time as they were shipping overseas. My uncle brought his Rolex home to Ireland after the war. He needed money for booze one weekend and so sold the watch to my Dad, for five pounds. My Dad gave it to me just before he died, as he knew I loved the watch, and my brothers weren’t interested in it all. Not so long ago I had the watch appraised ($3,000), and my brothers suddenly took a liking to it! Still, it’s not something that will ever be sold, that’s for sure …

28. “Frankenstein” author MARY SHELLEY
Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel has the full title of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. The subtitle underscores one of the themes of the book, a warning about man’s expansion into the Industrial Revolution.

31. Polish-German border river ODER
The Oder river rises in the Czech Republic, and forms just over a hundred miles of the border between Germany and Poland. Downstream, the Oder breaks into three branches that empty into the Gulf of Pomerania in the Baltic Sea.

35. Seaman TAR
A Jack Tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the days of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

37. Counselor Troi portrayer on “Star Trek: T.N.G.” MARINA SIRTIS
Deanna Troi is a character on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who is played by the lovely Marina Sirtis. Sirtis is a naturalized American citizen and has what I would call a soft American accent on the show. However, she was born in the East End of London and has a natural accent off-stage that is more like that of a true Cockney.

42. Pin surface MAT
A wrestler might pin his or her opponent on the mat.

45. Costa del __ SOL
Spain’s Costa del Sol (“Coast of the Sun”) is in Andalusia in the South of Spain. It lies sandwiched between two other “costas”, the Costa de la Luz and the Costa Tropical. The city of Malaga is on the Costa del Sol, as well as the famous European tourist destinations of Torremolinos and Marbella. The Costa del Sol was made up of sleepy little fishing villages until the 1980s when the European sunseekers descended on the region. I wouldn’t recommend it for a holiday quite frankly …

46. Film franchise with a mammoth named Manny ICE AGE
“Ice Age” is a 2002 animated film that has spawned a whole series of movies: “Ice Age: The Meltdown” (2006), “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” (2009) and “Ice Age: Continental Drift” (2012).

52. Tennis star with five Grand Slam titles MARIA SHARAPOVA
Maria Sharapova is professional tennis player from the town of Nyagan in the Russian Federation. She is a former World No. 1.

57. Oregon __ TRAIL
The Oregon Trail was established by fur trappers and traders as early as 1811. The first migrant wagon train traveled the route in 1836, starting off in Independence, Idaho and going as far as Fort Hall, Idaho. In the coming years, the trail was extended for wagons as far as the Willamette Valley in Oregon.

61. Host of a spin-off of “The Apprentice” MARTHA STEWART
“The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” was a softer version of the hit reality show “The Apprentice”. Stewart often fired contestants with the phrase “You just don’t fit in”, as opposed to Donald Trump’s harsher “You’re fired!” The Stewart version of the show didn’t last very long, just one short season in 2005.

72. __ mater PIA
“Pia mater” is Latin, and means “tender mother”. It is the name given to the mesh-like envelope that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The pia mater brings blood to some of the exterior parts of the brain, and provides physical support for larger blood vessels passing over the brain’s surface.

73. “To Kill a Mockingbird” sibling JEM
Jem and Scout are two of the children of Atticus Finch, the protagonist in the novel “To Kill A Mockingbird”.

Nelle Harper Lee is an author from Monroeville, Alabama. Lee wrote only one novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, and yet that contribution to the world of literature was enough to earn her the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a Pulitzer Prize. Harper Lee was a close friend of fellow author Truman Capote who was the inspiration for the character named “Dill” in her novel. Lee is all over the news right now as she announced in February 2015 that she will publish a second novel in July 2015. The title is “Go Set a Watchman”, and is a work that she wrote before “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

74. West Point inits. USMA
West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802.

77. Toon with a pacifier MAGGIE SIMPSON
Maggie Simpson is the youngest child of Marge and Homer Simpson on the animated tv show “The Simpsons”. Maggie is voiced by Nancy Cartwright, who also voices Bart Simpson.

82. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” author KESEY
Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a set in a psychiatric hospital in Salem, Oregon. The novel was adapted into a stage play in 1963, starring Kirk Douglas who had purchased the rights to produce it on stage and screen. The film version was finally made in 1975, with Kirk Douglas’s son Michael Douglas as co-producer.

83. Hosp. test EKG
An EKG measures electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

84. Early advocate of birth control MARGARET SANGER
Margaret Sanger was a nurse and birth control activist. Sanger is credited with popularizing the term “birth control” and opened the first birth control in the US in 1916. That action led to her arrest for distributing information on contraception.

90. Pasadena parade posies ROSES
The first Rose Parade was staged in 1890, on New Years Day in Pasadena, California. The initial parades were organized by the Pasadena Valley Hunt Club, whose members wanted to highlight the mild winter weather in the area. The initial parades did not feature flowers, but these were added to underscore the favorable climate. It was the inclusion of the flowers that gave rise to the name “Tournament of Roses”. The first Rose Bowl football game was played in 1902.

92. “Permit Me Voyage” poet AGEE
“Permit Me Voyage” is the only volume of poetry published by American author James Agee.

James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.

95. Brown in Calif., e.g. GOV
Jerry Brown has been the Governor of California since 2011, having previously held the same office from 1975 to 1983. Jerry’s father was Pat Brown who also served as Governor of California, from 1959 to 1967.

98. 1995-2001 “SNL” regular MOLLY SHANNON
The comic actress Molly Shannon is a “Saturday Night Live” alum, appearing on the show from 1995 to 2001. Shannon also starred in the movies “Superstar” and “Year of the Dog”.

107. Asian sash OBI
The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.

109. Colonial diplomat Silas DEANE
Silas Deane was a member of the Continental Congress. When Deane was dispatched to Paris by the Congress, he became America’s first foreign diplomat. His amazing story is told in Joel Richard Paul’s book called “Unlikely Allies”.

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

111. “Mighty Aphrodite” Oscar winner MIRA SORVINO
Mira Sorvino is an American actress, winner of an Oscar for her supporting role in the 1995 Woody Allen movie “Mighty Aphrodite”. Sorvino also played a title role opposite Lisa Kudrow in the very forgettable “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion”.

115. Discontinued P&G toothpaste GLEEM
Gleem is a Procter & Gamble brand of toothpaste. The original formulation was introduced back in 1952, with a mystery ingredient called GL-70 which the manufacturers claimed had a unique ability to fight mouth odor and tooth decay. No one seems to know what GL-70 is, or if in fact it existed at all! Gleem II was introduced in 1969 in an attempt to revitalize sales. It seemed to work. Must have been the green sparkles …

118. “Crossword Clues ‘M,’ __” ALEX
“Crossword Clues ‘M’” is a category of answers on the game show “Jeopardy!”. So, a contestant might indicate choosing that category to the host Alex Trebek by saying “Crossword Clues ‘M’, Alex”.

120. Jean Brodie creator MURIEL SPARK
“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie” is a novel by Muriel Spark, and a fabulous film of the same name released in 1969 starring Maggie Smith in the title role. It also stars Gordon Jackson (who played Hudson the butler on “Upstairs Downstairs”). The story is set in a girls’ school in Edinburgh in the thirties, with Jean Brodie a somewhat eccentric teacher who describes herself as being “in her prime”.

123. Port, for one WINE
The city of Oporto in Portugal gave its name to port wine in the late 1600s, as it was the seaport through which most of the region’s fortified red wine was exported.

126. Bottled spirits GENII
“Genii” is an accepted plural of two related words: “genius” and “genie”.

The “genie” in the bottle takes his or her name from “djinn”. “Djinns” were various spirits considered lesser than angels, with people exhibiting unsavory characteristics said to be possessed by djinn. When the book “The Thousand and One Nights” was translated into French, the word “djinn” was transformed into the existing word “génie”, because of the similarity in sound and the related spiritual meaning. This “génie” from the Arabian tale became confused with the Latin-derived “genius”, a guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. Purely as a result of that mistranslation the word genie has come to mean the “djinn” that pops out of the bottle. A little hard to follow, I know, but still quite interesting …

129. Moroccan city of one million FES
Fes (sometimes “Fez”) is the third largest city in Morocco. Fes is home to the Fes el Bali quarter, a walled part of the city that is thought to be the largest car-free urban area in the world. Fes is also gave the name to the red felt hat called a Fez.

130. NCAA part: Abbr. ASSN
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

Down
1. Cheerleader’s accessory POMPOM
The French call a ball made of tufted wool a “pompon”, a word that we imported into English directly as “pompon”. We use “pompon” to describe perhaps bobbles on some hats, or the tufted balls that are shaken by cheerleaders at sports events. Over time, the spelling “pompom” has become common in English, probably due to mishearing. To confuse matters a little, we also use the word “pom-pom” as a nickname for a British autocannon used mainly as an anti-aircraft weapon, particularly during WWII.

2. Frozen food brand ORE-IDA
Ore-Ida frozen foods are all made with potatoes. The company is located in Oregon, just across the border from Idaho. “Ore-Ida” is a melding of the two state names.

3. Loewe’s lyricist LERNER
Alan Jay Lerner was a lyricist from New York City who was known for his collaboration with Frederick Loewe and Burton Lane. Lerner was also known for his colorful private life. He was left with a persistent amphetamine addiction after being treated with “vitamins with enzymes” in the sixties, that were actually hypodermic shots laced with amphetamines. He also married eight times, and was often in dire financial straits due to the heavy load of alimony payments.

5. “The Sound of Music” song DO-RE-MI
The famous song that starts off with “Doe, a deer …” is a show tune from the 1959 musical “The Sound of Music”, by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The correct name of the song is “Do-Re-Mi”.

6. Hammer used to test reflexes PLEXOR
A “plexor” is a small hammer that has a soft rubber head. It is used by medical professionals as a diagnostic aid, mainly in examining the chest and in testing reflexes.

8. Santa __ CLARA
The Santa Clara Valley, just a few miles from me at the south of San Francisco Bay, is better known as “Silicon Valley”. The term “Silicon Valley” dates back to 1971 when it was apparently first used in a weekly trade newspaper called “Electronic News” in articles written by journalist Don Hoefler.

9. Legal protection COPYRIGHT
The term “copyright” really derives from the concept of giving another party the “right to copy”. Usually “copyright” gives the holder the power to financially benefit from any copies made. Copyright was invented in essence soon after the development of the printing press, with the first legal statutes put in place in Britain in the early 18th century.

13. Italian source of the melody for “It’s Now or Never” O SOLE MIO
“‘O sole mio” is a famous Italian song from Naples, written in 1898. The song’s lyrics are usually sung in the original Neapolitan, as opposed to Italian. The title translates from Neapolitan into “My Sun” (and not into “O, My Sun” as one might expect). It’s a love song of course, sung by a young man declaring that there is a sun brighter than that in the sky, the sun that is his lover’s face. Awww …

“It’s Now or Never” is a 1960 song released by Elvis Presley that was inspired by “There’s No Tomorrow”, a 1950 hit for Tony Martin. “There’s No Tomorrow” was written as an adaptation of the Italian standard “O Sole Mio”.

17. 35mm camera type SLR
SLR stands for “single lens reflex”. Usually cameras with changeable lenses are the SLR type. The main feature of an SLR is that a mirror reflects the image seen through the lens out through the viewfinder, so that the photographer sees exactly what the lens sees. The mirror moves out of the way as the picture is taken, and the image that comes through the lens falls onto unexposed film, or nowadays onto a digital sensor.

35mm was chosen at the beginning of the 20th century as a standard size for film used in still cameras. 35mm was selected as it already the standard film size for film used in motion pictures.

19. Turntable stat RPM
Revolutions per minute (rpm)

23. Trojans’ region, familiarly SOCAL
“SoCal” is short for “Southern California”.

The athletic teams of the University of Southern California are called the USC Trojans. The women’s teams are also called the Trojans, but are sometimes referred to as Women of Troy.

30. “Strange Magic” gp. ELO
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England. The band’s manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).

38. Irangate figure NORTH
The Iran-Contra affair (also called “Irangate”) came to light in 1986. The “Iran” part of the scandal was the sale of arms to Iran by the Reagan administration, initially to facilitate the release of US hostages. This was done in secret because there was a US arms embargo in place against Iran. The “Contra” part of the scandal arose when the man in charge of the operation, Oliver North, took funds from the arms sales and funneled the cash to the Contra militants who were fighting to topple the government of Nicaragua from their base in neighboring Honduras.

43. Four-wheeler, for short ATV
All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

47. __ D.A. ASST
Assistant District Attorney (Asst. D.A.)

50. “I Got __”: Jim Croce hit A NAME
Jim Croce’s most successful songs were “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle”. Like so many great singers it seems, Croce died in a plane crash. He was killed along with five others just after takeoff when the small commercial plane in which he was travelling hit a tree, possibly because the pilot had a heart attack. Croce died just a few days before the release of his latest album, “I Got a Name”.

51. Font flourish SERIF
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif (using the French word “sans” meaning “without”). Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

53. Pale ___ ALE
Pale ale is a beer made using mainly pale malt, which results in a relatively light color for a malted beer.

55. __ Dhabi ABU
Abu Dhabi is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy. Before 1971, the UAE was a British Protectorate, a collection of sheikdoms. The sheikdoms entered into a maritime truce with Britain in 1835, after which they became known as the Trucial States, derived from the word “truce”.

63. New Deal org. WPA
The Work Progress Administration (WPA) was the largest of the New Deal agencies. The WPA employed millions of people during the Depression, putting them to work on various public works projects. The total spending through the WPA from 1936 to 1939 was nearly $7 billion. We have to give the federal government credit for taking an enlightened view of what types of project qualified for financial support, so artists who could not get commissions privately were hired by the government itself. The result is a collection of “New Deal Art”, including a series of murals that can be found in post offices around the country to this day.

64. 2008 bailout beneficiary AIG
AIG is the American International Group, a giant insurance corporation (or I should say, “was”). After repeated bailouts by American taxpayers, the company made some serious PR blunders by spending large amounts of money on executive entertainment and middle management rewards. These included a $444,000 California retreat, an $86,000 hunting trip in England, and a $343,000 getaway to a luxury resort in Phoenix. Poor judgment, I’d say …

67. Massachusetts quartet ESSES
There is a quartet (4) of letters S in the word “Massachusetts”.

76. Charlton Heston once led it: Abbr. NRA
The National Rifle Association (NRA) used the slogan “I’ll give you my gun when you pry it from my cold, dead hands”. These words became quite famous when they were used at an NRA convention in 2000 by Charlton Heston, who was then president of the NRA. Heston ended a speech he made with the words “From my cold, dead hands!” while holding up into the air a replica of a Sharps rifle.

77. Phoenix suburb MESA
The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

78. He bested Adlai IKE
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (“Ike)) in 1952 and in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

79. With 4-Down, “The Thin Man” co-star MYRNA
(4D. See 79-Down LOY)
The beautiful Myrna Loy was one of my favorite actresses. Her career took off when she was paired up with William Powell in the fabulous “The Thin Man” series of films. Loy also appeared opposite Cary Grant in a couple of films that I like to watch every so often, namely “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” (1947) and “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (1948).

86. Spooner, for one REVEREND
Spoonerisms are errors in speech in which letters or sounds are switched from one word to another. Famous examples are “Three cheers for our queer old dean” (dear old Queen … Victoria) and “Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?” (customary to kiss …). Spoonerisms are named after an Oxford don, William Archibald Spooner, who was notorious for his tendency to pepper his speech with “spoonerisms”.

88. Opposite of paleo- NEO-
The prefix “paleo-” means “prehistoric, primitive”. It comes from the Greek word “palaios” which means “old, ancient”. The prefix “neo-” would be the opposite, meaning “new, recent”.

89. Winner’s prize GOLD
In the Ancient Olympic Games, the winner of an event was awarded an olive wreath. When the games were revived in 1896, the winners were originally given a silver medal and an olive branch, with runners-up receiving a bronze medal and a laurel branch. The tradition of giving gold, silver and bronze medals began at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri.

97. Scholarship founder RHODES
Cecil Rhodes (famous in America as the founder of the Rhodes Scholarship), was a very successful English businessman and South African politician. He founded the De Beers diamond mining company, and also founded the state of Rhodesia which was named after him. The British colony gained its independence over time in the latter half of the 20th century, and is known today as the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Rhodesian capital of Salisbury was renamed in 1982 to Harare, the current capital of Zimbabwe.

99. Fictional symbol of brutality LEGREE
Simon Legree is the cruel slave owner in Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”.

102. Ryan and Bushnell NOLANS
Nolan Ryan is famous for having more career strikeouts that any other baseball pitcher. However, he also holds the record for the most career walks and wild pitches. Another record that Ryan holds is the most no-hitters, a total of seven over his career.

Nolan Bushnell achieved success as the founder of two very different companies. He co-founded Atari, the video game and home computer manufacturer, in 1972. He started Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theatres in 1977, a restaurant aimed at children that served pizza but also provided entertainment and games. The link between Bushnell’s two enterprises was that he saw Chuck E. Cheeze as an outlet for Atari video game consoles.

103. God wed to his sister OSIRIS
Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld. Osiris was the son of Geb the Earth god, and Nut the sky goddess. His wife Isis was also his sister. Osiris was killed and mutilated by Set, his own brother. Isis reassembled Osiris and revived him, just long enough that they could conceive their son Horus.

111. Bryn __ College MAWR
I used to live not far from Bryn-mawr (also “Brynmwar”) in Wales, the town with the highest elevation in the country. Appropriately enough, “bryn mawr” is Welsh for “big hill”. There is also a Bryn Mawr in Pennsylvania (note the different capitalization) that is named after its Welsh counterpart. At the Pennsylvania location there’s a Bryn Mawr college, a private women’s school that was the first American university to offer graduate degrees to women.

112. Netman Nastase 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.

113. Moreno with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards RITA
The Puerto Rican singer, dancer and actress Rita Moreno is one of the few performers to have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony. Moreno got her big break, and won her Oscar, for playing Anita in the 1961 screen adaption of “West Side Story”.

114. Meditation syllables OMS
“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

116. Flavor enhancer 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 …

121. TV dial letters UHF
The radio spectrum is divided into bands based on frequency. “High band” is composed of relatively high frequency values, and “low band” is composed of frequencies that are relatively low. FM radio falls into the band called Very High Frequency, or VHF. Television signals use frequencies even higher than VHF, frequencies in the Ultra High Frequency band (UHF). AM radio uses lower frequencies that fall into the relatively low bands of Low, Medium and High Frequency (LF, MF, and HF).

122. Princess’ bane PEA
“The Princess and the Pea” is a fairy tale from the pen of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The essence of the story is that a prince’s mother tests the royal blood of an apparent princess by placing a pea under a pile of mattresses on which the young girl sleeps. The girl complains of a restless night, demonstrating a physical sensitivity that can only be attributed to a princess. And they all live happily ever after …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Straw __ POLL
5. Immunization letters DPT
8. Duped in a good way? CCED
12. __ Zero COKE
16. They have Red Velvet and Watermelon varieties OREOS
18. Many a surfer AOLER
20. Norse trickster LOKI
21. Chennai’s continent ASIA
22. “Silkwood” star MERYL STREEP
24. Zira and Cornelius, in a 1968 film APES
25. Auction units LOTS
26. ATM necessity PIN
27. Women’s World Golf Rankings sponsor ROLEX
28. “Frankenstein” author MARY SHELLEY
31. Polish-German border river ODER
33. Hunters’ outfits, briefly CAMOS
35. Seaman TAR
36. Different ELSE
37. Counselor Troi portrayer on “Star Trek: T.N.G.” MARINA SIRTIS
40. Conditional words IF SO
42. Pin surface MAT
45. Costa del __ SOL
46. Film franchise with a mammoth named Manny ICE AGE
48. Place SITE
49. Nonlethal weapon TASER
52. Tennis star with five Grand Slam titles MARIA SHARAPOVA
56. Chemical ending -INE
57. Oregon __ TRAIL
60. Flashing light STROBE
61. Host of a spin-off of “The Apprentice” MARTHA STEWART
66. Flashiest LOUDEST
70. Arab VIP EMIR
71. Point to pick NIT
72. __ mater PIA
73. “To Kill a Mockingbird” sibling JEM
74. West Point inits. USMA
75. Bygone DEFUNCT
77. Toon with a pacifier MAGGIE SIMPSON
80. Nod DROWSE
82. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” author KESEY
83. Hosp. test EKG
84. Early advocate of birth control MARGARET SANGER
90. Pasadena parade posies ROSES
92. “Permit Me Voyage” poet AGEE
93. Hercules bicycle model ROADEO
94. Billings-to-Helena dir. WNW
95. Brown in Calif., e.g. GOV
96. Get ready PREP
98. 1995-2001 “SNL” regular MOLLY SHANNON
105. Engrave ETCH
107. Asian sash OBI
109. Colonial diplomat Silas DEANE
110. McGwire rival SOSA
111. “Mighty Aphrodite” Oscar winner MIRA SORVINO
115. Discontinued P&G toothpaste GLEEM
117. Back talk LIP
118. “Crossword Clues ‘M,’ __” ALEX
119. Plan for losing DIET
120. Jean Brodie creator MURIEL SPARK
123. Port, for one WINE
124. To be, in Paris ETRE
125. Utter SHEER
126. Bottled spirits GENII
127. 123-Across category REDS
128. Back talk SASS
129. Moroccan city of one million FES
130. NCAA part: Abbr. ASS

Down
1. Cheerleader’s accessory POMPOM
2. Frozen food brand ORE-IDA
3. Loewe’s lyricist LERNER
4. See 79-Down LOY
5. “The Sound of Music” song DO-RE-MI
6. Hammer used to test reflexes PLEXOR
7. Summer top TEE
8. Santa __ CLARA
9. Legal protection COPYRIGHT
10. __ out a living EKES
11. Menu listings DISHES
12. Judgments CALLS
13. Italian source of the melody for “It’s Now or Never” O SOLE MIO
14. Toy with a tail KITE
15. Like pie? EASY
17. 35mm camera type SLR
18. Map site ATLAS
19. Turntable stat RPM
23. Trojans’ region, familiarly SOCAL
29. Confused AT SEA
30. “Strange Magic” gp. ELO
32. Ascend RISE
34. Agitate STIR
38. Irangate figure NORTH
39. Here, to Henri ICI
41. Bold FEARLESS
43. Four-wheeler, for short ATV
44. Leaves in a bag TEA
47. __ D.A. ASST
48. Went faster SPED UP
49. Like some tests TIMED
50. “I Got __”: Jim Croce hit A NAME
51. Font flourish SERIF
52. Diamond need MITT
53. Pale ___ ALE
54. Certain sharer ROOMIE
55. __ Dhabi ABU
58. Acrimony RANCOR
59. So to speak AS IT WERE
62. Slog TRUDGE
63. New Deal org. WPA
64. 2008 bailout beneficiary AIG
65. Cleaning aid RAG
67. Massachusetts quartet ESSES
68. Fire sign SMOKE
69. Sharp tastes TANGS
73. Taunt JEER
76. Charlton Heston once led it: Abbr. NRA
77. Phoenix suburb MESA
78. He bested Adlai IKE
79. With 4-Down, “The Thin Man” co-star MYRNA
81. Breaks on the road STOPOVERS
84. E-__ MAG
85. Earlier AGO
86. Spooner, for one REVEREND
87. Mgmt. ADMIN
88. Opposite of paleo- NEO-
89. Winner’s prize GOLD
91. Has title to OWNS
94. Cheese shape WHEEL
96. Mac alternatives PCS
97. Scholarship founder RHODES
99. Fictional symbol of brutality LEGREE
100. Elis YALIES
101. Show of scorn SNEER
102. Ryan and Bushnell NOLANS
103. God wed to his sister OSIRIS
104. Place setting item NAPKIN
106. Strains TAXES
108. Nibbles BITES
111. Bryn __ College MAWR
112. Netman Nastase ILIE
113. Moreno with Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards RITA
114. Meditation syllables OMS
116. Flavor enhancer MSG
121. TV dial letters UHF
122. Princess’ bane PEA

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