My wife and I are enjoying the final days of an extended vacation in Europe with a few days in London. I just managed to slip away to solve the puzzle, and write up this abbreviated post. I will get to the full post just as soon as I can.
Normal “service” will resume on or before Friday Feb 3rd, the day after we get back home to California.
1 Visitor center handouts : MAPS
5 Crew supervisor on a merchant ship : BOSUN
10 QB Patrick who was 2018’s N.F.L. M.V.P. : MAHOMES
17 Like a pub crawler’s breath, perhaps : BEERY
18 *Embarrassing pants mishap? : SEAT RIP (sea trip)
20 Set apart : ISOLATE
21 Relative of “ciao” : ADIOS
22 “I never met a ___ I didn’t like”: Garfield : LASAGNA
23 Like some tans : SPRAY-ON
24 *Shipper of British toilets? : LOO MOVER (loom over)
26 Something you might use just for the halibut? : REEL
27 ___ Plaines, Ill. : DES
28 Hill worker : ANT
29 Modern-day groundskeeper? : K-CUP POD
30 Wanda Sykes, Regina Hall and Amy Schumer, for the 2022 Oscars : MCS
31 Divides into sectors : ZONES
33 5-Down, in Spanish : OSO
34 “I’m not impressed” : MEH
35 Some sci-fi effects : CGI
37 Fast line at the airport, informally : TSA PRE
41 Small figures? : BODS
44 *Big fight for a Disney heroine from Polynesia? : MOANA BOUT (moan about)
47 Some track-and-field races : RELAYS
48 “They tell me …” : I HEAR …
50 Impulsive sorts? : NEURONS
51 Spanish gentlemen : SENORES
52 Standing at the ready : ON ALERT
54 Affectionate attention, for short : TLC
55 Neither blows it nor crushes it : DOES OK
56 Grabs lunch, say : GETS A BITE
59 Word with cane or cone : SUGAR-
61 As a friend, in French : EN AMI
64 “That hits the spot!” : AAH!
65 Voyage by rocket … or a feature of the answers to the 12 starred clues? : SPACE TRAVEL
68 U-Haul offering : VAN
69 One rounded up in a roundup : STEER
72 A car that won’t start is a common one in horror films : TROPE
73 Ties again : REFASTENS
76 Pulitzer-winning novelist Lurie : ALISON
78 Extreme vexation : IRE
80 Alliance : ENTENTE
81 Symptom of burnout : FATIGUE
83 Take up a notch : ELEVATE
86 Singer Abdul : PAULA
87 Keg attachment : ALE TAP
88 *Shortage of slime? : GOO DEARTH (good earth)
90 Appear : SEEM
91 “Is that a challenge?!” : DARE ME?
92 Part of E.S.L.: Abbr. : ENG
93 Voice of dissent : NAY
94 Scratch (out) : EKE
96 Film brand : SARAN
98 Seoul singers? : BTS
99 Component of some high-tech dog collars : RFID TAG
103 Kind of card sold in many international airports : SIM
106 Metric for a Met, for short : RBI
107 Diane Sawyer’s real first name : LILA
109 *Rest spot for a tabby? : CAT CHAIR (catch air)
110 Angry and impatient : IN A MOOD
112 Parent who’s fluent in emojis and modern slang, maybe : COOL MOM
114 “Your ___ ran over my dogma” (classic dad joke) : KARMA
115 Sovereign’s singular : ROYAL WE
116 *Brew that’s both bitter and fruity? : DUAL IPA (Dua Lipa)
117 Tiny arachnids : MITES
118 Cries feebly : SNIVELS
119 Do some barbering on : STYLE
120 Language of the Emerald Isle : ERSE
Down
1 French wine region : MEDOC
2 Series of trade discounts? : A-E-I-O-U
3 Portmanteau invitations : PROMPOSALS
4 Website overseers, in brief : SYSOPS
5 Image on a postcard from Yellowstone : BEAR
6 Western Hemisphere treaty grp. : OAS
7 *Painting of potatoes, e.g.? : STARCH ART (star chart)
8 Exhorts : URGES
9 ___-Down (what this is) : NINE
10 Botch : MISDO
11 *Main course featuring Egyptian snake meat? : ASP ENTREE (aspen tree)
12 Street smarts : HORSE SENSE
13 Portuguese greeting : OLA!
14 “S.N.L.” alumna Rudolph : MAYA
15 Boarding school where tailcoats are part of the dress code : ETON
16 On its way : SENT
17 Show some reluctance : BALK
18 Item tossed into a fire at the end of “Citizen Kane” : SLED
19 Buddy : PAL
25 “Va-va-___!” : VOOM
30 Set of options : MENU
31 Acne spot, informally : ZIT
32 Brawl site in old westerns : SALOON
34 West of Hollywood : MAE
35 Agree : CONCUR
36 ___ Goose, cousin of Donald Duck : GUS
38 *Iditarod, for one? : PARKA VENUE (Park Avenue)
39 Bourbon alternative : RYE
40 The start of something? : ESS
41 Byproduct of composting : BIOGAS
42 “Wow, super!” : OH, NEAT!
43 *Staging of a narc sting? : DEA THEATER (Death Eater)
45 How a parent serving as the tooth fairy might walk : ON TIPTOE
46 Supported : BOLSTERED
49 Stephen of “The Crying Game” : REA
51 Anguish following a dance marathon : SORE FEET
53 N.F.L. positions that sound like a fast-food chain : RBS
55 “I’m sorry, ___, I’m afraid I can’t do that” (line from HAL in “2001”) : DAVE
57 Mountain lake : TARN
58 Green prefix : ECO-
60 Fish with a long snout : GAR
62 Layer beneath the earth’s crust : MANTLE
63 Something made off the cuff? : INSEAM
66 Closing words : EPILOG
67 Office PC setup : LAN
70 One-percenters : ELITES
71 Frustrating process : RIGAMAROLE
74 Noted speedway sponsor : STP
75 What a beehive is made of : TEASED HAIR
77 *Terrific messenger at Hogwarts? : SUPERB OWL (Super Bowl)
79 *Friend in a competition? : EVENT ALLY (even tally)
81 Furbys or fidget spinners, e.g. : FAD
82 In the manner of : A LA
83 Many millennia : EON
84 Small batteries : AAAS
85 “Oh, the thinks you can think up if only you ___!”: Dr. Seuss : TRY
88 Lead-in to X, Y or Z : GEN-
89 Substance : HEFT
95 Sign unlikely to have been written by the person it is attached to : KICK ME
97 Hill workers : AIDES
98 Swell : BLOAT
99 Hindu embodiment of virtue : RAMA
100 Stolen treats in “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” : TARTS
101 Mann of music : AIMEE
102 Mardi ___ : GRAS
103 Knights and noblemen : SIRS
104 Privy to : IN ON
105 Request for permission : MAY I?
107 TV screen option, for short : LCD
108 Chits : IOUS
109 Manage : COPE
111 Dallas hoopster, for short : MAV
113 Lotta money : MIL
