Sunday, March 29, 2026 ~ Doug Peterson

Theme: "DON'T STOP NOW"

Go Go Gadget Helicopter

Hi All!

I always enjoy solving a Doug Peterson puzzle and I was not disappointed with this effort. However, as I was solving, Inspector Gadget kept playing in my head so, I wasn't quite expecting the reveal:

117. Make it big, or a hint to the pairs found in the answers to the starred clues: GO PLACES.

22. *American Samoa's capital: PAGO PAGO. Capital of American Samoa.

29. *Dramatic ending for a tied hockey game: GOLDEN GOAL.

35. *Mohair source: ANGORA GOAT.

55. *"Stranger Things" monster: DEMOGORGON. Click at your own risk.

79. *Symbol often adorned with a "Doodle": GOOGLE LOGO.

Apropos for next Sunday

100. *Smugly sanctimonious sort: GOODY GOODY.

107. *Wasting time: GOOFING OFF.

15. *Martial arts-themed toy line: LEGO NINJAGO.

66. *Band with the 1998 hit "Iris": GOO GOO DOLLS. I have this CD but, post-solve, I had to Google to know the title of the song I've heard >100 times.

Iris

A fun theme, I think. Now let's get on to the rest of the fill before we get on with our day.

Across:

1. Invitation letters: RSVP. Répondez s'il vous plait or, in English, "respond if you please."

5. Three-striper: Abbr.: SGT. The rank of sergeant.

8. WNBA star Reese: ANGEL. She played for LSU (Geaux Tigers!) and Chicago Sky (which I think was in Thursday's puzzle(?))

Her WikiP

13. Archipelago parts: ISLES.

18. Prefix with space: AERO.

19. "Ni __": Chinese greeting: HAO. Hello in English. Mr. Di, who was the night supervisor at the lab where I worked in college, taught me that. //How am I doin' C.C.? :-)

20. __ Doone cookies: LORNA. This cookie is slowly replacing OREO :-)

21. Will of "BoJack Horseman": ARNETT. This was a Netflix animated series for adults that "aired" from 2014 to 2018.

BoJack Horseman

22. [See: Theme]

24. Pipsqueak: TWERP.

25. Half-baked?: DOUGHY.

If you've seen this movie, you weren't thinking DOUGHY

26. Shoulder wraps: STOLES.

27. __ Tomé and Príncipe: SAO. A tiny country off the coast of Africa.

Those two islands

29. [See: Theme]

31. Really annoy: GRATE ON.

33. Farm buildings: BARNS.

34. 180º from SSW: NNE. Compass points.

35. [See: Theme]

38. Instagram's parent: META.

39. Rhubarb treats: PIES.

A Prairie Home Companion

40. Preppy brand: POLO. POLO & IZOD make me think of the '80's.

41. Doomscrolling, perhaps: ONLINE. This stackexchange has arguments for and against online being one word or hyphenated. Oh, and as for Doomscrolling, that's the act of watching headline after headline (of usually bad news) in short-form media such as TikTok, Meta's Reels, or YouTube Shorts.

43. "Oh, rats!": AW DARN.

46. Program for aspiring docs: PREMED. Does this get a hyphen? ;-)

49. Readily apparent: OVERT.

51. Basic garage service: LUBE JOB. This is not hyphenated.

54. Texting tech: SMS. Short Message Service.

55. [See: Theme]

59. Sub meat: SALAMI. Add some pepperoni, mortadella, provolone - I'm getting peckish.

60. Inconsequential: MINOR.

61. Hate with a passion: DETEST. Or what Tattoo exclaims to Roarke at exam time? //Sorry for stealing your job, RayO :-).

63. Dry-__ beef: AGED.

64. Striped 96-Down, in Spanish: TIGRE. These kinda cross-reference clues can be fun. However, this one made me fast-forward to a corner I wasn't playing in and I got distracted from what I was there for.

67. Doorway piece: JAMB.

70. Plastic Clue weapon: ROPE. I thought all of the weapons in Clue were made with plastic.

Then

Now

71. Preppy jackets: ETONS. Back to the preppies again.

72. __ appeal: SNOB. Now we're really getting preppy :-)

73. Arizona neighbor: SONORA. To the south of AZ.

75. Tequila plant: AGAVE. Drink in 73a (and pretty much everywhere else).

77. In the area: AROUND. Tequila all around!

79. [See: Theme]

82. Electric jolt: ZAP.

85. Backslide: REGRESS.

87. Slight adjustment: TWEAK.

88. Gazpacho need: TOMATO. Yummers! More Italian food. Ok, we kinda appropriated [Read: stole] it from Spain but... Gazpacho is a wonderful cold "soup" for summer.

90. Does better than: ONE UPS.

92. Haudenosaunee Confederacy people: SENECA. One of the Six Nations' tribes.

95. Birthstone for some Scorpios: OPAL.

96. __ and hisses: BOOS.

98. Home of tennis's Italian Open: ROME. Four letter Italian city? The pen works itself.

100. [See: Theme]

103. "__ be nice if ... ": IT'D.

104. Canonized one: SAINT.

Father Guido Sarducci on March Saints

106. Not intended: UNMEANT. This feels like it needs a hyphen.

107. [See: Theme]

110. NYC subway org.: MTA. New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

111. Poet Amy who won a Pulitzer Prize posthumously: LOWELL.

114. Piña __: COLADA. If you like 'em (and getting caught in the rain), Escape.

Who knows any other songs by Rupert Holmes?

115. Engine booster, for short: TURBO. Wife's Alfa is a turbo, mine is five on the floor.

117. [See: Theme]

119. Geopolitical partners: ALLIES.

120. Pioneers in Philly soul, with "The": O'JAYS. For the younger solvers who've joined The Corner and weren't around in the '70's...

The O'Jays

121. Feel bad about: RUE.

122. Mauna Loa flow: LAVA.

123. Electricity pioneer Nikola: TESLA.

124. High-flying toys: KITES.

125. Assist: AID.

126. Make a shawl, maybe: KNIT. Young'uns seem to be getting into this "grandma" skill. Eldest started the craft at 12 yrs old and still does it when procrastinating her dissertation :-)

Down:

1. Performs like Kendrick Lamar: RAPS.

2. Flight assignment: SEAT. Are you aisle or window?

3. Immersive gaming gear, briefly: VR GOGGLES. There's only one (1) GO in this fill.

4. Spot for table games: POOL ROOM. Feels a bit forced(?) I call 'em a POOL hall (or just a dive bar). You?

5. California peak: SHASTA. Also the brand name of a diet soda my maternal grandfather drank.

6. Silly prank: GAG.

7. "I didn't wait long enough?": TOO SOON. Can we make Millard Filmore jokes yet?

8. Voice above tenor: ALTO. Eldest is a soprano but can do a great alto falsetto. One time, when she was 12 (or 13?), she blew away our local TexMex joint singing karaoke to Bohemian Rhapsody. On the "from me" high bit, the whole place went quiet and looked where it was coming from. Just my little shy kid belting out her voice. #ProudDad

9. This very second: NOW. STAT didn't fit.

10. Hall of Fame pitcher Maddux: GREG. I know he was with the Braves longer (where he secured a WS ring), but he'll always be a Cub to me.

11. Dress for a graduation ceremony: ENROBE. Not the dress you wear but the verb dress. Cute, Doug, cute.

12. City near Buenos Aires: LA PLATA. ?!? Is Buenos Aires also in the Texas panhandle? I'm kidding, it's the capital city of Buenos Aires province of Argentina.

13. Clubs with metal heads: IRONS. Oh, again not dive bars (with crank'd up music).

14. Tight-fitting: SNUG.

15. [See: Theme]

16. Compound in natural gas: ETHANE. A hydrocarbon which just got more expensive.

17. Does salon work: STYLES.

21. Yemeni port: ADEN. For the life of me, I can never remember this crossword staple.

23. Fruit in fruit cocktail: PEAR.

28. Like some watches: ANALOG. I made sure my kids could read a proper clock (with Roman Numerals too! :-))

30. Southern sound: DRAWL. Over 40 years in the south, I've developed a bit of one.

32. Freudian concept: EGO.

35. Slack and Signal: APPS. APPlications for you pocket communicator. Signal is actually pretty nifty if you're into privacy & security.

36. "Cheers" regular: NORM.

Best of Norm Peterson

37. Early DVR brand: TIVO. Two college buddies of mine worked for TiVo.

38. Corporate combination: MERGER.

39. Senior clergyman: PRELATE.

42. Square one?: NERD.

44. Coating on knickknacks: DUST. That's why DW & I have few.

45. Litigators' org.: ABA. American Bar Association.

47. Falco of "Avatar: Fire and Ash": EDIE.

48. Lair: DEN.

50. "Rosanna" band: TOTO.

According to popular myth, at the first recording sessions, in order to distinguish their own demo tapes from other bands' in the studio, Jeff Porcaro wrote the word "Toto" on them. In the early 1980s, band members told the press that the band was named after Toto the dog from The Wizard of Oz. After the completion of the first album, the band and record were still unnamed. David Hungate, after viewing the name on the demo tapes, explained to the group that the Latin words "in toto" translated to "all-encompassing". Another explanation was that singer Bobby Kimball's "real" name was Robert Toteaux, pronounced "toto". Because the band members played on so many records and so many musical genres, they adopted the name "Toto" as their own. - WikiP

Toto's Africa

52. Warning sign: OMEN.

53. Says "two no trump," e.g.: BIDS. I'm guessing the card game of Bridge ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

56. Magic charm: MOJO.

57. Sumatran primate, informally: ORANG.

58. Himalayan nation: NEPAL.

60. Owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant: MR. BURNS. The Simpsons.

62. Lily variety: SEGO. It's the State Flower of Utah.

64. Bygone Russian title: TSAR.

65. Memo heading: INRE. IN REgards to:

66. [See: Theme]

68. Not worth debating: MOOT.

69. Look through casually: BROWSE. Leaf, skim, etc.

71. Acronym for a dressing base: EVOO. Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It's all I use.

73. Aztecs' sch.: SDSU. San Diego State University - Home of the Fightin' Aztecs.

74. "Peacemaker" actor Steve: AGEE.

76. Reality show hosted by Terry Crews, for short: AGT. I'm guessing America's Got Talent ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

78. Once known as: NEE.

80. "Auld __ Syne": LANG.

81. Barely manage: EKE OUT.

82. Mesoamerican language family common in Oaxaca: ZAPOTECAN. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Read all about it here.

83. Just barely: A TAD.

84. Roly-__: POLY. AKA pillbugs or armadillidiidae.

86. Bit of rosemary: SPRIG.

89. Dance move also known as a backslide: MOONWALK. You can't not think of Michael Jackson here.

This looks AI he's that good

91. Majorly unacceptable: SO NOT OK. An HR violation, I'm thinkin'.

93. Packaged foods giant: CONAGRA. You may not know the company (I'm sure HG does), but you probably eat their food. I know I do.

Their Brands

94. USN VIP: ADM. Naval Admirals are Very Important People.

96. Jaguar or leopard: BIG CAT. Just like a TIGRE.

97. Peter of "The Lion in Winter": O'TOOLE.

99. "The Great Wave off Kanagawa" peak: Abbr.: MT FUJI.

101. Gave a sudden squeal: YELPED.

102. Hastings hoosegow: GAOL. Hastings is an English town (Battle Of in 1066) and GAOL is Old Norman French. The G in GAOL is soft like in gentle; so, aloud GAOL sounds like jail -- which is what the word means.

104. Better half?: SIDE A. Cute. But is Hey Jude really better than Revolution?

The Fab Four

105. Santa __: dry California winds: ANAs.

108. Blunder that might be epic: FAIL. #EpicFail

109. Greek house: FRAT.

Obligatory

110. Green trunk growth: MOSS.

112. Strauss of jeans: LEVI.

113. Future atty.'s exam: LSAT. Youngest passed and is nearly done with her OneL.

116. "So long!": BYE.

118. Arles agreement: OUI. We started with French and we end with French, YES?

Well, that was fun. Now, here's the Grid:

The Grid

WO: laura -> LORNA
ESPs: ANGEL, LAPLATA (making that whole area a mess o' ink), ADEN, SAO, SENECA, LOWELL, ZAPOTECAN
Fav: MOJO

Dr. Evil steals Austin Powers' Mojo

I've missed playing with y'all the last few weeks. I've been busy catching up from my short vacation in DC to visit my daughters at school. These next few weeks, my attendance will also be sporadic as I'm attending a couple of cybersecurity conferences.

Play later!
Cheers, -T

Fin