Sunday February 14, 2021 Jake Braun

Theme: "Love Is ... "  -  Famous people who defined what "love" is.

24A. "... the beauty of the soul": SAINT AUGUSTINE.

55A. "... a fruit in season at all times": MOTHER TERESA.

70A. "... an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired": ROBERT FROST.

89A. "... an act of endless forgiveness": PETER USTINOV.

119A. "... eternal, infinite ... equal and pure": HONORE DE BALZAC.

5D. "... a flower, you got to let it grow": JOHN LENNON.

80D. "... the truth more first than sun, more last than star": E E CUMMINGS.

Normally a name theme tends to get "listy", but this one is sweet and fitting. Happy Valentine's Day!  Still remember Jake's  "Cherish the Thought" we had a few years ago?

Low in black squares. Only 68. I always manage to crank up to 78.

Across:

1. Honshu high pt.: MT FUJI. Slight dupe with  48. Oregon's highest point: MOUNT HOOD.

7. King of Maine: STEPHEN. Great clue. The author.

14. Alpine Olympics event: SKIING.

20. Playground denial: ARE NOT.

21. Former SAG president Gilbert: MELISSA. She played Laura Ingalls Wilder.

22. Like many garages: TWO-CAR.

23. Discipline involving slow movement: TAI CHI. Have you heard of Shaolin?

26. Equivalent wd.: SYN. Synonym.

27. 22.5 deg.: NNE.

29. Spam-spreading program: BOT.

30. Games gp. that added a "P" to its initials in 2019: USOC. United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

31. Frank behind a bookcase: ANNE.

32. Colosseum warrior: GLADIATOR.

35. Sommer of cinema: ELKE.

37. Literally, the sci. of women: GYN. Gynecology.

38. Origami bird: CRANE.

41. Manhattan, e.g.: Abbr.: ISL.

42. Progress: HEADWAY.

45. Airport not far from the Common: LOGAN. OK, Boston Common.

46. Native ceremonial pipe: CALUMET. New to me. It looks like this.

49. Emphatic type: ITALIC.

53. Forever, with "an": ETERNITY. Been a tough two-week stretch in our area. Temp right now (Sunday morning 5:30am). Wind Chill Warning until lunch hours.

58. Leopardlike cats: OCELOTS.

59. Touch: ABUT.

60. German coal valley: RUHR.

61. Author Rand: AYN.

62. Suffix with salt: INE. Cracker with soup is very American.

63. "Yes!": AMEN.

64. Med. office titles: DRS.

65. WWI Belgian battle site: YPRES. Have not seen this fill for a long time.

67. Very big: HUGE.

74. Inner: Pref.: ENTO.

75. Sky blue: AZURE.

77. Audio units: Abbr.: DBS. Decibels.

78. Word with cut or pin: HAIR.

79. Dripping __: WET.

81. TD scorers: RBS. Running backs,

82. High style: UPDO.

84. Dish put away with a spoon: SOUP. Ha ha, I still use chopsticks.

85. Two-year periods: BIENNIA. Plural of "biennium".

92. Bleachers critiques: CATCALLS.

93. First U.S. space station: SKYLAB.  Launched in 1973.

94. Court conference the jury doesn't hear: SIDEBAR.

96. Bay State sch.: UMASS.

97. Source of emergency light: OIL LAMP.

100. Tats: INK.

101. Used for a tryst: MET AT.

102. AOL, e.g.: ISP.

105. Makes stuff up: LIES.

106. Elite tactical units: SWAT TEAMS. Created by Daryl Gates, the LAPD guy.

110. Congeal: CLOT.

112. Pitch-raising guitar device: CAPO.

114. Payroll service co.: ADP.

115. Agnus __: DEI.

116. Response to overhearing?: TMI. Too Much Information.

123. Hostile advance: INROAD.

125. Bad way to be led: ASTRAY.

126. Oakley skill: RIFLERY.

127. Model railroad scale: O GAUGE.

128. Ideal partner: THE ONE.

129. Swears to: ATTESTS.

130. Password partner: USER ID.

Down:

1. Yoga needs: MATS.

2. Cafeteria convenience: TRAY.

3. Sinn __: FEIN.  Political party in Ireland. Irish for "We Ourselves".

4. Auntie's hubby: UNC. Uncle.

6. Rock memoir: I TINA.

7. Texting format, briefly: SMS.

8. Perforated orb holding leaves: TEA BALL. This one has way too much leaves.

9. "Cats" poet: ELIOT.

10. Spotted horse: PINTO.

11. Post-WWII pres.: HST.

12. Genesis twin: ESAU.

13. Whale-watching woe: NAUSEA. Never went whale-watching.

14. Wouldn't go back on: STUCK WITH.

15. Elec. units: KWS.

16. Greek "i": IOTA.

17. Cake topping: ICING. No icing on Chinese taro or radish cakes, super popular during Spring Festival.

18. Childcare employee: NANNY.

19. Place to putt: GREEN.

25. Top medal: GOLD.

28. Orders from on high: EDICTS.

32. Way more cool: GNARLIER.

33. "By Jove!": I SAY.

34. Bonnie Blue's dad: RHETT. "Gone With the Wind".

36. Place to have a meal: EATERY.  My friend Carmen and her family celebrated the Spring Festival  two days ago. Noticed those red Fu decorations on the wall? Fu means "good fortune".

 

38. Queen of the Nile, familiarly: CLEO. Cleopatra.

39. Campus mil. unit: ROTC.

40. Screenwriter James: AGEE.  "A Death in the Family".

43. Horn of Africa country: Abbr.: ETH. Ethiopia.

44. Pirate's cry: YAR.

47. "Burnt" pigment: UMBER.

50. Absorb in class: LEARN.

51. "... __ to come": IS YET.

52. Kid's assertion: CAN SO.

54. Road to the Forum: ITER.

56. Goof or gaffe: ERROR.

57. Tamblyn of "West Side Story" (1961): RUSS. Saw the movie ages ago. Don't recall him though.

59. Iowa State city: AMES.

63. Monastery VIP: ABBOT.

64. Sign of a slow leak: DRIP.

66. Honey and Sugar: PET NAMES.

67. 80-pound concert instruments: HARPS. Wow, that heavy?

68. Turkic native: UZBEK.

69. Like winds in storms: GUSTY.

71. Gambler's calculation: ODDS.

72. Raoul Dufy, stylistically: FAUVE. Wiki says Raoul Dufy was a French Fauvist painter. Here is his "Le Cavalier blanc".

73. Silly goose: TWIT.

76. Continental travel pass: EURAIL.

83. Limelight: PUBLIC EYE. Another great fill.

84. Salon cuts: SNIPS.

85. Warned one's master, perhaps: BARKED.

86. Line above the equator: Abbr.: N LAT. Latitude.

87. "Sing it, Sam" speaker: ILSA.

88. DA's aide: ASST.

90. "Xanadu" rock gp.: ELO.

91. Suffix with Catholic: ISM.

92. Jargon: CANT.

95. Very small role: BIT PART.

98. Starring role: LEAD.

99. Ad astra per __: Kansas motto: AS PERA.

102. Phased-out Apple messaging tool: ICHAT. Just Messages now.

103. Wade noisily: SLOSH.

104. Florence's __ Vecchio: PONTE.

107. Pixar title robot: WALL-E.

108. Wood shapers: ADZES.

109. Half-serious sequence?: AEIOU. Letters orderly contained in "Half-serious".

111. Spanish bull: TORO.

113. Final notice: OBIT.

116. Sightseeing trip: TOUR.

117. Christmas trio: MAGI.

118. Fingered: ID'ED.

120. Operated: RAN.

121. Back at sea: AFT.

122. Hall of Famer Young et al.: CYS.

124. Issa of "Insecure": RAE.

C.C.