• CENTRAL PERK (17A: "Friends" coffeehouse)
• MOE'S TAVERN (21A: "The Simpsons" watering hole)
• MEL'S DINER (29A: "Alice" eatery)
• MACLAREN'S (43A: "How I Met Your Mother" pub)
• TEN FORWARD (54A: "Star Trek: TNG" lounge)
• THE PEACH PIT (59A: "Beverly Hills 90210" restaurant)

The Zapotecs (Zoogocho Zapotec: Didxažoŋ) are an indigenous people of Mexico. The population is concentrated in the southern state of Oaxaca, but Zapotec communities exist in neighboring states, as well. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects. In pre-Columbian times, the Zapotec civilization was one of the highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica, which, among other things, included a system of writing. Many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, and they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles and Central Valley areas of California. // There are four basic groups of Zapotecs: the istmeños, who live in the southern Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the serranos, who live in the northern mountains of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca, the southern Zapotecs, who live in the southern mountains of the Sierra Sur, and the Central Valley Zapotecs, who live in and around the Valley of Oaxaca. (wikipedia)

• SECOND/STRING
• OLD/NAVY
• FORD/PINTO
• OH/SNAP 

noun

noun: orach

1. a plant of the goosefoot family with leaves that are sometimes covered in a white mealy substance. Several kinds are edible and can be used as a substitute for spinach or sorrel. (mmmm... white mealy substance. Tell me more ...) (google.com)

• 1A: Chophouse orders (STEAKS)— had weird amount of trouble getting started in NW because I wanted T-BONES here, and then even when I mentally inserted STEAKS, I couldn't get anything but TARE to work (2D: Weigh station factor), and wasn't sure of that. 
• 31A: Butt of many 1970s automotive jokes (FORD/PINTO)— wrote in EDSEL, thinking "well ... I guess people were still joking about the EDSEL in the '70s...")
• 37D: Chipped-flint tool (EOLITH)— fill in this puzzle is OK, but stuff like this (and ORACH, and ITER) goes on my No-Fly List of crossword fill. Technical and uncommon and only used as a crutch. I'd also put ALAR low on the desirability scale. And RARIN'. And ALSOP, for sure (4D: Old newspaper columnist Joseph).

tor·pid

ˈtôrpəd/

adjective

adjective: torpid

1. mentally or physically inactive; lethargic.

   
   

   "we sat around in a torpid state"

   
   

   synonyms:

   lethargic, sluggish, inert, inactive, slow, lifeless; More languid, listless, lazy, idle, indolent, slothful, supine, passive, apathetic, phlegmatic, somnolent, sleepy, weary, tired "torpid tourists traveled tired through the tropics"

   antonyms:

   energetic

   • (of an animal) dormant, especially during hibernation.

• • •

Man, I have been loving on the word TORPID since the days of "Nature" on PBS with that handsome George Page-- remember him? Ah. Dormice. They are the poster rodents of torpor. Next time someone tells you to do something just say "No! I'm too TORPID!" 

(you're welcome)

Hi, it's Lena Webb again; I did this thing that one time. When Rex asked me to fill in for him today I didn't fall back on the old TORPID excuse, but happily blogged in to bloggerspot to share some blogtime with you all. 

As you may have heard from a certain someone, Rex is constructing puzzles of his own! I feel like I'm announcing that he's pregnant, and he is-- pregnant with ideas. One such idea was conceived around the time I was clued in to the existence of the NYT mini puzzle (somehow one full year after it premiered). I was posting "shrinking puzzles" on my blog and had made it down to 5x5 by the time I tried my first NYT mini. Like a lot of people, it seems, I found it to be pretty boring and shared my own mini puzzle with Rex. He started cranking out his own, calling them "Lil High Fives," and now my blog has turned into the Puppy Bowl of Crosssports with all these 5x5s romping about. Erik Agard, Jonathan O'Rourke, and even my poor boyfriend have contributed-- and we have a Peter Broda Sunday on deck for the weekend. Come on, you know you want to submit one of your own!

Now, moving on to the main event. This was a fun Friday puzzle, wasn't it? I'm no speed demon, but STEPPED ON THE GAS I did and slid across the upper half like a SIMONIZEd... DOVE. Nah, how about like slippery little WATERMELON SEEDS. The image of sitting in the backyard munching on melon and spitting out seeds, maybe blasting yourself with the garden hose, goes perfectly with this week's scorching temperatures (at least here in Boston). For such a beautiful marquee entry, though, I wish the clue had been better. "Objects within spitting distance?" is awkward-- like, what, the seeds are somewhere near to you within the distance that you might spit one of them? *mind explodes* It's the "within" that gets me. It seems like whoever wrote the clue was hell bent on making "spitting distance" work no matter what, and slapped on a question mark instead of thinking of other witty/misleading "spitting" options.

Things got SAUCIER as I headed down South to the ASS and PEEN region. Look, I laugh *every time* I pencil PEEN into a puzzle and that's just the way it is. After I pulled it together I ran straight into the not-at-all-funny STP and ST PAT and lost some momentum. Total buzzkill fill. Enter torpor.

But then THIS IS SPINAL TAP made its appearance (after getting lost backstage, of course) and I instantly got every song from the movie stuck in my head at once. How am I supposed to pick a single YouTube item for this? Let's keep it regional with some more "Southern exposure."

"I met her on Monday/'twas my lucky bun day" is probably the best lyric in all of music.

And what about that last marquee, POLICE CONSTABLE? You can't win them all, and this kinda boring answer is right where it belongs: at the bottom. 

• (1D: Props for some magic shows)/(26A: Fliers for a magic show)— <sings> Oh, oh, oh, it's magic, you know...
• (13D: Like cassette tapes)/(18D: Onetime big name in cassette tapes)— Don't call out your own fill as being PASSE! 
• (47D: Skier's problem)/(50D: Elevator used by skiers)— Yeah, I am starting to GLARE at these cutesy little pairs of clues...

The Knoxville Ice Bears are a professional ice hockey team. The team competes in the Southern Professional Hockey League. They play their home games at Knoxville Civic Auditorium and Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Ice Bears are coached by Mike Craigen, a former Ice Bears fan favorite.^{[peacock term]} He is in his 5th season as head coach. The Ice Bears have made the playoffs in all 13 years of their existence. In 2006 the Ice Bears defeated the Florida Seals to take their first President's Cup. The Ice Bears won back to back Presidents Cup Championships in the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. On April 18, 2015, the Ice Bears defeated the Mississippi RiverKings 4-2 to sweep the 2015 SPHL Finals and win their 4th Presidents Cup. (wikipedia)

• FINISH AHEAD OF SCHEDULE (21A: COMPLETE PLAN)
• AGE BEFORE BEAUTY (34A: GRAY FOX)
• GRAND OPENING SALES (50A: BIG DEALS)
• WAY BEHIND THE TIMES (75A: NEWSPAPER ROUTE)
• ONE AFTER ANOTHER (88A: MORE UNITED)
• FORM FOLLOWING FUNCTION (106A: GO FIGURE)

noun

noun: kudu; plural noun: kudus; plural noun: kudu

1. an African antelope that has a grayish or brownish coat with white vertical stripes, and a short bushy tail. The male has long spirally curved horns. (google)

• COMPLETE PLAN — IFFY
• GRAY FOX — OK
• BIG DEALS — OK
• NEWSPAPER ROUTE — GOOD
• MORE UNITED — OH HELL NO
• GO FIGURE — FANTASTIC

• 114A: One in business? (SILENT I)— second time I've seen this answer in past couple days. Can't say I like it. The weirdest thing about "business," to me, is the pronunciation of the damn "u." Freaky.
• 80A: Series of lows (MOOING)— great, great MOOING cluing
• 98D: Conservative I.R.A. asset (T-NOTE)— I had T-BOND. Isn't that an exciting error!?
• 47D: Carpentry fastener (T-NUT)— T-NUT or T-NOTE, that is the question. Well, it's *a* question. 
• 115A: Malibu ___ ("The Simpsons" parody doll) (STACY) — Yessssss. More like this.

•  51D: Stressful work? (POESY) — as someone who teaches poetry (which is the actual word) all the time, please allow me to assert that a clue for POESY that doesn't somehow signal its, uh, fanciful archaicness from times of yore is at least partially dishonest.

• LOS ANGELES KINGS (16A: Hockey team that plays at Staples Center)
• BUDWEISER (21A: Super Bowl advertiser with Clydesdale horses)
• ROLEX (38A: Luxury watch brand)
• HALLMARK CARDS (53A: Busy company around Mother's Day and Valentine's Day)

Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle (/ˈɜrl/) (born January 17, 1955) is an American rock, country and folksinger-songwriter, record producer, author and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. His breakthrough album was the 1986 album Guitar Town. Since then Earle has released 15 other studio albums and received three Grammy awards. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Shawn Colvin and Emmylou Harris. He has appeared in film and television, and has written a novel, a play, and a book of short stories. (wikipedia)

• 13D: Dugout figure (BATBOY)— gah. I love baseball, but this took me far too long. Needed four crosses to pick it up. Part of me was thinking of "dugout" as a canoe ... that's a thing, right? Ah, yes. It is. Good.
• 51D: "Get what I mean?," informally ("Y'KNOW")— I like this and yet I feel like it should be "YA KNOW?" I want to pronounce the version that's in the grid "eek-no."
• 4D: "Good heavens!" ("OH GOD!")— Got the GOD part no problem, but went with MY. When I hear the expression in my head, "MY GOD" has a lesser charge. "OH GOD" seems like a reaction to an atrocity, or an expression of deep dread/anxiety/fear that something will be horribly wrong. "MY GOD" seems like how you'd react to someone's tale of how bad traffic was this morning.

• MOUNTAIN HIGH (20A: First obstacle in a 1967 R&B hit)
• VALLEY LOW (34A: Second obstacle)
• RIVER WIDE (45A: Third obstacle)
• GETTING TO YOU (57A: Objective in the 1967 R&B hit) 

A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator. They played a major role in public works in the 19th and early 20th century, being key to the construction of railroads and the Panama Canal. The development of simpler, cheaper diesel-poweredshovels caused steam shovels to fall out of favour in the 1930s. (wikipedia)

• 20A: "Welcome to the mall! Make sure you don't ___!" ("MISS THE TARGET") (get it?)
• 26A: "The food court offers much more than just your typical ___" ("SUBWAY FARE")
• 48A: "Some people hate the next store, but I don't ___" ("MIND THE GAP")
• 55A: "I don't really know the employees in the tech store anymore because there's been a lot of ___" ("APPLE TURNOVER") 

Aliaume Damala Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973) (pronounced /ˈeɪkɒn/), is an American rapper, songwriter, businessman, and record producer. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of "Locked Up", the first single from his debut album Trouble. // He has since founded two successful record labels, Konvict Muzik and Kon Live Distribution. His second album, Konvicted received three nominations for the Grammy Awards in two categories, Best Contemporary R&B Album for Konvicted album and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Smack That" and "I Wanna Love You". // He is the first solo artist to hold both the number one and two spots simultaneously on the Billboard Hot 100 charts twice. Akon has had four songs certified as 3x platinum, three songs certified as 2x platinum, more than ten songs certified as 1x platinum and more than ten songs certified as gold in digital sales. Akon has sung songs in other languages including Tamil, Hindi, and Spanish. He was listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the #1 selling artist for master ringtones in the world. // Akon often provides vocals as a featured artist and is currently credited with over 300 guest appearances and more than 35 Billboard Hot 100 songs. He has worked with numerous performers such as Michael Jackson, Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Whitney Houston, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and Gwen Stefani. He has had five Grammy Awards nominations and has produced songs for artists such as Lady Gaga, Colby O'Donis, Kardinal Offishall, Leona Lewis, and T-Pain. Forbes ranked Akon 80th (Power Rank) in Forbes Celebrity 100 in 2010 and 5th in 40 Most Powerful Celebrities in Africa list, in 2011. Billboard ranked Akon No. 6 on the list of Top Digital Songs Artists of the decade. (wikipedia)

• 1A: Fancy wheels, familiarly (BENZ)— I had LIMO
• 3D: "Psycho" character who is (spoiler alert!) actually a corpse (NORMA BATES)— I've seen this movie dozens of times. I watch it every Halloween. I had no idea NormaN's mom had a name. WTF?
•  22D: A lot of rich people? (ESTATE) — a very good, but very tough, clue.
• 6D: Some (A BIT OF)— hard to pick up *and* crappy. Not my fav combo.
• 11D: Tobaccoless smoke, informally (ECIG)— ugh. Wanted CHAW. Couldn't get the NE to work at all because [Commotion] was also not bringing up SCENE, and I somehow put MOUSSE in at 10D: Soup or dessert (COURSE). Total mess up there. Also E-CIG is dumb all around. One of the no-go E-words for me. See E-CASH, E-NOTE, E-tailer (!?), etc. 
• 31D: Vehicle clearing a no-parking zone (TOW CAR)— I literally have never heard of this thing. Where I come from, we have tow trucks. I also couldn't figure out what "clearing" meant, so yikes. 
• 35D: Record holder (ARCHIVE)— ambiguous. Tough.
• 15A: Certain quatrain rhyme scheme (ABAA)— "sub-optimal" would be kind. Also, you just kind of have to guess at As and Bs. Yuck. 

• 65A: Woman's name that sounds like its first two letters (EVIE) — Yeah. OK. But EDIE, though...
• 59D: Old World language (ERSE) — aw, c'mon, guys. ERSE? Smh. See also EFTS.
• 63D: 2015 Melissa McCarthy comedy ("SPY")— contemporary clue. Nice. But a huge know-it-or-you-don't, i.e. people who know the word SPY (i.e. all of us) won't necessarily know the movie. But the movie was a huge hit. Fair. Good, even. But again, it added to potential toughness.
• 58D: Transportation competitor of Lyft (UBER)— with all this tough cluing, I have no idea why "Transportation" was added to this clue. Totally unnecessary. [Lyft competitor] — pow, done. "Transportation" is awkward and vague and, I think, superfluous. You might've done something with "cab alternative," but...
• 7D: Bygone game show filmed in a moving vehicle ("CASH CAB")— I have heard of this and it still took a number of crosses for me to figure it out. Lord help you if you've never heard of it. "Bygone"!

• Essays of Elia becomes SAAA (ess, As) OF ELIA (17A: Charles Lamb collection first published in 1823)
• Jesse Owens => JESSE ONNN (25A: Track star known as the Buckeye Bullet)
• Excise tax => XIII TAX (36A: Duty on gasoline or tobacco)
• The Emmys=> THE MEEE (39A: 39A: Annual gala usually held in September)
• 80s music => ATTT MUSIC (47A: Prince and Journey output) (terrible clue)
• Public Ivies=> PUBLIC IVVV (58A: Informal group that includes the Universities of California, Michigan and Virginia)

A taquito (Spanish pronunciation: [taˈkito], lit. Spanish for "small taco"), rolled taco, or flauta (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈflauta], lit. Spanish for "flute") is a Mexican food dish most often consisting of a small rolled-up tortilla and some type of filling, including beef, cheese or chicken. The filled tortilla is crisp-fried. The dish is often topped with condiments such as sour cream and guacamole.Corn tortillas are generally used to make taquitos; the dish is more commonly known as flautas when they are larger than their taquito counterparts, and can be made with either flour or corn tortillas although using corn is more traditional. In some areas, such as New Mexico, taquito refers not to the rolled-up tortilla dish, but rather a smaller version of the taco. (wikipedia)

noun

noun: ionosphere

1. the layer of the earth's atmosphere that contains a high concentration of ions and free electrons and is able to reflect radio waves. It lies above the mesosphere and extends from about 50 to 600 miles (80 to 1,000 km) above the earth's surface.

   • a region similar to an ionosphere above the surface of another planet. (google)

Mount Asama(浅間山Asama-yama^?) is an active complex volcano in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The volcano is the most active on Honshū. The Japan Meteorological Agency classifies Mount Asama as rank A. It stands 2,568 metres (8,425 ft) above sea level on the border of Gunma and Nagano prefectures. It is included in 100 Famous Japanese Mountains. A cruiser class of the Imperial Japanese Navy was named after it, including lead shipAsama. (wikipedia)

• • •

Another entry from the Big Database School of Constructing. It's been so nice not to have seen one of these in a while. I guess their return was inevitable. Sigh. I took one look at this grid and said "No way. There are only a few people on the planet I would trust to fill *that* grid (58 words!?) well. This is going to go poorly." With my expectations set super-low, the puzzle surprised me by not being ultra-terrible, but it still had most of the problems that low word-count stunt grids have. The bad fill is not as plentiful as I would've expected, but when it was bad it was awful. I keep looking at ASAMA on top of UCLAN and wondering how much contempt you have to have for solvers to do that. But my main issue here isn't how bad the fill is. It's that grids like these are made with an eye to showing off, not to ENTERTAINing. "Will it fit" takes precedence over "Is it cool? Is it fresh? Will it produce nice feelings in the  pleasure centers of the human brain." I wish constructors would spend time becoming good puzzlemakers before they tried their hands at stunt grids. Actually, I wish constructors would rarely, if ever, try their hands at stunt grids, because they aren't generally designed with solving pleasure in mind. They're designed for hanging on your wall or getting you in some imaginary record book.

The truth is that anyone with a massive enough word hoard (i.e. database) and patience can produce a workable low word-count themeless grid. Database management is not the same thing as constructing. To this puzzle's enormous credit, that NW corner *is* actually pretty entertaining. It's also remarkably smooth (the smoothest of the four maddeningly isolated quadrants). But TESTATORS and TOYERS and ESTES MANAT ESSES etc. is not my idea of a good time. I look forward to themeless weekends because, with the restraint of the theme lifted, the constructor can prioritize fantastic words and phrases and make the grid (mostly) extra-squeaky clean. There's no excuse for it not to be. Unless, of course, you decide self-impose a word-count of 58.

Lots of wrong turns today:  

• DIETS for VICES. (1D: Subjects of New Year's resolutions)
• GASSY for INANE (I was trying anything at that point). (2D: Like folderol)
• ESPERANTO for CANTONESE. (17A: Tongue with six phonetic tones)
• PREEN for ADORN. (5D: Opposite of uglify)
• Some kind of SHARKS for SEA SNAKES. (21A: Reef swimmers with no gills)
• MOTOCADES for AUTOCADES (?). (10D: They're often escorted by police)
• FATTED for BASTED. (35A: Like some geese and turkeys)
• ANNOY for CHAFE. (41D: Vex)
• ANNETTE for NANETTE (??). (34D: Lepore of women's fashion)
• Some kind of BIRDS for CARACARAS. (25D: Vulture lookalikes of the falcon family)
• EBOLA for ECOLI. (39A: It has some bad strains)

When I google UCLAN, literally every hit relates to The University of Central Lancashire. CARACARAS (?) reminds me of "Cara Mia" by Jay and the Americans, which I just today learned is one of my daughter's favorite bands. I knew the teenage years would bring weird disclosures, but this ... this was surprising.

• INDIANA JONES (23A: Fictional archaeologist) wearing a FEDORA
• CALAMITY JANE (28A: Famed frontierswoman) wearing a STETSON
• CHE GUEVARA (40A: Subject of "Guerillero Heroico") wearing a BERET
• CHARLES DE GAULLE (58A: Leader of the Free French) wearing a KEPI
• STAN LAUREL (83A: He helped move a piano in "The Music Box") wearing a BOWLER
• BUSTER KEATON (95A: Star of "Sherlock Jr." and "Steamboat Bill Jr.") wearing a PORKPIE
• CHEF BOY-AR-DEE (102A: Italian pitchman of note) wearing a TOQUE 

n

1. (Biochemistry)any of thepoisonousconstituents of animalvenoms

[C20:fromFrenchven(in) poison + -in] (thefreedictionary.com)

• AORTAE
• REATA
• ANNEALS
• ANILS
• VENINS
• ANNO
• ALLA
• AGOUTIS
• IGOTO
• FRISCH
• COWAN
• AUER
• OSIER
• UNKEYED
• TSR
• EEKS
• ANDERS
• SBA
• ESTS
• RES
• RAE
• TUA
• OSA
• LETT
• EMAJ

• SORE SPOTS
• SLOW START
• STEEP SLOPE
• SKI SUIT
• SELL STOCKS
• SOUL SISTER
• SAD SONG
• SEE STARS
• SET SAIL
• STOPS SHORT
• SITS STILL
• SEA SALT

adj. Archaic Enough. (wordnik.com)

• PYROTECHNIST (18A: Fireworks expert)
• OTOLARYNGOLOGIST (29A: Head and neck physician)
• MASSAGE THERAPIST (51A: Hard rubber, maybe)

The Illuminati (plural of Latinilluminatus, "enlightened") is a name given to several groups, both real and fictitious. Historically, the name usually refers to the Bavarian Illuminati, an Enlightenment-era secret society founded on May 1, 1776. The society's goals were to oppose superstition, obscurantism, religious influence over public life and abuses of state power. "The order of the day," they wrote in their general statutes, "is to put an end to the machinations of the purveyors of injustice, to control them without dominating them." The Illuminati—along with Freemasonry and other secret societies—were outlawed through edict, by the Bavarian ruler, Charles Theodore, with the encouragement of the Roman Catholic Church, in 1784, 1785, 1787 and 1790. In the several years following, the group was vilified by conservative and religious critics who claimed that they continued underground and were responsible for the French Revolution. // In subsequent use, "Illuminati" refers to various organisations which claim or are purported to have links to the original Bavarian Illuminati or similar secret societies, though these links are unsubstantiated. They are often alleged to conspire to control world affairs, by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations, in order to gain political power and influence and to establish a New World Order. Central to some of the most widely known and elaborate conspiracy theories, the Illuminati have been depicted as lurking in the shadows and pulling the strings and levers of power in dozens of novels, movies, television shows, comics, video games, and music videos. (wikipedia)

• FIRST DOWN (17A: Appetizer, usually?)
• KICK OFF (24A: Exile from?) — god, that clue's awkwardness hurts
  
• DEFENSIVE LINE (33A: "I am not guilty," e.g.?)
• RED ZONE (50A: Cuba or North Korea?)
• FAIR CATCH (57A: Beauty queen bride, quaintly?)

Johnnie Lucille Collier (April 12, 1923– January 22, 2004), known professionally as Ann Miller, was an American dancer, singer and actress. She is best remembered for her work in the Hollywood musical films of the 1940s and 1950s. [...] She appeared in a special 1982 episode of The Love Boat, joined by fellow showbiz legends Ethel Merman, Carol Channing, Della Reese, Van Johnson, and Cab Calloway in a storyline that cast them as older relatives of the show's regular characters. (wikipedia)

• 26A: "The only American invention as perfect as a sonnet," per H. L. Mencken (MARTINI)— Great clue on MARTINI, but Hard As Hell. Needed almost every cross before it dropped.  
• 21A: Where you might spend dinars for dinners (SERBIA)— first, that pun is truly lousy. Second, I fell like half the world uses dinars. This clue was hard.
• 52A: Dance class wear (UNITARD)— I wrote LEOTARD, because of course I did.
• 35D: Ceaselessly (NO END)— I wrote in ON END. This was oddly disastrous.

• TONTO TO TOTO TOME (17A: One volume in the Encyclopedia of Movie Pets and Sidekicks?)
• LEND A DAD A DADA (27A: Let someone's father borrow this Arp or that Duchamp?)
• I AM A MAMA MAMBA (46A: Statement from the proud snake as its eggs were hatching?)
• THIS IS ISIS, I SAID (58A: Recounting of the time you introduced the Egyptian goddess of fertility?) 

Ede (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈeːdə] (listen)) is a municipality and a city in the center of the Netherlands, in the province of Gelderland. [Note: population 110K...] // The town itself is situated halfway between the larger cities of Arnhem and Utrecht with direct rail and road connections to both cities. There are no connections to any water nearby; however, there also is a direct road connection to the city of Wageningen which hosts a small industrial port on the river Rijn and a direct road and rail connection to the city of Arnhem, which features larger port at a greater distance. The environment is clean and green due to the fact Ede is partly built in a forest and partly on the central Dutch plains in the national park called Nationaal Park "De Hoge Veluwe". (wikipedia)

Parsi/ˈpɑrsiː/ (or Parsee) is one of two Zoroastrian communities (the other being Iranis) which are primarily located in India. According to the Qissa-i Sanjan, Parsis originally migrated from Greater Iran to Gujarat and Sindh at some point during the 8th to 10th century to avoid the persecution of Zoroastrians by Muslim invaders who were in the process of conquering Iran. (wikipedia)

fer·ule

ˈferəl/

noun

historical

noun: ferule; plural noun: ferules

1. a flat ruler with a widened end, formerly used for punishing children.

The LATTE ART is not amused

• 27A: Travel mag advertiser (B AND B)— My boyfriend and I know this as the cocktail  "Bénédictine and Brandy," rather than that B&B on the Cape (point is, "and" seems weird with the already abbreviated "B")
• 20A: Out-of-this-world settlement (MOON BASE)— Is there a moon base? Not yet.
• 52A: Photographer's support (UNIPOD)— Selfie stick or the pics didn't happen. (Selfie stick in Wikipedia is described as a MONOPOD omg)

• 29A: Magical phrase in an old tale ("OPEN SESAME"). First ditto mark represents a D in the Down direction and crosses the double-D in CHEDDAR (4D: Money, in modern slang). Second ditto mark represents an L in the Down direction and crosses the double-L in PULL-TAB (21D: Soda can feature).
• 50A: Schwarzenegger film catchphrase ("I'LL BE BACK"). Crossing Down answer: 33D: Art critic, stereotypically (SNOOT). 
• 58A: Comment after a betrayal ("ET TU, BRUTE?"). Crossing Down answer: 34D: Not seemly (UNMEET).
• 74A: Catchphrase for one of the Avengers ("HULK SMASH!"). Crossing Down answer: 70D: How one person might resemble another (EERILY).
• 84A: Repeated bird call? ("NEVERMORE"). Crossing Down answer: 77D: Wool source (LLAMA).
• 103A: What the ring in "The Lord of the Rings" is called ("MY PRECIOUS"). Crossing Down answers: 85D: ___ rate (tax amount per $1,000) (MILLAGE) and 95D: Be a gentleman to at the end of a date, say (SEE HOME). 
• 31D: Assistant number cruncher (SUBBOOKKEEPER). Runs through all quotes.

Not fitting or proper; unseemly. (The Free Dictionary)

• 20A: Got up again (REROSE) — I'm fine with RE- answers that you might hear in the wild like REREAD or RESEND or REMIX, but REROSE isn't one of them.
• 24A: Takes out, as some beer bottles (UNCASES) — It makes sense, but do people say this? I think you're more likely to say "Let's take the beer bottles out" than "Let's uncase the beer bottles." There's also UNMAKES at 34A: Takes apart.
• 38A / 30D / 110A (NT WT / ESTS / SCHS) — Strange abbreviations, all of them. There's really no reason the word "net" in NT WT should be abbreviated. Three letters was too long and so we made it two? Seriously?
• 52A: Amazon's industry (E-TAIL) — This probably isn't the worst E-something word you'll find in crosswords, but I still rarely see people use it. 
• 81A: Like some storefronts (TO LEASE) — That's a weird one. FOR LEASE and TO LET are much more common to my ear.
• 83A: Farmer, in the spring / 121A: Ones making an effort (SOWER / TRYERS) — Those "add -R or -ER to a verb to get a strange noun" answers, where the definition is just "one who [verb]s." Thus a TRYER is one who tries. You can just hear a coach telling his team, C'mon guys, you gotta be tryers out there if you wanna win!
• 14D: "What ___!" (cry after some spectacular goalie play) / 53D: "Lord, is ___?" (A SAVE / IT I) — I've never been a fan of partial phrases, and while IT I is common enough in puzzles, A SAVE sounds pretty arbitrary to me.
• 17D: @@@ (ATS) — AT SIGNS, yes. ATS, no. It's just not as common.
• The aforementioned, obscure UNMEET. I wish I could unmeet this word.
• 69D: One seeking the philosopher's stone (CHEMIC) — Yikes. I want to unmeet this one too. Surely I wasn't the only one who thought this would be a Harry Potter-related answer.
• 82D: Romanian currency (LEU) — Though it's probably a better currency to use in crosswords than the outdated ECU.
• 92D: Dictation takers (STENOGS) — Is there some industry standard for the shortening of "stenographer"? I know STENO isn't a whole lot better than STENOG, but can't we just stick with one of them? Are we going to start calling them STENS later on?
• 97D: Where many shots are taken (IN A BAR)— This feels arbitrary as a phrase, like IN A STORE or IN A CASINO would.
• 111D: Greek portico (STOA) — A classic piece of crossword-ese that I haven't missed much.
• 112D: 1940s prez (HST) — He's well-known, of course, but Truman's monogram isn't anywhere near as ubiquitous as FDR or JFK.
• 116D: Stand-___ (INS) — This isn't necessarily a terrible answer per se, but it seems strange to have INS as its own entry when you've already got IN HERE and IN A BAR.

• 12A: Cassio's jealous lover in "Othello" (BIANCA) — I got my "Othello" ladies confused; I originally had EMILIA here.
• 59D: C equivalents (B SHARPS)— Just can't not think of "The Simpsons" here. 
• 93A: Travel over seas? (PARASAIL) — Nice clue.
• 95A: Be a gentleman to at the end of a date (SEE HOME) — The clue's a tad awkward for my taste, and the word "gentleman" shares a bit of a duplication with GENTLER at 28A.
• 85D: ___ rate (tax amount per $1,000) (MILLAGE) — I suspect this one could be a stumper for many. I wondered for a while why this word wasn't MILEAGE since that fourth letter was just a quotation mark in the Across direction, but that's where the "ditto mark/letter above it is the same" part of the theme kicks in.
• 109A: Hebrew letter before samekh (NUN) — Uh, alright. Kind of a curveball to throw at us non-Hebrew speakers when many other potential clues are available, but it's fairly crossed.
• 117D: Monopoly token that replaced the iron in 2013 (CAT) — I did not know this. I did, however, know that there was a Cat-Opoly version of the game that one of my friends got for Christmas many years back.
• 122A: Contraction with two apostrophes ('TWASN'T) — I actually have a certain fondness for this word. I can't really explain why; maybe it's just wacky enough that I'd laugh if someone used it ironically in regular conversation.

• RHAPSODY IN BLUE (20A: Gershwin composition in United Airlines ads)
• SOCIAL BUTTERFLY (39A: Person about town)
• UPWARDLY MOBILE (53A: Ascending in economic class)

A flea circus refers to a circus sideshow attraction in which fleas are attached (or appear to be attached) to miniature carts and other items, and encouraged to perform circus acts within a small housing. 

The first records of flea performances were from watchmakers who were demonstrating their metalworking skills. Mark Scaliot in 1578 produced a lock and chain which were attached to a flea. Flea performances were first advertised as early as 1833 in England, and were a major carnival attraction until 1930. Some flea circuses persisted in very small venues in the United States as late as the 1960s. The flea circus at Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, Manchester, England, was still operating in 1970. At least one genuine flea circus still performs (at the annual Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany) but most flea circuses are a sideline of magicians and clowns, and use electrical or mechanical effects instead of real fleas. (wikipedia)

• 24A: City south of Utah's Arches National Park (MOAB) — With a population of about 5,000 can you really call this a "city?" I would've gone for the Mother of all Bombs angle ("Bunker buster, briefly") but that's pretty obscure too, so probably best to avoid this one.
• 17A: Where ships go (ASEA)  — Normally one of those "fine, I guess" kind of answers, but crossed with AFAR? A no thank you.
• 62A: Stratford-upon-___ : / 38D: Planet, to Shakespeare (AVON/ORB) Two unforced Shakespeare references. Someone sure likes to "enjoy literature."  (Any others I'm missing? Let us know in the comments.) 
• 52D: Only U.S. president whose surname is more than 50% vowels (OBAMA) — Cute clue given the theme. 
• 13D: With 12-Down, "Gimme that!" (IT'S) — I like this approach to making completely generic short fill like ITS a little more interesting, I'd just prefer it if it scanned better in the grid by putting IT'S before MINE.
• 8D: "Star Trek" warp drive fuel (ANTIMATTER) — At first I was all like "wait wasn't the warp drive powered by dilithium crystals?!" But no, bad nerd! It turns out the dilithium crystal was all about *controlling* the matter/ANTIMATTER reaction. Silly me.
• 48D: Howe'er (THO) — I don't hate this fill, necessarily, given its ubiquity on Twitter and the like. But that clue tho. Has "However" e'er been contracted that way? I think ne'er. Unless this is another Shakespeare reference.
• 33D: Military initiative that seeks to influence the enemy's mind, informally (PSYOP) — I don't think I've ever seen this in the singular form, just as PSYOPS. But apparently that's just me.
• 44A:Classic clown name (BOBO) — Seems like a misdirection for BOZO, which is unusual for a Monday. I'd have liked maybe a David Brooks reference, but that's probably because I'm a Bourgeois Bohemian myself. (That'd be tough for a Monday, anyhow.)
• 34A: ____ of Sandwich (EARL) —  Did you know the current (and 11th) Earl of Sandwich started a fast food chain called (you guessed it) "Earl of Sandwich" that has dozens of locations around the U.S., including ones inside Disney World and Disneyland? While the money and land and everything would be nice,  I'd have guessed that it'd be kind of a pitiful burden to carry that title around, what with all the jokes, but this guy has really owned it. 

The Earl of Sandwich, embracing his legacy

• 11D: Baseball's Felipe / 47D: Bobby who won three straight N.H.L. M.V.P. awards (ALOU / ORR)— Oh look, two sporty castaways from Xword Isle, where you'll find Moises and Felipe Alou tossing the ball around with Mel Ott; Yma Súmac and Anaïs Nin trading war stories; and Uma Thurman and Ione Skye wishing it were 1992 again. Just head ASEA and go ESE, you can't miss it.