THE ANNUAL MAMMOTH CROSSWORD PUZZLE

In 2015, we said hello to Caitlyn Jenner and a new royal princess, while bidding farewell to Mr. Spock and Yogi Berra. We saw Bill Gates turn 60, the Pillsbury Doughboy hit 50, Angelina Jolie turn 40 and YouTube hit 10. Countless other events of note occurred. Water was found on Mars. Deflategate grabbed headlines. Diplomatic relations re-started between the U.S. and Cuba. It was the 50th anniversary of Sonny and Cher releasing I Got You Babe. These events are the inspiration behind just some of the clues that appear in the annual Mammoth Crossword Puzzle. Enjoy!

ACROSS

1 Movie of Von Trapp family turned 50 (3,5,2,5) 9 Football controversy of the year (11) 15 First Triple Crown winner since 1978 (8,7) 23 A short laugh (2) 25 Symbol for chemical element chlorine (2) 26 Paris-based mag attacked (7,5) 29 Late-night sketch show turned 40 (8,5,4) 30 Mr. Spock actor passed away (7,5) 31 Wanderer (5) 32 Canada’s largest city; abbr. (2) 33 The Peach State; abbr. (2) 35 Current version of this board game is 80 (8) 36 Baseball equipment (3) 38 Released from S. African jail 25 yrs ago (6,7) 40 Game show turned 40 (5,2,7) 43 Co. predicting 3D-printer sneakers (4) 45 A supreme being (3) 46 Remote control; abbr. (2) 48 Member of an upper house; abbr. (3) 52 Cry loudly (3) 54 Conglomerate that sold finance arm (2) 57 New chamber suspected in this king’s tomb (3) 60 A highly volcanic moon of Jupiter (2) 67 Kate and William’s new princess (9) 68 Spacecraft that reached Pluto (3,8) 72 This crisis intensified in Europe (11) 76 Superbowl’s halftime act (4,5) 81 Legendary baseball catcher passed at 90 (4,5) 83 One of his paintings sold for $179 million (7) 86 Highest earning basketballer (6,5) 87 UN adopts resolution 2199 to combat this (9) 89 A computer’s ‘address’ (2) 91 A volunteer org. for young people; abbr. (3) 93 A tiny metric unit of volume (2) 94 Counterintelligence; abbr. (2) 96 Raggedy __ turned 100 (3) 97 An Adobe visual software package; abbr. (2) 98 High, deep ball in tennis (3) 100 Justin __ hit the U.S. legal drinking age (6) 102 Amusement park opened 60 yrs ago (10) 105 Chicago team won its 6th Stanley Cup (10) 108 Country whose maple leaf flag turned 50 (6) 109 Infomercials, for example (3) 110 Cameron __ married Benji Madden (4) 111 Delight (5) 113 Miranda’s ex (5) 115 Julio’s son, who turned 39 (initials) (2) 116 Perform or complete an action (2) 117 Potassium hydroxide (3) 118 Relative of a gator (4) 120 Ridiculously (7) 123 Sew up (4) 125 Sets of medical symptoms (9) 129 Encounter (4) 132 Give the cold shoulder (6) 134 A prefix meaning two (2) 135 U.K. character, Mr. __, debuted 25 yrs ago (4) 138 Small American state (2) 141 A preposition, referring to location (2) 142 Persia, today (4) 143 Hairless (4) 144 Nicaraguan prez turned 70 (6) 145 Chowed down (3) 147 Organ for breathing (4) 150 Colors or shades (4) 152 Soccer star turned 40 (7) 156 __ Campbell got Oscar nom. for best song (4) 157 Lie in wait (4) 158 __-la-la (3) 159 Wages (8) 161 Water found on this planet (4) 163 Animal den (4) 165 Belonging to them (5) 166 Worked the soil (4) 167 Speak or converse (4) 168 Emmy’s best reality series (3,5) 169 A woman’s leg (3) 171 Origin of an idea (4) 173 Follow closely (4) 175 Earned run average; abbr. (3) 176 Sheep cries (4) 177 Low-__ diet (4) 178 Before, in poetry (3) 182 Floral necklace (3) 184 Trot or canter (4) 186 Atmosphere (4) 188 Pepper’s partner (4) 189 Dog’s sound (4) 190 He released summer hit Cheerleader (3) 194 Presentation, esp. on stage (11) 197 Drop from the eye (4) 199 Legal wrong (4) 201 Designed for flight (4) 202 Sister-in-law; abbr. (3) 203 Doled out (11) 206 A preposition, indicating a position (2) 207 Assist (3) 208 N.Y.C. clock setting (3) 210 Hammer or screwdriver (4) 212 Public processions (7) 214 Lass (4) 215 Dried legume, in Indian cooking (3) 216 Electric fish (3) 217 Negative response (2) 219 Gov’t agency with another anti-tobacco campaign (3) 221 Name of deadly Mar. cyclone (3) 222 Stated (4) 224 City that hosted Expo 2015 (5) 225 Wedding ring (4) 226 Auction action (3) 228 A layer or thickness of a material (3) 230 Sweeping story (4) 231 Container for ashes (3) 233 Radio host Rick __ turned 65 (4) 235 Silent, or tight-lipped (3) 236 A piece of music (4) 237 Automobile (3) 238 __ Schumer: comedy’s new ‘it’ girl (3) 239 U.S. re-established diplomacy here (4) 240 Johnny Depp did this for a second time (3) 241 U.S. beat this country in women’s World Cup (5) 243 Without a date (4) 245 Piece of cloth, symbolizing a country (4) 246 Uninterested (5) 247 Hibernation site (3) 248 Ill-mannered (4) 249 Diner sandwich (3) 250 Movie released about this service dog (3) 251 There are 1.6 million of these in Google Play (4) 252 Dock (4) 253 Scoundrel (3) 254 Wild blue yonder (3) 255 A minor planet was named after __ Pitt (4) 256 High card (3) 257 Pig pen (3) 259 Part of the mouth (4) 261 Twins, queens and kings (4) 263 A parent-teacher group (3) 264 Metal singer __ Zombie turned 50 (3) 265 Indian bread (4) 266 B&B (3) 267 Promise to pay (3) 268 Depend on (4) 269 Low card (3) 271 Hit (4) 273 A large ornamental fish (3) 274 Pen filler (3) 275 Grizzly (4) 276 A light run (3) 278 African antelope (3) 279 Millinery (4) 280 Fleece (5) 282 Soil (4) 284 Birthday (3) 286 Rule out (3) 287 Part of the psyche, said Freud (2) 290 Average (3) 292 City cleaning its Olympic waters (3) 293 __ Bunny first appeared 75 yrs ago (4) 294 Announced her bid for prez (7) 296 Bull’s-eye hitter (4) 298 A U.S. intelligence group (3) 300 Carried out (3) 302 Replaced answering machine; abbr. (2) 303 Independent (4-7) 305 Citrus fruit (4) 306 French reality show singing star (4) 307 A circular band of metal (4) 309 Apple or cherry baked items (4) 311 Education award (11) 313 Genetic fingerprint (3) 314 Floats with the waves (4) 315 Celeb chef Bobby __ divorced (4) 317 Helgenberger joined Dome show (4) 319 Trudge (4) 321 Chinese principle (3) 325 Soaked (3) 326 Shark movie released 40 yrs ago (4) 327 She & Timberlake had a son (4) 328 To relax in a mindless way (3) 330 Alek Skarlatos became one (4) 332 Grease (4) 334 Not amateur (3) 339 Instalments of a TV series (8) 341 Dogs and cats (4) 342 Vista (4) 343 UN said it was int’l year of these (5) 345 Expected golf scores (4) 347 Popular Easter Egg dye co. (4) 349 Postulated series of events (8) 351 Anger (3) 352 Luxurious (4) 353 Fifty per cent (4) 354 Old-fashioned women’s head coverings (7) 356 Broad valley (4) 358 __ Peaks debuted 25 yrs ago (4) 360 To sunbathe (3) 361 Almost (6) 362 The rise and fall of a voice (4) 363 Quiet street (4) 364 Opposite of NW (2) 365 He, in French (2) 367 __ of the Flies turned 51 (4) 369 Essential (4) 371 Circuits (6) 372 Beatles hit released 50 yrs ago (4) 373 __ Winslet turned 40 (4) 374 Canvas cover (4) 377 Goad (4) 379 French cheese (4) 381 Execute perfectly (4) 383 Death notice (4) 385 She won Grammy for Tony Bennett duet (4) 386 Actor __ Perry turned 49 (4) 387 Addiction support group turned 80 (2) 388 At the end of a pencil (6) 391 Spoon-bender Geller (3) 393 Fizzy drink (4) 395 Relax (4) 397 His engagement to Charlize Theron ended (4) 399 Network with second highest no. of viewers (3) 400 Jewel (3) 401 Unit in Indian numbering system (5) 403 This Friends star got hitched (7) 405 Video sharing site turned 10 (7) 407 Gets up (5) 409 Rapper Dr. __ turned 50 (3) 410 Captain’s journal (3) 411 European Commission; abbr. (2) 416 Home to Nashville; abbr. (2) 417 Action figure __ Joe turned 51 (2) 419 Food container (3) 422 Seattle’s home; abbr. (2) 423 Her name used to be Bruce (7,6) 424 This Doctor Zhivago star died (4,6) 426 This soap opera debuted 50 yrs ago (4,2,3,5) 431 To share a Tweet (2) 433 Where surgeons work (2) 435 This martial arts expert actor turned 75 (5,6) 436 Microsoft founder turned 60 (4,5) 441 Precursor of this fast food giant opened 75 yrs ago (9) 443 Sonny & Cher released this hit 50 yrs ago (1,3,3,4) 444 Free the Children’s youth event: __ Day (2) 445 A person proficient in a sport (7) 447 A support group for compulsive eaters (2) 454 Casual form of hello (2) 461 This world peace-promoting org. turned 70 (2) 467 Drug given before surgery (10) 468 Pillsbury’s mascot turned 50 (8) 469 Rocker __ Stewart turned 70 (3) 470 Desperate (8) 472 Having light-coloured locks (4-6) 473 Lithuania’s country code (2) 476 Ballet attire (4) 477 Board game about drawing turned 30 (10) 478 New pre-human species discovered (4,6) 480 He beat Pacquiao (10) 481 Beatles drummer turned 75 (5,5) 483 Symbol for dysprosium (2) 485 The Hawkeye State; abbr. (2) 487 He created first web server 25 yrs ago (3,7-3) 488 This American Idol had a son (6,9) 489 This Hollywood Wives author passed (6,7)

DOWN

1 U.S. Open was played near this Puget Sound city (6) 2 Pre-VEEP, Julia Louis-Dreyfus played her (6) 3 Yellow-flowering Eurasian primroses (6) 4 Used in sewing (6) 5 __ Wilson released three movies this year (4) 6 4th movie released in former-Mel-Gibson franchise (3,3) 7 Mag that put Muhammad Ali on Oct. cover (2) 8 Talk (4) 10 Spookily (6) 11 To deceive (4,2) 12 Ground-dwelling S. American bird (7) 13 Offering something as a guarantee of good faith (archaic) (6) 14 Gave a name to a book (6) 15 Thomas Edison’s middle name (4) 16 __ Sheeran won People’s Choice for best album (2) 17 Wild goats (6) 18 Membrane covering an embryo (6) 19 To remove contaminants (6) 20 East Timor town with a sister city of Madison, WI (6) 21 A metal in the platinum group (6) 22 Nashville actress __ Panettiere got Teen Choice nom. (6) 24 Make amends (5) 25 Stogie (5) 27 __ Marley would have turned 70 this year (3) 28 Cheerios grain (3) 34 This health org. said rubella gone from the Americas (3) 37 Strongest (9) 39 Dire fate (4) 41 Judge who didn’t return to Dancing with the Stars (3) 42 Bachelor’s new villain: __ Bailey (3) 44 A proposed space time capsule (3) 47 Spy agency faced lawsuit (3) 49 Yellowfin tuna (3) 50 A deliberate fire (5) 51 Home to La Paz (7) 52 A Caribbean percussion group (5,4) 53 __ Affleck divorced Jen Garner (3) 55 Intelligence exhibited by machines; abbr. (2) 56 Company; abbr. (2) 57 Poet __ Eliot died 50 yrs ago (2) 58 Seventh note of scale (2) 59 For example; abbr. (2) 61 A mistress (5,5) 62 Emmy’s lead actor __ Hamm (3) 63 Justified (9) 64 The results of cross-breeding plants or cars (7) 65 Actor __ Tyler Ferguson turned 40 (5) 66 A good buddy (3) 69 Drifted (6) 70 Zero gravity simulator; abbr. (3) 71 Important, or nota bene; abbr. (2) 73 Coloured glass spheres; toys (7) 74 Not guilty (8) 75 To stretch for something (5) 77 A test or practice (3,3) 78 The __ Yorker turned 90 (3) 79 A standard, or a point of reference (9) 80 These disastrous events spread, due to drought (9) 82 Short word used in similes (2) 84 Crafty (3) 85 Mozart’s L’__ del Cairo (3) 87 Tunisia’s Internet code (2) 88 Horror director who died (3,6) 90 Hawaiian dish (3) 92 Nile Kinnick’s hometown (4) 95 It’s no big deal; abbr. (4) 96 Inquires (4) 97 Much __ About Nothing (3) 99 Flags with slogans (7) 101 Computer-delivered messages (1-4) 103 Lecherous look (4) 104 Comic Hughley goes by these initials (2) 105 Home of the Whopper; abbr. (2) 106 __ Rock released his 10th album (3) 107 Beloved and admired (6) 109 Element no. 33 (7) 112 Cassia trees; natural laxatives (6) 114 Stomach muscle (2) 119 Physically weak (5) 121 Element with atomic no. 70; abbr. (2) 122 Better Call __ debuted (4) 124 Pen point (3) 126 Sweet potato (3) 127 Angers (5) 128 14th letter of alphabet (2) 130 Caribou kin (3) 131 Desire (5) 133 Exchange-traded note; abbr. (3) 136 Huh? (2) 137 Orderly (4) 139 Be in pain (4) 140 Actor __ LaBeouf was arrested again (4) 143 A tulip sprouts from this (4) 144 Metal in rocks (3) 146 Breakfast food (3) 148 An expression that is a pause in speech (2) 149 Diver __ Louganis turned 55 (4) 151 Thailand, once (4) 153 French word for ‘and’ (2) 154 AK ghost town, destroyed by ‘64 tsunami (4) 155 Little Rock’s home; abbr. (2) 156 Bearded animal (4) 157 Shenanigan (4) 158 Definite article (3) 160 A light lunch choice (5) 162 Airplane assignment (4) 164 Run amok (4) 166 Angel’s disk of light (4) 167 Road goo (3) 168 Hackneyed (5) 170 Restroom sign (3) 172 Count calories (4) 174 Roller coaster feature (4) 176 Nightclubs (4) 177 Ring up (4) 178 Dash lengths (3) 179 Barbie’s beau turned 54 (3) 180 Opposite of on (3) 181 American Sniper star turned 40 (7,6) 183 Rocks, to a bartender (3) 185 New Mexico art community (4) 187 A small drink of a spirit (4) 188 Past participle of see (4) 189 Wren or hen (4) 190 Price dropped of this black gold (3) 191 Legendary female jazz singer born 100 yrs ago (6,7) 192 Men’s formal wear (3) 193 Japanese money (3) 194 Holy leader visited U.S. & Cuba (4,7)

195 Mamma __ closed on Broadway (3) 196 Psychic power (3) 198 Highway (4) 200 Quick haircut (4) 201 __ Levine did his 9th season of The Voice (4) 202 Make music via voice (4) 203 Father (3) 204 Number of times a weight is lifted (3) 205 Apprentice star running for prez (6,5) 209 Quentin __ released 8th film (9) 211 Empty promises (4) 213 Former graduate (4) 214 Jets or Sharks, for example (4) 215 One __: the year’s biggest selling group (9) 218 Oscar’s best picture (7) 220 Country legalized same sex marriage in ntl vote (7) 223 Particulars (7) 225 Got on a train (7) 226 Tavern (3) 227 Banned on cross-country flights 25 yrs ago (7) 229 A group of 4 musicians (7) 232 Grammy’s best new artist __ Smith (3) 234 Excessively sentimental (5) 236 Siesta (5) 237 Atlantic fish (3) 242 Short snooze (3) 244 A navigation system (3) 245 Little lie (3) 246 Embargo (3) 258 Second person pronoun (3) 259 Allows (4) 260 __ Stefani split from her husband (4) 262 Slipped (4) 263 Peas grow in this (3) 268 Anger (4) 269 Skinny (4) 270 Pledge (4) 272 Snare (4) 277 Girl (3) 278 Unpleasant person (British term) (3) 279 Low, steady continuous sounds (4) 280 Murder (4) 281 Capacity (4) 283 Excursion (4) 285 Business support systems; abbr. (3) 286 Nothing (3) 288 Morning moisture (3) 289 Roswell sighting (3) 291 Carnival attractions (5) 292 Ribonucleic acid; abbr. (3) 293 Napkins tied around the neck (4) 294 A combustible dark ‘rock’ (4) 295 __ Galloway finished 3rd in Dancing with the Stars (4) 297 Confess (4) 299 Do film work (3) 300 Entrances to rooms (5) 301 Egyptian cobra (3) 302 By way of (3) 304 Industrious insect (3) 305 Highs and __ (4) 306 Multitude (4) 308 Get ready (4) 310 Daytime TV offering (4) 312 Don Johnson’s new character (3) 314 Shower alternative (4) 315 Feudal estate (4) 316 Blood-carrying body part (4) 318 One who completes school (4) 320 Dang (4) 322 This Love Bug actor passed (4,5) 323 Shipwreck discovered 30 yrs ago (7) 324 When water heats up (5) 325 Diminutive (3) 326 To joke around (4) 327 Digestive juice (4) 328 She and Tiger Woods split (4) 329 TV show about high-school singers ended (4) 331 Spoken (4) 333 This NASA probe reached dwarf planet Ceres (4) 335 Halloween month; abbr. (3) 336 Pester (5) 337 A salty, doughy treat (7) 338 Weapon first used on large scale, 100 yrs ago (6,3) 340 Arid (3) 341 __ and paper mill (4) 342 Windmill blade (4) 343 Peter Gabriel’s fifth album (2) 344 Abbreviation of saint or street (2) 346 Untidy person (4) 348 Van Gogh’s mistress (4) 350 Body part Van Gogh sliced off (3) 352 Purple flowering shrub (5) 353 Despise (4) 354 A round, flattish cap (5) 355 Knight’s title (3) 357 Makes a mistake (4) 359 Approaches (5) 362 Table part (3) 363 Body of water (4) 364 Where you find Cape Town; abbr. (2) 366 Uncouth person (4) 368 Fashion icon Christian __ born 110 yrs ago (4) 370 Expire (3) 372 Lunch meat (3) 373 Malay dress: baju __ (6) 374 A martial art: __ chi (3) 375 Conformity to established standards of behaviour (9) 376 Common ship prefix (2) 377 Prolongs (9) 378 A medicine (4) 380 Newsroom boss (6) 382 Psychedelic drug (3) 384 U.K. broadcaster that fired Top Gear host (3) 385 Receiving (7) 386 __ and behold (2) 387 Conjunction (3) 389 Indefinite article (2) 390 Stock symbol for a big audit firm (2) 392 Footnote note (4) 394 Dream on (2,2) 396 Turncoat (7) 398 Immediately (3) 402 Reunite with a group (6) 404 Brazilian dance (5) 406 Prefix meaning one (3) 408 As much as needed (6) 412 CNN misidentified __ Reagan (5) 413 This stretchy fabric turned 57 (5) 414 Abominable snowman (4) 415 Question answered with ‘because’ (3) 418 Belonging to me (2) 420 Moves briskly (5) 421 A bowler hat (5) 425 To and __ (3) 427 Competent (4) 428 Middling; nothing special (2-2) 429 Now obsolete video format (3) 430 High-pitched woodwind instrument; abbr. (2) 432 Dynamite (3) 434 __ and flow (3) 436 To exist (2) 437 Calif. city with worst heat wave in a century (2) 438 Opposite of stop (2) 439 Thanks, in baby talk (2) 440 Silence! (2) 441 New hit: Love __ Like You Do (2) 442 A common abbreviation for Germany (2) 444 Measurement side to side (5) 446 Kings of __ worked on seventh album (4) 448 Vienna’s home (7) 449 Rug (6) 450 A video camera that streams into a computer (6) 451 Clothing (6) 452 35th anniversary of this Beatles’ death (6) 453 A reflective surface (6) 455 Sticky (5) 456 Enemies of the Inca (6) 457 Earl Anthony was one (6) 458 A First Nations gathering (6) 459 Italian-style ice cream (6) 460 Greek spirit of forgetfulness (5) 462 Italian sandwich (6) 463 Dreadful (6) 464 __ & Gretel (6) 465 Asian mountain sheep (6) 466 Trims or embellishes decor (6) 471 Take to court (3) 474 U2’s The __ fell off a stage (4) 475 __ Ruth hit his first career home run 100 yrs ago (4) 479 Praiseful poem (3) 482 __ Pacino celebrated 75th birthday (2) 484 State with extensive auto racing history; postal abbr. (2) 486 Rockers __/DC did another world tour (2)