| TV show that was pitched as "a High School Musical for adults" | 72 |
| TV show whose working title was "Please Stand By" (and what you'll have to cross 18 times when solving this puzzle) | 129 |
| TV show with episodes titled "Viva Las Vegas" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?" | 106 |
| TV show with the catchphrase "I love it when a plan comes together," with "The" | 99 |
| TV show with the tagline "Sometimes you have to play with fire" | 73 |
| TV sketch comedy set in the "city where young people go to retire" | 76 |
| TV star who directed the 1999 documentary "Barenaked in America" | 74 |
| TV theme composer Hagen (he's also the one whistling at the start of "The Andy Griffith Show") | 108 |
| Twice Oscar-nominated actress for "Camille Claudel" and "The Story of Adele H." | 99 |
| Twins player with the team's all-time highest single-season batting average (.388 in 1977) | 94 |
| Two features of being tormented with endless replayings of "Dear God"? | 80 |
| Two great genres that for some inexplicable reason don't go well together | 77 |
| Two-headed, three-armed President in the books referenced in this puzzle's theme | 84 |
| Two-part David Bowie song from "Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)" | 76 |
| Two-time Oscar winner whose identity is "mistaken" in five puzzle answers | 83 |
| Tycoon who said "A lasting relationship with a woman is only possible if you are a business failure" | 110 |
| Tycoon who was reputedly the first person in New York City to own an automobile | 79 |
| Type of collarless shirt that shares a name with an English regatta town | 72 |
| Type of gear on which the letters in this puzzle's nine theme squares are arrayed | 85 |
| Type of waveform that gets its name from its resemblance to the serrations on a woodworker's cutting tool | 109 |
| Type of worker theorized to have built the Death Star, according to a "Clerks" bit | 92 |
| Tyrone Power film remake with the line "This mask is really itchy"? | 77 |
| U.S. ally whose capital has the letters U-S-A in the middle of its name: Abbr. | 78 |
| U.S. city whose name is pronounced differently from its foreign namesake | 72 |
| U.S. defensive midfielder ejected in the semis of the 2007 Women's World Cup | 80 |
| U.S. official whose office has been vacant for more than nine of the last 50 years | 82 |
| U.S. President who inaugurated baseball's 7th inning stretch, allegedly | 75 |
| U.S. stealth bomber (usually written with a numeral, but how about a little creative license?) | 94 |
| U.S. uncle's "Friday the 13th" character, to a German yes-man? | 76 |
| U2 song about a common affliction for "Spider-Man" performers? | 72 |
| Ukrainian port whose staircase is a setting for "The Battleship Potemkin" | 83 |
| Ukrainian-born actress who was a Bond girl in "Quantum of Solace" | 75 |
| Under [like contemporary crosswords? Become an AVXWORDS.com subscriber today] | 77 |
| Underwear brand that recently ended their relationship with Charlie Sheen | 73 |
| Undesirable society type depicted in Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four" | 82 |
| Unexpected development ... or what the answer to each starred clue contains? | 76 |
| Unfinished Henry James work about Gainsborough's "Blue Boy"? | 74 |
| Unfinished Ian Fleming work about James Bond's affection for his boss? | 74 |
| Unfinished Norman Mailer work about strip-searching narcotics smugglers? | 72 |
| Unfortunate acronym for the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, in terms of being taken seriously | 92 |
| Union perk found in the answer to each clue that's followed by a number | 75 |
| Union that didn't live long to regret endorsing Ronald Reagan in 1980 | 73 |
| Unions in "Monsoon Wedding" and many other romantic Bollywood movies | 78 |
| Unit used regarding celery, since it requires more energy to eat it than it contains | 84 |
| Unit used to jokingly describe celery, since it requires more energy to eat it than it contains | 95 |
| United Artists cofounder whose first feature-length film was "The Kid" in 1921 | 88 |
| United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing, familiarly | 72 |
| University of California, Berkeley was the first to have it in their address | 76 |
| Unnominated film (part of a series) about the making of "War and Peace"? | 82 |
| Unnominated film about the recipe that got Hans Christian Andersen arrested? | 76 |
| Until June 25, 2011, its first three digits had geographical significance: Abbr. | 80 |
| Upon reviewing the apprentice's work, the boss said, "Truly you are a __" | 87 |
| Upright, and what's been removed to form this puzzle's theme answers | 76 |
| Upside-down food packaging that made BusinessWeek's Best Products of 2002 list | 82 |
| Upstate NY city that calls itself the "Lake Trout Capital of the World" | 81 |
| Upton Sinclair novel that was the inspiration for "There Will Be Blood" | 81 |
| Urban areas (as hinted at by the circled letters in this puzzle's grid) | 75 |
| Useful type of hitch in a pickup truck, or an undesired part of a social circle | 79 |
| Using both sides with equal frequency (like the letters in this puzzle's answer grid?) | 90 |
| Uta who played Martha in the 1962 premiere of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" | 93 |
| Util. bill usually paid monthly, or in my case, when it's threatened to be shut off | 87 |
| Utterly unlistenable 2011 collaboration between Lou Reed and Metallica (I got 90 seconds into it before quitting) | 113 |
| V-shaped crotch-to-shoulders bathing suits popularized by Sacha Baron Cohen in "Borat" | 96 |
| Vacation lodging purchase ... or an arrangement between the two halves of the answer to each starred clue? | 106 |
| Valentine's Day card signoff (and a hint to this puzzle's theme) | 72 |
| Valentine's Day gifts that have to go back at the end of the night? (-Guns) | 79 |
| Valley girl's "yeah, right" [IMPORTANT: SEE THE 'NOTE' (above) for key info about this week's puzzle and SEE THE LAST CLUE DOWN for the explanation of last week's puzzle.] | 201 |
| Van Gogh painting that in 1987 set a then-record for the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction | 106 |
| Vardalos who played Toula Portokalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" | 76 |
| Variant spelling for an eskimo boat recently added to the Scrabble dictionary (you'll need at least one blank to play it) | 125 |
| Variation of an online term that supposedly originated with someone missing the SHIFT key | 89 |
| Varnish component that gets its name from the Latin for "garlic" | 74 |
| Vaudeville comic brother who was part of the United States Croquet Hall of Fame inaugural class | 95 |
| Vegetarian's "Duh!" response to why they hate their formerly vegan pal? | 85 |
| Vehicle that will fly into a mountain if you switch your phone on below cruising altitude | 89 |
| Velvet Underground song ranked#335 on Rolling Stones's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | 89 |
| Verne character for whom the International Date Line meant almost everything | 76 |
| Very distant or different (and a hint to what's hidden among the Across answers, in their logical order, from top to bottom) | 128 |
| Very happy "place" [read the Notepad for info about the hidden answers in this puzzle] | 96 |
| Veterinarian's instrument? (and I'd be real careful with it, too) | 73 |
| VH1 show on the New York Daily News's "Top 10 Worst of 2005" | 74 |
| Video game designer Sid who made the "Railroad Tycoon" and "Civilization" series | 100 |
| Video game detailing the early years of an anthropomorphic Sega speedster? | 74 |
| Video game state where your character does a lot of spitting and grazing? | 73 |
| Video game that comes out today (9/9/09), whose songs/levels are referenced in this puzzle, with "The" | 112 |
| Vikings running back Peterson who holds the NFL record for yards rushed in a single game | 88 |
| Villa-Lobos's "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" is scored for voice and eight of these | 96 |
| Village People hit whose title completes the line "It's fun to stay at the ..." | 93 |
| Villain in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" | 73 |
| Villain to "avoid" in 1980s Domino's Pizza ads, with "the" | 82 |
| Villain to "avoid" in vintage Domino's Pizza ads (with "the" | 84 |
| Villain who says "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." | 85 |
| Villain who says "That's a Dom Perignon '55. It would be a pity to break it" | 94 |
| Violet Beauregarde is transformed into one in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" | 91 |
| Violet variety (and the longest common word that uses just the right typing hand) | 81 |
| Viral video about an excited hiker after a rainstorm that's represented three times in this grid | 100 |
| Virginia tourist attraction that gives out $2 bills as change in its gift shop | 78 |
| Virginian statesman George nicknamed "The Father of the Bill of Rights" | 81 |
| Vision-distorting condition caused by a few too many cold ones, slangily | 72 |
| Visit to one's parents, even though you could've gone somewhere fun instead? | 84 |