| Flagmaker Ross (and, starting on the T, an 11-word quote that "runs" diagonally through the grid) | 107 |
| It might say "What part of 'cookie' don't you understand?" | 80 |
| Besch who played the mother of Kirk's son in "Star Trek II" | 73 |
| End of the letter: "Thanks for the laugh. I'm voting for Obama/__." | 82 |
| Writer of "Happiness, n. An agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another" | 107 |
| 1988 Tom Hanks film (and a link to the starts of this puzzle's other six film titles) | 89 |
| Nickname popularized by a New York Morning Telegraph sportswriter in the 1920s, with "the" | 100 |
| The ___ (nickname for each season's recurring villain on "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") | 98 |
| It's about 325 miles east of Texas's H-Town, with "the" | 73 |
| Ian's role in "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Return of the King" | 95 |
| Salary that the average crossword constructor makes annually, give or take, mostly take | 87 |
| No. 6 on the ABA Journal's list of the 25 greatest law novels ever (by Herman Melville) | 91 |
| He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame the same year as Billie Jean | 87 |
| Having poor taste? [check out avxwords.com for edgy indie xwords every week] | 76 |
| Complete freedom ... and a hint to each half of the answer to each starred clue | 79 |
| "Upon this ___ heath you stop our way ...": "Macbeth" | 73 |
| Run in the wash[To fully understand this week's and last week's puzzles, SEE NOTE ABOVE] | 96 |
| "If you prick us, do we not __?": "The Merchant of Venice" | 78 |
| Captain who says "Well, gentlemen, between ourselves and home are 27,000 sea miles" | 93 |
| The 2x2 black square near the middle of this puzzle's grid, e.g., which is part of eight answers | 100 |
| "I hate that screaming 'So You Think You Can Dance' judge...___!" | 83 |
| Kind of production that "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" parodies | 74 |
| Audi rival, and, when spoken as a command, a hint to this puzzle's theme | 76 |
| "Flew in from Miami Beach ___" (opening lyric to "Back in the U.S.S.R.") | 92 |
| College basketball coach who was the subject of "A Season on the Brink" | 81 |
| Movie star who said, "I always cry at weddings, especially my own" | 76 |
| American Film Institute's "greatest male star of all time" | 72 |
| "I made more lousy pictures than any actor in history" speaker, familiarly | 84 |
| Australian cager Andrew who was selected first overall in the 2005 NBA draft | 76 |
| State capital whose name comes from the French for "wooded area" | 74 |
| Groop of policemen that's jssss gonna 'rest this guy fore grabbin' 'nother pint? | 96 |
| "___ Iver" (2011 Record of the Year nominee whose name roughly translates to "good winter") | 111 |
| The only person to have been nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a Grammy and the Nobel Peace Prize | 103 |
| One of Time's 2005 Persons of the Year called "The Good Samaritans" | 81 |
| One of the people responsible for "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark" | 75 |
| He sang "I've Got You Under My Skin" with Frank Sinatra on "Duets" | 90 |
| Former Yankee Aaron whose 2003 ALCS Game 7 homer extended the "Curse of the Bambino" | 94 |
| 2003 ALCS hero Aaron, or his brother Bret who guest-announced the series | 72 |
| She "espied their tails side by side, / All hung on a tree to dry" | 76 |
| 2006 title film character who says "Pamela! I no find you attractive anymore! ... Not!" | 97 |
| 2006 movie subtitled "Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" | 109 |
| "Reporter" who made a popular 2006 documentary on the "US and A" | 84 |
| One who's easier to pray for than to visit, according to C. S. Lewis | 72 |
| "A person who talks when you wish him to listen," per Ambrose Bierce | 78 |
| "A person who opens his mouth and puts his feats in it," according to Henry Ford | 90 |
| Goes on and on about the recent changes in your child's nap schedule, e.g. | 78 |
| First tennis player to win more than a million dollars in a single season | 73 |
| Rejected Supreme Court nominee whose name has become a verb meaning "attack relentlessly" | 99 |
| Company founded by and named after an MIT professor of electrical engineering | 77 |
| Home of the civil-engineering boondoggle known as "The Big Dig" | 73 |
| Ludlum's ''Identity'' and ''Ultimatum'' | 75 |
| Big fight, and clue to this puzzle's theme that begins the four longest answers | 83 |
| Postseason gridiron game, and a hint to the puzzle theme found in starred answers | 81 |
| Tarzan's response to, "Hey, where do they keep the sugar on this ship?" | 85 |
| Enclosure ... and an alphabetical listing of letters not appearing elsewhere in this puzzle's answer | 104 |
| With "The," hit song that begins "I am just a poor boy and my story's seldom told" | 106 |
| 13-year-old Jimmy with the #1 1952 hit "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" | 82 |
| So-called "mansiere," essentially, in a "Seinfeld" episode | 78 |
| "O'er bank and ___...he glanced away...": Sir Walter Scott | 72 |
| 2011 National League MVP who was suspended for 65 games in 2013 for violating baseball's drug code | 102 |
| Actress Strong whose character narrates "Desperate Housewives" | 72 |
| To whom our ''millions'' are ''billions'' | 73 |
| Singer who at age 22 got married in Vegas, then filed an annulment 55 hours later | 81 |
| Cryptographers' successes (and what can be found in the circles in this puzzle's long answers) | 102 |
| Lover's woe ... or something found, literally, in the 4th, 5th, 8th and 11th rows of this puzzle | 100 |
| European city whose airport is the world's largest chocolate-selling point | 78 |
| "Be Prepared" org. that recently lifted its ban on openly gay members | 79 |
| Short form of the formal name for mad cow disease (hidden in RUBS ELBOWS WITH) | 78 |
| Mad cow disease or, if you prefer a less off-putting clue, Indian trading org. | 78 |
| Queen's "We Will Rock You," to "We Are the Champions" | 77 |
| "I Saw Her Standing There," vis-Ã -vis "I Want to Hold Your Hand" | 87 |
| "I Am the Walrus," for the Beatles' "Hello, Goodbye" | 76 |
| "You can tell a lot about someone ___ they use abbreviations": Peter Serafinowicz | 91 |
| Charlie's last name in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" | 72 |
| Film that lost out to "The Silence of the Lambs" for Best Picture | 75 |
| Informal chat, and based on the starts of the starred answers, this puzzle's title | 86 |
| Critter that can follow the ends of this puzzle's five longest answers | 74 |
| What Van Halen's "hot shoe" would do down the avenue, in "Panama" | 89 |
| "I'd go out with women my age, but there are no women my age" speaker | 83 |
| ''Sun,'' ''star,'' or ''cloud'' follower | 88 |
| Reynolds who renamed himself "Turd Ferguson" on SNL's "Celebrity Jeopardy!" | 99 |
| Beekeeper Shavitz who cofounded a company whose products include lip balms | 74 |
| "Nuthin' ___ 'G' Thang" (Dr. Dre song for which MTV censored the videO) | 93 |
| Film character who says "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" | 77 |
| Group whose name contains a deliberate misspelling inspired by the Beatles, whom they ardently admired | 102 |
| "Eight Miles High" folk rockers of the '60s, with "the" | 79 |
| Poet who originated the phrase "truth is stranger than fiction" | 73 |
| College that, unabbreviated, is the punchline to a tasteless Michael Jackson joke | 81 |
| <u>President</u> <u>of</u> <u>1</u> <u>Across</u> | 97 |
| "Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage," e.g.? | 94 |
| Republican candidate whose campaign manager is the "smoking man" | 74 |
| Michael who is one of two actors who has been nominated for an Academy Award every decade since the '60s | 108 |
| Kind of cuisine in which onions, bell peppers and celery are the "holy trinity" | 89 |
| Band whose "Shadow Stabbing" is featured in "Wordplay" | 74 |
| Shortstop teammate of Honus and Ernie on baseball's All-Century team | 72 |
| ___ and response ("human microphone" technique at Occupy Wall Street) | 79 |
| 1950 musical by Irving Berlin, featuring Ethel Merman as a socialite ambassador | 79 |
| Pasadena institute where most of "The Big Bang Theory" characters work | 80 |
| Ending with bunny or puppy or basically any animal you want to watch perpetually | 80 |
| "A ___ makes an elephant feel like a jet plane." (Jackie Kennedy) | 75 |