| 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 |
| Very distant or different (and a hint to what's hidden among the Across answers, in their logical order, from top to bottom) | 128 |
| Variant spelling for an eskimo boat recently added to the Scrabble dictionary (you'll need at least one blank to play it) | 125 |
| Video game that comes out today (9/9/09), whose songs/levels are referenced in this puzzle, with "The" | 112 |
| Van Gogh painting that in 1987 set a then-record for the highest price ever paid for an artwork at auction | 106 |
| Vacation lodging purchase ... or an arrangement between the two halves of the answer to each starred clue? | 106 |
| Voicings of simultaneously-sounded groups of musical notes in which the root note is not in the bass part | 105 |
| Video game designer Sid who made the "Railroad Tycoon" and "Civilization" series | 100 |
| Viral video about an excited hiker after a rainstorm that's represented three times in this grid | 100 |
| Visual representation of an item associated with the answers to the asterisked clues in this puzzle | 99 |
| Villa-Lobos's "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5" is scored for voice and eight of these | 96 |
| V-shaped crotch-to-shoulders bathing suits popularized by Sacha Baron Cohen in "Borat" | 96 |
| Very happy "place" [read the Notepad for info about the hidden answers in this puzzle] | 96 |
| Vaudeville comic brother who was part of the United States Croquet Hall of Fame inaugural class | 95 |
| Vocally versatile, cruciverbally useful singer Yma who would have turned eighty-seven this week | 95 |
| Villain who says "That's a Dom Perignon '55. It would be a pity to break it" | 94 |
| Village People hit whose title completes the line "It's fun to stay at the ..." | 93 |
| Violet Beauregarde is transformed into one in "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" | 91 |
| 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 |
| Variation of an online term that supposedly originated with someone missing the SHIFT key | 89 |
| Vikings running back Peterson who holds the NFL record for yards rushed in a single game | 88 |
| Villain who says "I'm sorry, Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that." | 85 |
| Vegetarian's "Duh!" response to why they hate their formerly vegan pal? | 85 |
| Visit to one's parents, even though you could've gone somewhere fun instead? | 84 |
| Villain to "avoid" in vintage Domino's Pizza ads (with "the" | 84 |
| Vulture, e.g. (hey, they started running metas by Matt Gaffney; you should do them) | 83 |
| Villain to "avoid" in 1980s Domino's Pizza ads, with "the" | 82 |
| Virginian statesman George nicknamed "The Father of the Bill of Rights" | 81 |
| Violet variety (and the longest common word that uses just the right typing hand) | 81 |
| Vocalist who gave his farewell performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin | 79 |
| Valentine's Day gifts that have to go back at the end of the night? (-Guns) | 79 |
| Virginia tourist attraction that gives out $2 bills as change in its gift shop | 78 |
| Vujacic of the Los Angeles Lakers, who's nicknamed "The Machine" | 78 |
| Verne character for whom the International Date Line meant almost everything | 76 |
| Vardalos who played Toula Portokalos in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" | 76 |
| Varnish component that gets its name from the Latin for "garlic" | 74 |
| VH1 show on the New York Daily News's "Top 10 Worst of 2005" | 74 |
| 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 |
| Veterinarian's instrument? (and I'd be real careful with it, too) | 73 |
| Villain in "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" | 73 |
| Vision-distorting condition caused by a few too many cold ones, slangily | 72 |
| Valentine's Day card signoff (and a hint to this puzzle's theme) | 72 |
| Video game designer Sid who created the "Civilization" series | 71 |
| Vegas casino that hosts the World Series of Poker, with "the" | 71 |
| Vicissitudes of life, as for the inventor named in the circled squares? | 71 |
| Volcano in Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" | 69 |
| Van Morrison "Like a full force ___, I was lifted up again" | 69 |
| Verdon who was the first professional chef to work in the White House | 69 |
| Viral video series that manipulates broadcast journalists' voices | 69 |
| Voice heard in commercials with Samuel L. Jackson and Zooey Deschanel | 69 |
| Variety headline about the MPAA's decision on a movie about salt? | 69 |
| Val's younger daughter in the comic strip "Stone Soup" | 68 |
| Vocalization technique involving resonance in the larynx and pharynx | 68 |
| Verdi's ''D'amor sull'ali rosee,'' e.g. | 67 |
| Video game company whose founder also founded Chuck E. Cheese's | 67 |
| Voice displeasure with heart transplant performed in car seat (5,2) | 67 |
| Voltaire satire that Leonard Bernstein turned into a musical comedy | 67 |
| Vice president after whom a U.S. city is thought to have been named | 67 |
| Vacationer's goal (and favorite Sly & the Family Stone hit) | 67 |
| Virgin Valley black fire ___ (Nevada's state precious gemstone) | 67 |
| Voice actress in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog" | 67 |
| Victoria's lasted longer than that of any other British monarch | 67 |
| Val and Joan's mother in the comic strip "Stone Soup" | 67 |
| Violent behavior due to excessive use of banned athletic substances | 67 |
| Vietnamese government branch in charge of the New Year celebration? | 67 |
| Vice president who said "nattering nabobs of negativism" | 66 |
| Venomous snakes lurking in each of the four longest puzzle answers | 66 |
| Villain who debuted in the "Star Wars Christmas Special" | 66 |
| Video game that focuses on a Nintendo icon's Italian heritage? | 66 |
| Virginia landmark, or a dental restoration that occurs on its own? | 66 |
| Villainous "Star Trek" collective, with "the" | 65 |
| View espoused in Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason" | 65 |
| Vowel with a vowel two before it and two after it in its alphabet | 65 |
| Van Gogh's "L'Église d'Auvers-sur- ___" | 65 |
| Verb in the classic "Mission: Impossible" opening scene | 65 |
| Very good report following a zoo gate mishap - or a very bad one? | 65 |
| Version of a song that's shorter or cleaner than the original | 65 |
| Venue for a memorable "When Harry Met Sally ..." scene | 64 |
| Verb conjugated as "suis" in the first person singular | 64 |
| Village on the Hudson River where painter Edward Hopper was born | 64 |
| Van ___ of "Double Team" and "Double Impact" | 64 |
| Vietnamese name of the Red River (with ''Song'') | 64 |
| VIPs at a printer convention in Prague one week, Paris the next? | 64 |
| Video game featuring Gloom-shrooms, Melon-pults and Cherry Bombs | 64 |
| Vacationer's favorite song from "The Pajama Game"? | 64 |
| Valedictorian's pride, and a hint to this puzzle's theme | 64 |
| Verdi villain who sings "Era la notte, Cassio dormia" | 63 |
| Valenzuela and Piazza's manager during their rookie seasons | 63 |
| Video game franchise whose name translates to "devil" | 63 |
| Versions of films that, having been edited, are ready to screen | 63 |
| Vaudeville actor who got his nickname from the galoshes he wore | 63 |
| Von Trapp girl who's "sixteen going on seventeen" | 63 |
| Vintner Paul who would "sell no wine before its time" | 63 |
| Violinist Peña who was a founding member of the Eroica Trio | 62 |
| Vehicle to be raced in the Olympics for the first time in 2008 | 62 |
| Vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice, and lime juice, informally | 62 |
| Villain who says "For I am nothing, if not critical" | 62 |
| Van Gogh painting that sold for a record $53.9 million in 1987 | 62 |