| 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 |