___ football coach Nick Rolovich, the state's highest-paid employee, fired for failing to get covid vaccinations. (school, initials) --ESPN, 10/19/21
Perfect gym-routine or dive score
Ivanka-led "_______ to Families Food Box" program canceled for being too political. (food growers) --queerty.com, 10/21/21
"You sped" (first person)
Its easternmost point is closer to Africa than to its own westernmost point (nation) --boredpanda.com/people-share-amazing-maps/, #11
Its governor is Gretchen Whitmer (abbrev.)
"A day no one will ever forget, unless you're a Republican member of Congress." (abbreviated month, 2 words) --Jordan Klepper, "The Daily Show," 10/19/21
Partially, somewhat (prefix) --dictionary.com
Across (prefix) --yourdictionary.com
Years ago, before he got national fame, I knew Trump as just a guy chasing girls. This whole group of people that think he's the champion are people he can't stand in real life. He'll be forever associated with insurrection. (last name) --George _______. (last name) --people.com, 10/13/21
Idea among Republicans: Make Trump _______ __ ___ _____ in 2022. (4 words) --NPR News, 10/18/21
The only insurance company in the United States to originate within the automotive industry. Now National General Insurance. (initials) --google.com/search?q=gmac+def&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS850US850&oq=gmac+def&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i10i457i512j0i402l2j46i10i131i433j0i512j0i10i512j0i10i131i433j0i512l2.2048j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
Home to Saskatchewan, Utah and Nayarit (initials) --google.com/maps
Why it's hard to design the perfect garbage bin to keep bears from breaking in: "There is considerable overlap between the intelligence of the smartest bears and the dumbest ________." (vacationers) --Yosemite NP ranger. --BS FB posting, 10/14/21
Surrounded by IL and OH --google.com/maps
"What's a 4-letter word for "excellence?" --from Scott Simon's tribute to peer Garcia-Navarro, leaving NPR. (She introduces the NYT Puzzle Editor Will Shortz on her Sunday show.) --NPR's "Weekend Edition," 10/16/21
Pepsi competitor (initials)
Indian flat bread --rasamalaysia.com
Premium pay type (abbrev.)
Mental or spiritual --lexico.com
In objecting to Thomas Jefferson's statue being removed from the NYC council chambers for being a slaveholder, Trump refers to him erroneously as a "principal writer of the ____________".
(founding document) --nytimes.com/2021/10/18 (WHOOPS, MISSING A "T")
Ordinary person's only mention to history
Message on a social medium
Yak, brattle --lexico.com
Site of the LBJ library (school, initials) --Wikipedia
Fillet of brined salmon --en.wikipedia.org
Drinkers support group (initials)
Amazingly, has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated in the US (72.2%) (political unit, 2 words) --CDC, 10/19/21
Spielberg's most successful movie, revenue-wise --exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show
Three in a Eugene Field poem: Wynken, Blynken and ___ --poets.org
Economist Diane Swonk borrowed William Shatner's returning-from-space comment to describe the state of our economy, "We're seeing some ________ upon re-entry." (chafing) --WaPo, 10/16/21
Other 79 ACROSS (first names)
Directions other than W, S
"I was supposed to have been a Jesuit priest or a Naval Academy grad
That was the way that my _______ perceived me
Those were the plans that they had
Though I couldn't fit the part too dumb or too smart
Ain't it funny how we all turned out
I guess we are the people our _______ warned us about . . . Hey hey, Gardner McKay, take us on the leaky Tiki with you
Clear skies bound for Shanghai, sailin' on the ocean blue . . . ." (mom and dad)
--Jimmy Buffett song
Las Vegas pro --google.com
Major transportation system operating via 24 ACROSS (initials)
Salt water mass --google.com
Things needed to move cargo in a global economy: freight containers, ships, docks, warehousing, railroads and ______. (semis)
--Frank Ponce De Leon, Committeman, ILWU. --WaPo, 10/16/21
XL or L, but not LX --washingtonpost.com/crossword-puzzles/daily/, 10/19/21
New tag for Joe Manchin (initials) --sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2021/10/19/george-pyle-democrats/
Bordered by the Mississippi and Missouri, considered one of the safest, total population of 3.19M (2020) (state, abbrev.) --Wikipedia
Founded in 1876, 4 months before its to-be-state joined the union (university, initials) --Wikipedia