I’ve fallen behind, but my December 25 paper never came, so we’ll be skipping that one, so if I power through I think I can catch up.

Title: A Worrier’s Words
Theme entries: Woody Allen quotations.

27A, “My one regret in life is that … I am not someone else”
43A, “What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely … overpaid for my carpet”
52A, With 76 Across, source of this puzzle’s quotes: WOODY
64A, “Life is full of misery, loneliness and suffering—and … it’s all over much too soon”
76A, See 52 Across: ALLEN
84A, “Money is better than poverty, if only … for financial reasons”
103A, “I do not believe in the after life, although I am bringing a … change of underwear”

Things I learned, with web links so you can learn them too:

79A, ___-majeste: LESE
97A, “Turn to Stone” band: ELO [yes, I’m not completely sheltered, I know what ELO stands for; I just didn’t recognize the title] [ohhhh, it’s this song]
13D, Shrinking sea: ARAL
28D, Trireme feature: TIER
76D, ___ breve: ALLA
84D, Spassky toppler: FISCHER [not really sure why I marked this one, as it seems pretty obvious]
106D, “Hud” Oscar winner: NEAL

Overall:
I messed up 7 squares in this one, though I don’t think three of them should count (Gabrielle Reece, not Reese, and Rosey, not Rosie, Grier; gimme a break). This was not my favorite type of theme; I like puns. Only 7 theme entries, counting the two with his name, but also only 7 things I had to look up, counting Spassky/Fischer, which I wouldn’t mark if I happened upon it today. Both low numbers.

I’m annoyed (again) at things like lese-majeste and alla breve. I just can’t seem to internalize these phrases and I end up having to look them up every single time. I don’t think that’s fair!

It has always helped me, as documented by the A-plus I received on my tenth-grade history final after “studying” by retyping my entire semester’s worth of notes (and I’m pretty sure it was on our electric typewriter, not a computer, by the way), to internalize information by typing it over in my own words. Got it? Good.

TO WIT:

Lese majeste is a term from the Latin for “injury” and “majesty.” It means a crime committed against a sitting sovereign. If you punch the Queen, that’s lese majeste. If you poach deer belonging to the Crown, that’s lese majeste. Since “sovereign” can also mean “state,” technically, if you cheat on your taxes or otherwise steal money from your government, that, too, is lese majeste. In some countries (like Belgium) it has been interpreted to apply to crimes against heads of state as well.

I will remember this because “lese” sounds like “less” and “less” is how much common sense I suspect the judge has who let John Hinckley out of nutcase prison to visit his parents in Williamsburg. To my way of thinking, Hinckley committed lese majeste when he shot the sitting President. Yes, he’s been in a custodial punitive situation since, but I seriously don’t get why he’s allowed to go on field trips now, after years of sensible denials of this oft-repeated request. Next year, just you watch, the Manson Family is going to Knott’s Berry Farm.

No, not really. My actual mnemonic for this will be: If you shoot the Queen there is less of her. Less majesty. Your crime is lese majeste.

Alla breve is a musical term. It’s the Italian way of saying “time signature.” I played the clarinet for roughly six years and am embarrassed not to know this. The words alla and breve mean cut time. I will remember this because a time signature is written as a fraction, like 3/4 time or 4/4 time, and slashes make cuts, and cutting something changes it from being all of something to being more brief.

Next time alla breve comes up in a puzzle, I’m quite sure I’ll have to look it up again. But lese majeste is learned. It’s MINE FOREVER.