Constructed by: Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: Down and Dirty
Today’s themed answers are written in the DOWN-direction, and each ends with a word that often follows DIRTY:
- 9D…Unvarnished … or like the ends of the answers to starred clues?..DOWN AND DIRTY
- 4D…*Dramatic gridiron pass..LONG BOMB (giving “dirty bomb”)
- 20D…*Put in long hours..WORK LIKE A DOG (giving “dirty dog”)
- 24D…*Shopping area loiterer..MALL RAT (giving “dirty rat”)
- 39D…*”The Vampire Chronicles” novelist..ANNE RICE (giving “dirty rice”)
Bill’s time: 8m 03s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1…Sound check item..AMP
An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.
4…Barista offering..LATTE
The person who serves coffee in a coffee shop is often called a “barista”. “Barista” is the Italian for “bartender”.
13…Alicia Keys record label..RCA
Alicia Keys is the stage name of Alicia Cook, an R&B and soul singer from Hell’s Kitchen in New York City.
17…Lacking energy..ANEMIC
The term “anemia” (or “anaemia” as we write it back in Ireland) comes from a Greek word meaning “lack of blood”. Anemia is a lack of iron in the blood, or a low red blood cell count. Tiredness is a symptom of the condition.
19…VIPs..BIGWIGS
A “bigwig” is someone important. The use of the term harks back to the days when men of authority and rank wore big wigs.
24…Gibbs of “The Jeffersons”..MARLA
Marla Gibbs is an actress from Chicago who is best known for playing Florence Johnston, the maid on the sitcom “The Jeffersons” in the seventies and eighties. Gibbs was also a singer who released several albums. She also owned a jazz club for almost 20 years in South Central L.A. called “Maria’s Memory Lane Jazz and Supper Club”.
The very popular sitcom called “The Jeffersons” ran from 1975 until it came to an abrupt end in 1985. CBS cancelled the show without even allowing a series finale that “wrapped things up”. In fact the lead actor, Sherman Hemsley, first learned of the show’s cancellation in the newspaper.
26…Pooh pal..ROO
Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, Roo was inspired by on a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.
27…They catch a lot of waves..ANTENNAS
An antenna’s job is to convert electrical power into radio waves, and radio waves into an electrical signal. The first antennas were built by the German physicist Heinrich Hertz in 1888.
34…Canasta play..MELD
The card game called canasta originated in Uruguay apparently, with “canasta” being the Spanish word for “basket”. In the rummy-like game, a meld of seven cards or more is called a canasta.
38…Modeling material..BALSA
Balsa is a very fast growing tree that is native to parts of South America. Even though balsa wood is very soft, it is actually classified as a hardwood, the softest of all the hardwoods (go figure!). Balsa is light and strong, so is commonly used in making model airplanes. Amazingly, in WWII a full-size British plane, the de Havilland Mosquito, was built largely from balsa and plywood. No wonder they called it “The Wooden Wonder” and “The Timber Terror”.
40…Match.com goal..DATE
Match.com is an online dating service. The company was started in 1993 and claims to have over 20 million members worldwide, in the ratio of male to female of 49:51.
43…”__: Legacy”: sci-fi sequel..TRON
Released in 1982, Disney’s “Tron” was one of the first mainstream films to make extensive use of computer graphics. The main role in the movie is played by Jeff Bridges. The original spawned a 2010 sequel called “Tron: Legacy”, as well as a 2012 TV show called “Tron: Uprising”.
44…Blue-roofed restaurant chain..IHOP
The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests …
45…Cosmic payback..BAD KARMA
Karma is religious concept with its basis in Indian faiths. Karma embraces the notion of cause and effect. Good deeds have good consequences at some later point in one’s life, future life, or afterlife and vice versa.
47…”Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” airer..NPR
Chicago Public Radio produces one of my favorite radio shows, “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” It is indeed a fun game show, hosted by Peter Sagal. The “Morning Edition” newsreader Carl Kasell used to act as judge and scorekeeper, until he retired in 2014. There should be more game shows of that ilk on the radio, in my humble opinion …
49…Long-plumed fisher..EGRET
The Snowy Egret is a small white heron, native to the Americas. At one time the egret species was in danger of extinction due to hunting driven by the demand for plumes for women’s hats.
54…Photobucket alternative..PICASA
Picasa was a photo-sharing website owned by Google that included an image organizer and image viewer. Google has withdrawn support for Picasa, replacing it with a new service called Google Photos.
Photobucket is an image and video hosting website now based in Seattle, Washington. The company was founded in 2003.
57…Ice cream brand introduced in 1866..BREYERS
Breyers ice cream was introduced by William A. Breyer in 1866, in Philadelphia. Always known for using all-natural ingredients, Breyers products made in recent years contain more and more food additives in an attempt to cut costs in a competitive market. In fact, most Breyers products can’t even be labeled “ice cream” anymore as they don’t contain enough milk and cream and so are labeled “frozen dairy dessert” instead.
58…Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs..A-ROD
Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just A-Rod. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there is a perception that teams go cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez was in a world of hurt not so long ago, for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
62…Big D pro..MAV
The Mavericks are the NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.
64…1805 Beethoven premiere..EROICA
Beethoven originally dedicated his Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon Bonaparte. Beethoven admired the principles of the French Revolution and as such respected Bonaparte who was “born” out of the uprising. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor, Beethoven (and much of Europe) saw this as a betrayal to the ideals of the revolution so he changed the name of his new symphony from “Bonaparte” to “Eroica”, meaning “heroic” or “valiant”.
65…Egyptian snake..ASP
The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.
66…Glitch..SNAG
“Glitch” comes into English from German via Yiddish. The original German word is “glitschen” meaning “to slip”. It is a relatively new term, generally applied to computer software bugs.
68…Early video game letters..NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was sold in North America from 1985 to to 1995. The NES was the biggest selling gaming console of the era. Nintendo replaced the NES with Wii, which is also the biggest-selling game console in the world.
Down
1…Caribbean vacation spot..ARUBA
Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands. The ABC Islands is the nickname given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
2…Fast-food pork sandwich..MCRIB
The McDonald’s McRib sandwich is based on a pork patty. There isn’t any pork rib in the patty though. It is primarily made up of pork shoulder meat reconstituted with tripe, heart and stomach tissue. Enjoy …
4…*Dramatic gridiron pass..LONG BOMB (giving “dirty bomb”)
A “Hail Mary pass” (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of a success, right at the the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance Roman Catholicism.
5…Bass output..ALES
The red triangle on the label of a bottle of Bass Ale was registered in 1875 and is UK Registered Trade Mark (TM) No: 00001, the first trademark issued in the world.
6…Hiddleston who plays Loki in “Thor”..TOM
Tom Hiddleston is an English actor who garnered international attention when he was given the role of Loki in the superhero film “Thor” (2011). More recently, I enjoyed Hiddleston’s performance in the excellent thriller miniseries “The Night Manager” that’s based on a John le Carré novel.
10…Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume..OHIO
The state of Ohio takes its name from the Ohio River, and in turn river takes its name from the Iroquois “ohi-yo”, which translates as “large creek”.
Mississippi is named for the Mississippi River, which forms most of the state’s western border. In turn, the river’s name comes from the Chippewa “misi-ziibi” meaning “great river”.
11…Civil wrong..TORT
The word “tort” is a French word meaning “mischief, injury or wrong”. Tort law is generally about negligence, when the action of one party causes injury to another but that action falls outside of the scope of criminal law.
12…__ terrier..SKYE
The Skye terrier is a breed of dog that is actually under threat of extinction. A few years ago there were only 30 Skye terriers born in the breed’s native land of the UK.
14…Giza neighbor..CAIRO
Giza is located on the west bank of the Nile, about 20 km southwest of Cairo. The nearby Giza Plateau is home to some of the most amazing ancient monuments on the planet, including the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Great Sphinx.
28…Flood survivor..NOAH
The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.
29…Pilot, or a prefix with pilot..AUTO
The Honda Pilot is mid-size crossover SUV that was introduced in 2002. The luxury version of the vehicle is sold as the Acura MDX.
30…Escalator part..STEP
Escalators have an advantage over elevators in that they can move larger numbers of people in the same time frame. They can also be placed in just about the same physical space that would be needed for a regular staircase. Patents for escalator-type devices were first filed in 1859, but the first working model wasn’t built until 1892 by one Jesse Reno. It was erected alongside a pier in Coney Island, New York, with the second escalator being placed at an entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon after, the Otis elevator company purchased the necessary patents and went into the business.
32…New Rochelle college..IONA
Iona College is a Roman Catholic school run by Christian Brothers in New Rochelle, New York. The school’s sports teams are called the Iona Gaels, and the team mascot goes by the name Killian.
35…Words on Alice’s cake..EAT ME
In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole and finds a bottle labelled “DRINK ME”. When she drinks the contents, it causes her to shrink. She also sees a cake adorned with the words “EAT ME”, and when she eats the cake she grows so big she finds it hard to stand up. After eating the cake, she utters the famous words, “Curiouser and curiouser”.
39…*”The Vampire Chronicles” novelist..ANNE RICE (giving “dirty rice”)
Anne Rice is an American author of erotic and Gothic novels. Rice was born Howard Allen O’Brien (no wonder she changed her name!). Her famous series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, “Interview with the Vampire”, was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don’t do vampires …
42…Joplin pieces..RAGS
Scott Joplin was a great American composer and pianist, the “King of Ragtime”. Joplin was born poor, into a laboring family in Texas. He learned his music from local teachers and started out his career as an itinerant musician, traveling around the American South. He found fame with the release of his 1899 composition “Maple Leaf Rag”, regarded as the foundation stone on which ragtime music was built. Joplin’s music, and ragtime in general, was rediscovered by the populous in the early seventies when it was used in the very successful movie “The Sting”.
48…Mary-in-mourning sculpture..PIETA
The Pietà is a representation of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. The most famous “Pietà” is probably the sculpted rendition by Michelangelo which is located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. In some depictions, Mary and her son are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament, and these depictions are known as “Lamentations”.
53…Answers briefly?..RSVPS
RSVP stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “please, answer”.
55…Liver nutrient..IRON
The human liver has many functions, one of which is to store vital substances. The list of substances stored in the liver includes glucose (as glycogen), vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin B12, vitamin K, iron and copper.
56…Pop..COLA
The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. That original Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years.
61…Mauna __..LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1…Sound check item..AMP
4…Barista offering..LATTE
9…Colon pair..DOTS
13…Alicia Keys record label..RCA
14…Silver and gold..COLORS
15…”Now I get it”..OH OK
16…Large server..URN
17…Lacking energy..ANEMIC
18…Lean and strong..WIRY
19…VIPs..BIGWIGS
21…Famous..OF NOTE
23…Take in..ABSORB
24…Gibbs of “The Jeffersons”..MARLA
26…Pooh pal..ROO
27…They catch a lot of waves..ANTENNAS
31…Ailing..SICK
34…Canasta play..MELD
36…Deleted..X’D OUT
37…Do nothing..LOLL
38…Modeling material..BALSA
40…Match.com goal..DATE
41…”Live” sign..ON AIR
43…”__: Legacy”: sci-fi sequel..TRON
44…Blue-roofed restaurant chain..IHOP
45…Cosmic payback..BAD KARMA
47…”Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!” airer..NPR
49…Long-plumed fisher..EGRET
50…One of the two..EITHER
54…Photobucket alternative..PICASA
57…Ice cream brand introduced in 1866..BREYERS
58…Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs..A-ROD
59…”Let’s hear the story!”..TELL IT!
62…Big D pro..MAV
63…Helpless?..SOLO
64…1805 Beethoven premiere..EROICA
65…Egyptian snake..ASP
66…Glitch..SNAG
67…Hang..DRAPE
68…Early video game letters..NES
Down
1…Caribbean vacation spot..ARUBA
2…Fast-food pork sandwich..MCRIB
3…Twinges..PANGS
4…*Dramatic gridiron pass..LONG BOMB (giving “dirty bomb”)
5…Bass output..ALES
6…Hiddleston who plays Loki in “Thor”..TOM
7…Cycle starter..TRI-
8…Motorcycle cop, perhaps..ESCORT
9…Unvarnished … or like the ends of the answers to starred clues?..DOWN AND DIRTY
10…Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume..OHIO
11…Civil wrong..TORT
12…__ terrier..SKYE
14…Giza neighbor..CAIRO
20…*Put in long hours..WORK LIKE A DOG (giving “dirty dog”)
22…Show off, in a way..FLEX
24…*Shopping area loiterer..MALL RAT (giving “dirty rat”)
25…”As a result … “..AND SO …
28…Flood survivor..NOAH
29…Pilot, or a prefix with pilot..AUTO
30…Escalator part..STEP
31…One who is often disorderly..SLOB
32…New Rochelle college..IONA
33…Dressed..CLAD
35…Words on Alice’s cake..EAT ME
39…*”The Vampire Chronicles” novelist..ANNE RICE (giving “dirty rice”)
42…Joplin pieces..RAGS
46…Not for kids..R-RATED
48…Mary-in-mourning sculpture..PIETA
51…Stud..HE-MAN
52…Prepare to start over, perhaps..ERASE
53…Answers briefly?..RSVPS
54…Free ticket..PASS
55…Liver nutrient..IRON
56…Pop..COLA
57…Screen signal..BLIP
60…Make a misstep..ERR
61…Mauna __..LOA
9:17, no errors, iPad. Unusually easy …
One error. I had ohoh rather than OHOK. I thought CC was back to using OHO derivations again. Didn’t know shye terrier or SKYE terrier so I missed it. The FLEX/XDOUT nexus took me a while too.
Seemed like a tougher than normal Thursday puzzle, but my time was more Wednesday-ish. Maybe I’m just being impatient. It wouldn’t be the first time.
McRibs are one of my few hedonistic allowances once or twice a year. Every time I read what’s in them I think I’ll never have another, but I always do.
Rain, rain, and more rain in Houston AGAIN, but it’s Louisiana really getting hit hard this time. I feel for them. 40,000+ houses flooded? Wow.
Best –
Looks like you’re in the wrong state, Jeff. According to FEMA’s website, Texas leads the list of “Disaster Declarations by State” with a whopping 343, followed by a distant California at 254.
From what we hear up north the same storm is hitting Houston and southern Louisiana, and if global warming is to be believed all low-lying and coastal areas surrounding the gulf are in for trouble.
If any good can come of all this tragedy it may be that those parts of the country with deep-seated traditions of “states’ rights” will finally recognize the need for a strong federal goverment.
My thoughts go out with prayers to those in Houston and Louisiana. I hope the rain and flood waters subside fast. It is so sad to see this happen so soon, year after year – or quarter after quarter. It seems like only yesterday when Jeff had a miraculous ‘saved’ after the rest of his neighborhood got flooded.
The puzzle seemed as easy as yesterday. I did not notice the constructors, or I would have felt intimidated. I too, had trouble at FLEX and XDOUT. The latter word I was not familiar with. The SKYE terriers, I am more familiar with, I can picture them in my mind’s eye right now. The long answers helped.
From 2 days ago, :: Thank you Mike, for the explanation about the numbering of the airport runways based on the contracted compass orientation – makes perfect sense !!! To those of us who have never been in a cockpit, compass readings, though critical, never come to mind, so immediately. BTW, now that there are, and will continue to be, more pilots of the other sex, maybe it is time to change the name of the venue, to be more gender neutral.
I’ve never heard of the term,’dirty rice’, ….. must google it. I’ve now learnt about dirty martini, and have even tried it once. Certainly does add some taste to the drink.
Re: Anemia or Anaemia ….. I was looking at how many people got Nobel Prizes for discovering that anemia is from a) lack of iron, then b) that it could be partly cured by a ‘ton’ of cow or calf liver. eaten everyday, then c) that this liver contained a microgram of something then named, Vitamin B-12, then d) how to get this Vit B-12 out of the liver, then e) how to synthesize Vit. B-12 in a lab, then f) how to manufacture it in large quantities, and (cheaply enough) so it can be routinely added to all sorts of male and female once-a-day vitamin pills. The Vit B-12 molecule is a huge macro-molecule, that is very twisted and complicated and has one sole Cobalt atom in the center. Probably the only Cobalt element we have in our bodies …… The most common way to add iron into our bodies is ferrous fumarate or gluconate. Kelloggs Special K cereal, if hand crushed in water, will show (precipitate – ) iron filings at the bottom of the bowl. Really ! See youtube.
I have seen an ANTENNA made and being used in India, made out of a wicker basket. Honest. Again, on youtube.
Have a nice day, folks.
Zatarain’s Dirty Rice is a quick & dirty sample of the dish, but I make my own from scratch now. It’s very simple to do and makes a great side dish for burritos or quesadillas.
Dirty Rice is not a step during the cleaning of the rice grain – but a Crreole or Cajun rice prepared dish, with chicken giblets/ ground pork/ or ground beef.
Btw, rice grains are always washed two or three times with swirling water, in India, because of inadequate processing during the milling process, before actually cooking them. In the USA, some indian families continue the same process, out of habit. Although I eat a lot of rice, I never wash it because it causes the vitamins A and D which have been specially added, (by spraying – ) to wash out with the wash water. The vitamins have to be added to all rice sold in the US because of FDA mandates – even if the rice has been imported. (as most rice is.) I happen to favor Jasmine rice from Thailand.
@Vidwan
Thanks for your extended posts — always illuminating. I checked out the extraction of iron from cereal on You-Tube and it is quite amazing.
By the way, there’s also “dirty chai,” or tea mixed with expresso coffee.
Vidwan – You beat me to it. I was going to point out that coincidentally dirty rice is a very Louisiana-y (is that a word?) type side dish. It’s as good as it sounds. I suspect justjoel will back me up on that one….
Mad Anthony – I appreciate the sentiment. Keep in mind that Texas and California are geographically enormous as well so it follows to an extent that we’d have more disasters here than say Rhode Island. As far as your other comments – that seems to me a canyon-sized leap in logic that I won’t bother to address here. I’ll just say that I respectfully disagree with both the premise as well as the conclusion.
Best –
@Jeff
It may take a canyon-sized leap in Texas — bigger geographical area as you point out — but up here it only takes a hop, skip and a jump to see that the south and southwest in general are a major drain on the federal budget, for which the feds receive little more than ingratitude and abuse in return. As for not accepting my premise — that there are certain states with a long history of hostility to the federal government — surely you’ve heard of the Civil War?
But let’s not fight it again, shall we? Let’s consider the case closed. (My fault for bringing it up.)
@Bill, thanks for explaining AUTO. I’ve never heard of Honda Pilot.
Seriously can’t keep track of all the car names anymore.
Those auto clues throw me. Bass ALE didn’t fool me this time.
XD OUT was a real groaner.
I worked at Marla’s jazz club several times with a singer I used to accompany. Always had a great time. She booked comedians as well as the feature act, (singer and jazz trio) and we did the Sunday brunch. That was quite awhile ago, but it brought back good memories.
It took TWO constructors to put this yawner together? Too easy for ANY weekday.
Not very difficult for a Thursday. Now if you want fun and difficult and tricky then try today’s WSJ grid. I finished and I’ll be (internally) boasting about it all day. ;-D>
Finished relatively quickly for a Thursday. The X from FLEX was the last fill. On to Friday…
Hey guys & gals!
@Anthony, I know it’s been put to bed, but I tend to see your point, tho my respect for Jeff is unwavering.
As to the puzzle: I REALLY thought I was going to be left with one blank letter, til I finally got that accursed “X!” Overall, not a difficult Thursday, except for that. XD OUT is pretty absurd.
Dave, once again you seem to be acing these. Your time is almost Bill’s…!
Sweet dreams~~™?