Constructed by: Bruce Haight
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: Skipping Stones
Today’s themed answers include several circled letters. If we SKIP from circled letter to circled letter then those letters spell out types of STONES:
- 58A…Leisurely lakeside activity, and a clue for the circled letters..SKIPPING STONES
- 16A…Reason kept to oneself..ULTERIOR MOTIVE (giving “limestone”)
- 22A…Wig out..FLIP ONE‘S LID (giving “fieldstone”)
- 29A…Thorny thicket..BRIAR PATCH (giving “birthstone”)
- 42A…Johnny Olson catchphrase..COME ON DOWN! (giving “moonstone”)
- 48A…Bum rap..FALSE CHARGE (giving “flagstone”)
Bill’s time: 9m 14s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1…”Anaconda” rapper Nicki..MINAJ
Nicki Minaj is a rapper from Queens, New York who was born in Trinidad.
13…Carne follower, in Mexican fare..ASADA
The name of the dish called “carne asada” translates from Spanish as “roasted meat”.
14…Roll at the airport..TAXI
An aircraft taxiing at an airport might be rolling down a runway.
15…Former Vietnamese emperor Bao __..DAI
Bao Dai was the last of the Vietnamese emperors to serve under the “protection” of the French. Bao Dai was emperor of what was then called French Indochina, from 1926 to 1945. He remained in office after the Japanese ousted the French in 1945. He was also the person responsible at that time for giving his country the new name of Vietnam.
19…Barack Obama, astrologically..LEO
Despite rumors to the contrary, I am pretty sure that Barack Hussein Obama II was indeed born in Hawaii. President Obama was born on August 4, 1961 at Kapi’olani Maternity & Gynecological Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii.
20…Old Venetian magistrate..DOGE
Doges were the elected chief magistrates of the former republics of Venice and Genoa.
21…Boy in the first family..ABEL
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.
22…Wig out..FLIP ONE’S LID (giving “fieldstone”)
Fieldstone is stone used in construction with its natural shape intact. In its purest form, fieldstone is stone collected from the surface of fields.
25…Country singer Clark..TERRI
Terri Clark is a country music artist from Montreal in Canada who has had success right across North America, and who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.
29…Thorny thicket..BRIAR PATCH (giving “birthstone”)
“Briar” is a generic name for several plants that have thorns, including the rose. Famously, Br’er Rabbit lives in a “briar patch”.
39…Some caviar..SALMON ROE
“Caviar” is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …
42…Johnny Olson catchphrase..COME ON DOWN! (giving “moonstone”)
Moonstone is a mineral that often has numerous colors, with light reflecting internally within the stone. It’s this unique visual effect that gives the gem the name of moonstone.
Johnny Olson was the announcer on “The Price is Right” from day one in 1972, until he passed away in 1985. Come on down!
43…West Indian sorcery..OBEAH
“Obeah” is a West Indian term that describes the folk magic practiced in many of the Caribbean islands.
47…Young partner..ERNST
Ernst & Young is one of the Big Four accountancy firms, alongside Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Ernst & Young is headquartered in London. The company was founded in 1989 with the merger of Ernst & Whinney with Young & Co.
48…Bum rap..FALSE CHARGE (giving “flagstone”)
A “flagstone” is a flat stone that is often used for paving walkways and patios. The term may derive from the Old Norse word “flaga” meaning “slab”.
53…Low-cost home loan org…FNMA
The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called Fannie Mae, a play on the initialism FNMA. Fannie Mae was founded in during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.
55…Letters left of center?..EPI-
The “epicenter” is that point on the surface of the earth which is directly above the focus of an earthquake.
62…”If __ again I meet him beard to beard … “: Shak…E’ER
Here are some lines from the play “Coriolanus” by William Shakespeare:
… By the elements,
If e’er again I meet him beard to beard,
He’s mine, or I am his:
“Coriolanus” is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. The play tells the story of the real-life Roman general Gaius Marcius Coriolanus, who lived in the 5th century BC.
64…Whiz..MAVEN
I’ve always loved the word “maven”, another word for an expert. Maven comes into English from the Yiddish “meyvn” meaning someone who appreciates and is a connoisseur.
67…Sarcophagus holder..CRYPT
A sarcophagus is a stone or wooden box in which a body is interred. “Sarcophagus” is Greek for “flesh eating stones”. The name was applied as a sarcophagus was often made from a kind of limestone that was believed to cause the flesh of corpses to decompose.
Down
1…Stake-driving hammer..MAUL
A maul is a large, heavy hammer, one often used for driving stakes into the ground. The term comes from the Old French “mail”, and ultimately from the Latin “malleus”, both meaning “hammer”.
3…Defense acronym..NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”
7…Slow passage..LARGO
Largo is a instruction to play a piece of music with a very slow tempo. “Largo” is the Italian word for “broadly”.
8…Guitar players, slangily..AXMEN
I guess a guitar looks like an ax(e) …
9…Dust jacket info..BIO
You can usually read an author’s bio on a book’s dust jacket.
11…Encourage to score, as a base runner..WAVE IN
That would be in baseball.
17…First name in despotism..IDI
Idi Amin received most of his military training in the British armed forces, eventually achieving the highest rank possible for a Black African in the British Colonial Army in 1959, that of Warrant Officer. On his return to Uganda Amin joined his country’s military and quickly rose to the rank of Deputy Commander of the Army. During that time he was quite the athlete. He was a noted rugby player and swimmer, and for nine years held the Ugandan national light-heavyweight boxing title. By the early seventies, Amin was commander of all the armed forces of Uganda and in 1971 seized power in a military coup, displacing the country’s president Milton Obote. There followed seven years of brutal rule by Amin during which it is estimated that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were murdered. Amin was ousted from power in 1979 after a war with Tanzania, and fled to Libya where he stayed for a year. He then moved to Saudi Arabia, where he was financially supported by the Saudi Royal Family for the remainder of his life. Amin died in 2003.
A “despot” is a ruler with absolute power, often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century, ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.
18…Zap..TASE
“To tase” is to use a taser, a stun gun.
23…NYC commuter line..LIRR
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the commuter rail service that runs all over Long Island, New York with 124 stations and 700 miles of track. More people use the LIRR than any other commuter railroad in the US. It is also the only commuter railroad in the country that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
24…Ordinal ending..-ETH
Ordinal numbers express a position in a series, i.e. first, second, third etc.
25…TV sched. uncertainty..TBA
Something not yet on the schedule (sked) is to be advised (TBA).
26…Aunt with a “Cope Book”..ERMA
“Aunt Erma’s Cope Book” was written by Erma Bombeck and published in 1979. Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years, producing more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns describing her home life in suburbia.
30…El __..PASO
Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juarez). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.
31…Maroon 5 singer Levine..ADAM
Adam Levine is the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine is also one of the coaches on the reality show “The Voice”.
33…Lake of Lombardy..COMO
Lake Como is a glacial lake in Lombardy in Italy. Lake Como has long been a retreat for the rich and famous. Lakeside homes there are owned by the likes of Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Sylvester Stallone and Richard Branson.
35…Auto company founder Citroën..ANDRE
André-Gustave Citroën was a Parisian industrialist who founded the Citroën automotive company in 1919, which became the fourth-largest manufacturer of automobiles by the 1930s. Citroën was also quite the gambler and his huge losses eventually led to his company going bankrupt and being taken over by Michelin, the enterprise that provided the tires for the Citroën cars.
40…Universal donor’s type, briefly..O-NEG
The most important grouping of blood types is the ABO system. Blood is classified as either A, B, AB or O, depending on the type of antigens on the surface of the red blood cells. A secondary designation of blood is the Rh factor, in which other antigens are labelled as either positive or negative. When a patient receives a blood transfusion, ideally the donor blood should be the same type as that of the recipient, as incompatible blood cells can be rejected. However, blood type O-neg can be accepted by recipients with all blood types, A, B, AB or O, and positive or negative. Hence someone with O-neg blood type is called a “universal donor”.
41…Uvula doc..ENT
Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)
The uvula is that conical fleshy projection hanging down at the back of the soft palate. The uvula plays an important role in human speech, particularly in the making of “guttural” sounds. The Latin word for “grape” is “uva”, so “uvula” is a “little grape”.
42…”Evita” role..CHE
Che is the narrator in the musical “Evita” by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
45…Twain’s New York resting place..ELMIRA
Elmira is a city in the southern tier of New York State located closed close to the border with Pennsylvania. Elmira was also the family home of Olivia Langdon, wife of Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain). Mark Twain and family are buried in Elmira’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
49…Country about 12 times longer than its widest point..CHILE
The land of Chile has a very distinctive shape. It is a narrow strip that runs up the west coast of South America. The average width of the country is only a little over 100 miles, and yet its length is about 2,700 miles. Chile is touted as the longest country in the world, although I am not so sure what that means exactly. I mean, Russia extends about 4,800 miles from east-to west, so maybe “longest” implies long in the north-south direction?
50…Underwear brand..HANES
The Hanes brand of apparel was founded in 1901. A related brand was introduced in 1986 called Hanes Her Way.
51…Zero..AUGHT
An “aught” is a zero. The term can be used in the context of dates as in “the aughts”, the years 2000-2009. I’ve also heard those years referred to as “the noughties”.
52…Literary monogram..RLS
Robert Louis Stevenson (RLS) was a Scottish author, famous for his novels “Treasure Island”, “Kidnapped” and “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”.
55…Green attitude?..ENVY
William Shakespeare was one of the first to associate the color green with envy. He called jealousy the “green-eyed monster” in his play “Othello”.
56…Sound often not allowed?..PEEP
I don’t want to hear a peep out of you …
57…”It __ Right”: 1956 Platters’ hit..ISN’T
The Platters were a vocal group from Los Angeles active in original form from 1954 until 1970. They had four #1 records: “The Great Pretender” (1955), “My Prayer” (1956), “Twilight Time” (1958) and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” (1958).
59…Lunchbox staple, familiarly..PBJ
Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J or PBJ).
60…Cinephile’s TV choice..TMC
The Movie Channel is owned by Showtime, which in turn is subsidiary of CBS. The channel’s name is often abbreviated to “TMC”, although this is informal usage.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1…”Anaconda” rapper Nicki..MINAJ
6…Sizable chunk..SLAB
10…”Yuck!”..EWW!
13…Carne follower, in Mexican fare..ASADA
14…Roll at the airport..TAXI
15…Former Vietnamese emperor Bao __..DAI
16…Reason kept to oneself..ULTERIOR MOTIVE (giving “limestone”)
19…Barack Obama, astrologically..LEO
20…Old Venetian magistrate..DOGE
21…Boy in the first family..ABEL
22…Wig out..FLIP ONE’S LID (giving “fieldstone”)
25…Country singer Clark..TERRI
28…Cold weather word..TEENS
29…Thorny thicket..BRIAR PATCH (giving “birthstone”)
34…1953 automobile innovation..AM/FM RADIO
35…Catch something..AIL
38…Put away..ATE
39…Some caviar..SALMON ROE
42…Johnny Olson catchphrase..COME ON DOWN! (giving “moonstone”)
43…West Indian sorcery..OBEAH
47…Young partner..ERNST
48…Bum rap..FALSE CHARGE (giving “flagstone”)
53…Low-cost home loan org…FNMA
54…Lug..HAUL
55…Letters left of center?..EPI-
58…Leisurely lakeside activity, and a clue for the circled letters..SKIPPING STONES
62…”If __ again I meet him beard to beard … “: Shak…E’ER
63…”Yuck!”..BLEH!
64…Whiz..MAVEN
65…Carefree syllable..TRA
66…Fun..JEST
67…Sarcophagus holder..CRYPT
Down
1…Stake-driving hammer..MAUL
2…Part of a chain..ISLE
3…Defense acronym..NATO
4…Thirst quencher..ADE
5…Rattle..JAR
6…Bend..STOOP
7…Slow passage..LARGO
8…Guitar players, slangily..AXMEN
9…Dust jacket info..BIO
10…Safe to put away..EDIBLE
11…Encourage to score, as a base runner..WAVE IN
12…Brandishes..WIELDS
17…First name in despotism..IDI
18…Zap..TASE
22…Set up..FRAME
23…NYC commuter line..LIRR
24…Ordinal ending..-ETH
25…TV sched. uncertainty..TBA
26…Aunt with a “Cope Book”..ERMA
27…Divide..RIFT
30…El __..PASO
31…Maroon 5 singer Levine..ADAM
32…Counter square..TILE
33…Lake of Lombardy..COMO
35…Auto company founder Citroën..ANDRE
36…Golf bag item..IRON
37…Not the best of times..LOWS
40…Universal donor’s type, briefly..O-NEG
41…Uvula doc..ENT
42…”Evita” role..CHE
43…Counterbalance..OFFSET
44…Loan officer, e.g…BANKER
45…Twain’s New York resting place..ELMIRA
46…”Make it snappy!”..ASAP!
49…Country about 12 times longer than its widest point..CHILE
50…Underwear brand..HANES
51…Zero..AUGHT
52…Literary monogram..RLS
55…Green attitude?..ENVY
56…Sound often not allowed?..PEEP
57…”It __ Right”: 1956 Platters’ hit..ISN’T
59…Lunchbox staple, familiarly..PBJ
60…Cinephile’s TV choice..TMC
61…Tool sometimes used for steering..OAR
15:09, no errors, iPad. Half asleep. Forgot to look for the theme. I don’t think it would have been much help in doing the puzzle, but I usually at least try to figure it out.
Today’s grid was 14×16 instead of the usual 15×15. (I wouldn’t have noticed that, either, but it made a difference in the way the LAT app behaved on my iPad: the whole grid fit in the space reserved for it on my screen, so I didn’t have to keep moving it back and forth, the way I usually do.)
I was up late last night trying to figure out the answer to today’s WSJ puzzle contest. The crossword itself is easy, but the “metapuzzle”, as usual, is a bear. (I’ve been doing the WSJ puzzles since late June and I’ve only been able to figure out two of the Friday contest answers.)
Hi all! Hope everyone is safe from what I’m reading about regarding the Gulf flooding and everything else going on.
@David
“The crossword itself is easy, but the “metapuzzle”, as usual, is a bear.”
I’m about 85% there myself. Getting most of them, but not following out on the last step or two to get all the way there. Or completely misinterpreting something, like taking “around the block” to mean the entire puzzle instead of a black square. Like last week (started doing them again after a 2 month or so layoff, I’ll probably do them all eventually just to be thorough), I got the “color” theme entirely, but didn’t follow it the rest of the way through (wasn’t thorough enough).
Usually the biggest step in the meta puzzles is catching the theme, like Bill does on each of his write-ups here. After that, it’s usually finding whatever encoding that’s necessary given the theme, meta question and the title of the puzzle, and whatever else is given within the cluing itself. Sometimes that’s very easy, sometimes it’s a 2 or 3 step affair involving Google (Michener books come to mind).
Still may eventually try for a more thorough meta how-to guide than what’s on the WSJ site, but still have other problems going on, along with other aspirations of things to do (like playing with coding on some of the other puzzles in the paper).
Hope everyone is well. 🙂
This came together as two distinct grids almost. The top half got solved really quickly and then I shot my self in the foot by putting in a couple of wrong answers (putting in “tote” for 54 across and then really idiotically putting in “mummy” for 67 across had me going in circles for awhile). Finally got those straightened out and then the puzzle was complete.
Have a great Friday all. See you tomorrow.
Re Wed: Oscars, supporting actress vs best actress
I actually researched this and found then that Carrie got the right answer. There are actually no rules that constitute which is which, it’s just whatever the particular actor/actress/studio wants to “run” for. Usually the studio/actor’s agent tries to find the best slot where the person has the biggest chance to win. The whole thing has been odd, since there’s been several instances of “supporting role” nominations and winners who were actually the prominently featured actor/actress within the movie.
Strange thing, but true: these slots really have little meaning.
One error shy of finishing this one. Once again it felt like a difficult puzzle, but when I looked up I finished in closer to a Thursday time. I’m either impatient and little on edge this week (it’s one of the busiest times of the year for me, admittedly) or I’m so locked in I lose all sense of time. Uh…I think it’s more likely the former.
I was able to dodge a lot of bullets – e.g. DAI, MINAJ, DOGE, and even AXMEN. Throw in TRA, EWW and BLEH and I was batting 1.000. Ultimately, the “H” in OBEAH/CHE eluded me. I guessed wrong.
For 34A I kept wanting to fit in “air conditioning” (or some abbreviated form of it) somehow as that sounded about right. After I finished the puzzle, I looked it up and sure enough 1953 was the first production car with AC. There had been a few experimental models previously, but that was the first to come of an assembly line. 1953 – a very good year for cars I guess.
A very welcome weekend coming up. Wonder where Willie has been. I’d like to believe he’s been so absorbed in the Epee competition in Rio that he’s not had time for us here, but that does seem unlikely.
Best –
@Carrie
Thanks for your kind words yesterday, and unwavering too is my respect not only for Jeff but for all who post here, and especially for Bill who makes it all possible.
Although often ridiculed as just another “trivial pursuit,” the beauty of crosswords is that they reflect a love of knowledge and learning for its own sake. Add to that those “eureka” moments when the fog clears and all is revealed — where would human progress be without them?
And while I have the podium let me add I regret injecting politics into the discussion yesterday. Apologies to all!
Man, this was exhausting!
The whole bottom third was blank.
Finally guessed ELMIRA/FNMA.
Whew!
I think Mr. Haight gave us a sufficiently tough puzzle for a Friday. It’s a little heavy on the PPPs (for me, anyway), coming out of the chute with MINAJ. Going through for the gimmes, I came up with little besides LEO (three letters … and my sign, too), ERNST (but wasn’t confident about it), EPI and TRA. I finally got started in the SE with CRYPT, sussed out SKIPPING STONES and the rest gradually fell until I worked north and finished near the starting gate. Overall, I found it a fairly challenging but satisfying puzzle. The nits aren’t worth picking.
I had a pleasant time with this puzzle. I completed most of it. Unfortunately I also lost my earlier long post that I nearly posted. Just as well.
I was nowhere near the theme. Moonstone is quite pretty, I have a few samples. I thought it was a synthetic material – I was wrong. Wiki have a nice but short article on it. It looks very similar to fibre optic stone / stuff.
I thought west indian socery was juju or mojo or voodoo or ouija but the name Obeah is one that I have never heard before. Rest assured, I have no intention of practising it.
Finally on Flagstone. I came across some stones in another xword blog, and maybe this is a Flagstone ? It is an ‘Oracle’…. in England and Australia . I dont know if this will link properly.
have a nice day, all.
Zipped through the top 2/3s in, say, Tuesday speed, and then stalled a bit in the bottom 1/3. Finally got on track and got everything except the P in EPI, where I had B…sigh.
I’ve heard of limestone, birthstone and, kinda, flagstone, but fieldstone and moonstone are new to me. Really cool pictures there Vidwan; that wasn’t what I pictured when I thought of flagstone.
On to Saturday…
@Carrie … I’m always rather astonished when my time approaches Bill’s! As I may have said before, I post my time in imitation of his example. As for timing myself in the first place, I do it for various reasons (partly, these days, because I’m doing the puzzles online and I get a timing whether I want one or not). A few years ago, I was told that my genetic makeup is associated with a 5.5 times greater risk of early-onset Alzheimer’s. At this point, I’m old enough to stop worrying about the early-onset part of that 🙂 , but I’m still concerned about the possible loss of my marbles, so I’m trying to challenge myself in various ways. I have observed that, as I get older, I’m having more and more difficulty with the mechanics of doing puzzles. When I’m using pen and paper, I have trouble locating the next clue that I need and then, once I’ve got it, I have trouble getting back to where I was in the grid. A recent study done by one Jerri Edwards at the University of South Florida seems to indicate that a particular kind of brain training focused on “speed of processing” (also called “useful field of view” or UFOV training) tends to ward off dementia. See
http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2016/08/brain-training-dementia.aspx
I have not yet looked into this as much as I intend to, but I think it’s worth pursuing …
I think I have more to say, but I’ve got to cut this short and go to bed … so … later …
Yay!! Got it!! This was a nice challenge, and I wasn’t sure I’d gotten everything right till I came here and saw that yes, OBEAH is a thing.
Here’s something funny: I THOUGHT I had the theme, and my misdirection actually helped me. I thought _______ DAY instead of ______ STONE. It worked!! BIRTHDAY, FIELD DAY …. so I wrote in FLAG, which worked! Turns out, of course, there’s no LIME DAY. By that time I’d just about finished.
Hey Glenn, hi and thanks for the shout-out!! Sometimes I get these things right….?
Hey David, I have Alzheimer’s in my family. I’m 58, so for awhile now I’ve been able to say I dodged the early-onset bullet, but I’ll be clicking on that link you shared. These things can only help. Crosswords do.
Hey Anthony — IMO, no apologies needed. Seems to me that our assorted viewpoints may on occasion show up here, with no harm done.
Speaking of 58, today’s gold medal winner in equestrian jumping is 58!!
Dirk–let’s ace Saturday’s grid!! All set!
Be well~~™?
28A cold weather word The answer teens makes no sense to me. Teems would make sense. As in teems with rain, but teens???