Constructed by: Erik Agard
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: None
Bill’s time: 11m 04s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
13. ESPN game show where four expert panelists compete debate-style : AROUND THE HORN
“Around the Horn” is a 30-minute sports roundup aired everyday on ESPN. I’m told that the show takes the format of a debating panel game.
15. “42” subject : JACKIE ROBINSON
“42” is an excellent film about the baseball career of Jackie Robinson. Stars of the movie are Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, executive with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The plot revolves around the signing of Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers, making him the first African-American player to break the baseball color barrier.
18. Gets ready to eat, in a way : NUKES
One might rewarm a meal by nuking it, zapping it in the microwave.
19. Key of Beethoven’s Sym. No. 7 : A MAJ
If I had to name which of Beethoven’s symphonies I listen to most often, at the top of the list comes the 7th followed closely by the 9th, and then the 5th a little further down. But that four-note opening of the 5th … that is superb …
23. Other: Pref. : HETERO-
The prefix “hetero-” comes from the Greek “heteros” meaning “different, other”.
28. One of a prohibitive septet : SIN
The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are:
- Wrath
- Greed
- Sloth
- Pride
- Lust
- Envy
- Gluttony
34. School offering belts : DOJO
The Japanese word “dojo” literally means “place of the way”. Originally the term applied to training halls that were found in or beside temples. The teaching in a dojo was not limited to the martial arts, but in the Western world we use the dojo as the name for a training facility for judo, karate and the like.
37. Rihanna album whose title is a common prefix : ANTI
The singer Rihanna was born and grew up on the island of Barbados and moved to the US when she was 16-years-old to pursue a singing career. “Rihanna” is her stage name, as she was born Robyn Rihanna Fenty. The name “Rihanna” is derived from the Welsh name “Rhiannon”.
38. Cosmic balance : 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.
41. An ace is under it : PAR
One well-documented hole-in-one (ace) was during a round of the British Open in 1973. American golfer Gene Sarazen achieved the feat that day, at the age of 71. A less well-documented series of holes-in-one was reported by the North Korean press in a story about the Korean leader Kim Jong-il. The report was that Kim Jong-il scored 11 holes-in-one in his one and only round of golf.
42. Desert bordering the Altai Mountains : GOBI
The large desert in Asia called the Gobi lies in northern China and southern Mongolia. The Gobi desert is growing at an alarming rate, particularly towards the south. This “desertification” is caused by increased human activity. The Chinese government is trying to halt the desert’s progress by planting great swaths of new forest, the so called “Green Wall of China”. The name “Gobi” is Mongolian for “waterless place, semidesert”.
The Altai Mountains are a range in Asia, located where the countries of Russia, China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan meet. “Altai” is Turkic for “Golden Mountain”.
43. Mitt with ten fingers : ROMNEY
Mitt Romney was born Willard Mitt Romney in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Romney’s parents named him after J. Willard Marriott (the hotel magnate) who was the father’s best friend, and after Milton “Mitt” Romney who was the father’s cousin and quarterback for the Chicago Bears.
45. “Luck Be __”: “Guys and Dolls” song : A LADY
Luck Be a Lady is a song written by Frank Loesser for his Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls” that premiered in 1950. Some years later, “Luck Be a Lady” became a signature song for Frank Sinatra.
49. Shuffles, say : IPODS
The iPod Shuffle was introduced in 2005 and is the smallest of Apple’s line of audio players. The Shuffle was the first iPod to use flash memory.
52. Italian recipe word : ALLA
The phrase “in the style of” can be translated in “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.
54. User of recording devices called quipus : INCA
A “quipu” is a device used by the Incas for recording numbers. It is made of colored threads that are knotted, and used the base ten number system. The word “quipu” is sometimes translated as “talking knots”.
55. WWII conference city : YALTA
The Yalta Conference was a wartime meeting between WWII leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Held in February of 1945, the conference is most remembered for decisions made on the post-war organization of Europe. To a large extent, the three leaders made decisions carving up political influence around the world, decisions that have profound implications to this day.
58. Home of MLB’s Redbirds : STL
The St. Louis Cardinals baseball team was originally called the “Brown Stockings”, changing their name to the “Perfectos” in 1899. The new name obviously didn’t go down well with the locals, as the owners changed it one year later to the Cardinals, a nod to the cardinal red color of the team uniforms. Team nicknames include the Cards, the Redbirds and Birds on the Bat.
65. Early U.S. Navy flag motto : DON’T TREAD ON ME
The phrase “don’t tread on me” appeared on many early American flags. The phrase usually appeared with a rattlesnake. Notably, “Don’t tread on me” was included in the first Navy Jack.
Down
2. Subjects of IRS Pub. 590 : IRAS
Individual retirement account (IRA)
4. Japanese hot pot dish : SUKIYAKI
Sukiyaki is a Japanese soup/stew prepared and served in a “nabe”, a Japanese hot pot.
5. Athlete’s wear, for short : UNI
A unitard is like a leotard, except that it has long legs and sometime long sleeves. It wouldn’t be a good look for me …
10. Trey Anastasio’s band : PHISH
Phish is a rock and roll band that formed at the University of Vermont in 1983. After a hiatus from 2004 until 2009, the band is going strong to this day. The has been a “Phish Food” flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream since 1997.
11. Chaney of the screen : LON
Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).
12. Imitation : ERSATZ
Something described as “ersatz” is a copy, and usually not a good one. “Ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace”.
20. Alcott’s “Little Men” sequel : JO’S BOYS
Louisa May Alcott’s “Jo’s Boys” is a sequel to her novel “Little Men”, which in turn is a sequel to “Little Women”. “Jo’s Boys” is the final book in the trilogy.
25. Indian flatbread : CHAPATI
Chapati is an unleavened flatbread that is associated with India. The name of the bread comes from the Hindi word “chapat” meaning “flat”.
29. Actor __ Elba of “The Wire” : IDRIS
The English actor Idris Elba is probably best known in North America for playing the drug lord Stringer Bell in the marvelous HBO drama series “The Wire”, and the title character in the 2013 film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”. Off the screen, Elba works as a disk jockey using the name DJ Big Driis.
30. French handle? : NOM
“Nom” is the French word for “name”.
33. “Citizen Kane” studio : RKO
The RKO Pictures studio was formed when RCA (RADIO Corporation of America) bought the KEITH-Albee-ORPHEUM theaters (and Joe Kennedy’s Film Booking Offices of America). The RKO initialism then comes from the words “Radio”, “Keith” and “Orpheum”.
“Citizen Kane” was the first film made by Orson Welles, one considered by many to be the finest film ever made. It’s a remarkable achievement by Wells, as he played the lead, and also produced and directed. Despite all the accolades for “Citizen Kane” over the decades, the movie was far from a commercial success in its early run and actually lost money at the box office.
39. Old hoops org. : ABA
The American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. The ABA used a ball with the colors red, white and blue. The NBA uses a more traditional orange ball.
40. Thick paint applications : IMPASTOS
“Impasto” is a painting technique in which a canvas is either partially or completely covered in a thick layer of paint in which the brush or painting-knife strokes are clearly visible. This texture results in a painting that appears to have paint coming out of the canvas. “Impasto” is an Italian word meaning “dough, mixture”.
42. OB/__ : GYN
Obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN)
44. Sautéing substance : OIL
“Sauté” is a French word. The literal translation from the French is “jumped” or “bounced”, a reference to the tossing of food while cooking it in a frying pan.
46. Unicellular alga : DIATOM
The diatom is a very common type of plankton. Most diatoms are composed of just one cell, but can band together and form filaments or ribbons that are in effect colonies of individual diatoms.
51. “Peer __ Homecoming”: Grieg work : GYNTS
Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt” is based on a Scandinavian fairy tale “Per Gynt”. The incidental music to the play, written by Edvard Grieg, is some of the most approachable classical music ever written, at least in my humble opinion …
53. Rapper Kendrick __ : LAMAR
Kendrick Lamar is a hip hop singer from Compton, California. Lamar’s full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, with the singer’s given name in honor of Motown artist Eddie Kendricks.
56. Mennen skin product : AFTA
Afta is an aftershave in the Mennen range of products that is owned by Colgate-Palmolive.
57. Voldemort’s title : LORD
Lord Voldemort (born Tom Marvolo Riddle) is the main “bad guy” in the “Harry Potter” series of books. I heard author J. K. Rowling on the radio some time back and she tells us that “Voldemort” is supposed to be pronounced with a silent “t” on the end, so it sounds kind of French. But when the movies came out the actors went with the hard “t”, and that’s the pronunciation that seems to prevail now.
60. __-Tokoin Airport: Togo hub : LOME
Lomé–Tokoin Airport is the main airport serving Lomé, the capital and largest city in Togo.
Togo is a country on the West African coast, one of the smallest nations on the continent. It is located between Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north.
64. Young adult fiction author Vizzini : NED
Ned Vizzini is an American author of books aimed at young adults. Vizzini’s most famous novel is “Be More Chill”, a science fiction tale about a nerdy kid who takes a “magic” pill that makes him cool.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Diagnostic aid : TISSUE SAMPLE
13. ESPN game show where four expert panelists compete debate-style : AROUND THE HORN
15. “42” subject : JACKIE ROBINSON
17. Water __ : SKI
18. Gets ready to eat, in a way : NUKES
19. Key of Beethoven’s Sym. No. 7 : A MAJ
21. Clipped affirmative : YES’M
23. Other: Pref. : HETERO-
25. Scary story sound : CREAK
28. One of a prohibitive septet : SIN
31. Industry bigwigs : CZARS
32. Hide out, with “down” : HUNKER
34. School offering belts : DOJO
36. Get : NAB
37. Rihanna album whose title is a common prefix : ANTI
38. Cosmic balance : KARMA
40. Analogy part : IS TO
41. An ace is under it : PAR
42. Desert bordering the Altai Mountains : GOBI
43. Mitt with ten fingers : ROMNEY
45. “Luck Be __”: “Guys and Dolls” song : A LADY
47. Smoking evidence : ASH
49. Shuffles, say : IPODS
50. Firming (up) : TONING
52. Italian recipe word : ALLA
54. User of recording devices called quipus : INCA
55. WWII conference city : YALTA
58. Home of MLB’s Redbirds : STL
61. Learn : GET INFORMATION
65. Early U.S. Navy flag motto : DON’T TREAD ON ME
66. Likely to be returned : MISADDRESSED
Down
1. Persian for “crown” : TAJ
2. Subjects of IRS Pub. 590 : IRAS
3. Belt : SOCK
4. Japanese hot pot dish : SUKIYAKI
5. Athlete’s wear, for short : UNI
6. Idyllic settings : EDENS
7. Toys with strings? : STRUMS
8. “I see now” : AH OK
9. “Leave __!” : ME BE
10. Trey Anastasio’s band : PHISH
11. Chaney of the screen : LON
12. Imitation : ERSATZ
14. Unequivocal rejection : NO MEANS NO!
16. Told : NARRATED
20. Alcott’s “Little Men” sequel : JO’S BOYS
22. __ out a victory : EKE
24. Prefix with tourist : ECO-
25. Indian flatbread : CHAPATI
26. Words with a dismissive wave : RUN ALONG
27. Unable to look away : ENTRANCED
29. Actor __ Elba of “The Wire” : IDRIS
30. French handle? : NOM
33. “Citizen Kane” studio : RKO
35. Shake up : JAR
39. Old hoops org. : ABA
40. Thick paint applications : IMPASTOS
42. OB/__ : GYN
44. Sautéing substance : OIL
46. Unicellular alga : DIATOM
48. Abomination : HATRED
51. “Peer __ Homecoming”: Grieg work : GYNTS
53. Rapper Kendrick __ : LAMAR
56. Mennen skin product : AFTA
57. Voldemort’s title : LORD
59. Cookie containers : TINS
60. __-Tokoin Airport: Togo hub : LOME
62. Pasta ending : -INI
63. Soft drink ending : -ADE
64. Young adult fiction author Vizzini : NED
A small correction: the Japanese word “nabe” is what the pot used is called, “mono” means “thing.” So “nabemono” refers to any meal cooked and/or served in a nabe. Sukiyaki and its cousin, shabu shabu, are prepared in a nabe and are perhaps the most iconic nabe dishes in Japanese cuisine. The main course of a “fugu” dinner (pufferfish, deadly if prepared incorrectly) is usually a hot pot event. Nabeyaki udon was one of favorite examples of nabemono; udon noodles served in chicken or pork broth with veggies, perhaps some fried tofu (agedofu), some jelled fish paste and a near-raw egg. The first time I had it, I didn’t realize how spicy the powdered condiment “shichimi (literally “seven flavors”)is and used nearly a whole teaspoon. The restaurant was pleased to replace my lava nabe with a fresh bowl (after laughing roundly at the stupid gaijin, whose face had turned as red as the shichimi, partly because of the heat of the condiment, but mostly embarrassment.
Sorry to run on? I tend to do that, especially when talking about food, or Japan; when both are part of the conversation I tend to get overexcited!
Thanks, Joel. The difference between “nobe” and “nabemono” is good to know. As always, I appreciate the help (and have made the correction).
24:58, no errors, iPad. I mostly had trouble with the top three rows of this puzzle. TISSUE SAMPLE did not come readily to mind, I’d never heard of AROUND THE HORN as a TV show, and, although the movie “42” came out three years ago and is on my list, I have not yet seen it, so I had a hard time coming up with JACKIE ROBINSON. In addition (and this is really embarrassing, in light of Joel’s extensive comments above … 🙂 ), I initially had TERIYAKI instead of SUKIYAKI. So I spent some time trying various possible crossing entries until the necessary “aha” moments occurred. Favorite clue: “Toys with strings?” for STRUMS … absolute genius!
@Carrie (yesterday)
You could say that, in part. It’s not so much the holidays themselves, but other things that get magnified during the holidays.
@all
I agree with most all, yesterday. There’s a handful of things in that grid that made absolutely no sense once revealed. Even just chased 60-D with the dictionary. GAS makes no sense whatsoever.
Zero errors on everything so far…we’ll see how Sat and Sun goes.
Forgot to “sign” this one. This is Jeff –
A really nice Saturday puzzle. Its best quality is that I finished it without pulling any hair out. Unlike Dave, I got the top almost immediately as I am familiar with AROUND THE HORN as well as JACKIE ROBINSON. My only problem area was the midwest. I had ENchANtED before ENTRANCED, CHAbATI before CHAPATI. I had no idea what I quipu was, but strangely, figuring out INCA there helped finish the grid.
Speaking of which, I was curious as to what a quipu was. I looked it up and they’re amazing looking things – kind of like a long wild intricate necklace. I wanted to see how they work, but as far as I can tell (in all of my 5 minutes of research) they haven’t been deciphered completely yet. They were actually used to keep and preserve government records – including tax records, census taking as well as Hillary’s emails (I made that part up…). The Inca civilization was truly amazing. I wish I knew more about them.
DIATOM is totally new to me and one to store away for surely another crossword sighting.
Best –
This seemed a bit easier than some of our recent Saturday brain strainers, but maybe my brain was just in finer fettle this morning? The “ah ok” for 8 down hung me up for awhile. Hope everyone has a good weekend.
Didn’t get the K in AH OK, so I didn’t get nukes. Brain lapse. I loved Jo’s Boys. Now that, I got.
Joel, yrs ago a woman from Okinawa gave my mother her recipe for sukiyaki. The woman pronounced it ski-aki, and so my family has done likewise. Do you think it’s a regional pronunciation, or did we mis-hear it?
Gassing is when 2 middle-aged women sit and trade funny stories. At least, that’s the context I’m familiar with. On that particular clue, the clue and the answer were not in the same tense, so that made me hesitant.
Happy weekend, all-
@Bella – In Japanese, words don’t end in consonants. The “u” sound is typically unpronounced, or more aptly barely pronounced, particularly at the end of a word. That’s why you heard “ski” instead of “suki.” The “i” is often forgotten as well: the word for “a little” is “sukoshi,” but you may hear “skosh” with both the “u” and the “i” being partially elided.
Btw, “suki” means “like,’ as in “nabemono ga suki desu – I like nabemono.”
You might also find it interesting that Japanese verbs are not conjugated. They’re inflected for tense, case, and level of politeness. It can be quite confusing to a beginner. Hope you found this useful and/or interesting!
Thanks, Joel. We’ll go on w ski-aki then, and feel superior abt it! I’ll tell my folks about it at Thanksgiving.
I’ve heard my dad request “just a skosh” and I had no idea it was Japanese. I thought it was Korean because he served in Korea. The things we learn….
DAVE!! I’m sorry: I forgot to thank you for yesterday’s note, and you too Jeff for affirming! That’s exactly what I did: I got the clues mixed up. Unfortunately, I can’t blame it on a blurry paper — numbers were quite clear, but apparently I wasn’t!!
Good Saturday puzzle, and it went smoothly, for the most part. Didn’t know for sure about INCA till I got here. Finished! The long answers seemed pretty easy on this one.
@Joel, how are you so smart before 7 a.m.??!
See y’all tomorrow!
Be well~~™???