Constructed by: Matt Skoczen
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: Pop-Up Ads
Today’s themed answers are written in the down-direction, and each contains the hidden letter sequence SDA. And, SDA reads ADS when written “UP”. So, we have some hidden POP-UP ADS:
- 39D. Web irritants … and what appears in each set of puzzle circles? : POP-UP ADS
- 3D. “Pillow Talk” actress : DORIS DAY
- 9D. Museum pieces : OBJETS D’ART
- 26D. Brand of blended seasonings : MRS DASH
- 31D. Population information : CENSUS DATA
Bill’s time: 7m 38s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Kind of basin : TIDAL
A tidal basin is an area that fills with water at high tide, and then that water level is maintained by artificial means. I used to live in a village on the East Coast of Ireland where there was a saltwater swimming pool that would be filled by the high tide twice a day. The same principle I guess.
9. Intense dislike : ODIUM
“Odium” is a strong dislike or aversion. The term is Latin in origin and relates to the Latin word “odi” meaning “I hate”.
15. Run a tab, say : OWE
When we “run a tab” at a bar say, we are “running a tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.
19. Floorboard support : JOIST
In a building, a joist is a supporting member running horizontally to support a ceiling or floor.
20. Many a Sundance film : INDIE
The Sundance film festival is the largest independent film event in the country, and takes place every year around the Sundance Resort near Provo, Utah. The festival has its roots in the Utah/US Film Festival which started in Salt Lake City in 1978. Management of the festival was taken over by Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute in 1985. The festival has became a bit of a media feeding frenzy in recent years, as a lot of A-list celebrities attend. The Festival organizers introduced a “Focus on Film” campaign in 2007 to try to offset some of the madness.
23. Registered names: Abbr. : TMS
Trademarks (TMs)
28. H.S. hurdle : SAT
Today the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation SAT.
32. Comical punctuation marks from the drummer : RIMSHOTS
A rimshot is a sound made when a drummer hits the head of a drum and the rim at the same time. It’s a sound often used by comics to help punctuate a gag.
34. Marshy lowland : SWALE
A swale is a narrow tract of low-lying land that is usually wet or marshy. A swale can be naturally occurring or man-made. One might create a swale to help manage drainage of adjacent land.
35. Chihuahua, por ejemplo : ESTADO
Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico that shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. Chihuahua is the largest state in the country, so has the nickname “El Estado Grande”. The state takes its name from the Chihuahuan Desert which lies largely within its borders. The Chihuahua breed of dog takes its name from the state.
36. “__ Eyes”: Eagles hit : LYIN’
The Eagles song “Lyin’ Eyes” was recorded in 1975. Written by band members Don Henley and Glenn Frey, the lyrics were inspired by a meeting between a man and a woman the composers witnessed in Dan Tana’s Bar & Restaurant in Los Angeles. Henley and Frey imagined a scenario of secret love, and “Lyin’ Eyes” was born.
37. ’60s campus gp. : SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.
38. Hieroglyphics reptiles : ASPS
The prefix “hiero-” comes from the Greek word “hieros” meaning sacred or holy. The classic use of the prefix is in the term “hieroglyphics”, meaning “sacred carving”, the writing system that uses symbols and pictures.
48. Swingline insert : STAPLE
Swingline is a manufacturer of office staplers that was founded in New York City in 1925.
49. 2,170-mi. trail terminus : ORE
The Oregon Trail was established by fur trappers and traders as early as 1811. The first migrant wagon train traveled the route in 1836, starting off in Independence, Missouri and going as far as Fort Hall, Idaho. In the coming years, the trail was extended for wagons as far as the Willamette Valley in Oregon.
50. Walk with style : SASHAY
To “sashay” is to strut along in a showy manner. “Sashay” is an Anglicized form of the French word “chassé”, a sliding step used in square dancing.
52. Luau music provider : UKE
The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.
Nowadays the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of “poi”, the bulbous underground stems of taro baked with coconut milk.
58. Cookie named for its flavor : NILLA
As one might expect, “Nilla” is a shortened from of “vanilla”. However, you won’t find any vanilla in Nilla brand cookies or wafers. They have always been flavored with vanillin, which is synthetic vanilla. Is nothing sacred …?
59. Aromatic necklace : LEI
“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a “lei” is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.
66. Down source : EIDER
Eiders are large sea ducks. Their down feathers are used to fill pillows and quilts, giving the name to the quilt called an “eiderdown”.
67. Singer Bruni married to Nicolas Sarkozy : CARLA
The very glamorous Carla Bruni is the wife of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. She is Sarkozy’s third wife, and this is the first marriage for Bruni. The couple met at a dinner party in November 2007 and were married just three months later. Bruni was born in Italy and was granted French nationality not long after the marriage.
68. Morning cuppa : JOE
It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.
Down
3. “Pillow Talk” actress : DORIS DAY
The actress and singer Doris Day was born Doris Kappelhoff in Cincinnati, Ohio. Day made more than 650 recordings as a singer with Columbia Records, and also appeared in 39 movies. Outside the world of entertainment, she has been an ardent supporter of animal rights. She now lives in Carmel-by-the-Sea in California, along with her many pets and stray animals that she has adopted over the years.
“Pillow Talk” is a marvelous romantic comedy from 1959 that stars Rock Hudson and Doris Day, with Tony Randall in a supporting role. The same trio of actors starred in a trio of movies together: “Pillow Talk” (1959), “Lover Come Back” (1961) and “Send Me No Flowers” (1964).
6. Montague lad : ROMEO
William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” is all about the love between the two title characters, which is forbidden as the pair come from two families who are sworn enemies. Early in the play, Romeo (a Montague) sneaks into a masquerade ball being held by the Capulets in the hope of meeting a Capulet girl named Rosaline. Instead, he meets and falls for Juliet, also a Capulet. Tragedy ensues …
9. Museum pieces : OBJETS D’ART
An “objet d’art” is an item that has artistic merit. The term is French for “art object”. The plural is “objets d’art”.
10. Lucy and Ethel and Thelma and Louise : DUOS
In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends were also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertz’s were played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.
“Thelma & Louise” is a thought-provoking movie, but one that is very entertaining. It was directed by Ridley Scott in 1991, and stars two fabulous leads in Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. You’ll also spot Brad Pitt in there as well, in his first significant movie role.
13. Church choral works : MOTETS
A motet is a simple musical composition based on a sacred text, usually sung without an accompaniment. The term “motet” is a diminutive form of “mot”, the French for “word”.
22. Tibetan title : LAMA
“Lama” is a Tibetan word, meaning “chief” or “high priest”.
23. “Angie Tribeca” channel : TBS
“Angie Tribeca” is a sitcom created by Steve Carell and his wife Nancy Walls Carell. The title role is an LAPD police detective played by actress Rashida Jones.
24. Weak cry : MEWL
“To mewl” is to cry weakly like a baby, with the word being somewhat imitative.
26. Brand of blended seasonings : MRS DASH
Mrs. Dash is a brand name of seasoning mixes. Just before the product first went to market in 1981, brand owner B&G Foods also considered the name “Mrs. Pinch”.
30. Inventor Howe : ELIAS
Elias Howe was an American inventor. Howe wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of a sewing machine, but he was the first to develop one that was functional.
31. Population information : CENSUS DATA
The original census was taken during the days of the Roman Republic, and was a reckoning of all adult males who were fit for military service. The first US Census was taken in 1790, and was conducted by Federal marshals.
33. Book after Daniel : HOSEA
Hosea was one of the Twelve Prophets of the Hebrew Bible, also called the Minor Prophets of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.
35. Ulysses threesome? : ESSES
There is a threesome of letters S (esses) in the word “Ulysses”.
42. Faulkner’s “As __ Dying” : I LAY
“As I Lay Dying” is a novel by William Faulkner first published in 1930. The book has an unusual structure, with stream of consciousness writing throughout. There is one whole chapter that I’d like to quote here:
My mother is a fish.
That’s a five-word chapter …
44. Actor Marvin of “Cat Ballou” : LEE
I’ve always thought that Lee Marvin was a very talented actor. Marvin had an amazing voice, and the appearance of a man who was hard and villainous. Yet he was able to break free from the villain roles in which he was typecast and played some characters with more depth. He won an Academy Award for his dual-role performance in 1965’s “Cat Ballou”. His totally unique rendition of the song “Wand’rin Star” from the 1969 musical film “Paint Your Wagon” made it to number one in the UK charts, keeping the Beatles hit “Let it Be” in the number two spot. I’ll bet that surprised even Marvin himself!
“Cat Ballou” is a 1965 film, a comedy western starring Jane Fonda in the title role and Lee Marvin in dual roles, for which Marvin won his only Oscar. The movie is based on a novel of the same name by Roy Chanslor. The novel was a serious and a quite dark work, but it was lightened up for the big screen.
45. Courvoisier, e.g. : COGNAC
Cognac is a famous variety of brandy named after the town of Cognac in the very west of France. To be called cognac, the brandy must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in very specific French oak barrels.
Courvoisier is a brand of cognac that is produced in the commune of Jarnac in southwestern France. Legend tells us that Napoleon Bonaparte took several barrels of Courvoisier with him to the island of St. Helena, where he died in exile. The English officers on the ship who transported the former emperor regularly sampled the barrels and named it “The Cognac of Napoleon”, words which appear on every bottle that is produced today.
46. Speedy Gonzales cry : ARRIBA!
When I was a kid, Speedy Gonzales was one of my favorite cartoon characters. He was billed as “The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico” and tore around the place yelling “¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba! ¡Epa¡ ¡Epa! ¡Epa! Yeehaw!”
48. OED entry : SYN
Synonym (syn.)
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
54. Hebrew for “skyward” : EL AL
El Al Israel Airlines is the flag carrier of Israel. The term “el al” translates from Hebrew as “to the skies”. The company started operations in 1948, with a flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv.
56. Oil bloc : OPEC
The OPEC cartel (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) was formally established in 1960 and has been headquartered in Vienna since 1965. The US is actually the third largest oil producer in the world (after Russia and Saudi Arabia). One reason America isn’t in OPEC, even though we are a big producer, is that we import a lot more than we export. But we all probably knew that already …
57. Hodgepodge : OLIO
“Olio” is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture, coming from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.
“Hochepot” is an Old French word for stew or soup, and this gave rise to an Anglo-French legal term for a collection of property that was gathered prior to being divided up. This became our “hodgepodge” in the early 1400s.
59. Pres. sworn in on Air Force One : LBJ
After President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson was sworn into office on Air Force One as is stood parked on Love Field in Dallas. US District Judge Sarah T. Hughes, a personal friend of the new president, conducted the swearing in ceremony. To this day, Justice Hughes is the only woman to have sworn in a US President.
60. Job listing ltrs. : EEO
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is a term that has been around since 1964 when the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) was set up by the Civil Rights Act. Title VII of the Act prohibits employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin or religion.
62. “Is it soup __?” : YET
There was a famous TV spot advertising Lipton instant soup in the seventies. Kids would watch as boiling water was added to powdered soup, exclaiming excitedly “Is it soup yet?” Ugh …
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Kind of basin : TIDAL
6. State secrets? : RAT
9. Intense dislike : ODIUM
14. Act poorly? : EMOTE
15. Run a tab, say : OWE
16. Words between two “thanks” : … BUT NO …
17. Chef protector : APRON
18. See 8-Down : -MEX
19. Floorboard support : JOIST
20. Many a Sundance film : INDIE
22. Rent payer : LESSEE
23. Registered names: Abbr. : TMS
25. Action at the front : COMBAT
28. H.S. hurdle : SAT
29. Adorn : BEDECK
32. Comical punctuation marks from the drummer : RIMSHOTS
34. Marshy lowland : SWALE
35. Chihuahua, por ejemplo : ESTADO
36. “__ Eyes”: Eagles hit : LYIN’
37. ’60s campus gp. : SDS
38. Hieroglyphics reptiles : ASPS
41. “Do __, not … ” : AS I SAY
43. Work on, as a stubborn squeak : RE-OIL
45. Tablets’ kin : CAPSULES
48. Swingline insert : STAPLE
49. 2,170-mi. trail terminus : ORE
50. Walk with style : SASHAY
52. Luau music provider : UKE
53. Wanting too much : GREEDY
55. Pry : SNOOP
58. Cookie named for its flavor : NILLA
59. Aromatic necklace : LEI
61. Stage performances : PLAYS
64. Words after miss or skip : A BEAT
65. Resting place : BED
66. Down source : EIDER
67. Singer Bruni married to Nicolas Sarkozy : CARLA
68. Morning cuppa : JOE
69. Amounts to : COSTS
Down
1. Leaves in a bag : TEA
2. Prankster : IMP
3. “Pillow Talk” actress : DORIS DAY
4. Lots : A TON
5. Provide with for a time : LEND
6. Montague lad : ROMEO
7. Blow away : AWE
8. With 18-Across, Southwestern cuisine : TEX-
9. Museum pieces : OBJETS D’ART
10. Lucy and Ethel and Thelma and Louise : DUOS
11. “Indeed!” : IT IS SO!
12. Oust, in a way : UNSEAT
13. Church choral works : MOTETS
21. “Eww!” : ICK!
22. Tibetan title : LAMA
23. “Angie Tribeca” channel : TBS
24. Weak cry : MEWL
26. Brand of blended seasonings : MRS DASH
27. Itsy-__ : BITSY
30. Inventor Howe : ELIAS
31. Population information : CENSUS DATA
33. Book after Daniel : HOSEA
35. Ulysses threesome? : ESSES
39. Web irritants … and what appears in each set of puzzle circles? : POP-UP ADS
40. __-screen printing : SILK
42. Faulkner’s “As __ Dying” : I LAY
44. Actor Marvin of “Cat Ballou” : LEE
45. Courvoisier, e.g. : COGNAC
46. Speedy Gonzales cry : ARRIBA!
47. Kitchen gadget : PEELER
48. OED entry : SYN
51. Words for the audience : ASIDE
54. Hebrew for “skyward” : EL AL
56. Oil bloc : OPEC
57. Hodgepodge : OLIO
59. Pres. sworn in on Air Force One : LBJ
60. Job listing ltrs. : EEO
62. “Is it soup __?” : YET
63. Fourth-yr. students : SRS
I had a tough time with this one, but when I looked up I saw I finished in my normal Wednesday time. I guess it was just more intense, perhaps. Got the theme almost immediately which helped too.
I think the Oregon Trail starts in Independence, MO not Idaho. Harry Truman would be quite upset with that typo 🙂 Incidentally Harry Truman was also left handed….
As I Lay Dying – I never read it so maybe there’s something to the title I’m missing, but on the surface it appears terrible diction. To lay something is to place it – as in laying a book on a table. To lie is to be prone on a bed or whatever. It should be “As I Lie Dying” shouldn’t it?
I guess it’s settled then – Bella, Carrie and I (the three lefties) will run the country going forward. I’ll start with eliminating daylight savings time, twitter, and slow drivers in the fast lane. I’m open to any other ideas…
Best –
Thanks, Jeff, for catching that typo. I’ve only visited Independence the one time, and my focus was more on Harry S. Truman’s Presidential Library than it was on the Oregon Trail. It’s a great place to spend a few hours; a marvelous facility in beautiful grounds.
@Jeff … There’s a Wikipedia article about the novel “As I Lay Dying”:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/As_I_Lay_Dying
The title is taken from a line of Homer’s “Odyssey” and is meant to be in the past tense. (One chapter of the novel is written from the viewpoint of a character who is, in fact, dead.)
In a recent newspaper article, I saw “lied” used as the past tense of “lie” – something like “I was tired, so I lied down and took a nap.” I realize that English is drifting in the direction of having no irregular verbs, but I’m never going to accept that one … 🙂
And I like your platform for the country!
The puzzle was challenging, and the theme was, for me, as usual, difficult to decipher. Lots of hawaiian words and culture. Should ‘Objets D’Art’ have had a clue to indicate a french word, I wonder.
For a weak cry, I first had ‘meow’.
<a href="http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=727&t=6"😉 On OPEC, the USA exports about over half ( 5.0 mil brls. per day ) of which it imports ( 13.8 mil, brls. per day ) – although the products exported are not crude oil, but processed petr. products.
I remember reading that the main reason the US is not a part of OPEC, is because the long standing US official policy against all cartels, monopolies and price-fixing.
On Nicolas Sarkozy, the ex-french President, ( whose ancestry, btw, is hungarian) accompanied by Carla Bruni, visited India as a state guest for the Republic Day parade ( Jan. 26th ) . At the time, they were not married, so the strait laced officials had a very tough time, on how to host, treat and seat them. ( She was not quite a first lady yet – ). Didn’t bother the couple though.
Have a nice day, all.
Had a Natick at TBS crosses TMS.
Sorry I missed yesterday’s lefty comments. I wrote my masters in education on lefties – does being a lefty affect one’s ability to read? Answer Yes and No. There are (at least) 2 kinds of lefties: FS+ and the brain-injured. FS+ means family sinistrality – you bet. I’m not a lefty (but rather mixed up), but my gramma, father and sister are. That’s FS+ But if you got there by having your brain squeezed at birth, for instance, you may well have a problem reading. I saw and inmate who actually read upside down. Btw, at my house, there was a lefty side of the table so they wouldn’t bump others with their elbows. There are many professions where being a lefty helps (besides presidency). Art, architecture, auto mechanics, etc.
I apologize, my hyperlink seems to have malfunctioned, despite my best attempts. Here it is, again – the offcial blog on USA imports and exports .
Mr. ‘Lefty’ Jeff, before you start to operate your grandiose plans – the pertinent question you have to find out is – is Mr. Bill Butler, a leftie ? ;-D) That. to me, appears to me, to be what your immediate interest should be….. Btw, Leonardo Da Vinci was a proficient ambi-dextrous and could write simultaenously with both hands. Try that, if you have a moment to spare today.
Mr. Leonardo Da Vinci, also wrote backwards ! Here is a wonderful article, both informative, instructive, serious and hilarious !!
I write with the right, Vidwan 🙂
Wow, a response from the Master, himself !
I found todays puzzle quite easy except for the NE. That took me for ever! Odium, objets d’art. Oh well, I made it through to the finish. Not getting my hopes up for the Fri. Sat. struggles.
Jeff, I’ll support your platform. I’d make a great VP, sitting quietly, not speaking unless spoken to. I’d have lots of time for reading and left-handed doodling.
I had a terrible time w/ this puzzle, lots of little holes in it. It didn’t help that I had 3 phone calls that required undivided attention.
@Jeff ” I’ll start with eliminating daylight savings time”
You’ve got my vote!
Same here as to the NE corner.
On 9D I had *****SDART That can’t be right! But it was.
No mistakes. The theme really helped.
10:33, no errors, iPad. I’m running very late today because I’m taking Benadryl and it turns me into some kind of near-zombie, so I got up late (and then had to shovel 3 or 4 inches of snow).
Two days ago, I took an 11- or 12-mile walk. It was cold and there was a nasty wind, so I wore warm clothing, including a pair of recently-acquired socks. When I got back, I discovered a nasty rash everywhere the socks touched my skin. It turns out that the socks contain 4% latex (something I’d never encountered before). And I’m allergic to latex (who knew?). Hence the Benadryl.
So … given Monday’s foofaraw, I feel that I should apologize to anyone here who happens to belong to the Benadryl Boosters or the Latex Lobby. My only purpose is to warn others here of the dangers that may lurk in their sock drawer! …. 🙂
Sorry to hear about your latex allergy. Had a question about that for hospital pre-admission — puts them in a tizzy because of latex gloves, tubing, etc. same at the dentists office. Not sure if that’s still the case with nitrile gloves being more prevalent now.
Pack my box… was a new one for me. I just learned a new mnemonic, today – RAVEN – Remember affect verb, effect non.
I have a question – what happened to my little icon – the white baby seal? Only Bill himself seems to have an icon.
Count me among the fans of Lee Marvin (see, e.g., “Dirty Dozen), who was also a WWII combat vet wounded in the Pacific theater, a fact made more notable today on the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
But he also has the ignominious distinction of coining the word “palimony”, from the 1970s case of Marvin v. Marvin.
Pretty easy for me today, around 15 minutes or so. Everything I didn’t know was surrounded by plenty of easy fill. MRSDASH, TBS (Angie Tribeca channel) and MOTET.
I’d object strenuously to banning DST; if anything it’s Standard Time that should be banned. Mornings are way overrated! Normally I sympathize with Lefties…oh never-mind. On a lark, I did attempt to become ambi-dexterous; I even did the crossword and Sudoku left-handed a few times…very difficult. Maybe I’ll give it a try again.
Oh noooo! Just accidentally erased my comments!! What was it I said…..Jeff! I fully support your agenda! I’ll be Secretary of the Interior: drive-thru Starbucks on freeway on-ramps!!
Sfingi! Fascinating, your masters thesis!
Vidwan, thanks for the links!
Be well~~???