Constructed by: Joel Mackerry
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: 15-Letter Vowel Progression
Today’s themed answers are all 15-letters in length, spanning the grid. Also, each begins with the letter sequence vNC-, where “v” is a vowel. We start with the vowel “A” for the first themed answer, and progress through to the vowel “U” for the last:
- 17A. Hebrew or Latin, e.g. : ANCIENT LANGUAGE
- 23A. Meetings of self-improvement seekers : ENCOUNTER GROUPS
- 39A. Form 1040 and schedules : INCOME TAX RETURN
- 53A. Doctor with a pager : ON-CALL PHYSICIAN
- 61A. Most of the Atlantic, to Columbus : UNCHARTED WATERS
Bill’s time: 6m 35s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. NYSE listings : COS
Company (co.)
8. Shade-loving plant : HOSTA
The Hosta genus of plant was once classified as a lily, but is now in a family of its own and is described as “lily-like”. The plant was given the name “Hosta” in honor of the Austrian botanist Nicholas Thomas Host.
20. Cpl., for one : NCO
A sergeant (sgt.) ranks higher than a corporal (cpl.), and either is a non-commissioned officer (NCO).
21. Sundial number opposite I : VII
On a sundial, say, the number I (1 in Roman numerals) is opposite the number VII (7).
29. Child of a boomer : XER
The term Generation X originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By the latest accepted definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.
A baby boomer is someone who was born in the post-WWII baby boom. The rate of births had been falling fairly steadily in the US at least since 1900, but this trend was sharply reversed in 1946 after WWII. The higher birth rate continued until 1964, when it returned to pre-war levels. Since then the birth rate has continued to decline, although at a slower pace. The period between 1946 and 1964 is defined as the “baby boom”.
36. Composer Bartók : BELA
Bela Bartók was a composer and a pianist, and perhaps after Liszt is considered by many to be Hungary’s greatest composer.
39. Form 1040 and schedules : INCOME TAX RETURN
Here in the US we can choose one of three main forms to file our tax returns. Form 1040 is known as the “long form”. Form 1040A is called the “short form”, and can be used by taxpayers with taxable income below $100,000 who don’t itemize deduction. Form 1040EZ is an even simpler version of the 1040, and can be used by those with taxable income less than $100,000 who take the standard deduction and who also have no dependents. Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it’s a form that just keeps on giving, or should I say “taking” …?
44. Right triangle ratio : SINE
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine (sin), cosine (cos) and tangent (tan). Each of these is a ratio, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The reciprocal of these three functions are cosecant, secant, and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine (cosec = 1/sin), cosine (sec = 1/cos) and tangent (cot = 1/tan).
45. “Impractical Jokers” network __TV : TRU
truTV is a Turner Broadcasting cable network, launched in 1991 as Court TV. The name was changed to truTV in 2008.
“Impractical Jokers” is a show that first aired in 2011 that falls into the “Candid Camera” genre, with the hosts pranking the public.
46. Most fit to be drafted : ONE-A
The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System (SS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).
52. “CSI” evidence : DNA
The “CSI” franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but seems to have finally wound down. “CSI: Miami” (the “worst” of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. “CSI: NY” (the “best” of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, set in Las Vegas, hung in there until 2015 when it ended with a two-hour TV movie. The youngest show in the series was “CSI: Cyber”. It lasted for two season before being canceled in 2016.
59. Dubai’s fed. : UAE
Dubai is one of the seven Emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy.
60. Glamorous Gardner : AVA
Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. After her marriages had failed (and perhaps before!) she had long-term relationships with Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin whom she met through her friend Ernest Hemingway.
61. Most of the Atlantic, to Columbus : UNCHARTED WATERS
Christopher Columbus set off on four voyages of exploration from Spain. The initial intent of the expeditions was to establish an ocean link with the Indian subcontinent, by sailing westward. Columbus reached the Americas instead of India, yet insisted on calling the natives “indios”, the Spanish word for “Indians”.
69. “Frozen” queen : ELSA
“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”.
70. Game with rooms and weapons : CLUE
Clue is board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), a lead pipe (lead piping in the US) and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …
71. Natives for whom a Great Lake is named : ERIES
The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.
Down
2. Joke with a homophone, say : PUN
Homophones are words that are pronounced in the same way (e.g., ere, air, err and heir). Homonyms are a subset of homophones, and are words that have the same spelling and the same pronunciation but different meanings, for example, skate (a fish) and skate (worn on the foot).
3. Top-left PC key : ESC
Escape (esc)
4. Trouser material : CHINO
Chino is a twill cloth most often used to make hard-wearing pants. The pants have come to be referred to as chinos. Chino cloth was originally developed for use by the military, but quickly became popular with civilians.
5. Elevate to sainthood : CANONIZE
The act of creating a saint is known as “canonization”. The term derives from the process of placing someone in the canon (or “calendar”) of saints.
6. Giants great Mel : OTT
At 5′ 9″, baseball legend Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.
7. Work a crossword puzzle : SOLVE
Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now known as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Shuster & Shuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.
8. “Macbeth” cauldron stirrer : HAG
The witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” have some lovely lines as they boil up and evil brew and cast a spell:
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,–
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
9. Buckeye State sch. : OSU
Ohio State University (OSU) was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”.
10. Acronym for a big mess : SNAFU
SNAFU is an acronym standing for Situation Normal: All Fouled Up (well, that’s the “polite” version!). As one might perhaps imagine, the term developed in the US Army, during WWII.
11. Prepare to advance after a fly ball : TAG UP
That would be baseball.
15. Bridge partnerships : PAIRS
The four people playing a game of bridge are positioned around a table at seats called north, east, south and west. Each player belongs to a pair, with north playing with south, and east playing with west.
18. S.A. country at zero degrees latitude : ECUA
“Ecuador” is the Spanish word for “equator”, which gives the country its name.
23. Army vet : EX-GI
The initials “G.I.” stand for “Government Issue”, and not “General Infantry” as is often believed. GI was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.
24. Vegas signs : NEONS
The basic design of neon lighting was first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. Such lighting is made up of glass tubes containing a vacuum into which has been introduced a small amount of neon gas. When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inside the tube, the neon gas “glows” and gives off the familiar light.
25. Early spring blooms : CROCI
The crocus (plural “croci”) is a plant genus in the iris family. The term “crocus” ultimately derives from the Sanskrit word for “saffron”. Saffron spice comes from Crocus sativus, the “saffron crocus”.
33. Summer of disco : DONNA
Donna Summer is known as “The Queen of Disco”, with great hits like “Love to Love You, Baby”, “I Feel Love” and “Hot Stuff”. In the late sixties and early seventies, LaDonna Gaines (her real name) lived and worked in Germany. There she met and married an Austrian actor called Helmuth Sommer. They divorced not long after the marriage, but Donna kept his family name, just changing the “o” to “u” to give her the stage name of “Donna Summer”.
37. Monday, in Metz : LUNDI
The city of Metz is in the northeast of France, close to the German border. Given the proximity to Germany, Metz has both a strong German tradition and a strong French tradition. Metz was handed over to the French following WWI, after nearly 50 years of German rule. It quickly fell back into German hands in 1940 during WWII, with many German officers delighted to have back the city of their birth. Perhaps because of this long association with Germany, the US Army under General Patton encountered stiff resistance when liberating Metz in 1944. The cathedral in Metz is home to the largest expanse of stained glass in the world, almost 70,000 square feet in all.
38. “Ben-Hur” setting : ARENA
The celebrated Charlton Heston movie “Ben-Hur” is a dramatization of a book published in 1880 by Lew Wallace titled “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ”. The 1959 epic film won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat that has been equaled since then but has never been beaten. The other winners of 11 Oscars are “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Rings”.
41. Like Superman’s special vision : X-RAY
Although Superman’s ability to see through objects is termed “x-ray vision”, the phenomenon as described cannot involve just the use of x-rays. The issue is that Superman can perceive color while using his superpower, and that’s not possible with x-rays.
43. Indian flatbread : NAAN
Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.
51. Operatic icon : DIVA
The term “diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.
53. Developing egg : OVULE
As we all remember from botany class, an “ovule” is a small structure in many plants that develops into the seed after fertilization.
54. Forty-__ : NINER
The California gold rush actually started in 1848. The first to exploit the find were those people already in California. By 1849 the word had spread and gold-seekers started to arrive from all over the world. The “out-of-towners” who arrived in 1849 became known as forty-niners.
55. Desert plants : CACTI
The cactus (plural “cacti”) is a member of a family plants that are particularly well-adapted to extremely dry environments. Almost all cacti are native to the Americas, although some succulent plants from the old world are similar in appearance and are often mislabeled as “cacti”.
64. Broadband letters : DSL
The abbreviation “DSL” originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is the technology that allows Internet service be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.
65. Rock gp. with winds and strings : ELO
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) is a symphonic rock group from the north of England.
66. Moscow’s land: Abbr. : RUS
Moscow is of course the capital of Russia. If one considers Europe to be all points west of the Ural Mountains, then Moscow is the most populous city on the European continent. Moscow also is home to more billionaires than any other city in the world, according to “Forbes” magazine. The city is named for the Moskva River which flows through Moscow.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Contractor’s detail, briefly : SPEC
5. NYSE listings : COS
8. Shade-loving plant : HOSTA
13. Pull’s opposite : PUSH
14. Sitting on : ATOP
16. “That’s __!”: “Piece of cake!” : A SNAP
17. Hebrew or Latin, e.g. : ANCIENT LANGUAGE
20. Cpl., for one : NCO
21. Sundial number opposite I : VII
22. Kitty coat : FUR
23. Meetings of self-improvement seekers : ENCOUNTER GROUPS
29. Child of a boomer : XER
30. With 31-Across, flying exhibition : AIR …
31. See 30-Across : … SHOW
32. More than fair, less than great : GOOD
34. Petting __ : ZOO
36. Composer Bartók : BELA
39. Form 1040 and schedules : INCOME TAX RETURN
44. Right triangle ratio : SINE
45. “Impractical Jokers” network __TV : TRU
46. Most fit to be drafted : ONE-A
47. Captures : NABS
50. Plus : AND
52. “CSI” evidence : DNA
53. Doctor with a pager : ON-CALL PHYSICIAN
58. Itinerary word : VIA
59. Dubai’s fed. : UAE
60. Glamorous Gardner : AVA
61. Most of the Atlantic, to Columbus : UNCHARTED WATERS
68. Allow to board : LET ON
69. “Frozen” queen : ELSA
70. Game with rooms and weapons : CLUE
71. Natives for whom a Great Lake is named : ERIES
72. Like a clever devil : SLY
73. Outdoor faucet attachment : HOSE
Down
1. Massage facility : SPA
2. Joke with a homophone, say : PUN
3. Top-left PC key : ESC
4. Trouser material : CHINO
5. Elevate to sainthood : CANONIZE
6. Giants great Mel : OTT
7. Work a crossword puzzle : SOLVE
8. “Macbeth” cauldron stirrer : HAG
9. Buckeye State sch. : OSU
10. Acronym for a big mess : SNAFU
11. Prepare to advance after a fly ball : TAG UP
12. Mimics : APERS
15. Bridge partnerships : PAIRS
18. S.A. country at zero degrees latitude : ECUA
19. About to happen : NIGH
23. Army vet : EX-GI
24. Vegas signs : NEONS
25. Early spring blooms : CROCI
26. Easy run : TROT
27. Hanger near the shower : ROBE
28. Be a debtor of : OWE TO
33. Summer of disco : DONNA
35. Cereal grain : OAT
37. Monday, in Metz : LUNDI
38. “Ben-Hur” setting : ARENA
40. Dinner, e.g. : MEAL
41. Like Superman’s special vision : X-RAY
42. Flees : RUNS AWAY
43. Indian flatbread : NAAN
48. “It all happened so fast” memory : BLUR
49. Sudden burst : SPATE
51. Operatic icon : DIVA
53. Developing egg : OVULE
54. Forty-__ : NINER
55. Desert plants : CACTI
56. Shoes that make you look taller : HEELS
57. Hidden downside : CATCH
62. Soil-moving tool : HOE
63. Ques. response : ANS
64. Broadband letters : DSL
65. Rock gp. with winds and strings : ELO
66. Moscow’s land: Abbr. : RUS
67. Lay eyes on : SEE
I was surprised to see so many 15 letter answers on a Monday when I first looked at the grid. After I finished, I still had no idea as to the theme. Needed the blog for that.
Had to do this one online as my paper wasn’t delivered AGAIN. I’ve sat down to a morning newspaper almost daily since I was 9 when I just liked looking at the baseball standings. But now there seems to be at least one day a week where I don’t receive it, and the price has almost quadrupled ($12/mo in 2003; $45/mo now) since I moved into this house 14 years ago. I guess I’m paying for all the non deliveries??
So now that the Houston Chronicle has a digitized replica of the printed newspaper, I think I’ll sever the ties. It’s quite an emotional decision as the printed paper has been my companion for so many years…….if only I was this emotional over normal things…
Best –
I get the LA Times every day, and when I don’t get it, I call them and one is delivered in less than an hour. I find the more times I have to call, the problem disappears (until the next time!). I would be lost without my morning paper. Online just isn’t the same for me.
Heidi
I’ve tried that, but the paper still doesn’t get delivered at all – much less within an hour which is actually pretty impressive.
I’ve been making the mistake of using their automated system and registering the non-delivery online, but that does nothing. Today I called and they didn’t even give me a credit. They just extended my current “paid up to ” date by one day. Whoopie.
We’ll see if the problem gets solved or not…
Hi all! As for Saturday and Sunday, I ended up with some messes in different ways. 7 errors in 58 minutes on Saturday (guessed wrongly on 40A, but 56A-47D was an issue too). Sunday was 11 errors in 76 minutes (wrong guess on 30A, CREASEPROFITS). Complete messes and not too thrilling. In one respect, it highlights how much I really have to “puzzle” or “guess” out of some these things and don’t know straight out. Again, I get blown away at the constrast to this and the NYT (Sun 56 min, 1 stupid error).
Interesting for the weekend as well is that I got my hands on some “easy” grids (specifically “The Daily Commuter”), and timed myself on a few. Average of about 9 minutes per, writing almost continuously. I’m not sure why my wall time is so high, but it is mildly enlightening (and encouraging) on the progress I’ve made with these things – though I am going to have to look at why I’m that slow even with easy grids.
Have a good week, all!
9:34, no errors. This one seemed a bit harder than the usual LAT Monday puzzle and I think I made every possible misstep – just the opposite of my experience with today’s NYT puzzle.
@Glenn … About your times on “The Daily Commuter” puzzles: I’ve not encountered them but, every day for the last year or so, I’ve done the “easy” 15×15 “Universal” puzzle (similar, I think) in my Boulder Daily Camera. My times on them vary from seven minutes to eleven minutes, with the vast majority clustering around 8:45 – not as fast as I would have expected from my times on the LAT and NYT puzzles – and, like you, I’m not sure why that is.
Some erasures for a Monday!
SANCTIFY first. Just couldn’t think of CANONIZE until the aha moment.
SPURT before SPATE.
I pondered the long answers and only came up with A,E,I,O,U.
Thanks for the enlightenment, Bill. Didn’t notice the _NC!
@Jeff You’re paying $540 a year for the paper? Yikes!
If I may suggest…. stop the paper after this month.
Hopefully, they will wonder why their loyal customer has stopped taking the paper.
Then if they call you, ask what the yearly best rate is. Haggle!
Remind them of how many missed deliveries you’ve had.
That’s what I’ve been doing re: the L.A. Times.
I think I paid around a hundred dollars for 7 days a week for a year.
Also got the other local paper for $28 dollars for a year of Thur-Sun.
And…..$10 for 2 years of another Orange County paper just on Sundays with a Groupon coupon.
Check Groupon to see if there is an offer for the Houston Chronicle.
Sometimes it’s for people whose subscription has been cancelled for at least 3 months.
Hope that helps. Paying by the month is way too costly. 🙂
@ Jeff this is the most current offer from Groupon although only Wed. and Sun. Still, it works out to .47 a paper.
At that rate it would be about $171 for the year.
It’s for people whose subscription has been dormant for 30 days.
Keep your eyes open for a yearly rate.
Newspapers want to keep subscribers. Like I said, bargain with them.
I love getting a real newspaper every day.
GROUPON COUPON
Pookie it sounds like I need a harpo-on groupon coupon as I’m finding out I’m getting harpooned.
For unknown reasons I’m staying with them for now, but I have said I’ll cancel if I have another non delivery any time soon. We’ll see….
I think they know all my threats are idle ones. It’s not the money, it’s the principle and they probably know I have no principles 🙂 But even I have a breaking point…I think.
Best –
A fun Monday puzzle-
Bill, check your def for CANONIZE. In my paper, at least, it’s a copy of CHINO.
Have a good week, all
Thanks, Bella. I did a bad job there of copying and pasting from an old blog post. All fixed now. Wonder if there’s a Saint Chino? 🙂
I had a good time with the puzzle. I got all the answers and then some …..
Jeff, many Thanks for ‘Eads’ in your Sunday comments —- I just love biographies especially of successful engineers. ( Take that, Bill Gates ;-o) ) I read Mr. Eads biography on the Wiki, and kicked myself for never having heard of him, before. Twenty yrs ago, I worked as a controller V.P., of an Auger Piling firm. It was extremely profitable, but I had not opted for any ownership, so I was left out of the fortune. Oh well.
As for the country girding the equator, I thought S.A. stood for South Africa !@! I couldn’t think of any African country starting with an E !@!
Btw , Bill, I looked for the word saffron in Sanskrit but ‘crocus’ sound a likes, or look a likes are not there. Kesar or Kudkum, maybe, but no crocus. For what its worth, I have found the saffron from Spain, is generally the purest and most flavorful saffron – even the ‘indian’ stores stock the spanish variety.
Moscow has more billionaires than any other place in the world ?? Poor Karl Marx must be roiling in his grave ( in England – ).
Bill, Thanks again, for your wonderful commentary.
Have a nice evening, all. ( From a ‘foreign’ location, hence no blue colored avatar.)
Relatively quick Monday; about 14 minutes on paper. I penned in Next before VIx required a rethink. Also had iRi.. before crosses showed CROCI to be the real answer.
I think the number of billionaires in Moscow is from before sanctions and the devalued ruble, but who knows, maybe it’s still true.
@Vidwan What about Egypt, Eritrea and Ethiopia? Not to mention Equatorial Guinea, although I am kind of a geography nerd.
@Carrie Thanks for the kind words on finishing the Saturday puzzle. I hope your date went well.
Hi gang!
This was a MONDAY??! Sure felt like a Wednesday!! Challenging for me — maybe this stuff just isn’t in my wheelhouse. What’s with all the plants??! Never heard of HOSTA, wasn’t sure WHICH was the buckeye state (Idaho or Oklahoma?? Neither!!) but I ended up with HISTA. So, one letter off. The long answers came pretty easily, although I had no idea what the theme was till I came here.
I do think it’s kinda cute to have CLUE as the answer to a clue…?
JEFF!! TWEET TO THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE!! Give them a 140-character piece of your mind! My experience is that businesses take notice and respond better when you tweet them. In fact, that’s why I got a Twitter account in the first place.
Dirk! You Sly Fox! How did you know that was a date?? I omitted pronouns! Yes, and fortunately he did most of the cooking–LOL! A very nice gentleman, and things are moving VERY slowly! At this rate, perhaps we’ll be married in ten years, just in time for my 70th birthday…..!!!!
Why wasn’t I smart enough to go slowly when I was young enough to have the time…..?
Sweet dreams~~™✌