Constructed by: C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: None
Bill’s time: 15m 18s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. One who may start a rally : LEADOFF MAN
That would be baseball.
11. Borg’s land: Abbr. : SWE
Björn Borg is a retired tennis player from Sweden, and a former World No. 1. Borg won 41% of the 27 Grand Slam singles tournaments that he entered, which is a record that stands to the day. He was known for reacting very calmly under pressure on the tennis court and hence earned the nicknames “Ice Man” and “Ice Borg”, which is my personal favorite.
14. Crunchy chocolate-covered candy brand : ALMOND ROCA
Almond Roca is a brand of chocolate-covered toffee that has a coating of ground almonds, and was invented in 1923.
19. AutoZone brand : STP
STP is a brand name for automotive lubricants and additives. The name STP comes from “Scientifically Treated Petroleum”.
AutoZone is the second-largest retailer of aftermarket automotive parts in the US (after Advance Auto Parts).
20. “Hannibal” co-screenwriter David : MAMET
David Mamet is best known as a playwright. He won a Pulitzer for his 1984 play “Glengarry Glen Ross”. Mamet is also a successful screenwriter and received Oscar nominations for the films “The Verdict” (1982) and “Wag the Dog” (1997).
Hannibal Lecter is a character created by author Thomas Harris, first appearing in his novel “Red Dragon”. Lecter also features prominently in “Red Dragon’s” famous sequel “The Silence of the Lambs”, and even more so in the third book, “Hannibal Rising”. The latter title is a “prequel” exploring Lecter’s childhood and development into a serial killer. Famously, Lecter was portrayed in the 1991 film version of “The Silence of the Lambs” by Welsh actor Anthony Hopkins. Hopkins also played Lecter in 2001’s “Hannibal” and in 2002’s “Red Dragon”. Lector was also played by Brian Cox (“Manhunter” – 1986), by Gaspard Ulliel (“Hannibal Rising” – 2007), and by Mad Mikkelsen (“Hannibal” – a TV series).
21. Chateau __ Michelle winery : STE
Chateau Ste. Michelle is a winery in Woodinville, Washington in the Columbia Valley. Chateau Ste. Michelle produces so much Riesling wine that it is the number-one Riesling producer in the world in terms of number of bottles.
22. Luge medium : ICE
A luge is a small sled used by one or two people, on which one lies face up and feet first. The luge can be compared to the skeleton, a sled for only one person and on which the rider lies face down and goes down the hill head-first. Yikes!
24. Gmail lifesaver : UNDO SEND
Gmail users (like me) have the advantage of a 10-send grace period in which one can decide to undo the send command for a specific email. I like that “undo send” feature …
27. Network debut of 1970 : PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) was founded in 1970, and is my favorite of the broadcast networks. I love PBS’s drama and science shows in particular, and always watch the election results coming in with the NewsHour team.
30. Expedia shopper’s plan : TRIP
Expedia is one of the largest Internet-based travel companies, and has a site where you can book airline tickets and reserve hotel rooms and rental cars. I use Expedia a lot because I am an AARP member, and the AARP Travel website is powered by the Expedia search engine. In my travels I’ve found by comparison shopping that the AARP Travel site often has the best prices for hotel rooms.
34. Online game figures : AVATARS
The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of “online presences” one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.
36. Miss identification? : NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.
37. Fivers : ABES
The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.
39. Jacquie Lawson online offering : E-CARD
Jacquie Lawson is a British illustrator who created an animated Christmas card in 2000 that she e-mailed to some friends. The Internet being what it is, over the subsequent weeks Lawson received requests from hundreds of people all over the world for more e-cards. Two years later, she launched her own e-card service at jacquielawson.com.
41. Addresses capped at 18 minutes : TED TALKS
The acronym “TED” stands for Technology Entertainment and Design. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”.
43. Fashion house founder Marant : ISABEL
Isabel Marant is a French fashion house that is best-known today for its line of shoes, although the house was founded in 1994 to offer knitwear items.
45. Golf’s “Big Easy” : ELS
Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He is a former World No. 1 and has won four majors: the US Open (1994 & 1997) and the British Open (2002 & 2012).
46. Parisian pronoun : SES
“Ses” is the French word for “his”, “her” or “its”, when referring to a group of items.
49. __ Circus: ancient Roman arena : NERO’S
The Circus of Nero was also called the Circus of Caligula, as its construction was started by Caligula and finished by Nero. This particular Roman circus was the site of the first state-sponsored martyrdoms of Christians, in 65 AD. The martyrs were mainly executed by crucifixion, and some believe that St. Peter met his fate at the site.
59. “I’m with you, girl!” : AMEN, SISTER!
The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.
Down
1. Monastery figures : LAMAS
“Lama” is a Tibetan word meaning “chief” or “high priest”.
6. Coin profile since 1946 : FDR
President Roosevelt was a major driver in the founding of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The Foundation’s most successful fund raising campaign was to encourage the public to just send a dime to support the charity, so that even before the Foundation officially changed its name, the public were already calling it March of Dimes. After President Roosevelt passed away in office, Congress passed legislation calling for a new design for the dime, one featuring the image of FDR. The Roosevelt dime was introduced in 1946, on the day that would have been the President’s 64th birthday.
7. Work on a ceiling : FRESCO
A “fresco” is a painting created on a moist plaster, usually on a wall or ceiling. The plaster is “freshly” laid when the image is created, and “fresco” is the Italian for “fresh”.
12. Crane, e.g. : WATER BIRD
The magnificent birds known as cranes have long legs and long necks. The species called the Sarus Crane is the world’s tallest flying bird.
22. Avery product : ID LABEL
Avery Dennison Corporation was founded as Kum Kleen Products in 1935, by R. Stanton Avery. Kum Kleen Products were the first manufacturers of self-adhesive labels.
24. Article in Vogue Paris : UNE
“Un” and “une” are French for “one”.
“Vogue” magazine has been published an awfully long time, with the first issue appearing in 1892. Over the decades the magazine has picked up a lot of criticism as well as its many fans. Famously, an assistant to the editor wrote a novel based on her experiences working with the magazine’s editor, and called it “The Devil Wears Prada”.
26. Stalin __ : ERA
Joseph Stalin was Soviet Premier from 1941 to 1953. Stalin’s real name was Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili. Not long after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1903 he adopted the name “Stalin”, which is the Russian word for “steel”.
28. Start of a Dickensian request : PLEASE, SIR …
“Please, sir. I want some more” are words spoken by the title character in the novel “Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens. . Oliver is addressing Mr. Bumble, asking for an extra helping of gruel in the workhouse.
29. Comparative Web traffic statistic : ALEXA RANK
Alexa Internet is a company providing web traffic data and analytics. Alexa was founded in 1996, and acquired by Amazon.com in 1999. The company gets its tracking data from users who have downloaded the Alexa toolbar and installed it in their web browsers. As well as providing the usual toolbar features (a search box, popup blocker, etc.), the Alexa toolbar provides the Alexa ranking for sites that the user visits, which I guess is a measure of a site’s popularity.
32. Q50, e.g. : INFINITI
Infiniti is a division of the Nissan Motor Company, its luxury brand. As an aside, Acura is the equivalent luxury brand for the Honda Motor Company, and Lexus is the more luxurious version of Toyota’s models.
35. UCLA aides : TAS
Teaching Assistants (TAs)
42. 12-step offshoot : AL-ANON
Al-Anon and Alateen are fellowships of relatives and friends of alcoholics. Alateen specifically supports teens who are affected by another’s drinking, whereas Al-Anon focuses on people of all ages.
44. Blue-clad youngsters? : BOYS
The association of the colors pink with girls and blue with boys is a relatively new concept, one that started to be established in the 1940s. One reason for the “fixing” of color associations with genders at that time was the invention of chemical dyes that could survive hot washes. Prior to this, baby clothes were made in white so that they could be washed frequently without fading.
46. Babe feature : SNOUT
The hit 1995 film “Babe” was produced and filmed in Australia. The movie is an adaptation of a 1983 novel called “The Sheep-Pig” written by Dick King-Smith. “Babe” was a smash hit at the box office and was extremely well received by the critics. The film was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, but lost out to “Braveheart”. However, it did win the Oscar for Best Visual Effects by beating out “Apollo 13”, which was an amazing feat, I’d say…
47. Practice piece : ETUDE
An étude is a short instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. “Étude” is the French word for “study”. Études are commonly performed on the piano.
48. Pan pal : SATYR
The satyrs of Greek mythology came with a very high sex drive. They are the “rude” male subjects drawn on the side of old Greek vases. The nubile maidens known as nymphs were often an object of attention for the satyrs.
In Greek mythology, Pan was a lecherous god, one who fell in love with Echo the mountain nymph. Echo refused Pan’s advances so that he became very angry. Pan’s anger created a “panic” (a word derived from the name “Pan”) and a group of shepherds were driven to kill Echo.
50. Panama border? : BRIM
Panama hats are also known as Jipijapas, named for a town in Ecuador (and not Panama, surprisingly) that was a major player in the hat trade.
52. “The Good Wife” figs. : ATTS
“The Good Wife” is a legal drama showing on CBS starring Julianna Margulies as Alicia Florrick, a litigator who returns to practicing the law after spending 13 years as a stay-at-home mom. I binge-watched the show some time back and found it to be well-written, with a great cast and great acting …
54. Coll. admissions criterion : GPA
Grade point average (GPA)
55. Rehab woe : DTS
The episodes of delirium that can accompany withdrawal from alcohol are called Delirium Tremens (the DTs). The literal translation of this Latin phrase is “trembling madness”.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. One who may start a rally : LEADOFF MAN
11. Borg’s land: Abbr. : SWE
14. Crunchy chocolate-covered candy brand : ALMOND ROCA
15. Pull : SWAY
16. Meets expectations : MEASURES UP
17. Reference : CITE
18. Golf course units : ACRES
19. AutoZone brand : STP
20. “Hannibal” co-screenwriter David : MAMET
21. Chateau __ Michelle winery : STE
22. Luge medium : ICE
23. Put in stitches : SUTURE
24. Gmail lifesaver : UNDO SEND
27. Network debut of 1970 : PBS
28. Group of experts : PANEL
30. Expedia shopper’s plan : TRIP
31. Took the worm : BIT
32. Banned : ILLEGAL
34. Online game figures : AVATARS
36. Miss identification? : NEE
37. Fivers : ABES
39. Jacquie Lawson online offering : E-CARD
40. Office fixture : FAX
41. Addresses capped at 18 minutes : TED TALKS
43. Fashion house founder Marant : ISABEL
45. Golf’s “Big Easy” : ELS
46. Parisian pronoun : SES
49. __ Circus: ancient Roman arena : NERO’S
50. Beach top : BRA
51. Seasonal temp : SANTA
53. “My word!” : I SAY!
54. Persevere : GRIND IT OUT
56. Mint holders : TINS
57. Preliminary research procedure : PILOT STUDY
58. Bug big-time : IRK
59. “I’m with you, girl!” : AMEN, SISTER!
Down
1. Monastery figures : LAMAS
2. Choose : ELECT
3. Italian love infinitive : AMARE
4. Healthy amount? : DOSE
5. Heavy load : ONUS
6. Coin profile since 1946 : FDR
7. Work on a ceiling : FRESCO
8. Top hostess’ asset? : MOSTEST
9. Small 50-Across size : A-CUP
10. One may be taken under a tree : NAP
11. Luxury resort amenity : SWIM-UP BAR
12. Crane, e.g. : WATER BIRD
13. Some licensing requirements : EYE TESTS
15. ”Shoo!” : SCAT!
20. Facial treatment : MUD PACK
22. Avery product : ID LABEL
23. Relatives of whimpers : SNIVELS
24. Article in Vogue Paris : UNE
25. Cancels out : NEGATES
26. Stalin __ : ERA
28. Start of a Dickensian request : PLEASE, SIR …
29. Comparative Web traffic statistic : ALEXA RANK
32. Q50, e.g. : INFINITI
33. Took control : LED
35. UCLA aides : TAS
38. Unproductive : STERILE
42. 12-step offshoot : AL-ANON
44. Blue-clad youngsters? : BOYS
46. Babe feature : SNOUT
47. Practice piece : ETUDE
48. Pan pal : SATYR
50. Panama border? : BRIM
51. “Certainly, señor!” : SI SI!
52. “The Good Wife” figs. : ATTS
54. Coll. admissions criterion : GPA
55. Rehab woe : DTS
0 errors, 41 minutes. Not incredibly much to be said at the moment about this.
27:05, no errors. I had at least some trouble in every corner of this, mostly with things I have heard of but am not really familiar with, like MAMET, ALMOND ROCA, INFINITI, and ALEXA RANK. (Ultimately, though, I GROUND IT OUT – and with a clean finish – no silent treatment at the end!)
@Carrie … Yes, RMNP stands for Rocky Mountain National Park. (I was in a hurry to get out the door – so much so that I forgot my binoculars, my camera, and my water bottle – I’m turning into a complete flake!)
39 minutes 1 error….which led to 3 errors. I saw the email lifesaver as “end-a-send” which I like much more than UNDOSEND! For my personal email I use yahoo more often, but I do have a gmail address. I didn’t even know about UNDOSEND. I could have used it in the past more than once. Led to “ene” instead of UNE and “fresca” (like the soda) rather than FRESCO.
Bottlenecks were hostess with the MOSTEST (Sheesh), reading “Pan pal” as “pen pal” and the entire SW took some time as well. Finally recognized Q50 as a car.
@Carrie –
yes- Don’t leave. With attrition we’re becoming awfully male heavy. Is Vidwan still here? Dick Van Dyke was a great choice. I’m doing the same with Cheers before going to bed and am enjoying that.
@Glenn
Put this on NYT board as well. You can look up puzzles by date in the NYT archives. All those puzzles are “live” – i.e. blank, timed, reveal features etc. I don’t know how they are posted in the books you referenced, but if the pub dates are given, you can look them up that way. They go back to Nov 23, 1993. I think Bill’s blog goes back to 2009.
Best –
20:45, 1 lookup (Q50), 2 errors (Alexa Bank(!) + Nebo’s(!!!)). Aargh
@Tony
1 error (on a bad guess), 80 minutes on the WSJ. In case you were curious.
@Dave
Got about 15 minutes in on the Stumper and it’s looking tougher than usual, as I haven’t seen an in to the grid yet. Of course, it might be easier than it looks to one like me too.
@Jeff, @Carrie
I answered over on the NYT blog. Also noticed a “Chrissy” has been posting over on the NYT blog. But I’m finding not too many that do crosswords (not Dell or Pennypress) and probably even fewer that post to comment boards on blogs, so anyone new is probably an incredible rarity, let alone to pare it further by sex. Of course, to lead to the show topic, reading over on the NYT was one of those “you know you’re old when” things. When someone mentions a show you grew up watching and know pretty much inside and out as something they never heard of (Seinfeld), kinda says something. For my rare TV times, I’ve been trying to find “different” things I either remember when it first aired or strange stuff in general. Been watching a lot of Doogie Howser and Sabrina the Witch lately, along with My Mother The Car (has to take the prize for weirdest show ever that you have to ask what the studio heads were on to greenlight). Can think of several others I’d love to find somewhere, but I’ll spare mention of those. But Seinfeld is most certainly a good classic to hit if you haven’t seen a lot of it before.
I got nowhere with this today. Just couldn’t get any traction with C.C. Burnikel’s puzzle. He’s not always this hard to gear into. Hope I don’t fail tomorrow too or I’ll have a bad week!
Unless I’m mistaken, SHE is not always this hard (but she’s always this good).
Yeah she is also a Chinese immigrant who is an ESL type. A fun story of many out in setter world.
I spent most of my solve time on the western half from the middle to the bottom. I knew a Q50 was a car, but I completely blanked on Infiniti for the longest time. Off to the WSJ now. Part of the problem is, that for the first time in 5 years, I’m sick and hacking and aching doesn’t do a thing for my thinking ability!
Thanks Jeff, for remembering me….. I was going to post yesterday, especially since I had read and SEEN the biography and photograph of Chief Seattle !!! (yesterday’s clue … ) I knew of him well, but I did not know what tribe he belonged to.
And I forgot to post until this afternoon ….. can you RE-UNDO that ????
So, I deleted it, anyway, and decided to try to solve todays puzzle – I am very familiar with Madame C C Burnickel, since she got her US citizenship about three years ago. She started a blog that competes with ours.
My whole day yesterday, and the better part of today was ruined because I had to change over from Time-Warner to Spectrum – their parent company now. The whole setup is different and the changeover was totally confusing, the backoffice techs were no help, and my internet and phone sysytem was down most of the day. Oy vey ! I have a tech coming over early Sunday morning …. yikes !
The puzzle was a challenge, and it took a loong time, but I enjoyed it. The clues I found were rather difficult, but i’ve rarely done Sat puzzles before. I am always in awe of people who learn a new language, later in life, and then proceed to become masters in the language. Fortunately, most indians from India, grow up learning english as their first language.
Finally,….. POOKIE if you are still reading these blog posts ….We want you BACK !!!!! Please, please COME BACK !
Have a nice day, all.
@Glenn … Yesterday’s trip to the mountains (along with some difficult Miyamoto no-op kenkens that I recently dug out and started working on) has left me behind on crossword puzzles. I haven’t even printed out the Newsday Saturday Stumper or today’s WSJ. And I’m stuck on this week’s WSJ contest; I’ll probably take it to bed with me and see if my subconscious comes up with anything overnight.
As for NYT crosswords: my NYT subscription includes digital access to many years worth of actual newspapers. For example, I looked up the first puzzle that appeared in the paper the week I was born, in 1943. (I was born on a Thursday and the puzzle appeared the following Sunday. It was extremely hard to work, even with Google to help.)
Finding a puzzle in a digital NYT (particularly a Sunday edition) can be a major undertaking, due to the number of pages one has to search through. And, once you find it, printing a copy to work on requires some creative cutting and pasting. So I haven’t retrieved and done as many of them as I thought I was going to.
@Glenn … Okay, so I printed out the Saturday WSJ and Newsday puzzles and did the WSJ, which was relatively easy: 25:23, no errors.
I then looked at the Newsday puzzle for a while (half an hour, maybe) without finding a single entry I was sure enough of to write in, so I gave up on it, shaved, showered, and got ready for bed. Just as I was about to turn out the light, I thought of a couple of things that might fit and wrote them in tentatively. One thing led to another and, half an hour later, the puzzle was done, with no errors.
The Stumpers are weird! … ?
Still no clue about the WSJ contest … ?
Well! Stared at this one for a while and managed to fill in a few answers “lightly.” After an hour and a half I had the thing done, with no errors!!
Started on the bottom and the NE, then middle and SW; finally the NW. Only had to change wendy to SATYR and sat to GPA and ShIVErS to SNIVELS.
Glad I stuck it out…almost gave up three times.
Hi gang!!
Hi Kay! Nice to see another female!
Jeff, thanks! I ain’t going nowhere… Y’all are too entertaining. ?
This was like a lot of Saturdays: I took one look and said “NO WAY!!” Then I looked again, filled in a few, and by evening (sporadically working on it) the thing was finíshed. Yay!
Re: Q50 — When I only had ______TI, I thought for sure it was gonna be MASARATI — at least I knew it was a car!!! Didn’t know ALEXA RANK. I’d heard of TED TALKS but didn’t know what it was til now. I think I thought it was a talking Teddy bear…..!?
@Jeff & Glenn, never was a fan of Cheers…Maybe I’m missing out? As for My Mother the Car — LOL! Wonder if that’s on Netflix? I do love my old shows.
Sweet dreams~~™?