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Constructed by: Kevin Christian
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Musical Nicknames
Themed answers are in the format “VIP” of “music”, with each being the nickname of a celebrated musician:
- 19A Nickname for Elvis Presley : KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
- 37A Nickname for Ella Fitzgerald : FIRST LADY OF SONG
- 49A Nickname for James Brown : GODFATHER OF SOUL
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 5m 13s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Meat shaped for a burger : PATTY
The dish we know today as a hamburger was known as a hamburger sandwich prior to 1939. “Hamburger” comes from “hamburg steak”, which was named for the German city starting in 1880.
10 Place to unwind : SPA
The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as “Spa” is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.
14 Food brand for Fido : ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food introduced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?
15 Visa competitor, briefly : AMEX
“Amex” is short for “American Express”, the name of the financial services company that is best known for its credit card, charge card and traveler’s check businesses. The company name is indicative of its original business. American Express was founded in 1850 in Buffalo, New York as an express mail service.
18 __ slaw : COLE
The term “coleslaw” is an Anglicized version of the Dutch name “koolsla”, which in itself is a shortened form of “Koolsalade” meaning “cabbage salad”.
19 Nickname for Elvis Presley : KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and moved to Memphis, Tennessee with his family when he was 13-years-old. Once he had achieved fame, Elvis purchased Graceland, the famous Memphis home that he used for himself and his family. I visited Graceland some years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
22 One rotation of Earth on its axis : DAY
A solar day is the time taken for a planet to rotate completely about its axis so the sun reappears in the same position in the sky. A solar day on Earth is 24 hours. A solar day on Mars is just under 24 hours, and is referred to as a “sol”.
34 “We’re having __!”: retail come-on : A SALE
Our word “retail” was used in the mid-1500s to mean “sell in small parcels”. The term came from the French verb “retaillier” meaning “to cut off, cut back”.
35 Jupiter’s wife : JUNO
Juno was the patron goddess of Rome and the Roman Empire, and also looked after the interests of the women of Rome. Juno was the sister and wife of Jupiter, the king of the Roman gods.
36 Marriott rival : OMNI
Omni Hotels & Resorts is headquartered in Irvine, California and has properties in the US, Canada and Mexico.
37 Nickname for Ella Fitzgerald : FIRST LADY OF SONG
Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, had a hard and tough upbringing. She was raised by her mother alone in Yonkers, New York. Her mother died while Ella was still a schoolgirl, and around that time the young girl became less interested in her education. She fell in with a bad crowd, even working as a lookout for a bordello and as a Mafia numbers runner. She ended up in reform school, from which she escaped, and found herself homeless and living on the streets for a while. Somehow Fitzgerald managed to get herself a spot singing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. From there her career took off and as they say, the rest is history.
40 Scarlett’s plantation : TARA
In Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”, Scarlett O’Hara’s home is the Tara plantation. Tara was founded not far from the Georgia city of Jonesboro by Scarlett’s father, Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara. Gerald won the square mile of land on which Tara was built in an all-night poker game. He named his new abode after the Hill of Tara back in his home country, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland. Rhett’s rival for the affections of Scarlet is Ashley Wilkes who lives at the nearby Twelve Oaks plantation.
41 Acme : APEX
The acme is the highest point. The term comes from the Greek word “akme” that has the same meaning.
42 “Nevermore!” bird : RAVEN
“The Raven” is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe that tells of a student who has lost the love of his life, Lenore. A raven enters the student’s bedchamber and perches on a bust of Pallas. The raven can talk, to the student’s surprise, but says nothing but the word “nevermore” (“quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’”). As the student questions all aspects of his life, the raven taunts him with the same comment, “nevermore”. Finally the student decides that his soul is trapped beneath the raven’s shadow and shall be lifted “nevermore” …
43 Boy in “Star Wars” prequel films : ANI
Anakin “Ani” Skywalker is the principal character in the first six of the “Star Wars” movies. His progress chronologically through the series of films is:
- Episode I: Anakin is a 9-year-old slave boy who earns the promise of Jedi training by young Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Episode II: Anakin is 18-years-old and goes on a murdering rampage to avenge the killing of his mother.
- Episode III: Anakin is 21-years-old and a Jedi knight, but he turns to the Dark Side and becomes Darth Vader. His wife Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia Skywalker.
- Episode IV: Darth Vader, comes into conflict with his children, Luke Skywalker and the Princess Leia.
- Episode V: Darth Vader attempts to coax his son Luke over to the dark side, and reveals to Luke that he is his father.
- Episode VI: Luke learns that Leia is his sister, and takes on the task of bringing Darth Vader back from the Dark Side in order to save the Galaxy. Vader saves his son from the Emperor’s evil grip, dying in the process, but his spirit ends up alongside the spirits of Yoda and Obi-Wan. They all live happily ever after …
44 Currier and __: printmakers : IVES
Currier and Ives was a printmaking concern in New York City run by Nathaniel Currier and his partner James Merritt Ives from 1834 to 1907. The firm specialized in making affordable, hand-colored black and white lithographs.
45 Seth of “SNL” : MEYERS
Seth Meyers is an actor and comedian who is perhaps best-known for his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), for which program he served as head writer. Meyers now hosts his own late night talk show on NBC.
48 He wrote “The 42-Across” : POE
(42A “Nevermore!” bird : RAVEN)
Edgar Allan Poe (EAP) lived a life of many firsts. Poe is considered to be the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. He was also the first notable American author to make his living through his writing, something that didn’t really go too well for him as he was always financially strapped. In 1849 he was found on the streets of Baltimore, delirious and in dire need of medical help. Poe died a few days later in hospital at 39 years of age.
49 Nickname for James Brown : GODFATHER OF SOUL
Singer James Brown was often referred to as “The Godfather of Soul” and sometimes “Mr. Dynamite”. Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina and had a rough and impoverished upbringing. He lived for some years in his aunt’s house which she ran as a brothel, and when he was sixteen he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to reform school. While in reform school, Brown was noticed by the R&B star Bobby Byrd, who took him under his wing. Byrd helped secure the young man an early release, and thereafter Brown turned his energies to music.
58 Funny Bombeck : ERMA
Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.
59 A4 automaker : AUDI
The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.
60 Scarlett’s last name : O’HARA
An oft-quoted exchange takes place between Scarlett O’Hara and Rhett Butler in the movie “Gone with the Wind”. Scarlett says to Rhett, “Sir, you are no gentleman”, to which Rhett replies, “And you, Miss, are no lady.”
62 Marvel Comics mutants : X-MEN
The X-Men are a team of superheroes created by Stan Lee for Marvel Comics. Nowadays, the X-Men are perhaps best known as the subject of a series of movies, with Hugh Jackman playing Wolverine and Patrick Stewart playing Professor Xavier (or simply “Professor X”). Some very respected actors have also played the villains whom the X-Men have to battle. For example, the enemy called Magneto is portrayed by veteran Shakespearean actor Sir Ian McKellen.
64 2,000 pounds : TON
Here in the US, a ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds. Over in the UK, a ton is 2,240 pounds. The UK unit is sometimes referred to as an Imperial ton, long ton or gross ton. Folks over there refer to the US ton then as a short ton. To further complicate matters, there is also a metric ton or tonne, which is equivalent to 2,204 pounds. Personally, I wish we’d just stick to kilograms …
Down
1 Place to spread a picnic blanket : PARK
Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable potluck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.
2 Smoothie berry : ACAI
Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.
4 Half a barbecuer’s pair : TONG
A pair of tongs is a tool with a scissor-like hinge used to pick up things, like meat cooking on a barbecue grill or ice from an ice bucket. The verb “to tong” means “to handle with tongs”.
5 Up-and-down weight loss effort : YO-YO DIET
Would you believe that the first yo-yos date back to 500 BC? There is even an ancient Greek vase painting that shows a young man playing with a yo-yo. Centuries later Filipinos were using yo-yos as hunting tools in the 1500s. “Yo-yo” is a Tagalog (Filipino) word meaning “come-come” or simply “return”.
7 Red Muppet : ELMO
The “Sesame Street” character named Elmo has a birthday every February 3rd, and on that birthday he always turns 3½ years old. The man behind/under Elmo on “Sesame Street” for many years was Kevin Clash. If you want to learn more about Elmo and Clash, you can watch the 2011 documentary “Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey”.
8 “Lawrence of Arabia,” e.g. : EPIC
“Lawrence of Arabia” is a 1962 movie that recounts the real life story of T. E. Lawrence, a British army officer who was famous for his role in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I. The title role in the film is played by Irish actor Peter O’Toole. The role of Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish is played by Omar Sharif.
9 2000s OCD-afflicted TV sleuth : MONK
“Monk” is a police drama set in San Francisco, and starring Tony Shalhoub in the title role of Adrian Monk. Although set the San Francisco Bay Area, the show is actually shot in Los Angeles.
11 __-mell: disorderly : PELL
The adjective “pell-mell” means “in confusion, disorder” or “without discrimination, distinction”. The term comes into English from the Middle French “pêle-mêle”, which meant the same thing.
12 Ice skater’s jump : AXEL
An axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. The maneuver was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.
15 Property measure : ACRE
At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. A area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.
21 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on PBS for four years, from 1993-97.
24 1990s commerce pact acronym : NAFTA
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is a treaty between Canada, Mexico and the United States. When NAFTA came into force in 1994, it set up the largest free trade zone in the world.
25 Thai or Laotian : ASIAN
Formerly known as Siam, the Kingdom of Thailand is operating as a military dictatorship following a 2014 coup.
The official name for the country of Laos is the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. In the Lao language, the country’s name is “Meuang Lao”. The French ruled Laos as part of French Indochina, having united three separate Lao kingdoms. As there was a plural of “Lao” entities united into one, the French added the “S” and so today we tend to use “Laos” instead of “Lao”.
27 Film lioness : ELSA
The life story of Elsa the lion was told by game warden Joy Adamson, who had a very close relationship with the lioness from when Elsa was orphaned as a young cub. Adamson wrote the book “Born Free” about Elsa, and then “Living Free” which tells the story of Elsa and her three lion cubs. In the 1966 film based on “Born Free”, Adamson is played by the talented actress Virginia McKenna.
28 Fellas : DUDES
Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.
29 Banded gemstone : ONYX
Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.
35 Joke : JAPE
“To jape” means “to joke or quip”. The exact origins of “jape” are unclear, but it does seem to come from Old French. In the mid-1600s, “to jape” was a slang term meaning “to have sex with”. No joke!
36 “__, can you see … ” : O SAY
“O say can you see by the dawn’s early light” is the opening line of “The Star-Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key. The song was adopted as the US national anthem in 1931, although it had been used officially by the US Navy since 1889, played when raising the flag.
38 Loo : LAV
Our word “lavatory” (sometimes “lav”) originally referred to a washbasin, and comes from the Latin “lavatorium”, a place for washing. In the 1600s, “lavatory” came to mean a washroom, and in the 1920s a toilet.
44 “Roth” investment : IRA
Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.
45 Bovine sound : MOO!
Something described as bovine is related to a cow, ox or buffalo, indeed any ruminant in the genus Bos. “Bos” is the Latin for “cow”, and “bovinus” a Late Latin derivative term.
50 Black-and-white treat : OREO
If you take a close look at the embossed design on the front and back of an Oreo cookie, you’ll spot the main elements of the Nabisco logo. Those elements are an oval with a cross on top, a cross with two bars. Usually the company name “Nabisco” is inside the oval, but for the cookie it’s the brand name “Oreo”. The current embossed design was introduced 1952.
53 Blissful Genesis place : EDEN
According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers, including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.
54 New York stadium dismantled in 2009 : SHEA
Shea Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York was named after William A. Shea, the man credited with bringing National League baseball back to the city in the form of the New York Mets. Shea Stadium was dismantled in 2008-2009, and the site now provides additional parking for the new stadium nearby called Citi Field.
55 Honolulu’s island : OAHU
Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and the state capital. Located on the island of Oahu, the name “Honolulu” translates from Hawaiian as “place of shelter, calm port, sheltered bay”.
56 Eurasia’s __ Mountains : URAL
Eurasia is the combined continental landmass of Europe and Asia. It accounts for 36% of the total landmass on the planet, and is home to 71% of the Earth’s population.
57 Chocolate dogs : LABS
The Labrador (Lab) breed of dog has been around at least since 1814, and the chocolate Labrador appeared over a century later in the 1930s. The name “Labrador Retriever” is simply a reference to the breed’s origin and behavior. Labs originally “retrieved” from the “Labrador Sea”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Meat shaped for a burger : PATTY
6 Consider : DEEM
10 Place to unwind : SPA
13 Sound before “Bless you” : ACHOO!
14 Food brand for Fido : ALPO
15 Visa competitor, briefly : AMEX
16 Like a wet day : RAINY
17 “Deal me a hand” : I’M IN
18 __ slaw : COLE
19 Nickname for Elvis Presley : KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
22 One rotation of Earth on its axis : DAY
23 Up until now : YET
24 “I’ll pay any price!” : NAME IT!
28 Nod off : DOZE
31 Not hers : HIS
34 “We’re having __!”: retail come-on : A SALE
35 Jupiter’s wife : JUNO
36 Marriott rival : OMNI
37 Nickname for Ella Fitzgerald : FIRST LADY OF SONG
40 Scarlett’s plantation : TARA
41 Acme : APEX
42 “Nevermore!” bird : RAVEN
43 Boy in “Star Wars” prequel films : ANI
44 Currier and __: printmakers : IVES
45 Seth of “SNL” : MEYERS
46 Ring or stud site : EAR
48 He wrote “The 42-Across” : POE
49 Nickname for James Brown : GODFATHER OF SOUL
58 Funny Bombeck : ERMA
59 A4 automaker : AUDI
60 Scarlett’s last name : O’HARA
61 Close by : NEAR
62 Marvel Comics mutants : X-MEN
63 Post-op therapy : REHAB
64 2,000 pounds : TON
65 Ain’t right? : ISN’T
66 Brutalizes : MAULS
Down
1 Place to spread a picnic blanket : PARK
2 Smoothie berry : ACAI
3 Slender : THIN
4 Half a barbecuer’s pair : TONG
5 Up-and-down weight loss effort : YO-YO DIET
6 Grocery section with milk : DAIRY
7 Red Muppet : ELMO
8 “Lawrence of Arabia,” e.g. : EPIC
9 2000s OCD-afflicted TV sleuth : MONK
10 Often sarcastic “Nice one!” : SMOOTH MOVE!
11 __-mell: disorderly : PELL
12 Ice skater’s jump : AXEL
15 Property measure : ACRE
20 White part of beef : FAT
21 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
24 1990s commerce pact acronym : NAFTA
25 Thai or Laotian : ASIAN
26 He’s not single : MARRIED MAN
27 Film lioness : ELSA
28 Fellas : DUDES
29 Banded gemstone : ONYX
30 Place to observe animals : ZOO
32 __ circle: group of close advisers : INNER
33 Omens : SIGNS
35 Joke : JAPE
36 “__, can you see … ” : O SAY
38 Loo : LAV
39 Having an irregular design : FREE-FORM
44 “Roth” investment : IRA
45 Bovine sound : MOO!
47 Not at all close by : AFAR
48 Make a hard copy of : PRINT
49 Fellow : GENT
50 Black-and-white treat : OREO
51 Uber alternative : TAXI
52 Runs smoothly : HUMS
53 Blissful Genesis place : EDEN
54 New York stadium dismantled in 2009 : SHEA
55 Honolulu’s island : OAHU
56 Eurasia’s __ Mountains : URAL
57 Chocolate dogs : LABS
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