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Constructed by: Doug Peterson & Christina Iverson
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Themed Clue: Items sold in a pop-up shop?
Themed answers all have the same clue:
- 19A Items sold in a pop-up shop? : CHAMPAGNE CORKS
- 24A Items sold in a pop-up shop? : TOASTER WAFFLES
- 41A Items sold in a pop-up shop? : FOLDING CAMPERS
- 46A Items sold in a pop-up shop? : JACK-IN-THE-BOXES
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
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Bill’s time: 6m 52s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Creature in the 2019 animated film “Abominable” : YETI
“Abominable” is a 2019 animated film about a teenage girl named Yi and a young yeti that she dubs Everest. The movie has been banned in several countries in Southeast Asia, including Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines. At issue is a scene showing a map of the South China Sea that includes the disputed Nine-dash line, a disputed demarcation line defining areas claimed by mainland China and Taiwan.
9 Owlet’s home : NEST
A baby owl is an owlet. The term “owlet” can also be used for the adults of the smaller species of owls.
13 Smartphone border : BEZEL
A bezel is a groove that is designed to hold a beveled edge. An example would be the groove around the face of a watch, which accepts the beveled edge of a watch crystal.
15 German spouse : FRAU
In German, a “Herr” (Mr.) is married to a “Frau” (Mrs.), and they live together in a “Haus” (house).
16 Aquarium decoration : CORAL
“Aquarium” is a Latin word meaning “pertaining to water”, although in Latin the word only existed as a noun with the meaning “drinking place for cattle”. Before the use of the noun “aquarium” (plural “aquaria”) in the context of fish, a tank was sometimes referred to as a marine vivarium.
17 Kate Middleton, to Archie and Lilibet : AUNT
Kate Middleton is the wife of Prince William of the UK. Middleton is what one might call a commoner, although since her marriage she is known as the Duchess of Cambridge. She was born to parents who had worked together as flight attendants before becoming quite wealthy running their own mail-order business. As is so often the case in Britain, Kate’s ancestry can be traced back far enough to show that she and William do have common ancestors, dating back to the 1500s on her mother’s side and to the 1400s on her father’s side.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan Markle have two children, named Archie and Lilibet Mountbatten-Windsor. The choice of “Archie” seems to have no significance in the British royal family, whereas “Lilibet” is a nod to Queen Elizabeth II. Elizabeth was known as “Lilibet” by her immediate family.
19 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : CHAMPAGNE CORKS
Cork, as in the material used to make wine stoppers, comes from the bark of cork oak trees. The bark of a cork oak is very thick and rugged and can be harvested every 7-10 years, without harming the trees.
23 “Insecure” actress/writer Issa : RAE
Issa Rae is a Stanford University graduate who created a YouTube web series called “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl”. Rae also plays the title role in the series, a young lady named “J”. “Awkward Black Girl” was adapted into an HBO comedy-drama called “Insecure”, in which Issa Rae stars.
24 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : TOASTER WAFFLES
By definition, a waffle is made from dough or batter cooked between two patterned plates (a waffle iron). Modern-day waffles were preceded in the Middle Ages by communion wafers used in the Christain tradition. Such wafers usually had images of a crucified Jesus imprinted by the iron plates.
32 Game with a numbered board : DARTS
Darts is a game that’s often played in English and Irish pubs, even over here in America. The scoring in a traditional game of darts is difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but the game of darts called “Round the Clock” is simply hitting the numbers 1 through 20 on the dartboard in sequence.
33 “The Fiddler of Dooney” poet : YEATS
“The Fiddler of Dooney” is an 1892 poem by Irish poet William Butler Yeats. The title refers to a hill named Dooney Rock outside the town of Sligo in the West of Ireland. There is a music contest called the Fiddler of Dooney Competition, named for the poem, that is held in Sligo every year.
34 Actress Mendes : EVA
I am most familiar with actress Eva Mendes as the female lead in the movie “Hitch”, in which she played opposite Will Smith. Mendes started a relationship with fellow actor Ryan Gosling in 2011, and the couple have two children together.
35 Stage award : OBIE
The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. They have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.
36 Tigger’s creator : MILNE
Tigger is a character in the “Winnie-the-Pooh” stories by A. A. Milne. He is a tiger with a springy tail and just loves to bounce around. Tigger will tell you himself that “bouncing is what tiggers do best.”
37 Home of Iowa State : AMES
Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is located in Ames, Iowa. Among many other notable milestones, ISU created the country’s first school of veterinary medicine, in 1879. The sports teams of ISU are known as the Cyclones.
38 Nemesis : FOE
Nemesis was a Greek goddess, the goddess of retribution. Her role was to make pay those individuals who were either haughty or arrogant. In modern parlance, one’s nemesis (plural “nemeses”) is one’s sworn enemy, often someone who is the exact opposite in character but someone who still shares some important characteristics. A nemesis is often someone one cannot seem to beat in competition.
39 Corral, as cattle : PEN IN
“Corral” is Spanish word describing an enclosure for livestock that we’ve imported into English. Ultimately, the term comes from the Vulgar Latin “currale” meaning “enclosure for carts”, itself coming from “currus”, the Latin for “cart”.
44 Post-ER place : ICU
An intensive care unit (ICU) and emergency room (ER) are found in a hospital (hosp.).
45 Animated Olive : OYL
“Thimble Theater” was the precursor comic strip to the famous “Popeye” drawn by E. C. Segar. Before Popeye came into the story, the brother and sister characters Castor Oyl and Olive Oyl were the protagonists. And then along comes a sailor …
46 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : JACK-IN-THE-BOXES
A Jack-in-the-box is a child’s toy. It’s a box with a crank handle at the side. Turning the crank causes a tune to play (usually “Pop Goes the Weasel”), and at the right moment the lid pops open and a spring loaded clown character jumps up out of the box.
54 Many-axled vehicle : SEMI
An 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck has eight wheels under the trailer, i.e. four on each of the two rear axles. There are 10 wheels under the tractor unit. Two of the ten wheels are on the front axle, and eight are on the rear two axles that sit under the front of the trailer.
55 Lawn care brand : TORO
Toro is a manufacturer of lawn mowers and snow removal equipment that is based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The company was founded in 1914 to build tractor engines.
57 “I Dream of Jeannie” star : EDEN
Actress Barbara Eden is best known for playing the title role in the sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie”. For many years, Eden was married to fellow actor Michael Ansara, who was perhaps best known for playing Apache Chief Cochise in the western series “Broken Arrow” in the 1950s.
Back in 1964, the second most watched show on American television was ABC’s “Bewitched”. Sidney Sheldon was tasked with the job of creating a rival sitcom and he came up with “I Dream of Jeannie”, which first aired in 1965 and starred Barbara Eden in the title role. The censors had a big say in how the story developed. For starters, Jeannie’s skimpy costume was permitted on air, provided that Eden didn’t show off her navel on the screen. Also, Jeannie was only allowed to live with an unmarried man as long as the story made it clear that she slept in a bottle.
58 Nefarious : EVIL
Something described as “nefarious” is extremely wicked. The term comes from the Latin “nefarius” meaning “wicked”, which in turn comes from “nefas” meaning crime, or “ne-” (not) and “fas” (right).
60 Pizazz : ZING
Pizazz (also “pizzazz”) is energy, vitality. There’s a kind of cool thing about the “pizzazz” spelling, namely that it is the only 7-letter word in English that cannot be played in Scrabble. You can get close by using the Z-tile with the two blank tiles to get to three of the required four Zs, but there’s no way to get to the fourth Z.
Down
1 “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle : YEOH
Michelle Yeoh is an actress from Malaysia who appeared in several Hong Kong action films in which she did her own stunts and martial arts scenes. Her most famous action performance was in the 2000 movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, although I best know her for playing opposite Pierce Brosnan in the Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies”.
“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a 2022 comedy-drama movie starring Michelle Yeoh as a woman undergoing an IRS audit. That mundane storyline gets lost completely in a film full of science-fiction, fantasy, animation and martial arts. The screenplay was originally written for Jackie Chan, but it was reworked intentionally so that a female lead carried the plot. Frankly, this one sounds a little haphazard for my mundane and aging tastes …
2 Old Testament scribe : EZRA
Ezra the Scribe, also called “Ezra the Priest”, is the central character in the Book of Ezra in the Hebrew Bible.
3 One wearing a matching jersey : TEAMMATE
We use the word “jersey” for a sports shirt worn by a particular team member, one that usually bears the player’s name and team number. Back in the mid-1800s, the term was used for a knitted shirt or close-fitting tunic. The item of clothing was named for Jersey in the Channel Islands off the coast of France. The island was famous for its knitting trade during the Middle Ages.
5 Layered style : SHAG
A shag cut is a layered hairstyle. Actress Meg Ryan famously sported a shag cut for many years, as did fellow actress Farrah Fawcett.
7 China __ McClain of “Black Lightning” : ANNE
China Anne McClain started her acting career with a role in the 2005 film “The Gospel” as a child actor at seven years of age. Soon after, she launched a singing career as a member of the sister group 3mcclaingirls.
“Black Lightning” is a superhero TV series that originally ran from 2018 to 2021. The title character is from the DC Comics universe.
10 “The Devil in the White City” author Larson : ERIK
Erik Larson is a journalist, most notably contributing features to “The Wall Street Journal” and “TIME” magazine. Larson is also a very successful author of nonfiction books, such as “The Devil in the White City” (about the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893) and “Dead Wake” (about the sinking of the Lusitania).
11 __ Club: Costco rival : SAM’S
Sam’s Club is a warehouse club that is owned and operated by Walmart. It is named after the company’s founder Sam Walton.
12 Oleo container : TUB
Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France announced a competition to develop a substitute for butter, a substitute that would be more accessible to the lower classes and more practical for the armed forces. A French chemist called Hippolyte Mege-Mouries came up with something he called oleomargarine in 1869, which was eventually manufactured under the trade name “margarine”. The name “oleomargarine” also gives us our generic term “oleo”.
13 Email field : BCC
A blind carbon copy (bcc) is a copy of a document or message that is sent to someone without other recipients of the message knowing about that extra copy.
20 Tiny member of a collective : ANT
The study of ants is known as myrmecology. The term “myrmecology” derives from the Greek “myrmex” meaning “ant”.
21 Big galoots : OAFS
“Galoot” is an insulting term describing an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.
24 Party game “of unspeakable fun” : TABOO
Taboo is a guessing game that was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1989. Players must encourage their teammates to guess a word on a card, without using that word or related words defined on the card. It’s a fun game that’s played regularly around here …
25 Projecting window : ORIEL
An oriel window is a bay window that projects from a wall, but does not reach all the way to the ground.
27 Shrine artifact : RELIC
A relic is something that has survived from the past, reminding us of that past. In the world of religion, a relic is an object revered due to its association with a saint or martyr.
28 Sheryl Crow’s “All I __ Do” : WANNA
“All I Wanna Do” is a 1994 song co-written and released by Sheryl Crow. The song’s lyrics are an adaptation of a 1987 poem “Fun” by poet Wyn Cooper.
29 Madagascar primate : LEMUR
Lemurs are unusual-looking creatures that are native to the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. With their white fur and dark eyes that are very reflective at night, they have a “ghostly” appearance. Indeed, the animals take their name from Roman mythology in which “lemures” were spirits of the restless dead.
32 Tip : DOFF
One doffs one’s hat, usually as a mark of respect. To doff is to take off, with “doff” being a contraction of “do off”. The opposite of “doff” is “don”, meaning “to put on”.
37 Had a farm-to-table meal, say : ATE LOCAL
A locavore is someone who limits his or her diet to food that is produced locally, often within 100 miles of its point of purchase. There’s a great memoir by the author Barbara Kingsolver that discusses the experiences of her and her family with the locavore lifestyle called “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” An excellent read …
39 Guitar accessory : PICK
A kithara (also “cithara”) was a lyre-like instrument in ancient Greece. Our word “guitar” is ultimately derived from “kithara”. Indeed, “kithara” is the modern Greek word for “guitar”.
40 Malicious trackers : SPYBOTS
Spybots are a family of computer worms, malware programs that self-replicate in order to spread to other computers.
43 Oft-pranked Simpsons character : MOE
On the animated TV comedy “The Simpsons”, Bart likes to prank-call Moe’s Tavern. Bart asks Moe to “page” someone in the bar using a fictitious name, a name which sounds like a rude phrase when called out loud. This running joke on “The Simpsons” is a homage to a series of legendary calls made in real life to the Tube Bar in Jersey City by John Elmo and Jim Davidson that were taped and circulated widely in the mid-seventies. Some of the milder names used in the original prank calls were:
- Al Cholic (alcoholic)
- Cole Kutz (cold cuts)
- Sal Lammy (salami)
- Anita Bath (I need a bath)
46 Rey of the “Star Wars” films, for one : JEDI
Rey is a central character in the “Star Wars” universe who first appeared in 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. She is trained as a Jedi by Luke Skywalker and his sister Princess Leia Organa. In honor of her mentors, she takes the name Rey Skywalker, and eventually becomes “The Last Jedi”. Rey is played by British actress Daisy Ridley.
48 Stellar explosion : NOVA
A nova (plural “novae”) is basically a star that suddenly gets much brighter, gradually returning to its original state weeks or even years later. The increased brightness of a nova is due to increased nuclear activity causing the star to pick up extra hydrogen from a neighboring celestial body. A supernova is very different from a nova. A supernova is a very bright burst of light and energy created when most of the material in a star explodes. The bright burst of a supernova is very short-lived compared to the sustained brightness of a nova.
49 Cereal whose flavors include grapity purple : TRIX
Trix is a corn-based breakfast cereal that has been around since 1954, produced by General Mills. Ads for the cereal featured Trix Rabbit, who would try hard to get hold of bowls of the cereal. He would always get caught though, and be admonished with, “Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids!” With 46% sugar content, the rabbit probably wouldn’t have liked it anyway …
50 Hindu spring festival : HOLI
Holi is a Hindu festival, celebrated in spring, that is also known as the Festival of Colours.
51 Tide alternative : XTRA
Xtra is a line of laundry detergents now made by Church and Dwight, the same company that makes Arm & Hammer products.
52 Surname at the O.K. Corral : EARP
The famous Earp brothers of the Wild West were Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. All three brothers participated in what has to be the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but took place six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Creature in the 2019 animated film “Abominable” : YETI
5 Break sharply : SNAP
9 Owlet’s home : NEST
13 Smartphone border : BEZEL
14 Fine-tune over time : HONE
15 German spouse : FRAU
16 Aquarium decoration : CORAL
17 Kate Middleton, to Archie and Lilibet : AUNT
18 Tree trimmer’s target : LIMB
19 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : CHAMPAGNE CORKS
22 “Geez!” : MAN!
23 “Insecure” actress/writer Issa : RAE
24 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : TOASTER WAFFLES
32 Game with a numbered board : DARTS
33 “The Fiddler of Dooney” poet : YEATS
34 Actress Mendes : EVA
35 Stage award : OBIE
36 Tigger’s creator : MILNE
37 Home of Iowa State : AMES
38 Nemesis : FOE
39 Corral, as cattle : PEN IN
40 Floors : STUNS
41 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : FOLDING CAMPERS
44 Post-ER place : ICU
45 Animated Olive : OYL
46 Items sold in a pop-up shop? : JACK-IN-THE-BOXES
54 Many-axled vehicle : SEMI
55 Lawn care brand : TORO
56 In base eight : OCTAL
57 “I Dream of Jeannie” star : EDEN
58 Nefarious : EVIL
59 Take one’s sweet time : TARRY
60 Pizazz : ZING
61 Start of something big? : MAXI-
62 Give a hand? : SLAP
Down
1 “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle : YEOH
2 Old Testament scribe : EZRA
3 One wearing a matching jersey : TEAMMATE
4 “None for me, thanks” : I’LL PASS
5 Layered style : SHAG
6 Life or death : NOUN
7 China __ McClain of “Black Lightning” : ANNE
8 Sleeping spot for some dogs : PET CRATE
9 TD caller : NFL REF
10 “The Devil in the White City” author Larson : ERIK
11 __ Club: Costco rival : SAM’S
12 Oleo container : TUB
13 Email field : BCC
20 Tiny member of a collective : ANT
21 Big galoots : OAFS
24 Party game “of unspeakable fun” : TABOO
25 Projecting window : ORIEL
26 Looking over : EYING
27 Shrine artifact : RELIC
28 Sheryl Crow’s “All I __ Do” : WANNA
29 Madagascar primate : LEMUR
30 Makes true : EVENS
31 Smart talk : SASS
32 Tip : DOFF
36 Restaurant option : MENU ITEM
37 Had a farm-to-table meal, say : ATE LOCAL
39 Guitar accessory : PICK
40 Malicious trackers : SPYBOTS
42 Prep cook’s forte : DICING
43 Oft-pranked Simpsons character : MOE
46 Rey of the “Star Wars” films, for one : JEDI
47 “Too true!” : AMEN!
48 Stellar explosion : NOVA
49 Cereal whose flavors include grapity purple : TRIX
50 Hindu spring festival : HOLI
51 Tide alternative : XTRA
52 Surname at the O.K. Corral : EARP
53 Artful : SLY
54 “__ who?!” : SEZ
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