Day: July 5, 2023

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Constructed by: Alice Liang
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Measure Twice, Cut Once

The three themed answers start, collectively, with TWO MEASURES and ONE CUT:

• 56A With 66-Across, carpentry adage that also describes the first words of the answers to the starred clues : MEASURE TWICE, …
• 66A See 56-Across : … CUT ONCE

• 14A *Pampering massage after a long day : FOOT RUB
• 21A *Neighborhood notice taped to a telephone pole : YARD SALE SIGN
• 40A *Chinese takeout choice : CHOP SUEY

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 6m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Fiscal exec : CFO

Chief financial officer (CFO)

17 S&L offerings : IRAS

Savings and Loan (S&L)

20 “Sommersby” star : GERE

The 1993 romantic drama “Sommersby” stars Richard Gere and Jodie Foster. The film is about an imposter who returns after the Civil War and moves in with a woman while claiming to be her husband. The real husband returns, and things get very rancorous. I know it sounds implausible, but the storyline is based on true events that took place in France in the 1500s.

27 High-end Apple tablet : IPAD PRO

The iPad Pro tablet computer, when it was released in November 2015, featured a larger screen than all prior iPad models. The iPad Pro also came with some interesting accessories, including an attachable keyboard and the Apple Pencil.

29 Taiwanese tech giant : ACER

Acer is a Taiwanese company that I visited a couple of times when I was in the electronics business. I was very impressed back then with the company’s dedication to quality, although I have heard that things haven’t gone so well in recent years …

33 Alternate nickname for the Windy City : CHI-TOWN

Chicago, Illinois is the US’s third most populous city, after New York and Los Angeles. It is also home to O’Hare airport, the busiest airport in the whole world (in terms of takeoffs and landings). Chicago takes its name from the Chicago River, which in turn takes its name from the Native American word “shikaakwa” that translates as “wild onion” or “wild garlic”. Early French explorers chose this name as they found dense growths of wild garlic along the banks of the river.

It seems that the derivation of Chicago’s nickname “Windy City” isn’t as obvious as I would have thought. There are two viable theories. Firstly, that the weather can be breezy with wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The effect of the wind is exaggerated by the grid-layout adopted by city planners after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The second theory is that “windy” means “being full of bluster”. Sportswriters from the rival city of Cincinnati were fond of calling Chicago supporters “windy” in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning that they were full of hot air in their claims that the Chicago White Stockings were superior to the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

36 Alternate nickname for the Big Easy : NOLA

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), Louisiana (LA).

38 Oolong, e.g. : TEA

The name for the Chinese tea called “oolong” translates into English as “black dragon” or “dark dragon”.

40 *Chinese takeout choice : CHOP SUEY

Although the exact origins of the Chinese-American dish called “chop suey” are disputed, it seems clear that it started appearing on the menus of Chinese restaurants in the US in the 1880s. The dish became so popular that restaurants serving Chinese cuisine were often referred to as “chop suey houses”. “Chop suey” translates as “assorted pieces”, which is perhaps an appropriate name. The dish generally consists of an assorted mix of local ingredients stir-fried in a wok with a sauce.

42 First animal of the Chinese zodiac : RAT

The 12-year cycle in the Chinese calendar uses the following animals in order:

• Rat
• Ox
• Tiger
• Rabbit
• Dragon
• Snake
• Horse
• Goat
• Monkey
• Rooster
• Dog
• Pig

45 Altimas, e.g. : NISSANS

Nissan has been making the Altima since 1993. In 2007, the company started to produce a hybrid version, Nissan’s first foray into the hybrid market and a successful one by all accounts. Altima hybrids are even used as police cruisers by the New York Police Department.

51 Typesetting unit : PICA

A pica is a unit of measure used in typography. One pica is equivalent to 1/6 of an inch. Also, each pica unit contains 12 points.

59 Thor, for one : GOD

In Norse mythology, Thor was the son of Odin. Thor wielded a mighty hammer and was the god of thunder, lightning and storms. Our contemporary word “Thursday” comes from “Thor’s Day”.

60 Disney film with a magic lamp : ALADDIN

The Disney animated feature “Aladdin” was released in 1992. It is one of the best movies to come out of the studio, in my opinion, largely due to the great performance by Robin Williams who voiced the Genie. “Aladdin” was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $500 million worldwide, an unusual feat for an animated movie.

65 Singer DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a feminist icon, and in 2006 won the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women.

68 Hamilton : TEN

The obverse of the US ten-dollar bill features the image of Alexander Hamilton, the first US Secretary of the Treasury. As such, ten-dollar bills are sometimes called “Hamiltons”. By the way, the $10 bill is the only US currency in circulation in which the portrait faces to the left. The reverse of the ten-dollar bill features the US Treasury Building.

70 Dossier letters : AKA

Also known as (aka)

A dossier is a collection of papers with information about a person or subject. “Dossier” is a French term meaning “bundle of papers”.

Down

1 ET vehicle : UFO

One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).

2 Congressional email suffix : GOV

The .gov domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

• .com (commercial enterprise)
• .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
• .mil (US military)
• .org (not-for-profit organization)
• .gov (US federal government entity)
• .edu (college-level educational institution)

4 Default font in Google Docs : ARIAL

Arial is a basic, no-frills typeface.

Google Docs is a word processing application that is part of the Google Drive suite of services. In fact, I am typing this blog post right now in Google Docs.

5 Bolivian capital : SUCRE

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia (La Paz is the administrative capital and seat of the government). It is named for independence leader Antonio José de Sucre, who was the second president of Bolivia as well as the fourth president of Peru.

10 Sushi bite that’s raw fish atop hand-pressed rice : NIGIRI

Nigirizushi (“hand-pressed sushi”) is prepared by pressing a mound of rice into a ball and then draping seafood over the top.

11 Old West route : OREGON TRAIL

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.

22 [Not my error] : [SIC]

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

25 Natural gas component : ETHANE

Ethane is the second largest component of natural gas after methane. Ethane’s main use is in the production of ethylene, a compound that is widely used in the chemical industry.

31 Spirited session? : SEANCE

“Séance” is a French word meaning “sitting”. We use the term in English for a sitting in which a spiritualist tries to communicate with the spirits of the dead.

46 Swimwear brand : SPEEDO

Speedo brand swimwear was first produced in Australia in 1928, by a hosiery company that wanted to diversify. The brand name was chosen after a slogan competition among employees was won by “Speed on in your Speedos”. It was a long time ago, I guess …

50 Brooklyn hrs. : EST

The New York City borough of Brooklyn has the same boundaries as Kings County, which is the most populous county in the state of New York.

55 Exams for future drs. : MCATS

Medical College Admission Test (MCAT)

56 Actress Kunis : MILA

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.

57 Texas home of Baylor University : WACO

The Texas city of Waco is named for the Wichita people known as the “Waco”, who occupied the area for thousands of years.

Baylor is a private Baptist university in Waco, Texas that was founded in 1845, making it the oldest continuously-operating university in the state. Baylor is named for US Congressman and Baptist minister Robert Emmett Bledsoe Baylor, who co-founded the school. The list of Baylor’s past presidents includes Ken Starr, the independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton.

58 Tonal language similar to Thai : LAO

Lao is the official language of Laos. It is also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, but there the language is known as Isan.

61 Genetic letters : DNA

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relatives.

63 Read Across America org. : NEA

Read Across America is a reading initiative launched in 1997 by the National Education Association (NEA) labor union. Part of the initiative was the observance of National Read Across America Day. Said day is observed annually on the school day nearest to March 2nd, a date chosen because it is the birthday of Dr. Seuss.