Day: September 21, 2023

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Constructed by: Jason Reich
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Turn Signals

Themed answers each contain the letter string “SIGNAL” rearranged (TURNED about) and hidden within:

• 60A Blinkers, and a hint to filling in 17-, 24-, 38-, and 50-Across? : TURN SIGNALS

17A “Devilishly delicious” hard cider brand : ORIGINAL SIN

24A One performing a service, maybe : CHORAL SINGER

38A Classic sitcom that began with the wreck of the S.S. Minnow : GILLIGAN’S ISLAND

50A Result of appreciation : CAPITAL GAINS

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

Bill’s time: 7m 28s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Weigh station rig : SEMI

A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

19 “Blonde” Oscar nominee de Armas : ANA

Ana de Armas is an actress from Cuba. Having attended the National Theater School of Cuba, she moved to Spain at the age of 18. Thre, she made a name for herself in a Spanish TV series called “El Internado”. De Armas moved to Los Angeles in 2014, after which her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” earned her critical acclaim.

“Blonde” is a 2022 biographical film about Marilyn Monroe. It is a fictionalized account of the actress’ life, and is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2000 novel of the same name. Monroe is played by Ana de Armas.

20 Josh of “Frozen” : GAD

Josh Gad is an actor and comedian who was born in Hollywood, although that would be Hollywood, Florida. Gads big break came on the stage, when he originated the role of Elder Cunningham in “The Book of Mormon”. On the big screen Gad played Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak in “Jobs” and Hector McQueen in the 2017 adaptation of “Murder on the Orient Express”. Gad also voiced Olaf in the “Frozen” films.

21 Viral GIF, e.g. : MEME

A meme (from “mineme”) is a cultural practice or idea that is passed on verbally or by repetition from one person to another. The term lends itself very well to the online world where links, emails, files etc. are so easily propagated.

22 Copier need : TONER

The key features of a laser printer (or copier) are that it uses plain paper and produces quality text at high speed. Laser printers work by projecting a laser image of the printed page onto a rotating drum that is coated with photoconductors (material that becomes conductive when exposed to light). The areas of the drum exposed to the laser carry a different charge than the unexposed areas. Dry ink (toner) sticks to the exposed areas due to electrostatic charge. The toner is then transferred to paper by contact and is fused into the paper by the application of heat. So, that explains why paper coming out of a laser printer is warm, and the ink is sometimes powdery.

27 Give, as a passport : ISSUE TO

As a result of a League of Nations conference in 1920, passports are usually written in French and one other language. French was specified back then as it was deemed the language of diplomacy. US passports use French and English, given that English is the nation’s de facto national language. Spanish was added as a language for US passports in the late nineties, in recognition of Spanish-speaking Puerto Rico.

31 Many a Maldives formation : ATOLL

The Maldives is an island nation consisting of two chains of atolls in the Indian Ocean. The population of over 300,000 people is distributed over 192 inhabited islands, with about 1,000 islands remaining uninhabited. The Maldives is one of the countries in the world that is extremely endangered by rising sea levels.

38 Classic sitcom that began with the wreck of the S.S. Minnow : GILLIGAN’S ISLAND

The iconic sitcom “Gilligan’s Island” ran for only three seasons, although that added up to a total of 98 episodes. The show is about a small band of castaways who are trying to escape their island and return to Hawaii. The last episode originally aired in 1967. The castaways did eventually get off the island in a 1978 TV movie called “Rescue from Gilligan’s Island”, but ended up back on the island at the end of the film.

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The Minnow would be lost, the Minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan
The Skipper too,
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star
The Professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligan’s Isle.

42 __ pro nobis : ORA

“Ora pro nobis” translates from Latin as “pray for us”. It is a common phrase used in the Roman Catholic tradition and is often shortened to “OPN”.

43 Texter’s “But … ” : OTOH …

On the other hand (OTOH)

50 Result of appreciation : CAPITAL GAINS

In the world of economics, a capital gain is a profit realized when an asset is sold.

54 Florida city known for thoroughbred farms : OCALA

The city of Ocala, Florida was founded near a historic village with the same name. In the local Timucua language “Ocala” means “Big Hammock”. Back in the 1890s, Ocala was famous for its oranges, with over one third of that fruit shipped from Florida coming from the city. Also, thoroughbred horse farming in Florida started in Ocala, back in 1943. Some folks today call Ocala the “Horse Capital of the World”, but I bet that’s disputed by others …

59 Part of some German names : VON

“Von” is German for “from”.

60 Blinkers, and a hint to filling in 17-, 24-, 38-, and 50-Across? : TURN SIGNALS

I wish all drivers would use their turn signals. Back in Ireland, we don’t call them “turn signals”, but rather “indicators”.

66 Blue alien played by Karen Gillan in Marvel films : NEBULA

Scottish actress Karen Gillan is most famous for playing Amy Pond in the “Doctor Who” sci-fi show made by the BBC. Pond was the companion to the eleventh doctor, played by Matt Smith. More recently, Gillan played Nebula in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series of films.

67 Bowen Yang’s show, for short : SNL

Bowen Yang is an actor and comedian who joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2019, after working for a year with the show’s writing staff. When Yank became a cast member, he was the first Chinese-American to appear regularly on SNL.

69 Motown great Knight : GLADYS

Gladys Knight & the Pips performed together from 1953 to 1989. The Pips were founded around Gladys Knight, originally featuring her brother, sister and two cousins. The group took its name from yet another cousin, a cousin named “Pip”.

Down

2 Animated explorer : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

4 Urge (on) : EGG

The verb “to edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “to egg on” meaning “to goad”.

6 Laugh line? : BON MOT

“Bon mot” translates from French as “good word”. We use “bon mot” (and sometimes just “mot”) to mean “quip, witticism”.

7 David Oyelowo film set in Alabama : SELMA

British actor David Oyelowo really hit the big time when he landed the role of Martin Luther King in the 2014 film “Selma”. Oyelowo was born to Nigerian parents, and he spent much of his youth living in Lagos. He comes from royalty, and is an “omoba” (prince) of the Yoruba people from West Africa.

8 Atelier tripod : EASEL

An atelier is an artist’s studio, with “atelier” being the French word for “studio” or “workshop”.

9 Orthopedist’s scan, briefly : MRI

Orthopedics (orth.) is the branch of surgery that deals with the musculoskeletal system. The term “orthopedics” was coined in 1741 by French physician Nicolas Andry. Actually, Andry used the French term “Orthopédie” for the title of a book. The term comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “paidon” meaning “child”.

11 Tropical flower used in aromatherapy products : YLANG-YLANG

The ylang-ylang is a tropical tree that originated in the Philippines. The tree’s flowers are routinely distilled to harvest ylang-ylang essential oil, which is highly prized in the perfume industry. Indeed, the oil is sometimes referred to as the Queen of Perfumes.

12 “Girls5eva” co-star __ Elise Goldsberry : RENEE

Renée Elise Goldsberry is an actress and singer who is best known to me for playing the attorney Geneva Pine on the TV show “The Good Wife”. Goldsberry also originated the role of Angelica Schuyler Church in the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton”.

“Girls5eva” is a musical comedy TV show that debuted in 2021. It is about a one-hit-wonder girl group from the nineties who reunite in an attempt to rediscover past glories.

13 Drummer Ringo : STARR

Ringo Starr is a musician, best known as the drummer for the Beatles. In addition to his music career, Ringo Starr has appeared in a number of films. In addition to his film work, Ringo Starr has also done voiceover work for several animated television shows and movies. He has lent his distinctive voice to characters in shows like “Thomas & Friends” and “The Simpsons,” as well as movies like “Yellow Submarine”.

24 Winnow : CULL

We use the verb “to winnow” in a figurative sense to describe the separation of something good from a collection of worthless things. The more literal meaning is the freeing of grain from the lighter chaff by blowing on the mixture, or by throwing it in the air.

26 Tireless, unpaid assistant : SIRI

Siri was originally developed as a standalone app by a startup company of the same name. Apple acquired the company in 2010 and integrated the technology into their operating system.

27 “It is the green-eyed monster … ” speaker : IAGO

William Shakespeare was one of the first to associate the color green with envy. He called jealousy the “green-eyed monster” in his play “Othello”.

29 Green thing on a roof : SOLAR PANEL

Solar panels are arrays of solar cells that make use of what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. We are more likely to have learned about the photoelectric effect in school, in which electrons were ejected from the surface of some materials when it was exposed to light or other forms of radiation. The photovoltaic effect is related but different. Instead of being electrons ejected from the surface, in the photovoltaic effect electrons move around in the material creating a difference in voltage.

33 Musician Brian who calls himself a “nonmusician” : ENO

Brian Eno was one of the pioneers of the genre of ambient music. Eno composed an album in 1978 called “Ambient 1: Music for Airports”, which was the first in a series of four albums with an ambient theme. Eno named the tracks, somewhat inventively, 1/1, 1/2, 2/1 and 2/2.

37 Make-or-break time : D-DAY

The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operation is to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.

39 Spanish painter Francisco : GOYA

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter who was often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Two of Goya’s most famous works are “The Nude Maja” and “The Clothed Maja”.

41 Eye part : LENS

The lens in the eye can change shape, and in so doing change its focal length. This change allows the eye to focus on objects at different distances. The shape of the lens alters due to the action of the eye’s ciliary muscles.

51 Squirrel morsel : ACORN

These days, we don’t usually consider acorns (the fruit of the oak tree) as a foodstuff. But in days past, many cultures around the world have used acorns as food. Usually, bitter tannins that occur in acorns need to be leached out in water. Acorn meal can be a substitute for grain flour, which can then be used to make bread. Acorns have also been used as a substitute for coffee, especially when coffee was rationed. Notably, acorn coffee was brewed up by Confederates during the American Civil War, and by Germans during World War II.

52 Early strings : LYRES

The lyre is a stringed instrument that is most closely associated with ancient Greece, and with the gods Hermes and Apollo in particular. According to myth, Hermes slaughtered a cow from a sacred herd belonging to Apollo and offered it to the gods but kept the entrails. Hermes used the entrails to make strings that he stretched across the shell of a tortoise, creating the first lyre. Apollo liked the sound from the lyre and agreed to accept it as a trade for his herd of cattle.

53 Absurdist playwright Jean : GENET

Jean Genet was a French playwright and novelist. Before he turned to writing, Genet was a homeless person with a criminal record. His debut novel was 1943’s “Notre-Dame-des-Fleur” (Our Lady of the Flowers), which is largely autobiographical and tells of a man’s life in the underworld of Paris.

Absurdism is a philosophy holding that the universe is meaningless and irrational. Further, it is the search for meaning that leads to individual and global conflict.

58 Free TV spots : PSAS

Public service announcement (PSA)

61 Can. neighbor : USA

The US-Canada border is the longest international border in the world. The total length is 5,525 miles. Canada’s border with the lower 48 states is 3,987 miles long, and the border with Alaska extends 1,538 miles.

63 Org. with Kings and Cavaliers : NBA

The Sacramento Kings are one of the oldest basketball franchises still operating, having been founded way back in 1923 as the Rochester Seagrams. The Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985 from Kansas City, Missouri.

The Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. The Cavs joined the NBA as an expansion team in 1970.