Day: October 1, 2023

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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Tick Tock

Themed clues are common, two-word phrases ending with “TIME”. Each is reinterpreted to give another common phrase as the answer:

22A Screen time? : BACKGROUND CHECK

41A Face time? : HAIR AND MAKEUP

64A Flex time? : MR OLYMPIA

87A Run time? : ULTRAMARATHON

109A Party time? : PRIMARY ELECTION

15D Set time? : OPEN MIC NIGHT

57D Tee time? : CASUAL FRIDAY

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

Bill’s time: 19m 15s

Bill’s errors: 2

• MR OLYMPIA (Mr. Olympic!)
• COCA TEA (cocatec!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 West Coast wine region : NAPA

The first commercial winery in Napa Valley, California was established way back in 1858. However, premium wine production only dates back to the 1960s, with the region really hitting the big time after its success at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The story of that famous blind wine tasting is told in the entertaining 2008 film “Bottle Shock”.

14 Flower with hips : ROSE

The fruit of the rose plant is known as the rose hip or rose haw. I remember drinking rose hip syrup when I was a kid …

18 Tandoor, e.g. : OVEN

A tandoor is a cylindrical clay or metal oven used in cuisines from several Asian locales, including India.

19 Skateboard trick : OLLIE

An ollie is a skateboarding trick invented in 1976 by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Apparently it’s a way of lifting the board off the ground, while standing on it, without touching the board with one’s hands. Yeah, I could do that …

21 Stack next to a boombox : TAPES

A boombox is a portable music player with speakers that includes an AM/FM radio as well as a recording device (originally cassette tapes, and later compact discs). The first boombox was introduced by Philips in 1966 as a “Radiorecorder”, a portable device that could record radio broadcasts without the need to use external cables and microphones. Boomboxes became very popular with young people in urban areas. The practice of playing loud music using boomboxes in neighborhoods led to the devices being labeled as “ghetto blasters”.

29 Knock-__ : KNEED

The condition known as “knock-knee” is more correctly referred to as “genu valgum”, which translates from Latin as “knee bent out”. That Latin name is a little confusing, as a “knock-knee” usually bends inwards.

31 Not pizzicato : ARCO

“Arco” is a musical direction instructing a string player to return to normal bowing technique after a passage played using some other technique (perhaps pizzicato).

33 Ilhan of Congress : OMAR

Ilhan Omar has been representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in the US House since 2019. At that time, she became one of the first two Muslim women, as well as the first Somali American, to serve in the US Congress.

35 “Empire” actress Long : NIA

Nia Long is an actress who is probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

39 Like 33-Across : SOMALI
[33 Ilhan of Congress : OMAR]

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Sadly, the nation is noted today for a devastating civil war and for its use as a base for pirates who prey on ships passing through the Indian Ocean along the Somali coast.

45 Food with a Peruvian holiday in its honor : CEVICHE

Ceviche is a raw seafood dish that is popular in South and Central America. Ceviche is typically made from fish marinated in lemon or lime juice and spiced with hot peppers.

49 Green gamers : NOOBS

“Noob” (sometimes “newb”) is a not-so-nice, slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

57 Documentary filmmaker Erin Lee __ : CARR

Erin Lee Carr is a documentary maker who has made some high-profile films. A notable one is “Britney vs Spears” that she made for Netflix, which chronicles the battles between Britney Spears and her father over her conservatorship.

58 Singer Del Rey : LANA

“Lana Del Rey” is the stage name of singer/songwriter Elizabeth Grant. Del Rey calls herself a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Nice …

63 Genius Bar devices : MACS

The technical support desk found in Apple Retail Stores is rather inventively called the Genius Bar. The certified support technicians are known as “Geniuses”. The trainees are called GYOs: Grow-Your-Own-Geniuses.

64 Flex time? : MR OLYMPIA

The Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition featured in the 1977 movie “Pumping Iron”. It was this film that gave Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno a start to their acting careers.

70 “The Show Goes On” rapper __ Fiasco : LUPE

“Lupe Fiasco” is the stage name of rap artist Wasalu Muhammad Jaco. Jaco uses his real name when performing with the rock band Japanese Cartoon.

72 PC gaming hardware company : ASUS

Asus is a Taiwanese manufacturer of computing and networking hardware. The company name was chosen as the last four letters of “Pegasus”, the winged horse of Greek mythology.

73 Nash of “Never Have I Ever” : NIECY

Niecy Nash is a comedian and actress who played Deputy Raineesha Williams in the comedy show “Reno 911!” Nash is one of the celebrities to have participated in the reality competition “Dancing with the Stars”, taking fifth place in the tenth season.

79 Pampering place for a boxer : PET SPA

The boxer breed of dog (one of my favorites) originated in Germany. My first dog was a boxer/Labrador mix, a beautiful combination. Our current family dog is a boxer/pug mix, and is another gorgeous animal.

80 Former planet : PLUTO

Pluto was discovered in 1930, and was welcomed as the ninth planet in our solar system. Pluto is relatively small in size, just one fifth of the mass of our own moon. In the seventies, astronomers began to discover more large objects in the solar system, including Eris, a “scattered disc object” at the outer reaches. Given that Eris is actually bigger than Pluto, and other objects really aren’t that much smaller, Pluto’s status as a planet was drawn into question. In 2006 there was a scientific definition for a “planet” agreed for the first time, resulting in Pluto being relegated to the status of “dwarf planet”, along with Eris. This relegation led to the word “pluto” being used as a noun meaning “give a less important position than before”.

81 Vanilla extract amts. : TSPS

The flavor extract that we call “vanilla” comes from the pod-like fruit of climbing orchids belonging to the genus Vanilla. Genuine vanilla is a relatively expensive spice, second only to saffron, due to the amount of work required to grow and harvest the fruit (also called “beans” and “pods”). Spanish and Portuguese explorers came across the Vanilla orchid while exploring the Gulf Coast of Mexico. They gave it the name “vainilla” meaning “little pod”.

85 Sports injury : ACL TEAR

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee. It is located in the center of the knee and connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).

87 Run time? : ULTRAMARATHON

The term “ultramarathon” describes a race that is longer than the 26.2 miles of a traditional marathon. “Ultra running” falls into two categories. Some races cover a specified distance or route, while others last for a specified time, with the winner covering the most distance in that time.

92 Home to Pha That Luang : LAOS

Pha That Luang is a beautiful Buddhist stupa in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A Buddhist stupa is a round structure or building that Houses relics, often the remains of monks or nuns. Pha That Luang is a remarkable gold-covered edifice. It has become a national symbol for Laos, and is featured in the nation’s national emblem.

94 Comm. from some interpreters : ASL

It’s really quite unfortunate that American Sign Language (ASL) and British Sign Language (BSL) are very different, and someone who has learned to sign in one cannot understand someone signing in the other.

100 Advil competitor : ALEVE

“Aleve” is a brand name used for the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

104 Dashboard readout : GAUGE

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a board placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

106 Badenov’s partner in cartoon crime : FATALE

Fearless Leader, Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale are all characters in the cartoon show “Rocky and Bullwinkle”. Fearless Leader is the dictatorial ruler of Pottsylvania, and Boris and Natasha are two of his minions, two inept government agents.

109 Party time? : PRIMARY ELECTION

The US is one of just a few countries that uses primary elections, selections of party candidates by popular vote. In the runup to most national elections outside of the US, political parties select their own candidates. Indeed, primaries weren’t introduced into the US until relatively recently. The first presidential primary took place in 1920, in New Hampshire.

114 Lead-in to some bad news : WELP …

“Welp” is a slang term used at the beginning of a sentence to indicate disappointment. “Welp” is used in the same way that we use the interjection “well”.

Well, that worked out.

Welp, that didn’t work out.

116 Calle __ Festival: annual event in Miami’s Little Havana : OCHO

The Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana is home to many migrants from Cuba, hence the name. It is located immediately west of Downtown Miami. The main drag in Little Havana is “Calle Ocho” (Eighth Street).

117 Taylor-Joy of “The Menu” : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

“The Menu” is a 2022 comedy horror movie starring Ralph Fiennes as a celebrity chef with an exclusive restaurant. I’m afraid that I don’t do horror, not even comedy horror …

120 Inert gas : NEON

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

Down

1 Noodle : NOB

The slang term “nob” has been used for “head” for over 300 years, and is a variant of “knob”.

2 “Abbott Elementary” principal : AVA

“Abbott Elementary” is a sitcom in the mockumentary genre. The show was created by and stars Quinta Brunson as a cup-half-full second-grade teacher in a Philadelphia public school. The premise of “Abbott Elementary” is that a film crew is making a documentary about the lives of teachers working in underfunded schools.

3 Gooey, nutty dessert : PECAN PIE

The pecan is the state nut of Alabama, Arkansas and California. Also, the pecan is the state tree of Texas.

4 Talus locale : ANKLE

The collection of seven bones in the foot just below the ankle are known collectively as the tarsus. One of those bones is the talus (plural “tali”), more commonly called “ankle bone”. The talus is the lower part of the ankle joint and articulates with the lower ends of the tibia and fibula in the lower leg.

7 Mollusk with a banana variety : SLUG

Banana slugs can be a bright yellow color. They also are shaped like the fruit, hence the name “banana slug”.

8 Diarist Anaïs : NIN

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

9 “Ideas worth spreading” lectures : 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”. There are also TEDx events, which are locally-run talks presented under license from TED.

11 “Barbie” director Gerwig : GRETA

Greta Gerwig is an actress, screenwriter and director from Sacramento whose best-known acting role is probably opposite Russell Brand in the remake of the film “Arthur”. Gerwig has turned to directing, and was at the helm for the 2019 movie “Little Women”. And then, she co-wrote and directed the hit 2023 film “Barbie”.

13 Wapiti : ELK

Wapiti, also known as elk, are one of the largest species of deer found in North America and East Asia. They are social animals and live in herds of up to 400 individuals. The herds are usually led by a dominant male, known as a bull, who defends his harem of females during the mating season.

16 Casper competitor : SERTA

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

• #1 The Leader of the Flock
• #½ The Tweener
• #13 Mr. Bad Luck
• #53 The Pessimist
• #86 Benedict Arnold

17 To be, in Bogotá : ESTAR

Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia. Noted for having many libraries and universities, Bogotá is sometimes referred to as “The Athens of South America”.

23 Davis of “A League of Their Own” : GEENA

Hollywood actress Geena Davis established the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004 after noticing the lack of female characters on television shows while watching with her young daughter. According to Davis:

The fact is women are seriously underrepresented in nearly all sectors of society across the globe, not just on screen, but, for the most part, we are simply not aware to this reality, and media images exert a powerful influence in perpetuating our unconscious bias.

“A League of Their Own” is a comedy drama film released in 1992 that tells a tale about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League active during WWII. The lead actors were Tom Hanks and Geena Davis. The film spawned one of the most famous quotes in movie history: “There’s no crying in baseball!”

24 Cord cutters’ lack : CABLE

Cord-cutting is moving away from subscription TV service offered by cable and satellite providers, and moving to streaming services offered over the Internet. I made the move some years ago, and saved a LOT of money. But, the providers of streaming services are smart, and my TV-viewing costs are rising steadily …

28 Grapefruit kin : POMELOS

A pomelo is a very large, pear-shaped citrus fruit that is native to Southeast Asia.

29 Korean coupes : KIAS

Kia Motors is the second-largest manufacturer of cars in South Korea, behind Hyundai (and Hyundai is a part owner in Kia now). Kia was founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of bicycle parts, and did indeed produce Korea’s first domestic bicycle. The company’s original name was Kyungsung Precision Industry, with the Kia name introduced in 1952.

30 Toy derived from the Chinese yo-yo : DIABOLO

A diabolo is a toy that is somewhat like a yo-yo. The main difference with the yo-yo is that the object is spun with a string that isn’t attached. The object has the shape of an egg timer, and the string has sticks at the ends that are held in the hand. Diabolos are often used in juggling acts.

32 South American herbal brew : COCA TEA

Coca tea is made by steeping the leaves of the coca plant, either raw or dried, in hot water. It is a mild stimulant, as the leaves do contain a small quantity of the alkaloids that are extracted to produce cocaine. Coca tea is illegal in the US, unless you can get hold of some from which the alkaloids have been removed.

34 Gritty’s team, on scoreboards : PHI

Gritty is the mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. He is a youngster, relative to other NHL mascots, having made his debut appearance in 2018.

42 Works with black boxes : REDACTS

Our word “redact”, meaning to revise or edit, comes from the past participle of the Latin “redigere” meaning “to reduce”.

43 Zinger : MOT

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

44 Luau dish : POI

Nowadays, the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of poi, the bulbous underground stems of taro.

46 Cornball : HOKEY

“To hoke” is a slang term meaning “to create a false impression”. The term derives from the noun “hokum”. “Hokum” was originally theater slang, meaning “melodramatic, exaggerated acting”. Now the term just means “empty talk”. It is also the root for our word “hokey” meaning “silly, old-fashioned”.

56 Angela of “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” : BASSETT

Angela Bassett is an actress from New York whose breakthrough role was playing Tina Turner in the 1993 film about the pop icon’s life “What’s Love Got to Do with It”. Bassett married fellow actor Courtney B. Vance in 1997, having first met him while both were studying at Yale School of Drama.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is a 2022 superhero movie that is a sequel to 2018’s “Black Panther”. Chadwick Boseman portrayed Black Panther in the original, and the plans were for him to appear in a sequel. Sadly, Boseman passed away from colon cancer in 2020. Rather than simply recast Boseman’s role, a new storyline was developed for the sequel which thrust Shuri, the princess of Wakanda to the forefront. Shuri had a significant role in the original as well, and is portrayed by Letitia Wright in both films.

57 Tee time? : CASUAL FRIDAY

The practice of dressing down at work on “Casual Fridays” arose at the end of the 20th century. The custom is rooted in the tradition known as “Aloha Friday” that started in Hawaii in 1966. The official designation of Aloha Friday was the result of a successful lobbying campaign by the manufacturing association known as the Hawaiian Fashion Guild.

60 Campus near NoHo : NYU

The main campus of the private New York University (NYU) is located right in Manhattan, in Washington Square in the heart of Greenwich Village. NYU has over 12,000 resident students, the largest number of residents in a private school in the whole country. NYU’s sports teams are known as the Violets, a reference to the violet and white colors that are worn in competition. Since the 1980s, the school’s mascot has been a bobcat. “Bobcat” had been the familiar name given to NYU’s Bobst Library computerized catalog.

“NoHo” is short for “North of Houston (street)”, and is the equivalent area to SoHo, South of Houston, both of which are in New York City.

62 “Better Call __” : SAUL

“Better Call Saul” is a spin-off drama series from the hit show “Breaking Bad”. The main character is small-time lawyer Saul Goodman, played by Bob Odenkirk, who featured in the original series. “Better Call Saul” is set six years before Goodman makes an appearance in the “Breaking Bad” storyline. The lawyer’s real name is James Morgan McGill, and his pseudonym is a play on the words “S’all good, man!”

64 Front of house position : MAITRE’D

The full title of a maître d’ is “maître d’hôtel”, which means “master of the hotel”.

65 Some cover crops : RYES

Cover crops are planted by farmers to help manage the soil, rather than being harvested as a cash crop. Soil management includes prevention of soil erosion, improvement of soil fertility, retention of water and control of weeds. Examples of commonly used cover crops are annual ryegrass, buckwheat and red clover.

71 Sneaker inserts : ODOR-EATERS

Odor-Eaters insoles were introduced in the early seventies, and are manufactured by Combe. Combe sponsors a national contest held every year in Montpelier, Vermont, called “The Odor-Eaters Rotten Sneaker Contest”. Very pleasant …

74 PC core : CPU

The central processing unit (CPU) is the main component on the motherboard of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

76 Piña colada need : RUM

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

80 Book after Psalms : PROVERBS

The Book of Proverbs is in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The original Hebrew title for the book translates as “Proverbs of Solomon”. It was likely compiled by multiple authors over a long period of time, with some proverbs back to the time of King Solomon in the 10th century BCE.

82 Frozen Hawaiian treat : SHAVE ICE

Hawaiian shave ice is a dessert made by shaving a block of ice and adding a sweet syrup for flavor. The related snow cone is made with crushed rather than shaved ice.

84 Sarah Sherman’s show, for short : SNL

Sarah Sherman is a comedian and actress who uses the stage name “Sarah Squirm”. She joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 2021.

86 Open-faced taco : TOSTADA

In Mexican cuisine, a tostada is a flat or bowl-shaped tortilla

88 Subarctic biome : TAIGA

The word “taiga” is used for an ecosystem largely covered in coniferous forests that exists in northern regions around the world. “Taiga” is Mongolian in origin, and is sometimes used interchangeably with “boreal forest”.

89 Insurance company with a spokesgoose : AFLAC

In 1999, Aflac (American Family Life Assurance Company) was huge in the world of insurance but it wasn’t a household name, so a New York advertising agency was given the task of making the Aflac brand more memorable. One of the agency’s art directors, while walking around Central Park one lunchtime, heard a duck quacking and in his mind linked it with “Aflac”, and that duck has been “Aflacking” ever since …

95 Game whose outdoor version can be five feet tall : JENGA

Jenga is a relatively simple but entertaining game, one in which one stacks wooden blocks as high as possible until the resulting tower collapses. “Jenga” is the Swahili word for “to build”

101 Pop star John : ELTON

“Elton John” is the stage name of English singer and pianist Reginald Dwight. John is an avid football (soccer) supporter, and is especially enthusiastic about Watford Football Club, which was his local team growing up. After he achieved financial success, John was able to purchase Watford FC, and owned the club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 until 2002.

103 Summer on the Riviera : ETE

“Riviera” is an Italian word meaning “coastline”. The term is often applied to a coastline that is sunny and popular with tourists. The term “the Riviera” is usually reserved for the French Riviera (the Mediterranean coastline in southeastern France), and the Italian Riviera (the Mediterranean coastline centered on Genoa).

107 Smart __ : ALEC

Apparently, the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was one Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

109 Destroy in esports : PWN

“To pwn” is online gamer-speak for “to own, defeat easily”. It’s likely that “pwn” evolved from “own” as it is a common typo caused by the close proximity of the o- and p-keys on a computer keyboard. “Pwn” is pronounced like “pone”.

112 Toulouse turndown : NON

Toulouse is the fourth largest city in France, and is located in the southwest of the country. These days, Toulouse is noted as home to the Airbus headquarters and is known as the center of the European aerospace industry.