Day: October 30, 2023

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Constructed by: Glenn Cook
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Samin Nosrat

Themed answers each start with one of “SALT FAT ACID HEAT”, which is the name of a cookbook by SAMIN NOSRAT:

• 33A Chef and cookbook writer whose four elements of cooking are the first words of the answers to 16-, 23-, 48-, and 56-Across : SAMIN NOSRAT

16A “Push It” hip-hop trio : SALT-N-PEPA

23A Mardi Gras : FAT TUESDAY

48A Inclination to use biting sarcasm : ACID TONGUE

56A “Feels like” figure that combines temperature and humidity : HEAT INDEX

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

Bill’s time: 5m 31s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Fancy alternative to a classic necktie : ASCOT

An ascot is a wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings or part of a dress uniform. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

9 Meat salad from Laos : LARB

Larb is a traditional dish from Lao cuisine that is made with minced meat, fish sauce, lime juice, and various herbs and spices. It is often considered the national dish of Laos, although it is also popular in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam. The word “larb” is derived from the Lao word “laap,” which means “to mince” or “to chop finely.”

15 Third-longest African river : NIGER

The principal river in western Africa is the Niger, which runs 2,600 miles through the continent. It has a boomerang shape, taking a sharp turn around the ancient city of Timbuktu in Mali.

16 “Push It” hip-hop trio : SALT-N-PEPA

“Push It” is a 1987 song recorded by Salt-n-Pepa. Released as a B-side, the song did pretty well in the charts. It reentered the charts, and did even better about a year later after Salt-N-Pepa performed the song at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday tribute concert in London, which was televised live to about 200 million viewers.

18 Verdi work : OPERA

Giuseppe Verdi was an Italian composer, mainly of operas, who was active during the Romantic era. Equally as famous as Verdi’s operas, are arias and choruses from those operas such as “La donna è mobile” from “Rigoletto”, “The Drinking Song” from “La Traviata” and “The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from “Nabucco”. Verdi was a big fan of William Shakespeare and wrote three operas based on the Bard’s plays: “Macbeth”, “Otello” and “Falstaff”.

20 Mattel game based on Crazy Eights : UNO

The card game called Crazy Eights is named for the former military designation “Section 8”. Section 8 referred to a category of discharge from the US military, reserved for personnel deemed mentally unfit for duty.

23 Mardi Gras : FAT TUESDAY

“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

33 Chef and cookbook writer whose four elements of cooking are the first words of the answers to 16-, 23-, 48-, and 56-Across : SAMIN NOSRAT

“Salt Fat Acid Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking” is a 2017 cookbook penned by chef and TV host Samin Nosrat. A best seller, it has been described as more of a reference book than a collection of recipes. Nosrat explains how to master flavor and texture using salt, fat, acid and heat, four elements that she calls the “cardinal directions” of cooking.

37 Extinct birds : DODOS

The dodo was a direct relative of the pigeon and the dove, although the fully-grown dodo was usually three feet tall. One of the reasons the dodo comes to mind when we think of extinction of a species, is that it disappeared not too long ago (last recorded alive in 1662) and humans were the reason for its demise. The dodo lived exclusively on the island of Mauritius and when humans arrived, we cut back the forests that were its home. We also introduced domestic animals, such as dogs and pigs, that ransacked the dodo’s nests. The dodo was deemed to be an awkward flightless bird and so the term “dodo” has come to mean a dull-witted person.

43 2016 Summer Olympics city : RIO

Even though the 2016 Olympic Games was a summer competition, it was held in Rio de Janeiro in winter. As Rio is in the southern hemisphere, the opening ceremony on 5th August 2016 fell in the local winter season. The 2016 games was also the first to be held in South America, and the first to be hosted by a Portuguese-speaking country.

The US topped the medal table at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, winning 46 gold medals:

1. United States – 46 gold medals (121 medals total)
2. Great Britain – 27 gold medals (67 medals total)
3. China – 26 gold medals (70 medals total)

44 Meditation sounds : OMS

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. “Om” is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

55 Artist’s stand : EASEL

The term “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

56 “Feels like” figure that combines temperature and humidity : HEAT INDEX

The heat index combines air temperature and relative humidity. It is an attempt to measure the relative temperature that is actually perceived by a person. The idea is that temperatures are perceived by us as being higher if accompanied by high humidity. This is because when the humidity is high, the body finds it more difficult to cool itself by perspiring.

60 “Basic Instinct” actress Sharon : STONE

Actress Sharon Stone’s big break came with her appearance in the erotic thriller “Basic Instinct” released in 1992. Stone really hasn’t landed huge roles in big movies since then, other than the role of Ginger in “Casino”, for which she earned a Golden Globe. Personally I enjoyed her performance in 1994’s “The Specialist”, an entertaining action film in which she played opposite Sylvester Stallone and James Woods.

“Basic Instinct” is a 1992 erotic thriller movie starring Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone. The film was deemed controversial in many sectors of society at the time of its release, but I will say that I like the movie. To me, “Basic Instinct” epitomizes the genre that we now call “neo-noir” …

Down

1 Birthplace of St. Francis : ASSISI

The Italian town of Assisi is in Umbria. Assisi is famous as the birthplace of St. Francis and as the home to the Franciscan religious order. It was also the home to Saint Clare and her order of the Poor Sisters (later known as the Poor Clares).

3 Choices at perfume counters : COLOGNES

Back in 1709, an Italian perfume-maker moved to Cologne in Germany. There he invented a new fragrance that he named Eau de Cologne after his newly adopted town. The fragrance is still produced in Cologne, using a secret formulation. However, the terms “Eau de Cologne” and “cologne”, are now used generically.

4 WWE champion Randy who had a long rivalry with John Cena : ORTON

Randy Orton is a pro wrestler on the WWE circuit. He has wrestling in his blood, as his grandfather Bob Orton, his father Bob Orton Jr., and his uncle Barry Orton were all professional wrestlers.

5 Low card in a royal flush : TEN

The poker hand called a royal flush is the highest-ranking hand possible. It consists of a run of 10, jack, queen, king and ace, with all in the same suit.

6 African scavengers whose cries sound like laughter : HYENAS

The spotted hyena of Sub-Saharan Africa is also known as the laughing hyena because of the sound it often makes, which resembles maniacal laughter.

9 Slimming surgeries, informally : LIPOS

Liposuction (lipo) dates back to the 1920s when it was developed by a surgeon in France. However, the procedure quickly lost favor when a French model developed gangrene after surgery. As a result, it wasn’t until the mid-seventies that modern liposuction took off, after being popularized by two Italian-American surgeons in Rome.

10 Meeting outline : AGENDA

“Agenda” is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

12 Blended sitcom family of classic TV : BRADYS

The famous sitcom “The Brady Bunch” originally aired from 1969 to 1974 on ABC. If you ever see a movie called “Yours, Mine and Ours” starring Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda (and remade with Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo), you might notice a similarity in storyline. It was because of the success of the 1968 movie that ABC decided to go ahead with the development of “The Brady Bunch”.

26 Mount Olympus dwellers, e.g. : IMMORTALS

Mount Olympus is the highest peak in Greece. In Greek mythology, it was home to the gods, and in particular home to the principal gods known as the Twelve Olympians.

31 Allstate’s industry: Abbr. : INS

Allstate is the second-largest provider of personal insurance in the US, after State Farm. Allstate started doing business in 1931 as part of Sears Roebuck, and indeed I can remember when Allstate offices were located in Sears stores. Sears spun off Allstate in 1993.

32 Foot the bill : PAY

To foot the bill is to pay it, to pay the total at the “foot” of the bill.

34 “American __”: rock musical based on a Green Day album : IDIOT

Green Day is a punk rock band from just down the road here, from Berkeley, California. The band’s name was chosen by the band members to reflect their fondness for marijuana. “Green day” is a slang term used to describe a day spent smoking the drug.

35 Twelve sharp : NOON

Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

39 Poseidon’s staff : TRIDENT

Poseidon was the god of the sea in Greek mythology as well as the Earthshaker, the god responsible for earthquakes.

49 Info, slangily : DEETS

“Deets” is slang for “details”.

50 Avarice : GREED

Our word “avarice”, meaning “desire for wealth”, ultimately derives from the Latin word “avere” meaning “to crave”.

51 Father Christmas : SANTA

A central figure on Christmas Day is Santa Claus aka “Father Christmas”, and “Père Noël” in French.

56 “Barry” cable network : HBO

“Barry” is a dark comedy TV series starring Bill Hader as an Ohio hitman who questions his life of crime. Veteran actor Henry Winkler plays an award-winning supporting role as the teacher of an acting class that the hitman joins.

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