Day: November 13, 2023

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Constructed by: Matthew Stock
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Sink or Swim

Themed answers each start with a synonym of “SINK” OR “SWIM”:

• 50A Success-versus-failure metaphor, and what can be found at the starts of the answers to the starred clues : SINK OR SWIM

• 15A *Seasonal New England attraction : FALL LEAVES
• 20A *Show of affection made with fluttering eyelashes : BUTTERFLY KISS
• 32A *Big name in cloud storage : DROPBOX
• 44A *Improvises over a beat : FREESTYLE RAPS

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

Bill’s time: 6m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

12 Opposite of calor : FRIO

In Spanish, “calor” (heat) is the opposite of “frio” (cold).

13 Crustaceans eaten by whales : KRILL

Krill are small, shrimp-like crustaceans that live in the oceans. Krill feed on plankton, and in turn, krill are the main part of the diet of larger animals such as whales, seals and penguins. There’s an awful lot of krill in the world, an estimated 500,000,000 tonnes of it. That’s about twice the biomass of humans on the planet!

14 Japanese wrestling form : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

15 *Seasonal New England attraction : FALL LEAVES

Leaves are green because of the presence of the pigment chlorophyll. There is so much chlorophyll in a leaf during the growing season that it masks out the colors of any other pigments. The amount of chlorophyll falls off in the autumn so that other pigments, present all year, become evident. These pigments are carotenoids which are orange-yellow in color, and anthocyanins which are red-purple.

17 Warmup exam for college-bound sophs : PSAT

The term “sophomore” has been used for a student in the second year of university since the 1680’s. The original meaning of the word was “arguer”. The term has Greek roots, from two Greek words that have been artificially combined in English. The Greek “sophos” means “wise”, and “moros” means “foolish”.

18 Jousting spear : LANCE

“Jousting” and “tilting” are synonyms describing the medieval competition in which two horsemen yielding blunted lances attempt to unseat each other. Such an event has been referred to as “jousting” since the 1300s. At some point, the path of the two charging horsemen was separated by a cloth barrier known as a tilt (“tilt” meant “cloth covering”). The term “tilting” was applied to the sport in the 1500s, although by then the cloth barrier had been upgraded to a wooden fence.

19 Entourage : POSSE

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”

25 Actress Sophia : LOREN

Sophia Loren certainly has earned her exalted position in the world of movies. In 1962 Loren won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the Italian film “Two Women”, marking the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English speaking performance. She received a second nomination for Best Actress for her role in “Marriage Italian-Style”, another Italian-language movie, released in 1964.

26 Lollipop taste : LICK

A lollipop is a piece of candy on a stick. The name “lollipop” surfaced in 1908, and was taken from a prominent race horse of the day named Lolly Pop.

27 Olympics sled : LUGE

A luge is a small sled used by one or two people, on which one lies face up and feet first. The luge can be compared to the skeleton, a sled for only one person and on which the rider lies face down and goes down the hill head-first. Yikes!

31 2028 Olympics host country: Abbr. : USA

The 2028 Summer Olympic Games was awarded to Los Angeles in 2017. LA previously hosted in 1932 and 1984. The only other three-time host cities are London and Paris.

35 The NBA’s Thunder, on scoreboards : OKC

The Oklahoma City Thunder NBA team arrived in 2008 after relocating from Seattle, where they were named the SuperSonics. The “Thunder” name was chosen as a reference to Oklahoma City’s exposure to the storms of Tornado Alley, and to the 45th Infantry Division “Thunderbirds” who were headquartered there until 1968.

36 __ Claire, Wisconsin : EAU

Eau Claire, Wisconsin is named for the Eau Claire River, which in turn was named by French explorers. The explorers had been traveling down the muddy Chippewa River and diverted into the clear water of what is now called the Eau Claire River. They exclaimed “Voici l’eau claire!” meaning “Here is clear water!” The French phrase “Voici l’eau claire” is now the city’s motto that appears on the city seal.

37 Experiment sites : LABS

Our term “laboratory”, often shortened to “lab”, comes from the Medieval Latin word “laboratorium” meaning “place for labor, work”. This in turn comes from the Latin verb “laborare” meaning “to work”.

38 Beneficiary of an exfoliation routine : PORE

In the world of botany, to exfoliate means to lose leaves. The term “exfoliate” comes from the Latin “ex” (off) and “folium” (leaf). In the world of cosmetology, to exfoliate is to remove dead cells from the surface of the skin.

41 Pumpkin seeds : PEPITAS

Pumpkin seeds are also known as “pepitas”, from the Mexican Spanish term “pepita de calabaza” meaning “little seed of squash”.

47 Polo, for one : SHIRT

René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a “tennis shirt”. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as “polo shirts”. The “golf shirt” is basically the same thing. The Lacoste line of clothing features a crocodile logo, because René was nicknamed “The Crocodile”.

48 Causing the heebie-jeebies : EERIE

The plural noun “heebie-jeebies” describes a condition of extreme nervousness, one caused by worry or fear. The suggestion is that the term was coined in 1923 by cartoonist Billy De Beck in the “New York American”, although this might just have been the first time that the “heebie-jeebies” appeared in print.

49 Tickle Me Elmo toy company : TYCO

The Tickle Me Elmo toy was a sensational fad in the late nineties, with stores raising prices dramatically above the recommended retail price to take advantage of demand. Reportedly, prices as high as $1500 were paid at the height of the craze. The toy’s manufacturer, Tyco, originally planned to market the “tickle” toy as Tickle Me Tasmanian Devil (after the “Looney Tunes” character), but then went with “Elmo” after they bought the rights to use “Sesame Street” names.

55 Country across the Arabian Sea from Mumbai : OMAN

Mumbai is the most populous city in India, and the second-most populous city in the world (after Shanghai). The name of the city was changed from Bombay to Mumbai in 1995. It is the financial capital of India and is home to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the oldest stock exchange in Asia.

59 Join with heat, as metal pieces : WELD

In the process of arc welding, metal is fused by the heat generated in an electrical arc. The welder uses two cables from an electrical power source. One cable is attached to the metal being welded, and the other to an electrode. The tip of the electrode is touched to the base metal causing a spark and an electrical arc. The electrode is held at an appropriate distance from the base metal to maintain the arc, which creates enough heat to melt the electrode and base metal.

Down

1 Closest pal, briefly : BFF

Best friend forever (BFF)

2 Pitching stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

4 Clam or oyster : MOLLUSK

Molluscs (also “mollusks”) are invertebrate (no-backbone) animals that comprise about a quarter of all known marine organisms. Examples are squid, cuttlefish, oysters and octopodes.

7 The “A” of IPA : ALE

India pale ale (IPA)

8 D.C. United’s org. : MLS

D.C. United is a professional soccer team based in the nation’s capital. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) and plays home games at the Audi Field, moving from Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in 2017.

9 “Shrek 2” character who occasionally succumbs to hairballs : PUSS IN BOOTS

“Puss in Boots” is a fairy tale from Europe, the earliest recording of which is in a collection of stories by Giovanni Francesco Straparola that dates back to the 1550s. The title character has been used in subsequent works; he makes an appearance in Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Sleeping Beauty”, and more recently in the “Shrek” series of animated films.

13 __ cloth: Ghanaian textile : KENTE

Kente is a textile from Ghana made of silk and cotton. The fibers used are very colorful, and the resulting pattern has a basket-like appearance. The name of the textile comes from the Asante dialect word “kenten” meaning “basket”.

16 Back muscles, briefly : LATS

The muscles known as the “lats” are the “latissimi dorsi”, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is Latin for “broadest”, and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

19 Oven-safe glassware : PYREX

Pyrex is a brand of glassware that was developed by Corning. As well as being used in bakeware and laboratory glassware, Pyrex is often the material of choice for optics in large telescopes used in astronomy. Corning’s PYREX (note the capital letters) is made from borosilicate glass, the main ingredients of which are silica and boron trioxide. Such Corning products are only available now outside of the US. Corning divested its consumer products division in 1998, resulting in the formation of World Kitchen. World Kitchen purchased the rights to the “Pyrex” name in the US, and marketed it as “pyrex” (all lowercase letters). So “PYREX” glassware is made from borosilicate glass, and “pyrex” products are made from cheaper tempered soda-lime glass.

22 Corporate symbol : LOGO
23 Color of UNICEF’s 22-Down : BLUE

The United Nations Children’s Fund is known by the acronym UNICEF because the organization’s original name when it was founded in 1946 was the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. The original focus of the fund was to provide relief to children in countries that had been devastated by WWII. UNICEF is supported by contributions from governments, but also by individual donors. One of the more successful programs for collecting private donations is the Trick-or-Treat UNICEF box that has been a tradition here in North America since 1950.

24 Salters of ESPN : LISA

Lisa Salters is a former college basketball player who pursued a career in broadcast journalism and eventually sportscasting. As a player, she was the shortest person ever to play for the Penn State Nittany Lions, at 5’2”. As a broadcast journalist, she covered major stories for NewsOne, the ABC affiliate news service. Salters moved on to sports journalism in 2000, when she joined ESPN.

27 Vinyl records, for short : LPS

The first vinyl records designed to play at 33⅓ rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first long play (LP) 33⅓ rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.

29 Gumbo pod : OKRA

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

40 “Great blue” wader : HERON

The great blue heron is native to North and Central America, but very occasionally is spotted over in Europe. There is even a great blue heron that isn’t blue at all, but is white. The white great blue heron is found in the Caribbean and southern Florida.

44 Camera setting that affects depth : F-STOP

Varying the f-stop in a lens varies how big the lens opening (the aperture) is when a photograph is taken. Smaller apertures (higher f-stop values) admit less light, but result in a greater depth of field (more of the photograph is in focus).

46 Tennis great Ivan : LENDL

Ivan Lendl is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. Lendl appeared in eight consecutive US Open finals in the eighties, a record that stands to this day. After retiring from tennis, Lendl took up golf, and eventually became a scratch player. Three of Lendl’s five daughters followed their father into golf, all playing for their college golf teams.

54 “The Simpsons” bartender : MOE

The regulars on “The Simpsons” hang out at Moe’s Tavern, which is named for and run by Moe Szyslak. The most popular beer at Moe’s is Duff Beer. The name “Duff” is a reference to the real-life Duffy’s Tavern that used to be East 13th Street in Eugene, Oregon. “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening used to frequent Duffy’s regularly, and Moe’s looks very much like Duffy’s in terms of decor and floor plan.

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