Day: February 29, 2024

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Constructed by: Margi Stevenson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Options

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as OPTIONS for items specified in the corresponding clues:
17A Tap options? : HOT AND COLD
25A Poker options? : SHOW AND TELL
37A Flower options? : CUT AND DRIED
52A Mouth options? : OPEN AND SHUT
61A Boxing options? : DOWN AND OUT

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

17 Tap options? : HOT AND COLD

The common “faucet” in an American house is almost always referred to as a “tap” on the other side of the pond.

19 Disney princess whose gown is adorned with snowflakes : ELSA

“Frozen” is a 2013 animated feature from Walt Disney Studios that is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Snow Queen”. The film is all about the exploits of Princess Anna, the younger sister of Elsa, Snow Queen of Arendelle. Elsa was originally intended to be a villain, a malicious and power-hungry character. By the final version of the film, Elsa had transformed from a one-dimensional villain into a fully fleshed-out protagonist.

23 Slumber party wear, for short : PJS

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

30 Like oyster shooters : RAW

An oyster shooter is an alcoholic drink, one that might even be served as an appetizer at a meal. It usually consists of a raw, shucked oyster mixed with cocktail sauce, horseradish, lemon juice, black pepper and vodka, and served in a shot glass.

31 90° from sur : OESTE

The cardinal directions in Spanish are “norte” (north), “este” (east), “sur” (south) and “oeste” (west).

41 German automaker once owned by General Motors : OPEL

Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.

45 Hawk’s claw : TALON

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.

49 __ Speedwagon : REO

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.

51 Upgrade a gravel driveway, say : PAVE

Gravel is a loose mixture of rock fragments. Gravel is classified by the size of those fragments. For example, pea gravel comprises pea-size, rounded stones.

56 SoCal airport : LAX

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently, the “X” has no significant meaning.

57 Big citrus : POMELO

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

68 Huevos rancheros condiment : SALSA

The popular breakfast dish huevos rancheros consists mainly of fried eggs served on tortillas and topped with salsa. The dish’s name translates as “eggs ranch-style”.

71 Fix, as text : EMEND

The verb “to amend” means “to change for the better, put right, alter by adding”. The related verb “to emend” is used more rarely, and mainly in reference to the editing of professional writing. Both terms are derived from the Latin “emendare” meaning “to remove fault”.

Down

2 Psychoanalysis subject : EGO

“Ego” is another word for “the self”, and is used to distinguish oneself from others and the world around one. In psychoanalysis, the ego is that division of the psyche that is most in touch with external reality, the part that is conscious. “Ego” is a Latin word meaning “I”.

4 Audition (for) : READ

A trial performance to appraise the merits of an entertainer is known as an audition. When a group of entertainers is involved, the informal term “cattle call” might be used instead of “audition”. The idea is that those auditioning are often corralled into a single, large room (like “cattle”) prior to performing.

5 “Tree of Smoke” novelist Johnson : DENIS

Denis Johnson’s 2007 novel “Tree of Smoke” is about a CIA official in charge of Psyops in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. It won the National Book Award for Fiction, and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

6 Pie chart slice : SECTOR

A pie chart can also be referred to as a circle graph. It is often stated that Florence Nightingale invented the pie chart. While this is not in fact true, she is due credit for popularizing it, and for developing the pie chart variation known as the polar area diagram. The earliest known pie chart appears in a book published in 1801 by Scottish engineer William Playfair.

7 Ab __: from the beginning : OVO

“Ab ovo” translates literally from Latin as “from the egg”, and is used in English to mean “from the beginning”.

10 “__ Fideles” : ADESTE

The lovely Christmas hymn “Adeste Fideles” (entitled “O Come, All Ye Faithful” in English) was written by one John Francis Wade in the 13th century. Well, he wrote the original four verses, with four more verses being added over time. A kind blog reader pointed out to me that the English translation is in fact a little “off”. The term “adeste” best translates from Latin as “be present, attend”, rather than “come”. The verb “come” appears later in the lyrics in “venite adoremus”, meaning “come, let us worship”.

11 Wild brawls : MELEES

Our term “melee” comes from the French “mêlée”, and in both languages the word means “confused fight”.

22 Mortal lover of Aphrodite and Persephone : ADONIS

In Greek mythology, Adonis is a beautiful young god loved by Aphrodite. Adonis dies in a hunting accident (gored by a boar), but not before he gives Aphrodite a child. Adonis was originally a Phoenician god “absorbed” into Greek lore (Phoenicia is modern day Lebanon). The child born of Adonis to Aphrodite was called Beroe, after which is named Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon. We also use the term “adonis” to mean “beautiful male”.

As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, and Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male. The Roman equivalent of Aphrodite was Venus, and the equivalent of Eros was Cupid.

In Greek mythology, Persephone was made queen of the underworld after having been abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld.

23 Common email attachment : PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF)

26 Imitates a penguin : WADDLES

Penguins are flightless, aquatic birds that spend half their lives on land, and half in the sea. All species of penguins, bar one, live in the southern hemisphere. The one species found north of the equator is the Galápagos penguin that is endemic to the Galápagos Islands located west of Ecuador. Adult male penguins are called cocks, females are hens, and the young are chicks. A group of penguins in the water is a raft, and on land is a waddle. Apt, and cute …

34 Terrier’s bark : YAP

Most terrier breeds of dog originated in Britain and Ireland. They were developed as working dogs, with the job of controlling populations of rats, rabbits and foxes by rooting them out above and below the ground. The name “terrier” comes via Middle French from the Latin “terra” meaning “earth”, a reflection of the breed’s habit of burrowing into the earth looking for its prey.

36 “Midsommar” filmmaker Aster : ARI

Ari Aster is a film director from New York City. He is into horror films, and I am not …

43 “Hadestown” Tony nominee Noblezada : EVA

Eva Noblezada is an actress and singer who debuted on Broadway playing the lead in a 2017 revival of “Miss Saigon”. That performance earned her a Tony nomination, as did her portrayal of Eurydice in “Hadestown”.

Anaïs Mitchell is a Vermont-based singer-songwriter. One of Mitchell’s more famous works is a 2010 concept album titled “Hadestown” that is based on the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. She adapted the album into a stage musical that opened Off-Broadway in 2016 as “Hadestown: The Myth. The Musical”.

45 1986 movie partly filmed at San Diego’s Air Station Miramar : TOP GUN

“Top Gun” is an entertaining action movie released in 1986 starring Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis. The movie is all about pilots training at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School. A lot of footage was shot on board the Navy’s carrier the USS Enterprise during flight operations. At one point in a day’s shooting, the commander of the Enterprise changed course as needed for normal operations, but this altered the light for the cameras that were filming at the time. Director Tony Scott asked for the course to be changed back, but was informed that a course change would cost the Navy $25,000. Scott wrote out a check there and then, and he got another five minutes of filming with the light he needed.

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego, California is nicknamed “Fightertown USA”. The moniker was applied when Miromar was home to the US Navy Fighter Weapons School, which managed the famous TOPGUN training program.

46 “The Trials of __”: Rick Riordan series based on Greek myths : APOLLO

Author Rick Riordan is best known for his “Percy Jackson & the Olympians” series of fantasy novels, some of which have been adapted into movies.

54 Actress Thurman : UMA

Uma Thurman started her working career as a fashion model, at the age of 15. She appeared in her first movies at 17, with her most acclaimed early role being Cécile de Volanges in 1988’s “Dangerous Liaisons”. Thurman’s career really took off when she played the gangster’s moll Mia in Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” in 1994. My favorite of all Thurman’s movies is “The Truth About Cats & Dogs”, a less acclaimed romcom released in 1996. She took a few years off from acting from 1998 until 2002 following the birth of her first child. It was Tarantino who relaunched her career, giving her the lead in the “Kill Bill” films.

59 “Ferrari” actor Driver : ADAM

Adam Driver is an actor perhaps best known to TV audiences for playing Adam Sackler on the show “Girls” that airs on HBO. Driver’s movie career got a huge boost in 2015 when he played villain Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

“Ferrari” is a 2023 biopic that is based on the 1991 biography “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine” by Brock Yates. Adam Driver (pun?!) plays Enzo, and Penélope Cruz his estranged wife Laura Ferrari.

62 Scepter top : ORB

A scepter (“sceptre” in Britain and Ireland) is a ceremonial staff, one often held by a monarch.

63 Director Anderson : WES

Film director Wes Anderson’s most famous movie is probably “The Royal Tenenbaums” that was released in 2001, and is not my favorite film by any stretch. However, Anderson’s 2007 release “The Darjeeling Limited”; that I enjoyed.

65 Skosh : TAD

“Skosh” is a slang term meaning “a little bit”. It was originally military slang that came out of the Korean War. “Skosh” derives from the Japanese word “sukoshi” which translates as “few, little, some”.