Day: March 1, 2024

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Constructed by: Ryan Patrick Smith
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Shooting Movies

Themed answers are MOVIES, all clued with a “punny” reference to a type of SHOT:

• 20A Movie with lots of pan shots? : RATATOUILLE
• 41A Movie with an iconic long shot? : ROCKY
• 58A Movie with lots of reaction shots? : OPPENHEIMER
• 11D Movie with lots of zoom shots? : SPEED RACER
• 29D Movie with lots of dolly shots? : CHILD’S PLAY

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

Bill’s time: 13m 00s

Bill’s errors: 2

• DB COOPER (MB Cooper)
• DOSA (mosa)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Curly’s replacement in the Three Stooges : SHEMP

If you’ve seen a few of the films starring “The Three Stooges” you might have noticed that the line-up changed over the years. The original trio was made up of Moe and Shemp Howard (two brothers) and Larry Fine (a good friend of the Howards). This line up was usually known as “Moe, Larry and Shemp”. Then Curly Howard replaced his brother when Shemp quit the act, creating the most famous trio, “Moe, Larry And Curly”. Shemp returned when Curly had a debilitating stroke in 1946. Shemp stayed with the troupe until he himself died in 1955. Shemp was replaced by Joe Besser, and then “Curly-Joe” DeRita. When Larry Fine suffered a stroke in 1970, it effectively marked the end of the act.

14 Bar mitzvah scroll : TORAH

A Torah scroll (also “Sefer Torah”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

15 Name of the T. rex at Chicago’s Field Museum : SUE

The largest and best-preserved dinosaur fossil ever found can be seen on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The fossil is a Tyrannosaurus rex that is thought to have weighed over 7 tons when alive. It was discovered in South Dakota in 1990 by paleontologist Sue Hendrickson. The specimen is nicknamed “Sue” after Hendrickson.

17 State known for huckleberries : IDAHO

The name “huckleberry” is used in North America to describe several plants that bear small berries. The huckleberry was designated as the state fruit of both Montana and Idaho.

18 Canine care org.? : ADA

American Dental Association (ADA)

The canine teeth of a mammal are also called the eyeteeth or cuspids. The name “canine” is used because these particular teeth are very prominent in dogs. The prefix “eye-” is used because in humans the eyeteeth are located in the upper jaw, directly below the eyes.

19 Actress Witherspoon : REESE

“Reese” is not actually actress Witherspoon’s given name. She started out life as Laura Jeanne Witherspoon. “Reese” is her mother’s maiden name.

20 Movie with lots of pan shots? : RATATOUILLE

“Ratatouille” is a 2007 animated film produced by Pixar. The hero of the piece is Remy, a rat whose ambition is to become a chef. Remy was voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt. The veteran actor Peter O’Toole voiced the character Anton Ego, a restaurant critic.

24 Actor Chaney : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

25 Ramble : MEANDER

To meander is to follow a winding course. Meander was a river god in Greek mythology who was patron of the Meander river in modern-day Turkey. The meandering Meander is now known as the Büyük Menderes River.

27 Missing criminal who inspired James M. Cain’s “Rainbow’s End” : DB COOPER

A passenger who gave his name as “Dan Cooper” hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 in 1971, as it flew from Portland to Seattle. “Cooper” released the passengers in Seattle, and picked up a bag containing $200,000 that he had demanded as a ransom. He then instructed the flight crew to fly the plane to Mexico City, via Reno. 30 minutes out of Seattle, the hijacker told the crew to open the rear door, and he exited the plane with a parachute. “Cooper” was never found, and never identified. Some of the ransom money was discovered beside the Columbia River near Vancouver, Washington many years later, in 1980.

“Rainbow’s End’ is a 1975 novel by James M. Cain. It is about a hijacker who parachutes from an airliner with a female flight attendant as a hostage. The pair end up backcountry in Ohio, where they meet a mother and her 15-year-old son, who live as subsistence farmers. The boy kills the hijacker, and teams up with the flight attendant to locate the $100,000 in stolen cash that the hijacker had with him.

32 Limburger feature : ODOR

Limburger is a delicious, strong-smelling cheese from Germany. It originated in the Duchy of Limburg which was located partly in the modern-day Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

34 Trojan War figure : PARIS

In Greek legend, Paris was the son of the King of Troy. Paris eloped with Helen, Queen of Sparta, and this act was a major trigger for the Trojan War. Also, it was Paris who fatally wounded Achilles by shooting him in the heel with an arrow.

41 Movie with an iconic long shot? : ROCKY

If ever there was a movie that defined a career breakthrough for an actor, it would have to be “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a struggling actor in 1975 when a Muhammad Ali fight inspired Stallone to write a screenplay for a boxing movie, which he did in just three days. His efforts to sell the script went well but for the fact that the interested studios wanted a big name for the lead role, and Stallone was determined to be the star himself. Stallone persevered and “Rocky” was eventually made with him playing the title role of Rocky Balboa. The movie won three Oscars, and “Sly” Stallone had arrived …

43 Antioxidant-rich sorbet base : ACAI

“Sorbet” can mean different things around the world. Here in the US, sorbet is a non-fat frozen dessert that is made without any dairy content.

46 Berlin’s “Blue __” : SKIES

The song “Blue Skies” was composed in 1926 by Irving Berlin. It was written for a Rodgers and Hart musical called “Betsy” that was a flop. “Betsy” only ran for 39 performances, but the song “Blue Skies” was a huge hit. On the opening night of the show, the lead singer had to endure 24 encores of “Blue Skies”!

49 Capital on the Persian Gulf : DOHA

Doha is the capital city of the Persian Gulf state of Qatar. The name “Doha” translates from Arabic as “the big tree”.

51 Orange garnish for sushi : SMELT ROE

“Smelt” is the name given to several types of small silvery fish, with examples being Great Lake smelts and whitebait smelts.

53 Some Cassatt works : PASTELS

A “pastel” is a crayon made from a “paste” containing a powdered pigment in a binder. The term “pastel” can also be used to describe a work created using pastels.

56 Ryan’s “La La Land” role : SEB

“La La Land” is a 2016 romantic musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and actress who fall in love in “La La Land” (Los Angeles, i.e. “LA”). The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who had found success two years earlier with the musical drama “Whiplash”. “La La Land” won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes and tied the record number of Oscar nominations at fourteen, winning six.

57 Little dickens : IMP

A little dickens is a little devil, an imp.

58 Movie with lots of reaction shots? : OPPENHEIMER

“Oppenheimer” is an epic 2023 film starring Cillian Murphy in the title role. The movie follows J. Robert Oppenheimer, “the father of the atomic bomb”, from his student days right through World War II and beyond. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film has an amazing ensemble cast that includes:

• Matt Damon (General Leslie Groves)
• Robert Downey Jr. (Lewis Strauss)
• Josh Hartnett (Ernest Lawrence)
• Kenneth Branagh (Niels Bohr)
• Tom Conti (Albert Einstein)
• Gary Oldman (Harry S. Truman)

67 River that feeds Utah Lake : PROVO

The Provo River in Utah was named for Canadian fur trader Étienne Provost, as was the city of Provo.

69 Spleen : IRE

“To vent one’s spleen” means “to vent one’s anger, perhaps by shouting and screaming”. This expression is rooted in the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks. The Greeks believed that a person’s temperament was dictated by the balance of the body’s four “humors”. The spleen produced the humor known as yellow bile, which was associated with an aggressive and energetic personality.

71 Affectionate letters : ILYSM

I love you so much (ILYSM)

73 “It’s Gonna Be Me” band : NSYNC

“It’s Gonna Be Me” is a song recorded by the boy band NSYNC in 2000. It was the only NSYNC song to make it to the top spot in the US charts.

Down

2 TV host Kotb : HODA

Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian-American television journalist who is perhaps best known as a co-host of the NBC morning show “Today”. She is also the author of the bestselling autobiography “Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee”.

3 Proof word : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

4 Island “thank you” : MAHALO

In Hawaiian, “mahalo” means “thank you” and “mahalo nui loa” translates as “thank you very much”.

6 Genesis twin : ESAU

Esau was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described with “Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment”. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother Jacob, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.

7 Bavaria-based automaker : AUDI

The Audi name has an interesting history. The Horch company was founded by August Horch in 1909. Early in the life of the new company, Horch was forced out of his own business. He set up a new enterprise and continued to use his own name as a brand. The old company sued him for using the Horch name so a meeting was held to choose something new. Horch’s young son was studying Latin in the room where the meeting was taking place. He pointed out that “horch” was German for “hear” and he suggested “Audi” as a replacement, the Latin for “listen”.

Bavaria in southeast Germany is the largest state in the country. The capital and largest city in Bavaria is Munich.

9 Enjoys a favorite novel, say : REREADS

Our word “novel”, used for a lengthy work of fiction, comes from the Latin “novella” meaning “new things”.

11 Movie with lots of zoom shots? : SPEED RACER

“Speed Racer” (also called “Mach GoGoGo”) is a Japanese media franchise about car racing.

12 So five minutes ago : PASSE

“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”. We’ve imported the term into English, and use it in the same sense.

13 Use a wheelchair’s joystick, say : STEER

In an airplane, a joystick is the control device that operates the elevators and the ailerons. The word “joystick” also describes any control stick capable of moving in two or more directions. The term originated as aviator slang in the early 1900s.

26 Home of the NBA’s Pels : NOLA

The city of New Orleans, Louisiana has the nickname “The Big Easy”. This name might come from the early 1900s when musicians found it relatively “easy” to find work there. The city is also known by the acronym NOLA, standing for New Orleans (NO), Louisiana (LA).

The New Orleans Hornets joined the NBA in 1988 as an expansion team, originally based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team was going to be called the Charlotte Spirit, but the name was changed following a “name the team” contest run in the local area. During the Revolutionary War, Lord General Cornwallis had referred to Charlotte as a “veritable nest of hornets” due the city’s resistance to British occupation, which explains the local fans’ fondness for the name “Hornets”. The franchise was moved to New Orleans for the 2002 season, as attendance wasn’t big enough to sustain the team in Charlotte. The team had to play two seasons in Oklahoma City due to damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, and played as the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. After several years back in New Orleans, the franchise was renamed to the Pelicans, a nod to the Brown Pelican that is the Louisiana state bird.

27 Pancake served with chutney : DOSA

A dosa is a thin, savory pancake from South Indian cuisine. Dosas are made using a fermented batter consisting of ground black lentils and rice. They are usually served hot, and often with chutney and sambar, a lentil-based vegetable stew.

29 Movie with lots of dolly shots? : CHILD’S PLAY

Chucky is the nickname of Charles Lee Ray, the main character in the “Chucky” (or “Child’s Play”) series of horror movies. There’s no way that I will watch any of those films, no way …

A dolly is a small platform on rollers, especially on a movie set. Apparently, it is so called because it’s supposed to look like a doll. No, it doesn’t. I don’t believe that …

31 “Casablanca” cafe : RICK’S

The fictional Rick’s Café Américain is the main setting used in the movie “Casablanca”, with the café owner played by Humphrey Bogart. Should you ever visit Morocco, you might try visiting Rick’s Café Casablanca, an establishment opened in 2004 that largely recreates the look and feel of the memorable movie set.

37 Staple in African cuisine : TARO

Taro is a root vegetable that is grown for its edible underground plant stems (corms). The English name “taro” is borrowed from the Maori language of New Zealand. The same plant is known as “gabi” in the Philippines, “arbi” in much of India, and “jimbi” in parts of Africa where Swahili is spoken.

38 Country led by the Taoiseach : EIRE

The Prime Minister of Ireland is referred to, both in English and in Irish, by the Irish name for the office: “an Taoiseach”. The Irish term translates into English as “chief, leader”. “Taoiseach” is reserved for the Prime Minister of Ireland. When referring, in Irish, to a prime minister of another country, the more generic term “príomh-aire” is used, which translates as “chief minister”.

40 Academic : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able to get that right, which drives me crazy …

52 Sporty Fords : T-BIRDS

Ford manufactured the Thunderbird (T-Bird) from 1955 to 2005. Originally a two-seater sporty convertible, the T-Bird was introduced as a competitor to Chevrolet’s new sports car, the Corvette. The “Thunderbird” name is a reference to a legendary creature from the culture of several Native-American peoples. There’s also a story that the name is a direct reference to the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California of which the then chairman of Ford’s board was a member.

53 Longstocking of chapter books : PIPPI

Pippi Longstocking appears as the heroine in a series of books written by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Lindgren was quite the activist, very well known in the circles working for children’s and animal rights, In particular, Lindgren campaigned heavily against corporal punishment.

54 “__ and the Night Visitors” : AMAHL

Composer Gian Carlo Menotti’s “Amahl and the Night Visitors” has a special place in the repertoire, in that it is the first opera specifically composed for American television. It was commissioned by NBC and had its debut at the NBC studios in Rockefeller Center on Christmas Eve, 1951. In today’s world of commercially-driven television, I can’t imagine a network commissioning a classical work …

55 Thyme piece : SPRIG

In Britain and Ireland, thyme is listed as one of the four essential herbs. And those would be “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”.

59 Vision prefix : EURO-

Eurovision is a TV network that was founded in 1954 in Geneva. The network encompasses dozens of broadcasting organizations, not only in Europe, but around the world. Eurovision was set up initially to facilitate the exchange of TV programming. Today, the Eurovision brand is mainly associated (to the public) with multinational competitions that are arranged with a host broadcaster. The best example of such an event is the Eurovision Song Contest that is held annually. Another Eurovision event that was huge in Europe from the sixties through the nineties was “Jeux Sans Frontières”, a multinational TV game show.

61 Stage name of electronic musician Richard Melville Hall : MOBY

“Moby” is the stage name of singer-songwriter Richard Melville Hall. Hall was given his middle name, and the nickname “Moby”, by his parents. Apparently, Richard is the great-great-great-grandnephew of Herman Melville, author of “Moby-Dick”.

63 VMI program : ROTC

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The ROTC program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is one of the six senior military colleges in the country, and is located in Lexington, Virginia. The sports teams of VMI are known as the Keydets, southern slang for “cadets”.

65 Self starter? : ESS

The word “self” starts with a letter S (ess).