Day: September 20, 2024

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Constructed by: Will Pfadenhauer
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): Brita Filter

Themed answers come in pairs in the same rows of the grid. Each row has one of the letters “BRITA” FILTERED out (removed), starting with B at the top and ending with A at the bottom. Very clever …

• 70A With 73-Across, insert for some water pitchers, or what has been used row-by-row on the answers to the starred clues? : BRITA …
• 73A See 70-Across : … FILTER

• 17A *Youthful helpers on tennis courts : BALL BOYS (-B = ALLOYS)
• 19A *Fashion toys from Mattel : BARBIES (-B = ARIES)

• 25A *Restaurant freebie : BREAD ROLL (-R = BE A DOLL)
• 28A *Weapon in Clue : REVOLVER (-R = EVOLVE)

• 34A *Italian red wine : CHIANTI (-I = CHANT)
• 36A *Sasquatch trait : HAIRINESS (-I = HARNESS)

• 50A *NCAA basketball powerhouse in Milwaukee : MARQUETTE (-T = MARQUEE)
• 52A *Tornado : TWISTER (-T = WISER)

• 59A *Weekend part : SATURDAY (-A = STURDY)
• 61A *Finding the means? : AVERAGING (-A = VERGING)

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

Bill’s time: 14m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Pong publisher : ATARI

Do you remember the arcade video game that is like a game of tennis, with paddles moving up and down to hit what looks like a ball, over what looks like a net? Well, that is Pong. The arcade version of Pong was introduced in 1972, with Atari selling a home version through Sears for the Christmas market in 1975.

6 Garden variety? : ZEN

Japanese Zen gardens are inspired by the meditation gardens of Zen Buddhist temples. Zen gardens have no water in them, but often there is gravel and sand that is raked in patterns designed to create the impression of water in waves and ripples.

15 Glass of NPR : IRA

Ira Glass is a well-respected presenter on American Public Radio who is perhaps best known for his show “This American Life”. I was interested to learn that one of my favorite composers, Philip Glass, is Ira’s first cousin.

18 Tit for __ : TAT

The phrase “tit for tat”, meaning some sort of retaliation, has been around for an awfully long time, since the mid-1500s. It might be derived from “tip for tap”, meaning “blow for blow”.

19 *Fashion toys from Mattel : BARBIES (-B = ARIES)

Mattel is the world’s largest toy manufacturer. Mattel was founded by Harold “Matt” Matson and Elliot Handler in 1945, and they chose the company name by combining “Matt” with “El-liot” giving “Matt-el”.

21 “Assassin’s Creed” game company : UBISOFT

Assassin’s Creed is a franchise of video games that was introduced in 2007. The games’ storylines center on the struggle for power between the Assassins and the Templars. “Assassin’s Creed” made it to the big screen in 2016 in a sci-fi action movie of the same name, but it was pretty badly received by audiences.

24 __ peeve : PET

The phrase “pet peeve”, meaning “thing that provokes one most”, seems to be somewhat ironic. A “peeve” is a source of irritation, and the adjective “pet” means “especially cherished”.

28 *Weapon in Clue : REVOLVER (-R = EVOLVE)

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

30 Sandwich on telera : TORTA

Telera is a bread with a peculiar shape resembling the hat of a torero (bullfighter). It originated in Córdoba in Spain.

“Torta” is the Italian and Spanish word for “cake”. It can also mean “sandwich” in Mexican Spanish.

34 *Italian red wine : CHIANTI (-I = CHANT)

Chianti is a red wine from the Chianti region of central Tuscany in Italy. Historically, Chianti was stored in a characteristically bulbous bottle wrapped in a straw basket. However, the pragmatists have won the day and regular wine bottles tend to be used nowadays.

36 *Sasquatch trait : HAIRINESS (-I = HARNESS)

The sasquatch or bigfoot is our North American equivalent of the yeti, the ape-like creature said to inhabit the Himalayas. Bigfoot is supposedly hiding out mainly in the Pacific Northwest of North America.

42 School in L.A. : USC

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known for the success of its athletic program. USC Trojans have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.

48 Remote login protocol : TELNET

Telnet is a network protocol, i.e. a defined format for controlling communications between devices in a computer network.

50 *NCAA basketball powerhouse in Milwaukee : MARQUETTE (-T = MARQUEE)

Marquette University is a private, Jesuit school in Milwaukee that was founded in 1881. It was named for Jacques Marquette, a 17th-century missionary and explorer from France who founded Michigan’s first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie.

A marquee is a large sign that is placed over the entrance to a theater. The marquee usually displays the names of the film or play currently showing, as well as the principal actors performing.

52 *Tornado : TWISTER (-T = WISER)

Although a tornado (plural “tornadoes, tornados”) can be encountered in many locations around the world, it is most likely to be experienced in North America, and particularly in “Tornado Alley” in the central US. The Canadian Tornado Alley in southern Canada is where one is second most likely in the world to encounter a tornado.

56 Feed letters : RSS

Many websites and blogs publish content in a format known as Rich Site Summary (RSS). The “feed” can be read using an RSS reader. The advantage of using an RSS reader is that the user doesn’t have to check the website for new content. That new material is fed to the RSS reader as soon as it is published.

61 *Finding the means? : AVERAGING (-A = VERGING)

In a set of numbers, the mean is the average value of those numbers. The median is the numeric value at which half the numbers have a lower value, and half the numbers a higher value. The mode is the value that appears most often in the whole set of numbers.

65 Drop dramatically : PLUMMET

To plummet is to plunge downwards. The verb comes from the noun “plummet”, which is an alternative name for a plumb bob. A plumb bob is a weight that is suspended from a string so as to provide a vertical reference line.

69 “The Matrix” hero : NEO

The 1999 movie sensation “The Matrix” was meant to be set in a nondescript urban environment. It was actually shot in Australia, as one of the co-producers of the film was the Australian company, Village Roadshow Pictures. You can pick up all sorts of clues about the location when watching the film, including a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge in a background shot. Also, traffic drives along on the left and there are signs for the “lift” instead of an “elevator”.

70 With 73-Across, insert for some water pitchers, or what has been used row-by-row on the answers to the starred clues? : BRITA …
[73A See 70-Across : … FILTER]

Brita is a German company that specializes in water filtration products. Brita products do a great job of filtering tap water, but they don’t “purify” it as they don’t remove microbes. That job is usually done by a municipality before the water gets to the faucet.

72 Cha or chai : TEA

Chai is a drink made from spiced black tea, honey and milk, with “chai” being the Hindi word for “tea”. We often called tea “a cup of char” growing up in Ireland, with “char” being our slang word for tea, derived from “chai”.

77 Aardvark snack : ANT

The aardvark is the oddest looking of creatures, a nocturnal burrowing animal that is native to Africa. Even though it is sometimes called the African ant bear, the name “aardvark” is Afrikaans for “earth pig”. Aardvarks are noted, among other things, for their unique teeth. Their teeth have no enamel and wear away quite readily, but continuously regrow. The aardvark feeds mainly on ants and termites.

Down

1 Basketball great Quigley : ALLIE

Allie Quigley is an American-born professional basketball player who spent several years playing in Europe, in Hungary in particular. In 2010, Quigley took out Hungarian citizenship and played for the Hungarian national team.

4 Writer Bradbury : RAY

Author Ray Bradbury was best known for his speculative fiction works, including “Fahrenheit 451”, “The Martian Chronicles” and “The Illustrated Man”. Bradbury earned his first payment as a writer when he was just 14 years old. That was when he was hired by comedian George Burns to write for the “Burns and Allen” show.

6 Cylindrical pasta : ZITI

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

8 Gp. joined by Sweden in 2024 : NATO

The country of Sweden emerged during the Middle Ages, and became one of the great powers of Europe in the days of the Swedish Empire in the 17th and early 18th century. Since then Sweden’s influence has waned. What was the eastern part of Sweden was lost to Russia in the early 1800s, and is now modern-day Finland. In the 20th century Sweden has adopted a very non-aggressive stance and was neutral in both World Wars. Sweden is a member of the European Union, although the country does not use the euro as its currency. And, Sweden joined NATO in 2024, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

9 Jazz station? : NBA TV

The Utah Jazz professional basketball team moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. As one might guess from the name, the team originated in New Orleans, but only played there for five seasons. New Orleans was a tough place to be based because venues were hard to come by, and Mardi Gras forced the team to play on the road for a whole month.

12 Slob’s napkin : SLEEVE

Our word “napkin” dates back to the 1300s, when it had the same meaning as today. The term comes from the old French word “nape” meaning “tablecloth” and the Middle English suffix “-kin” meaning “little”. So, a napkin is a little tablecloth.

14 Bygone Volvo rival : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. The assets were acquired in 2012 by NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), a new company that used the SAAB name on its vehicles for several years.

Volvo is a Swedish manufacturer of cars, trucks and construction equipment. The Volvo name was chosen as “volvo” is Latin for “I roll”.

27 Taco sauce brand : ORTEGA

The Ortega food manufacturing company has been around for about 150 years. It was founded by Maria Concepcion Jacinta Dominguez Ortega, known affectionately as Mama Ortega within the company.

32 Actress de Armas : ANA

Ana de Armas is an actress from Cuba. Having attended the National Theater School of Cuba, she moved to Spain at the age of 18. Thre, she made a name for herself in a Spanish TV series called “El Internado”. De Armas moved to Los Angeles in 2014, after which her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” earned her critical acclaim.

34 No. pro : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

37 __ Dei : AGNUS

“Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God”, The expression is used in Christian traditions to describe Jesus Christ, hence symbolizing his role as a sacrificial offering (sacrificial lamb) to atone for the sins of man.

40 Strawberry whose No. 18 was retired by the Mets : DARRYL

Darryl Strawberry is a retired MLB player who was known by the nickname “The Straw Man”. Strawberry led a troubled life while playing professional baseball, and was suspended three times by the league for substance abuse.

47 Mensa stats : IQS

Mensa is a high-IQ society that was founded in Oxford, England in 1946. The founders were two lawyers: Australian Roland Berrill and Englishman Lancelot Ware. Apparently, the elitist founders were unhappy with the development of Mensa, given that most members came from the working and lower classes.

49 CBS News contributor Lisa : LING

Lisa Ling is a journalist who is best known as a former co-host of the television show “The View”. Lisa’s younger sister is Laura Ling. Laura is one of the pair of journalists who were sentenced to 12 years hard labor in prison for illegal entry to North Korea, but who were released in 2009 after a visit from former President Bill Clinton.

50 Brand sold at REI : MSR

MSR is a supplier of camping and mountaineering gear. The initialism stands for Mountain Safety Research, and the company has its roots in a newsletter about mountaineering safety that started publishing in 1969.

55 Exfoliation stone : PUMICE

Pumice is volcanic rock that is formed by lava cooling. There are bubbles in pumice due to water and carbon dioxide frothing out of the lava as it cools. Because of the frothy structure, pumice is relatively light and is a great thermal insulator. As such, it is used in construction to make insulating breeze blocks.

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.

60 Thumb-operated controls : D-PADS

A D-pad is a controller found on almost all remote controls and gamepads. “D-pad” is short for “directional pad”, and describes a collection of buttons that allow movement, at a minimum, to the right, left, up and down.

63 Singer Lesley : GORE

Singer-songwriter Lesley Gore is perhaps best known for two big hit songs: “It’s My Party” and “You Don’t Own Me”. Both songs were released in 1963, and were recorded when she was just 16 and 17 years old. Gore was most successful as a composer when she worked with her brother Michael Gore. They wrote songs for the soundtrack of the 1980 musical film “Fame”, and their song “Out Here on My Own” was nominated for that season’s Best Original Song Oscar.

66 Provo’s state : UTAH

Provo, Utah is a city located just over 40 miles south of South Lake City. It is home to Brigham Young University. The city was originally called Fort Utah, and the name was changed to Provo in 1850 in honor of Étienne Provost. Provost was a French-Canadian fur trader who was perhaps the first man of European descent to see the Great Salt Lake.

68 Actor Damon : MATT

Actor Matt Damon was a Harvard University student before he dropped out to pursue his acting career. He was just 12 credits shy of graduating when he left to star in the movie “Geronimo: An American Legend”. Despite not having completed his degree, Harvard later awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2013 for his humanitarian work through his co-founding of Water.org, an organization that provides clean water and sanitation to people in developing countries.

75 Rock’s __ Soundsystem : LCD

LCD Soundsystem is a rock band from New York City that was founded in 2001. The “LCD” initialism is a play on “liquid crystal display”, and actually stands for Liquid Christmas Display. It is a reference to one of the band’s early gigs at a Christmas party in which they performed cover versions of songs by Liquid Liquid.