Day: December 3, 2024

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Constructed by: Zachary David Levy
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: At the Drop of a Hat

Themed answers all DROP in the down-direction, and each includes “HAT” as a hidden word within:

• 11A Instantly, or an apt title for this puzzle : AT THE DROP OF A HAT

• 3A Rueful words from a guest who can’t stay for dessert : HATE TO EAT AND RUN
• 5A Contented sigh during a massage, perhaps : AH, THAT‘S THE STUFF
• 7A Start of many an answer from Siri : HERE’S WHAT I FOUND
• 10A 2002 rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes : MAID IN MANHATTAN

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

Bill’s time: 5m 32s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Rapper/actor __ Jackson Jr. : O’SHEA

O’Shea Jackson Jr. is an American actor and rapper who is best known for his portrayal of his own father, rapper Ice Cube, in the biopic “Straight Outta Compton” (2015).

6 “L’__!”: “To life!” : CHAIM

“L’Chaim!” is a Hebrew toast meaning “To life!”, with “chai” being the Hebrew word for “life”.

11 “Abbott Elementary” TV network : ABC

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was formed in 1943, created out of the former NBC Blue radio network. Given the initialism “ABC”, it is sometimes referred to as “the Alphabet Network”.

“Abbott Elementary” is a sitcom in the mockumentary genre. The show was created by and stars Quinta Brunson as a cup-half-full second-grade teacher in a Philadelphia public school. The premise of “Abbott Elementary” is that a film crew is making a documentary about the lives of teachers working in underfunded schools.

15 Natural hair dye : HENNA

Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, for leather and wool as well as hair and skin. In modern days, henna is often used for temporary tattoos.

18 Tehran inhabitant : IRANI

Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around a really long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital.

22 Capital of Qatar : DOHA

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

24 Old ultrafast plane, for short : SST

The first supersonic transport (SST) to fly was the Tupolev Tu-144, which was constructed in the Soviet Union. The Tu-144 first flew in 1968, but did not carry passengers until 1977. The aircraft was permanently grounded as a passenger craft in 1978 due to concerns about safety (there had been two Tu-144 crashes). The second SST to fly was the Anglo-French Concorde, which operated at a profit for over 27 years until it was withdrawn from service in 2003. There was one Concorde crash, in Paris in July 2000. Since then, there have been no commercial SST services.

36 Toyota __4 : RAV

The Toyota RAV4 is a sport utility vehicle (SUV, or “ute” for short). The RAV4 name stands for “Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive”. Inventive, huh?

38 __ Vegas Aces : LAS

The Las Vegas Aces women’s basketball team was formed in Salt Lake City in 1997 as the Utah Starzz. The team became the San Antonio (Silver) Stars in 2002, before moving to Las Vegas as the Aces in 2018.

42 Toffee bar brand : HEATH

The HEATH bar is a Hershey product that was introduced in the 1930s by brothers Bayard and Everett Heath. The candy was promoted back then with the line “Heath for better health!”, a reference to the “healthy” ingredients of the best milk chocolate and almonds, creamery butter and pure sugarcane. Different times …

45 “Madam Secretary” star : TEA LEONI

Téa Leoni is an American actress. One of Leoni’s early parts was in the great film “A League of Their Own” (a minor role: Racine at first base). She also played the fiancée of Sam Malone from “Cheers” on the spin-off sitcom “Frasier”. A leading role on the big screen was opposite Adam Sandler in “Spanglish”. My favorite of her more prominent movie roles was as Jane in “Fun with Dick and Jane”. Leoni started playing the title role in the drama series “Madam Secretary” in 2014, and that’s a show I quite enjoy …

“Madam Secretary” is a TV show that first aired from 2014 to 2019. It is about an ex-CIA analyst who is appointed as US Secretary of State. Téa Leoni plays the title role, ably supported by a favorite actress of mine, Bebe Neuwirth. I like this show …

48 Loch __ Monster : NESS

The Surgeon’s Photograph is an image that was taken in 1934, supposedly of the Loch Ness Monster. It is perhaps the most famous picture of Nessie to this day, the one with a “head” and “neck” sticking up out of the water. The picture’s renown doesn’t seem to have abated, even though in the mid-nineties the photograph was shown to be a hoax. The picture is called the Surgeon’s Photograph because it was taken by a Dr. Wilson.

49 Pest on a pet : FLEA

Fleas are flightless insects, but they sure can jump. Their very specialized hind legs allow them to jump up to 50 times the length of their bodies.

51 Org. with a Most Wanted list : FBI

The FBI was the first agency to create a “most wanted list”, introducing the “FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives” list in 1950. Director J. Edgar Hoover came up with the idea after fielding a question from a journalist asking for the names and description of the “toughest guys” being sought by the FBI. One misconception about the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list is that it is ranked, but there is no such thing as the “#1 Most Wanted Fugitive”.

55 Arthritis symptom : JOINT PAIN

Arthritis is inflammation of one or more joints. There are many types of arthritis, the most common being osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis results in a breakdown of joint cartilage and bone, usually due to injury or inherited factors. Rheumatoid arthritis results in swollen and painful joints and is an autoimmune disorder, a condition arising from an abnormal immune response. The term “arthritis” ultimately comes from “arthron”, the Greek word for “joint”.

58 Company with orange-and-white trucks : U-HAUL

The U-Haul company was started by married couple Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgefield, Washington in 1945. The Shoens used $5,000 of seed money to build trailers in their garage, and then cleverly recruited gas station owners as franchisees with whom they would split the rental revenue. There are now about 15,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

60 Lake in the Sierra Nevadas : TAHOE

Lake Tahoe (often referred to simply as “Tahoe”) is up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is located right on the border between California and Nevada. It is the largest alpine lake in the country, and the largest lake in general behind the five Great Lakes. Tahoe is also the second deepest lake, with only the beautiful Crater Lake in Oregon being deeper. Given its location, there are tall casinos that sit right on the shore on the Nevada side of the state line where gambling is legal.

The American Sierra Nevada range lies in California and Nevada. The Spanish Sierra Nevada range is in Andalusia, with the name meaning “snowy range” in Spanish.

61 Baton Rouge sch. : LSU

LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, and is located in Baton Rouge. LSU was founded in 1860 as a military academy, with then-Colonel William Tecumseh Sherman as superintendent.

Baton Rouge is the capital city of the state of Louisiana. The name “Baton Rouge” is French for “red stick” or “red staff”. The exact reason why such a name was given to the city isn’t really clear.

64 Tokyo currency : YEN

The Japanese yen (JPY) is the third-most traded currency in the world, after the US dollar and the euro.

65 Does some origami : FOLDS

Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane (“orizuru“). The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

Down

1 Camping spots for desert nomads : OASES

The most famous oasis in the US is … Las Vegas, which is located in the middle of the Mojave Desert.

3 Rueful words from a guest who can’t stay for dessert : HATE TO EAT AND RUN

Our word “dessert” comes from the French verb “desservir” meaning “to clear the table”. The idea is that dessert is usually the last course to be cleared from the table.

7 Start of many an answer from Siri : HERE’S WHAT I FOUND

Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

8 Santa __: hot California winds : ANAS

The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.

10 2002 rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez and Ralph Fiennes : MAID IN MANHATTAN

“Maid in Manhattan” is 2002 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez as a hotel maid and single mother. A senatorial candidate, played by Ralph Fiennes, falls for the maid, and hilarity ensues. Well, not so much …

11 Instantly, or an apt title for this puzzle : AT THE DROP OF A HAT

It is suggested that the idiomatic phrase “at the drop of a hat” comes from the Old West, where a signal to start a fight was just that, a drop of a hat.

12 Bubble tea pearls : BOBA

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

13 Cape __, Massachusetts : COD

Cape Cod is indeed named after the fish. It was first referred to as “Cape Cod” by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602, as his men caught so many fish there.

23 The “O” of NGO : ORG

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

26 That dude’s : HIS

Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.

28 “Morning Edition” network : NPR

NPR’s flagship news program is “Morning Edition”, a 2-hour show broadcast from Monday through Friday. The sister show “Weekend Edition” is broadcast on Saturday and Sunday.

32 __ Saint Laurent : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was an Algerian-born French fashion designer. Saint Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

34 Sword that might have a French grip : EPEE

There are two main types of grip used today in épée and foil fencing: the French grip and the pistol grip. There is also a less common Italian grip.

40 Steamed bun in Asian cuisine : BAO

A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cuisine.

43 Lip balm brand that shares a name with a dawn goddess : EOS

eos Products is a company that was founded in 2006 in New York City. eoS sells beauty products such as lotions and creams, and is most famous for its lip balm. The initials “eos” stand for “Evolution of Smooth”.

47 Capitol Hill VIP : SEN

The designer of Washington D.C., Pierre L’Enfant, chose the crest of a hill as the site for the future Congress House. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today, we call it “Capitol Hill”.

55 One corner of a Monopoly board : JAIL

In the game of Monopoly, there are three ways that a player can end up in jail:

1. Landing directly on the “Go to Jail” space
2. Throwing three consecutive doubles in one turn
3. Drawing a “Go (Directly) to Jail” card from Chance or Community Chest

56 When doubled, largest city in American Samoa : PAGO

Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa in the South Pacific. The island was used by the US Navy during WWII and it managed to escape most of the conflict. The only military incident of consequence was the shelling of the city’s harbor by a Japanese submarine. A more devastating event was the tsunami that hit Pago Pago and surrounding areas in 2009, causing widespread damage and numerous deaths.

59 “Ni __”: Chinese “Hello” : HAO

One might say “ni hao” in Chinese to mean “hello”, although a more literal translation is “you good”.