Day: February 11, 2025

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Constructed by: Sala Wanetick & Emily Biegas
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Trim Level

Themed answers all start with a hairstyle:

• 66A Options package for a new car, and what can be found at the start of the answer to each starred clue : TRIM LEVEL

17A *Vocabulary gone viral : BUZZWORDS (giving “buzz cut”)

26A *Tee style : CREW NECK (giving “crew cut”)

33A *”Old Time Rock and Roll” singer : BOB SEGER (giving “bob cut”)

46A *New Year’s Day sporting event : BOWL GAME (giving “bowl cut”)

52A *Fluffy carpets : SHAG RUGS (giving “shag cut”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 34s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 “A Nightmare on __ Street” : ELM

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

8 Insurance company with a duck mascot : AFLAC

In 1999, Aflac (American Family Life Assurance Company) was huge in the world of insurance but it wasn’t a household name, so a New York advertising agency was given the task of making the Aflac brand more memorable. One of the agency’s art directors, while walking around Central Park one lunchtime, heard a duck quacking and in his mind linked it with “Aflac”, and that duck has been “Aflacking” ever since …

14 French champagne brand : MOET

Moët & Chandon is a French winery, and one of the world’s largest producers of champagne. The company was founded by wine trader Claude Moët in 1743. The name was changed to Moët & Chandon in the 1830s when Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, an in-law to the Moët family, was given co-ownership. Moët & Chandon owns the famous Dom Pérignon brand name, honoring the Benedictine monk who did so much to improve the quality of champagne.

16 Slow-moving tree dweller : SLOTH

All four of the extant species of three-toed sloths are native to South and Central America. Cousins of the three-toed sloths are the two-toed sloths, of which there are two species still living.

17 *Vocabulary gone viral : BUZZWORDS (giving “buzz cut”)

A buzz cut is a very short hairstyle typically achieved with electric clippers. The hair is cut uniformly close to the scalp, resulting in a low-maintenance and minimalist look. Whatever hair I have left on my head gets “buzzed” …

19 Former capital of Japan : KYOTO

The city of Kyoto was once the capital of Japan. Indeed, the name “Kyoto” means “capital city” in Japanese. Kyoto is sometimes referred to as the City of Ten Thousand Shrines.

21 Gabaldon who writes the “Outlander” novels : DIANA

Author Diana Gabaldon is best known for her “Outlander” series of novels, which were adapted into a very successful (and entertaining) television drama. The “Outlander” books are set in Scotland, and involve time travel. Gabaldon tells us that she was inspired to write her first “Outlander” book after watching an episode of “Doctor Who”.

23 [As per the original] : [SIC]

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

26 *Tee style : CREW NECK (giving “crew cut”)

The crew neck is a neckline that sits close to the base of the neck, creating a simple, round opening. Its name likely derives from its association with rowing crews, who often wore shirts with this type of neckline.

The term “crew cut” probably originated in Yale in the 1890s. The Yale football players were noted for wearing their hair relatively long, as it helped protect their heads inside the flimsy leather football helmets of the day. In contrast, the rowing team wore their hair relatively short, in a style that came to be known as the “crew cut”.

33 *”Old Time Rock and Roll” singer : BOB SEGER (giving “bob cut”)
35 “Just take those old records off the shelf / I’ll sit and listen to ’em by myself,” e.g. : LYRICS

Bob Seger struggled as a performing artist right through the sixties and early seventies before becoming a commercial success in 1976 with the release of his album “Night Moves”. Since then, Seger has recorded songs that have become classics like “We’ve Got Tonight”, “Like a Rock” and “Old Time Rock & Roll”.

“Old Time Rock & Roll” is a rock-and-roll anthem released initially by Bob Seger on his 1976 album “Night Moves”. It wasn’t released as a single until 1979, after its prominent inclusion in the film “Risky Business”. I must admit that, to this day, hearing the song “Old Time Rock and Roll” evokes memories of Tom Cruise dancing in his underwear …

A bob cut is a short hairstyle in which the hair is cut straight around the head, at about the line of the jaw. Back in the 1570s, “bob” was the name given to a horse’s tail that was cut short, and about a century later it was being used to describe short hair on humans. The style became very popular with women in the early 1900s (as worn by actress Clara Bow, for example), with the fashion dying out in the thirties. The style reemerged in the sixties around the time the Beatles introduced their “mop tops”, with Vidal Sassoon leading the way in styling women’s hair in a bob cut again. Personally, I like it …

39 Hoppy brew : ALE

The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flowers of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I used to live here in California was once home to the largest hop farm in the world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London, where they could fetch the best price.

42 “The Raven” poet : POE

“The Raven” is a narrative poem by Edgar Allan Poe that tells of a student who has lost the love of his life, Lenore. A raven enters the student’s bedchamber and perches on a bust of Pallas. The raven can talk, to the student’s surprise, but says nothing but the word “nevermore” (“quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’”). As the student questions all aspects of his life, the raven taunts him with the same comment, “nevermore”. Finally, the student decides that his soul is trapped beneath the raven’s shadow and shall be lifted “nevermore”.

46 *New Year’s Day sporting event : BOWL GAME (giving “bowl cut”)

The bowl cut is a hairstyle where the hair is cut evenly around the head, creating a rounded, bowl-like appearance. The name “bowl cut” comes from the idea that the hairstyle resembles the shape of a bowl placed upside down on the head, with the hair cut along the edge of the bowl.

52 *Fluffy carpets : SHAG RUGS (giving “shag cut”)

Shag carpet is one with a deep pile, one with a “shaggy” appearance.

A shag cut is a layered hairstyle. Actress Meg Ryan famously sported a shag cut for many years, as did fellow actress Farrah Fawcett.

58 Home city of K-pop’s BTS : SEOUL

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. It is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

68 With 31-Down, Great Barrier Reef locale : CORAL …
31D See 68-Across : … SEA

The Coral Sea is part of the South Pacific Ocean lying off the northeast coast of Australia. It is home to the renowned Great Barrier Reef.

The Great Barrier Reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia. It is a system of almost three thousand individual reefs, and is the largest such system on the planet. The Great Barrier Reef is also the only living thing on Earth that can be seen from outer space.

73 Hush-hush docs : NDAS

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

Down

1 __ ghanoush : BABA

Baba ganoush (also “baba ghanouj” and “baba ghanoush”) is an Arab dish with the main ingredient of mashed eggplant. It is sometimes served as a (delicious) dip.

3 Superstar Minnelli : LIZA

Actress and singer Liza Minnelli is the daughter of Judy Garland and movie director Vincente Minnelli. Liza won her only Oscar for her lead performance in 1972’s “Cabaret”. She has also won an Emmy, Grammy and Tony, and is one of the very few entertainers to have made that “sweep”.

5 Dramatically maudlin, slangily : EMO

To be maudlin is to be excessively sentimental. The term “maudlin” comes into English from the tearful and repentant sinner Mary Magdalene who was forgiven by Jesus. Mary’s surname “Magdalene” became the name “Maudelen” in Middle English, and then “maudlin” meaning “tearful”.

11 Story in Architectural Digest? : ATTIC

“Architectural Digest” is a monthly magazine that first hit the newsstand in 1920. I think that title is perhaps a little misleading in that“Architectural Digest” is a publication focused on interior design and landscaping, rather than architecture as such.

12 __-full: at capacity : CHOCK

A “chock” is a lump of wood, possibly from the old French word “choque” meaning “block”. The term “chock-a-block” comes from the world of sailing and describes two blocks from a “block and tackle” that are located side by side, touching, in the sense that they are crowded together.

22 Many a honeymooner : NEWLYWED

The concept of a honeymoon vacation only started in the early 1800s. In Britain, wealthy couples would take a “bridal tour” together after the wedding, visiting those friends and relatives who could not attend the ceremony. The etymology of “honeymoon” isn’t very clear, and may even have a negative derivation as it might suggest that the sweetness (honey) of love is doomed to wane like a passing phase of the moon. The equivalent terms in other languages are “moon of honey” (French), “honey month” (Welsh) and “tinsel week” (German).

25 Title gal in a Buddy Holly hit : PEGGY SUE

“Peggy Sue” is a rock and roll classic that was Buddy Holly’s signature song. Interestingly, the song wasn’t always called “Peggy Sue.” Originally titled “Cindy Lou” after Holly’s niece, it was later rewritten and renamed in honor of Peggy Sue Gerron, the girlfriend of co-writer and Crickets drummer Jerry Allison. Allison hoped the song would help win her back after a temporary breakup.

27 “Tiny Desk Concerts” producer : NPR

NPR’s “Tiny Desk Concerts” is a series of live concerts recorded (with video) at the desk of Bob Boilen, host of “All Songs Considered”. The show came about after Boilen left a South by Southwest festival frustrated at not being able to hear the music over the noise of the crowd. One of the acts at the festival was folk singer Laura Gibson. Boilen arranged with Gibson to repeat her performance at his desk a month later, so that he could record it and post it online. The name “Tiny Desk Concert” was used as Boilen played in a band named “Tiny Desk Unit” from 1979 to1981. That first recording was made in 2008, and artists have been making similar recordings ever since then. The list of artists performing live at the Tiny Desk includes Coldplay, Pat Benetar, BTS, Tom Jones and Alicia Keys. Great Stuff …

28 Ski lift option : T-BAR

A T-bar is a ski lift on which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of a T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, which is a similar device but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

36 Apple tablet : IPAD

The iPad wasn’t Apple’s first foray into the world of tablet computing. Apple created great buzz by introducing the Newton MessagePad way back in 1993. This innovative machine was fraught with problems and really died a very slow death, finally being withdrawn from the market in 1998.

37 “¿__ está usted?” : COMO

“¿Cómo está usted?” is a more formal way of asking “How are you?” in Spanish.

41 __ Jones : DOW

Dow Jones & Company was founded as a publishing house in 1882 by three newspaper reporters, Charles Dow, Edward Jones and Charles Bergstresser. Today, the company’s most famous publication has to be “The Wall Street Journal”. In 1884, Charles Dow started reporting the average dollar value of the stock of eleven companies, an index which spawned a whole host of metrics that carry the Dow Jones name to this day. The most famous of these metrics is the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), also known as “the Dow 30” or simply “the Dow”.

44 Gerund suffix : -ING

A gerund is a form of a verb that can be used as a noun. For example, the gerund of the verb “to solve” is “solving”, as in the phrase “we really enjoyed the solving of the crossword”.

47 Von Trapp sister : LIESL

In the stage musical “The Sound of Music”, Captain Georg von Trapp has seven children:

1. Liesl von Trapp, age 16
2. Friedrich von Trapp, age 14
3. Louisa von Trapp, age 13
4. Kurt von Trapp, age 11
5. Brigitta von Trapp, age 10
6. Marta von Trapp, age 7
7. Gretl von Trapp, age 5

50 Award quartets, for short : EGOTS

The acronym “EGOT” stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony”, and is a reference to performers who have won all four awards.

53 Lake along Michigan’s thumb : HURON

Lake Huron takes its name from the Huron Native-American people that lived by its shores. Early French explorers often called the lake “La Mer Douce”, which translates as “the freshwater sea”.

54 Scrub, as a mission : ABORT

Michigan is the only US state that comprises two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula is mitten-shaped, and it is separated from the Upper Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac. My wife is from the “U.P”, and is proud to call herself a Yooper (from the “UP”).

61 Voracious : AVID

To be voracious is to have a huge appetite, or to be excessively eager. The term “voracious” comes from the Latin verb “vorare” meaning “to devour”.

62 Headey of “Game of Thrones” : LENA

English actress Lena Headey is best known for playing Cersei Lannister on the fantasy series “Game of Thrones”. Headey was born in Bermuda, where her father was stationed as a police officer.

63 Lodge group since 1868 : ELKS

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The list of US presidents that have been members of the BPOE includes Presidents Eisenhower, Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford.

67 U.K. lawmakers : MPS

The UK Parliament is divided into two houses, with the upper house known as the House of Lords and the lower house as the House of Commons. The members of the House of Commons (MPs) are elected, but most new members of the House of Lords are appointed. Historically, a large proportion of the membership of the upper house were hereditary peers, but recent legislative changes are reducing the numbers who can sit in the House of Lords by virtue of birthright.