Day: March 10, 2025

Advertisement

Constructed by: Jess Shulman & Amie Walker
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Trash Talk

Themed answers each start with a synonym of “TRASH”:

• 64A Taunts between teams, or an apt description of 16-, 29-, and 48-Across? : TRASH TALK

• 16A Collection of personal clippings : SCRAPBOOK
• 29A Puppies born together : LITTERMATES
• 48A Last minutes of a blowout game : GARBAGE TIME

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

Bill’s time: 5m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 NFL team that shares SoFi Stadium with the Chargers : RAMS

SoFi Stadium is an arena in Inglewood, California just a few miles from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It is the home of two NFL teams: the LA Rams and the LA Chargers.

20 “The Matrix” protagonist : 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”.

23 Puerto Rico y Cuba : ISLAS

In Spanish, examples of “islas” (islands) are “Puerto Rico y Cuba” (Puerto Rico and Cuba).

27 Actor Aykroyd : DAN

Dan Aykroyd is a Canadian comedian and actor who was born in Ottawa, Ontario, although he is now a naturalized US citizen. He was an original cast member on “Saturday Night Live” and fronted the Blues Brothers along with John Belushi.

37 Short hairstyles : BOBS

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 …

43 Self-mover’s van : 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.

47 Mauna __: only Hawaiian volcano taller than Mauna Loa : KEA

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the peak of which is the highest point in the whole state. Mauna Kea is in effect the tip of a gigantic volcano rising up from the seabed.

48 Last minutes of a blowout game : GARBAGE TIME

“Garbage time” refers to the final minutes of a game, particularly in basketball or football, where the outcome is already determined. The difference in scores is so large that the trailing team has little to no realistic chance of winning. During garbage time, teams often substitute their starters with bench players, to give them some playing experience.

58 Pen point : NIB

“Nib” is a Scottish variant of the Old English word “neb”, with both meaning “beak of a bird”. This usage of “nib” as a beak dates back to the 14th century, with “nib” describing the tip of a pen or quill coming a little later, in the early 1600s.

60 Census figures : STATS

The taking of the nationwide census every ten years is a requirement specified in Article 1, Section 2 of the US Constitution. The first US census was taken in 1790. As stated in the Constitution, the main purposes of the census are to ensure fair representation by population, and fair assessment of direct taxes.

67 Walkie-talkie, e.g. : RADIO

The more formal name for a walkie-talkie is “handheld transceiver”. It is a handheld, two-way radio, and a device first developed for military use during WWII by Motorola (although others developed similar designs soon after). The first walkie-talkie was portable, but large. It was back-mounted and was carried around the battlefield by a radio officer.

Down

1 Some QB protectors : RTS

In American football, right tackles (RTs) guard the quarterback (QB).

3 Spot where cocktails may be shaken or stirred : MARTINI BAR

Why have a vodka martini shaken and not stirred (like James Bond, 007)? For one thing, the shaken drink tends to be colder. And with more melted ice in the drink, it isn’t as strong. These are my personal observations. No need to write in …

5 Preferring platonic relationships, informally : ARO

Someone described as aromantic (“aro”, for short) experiences little or no romantic attraction. The opposite of aromanticism is alloromanticism.

8 Govt. org. that regulates vaccines : FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its roots in the Division of Chemistry (later “Bureau of Chemistry”) that was part of the US Department of Agriculture. President Theodore Roosevelt gave responsibility for examination of food and drugs to the Bureau of Chemistry with the signing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Bureau’s name was changed to the Food, Drug and Insecticide Organization in 1927, and to the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

27 Fix, as computer code : DEBUG

Back in 1947, famed computer programmer Grace Hopper noticed some colleagues fixing a piece of equipment by removing a dead moth from a relay. She remarked that they were “debugging” the system, and so Hopper has been given credit for popularizing the term “bug” in the context of computing.

40 Hair removal brand : NAIR

Nair is a hair-removal product that has some pretty harsh ingredients. The most important active constituents are calcium hydroxide (“slaked lime”) and sodium hydroxide (“caustic soda”). Other Nair components seem to be there to soothe the skin after the harsher chemicals have done their job. The name “Nair” probably comes from combining “no” and “hair”.

44 __ Vegas : LAS

Back in the 1800s, the Las Vegas Valley was given its name from the extensive meadows (“las vegas” is Spanish for “the meadows”) present in the area courtesy of the artesian wells drilled by local farmers. Las Vegas was incorporated as a city in 1905, in the days when it was a stopping-off point for pioneers traveling west. It eventually became a railroad town, although with the coming of the railroad growth halted as travelers began to bypass Las Vegas. The city’s tourism industry took off in 1935 with the completion of the nearby Hoover Dam, which is still a popular attraction. Then gambling was legalized, and things really started to move. Vegas was picked, largely by celebrated figures in “the mob”, as a convenient location across the California/Nevada state line that could service the vast population of Los Angeles. As a result, Las Vegas is the most populous US city founded in the 20th century (Chicago is the most populous city founded in the 19th century, just in case you were wondering).

46 Country singer Urban : KEITH

Keith Urban is a country singer from Australia who was actually born in New Zealand. He moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 1992, and married Australian actress Nicole Kidman in 2006.

49 Intro to Xer, Yer, and Zer : GEN-

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

54 Potato pancake : LATKE

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potatoes is delicious, to be honest).

55 Diwali dress : SARI

Diwali is a popular Hindu festival. It is a “festival of lights”, a celebration of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. Diwali is observed annually over five days at the conclusion of the summer harvest, and when there is a new moon.

65 Hannah Einbinder’s “Hacks” role : AVA

“Hacks” is a comedy-drama TV series featuring Jean Smart as legendary stand-up Deborah Vance, and Hannah Einbender as young comedy writer Ava Daniels. The show premiered on HBO Max in 2021.

Hannah Einbinder is a comedian and actress who gained widespread recognition for her role as Ava Daniels in the comedy-drama TV series “Hacks”. Einbinder’s comedic talent seems to run in the family; her mother is actress and comedian Laraine Newman, one of the original cast members of “Saturday Night Live”.

66 __ lime pie : KEY

The species of citrus fruit called a key lime is so named due to its association with the Florida Keys.