Day: April 3, 2025

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Constructed by: Kareem Ayas
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Join Hands

Themed answers each include the letters H AND S. The letters H AND S JOIN together as we descend the grid:

• 37A Instruction before a group prayer, or, when parsed differently, an apt description of what 18-, 24-, 51-, and 59-Across do : JOIN HANDS or JOIN H AND S

• 18A Upstanding citizen? : HOMO ERECTUS
• 24A Window to a simulated world : VR HEADSET
• 51A Pickle : TIGHT SPOT
• 59A Increase that might be documented on a door frame : GROWTH SPURT

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

Bill’s time: 6m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Drill sound : HUP!

Hup, two, three, four …

14 Polish name? : OPI

Opi (originally “Odontorium Products Inc.”) is a manufacturer of nail polish based in North Hollywood, California. One of Opi’s marketing coups was the introduction of a line of Legally Blonde 2 polishes, which featured in the film.

16 West African country : GUINEA

Guinea lies north of Liberia on the west African coast. Like much of Africa, it was for many years a French Colony (as “French Guinea”). Guinea declared independence in 1958, but has suffered from autocratic rule since then, and is now one of the poorest countries in Africa.

17 “Mulan” voice actress Ming-Na __ : WEN

Ming-Na Wen is an actress who is perhaps best known for voicing Mulan in the animated film “Mulan” and its sequel and for playing Fennec Shand in the Star Wars franchise. Wen is trilingual, being fluent in English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

“Mulan” is a 1998 animated feature film made by Walt Disney studios. The film is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, a woman who takes the place of her father in the army and serves with distinction for twelve years without reward. Disney’s lead character was given the name Fa Mulan. Donny Osmond provided the singing voice for one of the lead characters, after which his sons remarked that he had finally made it in show business as he was in a Disney film.

18 Upstanding citizen? : HOMO ERECTUS

Homo erectus was an early human species known for an upright posture and larger brain size compared to earlier hominins. The species was the first of our human ancestors to migrate out of Africa, spreading to Asia and possibly Europe. Homo erectus developed sophisticated tools, including hand axes, and are believed to have been the first to control fire.

23 Doc with an otoscope : ENT

An ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT) uses an otoscope to look into the interior of one’s ears.

24 Window to a simulated world : VR HEADSET

Virtual reality (VR)

26 Muppet with a beloved rubber duckie : ERNIE

Ernie is one of the Muppets on the children’s TV show “Sesame Street”. He is usually seen with his roommate Bert, whom he frequently annoys and frustrates. Ernie is known for taking long baths with his rubber duckie. That “Rubber Duckie” is the title character in a hit song that Ernie (voiced by Jim Henson) released in 1970.

28 Hunter who goes after Bugs : ELMER

Elmer Fudd is one of the most famous Looney Tunes cartoon characters, and is the hapless nemesis of Bugs Bunny. If you have never seen it, check out Elmer and Bugs in the marvelous “Rabbit of Seville”, a short cartoon that parodies Rossini’s “Barber of Seville”. Wonderful stuff …

29 Motion picture pioneer : EDISON

The Kinetoscope was an early motion picture exhibition device developed in the late 19th century by Thomas Edison’s laboratory. Designed for individual viewing, it allowed a single person to watch a short film by looking through a peephole. Instead of projecting images onto a screen, the Kinetoscope used a continuously moving strip of perforated film, illuminated by a light source and viewed through a lens.

31 Small cave : GROTTO

A grotto is a cave or cavern. “Grotto” is a word that we have imported from Italian, in which language it has the same meaning, or can describe a vault.

39 Trilling solo : ARIA

In music a “trill” is the rapid alternation of two tones that are very close to each other to make a vibrato sound.

43 “Get a room!” elicitor, for short : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

46 “For your viewing pleasure” brand : VISINE

Visine is a brand of eye drops made by Johnson & Johnson that are advertised to “get the red out”. The red in the eye is reduced because Visine contains tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride, a vasoconstrictor. The blood vessels creating the redness constrict when Visine is applied, and you “get the red out” as the blood is “squeezed” away from the surface of the eye.

48 How fries are fried : IN OIL

French fries are called “chips” back in Ireland where I grew up. And what we call “chips” in the US are known as “crisps” in Britain and Ireland. In France, French fries are known as “pommes frites” (fried potatoes).

51 Pickle : TIGHT SPOT

To be in a pickle is to be in a fix, in trouble. One of the first uses of “pickle” in such a context was William Shakespeare (who else?), in his play “The Tempest”. Here is part of the conversation between Alonso, King of Naples, and his jester Trinculo:

ALONSO:
And Trinculo is reeling ripe: where should they
Find this grand liquor that hath gilded ’em?
How camest thou in this pickle?

TRINCULO:
I have been in such a pickle since I
saw you last that, I fear me, will never out of
my bones: I shall not fear fly-blowing.

58 Nestlé bar with a bubbly texture : AERO

I must admit to having a weakness for Aero chocolate bars. Aero was introduced by Rowntree’s in the North of England in 1935. The “aero” name is a reference to the chocolate’s “bubbly” texture.

64 Country star McEntire : REBA

Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007. She is sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Country”.

65 Reddit’s Q&A : AMA

Ask me anything (AMA)

66 Square dance call : DO-SI-DO

The term “do-si-do” is a corruption of a French phrase “dos-à-dos”, meaning back-to-back. And parenthetically, this is just the opposite to the familiar French term “vis-à-vis”, meaning face-to-face. In the do-si-do dance move, the partners start facing each other and then advance past each other’s right shoulder, and then move to the right without turning so that they are now facing away from each other (back-to-back). They complete the move facing in the same direction, passing each other’s left shoulder by moving backwards until they return to the starting position. Did you get that …?

A square dance is a one for eight participants, i.e. four couples. For much of the time, the couples are arranged so that they form the sides of a square, hence the name of the dance.

67 __ buco : OSSO

Osso buco is a traditional Italian dish that is typically made with veal shanks that are braised with vegetables and herbs. The name “osso buco” means “bone with a hole” in Italian, which refers to the marrow-filled bone in the center of the veal shank. The marrow is considered a delicacy and is often scooped out and served with the dish.

Down

5 Light hair color : BLOND

In today’s world, the usage of masculine and feminine forms of English words is largely frowned upon. The one word that seems to have retained its gender specificity is “blond”, the feminine version of which is “blonde”.

6 Prints such as U.S. Woodland, familiarly : CAMOS

The US Woodland camouflage pattern was used widely by the US military from the 1980s to the early 2000s. It is a four-color disruptive pattern consisting of overlapping green, brown, tan, and black splotches. It is sometimes referred to as “M81”, which is the name of the Battle Dress Uniform on which it was first used.

7 Campfire treat : S’MORE

S’mores are treats peculiar to North America that are usually eaten around a campfire. A s’more consists of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers. The earliest written reference to the recipe is in a 1927 publication called “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts”. Girl Scouts always did corner the market on cookies and the like!

8 Uttar Pradesh tourist site : AGRA

The nation of India comprises 29 states and 7 union territories. The largest state by area is Rajasthan, in the northwest of the country. The most populous state is the neighboring Uttar Pradesh.

10 Hot __ : MIC

One of my favorite hot-mic moments took place in 2005, when Paris and London were vying to host the 2012 Olympics. French President Jacques Chirac compared Paris and London in that context while chatting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Chirac said, over a hot mic:

The only thing that they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease … You cannot trust people who have such bad cuisine.

13 London setting of “Call the Midwife” : EAST END

The East End of London was associated with overcrowding, poverty and accompanying social strife. It is also very much associated with Cockney culture and dialect. The traditional definition of a Cockney is someone “born within the sound of Bow Bells”, the bells in the church of St Mary-le-Bow on the thoroughfare Cheapside.

“Call the Midwife” is a BBC drama about midwives working in the East End of London in the late fifties and early sixties. I must admit, one of the reasons I am intrigued by this show is that I can well remember the midwife coming to our house in the East End of London in 1959 for the delivery of my younger brother. I am sure the attending nurse was a wonderful person, but I remember being scared every time she pulled up outside our flat on her bicycle!

25 Ship of Greek myth : ARGO

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts set sail on the Argo from the city of Iolcos in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of a man named Argus, who designed and constructed it with the help of the goddess Athena.

35 Highland cap : TAM

A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap worn traditionally by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam o’ Shanter”. A pom-pom adorning a tam is known as a toorie.

37 “Just Visiting” Monopoly square : 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

40 “I Love Lucy” surname : RICARDO

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertzes are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

41 Tiny crustaceans : ISOPODS

Isopods are small crustaceans with seven pairs of legs. Examples would be woodlice and pill bugs. The name “isopod” comes from the Greek “iso” (same) and “pod” (foot). All isopods have seven pairs of jointed limbs.

43 Mitre, informally : POPE HAT

A miter (also “mitre”) is a traditional headdress worn by bishops in some Christian traditions. The term “miter” comes from a Greek word for “headband, turban”.

44 Historical miniature : DIORAMA

A diorama is a full-scale or small-scale replica of a scene. We mostly see full-size dioramas in museums, whereas our kids might create small-scale dioramas as homework projects. The original diorama was a picture-viewing device that was invented in 1822 by Louis Daguerre and Charles Marie Bouton. These historic dioramas were quite large, and featured scenes that appeared to change as the lighting was manipulated.

49 Government org. that employs many mathematicians : NSA

National Security Agency (NSA)

51 Lean-__ : TOS

By definition, a lean-to is a building in which the rafters lean against the wall of another building. A lean-to shelter has a similar appearance, although it is free-standing. The shelter has a single-pitched roof and only three walls.

52 Genius at the Apple Store, e.g. : IT PRO

The technical support desk found in Apple Retail Stores is rather inventively called the Genius Bar. The certified support technicians are known as “Geniuses”. The trainees are called GYOs: Grow-Your-Own-Geniuses.

54 Thyme and basil : HERBS

In ancient Greece, thyme was burned as incense and used in baths as it was believed to be a source of courage.

Traditionally, basil is considered “the king of herbs”. In fact, the herb’s name comes from the Greek “basileus” meaning “king”.

61 Benjamin Hoff’s “The __ of Pooh” : TAO

Author Benjamin Hoff is best known for his 1982 book “The Tao of Pooh”, and a successor title published in 1992 called “The Te of Piglet”. Both books use the “Winnie-the-Pooh” stories to illustrate Taoist beliefs.