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Constructed by: Robbie Cottom
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Reveal Answer: Year-on-Year
Themed answers are all in the down-direction, and are composed of one type of YEAR ON top of another type of YEAR:
- 10D Like some annual accounting comparisons, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues : YEAR-ON-YEAR
- 4D *Grayish time at dusk or dawn : HALF LIGHT (half year & light-year)
- 18D *Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing : OFF CALENDAR (off year & calendar year)
- 28D *Penultimate : SECOND LAST (second year & last year)
- 37D *Nontraditional : NEW SCHOOL (New Year & school year)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time:7m 09s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1A Cashew, e.g. : NUT
Our everyday usage of “nut” is often at odds with the botanical definition of the term. Examples of “true nuts” are acorns, chestnuts and hazelnuts. On the other hand, even though we usually refer to almonds, pecans and walnuts as “nuts”, botanically they are classified as “drupes”. Both drupes and true nuts are fruits, the vehicles that flowering plants use to disseminate seeds. True nuts are examples of a “dry fruit”, a fruit that has no fleshy outer layer. Drupes are examples of a “fleshy fruit”, a fruit with a fleshy outer layer that often makes it desirable for an animal to eat. Familiar examples of drupes are cherries, peaches and plums. We eat the fleshy part of these drupes, and discard the pit inside that contains the seed. Other examples of drupes are walnuts, almonds and pecans. The relatively inedible flashy part of these drupes is usually removed for us before they hit our grocery stores shelves. We crack open the pit inside and eat the seed of these drupes. No wonder we use the term “nuts” to mean “crazy”!
7A Director Reiner : ROB
The great director and actor Rob Reiner first came to prominence playing “Meathead”, Archie and Edith Bunker’s son-in-law in “All in the Family”. Since then, Reiner has directed a long string of hit movies including, “The Princess Bride”, “Stand by Me”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “When Harry Met Sally …”, “Misery” and “A Few Good Men”.
10A Tuber in West African cuisine : YAM
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.
16A Big bird : EMU
Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs. It is the male emu that incubates the eggs. The incubation period lasts about 8 weeks, during which time the male neither eats nor drinks, just lapping up any morning dew that is nearby. While incubating a clutch of eggs, male emus lose about a third of their weight.
19A Like Big Bird’s name : APT
The man “inside” Big Bird on “Sesame Street” is Caroll Spinney, who has been playing the character since 1969. That’s a long time, so Spinney has had an understudy named Matt Vogel since 1998.
23A Unfriendly : ALOOF
I suppose one might guess from the feel of the word “aloof” that it has nautical roots. Originally “aloof” meant “to windward” and was the opposite of “alee”. A helmsman might be instructed to stay aloof, to steer the boat into the weather to keep a distance from a lee-shore. It is from this sense of maintaining a distance that aloof came to mean “distant” in terms of personality. Interesting, huh …?
26A B’way musical set in Paris : LES MIS
The 1980 musical “Les Misérables” is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London’s West End. My wife and I saw “Les Miz” in the Queen’s Theatre in London many years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor who had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn’t really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn’t seem to hang together for me.
29A Spy org. : CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947. The organization is often referred to familiarly as “the Company”.
37A “Bye Bye Bye” boy band : NSYNC
“Bye Bye Bye” is a 2000 hit song recorded by the boy band NSYNC. It was originally written for another boy band, the English group 5ive, but they passed on it.
39A 1-800-555-2368 for Ghostbusters, e.g. : HOTLINE
1984’s “Ghostbusters” really is an entertaining movie. It stars Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, and was directed by Ivan Reitman (a trio that also worked together on 1981’s “Stripes”). The first draft of the screenplay was written by another star of the movie, Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd originally envisioned “Ghostbusters” as a vehicle for himself and John Belushi, but sadly Belushi passed away before the project could be realized.
In the 1984 movie “Ghostbusters”, anyone needing “ghost-busting” services was encouraged to call the number 555-2368. During the original theatrical run of the film, director Ivan Reitman set up an actual 1-800-555-2368 hotline. Callers who dialed the number would get a prerecorded message from Bill Murray (as Peter Venkman) and Dan Aykroyd (as Ray Stantz), saying they were “out catching ghosts”. This real-world hotline received an average of 1,000 calls per hour for six weeks, before it was eventually shut down.
It’s a fantastic bit of trivia and a very clever marketing move that adds a fun layer to the film’s legacy! The 555 prefix is commonly used in movies and TV for fictional phone numbers to avoid bothering real people. However, for Ghostbusters, they made it a temporary, interactive experience.
46A Silver State city near Tahoe : RENO
Reno, Nevada was named in honor of Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed in the Civil War. The city has a famous “Reno Arch”, a structure that stands over the main street. The arch was erected in 1926 to promote an exposition planned for the following year. After the expo, the city council decided to keep the arch and held a competition to decide what wording should be displayed, and the winner was “The Biggest Little City in the World”.
The official nickname of Nevada is the Silver State, a reference to the importance of silver ore in the state’s growth and economy. An unofficial nickname is the Battle Born State. “Battle Born” is a reference to Nevada being awarded statehood during the American Civil War.
48A Fish-eating hawk : OSPREY
The osprey is also known as the sea hawk or fish eagle. Osprey nests are large heaps of sticks usually built in forks of trees and rocky outcrops. I’ve seen quite a few osprey nests built on the tops of light poles and utility poles. A pair of mating ospreys is known as a duet.
52A Prom, for one : DANCE
A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.
54A Brand of flour since 1880 : GOLD MEDAL
The Washburn-Crosby Company entered several brands of flour at the Millers’ International Exhibition in Cincinnati in 1880. The company’s brands won bronze, silver and gold medals at the show, prompting Washburn-Crosby to launch the Gold Medal brand of flour. That Gold Medal brand is now produced by General Mills.
57A “By the power of Grayskull” cartoon hero : HE-MAN
“Masters of the Universe” is a sword-and-sorcery multimedia franchise that was introduced by Mattel in the 1980s. The main characters in the storyline are superhero He-Man, who battles against Skeletor on the planet Eternia, and He-Man’s sister She-Ra, who rebels against the Horde on the planet Etheria.
64A Tax org. : IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.
66A Cock-a-doodle-do-er : ROOSTER
The term “rooster” dates back to the late 1700s, and is used to describe an adult male chicken, primarily here in the US. “Rooster” originated as an alternative to “cock”, as puritans objected to the association with the slang usage of the latter term.
67A “Unforgettable” singer __ King Cole : NAT
Nat King Cole’s real name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. Cole made television history in 1956 when his own show debuted on NBC, a first for an African-American. Cole couldn’t pick up a national sponsor, so in order to save money and possibly save the show, many guest artists worked for no fee at all – the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Peggy Lee. The show survived for a year, but eventually Nat King Cole had to pull the plug on it himself.
“Unforgettable” is a song recorded by Nat King Cole in 1951. It was his biggest hit single. In 1991, his daughter Natalie Cole released a version of “Unforgettable”, as a duet with her late father. The duet was created using digital splicing, which allowed Natalie’s voice to be blended with her father’s voice. The song was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
69A No. on a resume : TEL
A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.
70A “A Change Is Gonna Come” singer-songwriter Cooke : SAM
Sam Cooke’s 1964 song “A Change Is Gonna Come” is about the struggle that African Americans were facing in the US in the sixties. Cooke was inspired to write the song after he and his associates were refused rooms at a “whites only” Holiday Inn motel in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Down
1D “Click this link at your own risk” letters : NSFW
The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. It’s Internet slang used to describe online content that is best not viewed at work.
2D “Crikey” : UH-OH
“Crikey!” is an exclamation, and is probably a euphemism for “Christ!”.
3D “The Big Lebowski” actress Reid : TARA
Tara Reid is an actress known for roles she played on television and the big screen. My guess is that her best-known performances were in the “American Pie” series of movies in which she played Vicky. Sadly, Reid succumbed to the pressure to alter her looks with plastic surgery. In interviews, she has shared that her first experience under the knife “went wrong” leading to more surgeries in attempts to rectify the resulting deformity.
“The Big Lebowski” is a 1998 comedy directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, and starring Jeff Bridges in the title role. The film’s script is loosely based on the Raymond Chandler novel “The Big Sleep”. I thought “The Big Lebowski” was just “okay” though …
4D *Grayish time at dusk or dawn : HALF LIGHT (half year & light-year)
A light-year (lt-yr) is a measure of distance, not time. It is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year, which is almost six trillion miles. The accepted abbreviation for a light-year is “ly”. A light-second is a much shorter distance: about 186,000 miles.
7D Santa __, California : ROSA
Santa Rosa is the largest city in California’s Wine Country, and the county seat of Sonoma County. The epicenter of the so-called 1906 San Francisco Earthquake was located near Santa Rosa. There was actually more damage in Santa Rosa, for the size of the city, than there was in San Francisco.
8D Folk singer known as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement” : ODETTA
Odetta Holmes (or just “Odetta”) was a singer and a human rights activist. She has been cited as an influence by such singers as Harry Belafonte, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin and Carly Simon.
14D SoCal NFLer : LA RAM
The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise to have won NFL championships in three different cities, i.e. Cleveland (1945), Los Angeles (1951 & 2021) and St. Louis (1999). The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945, in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.
18D *Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing : OFF CALENDAR (off year & calendar year)
A docket is the official summary of proceedings in a court of law. The term is sometimes used (informally) to refer to a court’s calendar of cases.
22D Wall St. debuts : IPOS
Initial public offering (IPO)
24D Capital city near the North Sea : OSLO
The Norwegian capital of Oslo is located at the northern end of a fjord known as Oslofjord. The fjord is home to 40 islands that lie within the city’s limits. Oslo also has 343 lakes.
The North Sea is an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean that is located between Britain and Scandinavia.
26D Rapper Kendrick : LAMAR
Kendrick Lamar is a hip-hop singer from Compton, California. Lamar’s full name is Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, with the singer’s given name honoring Motown artist Eddie Kendricks. Notably, his 2017 album “Damn” won a Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first non-classical or non-jazz album to do so.
40D Like much classic Las Vegas signage : NEON
The Neon Museum in Las Vegas opened in 1996 and features many old signs from the heyday of the Las Vegas Strip. Much of the museum is a “boneyard”, housing about 150 signs on 6 acres of land.
51D “Say cheese!” : SMILE!
Photographers often instruct us to say “cheese” to elicit a smile-like expression. Even Japanese photographers use the word “cheese” to achieve the same effect. Bulgarians use the word “zele” meaning “cabbage”. The Chinese say “eggplant”, the Danish “orange”, the Iranians “apple” and many Latin Americans say “whiskey”.
55D Creole pod : OKRA
The plant known as okra is mainly grown for its edible green pods. The pods are said to resemble “ladies’ fingers”, which is an alternative name for the plant. Okra is known as “ngombo” in Bantu, a name that might give us the word “gumbo”, the name of the southern Louisiana stew that includes okra as a key ingredient.
Here in North America, we tend to associate Creole cuisine with Louisiana. However, the term “Creole cuisine” applies to several areas of the world, areas within the reach of the French, Portuguese and Spanish colonial empires. One definition of Creole culture refers to peoples of European origin, born in the New World, and who have integrated with local cultures. As a result, we encounter a variety of Creole-named cuisines beyond Louisiana, in places like Cuba, Brazil, Peru, Jamaica, Réunion and Cape Verde. All the variations share a leaning towards spiciness, the use of simpler techniques in preparing the food (stewing, frying, etc.), and the use of local products in traditional European dishes.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1A Cashew, e.g. : NUT
4A __-hop music : HIP
7A Director Reiner : ROB
10A Tuber in West African cuisine : YAM
13A Nonsense refrain syllables : SHA-LA-LA
15A Laudatory poem : ODE
16A Big bird : EMU
17A In full view : FOR ALL TO SEE
19A Like Big Bird’s name : APT
20A Seaport’s loading and unloading area : WHARF
21A Opening of a never-give-up slogan : IF AT FIRST …
23A Unfriendly : ALOOF
25A Editor’s target : TYPO
26A B’way musical set in Paris : LES MIS
29A Spy org. : CIA
31A Burden : ONUS
34A Logger’s tool : AXE
35A Brag : GLOAT
37A “Bye Bye Bye” boy band : NSYNC
38A Open __ night : MIC
39A 1-800-555-2368 for Ghostbusters, e.g. : HOTLINE
41A Pilot’s update, briefly : ETA
42A Up in the air : ALOFT
44A Hem again : RESEW
45A Broadcast : AIR
46A Silver State city near Tahoe : RENO
47A Junior : SON
48A Fish-eating hawk : OSPREY
50A Unit of medication : DOSE
52A Prom, for one : DANCE
54A Brand of flour since 1880 : GOLD MEDAL
57A “By the power of Grayskull” cartoon hero : HE-MAN
61A Pen name letters : AKA
62A “Fingers crossed!” : I SURE HOPE SO!
64A Tax org. : IRS
65A Fella : LAD
66A Cock-a-doodle-do-er : ROOSTER
67A “Unforgettable” singer __ King Cole : NAT
68A Lamb’s mother : EWE
69A No. on a resume : TEL
70A “A Change Is Gonna Come” singer-songwriter Cooke : SAM
Down
1D “Click this link at your own risk” letters : NSFW
2D “Crikey” : UH-OH
3D “The Big Lebowski” actress Reid : TARA
4D *Grayish time at dusk or dawn : HALF LIGHT (half year & light-year)
5D __-at-ease : ILL
6D Barbecue spot : PATIO
7D Santa __, California : ROSA
8D Folk singer known as “The Voice of the Civil Rights Movement” : ODETTA
9D Muscular : BEEFY
10D Like some annual accounting comparisons, or what can be found in the answers to the starred clues : YEAR-ON-YEAR
11D Concert blasters : AMPS
12D Pup without a pedigree : MUTT
14D SoCal NFLer : LA RAM
18D *Removed from the docket, as a legal hearing : OFF CALENDAR (off year & calendar year)
22D Wall St. debuts : IPOS
24D Capital city near the North Sea : OSLO
26D Rapper Kendrick : LAMAR
27D One cast out : EXILE
28D *Penultimate : SECOND LAST (second year & last year)
30D “Seriously?” : IT IS?
32D Release, perhaps : UNTIE
33D Frightening : SCARY
36D Other, in Spanish : OTRO
37D *Nontraditional : NEW SCHOOL (New Year & school year)
40D Like much classic Las Vegas signage : NEON
43D Sustenance : FOOD
47D Teeter-totter : SEE-SAW
49D Pals, in slang : PEEPS
51D “Say cheese!” : SMILE!
53D Warning signal : ALERT
54D “Buy low, sell high” result : GAIN
55D Creole pod : OKRA
56D “Bro!” : DUDE!
58D New York MLB team : METS
59D Sailing : ASEA
60D Social standard : NORM
63D Soil-turning tool : HOE
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14 min, no errors
I paused on a few of those theme answers. Should have just let the crosses speak for themselves.
HALF LIGHT?
NEW SCHOOL?
SECOND LAST?
9:30, no errors.
Another old man dumb error…CIE for CIA.🤪
What song was shalala ever used in?
Stay safe😀
Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl comes to mind
Missed the theme altogether, but got the fill in on the cross. Confess mot knowing NSFW leading to several false 13A starts with Fahlala, Tralala, everything until . . . Fun puzzle!
10:58 – no errors or lookups. False starts: ODETTE>ODETTA, LESMIZ>LESMIS, ALL>MIC.
New or forgotten: “A Change Is Gonna Come,” ODETTA.
Year-on-year seems a little unusual way to stay it. Typically, it’s said as year-over-year.
I’m posting again after a few days of vacation in Seattle. Great seafood there, and an interesting mix of old and new architecture. Downtown on the waterfront is quite a busy place!
Typical Tuesday. No errors
Did not realize there was a theme until I read Bill’s answers
Somewhat tricky Tuesday for me; took 12:02 with no peeks or errors. Didn’t know quite a few of these, but fortunately they were spaced just far enough apart that all were gettable in the end. Also had either never heard of or was only vaguely aware of the long vertical answers. So, lots of dancing around and then *poof* I got the banner unexpectedly.
Welcome back Ray C.
Thanks, Dirk. Travel is engaging, but it’s always good to get home again.