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Constructed by: J.R. Willard & Dena R. Verkuil

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Doesn’t Have a Clue

Each themed clue DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE, and themed answers are phrases meaning “DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE”:

• 59A Is completely unaware, or what can be said about 17-, 26-, and 47-Across : DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE

• 17A : ON ANOTHER PLANET
• 26A : IN LA LA LAND
• 47A : OUT TO LUNCH

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

Bill’s time: 7m 30s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Norimaki or gunkanmaki : SUSHI

In Japanese cuisine, dishes wrapped with nori seaweed are known as norimaki.

Gunkanmaki is a kind of nigirizushi, hand-pressed sushi. The name “gunkanmaki” translates as “warship roll”, and the term describes hand-pressed rice wrapped in nori seaweed, and filled with a loose or finally chopped filling.

6A Swiss Army Knife’s array : USES

Swiss Army knives are multi-tools made by the Swiss company Victorinox. The device was first produced in 1891 when Victorinox’s predecessor company was awarded the contract to supply the knife to the Swiss Army. The name “Swiss Army knife” was actually an American invention as it was the term used by American GIs during and after WWII as an alternative to pronouncing the more difficult German “Schweizer Offiziersmesser” (Swiss Officer Knife).

10A Yemen’s Gulf of __ : ADEN

The Gulf of Aden is the body of water that lies south of the Red Sea, and just north of the Horn of Africa.

15A Home of the Shipibo-Conibo people : PERU

The Shipibo-Conibo are an Indigenous people who have lived in the Amazonian rainforest for millennia. They are renowned for their intricate, maze-like geometric designs known as kené, which are inspired by medicine songs and spiritual visions experienced by shamans. These patterns adorn their textiles, pottery, and even their bodies. They are considered a visual language tied to cosmology and are believed to have healing and protective properties.

25A Actress Essman : SUSIE

Comedian and actress Susie Essman is perhaps best known for playing Susie Green on the comedy show “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. Essman is also a regular on “The View” and she is a good friend of the show’s co-host Joy Behar.

37A Rubber tree goo : LATEX

Latex is a naturally occurring polymer made by some plants that can also be made synthetically. About one in ten of the flowering plants in the world make the milky fluid called latex. It serves as a defense against insects and is exuded when a plant is injured or attacked by insects. Latex is collected commercially and is the source of natural rubber, which can be used to make things such as gloves, condoms and balloons.

41A Funny bone spot : ARM

The ulnar nerve runs alongside the ulna (one of the bones in the lower arm). It is the largest unprotected (not surrounded by muscle or bone) nerve in the human body. The nerve can be touched under the skin at the outside of the elbow. Striking the nerve at this point causes an electric-type shock known as hitting one’s “funny bone” or “crazy bone”.

44A Get down : BOOGIE

Given that the boogie-woogie style of music developed in African American communities in the 1870s, it makes sense that the term “boogie” would be African in origin. It has been suggested that “boogie” comes from perhaps the Mandinka verb “booga” meaning “to beat”, or from the West African “bogi” meaning “to dance”.

45A 5-Down regulators: Abbr. : SEC
[5D NYSE debut : IPO]

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and has primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities law. The first chairman of the SEC was Joe Kennedy, father of future president John F. Kennedy.

52A Galápagos lizard : IGUANA

An iguana is a lizard, and as such is cold-blooded. There are times when pet iguanas need heat from an IR lamp to maintain body temperature. They can also be very large lizards, sometimes growing to a length of six feet.

The Galápagos Islands lie over 500 miles west of Ecuador. The Galápagos owe their celebrity to the voyage of HMS Beagle which landed there in 1835, with Charles Darwin on board. It was Darwin’s study of various species on the islands that inspired him to postulate his Theory of Evolution.

63A Start of a classic palindrome implausibly attributed to Napoleon : ABLE …

The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:

• Able was I ere I saw Elba
• A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
• Madam, I’m Adam

One of my favorite terms is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.

64A Pointe shoe fabric : SATIN

The material known as “satin” takes its name from “Zayton”, the medieval Arabic name for the Chinese port city of Quanzhou. Quanzhou was used for the export of large amounts of silk to Europe.

“En pointe” is ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy, feat (pun!).

65A “Keep Commerce Human” website : ETSY

Etsy.com was founded in 2005 as a way for artists and craftspeople to sell their handmade goods online, and has since grown to include vintage items and crafting supplies as well. The company’s name is derived from the Italian word “etsi,” which means “oh, yes”? This was a nod to founder Rob Kalin’s love of Italy and his appreciation for the country’s history and artistry.

66A Low on the Mohs’ scale : SOFT

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs. Basically Mohs took minerals and scratched them with other minerals. In this way he was able to determine which minerals were hardest (most scratch resistant) and which softest. On the scale, diamond is the hardest (and rated 10), while talc is the softest (and rated 1).

67A “Poor Things” Oscar winner : STONE

Actress Emma Stone is from Scottsdale, Arizona. She really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”, and won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2016 movie “La La Land”. Now one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, Stone values her privacy and works hard to maintain a low profile. Good for her, I say …

“Poor Things” is a 2023 big-screen adaptation of a 1992 novel of the same name by Alasdair Gray. It is set in Victorian London, with Emma Stone playing the lead, Bella Baxter. Baxter has the body of an adult woman, but the mind of a fetus whose brain was transplanted into the adult woman. This one sounds very, very trippy …

Down

1D One who may be loched in? : SCOT

“Loch” is the Scottish-Gaelic word for “lake”. The Irish-Gaelic word is “lough”, and the Welsh word is “llyn”.

3D Elephant __ : SEAL

There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals (like elephant seals).

5D NYSE debut : IPO

Initial public offering (IPO)

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization, and it has been in operation for over 230 years. The first company to be listed on the NYSE was the Bank of New York. It was traded alongside four other securities when the exchange opened.

6D Like their walks to school (in the snow, both ways), per some grandparents : UPHILL

… and barefoot, in my case.

10D Maine attraction : ACADIA

Acadia National Park in Maine was created in 1919, although back then it was called Lafayette National Park in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette who famously supported the American Revolution. The park was renamed to Acadia in 1929. It is the oldest national park east of the Mississippi River.

18D Simple chord : TRIAD

A triad is a group of three and, specifically in music, a chord made up of three notes.

19D __ Angeles : LOS

California’s Los Angeles (L.A.) is the second most populous city in the country, after New York. L.A. was established in 1781 as a pueblo named “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula”, which translates as “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River”. This name evolved into “Los Angeles”, and the Porciúncula River is now called the Los Angeles River.

24D Speaker of the house? : ALEXA

Alexa is a personal assistant application that is most associated with Amazon Echo smart speakers. Apparently, one reason the name “Alexa” was chosen is because it might remind one of the Library of Alexandria, the “keeper of all knowledge”.

26D Puerto Rico, por ejemplo : ISLA

In Spanish, Puerto Rico “por ejemplo” (for example), is an “isla” (island).

31D Infant’s ailment : COLIC

Baby colic is a condition in which a baby cries for no apparent reason and for extended periods. At least one study has shown that breastfed babies are about half as likely to suffer from colic.

43D Some Bach works : SONATAS

A cantata is a piece of music that is sung, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece that is played on some instrument, often a piano. A sonatina is in effect a sonata that has been labeled as something lighter and shorter.

Johann Sebastian Bach raised a very large family. He had seven children with his first wife, who died suddenly. He had a further thirteen children with his second wife. Of his twenty youngsters, there were four sons who became famous musicians in their own right:

• Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (aka “the Halle Bach”)
• Carl Philipp Bach (aka “the Hamburg Bach”)
• Johann Christoph Bach (aka “the Buckeburg Bach”)
• Johann Christian Bach (aka “the London Bach”)

44D Capital city with a New Year’s Eve Potato Drop : BOISE

The beginning of a new year is celebrated worldwide with the raising or lowering of an object. Most famous is the dropping of a large crystal ball in Times Square in New York City. Here are some other objects raised or lowered at other locations:

• A peach in Atlanta, Georgia
• A stuffed opossum in Tallapoosa, Georgia
• An Indy car in Indianapolis, Indiana
• A sardine in Eastport, Maine
• A potato in Boise, Idaho
• A cheese wedge in Plymouth, Wisconsin

48D Spot for a hot pot : TRIVET

A trivet is an item placed under a hot serving bowl to protect the surface of a dining table. The term “trivet” is also used for a tripod supporting pots over an open fire. “Trivet” comes from the Latin “tripes” meaning “tripod”.

54D 13.1 miles of a marathon, e.g. : HALF

The marathon commemorates the legendary messenger-run by Pheidippides from the site of the Battle of Marathon back to Athens, and is run over 26 miles and 385 yards. The first modern Olympic marathon races were run over a distance that approximated the length of the modern-day Marathon-Athens highway, although the actual length of the race varied from games to games. For the 1908 Olympics in London, a course starting at Windsor Castle and ending in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium was defined. That course was 26 miles and 385 yards, the standard length now used at all Olympic Games. Organizers of subsequent games continued to vary the length of the race, until a decision was made in 1921 to adopt the distance used in London in 1908.

58D Hawaii’s state bird : NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

60D “The White Lotus” airer : HBO

“The White Lotus” is a comedy-drama TV series about the fictional White Lotus chain of resort hotels. The first season is set in Hawaii, and the second in Sicily. Each season covers a week’s stay at a White Lotus resort. The first season is set in Hawaii, and the second in Sicily. A white lotus flower is symbolic of purity and innocence. Most of the guests and staff at “The White Lotus” are far from pure and innocent. Very enjoyable television, I think …