Category: Alan Massengill

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Constructed by: Alan Massengill & Doug Peterson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Game for TV

Themed answers are all common phrases reinterpreted with reference to TV game shows:

• 17A Mistake by a contestant on “The Price Is Right”? : COST OVERRUN
• 27A Very long response by a contestant on “Jeopardy!”? : ESSAY QUESTION
• 47A Prior results considered by a contestant on “Deal or No Deal”? : CASE HISTORIES
• 63A Pre-show training for a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune”? : SPIN CLASSES

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

Bill’s time: 6m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Entrepreneur Blakely who founded Spanx : SARA

Spanx is an underwear brand. Most Spanx garments are designed to make the wearer appear thinner. Spanx is a privately held company that was founded by entrepreneur Sara Blakely in 2000. Despite the success of the product line, there is some controversy. Spanx have been referred to as the corset of the modern era.

15 7UP nickname, with “the” : … UNCOLA

7UP was introduced to the world as “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda”, and was a patent medicine that contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug. The introduction of a mood-stabilizing medication was pretty timely, as the 1929 Wall Street Crash happened just two weeks later. 7UP’s “Uncola” advertising campaign dates back to 1967.

17 Mistake by a contestant on “The Price Is Right”? : COST OVERRUN

“The Price is Right” game show started airing in its current format in 1972, with Bob Barker hosting. Drew Carey took over as host in 2007. There was an earlier version of the show that had a somewhat different format, and it aired from 1956 to 1965. Apparently, “The Price is Right” is the longest running TV game show in the world.

20 Blazer fabric : TWEED

Tweed is a rough woolen fabric that is very much associated with Scotland in the UK, and with County Donegal in Ireland. The cloth was originally called “tweel”, the Scots word for “twill”. Apparently a London merchant misinterpreted some handwriting in the early 1800s and assumed the fabric was called “tweed”, a reference to the Scottish River Tweed, and the name stuck …

A blazer is a less formal version of a suit jacket, usually one with a less formal cut and often metal buttons. The original “blazer” was a red jacket worn by members of the rowing club at Cambridge University in England. The “blazer” is so called because the Cambridge version was “blazing red” in color.

21 Betty or Veronica : TEEN

Archie Andrews is the main character in a comic book series introduced in 1941 by Archie Comics. Archie was such a successful character that he went on to appear in a radio series, a syndicated comic strip and two television cartoon shows. Famously, Archie got himself in a love triangle with Betty Cooper, the girl next door, and Veronica Lodge, the only child of the richest man in town.

22 Edelweiss range : ALPS

“Edelweiss” is a celebrated song from the 1959 Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein musical “The Sound of Music”. The title is the name of a white flower that grows at high altitude in the Alps. “Edelweiss” was the last song that Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote together. Hammerstein was suffering from stomach cancer at the time of writing, and succumbed to the illness shortly after “The Sound of Music” opened on Broadway.

23 __ Bravo : RIO

“Rio Bravo” is a Western movie from 1959 directed by the great Howard Hawks. “Rio Bravo” has an impressive cast including John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Angie Dickinson and Walter Brennan. The film was made as a “response” to “High Noon” and is considered on one level to be a criticism of McCarthyism and the days of the Hollywood blacklists.

25 Like neither Jack nor Jill, apparently : AGILE

The “Jack and Jill” nursery rhyme dates back at least to the 1700s:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

27 Very long response by a contestant on “Jeopardy!”? : ESSAY QUESTION

The TV show “Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But, it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big times. Trebek was host from 1984 until his sad passing in 2020.

35 Computer shortcut : MACRO

A macroinstruction (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

38 Pecks and pounds : UNITS

A peck is a dry measure of volume equal to a quarter of a bushel. The term can be used figuratively to mean a considerable quantity in general, as in the phrase “a peck of trouble”.

41 Rocky __ : ROAD

The flavor of ice cream known as rocky road is made using chocolate ice cream mixed with nuts and marshmallows. The exact origin of the flavor seems to be disputed, but one story is that William Dreyer invented it in 1929, chopping up walnuts and marshmallows with sewing scissors belonging to his wife.

47 Prior results considered by a contestant on “Deal or No Deal”? : CASE HISTORIES

The TV game show that is called “Deal or No Deal” in the US is shown all around the world in local versions. The original version of the show was developed in the Netherlands as “Miljoenenjacht” (Hunt for Millions).

53 “Uptown Funk” singer Bruno : MARS

“Uptown Funk” is a 2014 song released by Mark Ronson and featuring Bruno Mars. It was a huge hit, and broke the record for the most streamed musical track in the US in one week. There was some controversy following the song’s release, due to claims of similarities with the 2015 song “Oops Up Side Your Head”. A lawsuit resulted in the addition of co-writers to the credits for “Uptown Funk”, and a transfer of 17% of the song’s royalties.

55 North African seaport : ORAN

Oran lies on the Algerian coast, and is famous for being the port where the French Navy was largely destroyed by the British during WWII in order to avoid the French vessels falling into the hands of Nazi Germany after France surrendered. This decisive and unexpected unilateral action by the British sent a very strong message around the world that Britain was willing to fight alone against the axis powers if necessary.

63 Pre-show training for a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune”? : SPIN CLASSES

Contestants have been spinning the “Wheel of Fortune” since the game show first aired in 1975.

Exercise classes that feature indoor cycling are usually referred to as “spin classes”. Apparently, “spinning” is a trademarked term owned by a company called Mad Dogg Athletics. That said, there are a lot of folks out there using “spinning” as a generic term.

70 2019 World Series champs : NATS

The 2019 World Series was played between the American League’s Houston Astros and the National League’s Washington Nationals. The Nationals emerged victorious, and were crowned champions for the first time. The last time a D.C. team won the world series was back in 1924, when the Washington Senators beat the New York Giants.

Down

5 Explorer, e.g. : SUV

The Ford Explorer SUV was introduced in 1990, and is still going strong. The same car has been sold as the Mercury Mountaineer and the Lincoln Aviator.

6 Tech review site : CNET

CNET is an excellent technology website. It started out in 1994 as a television network specializing in technology news. The host of “American Idol”, Ryan Seacrest, started off his career as host of a CNET show.

8 Mad scientist in an H.G. Wells classic : MOREAU

“The Island of Doctor Moreau” is an 1896 novel penned by H. G. Wells. The book tells the story of a shipwrecked man who ends up on the island of Doctor Moreau. Moreau engages in vivisection and creates new beasts (the “Beast Folk”) by combining different species. The novel was adapted into at least two films of the same name: in 1977 with Burt Lancaster and Michael York, and in 1996 with Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

10 Hokkaido honorific : SAN

Hokkaido is the second largest island in Japan, after Honshu. It lies to the north of the country, and its largest city is the capital, Sapporo.

11 Billy Porter and Lady Gaga, for two : STYLE ICONS

Actor Billy Porter really garnered public attention when he originated the role of “Lola” in the musical “Kinky Boots” on Broadway in 2013. He also won an Emmy in 2019 for his work on the TV show “Pose”. His first TV appearance was on the talent show “Star Search”. Porter appeared in the same episode as aspiring singer Britney Spears.

“Lady Gaga” is the stage name of Stefani Germanotta. Germanotta is a big fan of the band Queen, and she took her stage name from the marvelous Queen song titled “Radio Ga Ga”.

18 Pindar, for one : ODIST

Pindar was an ancient Greek poet who is best known perhaps for composing a series of “Victory Odes” that celebrated triumph in competition, most notably the Olympian Games of the day.

22 Communion table : ALTAR

The Communion rite is part of the Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition. The rite involves distribution of the Communion bread (the host, a wafer) to the faithful.

31 Lymph __ : NODE

Lymph is a fluid that exists alongside blood in the body that is transported through lymph vessels. One of the functions of the system is to pick up bacteria in the body, transporting them to lymph nodes where they are destroyed by lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Lymph can also carry metastatic cancer cells that can lodge in lymph nodes, making lymph nodes a common site where tumors may be found growing.

32 Footwear sometimes decorated with charms : CROC

Crocs are foam clogs that were originally designed as shoes to be worn at health spas. I recently bought my first pair of crocs, and now my kids won’t talk to me …

45 Mazda two-seater : MIATA

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan. The name “Miata” comes from an Old High German word meaning “reward”.

50 New Jersey township named for an inventor : EDISON

The township of Edison, New Jersey was established as Raritan Township in 1870, but changed its name to Edison in 1954. That change was in honor of inventor Thomas Edison who worked in the Menlo Park section of the township. The motto appearing on the town seal is “Let There be Light”.

56 Photographer Geddes : ANNE

Anne Geddes is a portrait photographer from Australia, now based in New York City, who is known for her photographs of babies and infants. One of the secrets of her success in working with babies is to have them pose in the morning, when they are well rested. She also limits each sitting to about 30 minutes, ending before the model gets fussy. Clever …

59 K2 locale : ASIA

K2 is the second highest mountain on the planet (at 28, 251 ft), with Mount Everest being higher by over 700 feet. Located on the China-Pakistan border, K2 is known as the “Savage Mountain” as it is relatively difficult to climb. 1 in 4 mountaineers who have attempted to reach the summit have perished. It had never been climbed in winter until relatively recently (in 2021 by a team of Nepalese climbers). The name K2 dates back to what was called the Great Trigonometric Survey, a British survey of the geography of India carried out during the 19th century. Included in this survey were the heights of many of the Himalayan peaks, including Everest. The original surveyor, Thomas Montgomerie, included two peaks he first called K1 and K2. He discovered later that the locals called K1 Masherbrum (the 22nd highest mountain in the world), but the remote K2 had no local name that he could find, so it was christened Mount Godwin-Austen. This name was rejected by the Royal Geographic Society although it does still appear on some maps. So, the most common name used is K2, that original notation in a surveyor’s notebook.

63 Eric Dickerson’s alma mater: Abbr. : SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas) and was founded in 1911. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Mustangs. Also, SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

Eric Dickerson is a retired NFL player. He set the league’s single-season rushing record (2,105 yards) in 1984. Because he was short-sighted, he wore prescription goggles for his whole professional career.

64 Primus lead singer Claypool : LES

Bass guitarist Les Claypool is best known as the founder and lead singer of the band Primus. He also performs as part of a duo with Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, under the name the Claypool Lennon Delirium.