Category: Andrew Gutelle

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Constructed by: Betsy Ochester & Andrew Gutelle

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: A.I. Applications

Themed answers are common phrases in which an “A” has been inserted before an “I”:

• 23A Concern over travel plans to Portland, Oregon? : THAT’S NOT MAINE (that’s not mine)
• 39A Tumbler that needs a deep clean? : TAINTED GLASS (tinted glass)
• 45A Gets design help from an M.C. Escher-loving architect? : GOES STAIR CRAZY (goes stir crazy)
• 63A Warning about interns hired every spring? : BEWARE THE AIDES OF MARCH (beware the ides of March)
• 83A Talk into a pay hike? : GET A RAISE OUT OF (get a rise out of)
• 91A Jewelry store section for May birthday gifts? : EMERALD AISLE (Emerald Isle)
• 111A Was a complete disappointment as a nanny? : FAILED CHARGES (filed charges)

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

Bill’s time: 15m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A L’Oreal’s Telescopic, e.g. : MASCARA

L’Oréal is a French cosmetics company, the largest cosmetics and beauty company in the world. Here in the US, L’Oréal runs a “Women of Worth” program that honors women who volunteer in their communities. The phrase “Women of Worth” underlines the longstanding L’Oréal slogan “Because I’m worth it”, which evolved into “Because you’re worth it” and eventually “Because we’re worth it”.

8A Stanley of “The Devil Wears Prada 2” : TUCCI

Stanley Tucci is a UK-based American actor. Of his many fine performances, my favorite is in 2009’s “Julie & Julia”, a film in which he plays the husband of celebrity chef Julia Child. Tucci is quite the cook himself in real life and released “The Tucci Cookbook” in 2012. He was also a co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York.

“The Devil Wears Prada 2” came out a full two decades after the 2006 original, with lead actors Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway perhaps the most hesitant about committing to a sequel. Author Lauren Weisberger came out with her followup to the original 2003 novel a little sooner, as “Revenge Wears Prada: The Devil Returns” hit the shelves in 2013.

13A Beehive sound : HUM

A beehive is a structure specially built to house a colony of bees. A bee colony that houses itself naturally is found in a nest.

20A Tea region of India : ASSAM

Assam, located in northeastern India, is the largest tea-producing state in the country. It is also famous for its silk production, particularly the golden muga silk.

23A Concern over travel plans to Portland, Oregon? : THAT’S NOT MAINE (that’s not mine)

Portland is the largest city in Maine, and home to over a third of the state’s population. The name of Portland was chosen in 1786, a reference to the Isle of Portland, which is the southernmost point in the county of Dorset, England.

Portland is the largest city in Oregon. It was founded by two claimholders from back East, one from Boston, Massachusetts and one from Portland, Maine. Both of the founders wanted to name the new city after their hometowns, and settled the dilemma with a coin toss. Portland won …

25A Souvenir shop items : T-SHIRTS

A souvenir is a memento, a token of remembrance. We imported “souvenir” from French, in which language it has the same meaning. The term comes from the Latin “subvenire” meaning “to come to mind”, or literally “to come up”.

28A South Pacific nation now known as the Republic of Naoero : NAURU

Nauru is the world’s smallest island nation, and is located in the South Pacific 300 km to the west of Kiribati. The island was taken as a colony by Germany in the late 1800s, and came under the administration of Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom after WWI. The Japanese invaded during WWII, but Nauru was one of the islands that was bypassed in the US advance across the Pacific towards Japan. Nauru achieved independence in 1968.

30A Activewear brand : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avis” is the Latin word for “bird”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

35A Gumshoes : TECS

“Gumshoe” is a slang word used for a private detective or private investigator (P.I.). Apparently the term dates back to the early 1900s, and refers to the rubber-soled shoes popular with private detectives at that time.

36A Song that tells a story : BALLAD

Our “ballad”, meaning “narrative song”, came into English from the French “ballade”, meaning “dancing song”. The French term derives from the Latin verb “ballare” meaning “to dance”.

39A Tumbler that needs a deep clean? : TAINTED GLASS (tinted glass)

A tumbler is a glass. Back in the 1660s a tumbler was a glass with a rounded or pointed base so that it could not be put down without spilling its contents, as it would “tumble” over. The idea was that one had to drink up before putting the glass down.

42A Social app with a synagogue directory : JDATE

Spark Networks is a company that owns several special-interest dating sites online. The most famous is probably ChristianMingle.com, but there is also BlackSingles.com, LDSSingles.com, JDate.com and CatholicMingle.com.

45A Gets design help from an M.C. Escher-loving architect? : GOES STAIR CRAZY (goes stir crazy)

M. C. Escher was a graphic artist from the Netherlands. Escher was noted for creating works inspired by mathematics, often works that were physical impossibilities. One such work is “Drawing Hands” (1948) in which a pair of hands emerge from a piece of paper and actually draw themselves. He also created a drawing in which a group of red ants are crawling around a Möbius strip, never reaching the end.

The slang word “stir”, meaning “prison”, probably has its roots in the Start, Newgate Prison in London, where “Stir” was a nickname for the establishment.

50A King with a golden touch : MIDAS

King Midas of Greek mythology might be termed an alchemist as he had the power to turn everything he touched into gold i.e. the Midas touch. That power became a curse, as everything he touched turned to gold, including his food and drink, and even his children.

55A Texting tech : SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is the name for the text messaging service that many of us still use on our cell phones to contact friends and family.

58A Dress top : BODICE

A bodice is the upper part of a dress. In earlier times, a bodice was a corset or stays. Strangely enough, “bodice” is a variant of “bodies”, the plural of “body”. In the 16th century, a “body” was a two-part corset that fastened in the middle.

59A Mass. neighbor : CONN

The Connecticut-Massachusetts stateline is interrupted by a geographic anomaly known as the “Southwick Jog”, a 2.5-square-mile rectangular chunk of Massachusetts dipping down into what would otherwise be a straight, east-west dividing line. The quirk stems from a pair of 17th-century surveying errors that placed the boundary further south than intended. After more than a century of territorial disputes, the two states finally reached an 1804 compromise that permanently granted the small jog to Massachusetts.

62A High-end Italian shoe brand : TOD’S

Tod’s is a luxury Italian fashion company founded in 1920 that is best known these days for its shoes. The “Tod’s” label came, not from a family namesake, but rather from a random Boston telephone directory. In the 1970s, CEO Diego Della Valle sought an easy-to-pronounce, American-sounding name to attract high-end New York consumers, arbitrarily selecting “J.P. Tod’s” before eventually dropping the initials in 1999.

63A Warning about interns hired every spring? : BEWARE THE AIDES OF MARCH (beware the ides of March)

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed leader to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

70A Actor Guinness : ALEC

Sir Alec Guinness played many great roles over a long and distinguished career, but nowadays is best remembered (sadly, I think) for playing the original Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars”. He won his only Best Actor Oscar for playing Colonel Nicholson in the marvelous 1957 WWII movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. Guinness himself served during the Second World War, in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He commanded a landing craft during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

71A Takes by force : USURPS

To usurp is to seize and hold by force. The term “usurp” comes to us from Latin via French, from “usus” (a use) and “rapere” (to seize).

72A “Walkabout” director Nicolas : ROEG

Nicolas Roeg is a film director from England with quite the pedigree when it comes to association with great movies. He contributed to 1962’s “Lawrence of Arabia”, and he himself directed noted films like “Walkabout” (1971), “Don’t Look Now” (1973) and “The Man Who Fell to Earth” (1976).

“Walkabout” is an interesting 1971 film set in Australia that stars English actress Jenny Agutter. The movie is about a teenage girl and her young brother who are stranded in the Australian outback. They are rescued by an Aboriginal youth who then wanders with them through the desert landscape. The young brother is played by Luc Roeg, the son of Nicolas Roeg who directed the film.

73A Nicki Minaj genre : HIP-HOP

Nicki Minaj is a rapper from the New York borough of Queens who was born in Trinidad.

75A Long of “Michael” : NIA

Nia Long is an actress who is probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

The 2026 biographical drama “Michael” chronicles the life of pop icon Michael Jackson from his early days in the Jackson 5 through the 1980s Bad World Tour, his first concert tour as a solo artist. The film generated a lot of buzz, partly because Jackson is portrayed by his real-life nephew Jaafar Jackson, son of Jermaine Jackson.

79A Sparky the Sun Devil’s sch. : ASU

Sparky the Sun Devil is the official, pitchfork-wielding mascot of Arizona State University. He was created in 1946 by a former Walt Disney illustrator, and sports a maroon and gold costume, pointed tail, and a mustache-sporting grin. Rumor has it that Sparky’s facial features were modeled on those of Walt Disney himself.

89A Heart throb? : PULSE

One’s pulse is the rhythmic throbbing of arteries that is usually detected at the wrist or the neck. The contraction of the heart creates a pressure wave in the blood that moves the arterial walls, which is detected as the pulse.

91A Jewelry store section for May birthday gifts? : EMERALD AISLE (Emerald Isle)

Ireland is often referred to as “the Emerald Isle” (and described as “green”). There is a common misconception that the association with the color green is because of all that green grass that grows due to the seemingly non-stop rain. However, the use of green has more political overtones, as it is associated with many of the rebellions against British colonial rule over the centuries.

98A MC alternative : AMEX

Mastercard is a financial services company that is headquartered in Harrison, New York. The company was originally called Master Charge and was set up by a group of California banks to compete with BankAmericard (which later became Visa).

99A Pro-am, for one : TOURNEY

“Tourney” is another word for “tournament”. The term comes from the Old French word “tornei” meaning “contest of armed men”, which itself is from “tornoier” meaning “to joust, tilt”.

102A Maki roll wrap : NORI

When I’m thinking of sushi, I’m really picturing “makizushi” (also “maki”), which is fish, vegetables and sushi rice combined in layers and rolled up in seaweed. “Makizushi” translates from Japanese as “rolled sushi”.

103A Clue board areas : ROOMS

Clue is a board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

105A “Blame It on the Bossa __” : NOVA

“Blame It on the Bossa Nova” is a 1963 song that was a big hit for Eydie Gormé. It’s all about a couple in a romantic relationship dancing the bossa nova, the “dance of love”.

109A “The Firm” novelist : GRISHAM

John Grisham is a lawyer and an incredibly successful author best known for his legal thrillers. After graduating from law school, Grisham practiced law for about ten years and then went into politics. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives for six years, during which time he wrote his first novel: “A Time to Kill”.

“The Firm” is the book that brought John Grisham his first success, although it was the second novel that he wrote. The first was “A Time to Kill”, which garnered a lot more attention after “The Firm” took off. Personally, my favorite of his novels is “Runaway Jury”. “The Firm” was made into a 1993 film with Tom Cruise playing the lead. The film didn’t deliver as well as the book, I thought …

117A “Erin Brockovich” Oscar winner : ROBERTS

Hollywood actress Julia Roberts is from Smyrna, Georgia. Roberts got her big break after starring opposite Richard Gere in the 1990 romantic comedy “Pretty Woman”. She was paid $300,000 for her performance in “Pretty Woman”, a little less than the $25 million paycheck she was to earn for appearing in 2003’s “Mona Lisa Smile”. Roberts was married for a couple of years to country singer Lyle Lovett, and her older brother is actor Eric Roberts.

Erin Brockovich is an environmental activist who is famous for the role she played in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating drinking water. Her story was told in a 2000 film titled “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts in the title role. Brockovich herself actually appeared in the film, as she was given a cameo as a waitress in a restaurant scene.

119A “Chopped” host Allen : TED

“Chopped” is a cooking game show on the Food Network that is hosted by Ted Allen, formerly of “Queer Eye”. Four chefs compete in a three-round contest, preparing dishes using a mystery basket of ingredients.

121A Three-syllable poetic foot : ANAPEST

“Anapest” is the name given to a metrical foot in poetry, one in which two unstressed syllables are followed by a stressed one. Indeed, the name “anapest” is a good example, when pronounced an-a-pest. Here is a better example of a verse using anapest, so let’s all say it out loud together! “‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house”.

Down

3D Comics icon Lee : STAN

Stan Lee was an American comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer, who is best known for co-creating many of Marvel Comics’ most iconic superheroes, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, and Black Panther.

4D Jeers : CATCALLS

Back in the 1700s, a catcall was a noise-making device, one that emitted a squeak resembling that of an angry cat, hence the name. The device was used by unhappy audiences in play-houses to express dissatisfaction at the performers.

5D Burro : ASS

“Burro” is a Spanish word meaning “donkey”, and a term that we’ve imported into English with the same meaning. In turn, “burro” comes from the Latin “burricus” meaning “small horse”. Burros originated in North Africa and around the Mediterranean, and were brought to the Americas by Spanish explorers.

9D Katie Ledecky’s Olympic team: Abbr. : USA

Katie Ledecky is a swimmer who won her first Olympic gold medal at just 15 years of age, in the 800-meter freestyle. In 2016, Ledecky also became the youngest person to make “Time” magazine’s “Time 100” annual list of most influential people in the American world. Katie’s uncle is Jon Ledecky, an owner of the New York Islanders hockey team.

10D Forensic drama franchise : CSI

I quite enjoy the “CSI” franchise of television shows, all except “CSI: Miami”. I find the character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. “CSI: Miami” was canceled in 2012. No loss …

13D Dragsters : HOT RODS

A hot rod is an American car that has been modified for speed by installing a larger than normal engine. A street rod is generally a more comfortable type of hot rod, with the emphasis less on the engine and more on custom paint jobs and interiors. By definition, a street rod must be based on an automobile design that originated prior to 1949.

Back in the 18th century, “drag” was slang for a wagon or buggy, as it was “dragged” along by a horse or horses. In the 1930s, the underworld adopted “drag” as slang for an automobile. This sense of the word was imported into automobile racing in the 1940s, giving the name to “drag racing”. A drag race is basically a competition between two cars to determine which can accelerate faster from a standstill.

17D Some creepy stories : ATTICS

An attic or loft is a room or space located below the roof of a building. The term “attic” is a shortened form of “attic story”, the uppermost story or level of a house. This term “attic story” originally applied to a low, decorative level built on top of the uppermost story behind a building’s decorative facade. This use of decoration at the top of buildings was common in ancient Greece, and was particularly important in the Attica style. That Attica style was so called because it originated in the historical region of Attica that encompassed the city of Athens. And that’s how our attics are linked to ancient Greece.

22D Vaquero’s lasso : RIATA

The Spanish suffix “-ero” can be added to a noun to describe someone who works with that “noun”. Examples would be a “vaquero” (a cowboy working with a “vaca”, a cow) and a “torero” (a bullfighter fighting a “toro”, a bull).

24D Co.’s protected symbols : TMS

Trademarks (TMs)

33D Louis Armstrong nickname : SATCH

Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans in 1901. Armstrong had a poor upbringing, and only stayed in school until he was 11 years old. The exact origin of Louis’s nickname “Satchmo” seems to be a little unclear. One story is that he used to dance for pennies in New Orleans as a youngster and would hide those pennies in his mouth away from the other kids. For this he earned the nickname “satchel mouth”, which was shortened to “Satchmo”.

40D Long ride, for short : LIMO

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

48D “The Wizard of Oz” farmhand : ZEKE

Zeke is the farmworker played by Bert Lahr in 1939’s “The Wizard of Oz”. He is the character who morphed into the Cowardly Lion in Dorothy’s dream.

49D First name in haute couture : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

“Haute couture”, literally “high dressmaking” in French, is a name given to the creation of exclusive fashions. A couturier is someone who creates or sells such fashions.

52D Last name in haute couture : DIOR

Christian Dior was a highly influential fashion designer who is widely credited with revolutionizing women’s fashion in the post-World War II era. Before he became a fashion designer, Dior worked as an art dealer, and he even ran his own art gallery for a time. There, he and a friend sold works by Pablo Picasso and others.

53D “Highway to Hell” band : AC/DC

1979’s “Highway to Hell” is the sixth album released by Australian hard rock band AC/DC, and it is also the breakthrough album that catapulted the group to international superstardom. Sadly, “Highway to Hell” was to be the last recording work of frontman Bon Scott, who died just months after the album’s release.

60D Fleur-de-__ : LIS

“Lys” (sometimes “lis”) is the French word for “lily” as in “fleur-de-lys”, the heraldic symbol often associated with the French monarchy.

63D Thai currency : BAHT

The baht is the currency of Thailand. One baht is subdivided into 100 satang.

64D Pixar film featuring a supercomputer named Ooooo : ELIO

“Elio” is a 2025 animated film about an 11-year-old boy named Elio who is mistakenly beamed up to an intergalactic “Communiverse” and forced to fake his way through being Earth’s official ambassador.

67D Cedar Point lake : ERIE

Cedar Point is an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio and is the second-oldest such park in the country that is still operating (the oldest is Lake Compounce in Bristol, Connecticut, which opened in 1846). Cedar Point is located on a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, and specializes in roller coasters.

77D Prime Day event : SALE

Prime is a paid subscription service offered by Amazon since 2005. Prime members have access to premium services such as expedited delivery, streaming music and streaming video. Amazon also holds an annual Prime Day, during which Prime members are offered deals on goods that are only available to subscribers.

78D Taylor Swift’s “__ the Damn Season” : ‘TIS

“‘Tis the Damn Season” is a track from Taylor Swift’s 2020 album, “Evermore”. The lyrics tell of a fictional Hollywood actress named Dorothea who returns to her small hometown for the winter holidays and temporarily rekindles a lingering and unresolved romance with an old flame. The song pairs with a later track on the album, “Dorothea” , that recounts the same weekend from the perspective of the hometown lover.

87D Daily grind : RAT RACE

We use “rat race” figuratively to describe an endless, pointless pursuit. The term comes from the laboratory, where one might imagine rats racing around a maze in search of some cheese.

94D Bert and Ernie, e.g. : DUO

For many years, I believed that the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie were named after two roles played in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, the policeman’s name is Bert and his taxi-driving buddy is named Ernie. However, the “Sesame Street” folks have stated that the use of the same names is just a coincidence. Aww, I don’t wanna believe that’s a coincidence …

97D Programming language with a reptilian name : PYTHON

Python is a computer language, apparently one that my computing son uses quite often. The developers of the language tried hard to make it fun to use, and even chose its name from the comedy show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

101D West African capital : ACCRA

Accra sits on Ghana’s coast and is a major seaport as well as the country’s capital city. The name “Accra” comes from a local word “Nkran” meaning “ants”, a name chosen because of the large number of anthills found in the area when the city was founded.

110D Billboard success : HIT

“Billboard” was founded way back in 1894 as a trade magazine for the advertising and bill posting industry. The editorial focus gradually moved towards music as phonographs, radios and the recorded music business took off in the early part of the 20th century. “Billboard” published its first “music hit parade” in 1936, and is now famous for its collection of lists that track music sales.

114D Legal org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)