Category: August Miller

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Constructed by: August Miller
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Cheese Filling

Themed answers each include a CHEESE as a hidden word, a FILLING:

• 33A Ravioli option, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have? : CHEESE FILLING

• 17A *Fruit pastry : APRICOT TART (RICOTTA filling)
• 28A *”Star Wars” role for Oscar Isaac : POE DAMERON (EDAM filling)
• 42A *Array in some wine bars : CAFE TABLES (FETA filling)
• 54A *Unwanted color fluctuations, in digital photography : CHROMA NOISE (ROMANO filling)

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

Bill’s time: 10m 52s

Bill’s errors: 2

• POE DAMERON (Poe Dameran)
• LATINO (Latina)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Sandwich initials : BLT

Meats placed between slices of bread was first called a sandwich in the 18th century, named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich. The earl was fond of eating “sandwiches” while playing cards at his club.

14 Pianist Gilels : EMIL

Emil Gilels was a pianist from the Soviet Union who was born in Odessa (now part of Ukraine). Gilels was one of the first musicians allowed to perform concerts outside of the Eastern Bloc. His debut appearance in Philadelphia with Eugene Ormandy was a resounding success.

15 Disinfectant brand : CLOROX

Clorox bleach was first produced by a business called the Electro-Alkaline Company in 1913, just a few miles from where I used to live on San Francisco Bay. I used a generic version of Clorox as the source of chlorine for my swimming pool for many years. It’s the same chemical solution as that sold for pools, just half as concentrated and a lot cheaper!

16 __ de parfum : EAU

In the world of perfumery, eau de parfum (EdP) is generally more concentrated than eau de toilette (EdT), which in turn is generally more concentrated than eau de cologne (EdC).

17 *Fruit pastry : APRICOT TART (RICOTTA filling)

Although the apricot originated in Central Asia and China, the fruit is commonly associated with Armenia, where it has been cultivated for centuries. For that reason, the most common cultivar has the Latin name “Prunus armeniaca”.

Ricotta is an Italian cheese made from the milk of a sheep or a cow. It is produced from the whey of the milk, the liquid left after the curds have been separated out (curds are used to make “traditional” cheese). The whey is heated again so that the remaining protein precipitates out, producing ricotta cheese. The word “ricotta” literally means “recooked”, which makes sense to me now …

20 Stan Musial’s nickname : THE MAN

Stan Musial was a baseball player who went by the nickname “Stan the Man”, a moniker he was awarded by the Brooklyn Dodgers fans in 1946. Off the field, Stan was quite the harmonica player.

21 Tile type : CERAMIC

A ceramic is a hard, heat- and corrosion-resistant material that is strong in compression but has a low tensile strength. Most ceramics are inorganic, non-metallic chemicals. As an aside, I have a degree in ceramics, believe it or not, after writing a thesis on the material used to make refrigerator magnets. Sad, really …

23 Noodles that may be topped with chashu : RAMEN

Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.

In Japanese cuisine, “chasu” is barbecued pork that has been rolled into a log and braised slowly at a low temperature. It is seasoned and sliced, often as a topping for ramen.

26 Colleague of Sonia and Ketanji : ELENA

Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States from 2009 until 2010, when she replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the first female US Solicitor General and the fourth female US Supreme Court justice. Kagan also served as the first female dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009.

Sonia Sotomayor was the first Hispanic justice appointed to the US Supreme Court, and the third female justice. Sotomayor was nominated by President Barack Obama to replace the retiring Justice David Souter in 2009. She is the subject of a picture book in the series “Ordinary People Change the World” by Brad Meltzer. “I Am Sonia Sotomayor” was published in 2018.

Nominated by President Joe Biden, Ketanji Brown Jackson succeeded Associate Justice Stephen Breyer on the US Supreme Court in 2022. In doing so, she became the first Black woman to serve on the court. Jackson clerked for Justice Breyer, from 1999 to 2000.

27 Great Basin people : UTES

The Great Basin is a large region of the US covering most of Nevada, much of Utah and some parts of Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon and California. The 200,000 square mile area drains internally, with all precipitation sinking underground or flowing into lakes. Most of the lakes in the Great Basin are saline, including the Great Salt Lake, Pyramid Lake and the Humboldt Sink.

28 *”Star Wars” role for Oscar Isaac : POE DAMERON (EDAM filling)

Oscar Isaac is an actor from Guatemala who was raised in Miami. Before acting, Isaac played lead guitar in his own band called the Blinking Underdogs. Isaac portrayed X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in several of the “Star Wars” movies.

Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

30 Start of an early Grafton title : B IS …

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “’A’ Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “‘Y’ is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

33 Ravioli option, and what the answers to the starred clues literally have? : CHEESE FILLING

Ravioli (singular “raviolo”) are filled dumplings served in Italian cuisine.

40 Organic lip balm brand : EOS

eos Products is a company that was founded in 2006 in New York City. eoS sells beauty products such as lotions and creams, and is most famous for its lip balm. The initials “eos” stand for “Evolution of Smooth”.

42 *Array in some wine bars : CAFE TABLES (FETA filling)

Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep and goat’s milk. The cheese is salted and cured in a brine solution for several months before it is eaten.

46 John Irving title character : GARP

John Irving’s 1978 novel “The World According to Garp” is somewhat biographical. In fact, Irving’s mother found parts of the novel difficult to read, recognizing elements of herself in Garp’s mother Jenny Fields.

48 Letters between names : AKA

Also known as (aka)

49 “__ and Bess” : PORGY

“Porgy and Bess” is an opera with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin, and libretto by DuBose Heyward. The storyline of the opera is based on the novel “Porgy” written by DuBose Heyward and his wife Dorothy. “Porgy and Bess” was first performed in 1935, in New York City, but really wasn’t accepted as legitimate opera until 1976 after a landmark production by the Houston Grand Opera. The most famous song from the piece is probably the wonderful aria “Summertime”.

54 *Unwanted color fluctuations, in digital photography : CHROMA NOISE (ROMANO filling)

“Romano” is actually an American term, and is used for a selection of hard and salty cheeses that are typically grated. One of these cheeses is the Italian Pecorino Romano, from which we get the more generic term “Romano”.

58 Big name in single-serve coffee makers : KEURIG

A K-Cup is a single-portion cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate in which the beverage is prepared in situ. K-Cup packs are used with brewing machines made by Keurig, a manufacturer of coffee brewers based in Reading, Massachusetts. Personally, I use a Nespresso machine …

59 Durian feature : ODOR

Durian is a tropical fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. It has a spiky outer shell and a creamy, custard-like flesh that can vary in color from yellow to orange. Durian is known for its strong odor, which has been described as everything from rotten eggs to turpentine. Some people love the smell, while others find it offensive. The smell can be so offensive that it is illegal to carry durian on the Singapore subway system.

60 Filmmaker Lee : ANG

Ang Lee is a Taiwanese-born filmmaker who has directed several critically acclaimed and commercially successful movies. He has worked in a variety of genres, including romantic comedies (“Sense and Sensibility”), dramas (“Brokeback Mountain”), and superhero movies (“Hulk”).

61 Lively Brazilian dances : SAMBAS

The samba is a Brazilian dance that is very much symbolic of the festival of Carnival. Like so much culture around the world, the samba has its roots in Africa, as the dance is derived from dances performed by former slaves who migrated into urban Rio de Janeiro in the late 1800s. The exact roots of the name “samba” seem to have been lost in the mists of time. However, my favorite explanation is that it comes from an African Kikongo word “semba” which means “a blow struck with the belly button”. We don’t seem to have a need for such a word in English …

5 Glue trap brand : D-CON

d-CON is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years. The name is an abbreviation for “decontamination”. The d-CON Company was founded in 1950 by Chicago businessman Lee Ratner; yes, “Ratner” …

6 Secondary RPG character : ALT

In a role-playing game (RPG), an alternate character (alt, alt char) is a character in addition to one’s “primary” or “main” player character.

7 Droid : BOT

A bot is a computer program designed to imitate human behavior. It might crawl around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses. It might also act as a competitor in a computer game.

“Droid” is short for “android” and is used to describe a robot that resembles a human. The Latin word “androides” was used in English in the 18th century to mean “like a man”. Science fiction writers introduced us to “android” in the early 1950s.

11 High-end wheels, informally : BEEMER

The initialism “BMW” stands for “Bayerische Motoren Werke”, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW was making aircraft engines during WWI, but had to cease that activity according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The company then started making motorcycles, and moved into automobile production starting in 1928. BMW moved back into aircraft engine manufacturing during the build-up of the Luftwaffe prior to WWII.

13 “Under the __ Sun”: Frances Mayes memoir set in Italy : TUSCAN

“Under the Tuscan Sun” is a 1996 memoir by Frances Mayes. It tells the story of Mayes’s decision to buy and renovate an abandoned villa in the Tuscan countryside, and her subsequent experiences living in Italy. The book was a New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years, and was adapted into an excellent 2003 film of the same name, with Diane Lane playing Mayes.

22 Soccer Hall of Famer Lalas : ALEXI

Alexi Lalas is a former international soccer player from Birmingham, Michigan. Lalas appeared for the US national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup that was hosted by the United States.

25 Fairies and sprites, quaintly : WEE FOLK

A sprite is an elfin or fairy-like creature of European myth. The term “sprite” comes from the Latin “spiritus” meaning “spirit”.

28 Fare for one who’s carbo-loading : PASTA

Only relatively small amounts of carbohydrate can be stored by the human body, but those stores are important. The actual storage molecule is a starch-like polysaccharide called glycogen, which is found mainly in the liver and muscles. Glycogen is a quick source of energy when required by the body. Most of the body’s energy is stored in the form of fat, a more compact substance that is mobilized less rapidly. Endurance athletes often eat meals high in carbohydrates (carbo-loading) a few hours before an event, so that their body’s glycogen is at optimum levels.

31 Basking spots for cold-blooded pets : HEAT ROCKS

Our verb “to bask”, meaning “to expose one to pleasant warmth”, is derived from the gruesome, 14th-century term “basken”, meaning “to wallow in blood”. The contemporary usage apparently originated with Shakespeare, who employed “bask” with reference to sunshine in “As You Like It”.

34 Foil alternatives : EPEES

Before the foil was introduced as a sporting weapon, it was used as a blunted weapon for sword practice. It has been suggested that the sword was blunted by wrapping metal foil around the tip, hence the name.

35 Maker of SEKTION kitchen cabinets : IKEA

IKEA introduced the SEKTION line of kitchen cabinets in 2915. The Swedish word “sektion” translates as, wait for it … “section”.

36 Lunar hemisphere visible from Earth : NEAR SIDE

The Moon’s rotation is locked with the Earth’s orbit, meaning that we on Earth always see the same side of the Moon. The side that we see is known as the Moon’s near side. The side that we don’t see is the Moon’s far side. The first photographs of the far side of the Moon were taken in 1959 by the Soviet probe Luna 3.

41 Classic Porsches : SPYDERS

A roadster is a two-seater car with an open body and a sporty appearance. The term “roadster” is American in origin, and was first used back in the 19th century to describe a horse that was used when traveling by road. Roadsters are sometimes referred to as spiders (also “spyders”).

Porsche was founded in 1931 in Stuttgart, Germany by Professor Ferdinand Porsche. The company didn’t produce cars at first, but worked on design and development. The first big job awarded to the company was from the German government, to design a car for the people. The result was the Volkswagen Beetle. Yep, the Beetle/Bug is a Porsche design.

42 Noisy bug : CICADA

Cicadas are insects that are found all over the world. Although they resemble locusts, cicadas are an unrelated family. The name “cicada” is Latin and translated as “tree cricket”. However, the name is imitative of the clicking sound the insect makes using parts of its exoskeleton known as “tymbals”.

43 Shrewdness : ACUMEN

“Acumen” is such a lovely word, I think, one meaning “keenness of judgment or insight”. “Acumen” is Latin for “point, sting”, the idea being that someone with acumen has mental sharpness.

44 Process after glazing : FIRING

A glaze is a vitreous (glassy) layer applied to the external surface of a ceramic object. Glazes can have several functions. They are often decorative, and can render an object less prone to damage. They can also make porous objects suitable for holding liquids.

45 Distillate used as an aftershave : BAY RUM

Bay rum is a distillate from rum and the leaves of the Indian bay tree that is used as a cologne or aftershave. It has been used since the 16th century, initially by sailors in the West Indies who found that it masked the natural “scent” they exuded after months at sea. At first, it was just the dry leaves that were used on the skin, and then the leaves were soaked in rum to extract the essential oils.

51 Seehorn of “Better Call Saul” : RHEA

Rhea Seehorn is an actress best known for playing lawyer Kim Wexler in the TV crime drama “Better Call Saul”. Seehorn’s birth name is Deborah Rhea, but she opted to use her middle name at a young age (which she pronounces as “Ray”).

56 Soccer star Hamm : MIA

Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player. She played as a forward on the US national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm scored 158 international goals, which was more than any other player in the world, male or female, until the record was broken in 2013. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.