Category: Brian Callahan

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Constructed by: Brian Callahan
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Inner Tube

Themed answers include an INNER “TV”:

• 57A Inflatable river float, or what the answers to 16-, 23-, 35-, and 46-Across have : INNER TUBE

• 16A TikTok posts by some pet owners : CAT VIDEOS
• 23A Tart sprinkle for fish and chips : MALT VINEGAR
• 35A Appraiser’s determination : FAIR MARKET VALUE
• 46A Ability to see in low light : NIGHT VISION

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

Bill’s time: 6m 27s

Bill’s errors: 2

• DEVITO (DaVito)
• BEENE (Beane)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Court sport, for short : BBALL

Basketball is truly a North American sport. It was created in 1891 by Canadian James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

6 Pen tip : NIB

“Nib” is a Scottish variant of the Old English word “neb”, with both meaning “beak of a bird”. This usage of “nib” as a beak dates back to the 14th century, with “nib” describing the tip of a pen or quill coming a little later, in the early 1600s.

15 Country between Togo and Nigeria : BENIN

The Republic of Benin is a country in West Africa. Benin used to be a French colony, and was known as Dahomey. Dahomey gained independence in 1975, and took the name Benin after the Bight of Benin, the body of water on which the country lies.

19 __ upon a time … : ONCE

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

21 Actor Danny in Jersey Mike’s ads : DEVITO

Danny DeVito’s big break as an actor came with the role of Louie De Palma on the sitcom “Taxi”. After parlaying his success on television into some major comic roles on the big screen, DeVito turned to producing. He co-founded the production company Jersey Films which made hit movies such as “Pulp Fiction” and “Garden State”. DeVito has been married to actress Rhea Perlman for well over 30 years.

Jersey Mike’s Subs is a chain of sandwich shops that was founded in 1956 in Point Pleasant, New Jersey as Mike’s Submarines. Peter Cancro, who had worked at the original Mike’s location, bought Mike’s Submarines shop in 1975. By 2015, Cancro had over 1,000 franchised locations.

23 Tart sprinkle for fish and chips : MALT VINEGAR

Our word “vinegar” comes from the French “vinaigre”, which means the same thing. “Vinaigre” comes from the French “vin” meaning “wine” and “aigre” meaning “sour”.

28 Indian lute : SITAR

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

30 Singer Yoko : ONO

Artist Yoko Ono operates the website ImaginePeace.com. I checked it out once and found these two lovely quotes:

• Imagine all the people living life in peace … John Lennon
• A dream you dream alone is only a dream, a dream you dream together is reality … Yoko Ono

31 Autumn : FALL

Here in the US, we tend to refer to the season following summer as “fall”. This name is short for “fall of the leaf”, referring to the loss of leaves by deciduous trees. The term “autumn” is a more common name used in Britain and Ireland instead of “fall”. However, back before the mid-1600s the term “fall” was in common use on the other side of the pond.

40 Mass. MLB team : BOS

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams and so command a large attendance, but only when on the road. The relatively small capacity of Boston’s Fenway Park, the team’s home since 1912, has dictated that every game the Red Sox have played there has been a sell-out from May of 2003 to April 2013. I had the pleasure of touring Fenway Park some years ago. It’s quite a place …

41 Ziff who’s infatuated with Marge Simpson : ARTIE

On the animated television show “The Simpsons”, there is a recurring character named Artie Ziff. Artie is an Internet entrepreneur who is infatuated with his former classmate Marge Simpson. Ziff is voiced by comic actor Jon Lovitz.

54 Knee injury initials : ACL

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four major ligaments that support the knee. It is located in the center of the knee and connects the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone).

56 Seize illegally : USURP

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).

60 Shar-__: wrinkly dog : PEI

The shar-pei breed of dog is one with a wrinkly face and really dark tongue. The breed originated in China, with “shar-pei” being the British spelling of the Cantonese name.

64 Small songbirds : WRENS

The wren is a small songbird belonging to the family troglodytidae and the genus troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests. Despite their small size, they are known for their loud and complex songs. Male wrens often sing to attract mates and to establish territory, They have been known to attack much larger birds that get too close to their nests.

Down

1 Turkey__: breakfast meat that’s both halal and kosher : BACON

“Halal” is a term describing an action or object that is permissible under Islamic Law. In particular “halal” is used to describe food that can be consumed. Anything that is not allowed is described as “haram”.

According to Jewish dietary laws, kosher food is fit to eat, and food that is not fit to eat is referred to as treif (or “tref”). The usage of “kosher” has extended to include anything considered legitimate.

2 Game of chance similar to bingo : BEANO

The game called Beano is a precursor to Bingo. Beano was so called as dried beans were used to cover the called numbers on a card.

8 Mass transit option : BUS

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a carriage “for all”.

11 Michelangelo sculpture in St. Peter’s : PIETA

The Pietà is a representation of the Virgin Mary holding in her arms the dead body of her son Jesus. The most famous Pietà is undoubtedly the sculpted rendition by Michelangelo that is located in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. That particular sculpture is thought to be the only work that Michelangelo signed. In some depictions of the Pietà, Mary and her son are surrounded by other figures from the New Testament. Such depictions are known as Lamentations.

12 Ewoks’ home : ENDOR

The fictional forested moon of Endor features prominently in the “Star Wars” movie “Return of the Jedi”. The moon is home to the race of furry aliens known as Ewoks. Filming for the forest scenes actually took place in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California.

15 Fashion designer Geoffrey : BEENE

Geoffrey Beene was an American fashion designer. He had an impressive list of clients that included First Ladies Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan. He had a very successful line of clothing called “Beene Bag”.

21 Hunk of turf : DIVOT

A divot is a chunk of grass and earth that is removed by a golf club immediately after striking the ball. “Divot” is derived from a Scottish word for a piece of turf or sod used as a roofing material.

26 Players who have mastered the art of the deal? : CARD SHARKS

A “card sharp” is someone who is skilled and deceptive with playing cards, particularly when playing gambling games like poker. It seems that the term “card sharp” predates the related “card shark”, both of which have the same meaning.

28 NorCal airport : SFO

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) served as the main base of operations for Virgin America (sold to Alaska Airlines), and is also the maintenance hub for United Airlines. Even though SFO is owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport is located to the south in San Mateo County.

29 Suffix with Dickens or Orwell : -IAN

Charles Dickens was an English novelist who achieved great success in his own time, and is still regarded as perhaps the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Many of his novels explored the plight of the poor in Victorian society, perhaps driven by his own experiences as a child. Dickens had to leave school to work in a factory after his father was thrown into a debtor’s prison. As a result, Dickens had to educate himself. He is said to have pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, with his first success coming with the 1835 serial publication of “Pickwick Papers”. And, everyone’s favorite has to be his 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol”.

“George Orwell” was the pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, the famous British author of the classics “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and “Animal Farm”.

32 Wind instrument that might have a curved head : ALTO FLUTE

A flute is a woodwind instrument that doesn’t have a reed. Instead, sound is produced by blowing air across an opening. A flute player is often referred to as a flautist (sometimes “flutist”). Flutes have been around a long, long time. Primitive flutes found in modern-day Germany date back 43,000 to 35,000 years, which makes the flute the oldest known musical instrument.

33 French pronoun : LUI

In French, “lui” is the word for “him” and “elle” is the word for “her”.

34 Director Ang : LEE

Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.

37 Naan relative : ROTI

In an Indian restaurant, naan bread is very popular. Roti is an unleavened cousin of naan.

38 Narcissistic : VAIN

Narcissus was a proud and vain hunter in Greek mythology. He earned himself a fatal punishment, falling in love with his own reflection in a pool. So, taken was he by his own image that he could not leave it, and wasted away and died by the pool. Narcissus gives us our term “narcissism” meaning “excessive love of oneself”.

43 Encrypted URL starter : HTTPS

“http” are the first letters in many Internet links. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. More secure and “safer” websites (like this one!) use links starting with “https”, which stands for “http secure”).

44 Dine outside : PICNIC

Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable potluck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

47 Playwright Henrik : IBSEN

Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen is the second-most frequently performed dramatist in the world, with only the works of William Shakespeare staged more often. As he was a pioneer in the genre, he is often referred to as “the father of realism”.

48 Used Elmer’s : GLUED

Elsie the Cow is the mascot of the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, introduced to symbolize the perfect dairy product. She is so famous and respected that she has been awarded the degrees of Doctor of Bovinity, Doctor of Human Kindness and Doctor of Ecownomics. Elsie was also given a husband named Elmer the Bull. Elmer eventually moved over to the chemical division of Borden where he gave his name to Elmer’s Glue.

51 “Good Morning America” co-anchor Roberts : ROBIN

Robin Roberts became anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” (GMA) in 2005, prior to which she was a sportscaster on ESPN for 15 years.

57 Hoppy beverage with New England and West Coast varieties : IPA

New England IPAs are probably the IPAs that I drink most often. Out here on the West Coast, we tend to label them as Hazy IPAs. They tend to be more citrus and floral than other IPAs, and less bitter. They also have that hazy appearance.

Although I live here on the West Coast, I am no fan of West Coast IPAs. They tend to be the more hoppy IPAs, and so are a little too bitter for me. Outside of the US, they tend to be called American IPAs.