Category: Brooke Husic

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Constructed by: Brooke Husic
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Work-Arounds

Themed answers each have circled letters AROUND the edges that spell out synonyms of WORK:

• 62A Ways to sidestep obstacles, and what are found in this puzzle’s circles : WORK-AROUNDS

• 17A “We’ve all been there” : JOIN THE CLUB (“JOB” around)
• 29A Element of some holiday traditions : GIFT-GIVING (“GIG” around)
• 46A Sentiment celebrated with pink, blue, and white apparel : TRANS PRIDE (“TRADE” around)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 49s

Bill’s errors: 2

• LIA (Sia)
• LOFI HIP HOP (sofi hip hop)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Italian city known for its cheese : PARMA

Parma is a city in northern Italy that is famous for its ham (prosciutto) and cheese (parmesan). The adjective “Parmesan” means “of or from Parma”.

6 “Girl, Woman, __”: Bernardine Evaristo novel : OTHER

British author Bernardine Evaristo won the Booker Prize in 2019 for her novel “Girl, Woman, Other”. She was a joint winner, with Margaret Atwood (for “The Testaments”), and was the first Black woman to be so honored.

11 NCAA swimming champion Thomas : LIA

Lia Thomas is a competitive swimmer who won the NCAA Division I 500-yard freestyle national championship in 2022, while she was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. In doing so, Thomas became the first openly transgender athlete to win any NCAA Division I championship.

14 Howlin’ Wolf’s genre : BLUES

“Howlin’ Wolf” was the stage name of blues singer and guitarist Chester Burnett. Burnett was in a serious car accident in 1970, which resulted in severe damage to his kidneys. He continued performing for the rest of his life, despite having to receive dialysis every three days. Burnett passed away in 1976, at the age of 65.

15 Actress Watts : NAOMI

Actress Naomi Watts was born in the UK and moved to Australia when she was 14 years of age. It was in Australia that Watts got her break in television and movies. Probably her most acclaimed role was in the 2003 film “21 Grams” with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Watts is best friends with fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

16 Magic, on scoreboards : ORL

The Orlando Magic were formed in 1989 as an NBA expansion team. A local paper was asked to run a competition to suggest names for the new team and the community came up with its four top picks of “Heat”, “Tropics”, “Juice” and “Magic”. A committee then opted for “Orlando Magic”. A good choice I think …

20 Nissan sedan : SENTRA

The Nissan Sentra is sold as the Nissan Sunny back in Japan.

21 Six-pt. plays : TDS

Touchdown (TD)

22 Ice Follies venue : RINK

The Ice Follies is a touring ice-skating show that was founded in 1936. Famously, the show was central to the 1939 movie “The Ice Follies of 1939” starring James Stewart and Joan Crawford.

23 Goose sound : HONK

A collection of geese is referred to as a “gaggle” when on the ground. When geese are in V-formation in flight, they are referred to collectively as a “skein”.

25 Sierra Nevada lake : TAHOE

Lake Tahoe (often referred to simply as “Tahoe”) is up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is located right on the border between California and Nevada. It is the largest alpine lake in the country, and the largest lake in general behind the five Great Lakes. Tahoe is also the second deepest lake, with only the beautiful Crater Lake in Oregon being deeper. Given its location, there are tall casinos that sit right on the shore on the Nevada side of the state line where gambling is legal.

The American Sierra Nevada range lies in California and Nevada. The Spanish Sierra Nevada range is in Andalusia, with the name meaning “snowy range” in Spanish.

26 Research on an adversary, for short : OPPO

In the world of politics, “oppo” is “opposition research”. The idea is to collect information on one’s opponent that can be used against him or her.

33 PC “copy” combo : CTRL-C

The Control (CTRL) key on a PC keyboard is used to modify the function of other keys. For example, pressing CTRL+C copies a selection to the clipboard, and CTRL+V pastes the contents of the clipboard to a location defined by the cursor. Control keys were introduced on teletypewriters to generate “control characters”, which are non-printing characters that instruct a computer to do something like print a page, ring a bell etc.

35 Carrot relative : PARSNIP

The parsnip is a root vegetable that is usually left in the ground through winter frosts in order to increase the root’s sugar content. Parsnips can be so sweet that they were commonly used as sweeteners before sugar beets and sugar cane became readily available. Parsnip juices were collected and evaporated to produce a brown residue that resembled honey.

39 Stephanie of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” : HSU

Actress Stephanie Hsu’s breakthrough role came when she co-starred with Michelle Yeoh in the 2022 film “Everything Everywhere All at Once”. She also had a recurring role, playing Mei Lin, in the third season of the TV show “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”.

42 Four-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champions : TEAM USA

The US women’s national team (USWNT) is the most successful in international women’s soccer. The team has won multiple World Cups, and multiple Olympic Golds. “Sports Illustrated” named the whole team as the 1999 Sportswomen of the Year.

44 Lanai greeting : ALOHA

Lanai is the sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lanai was first spotted by Europeans just a few days after Captain Cook was killed on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1779. In 1922, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company bought the whole island of Lanai and turned most of it into the world’s largest pineapple plantation. Since then, Lanai has been known as “The Pineapple Island”. Today, 98% of the island is owned by Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, and 2% is owned by the State of Hawaii.

46 Sentiment celebrated with pink, blue, and white apparel : TRANS PRIDE

The transgender community has widely adopted a blue, pink and white flag to represent transgender pride. The flag was designed by transgender activist and US Navy veteran Monica Helms in 1999. It comprises five horizontal stripes: light blue, pink, white, pink and light blue. The light blue stripes at the top and bottom are the traditional color associated with baby boys. The abutting pink stripes are the traditional color associated with baby girls. The white stripe in the center represents those who are transitioning, or those who consider themselves gender-neutral.

49 Heavy fencing sword : EPEE

The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

50 Costa Rica’s __ Island National Park : COCOS

Costa Rica’s Cocos Island is located about 350 miles off the coast in the Pacific Ocean. The whole island was designated as a national park in 1978, and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. Some believe that stories of buried pirate treasure on Cocos Island were the inspiration for Robert Louis Stevenson adventure novel “Treasure Island”.

53 CPR experts : EMTS

An emergency medical technician (EMT) might administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

54 Corp. VIP : CEO

Chief executive officer (CEO)

57 Hosts : EMCEES

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

61 Floral wreath : LEI

Leis are traditional Hawaiian garlands that are made from various types of flowers, leaves, and other materials. They were originally worn by ancient Hawaiians as a symbol of their social status and to signify important events such as weddings and funerals.

64 “haha” : LOL

Laugh out loud (LOL)

65 Tear-inducing ingredient : ONION

When an onion is sliced, cells are broken. Enzymatic reactions take place that result in the generation of a volatile gas, syn-propanethial-S-oxide. The gas irritates the eyes and tears are produced in order to clear them.

66 Fritter maker : FRYER

A fritter is a fried food usually consisting of batter or breading filled with something sweet or savory. The term “fritter” ultimately derives from the Latin “frigere” meaning “to fry”.

68 Ogwumike of the Los Angeles Sparks : NNEKA

Nneka Ogwumike is a professional basketball player who was drafted first overall in the 2012 WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks. In 2016, she was elected President of the WNBA Players Association. Nneka’s younger sister Chiney Ogwumike was also the first overall pick in a WNBA draft, joining the Connecticut Sun in 2014. The name “Nneka” translates from the Igbo language of Nigeria as “Mother is Supreme”.

69 Caramel-topped desserts : FLANS

Flan (also “crème caramel”) is a delicious dessert comprising a molded custard topped with a clear caramel sauce. The related crème brûlée is a dessert made from molded custard with a hard, burnt caramel layer on top.

Down

1 Easy sammies : PBJS

Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J or PBJ)

“Sammie” is an informal term meaning “sandwich”.

2 __ vera gel : ALOE

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

5 Jetson canine : ASTRO

“The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had its first run in 1962-1963, and then was recreated in 1985-1987. When it debuted in 1963 on ABC, “The Jetsons” was the network’s first ever color broadcast. “The Jetsons” is like a space-age version of “The Flintstones”. The four Jetson family members are George and Jane, the parents, and children Judy and Elroy. Residing with the family in Orbit City are their household robot Rosie and pet dog Astro.

6 Ariana Grande’s “__ Last Time” : ONE

“One Last Time” is a 2014 song released by Ariana Grande. She re-released the song in 2017 as a charity single, benefitting the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing earlier that year. A suicide bomber caused the death of 22 people as they were leaving a concert performance by Grande in Manchester, England.

9 Ground-bound birds : EMUS

The large flightless birds called emus make sounds by manipulating inflatable neck-sacs. The sac is about a foot long, has a thin wall and allows the bird to emit a booming sound. The type of sound emitted is the easiest way to differentiate between male and female emus.

10 Celery piece : RIB

There’s an urban myth that the process of eating celery burns more calories than the body can obtain from the vegetable through digestion. While celery is indeed a low-calorie food, eating it does provide a net-positive number of calories.

11 Form of chill-out music : LOFI HIP HOP

Lofi hip hop is a genre of music that combines chill-out music with elements of hip hop. It is a downtempo style that became popular on YouTube in the 2010s. I’m an old fogie who hasn’t learned to appreciate hip hop, but I checked out lofi hip hip, and I like it …

12 Appliqué type : IRON-ON

An appliqué is a small ornamental design that is applied to a surface. Appliqués are often applied to textiles, but also to other surfaces such as ceramics. “Appliqué” is French for “applied”.

22 Musician Shankar : RAVI

Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous virtuoso (to us Westerners) from the world of Indian classical music, and was noted for his sitar playing. Shankar was the father of the pop singer Norah Jones.

24 Yom __ : KIPPUR

Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. It is also known as the Day of Atonement.

25 Mexican shredded meat dish : TINGA

Tinga is a dish from Mexican cuisine made with shredded chicken in a sauce made from tomatoes, chipotle chilis in adobo, and sliced onions. One suggestion is that the name “tinga” is derived from the Nahuatl word “tingatl”, which means “to tear”. This is because the traditional way of preparing the chicken is to shred it by hand.

26 Autumn mo. : OCT

October is the tenth month in our calendar but was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the prefix “octo-”. Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” were then added as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year. Soon after, the year was reset and January and February became the first and second months.

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.

27 Vacation hrs., e.g. : PTO

Paid time off (PTO)

28 Touch-oriented language : PROTACTILE

Protactile is a language used by deafblind people that relies on touching of the body. It was developed relatively recently, in the 2000s, and continues to evolve today. Protactile is the creation of three deafblind women working together at the Deaf-Blind Service Center in Seattle.

30 Language of Nima Yooshij’s poetry : FARSI

Nima Yooshij was a poet from Iran who developed a style of poetry that came to be known as “new poetry” (“she’r-e now” in Farsi). He is often referred to as the father of modern Persian poetry.

32 “The $100,000 Pyramid” channel : GSN

Game Show Network (GSN)

“Pyramid” is a whole series of game shows that date back to the original “The $10,000 Pyramid” first aired in 1973. I guess inflation drove us to the “$100,000 Pyramid”, starting in 1985. Dick Clark was probably the most famous host of the show, appearing from 1973 to 1980 (and presiding over the increase to “The $20,000 Pyramid”).

41 OPEC member : UAE

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in 1960 at a conference held in Baghdad, Iraq that was attended by Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nine more countries joined the alliance soon after, and OPEC set up headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and then Vienna, Austria in 1965. The basic aim of OPEC was to wrest control of oil prices from the oil companies and put it in the hands of the sovereign states that own the natural resource.

43 Actress Mireille : ENOS

Mireille Enos is an actress from Kansas City. She is perhaps best known for her TV work, playing Sarah Linden on “The Killing” and for playing twins Kathy and JoDean Marquart on “Big Love”. Enos is married to actor Alan Ruck, who I mainly remember playing Cameron Frye in the great movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.

45 Hamstring exercise : LEG CURL

The hamstrings are four tendons connected to three posterior thigh muscles, although the term “hamstring” is sometimes used for the thigh muscles themselves.

46 Immune response agents : T CELLS

T cells are a group of white blood cells that are essential components of the body’s immune system. T cells are so called because they mature in the thymus, a specialized organ found in the chest.

47 Alfa __: Italian sports cars : ROMEOS

The “Alfa” in “Alfa Romeo” is actually an acronym, one standing for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (“Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company”). ALFA was an enterprise founded in 1909 and which was taken over by Nicola Romeo in 1915. In 1920 the company name was changed to Alfa Romeo.

48 Still-life pitcher : EWER

A pitcher is a container for liquid that has a handle, mouth and spout. The term “jug” is used for the same container in other English-speaking countries. “Ewer” is an older term describing a pitcher/jug. Today, a ewer is a highly decorative pitcher, often with a base and flared spout.

54 The Nutmeg St. : CONN

The official nickname of Connecticut (CT) is the “Constitution State”, but can also be referred to as the Nutmeg State, the Provisions State, and the Land of Steady Habits.

55 Sandusky’s lake : ERIE

Sandusky, Ohio is a city on the shores of Lake Erie. My son is always talking about Sandusky as a place he’d like to visit, as it is home to one the largest collections of roller coasters in the world.

58 “The Celts” singer : ENYA

1987’s “Enya” is the debut studio album released by Irish singer Enya. The tracks were all composed by Enya for the soundtrack of the 1987 BBC documentary series “The Celts”. The album was released in 1992, this time under the title “The Celts”. Sales of the rerelease outperformed the original.

59 The paradise of “Paradise Lost” : EDEN

“Paradise Lost” is an epic poem written by Englishman John Milton. It is indeed an epic work, published originally in ten volumes with over ten thousand lines of verse. The “paradise” that is “lost” is the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God in the “Fall of Man”.

60 Cold War gp. : SSRS

The former Soviet Union (officially “Union of Soviet Socialist Republics” or “USSR”) was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution of 1917 that overthrew the tsar. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire, and comprised fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics (SSRs).

There is some debate about the timing of the start and end of the Cold War, the period of geopolitical tension between the US and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. One significant factor at the start of the Cold War was the Truman Doctrine, the foreign policy adopted by President Harry S. Truman that firmly ended America’s pre-WWII isolationism in favor of support for nations threatened by Soviet influence. A clear sign of the end of the Cold War was the dissolution of the USSR in 1991.

63 Santa __ winds : ANA

The Santa Ana winds are the very dry air currents that sweep offshore late in the year in Southern California. Because these air currents are so dry, they are noted for their influence over forest fires in the area, especially in the heat of the fall. The winds arise from a buildup of air pressure in the Great Basin that lies between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. Under the right conditions, that air spills over the peaks of the Sierra Nevada and basically “falls” down the side of the Sierra range, heading for the ocean. As the air falls it becomes drier and heats up so that relative humidity can fall to below 10% by the time it hits the coast.