Category: Catherine Cetta

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Constructed by: Catherine Cetta
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Change Agent

Themed answers each include the string of letters “AGENT”, but with the order changed:

• 58A Modern innovator, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues : CHANGE AGENT and CHANGE “AGENT”

• 16A *Period of connectivity that began in the 1990s : INTERNET AGE
• 22A *Place for navel gazers? : ORANGE TREE
• 36A *”Let me stop you right there” : DON’T GET ANY IDEAS
• 47A *Power source for some superheroes? : MUTANT GENE

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

Bill’s time: 7m 47s

Bill’s errors: 2

• CORP (comp)
• GARY (Gamy!!!)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Food writer Drummond : REE

Ree Drummond is a food writer and blogger. Drummond’s blog “The Pioneer Woman” recounts her daily life on her family’s working ranch outside of Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

13 Southeast Asian capital : HANOI

Hanoi (“Hà Nội” in Vietnamese) was the capital of North Vietnam, and Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi was made capital of the reunified state. Saigon, the larger metropolis, was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City. Hanoi is located in the delta of the Red River, and is just over 50 miles from the Gulf of Tonkin in the South China Sea.

14 One-over-par score : BOGEY

The golfing term “bogey” originated at the Great Yarmouth Golf Club in England in 1890, and was used to indicate a total round that was one-over-par (and not one-over-par on a particular hole, as it is today). The name “bogey” came from a music hall song of the time “Here Comes the Bogeyman”. In the following years it became popular for players trying to stay at par to be “playing against Colonel Bogey”. Then, during WWI, the marching tune “Colonel Bogey” was written and named after the golfing term. If you don’t recognize the name of the tune, it’s the one that’s whistled by the soldiers marching in the great movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”.

15 Sargasso Sea spawner : EEL

The Sargasso Sea is an area within the Atlantic Ocean that is famous as the home to many species of Sargassum, the algae floating on the surface that gives the area its name. The Sargasso Sea is also where both European and American species of eel lay their eggs and hatch their young. The young eels (or “elvers”) then head east or west, depending on the species.

16 *Period of connectivity that began in the 1990s : INTERNET AGE

The Internet (uppercase letter I) is a system of interconnected networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to link devices around the world. In common usage, the word “internet” (lowercase letter I) is often used interchangeably with “World Wide Web”, although “the Web” is just one of many services and applications that uses the Internet.

18 Maven : PRO

I’ve always loved the term “maven”, which is another word for “expert”. Maven comes into English from the Yiddish “meyvn” describing someone who appreciates and is a connoisseur.

21 Billie Eilish’s “All the Good Girls Go to __” : HELL

“All the Good Girls Go to Hell” is a 2019 Billie Eilish song. Eilish co-wrote the song with her brother Finneas O’Connell, who says that the lyrics are about climate change, God and the Devil. Heavy stuff …

22 *Place for navel gazers? : ORANGE TREE

Navel oranges are the ones with the small second fruit that grows at the base, at the “navel”. The navel orange has been traced back to a single mutation that took place in an orange tree in Brazil many years ago. The mutation also rendered the fruit seedless and hence sterile, so it is propagated using grafts.

26 Actress Jessica who co-founded The Honest Company : ALBA

The Honest Company is a retailer that specializes in supplying products that are exceptionally safe and eco-friendly. The enterprise was founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba, who “created The Honest Company because you shouldn’t have to choose between what works and what’s good for you.”

32 Firm: Abbr. : CORP

A business is sometimes called a firm. “Firm” comes into English from Latin via the Italian “firma” meaning signature. The concept is that business transactions are confirmed, made firm, by applying a signature.

33 __ Lanka : SRI

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

40 Dead __ Scrolls : SEA

The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered over a period of years, between 1947 and 1956, in eleven caves (the Qumran Caves) on the shores of the Dead Sea. The scrolls are believed to have been written by an ancient Jewish sect called the Essenes, although this has been called into question recently. Many of the texts are copies of writings from the Hebrew Bible.

41 Iraq neighbor : IRAN

The Iran-Iraq border extends for just under 1,000 miles. The northern end of the boundary is the tripoint where the borders of Iran, Iraq and Turkey meet. The southern end is the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab river that empties into the Persian Gulf.

42 Down-yielding duck : EIDER

Eiders are large sea ducks. Their down feathers are used to fill pillows and quilts, giving the name to the quilt called an “eiderdown”.

43 “McSorley’s Bar” painter : SLOAN

John French Sloan was an artist who did much of his work in New York City in the early 1900s. Sloan was a founder of the Ashcan School, a movement that focused on portrayals of daily life in New York. One of my favorite Sloan paintings is “McSorley’s Bar”, a 1912 work that depicts the inside of the celebrated East Village ale house the artist used to visit quite regularly.

A few years ago, I accompanied my wife and sister-in-law into McSorley’s bar in New York City. I was foolish enough to ask what kind of wine they had for the ladies. The gruff answer was “McSorley’s Light or McSorley’s Dark” (both of which are beers).

45 Fed. food stamper : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

50 Helen of Troy’s mother : LEDA

In Greek mythology, Leda was the beautiful Queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus when he took the form of a swan. Leda produced two eggs from the union. One egg hatched into Clytemnestra and the beautiful Helen of Troy, over whom was fought the Trojan War. The other egg hatched into the twins Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux had different fathers according to the myth. Pollux was the son of Zeus and was immortal, while Castor was the son of Leda’s earthly husband, and so he was a mortal. In the world of the arts, William Butler Yeats wrote a famous sonnet called “Leda and the Swan” in 1924, and Peter Paul Rubens made a copy of a now-lost painting called “Leda and the Swan” by Michelangelo.

54 The Grand Ole __ : OPRY

The Grand Ole Opry started out as a radio show in 1925 originally called the WSM “Barn Dance”. In 1927, the “Barn Dance” radio show was broadcast in a slot after an NBC production called “Musical Appreciation Hour”, a collection of classical works including Grand Opera. In a December show, the host of “Barn Dance” announced, “For the past hour, we have been listening to music taken largely from Grand Opera. From now on we will present the ‘Grand Ole Opry'”. That name was used for the radio show from then on.

57 “__ to Dirt”: Sharon Olds poem : ODE

Poet Sharon Olds won a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2013. She was also the first American woman to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.

61 “Long,” in Hawaiian : LOA

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

62 Cola with a red, white, and blue logo : PEPSI

The Pepsi logo is a relatively simple red, white and blue sphere, and is referred to as the “Pepsi Globe”. The Globe was introduced during WWII as a design on bottle caps as a sign of patriotism. The design became very popular and so was adopted as Pepsi’s primary logo at the end of the war.

65 Avant-garde : ARTY

Someone or something described as avant-garde is especially innovative. “Avant-garde” is French for “advance guard”.

Down

1 Lure with false emails : PHISH

Phishing is the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PINs, etc.”

2 Jousting weapon : LANCE

“Jousting” and “tilting” are synonyms describing the medieval competition in which two horsemen yielding blunted lances attempt to unseat each other. Such an event has been referred to as “jousting” since the 1300s. At some point, the path of the two charging horsemen was separated by a cloth barrier known as a tilt (“tilt” meant “cloth covering”). The term “tilting” was applied to the sport in the 1500s, although by then the cloth barrier had been upgraded to a wooden fence.

7 Three-time French Open winner Swiatek : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

14 Utterer of “Yogi-isms” : BERRA

Yogi Berra is regarded by many as the greatest catcher ever to play in Major League Baseball, and has to be America’s most celebrated “author” of malapropisms. Here are some great “Yogi-isms”:

• It ain’t over till it’s over.
• 90% of the game is half mental.
• Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
• When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
• It’s déjà vu all over again.
• Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.
• A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

17 Gaming novice : NOOB

“Noob” (sometimes “newb”) is a not-so-nice, slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

23 Glowing gas : NEON

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

24 “The Far Side” cartoonist Larson : GARY

“The Far Side” is a cartoon series drawn by Gary Larson. It ran from 1980 to 1995, and continues today in reruns in many papers. A lot of “The Far Side” cartoons feature animals, often in outrageous, human-like situations. Larson was so popular with people working with animals that in 1989 a newly discovered insect species was named Strigiphilus garylarsoni. How cool is that?

27 American __: veterans’ group : LEGION

The American Legion was formed in 1919 by WWI veterans returning after the Great War. The man who suggested founding the group was Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., son of President Theodore Roosevelt and himself a veteran of the American Expeditionary Force that served in Europe.

30 Caviar : ROE

Caviar is the roe of a large fish that has been salted and seasoned, and especially the roe of a sturgeon. Beluga caviar comes from the beluga sturgeon, which is found primarily in the Caspian Sea. It is the most expensive type of caviar in the world. 8 ounces of US-farmed beluga caviar can be purchased through Amazon.com for just over $850, in case you’re feeling peckish …

31 Racking up wins : ON A STREAK

The verb “to rack up”, meaning “to accumulate”, first appeared in print in 1943, in “Billboard”. It’s likely that the term comes from the system of scoring points in pool halls.

34 “Insecure” actress Issa : RAE

“Insecure” is a comedy-drama TV show that premiered in 2016. It is co-written by and stars Issa Rae, who also created the comedy web series “Awkward Black Girl” on which “Insecure” is based.

37 Q.E.D. part : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

45 Dragon roll ingredient : UNAGI

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

49 Like the itsy-bitsy spider : EENSY

The Itsy Bitsy Spider crawled up the water spout.
Down came the rain, and washed the spider out.
Out came the sun, and dried up all the rain,
And the Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the spout again.

51 Film critic Roger : EBERT

Roger Ebert was a film critic for “The Chicago Sun-Times” for 50 years. He also co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed. Ebert was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, which he did in 1975. He was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer in 2002, and finally succumbed to a recurrence of the disease in April 2013.

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