Category: Dan Margolis

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Constructed by: Dan Margolis
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Good or Bad Advice?

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as GOOD ADVICE and BAD ADVICE given to pairs of individuals cited in the corresponding clues:

• 17A Good advice for an angry person / Bad advice for a novice dairy farmer : DON’T HAVE A COW, MAN
• 28A Good advice for a complainer / Bad advice for someone blowing out birthday candles : SAVE YOUR BREATH
• 48A Good advice for a nervous public speaker / Bad advice for an impersonator : JUST BE YOURSELF
• 63A Good advice for an impatient person / Bad advice for a Chippendales dancer : KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON

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

Bill’s time: 6m 22s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Soccer star Lionel with seven Ballon d’Or awards : MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.

9 Hope __ : CHEST

A hope chest is (or perhaps “was”) used by young unmarried women to collect items for their new household in anticipation of marriage. The term used for the same thing in the UK and Ireland is “bottom drawer”, and in Australia is “glory box”.

14 Water brand : EVIAN

Évian-les-Bains (or simply “Évian”) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As one might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. Personally, I can’t stand the distinctive taste of Évian water …

20 Shelley’s “Ozymandias,” e.g. : SONNET

“Ozymandias” is a sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley that was first published in 1818:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

21 Rhythm-heavy genre : SKA

Ska originated in Jamaica in the late fifties and was the precursor to reggae music. No one has a really definitive etymology of the term “ska”, but it is likely to be imitative of a sound.

23 Fine __ : ARTS

The term “fine art” is reserved for art created purely for its beauty and aesthetic appeal. Examples of fine art would be painting, sculpture and music. “Applied art” describes the application of design and decoration to render everyday objects aesthetically pleasing. Examples of applied arts would be industrial design and fashion design.

34 Wild beast also called a wildebeest : GNU

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch word meaning “wild beast”.

37 Blake who played Aunt Harriet on TV’s “Batman” : MADGE

Aunt Harriet was the maternal aunt of Dick Grayson (Robin) in the sixties TV show “Batman”. Aunt Harriet was played by actress Madge Blake, it being her most famous role. Aunt Harriet’s appearances became fewer and fewer towards the end of the series as Blake struggled with failing health.

53 Back muscles, for short : LATS

The muscles known as the “lats” are the “latissimi dorsi”, and are the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is Latin for “broadest”, and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

57 T’ai __ ch’uan : CHI

More correctly called “t‘ai chi ch‘uan”, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

63 Good advice for an impatient person / Bad advice for a Chippendales dancer : KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON

Chippendales is a big touring operation featuring male exotic dancers. The original Chippendales was a nightclub in Los Angeles in the early eighties. The establishment’s name was inspired by the Chippendale-style furniture used in the club.

68 Lunes or martes : DIA

In Spanish, “lunes y martes” (Monday and Tuesday) are “dias” (days).

69 Tucci’s “Road to Perdition” role : NITTI

Frank Nitti was one of the top henchmen working for Al Capone. Unlike American-born Capone, Nitti was actually from Italy and was born near the city of Salerno. When Capone was eventually put away for 11 years for tax evasion, Nitti was convicted of the same crime. Nitti was only imprisoned for 18 months, and when released he was labeled as the new head of Capone’s Chicago Outfit. However the truth seems to be that he was just a frontman, with others making the decisions.

“Road to Perdition” is a 2002 film based on a 1998 graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The movie was directed by Sam Mendes and stars a great cast headed by Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law and Daniel Craig. It’s all about a mob war in Chicago during the Great Depression.

Stanley Tucci is a UK-based American actor. Of his many fine performances, my favorite is in 2009’s “Julie & Julia” 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.

Down

1 Rx orders : MEDS

There seems to be some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

2 Cooking staple, initially : EVOO

Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labeled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

3 Ireland’s __ Féin : SINN

Sinn Féin is a political party in Ireland, and one of the largest parties in both the Northern Ireland Assembly and in the Oireachtas (the parliament of the Republic of Ireland). The party has the stated aim of uniting Ireland north and south. “Sinn Féin” is Irish for “we ourselves”.

4 GPS technology, for short : SAT NAV

A global positioning system (GPS) is known as a satellite navigation system (Sat Nav) in Britain and Ireland.

9 Comedian Margaret : CHO

Margaret Cho is a Korean-American comedian and actress who was born in San Francisco in 1968. As well as performing as a comedian, Cho has also had a successful acting career, appearing in films such as “Face/Off,” “Bam Bam and Celeste,” and “All About Steve,” as well as TV shows such as “Drop Dead Diva” and “30 Rock.”

11 Colonnade trees : ELMS

A colonnade is a long sequence of columns that are equally spaced, and often support some type of roof. A colonnade surrounding a porch at an entranceway is known as a portico. A colonnade surrounding a courtyard or the perimeter of a building is known as a peristyle.

12 High-five sound : SLAP

The celebratory gesture that we call a “high five” is said to have been invented by former baseball players Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke when they were both playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the late 1970s.

13 Broadway award : TONY

The Tony Awards are more completely referred to as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre. The awards are named for Mary Antoinette “Tony” Perry, who was a co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

19 Potato nutrients, for short : CARBS

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.

26 Greek war god : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

28 Complete fiasco : SNAFU

“SNAFU” is an acronym standing for “situation normal: all fouled up” (well, that’s the polite version!). As one might perhaps imagine, the term developed in the US Army, during WWII.

29 Some German imports : AUDIS

In most countries around the world, Audi uses its corporate tagline in advertising, namely “Vorsprung durch Technik” (which translates as “Advancement through Technology”). However, the literal translation from the German was dropped for the US market, in favor of “Truth in Engineering”.

30 In __: unborn : UTERO

“In utero” is a Latin term meaning “in the uterus”. The Latin “uterus” (plural “uteri”) translates as both “womb” and “belly”. “Uterys” comes from the Greek “hystera” that also means “womb”, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

31 Island formation : ATOLL

An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring that encloses a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically, an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside inside the circling coral reef.

32 “The Book __”: Markus Zusak novel : THIEF

Australian author Markus Zusak is best known for his 2006 novel “The Book Thief”, which was adapted into a very successful 2013 film of the same name. His earlier novel, published in 2002, was adapted into a 2023 TV series.

39 Idris of “Cats” : ELBA

Idris Elba is a British actor and DJ. He was born in London to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother. Elba’s breakthrough role came in 2002, when he was cast as Stringer Bell in the HBO series “The Wire”.

The 2019 movie “Cats” is a much-panned big screen adaptation of the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical of the same name. Great musical, horrible film …

41 Ancient France : GAUL

The Gauls were a Celtic race, with Gaul covering what is now known as France and Belgium. We use the term “Gallic” today, when we refer to something pertaining to France or the French.

44 Car battery pioneer : DELCO

“Delco” is an acronym standing for Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. Delco is often seen in the brand name “ACDelco”. The AC stands for Albert Champion, who was famous for the development of the spark plug.

49 Violinist Menuhin : YEHUDI

Yehudi Menuhin was a British violinist, born in New York City, who was known around the world as one of the greatest virtuosos of the 20th century. The violin he played was the Soil Stradivarius, one of a limited number of instruments made by the great Antonio Stradivari of Cremona. After Menuhin passed away in 1999, the Soil Stradivarius was acquired by Israeli-American violinist Itzhak Perlman.

50 Sullies : STAINS

To sully is to stain, tarnish. The term is often used in the context of sullying or tarnishing a reputation.

51 Global fashion brand founded in San Francisco in 1968 : ESPRIT

Esprit is a clothing line that was founded in San Francisco in 1968 by the same couple who had established the North Face two years earlier. Today, Esprit is a global company headquartered in Hong Kong.

54 Gumbo vegetable : OKRA

Gumbo is a type of stew or soup that originated in Louisiana. The primary ingredient can be meat or fish, but to be true gumbo it must include the “holy trinity” of vegetables, namely celery, bell peppers and onion. Okra used to be a requirement but this is no longer the case. Okra gave the dish its name as the vernacular word for the African vegetable is “okingumbo”, from the Bantu language spoken by many of the slaves brought to America.

55 Spa treatment : PEEL

A chemical peel is a technique used to improve the look and feel of the skin. It involves using a chemical to deliberately injure the outermost layer of the skin. The damaged skin dies and peels off, revealing regenerated skin below.

56 70-Across-hunting org. : SETI
[70A Far-out type? : ALIEN]

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

58 Pupil’s place : IRIS

The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

65 “Round __ Virgin, Mother and Child … ” : YON

“’Round yon virgin, mother and child” is a line from the Christmas carol “Silent Night”.

The beautiful Christmas carol “Silent Night” was first performed in Austria in 1818. The words were written by a priest, Father Joseph Mohr, and the melody by an Austrian headmaster, Franz Xaver Gruber. The carol was in German and called “Stille Nacht”. The English translation that we use today was provided to us in 1859 by an American bishop, John Freeman Young from Florida.

66 Actor Waterston : SAM

Actor Sam Waterston is perhaps best known for his roles on television. He played District Attorney Jack McCoy on “Law & Order” for several years, and more recently was cast alongside Martin Sheen, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the Netflix original “Grace and Frankie”.