Category: Jay Silverman

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Constructed by: Jay Silverman
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Just Browsing

Themed answers each start with the name of a Web BROWSER:

• 57A “Only window shopping,” and what one might say when using the starts of 20-, 31-, or 46-Across : JUST BROWSING

• 20A “I’d like something that won’t rust, something … ” : CHROME-PLATED
• 31A “I’d like a lawn mower and maybe some … ” : EDGE TOOLS
• 46A “I’d like sun protection in the Serengeti, such as a … ” : SAFARI HAT

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

Bill’s time: 5m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Cupid” singer Cooke : SAM

“Cupid” is a 1961 song written and recorded by Sam Cooke. Apparently, Cooke was asked to write the song for a woman producers had noticed on “The Perry Como Show”. However, when the same producers heard her perform the song, they gave it back to Cooke.

8 FDR’s middle name : DELANO

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”. Franklin was to marry Eleanor Roosevelt, and apparently the relationship between Sara and her daughter-in-law was very “strained”.

20 “I’d like something that won’t rust, something … ” : CHROME-PLATED

Chrome plating involves applying a thin layer of chromium onto a metal surface. This is done primarily for aesthetic purposes, as chromium provides a shiny, silver-colored finish. However, chrome plating also has functional benefits, as it increases the hardness and durability of the metal, and makes it more resistant to corrosion and wear.

24 Vette alternative : T-BIRD

Ford manufactured the Thunderbird (T-Bird) from 1955 to 2005. Originally a two-seater sporty convertible, the T-Bird was introduced as a competitor to Chevrolet’s new sports car, the Corvette. The “Thunderbird” name is a reference to a legendary creature from the culture of several Native-American peoples. There’s also a story that the name is a direct reference to the Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California of which the then chairman of Ford’s board was a member.

29 Crotchety Muppet : OSCAR

Oscar the Grouch is the Muppet who lives in a garbage can. Oscar’s persona comes from various sources. He is named after Oscar Brand who was one of the board members of the Children’s Television Workshop, the backers for “Sesame Street” as the Muppets were being developed in the sixties. Oscar’s personality was inspired by an angry waiter that once served Jim Henson (father of the Muppets). The voice was modeled on a grumpy New York cab driver encountered one day by Caroll Spinney, the puppeteer who brings Oscar to life.

37 Texas border city : LAREDO

Laredo is a border city in Texas that is situated on the banks of the Rio Grande, across the border from Nuevo Laredo in Mexico.

42 Nest egg letters : IRA

A nest egg is an amount of money laid down as a reserve. This is the figurative use of “nest egg” that originally described an artificial egg left in a nest to encourage a hen to lay real eggs in that spot. So our financial nest egg is set aside in anticipation of continued growth, more eggs being laid.

43 Megaplex chain : AMC

The AMC theater chain used to go by the name American Multi-Cinema Inc., hence the initialism “AMC”.

45 Brontë governess : EYRE

“Jane Eyre” is a celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. The love story is perhaps represented by the oft-quoted opening lines of the last chapter, “Reader, I married him”. There is a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation made by the BBC that I highly recommend to fans of the novel …

46 “I’d like sun protection in the Serengeti, such as a … ” : SAFARI HAT

The Serengeti is a region in Africa located in northern Tanzania and southwest Kenya. The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “Endless Plains”.

56 Modernist with a memorable mustache : DALI

Artist Salvador Dalí liked to make a splash in public. He was known to walk an anteater on a lead around Paris. He also brought an anteater on stage to an interview on “The Dick Cavett Show” in 1970.

63 “One True Thing” novelist Quindlen : ANNA

“One True Thing” is a 1998 semi-autobiographical novel by author and journalist Anna Quindlen that explores the complex relationship between a mother and daughter. Ellen Gulden, a successful journalist, is forced to return to her childhood home to care for her mother, Kate, who is dying of cancer. As Ellen takes on the role of caregiver, she begins to see her mother in a new light, gaining an understanding of the sacrifices Kate made for her family. “One True Thing” was adapted into a 1998 film of the same name starring Meryl Streep as Kate and Renée Zellweger as Ellen.

64 __ and tonic : GIN

The original tonic water was a fairly strong solution of the drug quinine dissolved in carbonated water. It was used in tropical areas in South Asia and Africa where malaria is rampant. The quinine has a prophylactic effect against the disease, and was formulated as “tonic water” so that it could be easily distributed. In British colonial India, the colonial types got into the habit of mixing gin with the tonic water to make it more palatable by hiding the bitter taste of quinine. Nowadays, the level of quinine in tonic water has dropped, and sugar has been added.

Down

1 Panza of “Don Quixote” : SANCHO

Sancho Panza is Don Quixote’s squire, and a character who spouts out humorous comments called “sanchismos”.

2 Kona greetings : ALOHAS

The Kona district on the Big Island of Hawaii is on the western side of the island. The largest town in Kona is Kailua-Kona. Kailua-Kona is often incorrectly referred to as “Kona”. The term “kona” translates as “leeward side of the island” in Hawaiian.

5 Tiny hooter : OWLET

A baby owl is an owlet. The term “owlet” can also be used for the adults of the smaller species of owls.

6 Side wager on a sporting event, informally : PROP BET

A side bet during a game can also be called a prop bet (proposition bet).

8 Infomercial exhortation : DON’T DELAY!

The nation’s first infomercial was aired in 1950. The product advertised was a Vitamix blender.

12 Coretta King, __ Scott : NEE

Coretta Scott King was the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. Coretta was a civil rights leader herself, and maintained a prominent role in the movement following her husband’s 1968 assassination. She is sometimes referred to as the First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement.

22 Mythological ship : ARGO

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts set sail on the Argo from the city of Iolcos in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of a man named Argus, who designed and constructed it with the help of the goddess Athena.

26 Valentine’s Day flower : ROSE

Saint Valentine’s Day was introduced by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …

28 Princeton Review subj. : PSAT

The Princeton Review is a company that offers test preparation for those about to take college admission tests.

30 Plane tracker : RADAR

Scientists have been using radio waves to detect the presence of objects since the late 1800s, but it was the demands of WWII that accelerated the practical application of the technology. The British called their system RDF standing for Range and Direction Finding. The system used by the US Navy was called “Radio Detection And Ranging”, which was shortened to the acronym “RADAR”.

32 Name of two Monty Python members : TERRY

Terry Jones is a comic actor from Wales who was a member of the “Monty Python” team. It was Jones who devised the stream-of-consciousness format for the “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” TV show, with sketches flowing from one into the other.

Terry Gilliam is a former member of the famous British Monty Python comedy troupe. Gilliam was the only American in the group, and he was the person responsible for the animations featured in “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”.

34 Unserious typeface : COMIC SANS

Comic Sans MS is a font that looks a bit like that used in old comic books. Comic Sans was released by Microsoft in 1994. If you live in the Netherlands, you are lucky enough to enjoy Comic Sans Day on the first Friday of July each year.

38 North __ Sea: Asian lake : ARAL

The former Soviet Union decided to divert the two rivers feeding the Aral Sea in order to irrigate food and cotton crops. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea began to shrink dramatically in the 1960s due to the loss of water. Today, the Aral Sea is no more. Instead, there are two relatively small bodies of water labeled as the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea.

39 14-time French Open winner, to fans : RAFA

Rafael Nadal is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, and he has some superstitions that help him focus on winning. For example, he has a unique pre-match ritual in which he arranges his water bottles in a very specific way. He always places them in a straight line with the labels facing the court, and he adjusts them so that they are perfectly aligned.

41 Bassoon essentials : REEDS

A double-reed instrument is one in which two pieces of cane vibrate against each other to produce sound. In a single-reed instrument, just one piece of cane vibrates the mouthpiece. The best-known examples of double-reed instruments are the oboe and the bassoon.

44 Voucher : CHIT

A chit is a note or a short letter. The term “chit” tends to be used these days in the sense of an amount owed (as in a poker game). The word used to be “chitty”, which is now obsolete but was closer to the original Hindi term. I feel a tad obsolete myself, because when we are at school we would be excused from class if we had a “chitty”.

47 Green-skinned pears : ANJOUS

The Anjou pear is a cultivar of the European Pear. The Anjou is thought to have originated in Belgium or France (Anjou is a province in the Loire Valley of western France).

50 “Miss __”: Broadway musical set in Vietnam : SAIGON

“Miss Saigon” is a musical that premiered in London in 1989, and one that is based on Puccini’s opera “Madame Butterfly”. “Miss Saigon” was written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, the duo responsible for “Les Misérables”. We saw both shows in London during their heyday, and I much preferred “Miss Saigon”. Back then the big thing was to have a big “special effect” in a stage musical, and for “Miss Saigon” this is the landing of a life-size helicopter on the stage. At the performance we attended there was an announcement that “the helicopter was broken”, so we had a fun time watching actors running around pretending there was a helicopter in that climactic scene …

51 Periodic Pacific current : EL NINO

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more than half a degree celsius, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

55 “Queen of Disco” Summer : DONNA

Donna Summer is known as “The Queen of Disco”, with great hits like “Love to Love You, Baby”, “I Feel Love” and “Hot Stuff”. In the late sixties and early seventies, LaDonna Gaines (her real name) lived and worked in Germany. There she met and married an Austrian actor called Helmuth Sommer. They divorced not long after the marriage, but Donna kept his family name, just changing the “o” to “u” to give her the stage name of “Donna Summer”.

59 Stinging bug : WASP

While wasps are considered a nuisance by many, they are very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

60 Sloth or greed : SIN

The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven sins are:

• Wrath
• Greed
• Sloth
• Pride
• Lust
• Envy
• Gluttony

62 “Morning Edition” airer : NPR

NPR’s flagship news program is “Morning Edition”, a 2-hour show broadcast from Monday through Friday. The sister show “Weekend Edition” is broadcast on Saturday and Sunday.