Category: Jerry Edelstein

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Constructed by: Jerry Edelstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Mind Your Ps and Qs!

Themed answers each comprise two words, the first beginning with the letter P and the second with the letter Q:

1. 58A “Behave!,” and an apt title for this puzzle : MIND YOUR PS AND QS

• 17A Part of a cross-examination : POINTED QUESTION
• 29A High school honor that may come with a tiara : PROM QUEEN
• 46A Highlighted excerpt in an article : PULL QUOTE

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

Bill’s time: 6m 35s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Mazda two-seater : MIATA

The Mazda MX-5 is sold as the Miata in North America, and as the Roadster in Japan. I’ve always liked the looks of the Mazda Miata, probably because it reminds me so much of old British sports cars. The Miata is built in Hiroshima, Japan. The name “Miata” comes from an Old High German word meaning “reward”.

23 Mint family herb : SAGE

In Britain and Ireland, sage is listed as one of the four essential herbs. And those would be “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”.

31 Pa. neighbor : WVA

The state of West Virginia (WVA) was formed during the civil war when the western counties in the old state of Virginia (VA) voted to secede from the Confederate States of America (CSA).

41 __ non grata : PERSONA

A persona non grata (plural “personae non gratae”) is someone who is not welcome. The phrase is Latin for “an unacceptable person”. The opposite phrase is “persona grata”, meaning “acceptable person”.

43 Verdi opera set in Egypt : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

44 Hibernation spot : DEN

When animals hibernate, they are minimally active, have low body temperatures, relatively slow breathing and a low metabolic rate overall. HIbernation can last days and even months, and is most closely associated with the winter season. The term “hibernation” comes from the Latin “hibernare” meaning “to pass the winter, occupy winter quarters”.

46 Highlighted excerpt in an article : PULL QUOTE

In a written article, a pull quote is an important excerpt that has been “pulled” from the main text and used as its own graphic element on the page. Pull quotes are used to entice readers into reading the full article.

52 Place for the Torah : ARK

The Torah ark is found in a synagogue, and is the ornamental container in which the Torah scrolls are stored. The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching” or “law”. The Torah ark is referred to as the “Aron Kodesh” in Hebrew, meaning “Holy Ark”.

55 Stella __ cookies : D’ORO

Stella D’Oro is a brand of cookies and breadsticks that were originally manufactured in the Bronx, New York City but are now made in New Jersey.

58 “Behave!,” and an apt title for this puzzle : MIND YOUR PS AND QS

There isn’t really a clear derivation of the phrase “mind your Ps and Qs”, an expression meaning “mind your manners” or “mind your language”. One story that I like is that it originated in the wonderful pubs of England. Innkeepers would watch how much their thirsty patrons consumed, recording each pint (P) and quart (Q) that was downed on a board using Ps and Qs as shorthand. The more rowdy drinkers would be asked to “mind their Ps and Qs”.

68 “Sisters” Emmy winner Ward : SELA

Sela Ward is an American actress who won Emmys for her role on the TV show “Sisters” in 1994 and for her role on “Once and Again” in 2000. She is a published author and released her autobiography “Homesick: A Memoir” in 2012.

“Sisters” is a drama TV show that originally aired in the nineties. “Sisters” was groundbreaking television in that it was the first primetime show to focus on women and women’s issues. The four title characters are Alex, Teddy, Georgie and Frankie Reed, played by Swoosie Kurtz, Sela Ward, Patricia Kalember and Julianne Phillips.

1 Waze display : MAP

Waze is a navigation app that is similar to Google Maps and Apple Maps. Waze was developed in Israel, and was acquired by Google in 2013.

2 __ Jima : IWO

Iwo Jima is a volcanic island located south of Tokyo that today is uninhabited. The name is Japanese for “Sulfur Island”, referring to the sulfur mining on which Iwo Jima’s economy once depended. There were about a thousand Japanese civilians living on the island prior to WWII. In 1944, there was a massive influx of Japanese military personnel in anticipation of the inevitable US invasion. As the Japanese military moved in, the civilians were forced out and no one has lived there since. Control of the island was wrested from the Japanese in the five-week Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. Said battle was one of the bloodiest in the Pacific theater in WWII.

4 Cannondale two-seater : TANDEM

Cannondale is a Dutch-owned manufacturer of high-end bicycles headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut.

8 Pitcher Jim who wrote the 1970 memoir “Ball Four” : BOUTON

Jim Bouton was an MLB pitcher who was active in the sixties and seventies. One of Bouton’s claims to fame is that he was one of the creators of Big League Chew bubblegum. It is shredded bubblegum that resembles shredded chewing tobacco.

11 __ de vivre : JOIE

“Joie de vivre” means “joy of living” in French. We use the phrase to mean the happy, carefree enjoyment of life, like when we finish our crossword puzzles …

13 Painter Magritte : RENE

Belgian artist René Magritte was a surrealist. His most recognized work may be “The Son of Man”, a painting he created as a self-portrait. It is the work that shows a man in a bowler hat with his face covered by an apple. The image features prominently in a great movie, the 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”.

19 Retired fast jet, briefly : SST

The first supersonic transport (SST) to fly was the Tupolev Tu-144, which was constructed in the Soviet Union. The Tu-144 first flew in 1968, but did not carry passengers until 1977. The aircraft was permanently grounded as a passenger craft in 1978 due to concerns about safety (there had been two Tu-144 crashes). The second SST to fly was the Anglo-French Concorde, which operated at a profit for over 27 years until it was withdrawn from service in 2003. There was one Concorde crash, in Paris in July 2000. Since then, there have been no commercial SST services.

23 Steeple topper : SPIRE

In general terms, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, often a church. More specifically, a steeple can be made up of several distinct parts:

1. Tower: the base of the steeple, which can often house a clock.
2. Belfry: the part that holds bells, often part of church steeples
3. Lantern: a decorative, windowed structure that admits light into the steeple
4. Spire: the tall, slender top

24 James of “Gunsmoke” : ARNESS

James Arness played the role of Matt Dillon, Marshal of Dodge City, on “Gunsmoke” for twenty years. If you count the occasions when he reprised the role for specials, he actually performed as Matt Dillon over five decades. Did you know that the real name of Peter Graves, the actor who played Jim Phelps on “Mission: Impossible”, was Peter Arness, as he and James were brothers?

“Gunsmoke” is a Western drama series that originally aired on television from 1955 to 1975, with James Arness starring as Marshall Matt Dillon. The TV show was adapted from a radio show of the same name that ran from 1952 to 1961, with William Conrad (who later played TV’s “Cannon”) playing Marshall Dillon.

28 Hooting birds : OWLS

“Hoot owl” is an informal name for the barred owl. Barred owls have dark stripes running up and down the underside of their bodies, hence the name “barred”. They also have a very distinctive two-phrase vocalization, hence the name “hoot”.

32 Louisiana religion with African roots : VOODOO

Voodoo is a religion that originated in the French slave colony of Saint-Domingue on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

33 Will who voices Lego Batman : ARNETT

Will Arnett is a Canadian actor who got his big break in the Fox show “Arrested Development”. Arnett’s father was the president and CEO of Molson Breweries, and Will was married to actress Penelope Ann Miller and actress/comedian Amy Poehler.

Lego Batman is a line of Lego construction toys under license from DC Comics. The series was so popular that it spawned Lego Batman TV shows, video games and movies.

37 Basra’s country : IRAQ

It’s quite a coincidence that the Iraqi city of Basra has a name that is an anagram of “Arabs”, isn’t it? Basra also features in the H. G. Wells science-fiction tale “The Shape of Things to Come”. Written in 1933, the storyline predicts a global conflict (WWII) that breaks out in 1940 lasting for ten years, after which chaos reigns as no victor emerges. Following worldwide plague, a benevolent dictatorship takes charge and the world moves towards a serene utopia. In time, the dictators are overthrown and peacefully retired, and the people of the Earth live happily ever after, all citizens of one global state with its capital in Basra in the Middle East.

38 “Fleishman Is in Trouble” actress Claire : DANES

Claire Danes is an actress from New York City who played the title role in the HBO movie “Temple Grandin”. More recently, she has been starring as Carrie Mathison in the excellent Showtime drama series “Homeland”.

“Fleishman Is in Trouble” is a TV miniseries based on a 2019 novel penned by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, who also created the show. Jesse Eisenberg plays the title character, a recently divorced doctor who starts using dating apps for the first time.

43 Like the northern lights : AURORAL

The spectacular aurora phenomenon is seen lighting up the night sky at both poles of the earth (the Aurora Borealis in the north, and the Aurora Australis in the south). The eerie effect is caused by charged particles colliding with atoms at high latitudes.

47 Seventh planet from the sun : URANUS

One of the unique features of the planet Uranus is that its north and south poles lie where most other planets have their equators. That means that Uranus’ axis of rotation is almost in its solar orbit.

50 April __ Day : FOOLS’

Don’t forget to change the batteries in your smoke detectors on a regular basis. A public information campaign in Australia recommends doing so on April Fools’ Day every year. Not a bad idea …

59 Susan of “L.A. Law” : DEY

Actress Susan Dey first appeared on “The Partridge Family” when she was 17-years-old when she had no acting experience. Years later, Dey won a Golden Globe for playing the leading role of Grace Van Owen in “L.A. Law”.

“L.A. Law” ran on NBC from 1986 to 1994, and was one of the network’s most successful drama series. It took over from the equally successful “Hill Street Blues” in the Thursday night 10 p.m. slot until, after a six-year run, it was itself replaced by yet another respected drama, “E.R.” The opening credits showed that famous California license plate. The plate was on a Jaguar XJ for most of the series, but moved onto a Bentley towards the end of the run. For each series the registration sticker was updated, so no laws were being broken.

61 Private chats on soc. media : DMS

Direct message (DM)

62 Sine __ non : QUA

“Sine qua non” is a Latin phrase that we use to mean “the essential element or condition”. The literal translation is “without which not”. One might say, for example, “a challenging crossword is the sine qua non of a good newspaper”. Well, crossword fans might say that …