Category: Katie Hale

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Constructed by: Katie Hale & Chandi Deitmer
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Lentils

Themed answers come in pairs. One element has LENT “IL” to the other:

• 40A Staple legumes, or parsed differently, what 16- and 24-Across did for 51- and 63-Across : LENTILS or LENT “IL”S

• 16A “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!”? : YOU’VE GOT MA (“You’ve got mail” – “il”)
• 51A Really hot person in the cockpit? : MELTING PILOT (“melting pot” + “il”)

• 24A Machines used on a peacock farm? : FEATHER PLOWS (“feather pillows” – “il”)
• 63A Wooden model of an Italian city? : STICK MILAN (“stick man” + “il”)

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

Bill’s time: 8m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Recipient of a half-hearted gift? : BFF

Best friend forever (BFF)

16 “Alert: Yo-Yo’s here!”? : YOU’VE GOT MA (“You’ve got mail” – “il”)

Yo-Yo Ma is a “ma-velous” American cellist who was born in Paris to Chinese parents. Ma started studying the violin when he was very young, working his way up (in size) to the viola and finally to the cello. He has said that he wanted to play the double bass, but it was just too big for his relatively small frame.

The iconic phrase “You’ve got mail” was first used by AOL in 1989. The greeting was recorded by voice actor Elwood Edwards. Edwards has parlayed his gig with AOL into some other work. He appears in an episode of “The Simpsons” as a doctor who says the line “You’ve got leprosy”. Edwards also worked as a weatherman for a while and got to use the line “You’ve got hail” …

19 Peak near Catania : ETNA

The Metropolitan City of Catania (“Province of Catania” prior to 2015) is not only home to the city of Catania, but is also home to Mount Etna, Europe’s largest volcano. It is the second largest city on the island of Sicily (after Palermo), and has a long and rich cultural history. Today, Catania is known as a center for technology industries, earning it the nickname “European Silicon Valley”.

24 Machines used on a peacock farm? : FEATHER PLOWS (“feather pillows” – “il”)

The male peafowl is known as a peacock, and the female a peahen. The peafowl’s young are sometimes called peachicks.

28 Caribbean island with the Pitons : ST LUCIA

There are only two sovereign nations named for women. The island country of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean was named after Saint Lucy of Syracuse. The island country of Ireland (“Éire” in Irish) was named the goddess Ériu from Irish mythology.

The Pitons are two spectacular volcanic spires located on the coast of Saint Lucia in the Caribbean. The larger of the pair is Gros Piton, and the slightly smaller is Petit Piton.

31 Tylenol target : PAIN

Tylenol is a pain-relieving drug with the active ingredient acetaminophen (which is known as “paracetamol” outside of the US).

32 Piggy bank addition : COIN

The word “pig” can be used for earthenware, or an earthenware shard. From this usage there evolved the term “pig jar” that described an earthenware pot that could be filled with water for use as a bed-warmer. Crockery pots were also used to collect coins and these were also termed “pig jars”. By the 1700s, these pig jars had evolved into the first “piggy banks”.

33 __ bunny : DUST

What we call “dust bunnies” in American English, have similar inventive names in other languages. The Finns know them as sheep, the Germans wool mice, the Hungarians dust kittens, the Italians dust cats, and the Swedish dust rats.

36 Performed a saut de chat, e.g. : LEAPT

A pas de chat (also “saut de chat”) is a sideways jump in ballet. Notably, the Dance of the Cygnets in Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” features sixteen sequential pas de chat performed by four dancers in a row with their hands and arms intertwined.

39 Director Lee : ANG

Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.

42 Like some larb : LAO

Larb is a traditional dish from Lao cuisine that is made with minced meat, fish sauce, lime juice, and various herbs and spices. It is often considered the national dish of Laos, although it is also popular in neighboring countries like Thailand and Vietnam. The word “larb” is derived from the Lao word “laap,” which means “to mince” or “to chop finely.”

43 Maestro Zubin : MEHTA

Zubin Mehta is an Indian conductor of western classical music, from Mumbai. Mehta studied music in Vienna, where he made his conducting debut in 1958. In 1961 he was named assistant director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, creating a fuss with the music director designate of the orchestra, Georg Solti. Solti resigned as a protest, and Mehta took his job. In 1978 Mehta took over as Music Director and Principal Conductor of the New York Philharmonic, eventually becoming the longest holder of that position. In 2019, the Los Angeles Philharmonic bestowed on Mehta the title of Conductor Emeritus.

51 Really hot person in the cockpit? : MELTING PILOT (“melting pot” + “il”)

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the original “cockpit” was a “pit” used for fighting “cocks”. The term was then applied nautically, as the name for the compartment below decks used as living quarters by midshipmen. The cockpit of a boat today, usually on a smaller vessel, is a sunken area towards the stern in which sits the helmsman and others (who can fit!). The usage extended to aircraft in the 1910s and to cars in the 1930s.

56 Philip Marlowe genre : NOIR

Philip Marlowe is a character created by Raymond Chandler, who appears in the novels “The Big Sleep” and “The Long Goodbye”.

61 Ruckuses : DINS

The word “ruckus” is used to mean “commotion”, and has been around since the late 1800s. “Ruckus” is possibly a melding of the words “ruction” and “rumpus”.

63 Wooden model of an Italian city? : STICK MILAN (“stick man” + “il”)

Milan (“Milano” in Italian) is Italy’s second-largest city, second only to Rome. Milan is a European fashion capital, the headquarters for the big Italian fashion houses of Valentino, Gucci, Versace, Armani, Prada and others. Mario Prada was even born in Milan, and helped establish the city’s reputation in the world of fashion.

68 Ilsa __: “Casablanca” heroine : LUND

The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (who played “Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943. The 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.

69 Arthur who authored “A Hard Road to Glory” : ASHE

“A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete” is a 1988 book by tennis star Arthur Ashe. Published in three volumes, Ashe researched for almost six years with a team to put the book together. Ashe stated publicly that he valued “A Hard Road to Glory” more than any of his tennis titles.

70 Dark side of a notable pair : YIN

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

71 Chocolate brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway : SEE’S

See’s is a candy manufacturer that was founded in Los Angeles in 1921 by Canadian Charles See and his mother Mary See. Many of us remember the chocolate factory episode of “I Love Lucy”. Well, Lucille Ball and Vivian Vancse spent time at the See’s facility in LA learning how to dip chocolates and work the production line prior to filming that show.

Berkshire Hathaway is the holding company that is controlled by Warren Buffett, the so-called “Oracle of Omaha”. Berkshire Hathaway is the eighth largest public company in the world.

Down

3 Poker variety : STUD

“Stud poker” is the name given to many variants of poker, all of which are characterized by the dealer giving each player a mix of cards face-down and face-up. The cards facing upwards are called “upcards”. The cards facing downwards are called “hole cards”, cards only visible to the individual who holds that particular hand. This gives rise to the phrase “ace in the hole”, a valuable holding that only the player with the ace is aware of.

9 Picnic snack that appears to have picnic invaders : ANTS ON A LOG

Ants on a log is a snack food prepared by spreading something like peanut butter or cream cheese on celery and placing raisins on top. If you leave out the raisins, the snack becomes “ants on vacation”.

14 Tahiti sweetie : AMIE

Tahiti is the most populous island in French Polynesia, which is located in the central Southern Pacific. Although Captain Cook landed in Tahiti in 1769, he wasn’t the first European to do so. However, Cook’s visit was the most significant in that it heralded a whole spate of European visitors, who brought with them prostitution, venereal disease and alcohol. Included among the subsequent visitors was the famous HMS Bounty under the charge of Captain Bligh.

18 Org. with sponsored Medicare plans : AARP

AARP is the official name now for the interest group that used to be called “The American Association of Retired Persons”. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired. The AARP was founded by Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus in 1958 and is a successor to the National Retired Teachers Association, also founded by Andrus over ten years earlier.

22 Australian gems : OPALS

97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, i.e. about 80%. White, gray and green opals are the most common varieties found, and black opals the rarest.

25 Many a “Veep” role : AIDE

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong, strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

35 Actress Hedren : TIPPI

Tippi Hedren is an actress from New Ulm, Minnesota who is best known for her starring roles in two Alfred Hitchcock classics: “The Birds” (1963) and “Marnie” (1964). Famously, Hedren claimed that Hitchcock destroyed her movie career because she would not succumb to his sexual advances, a charge that has been denied. Hedren’s daughter is actress Melanie Griffith.

40 Exempli gratia, e.g. : LATIN

The Latin “exempli gratia” means “for the sake of example”, and is a phrase we often use in English. “Exempli gratia” is almost always shortened to “e.g.”

44 Ore-Ida offering : TOT

Ore-Ida’s founders came up with the idea for Tater Tots when they were deciding what to do with residual cuts of potato. They chopped up the leftovers, added flour and seasoning, and extruded the mix through a large hole making a sausage that they cut into small cylinders. We eat 70 million pounds of this extruded potato every year!

48 Son of Seth : ENOS

Enos was the son of Seth, and therefore the grandson of Adam and Eve, and nephew of Cain and Abel. According to the ancient Jewish work called the Book of Jubilees, Enos married his own sister Noam.

50 Sch. with a Twin Cities campus : U OF M

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (the U of M) comprises two campuses located a few miles apart, one in Minneapolis, and one in Saint Paul. One of U of M’s graduates is Bob Dylan, the 2016 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.

51 Marshall McLuhan focus : MEDIA

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher who is noted for his work in the field of media theory. McLuhan’s work held most sway in the sixties, at which time he coined the expressions “the medium is the message” and “global village”. He also predicted the development of the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it became a reality.

52 Uses Photoshop : EDITS

Photoshop is a wonderful piece of software used for editing graphics. When I first bought a copy of Photoshop, it was really expensive (about $300 in 1995), but now there are cost-effective, stripped-down versions available. Also, the full version of Photoshop is now only available as a monthly subscription service.

53 Bhagavad-__ : GITA

The Bhagavad Gita (sometimes just “the Gita”) is a Hindu scripture written in Sanskrit, the title of which translates as “The Song of the Bhagavan”.

58 Word with blood or moon : BLUE …

The idiomatic phrase “blue blood” applies to someone of noble descent. It is a translation of the Spanish “sangre azul”, which was applied to the royal family in Spain. The notion is that someone of noble birth does not have to work outdoors in the fields, and so has untanned skin. The veins showing in the skin had “blue blood”, whereas those veins were masked by the darker skin of the peasant classes.

As there is a full moon once every four weeks, approximately monthly, there are usually twelve full moons in any given year. However, every 2-3 years, depending on the phase of the moon at the beginning of the calendar year, there may be a thirteenth full moon. The “extra” full moon is called a “blue moon”, although no one seems to really know why the term “blue” is used, as far as I can tell. Which of the thirteen full moons that is designated as the blue moon varies depending on tradition. My favorite definition is from the Farmer’s Almanac. It states that as each of the seasons normally has three full moons (one for each calendar month), then the season with four full moons is designated as “special”, then the third (and not the fourth) full moon in that “special” season is the blue moon. Complicated, huh?

64 Flat-iron brand : CHI

CHI is a manufacturer of hair products based in Houston. It was founded in 1986 by hairdresser Farouk Shami.

Hair irons can generally be grouped into three families:

1. Curling irons … make the hair curly
2. Flat irons … make the hair straight
3. Crimping irons … crimp the hair into a sawtooth configuration

65 2023 role for Ryan, Simu, Kingsley, and others : KEN

The 2023 fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” stars Margo Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach. I highly recommend this one …

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