Category: Kiran Pandey

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Constructed by: Kiran Pandey

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer Title Characters

Themed answers are all puns on typographical CHARACTERS seen in movie TITLES:

• 55A Some lead roles, or features of 3-, 7-, and 11-Down? : TITLE CHARACTERS

• 3D “M*A*S*H,” in a way? : STAR VEHICLE
• 7D “E.T.,” in a way? : PERIOD PIECE
• 11D “Face/Off,” in a way? : SLASHER FILM

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

Bill’s time: 7m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Rae of “Barbie” : ISSA

In the 2023 hit movie “Barbie”, actress Issa Rae plays President Barbie, the ruler of Barbieland.

5A Baseball card giant owned by Fanatics : TOPPS

Topps was a relaunch of an older company called American Leaf Tobacco, with the Topps name used from 1938. The earlier company was in trouble because it could not get supplies of its Turkish tobacco, so it moved into another chewy industry, making bubblegum. Topps became very successful selling packs of gum combined with collectible baseball cards. The company stopped including the traditional stick of bubble gum in their packs in 1992. The practice was discontinued due to the gum staining and damaging cards.

15A Fast train in the Northeast : ACELA

The Acela is the fastest train in the Americas, and can reach a top speed of 160 miles per hour. However, it only does so for about 40 miles of its 457-mile route between D.C. and Boston. Due to the curvy nature of the Northeast Corridor tracks, the train’s average speed over the entire journey, including stops, is closer to 70 mph.

19A Namesake of a speed ratio : MACH

The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is its speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane traveling at Mach 2, for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1887 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.

23A __ 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 1972, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

24A Celestial explosions : NOVAE

A nova is a dramatic celestial event that results in a sudden and significant increase in the brightness of a star. The term “nova,” Latin for “new,” was coined because these events often make a previously dim star appear as a new, bright star in the night sky. Novae typically occur in binary star systems where one star is a white dwarf, the dense remnant of a sun-like star, and the other is a larger star like a red giant. The white dwarf’s strong gravity pulls material, primarily hydrogen, from its companion star onto its surface. Over time, this accumulated material heats up and becomes compressed, eventually triggering a runaway thermonuclear explosion on the white dwarf’s surface. This explosion causes a tremendous surge in luminosity, making the star visible to the naked eye for days or even weeks before it gradually fades back to its original brightness.

27A Bygone anesthetic : ETHER

Ethers are a whole class of organic compounds, but in the vernacular “ether” is specifically diethyl ether. Diethyl ether was once very popular as a general anesthetic.

30A Church headquartered in SLC : LDS

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) is known colloquially as the Mormon Church.

31A “Shrinking” actor/co-creator Goldstein : BRETT

English actor and comedian Brett Goldstein is perhaps best known for portraying the grouchy midfielder and captain Roy Kent on the excellent sitcom “Ted Lasso”. Goldstein was originally hired as a writer for the show, but was then given the additional job of playing Kent.

“Shrinking” is a comedy-drama series co-created by and starring Jason Segel. He plays a therapist who breaches ethical principles by intervening in their lives in order to help them solve their problems. Segel’s character works with a senior therapist played by Harrison Ford. Good stuff, I thought …

32A The Phanatic’s team, on scoreboards : PHI

The Phillie Phanatic is the mascot for the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team. The Phanatic replaced the older mascots Philadelphia Phil and Philadelphia Phillis in 1978.

35A Form 1099 agcy. : IRS

There is a series of IRS 1099 forms used to report various types of income, other than wages, salaries and tips that are reported on Form W-2. Examples are Form 1099-INT used to report interest income, 1099-DIV used to report dividend income, and 1099-MISC used to report miscellaneous income.

37A Soul singer Baker : ANITA

Anita Baker is an R&B and soul singer who was raised in Detroit, Michigan. Baker’s most successful song is the Grammy-winning “Sweet Love” that was released in 1986.

38A Creative degs. : MFAS

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

40A Campaign-funding gps. : PACS

A political action committee (PAC) is a private group that works to influence the outcome of a particular election or group of elections. Any group becomes a PAC by law when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that PACS that did not make direct contributions to candidates or parties could accept unlimited contributions. These “independent, expenditure-only committees” are commonly referred to as “super PACs”.

41A “The Hunger Games” ally of Katniss : PEETA

[Spoiler alert!] Suzanne Collins’s novel “The Hunger Games” culminates in a revolutionary act by its protagonists, Peeta Mellark and Katniss Everdeen. After they are the sole survivors of the 74th Hunger Games, the pair defy the Capitol’s command. Instead of fighting each other, Katniss proposes they both consume poisonous Nightlock berries in a joint suicide, effectively denying the Capitol their singular victor. This act of defiance forces the Gamemakers to declare them both winners, but it is later understood by President Snow as a direct act of rebellion against the Capitol’s authority, laying the groundwork for the future conflict in the series.

42A Trig ratio : SINE

Trigonometry (trig) is a branch of mathematics dealing with triangles, and calculations based on the relationship between a triangle’s angles and the lengths of its sides.

43A Weekly skit show, familiarly : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

46A Cell service letters : LTE

In the world of telecommunications, the initialism LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, and is wireless broadband communication standard. In general terms, LTE improves broadband speeds. As I understand it, LTE technology allows a 3G network to perform almost as well as a true 4G network, and so LTE is sometimes marketed as 4G LTE, even though it’s really “3G plus”.

49A Spanish infinitive : SER

The Spanish verbs “ser” and “estar” both translate as “to be”:

1. Ser: Used for permanent or essential qualities (personality, origin, time). Think “what” something is, e.g. Soy alto. (I am tall.)
2. Estar: Used for temporary states or conditions (location, emotion, condition). Think “how” something is, e.g. Estoy cansado. (I am tired.)

54A Connecticut Ivy Leaguer : ELI

Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut was founded in 1701, making it the third-oldest university in the US. Originally called the Collegiate School, it was renamed to Yale University in honor of retired merchant Elihu Yale, who made generous contributions to the institution. Yale University’s nickname is “Old Eli”, in a nod to the benefactor.

Down

2D Shenanigans of the upper class? : SENIOR PRANK

I suppose one might be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term, as it certainly sounds Irish. Usually written in the plural, shenanigans are acts of mischief, pranks. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, but was coined in San Francisco or Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.

3D “M*A*S*H,” in a way? : STAR VEHICLE

“M*A*S*H” has only three stars (three asterisks, that is). These asterisks first appeared on the poster for the 1970 movie, but they were omitted in the opening titles. The TV series went on to use the asterisks from the poster.

4D Nile viper : ASP

We use the term “asp” today to refer to several venomous species of snakes found in the Nile region. Even though “asp” comes from the Greek “aspis” meaning “viper”, the asp that we know as the symbol of ancient Egyptian royalty was not a viper at all. Rather, it was the Egyptian cobra.

5D 27th U.S. president : TAFT

William Howard Taft may have been the 27th President of the United States, but his lifelong ambition was to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The future president had served as dean and professor at the Cincinnati Law School. President Taft was able to realize that dream in 1921, eight years after losing his bid for re-election as president. As Chief Justice, this former US President swore in two new presidents: Calvin Coolidge (in 1925) and Herbert Hoover (in 1929). William Howard Taft is also remembered as the most obese president. In the last year of his presidency, he weighed about 340 pounds (he was 5 feet 11 inches tall). Twelve months after leaving the White House, President Taft had dropped 80 pounds and substantially lowered his blood pressure.

6D Passenger ships : OCEAN LINERS

The use of the word “line” with reference to transportation started in the 1780s, in the context of stagecoaches. Such transportation operated a string of stagecoaches between towns and cities along regular “lines”. The concept shifted to shipping “lines” operating ocean-going “liners” between ports. And then came “airliners”.

7D “E.T.,” in a way? : PERIOD PIECE

1982’s classic science fiction movie “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” was directed by Steven Spielberg. The idea behind the film came from Spielberg himself, and the character E.T. was based on an imaginary friend whom he conjured up as a child after his parents divorced in 1966.

10D Cooking spray brand : PAM

PAM cooking spray was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

11D “Face/Off,” in a way? : SLASHER FILM

“Face/Off” is a 1997 action movie starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage as an FBI agent and terrorist who “swap faces”. Yes, that sounds ridiculous, but I find this movie quite entertaining …

12D December tradition in some offices : SECRET SANTA

The Christmas tradition known as “Secret Santa” is often used for gift-giving by a group of friends or colleagues. Each person is randomly assigned another member of the group to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift-giver is kept secret, hence the name of the tradition.

22D Former Interior Secretary Haaland : DEB

Deb Haaland became US Secretary of the Interior in 2021, making her the first Native-American Cabinet secretary. However, she was not the first Native American to serve in the Cabinet. That honor went to Charles Curtis, US Vice President under Herbert Hoover.

25D Litmus reddeners : ACIDS

Litmus is a mixture of naturally-occurring dyes that responds to acidity by changing color. It was probably first used around 1300 by the Spanish alchemist Arnaldus de Villa Nova, who extracted the blue dye from lichens. One suggestion is that the term “litmus” comes from the Old Norse “litmose” meaning “lichen for dyeing”. Litmus is often absorbed onto filter paper, creating “litmus paper” or “pH paper”. We also use the phrase “litmus test” figuratively to describe any test in which a single factor decides the outcome.

33D Cassette : TAPE

The French for “box” is “caisse”. So, a “cassette” is a “little box”.

34D Bread baked in a tandoor : NAAN

Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

45D Soft mineral : TALC

The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was developed in 1812 by Friedrich Mohs. Basically Mohs took minerals and scratched them with other minerals. In this way he was able to determine which minerals were hardest (most scratch resistant) and which softest. On the scale, diamond is the hardest (and rated 10), while talc is the softest (and rated 1).

55D Up in the air, briefly : TBD

To be determined (TBD)

57D Soft metal : TIN

The Latin word for tin is “stannum”, and so tin’s atomic symbol is “Sn”. One of the ores used as a source of tin is “stannite”.

59D Poehler who co-founded the Upright Citizens Brigade : AMY

The Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) is an improv comedy group based in Chicago that was founded in 1990. The most famous of the co-founders was Amy Poehler, an alumna of the Second City improv group, and future SNL cast member.

61D Bullpen stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

63D Request for a tropical getaway, perhaps? : SOS

The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots). That said, in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so “SOS” is really only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are back-formations that were introduced after the SOS signal was adopted.