Category: Lee Taylor

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Constructed by: Lee Taylor
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Top Dog

Themed answers are all in the down-direction, with a DOG hidden at the TOP:

• 71A Head honcho, and a feature of 9-, 11-, 25-, and 30-Down : TOP DOG

• 9D Classmate who helps with a science project : LAB PARTNER
• 11D Post-retirement period : GOLDEN YEARS
• 25D Briefs alternative : BOXER SHORTS
• 30D Hoarse speaker’s feature : HUSKY VOICE

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

Bill’s time: 5m 19s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Wrigley product : GUM

The Wrigley Company is the largest manufacturer of chewing gum in the world. The company was founded in 1891 in Chicago by William Wrigley, Jr. to sell scouring soap. Wrigley switched to baking powder, and then began to offer two packs of gum as an incentive to buy a can of baking powder. The gum turned out to be more popular than the baking powder.

15 Site whose original name was AuctionWeb : EBAY

eBay was founded in 1995 as AuctionWeb. One of the first items purchased was a broken laser pointer, for $14.83. The buyer was a collector of broken laser pointers …

17 Literary realm created by C.S. Lewis : NARNIA

Apparently, it’s not certain how C. S. Lewis came to choose Narnia as the name of the fantasy world featured in his series of children’s books, including “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”. There was an ancient city in Umbria that the Romans called Narnia, but there is no evidence of a link.

19 “The Book of Mormon” org. : LDS

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

“The Book of Mormon” is a satirical musical by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (of “South Park” fame) and Robert Lopez (of “Avenue Q” and “Frozen” fame). The show follows two missionaries from the Mormon Church seeking converts in a remote village in Uganda.

23 “Dancing Queen” pop quartet : ABBA

“Dancing Queen” is a great, great song from 1976 that was released by the Swedish group ABBA. ABBA’s music has never been as popular in the US as it is in other countries, but “Dancing Queen” did make it to the number-one spot in the charts here. It was in fact, ABBA’s only #1 hit in the US.

26 Harp constellation : LYRA

Lyra (Latin for “lyre, harp, lute”) is a constellation that includes the star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. Lyra is surrounded by the neighboring constellations of Draco, Hercules, Vulpecula and Cygnus.

27 Actress Russo or artist Magritte : RENE

The talented actress Rene Russo is a native of Burbank, California. Russo went to high school (with actor/director Ron Howard), but dropped out in tenth grade. At seventeen, she was given the opportunity to train as a model and within a very short time appeared on the cover of “Vogue”. As her modeling jobs slowed down in her early thirties, Russo made a career change and studied theater and acting. Her breakout role was in the 1989 film “Major League.”

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”.

28 “You Bet Your Life” host Marx : GROUCHO

Groucho Marx’s real name was Julius Henry Marx. By the time Groucho started his successful, post-Hollywood career hosting the quiz show “You Bet Your Life”, he was sporting a real mustache. For all of his movies, his mustache had been painted on with greasepaint.

“You Bet Your Life” is a quiz show first aired on radio, in 1947. Host of the original show was the celebrated Groucho Marx. Groucho then took the show to television in 1950, while still hosting the radio version until 1960. The TV format was renamed to “The Groucho Show”, and it ceased airing in 1961. “You Bet Your Life” was revived several times. A 1980-81 version was hosted by Buddy Hackett, a 1992-93 version by Bill Cosby, and a 2021-23 version by Jay Leno.

33 Tyrannosaurus __ : REX

The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written “T-rex”) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard) and “rex” the Latin for “king”. They were big beasts, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

34 Throw a shot put, e.g. : HURL

Shot put, or events like shot put, have been around for millennia, but the first events that truly resemble today’s track and field event had to come with the invention of the cannonball. Soldiers would “put” (throw) cannonballs as far as possible in attempts to outperform each other. Shot put has been in the modern Olympic Games since day-one, with American Robert Garrett winning the gold in the first games in 1896.

36 Cafeteria item : TRAY

“Cafeteria” is a Mexican-Spanish word meaning “coffee store” that we imported into American English around 1840. Somehow, that coffee store became a self-service dining establishment in the 1890s.

40 Subj. for some citizenship applicants : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

52 Amazon gadget activated by saying “Alexa” : ECHO

Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled hardware device that can be used to provide several services including playing radio programs and music, recording of shopping lists, and managing a calendar. The device just sits in the home listening, until it hears a “wake up” command.

53 Lemming kin : VOLE

Vole populations can increase very rapidly. Mama vole is pregnant for just three weeks before giving birth to litters of 5-10 baby voles. Then, the young voles become sexually mature in just one month! If you have one pregnant vole in your yard, within a year you could have over a hundred of the little critters.

Lemmings are small rodents that live in cold climates, usually in or around the Arctic. There is a misconception that lemmings are prone to commit mass suicide. What is true is that like many animal species, lemmings are prone to mass migration, especially when the population in one area gets too great. Lemmings can swim, and will jump into a body of water in order to cross it. However, some lemmings may drown in the attempt. So, the lemmings jump en masse into a body of water to cross it, not to commit suicide. Then there was the famous Disney “White Wilderness” incident. Disney shot footage of lemmings “committing mass suicide” for the 1958 film “White Wilderness”. In fact, the lemmings in the morbid scene were flown to the location of the shoot, and were launched off a cliff using a turntable. Despicable …

55 “Full Court Press” network : ESPN

“Full Court Press” is a documentary series that offers an intimate look into the world of the WNBA. The show has prominently highlighted the journeys and careers of several key players, including Caitlin Clark, Kamilla Cardoso, and Kiki Rice.

57 Wind instrument with an oval body : OCARINA

An ocarina is an ancient wind-instrument that sounds like and is played like a flute. Usually an ocarina has an egg-shaped body with a number of finger holes cut into the material making up the instrument (usually ceramic). There is a tube protruding from the body through which one blows to make sounds. The air vibrates within the body of the instrument, and the pitch of the vibrations is changed by covering and uncovering the finger-holes. Ocarinas date back as far as 12,000 years ago when they were used both in China and Central America. The ocarina was brought to Italy in the 1800s where it became popular as a child’s toy, but also as a serious instrument. It was given the name “ocarina” as its shape resembles that of a goose, and “ocarina”is a diminutive word stemming from “oca”, the Italian word for “goose”.

61 Insta uploads : PICS

Instagram (often abbreviated to “Insta”, or “IG”) is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular. Instagram started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram company had just 13 employees at the time of the sale …

62 Quarterback Joe who was MVP of the 1969 Super Bowl : NAMATH

Legendary quarterback Joe Namath played most of his professional football games with the New York Jets. He was dubbed “Broadway Joe” in 1965 by offensive tackle Sherman Plunkett, a reference to Namath’s appearance on the cover of “Sports Illustrated”. Namath had played college football with the University of Alabama but left school without finishing his degree, to play professionally. Many years later he enrolled in Alabama’s External Degree program, and graduated with a BA in December 2007, at 64 years of age. Well done, Joe!

66 Writer’s rep : AGT

Agent (agt.)

68 Small apartment : STUDIO

“Studio” comes into English via Italian from the Latin “studium” meaning “room for study”. The meaning was extended into “studio apartment” in the early 1900s.

69 “__ Misérables” : LES

Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables” has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.

70 Love, in tennis : ZERO

In sports like tennis, the score of zero is designated as “love”. Some people believe that this usage originates from the French “l’oeuf” (meaning “the egg”). The idea is that the written character “0” looks like an egg.

71 Head honcho, and a feature of 9-, 11-, 25-, and 30-Down : TOP DOG

The most dominant person in a situation is the “top dog”. The person likely to be beaten is the “underdog”.

Down

1 Browned by the sun : TAN

Melanin is a natural pigment found in most organisms. In humans, melanin is the pigment in the skin, the production of which accelerates in response to UV radiation causing a “tan”. Melanin is also what is released as cephalopod ink, a defensive cloud squirted into the water by squids and octopodes.

2 Nest egg inits. : 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.

4 Alaska’s capital : JUNEAU

Given that it’s the capital of the vast state of Alaska, it is perhaps not surprising to learn that the municipality of Juneau is almost as big as the area of the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. And yet, Juneau only has a population of about 31,000 people!

5 Himalayas continent : ASIA

The magnificent Himalaya range of mountains in Asia takes its name from the Sanskrit for “abode of snow”. Geographically, the Himalaya separates the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau to the north.

6 Caboose : REAR

The word “caboose” originally came from Middle Dutch and was the word for a ship’s galley. When the last car in a train in North America was given a stove for the comfort of the crew, it took on the name “caboose”. The term has also become slang for a person’s backside.

10 Hurricane center : EYE

Hurricanes are given names primarily to help the public keep track of dangerous systems. The names are decided ahead of the hurricane season, with the first system given a name beginning with A, the second, B etc. The names are alternated between male and female names throughout the season. Also, if the first storm of the season is male, then the following year a female name is chosen. For hurricanes in the North Atlantic, names are assigned for every letter, except Q, U, X, Y and Z. The most frequently used name is Arlene, which was used for ten different storms from 1959 to 2011.

21 Regional plant life : FLORA

The fauna (plural “faunae”) is the animal life of a particular region, and the flora (plural “florae”) is that region’s plant life. The term “fauna” comes from the Roman goddess of earth and fertility who was called Fauna. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants, flowers and fertility.

22 Met solo : ARIA

The Metropolitan Opera (often simply “the Met”) of New York City is the largest classical music organization in the country, presenting about 220 performances each and every year. Founded in 1880, the Met is renowned for using technology to expand its audiences. Performances have been broadcast live on radio since 1931, and on television since 1977. And since 2006 you can go see a live performance from New York in high definition on the big screen, at a movie theater near you …

23 Taj Mahal city : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India that was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

• The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
• Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
• Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

29 Dishes for a special meal : CHINA

The ceramic known as “porcelain” can be referred to as “china” or “fine china”, as porcelain was developed in China.

48 Global cold spell : ICE AGE

Ice ages are periods in the Earth’s history when there are extensive ice sheets present in the northern and southern hemispheres. One might argue that we are still in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago, as evidenced by the presence of ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.

49 Mia Hamm’s sport : SOCCER

Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player. She played as a forward on the US national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm scored 158 international goals, which was more than any other player in the world, male or female, until the record was broken in 2013. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.

54 Coach Ted played by Jason Sudeikis : LASSO

“Ted Lasso” is a marvelous sports-comedy TV show about an American college football coach who moves to the UK to manage an English soccer team. The title character is played very admirably by Jason Sudeikis. Sudeikis first played Lasso in a series of TV commercials commissioned to promote NBC’s coverage of the British Premier League. The character became so popular that he inspired a whole TV series. Great stuff, and highly recommended …

Jason Sudeikis is an actor, comedian and writer who gained prominence as a writer and cast member on “Saturday Night Live”. Sudeikis’s uncle is actor George Wendt, best known for playing Norm Peterson on the sitcom “Cheers”, and it was Wendt who recommended his nephew to the producers of “SNL”. More recently, Sudeikis has garnered critical acclaim and a dedicated fanbase for portraying the title character in the hit TV series “Ted Lasso”.

58 Research org. : INST

Institute (inst.)

59 Alliance headed by Mark Rutte: Abbr. : NATO

Mark Rutte is a prominent Dutch politician who took on the role of the 14th Secretary General of NATO in October 2024. Prior to this, he served as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024, making him the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history.

61 La __, Bolivia : PAZ

The administrative capital of Bolivia, La Paz, is officially named Nuestra Senora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace). La Paz is the seat of the Bolivian government, even though the constitutional capital of the country is Sucre.