Category: Matthew Stock

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Constructed by: Matthew Stock & Wendy L. Brandes
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Digs

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as abodes/DIGS:

• 16A Digs for a member of a string quartet? : CELLO SUITE
• 26A Digs for a gym rat? : MUSCLE BUILDING
• 42A Digs for a Greek mythology buff? : OEDIPUS COMPLEX
• 56A Digs for a dancer? : BALLET FLAT

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

Bill’s time: 6m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4 Eatery with a chalkboard menu : BISTRO

“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term describing a little wine shop or restaurant.

10 Free TV spot : PSA

Public service announcement (PSA)

13 “Origin” writer/director DuVernay : AVA

Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on her husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. DuVernay also directed the 2014 film “Selma” about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.

“Origin” is a 2023 film written and directed by Ava Duvernay. It follows the life of Pulitzer-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson as she travels through the US, Germany and India, researching for her 2020 book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents”. In the movie, Wilkerson is portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.

14 Off-the-cuff performance : IMPROV

To speak off the cuff is to speak extemporaneously. The idea is that someone doing so would not be using learned lines, but rather is speaking with the use of a few notes that have been jotted on his cuffs or shirtsleeves.

16 Digs for a member of a string quartet? : CELLO SUITE

The cello is the second-largest instrument in the violin family, after the double bass. It is said that the cello produces a sound nearer the human voice than any other instrument in an orchestra. I can see/hear that …

19 “At Wit’s End” writer Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

21 “Ant” on a celery “log” : RAISIN

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”.

23 Scand. land : NOR

Strictly speaking, Scandinavia is a region in Northern Europe that covers the kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The broader region that includes Finland and Iceland is referred to locally as “the Nordic countries”.

25 Flakes on plans : BAILS

The phrase “to bail out” (sometimes just “to bail”) means to leave suddenly. We’ve been using the term since the early thirties, when it originated with airline pilots. To bail out is to make a parachute jump.

32 Lauder in the cosmetics aisle : ESTEE

Estée Lauder was a very successful businesswoman, and someone with a great reputation as a salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales “volume” …

34 __ 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 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

36 OPS or RBI : STAT

On-base plus slugging (OPS)

40 __ Monica Pier : SANTA

Santa Monica, California lies on Santa Monica Bay and is in Los Angeles County. The city is home to the world-famous Santa Monica Pier, which opened in 1909.

41 Mazda roadster : 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”.

42 Digs for a Greek mythology buff? : OEDIPUS COMPLEX

An oedipal relationship is one in which a child exhibits sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex. A child exhibiting such behavior is said to have an Oedipus complex, named for the play “Oedipus Rex” by Sophocles.

45 Entrepreneur __ C.J. Walker : MADAM

Madam C. J. Walker was an entrepreneur who, according to the “Guinness Book of World Records”, was America’s first female self-made millionaire. Born “Sarah Breedlove”, she made her money through the Madam C. J. Walker Manufacturing Company that she founded to produce and market cosmetics and hair products aimed at African-American women.

46 Language in which to order 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.”

56 Digs for a dancer? : BALLET FLAT

Ballet flats are women’s shoes derived from ballet slippers, and so have no heel at all. They are also called dolly shoes.

59 Starchy snack bites, for short : TOTS

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!

60 Tennis star Andre : AGASSI

Retired tennis professional Andre Agassi has been married to fellow player Steffi Graf since 2001. Agassi wrote an autobiography called “Open”, published in 2009. An amazing revelation in the book is that Agassi’s famous head of hair was actually a wig for much of his playing career. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to play tennis at his level with a rug stuck on?

61 Periodontists’ gp. : ADA

Periodontics (also “periodontology”) is the dental discipline concerned with the structures supporting the teeth, including the gums. The term “periodontal” means “surrounding a tooth” from the Greek “peri-” (surrounding) and “odontos” (of the tooth).

Down

1 Four-minute mile, for one : PACE

The 4-minute barrier for the mile run was first broken in 1954 by Roger Bannister, when he finished in just over 3m 59s. If you plan on running a 4-minute mile, you should probably be warned that this means you have to run the whole race at an average speed of over 15 mph (do the math!).

2 CCR’s “Have You __ Seen the Rain” : EVER

“Have You Ever Seen the Rain?” is a 1971 song recorded by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and written by lead singer John Fogarty. In March of 2023, it became the oldest song on Spotify to surpass one billion streams.

6 Barrel racer’s accessory : SPUR

Barrel racing is an event featured in rodeos. Competitors on horses race around barrels in a cloverleaf pattern, each trying to complete the course in the fastest time. The event tends to be confined to male and female youths, and to women riders.

7 Chi-Town paper : TRIB

“The Chicago Tribune” was first published in 1847. The most famous edition of “The Trib” was probably in 1948 when the headline was “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”, on the occasion of that year’s presidential election. When it turned out that Truman had actually won, the victor picked up the paper with the erroneous headline and posed for photographs with it … a famous, famous photo, that must have stuck in the craw of the editor at the time.

10 Film similar to cling wrap : PRESS’N SEAL

Press ‘n Seal is a plastic wrap product that resembles cling film. The difference is that Press’n Seal includes a contact adhesive, so that wrapping can create a seal, rather than relying on static electricity to “cling”.

12 Grace ender : AMEN

A grace is a short prayer recited before or after a meal, especially in the Christian tradition. The term “grace” comes from the Latin “gratiarum actio” meaning “act of thanks”.

15 Cook-off entry : CHILI

The full name of the dish that is often called simply “chili” is “chili con carne”, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was created by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

17 Small surgical knife : LANCET

“Lancet” is another name for a scalpel. There’s a publication called “The Lancet”, which is possibly the world’s most respected medical journal. It is certainly the oldest, first published in 1823.

25 Signature Golden Arches offering : BIG MAC

The iconic Big Mac sandwich was introduced nationally by McDonald’s in 1967. It was the creation of a Pittsburgh franchisee who offered it on the menu as a response to the very similar “Big Boy” sandwich offered by the competing Big Boy restaurant chain.

28 “Liberty and Prosperity,” for New Jersey, e.g. : STATE MOTTO

The state motto of New Jersey is “Liberty and Prosperity”. The state’s coat of arms features two Roman goddesses representing “liberty” and “prosperity”. The goddess Libertas personifies liberty, and the goddess of agriculture Ceres represents prosperity.

29 Bailey’s circus partner : BARNUM

Phineas Taylor “PT” Barnum was one of the great American showmen, and was famous for founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus. By some measures, Barnum was the first ever “show business” millionaire. Beyond the world of entertainment, Barnum was also a politician for a while and served two terms in the Connecticut legislature, and was mayor of the city of Bridgeport. Barnum was a very successful author as well. One of his most famous books was “The Humbugs of the World”, an exposé of deceptions in the world of entertainment. He was a believer in illusions, providing they gave value for money in terms of entertainment. However, Barnum had an intense dislike of fraudulent deception and came down hard on spiritualist mediums in particular.

30 Curriculum parts : UNITS

A curriculum (plural “curricula”) is a set of courses offered by a teaching establishment. “Curriculum” is Latin for “running, course”, and comes from “currere” meaning “to run”.

35 Big big-screen format : IMAX

The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things, and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.

37 Eatery with small plates : TAPAS BAR

“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”. There is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

41 UFC sport : MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest promoter in the world of mixed martial arts competitions. I think the idea is that competitors fight each other in various disciplines to see who is the “best of the best” …

43 eHarmony matches : DATES

eHarmony is a high-profile online dating service based in Pasadena, California.

44 Like Yellowstone, among National Parks : OLDEST

President Abraham Lincoln passed a bill in 1864 creating the Yosemite Grant, which was the first piece of federal legislature that set aside park land for preservation and public use. The Yosemite Grant paved the way for the creation of Yellowstone as the nation’s first national park in 1872. Yosemite was made a national park in 1890.

47 “At Last” singer James : ETTA

The 1942 song “At Last” was written for the 1941 musical film “Sun Valley Serenade” in which it is performed by Glenn Miller and his orchestra. Etta James recorded a version of “At Last” in 1960, after which it became her signature song.