Category: Robin Stears

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Constructed by: Robin Stears
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Claymation by Ex?

Themed answers sound like common phrases, and refer to common exclamations:

• 17A Rather impressive exclamation of relief? : QUITE A PHEW (sounds like “quite a few”)
• 24A Astonished exclamation at the Four Corners Monument? : BORDER GOLLY (sounds like “border collie”)
• 35A Exasperated exclamation over a breath mint? : TIC TAC D’OH (sounds like “Tic-Tac-Dough”)
• 51A Quiet exclamation of dismissal from way back when? : OLD SOFT SHOO (sounds like “old soft shoe”)
• 60A Etymological story about an equestrian’s exclamation? : TALE OF WHOA (sounds like “tale of woe”)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Cravat kin : ASCOT

An ascot is a wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings or part of a dress uniform. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

The cravat originated in Croatia and was an accessory used with a military uniform. Cravats were introduced to the fashion-conscious French by Croatian mercenaries enlisted into a regiment of the French army. The English placed a lot of emphasis on the knot used for the cravat, and in the period after the Battle of Waterloo the cravat came to be known as a “tie”. What we now call a tie in English is still called a “cravate” in French.

6 “Masters of Illusion” host Dean : CAIN

Actor Dean Cain is perhaps best known to TV viewers for portraying Superman/Clark Kent on the show “Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” in the 1990s. Off the screen, Cain has “stepped out” with some high-profile names, including actress Brooke Shields (while they were attending Princeton), beach volleyball player Gabrielle Reece, and country singer Mindy McCready.

10 Swedish pop group : ABBA

Only three members of the quartet that made up the Swedish pop group ABBA were born in Sweden. Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born in Norway just after the end of WWII, the daughter of a Norwegian mother and a father who was a German soldier and a member of the German occupying forces during the war. The father returned to Germany with the army, and in 1947, Anni-Frid was taken with her family to Sweden. They left fearing reprisals against those who dealt with the German army during the occupation.

16 Subatomic particle with greater mass than an electron : MUON

A muon is a subatomic particle that is similar to an electron but very unstable. A muon has a mean lifetime of only 2.2 microseconds.

19 Peruvian people who made rope bridges : INCA

The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Túpac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

20 Server with a spigot : URN

Back in the 15th century, a spigot was specifically a plug to stop a hole in a cask. Somewhere along the way, a spigot had a valve added for variable control of flow.

23 “Science Friday” host Flatow : IRA

“Science Friday” is an excellent talk show broadcast every Friday on NPR, and hosted by Ira Flatow. Flatow is known to television audiences as the host of “Newton’s Apple”, which ran from 1983 to 1998.

24 Astonished exclamation at the Four Corners Monument? : BORDER GOLLY (sounds like “border collie”)

The Four Corners region of the US surrounds the meeting point of the four states of Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. It is the only point in the US that is shared by four states.

The collie isn’t actually a breed of dog, but rather the name given to a group of herding dogs that originated in Scotland and Northern England. An obvious (and wonderful) example would be the border collie. Many dogs classed as collies don’t have the word “collie” in the name of the breed, for example the old English sheepdog and the Shetland sheepdog.

29 __ de Janeiro : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

30 Volleyball quartet? : ELS

There is a quartet of letters L (els) in the word “volleyball”.

32 Brian Setzer genre : SWING

Guitarist and singer Brian Setzer formed the rockabilly band Stray Cats in 1979. The group basically disbanded in 1984, after which Setzer developed a solo career. In 1990, he formed the Brian Seltzer Orchestra (BSO), a 17-piece big band that performed swing and jump blues.

35 Exasperated exclamation over a breath mint? : TIC TAC D’OH (sounds like “Tic-Tac-Dough”)

Tic Tacs aren’t American candies (as I always mistakenly believed). Tic Tacs are made by the Italian company Ferrero, and were introduced in 1969.

“Tic-Tac-Dough” is a television game show that was first broadcast in 1956. New episodes were recorded as recently as 1991.

39 “The Gilded __”: Julian Fellowes series : AGE

“The Gilded Age” is a period drama created and written by Julian Fellowes, who also created the hit drama “Downton Abbey”. The former show is set in New York City in the 1880s, when the nation was enjoying an economic boom.

Screenwriter Julian Fellowes is mainly known in North America as the creator of the hit TV shows “Downton Abbey” and “The Gilded Age”. He won an Oscar for the screenplay of the marvelous murder-mystery film “Gosford Park” (2001). Fellowes was born in Cairo, Egypt, to parents who belonged to the British landed gentry. In 2011, he was made a British peer, and so is also known as Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford.

47 Photographer Goldin : NAN

Nan Goldin is an American photographer who works out of New York, Berlin and Paris. She is known for her work featuring LGBT models, and for images highlighting the HIV crisis and the opioid epidemic.

48 Exhibition funding agcy. since 1965 : NEA

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark.

51 Quiet exclamation of dismissal from way back when? : OLD SOFT SHOO (sounds like “old soft shoe”)

Soft-shoe is a genre of tap dancing in which performers do not use tap shoes. The dancers still “tap” out the rhythm with their feet, but use a sliding motion to generate sound. Often, sand will be scattered on the dancing surface to enhance the sliding sound.

55 Future louse : NIT

Lice (singular “louse”) are small wingless insects, of which there are thousands of species. There are three species of lice affecting humans, i.e. head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Most lice feed on dead skin found on the body of the host animal, although some feed on blood. Ick …

56 “Correctamundo!” : RIGHT!

“Correctamundo” is a slang term meaning “intensely correct”. The use of the word was popularized by the character Fonzy in the sitcom “Happy Days”.

57 Station under the Garden : PENN

New York Penn Station services more passengers per day than any other transportation hub in the Western Hemisphere. About 600,000 people use the facility every weekday. Today’s Penn Station exists mostly underground, and is located beneath Madison Square Garden.

Penn Station in New York City may have been the first Pennsylvania Station, but it’s not the only one. The Pennsylvania Railroad gave that name to many of its big passenger terminals, including one in Philadelphia (now called 30th Street Station), one in Baltimore, one in Pittsburgh, one in Cleveland, as well as others.

59 Jai __ : ALAI

Jai alai is a game that derives from Basque pelota, and is known as “cesta-punta” in the Basque language. The name “jai alai” translates from the original Basque as “merry festival”.

60 Etymological story about an equestrian’s exclamation? : TALE OF WHOA (sounds like “tale of woe”)

Something described as equestrian is related to horses or horsemanship. The term “equestrian” comes from the Latin “equus” meaning “horse”.

63 Governor of Georgia : KEMP

Brian Kemp assumed the office of Governor of Georgia in 2019. Kemp had edged out high-profile Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Kemp faced Abrams in a rematch in 2022, and emerged victorious for a second time. Famously, Governor Kemp resisted attempts on the part of then President Donald Trump to hold off certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

Down

3 Neologism : COINAGE

To coin a phrase is to invent a new phrase or expression. The greatest “coiner” of them all has to be William Shakespeare. Here are a few everyday expressions that were created by the Bard:

• The game is afoot (Henry IV, Part I)
• Brave new world (The Tempest)
• Break the ice (The Taming of the Shrew)
• Dead as a doornail (Henry VI, Part II)
• Eaten me out of house and home (Henry IV, Part II)
• Forever and a day (As You Like It)
• For goodness’ sake (Henry VIII)
• Knock knock! Who’s there? (Macbeth)
• Set my teeth on edge (Henry IV, Part I)
• Wild-goose chase (Romeo and Juliet)

A neologism is a new word or phrase, or a new meaning or usage for an existing word.

4 Hall of Famer Mel : OTT

I wonder if Mel Ott had any idea that he would turn in crosswords so very often?

5 Law org. led by Christopher A. Wray since 2017 : THE FBI

Christopher A. Wray was working as a partner in a law firm when he was called on by President Donald Trump to replace fired FBI director James Comey. Wray had acted as personal attorney for then Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie during the infamous Bridgegate scandal. Prior to going into private practice, Wray had worked in the Justice Department. James Comey was his boss for a while, when Comey was Deputy Attorney General.

6 Escapade : CAPER

Back in the mid-17th century, an escapade was an escape from confinement. We’ve been using “escapade” figuratively since the early 19th century to mean “breaking loose from restraints on behavior”.

10 __ acid : AMINO

There are 20 different types of amino acids that make up proteins. However, only 11 of them can be synthesized by the human body, while the remaining nine essential amino acids must be obtained from food sources.

12 “Romanza” tenor Andrea : BOCELLI

Andrea Bocelli is a classically-trained tenor from Italy who sings popular music, and hence is a so-called cross-over artist. Bocelli was born with poor eyesight and then became totally blind at the age of 12 when he had an accident playing soccer.

“Romanza” is a 1997 compilation album released by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. It is a compilation of tracks from his earlier albums “Il mare calmo della sera” (1994) and “Bocelli” (1995). “Romanza” is Bocelli’s highest-selling album, despite being a compilation.

18 “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” memoirist Ralston : ARON

Aron Ralston is a mountaineer and motivational speaker. Ralston became trapped in Utah’s Bluejohn Canyon in 2003, with his arm pinned by a boulder. In order to escape the situation, he was forced to amputate part of his own arm with a pocket knife. Ralston’s 2004 autobiographical book “Between a Rock and a Hard Place” tells the story of the incident in great detail. The memoir was adapted into a 2010 film “127 hours”, with James Franco portraying Ralston.

22 Whisky __: Hollywood disco : A GO GO

Go-go dancing started in the early sixties. Apparently, the first go-go dancers were women at the Peppermint Lounge in New York City who would spontaneously jump up onto tables and dance the twist. It wasn’t long before clubs everywhere started hiring women to dance on tables for the entertainment of their patrons. Out in Los Angeles, the “Whisky a Go Go” club on Sunset Strip added a twist (pun intended!), as they had their dancers perform in cages suspended from the ceiling, creating the profession of “cage dancing”. The name “go-go” actually comes from two expressions. The expression in English “go-go-go” describes someone who is high energy, and the French expression “à gogo” describes something in abundance.

25 Psychoanalyst Fromm : ERICH

Erich Fromm was a German psychologist. Fromm studied extensively the work of Sigmund Freud, and became very critical of his theories. He was also noted for his political views, and had a socialist leaning. He spent some time in the US and was active in the Socialist Party of America in the fifties, when McCarthyism was running rampant.

28 Echidna snack : ANT

The echidna is also called the spiny anteater. Just like the platypus, the echidna is a mammal that lays eggs.

32 Brown ermine : STOAT

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

37 Pitch setter : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

39 Hooded gear : ANORAKS

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

40 Sea fed by the Jordan : GALILEE

The Sea of Galilee is actually a lake, the largest freshwater lake in Israel and the lowest elevation freshwater lake in the world. The main source of the water in the Sea of Galilee is the Jordan River that flows through it.

The Jordan River forms the border between the nations of Israel and Jordan, and flows into the Dead Sea. According to the Christian Bible, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan by John the Baptist. The country of Jordan takes its name from the river.

41 Final Avengers film in the Infinity Saga : ENDGAME

“Avengers: Endgame” is a 2019 superhero movie. It is the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that features several superheroes made famous in Marvel Comics. “Avengers: Endgame” closes out the story arcs for several superheroes from prior films in the series.

45 Take a powder : SKIP OUT

The phrase “to take a powder” means “to scram, vanish”. This meaning was first recorded in the 1920s, and may derive from the medical instruction “take a powder”, which may imply having to make a quick exit!

46 Features of some Mary Janes : T-STRAPS

A t-strap is a t-shaped strap that is part of many women’s shoes. The strap is in two parts, with one part going across the ankle, and the other lying along the length of the foot on top.

Here in the US, the term “Mary Jane” can describe a closed-toe shoe with a strap across the instep. They are usually worn by children, mainly girls, and often form part of a school uniform. The original Mary Jane was a character in the comic strip “Buster Brown”, drawn by Richard Felton Outcault starting in 1902. The Brown Shoe Company in St. Louis used the characters to promote their shoes, and the name “Mary Jane” was applied to the style of shoe worn by Buster Brown and Mary Jane in the comic strip.

49 Prefix with -gram : SONO-

A sonogram is an image made using ultrasound. “Ultrasound” is the name given to sound energy that has frequencies above the audible range.

52 Uses UPS : SHIPS

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

54 Parts of a loaf or loafers : HEELS

The loafer slip-on shoe dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by Fortnum and Mason’s store in London. The derivative term “penny loafer” arose in the late fifties or early sixties, although the exact etymology seems unclear.

62 Coco Gauff’s org. : WTA

Coco Gauff is a professional tennis player from Atlanta whose career really got a boost when she beat Venus Williams in the opening round of Wimbledon in 2019. Ironically, Venus, and her sister Serena, were the players who inspired Gauff to take up tennis as a girl.

Former World No. 1 tennis player Billie Jean King founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in 1973.