Category: Steve Faiella

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Constructed by: Steve Faiella
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Coming in Hot

Themed answers each start with something that is often preceded with “HOT”:

• 62A Arriving with great speed, and what the first words of the answers to the starred clues are doing? : COMING IN HOT

• 17A *Holders of small liquor servings : SHOT GLASSES (giving “hotshot”)
• 29A *Facial feature of Frosty the Snowman : BUTTON NOSE (giving “hot button”)
• 48A *Theater buff’s memento : TICKET STUB (giving “hot ticket”)
• 11D *Top dog : HEAD HONCHO (giving “hothead”)
• 28D *Upholstery protectors : SEAT COVERS (giving “hot seat”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 05s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Circle dance at a Jewish wedding : HORA

The hora is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. It was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional, Israeli folk songs. The hora (also “horah”) is a regular sight at Jewish weddings. Sometimes the honoree at an event is raised on a chair during the dance.

5 Asparagus units : SPEARS

Asparagus is a perennial flowering plant that is grown mainly for its edible shoots (or “spears”). The shoots must be harvested when they are very young, as they become woody very quickly.

11 Over-the-top actor : HAM

The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

14 Not worth debating : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able to get that right, which drives me crazy …

16 CNN’s “__ Longoria: Searching for Mexico” : EVA

Eva Longoria is a fashion model and actress who had a regular role on TV’s “Desperate Housewives”, playing Gabrielle Solis. Her travel and food show “Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico” premiered on CNN in 2023.

17 *Holders of small liquor servings : SHOT GLASSES (giving “hotshot”)

A shot glass is a small glass used to measure or hold liquor. There is no standard size for a shot in most parts of North America, but it is generally 1.25 to 1.5 fluid ounces. A smaller, 1 fl. oz. shot is called a “pony shot” or “short shot”.

23 Filly sound : NEIGH

There are lots of terms to describe horses of different ages and sexes, it seems:

• Foal: horse of either sex that is less than one year old
• Yearling: horse of either sex that is one to two years old
• Filly: female horse under the age of four
• Colt: male horse under the age of four
• Gelding: castrated male horse of any age
• Stallion: non-castrated male horse four years or older
• Mare: female horse four years or older

29 *Facial feature of Frosty the Snowman : BUTTON NOSE (giving “hot button”)

“Frosty the Snowman” is a song that was first recorded by Gene Autry, in 1950. The song was specifically written in the hope that it would become a follow-up hit to Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that topped the charts the previous year.

34 Suffix with prop- : -ANE

Propane is a gas with the formula C3H8. It is an abundant byproduct of the refining of petroleum and is used as a fuel. The gas liquefies readily under pressure, and is usually transported in pressurized containers. However, the containers of “propane” that we purchase in stores are actually a mixture of propane and butane, usually in the ratio of about 50:50.

35 “Barefoot Contessa” host Garten : INA

Ina Garten is an author as well as the host of a cooking show on the Food Network called “Barefoot Contessa”. She is a mentee of Martha Stewart, and indeed was touted as a potential “successor” to the TV celebrity when Stewart was incarcerated in 2004 after an insider trading scandal. Garten has no formal training as a chef, and indeed used to work as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House!

42 Natty necktie : ASCOT

A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly. The term “natty” may come from the Middle English “net” meaning “fine, elegant”, in which case it shares its etymology with the word “neat”.

45 Singer Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono was born in 1933 in Tokyo into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Yoko’s father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great firebombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.

52 “To Kill a Mockingbird” novelist Harper : LEE

Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “To Kill A Mockingbird” was first published in 1960. The book is a mainstay in English classes all around the world. In my humble opinion, “To Kill A Mockingbird” is a great ambassador for American literature.

56 Pop star Christina known as the “Voice of a Generation” : AGUILERA

Singer Christina Aguilera has earned at least two honorific nicknames: Princess of Pop, and Voice of a Generation.

70 Mount of Greek myth : OSSA

Mount Ossa in Greece is located between Mount Pelion in the south, and the famed Mount Olympus in the north. Mount Ossa is also known as Kissavos.

Down

1 Letters on a British ocean liner : HMS

The prefix “HMS” is used by the warships of the Royal Navy, and stands for “Her/His Majesty’s Ship/Submarine”. The prefix “RMS” is used by ships of the merchant navy, and stands for “Royal Mail Ship/Steamer”.

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”.

5 College course outlines : SYLLABI

“Syllabus” (plural “syllabi”) is the Latin word for “list”.

6 __ moss: gardening material : PEAT

Peat moss is actually sphagnum moss that has partially decayed and dried. The term “peat” moss is used as sphagnum moss is often found in “peat” bogs. Sphagnum moss has the ability to store large quantities of water, so the dried form is used by gardeners to condition soil, i.e. to increase the soil’s capacity to retain moisture.

7 Canadian fuel giant : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

11 *Top dog : HEAD HONCHO (giving “hothead”)

“Honcho” is a slang term meaning “leader”. The word comes to us from the Japanese military, in which language a “hancho” is a “squad” (han) “leader” (cho).

13 “The War of the Worlds” planet : MARS

“The War of the Worlds” is a science fiction classic penned by H. G. Wells in 1895-97. This compelling story of Martians invading Earth has been adapted many times into radio dramas, a television series and several movies.

21 Choreographer de Mille : AGNES

Agnes de Mille was a dancer and choreographer from New York City. She was the niece of famous director Cecil B. DeMille, and the daughter of William C. deMille who was also a Hollywood director. Agnes turned to dance after she was told that she was “not pretty enough” to pursue her first love, which was acting …

24 Dawn goddess : EOS

In Greek mythology, Eos was the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos was Aurora. Rather delightfully, Homer referred to Eos as “rosy-fingered dawn” in both “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

25 Native of ancient Peru : 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.

26 “Something To Talk About” singer Bonnie : RAITT

“Something To Talk About” is a 1991 song released by Bonnie Raitt. Anne Murray had wanted to record the song several years earlier as the title track for a 1985 album, but her producers rejected it, thinking that it would not be a hit. The song was dropped from Murray’s album, but the title remained “Something To Talk About”.

27 Listless feeling : ENNUI

“Ennui” is the French word for “boredom”, and is a term that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported and haven’t anglicized, and actually pronounce “correctly”.

30 Card game with an edition for colorblind players : UNO

The classic card game Uno now comes in several versions. Uno ColorAdd allows people with color blindness to play, and there is also a Braille version that allows blind and sighted friends to play together.

31 Fortuneteller’s card : TAROT

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

32 South Korean capital : SEOUL

Seoul is the capital city of South Korea. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to over 25 million people and is the second largest metropolitan area in the world, second only to Tokyo, Japan.

33 Lauder of makeup : 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” …

38 Grade of black 64-Down : PEKOE
[64D Steeped beverage : TEA]

A pekoe (or more commonly “orange pekoe”) is a medium-grade black tea. There is no orange flavor in an orange pekoe tea. The “orange” name most likely derived from the name of the trading company that brought the tea to Europe from Asia.

41 Stocky antelope : GNU

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch word meaning “wild beast”.

44 Fuel additive brand : STP

STP was founded in 1953 by racing enthusiast and businessman Andy Granatelli. The name “STP” stands for “Scientifically Treated Petroleum.”

54 “Alita: Battle Angel” star Salazar : ROSA

“Alita: Battle Angel” is a 2019 American action film based on the Japanese manga series “Battle Angel Alita” (“Gunm” in Japanese, meaning “Gun Dream”). Rosa Salazar plays the title character, a cyborg suffering from amnesia. James Cameron co-produced the movie, and co-wrote the screenplay.

57 Actress Gershon : GINA

Gina Gershon is an American actress. Gershon has played a lesbian on screen a number of times and has become somewhat of a gay icon.

58 E pluribus __ : UNUM

From 1776, “E pluribus unum” was the unofficial motto of the United States. The phrase translates from Latin as “Out of many, one”. It was pushed aside in 1956 when an Act of Congress designated “In God We Trust” as the country’s official motto. “In God We Trust” had appeared on US coins since 1864, but was only introduced on paper currency in 1957.

59 “The Americans” actor Matthew : RHYS

Welsh actor Matthew Rhys got his break playing Kevin Walker on the TV drama “Brothers & Sisters” from 2006 to 2011. He gained even further recognition playing the co-lead role of Philip Jennings in the excellent spy drama series “The Americans” that ran from 2013 to 2018. Rhys started a relationship with his co-star in “The Americans”, Keri Russell, in 2014. The couple had a child together in 2016, and refer to each other as husband and wife.

“The Americans” is a very engaging drama series set during the Cold War that features two KGB spies living as a married couple just outside Washington, D.C. The show was created by Joe Weisberg, who is a novelist and former CIA officer. The lead roles in “The Americans” are played by real-life couple Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys.

60 NASA go-aheads : A-OKS

The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957 in a development that shocked the establishment in the US. Within months, President Eisenhower created the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, now DARPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Space Race had begun …

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