Category: Zhouqin Burnikel

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Constructed by: Zhouqin Burnikel
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer(s): False Start

Themed answers each START with a synonym of “FALSE”:

• 62A With 68-Across, sprinter’s infraction, or what the answer to each starred clue has : FALSE …
• 68A See 62-Across : … START

• 17A *Simple lunchbox meal : BALONEY SANDWICH
• 27A *Dude ranch quarters : BUNKHOUSE
• 32D *Slow cookers : CROCKPOTS
• 35D *Suffer forever : ROT IN HELL

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

Bill’s time: 6m 30s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Corn or sugarcane : CROP

“Maize” is another name for “corn”. Even though there is more maize grown in the world than wheat or rice, a relatively small proportion of the total maize crop is consumed directly by humans. That’s because a lot of maize goes to make corn ethanol, animal feed and derivative products like cornstarch and corn syrup. Here in the US, over 40% of the maize produced is used to feed livestock, and about 30% is used to make ethanol.

When sugarcane is processed to extract sugar, it is crushed and mashed to produce a juice. The juice is boiled to make a sugary concentrate called cane syrup, from which sugar crystals are extracted. A second boiling of the leftover syrup produces second molasses, from which more sugar crystals can be extracted. A third boiling results in what is called blackstrap molasses.

15 Monte __: Monaco resort : CARLO

Monte Carlo is an administrative area in the Principality of Monaco that covers just under a quarter of a square mile. The area is known in particular as the location of the famous Monte Carlo Casino. “Monte Carlo” translates as “Mount Charles”, and was named in 1866 for Charles III of Monaco who was ruling the principality at the time.

17 *Simple lunchbox meal : BALONEY SANDWICH

“Baloney” is an American English variant of “Bologna” as in the sausage. The term came to be used to mean “nonsense” in the 1920s. “Baloney” was popularized in the 1930s by New York Governor Alfred E. Smith as he used the term quite often.

21 In abundance : GALORE

Our word “galore”, meaning “in great numbers”, comes from the Irish phrase “go leór” that translates as “sufficiently, enough”.

22 Manhattan liquor : RYE

The cocktail called a manhattan is made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I favor my own version of a brandy manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

23 “About me” blurb : BIO

The use of the word “blurb”, to describe a publicity notice on a book jacket, dates back to 1907 when it was used by American humorist Gelett Burgess. Burgess used a picture of a fictitious young woman named Miss Belinda Blurb on the dust jacket of a limited run of his 1906 book “Are You a Bromide?” That jacket proclaimed “YES, this is a ‘BLURB’!” The term persists to this day, without the young damsel.

25 “I’ll return in a sec,” in texts : BRB

Be right back (brb)

27 *Dude ranch quarters : BUNKHOUSE

Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.

33 Nabe with some signs in hangul : K-TOWN

Hangul is the name given to the Korean alphabet and official writing system in South Korea. It was created personally in the 15th century by King Sejong the Great, in an effort to promote literacy among his people.

34 Very dry, as champagne : BRUT

Sparkling wines can be classified according to sweetness. These classifications are, from driest to sweetest:

• Brut Nature
• Extra Brut
• Brut
• Extra Dry
• Dry
• Semi-Dry
• Sweet

41 Art colony near Santa Fe : TAOS

The town of Taos, New Mexico is named for the Native American village nearby called Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began settling in Taos in 1899, and the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915.

44 Chiwere speakers : OTOE

Chiwere is a Siouan language spoken by the Otoe people, as well as by the Missouria and Iowa.

45 Board game with hexagonal tiles : CATAN

The Settlers of Catan (now just “Catan”) is a board game that was introduced in 1995, in Germany as “Die Siedler von Catan”. The game is very popular in the US and was called “the board game of our time” by the “Washington Post”. My son plays it a lot, and as a lover of board games, I am going to have to check it out …

47 Asian mushroom : ENOKI

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

49 More dawdling : POKIER

Back in the early 1800s, a “poke” was a device attached to domestic animals such as pigs or sheep to keep them from escaping their enclosures. The poke was like a yoke with a pole, and slowed the animal down, hence the term “slowpoke”.

63 Big Pharma products : MEDS

“Big Pharma” is a nickname for the pharmaceutical industry. The moniker comes from the acronym for the lobbying group for the industry, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

64 __-Brite : LITE

The Lite-Brite toy was introduced in 1967. It is basically a light box with a grid of holes in which colored pegs can be placed to create designs. You can now get a Lite-Brite app for the iPad.

66 Dart like a dragonfly : FLIT

Dragonflies are predatory insects and love to feed on flies, bees, ants, wasps and mosquitoes. When dragonflies are in their aquatic larval stage, they are known as nymphs or naiads, and live beneath the water’s surface.

67 Sports jersey material : MESH

We use the word “jersey” for a sports shirt worn by a particular team member, one that usually bears the player’s name and team number. Back in the mid-1800s, the term was used for a knitted shirt or close-fitting tunic. The item of clothing was named for Jersey in the Channel Islands off the coast of France. The island was famous for its knitting trade during the Middle Ages.

69 Silicon Valley city Palo __ : ALTO

The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

Down

3 Snowboarding jump : OLLIE

An ollie is a skateboarding trick invented in 1976 by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Apparently it’s a way of lifting the board off the ground, while standing on it, without touching the board with one’s hands. A similar move can be performed on a snowboard. Yeah, I could do that …

7 Hosp. triage spots : ERS

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.

8 Arroz __ cubana: rice dish with a fried egg : A LA

Arroz a la cubana is a Spanish dish with the name translating as “Cuban-style rice”. It consists of white rice with tomato sauce and a fried egg.

10 Turkeys, e.g. : FOWL

A male turkey is called a tom or a gobbler. Female turkeys are hens, and baby turkeys are called poults.

13 Vanish into the __ : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning, and the extended term “ethereal” to mean “lacking material substance” and “marked by unusual delicacy”.

18 Fusion chain with a signature miso-glazed black cod dish : NOBU

Nobu Matsuhisa is a celebrity chef from Japan. Nobu was invited to open a Japanese restaurant in Lima, Peru in 1973, and while in South America developed his own Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine. He moved to the US a few years later, and now there are “Nobu” and “Matsuhisa” restaurants all over the world.

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

25 Pasta shape made with a pinch : BOW TIE

Farfalle is commonly referred to as bow-tie pasta because of its shape. The name comes from the Italian “farfalla” meaning “butterfly”.

27 Art of growing miniature trees : BONSAI

The term “bonsai” is used more correctly to describe the Japanese art of growing carefully shaped trees in containers, although it has come to be used as the name for all miniature trees in pots. “Bonsai” translates literally as “tray planting”.

30 Lunar festival in Da Nang : TET

Da Nang is a major Vietnamese port city on the South China Sea. During the Vietnam War, it was the site of a major air base used by the South Vietnamese and US air forces. At the height of the war, Da Nang was the biggest airport in the whole world.

31 Battery size for some mice : AAA

The computer mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, by one Douglas Engelbart. Sadly for him, his patent ran out before mice became standard equipment on computers, so he never made any money from his amazing invention.

32 *Slow cookers : CROCKPOTS

We often use the term “crockpot” as an alternative for “slow cooker”. The generic term comes from the trademark “Crock-Pot”, which is now owned by Sunbeam products.

36 Aduba of “Mrs. America” : UZO

Uzo Aduba is an actress best known for playing prison inmate Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on the Netflix TV show “Orange Is the New Black”.

The 2020 miniseries “Mrs. America” chronicles the (so far) unsuccessful campaign to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. This historical drama has quite the cast, including Cate Blanchett, Rose Byrne, Tracy Ullman and Sarah Paulson. I haven’t seen this one yet, but it’s on my “Must See” list …

42 Taxes on imports : TARIFFS

Tariffs are taxes imposed by a government on imported goods or services. They serve several purposes, including protecting domestic industries by making imported goods more expensive, generating revenue for the government, and influencing international trade policy. While tariffs can protect domestic producers from foreign competition, they can also lead to higher prices for consumers and potentially trigger retaliatory tariffs from other countries, leading to trade wars.

43 Procedure that can determine ancestry : DNA TEST

Genealogical DNA testing is carried out mainly to estimate a person’s ethnic heritage and to determine ancestral relationships between individuals. Estimates of ethnic heritage are made by comparing a person’s genome with the collective genomes of groups of people from various geographic regions around the world. Ancestral relationships are determined by matching individual genome to individual genome in order to determine how much DNA is shared jointly.

46 “Chopped” host Allen : TED

“Chopped” is a cooking game show on the Food Network that is hosted by Ted Allen, formerly of “Queer Eye”. Four chefs compete in each episode to wine the princely sum of $10,000.

49 Sacred hymn : PSALM

The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”. In the Jewish and Western Christian traditions, the Book of Psalms contains 150 individual psalms, divided into five sections.

53 Basil-based sauce : PESTO

Pesto sauce is more completely called “pesto alla genovese”, i.e. pesto from Genoa. A traditional recipe calls for crushed garlic, pine nuts, salt, basil leaves, parmesan cheese and olive oil. Yum …

56 Seasoning in shrimp paste : SALT

Shrimp paste is a fermented condiment commonly used in Southeast Asian and Southern Chinese cuisine. It’s made from tiny shrimp or krill that are ground, salted, and fermented for several weeks or months.

63 Drama prof’s degree : MFA

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)