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Constructed by: Ed Sessa
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Joined at the Hip

Themed answers each include “HIP” as a hidden word. Pairs of such answers cross each other in the grid, JOINED AT THE hidden HIPS:

• 20A Animals in a herd : HIPPOPOTAMUSES
• 3D What some Woodstock attendees eventually became : EX-HIPPIES

• 37A Title teacher in a James Hilton novella : MR CHIPS
• 8D House disciplinarians : PARTY WHIPS

• 54A Linked in a way illustrated by three pairs of puzzle answers : JOINED AT THE HIP
• 33D Churchgoer, e.g. : WORSHIPER

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

Bill’s time: 7m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “The Giving Tree” author Silverstein : SHEL

Author Shel Silverstein had a varied career and did a lot more than write books. Silverstein was a poet, composer, cartoonist and screenwriter among other things. One of his successful children’s books is “The Giving Tree”, which was first published in 1964. “The Giving Tree” tells of a young boy who has a special relationship with a tree in a forest. The message of the book seems to be that the tree provides the little boy with everything he needs.

14 Ritzy : LUXE

“Luxe” is another word for “luxury”. The term came into English via French from the Latin “luxus” meaning “luxury”.

The adjective “ritzy” meaning “high quality and luxurious” derives from the opulent Ritz hotels in New York, London, Paris, etc.

15 City on the Rio Grande : EL PASO

Although there have been human settlements in the El Paso area for thousands of years, the first European settlement was founded in 1659 by the Spanish. That first community was on the south bank of the Rio Grande, and was called El Paso del Norte (the North Pass). Most of the urban development under Spanish rule took place on the south side of the river, with El Paso del Norte acting as the center of governance for the Spanish for the territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande was chosen as the border between Mexico and the US in 1848, so most of the city of El Paso del Norte became part of the Mexican state of Chihuahua (and is now called Ciudad Juárez ). The area north of the river developed as a US military post, eventually becoming the modern city of El Paso, Texas.

The Rio Grande (Spanish for “big river”) is a waterway that forms part of the border between Mexico and the United States. Although we call the river the Rio Grande on this side of the border, in Mexico it is called the Río Bravo or Río Bravo del Norte (Spanish for “furious river of the north”).

16 Flamenco dancer’s cry : OLE!

Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

17 Org. mandating eyewash stations : OSHA

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.

18 Canvassing technique : DOOR-TO-DOOR

To canvass is to pass through a group of people in order to determine opinions. At the start of the 16th century, “to canvass” meant “to toss in a canvas sheet for the purpose of sifting”. This meaning evolved into the figurative usage “to examine carefully”. Nowadays, the word “canvass” can describe both the determination of support for a political candidate, as well as the solicitation of votes.

20 Animals in a herd : HIPPOPOTAMUSES

The name “hippopotamus” comes from the Greek for “river horse”. Hippos are the third-largest land mammals, after elephants and rhinos. The closest living relatives to hippos don’t even live on land. They are the whales and porpoises of the oceans.

22 Face value : PAR

In days gone by, when companies first issued a stock, each share would be given a face value (called “par value”). In effect, the company was making a commitment not to issue any more stock under that par value, giving investors confidence that there was no better deal to be had. Nowadays, most stock is issued without such a “guarantee” and is called “no-par stock”.

23 Org. with 132 Pulitzer Prizes : NY TIMES

“The New York Times” (NYT) has been published since 1851, and is sometimes referred to as “the Gray Lady”. These days a viable alternative to buying the paper is to read the news online. NYTimes.com is the most popular online newspaper website in the country.

24 Initiation rite : BAPTISM

Baptism is a rite, in many Christian traditions, in which a candidate is admitted to the Church. The ceremony usually uses water as a sign of purification. Water may be poured on the head, or the candidate may be totally immersed.

29 Batter’s stat : RBI

Run batted in (RBI)

30 One hanging around in the forest? : SLOTH

All four of the extant species of three-toed sloths are native to South and Central America. Cousins of the three-toed sloths are the two-toed sloths, of which there are two species still living.

36 “And fly, __ evil intercept thy flight”: Milton : ERE

Here are some lines from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”:

… This report,
These tidings carry to the anointed King;
And fly, ere evil intercept thy flight.

37 Title teacher in a James Hilton novella : MR CHIPS

“Goodbye, Mr. Chips” is a 1934 novella by James Hilton. It tells the story of Mr. Chipping, a much-loved teacher who devotes his life to a boarding school in England. The novella was adapted into two famous films with the same title. A 1939 movie stars Robert Donat as “Mr. Chips” and Greer Garson as his wife Katherine. A 1969 musical film stars Peter O’Toole in the title role, and Petula Clark as the wife.

English author James Hilton was best known for two of his novels, both of which were made into very successful movies. “Lost Horizon” was published in 1933, and “Goodbye, Mr. Chips” in 1934. In the late 1930s, Hilton moved to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter. Some years later, Hilton served as host of the radio drama series “Hallmark Playhouse” from 1948 to 1952.

40 Kipling’s “Follow Me __” : ‘OME

Rudyard Kipling’s 1893 poem “Follow Me ‘Ome” expresses the grief of a soldier mourning the loss of an army comrade and friend. The opening stanzas are:

There was no one like ‘im, ‘Orse or Foot,
Nor any o’ the Guns I knew;
An’ because it was so, why, o’ course ‘e went an’ died,
Which is just what the best men do.

So it’s knock out your pipes an’ follow me!
An’ it’s finish up your swipes an’ follow me!
Oh, ‘ark to the big drum callin’,
Follow me — follow me ‘ome!

Rudyard Kipling wrote his famous poem “If—” in 1895 as a tribute to British colonial military leader Leander Starr Jameson. Kipling writes in the first person, as if he is giving advice to his son. Here’s the final verse:

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son.

41 Insect dating from the Jurassic era : WASP

While wasps are considered a nuisance by many, they are very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

The Jurassic geologic period lasted from about 200 to 145 million years ago, following the Triassic and followed by the Cretaceous. Limestone strata from the period were first identified in the Jura Mountains in the Western Alps. It is this mountain range that gives us the name “Jurassic”.

43 Board, as a bus : HOP ON

We use the term “bus” for a mode of transportation as it is an abbreviated form of the original “omnibus”. We imported “omnibus” via French from Latin, in which language it means “for all”. The idea is that an omnibus is a “carriage for all”.

44 Darling of baseball : RON

Ron Darling is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Darling retired from the game in 1995, and started working as a color commentator for TBS in 2007.

45 Daughter of Cronus and Rhea : HERA

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

In Greek mythology, Cronus (also “Kronos”) was one of the Titans. Cronus overthrew his father Uranus and took over rule of the Titans. Eventually, Cronus was ousted by his own son Zeus. The Roman equivalent of Cronus was the deity Saturn.

In Greek mythology, Rhea was one of the Titans. She was the sister and wife of Cronus, and together they had six children, the last of which was Zeus. Cronus swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born, except for Zeus, who Rhea managed to hide from her husband.

53 Stadium shout : RAH!

The Greek word “stadion” was a measure of length, about 600 feet. The name “stadion” then came to be used for a running track of that length. That “running track” meaning led to our contemporary word “stadium” (plural “stadia”).

58 Hardwood with an edible seed : ALMOND TREE

“Almond” is the name of a deciduous tree, and of the edible seed of that tree. The fruit of the almond tree is a drupe, and not a nut. The drupe comprises an outer hull surrounding a woody endocarp. The edible seed is found inside the woody shell, and that’s the almond “nut”.

61 ’60s-’70s Pontiac : GTO

The Pontiac GTO was produced by GM from 1964 to 1974, and again by a GM subsidiary in Australia from 2004 to 2006. The original GTO’s design is credited to Pontiac chief engineer at the time John DeLorean, who later founded the DeLorean Motor Company.

62 Venetian Renaissance painter : TITIAN

Titian was an Italian painter and a founding member of the Venetian School of the 16th century. His most famous work is probably “Assumption of the Virgin”, which was commissioned for the Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice and which can be seen there on the high altar to this very day.

63 Mystery-solving Wolfe : NERO

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for us to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: “Meet Nero Wolfe” (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and “The League of Frightened Men” (1937). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.

64 Virtual-city denizen : SIM

SimCity is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. SimCity was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

Nowadays we use “denizen” to mean simply “resident”, but historically a denizen was an immigrant to whom certain rights had been granted, somewhat like today’s resident alien.

66 Torah holders : ARKS

The Torah ark is found in a synagogue, and is the ornamental container in which the Torah scrolls are stored. The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching” or “law”, I am told.

Down

3 What some Woodstock attendees eventually became : EX-HIPPIES

The term “hip” is a slang term that was used in the 1930s and 1940s to mean “cool, informed about the latest ideas and styles”. By the end of the 1940s, “hipsters” were “hip” people, jazz aficionados, and people who adopted the perceived lifestyle of jazz musicians of the day. In the 1960s, the term “hippie” developed from “hipster”, to describe a member of the youth counterculture that emerged in the US.

1969’s Woodstock Music & Art Fair was held on a dairy farm located 43 miles southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York. 400,000 young people attended, and saw 32 bands and singers perform over three days.

6 Cockeyed : ALOP

I had to go to one of my two huge volumes of the OED to find the definition of “alop”. It means “lopsided”. A lovely word …

8 House disciplinarians : PARTY WHIPS

In the world of politics, the party whip is the “heavy”, the person whose job it is to ensure that party members vote according to party policy. “Whip” comes from “whipping in”, a term used in hunting. Any hounds tending to stray from the pack were “whipped in” to prevent them wandering off. “Whipping in” hounds sounds so cruel. “Whipping in” politicians, maybe not so much …

10 One sharing quarters : ROOMIE

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

11 Bullwinkle’s last name : MOOSE

“The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show” is a cartoon series that originally aired on television in the late fifties and early sixties. The title characters are a moose (Bullwinkle) and a squirrel (Rocky). Rocky the Flying Squirrel is formally known as Rocket J. Squirrel, and Bullwinkle’s full name is Bullwinkle J. Moose.

12 Sunburn applications : ALOES

Aloe vera is a succulent plant that grows in relatively dry climates. The plant’s leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been studied extensively. Aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.

13 Boomers’ kids : XERS

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

A baby boomer is someone who was born in the post-WWII baby boom. The rate of births had been falling fairly steadily in the US at least since 1900, but this trend was sharply reversed in 1946 after WWII. The higher birth rate continued until 1964, when it returned to pre-war levels. Since then the birth rate has continued to decline, although at a slower pace. The period between 1946 and 1964 is often defined as the “baby boom”.

25 Magician’s opening : ABRA-

The incantation “abracadabra” has a long history. It was used as far back as the 2nd century AD in ancient Rome when the word was prescribed by a physician to be worn on an amulet to help his emperor recover from disease. “Abracadabra” is Aramaic, and roughly translates as “I will create as I speak”.

26 Camera type, briefly : SLR

Single-lens reflex (SLR) camera

27 Espresso-based coffee concoction : MOCHA LATTE

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink, which contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

34 Mine, in Amiens : A MOI

“À moi” (literally “to me”) is French for “mine”.

Amiens is a city in the north of France in the region known as Picardy. Amiens lies on the River Somme, and is the capital city of the Somme department.

35 “Mystic River” Oscar winner Sean : PENN

Actor Sean Penn is a two-time Oscar winner, for his roles in “Mystic River” released in 2003 and “Milk” released in 2008. Penn’s celebrity on screen is only matched with his fame off the screen. Apart from his “big name” marriages to singer Madonna and actress Robin Wright, Penn is also well known for political and social activism. He perhaps inherited some of his political views from his father, actor and director Leo Penn. As an actor, Leo refused to “name names” in front of the House Un-American Activities Committee and so was blacklisted in Hollywood and had to move into directing to put bread on the table. In later years as a director he gave his son Sean his first acting role, in a 1974 episode of “Little House on the Prairie”.

“Mystic River” is a 2003 drama film based on a novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane. The movie was directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon. The film has quite a dark storyline and deals with the difficult subject of pedophilia.

38 Nanki-__ : POO

“The Mikado” is a wonderful comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan that is set in the exotic location of Japan. “Mikado” is a word formerly used for the “Emperor of Japan”. In the story, Nanki-Poo is the Mikado’s son, who falls in love with Yum-Yum.

42 Graph lead-in : PHONO-

“Phonograph” was an early name for what became known as a “gramophone” and later “record player”. Famously, the phonograph was invented in 1877 by Thomas Edison.

47 “The front page of the internet” website : REDDIT

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

49 Island big shot : KAHUNA

Like many words in Hawaiian, “kahuna” has several English translations, everything from a priest to an expert in some profession. The expression “the Big Kahuna” comes from the 1959 movie “Gidget”. The Big Kahuna was the leader of one of the surfing gangs in the film, and was played by Cliff Robertson.

50 Chicago Symphony conductor with 31 Grammys : SOLTI

Sir Georg Solti was a great Hungarian-British conductor, who spent 22 years as music director of the Chicago Symphony, one of many prestigious positions he held in the world of classical music and opera. Solti was awarded 31 Grammy Awards, the most won by any individual in any genre of music. I think it’s kind of cool that Solti’s name comprises two notes in the solfa scale: sol-ti …

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was established in 1891 as the “Chicago Orchestra”. It was founded by German-American violinist and conductor Theodore Thomas. The CSO’s home is Orchestral Hall in Chicago, which has the name “Theodore Thomas Orchestra Hall” inscribed on the façade.

52 Narrow groove : STRIA

A stria (plural “striae”) is a linear mark or groove on a surface, often one of a series of parallel lines.

54 Benders : JAGS

The terms “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly those involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

55 Shipbuilding wood : TEAK

Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family that is commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia. Teak’s tight grain and high oil content make it very suitable for constructing outdoor furniture, where weather resistance is valued. For the same reason, teak is the wood of choice for wooden decks on boats.

56 Toms’ counterparts : HENS

A male turkey is called a tom, taking its name from “tomcat”. The inference is that like a tomcat, the male turkey is relatively wild and undomesticated, sexually promiscuous and frequently gets into fights. A female turkey is called a hen.

57 Questionable political spending : PORK

Pork-barrel politics have been around for a long time. The term “pork barrel” originated in 1863 in a story by Edward Everett Hale called “The Children of the Public”. Hale used the phrase in a positive way, describing any public spending by the government for the benefit of citizens. By the 1870s the term “pork” had negative connotations, with references in the press to “pork-barrel bills” in Congress. Nowadays “pork” really applies to any government project designed to benefit a relatively small group of citizens (usually potential voters for a particular politician) with the bill being paid by the citizenry as a whole.

60 Apt. IDs : NOS

Apartment (apt.)