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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Horse Around

Themed answers each include a set of circled letters AROUND the bulk of the answer that spells a type of HORSE:

• 63A Roughhouse, and a hint to each set of circles : HORSE AROUND

• 17A French national observance : BASTILLE DAY (“BAY” around)
• 29A Disastrous path : ROAD TO RUIN (“ROAN” around)
• 46A Start without hesitation : PLUNGE INTO (“PINTO” around)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 24s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Window framework : SASH

A movable (up-and-down) window frame is called a sash, from the French word for a frame “châssis”. The term is also applied to that part of a door or window into which windows are set.

11 Cabernet, e.g. : RED

The cabernet sauvignon (often just “cab”) grape has been around since the 17th century, and is the result of a chance crossing in southwestern France of the cabernet franc and sauvignon blanc grapes.

14 1998 PGA Player of the Year Mark : O’MEARA

Mark O’Meara is a golfer from Goldsboro, North Carolina. He is known as one of the American players who competes in international tournaments more than most, and has a reputation as a real gentleman all around the world.

16 Pitching stat : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

17 French national observance : BASTILLE DAY (“BAY” around)

The Bastille is a former fortress in Paris that was used as a prison by the kings of France. On 14 July 1789, an angry mob stormed the Bastille during the French Revolution. The mob was actually after the stores of gunpowder in the fortress, but while inside the building freed seven prisoners and killed the Bastille’s governor. The storming of the Bastille became a symbol of the French Revolution and has been celebrated in France on every July 14th since 1790. That celebration is referred to as “la fête nationale” (the national day) in France, but in English-speaking countries it is usually known as “Bastille Day”.

20 Davis of “Dr. Dolittle” : OSSIE

Ossie Davis was a very successful actor, and also a director, poet, playwright and social activist. One of Davis’s better known performances was in the 1993 movie “Grumpy Old Men”, in which he played the owner of the bait shop by the lake.

“Dr. Dolittle” is a 1998 film that was inspired by the “Doctor Dolittle” series of children’s stories by English author Hugh Lofting. The title character is a physician who can “talk to the animals”, and is played by comedian and actor Eddie Murphy.

22 MLB semifinal : NLCS

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a round of postseason games played by teams from Major League Baseball’s National League to determine which team will go to the World Series.

23 Army NCO : SSGT

A staff sergeant (SSgt.) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO).

25 Harold’s “Ghostbusters” role : EGON

Egon Spengler is one of the lead characters in the films “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II”. Spengler was played by Harold Ramis, who also co-write the screenplays for both movies.

27 Humanities degs. : MAS

The academic studies of human culture are collectively called the humanities. Subjects included in the humanities are languages, literature, philosophy, religion and music.

29 Disastrous path : ROAD TO RUIN (“ROAN” around)

A roan horse has an even mixture of white and colored hairs on the body with the head, lower legs, mane and tail having a more solid color.

36 McCarthy lawyer Roy : COHN

Roy Cohn was a prominent assistant and associate to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the days when McCarthy was famously investigating Communist activities in the US. Prior to his work with Senator McCarthy, Cohn was a central figure on the prosecuting team in the 1951 espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Joseph McCarthy served as US Senator from Wisconsin from 1947 until he passed away in 1957. McCarthy chaired the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations for several years, which he used as a vehicle to uncover alleged Communist subversion and espionage in the government and private industry. His tactics resulted in the destruction of the careers of many career federal employees, as well as notable figures in universities and the film industry. McCarthy was eventually reigned in, and in 1954 he became one of the few US senators to be censured by the body.

37 Longtime label for Elton : MCA

MCA Records was a record label that was founded in 1934 as Decca Records.

“Elton John” is the stage name of English singer and pianist Reginald Dwight. John is an avid football (soccer) supporter, and is especially enthusiastic about Watford Football Club, which was his local team growing up. After he achieved financial success, John was able to purchase Watford FC, and owned the club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 until 2002.

38 Georgia airport code : ATL

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is the world’s busiest airport, as measured by passenger traffic. Atlanta has had that distinction since 1998, and was the world’s busiest in terms of take-offs and landings from 2005 until 2013. Over 50% of Atlanta’s traffic comes from Delta Air Lines.

39 Kind of lamp : HALOGEN

A halogen lamp is a specific type of incandescent light that has a small amount of halogen in the atmosphere surrounding the tungsten filament. In regular incandescent lamps, tungsten evaporates from the filament and deposits on the inner surface of the glass bulb causing it to blacken and dim over time. The halogen, such as iodine or bromine, reacts with the evaporating tungsten keeping the bulb of the glass clean hence maintaining the light output level.

41 Sitcom co-star of Betty and Estelle : BEA

Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

Comic actress Betty White has been at the top of her game for decades. White started her television career with an appearance with high school classmates on a local Los Angeles show back in 1939. Her most famous TV run was co-hosting the Tournament of Roses Parade, a gig she had for nineteen years in the sixties and seventies. Given her long career, White holds a number of records in the world of entertainment. For example, she is the oldest person to host “Saturday Night Live” (at 88) and she is the oldest woman to win a Grammy (at 90).

Actress Estelle Getty was best known for playing Sophia Petrillo on “The Golden Girls”. Bea Arthur played Sophia’s daughter on the show, even though Estelle was actually a year younger than Bea in real life!

44 Collect copiously : RAKE IN

Something described as copious and an abundant yield or is plentiful in number. The term “copious” comes from the latin “copia” meaning “plenty”. “Copia” was also the name of the Roman goddess of abundance. She was often shown in images alongside the “cornucopia”, the “horn of plenty”.

46 Start without hesitation : PLUNGE INTO (“PINTO” around)

A pinto is a horse with patchy markings of white mixed with another color. “Pinto” means “painted” in American Spanish.

51 Burgundy brainstorm : IDEE

The Burgundy region of France is famous for its wine production. If you’re looking at a label that isn’t translated into English though, you’ll see Burgundy written in French, namely “Bourgogne”.

53 Future junior : SOPH

The term “sophomore” has been used for a student in the second year of university since the 1680’s. The original meaning of the word was “arguer”. The term has Greek roots, from two Greek words that have been artificially combined in English. The Greek “sophos” means “wise”, and “moros” means “foolish”.

58 Surrey town known for salts : EPSOM

The Surrey town of Epsom in England is most famous for its racecourse (Epsom Downs), at which the Epsom Derby is run every year, one of the three races that make up the English Triple Crown. We also come across “Epsom salts” from time to time. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters. Epsom was indeed a spa town at one time. The town is also home to Epsom College, an English “public school” (which actually means “private, and expensive”). One of Epsom’s “old boys” was the Hollywood actor Stewart Granger.

Surrey is an English county located just to the southwest of London. Among the many historic locations in Surrey is Runnymede, famous for the signing of Magna Carta by King John in 1215.

62 Moody genre : EMO

The emo musical genre originated in Washington, D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from “emotional hardcore”. “Emo” is also the name given to the associated subculture. Not my cup of tea …

65 “Fill ‘er up” fluid : GAS

The gas pump was actually around before there were cars on the road. The first gas pump was the invention of one Sylvanus Bowser from Fort Wayne, Indiana. His first pump was designed to pump kerosene for lamps and stoves, and was introduced in 1885. As automobiles became popular, he modified the design to pump gasoline. He introduced the Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage Pump in 1905. He marketed his devices all around the world, and in some parts the name “bowser” is still used sometimes to refer to fuel pumps, and indeed some fuel tankers.

67 Rummages (through) : RIFLES

The verb “to rummage”, meaning “to search thoroughly”, has an interesting history. Back in the 16th century, a “rummage” was the act of arranging cargo in a ship. In the early 17th century, the verb “to rummage” was introduced, originally meaning to search thoroughly (the hold of a ship). It should be noted that rummaging usually involves moving things around. The first “rummage sales” were used to sell off unclaimed goods at docks. Over time, rummage sales became opportunities to dispose of unwanted items, usually in aid of a charity.

68 Cal.’s northern neighbor : ORE

The Oregon Treaty of 1846 settled a dispute between the US and the UK over sovereignty of the Oregon Country. “The Oregon Country” was the name given by the Americans to a large swathe of land west of the Rocky Mountains. That same disputed land was known as the Columbia Department by the British. Oregon became a US state in 1859.

69 New newts : EFTS

Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

Down

1 “__Cop” : ROBO

“RoboCop” is a film released in 1987 starring Peter Weller in the title role. Weller wore a very impressive robot suit for the film, the most expensive item on the set, costing over a million dollars. Weller would lose three pounds a day in sweat alone as temperatures inside the suit went to over 100 degrees F.

2 Reddit Q&A sessions : AMAS

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.

4 “La Danse” painter Henri : MATISSE

Henri Matisse was a French artist renowned for his contribution to modern art. In his early career, Matisse was classed as a “fauve”, one of the group of artists known as the “wild beasts” who emphasized strong color over realism in their works. He was a lifelong friend of Pablo Picasso, and the two were considered to be good-natured rivals so their works are often compared. One major difference between their individual portfolios is that Picasso tended to paint from his imagination, whereas Matisse tended to use nature as his inspiration.

“La Danse” is a large painting by Henri Matisse, completed in 1910, that depicts five dancing figures. I had the privilege of seeing the work in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia quite a few years ago.

5 Natives for whom a Great Lake is named : ERIES

The Erie people lived on lands south of Lake Erie, in parts of the modern-day US states of New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. The Erie were sometimes referred to as the Cat Nation, a reference to the mountain lions that were ever-present in the area that they lived. The name “Erie” is a shortened form of “Erielhonan” meaning “long tail”, possibly a further reference to the mountain lion or cat, which was possibly used as a totem. The Erie people gave their name to the Great Lake.

6 NFL’s Cowboys, on scoreboards : DAL

The Dallas Cowboys play in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the NFL. The Cowboys are famous for a lengthy streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons, from 1966 to 1985. They are the highest-valued sports franchise in the country. The only team in the world that’s worth more money is the UK’s Manchester United soccer team.

8 Adjutant : AIDE

An adjutant in the armed forces is a staff officer assigned to assist a commanding officer with administrative matters. The term “adjutant” comes from the Latin verb “adiutare” meaning “to help”.

9 Eschew punishment, in an old saw : SPARE THE ROD

A saw is an old saying, one that is often repeated and is very familiar. The term “old saw” is actually a tautology, as by definition a “saw” is “old”.

“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun”, comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

11 Integer, e.g. : REAL NUMBER

“Real numbers” are numbers that can be written on a number line. Almost all numbers that we can think of are real numbers. Infinity is not a real number, and nor are “imaginary numbers”, e.g. the square root of minus 1.

12 Clapton who sang “Layla” : ERIC

Can you believe that the great Eric Clapton only had one chart-topper in the US? In 1974, Clapton released a cover version of the Bob Marley classic “I Shot the Sheriff” and ended up selling more copies of that song than Bob Marley did himself. Clapton is the only person to have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame three times: once as a member of the Yardbirds, once as a member of the supergroup Cream, and once as a solo artist.

“Layla” is one of the great rock anthems of the seventies, released by Derek and the Dominos as a single in 1971. It is a masterpiece of composition, with the first half of the song a great vehicle for the guitar-playing talents of Eric Clapton. The second half is a beautifully melodic piano coda (a coda … taking up half the length of the track!). To top things off we have the “unplugged” version recorded by Clapton in 1992, a fabulous and inventive variation on the original.

Layla, you’ve got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind.

18 Jared of “Dallas Buyer’s Club” : LETO

Jared Leto is an actor and musician. In the world of music, Leto is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. In the film world, one of his most critically acclaimed roles was that of a heroin addict in “Requiem for a Dream”. He also appeared in “American Psycho”, “Panic Room” and “Lord of War”. Leto won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club”, which he portraying a transgender woman.

“Dallas Buyers Club” is a 2013 film that tells the real-life story of AIDS patient Ron Woodroof. Woodroof smuggled unapproved AIDS drugs across the US border into Texas in opposition to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The movie won the Best Actor Oscar for Matthew McConaughey and Best Supporting Actor for Jared Leto.

22 “__ any drop to drink”: Coleridge : NOR

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is an epic poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge that was first published in 1798. The publication of “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” is said to mark the beginning of the Romantic period of British literature. Perhaps the lines most often quoted from the poem are:

Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where
Nor any drop to drink

27 Copper or nickel : METAL

Copper metal was mined by the ancient Romans, mainly in Cyprus. Because of its origin, the Romans called the metal “aes cyprium” (metal of Cyprus), a term that evolved into the Latin “cuprum”, which in turn became our “copper”.

The whitish metal we know as “nickel” was given its name by Swedish mineralogist Axel von Cronstedt in 1754. The name he chose was an abbreviated version of “kopparnickel”, the Swedish for “copper-colored ore”.

30 Some kind of a nut : ACORN

These days, we don’t usually consider acorns as a foodstuff. But in days past, many cultures around the world have used acorns as food. Usually, bitter tannins that occur in acorns need to be leached out in water. Acorn meal can be a substitute for grain flour, which can then be used to make bread. Acorns have also been used as a substitute for coffee, especially when coffee was rationed. Notably, acorn coffee was brewed up by Confederates during the American Civil War, and by Germans during World War II.

31 Collie or cocker spaniel : DOG

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.

The cocker spaniel originated in the UK, where the breed was developed for hunting the Eurasian woodcock. It is the hunting of the woodcock that led to the breed’s name.

33 Indian bread : NAAN

Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

35 Tough guys : THUGS

Murderers and robbers given to harassing travelers in India were known locally as “thuggees”, from the Hindi word for “thief”. This gave us our contemporary word “thug”, meaning “brute”.

40 Floral necklace : LEI

“Lei” is a Hawaiian word meaning “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a lei is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

52 À la King? : EERIE

Stephen King is a remarkably successful author. He has sold well over 350 million copies of his books, with many of them made into hit movies. I’ve tried reading two or three of the novels, and didn’t get too far. I really don’t do horror …

53 Utah lily : SEGO

The sego lily is the state flower of Utah, and is a perennial plant found throughout the Western United States.

54 “A Jug of Wine … ” poet : OMAR

Here are some lines by 11th-century poet Omar Khayyam:

A Book of Verses underneath the Bough,
A Jug of Wine, a Loaf of Bread–and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness–
Oh, Wilderness were Paradise enow!

56 Q.E.D. word : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

59 “Star Trek” helmsman : SULU

Mr. Hikaru Sulu was played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat. From destroyer helmsman to starship helmsman …

61 Gds. : MDSE

Merchandise (“mdse.” or “merch.”)

63 Charlemagne’s domain: Abbr. : HRE

Charlemagne was the first king to use the title “Holy Roman Emperor”, even though the Holy Roman Empire (HRE) was not actually founded until over a century later when Otto I was crowned Emperor. Otto was the first of an unbroken line of Holy Roman Emperors who ruled Central Europe from 962 until 1806.

64 LAX listing : ARR

Los Angeles International Airport is the sixth busiest airport in the world in terms of passenger traffic, and the busiest here on the West Coast of the US. The airport was opened in 1930 as Mines Field and was renamed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941. On the airport property is the iconic white structure that resembles a flying saucer. This is called the Theme Building and I believe it is mainly used as a restaurant and observation deck for the public. The airport used to be identified by the letters “LA”, but when the aviation industry went to a three-letter standard for airport identification, this was changed to “LAX”. Apparently, the “X” has no significant meaning.