Tag: Attention-grabbing feat crossword clue

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Constructed by: Kyle Dolan

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Matching PJs

Themed answers all MATCH, in the sense that they are all two-word terms sharing the initials “PJ”:

• 58A Cozy garb in some family photos, or what can be found in 17-, 27-, and 43-Across? : MATCHING PJS

• 17A Liquid that can relieve muscle cramps : PICKLE JUICE
• 27A Filling a friend’s car with balloons, e.g. : PRACTICAL JOKE
• 43A Reward or punishment that may be ironic : POETIC JUSTICE

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

Bill’s time: 5m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Tenant farmers of the early Middle Ages : SERFS

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. Even though “serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”, serfs could not be bought or sold. However, they were not free to leave the land they worked without the lord’s permission.

17A Liquid that can relieve muscle cramps : PICKLE JUICE

Athletes sometimes use pickle juice as a rapid cure for muscle cramps. It is a folk remedy that seems to have a scientific basis. The high concentration of acetic acid in the vinegar brine triggers a reflex in the back of the throat as one swallows. This sudden, sharp stimulus sends an inhibitory signal down the nervous system that dampens the hyperactive motor neurons responsible for the cramp, often providing relief in under two minutes.

19A Minuscule : WEE

“Minuscule” is one of those words that’s often misspelled, usually as “miniscule”.

20A __ gin fizz : SLOE

By definition, a cocktail known as a “fizz” includes lemon or lime juice and carbonated water. The most popular of the genre is the gin fizz, made from 3 parts gin, 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup and 5 parts soda water. There is also a variant known as a sloe gin fizz.

26A Bassinet occupant : BABY

A bassinet is a basket or bed made up for a young baby in the first few months of his or her life.

35A Dubai’s fed. : UAE

Dubai was founded as a fishing village in the early 1700s, and today it is the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, and the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is home to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building since 2010. The city also holds Guinness World Records for the largest shopping mall, the deepest diving pool (at over 196 feet), and the world’s largest vertical maze, a facility integrated into the facade of the 57-story Maze Tower.

36A Doily fabric : LACE

There was a draper in London in the seventeenth century named Doiley, and he gave his name to the lace fabric that he sold. The fabric in turn gave its name to the ornamental mat that we call a “doily”. I can’t abide doilies …

41A Cameron who voices Fiona in the “Shrek” franchise : DIAZ

In the 2001 animated feature “Shrek”, the title character is voiced by Mike Myers. Eddie Murphy voices Shrek’s sidekick Donkey, and Princess Fiona is voiced by Cameron Diaz.

43A Reward or punishment that may be ironic : POETIC JUSTICE

The phrase “poetic justice” applies to a situation where a wrongdoer faces perfectly fitting karmic retribution. English drama critic Thomas Rymer coined the term in 1678 to describe literature that strictly rewards virtue and punishes vice. He believed fiction required a clear moral compass, ensuring a character’s comeuppance directly resulted from their own bad actions.

53A Alan of “M*A*S*H” : ALDA

Hawkeye Pierce is the lead character in the “M*A*S*H” novel, movie and TV series. Hawkeye was portrayed by Donald Sutherland in the film, and then by Alan Alda in the television show. Pierce is the only character appearing in all 256 episodes of the groundbreaking TV series.

58A Cozy garb in some family photos, or what can be found in 17-, 27-, and 43-Across? : MATCHING PJS

“PJs” is the shortened form of “pajamas” (or “pyjamas” in British English). The word “pajama” itself comes to English from Hindi, derived from the Persian “pāē-jāma”, meaning “leg garment”.

61A Victoria’s Secret garment : BRA

Victoria’s Secret was founded in 1977 in Palo Alto, California. The founder wanted to create an environment where men were comfortable buying lingerie for their wives or girlfriends, an alternative to a department store.

62A Tierney of “The Affair” : MAURA

Maura Tierney is an actress from Boston, Massachusetts. She is best known for playing Lisa Miller on television’s “NewsRadio” and Abby Lockhart on “ER”.

64A Pine-__: cleaning brand : SOL

Pine-Sol first came on the market in 1929. It is a cleaner based on pine oil.

66A South American barbecue : ASADO

In much of South America, the event we know as a barbecue is referred to as an “asado”, with “asado” translating from Spanish as “roast”. The “asador” is the “roaster”, the person roasting the meat.

Down

1D Ones easily duped : SAPS

“Sap” is slang for “fool, someone easily scammed”. The term arose in the early 1800s in Britain when it was used in “saphead” and “sapskull”. All these words are derived from “sapwood”, which is the softwood found in tree trunks between the bark and the heartwood at the center.

3D Puerto __ : RICO

Puerto Rico (PR) is located in the northeastern Caribbean (in the Atlantic Ocean), east of the Dominican Republic. The name “Puerto Rico” is Spanish for “rich port”. The locals often call their island Borinquen, the Spanish form of “Boriken”, the original name used by the natives.

5D Lorne Michaels’ long-running NBC show, for short : SNL

Lorne Michaels is a television producer who is perhaps best known as the creator of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL). We can get some insight into Michaels’ character and demeanor by watching the show “30 Rock”. The character Jack Donaghy, played by Alec Baldwin, is inspired by Michaels.

9D Big __: fast-food classic : MAC

The iconic Big Mac sandwich was introduced nationally by McDonald’s in 1968. It was the creation of a Pittsburgh franchisee who offered it on the menu as a response to the very similar “Big Boy” sandwich offered by the competing Big Boy restaurant chain.

12D Pest on a pet : FLEA

An endoparasite is one that lives inside the host, an example being a parasitic worm. Parasites living outside the host, such as fleas and lice, are known as ectoparasites.

23D Pres. between JFK and RMN : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

28D Japanese truckmaker : ISUZU

Isuzu is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines. The company was named for the Isuzu River, with “isuzu” translating into English as “fifty bells”.

31D Morays, e.g. : EELS

Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

38D __ Mahal : TAJ

“Mahal” is the Urdu word for “palace”, as in “Taj Mahal” meaning “crown of palaces”. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum holding the body of Mumtaz Mahal, the third wife of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. The name “Mumtaz Mahal” translates as “the chosen one of the palace”.

41D Tough decision : DILEMMA

A lemma is a helping theorem, a subsidiary proposition that helps prove some other proposition. A problem offering two equally acceptable (or unacceptable) possibilities might be described as a “double lemma”, and hence our term “dilemma”. To be on the horns of a dilemma is to be faced with two equally unattractive choices. The suggestion is that one is faced with a “horned” argument, meaning that if you avoid the horn of one choice, you will get impaled on the other.

46D Polynesian carving : TIKI

A tiki is a large carving of wood or stone resembling a human form that is found in Polynesian cultures. The carvings often mark out boundaries surrounding sites that are sacred to the locals.

50D Currency in 21 countries : EURO

The euro is the official currency of most of the states in the European Union, but not all. The list of EU states not using the euro includes Denmark and Sweden. Under the EU treaties, all member states are technically required to adopt the euro once they meet certain economic criteria. However, Denmark negotiated a special “opt-out” and is legally exempt from this requirement. Sweden, on the other hand, has not adopted the euro because it deliberately avoids meeting one of the criteria (related to exchange rate mechanisms) after a 2003 referendum in which Swedes voted against adoption. Politics …

51D Air conditioning figs. : BTUS

British Thermal Unit (BTU)

54D Links org. : LPGA

The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was founded in 1950 by a group of 13 lady golfers, and today it is the oldest ongoing women’s sports professional organization in the US.

55D Provided music for a party : DJED

The world’s first radio disc jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.

60D Clippers’ org. : NBA

The Los Angeles Clippers NBA team started off life as the Buffalo Braves in 1970. The Braves took on the Clippers name when the franchise moved to San Diego in 1978. The new team name was chosen in honor of the great clipper ships that used to pass through San Diego Bay. The San Diego Clippers were sold in 1981 to real estate developer Donald Sterling, who moved the team to his native Los Angeles two years later. That move was not approved by the NBA, which resulted in a lawsuit and a $6 million fine, but the team was allowed to stay in its new home.