Tag: Bach mini comic opera about a beverage addiction crossword clue

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Constructed by: Roland Huget
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Final Farewell

Themed answers each end with a synonym of “FAREWELL”:

• 53A Last parting, or what can literally be found in 20-, 25- and 47-Across : FINAL FAREWELL

20A Bach mini comic opera about a beverage addiction : COFFEE CANTATA (Ta-ta!)

25A Modern car receivers : SATELLITE RADIOS (Adios!)

47A He played the interviewer in “Interview With the Vampire” : CHRISTIAN SLATER (Later!)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Caroline, to Bobby Kennedy : NIECE

Caroline Kennedy is the only surviving child of President John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy. Caroline’s elder sister, Arabella, was stillborn; younger brother John Jr. died in a small-plane crash off Martha’s Vineyard in 1999; youngest brother Patrick died at only two days old. Caroline served as US Ambassador to Japan from 2013 until 2017.

Robert F. Kennedy was the seventh child of Joe and Rose Kennedy. “Bobby” served as Attorney General in the administration of his elder brother, President John F. Kennedy. The younger Kennedy suffered the same fate as his brother, and died from an assassin’s bullet. He was shot in 1968 during his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the US presidency. He was assassinated by a young Palestinian named Sirhan Sirhan, apparently in retaliation for supporting Israel after the Six-Day War of 1967.

15 Vatican leader : POPE

Vatican City is a sovereign city-state that is walled off within the city of Rome. Vatican City is about 110 acres in area, and so is the smallest independent state in the world. With about 800 residents, it is also the smallest state in terms of population. Although the Holy See dates back to early Christianity, Vatican City only came into being in 1929. At that time, Prime Minister Benito Mussolini signed a treaty with the Holy See on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy that established the city-state.

17 Singer __ Amos : TORI

Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. She started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. Amos was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music …

20 Bach mini comic opera about a beverage addiction : COFFEE CANTATA (Ta-ta!)

“Coffee Cantata” is a more familiar name for Johann Sebastian Bach’s secular cantata “Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht” (“Be Still, Stop Chattering”). The Coffee Cantata isn’t really a cantata at all, and is better described as a mini-comic opera. It explores addiction to coffee.

24 Anthem contraction : O’ER

The words “o’er the ramparts we watched” come from “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.

25 Modern car receivers : SATELLITE RADIOS (Adios!)

The term “adiós” is Spanish for “goodbye”. “Adiós” comes from the phrase “a Dios vos acomiendo” meaning “I commend you to God”.

33 Letter-shaped plumbing trap : U-BEND

Most sinks in a home have a P-trap in the outlet pipe that empties into the sewer line. This P-trap has at its heart a U-bend that retains a small amount of water after the sink is emptied. This plug of water serves as a seal to prevent sewer gases entering into the home. By virtue of its design, the U-bend can also capture any heavy objects (like an item of jewelry) that might fall through the plughole. But the “trapping” of fallen objects is secondary to the P-trap’s main function of “trapping” sewer gases.

37 Secretly : SUB ROSA

“Sub rosa” is a Latin term that translates literally as “under the rose”. The term is used to denote confidentiality, as the rose has been a symbol of secrecy since ancient times.

44 Hide-hair connector : NOR

The phrase “neither hide nor hair” means “nothing whatsoever”. This peculiarly American phrase arose in the mid 1800s, and paradoxically may have its origins in a much older English expression that means exactly the opposite. The older “in hide and hair” meant “wholly, entirely”.

45 German camera : LEICA

Leica is a German optics company that is famous for production of lenses and cameras. The 1913 Leica was the first practical camera that could use 35mm film, a size chosen because it was already the standard for film used in motion pictures.

47 He played the interviewer in “Interview With the Vampire” : CHRISTIAN SLATER (Later!)

Christian Slater is an actor from New York City. My favorite roles that he has played are in “Broken Arrow” with John Travolta, and on the TV series “The West Wing” and “Mr. Robot”.

Anne Rice is an American author of erotic and Gothic novels. Rice was born Howard Allen O’Brien (no wonder she changed her name!). Her famous series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, “Interview with the Vampire”, was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don’t do vampires …

51 Yellowfin tuna : AHI

Yellowfin and bigeye tuna are usually marketed as “ahi”, the Hawaiian name. They are both big fish, with yellowfish tuna often weighing over 300 pounds, and bigeye tuna getting up to 400 pounds.

59 Liberty Bell flaw : CRACK

The Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1752 and installed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The bell bears the inscription “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”, a quotation from the Book of Leviticus in the Bible. Famously, the bell cracked when it was first rung in Philadelphia after arriving from the foundry where it was made in London, England. The bell’s fame originated with a short story by George Lippard published in 1847 that gave a fictional account of an old bell-ringer ringing it on July 4, 1776 upon hearing that the Second Continental Congress had voted for independence. That ringing of the bell never actually happened, even though the account was constantly presented as fact in school texts around the country for generations.

61 “The First __”: holiday song : NOEL

“The First Noel” is a traditional Christmas carol from England that probably dates back to the 1700s.

The First Noel the angel did say
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay;
In fields as they lay, keeping their sheep,
On a cold winter’s night that was so deep.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
Born is the King of Israel.

63 “Voices Carry” co-songwriter Mann : AIMEE

Aimee Mann is a rock singer and guitarist from Virginia. Mann is married to Michael Penn, the brother of actor Sean Penn.

68 Mexican bread? : PESO

The peso is used in many Spanish-speaking countries around the world. The coin originated in Spain where the word “peso” means “weight”. The original peso was what we know in English as a “piece of eight”, a silver coin of a specific weight that had a nominal value of eight “reales”.

Down

2 Gator’s cousin : CROC

Crocodiles and alligators do indeed bear a resemblance to each other, although they belong to distinct biological families. One of the main ways used to distinguish them is by their teeth and jaws. Both the upper and lower sets of teeth of a crocodile are visible when its mouth is closed, whereas only the upper teeth of an alligator are visible with the mouth shut.

3 Poi source : TARO

I am a big fan of starch (being an Irishman I love potatoes). That said, I think that poi tastes horrible! Poi is made from the bulbous tubers (corm) of the taro plant by cooking the corm in water and mashing it until the desired consistency is achieved.

6 Scale starters : DO, RE, MI …

The sol-fa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

8 Genesis creator : SEGA

Genesis is a video game console sold in the US by the Japanese company Sega. Genesis is sold as Mega Drive in the rest of the world, as Sega couldn’t get the rights to the Mega Drive name in the US.

9 Snapple rival : NESTEA

Nestea is a brand of iced tea made by Nestlé. The name is a portmanteau of “Nestlé” and “tea”.

Originally, “Snapple” was the name of just one type of juice made by a company called Unadulterated Food Products. The drink’s name was a contraction of “snappy apple”. The company’s name was changed to the Snapple Beverage Corporation in the early 1980s. Snapple was sold in 1994, and is now a brand name owned by Dr Pepper Snapple Group.

11 Entertainment awards acronym : EGOT

The acronym “EGOT” stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony”, and is a reference to performers who have won all four awards. Also known as the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam”, there are relatively few individuals who have been so honored. The first five to do so were:

1. Richard Rodgers in 1962
2. Helen Hayes in 1977
3. Rita Moreno in 1977
4. John Gielgud in 1991
5. Audrey Hepburn in 1994 (posthumously)

12 Wrestler John : CENA

John Cena is a professional wrestler turned rapper and actor. Although wrestling, rapping and “Cena-style” movies wouldn’t be my cup of tea, I have to admire Cena’s philanthropic record. He holds the title for the most wishes granted by a single individual for the Make-A-Wish Foundation that benefits children with life-threatening medical conditions.

25 The “poison” type contains the skin irritant urushiol : SUMAC

Sumacs are a group of flowering shrubs and small trees that include poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac (nasty stuff!). The leaves of some species of sumac contain tannins that are used for tanning leather. Morocco leather is an example of the use of sumac tannins.

27 Pavarotti, for one : TENOR

Luciano Pavarotti was one of the most celebrated tenors of all time. He was able to appeal to audiences beyond the traditional fans of opera, helped by his performances with the Three Tenors: Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. Pavarotti made his final performance on stage at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, where he sang his famous rendition of the moving aria “Nessun dorma” and brought the house down. Pavarotti passed away from pancreatic cancer the following year, at the age of 71.

28 Earth, to Cato : TERRA

Cato the Elder was a Roman statesman, known historically as “the elder” in order to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger. Cato the Elder’s ultimate position within Roman society was that of Censor, making him responsible for maintaining the census, and for supervising public morality.

29 “Xanadu” rock gp. : ELO

The title song of the 1980 movie “Xanadu” was performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and Olivia Newton-John (who starred in the film). Despite the popularity of ELO around the world, the song “Xanadu” was the band’s only number one hit back in their homeland of the UK.

31 Prevention measure? : OUNCE

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, as the saying goes …

38 “Open __ 9 p.m.”: store sign : UNTIL

The 12-hour clock has been around a long time, and was even used in sundial format in ancient Egypt. Our use of AM and PM dates back to Roman times, with AM standing for Ante Meridiem (before noon) and PM standing for Post Meridiem (after noon). However, the Romans originally used the AM concept a little differently, by counting backwards from noon. So, 2AM to the Romans would be two hours before noon, or 10AM as we would call it today.

39 Avril Lavigne’s “Sk8er __” : BOI

“Sk8er Boi” was released as a single in 2002 by Avril Lavigne. I’m probably not going to buy this one …

Avril Lavigne is a Canadian musician. Lavigne was the youngest female solo artist to reach number one in the charts in the UK, which she did at 17 years of age in 2002 with her debut album “Let Go”.

53 Cold, in Cádiz : FRIO

Cádiz is a port city in southwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz is a remarkable city geographically in that it sits on a thin spit of land that juts out into the sea.

54 Brand with a paw print in its logo : IAMS

Iams dog food was introduced by animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed a dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company, now part of Procter & Gamble, in 1946.

62 Sign of summer : LEO

Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.