Tag: Bald baby? crossword clue

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Constructed by: Landon Horton
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Shear Madness

Themed answers are in the down-direction, and start at the top of the grid. Each is a common phrase, but with the letters “L-I-T-T-L-E” taken OFF THE TOP:

• 105A With 108-Across, instruction given to a barber, or how the answers to the starred clues were literally formed : A LITTLE …
• 108A See 105-Across : … OFF THE TOP

• 3D *Body art of a beloved’s silhouette? : INKED-IN PROFILE (L off “LinkedIn profile”)
• 5D *Advisors on robe or wand selection? : MAGE CONSULTANTS (I off “image consultants”)
• 8D *Beer that belongs in a museum? : ALE AS OLD AS TIME (T off “tale as old as time”)
• 11D *Faithful helpers who are less helpful after some time off? : RUSTY SIDEKICKS (T off “trusty sidekicks”)
• 14D *Practicing to be worthy of elite double Dutch equipment? : EARNING THE ROPES (L off “learning the ropes”)
• 16D *Sumerian king’s image? : PIC OF GILGAMESH (E off “Epic of Gilgamesh”)

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

Bill’s time: 21m 05s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Stratford-__-Avon : UPON

Stratford-upon-Avon is a town in the county of Warwickshire in the English midlands. Most famously perhaps, it was the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

19 Top-left Battleship coordinate : A-ONE

Battleship is a surprisingly fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days, kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

21 Required amount : QUOTA

A quota is an allotment. The term “quota” was used originally with reference to the number of soldiers or quantity of supplies required from a particular town or district.

22 Actor Liu : SIMU

Simu Liu is a Chinese-born Canadian actor. One of his more famous roles was the title character in the Marvel Comics 2021 superhero movie “Shang-Chi and the legend of the Ten Rings”.

23 Brand of smart TVs : ROKU

Roku is a manufacturer of digital media players that allow access to audio and video programming over the Internet that is shown on television. The company was founded in Los Gatos, California in 2002 by Anthony Wood. Wood chose the name “Roku” as it is the Japanese word for “six”, and Roku is the sixth company that Wood founded.

24 Neon and xenon : GASES

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

The element xenon was the first of the noble gases to be made into a compound, which was somewhat remarkable in that the noble gases were thought by many to be completely inert, unreactive.

33 Brake parts : DISCS

The drum brake was invented in 1902 by Louis Renault (founder of Renault, the automobile company). In a drum brake, there is a set of brake shoes that usually press on the inner surface of the drum to slow down rotation. Nowadays, the disc brake system is more popular, a design which uses brake pads instead of brake shoes.

35 Rice __ : PILAF

“Pilaf” is a Persian word, one that we use to describe rice that is browned in oil and then cooked in a seasoned broth. It can also be called “pilau”.

36 Melodic composition : ARIOSO

An arioso (plural “ariosi”) is a solo vocal piece in a classical work such as an opera or an oratorio. An arioso’s structure lies somewhere between that of a full-blown aria and speech-like recitative.

43 Musician Sean Ono __ : LENNON

Sean Lennon is the only child of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and godson of Elton John. Sean is a musician and composer, and has a band called the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger.

48 NorCal law force, for short : SFPD

The San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) is the 11th largest police department in the country. The SFPD dates back to the days of the Gold Rush, being founded in 1849 as a force of 35 officers. SFPD has featured a lot in movies and on television. The most famous films are probably “Bullitt”, the “Dirty Harry” series and “48 HRS.” On television there was “Ironside”, “The Streets of San Francisco” and “Monk”.

52 Writer Wiesel : ELIE

Elie Wiesel was a holocaust survivor, and is best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986. He was also the first recipient of the US Holocaust Memorial Museum Award, which was later renamed the Elie Wiesel Award in his honor.

53 Boomer follower : XER

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.

54 College treasurer : BURSAR

A bursar is an administrative officer, typically in a school or college, who is responsible for the management of financial affairs. “Bursar” comes from the Latin “bursa”, meaning “purse,bag”.

58 M.A. seeker’s hurdle : GRE

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

59 Song often played at Dodger Stadium : I LOVE LA

“I Love L.A.” is a song written and recorded by Randy Newman in 1983. The song is played at major sporting events in the city, usually after the home team scores or wins.

Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles is the third oldest stadium currently used in Major League Baseball (after Fenway Park in Boston and Wrigley Field in Chicago). It is also the largest MLB stadium by seating capacity, with a total capacity of 56,000.

65 Thief count in the Ali Baba folktale : FORTY

There is some controversy about the story “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” in that it has been suggested it was not part of the original collection of Arabic tales called “One Thousand and One Nights”. The suggestion is that the Ali Baba tale was added by one of the European translators of the collection.

66 Country singer Clark : TERRI

Terri Clark is a country music artist from Montreal in Canada who has had success right across North America, and who now resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

70 Cockney or Geordie : DIALECT

A Cockney is someone who, according to tradition, is born within the sound of Bow Bells in the center of London. The Cockney accent is usually considered “working class”. Cockney speakers often use a wonderful form of speech called rhyming slang. So, Cockney’s drink a lot of “Rosie Lea” (tea), and climb the “apples and pears” (stairs) using their “plates of meat” (feet). Cockneys also tend to “drop their aitches”, so “home” becomes “‘ome” and “horse” becomes “‘orse”.

Geordies are people from Tyneside in North East England, particularly from Newcastle upon Tyne. The exact etymology of “Geordie” is disputed, although there seems to be agreement that it comes from the name “George”. One theory is that the term derives from the Geordie lamp, a safety lamp used in coal mines, of which there were many around Newcastle. The lamp was named for its inventor, engineer George Stephenson.

75 European peninsula : BALKAN

The Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe is usually referred to as “the Balkans”. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains located in present-day Bulgaria and Serbia. “Balkan” is Bulgarian for “mountain”.

76 Brief chats? : IMS

Even though instant messaging (sending and receiving IMs) has been around since the 1960s, it was AOL who popularized the term “instant message” in the eighties and nineties. The “AOL Instant Message” service was known as AIM.

78 Iran, formerly : PERSIA

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

80 Bonsai, e.g. : TREE

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”.

84 Melville captain : AHAB

Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

Herman Melville mined his own experiences when writing his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby-Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later and lived with natives on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate that was bound for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).

85 “Mi __ es su __” : CASA

The Spanish phrases “Mi casa es tu casa” and “Mi casa es su casa” are expressions of welcome translating as “My house is your house”. The former is more informal than the latter.

87 American acquisition : TWA

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

95 1980s perm style : JHERI CURL

The Jheri curl is a perm product that produces a hairstyle with a loosely curled and glossy look. It was invented by hairdresser Jheri Redding, hence the name.

100 Greek moralist : AESOP

Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.

104 Bluefin and albacore : TUNAS

There are 15 species of tuna, the size of which varies greatly. The smallest is the bullet tuna, which can grow to about 4 pounds in weight and just over 1½ feet in length. The Atlantic bluefin tuna can weigh over 1,500 pounds, and reach about 15 feet in length. That’s a lot of tuna …

110 J.D. seekers’ hurdles : LSATS

The law degree that is abbreviated to “J.D.” stands for “Juris Doctor” or “Doctor of Jurisprudence”.

111 Tire abbreviation : PSI

Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.

114 Two-rod antenna : DIPOLE

When German physicist Heinrich Hertz first demonstrated radio waves in 1887, he used the simplest form of antenna, namely a dipole antenna. A dipole antenna comprises two metal rods that are usually pointing away from each other. Ideally, the length of each rod is one half of the wavelength of the signal to be received.

116 Brain __ : 2024 Oxford Word of the Year : ROT

“Brain rot” is a colloquial term used to describe the negative effects of excessive consumption of social media, streaming services, and video games. The term was recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary as word of the year in 2024.

117 Spy-fi novelist Deighton : LEN

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same seaside village in Ireland (probably my only claim to “fame”). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, which was made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

119 Brunch option : OMELET

Our word “brunch” is a portmanteau of “breakfast” and “lunch”. The term was coined as student slang in Oxford, England in the late 1890s. However, “brunch” described a combined meal closer to the breakfast hour, and the term “blunch” was used for a meal closer to lunchtime.

120 PC’s “brain” : CPU

The central processing unit (CPU) is the main component on the motherboard of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.

Down

1 The “E” of ENT : EAR

Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)

3 *Body art of a beloved’s silhouette? : INKED-IN PROFILE (L off “LinkedIn profile”)

A silhouette is an outline, usually of a person’s profile, which has been filled in with a solid color. One theory is that the term “silhouette” comes from the name of the French Minister of Finance in 1759, Étienne de Silhouette. Said minister made major cutbacks in spending to finance the Seven Years War, cutbacks that were not popular with the citizenry. His name came to be used for a cheap way of making someone’s likeness, a “silhouette”.

LinkedIn is a website used by professionals wishing to network with other professionals. From what I’ve heard, LinkedIn is mainly used by folks looking for a job, and other folks looking for suitable candidates to hire.

7 Safeties in the NFL, briefly : DBS

In football, a defensive back (DB) is constantly striving for an interception (Int).

13 Like some black diamond runs : STEEP

In North America, ski runs are given a standardized rating in terms of skiing difficulty. The ratings are:

• Green circles: easy to ski, often termed “bunny slopes”.
• Blue squares: medium difficulty
• Black diamond: steep and challenging terrain
• Double black diamond: experts only (I’ve never braved one!)

14 *Practicing to be worthy of elite double Dutch equipment? : EARNING THE ROPES (L off “learning the ropes”)

Double Dutch is a skipping game that uses two jump ropes that are turned in opposite directions.

15 Ship in 1898 news : USS MAINE

The USS Maine was a pre-dreadnought battleship launched in 1890. The Maine sank in Havana Harbor in 1898 due to a massive explosion. A Naval Court of Inquiry found that the explosion was caused by a mine, a finding that helped precipitate the start of the Spanish-American War that began one month later. Those advocating the war were often heard crying, “Remember the Maine! To hell with Spain!”

16 *Sumerian king’s image? : PIC OF GILGAMESH (E off “Epic of Gilgamesh”)

The “Epic of Gilgamesh” is an epic poem from Mesopotamia. It is one of the earliest known works of literature that has survived. Fragments of the first version of the epic date back to the 18th century BC.

Iraq is often called the “Cradle of Civilization” as it was home to Sumer, which was the earliest known civilization on the planet. By 5000 BC the Sumerian people were practicing year-round agriculture and had a specialized labor force. For the first time, a whole race was able to settle in one place by storing food, instead of having to migrate in a pattern dictated by crops and grazing land.

17 With 47-Across, “House” actor : OMAR …
47A See 17-Down : … EPPS

Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Gant on “ER”. He is good friends with actor and comedian Marlon Wayans. Epps and Wayns were classmates at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

32 Downwind : ALEE

Alee is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing aweather. The sheltered side of an island, for example, might be referred to as the “lee” side.

36 1990s soccer star Lalas : ALEXI

Alexi Lalas is a former international soccer player from Birmingham, Michigan. Lalas appeared for the US national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup that was hosted by the United States.

39 __ monde: fashionable society : HAUT

“Haut monde” is a French term meaning “high society” that we use in English with the same meaning.

41 Some forensic evidence : HAIRS

Something described as forensic is connected with a court of law, or with public discussion or debate. The term comes from the Latin “forensis” meaning “of a forum, of a place of assembly”. We mainly use the word today to mean “pertaining to legal trials” as in “forensic medicine” and “forensic science”.

51 Security letters : CCTV

Closed-circuit television (CCTV)

54 Kentucky college : BEREA

Berea College is located in Berea, Kentucky, just south of Lexington. It is a remarkable university that is focused on providing a low-cost education to students from low-income families. There are no tuition fees and instead students must work at least ten hours a week on campus and in service jobs. Berea was also the first college in the Southern US to become coeducational and the first to become racially integrated.

55 Emu kin : RHEAS

The rhea is a flightless bird that is native to South America. It takes its name from the Greek Titan Rhea. That’s an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

57 Battery bit : ANODE

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

60 Drink also known as a Cape Cod : VODKA CRAN

The Cape Codder is a cocktail made with vodka and cranberry juice. The drink’s name refers to the Massachusetts peninsula of Cape Cod, where cranberries were first cultivated back in the early 1800s.

62 68-Down team in Fla. : ORL
68 Org. for Suns and Rockets : NBA

The Orlando Magic were formed in 1989 as an NBA expansion team. A local paper was asked to run a competition to suggest names for the new team and the community came up with its four top picks of “Heat”, “Tropics”, “Juice” and “Magic”. A committee then opted for “Orlando Magic”. A good choice I think …

The Phoenix Suns NBA team are in the Pacific Division, and are the only team in that division not based in California.

The Houston Rockets NBA team was founded as a league expansion team in 1967 in San Diego. The Rockets relocated to Houston in 1971. Surprisingly (to me), the Rockets were not named for Houston’s connection to NASA. The “Rockets” moniker was partly due to San Diego’s more tenuous NASA connection. General Dynamics’ San Diego operation developed and built the first Atlas rockets, including those used in Project Mercury.

64 “Star Wars” sporting vehicles : PODRACERS

Podracers are one-man racing craft in the “Star Wars” universe. Young Ani Skywalker is an expert podracer, showing off his skills in “The Phantom Menace”.

70 Half of a craps pair : DIE

If one considers earlier versions of craps, then the game has been around for a very long time and probably dates back to the Crusades. It may have been derived from an old English game called “hazard” also played with two dice, which was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” from the 1300s. The American version of the game came here courtesy of the French and first set root in New Orleans where it was given the name “crapaud”, a French word meaning “toad”.

71 Madre’s hermana : TIA

In Spanish, a “tia” (aunt) is the “hermana del padre o de la madre” (sister of the father or the mother).

73 “Elastic Heart” singer : SIA

“Elastic Heart” is a powerful ballad by Australian singerSia, known for its raw emotional intensity and soaring vocals. The song explores themes of resilience and inner conflict. Its accompanying music video, featuring Maddie Ziegler and Shia LaBeouf in a dance battle within a cage, sparked significant controversy. While intended to depict the internal struggle Sia described in the song, the age disparity between the dancers and the confined setting led to interpretations of sexual undertones, causing public outcry.

74 Bygone soda in pink cans : TAB

To keep tabs on someone is to watch him or her carefully. Back in the late 1800s, the phrase was written as “keep a tab on”, with “tab” being short for “tablet”, in the sense of a writing tablet. By the way, the name of the diet soda “Tab” was chosen as the drink’s target market was those trying to keep “tabs” on their weight.

81 TV friend of Sheldon : RAJ

Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

On “The Big Bang Theory” sitcom, the character Sheldon Cooper is played by Jim Parsons. The original casting called for Johnny Galecki to play Cooper, but Galecki thought that he was more suited to play Leonard Hofstadter. Sheldon is played by child actor Iain Armitage in the spinoff “Young Sheldon”.

83 “Red Notice” actress Gadot : GAL

“Red Notice” is an action comedy film released in 2021 that stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds. Reynolds plays an art thief who teams up with an FBI agent, played by Johnson, to catch an even cagier art thief played by Gadot. The movie’s title refers to an alert about crimes and criminals that is distributed by Interpol to police forces around the world.

87 Musical interval also called “the devil’s interval” : TRITONE

A tritone is a musical interval composed of three whole tones, such as the interval between C and F♯. This interval is harmonically unstable and creates a sense of tension or dissonance. Historically, it was called the “diabolus in musica” or “devil’s interval” due to its unsettling sound, which was considered undesirable in medieval and Renaissance music.

91 Bald baby? : EAGLET

The bald eagle is sometimes referred to as the American eagle. It is both the national bird and the national animal of the USA, and appears on the US Seal.

94 Consecrate : ANOINT

“To desecrate” is to treat sacrilegiously. The term more specifically means to divest of sacred character, and is the opposite of the verb “to consecrate”.

96 Furnished with a handle : HAFTED

The haft of a weapon is its handle or hilt.

97 Small nocturnal bird of prey : ELF OWL

The tiny elf owl is the lightest of all owls, usually weighing less than 1½ ounces, with a height of about 5 inches.

98 Final syllable : ULTIMA

In the world of linguistics, the last syllable in a word is called the ultima. The second-last syllable is known as the penult.

102 Ink squirters : OCTOPI

The term “octopus” comes from the Greek for “eight-footed”. The most common plural used is “octopuses”, although the Greek plural form “octopodes” is also quite correct. The plural “octopi” isn’t really correct as the inference is that “octopus” is like a second-declension Latin noun, which it isn’t. That said, dictionaries are now citing “octopi” as an acceptable plural. Language does evolve, even though that drives me crazy …

103 Prepare for a pass, in basketball : POST UP

In basketball, “post up” refers to an offensive move where a player establishes a position near the basket, aiming to receive a pass and creating an opportunity to score with a close-range shot.

109 Sport with horses : POLO

The sport of polo originated in Iran, possibly before the 5th century BC. Polo was used back then primarily as a training exercise for cavalry units.

113 Delta HQ : ATL

Delta Air Lines were the first airline to ban smoking on all flights, in 1995. They were also the first airline to board more than 100 million passengers in a year, doing so in 1997.

115 “__ Misérables” : LES

Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables” has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.