Constructed by: Joel Mackerry
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
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Theme: Cash Up Front
Today’s themed answers each start with a slang term for “money”, each has CASH UP FRONT:
- 62A…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT
- 17A…Pizza topping veggie..GREEN PEPPER
- 25A…Traditional filled fare of Europe and West Asia..CABBAGE ROLL
- 38A…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES
- 53A…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO
Bill’s time: 5m 33s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1…”Stay out of my affairs,” briefly..MYOB
Mind your own business (MYOB)
11…CFO’s degree..MBA
A chief financial officer (CFO) might have a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree.
16…”__ the ramparts … “..O’ER
The words “o’er the ramparts we watched” come from “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.
20…Slugger __ Harper of the Nats..BRYCE
Bryce Harper is a MLB right-fielder who was chosen by the Washington Nationals as the first overall pick in the 2010 Draft.
21…Stylish, clotheswise..NATTY
A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly. The term may come from the Middle English “net” meaning “fine, elegant”, in which case it shares its etymology with the word “neat”.
29…Preppy shirt brand..IZOD
Jack Izod was a tailor of some repute over in England, producing shirts for King George V as well as other members of the Royal Family. As Izod was about to retire, he was approached for the use of his name by an American clothing manufacturer based in New York. The brand Izod of London was introduced to America in 1938.
31…Japanese noodle..SOBA
Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. In Japan, the word “soba” tends to be used to describe any thin noodle, in contrast with the thicker noodles that are called udon.
38…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES
Our word “salad” comes from the Latin “salare” meaning “to salt”. The Latin “herba salata” translates as “salted vegetables”, which I guess could be a salad …
44…Revealing, as a bikini..SKIMPY
The origin of the word “bikini”, a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. My favorite story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment!
46…Eye care brand..RENU
ReNu is a brand name of contact lens products sold by Bausch & Lomb.
50…Savings vehicles for later yrs…IRAS
Individual retirement account (IRA)
53…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO
The dish known as clams casino comprises clams served on the halfshell with breadcrumbs and bacon, broiled to a golden brown. The recipe originated in Rhode Island, apparently developed by the staff in a hotel in Narragansett, Rhode Island. The dish was named for the hotel, the Little Casino.
57…NFL scores..TDS
Touchdowns (TDs) are scored in National Football League (NFL) games.
58…Car body style..COUPE
The type of car known as a “coupe” or “coupé” is a closed automobile with two doors. The name comes from the French word “couper” meaning “to cut”. In most parts of the English-speaking world the pronunciation adheres to the original French, but here in most of North America we go with “coop”. The original coupé was a horse-drawn carriage that was cut (coupé) to eliminate the rear-facing passenger seats. That left just a driver and two front-facing passengers. If the driver was left without a roof and out in the open, then the carriage was known as a “coupé de-ville”.
59…Saltwater candy..TAFFY
Salt water taffy was invented in Atlantic City and is now found all over the US, but primarily in coastal towns (for some reason) and not really outside of America. Taffy is made by stretching the solid mass made by boiling up sugar, butter, flavoring, and coloring until it achieves a fluffy texture. Despite the inference in the name, the recipe for salt water taffy does not include “seawater”, but does include both salt and water.
62…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT
Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, scratch, simoleons, clams, green and moola are all slang terms for money.
68…Sara of baking..LEE
In 1935, businessman Charles Lubin bought a chain of three bakeries in Chicago called Community Bake Shops, and soon expanded the operation into seven stores. Lubin introduced a cream cheesecake that he named after his daughter who was only 8-years-old at the time, Sara Lee Lubin. The cheesecake was a hit and he renamed the bakeries to Kitchen of Sara Lee. The business was bought out by Consolidated foods in 1956, but the brand name Sara Lee persists to this day, as does Ms. Sara Lee herself who now goes by the name Sara Lee Schupf.
70…Franc replacement..EURO
The French franc was made up of 100 centimes, before being replaced by the Euro.
71…Oral health org…ADA
American Dental Association (ADA)
73…French state..ETAT
The French word for “state” is “état”.
Down
1…Fuel efficiency no…MPG
Miles per gallon (mpg)
5…Pet adoption org…ASPCA
Unlike in most developed countries, there is no “umbrella” organization in the US with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.
6…Nerdy types..DWEEBS
Dweeb is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd, they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing: someone excessively studious and socially inept.
7…BMOC, for one..VIP
Big Man On Campus (BMOC)
8…Sixth sense, for short..ESP
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
9…MLB scoreboard letters..RHE
On baseball scoreboards we see the letters RHE, standing for Runs, Hits and Errors.
10…”In Treatment” star Gabriel __..BYRNE
Irish actor Gabriel Byrne is probably probably still best known for his starring role in the 1995 film “The Usual Suspects”, although he has an impressive resume of roles since the mid-nineties. One of his more noted television roles was playing therapist Dr. Paul Weston on the HBO series “In Treatment” from 2008 to 2010. Byrne was married to actress Ellen Barkin from 1988 until they divorced in 1999.
The HBO series “In Treatment” stars Gabriel Byrne as a psychologist who holds weekly sessions with his patients, and with his own therapist. The show is a remake of an Israeli TV series titled “BeTipul” (meaning “In Therapy”), and indeed some episodes use the same script as the original show, just translated into English.
11…Salt brand with an umbrella girl..MORTON
Morton Salt started doing business in 1848 in Chicago, and now is the largest producer of salt in North America. The product’s logo is the Morton Salt Girl, a young girl walking with an open umbrella in the rain, scattering salt behind her from a cylinder.
12…Fab Four member..BEATLE
The Beatles were described on the sleeve notes of their 1963 album “With the Beatles” as the “fabulous foursome”. The press picked up on the phrase and morphed it into “the Fab Four”.
13…Socks pattern..ARGYLE
The argyle pattern is based on the Campbell tartan. The Campbell clan is based in the Argyll region (note the spelling) in the west of Scotland, giving the Argyle pattern its name.
18…Metropolis served by JFK and LGA..NYC
The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), La Guardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).
22…Noah’s project..ARK
The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.
23…Circle ratios..PIS
The ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter is a mathematical constant, which we denote with the Greek letter pi (π). Approximate values for the pi that are often used in calculations are 22/7 and 3.1415926. If you count the letters in each word of the mnemonic “How I wish I could calculate pi easily”, the sequence gives you the first eight digits of the value of pi, i.e. 3.1415926.
24…Blue, in Baja..AZUL
Baja California is both the most northern and the most western of the Mexican states. The name translates from Spanish as “Lower California”.
26…Spanish groceries..BODEGAS
“Bodega” is the Spanish term for a winery, or these days for a grocery store.
27…Adam’s second son..ABEL
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.
30…Mar.-to-Nov. hrs…DST
On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea behind summer/daylight-savings is to move clocks forward an hour in spring (i.e. “spring forward”) and backwards in the fall (i.e. “fall back”) so that afternoons have more daylight.
34…UFO pilots, presumably..ETS
One might speculate that an unidentified flying object (UFO) is flown by an extraterrestrial (ET).
35…Belted Forum garment..TUNIC
The Roman forum was the public space in the middle of a city, taking it’s name from the Latin word “forum” meaning “marketplace, town square”. “The Roman Forum” is most famous example of such a space. The Forum is at the heart of the city of Rome, is surrounded by the ruins of several ancient government buildings, and has been referred to as the most celebrated meeting play in the world.
39…Siena sweetheart..CARA
In Italian, “cara” (dear) is a word spoken “con affetto” (with affection).
Siena is a beautiful city in the Tuscany region of Italy. In the center of Siena is the magnificent medieval square called Piazza del Campo, a paved sloping open area made up of nine triangular sections. The square has to be seen to be believed. Twice a year, the famous bareback horse-race called the Palio di Siena is held in the Piazza.
46…Coke competitor..RC COLA
Nehi Corporation was the nickname for the Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works that introduced the Nehi drink in 1924. Years later the company developed a new brand, Royal Crown Cola (also known as RC Cola). By 1955, RC Cola was the company’s flagship product, so the “Nehi Corporation” became the “Royal Crown Company”. In 1954, RC Cola became the first company to sell soft drinks in cans.
48…Queasy feeling..NAUSEA
“Nausea” is a sick feeling in the stomach. The term derives from the Greek “naus” meaning “ship”, and so was originally associated only with seasickness.
66…Org. for marksmen..NRA
National Rifle Association (NRA)
67…Tyke..TOT
“Tyke” has been used playfully to describe a young child since at least 1902, but for centuries before that a tyke was a cur or mongrel, or perhaps a lazy or lower-class man.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1…”Stay out of my affairs,” briefly..MYOB
5…Briefly, e.g…ADVERB
11…CFO’s degree..MBA
14…Window section..PANE
15…Like the sound of tall grass in the breeze..SWISHY
16…”__ the ramparts … “..O’ER
17…Pizza topping veggie..GREEN PEPPER
19…Dusting cloth..RAG
20…Slugger __ Harper of the Nats..BRYCE
21…Stylish, clotheswise..NATTY
23…Remit..PAY
25…Traditional filled fare of Europe and West Asia..CABBAGE ROLL
29…Preppy shirt brand..IZOD
31…Japanese noodle..SOBA
32…Replaceable joint..KNEE
33…Much-photographed evening event..SUNSET
36…Showroom model..DEMO
38…Salad staples..LETTUCE LEAVES
43…Unexpected obstacle..SNAG
44…Revealing, as a bikini..SKIMPY
46…Eye care brand..RENU
50…Savings vehicles for later yrs…IRAS
52…Copied..APED
53…Baked-in-their-shells dish..CLAMS CASINO
57…NFL scores..TDS
58…Car body style..COUPE
59…Saltwater candy..TAFFY
61…Covert __: secret missions..OPS
62…Down payment … and what 17-, 25-, 38- and 53-Across have in common (besides being food)..CASH UP FRONT
68…Sara of baking..LEE
69…Band on the road..TROUPE
70…Franc replacement..EURO
71…Oral health org…ADA
72…Emphasize..STRESS
73…French state..ETAT
Down
1…Fuel efficiency no…MPG
2…Pirate’s cry..YAR!
3…Singly..ONE BY ONE
4…Bar pint contents..BEER
5…Pet adoption org…ASPCA
6…Nerdy types..DWEEBS
7…BMOC, for one..VIP
8…Sixth sense, for short..ESP
9…MLB scoreboard letters..RHE
10…”In Treatment” star Gabriel __..BYRNE
11…Salt brand with an umbrella girl..MORTON
12…Fab Four member..BEATLE
13…Socks pattern..ARGYLE
18…Metropolis served by JFK and LGA..NYC
22…Noah’s project..ARK
23…Circle ratios..PIS
24…Blue, in Baja..AZUL
26…Spanish groceries..BODEGAS
27…Adam’s second son..ABEL
28…Fun and __..GAMES
30…Mar.-to-Nov. hrs…DST
34…UFO pilots, presumably..ETS
35…Belted Forum garment..TUNIC
37…Wine barrel wood..OAK
39…Siena sweetheart..CARA
40…Through, in itineraries..VIA
41…Remove everything from, as a fridge..EMPTY OUT
42…Zoomed..SPED
45…NFL gains..YDS
46…Coke competitor..RC COLA
47…Snuck out to get hitched..ELOPED
48…Queasy feeling..NAUSEA
49…Strike caller..UMP
51…Abs strengtheners..SIT-UPS
54…Religious factions..SECTS
55…Neck areas brushed by barbers..NAPES
56…Not working today..OFF
60…At no cost..FREE
63…Museum display..ART
64…Fem. campus group..SOR
65…Shade of color..HUE
66…Org. for marksmen..NRA
67…Tyke..TOT