Tag: Cardinal’s wing? crossword clue

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Constructed by: Katie Hale & Tennessee Grimes
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: An Acquired Taste

Themed answers fit the corresponding clues, but with a TASTE ACQUIRED at the front:

• 37A Something not immediately appreciated, or what the answers to the starred clues have? : AN ACQUIRED TASTE

• 16A *Center : SWEETHEART
• 23A *Hound : SALTY DOG
• 49A *Memo : SOUR NOTE
• 61A *Tablet : BITTER PILL

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

Bill’s time: 7m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Ethan Frome” writer Wharton : EDITH

“Ethan Frome” is a novel by New York and Massachusetts author Edith Wharton, first published in 1911. Wharton started “Ethan Frome” as a composition in French that she wrote while studying the language in Paris. The novel was adapted into a 1993 film of the same name starring Liam Neeson in the title role, opposite Patricia Arquette.

6 Zenith : ACME

The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, that pointing immediately above, is called the zenith. We use the terms “nadir” and “zenith” figuratively to mean the low and high points in a person’s fortunes.

10 Bygone airline with an iconic terminal at JFK : TWA

The TWA Hotel that opened in 2019 uses the main part of the TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport that serves New York City. The magnificent TWA Flight Center was designed by Eero Saarinen, opened in 1962, and closed in 2001. The building was repurposed as a hotel and opened for business in 2017. As of 2022, it is the only hotel operating on the grounds of JFK.

13 Roughstock event : RODEO

The rodeo events in which cowboys and cowgirls ride bucking horses and bulls are referred to collectively as roughstock.

14 __ dunk : SLAM

In basketball, a player makes a slam dunk by jumping up and powering the ball downward into the basket with his or her hands over the rim. The term “slam dunk” was coined by Chick Hearn, an announcer for the L.A. Lakers. The NBA even holds an annual Slam Dunk Contest.

15 Pretense : SHAM

A sham is something that is imitation, fake. In the world of bed linens, a sham is also an imitation or fake, in the sense that it is a decorative cover designed to cover up a regular pillow used for sleeping.

18 Pacific Islands root : TARO

Taro is a root vegetable that is grown for its edible underground plant stems (corms). The English name “taro” is borrowed from the Maori language of New Zealand. The same plant is known as “gabi” in the Philippines, “arbi” in much of India, and “jimbi” in parts of Africa where Swahili is spoken.

20 Clinking occasion : TOAST

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

22 Cattle chew : CUD

Animals that chew the cud are called ruminants. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely, exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work.

23 *Hound : SALTY DOG

A salty dog cocktail contains vodka (or gin) and grapefruit juice served in a glass with a salted rim.

25 Wedding budget saver, maybe : CASH BAR

We started using the word “budget” in a financial sense in the mid-1700s. The term comes from the Latin “bulga” meaning “leather bag”. The idea was that a minister of the treasury would keep fiscal plans (budgets) in a wallet or leather bag.

31 “A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore” coiner : BERRA

Yogi Berra is regarded by many as the greatest catcher ever to play in Major League Baseball, and has to be America’s most celebrated “author” of malapropisms. Here are some great “Yogi-isms”:

• It ain’t over till it’s over.
• 90% of the game is half mental.
• Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
• When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
• It’s déjà vu all over again.
• Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.
• A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

34 Garden-variety fish? : EEL

Garden eels are a family of eel species that are found in warm ocean water habitats. They burrow in the sandy ocean floor, with their heads poking upwards. Garden eels tend to group together, with their heads poking up collectively resembling a garden of plants, hence the name.

43 Charles III, e.g. : KING

Charles, Prince of Wales succeeded his mother Elizabeth II to the British throne in 2022 as King Charles III. He was 73 years old at the time of his mother’s passing, making him the oldest person in history to accede to the throne. Largely because Elizabeth II has ruled for over 70 years, Charles had also been the longest-serving heir apparent in British history.

46 Cantina sizzlers : FAJITAS

“Fajita” is a Tex-Mex term that refers to grilled meat served on a tortilla. The original Mexican-Spanish term “fajita” is used to describe a small strip of chicken or beef. Nowadays, fajitas are often served on a sizzling platter with the tortillas and condiments on the side.

54 Exponent symbol : CARET

The character known as a caret (^) was originally a proofreading mark, one used to indicate where a punctuation mark was to be inserted. “Caret” is Latin for “it lacks”.

The exponent of a number is the power to which it is raised, perhaps “2” for a square or “3” for a cube. In typography, an exponent can be represented by a caret, e.g. πr² can be written as πr^2.

57 Airport served by BART : SFO

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a commuter rail system serving the San Francisco Bay Area.

60 __ Major : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of the resemblance of its main stars to a ladle or dipper. Those stars also resemble a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland the “Plough”.

68 Copenhagen citizens : DANES

Copenhagen is the largest city and the capital of Denmark. I haven’t had the privilege of visiting Copenhagen, but I hear it is a wonderful metropolis with a marvelous quality of life. The city is also very environmentally friendly, with over a third of its population commuting to work by bicycle.

Down

1 Gaelic tongue : ERSE

There are three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

2 Word with payment or pillow : DOWN …

Down feathers are the very fine feathers found under the tougher exterior feathers of a bird. There is fossil evidence that some non-avian dinosaurs had down-like feathers.

6 On the briny : ASEA

The briny is the sea, with “brine” meaning “salty water”. The term “briny” was originally used for “tears”.

8 One of the von Trapp girls : MARTA

In the stage musical “The Sound of Music”, Captain Georg von Trapp has seven children:

1. Liesl von Trapp, age 16
2. Friedrich von Trapp, age 14
3. Louisa von Trapp, age 13
4. Kurt von Trapp, age 11
5. Brigitta von Trapp, age 10
6. Marta von Trapp, age 7
7. Gretl von Trapp, age 5

9 Triage pro : EMT

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.

11 Nintendo antagonist in purple overalls : WARIO

In the “Mario” franchise of video games, Wario is the archrival to Mario, and Waluigi is Luigi’s archrival. Makes sense …

17 “Today” co-host Kotb : HODA

Hoda Kotb is an Egyptian-American television journalist who is perhaps best known as a co-host of the NBC morning show “Today”. She is also the author of the bestselling autobiography “Hoda: How I Survived War Zones, Bad Hair, Cancer, and Kathie Lee”.

21 Guitar that Bob Dylan went electric with, familiarly : STRAT

The Stratocaster (often “Strat”) is an electric guitar that has been made by Fender since 1954. The company that made Fender electric guitars was founded in Fullerton, California in 1946 by Leo Fender.

25 James of “The Godfather” : CAAN

James Caan was an actor from the Bronx, New York City. He was noted for his appearances in some very big movies such as “The Godfather”, “Misery”, “A Bridge Too Far”, “Rollerball” and more recently “Elf”. Caan was quite the sportsman. He played golf with an 8 handicap, and was a 6-Dan Black Belt Master of Gosoku Karate.

Mario Puzo created the Corleone Mafia family in his 1969 novel “The Godfather”. The head of the family is Vito Corleone (whose birth name was Vito Andolini), a native of Corleone in Sicily. He was given the name Corleone by immigration officers at Ellis Island. Don Corleone was played so very memorably, with a distinctive rasping voice, by Marlon Brando in the 1972 movie adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola.

26 Montessori year? : ANNO

The Montessori approach to education was developed by the Italian educator Maria Montessori in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Montessori system arrived in the US in 1911, but most classes were shut down by 1914 due to unfavorable criticism from the established education system. There was a revival in interest in the US starting in 1960 and now there are thousands of schools using the Montessori approach all over the country.

33 49-Down spot : REEF
[49D Underwater gear : SCUBA]

A reef is a ridge of stable material lying beneath the surface of a body of water. It can be made of sand or rock, and also of coral. The largest coral reef on the planet is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, which stretches over 1,400 miles.

35 Volcano with 2,700 years of documented eruptions : ETNA

Mount Etna on the island of Sicily is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, and indeed the largest of all active volcanoes in Europe. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts. It is sometimes referred to as “Mongibello” in Italian, and as “Mungibeddu” (sometimes “Muncibeddu”) in Sicilian. The English name “Etna” comes from the Greek “aitho” meaning “I eat”.

39 Golden Rule word : UNTO

The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

A derivative phrase often heard today is “Love thy neighbor (as thyself)”.

49 Underwater gear : SCUBA

The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

50 Obeyed the coxswain : OARED

The coxswain of a boat is one in charge of steering and navigation. The word “coxswain” is shortened to “cox”, particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

51 Le Tigre and HAIM : TRIOS

Le Tigre is an all-female rock trio that formed in New York City in 1998.

Haim is a Los Angeles band consisting of three Haim sisters: Este, Danielle and Alana.

59 Former GM brand : OLDS

Oldsmobile was an automobile brand founded by Ransom E. Olds (REO) in 1897. The brand was finally phased out by General Motors in 2004.

61 “Sayonara!” : BYE!

“Sayonara” means “farewell” in Japanese.

62 Kissing in the park, e.g. : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)