Tag: Faint reminder crossword clue

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Constructed by: Pam Amick Klawitter
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Silent Partners

Themed answers are common phrases, but with a SILENT letter inserted to change the meaning:

• 23A “The cherry, apple, and strawberry candles are all sold out!”? : NOT ONE RED SCENT (“not one red cent” + a silent S)
• 53A Unmounted jouster? : KNIGHT CRAWLER (“nightcrawler” + a silent K)
• 72A Outdo a rolled entry in a sandwich battle? : BEAT THE WRAP (“beat the rap” + a silent W”
• 88A Where guys hang out in a big box store? : THE AISLE OF MAN (“The Isle of Man” + a silent A)
• 121A Urgent addition to the end of a song? : EMERGENCY CHORD (“emergency cord” + a silent H)
• 15D Podcast series on how to build a door frame? : JAMB SESSIONS (“jam sessions” + a silent B)
• 65D Macrame enthusiast’s appraisal of a painting class? : I’D RATHER NOT (“I’d rather not” + a silent K)

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

Bill’s time: 14m 44s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 REM opener : RAPID

“REM” is an acronym standing for “rapid eye movement”. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

6 Genesis mountain : ARARAT

Mount Ararat is in Turkey. It is a snow-capped, dormant volcano with two peaks. The higher of the two, Greater Ararat, is the tallest peak in the country. Ararat takes its name from a legendary Armenian hero called Ara the Beautiful (or “Ara the Handsome”). According to the Book of Genesis, Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat as the Great Flood subsided.

12 Spanish table wines : RIOJAS

Rioja wines come from the province of La Rioja in Northern Spain. In my days living back in Europe, Rioja wines were noted for their heavy oaky flavors and it wasn’t uncommon to order a “rough Rioja” when out for dinner of an evening.

18 Goldfish or oyster : ANIMAL

Carp are freshwater fish that are used as food around the world, although they aren’t very popular in North American kitchens. The ornamental fish that we know as goldfish and koi are all types of carp.

A group of oysters is commonly referred to as a “bed”, and oysters can be farmed in man-made beds. The largest body of water producing oysters in the US today is Chesapeake Bay, although the number of beds continues to dwindle due to pollution and overfishing. Back in the 1800s, most of the world’s oysters came from New York Harbor.

20 “Bubble” drink : BOBA TEA

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

22 Gasoline number : OCTANE

The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. This is a measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

23 “The cherry, apple, and strawberry candles are all sold out!”? : NOT ONE RED SCENT (“not one red cent” + a silent S)

Something that is not worth a red cent has very little value. The “red” reference is to the color of a copper penny.

25 Musical-comedy legend Ethel : MERMAN

Ethel Merman was an actress and singer, one noted for having a very powerful voice. Merman was married and divorced four times. The last marriage was to actor Ernest Borgnine in 1964, although it lasted only 32 days.

27 Ryukyu Islands island : OKINAWA

The people of Okinawa, and the rest of the Ryukyu Island chain, used to be known for living longer than other Japanese, and indeed most peoples in the world. Sadly, with the growing influence of a Western diet, that longevity has been waning in recent years. The original “Okinawa diet” is light on meat and fish, and heavy on vegetables, soy foods and sweet potatoes.

36 Nail salon brand : ESSIE

Essie Cosmetics is a company that was founded by Essie Weingarten, and which is now owned by L’Oreal. Apparently, Queen Elizabeth II would only wear Essie’s Ballet Slippers color nail polish. Well, that’s what Wikipedia claims …

37 “Rigoletto” setting : MANTUA

Mantua is a town in Lombardy, Italy that is closely associated with literature and music. It was a setting for Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, where Romeo was exiled. The city is also linked to the world of opera as the setting for Verdi’s tragic masterpiece “Rigoletto”. Additionally, it is the nearest town to the birthplace of the Roman poet Virgil.

“Rigoletto” is one of Giuseppe Verdi’s most famous and oft-performed operas. The storyline comes from Victor Hugo’s play “Le roi s’amuse” (usually translated as “The King’s Fool”). Rigoletto is the king’s fool, the jester.

46 Utter fiasco : SNAFU

“SNAFU” is an acronym standing for “situation normal: all fouled up” (well, that’s the polite version!). As one might perhaps imagine, the term developed in the US Army, during WWII.

Back in the mid-1800s, “fiasco” was theater slang meaning “failure in performance”. The meaning morphed soon after into any kind of failure or flop. The term evolved from the Italian “far fiasco”, a phrase that had the same meaning in Italian theater, but translated literally as “make a bottle”. It turns out that “fiasco” and “flask” both derive from the Latin “flasco” meaning “bottle”.

49 Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga : APPS

Subway Surfers is a popular endless runner game that is usually played on smartphones. Players take on the role of graffiti artists who run through subway tracks to escape the pursuing inspector and his dog.

“Candy Crush Saga” is an app version of the browser video game “Candy Crush”. Apparently, it is very, very popular.

51 Military drama franchise : NCIS

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The original big star in “NCIS” was actor Mark Harmon, playing Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

53 Unmounted jouster? : KNIGHT CRAWLER (“nightcrawler” + a silent K)

“Jousting” and “tilting” are synonyms describing the medieval competition in which two horsemen yielding blunted lances attempt to unseat each other. Such an event has been referred to as “jousting” since the 1300s. At some point, the path of the two charging horsemen was separated by a cloth barrier known as a tilt (“tilt” meant “cloth covering”). The term “tilting” was applied to the sport in the 1500s, although by then the cloth barrier had been upgraded to a wooden fence.

The most common species of earthworm found worldwide is Lumbricus terrestris, often referred to in Europe as the common earthworm and in North America as the nightcrawler.

58 Jewish school : YESHIVA

In the Jewish tradition, a yeshiva is an educational institution focusing on the study of sacred texts.

66 Menzel with a “Wicked” cameo : IDINA

Actress and singer Idina Menzel came to public attention when she was a member of the original Broadway cast of “Rent”. She is known on the small screen for playing Shelby Corcoran on the musical TV show “Glee”. On the big screen, her most noted performance was as the voice actor behind Queen Elsa in the Disney hit “Frozen”. It is Menzel who sings the Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” in “Frozen”.

“Wicked” (2024) is the first installment of a two-part film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical of the same name. It stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda, and shows the events that lead them to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. I skipped this one, because I am scared of flying monkeys …

68 Maker of Giant Rubber Bands and Dehydrated Boulders : ACME

The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it appears mostly in “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote is always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always leads to his downfall.

72 Outdo a rolled entry in a sandwich battle? : BEAT THE WRAP (“beat the rap” + a silent W”

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

85 Postal creed start : NEITHER …

There is no official creed or motto for the US Postal Service (USPS). However, there is the oft-quoted inscription that is posted (pun!) over the entrance to the James Farley Post Office in New York City:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

88 Where guys hang out in a big box store? : THE AISLE OF MAN (“The Isle of Man” + a silent A)

The Isle of Man is a large island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. I used to spend a lot of time there in my youth, and find it a very interesting place indeed. The Isle of Man is classed as a British Crown Dependency and isn’t part of the United Kingdom at all. It is self-governing and has its own parliament called the Tynwald. The Tynwald was created in AD 979 and is arguably the oldest continuously-running parliament in the world. The inhabitants of the island speak English, although they do have their own language called Manx, which is very similar to Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic. And then there are those Manx cats, the ones without any tails. I’ve seen lots of them, and can attest that they are indeed found all over the island.

93 Dance performed in concentric circles : HORA

The hora is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. It was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional, Israeli folk songs. The hora (also “horah”) is a regular sight at Jewish weddings. Sometimes the honoree at an event is raised on a chair during the dance.

94 Guitarist Guthrie : ARLO

Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for singing protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.

96 Good Grips maker : OXO

The OXO line of kitchen utensils and housewares is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average household tools. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.

97 Omar Sharif title role : CHE

“Che!” is a 1969 biopic about the life of Che Guevara. It stars Omar Sharif in the title role, and Jack Palance as Fidel Castro. I haven’t seen the film, and apparently it wasn’t well received. Well, an Egyptian (Sharif) playing an Argentine Marxist, and a Ukrainian American (Palance) playing a Cuban revolutionary? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen …

Omar Sharif was a great Hollywood actor from Egypt, someone who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me, he was my bridge hero (referring to the card game). In his heyday, Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

101 “The Muppets” eagle : SAM

The most overtly patriotic Muppet, by far, is Sam Eagle. In “The Muppet Christmas Carol”, he has a line spoken to Ebeneezer Scrooge explaining why the young Scrooge will enjoy business: “It is the American Way”. San is corrected by Gonzo, who points out that “It is the British Way”, given that the movie is set in England.

107 “The Mammoth Hunters” novelist : AUEL

“The Mammoth Hunters” is the third in the series of “Earth’s Children” historical fiction novels by Jean M. Auel.

113 Ancient Egyptian cross : ANKH

The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character for “eternal life”. The ankh wasn’t just used in inscriptions but was often fashioned into amulets and as surrounds for mirrors (perhaps symbolizing a view into another world). The ankh is also known as “the key of the Nile” and “crux ansata” (Latin for “cross with a handle”).

114 Faint reminder : VESTIGE

We use the word “vestige” for a trace, mark or sign. The term comes from the Latin “vestigium” that also means “trace” as well as “footprint”.

116 Some hand-me-downs : GENES

A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

119 One of TV’s “Friends” : MONICA

Courteney Cox played Monica Geller on the incredibly successful sitcom “Friends”. Before “Friends” she played the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character on “Family Ties” for a couple of years in the late eighties. Her role in “Friends” was her biggest success, no question, when she and her fellow female co-stars became the highest paid TV actresses ever, earning a million dollars per episode.

126 Target for Target : PROFIT

The Target Corporation was originally founded in 1902 as a dry goods store called “Goodfellow’s”, by George Dayton in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It wasn’t until 1962 that the first Target store opened, which was designed to be a discount store with a modern, upscale feel.

131 Many prom coifs : UPDOS

A coif is a hairdo. The term “coif” comes from an old French term “coife” describing a skull-cap that was worn under a helmet back in the late 13th century.

Down

3 Hardest part of a date? : PIT

Date palms can be either male or female. Only the female tree bears fruit (called “dates”).

5 “Love & Mercy” actor Paul : DANO

Paul Dano is an actor and musician from New York City. I best know him for playing Brian Wilson in “Love & Mercy”, a fascinating film about the Beach Boys.

7 Diviner’s device : ROD

Dowsing uses tools to find hidden things, usually underground. “Divining” is a broader term for seeking knowledge through supernatural means, which includes dowsing, but also things like reading tea leaves or tarot cards.

12 Fontana di Trevi locale : ROMA

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The tradition is that if one throws a coin in the fountain then one is guaranteed a return visit to the city. Tourists throw in an amazing 3,000 euros (over $4,000) every day. The money is collected and is used to stock a supermarket for the needy of the city.

15 Podcast series on how to build a door frame? : JAMB SESSIONS (“jam sessions” + a silent B)

A door jamb or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

The use of “jam”, meaning an improvised passage performed by a whole jazz band, dates back to the late twenties. This gave rise to “jam session”, a term used a few years later. The use of “jam” in this context probably stems from the meaning of “jam” as something sweet, something excellent.

16 Pain reliever since 1916 : ANACIN

Anacin is a brand of pain reliever that comprises aspirin and caffeine as active ingredients.

21 Retro gaming consoles : ATARIS

Kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, and it wasn’t a Nintendo nor was it a PlayStation. The Atari 2600 game system introduced the idea of separating out computing hardware (the console) from the game code (a cartridge). The same concept persists to this day, although cartridges have been displaced by discs and downloads.

24 Cluny the Scourge in “Redwall,” e.g. : RAT

“Redwall” is a 1986 children’s fantasy novel by Brian Jacques. The first in a series of “Redwall” novels, it features an anthropomorphic mouse named Matthias living as a novice monk in Redwall Abbey. The abbey falls under attack by the forces of an evil, one-eyed rate named Cluny the Scourge. The original novel and several other books in the series were adapted into an animated TV show called “Redwall”.

30 Totally wild : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

31 Crunch on a cereal box : CAP’N

The first Cap’n Crunch commercials aired in 1963, at the time the product line was launched. The Cap’n’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, would you believe? Crunch’s voice was provided for many years by Daws Butler, the same voice actor who gave us Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound. Cap’n Crunch is commander of the S.S. Guppy.

34 Caraway-flavored spirit : AQUAVIT

Aquavit (also “Akvavit”) is a distilled spirit from Nordic countries that is flavored with herbs and spices. While the base alcohol can come from grain or potato, the predominant flavor must come from caraway or dill seed.

41 McCloskey’s blueberry picker : SAL

“Blueberries for Sal” is a children’s storybook by Robert McCloskey that was published in 1948. It won the Caldecott Medal in 1949, recognizing “Blueberries for Sal” as the most distinguished picture for children released in the preceding year.

52 Reba McEntire’s “All the Women __” : I AM

“All the Women I Am” is a 2010 album released by Reba McEntire. The album’s title is a reference to the roles McEntire plays in her life. When asked to rank those roles, the singer shared, “Mother first, wife second, and the rest just follow.”

63 Little brown bird : WREN

The wren is a small songbird belonging to the family troglodytidae and the genus troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests.

65 Macrame enthusiast’s appraisal of a painting class? : I’D RATHER NOT (“I’d rather not” + a silent K)

Macramé is a way to make cloth that uses a knotting technique rather than weaving or knitting. Macramé was popularized at sea, where sailors would decorate the likes of knife handles, bottles and even parts of the ship.

72 Growing art form? : BONSAI

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”.

73 Volcano near the Ionian Sea : ETNA

The Ionian Sea is that part of the Mediterranean lying between Greece and the southern part of Italy (under the sole of the “boot”). It is one of the most seismically active regions on the planet.

77 “Curious” monkey : GEORGE

Curious George is a character in a series of children’s books written by husband and wife Hans Augusto and Margret Rey. The couple wrote the original stories in Paris, taking the manuscripts with them as they fled from the city ahead of the Nazi invasion in 1940.

79 Actress Téa : LEONI

Téa Leoni is an American actress. One of Leoni’s early parts was in the great film “A League of Their Own” (a minor role: Racine at first base). She also played the fiancée of Sam Malone from “Cheers” on the spin-off sitcom “Frasier”. A leading role on the big screen was opposite Adam Sandler in “Spanglish”. My favorite of her more prominent movie roles was as Jane in “Fun with Dick and Jane”. Leoni started playing the title role in the drama series “Madam Secretary” in 2014, and that’s a show I quite enjoy …

84 Penguins’ org. : NHL

The Penguins are a professional hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They have been around since 1967, and were one of the first expansion teams when the NHL grew from six to twelve teams. The expansion team were to play in Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena, a domed structure known locally as the Igloo. It was the “Igloo” name that inspired a fan to suggest the “Penguins” moniker, which won a contest to choose the name of the new franchise.

92 Romance writer Roberts : NORA

Nora Roberts is a very successful author who has written over 165 romance novels. Roberts is published under a number of pen names, i.e. J.D. Robb, Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

98 Novelist de Balzac : HONORE

Honoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright from the 19th century. Balzac wrote a huge collection of related novels called “La Comédie humaine” (The Human Comedy). The work includes 91 stories, novels and essays, written from 1815 to 1848. Balzac also left 46 unfinished works as part of the collection.

100 Space traveler Jemison : MAE

Mae Jemison was a crew member on the Space Shuttle Endeavour on a 1992 mission, and as such became the first African-American woman to travel in space. She is also a big fan of “Star Trek” and appeared on an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. That made Jemison the first real astronaut to appear on any of the “Star Trek” shows.

106 Work period : SHIFT

In a three-shift working system, the shifts are known by various names:

1. First shift, day shift
2. Second shift, swing shift
3. Third shift, night shift, graveyard shift

110 Edith and Margo’s sister in “Despicable Me” : AGNES

“Despicable Me” is a 2010 animated comedy film. The main voice actor in the movie is the very funny Steve Carell. “Despicable Me” is a Universal Pictures production, although all of the animation was done in France. The 2010 film was followed by a sequel “Despicable Me 2” released in 2013, with a prequel/spin-off film called “Minions” released in 2015.

115 Film set assistant : GRIP

On a film set, grips are lighting and rigging technicians who set up the infrastructure that supports lights, cameras etc. The key grip is the leader of the whole team. The first grips were technicians that worked in circuses in its early days. The name “grip” possibly comes from the bags called grips, in which the technicians carried their tools.

117 WSJ competitor : NYT

“The New York Times” (NYT) has been published since 1851, and is sometimes referred to as “the Gray Lady”. These days a viable alternative to buying the paper is to read the news online. NYTimes.com is the most popular online newspaper website in the country.

“The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ) is a daily newspaper with a business bent that is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company. The WSJ has a larger US circulation than any other newspaper, with “USA Today” coming in a close second place.

120 Part of a big union merger : CIO

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

124 __ Speedwagon : REO

REO Speedwagon is an American rock band that formed in 1967, and is still going strong. The band’s biggest hits are “Keep On Loving You” (1980) and “Can’t Fight This Feeling” (1985). The founding members chose the name for the REO Speed Wagon flatbed truck. Note that the band’s name is one word “Speedwagon”, whereas the vehicle’s name uses two words “Speed Wagon”.