Tag: Free-spirited crossword clue

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Constructed by: Kyle Dolan

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 10m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Sign of aging : PATINA

Patina is the oxide film that develops on brass and similar metals over time. For example, it’s patina that makes Lady Liberty the lovely green color that she is.

16A __ effect: phenomenon of attraction in fluid mechanics, familiarly : CHEERIOS

The Cheerios effect is the phenomenon where floating objects that don’t float completely on a liquid’s surface (like cereal in milk or bubbles in beer) tend to clump together or stick to the sides of the container. In a sense, the milk’s surface is like a slightly stretchy sheet, due to surface tension. Each Cheerio is heavy enough to create a small dip in that sheet, and when two Cheerios get close, they fall into each other’s dips, causing them to clump together. They stick to the side of the bowl for the same reason: the milk’s surface also dips as it comes into contact with the bowl.

19A French “his” : SES

“Ses” is the French word for “his”, “her” or “its” when referring to a group of items or individuals.

22A “Hansel and Gretel” figure : HAG

“Hansel and Gretel” is a Germanic fairy tale found in the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It tells of two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, the children of a woodcutter. The youngsters are abandoned in a forest at the behest of an evil stepmother. Clever Hansel hears of the plan and leaves a trail of pebbles so that he and his sister can find their way home, which they do. But the children are abandoned again and this time leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the crumbs are eaten by birds and so the children do indeed become lost. But eventually they do all live happily ever after …

23A Hertz, for one : UNIT

The unit of frequency measure is the hertz (Hz). It is the number of cycles per second of a periodic phenomenon. The unit is named for Heinrich Hertz, the German physicist who proved the existence of electromagnetic waves.

29A __ canto : BEL

“Bel canto” is a term used in Italian opera, the literal translation of which is “beautiful singing”. The term specifically describes a style of singing that emphasizes beauty of tone over dramatic power.

30A “Derry __”: sitcom set in Northern Ireland : GIRLS

“Derry Girls” is a very entertaining teen sitcom set in a Northern Irish girls’ Catholic secondary school in the mid-nineties. Supposedly, the first season of “Derry Girls” was the most-watched TV show in Northern Ireland ever. It’s very, very entertaining, although some North American viewers might benefit from the use of subtitles …

Derry is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland, after the capital city of Belfast. “Derry” is the anglicized version of the city’s name in Irish. The city’s legal name is “Londonderry”, a contentious name that was given when the city was granted a royal charter in the 17th century.

31A Home of “Whistler’s Mother” : MUSÉE D’ORSAY

The Musée d’Orsay is one of the premier museums in Paris, and holds the world’s largest collection of impressionist art. A truly beautiful building, the d’Orsay is a former Beaux-Arts railway station.

James Abbott McNeill Whistler was an American-born painter who spent most of his working life in Britain. His most famous work is the 1871 painting usually referred to as “Whistler’s Mother”. That actual title of the piece is “Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1”.

34A Shooting stars? : SAGITTARIUS

Sagittarius is the ninth sign of the zodiac, with “sagittarius” being the Latin for “archer”. The related constellation is usually represented by a centaur (half-bull, half-man) with a bow.

36A Prime minister between Theresa and Liz : BORIS

Boris Johnson is a larger-than-life Conservative politician in the UK, and former Mayor of London. He was the very visible frontman in the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union, the so-called Brexit campaign. As a result of the UK voting to exit the EU, Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, to be replaced by Theresa May. Theresa May then appointed Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. Almost inevitably, Boris Johnson then replaced May as Prime Minister. In more recent times, Johnson famously made light of the coronavirus pandemic and ignored calls for social distancing. He then fell ill with COVID-19, ended up in an intensive care unit, and ultimately revised his advice about social distancing. Oh, and the media sometimes refer to Johnson as “BoJo”.

Theresa May won a leadership election to become UK prime minister in 2016, following the resignation of David Cameron immediately after the nation decided to withdraw from the EU (“Brexit”). As such, May became only the second female prime minister in the UK, after Margaret Thatcher.

Liz Truss took over as Prime Minister of the UK from Boris Johnson in September 2022. She was the fifteenth and final British PM to serve under Queen Elizabeth II, who died just two days after appointing Truss to the office. Truss resigned on her fiftieth day in Downing Street, after a chaotic six-week spell leading the country. She was succeeded by fellow Conservative Rishi Sunak.

42A Port northeast of Djibouti : ADEN

Aden is a seaport in Yemen that is located on the Gulf of Aden by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden has a long history of British rule, from 1838 until a very messy withdrawal in 1967. A native of Aden is known as an Adeni. Some believe that Cain and Abel are buried in the city.

Djibouti is a country in the Horn of Africa that is located to the northwest of Somalia, with coasts on the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Once known as French Somaliland, the country gained independence from France in 1977. The newly independent nation adopted the same name as Djibouti, the capital city.

45A Elisabeth of “Cobra Kai” : SHUE

Elisabeth Shue has always been a favorite actress of mine. She has been in several popular films including “The Karate Kid”, “Cocktail”, two of the “Back to the Future” movies, “Leaving Las Vegas”, and my personal favorite “Adventures in Babysitting”. More recently, Shue had a recurring role on the TV crime drama “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”.

“Cobra Kai” is a TV show that premiered in 2018 as a sequel to “The Karate Kid” series of films, the first of which was released in 1984. Actor Ralph Macchio reprises his role from the movies, playing protagonist Daniel LaRusso. William Zabka also reprises his role from the big screen, playing Johnny Lawrence, LaRusso’s rival in karate competitions. The title of the show “Cobra Kai” is the name of the karate dojo in which Johnny Lawrence trained as a youth, and which he decides to reopen 34 years later.

46A Former Japanese coin : SEN

The sen was a monetary unit in Japan equal to 1/100th of a yen. Following World War II, Japan experienced a period of severe inflation that dramatically devalued the currency. The sen became so worthless that it was officially removed from circulation at the end of 1953.

49A “The Hurting Kind” poet Limón : ADA

“The Hurting Kind” is a collection of poems by Ada Limón’. The book is organized into four sections: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. The title poem appears in the final “Winter” section and explores what it means to be a person who feels things deeply.

50A Bamboozle : TRIP UP

It’s thought that the lovely word “bamboozle” came into English from the Scottish “bombaze” meaning “perplex”. We’ve been using “bamboozle” since the very early 1700s.

52A Features of many Best Picture winners : R-RATINGS

Films with R-ratings have dominated the Best Picture category of Academy Awards since the modern rating system was established. The first film with a restrictive rating to win the top prize was “Midnight Cowboy”, which famously won in 1970 with an X-rating (it was later re-rated to an R). Since 2005, nearly every Best Picture winner has been rated R.

Down

1D California surf culture apparel brand : PACSUN

The clothing brand PacSun was founded in 1980, as a local surf shop in the coastal city of Seal Beach in Southern California. “Pacific Sun” did well, and had an IPO in 1993. Then, things didn’t go quite so well, and the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016.

2D Goddess who is a judge in “The Eumenides” : ATHENA

The “Oresteia” is a trilogy of Greek plays by Aeschylus. The three titles are:

• “Agamemnon”
• “The Libation Bearers”
• “The Eumenides”

3D Construction such as the term “un-freaking-believable” : TMESIS

“Tmesis” is the technical name for the device of splitting a word and shoving another word inside, usually for emphasis. Examples would be “abso-freaking-lutely” or “un-freaking-believable”. The name itself is a Greek word meaning “a cutting”.

7D Cheese substitute? : SCRIP

Scrip isn’t legal tender, but operates just like currency in specific applications. It is in effect a form of credit. Originally the word “scrip” was used for a certificate giving one the right to receive something, often shares of a stock. “Scrip” is probably short for (sub)script(ion) receipt.

8D Bay Area columnist who coined the word “beatnik” : CAEN

Herb Caen was a columnist for the “San Francisco Chronicle” for nearly 60 years. He coined a celebrated word In 1958, following the launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik. He blended the satellite’s name with the “Beat Generation” to give “beatnik”. He intended the term to be slightly derogatory, and indeed many members of the Beat Generation disliked it, feeling it stereotyped their movement as simplistic and foreign-influenced.

10D Shelters named for a senator : ROTH IRAS

Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.

12D Equivocates : HEDGES

The verb “to equivocate” comes from the Latin “aequus” meaning “equal” and “vocare” meaning “to call”. So, to equivocate is “to call equally”, and is used in the sense of giving equal emphasis to two sides of an argument, to be non-committal, to hedge, to equivocate. So, something described as “unequivocal” is the opposite, is unambiguous and clear.

17D Many a “Fast & Furious” character : STREET RACER

“The Fast and the Furious” is a series of action movies about street racing and car heists. The original 2001 film spawned several sequels, making it Universal Pictures’ most successful franchise of all time.

24D Amazon primate : TAMARIN

Tamarins are small monkeys found in Central America. One of the most obvious features of the tamarin is a moustache-like clump of facial hairs.

26D Malapropisms, e.g. : MISUSES

A malapropism is the mistaken use of a word in place of a similar-sounding one, often with a humorous result. The term “malapropism” comes from Mrs. Malaprop, a character in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s 1775 comedy “The Rivals”. The character’s name was a deliberate invention by Sheridan, derived from the French phrase “mal à propos” meaning “inappropriate”. Mrs. Malaprop tends to use delightfully inappropriate words.

28D Winter racers : LUGES

“Luge” is a French word meaning “sled”. It describes a small sled used by one or two people, on which one lies face up and feet first. The luge can be compared to the skeleton, a sled for only one person and on which the rider lies face down and goes down the hill head-first. Yikes!

30D Spot for a brat : GRILL

A bratwurst (sometimes simply “brat”, in the US) is a German sausage. The name comes from “brät-” meaning “finely chopped meat”, and “Wurst” meaning “sausage”.

32D Calling card? : SIM

Most cell phones used to have SIM cards. SIM cards hold the personal information of the subscriber, with the acronym being short for “Subscriber Identity Module”. Phone companies have migrated towards the use of eSIMs (embedded SIMs), digital versions of SIM cards that don’t require a physical chip.

33D “The Masked Singer” judge Rita : ORA

Rita Ora is a British singer who was born Rita Sahatçiu in Pristina, Yugoslavia to Albanian parents. The family name “Sahatçiu” comes from a Turkish word meaning “watchmaker”. Rita’s parents changed their name to make it easier to pronounce. So, the family name morphed from “watchmaker” to “time”, which is “ora” in Albanian.

“The Masked Singer” is a reality TV show in which masked celebrities compete anonymously in a singing competition. Contestants reveal their identities when they are voted off the show by the audience and a panel of judges. The American version of the show is part of an international “Masked Singer” franchise that originated in South Korea.

35D Biotech firm known for vaccines : MODERNA

Moderna is a biotech company founded in 2010, primarily to develop mRNA vaccines. The name “Moderna” is a portmanteau, a blend of the words “modified” and “RNA”. Moderna’s annual revenue was less than a billion dollars in 2019 and 2020, but almost 20 billion dollars in 2021 and 2022. I wonder what was going on around that time …?

41D Like a brewery : YEASTY

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the kingdom Fungi. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol is driven off by heat.

43D Lego brand for little hands : DUPLO

Duplo is a range of Lego bricks and accessories designed for children under the age of five. The bricks are twice the dimensions of regular Lego bricks, hence the name “Duplo”. The size renders them unlikely to be swallowed by a child, and more easily handled by smaller hands.

47D Nice words of agreement : OUIS

The French city of Nice is on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of the country. Although Nice is only the fifth most populous city in France, it is home to the busiest airport outside of Paris. That’s because of all the tourists flocking to the French Riviera. Something described as “à la niçoise” is “of Nice”.

51D Some medical providers, for short : PAS

Physician assistant (PA)

53D Shiba __ : INU

The Shiba Inu is a Japanese breed of dog that was developed for hunting. Although the exact etymology of “Shibu” is unclear, the term translates as “brushwood”. “Inu” is Japanese for “dog”.