Tag: Garage event crossword clue

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Constructed by: Taylor Johnson
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Opening Presents

Themed answers each OPEN with a PRESENT one might OPEN on Christmas morning:

• 38A Christmas morning activity, and what 17-, 25-, 47-, and 61-Across all have? : OPENING PRESENTS

• 17A Asset of a highly skilled individual : TRAINED EYE (opens with “TRAIN”)
• 25A Lizard with a misleading name : HORNY TOAD (opens with “HORN”)
• 47A “The Nutcracker” performer : BALLERINA (opens with “BALL”)
• 61A List of cheap eats : DOLLAR MENU (opens with “DOLL”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Schnitzel meat option : PORK

Schnitzel is an Austrian dish made from slices of meat that have been tenderized and thinned with a wooden mallet, and then coated in breadcrumbs and fried. The variant known as Wiener Schnitzel (i.e. Viennese schnitzel) is usually made from veal, although now that veal has fallen into disfavor due to concerns about animal rights, it is often made from pork.

15 Holy scroll of Judaism : TORAH

A Torah scroll (also “Sefer Torah”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.

16 Gulf nation bordering Yemen : OMAN

The Oman-Yemen border runs in NW-SE directions for just over 180 miles. One end of the border is the tripoint with Saudi Arabia, and the other end is at the Arabian Sea coast.

25 Lizard with a misleading name : HORNY TOAD (opens with “HORN”)

Horny toads (also called “horned toads”) aren’t toads at all. “Horny toad” is a familiar name for the desert horned lizard, a species of lizard native to the western US. It does look somewhat like a toad though, as it has a very flat and wide body.

29 Early investor’s opportunity, briefly : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is a significant event for a company as it marks the first time it becomes a publicly traded company. IPOs are often accompanied by a so-called “lock-up period.” This is a period of time, typically 90 to 180 days after the IPO, during which company insiders, such as executives and early investors, are not allowed to sell their shares on the open market. The purpose of the lock-up period is to prevent a flood of shares from hitting the market and potentially driving down the price of the stock.

31 Home of the University of Oregon : EUGENE

Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon (after Portland). The city is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. Skinner arrived in the area in 1846, after which the settlement he established was called Skinner’s Mudhole. The name was changed to Eugene City in 1852, which was shortened to Eugene in 1889.

The University of Oregon was founded in 1876 as Oregon State University. I hear that the campus is very attractive, being located in Eugene along the banks of the Willamette River.

44 Nat __: documentary channel : GEO

The National Geographic Channel (Nat Geo) was launched in 2001. Nat Geo has a sister channel known as National Geographic Wild (Nat Geo Wild) that focuses on programming about wildlife.

45 Sticky, as the weather : MUGGY

Our term “muggy” means “warm and humid”, and comes from the Old Norse word “mugga” that describes “drizzling mist”.

47 “The Nutcracker” performer : BALLERINA (opens with “BALL”)

Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” is one of the most popular ballets in the repertoire. It premiered in St. Petersburg in 1892, but its public appeal really only emerged in the late 1960s. It’s a “must-see ballet” during the Christmas holidays.

54 Opera soliloquies : ARIAS

A soliloquy is an act of talking to oneself, with “soliloquy” coming from the Latin “solus” meaning “alone” and “loqui” meaning “to speak”. We mostly hear the term in the context of theater, where it is a monologue from a character that gives voice to otherwise unspoken thoughts.

57 Tupperware topper : LID

Back in the 1930s, Earl Tupper was working at the DuPont Chemical Company, and from DuPont obtained inflexible pieces of polyethylene slag. Tupper purified the slag and shaped it into unbreakable containers. He added airtight lids with a “burping seal” that provided tight seals similar to that provided by the lids on paint cans. He called his new product Tupperware.

60 Mercedes-__ : BENZ

In the US, the Big Three automotive manufacturers are General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. The equivalent Big Three in Germany are Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and in Japan are Toyota, Nissan and Honda.

61 List of cheap eats : DOLLAR MENU (opens with “DOLL”)

The term “dollar menu”, also “value menu”, tends to be associated with fast-food chains. Value menus incorporate items deemed to be the least expensive at the restaurant.

67 Gaggle members : GEESE

A collection of geese is referred to as a “gaggle” when on the ground. When geese are in V-formation in flight, they are referred to collectively as a “skein”.

Down

2 Cartoon explorer with a talking backpack : DORA

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Dora’s constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. She also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

4 Traverse a black diamond slope, say : SKI

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!)

5 Thorny rose part : STEM

Believe it or not, roses don’t have any thorns as such. Thorns are derived from shoots, spines are derived from leaves, and prickles are derived from the epidermis. The rose’s defensive barbs are in fact prickles.

8 Venmo user, maybe : PAYER

Venmo is a smartphone payment app that is now owned by PayPal. The first version of the product was introduced in 2009 by two entrepreneurs who had met as freshman students at the University of Pennsylvania. They sold the company in 2012 for over $26 million, and then PayPal acquired it the following year for a whopping $800 million. I wonder if PayPal ever buys blogs …

10 Cool Ranch chip : DORITO

The product that was to become Doritos was a creation at the Casa de Fritos in Disneyland in the early sixties. A marketing executive from Frito-Lay noticed how well the snack was selling in the park, and made a deal to produce the chips under the name “Doritos”, starting in 1964. “Doritos” translates from Spanish as “little bits of gold”.

11 __ acid : AMINO

There are 20 different types of amino acids that make up proteins. However, only 11 of them can be synthesized by the human body, while the remaining nine essential amino acids must be obtained from food sources.

12 Japanese comic style : MANGA

Manga, Japanese graphic novels, can be grouped into five genres based on the target readership:

• Shonen: Manga targeted at tween and teen boys.
• Shojo: Manga targeted at tween and teen girls.
• Seinen: Manga targeted at adult men (18+).
• Josei: Manga targeted at adult women (18+).
• Kodomomuke: Manga targeted at young children.

18 Mars rover org. : NASA

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed its first rover, named Zhurong (“Rover” in English), five months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

26 Prime-time hour : NINE PM

In the world of television, prime time is that part of the day when networks and advertisers maximize revenues due to the high number of viewers. Prime time is often defined as 7-10 p.m. Mountain and Central Time, and 8-11 p.m. Pacific and Eastern Time.

27 Pet aisle brand : ALPO

Alpo is a brand of dog food introduced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo dog food in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

33 College application fig. : GPA

Grade point average (GPA)

47 “__ in Toyland”: Christmas classic : BABES

“Babes in Toyland” is an operetta by Victor Herbert that was first performed in 1903 in Chicago. The musical play “The Wizard of Oz” had appeared on Broadway the prior year and was a resounding hit, so the creators of “Babes in Toyland” wanted to cash in on that success by producing something in the same genre. While not as big a hit as “Oz”, the show did very well. It played for 192 performances, and is still produced today. The basic storyline makes use of various characters from the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, wound into a Christmas entertainment.

48 Venezuelan snack : AREPA

An arepa is a cornmeal cake or bread that is popular in Colombian and Venezuelan cuisines in particular. Each arepa has a flat, round shape and is often split to make a sandwich.

49 Summery material : LINEN

The textile known as linen is made from flax fibers. The name “linen” probably comes from “linum”, which is Latin for both “flax” and “textile made from flax”.

51 Nick of “Affliction” : NOLTE

Actor Nick Nolte got his big break in movies playing opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw in “The Deep”, a film released in 1976. Around the same time, he landed a leading role in the hit TV miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man”. Off the screen, Nolte has always had a “bad-boy” reputation. He is indeed a convicted felon, for selling counterfeit draft cards in the early 1960s. He had to pay a $75,000 fine, and was given a suspended prison sentence.

“Affliction” is a 1997 film based on a novel of the same name by Russell Banks. The movie is about a New Hampshire policeman who becomes obsessed with investigating a fatal hunting accident. “Affliction” has a great cast, including Nick Nolte, James Coburn, Sissy Spacek and Willem Dafoe. I must put it on my viewing list …

52 French city in many van Gogh paintings : ARLES

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and was where he painted many of his most famous works, including “Cafe Terrace at Night” and “Bedroom in Arles”.

58 “__ the Woods”: Sondheim musical : INTO

“Into the Woods” is a Stephen Sondheim musical that premiered in 1986. The storyline uses characters from several fairy tales, including “Little Red Riding Hood”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”, “Rapunzel” and “Cinderella”. The borrowed characters are held together with an underlying original tale about a baker and his wife who long to have a child, but cannot due to a curse placed on them by a witch.