Tag: “Good to go!” crossword clue

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Constructed by: Wendy L. Brandes

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Take a Few Days Off

Themed answers must have a DAY TAKEN OFF to make sense:

• 62A “You need some time away from work,” and how to make the starred clues match their answers : TAKE A FEW DAYS OFF

• 17A *Bucket list entries? : LIFELONG ENDS (FRIENDS-FRI)
• 27A *Result of being left off a guest list? : SOCIAL IRE (SATIRE-SAT)
• 48A *Big victory for the Mets or the Yankees, e.g.? : NY DELIGHT (SUNNY-SUN)

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

Bill’s time: 6m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7A Happy dances : JIGS

The jig is a dance most associated with Ireland and Scotland. In traditional Irish dancing, the jig is second in popularity only to the reel. The most famous Irish jig is probably “The Irish Washerwoman”. I may not dance a jig, but I sure do know the tune of “The Irish Washerwoman” …

16A Actress de Armas : ANA

Ana de Armas is an actress from Cuba. Having attended the National Theater School of Cuba, she moved to Spain at the age of 18. There, she made a name for herself in a Spanish TV series called “El Internado”. De Armas moved to Los Angeles in 2014, after which her performance opposite Ryan Gosling in 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” earned her critical acclaim.

17A *Bucket list entries? : LIFELONG ENDS (-FRI)

A bucket list is a list of things one wants to achieve before dying, before “kicking the bucket”. The expression hasn’t been used in this context for very long, only a decade or so, but was popularized by the 2007 film “The Bucket List” starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

33A City choker : SMOG

The word “smog” is a portmanteau coined in 1905 by Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux to describe a mixture of smoke and fog, initially referring to the thick, polluted air in London. The infamous “Great Smog of London” in December 1952 caused thousands of deaths and led to significant environmental legislation.

45A B+, e.g. : ION

Boron is the chemical element with the atomic number of 5 and symbol B. It lies over to the right in Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Uncombined, elemental boron is not found naturally on Earth. The boron that is mined is found in oxide form, and not as uncombined boron.

46A “High School Musical” actor Zac : EFRON

Zac Efron is an actor from San Luis Obispo, California. Apparently, Efron is a heartthrob to “tweenyboppers”. His big break came with the hit Disney movie “High School Musical”.

“High School Musical” is a 2006 Disney film made for television that spawned two sequels released to movie theaters worldwide. The soundtrack to “High School Musical” ended up being the best-selling album for 2006. Apparently, the storyline is based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

52A Not commissioned : ON SPEC

Something that is created on spec is done so without having a specific buyer or consumer in mind. Many crosswords are constructed on spec, and then submitted to the likes of “The New York Times” or the “Los Angeles Times” in the hope of publication.

54A Environmentalist Brockovich : ERIN

Erin Brockovich is an environmental activist who is famous for the role she played in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating drinking water. Her story was told in a 2000 film titled “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts in the title role. Brockovich herself actually appeared in the film, as she was given a cameo as a waitress in a restaurant scene.

58A British tennis player Raducanu : EMMA

Canadian-born, British tennis player Emma Raducanu won the singles title at the US Open, making her the first British woman to win a Grand Slam tournament since Virginia Wade back in 1977.

67A Org. that might have a Mustang circling a track : NASCAR

The Ford Mustang car was introduced in 1964. Back then the Mustang wasn’t a brand new design, but was based on the Ford Falcon. The Mustang was the first of the “pony cars”, American models that are compact and affordable, as well as sporty in image and performance.

Down

2D “Number the Stars” novelist Lowry : LOIS

Lois Lowry is a writer of children’s fiction. Lowry doesn’t stick to “safe” material in her books, and has dealt with difficult subjects such as racism, murder and the Holocaust. Two of her books won the Newbery Medal: “Number the Stars” (1990) and “The Giver” (1993).

3D Big moment in a pairs figure skating routine : LIFT

Figure skating started out as a sport in which a skater demonstrated skill at carving out specific patterns into the ice (a figure-8, for example). Over time, the sport placed greater influence on free skating. Compulsory figures were dropped completely from most international competitions in the 1990s, but the name “figure” skating has been retained.

5D Dragon roll fish : EEL

A dragon roll is a sushi dish made from eel, cucumber, seaweed, rice and avocado. I am sure it’s delicious … without the eel!

7D Jaromír who is the oldest NHL player to record a hat trick : JAGR

Jaromír Jágr is an NHL hockey player from the Czech Republic. When Jágr made his debut in the NHL in 1990 at age 18, he was the youngest player in the league.

9D Eur. land : GER

The country that we know in English as “Germany” is known as “Deutschland” in German. The name “Germany” comes from “Germania”, which is the Latin name that Julius Caesar gave to the peoples located east of the Rhine. The name “Deutschland” comes from an Old High German word meaning “land belonging to the people”.

10D Thief on “Dora the Explorer” : SWIPER

“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. She often spars with a thieving anthropomorphic fox named Swiper.

13D Low voice : BASS

The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”). In an opera, the villain of the piece is usually played by a basso.

24D Winnebago, e.g. : LAKE

Lake Winnebago is the largest lake located entirely within the state of Wisconsin.

26D Flavor of green Skittles : LIME

Skittles are a brand of fruit-flavored candy that are produced by the Wrigley Company. They are small, round, and chewy, and come in a variety of colors, including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. Apparently, there is quite a vigorous debate about whether or not the various colors of Skittle have different flavors, or all taste the same. They look different, and smell different, but do they taste different from each other? That is the question …

28D Home of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center : OHIO

Cincinnati’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center is a museum that tells the story of the network of safe routes and houses used by slaves escaping into the abolitionist states in the northern US. Its location is highly symbolic, sitting on the banks of the Ohio River, which was the natural border separating the slave state of Kentucky from the free state of Ohio.

34D Actress Helgenberger : MARG

Marg Helgenberger is an actress best known for roles she plays on television. She played investigator Catherine Willows on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”. Helgenberger also played drug-addicted prostitute K.C. Koloski in the Vietnam War drama “China Beach”.

35D Texter’s “Let’s look at this a different way” : OTOH

On the other hand (OTOH)

44D Always Morphing nail polish 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 …

52D Honshu port city : OSAKA

The Japanese city of Osaka used to be called Naniwa, with the name changing to Osaka sometime before 1500. “Osaka” can be translated either as “large hill” or “large slope”. Osaka is sometimes referred to as “the Chicago of Japan” as it is a major center of commerce and industry. The city has also been named the “nation’s kitchen”, and was a center for Japan’s rice trade for centuries.

Honshu is the largest island in Japan, and the seventh largest island in the world. The name “Honshu” translates as “Main Island”.

55D Tabloid pair : ITEM

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs Wellcome) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, which described newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

59D Comfy shoes, for short : MOCS

“Moc” is short for “moccasin”, a type of shoe. The moccasin is a traditional form of footwear worn by members of many Native American tribes.

60D Some design degs. : MFAS

Master of Fine Arts (MFA)

63D “The Crown” actress Claire : FOY

English actress Claire Foy is perhaps best known in North America for playing Queen Anne Boleyn in the miniseries “Wolf Hall”, and a young Queen Elizabeth II in the award-winning series “The Crown”.

“The Crown” is a historical drama produced for Netflix that covers the life of British Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For the first two seasons, Elizabeth is played by Claire Foy and Philip by Matt Smith. For the next two seasons, Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over as Elizabeth and Philip. The show finishes up with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce in the roles.

64D NBA legend Ming : YAO

Yao Ming is a retired professional basketball player from Shanghai who played for the Houston Rockets. At 7’6″, Yao was the tallest man playing in the NBA. He has a cute nickname: “the Ming Dynasty”.