Tag: Ideal option for the indecisive crossword clue

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Constructed by: Jeremy Venook
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Missed a Spot

Themed answers are all MISSING A “SPOT” in the grid:

• 59A Comment to a less-than-thorough cleaner, or an apt title for this puzzle? : MISSED A SPOT

• 17A Person who’s always available to help : JOHNNY-ON-THE-SPOT
• 27A Theater employee who follows the stars closely : SPOTLIGHT OPERATOR
• 44A Portable Wi-Fi source : HOTSPOT CONNECTION

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

Bill’s time: 7m 04s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Site that calls itself “the heart of the internet” : REDDIT
23D Tell-all sesh on 5-Across : AMA

Reddit.com is a networking and news website that started up in 2005. It is essentially a bulletin board system with posts that are voted up and down by users, which determines the ranking of posts. The name “Reddit” is a play on “read it”, as in “I read it on Reddit”. One popular feature of the Reddit site is an online forum that is similar to a press conference. Known as an AMA (for “ask me anything”), participants have included the likes of President Barack Obama, Madonna, Bill Gates, Stephen Colbert and Gordon Ramsay. President Obama’s AMA was so popular that the high level of traffic brought down many parts of the Reddit site.

11 Filmmaker Lee : ANG

Ang Lee made history at the 74th Academy Awards in 2002 when he won the Best Director award for “Brokeback Mountain.” He became the first Asian person to win the award and the first non-white person to win in the category.

16 __ shu pork : MOO

Moo shu pork (also “mu shu pork”) is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg. In North America, the dish is served with tortilla-like wrappers that are sometimes referred to as “moo shu pancakes”.

20 Queerplatonic orientation, casually : ARO

Someone described as aromantic (“aro”, for short) experiences little or no romantic attraction. The opposite of aromanticism is alloromanticism.

Queerplatonic relationships (QPRs) are close, committed partnerships that are not romantic but go beyond typical friendships in their emotional depth and significance. Individuals in QPRs establish boundaries and levels of commitment that can resemble aspects of romantic relationships, but without the romantic attraction. Even though the term QPR emerged from the aromantic and asexual communities, anyone can form a QPR, regardless of their romantic or sexual orientation.

34 “The Garden of Earthly Delights” painter Hieronymus : BOSCH

Hieronymus Bosch was an early Dutch artist who lived from around 1450 to 1516. His works are characterized by their intricate detail, symbolic imagery, and often bizarre and fantastical creatures in religious scenes. His most famous works, both triptych oil paintings on wood panels, are “The Garden of Earthly Delights” and “The Temptation of Saint Anthony”.

“The Garden of Earthly Delights” is a triptych oil painting by the Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch, likely created between 1490 and 1510. Its three panels depict, from left to right, the Garden of Eden, a sprawling and sensual earthly paradise (the Garden of Earthly Delights), and a nightmarish vision of Hell. When the triptych’s outer panels are closed, they reveal a painting in grey tones that depicts the Earth during the third day of creation, a world full of plant life awaiting the addition of animals and humans.

36 Range between Europe and Asia : URALS

The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia and Kazakhstan is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

37 Messenger molecule : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA. An added complication is that small changes in the sequence of amino acids specified by DNA sometimes takes place in a process known as RNA editing. This RNA editing occurs after the nucleotide sequence has been transcribed from DNA, but before it is translated into protein.

38 Missouri River Native : OTOE

The Otoe are a Native American people who originated in the Great Lakes region. Around the 16th century, they migrated westward and settled in the lower Nemaha River valley in modern-day Nebraska. Like many Plains tribes, they adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle centered on the American bison, living in earth lodges while farming and using tipis while traveling for hunts. The Otoe encountered the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804, and subsequently succumbed to the European American expansion, which resulted in their removal to a reservation in present-day Oklahoma.

39 Coke or Pepsi : BRAND

“Cola Wars” is a phrase used to describe the competing marketing campaigns of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Coke is winning …

41 Hilton-owned hotel chain : TRU

Tru by Hilton is a brand of hotels that was introduced in 2016, primarily to compete against the La Quinta and Comfort Inn chains.

42 Tortuga’s country : HAITI

Tortuga is a Haitian island located off the northwest coast of Hispaniola. The island was used as a major base of operations for Caribbean pirates in the mid- to late-17th century. “Tortuga” is Spanish for “turtle”.

44 Portable Wi-Fi source : HOTSPOT CONNECTION

A Wi-Fi hotspot is a “spot” where one can connect wirelessly with a Wi-Fi connection to a router at the center of the hotspot. From there, one can access the Internet via a modem connected to that router.

47 Large deer : ELK

The elk (also “wapiti”) is one of the largest species of deer in the world, with only the moose being bigger. Early European settlers were familiar with the smaller red deer back in their homelands, so when they saw the “huge” wapiti they assumed it was a moose, and incorrectly gave it the European name for a moose, namely “elk”. The more correct name for the beast is “wapiti”, which means “white rump” in Shawnee. It’s all very confusing …

54 Gala, for one : APPLE

Gala is the second-most popular apple cultivar in the US, after red delicious. The gala apple tree originated in New Zealand in 1930, and is a cross between a golden delicious and a Kidd’s orange red.

57 Sprite : ELF

A sprite is an elfin or fairy-like creature of European myth. The term “sprite” comes from the Latin “spiritus” meaning “spirit”.

62 The Brewers, in box scores : MIL

The Milwaukee Brewers Major League Baseball (MLB) team was founded in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots. The Pilots only played one season in Seattle before going bankrupt, relocating to Milwaukee and adopting the “Brewers” name. At that time, the Brewers were playing in the American League, and joined the National League in 1998. Only two MLB teams have switched leagues, the other being the Houston Astros.

63 Real __ : ESTATE

The terms “realty” and “real estate” actually date back to the late 1600s. Back then, the terms meant “real possessions, things owned that are tangible and real”.

64 Browser button : HOME

A web browser is a piece of software used to access the World Wide Web. The first web browser was called “WorldWideWeb” and was invented in 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, the man who created the World Wide Web. The browser known as Mosaic came out in 1993, and it was this browser that drove so much interest in the World Wide Web, and indeed in the Internet in general. Marc Andreessen led the team that created Mosaic, and he then set up his own company called Netscape. Netscape created the Netscape Navigator browser that further popularized the use of the Web starting in 1994. Microsoft responded by introducing Internet Explorer in 1995, which sparked the so-called “browser war”, a war that Microsoft clearly won. As Netscape floundered, the company launched the open-source Mozilla project which eventually led to the Firefox browser. Apple then came out with its own Safari browser in 2003. Google’s Chrome browser, introduced in 2008, is by far the most popular way to view the Web today.

65 Long fish with no pelvic fins : EEL

In humans, the pelvis is a basin-shaped ring of bones at the base of the spine. It is this shape that gives the structure its name, as “pelvis” is Latin for “basin”.

67 Alma mater of many British prime ministers : ETON

The world-famous Eton College is just a brisk walk from Windsor Castle, which itself is just outside London. Eton is noted for producing many British leaders, including prime ministers David Cameron and Boris Johnson. The list of Old Etonians also includes Princes William and Harry, the Duke of Wellington and George Orwell. Author Ian Fleming was also an Eton alumnus, as was Fleming’s iconic character James Bond, although 007 was expelled from the school.

Down

1 Indian royals : RAJAS

“Raja” (also “rajah”) is a word derived from Sanskrit that is used particularly in India for a monarch or princely ruler. The female form is “rani” (also “ranee”) and is used for a raja’s wife.

4 Sales channel : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

5 Capital of Saudi Arabia : RIYADH

Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia, and is located near the center of the country. The name “Riyadh” translates from Arabic as “the gardens”.

6 Greek matchmaker : EROS

Eros was the Greek god of love, desire and attraction, and usually depicted as a winged youth wielding a bow and arrows. The arrows had the power to ignite feelings of love or passionate longing in whomever they struck. Eros (Cupid or Amor in Roman mythology) was the son of Aphrodite (Venus) and Ares (Mars).

7 Great __ : DANE

The Great Dane breed of dog isn’t actually from Denmark, and rather is from Germany. Great danes were originally bred to hunt wild boar, and were also used for protection and as guard dogs.

8 Morse taps : DITS

The first telegraph message in the US was sent by Samuel Morse from the US Capitol in 1844. The message was received by a B&O railroad depot in Baltimore, Maryland. The message content was the words “WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT”, a quotation from the Book of Numbers in the Bible.

11 International lawyer Clooney : AMAL

Amal Alamuddin married celebrated Hollywood actor George Clooney in 2014. Alamuddin was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to London when she was a toddler. She is a lawyer specializing in international law, with one of her more renowned clients being the founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange.

12 Lymph __ : NODE

Lymph is a fluid that exists alongside blood in the body that is transported through lymph vessels. One of the functions of the system is to pick up bacteria in the body, transporting them to lymph nodes where they are destroyed by lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). Lymph can also carry metastatic cancer cells that can lodge in lymph nodes, making lymph nodes a common site where tumors may be found growing.

25 Targets of insecticidal shampoo : LICE

Lice (singular “louse”) are small wingless insects, of which there are thousands of species. There are three species of lice affecting humans, i.e. head lice, body lice and pubic lice. Most lice feed on dead skin found on the body of the host animal, although some feed on blood. Ick …

28 Shrouded locale? : TURIN

The Shroud of Turin has to be one of the most controversial, and most studied, human artifacts ever unearthed. The Shroud is a linen cloth on which there is the image of a man who appears to have wounds inflicted by crucifixion. Many believe that the Shroud is the burial cloth in which Jesus Christ was placed after he died on the cross. The Shroud was kept in various locations in France for centuries before being moved to Turin Cathedral in 1578, from which it gets its name, and where it has been located ever since.

30 Lose one’s cool : PANIC

In Greek mythology, Pan was a lecherous god who was part-man and part-goat, and one who fell in love with Echo the mountain nymph. Echo refused Pan’s advances so that he became very angry. Pan’s anger created a “panic” (a word derived from the name “Pan”) and a group of shepherds were driven to kill Echo.

31 End of the line : TRAIN DEPOT

Our term “depot”, meaning “station, warehouse”, comes from the French word “dépôt”. The French term translates into English as “deposit” or “place of deposit”.

33 Performs like Ice Spice : RAPS

“Ice Spice” is the stage name of Isis Naija Gaston, a rapper born and raised in the Bronx, New York City.

35 Other, in Oaxaca : OTRO

Oaxaca (officially “Oaxaca de Juárez”) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, which is located in the south of the country.

40 “Parasite” star Woo-shik : CHOI

Choi Woo-shik is a Canadian actor who was born in South Korea. His most memorable role has to be the lead character Kim Ki-woo in the Oscar-winning movie “Parasite”.

“Parasite” is a 2019 comedy thriller movie from South Korea that became the nation’s highest-grossing film of all time. It was also the first movie not filmed in English to win the Oscar for Best Picture. I haven’t seen “Paradise” yet, but I hear great things from friends and family who have …

46 Symbols indicating similarity, in geometry : TILDES

The tilde diacritical mark (~) is very much associated with the Spanish language. We use the name “tilde” in English, taking that name from Spanish. Confusingly, the word “tilde” in Spanish is used more generally to mean “accent mark, diacritic”, of which a “~” is just one. What we call a “tilde” in English is usually referred to as a “virgulilla” or “tilde de la eñe” in Spanish.

52 Shallowest Great Lake : ERIE

Lake Erie is the fourth-largest of the five Great Lakes by area (Lake Ontario is the smallest). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume and the shallowest, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, much of Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to most of the lake-effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

53 Nucleus holder : CELL

Our word “nucleus” is a Latin term meaning “kernel of a nut”. “Nucleus” is the diminutive form of “nux” meaning “nut”.

54 Italian bubbly : ASTI

Asti is a sparkling white wine from the Piedmont region of Italy that is named for the town of Asti around which the wine is produced. The wine used to be called Asti Spumante, and it had a very bad reputation as a “poor man’s champagne”. The “Spumante” was dropped in a marketing attempt at rebranding associated with a reduction in the amount of residual sugar in the wine.

55 Unpaid TV ads : PSAS

Public service announcement (PSA)

56 Mets slugger Alonso : PETE

Pete Alonso is a professional first baseman who made his Major League debut in 2019 with the New York Mets. In that first season, Alonso set the record for most home runs by a rookie in a single season with 53, breaking the previous record set by Aaron Judge in 2017. Alonso’s nickname is “Polar Bear”.