Tag: Informal gathering crossword clue

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Constructed by: Brent Sverdloff & Katie Hale
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Celestial Music

Themed answers are songs (MUSIC) with CELESTIAL objects in the titles:

• 61A Heavenly sounds, and what the answers to the starred clues could be called : CELESTIAL MUSIC

• 16A *Frank Sinatra song : FLY ME TO THE MOON
• 29A *Beatles song : HERE COMES THE SUN
• 49A *Bing Crosby song : SWINGING ON A STAR

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

Bill’s time: 7m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Pilot’s fig. : ALT

An altimeter is an instrument used to measure altitude (alt.), height above sea level. The word “altitude” arose in the late 14th century, and was originally an astronomical term that defined the elevation above the horizon of a star or planet. The term comes from the Latin “altus” meaning “high, grown tall”.

13 One of 70 on a radiant-cut diamond : FACET

Diamonds can be cut in various shapes. The most common cuts are:

• Princess
• Cushion
• Heart
• Pear
• Marquise
• Radiant
• Asscher
• Emerald
• Oval

14 Actor Sy of “Lupin” : OMAR

Omar Sy is a French actor. In the field of French cinema, he was the first Black individual to win the César Award for Best Actor, doing so for his performance in 2011’s “Intouchables”. He gained a lot of recognition from international audiences for portraying the lead in the excellent Netflix series “Lupin”.

16 *Frank Sinatra song : FLY ME TO THE MOON

If you know the lyrics of the old standard “Fly Me to the Moon“, you’ll know that “in other words” features prominently. “In Other Words” was the original song title, and over time it was more often designated by its opening line “Fly me to the moon“. My mother’s favorite version is by Perry Como, but Frank Sinatra’s rendition is probably best known …

20 Nursery sch. : PRE-K

Pre-kindergarten (pre-K)

27 Loaded, in Lima : RICO

In Spanish, most would say it’s better to be “rico” (rich) than “pobre” (poor).

29 *Beatles song : HERE COMES THE SUN

“Here Comes the Sun” is a song on the Beatles album “Abbey Road”. It is one of the few Beatles recordings that was written by George Harrison.

32 Paragon : IDEAL

A paragon is a model of excellence, a peerless example. Ultimately the term “paragon” derives from the Greek “para-” meaning “on the side” and “akone” meaning “whetstone”. This derivation comes from the ancient practice of using a touchstone to test gold for its level of purity by drawing a line on the stone with the gold and comparing the resulting mark with samples of known purity.

33 Florence or Sydney : CITY

Florence is the capital city of the Tuscany region in Italy. The city is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, as it was a hub of artistic and intellectual activity. It attracted some of the greatest artists and thinkers of the era, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Galileo Galilei.

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia. People from Sydney are known as “Sydneysiders”.

34 “The Penguin” network : HBO

“The Penguin” is a TV miniseries that serves as a sequel spinoff from the 2022 movie “The Batman”. Irish actor Colin Farrell plays the title character in the TV show, as he did in the film.

43 “Peter Pan” pooch : NANA

In J.M. Barrie’s play and novel about Peter Pan, Peter takes Wendy Darling and her two brothers (John and Michael) on adventures on the island of Neverland. Back in the real world, the Darling children are taken care of by a nanny, a Newfoundland dog called Nana. It is Nana who takes Peter Pan’s shadow away from him as he tries to escape from the Darling house one night.

49 *Bing Crosby song : SWINGING ON A STAR

“Swinging on a Star” is a song that was written for Bing Crosby to sing in the 1944 film “Going My Way”. It was well received, and won the Best Original Song Oscar for that season.

53 Bellagio’s lake : COMO

Lake Como is a glacial lake in Lombardy, Italy that has long been a retreat for the rich and famous. Lakeside homes there are owned by the likes of Madonna, George Clooney, Gianni Versace, Sylvester Stallone and Richard Branson.

Bellagio is a picturesque village on Lake Como in Lombardy in the north of Italy. It is home to one of the world’s oldest hotels still in operation, the Hotel Genazzini, which has been welcoming guests since the 1700s. The much younger Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas opened in 1998, and is named for the Italian village.

54 Colander cousin : SIEVE

A colander is a bowl-shaped utensil with holes in it that is used for draining liquid from food. The term “colander” comes from the Latin word “colum” meaning “sieve”.

55 Supergirl, for one : HERO

Kara Zor-El is Superman’s cousin, and is also known as Supergirl. Supergirl’s father and Superman’s father were brothers. On Earth, Supergirl uses the name “Linda Lee”.

66 Hong __ : KONG

Hong Kong became part of the British Empire after the First Opium War in 1842. In 1898, Britain signed a 99-year lease to retain control of Hong Kong. That control ended 99 years later in 1997 with a formal transfer of sovereignty back to China.

67 “Peter Grimes,” for one : OPERA

Benjamin Britten’s opera “Peter Grimes” is set in a fishing village in Suffolk, in the East of England. The story follows the tragic fate of Peter Grimes, a fisherman ostracized by his peers after the death of his apprentice. Though he seeks connection and acceptance, the suspicions and hostility of the villagers ultimately drive him to madness and despair.

69 No great shakes : SO-SO

The idiomatic phrase “no great shakes” means “not very skilful”, as in “Bill is no great shakes at solving sports clues in the crossword”. There is a suggestion that the term comes from the act of shaking dice, as some shakes result in great numbers, and some don’t.

70 “We have the __!”: Arby’s slogan : MEATS

The Arby’s chain of fast food restaurants was founded in 1964 by two brothers, Forrest and Leroy Raffel. The name “Arby’s” is a homonym of “RB’s”, standing for “Raffel Brothers”. There is a rumor out there that the initials “RB” were chosen for “roast beef”, but that’s not true.

Down

2 Risk of spreading spam : MALWARE

Malware is software and program code that is created to intentionally disrupt and exploit computer systems. Viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware are all covered by the term. “Malware” is short for “malicious software”.

6 Goodreads suggestion, briefly : BOOK REC

Goodreads is a much-used website that provides an extensive database of books along with reader’s reviews and recommendations. Launched in 2007, Goodreads was purchased by Amazon in 2013. The change in ownership is somewhat controversial, as the world’s biggest bookseller has ownership of a book review website with about 100 million subscribers.

9 Long journey : TREK

A trek is an arduous journey. The term “trek” comes into English via Afrikaans from the Dutch “trekken” meaning “to march, journey”.

11 Simba, when lifted up by Rafiki : LION CUB

Rafiki, a character in “The Lion King”, is a mandrill-baboon hybrid that lives in a baobab tree. He is the old and wise character in the film/musical, and often serves as the narrator. In the movies, Rafiki is a male character, voiced by Robert Guillaume. In the follow-on musical version, Rafiki is a female character, and sings one of the great songs from “The Lion King”, namely “Circle of Life”.

12 Two thousand pounds : TON

Here in the US, a ton is equivalent to 2,000 pounds. In the UK, a ton is 2,240 pounds. The UK unit is sometimes referred to as an Imperial ton, long ton or gross ton. Folks over there refer to the US ton then as a short ton. To further complicate matters, there is also a metric ton or tonne, which is equivalent to 2,204 pounds. Personally, I wish we’d just stick to kilograms …

19 Hawaiian catch, on menus : MAHI

“Mahi-mahi” (meaning “very strong”) is the Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, which is also known as the dorado. The mahi-mahi is an ugly looking creature if ever I saw one …

23 Kidney __ : BEAN

Kidney beans are so called due to their shape resembling human kidneys. Red kidney beans are used a lot in chili con carne recipes, and in Indian dishes. White kidney beans go by their Italian name, “cannellini”, in Britain and Ireland.

25 Egyptian goddess of healing : ISIS

Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children. She was the personification of the pharaoh’s power. The name “Isis” translates as “throne”, and she is usually depicted with a headdress shaped like a throne.

28 Artist Yoko : ONO

Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. She met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

30 “The Trolley Song” sound : CLANG

A streetcar makes a clanging sound, as we learned in the musical film “Meet Me in St. Louis”. Judy Garland sang “The Trolley Song” in the movie:

Clang, clang, clang went the trolley
Ding, ding, ding went the bell
Zing, zing, zing went my heartstrings
From the moment I saw him I fell

31 Many-headed mythical monster : HYDRA

The Hydra of Lerna was a mythical sea snake that had multiple heads. Heracles had to slay the Lernaean Hydra as the second of his Twelve Labors. We now use the term “hydra” figuratively to describe a complex problem that presents new obstacles once one facet is resolved.

36 Keynote’s spot : DAIS

The keynote is the lowest note in a musical scale, as one might imagine. The term started to be used to mean a leading idea in the late 1700s, and the expression “keynote address” dates back to 1905.

37 MMXXIII, MMXXIV, etc. : ANNI

The Latin word for year is “annus” (plural “anni”). We often see it used in Latin phrases, but usually with a different spelling. In “anno Domini”, the “anno” is the ablative case of “annus” as the phrase means “in the year of the Lord”. Another example is “per annum”, in which “annum” is the accusative case as the literal translation of the phrase is “during the year”.

39 Informal gathering : SESH

Session (abbreviated to “sess.” formally, and “sesh” informally)

41 Groupon deals, perhaps : TWOFERS

Groupon is a deal-of-the-day website that was started in 2008. The concept behind the business is illustrated by the company name, a portmanteau of “group” and “coupon”. Each day a discount coupon is offered to website members who sign up knowing that the coupon requires a minimum number of “takers” in order for it to be valid. If too few buyers sign up, then the coupon is void. When sufficient buyers sign up the coupon is honored, and the retailer benefits from the large volume of business generated. Groupon was very successful for a couple of years and predictions were made that the company would reach $1 billion in sales faster than any other company in history. That forecast changed dramatically, and the CEO was ousted in February 2013.

42 “Fit as a fiddle” and “free as a bird” : SIMILES

Someone who is as fit as a fiddle is very fit, very well. When the idiom “as fit as a fiddle” was coined around 1600, the phrase meant “suitable for purpose” as “fit” was more often used in that sense.

47 Birthplace of Simón Bolívar : CARACAS

Caracas is the capital of Venezuela, and is located in the north of the country. The original settlement of Caracas was named by the Spanish using the name of a local indigenous tribe.

Bolívar Square is the historic center of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The middle of the square features a bronze equestrian statue of Simón Bolívar that was created by Italian sculptor Adamo Tadolini.

Simón Bolívar was a military and political leader who led a revolution that overthrew Spanish rule in Venezuela. Bolívar’s military exploits continued after independence, resulting in the conquest of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The latter was named for Simón Bolívar.

48 Former quarterback Aikman : TROY

Troy Aikman is a former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Now that he is retired from football, Aikman works as a sportscaster on the Fox network.

59 Tenant’s contact, briefly : SUPE

A tenant is a person or entity “holding” property by virtue of title or lease. The term “tenant” comes from the Latin “tenere” meaning “to hold”.

61 Org. in “Argo” : CIA

“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I highly recommend “Argo”, although I found the scenes of religious fervor to be very frightening …