Tag: Leap years? crossword clue

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Constructed by: John Kugelman
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Three Square Meals

Collectively, themed answers are THREE MEALS that might be described as SQUARE in that they are written in squares in the grid. They are also “SQUARE” in the sense that each answer comprises two words, words with the same number of letters:

• 63A Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or what 19-, 31-, and 52-Across literally are : THREE SQUARE MEALS

• 19A Breakfast: cereal : RICE CHEX
• 31A Lunch: fast-food sandwich : WENDY’S BURGER
• 52A Dinner: seafood pasta : LOBSTER RAVIOLI

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

Bill’s time: 8m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Makeshift instrument : JUG

A jug band features a jug player, as well as others playing ordinary objects perhaps modified to make sound. One such instrument is the washtub bass. The “tub” is a stringed instrument that uses a metal washtub as a resonator. A washboard might also be used in a jug band, as a percussion instrument. The ribbed surface of the washboard is usually scraped using thimbles on the ends of the fingers.

4A Chess champion Garry : KASPAROV

Garry Kasparov, the Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, became the youngest-ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at age 22. Kasparov was also one of the first prominent figures to seriously test the capabilities of artificial intelligence in chess. His matches against IBM’s Deep Blue computer in 1996 (which Kasparov won) and 1997 (which Deep Blue won in a rematch) captured worldwide attention.

12A First down yardage amount : TEN

That would be football.

15A “Float like a butterfly” boxer : ALI

Muhammad Ali first used his famous catchphrase “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” before his world title fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. Back then Ali still went by his birth name of Cassius Clay.

18A “Headbangers Ball” airer : MTV

MTV’s “Headbangers Ball” was essential late-night viewing in the 80s and 90s for fans of heavy metal. It featured music videos and interviews from metal bands that often didn’t get mainstream airplay. The show was reportedly created almost by accident. In 1987, MTV was looking for cheap, specialized programming for late-night slots, and a VJ simply started playing a block of metal videos. The positive audience reaction was so strong that it was formalized into “Headbangers Ball”, which ran for nearly a decade.

Headbanging is a practice engaged in by many players and followers of hard rock and heavy metal music. It involves shaking and nodding of the head energetically in time to the music. It’s a dangerous practice. Terry Balsamo is a guitarist with the band Evanescence and in 2005 he suffered a stroke, apparently from a blood clot that reportedly formed in his neck due to headbanging during performances.

19A Breakfast: cereal : RICE CHEX

The original Chex cereal was introduced in 1937 by Ralston Purina, although it is now produced by General Mills. Ralston Purina had a logo with a checkerboard square on it, which gave the pattern to the cereal as well as its name. Chex used characters from the “Peanuts” comic strip in its advertising for many years.

23A Reader’s __ : DIGEST

Lila Wallace founded the “Reader’s Digest” along with her husband in 1922, and initially operated out of a basement office in New York City. The initial print runs were limited to about 5,000 copies. Today, “Reader’s Digest” has about 100 million readers in 163 countries worldwide.

25A Malia’s sister : SASHA

Sasha is the younger of the two Obama children, having been born in 2001. She was the youngest child to reside in the White House since John F. Kennedy, Jr. moved in with his parents as a small infant. Sasha’s Secret Service codename is “Rosebud”, and her older sister Malia has the codename “Radiance”.

26A “A Fine Romance” composer Jerome : KERN

Jerome Kern was one of the most important American composers of musical theatre and popular music in the early 20th century, with timeless melodies like “Ol’ Man River”, “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”, and “The Way You Look Tonight”. Kern had a close call with death in 1915. He was scheduled to travel on the fateful final voyage of the RMS Lusitania with producer Charles Frohman. He missed the sailing because he overslept after staying up late at a party. The Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat, a tragedy that claimed nearly 1,200 lives, including Frohman’s.

“A Fine Romance” is a song by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields that was written for the 1936 movie “Swing Time”. The song was performed in the film by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although a version recorded by Billie Holiday later that year is perhaps the most famous. On the other side of the Atlantic, there’s a famous rendition by actress Judi Dench as the title song of a 1980s sitcom also called “A Fine Romance”.

31A Lunch: fast-food sandwich : WENDY’S BURGER

Wendy’s fast-food restaurants are known for square burger patties and Frosty desserts. The chain was founded by Dave Thomas in 1969, and is named after Thomas’s fourth child, Melinda Lou “Wendy” Thomas. Dave Thomas himself was a high school dropout who later became a vocal advocate for education and adoption (he was adopted as an infant). He earned his GED in 1993 at the age of 61, stating he didn’t want his success to be an excuse for kids to quit school. Good man, Dave!

36A Camry competitor : ALTIMA

Nissan has been making the Altima since 1993. In 2007, the company started to produce a hybrid version, Nissan’s first foray into the hybrid market and a successful one by all accounts. Altima hybrids are even used as police cruisers by the New York Police Department.

40A Poison __ : IVY

Two of the plants that are most painful to humans are poison oak and poison ivy. Poison oak is mainly found west of the Rocky Mountains, and poison ivy to the east.

42A Cyclops feature : EYE

Cyclops was a one-eyed giant in Greek and Roman mythology. He lived inside Mount Etna, the Sicilian volcano.

45A Curriculum __ : VITAE

A curriculum vitae (“CV” or “vita”) is a listing of someone’s work experience and qualifications, and is used mainly in making a job application. The term “curriculum vitae” can be translated from Latin as “course of life”.

50A First-year cadet : PLEBE

A plebe is a freshman in the US military and naval academies. The term “plebe” is probably short for “plebeian”, the name given to someone of the common class in ancient Rome (as opposed to a Patrician). “Pleb” is a shortened version of “plebeian”, and is a term used outside of the military schools.

52A Dinner: seafood pasta : LOBSTER RAVIOLI

Ravioli (singular “raviolo”) are filled dumplings served in Italian cuisine.

56A Like windshields on winter mornings : ICED UP

What we know as a windshield here in North America, is referred to as a windscreen on the other side of the Atlantic. In America, we use the term “windscreen” for a mesh or foam device placed around a microphone to limit noise caused by wind.

59A Like 1% milk : LOW FAT

The fatty component of milk is known as butterfat (sometimes “milkfat”). To be labeled whole milk, the butterfat content must be at least 3.25%. Low-fat milk is defined as milk containing 0.5-2% fat, with levels of 1% and 2% commonly found on grocery store shelves. Skim milk must contain less than 0.5% fat, and typically contains 0.1%.

63A Breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or what 19-, 31-, and 52-Across literally are : THREE SQUARE MEALS

A square meal is one that is substantial and nourishing. According to some sources, the phrase “square meal” originated with the Royal Navy, and the square wooden plates on which meals were served. However, this centuries-old practice has an unlikely origin as the phrase was first seen in print in the US, in 1856. An advertisement for a restaurant posted in a California newspaper offers a “square meal” to patrons, in the sense of an “honest, straightforward meal”. The “honest” meaning of “square” was well-established at the time, as in “fair and square”, “square play” and “square deal”.

68A Org. chasing Jason Bourne : CIA

The “Bourne” series of films are based on a series of three “Bourne” novels penned by Robert Ludlum. The first three “Bourne” movies star Matt Damon in the title role of Jason Bourne. Damon opted out of the fourth movie (“The Bourne Legacy”), and so a new lead character was added and played by Jeremy Renner. That said, Damon’s image was used in the fourth film, and references were made to his character Jason Bourne. Damon returned for the fifth film in the series, but has suggested that he is unlikely to take on the role again.

70A Letters on Megan Rapinoe’s jersey : USA

Megan Rapinoe is a professional soccer player and a star on the US national team. One of Rapinoe’s many claims to fame is that she is the only player, male or female, to score a goal directly from a corner kick in an Olympic Games.

Down

1D Places for mezuzahs : JAMBS

A door jamb or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

A mezuzah, a small case containing a parchment scroll with Hebrew verses from the Torah, is affixed to the doorposts of Jewish homes. According to traditional Jewish law, a mezuzah should be placed on every entrance to a residence, courtyard, or city.

4D The “K” of K-drama : KOREAN

TV dramas made in South Korea in the Korean language are known these days as K-dramas. They have become extremely popular around the world in recent years, with one notable example being the hit show “Squid Game” distributed by Netflix.

8D Kimmel’s network : ABC

Jimmy Kimmel is the host of the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Kimmel also co-hosted “The Man Show” and my personal favorite, “Win Ben Stein’s Money”. Kimmel appeared on the PBS show “Finding Your Roots” in 2020, when he discovered that he was a cousin of Martha Stewart!

26D Son of Han Solo and Princess Leia : KYLO REN

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa in the “Star Wars” universe. The character’s birth name was Ben Solo. He was trained as a Jedi knight by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. However, Ben came to embrace the Dark Side, and changed his name to Kylo Ren. Ren is played by actor Adam Driver.

28D Hitter’s stat : RBI

Run batted in (RBI)

33D Cartilaginous fish that may have a whiplike tail : RAY

Rays are fish with flattened bodies that have gill slits on their underside. There are many, many species of ray, including stingrays and skates. Rays are close relatives of sharks, with both being cartilaginous fish, as opposed to bony fish.

34D Tyler of “The Leftovers” : LIV

Actress and model Liv Tyler is the daughter of Steven Tyler, lead singer with Aerosmith, and Bebe Buell, a celebrated model and singer. Apparently, Buell hid the fact that Tyler was Liv’s father until Liv was 8 years old. Buell wanted to insulate her child from the rock-and-roll lifestyle. Liv Tyler plays the Elf maiden Arwen Undómiel in Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

“The Leftovers” is a television drama that is based on a novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta. I haven’t seen the show or read the book, but the premise sounds very interesting. It is set in a small New York town and takes place three years after a global “Rapture”, an event in which two percent of the world’s population disappeared inexplicably. The focus is on those folks “left over”, and not the people who disappeared.

38D Mongolian desert : GOBI

The Gobi, the large desert in Asia, lies in northern China and southern Mongolia. It is growing at an alarming rate, particularly towards the south. This “desertification” is caused by increased human activity. The Chinese government is trying to halt the desert’s forward progress by planting great swaths of new forest, the so-called “Green Wall of China”. The name “Gobi” is Mongolian for “waterless place, semidesert”.

51D Lerner’s partner on Broadway : LOEWE

Frederick Loewe was a composer who was best known for his collaborations with the lyricist Alan Jay Lerner, the most famous of which were “My Fair Lady”, “Gigi” and “Camelot”.

54D “La Bamba” singer Ritchie : VALENS

Ritchie Valens, born Richard Valenzuela, had a tragically short career that lasted only about eight months. In that time, he recorded hits like “Donna”, “Come On, Let’s Go”, and the groundbreaking “La Bamba”. The latter became a massive hit in the United States in 1958, a truly remarkable feat for a Spanish-language song in that era. Valens’ promising career was cut short when he died in the infamous 1959 plane crash at the age of just 17, an event often called “The Day the Music Died”.

“La Bamba” is a folk song from Veracruz, Mexico that became a huge hit for Ritchie Valens in 1958. It appears in the oft-cited list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time compiled by “Rolling Stone” magazine, and is the only song in the list not sung in English. The song lent its name to the 1987 biopic about the life of Ritchie Valens, starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens.

56D Hydrocortisone cream target : ITCH

“Cortisone is a type of steroid that is used to reduce inflammation, which can reduce pain caused by some medical conditions. It is usually administered using a syringe, as a shot. For cortisone to exert its effect, the body converts it into hydrocortisone (also known as cortisol), the active form of the hormone. We are probably more familiar with hydrocortisone itself, as it’s commonly found in many over-the-counter topical creams and ointments used to soothe skin irritations like rashes, eczema, and insect bites.

57D Kombucha seeds : CHIA

Kombucha is a fermented drink made with tea, sugar, bacteria, and yeast. The tea is first steeped in hot water, then sugar is added and the mixture allowed to cool. The bacteria and yeast are added, and the mixture is allowed to ferment for 7-10 days. During fermentation, the bacteria and yeast convert the sugar into alcohol and acetic acid, which gives kombucha its characteristic sour taste.

60D Half-man, half-goat : FAUN

Fauns are regarded as the Roman mythological equivalent of the Greek satyrs, but fauns were half-man and half-goat and much more “carefree” in personality than their Hellenic cousins. In the modern age we are quite familiar with Mr. Tumnus, the faun-like character encountered by the children entering the world of Narnia in C. S. Lewis’s “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”.

64D Status __ : QUO

“Status quo” translates from Latin as “state in which”, and in English is used to mean the existing condition or state of affairs.

65D Oxford, e.g., to locals : UNI

The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. The exact date of the school’s founding is uncertain, although teaching was recorded there as early as 1096. Back in the early 1200s, the authorities from the town of Oxford hanged two Oxford University scholars following the death of a woman. There followed a dispute between the townsfolk and the university that resulted in many academics leaving Oxford. Many ended up in Cambridge, leading to the founding of the University of Cambridge in 1209. The two universities have a similar status today, and are often referred to jointly as “Oxbridge”.

67D Tobiko or masago : ROE

In Japanese cuisine, the roe of salmon is called “ikura” and the roe of flying fish is called “tobiko”.

The Japanese dish called “masago” is actually the roe of the capelin fish. Masago is often mixed with wasabi and served as “wasabi caviar”.