Tag: Live for evil say? crossword clue

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Constructed by: Paul Coulter
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Theme: Four of a Kind

Themed answers each start and END with the same FOUR letters, but the order is CHANGED:

• 116A Tennis umpire’s order after odd-numbered games … and a hint to the two sets of circled letters in each of eight answers : CHANGE ENDS

• 23A Law firm standout : LEGAL EAGLE
• 25A Stay afloat, in a way : TREAD WATER
• 42A Near-perfect bridge feat : SMALL SLAM
• 46A South American shocker : ELECTRIC EEL
• 68A Future educator’s goal : TEACHING CERTIFICATE
• 90A Vietnam War defoliant : AGENT ORANGE
• 92A Bonneville racing venue : SALT FLATS
• 113A Did a flower garden task : DEADHEADED

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

Bill’s time: 14m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 “East of Eden” director Kazan : ELIA

Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

“East of Eden” is a 1955 film based on the novel by John Steinbeck. Among other things, the movie is noted for providing James Dean his first major role.

19 Ancient Greek theater : ODEON

In ancient Greece an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

20 Like marathons : LONG

The marathon commemorates the legendary messenger-run by Pheidippides from the site of the Battle of Marathon back to Athens, and is run over 26 miles and 385 yards. The first modern Olympic marathon races were run over a distance that approximated the length of the modern-day Marathon-Athens highway, although the actual length of the race varied from games to games. For the 1908 Olympics in London, a course starting at Windsor Castle and ending in front of the Royal Box at White City Stadium was defined. That course was 26 miles and 385 yards, the standard length now used at all Olympic Games. Organizers of subsequent games continued to vary the length of the race, until a decision was made in 1921 to adopt the distance used in London in 1908.

21 Japanese drama : NOH

Noh is a form of musical drama in Japan that has been around since the 14th century. Many of the Noh performers are masked, allowing all the roles to be played by men, including the female parts.

28 Rabbit predators : STOATS

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

30 Clerical vestments : ALBS

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

36 Like Joel Goodson’s business, in a 1983 film : RISKY

“Risky Business” is a very entertaining 1983 comedy starring Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay. This was an important movie for Cruise, as it really launched his film career. And, everyone remembers Cruise dancing in a pink dress shirt, briefs and socks to Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock and Roll”. Great stuff …

42 Near-perfect bridge feat : SMALL SLAM

A grand slam in bridge is the winning of all thirteen tricks by one player. If the player wins twelve tricks, the achievement is called a small slam.

46 South American shocker : ELECTRIC EEL

“Electrophorus electricus” is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric “eel” isn’t an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.

53 Live for evil, say? : ANAGRAM

Here are some of my favorite anagrams:

• “Dormitory” and “dirty room”
• “Elvis” and “lives”
• “The eyes” and “they see”
• “Eleven plus two” and “twelve plus one”

56 Half a fly : TSE

Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.

57 Daisylike bloom : ASTER

Apparently, most aster species and cultivars bloom relatively late in the year, usually in the fall. The name “aster” comes into English via Latin from the Greek word “astéri” meaning “star”, a reference to the arrangement of the petals of the flower.

61 “All That Jazz” director : FOSSE

Bob Fosse won more Tony Awards for choreography than anyone else, a grand total of eight (and another Tony for direction). Fosse also won an Oscar for Best Director for the 1972 movie “Cabaret”, even beating out the formidable Francis Ford Coppola who was nominated that same year for “The Godfather”.

“All That Jazz” is a song from the 1975 musical “Chicago”, which was choreographed by the great Bob Fosse. “All That Jazz” was later used as the title for a 1979 film directed by Fosse that features a main character who is a theater director and choreographer, and who greatly resembles Fosse himself.

63 Fire remnant : EMBER

A remnant is a small part that’s left over from something larger. The term comes from the Latin “remanour” meaning “to remain”. So, a “remnant” is something “remaining”.

66 Piano’s soft pedal, for one : DAMPER

The una corda pedal is the soft pedal on a piano, usually the pedal situated to the left. Normally, a hammer in a piano strikes three strings tuned to the same note. When the soft pedal is depressed, all of the hammers shift slightly to the left so that only two strings are struck.

73 Tennis star Osaka : NAOMI

Naomi Osaka is a Japanese-born tennis professional who became the first Asian player to be ranked number-one in singles.

77 City on the Po : TURIN

Turin (“Torino” in Italian) is a major city in the north of Italy that sits on the Po River. Back in 1861, when the Kingdom of Italy was formed, Turin was chosen as the first capital of the country.

The Po flows right across northern Italy, and is the longest river in the country. The largest city on the Po is Turin.

88 Actress Cornish of “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” : ABBIE

Abbie Cornish is an actress and rap singer from Australia. As an actress, Cornish played the wife of Police Chief Bill Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) in the excellent movie “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”. She also plays the title character’s love interest in the TV series “Jack Ryan”. As a rapper, Cornish performs under the name “Dusk”.

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” is an excellent 2017 crime film starring Frances McDormand as a mother of a daughter who was raped and murdered. The crime goes unsolved, and so McDormand’s character rents three billboards to bring attention to the case.

90 Vietnam War defoliant : AGENT ORANGE

Agent Orange is a defoliant used by the US Military as a chemical weapon, particularly during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange is a mixture of two herbicides, and one of these herbicides was shown to be contaminated with an extremely toxic dioxin compound that has been linked to various forms of cancer and birth defects. The name “Agent Orange” arose as the chemical was shipped into the field in 55-gallon barrels with an identifying orange stripe.

92 Bonneville racing venue : SALT FLATS

The largest salt pan located near the Great Salt Lake is the famous Bonneville Salt Flats. There is an area in the Flats called the Bonneville Speedway that is devoted to motor sports and is noted as a venue for numerous land speed records.

94 Einstein’s “m” : MASS

In Albert Einstein’s famous equation E=mc², “E” stands for energy, “m” stands for mass, and “c” stands for the speed of light.

The mass of an object differs from its weight. Mass measures the amount of matter present in the object, while its weight is the force exerted on the object by gravity. So, the mass of an object is the same on Earth as it is on the Moon. One the Moon, the same object weighs 16.5% of what it does on Earth.

95 B&O and Reading : RRS

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was one of the oldest in the country. Construction started on the railroad in 1828 in order to offer a method of transportation inland from Baltimore. This was deemed necessary as Baltimore was losing business to New York City after the completion of the Erie Canal (which cheaply and efficiently moved goods inland).

The Reading Railroad, which was absorbed by Conrail in 1976, started out as the Philadelphia and Reading Railway in 1833. The Reading Railway has a square for itself on the original game of Monopoly.

107 Part of A.D. : ANNO

The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

113 Did a flower garden task : DEADHEADED

Deadheading is the process of removing dead flowers from an ornamental plant.

119 Holiday that marks the end of Ramadan : EID

Eid al-Fitr is a religious holiday in the Muslim tradition that is known in English as the “Festival of Breaking the Fast”. It marks the end of Ramadan, a period of dawn-to-sunset fasting.

120 Highland wear : KILT

The Scottish skirt called a “kilt” takes its name from the Middle English word “kilten” meaning “to tuck up”. The idea is that the kilt can be tucked up around the body to give freedom to the legs.

121 Cold shower? : SLEET

Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.

122 Catering supply : STERNO

Sterno is a jellied alcohol that usually comes in a can. The can is opened and the contents burn very easily and persistently. The brand name “Sterno” comes from the original manufacturer, S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn, New York.

123 Some “ER” roles : RNS

“ER” is a TV medical drama that was created by successful novelist and screenwriter MIchael Crichton. The show had an original run of 15 seasons and featured quite a cast of actors who came and went over time. The cast included Anthony Edwards, George Clooney, Noah Wyle, Eriq La Salle, Julianna Margulies and Angela Bassett.

125 Father-and-son actors : ALDAS

Actor Robert Alda was the father of Alan Alda. Robert Alda’s most famous role was probably George Gershwin in the 1945 movie “Rhapsody in Blue”. Robert appeared twice in “M*A*S*H”, alongside his son.

Alan Alda has had a great television career, most notably as a lead actor in “M*A*S*H”. He was born Alphonso D’Abruzzo in the Bronx, New York City. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He also won an Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Senator Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

Down

1 “Copacabana” showgirl : LOLA

The Copacabana of the 1978 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today, although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub.

Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there
She would merengue and do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor, they worked from 8 ’til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?

2 Bad day for Caesar : IDES

Julius Caesar was assassinated on the 15th (the ides) of March, 44 BC. He was attacked by a group of sixty people in the Roman Senate, and was stabbed 23 times. The first to strike a blow was Servilius Casca, who attacked Caesar from behind and stabbed him in the neck. In Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, Casca utters the words “Speak, hands, for me!” just before making the fatal blow. The following line, uttered by Caesar, is more famous though: “Et tu, Brute?”

5 NBC weekend fixture, briefly : SNL

NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was named “NBC’s Saturday Night” during its first season. This was to differentiate it from the ABC show airing at that time, called “Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell”. Chevy Chase uttered the famous line “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night” in the very first SNL episode on October 11, 1975. That careful wording has persisted, even though the NBC show’s name was changed to “Saturday Night Live” after Cosell’s show went off the air in 1976.

8 Attending USC, e.g. : IN LA

The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known for the success of its athletic program. USC Trojans have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.

10 Probably not a good sign at a picnic : ANT

Our term “picnic” comes from the French word that now has the same meaning, namely “pique-nique”. The original “pique-nique” was a fashionable potluck affair, and not necessarily held outdoors.

11 Tight headgear : DO-RAG

Hip-hoppers might wear do-rags (also “durags”) today, but they have been around for centuries. The etymology of “do-rag” is pretty evident, i.e. a piece of cloth (rag) to hold a hairstyle (do) in place.

12 Trounce : SHELLAC

“To shellac” is a slang term meaning “to defeat decisively, to strike severely”. It’s possible that “shellac” took on this meaning as it implies that one’s opponent is finished, coated with shellac.

15 14th-century Russian ruler : IVAN I

Ivan I was Prince of Moscow, and was nicknamed “Kalita” (“Moneybag”). He used his wealth well, giving loans to neighboring principalities. These cities got into so much debt that Ivan’s successors were eventually able to annex them.

17 Swordfish __ : STEAK

Swordfish are predatory fish with long, pointed bills that resemble swords, hence the name. The “sword” is not used to spear its prey, but rather is employed as a slashing tool, injuring the prey and making for an easier catch.

18 Absorbent fabric : TERRY

Terry cloth is a fabric designed to absorb lots of liquid. The fabric has relatively large loops of thread that improve the absorption properties. The larger the loop, the more thread, the better the absorption.

26 Helped plan a job, maybe : ABETTED

The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (literally “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

29 Penny attachment : -SAVER

Today, “pennysaver” is a generic term for a free periodical issued in a community, offering items and services for sale. The original “Pennysaver” was published in 1948 in Ohio by Horace Greeley and Ralph St. Denny.

33 D-Day French city : ST-LO

Saint-Lô is a town in Normandy that was occupied by Germany in 1940. Saint-Lo stood at a strategic crossroads and so there was intense fighting there during the Normandy invasion of 1944. After a prolonged bombardment, very little of the town was left standing.

35 “The Lion King” lion : NALA

In “The Lion King”, Nala is a lioness and the childhood friend of Simba. By the end of the story, Nala and Simba become wedded. “The Lion King” is inspired by William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, with Simba representing the title character, and Nala representing Hamlet’s love interest Ophelia.

36 “Criminal Minds” agent played by Matthew Gray Gubler : REID

Matthew Gray Gubler is a talented man, working as an actor, filmmaker, fashion model, painter and author. As an actor, he is perhaps best known for playing profiler Dr. Spencer Reid on the crime show “Criminal Minds”.

“Criminal Minds” is a police drama that has aired on CBS since 2005. The stories revolve around the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia.

37 Marines NCO : SSGT

A staff sergeant (SSgt.) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO).

38 Double agent Aldrich : AMES

Aldrich Ames worked for the CIA until he was convicted in 1994 of spying for the Soviet Union. Prior to identifying Ames as a spy, the CIA was highly concerned at the high rate of disappearance of their own agents behind the Iron Curtain and they struggled for years to find the mole that they assumed must be working within their own ranks. After he was finally arrested, the CIA was criticized for not having identified Ames sooner, particularly as he was living an extravagant lifestyle relative to his apparent means. Ames is now serving a life sentence, courtesy of the US government.

41 Coastal flier : ERN

The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also known as the white-tailed eagle or the sea eagle.

43 Delhi dairy drink : LASSI

Lassi is a yogurt-based drink from India. Popular variants are namkeen lassi (which is salty), sweet lassi and mango lassi. There is even a bhang lassi, which is infused with a liquid derivative of cannabis.

45 Author Rita __ Brown : MAE

Rita Mae Brown is an American author who is best known for her 1973 novel “Rubyfruit Jungle”. Brown was the domestic partner of tennis champion Martina Navratilova in the late seventies and early eighties.

47 Irish nationalist Robert : EMMET

Irish nationalist Robert Emmet led the unsuccessful 1803 rebellion against the British, for which he was hung, drawn and quartered.

48 Symbols in some pop group names : COMMAS

Maybe Crosby, Stills & Nash or Earth, Wind & Fire?

50 Perfume name : ESTEE

“Estée” is the signature fragrance from the Estée Lauder Company. “Estée” was the second fragrance developed by Estée Lauder herself, and was introduced in 1968. Lauder’s first fragrance was “Youth Dew”, introduced in 1953.

54 Artist El __ : GRECO

El Greco (“the Greek”, in Spanish) was the nickname of the artist whose real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos. El Greco was born in Crete in 1541, and moved to Venice to study art when he was in his early twenties. A few years later he moved to the city of Toledo in central Spain, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.

57 “A Hard Road to Glory” author : ASHE

“A Hard Road to Glory: A History of the African-American Athlete” is a 1988 book by tennis star Arthur Ashe. Published in three volumes, Ashe researched for almost six years with a team to put the book together. Ashe stated publicly that he valued “A Hard Road to Glory” more than any of his tennis titles.

59 Asmara is its capital : ERITREA

Eritrea is a country located in the Horn of Africa, and surrounded by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. Some scientists believe that the area now known as Eritrea was the departure point for anatomically modern humans who first left Africa to populate the rest of the world.

Asmara is the capital and largest city in Eritrea. The same city is known locally as “Asmera”.

62 Perth protest : OCH!

Perth is a city in central Scotland that lies on the River Tay. It is sometimes referred to the Fair City after Sir Walter Scott published his novel “The Fair Maid of Perth”.

64 Dues payer: Abbr. : MEM

Member (mem.)

65 Big name in water filters : BRITA

Brita is a German company that specializes in water filtration products. Brita products do a great job of filtering tap water, but they don’t “purify” it as they don’t remove microbes. That job is usually done by a municipality before the water gets to the faucet.

66 “My Heart Will Go On” singer : DION

“My Heart Will Go On” is the love theme from the 1997 blockbuster movie “Titanic”. It was recorded by Céline Dion, and hit the number one spot in the charts all around the world. “My Heart Will Go On” was destined to become Dion’s biggest hit, and the best-selling single in the world for 1998.

69 Country rocker Steve : EARLE

Steve Earle is an American songwriter and performer, and someone with a reputation of having lived a hard life. Earle’s brushes with the law and drug addiction problems have earned him the nickname “the hardcore troubadour”.

70 Ancient Greek medical researcher : GALEN

Galen of Pergamum was a physician of ancient Rome (of Greek ethnicity). Galen mainly worked on monkeys, dissecting their bodies to learn about physiology, as it was not permitted to dissect human bodies in his day.

72 Ancient colonnade : STOA

A stoa was a covered walkway in ancient Greece. A stoa usually consisted of columns lining the side of a building or buildings, with another row of columns defining the other side of the walkway. The columns supported a roof. Often, stoae would surround marketplaces in large cities.

A colonnade is a long sequence of columns that are equally spaced, and often support some type of roof. A colonnade surrounding a porch at an entranceway is known as a portico. A colonnade surrounding a courtyard or the perimeter of a building is known as a peristyle.

80 Big East team : PITT

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) chose the nickname for its sporting teams in 1909, and claims that it was the first team in the country to adopt the name “Panthers”.

84 U.S. govt. broadcaster : VOA

The US began shortwave propaganda broadcasts in early 1942, just after America entered WWII. The first broadcast to Germany was introduced by the “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” and opened with the words:

Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war. The news may be good or bad for us — We will always tell you the truth.

That first broadcast was called “Stimmen aus Amerika” (“Voices from America”), and gave the fledgling broadcasting operation its name. VOA is still going strong today, and was a station that I used to listen to as a teenager back in Ireland in the early seventies …

87 1994 Peace co-Nobelist : PERES

Shimon Peres was an Israeli statesman who was born in Poland, in a township that is now part of Belarus. Peres served as President of the State of Israel from 2007 to 2014. Born Szymon Perski, Peres was the oldest head of state in the world while he served as president of Israel. While serving as foreign minister, he represented Israel in the secret negotiations that led to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993. For that work, Peres was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat.

89 Flower named for its color and shape : BLUEBELL

Bluebells are very pretty perennial plants that grow from bulbs. The flowers are a violet-blue color and resemble bells, hence the name. They are found growing wild extensively in Britain, and are generally regarded as the UK’s favorite flower.

96 Proverbial bone breakers : STICKS

Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me.

100 Maryland’s Fort __ : MEADE

Fort George G. Meade (often just “Fort Meade”) is a US Army post located near Odenton, Maryland. It is most famous these days as the location of the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA).

103 Wheel alignment : TOE-IN

In the world of car maintenance, “toe” is also known as “tracking”, the angle a wheel makes relative to the longitudinal axis of the vehicle.

105 Page-bottom abbr. : CONTD

Continued (contd.)

109 PGA rival of Tiger : PHIL

Phil Mickelson is one of the most famous left-handed golfers currently playing on the PGA Tour. Less well known is the fact that outside of golf, he is right-handed. Despite his great success as a golfer, the US Open championship has always eluded him. He has finished runner-up six times, more times than any other player.

112 D-Day craft : LSTS

The initialism “LST” stands for Landing Ship, Tank. LSTs are the large vessels used mainly in WWII that have doors at either ends through which tanks and other vehicles can roll off and onto beaches. The design concept persists to this day in the huge fleet of commercial roll-on/roll-off car ferries, all inspired by the LST.

The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used by the military to designate the day on which a combat operation is to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that D just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.

114 Chewie’s pal : HAN

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

Wookiees are a biped race featured in “Star Wars”. The most notable Wookiee is Chewbacca (aka “Chewie”), the loyal friend and associate of Han Solo who serves as co-pilot on the Millennium Falcon spaceship.

115 Drill wielder: Abbr. : DDS

Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)