Tag: Locavore’s org. crossword clue

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Constructed by: Heather Stanger McIntire & Shannon Rapp

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Secret Menu

Themed answers each include an item found in a computer MENU hidden within:

• 37A Unpublicized restaurant offering, or a feature of the answer to each starred clue : SECRET MENU

• 18A *Brunch choice : FRENCH OMELET (secret HOME)
• 24A *Apprenticeship in the ways of The Force : JEDI TRAINING (secret EDIT)
• 54A *Negro Leagues player in the Baseball Hall of Fame : SATCHEL PAIGE (secret HELP)
• 61A *”I Just Called To Say I Love You” singer : STEVIE WONDER (secret VIEW)

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

Bill’s time: 7m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Texting format initials : SMS

Short Message Service (SMS) is the name for the text messaging service that many of us still use on our cell phones to contact friends and family.

4A Eel in maki sushi : UNAGI

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

When I’m thinking of sushi, I’m really picturing “makizushi” (also “maki”), which is fish, vegetables and sushi rice combined in layers and rolled up in seaweed. “Makizushi” translates from Japanese as “rolled sushi”.

9A Language of Sri Lanka : TAMIL

Tamils are a large ethnic group of almost 80 million people who speak Tamil as their mother tongue. Despite the large Tamil population, there is no Tamil state. The highest concentration of Tamils is in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, which has over 72 million Tamil speakers.

14A “Long,” in Hawaiian : LOA

Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

16A __ Cortina 2026 : MILANO

Italy has hosted four Olympic Games:

• The 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo
• The 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome
• The 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
• The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina

18A *Brunch choice : FRENCH OMELET (secret HOME)

I believe that a French omelet should be yellow on the outside, not browned at all, and with a soft inside that has the consistency of custard. It is usually served as a rolled cylinder. The only flavoring used is salt and pepper, with finely chopped herbs used as a garnish.

20A Only major U.S. city founded by a woman : MIAMI

The city of Miami was founded as a result of the Great Freeze of 1894–1895 that froze crops throughout the state of Florida. During that freeze, Tuttle sent tycoon Henry Flagler fresh orange blossoms to prove her land, the land upon which Miami would eventually be built, was a frost-free paradise. Flagler was convinced, and extended his Florida East Coast Railway to the south, paving the way for the city’s official incorporation in 1896. Miami is the only major US city founded by a woman.

22A Roadside org. : AAA

American Automobile Association (AAA)

24A *Apprenticeship in the ways of The Force : JEDI TRAINING (secret EDIT)

The Force is a metaphysical power much cited in all of the “Star Wars” movies. We may even hear someone in real life say “May the Force be with you”. Fans of the movie franchise even celebrate May 4th every year as Star Wars Day, using the pun “May the 4th be with you”!

29A Digital exec : CTO

Chief technology officer (CTO)

30A Purple bloom : IRIS

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

32A Comedy series featuring Lily Tomlin : LAUGH-IN

“Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” was originally recorded as a one-off special for NBC in 1967, but it was so successful that it was brought back as a series to replace the waning spy show “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” Personally, I loved both shows!

Lily Tomlin is a comedian and actress who got her big break as a regular member of the cast of “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In” in the late sixties and early seventies. Tomlin created several great characters on the show. My personal favorite is Ernestine, the condescending telephone operator with the marvelous nasal voice and snorting laugh. Ernestine was fond of saying “One ringy dingy …” I really enjoy Tomlin’s performances as an actress, notably in the movies “9 to 5” and “All of Me”, and on the TV shows “The West Wing” and “Grace and Frankie”. I went to her stage show many years ago in San Francisco, and just did not enjoy it. I was devastated …

35A Educational acronym : STEM

The acronym “STEM” stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology.

37A Unpublicized restaurant offering, or a feature of the answer to each starred clue : SECRET MENU

Apparently, some fast-food restaurants maintain a “secret” menu of unadvertised selections that customers hear about on the grapevine.

41A Call dibs on : CLAIM

The phrase “to have dibs on” expresses a claim on something. Apparently, the term “dibs” is a contraction of “dibstone”, which was a knucklebone or jack used in a children’s game.

44A Charger, e.g. : AUTO

The first Dodge Chargers came off the production line in 1966. One of the more famous Chargers was the General Lee, a 1969 model that was painted orange and driven by the title characters in “The Dukes of Hazzard”.

48A Tolkien characters who like to eat six meals a day : HOBBITS

Hobbits are a race of people created by J. R. R. Tolkien in his novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”. He describes them as about “half” of the height of the average human, and Tolkien sometimes refers to them as “halflings”. Their legendary six-meal daily schedule includes “second breakfast” and “elevenses”.

51A Locavore’s org. : CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

A locavore is someone who limits their diet to food that is produced locally, often within 100 miles of its point of purchase. There’s a great memoir by the author Barbara Kingsolver that discusses the experiences of her and her family with the locavore lifestyle called “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life” An excellent read …

53A Result of advancing in the field? : RBI

That would be baseball.

54A *Negro Leagues player in the Baseball Hall of Fame : SATCHEL PAIGE (secret HELP)

Satchel Paige pitched baseball in the Negro League and then the majors, before retiring in 1965. When he moved to the Major League, Paige was 42 as he pitched his first game, making him the oldest ever “rookie” to play Major League Baseball. And when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, Paige was the first person to be so honored from the Negro League.

57A Key West, e.g. : ISLE

Key West in the Florida Keys is the southernmost city in the contiguous US, and is the southern terminus of US Route 1. The southernmost point in the continental US is Whitehead Spit, which is located within the bounds of Naval Air Station Key West.

59A __ 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”.

60A Oyster opener : OTTER

Sea otters are the most dextrous of marine mammals and are known for their use of tools, including stones, empty shells and discarded cans and bottles. They float on their backs and use their bellies as a workbench, smashing oysters against the rock with enough force to crack the shell without damaging their own fur. They will even stash a favorite “anvil stone” in a specialized flap of skin under their armpit that functions as a built-in pocket.

61A *”I Just Called To Say I Love You” singer : STEVIE WONDER (secret VIEW)

1984’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You” is Stevie Wonder’s best-selling single. It was released as the lead single from Wonder’s soundtrack album for the film “The Woman in Red”. It then became the first Motown-produced single to win an Oscar, for Best Original Song.

67A Barbershop parts : TENORS

Barbershop music is played in the a cappella style, meaning that it is unaccompanied vocal music. It originated in African-American communities in the South, as gospel quartets often gathered in neighborhood barber shops to sing together.

69A Music producer Brian : ENO

Brian Eno was presented with the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 2019, for his contribution to the popularisation of science. That same year, an asteroid was named in his honor. Asteroid 81948 was officially renamed to his full name, “Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno”. It is now most often referred to simply as “Eno”.

70A Snacks stuffed with “stuf” : OREOS

The Most Stuf Oreo is the variety with the most creme filling ever released by Nabisco. It boasts nearly four times the amount of “stuf” as a classic Oreo, easily surpassing the Double Stuf and Mega Stuf varieties.

71A Couple of bucks? : STAGS

A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and the females called cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

72A Web feed initials : RSS

Many websites and blogs publish content in a format known as Rich Site Summary (RSS). The “feed” can be read using an RSS reader. The advantage of using an RSS reader is that the user doesn’t have to check the website for new content. That new material is fed to the RSS reader as soon as it is published.

Down

1D Jerky brand : SLIM JIM

Slim Jim is a brand of beef jerky that was introduced for sale in the 1940s, although the product itself was invented in 1929 by Philadelphian Adolph Levis.

2D “Tartuffe” playwright : MOLIERE

“Molière” was the stage name of French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. It is amazing how well the comedies of Molière, written in the 1600s, entertain us on stage today. Among his best-known plays are “The Misanthrope”, “The School for Wives” and “Tartuffe or the Hypocrite”.

“Tartuffe” is a 1664 play, a farce written by the French playwright and actor Molière. The piece became so notorious for its satire of religious hypocrisy that King Louis XIV was forced to ban the play for five years following its premiere. Famously, the title character pretends to be religiously virtuous, and is exposed as a hypocrite. More than three centuries after the play was written, the term “tartuffe” is still used, in French and in English, to describe someone who is hypocritical.

3D First sultan of Syria and Egypt : SALADIN

Saladin was the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He is perhaps best known in the West for the chivalry that he showed to his enemy, Richard the Lionheart, during the Third Crusade (1189–1192). Saladin reportedly sent his rival baskets of fresh fruit and mountain snow to help treat a fever. The relationship between the two developed to the point that Richard once proposed a peace treaty through the marriage of his own sister, Joan, to Saladin’s brother.

5D Swe. neighbor : NOR

The Norway–Sweden border is the longest continuous land border in Europe, running just over 1,000 miles from the North Sea to the Arctic. Both nations are signatories to the Schengen Agreement, which eliminates internal borders between almost 30 European countries, so there are no immigration controls along the Norway-Sweden border. However, Norway is not a member of the European Union, and so there are sporadic customs checks.

7D Martini liquor : GIN

The term “martini” probably takes its name from the “Martini & Rossi” brand of dry vermouth, although no one seems to be completely sure. What is clear is that despite the Martini name originating in Italy, the martini drink originated in the US. The original martini was made with gin and sweet vermouth, but someone specifying a “dry” martini was given gin and dry vermouth. Nowadays we use dry vermouth for all martinis, and the term “dry” has become a reference to how little vermouth is included in the drink. Famously, Noël Coward liked his drink very dry and said that a perfect martini is made by “filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy”. On the contrary, adding extra vermouth results in a “wet” martini. The German-American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken referred to the martini as “the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet”.

8D Like some ruins in Peru : INCAN

The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. They developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Túpac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

9D “Beetlejuice” director Burton : TIM

Movie director and producer Tim Burton makes my least favorite type of movie: dark, gothic, horror fantasies. The list of his titles includes “Edward Scissorhands”, “Sleepy Hollow”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Alice in Wonderland”. Also included in each of these movies is Johnny Depp in a starring role, as Depp and Burton are good friends and frequent collaborators. Another frequent star in Burton movies is English actress Helena Bonham Carter, who has been his domestic partner since 2001.

“Beetlejuice” is a 1988 comedy-horror film directed by Tim Burton and starring Michael Keaton in the title role. Beetlejuice is an underworld character who tries to scare away the new inhabitants of a house that is haunted by the ghosts of a deceased couple (played by Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis).

10D Bitter beers : ALES

What’s known as “bitter ale” in the UK corresponds to “pale ale” in the US. I’m a fan …

16D Disney film set in Polynesia : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people. Unlike many of the previous Disney Princess films, Moana’s story is not centered around romance. She is only the second Disney Princess who doesn’t have a love interest, the first being Merida in the 2012 feature “Brave”.

The term “Polynesia” was coined in 1756 by author Charles de Brosses when he used it to describe all the islands in the Pacific. This usage was later restricted to what we now refer to as a subregion of Oceania.

21D Sue Grafton’s “__ for Malice” : M IS

Sue Grafton wrote detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “’A’ Is for Alibi” in 1982 and worked her way up to “‘Y’ is for Yesterday” before she passed away in 2017.

25D Campus mil. unit : ROTC

The Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) is a training program for officers based in colleges all around the US. The program was established in 1862 when as a condition of receiving a land-grant to create colleges, the federal government required that military tactics be part of a new school’s curriculum.

27D “I feel seen” : IT ME

“It me” is a slang phrase used mainly on the Internet to indicate that one identifies with something. Usually, the phrase is used somewhat humorously.

28D Fertilizer from bats : GUANO

Guano is the droppings of seabirds, bats and seals. It is prized as fertilizer as it doesn’t really smell, and contains high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen. The word “guano” means “seabird droppings” in the Quechua language spoken in the Andes region of South America.

33D Mentor of Minions : GRU

The main protagonist in the “Despicable Me” movies is the supervillain Felonious Gru, usually referred to simply as “Gru”. Gru is voiced by Steve Carell.

35D Big rigs : SEMIS

A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.

38D Speed reader? : TACH

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

39D Inspiring figure : MUSE

In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

• Calliope (epic poetry)
• Clio (history)
• Erato (lyric poetry)
• Euterpe (music)
• Melpomene (tragedy)
• Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
• Terpsichore (dance)
• Thalia (comedy)
• Urania (astronomy)

41D Artist known for fabric-wrapped installations : CHRISTO

Christo Javacheff is a Bulgarian-born artist from France. Along with his wife Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, Christo created what were termed environmental works of art. Most familiar to me was the complete wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin. You might also remember a work called “The Gates”, which was made up of over 7,000 gates erected along 23 miles of pathways in New York City’s Central Park. Each of the gates was draped with orange-colored nylon fabric.

42D Maine course : LOBSTER

The American lobster (sometimes “Maine lobster”) is the heaviest crustacean species, sometimes reaching 44 lb in weight. Believe it or not, Maine lobster was once so abundant and undervalued that it was disparagingly nicknamed the “cockroach of the sea” and used primarily as garden fertilizer or livestock feed. That all changed with the advent of canning and railroads, allowing the perishable meat to reach wealthy inland diners who deemed it an exotic delicacy

43D Central Texas city : ABILENE

Abilene is a city in Texas located about 150 miles west of Fort Worth. The city originated at stop on the Texas and Pacific Railway in 1881, a place where cattlemen could load up stock for transportation. It was named for Abilene, Kansas, which was the endpoint for the Chisholm Trail at that time.

46D City birds : PIGEONS

City pigeons are the feral descendants of the domestic pigeon, which was originally bred from the wild rock dove to serve as the world’s first “air mail” messaging system. Every urban bird is essentially a displaced cliff-dweller, instinctively treating concrete skyscraper ledges as a modern substitute for the Mediterranean cliff faces of its ancestors.

47D Sound investments? : STEREOS

Monophonic sound (“mono”) is sound reproduced using just one audio channel, which is usually played out of just one speaker. Stereophonic sound is reproduced using two audio channels, with the sound from each channel played out of two different speakers. The pair of stereo speakers are usually positioned apart from each other so that sound appears to come from between the two. Quadraphonic sound (4.0 surround sound) uses four audio channels with the sound played back through four speakers that are often positioned at the corners of the room in which one is listening.

56D Sauna openings? : PORES

“Sauna” is the only Finnish word widely adopted into English, with the term originally describing an Old Finnish “pit” or “earth hole” used for winter warmth. Finland famously maintains roughly 3.3 million saunas for its 5.5 million residents, meaning that there are more saunas than private cars within its borders.

58D Kitchen initialism : EVOO

Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labeled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

62D Tax agcy. : IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.

64D “The Code Breaker” subj. : DNA

“The Code Breaker”, by historian Walter Isaacson, is a 2021 biography of Jennifer Doudna, a biochemist and Nobel laureate who pioneered work in gene editing.