Tag: “Lost in transit” inquiry crossword clue

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Constructed by: MaryEllen Uthlaut
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Performance Reviews

Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted as something that a person cited in the clue might do:

• 23A The lazy housekeeper … : … LET THE DUST SETTLE
• 43A The disruptive hairstylist … : … MADE WAVES
• 72A The fashionable archaeologist … : … DUG IN HER HEELS
• 98A The overzealous electrician … : … BLEW A FUSE
• 123A The absent-minded dentist … : … LEFT AN IMPRESSION
• 16D The psychic bartender … : … CALLED THE SHOTS
• 50D The fearless trapeze artist … : … GOT THE HANG OF IT

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

Bill’s time: 12m 24s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Chow __: noodle dish : MEIN

“Chow mein” has two slightly different meanings on the East and West Coasts of the US. On the East Coast, basic chow mein is a crispy dish, whereas on the West Coast it is a steamed dish that is relatively soft. On the East Coast the steamed dish is available, but under the name “lo mein”. On the West Coast, the crispy dish is also on the menu, as “Hong Kong-style chow mein”.

5 Sp. girls : SRTAS

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

10 USDA Choice, e.g. : GRADE

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) classifies meat into eight different grades:

• Prime
• Choice
• Select
• Standard
• Commercial
• Utility
• Cutter
• Canner

15 Vinegar, chemically : ACID

Acetic acid has the formula CH₃COOH, and is the main component of vinegar.

Our word “vinegar” comes from the French “vinaigre”, which means the same thing. “Vinaigre” comes from the French “vin” meaning “wine” and “aigre” meaning “sour”.

19 Peak near Catania : ETNA

The Metropolitan City of Catania (“Province of Catania” prior to 2015) is not only home to the city of Catania, but also to Mount Etna, Europe’s largest volcano.

26 Rootless water plant : ALGA

Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

28 Natural gas component : ETHANE

Ethane is the second largest component of natural gas after methane. Ethane’s main use is in the production of ethylene, a compound that is widely used in the chemical industry.

36 Police dept. title : DET

Detective (det.)

37 John Bunyan, notably : PURITAN

“Puritan” was a pejorative term used in the 1560s to describe a Protestant extremist who was not satisfied with the extent of the reformation of the Church of England. The Puritans advocated further reforms, believing that the Church of England still harbored a lot of corruption. Facing staunch resistance to their ideals in Britain, many of the Puritans emigrated, the first wave to the Netherlands, with later emigrants moving to New England.

John Bunyan was an English author and Puritan preacher. He is best remembered for his theological fiction book “The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come”. Written in 1678, “The Pilgrim’s Progress” has never been out of print.

48 Hoops player : CAGER

In the early days of basketball, when a ball went out of bounds possession was awarded to the player who first retrieved the ball. This led to mad scuffles off the court, often involving spectators. As the game became more organized, courts were routinely “caged”, largely because of this out of bounds rule, to limit interaction with the crowd. It’s because of these cages that basketball players are sometimes referred to today as “cagers”.

53 First name in Renaissance painting : MONA

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.

57 Breakdown of social norms : ANOMIE

Anomie is social breakdown caused by the erosion of value and standards. The term comes to us via French from Greek. The root words are “a-” (without) “nomos” (law).

59 Former capital of Japan : KYOTO

The city of Kyoto was once the capital of Japan. Indeed, the name “Kyoto” means “capital city” in Japanese. Kyoto is sometimes referred to as the City of Ten Thousand Shrines.

61 Big cat voiced by Angelina Jolie in “Kung Fu Panda” : TIGRESS

Angelina Jolie is a remarkably successful Hollywood actress from Los Angeles, California. Jolie has acting in her blood as her father is actor Jon Voight. Her godparents are actors Jacqueline Bisset and Maximilian Schell. Jolie’s first marriage was to British actor Jonny Lee Miller, who plays Sherlock Holmes on the TV show “Elementary”. Her second marriage was to actor Billy Bob Thornton, and the third to actor Brad Pitt.

“Kung Fu Panda” is a 2008 animated film from DreamWorks. It’s all about a panda who is an expert in kung fu, as one might guess …

65 Domed halls : ROTUNDAS

In architecture, the word “rotunda” describes a building with a circular ground plan. Often the building has a dome, but that isn’t a strict requirement. The term can also refer to a round room within a building. The most famous example in this country is the Rotunda in the US Capitol building in Washington, D.C.

70 Rush-order letters : ASAP

As soon as possible (ASAP)

71 Scrap : ORT

Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

77 “The Wizard of Oz” actor : LAHR

Bert Lahr’s most famous role was the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz”. Lahr had a long career in burlesque, vaudeville and on Broadway. Lahr also starred in the first US production of Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot”, alongside Tom Ewell.

79 New __, Connecticut : CANAAN

The town of New Canaan in Connecticut is located about an hour’s train ride from New York City. When New Canaan was settled in 1731, it was very much a rural area. When the railroad arrived in the town in the 1860s, the wealthy in New York City started to build summer homes in the area. Many of those summer homes evolved into year round residences and folks started to commute into the city.

80 Part of a wedding toast, maybe : ANECDOTE

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

82 Summer pest, informally : SKEETER

“Mosquito” is Spanish for “little fly”. The female mosquito actually has to have a “blood meal” before she is able to lay her eggs. Mosquitoes are sometimes referred to as “skeeters”.

88 “His Dark Materials” cable network : HBO

“His Dark Materials” is a fantasy television series based on the epic trilogy of novels of the same name by Philip Pullman. Not for me …

89 Arctic native : SEAL

There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals (like elephant seals).

91 Math points : LOCI

In mathematics, a locus (plural “loci”) is the set of all points that satisfy a given requirement. For example, the locus called a circle is the set of all points equidistant from a single point.

94 “One Minute Man” rapper Elliott : MISSY

Melissa “Missy” Elliott is a rap artist who was childhood friends with fellow rapper Timbaland.

95 Salt, say : SEASON

Sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt) is an ionic compound. It comprises a crystal lattice made up of large chloride (Cl^–) ions in a cubic structure, with smaller sodium (Na⁺) ions in between the chlorides.

101 System of connected PCs, for short : LAN

You may have a Local Area Network (LAN) in your house. If you’ve got a PC and a router or switch, likely attached to some modem, then you have a LAN.

106 Air traffic org. : FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set up in 1958 (as the Federal Aviation Agency). The agency was established at that particular time largely in response to an increasing number of midair collisions. The worst of these disasters had taken place two years earlier over the Grand Canyon, a crash between two commercial passenger airplanes that resulted in 128 fatalities.

109 Unit of energy : ERG

An erg is a unit of mechanical work or energy. It is a small unit, with one joule comprising 10 million ergs. It has been suggested that an erg is about the amount of energy required for a mosquito to take off. The term comes from “ergon”, the Greek word for work.

122 Vegan protein : TOFU

“Tofu” is a name for bean curd, and is a Japanese word meaning just that … bean that has curdled. Tofu is produced by coagulating soy milk, using either salt or something acidic. Once the protein has coagulated, the curds are pressed into the familiar blocks. Personally I love tofu, but my wife absolutely hates it …

126 Footnote note : IBID

Ibid. is short for the Latin word “ibidem” and is typically found in footnotes and bibliographies. Ibid. is used to refer the reader to the prior citation, instead of giving the same information all over again (title, author etc.).

127 “100 years of improvement” retailer : LOWE’S

Lucius S. Lowe opened the first Lowe’s hardware store in 1921, in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Lucius only knew the one store, as it was his family who expanded the company after he passed away in 1940.

128 Burrowing bug : BORER

“Borer” is a name given to various species of insect that bore into the woody parts of plants.

129 Mineral no longer used in baby powder : TALC

Talc is a mineral, hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” is also made from cornstarch.

131 Fashion journalist __ Leon Talley : ANDRE

Fashion journalist André Leon Talley served as the first African-American male creative director of “Vogue” magazine from 1988 to 1995. He also appeared as a judge on “America’s Next Top Model”. Tally passed away in 2022 after a heart attack and complications from COVID-19.

132 FaceTime alternative : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. Skype was founded by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

133 Smite, as a dragon : SLAY

To smite is to strike with a firm blow. The term “smite” can also mean “strike down and slay”.

Down

1 Like cheese in a fondue pot : MELTED

Fondue is a traditional Swiss dish comprising melted cheese served in a pot over a tabletop stove, into which diners dip bread. The term “fondue”, which is French for “melted”, is now applied more widely to similar dishes served in a communal pot into which a food is dipped. Traditional fondue is delicious, so very delicious …

4 Super casual “Sure!” : NATCH!

“Natch” is a slang term meaning “naturally, of course”. “Natch” is simply a shortening of the word “‘naturally”, and was first recorded at the end of WWII.

9 “The Orville” star MacFarlane : SETH

Seth MacFarlane is best known for creating the very successful (although they don’t get my vote!) animated TV shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad!”. My kids love ’em …

“The Orville” is a sci-fi comedy TV series created by and starring Seth McFarlane. The show is inspired by Gene Roddenberry’s “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. The title refers to the USS Orville, a spacecraft charged with exploring the galaxy.

10 Mercury Seven astronaut John : GLENN

John Glenn was a Marine Corps pilot, astronaut and US Senator. As an astronaut, Glenn was the first American to orbit the earth, in 1962. He later became the oldest person to fly in space, in 1998 at the age of 77.

The Mercury Seven were the original NASA astronauts. Several members of the 7-man team actually flew on all the major NASA programs: Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and the Space Shuttle. The seven astronauts were:

• Alan Shepherd
• Gus Grissom
• John Glenn
• Scott Carpenter
• Wally Schirra
• Gordon Cooper
• Deke Slayton

14 Periodic-table entry : ELEMENT

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist. When Mendeleev classified elements according to their chemical properties, he noticed patterns and was able to group elements into his famous 1869 Periodic Table. So powerful was his table that he actually predicted the properties of some elements that had not even been discovered in 1869. Element number 101 is mendelevium and was named after Mendeleev.

15 Berry native to the Amazon rainforest : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

17 Unworldly young woman : INGENUE

So often in literature, the movies and on stage, there is an innocent woman at the center of the story. Such stock characters came to be known as “ingénues”, a term derived from the French adjective “ingénu” meaning innocent, virtuous, candid and “ingenuous”.

34 Sanctuary section : APSE

A sanctuary is a sacred or holy place, with “sanctuary” coming from the Latin “sanctus” meaning “holy”. Some Christian traditions use the term “sanctuary” to describe the area in a church that houses the main altar. Some medieval Church law granted immunity to fugitives and debtors who took refuge in some churches, and so “sanctuary” took on the meaning “immunity from punishment”.

40 Like the White Sox at Fenway Park : AWAY

The Chicago White Sox Major League Baseball team was established in Chicago in 1900 and originally was called the White Stockings. The name was changed because the abbreviation “Sox” for “Stockings” was regularly used in newspaper headlines.

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams and so command a large attendance, but only when on the road. The relatively small capacity of Boston’s Fenway Park, the team’s home since 1912, has dictated that every game the Red Sox have played there has been a sell-out from May of 2003 to April 2013. I had the pleasure of touring Fenway Park some years ago. It’s quite a place …

44 Election Day figure : VOTER

Election day was chosen by Congress back in 1845. The month of November was selected as it suited an agricultural society, following the fall harvest and yet not too far into winter, which could make travel difficult. Tuesday was chosen so that people had time to travel to polling stations. Monday elections might have meant that some would have to start out on Sunday, and that could interfere with Christian services.

45 Patriarch who “walked with God” : ENOCH

There are two Enoch’s mentioned in the Bible. One was Enoch, son of Cain and grandson of Adam. The second was Enoch, great-grandfather of Noah and father of Methuselah.

47 Spencer of “Good Morning America” : LARA

Lara Spencer has been co-anchor of “Good Morning America” since 2011, working alongside Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos. Back in 2004/2005, PBS viewers will have seen Spencer hosting the hit show “Antiques Roadshow”.

“Good Morning America” (GMA) is ABC’s morning show, and has been since 1975. There was even a spin-off show called “Good Afternoon America”, although that only lasted for a few months in 2012.

48 Holiday songs : CAROLS

The word “carol” came into English via the Old French word “carole”, which was a “dance in a ring”. When “carol” made it into English, about 1300 AD, the term was used to describe a dance as well as a joyful song. Around 1500 AD, carols that were sung came to be associated with Christmas.

49 Iditarod wear : ANORAK

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race covers an incredible 1,161 miles, from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. The race starts every year on the first Saturday in March, with the first race having been held in 1973. Finishing times range from over 8 days to 15 days or more. The first few races only used a northern route, but then a southern route was added to the roster every second year. It’s kind of a good thing, because when the racers take the northern route they don’t even pass through the town of Iditarod!

50 The fearless trapeze artist … : … GOT THE HANG OF IT

The circus act known as the “trapeze” is so called because the shape defined by the crossbar, ropes and ceiling of the tent is a “trapezium”.

51 Bird that can run 30 mph : EMU

Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs. It is the male emu that incubates the eggs. The incubation period lasts about 8 weeks, during which time the male neither eats nor drinks, just lapping up any morning dew that is nearby. While incubating a clutch of eggs, male emus lose about a third of their weight.

55 Dutch painter Jan : STEEN

Jan Steen was a painter from the Netherlands who was active in the Dutch Golden Age, the 17th century. Steen’s most famous work is probably “The Feast of Saint Nicholas”, which we can see at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

63 Fries in a little butter : SAUTES

“Sauté” is a French word. The literal translation from the French is “jumped” or “bounced”, a reference to the tossing of food while cooking it in a frying pan.

66 Lab gelatins : AGARS

Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science, it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

69 Hawaii’s Mauna __ : KEA

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the peak of which is the highest point in the whole state. Mauna Kea is in effect the tip of a gigantic volcano rising up from the seabed.

74 Selassie of Ethiopia : HAILE

Emperor Haile Selassie I ruled Ethiopia until he was removed from power in a revolution in 1974. Selassie died in 1975 under suspicious circumstances and it is widely believed that he was assassinated.

78 WNBA stat : REBS

Rebounds (reb.)

81 Nike’s __-fit fabric : DRI

“Dri-FIT” is the brand name used by Nike for the company’s line of microfiber, polyester clothing. Designed for exercise, Dri-FIT garments supposedly move sweat away from the body so that it readily evaporates, and hence cools the body while keeping it relatively dry.

85 Flair : ELAN

Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style, flair”.

93 Stevie Wonder’s “__ She Lovely” : ISN’T

“Isn’t She Lovely” is a Stevie Wonder song that he released in 1976. The song refers to Wonder’s daughter Aisha Morris, who was born in the prior year.

The great musician Stevie Wonder signed on with Motown Records when he was just 11-years-old. He has been remarkably loyal to the label and is still recording with Motown some 50 years later. The level of Stevie Wonder’s success is illustrated by his 22 Grammy Awards, the most Grammys awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder was born 6 weeks prematurely, and incomplete development of blood vessels in his eyes caused the retinas to detach leaving him blind soon after birth. His mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, co-wrote many of Stevie’s songs when he was a teenager, including “I Was Made to Love Her”, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” and “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”.

100 Curio stand : ETAGERE

An “étagère” is a piece of furniture with open shelves that are often used to display small ornaments. The name is French, coming from “étage” meaning “shelf”. I can’t stand étagères …

103 Name seen in many hotels : GIDEON

Gideons International is an evangelical Christian group that focuses on distributing free copies of the Bible across the world, most visibly in bedside lockers in hotel rooms. Apparently, the Gideons are handing out free Bibles today at the rate of two per second.

106 Curtain rod decoration : FINIAL

A finial is a decorative element at the top of an object such as a spire, dome or roof in the world of architecture. On a more modest scale, the top of a flagpole, bedpost or the end of a curtain rod might also feature a finial.

107 Zambia neighbor : ANGOLA

Angola is a country in south-central Africa on the west coast. It is the fourth largest diamond exporter in Africa, after Botswana, the Congo and South Africa. Such a valuable export hasn’t really helped the living standard of the country’s citizens as life expectancy and infant mortality rates are among the poorest on the continent.

116 Clothing : DUDS

“Duds” is an informal word meaning “clothing”. The term comes from the word “dudde” that was used around 1300 as the name for a cloak.

118 Pen points : NIBS

“Nib” is a Scottish variant of the Old English word “neb”, with both meaning “beak of a bird”. This usage of “nib” as a beak dates back to the 14th century, with “nib” describing the tip of a pen or quill coming a little later, in the early 1600s.

119 Every which way : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

120 Moving with ease : SPRY

The term “spry”, meaning “active, nimble” may possibly be a shortened form of “sprightly”.

124 Start of some subj. lines : FWD

Forward (fwd.)

125 N.Y.’s AOC, e.g. : REP

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a politician who is often referred to by her initials “AOC”. A Democrat, she was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2018, representing part of the Bronx, Queens and Rikers Island in New York City. When she took office in 2019 at the age of 29, AOC became the youngest woman ever to serve in Congress.