Constructed by: Peg Slay
Edited by: Rich Norris
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Theme: Station Breaks
Today’s themed answers include circled letters at either end. Those letters spell out words that are BROKEN, split, and those words are all types of STATIONS:
- 33A. Program interruptions literally demonstrated by this puzzle’s four sets of circles : STATION BREAKS
- 17A. World-class : FIRST-RATE (giving “fire station”)
- 23A. Mantilla material : SPANISH LACE (giving “space station”)
- 49A. It may be shaped on a wheel : POTTER’S CLAY (giving “PlayStation”)
- 55A. Sacred lily of ancient Egypt : BLUE LOTUS (giving “bus station”)
Bill’s time: 7m 01s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Airline mentioned in the first line of the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” : BOAC
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was one of the two airlines that were merged in 1974 to form British Airways (the other was British European Airways, known as BEA).
By the time the Beatles recorded “Back in the U.S.S.R.”, they were having a lot of problems working with each other. The song was recorded in 1968, with the band formally dissolving in 1970. Tensions were so great during the recording of “Back in the U.S.S.R” that Ringo Starr actually stormed out saying that he had quit, and the remaining three Beatles made the record without Ringo. Drums were played mainly by Paul McCartney, but there are also drum tracks on the final cut by both George Harrison and John Lennon. Interesting, huh?
9. Taj Mahal city : AGRA
Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India. Agra was also the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:
- The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
- Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
- Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal
13. Old Renault : LE CAR
French automaker Renault made the “mini-like” Renault 5 and sold it as the Renault “Le Car” in North America. My Dad had a Renault 5 back in Ireland …
14. Cold, in Cádiz : FRIO
Cádiz is a port city in southwestern Spain, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz is a remarkable city geographically in that it sits on a thin spit of land that juts out into the sea.
16. Like most triangle angles : ACUTE
In geometry, there are several classes of angles:
- acute (< 90 degrees)
- right (= 90 degrees)
- obtuse (> 90 degrees and < 180 degrees)
- straight (180 degrees)
- reflex (> 180 degrees)
19. Glass manufacturing dioxide : SILICA
Glass is made up of about 75% silica, another name for sand.
21. Bk. read at Purim : ESTH
Purim is a festival commemorating the deliverance of the Jewish people from a plot to wipe them out by Haman the Agagite, as recorded in the Book of Esther.
22. Sports doc’s scan : MRI
An MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) machine uses powerful magnetic fields to generate its images so there is no exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays). We used MRI equipment in our chemistry labs at school, way back in the days when the technology was still called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI). Apparently the marketing folks didn’t like the term “nuclear” because of its association with atomic bombs, so now it’s just called MRI.
23. Mantilla material : SPANISH LACE
A mantilla is a traditional lace or silk shawl from Spain. It is often worn over a high comb called a “peineta”, which makes creates the illusion that the wearer is taller than she actually is.
25. Univ. dorm overseers : RAS
RAs are resident assistants or resident advisers, the peer leaders found in residence halls, particularly on a college campus.
26. “__ the fields we go … ” : O’ER
The traditional Christmas song “Jingle Bells” was first published in 1857, penned by James Lord Pierpont. We associate the song with Christmas, although in fact Pierpont wrote it as a celebration of Thanksgiving.
Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O’er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
27. Codebreaking org. : NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.
38. Not quite place : SHOW
In a horse race, the first-place finisher is said to “win”. The second-place finisher “places” and the third-place finisher “shows”.
39. California’s San __ Zoo : DIEGO
The world-famous San Diego Zoo first opened its doors to visitors in 1916. The zoo was founded in the Balboa Park area of the city, on the site of the Panama-California Exposition that was held the prior year. The zoo was needed to care for the abandoned exotic animal exhibits from the exposition.
40. Rubs elbows (with) : HOBNOBS
“To hobnob with” means “to rub elbows with, associate with”. The term dates back to the mid 1700s and is derived from “hob and nob”, a phrase meaning to toast each other in turn, or to buy alternate rounds of drinks.
48. She raised Cain : EVE
According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.
52. Legal thing : RES
“Res” is the Latin for “thing”. “Res” is used in a lot of phrases in the law.
53. Thickening agent : AGAR
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.
54. African desert : SAHARA
The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic and it is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.
55. Sacred lily of ancient Egypt : BLUE LOTUS
The blue lotus is a water lily that is also known as the sacred lily of the Nile. In Egyptian mythology, the blue lotus was a symbol of the sun, as the flowers close at night and open in the morning.
59. Architect Saarinen : EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.
60. Composer who was a CBS reporter : TESH
John Tesh is a pianist and composer, as well as a radio and television presenter. For many years Tesh presented the show “Entertainment Tonight”. For “ET” he once covered the filming of an episode of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”. As part of the piece, he volunteered to act as a Klingon warrior and so if you see the “Star Trek: TNG” episode called “The Icarus Factor” in reruns, watch out for John Tesh engaging in ritual torture with Mr. Worf as his victim.
61. Bay and gray followers : AREAS
The San Francisco Bay Area comprises the nine counties that impinge on the San Francisco Bay itself: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. The region also includes the major cities of San Jose, San Francisco and Oakland.
62. Uno y dos : TRES
In Spanish, “uno y dos” (one plus two) makes “tres” (three).
64. Spoon’s escape partner : DISH
The nursery rhyme “Hey Diddle Diddle” has been around at least since the mid-1700s.
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such fun,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.
Down
3. Marseille morning : MATIN
Marseille (often written “Marseilles” in English) is the second largest city in France, after Paris. Marseille is also the largest commercial port in the country. I used to live nearby, and can attest that Marseille and environs is a great place to visit …
4. Police unit : PRECINCT
A “precinct” is a defined area, often in a city, that is established for administrative purposes. For electoral purposes in the US, the term “precinct” is sometimes used interchangeably with “election district”. Famously, the city of New York uses the term “precinct” for its police stations. The term comes from the Medieval Latin word “precinctum” meaning “enclosure, boundary line”.
5. Fave texting bud : BFF
Best friend forever (BFF)
6. Projecting window : ORIEL
An oriel window is a bay window that projects from a wall, but does not reach all the way to the ground.
7. Respiratory cavity : AIR SAC
The alveoli are the air sacs in the lungs, the basic units of respiration. They are hollow cavities around which the alveolar membranes perform the gas-exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. That gas exchange surface is about 800 sq. ft. in the average human.
8. Bulk-purchase club : COSTCO
Costco is the largest warehouse club in the US, and the second largest retailer in the world (after Wal-Mart). Apparently Costco is also the largest retailer of wine in the whole world. The company was founded in 1983 in Kirkland, Washington. Kirkland Signature is Costco’s store brand, and you can even buy Kirkland Signature wine.
9. Kilimanjaro’s cont. : AFR
The Carthaginian Republic was centered on the city of Carthage, the ruins of which are located on the coast of modern-day Tunisia. The Latin name for the people of Carthage was “Afri”. When the Romans took over Carthage, they created a province they called “Africa”. That name extended over time to include the whole continent.
Kilimanjaro is a dormant volcano in Tanzania, and is the highest mountain in the whole of Africa.
10. Genre that influenced Prince : GLAM ROCK
I remember the days of glam rock so well, as it was a hugely popular genre of music in the British Isles during the early seventies. Artistes wore the wildest of clothes, big hair, shiny outfits and really high platform boots. Names associated with glam rock are T. Rex, David Bowie, Roxy Music and Gary Glitter.
The singer Prince was born in Minneapolis, and he lived there most of his life. Born Prince Rogers Nelson, his given name honored his father, a jazz musician who used the stage name Prince Rogers. Prince died in 2016 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose at his home and recording studio located just southwest of Minneapolis. The home and studio, known as Paisley Park, is now a museum that is open to the public.
11. Hectic lifestyles : RAT RACES
We use “rat race” figuratively to describe an endless, pointless pursuit. The term comes from the laboratory, where one might imagine rats racing around a maze in search of some cheese.
12. Biased targets of the Gray Panthers : AGEISTS
Maggie Kuhn became a social activist fighting ageism when she was forced to retire from her job in 1970, at the age of 65. Kuhn then founded the Gray Panthers movement, which focuses on ageism and other social justice issues such as the preservation of Medicare and Social Security and the introduction of single-payer healthcare.
13. Rodeo need : LASSO
Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.
20. Extremely, musically : ASSAI
The Italian term “assai” translates as “very”, and is used in music with the same meaning.
24. Angelic ring : HALO
The Greek word “halos” is the name given to the ring of light around the sun or moon, which gives us our word “halo”, used for a radiant light depicted above the head of a saintly person.
29. “Later!” : CIAO!
“Ciao” is the Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.
37. Sandwich filling for a lacto-ovo vegetarian : EGG SALAD
A lacto-ovo vegetarian is someone who does not consume meat or fish, but does eat eggs (ovo) and dairy (lacto) products.
38. Frozen dessert : SHERBET
The frozen dessert called “sherbet” is a very similar to “sorbet”, the difference being that sherbet contains a small amount of milkfat.
41. Play-of-color gem : OPAL
An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence, known as “opalescence”.
42. South American capital : BOGOTA
Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia. Noted for having many libraries and universities, Bogotá is sometimes referred to as “The Athens of South America”.
43. Australian sextet : STATES
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federation of six states:
- New South Wales
- Queensland
- South Australia
- Tasmania
- Victoria
- Western Australia
46. Persona non grata : PARIAH
“Pariah” is an anglicized version of the Tamil word “Paraiyar”. The Paraiyar are a social group of about 9 million people found in some Indian states and in Sri Lanka. The term “pariah” came to be a general term for members of the lowest caste in society, outcasts.
A “persona non grata” (plural “personae non gratae”) is someone who is not welcome. The phrase is Latin for “an unacceptable person”.
47. “__ Hope”: ’70s-’80s soap : RYAN’S
“Ryan’s Hope” is a soap opera that ran on ABC from 1975 to 1989. The show’s storyline centers on an Irish-American family in New York City. Never saw it …
51. French darling : CHERI
“Chéri” is a form of familiar address in French, meaning “dear, … “Chéri” is the form used when talking to a male, and “chérie” to a female.
56. Dawn goddess : EOS
In Greek mythology, Eos is the goddess of the dawn who lived at the edge of the ocean. Eos would wake each morning to welcome her brother Helios the sun. The Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora.
57. HBO competitor : SHO
Showtime (SHO) is a competitor of the Movie Channel (TMC) in terms of program lineup, although both channels are in fact owned by CBS.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Blowout victory : ROMP
5. Airline mentioned in the first line of the Beatles’ “Back in the U.S.S.R.” : BOAC
9. Taj Mahal city : AGRA
13. Old Renault : LE CAR
14. Cold, in Cádiz : FRIO
15. Mark as important : FLAG
16. Like most triangle angles : ACUTE
17. World-class : FIRST-RATE
19. Glass manufacturing dioxide : SILICA
21. Bk. read at Purim : ESTH
22. Sports doc’s scan : MRI
23. Mantilla material : SPANISH LACE
25. Univ. dorm overseers : RAS
26. “__ the fields we go … ” : O’ER
27. Codebreaking org. : NSA
28. Dream up : CONCOCT
30. One inch = one foot, e.g. : SCALE
32. Seals, as a deal : ICES
33. Program interruptions literally demonstrated by this puzzle’s four sets of circles : STATION BREAKS
38. Not quite place : SHOW
39. California’s San __ Zoo : DIEGO
40. Rubs elbows (with) : HOBNOBS
44. Kids’ recess game : TAG
45. Time of yr. for new growth : SPR
48. She raised Cain : EVE
49. It may be shaped on a wheel : POTTER’S CLAY
52. Legal thing : RES
53. Thickening agent : AGAR
54. African desert : SAHARA
55. Sacred lily of ancient Egypt : BLUE LOTUS
58. Allow to pass : LET IN
59. Architect Saarinen : EERO
60. Composer who was a CBS reporter : TESH
61. Bay and gray followers : AREAS
62. Uno y dos : TRES
63. Concerning : AS TO
64. Spoon’s escape partner : DISH
Down
1. Means to an end : RECIPE
2. Pertaining to the eye : OCULAR
3. Marseille morning : MATIN
4. Police unit : PRECINCT
5. Fave texting bud : BFF
6. Projecting window : ORIEL
7. Respiratory cavity : AIR SAC
8. Bulk-purchase club : COSTCO
9. Kilimanjaro’s cont. : AFR
10. Genre that influenced Prince : GLAM ROCK
11. Hectic lifestyles : RAT RACES
12. Biased targets of the Gray Panthers : AGEISTS
13. Rodeo need : LASSO
18. In that case : THEN
20. Extremely, musically : ASSAI
24. Angelic ring : HALO
29. “Later!” : CIAO!
30. Like logs : SAWN
31. Bitter __ : END
33. Snow remover : SHOVELER
34. Without a doubt : TO BE SURE
35. Tasting menu portion : BITE
36. Brings up : REARS
37. Sandwich filling for a lacto-ovo vegetarian : EGG SALAD
38. Frozen dessert : SHERBET
41. Play-of-color gem : OPAL
42. South American capital : BOGOTA
43. Australian sextet : STATES
45. Lists of nominees : SLATES
46. Persona non grata : PARIAH
47. “__ Hope”: ’70s-’80s soap : RYAN’S
50. Have faith : TRUST
51. French darling : CHERI
56. Dawn goddess : EOS
57. HBO competitor : SHO