Tag: Modernistic crossword clue

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Constructed by: Jeffrey Diton & Katie Hale

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: M&M’s

Themed answers are all famous individuals whose first and last names both begin with the letter M (M&M):

• 22A The Duchess of Sussex : MEGHAN MARKLE
• 41A Rebecca Pearson player on “This Is Us” : MANDY MOORE
• 43A Comedian whose podcast’s final episode featured Barack Obama : MARC MARON
• 64A Anthropologist who theorized that children learn by watching adults : MARGARET MEAD
• 73A Oscar winner who gave her acceptance speech in ASL : MARLEE MATLIN
• 95A Austin Powers portrayer : MIKE MYERS
• 97A Actress who won a Tony and an Emmy for playing Peter Pan : MARY MARTIN
• 118A Hall of Famer who holds the record for most World Series home runs : MICKEY MANTLE

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

Bill’s time: 13m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7A __ accompli : FAIT

“Fait accompli” is a French term that translates literally as “accomplished fact”. It is used in English to mean “a done deal”.

14A Secrecy doc : NDA

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

18A British unit of mass : TONNE

The tonne, also known as a metric ton, is equivalent to 1,000 kg (or 2,205 lb). The tonne isn’t an official unit of mass in the metric system, but it is used a lot.

19A Singer Rawls : LOU

Lou Rawls was an American soul and blues singer known for his smooth vocal style. With his singing career well on the way, Rawls was asked to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1977 at a Muhammad Ali fight in Madison Square Garden. This performance led to him being asked to sing the anthem many, many times in the coming years with his last rendition being at a World Series game in 2005. Rawls passed away in January of the following year.

22A The Duchess of Sussex : MEGHAN MARKLE

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is a former actress, and an American-born member of the British royal family. As an actress, Meghan Markle (her birth name) is best known for playing Rachel Zane on the legal drama “Suits”. Markle met her future husband, Prince Harry, on a blind date set up by a mutual friend in 2016.

36A Bolt down the track? : USAIN

Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket, and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.

41A Rebecca Pearson player on “This Is Us” : MANDY MOORE

Mandy Moore is a singer turned actress from Nashua, New Hampshire. She co-stars in the TV comedy-drama “This Is Us”, playing Rebecca Pearson.

43A Comedian whose podcast’s final episode featured Barack Obama : MARC MARON

Stand-up comedian Marc Maron has been hosting the podcast “WTF with Marc Maron” since 2009. The online show features interviews with comedians and celebrities. The list of interviewees is pretty impressive, and includes Conan O’Brien, Robin Williams and even President Barack Obama.

45A Griffith Observatory style : DECO

The Griffith Observatory is a facility on Mount Hollywood in Los Angeles that opened in 1935. It was named for benefactor Griffith J. Griffith, a philanthropist whose reputation was marred when he shot his wife, a crime for which he served two years in prison.

47A Strike : PICKET

Back in the late 17th century, a picket was a pointed stake used militarily to defend against attacking forces, and charging cavalry in particular. Ultimately, the term “picket” comes from the French verb “piquer” meaning “to pierce”. The term “pickets” then became the name for troops posted in the front lines, watching for the enemy. A picket line is a unit of soldiers lined up as a team of lookouts. The first use of “picket line” in the sense of labor disputes appeared in the 19th century. Our use of “picket fence” evolved from the original lines of pointed stakes used to defend positions held by early colonists.

48A Typesetting unit : PICA

A pica is a unit of measure used in typography. One pica is equivalent to 1/6 of an inch. Also, each pica unit contains 12 points.

50A Lucy’s sitcom chum : ETHEL

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertzes are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

56A Valvoline rival : STP

Valvoline is the oldest brand of motor oil marketed here in the US. The formulation was trademarked in 1873.

58A Establishment with teas and tabbies : CAT CAFE

Tabbies aren’t a breed of cat, but rather are cats with particular markings regardless of breed. They have coats with stripes, dots and swirling patterns, and usually an “M” mark on the forehead.

60A Sunset dirección : OESTE

“Oeste” (west) is a “dirección” (direction), in Spanish.

64A Anthropologist who theorized that children learn by watching adults : MARGARET MEAD

“Coming of Age in Samoa” sounds like a fascinating book. It was written by American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead and published in 1928. In the book, Mead examines the behavior of youths in Samoa, making some comparisons with youths in America. One major observation she made was the smooth transition from childhood to adulthood of Samoan girls, compared to what she described as a more troublesome transition in the US. Mead followed up “Coming of Age in Samoa” with a similar work in 1930 titled “Growing Up in New Guinea”, which documented her observations of the people of the Manus Province of Papua New Guinea.

69A Pee Wee of baseball : REESE

Pee Wee Reese was a shortstop who played his professional career with the Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Reese is remembered not only for his skill on the field, but for his very visible support for teammate Jackie Robinson, who famously struggled to be accepted as the first African-American player in the majors. As he was an outstanding marbles player as a child, Reese was given the nickname “pee wee” after the name for a small marble.

71A Quintet that occasionally becomes a sextet : AEIOU

The vowels are A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y.

72A Milky Way maker : MARS

Having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, I find the Mars Bar to be the most perplexing of candies! The original Mars Bar is a British confection (and delicious) that was first manufactured in 1932. The US version of the original Mars Bar is called a Milky Way. But there is a candy bar called a Milky Way that is also produced in the UK, and it is completely different to its US cousin, being more like an American “3 Musketeers”. And then there is an American confection called a Mars Bar, something different again. No wonder I try not to eat candy bars …

73A Oscar winner who gave her acceptance speech in ASL : MARLEE MATLIN

Marlee Matlin won her well-deserved Oscar for the role she played in “Children of a Lesser God”. Matlin played opposite William Hurt in the movie, and won her Academy Award in 1986 when she was just 21 years old. My favorite performance of hers, though, is the recurring role she had in “The West Wing”.

American Sign Language (ASL)

76A Eleanor in a Beatles hit : RIGBY

When Paul McCartney was writing “Eleanor Rigby”, he started out with the title “Daisy Hawkins”. He also had a “Father McCartney” in the lyrics, but was afraid that folks would assume that was a reference to his Dad. So, he looked through the phone book and changed McCartney to McKenzie. The name Eleanor was borrowed from actress Eleanor Bron (a fine English actress who had a role in the movie “Help!”). The name Rigby came from Rigby & Evans Ltd, Wine & Spirit Shippers. Whatever it takes, I guess!

81A Pic of Pinocchio : CEL

Disney’s “Pinocchio” was the studio’s second animated feature film, and was released three years after the hugely successful 1937 movie “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. “Pinocchio” is based on the 1883 children’s novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Italian author Carlo Collodi. It had the honor of becoming the first animated feature to win a competitive Oscar, winning for Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“When You Wish Upon a Star”).

82A One of Tarzan’s adopted family : APE

Tarzan is the title character in the series of books created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The line “Me Tarzan, you Jane” never appeared in the books, and indeed doesn’t even figure in the movies. Apparently, Johnny Weissmuller (who played Tarzan in the thirties and forties) saw Maureen O’Sullivan (“Jane”, to Weissmuller’s “Tarzan”) struggling with a suitcase in the parking lot during filming. He grabbed the bag from her, jokingly saying “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, and people have been quoting those words ever since.

85A Irish actor Stephen : REA

Stephen Rea is an actor from Belfast, Northern Ireland. His most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

88A James of “Misery” : CAAN

The 1990 film “Misery” is an adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name. I think it’s the only movie from a King book that I’ve watched and enjoyed. I can’t stomach his books, not because of the writing, but because of the gruesome scenes that are part of the plots. The screen version of “Misery” is toned down a little from the original storyline. In the novel, the Kathy Bates character amputates the James Caan character’s foot to incapacitate him. In the movie she just smashes his ankles. Big difference …

90A Malia and Sasha, to Craig Robinson : NIECES

Craig Robinson is a former head basketball coach of Oregon State and Brown Universities. After closing out his coaching career, he took a job as a college basketball analyst with ESPN. In 2020, he became the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Famously, Craig is the older brother of former First Lady Michelle Obama.

92A __ phrik: Thai chili sauce : NAM

“Nam phrik”, meaning literally “chili water”, is the name given to a range of spicy chili pastes in Thai cuisine.

95A Austin Powers portrayer : MIKE MYERS

Mike Myers does a great British accent, witness his performance in the madcap “Austin Powers” movies. He has an advantage though, as both his parents were British, and lived in Ontario, Canada.

The Austin Powers character was created by the actor who plays him, namely Mike Myers. Apparently Myers came up with the idea for Powers while listening to the Burt Bacharach song “The Look of Love”.

97A Actress who won a Tony and an Emmy for playing Peter Pan : MARY MARTIN

Actress and singer Mary Martin is perhaps most famous for originating the title role in the 1954 stage musical “Peter Pan”. She married twice, with her first husband being lawyer and district attorney Benjamin Hagman. The couple had one child together, future acting star Larry Hagman.

104A South Asian pancakes : DOSAS

A dosa is a thin, savory pancake from South Indian cuisine. It is made using a fermented batter consisting of ground black lentils and rice. Dosas are usually served hot, and often with chutney and sambar, a lentil-based vegetable stew.

116A 87-Down predator : ANACONDA
[87D Area with the world’s largest rainforest : AMAZONIA]

Anacondas are native to the tropical regions of South America. The green anaconda is one of the world’s largest snakes, growing to 17 feet long and weighing up to 550 pounds! Anacondas are not venomous, and prefer to kill their prey by coiling around it and then squeeeeeezing …

118A Hall of Famer who holds the record for most World Series home runs : MICKEY MANTLE

Mickey Mantle only played professional baseball for one team, spending 18 years with the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle memorabilia is highly prized, especially since he retired from the game in 1969, and even more so since he died in 1995. The only other player memorabilia said to command a higher price is Babe Ruth’s. Mantle holds the record for the most career home runs by a switch hitter, as well as the most World Series home runs.

121A 32-country org. : NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

123A With 89-Down, “Delta of Venus” writer : ANAIS …
[89D See 123-Across : … NIN]

“Delta of Venus” is a collection of short stories by Anais Nin that was published in 1977, not long after the author’s passing. The stories were originally written on commission for a private collector in the 1940s.

124A Polynesian language : SAMOAN

The official name for the South Pacific nation formerly known as Western Samoa is the Independent State of Samoa. Samoa is the western part of the island group, with American Samoa lying to the southeast. The whole group of islands used to be known as Navigators Island, a name given by European explorers in recognition of the seafaring skills of the native Samoans.

126A TV journalist Cabrera : ANA

Ana Cabrera is a journalist from Denver who joined CNN in 2013. She took over as anchor of CNN’s weekend show “CNN Newsroom” in 2017, and moved on to MSNBC in 2023.

Down

1D Prefix with -tasse : DEMI-

Espresso is often served in a small cup known as a demitasse. The term “demitasse” translates from French as “half cup”.

2D Cabinet dept. with a sun on its seal : ENER

The US Department of Energy (DOE) came into being largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The DOE was founded in 1977 by the Carter administration. It is responsible for regulating the production of nuclear power, and it is also responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons. The official DOE seal features a lightning bolt and symbols denoting five sources of energy: the sun, an atom, an oil derrick, a windmill and a dynamo.

4D Film assassin played by Keanu Reeves : JOHN WICK

“John Wick” is a 2014 action movie starring Keanu Reeves in the title role. Reeves plays a retired hitman who goes on a killing spree to avenge the murder of his dog. There’s quite a body count …

5D Legal org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

6D Busybody : YENTA

“Yenta” (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody, a gossip.

14D Org. with Cowboys and Chiefs : NFL

The Dallas Cowboys play in the National Football Conference (NFC) of the NFL. The Cowboys are famous for a lengthy streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons, from 1966 to 1985. They are the highest-valued sports franchise in the world.

The Kansas City Chiefs were founded as the Dallas Texans in 1960 as a charter member team of the AFL. The Texans moved to Kansas City in 1963 and took the name “Chiefs”. The team owners (perhaps naively) expected to keep the Texans name in Kansas City but a fan contest opted instead for the Chiefs, named after the Kansas City mayor at the time, “Chief” Bartle.

25D Musical based on “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” : SPAMALOT

The hit musical “Spamalot” is a show derived from the 1974 movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”. In typical Monty Python style, the action starts just before the curtain goes up with an announcement recorded by the great John Cleese:

(You can) let your cell phones and pagers ring willy-nilly … (but) be aware there are heavily armed knights on stage that may drag you on stage and impale you.

33D Like an ancient alphabet : RUNIC

A rune is a character in an alphabet that is believed to have mysterious powers. In Norse mythology, the runic alphabet was said to have a divine origin.

38D Not pizzicato : ARCO

“Arco” is a musical direction instructing a string player to return to normal bowing technique after a passage played using some other technique (perhaps pizzicato).

“Pizzicato” is an Italian term meaning “plucked, pinched”. It is used as a musical direction on a score, instructing the player of a stringed instrument to pluck the strings instead of using the bow.

45D Mining target : DATA

The process of data mining is used to extract information from a database and present it in a form that facilitates further use.

49D Bedouin mounts : CAMELS

Bedouin tribes are Arab ethnic groups that predominantly live in the Middle East, in desert areas. Bedouin tribes tend to be nomadic, not settling permanently in one location.

51D Like Superman : HEROIC

Superman’s origins can be traced back to an illustrated short story titled “The Reign of the Superman” created by high school classmates Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. That first “Superman” wasn’t a very glamorous character. He was a vagrant who gained psychic powers and used them for nefarious purposes. By the time that Siegel and Shuster put together a comic strip called “The Superman”, the title character had evolved into a superhero. The pair sold all rights to “The Superman” character to Detective Comics in 1938 for the princely sum of $130.

54D Shoe brand founded by U.S. Rubber : KEDS

Keds is a brand of athletic shoe first introduced in 1916 by US Rubber. The shoe was originally marketed as a rubber-soled, canvas-topped sneaker. The company first opted for the brand name “Peds”, from the Latin “ped” meaning “foot”. That name was already taken by another product, and so a quick rebranding took place resulting in “Keds”. The brand celebrated its centennial with a “Ladies First Since 1916” campaign that focuses on female empowerment.

59D Skulls : CRANIA

The human skull is made up of two parts: the cranium (which encloses the brain) and the mandible (or “jawbone”).

61D “The Pitt” award : EMMY

“The Pitt” is a medical drama TV show that premiered in 2025. The title refers to the fictional Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center. In each episode, we follow the staff through an hour in the emergency department, navigating challenges like staff shortages and underfunding. The show has been praised by the medical community for its realistic portrayal of healthcare workers and the psychological challenges faced in a post-pandemic world.

65D University of Oregon city : EUGENE

Eugene is the second-largest city in Oregon (after Portland). The city is named for its founder, Eugene Franklin Skinner. Skinner arrived in the area in 1846, after which the settlement he established was called Skinner’s Mudhole. The name was changed to Eugene City in 1852, which was shortened to Eugene in 1889.

The University of Oregon was founded in 1876 as Oregon State University. I hear that the campus is very attractive, being located in Eugene along the banks of the Willamette River.

66D Nav. officer : CMDR

Commander (cmdr.)

67D Fabulous loser? : HARE

“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The cocky hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

74D Chevy coupe with a cargo bed : EL CAMINO

The El Camino is a coupe utility hybrid vehicle that Chevrolet introduced in 1959. It is basically a station wagon that has been modified to carry 1,100+ pounds on a cargo bed.

77D Goodyear fleet : BLIMPS

There is an important difference between a blimp (like the Goodyear Blimp) and an airship (like a zeppelin). An airship is a rigid structure with an internal framework that helps maintain the shape of the airbag, whereas a blimp uses the pressure of the helium gas inside the airbag to give it shape.

87D Area with the world’s largest rainforest : AMAZONIA

Amazonia, also known as the Amazon rainforest, is a vast region in South America covering most of the Amazon river basin. It is so vast that it represents more than half of the planet’s remaining rainforest, and is home to one in ten known species on Earth. Its geographic footprint is nearly twice the size of India.

92D MLB team in blue and orange : NYM

The New York Mets (NYM) baseball team was founded in 1962 as a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second-to-last in their division. Then along came the “Miracle Mets” (aka “Amazin’ Mets”) who beat the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

94D Olaf, for one : SNOWMAN

In the 2013 animated film “Frozen”, Olaf is a happy-go-lucky snowman who provides a lot of comic relief in the movie. He is voiced by actor and comedian Josh Gad.

96D __ green : KELLY

Kelly green is a strong yellowish green, and was given its name back in the early 1900s. Apparently, the name was chosen because green is popular in Ireland, and Kelly is a common Irish family name.

97D La Scala locale : MILAN

La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its Italian name “Teatro alla Scala”. Because of bomb damage in WWII, La Scala had to be rebuilt, and reopened in 1946.

105D Rive Gauche waters : SEINE

The famous “Left Bank” (“La Rive Gauche”) of the River Seine in Paris is the river’s southern bank. The area south of the river was traditionally quite bohemian and was home to artists, students and intellectuals.

107D Horror film loc. : ELM ST

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

110D Artemis II org. : NASA

NASA’s Artemis II mission was a historic 2026 lunar flyby by a four-person crew in an Orion spacecraft named Integrity. The craft reached a peak distance of 252,756 miles from home, breaking the absolute deep-space distance record set by Apollo 13 in 1970.

111D Two-time loser to DDE : AES

Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE), once in 1952 and again in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy (JFK) as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

119D Josh : KID

When the verb “to josh”, meaning “to kid”, was coined in the 1840s as an American slang term, it was written with a capital J. It is likely that the term somehow comes from the proper name “Joshua”, but no one seems to remember why.