Constructed by: Jeffrey Wechsler
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
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Theme: In a Jam
Each of today’s themed answers might be found IN A JAM:
- 38D…Needing to be bailed out … or where 20-, 27-, 45- and 51-Across may be found..IN A JAM
- 20A…Office supply..PRINTER PAPER
- 27A…Jaguar, for one..AUTOMOBILE
- 45A…Malt option..STRAWBERRY
- 51A…Certain trio member..JAZZ MUSICIAN
Bill’s time: 7m 17s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1…Corner piece..ROOK
The corner piece in the game of chess is a called a rook, a word coming from the Persian word “rokh” meaning a “chariot”. The rook has also been called, perhaps incorrectly, the castle, tower, marquess and rector.
5…Singer James..ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.
9…One of more than 21 million Indians..SIKH
Sikhism is a religion that was founded in the Punjab region, which straddles the India-Pakistan border. Even though Sikhism was established relatively recently, it is now the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. Sikhism was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak.
14…Composer Janácek..LEOS
Leoš Janáček is considered one of the triumvirate of great Czech composers, alongside Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana.
17…Shot that can’t be blocked..FREE THROW
That would be in basketball.
22…Elbows, e.g…PASTA
In many cases, the name given to a type of pasta comes from its shape. However, the name macaroni comes from the type of dough used to make the noodle. Here in the US, macaroni is usually elbow-shaped tubes, but it doesn’t have to be.
26…Electrolysis particle..ION
Electrolysis is a chemical process that uses direct current passing through a solution to separate out individual chemicals in that solution. One chemical moves to the anode, and the other to the cathode.
27…Jaguar, for one..AUTOMOBILE
Jaguar started out as a manufacturer of sidecars for motorcycles back in 1922, when the company was known as the Swallow Sidecar Company (SS for short). The company changed its name to Jaguar after WWII, because of the unfortunate connotations of the letters “SS” in that era (i.e. the Nazi paramilitary organization).
30…Queen who succeeded William III..ANNE
Queen Anne was the last of the Stuarts to rule in the British Isles, and the first sovereign of the Kingdom of Great Britain (after England and Scotland united). Anne was the last of the Stuart line because she died without any surviving children, despite having been pregnant seventeen times.
31…Ring result..TKO
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).
34…Gucci competitor..PRADA
Prada was founded in 1913 as a leathergoods shop in Milan, by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family participating in the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …
Gucci was founded in Rome in 1921, by Guccio Gucci. Guccio’s son Aldo took over the company after his father’s death in 1953. It was Aldo who established the international presence for the brand and opened the company’s first overseas store, in New York City.
40…Economist Smith..ADAM
Adam Smith was a pioneer in the field of “political economy”, an original term used for the study of production and trade and their relationship with law, government and the distribution of wealth. Adam Smith’s great work is called “The Wealth of Nations”, published in 1776. The book was a big hit within his own lifetime and went a long way to earning him the reputation as the father of modern economics and capitalism. Smith coined the phrase “the invisible hand of the market”, describing his assertion that a marketplace tends to self-regulate.
44…”The Daily Show” host Trevor __..NOAH
Trevor Noah is a comedian from Johannesburg, South Africa. Noah took over as host of the Comedy Channel’s “The Daily Show” after Jon Stewart retired. Noah can speak several languages, including English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans, and German.
45…Malt option..STRAWBERRY
Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, in 1922.
48…Queen’s subject..ANT
The queen ant of some species can live to the ripe old age of 30 years, which is one of the longest lifespans in the insect world.
49…”__ a man who wasn’t there”..I MET
“Antigonish” is an 1899 poem penned by William Hughes Mearns. The line “I met a man who wasn’t there” is a reference to a ghost.
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there.
He wasn’t there again today,
I wish, I wish he’d go away…When I came home last night at three,
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall,
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door…Last night I saw upon the stair,
A little man who wasn’t there,
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away…
50…Pug or Peke..BREED
The pug is a breed of dog of Chinese origin. Our current family pet is a boxer/pug cross, a good-looking mutt!
The pekingese breed originated in China, as one might suspect from the name. Breeding practices have resulted in the the dog having many health problems, including breathing issues related to the “desirable” flat face. Standards have been changed in recent years, demanding an “evident muzzle” in an attempt to breed healthier dogs.
60…Haggard of country..MERLE
Merle Haggard is a country singer and songwriter whose most famous recording has to be “Okie from Muskogee” released in 1969. Haggard will tell you that the song was actually meant as a spoof, but it has become a country “anthem”.
64…Editor’s mark..STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.
Down
1…NBA employee..REF
Back in the early 17th century, a “referee” was someone who examined patent applications. We started using the same term for a person presiding over a sporting event in the 1820s. “Referee” is derivative of the verb “to refer”, and literally describes someone who has the authority to make a decision by “referring to” a book, archive etc.
4…Habitual booster?..KLEPTO
Kleptomania is the compulsion to steal, whether or not one is need of what is stolen. The term derives from the Greek word for “to steal”, “kleptein”, with the suffix “-mania”.
“To boost” is a slang term meaning “to steal” and especially “to shoplift”.
5…Pre-coll…ELHI
“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from grades 1 through 12, i.e. elementary through high school.
6…Gull relative..TERN
Terns are seabirds that are found all over the world. The Arctic Tern makes a very long-distance migration. One Arctic Tern that was tagged as a chick in Great Britain in the summer of 1982, was spotted in Melbourne, Australia just three months later. The bird had traveled over 14,000 miles in over those three months, an average of about 150 miles a day. Remarkable …
7…Film for which Jessica Lange won her first Oscar..TOOTSIE
“Tootsie” is a hilarious 1982 comedy starring Dustin Hoffman in the title role, a male actor who adopts a female identity in order to land an acting job. Jessica Lange won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the film. “Tootsie” was also provided Geena Davis with her first movie role.
The actress Jessica Lange is also an accomplished and published photographer. She was married for ten years to Spanish photographer Paco Grande. After separating from Grande, Lange had three children with the great Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Those must be some good-looking kids …
16…”My Fair Lady” lyricist..LERNER
Alan Jay Lerner was a lyricist from New York City who was known for his collaboration with Frederick Loewe and Burton Lane. Lerner was also known for his colorful private life. He was left with a persistent amphetamine addiction after being treated with “vitamins with enzymes” in the sixties, that were actually hypodermic shots laced with amphetamines. He also married eight times, and was often in dire financial straits due to the heavy load of alimony payments.
22…Square on a muffin..PAT
That would be a pat of butter, perhaps.
23…Relative of a puffin..AUK
Auks are penguin-like sea birds that live in colder northern waters including the Arctic. Like penguins, auks are great swimmers, but unlike penguins, auks can fly.
29…Support garb..BRA
The word “brassière” is French in origin, but it isn’t the word the French use for a “bra”. In France what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the neck”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.
30…Gp. for drivers..AAA
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.
36…Org. regulating vaccines..FDA
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
40…Most dilettantish..ARTIEST
We use the word “dilettante” for someone who dabbles in the world of art or in some particular field of knowledge. We borrowed the term from Italian, in which language a dilettante is a lover of fine arts, a connoisseur.
43…Qantas hub, in itineraries..SYD
Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city, dating back to the 1940s.
QANTAS is the national airline of Australia. The company name was originally an acronym for Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services.
45…Site of the George W. Bush presidential library..SMU
Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas), and was founded in 1911. SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.
46…Eco-friendly wheels..TESLAS
Tesla Motors is a manufacturer of electric vehicles based in Palo Alto, California. Tesla is noted for producing the first electric sports car, called the Tesla Roadster. The current base price of a roadster is about $100,000, should you be interested …
47…Antarctic explorer Shackleton..ERNEST
Sir Ernest Shackleton was a British polar explorer (although he was born in Ireland). His most famous venture was the last of the three expeditions Shackleton led to the Antarctic. His ship, the Endurance, was crushed by pack ice, forcing the crew to take to lifeboats. Shackleton led his men on a 720-nautical mile voyage in those open boats through freezing and stormy weather to safety.
52…Pilot’s alphabet ender..ZULU
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu.
54…MIT center?: Abbr…INST
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
58…Record label for P!nk..RCA
P!nk is the stage name of American singer Alecia Beth Moore. I known so little about “modern” music, but I do like the P!nk song “Just Give Me a Reason” …
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1…Corner piece..ROOK
5…Singer James..ETTA
9…One of more than 21 million Indians..SIKH
13…British nobleman..EARL
14…Composer Janácek..LEOS
15…Perfect..IDEAL
17…Shot that can’t be blocked..FREE THROW
19…Complaint..PEEVE
20…Office supply..PRINTER PAPER
22…Elbows, e.g…PASTA
25…Cause to roll in the aisles..SLAY
26…Electrolysis particle..ION
27…Jaguar, for one..AUTOMOBILE
30…Queen who succeeded William III..ANNE
31…Ring result..TKO
32…Support for many a 29-Down..WIRE
33…More degrading..BASER
34…Gucci competitor..PRADA
36…Parade sight..FLOAT
38…”My thoughts are … “..I’D SAY …
40…Economist Smith..ADAM
41…Special __..OPS
44…”The Daily Show” host Trevor __..NOAH
45…Malt option..STRAWBERRY
48…Queen’s subject..ANT
49…”__ a man who wasn’t there”..I MET
50…Pug or Peke..BREED
51…Certain trio member..JAZZ MUSICIAN
55…Really enjoyed..ATE UP
56…Hard times..LEAN YEARS
60…Haggard of country..MERLE
61…Sets a price of..ASKS
62…Not in the pink..SICK
63…R&B-influenced genre..SOUL
64…Editor’s mark..STET
65…Catering aid..TRAY
Down
1…NBA employee..REF
2…Homonym of 3-Down..OAR
3…Homonym of 2-Down..ORE
4…Habitual booster?..KLEPTO
5…Pre-coll…ELHI
6…Gull relative..TERN
7…Film for which Jessica Lange won her first Oscar..TOOTSIE
8…Plus..AS WELL
9…__ cup..SIPPY
10…Inventor’s need..IDEA
11…Stock..KEEP IN STORE
12…”Try this”..HAVE ONE
16…”My Fair Lady” lyricist..LERNER
18…People mover..TRAMWAY
21…”Norma __”..RAE
22…Square on a muffin..PAT
23…Relative of a puffin..AUK
24…What many a countdown clock does..STOPS AT ZERO
28…Suffix denoting resemblance..-OID
29…Support garb..BRA
30…Gp. for drivers..AAA
33…Military aircraft hold..BOMB BAY
35…Bit of a cheer..RAH!
36…Org. regulating vaccines..FDA
37…__ school..LAW
38…Needing to be bailed out … or where 20-, 27-, 45- and 51-Across may be found..IN A JAM
39…Supports a cause..DONATES
40…Most dilettantish..ARTIEST
42…Opposite of post-..PRE-
43…Qantas hub, in itineraries..SYD
45…Site of the George W. Bush presidential library..SMU
46…Eco-friendly wheels..TESLAS
47…Antarctic explorer Shackleton..ERNEST
49…Force..IMPEL
52…Pilot’s alphabet ender..ZULU
53…Wedding tradition..CAKE
54…MIT center?: Abbr…INST
57…__ bubble..AIR
58…Record label for P!nk..RCA
59…Something to look up to..SKY