Tag: Nerve center crossword clue

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Constructed by: Annemarie Brethauer
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Turncoats

Today’s grid includes four groups of four circled letters that spell out “COAT”. Those letters TURN clockwise as we descend the grid:

• 39A Traitors, and an apt title for this puzzle : TURNCOATS

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

Bill’s time: 6m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Food grinder : MOLAR

Molars are grinding teeth. The term “molar” comes from the Latin “mola” meaning “millstone”.

9 Bee-related : APIAN

Something described as apian is related to bees. “Apis” is Latin for “bee”.

14 Puccini composition : OPERA

Giacomo Puccini was an Italian composer who was famous for his operas that are so often performed all over the world. Included in the list of his works are “La bohème”, “Tosca”, “Madama Butterfly” and “Turandot”. Puccini died in Brussels, Belgium in 1924 having suffered from throat cancer. An audience attending a performance of “La bohème” in Rome heard of the composer’s death in the middle of the performance. At the news, the opera was stopped, and the orchestra instead played Chopin’s “Funeral March”.

15 In-like-a-lion mo. : MAR

“March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb” is a proverb suggesting that the month of March starts off with cold and unpleasant weather, but finishes mildly and quite pleasantly.

18 “Ha! April Fools!” : AH! I GOTCHA!

April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st in the Western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants, but in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

22 Early ISP : AOL

AOL was a leading Internet Service Provider (ISP) in the 1980s and 1990s. The company does still provide dial-up access to the Internet for some subscribers, but most users now access AOL using faster, non-AOL ISPs.

26 Blokes : MEN

“Bloke” is British slang for “fellow”. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

28 __ La Table: kitchenware shop : SUR

Sur La Table is a chain of retail stores selling high-end kitchenware products. The company name translates from French as “on the table”. The first Sur La Table store opened in 1972 in Seattle’s celebrated Pike Place Market. Today, Sur La Table is the main competitor to Williams-Sonoma.

29 California sch. near the Mexican border : SDSU

San Diego State University (SDSU) was founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School. Back then, the main purpose of the school was to educate women who wanted to be elementary school teachers. It changed its name to San Diego State Teachers College in 1923. The curriculum expanded beyond teacher education in 1935, and became San Diego State College. In 1960, the college joined what is now known as the California State University.

34 Capital of Thailand? : TEE

The first letter in the word “Thailand” is a capital letter T (tee).

39 Traitors, and an apt title for this puzzle : TURNCOATS

A turncoat is a traitor. The concept behind the term is that a traitor might “turn” his or her “coat” inside-out, to hide a badge or uniform that identifies loyalty or fealty.

42 “Trust the __ touch”: longtime slogan of a car repair chain : MIDAS

The chain of auto service centers called Midas was established in 1956 as the Muffler Installation Dealers’ Associated Service (MIDAS).

45 Duds : GARB

“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.

46 QVC alternative : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

51 Vegetables in a “mushy” dish : PEAS

In the UK especially, fish and chips are often served with a side of mushy peas. They are dried marrowfat peas that have been soaked in water and baking soda, and then boiled until softened. I love almost all vegetables, and especially peas, but mushy peas? Not so much …

53 __ & Perrins steak sauce : LEA

Sauce producer Lea & Perrins was founded way back in 1837, in the city of Worcester, England. The company’s most famous product is Worcestershire sauce, which was named for the county in which the condiment was first produced.

55 Nonstick spray brand : PAM

PAM cooking spray was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

60 State in southwest India : GOA

Goa is the smallest state in India, and is located in the southwest of the country. The Portuguese landed in Goa in the early 1500s, at first peacefully carrying out trade, but then took the area by force creating Portuguese India. Portugal held onto Portuguese India even after the British pulled out of India in 1947, until the Indian Army marched into the area in 1961.

62 Starbucks order : VENTI LATTE

Starbucks introduced us to coffee drinks in a whole range of volumes:

• Demi … 3 fl oz
• Short … 8 fl oz
• Tall … 12 fl oz
• Grande … 16 fl oz (Italian for “large”)
• Venti … 20 fl oz (Italian for “twenty”)
• Trenta … 30 fl oz (Italian for “thirty”)

67 Nerve center : LOCUS

“Locus” (plural “loci”) is Latin for “place”, and is used in English with the same meaning. The term can also be used to describe a center of power or activity. In mathematics, a locus is a set of points that satisfy some property. For example, a locus might be a straight line, part of a line, a surface, or perhaps a curve.

70 Muscat citizen : OMANI

Muscat is the capital city of Oman. It lies on the northeast coast of the state on the Gulf of Oman, a branch of the Persian Gulf.

72 2022 film starring Cate Blanchett as a conductor : TAR

“Tár” is a 2022 starring Cate Blanchett in the title role, a conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic who is accused of sexual misconduct. A concept album titled “Tár (Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture)” was released at the same time as the film. A week or so after release, the album topped “Billboard” magazine’s list of Traditional Classical Albums, beating out albums produced by the real Berlin Philharmonic.

Cate Blanchett is a great actress from Australia, and a winner of an Academy Award for playing Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator”. Winning for that role made Blanchett the first person to win an Academy Award for playing an actor (Hepburn) who had also won an Oscar. Now that is trivial information …

Down

5 Appliances that may have pilot lights : RANGES

A pilot light is a small gas flame, one using a relatively small amount of fuel that remains lit as an ignition source for larger gas burners.

6 Vellani who plays Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel : IMAN

Iman Vellani is a Pakistani-born Canadian actress who is best known for playing the title character (aka Kamala Khan) in the superhero miniseries “Ms. Marvel”.

7 Fish often grilled for tacos, informally : MAHI

“Mahi-mahi” (meaning “very strong”) is the Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, which is also known as the dorado. The mahi-mahi is an ugly looking creature if ever I saw one …

8 Booker or Pulitzer : PRIZE

The literary fiction award that we tend to call “the Booker Prize” was inaugurated in 1969 as the Booker-McConnell Prize, and was named for the UK food wholesaler that was the original sponsor. The British investment company Man Group took over sponsorship in 2002, so that the official name of the award is now the Man Booker Prize.

Pulitzer Prizes are awarded annually for achievements in journalism, literature and musical composition. The prize was established back in 1917 by the Hungarian-American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. Pulitzer left money in his will for the prize, and for its administration by Columbia University.

10 Anti-65-Down org. : PETA
[65D Pelt : FUR]

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a large animal rights organization, with about 300 employees and two million members and supporters worldwide. Although the group campaigns for animal rights across a broad spectrum of issues, it has a stated focus in opposition of four practices:

• Factory farming
• Fur farming
• Animal testing
• Use of animals in entertainment

12 Typical Wheaties box portrait : ATHLETE

Wheaties breakfast cereal was introduced in 1924, and is often referred to as the “Breakfast of Champions” due to its long-standing association with successful athletes. Over the years, Wheaties has featured many famous names on its boxes, including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and Muhammad Ali. The first athlete to appear on a Wheaties box was the baseball player Lou Gehrig in 1934.

13 Code-cracking org. : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) runs an annual Codebreaker Challenge that is aimed mainly at the student population. As best I can tell, the focus of the challenge is reverse software engineering. Checking out the Codebreaker Challenge website suggests that the NSA runs this program in order to identify and attract potential new employees.

19 One of four-on-the-floor : GEAR

Back in the day, the majority of American-made cars had three forward speeds and the gear shift was mounted on the steering column. Such a gear shift is sometimes referred to as “three on the tree”. Around the same time, European-made cars tended to have four forward speeds, and a gear shifter mounted on the floor. That arrangement is known as “four on the floor”.

25 Pinball faux pas : TILT

In a game of pinball, some players get an irresistible urge to “nudge” the machine . Such a nudge, a movement of the machine designed to influence the path taken by the ball, is called a “tilt”. Most pinball machines have sensors designed to detect a tilt, and when activated a “tilt” warning light comes on and the player’s controls are temporarily disabled.

The term “faux pas” is French in origin, and translates literally as “false step” (or “false steps”, as the plural has the same spelling in French).

30 “Yesterday” or “Tomorrow” : SONG

“Yesterday” is such a beautiful ballad. It was written by Paul McCartney, who also routinely performed the song as a solo piece. “Yesterday” wasn’t originally released as a single, and first appeared as a track on the 1965 Beatles album, “Help!” In several polls over in the UK, “Yesterday” has been named the number one pop song of all time.

“Tomorrow” is a song written for the Broadway musical “Annie”. The musical is based on the Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”. There were two subsequent film adaptations, both really quite successful, including one released in 1982 directed by John Huston of all people. It was the only musical that he ever directed.

41 Beaded counters : ABACI

The abacus (plural “abaci”) was used as a counting frame long before man had invented a numbering system. It is a remarkable invention, particularly when one notes that abaci are still widely used today across Africa and Asia.

47 Toy racer : SLOT CAR

Slot cars are those motorized toy cars that run around on tracks picking up power from a slot in the racing surface. The first slot cars were made in 1912 by the Lionel company, the manufacturer of toy train sets.

48 Farthest planet from the sun : NEPTUNE

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The existence of Neptune was predicted as early as the 1820s by mathematics based on observations of the orbit of Uranus. The planet was actually first observed in 1846.

54 Response to Captain Kirk : AYE, SIR

According to the storyline in “Star Trek”, Captain James Tiberius Kirk was born in Riverside, Iowa on March 22, 2233. The town of Riverside displays a plaque, noting Riverside as the “future birthplace of James T. Kirk”, but the date given is March 22, 2228. I sense a disturbance in the space-time continuum …

57 Guiding principle : TENET

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is held to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “he/she/it holds”.

59 Watts of “The Painted Veil” : NAOMI

Actress Naomi Watts was born in the UK and moved to Australia when she was 14 years of age. It was in Australia that Watts got her break in television and movies. Probably her most acclaimed role was in the 2003 film “21 Grams” with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Watts is best friends with fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

“The Painted Veil” is a 2006 movie based on a 1925 novel of the same name by W. Somerset Maugham. Both book and film follow the story of a young English couple, Walter and Kitty Fane. Their marriage is strained due to incompatibility and infidelity, leading them to relocate to a remote Chinese village where Walter is a doctor battling a cholera epidemic. The two lead roles are played by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.

63 “Peter Pan” dog : NANA

In J.M. Barrie’s play and novel about Peter Pan, Peter takes Wendy Darling and her two brothers (John and Michael) on adventures on the island of Neverland. Back in the real world, the Darling children are taken care of by a nanny, a Newfoundland dog called Nana. It is Nana who takes Peter Pan’s shadow away from him as he tries to escape from the Darling house one night.

64 Abbr. with a synopsis : TL;DR

Too long, didn’t read (TL;DR)

65 Pelt : FUR

A pelt is the skin of a furry animal.