Tag: Perform precisely crossword clue

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Constructed by: Zhou Zhang & Rafael Musa

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 13m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Superdome player : SAINT

The New Orleans Superdome was opened in 1975, and is the largest, fixed-dome structure in the world, covering 13 acres. The seating capacity varies depending on the event being staged, but the Rolling Stones attracted a crowd of more than 87,500 people in 1981. The primary purpose of the structure is to host home games for the New Orleans Saints football team. Famously, in 2005, the Superdome became a shelter of last resort for about 30,000 refugees in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

16A Result of doomscrolling, perhaps : BRAIN ROT

“Brain rot” was named the 2024 Word of the Year by Oxford University Press. It’s what can set in after spending hours of doomscrolling through digital content that is presented to one by those oh-so-helpful algorithms …

21A Had no defense? : GOT OPEN

Football perhaps, or soccer.

22A Buggy site : DUNE

Dune buggies are motorized vehicles designed for use on sand dunes and sandy beaches. They are typically made by adding large wheels and wide tires to the chassis of an existing road vehicle. Volkswagen Bugs are a common choice for the base vehicle, which led to the name dune “buggy”.

23A SEC-regulated events : IPOS

Initial public offering (IPO)

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and has primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities law. The first chairman of the SEC was Joe Kennedy, father of future president John F. Kennedy.

26A M-W alternative : OED

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

George and Charles Merriam founded their publishing company in 1831, and in 1843 purchased the rights to Noah Webster’s dictionary a few months after his death. Merriam-Webster (M-W) has been publishing mainly dictionaries and reference books ever since.

27A Surname of both founders of the fashion label The Row : OLSEN

The Row is a luxury fashion label based in New York that was established by former actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen in 2006. The brand name was inspired by the legendary London street called Savile Row, which has been home to numerous high-end tailors for centuries.

33A Animal with a white rump : ELK

Male elks are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elks are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elks are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.

34A “A Court of Thorns and Roses,” for one : ROMANTASY SERIES

“A Court of Thorns and Roses” is a fantasy romance series of novels by Sarah J. Maas. It is a loose retelling of three fairy tales: “Beauty and the Beast” from France, “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” from Norway, and “Tam Lin” from Scotland.

41A Composer with a namesake horn : SOUSA

John Philip Sousa was a composer and conductor from Washington, D.C. Sousa was well known for his patriotic marches and earned himself the nickname “The American March King”. He served as a member of the US Marine Band from 1868 to 1875, and after leaving the Marines learned to conduct and compose. One of the Sousa compositions that is well-known around the world is called “The Liberty Bell”, a tune used as the musical theme for BBC Television’s “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Sousa also wrote “Semper Fidelis”, which is the official march of the US Marine Corps.

The sousaphone is a kind of tuba that was specifically designed to send the sound upward and over the rest of the orchestra, with a warm tone, achieved with a large bell that pointed upwards. The instrument was developed at the request of the composer John Philip Sousa, hence the name. The design proved to be more suitable than its predecessors for use in marching bands, and that is how it is used most frequently today.

47A Automaker Karl : BENZ

It is generally accepted that Karl Benz invented the internal combustion engine, although others were doing similar work around the same time. He certainly was awarded the first patent for an automobile, in 1886. His first automobile, the Patent-Motorwagen, couldn’t get up hills unaided so his wife Bertha Benz suggested the introduction of gears. Sure enough, the next model had two gears. Behind every successful man …

55A Pico de gallo, e.g. : RED SALSA

Pico de gallo is a condiment in Mexican cuisine made from tomato, onion and chili peppers. “Pico de gallo” is Spanish for “beak of rooster”. Apparently this name was given as eating of the condiment with the thumb and forefinger resembled the pecking of a rooster. An alternative name for pico de gallo is “salsa fresca”, which translates literally as “fresh sauce”.

60A Ingredient in carajillo and affogato : ESPRESSO

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink that contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

A “carajillo” is a spiked coffee drink with a name believed to derive from the Spanish “coraje” meaning “courage”. According to legend, 19th-century Spanish soldiers in Cuba mixed their coffee with rum to give them a “corajillo”, a little dose of bravery, before heading into battle.

An “affogato” is a classic Italian dessert with the name translating to “drowned”, referring to the act of pouring a shot of hot espresso over a scoop of cold vanilla gelato.

61A En __ : MASSE

“En masse” is a French term, one that best translates as “as a group”

Down

2D Nochevieja follower : ANO NUEVO

“Nochevieja” is the Spanish name for “New Year’s Eve”, literally translating to “Old Night”.

3D As one : IN TANDEM

Back in the mid- to late-1700s, a tandem was a horse-drawn carriage, one with the two horses harnessed one behind the other. A century later, we applied the term “tandem” to a bicycle with two seats, and the two riders one behind the other.

4D Weeping mother of Greek myth : NIOBE

In Greek mythology, Niobe fled to Mount Sipylus when her children were killed. There, she was turned into stone and wept for eternity. There is indeed a Niobe’s Rock on Mount Sipylus (in modern-day Turkey) that resembles a female face, and so is known as “The Weeping Rock”.

5D Charlotte Hornets color : TEAL

The Charlotte Hornets NBA team takes its name from a Revolutionary War insult delivered by British General Lord Cornwallis. After encountering fierce resistance from local militias in 1780, Cornwallis famously described the city of Charlotte as a “veritable hornet’s nest” of rebellion.

6D Not-so-big shots : BBS

A BB gun is an air pistol or rifle that shoots birdshot known as BBs. Birdshot comes in a number of different sizes, from size 9 (0.070″ in diameter) to size FF (.230″). Birdshot that is size BB (0.180″ in diameter) gives the airgun its name.

7D Catalonia neighbor : ARAGON

Modern-day Aragón is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain. The region is named for the medieval Kingdom of Aragón.

Catalonia is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain, the capital of which is the city of Barcelona. Sandwiched between Catalonia and France to the north, is the lovely Principality of Andorra that is nestled in the Pyrenees. Andorra is the only country in the world in which Catalan is an official language.

8D Swiss host of the World Economic Forum : DAVOS

Davos is a resort town in the Swiss Alps. Known as a health resort in the 19th century, today it is best known as the host of the World Economic Forum, which is an annual meeting of political and corporate leaders from around the world.

9D “The Sympathizer” Pulitzer winner __ Thanh Nguyen : VIET

Author Viet Thanh Nguyen won the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his debut novel “The Sympathizer”. Nguyen was born in Vietnam, and fled the country with his family after the fall of Saigon in 1975, when he was just five years old.

10D Skinny : INFO

The use of the word “skinny”, meaning “information”, comes from WWII military slang for “the truth”. The term is probably a derivative of the expression “the naked truth”, which is evocative of “skinny-dipping”.

12D Epoch whose name means “new dawn” : EOCENE

The Eocene Epoch lasted from 56 to 34 million years ago. The name “Eocene” comes from the Greek “eos” meaning “dawn” and “kainos” meaning “new”. This is a reference to the “new dawn” for mammals, which emerged during the Eocene epoch.

15D Office building subdivision, for short : STE

Suite (ste.)

20D Queen Latifah’s “Nature of a __” : SISTA’

“Nature of a Sista'” is a 1991 album released by Queen Latifah, a follow-up to her hit debut album “All Hail the Queen”. Sadly, sales of “Nature of a Sista'” did not meet expectations, which led to Latifah being dropped by the Tommy Boy record label. Latifah argued that much of the blame for the poor sales belonged with the lack of promotion, saying that female rappers get fewer resources than men to boost sales.

24D Imaging technique : PET SCAN

A PET scan is a medical diagnostic tool that relies on the detection of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a radioactive tracer isotope introduced into the body. Usually, the tracer isotope is incorporated into a glucose-like sugar and then injected into the bloodstream. After about an hour, the radioactive compound has been concentrated in areas of high metabolic activity, perhaps a malignant tumor. As the isotope decays, it emits positrons. The positrons interact with electrons resulting in annihilation of the particles with emission of gamma photons. These gamma photons are detected and are drawn on a map showing where the molecular tracer has concentrated. The acronym PET stands for positron emission tomography.

27D __ vincit amor : OMNIA

“Omnia vincit amor” is a line from Eclogue X, one of the major works of the Latin poet Virgil. We know the phrase in English as “love conquers all”.

30D National vegetable of Pakistan : OKRA

Okra is known as “bhindi” in India and Pakistan, and is the national vegetable of the latter. Over 60% of the world production of okra is in India.

33D “Hanna” star __ Creed-Miles : ESME

Esmé Creed-Miles is an actress from England who is perhaps best known for portraying the title character in the excellent action drama TV show “Hanna”. She is the daughter of fellow English actress Samantha Morton.

The action drama TV show “Hanna” is based on the 2011 movie of the same name. Irish actress Saoirse Ronan plays the title role in the movie, while English actress Esmé Creed-Miles portrays Hanna on TV. Hanna is a young woman who was inducted as an infant into a training program producing super-soldiers. She was rescued by her birth mother’s lover, who raised and trained her on his own. Great stuff …

44D Perfumes during a rite : CENSES

To “cense” is to perfume with “incense”. Such a lovely word …

47D Quintet in London’s Elizabeth Tower : BELLS

“Big Ben” is the name commonly used for the large bell in the Clock Tower (“Elizabeth Tower”, since 2012) of the Palace of Westminster (aka “Houses of Parliament”). Big Ben’s official name is the Great Bell, and there is some debate about the origins of the nickname. It may be named after Sir Benjamin Hall who supervised the bell’s installation, or perhaps the English heavyweight champion of the day Benjamin Caunt. Big Ben fell silent in 2017 to make way for four years of maintenance and repair work to the clock’s mechanism and the tower.

48D “Se __ inglés” : HABLA

In Spanish, a sign on a business might read “Se habla inglés” (English is spoken).

50D Video genre that may cause chills, for short : ASMR

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR ) is a tingling sensation that some people experience in response to certain stimuli, such as soft sounds, gentle whispering, or slow movements. It is often described as a feeling of relaxation and well-being. Although there is no consensus on what causes ASMR, one suggestion is that it may be related to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. There are a wide variety of ASMR videos available, including videos of people whispering, tapping on objects, or performing other gentle actions.

53D S&L options : CDS

A certificate of deposit (CD) is like a less-flexible and higher-paying savings account. Instead of depositing money into a savings account and earning interest periodically, one can open a CD. With a CD one deposits a minimum amount of money but must leave it there for a specified length of time. In return for committing the funds for a fixed period, one is given a higher interest rate than a savings account and can redeem that interest and the initial deposit when the term has expired. CDs are relatively low-risk investments as they are FDIC insured, just like savings accounts.

Savings and Loan Associations (S&Ls) are financial institutions that historically specialized in providing home mortgage loans and accepting savings deposits from individuals. They originated in the 19th century as “building and loan” societies to help people finance homeownership, and played a significant role in the US housing market for much of the 20th century. However, deregulation allowed S&Ls to engage in riskier investments, leading to widespread failures and the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. That crisis cost taxpayers billions, but resulted in significant regulatory reforms.

54D Bears, e.g. : TEAM

The Chicago Bears football team was founded in Decatur, Illinois in 1919 and moved to Chicago in 1921. The Bears are one of only two franchises in the NFL that were around at the time of the league’s founding (the other being the Arizona Cardinals, also based in Chicago in 1921).