Tag: Personal identifiers crossword clue

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Constructed by: Zachary David Levy
Edited by: Patti Varol

ong>Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Represent The Right

Themed answers each end with a synonym of “represent”:

• 17A Ron Howard film featuring firefighters : BACKDRAFT
• 25A Crossbreed with curly hair : GOLDEN DOODLE
• 47A “Saturday Night Live” segment, e.g. : COMEDY SKETCH
• 60A Toon McGraw in a Stetson hat and a matching holster : QUICK DRAW

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

Bill’s time: 6m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14 Software test version : BETA

In the world of software development, the first tested issue of a new program is usually called the alpha version. Expected to have a lot of bugs that need to be fixed, the alpha release is usually distributed to a small number of testers. After reported bugs have been eliminated, the refined version is called a beta and is released to a wider audience, but with the program clearly labeled as “beta”. The users generally check functionality and report further bugs that are encountered. The beta version feeds into a release candidate, the version that is tested just prior to the software being sold into the market, hopefully bug-free.

16 “Rocky” actress Shire : TALIA

Actress Talia Shire is best-known for playing Rocky’s wife Adrian in the “Rocky” series of movies. She also played Connie, the daughter of Don Corleone, in “The Godfather” films. Shire is the sister of movie director Francis Ford Coppola and the aunt of actor Nicolas Cage. Her son is the actor Jason Schwartzman.

If ever there was a movie that defined a career breakthrough for an actor, it would have to be “Rocky” for Sylvester Stallone. Stallone was a struggling actor in 1975 when a Muhammad Ali fight inspired Stallone to write a screenplay for a boxing movie, which he did in just three days. His efforts to sell the script went well but for the fact that the interested studios wanted a big name for the lead role, and Stallone was determined to be the star himself. Stallone persevered and “Rocky” was eventually made with him playing the title role of Rocky Balboa. The movie won three Oscars, and “Sly” Stallone had arrived …

17 Ron Howard film featuring firefighters : BACKDRAFT

1991’s “Backdraft” is an action movie directed by Ron Howard starring Kurt Russell and William Baldwin as Chicago firefighters, and Robert De Niro as a fire investigation officer. There was a Backdraft special effects fire show based on the film at Universal Studios Hollywood from 2001 until 2010. We unintentionally scared our kids by bringing them to see the show a couple of decades ago, and they exited the show in tears …

19 Fodder for a mill : GRIST

When grain has been separated from its chaff, to prepare it for grinding, it is called “grist”. Indeed, the word “grist” is derived from the word “grind”. Grist can be ground into a relatively coarse meal, or into a fine flour. The names can be confusing though. For example, the grist from maize when ground to a coarse consistency is called “grits”, and when ground to a fine consistency is called “corn meal”. There is an idiomatic phrase “grist for one’s mill”, meaning something used to one’s advantage. The grinding mechanism, or the building that holds the mechanism, is known as a “gristmill”.

20 Belief in nonbelief, so to speak : ATHEISM

The term “atheism”, meaning “disbelief in the existence of a god or gods”, comes from the Greek “atheos” meaning “without god”.

25 Crossbreed with curly hair : GOLDENDOODLE

A goldendoodle is crossbreed from a golden retriever and a poodle. The term “goldendoodle” is a portmanteau of “golden retriever” and “labradoodle”. A labradoodle is a crossbreed from a Labrador retriever and poodle.

30 Jacobson of “A League of Their Own” : ABBI

Abbi Jacobson is a comedian and actress who is perhaps best known as the co-creator, along with Ilana Glazer, of the Comedy Central sitcom “Broad City”. She also appeared in, wrote for and co-created the 2022 TV series “A League of Their Own”, which is based on the 1992 film of the same name.

35 Candy heart word : LUV

The forerunner to Sweethearts candy was introduced in 1866, with the famous sayings written on the candy tailored for use at weddings. One of the original expressions was, “Married in pink, he will take a drink”. The original candy was a lot bigger, to fit all those words! The smaller, heart-shaped candy hit the shelves in 1901. We’ve been able to buy Sweethearts with the words “Text me” since 2010.

36 Faucet : TAP

The common “faucet” in an American house is almost always referred to as a “tap” on the other side of the pond.

40 Full-contact fighting sport, for short : MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

41 Future atty.’s exam : LSAT

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

43 Apple device introduced in 2010 : IPAD

The iPad wasn’t Apple’s first foray into the world of tablet computing. Apple created great buzz by introducing the Newton MessagePad way back in 1993. This innovative machine was fraught with problems and really died a very slow death, finally being withdrawn from the market in 1998.

45 Hipbone-related : ILIAC

The ilium (plural “ilia”) is the upper portion of the hipbone.

47 “Saturday Night Live” segment, e.g. : COMEDY SKETCH

NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.

50 Register operators : CASHIERS

What we usually call a cash register here in North America, we mostly call a “till” in Ireland and the UK. I haven’t heard the word “till” used much here in that sense …

53 Sch. group : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

54 Gasoline rating : OCTANE

The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. The octane rating is a measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

60 Toon McGraw in a Stetson hat and a matching holster : QUICK DRAW

“Quick Draw McGraw” was a Hanna-Barbera cartoon show starring a horse named Quick Draw who was a sheriff in the old West. His deputy was also an equine creature, a Mexican burro named Baba Looey. When I was a little kid, I had curtains on my bedroom window featuring Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw. Happy days …

Stetson is a brand of hat manufactured by John B. Stetson Company of St. Joseph, Missouri. The so-called “cowboy hat” that Stetson pioneered was such a success that the company became the largest hat maker in the world, producing over 3.3 million hats per year.

62 Book name : TITLE

In the US, the convention is to write the title on the spine of a book from top-to-bottom. In most of Europe, the convention is to write the title from bottom-to-top. We have a lot of books in the “library” in our house from both sides of the Atlantic, and so there is much movement of the head from left to right as we glance along our bookshelves.

63 Lobby for : URGE

The verb “to lobby” describes the action of seeking to influence toward a desired action. The term comes from the frequenting of the lobby of a legislature in order to solicit members.

64 Fairy-tale beast : OGRE

An ogre is a monster of mythology and folktales that has the appearance of a man, and which eats human beings. The term “ogre” comes to us via French from the name of the Etruscan god Orcus, who feasted on the flesh of humans.

65 Golf legend Sam : SNEAD

Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball, by teeing off from home plate. Snead’s best-remembered nickname is “Slammin’ Sammy”.

66 Poet Sharon : OLDS

Poet Sharon Olds won a Pulitzer Prize in Poetry in 2013. She was also the first American woman to win the T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry.

Down

1 Swedish pop group : ABBA

Only three members of the quartet that made up the Swedish pop group ABBA were born in Sweden. Anni-Frid Lyngstad was born in Norway just after the end of WWII, the daughter of a Norwegian mother and a father who was a German soldier and a member of the German occupying forces during the war. The father returned to Germany with the army, and in 1947, Anni-Frid was taken with her family to Sweden. They left fearing reprisals against those who dealt with the German army during the occupation.

4 Some forged documents : FAKE IDS

Identity document (ID)

6 Patriarch from Eden : ADAM

According to the Bible, God created Adam from “the dust of the ground”. Eve was created as Adam’s companion, from Adam’s rib.

7 Rapper Mos __ : DEF

“Mos Def” is the former stage name of actor and rapper Dante Terrell Smith-Bay, now known as Yasiin Bey. Mos Def is one of the few rap stars who is really making a name for himself in the world of movies. He received critical acclaim for roles in 2003’s “The Italian Job” , 2005’s “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”, and for a featured role in an episode of television’s “House”.

8 Ballpark fig. : EST

The phrase “in the ballpark” means “within an acceptable range of approximation”. The term was coined in the mid-fifties as jargon used by scientists developing atomic weapons. The first “ballpark” in this sense was the broad area within which a missile was forecast to return to earth.

9 Dated term for a celebrity socialite : IT GIRL

Clara Bow was a fabulous silent film star, with her most famous movie being “It” from 1927. Clara Bow’s performance was so celebrated in the movie that she was forever to be known as the “It girl”. The term “it” was a euphemism for “sex appeal”, and that is what Clara Bow was known to “exude”. Bow applied her red lipstick in the shape of a heart, and women who copied this style were said to put on a “Clara Bow”. We now use the term “it girl” more generally to describe a celebrity or personality perceived to exhibit sex appeal.

10 Multicolored, as some rye : MARBLED

Marbled rye is a wheat-rye bread made by combining the dough of light rye with American pumpernickel.

11 “I was somewhere else” statement : ALIBI

“Alibi” is the Latin word for “elsewhere” as in, “I claim that I was ‘elsewhere’ when the crime was committed, I have an ‘alibi’”.

12 Hosiery thread : LISLE

Lisle is a cotton fabric that has been through an extra process at the end of its manufacture that burns off lint and the ends of fibers leaving the fabric very smooth and with a clean edge. Cotton lisle is mainly used in the manufacture of underwear and stockings. The process to make the thread was invented in the French city of Lille (formerly “Lisle”), hence the name.

The word “hose” meaning “covering for the leg” has the same roots as the contemporary German word “Hose” meaning “trousers, pants”.

21 Olympic gymnast Comaneci : NADIA

Romanian Nadia Comaneci won three golds in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of ten in the gymnastics competition. Comaneci published a book called “Letters to a Young Gymnast” in 2003, and now lives in the United States.

24 “I’m __! Who are you?”: Dickinson poem : NOBODY

Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 1800 poems in her lifetime, with less than a dozen published before she died in 1886. Emily’s younger sister discovered the enormous collection, and it was published in batches over the coming decades. Try this one for size:

I’m nobody!
Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there’s a pair of us — don’t tell!
They’d banish us, you know.

How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

25 Fish organ : GILL

A fish’s gills are the organs equivalent to the lungs of many land animals. The gills can extract oxygen dissolved in water and excrete carbon dioxide.

26 “Bloom County” penguin : OPUS

“Bloom County” is a comic strip that originally ran from 1980 to 1989, and which was drawn by cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. Breathed resurrected the strip in 2015, distributing it via Facebook. The main protagonist in the storyline is Milo Bloom, a 10-year-old newspaper reporter.

33 Apple computer that debuted 12 years before the 43-Across : IMAC
[43A Apple device introduced in 2010 : IPAD]

The iMac is a desktop computer platform that Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such as strawberry, blueberry and lime.

34 Dashboard RPM dial : TACH

The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer in a car measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

37 “Save Me” singer Mann : AIMEE

Aimee Mann is a rock singer and guitarist from Virginia. Mann is married to Michael Penn, the brother of actor Sean Penn.

“Save Me” is a 1999 song written and recorded by Aimee Mann. It was used in the 1999 drama film “Magnolia”, and earned a nomination for that season’s Best Original Song Oscar. The accompanying music video features Mann inserted into scenes from the movie as she sings the song. The video scenes were filmed with Mann and the actors (not digitally manipulated) at the end of a day’s filming. The list of actors appearing in the music video incluse Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hiffman, Tom Cruise and William H. Macy.

39 Video-sharing app : TIKTOK

TikTok is a video-sharing service that is based in China, and is very popular with the younger set I am told). The TikTok mobile app provides tools facilitating production of sophisticated selfie videos that use special effects.

42 “Black Panther” hero : T’CHALLA

“Black Panther” is a 2018 superhero film starring Chadwick Boseman in the title role. Black Panther is a Marvel Comics character created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. When not a superhero, Black Panther is the king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda, and goes by the name “T’Challa”.

46 Iditarod front-runner : LEAD DOG

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race covers an incredible 1,161 miles, from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. The race starts every year on the first Saturday in March, with the first race having been held in 1973. Finishing times range from over 8 days to 15 days or more. The first few races only used a northern route, but then a southern route was added to the roster every second year. It’s kind of a good thing, because when the racers take the northern route they don’t even pass through the town of Iditarod!

52 Kansas or Arkansas : STATE

One of Kansas’s major crops is the sunflower, and so the state’s official nickname is the Sunflower State. The sunflower is the state symbol, and Mount Sunflower is the highest point in Kansas.

Arkansas has had three official nicknames over the years:

1. The Wonder State (1923)
2. The Land of Opportunity (1953)
3. The Natural State (1995)

55 Texas city nickname : BIG D

“Big D” is a nickname for the city of Dallas, Texas.

56 Mythical ship sailed by Jason : ARGO

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts set sail on the Argo from the city of Iolcos in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of the ship’s builder, a man named Argus.

57 Button on a deli scale : TARE

Tare is the weight of a container that is deducted from the gross weight to determine the net weight, the weight of the container’s contents.

60 Quid pro __ : QUO

“Quid pro quo” is Latin for “something for something”, i.e. a swap.

61 Clickable link : URL

An Internet address (like NYXCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) is more correctly called a uniform resource locator (URL).