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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein & Rachel Fabi
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Reveal Answer: Produce Aisle
Themed answers are items found in the PRODUCE AISLE of the grocery store. Each comprises two words, both of which are also the names of items found in the same AISLE:
- 57A Supermarket section containing each component of (as well as the complete answers to) the starred clues : PRODUCE AISLE
- 20A *Bright yellow sandwich topping : BANANA PEPPER
- 34A *Marinara ingredient : PLUM TOMATO
- 44A *Citrusy herb in Thai cuisine : LEMON BASIL
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
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Bill’s time: 7m 25s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Short-legged Welsh dog breed : CORGI
The Welsh corgi is a herding dog that originated in Britain, with two recognized breeds: the Pembroke and Cardigan. Corgis aren’t fast enough to do their job by running around livestock like collies, and instead nip at the heels. “Corgi” is Welsh for “dwarf dog”.
6 Opera star : DIVA
The term “diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. It is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.
10 Milk in a skinny latte : SKIM
The fatty component of milk is known as butterfat (sometimes “milkfat”). To be labeled whole milk, the butterfat content must be at least 3.25%. Low-fat milk is defined as milk containing 0.5-2% fat, with levels of 1% and 2% commonly found on grocery store shelves. Skim milk must contain less than 0.5% fat, and typically contains 0.1%.
14 WNBA team in 53-Across : DREAM
The Atlanta Dream is a WNBA team that joined the league for the 2008 season. After moving around a little, the Dreams settled into the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia starting with the 2021 season.
15 Minnesota representative Ilhan : OMAR
Ilhan Omar has been representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in the US House since 2019. At that time, she became one of the first two Muslim women, as well as the first Somali American, to serve in the US Congress.
16 Actress Olin : LENA
Lena Olin is a Swedish actress, and someone who has acting in her blood. Her mother was the actress Britta Holmberg and her father the actor and director Stig Olin. Olin had a very successful career in Sweden, often working with the great Ingmar Bergman. Olin’s breakthrough international and English-speaking role was playing opposite Daniel Day-Lewis in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” released in 1988. Way back in 1974, Miss Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia in a beauty pageant for Nordic women held in Helsinki, Finland. Olin’s most famous performance was in “Chocolat” released in 2000, and then she won an Emmy in 2003 for Best Supporting Actress in the TV show “Alias”.
17 Cohort : CADRE
A cadre is most commonly a group of experienced personnel at the core of a larger organization that the small group trains or heavily influences. “Cadre” is a French word meaning “frame”. We use it in the sense that a cadre is a group that provides a “framework” for the larger organization.
“Cohort” can be used as a collective noun, meaning “group, company”. The term can also apply to an individual supporter or companion, although usually in a derogatory sense. “Cohort” comes from the Latin “cohors”, which was an infantry company in the Roman army, one tenth of a legion.
18 Costa __ : RICA
Costa Rica is a country in Central America that is bordered by Nicaragua to the north and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army … permanently!
19 Choir part : ALTO
In choral music, an alto (plural “alti”) is the second-highest voice in a four-part chorus made up of soprano, contr(alto), tenor and bass. The word “alto” describes the vocal range, that of the deepest female singing-voice, whereas the term “contralto” describes more than just the alto range, but also its quality and timbre. An adult male’s voice (not a boy’s) with the same range as an alto is called a “countertenor”.
20 *Bright yellow sandwich topping : BANANA PEPPER
The banana pepper is a very mild chili pepper. It gets its name from its curved shape and yellow color that might remind one of a banana. I’m a big fan of banana peppers …
23 Broadway opening? : ACT ONE
Broadway really is, and always has been, the Main Street of New York City. It started out as the Wickquasgeck Trail that was trampled into the Manhattan brush land by the Native Americans of the area. In the days of the Dutch, the trail became the main road through the island of Manhattan, down to the New Amsterdam settlement in the south. The Dutch described it as a “Breede weg”, a broad street or broad way. The name Broadway was adopted as the official name for the whole thoroughfare in 1899 … on Valentine’s Day.
26 Sweet potato kin : YAM
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.
27 Pt. of TGIF : FRI
“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF)
28 Low sound? : MOO!
The cattle are lowing, mooing.
29 Quran authority : IMAM
An imam is a Muslim leader, and often the person in charge of a mosque and/or perhaps a Muslim community.
The Koran is also known as the “Qur’an” and “Quran” in English. “Qur’an” a transliteration of the Arabic name for the holy text of the Muslim faith. The literal translation of “Koran” is “the recitation”.
32 Hostess snack : HO HO
Ho Hos snack cakes were first produced in San Francisco in 1967. The “Happy Ho Ho” mascot was created for the brand in the 1970s, and was a cartoon character in a Robin Hood outfit. Ho Hos weren’t the best thing to come out of the sixties I’d say …
34 *Marinara ingredient : PLUM TOMATO
Italians use the term “marinara” not for a sauce, but in the name of a recipe that includes a tomato-based sauce. For example, “spaghetti alla marinara” would be a spaghetti dish, served “mariner’s style”. The tomato sauce that we call “marinara” is called “salsa di pomodoro” in Italy.
40 Actress Petty : LORI
Lori Petty is the actress who played the character Kit Keller in the fabulous movie “A League of Their Own”. Petty also played the title role in a 1995 science fiction film called “Tank Girl”.
41 Quick qualifier : IMO
In my opinion (IMO)
47 Blues guitarist Baker : ETTA
Etta Baker was a singer and blues guitarist from North Carolina.
49 Longtime Swit co-star : ALDA
Alan Alda has had a great television career, most notably as a lead actor in “M*A*S*H”. He was born Alphonso D’Abruzzo in the Bronx, New York City. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing surgeon Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He also won an Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Senator Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.
Loretta Swit started playing Major “Hot Lips” Houlihan on “M*A*S*H” in 1972. She and Alan Alda were the only actors who appeared in both the pilot and the series finale. Swit has written a book on needlepoint, would you believe? It’s called “A Needlepoint Scrapbook”.
50 Wanders in an airport? : TSA
Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
51 Sunscreen letters : SPF
In theory, the sun protection factor (SPF) is a calibrated measure of the effectiveness of a sunscreen in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The idea is that if you wear a lotion with say SPF 20, then it takes 20 times as much UV radiation to cause the skin to burn than it would take without protection. I say just stay out of the sun …
53 Ga. capital : ATL
The city of Atlanta, Georgia (A-Town) had its beginnings in the late 1830s when the location was chosen as the terminus for a new railroad to be built connecting Georgia with the Midwestern United States. The city’s name was chosen by the Chief Engineer of the Georgia Railroad, apparently after the middle name of the daughter of Governor Wilson Lumpkin: “Atalanta”.
61 Yesteryear : YORE
We use the word “yore” to mean “time long past” as in “the days of yore”. “Yore” comes from the Old English words for “of years”.
62 Goat group : HERD
Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.
63 Throwback diet : PALEO
The paleolithic (or “paleo, caveman”) diet is a fad diet that became popular in the 2000s. The idea is to eat wild plants and animals that would have been available to humans during the Paleolithic era (roughly the Stone Age). This period precedes the introduction of agriculture and the domestication of animals. As a result, someone on the diet avoids consuming grains, legumes, dairy and processed foods. The diet consists mainly of lean meat (about 45-65% of the total calorie intake), non-starchy vegetables, fruits, berries and nuts.
68 __ Canalway Trail: 365-mile stretch in New York : ERIE
The Erie Canal runs from Albany to Buffalo in the state of New York. What the canal does is allow shipping to proceed from New York Harbor right up the Hudson River, through the canal and into the Great Lakes. When it was opened in 1825, the Erie Canal had an immediate impact on the economy of New York City and locations along its route. It was the first means of “cheap” transportation from a port on the Atlantic seaboard into the interior of the United States. Arguably it was the most important factor contributing to the growth of New York City over competing ports such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. It was largely because of the Erie Canal that New York became such an economic powerhouse, earning it the nickname of “the Empire State”. Paradoxically, one of the project’s main proponents was severely criticized. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton received so much ridicule that the canal was nicknamed “Clinton’s Folly” and “Clinton’s Ditch”.
69 Zest alternative : IVORY
Ivory soap is one of Procter & Gamble’s oldest products, introduced way back in 1879. Ivory soap is noted for its “purity” and also because of its property of floating in water. Despite urban myths to the contrary, the property of floating in water was developed deliberately by a chemist at the time Ivory was being formulated. The soap floats because the ingredients are mixed longer than necessary for homogenization, which introduces more air into the product.
72 Word before tea and toast : TEXAS …
Oil is sometimes referred to as “black gold”, or “Texas tea”.
Texas toast is made from toasted, sliced bread that is about double the usual thickness of sliced, packaged bread. It is prepared by simply spreading butter onto both sides and grilling until golden brown. Variants might include garlic in the butter, or the addition of cheese to one or both sides.
Down
1 Public health org. headed by Rochelle Walensky : CDC
Rochelle Walensky is a physician and scientist who was put in charge of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2021.
2 British singer Rita : ORA
Rita Ora is a British singer who was born Rita Sahatçiu in Pristina, Yugoslavia to Albanian parents. The family name “Sahatçiu” comes from a Turkish word meaning “watchmaker”. Rita’s parents changed their name to make it easier to pronounce. So, the family name morphed from “watchmaker” to “time”, which is “ora” in Albanian.
3 Top stripe of a pride flag : RED
The best-known rainbow flag is the one representing gay pride. Such usage of the rainbow flag was popularized in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker. The varying colors of the flag represent the diversity of the gay community.
4 Actress Greta : GARBO
Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.
6 Explorer in “The Lost City of Gold” : DORA
“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” is a 2019 live-action film based on the animated TV show “Dora the Explorer”. Isabela Merced (now “Isabela Merced”) plays the title character. I find it a little satisfying that “Dora and the Lost City of Gold” was actually filmed in and around the city of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia …
7 Hacker’s triumphant cry : I’M IN!
A computer hacker is a computer expert, and in particular one who uses that expertise to solve problems with hardware and software. So, the original use of the term “hacking” was very positive. Since the 1980s, the term “hacker” is more commonly used for an expert in subverting computer security.
8 Time away, informally : VACAY
A vacation (“vacay”) might provide some rest and relaxation/recuperation (R&R).
9 Great Plains people : ARAPAHO
The Arapaho Native-American people lived on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They traditionally wintered in small camps in the foothills of the Rockies, and then relocated to plains in the spring where they hunted the buffalo that were gathering to give birth to their young.
The Great Plains lie between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains in North America. This vast grassland is known as “the Prairies” in Canada.
11 Underwater ecosystems : KELP FORESTS
Kelps are large seaweeds that grow in kelp forests underwater. Kelps can grow to over 250 feet in length, and do so very quickly. Some kelps can grow at the rate of 1-2 feet per day.
13 New Zealand native : MAORI
The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting some time in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing mortal humans from spiritual entities. The Māori refer to New Zealand as “Aotearoa”.
21 Pixar clownfish : NEMO
“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and, until 2010’s “Toy Story 3”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.
Clownfish are very colorful, attractive-looking fish. They are orange and often have broad strips of white and black on their bodies depending on species. Clownfish spend their lives in a symbiotic relationship with sea anemones.
25 Exceptional performance : TOUR DE FORCE
A tour de force (plural “tours de force”) is a great display of strength or skill. “Tour de force” is French, in which language it has the same meaning.
30 French friend : AMIE
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.
31 “__ Mia! Here We Go Again” : MAMMA
“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again” is a 2018 sequel to the hit 2008 movie “Mamma Mia!” I am an unashamed fan of the original film, and really loved both the original and the sequel. I especially enjoyed Cher’s rendition of a couple of ABBA hits at the end of the second movie, and happily received Cher’s 2018 album “Dancing Queen” for Christmas that year …
33 Greek goddess of marriage : HERA
In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and the goddess of women, marriage, family and childbirth. She was noted for her jealous and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.
45 Confidentiality contracts: Abbr. : NDAS
Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)
48 Greek letter before upsilon : TAU
Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and the letter that gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.
60 Named, briefly : IDED
Identity document (ID)
64 Smoked salmon : LOX
Lox is a brine-cured salmon filet that is finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Short-legged Welsh dog breed : CORGI
6 Opera star : DIVA
10 Milk in a skinny latte : SKIM
14 WNBA team in 53-Across : DREAM
15 Minnesota representative Ilhan : OMAR
16 Actress Olin : LENA
17 Cohort : CADRE
18 Costa __ : RICA
19 Choir part : ALTO
20 *Bright yellow sandwich topping : BANANA PEPPER
23 Broadway opening? : ACT ONE
26 Sweet potato kin : YAM
27 Pt. of TGIF : FRI
28 Low sound? : MOO!
29 Quran authority : IMAM
32 Hostess snack : HO HO
34 *Marinara ingredient : PLUM TOMATO
37 Messes up : ERRS
40 Actress Petty : LORI
41 Quick qualifier : IMO
42 Harvest : REAP
43 Concludes : ENDS
44 *Citrusy herb in Thai cuisine : LEMON BASIL
47 Blues guitarist Baker : ETTA
49 Longtime Swit co-star : ALDA
50 Wanders in an airport? : TSA
51 Sunscreen letters : SPF
53 Ga. capital : ATL
55 Ready to go : ALL SET
57 Supermarket section containing each component of (as well as the complete answers to) the starred clues : PRODUCE AISLE
61 Yesteryear : YORE
62 Goat group : HERD
63 Throwback diet : PALEO
67 As soon as : ONCE
68 __ Canalway Trail: 365-mile stretch in New York : ERIE
69 Zest alternative : IVORY
70 Require : NEED
71 Group of two : DYAD
72 Word before tea and toast : TEXAS …
Down
1 Public health org. headed by Rochelle Walensky : CDC
2 British singer Rita : ORA
3 Top stripe of a pride flag : RED
4 Actress Greta : GARBO
5 “For real!” : I MEAN IT!
6 Explorer in “The Lost City of Gold” : DORA
7 Hacker’s triumphant cry : I’M IN!
8 Time away, informally : VACAY
9 Great Plains people : ARAPAHO
10 Smack : SLAP
11 Underwater ecosystems : KELP FORESTS
12 Prefix with faith : INTER-
13 New Zealand native : MAORI
21 Pixar clownfish : NEMO
22 Punk subgenre : EMO
23 More than sufficient : AMPLE
24 Analogy punctuation : COLON
25 Exceptional performance : TOUR DE FORCE
30 French friend : AMIE
31 “__ Mia! Here We Go Again” : MAMMA
33 Greek goddess of marriage : HERA
35 57-Across spray : MIST
36 Hammer or saw : TOOL
38 __ the roof : RAISE
39 Bad sound in the 57-Across : SPLAT!
44 Fastened, in a way : LATCHED
45 Confidentiality contracts: Abbr. : NDAS
46 Colorful play area : BALL PIT
48 Greek letter before upsilon : TAU
51 Watch covertly : SPY ON
52 Inclined (to) : PRONE
54 Wary (of) : LEERY
56 Depart : LEAVE
58 Act : DEED
59 Opera solo : ARIA
60 Named, briefly : IDED
64 Smoked salmon : LOX
65 Time period : ERA
66 Noises of exasperation : OYS
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