Tag: Sign at a convenience store crossword clue

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Constructed by: Ricky J. Sirois

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Back Burner

Themed answers each have a BURNER at the “BACK”:

• 63A Place for a nonurgent issue, and what can be found at the end of 16-, 24-, 37-, or 53- Across? : BACK BURNER

• 16A Battle over a board : CHESS MATCH
• 24A “Peyton Place” and “Diamonds Are Forever” actress : LANA WOOD
• 37A Semester-long writing assignment : TERM PAPER
• 53A Film hitman played by Keanu Reeves : JOHN WICK

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

Bill’s time: 5m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Home of the Colosseum : ROME

The Colosseum of Rome was the largest amphitheater in the whole of the Roman Empire in its day, and could seat about 50,000 people. The structure was originally called the “Amphitheatrum Flavium” but the name changed to “Colosseum” after a colossal statue of Emperor Nero was located nearby.

9A Actor Omar : EPPS

Actor Omar Epps was originally a rapper and was a member of a group called “Wolfpack” before he pursued acting full-time. His really big break came in the form of a recurring role on the popular medical drama series “ER”, followed by a recurring role in the TV series “House” as Dr. Eric Foreman.

14A In __ parentis : LOCO

The Latin phrase “in loco parentis” translates as “in the place of a parent”. We use the term in the law when referring to a person or organization that takes on some of the responsibilities of a parent.

15A “Star Wars” heroine : LEIA

The full name of the character played by Carrie Fisher in the “Star Wars” series of films is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and later Leia Organa Solo. Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the daughter of Anakin Skywalker (aka “Darth Vader”) and Padmé Amidala. Leia is raised by her adoptive parents Bail and Breha Organa. She eventually marries Han Solo.

16A Battle over a board : CHESS MATCH

It is believed that the game of chess originated in northwest India. It evolved from a 6th-century game called “chaturanga”, a Sanskrit word meaning “four divisions”. These four (military) divisions were represented in the game:

• Infantry (now “pawns”)
• Cavalry (now “knights”)
• Elephants (now “bishops”)
• Chariots (now “rooks”)

18A Performed at a karaoke party : SANG

The first karaoke machine was reportedly invented in 1971 by Japanese musician Daisuke Inoue, though he never patented his invention. The concept caught on, and Inoue earned himself the Ig Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. I guess the awards committee weren’t big karaoke fans …

24A “Peyton Place” and “Diamonds Are Forever” actress : LANA WOOD

Lana Wood is the younger sister of the actress Natalie Wood. Lana is an actress in her own right, and a producer. She appeared regularly on television’s “Peyton Place”. She was also a Bond girl, appearing opposite Sean Connery as Plenty O’Toole in “Diamonds Are Forever”. For a while, Lana Wood and Sean Connery were romantically involved.

Grace Metallius’s 1956 novel “Peyton Place” had such an impact that to this day, the expression “Peyton Place” is used to describe a neighborhood where the residents have sordid secrets. The novel has it all, including incest, abortion, adultery, lust and murder. No wonder it stayed on “The New York Times” bestseller list for 59 weeks. And, no wonder that it was adapted into a very popular prime-time soap opera that ran from 1964 to 1969 …

“Diamonds Are Forever” (1971) marked Sean Connery’s return to the role of James Bond after George Lazenby’s single (disastrous) outing in “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service”. Producers paid Connery a then-record salary of $1.25 million, as they were desperate to rescue the franchise. The film is also famous for a memorable car chase in which Bond escapes down a narrow Las Vegas alleyway by driving a Ford Mustang on two wheels. However, the scene contains a famous continuity error. The car enters the alley tilted on its right-side wheels but inexplicably emerges tilted on its left-side wheels. Oops …

33A Tiny bit : IOTA

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet, and one that gave rise to our letters I and J. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small, as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

36A Summers on the Seine : ETES

In preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics, a massive effort went underway to clean up the Seine River. For decades, pollution plagued the waterway, making it unsafe for swimming. A €1.4 billion project aimed at improving water quality was implemented, including upgrades to wastewater treatment plants and a crackdown on illegal dumping. As a result, several Olympic swimming events were held in the Seine, although some triathletes came down sick afterwards.

37A Semester-long writing assignment : TERM PAPER

“Semester” is a German word from the Latin “semestris”, an adjective meaning “of six months”. We use the term in a system that divides an academic year into two roughly equal parts. A trimester-system has three parts, and a quarter-system has four.

44A Baseball feature : SEAM

A baseball is made by wrapping string around a rubber or cork center, and then covering the resulting sphere with leather. The string inside a baseball can measure up to a mile in length.

49A Apropos : APT

“Apropos”, meaning “relevant, opportune”, comes into English directly from French, in which language “à propos” means “to the purpose”. Note that we use the term as one word (apropos), whereas the original French is two words (à propos).

53A Film hitman played by Keanu Reeves : JOHN WICK

“John Wick” is a 2014 action movie starring Keanu Reeves in the title role. Reeves plays a retired hitman who goes on a killing spree to avenge the murder of his dog. There’s quite the body count …

56A Dog star : LASSIE

The canine character Lassie is the creation of Eric Knight, an author who wrote a short story that he expanded into a novel called “Lassie Come Home” published in 1940. “Lassie Come Home” was turned into a movie three years later, the first of a very successful franchise. The original Lassie (a female) was played by a long-haired collie called Pal (a male). In fact, all of the dogs that played Lassie over the years were males, because they looked better on camera, retaining a thick coat even during the summer months.

58A Shift key toggle : CASE

The shift key on a modern keyboard is used primarily to type uppercase letters. The term “shift” is a hangover from typewriter keyboards. The shift keys on a typewriter are held down to “shift” either the type bar or the paper-bearing carriage in order to cause a capital version of the letter to imprint on the inked ribbon.

61A 17-time WWE champion : CENA

John Cena is a professional wrestler turned rapper and actor. Although wrestling, rapping and “Cena-style” movies wouldn’t be my cup of tea, I have to admire Cena’s philanthropic record. He holds the title for the most wishes granted by a single individual for the Make-A-Wish Foundation that benefits children with life-threatening medical conditions.

65A Yankee nickname of the 2000s : A-ROD

Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just “A-Rod”. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there was a perception that teams went cold when he joined them and hot when he left. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez was in a world of hurt not so long ago, for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He retired from baseball in 2016.

66A Paul who wrote the lyrics to “My Way” : ANKA

The song “My Way” has lyrics that were written by Paul Anka in 1969, but the tune itself was composed two years earlier by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. The song had been released with completely different lyrics in France as “Comme d’habitude” (“As Usual”). When Anka heard the song on television in Paris he sought out and obtained the rights to use it himself, for free. Supposedly, “Comme d’habitude” has been recorded in more languages, by more artists than any other song in the contemporary repertoire.

And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way

67A Burlap bags : SACKS

Burlap, also called “hessian”, is a coarse woven fabric made from fibers taken from jute, sisal or hemp plants.

69A Home for a heron : NEST

Herons are birds with long legs that inhabit freshwater and coastal locales. Some herons are routinely referred to as egrets, and others as bitterns. Herons look a lot like storks and cranes, but differ in their appearance in flight. Herons fly with their necks retracted in an S-shape, whereas storks and cranes have their necks extended.

Down

3D World Cup superstar Lionel : MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. He has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.

6D Canned brand often used in chili con queso : RO-TEL

Ro-Tel is a line of canned tomatoes and green chile that was introduced in the 1940s by Carl Roettele in Elsa, Texas.

7D Ghana’s capital : ACCRA

Accra sits on Ghana’s coast and is a major seaport as well as the country’s capital city. The name “Accra” comes from a local word “Nkran” meaning “ants”, a name chosen because of the large number of anthills found in the area when the city was founded.

8D Japanese drama : NOH

Noh is a form of musical drama in Japan that has been around since the 14th century. Many of the Noh performers are masked, allowing all the roles to be played by men, including the female parts.

10D Woolen outer layer : PEACOAT

A peacoat (also “pea jacket”) is a heavy woolen outer jacket originally associated with sailors. Nowadays anyone wears them (they’re very comfortable and warm). The female equivalent of a peacoat is often called a Jackie O jacket, after Jackie Onassis.

13D Oodles : SCADS

The origin of the word “scads”, meaning “lots and lots”, is unclear. That said, “scads” was used to mean “dollars” back in the mid-1800s.

23D Cloud __ : NINE

I don’t think that anyone is really certain of the etymology of the term “on cloud nine” meaning “elated”, but I do like the following explanation. The 1896 “International Cloud-Atlas” was a long-standing reference used to define cloud shapes that was based on a classification created by amateur meteorologist Luke Howard some decades earlier. The biggest and fluffiest of all cloud shapes (and most comfortable-looking to lie on) is cumulonimbus. And you guessed it, of the ten cloud shapes defined in the atlas, cumulonimbus was cloud nine …

25D Kind of tide : NEAP

Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

26D __ Moines, Iowa : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

29D Liu of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” : SIMU

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” is a movie released in 2021. The title character is a superhero from the Marvel Comics universe. Shang-Chi is played by Canadian actor Simu Liu.

38D Rice-A-__ : RONI

Rice-A-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons created a pilaf dish for the family diner they owned. It was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

40D Blues guitarist __ Mahal : TAJ

“Taj Mahal” is the stage name of blues musician Henry Fredericks. Fredericks says that his stage name came to him in a dream about Gandhi and India, and social tolerance.

42D Gas additive : ETHANOL

Ethyl alcohol is more usually known as ethanol. It is the alcohol found in intoxicating beverages, and nowadays is also used as a fuel for cars. Ethanol is also found in medical wipes and hand sanitizer, in which it acts as an antiseptic.

46D “Trust your keys with … ” car care chain : MEINEKE

The Meineke chain of automotive repair shops started out in 1972 as Meineke Discount Muffler, founded by Sam Meineke in San Antonio, Texas.

50D Commoner : PLEB

In ancient Rome, the patricians were the members of the families in the ruling classes. Those Romans who were not patricians by birth were known as plebs.

54D Origami figure : CRANE

Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane (“orizuru“). The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

60D Three-player card game : SKAT

Skat is a trick-taking card game for three players that is traditionally played with a 32-card deck. The game is played in rounds, with each player bidding for the right to declare the trump suit. The declarer then tries to win at least 11 tricks, while the other players try to prevent them from doing so. I used to play skat a lot when I was in my teens …

62D “Heart on My Sleeve” singer Ella __ : MAI

“Heart on My Sleeve” is a 2022 album released by English R&B singer Ella Mai.