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Constructed by: Matthew Stock
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Reveal Answer: Hang in There
Themed answers each include “HANG” as a hidden word:
- 62A “Don’t give up yet!” … or a hint to the answers to starred clues : HANG IN THERE!
- 17A *Baseball batting statistic measured in degrees : LAUNCH ANGLE
- 28A *Common food thickening agent : XANTHAN GUM
- 50A *High-ranking heavenly beings : ARCHANGELS
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 5m 11s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Beloved British princess : DIANA
Diana, Princess of Wales was a close friend of the English singer Elton John. At the princess’s funeral, Elton John performed a revised version of his song “Candle in the Wind” to honor his departed friend. The song was released as a single under the name “Candle in the Wind 1997” It became the fastest and best-selling song of all time, and remains the only single ever to be “certified diamond” in the US.
6 Clothing designer Perry : ELLIS
Perry Ellis was a fashion designer from Portsmouth, Virginia. Ellis was noted for his sportswear creations.
11 Lakers rivals, on NBA scoreboards : LAC
The Los Angeles Lakers basketball team started out in 1947 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The team chose the Lakers name in honor of the nickname of Minnesota, “Land of 10,000 Lakes”. The Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1960.
14 Improvise : AD LIB
“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage, the concept of an ad lib is very familiar.
15 Coolness under pressure : POISE
Back in the early 1400s, “poise” meant “quality of being heavy”. We’ve been using the term to mean “steadiness, composure” since the mid-1600s, in the sense of being equally “weighted” on either side.
17 *Baseball batting statistic measured in degrees : LAUNCH ANGLE
In baseball, the vertical angle at which the ball leaves a player’s bat is referred to as the launch angle.
20 Arizona city or landform : MESA
The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.
21 Cucumbers used as pickles : GHERKINS
Often, a dill pickle is actually a pickled gherkin, as the gherkin and cucumber are different cultivars within the same species. Here in the US, dill is commonly added to the pickling vinegar or brine, but this wasn’t the case when I used to eat them back in Ireland (I can’t stand dill!). You might see jars labeled as “cornichons”, but they’re gherkins. “Cornichon” is the French word for “gherkin”.
23 Peyton’s quarterback brother : ELI
Peyton Manning is a former NFL quarterback who played most of his professional career with the Indianapolis Colts. Manning retired at the top of his game, holding records for passing yards, touchdown passes, Pro Bowl appearances, and several other records. Peyton is the son of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the older brother of NFL quarterback Eli Manning.
27 10-Down may have a sixth one : SENSE
(10D See 27-Across : SEERS)
The so-called “sixth sense” is extrasensory perception (ESP).
28 *Common food thickening agent : XANTHAN GUM
Xanthan gum is a polysaccharide carbohydrate that has many uses, but is most familiar to us as a food additive. It is produced by fermenting simple sugars, using the bacteria Xanthomonas campestris. The main use of xanthan gum is to increase the viscosity of liquids, and so it can prevent oils separating out in dressings and sauces.
36 Soy sauce often gluten-free : TAMARI
Tamari is a variety of soy sauce that is made without wheat, and so is often used by those on a gluten-free diet.
38 Actress __ Brie of “Mad Men” : ALISON
Alison Brie is an actress best known for playing Trudy Campbell, the wife of Pete Campbell on the TV drama “Mad Men”.
42 Inlaid artwork : MOSAIC
In the Middle Ages, mosaics were often dedicated to the Muses. The term “mosaic” translates as “of the Muses”.
46 Emcee’s opening : INTRO
The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.
47 Crescent point : CUSP
The word “cusp” comes from the Latin “cuspis” meaning “spear, point”. In the world of astrology, a cusp is an imaginary line separating two signs of the zodiac. For example, some whose birthday is between April 16 and April 26 is said to have been born “on the cusp” between the signs Aries and Taurus.
55 Corned beef on __ : RYE
Corned beef is beef that has been cured with salt. “Corn” is an alternative term for a grain of salt, giving the dish its name. Corned beef is also known as “salt beef”, and “bully beef” if stored in cans (from the French “bouilli” meaning “boiled”).
56 Fragrant climbing plant : SWEET PEA
The sweet pea is a fragrant, flowering climbing plant in the legume family, hence the name.
61 Altoids container : TIN
Altoids breath mints have been around since 1780, when they were introduced in Britain. The famous tin in which Altoids are sold is often reused for other purposes. The most famous use is as a container to hold a mini-survival kit.
66 Number of U.S. states with three-word capitals : ONE
Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.
68 Fable writer : AESOP
Aesop is remembered today as a fabulist, a writer of fables. Aesop lived in ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.
69 Rx writers : MDS
There seems to be some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.
Down
1 Indian lentil dish : DAL
I love dal dishes, which are prepared from various peas or beans (often lentils) that have been stripped of their outer skins and split. Dal is an important part of Indian cuisines. I suppose in Indian terms, split pea soup (another of my favorites) would be called a dal.
2 Boise’s st. : IDA
Boise, Idaho is the capital and the largest metropolitan area in the state by far. There are a number of stories pertaining to the etymology of the name “Boise”. One is that French trappers called the tree-lined river that ran through the area “la rivière boisée”, meaning “the wooded river”.
3 Foil metal : ALUMINUM
Before thin sheets of aluminum metal were available as aluminum foil, thin sheets of tin were used in various applications. Tin foil isn’t a great choice for wrapping food though, as it imparts a tinny taste. On the other side of the pond, aluminum foil has a different name. No, it’s not just the different spelling of aluminum (“aluminium”). We still call it “tin foil”. You see, we live in the past …
4 Yellow-striped pool ball : NINE
Eight-ball and nine-ball are arguably the most popular variants of pool played in North America. In eight-ball, one player sinks the striped balls and the other the solid balls. The first to sink all his or her balls and then the black 8-ball, without fouling, wins the game. In nine-ball, each player must hit the lowest numbered ball on the table first with the cue ball. The first player to sink the 9-ball wins. Sinking the nine ball can happen when first hitting the lowest bowl on the table, or possibly when balls numbered 1-8 have been sunk.
6 MPG-testing org. : EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) routinely estimates the expected miles per gallon (mpg) for vehicles.
9 Capri or Wight : ISLE
The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.
The Isle of Wight is the largest island in England, and lies about five miles off the south coast of the country. For many centuries, the island was a kingdom in its own right. One popular tourist attraction on the Isle of Wight is Osborne House, a former royal residence that was built as a summer home for Queen Victoria, and that was designed by the queen’s consort Prince Albert. Queen Victoria died in Osborne House, in 1901.
11 Guy watching Telemundo, probably : LATINO
Telemundo is a Spanish-language TV channel that is headquartered in Miami. Founded in 1984 as Net Span, Telemundo is the second-largest provider of Spanish-language programming after Univision.
12 Pete of the N.Y. Mets who broke Aaron Judge’s rookie record for home runs in 2019 : ALONSO
Pete Alonso is professional first baseman who made his Major League debut in 2019 with the New York Mets.
13 Room for a broom : CLOSET
In Old French a “clos” was an enclosure, with the diminutive form “closet” describing a small enclosure or private room. Over time this evolved into our modern usage of “closet”, describing a cabinet or cupboard.
The sweeping implement known as a “broom” used to be called a “besom”. A besom was made from a bundle of twigs tied to a stouter pole. The favored source for the twigs came from thorny shrubs from the genus Genista. The common term for many species of Genista is “broom”. Over time, “broom besoms” came to be known simply as “brooms”.
22 Letterspacing technique, in typography : KERNING
Some fonts allow the adjustment of the spacing between individual letters. The process of adjusting that spacing evenly over all letters is called “tracking”. The process of adjusting the spacing individually between letters is called “kerning”.
24 Singer Del Rey : LANA
“Lana Del Rey” is the stage name of singer/songwriter Elizabeth Grant. Del Rey calls herself a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Nice …
26 Tolkien creature : ENT
Ents are tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.
31 L.A. commuter org. : MTA
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has public transportation responsibility in the state of New York (as well as part of Connecticut). “MTA” might also refer to the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is known as “the Metro” and sometimes “the MTA”.
35 Tiger’s ex-wife : ELIN
Elin Nordegren is the ex-wife of Tiger Woods. Nordegren is a native of Sweden, and it was back in Sweden that she was hired as a nanny by the wife of golfer Jesper Parnevik. The job brought her to the US, where she met Tiger Woods. The pair were married in 2004, and have two children together: Sam Alexis born in 2007, and Charlie Axel born in 2009. The marriage fell apart after Woods admitted to infidelity and the couple divorced in 2010.
37 “Love __ Battlefield”: Pat Benatar hit : IS A
Pat Benatar is a singer from Brooklyn, New York who was born Patricia Andrzejewski. She married her high school boyfriend Dennis Benatar in 1972 when she was 19 years old, but they divorced in 1979. Presumably, she kept the Benatar name as her career was already showing signs of taking off. Benatar’s biggest hits are “Hit Me with Your Best Shot”, “Love is a Battlefield” and “We Belong”.
40 Paris airport : ORLY
Orly is a town on the outskirts of Paris, to the south of the city. It is home to the Paris-Orly Airport, the second busiest international airport for the city after the more recently built Charles de Gaulle Airport. That said, Orly is home to more domestic flights than Charles de Gaulle.
43 Hall of talk TV : ARSENIO
Arsenio Hall got his big break with his role in the movie “Coming to America” with Eddie Murphy in 1988. The following year he started hosting “The Arsenio Hall Show”, which ran until 1994. He had a loyal group of fans in the audience that had the habit of almost “barking” while pumping their fists in the air. The raucous move became so popular it extended far beyond the influences of Arsenio, and to this day it is still used as a mark of appreciation in some arenas. Not by me, mind you …
44 Frozen periods : ICE AGES
Ice ages are periods in the Earth’s history when there are extensive ice sheets present in the northern and southern hemispheres. One might argue that we are still in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago, as evidenced by the presence of ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.
45 Guerrilla Guevara : CHE
Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina, and in 1948 he started to study medicine at the University of Buenos Aires. While at school he satisfied his need to “see the world” by taking two long journeys around South America, the story of which are told in Guevara’s memoir later published as “The Motorcycle Diaries”. While travelling, Guevara was moved by the plight of the people he saw and their working conditions and what he viewed as capitalistic exploitation. In Mexico City he met brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and was persuaded to join their cause, the overthrow of the US-backed government in Cuba. He rose to second-in-command among the Cuban insurgents, and when Castro came to power Guevara was influential in repelling the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing Soviet nuclear missiles to the island. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to continue his work as a revolutionary. He was captured by Bolivian forces in 1967, and was executed. Fidel Castro led the public mourning of Guevara’s death, and soon the revolutionary was an icon for many left-wing movements around the world.
Guerrilla (sometimes “guerilla”) warfare is a type of fighting engaged in by irregular forces using ambushes and sabotage. The term “guerra” is Spanish for war, and “guerrilla” translates as “little war”.
48 Chillax : UNWIND
“Chillax” is a slang term meaning “chill and relax”. Who’da thunk it …?
51 Congregation response : AMEN
The word “amen” translates as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is also likely to be influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.
57 Gloomy aura : PALL
A pall is a cloth used to cover a casket at a funeral. Pallbearers actually carry the coffin, covered by the pall. The phrase “casting a pall over”, meaning to create a dark mood, is metaphorical use of the pall over the casket.
60 Flightless South American bird : RHEA
The rhea is a flightless bird that is native to South America. The rhea takes its name from the Greek Titan Rhea. It’s an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.
63 Suffix with fluor- : -IDE
In chemistry, when a metal combines with a nonmetal, the nonmetal is often given the suffix “-ide”. One example would be iron sulfide, made from iron (a metal) and sulfur (a nonmetal).
Fluoridation is the addition of a fluoride salt to the public drinking water system, a measure taken to reduce tooth decay. What I find interesting is that bottled water usually has no added fluoride, and most domestic water filters remove the fluoride from the water coming out of the faucet. Maybe that explains why my dental hygienist has been applying a fluoride varnish to my teeth …
64 __ v. Wade : ROE
Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …
65 Short albums, for short : EPS
An extended-play (EP) record, CD or download contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Beloved British princess : DIANA
6 Clothing designer Perry : ELLIS
11 Lakers rivals, on NBA scoreboards : LAC
14 Improvise : AD LIB
15 Coolness under pressure : POISE
16 Every bit (of) : ALL
17 *Baseball batting statistic measured in degrees : LAUNCH ANGLE
19 In addition : TOO
20 Arizona city or landform : MESA
21 Cucumbers used as pickles : GHERKINS
23 Peyton’s quarterback brother : ELI
25 Cooking need : HEAT
27 10-Down may have a sixth one : SENSE
28 *Common food thickening agent : XANTHAN GUM
32 Beet or ginger : ROOT
33 Accustom (to), as hardship : INURE
34 Best songs countdown list : TOP TEN
36 Soy sauce often gluten-free : TAMARI
38 Actress __ Brie of “Mad Men” : ALISON
42 Inlaid artwork : MOSAIC
46 Emcee’s opening : INTRO
47 Crescent point : CUSP
50 *High-ranking heavenly beings : ARCHANGELS
52 Dad’s brother : UNCLE
54 Appear to be : SEEM
55 Corned beef on __ : RYE
56 Fragrant climbing plant : SWEET PEA
58 Make, as money : EARN
61 Altoids container : TIN
62 “Don’t give up yet!” … or a hint to the answers to starred clues : HANG IN THERE!
66 Number of U.S. states with three-word capitals : ONE
67 Fibber’s admission : I LIED
68 Fable writer : AESOP
69 Rx writers : MDS
70 In the ballpark : CLOSE
71 Calendar entries : DATES
Down
1 Indian lentil dish : DAL
2 Boise’s st. : IDA
3 Foil metal : ALUMINUM
4 Yellow-striped pool ball : NINE
5 Basics : ABCS
6 MPG-testing org. : EPA
7 In olden times : LONG AGO
8 Start to shine : LIGHT UP
9 Capri or Wight : ISLE
10 See 27-Across : SEERS
11 Guy watching Telemundo, probably : LATINO
12 Pete of the N.Y. Mets who broke Aaron Judge’s rookie record for home runs in 2019 : ALONSO
13 Room for a broom : CLOSET
18 “Verrrry funny” : HA HA
22 Letterspacing technique, in typography : KERNING
23 Highway off-ramp : EXIT
24 Singer Del Rey : LANA
26 Tolkien creature : ENT
29 Stomp all over : TRAMPLE
30 Protagonist : HERO
31 L.A. commuter org. : MTA
35 Tiger’s ex-wife : ELIN
37 “Love __ Battlefield”: Pat Benatar hit : IS A
39 Most harsh : STERNEST
40 Paris airport : ORLY
41 Smell detector : NOSE
43 Hall of talk TV : ARSENIO
44 Frozen periods : ICE AGES
45 Guerrilla Guevara : CHE
47 Made-to-order : CUSTOM
48 Chillax : UNWIND
49 Movie takes : SCENES
51 Congregation response : AMEN
53 Moral standard : ETHIC
57 Gloomy aura : PALL
59 Somewhat : A TAD
60 Flightless South American bird : RHEA
63 Suffix with fluor- : -IDE
64 __ v. Wade : ROE
65 Short albums, for short : EPS
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