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Constructed by: Gary Larson
Edited by: Rich Norris
Today’s Theme: Forcing the Issue
Themed answers are common phrases reinterpreted with reference to magazine titles:
- 22A Celebrity magazine employee? : “PEOPLE” PERSON
- 26A Using a lifestyle magazine to cool off? : “ELLE” FANNING
- 42A Found a child-rearing magazine? : BIRTH “PARENTS”
- 66A Graphic for a personal well-being magazine? : PICTURE OF “HEALTH”
- 91A Closing the doors of a financial magazine? : FOLDING “MONEY”
- 108A Shoplifting a fitness magazine? : TAKING “SHAPE”
- 117A Kiosk selling a news magazine? : STALL FOR “TIME”
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
Want to discuss the puzzle? Then …
… leave a comment
Bill’s time: 17m 37s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Perfume brand that sounds forbidden : TABU
Tabu is a whole line of cosmetics and perfumes produced by the House of Dana. The company’s brand names were purchased by a Florida company called Dana Classic Fragrances in 1999.
5 Was humbled : ATE CROW
The phrase “eat crow”, an alternative to “eat humble pie”, perhaps refers to the fact that cooked crow may be edible, but is not a great food choice.
19 It’s known for its bell ringers : AVON
In 1886, a young man called David McConnell was selling books door-to-door. To enhance his sales numbers he was giving out free perfume to the ladies of the houses that he visited. Seeing as his perfume was more popular than his books, he founded the California Perfume Company in New York City and started manufacturing and selling across the country. The company name was changed to Avon in 1939, and the famous “Avon Calling” marketing campaign was launched in 1954.
20 Only one of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs” not written in English : LA BAMBA
“La Bamba” is a folk song from Veracruz, Mexico that became a huge hit for Ritchie Valens in 1958. iT appears in the oft-cited list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time compiled by “Rolling Stone” magazine, and is the only song in the list not sung in English. The song lent its name to the 1987 biopic about the life of Ritchie Valens, starring Lou Diamond Phillips as Valens.
21 Like Hershey’s Kisses : CONICAL
The Hershey Company produces over 80 million chocolate Kisses each day, and has been making them since 1907.
22 Celebrity magazine employee? : “PEOPLE” PERSON
There used to be a “People” page in each issue of “Time” magazine. This page was spun-off in 1974 as a publication of its own, which we now call “People” magazine. “People” is noted for its annual special editions with features such as “Best & Worst Dressed” and “Sexiest Man Alive”. The “Sexiest Man Alive” edition now appears at the end of November each year. The first choice for “Sexiest Man” was Mel Gibson, in 1985.
24 Night vis-á-vis Nacht, e.g. : COGNATE
Two things that are cognate are generically alike, or have the same ancestry. For example, the English word “night” and the German word “nacht” are cognate, in that they both come from the Proto-Germanic “nahts”.
25 Possessive in a Harry Potter title : SORCERER’S
The titles of the seven “Harry Potter” books are:
- “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” (“… Sorcerer’s Stone” in the U.S)
- “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets”
- “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”
- “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”
- “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”
- “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
- “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”
I tried reading the first one, and gave up three-quarters of the way through …
26 Using a lifestyle magazine to cool off? : “ELLE” FANNING
“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”. “Elle” is published monthly worldwide, although you can pick up a weekly edition if you live in France.
Actress Elle Fanning’s most notable performance to date (probably) was playing Aurora in the 2014 movie “Maleficent”. Elle’s older sister is actress Dakota Fanning.
30 1983 Streisand title role : YENTL
“Yentl” is a play that opened in New York City in 1975. The move to adapt the play for the big screen was led by Barbra Streisand, and indeed she wrote the first outline of a musical version herself as far back as 1968. The film was eventually made and released in 1983, with Streisand performing the lead role.
32 Large seal hunters : ORCAS
The taxonomic name for the killer whale is “Orcinus orca”. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.
39 Furry wrap : STOLE
A stole is a narrow shawl. It can be made of quite light decorative material, but also can be heavier if made of fur.
42 Found a child-rearing magazine? : BIRTH “PARENTS”
“Parents” is a monthly magazine focused on the rearing of children. It was first published in 1926 under the title “Children, The Magazine for Parents”.
49 Levine of Maroon 5 : ADAM
Adam Levine is the lead vocalist of the pop rock band Maroon 5. Levine also served as one of the coaches on the reality show “The Voice” from 2011 through 2019.
53 “Over There” songwriter : COHAN
I suppose much of what many of us know about American entertainer George M. Cohan comes from the 1942 film about his life called “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, which stars Jimmy Cagney as Cohan. There is an 8-foot bronze statue of Cohan on Broadway in New York City that was erected in 1959 at the behest of the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein.
“Over There” is a song that was popular in both WWI and WWII. It was written in 1917 by George M. Cohan, soon after the US declared war against Germany. The song’s title refers to being “over there” in Europe, fighting the good fight.
58 Spanish province or its capital : LEON
León is a province in the autonomous community of Castile and León in the northwest of Spain. The province’s capital is the city of León, which was founded as Roman military encampment around 29 BC.
59 Zodiac animal : RAM
Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.
61 Firewood option … or destiny : ASH
The wood of the ash tree is a hardwood, although it is relatively elastic. Famously, ash is the wood of choice for baseball bats. It is also the wood of choice for hurleys, the wooden sticks used in the Irish sport of hurling.
62 Former Russian space station : MIR
Russia’s Mir space station was a remarkably successful project. It held the record for the longest continuous human presence in space at just under 10 years, until the International Space Station eclipsed that record in 2010. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001. “Mir” is a Russian word meaning “peace” or “world”.
66 Graphic for a personal well-being magazine? : PICTURE OF “HEALTH”
“Health” is a magazine focused on women’s health that has been published monthly since 1981.
70 Esoteric : ARCANE
Something that is arcane is understood by only a few, something that might be described as mysterious.
Something described as esoteric is meant only for a select few with special knowledge. The term “esoteric” comes from the Greek “esoterikos” meaning “belonging to an inner circle”.
79 Legend on the ice : ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking. While still 31 years old, in 1979, Orr became the youngest person inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Prior to that, in 1967, Orr became the youngest person named the NHL’s Rookie of the Year.
80 Indian wrap : SARI
The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that it is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.
84 Writer with the most combined Oscar and Tony nominations : NEIL SIMON
Neil Simon was one of my favorite playwrights. Simon wrote over thirty plays and about thirty screenplays. My favorite play penned by Simon has to be “Brighton Beach Memoirs”, but the list of his great stage works seems endless and includes “Barefoot in the Park”, “The Odd Couple”, “Sweet Charity”, “Plaza Suite”, “California Suite”, “Biloxi Blues” and “The Goodbye Girl”.
87 Showgirl in a Manilow song : LOLA
The Copacabana of the 1978 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today, although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub.
Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl
With yellow feathers in her hair and a dress cut down to there
She would merengue and do the cha-cha
And while she tried to be a star
Tony always tended bar
Across the crowded floor, they worked from 8 ’til 4
They were young and they had each other
Who could ask for more?
Barry Manilow’s real name is Barry Alan Pincus. Barry took his mother’s family name, Manilow, as the time of his Bar Mitzvah. When he was young, Manilow attended the Juilliard performing arts school, and then practiced his craft on the New York City music circuit. He worked in the sixties and seventies writing jingles for advertisements. “Like a good neighbor, Statefarm is there …”, that’s the work of Mr. Manilow!
88 Czuchry who played Cary Agos on “The Good Wife” : MATT
Matt Czuchry is primarily a television actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Logan Huntzberger on “Gilmore Girls” and lawyer Cary Agos on “The Good Wife”. More recently, he has been playing Doctor Conrad Hawkins, the title role on “The Resident”.
91 Closing the doors of a financial magazine? : FOLDING “MONEY”
“Money” magazine is a sister publication of “Time”, and focuses on personal finance.
93 French toast need : EGG
The dish made from bread soaked in milk with beaten eggs and then fried is usually called French toast in the US, but it also goes by the names German toast and Spanish toast. In France, the dish is known as “pain perdu”, which translates as “lost bread”. This name is a reference to the fact that “lost” or “stale” bread can be reclaimed by dipping it in a mixture of milk and eggs and then frying it.
96 Turkish bread : LIRAS
The currency of Turkey is the Turkish lira, which is divided into 100 kuruş. In 1927, the Turkish lira replaced the Ottoman lira, which had been in use since 1844.
99 Round-skipping edge : BYE
The word “bye”, as used in sport, originated in cricket. A bye is a run scored due to an error by the wicketkeeper (similar to a catcher in baseball) when he fails to stop a ball bowled by the bowler (like a pitcher in baseball). Later the word “bye” in sport came to mean the position of a player in a tournament who is left without a competitor when the rest have drawn pairs. In these commercial times, those byes tend to be awarded to the best (seeded) players, so that the most popular players always advance past the first round of competition.
100 Newspaper essays : OP-EDS
“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.
105 Marlon’s “Godfather” role : VITO
Mario Puzo created the Corleone Mafia family in his 1969 novel “The Godfather”. The head of the family is Vito Corleone (whose birth name was Vito Andolini), a native of Corleone in Sicily. He was given the name Corleone by immigration officers at Ellis Island. Don Corleone was played so very memorably, with a distinctive rasping voice, by Marlon Brando in the 1972 movie adaptation directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
108 Shoplifting a fitness magazine? : TAKING “SHAPE”
“Shape” is a women’s fitness magazine that has been published regularly since 1981.
116 Split : VAMOOSE
To vamoose is to to leave, coming from the Spanish “vamos” meaning “let’s go”.
117 Kiosk selling a news magazine? : STALL FOR “TIME”
“Time” magazine was first published in 1923 in New York City, making it the nation’s first weekly news magazine.
119 Nook or Kindle : E-READER
The Barnes & Noble electronic-book reader is called the Nook. The reader’s name is intended to evoke the usage of “nook” as a familiar place to sit and read quietly.
Amazon’s Kindle line of e-book readers was introduced in 2007. The name “kindle” was chosen to evoke images of “lighting a fire” through reading and intellectual stimulation. I bought myself a Kindle Fire HD several years ago. I started reading e-books for the first time in my life, as well as enjoying other computing options available with the tablet device …
120 Hollywood’s Annette and Peter : O’TOOLES
Annette O’Toole is the actress who plays Clark Kent’s mother on the TV show “Smallville”.
Irish actor Peter O’Toole got his big break in the movies when he played the title role in the 1962 epic film “Lawrence of Arabia”. My favorite of O’Toole’s movies is much lighter fare, namely “How to Steal a Million” in which he stars opposite Audrey Hepburn. O’Toole never won an Oscar, but holds the record for the greatest number of Best Actor nominations without a win (8).
121 Valhalla VIP : ODIN
In Norse mythology, Valhalla (“hall of the slain”) is a gigantic hall in the world of Asgard. Asgard and Valhalla are ruled by the god Odin, the chief Norse god.
122 Street, in Stuttgart : STRASSE
Stuttgart is the sixth-largest city in Germany, and is located in the south of the country. The city is sometimes called “the cradle of the automobile” as Karl Benz made his first cars and motorcycles there, as were the first VW Beetle prototypes. Mercedes-Benz and Porsche cars are still manufactured in Stuttgart and the surrounding area.
123 Sneaky programs : MALWARE
Malware is software and program code that is created to intentionally disrupt and exploit computer systems. Viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware are all covered by the term. “Malware” is short for “malicious software”.
124 Street in New York’s Chinatown : MOTT
Mott Street in Manhattan was probably named after a successful butcher and tavern owner who lived in the area. Mott was known for lending support to those fighting the British during the American Revolution. Today, Mott Street is regarded as “Main Street” for New York City’s Chinatown.
Down
1 Bedtime melody : TAPS
“Taps” is played nightly by the US military to indicate “lights out”. It’s also known as “Butterfield’s Lullaby” as it is a variation of an older bugle called the “Scott Tattoo”, arranged during the Civil War by the Union Army’s Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield. The tune is called “Taps”, from the notion of drum taps, as it was originally played on a drum, and only later on a bugle. The whole tune comprises just 24 notes, with there only being four different notes within the 24, i.e. “low G”, C, E and “high G”. Minimalism at its best …
2 Fuel-efficient Chevy : AVEO
The Chevrolet Aveo is a subcompact automobile that has been around since 2002. The Aveo is manufactured by GM Daewoo, the GM subsidiary in South Korea. Although the Aveo name is still used in some markets, here in North America the Aveo has been sold as the Chevrolet Sonic since 2012. By the way, GM Daewoo is the third largest manufacturer of automobiles in South Korea, after Hyundai and Kia.
3 Loudmouth : BOOR
Back in the early 1500s, a boor was a rustic person, a peasant farmer, someone associated with the countryside. The term “boor” ultimately comes from the Latin “bos” meaning “cow, ox”. By the mid-1500s, someone described as boorish was considered rude in manner, which is our usage today.
4 Not culturally sensitive, for short : UN-PC
To be un-PC is to be politically incorrect, not be politically correct (PC).
5 A’s, Jays and Rays : ALERS
The Oakland Athletics (OAK) baseball franchise was founded back in 1901 as the Philadelphia Athletics. The team became the Kansas City Athletics in 1955 and moved to Oakland in 1968. Today, the Athletics are usually referred to as “the A’s”.
The Toronto Blue Jays baseball franchise was founded in 1977. The Blue Jays are the only team based outside the US to have won a World Series, doing so in 1992 and 1993. And since the Montreal Expos relocated to Washington, the Blue Jays are the only Major League Baseball team now headquartered outside of the US.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a relatively young franchise, having been formed in 1998. The initial name of the franchise was the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. While known as the Devil Rays, the team finished last in the league in almost every year. The name was changed to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, and I am told the Rays started into a streak of winning seasons soon after.
7 “The Future of the Movies” co-author : EBERT
Roger Ebert was a film critic for “The Chicago Sun-Times” for 50 years. He also co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Siskel and Ebert famously gave their thumbs up or thumbs down to the movies they reviewed. Ebert was the first film critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, which he did in 1975. He was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer in 2002, and finally succumbed to a recurrence of the disease in April 2013.
8 Sonatas, say : CARS
The Sonata is one of Hyundai’s most successful models, having been introduced in 1985 and still being sold today. The original model didn’t make it to the North American market as it had problems meeting emission standards. The first Sonatas hit this side of the Pacific in 1988, and were assembled in Bromont, Quebec.
9 Real estate ad abbr. : RMS
Room (rm.)
10 Symphonic wind : OBOE
The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”.
13 Reindeer landing area : ROOFTOP
We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:
- Dasher
- Dancer
- Prancer
- Vixen
- Comet
- Cupid
- Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
- Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)
Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
14 “Little House” series author Laura __ Wilder : INGALLS
Laura Ingalls Wilder was an author from Pepin, Wisconsin who is best remembered for her “Little House” series of children’s novels. The series was based on her own childhood in a pioneer family that moved from Wisconsin to Kansas and back again.
15 __ Féin : SINN
Sinn Féin is a political party in Ireland, and one of the largest parties in both the Northern Ireland Assembly and in the Oireachtas (the parliament of the Republic of Ireland). The party has the stated aim of uniting Ireland north and south. “Sinn Féin” is Irish for “we ourselves”.
17 Chad, but not Jeremy : NATION
The landlocked African country called Chad takes its name from the second largest wetland on the continent, which is known as Lake Chad.
18 Two-time Oscar winner Jackson : GLENDA
Glenda Jackson is an outstanding retired actress from England. Jackson won two Oscars for performances in two wonderful films: “Women in Love” (1970) and “A Touch of Class” (1973). Jackson left her acting career behind in 1992 when she became a Member of Parliament, a job she has been doing ever since then. She was a junior minister for a while in Prime Minister Tony Blair’s government, and also ran an energetic but unsuccessful campaign to be elected Mayor of London. More recently, Jackson gave award-winning performances playing the title role in a stage version of “King Lear” in 2016, when she was 80 years of age.
23 Chow line? : LEASH
The chow chow is a breed of dog that originated in China. The Chinese name for the breed is “Songshi Quan”, which translates as “puffy-lion dog”, a rather apt name given its appearance …
27 “Survivorman” creator Stroud : LES
Les Stroud is a survival expert from Ontario, Canada. He is best known as the man in front of and behind the camera for the reality TV show “Survivorman”.
32 “Becoming” memoirist Michelle : OBAMA
“Becoming” is a 2018 memoir by former First Lady Michelle Obama. After “Becoming” was published in November 2018, it took just 15 days for it to break the record for copies sold of any book in the US that year.
35 Mall features : ATMS
Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.
36 Swiss capital : BERN
Bern (sometimes “Berne”, especially in French) is the capital city of Switzerland. The official language of the city is German, but the language most spoken in Bern is a dialect known as Bernese German.
38 Baseball’s “Little Giant” : OTT
At 5′ 9″, baseball legend Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old. And, according to Wikipedia, “Ott’s name frequently appears in crossword puzzles, on account of its letter combination and brevity.” True that …
45 Vintage auto : REO
Ransom Eli Olds was a pioneer in the automotive industry, and the founder of the Oldsmobile and REO brands. Olds introduced the first modern “stationary” assembly line (Henry Ford’s famous innovation was the “moving” assembly line). As a result, it can be argued that the Oldsmobile Curved Dash was the first mass-produced, low-priced automobile, rather than the Ford’s Model T.
46 Features of many fonts : SERIFS
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif, using the French word “sans” meaning “without” and “serif” from the Dutch “schreef” meaning “line”. Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …
48 Synagogue scroll : TORAH
A Torah scroll (also “Sefer Torah”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
52 Jolly Roger bosun : SMEE
In J. M. Barrie’s play and novel about Peter Pan, Smee is one of Captain Hook’s pirates and is Hook’s bosun and right-hand man. Smee is described by Barrie as being “Irish” and “a man who stabbed without offence”. Nice guy! Captain Hook and Smee sail on a pirate ship called the Jolly Roger.
A boatswain works on the deck of a boat. He or she is unlicensed, and so is not involved in the navigation or handling of the vessel, and instead is in charge of the other unlicensed workers on the deck. “Boatswain” is pronounced “bosun” and this phonetic spelling is often used interchangeably with “boatswain”. The contraction “bo’s’n” is also very popular.
55 Newcastle Brown __ : ALE
Newcastle Brown Ale is an English beer that was launched in 1927. In the late nineties, it was the most-widely distributed beer in the UK. Its popularity has waned somewhat in its homeland, and now most sales of Newcastle Brown are in the US.
56 “Game of Thrones” patriarch Stark : NED
Ned Stark is the protagonist in George R. R. Martin’s fantasy novel “A Game of Thrones”, although his character doesn’t exactly come out on top by the end of the story. Stark is played by actor Sean Bean in the HBO television adaptation of the novel.
60 Gin rummy action : MELDING
Gin rummy is a faster variant of standard rummy. It was introduced in 1909 by one Elwood Baker and his son.
62 Twenty Questions category : MINERAL
The parlor game called Twenty Questions originated in the US and really took off in the late forties as it became a weekly quiz show on the radio. Am I the only one who thinks that there aren’t enough quiz shows on the radio these days? Apart from a couple of great shows on NPR, I have to resort to listening to the BBC game shows over the Internet …
66 Land in “The Hunger Games” : PANEM
“Panem” is the name of the fictional nation in “The Hunger Games” series of novels. Panem is in North America, with a capital city located in the Rocky Mountains, and thirteen surrounding, outlying districts. The name “Panem” comes from the Latin for “bread”.
67 Hokkaido noodle : UDON
Udon noodles are made from wheat-flour and are very popular in Japanese cuisines such as tempura.
Hokkaido is the second largest island in Japan, after Honshu. It lies to the north of the country, and its largest city is the capital, Sapporo.
69 Yankee manager Boone : AARON
Aaron Boone is a former MLB infielder who retired as a player in 2009, a few months after undergoing open-heart surgery to have a heart valve replaced. He then pursued a successful career in sports broadcasting, primarily with ESPN. In late 2017, Boone was hired as manager of the New York Yankees.
70 “… and justice for __” : ALL
The Pledge of Allegiance of the US was composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and was adopted by Congress in 1942. The actual words used in the pledge have changed over time. Here is the original 1892 version shown in comparison to the current version that was adopted in 1954:
1892: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
1954: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
71 Outdoor gear giant : REI
REI is a sporting goods store, with the initialism standing for Recreational Equipment Inc. REI was founded in Seattle by Lloyd and Mary Anderson in 1938 as a cooperative that supplies quality climbing gear to outdoor enthusiasts. The first full-time employee hired by the Andersons was Jim Whittaker, who was the first American to climb Mount Everest.
72 Tom or tabby : CAT
Tabbies aren’t a breed of cat, but rather are cats with particular markings regardless of breed. Tabbies have coats with stripes, dots and swirling patterns, and usually an “M” mark on the forehead.
89 Authority abusers : TIN GODS
A tin god is a person who claims authority and is full of self-importance. The use of “tin” is apt as it is a base metal with relatively little value.
93 Pond dweller : EFT
Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.
94 “I, Claudius” author Robert : GRAVES
“I, Claudius” is a 1934 novel penned by Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of Emperor Claudius of Rome. Graves wrote a sequel in 1935 called “Claudius the God”. Both books were adapted by the BBC into a fabulous television series that went by the name of the first book “I, Claudius”.
98 “Chandelier” singer : SIA
“Sia” is the stage name of Australian singer Sia Furler from Adelaide. Sia is a cousin of Australian Christian Rock musician Peter Furler.
102 Charades player : MIMER
In the parlor game known as charades, players take turns acting out words or phrases. “Charade” is a French word describing a literary puzzle that was popular in 18th-century France. In said game, the word or phrase was broken into its constituent syllables, with each syllable being described somewhat enigmatically. This puzzle evolved into “acted charades”, which we now refer to simply as “charades”.
104 __ salts : EPSOM
The Surrey town of Epsom in England is most famous for its racecourse (Epsom Downs), at which the Epsom Derby is run every year, one of the three races that make up the English Triple Crown. We also come across “Epsom salts” from time to time. Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, originally prepared by boiling down mineral waters. Epsom was indeed a spa town at one time. The town is also home to Epsom College, an English “public school” (which actually means “private, and expensive”). One of Epsom’s “old boys” was the Hollywood actor Stewart Granger.
107 “__ Were the Days” : THOSE
“Those Were the Days” was a hit song for Welsh folk singer Mary Hopkin in 1968. The song has a quite interesting history. It was produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, and credited to American musician Gene Raskin. Raskin only wrote the lyrics, which he applied to the Russian romantic song “Dorogoi Dlinnoyu” (literally “By the Long Road”). There are some videos on YouTube of Russian Army choirs singing the original, as well the version by Mary Hopkin. It’s interesting to listen to the songs one after the other.
109 Hurricane-tracking agcy. : NOAA
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is one of the seven federal uniformed services, namely:
- Army
- Marine Corps
- Navy
- Air Force
- Coast Guard
- Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps
110 Jazzy Jones : ETTA
Etta Jones was a jazz singer who was sometimes known as the “jazz musician’s jazz singer”. Because she has a similar name to Etta James, Jones was often confused with the more famous singer. Jones never really had any huge commercial success though, despite the respect that she engendered within the inner sanctums of the jazz world.
112 Either H in H2O : ATOM
A water molecule is composed of an oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms on roughly opposite sides (at about a 150-degree angle). So, sometimes the molecule is represented by “HOH”, although more usually by “H2O”.
113 “No Angel” singer : DIDO
Dido is an English singer and songwriter. Dido’s real name is Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong. She was born on Christmas Day 1971, and celebrates a second birthday every year on June 25th. In this regard Dido is just like Paddington Bear, with one birthday on December 25th, and another on June 25th.
118 2015 Verizon acquisition : AOL
Telecom giant Verizon acquired AOL in 2015, and Yahoo! in 2017. Just after the latter purchase, Verizon launched Oath, a subsidiary company that served as the umbrella under which AOl and Yahoo! continued to operate. Oath was renamed to Verizon Media Group after a corporate reorganization at the end of 2018.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Perfume brand that sounds forbidden : TABU
5 Was humbled : ATE CROW
12 Resulting (from) : ARISING
19 It’s known for its bell ringers : AVON
20 Only one of Rolling Stone’s “500 Greatest Songs” not written in English : LA BAMBA
21 Like Hershey’s Kisses : CONICAL
22 Celebrity magazine employee? : “PEOPLE” PERSON
24 Night vis-á-vis Nacht, e.g. : COGNATE
25 Possessive in a Harry Potter title : SORCERER’S
26 Using a lifestyle magazine to cool off? : “ELLE” FANNING
29 Kind of DA : ASST
30 1983 Streisand title role : YENTL
31 Uproar : TO-DO
32 Large seal hunters : ORCAS
36 “What a lousy play!” : BOO!
39 Furry wrap : STOLE
41 Catch in the act : NAB
42 Found a child-rearing magazine? : BIRTH “PARENTS”
47 Head-turning hiss : PSST!
49 Levine of Maroon 5 : ADAM
50 Goes too far : OVERSTEPS
53 “Over There” songwriter : COHAN
57 Jumble : MESS
58 Spanish province or its capital : LEON
59 Zodiac animal : RAM
60 Group mental condition : MORALE
61 Firewood option … or destiny : ASH
62 Former Russian space station : MIR
63 Tired : TRITE
65 Removed all evidence of : ERASED
66 Graphic for a personal well-being magazine? : PICTURE OF “HEALTH”
70 Esoteric : ARCANE
73 Challenges : DARES
74 They may be blocked : ADS
75 Workmanship : ART
78 Pressured, with “on” : LEANED …
79 Legend on the ice : ORR
80 Indian wrap : SARI
82 Whoop-de-do : STIR
83 Three-__ engine : LITER
84 Writer with the most combined Oscar and Tony nominations : NEIL SIMON
87 Showgirl in a Manilow song : LOLA
88 Czuchry who played Cary Agos on “The Good Wife” : MATT
91 Closing the doors of a financial magazine? : FOLDING “MONEY”
93 French toast need : EGG
96 Turkish bread : LIRAS
99 Round-skipping edge : BYE
100 Newspaper essays : OP-EDS
101 Gift tag word : FROM
103 Film that’s barely shown? : NUDIE
105 Marlon’s “Godfather” role : VITO
108 Shoplifting a fitness magazine? : TAKING “SHAPE”
111 Not bright : PINHEADED
116 Split : VAMOOSE
117 Kiosk selling a news magazine? : STALL FOR “TIME”
119 Nook or Kindle : E-READER
120 Hollywood’s Annette and Peter : O’TOOLES
121 Valhalla VIP : ODIN
122 Street, in Stuttgart : STRASSE
123 Sneaky programs : MALWARE
124 Street in New York’s Chinatown : MOTT
Down
1 Bedtime melody : TAPS
2 Fuel-efficient Chevy : AVEO
3 Loudmouth : BOOR
4 Not culturally sensitive, for short : UN-PC
5 A’s, Jays and Rays : ALERS
6 Records, in a way : TAPES
7 “The Future of the Movies” co-author : EBERT
8 Sonatas, say : CARS
9 Real estate ad abbr. : RMS
10 Symphonic wind : OBOE
11 In a languid way : WANLY
12 Highlight : ACCENT
13 Reindeer landing area : ROOFTOP
14 “Little House” series author Laura __ Wilder : INGALLS
15 __ Féin : SINN
16 Defeatist’s statement : I CAN’T
17 Chad, but not Jeremy : NATION
18 Two-time Oscar winner Jackson : GLENDA
23 Chow line? : LEASH
27 “Survivorman” creator Stroud : LES
28 Whipped cream serving : GOB
32 “Becoming” memoirist Michelle : OBAMA
33 Teases : RIDES
34 Stay over : CRASH
35 Mall features : ATMS
36 Swiss capital : BERN
37 Switch positions : ONS
38 Baseball’s “Little Giant” : OTT
40 Social companions : ESCORTS
43 Neatened, as barracks : POLICED
44 Ward off : AVERT
45 Vintage auto : REO
46 Features of many fonts : SERIFS
48 Synagogue scroll : TORAH
51 Way to go : PATH
52 Jolly Roger bosun : SMEE
54 Consumes : HAS
55 Newcastle Brown __ : ALE
56 “Game of Thrones” patriarch Stark : NED
60 Gin rummy action : MELDING
62 Twenty Questions category : MINERAL
63 “Super!” : TERRIF!
64 Sushi garnish : ROE
66 Land in “The Hunger Games” : PANEM
67 Hokkaido noodle : UDON
68 Unusual : RARE
69 Yankee manager Boone : AARON
70 “… and justice for __” : ALL
71 Outdoor gear giant : REI
72 Tom or tabby : CAT
75 Do penance : ATONE
76 Very upset : RILED
77 They may be slid into ovens : TRAYS
80 Fries, e.g. : SIDE
81 Friend in France : AMI
82 Sty feed : SLOP
85 Soft toss : LOB
86 Subtle : SLY
89 Authority abusers : TIN GODS
90 Bridge supports : TRUSSES
92 Cow, at times : MOOER
93 Pond dweller : EFT
94 “I, Claudius” author Robert : GRAVES
95 Small racing vehicle : GO KART
97 Stick (to) : ADHERE
98 “Chandelier” singer : SIA
102 Charades player : MIMER
104 __ salts : EPSOM
105 Fancy home : VILLA
106 Surmise : INFER
107 “__ Were the Days” : THOSE
109 Hurricane-tracking agcy. : NOAA
110 Jazzy Jones : ETTA
111 Team’s burden : PLOW
112 Either H in H2O : ATOM
113 “No Angel” singer : DIDO
114 Release : EMIT
115 Job for a body shop : DENT
118 2015 Verizon acquisition : AOL
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