Tag: Spot with many spots crossword clue

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Constructed by: Jonathon Hales

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Local Library

Themed answers are all common phrases reinterpreted with reference to a LOCAL LIBRARY:

• 52A Community facility for researchers and book lovers : LOCAL LIBRARY

• 17A Suggestion for a 52-Across patron who didn’t finish a book by closing time? : CHECK IT OUT
• 24A Reminder on a collection that can’t leave a 52-Across? : READ-ONLY FILE
• 36A Sign near a door slot of a 52-Across? : RETURN TO THE FOLD
• 64A Advice for patrons who borrow materials from a 52-Across? : DON’T BE LATE

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

Bill’s time: 7m 28s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Seaweed on tobiko maki : NORI

In Japanese cuisine, the roe of salmon is called “ikura” and the roe of flying fish is called “tobiko”.

When I’m thinking of sushi, I’m really picturing “makizushi” (also “maki”), which is fish, vegetables and sushi rice combined in layers and rolled up in seaweed. “Makizushi” translates from Japanese as “rolled sushi”.

10A Quaker grains : OATS

The name of the Quaker State oil company dates back to 1912. The Phinny Brothers Oil Company of Oil City, Pennsylvania started using the brand name “Quaker State” for the company’s products, adopting the nickname of the state of Pennsylvania.

15A Striped Girl Scout Cookie : SAMOA

Depending on which bakery makes the particular variety of Girl Scout cookies, the name can vary. For example, Little Brownie Bakers makes Samoa cookies, while ABC Bakers uses the same recipe and calls the cookies Caramel deLites. The assumption is that these cookies have the exotic name “Samoa” because they contain the tropical ingredients of coconut and cocoa. The most popular variety of Girl Scout cookies sold is Thin Mints.

19A The Dalai __ : LAMA

The Dalai Lama is a religious leader in the Gelug branch of Tibetan Buddhism. The current Dalai Lama is the 14th to hold the office. He has indicated that the next Dalai Lama might be found outside of Tibet for the first time, and may even be female.

20A Geena’s “Thelma & Louise” co-star : SUSAN

Actress Susan Sarandon was born Susan Tomalin in Queens, New York. Although Sarandon played in some notable films from 1969 onwards, it was her appearance opposite Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins in 1988’s “Bull Durham” that truly propelled her into the limelight.

As well as being a successful Hollywood actress, Geena Davis is an accomplished archer and came close to qualifying for the US archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Davis is also a member of American Mensa. She is quite the lady …

“Thelma & Louise” is a thought-provoking movie, and one that is very entertaining. It was directed by Ridley Scott in 1991, and stars two fabulous leads in Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon. You’ll also spot Brad Pitt onscreen in his first significant movie role.

21A Native Canadian : CREE

The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US, Montana is home to most of the Cree nation. They live on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada, most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

28A Former South African president Nelson : MANDELA

As a young man, Nelson Mandela led the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). Mandela was eventually arrested and admitted to charges of sabotage and was sentenced to life in prison in 1964. He remained behind bars for 27 years, mainly in the infamous prison on Robben Island. As the years progressed, Mandela became a symbol of the fight against apartheid. He was released in 1990, and immediately declared his commitment to peace and reconciliation with South Africa’s white minority population. Mandela was elected president of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) in 1994, an office that he held until 1999. Nelson Mandela passed away on December 5, 2013.

32A Melber of MS NOW : ARI

Ari Melber is a television journalist and the chief legal correspondent for MS NOW. He started hosting his own daily show called “The Beat with Ari Melber” in 2017.

35A March 14 dessert : PIE

The first three digits of the mathematical constant pi are 3.14. Pi Day has been celebrated on March 14th (3/14) every year since 1988, when it was inaugurated at the San Francisco Exploratorium. In countries where the day is usually written before the month, Pi Day is July 22nd, reflecting the more accurate approximation of pi as 22/7. Interestingly, March 14th is also Albert Einstein’s birthday.

44A “Gangnam Style” rapper : PSY

“PSY” is the stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang. PSY became an international star when his 2012 music video “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube. That video had over 1 billion views on YouTube in about six months, making it the most viewed YouTube video clip up to that time. The title of the song refers to a lifestyle experienced in the Gangnam District of Seoul.

46A Group of lions : PRIDE

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

• A pride of lions
• A shrewdness of apes
• A cloud of bats
• A bench of bishops
• A parliament of owls
• A clowder of cats
• A waddling of ducks
• An army of frogs
• A knot of toads

49A Home of Canadian curler Marc Kennedy : ALBERTA

Canadian curler Marc Kennedy won gold at the 2010 and 2026 Winter Olympics. He really hit the news at the 2026 Games when Swedish rival Oskar Eriksson accused him of illegally “double-touching” the curling stone after its release. To me, the controversy was less about the rules, and more about a traditionally polite sport exploding into a shouting match …

52A Community facility for researchers and book lovers : LOCAL LIBRARY

Our word “library” ultimately derives from the Latin “liber” meaning “book”.

56A The “A” of IPA : ALE

India pale ale (IPA)

58A Greek 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.

67A Prefix with phone : MEGA-

A megaphone is also known as a loudhailer or bullhorn. It was probably Thomas Edison who coined, or at least popularized, the term “megaphone” in 1878. He created a megaphone that was intended to benefit those who were hard of hearing. Edison’s device was relatively clumsy, and far from portable. However, it allowed a person speaking in a normal voice to be heard about two miles away!

69A Raison d’__ : ETRE

“Raison d’être” is a French phrase meaning “reason for existence”.

71A County in southeast England : ESSEX

Essex is a county in England that is referred to as one of the home counties, one of the counties that surround the city of London. The name “Essex” comes from the Old English “Eastseaxe”, referring to the Kingdom of the East Saxons founded in the 6th century.

72A Furniture wood : TEAK

Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family that is commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia. Teak’s tight grain and high oil content make it very suitable for constructing outdoor furniture, where weather resistance is valued. For the same reason, teak is the wood of choice for wooden decks on boats.

Down

1D MLB playoff round : NLCS

The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a round of postseason games played by teams from Major League Baseball’s National League to determine which team will go to the World Series.

2D Diamond Head’s island : OAHU

Diamond Head on the Hawaiian island of Oahu was given its name by British sailors in the 1800s. These sailors found calcite crystals in the rock surrounding the volcanic tuff cone and mistook the crystals for diamonds.

5D CBS forensic franchise : CSI

I quite enjoy the “CSI” franchise of television shows, all except “CSI: Miami”. I find the character played by David Caruso to be extremely annoying. “CSI: Miami” was canceled in 2012. No loss …

7D Corporation previously called Standard Oil of Indiana : AMOCO

“Amoco” is an abbreviation for “American Oil Company”, an oil company that merged with BP in 1998. Amoco was the first oil company to introduce gasoline tanker trucks and drive-through filling stations. I wonder if they know what they were starting …?

9D Dev of “Lion” : PATEL

Dev Patel is an actor from Harrow in England who is perhaps best known for playing the lead in the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. He also stars in a lovely 2012 film called “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” alongside an incredible cast that included Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson. Patel also had a regular role in the marvelous HBO drama series called “The Newsroom”.

“Lion” is a 2016 film based on the autobiographical book “A Long Way Home” by Saroo Brierley. Brierley is an Indian-born Australian who was accidentally separated from his mother when he was 5 years old, ending up stranded on a train that took the young boy nearly 1,500 km from his home. The excellent film adaptation stars Dev Patel as the older Brierley, who searches for his birth-family. Excellent movie …

10D “Horned” bird : OWL

The great horned owl is a large owl that is native to North and South America. Also called the tiger owl, it is the most common true owl in the region.

12D Snack steamed in a corn husk : TAMALE

A tamale is a traditional dish from Mexico composed of a starchy dough that is steamed or boiled in a wrapper made from a corn husk or banana leaf. The dough is called masa, and can include many different ingredients including meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables. A hot tamale is a kind of tamale that originated in the Mississippi Delta. It is particularly spicy, and the masa is replaced with corn meal.

18D Patella locale : KNEE

The patella is the kneecap. The bone’s Latin name “patella” is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

22D Grammy winner Gorme : EYDIE

Eydie Gormé is best known for her work with her husband Steve Lawrence. The duo started performing traditional popular music together in the late fifties. One of the couple’s children is David Nessim Lawrence, a composer who wrote the score for the 2006 movie “High School Musical”.

25D Like Kevin McCallister at Christmas : ALONE

“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, becoming the youngest actor ever to be so honored. And, there are five “Home Alone” sequels.

26D Inane : DAFT

Our word “inane” meaning “silly, lacking substance” comes from the Latin “inanis” meaning “empty”.

27D Feudal estate : FIEF

In the days of feudalism, a “fief” was basically a “fee” (the words “fee” and “fief” have the same origins) paid by a Lord in exchange for some benefit to him, perhaps loyalty, or military service. The fief itself was often land granted by the Lord. We use the term “fiefdom” (and sometimes “fief) figuratively, to describe a sphere of operation controlled by one dominant person or entity.

28D Feb. follower : MAR

March is the third month in our Gregorian calendar. It takes its name from the Latin “Martius”, which was the first month of the earliest Roman calendar. In turn, Martius was named for Mars, the Roman god of war.

34D With 6-Down, part of an Abraham Lincoln costume : TOP …
6D See 34-Down : … HAT

A stovepipe hat is also known as a top hat.

35D Kingdom divisions : PHYLA

Biological classification is a method used to group organisms by biological type. The method uses a hierarchy of nested classes, with an organism being classified with reference to evolutionary traits. The major taxonomic ranks used are:

• Life
• Domain
• Kingdom
• Phylum (plural “phyla”)
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus (plural “genera”)
• Species

37D Food safety org. : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

39D Peter the Great, for one : TSAR

Peter the Great (aka “Peter I”) was perhaps the most successful of the Romanov tsars, and was famous for modernizing Russia and expanding the country’s sphere of influence, creating the Russian Empire. He ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725.

41D Spot with many spots : LOT

The “city lot” sense of “lot” is intertwined with the older practice of “casting lots”. Historically, land division was often determined by chance, particularly in early settlements or when distributing land among a group. “Lots” were physical objects, like stones or slips of paper, marked to represent different land parcels. These were drawn randomly, and the “lot” a person received corresponded to the specific piece of land assigned to that marker. This practice of “casting lots” directly led to the use of “lot” as a term for a defined piece of land, eventually giving us the modern usage in “city lot” and “parking lot.”

42D Genetic material : DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

46D Blood bank supply : PLASMA

Prior to 1915, blood transfusions were carried out directly, from a vein of the donor into a vein of the recipient. All that changed pretty quickly when it was discovered that sodium citrate could be added to blood to stop it coagulating. Soon, it was clear that refrigerated blood treated with an anticoagulant could be stored, and blood “depots” were created in Britain during WWI. The term “blood bank” was first used in 1937, to describe the store of blood kept in the Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

48D Worldwide cold spell : ICE AGE

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.

55D Curses : BANES

Today, we tend to use the word “bane” to mean “anathema, source of persistent annoyance”. A few centuries ago, a bane was a cause of harm or death, perhaps a deadly poison.

60D Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

63D Humanities degs. : BAS

The academic studies of human culture are collectively called the humanities. Subjects included in the humanities are languages, literature, philosophy, religion and music.

65D __ kwon do : TAE

Tae kwon do is the national sport of Korea. “Tae” means “to strike or break with foot”; “kwon” means “to strike or break with fist”; “do” means “way” or “art”. Along with judo, tae kwon do is one of only two martial arts included in the Olympic Games.

66D Extreme sport with bunny hops : BMX

“BMX” stands for “Bicycle Motocross”. It’s the sport where folks on bicycles race around what is in effect a regular motocross track. Medals were awarded for BMX for the first time at the Beijing Olympics, with a Latvian winning for the men, and a Française winning for the women.