Tag: Start to knock? crossword clue

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Constructed by: Ilana Levene & Scott Hogan

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Double-Cross

Themed answers are synonyms of “DOUBLE”. An across-DOUBLE CROSSES a down-DOUBLE three times in the grid:

• 55A Betray, or what can be found three times in this puzzle : DOUBLE-CROSS

• 25A Copycat : REPLICA
• 5D Copycat : FACSIMILE

• 27A Copycat : STAND-IN
• 9D Copycat : LOOK-ALIKE

• 55A Betray, or what can be found three times in this puzzle : DOUBLE-CROSS
• 40D Copycat : CLONE

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

Bill’s time: 6m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Social media annoyance : BOT

A bot is a computer program designed to imitate human behavior. It might crawl around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses. It might also act as a competitor in a computer game.

14A Accord, for one : HONDA

Honda started manufacturing the Accord model in Marysville, Ohio in 1982, making the Accord the first Japanese car to be produced in the US. The Accord was the best-selling Japanese car in America from 1982 to 1997, and 1989 was the first import to become the best-selling car in the US.

16A Earthy colour : OCHRE

Ocher is a light, yellowish-brown color, although variations of the pigment are possible such as red ocher and purple ocher. “Ocher” is usually spelled “ochre” on the other side of the pond.

24A Actress Noblezada : EVA

Eva Noblezada is an actress and singer who debuted on Broadway playing the lead in a 2017 revival of “Miss Saigon”. That performance earned her a Tony nomination, as did her portrayal of Eurydice in “Hadestown”.

29A Pinged online : IM’ED

In the world of computer science, a ping is a test message sent over a network between computers to check for a response and to measure the time of that response. We now use the verb “to ping” more generally, meaning to send someone a message, usually a reminder.

30A “Carpe diem” hashtag : YOLO!

You only live once (YOLO)

“Carpe diem” is a quotation from Horace, one of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets. “Carpe diem” translates from Latin as “seize the day” or “enjoy the day”. The satirical motto of a procrastinator is “carpe mañana”, “translating” as “seize tomorrow”.

31A Like streets in Dickens novels : GASLIT

Charles Dickens was an English novelist who achieved great success in his own time, and is still regarded as perhaps the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. Many of his novels explored the plight of the poor in Victorian society, perhaps driven by his own experiences as a child. Dickens had to leave school to work in a factory after his father was thrown into a debtor’s prison. As a result, Dickens had to educate himself. He is said to have pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, with his first success coming with the 1835 serial publication of “Pickwick Papers”. And, everyone’s favorite has to be his 1843 novella, “A Christmas Carol”.

34A Lobster claw : PINCER

A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.

42A Arboreal marsupial : KOALA

Koalas are not bears, but are marsupials, which means they carry their young in a pouch.They are known for their diet of eucalyptus leaves, which are toxic to most other animals. To cope with this, koalas have a special digestive system that allows them to break down the toxins and extract the nutrients from the leaves. Koalas are one of the sleepiest animals in the world, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. This is because eucalyptus leaves provide very little energy.

48A “The Idol” star Lily-Rose : DEPP

French-American actress Lily-Rose Depp is the daughter of actors Vanessa Paradis and Johnny Depp. Lily-Rose’s godfather is rock musician Marilyn Manson.

“The Idol” is a drama TV show that aired for just one season in 2023. It stars Lily-Rose Depp in the title role, a pop idol trying to reclaim her reputation as a sexy pop star after she suffers a nervous breakdown. This one wasn’t received well, not well at all …

51A Comics icon Lee : STAN

Stan Lee did just about everything at Marvel Comics over the years, from writing to being president and chairman of the board. If you like superhero movies based on the characters from Marvel Comics, then you could spend a few hours trying to spot Stan Lee in those films as he had a penchant for making cameo appearances. Lee can be spotted in “X-Men” (2000), “Spider-Man” (2002), “Hulk” (2003), “Fantastic Four” (2005), “Iron Man” (2008) and many other films.

54A Pom sounds : YAPS

The Pomeranian is a small breed of dog named for the Pomerania region of Europe (part of eastern Germany and northern Poland). The breed was much loved by the royalty of Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In the 19th century, Queen Victoria owned a particularly small Pomeranian. Due to the notoriety of the monarch’s pet, the Pomeranian was bred for small size, so that during the Queen’s admittedly long reign, the size of the average “pom” was reduced by 50% …

58A Home for lanternfish : DEEP SEA

Lanternfish are small, deep-sea fish famous for being bioluminescent, meaning they produce their own light. They accomplish this with special organs called photophores arranged in patterns along their bodies, which they use to communicate and attract prey. Despite living in the harsh and dark environment of the deep sea, they are believed to be the most abundant fish in the world, making up a massive portion of the ocean’s total deep-sea biomass. Who knew …?

66A Genre portmanteau : DRAMEDY

Comedy-drama (dramedy)

Down

1D Like chiffon : SHEER

Chiffon is a sheer fabric usually made from silk, cotton, nylon or rayon. The French word “chiffon” is a diminutive of “chiffe” meaning “rag, piece of cloth”.

5D Copycat : FACSIMILE

A facsimile is a copy. The term comes from the Latin phrase “fac simile” meaning “make similar”, with “fac” being the imperative form of “facere”, to make. The term “fax” (as in “fax machine”) is an abbreviated form of “facsimile”.

6D “The Hunger Games: The __ of Songbirds & Snakes” : BALLAD

The 2020 novel “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” by Suzanne Collins is a prequel to her very, very successful “Hunger Games” trilogy. The protagonist in the prequel is Coriolanus Snow, the man who one day becomes the tyrannical president of Panem.

10D Spanish “here” : ACA

Spanish has two words for “here”: “acá” and “aquí”. The main difference is that “acá” refers to a more general area (“around here”) while “aquí” is more precise (“right here”).

12D Rome’s __ Fountain : TREVI

The Trevi Fountain (“Fontana di Trevi”) is a huge fountain in Rome, one that is the largest constructed in the Baroque style. The name “Trevi” is a perfect fit, as it derives from the Italian words “tre vie”, which translate literally to “three streets”. The fountain was built at the junction of three roads, marking the terminal point of the Acqua Vergine, one of the ancient Roman aqueducts that supplied water to the city.

13D Accord, for one : SEDAN

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

22D “Gangsta Rap” rapper : ICE-T

“Gangsta Rap” is the name of the eighth studio album by rapper Ice-T, released in 2006. It is also the name of the title track.

26D Reinhart of “Riverdale” : LILI

While best known for portraying Betty Cooper in the TV show “Riverdale”, actress Lili Reinhart is also a published author. Her debut collection of poetry, titled “Swimming Lessons”, was released in 2020 and made it to number two on the New York Times Best Sellers list.

“Riverdale” is a teen drama TV show based on the “Archie” comic book series. While the “Archie” comics are light in tone, “Riverdale” is a darker production that explores the complex world of the “Archie” characters.

32D Adams who photographed 36-Down : ANSEL

Long before he was a world-famous photographer, Ansel Adams was a highly talented classical pianist. He trained seriously from the age of 12 with the intention of becoming a concert pianist, and for many years he earned a living by giving piano lessons. It wasn’t until around 1930, when he was in his late 20s, that he finally decided to devote his life to photography instead of music.

36D Yosemite summit, informally : EL CAP

El Capitan is a stunning vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park in California. The top of El Capitan has been used as the take-off point for many BASE jumps, parachute jumps made by diving off the top of the rock face. The National Park Service put a stop to the practice in 1999. Soon afterwards, a BASE jumper made an illegal jump to protest the ban. She died …

39D Thatcherism creator, familiarly : IRON LADY

Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990, making her the longest serving leader of the country in the 20th century, and the first woman to hold the office. Thatcher’s nickname in the press was the “Iron Lady”, a moniker bestowed on her by a Soviet journalist. The “Iron Lady” was born Margaret Hilda Roberts, the daughter of a grocer. She studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked for a while as a research chemist.

41D Undisclosed advantage : HOLE CARD

“Stud poker” is the name given to many variants of poker, all of which are characterized by the dealer giving each player a mix of cards face-down and face-up. The cards facing upwards are called “upcards”. The cards facing downwards are called “hole cards”, cards only visible to the individual who holds that particular hand. This gives rise to the phrase “ace in the hole”, a valuable holding that only the player with the ace is aware of.

45D “Stick a fork in me!” : AM I BEAT!

The expression “stick a fork in me, I’m done” has its roots in the simple test for checking if meat is cooked through. It is also used as an idiom for defeat, which usage can apparently be traced to a specific moment the 1980 U.S. presidential election. On election night, as the results overwhelmingly favored Ronald Reagan, a television news anchor reportedly declared that you could “stick a fork in” President Jimmy Carter, because “he’s done”.

49D Third word of the Constitution : PEOPLE

The US Constitution begins with the words “We the People …” So, the first “article” in the text of the document is the “definite article”, i.e. “the”. Hah!

58D __ Pérignon : DOM

Dom Pérignon is a prestige label of champagne from Moët et Chandon, the French winery. The label’s name honors the Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, who helped to improve the quality and production of champagne in the early 18th century. Although Dom Pérignon made major contributions to champagne production, many of the stories in which he figures are just myths. He did not “invent” champagne, nor sparkling wine in general. Nor did he say the famous words, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!”. That lovely line first appeared in a print advertisement in the late 1800s!

59D Musician Brian who used a Mac to compose “The Microsoft Sound” : ENO

Brian Eno started his musical career with Roxy Music. His most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “startup jingle”, the 6-second sound you (used to) hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:

I wrote it on a Mac. I’ve never used a PC in my life; I don’t like them.

61D Rx order : MED

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.