Tag: Sudden sharp sensations crossword clue

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Constructed by: Darryl Gonzalez
Edited by: Rich Norris

Today’s Reveal Answer: Mixed Salad

Themed answers each start with a MIXED (anagrammed) kind of SALAD:

• 62A Green course … and what the start of each answer to the starred clues is? : MIXED SALAD

• 17A *Sofía Vergara’s “Modern Family” role, to her nephews : AUNT GLORIA (mixed “aunt” = tuna)
• 34A *Tree in a foyer : COATRACK (mixed “coat” = taco)
• 43A *Deletes : TAKES OUT (mixed “takes” = steak)
• 11D *Highway warning : DANGER AHEAD (mixed “danger” = garden)
• 24D *Conventioneer’s stop on arrival : CHECK-IN DESK (mixed “check-in” = chicken)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Eldest “Bonanza” brother : ADAM

On the TV show “Bonanza”, the character named Adam was the eldest of the Cartwright sons, the others being Hoss and Little Joe. Adam was played by actor Pernell Roberts. Roberts wasn’t really happy with the role, and objected to the gruelling schedule demanded by a season of 34 episodes. He fulfilled his six-year contract, but refused to extend it. Adam was written out of the show in 1965.

The TV show “Bonanza” ran from 1959 until 1973, making it the second-longest-running Western series on US television (after “Gunsmoke”). “Bonanza” told the story of the Cartwright family who lived on the Ponderosa ranch located in Nevada, on the eastern shore of Lake Tahoe. Ben Cartright, the father, was played by Lorne Green. Ben’s three sons were Adam (Pernell Roberts), Eric/Hoss (Dan Blocker) and Joseph/Little Joe (Michael Landon).

14 Oahu veranda : LANAI

A lanai is a type of veranda, and a design that originated in Hawaii. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, but that the island name of “Lana’i” is not related.

15 Mannheim mister : HERR

Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. The city is a little unusual in that it has streets and avenues laid out in a grid pattern, rather like an American city. For this reason, Mannheim has the nickname “die Quadratestadt” (city of the squares).

17 *Sofía Vergara’s “Modern Family” role, to her nephews : AUNT GLORIA (mixed “aunt” = tuna)

Sofía Vergara is an actress and model from Barranquilla, Colombia who is perhaps best known from playing Gloria on the hit TV sitcom “Modern Family”. In 2016, “Forbes” magazine reported that Vergara was the highest paid actress on television.

21 Western movie staples : STAGES

Although the stagecoach is very much associated with the Wild West, the vehicle originated in England in the 16th century. Stagecoaches provided transportation for travellers and goods over long distances. The rest points for the travellers were known as “stages”, and later “stations”, hence the name “stagecoach”.

23 Deliverers of 20-Acrosses, briefly : MCS

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

27 Emmy winner Christine : LAHTI

Christine Lahti is an actress probably best known for playing Dr. Kate Austen on the TV medical drama “Chicago Hope”. If you read “The Huffington Post” you might run across her as well, as Lahti is a contributing blogger.

31 Maple Leafs, on scoreboards : TOR

The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was founded way back in 1917. As members of the National Hockey League, the Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup championships thirteen times, the second best record in the league. Having said that, the last championship the team won was in 1967, and the resulting “drought” is the longest in the NHL.

32 “Paper Moon” co-stars : O’NEALS

Actor Ryan O’Neal got his big break in the sixties on television. He appeared in the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place”, opposite fellow newcomer Mia Farrow. Then in 1970 he landed a starring role in the hit movie “Love Story”, which established him in Hollywood. O’Neal was an amateur boxer before he turned to acting, and established a respectable record in Golden Gloves competitions. More recently, O’Neal has a recurring role on the TV show “Bones”, playing the title character’s father.

Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a competitive Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

“Paper Moon” is a 1973 comedy film that tells the story of a father and daughter during the Great Depression. The onscreen father and daughter are played by real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal. The original choices for the lead roles were Paul Newman and his daughter Nell Potts, but they left the project after director John Huston also dropped out.

39 Lummox : OAF

The word “lummox” comes from East Anglian slang , and describes an ungainly and often clueless person. The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.

42 Longtime Eur. realm : HRE

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) existed from 962 to 1806 AD and was a territory of varying size over the centuries that centered on the Kingdom of Germany. The HRE was a successor to the western half of the Ancient Roman Empire. The empire dissolved in 1806 when Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated after a military defeat by the French under Napoleon at Austerlitz.

49 “The Matrix” hero : NEO

Neo is the character played by Keanu Reeves in “The Matrix” series of films.

51 Liquid-Plumr shelfmate : DRANO

To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano, which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely-divided aluminum reacts with the lye generating hydrogen gas that churns the mixture. Any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain quite often does the job …

52 Bug-eyed prayer : MANTIS

The term “praying mantis” is often used for species of insects more correctly called simply “mantises”. The familiar term refers to the prayer-like posture adopted by the insect with their forelimbs folded. Strangely, the praying mantis is the only animal that we know with only one ear. That ear is located deep in the thorax or chest.

55 Units of wt. : LBS

The unit of mass that we know today as a pound is descended from the old Roman unit of weight known as a “libra”. That “libra” connection is why we abbreviate “pound” to “lb”. The name “pound” comes from the Latin “pondo” meaning “weight”. Our term “ounce” (abbreviated to “oz.”) comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a Roman “libra”.

57 Shelley’s “__ to the West Wind” : ODE

Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote “Ode to the West Wind” in 1819 when he was living in Florence, Italy. One interpretation of the work is that it expresses his dismay at not being home in England, while another is that it is a lament for the loss of his son who died earlier in the same year.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet. Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.

59 Colorado’s __ Park : ESTES

Estes Park is a town in a beautiful part of the US, in northern Colorado. Estes Park is home to the headquarters of Rocky Mountain National Park.

61 Champagne brand : MOET

Moët & Chandon is a French winery, and one of the world’s largest producers of champagne. The company was founded by wine trader Claude Moët in 1743. The name was changed to Moët & Chandon in the 1830s when Pierre-Gabriel Chandon, an in-law to the Moët family, was given co-ownership. Moët & Chandon owns the famous Dom Pérignon brand name, honoring the Benedictine monk who did so much to improve the quality of champagne.

67 Start of Massachusetts’ motto : ENSE …

The motto of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is “Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem”, a Latin phrase that can be translated as “By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty”. The quotation is from a passage written by English politician Algernon Sidney who was executed for treason by King Charles II.

68 Fateful March date : IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed leader to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

69 Persistent attack : SIEGE

Our word “siege” comes from a 13th-century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

72 SpongeBob’s home : OCEAN

SpongeBob SquarePants is a cartoon character in a Nickelodeon television series. Spongebob first appeared in 1999, and he “lives in a pineapple under the sea”. The character was created by marine biologist, cartoonist and animator Stephen Hillenburg.

Down

1 P. Hearst’s captors : SLA

The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was founded in 1973 by an escapee from the prison system, Donald DeFreeze. The group’s manifesto promoted the rights of African Americans although, in the 2-3 year life of the group, DeFreeze was the only black member. Famously, the SLA kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst in 1974. Hearst apparently fell victim to what is called the Stockholm syndrome and became sympathetic to her captors’ cause. She joined the SLA and assumed the name “Tania”.

2 Cross-shaped letter : TAU

Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, and the letter that gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

3 __ Wilson, lead singer of Heart : ANN

Heart is a rock band from Seattle, Washington, founded in the seventies and still going strong. The band has had a changing lineup, except for sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson.

4 Leader overthrown by Castro : BATISTA

Fulgencio Batista was elected president of Cuba in 1940, and held office until 1940. Shortly after leaving office, Batista relocated to the US where he split his time between a home in Daytona Beach, Florida and the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. After eight years in America, he returned to Cuba and ran again for president. Just prior to the election, Batista led a coup and took control of the government. Soon after, the US officially recognized Batista’s administration. During his second term as president, organized crime flourished in Havana, wth the American mafia making tons of money from gambling, prostitution and drugs. All this led to the Cuban Revolution starting in 1953, and Batista’s eventual ousting from power by Fidel Castro in 1959. Batista fled the country and eventually found political asylum in Portugal. He died in Spain in 1973

Fidel Castro studied law at the University of Havana and there became a follower of left-wing ideals. He launched his first rebellion against Cuban president Fulgencio Batista in 1953, which landed him in jail for a year. He later led rebels in a guerrilla war against the Cuban government, which led to the Cuban Revolution and the overthrow of Batista in 1959. Castro took control of the country, and immediately formed a strong relationship with the Soviet Union. Concern over the alliance in the US led to the botched Bay of Pigs Invasion of 1961. There followed the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Fidel Castro started to transfer power to his brother Raúl in 2008, and passed away in 2016.

7 Type of exercise : AEROBIC

Aerobic exercise is moderate activity designed to be at a low enough intensity that very little anaerobic activity takes place. In other words, the exercise is at a level where oxygen is taken in to burn fat and carbohydrate and to create energy. Anaerobic exercise is more intense and uses carbohydrate (glycogen) in the muscle to provide energy, without the need for oxygen. Aerobics are also called “cardio” as the exercises strengthen the cardiovascular system.

8 Part of TGIF: Abbr. : FRI

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote to me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

10 Howard Hughes, e.g. : AVIATOR

Businessman Howard Hughes made a name for himself first as a film producer, and then in the aviation industry. Nowadays, Hughes is perhaps best known for the eccentric behavior that he exhibited late in his life. He was very much an eccentric, and suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and became a germaphobe. Perhaps the most approachable way of gaining insight into the life of Hughes is a viewing of the Martin Scorsese film “The Aviator”, in which Hughes is played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

13 Unkempt : MESSY

The word “unkempt” means “disheveled, not well-combed”. It derives from the Old English word “cemban” meaning “to comb”. The opposite to the more common “unkempt” is … “kempt”.

18 Ford classic : LTD

There has been a lot of speculation about what the abbreviation “LTD” stands for in the car model known as “Ford LTD”. Many say it is an initialism standing for “Luxury Trim Decor”, and others say that it is short for “limited”. Although the car was produced in Australia with the initialism meaning “Lincoln Type Design”, it seems that “LTD” was originally chosen as just three meaningless letters that sound well together.

22 Told all : TATTLED

Something described as tattletale is revealing, it gives away a secret. The term is a combination of “tattle” and “tale”, and is probably patterned on the similar word “telltale”. “To tattle” means “to tell secrets”, and the noun “tattletale” applies to someone who tells secrets and informs.

27 Politician Trent : LOTT

Trent Lott is a political figure who first went to Washington to work as an administrative assistant to Representative William M. Colmer, from Mississippi. After four years working for Colmer, Lott ran for the House seat that Colmer was to leave vacant on his retirement. Colmer endorsed Lott in that election, even though Colmer was a Democrat and Lott ran as a Republican. Lott won the race very handily, launching a 35-year career representing his home state of Mississippi in both the House and the Senate. Lott eventually ran into trouble for remarks he made that were interpreted as being racially motivated, and ended up resigning in 2007.

30 Spanish noble title : DON

The Spanish and Italian term “don” and Portuguese “dom” are honorifics derived from the Latin “dominus” meaning “master of the household”. The contemporary female equivalents are “doña” (Spanish), “donna” (Italian) and “dona” (Portuguese).

33 First word of some Brazilian cities : SAO

In Portuguese, the word “são” can mean “saint”, as in São Paulo (Saint Paul) and São José (Saint Joseph). If the saint’s name starts with a letter H or with a vowel, then the word “santo” is used instead, as in Santo Agostinho (Saint Augustine) and Santo Antônio (Saint Anthony).

36 Construction site sight : CRANE

The lifting device known as a crane is so called because of its resemblance to the wading bird with the same name.

37 __ diet: high-fat, low-carb regimen : KETO

A ketogenic (also “keto”) diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. When a body consumes insufficient carbohydrates to meet the need for energy, then the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies in order to make up the energy deficit. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the bloodstream is known as “ketosis”, a term that gives rise to the name “ketogenic diet”. Medical professionals sometimes prescribe a ketogenic diet in order to control epilepsy in children. A condition of ketosis can reduce the frequency of epileptic seizures.

44 Ritzy properties : ESTATES

The adjective “ritzy” meaning “high quality and luxurious” derives from the opulent Ritz hotels in New York, London, Paris, etc.

45 Old-fashioned messages : TELEXES

Telex grew out of the world of the telegraph. What telex brought to telegraphy was the ability to route messages. Instead of having to talk to an operator to route a particular message to the intended party, the user of a telex could route the message directly to another telex machine by way of a rotary dial, one very similar to that on a telephone.

47 Ordinary : PROSAIC

Back in the mid-17th century, something prosaic was prose-related (as opposed to poetry). A century later, the “prosaic” was used to describe writing that had the feeling of prose, as opposed to the feeling of poetry. This meaning gradually extended to “ordinary, lacking imagination or beauty”.

52 N.L. mascot with a baseball head : MR MET

Mr. Met is the mascot of the New York Mets. He is a guy with a large baseball as a head. There’s also a Mrs. Met, a mascot who was previously known as Lady Met.

53 Long times : AEONS

Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age

56 Part of CST: Abbr. : STD

Central Standard Time (CST)

60 Standard Oil brand : ESSO

The Esso brand has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

63 Snake River st. : IDA

The Snake River in the US northwest is the largest tributary of the Columbia River. The Snake River carved out the magnificent Hells Canyon, which is North America’s deepest river gorge.

64 Jeans brand : LEE

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

65 Ottoman title : AGA

“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

66 Pride’s place : DEN

A group of lions is known as a pride. It’s possible that the term “pride”, in this context, derives from the Latin “praeda” meaning “prey”.