Tag: Summons one’s last bits of energy crossword clue

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Constructed by: Jeanne D. Breen

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Ups the Ante

Themed answers are all in the down-direction. Each includes the hidden word “ANTE” written in the UP-direction:

• 31D Increases both risk and reward, or what 3-, 9-, or 38-Down does? : UPS THE ANTE

• 3D Cold War force that included the Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla : SOVIET NAVY
• 9D Terms of endearment : PET NAMES
• 38D Parental control software : NET NANNY

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

Bill’s time: 6m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Stage accessory : PROP

We use the word “props” for objects that are used by actors on stage during a play. The term is a shortening of the older term “properties”, which was used with the same meaning up through the 19th century.

10A Spring bloom : IRIS

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

17A Golfer’s gouge : DIVOT

A divot is a chunk of grass and earth that is removed by a golf club immediately after striking the ball. “Divot” is derived from a Scottish word for a piece of turf or sod used as a roofing material.

20A Govt. support program : SSI

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a federal program that provides financial relief to persons with low incomes who are 65 or older, or who are blind or disabled. The SSI program is administered by the Social Security Administration (SSA) even though the Social Security trust fund is not used for SSI payments. SSI payments come out of general tax revenue.

29A Complete fluke : DUMB LUCK

A fluke is a stroke of luck, and is a term that is thought to have originated as a lucky stroke in the game of billiards back in the mid-1800s.

35A Lung sections : LOBES

The human lungs are divided into lobes. The right lung has three lobes, and the left has two. The lack of a third lobe in the left lung allows for a “cardiac notch”, space in which the heart resides.

37A Division d’une nation : ETAT

In French, an “état” (state) is a “division d’une nation” (division of a nation).

39A Mallorca, por ejemplo : ISLA

The Island of Majorca (“Isla de Mallorca” in Spanish) is Spain’s largest island, and is located in the Mediterranean Sea. The population of the island ballooned over the past few decades as Majorca became a mecca for tourists from all over Europe.

40A Off-rd. ride : ATV

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

41A Meal with charoset and maror : SEDER

Charoset is a sweet fruit-and-nut paste served during the Passover Seder. It is said to represent the mortar used by the Israelites while they were slaves in Ancient Egypt.

Maror is a bitter herb served during the Passover Seder, fulfilling the biblical commandment found in the Book of Exodus: “with bitter herbs they shall eat it”.

42A Drum major’s stick : BATON

A drum major is a leader of a marching band, and is a position that originated in the British Army Corps of Drums in 1650. The drum major’s job is to lead the group and ensure that the whole ensemble keeps time. To help him do so, a drum major often uses a large baton. Over time, it became customary for the baton to be twirled and tossed in an elaborate display. The drum major tradition was embraced by high school marching bands in America. Drum-majorettes became popular in the 1930s, with groups of females taking up baton-twirling and marching with bands. According to an article in “Life” magazine published on October 10th, 1938, “the perfect majorette is a pert, shapely, smiling extrovert, who loves big, noisy crowds and knows how to make those crowds love her.” It was a different time …

43A Nursery outfits : LAYETTES

A newborn baby’s collection of clothing and accessories is called a layette.

45A Poet Langston : HUGHES

Langston Hughes was a poet active in the Harlem Renaissance, and someone who helped develop the literary form known as “jazz poetry”. His poem “I, Too” was published in 1926.

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.

Tomorrow,
I’ll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me,
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.

Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–

I, too, am America.

53A Easter mo., often : APR

A moveable feast in the Christian calendar is an annual religious holiday the date of which changes each year, determined by the date of Easter. Easter itself is a moveable feast, falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.

56A Luke’s twin : LEIA

The full name of the character played by Carrie Fisher in the “Star Wars” series of films is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and later Leia Organa Solo. Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the daughter of Anakin Skywalker (aka “Darth Vader”) and Padmé Amidala. Leia is raised by her adoptive parents Bail and Breha Organa. She eventually marries Han Solo.

57A Lofgren of the E Street Band : NILS

Musician Nils Lofgren was a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band for over 25 years. Lofgren provided vocals and played guitar, and was hired as the replacement for Steven Van Zandt.

The E Street Band is the backing group for Bruce Springsteen. The band came together in 1972 but didn’t take a formal name until two years later. The keyboard player in the original line up was David Sancious, and his mother allowed the group to rehearse at her home. That home was on E Street in Belmar, New Jersey, and that’s where the band got their name.

58A “Same old same old” feeling : ENNUI

“Ennui” is the French word for “boredom”, and is a term that we now use in English. It’s one of the few French words we’ve imported and haven’t anglicized, and actually pronounce “correctly”.

61A Campus sports gp. : NCAA

National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

Down

2D Alamo rival : AVIS

Avis has been around since 1946. It has the distinction of being the first car rental company to locate a branch at an airport.

3D Cold War force that included the Baltic Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla : SOVIET NAVY

The Soviet Navy was also known as “Voyenno-morskoy flot” (Military Maritime Fleet), and informally “the Red Fleet”.

4D Retired jersey number for Derek Jeter : TWO

Derek Jeter played his entire professional baseball career with the New York Yankees, and was the team’s captain. Jeter is the all-time career leader for the Yankees in hits, games played, stolen bases and at bats. He is also the all-time leader in hits by a shortstop in the whole of professional baseball. Jeter’s performances in the postseason earned him the nicknames “Captain Clutch” and “Mr. November”. Jeter retired from the game in 2014.

5D Erik who played Poncherello on “CHiPs” : ESTRADA

Actor Erik Estrada’s big break came with the movie “Airport 1975”, in which he played the doomed flight engineer of a Boeing 747. A couple of years later, Estrada began a six-year gig, co-starring on the television show “CHiPs” as motorcycle police officer Poncherello.

The TV cop show “CHiPs” ran from 1977 until 1983. Stars of the show were Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada, who played two California Highway Patrol (CHP) motorcycle officers. I find it interesting that the storylines rarely called for the officers to draw their firearms over the six seasons produced (how shows have changed!). Erik Estrada had to learn how to ride a motorcycle for the show, and wasn’t licensed to drive one until late in the show’s run. It took him three attempts to pass the test.

7D Los Angeles team : RAMS

The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise to have won NFL championships in three different cities, i.e. Cleveland (1945), Los Angeles (1951 & 2021) and St. Louis (1999). The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945, in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

11D 500 sheets : REAM

A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Ever since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper has been called a “short ream”. We also use the term “reams” to mean a great amount, evolving from the idea of a lot of printed material.

22D Aircraft carrier letters : USS

The abbreviation “USS” stands for “United States Ship”. The practice of naming US Navy vessels in a standard format didn’t start until 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order that addressed the issue.

23D Bits of baloney : FIBS

“Baloney” is an American English variant of “Bologna” as in the sausage. The term came to be used to mean “nonsense” in the 1920s. “Baloney” was popularized in the 1930s by New York Governor Alfred E. Smith as he used the term quite often.

25D Deliver a tirade : RANT

The term “tirade” describes a long and vehement speech, and is a word that came into English from French. “Tirade” can have the same meaning in French, but is also the word for “volley”. So, a tirade is a “volley” of words.

27D Oscar winner Tatum : O’NEAL

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.

28D Terra-__ flowerpot : COTTA

In the history of ceramics, earthenware (also “terra cotta”) is a relatively old material. It is porous, and needs a ceramic glaze to make it impervious to liquids. Stoneware was developed later, and is impervious to liquids in its own right due to the higher firing temperature. Porcelain came later still, and is fired at even higher temperatures to produce a stronger, harder and finer material.

32D Olympic snowboarder Kim : CHLOE

Professional snowboarder Chloe Kim became the youngest woman to win a snowboarding Olympic Gold in 2018, at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.

33D Zen paradoxes : KOANS

The concept of koan appears in the Zen Buddhist tradition. A koan is a story, question or perhaps a statement that is used as an aid to meditation. It often takes the form of a problem or riddle that has no logical solution and is intended to help the meditator break free of reason and develop intuition.

38D Parental control software : NET NANNY

Net Nanny is content-control software that was introduced in 1993. It is primarily used by parents to monitor and control their children’s activity online, using computers or phones.

39D Othello’s false friend : IAGO

Iago is the schemer in Shakespeare’s “Othello”. He is a soldier who fought alongside Othello and feels hard done by, missing out on promotion. Iago hatches a plot designed to discredit his rival Cassio by insinuating that Cassio is having an affair with Desdemona, Othello’s wife.

44D Op-ed pieces, e.g. : ESSAYS

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in the “New York 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.

47D Durango dwellings : CASAS

Durango is one of Mexico’s 32 “estados” (states). It is landlocked, and is located in the northwest of the country.

48D Succulent with medicinal uses : ALOE

Succulent plants are those with thickened stems and/or leaves that have evolved to retain water. As such, succulents are often found where the climate is particularly dry. The term “succulent” comes from the Latin “sucus” meaning “juice, sap”.

50D Miller option : LITE

The first light beer was produced by Chicago’s Meister Brau brewery in the sixties. Miller took over Meister Brau, reformulated the light beer using the same process and became the first of the big breweries to come out with a light beer, “Lite Beer from Miller” introduced in 1973. There really wasn’t a serious competitor to Miller Lite until Anheuser-Busch finally came up with a process and a product in 1982 that they called Bud Light.

51D Texas school with an owl mascot : RICE

The sports teams of Rice University in Houston are known as the Rice Owls. The “Owl” name comes from the three owls in the university’s crest.