Tag: Support pieces crossword clue

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Constructed by: Ben Wildman-Tobriner & Stephanie Wildman

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Tip of the Hat

Themed answers are types of HAT. Each starts in the across-direction, and then TIPS over into the down-direction:

• 39A Genteel gesture, or what can be found five times in this puzzle : TIP OF THE HAT

• 1A Headgear often worn by Kate Middleton : FASCINATOR
• 6A Headgear worn by Abraham Lincoln : STOVEPIPE
• 10A Headgear often worn on Easter : BONNET
• 48A Headgear worn at graduation : MORTARBOARD
• 63A Headgear worn by Captain Hook : TRICORN

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

Bill’s time: 7m 22s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Headgear often worn by Kate Middleton : FASCINATOR

A modern fascinator is a formal, ornamental headpiece that is not worn like a hat as such, and rather is attached to a clip or headband. The name is a historical holdover from the 19th century, when the original fascinator was a lacy shawl that women would fasten around their heads.

Kate Middleton is the wife of Prince William of the UK. Middleton is what one might call a commoner, although since her marriage she is known as the Duchess of Cambridge. She was born to parents who had worked together as flight attendants before becoming quite wealthy running their own mail-order business. As is so often the case in Britain, Kate’s ancestry can be traced back far enough to show that she and William do have common ancestors, dating back to the 1500s on her mother’s side and to the 1400s on her father’s side.

6A Headgear worn by Abraham Lincoln : STOVEPIPE

A stovepipe hat is also known as a top hat.

14A Investor Carl believed to have inspired the film character Gordon Gekko : ICAHN

Carl Icahn has many business interests, and is probably best known in recent years for his dealings with Yahoo! Icahn has a reputation as a corporate raider, a reputation that dates back to his hostile takeover of TWA in 1985. He made a lot of money out of that deal, before being ousted in 1993 after the company filed for bankruptcy protection.

“Wall Street” is a very entertaining 1987 film from Oliver Stone starring Charlie Sheen as an up and coming stockbroker, and Michael Douglas as an amoral corporate raider named Gordon Gekko. Douglas’ portrayal of Gekko earned him a Best Actor Oscar, and deservedly so, I’d say …

16A “Voyage to India” Grammy winner : ARIE

“Voyage to India” is a 2002 studio album released by singer India Arie. The album’s title is the name of an instrumental written and released by Stevie Wonder, a performer much admired by Arie.

17A Salami type : GENOA

Genoa salami is made using preservation techniques that originated in ancient Rome.

33A SoCal home of Soledad Church : EAST LA

Our Lady of Solitude Church (sometimes just “Soledad Church”) is a Roman Catholic church in East LA that was built in 1926. The name “Soledad” is Spanish for “solitude”.

36A Nanny __ : GOAT

Male goats are bucks or billies, although castrated males are known as wethers. Female goats are does or nannies, and young goats are referred to as kids.

38A Fashion icon London : STACY

Stacy London is a fashion consultant who is perhaps best known as co-host of the reality show “What Not to Wear” along with Clinton Kelly.

48A Headgear worn at graduation : MORTARBOARD

Tasseled mortarboards, or square academic caps, are associated with school graduations all over the world, although traditions do differ. For example, in Ireland (where I come from) mortarboards are only worn by female graduates.

55A Soft tissue : KLEENEX

Even though “Kleenex” is sometimes used today as a generic term for a tissue, it is a brand name owned by Kimberly-Clark. Kleenex facial tissues came about after WW1. The material used in the tissue had been developed as a replacement for cotton that was in high demand as surgical tissue during the war. The material developed was called “Cellucotton” and was used in gas mask filters. It was first sold as a facial tissue under the name “Kleenex” in 1924.

57A Acrylic fiber : ORLON

Orlon is the brand name used by the DuPont Corporation for the acrylic fibers the company developed in 1941. It was created as a wool substitute.

59A Preservative used for thousands of years : SALT

Salt is used to “cure” meats, which is a preservation process. The salt kills and inhibits the growth of microorganisms by sucking the water out of the microbe’s cells in the process of osmosis. Smoking is also cited as a curing process, although smoking alone is insufficient for preserving food as the antimicrobial smoke compounds only adhere to the outside of the meat or fish. Smoking is usually combined with salt-curing or drying.

61A Opera that premiered in Cairo : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

63A Headgear worn by Captain Hook : TRICORN

A tricorn is a hat that was popular in the 18th-century. It has a triangular shape, which comes from having its wide brim pinned up on three sides. “Tricorn” comes from “tri” (three) and “corn” (corner, horn). The style was also known as a “cocked hat”, as the act of pinning up the brim was called “cocking”.

69A Turbine part : ROTOR

A turbine is a machine that uses the flow of a fluid (sometimes air) to create rotational work. Simple examples of turbines are windmills and waterwheels.

70A Mental health concern at the VA : PTSD

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was formed in 1930 to manage pre-existing government benefits for war veterans. Some of those benefits dated back to the Continental Congress. Today, the most visible benefit is probably the network of VA medical centers that provide comprehensive healthcare services to veterans.

72A Welles who directed a radio adaptation of Wells : ORSON

Orson Welles is perhaps best-remembered in the world of film for his role in 1941’s “Citizen Kane”. In the world of radio, Welles is known for directing and narrating 1938’s famous broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, a broadcast that convinced many listeners that the Earth was indeed being invaded by aliens.

“The War of the Worlds” is a science fiction classic penned by H. G. Wells in 1895-97. This compelling story of Martians invading Earth has been adapted many times into radio dramas, a television series and several movies.

Down

1D Pear-shaped fruit : FIG

The fig is the fruit of a small tree in the mulberry family. Once picked, figs don’t travel very well, so the bulk of figs consumed have been preserved by drying.

2D Top club in Atlantic City? : ACE

Atlantic City, New Jersey was developed in the 1850s as a potential resort town. The first version of the celebrated Atlantic City Boardwalk was installed in 1870. The city’s heyday came with Prohibition, when illegal drinking and gambling thrived in the backrooms of nightclubs and restaurants. After a long period of decline, Atlantic City was revitalized with the introduction of legalized casino gambling in 1976.

3D __ Fernando Valley : SAN

The San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County is home to almost 2 million people, as well as some of the largest film studios, e.g. Warner Bros. and Walt Disney. Back in the 1970s, “the Valley” was also home to a multibillion-dollar pornography industry and many adult film production companies. This gave rise to some inventive nicknames, such as Porn Valley, Silcone Valley and San Pornando Valley.

7D Dreidel, e.g. : TOP

A dreidel is a spinning top with four sides that is often associated with the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Each of the four sides on a dreidel bears a letter from the Hebrew alphabet (nun, gimel, hei and shin). The four letters are the initials of the Hebrew phrase “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” meaning “a great miracle happened there”. According to tradition, children would be taught Torah while hiding in caves away from the Greeks. When Greek soldiers approached, the children would hide their torah scrolls and play with their dreidels instead.

10D Ancient weapons that resemble giant crossbows : BALLISTAS

A ballista was a large siege weapon used by the ancient Greeks and Romans that functioned like a giant crossbow, using the torsion from twisted ropes to launch heavy bolts or stones. The weapon’s name comes from the Greek word “ballein” (“to throw”), which is the same root for the modern term “ballistics”, the study of the movement of projectiles.

21D Montoya of “The Princess Bride” : INIGO

In the William Goldsmith novel “The Princess Bride”, the title character is kidnapped by a trio of outlaws that includes fencing master Inigo Montoya. In the 1987 film adaptation, Montoya is played by Mandy Patinkin.

25D Poet Limón : ADA

Ada Limón was named US Poet Laureate in 2022, making her the first Latina to be so honored. One of her more notable works is the poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa”, which was commissioned by NASA. It is engraved, in her own handwriting, on a metal plate attached to the Europa Clipper spacecraft that will fly by Jupiter’s Galilean moon Europa in 2030.

26D Opportunities for shredders to shine : GUITAR SOLOS

Shred guitar is a style of lead guitar playing that stresses fast passages.

28D 1990s girl group : TLC

The girl band called TLC is from Atlanta, Georgia. The band’s name comes from the trio’s original members:

• Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins
• Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
• Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas

32D Japanese cutlet : KATSU

“Katsu” refers to a Japanese cooking technique where a cutlet of meat (most commonly pork or chicken) is breaded with panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) and deep-fried until golden brown and crispy. While often associated with chicken or pork, the “katsu” preparation can also be applied to other ingredients like beef, ham, or even vegetables.

42D Physicians’ org. : AMA

The American Medical Association (AMA) is the largest professional organization of physicians in the United States.The AMA has been involved in several landmark legal cases that have had a significant impact on American healthcare. For example, in the 1950s, the AMA was involved in a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the implementation of Medicare, arguing that it would lead to socialized medicine and harm the quality of medical care. The lawsuit was ultimately unsuccessful, and Medicare has since become a cornerstone of American healthcare.

43D Short cut : BOB

A bob cut is a short hairstyle in which the hair is cut straight around the head, at about the line of the jaw. Back in the 1570s, “bob” was the name given to a horse’s tail that was cut short, and about a century later it was being used to describe short hair on humans. The style became very popular with women in the early 1900s (as worn by actress Clara Bow, for example), with the fashion dying out in the thirties. The style reemerged in the sixties around the time the Beatles introduced their “mop tops”, with Vidal Sassoon leading the way in styling women’s hair in a bob cut again. Personally, I like it …

46D Higher ed hurdle : GRE

Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

47D Curse : HEX

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

62D Levy of Homes.com commercials : DAN

Canadian actor Dan Levy’s career really took off with the success of the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek”, which he co-created with his father, fellow actor Eugene Levy. Outside of “Schitt’s Creek”, Levy co-hosted the first two seasons of “The Great Canadian Baking Show”.

64D Word often edited to add or remove an apostrophe : ITS

The word “it’s” is a contraction for “it is”, as in “it’s a fun crossword”. The spelling “its”, without an apostrophe, is used in all other cases, most commonly as the possessive form of the pronoun “it”. In that sense, “its” is akin to the pronouns his, hers, ours, etc., as in “the newspaper is known for its great crosswords”.