Tag: Travel by air crossword clue

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Constructed by: Alex Rohrer

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Starting Position

Themed answers are common two-word phrases, each starting with a word that defines position. That position is indicated by a bracketed item in a list given in the corresponding clues:

• 17A [Math], science, gym, English : FIRST CLASS
• 30A Allegory, [fable], anecdote, parable : SECOND STORY
• 46A Walkout, slowdown, [picketing], sit-in : THIRD STRIKE
• 62A Safari lodge, island property, destination spa, [all-inclusive beach hotel] : LAST RESORT

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

Bill’s time: 7m 24s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6A Shoe with a “Sport Mode” : CROC

Crocs are foam clogs that were originally designed as shoes to be worn at health spas. I bought a pair of crocs, and then my kids said they weren’t going to talk to me again …

10A Sunscreen ingredient : ZINC

Zinc oxide is a popular ingredient in sunscreens as it blocks both UVA and UVB components of ultraviolet light.

21A Available sans Rx : OTC

Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs don’t need a prescription (Rx).

23A Craps cube : DIE

If one considers earlier versions of craps, then the game has been around for a very long time and probably dates back to the Crusades. It may have been derived from an old English game called “hazard” also played with two dice, which was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” from the 1300s. The American version of the game came here courtesy of the French and first set root in New Orleans where it was given the name “crapaud”, a French word meaning “toad”.

24A Journalist Katie : COURIC

Katie Couric left NBC’s “The Today Show” in 2006 and took over as news anchor for “CBS Evening News”. In doing so, she became the first solo female anchor of a broadcast network evening news program. Couric also has the honor of being the only person to guest-host on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”. In fact she “swapped jobs” on that particular day, and Leno filled in for Couric on “The Today Show”.

34A Doja Cat’s signature song : SAY SO

Doja Cat’s 2020 song “Say So” is largely considered her signature hit because it effectively transitioned her from Internet performer to mainstream pop star. The song’s massive success is almost entirely due to a viral dance created by a TikTok user, a dance that Doja Cat acknowledged, fully embraced and included in the music video.

36A “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” airer : MTV

“Love & Hip Hop” is a reality TV franchise that follows the personal and professional lives of hip-hop artists, managers, and producers. It has launched the careers of several previously unknown artists. Most notably perhaps, Cardi B was a cast member on the New York version before becoming a global superstar.

37A Kardashian matriarch : KRIS

Kris Kardashian is the matriarch of the Kardashian clan. She was married to the lawyer Robert Kardashian who was one of O. J. Simpson’s lawyers in his 1995 murder trial. The couple divorced in 1990 and Kris then married the celebrated decathlete from the 1976 Olympic Games, Bruce Jenner. That marriage ended in divorce as well, in 2015.

41A Sailor Moon headpiece : TIARA

“Sailor Moon” is a manga series from Japan. The title character is a soldier who is destined to save the Earth from evil. She is also the alter ego of a schoolgirl named Usagi Tsukino. Sailor Moon’s companion is a talking black cat named Luna who has magical powers.

44A Benoit Blanc, e.g. : SLEUTH

Benoit Blanc is the “gentleman sleuth” portrayed by Daniel Craig in the entertaining “Knives Out” film franchise. I think of him as an American version of Hercule Poirot, with a distinct southern drawl …

54A “__ longa, vita brevis” : ARS

The famous Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates wrote “Art is long, life is short”, which translates into Latin as “Ars longa, vita brevis”.

60A Masjid prayer leader : IMAM

“Masjid” is an Arabic word meaning “temple, place of worship”. It is from “masjid” that we get the English word “mosque”.

64A “Bob’s Burgers” girl : TINA

“Bob’s Burgers” is a cartoon sitcom that airs on Fox. Not for me …

65A Redhead of classic TV : OPIE

Opie Taylor is the character played by Ron Howard on “The Andy Griffith Show”. Opie lives with widowed father Andy Taylor (played by Andy Griffith) and his great-aunt Beatrice “Aunt Bee” Taylor (played by Frances Bavier). Ron Howard first played the role in 1960 in the pilot show, when he was just 5 years old. Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”.

66A Features of some lobbies : ATRIA

In modern architecture, an atrium (plural “atria” or “atriums”) is a large open space usually in the center of a building and extending upwards to the roof. The original atrium was an open court in the center of an Ancient Roman house. One could access most of the enclosed rooms of the house from the atrium.

68A Rain delay sight : TARP

Originally, tarpaulins were made from canvas covered in tar that rendered the material waterproof. The word “tarpaulin” comes from “tar” and “palling”, with “pall” meaning “heavy cloth covering”.

Down

2D Lebanese fashion designer Saab : ELIE

Elie Saab is a Lebanese fashion designer based in Beirut. Saab also goes by the name “ES”.

3D Chloé Zhao, for one : DIRECTOR

Chloé Zhao is a Chinese filmmaker who gained international recognition with the film “Nomadland” (2020), which she wrote, directed, edited, and produced.

4D Bas-relief medium : GESSO

“Gesso” is the Italian word for “chalk” and gives its name to the powdered calcium carbonate that is used as a primer coat under artistic panel paintings. Gesso is mixed with glue and applied to wood so that it acts as an absorbent surface for paint.

In bas-relief, an image projects just a little above the background, as in perhaps a head depicted on a coin.

6D Boston player : CELTIC

The Boston Celtics NBA basketball team was founded just after WWII, in 1946. The Celtics won eight league championships in a row from 1958 to 1966. That’s the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any professional sports team in North America.

10D Elmo’s orange friend : ZOE

The muppet named Zoe is a young orange monster that appears on “Sesame Street”. Zoe is best friends with Elmo. She is a great lover of ballet and always appears wearing a tutu.

29D Soup with rice noodles : PHO

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a noodle soup from Vietnam that is a popular street food, and the nation’s unofficial national dish. It is often ordered with a side of hanh dam, pickled white onions.

31D Pt. of USNA : NAV

The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is located in Annapolis, Maryland. It was founded in 1845 and educates officers for both the US Navy and the US Marine Corps. The motto of the USNA is “Ex Scientia Tridens”, which translates as “From Knowledge, Sea Power”.

36D B.A. Baracus player : MR. T

“The A-Team” is an action television series that originally ran in the eighties. The title characters were a group of ex-US special forces personnel turned mercenaries. Star of the show was Hollywood actor George Peppard (as “Hannibal” Smith), ably assisted by Mr. T (as “B.A.” Baracus) and Robert Vaughn (as Hunt Stockwell).

38D Mount with southeast-facing faces : RUSHMORE

The four presidents whose faces are carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore are (from left to right) George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Each of the presidents is about 60 feet in height, although they might have been larger. The original intent was for each president to be depicted from head to waist, but the project lost funding.

39D Addams cousin : ITT

“In the television sitcom “”The Addams Family””, the family has a frequent visitor named Cousin Itt. He is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Addams Family.

”

47D __ crab : HERMIT

Hermit crabs are famous for occupying the discarded shells of other animals. Most commonly, hermit crabs can be found in empty shells that once belonged to sea snails.

53D Isabel Wilkerson’s “__: The Origins of Our Discontents” : CASTE

Journalist and author Isabel Wilkerson was the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, doing so in 1994. Wilkerson’s father was one of the renowned Tuskegee Airmen who fought during World War II. Her 2020 book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” discusses racism in the US and posits that racial stratification in America is best understood as a caste system, similar to that existing in India and Nazi Germany.

58D Former “DWTS” co-host Andrews : ERIN

Erin Andrews is a sports reporter. I don’t watch many sports events, but I do know Ms. Andrews for her appearances on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2010. She did quite well and made it to the final of the show. And then she was hired as the show’s co-host alongside Tom Bergeron. And then they were both let go …

When I was growing up in Ireland, there was a surprisingly popular BBC television show featuring professional ballroom dancing called “Come Dancing”. It ran almost every year from 1949 to 1998, and in 2004 the BBC resurrected it with a new twist, adding celebrities to dance with the professionals. The new show, called “Strictly Come Dancing”, is a huge success and has become a worldwide franchise. Over here we watch the American version called “Dancing with the Stars”. It really can be fun television …

63D “Aaron Burr, __”: “Hamilton” song : SIR

“Hamilton” is a 2015 musical based on the life of US Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, as described in the 2004 biography by Ron Chernow. The show opened off-Broadway in February 2015, and transferred to Broadway in August of the same year. Advance ticket sales for the Broadway production were unprecedented, and reportedly amounted to $30 million. The representations of the main characters are decidedly ground-breaking. The show is rooted in hip-hop and the main roles such as Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are all played by African American and Hispanic actors.