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Constructed by: Emma Oxford
Edited by: Patti Varol
Today’s Reveal Answer: Copyright
Themed answers each end with, on the RIGHT, a synonym of “COPY”:
- 61A Protection of intellectual property, and what the answer to each starred clue literally has : COPYRIGHT and “COPY” RIGHT
- 18A *Bureaucratic obstacle to environmental projects : GREEN TAPE (giving “APE”)
- 24A *Extreme winter-weather event : BOMB CYCLONE (giving “CLONE”)
- 40A *Nickname for a Mozart work in C major : JUPITER SYMPHONY (giving “PHONY”)
- 49A *Writer of the 2023 legal thriller “The Exchange” : JOHN GRISHAM (giving “SHAM”)
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
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Bill’s time: 6m 37s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
1 Mediterranean isle for which a style of pants is named : CAPRI
The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.
Capri pants first became popular on the island of Capri, apparently. They were invented in Europe in 1948, but only became stylish in the US in the sixties. Mary Tyler Moore often wore Capri pants on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and to some extent she sparked a fashion trend. After a lull in the seventies and eighties there was a resurgence in sales after Uma Thurman wore them (and danced in them) in “Pulp Fiction”.
6 Periodic table’s Pb : LEAD
“Plumbum” is Latin for “lead”, explaining why the symbol of the element in the Periodic Table is “Pb”. It also explains why the original lead weight on the end of a line used to check vertical was called a “plumb line”. And, as pipes were originally made of lead, it also explains why we would call in a “plumber” if one of those pipes were leaking.
10 Female lobsters : HENS
A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.
14 Butcher’s garment : APRON
In Old French, a “naperon” was a “small table-cloth”. The term was absorbed into English as “napron”, describing a cloth used to cover the front of a person at work. Over time, “a napron” was heard as “an apron”, giving us our contemporary noun “apron”.
18 *Bureaucratic obstacle to environmental projects : GREEN TAPE (giving “APE”)
By one definition, “red tape” describes bureaucratic regulations in general, and “green tape” describes those bureaucratic regulations put in place to limit pollution and/or protect the environment.
Back in the days of yore in England, official documents were bound in bundles with red ribbon. So, getting through all the paperwork required “cutting through the red tape”.
21 “Call Me by Your Name” name : ELIO
“Call Me by Your Name” is a 2007 coming-of-age novel by Italian-American author André Aciman. It was adapted into an Oscar-nominated 2017 film of the same name. In 2019, Aciman published a sequel titled “Find Me”.
24 *Extreme winter-weather event : BOMB CYCLONE (giving “CLONE”)
A bomb cyclone, also known as explosive cyclogenesis, is a rapidly developing storm that occurs when atmospheric pressure drops at least 24 millibars over a 24-hour period (at a 60-degree latitude). This can happen when a cold air mass collides with a warm air mass, such as air over warm ocean waters. Bomb cyclones are often associated with strong winds, heavy precipitation, and coastal flooding.
29 Dolly Parton hit : JOLENE
I must admit that I am not a big fan of country music, but I do like the 1974 hit “Jolene” written and performed by Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton tells the story that the song was inspired by a red-headed bank teller who was frequently flirting with her husband.
38 Daffy or Bugs : TOON
Daffy Duck first appeared on the screen in “Porky’s Duck Hunt” in 1937. In the original cartoon, Daffy was just meant to have a small role, but he was a big hit as he had so much sass. Even back then, Daffy was voiced by the ubiquitous Mel Blanc.
Bugs Bunny debuted in the 1940 animated short “A Wild Hare”. Since then, Bugs has appeared in more films than any other cartoon character.
40 *Nickname for a Mozart work in C major : JUPITER SYMPHONY (giving “PHONY”)
Mozart’s wonderful “Jupiter” Symphony is Symphony No. 41 in C major. It was the last symphony that Mozart composed.
48 PC alternative : MAC
Microsoft introduced the “I’m a PC” advertising campaign in 2008 as a direct challenge to Apple’s “Get a Mac” campaign that ran from 2006 to 2009. Some ads in Microsoft’s campaign featured a celebrity uttering the “I’m a PC” line. The list of celebrities included writer Deepak Chopra, actress Eva Longoria and singer Pharrell Williams.
49 *Writer of the 2023 legal thriller “The Exchange” : JOHN GRISHAM (giving “SHAM”)
John Grisham is a lawyer and an incredibly successful author best known for his legal thrillers. After graduating from law school, Grisham practiced law for about ten years and then went into politics. He served in the Mississippi House of Representatives for six years, during which time he wrote his first novel, “A Time to Kill”.
55 Tyler of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” : AISHA
Aisha Tyler is an actor and comedian who was a co-host on “The Talk” for several years starting in 2011. She began hosting the reboot of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” in 2013.
The American improv comedy TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway” is a spin-off of a very successful British show of the same name. The British TV show is itself a spin-off of a BBC radio show that I well remember. Lots of fun …
64 Boise’s state : IDAHO
Boise, Idaho is the capital and the largest metropolitan area in the state by far. There are a number of stories pertaining to the etymology of the name “Boise”. One is that French trappers called the tree-lined river that ran through the area “la rivière boisée”, meaning “the wooded river”. Boise is known today as “The City of Trees”.
66 Couple of magazines? : ITEM
An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers, led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.
67 Mayberry boy : 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”.
69 Dishwashing brand used to clean animals after oil spills : DAWN
Procter & Gamble’s Dawn is the best-selling brand of dishwashing liquid in the US. Outside of the home, animal rescue crews routinely use a 10% solution of Dawn to clean animals that have been caught in oil spills.
70 D.C. MLB team : NATS
If you attend a Washington Nationals baseball game, held in Nationals Park, you’ll see the Presidents Race in the middle of the fourth innings. Individuals dressed like seven former US presidents, each sporting a large and cartoonish head, have participated in the races over the years. Those runners are:
- George (Washington)
- Abe (Lincoln)
- Tom (Jefferson)
- Teddy (Roosevelt)
- Bill (Taft)
- Calvin (Coolidge)
- Herbie (Hoover)
71 Honking birds : GEESE
A collection of geese is referred to as a “gaggle” when on the ground. When geese are in V-formation in flight, they are referred to collectively as a “skein”.
Down
1 Chocolate substitute : CAROB
The carob is a tree or shrub in the pea family that is mainly grown for its seed pods. The carob seeds are dried or roasted, and when powdered or chipped make a good substitute for chocolate.
2 Speed skater Ohno : APOLO
Speed-skater Apolo Ohno has won more Winter Olympics medals than any other American. Ohno also did a great job winning the 2007 season of television’s “Dancing with the Stars”.
7 Former “CNN Newsroom” anchor Barnett : ERROL
Errol Barnett was a CNN anchor based in Johannesburg, South Africa and then Atlanta, Georgia before moving to Washington, D.C to work for CBS News in 2016. Barnett was born in England, but was educated in Phoenix, Arizona.
8 Blackjack card : ACE
In the card game blackjack, an ace has the point value of one or eleven. When one of the two cards dealt to a player is an ace, the hand is called “soft”. This means that the player cannot go bust by taking another card, as the ace can be revalued at “one” if necessary in order to stay under 21.
9 Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE
Daniel Dae Kim is an American actor who is famous for playing Jin-Soo Kwon on “Lost”. Kim moved on to play one of the leads on the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-O”, portraying the character Chin Ho Kelly.
10 URL intro : HTTP
“http” are the first letters in many Internet links. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. More secure and “safer” websites (like this one!) use links starting with “https”, which stands for “http secure”).
11 Q.E.D. part : ERAT
The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.
19 Fielding of “The Great British Bake Off” : NOEL
Noel Fielding is an comedian, actor, musician and artist from London, England who is perhaps best known to North American audiences these days as a host of “The Great British Baking Show”.
“The Great British Bake Off” (GBBO) is a television baking competition introduced by the BBC in the UK in 2010. The show was a phenomenal and perhaps surprising success almost immediately. “Bake Off” is rebroadcast in the US by PBS as “The Great British Baking Show”. There was great controversy in the UK in 2016 when the BBC couldn’t find the fund to pay the producers for the show, and so it had moved to a new channel, with a new set of hosts. The BBC hosts decided not to move with the show, saying they weren’t interested in the “dough” (their pun!).
22 Caustic chemical : LYE
Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic salt, with the chemical formula NaOH. Often referred to as “lye”, sodium hydroxide is also known as “caustic soda” because of its caustic properties.
26 “Love Train” group, with “The” : O’JAYS
The O’Jays are an R&B group from Canton, Ohio. They came together in 1963 as a band of five singers and are still performing today, although now only as a trio. The band took the name of the O’Jays as a tribute to a radio disk jockey called Eddie O’Jay who was big in Cleveland at the time. The biggest hit for the O’Jays is “Love Train”, released in 1972.
31 Midday : NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.
33 Comfy attire that’s rarely worn out? : PJS
Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.
36 Future soph : FROSH
“Frosh” is a slang term for a college freshperson (formerly “freshman”). We call such a person a “fresher” back in Ireland …
39 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. In addition to his career as a science educator, Nye is also a comedian. He performed stand-up comedy during his early years as an engineer.
48 “Rocky III” actor with a mohawk : MR T
“Rocky III” is the movie in which Rocky (Sylvester Stallone) goes up against Clubber Lang (Mr. T). It is a forgettable film, but Mr. T was grateful for his role no doubt, as it launched his career and landed him a spot on television’s “The A-Team”. Also making an appearance was professional wrestler Hulk Hogan, an appearance that raised his profile as well and kick-started his career outside of the ring. But for me, the most memorable thing is the song “Eye of the Tiger”, which was commissioned for “Rocky III”. A great tune …
50 Like three Justin Verlander games : NO-HIT
Justin Verlander is a professional baseball pitcher who made his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers in 2015. Verlander was traded to the Astros in 2017, and that same season, the Astros won the World Series. He married model Kate Upton in 2017.
51 Stadium entries : GATES
The Greek word “stadion” was a measure of length, about 600 feet. The name “stadion” then came to be used for a running track of that length. That “running track” meaning led to our contemporary term “stadium” (plural “stadia”).
54 Boxing legend Archie : MOORE
Archie Moore was a professional boxer from Benoit, MIssissippi who was raised in Saint Louis, Missouri. Moore was nicknamed “the Old Mongoose” and managed to knock out 131 opponents over a long career, which is more than any other professional boxer..
65 Dead end? : DEE
The end of the word “dead” is a letter D (dee), at either end.
Read on, or …
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Mediterranean isle for which a style of pants is named : CAPRI
6 Periodic table’s Pb : LEAD
10 Female lobsters : HENS
14 Butcher’s garment : APRON
15 Killer whale : ORCA
16 Lobster catcher : TRAP
17 Takes hold : ROOTS
18 *Bureaucratic obstacle to environmental projects : GREEN TAPE (giving “APE”)
20 Portuguese greeting : OLA!
21 “Call Me by Your Name” name : ELIO
23 Declined, with “out” : OPTED …
24 *Extreme winter-weather event : BOMB CYCLONE (giving “CLONE”)
28 Before, in verse : ERE
29 Dolly Parton hit : JOLENE
33 Nonpoetic writing : PROSE
36 Phobia : FEAR
38 Daffy or Bugs : TOON
40 *Nickname for a Mozart work in C major : JUPITER SYMPHONY (giving “PHONY”)
43 Pit : SEED
44 Tons : LOTS
45 Lather, __, repeat : RINSE
46 Aspirations : DREAMS
48 PC alternative : MAC
49 *Writer of the 2023 legal thriller “The Exchange” : JOHN GRISHAM (giving “SHAM”)
55 Tyler of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” : AISHA
59 Cereal grain : OATS
60 Prefix with tourism : ECO-
61 Protection of intellectual property, and what the answer to each starred clue literally has : COPYRIGHT and “COPY” RIGHT
64 Boise’s state : IDAHO
66 Couple of magazines? : ITEM
67 Mayberry boy : OPIE
68 When the sun rises in the west : NEVER
69 Dishwashing brand used to clean animals after oil spills : DAWN
70 D.C. MLB team : NATS
71 Honking birds : GEESE
Down
1 Chocolate substitute : CAROB
2 Speed skater Ohno : APOLO
3 Many a charity tournament : PRO-AM
4 Go bad : ROT
5 Behind closed doors : IN SECRET
6 Puzzle solver’s skill : LOGIC
7 Former “CNN Newsroom” anchor Barnett : ERROL
8 Blackjack card : ACE
9 Actor Daniel __ Kim : DAE
10 URL intro : HTTP
11 Q.E.D. part : ERAT
12 Travel pillow spot : NAPE
13 Raced : SPED
19 Fielding of “The Great British Bake Off” : NOEL
22 Caustic chemical : LYE
25 Next to : BESIDE
26 “Love Train” group, with “The” : O’JAYS
27 Convention : NORM
30 Law school course : ETHICS
31 Midday : NOON
32 Geological spans : EONS
33 Comfy attire that’s rarely worn out? : PJS
34 Regretted : RUED
35 Abbr. on old phones : OPER
36 Future soph : FROSH
37 Contractor’s fig. : EST
39 “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
41 Red “Sesame Street” resident : ELMO
42 Lauding : PRAISING
47 Somewhat open : AJAR
48 “Rocky III” actor with a mohawk : MR T
50 Like three Justin Verlander games : NO-HIT
51 Stadium entries : GATES
52 Throw : HEAVE
53 __ and pains : ACHES
54 Boxing legend Archie : MOORE
55 Caustic chemical : ACID
56 Little bit : IOTA
57 Gush : SPEW
58 Church song : HYMN
62 Charged particle : ION
63 Transcript fig. : GPA
65 Dead end? : DEE
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