Tag: Ultimate equipment that weighs 175 grams crossword clue

Advertisement

Constructed by: Seth Weitberg
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: Stock Options

Themed answers each start with a STOCK OPTION, something that can be used as a base for STOCK:

• 48A Noncash corporate benefits, or what a cook would call the starts of 20-, 28-, and 43-Across? : STOCK OPTIONS

• 20A Be too afraid to : CHICKEN OUT OF
• 28A Add extra protection : BEEF UP SECURITY
• 43A Ask leading questions : FISH FOR ANSWERS

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

Bill’s time: 7m 07s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 __ bene : NOTA

“Nota bene” is Latin for “note well”, and is abbreviated to “NB”.

9 Tax deadline month : APRIL

April 15th wasn’t always Tax Day in the US. The deadline for returns was March 1st from 1913-18, when it was moved to March 15th. Tax Day has been April 15th since 1955.

14 Breakfast chain that serves stacks : IHOP

The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests.

15 Gem with milky iridescence : OPAL

An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence known as opalescence.

16 Ecological community : BIOME

I tend to think of “biome” as another word for “ecosystem”.

17 Daughter of Katie Holmes : SURI

Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise had daughter Suri in 2006, and then married in a Scientologist ceremony in Italy the following year. The name “Suri”, according to Cruise, comes from the Persian for “red rose”.

18 Fictional sleuth Wolfe : NERO

Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for us to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: “Meet Nero Wolfe” (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and “The League of Frightened Men” (1937). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.

19 Conked out : SLEPT

The phrase “conk out” was coined by airmen during WWI, and was used to describe the stalling of an engine.

23 Restaurateur Matsuhisa : NOBU

Nobu Matsuhisa is a celebrity chef from Japan. Nobu was invited to open a Japanese restaurant in Lima, Peru in 1973, and while in South America developed his own Peruvian-Japanese fusion cuisine. He moved to the US a few years later, and now there are “Nobu” and “Matsuhisa” restaurants all over the world.

24 Red Sox div. : AL EAST

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most successful Major League Baseball teams and so command a large attendance, but only when on the road. The relatively small capacity of Boston’s Fenway Park, the team’s home since 1912, has dictated that every game the Red Sox have played there has been a sell-out from May of 2003 to April 2013. I had the pleasure of touring Fenway Park some years ago. It’s quite a place …

33 Arterial blockage : CLOT

A blood clot is a very necessary response to an injury and is intended to prevent bleeding. Also called a thrombus (plural “thrombi”), the clot comprises aggregated blood platelets trapped in a mesh made from fibrin, a fibrous protein. If a thrombus forms in a healthy blood vessel, restricting blood flow, that condition is known as thrombosis.

34 House mem. : REP

The number of seats in the US House of Representatives has been 435 since the year 1913, although there was a temporary increase to 437 seats at the time of the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to the Union. The number of representatives assigned to each state is proportional to that state’s population, except that each state is guaranteed a minimum of one delegate by the US Constitution.

36 Tennis great Shriver : PAM

Pam Shriver is a former professional tennis player who was especially respected for her abilities as a doubles player. Most of her success came with playing partner Martina Navratilova. Shriver was married for several years to James Bond actor George Lazenby, with whom she has three children.

37 Pirelli product : TIRE

Pirelli is a tire manufacturer located in Milan. Among its many claims to fame, Pirelli is known for the Pirelli Calendar, the company’s limited-distribution trade calendar that has been produced since the mid-sixties.

41 Plato’s hometown : ATHENS

Athens is the capital city of Greece and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with a history that goes back around 3,400 years. In its heyday, Classical Athens was a remarkable center for the arts and philosophical debate, and was home to Plato and Aristotle. Athens is often called “the cradle of Western civilization” and “the birthplace of democracy”. The city was named for the Greek goddess Athena.

48 Noncash corporate benefits, or what a cook would call the starts of 20-, 28-, and 43-Across? : STOCK OPTIONS

In the world of commerce, an option is an exclusive right to purchase something within a specified time at a specified price. One often hears about stock options, which employees can have. Such employees have the right to purchase company stock at a certain pre-determined price, within a certain time frame.

57 Verdi tragedy : 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!

58 Water repellent? : MOAT

A moat is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say, or an exhibit in a zoo. A moat may or may not be filled with water.

61 Podcaster Klein : EZRA

Ezra Klein is a journalist and blogger who writes for “The Washington Post”, “Bloomberg” and “MSNBC”. Klein’s contribution at “The Washington Post” is the most-read blog that the paper publishes.

62 1983 Streisand title role : YENTL

“Yentl” is a play that opened in New York City in 1975. The move to adapt the play for the big screen was led by Barbra Streisand, and indeed she wrote the first outline of a musical version herself as far back as 1968. The film was eventually made and released in 1983, with Streisand performing the lead role.

63 Some video game inhabitants : SIMS

SimCity is a very clever computer game. Players build and grow cities and societies by creating the conditions necessary for people (the Sims) to move in and thrive. SimCity was launched in 1989, and to this day it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest computer games of all time.

64 Quakers, e.g. : SECT

Members of the Religious Society of Friends are known as Friends or Quakers. The Christian sect started in England in the 1640s, led by George Fox. The principal tenet at that point was that Christians could have direct experience of Jesus Christ without the mediation of clergy, a reflection of the increasing dissatisfaction with the established church at that time. The term “Quaker” is thought to have been used earlier in reference to foreign religious sects whose followers were given to fits of shaking during religious fervor. Somehow that term became used for members of the Religious Society of Friends.

Down

1 Ultimate equipment that weighs 175 grams : DISC

Ultimate is a team sport that is similar to football or rugby in that the goal is to get a flying disc into an endzone or goal area. The sport used to be called “Ultimate Frisbee”, but the “Frisbee” was dropped as it is a registered trademark.

3 Wrap for a tobiko maki roll : NORI

Nori is an edible seaweed that we used to know as “laver” when we were living in Wales. Nori is usually dried into thin sheets. Here in the US, we are most familiar with nori as the seaweed used as a wrap for sushi.

9 Big name in vodka : ABSOLUT

I must admit, if I ever do order a vodka drink by name, I will order the Absolut brand. I must also admit that I do so from the perspective of an enthusiastic amateur photographer. I’ve been swayed by the Absolut marketing campaign that features such outstanding photographic images.

11 Filling in a tobiko maki roll : ROE

In Japanese cuisine, the roe of salmon is called “ikura” and the roe of flying fish is called “tobiko”.

21 Nobel Peace Prize winner Annan : KOFI

Kofi Annan was a diplomat from Ghana who served as secretary-general of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan was born into an aristocratic family, and had a twin sister named Efua Atta. Efua and Kofi shared the middle name “Atta”, which means “twin” in the Akan language of Ghana. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2001, winning jointly with the United Nations organization itself.

22 Filled tortilla : TACO

“Tortilla” translates literally from Spanish as “little cake”.

28 Wodehouse character Wooster : BERTIE

English author P. G. Wodehouse’s full name was Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse. He is most famous for penning the stories about the goofy Bertie Wooster and his wise and wonderful valet Jeeves. Wodehouse moved to France in 1934, to minimize his tax liability. During WWII he was interned by the Germans for nearly a year, and made broadcasts to the US for the enemy from Germany. Even though his on air talks were relatively apolitical and humorous, they were not well received in his homeland. Wodehouse never returned to England, and died in New York in 1975.

29 Door to the street : EGRESS

Barnum’s American Museum opened in New York City in 1841, and sadly burned to the ground in 1865. The attractions in the museum included zoo animals, waxworks as well as theater shows and “freak shows”. Famously, a sign pointing to the exit of the museum read “This Way to the Egress”. Many visitors followed the sign, anxious to see the “egress” exhibit, only to find themselves out on the street!

30 Teatro alla __: Milan opera house : SCALA

La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its Italian name “Teatro alla Scala”. Because of bomb damage in WWII, La Scala had to be rebuilt, and reopened in 1946.

31 Horror movie street : ELM

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

37 What are a-changin’, in a Dylan song : THE TIMES

“The Times They Are A-Changin’” is the title track of a 1964 Bob Dylan album. Dylan wrote the song in 1963 as a deliberate attempt to create an anthem of change to suit the times. Sadly, he was right. President John F. Kennedy was assassinated just one month after Dylan recorded the song.

42 Foolish one : TWIT

“Twit” is a word not used very often here in America. It’s a slang term that used to be quite common in England where it was used for “someone foolish and idiotic”.

45 Ego of “SNL” : NWODIM

Actress and comedian Ego Nwodim joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2018. She was a biology major at the University of Southern California, a classic foundation for a successful comedian …

49 Movie musical starring Judi Dench and Idris Elba : CATS

The 2019 movie “Cats” is a much-panned big screen adaptation of the 1981 Andrew Lloyd Webber stage musical of the same name. Great musical, horrible film …

Dame Judi Dench is an outstanding English actress who has appeared for decades in her home country on stage and screen. Dench’s film career took off in the nineties with a relatively trivial role as “M” in the James Bond series of films. Since then she has played leading roles in several excellent movies including “Shakespeare in Love”, “Mrs. Brown”, “Notes on a Scandal” and “Philomena”. Sadly, Dench suffers from a condition called macular degeneration, which has caused her to lose most of her central vision.

Idris Elba is a British actor and DJ. He was born in London to a Sierra Leonean father and a Ghanaian mother. Elba’s breakthrough role came in 2002, when he was cast as Stringer Bell in the HBO series “The Wire”.

50 Fuzzy fruit : KIWI

What we call kiwifruit today (and sometimes just “kiwi”) used to be called a Chinese gooseberry. Marketing folks in the fifties decided to call it a “melonette”, and then New Zealand producers adopted the name “kiwifruit”.

52 Rat (on) : NARC

Back in the 1800s, “to nark” was “to act as a police informer”. The spelling of the term has started to evolve into “to narc”, due to the influence of the noun “narc”, slang for a narcotics officer. The ”nark” spelling is still used on the other side of the Atlantic.

53 Win shares in basketball, e.g. : STAT

The win shares statistic for a basketball player is a measure of the credit attributed to him or her for the team’s wins.

56 Tuna container : TIN

There are 15 species of tuna, the size of which varies greatly. The smallest is the bullet tuna, which can grow to about 4 pounds in weight and just over 1½ feet in length. The Atlantic bluefin tuna can weigh over 1,500 pounds, and reach about 15 feet in length. That’s a lot of tuna …