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CROSSWORD SETTER: Damon J. Gulczynski
THEME: Nonstarter
Each of today’s themed answers is a NONSTARTER of sorts:
54A. Plan that has no chance of working … or the answer to each starred clue? : NONSTARTER
17A. *Serving between appetizer and dessert : MAIN COURSE
36A. *It’s signaled by a white flag on the racetrack : LAST LAP
11D. *Reason for jumper cables : DEAD BATTERY
24D. *Athlete who “rides the pine” : BENCHWARMER
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 6m 09s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. “I Am ___” (Jenner’s reality show on E!) : CAIT
Caitlyn Jenner is a former Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon. Caitlyn competed as Bruce Jenner, and made an official gender change in September 2015. Bruce was married for 23 years to Kris Kardashian, the mother of the TV personality Kim Kardashian.
10. “Madam, I’m ___” (palindromic introduction to Eve) : ADAM
The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:
- Able was I ere I saw Elba
- A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
- Madam, I’m Adam
One of my favorite words is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.
16. Nevada’s so-called “Biggest Little City in the World” : RENO
Reno, Nevada was named in honor of Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed in the Civil War. The city has a famous “Reno Arch”, a structure that stands over the main street. The arch was erected in 1926 to promote an exposition planned for the following year. After the expo, the city council decided to keep the arch and held a competition to decide what wording should be displayed, and the winner was “The Biggest Little City in the World”.
26. Hairstyle with straight-cut bangs : PAGEBOY
What we now know as the “pageboy” hairstyle was apparently one introduced and made famous by the fifties fetish model, Betty Page. Women’s magazines dissociated themselves from the connection with Ms. Page and sold the hairstyle to the public as one worn historically by English pageboys, hence the name. A pageboy hairstyle is sort of like a “long bob cut” I guess. But don’t listen to me; I get a “number one all over” at my local barber shop …
28. Mrs. whose cow supposedly began the Great Chicago Fire : O’LEARY
The Great Chicago Fire blazed for almost three full days in October of 1871. By the time it was extinguished, hundreds of people had died and four square miles of the city had been destroyed. It is known that the fire started in or near a small barn owned by an Irish immigrant, a Mrs. Catherine O’Leary. A reporter called Michael Ahern wrote in the “Chicago Tribune” that the fire was ignited when a cow in the barn kicked over a lantern. Years later, Ahern admitted that he made up the story about the cow and the lantern, as he felt it made colorful copy. Supposedly Mrs. O’Leary died a heartbroken woman as she spent the rest of her life with the public blaming her on the tragic loss of life and property.
29. Philosopher who tutored Nero : SENECA
Seneca the Younger was a tutor and advisor to the Emperor Nero of Ancient Rome. Although maybe innocent, Seneca was forced to commit suicide by Nero as it was alleged that Seneca participated in a plot to kill the emperor. To kill himself, Seneca cut into a number of veins in order to bleed to death.
31. James of “The Godfather” : CAAN
James Caan is an actor from The Bronx, New York City. He is noted for his appearances in some very big movies such as “The Godfather”, “Misery”, “A Bridge Too Far”, “Rollerball” and more recently “Elf”. Caan is quite the sportsman. He plays golf with an 8 handicap, and is a 6-Dan Black Belt Master of Gosoku Karate.
32. Germany’s von Bismarck : OTTO
Germany first became a country of her own in 1871 when the Princes of the various independent German states met at Versailles outside Paris to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as the Emperor of the German Empire. The man behind this historic development was Wilhelm’s Ministerpräsident, Otto von Bismarck. Von Bismarck was a powerful figure in Prussia and indeed on the world stage, earning him the nickname of the “Iron Chancellor”.
35. Abbr. at the bottom of a letter : ENC
Enclosure (enc.)
39. Austin’s home: Abbr. : TEX
Austin is the capital of the state of Texas. When the area was chosen to be the capital of the Republic of Texas, it was known as Waterloo. The name was changed in honor of Stephen F. Austin, a native of Virginia who was raised in Missouri and led the first successful colonization of Texas.
40. Witty Mort : SAHL
Mort Sahl is a Canadian-born actor and comedian who moved to the US with his family when he was a child. Sahl became friends with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president, Sahl wrote a lot of jokes for the President’s speeches, although he also told a lot of Kennedy jokes in his acts. After the President was assassinated in 1963, Sahl was intensely interested in finding out who was behind the crime and even got himself deputized as a member of one of the investigating teams. He was very outspoken against the results of the Warren Commission report on the assassination, and soon found himself out of favor with the public. It took a few years for him to make his comeback, but come back he did.
42. Hearts of PCs, for short : CPUS
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is the main component on the “motherboard” of a computer. The CPU is the part of the computer that carries out most of the functions required by a program. Nowadays you can get CPUs in everything from cars to telephones.
43. “Me, Myself & ___” (Jim Carrey film) : IRENE
“Me, Myself & Irene” is a 2000 comedy film starring Jim Carrey (“Me” and “Myself”) and Renée Zellweger (Irene). The movie is a perfect vehicle for Carrey as his character is a state trooper who develops a second personality after a psychotic breakdown. You can just imagine how Jim Carrey plays that extra, unrepressed persona!
52. Window frame : SASH
A movable (up and down) window frame is called a sash, from the French word for a frame “châssis”. The term is also applied to that part of a door or window into which windows are set.
61. Winter ailments : FLUS
Influenza (flu) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.
64. Toy block brand : LEGO
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.
65. “___ Boots Are Made for Walkin'” (1966 Nancy Sinatra hit) : THESE
Singer Nancy Sinatra has a few big hits to her name, including 1966’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”, 1967’s “Somethin’ Stupid”, and 1967’s “You Only Live Twice” (theme song for the movie). Nancy is the daughter of the great Frank Sinatra, who sang “Somethin’ Stupid” with her as a duet. Frank also passed on “You Only Live Twice” before the song was offered to Nancy.
Down
1. 33 1/3, for an LP : RPM
The first vinyl records designed to play at 33 1/3 rpm were introduced by RCA Victor in 1931, but were discontinued due to quality problems. The first Long Play (LP) 33 1/3 rpm disc was introduced by Columbia Records many years later in 1948, with RCA Victor following up with a 45 rpm “single” the following year, in 1949.
2. In the manner of : A LA
The phrase “in the style of” can be translated in “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.
3. ___ chi (martial art) : TAI
More correctly called tai chi chuan, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.
5. Shootout site involving the Earp brothers : OK CORRAL
“Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” is a 1957 movie about the famous shootout that took place in 1881 in Tombstone. The movie has quite the cast, including Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Dennis Hopper, DeForest Kelley and Lee Van Cleef. The screenplay for the film was written by novelist Leon Uris.
10. Design style of the 1920s and ’30s : ART DECO
Art deco is the name given to a style of design and architecture of the 1920s that actually had its roots in Belgium and then spread throughout Europe before arriving in North America. Celebrated examples of art deco architecture are the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City completed in 1930, and the GE Building that sits in the middle of Rockefeller Center also in New York City, with the address of “30 Rock”.
12. ___-Saxon : ANGLO
Germanic tribes invaded Great Britain from the early 5th century and created the nation that we now call England. The Anglo-Saxons (sometimes simply “Saxons”), as these tribes came to be called, held sway in the country until 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons were descendants of three Germanic tribes:
- The Angles, from Angeln in Northern Germany (and the tribe that gave the name “England”).
- The Saxons, from Lower Saxony and Holland.
- The Jutes, from the Jutland peninsula in Denmark.
13. Putter (along) : MOSEY
“Mosey” is American slang for “amble”, of unknown origin.
18. Anita of jazz : O’DAY
Anita O’Day was the stage name of the jazz singer Anita Colton. She chose the name as “O’Day” is Pig Latin for “dough”, a slang term for “money”. O’Day had problems with heroin and alcohol addiction leading to erratic behavior, and earning her the nickname “The Jezebel of Jazz”.
23. Glazer of “Broad City” : ILANA
“Broad City” is a sitcom shown on comedy Central that started out life as a web series on the Internet. It’s about two young Jewish American women having misadventures in New York City.
25. Chow down : EAT
“Chow” is an American slang term for food that originated in California in the mid-1800s. “Chow” comes from the Chinese pidgin English “chow-chow” meaning “food”.
27. Kournikova of tennis : ANNA
Not only is Anna Kournikova a world class tennis player, but she is also a model. She apparently has a lot of fans because her name is one of the most commonly searched for terms on Google’s search engine …
31. Bill also called a benjamin : C-SPOT
Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill, hence the nickname “benjamin”. Philadelphia’s Independence Hall is featured on the other side. There is a famous “error” in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV” as perhaps one might expect. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”.
37. Free speech advocacy grp. : ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors. The ACLU’s motto is “Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself”. The ACLU also hosts a blog on the ACLU.org website called “Speak Freely”.
38. Infographic with wedges : PIE CHART
A “pie chart” can also be referred to as a “circle graph”. It is often stated that Florence Nightingale invented the pie chart. While this is not in fact true, she is due the credit for popularizing it, and for developing the pie chart variation known as the polar area diagram. The earliest known pie chart appears in a book published in 1801 by Scottish engineer William Playfair.
44. D.C. stadium initials : RFK
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium was opened in 1961 as the District of Columbia Stadium, and is actually owned by the District of Columbia. The stadium was renamed in 1969, a few months after Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had been instrumental the racial integration of the Washington Redskins who played in the stadium for 36 seasons. As Attorney General, Kennedy threatened to oust the Redskins from the federally-owned stadium unless the team agreed to sign African American players.
46. The “L” of L.A. : LOS
The California city of Los Angeles (L.A.) is the second most populous city in the country, after New York. L.A. was established in 1781 as a pueblo named “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula”, which translates as “The Town of Our Lady the Queen of Angels of the Porciúncula River”. This name evolved into “Los Angeles”, and the Porciúncula River is now called the Los Angeles River.
48. Vampire hunter’s weapon : STAKE
Legends about vampires were particularly common in Eastern Europe and in the Balkans in particular. The superstition was that vampires could be killed using a wooden stake, with the preferred type of wood varying from place to place. Superstition also defined where in the body should be staked. Most often, the stake was driven through the heart, but Russians and northern Germans went for the mouth, and northeastern Serbs for the stomach.
49. H2O : WATER
A water molecule is composed of an oxygen atom with two hydrogen atoms on roughly opposite sides (about a 150-degree angle). So, sometimes the molecule is represented by “HOH”, although more usually it’s “H2O”.
50. Rodeo rope : LASSO
Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word, which is usually translated as “round up”.
54. Lombardi Trophy org. : NFL
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the winners of the NFL’s Super Bowl each January. The trophy was first awarded in 1967, and was renamed in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi in 1970 after he passed away from cancer.
Football player and coach Vince Lombardi had quite a few motivating lines, including:
- Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don’t do things right once in awhile … you do them right all the time.
- The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work.
58. U.S.N. officer: Abbr. : ENS
Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.
59. Whiskey type : RYE
For whiskey to be labelled as “rye” in the US, it has to be distilled from at least 51% rye grain. In Canada however, a drink called rye whiskey sometimes contains no rye at all.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ten to one, for one : RATIO
6. “I Am ___” (Jenner’s reality show on E!) : CAIT
10. “Madam, I’m ___” (palindromic introduction to Eve) : ADAM
14. Something “walked” on a pirate ship : PLANK
15. Merry-go-round or roller coaster : RIDE
16. Nevada’s so-called “Biggest Little City in the World” : RENO
17. *Serving between appetizer and dessert : MAIN COURSE
19. Puts out, in baseball : TAGS
20. Dedicated poems : ODES
21. Confuse : ADDLE
22. Politically left-leaning : LIBERAL
26. Hairstyle with straight-cut bangs : PAGEBOY
28. Mrs. whose cow supposedly began the Great Chicago Fire : O’LEARY
29. Philosopher who tutored Nero : SENECA
30. ___ Claus : SANTA
31. James of “The Godfather” : CAAN
32. Germany’s von Bismarck : OTTO
35. Abbr. at the bottom of a letter : ENC
36. *It’s signaled by a white flag on the racetrack : LAST LAP
39. Austin’s home: Abbr. : TEX
40. Witty Mort : SAHL
42. Hearts of PCs, for short : CPUS
43. “Me, Myself & ___” (Jim Carrey film) : IRENE
45. Punch hard : WALLOP
47. Offset, as costs : DEFRAY
48. Exchange, as an old piece of equipment for a new one : SWAP OUT
50. “Aren’t I the fortunate one!” : LUCKY ME!
51. Fruit-filled pastries : TARTS
52. Window frame : SASH
53. Prefix with sphere : ATMO-
54. Plan that has no chance of working … or the answer to each starred clue? : NONSTARTER
60. Stay fresh : KEEP
61. Winter ailments : FLUS
62. Wet, weatherwise : RAINY
63. Does wrong : ERRS
64. Toy block brand : LEGO
65. “___ Boots Are Made for Walkin'” (1966 Nancy Sinatra hit) : THESE
Down
1. 33 1/3, for an LP : RPM
2. In the manner of : A LA
3. ___ chi (martial art) : TAI
4. Bed-and-breakfast : INN
5. Shootout site involving the Earp brothers : OK CORRAL
6. Mean, mean, mean : CRUEL
7. Is broadcast : AIRS
8. Check-cashing requirements, for short : IDS
9. Golf peg : TEE
10. Design style of the 1920s and ’30s : ART DECO
11. *Reason for jumper cables : DEAD BATTERY
12. ___-Saxon : ANGLO
13. Putter (along) : MOSEY
18. Anita of jazz : O’DAY
21. Get on in years : AGE
22. Finishes with fewer votes : LOSES
23. Glazer of “Broad City” : ILANA
24. *Athlete who “rides the pine” : BENCHWARMER
25. Chow down : EAT
26. Rings, as church bells : PEALS
27. Kournikova of tennis : ANNA
29. Stopped lying? : SAT UP
31. Bill also called a benjamin : C-SPOT
33. Brunch time, say : TEN AM
34. Common daisy : OXEYE
37. Free speech advocacy grp. : ACLU
38. Infographic with wedges : PIE CHART
41. Go-with-you-anywhere computers : LAPTOPS
44. D.C. stadium initials : RFK
46. The “L” of L.A. : LOS
47. Attic accumulation : DUST
48. Vampire hunter’s weapon : STAKE
49. H2O : WATER
50. Rodeo rope : LASSO
52. Close-fitting : SNUG
54. Lombardi Trophy org. : NFL
55. Stadium cheer : OLE!
56. Stadium cheer : RAH!
57. Suit accessory : TIE
58. U.S.N. officer: Abbr. : ENS
59. Whiskey type : RYE