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CROSSWORD CONSTRUCTOR: Caleb Madison
THEME: Back on the Charts
Each of today’s themed answers ends with the name of a singer found in the pop CHARTS. That name, at the BACK of each themed answer, is pointed to by the number at the end of the clue, a number indicating the number of letters in the singer’s name:
30A. Title character in a 1943 French novella [6] : LITTLE PRINCE (giving “Prince”)
47A. The Big Pineapple [4] : HONOLULU (giving “Lulu”)
66A. Like some lawyers’ work [4] : PRO BONO (giving “Bono”)
86A. “Why are you looking at me?” [4] : WHAT’D I DO? (giving “Dido”)
100A. 11th-century campaign [4] : FIRST CRUSADE (giving “Sade”)
3D. 17,000+-foot peak near the Equator [4] : MOUNT KENYA (giving “Enya”)
5D. Make airtight, in a way [4] : HEAT SEAL (giving “Seal”)
10D. Healthy [4] : IN THE PINK (giving “Pink”)
12D. Nightshade family member [5] : MANDRAKE (giving “Drake”)
13D. Prized possession [5] : CROWN JEWEL (giving “Jewel”)
26D. One doing routine office work, informally [5] : PEN PUSHER (giving “Usher”)
51D. Dave of jazz [4] : BRUBECK (giving “Beck”)
63D. One leading the exercises, for short? [4] : PE TEACHER (giving “Cher”)
70D. Fruity spirit [6] : PEAR BRANDY (giving “Brandy”)
73D. Vain, temperamental sort [7] : PRIMA DONNA (giving “Madonna”)
77D. Band member’s main squeeze? [4] : ACCORDION (giving “Dion)
82D. 1940 Disney release [3] : FANTASIA (giving “Sia”)
87D. Pulling off bank jobs [5] : HEISTING (giving “Sting”)
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 18m 40s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. Pioneer in computer chess : IBM
Deep Blue was a computer developed by IBM specifically for playing chess. In 1996 it became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion. The champion in question was the great Garry Kasparov, although he came out on top in the end by winning the 6-game competition 4-2.
13. Channel setting on many airport TVs : CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) was launched in 1980 by the Turner Broadcasting System, and was the first television channel in the world to provide news coverage 24 hours a day.
16. Gets cheeky with? : MOONS
The first recorded mooning incident took place in 66 AD during the First Roman-Jewish War. Roman soldiers decided to moon Jewish pilgrims as they traveled to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
19. Fit for service : ONE-A
The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System (SSS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).
22. Roger who battled 13-Across : AILES
(13A. Channel setting on many airport TVs : CNN)
Roger Ailes founded Fox News in 1996, and became the organization’s CEO. Ailes stepped down from the post in July 2016 amid allegations of repeated sexual harassment.
28. Mountain ___ : DEW
If you check the can, you’ll see that “Mountain Dew” is now marketed as “Mtn Dew”.
30. Title character in a 1943 French novella [6] : LITTLE PRINCE (giving “Prince”)
“Le Petit Prince” is a celebrated French novella written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and first published in 1943. “Le Petit Prince” (The Little Prince) is the most read book in France, and the book most translated from French. The philosophical tale recounts the story of a stranded pilot meeting a young prince who falls to Earth from an asteroid. Saint-Exupéry was himself a pioneering aviator. He wrote “Le Petit France” while living in exile in the US due to the German occupation of France during WWII.
The singer Prince was born in Minneapolis, and he lived there most of his life. Born Prince Rogers Nelson, his given name honored his father, a jazz musician who used the stage name Prince Rogers. Prince died in 2016 due to an accidental fentanyl overdose at his home and recording studio located just southwest of Minneapolis. The home and studio, known as Paisley Park, is now a museum that is open to the public.
37. Pedagogic org. : NEA
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.
Strictly speaking, “pedagogue” is a schoolteacher. The term has developed a secondary meaning, to describe someone who is pedantic and overly formal. Back in Ancient Greece, a “paidagogos” was a slave who escorted boys to school and supervised them at school.
40. Pacific capital : APIA
Apia is the capital city, and in fact the only city, of the Pacific island-nation of Samoa. The harbor of Apia is famous for a very foolish incident in 1889 involving seven naval vessels from Germany, the US and Britain. A typhoon was approaching so the safest thing to do was to head for open water away from land, but no nation would move its ships for fear of losing face in front of the others. Six of the ships were lost in the typhoon as a result and 200 American and German sailors perished. The British cruiser HMS Calliope barely managed to escape from the harbor and rode out the storm safely. Apia is also known as the home of writer Robert Louis Stevenson, for the last four years of his life.
41. N.F.L.’s Jaguars, on scoreboards : JAX
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been in the NFL since 1995, and play in the American Football Conference (AFC).
42. Sugar suffix : -OSE
Sugars are usually named using the “-ose” suffix e.g., glucose, fructose, sucrose.
44. Toner cartridge contents : DRY INK
The key features of a laser printer (or copier) are that it uses plain paper and produces quality text at high speed. Laser printers work by projecting a laser image of the printed page onto a rotating drum that is coated with photoconductors (material that becomes conductive when exposed to light). The areas of the drum exposed to the laser carry a different charge than the unexposed areas. Dry ink (toner) sticks to the exposed areas due to electrostatic charge. The toner is then transferred to paper by contact and is fused into the paper by the application of heat. So, that explains why paper coming out of a laser printer is warm, and sometimes powdery.
47. The Big Pineapple [4] : HONOLULU (giving “Lulu”)
Honolulu is the largest city in Hawaii, and the state capital. Located on the island of Oahu, the name “Honolulu” translates from Hawaiian as “place of shelter, calm port, sheltered bay”.
The Scottish singer Lulu was born Marie Lawrie. In the world of movies, Lulu sang the title songs for 1967’s “To Sir With Love” and the 1974 James Bond film “The Man with the Golden Gun”. Lulu was also played schoolgirl Babs Pegg in “To Sir With Love”.
50. Rhyme scheme ending a villanelle : ABAA
A “villanelle” or “villainesque” is a 19-line poem structured in five sets of three lines followed by a quatrain.
53. Intl. commerce grp. : WTO
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. The stated aim of the WTO is to liberalize international trade. The organization was founded in 1995 when an international agreement on trade was reached that effectively replaced the existing General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that was laid down in 1949.
54. Banded gemstones : ONYXES
Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.
55. Bert who sang “If I Only Had the Nerve” : LAHR
Bert Lahr’s most famous role was that of the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz”. Lahr had a long career in burlesque, vaudeville and on Broadway. Remember the catchphrase made famous by the cartoon character Snagglepuss, “Heavens to Murgatroyd!”? Snagglepuss stole that line from a 1944 movie called, “Meet the People” in which it was first uttered by none other than Bert Lahr.
57. Poor People’s Campaign organizer, for short : MLK
Martin Luther King, Jr’s father was born Michael King. On a trip to Germany in 1934, Michael came to admire Protestant leader Martin Luther and changed his name to Martin Luther King on his return the United States. Famously, he passed on his new name to his son, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
59. Frequent Bosch setting : HELL
Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who worked late 15th and early 16th centuries. Perhaps his most recognized work is his triptych titled “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.
61. Dance craze of the 2010s : DOUGIE
The Dougie is a hip-hop dance that originated in Dallas. The dance took its name from the rapper Doug E. Fresh, who made similar moves during his performances. And no, I don’t Dougie …
63. “___ and animals are free” (party slogan in “1984”) : PROLES
George Orwell introduced us to the “proles”, the working class folk in his famous novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. Collectively, the proles make up the section of society known as the proletariat.
65. “___ Mine” (George Harrison book) : I, ME,
“I Me Mine” is one of the relatively few Beatles songs to have been written by George Harrison (and indeed performed by him). Harrison chose the same title for his autobiography, which was published in 1980 just a few weeks before John Lennon was assassinated in New York City.
66. Like some lawyers’ work [4] : PRO BONO (giving “Bono”)
The Latin term “pro bono publico” means “for the public good”, and is usually shortened to “pro bono”. The term applies to professional work that is done for free or at a reduced fee as a service to the public.
Irish singer Bono is a Dubliner who was born Paul David Hewson. As a youth, Hewson was given the nickname “Bono Vox” by a friend, a Latin expression meaning “good voice”, and so the singer has been known as Bono since the late seventies. His band’s first name was “Feedback”, later changed to “The Hype”. The band members searched for yet another name and chose U2 from a list of six names suggested by a friend. They picked U2 because it was the name they disliked least …
77. Steely Dan’s best-selling album : AJA
Steely Dan’s heyday was in the seventies when they toured for a couple of years, although the group mainly focused on studio work. The band was formed in 1972 and broke up in 1981. The core of the band reunited in 1993 and they are still going strong today. Steely Dan’s best-selling album is “Aja” (pronounced “Asia”), which was released in 1977.
78. Naval noncoms : CPOS
A Chief Petty Officer (CPO) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the Navy (USN) and Coast Guard (USCG). The “Petty” is derived from the French word “petit” meaning “small”.
82. Bleeping government org.? : FCC
TV broadcasting is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has been around since 1934, when it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.
84. Trophy figure : NIKE
Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, often referred to as the Winged Goddess of Victory. The athletic shoe company Nike uses the “Nike swoosh” as its logo, which is based on the goddess’s wing.
86. “Why are you looking at me?” [4] : WHAT’D I DO? (giving “Dido”)
Dido is an English singer and songwriter. Dido’s real name is Florian Cloud de Bounevialle Armstrong. She was born on Christmas Day 1971, and celebrates a second birthday every year on June 25th. In this regard Dido is just like Paddington Bear, with one birthday on December 25th, and another on June 25th.
88. Where It. is : EUR
In the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, the “boot” is the mainland of Italy, and the the ball being kicked by the boot is the island of Sicily.
89. Inverse trig function : ARCTAN
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent (abbreviated to “sin, cos and tan”). Each of these is a ratio, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The “reciprocal” of these three functions are secant, cosecant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent. These inverted ratios should not be confused with the “inverse” trigonometric functions e.g. arcsine, arccosine and arctangent. These inverse functions are the reverse of the sine, cosine and tangent. For example, the arctangent can be read as “What angle is equivalent to the following ratio of opposite over adjacent?”
91. Agcy. that oversaw plants : AEC
The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up right after WWII in 1946, with the aim of promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy. Establishing the AEC was a significant move made by President Truman, as it passed control of atomic energy from the military to the civilian sector. The AEC continued to operate until 1974 when its functions were divided up into two new agencies: the Energy Research and Development Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
92. Ones “from Mars” : MEN
“Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus” is a very popular 1993 book about male-female relationships by John Gray. Gray’s thesis is that relationships benefit from understanding that men and women are different, have different needs, communicate differently, are metaphorically from two different planets.
93. Inits. in some parlors : OTB
Off-Track Betting (OTB) is the legal gambling that takes place on horse races outside of a race track. A betting parlor can be referred to as an OTB.
94. American-born Jordanian queen : NOOR
Queen Noor is the widow of King Hussein of Jordan. Queen Noor was born Lisa Halaby in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Najeeb Halaby. Her father was appointed by President Kennedy as the head of the Federal Aviation Administration, and later became the CEO of Pan Am. Lisa Halaby met King Hussein in 1977, while working on the design of Jordan’s Queen Alia Airport. The airport was named after King Hussein’s third wife who had been killed that year in a helicopter crash. Halaby and the King were married the next year, in 1978.
98. Org. behind the Human Genome Project : NIH
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) organization is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.
The genome is all the hereditary information needed to reproduce an organism, in other words, all of its chromosomes. When scientists unravel the human genome it takes up an awful lot of computer storage space, and yet all of this information is in almost every cell in our bodies. Each and every cell “knows” how to make a whole human being.
99. Lewis ___, 1848 Democratic candidate for president : CASS
Lewis Cass was a military officer and politician originally from New Hampshire. As a politician, Cass vied for the Democratic Party’s nomination for president in 1848, losing out to Zachary Taylor, who went on to win the presidential race. A few years later, Cass served as Secretary of State under President James Buchanan.
100. 11th-century campaign [4] : FIRST CRUSADE (giving “Sade”)
The Crusades were a series of religious wars fought between the 11th and 15th centuries. The term “crusade” came into English via French and Spanish from the Latin “crux” meaning “cross”. The use of the term was retrospective, with the first recorded use in English in 1757. Most crusaders swore a vow to reach Jerusalem from Europe, receiving a cloth cross that was then sewn into their clothing.
The singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although she was born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).
106. Decoration for an R.A.F. pilot : DSO
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a British military award that is usually presented to officers with the rank of major or higher.
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the oldest independent air force in the world (i.e. the first air force to become independent of army or navy forces). The RAF was formed during WWI on 1 April 1918, a composite of two earlier forces, the Royal Flying Corps (part of the Army) and the Royal Naval Air Service. The RAF’s “finest hour” has to be the Battle of Britain when the vastly outnumbered British fighters fought off the might of the Luftwaffe causing Hitler to delay his plan to cross the English Channel. This outcome prompted Winston Churchill to utter the memorable words
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
118. They begin trading, for short : IPOS
An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).
119. Frankincense, e.g. : RESIN
Frankincense and myrrh are both tree resins that are exuded when certain species of tree are damaged. The harvested resins are used to make essentials oils for perfumes, and are also burned to give off a pleasant fragrance.
120. Singer of a famous bath time song : ERNIE
For many years, I believed that the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie were named after two roles played in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, the policeman’s name is Bert and his taxi-driving buddy is named Ernie. However, the “Sesame Street” folks have stated that the use of the same names is just a coincidence. Aww, I don’t wanna believe that’s a coincidence …
122. Barack Obama’s mother : ANN
Barack Obama, Sr. was first married at the age of 18 in his home country of Kenya, and had two children during that marriage. He left his wife and children back in Kenya when he enrolled in the University of Hawaii in 1959 as the school’s first African foreign student. There, Obama met Ann Dunham in a Russian language course. The two entered into a romantic relationship and Dunham became pregnant. Obama told Dunham that he was divorced from his first wife (not true), and the pair were married on Maui in 1961. Six months later, Barack Obama II was born, destined to become the 44th President of the United States. The couple divorced in 1964. After the divorce, Dunham was able to marry Lalo Soetoro, a Javanese surveyor who she met while he was studying for a masters degree at the university. Soetoro returned to Indonesia in 1966, and Dunham joined him there the following year with her 6-year-old son. Barack Obama spent four years in Indonesia before returning to Hawaii to live with his grandparents.
123. Sturm und ___ : DRANG
“Sturm und Drang” translates from the German into “Storm and Stress” or perhaps “Storm and Impulse”. “Sturm und Drang” was the name given to a movement in German literature and music in the latter half of the 18th century. The writer Johann Goethe was a major proponent of the movement, which took its name from a play by Maximilian Klinger. The term “Sturm und Drang” has come to mean “turmoil, upheaval”.
124. Garner : EARN
A garner is a granary, a building in which grain is stored. The related verb “to garner” means to gather into a granary. We also use the verb figuratively to mean “accumulate, collect” in general.
Down
2. “Born Sinner” rapper J. ___ : COLE
“J. Cole” is the stage name of American rap artist Jermaine Cole. J. Cole was born in Germany, on the US Army base in Frankfurt.
3. 17,000+-foot peak near the Equator [4] : MOUNT KENYA (giving “Enya”)
Kenya lies on the east coast of Africa, right on the equator. The country takes her name from Mount Kenya, the second highest peak on the continent (after Kilimanjaro). The official languages of Kenya are English and Swahili.
Enya’s real name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career, eventually becoming Ireland’s best-selling solo musician. And, she sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!
5. Make airtight, in a way [4] : HEAT SEAL (giving “Seal”)
Seal is an English soul singer, of Nigerian and Brazilian descent. Seal was married for several years to the delightful former model Heidi Klum.
6. Others of ancient Rome? : ALII
Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).
9. Monster’s moniker : NESSIE
The Loch Ness monster has been talked about for centuries, but modern interest started in 1933 when a spate of sightings was reported. Those sightings don’t seem to have stopped, with photographs really sparking the imagination.
10. Healthy [4] : IN THE PINK (giving “Pink”)
P!nk is the stage name of American singer Alecia Beth Moore. I known so little about “modern” music, but I do like the P!nk song “Just Give Me a Reason” …
12. Nightshade family member [5] : MANDRAKE (giving “Drake”)
Drake is the stage name of rapper Aubrey Graham from Toronto.
13. Prized possession [5] : CROWN JEWEL (giving “Jewel”)
The singer Jewel’s full name is Jewel Kilcher. She is married to nine-time world champion rodeo cowboy Ty Murray. You might have seen both of them on “Dancing with the Stars” a few years ago. Jewel was meant to compete but had to pull out at the last minute, so her hubby took her spot. He did surprisingly well!
24. Mater ___ : DEI
“Mater Dei” is Latin for “Mother of God”.
26. One doing routine office work, informally [5] : PEN PUSHER (giving “Usher”)
Usher is the stage name of R&B singer Usher Terry Raymond IV.
33. Move to protect the king, say : CASTLE
In the notation used to record moves in games of chess, castling with the kingside rook can be recorded as O-O, and with the queenside rook as O-O-O.
36. Me.-to-Fla. route : US-ONE
US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.
38. Color of el mar : AZUL
In Spanish, “el mar” (the sea) is “azul” (blue).
48. Flowers native to damp woods : OXLIPS
The plant known as the oxlip is more properly called Primula elatior. The oxlip is often confused with its similar-looking cousin, the cowslip.
51. Dave of jazz [4] : BRUBECK (giving “Beck”)
Dave Brubeck is a jazz pianist from Concord, California. Brubeck is very much associated with the Dave Brubeck Quartet which he founded in 1951.
“Beck” is the stage name of Bek David Campbell, an American alternative rock musician.
56. Supermodel Lima : ADRIANA
Adriana Lima is fashion model from Brazil. Lima is perhaps best known as one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels. Her modelling career started when she won a “Supermodel of Brazil” competition in 1996, at 15 years of age.
58. Certain fire sign : LEO
Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:
- Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
- Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
- Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
- Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
63. One leading the exercises, for short? [4] : PE TEACHER (giving “Cher”)
Cher’s real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.
64. Singer Bonnie : RAITT
Bonnie Raitt is a blues singer, originally from Burbank, California. Raitt has won nine Grammys for her work, but she is perhaps as well known for her political activism as she is for her music. She was no fan of President George W. Bush while he was in office, and she sure did show it.
66. Sandwich inits. : PBJ
Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J or PBJ).
69. Guinea pig relative : AGOUTI
The term “agouti” is used for some rodents in Central and south America who have fur with bands of light and dark pigmentation.
The guinea pig species of rodent is also known as a cavy. Guinea pigs aren’t related to pigs, and not are they from Guinea (in West Africa). Guinea pigs actually come from the Andes. They were commonly used for research in the 1800s and 1900s, and as a result we use the term “guinea pig” for a test subject to this day.
73. Vain, temperamental sort [7] : PRIMA DONNA (giving “Madonna”)
The Italian operatic term “prima donna” is used for the lead female singer in an opera company. “Prima donna” translates from Italian as “first lady”. The lead male singer is known as the “primo uomo”. The term “prima donna assoluta” is reserved for a prima donna who is generally accepted as being an outstanding performer. We tend to use “prima donna” for a female performer who has an inflated ego.
Madonna’s full name is Madonna Louise Ciccone. Born in Bay City, Michigan, Madonna was destined to become the top-selling female recording artist of all time.
74. Long range : ANDES
The Andes range is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world, running right down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles. The highest peak in the Andes is Mt. Aconcagua, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.
77. Band member’s main squeeze? [4] : ACCORDION (giving “Dion)
Dion and the Belmonts were a vocal group from the fifties who had success in the late fifties. The four singers were from the Bronx in New York, with two living on Belmont Avenue, hence the name that was chosen. Perhaps the biggest hits for Dion and the Belmonts were “A Teenager in Love” and “Where or When”.
79. ___ song : SWAN
The phrase “swan song” is used for a final gesture, a lat performance. The expression derives from an ancient belief that swans are silent for most of their lives, but sing a beautiful song just before they die.
82. 1940 Disney release [3] : FANTASIA (giving “Sia”)
“Fantasia” was Disney’s third feature length movie, released in 1940. The film had a disappointing critical reception and pushed the Disney company into financial difficulties. RKO took over the film’s distribution in 1946. The folks at RKO cut a full hour off the running time and relaunched the movie into a successful run. If you haven’t seen “Fantasia”, I urge you to do so. It’s a real delight …
Sia is the stage name of Australian singer Sia Furler from Adelaide. Sia is a cousin of Australian Christian Rock musician Peter Furler.
85. Woman who took a “roll in ze hay” in “Young Frankenstein” : INGA
The lovely Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
90. Teddy Roosevelt targets : TRUSTS
President Theodore Roosevelt earned the nickname “the trust-buster president” due to his consistent use of US antitrust laws against companies that were engaging in anticompetitive practices. Notable results of the president’s actions were the breakup of Northern Securities Company (the country’s largest railroad trust) and the breakup of Standard Oil (the country’s largest oil company).
97. Short trailer : TEASER
The term “trailer” was originally used in the film industry to describe advertisements for upcoming features. These trailers were originally shown at the end of a movie being screened, hence the name. This practice quickly fell out of favor as theater patrons usually left at the end of the movie without paying much attention to the trailers. So, the trailers were moved to the beginning of the show, but the term “trailer” persisted.
99. Borgia who was an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI : CESARE
The Borgias were a papal family that was very prominent during the Renaissance in Europe. Two of the Borgias became popes, namely Pope Calixtus III and Pope Alexander VI. Pope Alexander VI had several children, including Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia. Cesare became a cardinal, and was the first cardinal to resign from the post. Lucrezia earned a reputation as a femme fatale, and as such turns up in many artworks, novels and movies.
102. Message from the marooned : SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.
104. Noah of “ER” : WYLE
Noah Wyle is an actor noted for playing Dr. John Truman Carter III on television’s “ER”. He was highly valued by the show’s producers, earning about $400,000 per episode in 2005, a world record for an actor in a TV drama at that time.
108. Grp. with a mission : NASA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
110. Predecessor of Rabin : MEIR
Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before that sobriquet came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.
Yitzhak Rabin was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, and the first Prime Minister to have been born in the relatively young state of Israel. Rabin was a signatory of the Oslo Accords in 1993, along with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat, and US President Bill Clinton. Sadly, this led to his death as he was assassinated two years later by a right-wing radical who opposed the Accords.
111. What’s lost in “Paradise Lost” : EDEN
“Paradise Lost” is an epic poem written by Englishman John Milton. It is indeed an epic work, published originally in ten volumes with over ten thousand lines of verse. The “paradise” that is “lost” is the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God in the “Fall of Man”.
114. Original “Veronica Mars” channel : UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was a TV channel that launched in 1995, and shut down in 2006. Some of UPN’s programming was moved to the CW channel at the time of UPN’s demise.
“Veronica Mars” is a TV show starring Kristen Bell in the title role. Mars is a student who also works as a private investigator.
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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Top : ACME
5. Wears : HAS ON
10. Pioneer in computer chess : IBM
13. Channel setting on many airport TVs : CNN
16. Gets cheeky with? : MOONS
18. Act on a sudden itch to be hitched : ELOPE
19. Fit for service : ONE-A
20. It may be seeded : RYE
21. Even (with) : FLUSH
22. Roger who battled 13-Across : AILES
23. Utter : OUT AND OUT
25. Cut, Paste and Print : MENU OPTIONS
27. Degree in math? : NTH
28. Mountain ___ : DEW
29. Copse makeup : TREES
30. Title character in a 1943 French novella [6] : LITTLE PRINCE (giving “Prince”)
35. Zap : NUKE
37. Pedagogic org. : NEA
39. Vote for : YEA
40. Pacific capital : APIA
41. N.F.L.’s Jaguars, on scoreboards : JAX
42. Sugar suffix : -OSE
43. 1990 Literature Nobelist Octavio ___ : PAZ
44. Toner cartridge contents : DRY INK
46. Is from ancient Rome? : EST
47. The Big Pineapple [4] : HONOLULU (giving “Lulu”)
50. Rhyme scheme ending a villanelle : ABAA
52. French word between two surnames : NEE
53. Intl. commerce grp. : WTO
54. Banded gemstones : ONYXES
55. Bert who sang “If I Only Had the Nerve” : LAHR
57. Poor People’s Campaign organizer, for short : MLK
59. Frequent Bosch setting : HELL
60. Capital accumulation : WEALTH
61. Dance craze of the 2010s : DOUGIE
63. “___ and animals are free” (party slogan in “1984”) : PROLES
65. “___ Mine” (George Harrison book) : I, ME,
66. Like some lawyers’ work [4] : PRO BONO (giving “Bono”)
67. Musical talent : EAR
68. Cartographer : MAPPER
71. Try to sink one’s teeth into : BITE AT
72. Cheap cooking implement : TIN PAN
76. Like, forever : AGES
77. Steely Dan’s best-selling album : AJA
78. Naval noncoms : CPOS
80. E’erlasting : ETERNE
81. ___ one-eighty : DO A
82. Bleeping government org.? : FCC
84. Trophy figure : NIKE
86. “Why are you looking at me?” [4] : WHAT’D I DO? (giving “Dido”)
88. Where It. is : EUR
89. Inverse trig function : ARCTAN
91. Agcy. that oversaw plants : AEC
92. Ones “from Mars” : MEN
93. Inits. in some parlors : OTB
94. American-born Jordanian queen : NOOR
95. “Shoo!” : GIT!
98. Org. behind the Human Genome Project : NIH
99. Lewis ___, 1848 Democratic candidate for president : CASS
100. 11th-century campaign [4] : FIRST CRUSADE (giving “Sade”)
103. Put in stitches : SEWED
105. Like the Salt Lake Bees baseball team : AAA
106. Decoration for an R.A.F. pilot : DSO
107. “Will you let me have a taste?” : CAN I TRY SOME?
112. Clothing associated with Hillary Clinton : PANTSUITS
115. “Same here” : AS AM I
116. Like many pools and highways : LANED
117. Cooperation : AID
118. They begin trading, for short : IPOS
119. Frankincense, e.g. : RESIN
120. Singer of a famous bath time song : ERNIE
121. Crooked : WRY
122. Barack Obama’s mother : ANN
123. Sturm und ___ : DRANG
124. Garner : EARN
Down
1. Like some radios : AM/FM
2. “Born Sinner” rapper J. ___ : COLE
3. 17,000+-foot peak near the Equator [4] : MOUNT KENYA (giving “Enya”)
4. Guarantee : ENSURE
5. Make airtight, in a way [4] : HEAT SEAL (giving “Seal”)
6. Others of ancient Rome? : ALII
7. Band member’s time to shine : SOLO
8. In public : OPENLY
9. Monster’s moniker : NESSIE
10. Healthy [4] : IN THE PINK (giving “Pink”)
11. “Don’t ___ hero!” : BE A
12. Nightshade family member [5] : MANDRAKE (giving “Drake”)
13. Prized possession [5] : CROWN JEWEL (giving “Jewel”)
14. Home of the Gallatin Sch. of Individualized Study : NYU
15. Take home : NET
17. Unit around one foot? : SHOE
19. Spending : OUTLAY
23. Mich. neighbor : ONT
24. Mater ___ : DEI
26. One doing routine office work, informally [5] : PEN PUSHER (giving “Usher”)
31. “Wasn’t that fantastic?!” : TADA!
32. Long : PINE
33. Move to protect the king, say : CASTLE
34. Praises highly : EXTOLS
35. At all, in dialect : NO HOW
36. Me.-to-Fla. route : US-ONE
38. Color of el mar : AZUL
45. Butt : RAM INTO
48. Flowers native to damp woods : OXLIPS
49. “Please, I’ll handle it” : LET ME
50. Totally LOL-worthy : A HOOT
51. Dave of jazz [4] : BRUBECK (giving “Beck”)
56. Supermodel Lima : ADRIANA
58. Certain fire sign : LEO
59. Like the Greek god Pan : HORNED
62. Flip out : GO APE
63. One leading the exercises, for short? [4] : PE TEACHER (giving “Cher”)
64. Singer Bonnie : RAITT
66. Sandwich inits. : PBJ
68. Having as ingredients : MADE OF
69. Guinea pig relative : AGOUTI
70. Fruity spirit [6] : PEAR BRANDY (giving “Brandy”)
73. Vain, temperamental sort [7] : PRIMA DONNA (giving “Madonna”)
74. Long range : ANDES
75. Bright lights : NEONS
77. Band member’s main squeeze? [4] : ACCORDION (giving “Dion)
79. ___ song : SWAN
82. 1940 Disney release [3] : FANTASIA (giving “Sia”)
83. Swamp swimmer : CROC
85. Woman who took a “roll in ze hay” in “Young Frankenstein” : INGA
87. Pulling off bank jobs [5] : HEISTING (giving “Sting”)
90. Teddy Roosevelt targets : TRUSTS
96. Much-swiped item : ID CARD
97. Short trailer : TEASER
99. Borgia who was an illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI : CESARE
101. Took a breather : SAT
102. Message from the marooned : SOS
104. Noah of “ER” : WYLE
108. Grp. with a mission : NASA
109. “Sure, sign me up!” : I’M IN!
110. Predecessor of Rabin : MEIR
111. What’s lost in “Paradise Lost” : EDEN
112. Rabbit’s foot : PAW
113. It’s inspired : AIR
114. Original “Veronica Mars” channel : UPN
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29:29, no errors. At the end, I had A_RI_NA, _OUGIE, and AJ_ and had to guess to get ADRIANA, DOUGIE, and AJA, all of which were unknown to me. A double Natick (?!), but my guesses were correct, so all's well that ends well …:-)
Oh … and the theme went right over my head … I noticed the numbers, of course, but I forgot to try to figure out what they meant … 🙁 … but it was a long day … 🙂
I think 59A refers to Bosch the painter and his crazy pictures of hell.
57 minutes but no final errors. Had no idea as to what the theme was. When I saw here on the blog what it was, I realized it wouldn't have helped anyway. There were half dozen of them I'd never heard of. Original theme, but maybe it's original for a reason… Some amusing cluing, however.
PIX
I agree with you. I was thinking of Bosch power tools, but when I saw the answer HELL I figured it was some artist I'd never heard of…which it turns is the case.
Best –
Yes. Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who painted weird pictures of people in hell. I didn't understand the relevance of the German Bosch company application.
69 minutes, 0 errors.
@Bill
For whatever reason, this was the grid I got in syndication today. I don't know if this was a mistake or normal, but you might make a note of it.
59A sun hieranymus Bosch-painter of hell not some vw software nut. 3.5 hrs at least and 7 errors!!still love 'em
@ Jzeldorado Took Donna and I 2 and 1/2 hours also. With 3 errors was fun.
42:21, no errors. Challenging grid for me today. Seemed like the setter spent a lot of time creating this theme; clever but irrelevant to the puzzle solution. I saw a few of the names and associated them with singers who were "Back on the Charts", but did not see all of them (many were unfamiliar to me). Curious about the meaning of the number in the clue, but it had no effect on solving the puzzle.
I agree with the interpretation of the above posters. 'Bosch' more likely refers to the painter Hieronymus Bosch. I have seen his paintings, did not know the name of the painter. While Bosch corporation does make stoves, my limited German (and Google translate) indicate that 'HELL' translates to bright; while 'hoch' translates to high.
42 minutes on the dot, but with 8 errors. Too many "agency initials" clues for my taste, which reek of "forced fills" to make the grid work. The "theme" was about as stupid as they come. I give this one a C-minus. Not worthy of Sunday publication, in my estimation.
@Everyone
Apologies for not reacting sooner to the input about Hieronymus Bosch. That "hell" reference went right over my head. I've made a change to my comments above, albeit very late in the day (just back after a 7-week road trip!).
As always, I appreciate the help!
More specifically, all of the singers were singers who go by one name only.
And the "Back on the Charts" refers tot he singer's name being at the back (end) of the answer word(s).
48 minutes, 1 (dumb) error on Take Two. How it goes sometimes.
I join those who had no idea what the theme meant or those numbers in the clue. How obscure can you get? Not a fan of this one.