Constructed by: Jesse Cohn
Edited by: Joel Fagliano
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Theme: None
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… a complete list of answers
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Bill’s time: 16m 06s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
8 Portrayer of Laurie Strode in seven “Halloween” films : CURTIS
Actress Jamie Lee Curtis got her big break when she played the lead in the original “Halloween” horror movie. She is the daughter of actors Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh. Curtis married fellow actor and director Christopher Guest in 1984. Guest holds the hereditary title of 5th Baron Haden-Guest in the British peerage. That makes Curtis Lady Haden-Guest.
I really, really don’t do horror films. The one exception is the original “Halloween” movie, starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasance. To me, this first movie in the “Halloween” series is more in the style of Hitchcock’s “Psycho”, whereas the sequels were chock full of gore and graphic violence.
14 Where customers can pay to smash household objects to smithereens : RAGE ROOM
“Smithereens” is such a lovely word and I am proud to say that it comes from Irish. The Irish word “smiodar” means fragment. We add the suffix “-in” (anglicized as “-een”) to words to indicate the diminutive form. So, “little fragment” is “smidirin”, anglicized as “smithereens”.
19 Beef variety : ANGUS
The full name of the Angus cattle breed is Aberdeen Angus, which is also the name used around the world outside of North America. The breed was developed by crossbreeding cattle from the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland. The breed stands out in the US as Angus cattle don’t have horns.
20 It’s often playing games : ESPN
The initialism “ESPN” stands for Entertainment Sports Programming Network. ESPN is a cable network that broadcasts sports programming 24 hours a day, and was launched back in 1979. ESPN has a lot of ardent fans. Several parents have named their children Espn (usually pronounced “Espen”) in honor of the network.
24 Shawarma holder : PITA
Shawarma is a popular street food in the Middle East. It is made from thin slices of seasoned and marinated meat, stacked into a cone-shaped column, and then roasted on a vertical spit. Servings are prepared by slicing the outside roasted meat.
26 Cryptaesthesia, more familiarly : ESP
Extrasensory perception (ESP)
27 Artist whose full name anagrams to A MAN DETOURED : MANET
Édouard Manet was a French painter whose works are mainly classified as Realist and Impressionist. Manet was friends with Impressionists masters like Edgar Degas, Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir and greatly influenced the Impressionist movement. The list of Manet’s marvelous paintings includes “Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe”, “Le Repose” and “A Bar at the Folies-Bergère”.
30 Orthodontist’s recommendation : RETAINER
Orthodontics is a branch of dentistry dealing with the straightening of teeth. The name comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “dontia” meaning “teeth”.
32 Digital art? : PAINT BY NUMBER
The concept of painting by numbers was patented in 1923. The idea didn’t take off until 1951, when the Craft Master brand of paint-by-number kits was introduced. The kits were marketed with the strapline “A beautiful oil painting the first time you try”.
43 Former Israeli P.M. Sharon : ARIEL
Ariel Sharon was a former Prime Minister of Israel. While still in office in 2005, Sharon suffered two debilitating strokes that left him in a permanent vegetative state from early 2006, until he finally passed away in early 2014.
45 De ___ : NOVO
“De novo” is Latin for “anew”, and is a term that we use in English with the same meaning.
47 ID issuers : DMVS
In most states, the government agency responsible for vehicle registration and the issuing of driver’s licenses is called the DMV. This initialism usually stands for the Department of Motor Vehicles, but there are “variations on the theme”. For example, in Arizona the responsible agency is called the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), and in Colorado the familiar abbreviation “DMV” stands for Division of Motor Vehicles.
What we know today as “Real IDs” are the result of the Real ID Act of 2005. One of the most visible results of the law are state-issued drivers’ licenses that meet new minimum security standards set by the federal government.
48 Hit taker : TOKER
“Toke” is a slang term describing a puff on a marijuana cigarette, or on a pipe containing the drug.
49 Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier,” for one : SONATA
A cantata is a piece of music that is sung, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece that is played on some instrument, often a piano. A sonatina is in effect a sonata that has been labeled as something lighter and shorter.
51 Phrase typically shortened to its first three letters : ET CETERA
The Latin phrase “et cetera” translates as “and other things”. The term is usually abbreviated to “etc.”
53 Geometry figure : EUCLID
Euclid of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician who lived in the first millennium, often referred to as the “Father of Geometry”. He wrote a famous book called “Elements” on the subject of mathematics, and the title was so enduring that it was used as the main textbook for the subject right up to the late 19th century.
54 Big name in food delivery : DOORDASH
DoorDash is the largest food delivery company in the country. Customers can order food from many different restaurants using the DoorDash app, and a DoorDash driver delivers it to a home or office. DoorDash also operates ghost kitchens, facilities that prepare meals for delivery customers of a group of restaurants.
Down
2 Warren of the Allman Brothers Band : HAYNES
The Allman Brothers Band has to be one of the most unlucky bands in the business. Soon after the group had its big break with the 1971 album “At Fillmore East”, one of the two Allman brothers, Duane, was killed in a motorcycle accident. One year later, bassist Berry Oakley was killed, also in a motorcycle accident. The other brother, Gregg Allman, passed away in his home in 2017.
5 Mardi follower : GRAS
“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and the holiday gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.
8 “Walking in Memphis” singer Marc : COHN
“Walking in Memphis” is a lovely 1991 song composed and recorded by folk-rock artist Marc Cohn. Successful cover versions were released by Cher in 1995, and by Lonestar in 2003.
9 Deep-dish pizza maker : UNO
The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Chicago Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.
11 “Star Wars” planet that’s home to womp rats : TATOOINE
Tatooine is the desert planet that features in almost every “Star Wars” movie. It is the home planet of Anakin and Luke Skywalker, and is also where Obi-Wan Kenobi first met Han Solo.
21 Eucharist plate : PATEN
The paten and chalice hold a special place in many Christian services. The paten is the plate that holds the bread and the chalice the wine, used to represent the body and blood of Christ.
29 Popular remedy for an upset stomach : GINGER ALE
The brand most closely associated with ginger ale is Canada Dry. “Canada Dry Pale Ginger Ale” was first formulated in 1904 by a Canadian chemist called John McLoughlin from Ontario. Prohibition in the United States helped sales of the drink as it was particularly effective in masking the taste of illegally-produced, homemade liquor.
31 Penne, rigatoni, etc. : TUBES
The pasta known as penne comes in two main types, i.e. penne lisce (which is smooth) and penne rigate (which is furrowed).
Rigatoni is a tubular pasta that is relatively short, and with ridges along its length. The name “rigatoni” comes from the Italian “rigato” meaning “ridged, lined”.
32 Sad sack : POOR SOUL
The slang phrase “sad sack” is used for a person who bungles things, someone who is pathetically inept. The phrase was coined in the twenties but gained popularity during WWII when it was used by a cartoon character in the US Armed Forces magazine “Yank”. The term is probably a shortened form of the much ruder phrase “sad sack of ****”.
39 Moses portrayer in classic film : HESTON
As well as having a fine career as an actor, Charlton Heston was a noted political activist. In the fifties he was very much a progressive and left-leaning in his political views. He was one of the few in Hollywood to speak out against racism and support the Civil Rights Movement. Later in his life, Heston became more associated with the conservative right, and was president of the National Rifle Association.
“The Ten Commandments” is an epic movie directed by Cecil B. DeMille, and released in 1956. The cast is as epic as the film, with Charlton Heston playing the lead role of Moses. Also appearing are Yul Brynner as Rameses, Edward G. Robinson as Dathan, Vincent Price as Baka and Anne Baxter as Nefretiri.
42 Scrolls from right to left? : TORAHS
A Torah scroll (also “Sefer Torah”) is a handwritten copy of the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
48 Fork-tailed bird : TERN
Terns are a family of seabirds. They are similar to gulls, but are more slender and more lightly built. Many species of tern are known for their long-distance migrations, with the Arctic tern migrating so far that it is believed to see more daylight in a year than any other animal.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Juice provider : CHARGER
8 Portrayer of Laurie Strode in seven “Halloween” films : CURTIS
14 Where customers can pay to smash household objects to smithereens : RAGE ROOM
16 Play without a break : ONE ACT
17 Attention-grabbing visuals : EYE CANDY
18 Part of many singers’ vocal warm-up routines : HOT TEA
19 Beef variety : ANGUS
20 It’s often playing games : ESPN
22 Playful snarl : ROWR
23 What painful sensations and frying pans can both do : SEAR
24 Shawarma holder : PITA
25 Express one’s displeasure toward : BOO AT
26 Cryptaesthesia, more familiarly : ESP
27 Artist whose full name anagrams to A MAN DETOURED : MANET
28 Modern party planning tool : E-VITE
29 Really good time : GAS
30 Orthodontist’s recommendation : RETAINER
32 Digital art? : PAINT BY NUMBER
35 Makes an opposing argument : COUNTERS
36 It generates a lot of buzz : BEE
37 Register, as a complaint : LODGE
38 Voiced amazement : OOHED
40 “There, there” accompanier : PAT
43 Former Israeli P.M. Sharon : ARIEL
44 Stadium sounds : OLES
45 De ___ : NOVO
46 Word before friendly or name : USER-
47 ID issuers : DMVS
48 Hit taker : TOKER
49 Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier,” for one : SONATA
51 Phrase typically shortened to its first three letters : ET CETERA
53 Geometry figure : EUCLID
54 Big name in food delivery : DOORDASH
55 Accommodates, in listing-speak : SLEEPS
56 “That was perfect — I don’t have any feedback” : NO NOTES
Down
1 Clothing line : CREASE
2 Warren of the Allman Brothers Band : HAYNES
3 Common reason for a missed reference : AGE GAP
4 Come back : RECUR
5 Mardi follower : GRAS
6 Vast span : EON
7 Entered a Wild West town, say : RODE IN
8 “Walking in Memphis” singer Marc : COHN
9 Deep-dish pizza maker : UNO
10 What a ’50s-style diner or arcade bar might have : RETRO VIBE
11 “Star Wars” planet that’s home to womp rats : TATOOINE
12 First pitcher, maybe : ICE WATER
13 First pitcher : STARTER
15 “That explains it!” : MYSTERY SOLVED!
21 Eucharist plate : PATEN
24 Crafter’s supply : PASTE
25 Showed pride, in a way : BEAMED
27 TV mounting spot : MANTEL
29 Popular remedy for an upset stomach : GINGER ALE
31 Penne, rigatoni, etc. : TUBES
32 Sad sack : POOR SOUL
33 Market : AUDIENCE
34 Stick in the closet? : BROOM
35 Things of concern to grammarians and negotiators : CLAUSES
39 Moses portrayer in classic film : HESTON
40 Prod : POKE AT
41 Not inclined : AVERSE
42 Scrolls from right to left? : TORAHS
45 Avoid : NOT DO
47 Pops : DADS
48 Fork-tailed bird : TERN
50 Checkout screen option : TIP
52 This is what it sounds like when doves cry : COO!
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Not my favorite. I assume some constructors think crossing bits of trivia with one another is the only way to harden puzzles…
The nexus formed by 8A, 8D, 11D and 22A was especially cruel if you don’t have a clue about the three ‘names’ and ‘ROWR’ (Extremely slangyyyy – I’ve heard ‘RAWR’, but seriously??).
I turned up here to try and understand something about that, but no luck. No issues, though. Hope Saturday’s better.
It took too many fits and starts but finally got the NE corner to make sense and the grid was complete without error. Lots of times I overthink the answer and spin my wheels trying to get traction.
21:01, no errors.
22:56, no errors. Biggest stumbling block for me was the fact that NEON SIGNS fit into 10D,
29:36, no errors. Once again the SW corner was my sticking point. That section seemed to take forever.