Constructed by: Lindsay Rosenblum
Edited by: Joel Fagliano
Not your puzzle? Try today’s …
… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Reveal Answer: Swipe Right
Themed answers must SWIPE “RIGHT” to be successful:
- 60A Show interest on a dating app … or what 16-, 25-, 36- and 51-Across must do to be successful? : SWIPE RIGHT
- 16A Visa, for one : CREDIT CARD
- 25A Thief at work in a bustling crowd : PICKPOCKET
- 36A One might be found at a roast : INSULT COMIC
- 51A Modern combat athlete, informally : MMA FIGHTER
Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers
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Bill’s time: 7m 26s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
13 Where soju is the national drink : KOREA
Soju is a Korean liquor traditionally made from rice, although other starches are also used these days. The name “sujo” translates literally as “burned liquor”.
15 Style of San Francisco’s Coit Tower, informally : DECO
Coit Tower is a renowned memorial in San Francisco that sits atop Telegraph Hill. The full name of the structure is the Lillian Coit Memorial Tower, recognizing a generous bequest to the city by wealthy socialite Lillie Hitchcock Coit. There is an urban myth in these parts that the tower was designed to resemble the nozzle of a fire hose, as Lillie used to like chasing fires and hanging out with firefighters.
16 Visa, for one : CREDIT CARD
VISA doesn’t actually issue any credit or debit cards. The company just sells the electronic systems and infrastructure to banks which then put the VISA logo on their own cards. Seeing the logo, both customer and merchant know to use the VISA system when making a transaction.
30 Favor precursor? : POR …
“Por favor” is Spanish for “please”.
31 Loudly laments : KEENS
To keen is to wail in lamentation. The word “keening” has its roots in Ireland, coming from the Irish word “caoinim” meaning “I weep, wail, lament”.
40 Pulitzer-winning writer James : AGEE
James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.
41 Philanthropists : DONORS
Philanthropy is a concern for human welfare, and the act of donating to persons or groups who support such concerns. The term “philanthropy” derives from the Greek “phil-” meaning “loving”, and “anthropos” meaning “mankind”.
44 Dodge Charger, e.g. : SEDAN
The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.
The first Dodge Chargers came off the production line in 1966. One of the more famous Chargers was the General Lee, a 1969 model that was painted orange and driven by the title characters in “The Dukes of Hazzard”.
48 Nile reptile : ASP
The Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) is also known as the asp. That said, the term “asp” can apply to several species of snake, including the Egyptian cobra. Legend has it that Cleopatra committed suicide by enticing an asp to bite her. If that’s true, then that asp was probably an Egyptian cobra.
51 Modern combat athlete, informally : MMA FIGHTER
Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.
56 Home of MoMA and M.S.G. : NYC
The founding of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City was very much driven by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, wife of John D. Rockefeller. Working with two friends, Abby managed to get the museum opened in 1929, just nine days after the Wall Street Crash. The MoMA’s sculpture garden bears the name of Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and has done so since 1949.
Madison Square Garden (MSG) is an arena in New York City used for a variety of events. In the world of sports it is home to the New York Rangers of the NHL, as well as the New York Knicks of the NBA. “The Garden” is also the third busiest music venue in the world in terms of ticket sales. The current arena is the fourth structure to bear the name, a name taken from the Madison Square location in Manhattan. In turn, the square was named for James Madison, the fourth President of the US.
58 The Trojans of the N.C.A.A. : USC
The University of Southern California (USC) is a private school in Los Angeles. Apart from its excellent academic record, USC is known for the success of its athletic program. USC Trojans have won more Olympic medals than the students of any other university in the world. The USC marching band is very famous as well, and is known as the “Spirit of Troy”. The band has performed with many celebrities, and is the only college band to have two platinum records.
59 Shape for a child’s chicken nugget, informally : DINO
There is a suggestion that dinosaur-shaped nuggets owe their popularity to the very successful “Jurassic Park” series of films. That said, “dino” chicken nuggets were introduced by Perdue Farms in 1991, two years before the release of the first film.
60 Show interest on a dating app … or what 16-, 25-, 36- and 51-Across must do to be successful? : SWIPE RIGHT
Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose that the Tinder dating app is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app in use today.
65 Garment worn by the Little Caesars mascot : TOGA
In ancient Rome, the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae” or “togas”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.
69 Montana city nicknamed “The Richest Hill on Earth” : BUTTE
The city of Butte, Montana was founded as a mining town in the late 1800s. Although mining brought great growth to the area, it also brought environmental problems. Today, Butte is home to the country’s largest Superfund cleanup site.
Down
1 Match.com alternative : OKCUPID
Match.com is an online dating service. The company was started in 1993 and claims to have over 20 million members worldwide, in the ratio of male to female of 49:51.
2 Realtor’s sign : FOR SALE
“Real estate agent” is a general, generic term. “Realtor” is the name given to a member of the trade association known as the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The NAR has gone so far as to trademark the term “Realtor” in the US.
3 Airport amenity : FREE WI-FI
“Wi-Fi” is nothing more than a trademark, a trademark registered by an association of manufacturers of equipment that use wireless LAN (Local Area Network) technology. A device labeled with “Wi-Fi” has to meet certain defined technical standards, basically meaning that the devices can talk to each other. The name “Wi-Fi” suggests “Wireless Fidelity”, although apparently the term was never intended to mean anything at all.
4 British ref. work : OED
Work started on what was to become the first “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) in 1857. Several interim versions of the dictionary were published in the coming years with the first full version appearing, in ten bound volumes, in 1928. The second edition of the OED appeared in 1989 and is made up of twenty volumes. The OED was first published in electronic form in 1988 and went online in 2000. Given the modern use of computers, the publishing house responsible feels that there will never be a third print version of the famous dictionary.
7 Anti-trafficking agcy. : DEA
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) was set up in 1973 while President Nixon was in office.
11 Winning blackjack hand : ACE-TEN
Blackjack is one of the few casino games where the player has a decent chance to beat the house. This is because the house edge in blackjack is relatively low, around 1%. That edge can be reduced or overcome by “counting cards”, something that casinos really don’t like …
22 “Gotta catch ’em all!” game series : POKEMON
“Pokémon” is the second-biggest video game franchise in the world, second only to the “Mario” franchise. “Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.
27 Ray who helped globalize McDonald’s : KROC
The original McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald as a barbecue restaurant. The brothers then moved into fast food hamburgers, eventually selling out to one of their franchise agents, Ray Kroc. It was Ray Kroc who really led the company to its worldwide success. He was played by Michael Keaton in the movie about Ray Kroc’s business life called “The Founder”.
29 Some bottled waters : DASANIS
Dasani is a Coca-Cola brand of bottled water. It is simply filtered tap water with some trace minerals added.
37 Actress Jeffries of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” : LEAH
“Percy Jackson & the Olympians” is a series of children’s adventure stories written by Rick Riordan. Two of the books have been adapted into movies: “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” (2010) and “Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters” (2013).
42 Comedic drum flourish : RIM SHOT
A rim shot is a sound made when a drummer hits the head of a drum and the rim at the same time. It’s a sound often used by comics to help punctuate a gag.
43 Bond film between “Skyfall” and “No Time to Die” : SPECTRE
The 2015 “James Bond” movie “Spectre” is the fourth to feature Daniel Craig as the famed MI6 agent. One of the Bond girls in the film is Lucia Sciarra, played by Italian actress and model Monica Bellucci. At the age of 50, Bellucci became the oldest Bond girl in the history of the franchise.
52 Medieval tales of daring adventure : GESTS
Our word “gest” meaning a great deed or an exploit has been around since about 1300, and comes from the Old French word “geste” meaning the same thing. These days “geste” can also mean “gesture”.
53 Bread choice for a Reuben : RYE
There are conflicting stories about the origin of the Reuben sandwich. One such story is that it was invented around 1914 by Arnold Reuben, an immigrant from Germany who owned Reuben’s Deli in New York.
62 Tennis champ Swiatek : IGA
Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 No longer taking, as a medication : OFF OF
6 What a light bulb represents in cartoons : IDEA
10 Led, as a meeting : RAN
13 Where soju is the national drink : KOREA
14 Overwhelmed by hilarity, hyperbolically speaking : DEAD
15 Style of San Francisco’s Coit Tower, informally : DECO
16 Visa, for one : CREDIT CARD
18 Foreboding sign : OMEN
19 Take advantage of : USE
20 ___-di-dah : LAH
21 Still awake after midnight, say : UP LATE
23 Furry feet : PAWS
25 Thief at work in a bustling crowd : PICKPOCKET
28 “OK, that wasn’t totally true” : I LIED
30 Favor precursor? : POR …
31 Loudly laments : KEENS
32 Triumph over : DEFEAT
34 “Don’t think so” : NOPE
36 One might be found at a roast : INSULT COMIC
40 Pulitzer-winning writer James : AGEE
41 Philanthropists : DONORS
44 Dodge Charger, e.g. : SEDAN
48 Nile reptile : ASP
50 What an unsatisfied customer might leave behind : NO TIP
51 Modern combat athlete, informally : MMA FIGHTER
54 Expectant parents’ selection : NAME
55 Revolted : UPROSE
56 Home of MoMA and M.S.G. : NYC
58 The Trojans of the N.C.A.A. : USC
59 Shape for a child’s chicken nugget, informally : DINO
60 Show interest on a dating app … or what 16-, 25-, 36- and 51-Across must do to be successful? : SWIPE RIGHT
64 Steely determination : GRIT
65 Garment worn by the Little Caesars mascot : TOGA
66 Blood of the gods, in Greek mythology : ICHOR
67 Up to this point : YET
68 Waxy imprint : SEAL
69 Montana city nicknamed “The Richest Hill on Earth” : BUTTE
Down
1 Match.com alternative : OKCUPID
2 Realtor’s sign : FOR SALE
3 Airport amenity : FREE WI-FI
4 British ref. work : OED
5 Not pass : FAIL
6 Pet-tracking device : ID CHIP
7 Anti-trafficking agcy. : DEA
8 Hear here! : EAR
9 Make sense : ADD UP
10 Uncreative studio project, perhaps : REMAKE
11 Winning blackjack hand : ACE-TEN
12 Trios of trios : NONETS
15 Sweet, in Italian : DOLCE
17 Dance style with shuffles and buffaloes : TAP
22 “Gotta catch ’em all!” game series : POKEMON
24 Witnessed : SEEN
26 Competition : CONTEST
27 Ray who helped globalize McDonald’s : KROC
29 Some bottled waters : DASANIS
33 Pull : TUG
35 Group of whales : POD
37 Actress Jeffries of “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” : LEAH
38 Part of, as a scheme : IN ON
39 Like courses with multiple professors : CO-TAUGHT
42 Comedic drum flourish : RIM SHOT
43 Bond film between “Skyfall” and “No Time to Die” : SPECTRE
44 Like words written in ink by a lefty, often : SMUDGY
45 Ruler’s realm : EMPIRE
46 “Aw, man!” : DARN IT!
47 Underway : AFOOT
49 Distant correspondent : PEN PAL
52 Medieval tales of daring adventure : GESTS
53 Bread choice for a Reuben : RYE
57 Expectant parents’ selection : CRIB
61 “Wednesday’s child is full of ___” (nursery rhyme line) : WOE
62 Tennis champ Swiatek : IGA
63 Critical hosp. wing : ICU
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