Constructed by: Lance Enfinger
Edited by: Will Shortz
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… syndicated NY Times crossword
Today’s Reveal Answer: Quidditch
Themed answers each end with a position in a game of QUIDDITCH, the fictional sport from the “Harry Potter” series of novels:
- 58A Game that ends when the snitch is caught … and whose positions end 17-, 24-, 36- and 48-Across : QUIDDITCH
- 17A One in charge of a sting operation? : BEEKEEPER
- 24A Absolute champion : WORLD-BEATER
- 36A Publicity hound : ATTENTION SEEKER
- 48A Person often flirting with disaster : STORM CHASER
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Bill’s time: 5m 52s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies
Across
9 Home for Shrek : SWAMP
Before “Shrek” was a successful movie franchise and Broadway musical, it was a children’s picture book called “Shrek!” that was authored and illustrated by William Steig. The title “Shrek!” came from the German/Yiddish word Schreck, meaning “fear” or “terror”.
15 ___ Beta Kappa : PHI
Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The organization served as a model for future collegiate fraternities and sororities, although in the 19th century Phi Beta Kappa distanced itself from the fraternal focus and transformed into the honor society that it is today, recognizing academic excellence. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”. The symbol of the Phi Beta Kappa Society is a golden key.
16 Signature Caitlin Clark shot, informally : THREE
Basketball great Caitlin Clark was the first selection in the 2024 WNBA draft, and signed up with the Indian Fever. Her quality of play and success on the court has helped popularize women’s basketball. That boost in popularity has been dubbed “the Caitlin Clark effect”.
17 One in charge of a sting operation? : BEEKEEPER
A queen bee has a stinger, just like worker bees. When a worker bee stings, it leaves its stinger in its victim. The worker bee dies after losing its stinger as the loss rips out part of its insides. However, a queen bee can sting with impunity as her stinger’s anatomy is different.
19 Vessel in a slip : YACHT
A “slipway” or “slip” is a ramp on the shore in which boats can “slip” into the water. This “slipping” into the water is literally the case in a shipyard, where a vessel’s hull “slips” off the ramp after it is coated with grease.
35 Parks who sparked a bus boycott : ROSA
Rosa Parks was one of a cadre of brave women in days gone by who refused to give up their seats on a bus to white women. It was the stand taken by Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott. President Clinton presented Ms. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. When she died in 2005, Rosa Parks became the first ever woman to have her body lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda.
42 Barnyard sound : MAA!
“Maa” is the call of a goat.
45 Piece of equipment seen at the Paralympics : SIT-SKI
The Winter and Summer Paralympic Games grew out of a gathering of British disabled WWII veterans that coincided with 1948’s Summer Olympic Games. The first official Paralympic Games was held in Rome in 1960.
51 Response in the game of Battleship : HIT!
Battleship is a surprisingly fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days, kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.
52 Org. that helped phase out CFCs : EPA
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used to be widely used as propellants in aerosols, and as refrigerants in cooling systems. CFCs make their way up into the ozone layer and trigger a chain reaction that converts ozone (O3) into regular oxygen (O2). That conversion creates “holes” in the ozone layer. Regular O2 is good stuff, but we need O3 to absorb harmful UV radiation raining down on us. CFC is not good stuff …
53 Jost’s “S.N.L.” Weekend Update co-host : CHE
Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 2014. He became co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show, alongside Colin Jost. They make such a great team …
54 Hardy and Petty : TOMS
Tom Hardy is an actor from London. His big break as an actor came when he won the part of US Army Private John Janovec in the outstanding miniseries “Band of Brothers”.
Singer-songwriter Tom Petty first became interested in rock and roll music when he met Elvis Presley at ten-years-old. Later Petty was inspired to get into a band when he saw the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show”. He became the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and later co-founded the supergroup called the Traveling Wilburys.
55 Friend of Flower and Thumper : BAMBI
In the 1942 animated feature “Bambi”, the title character is a white-tailed deer. His best friends are a pink-nosed rabbit named Thumper, a skunk named Flower, and another deer named Faline with whom Bambi eventually falls in love.
58 Game that ends when the snitch is caught … and whose positions end 17-, 24-, 36- and 48-Across : QUIDDITCH
Quidditch is a game that is played in the “Harry Potter” series of books and films. The game is contested by two teams of seven wizards or witches flying on broomsticks. There are four animated balls and six ring-shaped goals floating in mid-air. One of the balls is the Golden Snitch, and one of the players is the Seeker. It is the Seeker’s sole purpose to capture the Golden Snitch and thereby win the game.
62 Home of the Craters of the Moon National Monument : IDAHO
Craters of the Moon National Monument in Central Idaho is a breathtakingly beautiful spot. The park includes three extensive lava fields that really do give one the impression that one is looking at craters on the moon. The term “Craters of the Moon” was coined in 1923 during a campaign to convince the National Park Service to protect the area. Apollo astronauts actually trained in the park, learning to seek out and collect rock specimens just as they would be doing on the actual moon.
Down
2 Like the yellow polka dot bikini, in a 1960 #1 novelty song : TEENIE
“Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” was first released in 1960, and was a number one hit that year for Brian Hyland. At the time, bikini bathing suits were considered very risque in society, but their popularity grew dramatically, with the song getting a lot of the credit for the new-found acceptance.
3 Popular Thanksgiving item : SWEET POTATO
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.
5 Scientific Bill : NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. In addition to his career as a science educator, Nye is also a comedian. He performed stand-up comedy during his early years as an engineer.
7 Prominent part of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume : SHELL
The “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” started out as a parody of comic book superheroes, first appearing in a self-published comic book in 1984. A couple of years later the characters were picked up by someone who built a whole line of toys around the characters, and then television and movies followed. Do you remember the names of all four of the Turtles? Their names were all taken from Renaissance artists:
- Leonardo
- Raphael
- Michelangelo
- Donatello
11 ___ de Triomphe : ARC
L’Arc de Triomphe de l’Etoile in Paris was built to honor those who fought for France, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. It is the second largest triumphal arch in the world, after the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, North Korea. If you are visiting Paris, don’t just take a picture of the arch, be sure to go inside and see the marvelous chambers and carvings, and wander around on top of the arch so that you can enjoy the magnificent view.
18 Quadruple award achievement, informally : EGOT
The acronym “EGOT” stands for “Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony”, and is a reference to performers who have won all four awards.
24 Small brown songbird : WREN
The wren is a small songbird belonging to the family troglodytidae and the genus troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests. Despite their small size, they are known for their loud and complex songs. Male wrens often sing to attract mates and to establish territory, They have been known to attack much larger birds that get too close to their nests.
25 Liquid-Plumr alternative : DRANO
To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano, which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely-divided aluminum reacts with the lye generating hydrogen gas that churns the mixture. Any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain quite often does the job …
30 TV host who got asked a lot of questions : ALEX TREBEK
Alex Trebek was the host of “Jeopardy!” from the launch of the syndicated version of the game show in 1984 until his passing in 2020. Trebek missed just one episode during that time, when he and host of “Wheel of Fortune” Pat Sajak swapped roles in 1997 as an April Fool’s joke. In 2014, Trebek picked up the Guinness World Record for hosting the most episodes of a game show.
34 Pseudonym in a landmark legal case : ROE
Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the Supreme Court decision …
37 Cause for a lawsuit : TORT
“Tort” is a French word meaning “mischief, injury or wrong”. In common law, a tort is a civil wrong that results in the injured party suffering loss or harm, and the injuring party having a legal liability. Tort law differs from criminal law in that torts may result from negligence and not just intentional actions. Also, tort lawsuits may be decided on a preponderance of evidence, without the need of proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
38 “Vissi d’arte” opera : TOSCA
“Vissi d’arte” is an aria from Puccini’s “Tosca” that is sung by the title character Floria Tosca. The title translates from Italian as “I lived for art”.
39 Qatari leader : EMIR
Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. The emirate has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry.
44 Enemy of the Rebel Alliance : EMPIRE
In the “Star Wars” universe, the Rebel Alliance is at war with the Galactic Empire.
46 Korean fermented cabbage : KIMCHI
Kimchi is a traditional dish from Korea. It is made from fermented vegetables, and is pretty strong stuff …
49 Integra maker : ACURA
The Honda Integra was sold in the US under the Acura badge. The Integra was produced from 1985 until 2006.
50 Polo, e.g. : SHIRT
René Lacoste was a French tennis player who went into the clothing business, and came up with a more comfortable shirt that players could use. This became known as a “tennis shirt”. When it was adopted for use in the sport of polo, the shirts also became known as “polo shirts”. The “golf shirt” is basically the same thing. The Lacoste line of clothing features a crocodile logo, because René was nicknamed “The Crocodile”.
55 Closest pal, informally : BFF
Best friend forever (BFF)
57 Hamm of soccer fame : MIA
Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player. She played as a forward on the US national team that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm scored 158 international goals, which was more than any other player in the world, male or female, until the record was broken in 2013. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.
59 Fossil hunters’ project : DIG
Originally, the term “fossil” described anything that was unearthed, dug up. We tend to define the term more narrowly today, reserving it for the geological remains of a plant or animal. “Fossil” comes from the Latin “fossilis” meaning “dug up”.
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Complete List of Clues/Answers
Across
1 Ruling from a tennis line judge : IT’S IN!
6 Spelled-out chant at the World Cup : U-S-A!
9 Home for Shrek : SWAMP
14 For the first time : NEWLY
15 ___ Beta Kappa : PHI
16 Signature Caitlin Clark shot, informally : THREE
17 One in charge of a sting operation? : BEEKEEPER
19 Vessel in a slip : YACHT
20 Individuals : ONES
21 It locks locks into place : GEL
22 Lead-in to rock or weekly : ALT-
23 Like a birthday candle prior to your making a wish : LIT
24 Absolute champion : WORLD-BEATER
29 Head off : DEPART
31 Make good as new : RESTORE
32 Cheer after a gooooooal! : OLE!
33 Poorly behaved child : BRAT
35 Parks who sparked a bus boycott : ROSA
36 Publicity hound : ATTENTION SEEKER
40 News of an alien landing, probably : HOAX
41 “Milk’s favorite cookie” brand : OREO
42 Barnyard sound : MAA!
43 Challenge for a person drawing lots? : ART TEST
45 Piece of equipment seen at the Paralympics : SIT-SKI
48 Person often flirting with disaster : STORM CHASER
51 Response in the game of Battleship : HIT!
52 Org. that helped phase out CFCs : EPA
53 Jost’s “S.N.L.” Weekend Update co-host : CHE
54 Hardy and Petty : TOMS
55 Friend of Flower and Thumper : BAMBI
58 Game that ends when the snitch is caught … and whose positions end 17-, 24-, 36- and 48-Across : QUIDDITCH
60 Handbill : FLIER
61 Chilly remark? : BRR!
62 Home of the Craters of the Moon National Monument : IDAHO
63 Bit of snow : FLAKE
64 Posed : SAT
65 Question after a joke bombs : GET IT?
Down
1 Emphasized, textwise : IN BOLD
2 Like the yellow polka dot bikini, in a 1960 #1 novelty song : TEENIE
3 Popular Thanksgiving item : SWEET POTATO
4 Types : ILKS
5 Scientific Bill : NYE
6 Word before deck or hand : UPPER …
7 Prominent part of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costume : SHELL
8 The “A” of A/C : AIR
9 Choices at salons : STYLES
10 “I like this so much!” : WHAT A TREAT!
11 ___ de Triomphe : ARC
12 “I wasn’t impressed” : MEH
13 Rescue animal, maybe : PET
18 Quadruple award achievement, informally : EGOT
22 Supports illegally, in a way : ABETS
24 Small brown songbird : WREN
25 Liquid-Plumr alternative : DRANO
26 Attempted : TOOK A SHOT AT
27 Gaelic language : ERSE
28 Back end : REAR
30 TV host who got asked a lot of questions : ALEX TREBEK
33 Labor day event : BIRTH
34 Pseudonym in a landmark legal case : ROE
36 Cries of understanding : AHAS
37 Cause for a lawsuit : TORT
38 “Vissi d’arte” opera : TOSCA
39 Qatari leader : EMIR
44 Enemy of the Rebel Alliance : EMPIRE
45 Tournament ranking : SEED
46 Korean fermented cabbage : KIMCHI
47 Remark while fanning oneself, maybe : IT’S HOT
49 Integra maker : ACURA
50 Polo, e.g. : SHIRT
54 It washes a shore : TIDE
55 Closest pal, informally : BFF
56 Not just some : ALL
57 Hamm of soccer fame : MIA
58 Ones trying not to be sacked, in brief : QBS
59 Fossil hunters’ project : DIG
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