Tag: Big nonprofit that operates the Department of Defense Safe Helpline crossword clue

Today’s Theme: Stoners’ Film Festival

Themed answers are common phrases that have been reinterpreted as relating to stoner movies:

• 23A Stoner movies? : PUFF PIECES
• 30A Components of stoner movies? : POT SHOTS
• 43A Tension in a stoner movie? : HIGH DRAMA
• 46A Stoner movie that flops at the box office? : SMOKE BOMB
• 62A Ending of a stoner movie? : JOINT RESOLUTION
• 8A2 With 84-Across, like an audience during a stoner movie? : ROLLING IN …
• 84A See 82-Across : … THE AISLES
• 98A Bad actor in a stoner movie? : BAKED HAM
• 107A Be behind the camera for a blockbuster stoner movie? : DIRECT HITS

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 15m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

19 World capital once behind the Iron Curtain : SOFIA

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. Natives pronounce the name “Sofia” with the emphasis on the “o”, while the rest of us tend to stress the “i”. Bulgarians do agree with us though when it comes to the girl’s name “Sofia”, then they stress the “i” like we do!

20 Bubble tea flavor : TARO

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

22 Singer Goulding : ELLIE

Ellie Goulding is a singer-songwriter from England. One of Goulding’s claims to fame is that she sang at the wedding reception of Prince William and Kate Middleton at Buckingham Palace in 2011.

23 Stoner movies? : PUFF PIECES

A fluff piece (also “puff piece”) is a news story that is considered unimportant in the grand scheme of things. Fluff pieces tend to be chosen for their cuteness, rather than their import.

26 Pioneer who lent his name to six U.S. counties : BOONE

Daniel Boone was a pioneer and folk hero. For frontiersman Boone, the frontier was what we now call the state of Kentucky. He led the building of the Wilderness Road through the famous Cumberland Gap in the Appalachians, a route subsequently taken by hundreds of thousands of migrants into Kentucky. Boone fought in the Revolutionary War with distinction, and after the war returned to Kentucky and got himself into land speculation. He became mired in debt, forcing him to emigrate to Missouri to settle down on land that was at that time owned by the French. It was there that he spent the last decades of his life.

27 Île de la ___ : CITE

There are two famous “îles” (islands) in the middle of the River Seine in Paris, one being the Île de la Cité, and the other Île Saint-Louis. Île de la Cité is the most renowned of the two, as it is home to the cathedral of Notre Dame.

30 Components of stoner movies? : POT SHOTS

When firing a gun, a potshot is a “shot” taken purely to get the prey into the “pot” for cooking. The term “potshot” was coined in the 1830s, hence distinguishing between a shot taken for sport or marksmanship and a shot taken while hunting for game.

34 Rubberneck : GAWK

We have been rubbernecking since the late 1800s, although the word ”rubberneck” originally applied to someone with a tendency to listen in other people’s conversations. The term really became popular when people started rubbernecking in automobiles.

35 Certain Franciscan : FRIAR

St. Francis founded the Franciscan religious order in Assisi in 1208. He died in 1226, and was declared a saint just two years later in 1228. Construction of the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi started immediately after the canonization, and finished 25 years later. The Basilica is now a United Nations World Heritage Site.

36 Salsa variety : VERDE

“Salsa verde” is simply Spanish for “green sauce”.

38 Chief Ouray and others : UTES

Chief Ouray led the Ute tribe in the latter half of the 19th century. Ouray made valiant attempts to negotiate on behalf of his people with the US government. During his lifetime, he met with Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant and Rutherford B. Hayes. Despite all of his efforts, Ouray’s Ute people of western Colorado were forced to relocate to reservation in present-day Oklahoma.

40 Farrow with a Golden Globe : MIA

Mia Farrow is an energetic, award-winning actress who really hasn’t looked back in her career since playing her first lead role, in “Rosemary’s Baby” back in 1968. Her on-screen celebrity is matched by the interest created by her personal life. Farrow’s first husband was Frank Sinatra, a wedding in 1966 that received a lot of attention partly due to the couple’s age difference (she was 21, he was 50). Her second husband was almost as famous, the magnificent musician André Previn. Farrow then moved in with Woody Allen, a relationship that famously fell apart when Farrow discovered that Allen was having a sexual relationship with Soon-Yi, one of her adopted daughters from the marriage with André Previn.

48 Youngest Jetson : ELROY

“The Jetsons” is an animated show from Hanna-Barbera that had its first run in 1962-1963, and then was recreated in 1985-1987. When it was debuted in 1963 by ABC, “The Jetsons” was the network’s first ever color broadcast. “The Jetsons” are like a space-age version of “The Flintstones”. The four Jetson family members are George and Jane, the parents, and children Judy and Elroy. Residing with the family in Orbit City are Rosie the household robot and Astro the pet dog.

49 Wheat ___ : GERM

The germ of a cereal (like wheat and oat) is the reproductive part that germinates and grows into a new plant. A whole grain has three main parts:

• the germ, the source of the new plant
• the endosperm, the energy store of carbohydrate and protein for initial growth
• the bran, protective outer shell

51 “___ a dream …” : I HAVE

I remember listening to the full text of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a dream …” speech not long after I moved to this country. I think I am man enough to admit that my eyes misted up as I listened to the words. I also recall thinking how lucky I was to have been invited to live in this great country, which was facing up to some of the sins of its past.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

52 Rock’s Brickell : EDIE

Edie Brickell is a singer-songwriter from Dallas, Texas. Brickell has been married to fellow singer Paul Simon since 1991.

53 Ancient Greek land that hosted the Olympics : ELIS

Elis is a region of ancient Greece in the south of the country. It was home to the first Olympic Games, which were supposedly held in 776 BCE at Olympia.

54 ___ Calrissian, “Star Wars” role : LANDO

The character Lando Calrissian was played by actor Billy Dee Williams in two of the “Star Wars” movies.

55 Game’s end : MATE

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

56 Blood flow aid : STENT

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

58 Half of doce : SEIS

In Spanish, “seis” (six) doubled is “doce” (twelve).

62 Ending of a stoner movie? : JOINT RESOLUTION

The term “joint” has a long history in the drug world. The word originally came from French in which it is the past participle of the word for “to join”. It became an Anglo-Irish term for a side-room “joined” onto a main room in the early 1800s. Towards the end of the 19th century it was US slang for a small, shady establishment, such as an opium den. By the 1930s a joint was a hypodermic needle used to inject heroin, and soon after became the term for a marijuana cigarette.

65 Honeydew relative : CASABA

A casaba is type of honeydew melon. The casaba takes its name from the Turkish city of Kasaba, from where the fruit was imported into America in the late 1800s.

69 Peewee : RUNT

Back around 1500, a runt was an old or decayed tree stump, and by the early 1600s “runt” was being used to describe animals that were similarly old and decayed. Ultimately “runt” came to mean the smallest and often sickest in a litter.

70 The Horned Frogs of the Big 12 Conf. : TCU

The athletic teams of Texas Christian University (TCU) are known as the TCU Horned Frogs. The Texas horned lizard is known colloquially as the “horned frog”.

73 Animal wearing red pajamas in a children’s book : LLAMA

“Llama Llama” is a series of children’s book penned by author and illustrator Anna Dewdney. The series is remarkably successful, and have been adapted into plays, musicals and an animated Netflix series.

74 Make a jumper, say : KNIT

“Jumper” is one of those terms that caused me no end of grief when I moved to the US. I think my wife-to-be was close to dumping me on one of our first dates when she heard me talking about jumpers that I wore all the time. Where I come from, a jumper is a sweater, and can be worn by males and females alike. The dress known as a jumper in the US, back in Ireland we’d call a pinafore or pinafore dress.

77 Piece on a1 : ROOK

The corner piece in the game of chess is called a “rook”, a word coming from the Persian “rokh” meaning a “chariot”. The rook has also been called, perhaps incorrectly, the castle, tower, marquess and rector.

In standard algebraic chess notation, the corner squares are a1, a8, h1 and h8.

78 Inter ___ : ALIA

“Inter alia” is Latin for “among other things”.

79 Singer Chesney : KENNY

Kenny Chesney is a country music singer and songwriter from Knoxville, Tennessee. For just a few months in 2005, Chesney was married to actress Renee Zellweger.

87 ___ track (attack song) : DISS

“Dis” (also “diss”) is a slang term meaning “insult” that originated in the eighties. It is a shortened form of “disrespect” or “dismiss”.

91 Splits lickety-split : FLEES

“Lickety-split” is the latest in a line of terms that come from the word “lick”, which was used in the sense of a “fast sprint in a race” back in the early 1800s. From “lick” there evolved “licketie”, “lickety-click”, “lickety-cut” and finally “lickety-split”, all just colorful ways to say “fast”.

95 Part of V.S.O.P. : OLD

Brandy is a spirit distilled from wine. The term “brandy” ultimately comes from the Dutch “gebrande wijn” meaning “burnt wine”. The length of this aging of the spirit defines the various grades of brandy:

• VS: Very Special … at least 2 years storage
• VSOP: Very Special (or Superior) Old Pale … at least 4 years storage
• XO: Extra Old … at least 6 years
• VSO: Very Superior Old … 12-17 years

96 Initials hidden in “jetway,” appropriately : TWA

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan Am and TWA’s purchase by Howard Hughes, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the initialism “TWA”) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

103 Lit ___ : CRIT

Literary studies, also called literary criticism (lit. crit.), is the evaluation and interpretation of literature.

105 TV host with the autobiography “Born a Crime” : NOAH

Trevor Noah is a comedian from Johannesburg, South Africa. Noah took over as host of the Comedy Channel’s “The Daily Show” after Jon Stewart retired. Noah can speak several languages, including English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans, and German.

111 James in both the Blues and Rock and Roll Halls of Fame : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

114 Big acronym in education : STEM

The acronym STEM stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology.

116 Woman’s nickname that elides “Na” : TASHA

“Tasha” can be a nickname for “Natasha”.

Down

1 Adoption org. : ASPCA

Unlike most developed countries, the US has no umbrella organization with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.

2 Site of an annual May race : LOUISVILLE

Churchill Downs is a thoroughbred racetrack located in Louisville, Kentucky that is famous for hosting the Kentucky Derby each year. The track is named for John and Henry Churchill who once owned the land on which the course was built.

4 Piccolo relative : FIFE

A fife is a small flute that is often used in military and marching bands. The name “fife” comes from the German “Pfeife” meaning “pipe”.

The piccolo is a woodwind instrument that looks like a small flute. Piccolos play one octave higher than flutes, and so the instrument is known by Italian musicians as an “ottavino”, Italian for “little octave”. “Piccolo” is Italian for “small”.

13 Cupid, e.g. : GOD OF LOVE

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both Amor (meaning “love”) and Cupid (meaning “desire”).

15 HI goodbye : ALOHA

Hawaii (HI)

37 Density symbols : RHOS

Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R.

39 Bush : AMATEURISH

“Bush league” is baseball slang for “minor league” or “unprofessional”. The idea is that a minor league team might be based in “the sticks” or “the bushes”, in a small town.

44 “Encore!” : AGAIN!

“Encore!” is French for “again, one more time!”, and is a shout that an audience member will make here in North America to request another song, say. But, the term is not used this way in France. Rather, the audience will shout “Bis!”, which is the Italian for “twice!”

45 Davis Cup competition : MEN’S TENNIS

The Davis Cup is referred to as the “World Cup of Tennis” as teams from competing countries play in a knock-out format. Although there are now over 120 nations competing, it all started in 1900 with an event featuring teams for just the US and Great Britain. That first competition came about when four members of the Harvard University tennis team wanted to challenge the British. One of the Harvard players was Dwight D. Davis. Davis designed the format for the tournament, and bought a sterling silver trophy using his own money. The event was called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge at first, but this evolved into the Davis Cup, taking the name of the trophy awarded to the winning nation.

50 Quality feigned by a humblebrag : MODESTY

The term “humblebrag”, meaning “self-deprecating boast”, was coined by Harris Wittels, a writer for the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”.

54 Film heroine who says “Somebody has to save our skins. Into the garbage chute, flyboy” : LEIA

Princess Leia is addressing Han Solo when saying the above.

56 Orkney resident : SCOT

Orkney (also called “The Orkney Islands”) is a group of about 70 islands in the very north of Scotland. When locals who inhabit the archipelago refer to the Mainland, they aren’t talking about Scotland that is just ten miles away. Instead, the Mainland in Orkney is the name of the largest of all the islands.

58 Buckwheat noodles : SOBA

Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. In Japan, the word “soba” tends to be used to describe any thin noodle, in contrast with the thicker noodles that are called udon.

63 Big nonprofit that operates the Department of Defense Safe Helpline : RAINN

Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN)

65 Maryland’s ___ Barton Parkway : CLARA

Clara Barton was deeply disturbed by her experiences caring for the wounded during the Civil War. She dedicated herself after the war towards American recognition of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The American Red Cross was inevitably formed, in 1881, and Barton was installed as its first president.

72 Strummed instruments, for short : UKES

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

76 Center of the U.S. auto industry : MOTOR CITY

The city of Detroit was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, a French explorer. The original settlement was named for the Detroit River, which in turn takes its name from the French word “détroit” meaning “strait”. Detroit became inextricably linked with the automotive business from the very early 20th century when Henry Ford and others set up manufacturing in the area. This link to transportation led to Detroit’s nicknames of “Motor City” and “Motown”. The city’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

79 Jewish snack : KNISH

A knish is a snack food from Germany and Eastern Europe that was made popular in the US by Jewish immigrants. A knish has a filling, often made of mashed potato and ground meat, covered by a dough that is baked or fried.

81 ___ the lily : GILD

To gild is to coat with gold. The phrase “to gild the lily” means to add unnecessary ornamentation, to try to improve something that is already ideal.

85 Big name in insurance : AFLAC

In 1999, Aflac (American Family Life Assurance Company) was huge in the world of insurance but it wasn’t a household name, so a New York advertising agency was given the task of making the Aflac brand more memorable. One of the agency’s art directors, while walking around Central Park one lunchtime, heard a duck quacking and in his mind linked it with “Aflac”, and that duck has been “Aflacking” ever since …

88 Tough H.S. science class : AP CHEM

The Advanced Placement (AP) program offers college-level courses to kids who are still in high school. After being tested at the end of the courses, successful students receive credits that count towards a college degree.

95 First post-B.C. year : ONE AD

The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

98 Rival of Ole Miss : BAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

“Ole Miss” is the nickname for the University of Mississippi. The name “Ole Miss” dates back to 1897, the first year a student yearbook was published. The graduating class held a competition to name the yearbook and “Ole Miss” emerged as the winner. The name stuck to the yearbook, and also as a nickname for the school itself. The University of Mississippi sports teams have been known as the Rebels since 1936. Prior to 1936, they were known as the Mississippi Flood.

99 Bard of ___ : AVON

The original bards were storytellers, poets and composers of music in medieval Britain and Ireland, with the term coming from the Old Celtic word “bardos” that described a poet or singer. I guess the most famous bard was William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon.

100 Not worth hashing out : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able get that right, which drives me crazy …

102 Museo contents : ARTE

In Spanish, a work of “arte” (art) might be in the “Museo del Prado” (Prado Museum) in Madrid.

103 Kind of seeds in health foods : CHIA

Chia is a flowering plant in the mint family. Chia seeds are an excellent food source and are often added to breakfast cereals and energy bars. There is also the famous Chia Pet, an invention of a San Francisco company. Chia Pets are terracotta figurines to which are applied moistened chia seeds. The seeds sprout and the seedlings become the “fur” of the Chia Pet.

106 Siamang or orangutan : APE

A siamang is a large gibbon that is native to Malaysia, Thailand and Sumatra. It is the largest of the lesser apes (as opposed to the great apes).

Orangutans (also “orangs”) are arboreal creatures, the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and live in the rainforests. Like most species in rainforests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

108 Cause of a blowup, in brief : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.