Tag: Colorful display in a weather report crossword clue

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Constructed by: Trenton Charlson
Edited by: Will Shortz

Today’s Theme: None

Bill’s time: 16m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Matchmaking services? : DNA LABS

I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relatives.

15. In a classic form of diamond : ROSE CUT

Diamonds that are rose cut are rarely seen these days, with most examples being found in antique jewelry.

17. Rust : OXIDATE

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

18. Technophobe : LUDDITE

In contemporary usage, a “Luddite” is someone who is slow to adopt new technology. This usage has even been extended to “Neo-Luddism”, meaning the active opposition to some technologies. It has been suggested that the term “Luddism” commemorates a youth called Ned Ludd, who smashed two mechanical knitting machines in 1779, in the belief that they represented automation that took away jobs. In the following decades, Luddism became an active movement, with Luddites going on rampages, smashing equipment that was deemed to create unemployment.

22. Smidgen : DAB

Our word “smidgen” (sometimes shortened to “smidge”) is used to describe a small amount. The term might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

23. Shepherd’s pie ingredients : PEAS

Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie, is one of my favorite dishes. It is a meat pie (although my wife makes a vegetarian version), with a crust made from mashed potato.

30. Street hustler’s game : MONTE

Three-card monte is a confidence trick in which someone is goaded into betting money on the assumption that he or she can find the “money card” (usually a queen) among three cards placed face down. The “mark” who is being duped has all sorts of ways to lose and there are usually several people in on the scam, including others playing who seem to be winning.

31. Many a corny pun : DAD JOKE

I tell them all the time, just to annoy the kids …

35. Lord Tennyson’s “The Eagle,” e.g. : ODE

Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote a poem called “The Eagle”:

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ringed with the azure world, he stands.
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

37. Speed of sound : MACH ONE

The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is its speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane travelling at Mach 2, for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1877 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.

45. Certain Bedouin : OMANI

Bedouin tribes are Arab ethnic groups that predominantly live in the Middle East, in desert areas. Bedouin tribes tend to be nomadic, not settling permanently in one location.

46. Aladdin’s simian sidekick : ABU

Abu is a monkey in the Disney production of “Aladdin”. The character is based on Abu, a thief in the 1940 film “The Thief of Baghdad”.

“Simian” means “pertaining to monkeys or apes”, from the Latin word “simia” meaning “ape”.

52. Auto parts giant : NAPA

The National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) is a retailers’ cooperative that supplies replacement parts for cars and trucks.

53. “The enemy of ___ is the absence of limitations”: Orson Welles : ART

Orson Welles is perhaps best-remembered in the world of film for his role in 1941’s “Citizen Kane”. In the world of radio, Welles is known for 1938’s famous broadcast of “The War of the Worlds”, a broadcast that convinced many listeners that the Earth was indeed being invaded by aliens.

54. Vehicle used by the police to catch thieves : BAIT CAR

A bait car is a vehicle that has been fitted out with cameras and tracking devices by the police so that they can catch car thieves.

56. “Delta of Venus” author : NIN

“Delta of Venus” is a collection of short stories by Anais Nin that was published in 1977, not long after the author’s passing. The stories were originally written on commission for a private collector in the 1940s.

57. Mob law? : RICO ACT

The RICO Act is more fully called the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The law was used largely to prosecute members of the Mafia in the seventies, and has been applied more broadly since.

61. “The Call of ___” (short story by H. P. Lovecraft) : CTHULHU

H. P. Lovecraft was an author of horror, fantasy and science fiction. His books aren’t my cup of tea …

62. Creamy Italian dish : RISOTTO

Risotto is an Italian rice dish that is usually served as a first course in Italy, but as a main course here in North America.

Down

5. Four-letter fruit pronounced in three syllables : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

6. “Au contraire …” : BUT NO …

“Au contraire” is French for “on the contrary”.

9. Unit of energy : JOULE

James Joule was an English physicist who spent much of his life working in the family brewing business. Joule used his work in the brewery to study the relationship between heat and mechanical work. In honor of his achievements, his name is used for the unit of energy in the International System of Units (i.e. the joule).

10. Like Rodin’s “The Thinker” : NUDE

Rodin’s famous sculpture known as “The Thinker” has been reproduced many times. Rodin’s original version of “The Thinker” is actually a detail in a much larger work known as “The Gates of Hell”. The original plaster version of “The Gates of Hell” can be seen at the magnificent Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

13. Phoenician goddess of fertility : ASTARTE

Astarte was an ancient fertility goddess who was worshiped throughout the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean. “Astarte” is the name that the Greeks gave to her, although Astarte was absorbed into Greek mythology as the goddesses Aphrodite and Artemis.

14. Snack company that’s a subsidiary of Kellogg’s : KEEBLER

The famous Keebler Elves have been appearing in ads for Keebler since 1968. The original head of the elves was J. J. Keebler, but he was toppled from power by Ernest J. Keebler in 1970. The Keebler Elves bake their cookies in the Hollow Tree Factory.

21. Top part of a face : XII

There is often a Roman numeral 12 (XII) at the top of a clock face.

26. Reduce one’s carbon footprint : GO GREEN

The carbon footprint of a person, family or organization say, is defined as the total set of greenhouse gases caused by the presence and activities of that entity. More simply it is a measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide and methane emitted by the entity.

32. Comprehension : KEN

“Ken” is a noun meaning “understanding, perception”. One might say, for example, “half the clues in Saturday’s crossword are beyond my ken, beyond my understanding”.

34. Ring letters : WBA

World Boxing Association (WBA)

38. “You all agree with me, yes?,” in one word : AMIRITE?

That’s a stupid word, am I right?

44. Tic-tac-toe plays : XS AND OS

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

47. Smidgen : BIT

Our word “smidgen” (sometimes shortened to “smidge”) is used to describe a small amount. The term might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

50. ___ Baron Cohen, player of Borat : SACHA

Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian and comic actor from England. Baron Cohen is perhaps most famous for playing the characters Borat and Ali G on the small and large screens. I’m not a fan …

51. Title woman of a Beatles song : SADIE

“Sexy Sadie” is a song written by John Lennon and released by the Beatles in 1968. Lennon wrote the song in India, and its original title was “Maharishi”.

60. Party person, for short : POL

Politician (pol)