Tag: Large guard dogs crossword clue

Today’s Reveal Answer: No Mas!

Themed answers have the letter sequence “MA” removed:

• 56D “Enough!,” in Mexico … or a hint to 11 answers in this puzzle : NO MAS!

• 1A Mugged for the camera, maybe : MADE FACES
• 8A Site administrator : WEBMASTER
• 40A Large guard dogs : MASTIFFS
• 41A Aches and pains : MALADIES
• 70A Feigns sickness to avoid work : MALINGERS
• 71A Much-traveled thoroughfares : MAIN ROADS
• 1D Much-painted religious figure : MADONNA
• 12D Food cooked in a cornhusk : TAMALE
• 32D Stay behind : REMAIN
• 36D Evil intent : MALICE
• 58D Wyatt Earp, for one : LAWMAN

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 9m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Mugged for the camera, maybe : MADE FACES

The verb “to mug” means “to make an exaggerated facial expression”. The term comes from mugs used to drink beer (called Toby mugs) that are made in the shape of heads with grotesque expressions. “Mug” can also be a noun meaning “face”.

15 Preceder of many N.H.L. games : O CANADA

Canada’s national anthem “O Canada” was commissioned in 1880 by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, so the original words are in French. The first English translation was made in 1906. The current English lyrics have been revised a few times, but the French version remains the same as it did back in 1880.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

18 Some male escorts : GIGOLOS

In French, a “gigole” is a “dancing girl, prostitute”. The male form of the word, “gigolo”, came into use in English in the 1920s.

19 Org. that sticks to its guns : NRA

National Rifle Association (NRA)

22 Oscar-nominated actor Clive : OWEN

English actor Clive Owen first grabbed the public’s attention in his native land in the early nineties, when he played the lead in a popular TV show called “Chancer” about a likable conman. More recently, Owen has been playing Dr. John W. Thackery on the Cinemax medical drama series “The Knick”.

35 Red choice : CLARET

Clairet is a dark rosé wine. Although it is uncommon today, clairet used to be the most common wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. For centuries now, English consumers have used the derivative term “claret” to describe any red wine from Bordeaux.

37 Gambler’s hangout, in brief : OTB

Off-track betting (OTB) is the legal gambling that takes place on horse races outside of a race track. A betting parlor can be referred to as an OTB.

40 Large guard dogs : MASTIFFS

There are a number of mastiff breeds of dog, all of which are noted for their large size. Even though modern mastiffs generally have an easy temperament, over the centuries the mastiff breeds have been used as guard dogs and war dogs, even back to ancient Roman times.

46 ___ Meyer, principal role on “Veep” : SELINA

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

47 Sign on a staff : CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

51 2009 biopic starring Hilary Swank : AMELIA

The 2009 movie “Amelia” tells the life story of Amelia Earhart, with Hilary Swank in the title role. “Amelia” didn’t do well with the critics, although I must say that I enjoyed it. Maybe that’s because I am fascinated by the whole Earhart story …

57 Grocery chain with more than 1,900 U.S. stores : ALDI

Aldi is an extremely large discount supermarket chain based in Germany with outlets in many countries, including the main European nations and Australia. Here in the US, Aldi owns the Trader Joe’s chain of stores.

59 Chicago airport code : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).

61 That, in Tabasco : ESO

Tabasco is one of Mexico’s 31 “estados” (states), and is located in the very southeast of the country.

65 Sentence containing all 26 letters : PANGRAM

A pangram is a phrase that includes all the letters of the alphabet. The most famous example in English is “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”.

68 Many a limo : TOWN CAR

The word “limousine” derives from the name of the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes …

Down

2 Villainous conglomerate on “Mr. Robot” : E CORP

“Mr. Robot” is an engaging drama series about an anxious and clinically depressed computer hacker. Said hacker joins an anarchic group of hackers known as “Mr. Robot” who are intent on taking down the largest conglomerate in the world. I binge-watched the first two series, and really enjoyed the experience …

4 Santa ___ : ANA

Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California and takes its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city.

6 Actress Falco : EDIE

Actress Edie Falco won three Emmy Awards for playing Carmela Soprano on HBO’s outstanding drama series called “The Sopranos”. Falco also won an Emmy in 2010 for playing the title role in “Nurse Jackie”, an excellent black comedy.

7 Exam for the college-bound, redundantly : SAT TEST

Today, the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the abbreviation “SAT”.

8 Jokester : WAG

A very amusing person might be referred to as a card, stitch, wag or riot.

9 Onetime London-based record label : EMI

EMI was a British music company, with the initialism standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

10 Intolerant sort : BIGOT

“Bigot” is a French word that back in the late 1500s meant “sanctimonious person, religious hypocrite”. We use the term today to describe someone who is biased towards his or her own group, and who is intolerant of those outside of that group.

12 Food cooked in a cornhusk : TAMALE

A tamale is a traditional dish from Central America composed of a starchy dough that is steamed or boiled in a wrapper made from a corn husk or banana leaf. The dough is called masa, and can include many different ingredients including meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables.

13 Preparatory school since 1440 : ETON

Eton College near Windsor in the south of England was founded way back in 1440 by King Henry VI. Originally known as “The King’s College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor”, the school was intended to provide free education to poor boys. Free education today at Eton? Not so much …

21 CBS series with a “Cyber” spinoff : CSI

The “CSI” franchise of TV shows has been tremendously successful, but has finally wound down. “CSI: Miami” (the “worst” of the franchise, I think) was cancelled in 2012 after ten seasons. “CSI: NY” (the “best” of the franchise) was cancelled in 2013 after nine seasons. The original “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, set in Las Vegas, hung in there until 2015 when it ended with a two-hour TV movie. The youngest show in the series was “CSI: Cyber”. It lasted for two seasons, before being canceled in 2016.

24 Bomber letters : USAF

The US Air Force (USAF) is the youngest of the seven uniformed services in this country, having being formed in 1947. Today’s USAF was preceded by:

• Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps (1907-1914)
• Aviation Section, Signal Corps (1914-1918)
• Division of Military Aeronautics (1918)
• US Army Air Service (1918-1926)
• US Army Air Corps (1926-1941)
• US Army Air Forces (1941-1947)

25 Medieval laborers : SERFS

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. “Serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”.

28 Dancer’s horn : ANTLER

We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

• Dasher
• Dancer
• Prancer
• Vixen
• Comet
• Cupid
• Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
• Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

35 PC combo key : CTRL

The Control (CTRL) key on a PC keyboard is used to modify the function of other keys. For example, pressing CTRL+C copies a selection to the clipboard, and CTRL+V pastes the contents of the clipboard to a location defined by the cursor. Control keys were introduced on teletypewriters to generate “control characters”, which are non-printing characters that instruct a computer to do something like print a page, ring a bell etc.

42 “Mon ___!” (French exclamation) : DIEU

“Mon Dieu!” is French for “My God!”

45 Penn. neighbor : DEL

The state of Delaware takes its name from Virginia’s first colonial governor, Englishman Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr. Delaware is known as “the First State” as it was the first to ratify the US Constitution, in 1787.

46 Dog with wrinkly skin : SHAR-PEI

The shar-pei breed of dog is that one with the wrinkly face and really dark tongue. The breed originated in China, with “shar-pei” being the British spelling of the Cantonese name.

50 Uncle, in Oaxaca : TIO

Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

54 Catcher with a record 10 World Series rings as a player : BERRA

Yogi Berra is regarded by many as the greatest catcher ever to play in Major League Baseball, and has to be America’s most celebrated “author” of malapropisms. Here are some greats:

• It ain’t over till it’s over.
• 90% of the game is half mental.
• Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.
• When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
• It’s déjà vu all over again.
• Always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise they won’t go to yours.
• A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.

57 Yours, to Yvette : A TOI

“À toi” is the French term for “yours”, when talking to someone with whom one is familiar. “À toi” literally means “to you”.

58 Wyatt Earp, for one : LAWMAN

The legendary Western gunfighter and lawman Wyatt Earp has been portrayed on the big and small screen many, many times. Kevin Costner played the title role in 1994’s “Wyatt Earp”, and Val Kilmer played Earp in 2012’s “The First Ride of Wyatt Earp”. Joel McCrea had the part in 1955’s “Wichita”, and Kurt Russell was Earp in 1993’s “Tombstone”. James Garner played Earp twice, in 1967’s “Hour of the Gun” and 1988’s “Sunset”.

60 “___ Yankees” : DAMN

In the musical show “Damn Yankees”, the title refers to the New York Yankees baseball team that dominated the sport in the fifties. That said, the show tells the story of a man who sells his soul to help his beloved Washington Senators team beat the Yankees and win the pennant. So, “Damn Yankees” is yet another version of the classic German legend of “Faust”. The show was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a production that turned out to be a very successful follow-up to their prior hit, “The Pajama Game”. The future was looking really rosy for Adler and Ross but, sadly, Jerry Ross died of obstructive lung disease only a few weeks after “Damn Yankees” opened on Broadway in 1955. He was just 29 years old.

62 Cardinals, on scoreboards : STL

The St. Louis Cardinals were originally called the “Brown Stockings”, changing their name to the “Perfectos” in 1899. That obviously didn’t go down well with the locals, as the owners changed it one year later to the Cardinals.

64 E.R. or O.R. figures : DRS

A doctor (dr.) might be found in an emergency room (ER).

66 “Planet Money” network : NPR

National Public Radio (now just called “NPR”) was established in 1970 after President Johnson signed into law the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The station’s first broadcast took place in April of 1971, coverage of the US Senate hearings on the Vietnam War. The intent of the act was to provide funding for radio and television broadcasting that wasn’t simply driven by profit. As a longtime fan of the state-funded BBC in the UK, I’d have to agree with that intent …

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Complete List of Clues/Answers

Across

1 Mugged for the camera, maybe : MADE FACES
8 Site administrator : WEBMASTER
15 Preceder of many N.H.L. games : O CANADA
16 “Oh, did you start already?” : AM I LATE?
17 0% : NOT A BIT
18 Some male escorts : GIGOLOS
19 Org. that sticks to its guns : NRA
20 List ender, maybe : ETC
22 Oscar-nominated actor Clive : OWEN
23 Exceptional grade : A-PLUS
26 Will matter : ESTATE
29 Time in court : SESSION
31 One-up, say : DRAW
35 Red choice : CLARET
37 Gambler’s hangout, in brief : OTB
39 Noteworthy time period : ERA
40 Large guard dogs : MASTIFFS
41 Aches and pains : MALADIES
43 Jump shot’s path : ARC
44 Down in the dumps : SAD
46 ___ Meyer, principal role on “Veep” : SELINA
47 Sign on a staff : CLEF
49 “I agree with both of you!” : ME THREE!
51 2009 biopic starring Hilary Swank : AMELIA
53 Apply, as sunscreen : RUB IN
57 Grocery chain with more than 1,900 U.S. stores : ALDI
59 Chicago airport code : ORD
61 That, in Tabasco : ESO
62 Like some reputations and kitchen towels : STAINED
65 Sentence containing all 26 letters : PANGRAM
68 Many a limo : TOWN CAR
69 Major retail outlets : EMPORIA
70 Feigns sickness to avoid work : MALINGERS
71 Much-traveled thoroughfares : MAIN ROADS

Down

1 Much-painted religious figure : MADONNA
2 Villainous conglomerate on “Mr. Robot” : E CORP
3 Deadly : FATAL
4 Santa ___ : ANA
5 Waiter in an airport queue : CAB
6 Actress Falco : EDIE
7 Exam for the college-bound, redundantly : SAT TEST
8 Jokester : WAG
9 Onetime London-based record label : EMI
10 Intolerant sort : BIGOT
11 Lost steam : SLOWED
12 Food cooked in a cornhusk : TAMALE
13 Preparatory school since 1440 : ETON
14 Hi-___ monitor : RES
21 CBS series with a “Cyber” spinoff : CSI
24 Bomber letters : USAF
25 Medieval laborers : SERFS
27 Additionally : TOO
28 Dancer’s horn : ANTLER
30 Bagel choice : SESAME
32 Stay behind : REMAIN
33 Surface figure : AREA
34 Used to be : WAS
35 PC combo key : CTRL
36 Evil intent : MALICE
38 Hay-bundling machine : BALER
40 Small pouch : SAC
42 “Mon ___!” (French exclamation) : DIEU
45 Penn. neighbor : DEL
46 Dog with wrinkly skin : SHAR-PEI
48 Like the sun at sunset : FADING
50 Uncle, in Oaxaca : TIO
52 Cut into small pieces : MINCE
54 Catcher with a record 10 World Series rings as a player : BERRA
55 “Let me repeat …” : I SAID …
56 “Enough!,” in Mexico … or a hint to 11 answers in this puzzle : NO MAS! … or no MAs
57 Yours, to Yvette : A TOI
58 Wyatt Earp, for one : LAWMAN
60 “___ Yankees” : DAMN
62 Cardinals, on scoreboards : STL
63 Cob of corn : EAR
64 E.R. or O.R. figures : DRS
66 “Planet Money” network : NPR
67 Melted ice cream, e.g. : GOO