Tag: Not on the up and up slangily crossword clue

Bill’s time: 9m 01s

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Longtime CBS procedural with multiple spinoffs : NCIS

NCIS is the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, which investigates crimes in the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The service gives its name to the CBS TV show “NCIS”, a spin-off drama from “JAG” in which the main “NCIS” characters were first introduced. The original big star in “NCIS” was actor Mark Harmon, playing Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

14A Alternative to check or credit card : CASH

Our word “cash” comes from the Middle French “caisse” meaning “money box”.

17A Appropriately named bus driver on “The Simpsons” : OTTO

Otto Mann drives the school bus on the TV show “The Simpsons”. He is a Germanic character voiced by Harry Shearer, and his name is a play on “Ottoman Empire”. Whenever Bart sees him, he greets Otto with the words “Otto, man!”

18A Alternative to épée or foil, in British English : SABRE

A saber (sometimes “sabre”) is a sword with a curved blade and a relatively large hand guard. It is thought that the term originated with the Hungarian verb “szabni” meaning “to cut”.

19A Tokarczuk who won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature : OLGA

Olga Tokarczuk is a Polish author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018. She also won the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her novel “Flights”. Her epic historical novel “The Books of Jacob”, published in 2014, is generally regarded as Tokarczuk’s magnum opus.

20A Classic Hanukkah treat : CHOCOLATE COIN

In the Jewish tradition, it is common to gift small amounts of money during the festival of Hanukkah. This money is referred to as Hanukkah gelt, or simply “gelt”. Recipients of the gelt are usually children, and perhaps teachers. “Gelt” is the Yiddish word for “money”.

23A Brownish-yellow fabric : KHAKI

“Khaki” is an Urdu word that translates literally as “dusty”. The term was adopted for its current use as the name of a fabric by the British cavalry in India in the mid-1800s.

25A Sleeper’s breathing problem : APNEA

Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

27A Lead-in to “drink and be merry” : EAT

Merry Christmas … 🙂

31A Antitrust enforcement org. : FTC

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was established in 1914, with the mission of protecting consumers.

39A Classic Halloween treat : CANDY CORN

Despite its enduring popularity around Halloween, candy corn consistently ranks as one of America’s least favorite Halloween candies, often due to its waxy texture and overly sweet flavor.

54A Dream Team country, for short : USA

In 1989, the International Basketball Federation changed its rule requiring amateur status for participants in the Olympic Games (although prior to the ruling, European and South American professionals could play). So the US was able to field the “Dream Team” at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Since the rules changed, the US won gold in four out of the five Olympic tournaments.

59A Classic Yuletide treat : CHRISTMAS COOKIE

Yule celebrations coincide with Christmas, and the words “Christmas” and “Yule” (often “Yuletide”) have become synonymous in much of the world. However, Yule was originally a pagan festival celebrated by Germanic peoples. The name “Yule” comes from the Old Norse word “jol” that was used to describe the festival.

64A This should clear things up! : LASIK

LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

65A Reject, as a bill : VETO

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

66A Nothing, in Nogales : NADA

Nogales (properly called “Heroica Nogales”) is a city in the Mexican State of Sonora. Nogales lies right on the Mexico-US border, opposite the city of Nogales, Arizona.

Down

1D Sgt. or cpl. : NCO

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) might be a sergeant (sgt.) or a corporal (cpl.).

2D Go off a ski jump, say : CATCH AIR

The winter sport of ski jumping originated in Norway. The first recorded, measured ski jump was by Norwegian-Danish military officer Olaf Rye. He launched himself a distance of 9.5 meters in front of fellow soldiers in 1809. There is now an offshoot of ski jumping known as ski flying, which involves the use of larger hills. Ski flyers have made jumps in excess of 250 meters.

7D With all judges present : EN BANC

“En banc” is a French term, translating as “on a bench”. It refers to the cases in which all the judges of a court hear a case, as opposed to a case heard just by a panel, a subset of the full complement. The phrase is sometimes written as “in banc” in the US.

8D ___ de Rossi, “Arrested Development” actress : PORTIA

Portia de Rossi is an actress from Australia who played Nelle Porter on “Ally McBeal” and Lindsay Bluth/Fünke on “Arrested Development”. Off the screen, de Rossi is famous as the wife of Ellen DeGeneres, whom she married in 2008.

13D Org. regulating water safety : EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

21D Insect that emerges en masse every 13 or 17 years : CICADA

There is a genus of cicada known as the periodic cicada that spends most of its life underground feeding on the roots of trees. They are described as periodic because mature cicada nymphs emerge from the ground in great numbers every 13 or 17 years and are active for just 4-6 weeks. While above ground, the males chirp away to attract mates and fertilized females lay eggs. When the reproductive cycle is complete, the adult cicadas “disappear” for another 13 or 17 years.

22D Kind of salad whose dressing contains anchovies : CAESAR

The caesar salad was created by restaurateur Caesar Cardini at the Hotel Caesar’s in Tijuana, Mexico. The original recipe called for whole lettuce leaves that were to be lifted up by the stem and eaten with the fingers.

29D “Once ___ a time …” : UPON

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

30D Character played by Bruce Lee on “The Green Hornet” : KATO

In “The Green Hornet” television series, Kato was played by Bruce Lee. The Kato role has been cited as a driving force behind the increase in popularity of martial arts in the US during the sixties.

33D ___ Finn : HUCK

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Mark Twain was first published in 1884, not here in the US but rather in England. The original launch planned for the US had to be delayed until the following year because some rascal had defaced the plate for one of the illustrations, making an obscene joke. Once the problem was spotted a new plate had to be made, and 30,000 copies already printed had to be reworked to cover up the obscenity.

35D One of three on the pitchfork in “American Gothic” : TINE

The iconic Grant Wood work titled “American Gothic” was painted in 1930. It depicts a farmer holding a pitchfork standing beside his spinster daughter. Grant used his sister as a model for the daughter, and his dentist as a model for the farmer. You can see “American Gothic” on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. You can also visit the house depicted in the painting, in the city of Eldon, Iowa. Perhaps predictably, the house is located on what is now called American Gothic Street.

37D Big Apple org. that’s going to blazes? : FDNY

New York City Fire Department (FDNY)

38D Flat-bottomed boat : SCOW

A scow is a flat-bottomed boat with squared-off ends that’s often used for transportation, usually pushed or pulled by a barge. Often, a scow can be seen carrying junk or garbage.

41D Resident of Pisa or Lucca : TUSCAN

The Italian city of Pisa is home to the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is actually the bell tower of the city’s cathedral. Pisa is also a university town, and is home to one of the oldest universities in Europe, the University of Pisa, which was founded in 1343. The university has produced many notable alumni, including the physicist Galileo Galilei.

Tuscany is a beautiful region in central Italy, the capital of which is the city of Florence. Tuscany is considered to be the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, which was centered around Florence. It was home to great artistic icons such as Dante, Botticelli, Michelangelo, da Vinci, Galileo and Puccini.

47D Top execs, colloquially … or what 20-, 28-, 39- and 59-Across are, phonetically? : C-SUITE

The C-suite is the suite of offices assigned to senior management. The “C” reference is to the abbreviation for “Chief”, the word that starts the titles of many senior officers in a company, e.g. chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO) and chief financial officer(CFO).

50D Not on the up and up, slangily : SUS

The slang term “sus” is a shortened form of “suspicious” or “suspect”.

53D Middle name for Lennon starting in 1969 : ONO

After John Lennon married Yoko Ono in 1969, he changed his name by deed poll, adding “Ono” as a middle name. His official name became John Winston Ono Lennon, as he wasn’t allowed to drop the name “Winston” that was given to him at birth.

58D Sign of peace : DOVE

The dove is a symbol of peace, and the hawk is a symbol of war.

60D Sallie or Fannie follower : MAE

“Sallie Mae” is a nickname for SLM Corporation that was created in 1972 by the US government as the Student Loan Marketing Association. By 2004, the government had severed all its ties with Sallie Mae. Today, SLM is basically a profit-focused lender.

The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called “Fannie Mae”, a play on the initialism “FNMA”. Fannie Mae was founded during the Great Depression as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal.

61D Hand-y communication method, for short? : ASL

American Sign Language (ASL)