Tag: Tony soprano? crossword clue

Today’s Theme: None

… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 23m 53s

Bill’s errors: 2

• N’DJAMENA (N’Djayena)
• MEH (yeh)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Capital of Chad : N’DJAMENA

The landlocked African country called Chad takes its name from the second largest wetland on the continent, which is known as Lake Chad.

17 Folklore character whose stockings are tied with eyelashes : TOM THUMB

The story “Tom Thumb” was originally published way back in 1621, making it the first fairy tale ever printed in English. The title character is a boy who is no bigger than his father’s thumb, hence his name.

18 Course coup : BIRDIE

The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

• Bogey: one over par
• Par
• Birdie: one under par
• Eagle: two under par
• Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
• Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

19 Some indie releases : EPS

An extended-play (EP) record, CD or download contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.

23 ’70s sitcom title role : FRED SANFORD

“Sanford and Son” is an American version of a celebrated hit BBC sitcom that I grew up with in Ireland, called “Steptoe and Son”.

29 Perp’s mark, in cop slang : VIC

In cop-speak, a “perp” (perpetrator) might prey on a “vic” (victim).

33 Language introduced in 1995 : JAVA

Java is a programming language that was developed by Sun Microsystems. Java was originally designed for interactive television, but it didn’t fit the needs at the time. Back then, the language was called Oak, named after an oak tree that stood outside the designer’s office. Later it was called Green, and finally named Java, which was simply picked out of a list of random words.

37 ___ jazz : ACID

The musical genre known as “acid jazz” is also called “club jazz”. The genre originated in London clubs in the 1980s.

39 Lane on the eastern boundary of Covent Garden : DRURY

Covent Garden in London’s West End is associated with the Royal Opera House that is located in the area, and with the former fruit and vegetable market that used to sit right at the center of the district. The name “Covent Garden” comes from the fact that there once was a walled garden in the area owned by the Benedictine Monks of the Abbey of St. Peter in Westminster. The abbey rented out the walled garden calling it “Convent Garden”, and this morphed into the area’s current name.

41 Baseboard fastener : BRAD

A brad is a slender wire nail with a relatively small head that is typically used to tack pieces of wood together, i.e. to fasten either temporarily or with minimal damage to the wood. Nowadays, brads are commonly applied using a nail gun.

43 Tony soprano? : MARIA CALLAS

Although Maria Callas was born in New York City, she was educated in music in Greece, and launched her career in Italy. Her marvelous performances earned her the nickname “La Davina”, and she was described by Leonard Bernstein as “the Bible of opera …”

56 Brie ___, star of 2019’s “Captain Marvel” : LARSON

I mainly recognize actress Brie Larson from playing the daughter of Toni Collete’’s character on the excellent TV show “United States of Tara”. Larson is from Sacramento, and trained at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, where she was the youngest person ever admitted.

“Captain Marvel” is a superhero movie released in 2019. It was the first film in the Marvel franchise of films to feature a female lead. The title character, Carol Davers (aka “Captain Marvel”) is played by Brie Larson.

59 Stand with dogs, say : SNACK BAR

A hot dog is a sausage served in a split roll. The term “hot dog” dates back to the 19th-century and is thought to reflect a commonly-held opinion that the sausages contained dog meat.

Down

3 Undirected sessions : JAMS

The use of “jam”, meaning an improvised passage performed by a whole jazz band, dates back to the late twenties. This gave rise to “jam session”, a term used a few years later. The use of “jam” in this context probably stems from the meaning of “jam” as something sweet, something excellent.

8 Leopards and anacondas, e.g. : AMBUSH PREDATORS

The four “big cats” are the tiger, lion, jaguar and leopard. The largest of the big cats is the tiger, and the smallest is the leopard.

Anacondas are native to the tropical regions of South America. The green anaconda is one of the world’s largest snakes, growing to 17 feet long and weighing up to 550 pounds! Anacondas are not venomous, and prefer to kill their prey by coiling around it and then squeeeeeezing …

9 HQ with runways : AFB

Air Force Base (AFB)

21 Browns, perhaps : SAUTES

“Sauté” is a French word. The literal translation from the French is “jumped” or “bounced”, a reference to the tossing of food while cooking it in a frying pan.

30 Suffragist Elizabeth ___ Stanton : CADY

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the earliest leaders of the women’s rights and women’s suffrage movements in the United States. Notably, she opposed the extension of voting rights to African American men (the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments), even though she was an outspoken abolitionist. She believed that increasing the number of male voters in the country would just make it harder for women to get the vote.

31 Tom Wolfe’s “___ in Full” : A MAN

American author Tom Wolfe started his career as a journalist, and was very much at the center of the New Journalism literary movement of the sixties and seventies. His first book of note was “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” that tells the story of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. Wolfe also wrote “The Right Stuff” about the post-war test pilots and the Project Mercury astronauts.

32 State bordering the Pacific : OAXACA

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

33 Banned outdoor game : JARTS

Jarts is a brand of lawn darts.

Lawn darts is a game played on lawns in which participants toss large darts towards horizontal targets laid out on the grass. After many injuries, and several deaths, lawn darts were banned in the US and Canada. A modified version of lawn darts that uses projectiles with blunt tips can now be purchased in the US.

35 Shepard who wrote “Pretty Little Liars” : SARA

“Pretty Little Liars” is a mystery drama TV series aimed at teens. It is based on a series of novels penned by Sara Shepard.

36 Novelist O’Brien : EDNA

Edna O’Brien is an Irish novelist and playwright who is known for her works that shine a light on the problems of women relating to men and society in general. O’Brien’s first novel, “The Country Girls”, was banned, burned and denounced by the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. As a result, O’Brien left the country and now lives in London.

42 Source of fine wool : ALPACA

Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. Alpacas were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.

45 “___ You” (1975 Minnie Riperton hit) : LOVIN’

Minnie Riperton was a singer best known for the fabulous 1975 hit “Lovin’ You”. Minnie’s daughter is comic actress Maya Rudolph.

46 Presidential dog of the 1940s : FALA

Fala was the famous Scottish Terrier that was ever present at the side of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for many years. The terrier was a Christmas gift to the president from his cousin, who had named the dog Big Boy while she trained him as a puppy. President Roosevelt renamed him after an ancestor of his from Falahill in Scotland, so the dog’s full name was Murray the Outlaw of Falahill. Fala lived on for several years after the president’s passing. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the gravesites of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, and Fala is buried just a few feet away from his master.

48 Ancient Dead Sea kingdom : MOAB

In the Bible, Moab was the first son of Lot, and the founder of the Kingdom of Moab. Moab was located on a plateau above the Dead Sea.

The Middle East’s Dead Sea lies more than 1,400 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point on the Earth’s landmass. It is also one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world, with a salt content that is almost ten times that of most oceans.

49 Pop star with top 40 hits in the 1950s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s : ANKA

Canadian-born Paul Anka’s big hit was in 1957, the song entitled “Diana”. Anka was the subject of a much-lauded documentary film in 1962 called “Lonely Boy”.

50 Scene of W.W. I fighting : YSER

The Yser is a river that originates in northern France and flows through Belgium into the North Sea. The Yser is often associated with WWI as it figured in a major battle early in the conflict. In the first three months of the war, the German Army pushed almost completely through Belgium, inflicting heavy losses on the Belgian Army as the defenders were forced to fight a fast-moving rearguard action. The Germans were intent on pushing right through Belgium and across France in a “race to the sea”. But the Belgians, with the help of their Allies, decided to make a final stand at the Yser Canal in an effort to prevent the Germans reaching the French ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The 22-mile long defensive line was chosen at the Yser because the river and canal system could be flooded to create a barrier that might be defended. The plan was successful and the front was “stabilized”. As we now know, millions of lives were lost over the coming years with very little movement of that battle line.

52 Fighter in the fictional Battle of Isengard : ENT

Ents are tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

54 Shamus : TEC

“Shamus” is a slang term describing a policeman or a private investigator. The experts don’t seem so sure, but there is no doubt in my mind that the term derives from the Irish name “Séamus” (“James” in English). In days past, the stereotypical cop hailed from the Auld Sod.