Tag: You betcha crossword clue

Bill’s time: 12m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15A Win after ad out, say : BREAK SERVE

In tennis, if the score reaches deuce (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the advantage. If the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. The player calling out the score announces “ad in”, or more formally “advantage in”, if he/she has the advantage. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all of that …?

17A Popular loaves for corned beef sandwiches : JEWISH RYES

Corned beef is beef that has been cured with salt. “Corn” is a term describing a grain of salt, giving the dish its name. Corned beef is also known as “salt beef”, and “bully beef” if stored in cans (from the French “bouilli” meaning “boiled”).

18A Resort that bans snowboarding : ALTA

Alta ski resort lies within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area. The first ski lift in the resort was opened way back in 1939. Today, Alta is one of only three ski resorts in the country that prohibits snowboarding (along with Deer Valley, Utah and Mad River Glen, Vermont). The ski resort of Snowbird, located next to Alta, has been in operation since 1971.

19A Protectors of a queen : SOLDIER ANTS

In an ant colony, soldier ants differ from worker ants in that they have stronger mandibles and are hence more suitable for fighting. However, when they aren’t fighting, they basically carry out the same functions as the workers. All worker and soldier ants are sterile females.

21A When Buddhism’s Bodhi Day is observed: Abbr. : DEC

The Bodhi Tree (also “Bo Tree”) is a sacred fig tree in the Indian state of Bihar in the northeast of the country. It is venerated as the tree under which the Buddha was sitting when he attained enlightenment. The name of the tree translates into English as “Tree of Awakening”.

22A Tourist hotspot in Uttar Pradesh : AGRA

Agra is a medieval city on the banks of the river Yamuna in India that was the capital of the Mughal Empire from 1556 to 1658. The city is home to three UNESCO World Heritage Sites:

• The Taj Mahal: the famous mausoleum built in memory of Mumtaz Mahal.
• Agra Fort: the site where the famous Koh-i-Noor diamond was seized.
• Fatehpur Sikri: a historic city that’s home to well-preserved Mughal architecture.

The nation of India comprises 28 states and 8 union territories. The largest state by area is Rajasthan, in the northwest of the country. The most populous state is the neighboring Uttar Pradesh.

23A Epoch that marked the rise of mammals : EOCENE

The Eocene Epoch lasted from 56 to 34 million years ago. The name “Eocene” comes from the Greek “eos” meaning “dawn” and “kainos” meaning “new”. This is a reference to the “new dawn” for modern mammals, which emerged during the Eocene epoch.

29A Fulfillment center? : ELS

There are a couple of letters L (els) in the center of the word “fulfillment”.

33A The sparkle in some cosmetics : MICA

Mica is a silicate mineral. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes” in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

35A Member of a militant Islamist movement in Afghanistan and Pakistan : TALIB

The War in Afghanistan began in 2001 with an invasion by the US and allies after the ruling Taliban refused to extradite Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden escaped Afghanistan, but was tracked down in Pakistan where he was killed by US forces in 2011. There was a resurgence of Taliban influence in Afghanistan starting in 2003, and the US eventually signed a conditional peace deal with the Taliban in 2020 calling for withdrawal of US forces by May 1, 2021. US withdrawal was completed at the end of August 2021. The War in Afghanistan was the longest war in the history of the US (19 years, 10 months), surpassing even the Vietnam War (19 years, 5 months).

37A Low-priced car introduced in 1980 : YUGO

The Yugo is a notoriously unreliable subcompact car that was built by the Zastava corporation of Yugoslavia.

47A Dennis ___, author of “Mystic River” and “Gone Baby Gone” : LEHANE

Author Dennis Lehane has had several of his novels adapted into movies of the same name, including “Mystic River” (2003), “Shutter Island” (2010), “Gone Baby Gone” (2007) and “Live by Night” (2016).

48A The so-called “Prince of Motown” : GAYE

Marvin Gaye was a singer-songwriter from Washington, D.C. who came to be known as “Prince of Soul” and “Prince of Motown”. Some of Gaye’s biggest hits are “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968), “What’s Going On?” (1971), “Let’s Get It On” (1973) and “Sexual Healing” (1982). Famously, Gaye was shot dead by his father while Marvin was sitting on his mother’s bed just talking to her. Marvin had given the gun to his father as a Christmas gift.

49A Sold-out inits. : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

50A Person giving anonymously : SECRET SANTA

The Christmas tradition known as “Secret Santa” is often used for gift-giving by a group of friends or colleagues. Each person is randomly assigned another member of the group to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift-giver is kept secret, hence the name of the tradition.

58A Famous French filmmaker who was the son of a famous painter : JEAN RENOIR

Jean Renoir was a very successful French movie director. He was also the son of the famous impressionist painter, Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

61A High-protein paste : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

Down

1D Lunchbox staples, for short : PBJS

Peanut butter and jelly (PB&J or PBJ)

2D “Twist, Lick, Dunk” product : OREO

There is an “official” competition involving Oreo cookies, in case anyone is interested in participating. A competitor has to take several steps to finish an OREO Lick Race:

1. Twist open the cookie.
2. Lick each half clean of creme.
3. Show the clean cookie halves to the fellow competitors.
4. Dunk the cookie halves in a glass of milk.
5. Eat the cookie halves.
6. Drink the milk.
7. Ready, set, go …

7D Junípero ___, founder of the San Francisco Mission : SERRA

Junípero Serra was a Spanish missionary, a founder of several missions out here in California. Among those associated with Serra is the Mission in Carmel, where Serra’s remains are buried, and Mission San Juan Capistrano, the chapel of which is believed to be the oldest standing building in the state.

8D One of the Starks on “Game of Thrones” : ARYA

Maisie Williams is the English actress who plays the tomboyish young girl Arya Stark on the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones”.

9D Scandinavian name that becomes a number if you add an “e” inside it : SVEN

“Sven” is a Scandinavian name. “Sven” is derived from the Old Norse word for “young man” or “young warrior”.

10D Type of stanza : SESTET

“Stanza” is an Italian word meaning “verse of a poem”.

11D Waste watchdog, for short : EPA

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

12D Longstanding code of conduct : GOLDEN RULE

The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

A derivative phrase often heard today is “Love thy neighbor (as thyself)”.

24D “Roger that” : COPY

The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radiotelephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included “Roger” to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.

25D Fashionable stars of showbiz, slangily : GLITTERATI

“Glitterati” is a melding of the words “glitter” and “literati”. “Literati” refers to the well-educated, literary elite, and “glitterati” was coined in the 1940s to describe their glamorous, celebrity-focused counterparts, the fashionable jet set.

26D Crystal and Rock, notably : OSCAR HOSTS

Billy Crystal is an actor and comedian who first gained fame as the character Jodie Dallas on the seventies sitcom “Soap”. Crystal is also famous for hosting the Academy Awards, and has done so nine times. Only Bob Hope has hosted the event more times, and he did so on 19 occasions.

Chris Rock is a great stand-up comedian. Interestingly, Rock cites his paternal grandfather as an influence on his performing style. Grandfather Allen Rock was a preacher.

27D Sun: Prefix : HELIO-

Helios was the god of the Sun in Greek mythology, and is the reason that we use the prefix “helio-” to mean “sun”. He was the brother of Selene, the goddess of the moon, and Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Helios drove his chariot of the sun across the sky during the day, returning to the East at night by traveling through the ocean. The Roman equivalent to Helios was Sol.

29D Target of some filters : EMAIL SPAM

The term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

34D Et ___ : ALIA

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names. “Et al.” can stand for “et alii” (a group of males, or males and females), “et aliae” (a group of women) and “et alia” (a group of neuter nouns, or a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

36D Certain particle accelerator : BETATRON

A betatron is a machine that’s used to produce electrons. The name betatron comes from “beta particles”, electrons emitted by some radioactive nuclei.

39D Fisheye, e.g. : LENS

A fisheye lens is an extremely wide-angle lens, meaning that it takes a very wide, hemispherical image. The image is quite distorted, because of the short focal length.

44D Someone having mixed success at work? : DEEJAY

The world’s first radio disc jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.

48D Figures in the films “Kazaam” and “Wishmaster” : GENII

“Genii” is an accepted plural of two related words: “genius” and “genie”.

“Kazaam” is a 1996 family movie about a genie who grants three wishes to a young boy. Kazaam is the name of the genie, and is played by basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal. The film was directed by Paul Michael Glaser, who played Starsky on “Starsky and Hutch” in the seventies. No one seemed to like the “Kazaam” movie.

51D Gospel singer Winans : CECE

CeCe Winans (real given name “Priscilla”) is a Gospel music singer. She is part of a duo with her brother, BeBe Winans (real name Benjamin).

55D One side of the college football rivalry branded as “America’s Game” : ARMY

The first Army-Navy football game took place in November 1890. The annual event is most often played in Philadelphia, as the city is about the same distance from the USMA at West Point, New York and the USNA at Annapolis, Maryland. One of the more memorable Army-Navy games (to trivia lovers) was played in 1893. That’s because Navy Midshipman Joseph M. Reeves wore a helmet, marking the first time a helmet was used for protection in a football game.

57D Eastern philosophy : TAO

Taoism is a religion and philosophy that originated in ancient China. It has been connected to the development of martial arts. The Chinese martial arts are based on the idea of using the body’s natural movements to defend oneself. Taoist philosophy emphasizes the importance of being in tune with one’s body and mind, which is essential for martial arts training.