Tag: You might take a spin in this crossword clue

Bill’s time: 8m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Young grasshopper : NYMPH

Some species of grasshoppers are known as locusts. The main characteristic defining a locust species is the tendency to swarm under certain circumstances. Those circumstances are usually drought conditions followed by rapid growth of vegetation.

6A Dibs, e.g. : CLAIM

The phrase “to have dibs on” expresses a claim on something. Apparently, the term “dibs” is a contraction of “dibstone”, which was a knucklebone or jack used in a children’s game.

11A Org. that offers one “L” of a ride? : CTA

The Chicago “L” is one of the largest rapid transit systems in the US. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

15A Game to play when the spirit moves you? : OUIJA

The Ouija board was introduced to America as a harmless parlor game at the end of the 19th century, although variations of the board date back to 1100 AD in China, where it was apparently used to “contact” the spirit world. The name “Ouija” is relatively recent, and is probably just a combination of the French and German words for “yes” … “oui” and “ja”.

16A Minnesota’s state bird : LOON

The common loon (also “great northern diver”) is the provincial bird of Ontario, and the state bird of Minnesota. The loon once appeared on Canadian $20 bills and also appears on the Canadian one-dollar coin, giving the coin the nickname “the loonie”.

17A *Restaurant chain named after a Rolling Stones song : RUBY TUESDAY

“Ruby Tuesday” is a 1966 song by the Rolling Stones written by Keith Richards, and is apparently about a groupie that he once knew. The American chain of restaurants with the name Ruby Tuesday is named for the song.

19A Big name in cosmetics : AVON

In 1886, a young man called David McConnell was selling books door-to-door. To enhance his sales numbers he was giving out free perfume to the ladies of the houses that he visited. Seeing as his perfume was more popular than his books, he founded the California Perfume Company in New York City and started manufacturing and selling across the country. The company name was changed to Avon in 1939, and the famous “Avon Calling” marketing campaign was launched in 1954.

21A “X-Men” villain who can manipulate metals : MAGNETO

In the Marvel Comics universe, Magneto is a powerful mutant and an enemy of the X-Men. As his name implies, Magneto’s superhuman ability is that he can generate and control magnetic fields. Magneto has been portrayed on the big screen in the “X-Men” series of films by Sir Ian McKellen, and by Michael Fassbender.

23A Summer camp craft : CANOE

The boat known as a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

27A ^ : CARET

The character known as a caret (^) was originally a proofreading mark, one used to indicate where a punctuation mark was to be inserted. “Caret” is Latin for “it lacks”.

28A Numbers on botellas de vino : ANOS

In Spanish, “años” (years) are grouped into “décadas” (decades).

31A Silk Road locale, largely : ASIA

The Silk Road was a network of trading routes that crossed Central Asia, connecting Europe to East Asia. The routes get the name from the lucrative trade in silk from China.

40A Page for learning more, for short : FAQ

Most websites have a page listing answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Even this blog has one!

41A You might take a spin in this : TUTU

The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word meaning “bottom, backside”.

42A Kentucky ___, annual horse race since 1875 : OAKS

The Kentucky Oaks is a race that is held on the Friday before the Kentucky Derby. Both races are limited to three-year-old thoroughbreds, but the Oaks is also limited to fillies.

46A Investment option, informally : ROTH

Roth Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth IRAs) were introduced in 1997 under a bill sponsored by Senator William Roth of Delaware, hence the name.

47A Microwaved : NUKED

The first household microwave oven was introduced to the market in 1955, by the Tappan Stove Company in Ohio.

52A Musical instrument in the Guinness logo : HARP

Guinness trademarked its famous harp logo way back in 1862. The harp is also a symbol of Ireland. When Ireland became a Free State from the United Kingdom in 1922, the new Irish government had to come up with a different symbol so as not to infringe trademark laws. That’s why Ireland’s harp points in the opposite direction of Guinness’ harp. ‘Tis true, ‘tis true …

54A Classic wood for boatbuilding : TEAK

Teak is a hardwood tree in the mint family that is commonly found in monsoon forests of Asia. Teak’s tight grain and high oil content make it very suitable for constructing outdoor furniture, where weather resistance is valued. For the same reason, teak is the wood of choice for wooden decks on boats.

61A West Coast N.F.L. team : RAMS

The Los Angeles Rams are the only franchise to have won NFL championships in three different cities, i.e. Cleveland (1945), Los Angeles (1951 & 2021) and St. Louis (1999). The Rams were based in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945, in Los Angeles from 1946 to 1994, in St. Louis from 1995 to 2015, and returned to Los Angeles in 2016.

66A “You got it!!” … or a possible cry after hearing the calls hidden in the answers to the starred clues? : BINGO!

Our game bingo is a derivative of an Italian lottery game called “Il Giuoco del Lotto d’Italia” that became popular in the 16th-century.

Down

1D “Morning Edition” airer : NPR

NPR’s flagship news program is “Morning Edition”, a 2-hour show broadcast from Monday through Friday. The sister show “Weekend Edition” is broadcast on Saturday and Sunday.

3D Org. associated with a museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. : MLB

Cooperstown is a village in New York that is famous as the home to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The village was named for Judge William Cooper, the founder of Cooperstown and the father of the noted writer James Fenimore Cooper.

6D Either brother who wrote 1996’s “Fargo” : COEN

“Fargo” is one of my favorite films of all time, and stars one of my favorite actors: Frances McDormand. The movie was directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan. Frances McDormand is Joel’s wife.

7D What Dante’s second circle of hell represents : LUST

In Dante’s “Inferno”, Hell is represented as nine circles of suffering. The nine circles of Hell are:

1. Limbo
2. Lust
3. Gluttony
4. Greed
5. Anger
6. Heresy
7. Violence
8. Fraud
9. Treachery

10D Like many ruins in Belize : MAYAN

Belize was formerly known as British Honduras, which explains why English is the country’s official language. Belize is located on the northeastern coast of Central America, and borders Mexico and Guatemala.

11D Casting groups? : COVENS

“Coven” is an old Scottish word meaning simply “gathering”. The first known application of the word to witchcraft came during the trial of a Scotswoman in 1662 accused of being a witch. At that time, “coven” came to mean a group of 13 witches.

16D Indulgently lazy : LANGUOROUS

“Languor”, “lassitude”, “lethargy” and “listlessness” are such lovely words, all l-words meaning “lack of physical energy, torpor”.

18D Country known for luxury tourism, in brief : UAE

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

24D Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro,” e.g. : ARIA

“O mio babbino caro” is a really beautiful aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Gianni Schicchi”.

27D “Human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a ___ does not”: Ernest Hemingway : CAT

According to author Ernest Hemingway:

A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.

28D Renaissance faire tipple : ALE

A Renaissance faire (Ren faire) is an outdoor public event in which many participants recreate historical settings by dressing in costume. Usually held in North America, many such fairs are set during the English Renaissance, and more particularly during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. The definition of “Renaissance” is often stretched quite a bit, with fairs also set during the reign of Henry VIII, and maybe even during medieval times.

29D Discoverer of the principle behind F=ma : NEWTON

Newton’s second law of motion tells us that a body accelerates when a force is applied to it, and the greater the mass of the object, the greater the force required to cause that acceleration. Mathematically, the law can be written as Force = mass x acceleration (F=ma).

35D Westernmost African capital : DAKAR

The Republic of Senegal is a country on the far western coast of Africa. For many years Senegal was a French colony, gaining independence in 1960. The capital of Senegal is Dakar. Dakar is located on the Cap-Vert Peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, thus making it the westernmost capital on the African mainland.

38D Luau instruments, informally : UKES

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

39D It may be taken at the start of a trip : LSD

LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann, a Swiss chemist. Its psychedelic properties were not discovered until 1943, when Hofmann accidentally ingested a small amount.

43D Deux + deux : QUATRE

In French, “Deux + deux” (two + two) adds up to “quatre” (four).

45D Skyscraper’s skeleton, often : I-BEAMS

According to many, the world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois, which was built in 1885. It was 10 stories tall and stood at 42 meters (138 feet). What made the building unique, at the time, was the use of structural steel in the internal frame. That frame bore the weight of each floor, as well as the weight of the external masonry.

56D “___ voyage!” : BON

“Bon voyage” translates literally from French into English as “good journey”.

57D Month after avril : MAI

In French, the month of “mai” (May) comes after “avril” (April) and before “juin” (June).

60D Kerfuffle : ADO

“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.