Constructed by: C.C. Burnikel
Edited by: Rich Norris
Quicklink to a complete list of today’s clues and answers
Quicklink to comments
Theme: Mad Dash
Today’s themed answers each contain a string of circled letters. Those letters are D-A-S-H, but rearranged, in a “MAD” order:
- 37A. Frantic rush, and what’s literally found in each set of puzzle circles : MAD DASH
- 16A. “Baywatch” star : DAVID HASSELHOFF
- 22A. Pull-out money holder : CASH DRAWER
- 49A. Poker table experts : CARD SHARKS
- 59A. Like football linemen : BROAD-SHOULDERED
Bill’s time: 5m 53s
Bill’s errors: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Arizona site of Sun Devil Stadium : TEMPE
Tempe is a city in the metropolitan area of Phoenix. The city is named for the Vale of Tempe in Greece.
Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.
10. College sr.’s test : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.
16. “Baywatch” star : DAVID HASSELHOFF
Actor and singer David Hasselhoff has appeared on many hit TV shows, including “The Young and the Restless”, “Knight Rider”, “Baywatch”, “Dancing with the Stars” and “America’s Got Talent”. According to “The Guinness Book of Records”, Hasselhoff is the most-watched man on TV, ever. Albeit, not by me …
21. Coastal raptor : ERNE
“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.
26. Entry in a ledger’s plus column : ASSET
A “ledger” is an account book. The name comes from the Middle English “leggen” meaning “to lay”. The original ledger was a large book “laid” in one particular place permanently, an example being a breviary in a church.
29. Horse opera setting : OLD WEST
“Horse opera” is a slang term for a western movie or show.
33. “La La Land” Best Actress Stone : EMMA
The actress Emma Stone is from Scottsdale, Arizona. Stone really came to prominence with her performance in the 2010 high school movie called “Easy A”. She won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in the 2016 movie “La La Land”. Now one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood, Stone values her privacy and works hard to maintain a low profile. Good for her, I say …
“La La Land” is a 2016 romantic musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and actress who fall in love in “La La Land” (Los Angeles, i.e. “LA”). The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who had found success two years earlier with the musical drama “Whiplash”. “La La Land” won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes and tied for the record number of Oscar nominations at fourteen, winning six.
35. 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.
40. Lowest sudoku number : ONE
Number puzzles similar to our modern-day Sudoku first appeared in French newspapers in the late 1800s. The format that we use today was created by Howard Garns, a 74-year-old freelance puzzle constructor from Connersville, Indiana and first published in 1979. The format was introduced in Japan in 1984 and given the title of “Sūji wa dokushin ni kagiru”, which translates to “the digits are limited to one occurrence”. The rather elaborate Japanese title was eventually shortened to Sudoku. No doubt many of you are fans of Sudoku puzzles. I know I am …
44. How pastrami is often ordered : ON RYE
In the US, pastrami was originally called “pastrama”, and was a dish brought to America by Jewish immigrants from Romania in the second half of the the nineteenth century. The original name may have evolved from the Turkish word “pastirma” meaning “pressed”. “Pastrama” likely morphed into “pastrami” influenced by the name of the Italian sausage called salami.
49. Poker table experts : CARD SHARKS
A “card sharp” is someone who is skilled and deceptive with playing cards, particularly when playing gambling games like poker. It seems that the term “card sharp” predates the related “card shark”, both of which have the same meaning.
53. Bit of fish tank growth : ALGA
Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.
59. Like football linemen : BROAD-SHOULDERED
In American football, linemen specialize in playing in the line of scrimmage. That’s about all I know, and even that I am unsure about …
64. Website with filmographies : IMDB
The website called the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) was launched in 1990, and is now owned by Amazon.com. It’s a great site for answering question one has about movies and actors.
67. Civil rights activist Parks : ROSA
Rosa Parks was one of a few brave women in days gone by who refused to give up their seats on a bus to white women. It was the stand taken by Rosa Parks on December 1, 1955 that sparked the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott. President Clinton presented Ms. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996. When she died in 2005, Rosa Parks became the first ever woman to have her body lie in honor in the US Capitol Rotunda.
Down
2. Wax-coated Dutch cheese : EDAM
Edam cheese takes its name from the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. The cheese is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps Edam travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. The black color indicates that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.
3. Relocate : MOVE
4. Charles, William and Harry : PRINCES
The British laws of royal succession changed in 2013. The centuries old law dictated that males in a family were ranked higher than all females, regardless of age. The current line of succession is:
- Prince Charles (Elizabeth’s eldest son)
- Prince William (Charles’ eldest son)
- Prince George (William’s eldest child)
- Princess Charlotte (William’s second-oldest child)
- Prince Harry (Charles’ second-oldest son)
Under the old system, should Prince William have another son, then that male would have bumped Princess Charlotte down one rung of the ladder. Under the new system, Princess Charlotte gets to “hold her ground”.
15. Mole-like mammals : SHREWS
Shrews are mammals that look like small moles or long-nosed mice. They are the only terrestrial mammals that are known to echolocate, using a series of ultrasonic squeaks to examine their nearby surroundings.
18. More than risqué : LEWD
“Risqué” is a French word, the past participle of the verb “to risk”. So in English we use “risqué” to mean “racy”, but in French it means “risky”.
24. Oblong tomatoes : ROMAS
The Roma tomato isn’t considered an heirloom variety, but it is very popular with home gardeners, especially those gardeners that don’t have a lot of space. It is a bush type (as opposed to vine type) and needs very little room to provide a lot of tomatoes.
26. Smart __: wiseguys : ALECS
Apparently the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.
28. Big name in music streaming : SOUNDCLOUD
Soundcloud is a German company that allows users to upload and share audio files online, with most of the distributed content being music. Based in Berlin, the website was launched in 2008 by two Swedish entrepreneurs.
30. “Mortal Kombat” agent __ Blade : SONYA
Mortal Kombat is a series of video games launched in 1992 by Midway Games. It’s pretty violent stuff, apparently …
31. Short cyber post : TWEET
I have never tweeted in my life, and have no plans to do so (but one should never say “never”). Twitter is a microblogging service that limits any post sent to just 140 characters. In a sense, it is similar to this blog. Here I send out a post once a day containing information that I think might be useful to folks (thank you for reading!). I don’t think I could send out much of interest using just 140 characters.
34. Summer hrs. in Billings : MDT
Mountain Daylight Time (MDT)
Billings is the only city in Montana with a population greater than 100,000 people. It was founded as a railroad town in 1882 and experienced such rapid growth that it was nicknamed the Magic City. The town’s name was chosen in honor of a former president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Frederick H. Billings.
42. Steven of “The Patriot” (1998) : SEAGAL
Steven Seagal is known in the US as a martial artist turned actor. Seagal started his career as an Aikido instructor in Japan and was the first foreigner to operate an Aikido dojo in that country.
“The Patriot” is a 1998 action film starring Steven Seagal. The movie is based on a 1974 sci-fi novel by William C. Heine. Haven’t seen it …
47. Actor Pitt : BRAD
Brad Pitt’s first major role was the cowboy hitchhiker in the 1991’s “Thelma and Louise”. Pitt’s life offscreen garners as much attention as his work onscreen, it seems. The tabloids revel in the series of high-profile relationships in which he has been involved. He was engaged to Gwyneth Paltrow for a while, married to Jennifer Aniston and then to Angelina Jolie.
50. Parka parts : HOODS
A parka is a hooded jacket, often lined with fur, that is worn in cold weather. The original parka was a pullover design, but nowadays it is usually zipped at the front. “Parka” is the Russian name for the garment , absorbed into English in the late 1700s via the Aleut language.
51. Vacation spot near Curaçao : ARUBA
Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands located off the northern coast of Venezuela. “ABC Islands” is a name given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
52. Seminary subj. : REL
Originally, a “seminary” was where plants were raised from seeds, as “semen” is the Latin for “seed”. The first schools labelled as seminaries were established in the late 1500s. Those first schools were more likely to be academies for young ladies back then, rather than for trainee priests.
53. Former Yankee who was the youngest MLB player to hit 600 home runs : A-ROD
Baseball player Alex Rodriguez, nicknamed “A-Rod”, broke a lot of records in his career, albeit under a shroud of controversy due to his use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs. When he signed a 10-year contract with the Texas Rangers for $252 million in 2000, it was the most lucrative contract in sports history. In 2007, Rodriguez signed an even more lucrative 10-year contract with the New York Yankees, worth $275 million. Rodriguez retired in 2016.
59. Youth org. with merit badges : BSA
As every little boy (of my era) knows, the Scouting movement was founded by Lord Baden Powell, in 1907. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) soon followed, in 1910. And, the Boy Scouts motto is “Be Prepared”.
61. Med. care provider : HMO
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)
62. __ Moines : DES
The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others do contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.
Complete List of Clues and Answers
Across
1. Arizona site of Sun Devil Stadium : TEMPE
6. “I beg your pardon?” : WHAT?
10. College sr.’s test : GRE
13. Prettify : ADORN
14. Post-bath wrap : ROBE
15. Window box dirt : SOIL
16. “Baywatch” star : DAVID HASSELHOFF
19. “I couldn’t agree more!” : AMEN!
20. Dined : ATE
21. Coastal raptor : ERNE
22. Pull-out money holder : CASH DRAWER
26. Entry in a ledger’s plus column : ASSET
29. Horse opera setting : OLD WEST
32. On the run : LOOSE
33. “La La Land” Best Actress Stone : EMMA
35. Flat-bottomed boat : SCOW
36. College URL ender : EDU
37. Frantic rush, and what’s literally found in each set of puzzle circles : MAD DASH
40. Lowest sudoku number : ONE
41. Swindles : CONS
43. Funny folks : WITS
44. How pastrami is often ordered : ON RYE
46. Secondary wager : SIDE BET
48. Silently greet : NOD AT
49. Poker table experts : CARD SHARKS
53. Bit of fish tank growth : ALGA
54. Mined metal : ORE
55. Emerged from slumber : WOKE
59. Like football linemen : BROAD-SHOULDERED
63. Motown genre : SOUL
64. Website with filmographies : IMDB
65. Made more tolerable : EASED
66. Total up : ADD
67. Civil rights activist Parks : ROSA
68. Unemotional : STONY
Down
1. “I did it!” : TA-DA!
2. Wax-coated Dutch cheese : EDAM
3. Relocate : MOVE
4. Charles, William and Harry : PRINCES
5. Wrap up : END
6. Extreme anger : WRATH
7. Swindled, slangily : HOSED
8. Core muscles : ABS
9. Casual shirt : TEE
10. Publicly state one’s views : GO ON RECORD
11. Replete (with) : RIFE
12. Pixie : ELF
15. Mole-like mammals : SHREWS
17. Suffers from : HAS
18. More than risqué : LEWD
23. “Up and __!”: “Rise and shine!” : AT ‘EM
24. Oblong tomatoes : ROMAS
25. “Sorry to say … ” : ALAS …
26. Smart __: wiseguys : ALECS
27. “Same here!” : SO DO I!
28. Big name in music streaming : SOUNDCLOUD
30. “Mortal Kombat” agent __ Blade : SONYA
31. Short cyber post : TWEET
33. Touches up, as text : EDITS
34. Summer hrs. in Billings : MDT
38. Wonderstruck : AWED
39. Hit the horn : HONK
42. Steven of “The Patriot” (1998) : SEAGAL
45. “That’s easy!” : NO SWEAT!
47. Actor Pitt : BRAD
50. Parka parts : HOODS
51. Vacation spot near Curaçao : ARUBA
52. Seminary subj. : REL
53. Former Yankee who was the youngest MLB player to hit 600 home runs : A-ROD
56. Guesstimate words : OR SO
57. “Peachy-__!” : KEEN
58. Whirling current : EDDY
59. Youth org. with merit badges : BSA
60. Title of respect : SIR
61. Med. care provider : HMO
62. __ Moines : DES
10 minutes, no errors.
Glad to have a another straightforward puzzle today. 19 minutes, no errors which is pretty good for me since I usually do them with kids running around. It’s often hard for me to get a good chunk of time to work on these without any distractions. Not sure if it would make a difference, but I like to think it would. 🙂
Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!
-Megan
Back from 5 days in Puerto Vallarta. As I understand it, the entire city is scrambling to replenish their tequila supplies. I did the Thursday puzzles on the plane, but after that every time I intended to get caught up with my crosswords, I found myself accidentally going to a bar instead….Poor sense of direction, I suppose. I even took a shot of some Don Julio 1942 which is about a $14 shot of tequila even in Mexico. It’s overpriced, but it is certainly smooth. The most fun was when some twenty somethings were playing with a waverunner ball (one that skips across the water especially well). Long story short, I had the entire hotel pool playing a drinking game out of that. I guess my immaturity can be contagious…A lot of fun but my arm is still sore from that afternoon.
I never sleep on planes, but I managed to doze off for almost the entire 2 hour plane ride home Puerto Vallarta to Houston. Must have been something I ate….hmmmm
I did the Sunday puzzle which seemed a little more difficult that usual, but I was exhausted doing it. I try not to read comments before doing a puzzle as I like to know nothing about the puzzle before I do it. That said, I did read enough to know that not everyone liked Friday’s puzzle. I have Fri-today to catch up on over at the NYT as well.
Today’s was easy, but it did have those evil circles the LAT is in love with. My guess is CARD SHARK evolved just from people mishearing and/or mispronouncing “card sharp”.
I’m spending the rest of today trying to return to normalcy..
Best –
7:03, no errors. Easier than yesterday.
Today’s WSJ: 9:54, no errors. Harder than yesterday.
Today’s Newsday: 6:01, no errors. About the same as yesterday. (And with an identical time!) Added bonus: As I was finishing up, someone knocked on my door and I delayed answering for about 15 seconds, at which point there was no one at the door, but whoever it was had left me a religious tract (which I have deposited in a safe place).
Welcome back, Jeff. I am sure some bars in PV are relieved that you’ve finally given them a break. 😉 Yes, you missed the two biggie puzzles on Thursday and Friday …. they will be remembered for a long time.
Today’s puzzle was much too easy, all my first choices stuck – and I’m not so sure that’s a good thing.
I had a funny incident while I was reading Bill’s blog … I am very familiar with Ledgers and Assets …. but I was not familiar with the word breviary, in Bill’s explanation. Ha – I wonder if there is a word for that sort of predicament …. where one knows the meaning of the original word, but the explanation is somewhat confounding. Hmmm.
Btw, the british ( and indian – ) system of accounting has debits and credits in exactly the opposite positions than that of the american system. Thus.’He is a credit to his race (!) ‘ in the american system, would actually mean a liability, because liabilities are in the credit column.
Finally, today, August 15th, is the Indian independence day. ( the Pakistani one, was yesterday – they got independence a day ahead.) Both nations, turn 70 …. and considering I am personally. approaching that period myself, sooner or later, I’m not so sure that that is necessarily a good number …. 😉
have a good day, you all.
@Tony … I think your being mentioned on the WSJ blog counts against your fifteen minutes of fame, but only to a very minor degree. (Still, it’s more than I got … ?.) And thank you for reminding me that the site actually is a blog, which I had forgotten. I spent a little while reading some of the posts and learned, among other things, that they got about 700 correct entries for the meta. No wonder I haven’t won my cup yet! ?
@Jeff … Let me know the next time few times you’re doing a trip like the last one, so that I can track the market and fine-tune my strategy for investing in tequila futures. ?
And, I do my level best never to go to any crossword blog page until after I have done the puzzle discussed on that page, a principle that was reinforced a year or so ago when I accidentally ruined what I think would have been a most enjoyable puzzle by going to the wrong page. (There was some discussion of this on Friday’s WSJ blog.)
Hi David. My 15 minutes was used up many years ago when I won $15,000 and a trip to Fiji on a game show…so it’s all gravy now. (g)
@Tony, @David
Actually, Tony just joined the club with me. Got one of my bad meta answers featured on that post several months ago. I don’t try to post explanations when I enter, so there wasn’t anything like that relayed, but they’re usually pretty interested in alternative answers. But yeah, 700 correct answers is actually a low figure (the highest was 1500-1600 a few weeks ago).
As far as crosswords go, I think I’m going to lay off of a lot of other grids I could do in the near future for a few reasons. If you see me post less about things, that’s why.
You should have said something at the time, Glenn. I get such a kick out of being noticed for my inspired idiocy (maybe lunacy would be a more apt description what with the eclipse coming up next Monday and all). Actually inspired lunacy is about all I’ve got left. (g)
Straightforward, yes, though never heard of violent Miss SONYA Blade. or CARDSHARKS. We called them CARDSHARpS.
Hi gang!! ?
Agree with Megan: straightforward puzzle today. I wasn’t sure how to spell HASSELHOFF, altho I’ll admit to knowing who he is….?
@ Glenn from Monday re Sundays and Merl: interesting. I always enjoyed his puzzles. More than anything, I’m just bugged that Sundays often seem harder than they should be.
Hey Jeff! Sounds like wild times!! ?
In other news: I’m in season 6 of the old Andy Griffith Show, which was the first season broadcast in color. They went to color starting in 1965, thru the series’ end in early 1968– but I had no memory of these color shows!! Surely my family would have watched Andy Griffith..?. I FINALLY realized: we probably didn’t have a color TV til later! Had to email my brother for confirmation. Sure enough, my family didn’t have a color TV til 1971. Interesting! ?
Yet, I always envision old Star Trek episodes in color…
Be well~~™?