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Constructed by: Caroline Hand

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: EGOT

Collectively, the starting word of themed answers give us the full EGOT: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards:

• 65A “Grand slam” awards acronym spelled out by the starts of the answers to the starred clues : EGOT

• 21A *Wise maternal figure voiced by Betty White in “The Lorax” : GRAMMY NORMA
• 53A *Mob boss played by James Gandolfini : TONY SOPRANO
• 3D *Actress who plays Fiona Gallagher on “Shameless” : EMMY ROSSUM
• 30D *”The Picture of Dorian Gray” novelist : OSCAR WILDE

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 5m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A __ the fat : CHEW

The expression “chew the fat” is possibly a reference to 19th-century sailors gnawing on salt pork with a thick rind while grumbling about their lot in life.

5A Get the last of, as gravy : SOP UP

A sop is a piece of bread or toast used to soak up liquid from a bowl. The word “sop” shares its roots with “soup”, which originally referred not to the liquid itself, but to the bread placed at the bottom of a dish to absorb the broth. Quite interesting …

17A Some early PCs : IBMS

The original IBM Personal Computer is model number 5150, which was introduced to the world on August 12, 1981. The term “personal computer” was already in use, but the success of the IBM 5150 led to the term “PC” being used for all computer products compatible with the IBM platform.

18A “Finding Nemo” setting : OCEAN

“Finding Nemo” is a 2003 animated blockbuster from Pixar. The film was the winner of the Oscar that year for Best Animated Feature. Believe it or not, “Finding Nemo” is the best-selling DVD of all time and until 2019’s “Toy Story 4”, it was the highest-grossing, G-rated movie at the box office.

19A Irish ancestor : CELT

The Celts are a very broad group of people across Europe who are linked by common languages. The original Celts were largely absorbed by other cultures, although a relatively modern revival of the “Celtic identity” is alive and well in Britain and Ireland. Such Celtic peoples today are mainly found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany in France.

20A Household pest with wings : FLY

Houseflies are very difficult to swat away. That’s because they can process visual information about seven times more quickly than humans. In effect, houseflies see movement in slow motion.

21A *Wise maternal figure voiced by Betty White in “The Lorax” : GRAMMY NORMA

2012’s animated feature film “The Lorax” is based on the children’s book of the same name by Dr. Seuss. Danny DeVito has the title role, and he had his work cut out for him. Not only did he voice the Lorax in English, he also portrayed him in Russian, German, Italian, Catalan/Valencian, Castilian Spanish, and Latin Spanish. DeVito didn’t speak any of these languages, and so learned his lines phonetically.

35A Celebration with rainbow flags : PRIDE

The best-known rainbow flag is the one representing gay pride. Such usage of the rainbow flag was popularized in 1978 by artist Gilbert Baker. The varying colors of the flag represent the diversity of the gay community.

37A Dallas sch. : SMU

Southern Methodist University (SMU) is located in University Park, Texas (part of Dallas) and was founded in 1911. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Mustangs. Also, SMU is home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library.

44A Chinese small bites : DIM SUM

Dim sum is a Chinese cuisine made up of small portions of various dishes. The tradition of serving dim sum is associated with the serving of tea, when small delicacies were offered to travelers and guests along with tea as a refreshment. The name “dim sum” translates as “touch the heart” implying that dim sum is not a main meal, just a snack “that touches the heart”.

46A Wireless network device : ROUTER

In the world of computing, a router is a device that helps direct traffic, as it were. A router in a house is often found in combination with a modem, and directs traffic between the Internet and the computers in the home.

50A Large crustaceans : PRAWNS

The terms “prawn” and “shrimp” are often used interchangeably on menus. Over in the UK, the term “prawn” is most common, while “shrimp” is seen more often here in North America. Sometimes there is a differentiation from a food standpoint, with “prawn” being used for larger species and “shrimp” for smaller species. As a result, “jumbo prawns” seems to be an acceptable descriptor for a dish, whereas “jumbo shrimp” seems to be an oxymoron.

53A *Mob boss played by James Gandolfini : TONY SOPRANO

Tony Soprano is the protagonist in the fabulous TV drama “The Sopranos”. Played very ably by James Gandolfini, Soprano works his way up the ranks of the fictional DiMeo crime family. The character was loosely based on real-life New Jersey mobster Vincent Palermo of the DeCavalcante crime family. Palermo owned a strip club called “Wiggles”, and Soprano owned one called “Bada Bing!”.

Actor James Gandolfini is perhaps best known for playing Mafia boss Tony Soprano in the HBO show “The Sopranos”. For my money, one of Gandolfini’s best performances was in the 2013 romantic comedy “Enough Said”, opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Sadly, Gandolfini passed away just before that film was released.

60A Hidden treasure : TROVE

The term “treasure trove” comes from the Anglo-French “tresor trové“ meaning “found treasure”.

64A Novelist Ferber : EDNA

Edna Ferber was a novelist and playwright from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ferber won a Pulitzer for her novel “So Big”, which was made into a film a few times, most famously in 1953 starring Jane Wyman. Ferber also wrote “Show Boat”, “Cimarron” and “Giant”, which were adapted successfully for the stage and/or big screen.

Down

2D “Se __ español” : HABLA

“Se habla español” is Spanish for “Spanish is spoken”.

3D *Actress who plays Fiona Gallagher on “Shameless” : EMMY ROSSUM

Emmy Rossum is an actress and singer-songwriter who launched her performing career with the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus, when she shared the stage with legends like Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo. Today, she is best known for the American version of the TV show “Shameless”, portraying the eldest child Fiona Gallagher. She showed off her musical talents playing the leading role of Christine Daaé in the 2004 movie adaption of the Lloyd Webber stage musical “The Phantom of the Opera”.

“Shameless” is a comedy drama TV series about a dysfunctional Chicago family consisting of six children and a single father who spends his days drunk. The US show is a remake of the original British “Shameless” that is based on a similar family who live in Manchester in the North of England.

12D Cannes festival showing : FILM

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera that is noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The decision to host an annual film festival came just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

13D Utah ski resort : 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.

21D Fashion icon Tim : GUNN

Tim Gunn is a fashion consultant, and these days a television personality as well. He makes regular appearances on the reality TV show “Project Runway”, and is so popular a character that he now has his own show called “Tim Gunn’s Guide in Style”.

27D Onetime Zune rival : IPOD

The Zune portable media player was introduced in 2006 as a competitor to Apple’s iPod. One feature of the Zune was the ability to share songs wirelessly with other Zune users, but the shared files famously expired after three days or three plays.

30D *”The Picture of Dorian Gray” novelist : OSCAR WILDE

“The Picture of Dorian Gray” is a novel by Oscar Wilde, in fact his only novel. In the story, the title character is a young man appearing in a painting. Dorian sells his soul to the devil so that the painting would age rather than him.

34D Automaker with a four-ring logo : AUDI

The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.

39D Woolly beasts of the past : MAMMOTHS

A relatively well-preserved set of wooly mammoth remains were discovered in Siberia in 2012. The remains included some intact cells, and there is talk about the possibility of cloning the animal that died between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago. Scary stuff …

54D Designer Cassini : OLEG

French-born American fashion designer Oleg Cassini developed a reputation for designing costumes for films, and dressing numerous film stars. He had two big names particularly associated with his designs. In the sixties he produced the state wardrobe for First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. He was also the exclusive designer for Hollywood’s Gene Tierney, who was Cassini’s second wife.

57D Rental car giant : AVIS

Avis has been around since 1946, and is the second largest car rental agency after Hertz. Avis has the distinction of being the first car rental company to locate a branch at an airport.