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Constructed by: Yijing Chen

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): G.O. Getter

Themed clues all start with “Go”, which points to two-word answers beginning with the initials GO:

• 18A Go with the flow? : GIANT OTTER
• 38A Go wild? : GREAT OUTDOORS
• 59A Go vegan? : GREEN ONION
• 3D Go blond? : GOLDEN OREO
• 31D Go figure? : GARY OLDMAN

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

Bill’s time: 10m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14A Monkey’s fist, for one : KNOT

The monkey’s fist is a spherical knot traditionally tied at the end of a ship’s line to add weight and make the rope easier to throw to a dock or another vessel. To add weight, nineteenth-century sailors would often fashion the knot around a dense core like a stone or a small lead weight. The knot found a notorious secondary use in port cities as an easily concealed weapon known as a slungshot.

15A James of “North by Northwest” : MASON

English actor James Mason was a leading man in British movies in the 1940s, before becoming a leading man in Hollywood starting in the 1950s. He had no formal training in acting, and prior to taking up theater professionally, he graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in architecture.

“North by Northwest” is a marvelous 1959 Hitchcock film starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason. After the release of the movie, Hitchcock stated that he had envisioned Cary Grant’s character hiding from the villains on Mount Rushmore, in Abraham Lincoln’s nose. He also suggested the film might have had the title “The Man in Lincoln’s Nose”.

18A Go with the flow? : GIANT OTTER

The giant otter is a huge member of the weasel family, capable of reaching up to six feet in length. They are considered apex predators in their native South American waterways, earning them the local moniker “lobo de río”, or “river wolf”.

22A Osso buco cut : SHANK

Osso buco is a traditional Italian dish that is typically made with veal shanks that are braised with vegetables and herbs. The name “osso buco” means “bone with a hole” in Italian, which refers to the marrow-filled bone in the center of the veal shank. The marrow is considered a delicacy and is often scooped out and served with the dish.

30A Herding breed that originated in Wales : CORGI

The Welsh corgi is a herding dog that originated in Britain, with two recognized breeds: the Pembroke and Cardigan. Corgis aren’t fast enough to do their job by running around livestock like collies, and instead nip at the heels. “Corgi” is Welsh for “dwarf dog”.

33A Sponsor, as a stretch of highway : ADOPT

The Adopt-a-Highway program is a series of campaigns initiated by local and national governments across North America encouraging volunteers to keep sections of highways free of litter. In return for carrying out the work, the “adopting” group gets its name posted by the section of the road being maintained. The first such programs started in the 1980s in Texas.

35A Exceed 21 at a casino, say : LOSE

The card game known as “twenty-one” was first referred to in print in a book by Cervantes, the author famous for writing “Don Quixote”. He called the game “veintiuna” (Spanish for “twenty-one”). Cervantes wrote his story just after the year 1600, so the game has been around at least since then. Twenty-one came to the US but it wasn’t all that popular so bonus payments were introduced to create more interest. One of the more attractive bonuses was a ten-to-one payout to a player who was dealt an ace of spades and a black jack. This bonus led to the game adopting the moniker “Blackjack”.

42A Part of AM : ANTE

Something described as “antemeridian” takes place before noon. The related term “ante meridiem” means the same thing, and is abbreviated to “a.m.”

54A Tempo slower than adagio : LARGO

Largo is an instruction to play a piece of music with a very slow tempo. “Largo” is an Italian word meaning “broadly”. The instruction “larghetto” means “play somewhat broadly”, and “larghissimo” means “play very, very slowly”.

64A Sting operators? : BEES

A queen bee has a stinger, just like worker bees. When a worker bee stings, it leaves its stinger in its victim. The worker bee dies after losing its stinger as the loss rips out part of its insides. However, a queen bee can sting with impunity as her stinger’s anatomy is different.

65A “Alice in Wonderland” instruction : EAT ME

In Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, Alice follows the white rabbit down a rabbit hole and finds a bottle labeled “DRINK ME”. When she drinks the contents, it causes her to shrink. She also sees a cake adorned with the words “EAT ME” written using currants, and when she eats the cake she grows so big she finds it hard to stand up. After eating the cake, she utters the words, “Curiouser and curiouser”.

66A Prefix with quit or bait : RAGE-

Rage-quitting is the act of abruptly abandoning an endeavor in a fit of frustration or anger. The term “rage-quit” originated in the early days of multiplayer video gaming.

Rage-bait is manipulative digital content designed to provoke outrage. It capitalizes on the psychological reality that anger drives higher online engagement than positive emotions. That fact angers me …

68A Optional stair part : RISER

The riser is the vertical part of a step in a flight of stairs.

69A With 23-Down, stir-fry vegetable : SNOW …
23D See 69-Across : … PEA

Down

1D Compete in the super-G, e.g. : SKI

Super Giant Slalom (Super G) is an alpine skiing event introduced in 1982. The Super G isn’t as fast as its sister event the Downhill, but is faster than the more technical Giant Slalom.

3D Go blond? : GOLDEN OREO

Golden Oreos were introduced in 2004. Instead of the black, chocolate-flavored wafers, they are made with two “golden” vanilla-flavored wafers, but still have the same white creme filling in the middle.

9D Letters on red Minecraft blocks : TNT

Minecraft is a video game that was released in 2011. Apparently, it is the most popular video game of all time, with well over 200 million units sold.

10D Hybrid subgenre for Ari Aster and Jordan Peele : ART HORROR

Ari Aster is a filmmaker associated with horror and dark comedy movies, and films that include graphic violence. Probably not for me …

Jordan Peele is a former cast member of the sketch comedy show “Mad TV”. He created his own sketch comedy show “Key & Peele” with fellow “Mad TV” alum Keegan-Michael Key. Peele started hosting and producing the revival of “The Twilight Zone” in 2019.

11D Kebab bread : PITA

The term “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

19D Scandinavian city served by Gardermoen Airport : OSLO

Gardermoen Airport is the main airport serving the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Gardermoen was established as a military camp/base way back in 1740, and some military flights from the base started in 1912. It was Nazi Germany who developed Gardermoen as a proper airport, and these facilities were taken over by the Norwegian Air Force at the end of the war.

24D Like Ruffles : RIDGED

Ruffles are a brand of crinkle-cut potato chips. The chips take their name from their “ruffled” shape. The ruffles are designed to make the chip more sturdy, and better for dipping.

31D Go figure? : GARY OLDMAN

Gary Oldman is an English stage and screen actor. Like many English actors it seems, Oldman has played a lot of villains in Hollywood movies e.g. in “Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element”. My favorite Oldman performance is as Ludwig van Beethoven in “Immortal Beloved”. He also gave an outstanding, and Oscar-winning, portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour”.

34D Toy breed that originated in China : PEKINGESE

The Pekingese (“peke”) breed originated in China, as one might suspect from the name. Breeding practices have resulted in the dog having many health problems, including breathing issues related to the “desirable” flat face. Standards have been changed in recent years, demanding an “evident muzzle” in an attempt to breed healthier “pekes”.

40D Ingredient used by nose-to-tail chefs : OFFAL

The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal are referred to collectively as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

46D Inert gas : NEON

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

51D Red Sea peninsula : SINAI

The Sinai Peninsula is in the eastern part of Egypt, and is a triangular landform bounded by the Mediterranean to the north and the Red Sea to the south. It is the only part of Egypt that lies in Asia as opposed to Africa. The eastern land border of the peninsula is shared with Israel, and Israel occupied the Sinai during the 1956 Suez Crisis and the Six-Day War of 1967.

54D Pride Month letters : LGBT

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 28th, 1969. That raid triggered a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

62D I, to Claudius : EGO

I find Claudius to be the most fascinating of all the Roman Emperors. He had a lot going against him, as he walked with a limp and was slightly deaf. Claudius was put in office by the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s bodyguards) after Caligula was assassinated. Claudius had very little political experience and yet proved to be very forward-thinking and capable.