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Constructed by: Daniel Hrynick

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: So Long, Suckers!

Themed answers are all SUCKERS, to which we might want to say “SO LONG!”:

• 53A “Later, chumps!,” or what can be said while putting 17-, 26-, and 43-Across to good use? : SO LONG, SUCKERS!

• 17A Prohibition of some single-use products : PLASTIC STRAW BAN
• 26A Spiral burners that deter biting pests : MOSQUITO COILS
• 43A Liquid in a vampire slayer’s vial : HOLY WATER

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

Bill’s time: 7m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Feminist Frequency founder Sarkeesian : ANITA

Media critic Anita Sarkeesian founded Feminist Frequency in 2009, a website devoted to analyzing modern media’s relationship to gender, race, and sexuality. She also created the web series “Tropes vs. Women in Video Games”, which examined gender stereotypes and marginalization of female characters in the gaming industry. As a result of her work, she became a prime target of Gamergate, an online harassment campaign that emerged in 2014 to aggressively target women and marginalized groups in the video game industry. Hateful …

14A Jessica of “Sin City” : ALBA

Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. On top of all that, Alba acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child.

“Sin City” is a 2005 thriller movie that is based on a series of graphic novels by Frank Miller. Miller also co-directs the film. “Sin City” has a large ensemble cast that includes Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen and Mickey Rourke. The author Frank Miller even plays a role himself.

15A __ New Year : LUNAR

The Lunar New Year marks the start of the year according to the traditional lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar tracks time by combining the phases of the moon with the earth’s solar orbit, ensuring that lunar months remain aligned with the astronomical seasons. Because twelve lunar cycles are roughly 11 days shorter than a full solar year, this system requires the periodic insertion of a “leap” month to prevent seasonal drift. Today, the Gregorian solar calendar dictates global civic life, but traditional lunisolar systems continue to determine the (moving) dates of major cultural events like Passover, Diwali, and the Lunar New Year.

20A __ Domingo: Caribbean capital : SANTO

Santo Domingo de Guzmán (often just “Santo Domingo”) is the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit what is now the Dominican Republic, in 1492. Four years later Christopher’s younger brother, Bartholomew Columbus, arrived and founded Santo Domingo, making the city the oldest, continuously-inhabited European settlement in the Americas.

23A German article : DER

The definite article in German is der, die or das, for masculine, feminine and neuter nouns. The indefinite article is ein, eine or ein, again depending on the gender of the noun. A further complication, relative to English, is that the masculine form (and only the masculine form) of the article changes when used in the accusative case, when used with the object of a sentence. The accusative forms are “den” and “einen”.

25A Female moose : COW

The moose is the largest species in the deer family, and can stand almost at 7 feet at the shoulder. Moose are a little unusual in that they are solitary animals, unlike other deer who tend to move in herds. We use the term “moose” here in North America, but confusingly, the same animal is referred to as “elk” in British English.

26A Spiral burners that deter biting pests : MOSQUITO COILS

The mosquito coil was invented in late-19th-century Japan by Eiichiro Ueyama after he began experimenting with pyrethrum, an insecticidal powder derived from chrysanthemum flowers. His initial mosquito-repellent sticks burned down too quickly to provide a full night of protection. Ueyama’s wife Yuki proposed reshaping the incense into a thick spiral, allowing a continuous smolder that could last for seven to eight hours. Mosquito coils aren’t very popular in North America, but are used widely in Asia.

34A Shuns : ESCHEWS

“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun”, comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

38A Splash of color in an ornamental pond : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

41A Granola bar fleck : OAT

The names “Granola” and “Granula” were trademarked back in the late 1800s for whole-grain foods that were crumbled and baked until crisp. Granula was created in Dansville, New York in 1863, and Granola was introduced a couple of decades later.

42A Groks : GETS

To grok is to understand. “Grok” is a slang term that’s really only used in “techie” circles. It is the creation of science fiction author Robert Heinlein, who coined it in his 1961 novel “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

43A Liquid in a vampire slayer’s vial : HOLY WATER

Want to repel a vampire? According to folklore, vampires are repelled by garlic, crucifixes, holy water, and mirrors. Want to permanently kill a vampire? The most established methods involve driving a wooden stake through the heart, exposure to direct sunlight, or decapitation followed by burning the body. Good luck …

48A Home of the College World Series : OMAHA

Back in 1947/48, the College World Series (CWS) was held in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and then in 1949 in Wichita, Kansas. Since 1950, the CWS has been held every year in Omaha, Nebraska.

57A Actor James __ Jones : EARL

James Earl Jones (JEJ) was noted for some very respected stage and film performances, but also for his wonderful voice. Jones had to overcome stuttering as a child, and decades later provided the voice for Darth Vader. James was the son of actor Robert Earl Jones.

58A Liquid-Plumr rival : DRANO

The Drano brand of drain cleaner was introduced in 1923 by chemist Harry Drackett. The original product combined lye with small shards of aluminum, which reacted in water to create intense heat and churning hydrogen gas that effectively melted hair and grease.

59A Battery unit : VOLT

Alessandro Volta was the physicist who invented the first battery, way back in 1800. Decades before his new invention, Volta used a Leyden jar (and a very long run of wire between the Italian cities of Como and Milan) to shoot off an electric pistol from 30 miles away! The electric potential unit “volt” is named for Volta.

65A Ukrainian port on the Black Sea : ODESA

The city of Odessa (also “Odesa”) in Ukraine was founded relatively recently, in 1794 by Catherine the Great. The city replaced the Ottoman fortress of Khadjibey. It was named after the ancient Greek city of Odessos, which was mistakenly believed to have been located nearby. Catherine the Great chose the name “Odessa” as a feminized version of the Greek name.

Down

5D Boxer Muhammad : ALI

“The Muhammad Ali Center” is a museum in Ali’s hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The center was opened in 2005 and explores the life of the champion boxer and features exhibitions that reflect Ali’s core values. I’m a real “museumphile”, and so was thrilled to be able to visit the Muhammad Ali Center a few years ago. Sadly, I found that this one missed the mark somehow …

6D Atomic centers : NUCLEI

Our word “nucleus” is a Latin term meaning “kernel of a nut”. “Nucleus” is the diminutive form of “nux” meaning “nut”.

8D Bit of henna art : TATTOO

Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, for leather and wool as well as hair and skin. In modern days, henna is often used for temporary tattoos.

11D U-shaped body formed by a river diversion : OXBOW LAKE

An oxbow lake is a small lake that has been formed when the path of a river changes leaving a section of the waterway with nowhere to go. Down in Australia, the same geographic feature is called a billabong.

18D Rotational force : TORQUE

Torque can be thought of as a turning force, say the force needed to tighten a bolt or a nut. In physics, torque is represented by the Greek letter tau.

19D Broad neckties : ASCOTS

An ascot is a wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings or part of a dress uniform. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race at which punters still turn up in formal wear at Ascot Racecourse in England.

27D Company with brown trucks : UPS

United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky. UPS often goes by the nickname “Brown”, because of its brown delivery trucks and brown uniforms.

28D Cry from a crow’s nest : CAW!

The superstition of a gathering of crows (a “murder”) as a bad omen, often linked to death, has roots stretching back to at least the 15th century, with the term “murder” itself likely arising from the birds’ association with carrion and battlefields.

29D Glaswegian, e.g. : SCOT

Glasgow sits on the River Clyde, and is the largest city in Scotland. Back in the Victorian Era, Glasgow earned a reputation for excellence in shipbuilding and was known as “Second City of the British Empire”. Glasgow shipyards were the birthplaces of such famous vessels as the Lusitania, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth. People from Glasgow are known as Glaswegians.

32D The “H” of HMS : HIS

The prefix “HMS” is used by the warships of the Royal Navy, and stands for “Her/His Majesty’s Ship/Submarine”. The prefix “RMS” is used by ships of the merchant navy, and stands for “Royal Mail Ship/Steamer”.

44D “Well, well, well!” : OHO!

45D Cry from a crow’s nest : LAND HO!

A crow’s nest is a structure atop the mainmast of a ship that is used as a lookout point. The first crow’s nest was erected in 1807, and was simply a barrel that was lashed to the tallest mast. Supposedly, the structure is named for the crows or ravens that Vikings carried with them on their voyages. The birds were released and used as navigation aids as, invariably, the crow or raven headed straight for the nearest land.

46D Puget Sound city : TACOMA

Tacoma is a city on Puget Sound in the state of Washington. It took its name from Mount Rainier that is nearby, as the peak is also known as Tacoma (or “Tahoma”).

Puget Sound is a complex system of interconnected waterways in the Pacific Northwest that were carved out by retreating glaciers during the last Ice Age. The inlet was named in 1792 by British explorer George Vancouver in honor of Peter Puget, a lieutenant who navigated its southern reaches with a small team in two rowing craft.

49D Gourmet mushroom : MOREL

A morel is a mushroom with a honeycomb-like structure on the cap. They are highly prized, especially in French cuisine. Morels should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

54D Sudoku diagram : GRID

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 …

56D Chicago-style pizza chain, familiarly : UNO’S

The chain of pizza parlors known today as Uno Pizzeria & Grill used to be called Pizzeria Uno, or just “Uno’s”. Apparently, Uno’s created the world’s first deep-dish pizza.

57D Seer’s gift : ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

60D Scores equal to two FGs : TDS

In American football, a touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points, and a field goal (FG) is worth 3 points.