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Constructed by: Alex Rossell Hayes & Brian Callahan

Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme (according to Bill): Come Again?

Themed answers look like a repeated word, but spacing and punctuation are adjusted to suit the corresponding clues. Nice …

• 18A Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes? : AVOID A VOID
• 26A Air travel that’s the fifth-best option? : PLAN-E PLANE
• 36A “My job is ranking people on a scale of ‘miffed’ to ‘downright furious'”? : I RATE IRATE
• 51A Juliet’s response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond? : ROME, O ROMEO
• 60A Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble? : UTILE U-TILE

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

Bill’s time: 8m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7A Unleash (on) : SIC

To sic on is to let at or set on. The verb “to sic on” comes from the attack command given to a dog: “sic ‘em”.

15A Rocker Dee : SNIDER

Dee Snider is the frontman from the heavy metal band Twisted Sister from Long Island, New York. Not my kind of music …

16A “Industry” network : HBO

“Industry” is a TV drama set in the fast-paced and often ruthless environment of an investment bank. The show follows a group of young graduates vying for permanent positions at the fictional Pierpoint & Co, located in London. “Industry” is the creation of Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, who are themselves former bankers.

17A Levi’s Stadium player : NINER

The San Francisco 49ers of the NFL have been playing their home games in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara since 2014. The team moved from the famous Candlestick Park, which they had been using since 1971. Levi’s Stadium, the team’s new home, got a big boost in Febraury 2016 when it was used as the venue for the Super Bowl. Given the sponsorship by Levi Strauss, the jeans manufacturer, the venue has the nickname “Field of Jeans”, a play on the movie title “Field of Dreams”.

18A Vague advice for space travelers worried about black holes? : AVOID A VOID

A black hole in space is a region that is extremely dense and one that has an enormous gravitational field. The force of gravity is so great that not even light can escape, so all that can be observed is “blackness”, which gives the phenomenon the name of “black hole”. It is believed that black holes form when large stars reach the end of their lives and collapse upon themselves.

20A Prickly plants : CACTI

The cactus (plural “cacti”) is a member of a family of plants that are particularly well-adapted to extremely dry environments. Almost all cacti are native to the Americas, although some succulent plants from the old world are similar in appearance and are often mislabeled as “cacti”.

22A Folk icon Joan : BAEZ

Joan Baez is an American folk singer and a prominent activist in the fields of non-violence, civil rights, human rights and environmental protection. Baez has dated some high-profile figures in her life including Bob Dylan, Steve Jobs (of Apple) and Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead.

24A Espresso froth : CREMA

“Crema” is the name given to that brown foam that sits on the top of a freshly prepared cup of espresso. There’s no milk involved; just foamy coffee.

Espresso is made by forcing extremely hot water, under pressure, through finely ground coffee beans. The result is a thick and concentrated coffee drink that contains quite a lot of solids and a lot of foam. An espresso machine was first patented in 1884 in Italy, although it was a machine to make the beverage in bulk. The first patent for a machine that made individual measures was applied for in 1901, also in Italy.

28A Element of many English breakfast blends : ASSAM TEA

English breakfast tea is a blend of black teas dominated by teas from Assam, Ceylon and Kenya. The blends are created to go well with milk and perhaps sugar, as indeed one might drink tea with an English breakfast. Irish breakfast tea is mainly a blend of teas from Assam. It is also created to go well with milk, especially after a few pints of Guinness. Okay, I made up that last bit …

33A Group of badgers : CLAN

Badgers are short-legged animals in the weasel family. The short legs are powerful, and adapted for efficient digging. Badgers organize themselves into communal family groups called clans, sharing extensive underground burrow networks known as setts.

35A Part of R&R : REST

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, R‘n’R)

43A “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” singer : MONROE

Marilyn Monroe was born in 1926 in LA County Hospital, the child of Gladys Pearl Baker. The young girl was given the name of Norma Jeane Mortenson on her birth certificate, but her mother changed this to Norma Jeane Baker almost immediately. She and her estranged husband, Martin Edward Mortensen, had separated before Baker became pregnant so it is suggested that the Mortensen name was used just to give Norma Jeane “legitimacy”. Norma Jeane married Jim Dougherty when she was 16 years old, and took his name to become Norma Jeane Dougherty in 1942. During WWII she was discovered by a photographer and became quite a successful model. The modeling earned her a screen test, at which time it was suggested that Norma Jeane change her name yet again. The first name chosen for her by studio executives was Carole Lind (after Carole Lombard and Jenny Lind), but then Norma Jeane chose “Jeane Monroe” for herself, using her mother’s maiden name. It didn’t take long before the studio intervened again, suggesting that they had too many “Jeans” already. The name Marilyn Monroe was floated as it had a nice ring to it. Along with the new name, Marilyn changed from a brunette to a blonde, and a star was born …

“Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” is a song from the musical “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, and the 1953 film of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe. When Monroe sings the song in the film, it is her own voice that we are hearing. Well, almost … the soprano Marni Nixon dubs in some of the high notes for her.

47A Sun Devils sch. : ASU

Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, and was 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.

51A Juliet’s response when her love asks what city is as eternal as their bond? : ROME, O ROMEO

The Italian capital of Rome is known as the Eternal City, a name given by ancient Roman poets and writers.

55A Running groups? : SLATES

In an election, a slate is a group of candidates running on a common platform.

56A Aphrodite’s son : EROS

As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, and Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male. The Roman equivalent of Aphrodite was Venus, and the equivalent of Eros was Cupid.

58A Thai neighbor : LAO

Lao is the official language of Laos. It is also spoken in the northeast of Thailand, but there the language is known as Isan.

60A Helpful draw when trying to play a Q word in Scrabble? : UTILE U-TILE

The game of Scrabble has been produced in many international versions, and each of these editions has its own tile distribution to suit the local language. For example, in English we have two tiles worth ten points: one “Q” and one “Z”. If you play the game in French then there are five tiles worth ten points: one “K”, one “W”, one “X”, one “Y” and one “Z”.

63A Pair of hearts? : ATRIA

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers are the atria. The right atrium accepts deoxygenated blood, while the left atrium accepts oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze those blood supplies into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

67A Estadio cheer : OLE!

In Spain, one might hear a shout of “olé!” in “un estadio” (a stadium).

Down

1D Org. with a “Get Ready for Baby” page : SSA

The Social Security Administration (SSA) standardized the practice of issuing SSNs to newborns directly at the hospital in 1987 by launching the Enumeration at Birth program. The SSA’s “Get Ready for Baby” portal was created for expecting parents, providing links to the necessary paperwork for registering a newborn. The website is also the government’s official baby name database, and offers a searchable index of naming trends based on federal birth records dating back to 1880.

3D Bishop’s domain : DIOCESE

In some Christian traditions, a district under the control of a bishop is a diocese, bishopric or see. Dioceses are in turn divided into parishes that are under the control of priests. A particularly significant diocese might be called an archdiocese, and falls under the control of an archbishop.

5D Nancy Drew’s boyfriend : NED

I loved the “Nancy Drew” mysteries as a kid. They were written by a number of ghost writers, all of whom went by the pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The character was introduced by publisher Edward Stratemeyer in 1930. Nancy Drew’s boyfriend is Ned Nickerson, a college student from Emerson.

8D Third-largest of the Balearic Island : IBIZA

The Balearic Islands (“Baleares” in Spanish) form an archipelago in the western Mediterranean off the east coast of Spain. The Balearics are made up of four main islands: Ibiza and Formentera (aka “the Pine Islands”), and Majorca and Minorca.

9D Fish oil source : COD

Cod liver oil is a nutritional supplement that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamins A and D. I remember being dosed with the stuff as a kid. Ugh …

11D Horan of One Direction : NIALL

Niall Horan is an Irish singer and former member of the British boy band One Direction. Horan is from Mullingar, a town in the middle of the country from where my own ancestors hail. That’s really all that I know about him …

12D Lesotho, for one : ENCLAVE

Lesotho is an enclaved country, one surrounded by the Republic of South Africa (RSA). The nation was ruled as a British colony from 1868 until 1966 under the name “Basutoland”. Basutoland regained its independence in 1966, and became the Kingdom of Lesotho.

13D Organ parts with rods and cones : RETINAS

The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, and is the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cells in the retina that are sensitive to light, namely rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.

14D Aquaman’s staff : TRIDENT

Aquaman is a comic book superhero who first appeared in 1941. His human alias is “Arthur Curry”, and he is the son of the queen of Atlantis and a human lighthouse keeper.

19D __ pen : VAPE

An electronic cigarette (also called an “e-cigarette”) is a battery-powered device that resembles a real cigarette. The e-cigarette vaporizes a solution that contains nicotine, forming a vapor that resembles smoke. The vapor is inhaled in a process called “vaping”, delivering nicotine into the body. The assumption is that an e-cigarette is healthier than a regular cigarette as the inhaled vapor is less harmful than inhaled smoke. But, that may not be so …

25D Pt. of USA : AMER

The first known use of the phrase “United States of America” is in a letter dated January 2nd, 1776 from Irish-American Stephen Moylan, who was serving as acting secretary to General George Washington. Writing to Washington’s aide-de-camp Colonel Joseph Reed, Moylan stated:

I should like vastly to go with full and ample powers from the United States of America to Spain [to seek foreign assistance for the cause].

34D Scope rival : LISTERINE

Listerine is an antiseptic mouthwash. The brand takes its name from Joseph Lister, the British surgeon and promoter of antiseptic surgery.

Scope is a brand of mouthwash made by Procter & Gamble. It has been marketed as the “better-tasting alternative” to Listerine.

35D Wedding attire, for some : RENTAL TUX

Apparently, the style of men’s evening dress called a “tuxedo” was first worn to a country club event in 1886 in New York. The use of a dark dinner jacket without tails became fashionable at the club with the members, and the tradition spread from there. The country club was located in Tuxedo Park, New York, giving the style of dress its name.

37D “Mambo Birdland” Grammy winner Puente : TITO

“Mambo Birdland” is the title track from a 1999 album released by bandleader and musician Tito Puente. The album was recorded live at Birdland, the New York City nightclub located in Manhattan’s Theater District.

39D Milky Way kin : MARS BAR

Having lived on both sides of the Atlantic, I find the Mars Bar to be the most perplexing of candies! The original Mars Bar is a British confection (and delicious) that was first manufactured in 1932. The US version of the original Mars Bar is called a Milky Way. But there is a candy bar called a Milky Way that is also produced in the UK, and it is completely different to its US cousin, being more like an American “3 Musketeers”. And then there is an American confection called a Mars Bar, something different again. No wonder I try not to eat candy bars …

41D Indonesian island crossed by the equator : SUMATRA

Sumatra is a very large island in western Indonesia. It is the sixth largest island in the world and home to 22% of the country’s population.

45D Colorful songbirds : ORIOLES

The songbird called an oriole builds an interesting nest. It is a woven cup-like structure that is suspended from a branch like a hammock, dangling up to 30 feet above the ground.

46D Sourdough starter? : ESS

The word “sourdough” starts with a letter S (ess).

The active ingredient used to make sourdough bread is found in a pre-ferment (also “starter”). This pre-ferment is a mixture of flour and water that has been allowed to ferment for some time (maybe days) to grow a colony of wild yeast and lactobacilli. The starter is added to the dough used to make the final bread, with the starter accounting for about 20% of the weight of the final mixture. During baking, the wild yeast causes the bread to rise and the lactobacilli produce lactic acid, which gives sourdough its characteristic sour taste.

61D Thurman of “Gattaca” : UMA

“Gattaca” is a science fiction movie starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman that was released in 1997. Set in the not-too-distant future, the film describes a society in which potential children are preselected so that they inherit the most desirable traits from their parents. The title “Gattaca” is the space agency featured in the storyline. I saw this one relatively recently, and found it very absorbing …

62D Philly summer hrs. : EDT

Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, was founded in 1682 by William Penn. He chose the name “Philadelphia” after making a treaty of friendship with the local Lenape people. The name translates from Greek as “brotherly love”.