Category: Patti Varol

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Constructed by: Patti Varol
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Reveal Answer: April Fools’ Day

The starting letters of themed answers spell out a verb that could apply to a prankster on APRIL FOOLS’ DAY:

• 36A Apt time for pranksters to do the starts of 17-, 22-, 50-, and 57-Across? : APRIL FOOLS’ DAY

• 17A Matching cups, saucers, sugar bowl, etc. : TEA SERVICE (giving “TEASE”)
• 22A Colorful hard confection : RIBBON CANDY (giving “RIB”)
• 50A Legumes in some chili recipes : KIDNEY BEANS (giving “KID”)
• 57A Mojave Desert yucca : JOSHUA TREE (giving “JOSH”)

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

Bill’s time: 5m 08s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Presidential thumbs down : VETO

The verb “veto” comes directly from Latin and means “I forbid”. The term was used by tribunes of ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.

9 Future JD’s exam : LSAT

The law degree that is abbreviated to “J.D.” stands for “Juris Doctor” or “Doctor of Jurisprudence”.

15 Commuter boat : FERRY

Our verb “to commute”, meaning “to go back and forth to work”, ultimately derives from the Latin “commutare”, meaning “to often change”. Back in the late 1800s, a “commutation ticket” was a season pass, so named because it allowed one to “change” one kind of payment into another. Quite interesting …

16 Post-it scribble : NOTE

The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was to produce a super-strong adhesive.

21 “Luncheon of the Boating Party” painter Pierre-Auguste : RENOIR

The 1881 Renoir painting “Le Déjeuner des Canotiers” is also known in English as “Luncheon of the Boating Party”. It can be seen in the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C. As an aside, I have a jigsaw version of this painting up on my office wall …

30 Alex Morgan’s sport : SOCCER

Alex Morgan is a professional soccer player and co-captain of the US national team from 2018 to 2020. Off the pitch, Morgan is a children’s author who has written books for middle-schoolers. Her 2013 “Saving the Team” debuted at number seven on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children’s Middle Grade. Her books have been adapted into a TV show called “The Kicks”.

36 Apt time for pranksters to do the starts of 17-, 22-, 50-, and 57-Across? : APRIL FOOLS’ DAY

April Fools’ Day is celebrated on April 1st in the Western world. In the US (and Ireland) one can make practical jokes all day long if one wants, but in the UK there is a noon deadline. Anyone pranking after midday is called an “April Fool”.

45 Mariska Hargitay series, familiarly : SVU

Mariska Hargitay is the actress who plays Olivia Benson on the long-running police drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. Mariska’s father was actor and former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay. Her mother was Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield.

50 Legumes in some chili recipes : KIDNEY BEANS (giving “KID”)

Kidney beans are so called due to their shape resembling human kidneys. Red kidney beans are used a lot in chili con carne recipes, and in Indian dishes. White kidney beans go by their Italian name, “cannellini”, in Britain and Ireland.

57 Mojave Desert yucca : JOSHUA TREE (giving “JOSH”)

“Joshua tree” is the common name for the plant species more correctly called Yucca brevifolia. One of the best places to see Joshua trees is in the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California. The plant was named by Mormon settlers crossing the Mojave Desert in the mid-1800s. The name was chosen as the shape of the tree reminded the settlers of Joshua reaching his hands to the sky in prayer.

The Mojave Desert in the southwest is named after the Native-American Mojave tribe. Famous locations within the boundaries of the desert are Death Valley, Las Vegas, Nevada and the ghost town of Calico, California.

65 Terrarium pet : NEWT

A terrarium (plural “terraria”) is a contained environment used to house land animals. The term “terrarium“ comes from the equivalent “aquarium”, a tank for holding mainly fish. In general, a contained environment for keeping live animals or plants is known as a “vivarium”

66 Norway’s capital : OSLO

The Norwegian capital of Oslo is located at the northern end of a fjord known as Oslofjord. The fjord is home to 40 islands that lie within the city’s limits. Oslo also has 343 lakes.

Down

4 Uncool sort : DWEEB

“Dweeb” is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd; they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing, i.e. someone excessively studious and socially inept.

5 Nov. 11 honoree : VET

Veterans Day used to be known as Armistice Day, and is observed on November 11th each year. This particular date was chosen as the Armistice that ended WWI was signed on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918.

8 Elizabeth of “WandaVision” : OLSEN

Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of famous actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who rose to fame as child stars on the TV show Full House. Elizabeth didn’t start acting until later in life, and has starred in several critically acclaimed films. She is also known for her role as Scarlet Witch (aka Wanda Maximoff) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“WandaVision” is a TV miniseries featuring characters from Marvel Comics. The title characters are Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) played by Elizabeth Olsen and Vision played by Paul Bettany. I am by no means a fan of screen adaptations of comic characters, but I might take a look at “WandaVision”. Wanda and Vision are living in suburbia, trying to conceal their superhero identities. Each episode progresses the storyline through several decades, using situations encountered in sitcoms of the day. Episodes use the format of shows such as:

• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• I Love Lucy
• Bewitched
• I Dream of Jeannie
• The Brady Bunch
• Good Times
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• Full House
• Malcolm in the Middle
• Modern Family
• Out of this World
• The Twilight Zone

Sounds very intriguing …

10 Hot sauce often mixed with mayonnaise : SRIRACHA

Sriracha hot chili sauce is named for the coastal city of Si Racha in eastern Thailand, where the recipe likely originated. Here in North America, we are most familiar with the Sriracha sold in a red bottle with a green that is made by Huy Fong Foods in the city of Irwindale, California. The manufacturer was founded by Vietnamese refugee David Tran, who escaped from Vietnam in 1978 on a Taiwanese freighter called the Huey Fong, after which he named his new company.

12 Sheridan who plays young Cyclops in the “X-Men” films : TYE

Actor Tye Sheridan had one of the lead roles in the 2012 coming-of-age film “Mud”, which starred Matthew McConaughey. More recently, he played the lead in the sci-fi action film “Ready Player One”, which came out in 2018.

Cyclops is a superhero, and one of the original X-Men. He has the ability to emit powerful energy beams from his eyes, and must control these “optic blasts” by closing his eyes or shielding them with special eyewear. Cyclops first appeared in print in 1963, and has been portrayed on the big screen by actors James Marsden and Tye Sheridan.

15 Soft serve ice cream alternative, casually : FROYO

Frozen yogurt (“froyo” or “fro-yo”)

20 Upper bodies : TORSI

“Torso” (plural “torsi”) is an Italian word meaning “trunk of a statue”, and is a term that we imported into English.

26 “Ratatouille” rat : REMY

“Ratatouille” is a 2007 animated film produced by Pixar. The hero of the piece is Remy, a rat whose ambition is to become a chef. Remy was voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt. The veteran actor Peter O’Toole voiced the character Anton Ego, a restaurant critic.

34 Like Vikings : NORSE

The Vikings were a Germanic people from northern Europe who were noted as great seafarers. Key to the success of the Vikings was the design of their famous “longships”. Made from wood, the longship was long and narrow with a shallow hull, It was also light, so that the crew would actually carry it small distances over land and around obstacles. Longships were designed to be propelled by both sail and oars.

36 Battery fluid : ACID

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

37 Carpentry tool that cuts plywood sheets : PANEL SAW

A panel saw is a sawing machine, one often found in cabinet shops. They can be used to cut cabinet components from plywood sheets.

44 World Cup org. : FIFA

The FIFA World Cup is the most prestigious tournament in the sport of soccer. The competition has been held every four years (excluding the WWII years) since the inaugural event held in Uruguay in 1930. The men’s World Cup is the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, even outranking the Olympic Games. And, the women’s World Cup is fast catching up …

46 “__, black sheep … ” : BAA BAA

The old English nursery rhyme “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is usually sung as:

Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.

The tune that accompanies the rhyme is a variant of the French melody “Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman”, which we know best in English as the tune for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.

51 Half a “Star Wars” droid name : DETOO

“Droid” is short for “android” and is used to describe a robot that resembles a human. The Latin word “androides” was used in English in the 18th century to mean “like a man”. Science fiction writers introduced us to “android” in the early 1950s.

57 First mo. : JAN

January is the first month of our Gregorian calendar. It is named for Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and transitions.