Crossword Blog and Answers for November 12, 2024 by Sally Hoelscher

There are spoilers ahead. You might want to fix it today’s puzzle before you read on! Mixed use

Constructor: Noelle Griskey

Editor: Anna Gundlach

Random thoughts and interesting things

• BORAT (6A: Fictional Kazakh Journalist) Kazakh journalist BORAT Sagdiyev is a fictional persona created and played by comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. BORAT is the title character of two mockumentaries: BORAT! Cultural Lessons of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) and BORAT subsequent film: delivery of prodigious bribes to the American regime for profiting the once glorious nation of Kazakhstan (2020). BORAT is also a character in the British TV series Da Ali G show (2000-2004).
• ITALY (15A: Country that is the largest wine producer in the world) The country ITALY is administratively divided into twenty regions, and wine is produced in all of these regions. More than 4 million liters of wine are produced in ITALY every year. As the clue tells us, this makes ITALY the largest wine producer in the world. The countries ITALY, France, Spain and the United States produce more than half of the world’s wine.
• RED SEA (26A: Body of water touching Egypt) The RED SEA is an inlet of the Indian Ocean located between Africa and Asia. Besides Egypt, the other countries bordering the RED SEA are Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
• TRIO (30A: Band like The Chicks) The Chicks is a country music TRIO of Natalie Maines, Martie Erwin Maguire and Emily Strayer. The group, formerly known as The Dixie Chicks, changed their name in June 2020. The TRIO has won 13 Grammy Awards, including one for Song of the Year in 2007 for “Not ready to be nice.”
• CATNAP (34A: Slightly closed eyes) and LEO (3D: Feline constellation) My cat, Willow, is happy to see two cat-related clues today. Appropriately enough, she happens to be a LION (just like me). The other day she took a CATNAP on my lap and insisted on holding my hand while she slept.

• NEW (68A: Word in Four U.S. State Names) This clue is a perfect opportunity for a geography review quiz. Can you name the four US states with the word NEW in their names? The answer can be found below.
• ALIVE (69A: “Stayin’ ___” (disco classic)) “Ah, ah, ah, ah / Stayin’ ALIVE, stayin’ ALIVE / Ah, ah, ah, ah / Stayin’ ALIVE…” Thanks for the earworm, puzzle! The Bee Gees song, “Stay ALIVE”, won a 1979 Grammy Award for Best Vocal Arrangement for Two or More Voices. How’s that for a rather specific and long title for an award? Fun fact: this Grammy Award category no longer exists; it was only presented from 1977 to 1986.
• EARTH (70A: Astrological element associated with grounded personalities) In astrology, each of the twelve signs is assigned to one of the four elements: Fire, Air, EARTH, or Water. The EARTH signs are Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. People born under these signs are said to be grounded, practical and reliable. Since I was not aware of all aspects of astrology, I needed the help of cross-checking answers to figure out this answer. Once I filled it out, I thought, “Oh, EARTH – grounded, that makes sense.
• UKE (18D: Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s instrument, for short) Israel Kamakawiwo’ole (1959–1997), also known as Braddah IZ or simply IZ, was a Hawaiian singer, songwriter and ukulele player (UKE). Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s version of “Over the Rainbow” – supervised by the UKE – has appeared in several films (such as 50 first dates And Meet Joe Black) and TV series (such as ER And Charmed). In 2010, NPR Israel included Kamakawiwo’ole in their “50 Great Voices” series and named him “The Voice of Hawaii.” I first heard about Israel Kamakawiwo’ole from the March 27, 2022 Crossword.
• RITA (25D: EGOT winner Moreno) EGOT is an acronym for Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony Awards and is used to refer to people, like RITA Moreno, who have won all four of these awards. RITA Moreno won an Emmy Award in 1977 for The Muppet Showand 1978 for The Rockford Filesa Grammy in 1973 for a recording of The Electricity Companyan Oscar in 1962 for it West side storyand a Tony in 1975 for The Ritz.
• SAGUARO (27D: Cactus in many cartoon backgrounds by Wile E. Coyote) I really enjoyed this clue! The SAGUARO is a tree-like cactus that can grow up to 12 meters high. The SAGUARO is a columnar cactus, with branches called arms. SAGUAROs are native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, and some parts of California. The growing area of ​​the SAGUARO cactus happens to overlap with the habitat of the roadrunner, a species of fast-running ground bird, and the bird on which the cartoon character Road Runner was based. Wile is like that in many cartoons. E. Coyote chases after the Road Runner, SAGUARO cacti can be seen in the background.
• EARL (42D: James ___ Jones) James EARL Jones (1931-2024) was an actor with numerous stage and film credits. He was known as a versatile actor, and was especially known for his voice. He voiced Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise, and Mufasa in The Lion King. James EARL Jones died in September this year at the age of 93, and it was nice to see this reference to him in the puzzle.
• CLEANS (46D: Preparing for guests, maybe) This clue made me laugh! My husband and I definitely need regular company so that we have the motivation to clean our house.
• COS (54D: The “C” in “SOH-CAH-TOA”) SOH-CAH-TOA is a mnemonic used in trigonometry to remember how to calculate the sine, cosine (COS), and tangent of an angle of a right triangle must be calculated. SOH-CAH-TOA = Sine is Oopposite Hypotenuse – cOperating system is Apassed right away Hypotenuse – Tant is Oopposite Adirectly.
• EVS (64D: rechargeable cars for short) EVS are electric vehicles.
• Answer to the Geography Review Quiz: The four states whose names contain the word NEW are NEW Hampshire, NEW Jersey, NEW Mexico, and NEW York. (Yes, I challenged myself to remember them without looking them up, and I took the challenge!)

Synopsis of the crossword theme

• CLOSE UP SHOP (17A: Call it a day)
• BARBECUE SAUCE (39A: Spicy cooking spices)
• MAKE US PROUD (62D: “You worked hard – we know you got this!”)

MIXED USE: The word USE is found MIXED (anagrammed) in each topic answer: CLOSE UP SHOP, BARBECUE SAUCE and MAKE US PRIDE.

I’m getting better at watching for words in the title that might indicate a hidden anagram theme. From today’s title, I correctly guessed that the word USE would be anagrammed. We have hidden three different MIXED versions of USE in the theme answer: SEU, UES and EUS. Thank you, Noelle, for this fun puzzle.

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