output_trainer_2_1 Flashcards
Blues rocker Chris. 3 letters
REA. Chris Rea is a singer-songwriter and respected blues guitar player from England. Rea’s biggest hit is a song that he wrote himself called ‘Fool (If You Think It’s Over’), released in 1978.
LAX patrollers. 3 letters
TSA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was of course created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks.
“The best pal that I ever had,” in song. 3 letters
SAL. The line is from “My Gal Sal”, a song written by composer Paul Dresser. “My Gal Sal” is also the name of the movie recounting Dresser’s life made in 1942. It stars Victor Mature as Dresser, and Rita Hayworth as Sally Elliott.
One-named singer with four Grammys. 4 letters
ENYA. Enya’s real name is Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career. She sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!
Athlete who wrote “Off the Court”. 4 letters
ASHE. Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth he found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African America player to be so honored. He continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979 Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993, due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
___ Palmas. 3 letters
LAS. Gran Canaria, or Grand Canary Island, may be grand but it isn’t quite as big as Tenerife, the largest island of the group and the most populated. The capital of Gran Canaria is Las Palmas, a port of call for Christopher Columbus in 1492 on his way to the Americas.
108-card game. 3 letters
UNO. In my youth I remember being taught a great card game, by a German acquaintance of mine, called Mau Mau. Years later I discovered that Uno is basically the same game, but played with a purpose-printed deck instead of the regular deck of playing cards that’s used for Mau Mau. I hear that Mau Mau is derived from the game called Crazy Eights.
Low numero. 3 letters
TRE. Tre: the number three in Italian.
Blade brand. 4 letters
ATRA. Fortunately for crossword constructors, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.
1, for one: Abbr.. 3 letters
RTE. US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.
Kent State locale. 4 letters
OHIO. Kent State University’s main campus is located in Kent, Ohio, one of eight campuses located around northeast Ohio. Kent State will forever be associated with the student activism and opposition to the Vietnam War in the late sixties and early seventies. The fateful day was May 4, 1970, when members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on students, killing four protesters and wounding nine.
JFK probers. 3 letters
TSA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks.
Cartoon busman Mann. 4 letters
OTTO. Otto Mann drives the school bus on “The Simpsons”. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Otto is a Germanic character, and his name is a play on the Ottoman Empire. Whenever Bart sees him, he greets him with “Otto, man!”
Dash. 4 letters
ELAN. Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours i.e “style” or “flair”.
Leave in. 4 letters
STET. ‘Stet’ is a Latin word meaning ‘let it stand’. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word ‘stet’ and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.
Cardinal of Rome?. 3 letters
UNO. ‘Uno’ is the Italian for ‘one’.
Nez Perce Natl. 3 letters
IDA. The Nez Percé tribe of the Pacific Northwest call themselves the Nimiipuu, meaning “The Real People”. The name Nez Percé means “pierced nose” in French, a name applied in error to the Nimiipuu instead of the neighboring Chinook tribe, who did in fact practice nose piercing.
Eminently draftable. 5 letters
ONE-A. The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription using what is called the Selective Service System (SSS). In the event that a draft is held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objectors available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrants who have completed military service) and 4-D (ministers of religion).
God whose name is a homophone of a zodiac sign. 4 letters
ARES. The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos, Deimos and Eros. The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.
Gillette brand. 4 letters
ATRA. Fortunately for crossword setters, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.
Otto minus cinque. 3 letters
TRE. In Italian, eight (otto) minus five (cinque) is three (tre).
“___ and the King of Siam”. 4 letters
ANNA. “Anna and the King of Siam” is a semi-biographical novel written by Margaret Landon and first published in 1944. The book tells the largely true story of Anna Leonowens who spent five years in Siam teaching English to the children and wives of King Mongkut. The novel was adapted as a 1946 movie of the same name starring Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison. Then followed a 1951 stage musical titled ‘The King and I’. The musical was written as a vehicle for Gertrude Lawrence, who played Anna. Rex Harrison was asked to play the King, but he turned it down and Yul Brynner was cast instead. A movie version of the stage musical was released in 1956, famously starring Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
The Era of ___ (1964-74 Notre Dame football). 3 letters
ARA. Ara Parseghian coached the Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known as “The Era of Ara”.
“My gal” of song. 3 letters
SAL. “My Gal Sal” is a song written by composer Paul Dresser. “My Gal Sal” is also the name of the movie recounting Dresser’s life made in 1942. It stars Victor Mature as Dresser, and Rita Hayworth as Sally “Sal” Elliott.
Largest labor union in the U.S. 3 letters
NEA. The National Education Association is the largest labor union in the country, mainly representing public school teachers.
Subject of many Georgia O’Keeffe paintings. 4 letters
IRIS. Georgia O’Keefe was an influential American artist, one who led the introduction of American art into Europe. Famously, she was married to photographer Alfred Stieglitz, who helped develop her career in the early days. One of her most famous paintings is from 1926, “Black Iris III”.
Wash. 3 letters
IDA. Idaho has the nickname the Gem State, mainly because almost every known type of gemstone has been found there.
Razor brand. 4 letters
ATRA. Fortunately for crossword setters, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. It was sold as the Contour in some markets, and its derivative products are still around today.
Ones having issues at work, for short?. 3 letters
EDS. Editors (eds.) might have issues of a magazine at work.
Memorable hurricane of 2011. 5 letters
IRENE. Hurricane Irene caused extensive flooding in 2011 as it travelled through the Caribbean, up the East Coast of the United States and into the Atlantic seaboard of Canada. The hurricane was unusual in that it came so far up north. Fifty-five deaths were attributed to Irene.
Grandson of Adam. 4 letters
ENOS. Enos, as the son of Seth, was the grandson of Adam.
Strauss wrote a concerto in D for it. 4 letters
OBOE. Richard Strauss wrote his Oboe Concerto near the end of his life, in 1945. The idea for the concerto came from American oboist John de Lancie, who was with an Army unit that took control of the Bavarian town in which Strauss lived at the end of WWII.
Slightly open. 4 letters
AJAR. Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.
Magazine whose name means “she”. 4 letters
ELLE. “Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”.
Pre-1917 autocrat. 4 letters
TSAR. The term czar (also tsar) is a Slavic word, and was first used as a title by Simeon I of Bulgaria in 913 A.D. It is derived from the word Caesar, which was synonymous with emperor at that time.
Off-white shade. 4 letters
ECRU. The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.
Doc grp. 3 letters
AMA. The American Medical Association (AMA) was founded in 1847 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The first female member was allowed to join the AMA in 1868, but the first African American members weren’t admitted until one hundred years later, in 1968.
Subj. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
German boy’s name meaning “wealthy”. 4 letters
OTTO. The male name ‘Otto’ is German in origin, coming from the Old German ‘aud’ meaning ‘wealth, fortune’.
Class for some immigrants, for short. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
___ vera. 4 letters
ALOE. Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.
Org. 4 letters
NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was set up in 1958.
Good name for a garage mechanic?. 4 letters
OTTO. Otto would be a good name for a car mechanic because ‘Otto’ sounds like ‘auto’.
Versatile vehicle, for short. 3 letters
UTE. A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sports utes and crossover utes.
One of the Twelve Olympians. 4 letters
ARES. The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter.
Name on a Kazakh map. 4 letters
ARAL. The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …
Uzbekistan’s ___ Sea. 4 letters
ARAL. The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …
State bordering B.C. 3 letters
IDA. The US state of Idaho has a panhandle that extends northwards between Washington and Montana, right up to the border with Canada. Across that border is the Canadian province of British Columbia. Most of Idaho is in the Mountain Time Zone, but Northern Idaho (the Panhandle) is in the Pacific Time Zone.
Standard breakup creation. 4 letters
ESSO. Standard Oil was founded by John D. Rockerfeller in 1870 and became the largest oil refining company in the world. Standard Oil was judged to be an illegal monopoly and was broken up in 1911 into 33 smaller companies. That list of 33 included Standard Oil of New Jersey, branded as Esso (from SO, the initials of Standard Oil).
Sharkey of TV’s “C.P.O. 4 letters
OTTO. Otto Sharkey was played by Don Rickles. Sharkey was a Chief Petty Officer in the US Navy in the storyline, a man in charge of new recruits on a San Diego naval base. The show ran from 1976 to 1978 on NBC.
“Pushover” singer James. 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James is best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she discloses in her autobiography, James has lived a life that has been ravaged by drug addiction, leading to numerous legal and health problems.
Ogee’s shape. 3 letters
ESS. An ogee is like an s-curve. Specifically it is a figure consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite directions (like an S) but both ends of the curve end up parallel to each other (which is not necessarily true for an S).
Galsworthy’s Mrs. 5 letters
IRENE. The “Forsyte Saga” is a series of novels written by John Galsworthy. There is an excellent BBC television series dating back to 1967 that tells the whole tale in 26 episodes. It ran in the US on PBS and helped to establish “Masterpiece Theater” as the success it is today. In the BBC series, Irene Forsyte was played by Nyree Dawn Porter, but the stars of the show were Susan Hampshire in the role of Fleur Forsyte, and Eric Porter as Soames Forsyte. Great stuff …
A Baldwin. 4 letters
ALEC. Alec is the oldest of the acting Baldwin brothers. I think his big break really was playing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in “The Hunt for Red October”, but thank goodness that role was taken over by Harrison Ford for the subsequent Jack Ryan movies. He is making a name for himself these days playing Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”.
“Eternally nameless” thing. 3 letters
TAO. The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world. According to the philosopher Laozi, Tao is ‘eternally nameless’ and separate for the many ‘named’ things that are its manifestations. It is the reality of life before we try to describe it.
Fitness grp. 3 letters
AMA. American Medical Association (AMA)
Guthrie who sang at Woodstock. 4 letters
ARLO. Arlo Guthrie is the son of Woody Guthrie. Both father and son are renowned for their singing of protest songs about social injustice. Arlo is most famous for his epic “Alice’s Restaurant Massacree”, a song that lasts a full 18m 34s. In the song Guthrie tells how, after being drafted, he was rejected for service in the Vietnam War based on his criminal record. He had only one incident on his public record, a Thanksgiving Day arrest for littering and being a public nuisance when he was 18-years-old.
Emerald ___. 4 letters
ISLE. And of course Ireland is called the “Emerald Isle” because of all that green caused by all that rain.
Travel option: Abbr.. 3 letters
RTE. Route (rte.)
Subj. 3 letters
ESL. English as Second Language (ESL) can also be called English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Dot-dot-dot. 3 letters
ESS. ‘…’ is the letter ‘S’ in Morse code.
Cay. 4 letters
ISLE. A “key” (also “cay”) is a low island offshore, as in the Florida Keys. Our term in English comes from the Spanish “cayo” meaning “shoal, reef”.
Wii ancestor, briefly. 3 letters
NES. Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Part of U.N.L.V. 3 letters
LAS. The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) was established in 1957 as the Southern Division of the University of Nevada, Reno. One of UNLV’s flagship departments is the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, which is consistently ranked as one of the best hotel and hospitality colleges in the nation. I suppose that’s not surprising given the proximity to the Las Vegas Strip.
Sign at a sellout. 3 letters
SRO. Standing Room Only!
Game with Wild Draw 4 cards. 3 letters
UNO. In my youth I remember being taught a great card game, by a German acquaintance of mine, called Mau Mau. Years later I discovered that Uno is basically the same game, but played with a purpose-printed deck instead of the regular deck of playing cards that’s used for Mau Mau. I hear that Mau Mau is derived from the game called Crazy Eights.
Constellation described by Ptolemy. 3 letters
ARA. The constellation of Ara takes its name from the Latin word for “altar”.
Panache. 4 letters
ELAN. Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours i.e “style” or “flair”.
What makes a top stop?. 3 letters
ESS. The word ‘top’ can be made into ‘stop’ by adding a letter S (ess) in the front.
Orchestra reed. 4 letters
OBOE. The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”. When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance you’ll note (pun intended!) that the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”.
“I’ll Be Around” songwriter Wilder. 4 letters
ALEC. Alec Wilder was an American popular songwriter and composer of classical pieces. One of Wilder’s more famous songs was ‘I’ll Be There’ that was a hit for the Mills Brothers.
___ Sea (Asian body). 4 letters
ARAL. The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …
Lily of Africa. 4 letters
ALOE. The so called “true aloe” is Aloe vera, a succulent plant native to Africa that grows in relatively dry climates. The plants leaves are full of biologically-active compounds that have been extensively studied. Regardless of the studies, aloe vera has been used for centuries in herbal medicine, mainly for topical treatment of wounds.
Guadalajara gold. 3 letters
ORO. Guadalajara is a populous city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The Mexican city is named after the Spanish city of the same name in the center of the country.
B’way sellout sign. 3 letters
SRO. Standing Room Only.
___ Cruces, N.M. 3 letters
LAS. Las Cruces (Spanish for “the crosses”) is the second largest city in the state of New Mexico, and is the home of New Mexico State University.
Pulitzer-winning James. 4 letters
AGEE. James Agee was a noted American film critic. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously.
Subject of a museum in eastern Colorado. 3 letters
UTE. The Ute are a group of American Indian tribes that now reside in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified people as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups.
Baseball’s Bando. 3 letters
SAL. Sal Bando is a former Major League Baseball player and baseball executive. After retiring as a player, Bando worked for while as a color analyst for NBC, working alongside Bob Costas.
Honeymooners’ site. 4 letters
ISLE. The concept of a honeymoon vacation only started in the early 1800s. In Britain, wealthy couples would take a ‘bridal tour’ together after wedding, visiting those friends and relatives who could not attend the ceremony. The etymology of ‘honeymoon’ isn’t very clear, and may even have a negative derivation as it might suggest that the sweetness (honey) of love is doomed to wane like a passing phase of the moon. The equivalent terms in some other languages are ‘moon of honey’ (French), ‘honey month’ (Welsh) and ‘tinsel week’ (German).
Bolshevik’s target. 4 letters
TSAR. At the second party congress of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1903, a split developed. The faction with the most support was led by Vladimir Lenin. Lenin’s faction was in the majority and so became known as the Bolsheviks, derived from the Russian word for “more” or “majority”.
Place for sweaters?. 3 letters
SPA. The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as Spa is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.
“Me, Myself & ___” (Jim Carrey movie). 5 letters
IRENE. ‘Me, Myself & Irene’ is a 2000 comedy film starring Jim Carrey (‘Me’ and ‘Myself’) and Renée Zellweger (Irene). The movie is a perfect vehicle for Carrey as his character is a state trooper who develops a second personality after a psychotic breakdown. You can just imagine how Jim Carrey plays that extra, unrepressed persona!
Singer born Eithne Ní Bhraonáin. 4 letters
ENYA. Enya’s real name is Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career. She sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!
Allure or Essence alternative. 4 letters
ELLE. “Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”.
Actor Stephen. 3 letters
REA. Stephen Rea is an Irish actor, whose most famous role was that of the “retired” IRA man in the brilliant 1992 film “The Crying Game”. He also starred in the chilling movie “Stuck”, a 2007 film that is based on a true story about a woman who commits a hit and run on a homeless man. The woman leaves the scene of the crime with the victim still “stuck” in her windshield. The woman leaves the man to die in her garage. Chilling, eh? But, true …
Life. 4 letters
ELAN. Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours i.e “style” or “flair”.
Org. 4 letters
OSHA. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector, and regulates just one government agency, namely the US Postal Service.
Neutral color. 4 letters
ECRU. The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.
Sponsor of some PBS programs. 3 letters
NEA. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …
Story’s opening?. 3 letters
ESS. The opening letter in the word ‘story’ is the letter S (ess).
Test subj. 3 letters
DNA. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relations.
Parseghian of Notre Dame. 3 letters
ARA. Ara Parseghian coached Notre Dame football team from 1964 to 1974, a period known as “The Era of Ara”.
Workers’ protection agcy. 4 letters
OSHA. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration was created in 1970 during the Nixon administration. OSHA regulates workplaces in the private sector only, the one exception being the US Postal Service.
It’s part of the gene pool. 3 letters
DNA. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine if individuals are close family relations.
“___ momento”. 3 letters
UNO. ‘Una momento’ is Spanish for ‘one minute’.
Org. 3 letters
TSA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was of course created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks.
Fourth book of the Book of Mormon. 4 letters
ENOS. Enos, as the son of Seth, was the grandson of Adam.
Jazz legend ___ James. 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song ‘At Last’. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.
Palindromic name. 4 letters
OTTO. The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:
“CSI” topic, often. 3 letters
DNA. CSI gets a lot of criticism from the law enforcement agencies for its unrealistic portrayal of the procedures and science of criminal investigation. I don’t care though. It’s a fun show to watch.
Open a smidge. 4 letters
AJAR. Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.
Kett of old comics. 4 letters
ETTA. ‘Etta Kett’ was a comic strip that first ran in 1925. The strip ceased to be published in 1974, when creator Paul Robinson passed away. The initial intent was to offer tips to teenagers on manners and social graces, hence the name of the title character Etta Kett (sounds like ‘etiquette’).
Subj. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Three, in Tuscany. 3 letters
TRE. In Italian, ‘uno’ (one) plus ‘due’ (two) makes ‘tre’ (three).
“The Big Read” sponsor, for short. 3 letters
NEA. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …
Editor’s override. 4 letters
STET. “Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.
It has space for one pupil. 4 letters
IRIS. The iris is the colored part of the eye with an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.
Actress Lupino. 3 letters
IDA. Actress Ida Lupino was also a successful director, in the days when women weren’t very welcome behind the camera. Lupino had already directed four “women’s” short films when she stepped in to direct the 1953 drama “The Hitch-Hiker”, taking over when the original director became ill. “The Hitch-Hiker” was the first film noir movie to be directed by a woman, and represented somewhat of a breakthrough for women in the industry.
Lawyers’ org. 3 letters
ABA. American Bar Association (ABA)
Nobel Prize-winning daughter of the Curies. 5 letters
IRENE. Along with her husband, Frederick, Irene Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Irene was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, who also won Nobel Prizes. Irene died when she was 58 years old, suffering from leukemia brought on her exposure to high doses of radiation. Her mother, Marie, died from aplastic anemia, also caused by high exposure to radiation. To this day, Marie’s personal papers are kept preserved in lead-lined boxes as they are highly radioactive, even her personal cookbook.
Tire abbr. 3 letters
PSI. Pounds Per Square Inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.
Botanical balm. 4 letters
ALOE. Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.
Canadian roadside sign. 4 letters
ESSO. The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company, as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US but ESSO is still used in many other countries.
Eye part. 4 letters
IRIS. The iris is the colored part of the eye, which has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.
Court giant Arthur. 4 letters
ASHE. Arthur Ashe was a professional tennis player from Richmond, Virginia. In his youth, Ashe found himself having to travel great distances to play against Caucasian opponents due to the segregation that still existed in his home state. He was rewarded for his dedication by being selected for the 1963 US Davis Cup team, the first African American player to be so honored. Ashe continued to run into trouble because of his ethnicity though, and in 1968 was denied entry into South Africa to play in the South African Open. In 1979 Ashe suffered a heart attack and had bypass surgery, with follow-up surgery four years later during which he contracted HIV from blood transfusions. Ashe passed away in 1993 due to complications from AIDS. Shortly afterwards, Ashe was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton.
Colored part of the eye. 4 letters
IRIS. The iris is the colored part of the eye with an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.
Onetime Arapaho foe. 3 letters
UTE. The Ute is a group of Native American tribes that now resides in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified people as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups.
Southwest Indian. 3 letters
UTE. The Ute is a group of Native American tribes that now resides in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified people as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups.
Rap mogul, briefly. 3 letters
DRE. Dr. Dre is the stage name of rapper Andre Romelle Young. Dr. Dre is known for his own singing career as well as for producing records and starting the careers of others such Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.
“Me, Myself & ___,” 2000 Jim Carrey movie. 5 letters
IRENE. “Me, Myself and Irene” was released in 200o, and stars Jim Carrey (me, myself) and Renee (Irene). It tells the story of Charlie, a state trooper who develops a split personality.
Epps or Sharif. 4 letters
OMAR. Omar Epps is the actor who plays Dr. Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Omar Sharif is the great Hollywood actor from Egypt, who played such great roles in the likes of “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me, he is my bridge hero (the card game). In his day, he was one of the best players in the world, but does not play at all anymore.
Grant-giving org. 3 letters
NEA. The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. The NEA was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170 million annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100 million in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150 million mark. I wonder how long that will last though …
Symbol for electric flux. 3 letters
PSI. The Greek letter psi is the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.
Class for a future citizen, for short. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
“The Crying Game” actor Stephen. 3 letters
REA. “The Crying Game” is a fascinating film that made quite a splash when it was released in 1992. Although it was set in Ireland and the UK, it didn’t do well in cinemas in either country yet made a lot of money over here in the US. I think the politics of the movie were a bit raw for Irish and UK audiences back then. It’s an unusual plot, blending Irish political issues with some raw sexuality questions. I won’t tell you about the “surprise scene”, just in case you haven’t seen it and want to do so.
Org. 3 letters
AMA. American Medical Association (AMA)
Part of a modern police database. 3 letters
DNA. I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relations.
Bomberman console, briefly. 3 letters
NES. Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Retired flier. 3 letters
SST. The most famous Supersonic Transport (SST) was the Concorde, a plane that’s no longer flying. Concorde had that famous “droop nose”. The nose was moved to the horizontal position during flight to create the optimum aerodynamic shape thereby reducing drag, and was lowered during taxi, takeoff and landing, so that the pilot had better visibility. The need for the droop nose was driven largely by the delta-shaped wings. The delta wing necessitates a higher angle of attack at takeoff and landing than conventional wing designs, so the pilot needed the nose lowered so that he or she could see the ground.
Openable with a gentle push, say. 4 letters
AJAR. Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.
Baldwin of “30 Rock”. 4 letters
ALEC. Alec is the oldest of the acting Baldwin brothers. I think his big break really was playing Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan in “The Hunt for Red October”, but thank goodness that role was taken over by Harrison Ford for the subsequent Jack Ryan movies. He is making a name for himself these days playing Jack Donaghy on “30 Rock”, opposite Tina Fey.
Open a tad. 4 letters
AJAR. Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.
Immigrant’s course, for short. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Intellectual range. 3 letters
KEN. ‘Ken’ is a Scottish verb meaning ‘to know’, as in being able to recognize a person or thing. The word is also used as a noun, as in ‘beyond my ken’, outside of what I can know or understand.
What’s not yet due?. 3 letters
UNO. ‘One, two, three’ in Italian is “uno, due, tre”.
Jazzy James. 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.
Eponymous Belgian tourist locale. 3 letters
SPA. The word ‘spa’ migrated into English from Belgium, as Spa is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name ‘Spa’ comes from the Walloon word ‘espa’ meaning ‘spring, fountain’.
Father of 38-Across. 4 letters
ARES. The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos, Deimos and Eros. The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.
Little hopper?. 3 letters
ROO. The name ‘kangaroo’ comes from the Australian Aborigine term for the animal. There’s an oft-quoted story that James Cook (later Captain Cook) asked a local native what was the name of this remarkable looking animal, and the native responded with ‘kangaroo’. The story is that the native was actually saying ‘I don’t understand you’, but as cute as that tale is, it’s just an urban myth.
Soothing stuff. 4 letters
ALOE. Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.
It’s in the eye of the beholder. 4 letters
IRIS. The iris is the colored part of the eye with an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.
Pizazz. 4 letters
ELAN. Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e “style” or “flair”.
Passenger-screening org. 3 letters
TSA. Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
Self-titled platinum album of 1986. 4 letters
ENYA. Enya is a musician from County Donegal in the northwest of Ireland. She started out her musical career with her family band called Clannad, before going solo. Now Enya is Ireland’s best-selling solo musician.
Beige-ish. 4 letters
ECRU. The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.
Gillette brand. 4 letters
ATRA. Fortunately for crossword constructors, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.
Dash. 4 letters
ELAN. Our word “élan” was imported from French, in which language the word has a similar meaning to ours, i.e ‘style’ or ‘flair’.
Jazzy singer ___ James. 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James is best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she discloses in her autobiography, James has lived a life that has been ravaged by drug addiction, leading to numerous legal and health problems.
Un-P.C. 3 letters
ESS. Personally, as a lover of language I miss the use of masculine and feminine forms in English, although I do recognize the benefit of making the change in the fight for equality of the sexes. It’s just a pity that the change was necessary.
Diomedes speared him. 4 letters
ARES. IN Greek mythology, Diomedes was a hero who participated in the Trojan War. In one engagement, the war god Ares descended onto the battlefield to assist the Trojans. With the help of the goddess Athena, Diomedes attacked Ares by throwing his spear and wounding him in the stomach. Ares screamed with the voice of 10,000 men and fled the scene.
It fosters bilingualism: Abbr.. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
“Beetle Bailey” dog. 4 letters
OTTO. Sgt. Snorkel id Beetle Bailey’s nemesis in the cartoon strip. Snorkel has a dog called Otto that he dresses up to look just like himself. He started off as a regular dog, but artist Mort Walker decide to make him more like his owner, and he became a big hit.
Relative of Aztec. 3 letters
UTE. The Uto-Aztecan language family consists of about 30 languages spoken in the Western United States and Mexico. Included in the list of Uto-Aztecan languages is Ute, Comanche and Hopi.
Any of the Canaries. 4 letters
ISLE. The Canary Islands are located off the northwest coast of Africa. The islands aren’t named for the canary bird and in fact the bird is named for the islands. The Canary Islands name comes from the Latin ‘Canariae Insulae’ which translates as ‘Island of the Dogs’, the original name for the biggest island now called Gran Canaria. In the days of Ancient Rome the island was noted as a home to a large number of very large dogs.
Writer James. 4 letters
AGEE. James Agee was a noted American film critic. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously.
___ Sea (the “Sea of Islands”). 4 letters
ARAL. The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. The name ‘Aral Sea’ roughly translates into ‘Sea of Islands’, as the sea was once home to over 1,100 islands. No more …
River forming the borders of parts of five states. 4 letters
OHIO. Ohio marks the boundaries of five states:
Bart and Lisa’s bus driver. 4 letters
OTTO. Otto Mann drives the school bus on the TV show “The Simpsons”. Otto is a Germanic character voiced by Harry Shearer, and his name is a play on “Ottoman Empire”. Whenever Bart sees him, he greets Otto with the words “Otto, man!”
___ vera. 4 letters
ALOE. Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.
Thomas Moore’s “Come ___ the Sea”. 4 letters
O’ER. Thomas Moore was an Irish poet and songwriter, best known for writing the lyrics of ‘The Minstrel Boy’ and ‘The Last Rose of Summer’.
1966 gold album by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass. 3 letters
SRO. Herb Alpert still plays the trumpet today, but he is also a talented painter and sculptor. His works are seen regularly in exhibitions all around the world.
Native Coloradan. 3 letters
UTE. The Ute are a group of American Indian tribes that now reside in Utah and Colorado. The Ute were not a unified group as such, but rather a loose association of nomadic groups.
Beginning of summer?. 3 letters
ESS. The first letter of the word ‘summer’ is S (ess).
Women’s magazine with a palindromic name. 4 letters
ELLE. “Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”.
Lawyer’s org. 3 letters
ABA. The American Bar Association (ABA)
Mag. 3 letters
EDS. Editors are ‘big wheels’ in magazine publishing.
___ Islas Filipinas. 3 letters
LAS. When the Spanish explorer Ruy Lopez de Villalobos discovered the islands of Leyte and Samar, he called them Felipinas, after King Philip II of Spain. Eventually, the name was used for the whole archipelago, becoming what we now call in English, the Philippines.
Hundred Acre Wood resident. 3 letters
ROO. Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, Roo is based on a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son, Christopher Robin.
Something most Americans won’t take, for short. 3 letters
ESL. English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).
Cultural grp. 3 letters
NEA. The National Endowment for the Arts is an agency funded by the federal government that offers support and financing for artistic projects. It was created by an Act of Congress in 1965. Between 1965 and 2008, the NEA awarded over $4 billion to the arts, with Congress authorizing around $170m annually through the eighties and much of the nineties. That funding was cut to less than $100m in the late nineties due to pressure from conservatives concerned about the use of funds, but it is now back over the $150m mark
Flower in a van Gogh painting. 4 letters
IRIS. Van Gogh painted his “Irises” while he was in an asylum in the south of France the year before he committed suicide. The original owner was a French art critic and supporter of Van Gogh who paid 300 francs to purchase the painting. “Irises” was bought for $53.9 million in 1987 making it the most expensive painting sold up to that point. But, the buyer didn’t actually have the necessary funds, so it had to be resold in 1990. It was picked up by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where you can see it today.
Nude alternative. 4 letters
ECRU. The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.
Bluesy James. 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James is best known for her rendition of “At Last”.
Fit for service. 5 letters
ONE-A. The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System(SS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).
Memorable hurricane of 2011. 5 letters
IRENE. Hurricane Irene caused extensive flooding in 2011 as it travelled through the Caribbean, up the East Coast of the United States and into the Atlantic seaboard of Canada. The hurricane was unusual in that it came so far up north. Fifty-five deaths were attributed to Irene.
Not quite closed. 4 letters
AJAR. Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.
Conquistador’s loot. 3 letters
ORO. Conquistador is the Spanish for “conqueror”.
Blade handle?. 4 letters
ATRA. What a clever clue! The Atra was introduced by Gillette in 1977, and sold as the Contour in some markets, and its derivative products are still around today.
Documentarian Burns. 3 letters
KEN. Ken Burns directs and produces epic documentary films that usually make inventive use of archive footage. Recent works are the sensational ‘The War’ (about the US in WWII) and the magnificent ‘The National Parks: America’s Best Idea’. Burns’ latest offering is 2014’s ‘The Roosevelts: An Intimate History’.
Fit for duty, draftwise. 5 letters
ONE-A. The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System. In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).
Chemistry Nobelist Joliot-Curie. 5 letters
IRENE. Along with her husband, Frederick, Irene Joliot-Curie was awarded the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1935 for their discovery of artificial radioactivity. Irene was the daughter of Marie and Pierre Curie, who also won Nobel Prizes. Irene died when she was 58 years old, suffering from leukemia brought on her exposure to high doses of radiation. Her mother, Marie, died from aplastic anemia, also caused by high exposure to radiation. To this day, Marie’s personal papers are kept preserved in lead-lined boxes as they are highly radioactive, even her personal cookbook.
Most eligible to be drafted. 5 letters
ONE-A. The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System. In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).
New Age Grammy winner. 4 letters
ENYA. Enya’s real name is Eithne Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career, eventually becoming Ireland’s best-selling solo musician. And, she sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!
Eugene O’Neill’s “___ Christie”. 4 letters
ANNA. The playwright Eugene O’Neill was born in a New York City hotel room in what is now called Times Square, in 1888. That building no longer exists and there is a Starbucks on the site today, but you can go take a look at the commemorative plaque at the Northeast corner of 43rd and Broadway. O’Neill died in 1953, in room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel on Bay State Road in Boston. His last words were, ‘I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room, and God damn it, died in a hotel room.” Eugene O’Neill won a Pulitzer for his play “Anna Christie”.
___ James (Beyoncé role). 4 letters
ETTA. Etta James was portrayed by singer Beyoncé Knowles in the 2008 movie ‘Cadillac Records’.
They had Machmeters, briefly. 4 letters
SSTS. SuperSonic Transports, like the Concorde, broke Mach 1, the speed of sound. They’re all grounded now.
Tonsil doc. 3 letters
ENT. An Ear, Nose and Throat specialist is an ENT.
Lombard Street feature. 3 letters
ESS. Lombard Street in San Francisco is noted worldwide for a one-block section on Russian Hill that has eight ridiculously tight hairpin turns. That one-block section has a whipping 27% grade. The San Francisco Street is named for Lombard Street in Philadelphia.
Decidedly not-lax grp. 3 letters
TSA. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks. TSA personnel carry out the baggage and body searches at US airports. The TSA has a Trusted Traveler program that allows certain passengers to move more quickly through security screening. These passengers pay the TSA a one-time fee that covers a background check after which successful applicants are issued a Known Traveler Number (KTN).
U.S.’s largest labor union, in brief. 3 letters
NEA. The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.
Old card game with forfeits. 3 letters
LOO. The old card game of loo was popular in the 17th century. It was a game involving trumps and the taking of tricks. As part of the game, a player might be “looed”, not win any tricks at all in a particular round. As such, he or she has to pay a forfeit, a sum added to the pool awarded to the eventual winner.
Columbia org. 4 letters
NASA. Columbia was the name and call sign of the command module that accompanied the lunar module Eagle that landed the first man on the moon in the Apollo 11 mission. Columbia was also the name of the first space shuttle sent into space in 1981. Tragically, Columbia was destroyed during the reentry phase of its 28th flight in 2003.
Baden-Baden, for one. 3 letters
SPA. Baden-Baden is located in the southwest of German in the Black Forest, very close to the border with France. The natural springs of Baden-Baden were greatly prized by the Ancient Romans who used the town as a spa. Baden-Baden became very popular with the aristocracy in the 1800s when visitors included Queen Victoria, as well as the composers Berlioz and Brahms, and the writer Dostoevsky. The town’s reputation earned it the nickname of the “European Summer Capital”. The town was originally called just Baden in the Middle Ages, and the name was officially changed to Baden-Baden in 1931. Baden-Baden is short for “the town of Baden in the state of Baden”.
Grp. 3 letters
AMA. American Medical Association (AMA)
Half of dos. 3 letters
UNO. Uno, dos, tres … (one, two, three in Spanish).
Pal of Pooh. 3 letters
ROO. Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, Roo is based on a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son, Christopher Robin.
What may come as a relief?. 4 letters
ALOE. Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.
Inflation fig. 3 letters
PSI. Pounds per square inch (PSI) is a measure of pressure.
Hundred Acre Wood resident. 3 letters
ROO. Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, the kangaroo named Roo was inspired by on a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.
