2/2/25 - Two-For-One Special 🎟️

🏁 Solve –> Two-For-One Special by Derrick Niederman

20A | Venetian magistrates of old

DOGES

Despite Google searches for the word "doge" now (unfortunately) returning results pertaining to memecoins and the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency, the word itself traces its etymology back to the Latin dux, meaning "leader" or ruler" (see also: "duke").

In this more regal sense, doge was the title conferred on each of the elected heads of the republics of Venice (beginning in 697) and Genoa (beginning in 1339), two sovereign city-states that preceded a unified Italy. That is, until 1797, when the Doge of Venice and the Doge of Genoa were forced to abdicate upon bein invaded and conquered by Napoleon's French forces.

26A | Informer, informally

STOOLIE

Although "stoolie" – short for "stool pigeon" – now applies to any kind of snitch (i.e. a person who alerts the police to criminal activity), its original usage referred more specifically to those who were employed by law enforcement to lure other criminals into a trap so that they could be caught in the act.

It has been posited that the phrase itself has its origins in a hunting method by which a pigeon would be tied to an object as a way to attract wild birds down closer to the ground, where they could be killed more easily.

27A | Cartoon character inspired by W.C. Fields

MR MAGOO

It's the nose, I suppose.

51A | Onetime Kia model

OPTIMA

Fans of mid-size sedans rejoice: rumors of the Kia Optima's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

After being sold for two decades as the "Optima," in 2021 the model was re-branded as the K5 in the United States (the name under which it was already being sold in Kia's home base of South Korea.)

👉 BONUS BIT: Founded in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry, a bicycle manufacturer, the company signaled its international aspirations by becoming Kia in 1952 – a name whose two Chinese characters can be translated as "to come out" and "east."

75A | Jeans popular in the 1980s

GITANOS

Gitano's sales exploded in the 1980s as the result of a marketing strategy that cultivated an image of the brand as purveyors of hip, upscale fashion whose designer jeans could be attained at affordable prices (from mass retailers such as K-Mart and Walmart).

Alas, the company soon got too big for its britches and, after years of mismanagement and declining sales, was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1994, whereupon it was purchased by apparel giant Fruit of the Loom.

83A | Org. once led by George H.W. Bush

CIA

Before capping his political career by serving as the 41st President of the United States from 1989-1993 , George Herbert Walker Bush held the role of Director of Central Intelligence from 1976 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford.

According to the CIA's website, Bush's strong leadership "restored the morale and reputation" of the government agency, both of which had been tarnished in the early 1970s by reports of misdeeds and ensuing Congressional investigations.

👉 BONUS BIT: Despite being credited with "right"ing the ship, Bush is believed to be the only left-handed DCI.

96A | Architect Maya

LIN

A first generation American, Maya Lin (1959-) was born in Ohio to Chinese immigrant parents. In 1981, while working toward her undergraduate degree in architecture at Yale, Lin won a national competition sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund (a private organization) to design a monument honoring the soldiers who lost their lives during the Vietnam War.

Although her submission was unanimously selected by the VVMF from over 1,400 entries, once unveiled to the public Lin's proposal was met with fierce opposition from people who disliked its minimalist aesthetic and use of black granite. (The attacks also took on a racial component due to Lin's ethnicity.) Nevertheless, construction finally commenced in early 1982 and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on November 13 of that same year.

Lin has subsequently designed the Civil Rights Memorial (Montgomery, AL) and the Langston Hughes Library (Clinton, TN) and in 2016 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

108A | Hall-of-Famer Martínez

PEDRO

Dominican-Americans athlete Pedro Martinez was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015 (his first year of eligibility), following in the footsteps of fellow pitcher Juan Marichal to become the second Dominican-born player enshrined in Cooperstown.

In an addition to his prowess on the mount, during a 2003 playoff game against the rival New York Yankees, Martinez – then a member of the archival Boston Red Sox – earned some (unwelcome) notoriety for throwing 72-year old opposing coach Don Zimmer to the ground during a bench-clearing brawl. Martinez later described the incident as a "disgrace for baseball" and the "only regret" of his entire career.

8D | Fictional composer whose first three initials mean "A.S.A.P."

PDQ BACH

P.D.Q. Bach is purported to be the neglected offspring of German composer Johann Sebastian Bach, but in actuality is a comedic character created by American composer Peter Schickele (1935-2024), in the guise of whom he released 17 albums – including four that won consecutive Grammys for Best Comedy Album from 1990-1993. [Sample piece: "Lip My Reeds"]

A colloquial phrase standing for "pretty darn quick," the use of the initialism P.D.Q. serves as a parodic allusion to the name of one of Bach's actual sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, often abbreviated as C.P.E. Bach.

👉 BONUS BIT: Schickele is credited with inventing the "tromboon" – a musical instrument that combines the trombone and bassoon in such a way as to produce a loud, comical sound.

10D | Foreign exchange fee

AGIO

From the Italian aggio, meaning "increase," the English word "agio" was introduced during the late 1600s by those facilitating financial transactions to refer to the surcharge paid when swapping one type of money for another.