Day: November 12, 2012

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Actress Jessica ALBA
Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsular cyst. On top of all that she acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. It seems that she has really turned her life around …

19. Tehran’s land IRAN
Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around an awful long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital. We really are only babies over here in the US …

20. Uganda’s Amin IDI
Idi Amin received most of his military training in the British armed forces, eventually achieving the highest rank possible for a Black African in the British Colonial Army in 1959, that of Warrant Officer. On his return to Uganda Amin joined his country’s military and quickly rose to the rank of Deputy Commander of the Army. During that time he was quite the athlete. He was a noted rugby player and swimmer, and for nine years held the Ugandan national light-heavyweight boxing title. By the early seventies, Amin was commander of all the armed forces of Uganda and in 1971 seized power in a military coup, displacing the country’s president Milton Obote. There followed seven years of brutal rule by Amin during which it is estimated that between 100,000 and 500,000 people were murdered. Amin was ousted from power in 1979 after a war with Tanzania, and fled to Libya where he stayed for a year. He then moved to Saudi Arabia, where he was financially supported by the Saudi Royal Family for the remainder of his life. Amin died in 2003.

25. Children’s imitation game SI(MON) SAYS
“Simon Says” is a kids’ game. The idea is for the players of the game to obey the “controller” who gives instructions. But the players should only obey when the controller uses the words, “Simon says …”. The game has very old roots, with a Latin version that uses the words “Cicero dicit fac hoc” (Cicero says do this).

32. Govt. hush-hush org. NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

33. “Grody to the max!” UGH
“Grody” is slang for disgusting, a possible alteration of the British slang “grotty” meaning very unpleasant.

45. Dormitory, to dirty room ANAGRAM
“Dormitory” is a very apt anagram of “dirty room”, well sometimes …

52. Onetime capital of Japan KYOTO
The city of Kyoto was once the capital of Japan, and in fact the name “Kyoto” means “capital city” in Japanese.

54. Tiny bit IOTA
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

56. Chili __ carne CON
The full name for the dish that is often called simply “chili” is chili con carne, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was first creat by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

66. Bouquet POSY
The word “posy”, meaning a bouquet of flowers, comes from the word “poesy”, which was a line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring. The jump to “posy” came with the notion that the giving of flowers was a form of language in itself.

Down
1. Birthplace of St. Francis ASSISI
The Italian town of Assisi is famous as the birthplace of St. Francis and as the home to the Franciscan religious order. It was also the home to Saint Clare and her order of the Poor Sisters (later known as the Poor Clares).

5. ’50s-’60s TV detective Peter GUNN
“Peter Gunn” is a crime drama about a private eye that ran on NBC and ABC in the late fifties and early sixties. The show was created by Blake Edwards, with many episodes being directed by Robert Altman.

7. Perp-to-cop story ALIBI
“Alibi” is the Latin word for “elsewhere” as in, “I claim that I was ‘elsewhere’ when the crime was committed … I have an ‘alibi'”.

10. Minnesota baseballers TWINS
The Minnesota Twins baseball team started out life as the Kansas City Blues in 1894, and then the Washington Senators from 1901. The team arrived in Minneapolis in 1961.

13. “Little __”: Alcott novel MEN
Louisa May Alcott wrote what is unofficially known as the “Little Women” trilogy. The three books in the series are:

– “Little Women”
– “Little Men”
– “Jo’s Boys”

28. Airline to Copenhagen SAS
SAS was formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System and is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

30. Venezuelan president Hugo CHAVEZ
Hugo Chávez is the President of Venezuela, and has been so since 1999. Chávez has very much a socialist agenda and once in power nationalized many of the country’s key industries. His socialism stretches to a very vocal opposition to capitalism, and so he hasn’t been a big supporter of US policies.

35. Song of mourning ELEGY
Perhaps the most famous elegy in the English language is that written by Thomas Gray, completed in 1750. His “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” is the source of many oft-quoted phrases, including:

– Celestial fire
– Far from the Madding Crowd
– Kindred spirit

39. Native of Japan’s third most populous city OSAKAN
The Japanese city of Osaka used to be called Naniwa, with the name changing to Osaka some time before 1500. “Osaka” can be translated either as “large hill” or “large slope”.

40. Mineo of “Exodus” SAL
Sal Mineo’s most famous role was that of John “Plate” Crawford, the kid who was in awe of the James Dean character in “Rebel Without a Cause”. Sadly, Mineo was murdered in 1976 when he was just 37 years old. He was attacked in the alley behind his Los Angeles apartment and stabbed through the heart. When an arrest was made it was discovered that the murderer had no idea that his victim was a celebrity, and that his plan was just to rob anyone who cae along.

“Exodus” is the 1960 film of the Leon Uris novel of the same name. Paul Newman heads the cast, and Sal Mineo had a supporting role playing Dov Landau.

45. Like numbers in the periodic table ATOMIC
The atomic number of an element is also called the proton number, and is the number of protons found in the nucleus of each atom of the element.

Dmitri Mendeleev was a Russian chemist. When Mendeleev classified elements according to their chemical properties, he noticed patterns and was able to group elements into his famous 1869 Periodic Table. So powerful was his table that he actually predicted the properties of some elements that had not even been discovered in 1869. Element number 101, mendelevium, was named after Mendeleev.

46. Ornate 18th-century style ROCOCO
The Rococo style is also known as “Late Baroque”. It is a very floral and playful style, very ornate.

47. Ring-shaped reefs ATOLLS
An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

51. “The Lion King” king SIMBA
Simba is the main character in the Disney animated feature, “The Lion King”. “Simba” is the Swahili word for “lion”.

57. Salsa, e.g. DIP
“Salsa” is simply the Spanish for “sauce”.

59. Hockey immortal Bobby ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players who ever played the game. By the time he retired in 1978, Orr had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, Orr concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Actress Jessica ALBA
5. Uses spurs, say GOADS
10. Sports squad TEAM
14. Fortuneteller SEER
15. Not yet burning UNLIT
16. Taper off WANE
17. Light reddish shade named for a fish SAL(MON) PINK
19. Tehran’s land IRAN
20. Uganda’s Amin IDI
21. Drawer projection KNOB
22. Env. stuffing ENCL
23. Flows slowly SEEPS
25. Children’s imitation game SI(MON) SAYS
29. Deal, as a blow INFLICT
31. “Then what happened?” AND
32. Govt. hush-hush org. NSA
33. “Grody to the max!” UGH
34. Dessert served in triangular slices PIE
35. Grub EATS
36. Sticky breakfast sweets CINNA(MON) ROLLS
40. Relax in the tub SOAK
41. Solemn promise VOW
42. “__ as directed” USE
43. Do some sums ADD
44. Crank (up) REV
45. Dormitory, to dirty room ANAGRAM
49. Grated citrus peel LE(MON) ZEST
52. Onetime capital of Japan KYOTO
53. Swigs from flasks NIPS
54. Tiny bit IOTA
56. Chili __ carne CON
57. Go steady with DATE
58. Winter cause of sniffles and sneezes COM(MON) COLD
61. “Deal me a hand” I’M IN
62. Heavenly path ORBIT
63. Golden St. campus UCLA
64. Kennel guests PETS
65. Pre-meal prayer GRACE
66. Bouquet POSY

Down
1. Birthplace of St. Francis ASSISI
2. Hard to lift LEADEN
3. Religious conviction BELIEF
4. Shirt part ARM
5. ’50s-’60s TV detective Peter GUNN
6. Not AWOL ON POST
7. Perp-to-cop story ALIBI
8. Crowd noise DIN
9. Wall St. buy STK
10. Minnesota baseballers TWINS
11. Auditory passage EAR CANAL
12. Some therapists ANALYSTS
13. “Little __”: Alcott novel MEN
18. Thumb-and-forefinger gesture OK SIGN
22. Finish END
24. Put (down), as a bet PLUNK
26. Common street name MAIN
27. What a solo homer produces ONE RUN
28. Airline to Copenhagen SAS
30. Venezuelan president Hugo CHAVEZ
34. “Batman” sound effect POW
35. Song of mourning ELEGY
36. Alias for a secret agent CODE NAME
37. Words of confession I ADMIT IT
38. “Shake a leg!” MOVE
39. Native of Japan’s third most populous city OSAKAN
40. Mineo of “Exodus” SAL
44. OR staffers RNS
45. Like numbers in the periodic table ATOMIC
46. Ornate 18th-century style ROCOCO
47. Ring-shaped reefs ATOLLS
48. Workweek start, or an apt title for this puzzle based on an abbreviation found in its five longest answers MONDAY
50. Starts the show OPENS
51. “The Lion King” king SIMBA
55. Beach bag TOTE
57. Salsa, e.g. DIP
58. Gear tooth COG
59. Hockey immortal Bobby ORR
60. Coffee container CUP

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