Day: May 13, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. “… __ you any wool?” HAVE
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”.

16. “Metamorphoses” poet OVID
“The Metamorphoses” is a narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid that deals with a lofty subject. It describes the history of the world from creation until the “present day”, that is Ovid’s “present day”, the era of Julius Caesar. A lot of the storyline makes use of Greek mythology (rather than Roman).

17. Pacific salmon COHOS
The Coho salmon is silver along the side of its body, but only during the phase of its life while it is in the ocean. When spawning and heading up into a freshwater river, the Coho has bright red sides.

19. TV lover’s recording device TIVO
TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

20. Hankering YEN
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!

21. *1950 Irving Berlin musical CALL ME MADAM
“Call Me Madam” is a stage musical by Irving Berlin that was adapted into a 1953 movie starring Ethel Merman. The show is about a Washington, D.C. hostess, and was inspired by real-life socialite Perle Mesta.

24. Bea Arthur role MAUDE
Actress Bea Arthur’s most famous roles were on television, as the lead in the “All in the Family” spin-off “Maude” and as Dorothy Zbornak in “The Golden Girls”. Arthur also won a Tony for playing Vera Charles on stage in the original cast of “Mame” in 1966, two years after she played Yente the matchmaker in the original cast of “Fiddler on the Roof”.

26. Month between avril and juin MAI
In French, April, May and June (avril, mai et juin).

29. Chewy Nestlé candy bar BABY RUTH
One might be forgiven for thinking that the candy bar called a Baby Ruth was named after baseball legend Babe Ruth. However, the Curtiss Candy Company that introduced the confection in 1921 has stated that it was in fact named for Ruth Cleveland, the daughter of President Grover Cleveland. That said, there seems to be some debate …

34. Spanish folk hero EL CID
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar was known as El Cid Campeador, which translates as “The Champion” or perhaps “The Lord, Master of Military Arts”. El Cid was a soldier who fought under the rule of King Alfonso VI of Spain (among others). However, he was sent into exile by the King in 1080, after acting beyond his authorization in battle. El Cid then offered his services to his former foes, the Moorish kings, After a number of years building a reputation with the Moors, he was recalled from exile by Alfonso. By this time El Cid was very much his own man. Nominally under the orders of Alfonso, he led a combined army of Spanish and Moorish troops and took the city of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast, making it is headquarters and home. He died there, quite peacefully in 1099.

35. The “thou” in “Wherefore art thou …?” ROMEO
In the balcony scene in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet utters the famous line:
O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?
Every school kid must have commented with a giggle “he’s down in the garden!” Of course, “wherefore” isn’t an archaic word for “where”, but rather an old way of saying “why”. So Juliet is asking, “Why art thou Romeo, a Montague, and hence a sworn enemy of the Capulets?”

40. Square root of IX III
The square root of 9 (XI) is 3 (III), in Roman numerals.

41. Anti-wrinkle treatment BOTOX
Botulinum toxin is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The toxin is a protein that can cause botulism, an extremely dangerous illness in humans and animals. Botulinum toxin is sold under the trade name Botox. Botox is used therapeutically and in cosmetic applications to weaken muscles, perhaps muscles that are in uncontrollable spasm. The cosmetic application involves the paralyzing of facial muscles in order to eliminate or reduce wrinkles, at least for a few months.

46. Stimpy’s pal REN
“The Ren and Stimpy Show” is an animated television show that ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996. The title characters are Marland “Ren” Höek, a scrawny Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a rotund Manx cat. Not my cup of tea …

47. The V in PVC VINYL
PVC is polyvinyl chloride, the third most widely produced plastic in the world (after polyethylene and polypropylene). PVC is resistant to corrosion from biological and chemical agents making it a favored choice these days for sewage lines, replacing the traditional metal materials. It is so chemically stable, that it will be around a long, long time …

53. Nile slitherer ASP
The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.

58. Pricey fur SABLE
Sables are small mammals about two feet long, found right across northern Europe and northern Asia. The sable’s pelt is highly prized in the fur trade. It is unique among furs in that it feels smooth no matter which direction it is stroked.

64. Skin ink, for short TATS
The word “tattoo” was first used in English in the writings of the famous English explorer Captain Cook. In his descriptions of the indelible marks adorning the skin of Polynesian natives, Cook anglicized the Tahitian word “tatau” into our “tattoo”.

Down
1. Department store founder R.H. __ MACY
The original Macy’s store was opened by Rowland Hussey Macy in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1851. This store, and several others that Macy opened, all failed. Macy picked himself up though, and started over again in New York City. Those early New York stores all focused on the sale of dry goods, but added departments quickly as the clientele grew. The Macy’s “star” logo has been around since the company was first established. Macy chose the star because it mimicked the star tattoo that he got as a teenager when he was working on a whaling ship out of Nantucket.

2. The Body Shop balm ALOE
The Body Shop is a L’Oréal company that started in England. The founder got the idea from a shop she visited in Berkeley, California that happened to be called the Body Shop. Years later, the founder bought the rights to the original Body Shop name. L’Oréal bought out the chain in 2006 for over 650 million pounds.

3. *Barack Obama’s 2008 opponent JOHN MCCAIN
John McCain went into the US Naval Academy in 1958, following a family tradition as his father and grandfather were both four-star admirals. The younger McCain did not achieve the same rank, retiring from the Navy as a captain in 1981, but his career development was interrupted by almost six years spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

4. Middle name adopted by John Lennon ONO
John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotels in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit.

7. April 1st dupe FOOL
April Fool’s 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”.

12. Brawny rival VIVA
Viva and Brawny are brands of paper towels.

13. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea EDOM
Edom is an ancient Iron Age kingdom located in the south of modern-day Jordan. The area is known for its red-colored sandstone, which gave the kingdom its name. The Hebrew word “Edom” translates as “red”.

23. Club sandwich condiment MAYO
Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

The club sandwich is a double-decker affair with three layers of bread and two layers of filling. This style of sandwich has been around since the end of the 19th century, and some say it was invented at an exclusive gambling “club” in Saratoga Springs, New York.

28. Stan’s slapstick sidekick OLLIE
Stan Laurel was an English comic actor (born Arthur Stanley Jefferson), who made a great career for himself in Hollywood. Laurel ended up at the Hal Roach studio directing films, intent on pursuing a career in writing and directing. However, he was a sometime actor and was asked to step in when another comic actor, Oliver Hardy, was injured and couldn’t perform. Laurel and Hardy started to share a stage together during that time and when it was clear they worked so well together, their partnership was born. Oh, and the oft-quoted story that Clint Eastwood is the son of Stan Laurel … that’s just an urban myth.

29. Square dancers’ neckties BOLOS
I’ve never worn a bolo tie, and was surprised to discover that it is a relatively recent invention. The first bolo tie was apparently produced in Wickenburg, Arizona in the late 1940s by a silversmith. The bolo takes its name from the boleadora, an Argentine lariat.

30. Early premium credit card, familiarly AMEX
Amex is short for American Express. In dollar terms, there are more transactions conducted in the US using the Amex card than any other card.

32. Arizona city TEMPE
Tempe is a city in the metropolitan area of Phoenix. The city is named for the Vale of Tempe in Greece.

35. “Hud” director Martin RITT
Martin Ritt is best remembered as a television and movie director. During the bad old days of the “Red Scare”, Ritt was working in television until he found himself on a blacklist for supposed support of Communist causes. He turned to the theater for work until the Red Scare had run its course, and then moved into the world of film. Some of his best known movies are “Hud”, “The Great White Hope” and “Norma Rae”.

38. Novelist Kurt VONNEGUT
Kurt Vonnegut was an writer from Indianapolis whose most famous work is probably the novel “Slaughterhouse-Five” from 1969. Beyond his writing, Vonnegut was noted for his support of the American Civil Liberties Union and American Humanist Association. Kurt had a brother who made a big contribution to society. Bernard Vonnegut was the atmospheric scientist who discovered that silver iodide could be used to seed clouds and artificially create rain.

39. Fay of “King Kong” WRAY
“King Kong” really is a classic movie. It stars Fay Wray as the young woman (name Ann Darrow) with whom Kong falls in love. Wray was very interested in the role as she was told that she would be playing opposite the “tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood”. She thought it might be Clark Gable. At least that’s how the story goes …

41. U.K. network, with “the” BEEB
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.

42. Bible book where you can find the ends of the answers to starred clues GENESIS
In the Bible, the Book of Genesis (Gen.) is followed immediately by the Book of Exodus (Exod.).

45. Actress Ullmann LIV
Liv Ullmann is a Norwegian, best known to us in North America as an actress (I saw her recently in the classic war movie “A Bridge Too Far”). Ullmann has also directed several films, including “Sofie” released in 1992. Ullmann lived with famed Swedish director Ingmar Bergman for several years in the 1960s.

48. Apple computers MACS
Macintosh (also “Mac”) is a line of computers from Apple Inc. The first Mac was introduced in 1984, and I remember someone showing me one at work in those early days of personal computing. There was a piece of white plastic connected to the main computer by a cord, and I was amazed when the guy showed me that it controlled where the cursor was on the screen. My colleague told me that the lump of plastic was called a “mouse” …

49. Back forty unit ACRE
In the Public Land Survey System, land right across the country is divided into townships and sections. A section is roughly equivalent to a square mile, 640 acres. It became the practice to refer to quarter-quarter divisions of a section, with a quarter of a quarter of a section being equal to 40 acres (check the math!). From this sprung phrases like “lower 40” (nominally the lowest elevation 40 acres on a property) and the “back 40” (nominally a 40 acre parcel that was undeveloped on a property, “out the back”).

50. Fort with bullion KNOX
Fort Knox is actually a US Army base, but it lends its name to the adjacent facility that is more correctly called the United States Bullion Depository. Most of the US gold reserves are in “Fort Knox”, although it isn’t the biggest gold repository in the US. That honor goes to the vault under the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in Manhattan. Most of the gold stored in the New York vault belongs to foreign nations and banks.

51. “Mona __” LISA
Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.

54. Czech, e.g. SLAV
The Slavic peoples are in the majority in communities covering over half of Europe. This large ethnic group is traditionally broken down into three smaller groups:

– the West Slavic (including Czechs and Poles)
– the East Slavic (including Russians and Ukrainians)
– the South Slavic (including Bulgarians and Serbs)

55. Soccer legend PELE
Pelé is the nickname of Edson de Nascimento, a soccer player who has used the name Pelé for most of his life. Pelé is now retired, and for my money was the world’s greatest ever player of the game. He is the only person to have been part of three World Cup winning squads, and is a national treasure in his native Brazil.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Collegian’s focus subject MAJOR
6. Quite a way off AFAR
10. “… __ you any wool?” HAVE
14. With no shoulder to cry on ALONE
15. Dust speck MOTE
16. “Metamorphoses” poet OVID
17. Pacific salmon COHOS
18. “Kablooie!” BOOM!
19. TV lover’s recording device TIVO
20. Hankering YEN
21. *1950 Irving Berlin musical CALL ME MADAM
24. Bea Arthur role MAUDE
26. Month between avril and juin MAI
27. Swayed to and fro, as a cradle ROCKED
29. Chewy Nestlé candy bar BABY RUTH
34. Spanish folk hero EL CID
35. The “thou” in “Wherefore art thou …?” ROMEO
36. Modern: Pref. NEO-
37. Custardy dessert FLAN
38. More despicable VILER
39. Fraidy-cat WIMP
40. Square root of IX III
41. Anti-wrinkle treatment BOTOX
42. Feel one’s way GROPE
43. Cheap cigar cost, once TEN CENTS
45. Tilted LEANED
46. Stimpy’s pal REN
47. The V in PVC VINYL
48. *Pretend MAKE BELIEVE
53. Nile slitherer ASP
56. Teenager’s bumps along the road of life? ACNE
57. Taunting remark GIBE
58. Pricey fur SABLE
60. Farmer’s yield CROP
61. Icon clicker USER
62. Perfect in every way IDEAL
63. Alluring SEXY
64. Skin ink, for short TATS
65. Work a crossword puzzle SOLVE

Down
1. Department store founder R.H. __ MACY
2. The Body Shop balm ALOE
3. *Barack Obama’s 2008 opponent JOHN MCCAIN
4. Middle name adopted by John Lennon ONO
5. Saved from harm RESCUED
6. Stroll along AMBLE
7. April 1st dupe FOOL
8. Basic unit of matter ATOM
9. Keep in mind REMEMBER
10. A lot of hooey HOT AIR
11. Raring to go AVID
12. Brawny rival VIVA
13. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea EDOM
22. Recipe verb ADD
23. Club sandwich condiment MAYO
25. Related (to) AKIN
27. Update, as factory equipment REFIT
28. Stan’s slapstick sidekick OLLIE
29. Square dancers’ neckties BOLOS
30. Early premium credit card, familiarly AMEX
31. *Tag promoting organized labor UNION LABEL
32. Arizona city TEMPE
33. Kept the faith HOPED
35. “Hud” director Martin RITT
38. Novelist Kurt VONNEGUT
39. Fay of “King Kong” WRAY
41. U.K. network, with “the” BEEB
42. Bible book where you can find the ends of the answers to starred clues GENESIS
44. Willies-inducing CREEPY
45. Actress Ullmann LIV
47. Changes course VEERS
48. Apple computers MACS
49. Back forty unit ACRE
50. Fort with bullion KNOX
51. “Mona __” LISA
52. “As if!” I BET!
54. Czech, e.g. SLAV
55. Soccer legend PELE
59. Hullabaloo ADO

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Posted by Bill Butler
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