Day: June 6, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. King Arthur’s resting place AVALON
Avalon is a legendary island featured in the Arthurian legends. The name Avalon probably comes from the word “afal”, the Welsh word for “apple”, reflecting the fact that the island was noted for its beautiful apples. Avalon is where King Arthur’s famous sword (Excalibur) was forged, and supposedly where Arthur was buried.

18. Double CARBON COPY
I wonder do the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle?

20. Hotelier Helmsley LEONA
Leona Helmsley was a high-rolling real estate investor and hotel operator in New York City. She was convicted of income tax evasion in 1989 and sentenced to 16 years in jail. At her trial a witness quoted her as saying “We don’t pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes.” No wonder she was known as the Queen of Mean …

23. “Rights of Man” author PAINE
“Rights of Man” is a 1791 book by Thomas Paine, that argues in favor of a popular revolution when the government is deemed not to be protecting the rights of the people nor the national interest. As such, the book comes out heavily in favor of the French Revolution.

26. Tijuana tots NENES
“Nene” is the Spanish word for a male baby or young child.

Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

28. What putting one’s pen down in Final Jeopardy! usually means I’M DONE
“Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big times. Trebek has been host since 1984.

33. Key econ. indicator CPI
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures changes in the price of services and goods purchased by households. The United States CPI fell in 2009, for the first time since 1955. That’s how bad the 2009 recession was …

39. Sister of Calliope ERATO
In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

– Calliope (epic poetry)
– Clio (history)
– Erato (lyric poetry)
– Euterpe (music)
– Melpomene (tragedy)
– Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
– Terpsichore (dance)
– Thalia (comedy)
– Urania (astronomy)

40. Double DOPPELGANGER
A doppelgänger is a ghostly double of a living person. The literal translation of the German word “Doppelgänger” is double (Doppel) walker (Gänger).

52. Former Sandinista leader ORTEGA
Daniel Ortega is the current President of Nicaragua. Prior to his political career, Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front.

56. Food writer James BEARD
James Beard was a chef from Portland, Oregon who was noted for popularizing French cooking in the fifties here in North America.

61. Bobbled grounder, e.g. ERROR
In baseball, a bobbled grounder would be recorded as an error.

62. Double SPITTING IMAGE
“Spitting image” is used to describe someone who looks very much like another. The phrase used to be written as “spit and image”, and makes use of the concept that a person is made up the the stuff of one’s parents (i.e. the spit) and has the look of one’s parents (i.e. the image). The expression “you are the very spit of your mother/father” used the same ideas.

66. Pledge from the faithful TITHE
A tithe is a traditional payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

67. Double DEAD RINGER
A “dead ringer” is an exact duplicate. The phrase comes from the use of “dead” to mean “exact, precise” as in “dead center” or “dead heat”, as well as the use of “ringer” from the world of horse racing. A “ringer” was a horse that looked similar to another, but which was substituted to defraud the bookies. So, a “dead ringer” is an “exact” “duplicate”.

71. __ Sports Bureau, baseball’s official statistician ELIAS
The Elias Sports Bureau has been providing research and statistics for professional sports since 1913. The business was set up in 1913 in New York City by Al Munro Elias and his brother Walter.

72. Like mil. volunteers ENL
Military (mil.) volunteers are enlisted (enl.)

74. Manhattan has many high ones RENTS
The island we know as Manhattan was inhabited by the Lenape Indians when the first Europeans explorers arrived in the area. According to the logbook of one of the officers on Henry Hudson’s yacht, the island was called “Manna-hata” in the local language, from which the modern name derives.

75. Toper’s trouble DTS
The episodes of delirium that can accompany withdrawal from alcohol are called Delirium Tremens (the DTs). The literal translation of this Latin phrase is “trembling madness”.

“To tope” is to drink alcohol excessively and habitually.

Down
2. Charlton’s “Earthquake” co-star AVA
Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, but also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra. After her marriages had failed (and perhaps before!) she had long term relationships with Howard Hughes and bullfighter Luis Miguel Dominguin whom she met through her friend Ernest Hemingway.

“Earthquake” is a disaster movie that was released in 1974 starring Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner, and many other big name actors. I remember seeing this movie in a Dublin cinema and experiencing the special effect that was marketed as “Sensurround”.

4. Sans melanin ALBINO
“Albino”, meaning an organism lacking normal pigmentation, comes from “albus” Latin for “white”.

5. Mets pitcher who was 1984 N.L. Rookie of the Year GOODEN
Dwight Gooden is a former professional baseball pitcher, with the nickname “Dr. K”. Sadly, Gooden’s life has been plagued by drug and alcohol problems, and those problems have continued, even since his retirement from baseball in 2001.

9. Psychic Edgar CAYCE
Edgar Cayce was an American psychic who became quite notorious towards the end of his life. Included in the list of Cayce’s clients were Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Edison, Irving Berlin and George Gershwin.

13. Most stylish TONIEST
Something described as “tony” is elegant or exclusive. “Tony” is derived from the word “tone”.

19. “AC360º” channel CNN
“AC360” is the shortened title to the CNN news show “Anderson Cooper 360”.

Anderson Cooper is a great news personality on CNN and on various shows around the dial. My favorite appearances of his, although he would call them trivial I am sure, was as host of a great reality game show called “The Mole” that aired in 2001.

22. Indiana Jones terrorizer ASP
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” is, in my humble opinion, the best of the Indiana Jones franchise of movies. This first Indiana Jones film was released in 1981, produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford was Spielberg’s first choice to play the lead, but Lucas resisted as he was concerned that he would be too closely associated with the actor (as Ford played Han Solo in “Star Wars”, and also appeared in Lucas’s “American Graffiti”). Tom Selleck was offered the role but couldn’t get out of his commitments to “Magnum, P.I.” Eventually Spielberg got his way, and that was a good thing I’d say …

23. Flick PIC
A “flick” or “pic” is a movie.

24. Band aid? AMP
An electric guitar, for example, needs an amplifier (amp) to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a signal powerful enough for a loudspeaker.

29. Forward-looking claim ESP
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

31. Fill-up choice: Abbr. REG
The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. The octane rating is measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. it’s resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”.

35. “__ o’ My Heart”: 1913 song PEG
The song “Peg O’ My Heart” appeared in the 1913 musical “Ziegfield Follies”. The 1947 version referred to in the clue is by the Harmonicats, who had the most successful recording, one that made the number spot in the charts that year.

41. “Star Trek: DSN” changeling ODO
Odo is a character in the “Star Trek” spin-off “Deep Space Nine”. He is the chief of security on the space station and is a Changeling, meaning that he can assume any shape that he wishes. Odo is played by René Auberjonois, an actor you might remember as Father Mulcahy in the movie version of “M*A*S*H”.

42. Sch. in Oregon’s most populous city PSU
Portland State University (PSU) is a university in downtown Portland, Oregon. PSU was founded as the Vanport Extension Center soon after WWII and was intended for war veterans who were taking advantage of the GI Bill. The name “Vanport” was used as classes were first held in Vanport Junior High School.

51. Box score stat RBI
In baseball, the line square is a summary set of statistics for the game. It is seen at every baseball stadium, and includes the number of runs scored by each team per innings, as well as the total number of hits and errors. The more comprehensive box score includes the line score, but also shows the individual performance of each player.

53. Saskatchewan’s capital REGINA
The Canadian province of Saskatchewan takes its name from the Saskatchewan River. The river in turn takes its name from the Cree name, which translates as “swift flowing river”. The capital of Saskatchewan is Regina, although the biggest city in the province is Saskatoon.

59. Tehran bread RIALS
The “Rial” is name of the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman, Cambodia and Tunisia).

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.

60. Driller’s letters DMD
Doctor of Dental Medicine (DMD)

64. Hardy lass TESS
The full name of Thomas Hardy’s 1891 novel is “Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented”. When it was originally published, “Tess …” received very mixed reviews, largely because it addresses some difficult sexual themes including rape, and sexual double standards (society’s attitude towards men vs women). I suppose the most celebrated screen adaptation is Roman Polanski’s “Tess” released in 1979. Polanski apparently made “Tess” because his wife, Sharon Tate, gave him Hardy’s novel as her last act before she was murdered by the Manson family. There is a dedication at the beginning of the movie that simply reads “To Sharon”.

65. Mars, to the Greeks 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.

70. Second notes RES
The solfa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Uncivilized SAVAGE
7. Short “and so on” ETC
10. Marine layer phenomena, at times MISTS
15. King Arthur’s resting place AVALON
16. Itinerary word VIA
17. Give out ALLOT
18. Double CARBON COPY
20. Hotelier Helmsley LEONA
21. Double IDENTICAL TWIN
23. “Rights of Man” author PAINE
26. Tijuana tots NENES
27. Played the first card LED
28. What putting one’s pen down in Final Jeopardy! usually means I’M DONE
30. White-collar worker? PRIEST
33. Key econ. indicator CPI
34. Worked undercover SPIED
39. Sister of Calliope ERATO
40. Double DOPPELGANGER
44. Jams BINDS
46. Planet Earth GLOBE
47. Rest of the afternoon NAP
50. Promoting a new album, possibly ON TOUR
52. Former Sandinista leader ORTEGA
55. One lacking grace OAF
56. Food writer James BEARD
61. Bobbled grounder, e.g. ERROR
62. Double SPITTING IMAGE
66. Pledge from the faithful TITHE
67. Double DEAD RINGER
71. __ Sports Bureau, baseball’s official statistician ELIAS
72. Like mil. volunteers ENL
73. Suffer ENDURE
74. Manhattan has many high ones RENTS
75. Toper’s trouble DTS
76. Assent SAY YES

Down
1. Animal pouch SAC
2. Charlton’s “Earthquake” co-star AVA
3. Alt. spelling VAR
4. Sans melanin ALBINO
5. Mets pitcher who was 1984 N.L. Rookie of the Year GOODEN
6. -ess kin -ENNE
7. Electronic ballot E-VOTE
8. Short basket TIP-IN
9. Psychic Edgar CAYCE
10. Retail haven MALL
11. “Would __ you down?” I LET
12. One in need of a tutor SLOW LEARNER
13. Most stylish TONIEST
14. Get ready, in military lingo STAND TO
19. “AC360º” channel CNN
22. Indiana Jones terrorizer ASP
23. Flick PIC
24. Band aid? AMP
25. “That wasn’t the group for me” I DIDN’T FIT IN
29. Forward-looking claim ESP
31. Fill-up choice: Abbr. REG
32. Anger IRE
35. “__ o’ My Heart”: 1913 song PEG
36. Bugged by a bug ILL
37. Mediator’s challenge EGO
38. Delicately apply DAB
41. “Star Trek: DSN” changeling ODO
42. Sch. in Oregon’s most populous city PSU
43. Prefix with natal NEO-
44. Rah-rah fan BOOSTER
45. Like dirty laundry IN A PILE
48. Previously AGO
49. 3, 4 or 5, usually PAR
51. Box score stat RBI
53. Saskatchewan’s capital REGINA
54. Now TRENDY
57. Drew to a close ENDED
58. Go-between AGENT
59. Tehran bread RIALS
60. Driller’s letters DMD
63. Yonder item THAT
64. Hardy lass TESS
65. Mars, to the Greeks ARES
68. Dude GUY
69. Before, before ERE
70. Second notes RES

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