Day: June 20, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Org. with bomb-sniffing dogs ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is today part of the Department of Justice. The ATF has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. “Explosives” was added to the ATF’s name when the bureau was moved under the Department of Justice as part of the reorganization called for in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

4. Actor in many Tim Burton films DEPP
Johnny Depp had his big break as an actor on television, in the eighties television show “21 Jump Street”. Depp’s first film success came when he played the title role in 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands”. He has twice been named Sexiest Man Alive by “People” magazine.

Movie director and producer Tim Burton makes my least favorite types of movie: dark, gothic, horror fantasies. The list of his titles includes “Edward Scissorhands”, “Sleepy Hollow”, “Sweeney Todd”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” and “Alice in Wonderland”. Also included in each of these movies is Johnny Depp in a starring role, as Depp and Burton are good friends and frequent collaborators. Another frequent star in Burton movies is English actress Helena Bonham Carter, who has been his domestic partner since 2001.

8. Chewed the fat GABBED
Back in the day, a wealthy man would “bring home the bacon” and sit around with guests and “chew the fat”.

14. __ favor POR
“Por favor” is Spanish for “please”.

15. Dunn’s “__ Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters” ELLA
“Ella Minnow Pea” is a very unusual 2001 novel penned by Mark Dunn. The story unfolds in a series of letters and notes between a set of characters. With each letter or note, Dunn constrains himself by successively dropping letters in the text, so that by the end of the book the reader has to work hard to understand the plot.

16. Bird in a dugout ORIOLE
The Baltimore Orioles was one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team has roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.

18. Meeting of a select few CLOSED FORUM (from “rum”)
Rum was first distilled by slaves on the sugarcane plantations of the Caribbean in the 1800s, with the tradition being that the very first production came from Barbados.

20. Old queen’s land SHEBA
No one knows for sure where the kingdom of Sheba was actually located. Sheba is referenced in the Bible several times. The “Queen of Sheba” is mentioned as someone who traveled to Jerusalem to behold the fame of King Solomon.

23. “Xanadu” band, briefly ELO
The title song of the 1980 movie “Xanadu” was performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and Olivia Newton-John (who starred in the film). Despite the popularity of ELO around the world, the song “Xanadu” was the band’s only number one hit back in their homeland of the UK.

24. Crier’s cry HEAR YE, HEAR YE! (from “rye”)
For whiskey to be labelled as “rye” in the US, it has to be distilled from at least 51% rye grain. In Canada however, a drink called rye whiskey sometimes contains no rye at all.

29. TV type PLASMA
Plasma televisions are so called because the screen is made up tiny cells containing electrically charged ionized gases (plasmas). Each of the cells is effectively a tiny fluorescent lamp.

30. British East Africa, now KENYA
Kenya lies on the east coast of Africa, right on the equator. The country takes her name from Mount Kenya, the second highest peak on the continent (after Kilimanjaro).

33. It rises in el este SOL
In Spanish, the sun (sol) rises in the east (el este).

34. Nile wader IBIS
The ibis is a wading bird that was revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis” or two “ibises”, and then again one has a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, instead of two “ibises” you would have two “ibides”!

37. Dark suds STOUT
The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

39. Estuary TIDAL RIVER MOUTH (from “vermouth”)
Vermouth is a fortified wine that is infused with various aromatic flavors. The vermouth that we use today originated in Turin, Italy in the mid-1700s. The various vermouths produced all use a neutral grape wine as a base, with alcohol added to fortify it. Dry ingredients like herbs or roots are added to give a distinctive flavor, and then sugar can be added to make the drink sweeter. Today, most vermouth comes from Italy and France.

43. Like a maternal grandmother ENATE
Something that is enate is growing outward, and “enate” is used to describe ancestors related on the mother’s side. Something that is agnate comes from a common source, and “agnate” is used to describe relatives on the father’s side of the family tree.

44. Spare in a boot TYRE
In North America we use the word “trunk” for the storage space in the back of a vehicle as that space is reminiscent of the large travelling chest called a “trunk”. Such trunks used to be lashed onto the back of automobiles before storage was integrated. On the other side of the Atlantic, a trunk is known as a “boot”. The original boot was a built-in storage compartment on a horse-drawn carriage on which a coachman would sit.

45. __ populi VOX
“Vox populi, vox Dei” is a Latin expression that translates as, “The voice of the people, the voice of God”, meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.

51. Shipping datum PORT OF ORIGIN (from “gin”)
The spirit known as gin gets its unique flavor mainly from juniper berries. The name “gin” comes into English from the translation of “juniper” from either French (genièvre), Dutch (jenever) or Italian (ginepro).

55. Kimono accessory OBI
The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.

59. Lyric poem EPODE
An epode is a lyric poem made up of couplets in which the first line is long, and the second line much shorter. The form was invented by the Greek poet Archilochus, and was most famously used by the Roman poet Horace.

71. Cézanne’s warm season ETE
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in France.

Paul Cézanne was a Post-Impressionist artist who was born and worked in the beautiful city of Aix-en-Provence in the South of France. Cézanne has the reputation of being the artist who bridged the late 19th century Impressionist movement with the early 20th century Cubist movement. Both Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso are quoted as saying that Cézanne “is the father of us all”.

Down
5. Tetris piece ELL
Tetris is a very addictive video game, developed in the Soviet Union in 1984. The name Tetris comes from a melding of the prefix “tetra-” (as all the game pieces have four segments) and “tennis” (a favorite sport played by the developer). Since 2005 there have been more than 100 million copies of the game installed on cell phones alone.

6. Ramallah-based gp. PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964. The PLO’s early stated goal was the liberation of Palestine, with Palestine defined as the geographic entity that existed under the terms of the British Mandate granted by the League of Nations back in 1923. The PLO is recognized as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people by over one hundred countries, and was granted observer status (i.e. no voting rights) at the United Nations in 1974.

Ramallah is a city located just north of Jerusalem that serves as the administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority.

7. Out of favor PASSE
“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”.

9. Lab report? ARF
The Labrador breed of dog has been around at least since 1814, and the chocolate Labrador appeared over a century later in the 1930s.

10. A&E offering BIO
The A&E television network used to be a favorite of mine, with the “A&E” standing for “arts and entertainment”. A&E started out airing a lot of the old classic dramas, as well as biographies and arts programs. Now there seems to be more reality TV, with one of the flagship programs being “Dog the Bounty Hunter”. A slight change of direction I’d say …

12. Jewish month after Av ELUL
Elul is the month in the Hebrew calendar that occurs in August-September.

19. Emissions watchdog gp. EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

21. Spandex garment BRA
What we call spandex in the US is known as Lycra in the British Isles. “Spandex” was chosen as the name for the elastic fiber as it is an anagram of “expands”.

25. Mideast VIP EMIR
An emir is a prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written as “amir” and “ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

32. Self-taught individual AUTODIDACT
The term “autodidact” is used to describe a “self-teacher”, someone who engages in self-directed learning. The term comes from the Greek “autos” meaning “self” and “didaktikos” meaning “teaching”.

36. Stroke lacking in many modern fonts SERIF
Serifs are details on the ends of characters in some typefaces. Typefaces without serifs are known as sans-serif (using the French word “sans” meaning “without”). Some people say that serif fonts are easier to read on paper, whereas sans-serif fonts work better on a computer screen. I’m not so sure though …

41. Car-collecting TV host LENO
Jay Leno was born James Leno in New Rochelle, New York. Jay’s father was the son of Italian immigrants, and his mother was from Scotland. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and actually dropped out of school on the advice of a high school guidance counsellor. However, years later he went to Emerson college and earned a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. Leno also started a comedy club at Emerson in 1973. Today Jay Leno is a car nut and owns about 200 vehicles of various types. You can check them out on his website: www.jaylenosgarage.com.

42. ’90s attorney general RENO
Janet Reno was Attorney General of the US from 1993 to 2001. Reno was the person to hold the office second longest, and was our first female Attoney General. In 2002, Reno ran for Governor of Florida but failed to win the Democratic nomination. Thereafter she retired from public life.

49. Like El Greco and the Minotaur CRETAN
“El Greco” (“the Greek”, in Spanish) was the nickname of the artist whose real name was Domenikos Theotokopoulos. El Greco was born in Crete in 1541, and moved to Venice to study art when he was in his early twenties. A few years later he moved to the city of Toledo in central Spain, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life.

Minos was the King of Crete in Greek mythology, and the son of Zeus and Europa. Minos had an elaborate labyrinth built in Crete, designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus (who famously died trying to escape from the island by “flying” away). In the labyrinth, King Minos kept the Minotaur, a dreadful creature with the head of a bull on the body of a man.

52. Dress (up) TOG
The verb “tog”, meaning to dress up, comes from the Latin “toga”. “Tog” can be use as an informal word for a coat or a cloak. Back in Ireland, togs are what we call swimming shorts.

55. Down Under gem OPAL
97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, about 80%.

57. “Garfield” waitress IRMA
“Garfield” is a comic strip drawn by Jim Davis since 1978. Garfield is an orange tabby cat. Davis named his hero Garfield after his own grandfather.

61. Good, in Hebrew TOV
“Tov” is the Hebrew word for “good”, as in “mozel tov”, meaning “good luck”.

62. Like Mendelssohn’s Piano Sonata No. 1 IN E
Felix Mendelssohn was German composer who was active in the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn’s most famous works are probably his overtures “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Hebrides”, as well as his “Italian Symphony” and “Scottish Symphony”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Org. with bomb-sniffing dogs ATF
4. Actor in many Tim Burton films DEPP
8. Chewed the fat GABBED
14. __ favor POR
15. Dunn’s “__ Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters” ELLA
16. Bird in a dugout ORIOLE
17. Suburban suffix -ITE
18. Meeting of a select few CLOSED FORUM (from “rum”)
20. Old queen’s land SHEBA
22. Spot for a mineral scrub SPA
23. “Xanadu” band, briefly ELO
24. Crier’s cry HEAR YE, HEAR YE! (from “rye”)
29. TV type PLASMA
30. British East Africa, now KENYA
33. It rises in el este SOL
34. Nile wader IBIS
37. Dark suds STOUT
39. Estuary TIDAL RIVER MOUTH (from “vermouth”)
43. Like a maternal grandmother ENATE
44. Spare in a boot TYRE
45. __ populi VOX
46. Bringing together TYING
48. Progressed slowly INCHED
51. Shipping datum PORT OF ORIGIN (from “gin”)
55. Kimono accessory OBI
58. Collector’s item? IOU
59. Lyric poem EPODE
60. Bit of one-upmanship … and what can be found at the end of 18-, 24-, 39- and 51-Across? PARTING SHOT
65. Roofing goo TAR
66. Marzipan base ALMOND
67. Casserole fish TUNA
68. Early 12th-century year MCV
69. With 40-Down, follows restaurant protocol LEAVES
70. Spotted SEEN
71. Cézanne’s warm season ETE

Down
1. Inane APISH
2. Terse TO THE POINT
3. Without a single appointment FREE ALL DAY
4. Breaks down DECAYS
5. Tetris piece ELL
6. Ramallah-based gp. PLO
7. Out of favor PASSE
8. Stop transmitting, as a radio station GO DARK
9. Lab report? ARF
10. A&E offering BIO
11. Party pooper BORE
12. Jewish month after Av ELUL
13. Sales rep’s tool DEMO
19. Emissions watchdog gp. EPA
21. Spandex garment BRA
25. Mideast VIP EMIR
26. Target of a New Year’s resolution HABIT
27. Quaint agreement YES’M
28. Within: Pref. ENTO-
31. “I’m stumped!” YOU’VE GOT ME!
32. Self-taught individual AUTODIDACT
33. Fr. holy woman STE
35. Trellis adornment IVY
36. Stroke lacking in many modern fonts SERIF
38. Texter’s gratitude THX
40. See 69-Across A TIP
41. Car-collecting TV host LENO
42. ’90s attorney general RENO
47. Runs through the mill GRINDS
49. Like El Greco and the Minotaur CRETAN
50. With it HIP
52. Dress (up) TOG
53. Gives the boot OUSTS
54. “The __!” NERVE
55. Down Under gem OPAL
56. Agricultural unit BALE
57. “Garfield” waitress IRMA
61. Good, in Hebrew TOV
62. Like Mendelssohn’s Piano Sonata No. 1 IN E
63. Color quality HUE
64. Unique ONE

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