Month: August 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Pacific veranda LANAI
A lanai is a type of veranda, a design that originated in the Hawai’i. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, and that the island name “Lana’i” is not related. “Lana’i” translates as “day of conquest”.

14. “__ la Douce” IRMA
“Irma la Douce” is a wonderful Billy Wilder movie, released in 1963. It stars Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine. Lemmon plays a maligned Parisian policeman, and MacLaine is the popular prostitute Irma la Douce (literally “Irma the Sweet”). Don’t let the adult themes throw you as it’s a very entertaining movie …

15. Mission attacked by Santa Anna ALAMO
The famous Alamo in San Antonio, Texas was originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero. The mission was founded in 1718 and was the first mission established in the city. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, a thirteen-day siege by the Mexican Army led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Only two people defending the Alamo Mission survived the onslaught. One month later, the Texian army got its revenge by attacking and defeating the Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the surprise attack on Santa Anna’s camp, many of the Texian soldiers were heard to cry “Remember the Alamo!”.

16. “Betsy’s Wedding” director ALDA
Alan Alda had a great television career, especially of course on “M*A*S*H”. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He won his most recent Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

“Betsy’s Wedding” is a 1990 comedy film. It was very much an Alan Alda project as he wrote the screenplay, directed and played one of the leads. The storyline was apparently inspired by the marriage of Alda’s youngest daughter.

17. Alfred E. Neuman expression GRIN
Alfred E. Neuman is the mascot of “Mad” magazine, although the image of the smiling, jug-eared youth had been around for decades before the magazine. “Mad” first used the likeness in 1955, and young Mr. Neuman has appeared on the cover of almost every issue of the magazine since then. Neuman’s name was inspired by American composer Alfred Newman, a prolific writer of film scores.

22. Winner of a record 82 PGA tournaments SNEAD
Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball by teeing off from home plate.

23. Cheer from Charo OLE!
Charo is an actress, comedian and flamenco guitarist from Spain. She is quite famous for her comedic catchphrase “cuchi cuchi”. Charo’s real name is … wait for it … María del Rosario Pilar Martínez Molina Gutiérrez de los Perales Santa Ana Romaguera y de la Hinojosa Rasten.

30. Book between Micah and Habakkuk NAHUM
Nahum was one of the twelve minor prophets of the Hebrew Bible.

38. Id checker EGO
Sigmund Freud created a structural model of the human psyche, breaking it into three parts: the id, the ego, and the super-ego. The id is that part of the psyche containing the basic instinctual drives. The ego seeks to please the id by causing realistic behavior that benefits the individual. The super-ego almost has a parental role, contradicting the id by introducing critical thinking and morals to behavioral choices.

47. SSA IDs, e.g. NOS
A Social Security number (SSN) is divided into three parts i.e AAA-GG-SSSS, Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Since 1973, the Area Number reflects the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN is the Group Number, and the SSSS in the number is the Serial Number. However, this is all moot, as since 2011 SSn’s are assigned randomly.

49. Gay Nineties, e.g. ERA
When looking back at the 1890s, here in America we sometimes refer to the era as the Gay Nineties. The term is associated with a time of emerging wealth in the days before income taxes were permanently levied on citizens. Back in the British Isles, the same decade is known as the Naughty Nineties, days of society scandals and the outrageous antics of the likes of Oscar Wilde.

52. Catherine of “A Mighty Wind” O’HARA
Catherine O’Hara is an actress and comedienne from Toronto, Ontario. One of O’Hara’s more famous film roles is the mother in the Christmas classic “Home Alone”.

“A Mighty Wind” is a 2003 comedy drama movie co-written and directed by Christopher Guest. The film falls into the genre called “mockumentary”, and tells of a folk music reunion concert. Many in the cast of “A Mighty Wind” also appeared in the other successful Christopher Guest films “This is Spinal Tap”, “Waiting for Guffman” and “Best in Show”.

59. Response to an awkwardly timed call I’M NOT ALONE
It’s an awkward time for this phone call, I’m not alone …

65. Actress McClurg EDIE
Edie McClurg is a character actress from Kansas City. The role that I most associate with McClurg is secretary to the school principal in the classic “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.

Down
2. Hatch of Utah ORRIN
Senator Orrin Hatch is a Republican from Utah. He’s also quite the musician, and plays the piano, violin and organ. He has composed various compositions, including a song called “Heal Our Land” that was played at the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush.

4. Unger player RANDALL
The actor Tony Randall was from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Although Randal had a long and distinguished Hollywood career, he was best known for playing Felix Unger on the TV version of “The Odd Couple” by Neil Simon. Randall was married to his first wife for fifty years, before she passed away in 1993. A few years later, the 75-year old veteran actor married his second wife, who was 50 years his junior. The happy couple had two children together.

In the Neil Simon play “The Odd Couple”, the character Felix has the family name “Ungar”. This spelling “Ungar” persists in the film adaptation but somehow morphed into “Unger” for the long-running television series.

“The Odd Couple” is a play by the wonderfully talented Neil Simon first performed on Broadway, in 1965. This great play was adapted for the big screen in 1968, famously starring Jack Lemmon (as Felix Unger) and Walter Matthau (as Oscar Madison). The success of the play and the film gave rise to an excellent television sitcom that ran from 1970-1975, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. In 1985, Neil Simon even went so far as to adapt the play for an all-female cast, renaming it “The Female Odd Couple”. I’d like to see that one …

5. “This skull hath __ in the earth …”: Hamlet LAIN
“Hamlet” is William Shakespeare’s longest play, and was also one of most popular of the playwright’s works during his lifetime.

9. Eastern segment of the Louisiana Purchase IOWA
The state of Iowa was part of the French colony known as New France until it was acquired by the US in the Louisiana Purchase. The state’s name comes from the Ioway Native American people who lived there at the time European’s started exploring the area.

19. Sumatran ape ORANG
Orangutans are arboreal creatures, in fact the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, living in the rain forests. Like most species in rain forests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

Sumatra is a very large island in western Indonesia, the sixth largest island in the world and home to 22% of the country’s population.

26. Ancient Mesopotamian kingdom SUMER
Iraq is often called the “Cradle of Civilization” as it was home to Sumer, which was the earliest known civilization on the planet. By 5000 BC the Sumerian people were practicing year-round agriculture and had a specialized labor force. For the first time, a whole race were able to settle in one place by storing food, instead of having to migrate in a pattern dictated by crops and grazing land.

Mesopotamia was the land that lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, that flow through modern-day Iraq. The name “Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”.

27. Buffing board EMERY
Emery is a very hard type of rock that is crushed for use as an abrasive. Emery paper is made by gluing small particles of emery to paper. Emery boards are just emery paper with a cardboard backing. And emery boards are primarily used for filing nails.

29. Flat-bottomed boat DORY
A dory is a small boat, around 20 feet long with a shallow draft, a flat bottom and a sharp bow. Dories are commonly used for fishing.

32. Ancient gathering place AGORA
In early Greece the “agora” was a place of assembly. Often the assemblies held there were quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a market place. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

34. Conciliatory offering SOP
Cerberus is a dog with three heads that appears in both Greek and Roman mythology. Cerberus had the job of guarding the gates of Hades and preventing those who had crossed the River Styx from ever escaping. A sop is a piece of food that has been dipped in some liquid, as one might sop a piece of bread in soup. There is an idiomatic expression, “to give a sop to Cerberus”, which means to give someone a bribe, or pay someone off. The idea is that if one could bribe Cerberus, give him a sop to eat, then he would let you pass and escape from Hades.

37. Commercial sign NEON
The basic design of neon lighting was first demonstrated at the Paris Motor Show in 1910. Such lighting is made up of glass tubes containing a vacuum into which has been introduced a small amount of neon gas. When a voltage is applied between two electrodes inside the tube, the neon gas “glows” and gives off the familiar light.

49. Fanfare ECLAT
“Éclat” can mean a brilliant show of success, or the applause or accolade that one receives. The word derives from the French “éclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

50. Van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the __” RHONE
“Starry Night Over the Rhone” is one of Vincent Van Gogh’s series of paintings he created depicting scenes at night in the South of France. The painting is actually a view from the quay on the east side of the Rhone river as it flows through the city of Arles.

51. Nighttime disorder APNEA
Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

54. Frankincense or myrrh RESIN
Frankincense and myrrh are both tree resins, exuded when certain species of tree are damaged. The harvested resins are used to make essentials oils for perfumes, and are also burned to give off a pleasant fragrance.

57. Lights-out signal TAPS
“Taps” is played nightly by the US military, indicating “lights out”. It’s also known as “Butterfield’s Lullaby” as it is a variation of an older bugle call named the “Scott Tattoo”, arranged during the Civil War by the Union Army’s Brigadier General Daniel Butterfield. The tune is called “taps”, from the notion of drum taps, as it was originally played on a drum, and only later on a bugle.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Use an updraft, say SOAR
5. Pacific veranda LANAI
10. Shoe site HOOF
14. “__ la Douce” IRMA
15. Mission attacked by Santa Anna ALAMO
16. “Betsy’s Wedding” director ALDA
17. Alfred E. Neuman expression GRIN
18. “I can’t believe …” IT’S A WONDER …
20. See 56-Across HIDDEN HAZARD
22. Winner of a record 82 PGA tournaments SNEAD
23. Cheer from Charo OLE!
24. Bring down ABASE
28. Top LID
30. Book between Micah and Habakkuk NAHUM
31. See 56-Across BALL-TOSSING GAME
38. Id checker EGO
39. Get up ROUSE
40. Comparative suffix -IER
41. See 56-Across GOOD TYPE TO MARRY
46. Mail at a castle ARMOR
47. SSA IDs, e.g. NOS
48. Discrimination TASTE
49. Gay Nineties, e.g. ERA
52. Catherine of “A Mighty Wind” O’HARA
56. Some slogans, and what 20-, 31- and 41-Across are? CATCHPHRASES
59. Response to an awkwardly timed call I’M NOT ALONE
62. Whiff MISS
63. Bed or bar attachment ROOM
64. Discussion group PANEL
65. Actress McClurg EDIE
66. “__ these days …” KIDS
67. Signal to a runner STEAL
68. Negative impression? DENT

Down
1. Chorus from adoring fans SIGHS
2. Hatch of Utah ORRIN
3. Nitrogen compound AMIDE
4. Unger player RANDALL
5. “This skull hath __ in the earth …”: Hamlet LAIN
6. E’en if ALTHO
7. __ passage NASAL
8. Knock the socks off AMAZE
9. Eastern segment of the Louisiana Purchase IOWA
10. Purse HANDBAG
11. Unoriginal OLD
12. Tribute in verse ODE
13. Word with flung or reaching FAR
19. Sumatran ape ORANG
21. Put in a word or two? EDIT
25. Win by __ A HAIR
26. Ancient Mesopotamian kingdom SUMER
27. Buffing board EMERY
29. Flat-bottomed boat DORY
31. Brought forth BEGAT
32. Ancient gathering place AGORA
33. Towers (over) LOOMS
34. Conciliatory offering SOP
35. Advice after an injury, perhaps SUE
36. Real end? -IST
37. Commercial sign NEON
42. Targets of many searches DOT-COMS
43. Unexpected pleasure TREAT
44. Marshy wasteland MOOR
45. Red in the face ASHAMED
49. Fanfare ECLAT
50. Van Gogh’s “Starry Night Over the __” RHONE
51. Nighttime disorder APNEA
53. Dramatic device ASIDE
54. Frankincense or myrrh RESIN
55. Black-ink entry ASSET
57. Lights-out signal TAPS
58. Inferno HELL
59. Rub the wrong way IRK
60. Word of feigned innocence MOI?
61. Subtle assent NOD

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