Day: December 16, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Capital of Qatar DOHA
Doha is the capital city of the state of Qatar located on the Persian Gulf. The name “Doha” translates from Arabic as “the big tree”.

Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. Qatar has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry.

5. Invertebrate’s lack SPINE
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck was a French naturalist. Among Lamarck’s many claims to fame is the coining of the terms “chemistry”, “meteorology”, “geology” and “invertebrate”.

10. Former Cubs slugger Sammy SOSA
Sammy Sosa was right in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

16. Greek boy with a bow EROS
Eros was the Greek god of love, the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Cupid.

18. *Naval cereal icon sporting a Napoleon-style hat CAP’N CRUNCH
The first Cap’n Crunch commercials aired in 1963, at the time the product line was launched. The Cap’n’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, would you believe?. Crunch’s voice was provided for many years by Daws Butler, the same voice actor who gave us Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.

22. City in Honshu’s Kansai region OSAKA
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”.

Honshu is the largest island in Japan, with the name “Honshu” translating as “Main Island”. Honshu is the seventh largest island in the world. As it is home to the principal cities in Japan, Honshu is also the second most populous island on the planet (after Java, in Indonesia).

23. Academic URL ending EDU
The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

– .com (commercial enterprise)
– .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
– .mil (US military)
– .org (not-for-profit organization)
– .gov (US federal government entity)
– .edu (college-level educational institution)

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

35. Christmas carol NOEL
“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, ultimately coming from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). Noel has come to be used as an alternative name for a Christmas carol.

The word “carol” came into English via the Old French word “carole”, which was a “dance in a ring”. When “carol” made it into English, about 1300 AD, the term was used to describe a dance as well as a joyful song. Around 1500 AD, carols that were sung came to be associated with Christmas.

38. Feet pampering, briefly PEDI
Pedicure (pedi)

42. Bridal party rides LIMOS
The word “limousine” actually derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes anyway …

44. Anglo-__ SAXON
Germanic tribes invaded Great Britain from the early 5th century and created the nation that we now call England. The Anglo-Saxons, as these tribes came to be called, held sway in the country until 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxons were descendants of three Germanic tribes:

– The Angles, from Angeln in Northern Germany (and the tribe that gave the name “England”).
– The Saxons, from Lower Saxony and Holland.
– The Jutes, from the Jutland peninsula in Denmark

45. Giant slugger Mel OTT
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.

53. “Isn’t __ bit like you and me?”: “Nowhere Man” lyric HE A
“Nowhere Man” is an early song by the Beatles, released in 1966. “Nowhere Man” was one of the first songs that John Lennon wrote that was more philosophical than romantic in nature, indicative of songs to come. Apparently, Lennon himself is the inspirations for the “Nowhere Man” persona.

55. Brown Betty fruit APPLE
Brown Betty is a simple dessert made from apples (usually) with sweetened crumbs on top, and then baked.

56. Beantown basketball player CELTIC
The Boston Celtics NBA basketball team were founded just after WWII in 1946. The Celtics won eight league championships in a row from 1958 to 1966. That’s the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any professional sports team in North America.

In the days of sail, the natural trade routes across the Atlantic involved a lot of ships arriving in Boston directly from West Indies. One of the main cargoes carried by these vessels coming from the West Indies was molasses. An abundance of cheap molasses led to an abundance of baked beans in the port city, and all those baked beans gave rise to Boston’s nickname “Beantown”.

58. *Arc-shaped, finger-staining snack food CHEESE CURL
The snack food known as “cheese curls” are sold under various brand names including “Cheetos” and “Cheese Doodles” in North America, and “Wotsits” in the UK.

61. 5,280 feet MILE
Our unit of length as a “mile” gets its name from the Latin “millia” meaning “thousand”. The original Roman mile was a “thousand paces”, with one pace being two steps, one left and one right. This Roman mile was called “mille passuum” i.e. “a thousand paces”.

64. Erie or Huron LAKE
Lake Erie is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes (Lake Ontario is the smallest). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, much of Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to most of the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

Lake Huron takes its name from the Huron Native American people that lived by its shores. Early French explorers often called the lake “La Mer Douce” meaning “the freshwater sea”.

65. Myanmar, once BURMA
The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is the official name of the Asian country that some nations still recognize as the Union of Burma.

Down
1. __ Pérignon DOM
Dom Pérignon is the name given to the prestige label of champagne from Moët et Chandon, the French winery. The label’s name honors the Benedictine monk, Dom Pérignon, who helped to improve the quality and production of champagne in the early 18th century. Although Dom Pérignon made major contributions to champagne production, many of the stories in which he figures are just myths. He did not “invent” champagne, nor sparkling wine in general. Nor did he say the famous words, “Come quickly, I am drinking the stars!”. That lovely line first appeared in a print advertisement in the late 1800s!

3. Sundae topping HOT FUDGE
There’s a lot of speculation about how the dessert called a sundae got its name, but there seems to be agreement that it is an alteration of the word “Sunday”.

5. Mount Etna’s island SICILY
In the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, the “boot” is the mainland of Italy, and the the ball being kicked by the boot is the island of Sicily.

Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.

6. Biblical songs PSALMS
The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”.

7. ’60s espionage show I SPY
The very successful TV show “I Spy” ran from 1965-68. Robert Culp played secret agent Kelly Robinson, opposite Bill Cosby who played Alexander Scott. I saw Bill Cosby perform live in San Jose not too long ago, and what a great evening it was! Sadly, Robert Culp passed away in 2010, pronounced dead after a fall just outside his home. He was 79 years old.

9. Continental trade org. EEC
The European Economic Community (EEC) was also called “the Common Market”. The EEC was a NAFTA-like structure that was eventually absorbed into today’s European Union.

10. Grinch creator SEUSS
Dr. Seuss was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel was commander of the Animation Department of the USAF during WWII. He was behind many propaganda films including one called “Our Job in Japan”. Even though the film was produced specifically as propaganda, this same movie was used after the war as a basis for the short feature “Design for Death”, a study of Japanese culture released in 1947 and winner of an Oscar for best Documentary.

The Grinch is the title character in Dr. Seuss’s 1957 children’s book “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” Based on Seuss’s hero, we now use the term “grinch” for someone opposed to Christmas festivities or coarse and greedy in general.

19. Google Maps offering ROUTE
Google Maps is the core application to a suite of services that includes the Google Maps Website, Google Ride Finder and Google Transit. Google acquired this technology when they purchased a company based in Sydney, Australia. The basic application was developed by two Danish brothers called Lars and Jens Rasmussen.

21. Pinochle declaration MELD
Pinochle is a card game that was developed from the 19th-century French game called bezique.

24. Prank DIDO
A “dido” is a mischievous prank. The term’s etymology is unclear, though it might somehow come from the Carthaginian Queen Dido who appears in the “Aeneid”.

26. Bean __: tofu CURD
Tofu is another name for bean curd, and is a Japanese word meaning just that … bean that has “curdled”. Tofu is produced by coagulating soy milk, using either salt or something acidic. Once the protein has coagulated, the curds are pressed into the familiar blocks. Personally I love tofu, but my wife, she absolutely hates it …

29. “The Farmer in the __” DELL
“The Farmer in the Dell” is a nursery rhyme and singing game that probably originated in Germany.

30. Resembling QUASI
“Quasi” is a Latin word meaning “as if, as though”. We use the term in English to mean “having a likeness to something”.

36. Fed. agent G-MAN
The nickname “G-men” is short for “Government Men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

41. Gadget’s rank: Abbr. INSP
“Inspector Gadget” is a cartoon television show in which the title character is a cyborg detective.

45. Ancient soothsayer ORACLE
In Ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”.

A “soothsayer” is someone who claims to have the ability to predict the future. The term comes from “sooth”, an archaic word for “truth”. So a soothsayer was supposedly one who told the “truth” (about the future).

46. Astaire headwear TOP HAT
“Top Hat” is a fun comedy musical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It is the most successful movie that the Astaire-Rogers team made.

The actor and dancer Fred Astaire’s real name was Frederick Austerlitz. Fred was from Omaha, Nebraska and before he made it big in movies, he was one half of a celebrated music hall act with his sister Adele. The pair were particularly successful in the UK. Adele ended up marrying into nobility in England, taking the name Lady Charles Cavendish.

47. Capital of Kansas TOPEKA
Topeka is the capital Kansas, and is located on the Kansas River in the northeast of the state. The name “Topeka” was chosen in 1855 and translates from the Kansa and the Ioway languages as “to dig good potatoes”. The reference isn’t to the common potato but rather to the herb known as the prairie potato (also “prairie turnip”), which was an important food for many Native Americans.

56. Mangy mutts CURS
Mange is a skin disorder in animals caused by parasitic mites that embed themselves in the skin, perhaps living in hair follicles. The same disorder in humans is called scabies.

57. 1998 Apple debut IMAC
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Capital of Qatar DOHA
5. Invertebrate’s lack SPINE
10. Former Cubs slugger Sammy SOSA
14. Stale smell ODOR
15. Controversial topic ISSUE
16. Greek boy with a bow EROS
17. Allot, with “out” METE
18. *Naval cereal icon sporting a Napoleon-style hat CAP’N CRUNCH
20. Nuclear __: social unit FAMILY
22. City in Honshu’s Kansai region OSAKA
23. Academic URL ending EDU
25. Stately tree ELM
26. Like most pies CRUSTED
28. *Nearly none, in slang DIDDLY-SQUAT
31. Summer, in Paris ETE
32. Nosed (out) EDGED
33. Eggs on URGES
35. Christmas carol NOEL
36. Forest clearing GLADE
38. Feet pampering, briefly PEDI
42. Bridal party rides LIMOS
44. Anglo-__ SAXON
45. Giant slugger Mel OTT
48. *Venue for self-publishing VANITY PRESS
51. Shingles or slate, e.g. ROOFING
53. “Isn’t __ bit like you and me?”: “Nowhere Man” lyric HE A
54. 39-Down unit REP
55. Brown Betty fruit APPLE
56. Beantown basketball player CELTIC
58. *Arc-shaped, finger-staining snack food CHEESE CURL
61. 5,280 feet MILE
64. Erie or Huron LAKE
65. Myanmar, once BURMA
66. Yard sale sign phrase AS IS
67. Expected landing times, briefly ETAS
68. Ply with drink BESOT
69. Formally turn over CEDE

Down
1. __ Pérignon DOM
2. Poem of celebration ODE
3. Sundae topping HOT FUDGE
4. Region AREA
5. Mount Etna’s island SICILY
6. Biblical songs PSALMS
7. ’60s espionage show I SPY
8. Religious sister NUN
9. Continental trade org. EEC
10. Grinch creator SEUSS
11. Elaborately decorated ORNATE
12. Light bulb’s place SOCKET
13. Slightly A SHADE
19. Google Maps offering ROUTE
21. Pinochle declaration MELD
23. Genesis garden EDEN
24. Prank DIDO
26. Bean __: tofu CURD
27. Fierce anger RAGE
29. “The Farmer in the __” DELL
30. Resembling QUASI
34. Practice in the ring SPAR
36. Fed. agent G-MAN
37. Like the “o” in “no” LONG
39. Beneficial activity that ends the answers to starred clues EXERCISE
40. Two teaspoons, say DOSE
41. Gadget’s rank: Abbr. INSP
43. Wall-climbing vines IVIES
44. Lovers’ clash SPAT
45. Ancient soothsayer ORACLE
46. Astaire headwear TOP HAT
47. Capital of Kansas TOPEKA
49. Heat: Pref. THERMO-
50. Chew out YELL AT
52. Makes tracks FLEES
56. Mangy mutts CURS
57. 1998 Apple debut IMAC
59. Go out, like the tide EBB
60. Pool shark’s stick CUE
62. Jar topper LID
63. Opposite of WNW ESE

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