Day: February 20, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. __ Club SAM’S
Sam’s Club is owned and operated by Walmart and is named after the company’s founder, Sam Walton.

Walmart (previously “Wal-Mart”) takes in more revenue than any other publicly traded company in the world. Over in my homeland, Walmart operates under the name Asda. Walmart’s worldwide headquarters are in Bentonville, Arkansas, the home of Sam Walton’s original Five and Dime. You can actually go into the original store, as it is now the Walmart Visitor Center.

5. Eat __ CROW
The phrase “eat crow”, an alternative to “eat humble pie” perhaps refers to the fact that cooked crow may be edible, but is not a great food choice.

9. Film __ NOIR
The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.

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

14. Mata __ HARI
Mata Hari was the stage name used by Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, born in the Netherlands in 1876. After an unsuccessful and somewhat tragic marriage, Zella moved to Paris in 1903 where she struggled to make a living. By 1905 she was working as an exotic dancer and using the name Mata Hari. She was a successful courtesan, notably moving in various circles of high-ranking military officers. She apparently worked as a double agent, both for the French and the Germans. When Mata Hari was accused by the French of passing information to the enemy, she was tried, found guilty and executed by firing squad in 1917 at the height of WWI.

18. SWAT __ TEAM
SWAT is an acronym for Special Weapons and Tactics. The first SWAT team was pulled together in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1968.

23. Electric __ EEL
Electrophorus electricus is the biological name for the electric eel. Despite its name, the electric “eel” isn’t an eel at all, but rather what is called a knifefish, a fish with an elongated body that is related to the catfish. The electric eel has three pairs of organs along its abdomen, each capable of generating an electric discharge. The shock can go as high as 500 volts with 1 ampere of current (that’s 500 watts), and that could perhaps kill a human.

24. Blank HOLD SCORELESS
In the world of sports, “to blank” means to hold the opposing team scoreless. A new meaning to me …

36. Costa del __ SOL
Spain’s Costa del Sol (“Coast of the Sun”) is in Andalusia in the South of Spain. It lies sandwiched between two other “costas”, the Costa de la Luz and the Costa Tropical. The city of Malaga is on the Costa del Sol, as well as the famous European tourist destinations of Torremolinos and Marbella. The Costa del Sol was made up of sleepy little fishing villages until the 1980s when the European sunseekers descended on the region. I wouldn’t recommend it for a holiday quite frankly …

37. __ Elevator Company OTIS
Elevators (simple hoists) have been around for a long time. What Elisha Otis did was come up with the “safety elevator”, a design that he showcased at the 1853 World’s Fair in New York. At the Fair, Otis would stand on an elevated platform in front of onlookers and order his assistant to cut the single rope holding up the platform. His safety system kicked in when the platform had only fallen a few inches, amazing the crowd. After this demonstration, the orders came rolling in.

38. “I Like __” IKE
“I Like Ike” was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.

41. San Diego __ PADRES
The San Diego Padres were founded in 1969. The Padres took their name from a Minor League team that had been in the the city since 1936. The name is Spanish for “fathers” and is a reference to the Franciscan Friars from Spain who founded San Diego in 1769.

47. Jacqueline Kennedy __ Bouvier NEE
Jackie Kennedy Onassis was born into a privileged family, the daughter of Wall Street stock broker John Vernou Bouvier III. Ms. Bouvier moved in the same social circles as the Kennedy clan, and first met the then-US Representative John Kennedy at a dinner party hosted by mutual friends. Years later, after she saw her husband assassinated and then her brother-in-law (Bobby Kennedy) suffer the same fate, Jackie declared that she feared for the life of her children as they bore the Kennedy name. She left the country, eventually meeting and marrying Aristotle Onassis. Reportedly she was very satisfied that the Greek shipping magnate was able to provide privacy and security for her children.

56. Quod __ demonstrandum ERAT
QED is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. The QED acronym stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

59. __-Honey BIT-O
Bit-O-Honey is a candy bar consisting of pieces of almond in a honey-flavored taffy. Bit-O-Honey has been around since 1924.

60. “Rock of __” AGES
“Rock of Ages” is Christian hymn that dates back to 1763 when it was written by the Reverend Augustus Montague Toplady (what a great name!). Tradition has it that Toplady was caught in a storm while travelling along a gorge near his parish in the Mendip Hills in England. He took shelter in a gap in the gorge, and the fissure that protected him inspired him to write the title and first few lines of the hymn on a playing card that he was carrying. If you travel through the Mendip Hills today, there is indeed a fissure that is marked “Rock of Ages”.

62. __ nuts BEER
Beer Nuts is the brand name for a snack consisting of peanuts in a sweet-and-salty glaze. There’s no beer in the recipe, just the suggestion that the snack goes well with beer.

63. “__-a-Cop”: 1988 film RENT
“Rent-a-cop” is a derogatory term for a security guard. The term was used in 1988 as the title for a much-panned comedy-action film starring Burt Reynolds and Liza Minnelli. Minnelli was named Worst Actress at the 1988 Golden Raspberry Awards for her performance in “Rent-A-Cop”, and also for “Arthur 2: On the Rocks” that came out the same year.

64. “Jane __” EYRE
“Jane Eyre” is the celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. Over the years, I’ve shared here on my blogs that the “Jane Eyre” story line is a little too dark and Gothic for my taste, but a very persuasive blog reader convinced me to look more at the romantic side of the story and give it a second chance. I watched a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation of the novel made by the BBC a while back and I have to say that because I was focused on the relationship between Jane and Rochester, I was able to push past the Gothic influences (that depress me) so I really enjoyed the story. I thoroughly recommend the 2006 BBC adaptation to fans of the novel.

Down
1. X-Ray __: U.K. punk band SPEX
X-Ray Spex (as opposed the novelty item “x-ray specs”) was a punk band from England that formed in 1976 and finally broke up in 2008. Their most famous hit was the first song they recorded: “Oh Bondage Up Yours!”

3. Golda __ MEIR
Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before the term came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.

6. __ Shankar RAVI
Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous virtuoso (to us Westerners) from the world of Indian classical music, and was noted for his sitar playing. Also, Shankar was the father of the beautiful pop singer Norah Jones.

7. __ Cakesters OREO
Oreo Cakesters are a soft version of the Oreo cookie that were introduced by Nabisco in 2007.

10. “A Room of __ Own” ONE’S
Virginia Woolf was an English author active in the period between the two World Wars. Woolf’s most famous novels were “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To the Lighthouse” and “Orlando”. She also wrote a long essay entitled “A Room of One’s Own” in which she states “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

12. CD-__ ROM
CD-ROM stands for “compact disc read only memory”. The name indicates that you can read information from the disc (like a standard music CD for example), but you cannot write to it. You can also buy a CD-RW, which stands for “compact disc – rewritable”, with which you can read data and also write over it multiple times using a suitable CD drive.

24. Van __ HALEN
Van Halen is a heavy metal band formed in Pasadena, California back in 1972. Brothers Eddie and Alex Van Halen originally called the band Mammoth, changing the name to Van Halen in 1974 when they found out there was another Mammoth playing the circuit. Early on, the brothers were renting a sound system from David Lee Roth, and they decided to save some money by bringing him into the band and saving on the rental fee!

26. Victoria __ CROSS
The Victoria Cross (VC) the highest award for valour in the face of the enemy that is awarded in the British Commonwealth. The VC was introduced during the Crimean War in 1856. The award itself is struck from gunmetal, with many of them coming from melted down cannons captured from the Russian in 1855.

27. Olive __ OIL
Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labelled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

29. Peau de __: satin-weave cloth SOIE
“Paduasoy” is a satin-weave silk fabric with a dull finish. The material is sometimes known by its French name “peau de soie”, which translates as “skin of silk”.

32. __ torch TIKI
A tiki torch is a bamboo torch that’s very commonly used in Tiki culture. Tiki culture is a relatively modern invention dating from the 20th century, and is the experience created in Polynesian-style restaurants. The word “Tiki” is borrowed from Polynesia.

37. “__ to Joy” ODE
“Ode to Joy” is a poem written in 1785 by German poet Friedrich Schiller. Ludwig van Beethoven gave the poem great notoriety when he used it in his Ninth “Choral” Symphony that was first performed in 1824.

40. __ Series: auto races INDYCAR
IndyCar is a sanctioning body in the world of auto racing.

41. __-à-porter: ready-to-wear PRET
“Prêt-à-Porter” is a common enough phrase over in Europe, a French expression meaning “ready-to-wear” that has made it into a number of other languages including English.

44. Caveat __ EMPTOR
“Caveat emptor” is a Latin expression meaning “Let the buyer beware”. It is used when someone buys something, emphasizing that after the deal is closed, there’s no going back.

48. __ Canal ERIE
The Erie Canal runs from Albany to Buffalo in the state of New York. What the canal does is allow shipping to proceed from New York Harbor right up the Hudson River, through the canal and into the Great Lakes. When it was opened in 1825, the Erie Canal had immediate impact on the economy of New York City and locations along its route. It was the first means of “cheap” transportation from a port on the Atlantic seaboard into the interior of the United States. Arguably it was the most important factor contributing to the growth of New York City over competing ports such as Baltimore and Philadelphia. It was largely because of the Erie Canal that New York became such an economic powerhouse, earning it the nickname of “the Empire State”. Paradoxically, one of the project’s main proponents was severely criticized. New York Governor DeWitt Clinton received so much ridicule that the canal was nicknamed “Clinton’s Folly” and “Clinton’s Ditch”.

51. “__ to that!” AMEN
The word “amen” is translated as “so be it”. “Amen” is said to be of Hebrew origin, but it is likely to be also influenced by Aramaic and Arabic.

53. __ Abby DEAR
The advice column “Dear Abby” first appeared in 1956. Pauline Phillips was Abby back then, but now the column is written by Jeanne Phillips, her daughter. The full name of the “Abby” pen name is Abigail Van Buren, which Pauline Phillips came up with by combining “Abigail” from the biblical Book of Samuel, and “Van Buren” after the former US president.

55. “… __ I saw Elba” ERE
The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:

– Able was I ere I saw Elba
– A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
– Madam, I’m Adam

One of my favorite words is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.

56. __ and flow EBB
Tides of course are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. __ Club SAM’S
5. Eat __ CROW
9. Film __ NOIR
13. Sleep __ APNEA
14. Mata __ HARI
15. “I’m __ you!” ONTO
16. “__ to please!” WE AIM
17. __-steven EVEN
18. SWAT __ TEAM
19. Blank EXPRESSIONLESS
22. __ of bounds OUT
23. Electric __ EEL
24. Blank HOLD SCORELESS
31. “It __ to reason” STANDS
33. “You’re taking a big __” RISK
34. __-TURN NO U
35. Good for what __ you AILS
36. Costa del __ SOL
37. __ Elevator Company OTIS
38. “I Like __” IKE
39. __ the scales TIPS
41. San Diego __ PADRES
43. Blank LINE ON A SURVEY
46. Hopping __ MAD
47. Jacqueline Kennedy __ Bouvier NEE
48. Blank EMPTY CARTRIDGE
56. Quod __ demonstrandum ERAT
57. __ to one’s senses CAME
58. Shed __ A TEAR
59. __-Honey BIT-O
60. “Rock of __” AGES
61. From beyond the __ GRAVE
62. __ nuts BEER
63. “__-a-Cop”: 1988 film RENT
64. “Jane __” EYRE

Down
1. X-Ray __: U.K. punk band SPEX
2. Take __: doze A NAP
3. Golda __ MEIR
4. “It’s the __ story” SAME OLD
5. __ of drawers CHESTS
6. __ Shankar RAVI
7. __ Cakesters OREO
8. __ circle WINNERS
9. __ motel NO-TELL
10. “A Room of __ Own” ONE’S
11. “Take __ a compliment” IT AS
12. CD-__ ROM
13. “I’m in __”: “Wow!” AWE
20. Soap __ SUDS
21. __ and potato soup LEEK
24. Van __ HALEN
25. Carry-__: luggage ONS
26. Victoria __ CROSS
27. Olive __ OIL
28. __-level ENTRY
29. Peau de __: satin-weave cloth SOIE
30. __ 22-Across: solve SUSS
31. Set __ SAIL
32. __ torch TIKI
36. Day __ SPA
37. “__ to Joy” ODE
39. Suit __ TO A T
40. __ Series: auto races INDYCAR
41. __-à-porter: ready-to-wear PRET
42. __ Joe AVERAGE
44. Caveat __ EMPTOR
45. Civil __: protest UNREST
48. __ Canal ERIE
49. __ for life MATE
50. Rib __ CAGE
51. “__ to that!” AMEN
52. “Lord knows __!” I TRY
53. __ Abby DEAR
54. __ birth to GAVE
55. “… __ I saw Elba” ERE
56. __ and flow EBB

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