Day: March 4, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. American Revolution supporter WHIG
At the time of the American Revolution, the colonists were divided into those supporting British rule and those against. Back then the supporters of the British were referred to as Tories and those against were known as Whigs. The terms were borrowed from Britain where Tories were traditional supporters of the crown and Whigs supported Parliament. On this side of the Atlantic, American Whigs weren’t supporting the British parliament, but rather the Continental Congress. In this context, the term “American Whigs” is synonymous with Congress-men, Revolutionaries and Patriots, the term most commonly used today.

5. Cracked fixture across from Independence Hall BELL
The Liberty Bell was commissioned in 1752 and was installed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall in Philadelphia. The bell bears the inscription “Proclaim LIBERTY throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof”, a quotation from the Book of Leviticus in the Bible. Famously, the bell cracked when it was first rung in Philadelphia after arriving from the foundry where it was made in London, England. The bell’s fame originated with a short story by George Lippard published in 1847 that gave a fictional account of an old bell-ringer ringing it on July 4, 1776 upon hearing that the Second Continental Congress had voted for independence. The ringing of the bell never actually happened, even though the account was constantly presented as fact in school text around the country for generations.

9. Suitor SWAIN
A swain is a country lad, or a beau. Back in the 12th century a swain was a young man who attended a knight.

14. Loser in a fable HARE
“The Tortoise and the Hare” is perhaps the most famous fable attributed to Aesop. The hare takes a nap during a race against the tortoise, and the tortoise sneaks past the finish line for the win while his speedier friend is sleeping.

15. Ice formation FLOE
An ice floe is a sheet of ice that has separated from an ice field and is floating freely on the ocean.

16. Garden violet PANSY
The garden flower called the pansy takes its name from the French word “pensée” meaning “thought”. This name was chosen as the flower was often used as a symbol of remembrance.

17. Big name in door-to-door sales AVON
In 1886, a young man called David McConnell was selling books door-to-door. To enhance his sales numbers he was giving out free perfume to the ladies of the houses that he visited. Seeing as his perfume was more popular than his books, he founded the California Perfume Company in New York City and started manufacturing and selling across the country. The company name was changed to Avon in 1939, and the famous “Avon Calling” marketing campaign was launched in 1954.

22. Arctic inhabitant INUIT
The Inuit peoples live in the Arctic, in parts of the US, Russia, Greenland and Canada.

23. Suffix with Manhattan -ITE
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 explorer Henry Hudson’s yacht, the island was called “Manna-hata” in the local language, from which the modern name derives.

28. URL letters WWW
The World Wide Web was effectively the invention of British computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. The key to Berner-Lee’s invention was bringing together two technologies that already existed: hypertext and the Internet. I for one am very grateful …

35. Davis of “Do the Right Thing” OSSIE
Ossie Davis was a very successful African-American actor, but also a director, poet, playwright and social activist. One of Davis’s better known performances was in the 1993 movie “Grumpy Old Men”, in which he played the owner of the bait shop by the lake.

36. Geologic periods EONS
Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

– supereon
– eon (also “aeon”)
– era
– period
– epoch
– age

53. Barbecue residue ASH
It is believed that our word “barbecue” comes from the Taíno people of the Caribbean in whose language “barbacoa” means “sacred fire pit”.

54. On the __ vive: alert QUI
“On the qui vive” is a phrase that means “on the alert”. The term “qui vive?” is French for “(long) live who?” and was used as a challenge by a sentry to determine what loyalty a person had.

59. What 3/4/2014 is, and a hint to 18-, 31-, 37- and 44-Across FAT TUESDAY
“Mardi Gras” translates from French as “Fat Tuesday”, and gets its name from the practice of eating rich foods on the eve of the fasting season known as Lent. Lent starts on the next day, called Ash Wednesday.

66. Shore phenomenon TIDE
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.

70. Ballpoints PENS
The ballpoint pen was invented by László Bíró in the late thirties, a Hungarian newspaper editor. Over in Ireland we use the term “biro” as a generic word for “ballpoint pen”.

Down
5. Pal 4 life BFF
Best friend forever (BFF)

6. “Xanadu” band 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 to become the band’s only number one hit back in their homeland of the UK.

7. Loughlin of “Full House” LORI
Lori Loughlin played Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis on the sitcom “Full House”. Loughlin later appeared in a spinoff of the TV show “Beverly Hills, 90210” called, inventively enough, “90210”.

10. Power unit WATT
James Watt was a Scottish inventor, a man who figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, named in his honor.

11. “Give me __!”: start of a Hawkeye’s cheer AN I
Iowa is nicknamed the Hawkeye State in honor of Chief Black Hawk, a leader of the Sauk people during the War of 1812 and the Black Hawk War.

13. Bill, the “Science Guy” NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on Disney for 4 years from 1993-97. Nye has been in the news a lot in recent years. He made a memorable, if less than perfect, series of appearances as a contestant on “Dancing with the Stars” in 2013. He also formally debated creationist Ken Ham in 2014 on the viability of the creationist model in the modern scientific era.

19. Waikiki feast LUAU
Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, home to the famous Waikiki Beach. The name “Waikiki” means “spouting fresh water” in Hawaiian.

28. Villagers below the Grinch’s cave WHOS
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.

29. Have a yen for WANT
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!

39. “Cheers” actress Perlman RHEA
Rhea Perlman’s most famous role has to be “Carla Tortelli”, the irascible waitress in the long-running sitcom “Cheers”. Perlman is also a successful children’s author, and has published a series of six books called “Otto Undercover”. She is of course married to Hollywood actor Danny DeVito, and has been so since 1982. The couple went through a separation in 2012/2013 but happily are reconciled and back together again.

41. Geek Squad pros TECHS
Best Buy is a retailer specializing in the supply of consumer electronics. Best Buy services include the famous “Geek Squad”, a band of technical experts that will help solve your computer and other consumer electronic problems.

42. Money VIP CFO
Chief financial officer (CFO)

56. Actress Falco EDIE
The actress Edie Falco won her three Emmy Awards for playing Carmela Soprano on HBO’s outstanding drama series called “The Sopranos”.

61. Tunneler’s explosive TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

62. Ruckus ADO
The word “ruckus” is used to mean a commotion, and has been around since the late 1800s. “Ruckus” is possibly a melding of the words “ruction” and “rumpus”.

63. Evergreen with elastic wood YEW
Yew is the wood of choice for the longbow, a valued weapon in the history of England. The longbow is constructed with a core of yew heartwood (as the heartwood resists compression) that has a sheath of yew sapwood (as the sapwood resists stretching). The yew was in such demand for longbows that for centuries yew trees were in short supply in Britain and the wood had to be imported from all over Europe.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. American Revolution supporter WHIG
5. Cracked fixture across from Independence Hall BELL
9. Suitor SWAIN
14. Loser in a fable HARE
15. Ice formation FLOE
16. Garden violet PANSY
17. Big name in door-to-door sales AVON
18. Eternally FOR ALL TIME
20. Moral precept TENET
22. Arctic inhabitant INUIT
23. Suffix with Manhattan -ITE
24. In the know HIP
27. Soak up some rays TAN
28. URL letters WWW
31. “Let’s move on to something else” FORGET ABOUT THAT
35. Davis of “Do the Right Thing” OSSIE
36. Geologic periods EONS
37. Building safety procedure FIRE ALARM TEST
42. Obstruct CLOG
43. Paper tray unit SHEET
44. Some studio-based educators FINE ART TEACHERS
51. Brief missions? OPS
52. Drill sergeant’s address SIR
53. Barbecue residue ASH
54. On the __ vive: alert QUI
55. Debate focus ISSUE
57. Took a cut SWUNG
59. What 3/4/2014 is, and a hint to 18-, 31-, 37- and 44-Across FAT TUESDAY
64. Ill-considered RASH
65. Word before circle or child INNER
66. Shore phenomenon TIDE
67. Attacking the task AT IT
68. Reply to “Who wants to clean up this mess?” NOT ME
69. Cry of pain YEOW!
70. Ballpoints PENS

Down
1. “Consider this scenario …” WHAT IF …
2. Must HAVE TO
3. One with pressing chores? IRONER
4. One in a pool GENE
5. Pal 4 life BFF
6. “Xanadu” band ELO
7. Loughlin of “Full House” LORI
8. Crude shed LEAN-TO
9. Support for a broken digit SPLINT
10. Power unit WATT
11. “Give me __!”: start of a Hawkeye’s cheer AN I
12. Philosophy suffix -ISM
13. Bill, the “Science Guy” NYE
19. Waikiki feast LUAU
21. This and this THESE
25. “__ miracle!” IT’S A
26. Beach bucket PAIL
28. Villagers below the Grinch’s cave WHOS
29. Have a yen for WANT
30. Oz. and kg. WTS
32. Steep-walled canyon GORGE
33. Creature BEAST
34. Pearly whites TEETH
37. Turn, as pancakes FLIP
38. Electrical particles IONS
39. “Cheers” actress Perlman RHEA
40. Oz. or kg. MEAS
41. Geek Squad pros TECHS
42. Money VIP CFO
45. Guarantee ASSURE
46. Go up RISE
47. Unlikely to disappoint TRUSTY
48. Compare apples to apples? EQUATE
49. Takes to jail RUNS IN
50. Tourist attractions SIGHTS
55. News piece ITEM
56. Actress Falco EDIE
58. Food truck offering WRAP
59. Snorkeling aid FIN
60. Year, south of the border ANO
61. Tunneler’s explosive TNT
62. Ruckus ADO
63. Evergreen with elastic wood YEW

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