Day: May 12, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
16. Window sticker DECAL
A decal is a decorative sticker, short for “decalcomania”. The term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

17. Frozen breakfast brand EGGO
Eggo is the brand name of a line of frozen waffles made by Kellogg’s. When they were introduced in the 1930s, the name “Eggo” was chosen to promote the “egginess” of the batter. “Eggo” replaced the original name chosen, which was “Froffles”, created by melding “frozen” and “waffles”.

20. Zap, as leftovers REHEAT
The first household microwave oven was introduced to the market in 1955, a Tappan microwave.

22. Carnival city RIO
Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Years Day in 1502.

The celebration of carnival comes right before the Lenten period in some Christian traditions. It is thought that carnival perhaps arose from the need to “eat and drink up” any excess food and drink before the beginning of Lent.

28. New England whitefish SCROD
Scrod is the name given to fish that has been “scrawed” i.e. split open, dried and then broiled.

33. Singer Ronstadt LINDA
Linda Ronstadt is a singer-songwriter from Tucson, Arizona. Ronstadt really does have a lovely voice, and can make any song her own. In the late seventies, she was the highest paid woman in the world of rock music.

43. Bench for flock members PEW
A pew is a bench in a church, usually with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

46. Turbaned Punjabis SIKHS
Sikhism is a religion that was founded in the 15th century in the Punjab region, which straddles the India-Pakistan border. Even though Sikhism was established relatively recently, it is now the fifth-largest organized religion in the world. Sikhism was founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak.

54. Lbs. and ozs. WTS
The unit of mass that we know today as a “pound” is descended from the old Roman unit of weight known as a “libra”. That “libra” connection is why we abbreviate pound to “lb”. The name “pound” though comes from the Latin “pondo” meaning “weight”.

Our term “ounce” comes from the Latin “uncia”, which was 1/12 of a “libra”, the Roman “pound”.

57. “All __ Jazz” THAT
“All That Jazz” is a 1979 musical film that was directed by choreographer Bob Fosse. The movie is somewhat autobiographical, with the screenplay having been co-written by Fosse. The title “All That Jazz” is the name of song in the musical “Chicago”, which Fosse choreographed.

58. Crew blade OAR
A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”.

61. *Best possible poker hand ROYAL FLUSH (giving “royal wave”)
The poker hand called a royal flush is the highest-ranking hand possible. It consists of a run of 10, Jack, Queen, King and Ace, with all in the same suit.

64. Athletic shoe brand AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

66. Bassoon cousin OBOE
The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”. When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance you’ll note (pun intended!) that the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”.

Our modern bassoon first appeared in the 1800s and has had a place in the concert orchestra ever since.

Down
1. La Scala production OPERA
The La Scala Opera House opened in 1778. It was built on the site of the church of Santa Maria della Scala, which gave the theater its name: “Teatro alla Scala” in Italian.

4. Gin flavoring SLOE
The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin.

5. Fidel or Raúl of Cuba CASTRO
Fidel Castro was very active in the chess world, both as a player and as a tournament organizer and sponsor. In 2002 Castro hosted a massive chess tournament in Havana with over 1500 participants. The collection of amateurs and masters played simultaneously in an exhibition that was the largest ever seen in the world.

Raul Castro is the younger brother of Fidel Castro. Raul has been President of Cuba since 2008, when Fidel stepped aside.

7. __ und Drang STURM
“Sturm und Drang” translates from the German into “Storm and Stress” or perhaps “Storm and Impulse”. “Sturm und Drang” was the name given to a movement in German literature and music in the latter half of the 18th century. The writer Johann Goethe was a major proponent of the movement, which took its name from a play by Maximilian Klinger.

8. Sharpshooter Oakley ANNIE
Many regard Annie Oakley as the first American female superstar, given her celebrity as a sharpshooter in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. She toured with the show all over Europe, and performed her act for the likes of Queen Victoria of England and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Supposedly, using a .22 caliber rifle from 90 feet away, Oakley could split a playing card edge-on, and shoot five or six holes in the card before it hit the ground!

9. Atlanta-based health org. CDC
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

11. Humpback whale’s home OCEAN
The males of the humpback whale species are particularly known for their song. This song can last up to 20 minutes and can be repeated for hours at a time. It is usually assumed that the song is part of a mating ritual.

12. Mother-of-pearl NACRE
Mother-of-pearl is another name for nacre. Nacre is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed.

13. Lodge fellows ELKS
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome.

35. Eight-time French Open champ Rafael NADAL
Rafael Nadal is a Spanish tennis player who is noted for his expertise on clay courts, earning him the nickname “The King of Clay”.

38. __ Moines DES
The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others do contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

51. “Surprise Symphony” composer HAYDN
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G major is nicknamed “The Surprise Symphony”. Haydn was very fond of including a little humor in his music, and the “surprise” in Symphony No. 94 is the most famous. That surprise is a very loud chord at the end of a very quiet and lyrical passage in the second movement. As a result, the German nickname for “The Surprise Symphony” is “The Symphony with the Kettledrum Stroke”.

53. Vacation island off Venezuela ARUBA
Aruba is one of the so-called ABC Islands. The ABC Islands is the nickname given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC Islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

55. Package-fastening rope TWINE
Our word “twine”, meaning a light string, has the same root as our word “twin”. The original Old English “twin” was a double thread.

57. Math course with sines and tans TRIG
Trigonometry (trig.)

60. Sitarist 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.

62. “Do the Right Thing” director Spike LEE
Shelton Jackson Lee is the real name of Spike Lee, the film director and producer. Lee’s first feature-length film, released in 1986, was “She’s Gotta Have It”. Lee shot the film in just twelve days, and kept the movie within its relatively small budget of only $175,000. “She’s Gotta Have It” grossed over $7 million …

“Do the Right Thing” is a Spike Lee movie, released in 1989. Much of the action in the film is centered on a local pizzeria called “Sal’s” owned by Italian-American Salvatore Frangione (played by Danny Aiello).

63. __ milk SOY
What are known as soybeans here in the US are called “soya beans” in most other English-speaking countries. So, I drink soy milk here in America, but when I am over in Ireland I drink “soya milk”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Big-eyed birds OWLS
5. Spanish house CASA
9. Witchy woman CRONE
14. Toy in the sand PAIL
15. For whom the memo is intended: Abbr. ATTN
16. Window sticker DECAL
17. Frozen breakfast brand EGGO
18. *Pre-performance audio test SOUND CHECK (giving “sound wave”)
20. Zap, as leftovers REHEAT
22. Carnival city RIO
23. Bunny features EARS
24. Gallery display ART
25. *Area marked with police tape CRIME SCENE (giving “crime wave”)
28. New England whitefish SCROD
30. Pipe joint ELL
31. “Huzzah!” YAHOO!
33. Singer Ronstadt LINDA
36. Puddle-bottom earth MUD
39. Objects of worship ICONS
40. Historic timespan ERA
41. Theater platform STAGE
43. Bench for flock members PEW
44. Zapped while resisting arrest, say TASED
46. Turbaned Punjabis SIKHS
47. Quick hellos HIS
48. Concur AGREE
50. *Disturbing potential, as of a gory film scene SHOCK VALUE (giving “shock wave”)
54. Lbs. and ozs. WTS
57. “All __ Jazz” THAT
58. Crew blade OAR
59. Spread out ungracefully SPRAWL
61. *Best possible poker hand ROYAL FLUSH (giving “royal wave”)
64. Athletic shoe brand AVIA
65. Many a low-budget flick INDIE
66. Bassoon cousin OBOE
67. Steam outlet VENT
68. Horror or romance, e.g. GENRE
69. Sunbeams RAYS
70. “Understood” I SEE

Down
1. La Scala production OPERA
2. Put money (on) WAGER
3. *Lasers at a rock concert, e.g. LIGHT SHOW (giving “light wave”)
4. Gin flavoring SLOE
5. Fidel or Raúl of Cuba CASTRO
6. From __ Z A TO
7. __ und Drang STURM
8. Sharpshooter Oakley ANNIE
9. Atlanta-based health org. CDC
10. Fix, as a shoe REHEEL
11. Humpback whale’s home OCEAN
12. Mother-of-pearl NACRE
13. Lodge fellows ELKS
19. Supplied medicine to DOSED
21. Word puzzle that involves a quotation ACROSTIC
26. Waits at a light, say IDLES
27. School reunion organizer CLASS REP
29. Swindle CON
31. Shrill bark YIP
32. Star pitcher ACE
34. Wrath IRE
35. Eight-time French Open champ Rafael NADAL
36. Cause a sensation, or what the first words of the answers to starred entries may do MAKE WAVES
37. “Blech!” UGH!
38. __ Moines DES
42. Bit of business attire TIE
45. Demand from ASK OF
47. Windbag’s bagful? HOT AIR
49. Overdoes the praise GUSHES
50. Glistened SHONE
51. “Surprise Symphony” composer HAYDN
52. Heroic behavior VALOR
53. Vacation island off Venezuela ARUBA
55. Package-fastening rope TWINE
56. Fine-grained rock SLATE
57. Math course with sines and tans TRIG
60. Sitarist Shankar RAVI
62. “Do the Right Thing” director Spike LEE
63. __ milk SOY

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