Day: June 7, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Nocturnal desert lizards WEB-FOOTED GECKOS
The word “gecko” comes from an Indonesian/Javanese word “tokek”, which is imitative of the reptile’s chirping sound. In making such a sound, geckos are unique in the world of lizards. More interesting to me than a gecko’s chirping is its ability to cling to walls and to other vertical surfaces. Their feet are specially adapted with “toes” that make extremely intimate, close contact to a surface. The toes have millions of hairs called setae that enable the clinging. It isn’t suction that supports them, but rather van der Waals forces (weak “gravitational” attractions). Fascinating stuff …

19. Actor Flynn ERROL
Errol Flynn was born 1909 in Tasmania, Australia where he was raised. In his twenties, Flynn lived in the UK where he pursued his acting career. Around the same time he starred in an Australian film “In the Wake of the Bounty” and then appeared in a British film “Murder at Monte Carlo”. It was in the latter film that he was noticed by Warner Brothers who brought him to America. Flynn’s non-American heritage shone through even while he was living the American dream in California. He regularly played cricket, along with his friend David Niven, in the Hollywood Cricket Club.

20. Demonstrate one’s humanity ERR
Alexander Pope’s 1709 poem “An Essay on Criticism” is the source of at least three well-known quotations:

– A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.
– To err is human, to forgive divine.
– For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

24. Bug-eyed cartoon dog REN
“The Ren and Stimpy Show” is an animated television show that ran on Nickelodeon from 1991 to 1996. The title characters are Marland “Ren” Höek, a scrawny Chihuahua, and Stimpson J. Cat, a rotund Manx cat. Not my cup of tea …

28. Carroll’s caterpillar smokes one HOOKAH
A hookah is a waterpipe, a device for smoking tobacco in which the smoke is passed through a water basin before it is inhaled.

The Hookah-Smoking Caterpillar is a character in Lewis Carroll’s novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”.

29. Restaurant with an owl logo HOOTERS
The female wait staff at a Hooters restaurant are usually referred to as Hooters Girls. Apparently, each female waiter is required to sign a document acknowledging and affirming the following:

1. My job duties require I wear the designated Hooters Girl uniform.
2. My job duties require that I interact with and entertain the customers.
3. The Hooters concept is based on female sex appeal and the work environment is one in which joking and entertaining conversations are commonplace.

34. Sure competitor ARRID
Arrid is an antiperspirant deodorant brand introduced in the thirties. Slogans associated with Arrid have been “Don’t be half-safe – use Arrid to be sure”, “Stress stinks! Arrid works!” and “Get a little closer”.

Sure is a brandname of deodorant in the British Isles. The same product is marketed in North America as Degree.

35. The Renault 5, in North America LE CAR
French automaker Renault made the “mini-like” Renault 5 and sold it as the Renault “Le Car” in North America. My Dad had a Renault 5 back in Ireland …

37. Recipe meas. TSP
Teaspoon (tsp.)

41. Martinique volcano PELEE
Mount Pelee on the Caribbean island of Martinique is still active and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes on the planet. When it erupted in 1902, it killed over 30,000 people. Most of those fatalities occurred when a cloud of hot gases settled over the town of St. Pierre, instantly igniting everything that was flammable.

The island of Martinique in the eastern Caribbean is actually a part of France, and is referred to as an “overseas department”. As such, Martinique is part of the European Union, and even uses the euro as its currency. The island is fully represented in the French National Assembly and Senate, just like any department within France. It’s sort of like the status of Hawaii within the US.

42. Rachel’s sister LEAH
According to the Bible, Leah was one of the two wives of Jacob, the other being Leah’s sister Rachel. Jacob’s intention had been to marry Rachel, but the Leah and Rachel’s father “switched” his daughters and provided Leah as the veiled bride. Jacob married Rachel a week later, and lived with the two wives concurrently.

43. Nikon D3S, e.g., briefly SLR
SLR stands for “single lens reflex”. Usually cameras with changeable lenses are the SLR type. The main feature of an SLR is that a mirror reflects the image seen through the lens out through the viewfinder, so that the photographer sees exactly what the lens sees. The mirror moves out of the way as the picture is taken, and the image that comes through the lens falls onto unexposed film, or nowadays onto a digital sensor.

44. “The Heart of Georgia” MACON
The “Heart of Georgia” is an alternative name for Central Georgia, and is that part of the state surrounding the city of Macon. Famously, Macon was home to the Allman Brothers, and also Little Richard, Otis Redding and Randy Crawford.

45. New, in Nogales NUEVA
Nogales (properly called “Heroica Nogales”) is a city in the Mexican State of Sonora. Nogales lies right on the Mexico-US border, opposite the city of Nogales, Arizona.

46. Novel republished to commemorate its 2012 centennial TARZAN OF THE APES
“Tarzan” is the title character in the series of books created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The line “Me Tarzan, you Jane” never appeared in the books, and indeed doesn’t even figure in the movies. Apparently Johnny Weissmuller (who played Tarzan in the thirties and forties) saw Maureen O’Sullivan (“Jane”, to Weissmuller’s “Tarzan”) struggling with a suitcase in the parking lot during filming. He grabbed the bag from her, jokingly saying “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, and people have been quoting those words ever since.

50. Appliance used in orthodontics PALATAL EXPANDER
An orthodontist might use a palatal expander to widen the upper jaw of an individual, usually a child, so that the bottom and top teeth fit together better. The full course of treatment usually takes about 9 weeks.

Down
6. Baja bear OSO
Baja California is both the most northern and the most western of the Mexican states. The name translates from Spanish as “Lower California”.

7. Swingers with pickups TONE ARMS
On a record player turntable, the “tone arm” is name given to the free-swinging bracket that holds the phonograph pickup. The pickup is the magnetic cartridge that converts vibrations of the needle as it travels in the groove of the record, into an electrical signal that can be amplified and converted into sound.

9. “You Gotta Be” soul singer DES’REE
Des’ree is an R&B singer from London, England. One of Des’ree’s biggest hits is the song “Kissing You”, which was used in the 1996 film adaption of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes.

10. Show biz sisters’ surname GABOR
Eva Gabor was the youngest of the Gabor sisters, all three of whom were celebrated Hollywood actresses and socialites (her siblings were Zsa-Zsa and Magda). The Gabor sisters were born in Budapest and immigrated to the United States separately, with Eva being the first to arrive. Eva broke into movies, but her most famous role was on the TV sitcom “Green Acres” in which she played the lovely character Lisa Douglas opposite Eddie Albert. One of Eva’s claims to fame is the unwitting promotion of the game called “Twister”, the sales of which were languishing in 1996. In an appearance on “The Tonight Show” she got on all fours and played the game with Johnny Carson. Sales took off immediately, and Twister became a huge hit.

11. Biographer Leon EDEL
Leon Edel wrote a highly respected biography of author Henry James, for which Edel won a Pulitzer Prize.

12. Walgreens rival CVS
The name of the drugstore chain CVS once stood for Consumer Value Stores, although these days the company uses the acronym to denote Convenience, Value and Service.

Walgreens is the largest chain of drugstores in the United States, with over 7,500 retail outlets. The company is named for the owner of the first store and founder of the chain, Charles R. Walgreen.

14. Egg-shaped wind instruments OCARINAS
An ocarina is an ancient wind-instrument that sounds like and is played like a flute. Usually an ocarina has an egg-shaped body with a number of finger holes cut into the material making up the instrument (usually ceramic). There is a tube protruding from the body through which one blows to make sounds. The air vibrates within the body of the instrument, and the pitch of the vibrations is changed by covering and uncovering the finger-holes. Ocarinas date back as far as 12,000 years ago when they were used both in China and Central America. The ocarina was brought to Italy in the 1800s where it became popular as a child’s toy, but also as a serious instrument. It was given the name “ocarina” as its shape resembles that of a goose, and “ocarina”is a diminutive word stemming from “oca”, the Italian word for “goose”.

23. iPhone competitor DROID
The Droid is a smartphone from Motorola that is noted for running Google’s Android operating system.

26. Rocky nemesis BORIS
Boris and Natasha are two characters on the animated television series “The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show”.

28. Silver, e.g. HORSE
The Lone Ranger’s horse was named Silver.

“The Lone Ranger” was both a radio and television show, dating back to its first radio performance in 1933 on a Detroit station. The line “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” was a device used in the storyline to signal that a riding sequence was starting, so cue the music!

30. Nash priest, not beast ONE-L LAMA
The poet Ogden Nash is well known for his light and humorous verse. Try this one for size:

The one-L lama,
He’s a priest.
The two-L llama,
He’s a beast.
And I would bet
A silk pajama
There isn’t any
Three-L lllama.

31. Tombstone location OK CORRAL
The most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West has to be the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, which took place in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but played out six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.

34. 2013 John Legend hit ALL OF ME
John Legend is the stage name of singer-songwriter John Stephens. Sorry … I never heard of him …

37. Frisbee golf starting point TEE PAD
The Frisbee concept started back in 1938 with a couple who had an upturned cake pan that they were tossing between each other on Santa Monica Beach in California. They were offered 25 cents for the pan on the spot, and as pans could be bought for 5 cents, the pair figured there was a living to be earned.

39. Electric guitar effect PHASER
A phaser is an electronic sound processor. Apparently the effect of phasers are particularly popular in electric guitar music. One of the more famous examples of a phaser’s use is in the Small Faces recording of “Itchycoo Park”, released in the sixties.

41. It eats shoots and leaves PANDA
Taxonomic classification of the giant panda has been a subject of great debate for years, the main question being whether it belongs to the bear or raccoon family. The accepted opinion these days, based on molecular studies, seems to be that the panda is in fact a true bear.

42. Comics daughter of Nancy and Frank DeGroot LUANN
“Luann” is a newspaper comic strip written and drawn by Greg Evans. The strip centers on the suburban adventures of teenager Luann DeGroot.

44. Shake alternative MALT
Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, in 1922.

45. “99 Luftballons” singer NENA
Nena is a German singer (“Nena” became the name of her band as well) who had a big hit with one of my favorite songs of the eighties “99 Luftballons”. The English translation of the German title (“99 Red Balloons”) isn’t literal, with the color “red” added just so that the title had the right number of syllables for the tune. “Luftballon” is the name given to a child’s toy balloon in German.

47. Bhutto’s overthrower ZIA
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was the President of Pakistan from 1978 until he died in 1988. Zia died in a plane crash along with US Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Lewis Raphel and several other VIPs. The official investigation into the cause of the crash concluded that the plane was probably brought down by sabotage.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, when he was ousted from power in a military coup led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who later became the country’s longest-serving President. Former Prime Minister Bhutto was arrested a few months after the coup and was executed in 1979. Years later, in 1988, his daughter Benazir Bhutto became Prime Minister, the first woman ever elected to lead a Muslim state.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Nocturnal desert lizards WEB-FOOTED GECKOS
16. Column opening I NEED SOME ADVICE
17. Gave everything to TRIED ONE’S BEST AT
18. Crew members HANDS
19. Actor Flynn ERROL
20. Demonstrate one’s humanity ERR
21. They’re subject to inflation EGOS
22. On-call accessory PAGER
23. Mid-sixth-century year DLII
24. Bug-eyed cartoon dog REN
25. “Yes __!” SIREE
26. Convey BRING
27. Reactions to throat tickles AHEMS
28. Carroll’s caterpillar smokes one HOOKAH
29. Restaurant with an owl logo HOOTERS
32. Most like a slasher movie GORIEST
33. They might be twisted ANKLES
34. Sure competitor ARRID
35. The Renault 5, in North America LE CAR
36. Common hymn word BLESS
37. Recipe meas. TSP
40. Circulate FLOW
41. Martinique volcano PELEE
42. Rachel’s sister LEAH
43. Nikon D3S, e.g., briefly SLR
44. “The Heart of Georgia” MACON
45. New, in Nogales NUEVA
46. Novel republished to commemorate its 2012 centennial TARZAN OF THE APES
49. Text following “@” EMAIL DOMAIN NAME
50. Appliance used in orthodontics PALATAL EXPANDER

Down
1. Shrivel WITHER
2. Madden ENRAGE
3. Share knowledge of BE IN ON
4. Gratifies FEEDS
5. Betting figures ODDS
6. Baja bear OSO
7. Swingers with pickups TONE ARMS
8. Comes out EMERGES
9. “You Gotta Be” soul singer DES’REE
10. Show biz sisters’ surname GABOR
11. Biographer Leon EDEL
12. Walgreens rival CVS
13. Resembling a high flier KITELIKE
14. Egg-shaped wind instruments OCARINAS
15. Correct SET RIGHT
22. Docks PIERS
23. iPhone competitor DROID
25. Complete SHEER
26. Rocky nemesis BORIS
27. Attorney chaser? AT LAW
28. Silver, e.g. HORSE
29. Semitone HALF-STEP
30. Nash priest, not beast ONE-L LAMA
31. Tombstone location OK CORRAL
32. Pollution control assessment GREEN TAX
34. 2013 John Legend hit ALL OF ME
36. “Relax, dude” BE COOL
37. Frisbee golf starting point TEE PAD
38. Helpless heroine’s plea SAVE ME!
39. Electric guitar effect PHASER
41. It eats shoots and leaves PANDA
42. Comics daughter of Nancy and Frank DeGroot LUANN
44. Shake alternative MALT
45. “99 Luftballons” singer NENA
47. Bhutto’s overthrower ZIA
48. Unlike nerds HIP

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