Day: June 14, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Screwdriver parts VODKA AND OJ
The cocktail called a screwdriver is a mix of fresh orange juice with vodka. Apparently the drink originated with a group of engineers in the late forties who used to spike small cans of orange juice with vodka, and then stir it in with their screwdrivers.

11. __ Dea: Roman fertility goddess BONA
Bona Dea was the ancient Roman goddess linked with fertility and chastity in women. Her name translates from Latin as “the Good Goddess”. Women who participated in rites of worship were able to avail of a particular benefit. They could consume strong wine, something forbidden to females in Rome.

15. Like John Cage’s music AVANT-GARDE
People described as being avant-garde are especially innovative. “Avant-garde” is French for “advance guard”.

John Cage was a classical composer from Los Angeles. One of Cage’s most famous works is his 1952 composition “4’33”. The musicians “playing” this piece just sit there for 4 minutes and 33 seconds, with the audience just taking in the ambient sounds present. Not my cup of tea …

17. Order with hot milk CAFE AU LAIT
Café au lait (“coffee with milk”) is usually strong, drip coffee to which one adds steamed milk. At least that’s the way we tend to make in this country.

18. Off-rd. rides ATVS
All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

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

20. Eponymous furniture designer EAMES
Charles and Ray Eames were a husband-wife team of furniture designers. One of the more famous of their designs is the Eames lounge chair that comes with an ottoman. This trendy piece of furniture featured in a late episode of the television show “Frasier”. In the show, Frasier’s Dad remarks that the Eames chair is so comfortable that he might have gotten rid of his tatty old recliner a long time ago.

21. Cassowary cousin RHEA
The rhea is a flightless bird native to South America. The rhea takes its name from the Greek titan Rhea, an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

The cassowary is a large, flightless bird found mainly in New Guinea. One species of cassowary is the third tallest bird on the planet, second only to the ostrich and the emu.

22. Frequent service station attendant? SELF
I think almost everyone uses self-service at gas stations these days, don’t they?

26. South Pacific island nation SAMOA
The official name for the South Pacific country formerly known as Western Samoa is the Independent State of Samoa. “Samoa” is the western part of the island group, with American Samoa lying to the southeast. The whole group of islands used to be known as Navigators Island, a name given by European explorers in recognition of the seafaring skills of the native Samoans.

31. Article in some modern music THA
I guess “tha” is slang for “the” in the world of rap …

34. 15-Across Irish playwright BECKETT
An Irishman I may be, but I have sat through so many Samuel Beckett plays (the Irish dramatist) and I have yet to come away feeling satisfied that I spent my time well. Of course I am in the minority, as his play “Waiting for Godot” was once voted the most significant English language play of the 20th century. Maybe I will try again one day …

36. Prefix with fauna AVI-
Avifauna is the collective name for birds of a specific region. An older term for the same thing is “ornis”, which has the same root as “ornithology”.

39. Boy toy? KEN
Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia.

40. Student of Elves, in Tolkien ENT
Ents are those tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

46. __ Adams Wilderness: Sierra Nevada region ANSEL
As an amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

48. Georgia-born Hall of Famer TY COBB
Ty Cobb was one of the richest baseball players of all times. When he retired, Cobb was a major stockholder of the Coca-Cola Corporation. By the time he passed away in 1961, Cobb had an even bigger investment in General Electric. He left an estate after his death worth about $86m (in 2008 dollars).

52. Emperor before Vitellius OTHO
AD 69 was a year of civil war in ancient Rome. The unrest started with the death of emperor Nero in AD 68, after which followed the brief rule of Galba, of Otho, of Vitellius, and of Vespasian all in the same year. As a result, AD 69 became known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

53. Pliés may precede them LEAPS
]The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent.

58. Mountain transport T-BAR
A T-bar is a type of ski lift in which the skiers are pulled up the hill in pairs, with each pair standing (not sitting!) either side of T-shaped metal bar. The bar is placed behind the thighs, pulling along the skiers as they remain standing on their skis (hopefully!). There’s also a J-bar, a similar device but with each J-shaped bar used by one skier at a time.

61. Write tongue twisters, perhaps ALLITERATE
Alliteration is a literary device in which the same sounds are repeated in a phrase. An extreme form of alliteration is a tongue twister, for example:

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers;
A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked;
If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,
Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked?

63. 1980s speed skating gold medalist Karin ENKE
Karin Enke is a former speed skater who represented East Germany in competition in the seventies and eighties.

64. San José resident COSTA RICAN
San José is a capital of the Central American country of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua in the north, and Panama to the South. Costa Rica is remarkable in my opinion, a leader on the world stage in many areas. It has been referred to as the “greenest” country in the world, the “happiest” country in the world, and has a highly educated populace. In 1949, the country unilaterally abolished its own army, permanently …

65. Tube lineup SKED
The program lineup on the TV (tube) is called the schedule (sked).

Down
3. “Platoon” Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor DAFOE
Willem Dafoe is an American actor, from Wisconsin. He was born just plain William Dafoe, but didn’t like being called “Billy”. So, he changed his name to Willem, which was the pronunciation of his name by his Scottish babysitter. Those Scots …

5. One-time bridge AT A
One at a time

6. Feverish chills AGUE
An ague is a fever, one usually associated with malaria.

7. “The Lion King” character NALA
In “The Lion King”, Nala is a lioness and the childhood friend of Simba.

8. Nip at a bar DRAM
The dram is a confusing unit of measurement, I think. It has one value as an ancient unit of mass, and two different values as a modern unit of mass, another value as a unit of fluid volume, and yet another, varying value as a measure of Scotch whisky!

9. Dog of comics ODIE
Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle, a character in Jim Davis’s comic strip.

11. College __ BOARDS
College Board is a company that develops and administers standardized tests used determine college readiness in students and to provide a service within the college admissions process. The company was founded in 1899 at Columbia University by a dozen or so schools to provide guidance to secondary schools as they prepared students for third-level education.

14. Ninjas, perhaps ASSASSINS
The ninjas were around in Japan at the time of the samurai, but were a very different type of warrior. The ninjas were covert operatives, specializing in the use of stealth to accomplish their missions. As they were a secretive cadre they took on a mystical reputation with the public, who believed they had the ability to become invisible or perhaps walk on water.

25. Short muscle? LAT
The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

27. Classic spy comedy MEN IN BLACK
“Men in Black” are said to have appeared in the past whenever there have been reports of UFO sightings. Supposedly, these men are government agents whose job it is to suppress reports of alien landings. The conspiracy theorists got their day in the movies with the release of a pretty good sci-fi comedy in 1997 called “Men in Black”, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

28. Tuberous Andean plants OCAS
The plant called an oca is also known as the New Zealand Yam. The tubers of the oca are used as a root vegetable.

29. Guard dog breed AKITA
The Akita breed of dog is named for its point of origin, the Akita Prefecture in Japan. When Helen Keller visited Japan in 1937, she asked for and was given an Akita breed of dog, with the name of Kamikaze-go. Sadly, the dog died within a year from distemper. The following year the Japanese government officially presented Keller with a replacement dog. Supposedly Keller’s dogs were the first members of the breed to be introduced into the US.

31. Early invasion participant THE STONES
Even though Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been the driving force behind the Rolling Stones for decades, they didn’t start the group. The band was the idea of guitarist and harmonica player Brian Jones, and it was he who invited Richards and Jagger to join, as well as Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts to make an original lineup of six band members. Jones called the band “Rollin’ Stone” back then in 1962, named for the song by Muddy Waters. Jones was the leader, manager and decision maker for the first few years until songs written by Richards and Jagger became hits and he started to lose artistic control. In 1967, Jones was arrested for drug possession, and again in 1968. When his trouble with the law prevented him from getting a US work visa, Jones wasn’t able to accompany the Stones on a 1969 US tour. That was the last straw, it seems, and Jones and the Stones parted company. Famously, one month later, Jones was found dead, at the bottom of his swimming pool.

The Beatles arrived in the US for their first tour in February 1964, arriving at John F. Kennedy Airport to a very, very warm reception. The group’s arrival was the first “action” in what came to be known as “the British Invasion”.

32. Dive HONKY-TONK
A honky-tonk is a bar with musical entertainment, usually country music. The etymology of the term “honky-tonk” seems unclear. The term has evolved to mean any cheap, noisy bar or dance hall.

41. Nautilus, e.g. SUB
The USS Nautilus is a submarine launched in 1954, and decommissioned 1980. When launched, the Nautilus was the world’s first nuclear-powered submarine. She was named for a diesel-electric submarine that served with distinction in WWII that was also bore the Nautilus name. All of the US Navy’s “Nautilus” vessels were named for the submarine in the Jules Verne novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”. After decommissioning in 1980, the latest Nautilus was preserved as a floating museum in Groton, Connecticut.

42. Michaelmas mo. SEP
“Michaelmas” is the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel, a day in the Western Christian calendar. Michaelmas is September 29th every year, and is associated with the beginning of fall.

45. Cheated ROOKED
“To rook” is to cheat. The earlier use of “rook” as a noun was as a disparaging term for a swindler or cheat. Somehow, it was insulting to refer to a person as a rook, as in the type of bird.

50. Eastern adders? ABACI
The abacus was used as a counting frame long before man had invented a numbering system. It is a remarkable invention, particularly when one notes that abaci are still widely used today across Africa and Asia.

51. Black Mass idol SATAN
The Black Mass is a ceremony styled on the Holy Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition, except that the object of worship is Satan.

54. North Carolina school ELON
Elon is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, close to the city of Burlington. Elon University is a private liberal arts school founded in 1889.

56. Pennsylvania school PITT
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) was founded back in 1787 as the Pittsburgh Academy. Pitt was a private school until 1966, but is now one of four universities receiving state funding.

57. “Now!” STAT!
The exact etymology of “stat”, a term meaning “immediately” in the medical profession, seems to have been lost in the mists of time. It probably comes from the Latin “statim” meaning “to a standstill, immediately”. A blog reader has helpfully suggested that the term may also come from the world of laboratory analysis, where the acronym STAT stands for “short turnaround time”.

59. Peace Nobelist Cassin RENE
René Cassin drafted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights after WWII that was adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1948. This work led to Cassin being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Screwdriver parts VODKA AND OJ
11. __ Dea: Roman fertility goddess BONA
15. Like John Cage’s music AVANT-GARDE
16. Numerical column ONES
17. Order with hot milk CAFE AU LAIT
18. Off-rd. rides ATVS
19. Sour fruit SLOE
20. Eponymous furniture designer EAMES
21. Cassowary cousin RHEA
22. Frequent service station attendant? SELF
24. Some council members ELDERS
26. South Pacific island nation SAMOA
30. Sweet and sour TASTES
31. Article in some modern music THA
34. 15-Across Irish playwright BECKETT
36. Prefix with fauna AVI-
37. Vert. opposite HOR
38. Artless NAIVE
39. Boy toy? KEN
40. Student of Elves, in Tolkien ENT
41. Twins, at times SISTERS
43. Vocal stumbles ERS
44. View from a lodge SKI RUN
46. __ Adams Wilderness: Sierra Nevada region ANSEL
48. Georgia-born Hall of Famer TY COBB
49. Shooter’s ammo PEAS
52. Emperor before Vitellius OTHO
53. Pliés may precede them LEAPS
58. Mountain transport T-BAR
60. Breakfast __ NOOK
61. Write tongue twisters, perhaps ALLITERATE
63. 1980s speed skating gold medalist Karin ENKE
64. San José resident COSTA RICAN
65. Tube lineup SKED
66. Rustic building material KNOTTY PINE

Down
1. Short suckers? VACS
2. Places to run OVALS
3. “Platoon” Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actor DAFOE
4. Prepares for an engagement? KNEELS
5. One-time bridge AT A
6. Feverish chills AGUE
7. “The Lion King” character NALA
8. Nip at a bar DRAM
9. Dog of comics ODIE
10. High-flying group JET SETTERS
11. College __ BOARDS
12. Crooked ON THE TAKE
13. Not once NEVER EVER
14. Ninjas, perhaps ASSASSINS
23. Swell FAB
25. Short muscle? LAT
27. Classic spy comedy MEN IN BLACK
28. Tuberous Andean plants OCAS
29. Guard dog breed AKITA
31. Early invasion participant THE STONES
32. Dive HONKY-TONK
33. Edible thistle ARTICHOKE
35. Not odd EVEN
41. Nautilus, e.g. SUB
42. Michaelmas mo. SEP
45. Cheated ROOKED
47. Deliver a rant LET RIP
50. Eastern adders? ABACI
51. Black Mass idol SATAN
54. North Carolina school ELON
55. And ALSO
56. Pennsylvania school PITT
57. “Now!” STAT!
59. Peace Nobelist Cassin RENE
62. Brew finish -ERY

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