Day: July 17, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Short cuts BOBS
A “bob cut” is a short hairstyle in which the hair is cut straight around the head, at about the line of the jaw. Back in the 1570s a “bob” was the name given to a horse’s tail that was cut short, and about a century later it was being used to describe short hair on humans. The style became very popular with women in the early 1900s (as worn by actress Clara Bow, for example), with the fashion dying out in the thirties. The style reemerged in the sixties around the time the Beatles introduced their “mop tops”, with Vidal Sassoon leading the way in styling women’s hair in a bob cut again. Personally, I like it …

5. Soup usually drunk directly from the bowl MISO
Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes the soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus (!) to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

9. Key designation MAJOR
Music can be written in either major or minor keys. An expert in music theory could expound on the technical differences between the two types, but to me pieces written in major keys often sound happy or dramatic, whereas pieces in minor keys can sound sad or mournful. As always, I tend to oversimplify!

17. Ward with awards SELA
The actress Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. Ward played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, and was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show, but I do know Ward from the medical drama “House” in which she played the hospital’s lawyer and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought. More recently Ward played a lead role on “CSI: NY” and was a very welcome and much-needed addition to the cast …

20. Protection from a bowler CRICKET HELMET
Cricket is the national game of England. The term “cricket” apparently comes from the Old French word “criquet” meaning “goalpost, stick”.

22. Floors in the ring KOS
Knock out (KO)

23. Tax-deferred plan, for short IRA
Individual retirement account (IRA)

30. Mike and __: candy IKE
Mike and Ike is a brandname of fruit-flavored candy made by Just Born starting in 1940. Just Born launched quite a clever marketing campaign in 2012 asserting that Mike and Ike had “split up due to creative differences”. The campaign involved production of two different boxes for the candy showing one or the other name scratched out. Clever …

32. Calder creation MOBILE
Alexander Calder was an American sculptor and artist. Calder is famous for having invented the mobile sculpture, a work made up of several pieces hanging on a string in equilibrium. In effect they are what we might known as “mobiles”, operating on the same principle as mobiles that sit over cribs in a nursery.

35. French bread EURO
The European Union (EU) today stands at a membership of 27 states. The Euro is the official currency of only 16 of the 27. The list of states in the EU that don’t use the Euro includes the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

41. Mozart and Brahms each wrote a notable one CLARINET QUINTET
Mozart wrote both his Clarinet Quintet and and his Clarinet Concerto for the Austrian clarinetist Anton Stadler. Those two pieces are among my favorites in the whole repertoire …

Brahms wrote his Clarinet Quintet for clarinetist Richard Mühlfeld. Brahms based his 1891 quintet on the quintet written by Mozart in 1789.

44. Closing passages CODAS
In music, a coda is primarily a passage that brings a movement to a conclusion. “Coda” is Italian for “tail”.

46. Dancer Kelly GENE
The actor and dancer Gene Kelly was from Pittsburgh. Kelly’s best-known performances were in the films “An American in Paris” (1951) and “Singin’ in the Rain” (1952). “Singin’ in the Rain” was co-directed by Kelly and the great Stanley Donen. A few years later, in 1960, Kelly married Jeanne Coyne, Donen’s ex-wife.

51. ISP choice DSL
The acronym “DSL” originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is the technology that allows Internet service be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is just what the name indicates, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One way that ISPs differentiate themselves from each other is in the way in which end users are connected to the ISP’s network. So, there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs and satellite ISPs.

52. Isr. neighbor SYR
The modern state that we know as Syria was established after WWI as a French mandate. Syria was granted independence from France in 1946.

53. She played Fantine in “Les Misérables” (1998) UMA
Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name “Dbuma”. Uma’s big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 hit “Pulp Fiction”. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”.

The 1998 film adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel “Les Misérables” stars Liam Neeson as ex-convict Jean Valjean, and Geoffrey Rush as Javert, the police inspector pursuing Valjean. This one’s not a musical …

58. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name” speaker JULIET CAPULET
In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo’s reply includes the lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

65. Honolulu Harbor beacon ALOHA TOWER
Aloha Tower is actually a lighthouse, and sits at Pier 9 in Honolulu Harbor. Aloha Tower was the tallest structure in Hawaii for many years, standing at 10 stories with a 40 foot flag mast on top.

67. 12-time NFL Pro Bowler Junior SEAU
Junior Seau was an NFL linebacker, first playing for the San Diego Chargers and then the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Sadly, Seau was found dead in his home in 2011, having committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest.

68. False front? PSEUD-
The prefix “pseudo-” (or “pseud-”) means false, deceptive.

72. Mmes., in Cuba SRAS
The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame) and in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora).

73. Classical rebuke, and a homophonic hint to 20-, 41- and 58-Across ET TU
It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (And you, Brutus?), in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life just before he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.

Down
1. Pear variety BOSC
Bosc is a cultivar of the European Pear grown in the northwest of the United States. The Bosc is that pear with a skin the color of a potato, with a long neck. I always seem to use the potato as my point of reference. How Irish am I …?

2. CBer’s “Back to you” OVER
A CBer is someone who operates a Citizens’ Band radio. In 1945, the FCC set aside certain radio frequencies for the personal use of citizens. The use of the Citizens’ Band increased throughout the seventies as advances in electronics brought down the size of transceivers and their cost. There aren’t many CB radios sold these days though, as they have largely been replaced by cell phones.

3. Island near Java BALI
Bali is the most important tourist destination in Indonesia and is an island lying east of Java. In recent years, Bali’s tourist industry has been badly hit in the aftermath of two terrorist bombings. The first one, in 2002, killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists in a nightclub.

Java is a large island in Indonesia and home to the country’s capital, Jakarta. With a population of over 130 million, Java is the most populous island in the world, with even more people than Honshu, the main island of Japan.

5. Fabric used in adhesive pads MOLESKIN
Moleskin is a soft material with an adhesive backing that can be stick to the skin to prevent blisters, especially on the feet.

6. How ties may be broken, briefly IN OT
Overtime (OT)

7. __ bar SUSHI
Sushi is a Japanese dish that has as its primary ingredient cooked, vinegared rice. The rice is usually topped with something, most often fish, and can be served in seaweed rolls. If you want raw fish by itself, then you have to order “sashimi”.

8. Cuisinart rival OSTER
The Oster brand of small appliances was introduced in 1924 by John Oster. He started out by making manually-powered hair clippers designed for cutting women’s hair, and followed up with a motorized version in 1928. The clippers kept the company in business until 1946 when Oster diversified, buying a manufacturer of liquefying blenders in 1946. The blender was renamed an Osterizer, and was a big hit. Oster was bought up by Sunbeam, which has owned the brand since 1960.

10. Together, in music A DUE
“A due” is a musical term meaning “together”, and literally translates from Italian as “by two”.

12. World Cup shout OLE!
The next two FIFA World Cup tournaments (soccer) will be hosted by Russia (2018) and Qatar (2022).

13. They may be constitutional: Abbr. RTS
Rights (rts.)

19. Symbol of happiness CLAM
Our phrase “happy as a clam” dates back to the mid-1600s. Back then it was a more lengthy expression: “happy as a clam in the mud at high tide”. The idea was that a clam would be happy in its muddy home at high tide, because no one from land could get to it and eat it.

21. Ornamental fish KOI
Koi are also called Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

25. “Men in Black” targets ALIENS
“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.

26. Click-N-Go pen maker PENTEL
Pentel is Japanese company that is known for manufacture of pens and markers.

27. Tourist draws MECCAS
We’ve been using “mecca” to mean “a place one holds sacred” since the 1850s. The term derives from the sacred city of Islam, the birthplace of Muhammad.

Mecca is in the Makkah province of Saudi Arabia and is the holiest city in Islam. Every year several million Muslims perform the Hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

28. Memorial tribute EULOGY
A eulogy is a speech or piece of writing that praises someone who has recently passed away or who is retiring. “Eulogy” comes from the Greek word “eulogia” meaning “praise”.

29. Food chain whose employees wear Hawaiian shirts TRADER JOE’S
Trader Joe’s is a grocery store chain based in Monrovia, California that was founded in 1979 by Joe Coulombe. Trader Joe’s is very popular where I live, even though it stocks less than 10% of the items found in a typical grocery store. 80% of the items on the shelves are sold under a Trader Joe’s brand name, and are obviously chosen well. One of the more successful items is Charles Shaw wine, known as “Two Buck Chuck” here in California as it sold for many years at a price of $1.99.

33. Sash often tied with a butterfly knot OBI
The sash worn as part of traditional Japanese dress is known as an obi. The obi can be tied in what is called a butterfly knot.

36. Algerian seaport ORAN
Oran lies on the Algerian coast, and is famous for being the port where the French Navy was largely destroyed by the British during WWII in order to avoid the French vessels falling into the hands of Nazi Germany after France surrendered. This decisive and unexpected unilateral action by the British sent a very strong message around the world that Britain was willing to fight alone against the axis powers if necessary.

38. Zone for DDE ETO
General Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was in command of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during WWII.

43. Acrobats’ garments UNITARDS
A unitard is like a leotard, except that it has long legs and sometime long sleeves. It wouldn’t be a good look for me …

57. Sleepyhead in an Everly Brothers hit SUSIE
“Wake Up, Little Susie” is a song most famously associated with the Everly Brothers, as it was a hit for the duo in 1957. “Wake Up, Little Susie” is, or at least used to be, the favorite song of President George W. Bush.

The Everly Brothers are noted for their steel guitar sound, and their great use of harmony. Their harmony onstage wasn’t reflected off the stage though. In 1973 the brothers decided to pursue separate careers and scheduled a farewell performance attended by many fans, family and stalwarts from the music industry. Don Everly came on stage too drunk to perform, and eventually brother Phil just stormed off into the wings, smashing his guitar as he left. The boys didn’t talk to each other for ten years after that incident. Phil Everly passed away in January 2014.

61. “Juno” actor Michael CERA
Michael Cera is a Canadian actor, a very talented young man who is riding high right now. Cera played great characters on the TV show “Arrested Development”, and the 2007 comedy-drama film “Juno”.

“Juno” is a great comedy-drama released in 2007 that tells the story of a spunky teenager who is faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The relatively low-budget movie earned back its initial budget in the first day of its full release to the public. Low-budget blockbuster; my kind of movie …

64. Skirt in a Degas painting TUTU
The word “tutu”, used for a ballet dancer’s skirt, is actually a somewhat “naughty” term. It came into English from French in the early 20th century. The French “tutu” is an alteration of the word “cucu”, a childish word for “cul” meaning the “bottom,” or “backside”.

Edgar Degas was a French artist, famous for his paintings and sculptures. Some of Degas’ most beautiful works feature female ballet dancers, and others depict women bathing.

66. SEC school LSU
LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an athletic conference comprised mainly of schools in the southeastern US. The SEC was founded back in 1932 with a roster of thirteen schools, ten of which are still members of the conference.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Short cuts BOBS
5. Soup usually drunk directly from the bowl MISO
9. Key designation MAJOR
14. Common mirror shape OVAL
15. Load to bear ONUS
16. Grown ADULT
17. Ward with awards SELA
18. They’re hopeless LOST CAUSES
20. Protection from a bowler CRICKET HELMET
22. Floors in the ring KOS
23. Tax-deferred plan, for short IRA
24. Place of luxury? LAP
27. Chanced upon MET
30. Mike and __: candy IKE
32. Calder creation MOBILE
35. French bread EURO
37. Notion IDEA
40. Mooring area BASIN
41. Mozart and Brahms each wrote a notable one CLARINET QUINTET
44. Closing passages CODAS
45. Ball or strike, e.g. NOUN
46. Dancer Kelly GENE
47. Contract negotiators AGENTS
49. Get ready to fire AIM
51. ISP choice DSL
52. Isr. neighbor SYR
53. She played Fantine in “Les Misérables” (1998) UMA
56. Sports bar array TVS
58. “Deny thy father and refuse thy name” speaker JULIET CAPULET
65. Honolulu Harbor beacon ALOHA TOWER
67. 12-time NFL Pro Bowler Junior SEAU
68. False front? PSEUD-
69. Hospital wing WARD
70. Scientific acad. INST
71. Aggressive PUSHY
72. Mmes., in Cuba SRAS
73. Classical rebuke, and a homophonic hint to 20-, 41- and 58-Across ET TU

Down
1. Pear variety BOSC
2. CBer’s “Back to you” OVER
3. Island near Java BALI
4. Not taut SLACK
5. Fabric used in adhesive pads MOLESKIN
6. How ties may be broken, briefly IN OT
7. __ bar SUSHI
8. Cuisinart rival OSTER
9. Polite address MA’AM
10. Together, in music A DUE
11. New, in real estate ads JUST LISTED
12. World Cup shout OLE!
13. They may be constitutional: Abbr. RTS
19. Symbol of happiness CLAM
21. Ornamental fish KOI
25. “Men in Black” targets ALIENS
26. Click-N-Go pen maker PENTEL
27. Tourist draws MECCAS
28. Memorial tribute EULOGY
29. Food chain whose employees wear Hawaiian shirts TRADER JOE’S
31. Perfect place EDEN
33. Sash often tied with a butterfly knot OBI
34. [Just like that!] BANG!
36. Algerian seaport ORAN
38. Zone for DDE ETO
39. Blue shade AQUA
42. Follower’s suffix -IST
43. Acrobats’ garments UNITARDS
48. Business outfit SUIT
50. A.L. or N.L. honoree MVP
54. Catty remarks MEOWS
55. Battling it out AT WAR
57. Sleepyhead in an Everly Brothers hit SUSIE
59. “Not a chance!” UH-UH!
60. Lord’s partner LADY
61. “Juno” actor Michael CERA
62. Advanced LENT
63. Sunup point EAST
64. Skirt in a Degas painting TUTU
65. iPad download APP
66. SEC school LSU

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