Day: August 11, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Jiggly see-through dish ASPIC
Aspic is a dish in which the main ingredients are served in a gelatin made from meat stock. “Aspic” is a French word for “jelly”.

15. 1970 Kinks hit LOLA
“Lola” is a fabulous song, written by Ray Davies and released by the Kinks back in 1970. Inspired by a real life incident, the lyrics tell of young man who met a young “lady” in a club, danced with her, and then discovered “she” was actually a transvestite. The storyline isn’t very traditional, but the music is superb.

16. Matty or Felipe of baseball ALOU
Felipe Alou is a former professional baseball player and manager. Alou managed the Montreal Expos from 1992 to 2001, and the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. Alou was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and came to the US to play for the Giants in 1955. Felipe’s brothers Matty and Jesús followed him to the US, and into Major League baseball.

22. Part of CBS: Abbr. SYS
CBS used to be called the Columbia Broadcasting System. CBS is the second largest broadcaster in the world, second only to the BBC in the UK.

25. “__ voyage!” BON
“Bon voyage” translates literally from French into English as “good journey”.

26. Solo who loved Leia HAN
Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

Princess Leia is Luke Skywalker’s sister in the original “Star Wars” trilogy and was played by Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous “cinnamon bun hairstyle” that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to to sit for two hours every day just to get her hair styled. Two hours to get your hair done? It takes me just two seconds …

34. Delta rival, as it was formerly known USAIR
From 1953, what today is US Airways was called Allegheny Airlines. In the seventies, customers became very dissatisfied with the company’s service levels as it struggled to manage a rapid expansion in its number of flights. These problems earned the airline the nickname “Agony Air”. Allegheny tried to leave the “agony” behind in 1979 and changed its name to USAir. In 1997 the name was changed again, to US Airways. US Airways merged with American Airlines in 2013, and the “US Airways” brand name will gradually be replaced with “American Airlines”.

Delta was the world’s largest airline for a while (after merging with Northwest Airlines in 2008) and is also the oldest airline still operating in the US. Delta’s roots go back to 1924 before it started carrying passengers and was called Huff Daland Dusters, a crop dusting company based in Macon, Georgia. The name Delta Air Service was introduced in 1928.

35. TiVo predecessors VCRS
TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

36. Actor Stephen REA
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

41. Gun for a gangster GAT
“Gat” is a slang term for a gun that is derived from the Gatling gun, the precursor to the modern machine gun. The Gatling gun was invented by Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861. Apparently he was inspired to invent it so that one man could do as much damage as a hundred, thereby reducing the size of armies and diminishing the suffering caused by war. Go figure …

43. Language of India HINDI
Officially, the Union Government of the Republic of India has two official languages: Hindi and English.

44. 1980 Rolling Stones hit EMOTIONAL RESCUE
“Emotional Rescue” is the title track on a 1980 album recorded by the Rolling Stones.

49. Author Fleming IAN
Ian Fleming is most famous for writing the “James Bond” series of spy novels. You might also know that he wrote the children’s story “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”, which was made into a cute movie released in 1968 and even a stage musical that opened in 2002.

50. Mini-albums, for short EPS
An extended play record (EP) contains more music than a single, but less than an long play record (LP).

51. Bob Marley’s music REGGAE
Reggae is a genre of music that developed in the late sixties, evolving out of the genres of ska and rocksteady.

Bob Marley is the most widely known reggae performer, with big hits such as “I Shot the Sheriff”, “Woman, No Cry” and “One Love”. A little sadly perhaps, Marley’s best selling album was released three years after he died. That album would be the “legendary” album called “Legend”.

56. Priest or lama, e.g. SPIRITUAL LEADER
“Lama” is a Tibetan word, meaning “chief” or “high priest”.

61. Start of Caesar’s boast VENI
The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BC and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

62. Jason’s ship ARGO
Jason is a hero from Greek mythology, most noted for leading the quest for the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. For his quest, Jason assembles a group of heroes who were given the name Argonauts, as they journeyed on the ship called the “Argo”. The vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of the ship’s builder, a man named Argus.

63. Religious belief CREED
A creed is a confession of faith, or a system of belief or principles. The word “creed” comes from the Latin “credo” meaning “I believe”.

64. Black-eyed veggies PEAS
Black-eyed peas (also called “black-eyed beans”) are a type of cowpea. Black-eyed peas are especially popular in soul food and other southern cuisine.

66. “The Metamorphosis” writer Franz KAFKA
Franz Kafka was born in 1883 in Prague, then part of Bohemia and today the capital of the Czech Republic. Kafka is known as one of the greatest novelists who worked in the German language, and even has an adjective named after him. Something that is “kafkaesque” is senseless, disorienting and may have menacing complexity. As it was for many great artists, Kafka’s fame came after his death when much of his work was published.

“The Metamorphosis” is the famous novella by Franz Kafka, regarded by many as one of the greatest pieces of short fiction written in the 20th century. The story tells of the metamorphosis of Gregor Samsa into a gigantic insect. His sister, Grete Samsa, becomes his caregiver.

Down
1. Egyptian slitherer ASP
The asp is a venomous snake found in the Nile region of Africa. It is so venomous that the asp was used in ancient Egypt and Greece as a means of execution. Cleopatra observed such executions noting that the venom brought on sleepiness without any painful spasms. When the great queen opted to commit suicide, the asp was therefore her chosen method.

3. Foot the bill PAY
The term to “foot the bill” arose during the 1800s. The idea is that one can total the expenses of say a meal, and this total at the “foot” of the bill is picked up by someone at the table.

4. “Casablanca” heroine ILSA
Ilsa Lund was played by Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “she paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …

The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (who played “Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943, so the 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.

5. Energy-boosting organic snack brand CLIF BAR
A CLIF Bar is an energy bar, the flagship product of Clif Bar and Company based in Emeryville, California. The CLIF Bar was developed by baker and former mountain guide Gary Erickson in 1990. He named it for his father Clifford.

8. Furry TV E.T. ALF
“ALF” is a sitcom that aired in the late eighties. ALF is a hand-puppet, supposedly an alien from the planet Melmac that crash-landed in a suburban neighborhood. “ALF” stands for “alien life form”.

12. __ Hashanah ROSH
Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

28. “__ the season to be jolly …” ‘TIS
The music for the Christmas song “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “tra-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in 19th century. “‘Tis the season to be jolly …”

29. Musical set in Argentina EVITA
“Evita” was the follow up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Both of these works were originally released as album musicals, and very successful ones at that (I remember buying them when they first came out). “Evita” was made into a film in 1996, with Madonna playing the title role and Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce playing her husband Juan Perón.

33. New Haven Ivy Leaguers YALIES
Yale is the private Ivy League school located in New Haven, Connecticut. Yale was founded in 1701, making it the third-oldest, higher education establishment in the country (after Harvard, and William and Mary).

42. Mount for Moses SINAI
According to the Bible, Mount Sinai is the mountain on which Moses was given the Ten Commandments. The Biblical Mount Sinai is probably not the mountain in Egypt that today has the same name, although this is the subject of much debate. The Egyptian Mount Sinai has two developed routes that one can take to reach the summit. The longer gentler climb takes about 2 1/2 hours, but there is also the steeper climb up the 3,750 “steps of penitence”.

45. Baghdad’s river TIGRIS
The Tigris is one of the two rivers that form the main boundaries of Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates.

According to the University of Baghdad, the name “Baghdad” dates way back, to the 18th-century BC (yes, BC!). The name can be translated into English from the language of ancient Babylon as “old garden” (bagh) and “beloved” (dad).

47. __ Julia of “The Addams Family” RAUL
Raúl Juliá was a Hollywood actor from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He had a very distinguished career, but is perhaps best known for portraying Gomez Addams in the two film adaptations of “The Addams Family”.

51. “Let me know,” on invitations RSVP
RSVP stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “please, answer”.

52. Fencing sword EPEE
The épée that is used in today’s sport fencing is derived from the old French dueling sword. In fact, the the sport of épée fencing is very similar to the dualing of the 19th century. The word “épée” translates from French as “sword”.

53. Actress Gershon GINA
Gina Gershon is an American actress. Gershon has played a lesbian on screen a number of times and has become somewhat of a gay icon.

54. Music from India RAGA
Raga isn’t really a type of music, but has been described as the “tonal framework” in which Indian classical music is composed. Ravi Shankar was perhaps the most famous raga virtuoso (to us Westerners).

55. “Nobody doesn’t like __ Lee” SARA
In 1935, businessman Charles Lubin bought a chain of three bakeries in Chicago called Community Bake Shops, and soon expanded the operation into seven stores. Lubin introduced a cream cheesecake that he named after his daughter who was only 8-years-old at the time, Sara Lee Lubin. The cheesecake was a hit and he renamed the bakeries to Kitchen of Sara Lee. The business was bought out by Consolidated foods in 1956, but the brand name Sara Lee persists to this day, as does Ms. Sara Lee herself who now goes by the name Sara Lee Schupf.

60. No. formerly on vitamin labels RDA
Recommended Daily Allowances (RDAs) were introduced during WWII and are a set of recommendations for the standard daily allowances of specific nutrients. RDAs were effectively absorbed into a broader set of dietary guidelines in 1997 called Recommended Daily Intakes (RDIs). RDIs are used to determine the Daily Values (DV) of foods that are printed on nutrition fact labels on most food that we purchase.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Jiggly see-through dish ASPIC
6. Character deficiency FLAW
10. Cutting remark BARB
14. Formal “will” SHALL
15. 1970 Kinks hit LOLA
16. Matty or Felipe of baseball ALOU
17. What regular exercise helps maintain PHYSICAL FITNESS
20. Run __ of the law AFOUL
21. Like very cheap merchandise TRASHY
22. Part of CBS: Abbr. SYS
25. “__ voyage!” BON
26. Solo who loved Leia HAN
27. Mindreader’s claim MENTAL TELEPATHY
34. Delta rival, as it was formerly known USAIR
35. TiVo predecessors VCRS
36. Actor Stephen REA
37. Cocktail hour bowlfuls DIPS
38. __ and joy PRIDE
40. Corridor HALL
41. Gun for a gangster GAT
42. Completely closed SHUT
43. Language of India HINDI
44. 1980 Rolling Stones hit EMOTIONAL RESCUE
48. Quaint lodging INN
49. Author Fleming IAN
50. Mini-albums, for short EPS
51. Bob Marley’s music REGGAE
54. Signs on for another stint RE-UPS
56. Priest or lama, e.g. SPIRITUAL LEADER
61. Start of Caesar’s boast VENI
62. Jason’s ship ARGO
63. Religious belief CREED
64. Black-eyed veggies PEAS
65. Eat, as ribs GNAW
66. “The Metamorphosis” writer Franz KAFKA

Down
1. Egyptian slitherer ASP
2. “Pipe down!” SHH!
3. Foot the bill PAY
4. “Casablanca” heroine ILSA
5. Energy-boosting organic snack brand CLIF BAR
6. Show off shamelessly FLAUNT
7. Lounge about LOLL
8. Furry TV E.T. ALF
9. “Sit tight while I get help” WAIT HERE
10. Fruit often sliced onto cereal BANANA
11. Tavern orders ALES
12. __ Hashanah ROSH
13. Like bees or beavers BUSY
18. Chilly COOL
19. Snares TRAPS
22. Mark from an old eraser SMUDGE
23. “No, you’re not” retort YES I AM!
24. Stand at attention SNAP TO
28. “__ the season to be jolly …” ‘TIS
29. Musical set in Argentina EVITA
30. HDTV feature LCD
31. Hypnotic state TRANCE
32. Delayed HELD UP
33. New Haven Ivy Leaguers YALIES
38. Series of voice mail messages, say PHONE TAG
39. Beat a retreat RUN
40. Old what’s-__-name HIS
42. Mount for Moses SINAI
43. Nag, nag, nag HENPECK
45. Baghdad’s river TIGRIS
46. Hide out LIE LOW
47. __ Julia of “The Addams Family” RAUL
51. “Let me know,” on invitations RSVP
52. Fencing sword EPEE
53. Actress Gershon GINA
54. Music from India RAGA
55. “Nobody doesn’t like __ Lee” SARA
57. Coffee hour server URN
58. Phone letters on the “3” button DEF
59. Cartoon scream EEK!
60. No. formerly on vitamin labels RDA

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