Day: August 13, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. AARP concern AGEISM
AARP is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

7. Other, in Oaxaca OTRA
Oaxaca is a state in the southern part of Mexico on the Pacific coast. The state takes the name of Oaxaca, its largest city.

11. AOL chats IMS
Even though instant messaging (sending IMs) has been around since the 1960s, it was AOL who popularized the term “instant message” in the eighties and nineties.

16. Sylvester, to Tweety TAT
“I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” is a famous line uttered by Tweety Bird, the yellow canary in the “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons who is constantly stalked by various cats.

Sylvester J, Pussycat was also known as Puddy Tat, and was a character who appeared in “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons. Sylvester was the cat who was often trying to get the better of Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales and Hippety Hopper.

17. High-jump style named for 1968 Olympic gold medalist Dick FOSBURY FLOP
American Dick Fosbury introduced the world to a new style of jumping for the high jump event in 1965, and then used it to win the 1968 Summer Olympic gold. Athletes have been using basically the same style ever since then.

19. Andean vegetable OCA
The plant called an oca is also known as the New Zealand Yam. The tubers of the oca are used as a root vegetable.

20. Adams of “American Hustle” AMY
Amy Adams is an American actress. although she was actually born in Vicenza, Italy while her father was a US serviceman stationed on an Italian base. My favorite Amy Adams film so far is the outstanding “Julie & Julia” in which she acted alongside Meryl Streep. I highly recommend this truly delightful movie. Adams was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “American Hustle”. Before that, she was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her appearances in “Junebug”, “Doubt”, “The Fighter” and “The Master”.

“American Hustle” is a 2013 movie with a plotline that is loosely based on the FBI’s famous ABSCAM sting of the late seventies and early eighties. The film stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists who are forced to work with an FBI agent played by Bradley Cooper.

23. Morning-after shot HAIR OF THE DOG
The “hair of the dog” is an alcoholic drink that is taken to lessen the symptoms of an existing hangover. The expression is written more completely as “the hair of the dog that bit you”. It originated with the belief that if a dog bit someone, placing some hairs of the dog into the wound who fend off the potential of rabies. The more contemporary practise is to treat a hangover with a glass of the same alcoholic drink that caused it in the first place.

31. Lobster part CLAW
Lobsters are usually cooked by placing them in boiling water. Some chefs stab the lobster through its “brain” to kill it or render it unconscious. However, the lobster has several nerve ganglia rather than a brain, so just destroying the frontal ganglion in the head doesn’t render the animal insensate. Boiling lobsters while they are alive is actually illegal in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia.

36. Last Martin/Lewis film HOLLYWOOD OR BUST
“Hollywood or Bust” is a 1956 film, the last one made by the team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. When the film was released in December of that year, when Martin and Lewis had already been working apart for five months. In fact, according to Lewis, he and Dean didn’t exchange one word off camera while shooting the film.

Dean Martin was the stage name of singer and actor Dino Crocetti. Martin was famous for his numerous hit songs such as “That’s Amore”, “Volare” and Everybody Loves Somebody”, as well as his film career with Jerry Lewis. Off screen, Martin was a member of the famous “Rat Pack” as he was a great friend of Frank Sinatra. Martin was always associated with Las Vegas and when he passed away in 1995 the lights on the strip were dimmed in his honor.

“Jerry Lewis” is the stage name of comedian and actor Joseph Levitch from Newark, New Jersey.Lewis gained fame when he teamed up with straight man Dean Martin in the 1940s. The duo broke up in 1961, largely because Lewis was always in the limelight and Martin’s role became less important in the eyes of the public. The relationship between the two was strained for many years until there was a reconciliation in the late eighties following the death of Martin’s son.

41. Cold War missile prog. SDI
One of the positive outcomes of President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) was a change in US defense strategy. The new approach was to use missiles to destroy incoming hostile weapons, rather than using missiles to destroy the nation attacking the country. The former doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction went by the apt acronym of MAD …

43. Former VOA overseer USIA
The United States Information Agency (USIA) was established under President Eisenhower in 1953, and continued operating until 1999. It’s mission was “public diplomacy”, another term for propaganda broadcast over radio airwaves. The intent from day one was to avoid having the broadcasts identified as propaganda, and speaking as a former listener to the USIA’s Voice of America (VOA) over in Europe, there were a lot of fun programs that had one coming back to hear more, but we all knew it was propaganda quite frankly …

44. “Bye Bye Bye” boy band ‘N SYNC
‘N Sync was a boy band from Orlando, Florida that was formed in 1995. The name of the group came from a comment by the mother of band member Justin Timberlake, who said the boys voices sounded “in sync”. But, it’s also true that the letters of the name ‘N Sync are the last letters of the given names of the five band members:

– Justin Timberlake
– Chris Kirkpatrick
– Joey Fatone
– Lance “Lansten” Bass
– JC Chasez

49. Subject of 1950s testing HYDROGEN BOMB
The first test of a hydrogen bomb was in 1954 at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. It may have been a technical success but it was an environmental disaster, largely because the actual yield of 15 megatons was unexpected (the military anticipated only 4-6 megatons). The resulting nuclear fallout caused many deaths, and led to birth defects in generations to come.

52. Big-grin borders EARS
Grinning, from ear to ear.

57. “Alice” waitress FLO
Florence Jean “Flo” Castleberry was a waitress in the sitcom “Alice” which aired on CBS in the 70s and 80s. Flo got her own sitcom (called “Flo”) which had a brief run in the early 80s. I saw a few episodes of “Alice”, but that’s about it. Oh, and Flo was played by Polly Holliday.

62. San Antonio NBA star Duncan TIM
Tim Duncan is professional basketball player from La Croix in the US Virgin Islands. Duncan was a natural swimmer with his eyes on the 1992 Olympic Games. He was forced to turn his attention to basketball when Hurricane Hugo destroyed St. Croix’s only Olympic-sized pool in 1989.

63. Skin soother ALOE
Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.

64. Daily special, e.g. ENTREE
“Entrée” of course means “entry” in French. An entrée can be something that helps one get “a way in”, an interview for example perhaps helped along by a recommendation letter. In Europe, even in English-speaking countries, the entrée is the name for the “entry” to the meal, the first course. I found it very confusing to order meals when I first came to America!

Down
1. Former Belgian camera brand AGFA
Agfa was founded in Germany in 1867, a company focused on the manufacture of dyes. The full name of the enterprise was Aktiengesellschaft für Anilinfabrikation, shortened to Agfa, and translating as “Corporation for Aniline (a dye) Production”. Agfa merged with the Belgian company Gevaert in 1894, getting them into the photographic business. Agfa 35mm film hasn’t been produced for a few years now, but there is still inventory out there and purists are buying it when they can.

2. Steal, slangily GLOM
“Glom” is a slang term meaning “steal”, although it can also be used to mean “latch onto” when used as “glom onto”. The term probably comes from the Scots word “glam” meaning “to snatch at”.

5. Dives with a tank SCUBAS
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

8. 1960s chess champ Mikhail TAL
Mikhail Tal was truly a chess legend. Tal holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak in competition chess. And the second longest winning streak, well, that was by Tal as well.

9. Ebro, por ejemplo RIO
In Spanish, the Ebro, for example (por ejemplo) is a river (rio).

The Ebro is the longest river in Spain. The river was known by the Romans as the Iber, and it is the “Iber” river that gives the “Iberian” Peninsula its name.

12. Region on the South China Sea MACAO
Macau (also Macao) was a Portuguese colony, the first European colony in China, which was established in the 16th century. Macau was handed back to the Chinese in 1999, two years after Hong Kong was returned by the British. That made Macau the last European colony in China. Today Macau’s economy is driven by tourism and gambling.

13. Immortal college coach Amos Alonzo __ STAGG
Amos Alonzo Stagg was an athlete and coach whose talents extended across a number of sports. He is was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame.

23. Lupine cry HOWL
The term “lupine” means “wolf-like”, coming from the Latin “lupus” meaning “wolf”.

24. Took it on the lam FLED
To be “on the lam” is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

25. Deere competitor TORO
Toro is a manufacturer of mainly lawn mowers and snow removal equipment based in Bloomington, Minnesota. The company was started in 1914 to build tractor engines.

27. Adolph of publishing OCHS
Adolph Ochs was a former owner of our beloved “The New York Times”. Ochs had purchased a controlling interest in “The Chattanooga Times” when he was only 19 years of age, and took control of “The New York Times” in 1896 when he was only 38 years old. It was Ochs who moved the paper’s headquarters to a new building on Longacre Square in Manhattan, which the City later renamed to the famous “Times Square” after the newspaper.

29. Mom or dad, e.g. PALINDROME
The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:

– Able was I ere I saw Elba
– A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
– Madam, I’m Adam

One of my favorite words is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.

32. Bowl-shaped pan WOK
“Wok” is a Cantonese word, the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

34. Greek consonants PSIS
The Greek letter psi is the one that looks a bit like a trident or a pitchfork.

35. Greek vowels ETAS
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

37. Ma with a cello YO-YO
Yo-Yo Ma is a marvelous American cellist, born in Paris to Chinese parents. Ma started studying the violin when he was very young, working his way up (in size) to the viola and finally to the cello. He has said that he wanted to play the double bass, but it was just too big for his relatively small frame.

46. Fivers ABES
The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.

47. Flourless cakes TORTES
A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

50. Connecticut collegian YALIE
Elihu Yale was a wealthy merchant born in Boston in 1649. Yale worked for the British East India Company, and for many years served as governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai) in India. After India, Yale took over his father’s estate near Wrexham in Wales. It was while resident in Wrexham that Yale responded to a request for financial support for the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701. He sent the school a donation, which was used to erect a new building in New Haven that was named “Yale” in his honor. In 1718, the whole school was renamed to “Yale College”. To this day, students of Yale are nicknamed “Elis”, again honoring Elihu.

60. Horror star Chaney LON
Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

61. Driver’s decision: Abbr. RTE
Route (rte.)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. AARP concern AGEISM
7. Other, in Oaxaca OTRA
11. AOL chats IMS
14. Quick look GLANCE
15. Need to retake in summer school, say FAIL
16. Sylvester, to Tweety TAT
17. High-jump style named for 1968 Olympic gold medalist Dick FOSBURY FLOP
19. Andean vegetable OCA
20. Adams of “American Hustle” AMY
21. Sitter’s handful BRAT
22. Signal to stop, with “down” FLAG
23. Morning-after shot HAIR OF THE DOG
27. Spoke out against OPPOSED
30. Zany LOONY
31. Lobster part CLAW
32. “Wish you __ here!” WERE
33. Expose, in verse OPE
36. Last Martin/Lewis film HOLLYWOOD OR BUST
41. Cold War missile prog. SDI
42. Sound from a pen OINK
43. Former VOA overseer USIA
44. “Bye Bye Bye” boy band ‘N SYNC
46. Stumped AT A LOSS
49. Subject of 1950s testing HYDROGEN BOMB
52. Big-grin borders EARS
53. Flying prefix AERO-
54. Unlike a spring chicken OLD
57. “Alice” waitress FLO
58. Lays it on the line TALKS TURKEY
62. San Antonio NBA star Duncan TIM
63. Skin soother ALOE
64. Daily special, e.g. ENTREE
65. “Comprende?” SEE?
66. Remain up in the air PEND
67. Swordfish servings STEAKS

Down
1. Former Belgian camera brand AGFA
2. Steal, slangily GLOM
3. Simple EASY
4. Having five sharps, musically IN B
5. Dives with a tank SCUBAS
6. Like olde England MERRIE
7. __ a good start OFF TO
8. 1960s chess champ Mikhail TAL
9. Ebro, por ejemplo RIO
10. Swiss skyline sight ALP
11. “Shoulda listened to me!” I TOLD YOU SO!
12. Region on the South China Sea MACAO
13. Immortal college coach Amos Alonzo __ STAGG
18. Farm attachment? -YARD
22. Bog FEN
23. Lupine cry HOWL
24. Took it on the lam FLED
25. Deere competitor TORO
26. Field worker HOER
27. Adolph of publishing OCHS
28. Walk with effort PLOD
29. Mom or dad, e.g. PALINDROME
32. Bowl-shaped pan WOK
34. Greek consonants PSIS
35. Greek vowels ETAS
37. Ma with a cello YO-YO
38. Annex WING
39. “If I told you __ …” ONCE
40. Tulip-to-be BULB
45. Soon-to-be alumni: Abbr. SRS
46. Fivers ABES
47. Flourless cakes TORTES
48. Invoice figure AMOUNT
49. Lifts with effort HEFTS
50. Connecticut collegian YALIE
51. In one’s birthday suit NAKED
54. Pickled or deep-fried veggie OKRA
55. Onion relative LEEK
56. Colorist’s supplies DYES
58. Bug on a wire TAP
59. Microbrew choice ALE
60. Horror star Chaney LON
61. Driver’s decision: Abbr. RTE

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