Day: August 26, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Ancient calculators 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.

10. Makes a quick getaway LAMS
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”.

14. Low-ranking noble BARON
In Britain, There are five ranks of peer, namely duke, marquess, earl, viscount and baron, in descending order.

16. Sheltered, at sea ALEE
“Alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing “aweather”.

17. Church area for enthusiastic responses AMEN CORNER
“Amen corner” is the name given to that location in a church where the congregation is particularly vocal in responding to the preacher. It’s a term that arose in Southern Baptist churches.

19. Bolivia neighbor PERU
Peru’s name comes from the word “Biru”. Back in the early 1500s, Biru was a ruler living near the Bay of San Miguel in Panama. The territory over which Biru ruled was the furthest land south in the Americas known to Europeans at that time. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro was the first European to move south of Biru’s empire and the land that he found was designated “Peru”, a derivative of “Biru”.

Bolivia is a landlocked country in South America, bordered by Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Peru and Argentina. The land now occupied by Bolivia was originally part of the Inca Empire. The country declared independence from Spain in 1809, which led to 16 years of war. When the Republic was finally named, “Bolivia” was chosen in honor of the Venezuelan-born revolutionary leader, Simón Bolívar.

20. Open just a crack AJAR
Our word “ajar” is thought to come from Scottish dialect, in which “a char” means “slightly open”.

26. English sculptor Henry MOORE
Henry Moore was an sculptor and artist from Yorkshire in the north of England. Unlike so many artist, Moore achieve fame and wealth in his own lifetime, although he chose to live an extremely modest lifestyle. He gifted most of his fortune as an endowment for the Henry Moore Foundation, which is very active and visible in supporting the arts in the UK.

27. Clairvoyant’s claim ESP
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

31. Pie à la __ MODE
In French, “à la mode” simply means “fashionable”. In America, the term has come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall from when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.

32. SeaWorld tanks AQUARIA
SeaWorld was started in San Diego in 1964. The original plan was build an underwater restaurant with a marine life show. Eventually the founders dropped the idea of the eating establishment and just went with a theme park. SeaWorld has been mired in controversy since the 2013 release of the documentary “Blackfish”, which tells of the involvement of a particular killer whale in the death of two SeaWorld employees and one SeaWorld visitor.

35. Summer coolers, briefly, and a hint to this puzzle’s six longest answers AC UNITS
Room coolers are air-conditioning units (ACs).

40. Dagger in “Macbeth,” e.g. PROP
We use the term “props” for objects that are used by actors on stage during a play. The term is a shortening of the older term “properties”, which was used with the same meaning up through the 19th century.

In William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”, one of the more famous soliloquies starts with, “Is this a dagger which I see before me …?” There isn’t an actual dagger in front of Macbeth, but instead he sees the vision of a dagger pointing at King Duncan’s bedchamber, perhaps suggesting that he should go ahead with his plan to murder the King.

44. St. Petersburg neighbor TAMPA
The Florida city of Tampa has been known as the Big Guava since the seventies. The term is imitative of New York’s “Big Apple”, and refers to the unsuccessful search for the reported wild guava trees that were once hoped to be the basis of a new industry for the area.

St. Petersburg, Florida is often referred to as “St. Pete” by locals and visitors alike. The neighboring city of St. Petersburg Beach also had its name shortened routinely to “St. Pete”, so in 1994 the residents voted to change their city’s name officially to St. Pete Beach.

45. Local dialect PATOIS
“Patois” is a word that we imported from French, in which language it also means “native or local speech”.

51. Cartel acronym OPEC
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in 1960 at a conference held in Baghdad, Iraq that was attended by Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nine more countries joined the alliance soon after, and OPEC set up headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and then Vienna, Austria in 1965. The basic aim of OPEC was to wrench control of oil prices from the oil companies and to put it in the hands of the sovereign states that own the natural resource.

A “cartel” is a group of independent businesses who cooperate to regulate production, pricing and marketing of their common product(s).

58. Actor Grant CARY
Cary Grant was an actor from England who made it big, really big in Hollywood. “Cary Grant” is a stage name, chosen by Archibald Leach. There’s a great moment in the film “His Girl Friday” when Grant says the line “I never had so much fun since Archie Leach died”, an inside joke.

59. San Antonio shrine ALAMO
The famous Alamo in San Antonio, Texas was originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero. The mission was founded in 1718 and was the first mission established in the city. The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836, a thirteen-day siege by the Mexican Army led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Only two people defending the Alamo Mission survived the onslaught. One month later, the Texian army got its revenge by attacking and defeating the Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the surprise attack on Santa Anna’s camp, many of the Texian soldiers were heard to cry “Remember the Alamo!”.

San Antonio, Texas was named by a Spanish expedition that stopped in the area in 1691. The name honors the Portuguese saint, Anthony of Padua.

61. Banjo spot KNEE

I come from Alabama with
A banjo on my knee
I’m goin’to Louisiana
My true love for to see
Oh Susanna
Oh don’t you cry for me
I’ve come from Alabama with
My banjo on my knee

“Oh! Susanna” is a song that was published in 1848, written by Stephen Foster. The song is often called “Banjo on My Knee”, an understandable slip given the words of the chorus. “Oh! Susanna” came to be associated with the Forty-Niners, the miners who travelled to California in the 1849 Gold Rush. The lyrics were changed to suit the Gold rush theme with “Alabama” being replaced by “California”, and “banjo” being replaced by “washpan”.

62. Brit’s bye-byes TATAS
An Englishman might say “tata” or “cheerio” instead of “goodbye”. Well, supposedly so!

Down
1. Law gp. ABA
American Bar Association (ABA)

2. Emeril interjection BAM!
Emeril Lagasse is an American chef, born in Massachusetts. Lagasse first achieved notoriety as executive chef in Commander’s Palace in New Orleans. Now famous for his television shows, his cuisine still showcases New Orleans ingredients and influences. Lagasse started using his famous “Bam!” catchphrase in order to keep his crew awake during repeated tapings of his show.

3. One often precedes it AREA CODE
Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then the “clicks” one heard when dialling a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 313.

7. TV warrior princess XENA
The Xena character, famously played by New Zealander Lucy Lawless, was introduced in a made-for-TV movie called “Hercules and the Amazon Women”. Lawless reprised the role in a series called “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Xena became so popular that a series was built around her character, with Lawless retained for the title role.

8. Robert who played a Soprano ILER
The actor Robert Iler’s most famous role was A.J., son of mob leader Tony Soprano in HBO’s “The Sopranos”. Apparently Iler’s screen persona has spilled over into his personal life, as he was arrested for armed robbery of two tourists in 2001 (and pleaded guilty to a lesser charge).
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9. Flourless cake TORTE
A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

10. Argentina’s Río de __: River of Silver LA PLATA
When the Uruguay River and the Paraná River come together on the border between Argentina and Uruguay, they form the Rio de la Plata. “Rio de la Plata” translates as “River of Silver” from Spanish, but in English we sometimes call the waterway the River Plate. The famous WWII action known as the Battle of the River Plate took place out to sea a few miles from the River Plate estuary. The German battleship Admiral Graf Spee took refuge in the River Plate in the neutral port of Montevideo. Forced to return to sea, and to the Royal Naval vessels waiting for her, Berlin gave orders for the Graf Spee to be scuttled in the estuary.

11. Yankees’ div. AL EAST
American League (AL)

The New York Yankees baseball team has the nickname “the Bronx Bombers”. The nickname reflects where the team plays (the Bronx) and the team’s reputation for hitting (bombers). The New York Yankees were the first team to retire a uniform number, doing so on July 4, 1939. That day the retired the number 4 in honor of Lou Gehrig.

12. River to Liverpool Bay MERSEY
The River Mersey in the northwest of England runs through the city of Liverpool. The river gave its name to the musical genre of “Merseybeat” which was exemplified by the Beatles, the most famous of the bands from Liverpool. The best known song to feature the river is the Gerry and the Pacemakers hit “Ferry Cross the Mersey”.

13. “Hop on Pop” author SEUSS
“Hop on Pop” is a Dr. Seuss book that was first published in 1963, subtitled “The Simplest Seuss for Youngest Use”. “Hop on Pop” was listed by former First Lady Laura Bush as her favorite title, citing the memories evoked of family life with her young daughters.

18. Bauxite, e.g. ORE
Bauxite is an aluminum ore. It takes its name from the absolutely beautiful village of Les Baux in southern France, the home of the geologist who first recognized that the mineral was a useful source of the metal.

22. Award-winning detective fiction writer Robert CRAIS
Robert Crais is an author of detective fictions, and a former television scriptwriter. Crais wrote scripts for a lot of detective shows including “Hill Street Blues”, “Cagney & Lacey”, “Quincy”, “L.A. Law” and “Miami Vice”.

28. Branch of Islam SUNNI
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family.

29. Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel PAIGE
Satchel Paige pitched baseball in the Negro leagues and then the majors, retiring in 1966. When he moved to the Major League, he was 42 as he pitched his first game, making him the oldest ever “rookie” to play Major League Baseball. And when he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, he was the first person to be so honored from the Negro leagues.

32. Unlike this ans. ACR
This is an across (acr.) answer (ans.) and clue.

39. Vespa, for one SCOOTER
Vespa is a brand of motor scooter originally made in Italy (and now all over the world) by Piaggio. “Vespa” is Italian for “wasp”.

40. 61-Across bone PATELLA
The patella is the kneecap. “Patella” is the Latin term for the bone, and is a diminutive form of “patina”, the word for “pan”. The idea is that the kneecap is pan-shaped.

41. Talking parrot in a 1998 film PAULIE
“Paulie” is a film released in 1998 about the adventures of a talking parrot named Paulie. One of the claims to fame of the movie is that Buddy Hackett makes an appearance, his last film role.

44. ’60s cartoon feline TOP CAT
“Top Cat” is one of the first cartoon shows that I remember watching regularly. It was a Hanna-Barbera production that had an original run from 1961 to 1962, in which 30 episodes were made. Top Cat is the leader of a gang of alley cats in Manhattan, New York. The gang frequently came up against NYPD police office Charlie Dibble, my favorite character in the show.

47. Name, in Paris NOM
“Nom” is French for “name”.

49. Mongolia’s __ Bator ULAN
The name “Ulan Bator” translates from Mongolian as “the Red Hero”, and is Mongolia’s capital city. The “Red Hero” name was chosen in honor of the country’s national hero, Damdin Sükhbaatar. Sükhbaatar fought alongside the Soviet Red Army in the fight for liberation from Chinese occupation.

50. Like Hubbard’s cupboard BARE
The English nursery rhyme “Old Mother Hubbard” was first printed in 1805:

Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard,
To give the poor dog a bone;
When she came there,
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.

54. Kind of whiskey or bread RYE
For whiskey to be labelled as “rye” in the US, it has to be distilled from at least 51% rye grain. In Canada however, a drink called rye whiskey sometimes contains no rye at all.

55. Nashville awards org. CMA
Country Music Association (CMA)

56. Fight enders, briefly KOS
Knockout (KO)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Ancient calculators ABACI
6. Off-ramp EXIT
10. Makes a quick getaway LAMS
14. Low-ranking noble BARON
15. Move to another town, for short RELO
16. Sheltered, at sea ALEE
17. Church area for enthusiastic responses AMEN CORNER
19. Bolivia neighbor PERU
20. Open just a crack AJAR
21. Painting course ART CLASS
23. Point a finger at ACCUSE
25. Clears a whiteboard ERASES
26. English sculptor Henry MOORE
27. Clairvoyant’s claim ESP
30. 1-Down member: Abbr. ATTY
31. Pie à la __ MODE
32. SeaWorld tanks AQUARIA
34. Bullring bravo OLE
35. Summer coolers, briefly, and a hint to this puzzle’s six longest answers AC UNITS
36. TV spots ADS
39. Odd STRANGE
40. Dagger in “Macbeth,” e.g. PROP
41. Negotiator’s goal PACT
43. Whopper LIE
44. St. Petersburg neighbor TAMPA
45. Local dialect PATOIS
47. “Let’s wait” NOT YET
48. Road service provider AUTO CLUB
51. Cartel acronym OPEC
52. Excess GLUT
53. Morning warning provider ALARM CLOCK
57. German “a” EINE
58. Actor Grant CARY
59. San Antonio shrine ALAMO
60. Clairvoyant SEER
61. Banjo spot KNEE
62. Brit’s bye-byes TATAS

Down
1. Law gp. ABA
2. Emeril interjection BAM!
3. One often precedes it AREA CODE
4. Pull out of thin air, seemingly, with “up” CONJURE
5. Words before “of emergency” IN CASE
6. Goof ERR
7. TV warrior princess XENA
8. Robert who played a Soprano ILER
9. Flourless cake TORTE
10. Argentina’s Río de __: River of Silver LA PLATA
11. Yankees’ div. AL EAST
12. River to Liverpool Bay MERSEY
13. “Hop on Pop” author SEUSS
18. Bauxite, e.g. ORE
22. Award-winning detective fiction writer Robert CRAIS
23. Bullets and such AMMO
24. Poised under pressure COOL
27. Up (to), as a task EQUAL
28. Branch of Islam SUNNI
29. Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel PAIGE
32. Unlike this ans. ACR
33. Hwy. RTE
35. Room accessed via ladder, maybe ATTIC
36. Military uniform jacket ARMY COAT
37. Knucklehead DOPE
38. Squabble SPAT
39. Vespa, for one SCOOTER
40. 61-Across bone PATELLA
41. Talking parrot in a 1998 film PAULIE
42. Bring into harmony ATTUNE
44. ’60s cartoon feline TOP CAT
45. Book parts PAGES
46. Hanging loosely SLACK
47. Name, in Paris NOM
49. Mongolia’s __ Bator ULAN
50. Like Hubbard’s cupboard BARE
54. Kind of whiskey or bread RYE
55. Nashville awards org. CMA
56. Fight enders, briefly KOS

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