Day: September 15, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Gauge on a dash TACH
The tachometer takes its name from the Greek word “tachos” meaning “speed”. A tachometer measures engine revolutions per minute (rpm).

9. Lowest opera voice BASSO
The bass is the lowest male singing voice. A man with such a voice might be called a “basso” (plural “bassi”).

15. Sunburn 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.

Speaking as an Irishman (with fair Irish skin), I was interested to read recent comments from acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak. Talking about the rising incidence of skin cancer in the US, Lushniak said, “Tanned skin is damaged skin”.

19. Beauty at the ball BELLE
A “belle” is the girlfriend of a “beau”, with both being terms we’ve imported from French.

20. French friend AMI
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

24. Legendary skater Henie SONJA
Sonja Henie was a World and Olympic Champion figure skater from Norway from the days when “amateur” sports stars were not paid. Henie made up for her lack of income from competing by developing a career in Hollywood. She was one of highest-paid film stars at the height of her movie career.

28. “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” author GERTRUDE STEIN
Gertrude Stein was a great American writer who spent most of her life in France. Gertrude Stein met Alice B. Toklas in Paris in 1907 and the two were life partners until Stein died in 1946. Cleverly, Stein published her own memoirs in 1933 but called the book “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”. It was to become her best selling title.

34. Indian or Chinese, e.g. ASIAN
The world’s population breaks down by continent as follows:

– Asia 60%
– Africa 14%
– Europe 11%
– North America 8%
– South America 6%
– Australia 0.3%%
– Antarctica 0.00001%

36. Harbinger SIGN
A harbinger is a person or a thing that indicates what is to come. The word comes from the Middle English “herbenger”, a person sent ahead to arrange lodgings.

39. Hindu guru SWAMI
A swami is a religious teacher in the Hindu tradition.

51. Thigh bone FEMUR
The thigh bone, the femur, is the longest and the largest bone in the human body.

55. N.C. State’s conference ACC
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)

The sports teams of North Carolina State are known as the Wolfpack, with the female teams called the Lady Wolfpack. The Wolfpack name was adopted in 1922 after it was coined by a fan who was actually disgruntled at the time. He described the fans at a sports event behaving “like a wolf pack”, and the name stuck.

57. Early metalworking period IRON AGE
Ancient societies can be classified by the “three-age system”, which depends on the prevalence of materials used to make tools. The three ages are:

– The Stone Age
– The Bronze Age
– The Iron Age

The actual dates defined by each age depend on the society, as the timing of the transition from the use of one material to another varied around the globe.

61. Hush-hush fed. org. CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is the successor to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) formed during WWII. The CIA was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.

66. Metamorphosis stage LARVA
The larva is an intermediate stage in the development of an insect. All four stages are embryo, larva, pupa and imago.

67. Scat legend Fitzgerald ELLA
Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, had a hard and tough upbringing. She was raised by her mother alone in Yonkers, New York. Her mother died while Ella was still a schoolgirl, and around that time the young girl became less interested in her education. She fell in with a bad crowd, even working as a lookout for a bordello and as a Mafia numbers runner. She ended up in reform school, from which she escaped, and found herself homeless and living on the streets for a while. Somehow Fitzgerald managed to get herself a spot singing in the Apollo Theater in Harlem. From there her career took off and as they say, the rest is history.

Scat singing is a vocal improvisation found in the world of jazz. There aren’t any words as such in scat singing, just random nonsense syllables made up on the spot.

Down
1. Spanish appetizers TAPAS
“Tapa” is the Spanish word for “lid”, and there is no clear rationale for why this word came to be used for an appetizer. There are lots of explanations cited, all of which seem to involve the temporary covering of one’s glass of wine with a plate or item of food to either preserve the wine or give one extra space at the table.

2. Texas mission 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!”.

3. Every cloud’s silver feature? LINING
The idiom “every cloud has a silver lining” suggests that there is something good to be found in in every bad situation. The phrase “silver lining” was coined by English poet John Milton in “Comus”, a piece of dramatic entertainment that was first performed in 1634. The relevant lines are:

Was I deceived, or did a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night?
I did not err; there does a sable cloud
Turn forth her silver lining on the night,
And casts a gleam over this tufted grove.

4. Somme summer ETE
The Somme is a department in the very north of France, in the Picardy region. The Somme is famous as the site of devastating battles during WWI.

5. Soft mineral TALC
Talc is a mineral, actually hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” is also made from cornstarch.

8. Half a guy-gal argument HE SAID …
He said, she said …

11. “For Dummies” bookstore section SELF-HELP
The first title in the “For Dummies” series of self-help book was “DOS for Dummies”, an approachable introduction and guide to the DOS operating system that was published in 1991. Puzzle fans might be interested in a spin-off board game that was produced in the late nineties called “Crosswords for Dummies”.

22. Stockholm’s land: Abbr. SWE
Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and most populous city in the country. Over one fifth of all Swedish residents live in Stockholm.

25. Lady in the 1965 sitcom pilot episode “The Lady in the Bottle” JEANNIE
“The Lady in the Bottle” was the pilot episode of the hit sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie”, and first aired in September of 1965.

Back in 1964, the second most watched show on American television was ABC’s “Bewitched”. Sidney Sheldon was tasked with the job of creating a rival sitcom and he came up with “I Dream of Jeannie”, which first aired in 1965. The censors had a big say in how the story developed. For starters, Jeannie’s skimpy costume was permitted provided Barbara Eden didn’t show off her navel on the screen. Also, Jeannie was only allowed to live with an unmarried man as long as the story made it clear that she slept in a bottle.

29. “__ better to have loved …”: Tennyson ‘TIS
Alfred Tennyson was the Poet Laureate during for much of the reign of Queen Victoria. There are many phrases we use today that were first penned by Tennyson, including:

– ‘Tis better to have loved and lost / Than never to have loved at all
– Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die

31. Eel, at sushi bars UNAGI
Unagi is the Japanese word for freshwater eel, and unadon is the Japanese word for “eel bowl”. Unadon is actually a contraction of “unagi no kabayaki” (grilled eel) and “donburi” (rice bowl dish).

32. Land in la mer ILE
In French, an island (île) is a piece of ground (terre) in the sea (mer).

36. Knight’s title SIR
Kneel, and the Queen might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

38. Wheels on the links GOLF CART
The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

40. Mohawk-sporting actor MR T
Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

Here is another example of a difference in terminology on either side of the Atlantic. What we call the Mohawk hairstyle in the US is known as a “Mohican” in the British Isles. The Mohawk hairstyle is named after the Mohawk nation, who wore their hair in the same fashion. The Mohawk style has been around for a long time elsewhere in the world. There was a well-preserved male body found in a bog near Dublin in Ireland in 2003. The body is about 2,000 years old, and has the Mohawk haircut.

41. Biennial games gp. IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was founded in 1894, and has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The first Winter Olympic Games was held in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The Winter and Summer Games were held in the same year until 1992, after which they were staggered so that we have an Olympic Games every two years.

44. Advanced college course SEMINAR
A “seminar” is a meeting called for the exchange of information, especially in a university. The term comes from the Latin “seminarium” meaning “breeding ground, plant nursery”, which is also the root of our word “seminary”.

50. Legendary football coach Knute ROCKNE
Knute Rockne, America’s most famous football coach many say, was born in the city of Voss in Norway. He came to the United States with his family when he was 5-years-old. Years later he graduated Notre Dame with a degree in Chemistry, but abandoned that career path when he was offered his first real coaching job.

54. Like the idiomatic beaver EAGER
An “eager beaver” is a glutton for work. The phrase is army slang that dates back to WWII. I think the idea is that beavers are considered to be particularly industrious, as evidenced by the building of beaver dams.

55. Civil rights org. ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors.

58. __ contendere: court plea NOLO
“Nolo contendere” is a legal term that translates from Latin as “I do not wish to contend”. It’s the plea of “no contest” and is an alternative to “guilty” or “not guilty”, meaning that one doesn’t admit guilt but nor does one dispute the charge.

65. Director Reiner ROB
The great director and actor Rob Reiner first came to prominence playing “Meathead”, Archie and Edith Bunker’s son-in-law in “All in the Family”. Since then, Reiner has directed a long string of hit movies including, “The Princess Bride”, “Stand by Me”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “Misery” and “A Few Good Men”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Story TALE
5. Gauge on a dash TACH
9. Lowest opera voice BASSO
14. Landed on the runway ALIT
15. Sunburn soother ALOE
16. Starting squad A-TEAM
17. Window material PANE GLASS
19. Beauty at the ball BELLE
20. French friend AMI
21. Rapture ECSTASY
23. Marshland FEN
24. Legendary skater Henie SONJA
26. “If it only could be” I WISH
28. “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas” author GERTRUDE STEIN
34. Indian or Chinese, e.g. ASIAN
35. Nametag greeting HELLO
36. Harbinger SIGN
39. Hindu guru SWAMI
42. Imitated APED
43. Images on a desktop ICONS
45. Bride’s beloved GROOM
47. One coming in from the bullpen RELIEF PITCHER
51. Thigh bone FEMUR
52. Feel around in the dark GROPE
55. N.C. State’s conference ACC
57. Early metalworking period IRON AGE
61. Hush-hush fed. org. CIA
62. Centrally managed store group CHAIN
64. Explosive situation POWDER KEG
66. Metamorphosis stage LARVA
67. Scat legend Fitzgerald ELLA
68. “__ upon a time …” ONCE
69. Speak UTTER
70. Optimistic ROSY
71. Brew found in increasing quantities in the ends of 17-, 28-, 47- and 64-Across BEER

Down
1. Spanish appetizers TAPAS
2. Texas mission ALAMO
3. Every cloud’s silver feature? LINING
4. Somme summer ETE
5. Soft mineral TALC
6. “Ah, me!” ALAS!
7. What you pay COST
8. Half a guy-gal argument HE SAID …
9. Infantile BABYISH
10. Had dinner ATE
11. “For Dummies” bookstore section SELF-HELP
12. Reduced-price event SALE
13. Harbinger OMEN
18. Drive and reverse GEARS
22. Stockholm’s land: Abbr. SWE
25. Lady in the 1965 sitcom pilot episode “The Lady in the Bottle” JEANNIE
27. Pot for clams STEAMER
29. “__ better to have loved …”: Tennyson ‘TIS
30. How half-shell clams are eaten RAW
31. Eel, at sushi bars UNAGI
32. Land in la mer ILE
33. Silent agreement NOD
36. Knight’s title SIR
37. Cubes in a bucket ICE
38. Wheels on the links GOLF CART
40. Mohawk-sporting actor MR T
41. Biennial games gp. IOC
44. Advanced college course SEMINAR
46. “Golly” OH GEE
48. Cat’s coat FUR
49. Like capitalized nouns PROPER
50. Legendary football coach Knute ROCKNE
53. Cake serving PIECE
54. Like the idiomatic beaver EAGER
55. Civil rights org. ACLU
56. Online dialogue CHAT
58. __ contendere: court plea NOLO
59. Leatherworking tools AWLS
60. Down Under greeting G’DAY
63. “__ got it!” I’VE
65. Director Reiner ROB

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