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CROSSWORD SETTER: C.W. Stewart
THEME: Sticky Situation … each of today’s themed answers ends with something that is often STICKY:
17A. Secretary of state before Hillary Clinton CONDOLEEZZA RICE (giving “sticky rice”)
26A. Score symbol that usually has a stem MUSICAL NOTE (giving “sticky note”)
49A. Digit-shaped sponge cakes LADYFINGERS (giving “sticky fingers”)
61A. Spot between a rock and a hard place … or a hint to the ends of 17-, 26- and 49-Across STICKY SITUATION
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 5m 38s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. “__ Mia!”: ABBA musical MAMMA
The hit musical “Mamma Mia!” was written to showcase the songs of ABBA. I’m a big fan of ABBA’s music, so I’ve seen this show a couple of times and just love it. “Mamma Mia!” is such a big hit on the stage that on any given day there are at least seven performances going on somewhere in the world. There is a really interesting film version of the show that was released in 2008. I think the female lead Meryl Streep is wonderful in the movie, but the male leads … not so much! By the way, one can tell the difference between “Mamma Mia” the ABBA song and “Mamma Mia!” the musical, by noting the difference in the punctuation in the titles.
10. Defensive trench MOAT
A “moat” is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say. The moat may or may not be filled with water.
15. Apple MP3 player IPOD
The iPod is Apple’s signature line of portable media players. It first hit the market in 2001, with a hard drive-based device that is now known as the iPod Classic. Later models all use flash memory, allowing a smaller form factor.
17. Secretary of state before Hillary Clinton CONDOLEEZZA RICE (giving “sticky rice”)
Condoleezza “Condi” Rice was the second African American to serve as US Secretary of State (after Colin Powell) and the second woman to hold the office (after Madeleine Albright). Prior to becoming Secretary of State in President George W. Bush’s administration, Rice was the first woman to hold the office of National Security Advisor. In private life, Rice is a remarkably capable pianist. Given her stature in Washington, Rice has had the opportunity to play piano in public with the likes of cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and soul singer Aretha Franklin.
20. Approx. landing hours ETAS
Expected time of arrival (ETA)
21. To be, to Caesar ESSE
The Latin term “in esse” is used to mean “actually existing”, and translates as “in being”.
23. Theater level LOGE
In most theaters today, “loge” is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be the name given to box seating.
26. Score symbol that usually has a stem MUSICAL NOTE (giving “sticky note”)
“Sticky notes” are commonly known by the brand name “Post-it”.
The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was the discovery of a super-strong adhesive.
41. New England fish SCROD
Scrod is the name given to fish that has been “scrawed” i.e. split open, dried and then broiled.
46. Word repeated before “black sheep” BAA
The old English nursery rhyme “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is usually sung as:
Baa, baa, black sheep,
Have you any wool?
Yes, sir, yes, sir,
Three bags full;
One for the master,
And one for the dame,
And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane.
The tune that accompanies the rhyme is a variant of the French melody “Ah! Vous dirai-je, Maman”, which we know best in English as the tune for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
54. Shenanigan ANTIC
I suppose one could be forgiven for thinking that “shenanigan” is an Irish term. Apparently the word is of uncertain derivation, coined in San Francisco and Sacramento, California in the mid-1800s.
55. Cowpoke’s pal PARD
Cowpoke is a term used nowadays for any cowboy, but it was originally limited to the cowboys who prodded cattle onto railroad cars using long poles.
67. Aegean and Irish SEAS
The Aegean Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Turkey. Within the Aegean Sea are found the Aegean Islands, a group that includes Crete and Rhodes.
The Irish Sea is the stretch of water separating the island of Ireland from the island of Great Britain. More than 12 million ferry passengers cross the Irish Sea annually between Ireland and Great Britain. I’ve been one such passenger on more occasions than I can remember …
68. Fr. holy women STES
“Sainte” (ste.) is French for “saint”, when referring to a female.
Down
1. Self-defense spray MACE
Mace is actually a brand name, originally introduced by Lake Erie Chemical when they started to manufacture “Chemical Mace”, with the name being a play on the club-like weapon from days of old. Mace was originally a form of tear gas, but Mace today uses a formula that is actually a pepper spray.
3. “__ Lisa” MONA
“Mona LIsa” is a marvelous 1950 song that topped the charts for Nat King Cole for eight weeks. The song was written for the film “Captain Carey, U.S.A.” that was released that same year, starring Alan Ladd. “Mona Lisa” won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
5. Kerfuffle ADO
“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.
6. Fuel for semis DIESEL
There are two main types of internal combustion engine. Most cars in the US use spark injection engines (gasoline engines) in which a spark plug sparks in order to ignite the fuel-air mixture. A diesel engine, on the other hand, has no spark plug per se, and uses the heat generated by compressing the air-fuel mixture to cause ignition.
7. “Dawn of the Planet of the __” APES
A “semi” is a “semi-trailer truck”. The vehicle is so called because it consists of a tractor and a half-trailer. The half-trailer is so called because it only has wheels on the back end, with the front supported by the tractor.
9. Wood-shaping tool ADZ
An adze (also adz) is similar to an axe, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An axe’s blade is set in line with the shaft.
10. Travis or Haggard of country music MERLE
Merle Travis was a country singer from Rosewood, Kentucky. One of Travis’s most famous songs is “Sixteen Tons”.
Merle Haggard is a country singer and songwriter whose most famous recording has to be “Okie from Muskogee” released in 1969. Haggard will tell you that the song was actually meant as a spoof, but it has become a country “anthem”.
12. Pinball player’s place ARCADE
Our word “arcade” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “arc”. The first arcades were passages made from a series of arches. This could be an avenue of trees, and eventually any covered avenue. I remember arcades lined with shops and stores when I was growing up on the other side of the Atlantic. Arcades came to be lined with lots of amusements, resulting in amusement arcades and video game arcades.
Our modern game of pinball evolved from an earlier table game called bagatelle which used balls, pins and holes (and I remember playing bagatelle as boy in a pub in Ireland). The first “pinball” machine was made by a British inventor who settled in Cincinnati, Ohio. He modified the game of bagatelle, adding a coiled spring and a plunger to introduce balls at the end of the table, a device that is still in use today. From there manufacturers developed coin-operated versions of pinball, which became popular during the depression as they provided a little entertainment for a few pennies. One distributor of the coin-operated pinball machines started manufacturing them himself as he couldn’t source new games fast enough. He called his pinball game Ballyhoo, and eventually named his company Bally, a brand name well known in the gambling industry to this day.
13. Dangerous fly TSETSE
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.
24. South American tuber 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.
26. Management deg. MBA
The world’s first Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree was offered by Harvard’s Graduate School of Business Administration, in 1908.
30. Gold, in Granada ORO
Granada is a city and province in Andalusia in the south of Spain. Granada should not to be confused with Grenada (note the different spelling), the island nation in the Caribbean that was invaded by the US in 1983.
38. Encouragement for a flamenco dancer OLE!
Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
40. ’60s radical gp. SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.
42. Mouse sound CLICK
The first computer mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, by one Douglas Engelbart. Sadly for him, his patent ran out before mice became standard equipment on computers, so he never made any money from his amazing invention.
44. Bhagavad-Gita student, likely HINDU
The Bhagavad Gita is a Hindu scripture, the title of which translates as “The Song of the Bhagavan”.
47. Em, to Dorothy AUNTIE
In “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, Dorothy lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.
48. Leader of the Huns ATTILA
In his day, Attila the Hun was the most feared enemy of the Roman Empire, until he died in 453 AD. Attila was the leader of the Hunnic Empire of central Europe and was famous for invading much of the continent. However, he never directly attacked Rome.
50. Strong points FORTES
A person’s “forte” is a person’s strength, coming into English via French from the Latin “fortis” meaning strong.
55. Exam for high school jrs. PSAT
Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT)
62. QB’s gains YDS
The success of a quarterback (QB) is measured in yards (yds.) gained.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “__ Mia!”: ABBA musical MAMMA
6. Bit of baby talk DADA
10. Defensive trench MOAT
14. So all can hear ALOUD
15. Apple MP3 player IPOD
16. Makes mistakes ERRS
17. Secretary of state before Hillary Clinton CONDOLEEZZA RICE (giving “sticky rice”)
20. Approx. landing hours ETAS
21. To be, to Caesar ESSE
22. Golf shoe feature CLEAT
23. Theater level LOGE
25. Changes for the better AMENDS
26. Score symbol that usually has a stem MUSICAL NOTE (giving “Sticky Note”)
31. Shirt with a band’s logo, maybe TEE
32. __ shower: pre-wedding event BRIDAL
33. Correct a pencil mistake ERASE
35. Throw in the first chips ANTE
36. Dude BRO
37. Swabbing tools MOPS
41. New England fish SCROD
44. Flagged down HAILED
46. Word repeated before “black sheep” BAA
49. Digit-shaped sponge cakes LADYFINGERS (giving “sticky fingers”)
51. Performed better than OUTDID
53. __ close to schedule ON OR
54. Shenanigan ANTIC
55. Cowpoke’s pal PARD
57. Target practice supply AMMO
61. Spot between a rock and a hard place … or a hint to the ends of 17-, 26- and 49-Across STICKY SITUATION
64. Backsplash material TILE
65. Truth or __?: party game DARE
66. Tied up in knots TENSE
67. Aegean and Irish SEAS
68. Fr. holy women STES
69. Polishes text EDITS
Down
1. Self-defense spray MACE
2. More often than not A LOT
3. “__ Lisa” MONA
4. Saturated hillside hazards MUDSLIDES
5. Kerfuffle ADO
6. Fuel for semis DIESEL
7. “Dawn of the Planet of the __” APES
8. Sleep lightly DOZE
9. Wood-shaping tool ADZ
10. Travis or Haggard of country music MERLE
11. Point in the proper direction ORIENT
12. Pinball player’s place ARCADE
13. Dangerous fly TSETSE
18. Not prohibited LEGAL
19. High points ACMES
24. South American tuber OCA
25. “One thing __ time” AT A
26. Management deg. MBA
27. Coffee vessel URN
28. Obedience school command SIT
29. Far from cool NERDY
30. Gold, in Granada ORO
34. Moved to a new country EMIGRATED
36. Hunk’s physique BOD
38. Encouragement for a flamenco dancer OLE!
39. Part of mph PER
40. ’60s radical gp. SDS
42. Mouse sound CLICK
43. “Far out, man!” RAD!
44. Bhagavad-Gita student, likely HINDU
45. “I’ll take that as __” A NO
46. Blows one’s own horn BOASTS
47. Em, to Dorothy AUNTIE
48. Leader of the Huns ATTILA
50. Strong points FORTES
52. Cuts into cubes DICES
55. Exam for high school jrs. PSAT
56. Suffix with million -AIRE
58. Knee-showing skirt MINI
59. Lion’s share MOST
60. Vending machine bills ONES
62. QB’s gains YDS
63. Had a bite ATE