Day: February 11, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
14. Radio host Glass IRA
“This American Life” is a radio show that is broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR). Host of the show is the much-respected Ira Glass. I was interested to learn that one of my favorite composers, Philip Glass, is Ira’s first cousin.

16. Adidas rival AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

The brand name Adidas dates back to when Adolf “Adi” Dassler started making his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room in Bavaria after returning from WWI. With his brother, Adi founded Dassler shoes. The companies big break came in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, when Adi persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his shoes, and with the success of Jesse Owens came success for the fledgling shoe company. After WWII the brothers split, acrimoniously. Adi’s brother, Ru-dolf Da-ssler, formed “Ruda” shoes (later to become Puma), and Adi Das-sler formed “Adidas”.

17. *Motown Records founder BERRY GORDY
Tamla Records was started in 1959 by Berry Gordy, Jr. Gordy started a second record label the following year, called Motown …

19. Baptismal basin FONT
Baptism is a rite in Christian traditions admitting a candidate, often an infant, into the Church. The ceremony usually uses water as a sign of purification. Water may be poured on the head, or the candidate may be totally immersed in water.

20. Spanish royalty REYES
In Spanish, kings (reyes) rule.

21. Oceanic reflux EBB TIDE
Tides are caused by the gravitational pull of the moon on the oceans. At neap tide, the smaller gravitational effect of the sun cancels out some of the moon’s effect. At spring tide, the sun and the moon’s gravitational forces act in concert causing more extreme movement of the oceans.

A reflux is a “flowing back”, an ebb.

23. Jessica of “Dark Angel” ALBA
Actress Jessica Alba got her big break when she was cast in the Fox science fiction show “Dark Angel”. Alba had a tough life growing up as she spent a lot of time in hospital and so found it difficult to develop friendships. As a youngster she twice had a collapsed lung, frequently caught pneumonia, suffered from asthma, had a ruptured appendix and a tonsillar cyst. On top of all that she acknowledges that she suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder as a child. It seems that she has really turned her life around …

24. *Cubs broadcaster known for singing along with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch HARRY CARAY
The announcer Harry Caray was famous for exclaiming “Holy cow!” during baseball games, and used the same phrase for the title of his autobiography.

“Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is a 1908 song that is traditionally sung during the seventh inning stretch of a baseball game. Even though the song has is now inextricably linked to baseball, neither of the two composers had ever been to a game before they wrote it.

27. Mental grasp UPTAKE
“Uptake” means “understanding, apprehension”, as in the phrase “quick on the uptake”.

29. McCain or McCaskill: Abbr. SEN
John McCain went into the US Naval Academy in 1958, following a family tradition as his father and grandfather were both four-star admirals. The younger McCain did not achieve the same rank, retiring from the Navy as a captain in 1981, but his career development was interrupted by almost six years spent as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam. John McCain has been a US Senator from Arizona since 1987.

Claire McCaskill has been a US Senator for Missouri since 2007. McCaskill is a member of the Democratic Party, but has a reputation for holding more moderate positions. “The Washington Post” listed Senator McCaskill as the second-most-likely Democratic Senator to vote against her own party.

38. Shad eggs ROE
The shad is also known as the river herring. The eggs (roe) of the female shad are prized as a delicacy in the Eastern US.

39. Biblical trio … and a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues WISE MEN (sounds like “Ys men”)
“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, magi is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born.

42. Have a mortgage, e.g. OWE
Our word “mortgage” comes from the Old French “mort gaige” which translated as “dead pledge”. The idea was that a pledge to repay a loan dies when the debt is cleared.

43. Send to the canvas KAYO
A “kayo” is a knock-out (KO).

45. Graceful swimmers SWANS
An adult male swan is called a “cob”, and an adult female is a “pen”. Young swans are called “swanlings” or “cygnets”.

46. Pull down NET
The phrase “to pull down” means “to earn”.

The verb “to net” means to “to earn after taxes”.

47. Dorm monitors, briefly RAS
RAs are resident assistants or resident advisers, the peer leaders found in residence halls, particularly on a college campus.

50. Windpipe, e.g. AIRWAY
The windpipe, or trachea, connects the lungs to the pharynx, the cavity of the mouth. The trachea is lined with special cells that secrete mucus which is then moved upwards by tiny hairs (cilia). The mucus traps dirt and dust particles inhaled with the air and cilia move the mucus contaminant away from the lungs’ delicate air sacs, into the mouth. Cigarette smoke overwhelms the mucus and cilia, so that smoke particles make it all the way into the lungs. Not a good thing …

52. *”That’ll Be the Day” singer BUDDY HOLLY
Famously, Buddy Holly had a tragically short career as a professional musician. Holly was killed in a plane crash in 1959, along with fellow-performers Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson (aka “the Big Bopper”). Buddy’s family name was actually spelled “Holley”, with the “Holly” spelling arising due to an error on the contract that he signed with Decca Records in 1956. He diecoded to adopt “Buddy Holly” as a stage name from then on, although the “Holley” spelling appears on his gravestone in Lubbock, Texas.

Buddy Holly and Jerry Allison composed “That’ll Be the Day” after they saw the western “The Searchers” in a movie theater. An oft-repeated line by John Wayne in the film is “That’ll Be the Day”. And if you’ve never heard it, you should check out the cover version of the song by the Quarrymen made in 1958. It was the first track ever recorded by the group, who later changed their name to … the Beatles.

56. Grand Forks locale: Abbr. NDAK
Grand Forks is located on the eastern border of North Dakota, alongside the twin city of East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The twin cities are at the center of a metropolitan area often referred to as “the Grand Cities”. Grand Forks is a located at the forks of the Red River and Red Lake River. The location was first referred to as “Les Grandes Fourches” (the Big Forks) by French fur trappers in the early to mid 1700s.

61. Sushi option TUNA
The tuna is a streamlined fish with a body that has evolved for speed. For example, the yellowfin tuna can clock speeds of close to 50 miles/hour.

62. *Longtime “60 Minutes” closer ANDY ROONEY
Andy Rooney began his career in newspapers during WWII working for “Stars and Stripes” in London. He had some memorable experiences during the war, including flying on the first American bombing raid over Germany. He was also one of the first American journalists to visit the German concentration camps as they were liberated. He started his segment called “A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney” on CBS’s “60 Minutes” way back in 1978, and so was on our screens for over 40 years. Rooney passed away in 2011. He was a cool, cool guy …

The marvelous news magazine program “60 Minutes” has been on the air since 1968. The show is unique among all other regularly-scheduled shows in that it has never used theme music. There is just the ticking of that Aristo stopwatch.

67. Listen to, as a podcast TUNE IN
A podcast is basically an audio or video media file that is made available for download. The name comes from the acronym “POD” meaning “playable on demand”, and “cast” from “broadcasting”. So, basically a podcast is a broadcast that one can play on demand, simply by downloading and opening the podcast file.

68. Bearded beast GNU
A gnu is also known as a wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is actually the Dutch word for “wild beast”.

Down
1. Heavenly scales LIBRA
The constellation of Libra is named for the scales held by the goddess of justice. Libra is the only sign of the zodiac that isn’t named for a living creature.

3. *”The [52-Across] Story” Oscar nominee GARY BUSEY
The actor Gary Busey’s most lauded performance was in the 1978 biopic “The Buddy Holly Story”, in which he played the title role. Busey also had a lesser-known role in an episode of the western television series “Gunsmoke”. Busey had the honor of playing the last character to be killed on “Gunsmoke”, in the third-last episode of the long-running show.

4. Big name in chips LAY’S
Lay’s potato chips were introduced in 1938 by Herman W. Lay. Lay started selling his chips out the trunk of his car, travelling all over the US. In those days the chips were pretty much handmade, but Lay put an end to that in 1942. He invented the first continuous potato processor in 1948, and chips started to take over the world!

5. Texter’s “Unbelievable!” OMG
OMG is text-speak for Oh My Gosh! Oh My Goodness! or any other G words you might think of …

7. Rink legend Bobby ORR
Bobby Orr is regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time. By the time he retired in 1978 he had undergone over a dozen knee surgeries. At 31 years of age, he concluded that he just couldn’t skate anymore. Reportedly, he was even having trouble walking …

8. Sound system control FADER
A fader is a knob (or usually a slider) that gradually increases or decreases the level of an audio signal. You’ll often see audio engineers at a performance or in a recording studio sliding buttons up and down. Those are faders.

9. Spacecraft data-collection passes FLYBYS
Spacecraft often do “flybys”, getting close enough to a celestial object to gather scientific data.

10. Lounging robes CAFTANS
A kaftan (also “caftan”) is long robe associated for thousands of years with Islamic cultures.

11. To have, in Le Havre AVOIR
Le Havre is a city on the mouth of the river Seine on the northwest coast of France. The city’s name translates as “the haven”.

12. Lavin or Blair LINDA
Linda Lavin is a singer and actress who is probably best-known outside of New York for playing the title role in the seventies and eighties sitcom “Alice”.

The actress LInda Blair is best known for her performances as the possessed child in two of “The Exorcist” series of films.

13. Swabby’s chum MATEY
“Swabbie” (also “swabby, swab, swabber”) is a slang term for a sailor, which we’ve been using since the late 1700s. A “swab” was originally a member of the crew assigned to the swabbing (mopping) of the ship’s decks.

A “chum” is a friend. The term originated in the late 1600s as an alternative spelling for “cham”. In turn “cham” was a shortened form of “chambermate”, a roommate at university.

22. Abbr. in ancient dates BCE
The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

24. Mata __ HARI
Mata Hari was the stage name used by Margaretha Geertuida Zella, born in the Netherlands in 1876. After an unsuccessful and somewhat tragic marriage, Zella moved to Paris in 1903 where she struggled to make a living. By 1905 she was working as an exotic dancer and using the name Mata Hari. She was a successful courtesan, notably moving in various circles of high-ranking military officers. She apparently worked as a double agent, both for the French and the Germans. When Mata Hari was accused by the French of passing information to the enemy, she was tried, found guilty and executed by firing squad at the height of WW1, in 1917.

25. Words before and after “is still” in “As Time Goes By” A KISS

You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is still (just) a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by

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.

26. Time extension? RENEWAL
“Time” magazine has a readership of about 25 million, making it the largest circulation weekly news magazine in the world.

30. Storied vessel ARK
The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

31. Flapper’s wrap BOA
Flappers were the so-called “new breed” of young women of the twenties. The flappers wore their hair short (with ringlets), dressed in short skirts and generally rebelled against the accepted norms of the time. The term “flapper” comes from the 1920 movie “The Flapper” starring Olive Thomas as a young woman who lived the more liberal lifestyle that was emerging at that time.

33. Google Apps component GMAIL
Gmail is a free webmail service provided by Google, and my favorite of the free email services. Gmail made a big splash when it was introduced in 2007 because it offered a whopping 1GB of storage whereas other services offered a measly 2-4MB on average.

Google Apps for Work is a suite of cloud computing tools that includes:

– Gmail
– Google Drive
– Google Hangouts
– Google Calendar
– Google Docs

35. *”Football Night in America” analyst TONY DUNGY
Tony Dungy is a former NFL football player and coach. When with the Indianapolis Colts, Dungy became the first African American head coach to win a Super Bowl, at the end of the 2006 season. He retired after the 2008 season and now works as an analyst for the NBC show “Football Night in America”.

40. Professor ‘iggins ‘ENRY
Eliza Doolittle is Professor Henry Higgins’ speech student in George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion”. “Pygmalion” was adapted by Lerner and Loewe to become the Broadway musical “My Fair Lady”. The musical spun off the wonderful 1964 film of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. To cockney Eliza Doolittle, Professor Henry Higgins was “‘Enry ‘Iggins”.

41. Sydney is its cap. NSW
New South Wales (NSW) is the most populous state in Australia and is home to Sydney, the most populous city in the country. New South Wales was founded in 1788. When the British took over New Zealand in 1840, for a while New Zealand was actually governed as part of New South Wales.

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia. People from Sydney are known as “Sydneysiders”.

48. Writer Rand AYN
Ayn Rand was the pen name of Russian-American novelist Alisa Rosenbaum. Rand’s two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” in 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.

49. Young pigs SHOATS
“Shoat” is a name given to a young hog, after it has been weaned.

51. Latin word on a cornerstone ANNO
Anno (plural “anni”) is the Latin for “year”.

52. Please, in Potsdam BITTE
Potsdam is a city in Germany that lies just on the outskirts of the nation’s capital of Berlin. Famously, Potsdam was the site of a conference between Stalin, Churchill and Truman after the end of WWII in Europe.

54. Jeans material DENIM
Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (from Nimes) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (blue of Genoa) gives us our word “jeans”.

63. Genes material DNA
A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

65. Grand Canyon viewing spot RIM
The Grand Canyon is in Arizona. The canyon continues to be carved out of layers of rock by the Colorado River. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, up to 18 miles wide and over a mile deep.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Audio problem LAG
4. Finish paying a bill, perhaps LOG OFF
10. Controlled CALM
14. Radio host Glass IRA
15. Ethically indifferent AMORAL
16. Adidas rival AVIA
17. *Motown Records founder BERRY GORDY
19. Baptismal basin FONT
20. Spanish royalty REYES
21. Oceanic reflux EBB TIDE
23. Jessica of “Dark Angel” ALBA
24. *Cubs broadcaster known for singing along with “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch HARRY CARAY
27. Mental grasp UPTAKE
29. McCain or McCaskill: Abbr. SEN
30. Tummy muscles ABS
32. Circular gasket O-RING
34. Time at the inn STAY
38. Shad eggs ROE
39. Biblical trio … and a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues WISE MEN (sounds like “Ys men”)
42. Have a mortgage, e.g. OWE
43. Send to the canvas KAYO
45. Graceful swimmers SWANS
46. Pull down NET
47. Dorm monitors, briefly RAS
50. Windpipe, e.g. AIRWAY
52. *”That’ll Be the Day” singer BUDDY HOLLY
56. Grand Forks locale: Abbr. NDAK
59. “It’s finally clear to me” I SEE NOW
60. Accustom INURE
61. Sushi option TUNA
62. *Longtime “60 Minutes” closer ANDY ROONEY
66. Follow, or follower TAIL
67. Listen to, as a podcast TUNE IN
68. Bearded beast GNU
69. Suburban street liners ELMS
70. Physical jerks SPASMS
71. Blather YAP

Down
1. Heavenly scales LIBRA
2. Spinning AREEL
3. *”The [52-Across] Story” Oscar nominee GARY BUSEY
4. Big name in chips LAYS
5. Texter’s “Unbelievable!” OMG
6. Icky stuff GOO
7. Rink legend Bobby ORR
8. Sound system control FADER
9. Spacecraft data-collection passes FLYBYS
10. Lounging robes CAFTANS
11. To have, in Le Havre AVOIR
12. Lavin or Blair LINDA
13. Swabby’s chum MATEY
18. Gather REAP
22. Abbr. in ancient dates BCE
24. Mata __ HARI
25. Words before and after “is still” in “As Time Goes By” A KISS
26. Time extension? RENEWAL
28. Garage service TOW
30. Storied vessel ARK
31. Flapper’s wrap BOA
33. Google Apps component GMAIL
35. *”Football Night in America” analyst TONY DUNGY
36. Knock the socks off AWE
37. Still YET
40. Professor ‘iggins ‘ENRY
41. Sydney is its cap. NSW
44. Tough times ORDEALS
48. Writer Rand AYN
49. Young pigs SHOATS
51. Latin word on a cornerstone ANNO
52. Please, in Potsdam BITTE
53. Same as always USUAL
54. Jeans material DENIM
55. Come clean OWN UP
57. Place for matches ARENA
58. Light a fire under KEY UP
60. Charged atoms IONS
63. Genes material DNA
64. “I’m listening” YES
65. Grand Canyon viewing spot RIM

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