Day: February 26, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Wrap giant ALCOA
The Aluminum Corporation of America (ALCOA) is the largest producer of aluminum in the United States. The company was founded in 1888 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where its headquarters are to this day.

Before thin sheets of aluminum metal were available, thin sheets of tin were used in various applications. Tin foil isn’t a great choice for wrapping food though, as it imparts a tinny taste. On the other side of the pond, aluminum foil has a different name. No, it’s not just the different spelling of aluminum (“aluminium”). We still call it “tin foil”. You see, we live in the past …

6. Reliever Orosco with the MLB record for career pitching appearances JESSE
Jesse Orosco is a former baseball pitcher who played for several teams including the New York Mets and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Orosco had a long playing career, retiring when he was 46 years old. Partly because of that long career, he holds the major league record for career pitching performances: 1,252 games.

11. Center of excellence? ELS
There are two letters L at the center of the word “excellence”.

15. Plant pest APHID
Aphids are called “greenfly” back in the British Isles where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids in my experience is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called ladybirds in Ireland!).

16. Rest one’s dogs, so to speak SIT
“Dogs” is a slang term for feet. I couldn’t find out the etymology though …

19. “Double Fantasy” artist ONO
“Double Fantasy” is an album released by John Lennon and Yoko Ono on 17 November 1980. Three weeks later, John Lennon was gunned down by Mark Chapman outside Lennon’s apartment building in New York City.

20. Extras in an env. ENCS
An envelope (env.) might contain an enclosure (enc.).

21. Squeezed (out) EKED
To “eke out” means to “make something go further or last longer”. For example, you could eke out your income by cutting back on expenses. I always have a problem with the commonly cited definition of “eke out” as “barely get by”. Close but no cigar, I say …

22. Web-footed critter OTTER
The fur of the sea otter is exceptionally thick. It is in fact the densest fur in the whole animal kingdom.

24. Mustard, for one: Abbr. COL
Colonel Mustard is one of the suspects in the board game “Clue”.

Clue is another board game that we knew under a different name growing up in Ireland. Outside of North America, Clue is marketed as “Cluedo”. Cluedo was the original name of the game, introduced in 1949 by the famous British board game manufacturer Waddingtons. There are cute differences between the US and UK versions. For example, the man who is murdered is called Dr. Black (Mr. Boddy in the US), one of the suspects is the Reverend Green (Mr. Green in the US), and the suspect weapons include a dagger (a knife in the US), a lead pipe (lead piping in the US) and a spanner (a wrench in the US). I think it’s a fabulous game, a must during the holidays …

30. ”Saint Joan” star Jean SEBERG
Jean Seberg was a movie actress who fell foul of the FBI due to her financial contributions to several organizations in the sixties, including the Black Panthers. The FBI’s response included illegal tactics that were part of the bureau’s COINTELPRO program, which included harassment, intimidation and defamation. For example, one false story the FBI floated was that the baby Seberg was carrying was not her husband’s, but instead that of the a member of the Black Panther Party. Seberg gave birth to a baby girl prematurely in 1970, who died after only two days. The baby’s funeral was held with an open casket so that reporters could see the unfortunate child’s white skin. Seberg died from a barbiturate overdose in 1979.

“Saint Joan” is a 1957 film adapted from a play of the same name by George Bernard Shaw. Directed by Otto Preminger, the film recounts the life of Joan of Arc, with newcomer Jean Seberg playing the title role. The critics didn’t receive Seberg’s performance well at all.

31. __ Locks: St. Marys River rapids bypass SOO
In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canal between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.

33. Brewers’ outfielder Braun RYAN
Ryan Braun is professional baseball player who ran into trouble for the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs. As a result, Braun was suspended without pay for much of the 2013 season.

35. Creator of Della ERLE
Della Street was Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Street was played in the TV show by the lovely Barbara Hale.

37. Morales of film ESAI
Esai Morales is best known for his role in the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai).

42. Pompous authority POOBAH
The term “pooh-bah” (also “poobah”), meaning an ostentatious official, comes from the world of opera. Pooh-Bah is a character in the wonderful Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado”. Famously, Pooh-Bah holds many, many offices, including that of “Lord High Everything Else”.

49. Beer with “Since 1775” on its label STROH’S
Bernard Stroh was the son of a German brewer. Stroh immigrated to the US in 1848 and set up his own brewery in 1850 in Detroit. Years later, the Stroh Brewing Company introduced a European process called fire-brewing. This results in higher temperatures at a crucial stage in the brewing process, supposedly bringing out flavor. Stroh’s is the only American beer that still uses this process. By the way, even though the American Stroh’s brewery was set up in 1850, the label bears the words “since 1775”. This is a reference to the date that the Stroh family started brewing back in Germany.

53. Detective Peter of old TV GUNN
“Peter Gunn” is a crime drama about a private eye that ran on NBC and ABC in the late fifties and early sixties. The show was created by Blake Edwards, with many episodes being directed by Robert Altman.

55. __ Lingus AER
Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline called Ryanair.

59. Mrs., in much of the Americas SRA
The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame) and in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora).

60. Classic six-couplet poem TREES
The American journalist and poet Joyce Kilmer is primarily known for his 1913 poem titled “Trees”. The original text of the poem is:

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

Kilmer died a few years after writing “Trees”. He was a casualty of the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31.

Down
2. Heroine of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” LEONORE
“Fidelio” is Ludwig van Beethoven’s one and only opera, and a work that he really struggled with. “Fidelio” tells of a woman named Leonore who disguises herself as a prison guard in order get her condemned husband out of prison.

3. AAA, for one CAR CLUB
4. AAA et al. ORGS
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing, and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

5. Enzyme suffix -ASE
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

7. “The Comedy of Errors” setting EPHESUS
Ephesus was an Ancient Greek city on the Ionian coast in present-day Turkey. Ephesus was home to the Temple of Artemis, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

William Shakespeare’s “The Comedy of Errors” is the shortest of all his plays, and one of his earliest. It’s all about two sets of identical twins who are separated at birth. Hilarity ensues …

9. Quote qualifier SIC
“Sic” indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”.

10. Ex-mayor with a cameo in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” ED KOCH
Ed Koch was a Democratic Representative in the US Congress from 1969-73, and then Mayor of New York City from 1978-89. From 1997 to 1999 Koch was a “judge” on the TV show “The People’s Court”. And in 2004, he collaborated with his sister Pat Koch, and wrote a children’s book called “Eddie, Harold’s Little Brother”, a tale about Ed’s own childhood experiences.

“The Muppets Take Manhattan” is a 1984 musical film, the third in a series of such films featuring the Muppets. This particular film introduced the world to the Muppet Babies, who are still around today.

25. “Live at the __”: Patsy Cline album OPRY
Patsy Cline was a country music singer who managed to cross over into the world of pop music where she enjoyed great success. Cline is one of a long list of musical legends who died in plane crashes. Cline was 30 years old when she was killed in 1963 in a Piper Comanche plane piloted by her manager, Randy Hughes. Hughes and Cline decided to make that last flight despite warnings of inclement weather, and it was a severe storm that brought down the plane in a forest outside Camden, Tennessee.

28. Sources of fine wool MERINOS
The Merino breed of sheep is prized for the soft quality of its wool.

29. “… rapping at my chamber door” poet POE
The first verse of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Raven” is:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door

“The Raven” is a narrative poem by Edgar Allen Poe that tells of a student who has lost the love of his life, Lenore. A raven enters the student’s bedchamber and perches on a bust of Pallas. The raven can talk, to the student’s surprise, but says nothing but the word “nevermore” (“quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore’”). As the student questions all aspects of his life, the raven taunts him with the same comment, “nevermore”. Finally the student decides that his soul is trapped beneath the raven’s shadow and shall be lifted “nevermore” …

34. Fish-fowl link NOR
Something that is “neither fish nor fowl” is something that is not recognizable, is nothing familiar at all.

39. Natural light shows AURORAS
The spectacular aurora phenomenon is seen lighting up the night sky at both poles of the earth (the Aurora Borealis in the north, and the Aurora Australis in the south). The eerie effect is caused by charged particles colliding with atoms at high latitudes.

43. Short, tailored jackets BOLEROS
A bolero jacket is a very short tailored jacket that probably takes its name from the Spanish dance. Male bolero dancers often wear such a jacket. A less formal version of a bolero jacket is called a “shrug”. A shrug is usually knitted and resembles a cardigan.

45. San Simeon family HEARSTS
San Simeon is a town on the Pacific coast of California between San Francisco and Los Angeles. Most notably, San Simeon is home to Hearst Castle, the magnificent mansion and estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. Stop by if you’re ever in the area. It’s well worth your time …

48. Antarctic explorer Shackleton ERNEST
Sir Ernest Shackleton was a British polar explorer (although he was born in Ireland). His most famous venture was the last of the three expeditions Shackleton led to the Antarctic. His ship, the Endurance, was crushed by pack ice, forcing the crew to take to lifeboats. Shackleton led his men on a 720-nautical mile voyage in those open boats through freezing and stormy weather to safety.

54. 1985 U.S. Open champ Mandlikova HANA
Hana Mandlikova is a former professional tennis star from Czechoslovakia. Mandlikova won four Grand Slam titles and then retired in 1990, at the ripe old age of 28.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Wrap giant ALCOA
6. Reliever Orosco with the MLB record for career pitching appearances JESSE
11. Center of excellence? ELS
14. Quaking causes FEARS
15. Plant pest APHID
16. Rest one’s dogs, so to speak SIT
17. It’s fraudulent FORGED CHECK
19. “Double Fantasy” artist ONO
20. Extras in an env. ENCS
21. Squeezed (out) EKED
22. Web-footed critter OTTER
24. Mustard, for one: Abbr. COL
25. Encouraging shouts OLES
26. Shout SCREAM
27. It’s fabricated TRUMPED-UP CHARGE
30. ”Saint Joan” star Jean SEBERG
31. __ Locks: St. Marys River rapids bypass SOO
32. Hid the gray in DYED
33. Brewers’ outfielder Braun RYAN
35. Creator of Della ERLE
37. Morales of film ESAI
40. Part of a foot TOE
42. Pompous authority POOBAH
46. It’s fake COUNTERFEIT NOTE
49. Beer with “Since 1775” on its label STROH’S
50. Big dos ‘FROS
51. Grazing area LEA
52. More of that THOSE
53. Detective Peter of old TV GUNN
54. Estate attorney’s concern HEIR
55. __ Lingus AER
56. Race errors, and what 17-, 27- and 46-Across have FALSE STARTS
59. Mrs., in much of the Americas SRA
60. Classic six-couplet poem TREES
61. Has __: can save face AN OUT
62. Triumphant cry YES!
63. Dost espy SEEST
64. Has a sudden inspiration? GASPS

Down
1. Gets to AFFECTS
2. Heroine of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” LEONORE
3. AAA, for one CAR CLUB
4. AAA et al. ORGS
5. Enzyme suffix -ASE
6. Hiked, with “up” JACKED
7. “The Comedy of Errors” setting EPHESUS
8. Word with wood or water SHED
9. Quote qualifier SIC
10. Ex-mayor with a cameo in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” ED KOCH
11. Abstruse stuff ESOTERY
12. Pedigree LINEAGE
13. Came (in) dramatically STORMED
18. Convention attendees DELEGATES
23. Exploit TRADE ON
25. “Live at the __”: Patsy Cline album OPRY
26. Venomous arachnids SCORPIONS
28. Sources of fine wool MERINOS
29. “… rapping at my chamber door” poet POE
34. Fish-fowl link NOR
36. Filming sites LOTS
37. Heaven on earth ECSTASY
38. “Told ya!” SO THERE!
39. Natural light shows AURORAS
41. Pours out EFFUSES
43. Short, tailored jackets BOLEROS
44. Really dug something ATE IT UP
45. San Simeon family HEARSTS
47. Guards may prevent them THEFTS
48. Antarctic explorer Shackleton ERNEST
53. Pure delight GLEE
54. 1985 U.S. Open champ Mandlikova HANA
57. Modern art? ARE
58. Recess game TAG

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