Day: December 29, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
9. Infielder Rod in Cooperstown CAREW
Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball player from Panama. Actually. Carew is a “Zonian”, meaning that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity that existed for decades from 1903.

Cooperstown is a village in New York that is famous as the home to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The village was named for Judge William Cooper, Cooperstown’s founder, and the father of the noted writer James Fenimore Cooper.

17. Kansas City baseball color ROYAL BLUE
The Kansas City Royals Major League Baseball team was founded in 1969. The team takes its name from the American Royal, a livestock show and rodeo held annually in Kansas City since 1899.

19. Battery acronym NICAD
A NiCad rechargeable battery is so called because the electrodes are made of nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium.

20. Olympics skating analyst Ohno APOLO
Speed-skater Apolo Ohno has won more Winter Olympics medals than any other American. Ohno also did a great job winning the 2007 season of television’s “Dancing with the Stars”.

21. Laborious tasks TRAVAILS
A “travail” is a really difficult task or burden. “Travail” is the French for “work”.

23. Post-shower powder 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.

26. “Twin Peaks” actress Sherilyn FENN
Sherilyn Fenn is the actress who played Audrey Horne on “Twin Peaks” in the nineties. Fenn also played the title roles in the 1993 romantic drama film “Boxing Helena” and the 1995 TV biopic “Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story”.

27. USN officer CDR
Commander (Cdr.)

38. “In memoriam” bio OBIT
“Obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”, originally the record of the death of a person, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

42. “__ 101”: Jamie Lynn Spears sitcom ZOEY
“Zoey 101” is a TV show that aired from 2005 until 2008 on Nickelodeon. Jamie Lynn Spears plays the title role, a teenage student attending a Southern California boarding school. “Zoey 101” is the most expensive show that Nickelodeon ever produced.

Jamie Lynn Spears is a actress and singer, and the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears. Jamie Lynn was a regular on the comedy show “All That” and the star of “Zoey 101”, both being Nickelodeon productions.

47. Some MIT grads EES
Electrical engineer (EE)

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

48. Indonesian island BALI
Bali is both an island and a province in Indonesia. It is a popular tourist spot, although the number of visitors dropped for a few years as a result of terrorist bombings in 2002 and 2005 that killed mainly tourists. Bali became more popular starting in 2008 due to a significant and favorable change in the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Indonesian rupiah.

61. Bucking ride RODEO BULL
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word, which is usually translated as “round up”.

64. Sun-dried brick ADOBE
The building material known as adobe has been around a long time, and has been used in dry climates all over the world. The original form of the word “adobe” dates back to Middle Egyptian times, about 2000 BC. The original spelling is “dj-b-t”, and translates as mud (sun-dried) brick.

65. Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby DOERR
Bobby Doerr is a former baseball player and coach for the Boston Red Sox. Doerr attended the 100th anniversary celebration of Fenway Park in 2012. He was 94 years of age at the time, and was the oldest person in attendance that day at the park.

66. Vintage roadster REO
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom Eli Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale and the REO Flying Cloud.

67. Guadalajara girls NINAS
Guadalajara is a populous city in the Mexican state of Jalisco. The Mexican city is named after the city of the same name in the center of Spain.

68. “We Have The Meats” fast food chain, and a homophonic hint to the six longest puzzle answers ARBY’S (sounds like “RBs”)
The Arby’s chain of fast food restaurants was founded in 1964 by two brothers, Forrest and Leroy Raffel. The name “Arby’s” is a homonym of “RB’s”, standing for “Raffel Brothers”.

Down
1. __ avis RARA
A “rara avis” is anything that is very rare, and is Latin for “rare bird”.

2. All-You-Can-Eat-Pancakes chain IHOP
The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests …

3. Spread on a BLT MAYO
Mayonnaise originated in the town of Mahon in Menorca, a Mediterranean island belonging to Spain. The Spanish called the sauce “salsa mahonesa” after the town, and this morphed into the French word “mayonnaise” that we use in English today.

The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second-most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

4. City near Stanford University PALO ALTO
The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

Leland Stanford became a very successful businessman in California after moving there from New York during the Gold Rush. Stanford then served as governor of the state for two years, and later US Senator for California. He founded the Leland Stanford Junior University in memory of his teenage son who died of typhoid fever while the family was travelling in Italy in 1884. The university opened its doors for business in 1891, and the first student admitted was none other than Herbert Hoover, the man would become the 31st President of the US.

5. Greece neighbor: Abbr. ALB
The Republic of Albania is a country in the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Albania was made a communist state after WWII but became independent again with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. Albania has been a member of NATO since 2009, and was accepted as an official candidate to join the European Union in 2014.

6. Note after fa SOL
The solfa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

8. Clairvoyant SEER
We’ve been using the term “clairvoyant” to describe a psychic since the nineteenth century. Prior to that, a clairvoyant was a clear-sighted person. The term comes from French, with “clair” meaning “clear” and “voyant” meaning “seeing”.

10. For the birds? AVIAN
“Avis” is the Latin word for a bird, giving rise to our adjective “avian” meaning “relating to birds”.

11. Tour de France wheels RACING BIKE
Back in the late 1800s, long-distance cycle races were used as promotional events, traditionally to help boost sales of newspapers. These races usually took place around tracks, but in 1902 the backers of the struggling sports publication “L’Auto” decided to stage a race that would take the competitors all around France. That first Tour de France took place in 1903, starting in Paris and passing through Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and then back to Paris.

18. Bottom-row PC key ALT
The Alt (alternate) key is found on either side of the space bar on US PC keyboards. The Alt key evolved from what was called a Meta key on old MIT keyboards, although the function has changed somewhat over the years. Alt is equivalent in many ways to the Option key on a Mac keyboard, and indeed the letters “Alt” have been printed on most Mac keyboards starting in the nineties.

24. Thai language LAO
Lao, the language of Laos, does not use spaces between words (or periods!), although this is apparently changing. Spaces are used between sentences and clauses.

25. Mediterranean island republic CYPRUS
Cyprus is an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, a member of the European Union. Cyprus is a divided island, with the Republic of Cyprus controlling about 60% of its area. The remaining 40% calls itself the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, and is occupied by Turkish forces.

28. Philanthropist DONOR
Philanthropy is a concern for human welfare, and the act of donating to persons or groups who support such concerns. The term derives from the Greek “phil-” meaning “loving”, and “anthropos” meaning “mankind”.

29. 13th-century English friar/philosopher ROGER BACON
Roger Bacon was a Franciscan friar and English philosopher who lived in the 13th century. Bacon contributed a great deal to the advancement of science was one of the earliest advocates of the modern scientific method.

34. ‘Til Tuesday lead vocalist Mann AIMEE
Aimee Mann is a rock singer and guitarist from Virginia. Mann is married to Michael Penn, the brother of actor Sean Penn.

35. Decides not to dele STETS
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

“Dele” is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document, and is often written in red.

38. Tolkien beast ORC
Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction and in fantasy games.

41. Museum overseers CURATORS
The term “curator” is Latin and applies to a manager, guardian or overseer. In English, the original curators were the guardians and overseers of minors and those with mental disease.

43. All-Star Phillies catcher Carlos RUIZ
Carlos Ruiz is a professional baseball player from Panama who is one of only two MLB catchers to catch two no-hitters, the other being Jason Varitek.

49. Tiny life form AMEBA
An ameba (or “amoeba” as we spell it back in Ireland) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

51. Bill at a bar TAB
When we “run a tab” at a bar say, we are “running a tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

52. OPEC founding member IRAN
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.

54. Wagner’s Earth goddess ERDA
In Richard Wagner’s (very, very lengthy) Ring Cycle, Erda is the goddess of the Earth (as well as wisdom and fate). Erda gives birth to eight immortal daughters called the Valkyries.

57. Battery name prefix with “cell” DURA-
Duracell is a brand of batteries made today by Procter & Gamble. “Duracell” is a portmanteau of “durable” and “cell”.

58. “Jeopardy!” host Trebek ALEX
The word is that Alex Trebek will step down as host of the game show “Jeopardy” in 2016, when his current contract expires. The list of names mentioned to replace Trebek includes Brian Williams, Dan Patrick, Matt Lauer and Anderson Cooper. I vote for Cooper, but I can’t see him taking the job …

59. Gin flavoring SLOE
The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin.

62. Belle of the ball DEB
Deb is short for “debutante”, which translates from French as “female beginner”.

A “beau” is the boyfriend of a “belle”, a young lady. “Beau” and “belle” are the masculine and feminine forms of the French word for “handsome, beautiful”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Glass edge RIM
4. Personal histories PASTS
9. Infielder Rod in Cooperstown CAREW
14. “Caught you!” AHA!
15. Stag, at a party ALONE
16. Egg-shaped OVATE
17. Kansas City baseball color ROYAL BLUE
19. Battery acronym NICAD
20. Olympics skating analyst Ohno APOLO
21. Laborious tasks TRAVAILS
23. Post-shower powder TALC
26. “Twin Peaks” actress Sherilyn FENN
27. USN officer CDR
30. Buying plan with a down payment LAYAWAY
33. Highway sign GAS
36. Tavern with a view ROOFTOP BAR
38. “In memoriam” bio OBIT
39. English: Pref. ANGLO-
40. Dashed RAN
41. Job that doesn’t pay? CRIME
42. “__ 101”: Jamie Lynn Spears sitcom ZOEY
43. Dilapidated ship RUSTBUCKET
45. Go astray ERR
46. Thicker, as a beard BUSHIER
47. Some MIT grads EES
48. Indonesian island BALI
50. Well-kept NEAT
52. “That’s shocking!” I’M AMAZED!
56. Triumphant cries TADAS
60. Potato press RICER
61. Bucking ride RODEO BULL
64. Sun-dried brick ADOBE
65. Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby DOERR
66. Vintage roadster REO
67. Guadalajara girls NINAS
68. “We Have The Meats” fast food chain, and a homophonic hint to the six longest puzzle answers ARBY’S (sounds like “RBs”)
69. Woodsman’s chopper AXE

Down
1. __ avis RARA
2. All-You-Can-Eat-Pancakes chain IHOP
3. Spread on a BLT MAYO
4. City near Stanford University PALO ALTO
5. Greece neighbor: Abbr. ALB
6. Note after fa SOL
7. Letter-shaped fastener T-NUT
8. Clairvoyant SEER
9. Transport, as on a factory belt CONVEY
10. For the birds? AVIAN
11. Tour de France wheels RACING BIKE
12. List-ending abbr. ET AL
13. Unites in marriage WEDS
18. Bottom-row PC key ALT
22. Off in the distance AFAR
24. Thai language LAO
25. Mediterranean island republic CYPRUS
27. Hottest fashion CRAZE
28. Philanthropist DONOR
29. 13th-century English friar/philosopher ROGER BACON
31. Embarrass ABASH
32. Hope to participate WANT IN
34. ‘Til Tuesday lead vocalist Mann AIMEE
35. Decides not to dele STETS
37. Swatter target FLY
38. Tolkien beast ORC
41. Museum overseers CURATORS
43. All-Star Phillies catcher Carlos RUIZ
44. Pollen eater BEE
46. Loud, raucous sounds BLARES
49. Tiny life form AMEBA
51. Bill at a bar TAB
52. OPEC founding member IRAN
53. Calf-length skirt MIDI
54. Wagner’s Earth goddess ERDA
55. Way in or out DOOR
57. Battery name prefix with “cell” DURA-
58. “Jeopardy!” host Trebek ALEX
59. Gin flavoring SLOE
62. Belle of the ball DEB
63. Suffix with trick -ERY

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