Day: February 24, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Lobsters’ sense organs PALPI
Some creatures, notably insects and crustaceans, have appendages attached to the oral opening that are known as palpi. These palpi (singular “palpus”) act as sense organs, and are more correctly referred to as “pedipalps”.

10. Flight from the law LAM
To be “on the lam” is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means to “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, to scram”.

15. Famille patriarch PERE
In French, a father (père) is a member of the family (membre de la famille).

16. Form by combining elements SYNTHESIZE
“Synthesize” and “analyze” are antonyms. To synthesize something is to form something by combining elements or parts. To analyze is to separate something into constituent elements or parts.

18. One-piece garments, slangily UNIS
A unitard is like a leotard, except that it has long legs and sometime long sleeves. It wouldn’t be a good look for me …

19. Rome-based carrier ALITALIA
Alitalia is the national airline of Italy. The name “Alitalia” is a melding of the Italian words “ali” (wings) and “Italia” (Italy).

20. Toll road timesaver E-ZPASS
E-ZPASS was a technology development driven (pun!) by the tolling agencies of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The first E-ZPASS toll booth was built on the New York Thruway, and opened at the Spring Valley toll plaza in 1993.

22. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer CYNDI LAUPER
If you’ve ever heard Cyndi Lauper speaking, you’d know that she was from Queens, New York. She is the daughter of divorced parents, strongly influenced by a supportive mother. She was always a free spirit, and even as young teen in the mid-sixties she dyed her hair different colors and wore outlandish fashions. She was a young woman who wanted to “find herself”, and to that end she once spent two weeks alone in the woods up in Canada. Well, just with her dog.

“Girls Just Want to Have Fun” is a hit song recorded by Cyndi Lauper in 1983. Lauper’s was a cover version of the original 1979 release by Robert Hazard, who also wrote the song.

28. Guacamole, e.g. DIP
Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes, and is made by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

30. Diva delivery ARIA
“Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.

33. Fictional voyager SINBAD THE SAILOR
Sinbad is the hero of a set of fictional tales from the Middle East. Sinbad comes from the port city of Basra and had fantastic adventures on voyages throughout the sea east of Africa and south of Asia.

40. Retired New York senator Al D’__ AMATO
Al D’Amato was a former Republican Senator who represented the state of New York from 1981 to 1999. Outside of politics, D’Amato is big into poker and is chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, an organization that fights for the rights of poker players in the US, mainly the right to play poker online.

42. DDE rival AES
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) in 1952 and in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

45. Esteemed league member IVY
The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

46. N, in Morse code DASH DOT
Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash.

58. Bravo preceder ALFA
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-Ray, Yankee, Zulu.

59. Host of the 2015 MLB All-Star Game CINCINNATI
Great American Ball Park is named after Great American Insurance Group. It seems a pity that the name is so mercenary, as it is such a grand name for a baseball field. Oh, and it is home to the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.

64. Fashion monogram YSL
Yves Saint-Laurent (YSL) was a French fashion designer, actually born in Algeria. Saint-Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint-Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from prison, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

Down
1. Italian capital of its own province PISA
The city of Pisa is right on the Italian coast, sitting at the mouth of the River Arno, and is famous for its Leaning Tower. The tower is actually the campanile (bell tower) of the city’s cathedral, and it has been leaning since it was completed in 1173. Just shows you how important good foundations are …

2. Kind of nitrite AMYL
Amyl nitrite is intended for use as a vasodilator, but it is also psychoactive when inhaled, so it has been abused as a recreational drug.

3. Actress Anderson LONI
Loni Anderson’s best-remembered role was Jennifer Marlowe on the sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati”. Anderson has been married four times, most famously to actor Burt Reynolds from 1988 to 1993.

5. Cornell University city ITHACA
Ezra Cornell was an associate of Samuel Morse and made his money in the telegraph business. After Ezra retired he co-founded Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He provided a generous endowment and donated his farm as a site for the school, and was then rewarded by having the institute named after him.

6. Brand that “gets the red out” VISINE
Visine is a brand of eye drops made by Johnson & Johnson, advertised to “get the red out”. The red in the eye is reduced because Visine contains tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride, a vasoconstrictor. The blood vessels creating the redness constrict when Visine is applied, and you “get the red out” as the blood is “squeezed” away from the surface of the eye.

7. Epic with a very big horse ILIAD
Ilion (or in Latin “Ileum”), was the ancient name for the city of Troy. It’s this name for Troy that gives rise to the title of Homer’s epic poem “Iliad”.

The story of the Wooden Horse of Troy is told in the Virgil’s poem “The Aeneid”. According to the tale, the city of Troy finally fell to Greeks after a siege that had lasted for ten years. In a ruse, the Greeks sailed away in apparent defeat, leaving behind a large wooden horse. Inside the horse were hidden 30 crack soldiers. When the horse was dragged into the city as a victory trophy, the soldiers sneaked out and opened the city’s gates. The Greeks returned under cover of night and entered the open city.

8. Refillable candy PEZ
PEZ is an Austrian brand name for a particular candy sold in a mechanical dispenser. Famously, PEZ dispensers have molded “heads”, and have become very collectible over the years. The list of heads includes historical figures like Betsy Ross and Paul Revere, characters from “Star Wars” and “Star Trek”, and even British royalty like the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (“William and Kate”). The name PEZ comes from the first, middle and last letters of “Pfefferminz”, the German word for “peppermint”.

9. Metal playing marbles STEELIES
A playing marble made from agate is called just that, an agate. Steelies on the other hand, are made from solid steel.

10. Delaware Valley tribe LENAPE
The Lenape Native American people lived along the Delaware River when Europeans first landed in the Americas. As a result of the enforcement of the Indian Removal Act 1830, most Lenape now live in Oklahoma, with significant numbers also in Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada.

12. Salutation abbreviation MESSRS
The abbreviation “Messrs.” is used at the head of a list of male names, in place of “Misters”. It is an abbreviation of the French “messieurs”, the plural of “monsieur”.

15. Bite-size Chinese appetizer PUPU
In Hawaiian, “pu-pu” is a word originally meaning “snail”. Nowadays “pu-pu” denotes many different types of food that are usually served as an hors d’oeuvres. A “pupu platter” then is a selection of such foods served in a Hawaiian restaurant. The term “pupu platter” somehow became absorbed into American Chinese cuisine in the fifties, so one can order the same dish in a Chinese restaurant and get a plate of Chinese morsels.

17. Tarzan portrayer Ron et al. ELYS
Ron Ely is most famous for playing the title role in the “Tarzan” TV series in the sixties. Years later, Ely hosted the 1980 and 1981 “Miss America” pageants right after longtime host Bert Parks retired, before the job was taken over by Gary Collins. And, Ely is a successful mystery novelist. He wrote “Night Shadows” and “East Beach” in the mid-nineties, both of which featured his private eye Jake Sands.

21. Mothers of Invention musician ZAPPA
Frank Zappa was an American composer and guitarist, a solo artist as well as the founding member of the rock band Mothers of Invention. You might like to meet his four children: Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet Emuukha Rodan, and Diva Thin Muffin Pigeen.

24. Fourth notes FAS
The solfa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

25. “Entourage” agent Gold ARI
Ari Gold is a fictional character in the HBO series “Entourage”. “Entourage” tells the story of a rising film star, Vincent Chase (played by Adrian Grenier), a native of New York but now learning to handle himself in Hollywood. Vincent’s Hollywood agent is Ari Gold, played by Jeremy Piven.

26. Diarist Anaïs NIN
Anaïs Nin was a French author, famous for her journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

27. Rum-soaked cake BABA
Rum baba (also “baba au rhum” in French) is a small yeast cake saturated in rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Rum baba is derived from the recipe for the tall “babka” yeast cake that was introduced to the world by the Polish communities. The Polish words “baba” and “babka” mean “old woman” or “grandmother” in English. I guess someone must have thought that all grandmothers were saturated in rum!

31. “The Affair” airer, briefly SHO
“The Affair” is a drama series on Showtime about a novelist and a waitress having an extramarital affair in a Long Island resort town. Stars of the show are the marvelous Dominic West and Ruth Wilson. I haven’t seen this one, but hear good things …

32. Morticia, to Gomez TISH
Gomez and Morticia (“Tish”) Addams were the parents in “The Addams Family”, a creation of the cartoonist Charles Addams. In the sixties television show, Gomez was played by John Astin and Morticia was played by Carolyn Jones.

35. Annual tennis team event DAVIS CUP
The Davis Cup is referred to as the “World Cup of Tennis” as teams from competing countries play in a knock-out format. Although there are now over 120 nations competing, it all started in 1900 with an event featuring teams for just the US and Great Britain. That first competition came about when four members of the Harvard University tennis team wanted to challenge the British. One of the Harvard players was Dwight D. Davis. Davis designed the format for the tournament, and bought a sterling silver trophy using his own money. The event was called the International Lawn Tennis Challenge at first, but this evolved into the Davis Cup, taking the name of the trophy awarded to the winning nation.

36. Texting farewell TTYL
Talk to you later (TTYL)

37. Chap LAD
“Chap” is an informal term for “lad, fellow”, especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

38. Lennon partner ONO
Yoko Ono is an avant-garde artist. Ono actually met her future husband John Lennon for the first time while she was preparing her conceptual art exhibit called “Hammer a Nail”. Visitors were encouraged to hammer in a nail into a wooden board, creating the artwork. Lennon wanted to hammer in the first nail, but Ono stopped him as the exhibition had not yet opened. Apparently Ono relented when Lennon paid her an imaginary five shillings to hammer an imaginary nail into the wood.

39. On Soc. Sec. RET
The Social Security Administration (SSA) was set up as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The first person to receive a monthly retirement benefit was Ida May Fuller of Vermont who received her first check for the sum of $22.54 after having contributed for three years through payroll taxes. The New Deal turned out to be a good deal for Ms. Fuller, as she lived to 100 years of age and received a total benefit of almost $23,000, whereas her three years of contributions added up to just $24.75.

43. Places where élèves study ECOLES
French for school is “école”, and French for pupil is “élève”.

46. One of the reindeer DANCER
We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

– Dasher
– Dancer
– Prancer
– Vixen
– Comet
– Cupid
– Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
– Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

47. “The Bell of __”: Longfellow ATRI
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote “The Sicilian’s Tale; The Bell of Atri”, a narrative poem set in the small town of Atri in the Abruzzo region of Italy.

54. Celebrity chef Burrell ANNE
Anne Burrell is co-host of the show “Worst Cooks in America” that airs on the Food Network. Yet another celebrity chef …

56. Nebraska natives OTOS
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Lobsters’ sense organs PALPI
6. Celebs VIPS
10. Flight from the law LAM
13. Poker declaration I’M OUT
14. “__ my guard down” I LET
15. Famille patriarch PERE
16. Form by combining elements SYNTHESIZE
18. One-piece garments, slangily UNIS
19. Rome-based carrier ALITALIA
20. Toll road timesaver E-ZPASS
22. “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” singer CYNDI LAUPER
24. Performer’s supporters FANBASE
28. Guacamole, e.g. DIP
29. Twisty letter ESS
30. Diva delivery ARIA
31. Snoozed SLEPT
33. Fictional voyager SINBAD THE SAILOR
40. Retired New York senator Al D’__ AMATO
41. Rational SANE
42. DDE rival AES
45. Esteemed league member IVY
46. N, in Morse code DASH DOT
49. Sparkle SCINTILLATE
52. Currencies MONEYS
53. Irrationality UNREASON
58. Bravo preceder ALFA
59. Host of the 2015 MLB All-Star Game CINCINNATI
61. Not masc. or fem. NEUT
62. Prod URGE
63. Gold brick INGOT
64. Fashion monogram YSL
65. Jury member PEER
66. Fluff, as hair TEASE

Down
1. Italian capital of its own province PISA
2. Kind of nitrite AMYL
3. Actress Anderson LONI
4. Golf stroke that can be practiced in a hallway PUTT
5. Cornell University city ITHACA
6. Brand that “gets the red out” VISINE
7. Epic with a very big horse ILIAD
8. Refillable candy PEZ
9. Metal playing marbles STEELIES
10. Delaware Valley tribe LENAPE
11. Comes into view ARISES
12. Salutation abbreviation MESSRS
15. Bite-size Chinese appetizer PUPU
17. Tarzan portrayer Ron et al. ELYS
21. Mothers of Invention musician ZAPPA
23. Empty, as threats IDLE
24. Fourth notes FAS
25. “Entourage” agent Gold ARI
26. Diarist Anaïs NIN
27. Rum-soaked cake BABA
31. “The Affair” airer, briefly SHO
32. Morticia, to Gomez TISH
34. Peaceful relations AMITY
35. Annual tennis team event DAVIS CUP
36. Texting farewell TTYL
37. Chap LAD
38. Lennon partner ONO
39. On Soc. Sec. RET
42. The same number AS MANY
43. Places where élèves study ECOLES
44. Wicked … and, homophonically, like five long puzzle answers SINFUL
46. One of the reindeer DANCER
47. “The Bell of __”: Longfellow ATRI
48. “Don’t need to watch that movie again” SEEN IT
50. Spiffy NEAT
51. Fencing attack LUNGE
54. Celebrity chef Burrell ANNE
55. Lengthy story SAGA
56. Nebraska natives OTOS
57. Evening, in ads NITE
60. Anger IRE

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