Day: December 18, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Poet whose work was read in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” AUDEN
The noted poet W. H. Auden was born and raised in England, but eventually became a US citizen. As well as hundreds of poems, Auden also wrote librettos for operas, including Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress”.

W. H. Auden’s poem “Funeral Blues” is also known by its first line “Stop all the clocks”. It garnered a lot of attention in recent years as it features prominently in the movie “Four Weddings and a Funeral”, where it is recited at “the funeral”.

10. Zantac target ACID
Zantac is a brand name for the drug called ranitidine, which is used to inhibit the production of stomach acid. Ranitidine was introduced in 1981, and by 1988 was the biggest-selling, prescription drug in the world.

17. Andrea __: ill-fated ocean liner DORIA
The SS Andrea Doria was an Italian ocean liner with the home port of Genoa. She was named after Andrea Doria, a 16th-century general from the city. As always seems to be the case with ships that go down, the Andrea Doria was the pride of the fleet and was deemed to be the biggest, fastest and safest of Italy’s ships in the fifties. Her end came in 1956 when she collided with the MS Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket Island. Such was the damage to the side of the vessel that she quickly and severely listed to starboard, rendering half her lifeboats unusable. Nonetheless, 1,660 crew and passengers were rescued by vessels that came to her aid. Only 46 lives were lost, mainly in the collision itself. The Andrea Doria capsized and sank eleven hours after the collision.

18. Harp constellation LYRA
Lyra (meaning “harp”) is a constellation that includes the star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The constellation Lyra is surrounded by the neighboring constellations of Draco, Hercules, Vulpecula and Cygnus.

19. Assist in a bad way ABET
The word “abet” comes into English from the Old French “abeter” meaning “to bait” or “to harass with dogs” (it literally means “to make bite”). This sense of encouraging something bad to happen morphed into our modern usage of “abet” meaning to aid or encourage someone in a crime.

20. “Oh, baby, that’s what I like!” oldie CHANTILLY LACE
“Chantilly Lace” is a rock and roll classic that was released by the Big Bopper in 1958. The song depicts one side of a telephone conversation between a young man and his girlfriend. “Chantilly Lace” inspired an “answer” song depicting the other side of the conversation. Called “That Makes It”, the “answer” was released by Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield in 1965.

23. Dramatist Coward NOEL
Noel Coward was the most flamboyant of personalities, a playwright, composer and actor. Coward worked in a remarkable range of genres. He wrote the wonderfully airy play “Blithe Spirit”, as well as the Oscar-winning WWII naval drama “In Which We Serve”. A couple of his more famous songs, many of which he performed himself in cabaret, were “Mad Dogs and Englishmen” and “London Pride”.

33. Corp. bigwig CEO
Chief executive officer (CEO)

34. Seventh Greek letter ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.

38. Lhasa native TIBETAN
Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet, and the name “Lhasa” translates as “place of the gods”. However, Lhasa used to be called Rasa, a name that translates into the less auspicious “goat’s place”. Lhasa was also once called the “Forbidden City” due to its inaccessible location high in the Himalayas and a traditional hostility exhibited by residents to outsiders. The “forbidden” nature of the city has been reinforced since the Chinese took over Tibet in the early 1950s as it has been difficult for foreigners to get permission to visit Lhasa.

45. Site of the first Winter Olympics CHAMONIX, FRANCE
The first Winter Olympic Games was held in 1924, in Chamonix, France. The Winter and Summer Games were held in the same year until 1992, after which they were staggered so that we have an Olympic Games every two years.

50. 1950s conflict zone KOREA
The Korean War took place from 1950 to 1953 and was fought between the Republic of Korea (the South) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (the North). The war came about because, at the end of WWII, Korea was divided by the allies along the 38th Parallel, with the Soviet Union controlling territory north of the line, and the US occupying the south. North Korean troops invaded the south in 1950, which started the armed conflict. An armistice was signed in 1953 which restored the border, but there are outbreaks of fighting to this very day, as we all well know.

51. Showy perennial IRIS
Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”.

61. Acting award OBIE
The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies are presented annually and the recipients are chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper.

63. “Great” dog DANE
The Great Dane dog of isn’t actually from Denmark, and rather is a German breed.

Down
3. The first Mrs. Copperfield DORA
Dora Spenlow is a first wife of the title character in the Charles Dickens novel “David Copperfield”. Dickens named his own daughter Dora Annie Dickens, after Ms. Spenlow.

4. The Auld Sod ERIN
“Auld Sod” (meaning simply “old sod”) is a familiar term for Ireland, especially when referring to the country as one’s homeland from abroad. ‘Tis true …

6. Early Talmudic sage HILLEL
Hillel the Elder was an important Jewish religious leader and scholar. Two popular sayings are attributed to Hillel:

– If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, then what am ‘I’? And if not now, when?
– That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn.

8. Small fishing boat DORY
A dory is a small boat, around 20 feet long with a shallow draft, a flat bottom and a sharp bow. Dories are commonly used for fishing.

9. Tel Aviv airline EL AL
The full name of Israel’s second largest city is Tel Aviv-Yafo. Tel Aviv translates into “Spring Mound”, a name chosen in 1910.

10. Geronimo’s tribe APACHE
Cochise and Geronimo were perhaps the two most famous Apache leaders to resist intrusions by the European Americans in 1800s. Both lived lives full of conflict, but both also lived relatively long lives. Cochise eventually entered into a treaty putting an end to the fighting, and retired onto a new reservation. Cochise died of natural causes in 1874, at the age of 69. Geronimo surrendered, and spent years as a prisoner of war. He spent his last years as a celebrity, and even rode in the inaugural parade for President Theodore Roosevelt. Geronimo died of pneumonia in 1909 at the age of 79.

11. Like the Borg race in “Star Trek” spin-offs CYBERNETIC
“Cyborg” is an abbreviation for “cybernetic organism”, a being that is made up of both organic and synthetic parts.

13. City of Lions and Tigers: Abbr. DET
The Detroit Lions are the NFL team that plays home games at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. The team was founded way back in 1929 as the Portsmouth Spartans from Portsmouth, Ohio. The Spartans joined the NFL during the Great Depression as other franchises collapsed. However, the Spartans couldn’t command a large enough gate in Portsmouth so the team was sold and relocated to Detroit in 1934.

The origins of the Detroit Tigers baseball team’s name seems a little unclear. One story is that it was taken from the Detroit Light Guard military unit who were known as “The Tigers”. The Light Guard fought with distinction during the Civil War and in the Spanish-American War. Sure enough, when the Detroit baseball team went into the Majors they were formally given permission to use “The Tigers” name by the Detroit Light Guard.

21. Lithium __ battery ION
Lithium-ion and nickel-cadmium are types of rechargeable batteries.

22. Explosives regulating org. ATF
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is today part of the Department of Justice. The ATF has its roots in the Department of Treasury dating back to 1886 when it was known as the Bureau of Prohibition. “Explosives” was added to the ATF’s name when the bureau was moved under the Department of Justice as part of the reorganization called for in the Homeland Security Act of 2002.

25. Fuel number OCTANE
The difference between a premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. The octane rating is measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. it’s resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”.

27. Thread-spinning Fate CLOTHO
The three Fates of Greek mythology were white-robed deities, and were also called the Moirai. The three Fates were Clotho the spinner, Lachesis the allotter and Atropos the unturnable.

31. Ornamental fish KOI
Koi are also called Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

40. Yet, to the Bard E’EN
William Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English midlands.

43. Get rusty OXIDIZE
Rust is iron oxide.

46. Outfielder Bob of the 1920s Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row” MEUSEL
Bob Meusel was a baseball player active in the twenties and thirties, most famously with the New York Yankees. Meusel was a tall man, and so had the nickname “Long Bob”. Long Bob had an older brother called Irish Meusel who played mainly for the New York Giants around the same time.

The New Yankee’s baseball team of the late twenties had a particularly successful core group of batters. That line-up was nicknamed “Murderers’ Row”. The most famous “Murderers’ Row” played with the 1927 Yankees, and was made up of:

– Earle Combs
– Mark Koenig
– Babe Ruth
– Lou Gehrig
– Bob Meusel
– Tony Lazzeri

49. Guitarist Ocasek RIC
Ric Ocasek is an American musician of Czech heritage, and was the lead vocalist of the rock band known as the Cars.

55. Gallic girlfriend AMIE
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

The Gauls were a Celtic race, with Gaul covering what is now known as France and Belgium.

56. The Darlings’ dog NANA
In J.M. Barrie’s play and novel about Peter Pan, Peter takes takes the Wendy Darling and her two brothers on adventures on the island of Neverland. Back in the real world, the Darling children are taken care of by a nanny, a Newfoundland dog called Nana. It is Nana who takes Peter Pan’s shadow away from him as he tries to escape from the Darling house one night.

59. High-tech organizer, briefly PDA
A device like perhaps an iPhone, Droid, or Treo can be termed a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

60. Shaver LAD
“Little shaver” is a familiar term for a child or a baby, and “shaver” a term for an older child, especially a boy.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Poet whose work was read in “Four Weddings and a Funeral” AUDEN
6. Animal skin HIDE
10. Zantac target ACID
14. Mowing the lawn, e.g. CHORE
15. Venerated one IDOL
16. Ritual heap PYRE
17. Andrea __: ill-fated ocean liner DORIA
18. Harp constellation LYRA
19. Assist in a bad way ABET
20. “Oh, baby, that’s what I like!” oldie CHANTILLY LACE
23. Dramatist Coward NOEL
24. Beat rapidly THROB
27. Barrier with built-in footholds CHAIN-LINK FENCE
32. “Cut me some __!” SLACK
33. Corp. bigwig CEO
34. Seventh Greek letter ETA
35. Puts the past in the past MOVES ON
38. Lhasa native TIBETAN
41. Ingested ATE
42. Romance WOO
44. They’re pulled by coachmen REINS
45. Site of the first Winter Olympics CHAMONIX, FRANCE
50. 1950s conflict zone KOREA
51. Showy perennial IRIS
52. What a long shot has, and, literally, what 20-, 27- and 45-Across each has OUTSIDE CHANCE
59. Something extra PLUS
61. Acting award OBIE
62. Net receipts? EMAIL
63. “Great” dog DANE
64. Make fun of RAZZ
65. Tells the cops everything SINGS
66. Tacked on: Abbr. ADDL
67. Arboretum growth TREE
68. Make fun of TEASE

Down
1. Outlet letters AC/DC
2. “Here comes trouble!” UH-OH!
3. The first Mrs. Copperfield DORA
4. The Auld Sod ERIN
5. Fastidious folk NEATNIKS
6. Early Talmudic sage HILLEL
7. Charmingly rustic IDYLLIC
8. Small fishing boat DORY
9. Tel Aviv airline EL AL
10. Geronimo’s tribe APACHE
11. Like the Borg race in “Star Trek” spin-offs CYBERNETIC
12. Explosive state IRE
13. City of Lions and Tigers: Abbr. DET
21. Lithium __ battery ION
22. Explosives regulating org. ATF
25. Fuel number OCTANE
26. Vegan protein source BEANS
27. Thread-spinning Fate CLOTHO
28. Keep available HAVE AROUND
29. Pitcher you can count on ACE
30. Angler’s scoop NET
31. Ornamental fish KOI
32. Suggest the presence (of) SMACK
36. Take responsibility for OWN
37. “__ don’t”: terse denial NO I
39. Most impertinent BRASHEST
40. Yet, to the Bard E’EN
43. Get rusty OXIDIZE
46. Outfielder Bob of the 1920s Yankees’ “Murderers’ Row” MEUSEL
47. Muffin grain OAT
48. Citrus grower’s concern FREEZE
49. Guitarist Ocasek RIC
53. Variety SORT
54. Construction beam I-BAR
55. Gallic girlfriend AMIE
56. The Darlings’ dog NANA
57. Short smokes? CIGS
58. “When all __ fails …” ELSE
59. High-tech organizer, briefly PDA
60. Shaver LAD

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