Day: December 21, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Raises one’s spirits? TOASTS
Did you ever wonder why we use the term “toast” to drink someone’s health? The tradition probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

7. Reasons for seeing double? BIFOCALS
Bifocals were of course invented by Benjamin Franklin.

The noted polymath Benjamin Franklin was one of the US’s Founding Fathers. Franklin was born into a working class family in Boston in 1706. He went on to invent the lightning rod and bifocals. He became the first US Ambassador to France, the US’s Postmaster General and the Governor of Pennsylvania. He played the violin, the harp and the guitar and composed a string quartet. He was also an accomplished chess player, the first to be known by name in the American colonies. The list of the Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments seems to be endless …

16. Easter activities EGG ROLLS
Tradition states that the first Easter Egg Roll in the nation’s capitol was staged by Dolley Madison, wife of President James Madison. The inaugural event was held in 1814, but not at the White House, where it is held today. That first Egg Roll was held on the grounds of the US Capitol. After a new lawn was planted in 1877, Congress passed law making it illegal to use the lawn as a children’s playground (boo! hiss!), and so President Rutherford and his wife Lucy brought the Egg Roll to the White House (hurrah!).

18. Paintball kin LASER TAG
The name “Laser Tag” is really a misnomer as lasers are rarely used in the game. The “guns” actually send out infrared light, and not laser light, which is picked up by infrared detectors worn by the players.

19. __ du Diable ILE
Devil’s Island (île du Diable) lies off the coast of French Guiana in South America. Famously, the island was part of a larger penal system consisting of three prisons on islands and three larger prisons on the mainland. Devil’s Island was used for the internal exile of political prisoners. About 56,000 prisoners were transported there from France, and less than 10% of those prisoners survived their sentence. The most famous detainee was Captain Alfred Dreyfus who was wrongly imprisoned on the island for over ten years before being exonerated.

20. Loser’s word LITE
A person trying to lose weight might keep an eye out for food labeled “lite”.

22. Surgical tube STENT
In the world of medicine and surgery, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, so that it reduces the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

23. Point of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”? TINE
There are three tines on the pitchfork featured in the “American Gothic” painting.

The iconic Grant Wood work called “American Gothic” was painted in 1930. It depicts a farmer holding a pitchfork standing beside his spinster daughter. Grant used his sister as a model for the daughter, and his dentist as a model for the farmer. You can see “American Gothic” on display at the Art Institute of Chicago.

25. Hulu offering NET TV
Hulu.com is a website providing streaming video of full television shows. It is a joint venture of NBC and Disney, and so features a lot of their content. The service is free and is supported by advertising, but you can sign up for a premium subscription and get access to more shows. A lot of younger folks seem to use it a lot …

28. Mythical archer EROS
Eros was the Greek god of love, and was the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Cupid.

33. Marie Antoinette and Louise de Lorraine REINES
“La reine” (the queen) is the wife of “le roi” (the king), in French.

Marie Antoinette was the wife of Louis XVI, the last king of France. Marie Antoinette was the fifteenth of sixteen children born to the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. The marriage to Louis, her second cousin once removed, was arranged while the two were very young. The prospective bride was “handed over” to the French at a border crossing in 1770 and two weeks later she was married to the future king. Marie Antoinette was just 14 years of age at the time, and Louis only a year her senior. Both Louis and Marie Antoinette were doomed to lose their heads courtesy of the guillotine during the French Revolution.

Louise of Lorraine was Queen consort of France from 1575 to 1589, during the reign of King Henry III. Henry was very much infatuated by another lady, Marie of Cleves, and intended to arrange for Marie to be divorced from her husband so that she could become his queen. The king’s plan came to nought though, when Marie died from a lung infection. Henry had met the young Louise of Lorraine some years earlier, and had partly been charmed by her physical resemblance to Marie of Cleves. After Marie died, the French court was surprised that the relatively lowly Louise was chosen as queen consort. Apparently, the couple became very close and were happily married, despite there being no offspring.

35. “It is the __, and Juliet is the sun” EAST
There’s a famous couplet in William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” spoken by Romeo as he spots Juliet above him at a window or on a balcony:

But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.

Romeo continues with:

Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,
Who is already sick and pale with grief,
That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she.
I reckon Romeo is smitten …

36. Org. that employed Julia Child during WWII OSS
Julia Child was of course the American chef who is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public. During WWII, Julia Child joined the OSS (the Office of Strategic Services), the predecessor to the CIA. She worked for the OSS in Washington, Ceylon and China. While in the OSS, she met her husband Paul Child who was also an OSS employee. Paul joined the Foreign Service after the war, and it was his posting to France that created the opportunity for Julie to learn about French cuisine. If you haven’t seen it, I highly, highly recommend the movie “Julie & Julia”, one of the best films of 2009. Meryl Streep does a fabulous job playing the larger-than-life Julia Child.

39. The first one appeared on this date in 1913 CROSSWORD PUZZLE
It is generally accepted that the first crossword puzzle was published as a “Word-Cross” puzzle on December 21, 1913 in the “New York World”. The name “Word-Cross” was changed to “Cross-Word” a few weeks due to a mistake in the typesetting room. The name “crossword” has been used ever since. The “New York World” then started publishing the puzzles every week, and the idea was picked up by other newspapers. By 1920, crosswords were so popular that the New York Public Library reported difficulties in meeting the demand for access to dictionaries and encyclopedias.

42. QVC rival HSN
The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982.

The QVC shopping channel was founded in 1986 in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The company now has operations not only in the US but also in the UK, Germany, Japan and Italy. That means QVC is reaching 200 million households. The QVC acronym stands for Quality, Value and Convenience.

43. Nitpick CARP
The word “carp” used to mean simply “talk” back in the 13th century, with its roots in the Old Norwegian “karpa” meaning “to brag”. A century later the Latin word “carpere” meaning “to slander” influenced the use of “carp” so that it came to mean “find fault with”.

47. Milne mom KANGA
Kanga is a friend of Winnie-the-Pooh, and is a kangaroo. She is the mother of Roo, who appears more frequently in the storyline.

53. Sailor’s port LEFT
The left side of a ship used to be called the “larboard” side, but this was dropped in favor of “port” as pronunciation of “larboard” was easily confused with “starboard”, the right side of the vessel. The term “port” was chosen as it was customary to dock a ship, for loading in port, with the left side of the vessel against the dock.

54. West Indian sorcery OBEAH
“Obeah” is a West Indian term that describes the folk magic practiced in many of the Caribbean islands.

59. Bunk NONSENSE
The word “bunk” is short for “bunkum”, the phonetic spelling of “Buncombe”, which is a county in North Carolina. Supposedly, a state representative made a dull and irrelevant speech that was directed to his home county of Buncombe, bringing the term “bunkum” into the language with the meaning of “nonsense”. The derivative word “debunk” first appeared in a novel by William Woodward in 1923, when he used it to describe “taking the bunk out of things”.

62. Buck’s Fizz cousin MIMOSA
Where I come from, the cocktail known in North America as a mimosa is called a Buck’s Fizz, named after the club where it was introduced in 1921. The mimosa came along a few years later, apparently first being served in the Paris Ritz. If you want to make a mimosa, it’s a 50-50 mix of champagne and orange juice, and it is very tasty …

65. Silvery food fish SMELTS
Smelt is the name given to several types of small silvery fish.

67. “A Writer’s Life” author TALESE
Gay Talese is an American author, famous as a journalist in the sixties at “The New York Times”. His 1981 book “Thy Neighbor’s Wife” is a study of sexuality in America in the early fifties. Apparently, as research for the book, Talese had sexual relations with his own neighbor’s wife for several months at a sexuality resort in Southern California called Sandstone Retreat.

“A Writer’s Life” is the second in series of three autobiographical books by American author Gay Talese, published in 2006.

Down
1. Backyard party decoration TIKI TORCH
A tiki torch is a bamboo torch that’s very commonly used in Tiki culture. Tiki culture is a relatively modern invention dating from the 20th century, and is the experience created in Polynesian-style restaurants. The word “Tiki” is borrowed from Polynesia.

2. Routine fare? ONE-LINERS
Maybe this is a two-liner:

I never wanted to believe that my Dad was stealing from his job as a road worker. But when I got home, all the signs were there.

4. Tosspot SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

Drunks have been referred to as tosspots since the mid-1500s.

6. “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” author STEIN
“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” is a line from a poem called “Sacred Emily” that was written by Gertrude Stein. In the poem, Rose is actually a person. In later writings Stein used the phrase “a rose is a rose is a rose” to mean “things are what they are”.

Gertrude Stein was a great American writer who spent most of her life in France. Gertrude Stein met Alice B. Toklas in Paris in 1907 and the two were life partners until Stein died in 1946. Cleverly, Stein published her own memoirs in 1933 but called the book “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas”. It was to become her best selling title.

8. Market chain based in Chicago IGA
IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance, a chain of supermarkets that extends right around the world. IGA’s headquarters is in Chicago.

9. OT enders, often FGS
A field goal (FG) might end overtime (OT) in a football game.

11. 1519 Yucatán arrival CORTES
Hernán Cortés was the Spanish Conquistador who led the 16th-century expedition to North America that brought an end to the Aztec Empire.

13. The plain in Spain LLANO
“Llano” is the Spanish word for “plain, flat region”.

14. Certain NCOs SSGTS
Staff Sergeant is a rank of Non-Commissioned Officer in the army.

21. French possessive TES
“Tes” is the French word for “your”, when referring to a group of items and when talking to someone with whom you are familiar.

26. Like much folk mus. TRAD
A lot of folk music (mus.) is traditional (trad.).

27. “Roman Holiday” vehicle VESPA
Vespa is a brand of motor scooter originally made in Italy (and now all over the world) by Piaggio. “Vespa” is Italian for “wasp”.

“Roman Holiday” is a must-see romantic comedy released in 1953, starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn plays a royal princess named Ann, who enjoys a day of anonymous freedom while in Rome. “Roman Holiday” was Hepburn’s big break in movies, and she is just lovely in this film …

30. “Home Alone” actor PESCI
Joe Pesci got his big break in movies with a supporting role in “Raging Bull” starring Robert De Niro, earning Pesci an Oscar nomination early in his career. There followed a string of gangster roles played alongside De Niro, namely “Once Upon a Time in America”, “Goodfellas” and “Casino”. But I like Pesci’s comedic acting best of all. He was marvelous in the “Home Alone” films, the “Lethal Weapon” series, and my personal favorite, “My Cousin Vinny”. Pesci gets a mention in the stage musical “Jersey Boys”, which isn’t too surprising as he is one of the show’s producers.

“Home Alone” is a 1990 film starring Macaulay Culkin that has become a Christmas classic. Culkin was nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his performance, the youngest actor ever to be so honored.

34. What a scythe may cut SWATH
The word “swath” comes from the German “Schwad” meaning “a row of cut grass”.

36. Montreal Protocol concern OZONE HOLE
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are the propellants that were once used in aerosols. CFCs make their way up into the ozone layer and trigger a chain reaction that converts ozone (O3) into regular oxygen (O2). That conversion creates “holes” in the ozone layer. Regular O2 is good stuff, but we need O3 to absorb harmful UV radiation raining down on us. CFC is not good stuff …

37. Games with many runs SLUGFESTS
A baseball game in which there are lots of hits and runs is called a “slugfest”.

46. 34th POTUS DDE
Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE) was the 34th President of the United States (POTUS).

48. First name in skating SONJA
Sonja Henie was a World and Olympic Champion figure skater from Norway from the days when “amateur” sports stars were not paid. Henie made up for her lack of income from competing by developing a career in Hollywood. She was one of highest paid stars at the height of her movie career.

50. Epitome of brightness MENSA
If you ever had to learn Latin, as I did, “mensa” was probably taught to you in Lesson One as it’s the word commonly used as an example of a first declension noun. Mensa means “table”. The Mensa organization for folks with high IQs was set up in Oxford, England back in 1946. To become a member, one is required to have an IQ that is in the top 2% of the population.

52. Title loc. in five ’80s films ELM ST
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film, released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” nor “horror” I only learned recently that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

57. Bean named for a capital LIMA
The lima bean is also known as the butter bean. The lima bean was introduced to Europe from the area around Lima, Peru, hence the name.

60. DOD arm NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a branch of the Department of Defence (DOD).

61. Tester or Boxer: Abbr. SEN
Jon Tester has been a US Senator for the state of Montana since 2007. Prior to taking his post in Washington, Tester was president of the state senate, and also worked as a farmer and music teacher.

Barbara Boxer has been a US Senator representing California since 1993. When elected in 1992, she broke the record for the most popular votes in a US Senate election, receiving almost 7 million votes.

63. Tillis of country MEL
Mel Tillis is a country singer who had most of hits in the seventies. Notably, Tillis has a speech impediment, but this does not affect his singing at all.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Raises one’s spirits? TOASTS
7. Reasons for seeing double? BIFOCALS
15. Rapt INTO IT
16. Easter activities EGG ROLLS
17. Whistler, at times KETTLE
18. Paintball kin LASER TAG
19. __ du Diable ILE
20. Loser’s word LITE
22. Surgical tube STENT
23. Point of Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”? TINE
25. Hulu offering NET TV
28. Mythical archer EROS
29. Ahead ON TOP
31. Headache cause STRESS
33. Marie Antoinette and Louise de Lorraine REINES
35. “It is the __, and Juliet is the sun” EAST
36. Org. that employed Julia Child during WWII OSS
39. The first one appeared on this date in 1913 CROSSWORD PUZZLE
42. QVC rival HSN
43. Nitpick CARP
44. Deprive fraudulently, in slang ACE OUT
45. Figure-hugging FITTED
47. Milne mom KANGA
48. “Just the __, …” SAME
51. Host HORDE
53. Sailor’s port LEFT
54. West Indian sorcery OBEAH
56. Didn’t recover from a trip? FELL
58. Bit of a chuckle HEE
59. Bunk NONSENSE
62. Buck’s Fizz cousin MIMOSA
64. “Hold your horses!” JUST A SEC!
65. Silvery food fish SMELTS
66. Pitched AT A SLANT
67. “A Writer’s Life” author TALESE

Down
1. Backyard party decoration TIKI TORCH
2. Routine fare? ONE-LINERS
3. Care ATTENTION
4. Tosspot SOT
5. Cultivate TILL
6. “A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” author STEIN
7. Finish a 39-Across without a single mistake, e.g. BE LETTER-PERFECT
8. Market chain based in Chicago IGA
9. OT enders, often FGS
10. Crops of the pick? ORES
11. 1519 Yucatán arrival CORTES
12. Doctor ALTER
13. The plain in Spain LLANO
14. Certain NCOs SSGTS
21. French possessive TES
24. Ages EONS
26. Like much folk mus. TRAD
27. “Roman Holiday” vehicle VESPA
30. “Home Alone” actor PESCI
32. Unable to go further STUCK
34. What a scythe may cut SWATH
36. Montreal Protocol concern OZONE HOLE
37. Games with many runs SLUGFESTS
38. Calm SET AT EASE
40. “For here __ go?” OR TO
41. Fervor ZEAL
45. Big spreads FEASTS
46. 34th POTUS DDE
48. First name in skating SONJA
49. In the neighborhood of ABOUT
50. Epitome of brightness MENSA
52. Title loc. in five ’80s films ELM ST
55. Cure HEAL
57. Bean named for a capital LIMA
60. DOD arm NSA
61. Tester or Boxer: Abbr. SEN
63. Tillis of country MEL

Return to top of page