Day: April 11, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Journalist Paula ZAHN
Paula Zahn has worked as a journalist and news anchor with ABC, NBC, Fox News and CNN. She is currently the host of a true crime show on the Discovery Channel called “On the Case with Paula Zahn”. Outside of her work on television, Zahn is an accomplished cellist and has even played at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra.

10. Silo occupant, briefly ICBM
An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with the range necessary to cross between continents. Being ballistic (as opposed to a cruise missile) an ICBM is guided during the initial launch phase, but later in flight just relies on thrust and gravity to arrive at its target. It is defined as intercontinental as it has a range greater than 3,500 miles. ICBMs are really only used for delivering nuclear warheads. Scary stuff …

14. Place to practice pliés BARRE
A “barre” is a handrail used by ballet dancers for warm-up exercises and to provide support when practicing certain moves.

]The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent.

15. Arab League member OMAN
The Arab League was formed in 1945 in Cairo with six founding members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria. As a result of events during the 2011 Arab Spring, the Arab League has suspended Syria’s membership.

16. __ Tea Latte: Starbucks offering CHAI
Chai is a drink made from spiced black tea, honey and milk, with “chai” being the Hindi word for “tea”. We often called tea “a cup of char” growing up in Ireland, with “char” being our slang word for tea, derived from “chai”.

19. “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” composer KERN
“Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” is a show tune classic written by Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach for their operetta “Roberta”, first performed in 1933. There was a famous cover version of “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” released by the Platters in 1958 that reached number one in the charts.

21. Wonder Woman accessory TIARA
Wonder Woman first appeared in print in 1941, in a publication from DC Comics. As she was created during WWII, Wonder Woman’s first foes were the axis powers. In the less realistic world her biggest foe was and still is Ares, a “baddie” named for the Greek mythological figure.

25. Kindle download that’s too good to delete? E-BOOK KEEPER (“E” + “bookkeeper”)
I finally bought myself a Kindle Fire HD not too long ago. I’ve started reading e-books for the first time in my life. I’ve always been behind the times …

27. Like some felonies CLASS A
Under US federal law, offenses can be divided into felonies, misdemeanors and infractions. Felonies can be further divided into classes, A through E. Each class of offense has a maximum prison term defined. For example, a class A offense has a maximum of life imprisonment (or death). A class E offense can be punished with a maximum of 5 years in jail.

29. Seuss pond-ruling reptile YERTLE
“Yertle the Turtle” is a story by Dr. Seuss. The book is noted for the inclusion of the word “burp”, which back in 1958 when it was published, was considered to be vulgar. But no one seemed to mind!

30. Ready for FedEx, perhaps BOXED
FedEx began operations in 1973 as Federal Express, but now operates very successfully under it’s more catchy abbreviated name. Headquartered in Memphis with its “SuperHub” at Memphis International Airport, FedEx is the world’s largest airline in terms of tons of freight flown. And due to the presence of FedEx, Memphis Airport has the largest-volume cargo operation of any airport worldwide.

31. Yahoo BOOR
Yahoos were brutish creatures introduced by Irish author Jonathan Swift in “Gulliver’s Travels”. Their savage, slovenly ways gave rise of the use of “yahoo” in English to describe a lout or Neanderthal.

34. Only 20th-century president whose three distinct initials are in alphabetical order HST
The initial “S” in the middle of the name Harry S. Truman (HST) doesn’t stand for any name. The future-president was named “Harry” in honor of his mother’s brother Harrison “Harry” Young. The initial “S” was chosen in honor of young Harry’s two grandfathers: Anderson S-hipp Truman and S-olomon Young.

35. Origami tablet? IPAD OF PAPER (“I” + “pad of paper”)
Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

39. Common HDTV feature LCD
Liquid crystal display (LCD)

42. French royal REINE
“La reine” (the queen) is the wife of “le roi” (the king), in French.

45. California city on Humboldt Bay EUREKA
Eureka, California is the largest city on West Coast between San Francisco and Portland. It is a port city lying on Humboldt Bay that was settled by Europeans in 1850. Gold was discovered nearby, and this led to the settlement taking the name “Eureka”, which means “I’ve found it!” in Greek.

54. Places for pews NAVES
In large Christian churches, the nave is the main approach to the altar, where most of the congregation are seated.

A pew is a bench in a church, usually with a high back. The original pews were raised and sometimes enclosed seats in the church used by women and important men or families. “Pew” comes from the Old French “puie” meaning “balcony, elevation”.

55. Places for sweaters? SAUNAS
As my Finnish-American wife will tell you, “sauna” is a Finnish word, and is correctly pronounced “sow-nah” (with “sow” as in the female pig).

62. Jeanne __ D’ARC
Joan of Arc (also “Jeanne d’Arc”, her birth name in French) led the French Army successfully into battle a number of times during the Hundred Years War with England. When she was eventually captured, Joan was tried in Rouen, the seat of the occupying English government in France at that time. There she was burned at the stake having been found guilty of heresy. Joan of Arc was canonized some 600 years later, in 1920, and is now one of the patron saints of France.

64. Inventor Howe ELIAS
Elias Howe was an American inventor. Howe wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of a sewing machine, but he was the first to develop one that was functional.

66. Bellicose god ARES
The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos, Deimos and Eros. The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

Down
1. TV Guide abbr. TBA
To be advised (TBA)

2. McRae of the ’70s-’80s Royals HAL
Hal McRae is former left fielder who played for the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals. McRae also managed the Royals after he retired, from 1991 to 1994. His son Brian McRae also played for the Royals.

3. Ocean State sch. URI
The University of Rhode Island (URI) was first chartered as an agricultural school, back in 1888. URI’s main campus today is located in the village of Kingston.

Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State, largely because about 14% of the state’s area is made up of ocean bays and inlets.

4. Richie’s mom, to Fonzie MRS C
In the great sitcom “Happy Days”, the Fonz liked to address Richie Cunningham’s mother as “Mrs. C”. In turn, Mrs. Marion Cunningham addressed the Fonz as “Arthur”.

5. National Institutes of Health home BETHESDA
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is a research facility that is primarily located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIH is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.

6. Don Diego de la Vega’s alter ego ZORRO
The character Zorro was created by Johnston McCulley in 1919 for a series of stories and pulp fiction. The name “Zorro” is the secret identity of a Spanish colonial nobleman called Don Diego de la Vega. “Zorro” is Spanish for “fox”.

8. Czech diacritical HACEK
A “háček” is a diacritic shaped like an inverted hat. Also called a “caron”, it is used particularly in Baltic and Slavic languages.

A diacritic mark is added to a letter to indicate that it has a special phonetic sound. Examples of diacritic marks are the tilde above the n in Spanish words like “piñata”, and the cedilla under the c in French words like “façade”.

12. Crude containers BARRELS
The volume of one oil barrel is equivalent to 42 US gallons. A barrel is correctly abbreviated to “bbl”. Barrels aren’t really used for transporting crude oil anymore. Instead, oil moves in bulk through pipelines and in tankers. “Barrel” is just a quantity these days.

13. Muezzin’s tower MINARET
A minaret is an architectural feature of Islamic mosques, a tall tower with an onion-shaped crown that is used for the call to prayer.

A muezzin is someone responsible for leading prayer in a mosque. The muezzin is also the man who recites the Adhan, the call to prayer, at designated times each day.

18. Early sunscreen ingredient PABA
Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), or now its derivatives, is the “active” ingredient in sunscreens in that it absorbs UV radiation. PABA derivatives are used today as PABA itself fell out of favor due to its tendency to stain clothes and to cause an allergic reaction in some users.

22. Chem. pollutant PCB
Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)

23. “Evil Woman” rock gp. ELO
Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

24. Hacks TAXIDRIVERS
Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave it’s name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxidriver.

26. “The Closer” star Sedgwick KYRA
“The Closer” is a crime drama aired on TNT, with Kyra Sedgwick in the lead role. Sedgwick is married to actor Kevin Bacon.

28. Libra’s mo., perhaps SEP
The constellation of Libra is named for the scales held by the goddess of justice. Libra is the only sign of the zodiac that isn’t named for a living creature.

36. Wee bit o’ Glenlivet, say DRAM
The dram is a confusing unit of measurement, I think. It has one value as an ancient unit of mass, and two different values as a modern unit of mass, another value as a unit of fluid volume, and yet another, varying value as a measure of Scotch whisky!

The famous scotch single malt whiskey is actually called “the Glenlivet”. It is the biggest selling single malt in the US and the second biggest selling single malt in the world (after Glenfiddich).

39. November meteor shower, with “the” LEONIDS
The two most famous meteor showers are the Perseids and Leonids. The Perseid meteor shower is most visible around August 12th each year, and the Leonid meteor shower is most notable around November 17th. The Perseids appear to emanate from the constellation Perseus, and the Leonids from the constellation Leo (hence the names “Perseids” and “Leonids”).

40. Liqueur named for an island CURACAO
The liqueur known as Curaçao comes from the island of Curaçao in the southern Caribbean. The liqueur is usually given artificial coloring to make it suitable for use in exotic cocktails. The common colors used are blue and orange.

43. Once known as NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

44. “The World’s __”: 2013 sci-fi comedy END
“The World’s End” is a 2013 sci-fi movie starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. This is very much a comedy sci-fi, and is the third part of a trilogy starring Pegg and Frost that includes “Shaun of the Dead” (2004) and “Hot Fuzz” (2007).

46. “Romanian Rhapsodies” composer ENESCO
George Enescu (aka Georges Enesco) was a Romanian composer and performer. Enescu’s most popular works are two “Romanian Rhapsodies” (1901-2) and the opera “Oedipe” (1936).

48. One of the Ivies PENN
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) was founded in 1740 by by Benjamin Franklin. Penn was the first school in the country to offer both graduate and undergraduate courses.

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.

50. Fur tycoon ASTOR
John Jacob Astor was the father of the famous American Astor dynasty. He was the country’s first multi-millionaire, making his fortune in the trade of fur, real estate and opium. In today’s terms, it has been calculated that by the time of his death he has accumulated a fortune big enough to make him the fourth wealthiest man in American history (in the company of the likes of Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Bill Gates, Henry Ford and John D. Rockefeller).

58. Thurman of film UMA
Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name “Dbuma”. Uma’s big break in movies came with her starring role in Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 hit “Pulp Fiction”. My favorite Uma Thurman film is the wonderful 1996 romantic comedy “The Truth About Cats and Dogs”.

60. Delt neighbor LAT
The muscles known as the “lats” are the latissimi dorsi, the broadest muscles in the back. “Latissimus” is the Latin for “broadest” and “dorsum” is Latin for “back”.

The deltoid muscle (delt) is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.

61. Superhero symbol ESS
Superman has a big letter S on the front of his costume.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Hitching aid THUMB
6. Journalist Paula ZAHN
10. Silo occupant, briefly ICBM
14. Place to practice pliés BARRE
15. Arab League member OMAN
16. __ Tea Latte: Starbucks offering CHAI
17. Cost to join the elite? A-LIST PRICE (“A” + “list price”)
19. “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” composer KERN
20. Pay for, in a way CHARGE
21. Wonder Woman accessory TIARA
22. Stroke gently PET
25. Kindle download that’s too good to delete? E-BOOK KEEPER (“E” + “bookkeeper”)
27. Like some felonies CLASS A
29. Seuss pond-ruling reptile YERTLE
30. Ready for FedEx, perhaps BOXED
31. Yahoo BOOR
34. Only 20th-century president whose three distinct initials are in alphabetical order HST
35. Origami tablet? IPAD OF PAPER (“I” + “pad of paper”)
39. Common HDTV feature LCD
41. Basic water transport RAFT
42. French royal REINE
45. California city on Humboldt Bay EUREKA
48. Certain allergy sufferer’s bane POLLEN
49. Expert on circular gaskets? O-RING MASTER (“O” + “ringmaster”)
53. Induced LED
54. Places for pews NAVES
55. Places for sweaters? SAUNAS
57. Makes certain of ICES
58. List of reversals? U-TURN TABLE (“U” + “turntable”)
62. Jeanne __ D’ARC
63. Feigned MOCK
64. Inventor Howe ELIAS
65. Fair SO-SO
66. Bellicose god ARES
67. They may be hammered out DENTS

Down
1. TV Guide abbr. TBA
2. McRae of the ’70s-’80s Royals HAL
3. Ocean State sch. URI
4. Richie’s mom, to Fonzie MRS C
5. National Institutes of Health home BETHESDA
6. Don Diego de la Vega’s alter ego ZORRO
7. Pal of 6-Down AMIGO
8. Czech diacritical HACEK
9. Terre Haute-to-South Bend dir. NNE
10. More repulsive ICKIER
11. Event offering superficial pleasure CHEAP THRILL
12. Crude containers BARRELS
13. Muezzin’s tower MINARET
18. Early sunscreen ingredient PABA
21. Tapered support item TEE
22. Chem. pollutant PCB
23. “Evil Woman” rock gp. ELO
24. Hacks TAXIDRIVERS
26. “The Closer” star Sedgwick KYRA
28. Libra’s mo., perhaps SEP
31. Glitzy wrap BOA
32. On vacation OFF
33. Stop wavering OPT
36. Wee bit o’ Glenlivet, say DRAM
37. Apportioned PRORATED
38. Unagi, at a sushi bar EEL
39. November meteor shower, with “the” LEONIDS
40. Liqueur named for an island CURACAO
43. Once known as NEE
44. “The World’s __”: 2013 sci-fi comedy END
46. “Romanian Rhapsodies” composer ENESCO
47. Metric wts. KGS
48. One of the Ivies PENN
50. Fur tycoon ASTOR
51. Ristorante potful SAUCE
52. Iraqis’ neighbors TURKS
56. Word with white or fire SALE
58. Thurman of film UMA
59. Recycling vessel BIN
60. Delt neighbor LAT
61. Superhero symbol ESS

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