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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Stubb was his second mate : AHAB

Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

5 Things attached to spines: Abbr. : PGS

Page (pg.)

8 Blowback : FLAK

“Flak” was originally an acronym standing for the German term for an aircraft defense cannon (FLiegerAbwehrKanone). “Flak” then became used in English as a general term for antiaircraft fire and ultimately a term for verbal criticism, as in “to take flak”.

12 Prep for a launch, in a way : DEBUG

Back in 1947, famed computer programmer Grace Hopper noticed some colleagues fixing a piece of equipment by removing a dead moth from a relay. She remarked that they were “debugging” the system, and so Hopper has been given credit for popularizing the term “bug” in the context of computing.

14 Shell company? : CREW

A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”. And, a scull is also an oar mounted on the stern of a small boat. It’s all very confusing …

15 Concept in holistic medicine : AURA

A holistic approach to medicine emphasizes not only physical symptoms but also social considerations and the environment.

16 Marimba lookalike : VIBRAPHONE

A vibraphone is similar to a xylophone, but it has aluminum instead of wooden bars. They are most commonly seen as part of jazz ensembles.

A marimba is a musical instrument that is somewhat like a large xylophone. It originated in Mexico and … it is the instrument that plays the default ringtone on Apple phones.

23 “Othello” character who laments “Reputation, reputation, reputation! O, I have lost my reputation!” : CASSIO

Michael Cassio is a character in William Shakespeare’s tragedy “Othello”. Cassio is a young lieutenant under the command of the title character. He falls victim to Iago, as the latter plots to ruin Othello.

24 New face at the Academy : PLEBE

A plebe is a freshman in the US military and naval academies. The term “plebe” is probably short for “plebeian”, the name given to someone of the common class in ancient Rome (as opposed to a Patrician). “Pleb” is a shortened version of “plebeian”, and is a term used outside of the military schools.

28 The Alhambra in Spain, for one : PALACE

Alhambra is a magnificent fortress and palace in Granada, Andalusia in the south of Spain. The large complex was completed in the 14th century in the days when the Moors ruled Andalusia.

34 Pie choice : RHUBARB

We can eat the leaf stalks of the rhubarb plant, but not the leaves themselves. The leaves contain oxalic acid and are highly toxic.

36 Blue character in Pixar’s “Inside Out” : SADNESS

“Inside Out” is a 2015 Pixar animated feature film. It’s all about a young girl who relocates with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco. The movie’s action is actually set inside the girl’s head, as five personified emotions deal with the changes she has to face. Those emotions are voiced by:

• Amy Poehler (Joy)
• Phyllis Smith (Sadness)
• Lewis Black (Anger)
• Bill Hader (Fear)
• Mindy Kaling (Disgust)

38 Onetime magazine that covered science fiction : OMNI

I used to enjoy reading the science magazine “OMNI”, a very entertaining yet interesting read. It was founded in 1978 by Kathy Keeton, wife of Bob Guccione, the publisher of “Penthouse”. The print magazine folded in 1995, and a web version continued for a few years, until Keeton passed away in 1998.

41 Acclaimed bandleader who grew up in Spanish Harlem : PUENTE

After serving in the Navy in WWII for three years, musician Tito Puente studied at Juilliard, where he got a great grounding in conducting, orchestration and theory. Puente parlayed this education into a career in Latin Jazz and Mambo. He was known as “El Rey” as well as “The King of Latin Music”.

The Manhattan district of Harlem is sometimes divided into Central Harlem, West Harlem and East Harlem. East Harlem is also known as “Spanish Harlem”.

44 Dances for which girls do the asking, informally : SADIES

Sadie Hawkins is a character in Al Capp’s comic strip “Li’l Abner”. Sadie was in search of a husband and so declared a “Sadie Hawkins Day” in which she chased the local men in a foot race, with marriage as the prize when one was caught. Starting in 1938, Sadie Hawkins Dances were introduced in schools across the US, to which the woman invited the man of her choosing.

48 Moo follower : … SHU

Moo shu pork (also “mu shu pork”) is a traditional dish from northern China, with the main ingredients being shredded pork and scrambled egg. In North America, the dish is served with tortilla-like wrappers that are sometimes referred to as “moo shu pancakes”.

56 Zoetrope creations : ANIMATIONS

A zoetrope is a drum-like device with a series of images on the inside, and slits through which the images can be viewed. As the drum is rotated, the images appear to move when viewed through the slits.

57 Bound for the big stage? : JETE

A jeté is a leap in ballet, with the term “jeté” coming from the French word “jeter” meaning “to throw”. A “jeté en avant” is a “leap to the front”, towards the audience. A “grand jeté” is a long horizontal jump, a split in the air, leaping from one foot to the other.

58 Challenging item for a mover : SOFA

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

60 Locale in a Beatles song : USSR

By the time the Beatles recorded “Back in the U.S.S.R”, they were having a lot of problems working with each other. The song was recorded in 1968, with the band formally dissolving in 1970. Tensions were so great during the recording of “Back in the U.S.S.R” that Ringo Starr actually stormed out saying that he had quit, and the remaining three Beatles made the record without Ringo. Drums were played mainly by Paul McCartney, but there are also drum tracks on the final cut by both George Harrison and John Lennon. Interesting, huh?

Down

1 Remedy after a night out, perhaps : ADVIL

Advil is Wyeth’s brand of ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug.

2 Gardner of “Saturday Night Live” : HEIDI

Comedian and actress Heidi Gardner joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2017.

9 Swedish city where Scandinavia’s first university was founded (1425) : LUND

Lund is a city in Sweden that lies almost at the country’s most southern tip. It is home to Lund University, one of Sweden’s largest schools, and one founded in 1666. I very nearly went to graduate school in Lund, many moons ago …

10 Bizet’s “L’amour est un oiseau rebelle,” for one : ARIA

“L’amour est un oiseau rebelle” is a very popular aria from Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen”, although the aria is often referred to simply as “Habanera”. Lovely stuff …

13 Dystopian sci-fi film of 1997 : GATTACA

“Gattaca” is a science fiction movie starring Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman that was released in 1997. Set in the not-too-distant future, the film describes a society in which potential children are preselected so that they inherit the most desirable traits from their parents. The title “Gattaca” is the space agency featured in the storyline. I saw this one relatively recently, and found it very absorbing …

A dystopia is an imaginary community in which the residents live unhappily and in fear. “Dystopia” is the opposite of “utopia”. One example of such a society is that described by George Orwell in “Nineteen Eighty-Four”. A more contemporary example would be the setting for the novel “The Hunger Games”.

17 Futuristic weapons : PHASERS

A MASER is a device that was around long before LASERs came into the public consciousness. A MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is similar to a LASER, but microwaves are emitted rather than light waves. When the storyline for “Star Trek” was being developed, the writers introduced a weapon called a “phaser”, with the name “phaser” derived from PHoton mASER.

25 ___ Prairie, Minn. : EDEN

The city of Eden Prairie lies just outside downtown Minneapolis. If you live there, congratulations! Eden Prairie was ranked by “Money Magazine” in 2010 as the best place to live in America.

30 Sister of Sol, in myth : LUNA

“Luna” is the Latin word for “moon”, and is the name given to the Roman moon goddess. The Greek equivalent of Luna was Selene. Luna had a temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome but it was destroyed during the Great Fire that raged during the reign of Nero. She also had a temple on the Palatine Hill in which a lamp remained lit, illuminating the night.

32 Cassava product : TAPIOCA

The cassava plant is a woody shrub native to South America grown largely for its carbohydrate-rich tubers. In fact, cassava is the third largest food source of carbohydrates (for humans) in the world. Ordinarily, that carbohydrate is extracted from the plant and dried as flour, and is known as tapioca.

43 Holiday celebrated with lion dancing : TET

The lion dance is a traditional dance in Chinese cultures in which performers move around in an elaborate lion costume. Apparently we Westerners often mistake the lion for a dragon. The Chinese dragon dance does exist, and is similar, but the dancers perform outside of the costume and hold up the dragon on poles.

45 1999 comedy in which Alanis Morissette plays God : DOGMA

Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After releasing two pop albums in Canada, in 1995 she recorded her first album to be distributed internationally. Called “Jagged Little Pill”, it is a collection of songs with more of a rock influence. The album was a huge success, the highest-selling album of the 1990s, and the highest-selling debut album by any artist at any time (selling over 30 million units).

47 Asian capital WSW of 48-Down : LHASA
48 Asian capital ENE of 47-Down : SEOUL

Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet, with the name “Lhasa” translating 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.

Seoul is the capital city of South Korea. The Seoul National Capital Area is home to over 25 million people and is the second largest metropolitan area in the world, second only to Tokyo, Japan.

49 Bill with Ben Franklin on it, slangily : HUNDO

Benjamin Franklin’s portrait is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot, C-note, benjamin”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous error in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.

51 Korea’s national drink : SOJU

Soju is a Korean liquor traditionally made from rice, although other starches are also used these days. The name “sujo” translates literally as “burned liquor”.

52 Estadio exclamations : OLES

In Spain, one might hear a shout of “Olé!” in “un estadio” (a stadium).

54 Actress Kunis : MILA

Mila Kunis is a Ukrainian-born, American actress who plays Jackie Burkhart on “That ’70s Show”. Fans of the cartoon series “Family Guy” might recognize her voicing the Meg Griffin character. In ”Black Swan”, Kunis plays a rival ballet dancer to the character played by Natalie Portman. In her personal life, Kunis dated Macaulay Culkin for 8 years, but married Ashton Kutcher, her co-star from “That 70s Show”, in 2015.