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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Gossiped-about duo : ITEM

An unmarried couple known to be involved with each other might appear in the gossip columns. This appearance as “an item” in the papers led to the use of “item” to refer to such a couple, but only since the very early seventies.

5A River whose southernmost source is found in Burundi : NILE

Depending on definition, the Nile is regarded generally as the longest river on the planet. The Nile forms from two major tributaries, the White Nile and the Blue Nile, which join together near Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. From Khartoum the Nile flows north, traveling almost entirely through desert making it central to life for those living along its length.

9A Animal that expresses anger by spitting : LLAMA

Many female mammals lick off their newborn. That’s not an option for llamas as their tongues only reach out of their mouths about half an inch. Instead, llama dams nuzzle their young and hum to them.

16A Traditional Vietnamese garment whose name means “long shirt” : AO DAI

The áo dài is a national garment in Vietnam that can be worn by both men and women. It is a long tunic, split at both sides, that is usually worn over silk trousers.

17A 2000 Eminem single with lines from his “biggest fan” : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.

18A St. Benedict, for one : MONK

A member of the Benedictine Order is a monk who follows the precepts laid down for religious life by St. Benedict of Nursia. The Benedictine “way” is a moderate path, considered neither zealous nor institutionally formulaic.

24A Fish more formally known as a batomorph : RAY

Rays are fish with flattened bodies that have gill slits on their underside. There are many, many species of ray, including stingrays and skates. Rays are close relatives of sharks, with both being cartilaginous fish, as opposed to bony fish.

25A Capital of Portugal, to natives : LISBOA

Lisbon (“Lisboa” in Portuguese) is the capital of Portugal. It is the westernmost capital city in continental Europe, and indeed is the westernmost large city on the continent. Lisbon is also the oldest city in Western Europe, and was founded hundreds of years before London, Paris and Rome.

29A Crown of jewels : DIADEM

A diadem is a type of crown that is worn as a sign of royalty. The original diadem wasn’t made of metal and was simply an embroidered silk ribbon that was worn by a king as a symbol of his authority.

33A One of four seen on Leonardo da Vinci’s “Vitruvian Man” : ARM

You know that drawing by Leonardo da Vinci, of a man with his arms outstretched, confined in a circle? Well, that drawing is known as the Vitruvian Man. Da Vinci was trying to illustrate the thesis by Roman architect Vitruvius, that pleasing architectural proportions were related to proportions found in the human body.

38A Move like a fox : SKULK

To skulk is to move furtively or in a stealthy manner. The verb “to skulk” is of Scandinavian origin. It is a relative of the Norwegian “skulke”, Danish “skulke” and Swedish “skolka” that all have a similar meaning.

41A John from Britain : ELTON

“Elton John” is the stage name of English singer and pianist Reginald Dwight. John is an avid football (soccer) supporter, and is especially enthusiastic about Watford Football Club, which was his local team growing up. After he achieved financial success, John was able to purchase Watford FC, and owned the club from 1976 to 1987, and again from 1997 until 2002.

46A Legal boundaries? : ELS

The word “legal” is bounded by letters L (els).

47A Kind of cat with a black-and-white coat : TUXEDO

A tuxedo cat is one with a white and black coat. Specifically, the coloring is a solid black coat with white fur on the paws, belly, chest, throat and sometimes the chin.

50A More melted, as a marshmallow : GOOIER

Marshmallow was originally made from a paste from the root of the mallow plant. The mallow plant grows near salt marshes, and is sometimes called the “marsh mallow”. Hence the name of the confection. Interesting, but unexpected …

62A “Beware the ___ of a patient man”: John Dryden : FURY

John Dryden was a highly influential poet and playwright in the late 1600s. He came from good literary stock, and was a cousin once-removed of Jonathan Swift. Dryden was made England’s first Poet Laureate, in 1668.

64A Increase, as interest : PIQUE

Our term “pique” meaning “fit of ill feeling” is a French word meaning “prick, sting, irritation”.

66A Pupil’s surroundings : IRIS

The pupil of the eye is the hole located in the center of the iris through which light enters the retina. The term “pupil” came into English via French from the Latin “pupilla”, which is the diminutive form of “pupa” meaning “girl, doll”. The term came about due to the tiny doll-like image that one can see of oneself when looking into the center of another’s eyes.

67A Environmentalist Adams : ANSEL

Long before he was a world-famous photographer, Ansel Adams was a highly talented classical pianist. He trained seriously from the age of 12 with the intention of becoming a concert pianist, and for many years he earned a living by giving piano lessons. It wasn’t until around 1930, when he was in his late 20s, that he finally decided to devote his life to photography instead of music.

68A Site for many stars? : YELP

yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”.

Down

2D Floor covering in a Japanese tearoom : TATAMI

A tatami is a traditional mat used on floors in Japan. The term “tatami” comes from the Japanese word “tatamu” meaning “to fold”, reflecting the fact that the mat used to be folded up for storage. Modern tatami mats are thick (approx. 2 inches), heavy, and rigid modules with a compressed rice-straw core. They are no longer designed to be folded.

4D Stole material : MINK

There are two species of mink extant: the European Mink and the American Mink. There used to be a Sea Mink which was much larger than its two cousins, but it was hunted to extinction (for its fur) in the late 1800s. American Minks are farmed over in Europe for fur, and animal rights activists have released many of these animals into the wild when raiding mink farms. As a result the European Mink population has declined due to the presence of its larger and more adaptable American cousin.

A stole is a narrow shawl. It can be made of quite light decorative material, but also can be heavier if made of fur.

6D Something tickled on a piano : IVORY

The traditional materials used for the manufacture of piano keys were ebony (black) and ivory (white). Ebony is sometimes still used for the black keys. The white keys can be made by covering a lightweight wood like spruce with white plastic.

8D Philanthropic group with a clock face in its logo : ELKS

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The list of US presidents that have been members of the BPOE includes Presidents Eisenhower, Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford.

9D The so-called “Pineapple Isle” : LANAI

Lanai is the sixth largest of the Hawaiian Islands. Lanai was first spotted by Europeans just a few days after Captain Cook was killed on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1779. In 1922, the Hawaiian Pineapple Company bought the whole island of Lanai and turned most of it into the world’s largest pineapple plantation. Since then, Lanai has been known as “The Pineapple Island”. Today, 98% of the island is owned by Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, and 2% is owned by the State of Hawaii.

13D ChatGPT, Claude, etc. : AIS

ChatGPT is an advanced AI language model developed by OpenAI. It uses a vast amount of text data to understand and generate human-like text responses to a wide range of prompts and questions. You can ask it to write stories, explain complex topics, translate languages, or even help you with coding.

22D Muse of history : CLIO

Clio, the muse of history, held a prominent place among the nine muses of Greek mythology. Often depicted with a scroll or tablet in hand, she presided over the recording and interpretation of past events. It was Clio who inspired historians, poets, and other writers to document and recount the deeds of mortals and the stories of gods. Her name comes from the Greek word “kleio” meaning “to celebrate, make famous”, reflecting her role in immortalizing achievements and preserving the memory of the past for future generations.

30D “Fountain of Milk Spreading Itself Uselessly on Three Shoes” painter, 1945 : DALI

The famous surrealist Salvador Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain. I had the privilege of visiting the Dalí Museum in Figueres some years ago, just north of Barcelona. If you ever get the chance, it’s a “must-see” as it really is a quite magnificent building with a fascinating collection of art.

32D “Changed my mind,” in editing notation : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

36D Hip-knee connectors : FEMURS

The thigh bone, the femur, is the longest and strongest bone in the human body.

37D Source of linseed oil : FLAX

Flax is mainly grown for its seeds (to make oil) and for its fibers. Flax fibers have been used to make linen for centuries, certainly back as far as the days of the ancient Egyptians. Flax fibers are soft and shiny, resembling blond hair, hence the term “flaxen hair”.

38D It’s all a haze : SMOG

The word “smog” is a portmanteau coined in 1905 by Dr. Henry Antoine Des Voeux to describe a mixture of smoke and fog, initially referring to the thick, polluted air in London. The infamous “Great Smog of London” in December 1952 caused thousands of deaths and led to significant environmental legislation.

43D Model Miranda : KERR

Miranda Kerr is an Australian model who rose to prominence as one of the Victoria’s Secret Angels. She used to be married to English actor Orlando Bloom, with whom she had her first son. Since 2017, she has been married to Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel.

48D Large-eyed African antelope with a duplicative name : DIK-DIK

Dik-diks are a species of small antelopes that are native to eastern and southern Africa. They are usually less than 15 inches tall at the shoulder. The name “dik-dik” is onomatopoeic, and mimics the sound made by the female of the species when they feel threatened.

52D Neighbor of Ricky and Lucy, on 1950s TV : ETHEL

In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz play Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends are also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertzes are played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

58D End piece? : OBIT

Our word “obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”. The Latin term was used for “record of the death of a person”, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

59D Belinda’s business on “The White Lotus” : SPA

“The White Lotus” is a comedy-drama TV series about the fictional White Lotus chain of resort hotels. The first season is set in Hawaii, and was filmed there during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant the cast and crew were effectively trapped at the Four Seasons Resort Maui for the entire shoot. A white lotus flower is symbolic of purity and innocence. Most of the guests and staff at “The White Lotus” are far from pure and innocent. Very enjoyable television, I think …

61D Some test figs. : IQS

Although it is correct these days to say that the abbreviation IQ stands for “intelligence quotient”, the term was actually coined by German psychologist William Stern, and so is actually an abbreviation for the German “Intelligenz-Quotient”.