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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4A Directive on an octagon : STOP

The first stop sign appeared in Detroit in 1915, though it looked quite different than today. It was a simple square with black letters on a white background. In 1923, the Mississippi Valley Association of State Highway Departments recommended the octagonal shape we know today. This helped drivers recognize it from a distance or even from behind. Reflective materials were added in 1935 for better nighttime visibility, and the red color with white lettering was standardized in 1954 to make it even more noticeable.

17A Kleenex? : TEAR SHEET

Even though “Kleenex” is sometimes used today as a generic term for a tissue, it is a brand name owned by Kimberly-Clark. Kleenex facial tissues came about after WW1. The material used in the tissue had been developed as a replacement for cotton that was in high demand as surgical tissue during the war. The material developed was called “Cellucotton” and was used in gas mask filters. It was first sold as a facial tissue under the name “Kleenex” in 1924.

20A Navel type : INNIE

The navel is essentially the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

21A Fashion model Hadid : GIGI

Gigi Hadid is a model from Los Angeles who started her career as a child model for the brand Baby Guess. Hadid has had an on-again, off-again relationship with British singer Zayn Malik since 2015, and they had a child together in 2020.

23A Prez with a famous “like” button : IKE

“I Like Ike” was a political slogan that originated with the grassroots movement to get Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) to run for president in the 1952 presidential election.

30A Coding pioneer Lovelace : ADA

Ada Lovelace’s full name and title was Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace. She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron, the poet. Lovelace was fascinated by mathematics and wrote about the work done by Charles Babbage in building his groundbreaking mechanical computer. In some of her notes, she proposed an algorithm for Babbage’s machine to compute Bernoulli numbers. This algorithm is recognized by many as the world’s first computer program and so Lovelace is sometimes called the first “computer programmer”. There is a computer language called “Ada” that was named in her honor. The Ada language was developed from 1977 to 1983 for the US Department of Defense.

36A Eastern Mediterranean port : HAIFA

Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel and the largest city in the north of the country. It is built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, and is a Mediterranean seaport.

44A Contents of un río : AGUA

In Spanish, “agua” (water) is found in a “río” (river), and around an “isla” (island).

45A Pupil’s place : EYE

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.

57A “Project Hail Mary” beings, in brief : ETS

“Project Hail Mary” is an excellent 2021 sci-fi novel by Andy Weir, an author who really hit the big time with his 2011 debut novel “The Martian”. The 2021 book focuses on two main characters: biologist turned spaceman Ryland Grace, and an alien that he encounters and names “Rocky”. Just like “The Martian”, “Project Hail Mary” was adapted into a blockbuster Hollywood movie, this one starring Ryan Gosling.

59A Poet John who wrote “Love built on beauty, soon as beauty, dies” : DONNE

John Donne was one of England’s most celebrated poets, and was active at the start of the 17th century. He spent much of his life in poverty and even spent a short time in prison for having married his wife without procuring the appropriate permissions. After his release, his wife bore him 12 children in 16 years, passing away a few days after the twelfth child was born.

63A Prepare to shoot like Cupid? : TAKES A BOW

Cupid was the god of love in Roman mythology. Cupid’s name comes from the Latin verb “cupere” meaning “to desire”. Cupid’s Latin name was “Amor”, and his Greek counterpart was Eros.

66A Division of an epic poem : CANTO

A canto is a section of a long poem. “Canto” is the Italian for “song”, and is a term first used by the Italian poet Dante.

67A One side of many a sports bet : OVER

An over-under bet is a wager that a number will be over or under a particular value. A common over-under bet is made on the combined points scored by two teams in a game.

Down

3D Thelonious Monk’s instrument : PIANO

Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist and composer, actually the second-most recorded jazz composer after the great Duke Ellington. That’s a pretty impressive statistic given that Ellington wrote more than 1,000 songs, whereas Monk only wrote about 70. Monk was a pioneer in the development of the jazz style called “bebop”, which gained popularity in the 1940s.

6D Luxury watch brand : OMEGA

Omega is a manufacturer of high-end watches based in Switzerland. An Omega watch was the first portable timepiece to make it to the moon. Perhaps even more (!) impressive is the fact that James Bond has been wearing an Omega watch in the movies since 1995.

7D ___ four (“The Great British Baking Show” creation) : PETIT

A petit four is a small confection served at the end of a meal, either as a dessert or with coffee. The name “petit four” is French for “small oven”.

“The Great British Bake Off” (GBBO) is a television baking competition introduced by the BBC in the UK in 2010. The show was a phenomenal and perhaps surprising success almost immediately. GBBO is rebroadcast in the US as “The Great British Baking Show”, because Pillsbury have trademarked the term “Bake-Off”. There was great controversy in the UK in 2016 when the BBC couldn’t find the fund to pay the producers for the show, and so it moved to a new channel, with a new set of hosts. The BBC hosts decided not to move with the show, saying they weren’t interested in the extra “dough” offered (their pun!).

8D Band at a quinceañera, perhaps : MARIACHI

The name “mariachi”, used for a typically Mexican popular band, is said to be a corruption of the French word for “marriage” (i.e. “mariage”). This perhaps dates back to the times of Napoleon II when France had political and cultural influence over Spain.

“Quinceañera” is a celebration of a girl’s fifteenth birthday, and is an event common in many parts of Latin America.

10D Exuberant cry at a craps table : LET IT RIDE!

If one considers earlier versions of craps, then the game has been around for a very long time and probably dates back to the Crusades. It may have been derived from an old English game called “hazard” also played with two dice, which was mentioned in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” from the 1300s. The American version of the game came here courtesy of the French and first took root in New Orleans where it was given the name “crapaud”, a French word meaning “toad”.

22D “Today” rival, in brief : GMA

“Good Morning America” (GMA) is ABC’s morning show, and has been since 1975. There was even a spin-off show called “Good Afternoon America”, although that only lasted for a few months in 2012.

26D ___ Hufflepuff (co-founder of Hogwarts) : HELGA

In J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” universe, the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was founded by the four most brilliant witches and wizards of their time: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each of the founders lent their name to a House in the school, i.e. Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

31D Bert and Ernie or Chip ‘n Dale : DUO

For many years, I believed that the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie were named after two roles played in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, the policeman’s name is Bert and his taxi-driving buddy is named Ernie. However, the “Sesame Street” folks have stated that the use of the same names is just a coincidence. Aww, I don’t wanna believe that’s a coincidence …

Chip ‘n’ Dale are two chipmunk characters created by Disney in 1943. The characters’ names are a pun on “Chippendale”, the family name of noted English furniture designer Thomas Chippendale.

35D Finger workout that may involve pedals : ETUDE

An étude is a short instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. “Étude” is the French word for “study”. Études are commonly performed on the piano.

Most modern pianos have three pedals. The soft pedal (also “una corda”), sostenuto pedal, and sustaining pedal (also “damper pedal”).

41D Team competition held every March : IDITAROD

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race covers an incredible 1,161 miles, from Anchorage to Nome in Alaska. The race starts every year on the first Saturday in March, with the first race having been held in 1973. Finishing times range from over 8 days to 15 days or more. The first few races only used a northern route, but then a southern route was added to the roster every second year. It’s kind of a good thing, because when the racers take the northern route they don’t even pass through the town of Iditarod!

42D Actress Kate of “Fantastic Four” : MARA

Kate Mara is an actress who plays a lead character in the US TV series “House of Cards”. She got her big break with a supporting role in the 2005 Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain, in which she played Heath Ledger’s daughter, despite being only four years younger than Ledger. Kate is the sister of fellow actress Rooney Mara, who played the lead in the American version of the film “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”.

“Fantastic Four” (also “FANT4STIC”) is a 2015 reboot of the “Fantastic Four” franchise of films. This one failed miserably at the box office, and was a big winner at that season’s Golden Raspberry Awards.

50D Heckle, as an umpire : BOO AT

Originally, the verb “to heckle” meant “to question severely”, and for many years was associated with the public questioning of parliamentary candidates in Scotland. In more recent times, the meaning has evolved into questioning that is less polite and that is directed at stand-up comics.

51D Progressive rival : GEICO

GEICO was founded in 1936 with a very specific mission, to provide auto insurance for employees of the federal government and their families, hence the name Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO). GEICO is a private company, despite the word “government” in its name. The founders’ idea was to focus on government employees as they believed such a group represented a lower risk profile than the rest of the population. Nowadays any qualifying person can take out a policy with GEICO.

52D Movie director Coen : ETHAN

Ethan and Joel Coen, often referred to as the Coen Brothers, are a pair of very successful movie directors and producers. For many of their early films, including “Fargo”, the credits listed Joel as director and Ethan as producer, even though they co-directed every aspect; this was a way to bypass certain guild rules at the time. They later began receiving joint directing credits.

53D Pop star John : 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.

54D Vamoose : LEAVE

To vamoose is to leave, coming from the Spanish “vamos” meaning “let’s go”.

56D Govt.-backed security : T-NOTE

A Treasury note (T-note) is a government debt that matures in 1-10 years. A T-note has a coupon (interest) payment made every six months. The T-note is purchased at a discount to face value, and at the date of maturity can be redeemed at that face value. A Treasury bill (T-bill) is a similar financial vehicle, but it matures in one year or less, and a T-bond matures in 20-30 years.

62D Off-road ride, for short : ATV

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

64D Mauna ___ : KEA

Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the island of Hawaii with an elevation above sea level of 13,803 feet. The air at the summit is extremely dry and clear, and exceptionally stable due to the surrounding Pacific Ocean. This environment results in near-perfect conditions for ground-based astronomy, and so it houses over a dozen major research telescopes operated by scientists from 11 different countries.

65D “To ___ is human, but it feels divine” (line attributed to Mae West) : ERR

Comic actress Mae West can be quoted so easily, as she had so many great lines delivered so well. Here are a few:

• When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.
• When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.
• I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.
• Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution yet.
• I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
• Why don’t you come on up and see me sometime — when I’ve got nothin’ on but the radio.
• It’s better to be looked over than overlooked.
• To err is human, but it feels divine.
• I like my clothes to be tight enough to show I’m a woman, but loose enough to show I’m a lady.
• I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
• Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?