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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 GQ or S.I. : MAG

The men’s magazine known today as “GQ” used to be titled “Gentlemen’s Quarterly” (hence “GQ”). It was known as “Apparel Arts” when launched in 1931.

15 Destination of mail sent to ZIP codes 09002, 09003, 09004, etc., in brief : APO

Army post office (APO)

ZIP codes were introduced in 1963. The acronym “ZIP” stands for “Zone Improvement Plan”, a name indicating that mail travels more efficiently when the codes are included in the postal address.

17 Myers-___ Type Indicator (personality assessment) : BRIGGS

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was created in 1962, by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers. The MBTI has been a popular tool used by businesses and business consultants for decades. The MBTI is built on the theories of Carl Jung and is designed to assess an individual’s personality type and give insight into how that individual interacts with other personality types.

18 Characters rarely depicted in “Peanuts” cartoons : GROWN-UPS

The characters in the cartoon series “Peanuts” were largely drawn from Charles Schultz’s own life, with shy and withdrawn Charlie Brown representing Schultz himself.

22 Source of iridescence in many mollusks : NACRE

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which the nacre is laid down.

29 First word spoken on the moon, 1969 : HOUSTON

We always seem to remember the phrase “The Eagle has landed”, historic words spoken by Neil Armstrong when he put down Apollo 11’s Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) on the surface of the moon. Looking back I have to say that the words preceding “The Eagle has landed” seem to have even more impact. During the descent to the moon’s surface Armstrong used the call sign “Eagle”, indicating that he was communicating from the LEM. After he killed the engines on touching down, Armstrong’s first words home to Earth were “Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed.” That switch of call sign from “Eagle” to “Tranquility Base” always sends shivers down my spine …

30 Female lobsters : HENS

A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.

31 Toi et moi : NOUS

In French, “nous” (we) might be “toi et moi” (you and me).

32 Riches of El Dorado : ORO

In Spanish, “oro” (gold) is a “metal precioso” (precious metal).

The original El Dorado was a Muisca chief who was covered with gold dust in a tribal ritual and then dove into Lake Guatavita in present-day Colombia. Later, “El Dorado” was adopted as the name for a mythical “Lost City of Gold” that became a quest from many Spanish Conquistadors who explored the Americas.

38 A as in Argentina : UNA

Argentina is the second largest country in South America (after Brazil), and the world’s largest Spanish-speaking nation. The name “Argentina” comes from the Latin “argentum”, the word for “silver”. It is thought that the name was given by the early Spanish and Portuguese conquerors who also named the Rio de la Plata (the “Silver River”). Those early explorers got hold of lots of silver objects that they found among the native population.

53 Inverness negative : NAE

Inverness is in effect the capital city of the Scottish Highlands. It is the most northerly city in the whole of the United Kingdom. Inverness sits at the mouth of the River Ness, which flows from the famous Loch Ness.

55 Residents of the Sagebrush State : NEVADANS

One of the nicknames for Nevada is “the Sage State”, a reference to the wild sagebrush found all over the state. Nevada is also called “the Sage-Hen State”, for the sage hen (also “sage grouse”) that once was plentiful there.

Sagebrush is a name used for many plants in the genus Artemisia, which is in the daisy family. The best-known and most common species is the basin sagebrush (also “big sagebrush”), which was chosen as Nevada’s State Flower in 1967.

61 ___ Maria (coffee liqueur) : TIA

Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur that was invented just after WWII in Jamaica using Jamaican coffee beans, Jamaican rum, vanilla and sugar. The drink’s name translates to “Aunt Maria”.

62 Ora segment : MINUTO

In Italian, there are “sessanta minuti” (sixty minutes) in an “ora” (hour).

63 Behave like a certain surface-feeding shark : BASK

Our verb “to bask”, meaning “to expose one to pleasant warmth”, is derived from the gruesome, 14th-century term “basken”, meaning “to wallow in blood”. The contemporary usage apparently originated with Shakespeare, who employed “bask” with reference to sunshine in “As You Like It”.

64 Whitney who patented the cotton gin : ELI

Inventor Eli Whitney is best known for inventing the cotton gin. Whitney also came up with the important concept of “interchangeable parts”. Parts that are interchangeable can be swapped out of equipment or perhaps used in related designs.

Down

1 When some vaccines are first given : AT BIRTH

A vaccine used to be a modified virus administered to an individual to stimulate the immune system into developing immunity, until mRNA vaccines were introduced to combat COVID-19. British physician Edward Jenner came up with the first vaccine, injecting people with the cowpox virus in order to prevent smallpox. The term “vaccination” comes from the Latin “vaccinus” meaning “from cows”, with “vacca” translating as “cow”.

3 Isolde’s love : TRISTAN

According to the legend of King Arthur, Tristan was a Knight of the Round Table from Cornwall in the south of England. He was sent by his Cornish king to fetch an Irish princess called Iseult from her homeland, but Tristan and Iseult instead fall in love. Most famously, the couple’s story was retold by Richard Wagner in his opera “Tristan and Isolde”.

4 Teri Garr’s “Young Frankenstein” role : INGA

I am not really a big fan of movies by Mel Brooks, but “Young Frankenstein” is the exception. I think the cast has a lot to do with me liking the film, as it includes Gene Wilder (Dr. Frankenstein), Teri Garr (Inga), Marty Feldman (Igor) and Gene Hackman (Harold, the blind man).

Actress Teri Garr had a whole host of minor roles in her youth, including appearances in nine Elvis movies. Garr’s big break came with the role of Inga in “Young Frankenstein”, and her supporting role in “Tootsie” earned Garr an Academy Award nomination. Sadly, Teri Garr suffers from multiple sclerosis. She is a National Ambassador for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

5 About half of a sidecar : COGNAC

Cognac is a famous variety of brandy named after the commune of Cognac in the very west of France. To be called “Cognac”, the brandy must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in very specific French oak barrels.

The sidecar is one of my very favorite cocktails. It was invented around the end of WWI, possibly in the Ritz Hotel in Paris. It’s a simple drink to make, and contains brandy, cointreau or triple sec, and lemon or lime juice. It’s really the brandy version of a margarita (or vice versa).

7 Myopic “Mr.” of old cartoons : MAGOO

Mr. Quincy Magoo is a wonderful cartoon character voiced by Jim Backus. Backus is probably equally well-known for playing Mr. Magoo as well as Thurston Howell, III on “Gilligan’s Island”. Mr. Magoo first appeared on the screen in a short called “The Ragtime Bear” in 1949. His persona was at least in part based on the antics of W. C. Fields. Backus originally used a fake rubber nose that pinched his nostrils in order to create the distinctive voice, although in time he learned to do the voice without the prop. My absolute favorite appearance by Mr. Magoo is in “Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol”, a true classic from the sixties. There was a movie adaptation of “Mr Magoo” released in 1997, with Leslie Nielsen playing the title role.

A myope is someone suffering from myopia, short-sightedness. Far-sightedness or long-sightedness is known as hypermetropia or hyperopia .

8 Financing initialism : APR

Annual percentage rate (APR)

9 Hit the road with roadies, perhaps : GO ON TOUR

A “roadie” is someone who loads, unloads and sets up equipment for musicians on tour, on the “road”.

10 Mollusks with iridescence not created by 22-Across : CONCHS

Although “conch” is now used as a generic term for largish sea snails and their shells, the true conch belongs to a specific group of gastropods. The “meat” is very popular, and so the conch is the second-most popular edible snail after “escargot”. The conch shell can be used as a wind instrument, and the true conch is also a good source for pearls.

11 Desensitize against through experience : INURE TO

To inure is to harden oneself against the effects of, to accustom oneself to.

12 ___ penguin : EMPEROR

The emperor is the largest species of penguin, weighing in at 50-100 pounds fully grown. The emperor penguin is known for the incredible journey taken by the adults during the breeding season in the Antarctic winter. Females lay an egg and then trek 30-70 miles from the breeding colony to the sea to feed, returning to feed their chicks.

13 Article in Paris Match : LES

“Paris Match” is a weekly magazine published in France that first appeared on newsstands in 1949.

19 1960s dance : WATUSI

The dance called the Watusi was almost as popular as the twist in the early sixties. The Watusi took its name from the Batutsi tribe in Rwanda.

21 Ball club V.I.P.s, in brief : GMS

General manager (GM)

25 “Amscray!” : SHOO!

Pig Latin is in effect a game. One takes the first consonant or consonant cluster of an English word and moves it to the end of the word, and then adds the letters “ay”. So, the Pig Latin for the word “nix” is “ixnay” (ix-n-ay), and for “scram” is “amscray” (am-scr-ay).

26 Co-producer of Bowie’s “Berlin Trilogy” : ENO

English musician David Bowie collaborated with record producer Brian Eno on three albums over a two-year period: “Low” (1977), “Heroes” (1977) and “Lodger” (1979). All three albums were recorded and/or mixed in West Berlin, and so came to be called the “Berlin Trilogy”.

28 Canberra’s state: Abbr. : NSW

Well, is that true? That Canberra is in New South Wales? Well, physically, I suppose it is, but not geopolitically.

New South Wales (NSW) is the most populous state in Australia and is home to Sydney, the most populous city in the country. New South Wales was founded in 1788. When the British took over New Zealand in 1840, New Zealand was actually governed for a while as part of New South Wales.

Canberra is the capital of Australia. The city is located in what’s called the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), an area independent of any of the other Australian territories. In this sense, there is a similarity between Canberra in the ACT and Washington in the District of Columbia. Canberra was chosen as the nation’s capital in 1908, a choice that was a compromise in deference to Australia’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne.

31 Modern digital asset, in brief : NFT

Non-fungible token (NFT)

37 Half of sei : TRE

In Italian, “due” (two) times “tre” (three) is “sei” (six).

38 Fleet inits. : USN

US Navy (USN)

39 One of many genres for Yoko Ono : NEO-DADA

The Neo-Dada movement in art and literature was alive and well in the fifties and sixties. The label “Neo-Dada” reflects the similarities with the earlier Dada movement that thrived in the early 1900s. One of the more famous names associated with Neo-Dada is Yoko Ono.

40 Giant star in Scorpius : ANTARES

The constellation Scorpius is named for the scorpion. One of the brighter stars in Scorpius is Antares, which has a clearly perceptible red hue that is said to rival the redness of the planet Mars.

43 Chinese American fashion designer with a Dolly Girl line : ANNA SUI

Anna Sui is a fashion designer from Detroit, Michigan.

48 Joe-___ weed : PYE

Joe Pye was an Indian healer from New England who used the Eutrochium plants as herbal remedies, which led to the plants getting the name “Joe-Pye weeds“.

49 Make over : REVAMP

The vamp is that part of a shoe upper that extends from behind the toe to the back of the heel. Prior to the 1650s, the verb “new-vamp” was used to describe the replacement of the vamp, in order to extend the life of a show. After 1650, the verb evolved into “revamp”. We now use “revamp” figuratively, to mean “remake, renovate”.

52 China’s Zhou ___ : ENLAI

Zhou Enlai (also “Chou En-lai”) was the first government leader of the People’s Republic of China and held the office of Premier from 1949 until he died in 1976. Zhou Enlai ran the government for Communist Party Leader Mao Zedong, often striking a more conciliatory tone with the West than that of his boss. He was instrumental, for example, in setting up President Nixon’s famous visit to China in 1972. Zhou Enlai died just a few months before Mao Zedong, with both deaths leading to unrest and a dramatic change in political direction for the country.

56 Force : DINT

A dint is an effort or power, as in “make it by dint of hard work”. “By dint of” is a new expression to me, but it has been around since the early 1300s. I must have been out that day …

57 Accessory for running or dribbling : BIB

The word “bib” comes from the Latin “bibere” meaning “to drink”, as does our word “imbibe”. So, maybe a bib is less about spilling the food, and more about soaking up the booze …

58 Start of many a rap name : LIL’ …

“Lil’” is a short form of the word “little”. There are a whole slew of rappers named “Lil’ something”, such as Lil Wayne, Lil’ J, and Lil’ Kim.