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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Place for gladiatorial combat : ARENA

The term “gladiator” means “swordsman”, and comes from “gladius”, the Latin word for “sword”.

10 “Money, Money, Money” group : ABBA

“Money, Money, Money” is a 1976 hit song for Swedish pop group ABBA. The lyrics are basically a narration by a woman who works hard but struggles to make ends meet, and so deserves a well-off man as a partner. As the song says, “It’s a rich man’s world”.

14 Some jazz instruments, informally : SAXES

Saxophones are made of brass, but they also have some features in common with woodwind instruments, such as the use of a reed to create sound. Because of that reed, the “sax” is classified not as a brass instrument, but as a woodwind.

15 Restaurant that offers a Mexican Tres Leches stack : IHOP

A tres leches cake is a type of sponge cake that has been soaked in three kinds of milk, in heavy cream, condensed milk and evaporated milk.

19 Lead-in to Worth, Wayne or Lauderdale : FORT …

Fort Worth, Texas was established as a US Army outpost in 1849, in the wake of the Mexican-American War (1846 – 1848). Fort Worth was the most northerly of ten fortified outposts built by the US government to protect the American Frontier. To this day, the city of Fort Worth is sometimes referred to as “where the West begins”.

The city of Fort Wayne is located in northeast Indiana. The original Fort Wayne was a stockade built by the US Army in 1794 during the Northeast Indian War. The fort was erected as part of the campaign against the Miami people and was named for US Army General “Mad Anthony” Wayne, who ordered its construction.

Fort Lauderdale in Florida is named for a series of 19th-century forts built during the Second Seminole War. The first of the forts was built under the command of Major William Lauderdale, with three of the structures being named “Fort Lauderdale”.

21 Holding hands outside, e.g., for short : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

27 Disinfectant brand with the tagline “Healthing” : LYSOL

Lysol disinfectant takes its name from the words “lysosome” and “solvent”. Lysosomes are structures found within cells that have the job of breaking up waste material and cellular debris.

30 Tit for ___ : TAT

The phrase “tit for tat”, meaning some sort of retaliation, has been around for an awfully long time, since the mid-1500s. It might be derived from “tip for tap”, meaning “blow for blow”.

36 Tongue of Chaucer … or what’s literally shown in the shaded squares? : MIDDLE ENGLISH

Middle English is a period in the evolution of the English language that bridges the gap between Old English and Modern English (what we speak today). Emerging after the Norman Conquest of 1066, Middle English (roughly 1150-1500 AD) was heavily influenced by Old French. The most famous work written in Old English is probably the epic poem “Beowulf”. The most famous work written in Middle English is probably Geoffrey Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales”.

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author. He is often referred to as the father of English literature because he established vernacular English as a legitimate language for artistic works, as up to that point authors used French or Latin. Chaucer’s most famous work is actually unfinished, a collection of stories called “The Canterbury Tales” that were all written at the end of the 14th century.

39 Queue : LINE

Our word “queue”, meaning “waiting line”, comes from French. “Queue” is the French word for “tail”, and the phrase “queue à queue” translates as “one after another” (literally “tail to tail”).

53 “Rick and ___” (adult animated sitcom) : MORTY

“Rick and Morty” is an animated sitcom that follows the adventures of a cynical, alcoholic scientist (Rick) and his anxious grandson (Morty). The story line is a blend of sci-fi, comedy, and family drama that has gained a huge fan base since its debut in 2013.

56 “Beware the ___ of March” : IDES

In Act I of William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”, a soothsayer warns the doomed leader to “beware the ides of March”. Caesar ignores the prophecy and is subsequently killed on the steps of the Capitol by a group of conspirators on that fateful day.

57 Aid in preventing a shipwreck : LIGHTHOUSE (hiding “THOU”)

The oldest lighthouse still in use is the Tower of Hercules located on the coast of Galicia in northwest Spain. Renovated in 1791, this magnificent lighthouse was built by the Romans in 2nd century CE and has been in constant use since that time. It is believed that the structure’s design is based on the famous Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of Ancient World.

63 “At Last” singer James : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

64 Sent a private text, for short : DM’ED

Direct message (DM)

Down

1 Word before plane or projection : ASTRAL …

Some believe that a person’s spirit inhabits the astral plane after dying, and before entering the spirit world.

An astral projection is an out-of-body experience. It is often associated with incidents of near-death and describes the phenomenon of the astral body leaving the physical body and traveling around the astral plane.

6 Holi celebrant : HINDU

Holi is a Hindu festival, one celebrated in spring, that is also known as the Festival of Colours.

9 Mini-albums, for short : EPS

An extended-play (EP) record, CD or download contains more music than a single, but less than a long-play (LP) record.

18 Stock market debut, for short : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is a significant event for a company as it marks the first time it becomes a publicly traded company. IPOs are often accompanied by a so-called “lock-up period.” This is a period of time, typically 90 to 180 days after the IPO, during which company insiders, such as executives and early investors, are not allowed to sell their shares on the open market. The purpose of the lock-up period is to prevent a flood of shares from hitting the market and potentially driving down the price of the stock.

25 Kind of steak named after a letter of the alphabet : T-BONE

The T-bone and porterhouse are related cuts of meat, with the latter being a larger version of the former, and both being cut from the short loin.

26 Chillaxes with friends : HANGS

“Chillax” is a slang term meaning “chill and relax”. Who’da thunk it …?

28 Ye ___ Shoppe : OLDE

The word “olde” wasn’t actually used much earlier than the 1920s. “Olde” was introduced to give a quaint antique feel to brand names, shop names etc. as in “Ye Olde Shoppe”.

38 Football holder in “Peanuts” : LUCY

In Charles Schulz’s fabulous comic strip “Peanuts”, Charlie Brown is friends with at least three members of the van Pelt family. Most famously there is Lucy van Pelt, who bosses everyone around, and who operates a psychiatric booth that looks like a lemonade stand. Then there is Linus, Lucy’s younger brother, the character who always has his security blanket at hand. Lastly there is an even younger brother, Rerun van Pelt. Rerun is constantly hiding under his bed, trying to avoid going to school.

46 Spinners in laundromats : DRYERS

If you go looking for a laundromat in the UK or Ireland, folks will likely know what you’re talking about. However, the local name for such a facility is “launderette” or sometimes “laundrette”.

49 Sharp-eyed bird : EAGLE

The eyesight of an eagle is extremely powerful, and is estimated to be 4-8 times stronger than that of an average human. A large eagle, weighing about 22 lb, has the same size eyes as a human weighing about 200 lb.

58 Company nicknamed “Big Blue” : IBM

The origin of the IBM nickname “Big Blue” seems to have been lost in the mists of time. That said, maybe it has something to do with the fact that the IBM logo is blue, and almost every mainframe they produced was painted blue. I remember visiting IBM on business a few times in my career, and back then we were encouraged to wear white shirts and blue suits “to fit in” with our client’s culture.

59 With it, in last-century slang : HEP

The slang term “hep” meaning “cool” has the same meaning as the later derivative term “hip”. The origins of “hep” seem unclear, but it was adopted by jazz musicians of the early 1900s.