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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

22 0−5.08718 : THE ONE RING (BILBO’S-O upside down)

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel “The Hobbit”, the title character is Bilbo Baggins. He is a hobbit who stumbles across a magical ring and then embarks on a series of adventures.

27 Poli ___ : SCI

Political science (poli-sci)

31 Jazz singer Carmen : MCRAE

Carmen McRae was a jazz singer from Harlem in New York City. McRae’s inspiration was singer Billie Holiday, whom McRae met when she was 17 years old.

38 Computing company whose logo has remained largely the same since it was introduced by Paul Rand in 1962 : IBM

Tech giant IBM was founded as the Tabulating Machine Company in 1896. The company changed its name to the Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR) in 1911 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1916. The name “International Business Machines” (IBM) was given first to the company’s Canadian subsidiary, and then to its South American subsidiary. In 1924, it was decided to adopt the International Business Machines name for the whole company. Good choice …

40 Tough spot for a teen? : ZIT

The slang term “zit”, meaning “pimple”, came into the language in 1966, but no one seems to know its exact derivation.

43 316008+5336338 : STAYIN’ ALIVE (BEEgEES+BOOgIE upside down)

“Stayin’ Alive” is a great song recorded by the Bee Gees for the soundtrack of the 1977 movie “Saturday Night Fever”. Repeating the song to oneself is recommended as an aid if performing CPR. “Stayin’ Alive” has around 103 beats per minute, and 100–120 chest compressions per minute are recommended. A study on medical professionals found that the quality of CPR is better when thinking of the song “Stayin’ Alive”.

45 32008−0.53177187714 : MOONSHINE (hILLBILLIES-BOOZE upside down)

The illegal distilled spirits known as moonshine can also be referred to as white lightning, mountain dew and hooch.

49 One of three on the Mayflower : MAST

Famously, the Mayflower was the ship that transported the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England to the New World in 1620. Most of the Pilgrims actually boarded the vessel on the River Thames in London. The Mayflower then anchored at Southampton Water on the south coast of England where she rendezvoused with another ship, the Speedwell, that was carrying English separatist Puritans from Holland. Both vessels set off for America, but eventually had to berth in Plymouth after the Speedwell started to leak. The Speedwell was in no condition to cross the Atlantic, and so the Mayflower ended up making the historic voyage alone, leaving from Plymouth.

50 Alan of “Marriage Story” : ALDA

“Marriage Story” is a 2019 movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver as a couple going through a messy divorce. The critics loved this one. Me, not so much …

51 One of Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” : OLGA

Olga, Masha and Irina are the “Three Sisters” in the play by Anton Chekhov. The three title characters were inspired by the three Brontë sisters, the English authors.

54 Style of writing? : FONT

A font is a set of characters used in printing that have the same style. In the days of metal type, all the letters of a given style were cast at same time, i.e. the metal was melted and poured into a single mold. The word “font” comes into English from the Middle French “fonte” meaning “casting”.

55 Renaissance locale of the early 20th century : HARLEM

“Harlem Renaissance” is the term used to describe a cultural movement in the 1920s that was known at the time as the “New Negro Movement”. The movement involved new cultural expression by African Americans that was centered mainly in urban areas in the northeast and midwest, and that was especially vibrant in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood.

57 607−376006 : SEARCH HISTORY (gOOgLE-LOg upside down)

The Google search engine was originally called “BackRub” would you believe? The name was eventually changed to “Google”, an intentional misspelling of the word “googol”. A googol is a pretty big number, 10 to the power of 100. That would be the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros.

60 Longtime Japanese camera brand : PENTAX

The Pentax brand has its roots in a company founded in Tokyo in 1919. That company, Asahi Optical, acquired the Pentax brand from the East German optical manufacturer Zeiss in 1957, with the name coming from “pentaprism” and an earlier brand “Contax”. Today, the Pentax brand is a little unusual in that it is used cooperatively by several Japanese companies operating in different fields. Ricoh makes Pentax cameras and binoculars, Hoya Corporation makes Pentax medical products, TI Asahi makes Pentax surveying instruments, and Seiko makes Pentax lenses.

63 Riverbank material : SILT

Today, we mostly think of silt as a deposit of sediment in a river. Back in the mid-1400s, silt was sediment deposited by seawater. It is thought that the word “silt” is related to “salt”, as found in seawater.

67 3045.1045708 : BALLET SLIPPER (BOLSHOI’ShOE)

The Bolshoi Ballet company is based in Moscow, Russia. The Bolshoi company has over 200 dancers, making it by far the biggest ballet company in the world. I have very fond memories of attending a performance in the beautiful Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia in the late nineties …

76 Humorist Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

78 ___ Tour (record-breaking music event of 2023-24) : ERAS

The Eras Tour by singer-songwriter Taylor Swift began on Saint Patrick’s Day 2023. Having not toured for her studio albums “Lover”, “Folklore”, and “Evermore” due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Swift pulled together the Eras Tour in support of all of her albums.

81 57334−4614 : STILETTOS (hIgh-hEELS upside down)

The stiletto knife was developed in Italy, and is a knife intended for thrusting and stabbing as opposed to slashing and cutting. The term “stiletto” comes from the Latin “stilus”, which was a thin pointed writing instrument used in ancient Rome to engrave wax or clay tablets. And, there are also stiletto heels on some women’s shoes, heels that are long and thin.

84 7738.51773+51.345 : EMILY BRONTE (ShE’IS+ELLIS’BELL upside down)

In terms of age, Emily Brontë was the middle of the three Brontë sisters, younger than Charlotte and older than Anne. Emily was a poet and a novelist, and is best remembered for her only novel, “Wuthering Heights”. Emily died very young, at 30 years old. She never recovered from a severe cold that she caught at the funeral service of Branwell Brontë, her only brother. The cold developed into tuberculosis, for which she eschewed medical attention. She passed away after three months of illness.

91 Like the weather around a lighthouse, maybe : FOGGY

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.

93 Baseball features : SEAMS

A baseball is made by wrapping string around a rubber or cork center, and then covering the resulting sphere with leather. The string inside a baseball can measure up to a mile in length.

96 ___ Moriarty, novelist who wrote “Big Little Lies” : LIANE

Liane Moriarty is an author from Sydney, Australia. Her most famous work is a 2014 novel titled “Big Little Lies”, which was adapted into a very successful TV series starring Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, and Zoë Kravitz.

98 Tolkien character who dies as “the Grey” and returns as “the White” : GANDALF

Gandalf is an important character in the J. R. R. Tolkien novels “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy. He is a wizard known as Gandalf the Grey during his lifetime, and as Gandalf the White after he returns from the dead.

100 Some opinion pieces : OP-EDS

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

111 Some large structures for pet owners : CAT CONDOS

A cat tree (also “cat condo”) is a manufactured structure provided to indoor cats for play, relaxation and sleep. Apparently, an important feature is height, as cats feel more secure lying high up, with an expansive view of their surroundings.

112 Head honcho : TOP BANANA

The expression “top banana” is used to mean “the main man” or “the main woman”. The first person to use “top banana” was supposedly Vaudeville performer Harry Steppe in 1927, who applied the term to the top comic on the bill. The phrase comes from a comedy routine in which three comics struggle to share two bananas.

“Honcho” is a slang term meaning “leader”. The word comes to us from the Japanese military, in which language a “hancho” is a “squad” (han) “leader” (cho).

Down

1 Government org. that investigates accidents : NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is responsible for the investigation of major accidents involving transportation. Included in this broad definition is the transportation of fluids in pipelines. The organization is independent in that it has no ties to other government agencies or departments so that its investigations can be viewed as “impartial”. The NTSB also earns a little money for the US as it hires out its investigation teams to countries who don’t have the necessary resources available on their own soil.

6 Jimmy Kimmel’s network : ABC

Jimmy Kimmel is the host of the late-night talk show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” Kimmel also co-hosted “The Man Show” and my personal favorite, “Win Ben Stein’s Money”. Kimmel appeared on the PBS show “Finding Your Roots” in 2020, when he discovered that he was a cousin of Martha Stewart!

11 Word whose letters are aptly found from left to right in “scion” : SON

“Scion” comes from the old French word “sion” or “cion”, meaning “a shoot or a twig”. In botanical terms today, a scion is used in grafting two compatible plants together. In grafting, one plant is selected for its root system (the “rootstock”), and the other plant is selected for its stems, leaves and fruit (the “scion”). The term scion migrated naturally into the world of family history. A scion is simply a descendant, a son or a daughter and therefore a branching point in the family tree.

12 Bear’s counterpart on Wall Street, once : STEARNS

New York investment bank Bear Stearns was one of the institutions that collapsed in the financial meltdown of 2008, and was then sold off to JPMorgan Chase. Bear Stearns had been founded in 1923 by three partners: Joseph Ainslee Bear, Robert B. Stearns and Harold C. Mayer Sr.

15 Debussy’s “Clair de ___” : LUNE

“Clair de lune” is the beautiful third movement from Claude Debussy’s piano work called the “Suite bergamasque”. “Clair de lune” is French for “moonlight”.

16 Brain tests, for short : EEGS

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of electrical activity caused by the firing of neurons within the brain. The EEG might be used to diagnose epilepsy, or perhaps to determine if a patient is “brain dead”.

19 Bogus : SHAM

A sham is something that is imitation, fake. In the world of bed linens, a sham is also an imitation or fake, in the sense that it is a decorative cover designed to cover up a regular pillow used for sleeping.

21 Cannabis variety contrasted with indica : SATIVA

Hemp, also known as “cannabis”, is a hardy, fast-growing plant that has many uses mainly due to the strength of the fibers in the plant’s stalks. Hemp is used to make rope, paper and textiles. The term “hemp” is sometimes reserved for varieties of the plant grown for non-drug use.

22 Bush Senior and Carter each had one : TERM

President George H. W. Bush served in the US Navy during WWII. Future President Bush postponed his entry into college after the attack on Pearl Harbor and enlisted in the navy instead. When he earned his wings, he was the youngest aviator in the US Navy at that time.

President Jimmy Carter was the 39th President, and the only US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office (Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama have also been so honored, but while in office).

25 Headquarter? : LOBE

The four main lobes of the brain are:

• Frontal lobe: Located at the front of the brain, it is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as planning, decision-making, and personality.
• Parietal lobe: Situated behind the frontal lobe, it processes sensory information like touch, temperature, and pain.
• Temporal lobe: Located on the sides of the brain, it plays a role in auditory processing, memory, and emotion.
• Occipital lobe: Found at the back of the brain, it is primarily responsible for visual processing.

29 Swiatek of women’s tennis : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

31 ___ point : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able to get that right, which drives me crazy …

33 PC platform of the 1980s : MS-DOS

MS-DOS (short for “Microsoft Disk Operating System”) was the main operating system used by IBM-compatible PCs in the eighties and for much of the nineties.

35 Hundred Acre Wood resident : KANGA

Kanga is a friend of A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”, and is a kangaroo. She is the mother of Roo, who appears more frequently in the storyline.

37 Reached a base horizontally : SLID IN

That would be baseball.

39 Show that, uh, didn’t win 43 of its 54 Emmy nominations : LOST

In the TV show “Lost”, the plane that crashed was operated by Oceanic Airlines. The fictional airline Oceanic Airlines or Oceanic Airways turns up a lot on the big and small screen. You might spot Oceanic in the movies “Executive Decision” and “For Love of the Game”, and in episodes of the TV shows “Castle”, “Chuck”, “Flipper”, “The Goldbergs” and “The X-Files”.

44 Floral subject for van Gogh, Monet or O’Keeffe : IRIS

Van Gogh painted his “Irises” while he was in an asylum in the south of France the year before he committed suicide. The original owner was a French art critic and supporter of van Gogh who paid 300 francs to purchase the painting. “Irises” was bought for $53.9 million in 1987, making it the most expensive painting sold up to that point. But, the buyer didn’t actually have the necessary funds, so it had to be resold in 1990. It was picked up by the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, where you can see it today.

Claude Monet’s “Irises” paintings were created during the later years of his life at his Giverny garden. While he painted irises throughout his career, the later works, often large-scale, are perhaps the most well known.

Georgia O’Keeffe was an influential American artist, one who led the introduction of American art into Europe. Famously, she was married to photographer Alfred Stieglitz who helped develop her career in the early days. Georgia O’Keeffe’s last home was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she had done a lot of her work during her lifetime. She died there in 1986, at the ripe old age of 98. One of her most famous paintings is from 1926, called “Black Iris III”.

45 Oodles of : MANY

It’s thought that the term “oodles”, meaning “a lot”, comes from “kit and caboodle”.

46 Adult male deer : HART

Nowadays, a hart is a male red deer over five years old. A hind is a female red deer.

49 Gourmet mushroom type : MOREL

A morel is a mushroom with a honeycomb-like structure on the cap. They are highly prized, especially in French cuisine. Morels should never be eaten raw as they are toxic, with the toxins being removed by thorough cooking.

52 One of the Marx Brothers : CHICO

The five Marx Brothers were born to Minnie and Frenchy Marx in New York City. The more famous older boys were Chico, Harpo and Groucho. Zeppo was the youngest brother, and he appeared in the early Marx Brothers movies. The fifth son was called Gummo, and he decided to pursue a different career off the stage.

55 Word with Kitchen or Angels : HELL’S …

The American reality TV show “Hell’s Kitchen” is based on the UK show of the same name, which in turn is based on a New Zealand show that also uses the same title.

The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was founded by Scottish-American war immigrants in 1948. The founders were members of the Bishop family of Fontana, California. Today, the Hells Angels are listed as an organized crime syndicate by the US Department of Justice.

59 Bumpy jumpers : TOADS

The “warts” on the skin of a toad have no relation to the viral infection that can occur on human skin. A toad’s warts are colored bumps that are believed to help the animal blend more effectively into its environment.

60 City where tourists take photos pretending to hold up its famous landmark : PISA

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world. It is known for its nearly four-degree lean, which is caused by an unstable foundation. The tower was built in the 12th century and began to lean during construction. The lean worsened over time, and by the 1990s, the tower was at risk of collapse with a lean of 5½ degrees. A major stabilization project was undertaken in the 1990s, which reduced the lean to 3.97 degrees.

63 Name shouted in “A Streetcar Named Desire” : STELLA

“Stella! Hey, Stella!” is a famous line in the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”. It is cried out by Marlon Brando’s character (Stanley Kowalski) as his wife Stella (played by Kim Hunter) leaves for the last time, with their child.

68 Morales on the screen : ESAI

Esai Morales is not only a successful actor, he is also a trained martial artist, having studied the Korean martial art of taekwondo since he was a teenager.

69 Evita in “Evita” : PERON

“Evita” was the follow-up musical to “Jesus Christ Superstar” for Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Both of these works were originally released as album musicals, and very successful ones at that (I remember buying them when they first came out). “Evita” was made into a film in 1996, with Madonna playing the title role and Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce playing her husband Juan Perón.

70 Pitchfork feature : PRONG

A “pitchfork” is so called because it is primarily a “fork” for lifting and “pitching” hay.

72 Tended to a Zen garden, in a way : RAKED

Japanese Zen gardens are inspired by the meditation gardens of Zen Buddhist temples. Zen gardens have no water in them, but often there is gravel and sand that is raked in patterns designed to create the impression of water in waves and ripples.

79 Line in old Apple ads : I’M A MAC

The “Get a Mac” ad television campaign that ran from 2006 to 2009 featured just two men standing against a white background. The guy on the left called himself a PC, and was played by author and actor John Hodgman. The guy on the right called himself a Mac, and was played by actor Justin Long.

80 Some kindergarten art supplies : CRAYOLAS

In the year 2000, the Crayola company held the “Crayola Color Census 2000”, in which people were polled and asked for their favorite Crayola colors. President George W. Bush chose “Blue Bell” and Tiger Woods chose “Wild Strawberry”.

83 Comedian Notaro : TIG

Tig Notaro is a stand-up comedian known for her deadpan delivery. More recently, she has turned to acting and has a recurring role as Chief Engineer Jett Reno on “Star Trek: Discovery”.

89 Half of a noted magic duo : PENN

Penn Jillette is one half of the duo of magicians known as Penn & Teller (Penn is the one who talks). Penn teamed up with Teller on stage in 1981, having met him through a friend back in 1974. As well as being talkative onstage, Penn is very vocal offstage when it comes to his causes and beliefs. He is a devout atheist, a libertarian and a supporter of free-market capitalism.

93 Old sayings : SAWS

A saw is an old saying, one that is often repeated and is very familiar. The term “old saw” is actually a tautology, as by definition a “saw” is “old”.

94 Adirondack chair part : SLAT

An Adirondack chair is a wooden seat designed for use outdoors. The original Adirondack chair was designed in 1903 by one Thomas Lee, who was vacationing in Westport, New York in the Adirondack Mountains.

96 Coming-of-age Pixar film of 2021 : LUCA

“Luca” is a 2021 Pixar animated film. The title character is a sea monster boy who can take the form of a human while on land.

104 Married mujeres: Abbr. : SRAS

“Mujeres” is a Spanish word meaning “women”.

106 Sinus specialist, for short : ENT

In anatomical terms, a sinus is a cavity in tissue. Sinuses are found all over the body, in the kidney and heart for example, but we most commonly think of the paranasal sinuses that surround the nose.

107 POTUS 34 : DDE

There’s a lot of talk these days about how much golf is played by US presidents. One of the most enthusiastic golfers to sit in the Oval Office was President Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE). “Ike” loved the game so much that he even played through the winter. He had his golf balls painted black so that he could see them against the snow on the ground.

110 Purple yam in Philippine cuisine : UBE

Ube is a species of yam that is purple in color. I’m a big fan of ube ice cream. Potato-flavored ice cream; what’s not to like?!