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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Many a listing on the Billboard Hot 100 : POP HIT

“Billboard” was founded way back in 1894 as a trade magazine for the advertising and bill posting industry. The editorial focus gradually moved towards music as phonographs, radios and the recorded music business took off in the early part of the 20th century. “Billboard” published its first “music hit parade” in 1936, and is now famous for its collection of lists that track music sales.

12A Sonata maker : HYUNDAI

The Sonata is one of Hyundai’s most successful models, having been introduced in 1985 and still being sold today. The original model didn’t make it to the North American market as it had problems meeting emission standards. The first Sonatas hit this side of the Pacific in 1988, and were assembled in Bromont, Quebec.

20A Asian rice porridge : CONGEE

Congee is an Asian dish. It is a gruel prepared by cooking rice in water for an extended period, long enough for the grains to practically disintegrate.

22A “10th grader critiques swanky boutique?” : SOPH POOH-POOHS POSH SHOP

The term “sophomore” has been used since the 1680s for a student in the second year of university. The original meaning of the word was “arguer”. The term has Greek roots, from two Greek words that have been artificially combined in English. The Greek “sophos” means “wise”, and “moros” means “foolish”.

No one really knows the etymology of the word “posh”. The popular myth that “posh” is actually an acronym standing for “port out, starboard home” is completely untrue, and is a story that can actually be traced back to the 1968 movie “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. The myth is that wealthy British passengers traveling to and from India would book cabins on the port side for the outward journey and the starboard side for the home journey. This trick was supposedly designed to keep their cabins out of the direct sunlight.

31A Singer Lovato : DEMI

Pop and R&B singer Demi Lovato started her performing career as a child actress, playing Angela on the kids TV show “Barney & Friends” from 2002 to 2004. When she was all grown up, Lovato served as a judge on “The X Factor” from 2012 to 2013, and soon after had the recurring role of Dani on “Glee”.

32A Wrestling move named after a pesticide : DDT

DDT is dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (don’t forget now!). DDT was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.

34A “Why Keanu is such a generous tipper?” : REEVES REVERES SERVERS

Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor whose most celebrated roles were a metalhead in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), a cop in “Speed” (1994) and the protagonist Neo in “The Matrix” series of films. Although Reeves is a Canadian national, he was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Reeves has some Hawaiian descent, and the name “Keanu” is Hawaiian for “the coolness” or “cool breeze”.

43A The “Y” of Y.S.L. : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

45A Rapper Kool Moe ___ : DEE

“Kool Moe Dee” is the stage name of rap artist Mohandas Dewese. Kool Moe Dee had the honor of being the first rap artist to perform at the Grammys, and was one of the first rappers to win a Grammy Award.

46A Bone doc : ORTHO

Orthopedics (orth.) is the branch of surgery that deals with the musculoskeletal system. The term “orthopedics” was coined in 1741 by French physician Nicolas Andry. Actually, Andry used the French term “Orthopédie” for the title of a book. The term comes from the Greek “orthos” meaning “straight” and “paidon” meaning “child”.

47A Heartburn : AGITA

“Agita” is another name for “acid indigestion”, and more generally for “agitation, anxiety”.

52A “1960s singer swindles Nashville awards?” : MAMA CASS SCAMS CMAS

Cass Elliot (born “Ellen Cohen”) was one of the four singers in the Mamas and the Papas, a sensational group from the sixties. “Mama Cass” was performing sold-out concerts in London in 1974 when she was found dead one morning, having had a heart attack. She was only 32 years old. Eerily, Elliot died in the same flat (on loan from Harry Nilsson) in which the Who’s drummer Keith Moon would die just four years later.

Country Music Association (CMA)

61A Well-known song with a trilingual version in English, French and Inuktitut : O CANADA

Canada’s national anthem “O Canada” was commissioned in 1880 by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, so the original words are in French. The first English translation was made in 1906. The current English lyrics have been revised a few times, but the French version remains the same as it did back in 1880.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

71A Actress ___ Lee Nolin of “Baywatch” : GENA

“Baywatch” is a TV series starring David Hasselhoff that is about lifeguards patrolling the beaches of Los Angeles County. Over the life of the show, the lifeguards not only had to rescue swimmers, they also had to deal with earthquakes, shark attacks, serial killers and even nuclear bombs. The trademark “look” on the show was provided by slow motion shots of the lifeguards running to someone’s rescue in those red bathing costumes.

77A “Scottish cryptid spotted by the French?” : NESSIE SEEN IN SEINE

The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology, and a cryptid is a creature or plant that isn’t recognized by the scientific community, but the existence of which has been suggested.

85A Java tea : PEKOE

A pekoe (or more commonly “orange pekoe”) is a medium-grade black tea. There is no orange flavor in an orange pekoe tea. The “orange” name most likely derived from the name of the trading company that brought the tea to Europe from Asia.

86A Bygone retail giant : KMART

Kmart was once the third-largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and Target. The company was founded by S. S. Kresge in 1899, with the first outlets known as S. S. Kresge stores. The first “Kmart” stores opened in 1962, with the “K” standing for “Kresge”. Kmart was famous for its promotions known as “blue light specials”, a program first introduced in 1965 and discontinued in 1991. I remember being in a Kmart store soon after coming to live in the US. That evening an employee installed a light stand an aisle away from me, switched on a flashing blue light and there was some unintelligible announcement over the loudspeaker system. I had no idea what was going on …

88A Senatorial greeting : AVE!

“Ave” is a Latin word meaning “hail” as in “Ave Maria”, which translates as “Hail Mary”. “Ave” can also be used to mean “goodbye”.

Our word “senate” comes from the Latin name for such a body, namely “senatus”. In turn, “senatus” is derived from “senex” meaning “old man”, reflecting the original Roman Senate’s makeup as a council of “elders”.

89A Bathroom brand : ORAL-B

The Oral-B toothbrush was introduced to the world in 1950, designed by a California periodontist. The first “model” was the Oral-B 60, a name given to reflect the 60 tufts in the brush. In 1969, the Oral-B was the first toothbrush to get to the moon as it was the toothbrush of choice for the crew of the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

91A 1998 tech debut : IMAC

When Apple chose the letter “I” prefix for the iMac in 1998, that letter “I” stood for “Internet”. Steve Jobs and his marketing team followed up with the message that I also stood for “individual, instruct, inform and inspire”.

93A Volcanic gems found on every continent : AGATES

The rock-like, semi-precious stone called “agate” takes its name from the Achates River in Sicily. Greek naturalist Theophrastus first discovered the banded stones along the edge of the river (now called the Dirillo) around 300 BCE.

99A Alien leader? : XENO-

The Greek combining form “xeno-” means “strange, foreign” as in “xenophobia”, a fear of foreigners.

101A Spot for a cooling pie : SILL

“Sill plate”, or simply “sill”, is an architectural term describing a bottom horizontal member to which vertical members are attached. Window sills and door sills are specific sill plates found at the bottoms of windows and door openings.

104A ¥ : YUAN

Even though we generally refer to the currency of China as the “yuan”, the yuan is actually the basic unit of the “renminbi”. This is analogous to “sterling” being the official currency of the UK, with the “pound” being the basic unit of sterling.

105A Opening of le soliloque d’Hamlet : ETRE

There has been centuries of debate about how one interprets Hamlet’s soliloquy that begins “To be or not to be …”. My favorite opinion is that Hamlet is weighing up the pros and cons of suicide (“to not be”).

To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The Slings and Arrows of outrageous fortune;
Or to take Armes against a Sea of troubles …

116A Appropriately misspelled genre for Korn and Limp Bizkit : NU-METAL

Limp Bizkit is sometimes described as a nu metal band, with “nu metal” being a subgenre of “heavy metal”. Limp Bizkit has been around since 1994, and that’s all I know …

Korn is an alternative-metal band from Bakersfield, California. The band’s name is derived from a fan suggestion of “Corn”. The suggested name was considered too bland and so was prettied up to Korn, with the letter “r” capitalized and written backwards.

120A Pub quaff : STOUT

The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when it was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

Down

2D “Altho …” : OTOH

On the other hand (OTOH)

3D Cacio e ___ (Roman pasta dish) : PEPE

Cacio e pepe is a pasta dish that originated in Rome. The dish’s name can be translated from Italian dialects as “cheese and pepper”. The recipe is quite simple, comprising grated Pecorino Romano cheese, black pepper and spaghetti.

6D General with a chicken dish named after him : TSO

“The Search for General Tso” is a 2014 documentary about the history of Chinese food in the US. Much of the film explores the life of Zuo Zontang, the Chinese military leader who gave his name to the very American dish known as General Tso’s chicken.

9D “S.N.L.” alum Nwodim : EGO

Actress and comedian Ego Nwodim joined the cast of “Saturday Night Live” in 2018. She was a biology major at the University of Southern California, a classic foundation for a successful comedian …

10D Tom ___, “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” satirist : LEHRER

Tom Lehrer is an American singer-songwriter, and someone famous for writing humorous songs and parodies. One of his most celebrated creations is “The Elements” song, which lists the name of the chemical elements to the tune of the “Major-General’s Song” from the “Pirates of Penzance” operetta by Gilbert and Sullivan.

11D Tahini, essentially : SESAME PASTE

“Tahini” is the Arabic name for a paste made from ground sesame seeds. It is a major ingredient in hummus, one of my favorite dishes.

13D “Roundabout” rock bend, 1971 : YES

Yes Is a rock band from England that formed in 1968 and was most successful in the 1980s. The band’s biggest hit was “Owner of a Lonely Heart” from 1983.

18D Fireball-throwing demons from Doom : IMPS

“Doom” is a series of video games with a long history. The original version was released for MS-DOS in 1993. “Doom Eternal” was released in 2020.

23D Name in many skyscrapers : OTIS

Otis is a manufacturer of elevators, escalators and moving walkways. By some accounts, Otis is the world’s most popular transportation company, with the equivalent of the whole world’s population traveling on Otis devices every few days.

According to many, the world’s first skyscraper was the Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois, which was built in 1885. It was 10 stories tall and stood at 42 meters (138 feet). What made the building unique, at the time, was the use of structural steel in the internal frame. That frame bore the weight of each floor, as well as the weight of the external masonry.

24D Jam band with a Ben & Jerry’s flavor : PHISH

Phish is a rock-and-roll band that formed at the University of Vermont in 1983. After a hiatus from 2004 until 2009, the band is going strong to this day. There has been a “Phish Food” flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream since 1997.

31D End of a redundant legal doublet : DESIST

“Cease” and “desist” are very similar, but not identical terms. An order to cease an activity is an order to “stop”. An order to desist is an order not to do that activity again in the future.

32D Jorts material : DENIM

Jorts, also known as jean shorts, were originally created by cutting off a pair of jeans to make them more comfortable to wear during hot weather. They became popular in the 1980s, although the term “jorts” didn’t come into use until the early 2000s.

37D Light in the night sky also known as Alpha Lyrae : VEGA

Vega is the brightest star in the constellation Lyra. Vega (along with Altair and Deneb from other constellations) is also part of the group of three stars that is called the Summer Triangle. Vega is the star at the right-angle of said triangle.

39D Altitude sickness side effect : EDEMA

Both animals and plants can suffer from edema, which is a swelling caused by excessive accumulation of fluid.

41D Have an inkling : SENSE

An inkling is a slight indication or vague notion. The term “inkling” apparently comes from the Middle English word “inclen” meaning “to hint”.

42D Cousin of tempeh and seitan : TOFU

Tempeh is a soy product that originated in Indonesia. It is made from soybeans that have been partly cooked and fermented. I’ve had quite a bit of tempeh used as a meat substitute in vegetarian dishes. It doesn’t have an appealing texture to me, so I’m not a fan …

Seitan is a foodstuff made from wheat gluten that is often used as an alternative to meat. “Seitan” is a word that was coined in Japanese in 1961 by George Ohsawa, the founder of the macrobiotic diet.

48D Powerful Romanov : TSAR

The House of Romanov was the second and last imperial dynasty to rule over Russia, after the Rurik dynasty. The reign of the Romanovs ended when Emperor Nicholas II abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917. Famously, Nicholas II and his immediate family were murdered soon after he stepped down, and other members of the Romanov Dynasty were sent into exile by the Bolsheviks.

50D Viola score symbol : C CLEF

“Clef” is the French word for “key”. In music, a clef is used to indicate the pitch of the notes written on a stave. The bass clef is also known as the F-clef, the alto clef is the C-clef, and the treble clef is the G-clef.

The viola looks like and is played like a violin, but is slightly larger. It is referred to as the middle voice in the violin family, lying between the violin and the cello.

53D Actress Gardner : AVA

Ava Gardner is noted for her association with some big movies, and also for her association with some big names when it came to the men in her life. In the world of film, she appeared in the likes of “Mogambo” (1953), “On the Beach” (1959), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Earthquake” (1974). The men in her life included husbands Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra.

56D Social class : CASTE

Although caste systems exist in several societies around the world, we tend to associate the concept with the social stratification that is still found in many parts of India. The term “caste” comes from the Portuguese word “casta” meaning “race, breed”. The Portuguese used the term to describe the hereditary social groups that they found in India when they arrived in the subcontinent in 1498.

65D Spoon bender Geller debunked on “The Tonight Show” : URI

Uri Geller’s most famous performance was perhaps his uncomfortable failure on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in 1973. Carson “hijacked” Geller on live television by providing him with spoons to bend and watches to start, none of which had been available to Geller before the show aired. Clever!

68D Sam who putted croquet style until the U.S.G.A. banned it : SNEAD

Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball, by teeing off from home plate. Snead’s best-remembered nickname is “Slammin’ Sammy”.

70D Kitchen brand : OSTER

The Oster brand of small appliances was introduced in 1924 by John Oster. He started out by making manually-powered hair clippers designed for cutting women’s hair, and followed up with a motorized version in 1928. The clippers kept the company in business until 1946 when Oster diversified, buying a manufacturer of liquefying blenders in 1946. The blender was renamed to “Osterizer” and was a big hit. Oster was bought by Sunbeam, which has owned the brand since 1960.

72D Martial art mastered by Steven Seagal : AIKIDO

Aikido is a Japanese martial art that only dates back to the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by Morihei Ueshiba, who is often referred to as “the Founder” or “Great Teacher”.

Steven Seagal is known in the US as a martial artist turned actor. Seagal started his career as an Aikido instructor in Japan and was the first foreigner to operate an Aikido dojo in that country.

78D How sun-dried tomatoes are packed : IN OIL

Tomatoes can be placed in the sun for 4-10 days in order to dry out. They lose about 90% of their weight to become “sun-dried” tomatoes.

80D Dog ___ : STAR

When you look up at the night sky, the brightest star you can see is Sirius. It appears so bright to us because it is relatively close to the Earth. Sirius is commonly known as the “Dog Star”, as it can be seen in the constellation Canis Major, the “Big Dog”.

81D Town, cape or river of western Alaska : NOME

Nome, Alaska has over 3,500 residents, the majority of whom are Native American. The next largest ethnic group in Nome is the white population. The origin of the name “Nome” isn’t well understood, it seems. One theory is that there was a misunderstanding of the local Inupiaq word meaning “Where at?”

90D “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection” automaker : LEXUS

Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota. Lexus cars were originally developed as part of a top-secret project within Toyota that was code-named “F1” (Flagship One). The goal was to create a luxury car that could compete with the best in the world.

95D Word after high or holy : ROLLER

In the world of gambling, a high roller is a person who brings a relatively large amount of money to the table and who routinely risks big sums.

96D Fast-food chain whose name has two hyphens : IN-N-OUT

In-N-Out Burger is a fast food chain that’s very popular out here on the left coast. Unusually for a fast food business, In-N-Out Burger has no franchises and is privately owned. The company also prides itself on paying all employees above minimum wage. Also, if you check the packaging of the food and drink items, you’ll find a bible verse discreetly printed on the bottom of cups and wrappers, reflecting the Christian beliefs held by the company ownership. In-N-Out Burger was founded in 1948 by Harry and Esther Snyder, and is now owned by Lynsi Snyder, the couple’s only grandchild.

103D Spiritual teacher in Tibet : LAMA

“Lama” is a Tibetan word meaning “chief, high priest”.

104D Rory’s school on “Gilmore Girls” : YALE

“Gilmore Girls” is a comedy show that originally aired from 2000 to 2007 on the WB. The title characters are mother and daughter Lorelai and Rory Gilmore, played by Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. All the action takes place in the fictional Connecticut town of Stars Hollow. The theme song was written by Carole King, and is a version of her 1971 recording “Where You Lead”. King sings the show’s theme with her own daughter, Louise Goffin.

108D Clubber’s tank top material : MESH

“Tank top” is another one of those terms that always catches me out, as it has a different meaning on each side of the Atlantic. In the US, a tank top is a sleeveless shirt, something we would call a “vest” back in Ireland (and the US “vest” is what we call a “waistcoat”). A tank top in Ireland is a sleeveless sweater, which further adds to the confusion. The name “tank top” is derived from “tank suit”, an old name for a woman’s one-piece bathing suit. The use of “tank” for the bathing suit came from “swimming tank”, an obsolete term used in the 1920s for a swimming pool.

109D Verve : BRIO

“Brio” is borrowed from Italian, in which language the term means “vigor and vivacity”. “Con brio” is a musical direction often found on a score, instructing the musicians to play “with energy, vigor”.

111D 4G letters : LTE

In the world of telecommunications, the initialism LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, and is a wireless broadband communication standard. In general terms, LTE improves broadband speeds. As I understand it, LTE technology allows a 3G network to perform almost as well as a true 4G network, and so LTE is sometimes marketed as 4G LTE, even though it’s really “3G plus”.

112D QB Ward or Newton : CAM

Cam Newton is a former NFL quarterback who played for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, and for the New England Patriots for one season. One interesting thing about Newton is that he is a pescetarian, eating seafood but not the flesh of other animals. Sounds fishy to me …

114D Band with the 1980s multi-octave “Take On Me” : A-HA

A-ha is a band from Norway that first appeared on the music scene in Oslo in 1982. The band made it into the Guinness Book of World Records twice. A-ha holds the record for the largest paying audience at a concert, drawing 198,000 people to the Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in 1991. Lead singer Morten Harket has the record for holding the longest live note in a song. He held a note in the song “Summer Moved On” for 22 seconds!

1985’s “Take on Me” was a smash hit for Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha. The song’s accompanying music video was also a smash hit. It used live action combined with pencil-sketch animation, a technique called rotoscoping. Artists had to rotoscope around 3,000 individual frames of footage by hand, taking about 16 weeks of work. It’s a cool video, and a great song …