Day: November 17, 2011

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. Kind of converter : AC/DC
If you have a laptop with an external power supply, then that big “block” is an AC/DC converter. It converts the AC current you get from a wall socket into the DC current that is used by the laptop.

14. Opinionated Dr. ___ : LAURA
According to Dr. Laura Schlessinger herself, her radio show “preaches, teaches, and nags about morals, values and ethics.”

15. Lie next to : ABUT
“Abut” comes from the Old French word “abouter” meaning “join end to end”.

16. Like a pro rata division, say : FAIR
“Pro rata” is a Latin phrase meaning “in proportion”.

28. Game fish in northern lakes and streams : WALLEYE
Walleye is freshwater fish native to Canada and the northern US. The walleye takes its name from its distinctive eyes. The eyes reflect light, rather like those of a cat, creating a phenomenon of “eyeshine”. The walleye’s eyes are well adapted for hunting for food in turbid waters, but makes them a more visible prey to anglers that hunt for them at nighttime.

30. Co. follower, sometimes : INC
When a company “incorporates”, one of the main advantages is that personal assets of the owners and officers are protected from any liability incurred by the company itself.

31. Girl’s name meaning “loved” : AMY
The name “Amy” is often an anglicized version of the French name “Aimée”, which translates to “loved”.

32. They’re not as heavy as stones : KILOS
We’ve used pounds and stones in Ireland for all my life. However, they no longer have any “official” status in the country, as we’ve made the conversion to the metric system. Having said that, many folks still tend to measure body weight in stones and pounds. One stone is equal to fourteen pounds.

41. “See ___ Play,” classic Pink Floyd song : EMILY
“See Emily Play” was the second single ever released by Pink Floyd, in 1967. Their first single was “Arnold Layne”.

Pink Floyd were an English rock band founded in 1965. The band’s most famous albums were probably “The Dark Side of the Moon” and “The Wall”.

46. Bee: Prefix : API-
“Apis” is the Latin word for “bee”.

52. D-Day refuges for the wounded, for short : LSTS
LST stands for Landing Ship, Tank. LSTs were the large vessels used mainly in WWII that had doors at either ends from which tanks and other vehicles could roll off and onto beaches. The design concept persists to this day in the huge fleet of commercial roll-on/roll-off ferries, all inspired by the LST.

53. House of Tudor woman : BOLEYN
Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII of England. She was judged to be guilty of high treason after about a thousand days of marriage to Henry, accused of adultery and incest (probably trumped up charges). She was executed, but perhaps her legacy lived on in her only child, as she reigned for almost 45, very prosperous years as Queen Elizabeth I.

54. Watts of “21 Grams” : NAOMI
Naomi Watts was born in the UK and moved to Australia when she was 14 years of age. It was in Australia that she got her break in television and movies. Probably her most acclaimed role was in the 2003 film “21 Grams” with Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro. Watts is best friends with fellow Australian actress Nicole Kidman.

The 2003 movie called “21 Grams” takes its name from some pseudo-scientific work that was done by a Dr. Om McDougall in 1901. He weighed six patients in a TB hospital who were close to death, placing their beds on an industrial scale. His data showed that each patient lost an average of 21 grams at the moment of death, which he postulated was the weight loss as the soul left the human body. However, his results have never been reproduced.

64. Lighter choice : ZIPPO
The first Zippo lighter was made in 1933, in Bradford, Pennsylvania. The name “Zippo” was simply a word invented by the company founder, George Blaisdell, as he liked the word “zipper”. You can buy one today for $12.95, or if you want the solid gold model … for $8,675.95.

65. They have 225-min. 34-Downs : SATS
SATs have 225-minute TIME LIMITS (which is the answer to 34-down).

Today the standardized test for admission to colleges is known as the SAT Reasoning Test, but it used to be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, which led to the acronym SAT.

66. Part of N.E.A.: Abbr. : ASSN
The National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, mainly representing public school teachers.

67. A Coen brother : ETHAN
I think it’s great to see two brothers working together and being so successful. Joel and Ethan Coen are two movie producers and directors who both live in New York City. They do love the movie-making business, and even married “insiders”. Ethan’s wife is film editor Tricia Cooke, and Joel is married to one of my favorite actresses, the lovely Frances McDormand.

Down
1. Rapper ___ Rida : FLO
Rapper Tramar Dillard is better known as (but not by me!) rapper Flo Rida. As you might have guessed, Flo Rida was born in the state of Florida.

2. French word that sounds like a letter of the alphabet : EAU
“Eau” is the French word for “water”.

4. Painter’s appurtenance : DROP CLOTH
An appurtenance is an accessory, a piece of equipment for a specific task.

6. Release, in a way : PAROLE
The term “parole” is a French word that we use in English, with the French “parole” meaning “word, speech”. Of particular interest is the French phrase “parole d’honneur” which translates as “word of honor”. In the early 1600s we started using “parole” to mean a promise by a prisoner of war not to escape, as in the prisoner giving his “word of honor” not to run off. Over time, parole has come to mean conditional release of a prisoner before he or she has served the full term of a sentence.

7. Egypt’s Gamal ___ Nasser : ABDEL
Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt, from 1956 until he died in 1970. He stood alongside Muhammad Naguib, Egypt’s first president, during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of Egypt and Sudan. Nasser was an advocate of Pan-Arabism, an ideology promoting unification of Arab peoples and countries. President Nasser went so far as forming the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Egypt and Syria that started in 1958, but fell apart in 1961 when Syria withdrew.

12. Authoritative pronouncement : DICTUM
“Dictum” is a legal term, describing a statement by a court as part of a judgment.

13. Halloween-ish : CREEPY
All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, better known by the Scottish term, “Halloween”.

25. Magazine that serialized Simone de Beauvoir’s 1967 “La femme rompue” : ELLE
“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the biggest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”.

Simone de Beauvoir was a French philosopher and writer. She wrote a treatise in 1949 called “The Second Sex” that discussed the oppression of women, which became an inspiration for the modern feminist movement. She is also known for the long-term relationship she had with fellow philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre.

27. Sendai seasoning : MISO
Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes the soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus (!), to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

Sendai is a city in Japan that was badly damaged in the 9.0 earthquake of 2011 that caused such a devastating tsunami.

29. Chesapeake Bay, e.g. : ESTUARY
Chesapeake Bay is on the Atlantic coast and is surrounded by the states of Maryland and Virginia. It is the largest estuary in the whole country, with over 150 rivers and streams draining into it.

33. Seal’s grp. : USN
SEAL is an acronym used by the US Navy’s SEa, Air and Land teams. The SEALs were born out of the Navy’s special warfare groups from WWII, like the Underwater Demolition Teams and the Motor Torpedo Boat Squadrons. The Navy SEAL unit was established soon after President Kennedy’s speech in which he announced the plan to put a man on the moon, as in the same speech the president allocated $100m of funding to strengthen special operations forces. The Navy used some of this money to set up guerrilla and counter-guerrilla units, which soon became the SEALs.

36. Savory turnover from south of the border : EMPANADA
An empanada is a dish made by folding pastry around cooked meat and vegetables. To me it looks very similar to a dish I grew up with called a Cornish pasty.

38. Penpoints : NIBS
“Nib” is a Scottish variant of the Old English word “neb”, with both meaning the beak of a bird. This usage of “nib” as a beak dates back to the 14th century, with “nib” meaning the tip of a pen or quill coming a little later, in the early 1600s.

42. Two of these make a fathom: Abbr. : YDS
Our word “fathom” comes from the Old English word used to describe the length of the outstretched arms. Today a fathom is equal to six feet.

44. Average Town, U.S.A. : PEORIA
The phrase, “Will it play in Peoria?” is used to mean, “Will it appeal to the mainstream?” It is believed the expression originated as a corruption of, “We shall play in Peoria”, a line used by some actors in the 1890 novel “Five Hundred Dollars” by Horatio Alger, Jr.

47. The 40th since 1789 : REAGAN
Ronald Reagan started out his political career as a member of the Democratic Party, but switched to the Republicans in the early fifties. He served as Governor of California for eight years, and vied unsuccessfully for the nomination for US President on two occasions. He finally succeeded in 1980 and defeated President Jimmy Carter and became the 40th US President in 1981.

58. “Illmatic” rapper : NAS
Rapper Nas used to go by another stage name, Nasty Nas, and before that by his real name, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. He released “Illmatic”, his first album, in 1994. Not my cup of tea, I would say …

60. Cleanup org. : EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration, and began operation at the end of 1970.

61. “The Godfather” title : DON
“The Godfather” series of films is of course based on “The Godfather” novel by Mario Puzo, first published in 1969. Francis Ford Coppola worked with Puzo in partnership to adapt his novel into the screenplay for the first film, and to write the screenplays for the two sequels.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Repulses, with “off” : FENDS
6. Bruise preventers : PADS
10. Kind of converter : AC/DC
14. Opinionated Dr. ___ : LAURA
15. Lie next to : ABUT
16. Like a pro rata division, say : FAIR
17. Roof detour : OUT OF ORDER
19. Without following up, say : ONCE
20. Tea-grading term : PEKOE
21. Gas up? : AERATE
23. One mo : A SEC
26. Duplex mail : ALL MIXED UP
28. Game fish in northern lakes and streams : WALLEYE
30. Co. follower, sometimes : INC
31. Girl’s name meaning “loved” : AMY
32. They’re not as heavy as stones : KILOS
33. “___ in good health” : USE IT
35. “Stronger title” for this puzzle : LETTER SORTING
40. Rarity on the other end of a help line, nowadays : HUMAN
41. “See ___ Play,” classic Pink Floyd song : EMILY
43. Pick, with “for” : OPT
46. Bee: Prefix : API-
47. Spring opener : ROSEBUD
49. Rear garden : REARRANGED
52. D-Day refuges for the wounded, for short : LSTS
53. House of Tudor woman : BOLEYN
54. Watts of “21 Grams” : NAOMI
56. Makes sore : IRES
57. Mad manager : ANAGRAMMED
62. Glare preventer : TINT
63. Figures : DATA
64. Lighter choice : ZIPPO
65. They have 225-min. 34-Downs : SATS
66. Part of N.E.A.: Abbr. : ASSN
67. A Coen brother : ETHAN

Down
1. Rapper ___ Rida : FLO
2. French word that sounds like a letter of the alphabet : EAU
3. Flake : NUT
4. Painter’s appurtenance : DROP CLOTH
5. Untouchable? : SAFE
6. Release, in a way : PAROLE
7. Egypt’s Gamal ___ Nasser : ABDEL
8. Kind of date for a woman : DUE
9. Item that’s mostly mesh : STRAINER
10. Ere : AFORE
11. Bilingual country : CANADA
12. Authoritative pronouncement : DICTUM
13. Halloween-ish : CREEPY
18. “I suppose” : OKAY
22. Gets going : EXCITES
23. Parrot’s cry : AWK
24. Yachting need : SAIL
25. Magazine that serialized Simone de Beauvoir’s 1967 “La femme rompue” : ELLE
27. Sendai seasoning : MISO
29. Chesapeake Bay, e.g. : ESTUARY
33. Seal’s grp. : USN
34. Certain cut-off point : TIME LIMIT
36. Savory turnover from south of the border : EMPANADA
37. Puddle source : RAIN
38. Penpoints : NIBS
39. Overfill : GLUT
42. Two of these make a fathom: Abbr. : YDS
43. Runs rings around? : ORBITS
44. Average Town, U.S.A. : PEORIA
45. On-air personalities, in the biz : TALENT
47. The 40th since 1789 : REAGAN
48. Something lost in the wash? : ODOR
50. Recesses : RESTS
51. Swarms of them are called clouds : GNATS
55. Building plan with many doors, say : MAZE
58. “Illmatic” rapper : NAS
59. Dashboard fig. : MPH
60. Cleanup org. : EPA
61. “The Godfather” title : DON
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