Day: September 9, 2012

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” e.g. : SIDE B
“Can’t Help Falling In Love” was recorded in 1961 by Elvis Presley as a B-side. The song on the A-side of the record was “Rock-A-Hula Baby”. Never heard of the A-side, to be honest …

6. Scuba tank parts : O-RINGS
The SCUBA tank was of course invented by the underwater adventurer Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau started off his career in the French Navy, aiming for a working life in aviation. Because of a car accident, Cousteau had to abandon his first career choice and instead went to sea. Famously, he invented the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA), also called the aqualung.

12. Famous lawmaker? : NEWTON
Sir Isaac Newton was of course one of the most influential people in history, the man who laid the groundwork for all of classical mechanics. The story about an apple falling on his head, inspiring him to formulate his theories about gravity, well that’s not quite true. It probably didn’t hit him on the head, but Newton himself often told the story about observing an apple falling in his mother’s garden and how this made him acutely aware of the Earth’s gravitational pull.

18. Big fairy : OBERON
Oberon and Titania are the King and Queen of the fairies in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

20. Nazareth’s locale : GALILEE
Galilee is a region in northern Israel, thought to be the home of Jesus for most of his life.

Nazareth is a large city in northern Israel. The New Testament describes Nazareth as the childhood home of Jesus.

22. Cheap cigar, in slang : EL ROPO
El ropo is American slang not only for a big, cheap cigar, but also for a cannabis cigarette … so I am told …

26. Mrs. ___ (“Entourage” role) : ARI
I haven’t seen the HBO series “Entourage”, but will have to take a look one day as I am a huge fan of HBO productions. “Entourage” is the story of a young movie star from New York City learning about life in Los Angeles. The show is co-produced by the actor Mark Wahlberg and so the storyline is somewhat biographical, based on a few of Wahlberg’s own experiences.

28. Aviator’s guide : PYLON
A pylon is a tower that is used to mark the turning point in an air race.

30. Jazz’s Simone : NINA
Nina Simone was the stage name of Eunice Waymon. Simone was very much associated with jazz music, although she really wanted to be a classical musician early in her career, inspired by a love for the music of Bach.

31. Solzhenitsyn novel setting : GULAG
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, having spent many years in a Gulag labor camp, called his most famous book “The Gulag Archipelago”, published in the West in 1973.

39. Groucho’s real name : JULIUS
Groucho Marx’s real name was Julius Henry Marx. By the time Groucho started his successful, post-Hollywood career hosting the quiz show “You Bet Your Life”, he was sporting a real mustache. However, for all his movies, his mustache was painted on with greasepaint.

44. Space traveler? : COSMIC RAY
Victor Hess was the physicist who discovered cosmic rays, winning him the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1936. Up until Hess did his experiments, it was believed that the ionizing radiation in the atmosphere originated from the Earth. Hess took measurements himself in a balloon at various altitudes (incurring some personal risk) and showed that the radiation did indeed decrease up to about 1km, but then started to increase again as the atmosphere thinned. This showed that we experience radiation at ground level that originates in outer space, a radiation later termed “cosmic rays”.

54. Potsdam attendee : STALIN
Potsdam is a city in Germany, lying just on the outskirts of the nation’s capital of Berlin. Famously, Potsdam was the site of a conference between Stalin, Churchill and Truman after the end of WWII in Europe.

55. Actress Myrna : LOY
The beautiful Myrna Loy was one of my favorite actresses. Her career took off when she was paired up with William Powell in the fabulous “The Thin Man” series of films. Loy also appeared opposite Cary Grant in a couple of films that I like to watch every so often, namely “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” (1947) and “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House” (1948).

56. Viracocha worshiper : INCA
Viracocha was an important deity in the Inca civilization, the creator of all things.

58. “Finnegans Wake” wife : ANNA
“Finnegan’s Wake” is a frustrating piece of literature by Irish writer James Joyce. The language and structure of the work make the whole thing very difficult to get into, and so I just gave up many moons ago. As an illustration, the last words of the book are:

A way a lone a last a loved a long the

This seems to make no sense, until you take the first words of the book and tag them on, so that we get:

A way a lone a last a loved a long the / riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

I am just not adventurous enough, so James Joyce just isn’t my cup of tea. Having said that, he did actually mention one of my own ancestors in one of his books, namely my g-g-grandfather’s brother …

59. Shout from a field : HAW
“Haw!” is a command given to a trained animal that is hauling something (like a horse or an ox). “Haw” is used to instruct the animal to turn to the left. The equivalent command for a right turn is “Gee!”

65. Mythical figure represented in Vermeer’s “The Art of Painting” : CLIO
“The Art of Painting” is one of the few works left to us by the great Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. The work depicts an artist sitting at a canvas, with a young lady as his subject. “The Art of Painting” was “purchased” by Adolf Hitler in 1940 from its Austrian owner, not long after the invasion of Austria. After WWII, US forces discovered the painting and presented it to the Austrian government. Today it is on display in Vienna.

66. ___ paradox : LIAR’S
The liar’s paradox is the statement “this sentence is false”. If this sentence is true, then this sentence is actually false. If this sentence is false, then it is actually true. Now that, that’s a paradox …

77. “Desperate Housewives” role : EDIE
Edie Britt is a character on television’s “Desperate Housewives” played by Nicollette Sheridan. I’m told that her name is now Edie William, and that she used to be called Edie McLain and also Edie Rothwell. She must be a desperate housewife …

78. Ring toss activity? : SUMO
Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

93. Mendes of Hollywood : EVA
Eva Mendes played the female lead in the movie “Hitch”, opposite Will Smith.

94. Abbey Road, e.g. : STREET
“Abbey Road” was the last album that the Beatles released before they finally broke up. “Abbey Road” was named after the street in London in which the recording studio was located. The Fab Four is featured in the album’s cover, walking across the pedestrian crossing that’s in the road right in front of the studio.

102. Dance with a “casino” style : SALSA
The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

104. “Rubáiyát” poet : OMAR
Omar Khayyam was a Persian with many talents. He was a poet as well as an important mathematician, astronomer and physician. A selection of his poems were translated by one Edward Fitzgerald in a collection called “Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam”.

105. Walsh with three golds in beach volleyball : KERRI
Kerri Walsh-Jennings was partner with Misty May-Treanor when they won three gold medals in beach volleyball in the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

107. Rescuer of Mowgli in “The Jungle Book” : KAA
Kaa is the python character in Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”.

“The Jungle Book” by Rudyard Kipling was originally published in 1894, and is a collection of adventure stories or fables featuring the animals of the jungle and a young boy called Mowgli. Baloo is a sloth bear who teaches the cubs of a wolf pack the Law of the Jungle. His most challenging pupil however is no lupine, but the man-cub Mowgli.

Rudyard Kipling was a British poet and writer famous for his tales of the British Raj, the rule of the British Empire in India. Kipling was actually born in Bombay, but returned with his family to England when he was very young. After being educated in England, he returned to India and from there travelled the world. Kipling’s most famous works are the stories “The Jungle Book”, “Just So Stories”, “The Man Who Would Be King”, and the poems “Mandalay”, “Gunga Din” and “If-”.

110. Cleanup hitter, say : RBI MAN
Runs Batted In (RBIs), a baseball term.

119. 1972 Jack Lemmon comedy : AVANTI!
“Avanti!” is a 1972 comedy film mainly set in Italy, and starring Jack Lemmon opposite the lovely Juliet Mills. I’ve seen this movie a couple of times and it doesn’t quite deliver, despite a wonderful cast and director (Billy Wilder).

120. Sonnet part : SESTET
A sestet is a group of six lines of poetry similar to a quatrain, a group of four lines.

Down
1. Japanese bowlful : SOBA
Soba is a thin Japanese noodle made from buckwheat flour. In Japan, the word soba tends to be used to describe any thin noodle, in contrast with the thicker noodles that are called udon.

8. Awesome, in slang : ILL
“Ill” is hip-hop slang, meaning sublime, singularly creative. Not how I use the word “ill” …

9. Actress Vardalos : NIA
Not only was the delightful Nia Vardalos the star of the 2002 hit movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, she also wrote the screenplay. The film never made it to number one at the box office, but it still pulled in more money than any other movie in history that didn’t make it to number one. That record I think reflects the fact that the film wasn’t a blockbuster but rather a so-called “sleeper hit”, a movie that people went to see based on referrals from friends. The big fat mistake came when a spin-off TV show was launched, “My Big Fat Greek Life”. It ran for only 7 episodes.

13. Antiquity, once : ELD
“Eld” is an archaic term for old age and antiquity.

15. Shinto temple entrance : TORII
A torii is a very traditional Japanese gate, often seen at the entrance to a Shinto shrine.

It is perhaps best not to describe Shinto as a religion, but more as a “spirituality of the Japanese people”, a spirituality that encompasses folklore, history and mythology. Having said that, “Shinto” translates literally as “Way of the Gods”. Most people in Japan who are described as practicing Shinto, also practice Buddhism.

16. Bids one club, say : OPENS
That would be “one club”, a possible opening bid in the card game of bridge.

19. Pride Lands queen : NALA
In “The Lion King”, Nala is a lioness, the childhood friend of Simba.

21. First name in mysteries : ERLE
I must have read all of the Perry Mason books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.

33. Bygone sedan : ALERO
The Oldsmobile Alero was the last car made under the Oldsmobile brand, and was produced from 1999 to 2004.

36. What the French once called “la Belle Rivière” : OHIO
The Ohio is the largest tributary of the Mississippi by volume. In fact where the two rivers meet in Cairo, Illinois, the Ohio is actually the larger of the pair.

37. Many pledges : FROSH
“Frosh” is a slang term for a college freshman. We call them “freshers” back in Ireland …

40. Mount Narodnaya’s locale : URALS
The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

Mount Narodnaya is the highest peak in the Ural Mountains, the famous Russian range.

43. “Dance at Bougival” painter : RENOIR
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter, very much at the forefront of the Impressionist Movement. Renoir was a prolific artist, with several thousand works attributed to him. The largest collection of Renoirs is actually in the United States. You can see 181 of his paintings at the Barnes Foundation just outside of Philadelphia.

45. School bully? : ORCA
The taxonomic name for the killer whale is Orcinus orca. The use of the name “orca”, rather than “killer whale”, is becoming more and more common. The Latin word “Orcinus” means “belonging to Orcus”, with Orcus being the name for the Kingdom of the Dead.

46. Co-explorer of 1804 : CLARK
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were soldiers in the US Army. Lewis was a personal aide to President Thomas Jefferson, even residing in the Presidential Mansion. This exposure contributed to his selection as leader of the famous expedition. William Clark was actually Lewis’s boss for a while before Clark retired. Lewis asked Clark to come out of retirement to accompany him on his three-year exploration.

47. It can be smoothed over : RINK
The first ice resurfacing machine was developed in 1949 by none other than Frank Zamboni. The machine works by simultaneously executing a number of tasks. First, the surface of the ice is scraped off by a sharp blade. Next the ice is “washed” with water sprayed from the front of the Zamboni, and that wash water is vacuumed back up and filtered to remove impurities. Water is then reapplied to the scraped ice by a wet towel dragging behind the machine, forming a new skating surface.

49. Oenophile’s specification : YEAR
In Greek mythology Oeno was the goddess of wine, giving us “oen-” as a prefix meaning “wine”. For example, oenology is the study of wine and an oenophile is a wine-lover.

51. Nabisco brand : NILLA
As one might expect, Nilla is a shortened from of “vanilla”. However, you won’t find any vanilla in Nilla cookies or wafers. They have always been flavored with vanillin, synthetic vanilla. Is nothing sacred …?

57. Troubadour’s love song : ALBA
The alba is a old type of love song or poem from southern France. It specifically deals with the longing and frustration felt by lovers who must separate for fear of being discovered by their spouses. Naughty stuff …

62. Fannie ___ : MAE
The Federal National Mortgage Association is commonly called Fannie Mae, a play on the acronym FNMA.

66. Dharma teachers : LAMAS
In the context of Buddhism, dharma is the collection of teachings and doctrines of the faith.

67. Borodin’s “Prince ___” : IGOR
“Prince Igor” is an opera by the Russian composer, Alexander Borodin. Borodin died before he had finished “Prince Igor”, so it was completed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. Music from “Prince Igor”, and other Borodin works, was used in the American musical “Kismet”.

69. Goddess pursued by Hera : LETO
In Greek mythology, Zeus and Leto are the father and mother of the twins Apollo and Artemis. The twins are sometimes referred to as the Letoides, after their mother.

In Greek mythology, Hera was the wife of Zeus and was noted for her jealousy and vengeful nature, particularly against those who vied for the affections of her husband. The equivalent character to Hera in Roman mythology was Juno. Hera was the daughter of Cronus and Rhea.

72. Purplish shade : PUCE
The purple shade known as “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea!

75. Where enfants learn : ECOLE
The French word for school is “école”, and for children is “enfants”.

79. Mars atmosphere features : CIRRI
The Martian atmosphere contains large cirrus clouds made up of water-ice. These high, wispy clouds were photographed by the Opportunity rover in 2004.

80. Japanese bowlful : RAMEN
Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed.

84. Player of TV’s Det. Tutuola : ICE-T
Detective Fin Tutuola is a character on the TV show “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. Tutuola is played by rap star Ice-T.

94. Like Shylock : STINGY
Shylock is a character in William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”. Shylock is a moneylender and he gives a loan which is to be secured by “a pound of flesh”. When the money cannot be repaid, Shylock demands his pound of flesh, the collection of which would kill the poor victim of his scheme.

99. Medieval helmet : ARMET
The armet is a relatively lightweight helmet used in the 15th century. It was considered innovative in that it was the first helmet design to completely enclose the head, hence providing added protection.

103. Pacific capital : APIA
Apia is the capital city, in fact the only “city”, of the Pacific island nation of Samoa. The harbor of Apia is famous for a very foolish incident in 1889 involving seven ships from Germany, the US and Britain. A typhoon was approaching so the safest thing to do was to head for open water away from land, but no nation would move its ships for fear of losing face in front of the others. Six of the vessels were lost in the typhoon as a result and 200 American and German sailors perished. The British cruiser HMS Calliope barely managed to escape from the harbor and rode out the storm safely.

106. Lab order : STAY
The Labrador breed of dog has been around at least since 1814, and the chocolate Labrador appeared over a decade later in the 1930s.

108. Dessert wine : ASTI
Asti is in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

113. “Pinocchio” keepsake : CEL
In the world of animation a cel is a transparent sheet on which objects and characters are drawn. In the first half of the 20th century the sheet was actually made of celluloid, giving the “cel” its name.

Pinocchio is the title character in the 1883 children’s novel by Carlo Collodi called “The Adventures of Pinocchio”.

114. Letter that’s an anagram of 111-Down : ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.

115. Something you might turn on : RED
If you’re sitting behind a car that doesn’t make a right on red, it may just be a rental car driven by someone from Europe. Speaking as someone who learned to drive over there, I must admit I held up a few people at red lights when I first visited this country. That’s because in Europe we aren’t allowed to make any move past a red light, unless there is an accompanying green arrow. So, if you’re driving over there, take care …

116. Tikka masala go-with : NAN
In an Indian restaurant, naan bread is very popular. Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Elvis’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” e.g. : SIDE B
6. Scuba tank parts : O-RINGS
12. Famous lawmaker? : NEWTON
18. Big fairy : OBERON
20. Nazareth’s locale : GALILEE
22. Cheap cigar, in slang : EL ROPO
23. … and 33-Across: “must wear gloves in the field” : BASEBALL PLAYER
25. Causing a stink, maybe : ODORED
26. Mrs. ___ (“Entourage” role) : ARI
27. Penguin’s spot, maybe : FLOE
28. Aviator’s guide : PYLON
30. Jazz’s Simone : NINA
31. Solzhenitsyn novel setting : GULAG
33. … and 50-Across: “experienced in conducting surveys for sites” : ARCHAEOLOGIST
37. Peculiar : FUNNY
39. Groucho’s real name : JULIUS
41. “Hogwash!” : PAH
42. Friends’ feud : RIFT
43. Of greatest interest to a bibliophile, maybe : RAREST
44. Space traveler? : COSMIC RAY
50. … and 62-Across: “may be tasked with generating impressions” : ONLINE MARKETER
53. Control : POLICE
54. Potsdam attendee : STALIN
55. Actress Myrna : LOY
56. Viracocha worshiper : INCA
58. “Finnegans Wake” wife : ANNA
59. Shout from a field : HAW
60. Highballs? : LOBS
62. … and 69-Across: “excellent filing skills required” : METAL WORKER
65. Mythical figure represented in Vermeer’s “The Art of Painting” : CLIO
66. ___ paradox : LIAR’S
68. Bet on : BACK
69. … and 86-Across: “focused on improving circulation” : LIBRARY PAGE
73. Integral course, informally : CALC
74. Elided preposition : O’ER
77. “Desperate Housewives” role : EDIE
78. Ring toss activity? : SUMO
79. Whoop : CRY
81. Careful writer’s concern : NUANCE
83. One down in the mouth : TONSIL
86. … and 96-Across: “willing to open chests and work on vessels” : CARDIAC SURGEON
89. Settled things : OLD SCORES
91. Jewelry item : ARMLET
92. Remain true : HOLD
93. Mendes of Hollywood : EVA
94. Abbey Road, e.g. : STREET
95. Wi-Fi connection spots : CAFES
96. … and 112-Across: “strong, disciplined hands a must” : PIRATE CAPTAIN
102. Dance with a “casino” style : SALSA
104. “Rubáiyát” poet : OMAR
105. Walsh with three golds in beach volleyball : KERRI
106. Tenant’s contact, casually : SUPE
107. Rescuer of Mowgli in “The Jungle Book” : KAA
110. Cleanup hitter, say : RBI MAN
112. … and 23-Across: “should be comfortable sitting on the bench” : CONCERT PIANIST
117. Find, as a station : TUNE TO
118. Herbalist’s drink : SAGE TEA
119. 1972 Jack Lemmon comedy : AVANTI!
120. Sonnet part : SESTET
121. Chivalrous greeting : MY LADY
122. Break up : END IT

Down
1. Japanese bowlful : SOBA
2. Skyscraper support : I-BAR
3. Cause of a product recall, perhaps : DESIGN FLAW
4. ‘Fore : ERE
5. Fishing line attachment : BOBFLY
6. Perform a body scan on? : OGLE
7. Punishment on the knuckles : RAP
8. Awesome, in slang : ILL
9. Actress Vardalos : NIA
10. Some ancient carvings : GLYPHS
11. “Peace!” : SEE YA
12. It might say “ATM Here” : NEON LAMP
13. Antiquity, once : ELD
14. Worth no points, say : WRONG
15. Shinto temple entrance : TORII
16. Bids one club, say : OPENS
17. Silently greet : NOD AT
19. Pride Lands queen : NALA
21. First name in mysteries : ERLE
24. Legislative holdup : LOG JAM
29. Fumble follower : OOPS
32. “___ then …” (on-air sign-off) : UNTIL
33. Bygone sedan : ALERO
34. Like some investments : RISKY
35. Cherubic : CUTE
36. What the French once called “la Belle Rivière” : OHIO
37. Many pledges : FROSH
38. Utah’s ___ National Forest : UINTA
40. Mount Narodnaya’s locale : URALS
43. “Dance at Bougival” painter : RENOIR
44. What “.99” may represent : CENTS
45. School bully? : ORCA
46. Co-explorer of 1804 : CLARK
47. It can be smoothed over : RINK
48. Cause of some teen angst : ACNE
49. Oenophile’s specification : YEAR
51. Nabisco brand : NILLA
52. Seating area : TIER
57. Troubadour’s love song : ALBA
61. Word before and after “will be” : BOYS
62. Fannie ___ : MAE
63. Brown shade : WALNUT
64. Become part of history : OCCUR
65. Peppery herb : CRESS
66. Dharma teachers : LAMAS
67. Borodin’s “Prince ___” : IGOR
69. Goddess pursued by Hera : LETO
70. Superstar : IDOL
71. Sticky situation : BIND
72. Purplish shade : PUCE
73. Four seasons, e.g. : CYCLE
74. Incomparable : ONE OF A KIND
75. Where enfants learn : ECOLE
76. Divides : RENDS
79. Mars atmosphere features : CIRRI
80. Japanese bowlful : RAMEN
82. Turkish leaders : AGHAS
84. Player of TV’s Det. Tutuola : ICE-T
85. Decorative Valentine’s Day gift : LOVE KNOT
87. Pollster’s need : DATA
88. Arranges a blind date for : SETS UP
90. Easter egg roll, say : RACE
94. Like Shylock : STINGY
95. Divide : CLEAVE
96. Dessert wines : PORTS
97. Saturate : IMBUE
98. Boons for farmers : RAINS
99. Medieval helmet : ARMET
100. Typical golf shots : ARCS
101. Golf event : PRO-AM
103. Pacific capital : APIA
106. Lab order : STAY
108. Dessert wine : ASTI
109. Causing trouble : AT IT
111. Took in : ATE
113. “Pinocchio” keepsake : CEL
114. Letter that’s an anagram of 111-Down : ETA
115. Something you might turn on : RED
116. Tikka masala go-with : NAN

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