Day: April 6, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Improvisational music : JAM
The use of “jam”, to mean an improvised passage performed by a whole jazz band, dates back to the late twenties. This gave rise to “jam session”, a term used a few years later. The use of “jam” in this context probably stems from the meaning of “jam” as something sweet, something excellent.

14. Indigenous people known for their tattoos : MAORI
The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Māori are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting sometime in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing the mortal human being from spiritual entities.

19. NPR journalist Shapiro : ARI
Ari Shapiro is the very able White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR).

20. 1986 girl’s-name song by Boston : AMANDA
Boston is a rock band from … Boston. Boston’s biggest hit was “Amanda”, released in 1986.

21. “Catch-22” profiteer Minderbinder : MILO
Milo Minderbinder is the mess officer in Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel “Catch-22”. In the 1970 film adaptation of the book, the Minderbinder character is played by Jon Voight.

22. DuPont trademark of 1941 : ORLON
Orlon is the brand name used by the DuPont Corporation for the acrylic fibers the company developed in 1941.

28. Dressage rider, at times? : COLT REVOLVER
The equestrian sport of dressage involves demonstration of how well as horse responds to training. “Dressage” is a French word meaning “training”.

30. Smidgen : TAD
Back in the 1800s “tad” was used to describe a young child, and this morphed into our usage of “small amount” in the early 1900s. The original use of “tad” for a child is very likely a shortened version of “tadpole”.

Our word “smidgen”, meaning a small amount, might come from the Scots word “smitch” that means the same thing or “a small insignificant person”.

34. ___ suit : ZOOT
A zoot suit has pants that are fairly loose fitting, except around the cuff at the bottom of the leg. The pants also have a high waist. The jacket of the suit has wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. Zoot-suits were popular in the US in the thirties and forties, and were often associated with the African American, Latino American and Italian American ethnic groups. Over in the UK, the zoot suit was worn by the “Teddy boys” of the fifties and sixties. “Zoot” is probably just a slang iteration of the word “suit”.

36. Grant for a filmmaker? : CARY
Cary Grant was an actor from England who made it big, really big in Hollywood. “Cary Grant” is a stage name, chosen by Archibald Leach. There’s a great moment in the film “His Girl Friday” when Grant says the line “I never had so much fun since Archie Leach died”, an inside joke.

38. Indonesian tourist haven : BALI
Bali is the most important tourist destination in Indonesia and is an island lying east of Java. In recent years, Bali’s tourist industry has been badly hit in the aftermath of two terrorist bombings. The first one, in 2002, killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists in a nightclub.

39. London ___ (British Ferris wheel) : EYE
London Eye is the name of a very large Ferris wheel that sits right beside the River Thames in London. It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and was the tallest in the world when it was constructed in 1999. The London Eye is the most-visited, paid tourist attraction in the whole country.

42. Some supplies for Hershey’s : ALMONDS
Milton Hershey used profits from the sale of his successful Lancaster Caramel Company to construct a chocolate plant in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania. He started building the factory in 1903, and by 1906 his chocolate was so successful Derry Church changed its name to Hershey, Pennsylvania.

49. Missile launched at Goliath : STONE
In the story of David and Goliath, the Israelites and the Philistines faced each other in battle at the Valley of Elah. Goliath was the warrior champion of the Philistines and each day he challenged the Israelites to send out their champion to decide the battle in a one-on-one fight. No one was courageous enough to accept the challenge until young David agreed to face the mighty Goliath. And of course David felled the giant soldier with a stone from his sling.

53. Circus performer Kelly : EMMETT
Emmett Kelly was a famous circus performer who was most noted for his clown persona known as “Weary Willie”.

54. Inexperienced shucker, at times? : OYSTER CRACKER
“To shuck” is to remove the husk from (say an ear of corn) or to remove the shell from (say an oyster).

60. Out of fashion : PASSE
“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”.

61. Subject of a van Gogh series : SEINE
Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh painted a whole series of paintings of the River Seine in 1886 and 1887. He had just left Holland and arrived in France, never to return to his homeland. The first painting in the series were of scenes in Paris, but later works were set on the banks of the Seine outside of the city, including the Pont de Clichy located near Asnières.

62. Software user’s shortcut : MACRO
A macroinstruction (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

65. No-limit Texas hold’em player, at times? : ALL BETTER
The official birthplace of the incredibly popular poker game of Texas Hold ‘Em is Robstown, Texas where the game dates back to the early 1900s. The game was introduced into Las Vegas in 1967 by a group of Texan enthusiasts including Doyle Brunson, a champion often seen playing on TV today. Doyle Brunson published a poker strategy guide in 1978, and this really helped increase the popularity of the game. But it was the inclusion of Texas Hold ‘Em in the television line-up that really gave the game its explosive surge in popularity, with the size of the prize money just skyrocketing.

70. TWA competitor : USAIR
From 1953, what today is US Airways was called Allegheny Airlines. In the seventies, customers became very dissatisfied with the company’s service levels as it struggled to manage a rapid expansion in its number of flights. These problems earned the airline the nickname “Agony Air”. Allegheny tried to leave the “agony” behind in 1979 and changed its name to USAir. In 1997 the name was changed again, to US Airways. US Airways merged with American Airlines in 2013, and the “US Airways” brand name will gradually be replaced with “American Airlines”.

Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan-Am, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the acronym TWA) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

71. Dual-sport athlete Sanders : DEION
Deion Sanders is a former NFL footballer, and a former Major League Baseball player. He is the only person to play in a Super Bowl and in a World Series. And, in the 1989 season he became the only person to hit a major league home run and score an NFL touchdown in the same week.

82. Knowledge : KEN
“Ken” is a Scottish verb meaning “to know”, as in being able to recognize a person or thing. The word is also used as a noun, as in “beyond my ken”, outside of what I can know or understand.

90. Spirits in Scandinavia : ABSOLUT
I must admit, if I ever do order a vodka drink by name, I will order the Absolut brand. I must also admit that I do so from the perspective of an amateur photographer. I’ve been swayed by the Absolut marketing campaign that features such outstanding photographic images. I’m sure you’ve come across examples …

91. New Haven alum : ELI
Elihu Yale was a wealthy merchant born in Boston in 1649. Yale worked for the British East India Company, and for many years served as governor of a settlement at Madras (now Chennai) in India. After India, Yale took over his father’s estate near Wrexham in Wales. It was while resident in Wrexham that Yale responded to a request for financial support for the Collegiate School of Connecticut in 1701. He sent the school a donation, which was used to erect a new building in New Haven that was named “Yale” in his honor. In 1718, the whole school was renamed to “Yale College”. To this day, students of Yale are nicknamed “Elis”, again honoring Elihu.

97. Florentine dynasty name : MEDICI
The House of Medici was a dynasty from the the Italian Republic of Florence. The Medici family went into the world of finance and built the largest bank in Europe in the 15th century. Significantly, the Medicis produced four Popes around this time, and then the family moved from the status of common citizens to become hereditary Dukes of Florence. By the middle of the 18th century the family ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, but ended up fiscally bankrupt.

101. West African vegetable : YAM
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially found in Africa.

102. Double-handed cooking vessel : WOK
“Wok” is a Cantonese word, the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

109. French : merci :: German : ___ : DANKE
“Thank you” is “merci” in French, and “danke” in German.

115. Memo opener : IN RE
The term “in re” is Latin, derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to”, or “in the matter of”.

117. Something that may be amalgamated : ORE
Amalgam is an alloy of mercury with some other metal. Many dental fillings are made of an amalgam of silver and mercury.

Down
1. Entrance side : JAMB
A door or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

4. Brought to tears, possibly : MACED
Mace is actually a brand name, originally introduced by Lake Erie Chemical when they started to manufacture “Chemical Mace”, with the name being a play on the club-like weapon from days of old. Mace was originally a form of tear gas, but Mace today uses a formula that is actually a pepper spray.

5. “Time’s Arrow” novelist Martin : AMIS
I suppose the successful English novelist Martin Amis must have writing in his blood. He is the son of the respected author Kingsley Amis, a Booker Prize winner.

9. Person moving against traffic? : NARC
“Narc” is a slang term for a law enforcement officer who tracks down criminals associated illegal drugs.

15. Polluted Asian lake : ARAL SEA
The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

16. Peridot color : OLIVE
Olivine is relatively common mineral, but is rarely found with purity that is sufficient for use as a gemstone. When the olivine is pure enough to be used as a gem, it is called peridot. Peridot is always olive green in color, with its color intensity a function of how much iron is in the stone.

17. Vehicle on Mars : ROVER
There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successful for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and it is still going. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today.

31. One of four in “As I Was Going to St. Ives” : IAMB
An iamb is a metrical foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. Robert Frost’s “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” consists of lines made up of four sequential iambs e.g. “Whose woods / these are / I think / I know”. With a sequence of four iambs, the poem’s structure is described as iambic tetrameter.

You might remember the nursery rhyme “As I was going to St. Ives” from the third “Die Hard” movie, “Die Hard With a Vengeance”, in which it is treated as a riddle. The rhyme goes like this:

As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?

There is more than one place called St. Ives in England, but most think the reference is to the seaside town of St. Ives in Cornwall. By the way, the answer to the riddle is “one”, because just the narrator was going to St. Ives, and the rest were characters he met along the way.

33. Sal of “Rebel Without a Cause” : MINEO
Sal Mineo’s most famous role was John “Plate” Crawford, the kid who was in awe of the James Dean character in “Rebel Without a Cause”. Sadly, Mineo was murdered in 1976 when he was just 37 years old. He was attacked in the alley behind his Los Angeles apartment and stabbed through the heart. When an arrest was made it was discovered that the murderer had no idea that his victim was a celebrity, and that his plan was just to rob anyone who came along.

37. Thing that might decay : ATOM
The nucleus of an unstable atom might emit particles of ionizing radiation in the process known as “radioactive decay”. Such a material is termed “radioactive”.

38. Bearded comic strip bully : BLUTO
Bluto is the villain in the Popeye cartoon strip and has been around since 1932. Sometimes you will see Bluto go by the name Brutus, depending on the date of the publication. This “confusion” arose because there was an unfounded concern that the name “Bluto” was owned by someone else. Bluto, Brutus … it’s the same guy.

40. Old cavalrymen : LANCERS
Lancers were a special type of cavalry soldier, ones who fought with lances!

44. — — .-. … . : MORSE
In Morse code:

— (M)
— (O)
.- (R)
… (S)
. (E)

45. News analyst Roberts : COKIE
Cokie Roberts is a great journalist and author, best known for her work with National Public Radio.

49. Right away : STAT
The exact etymology of “stat”, a term meaning “immediately” in the medical profession, seems to have been lost in the mists of time. It probably comes from the Latin “statim” meaning “to a standstill, immediately”. A blog reader has helpfully suggested that the term may also come from the world of laboratory analysis, where the acronym STAT stands for “short turnaround time”.

52. Valéry’s “very” : TRES
“Très” is French for “very”.

64. “The Ipcress File” star, 1965 : CAINE
There have been only two actors who have been nominated for an Academy Award in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s. One is Jack Nicholson, and the other is Michael Caine. Caine is now known as Sir Michael Caine, as he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in the year 2000.

I used to walk my dog right past author Len Deighton’s house years ago, as we lived in the same village in Ireland (probably my only claim to fame!). Deighton wrote the excellent espionage thriller “The IPCRESS File”, made into a 1965 movie starring Michael Caine.

66. “___ c’est moi” : L’ETAT
“L’État, c’est moi” is a French phrase, supposedly spoken by Louis XIV on his deathbed. It translates to “I am the State”, and would appear to mean that Louis considered himself to be “above his station” as it were. However, many dispute the quotation, and argue that Louis actually said on his deathbed that even though he was dying, the State would live on.

85. Slurpee flavor : COLA
Icee and Slurpee are brand names of those slushy drinks. Ugh …

86. Supermodel Heidi : KLUM
German-born Heidi Klum is a talented lady and has built a multi-faceted career based on her early success as a model. She is the force behind the Bravo reality show called “Project Runway” that has been on the air since 2004. Klum has been nominated 4-5 times for an Emmy for her association with the show. Klum was also signed up as the official ambassador for Barbie in 2009, the 50th anniversary of the Barbie Doll, and for her service that year a “Heidi Klum Barbie” was produced. Klum was married to the successful English singer called Seal until 2012.

88. Dress in fancy duds : TRICK UP
“Duds” is an informal word for clothing, coming from the word “dudde” that was used around 1300 as the name for a cloak.

89. Long-eared dogs, informally : COCKERS
The Cocker Spaniel originated in the UK, where the breed was developed for hunting the Eurasian Woodcock. It is the hunting of the woodcock that led to the breed’s name.

93. Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense member : CONTRA
The contras were a collection of rebel groups who were active against the government in Nicaragua from 1979 to the early 1990s. The term “contra” is short for “la contrarrevolución”, meaning “the counter-revolution”. Famously, the Reagan administration sought to circumvent the US Congress and fund the contras using the proceeds from arms sales to Iran, which came to light as “the Iran-Contra Affair”.

97. PC platform of old : 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.

99. The Harlem Shake or the Dougie : DANCE
The Harlem Shake is a dance that was introduced in the early eighties in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. The Harlem Shake was based on an Ethiopian dance called Eskista.

The Dougie is a hip-hop dance that originated in Dallas. The dance took its name from the rapper Doug E. Fresh, who made similar moves during his performances. And no, I don’t Dougie …

100. One of the Allman Brothers : DUANE
The Allman Brothers Band has to be one of the most unlucky bands in the business. Soon after the group had its big break with the 1971 album “At Fillmore East”, one of the two Allman brothers, Duane, was killed in a motorcycle accident. One year later, bassist Berry Oakley was killed, also in a motorcycle accident.

104. Expiration notice : OBIT
“Obituary” comes from the Latin “obituaris”, originally the record of the death of a person, although the literal meaning is “pertaining to death”.

107. Julio-Claudian dynasty ruler : NERO
The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.

111. Horatian ___ : ODE
A Horatian Ode is an ode with a specific structure, designed to resemble the odes of the Roman poet, Horace.

112. Hamm of soccer : MIA
Mia Hamm is a retired American soccer player, a forward who played on the US national team that won the FIFA women’s World Cup in 1991. Hamm has scored 158 international goals, more than other player in the world, male or female. Amazingly, Hamm was born with a clubfoot, and so had to wear corrective shoes when she was growing up.

113. Signal that replaced “CQD” : SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

In the days of land telegraph, the letters “CQ” were used to alert operators to important messages. These letters were used as when pronounced in French they made the abbreviation “sécu”, short for “sécurité”. The Marconi company added to the letter D for “distress” to the “CQ” signal when they introduced their maritime radio distress signal “CQD” in 1904, which was transmitted in Morse code. The CQD signal never gained international recognition, and it was replaced by “three dots/three dashes/three dots” two years later in 1906 (having been introduced in Germany in 1905). This latter signal became known as “SOS”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Improvisational music : JAM
4. Brick color : MAROON
10. Bibliographical abbr. : ET AL
14. Indigenous people known for their tattoos : MAORI
19. NPR journalist Shapiro : ARI
20. 1986 girl’s-name song by Boston : AMANDA
21. “Catch-22” profiteer Minderbinder : MILO
22. DuPont trademark of 1941 : ORLON
23. Clumsy pharmacist, at times? : MEDICINE DROPPER
26. Easily misled : NAIVE
27. String section members : BASSES
28. Dressage rider, at times? : COLT REVOLVER
30. Smidgen : TAD
31. Suffix with social : -ISM
34. ___ suit : ZOOT
35. Maintain : ASSERT
36. Grant for a filmmaker? : CARY
38. Indonesian tourist haven : BALI
39. London ___ (British Ferris wheel) : EYE
40. Reminiscent of : LIKE
41. Tucked away : ATE
42. Some supplies for Hershey’s : ALMONDS
44. Overzealous sorts : MANIACS
47. Old-fashioned barber, at times? : FOAM RUBBER
49. Missile launched at Goliath : STONE
51. National Book Mo. : OCT
53. Circus performer Kelly : EMMETT
54. Inexperienced shucker, at times? : OYSTER CRACKER
58. Low pair : TWOS
60. Out of fashion : PASSE
61. Subject of a van Gogh series : SEINE
62. Software user’s shortcut : MACRO
65. No-limit Texas hold’em player, at times? : ALL BETTER
69. People may be down on them : KNEES
70. TWA competitor : USAIR
71. Dual-sport athlete Sanders : DEION
72. Answers that may anger : SASS
74. Farmer, at times? : CHICKEN TENDER
78. Unfettered : LOOSED
82. Knowledge : KEN
83. “Shall we proceed?” : READY?
84. Sleeping sunbather, at times? : BACK BURNER
87. Buyer’s final figure : NET COST
90. Spirits in Scandinavia : ABSOLUT
91. New Haven alum : ELI
92. Breaks down : ROTS
93. Stanford rival, informally : CAL
95. Job everyone wants : PLUM
96. Sound at a horror film : GASP!
97. Florentine dynasty name : MEDICI
100. “Cut that out!” : DON’T!
101. West African vegetable : YAM
102. Double-handed cooking vessel : WOK
103. Dieter, at times? : SNACK COUNTER
106. Fall stopper : GROUND
109. French : merci :: German : ___ : DANKE
110. Person getting out of a tub, at times? : BATHROOM SLIPPER
114. Transpire : OCCUR
115. Memo opener : IN RE
116. Detestable : ODIOUS
117. Something that may be amalgamated : ORE
118. Manual parts? : STEPS
119. Giants or Titans : TEAM
120. Porcelain purchase, perhaps : TEA SET
121. As matters stand : NOW

Down
1. Entrance side : JAMB
2. Department : AREA
3. Current location? : MIDSTREAM
4. Brought to tears, possibly : MACED
5. “Time’s Arrow” novelist Martin : AMIS
6. Took off : RAN
7. Wedded : ONE
8. Unconventional : ODD
9. Person moving against traffic? : NARC
10. Bring on : EMPLOY
11. Go quietly : TIPTOE
12. Fully attentive : ALERT
13. Some hand-me-downs? : LORE
14. Snowboard relative : MONOSKI
15. Polluted Asian lake : ARAL SEA
16. Peridot color : OLIVE
17. Vehicle on Mars : ROVER
18. Lifeless : INERT
24. “Goodness me!” : I SAY!
25. Exudes : OOZES
29. Less humble : VAINER
31. One of four in “As I Was Going to St. Ives” : IAMB
32. Problematic roomie : SLOB
33. Sal of “Rebel Without a Cause” : MINEO
36. Lunch spot : CAFE
37. Thing that might decay : ATOM
38. Bearded comic strip bully : BLUTO
40. Old cavalrymen : LANCERS
42. Illustrations, e.g. : ARTWORK
43. In need of spicing up, say : DRY
44. — — .-. … . : MORSE
45. News analyst Roberts : COKIE
46. Word on a clapperboard : SCENE
48. Like some measuring units : METRIC
49. Right away : STAT
50. It’s got problems : TEST
52. Valéry’s “very” : TRES
55. Disburse : SPEND
56. Goes to court? : ASKS OUT
57. Offensive line striker : CENSOR
59. Melancholy : SADNESS
62. Flood residue : MUCK
63. Ghostly : ASHEN
64. “The Ipcress File” star, 1965 : CAINE
66. “___ c’est moi” : L’ETAT
67. Told stories : LIED
68. Way too thin : BONY
73. Not a single thing? : ALBUM
75. Blue : EROTIC
76. Diminish : EBB
77. Opposite of smooth : RASPY
79. Take by surprise : SNEAK UP ON
80. Mud ___ (bottom-dwelling fish) : EELS
81. Total bore : DRIP
85. Slurpee flavor : COLA
86. Supermodel Heidi : KLUM
88. Dress in fancy duds : TRICK UP
89. Long-eared dogs, informally : COCKERS
90. Reshape : ALTER
93. Fuerza Democrática Nicaragüense member : CONTRA
94. It’s played in ballparks : ANTHEM
96. Viscous substance : GOOP
97. PC platform of old : MS-DOS
98. Ratify : ENACT
99. The Harlem Shake or the Dougie : DANCE
100. One of the Allman Brothers : DUANE
102. Flick site? : WRIST
104. Expiration notice : OBIT
105. Fundamental part : ROOT
106. Modelist’s need : GLUE
107. Julio-Claudian dynasty ruler : NERO
108. Attracted : DREW
111. Horatian ___ : ODE
112. Hamm of soccer : MIA
113. Signal that replaced “CQD” : SOS

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