Day: October 10, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
13. Raid target PANTY
The first college prank labelled as a “panty raid” apparently took place in 1948 at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

14. Something a bride brings to a marriage TROUSSEAU
A bride’s “trousseau” is the collection of clothes, linens and other soft furnishings that she brings into a marriage. The term comes from the Old French “trousse” meaning “bundle”.

17. Black-and-white CRUISER
A police car is often referred to by the slang term “black and white”, a reference to the vehicle’s common paint scheme.

20. Count at the breakfast table CHOCULA
General Mills have introduced us to a whole series of monster-themed breakfast cereals, starting in 1971 with Count Chocula and Franken Berry. They followed them up with Boo Berry, Fruit Brute and Fruity Yummy Mummy.

21. Golden Gophers’ sch. UMINN
Goldy Gopher is the mascot of the sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The teams themselves are known as the Golden Gophers. The mascot comes from Minnesota’s nickname, “The Gopher State”, a nickname that dates back to 1857.

22. Woman’s shift CHEMISE
A modern “chemise” is a female undergarment or perhaps a loose-fitting dress. “Chemise” is a French term, one that today is used for a shirt.

24. Italian red CHIANTI
Chianti is a red wine from the Chianti region of central Tuscany in Italy. Historically, Chianti was stored in a characteristically bulbous bottle wrapped in a straw basket. However, the pragmatists have won the day and regular wine bottles tend to be used nowadays.

25. Bath site: Abbr. ENG
Bath is a beautiful city in South West England of which I have very fond memories. Bath is an old Roman spa town, and the city’s name comes from the Roman baths that have been excavated and restored.

26. Number 10-Down CHANTEY
A sea shanty (also “chantey”) is a song sung by sailors, often when they are working away on some repetitive task. “Shanty” might be derived from the word “chanter”, the French for “to sing”.

30. Indian condiment CHUTNEY
A chutney is typically southern Asian condiment, made from spices with vegetables or fruit. The term “chutney” comes from the Sanskrit “caṭnī” meaning “to lick”.

33. Ballerina descriptor PRIMA
The title of “prima ballerina” is the second-highest awarded to a female dancer in a company. The more prestigious “prima ballerina assoluta” is only awarded to the most notable dancers.

36. Mars, notably WARRIOR
Mars was the god of war in Ancient Rome. Mars was viewed as the father of the Roman people, and the father of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who founded Rome according to Roman mythology..

37. 1949 show tune with the lyric “Here am I, your special island!” BALI HAI
The song “Bali Ha’i” is from the musical “South Pacific” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the musical, Bali Ha’i is the name of a volcanic island that neighbors the island on which the story takes place.

38. Olympian’s first name that sounds like another Olympian’s name APOLO
Speed-skater Apolo Ohno has won more Winter Olympics medals than any other American. Ohno also did a great job winning the 2007 season of television’s “Dancing with the Stars”.

In Greek and Roman mythology, Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin brother of the goddess Artemis.

39. Site of the largest sports arena in Europe BARCELONA
Camp Nou is a football stadium that is home to Futbol Club Barcelona. It is the largest stadium in Europe, with a capacity of 99,354.

41. Cupid’s teammate COMET
We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

– Dasher
– Dancer
– Prancer
– Vixen
– Comet
– Cupid
– Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
– Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

44. Quickly reproduced XEROXED
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York and originally made photographic paper and equipment. Real success came for the company in 1959 when it introduced the first plain-paper photocopier. Xerox named Ursula Burns as CEO in 2009, the first African American woman to head up a S&P 100 company. Burn was also the first woman to succeed another female CEO (replacing Anne Mulcahy).

Down
3. City where the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers meet EASTON
The Lehigh Valley metropolitan area in Pennsylvania is primarily composed of the three cities, Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.

4. Scene of W.W. II airstrikes ESSEN
Essen is a large industrial city located on the River Ruhr in western Germany.

6. Org. concerned with bridges and canals ADA
American Dental Association (ADA)

8. Persian ruler dubbed “the Great” DARIUS I
Darius the Great ruled the First Persian Empire at its height, from 522 to 486 BCE.

13. Dearth PAUCITY
“Paucity” is a scarcity, a smallness of quantity. The term derives from the Latin “paucus” meaning “few, little”.

18. Presidential candidate who wrote “No Apology” ROMNEY
Mitt Romney was born Willard Mitt Romney in 1947 in Detroit, Michigan. Romney’s parents named him after J. Willard Marriott (the hotel magnate) who was the father’s best friend, and after Milton “Mitt” Romney who was the father’s cousin and quarterback for the Chicago Bears.

24. Spanish/Mexican pastry CHURRO
A churro is pastry made from fried dough, and is sometimes called a Spanish doughnut. Churros are often served for breakfast when they are dipped in hot chocolate or milky coffee.

26. Transportation for Helios CHARIOT
Helios was the god of the Sun in Greek mythology. Helios was the brother of Selene, the goddess of the moon, and Eos, the goddess of the dawn. Helios drove his chariot of the sun across the sky during the day, returning to the East at night be travelling through the ocean.

27. Judge of movies REINHOLD
The actor Judge Reinhold is best known for his film appearances, mainly in the “Beverly Hills Cops” series, “Ruthless People”, “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” and “The Santa Clause” movies. “Judge” is a stage name, as he was born Edward Reinhold, Jr.

30. River that flows past four universities CHARLES
The Charles is the river that flows through Boston. Originally known as the Massachusetts River, the name was changed by Charles I, who named it for himself.

31. Touch-type? BRAILLE
The Braille system of reading and writing was devised in 1825 by Louis Braille, who was himself afflicted with blindness. Braille characters are composed of six positions or dots, each arranged in two columns of three dots each. Every dot can be raised or not raised, given a total of 64 possible characters.

32. 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California ___ CHROME
California Chrome is a racehorse who won both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in 2014.

33. Low-tech hacker? POLEAX
A pollaxe (also “poleax”) is a medieval weapon. As one might expect, it is an axe on a pole. The pole could be anything from 4 to 8 feet in length.

34. Dinner chicken CAPON
A capon is a castrated cockerel (poor guy!). Castration has a profound effect on the bird (duh!) making the meat more tender to eat when it is slaughtered.

35. Certain shortcut MACRO
A macroinstruction (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

36. Only major U.S. city with a radio station whose call letters spell the city’s name WACO
WACO-FM is a local station in Waco, Texas. The station’s byline is “WACO 100, a station so big they named the entire city after it.” WACO is the only major city with call letters that spell out the name of the city, although the smaller town of Ware in Massachusetts has an AM station with the call letters WARE.

37. Title in children’s literature BR’ER
Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The Uncle Remus stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” is an abbreviated form of “brother”.

40. Hail and farewell 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”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Major artery FREEWAY
8. No longer under consideration DEAD
12. “Absolutely!” PLEASE DO!
13. Raid target PANTY
14. Something a bride brings to a marriage TROUSSEAU
15. Originate ARISE
16. Like some nuts ROASTED
17. Black-and-white CRUISER
19. Sunroof, maybe OPTION
20. Count at the breakfast table CHOCULA
21. Golden Gophers’ sch. UMINN
22. Woman’s shift CHEMISE
23. Guilty sensation PANG
24. Italian red CHIANTI
25. Bath site: Abbr. ENG
26. Number 10-Down CHANTEY
27. Routes: Abbr. RDS
30. Indian condiment CHUTNEY
31. Sugar source BEET
32. Was a hit, say CHARTED
33. Ballerina descriptor PRIMA
34. Blackened CHARRED
35. Showed unhappiness, in a way MOANED
36. Mars, notably WARRIOR
37. 1949 show tune with the lyric “Here am I, your special island!” BALI HAI
38. Olympian’s first name that sounds like another Olympian’s name APOLO
39. Site of the largest sports arena in Europe BARCELONA
41. Cupid’s teammate COMET
42. Ranch dressing? OVERALLS
43. Small change ONES
44. Quickly reproduced XEROXED

Down
1. Suggesting, as an idea FLOATING
2. Extending the life of REUSING
3. City where the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers meet EASTON
4. Scene of W.W. II airstrikes ESSEN
5. Do some yard work WEED
6. Org. concerned with bridges and canals ADA
7. “Unfair!” YOU CHEATED!
8. Persian ruler dubbed “the Great” DARIUS I
9. Strand, in a way ENISLE
10. See 26-Across AT SEA
11. One changing locks? DYER
12. Stage assistant PROPMAN
13. Dearth PAUCITY
14. Play group TROUPE
18. Presidential candidate who wrote “No Apology” ROMNEY
20. Pulled up to a bar CHINNED
22. Yakker CHATTERBOX
24. Spanish/Mexican pastry CHURRO
26. Transportation for Helios CHARIOT
27. Judge of movies REINHOLD
28. Slights DEMEANS
29. Large bowls STADIA
30. River that flows past four universities CHARLES
31. Touch-type? BRAILLE
32. 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California ___ CHROME
33. Low-tech hacker? POLEAX
34. Dinner chicken CAPON
35. Certain shortcut MACRO
36. Only major U.S. city with a radio station whose call letters spell the city’s name WACO
37. Title in children’s literature BR’ER
40. Hail and farewell AVE

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