Day: September 10, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
7. Some band practice : 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.

10. Subsidiary of Gap Inc. : OLD /NAVY (giving “navy bean”)
Old Navy is a store brand founded and owned by The Gap. The name Old Navy was taken from the Old Navy Cafe in Paris.

The Gap is a San Francisco-based clothing retailer founded in 1969. The name “the Gap” was a homage to the popular sixties term “the generation gap”.

The navy bean is a white bean, and is the bean commonly found in the dish known as “baked beans”. It can also be called a haricot bean. The term “Navy Bean” is used because haricot beans were a staple for sailors in the 19th-century US Navy.

16. Cow, in Colombia : VACA
The South American country of Colombia takes her name from the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (“Cristoforo Colombo” in Italian).

18. 1996-97 Deep Blue opponent : KASPAROV
Deep Blue was a computer developed by IBM specifically for playing chess. In 1996 it became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion. The champion in question was the great Garry Kasparov, although he came out on top in the end by winning the 6-game competition 4-2.

22. Saintes-Maries-de-la-___, French resort on the Mediterranean : MER
The beautiful seaside town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer sits on the Mediterranean in the Rhône River delta. The town’s name translates as “Saint Marys of the Sea”, which refers to the three saints Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome and Mary Jacobe. These three Marys are believed by many to be the first people to see the empty tomb after the resurrection of Jesus.

24. Group of investments : PORTFOLIO
Our word “portfolio” comes from the Italian “portafoglio” meaning “a case for carrying loose papers”. The Italian term comes from “porta” meaning “carry” and “foglio” meaning “sheet, leaf”.

27. Worker for Deloitte, for short : CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

Deloitte is the largest professional financial services company in the world, one of the “Big Four” alongside PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young and KPMG. The company was founded in 1845 in London by William Welch Deloitte, the first accountant to be appointed as independent auditor of a public company (the Great Western Railway).

30. Romance novelist Roberts : NORA
Nora Roberts is a very successful author who has written over 165 romance novels. Roberts writes under a number of pen names: J.D. Robb, Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

31. Butt of many 1970s automotive jokes : FORD /PINTO (giving “pinto bean”)
The Pinto is a small car that was made by the Ford company from 1971 to 1980. The Pinto was of course named for the type of horse. Allegations were made in 1997 that the neck of the car’s fuel tank could easily break off in a collision leading to a deadly fire. However, the allegations were never really shown to be valid.

Pinto beans are so-called because their skins have a mottled (“pinto”) appearance.

40. University of Delaware mascot : BLUE HEN
The Blue Hen has been the state bird of Delaware since 1939. As a result, the athletic teams of the University of Delaware are known as the Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens.

44. Mall sweepstakes prize, maybe : SPREE
A “sweepstakes” is a lottery in which the participants pay into a fund that becomes the prize. The term “sweepstakes” comes from the Middle English word “swepestake”, the name for the person who “sweeps up” all the stakes in a game.

52. First of two columns in a fashion magazine : DOS
Dos, and don’ts.

53. Blab … or a literal hint to completing five answers in this puzzle : SPILL THE /BEANS
“To spill the beans” is to divulge a secret. The expression first appeared in American English, in the early 1900s. The phrase arose as an alternative to “spoil the beans” or “upset the applecart”.

56. Playful response to a good dig : OH /SNAP! (giving “snap bean”)
Snap beans are also known as green beans and string beans.

59. Institution founded by Thos. Jefferson : UVA
The University of Virginia (UVA) was founded by Thomas Jefferson, who sat on the original Board of Visitors alongside former US Presidents James Madison and James Monroe. In fact, the original UVA campus was built on land that was once a farm belonging to President Monroe.

60. Galileo, for one : HERETIC
Galileo was a prominent supporter of heliocentrism, the principle that the Earth and the other planets revolve around the Sun. The commonly accepted model at the time was geocentrism, that the Earth was at the center of the universe. Galileo fell foul of the Roman Inquisition as a result of his views, and was found guilty of heresy in 1615. As a result, Galileo spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

64. Game whose name is derived from its sound : PING-PONG
Ping-pong is called table tennis in the UK, where the sport originated in the 1880s. Table tennis started as an after-dinner activity among the elite, and was called “wiff-waff”. To play the game, books were stacked in the center of a table as a “net”, two more books served as “”rackets” and the ball used was actually a golf ball. The game evolved over time with the rackets being upgraded to the lids of cigar boxes and the ball becoming a champagne cork (how snooty is that?). Eventually the game was produced commercially, and the sound of the ball hitting the racket was deemed to be a “ping” and a “pong”, giving the sport its alternative name.

68. Banned plant growth regulator : ALAR
The chemical name for Alar, a plant growth regulator and color enhancer, is daminozide. Alar was primarily used on apples but was withdrawn from the market when it was linked to cancer.

72. What Khloé might call Kim : SIS
Khloé Kardashian managed to parlay her exposure on the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” into spin-offs called “Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami” and “Khloé & Lamar”. Guess how many episodes of those three shows that I’ve seen …

Kim Kardashian is a socialite and television personality. She was introduced into society by her friend, Paris Hilton. Kardashian’s name first hit the headlines when a homemade sex tape made by her and singer Ray J was leaked.

Down
2. Weigh station factor : TARE
“Tare” is the weight of a container that is deducted from the gross weight to determine the net weight, the weight of the container’s contents.

3. ___ Church, country singer with the #1 hits “Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen” : ERIC
Eric Church is a country singer/songwriter from Granite Falls, North Carolina. In fact, Church’s second album is called “Carolina”.

4. Old newspaper columnist Joseph : ALSOP
The two brothers Stewart and Joseph Alsop wrote the “Matter of Fact” column three times a week for the “New York Herald Tribune” from 1945 to 1958. Stewart covered domestic politics from Washington, and Joseph covered foreign affairs while travelling the world.

6. Doctor’s diagnosis : SYNDROME
A “syndrome” is a pattern of symptoms indicating a particular condition, often medical or social in nature. The term comes from the Greek “syndromos” meaning “place where several roads meet”.

7. Historical 1991 Oliver Stone film : JFK
“JFK” is a 1991 Oliver Stone movie, a controversial one I’d say. I suppose any work that deals with the terrible assassination of President Kennedy is bound to create a stir these days. By the way, make a note in your diary. According to US law, all documents held by the government that are related to the assassination are supposed to be released to the public by 2017 …

8. Enterprise alternative : ALAMO
The third largest car rental company right now is Alamo, a relative newcomer founded in 1974. Alamo made inroads (pun intended!) into the market by popularizing the idea of “unlimited mileage”.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car was established in 1957 by Jack. C. Taylor in St. Louis, Missouri, where the company is still headquartered today. The company was originally called Executive Leasing Company. The name was changed in 1962 in honor of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise on which Taylor served during WWII.

10. Female gametes : OVA
A gamete is a reproductive cell that has half the full complement of genes needed to make a normal cell. In sexual reproduction, it takes two gametes, one from each parent, to fuse into one cell which then develops into a new organism. The female gamete is the ovum, and the male the sperm.

11. Actress ___ Flynn Boyle : LARA
The actress Lara Flynn Boyle plays Donna Hayward on “Twin Peaks”, and Helen Gamble on “The Practice”.

12. Big name in rodent control : D-CON
“d-Con” is a line of rodent control products that has been around for over 50 years.

19. Rap sheet entries : PRIORS
A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

29. TSX automaker : ACURA
The Acura TSX is a luxury version of the Honda Accord.

33. Tonto rode one : PINTO
A “pinto” is a horse with patchy markings of white mixed with another color. “Pinto” means “painted” in American Spanish.

On the television version of “The Lone Ranger”, Tonto was played by the actor Jay Silverheels. In the 2013 movie “The Lone Ranger”, Tonto was played by Johnny Depp.

37. Chipped-flint tool : EOLITH
Eoliths are chipped flint nodules. They were once thought to be the first stone tools, but the general opinion today is that eoliths are produced by natural processes such as glaciation.

39. Capone’s nemesis : NESS
Eliot Ness was the Treasury agent charged with the task of bringing down the notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. When Ness took on the job in 1930, Chicago law-enforcement agents were renowned for being corrupt, for being on the take. Ness handpicked 50 prohibition agents who he thought he could rely on, later reducing the group to a cadre of 15 and ultimately just 11 trusted men. That group of 11 earned the nickname “The Untouchables”, the agents who couldn’t be bought.

43. Neighbor of Chevy Chase : BETHESDA
The community of Bethesda in Maryland lies just northwest of Washington, D.C. The original settlement in the area was called “Darcy’s Store”. a reference to the original store that drew settlers to the location along the toll road between Georgetown and Rockville. The community’s name was changed to Bethesda in 1871 by a local postmaster, after a Presbyterian church called the Bethesda Meeting House. Bethesda is home to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and to the National Naval Medical Center. During WWII, Bethesda also hosted the Norwegian Royal Family while their country was occupied by German forces.

49. Fairway gouges : DIVOTS
A divot is a chunk of grass and earth that is removed by a golf club while striking the ball. “Divot” is derived from a Scottish word for a piece of turf or sod used as a roofing material.

51. High-end bag maker : HERMES
Hermès is a high-end manufacturer of apparel based in Paris. The company was founded in 1837 in Paris, by German immigrant Thierry Hermès.

54. Veranda in 57-Down : LANAI
A lanai is a type of veranda, a design that originated in Hawaii. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, but that the island name of “Lana’i” is not related.

56. Stone that shimmers : OPAL
An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence, known as “opalescence”.

57. Biggest city on the Big Island : HILO
Hilo is the largest settlement on the big island of Hawai’i, with a population of over 43,000 (that’s not very many!). I love the Big Island …

61. The Marx Brothers, often : TRIO
The five Marx Brothers were born to “Minnie” and “Frenchy” Marx in New York City. The more famous older boys were Chico, Harpo and Groucho. Zeppo was the youngest brother, and he appeared in the early Marx Brothers movies. The fifth son was called Gummo, and he decided to pursue a different career off the stage.

62. Old Roman road : ITER
“Iter” is the Latin for “road”.

65. Princeton Review subj. : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

The Princeton Review is a company that offers test preparation for those about to take college admission tests.

66. Conversation interrupter in a car, maybe : GPS
Global Positioning System (GPS)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Chophouse orders : STEAKS
7. Some band practice : JAM
10. Subsidiary of Gap Inc. : OLD /NAVY (giving “navy bean”)
14. Effort to resolve a dispute : PARLEY
15. Fishing lure : FLY
16. Cow, in Colombia : VACA
17. On one’s feet : ARISEN
18. 1996-97 Deep Blue opponent : KASPAROV
20. Not starter-level : SECOND /STRING (giving “string bean”)
22. Saintes-Maries-de-la-___, French resort on the Mediterranean : MER
23. Even one : ANY
24. Group of investments : PORTFOLIO
27. Worker for Deloitte, for short : CPA
30. Romance novelist Roberts : NORA
31. Butt of many 1970s automotive jokes : FORD /PINTO (giving “pinto bean”)
34. Stinging reply? : OUCH!
36. Muck : MIRE
38. ___ to go : RARIN’
40. University of Delaware mascot : BLUE HEN
42. Bleep-worthy : OBSCENE
44. Mall sweepstakes prize, maybe : SPREE
45. Major blow : GALE
47. Receptacles for street performers : HATS
48. Provider of green energy? : SALAD
50. Seeing : WITH
52. First of two columns in a fashion magazine : DOS
53. Blab … or a literal hint to completing five answers in this puzzle : SPILL THE /BEANS
56. Playful response to a good dig : OH /SNAP! (giving “snap bean”)
59. Institution founded by Thos. Jefferson : UVA
60. Galileo, for one : HERETIC
64. Game whose name is derived from its sound : PING-PONG
67. Know-it-all : SMARTY
68. Banned plant growth regulator : ALAR
69. Barroom fixture : TAP
70. Holds from : DENIES
71. What may be good for the long run? : LOPE
72. What Khloé might call Kim : SIS
73. Put into groups : ASSORT

Down
1. Some cruise ship amenities : SPAS
2. Weigh station factor : TARE
3. ___ Church, country singer with the #1 hits “Drink in My Hand” and “Springsteen” : ERIC
4. Old newspaper columnist Joseph : ALSOP
5. Partial to : KEEN ON
6. Doctor’s diagnosis : SYNDROME
7. Historical 1991 Oliver Stone film : JFK
8. Enterprise alternative : ALAMO
9. Yours truly : MYSELF
10. Female gametes : OVA
11. Actress ___ Flynn Boyle : LARA
12. Big name in rodent control : D-CON
13. Shade of blue : NAVY
19. Rap sheet entries : PRIORS
21. A or B in music class? : STRING
25. A ways away : FAR
26. Leafy plant also called mountain spinach : ORACH
27. Ones that are all ears? : COBS
28. Reduces to mush : PULPS
29. TSX automaker : ACURA
32. Sinking feeling : DREAD
33. Tonto rode one : PINTO
35. They may be high at a party : HEELS
37. Chipped-flint tool : EOLITH
39. Capone’s nemesis : NESS
41. Pile high : HEAP UP
43. Neighbor of Chevy Chase : BETHESDA
46. Cobbler’s punch : AWL
49. Fairway gouges : DIVOTS
51. High-end bag maker : HERMES
54. Veranda in 57-Down : LANAI
55. Nothin’ : BEANS
56. Stone that shimmers : OPAL
57. Biggest city on the Big Island : HILO
58. Football play starter : SNAP
61. The Marx Brothers, often : TRIO
62. Old Roman road : ITER
63. Dermatologist’s concern : CYST
65. Princeton Review subj. : GRE
66. Conversation interrupter in a car, maybe : GPS

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