Day: October 27, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Where to enter answers in a crossword : GRID
Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now known as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. And the rest, as they say, is history …

5. Ancient South Americans : INCAS
The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire of course fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

10. Central point : CRUX
“Crux” is the Latin word for “cross”, and came into English meaning “a central difficulty” in the early 1700s.

14. Autodom’s A8 or Q7 : AUDI
The predecessor to today’s Audi company was called Auto Union. Auto Union was formed with the merger of four individual entities: Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer. The Audi logo comprises four intersecting rings, each representing one of the four companies that merged.

17. Man or Manhattan : ISLE
The Isle of Man is a large island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. I used to spend a lot of time there in my youth, and a very interesting place it is indeed. The Isle of Man is classed as a British Crown Dependency and isn’t part of the United Kingdom at all. It is self-governing and has its own parliament called the Tynwald. The Tynwald was created in AD 979 and is arguably the oldest continuously-running parliament in the world. The inhabitants of the island speak English, although they do have their own language as well called Manx, which is very similar to Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic. And then there are those Manx cats, the ones without any tails. I’ve seen lots of them, and can attest that they are indeed found all over the island.

The island we know as Manhattan was inhabited by the Lenape Indians when the first Europeans explorers arrived in the area. According to the logbook of one of the officers on explorer Henry Hudson’s yacht, the island was called “Manna-hata” in the local language, from which the modern name derives.

18. Skylit lobbies : ATRIA
In modern architecture an atrium (plural “atria” or “atriums”) is a large open space usually in the center of a building and extending upwards to the roof. The original atrium was an open court in the center of an Ancient Roman house. One could access most of the enclosed rooms of the house from the atrium.

23. “___ told often enough becomes the truth”: Lenin : A LIE
Vladimir Lenin was not the birth name of the Russian leader. He was born Vladimir Ulyanov, and originally took the name Lenin as a pen name.

34. Letter before upsilon : TAU
Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, the letter which gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

Upsilon is the Greek letter that gives rise to our English “Y”.

35. Grimm (or grim?) character : OGRE
The Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm) were two German academics noted for collecting and publishing folk tales. Among the tales in their marvelous collection are “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella”.

39. Savor, as cognac : SIP
Cognac is a famous variety of brandy named after the town of Cognac in the very west of France. To be called cognac, the brandy must be distilled twice in copper pot stills and aged at least two years in very specific French oak barrels.

43. Hunt’s or Bush’s product : BEANS
The Hunt’s brand of tomato-based products started out as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co. back in 1888. The company was founded by brothers Joseph and William Hunt in Sebastopol, California.

The Bush’s brand name is most famously found on canned baked beans. Bush Brothers produce about 80% of all canned beans sold in the US.

61. Some English nobles : EARLS
In the ranking of nobles, an earl comes above a viscount and below a marquess. The rank of earl is used in the British peerage system and is equivalent to the rank of count in other countries. Other British ranks have female forms (e.g. marquess and marchioness, viscount and viscountess), but there isn’t a female word for the rank of earl. A female given the same rank as an earl is known simply as a countess.

62. Exercise on a mat : YOGA
In the West we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

63. Purina One alternative : ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

Purina began operations in 1894 as an operation for producing feed for farm animals. A few years later, in 1902, the Ralston name was introduced when Webster Edgerly joined the business. Edgerly was the founder of a controversial social movement called Ralstonism. Central to the movement was personal health, with RALSTON standing for Regime, Activity, Light, Strength, Temperation, Oxygen and Nature.

65. What cologne may cover : ODOR
Back in 1709, an Italian perfume-maker moved to Cologne in Germany. There he invented a new fragrance that he named Eau de Cologne after his newly adopted town. The fragrance is still produced in Cologne, using a secret formulation. However, the terms “Eau de Cologne” and “cologne”, are now used generically.

Down
5. Leaning to the right? : ITALIC
Italic type leans to the right. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

7. Dual-___ engine : CARB
The carburetor is a device in an internal combustion engine that has the job of blending air and fuel prior to combustion. When you hit the accelerator on a car, you’re not actually directly controlling the amount of fuel going to the engine. Instead, you’re controlling the amount of air that the carburetor gets. The carburetor then sucks in the amount of fuel it needs for efficient combustion.

8. Et ___ (and others) : ALII
Et alii (et al.) is the equivalent of et cetera (etc.), with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names. In fact “et al.” can stand for et alii (for a group of males, or males and females), aliae (for a group of women) and et alia (for a group of neuter nouns, or for a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

10. “Ta-ta!” : CHEERIO!
An Englishman might say “tata” or “cheerio” instead of “goodbye”. Well, supposedly so!

11. Orbison or Lichtenstein : ROY
Roy Orbison had to be one the sickliest looking performers I’ve ever seen. Orbison had a very sallow complexion, pock-marked from teenage acne. The yellowish skin tone came from a severe bout of jaundice as a child. Perhaps poor nutrition affected him and his siblings, because all of them had very poor eyesight, with Roy almost blind and wearing very thick lenses from a very young age. He was also very ashamed of his head of hair, which was almost a ghostly white, and so he dyed it jet black even when he was young. Despite all this, he was immensely popular in his heyday with teenage girls, particularly in Canada and Ireland for some reason. On a tour of Ireland in 1963, the Irish police had to stop one of his performances in order to pull a bevy of local lasses off poor Mr. Orbison …

Roy Lichtenstein was a pop artist from New York City, a contemporary of Andy Warhol. Lichtenstein was famous for his “cartoon-strip” paintings, especially works called “Whaam!” and “Drowning Girl”. If you saw the Ben Stiller film “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, you might remember Lichtenstein’s painting “Crying Girl” coming to life as part of the plot.

21. Hurrays for matadors : OLES
“Matador” is a Spanish word used in English for a bullfighter, although the term isn’t used in the same way in Spanish. The equivalent in Spanish is “torero”. “Matador” translates aptly enough as “killer”.

22. “Bad” cholesterol, for short : LDL
LDL (low-density lipoprotein) is one of the compounds responsible for transporting fats around the body. When LDL is combined with cholesterol it can be referred to as “bad cholesterol”. This is because LDL actually transports cholesterol into the inner walls of blood vessels leading to atherosclerosis.

27. 12 in an Alcoholics Anonymous program : STEPS
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) was founded in 1935, by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. As the organization grew, the guiding principles established by the founders were formatted into a 12-step program that was in place by the forties.

31. Bygone Mideast grp. : UAR
The United Arab Republic (UAR) was a union between Egypt and Syria made in 1958 and dissolved in 1961 when Syria pulled out of the arrangement.

33. Sonia of “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” : BRAGA
Sonia Braga achieved fame in her native Brazil playing the title role in the movie “Gabriela”. There followed roles in American films such as “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and “The Milagro Beanfield War”. She has also played in the Portuguese version of “Desperate Housewives”.

“Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” is a Brazilian comedy film released in 1976, starring Sonia Braga. The movie was remade in English in 1982 under the title “Kiss Me Goodbye”, and starred Sally Field.

37. Sot’s sound : HIC!
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning “fool”. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

43. Cordon ___ : BLEU
A “cordon bleu” dish is a meat dish, one prepared by wrapping the meat around cheese, covering with breading and then pan-frying. Specifically, veal Cordon bleu is made using veal that is pounded thin and wrapped around slices of ham and cheese. The term “cordon bleu” translated from French as “blue ribbon”.

47. Locale for new VWs or BMWs : CAR LOT
VW stands for Volkswagen, which translates from German into “people’s car”. The original Volkswagen design was the Beetle and was built under a directive from Adolf Hitler, who wanted a cheap car built that ordinary people could afford to purchase. He awarded the contract to engineer Ferdinand Porsche, whose name (paradoxically) would forever be associated with high performance, expensive cars. The Beetle was the official name of the VW model released in North America, but it was usually referred to as a “Bug” here in the US, and a “Beetle” elsewhere in the world.

The abbreviation BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW was making aircraft engines during WWI, but had to cease that activity according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The company then started making motorcycles, and moved into automobile production starting in 1928. BMW moved back into aircraft engine manufacturing during the build-up of the Luftwaffe prior to WWII.

48. Illya Kuryakin, e.g., in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” : KGB SPY
In the television show “The Man from U.N.C.L.E”, the acronym in the title stands for United Network Command for Law and Enforcement. I know this because when I was about 9-years-old I wrote away for an identity card that showed I was a member of the spy organization!

Scottish actor David McCallum got his big break playing Illya Kuryakin on “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.”, alongside Robert Vaughn playing Napoleon Solo. McCallum also appeared in the 1963 movie “The Great Escape”, working with Charles Bronson. There was good and bad about this project, as after McCallum introduced his wife Jill Ireland to Bronson, Ireland left her husband and married Bronson five years later.

54. Love god : EROS
Eros, the Greek god of love, was also known as Amor.

55. Gold digger’s target : LODE
A lode is a metal ore deposit that’s found between two layers of rock or in a fissure. The “mother lode” is the principal deposit in a mine, usually of gold or silver. “Mother lode” is probably a translation of “veta madre”, an expression used in mining in Mexico.

58. Vampire ___ : BAT
Vampire bats feed mostly in the blood of mammals, including humans. When they find a suitable “victim”, often one that is asleep, the bat usually lands close by and approaches its “meal” on the ground. It makes a small cut with its razor-sharp teeth and laps up the blood. The blood tends to flow freely as the bat’s saliva contains anticoagulants. Reports of bats biting the neck of humans are very rare in the real world, but the neck is the preferred location of attack in the fantasy world of vampires.

60. Fig. on a transcript : GPA
Grade point average (GPA)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Where to enter answers in a crossword : GRID
5. Ancient South Americans : INCAS
10. Central point : CRUX
14. Autodom’s A8 or Q7 : AUDI
15. “… and ___ a good-night” : TO ALL
16. Gas pump attachment : HOSE
17. Man or Manhattan : ISLE
18. Skylit lobbies : ATRIA
19. Ogled : EYED
20. Vampire’s bane #1 : THE HOLY BIBLE
23. “___ told often enough becomes the truth”: Lenin : A LIE
24. Attire : DRESS
28. Vampire’s bane #2 : DIRECT SUNLIGHT
33. Connects emotionally : BONDS
34. Letter before upsilon : TAU
35. Grimm (or grim?) character : OGRE
36. Big argument : ROW
37. See 30-Down : HEART
39. Savor, as cognac : SIP
40. Just ___ (very little) : A DAB
42. Irritate : IRK
43. Hunt’s or Bush’s product : BEANS
45. Vampire’s bane #3 : GARLIC NECKLACE
49. Surcharge, e.g. : ADD-ON
50. Golden ___ (senior) : AGER
51. Vampire’s bane #4 : SILVER BULLET
58. Suitcases : BAGS
61. Some English nobles : EARLS
62. Exercise on a mat : YOGA
63. Purina One alternative : ALPO
64. Play detective : SNOOP
65. What cologne may cover : ODOR
66. Pair of oxen, e.g. : TEAM
67. Peevish : TESTY
68. Cozy spot : NEST

Down
1. Trot or lope : GAIT
2. Imperative on an overnight package : RUSH
3. Doing nothing : IDLE
4. One who just won’t give up : DIE-HARD
5. Leaning to the right? : ITALIC
6. “Waiting … still waiting …” : NOT YET …
7. Dual-___ engine : CARB
8. Et ___ (and others) : ALII
9. Hunk of meat loaf, say : SLAB
10. “Ta-ta!” : CHEERIO!
11. Orbison or Lichtenstein : ROY
12. Employ : USE
13. Struck out, as copy : XED
21. Hurrays for matadors : OLES
22. “Bad” cholesterol, for short : LDL
25. Spider’s hatching pouch : EGG SAC
26. Prayer site : SHRINE
27. 12 in an Alcoholics Anonymous program : STEPS
28. Thingamajig : DOODAD
29. Way to look during self-examination : INWARD
30. With 37-Across, vampire’s bane #5, represented literally : STAKE
31. Bygone Mideast grp. : UAR
32. Bit in trail mix : NUT
33. Sonia of “Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands” : BRAGA
37. Sot’s sound : HIC!
38. Suffix with west : -ERN
41. Flower : BLOSSOM
43. Cordon ___ : BLEU
44. Close to the start : EARLY ON
46. Magician’s name suffix : -INI
47. Locale for new VWs or BMWs : CAR LOT
48. Illya Kuryakin, e.g., in “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” : KGB SPY
52. For fear that : LEST
53. Wind instrument : VANE
54. Love god : EROS
55. Gold digger’s target : LODE
56. They can be massaged or inflated : EGOS
57. Small pastry : TART
58. Vampire ___ : BAT
59. Pale ___ : ALE
60. Fig. on a transcript : GPA

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