Day: March 26, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Produces heat? : DRAWS
“Packing” and “packing heat” are underworld slang for “carrying a gun”.

13. Contents of a bag behind a mound : ROSIN
Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality. The rosin increases the degree of friction between the strings and the bow. That same friction-increasing property comes into play when baseball pitchers use rosin to get a better grip on the ball.

14. What some women are waist-high in : MOM JEANS
“Mom jeans” and “dad jeans” are not-so-nice names for high-waisted jeans, usually worn by older women and men.

15. “The Coming of Arthur,” e.g. : IDYLL
An “idyll” (also “idyl”) is a short poem with a pastoral theme, usually depicting the scene in romantic and idealized terms. The word comes from the Greek “eidyllion”, which literally translates to “little picture” but was a word describing a short, poem with a rustic theme.

“The Coming of Arthur” is the first of the cycle of narrative poems by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called “Idylls of the King”.

16. Fictional dog owned by the Winslow family : MARMADUKE
Marmaduke is the title character in a newspaper comic strip that has been drawn by Brad Anderson since 1954. Marmaduke is a Great Dane, and the pet dog of the Winslow family.

18. Fajitas and such : TEX-MEX
“Fajita” is a Tex-Mex term that refers to grilled meat served on a tortilla. The Mexican term “fajita” is used to describe a small strip of chicken or beef. Nowadays, fajitas are often served on a sizzling platter with the tortillas and condiments on the side.

19. Winter hours in Kan. : CST
Central Standard Time (CST)

20. Big dip : TOTAL IDIOT
“Dip” is a slang term describing a foolish person.

22. Gig composition : SETS
Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz.

24. “Hop-Frog” author, for short : EA POE
“Hop-Frog” is a short story written by Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. Hop-Frog is a jester in a king’s court, intent on revenge against his master and his retinue. The jester convinces the king and his inner circle to dress up as orangutans for a masquerade ball, and then sets fire to their costumes killing them all.

25. Suburb of San Diego : LA MESA
One of the most famous residents of La Mesa, a suburb of San Diego, California, was the actor Dennis Hopper.

26. “___ Mistress” (1982 horror film) : SATAN’S
“Satan’s Mistress” is a 1982 horror film that gives relatively prominent billing to Britt Ekland, even though she had a very minor role. Sounds like a pretty blah movie to me …

27. Latin word usually shortened to “c.” : CETERA
The Latin phrase “et cetera” translates as “and other things”. The term is usually abbreviated to “etc.”

28. Rough, loosely woven fabric : RATINE
“Ratiné” is a loosely woven and rough fabric made with knotty yarns. Ratiné is also known as “sponge cloth”.

29. Crooner with the 1978 platinum album “You Light Up My Life” : MATHIS
Johnny Mathis had to face a tough choice in 1956. Mathis was a talented high jumper in college and was invited to try out for the US Olympic team destined for the Melbourne Games. At the same time he was scheduled to make his first recordings, in New York. Mathis opted to go to the Big Apple.

30. Groups usually of 13 : COVENS
“Coven” is an old Scottish word meaning simply “gathering”. The first known application of the word to witchcraft came during the trial of a Scotswoman in 1662 accused of being a witch. At that time, “coven” came to mean a group of 13 witches.

33. Hip attachment? : -STER
Back in the early 40s, hipsters were just folks who were “hip”.

34. Mechanism for making things disappear in “1984” : MEMORY HOLE
In George Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four”, government offices had a facility known as the “memory hole”. This was a slot into which inconvenient documents and records were deposited so that they would disappear forever. The slot led to a small chute that guided the papers into a large incinerator.

38. Fraternal patriotic org. : SAR
The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) is an organization that was founded in Fraunces Tavern in New York City in 1889, with William Osborn McDowell being the driving force in setting up the group. The following year, McDowell worked with six women to set up the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). Membership to the SAR is open to any male of sufficient age who can demonstrate descent from someone who actively supported the American Revolution.

41. Like conspirators : IN CAHOOTS
To be “in cahoots” with someone is to in partnership with that person. The exact etymology is unclear, but one suggestion is that it comes from the French “cohorte”, which was used in the US to mean “companion, confederate”.

43. Street with an office : DELLA
Della Street was Perry Mason’s very capable secretary in the Erle Stanley Gardner novels. Street was played in the TV show by the lovely Barbara Hale.

44. 458 and 488 on the road : FERRARIS
Enzo Ferrari was an Italian race car driver, and founder of the Ferrari car manufacturer. Ferrari died in 1988, and in 2003 the company named the Enzo Ferrari model after its founder.

46. Up a tree : STYMIED
The word “stymie” comes from golf, and is a situation in which one’s approach to the hole is blocked by an opponent’s ball.

47. Arthur Ashe Courage Award and others : ESPYS
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.

Down
2. What calves may get caught in : RODEO
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word that is usually translated as “round up”.

4. Pioneering woman in American literature? : WILLA CATHER
American novelist Willa Cather wrote what’s called the “prairie trilogy”, books that tell the story of Swedish immigrants living in Nebraska. The titles in the trilogy are “O, Pioneers!”, “The Song of the Lark” and “My Antonia”. Cather won the Pulitzer Prize for another novel, “One of Ours”, that is set in Nebraska and the French battlefields of WWI.

5. Staple for sketches, for short : SNL
“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

6. Many a West Jordan resident : MORMON
West Jordan is a suburb of Salt Lake City, and the fourth most populous city in the Utah. West Jordan is named for the nearby Jordan River that empties into the Great Salt Lake.

7. Irish revolutionary Robert : EMMET
Irish nationalist Robert Emmet led the unsuccessful 1803 rebellion against the British, for which he was hung, drawn and quartered.

8. Brand of lemon dish liquid : AJAX
Ajax cleanser has been around since 1947, and it’s “stronger than dirt!” That was the most famous slogan over here in the US. On my side of the pond, the celebrated slogan was “it cleans like a white tornado”.

9. Jimbo’s sidekick on “South Park” : NED
“South Park” is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don’t do “South Park” …

10. Williams-Sonoma line : SAUCEPANS
The Williams-Sonoma company is based San Francisco, California. Williams-Sonoma specializes in selling high-end kitchenware through retail outlets.

11. Calligrapher’s grinding mortar : INKSTONE
An inkstone is a stone mortar used in the preparation of some inks. Traditional Chinese inks are purchased in solid form, as inksticks. The inkstone has a well in the center, into which water is added. The inkstick is wetted with the water and then ground against the stone. Fine particles from the inkstick are thus transferred into the water, turning it darker and darker, eventually yielding an ink of the desired consistency and intensity of color.

12. Frightful little suckers : TSETSES
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.

16. Petrifying figure : MEDUSA
In Greek mythology, Medusa was one of the monstrous female creatures known as Gorgons. According to one version of the Medusa myth, she was once a beautiful woman. But she incurred the wrath of Athena who turned her lovely hair into serpents and made her face hideously ugly. Anyone who gazed directly at the transformed Medusa would turn into stone. She was eventually killed by the hero Perseus, who beheaded her. He carried Medusa’s head and used its powers as a weapon, before giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. One myth holds that as Perseus was flying over Egypt with Medusa’s severed head, drop of her blood fell to the ground and formed asps.

21. Alternative to chow fun : LO MEIN
“Chow mein” has two slightly different meanings on the East and West Coasts of the US. On the East Coast, “basic” chow mein is a crispy dish, whereas on the West Coast it is a steamed dish that is relatively soft. On the East Coast the steamed dish is available, but under the name “lo mein”. On the West Coast, the crispy dish is also on the menu, as Hong Kong style chow mein.

“Chow fun” is the name used in North American Chinese restaurants for “chao fen”. Central to the dish is the “shahe fen”, a wide Chinese noodle made from rice.

24. Bistro : EATERY
“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term for a “little wine shop or restaurant”.

25. 1995 top 10 hit for Hootie & the Blowfish : LET HER CRY
Hootie & the Blowfish is an American rock band, first formed in 1986 at the University of South Carolina. The leading figure in the band was Darius Rucker, and it was he who came up with the band’s very original name. Hootie and Blowfish were the nicknames of two friends of Rucker from the college choir. Hootie had a round face and glasses, and was so-named due to his owl-like appearance. Blowfish had chubby cheeks, which earned him his moniker.

26. Life ___ : SAVERS
Life Savers were introduced in 1912. The candy was created by Clarence Crane who contracted a pill manufacturer to press his formulation for mints into shape. The pill manufacturer found that the pieces of candy were produced more easily if a hole was stamped in the middle. The Life Savers name was chosen as the candy had the same shape as lifebuoys.

27. One of a pair that clicks : CASTANET
Castanets are hand-held percussion instruments associated most notably with Spanish music. We tend to think of castanets being used in the flamenco style of dance, but in fact this is rarely the case. The name “castanets” comes from “castaña”, the Spanish word for “chestnut”, which they resemble.

28. Whirlybird whirlers : ROTORS
“Whirlybird” is an informal name for a helicopter.

29. Clusters of mountains : MASSIFS
“Massif” is a geological term describing a section of the earth’s crust that moves upwards due to the action of tectonic plates. The whole massif retains its structure, with movement taking place at surrounding fault lines. The term “massif” is also used for a group of mountains formed by such geological action. “Massif” is French for “massive”.

30. Noted 1950s backup band : COMETS
The famed rock & roll singer and songwriter Bill Haley started out his career as the frontman of Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, playing country and western music. The name was changed to Bill Haley and His Comets in 1952 as the band started performing rock & roll songs. The name “Comets” was imitative of the common mispronunciation of the famous Halley’s comet (sometimes written incorrectly as “Haley’s” comet). The group recorded “Rock Around the Clock” a year later, in 1953.

34. The “me” in “Roger & Me” : MOORE
“Roger & Me” is a sarcastic and ironic documentary directed by Michael Moore that explores the financial devastation experienced around Flint, Michigan after the decision to close auto plants. The “Roger” in the title is Roger Smith, former General Motors CEO. The “Me” in the title is Michael Moore himself, a native of Flint and son of a former GM assembly-line worker.

35. Yellow-flowered primrose : OXLIP
The plant known as the oxlip is more properly called Primula elatior. The oxlip is often confused with its similar-looking cousin, the cowslip.

36. Drug company founder of 1876 : LILLY
Eli Lilly is the largest corporation in the state of Indiana. The founder Eli Lilly was a veteran of the Union Army in the Civil War, and a failed Mississippi plantation owner. Later in life he returned to his first profession and opened a pharmaceutical operation to manufacture drugs and sell them wholesale. Under Lilly’s early guidance, the company was the first to create gelatin capsules to hold medicines and the first to use fruit flavoring in liquid medicines.

37. Any of les Nations Unies : ETATS
In French, members of “les Nations Unies” (the United Nations) are sovereign “états” (states).

39. Latte option : CHAI
Chai is a drink made from spiced black tea, honey and milk, with “chai” being the Hindi word for “tea”. We often called tea “a cup of char” growing up in Ireland, with “char” being our slang word for tea, derived from “chai”.

The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk, there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

43. “Lost” actor Daniel ___ Kim : DAE
Daniel Dae Kim is an American actor who is famous for playing Jin-Soo Kwon on “Lost”. Kim now plays one of the leads on the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-O”, portraying the character Chin Ho Kelly.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Produces heat? : DRAWS
6. Isn’t fooling : MEANS IT
13. Contents of a bag behind a mound : ROSIN
14. What some women are waist-high in : MOM JEANS
15. “The Coming of Arthur,” e.g. : IDYLL
16. Fictional dog owned by the Winslow family : MARMADUKE
17. Be of the opinion : FEEL
18. Fajitas and such : TEX-MEX
19. Winter hours in Kan. : CST
20. Big dip : TOTAL IDIOT
22. Gig composition : SETS
23. One with a supporting role : COLUMN
24. “Hop-Frog” author, for short : EA POE
25. Suburb of San Diego : LA MESA
26. “___ Mistress” (1982 horror film) : SATAN’S
27. Latin word usually shortened to “c.” : CETERA
28. Rough, loosely woven fabric : RATINE
29. Crooner with the 1978 platinum album “You Light Up My Life” : MATHIS
30. Groups usually of 13 : COVENS
31. Unhealthily light : ASHEN
32. Grandparents, often : DOTERS
33. Hip attachment? : -STER
34. Mechanism for making things disappear in “1984” : MEMORY HOLE
38. Fraternal patriotic org. : SAR
39. Guards on the gridiron : COVERS
40. Final menu option, maybe : EXIT
41. Like conspirators : IN CAHOOTS
43. Street with an office : DELLA
44. 458 and 488 on the road : FERRARIS
45. Listing : ATILT
46. Up a tree : STYMIED
47. Arthur Ashe Courage Award and others : ESPYS

Down
1. Sight after a blizzard : DRIFT
2. What calves may get caught in : RODEO
3. Hitherto : AS YET
4. Pioneering woman in American literature? : WILLA CATHER
5. Staple for sketches, for short : SNL
6. Many a West Jordan resident : MORMON
7. Irish revolutionary Robert : EMMET
8. Brand of lemon dish liquid : AJAX
9. Jimbo’s sidekick on “South Park” : NED
10. Williams-Sonoma line : SAUCEPANS
11. Calligrapher’s grinding mortar : INKSTONE
12. Frightful little suckers : TSETSES
14. You can’t go over them : MAXIMA
16. Petrifying figure : MEDUSA
18. Certain home subcontractors : TILERS
21. Alternative to chow fun : LO MEIN
22. Elegant surroundings for kings and queens? : SATIN SHEETS
24. Bistro : EATERY
25. 1995 top 10 hit for Hootie & the Blowfish : LET HER CRY
26. Life ___ : SAVERS
27. One of a pair that clicks : CASTANET
28. Whirlybird whirlers : ROTORS
29. Clusters of mountains : MASSIFS
30. Noted 1950s backup band : COMETS
32. Bereft : DEVOID
34. The “me” in “Roger & Me” : MOORE
35. Yellow-flowered primrose : OXLIP
36. Drug company founder of 1876 : LILLY
37. Any of les Nations Unies : ETATS
39. Latte option : CHAI
42. Get ready to fight, maybe : ARM
43. “Lost” actor Daniel ___ Kim : DAE

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