Day: March 29, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Volleyball actions between bumps and spikes : SETS
In volleyball, each team can only touch the ball a maximum of three times before it returns to the other side of the net. The three contacts are often a “bump” (a preliminary pass) and a “set” (setting up the attacking shot) followed by a “spike” (a shot into the opposing court).

5. Name on an orange-and-white truck : U-HAUL
The U-Haul company was started by married couple Leonard Shoen and Anna Mary Carty in Ridgefield, Washington in 1945. The Shoens used $5,000 of seed money to build trailers in their garage, and then cleverly recruited gas station owners as franchisees with whom they would split the rental revenue. There are now about 15,000 U-Haul dealers across the country.

14. “What ___” (1996 Sublime hit) : I GOT
Sublime was a band from Long Beach, California that was active from 1988 until 1996. Sublime played “American ska punk”, whatever that is …

15. Some chip dip : SALSA
“Salsa” is simply the Spanish for “sauce”.

17. What red markers may indicate on 59-Acrosses : LADIES TEES
Most golf courses have three sets of tee markers, each with different yardages. In casual play of the game, anyone can play from any set of tees. That said, there is a common designation that describes the group of players who often tee off from each tee markers, but these designations are somewhat outdated:

– The back tees, blue tees, championship tees
– The middle tees, white tees, mens’ tees
– The forward tees, red tees, women’s tees

21. Cat in a record store : STEVENS
The singer-songwriter that I mainly know as Cat Stevens has been through a few names in his life. He was born in London as Steven Georgiou and adopted the stage name “Steve Adams” in the mid-sixties. A year later he changed his stage name to “Cat Stevens”, with which he had most of success. During this time he had hits with classic songs like “Wild World”, “Moonshadow” and “Morning Has Broken”. He also wrote the song “The First Cut Is the Deepest”, which became a hit for four different artists. In 1977, Stevens converted to Islam and took the name Yusuf Islam in 1978.

24. Musician Reed or Rawls : LOU
Lou Reed was best known as a rock musician and songwriter, and was especially associated with the fabulous 1973 hit “Walk on the Wildside”. Reed is less well known as a photographer, but he published two collections of his work. The first was released in 2003 under the title “Emotions in Action”, and the second in 2006 called “Lou Reed’s New York”. Reed passed away in 2013.

Lou Rawls was an American soul and blues singer known for his smooth vocal style. With his singing career well on the way, Rawls was asked to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1977 at a Muhammad Ali fight in Madison Square Garden. This performance led to him being asked to sing the anthem many, many times in the coming years with his last rendition being at a World Series game in 2005. Rawls passed away in January of the following year.

26. Tripoli’s land : LIBYA
Tripoli is the capital city of Libya and sits on the Mediterranean Coast. The city was founded by the Phoenicians in the 7th century BC and was originally called Oea.

27. Musical name after Tori or before Lee : AMOS
Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. Amos started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. She was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music (I lead such a sheltered life …)!

Amos Lee is a singer-songwriter from Philadelphia who performs in the genres of soul and folk.

29. Ancestor of the harmonica : PANPIPE
The pan flutes (also “panpipes”) are folk instruments that have been around along time, and are believed to be the first mouth organs. The pan flute is named for the Greek god Pan, who was often depicted playing the instrument.

The harmonica is a reed instrument. A harmonica contains a number of reeds that are usually made from metal, all arranged on a reed plate.

33. 1960s Egyptian president : NASSER
Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt, from 1956 until he died in 1970. He stood alongside Muhammad Naguib, Egypt’s first president, during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of Egypt and Sudan. Nasser was an advocate of Pan-Arabism, an ideology promoting unification of Arab peoples and countries. President Nasser went so far as forming the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Egypt and Syria that started in 1958 but fell apart in 1961 when Syria withdrew.

37. “___ My Children” : ALL
“All My Children” was the first daytime soap opera to debut in the seventies. Star of the show was Susan Lucci who played Erica Kane. The show was cancelled in 2011 after having being on the air for 41 years.

38. Some links holes … with a hint to the circled letters : DOGLEGS
A dogleg on a golf course is a hole that bends to the left or right. The name comes from the shape of a dog’s hind leg.

The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

40. ___-Magnon : CRO
Remains of early man, dating back to 35,000 years ago, were found in Abri de Cro-Magnon in southwest France, giving the name to those early humans. Cro-Magnon remains are the oldest human relics that have been discovered in Europe.

41. Capital of Saudi Arabia : RIYADH
Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia, and is located near the center of the country. The name “Riyadh” translates from Arabic as ‘the gardens”.

43. Capital of Norway : OSLO
Oslo, the capital of Norway, is an ancient city that was founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian king Christian IV and renamed to Christiana. In 1877 there was an official change of the spelling of the city’s name to “Kristiana”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have almost gone full circle and now the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has apparently been renamed to Christiana.

44. Big export of Saudi Arabia and Norway : OIL
As of 2012, Saudi Arabia was the country with the largest oil exports in the world. Norway was tenth on the same list.

45. Lithe : LISSOME
“Lissome” is such a lovely word, meaning easily bent and supple. The term is a variation of “lithesome”.

51. Luau instrument, informally : UKE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

53. Like some lights : HALOGEN
A halogen lamp is a specific type of incandescent light that has a small amount of halogen in the atmosphere surrounding the tungsten filament. In a regular incandescent lamps, tungsten evaporates from the filament and deposits on the inner surface of the glass bulb causing it to blacken and dim over time. The halogen, such as iodine or bromine, reacts with the evaporating tungsten keeping the bulb of the glass clean hence maintaining the light output level.

58. “Out of Africa” author Dinesen : ISAK
Isak Dinesen was the pen name of the Danish author Baroness Karen Blixen. Blixen’s most famous title by far is “Out of Africa”, her account of the time she spent living in Kenya.

59. 18 holes, often : GOLF COURSE
There’s an urban myth that the standard number of holes on a golf course is 18 because it takes 18 shots to polish off a fifth of scotch whisky. However, the truth is that the standard number of holes in the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland happened to settle down over time at 18, and that standard was adopted all around the world.

67. Nobel winner Wiesel : ELIE
Elie Wiesel is a holocaust survivor, best known for his book “Night” that tells of his experiences in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.

Down
2. Op-ed columnist Timothy : EGAN
Timothy Egan the Pacific Northwest correspondent for “The New York Times”. Egan was born in and lives in Seattle.

4. Supporting stalks : STIPES
A stipe is stalk or stem-like structure that supports a fern frond or the cap of a mushroom.

5. Country in a classic Beatles title : USSR
By the time the Beatles recorded “Back in the U.S.S.R”, they were having a lot of problems working with each other. The song was recorded in 1968, with the band formally dissolving in 1970. Tensions were so great during the recording of “Back in the U.S.S.R” that Ringo Starr actually stormed out saying that he had quit, and the remaining three Beatles made the record without Ringo. Drums were played mainly by Paul McCartney, but there are also drum tracks on the final cut by both George Harrison and John Lennon. Interesting, huh?

9. Z’s position : LAST
The letter named “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation of “zee” used in America today first popped up in the 1670s.

13. Girl’s name that’s a benefit in reverse? : TESSA
The girls’ name “Tessa” makes the word “asset’ when reversed.

22. Texas home of the Sun Bowl : EL PASO
The Sun Bowl is an annual college football game played in El Paso. The Rose Bowl is the oldest of the bowl games, but the Sun Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Orange Bowl come in second. The first Sun Bowl was played on New Year’s Day 1935. To be fair to the sponsors, the full name today is the Hyundai Sun Bowl …

24. Early filmmaker Fritz : LANG
Fritz Lang was an Austrian-born American filmmaker. His masterpiece “Metropolis” was produced in Germany in 1927, a work of science-fiction that explored the struggle between workers and owners in a capitalist society. “Metropolis” was the most expensive silent movie ever made. One of Lang’s more famous sound films is “M”, which stars Peter Lorre and was released in 1931.

25. It just took this before “I fell so hard in love with you,” in a 1960s hit : ONE LOOK
“Just One Look” was a hit in 1963 for Doris Troy, who co-wrote the song with Gregory Carroll. It was a song with great legs, with cover versions being hits for the Hollies (1964), Anne Murray (1974) and Linda Ronstadt (1978).

28. Burkina Faso neighbor : MALI
The Republic of Mali is a landlocked country in western Africa, south of Algeria. Formerly known as French Sudan, the nation’s most famous city is Timbuktu. Mali is the third-largest producer of gold on the continent, after South Africa and Ghana.

Burkina Faso is an inland country in western Africa. The country used to be called the Republic of Upper Volta and was renamed in 1984 to Burkina Faso meaning “the land of upright people”.

29. Some stuffed bears : POOHS
Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author, best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

30. Hearth : INGLE
An ingle is a name for a hearth or fireplace. The word “ingle” probably comes from the Scottish word “aingeal” meaning “fire”.

35. “___ go bragh!” : ERIN
“Erin go bragh!” is an anglicization of an Irish phrase “Éirinn go Brách!”, which translates as “Ireland Forever!”

39. Salinger title girl : ESME
J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor”, originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

42. Morning TV weatherman : AL ROKER
Al Roker is best known as the meteorologist on the “Today” show on NBC. He has successfully branched out from that platform though, and even co-wrote a novel called “The Morning Show Murders”, about a celebrity chef and TV host who get entangled in mystery. Topical stuff …

46. Gas brand with an arrow in its logo : SUNOCO
Back in the late 1800s, Sunoco was known as the Sun Oil Company.

47. “Always on Time” rapper : JA RULE
Ja Rule is the stage name of rapper Jeffrey Atkins. Apparently Ja Rule is noted not only for his music, but for his “feuds” with the likes of 50 Cent and Eminem.

52. World leader with a distinctive jacket : MAO
What we call the Mao suit in the west is known as the Zhongshan suit in China. The style was introduced by Sun Yat-sen (also known as Sun Zhongshan) as the form of national dress after the founding of the Republic of China in 1912.

54. Divas have big ones : EGOS
“Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.

55. Sch. overlooking Harlem : CCNY
The City College of New York (CCNY) is a college of the City University of New York. The City College was founded as the Free Academy of the City of New York in 1847, and was the first free public institution of higher education in the whole country.

The Manhattan district of Harlem is sometimes divided into Central Harlem, West Harlem and East Harlem. East Harlem is also known as Spanish Harlem.

56. Morales of “La Bamba” : ESAI
The actor Esai Morales is best known for his role in the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai).

57. Hockey feint : DEKE
A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.

60. Many an August birth : LEO
Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 23 to August 22 are Leos.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Volleyball actions between bumps and spikes : SETS
5. Name on an orange-and-white truck : U-HAUL
10. “Hey, buddy!” : PSST!
14. “What ___” (1996 Sublime hit) : I GOT
15. Some chip dip : SALSA
16. Ceremony : RITE
17. What red markers may indicate on 59-Acrosses : LADIES TEES
19. Altar exchange : I DOS
20. Even (with) : ON A PAR
21. Cat in a record store : STEVENS
23. To date : YET
24. Musician Reed or Rawls : LOU
26. Tripoli’s land : LIBYA
27. Musical name after Tori or before Lee : AMOS
29. Ancestor of the harmonica : PANPIPE
31. Supporter : FAN
32. Top-shelf : A-ONE
33. 1960s Egyptian president : NASSER
37. “___ My Children” : ALL
38. Some links holes … with a hint to the circled letters : DOGLEGS
40. ___-Magnon : CRO
41. Capital of Saudi Arabia : RIYADH
43. Capital of Norway : OSLO
44. Big export of Saudi Arabia and Norway : OIL
45. Lithe : LISSOME
47. When summer officially starts : JUNE
48. Like a disciplinarian’s talk : STERN
51. Luau instrument, informally : UKE
52. Symbol of power, with “the” : MAN
53. Like some lights : HALOGEN
55. Scored, as on a 59-Across : CARDED
58. “Out of Africa” author Dinesen : ISAK
59. 18 holes, often : GOLF COURSE
62. Suffix with disk : -ETTE
63. Indian ___ : OCEAN
64. Pipeline problem : LEAK
65. Animal that’s sometimes frozen in the headlights : DEER
66. Like a chimney sweep : SOOTY
67. Nobel winner Wiesel : ELIE

Down
1. Missile ___ : SILO
2. Op-ed columnist Timothy : EGAN
3. “Act quickly! This offer will end very soon!” : TODAY ONLY!
4. Supporting stalks : STIPES
5. Country in a classic Beatles title : USSR
6. Overhead expense? : HAT
7. Pub order : ALE
8. Exhausts : USES UP
9. Z’s position : LAST
10. Outhouses : PRIVIES
11. Obsolescent designation in the music business : SIDE B
12. Expressionless : STONY
13. Girl’s name that’s a benefit in reverse? : TESSA
18. Sup : EAT
22. Texas home of the Sun Bowl : EL PASO
24. Early filmmaker Fritz : LANG
25. It just took this before “I fell so hard in love with you,” in a 1960s hit : ONE LOOK
27. Way off : AFAR
28. Burkina Faso neighbor : MALI
29. Some stuffed bears : POOHS
30. Hearth : INGLE
32. Doing sums : ADDING
34. Rascal : SCOUNDREL
35. “___ go bragh!” : ERIN
36. Something cast : ROLE
39. Salinger title girl : ESME
42. Morning TV weatherman : AL ROKER
46. Gas brand with an arrow in its logo : SUNOCO
47. “Always on Time” rapper : JA RULE
48. Recoiled (from) : SHIED
49. Flavor : TASTE
50. Thrill : ELATE
52. World leader with a distinctive jacket : MAO
54. Divas have big ones : EGOS
55. Sch. overlooking Harlem : CCNY
56. Morales of “La Bamba” : ESAI
57. Hockey feint : DEKE
60. Many an August birth : LEO
61. What beef marbling is : FAT

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