Day: June 9, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Powder used to combat moisture : TALCUM
Talc is a mineral, actually hydrated magnesium silicate. Talcum powder is composed of loose talc, although these days “baby powder” is also made from cornstarch.

15. Nutritional std. : RDA
Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)

16. Party that might start after midnight : RAVE
As you might imagine, I’ve never been to a rave, and don’t have one upcoming in my diary. And as raves often start at 2 a.m. then I’m unlikely ever to experience one. A rave is generally an all-night party featuring loud, electronically-synthesized music usually played by a DJ as opposed to a live band.

17. Pair of big jets? : AISLES
There are a pair of aisles in wide-body jets.

18. “Evolve” artist DiFranco : ANI
Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a “feminist icon”, and in 2006 won the “Woman of Courage Award” from National Organization of Women.

19. Piece designed to sway : OP-ED
Op-Ed is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-Eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

20. Monster of fantasy : ORC
Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction and in fantasy games.

29. Crude measurements? : BARRELS
The volume of one oil barrel is equivalent to 42 US gallons. A barrel is correctly abbreviated to “bbl”. Barrels aren’t really used for transporting crude oil anymore. Instead, oil moves in bulk through pipelines and in tankers. “Barrel” is just a quantity these days.

33. Claude who played Sheriff Lobo : AKINS
Claude Akins was an actor from Nelson, Georgia. Although Akins acted in many Hollywood films, he is best remembered for playing Sheriff Lobo in the seventies TV show “B. J. and the Bear”.

34. Source of soft wool : LLAMA
The wool from a llama is much softer than that from a sheep, and it is also free from lanolin.

39. 1920s silver screen star Naldi : NITA
Nita Naldi was a silent film actress from New York City who usually played a “femme fatale” type of role.

41. Photo finish : MATTE
“Matte”, meaning flat and lusterless, comes from the Old French word “mat” meaning beaten down and withered. In turn, the French “mat” comes from the Latin “maddus”, meaning “maudlin with drink”. Sometimes I wonder about these derivations …

42. Woe for newborns (and thus new parents as well) : COLIC
Baby colic is a condition in which a baby cries for no apparent reason for extended periods. At least one study has shown that breastfed babies are about half as likely to suffer from colic.

43. Trattoria dessert : TORTONI
Biscuit Tortoni is an ice cream dessert made with eggs and heavy cream and usually enhanced with a couple of teaspoons of rum. “Tortoni” was apparently an 18th century owner of an Italian café in Paris.

45. Strong and proud : LEONINE
Something described as “leonine” has the characteristics of a lion, is strong and regal. “Leo” is Latin for “lion”.

47. Dickens pen name : BOZ
The English author Charles Dickens used the pen-name “Boz” early in his career. He had already established himself as the most famous novelist of the Victorian Era when he came to visit America in 1842. He was honored by 3,000 of New York’s elite at a “Boz Ball” in the Park Theater.

48. Singer’s volume? : HYMN BOOK
A “hymn” is a song of praise or thanksgiving to a deity. The term comes into English via Old French and is ultimately derived from the Greek “hymnos”, the word for an ode or song in praise of the gods. The Greek term is possibly a variant of “hymenaios” meaning “wedding song”, derived from Hymen, the Greek god of marriage.

54. Nobel Prize subj. : ECON
The Peace Prize is the most famous of the five prizes bequeathed by Alfred Nobel. The others are for Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, and Literature. There is also a Nobel Prize in Economics that is awarded along with the original five, but it is funded separately and is awarded “in memory of Alfred Nobel”. Four of the prizes are awarded by Swedish organizations (Alfred Nobel was a Swede) and so the award ceremonies take place in Stockholm. The Peace Prize is awarded by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, and that award is presented in Oslo.

61. Computer file suffix : EXE
In the Windows Operating System, a file with the extension .exe is an “executable” file.

62. Wilde of TV’s “House” : OLIVIA
The actress Olivia Wilde’s break came with role of “Thirteen” on the medical drama “House”. Olivia’s birth name is Cockburn, and she chose her stage name in honor of Irish author Oscar Wilde.

64. Paige, to Jason, in “FoxTrot” : SIS
“FoxTrot” is a comic strip by Bill Amend that was first published in 1988. Originally appearing seven days a week, “Foxtrot” has been a Sunday-only offering since 2007. The strip’s main characters are the five members of the Fox family, and Quincy, the pet iguana belonging to the youngest Fox child.

65. Unsay : RECANT
Our term “to recant”, meaning “to retract, take back” comes directly from the Latin “recantare”, which has the same meaning. In turn, “recantare” derives from “re-” (back) and “cantare” (to chant).

Down
1. Mexican relative : TIA
In Spanish, a “tia” (aunt) is a member of “la familia” (the family).

3. A D.J. might spin them : LPS
The world’s first radio disk jockey (DJ) was one Ray Newby of Stockton, California who made his debut broadcast in 1909, would you believe? When he was 16 years old and a student, Newby started to play his records on a primitive radio located in the Herrold College of Engineering and Wireless in San Jose. The records played back then were mostly recordings of Enrico Caruso.

6. Agave drink : MESCAL
Tequila is a city in Mexico that is located about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco. The city is the birthplace of the drink called “tequila”. Local people made a variety of a drink called mescal by fermenting the heart of the blue agave plant that is native to the area surrounding Tequila. It was the Spanish who introduced the distillation process to the mescal, giving us what we now know as “tequila”.

8. “Downton Abbey” maid : EDNA
Edna Braithwaite was a general maid at Downton Abbey who leaves and returns in the storyline as a lady’s maid.

Fans of the wonderful TV drama “Downton Abbey” will be very familiar with the exterior appearance of Highclere Castle in Hampshire. Highclere is used as the location for exterior and many interior shots of the fictitious Grantham residence called Downton Abbey. The exterior of Highclere is very reminiscent of the Houses of Parliament building in London. That similarity exists because the house was largely rebuilt from 1839 to 1842 by architect Sir Charles Barry soon after he finished work on the refurbished Houses of Parliament.

10. Swedish money : KRONOR
“Krona” translates in English as “crown”, and is the currency of Sweden (plural “kronor”). As a member of the European Union, Sweden is required to adopt the euro as its official currency. Such a move isn’t really popular in Sweden and so the Swedish government has been using a legal loophole to allow the country to retain the krona.

22. When tripled, 1970 film about the attack on Pearl Harbor : TORA
The predetermined code word to be used by the Japanese if they managed to achieve surprise in their attack on Pearl Harbor was “tiger”, or “tora” in Japanese. This gave the name to the excellent 1970 movie “Tora! Tora! Tora!”.

24. Modern Japanese martial art : AIKIDO
Aikido is a Japanese martial art that only dates back to the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed by Morihei Ueshiba, who is often referred to as “the Founder” or “Great Teacher”.

25. “Stand by Me” director, 1986 : REINER
The great director and actor Rob Reiner first came to prominence playing “Meathead”, Archie and Edith Bunker’s son-in-law in “All in the Family” (for which he won Emmy Awards in 1974 and 1978). Since then, Reiner has directed a long string of hit movies including, “The Princess Bride”, “Stand by Me”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “When Harry Met Sally”, “Misery” and “A Few Good Men”.

“Stand by Me” is 1986 film directed by Rob Reiner that is based on a Stephen King novella called “The Body”. The title of the movie comes from the wonderful Ben E. King song of the same name.

26. Trattoria desserts : GELATI
Gelato (plural “gelati”) is the Italian version of American ice cream, differing in that it has a lower butterfat content than its US counterpart.

30. Estevez of the Brat Pack : EMILIO
Emilio Estevez is one of the members of Hollywood’s famous “Brat Pack”, having appeared in “The Breakfast Club” and “St. Elmo’s Fire”. Estevez’s father (and can’t you tell it from looking at him?) is actor Martin Sheen. Estevez decided to keep his father’s real name, and not the stage name of “Sheen”. Charlie Sheen is Emilio’s brother, and Charlie’s real name is Carlos Estevez.

31. Many a Dream Act beneficiary : LATINO
The DREAM Act is proposed legislation that has been floating Washington around since 2001. The bill provides permanent residency to some immigrants who are deemed to be of good character and who have fulfilled certain conditions mainly related to education or to public service. The acronym DREAM stands for “Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors”.

32. Sissy of Netflix’s “Bloodline” : SPACEK
The actress Sissy Spacek probably got her big break in movies when she played the title role in the 1976 horror movie “Carrie”, which is based on the Stephen King novel. Her most acclaimed role is the lead in the 1980 biopic about Loretta Lynn called “Coal Miner’s Daughter”, for which she won an Oscar. Spacek’s first cousin is the actor Rip Torn.

“Bloodline” is a Netflix original TV drama show. I haven’t seen this one, but I hear good things.

35. Wasted : LIT
To be “wasted” or “lit” is to be drunk.

38. Publications for and by aficionados : FANZINES
Fanboys (and fangirls) are fans, but fans of a very specific subject in a particular field. So, someone might be a fan of home computing, but an Intel fanboy would have an enthusiasm for CPUs made by Intel. A fanzine (also “zine”) is a fan publication with a very limited circulation, dealing with a very specific subject matter. Fanzines are usually desktop published and distributed electronically or as photocopies.

An “aficionado” is an enthusiast, a word that came to us from Spanish. “Aficionado” was originally used in English to describe a devotee of bullfighting.

39. 7 or below on the pH scale : NONBASIC
As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

42. Wii, for one : CONSOLE
The Wii is the biggest-selling game console in the world.

44. Broadsided, informally : T-BONED
A broadside collision between two cars is also known as a right-angle or t-bone collision. The side of one vehicle is impacted by the front of another, often leaving the vehicles locked in a T-formation.

50. Berry advertised as healthful : ACAI
Açaí is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

57. F.D.R. program, for short : TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has to be one of America’s great success stories when it comes to economic development. Created in 1933, the TVA spearheaded economic development in the Tennessee Valley at the height of the Great Depression. Central to the success was the federally-funded construction of flood-control and electricity-generation facilities.

58. Broadway’s ___-Manuel Miranda : LIN
Lin-Manuel Miranda is the creator and star of the hit Broadway musicals “Hamilton” and “In the Heights”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Powder used to combat moisture : TALCUM
7. Cool, in hip-hop slang : DEF
10. Opening part : KNOB
14. Obtrude : IMPOSE
15. Nutritional std. : RDA
16. Party that might start after midnight : RAVE
17. Pair of big jets? : AISLES
18. “Evolve” artist DiFranco : ANI
19. Piece designed to sway : OP-ED
20. Monster of fantasy : ORC
21. With the shaded letters, investors not involved in the management of their businesses : (SILENT) PARTNERS
23. Baby transport : CARRIAGE
27. Fake blood, e.g. : GOO
28. Go unused : LIE IDLE
29. Crude measurements? : BARRELS
33. Claude who played Sheriff Lobo : AKINS
34. Source of soft wool : LLAMA
36. Navigational aid : MAP
37. Building extension : WING
38. Renaissance ___ : FAIRE
39. 1920s silver screen star Naldi : NITA
40. Juicy ending? : -ADE
41. Photo finish : MATTE
42. Woe for newborns (and thus new parents as well) : COLIC
43. Trattoria dessert : TORTONI
45. Strong and proud : LEONINE
47. Dickens pen name : BOZ
48. Singer’s volume? : HYMN BOOK
49. With the shaded letters, large but not often vocal voting bloc : (SILENT) MAJORITY
53. ___ courtesy : AS A
54. Nobel Prize subj. : ECON
55. Preschool break : NAP
56. Elbow : JOSTLE
60. Summer camp locale : LAKE
61. Computer file suffix : EXE
62. Wilde of TV’s “House” : OLIVIA
63. Didn’t make it : DIED
64. Paige, to Jason, in “FoxTrot” : SIS
65. Unsay : RECANT

Down
1. Mexican relative : TIA
2. Terse, introspective question : AM I?
3. A D.J. might spin them : LPS
4. Salon job : COLORING
5. Email addresses, sometimes : USER IDS
6. Agave drink : MESCAL
7. Hang : DRAPE
8. “Downton Abbey” maid : EDNA
9. A legitimate object to attack : FAIR GAME
10. Swedish money : KRONOR
11. Mane area : NAPE
12. In the strike zone : OVER
13. Hotel reservation specification : BEDS
22. When tripled, 1970 film about the attack on Pearl Harbor : TORA
23. Try to scratch : CLAW AT
24. Modern Japanese martial art : AIKIDO
25. “Stand by Me” director, 1986 : REINER
26. Trattoria desserts : GELATI
29. Just : BARELY
30. Estevez of the Brat Pack : EMILIO
31. Many a Dream Act beneficiary : LATINO
32. Sissy of Netflix’s “Bloodline” : SPACEK
35. Wasted : LIT
38. Publications for and by aficionados : FANZINES
39. 7 or below on the pH scale : NONBASIC
41. Shrubby wasteland : MOOR
42. Wii, for one : CONSOLE
44. Broadsided, informally : T-BONED
46. Key with four sharps : E MAJOR
48. Creates a buzz for : HYPES
49. Blend : MELD
50. Berry advertised as healthful : ACAI
51. Ridiculously inadequate sort : JOKE
52. Curbside call : TAXI!
57. F.D.R. program, for short : TVA
58. Broadway’s ___-Manuel Miranda : LIN
59. Do lunch, say : EAT

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