Day: October 11, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. Seller of the Söderhamn sofa : IKEA
The IKEA furniture stores use the colors blue and yellow for brand recognition. Blue and yellow are the national colors of Sweden, where IKEA was founded and is headquartered.

14. Like three NASA rovers : LUNAR
Three countries have sent lunar rovers to the Moon. Famously, the Apollo Lunar Roving Vehicle (aka “moon buggy”) carried American astronauts across the Moon’s surface, on the last three missions of the Apollo program in the early seventies. Before the landing of the Apollo vehicles, the Soviet Union sent two unmanned, remote-controlled rovers to the Moon called Lunokhod 1 & 2. Years later, in 2013, the Chinese landed a lunar rover called Yutu (or “Jade Rabbit”).

16. Lima’s home : PERU
Lima is the capital city of Peru. Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem.

17. PowerPoint slide with fake data? : ARTIFICIAL CHART (sounds like “artificial heart”)
Given that PowerPoint is a Microsoft product, it is perhaps a bit of a paradox that the original application that became PowerPoint was designed for the Macintosh computer. This first release was called “Presenter”. The company that designed Presenter was purchased by Microsoft in 1987.

20. Hershey bar with toffee : SKOR
Skor is a candy bar produced by Hershey’s. “Skor” is Swedish for “shoes”, and the candy bar’s wrapping features a crown that is identical to that found in the Swedish national emblem. What “shoes” have to do with candy, I don’t know …

22. “Duty, ___, Country” (West Point motto) : HONOR
West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and today about 15% of all new cadets are women.

26. Sliced serving with ritzy crackers? : CHEESE SO FINE (sounds like “He’s So Fine”)
“He’s So Fine” is a great little song that was released by the Chiffons in 1962. Famously, the owners of the rights to the song sued George Harrison in 1971, claiming that he was guilty of plagiarising “He’s So Fine” in writing his hit “My Sweet Lord”. Harrison was found guilty of “subconscious” plagiarism. In a strange twist, the Chiffons recorded a version of “My Sweet Lord” a year before the case was decided.

32. Stir-fry vessel : WOK
“Wok” is a Cantonese word, the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

33. Octagonal sign : STOP
In the US, a stop sign is red and octagonal.

38. Rag covered in dirt? : TABLOID
“Tabloid” is the trademarked name (owned by Burroughs, Wellcome and Co,) for a “small tablet of medicine”, a name that goes back to 1884. The word “tabloid” had entered into general use to mean a compressed form of anything, and by the early 1900s was used in “tabloid journalism”, applied to newspapers that had short, condensed articles and stories printed on smaller sheets of paper.

42. Pal of Piglet and Pooh : ROO
Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”, Roo was inspired by a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.

45. Bill ___, the Science Guy : NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on Disney for four years from 1993-97.

46. Japanese auto import : ISUZU
Isuzu is a Japanese auto manufacturer, very successful in the medium and heavy truck market in particular. You’ll be seeing fewer and fewer Isuzu passenger cars on American roads though, as the company exited the US passenger car market in 2008. The Isuzu Trooper was one of their most successful SUVs, produced between 1981 and 2005.

56. ___ Sam : UNCLE
The Uncle Sam personification of the United States was first used during the War of 1812. The “Uncle Sam” term was so widely accepted that even the Germans used it during WWII, choosing the codeword “Samland” for “America” in intelligence communiques.

59. Breckinridge of fiction : MYRA
Even today, Gore Vidal’s 1968 novel “Myra Breckinridge” is considered controversial. I haven’t read it, but I understand it addresses transsexuality and other sexual practices usually considered to be outside the norm. There was a movie version of the novel made in 1970, with Raquel Welch in the title role.

63. Briefs from Walmart or Target? : CHAINS UNDERWEAR (sounds like “Hanes underwear”)
The Hanes brand of apparel was founded in 1901. A related brand was introduced in 1986 called Hanes Her Way.

66. Biggest city on the Big Island : HILO
The largest island in the state of Hawaii is named Hawaii, and nicknamed “the Big Island”. Of the Hawaiian islands that I’ve had the pleasure to visit, the Big Island is definitely my favorite.

71. From Zurich, e.g. : SWISS
Zurich is located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the largest city in the country.

Down
4. What may keep a mohawk in place : HAIR GEL
Here is another example of a difference in terminology on either side of the Atlantic. What we call the Mohawk hairstyle in the US is known as a Mohican in the British Isles. The Mohawk hairstyle is named after the Mohawk nation, who wore their hair in the same fashion. The Mohawk style has been around for a long time elsewhere in the world. There was a well-preserved male body found in a bog near Dublin in Ireland in 2003. The body is about 2,000 years old, and has the Mohawk haircut.

6. Latte alternatives : MOCHAS
Mocha is a port city in Yemen on the Red Sea and was once the principal port for the capital city of Sana’a. Mocha was the major marketplace in the world for coffee until the 1600s, and gave its name to the Mocha coffee bean, which in turn gave it’s name to the mocha brown color, and to the flavor of coffee infused with chocolate.

7. Lima’s home : OHIO
Lima is a city located in northwestern Ohio, about 70 miles north of Dayton. The city is home to the Lima Army Tank Plant, where the M1 Abrams battle tank is produced. Lima is also home to the fictional William McKinley High School that is the setting for the TV series “Glee”.

9. Fa follower : SOL
The solfa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

10. Products featuring Siri : IPHONES
Siri is software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. You’ve probably seen the ads on television, with folks talking to their iPhones asking for information and responding with a voice. I hear that Google is a little scared by Siri, as Siri is non-visual. There’s no need to touch a screen or a keyboard to work with Siri, no opportunity to click on one of Google’s ads! By the way, voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri not that long ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

11. “The Family Circus” creator Bil : KEANE
Bil Keane is a cartoonist most associated with his strip “The Family Circus”. Once Bil sketches out the text and idea for the cartoon, he sends it off to his son Jeff Keane who inks and colors the pictures so that the strip is ready for publication. In the storyline itself, the main characters are based on Bil’s own family. In fact, the son “Jeffy” in the story is based on Jeff, Bil’s son and production assistant.

13. Cowboy singer Gene : AUTRY
Gene Autry was a so-called singing cowboy who had an incredibly successful career on radio, television and in films starting in the thirties. Autry’s signature song was “Back in the Saddle Again”, and his biggest hit was “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. He also had a hit with his own Christmas song called “Here Comes Santa Claus”. There’s even a town in Oklahoma called Gene Autry, named in his honor. Famously, Autry owned the Los Angeles Angels (now the Anaheim Angels) for many years, from 1961 to 1997.

18. Capri or Man : ISLE
The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.

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.

25. Reference page edited by a group : WIKI
A wiki is a website in which users are allowed to create and edit content themselves. The term “wiki” comes from the name of the first such site, introduced in 1994 and called WikiWikiWeb. “Wiki” is a Hawaiian word for “quick”, and is used because comprehensive content is created very quickly a there are so many collaborators contributing to the site.

27. Golfer’s target : HOLE
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.

28. Glamour rival : ELLE
“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”. “Elle” is published monthly worldwide, although you can pick up a weekly edition if you live in France.

The women’s monthly magazine “Glamour” was founded in 1939 as “Glamour of Hollywood”.

30. Rock’s ___ Fighters : FOO
Foo Fighters are described as an alternative rock band, one formed in 1994 by the drummer from Nirvana, Dave Grohl. The term “Foo fighters” originally applied to unidentified flying objects reported by allied airmen during WWII. Spooky …

35. Primordial muck : OOZE
“Primordial soup” is an expression that was coined in 1924 to describe a liquid that is rich in the compounds necessary, and in the conditions that are necessary, for the emergence and growth of the first life forms.

40. School about 40 miles from S.L.C. : BYU
Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah has about 34.000 students on campus making it the largest religious university in the country. The school was founded in 1875 by Brigham Young, then President of the Mormon Church.

Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.

47. Cloth made famous by infomercials : SHAMWOW!
The ShamWow! is an ultra-absorbent towel that is touted in infomercials by pitchman Vince Offer.

49. Appearance : MIEN
One’s “mien” is one’s bearing or manner. “Mien” shares the same etymological root as our word “demeanor”.

52. A ton, in Tijuana : MUCHO
Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

60. Supposed sighting in Tibet : YETI
The yeti is a beast of legend, also called the abominable snowman. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

61. Aries animals : RAMS
Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

62. God who sounds like he was mentioned in the preceding clue : ARES
The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars. Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera.

65. E.R. staffers : RNS
Registered nurses (RNs) might be found in an operating room (OR) or emergency room (ER).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Hawaiian greeting : ALOHA
6. Growth on the forest floor : MOSS
10. Seller of the Söderhamn sofa : IKEA
14. Like three NASA rovers : LUNAR
15. “This is disastrous!” : OH NO!
16. Lima’s home : PERU
17. PowerPoint slide with fake data? : ARTIFICIAL CHART (sounds like “artificial heart”)
20. Hershey bar with toffee : SKOR
21. Go to the mall : SHOP
22. “Duty, ___, Country” (West Point motto) : HONOR
23. Fancy affair : GALA
25. Pressing business? : WINERY
26. Sliced serving with ritzy crackers? : CHEESE SO FINE (sounds like “He’s So Fine”)
31. Restaurant basketful : ROLLS
32. Stir-fry vessel : WOK
33. Octagonal sign : STOP
37. Everybody : ALL
38. Rag covered in dirt? : TABLOID
42. Pal of Piglet and Pooh : ROO
43. “Holy moly!” : GEEZ!
45. Bill ___, the Science Guy : NYE
46. Japanese auto import : ISUZU
48. Pep squad member’s lament? : I’M OUT OF CHEER (sounds like “I’m out of here”)
52. Cotton fabric : MUSLIN
55. Flying circus performer? : FLEA
56. ___ Sam : UNCLE
57. Eatery with sidewalk tables, often : CAFE
59. Breckinridge of fiction : MYRA
63. Briefs from Walmart or Target? : CHAINS UNDERWEAR (sounds like “Hanes underwear”)
66. Biggest city on the Big Island : HILO
67. Length x width, for a rectangle : AREA
68. Innocent’s reply to “Who did this?” : NOT ME
69. Store sign : OPEN
70. Like morning grass : DEWY
71. From Zurich, e.g. : SWISS

Down
1. “Woe is me” : ALAS
2. Stand in the shadows : LURK
3. Not fooled by : ONTO
4. What may keep a mohawk in place : HAIR GEL
5. Dog’s yap : ARF!
6. Latte alternatives : MOCHAS
7. Lima’s home : OHIO
8. “Oh, ___!” (“Good one, girlfriend!”) : SNAP
9. Fa follower : SOL
10. Products featuring Siri : IPHONES
11. “The Family Circus” creator Bil : KEANE
12. Goof : ERROR
13. Cowboy singer Gene : AUTRY
18. Capri or Man : ISLE
19. Something a thoughtful person strokes : CHIN
24. Lead-in for prof. or V.P. : ASST
25. Reference page edited by a group : WIKI
26. Steep rock face : CRAG
27. Golfer’s target : HOLE
28. Glamour rival : ELLE
29. It gives a little hoot : OWLET
30. Rock’s ___ Fighters : FOO
34. “You make a good point” : TRUE
35. Primordial muck : OOZE
36. Rain really hard : POUR
39. Unknown source, informally : ANON
40. School about 40 miles from S.L.C. : BYU
41. “God does not play ___ with the world”: Einstein : DICE
44. Ginormous number : ZILLION
47. Cloth made famous by infomercials : SHAMWOW!
49. Appearance : MIEN
50. When nothing seems to go right : OFF DAY
51. Escape (from) : FLEE
52. A ton, in Tijuana : MUCHO
53. Square : UNHIP
54. Item on many a bathroom floor : SCALE
57. Successfully treat : CURE
58. From square one : ANEW
60. Supposed sighting in Tibet : YETI
61. Aries animals : RAMS
62. God who sounds like he was mentioned in the preceding clue : ARES
64. ___ sack : SAD
65. E.R. staffers : RNS

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