Day: October 26, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Places for hosp. scrubs : ORS
Surgery (surg.) is usually performed in an operating room (OR).

4. Arab Spring country : LIBYA
The term “Arab Spring” has been applied to the wave of protests, riots and civil wars that impacted the Arab world for 2010 to 2012. The uprisings were sparked by the Tunisian Revolution at the end of 2010 that led to the ouster of the longtime president and the institution of democratic elections. The period of instability that followed in some Arab League countries has been dubbed the “Arab Winter”.

9. Overcaffeinated : WIRED
Caffeine is a naturally occurring stimulant that is found in several plants. The chemical serves as a natural pesticide by paralyzing and killing certain insects that would otherwise feed on the plant. Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug that is consumed by humans across the world.

16. Month after diciembre : ENERO
In Spanish, “el año” (the year) starts in “enero” (January) and ends in “diciembre” (December).

17. Blacktop material : TAR
The terms “Tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call Tarmac.

20. ___ Cup : AMERICA’S
The America’s Cup is a trophy that has been awarded for yacht racing since 1851. It was first presented to the winner of a race around the Isle of Wight in England that was won by a schooner called “America”. The trophy was eventually renamed to “the America’s Cup” in honor of that first race winner.

32. Certain pool sites, for short : YMCAS
The YMCA is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.

34. Robin Hood, notably : THIEF
Robin Hood is a figure from English folklore, celebrated in story and song. Some stories suggest that Robin Hood the outlaw was actually a real nobleman, the Earl of Huntington. Robin Hood’s famous companion was Maid Marian. Interestingly, the legend of Maid Marian (full name Lady Marian of Leaford) had been around for centuries before she became associated with Robin Hood starting in the 1700s.

35. Verbal zinger : MOT
“Bon mot” translates from French as “good word”. We use “bon mot” (and sometimes just “mot”) to mean a quip, a witticism.

36. Countess’s man : EARL
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 as a countess.

38. Like much Gene Wilder humor : ZANY
Gene Wilder was an actor noted for his comedic roles. Wilder had a successful collaboration with Mel Brooks on three great films: “The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles” and my favorite, “Young Frankenstein”. For a while, Wilder dated his “Young Frankenstein” co-star Teri Garr, but he was married most famously to “Saturday Night Live” star Gilda Radner.

40. Port of Iraq : BASRA
It’s quite a coincidence that the Iraqi city of Basra has a name that is an anagram of “Arabs”, isn’t it? Basra also features in the H. G. Wells science-fiction tale “The Shape of Things to Come”. Written in 1933, the storyline predicts a global conflict (WWII) that breaks out in 1940 lasting for ten years, after which chaos reigns as no victor emerges. Following worldwide plague, a benevolent dictatorship takes charge and the world moves towards a serene utopia. In time, the dictators are overthrown and peacefully retired, and the people of the Earth live happily ever after, all citizens of one global state with its capital in Basra in the Middle East.

42. Like cobra/mongoose encounters, to cobras : FATAL
The mongoose has no relationship with the “goose” as such, as “mongoose” is derived from “mangus”, an Indian name for the beast. The mongoose does indeed eat snakes as part of its diet, along with other small creatures. However, it usually avoids the dangerous cobra, although humans have used the mongoose to fight cobras for sport and entertainment. The mongoose fares well against poisonous snakes because the it is agile and wily, and has a thick skin, literally.

43. “Fast Times” school : RIDGEMONT HIGH (hiding “thigh”)
“Fast Times at Ridgemont High” is a 1981 book by Cameron Crowe, which the author adapted into a celebrated 1982 movie of the same name. Crowe actually posed as a student in Clairemont High School for a year, and the book chronicles his experiences as a senior student. The film launched the careers of several young actors, including Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker and Sean Penn.

46. Indian bread : NAN
Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

50. Low-altitude clouds : STRATI
Stratus clouds (plural “strati”) are very common, and as they are wider than they are tall and flat along the bottom, we might just see them as haze in a featureless sky above us. Stratus clouds are basically the same as fog, but above the ground. Indeed, many stratus clouds are formed when morning fog lifts into the air as the ground heats up.

53. Certain Indonesian : SUMATRAN
Sumatra is a very large island in western Indonesia, the sixth largest island in the world and home to 22% of the country’s population.

57. G.I. fare : MRE
The Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) comes in a lightweight package that’s easy to tote around. The MRE replaced the more cumbersome Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) in 1981, a meal-in-a-can. In turn, the MCI had replaced the C-ration in 1958, a less sophisticated meal-in-a-can with a more limited choice.

58. Figure head? : TOTEM
“Totem” is the name given to any entity that watches over a group of people. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.

59. “Meet the Press” feature : PANEL
NBC’s news and interview show “Meet the Press” was first aired in 1947. That’s a long time ago, and so “Meet the Press” is the longest-running television series in US broadcasting history.

61. Glove material : SUEDE
Suede is leather made from the underside of the skin, mainly from a lamb. As such it is very soft, although not as durable as leather made from the exterior skin. The soft leather was, and is still used for making gloves. Back in 1859 these gloves were called “gants de Suede” in France, or “gloves of Sweden”. So, the name “suede” comes from the French word for Sweden.

62. It’s a blessing : GRACE
A “grace” is a short prayer recited before or after a meal.

63. Zippo : NIL
The use of the words “zip” and “zippo” to mean “nothing” dates back to the early 1900s when it was student slang for being graded zero on a test.

Down
4. Sexual appetites : LIBIDOS
“Libido” is a term first popularized by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s usage was more general than is understood today, as he used “libido” to describe all instinctive energy that arose in the subconscious. He believed that we humans are driven by two desires, the desire for life (the libido, or Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos). Personally, I don’t agree …

5. Sgt. Friday catchphrase : I’M A COP
The TV detective show “Dragnet” opened up each episode with lines spoken by the character Sergeant Joe Friday:

This is the city, Los Angeles, California, I work here. I’m a cop.

In later series, the phrase “I’m a cop” was replaced with “I carry a badge”.

6. ___ fide : BONA
“Bona fide(s)” translates from the Latin as “in good faith”, and is used to indicate honest intentions. It can also mean that something is authentic, like a piece of art that is represented in good faith as being genuine.

8. NATO part: Abbr. : ATL
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded not long after WWII in 1949 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously, Lord Ismay said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

12. Fish-eating raptor : ERNE
The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also called the white-tailed eagle, or the sea-eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

13. Feet, slangily : DOGS
Apparently the phrase “my dogs are barking” meaning “my feet are hurting” originated in America in the 1920s. From there evolved the use of the term “dogs” for “feet”.

21. Like Mayberry : RURAL
Mayberry is the fictional North Carolina town in which the “The Andy Griffith Show” is set. Mayberry is said to based on Griffith’s own hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina.

27. Butter maker : CHURN
Butter churns are devices that convert cream into butter. The churn agitates the cream mechanically, disrupting milk fat. Clumps of disrupted milk fat form larger and larger fat globules. Eventually, the mixture separates into solid butter and liquid buttermilk.

29. “Kill Bill” co-star : UMA THURMAN
“Kill Bill” is a 3-part Quentin Tarantino movie (so I haven’t seen it!). “Kill Bill” started off as one film, but as the running time was over four hours, it was split into two “volumes”, released several months apart in 2003 and 2004. There has been a lot of talk about making “Kill Bill: Volume 3”.

30. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA
Although the small island of Iona lies just off the west coast of Scotland, it was the site of a monastery built in the Middle Ages by a monk from Ireland names Colm Cille (also known as Columba). Colm Cille and his followers were sent into exile from the Irish mainland and settled in Iona, as at that time the island was part of an Irish kingdom. This monastery in Iona expanded its influence over the decades and founded other institutions all over Ireland and Great Britain. It is believed that the famous Book of Kells may have been written, or at least started, at the monastery on Iona. Iona is also the burial site for Macbeth, King of Scotland who was immortalized in Shakespeare’s fictional account of the king’s life.

31. Texter’s “ciao” : TTYL
Talk to you later (TTYL)

38. Restaurant guide name since 1979 : ZAGAT
The Zagat Survey is best known for rating restaurants across the major cities of the US, but it also rates things like hotels, nightlife, shopping, airlines and even zoos. The survey was started by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, and back then the survey was simply a collection of New York City restaurant ratings provided by friends of the couple.

41. Prenatal test, for short : AMNIO
Amniocentesis (“amnio” for short) is the prenatal test which involves the removal of a small amount of the amniotic fluid surrounding the fetus using a hypodermic needle. The fluid naturally contains some fetal cells, the DNA of which can then be tested to determine the sex of the child and to check for the presence of genetic abnormalities.

45. Onetime for-girls-only course, for short : HOME EC
Home economics (home ec)

48. Sets of foot bones : TARSI
The tarsals (also “tarsi”) are the ankle bones, equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

49. Tatum who won an Oscar at 10 : O’NEAL
Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a “competitive” Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

50. J.F.K. landers until 2003 : SSTS
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Famously, the Concorde routinely broke the sound barrier, and cruised at about twice the speed of sound. Above Mach 2, frictional heat would cause the plane’s aluminum airframe to soften, so airspeed was limited.

51. G : THOU
“G”, “G-note” and “thou” are slang terms used for a thousand dollars.

54. Neighbor of the funny bone : ULNA
The ulnar nerve runs alongside the ulna (one of the bones in the lower arm). The ulnar nerve is the largest unprotected (not surrounded by muscle or bone) nerve in the human body. The nerve can be touched under the skin at the outside of the elbow. Striking the nerve at this point causes and an electric-type shock, known as hitting one’s “funny bone” or “crazy bone”.

56. High fig. for a hybrid car : MPG
Miles per gallon (mpg)

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Places for hosp. scrubs : ORS
4. Arab Spring country : LIBYA
9. Overcaffeinated : WIRED
14. Bring home : NET
15. “Too rich for me” : I’M OUT
16. Month after diciembre : ENERO
17. Blacktop material : TAR
18. Source of start-up cash, perhaps : BANK LENDING (hiding “ankle”)
20. ___ Cup : AMERICA’S
22. Makes up (for) : ATONES
23. Prefix with science or intellectual : PSEUDO-
24. Hot 17-Across, e.g. : GOO
25. Guava or papaya : TROPICAL FRUIT (hiding “calf”)
32. Certain pool sites, for short : YMCAS
34. Robin Hood, notably : THIEF
35. Verbal zinger : MOT
36. Countess’s man : EARL
37. Basic spreadsheet function : SUM
38. Like much Gene Wilder humor : ZANY
39. Roll call vote : AYE
40. Port of Iraq : BASRA
42. Like cobra/mongoose encounters, to cobras : FATAL
43. “Fast Times” school : RIDGEMONT HIGH (hiding “thigh”)
46. Indian bread : NAN
47. Running by itself : ON AUTO
50. Low-altitude clouds : STRATI
53. Certain Indonesian : SUMATRAN
55. Not dress overmodestly … or what 18-, 25- and 43-Across each do? : SHOW SOME LEG
57. G.I. fare : MRE
58. Figure head? : TOTEM
59. “Meet the Press” feature : PANEL
60. ___ rule : AS A
61. Glove material : SUEDE
62. It’s a blessing : GRACE
63. Zippo : NIL

Down
1. Ready to pour : ON TAP
2. Enlarges, as a hole : REAMS
3. Good rep : STREET CRED
4. Sexual appetites : LIBIDOS
5. Sgt. Friday catchphrase : I’M A COP
6. ___ fide : BONA
7. Big laughs : YUKS
8. NATO part: Abbr. : ATL
9. Exploded : WENT OFF
10. Like winter soccer, most likely : INDOOR
11. Rider’s handful : REIN
12. Fish-eating raptor : ERNE
13. Feet, slangily : DOGS
19. Sea ___ (12-Down) : EAGLE
21. Like Mayberry : RURAL
26. “For real!” : IT’S SO!
27. Butter maker : CHURN
28. Shoot for : AIM AT
29. “Kill Bill” co-star : UMA THURMAN
30. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA
31. Texter’s “ciao” : TTYL
32. Wine bottle datum : YEAR
33. “Please?” : MAY I?
38. Restaurant guide name since 1979 : ZAGAT
40. “No clue” : BEATS ME
41. Prenatal test, for short : AMNIO
42. Acquire by deceit : FINAGLE
44. Chewed like a chipmunk : GNAWED
45. Onetime for-girls-only course, for short : HOME EC
48. Sets of foot bones : TARSI
49. Tatum who won an Oscar at 10 : O’NEAL
50. J.F.K. landers until 2003 : SSTS
51. G : THOU
52. Tedious way to learn : ROTE
53. Blacken on a grill : SEAR
54. Neighbor of the funny bone : ULNA
56. High fig. for a hybrid car : MPG

Return to top of page