Day: February 27, 2017

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Peru’s capital : LIMA
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.

10. Omar of Fox’s “House” : EPPS
Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Forman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Forman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Grant on “ER”. And, in another link to the world of medicine, Epps was born in Savannah, Georgia to single mom, Dr. Bonnie Epps.

14. Dickens’s “___ House” : BLEAK
“Bleak House” is a Charles Dickens novel that was originally published as a serial from 1852 to 1853. The novel’s storyline highlights injustices in the English Legal system in the 19th century.

23. Airport up the coast from LAX : SFO
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) serves as the main base of operations for Virgin America (recently sold to Alaska Airlines), and is also the maintenance hub for United Airlines.

24. Flash mobs, once : FAD
A flash mob is a group of people who gather to perform a sudden, brief act in a public location and then quickly disperse. Flash mobs originated in Manhattan in 2003, as a social experiment by an editor of “Harper’s Magazine” called Bill Wasik. Wasik’s first attempt to form a flash mob was unsuccessful, but the second attempt worked. The first successful flash mob was relatively tame by today’s elaborate standards, and consisted of about 130 people gathered on the 9th floor of Macy’s department store pretending to be shopping en masse for a “love rug”.

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

26. Jean ___, father of Dadaism : ARP
Jean Arp was a French artist renowned for his work with torn and pasted paper, although that wasn’t the only medium he used. Arp was the son of a French mother and German father and spoke both languages fluently. When he was speaking German he gave his name as Hans Arp, but when speaking French he called himself Jean Arp. Both “Hans” and “Jean” translate into English as “John”. In WWI Arp moved to Switzerland to avoid being called up to fight, taking advantage of Swiss neutrality. Eventually he was told to report to the German Consulate and fill out paperwork for the draft. In order to get out of fighting, Arp messed up the paperwork by writing the date in every blank space on the forms. Then he took off all of his clothes and walked with his papers over to the officials in charge. Arp was sent home …

Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

37. World’s fair, for short : EXPO
The first “World’s Fair” was held in 1851, known back then as the “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations”. The fair was the idea of Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. It was held in a magnificent glass and cast-iron structure called the Crystal Palace that was purpose-built for the occasion. The “Great Exhibition” spawned a tradition of what became known as World’s Fairs, expositions that feature national pavilions created by participating countries.

38. Circus animals that balance beach balls on their noses : SEALS
There are three families of seals. The first is the walrus family, the second the eared seals (like sea lions), and thirdly the earless seals (like elephant seals).

40. “When You Wish ___ a Star” : UPON
“When You Wish Upon A Star” is a hit song by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington that was written for the 1940 Disney movie “Pinocchio”. In the animated film, the song is sung by the Jiminy Cricket character, with the voice provided by singer Cliff Edwards. In some parts of the world, “When You Wish Upon A Star” has become a Christmas classic due the assumption that the “star” in the title is the Star of Bethlehem.

43. Manning who was twice Super Bowl M.V.P. : ELI
Eli Manning plays as quarterback for the New York Giants. Eli’s brother Peyton Manning retired from football as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback.

49. Justice Kagan : ELENA
Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States who replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the first female US Solicitor General and the fourth female US Supreme Court justice. I hear she is a fan of Jane Austen, and used to reread “Pride and Prejudice” once a year. Not a bad thing to do, I’d say …

51. Abbr. before a credit card date : EXP
Expiration (exp.)

54. ___ card (cellphone chip) : SIM
Most cell phones have SIM cards these days. SIM cards hold the personal information of the subscriber, with the acronym being short for Subscriber Identity Module.

62. Male deer : STAG
A male deer is usually called a buck, and a female is a doe. However, the male red deer is usually referred to as a stag. The males of even larger species of deer are often called bulls, and females cows. In older English, male deer of over 5 years were called harts, and females of over 3 years were called hinds. The young of small species are known as fawns, and of larger species are called calves. All very confusing …

66. “___ kleine Nachtmusik” : EINE
Mozart’s ”Serenade No. 13 for Strings in G major” is better known as “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”, which translates into “a little serenade”, but the more literal English translation of “a little night music” is often used. It is a delightful piece in four, very recognizable movements, although there is much debate about a “lost” fifth movement.

67. “Ars Amatoria” poet : OVID
Ovid’s “Ars amatoria” (“The Art of Love” in English) is a series of poems in three books by the Roman poet Ovid. Book one provides men with instruction on how to find a woman. Book two gives a man guidance on keeping that woman. Ovid turns the tables in Book three and gives advice to women on how to find and keep a man.

70. Big name in pet food : IAMS
Iams dog food was introduced by the animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed a dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company, now part of Procter & Gamble, in 1946.

71. Aid in storm-tracking : RADAR
Scientists have been using radio waves to detect the presence of objects since the late 1800s, but it was the demands of WWII that accelerated the practical application of the technology. The British called their system RDF standing for Range and Direction Finding. The system used by the US Navy was called Radio Detection And Ranging, which was shortened to the acronym RADAR.

Down
1. “2 Broke Girls” airer : CBS
“2 Broke Girls” is a sitcom about two young ladies sharing an apartment in Brooklyn, and their attempts to launch a cupcake business. The title characters are played by Kat Dennings and Beth Behrs.

2. Ski area near Salt Lake City : ALTA
Alta ski resort actually lies within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area. The first ski lift in the resort was opened way back in 1939. Today, Alta is one of only three ski resorts in the country that prohibits snowboarding (along with Deer Valley, Utah and Mad River Glen, Vermont. The ski resort of Snowbird located next to Alta has been in operation since 1971.

4. Pub game : DARTS
Darts is a wonderful game often played in English and Irish pubs, even over here in America. The scoring in a traditional game of darts is difficult to describe in a sentence or two, but the game of darts called “Round the Clock” is simply hitting the numbers 1 through 20 in sequence.

5. Artist Georgia who is known for her flower canvases : O’KEEFFE
Georgia O’Keeffe was an influential American artist, one who led the introduction of American art into Europe. Famously, she was married to photographer Alfred Stieglitz who helped develop her career in the early days. Georgia O’Keeffe’s last home was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she had done a lot of her work during her lifetime. She died there in 1986, at the ripe old age of 98. One of her most famous paintings is from 1926, called “Black Iris III”.

6. Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD
Cheryl Ladd’s most famous role was Kris Munroe in television’s “Charlie’s Angels”. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett-Majors when the latter opted out of the show. Cheryl Ladd was the daughter-in-law of famed Hollywood actor Alan Ladd, as she was married to Ladd’s son, David. After the couple divorced, Cheryl retained the Ladd name.

When the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” started airing in the mid-seventies, it was a little unusual in that it featured three women playing private detectives, a role usually reserved for men. The name first chosen for the show was “The Alley Cats”, then “Harry’s Angels”, before finally settling on “Charlie’s Angels”.

7. Wall St. debuts : IPOS
An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

9. Sleeper’s problem : APNEA
Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

12. Sailor who’s smitten by Olive Oyl : POPEYE
Popeye first appeared in 1929 in a comic strip called “Thimble Theatre”. The strip, created by E. C. Segar, ran for ten years before Popeye made an appearance. Popeye received such a great welcome from readers that he soon “took over” the strip, and eventually even hogged the strip’s title. Before Popeye turned up, Olive Oyl was the main character.

22. Name first encountered in Genesis 2 : ADAM
The Book of Genesis is the first book in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Some of the main figures in the book are Adam and Eve, Moses, Abraham and Jacob/Israel. “Genesis” is a Greek word meaning “origin, creation”.

26. Big galoot : APE
“Galoot” is an insulting term meaning an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

27. Tyrannosaurus ___ : REX
The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually written T. rex) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. “Tyrannosaurus” comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard), and the “rex” is of course Latin for “king”. They were big boys, measuring 42 feet long and 13 feet tall at the hips, and weighing 7.5 tons.

31. Alternative to AOL or Yahoo : GMAIL
Gmail is a free webmail service provided by Google, and my favorite of the free email services. Gmail made a big splash when it was introduced in 2007 because it offered a whopping 1GB of storage whereas other services offered a measly 2-4MB on average.

33. Island ESE of Oahu : MAUI
Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian islands. Maui is sometimes called the “Valley Isle” as it is composed of two volcanoes to the northwest and southeast of the island, each with numerous beautiful valleys carved into them.

35. Pepsi, for one : COLA
The Pepsi-Cola formulation was developed by one Caleb Bradham who made the drink at home and sold it as “Brad’s Drink”. Bradham’s aim was to provide a drink that was pleasant to taste, that would aid digestion and boost energy. Included in the formula were pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts. These two ingredients inspired the brand name we use today: Pepsi-Cola.

41. Month before Nov. : OCT
October is the tenth month in our calendar but was the eighth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the prefix “octo-”. Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” were then added as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year. Soon after, the year was reset and January and February became the first and second months.

42. Born: Fr. : NEE
“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

44. Police dept. figure : INSP
Inspector (insp.)

46. Van Gogh or Van Dyck : PAINTER
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. Van Gogh only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are easily recognized, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.

Anthony van Dyck was a Flemish artist, although he was noted as a painter in the British royal court. His most famous portraits are of King Charles I of England and members of his family. The men in his paintings often sported a short, pointed beard that was in fashion at the time. When that style of beard became fashionable again centuries later, it was termed a “Van Dyke” in honor of the artist.

47. Moses parted it : RED SEA
The Red Sea (sometimes called the Arabian Gulf) is a stretch of water lying between Africa and Asia. The Gulf of Suez (and the Suez Canal) lies to north, and the Gulf of Aden to the south. According to the Book of Exodus in the Bible, God parted the Red Sea to allow Moses lead the Israelites from Egypt.

48. Beautifully strange : EXOTIC
The word “exotic” means “belonging to another country”, and is derived from the Greek “exo-” meaning “outside”. Exotica are things that are excitingly strange, often from foreign parts.

55. 2016 Disney film set in Polynesia : MOANA
“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film, the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

The term “Polynesia” was first coined in 1756 by the author Charles de Brosses, when he used it to describe all the islands in the Pacific. This was later restricted to what we now refer to as a subregion of Oceania.

57. 10 and 8 for Bart and Lisa Simpson, respectively : AGES
Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. Bart’s name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith. In a 2008 episode of the show, Lisa enters a crossword tournament. Crossword celebrities Merl Reagle and Will Shortz make appearances in that episode, basically playing cartoon versions of themselves.

61. Humorous Bombeck : ERMA
Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years, producing more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns describing her home life in suburbia.

65. Damascus’s land: Abbr. : SYR
Damascus is the second largest city in Syria (after Aleppo), and is the country’s capital. Damascus has the distinction of being the oldest, continuously-inhabited city in the world, having been settled in the 2nd millennium BC.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “No problem for me!” : CAN DO!
6. Peru’s capital : LIMA
10. Omar of Fox’s “House” : EPPS
14. Dickens’s “___ House” : BLEAK
15. Per item : A POP
16. Hand lotion ingredient : ALOE
17. Intimidates, in a way : STARES DOWN
19. Crime scene barrier : TAPE
20. Goes to, as a meeting : ATTENDS
21. Not as hard : EASIER
23. Airport up the coast from LAX : SFO
24. Flash mobs, once : FAD
25. “Science Guy” Bill : NYE
26. Jean ___, father of Dadaism : ARP
29. “Oh, darn!” : FUDGE!
32. Fired (up) : AMPED
34. Period between wars : PEACETIME
36. Goat’s cry : MAA!
37. World’s fair, for short : EXPO
38. Circus animals that balance beach balls on their noses : SEALS
40. “When You Wish ___ a Star” : UPON
43. Manning who was twice Super Bowl M.V.P. : ELI
45. Watch or clock : TIMEPIECE
47. Showed in syndication, say : RERAN
49. Justice Kagan : ELENA
50. Numbered hwy. : RTE
51. Abbr. before a credit card date : EXP
52. Feeling blue : SAD
54. ___ card (cellphone chip) : SIM
56. Exercise in a pool : DO LAPS
58. Cross-reference for further information : SEE NOTE
62. Male deer : STAG
63. On a lower floor : DOWNSTAIRS
66. “___ kleine Nachtmusik” : EINE
67. “Ars Amatoria” poet : OVID
68. Foe : ENEMY
69. Ones in suits? : ACES
70. Big name in pet food : IAMS
71. Aid in storm-tracking : RADAR

Down
1. “2 Broke Girls” airer : CBS
2. Ski area near Salt Lake City : ALTA
3. “Cool!” : NEAT!
4. Pub game : DARTS
5. Artist Georgia who is known for her flower canvases : O’KEEFFE
6. Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD
7. Wall St. debuts : IPOS
8. Trim the lawn : MOW
9. Sleeper’s problem : APNEA
10. Has supper : EATS
11. Unlined sheets without any writing : PLAIN PAPER
12. Sailor who’s smitten by Olive Oyl : POPEYE
13. Get angry : SEE RED
18. Pig noses : SNOUTS
22. Name first encountered in Genesis 2 : ADAM
24. “Understand?,” slangily : FEEL ME?
26. Big galoot : APE
27. Tyrannosaurus ___ : REX
28. Classroom missile : PAPER PLANE
30. Followed a weight-loss plan : DIETED
31. Alternative to AOL or Yahoo : GMAIL
33. Island ESE of Oahu : MAUI
35. Pepsi, for one : COLA
39. Just knows : SENSES
41. Month before Nov. : OCT
42. Born: Fr. : NEE
44. Police dept. figure : INSP
46. Van Gogh or Van Dyck : PAINTER
47. Moses parted it : RED SEA
48. Beautifully strange : EXOTIC
53. “Me, too” : AS DO I
55. 2016 Disney film set in Polynesia : MOANA
57. 10 and 8 for Bart and Lisa Simpson, respectively : AGES
58. Do the breaststroke, e.g. : SWIM
59. Terminals : ENDS
60. Like the score 7-7 : TIED
61. Humorous Bombeck : ERMA
64. Lab eggs : OVA
65. Damascus’s land: Abbr. : SYR

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