Day: June 7, 2017

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
9. Bay Area campus, in brief : UCSF
University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

15. Impossible chess ending with a king and knight versus a lone king : MATE
In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

16. Slimy outdoor pest : GARDEN SLUG
Snails and slugs are referred to collectively as gastropods. There are many, many species of gastropods, found both on land and in the sea. Gastropods with shells are generally described as snails, and those species without shells are referred to as slugs.

22. “___ Misérables” : LES
Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables”, has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.

24. Item in the lingerie department : GARTER BELT
“Lingerie” is a French term, but as used in France it just means any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).

33. Classic 1976 Ramones song that begins “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” : BLITZKRIEG BOP
“Blitzkrieg Bop” is a song by the punk rock band Ramones. The song opens with “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!”, a chant that is now used as a rallying cry at sporting events.

“The Ramones” were an American punk rock band. The group formed in Forest Hills, New York in the mid-seventies. Arguably, it was the first punk rock group, defining the genre. Something else that’s not my cup of tea …

39. Liane ___, longtime NPR host : HANSEN
Liane Hansen was the very capable host of Weekend Edition Sunday who retired quite recently from broadcasting. She was married to fellow NPR broadcaster Neil Conan, although the two divorced in 2011.

45. Diamond-patterned footwear : ARGYLE SOCK
The argyle pattern is based on the Campbell tartan. The Campbell clan is based in the Argyll region (note the spelling) in the west of Scotland, giving the Argyle pattern its name.

48. ___-tiller : ROTO
The rototiller (or rotary tiller) was invented by Arthur Clifford Howard in 1912, in Australia.

51. U.S. base in Cuba, informally : GITMO
The Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba is often referred to by using abbreviation “GTMO” or simply “Gitmo”. Gitmo is the oldest overseas base operated by the navy and dates back to the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903, at which time the US leased the facility as a fueling station. A perpetual lease was offered by Tomas Estrada Palma, the first President of Cuba, after the US took over control of Cuba from Spain following the Spanish-American War of 1898.

54. Improvised : OFF THE CUFF
To speak “off the cuff” is to speak extemporaneously. The idea is that someone doing so would not be using learned lines, but rather is speaking with the use of a few notes that have been jotted on his cuffs or shirtsleeves.

59. Mediterranean volcano : ETNA
Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius. Mt. Etna is home to a 110-km long narrow-gauge railway, and two ski resorts.

Down
1. Home of the Norse gods : ASGARD
Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds of Norse religions. It is where the Norse gods live, and is also home to Valhalla, the enormous hall ruled over by the god Odin.

2. Granite ___ (New Hampshire resident) : STATER
New Hampshire is called the Granite State, because it has lots of granite quarries and granite formations.

5. Old Testament paradise : EDEN
According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.

6. “The Fountainhead” author Rand : AYN
“The Fountainhead” by Ayn Rand was first published in 1943, and was her first novel to achieve public success. The story focuses on an idealistic architect, Howard Roark. Roark is uncompromising in his designs, refusing the give the public what it wants, staying doggedly loyal to his own vision.

7. Comfy sleepwear : PJS
Our word “pajamas” (“PJs” for short) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. In the British Isles the spelling is “pyjamas”.

8. Kind of renewable energy : SOLAR
Solar panels are arrays of solar cells that make use of what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. We are more likely to have learned about the photoelectric effect in school, in which electrons were ejected from the surface of some materials when it was exposed to light or other forms of radiation. The photovoltaic effect is related but different. Instead of being electrons ejected from the surface, in the photovoltaic effect electrons move around in the material creating a difference in voltage.

9. Baseball boobird’s target, often : UMP
A boobird is a sports fan who does a lot of booing.

12. Enjoy heartily, as a banquet : FEAST ON
A banquet is an elaborate feast. “Banquet” is a term that seems to have reversed in meaning over time. Coming into English via French from Old Italian, “banquet” is derived from “banco” meaning “bench”. The original “banco” meal was simply a snack eaten on a bench, rather than at a table. I guess we eat more these days …

14. Keister : BUTT
Back in the early 1900s a “keister” was a safe or a strongbox. It has been suggested that this term was then used as slang by pickpockets for the rear trouser pocket in which one might keep a wallet. From this usage, keister appeared as a slang term for the buttocks in the early 1930s.

24. Jazzman Stan : GETZ
Stan Getz was a jazz saxophonist. Getz’s playing style earned him the nickname “The Sound”.

25. Wild way to run : AMOK
The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had good reason for that frenzy …

28. Entreaty to Lassie : GET HELP!
We owe the character Lassie to one Eric Knight who wrote a short story that he expanded into a novel called “Lassie Come Home”, published in 1940. “Lassie Come Home” was turned into a movie three years later, the first of a very successful franchise. The original Lassie (a female) was played by a dog called Pal, a male dog. In fact, all of the dogs that played Lassie over the years were males, because they looked better on camera, retaining a thick coat even during the summer months.

30. Actress Spacek : SISSY
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.

31. Second Amendment advocacy grp. : NRA
The Second Amendment of the US Constitution was adopted in 1791 as part of the Bill of Rights. The actual text of the amendment is:

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The wording and punctuation in the original text has led to some controversy over the years, some debate over the original intent. That might be an understatement …

34. University of Texas athlete : LONGHORN
The University of Texas at Austin was established back in 1883. UT Austin is known as one of the “Public Ivies”, a publicly-funded university at which a student can get an education comparable to that provided by the Ivy League. The school’s sports teams are known as the Texas Longhorns, named for the Longhorn cattle that is now the official “large animal” of the state of Texas.

36. Text-displaying technology on Kindles : E INK
E Ink Corporation manufactures what is known as “electronic paper”, a material that is integrated into electronic displays used mainly in e-readers and smartphones. An example is the excellent display that comes with the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite e-reader.

40. Wolfe of crime fiction : NERO
Nero Wolfe is a fictional detective and the hero of many stories published by author Rex Stout. There are 33 Nero Wolfe novels for us to read, and 39 short stories. There are also movie adaptations of two of the novels: “Meet Nero Wolfe” (1936) which features a young Rita Hayworth, and “The League of Frightened Men” (1937). One of Wolfe’s endearing traits is his love of good food and beer, so he is a pretty rotund character.

44. Low-frequency stereo component : WOOFER
In a sound system, a speaker that is designed to produce high frequencies is known as a “tweeter”. A speaker made for low frequencies is called a “woofer”. The terms come from the fact that birds migh high-pitched “tweets”, and dogs make low-pitched “woofs”.

47. Butcher’s scraps : OFFAL
The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal is referred to as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

48. Lake of daytime TV : RICKI
Ricki Lake is perhaps as well known for her “Ricki Lake” talk show, as she is for playing Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 movie “Hairspray”.

51. Flippers, scuba tank, etc., for a diver : GEAR
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

55. Boxing decision, for short : TKO
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Worthless mounds : ASH HEAPS
9. Bay Area campus, in brief : UCSF
13. Reliable source of income : STEADY JOB
15. Impossible chess ending with a king and knight versus a lone king : MATE
16. Slimy outdoor pest : GARDEN SLUG
18. “Save yourself!,” e.g. : PLEA
19. Didn’t get takeout : ATE IN
20. At the apex of : ATOP
22. “___ Misérables” : LES
23. Unwind : REST
24. Item in the lingerie department : GARTER BELT
27. Not allowing sales of alcohol : DRY
28. Aquamarine or amethyst : GEM
29. Had as a customer : SOLD TO
30. Determined to accomplish : SET ON
32. Away from the office, say : NOT IN
33. Classic 1976 Ramones song that begins “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” : BLITZKRIEG BOP
37. Wade noisily : SLOSH
38. French girlfriends : AMIES
39. Liane ___, longtime NPR host : HANSEN
41. “Moreover …” : AND …
42. Inexperienced : RAW
45. Diamond-patterned footwear : ARGYLE SOCK
48. ___-tiller : ROTO
49. “I’ve seen better” : MEH
50. Campus V.I.P. : PROF
51. U.S. base in Cuba, informally : GITMO
52. Kick (out) : BOOT
54. Improvised : OFF THE CUFF
57. Tempt : LURE
58. Safely run down the clock, in football : TAKE A KNEE
59. Mediterranean volcano : ETNA
60. Road-scraping custom car : LOWRIDER

Down
1. Home of the Norse gods : ASGARD
2. Granite ___ (New Hampshire resident) : STATER
3. Religious unorthodoxy : HERESY
4. Lost all patience : HAD IT
5. Old Testament paradise : EDEN
6. “The Fountainhead” author Rand : AYN
7. Comfy sleepwear : PJS
8. Kind of renewable energy : SOLAR
9. Baseball boobird’s target, often : UMP
10. Hailed from afar : CALLED TO
11. Hardy work shoe feature : STEEL TIP
12. Enjoy heartily, as a banquet : FEAST ON
14. Keister : BUTT
17. “There ___ the neighborhood” : GOES
21. Like antlers and pitchforks : PRONGED
24. Jazzman Stan : GETZ
25. Wild way to run : AMOK
26. Amorphous shapes : BLOBS
28. Entreaty to Lassie : GET HELP!
30. Actress Spacek : SISSY
31. Second Amendment advocacy grp. : NRA
33. Announce loudly : BLARE OUT
34. University of Texas athlete : LONGHORN
35. Apple desktop : IMAC
36. Text-displaying technology on Kindles : E INK
37. Walk with an awkward gait : SHAMBLE
40. Wolfe of crime fiction : NERO
42. Roly-poly : ROTUND
43. Withdrawal charge : ATM FEE
44. Low-frequency stereo component : WOOFER
46. Velvety : SOFT
47. Butcher’s scraps : OFFAL
48. Lake of daytime TV : RICKI
51. Flippers, scuba tank, etc., for a diver : GEAR
53. Nonalcoholic brew : TEA
55. Boxing decision, for short : TKO
56. Take an ax to : HEW

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