Day: July 29, 2017

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
16. Its first cover, in 1970, said “Dynamite Afros” : ESSENCE MAGAZINE
“Essence” is women’s magazine aimed at the African-American female, covering fashion and beauty. First published in 1970, the magazine’s slogan is “Fierce, Fun and Fabulous”.

19. Grammy category : METAL
The first Grammy Awards Ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.

20. Class of fliers? : AVES
From a taxonomic standpoint, birds fall into the class Aves with the animal kingdom. “Aves” is Latin for “bird”.

21. Fragrant biblical gift : MYRRH
Frankincense and myrrh are both tree resins that are exuded when certain species of tree are damaged. The harvested resins are used to make essentials oils for perfumes, and are also burned to give off a pleasant fragrance.

23. It passes Luxor Temple : NILE
The modern city of Luxor grew up around the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Thebes. Thebes was the city of the god Amon-Ra and was the religious capital of the country until the Greeks took control. Luxor is often called “the world’s greatest open-air museum”. Tourists flock there to see the Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple ruins, as well as the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens immediately opposite Luxor on the other side of the River Nile.

24. 1984 Summer Olympics star : RETTON
Mary Lou Retton is an Olympic champion gymnast from Fairmont, West Virginia. Retton won Olympic Individual All-Around gold in the 1984 games, making her the first female athlete to do so who wasn’t from Eastern Europe.

27. Ayn Rand hero : GALT
John Galt is a character in the Ayn Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged”.

Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born Alisa Rosenbaum. Her two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” from 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan. Rand described herself as “right-wing” politically, and both she and her novel “Atlas Shrugged” have become inspirations for the American conservatives, and the Tea Party in particular.

28. Players rush for them: Abbr. : YDS
That would be football.

33. Fuzzy food : KIWI
What we call kiwifruit today used to be called a Chinese gooseberry. Marketing folks in the fifties decided to call it a “melonette”, and then New Zealand producers adopted the name “kiwifruit”.

34. First name on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” : KRIS
Kris Kardashian is the matriarch of the Kardashian clan. She was married to the lawyer Robert Kardashian who was one of O. J. Simpson’s lawyers in his 1995 murder trial. The couple divorced in 1990 and Kris then married the celebrated decathlete from the 1976 Olympic Games, Bruce Jenner. That marriage ended in divorce as well, in 2015.

35. Pair on a table at a nice restaurant : CRUETS
A cruet is a small glass bottle that holds a condiment or perhaps a dressing. The word “cruet” comes from the Old French word for an earthen pot.

37. Orange side : YAM
Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially found in Africa.

38. Stuff “tested” in the 1960s’ Acid Tests : LSD
“The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” is a novel by Tom Wolfe that was first published in 1968. It tells the story of a group of guys driving across the country in a brightly painted school bus, while gaining all kinds of insights with the “benefit” of LSD and other psychedelic drugs. Trippy, man …

46. European capital : RIGA
Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

52. Sunset, e.g. : BOULEVARD
The Los Angeles thoroughfare Sunset Boulevard is 22 miles long, stretching from downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Ocean. The most famous part of Sunset Boulevard is the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, a 1½-mile stretch that is home to high-end boutiques, restaurants and nightclubs.

54. Basketball tactic : MAN-TO-MAN DEFENSE
In some team sports, there is a choice between man-to-man defense and zone defense. In the former, each defensive player guards a corresponding player on the other team. In the latter, each defensive player covers a particular “zone” of the playing area.

57. ___-Carthage International Airport : TUNIS
Tunis-Carthage Airport services the city of Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. The airport is named for the contemporary capital city, and for the ancient Carthaginian capital, the ruins of which are located just east of the airport.

58. Eschews overnight shipping? : DAY SAILS
“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun” comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

Down
4. Most affectedly dainty, to a Brit : TWEEST
In the UK, something “twee” is cutesy or overly nice. “Twee” came from “tweet”, which is the cutesy, baby-talk way of saying “sweet”.

5. Political century: Abbr. : SENS
Our word “senate” comes from the Latin for such a body: “senatus”. In turn, “senatus” is derived from “senex” meaning “old man”, reflecting the original Roman Senate’s makeup as a “council of elders”.

6. Firebird alternative : CAMARO
The Chevrolet Camaro is a car produced by General Motors from 1966 to 2002, and reintroduced in 2009. The Camaro shared much of its design with the Pontiac Firebird, and was introduced as a potential competitor to the Ford Mustang.

7. Rapper with a role in the 2015 film “Dope” : ASAP ROCKY
“A$AP Rocky” is the stage name of rapper Rakim Mayers from Harlem in New York City.

8. Eli Manning’s team, on scoreboards : NYG
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 in 2015. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback. Eli, Peyton and Archie co-authored a book for children titles “Family Huddle” in 2009. It describes the Mannings playing football together as young boys.

9. Certain congregation leader : IMAM
An imam is a Muslim leader, often the person in charge of a mosque or perhaps a Muslim community.

10. Hackers’ helpers : LOZENGES
Back in the 14th century, a “lozenge” was a diamond shape. The original lozenges, which were tablets held in the mouth to dissolve, had this diamond shape and hence the name.

11. C. S. Lewis piece? : INITIAL
Irishman C. S. Lewis moved to Britain after serving in the British Army in WWI. A man of many achievements, he is perhaps today best remembered for his series of novels for children called “The Chronicles of Narnia” (which includes “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). He also wrote the “The Four Loves”, a nonfiction work exploring the nature of love from a Christian perspective.

12. Through bribery : VENALLY
Someone described as “venal” is open to bribery. The term ultimately derives from the Latin word “venus” meaning “for sale”.

13. Hole near a tongue : EYELET
That would be a shoe.

15. Recess rhyme starter : EENY

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

17. 2015 N.F.L. M.V.P. : CAM NEWTON
Cam Newton plays quarterback for the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. One interesting thing about Newton is that he is a pescetarian, eating seafood but not the flesh of other animals. Sounds fishy to me …

33. Dinar spenders : KUWAITIS
The dinar is the official currency in many countries, such as Iraq and Serbia. The gold dinar dates back to the early days of Islam, with the name deriving from the Roman currency called “denarius” meaning “ten times” (as it was originally a coin worth ten asses).

35. Selena Gomez or Eva Longoria, e.g. : CHICANA
Selena Gomez is a young actress from Grand Prairie, Texas. Gomez’s first television role was in the children’s show “Barney & Friends”. She then played the lead in the TV series “Wizards of Waverly Place”. Offscreen, Gomez made a splash as the girlfriend of Canadian singer Justin Bieber for a couple of years.

Eva Longoria is a fashion model and an actress who had a regular role on TV’s “Desperate Housewives”, playing Gabrielle Solis.

38. Fitness legend Jack : LALANNE
Jack LaLanne was a pioneer in the field of fitness and nutrition and was sometimes called “the godfather of fitness”. LaLanne was also a bodybuilder and actually beat 21-year-old Arnold Schwarzenegger in competition, when LaLanne was 54-years-old …

43. Crashes into, in a way : T-BONES
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.

48. Family planning options, briefly : IUDS
It seems that it isn’t fully understood how the intrauterine device (IUD) works. The design that was most popular for decades was a T-shaped plastic frame on which was wound copper wire. It’s thought that the device is an irritant in the uterus causing the body to release chemicals that are hostile to sperm and eggs. This effect is enhanced by the presence of the copper.

51. Roberts of romance : NORA
Nora Roberts is a very successful author who has written over 165 romance novels. Roberts is published under a number of pen names: J.D. Robb, Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

53. Pond juveniles : EFTS
Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

55. Verizon purchase of 2006 : MCI
MCI was a giant telecom company that suffered a similar fate to Enron, and around about the same time. MCI’s stock price fell in 2000 and in maneuvers designed to protect the price, the company committed illegal acts. The larger-than-life CEO back then, Bernie Ebbers, is now serving a 25-year sentence in Louisiana.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Heating system network : DUCTS
6. “Jeez, why don’t you just mind your own business?!” : CAN I LIVE?
14. Floored : IN AWE
15. Gain with little effort : EASY MONEY
16. Its first cover, in 1970, said “Dynamite Afros” : ESSENCE MAGAZINE
18. “Rests one’s eyes” : TAKES A NAP
19. Grammy category : METAL
20. Class of fliers? : AVES
21. Fragrant biblical gift : MYRRH
23. It passes Luxor Temple : NILE
24. 1984 Summer Olympics star : RETTON
26. Setting after resetting : OOO
27. Ayn Rand hero : GALT
28. Players rush for them: Abbr. : YDS
29. Amalgamate : WED
31. In a darling way : CUTELY
33. Fuzzy food : KIWI
34. First name on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” : KRIS
35. Pair on a table at a nice restaurant : CRUETS
37. Orange side : YAM
38. Stuff “tested” in the 1960s’ Acid Tests : LSD
41. “Close one!” : PHEW!
42. When Supreme Court sessions start: Abbr. : OCT
44. Overturn : NEGATE
46. European capital : RIGA
47. “Don’t worry about it,” slangily : NO BIG
49. Octavia’s “others” : ALIA
50. Trap during a ski trip, say : ICE IN
52. Sunset, e.g. : BOULEVARD
54. Basketball tactic : MAN-TO-MAN DEFENSE
56. Rings : ENCIRCLES
57. ___-Carthage International Airport : TUNIS
58. Eschews overnight shipping? : DAY SAILS
59. How you might feel after finishing this puzzle : SPENT

Down
1. Like some religious laws : DIETARY
2. Not backed up : UNSAVED
3. Haunted house sights : CASKETS
4. Most affectedly dainty, to a Brit : TWEEST
5. Political century: Abbr. : SENS
6. Firebird alternative : CAMARO
7. Rapper with a role in the 2015 film “Dope” : ASAP ROCKY
8. Eli Manning’s team, on scoreboards : NYG
9. Certain congregation leader : IMAM
10. Hackers’ helpers : LOZENGES
11. C. S. Lewis piece? : INITIAL
12. Through bribery : VENALLY
13. Hole near a tongue : EYELET
15. Recess rhyme starter : EENY
17. 2015 N.F.L. M.V.P. : CAM NEWTON
22. Measurement in a celestial coordinate system : HOUR ANGLE
25. Boo-boo : OWIE
30. One lighting up the dance floor : DISCO BALL
32. It can crawl or fly, but not walk : TIME
33. Dinar spenders : KUWAITIS
35. Selena Gomez or Eva Longoria, e.g. : CHICANA
36. Hyatt hotel line : REGENCY
38. Fitness legend Jack : LALANNE
39. Adds to the pot : STIRS IN
40. Least happening : DEADEST
41. Ready : PRIMED
43. Crashes into, in a way : T-BONES
45. Parted with : GAVE UP
48. Family planning options, briefly : IUDS
51. Roberts of romance : NORA
53. Pond juveniles : EFTS
55. Verizon purchase of 2006 : MCI

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