Day: March 31, 2023

Bill’s time: 32m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Sister brand of Mazola : ARGO

Mazola is a brand of corn oil now owned by Associated British Foods.

14 Classic cars that rivaled the Ford Maverick and Plymouth Duster : CHEVY NOVAS

The Chevrolet Nova was produced by General Motors from 1962 to 1979, and from 1985 to 1988. I owned one of those 1985-1988 Novas many years ago. Those latter models were actually Toyota Sprinters that were assembled just down the road here in Fremont, California in a GM/Toyota joint venture.

18 Quite a blast? : GALE

A gale is a very strong wind, one defined by the Beaufort scale as having wind speeds from 50 to just over 100 kilometers per hour.

20 Fodder for some miners : DATA

The process of data mining is used to extract information from a database and present it in a form that facilitates further use.

25 Where an eye test may be given, in brief : DMV

In most states, the government agency responsible for vehicle registration and the issuing of driver’s licenses is called the DMV. This initialism usually stands for the Department of Motor Vehicles, but there are “variations on the theme”. For example, in Arizona the responsible agency is called the Motor Vehicle Division (MVD), and in Colorado the familiar abbreviation “DMV” stands for Division of Motor Vehicles.

32 Spicy, in a way : CAJUN

Cajun cuisine is named for the French-speaking Acadian people who were deported from Acadia in Canada to Louisiana in the 18th century.

34 Diacritic over the “r” in “Dvořák” : HACEK

A “háček” is a diacritic shaped like an inverted hat. Also called a “caron”, it is used particularly in Baltic and Slavic languages.

A diacritic mark is added to a letter to indicate that it has a special phonetic sound. Examples of diacritic marks are the tilde above the n in Spanish words like “jalapeño” and “niño “, and the cedilla under the c in French words like “façade”.

38 “That will be ___ the set of sun”: Shak. : ERE

“That will be ere the set of sun” is a line from William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. It is a line that is spoken by one of the three witches.

39 Heavens : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning.

41 Twine fiber : SISAL

The sisal plant is an agave, the flesh of which is not generally used in making tequila. Sisal is grown instead for the fibers that run the length of its leaves. The fiber is used extensively for twine, rope, carpeting, wall coverings etc. My favorite application though, is in the construction of dartboards. Sisal takes its name from the port of Sisal in Yucatan, Mexico that was a major shipping point for sisal plants.

42 Light line : RAY

Our word “twine”, meaning “light string”, has the same root as our word “twin”. The original Old English “twin” was a double thread.

45 U.S. health org. : CDC

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The CDC started out life during WWII as the Office of National Defense Malaria Control Activities. The CDC worries about much more than malaria these days …

47 Big wheels : POO-BAHS

The term “pooh-bah” (also “poobah”), meaning an ostentatious official, comes from the world of opera. Pooh-Bah is a character in the wonderful Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera “The Mikado”. Famously, Pooh-Bah holds many, many offices, including that of “Lord High Everything Else”.

48 Its first scene is set near Memphis : AIDA

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radamès is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

Memphis was an ancient city on the River Nile. The ruins of Memphis are located just south of Cairo, Egypt. It was a magnificent city that eventually failed due to the economic success of the city of Alexandria, which was located further down the river and right on the Mediterranean coast.

56 Laura of “ER” : INNES

Laura Innes is an actress who is best known for playing Dr. Kerry Weaver on the long-running TV show “ER”. She also played the lead role of Sophia in the short-running TV drama “The Event” in 2010-2011.

57 Some arena illumination, for short : LEDS

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a specialized form of semiconductor that when switched on releases photons (light). LEDs were used in early digital watches, and are getting more and more popular even though their use in electronic equipment is fading away. LEDs are used as replacements for the much less-efficient tungsten light bulbs. I replaced all of my tungsten Xmas lights many years ago and saved a lot on my electricity bill.

60 Sediment : LEES

The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), are also called “lees”.

61 Show first performed during 1994’s Eurovision Song Contest : RIVERDANCE

The hugely successful Irish music and dance show “Riverdance” originated in 1994. In its first manifestation, the show was a relatively short entertainment created for the interval in the annual Eurovision Song Contest. A few months later, it was expanded into a full show that premiered in Dublin in early 1995. Since then, the show has traveled all over the world and has been seen by over 25 million people.

63 Sweet, lovable sort : TEDDY BEAR

The stuffed toy known as a teddy bear was introduced in the early 1900s and was named for President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt. The toy was inspired by a political cartoon that was drawn in 1902 showing President Roosevelt on a bear hunt and refusing to kill a black bear cub.

Down

1 No first-stringer : SCRUB

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

2 It ends near Venice : THE PO

The Po flows right across northern Italy, and is the longest river in the country. The largest city on the Po is Turin.

The city of Venice (“Venezia” in Italian) in northeast Italy is built in a saltwater lagoon on the Adriatic Coast, on 117 small islands. The classic transportation along the waterways is the gondola, but this is really only used for tourists these days, as well as on ceremonial occasions. The locals rely on motorized water-buses.

3 Some consequences for defaulting : REPOS

Repossession (repo)

5 ___ Square, rhyming attraction in the city center of Galway, Ireland : EYRE

Galway is a city on the west coast of Ireland. It is the fourth most populous city in the country (after Dublin, Cork and Limerick).

6 Boomer, for short? : TNT

“TNT” is an abbreviation for “trinitrotoluene”. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

8 Footwear brand : AVIA

The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

10 Camus’s birthplace : ALGERIA

Albert Camus was a French author, and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. Sadly, Camus died in a car accident just two years after he received the prize, at only 46 years of age.

11 Grand Prix competitor, e.g. : ROAD RACER

Even though the term is used in many competitions, I think that we most associate “Grand Prix” with the series of Formula One motor races. These Formula One Grand Prix races trace their roots back to organized automobile road races from one French town to the next that date back to 1894. “Grand Prix” translates from French as “grand, big prize.”

15 Company for a king or queen : SEALY

The Sealy Corporation makes mattresses. The company name comes from the city where it started out in 1881, namely Sealy, Texas. Sealy Corporation is now headquartered in Trinity, North Carolina.

26 Joel who once played Wyatt Earp in film : MCCREA

The legendary Western gunfighter and lawman Wyatt Earp has been portrayed on the big and small screen many, many times. Kevin Costner played the title role in 1994’s “Wyatt Earp”, and Val Kilmer played Earp in 2012’s “The First Ride of Wyatt Earp”. Joel McCrea had the part in 1955’s “Wichita”, and Kurt Russell was Earp in 1993’s “Tombstone”. James Garner played Earp twice, in 1967’s “Hour of the Gun” and 1988’s “Sunset”.

27 France’s ___ de Loire : VAL

The Loire is the longest river in France. It is so long that it drains one-fifth of the nation’s land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then heads north then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes. The Loire Valley is home to some of France’s most famous wine production, and includes the wine regions of Sancerre, Pouilly-Fumé and Muscadet. It is also home to some of the nation’s most spectacular châteaux. There are over 300 castles along the river, built by French kings and their courtiers.

28 African capital on its own gulf : TUNIS

Tunis is the capital of Tunisia, and gives the country her name. Tunis is on the Mediterranean coast, and is located just a few miles from the site of ancient Carthage.

31 Iconic 28-Across player : SCHROEDER
[28A Plastic keys? : TOY PIANO]

Schroeder is a favorite character of mine in the comic strip “Peanuts”. He is a young boy who constantly plays a toy piano, especially pieces by Beethoven. Schroeder is also the subject of an extreme infatuation by young Lucy van Pelt, who often leans on his piano and looks at him adoringly as he plays.

37 Part of X-X-X : TAC

When I was growing up in Ireland we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for the game tic-tac-toe.

40 Row house? : EMBASSY

Most of the embassies and diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C. are located in a section of Massachusetts Avenue. As a result, that section of the thoroughfare earned the nickname “Embassy Row”. Some embassies and diplomatic buildings occupy buildings in nearby streets, and so the term “Embassy Row” can be extended to include a whole neighborhood.

44 Senator, e.g., in brief : NHL’ER

The Senators are the NHL hockey team based in Ottawa, Canada. The current team, founded in the 1992-93 season, is the second NHL team in the city to use the name “Senators”. The original team was founded in 1917, and had a very successful run until the league expanded into the US in the late twenties. The cost of operating in what became the smallest NHL city eventually drove the Senators to St. Louis where they played for a year as the Eagles before finally folding.

46 Harvard or Cambridge grad : CANTAB

The term “Cantabrigian” is used for things pertaining to the city of Cambridge. Often, the term is narrowed to refer to things associated with Cambridge University in particular. “Cantabrigian” comes from the Latin “Cantabrigia”, the medieval name for the city, from the Anglo-Saxon name “Cantebrigge”. The term is frequently shortened to “Cantab”.

49 Laughable : INANE

Our word “inane” meaning “silly, lacking substance” comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

50 Classic music label whose name consists entirely of musical notes : DECCA

Decca Records started out in 1929 as a British record label. The US branch of Decca was opened up in 1934, but the UK and US entities went their separate ways starting in WWII. Famously, Decca turned down a chance to record the Beatles in 1962 taking the position “Guitar groups are on the way out”. That said, Decca did sign the Rolling Stones.

54 Actress Campbell : NEVE

Neve Campbell is a Canadian actress whose big break in the movies came with the “Scream” horror film series, in which she had a leading role. I don’t do horror films, so I haven’t seen any of the “Scream” movies. Nor have I seen the TV series “Party of Five” that launched the acting careers of both Campbell and Jennifer Love Hewitt in the nineties.

56 Memorial Day weekend event, familiarly : INDY

The Indianapolis 500 race is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The race is run around a 2.5 mile oval, hence requiring 200 laps for completion. The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. Harroun had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly, that was the first ever use of a rear-view mirror on a motor vehicle.

59 Airport at one end of the Kennedy Expwy. : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).