Day: June 11, 2023

Bill’s time: 23m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Major crop of North Carolina : TOBACCO

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), tobacco is the single greatest cause of preventable disease in the world.

19 White House daughter whom the Secret Service called “Rosebud” : SASHA OBAMA

Sasha is the younger of the two Obama children, having been born in 2001. She was the youngest child to reside in the White House since John F. Kennedy, Jr. moved in with his parents as a small infant. Sasha’s Secret Service codename is “Rosebud”, and her older sister Malia has the codename “Radiance”.

20 First-ever Super Bowl M.V.P. (1967) : BART STARR

Bart Starr was a football player and coach who spent his whole career with the Green Bay Packers, playing quarterback for the Packers from 1956 to 1971. Starr was named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the first two Super Bowls.

22 ___ Sound, record label co-founded by Drake : OVO

Drake is the stage name of rapper Aubrey Graham from Toronto.

25 Industrial conglomerate or its symbol on the New York Stock Exchange : ITT

International Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) was formed in 1920 from the Puerto Rico Telephone Company. ITT divested its telecommunications business in 1986, today the company is known for its products in the field of water and fluids management, as well motion and flow control. Many of ITT’s products are sold into the aerospace market.

28 Ants : colony :: ___ : plague : CICADAS

There is a genus of cicada known as the periodic cicada that spends most of its life underground feeding on the roots of trees. They are described as periodic because mature cicada nymphs emerge from the ground in great numbers every 13 or 17 years and are active for just 4-6 weeks. While above ground, the males chirp away to attract mates and fertilized females lay eggs. When the reproductive cycle is complete, the adult cicadas “disappear” for another 13 or 17 years.

29 Flower with a “face” : PANSY

The pansy is a garden flower that takes its name from the French word “pensée” meaning “thought”. This name was chosen as the flower was often used as a symbol of remembrance. The petals of pansies have dark blotches that often appear to form the outline of a face.

37 Fortunetelling decks : TAROTS

Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future. The list of tarot cards includes the Wheel of Fortune, the Hanged Man and the Lovers.

44 Price tag caveat (buyer beware!) : SOLD AS IS

A caveat is a warning or a qualification. “Caveat” is the Latin for “let him beware”.

46 How, in Oaxaca : COMO

Oaxaca (officially “Oaxaca de Juárez”) is the capital city of the Mexican state of Oaxaca, which is located in the south of the country.

47 Philosopher who wrote “Critique of Pure Reason” : KANT

Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century German philosopher. Kant published “Perpetual Peace” in 1795, laying out what he believed were conditions for ending all wars and creating a lasting peace. The good news for us is that one of these conditions was to have a world full of constitutional republics, so it seems we are on the right track here in the US!

51 Make warm and add spice to, as wine : MULL

Mulled wine (also “spiced wine”) is red wine mixed with mulling spices and served hot or warm. The combination making up mulling spices usually includes cinnamon, cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Mulled wine might also include some dried fruit, especially raisins. Yum …

53 Related to part of the small intestine : ILEAC

The human ileum (plural “ilea”) is the lowest part of the small intestine, and is found below the jejunum and above the cecum of the large intestine.

57 Grp. with barrels : OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controls a significant portion of the world’s oil supply. OPEC member countries account for around 44% of global oil production and 73% of the world’s oil reserves.

58 Port city in Spain’s Basque Country : BILBAO

Bilbao is a city in the Basque region of northern Spain. One of the most famous buildings in the city is the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a spectacular structure standing on the banks of the Nervión river in the downtown area.

61 Garbage disposal spot : SINK

Garbage disposal units are found in about 50% of homes in North America. Frankly, I’ve never seen one anywhere else in the world. Apparently, about 5% of homes in the UK have garbage disposal units installed.

64 Sch. in Albuquerque : UNM

The University of New Mexico (UNM) is a school in Albuquerque that was founded in 1889. The UNM sports teams are called the Lobos, and there are two mascots who work the crowds named Lobo Louie and Lobo Lucy.

Albuquerque is the most populous city in the state of New Mexico. The city was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost named “La Villa de Alburquerque” (note the extra letter “r”) in honor of Francisco, Duke of Alburquerque, who had been viceroy of New Spain from 1653 to 1669. Alburquerque is a town in the west of Spain, close to the border with Portugal.

66 Detritus from a hospital : BIOWASTE

Detritus is loose material that results from the process of erosion. The usage of the term has evolved to describe any accumulated material or debris. “Detritus” is Latin for “a wearing away”.

69 Harmful aquatic overgrowth : ALGAL BLOOM

When algae growth takes over a body of water, it is known as an “algal bloom”. When this happens, the water gets very discolored and the algae suck up the oxygen in the water, basically asphyxiating other life forms.

73 Sharply dressed : NATTY

A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly. The term “natty” may come from the Middle English “net” meaning “fine, elegant”, in which case it shares its etymology with the word “neat”.

77 Onetime Ringling Brothers employee : TAMER

The Ringling Brothers started their circus in 1884 when Barnum & Bailey already had a popular circus that was touring the Midwest. There were six Ringling Brothers in all, and they grew their business at a phenomenal rate. The circus moved from town-to-town by train, extending their reach to the eastern seaboard. So great was their success that the Ringling Brothers purchased the Barnum & Bailey operation in 1907. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus eventually closed down in 2017.

81 Beer brand with a bicycle in its logo : FAT TIRE

Fat Tire amber ale is the flagship brew of the New Belgium Brewing Company. Apparently the beer’s name comes from the brewery founder’s trip through Europe by bicycle. He used a mountain bike, which was something relatively new on the continent. He was teased as a result, with the name “Fat Tire”.

83 Lead-in to puncture : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints” in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

84 Root vegetable in Asian cuisine : DAIKON RADISH

The daikon is a Japanese winter radish with a mild flavor. The name “daikon” translates as “big root”.

90 Going on extravagant trips, as a politician might : JUNKETING

Nowadays we use the term “junket” for a trip taken by a government official at public expense that has no public benefit. Back in the late 1500s, a junket was a basket for carrying fish. The term was then applied to a feast or banquet, perhaps adopting the notion of a picnic “basket”. From feast or banquet, the term came to mean a pleasure trip, and is now our political junket.

95 Where drivers might wait in line : CABSTAND

A hansom cab is a very specific design of horse and buggy that was patented by Joseph Hansom in 1834 in England. The “cab” in the name is short for “cabriolet”, an earlier design of carriage on which the hansom was based. It’s from “hansom cab” that we get our modern term “cab”.

Down

7 The Magic, on scoreboards : ORL

The Orlando Magic were formed in 1989 as an NBA expansion team. A local paper was asked to run a competition to suggest names for the new team and the community came up with its four top picks of “Heat”, “Tropics”, “Juice” and “Magic”. A committee then opted for “Orlando Magic”. A good choice I think …

8 Status symbol? : HASHTAG

A hashtag is a word preceded by the symbol #. Hashtags are big these days because of its use by Twitter. The “#” symbol is usually referred to as the “number sign”, but here in the US the name “pound sign” is very common as well.

11 Macbeth’s dagger or Desdemona’s handkerchief, e.g. : PROP

We use the word “props” for objects that are used by actors on stage during a play. The term is a shortening of the older term “properties”, which was used with the same meaning up through the 19th century.

13 Winner of the podrace in “Star Wars: Episode I” : ANAKIN

Podracers are one-man racing craft in the “Star Wars” universe. Young Ani Skywalker is an expert podracer, showing off his skills in “The Phantom Menace”.

14 Team seen in Queens, in brief : NY METS

The New York Mets (NYM) baseball team was founded in 1962 as a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second-to-last in their division. Then along came the “Miracle Mets” (aka “Amazin’ Mets”) who beat the Baltimore Orioles in 1969 to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

16 Prefix meaning “time” : CHRONO-

“Chronos” is the Greek word for time, with the name applying in ancient Greece to a personification of time. He was not a Greek god, although Chronos has often been confused with the Titan Cronus of Greek mythology. The Titan Cronus was often depicted with a scythe, as this was the tool he used to castrate his father Uranus. The confusion of Chronos and Cronus led to the traditional depiction of “Old Father Time” with a scythe.

20 South Florida city, to locals : BOCA

The name of the city of Boca Raton in Florida translates from Spanish as “Mouse Mouth”. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive etymology of the name but one plausible explanation is a nautical one. “Boca”, as well as meaning “mouth” can mean “inlet”. “Ratón”, as well as meaning “mouse” was also used to describe rocks that chewed away at a ship’s anchor cable. So possibly Boca Raton was named for a rocky inlet.

30 Trio in a Latin learner’s lesson : AMO, AMAS, AMAT

“Amo, amas, amat” translates from Latin as “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”.

32 Ivy seen among cliffs : CORNELL

Ezra Cornell was an associate of Samuel Morse and made his money in the telegraph business. After he retired he co-founded Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He provided a generous endowment and donated his farm as a site for the school, and was then rewarded by having the institute named after him.

33 Caribbean stew : CALLALOO

Callaloo is a traditional Caribbean dish that has its roots in West African cuisine. The main ingredient of callaloo is a leafy vegetable, which can vary from region to region. Taro tends to be used in Trinidad, and amaranth elsewhere in the West Indies.

35 Beachside watering holes : TIKI BARS

The world’s first tiki bar was called “Don the Beachcomber”, and was opened in L.A. in 1933 by Ernest Gantt (also known as “Donn Beach”). The bar became famous for its exotic rum cocktails. Gantt was called to serve in WWII, and the business expanded dramatically under his ex-wife’s management so that there was a 160-restaurant chain waiting for Gantt when he returned stateside.

40 Shaggy’s dog, to Shaggy : SCOOB

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” is a series of cartoons produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions, first broadcast in 1969. The title character is a great Dane dog owned by a young male called Shaggy Rogers. The character’s name was inspired by the famous “doo-be-doo-be-doo” refrain in the Frank Sinatra hit “Strangers in the Night”. Shaggy was voiced by famed disk jockey Casey Kasem. Shaggy and Scooby’s friends are Velma, Fred and Daphne.

41 Turtlelike foes in the Mario games : KOOPAS

Koopa Troopas are turtle-like creatures that appear in the Mario video game franchise. “Koopas” are known in Japan as “Nokonoko”.

45 Satisfy, as thirst : SLAKE

To slake is to satisfy a craving, as in “slaking one’s thirst”.

48 Caps Lock neighbor : TAB

Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the spacebar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

50 What can be a lot to stomach? : CUD

Animals that chew the cud are called ruminants. Ruminants eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely, exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work.

63 Kerfuffle : STIR

“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

70 ___ Covey, heroine of the hit book/film series “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” : LARA JEAN

Actress Lana Condor played Lara Jean “LJ” Song-Covey in the “To All the Boys” series of teenage romance films. Condor was born Tran Dong Lan in Vietnam, but grew up in the US as the adopted daughter of a Chicago couple. Condor has been partnered since 2015 with actor Anthony De La Torre, who played young Jack Sparrow in “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales”.

75 Site of a historic church council : TRENT

Trento is a city in northern Italy that is famous as the host of the 16th-century Council of Trent held by the Roman Catholic Church. This Ecumenical Council meeting was held largely in response to the growing Protestant Reformation. The decisions made at the Council of Trent led to the Counter-Reformation, the revival of the Catholic church over the following 100 years.

76 Burglar, in older slang : YEGG

“Yegg” is a slang word for a burglar and often for a safe-cracker. The origin of the term appears to be unknown.

The crime of burglary is the breaking into and entering of a building with the intent to steal. The actual theft itself is a separate crime.

77 Neighbors of Afghans : TAJIKS

The Republic of Tajikistan is a former Soviet Socialist Republic that lies north of Afghanistan and west of China. Most of the country’s people speak Persian and belong to the Tajik ethnic group. Tajikistan is landlocked, with 90% of the country covered by mountains.

78 Boxy window installation, in brief : AC UNIT

The modern form of air conditioning (AC) that is still used today was invented by Willis Carrier in 1902. He co-founded the Carrier Engineering Corporation in New York in 1915. The Carrier Corporation eventually moved to Syracuse, New York in 1937. Beyond the world of air conditioning, the Carrier name has been associated with Syracuse University’s famous Carrier Dome since it opened in 1980. The Carrier Dome is the largest on-campus basketball stadium in the country.

84 Authoritative pronouncements : DICTA

“Dictum” (plural “dicta”) is a legal term describing a statement by a court as part of a judgment.

89 Former New York City mayor Ed : KOCH

Ed Koch was a Democratic Representative in the US Congress from 1969-73, and then Mayor of New York City from 1978-89. From 1997 to 1999 Koch was a “judge” on the TV show “The People’s Court”. And in 2004, he collaborated with his sister Pat Koch, and wrote a children’s book called “Eddie, Harold’s Little Brother”, a tale about Ed’s own childhood experiences.