Day: August 25, 2023

Bill’s time: 9m 55s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 First African-born naturalized citizen in Congress : ILHAN OMAR

Ilhan Omar has been representing Minnesota’s 5th congressional district in the US House since 2019. At that time, she became one of the first two Muslim women, as well as the first Somali American, to serve in the US Congress.

16 Like something wicked and dark? : UNLIT

Like the wick of a candle, perhaps …

17 Most populous majority-Hispanic county in the U.S. : MIAMI-DADE

The residents of Florida’s Dade County voted to change its name to Miami-Dade County in 1997. The change was made in recognition of its most populous and famous city.

19 What ties can get you into, for short : OTS

Overtime (OT)

21 Shuck it! : OYSTER

To shuck is to remove the husk from (say, an ear of corn) or to remove the shell from (say, an oyster).

27 Small grouse : SNIPE

Snipes are wading birds with very long and thin bills that they use to search for small invertebrates in mud. In bygone days, a shot taken by a hunter at one of these wading birds became known as a “snipe”. This usage evolved into the word “sniper” applying to anyone shooting from a hidden position.

36 Certain page with blanks : MAD LIB

Mad Libs is a word game, one mostly played by children in America. The idea is that one player provides a list of words which are then inserted into blank spots in a story, usually with hilarious results (they say!).

39 Heads outside? : PORTA POTTIES

We tend to use the name “Porta Potty” for a portable toilet here in North America, whereas the term “Porta Loo” is more common in the British Isles.

42 Mulligan : REDO

There doesn’t seem to be a definitive account for the origin of the term “mulligan”, which is most often used for a shot do-over in golf. There are lots of stories about golfers named Mulligan though, and I suspect that one of them may be true …

43 House channel : C-SPAN

C-SPAN is a privately-funded, nonprofit cable channel that broadcasts continuous coverage of government proceedings.

48 Gas used in semiconductor chip manufacturing : NEON

Neon (Ne) was discovered in 1898 by two British chemists, Sir William Ramsay and Morris Travers. They chilled a sample of air, turning it into a liquid. They then warmed that liquid and separated out the gases that boiled off. Along with nitrogen, oxygen and argon (already known), the pair of scientists discovered two new gases. The first they called “krypton” and the second “neon”. “Krypton” is Greek for “the hidden one” and “neon” is Greek for “new”.

50 Flat-bottomed boat : SCOW

A scow is a flat-bottomed boat with squared-off ends that’s often used for transportation, usually pushed or pulled by a barge. Often, a scow can be seen carrying junk or garbage.

54 Little ___ : ROCK

The city of Little Rock is the capital of Arkansas, and is located in the center of the state. Early French travelers used a small rock formation on the Arkansas River as a landmark, a formation that they named “La Petite Roche” (The Little Rock) in 1722. “The Little Rock” actually lies across the river from a large bluff known as “Big Rock”, which was once the site of a rock quarry.

57 Certain business adviser, in brief : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

58 Big name in wine : ROSSI

The company that is today known as Martini & Rossi was started in the mid-1800s in Italy, by Alessandro Martini and Luigi Rossi (and a third partner who sold out years later). From day one it was focused on bottling the fortified wine known as vermouth. Nowadays, the company is also famous for its sparkling wines, and its sponsorship of Grand Prix racing teams. And yes, the famous cocktail is probably named for Mr. Martini.

59 Portmanteau in 2010s fandom : BELIEBERS

Justin Bieber is a young pop singer from London, Ontario. Bieber was actually discovered on YouTube by talent manager Scooter Brown. Fans of Bieber call themselves “Beliebers”. Personally, I’m no believer in Bieber …

61 Structure in an apse : ALTAR

An apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

63 En ___ : MASSE

“En masse” is a French term, one that best translates as “as a group”

64 Insomniac’s accrual : SLEEP DEBT

Our word “insomnia” ultimately comes from the Latin prefix “-in” meaning “not” and “somnus” meaning “sleep”.

Down

2 Crème de la crème : ELITES

The crème de la crème are the elite, the best of the best. The term “crème de la crème” is French, and translates as “cream of the cream”.

3 Like Tibet’s Potala Palace : LHASAN

The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet was the residence of the Dalai Lama until he fled the former country in 1959 during the Tibetan Uprising. The building is divided into the White Palace and the Red Palace. The White Palace made up the Dalai Lama’s private living quarters. The larger Red Palace comprised halls, chapels and libraries devoted to religious study.

4 Bolt : LAM

To be on the lam is to be in flight, to have escaped from prison. “On the lam” is American slang that originated at the end of the 19th century. The word “lam” also means “beat” or “thrash”, as in “lambaste”. So “on the lam” might derive from the phrase “to beat it, scram”.

8 Dish flavored with tamarind paste and fish sauce : PAD THAI

The delicious dish called pad Thai is a meld of stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind juice, red chili pepper plus a mix of vegetables and possibly tofu, meat or fish. It is usually topped with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime. The name “pad Thai” translates as “fried Thai-style”.

11 Spice used as a breath freshener : ANISE

The essential oil in the anise plant is anethole. Anethole has a licorice-like flavor, and is used extensively in cooking and to flavor several distilled alcoholic drinks.

23 Swiss chocolatier : LINDT

The delicious Swiss chocolate sold under the Lindt brand name has its origins in a small confectionery store in Zurich in the 1840s. Lindt purchased the San Francisco-based chocolate company Ghirardelli back in 1998.

28 Like some regions that experience midnight sun : POLAR

The summer phenomenon of “midnight sun” occurs north of the Arctic Circle and south of the Antarctic Circle. At those locations, and at those times of the year, the sun is visible at midnight, and indeed for the full 24 hours.

29 Providers of some allergy shots : EPIPENS

EpiPen is a brand of epinephrine auto-injector. An EpiPen delivers a measured dose of epinephrine, which is a common treatment for an extreme allergic reaction.

31 Converse parts : SOLES

The Converse shoe company was founded in Malden, Massachusetts in 1908 by one Marquis Mills Converse. The company grew steadily, and introduced its first athletic shoe in 1915, a shoe designed for playing tennis. The Converse brand really took off in 1917 with the launch of a shoe designed especially for basketball, which was called the “All Star”. Basketball player Chuck Taylor really liked the new design and was hired by Converse as a salesman and a spokesman. Taylor suggested a refinement to the design, including a patch on the side to protect the ankle. A star logo (representing the “All Star” brand) was added to the patch, with Chuck Taylor’s signature being added to the logo as an endorsement in 1923. The Chuck Taylor All Star became the best selling basketball shoe of all time, and the star became the logo for the Converse company.

34 Quarters : ABODE

We use the term “quarters” for a place of abode, especially housing for military personnel. Back in the late 16th century, quarters were a portion (quarter) of a town reserved for a military force.

36 Maker of the world’s best-selling flip phone : MOTOROLA

The original Motorola is now two independent companies called Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Motorola started in 1928 as the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago. Founder Paula V. Galvin created the brand name “Motorola” for a car radio the company developed in 1930. He linked “motor” (meaning “car”) with “-ola” (meaning “sound”), implying “sound in motion”.

49 Actor Nick : NOLTE

Actor Nick Nolte got his big break playing opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw in “The Deep”, a film released in 1976.

53 Flag : TIRE

Our verb “to flag” meaning “to tire” was originally used in the sense of something flapping about lazily in the wind. From this it came to mean “to go limp, droop”, and then “to tire”.

56 ___ fries (Krusty Krab menu item) : KELP

The Krusty Krab is a fast food restaurant frequented by SpongeBob Squarepants on his animated TV show.

59 Band whose fans are known as “ARMY” : BTS

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. BTS is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.