Day: September 23, 2023

Bill’s time: 13m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16 Arraignment, e.g. : COURT APPEARANCE

In the law, to arraign someone is to call that person before a court to answer charges.

18 Jimmy of “NYPD Blue” : SMITS

Jimmy Smits’ most noted acting roles were probably Victor Sifuentes on “L.A. Law” and President Matt Santos on “The West Wing”. Smits is very fond of playing jai alai in a local league in his hometown of Los Angeles.

“NYPD Blue” is a police procedural drama series that aired on ABC from 1993 to 2005. The show was created by David Milch and Steven Bochco, the same team behind the hit 1980s cop drama “Hill Street Blues”. “NYPD Blue” was one of the first network television shows to use profanity and partial nudity.

20 Love, by another name : NIL

In sports like tennis, the score of zero is designated as “love”. Some people believe that this usage originates from the French “l’oeuf” (meaning “the egg”). The idea is that the written character “0” looks like an egg.

22 “The merciful man ___ good to his own soul”: Proverbs : DOETH

The Book of Proverbs is in the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. The original Hebrew title for the book translates as “Proverbs of Solomon”. It was likely compiled by multiple authors over a long period of time, with some proverbs back to the time of King Solomon in the 10th century BCE.

26 Final Fantasy figures : MAGES

“Final Fantasy” is a series of fantasy role-playing video games that is much-respected in the gaming community. The first game was released back in 1987.

31 N.L. West team : ARI

The Arizona Diamondbacks (also “D-backs”) joined Major League Baseball’s National League in 1998. By winning the World Series in 2001, the Diamondbacks became the fastest expansion team to do so in Major League history.

33 Sporting event that started as a religious ritual : CORRIDA

Spanish bullfighting is known locally as “corrida de toros”, literally “race of bulls”.

41 Neural transmitters : AXONS

A nerve cell is more correctly called a neuron. The long nerve fiber that conducts signals away from the neuron is known as the axon. The axon is surrounded by a myelin sheath, which acts as an electrical insulator and which increases the rate the impulses pass along the axon.

42 Slaves away, old-style : MOILS

To moil is to toil or to slave away. The verb “to moil” originally applied to laboring in the mire, the swamp. The term comes from the Old French “moillier” meaning “to wet”, as in getting wet in the mire.

44 Dutch city with a palindromic name : EDE

Ede is a small town in the Netherlands located between the cities of Arnhem and Utrecht.

47 Paul who founded a pet food company : IAMS

Iams dog food was introduced by animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company, now part of Procter & Gamble, in 1946.

49 Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” originally : SIDE B

Queen is an English rock band that formed back in 1970. With the help of lead singer Freddie Mercury (now deceased), Queen has a long list of great hits, including “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”. “Bohemian Rhapsody” spent a total of nine weeks at number one in the UK. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is also the title of an outstanding 2018 biographical film about the band.

50 “Great” pope who negotiated with Attila the Hun : ST LEO

The first pope named Leo is now known as Pope Saint Leo the Great. Leo I is famous for meeting with the feared Attila the Hun and persuading him to turn back his invading force that was threatening to overrun Western Europe.

54 Like the writing of Chinua Achebe and Mahatma Gandhi : ANTI-COLONIALIST

Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe was born in the Ibo region in the south of the country. His first novel was “Things Fall Apart”, a book that has the distinction of being the most widely read in the whole of African literature.

Mohandas Gandhi was a political and spiritual leader in India in the first part of the 20th century, as the country sought independence from Britain. He was also referred to as “Mahatma”, meaning “great soul”. His remarkable philosophy of nonviolence and living a modest lifestyle was a great inspiration to the Indian people. India (and Pakistan) was granted independence in 1947. Tragically, Gandhi was assassinated the very next year.

55 Bone breakers, perhaps : STICKS AND STONES

Sticks and stones may break my bones
But words will never hurt me.

Down

1 Kick starter? : SCISSOR

A bicycle kick is an acrobatic move in soccer that’s also known as an overhead kick or a scissors kick.

2 Decluttering method featured on Netflix : KONMARI

Marie Kondo runs a very successful organizing consulting business that she founded when she was 19 years old, and while a student at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University. She wrote an extremely successful book titled “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing” that was first published in 2011. I’ve read it, and acted on at least some of the advice given therein …

6 Deodorant brand : BAN

Ban was the first roll-on deodorant, introduced in 1952. The formulation for Ban is the same as the brand called Mum, the first commercial deodorant, which dates back to the late 1800s.

8 Small simian … that’s one letter away from a small computer program : APELET

“Simian” means “pertaining to monkeys or apes”, from the Latin word “simia” meaning “ape”.

“Applet” is the name given to a small application that runs within a larger computer program.

10 “Star Wars” title : DARTH

Darth Vader is (to me) the most colorful antagonist in the “Star Wars” universe. Born as Anakin “Ani” Skywalker, he was corrupted by the Emperor Palpatine and turned to “the Dark Side”. In the original films, Darth Vader was portrayed by English bodybuilder David Prowse, and voiced by actor James Earl Jones. Jones asked that he go uncredited for the first two “Star Wars” films, feeling that his contributions were insufficient to warrant recognition. I disagree …

11 Races that require a swimsuit and bike, for short : TRIS

An Ironman Triathlon is a race involving a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a marathon run of just over 26 miles. The idea for the race came out of a debate between some runners in the 1977 Oahu Perimeter Relay. They were questioning whether runners, swimmers or bikers were the most fit athletes. The debaters decided to combine three local events to determine the answer, inviting athletes from all three disciplines. The events that were mimicked in the first triathlon were the Waikiki Roughwater swim (2.4 miles), the Around-Oahu Bike Race (115 miles) and the Honolulu Marathon (26.2 miles). The idea was that whoever finishes first would be called “the Iron Man”. The first triathlon was run in 1978, with fifteen starters and only twelve finishers. The race format is used all over the world now, but the Hawaiian Ironman is the event that everyone wants to win.

14 Classic song with the lyric “Girl, you made me love you / And now, now, now your lovin’ man has gone” : CC RIDER

Chuck Willis was an R&B singer from Atlanta, Georgia. Willis had a number-one hit in 1957 with the blues classic “C. C. Rider”, a song which inspired a popular new dance called ‘The Stroll”. His association with the Stroll led to Willis getting the nickname “the King of Stroll”.

22 Merlin was one, some say : DRUID

Druids were priests of Celtic Europe during the Iron Age. Historians rely on accounts of the beliefs and practices of druids recorded by the likes of ancient Romans and Greeks, as it is believed that druids themselves were prevented from recording their knowledge by their belief system.

Merlin is a figure of legend. He is the wizard in the stories of King Arthur.

23 Rooster for roasting : CAPON

A capon is a castrated cockerel (poor guy!). Castration has a profound effect on the bird (duh!), making the meat more tender to eat when it is slaughtered.

25 First name of Russia’s leader, 1991-99, and of Britain’s leader, 2019-22 : BORIS

Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1991, at a time when Mikhail Gorbachev was President of the Soviet Union. When Gorbachev resigned, and the Soviet Union collapsed, Yeltsin emerged with his position intact. Yeltsin was re-elected in 1996, but his popularity declined in the late 1990s as the populace became discouraged with the country’s economic troubles and with political corruption.

Boris Johnson is a larger-than-life Conservative politician in the UK, and former Mayor of London. He was the very visible frontman in the campaign for the UK to exit the European Union, the so-called Brexit campaign. As a result of the UK voting to exit the EU, Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, to be replaced by Theresa May. Theresa May then appointed Boris Johnson as Foreign Secretary. Almost inevitably, Boris Johnson then replaced May as Prime Minister. In more recent times, Johnson famously made light of the coronavirus pandemic and ignored calls for social distancing. He then fell ill with COVID-19, ended up in an intensive care unit, and ultimately revised his advice about social distancing. Oh, and the media sometimes refer to Johnson as “BoJo”.

26 Calliope and Urania, among others : MUSES

In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:

• Calliope (epic poetry)
• Clio (history)
• Erato (lyric poetry)
• Euterpe (music)
• Melpomene (tragedy)
• Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
• Terpsichore (dance)
• Thalia (comedy)
• Urania (astronomy)

30 Bill collectors : TILLS

What we usually call a cash register here in North America, we mostly call a “till” in Ireland and the UK. I haven’t heard the word “till” used much here in that sense …

33 Simón Bolívar’s birthplace : CARACAS

Caracas is the capital of Venezuela, and is located in the north of the country. The original settlement of Caracas was named by the Spanish using the name of a local indigenous tribe.

Simón Bolívar was a military and political leader who led a revolution that overthrew Spanish rule in Venezuela. Bolívar’s military exploits continued after independence, resulting in the conquest of Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. The latter was named for Simón Bolívar.

34 Rust producer : OXIDANT

Rust is iron oxide. Rust forms when iron oxidizes, reacts with oxygen.

35 Father of William the Conqueror : ROBERT I

The Norman Conquest of England started in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy defeated King Harold II of England at the Battle of Hastings. William was crowned King William I of England, and was dubbed William the Conqueror.

36 Queen of Naboo, in “Star Wars” : AMIDALA

In the “Star Wars” universe, Padmé Amidala is the Queen of the planet Naboo. Played very ably by Natalie Portman, Padmé becomes the secret wife of Anakin Skywalker, later revealed to be Darth Vader. As such, Padmé is also the mother of Luke Skywalker and his sister, Princess Leia Organa.

39 Reagan attorney general : ED MEESE

Ed Meese was born in Oakland, California and spent 24 years in the office of the Treasurer of Alameda County, the county in which I used to live. After military service, Meese earned himself a law degree at UC Berkeley. Later, as chief of staff for President Reagan, he was instrumental in a famous decision to crack down on student protesters at Berkeley which resulted in one protester dying and a two-week occupation of the city by the California National Guard.

40 Most hotels in Las Vegas : RESORTS

The stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard on which most of the big casinos are concentrated is referred to as the “Las Vegas Strip”. The Strip was named for LA’s Sunset Strip by former Los Angeles law enforcement officer Guy McAfee. McAfee was a notoriously corrupt head of the LAPD vice squad in the 1920s and 1930s who ran several brothels and gambling saloons. McAfee moved to Las Vegas in 1939 where he opened several casinos, including the Golden Nugget.

43 What a pickup might pick up? : ONE TON

Pickup trucks are probably so called because they can be used to “pick up” bulky items from say a store, and then deliver them elsewhere. Here in North America, we call a pickup with four rear wheels (instead of two) a “dually”, a colloquial term. A dually can carry more weight on the rear axle than a regular pickup.

46 Cretaceous critters : DINOS

The Cretaceous is the geologic period that followed the Jurassic and preceded the Paleogene. The dinosaurs that emerged during the Jurassic period continued to dominate during the Cretaceous. The period was brought to close with a mass extinction event called the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction event. This event killed off the dinosaurs, except those that could fly. The avian dinosaurs evolved into the birds that we know today.

47 Author Calvino : ITALO

As well as being an author, Italo Calvino was a famous Italian journalist. He was a supporter of communism and so wasn’t very popular in the US nor in Britain.

52 Pen name : BIC

Société Bic is a company based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.