Day: November 6, 2023

Bill’s time: 6m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Daytime dramas, informally : SOAPS

The original soap operas were radio dramas back in the fifties. Given the structure of society back then, the daytime broadcasts were aimed at women working in the home as housewives. For some reason the sponsors of those radio shows, and the television shows that followed, were soap manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Lever Brothers. And that’s how the “soap” opera got its name …

6 Insect with a sting : WASP

While wasps are considered a nuisance by many, they are very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

10 Singer/songwriter Tori : AMOS

Tori Amos is an American pianist and singer. She started playing the piano at two years old, and was composing piano pieces by age five. Amos was playing in piano bars (chaperoned by her father) when she was 14. I’m going to have to find some of her music …

17 Musical speed : TEMPO

The tempo (plural “tempi”) of a piece of music is usually designated with an Italian word on the score. For example, “grave” is slow and solemn, “andante” is at a walking pace, “scherzo” is fast and light-hearted, and “allegro” is fast, quickly and bright.

18 Beagles have big ones : EARS

The beagle breed of dog is a scent hound, one developed for tracking small game. Because of this characteristic, beagles are often used as detection dogs in customs halls around the world. The world’s most famous beagle is probably Snoopy from the comic strip “Peanuts”.

20 Travel papers for those just passing through : TRANSIT VISAS

A visa is usually a stamp in one’s passport, an indication that one is authorized to enter (and less often, to exit) a particular country. The word “visa” comes into English, via French, from the Latin expression “charta visa” meaning “paper that has been seen”, or “verified paper”.

23 Detox : CLEANSE

One might go into rehab (rehabilitation) for detox (detoxification).

26 Director Spike : LEE

Film director Spike Lee was born in Atlanta, Georgia but has very much made New York City his home and place of work. Most of Lee’s films are set in New York City, including his first feature film, 1986’s “She’s Gotta Have It”. That film was shot over two weeks with a budget of $175,000. “She’s Gotta Have It” grossed over $7 million at the US box office.

28 Home for Tolkien’s Bilbo and Frodo : HOBBIT VILLAGE

Bilbo Baggins is the main character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel “The Hobbit”, and a supporting character in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Frodo Baggins is a principal character in J. R. R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings”. He is a Hobbit, and is charged with the quest of destroying Sauron’s Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo is portrayed by American actor Elijah Wood in Peter Jackson’s film adaptations of the novels.

31 Tirana’s country: Abbr. : ALB

The Republic of Albania is a country in the Balkans in southeastern Europe. Albania was made a communist state after WWII but became independent again with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990. Albania has been a member of NATO since 2009, and was accepted as an official candidate to join the European Union in 2014. The nation’s capital and largest city is Tirana.

32 South Dakota governor Kristi ___ : NOEM

Kristi Noem took over as Governor of South Dakota in 2019, after having served in the US House of Representatives for eight years. Noem made a lot of headlines during the recent COVID pandemic as she was very vocal in opposing the mandatory use of facemasks.

45 It can leap more than 40 times its body length : FLEA

In a real flea circus, fleas are attached to miniature items that create the illusion that the fleas are performing circus acts. The fleas are harnessed by wrapping a metal wire around their bodies, which is then attached to props. Because fleas have such strong legs, they can then move objects that are a lot larger than they are. Apparently, the concept of a flea circus originated with watchmakers in the early 1800s. The artisans used the “circus” to demonstrate their metalworking abilities.

49 Home workout selection : CROSSFIT VIDEO

CrossFit is a trademarked fitness, strength and conditioning program that was introduced in 2000.

55 “Knight Rider” car : TRANS AM

The 1982 crime television show called “Knight Rider” famously starred David Hasselhoff as well as a very cool, artificially intelligent car called KITT. KITT (which stands for Knight Industries Two Thousand) is a heavily modified Pontiac Trans Am.

61 Ages : AEONS

Geologic time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age

65 Greek deity associated with passion : EROS

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).

67 Answers to invitations, in brief : RSVPS

“RSVP” stands for “répondez s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “answer, please”.

68 “___, meeny, miney …” : 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!

69 Annual athletics award : ESPY

The ESPY Awards, also known as the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, were first presented in a ceremony in 1993. The ESPYs were created by ESPN as a response to the lack of sports coverage during the summer months. ESPN decided to create an awards show to help fill that gap.

Down

4 Built-in can opener : POP-TAB

The oldest method of opening a can with a device included in the can’s design is the pull-tab or ring pull, invented in Canada in 1956. The design was long-lived but it had its problems, so the world heaved a sigh of relief with the invention of the stay-on-tab in 1975. The new design led to fewer injuries and eliminated all those used pull-tabs that littered the streets.

7 Some Energizer batteries : AAAS

We are all fairly familiar with the Energizer Bunny, I am guessing. It was introduced in 1989 to promote Energizer batteries, by parodying the Duracell Bunny that made its debut in 1973.

9 Delicate hues : PASTELS

A “pastel” is a crayon made from a “paste” containing a powdered pigment in a binder. The term “pastel” can also be used to describe a work created using pastels.

10 Prefix with body or social : ANTI-

Antibodies are y-shaped proteins that recognize antigens on foreign bodies in the body such as bacteria and viruses. The antibodies combine with those foreign bodies and neutralize them.

11 Creamy dessert : MOUSSE

Our word “mousse” is an Old French term meaning “froth”.

12 Longtime show host known as the “Queen of All Media” : OPRAH

Oprah Winfrey’s multimedia production company is known as Harpo Studios. “Harpo” is “Oprah” spelled backwards, and is also the name of the husband of the character who Winfrey played in the movie “The Color Purple”.

22 Meat for schnitzel : VEAL

Schnitzel is an Austrian dish made from slices of meat that have been tenderized and thinned with a wooden mallet, and then coated in breadcrumbs and fried. The variant known as Wiener Schnitzel (i.e. Viennese schnitzel) is usually made from veal, although now that veal has fallen into disfavor due to concerns about animal rights, it is often made from pork.

24 “Damn Yankees” gal : LOLA

“Whatever Lola Wants” is a song from the musical “Damn Yankees”. “Damn Yankees” is actually yet another version of the classic German legend of “Faust”, set in Washington, D.C. in the fifties. The show was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a production that turned out to be a very successful follow-up to their prior hit, “The Pajama Game”. The future was looking really rosy for Adler and Ross but, sadly, Jerry Ross died from obstructive lung disease only a few weeks after “Damn Yankees” opened on Broadway in 1955. He was just 29 years old.

44 Its wood is used in making archery bows : ASH TREE

The wood of the ash tree is hardwood, although it is relatively elastic. Famously, ash is the wood of choice for baseball bats. It is also the wood of choice for hurleys, the wooden sticks used in the Irish sport of hurling.

47 Bitmoji likenesses, e.g. : AVATARS

The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of online presences one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

Bitmoji is an app that allows users to create personalized avatars. The app was developed by Bitstrips, a company that allows the creation of comic strips using personalized avatars.

51 Be an angel? : INVEST

An angel investor is one who provides capital very early in a business’s life cycle. The term “angel” is borrowed from Broadway, where angels are wealthy people who provide funds to stage theatrical productions.

57 Amazon Handmade competitor : ETSY

Etsy.com was founded in 2005 as a way for artists and craftspeople to sell their handmade goods online, and has since grown to include vintage items and crafting supplies as well. The company’s name is derived from the Italian word “etsi,” which means “oh, yes”? This was a nod to founder Rob Kalin’s love of Italy and his appreciation for the country’s history and artistry.

58 Hazard in golf : TRAP

Sand traps on a golf course are referred to as bunkers on the other side of the Atlantic.

63 “Fresh Air” airer : NPR

“Fresh Air” is a marvelous radio talk show broadcast on NPR, and hosted by Terry Gross. The first broadcast of the program was made in 1975, with Judy Blank hosting. Terry Gross took over a few months later, and Gross has been presenting and producing the show ever since. I had the privilege of hearing Terry Gross give a talk here in my hometown some years ago. What a fascinating woman she is, full of great stories about her experiences interviewing so many interesting personalities.