Day: August 25, 2024

Bill’s time: 16m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

18 City with a cowboy hat-wearing replica of the Eiffel Tower : PARIS, TEXAS

The city of Paris, Texas is in the northeast corner of the state. Residents like to call the city the “Second Largest Paris in the World”. Cute …

24 Resistance units : OHMS

The unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (with the symbol omega) named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. Ohm was the guy who established experimentally that the amount of current flowing through a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied, (V=IR) a relationship that every school kid knows as Ohm’s Law.

25 What “Ten-four” and “Over” are used in : RADIO SPEAK

There is a set of “ten-codes” that were developed in 1937 for the use of law enforcement departments. As of 2006, the US federal government is recommending that they be replaced by plain language due to a lack of standardization in ten-codes. Examples of ten-codes are:

• 10-1 meaning “bad reception”
• 10-4 meaning “understood”
• 10-9 meaning “say again”
• 10-33 meaning “emergency, all units stand by”

In radiotelephony, the word “OVER” is used to indicate the end of a transmission from one party, handing over the airwaves to another party to respond.

27 ___ liver oil (dietary supplement) : COD

Cod liver oil is a nutritional supplement that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, as well as vitamins A and D. I remember being dosed with the stuff as a kid. Ugh …

28 Honnold who was the first to free-solo climb El Capitan : ALEX

“Free Solo” is an excellent, albeit frightening (to me) 2018 documentary about Alex Honnold’s record-setting free-solo ascent of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. The film won that season’s Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, as well it should …

When free solo climbing, a climber ascends the rock face without the use of protective equipment such as ropes or harnesses. If you’d like to spend a couple of terrifying hours in the comfort of your family room, I recommend viewing the 2018 Oscar-winning documentary film “Free Solo”.

31 Sight at Sydney’s yearly Festival of the Winds : KITE

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia. People from Sydney are known as “Sydneysiders”.

49 Diamond authorities : UMPS

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

51 Word used three times in the Postal Service creed : NOR

There is no official creed or motto for the US Postal Service (USPS). However, there is the oft-quoted inscription that is posted (pun!) over the entrance to the James Farley Post Office in New York City:

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

56 N.W.A’s “Straight ___ Compton” : OUTTA

“Straight Outta Compton” was the first album by N.W.A. N.W.A was a hip hop group from Compton, California. The original five group members included rappers who have made a name for themselves as solo acts, including: Dr. Dre and Ice Cube. The story of N.W.A is told in a 2015 film, also called “Straight Outta Compton”.

62 Big step for a start-up, for short : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

64 Pooh-pooh? : THIS BEAR’S REPEATING

Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author who is best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

70 Sch. with campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai : NYU

The main campus of the private New York University (NYU) is located right in Manhattan, in Washington Square in the heart of Greenwich Village. NYU has over 12,000 resident students, the largest number of residents in a private school in the whole country. NYU’s sports teams are known as the Violets, a reference to the violet and white colors that are worn in competition. Since the 1980s, the school’s mascot has been a bobcat. “Bobcat” had been the familiar name given to NYU’s Bobst Library computerized catalog.

79 Queer identity, for short : ARO

Someone described as aromantic (“aro”, for short) experiences little or no romantic attraction. The opposite of aromanticism is alloromanticism.

88 Tut-tut? : THE MUMMY RETURNS

“King Tut” is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922 by Howard Carter. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamun’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.

94 Buccaneer’s buddies : HEARTIES

Buccaneers were pirates who worked the Caribbean in the 1800s, mainly attacking Spanish vessels. The original buccaneer was a French hunter living on Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic). These hunters used a local design of frame called a “buccan” as a smokehouse for meat, and so picked up the name “buccaneer”. In the first half of the 17th century, many of the buccaneers were driven off the island of Hispaniola by the Spanish and so they turned to the sea, making their living by pirating Spanish shipping.

95 Park worker? : VALET

A varlet was an attendant or servant, and perhaps a knight’s page. The term “varlet” comes from the Old French “vaslet” meaning “squire, young man”. “Vaslet” also gave us our contemporary word “valet”. The term “varlet” came to be pejorative, describing an unprincipled person.

98 The Lincoln Memorial appeared on it until 2008 : CENT

The US one-cent coin has borne the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. Fifty years later, a representation of the Lincoln Memorial was added to the reverse side.

The Lincoln Memorial is my favorite place to visit in the whole of Washington D.C. The memorial itself was designed by Henry Bacon, and the sculptor of the magnificent statue of President Lincoln was Daniel Chester French. I spent a wonderful afternoon a few years ago touring the workshop and home of French, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The workshop is stunning, with miniature studies for his magnum opus, the Lincoln Statue, as well as many other beautiful works.

100 One of the Mannings : ELI

Eli Manning is a retired footballer who played quarterback for the New York Giants. Eli’s brother Peyton Manning retired from football as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos in 2015. Eli and Peyton’s father is Archie Manning, who was also a successful NFL quarterback. Eli, Peyton and Archie co-authored a book for children titled “Family Huddle” in 2009. It describes the Mannings playing football together as young boys.

102 George Lucas’s original surname for Luke Skywalker : STARKILLER

When the character Luke Skywalker was created for “Star Wars”, he was named “Annikin Starkiller”. Conceptually, he was a 60-year-old war veteran for a while, and also a female at one point. Luke is played by actor Mark Hamill in the “Star Wars” films.

119 Official beer of the Boston Red Sox, familiarly : SAM ADAMS

Samuel Adams beers (sometimes ordered as “Sam Adams”) are named in honor of the American patriot who played a role in the American Revolution and the Boston Tea Party. Samuel Adams came from a family associated with the brewing industry, mainly involved in the production of malt.

Down

2 Chemical formula for lye : NAOH

Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic salt, with the chemical formula NaOH. Often referred to as “lye”, sodium hydroxide is also known as “caustic soda” because of its caustic properties.

5 Night school subj. : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

7 “Three may keep a ___, if two of them are dead”: Benjamin Franklin : SECRET

Benjamin Franklin came from a large family. He was his father’s fifteenth child (Josiah Franklin had seventeen children in all, with two wives). Benjamin was born in Boston in 1706. He had very little schooling, heading out to work for his father when he was ten years old. He became an apprentice printer to his older brother at the age of twelve. Benjamin did quite well with that limited education …

8 Over-the-counter brand that promises “Guaranteed relief every time” : EX-LAX

Ex-Lax is a brand of laxative. That should get you going …

10 Flaky mineral : MICA

Mica is a silicate mineral. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes” in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

11 Wild : AMOK

The phrase “to run amok” (sometimes “to run amuck”) has been around since the 1670s and is derived from the Malay word for “attacking furiously”, “amuk”. The word “amok” was also used as a noun to describe Malay natives who were “frenzied”. Given Malaya’s troubled history, the natives probably had a good reason for that frenzy …

12 “Friends” star, to friends : JEN

Jennifer Aniston won a 2002 Emmy for playing Rachel on the great sitcom “Friends”. Her parents are both actors, and her godfather was the actor Telly Savalas.

13 Antediluvian : OLD

Something “antediluvian” is very old. The term comes from “ante” meaning “before” and “diluvium” meaning “flood”. The idea is that something really old took place before Noah’s Flood.

19 Half a rhyming genre name : SCI

That would be “sci-fi”.

22 Alaskan salmon hunters : KODIAKS

Brown bears are found over much of northern Europe, Asia, and North America. They are sometimes referred to as bruins, which is a term that persists from Middle English. The biggest subspecies of brown bear is the Kodiak bear, which is the largest land-based predator in the world. Named for the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska, the Kodiak bear grows to about the same size as the enormous polar bear.

23 Hulled wheat : SPELT

Spelt (also “dinkel wheat”) is a wheat species that has been around for thousands of years. Once a staple in the human diet, it was largely replaced by bread wheat. Spelt is seeing a revival in recent years, as its growth is less dependent on artificial fertilizers.Spelt (also “dinkel wheat”) is a wheat species that has been around for thousands of years. Once a staple in the human diet, it was largely replaced by bread wheat. Spelt is seeing a revival in recent years, as its growth is less dependent on artificial fertilizers.

29 MGM’s aptly named mascot : LEO

There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until Jackie took over from Slats in 1928 that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.

31 Nine credited roles in “Barbie” : KENS

The 2023 fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” stars Margo Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach. I highly recommend this one …

32 Texter’s hedge : IMO

In my opinion (IMO)

34 Home of Kurdistan’s easternmost regions : IRAN

Most of the Kurdish people live in a region known as Kurdistan, which stretches into parts of Iran, Syria, Turkey as well as northern Iraq.

35 Raven claw : TALON

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.

38 Brian in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame : ENO

Brian Eno started his musical career with Roxy Music. His most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “startup jingle”, the 6-second sound you (used to) hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:

I wrote it on a Mac. I’ve never used a PC in my life; I don’t like them.

39 Big name in allergy medication : BENADRYL

ZzzQuil, Benadryl, Unisom and Sominex are all brand names for the antihistamine diphenhydramine, which is a drug that also has sedative properties.

40 Humorist Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

43 Mlle. of Madrid : SRTA

“Señorita” (Srta.) is Spanish, and “Mademoiselle” (Mlle.) is French, for “Miss”.

Madrid is the most populous city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. It is located very close to the geographical center of the country. Madrid is the second-largest city in the European Union by population, after Berlin. People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

45 Basic skateboarding trick : OLLIE

An ollie is a skateboarding trick invented in 1976 by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Apparently it’s a way of lifting the board off the ground, while standing on it, without touching the board with one’s hands. Yeah, I could do that …

46 Jovian moon : EUROPA

As are many celestial bodies, the moon of Jupiter called Europa was named after a figure in Greek mythology. Europa was a Phoenician woman who was abducted by Zeus. Europa also gave her name to the continent of Europe.

48 Kind of salad with hard-boiled eggs : COBB

Ty Cobb’s first cousin, Robert H. Cobb, owned the Brown Derby chain of restaurants. One of his regular customers was the famous Sid Grauman, who ran Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Late one night, Grauman asked for a snack, and Cobb came up with a chopped salad simply made from ingredients he happened to have in the refrigerator. Grauman liked it so much that he continued to request it, and the Cobb salad was born.

52 What cognitive behavioral therapy can treat, in brief : PTSD

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that has been found to be helpful in treating a wide range of mental health issues, including anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

54 It bears no etymological relation to “conifer,” surprisingly : FIR

Firs are evergreen coniferous trees, with several species being popular as Christmas trees. The most commonly used species during the holidays are the Nordmann fir, noble fir, Fraser fir and balsam fir. We also see a lot of Douglas fir trees at Christmas, but they’re not actually true firs.

55 Camera opening : APERTURE

The iris diaphragm of a lens is analogous to the iris of the eye, in that it is the opening through which light passes. The size of that aperture changes the amount of light passing through the lens. The size of the aperture is routinely referred to as the f-stop, and can be varied on many cameras.

56 State with a five-sided flag : OHIO

The flag of Ohio features a swallowtail, which makes it the only US state flag that isn’t rectangular.

59 Clarified butter : GHEE

Ghee is clarified butter used in South Asian cuisines. “Ghee” comes from Sanskrit, and translates as “sprinkled”.

65 Fashion designer Anna : SUI

Anna Sui is a fashion designer from Detroit, Michigan.

68 Key of Mozart’s Symphony No. 40 : G MINOR

Mozart’s “Symphony No. 40 in G minor” is often referred to as his “Great G minor symphony”. It is indeed “great”, and is one of Mozart’s best known works. His “Symphony No. 25 in G minor” is less-well known, and is referred to as Mozart’s “Little G minor symphony”.

75 Filming innovation used in “The Shining” : STEADICAM

“Steadicam” is a brand of stabilizing camera mount that was introduced in 1975 by cameraman Garrett Brown, who named his invention the “Brown Stabilizer”. Brown received an Academy Award for Merit in 1978, in recognition of the importance of his creation.

In the 1980 film “The Shining”, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, the action takes place at the Overlook Hotel. Some of the scarier scenes take place in the hedge maze that grows on the hotel’s grounds. “The Shining” was directed by Stanley Kubrick and stars Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall. “Here’s Johnny!”

77 Häagen-Dazs shelfmate : EDY’S

Häagen-Dazs ice cream originated in the Bronx, New York in 1961. The name “Häagen-Dazs” is a “nonsense” term, words chosen for its Scandinavian feel that the producers thought would appeal to potential customers.

86 Corsica and Réunion : ILES

Corsica (“La Corse” in French) is a large island in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to France. Napoléon Bonaparte was born on Corsica, in the town of Ajaccio.

Réunion is a French island in the Indian Ocean, located east of Madagascar. As the island is a department of France, and has the same status as French domestic departments, Réunion is actually part of the European Union.

89 PET scan alternative : MRI

A PET scan is a medical diagnostic tool that relies on the detection of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a radioactive tracer isotope introduced into the body. Usually, the tracer isotope is incorporated into a glucose-like sugar and then injected into the bloodstream. After about an hour, the radioactive compound has been concentrated in areas of high metabolic activity, perhaps a malignant tumor. As the isotope decays, it emits positrons. The positrons interact with electrons resulting in annihilation of the particles with emission of gamma photons. These gamma photons are detected and are drawn on a map showing where the molecular tracer has concentrated. The acronym PET stands for positron emission tomography.

91 Word in the mnemonic E-G-B-D-F : EVERY

In the world of music, EGBDF are the notes on the lines of the treble clef. The notes are often remembered with a mnemonic such as “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”.

96 “O Tannenbaum” and others : CAROLS

“O Tannenbaum” is a traditional German Christmas carol, the title of which is usually translated as “O Christmas Tree”. “Tannenbaum” is the German name for a fir tree.

98 “Li’l Abner” cartoonist : CAPP

Al Capp was a cartoonist from New Haven, Connecticut who is best remembered for cartoon strip “Li’l Abner”. Capp created “Li’l Abner” in 1934 and drew it himself until 1977. Capp passed away two years after “Li’l Abner” was retired.

99 Haggard fellow? : MERLE

Merle Haggard was a country singer and songwriter whose most famous recording has to be “Okie from Muskogee” released in 1969. Haggard would tell you that the song was actually meant as a spoof, but it has become a country “anthem”.

101 “Good Morning America” co-host Spencer : LARA

Lara Spencer started co-anchoring “Good Morning America” in 2011, working alongside Robin Roberts and George Stephanopoulos. Back in 2004/2005, PBS viewers will have seen Spencer hosting the hit show “Antiques Roadshow”.

103 Some turkeys and tabbies : TOMS

A male turkey is called a tom, taking its name from “tomcat”. The inference is that, like a tomcat, the male turkey is relatively wild and undomesticated, sexually promiscuous and frequently gets into fights. A female turkey is called a hen.

105 “Success has always been the greatest ___”: Nietzsche : LIAR

Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. He’s not my cup of tea …

108 Big supporter, in modern slang : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.

111 Telluride maker : KIA

The Kia Telluride is a mid-size SUV that was launched in 2019. It is named for the Colorado town of Telluride, and is the largest vehicle that Kia ever made for the US market.

112 Sturm ___ Drang : UND

“Sturm und Drang” translates from German into “Storm and Stress” or perhaps “Storm and Impulse”. “Sturm und Drang” was the name given to a movement in German literature and music in the latter half of the 18th century. The writer Johann Goethe was a major proponent of the movement, which took its name from a play by Maximilian Klinger. The term “Sturm und Drang” has come to mean “turmoil, upheaval”.

113 Initialism for exhibitionism : PDA

Public display of affection (PDA)

115 Seminoles’ sch. : FSU

Florida State University (FSU) is located in Tallahassee, the state capital of Florida. The school’s athletic teams are known as the Seminoles (sometimes the “‘Noles”). The team name was chosen in 1947 by the students in a vote, and alludes to the Seminole people of Florida.

116 Tiger’s target : PAR

Golfer Tiger Woods’ real name is Eldrick Tont Woods. “Tont” is a traditional Thai name. Tiger’s father Earl Woods met his second wife Kultida Punsawad in 1966, while on a tour of duty with the US Army in Thailand.