Day: September 6, 2024

Bill’s time: 9m 43s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Mollycoddle : BABY

To mollycoddle is to be overprotective. Back in the mid-1700s, “mollycoddle” was an insulting term used to describe a man who was weak and effeminate.

16 Part of the military brass? : BUGLE

A bugle is a simple brass instrument, one that usually has no valves with which a player can alter the pitch. The altering of pitch is achieved by changing the ebay that the lips interface with the mouthpiece. Bugles evolved from wind instruments made from animal horns. “Bugle” is an abbreviation for “buglehorn”, an earlier name for the same instrument. Indeed, the term “bugle” comes from the Latin “buculus” meaning “young ox, heifer”.

18 Hyperbolic ordinal : UMPTEENTH

The word “umpty” was introduced as slang for a Morse code dash. In the early 1900’s, the same term came to mean “of an indefinite number”, and was associated with the numerals divisible by ten, i.e. twenty, thirty, forty, etc. The extended adjective “umpteen” began to appear during WWI as army slang.

Ordinal numbers express a position in a series, i.e. first, second, third etc.

20 Compete in a Summer Olympic sport : FENCE

In competitive fencing, a parry is a maneuver that blocks an attack by an opponent. There are actually nine defined ways to execute a parry.

22 Peke’s squeak : YIP

The pekingese (“peke”) breed originated in China, as one might suspect from the name. Breeding practices have resulted in the dog having many health problems, including breathing issues related to the “desirable” flat face. Standards have been changed in recent years, demanding an “evident muzzle” in an attempt to breed healthier “pekes”.

25 Agcy. that helps start-ups : SBA

The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a government agency with the mission of assisting small businesses. The SBA doesn’t give loans itself, but it does act as a guarantor under the right circumstances. The SBA was set up in 1953, and isn’t a favorite with fiscal conservatives.

27 Keir Starmer and others, for short : PMS

Prime Minister (PM)

30 Emily’s List, e.g., informally : PAC

A political action committee (PAC) is a private group that works to influence the outcome of a particular election or group of elections. Any group becomes a PAC by law when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled that PACS that did not make direct contributions to candidates or parties could accept unlimited contributions. These “independent, expenditure-only committees” are commonly referred to as “super PACs”.

EMILY’s List is a political action committee (PAC) that contributes to the campaigns of pro-choice Democratic female candidates running for office. The PAC’s name is an acronym standing for “Early Money Is Like Yeast”, meaning that early contributions to a campaign really help to “raise dough”.

32 Rembrandt and Sargent, notably : PORTRAIT ARTISTS

The celebrated Dutch painter’s full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (sometimes “Ryn”). Rembrandt is perhaps most appreciated for his portraits, and left the world a remarkable collection of self-portraits.

John Singer Sargent was an American artist, one best known for his portrait painting. Sargent trained as an artist mainly in Paris, although he found that he had to leave the city after one of his paintings was deemed “scandalous” by French society. The work was “Portrait of Madame X” (1884), a painting of a noted lady in society that was considered too risque and sensual. After the painting was exhibited, his commissions dried up and Sargent moved to London in order to continue his career. Today the “Portrait of Madame X” is considered by many to be Sargent’s best work.

41 A split one may need trimming : END

The hair condition that we commonly refer to as “split ends”, is more formally known as “trichoptilosis”. The latter term comes from the Greek “tricho-” meaning “hair” and “ptilosis” meaning “arrangement of feathers in definite areas”!

42 Garden swimmer : KOI

Koi are fish that are also known as Japanese carp. Koi have been bred for decorative purposes and there are now some very brightly colored examples found in Japanese water gardens.

43 “Go to the ___, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise”: Proverbs 6:6 : ANT

A sluggard is a person who is habitually lazy and inactive.

44 Faux finish? : … PAS

The term “faux pas” is French in origin, and translates literally as “false step” (or “false steps”, as the plural has the same spelling in French).

47 Where the malleus and incus bones are found : EAR

The middle ear is the portion of the ear immediately behind the eardrum. The middle ear contains three small bones called the ossicles, the three smallest bones in the human body. The ossicles’ job is to transmit sound from the outer ear to the inner ear. The shape of the bones gives rise to their names: the hammer (malleus), anvil (incus) and stirrup (stapes).

49 Jerry’s car of choice on “Seinfeld” : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. The assets were acquired in 2012 by NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), a new company that used the SAAB name on its vehicles for several years.

“Seinfeld” aired for nine seasons on NBC, and in 2002 was declared by “TV Guide” as the “greatest television program of all time”. After the show completed its run in 1998, each of the main supporting actors made failed attempts to launch new sitcoms. This phenomenon became known as “the Seinfeld curse”, but Julia Louis-Dreyfus finally managed to break free of it with a successful five-season run in “The New Adventures of Old Christine”, followed by the satirical comedy “Veep”.

52 Pangolin scales, functionally : ARMOR

The pangolin is also known as the scaly anteater. It is the only mammal that has a layer of protective scales made from keratin that covers the skin. Pangolins are highly prized by hunters, for their meat and their armor. They are in danger of extinction, and yet there is no more highly-trafficked species on the planet.

54 Transient : EPHEMERAL

“Ephemera” was originally a medical term used to describe a fever that only lasted a day. The use of the term was expanded in the 17th century to include insects that were short-lived. By the end of the 18th century, ephemera were any items of transitory existence.

61 Subject of the classic song lyric “I’ll see you in my dreams” : IRENE

“Goodnight, Irene”, also known as “Irene, Goodnight”, is a lovely American folk song that was first recorded commercially back in 1932 by blues singer Lead Belly. The song made it to number one in the charts for the Weavers in 1950 and for Frank Sinatra in the same year.

62 Competition with many missions : SPACE RACE

President John F. Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech was delivered in September 1962 at Rice Stadium in Houston. The aim of the speech was to persuade the American people that the US could take the lead in the Space Race. The general perception was that the Soviet Union was setting the pace, having launched the first satellite (Sputnik) and putting the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin).

63 Roman goddess of childbirth : DIANA

Diana was the Roman goddess of the hunt, the moon and birthing. The Greek equivalent of Diana was the goddess Artemis. According to Roman mythology, Diana was the twin sister of Apollo, and the daughter of Jupiter and Latona.

65 Unsullied environment : EDEN

To sully is to stain, tarnish. The term is often used in the context of sullying or tarnishing a reputation.

Down

1 Hindu gentleman : BABU

“Babu” is a Hindu word used in South Asia as a sign of respect to men. It can be used to mean “boss” or “father”.

3 Powerful D.C. lobby, informally : BIG PHARMA

“Big Pharma” is a nickname for the pharmaceutical industry. The moniker comes from the acronym for the lobbying group for the industry, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

4 Crimean town in 1945 headlines : YALTA

Yalta is a resort city on the Black Sea on the Crimean Peninsula. Crimea is very much in the news in recent years because of the war between Russia and Ukraine. Yalta was also in the news at the end of WWII, as it was the site of the 1945 Yalta Conference between the leaders of the three main Allies.

The Yalta Conference was a wartime meeting between WWII leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Held in February of 1945, the conference is most remembered for decisions made on the post-war organization of Europe. To a large extent, the three leaders made decisions carving up political influence around the world, decisions that have profound implications to this day.

6 Comedian Griffin : KATHY

I watched “Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List” a few times, and enjoyed the very clever premise for the show. Griffin claims to be a D-list celebrity, and documents her drive to climb onto the C-, B- and A-lists.

7 Frankfurter’s cry : ACH!

Frankfurt is the fifth largest city in Germany. It is more properly called Frankfurt am Main, to distinguish it from Frankfurt an der Oder, a town near the Polish border. The larger Frankfurt is located on the Main River, hence the name.

8 Part of a slider : BEEF PATTY

Sliders are small hamburgers. One suggestion is that the “slider” originated in the US Navy, with the name being a reference to greasy hamburgers sliding back and forth across the grill as a ship pitches and rolls. More recently, the slider became associated with the White Castle fast food chain of restaurants. White Castle introduced the “Slyder” in 1985.

9 Shipbuilder’s tool : ADZE

An adze (also “adz”) is similar to an ax, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An ax blade is set in line with the shaft.

10 Crayola’s atomic tangerine and shocking pink, e.g. : NEONS

In the year 2000, the Crayola company held the “Crayola Color Census 2000”, in which people were polled and asked for their favorite Crayola colors. President George W. Bush chose “Blue Bell” and Tiger Woods chose “Wild Strawberry”.

11 Chicken or mashed potato : DANCE

The Chicken Dance is performed to an oom-pah tune, usually called “The Birdie Song”, that was composed in Switzerland in the fifties. A version of “The Birdie Song” was released in 1981 by the Tweets as a novelty tune and it became a surprising chart hit, and everyone started doing the Chicken Dance at dances right across the country.

12 Nasty fall? : SLEET

Apparently, “sleet” is a term used to describe two different weather conditions. One is a shower of ice pellets that are smaller than hail, and the second is a mixture of rain and snow, with the snow melting as it falls.

14 Nostradamus, supposedly : SEER

“Nostradamus” is the Latin name given to the French apothecary and purported seer Michel de Nostredame. His book “The Prophecies” is a famous source for predictions of world events. It is so popular that “The Prophecies” has rarely been out of print since it first appeared in 1555!

15 Certain chess tactic : PIN

In the game of chess, a piece is said to be pinned if it cannot move without exposing a more valuable piece to capture.

19 Deep-fried Latin American fare : EMPANADA

An empanada is a dish made by folding pastry around cooked meat and vegetables. To me an empanada looks very similar to a dish I grew up with called a Cornish pasty.

25 What female llamas do to show disinterest in a mate : SPIT

The llama is a camelid mammal very much associated with the Andean cultures. Despite the association with South America, it is thought that the ancestors of the modern llama migrated south from the Great Plains of North America about 40 million years ago.

28 White peg, in Battleship : MISS

Battleship is a surprisingly fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then, we would play it just using pencil and paper. These days kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

31 “___ Never Sleeps” (banking slogan) : CITI

During the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the US government rescued Citibank by providing loan guarantees and two payments of $25 billion each. It turns out that the government made a tidy profit on that deal, as Citibank has since repaid the loans in full, along with interest.

33 Spot for a toque : TETE

A toque was a brimless style of hat that was very fashionable in Europe in the 13th to 16th centuries. Nowadays we associate toques with chefs, as it is the name given to a chef’s hat (called a “toque blanche” in French, a “white hat”). A chef’s toque is quite interesting. Many toques have exactly 100 pleats, often said to signify the number of ways that an egg can be cooked.

35 Bajo’s opposite : ALTO

In Spanish, “bajo” (low) is the opposite of “alto” (high).

36 It’s leavened with sour milk : SODA BREAD

Soda bread is a bread in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a raising agent instead of yeast. It is a bread common in Irish cuisine, and indeed we usually refer to sodium bicarbonate as “bread soda”.

37 Bootlegger busters : T-MEN

A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (“T” stands for “Treasury”).

To bootleg is to make or smuggle alcoholic drinks illegally. The term arose in the late 1800s as slang for the practice of concealing a flask of liquor down the leg of a high boot. The term has been extended to mean the illegal production and sale of just about anything.

44 Con target : PATSY

The etymology of the word “patsy” meaning “fall guy” isn’t really understood. One colorful theory suggests that the term comes from an 1890s vaudeville character named Patsy Bolivar. Patsy always got the blame when something went wrong.

45 Relative of a pupusa : AREPA

An arepa is a cornmeal cake or bread that is popular in Colombian and Venezuelan cuisines in particular. Each arepa has a flat, round shape and is often split to make a sandwich.

A pupusa is a thick flatbread from the cuisine of El Salvador and Honduras. It is usually served with ingredients such as cheese, squash or refried beans, and served with a fermented cabbage called curtido. It is the national dish of El Salvador, and even has its own day of celebration.

51 Treetop dwelling : AERIE

An aerie (sometimes “eyrie”) is an eagle’s nest. The term “aerie” can also more generally describe any bird’s nest that is located on a cliff or a mountaintop.

55 Shade akin to mauve : PUCE

The name of the purple shade known as “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea!

The name given to the light violet color that we know as “mauve” comes via French from the Latin “malva”. The Latin term translates as “mallow”, the common name of several species of plants, many of which have mauve-colored flowers.

57 Burrell of the Food Network : ANNE

Anne Burrell is co-host of the show “Worst Cooks in America” that airs on the Food Network. Here’s a Burrell quote:

I always use my “Holy Trinity” which is salt, olive oil and bacon. My motto is, ‘”bacon always makes it better”. I try to use bacon and pork products whenever it can.