Day: September 9, 2024

Bill’s time: 5m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 King with a golden touch : MIDAS

King Midas of Greek mythology might be termed an alchemist as he had the power to turn everything he touched into gold i.e. the Midas touch. That power became a curse, as everything he touched turned to gold, including his food and drink, and even his children.

10 “___ Worry, Be Happy” : DON’T

The jazz and pop singer Bobby McFerrin has music in his blood. His mother was a singer, and his father was famed operatic baritone Robert McFerrin, the first African-American man to sing at the Met in New York. Bobby McFerrin had a huge number-one hit in 1988 with his song “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”.

14 Emperor Claudius’s successor : NERO

Nero was Emperor of Rome from 54 to 68 CE, and towards the end of his reign participated in the Olympic Games in the year 67. The Roman leader raced in a ten-horse chariot, of which he lost control and nearly perished after being thrown from the vehicle. Acting and singing were Olympic events back then, and Nero also took part in those competitions. By all accounts, Nero performed badly in every event in which he vied, and yet somehow still managed to win Olympic crowns that he paraded around Rome on his return from Greece. Just before he died, Nero reportedly declared, “What an artist the world is losing in me!”

I find Claudius to be the most fascinating of all the Roman Emperors. He had a lot going against him, as he walked with a limp and was slightly deaf. Claudius was put in office by the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s bodyguards) after Caligula was assassinated. Claudius had very little political experience and yet proved to be very forward-thinking and capable.

15 Words to live by : CREDO

A creed or credo is a profession of faith, or a system of belief or principles. “Credo” is Latin for “I believe”.

20 Actress Fisher of “Eighth Grade” : ELSIE

Elsie Fisher is an actress whose best-known roles are possibly her voice acting. For example, she voiced Agnes in “Despicable Me” (2010) and “Despicable Me 2” (2013), and Parker Needle in “The Addams Family” (2019).

“Eighth Grade” is a 2018 comedy drama movie starring Elsie Fisher as a middle-schooler struggling with anxiety. Comedian Bo Burnham wrote and directed the film, and the storyline reflects his own anxiety as a performer, and his frequent panic attacks. I haven’t seen this one, but I hear really good things …

29 The Maple Leafs, on scoreboards : TOR

The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team was founded way back in 1917. As members of the National Hockey League, the Maple Leafs have won the Stanley Cup championships thirteen times, the second best record in the league. Having said that, the last championship the team won was in 1967, and the resulting “drought” is the longest in the NHL.

33 Blueprint detail, in brief : SPEC

Blueprints are reproductions of technical or architectural drawings that are contact prints made on light-sensitive sheets. They were introduced in the 1800s and the technology available dictated that the drawings were reproduced with white lines on a blue background, hence the name “blue-print”.

35 Sgts. and cpls. : NCOS

A non-commissioned officer (NCO) might be a sergeant (sgt.) or a corporal (cpl.).

38 Midday times : NOONS

Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

42 From which Britain “Brexited,” for short : THE EU

The UK held a referendum in June 2016 in which 52% of voters chose to leave the European Union (EU). The term “Brexit” was used for the vote, a portmanteau of “Britain” and “exit”. The vote led to some debate about the future of the UK. The Scottish electorate voted for the UK to stay in the EU, and so that revived speculation about Scotland leaving the UK. There is also some discussion about Northern Ireland’s future in the UK, as the Northern Irish electorate also voted to stay in the EU.

46 “College GameDay” airer : ESPN

There are several sports shows on ESPN called “College GameDay”, the oldest of which is the one covering college football.

52 Govt. code crackers : NSA

National Security Agency (NSA)

54 Rocker Reed : LOU

Lou Reed was best known as a rock musician and songwriter, and was especially associated with the fabulous 1973 hit “Walk on the Wildside”. Reed is less well known as a photographer, but he published two collections of his work. The first was released in 2003 under the title “Emotions in Action”, and the second in 2006 called “Lou Reed’s New York”. Reed passed away in 2013.

56 Sandwich specialty of Maine : LOBSTER ROLL (hiding “LOB”)

A male lobster is called a cock, and a female a hen. A lobster weighing less than a pound is called a chicken.

60 Bordeaux red wine : CLARET

Clairet is a dark rosé wine. Although it is uncommon today, clairet used to be the most common wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. For centuries now, British consumers have used the derivative term “claret” to describe any red wine from Bordeaux.

67 Bic products : PENS

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.

68 Word that can precede vegetable or beer : ROOT …

Root beer is a beverage that is very North American, and is rarely found elsewhere in the world. Root beer originated in the 1700s and was made from the root of the sassafras plant. The traditional root beer was a beverage with a very low alcohol content, and today there are many versions that contain no alcohol at all. The sassafras root was used as the primary flavor ingredient right up until 1960, when the FDA banned its use as tests determined that it was a carcinogen.

70 Dirección from Monterrey to Miami : ESTE

“Este” (east) is a “dirección” (direction), in Spanish.

Monterrey is a Mexican city, and the capital of the state of Nuevo Leon in the northeast of the country. Monterrey is the second-largest city in Mexico in terms of area, but third-largest in terms of population (the largest-area city in the country is Mexico City, and the most populous are Mexico City and Guadalajara).

71 Coniferous trees with red berrylike fruit : YEWS

The family of trees and shrubs known as yews propagate by producing a seed surrounded by soft, sweet and brightly colored aril. Birds eat the fruit and then disperse the seed in their droppings. The birds leave the seed undamaged, and so are unharmed by the potent poisons taxane and taxol that are found within the seed. The seeds are highly toxic to humans.

Down

2 Hotel worker with baggage : BELLHOP

A bell captain supervises bellhops in a hotel. The term “bellhop” comes from the fact that the front desk clerk used to ring a “bell” to summon a porter, who then “hopped” to attention and received his or her instructions.

3 Crossword solver’s correction mark : ERASURE

Arthur Wynne is generally credited with the invention of what we now know as a crossword puzzle. Wynne was born in Liverpool, England and emigrated to the US when he was 19-years-old. He worked as a journalist and was living in Cedar Grove, New Jersey in 1913 when he introduced a “Word-Cross Puzzle” in his page of puzzles written for the “New York World”. The first book of crossword puzzles was published by Shuster & Shuster, in 1924. The collection of puzzles was a huge hit, and crosswords were elevated to the level of “a craze” in 1924 and 1925.

6 401(k) alternative : IRA

A 401(k) account resembles an IRA in that contributions can be made from a paycheck prior to the deduction of income taxes. A 401(k) differs from an IRA in that it is an employer-sponsored plan, with payments taken by the employer directly from an employee’s paycheck. Additionally, contributions can be fully or partially matched by an employer.

7 Dame Judi : DENCH

Dame Judi Dench is an outstanding English actress who has appeared for decades in her home country on stage and screen. Dench’s film career took off in the nineties with a relatively trivial role as “M” in the James Bond series of films. Since then she has played leading roles in several excellent movies including “Shakespeare in Love”, “Mrs. Brown”, “Notes on a Scandal” and “Philomena”. Sadly, Dench suffers from a condition called macular degeneration, which has caused her to lose most of her central vision.

10 Spinal segment : DISC

Our intervertebral discs are composed mainly of cartilage. They perform the crucial functions of separating the vertebrae while allowing slight movement, and also absorbing shock. A “slipped disc” isn’t really a disc that has “slipped”, but rather a disc that “bulges”. If that bulge causes pressure on the sciatic nerve then the painful condition known as sciatica can result.

21 Hosp. heart readout : EKG

An EKG measures the electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred, as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

25 ___ Sketch (classic toy) : ETCH A

Etch A Sketch was introduced in 1960. The toy was developed in France by inventor André Cassagnes, who initially named it “L’Écran Magique” (The Magic Screen).

34 “Moonstruck” Oscar winner : CHER

“Cher” is the stage name used by singer and actress Cherilyn Sarkisian. Formerly one half of husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher, she is often referred to as the Goddess of Pop. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1988 and won the season’s Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

“Moonstruck” is a 1987 movie, a romantic comedy starring Cher and Nicolas Cage. There’s a bit of a love triangle in the storyline, with Danny Aiello playing the man who loses the girl. “Moonstruck” won three Oscars and was a huge success, and somehow, I’ve never seen it …

37 Canonized person : SAINT

The act of creating a saint is known as “canonization”. The term derives from the process of placing someone in the canon (or “calendar”) of saints.

44 Humbly admit a mistake : EAT CROW

The phrase “eat crow”, an alternative to “eat humble pie”, perhaps refers to the fact that cooked crow may be edible, but is not a great food choice.

47 Like the rightmost lane on a highway : SLOWEST

On a US multi-lane highway, the lane closest to the median is the passing lane. Often referred to as the “fast lane” in error, the passing lane should only be used when overtaking another vehicle. Well, that’s the law in most US jurisdictions …

48 Italian cornmeal dish : POLENTA

Polenta is a porridge made from finely ground corn. The term “polenta” is Italian in origin.

49 { }, in math : NULL SET

In mathematics, an empty set of numbers is also called a null set, and is designated “{ }”.

53 One might be liberal in college : ART

The term “liberal arts” dates back to classical antiquity. The liberal arts were those subjects deemed essential to master for a citizen to take an active part in civil life. “Citizens” were “free people”, hence the use of the term “liberal arts”. The list of subjects studied in olden times were generally sevenfold: grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy/astrology.

57 Joy of daytime television : BEHAR

Joy Behar is a comedian, and former co-host of the hit talk show “The View”. Behar was one of the original co-hosts of “The View”, and stayed with the show from 1997 until 2013, and then rejoined the show in 2015. She briefly hosted her own talk show called “Late Night Joy” in November 2015.

58 Fend (off) : STAVE

The word “stave” was originally the plural of “staff”, a word describing a wooden rod. To “stave off” originated with the concept of holding off with a staff. In the world of barrel-making, a stave is a narrow strip of wood that forms part of a barrel’s side.

65 ___ Moines, Iowa : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.