Day: September 11, 2024

Bill’s time: 10m 10s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7 Journalist Sawyer : DIANE

Diane Sawyer was the anchor of the news program “ABC World News” from 2009 until 2014. Sawyer started her career in the Nixon White House where she was hired by the Press Secretary at the time, Ron Ziegler. She worked with Nixon to help him write his memoirs after he left office and helped prepare the ex-president for his famous series of television interviews with David Frost in 1977. Sawyer was married to Mike Nichols, the noted film director, until his passing in 2014.

16 Device with Alexa : ECHO

Amazon Echo is a voice-controlled hardware device that can be used to provide several services including playing radio programs and music, recording of shopping lists, and managing a calendar. The device just sits in the home listening, until it hears a “wake up” command.

17 Swim around, scare some people, ram a boat …? : LIFE OF JAWS (from “jaws of life”)

“Jaws” is a thrilling 1975 movie directed by Steven Spielberg that is based on a novel of the same name by Peter Benchley. The film has a powerful cast, led by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw. “Jaws” was perhaps the first summer blockbuster and had the highest box office take in history up to that time, which was a record that stood until “Star Wars” was released two years later.

“Jaws of Life” is a trademark, owned by Hurst Performance. It applies to a hydraulic tool used by rescue crews to extricate victims from automotive accidents. The tool is a relatively new invention, developed in 1963 for use after race car crashes.

22 Good quality for a midwife? : LOVE OF LABORS (from “labors of love”)

A midwife is someone trained to assist women in childbirth. The term comes from Middle English “mid wif” meaning “with woman”.

27 Some ring decisions, in brief : TKOS

Technical knockout (TKO)

36 High dudgeon : IRE

“Dudgeon” is a noun describing a state of sullen, ill humor. To be in a state of “high” dudgeon is to be in “really” ill humor.

37 What the world’s largest piggy bank holds? : FORTUNE OF CHANGE (from “change of fortune”)

The word “pig” can be used for earthenware, or an earthenware shard. From this usage there evolved the term “pig jar” that described an earthenware pot that could be filled with water for use as a bed-warmer. Crockery pots were also used to collect coins and these were also termed “pig jars”. By the 1700s, these pig jars had evolved into the first “piggy banks”.

43 “Smooth Operator” singer : SADE

“Smooth Operator” is a 1984 song written and performed by English band Sade. The song’s lyrics tell the story of a smooth-talking, charming man who is able to charm women effortlessly.

48 Turbine turner : ROTOR

A turbine is a machine that uses the flow of a fluid (sometimes air) to create rotational work. Simple examples of turbines are windmills and waterwheels.

51 Heroes in L.G.B.T.Q.+ history? : LIONS OF PRIDE (from “pride of lions”)

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

• A pride of lions
• A shrewdness of apes
• A cloud of bats
• A bench of bishops
• A clowder of cats
• A waddling of ducks
• An army of frogs
• A knot of toads
• A memory of elephants
• A dazzle of zebra
• A tower of giraffe
• A crash of rhinos

55 Verdi’s next opera after “Aida” : OTELLO

Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Otello” was first performed in 1887 at La Scala Theater in Milan. The opera is based on Shakespeare’s play “Othello” and is considered by many to be Verdi’s greatest work.

58 “Chicago” or “Oklahoma!” : MUSICAL

The wonderful 1975 musical “Chicago” is based on a 1926 play of the same name written by a news reporter called Maurine Dallas Watkins. Watkins had been assigned to cover the murder trials of Beulah Annan and Belva Gaertner for the “Chicago Tribune”, and used the story that unfolded as the basis for her play. Annan became the character Roxie Hart, and Gaertner became Velma Kelly. I’ve only ever seen the movie version of “Chicago” and never a live performance …

“Oklahoma!” was the first musical written by the great duo Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The storyline comes from a 1931 stage play called “Green Grow the Lilacs”.

59 Jacket sleeves? : ARMS OF COAT (from “coat of arms”)

Back in the mid-1300s, a coat of arms was literally a coat, a tunic embroidered with heraldic symbols that was often worn over armor. This usage also gave us the term “turncoat”, which described someone who turned his coat inside-out in order to hide his badge of loyalty.

64 1998 animated film set in Central Park : ANTZ

“Antz” was the first feature movie released by Dreamworks SKG, the studio founded by Steven Spielberg and two partners in 1994. “Antz” came out in 1998, and has a stellar cast that includes Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Gene Hackman and many, many other big names. The cartoon is quite unique in that the facial features of the voice actors are reflected in the animated characters.

66 Marriott competitor : HYATT

The Hyatt hotel chain takes its name from the first hotel in the group, i.e. Hyatt House at the Los Angeles International Airport that was purchased in 1957. Among other things, Hyatt is famous for designing the world’s first atrium hotel, the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta.

68 Vietnamese celebration : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

Down

1 Parks whose cookbook “BraveTart” won the James Beard Award : STELLA

James Beard was a chef from Portland, Oregon who was noted for popularizing French cooking in the fifties here in North America.

4 Word seen in 20 squares on a Scrabble board : TRIPLE

The game of Scrabble has been around since 1938, and is the invention of an architect named Alfred Mosher Butts. Butts was born on April 13th, and we now celebrate National Scrabble Day on April 13th each year in his honor.

5 Galoot : OAF

“Galoot” is an insulting term describing an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

10 Rookie, informally : NEWB

The term “rookie”, used for a raw recruit, first appeared in Rudyard Kipling’s collection of songs and poems called the “Barrack-Room Ballads”, which was originally published in 1892.

11 Talk of the Irish, say : ERSE

There are three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

14 Angela’s successor as German chancellor : OLAF

Olaf Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel as the chancellor of Germany in 2021. Prior to leading the country, Scholz had served as Merkel’s vice chancellor for almost four years. Scholz is the first Chancellor of Germany not to belong to a church, but was the second to take the oath of office without reference to God (after Gerhard Schröder in 1998).

18 Singer heard on “Give Peace a Chance” : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotel in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit. Writing credit was initially given to Lennon-McCartney, as was the agreement between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later versions of the song were credited just to Lennon, even though Lennon stated that Yoko Ono actually wrote the song with him.

23 Usually dry streambeds : ARROYOS

An arroyo is a small stream or, more often, a dry riverbed.

32 NBC stalwart : SNL

NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.

34 Dells, say : PCS

Computer manufacturer Dell is named for the company’s founder Michael Dell. Michael Dell started his company in his dorm room at college, shipping personal computers that were customized to the specific needs of his customers. He dropped out of school in order to focus on his growing business, a decision that I doubt he regrets. Michael Dell is now one of the richest people in the world.

37 Fruit associated with Newton : FIG

The Fig Newton cookie is based on what is actually a very old recipe that dates back to ancient Egypt. Whereas we grew up with “Fig Rolls” in Ireland, here in America the brand name “Fig Newton” was used. That’s because they were produced originally in Newton, Massachusetts.

38 Nail polish brand : OPI

Opi (originally “Odontorium Products Inc.”) is a manufacturer of nail polish based in North Hollywood, California. One of Opi’s marketing coups was the introduction of a line of Legally Blonde 2 polishes, which featured in the film.

47 Part of a club : TOMATO

The club sandwich is a double-decker affair with three layers of bread and two layers of filling. This style of sandwich has been around since the end of the 19th century, and some say it was invented at an exclusive gambling “club” in Saratoga Springs, New York.

49 Whoopi’s Oscar-winning role in “Ghost” : ODA MAE

Oda Mae Brown is the psychic medium in the movie “Ghost”, and is played by Whoopi Goldberg.

54 Mess (with) : FUTZ

To futz around is to waste time on trivial matters, to fool around. “Futz” is probably derived from a “not-so-nice” word that has been merged with “putz”.

57 Lazarus with a sonnet on the Statue of Liberty : EMMA

Emma Lazarus was a poet from New York City who is best known as the author of an 1883 sonnet “The New Colossus”. “The New Colossus” sits on a bronze plaque inside the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, a fitting location given that the title refers to Lady Liberty.

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp! cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”