Day: September 13, 2024

Bill’s time: 13m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Account of a wild night out? : TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

12 Fail, with “out” : CRAP …

To crap out is to make a losing roll on the first throw in a game of craps. A losing roll (aka “a crap”) is a roll of 2, 3 or 12. The slang usage of “to crap out” describes the failing to carry out an obligation.

14 Site sieged by Santa Anna : ALAMO

Antonio López de Santa Anna (often just “Santa Anna”) Mexican soldier who also served as President of Mexico for several terms from 1833 to 1855. It was Santa Anna and his forces who laid siege to the Alamo Mission in 1836.

16 Cob, e.g. : MALE

An adult male swan is a cob and an adult female is a pen. Young swans are swanlings or cygnets.

19 Together : EN MASSE

“En masse” is a French term, one that best translates as “as a group”

21 Vacuous : INANE

“Vacuous” and “inane” both mean “silly, empty-headed”. “Vacuous” comes from the Latin word “vacuus” meaning “empty”. “Inane” comes from the Latin “inanitis” meaning “empty space”.

26 Like meetings of the U.N. General Assembly : ANNUAL

The United Nations was established right after the end of WWII, and was a replacement for the ineffective League of Nations that had been formed after the end of WWI. The US was at the forefront of the founding of the United Nations, led by President Franklin Roosevelt just prior to the start of WWII. The UN’s headquarters is in international territory in New York. There are three regional UN headquarters, also located in international territory, in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.

27 Group of zombies : HORDE

A zombie is a corpse that has been brought back to life by some mystical means. Our modern use of the term largely stems from the undead creatures featured in the 1968 horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead”. Now that film I haven’t seen, and probably never will …

29 Gets high on a kite : PARASAILS

Parasailing is hanging below a tethered parachute that is towed by a boat.

33 Sch. in Ypsilanti whose mascot is an eagle, not another large bird : EMU

Eastern Michigan University (EMU) is a public university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, just outside Detroit. Despite the name “EMU”, the school’s athletes are called the “Eagles”.

The city of Ypsilanti, Michigan is named for Demetrius Ypsilanti, a hero in the Greek War of Independence. Among its claims to fame, Ypsilanti was the home to the original Dominick’s pizza store.

36 Extraterrestrial menace in 5-Down : XENOMORPH
[5D Sci-fi franchise since 1979 : ALIEN]

The antagonists in the “Alien” series of films are extraterrestrials, described at one point in the script as “xenomorphs”. The term “xenomorph” was coined for the screen using the Greek roots “xeno-” (other, strange) and “-morph” (shape).

41 Murphy’s co-star in “48 Hrs.” : NOLTE

Actor Nick Nolte got his big break in movies playing opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw in “The Deep”, a film released in 1976. Around the same time, he landed a leading role in the hit TV miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man”. Off the screen, Nolte has always had a “bad-boy” reputation. He is indeed a convicted felon, for selling counterfeit draft cards in the early 1960s. He had to pay a $75,000 fine, and was given a suspended prison sentence.

“48 HRS.” is a hilarious 1982 movie starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. Even though the lead characters play a convict and a cop who team up, “48 HRS.” is often cited as the first of the modern “buddy cop” movies, a precursor to the likes of “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Lethal Weapon”.

Eddie Murphy is a multi-faceted performer and entertainer from the Bushwick neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. Murphy was a comedian on “Saturday Night Live” from 1980 to 1984. He has also appeared in several hit movies, the success of which make Murphy the fourth-highest grossing actor in the country, as of 2014.

48 Sources of high-quality wool : ALPACAS

Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. They were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.

58 Make a gaffe : ERR

Our word “gaffe”, meaning “social blunder”, comes from the French “gaffe” meaning “clumsy remark”, although it originally was a word describing a boat hook. The exact connection between a boat hook and a blunder seems to be unclear.

59 How Vin Diesel was cast in “The Fast and the Furious,” you might say : APTLY

Vin Diesel is the stage name of actor Mark Sinclair Vincent. He was born in New York City with his twin brother Paul. The twins never knew their father, and their mother is an astrologer. Vincent was given the nickname of “Diesel” by his friends early in his life, as he was said to have a bottomless supply of energy.

“The Fast and the Furious” is a series of action movies about street racing and car heists. The original 2001 film spawned several sequels, making it Universal Pictures’ most successful franchise of all time.

60 Ottoman setting : DEN

The piece of furniture known as an ottoman can be a couch, usually one with a head but no back or sides. Here in the US, the term more commonly applies to a padded and upholstered seat or bench that can also be used as a footrest. The original ottoman couch came from the Ottoman Empire, hence the name.

Down

2 Dumpster or zipper, originally : BRAND NAME

“Dumpster” is one of those words that we use generically, even though it is actually a brand name. The original “Dumpster” was patented by the Dempster Brothers of Knoxville, Tennessee. “Dumpster” is derived from “dump” and “Dempster”.

What we know today as a “zipper” was invented by mechanical engineer Whitcomb Judson in 1890, when it was called a “clasp locker”. The device was introduced at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, but was not successful. Several people made improvements to the basic design over the coming decades. By the 1920s, the B. F. Goodrich Company was using the device on a line of rubber boots. It was Goodrich who introduced us to the name “zipper”.

3 Boon for grizzly bears : SALMON RUN

“Salmon run” is the name given to the “run” that salmon make annually from the ocean, upstream to spawn in freshwater. Even though the mature salmon have wandered huge distances throughout the ocean, they return to the very same spawning ground where they themselves were hatched. Remarkable …

The North American brown bear is usually referred to as the grizzly bear. The name “grizzly” was given to the bear by Lewis and Clark. The term “grizzly” might mean “with gray-tipped hair”, or “fear-inspiring”. Both definitions seem to be apt …

4 One doing the lord’s work : VASSAL

Feudalism was a legal and military system that flourished in medieval Europe. Central to the system were the concepts of lords, vassals and fiefs. Lords would grant fiefs (land or rights) to vassals in exchange for allegiance and service.

5 Sci-fi franchise since 1979 : ALIEN

The 1979 sci-fi horror movie “Alien” was the big break for Sigourney Weaver as it was her first lead role, and her character ended up as central to a whole set of sequels. The movie’s producers made a very conscious decision to cast a female in the lead role so as to have the film stand out in the male-dominated genre of science fiction. Famously, the film was publicized with the tagline “In space no one can hear you scream”.

6 Laissez-faire : LAX

“Laissez-faire” is a French term that we use to describe non-interference in the affairs of others. The literal translation is “to let to allow”.

7 Global lending org. : IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was established at the end of 1945 with 29 major economies supporting and funding an effort to stabilize economies across the globe after WWII. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the IMF has 187 member countries.

9 Numbers 1 through 36 are found in it : TORAH

The word “Torah” best translates as “teaching”, I am told.

11 Under siege : BESET

Our word “siege” comes from a 13th-century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

13 Bit of foam, perhaps : PEANUT

Styrofoam is an extruded polystyrene foam made by the Dow Chemical Company. Styrofoam has loads of applications, including home insulation and use as a buoyancy aid. It is also formed into “peanuts” used as a packaging filler.

15 Beverage steeped in bright daylight : SUN TEA

Sun tea is tea that is made simply by dropping tea into water and letting it “brew” in the sun for a few hours, and then adding ice. A blog reader has kindly pointed out that he was told by a doctor that sun tea has the potential to be dangerous. The sun-heated brew is warm enough and sits long enough to incubate any bacterial contamination that may be present. I think I’ll stick to my regular iced tea that is speedily brewed at high temperature …

25 They increase with blown saves, for short : ERAS

Earned run average (ERA)

29 ___-Novo, capital of Benin : PORTO

Porto-Novo is the capital city of Benin in West Africa. It may be the nation’s capital but it isn’t the biggest city, and nor is it the most economically important. That honor goes to the city of Cotonou.

31 Cotton-Eyed Joe, e.g. : LINE DANCE

The line dance known as the Cotton-Eyed Joe is inspired by a traditional American country folk song of the same name.

34 Most arias : SOLI

“Soli” (the plural of “solo”) are pieces of music performed by one artist, whereas “tutti” are pieces performed by all of the artists.

38 Minnesota’s is French and California’s is Greek : MOTTO

Minnesota is called the North Star State because it is the northernmost state in the contiguous United States. The state’s motto, “L’Étoile du Nord,” is French for “The Star of the North.” The North Star is still a symbol of Minnesota, and is featured on the state flag and seal.

“Eureka” is the Greek for “I have found it”, and is the motto of the state of California. The motto was chosen as a nod to the discovery of gold in the state.

39 “Old ___,” country standard performed by Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley : SHEP

I must admit that I am not a big country music fan, but who doesn’t love Johnny Cash? The man had such a unique voice, and indeed unique songs. I think that his biopic, “Walk the Line”, is very cool, as is the title song itself. Recorded back in 1956, “Walk the Line” is relatively creative for “popular” music. The basic rhythm of the song emulates the sound of a freight train, the “boom-chicka-boom” sound. Cash’s guitar has a unique tone to it as it plays this rhythm, achieved by threading a piece of paper between the guitar strings giving the rhythm a bit of a “buzz”. Above the rhythm line, each of the five verses is sung in different keys. You can actually hear Cash hum a note signifying the key change at the start of each verse. With all these modulations, the final verse is sung a full octave lower than the first. A remarkable tune …

Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army in 1958, as a private. Although he was only a couple of years into his recording career, he already had a fervent following. While in basic training, he was quite certain that his success would be short-lived, and maybe could not recover after his stint with the Army. He used his leave to record new tracks, keeping his name out there. Presley did basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Friedberg, Germany. It was in Friedberg that he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he would marry after courting her for 7 1/2 years. After two years in the Army, he came back home, to a career that was still soaring.

42 Food that’s roughly 95% water : CELERY

There’s an urban myth that the process of eating celery burns more calories than the body can obtain from the vegetable through digestion. While celery is indeed a low-calorie food, eating it does provide a net-positive number of calories.

51 Org. whose official number of employees is unknown to the public : NSA

The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense (DoD) since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

52 Word with rock or Rocks : POP …

The fizzy candy marketed as Pop Rocks was introduced in 1975. The candy is made by exposing a melted sugar syrup to carbon dioxide at high pressure. As the syrup cools, it traps high-pressure bubbles of the gas inside the candy. When the candy dissolves in the mouth, the carbon dioxide is released with a popping sound.