Day: December 29, 2024

Bill’s time:15m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “The Soul ___ Itself” (Emily Dickinson poem) : UNTO

Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 1800 poems in her lifetime, with less than a dozen published before she died in 1886. Emily’s younger sister discovered the enormous collection, and it was published in batches over the coming decades.

17 One of six in garden croquet : HOOP

The very genteel game of croquet is played on lawns all over the world. It’s the game where mallets are used to hit wooden balls through hoops embedded in the grass. The name “croquet” is from French dialect and means “hockey stick”. The game originated in Brittany in France, and was popularized in Ireland in the 1830s.

18 Emmy-winning drama series set in the Midwest : FARGO

“Fargo” is a TV series inspired by the 1996 film of the same name by the Coen brothers. The small-screen version first aired in 2014, with the credits including Joel and Ethan Coen as executive producers. Each season of the show features a new cast. The 2014 cast is led by Billy Bob Thornton, the 2015 cast by Kirsten Dunst, and the 2017 cast by Ewan McGregor. Each episode, and indeed the original film, includes the on-screen claim that “This is a true story”. However, that claim is in fact untrue.

19 Disney C.E.O. Bob : IGER

Robert Iger took over from Michael Eisner as CEO in 2005. Iger worked for ABC when it was taken over by Disney in 1996, and in 1999 he was named president of Walt Disney International. Iger is doing okay for himself; he earned more than $29 million in 2009.

24 Politico Buttigieg : PETE

Politician Pete Buttigieg is a former mayor of South Bend, Indiana and an unsuccessful candidate for US president in 2020 Democratic Party primaries. He is a Harvard graduate and also graduated from Oxford, which he attended on a Rhodes Scholarship. He served as an intelligence officer in the US Navy Reserve for eight years, and was deployed to Afghanistan for seven months in 2014. He was appointed as Secretary of Transportation in the Biden administration in 2021, making him the first openly gay cabinet secretary in the history of the US.

27 Have a banquet : DINE

A banquet is an elaborate feast. “Banquet” is a term that seems to have reversed in meaning over time. Coming into English via French from Old Italian, “banquet” is derived from “banco” meaning “bench”. The original “banco” meal was simply a snack eaten on a bench, rather than at a table. I guess we eat more these days …

30 Like cobras and some jackets : HOODED

“Cobra” is the name given to a group of snakes, some of which are in different families. The term is reserved for those snakes that can expand their neck ribs to create a hood. The name “cobra” is an abbreviated form of “cobra de capello” which translates from Portuguese as “snake with hood”.

32 Doc that ensures secrecy : NDA

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

33 Rapscallion : ROGUE

We might call a little imp a “rapscallion”, an evolution from “rascallion” that in turn comes from “rascal”.

34 Dog with “small black eyes that twinkled merrily on either side of his funny, wee nose” : TOTO

Toto is Dorothy’s dog in the film “The Wizard of Oz”, and in the original book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” by L. Frank Baum. Toto was played in the movie by a dog called Terry, but Terry’s name was soon changed to Toto in real life due to the success of the film.

37 Lion’s prey : ANTELOPE

“Antelope” is the name given to just over 90 species of deer-like mammals. As a group, antelopes aren’t defined taxonomically, although they might be described as all members of the family Bovidae that aren’t sheep, cattle or goats.

45 Brought aboard : LADED

The verb “to lade” meaning “to load” comes from an Old English word “hladan”. “Lade” also used to mean “draw water” and indeed gave us our word “ladle”. So “lade” and “ladle” are close cousins.

47 Language from which “curry” comes : TAMIL

Curry powder is a mixture of spices used in South Asian dishes. The actual composition of curry powder varies depending on the cuisine. The term “curry” is an anglicization of the Tamil “kari” meaning “sauce”.

55 Dien Bien ___, 1954 battle site in Vietnam : PHU

The Battle of Điện Biên Phủ was fought in Vietnam in 1954 at the height of the First Indochina War. The war was between the occupying French forces and the Viet Minh revolutionaries, with the battle resulting in a resounding defeat for the French. The war ended with the signing of the 1954 Geneva Accords just a few months after the battle, after which France made a complete withdrawal from Vietnam. There was no peace though, with the Second Indochina War following a few years later, better known in the US as the Vietnam War.

63 Dish of chopped meat, potatoes and onions : HASH

Hash, beef and vegetables mashed together, is a very American dish and one that really surprised me when I first came across it. “Hash” just seems like such an unappetizing item, but I soon found out how delicious it was. The name “hash” in this context comes from the French “hacher” meaning “to chop”. Back in the early 1900s the dish called “hashed browned potatoes” was developed, which quickly morphed into “hash browns”. From there the likes of corned beef hash was introduced.

66 Portrayer of Grindelwald in “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” : DEPP

Johnny Depp got his big break as an actor on television, in the eighties television show “21 Jump Street”. Depp’s first film success came when he played the title role in 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands”. He has twice been named Sexiest Man Alive by “People” magazine.

67 Author Zola : EMILE

The most famous work by French writer Émile Zola is his 1898 open letter “J’Accuse!” written to French president Félix Faure. The letter was published on the front page of a leading Paris newspaper, and accused the government of anti-Semitism in its handling of the trial of Captain Alfred Dreyfus. Dreyfus was a Jewish military officer in the French army, falsely accused and convicted of spying for Germany. Even after the error was discovered, the government refused to back down and let Dreyfus rot away on Devil’s Island rather than admit to the mistake. It wasn’t until 1906, 12 years after the wrongful conviction, that Dreyfus was freed and reinstated, largely due to the advocacy of Emile Zola.

68 Large Starbucks size : VENTI

Starbucks introduced us to coffee drinks in a whole range of volumes:

• Demi … 3 fl oz
• Short … 8 fl oz
• Tall … 12 fl oz
• Grande … 16 fl oz (Italian for “large”)
• Venti … 20 fl oz (Italian for “twenty”)
• Trenta … 30 fl oz (Italian for “thirty”)

71 Nb3, Bxh7, Ra4, etc. : MOVES

Those would be moves in chess.

72 The Macarena and Cha Cha Slide, for two : LINE DANCES

“Macarena” is a dance song in Spanish that was a huge hit worldwide for Los Del Río in 1995-1996.

76 “The Simpsons” character who says “I’ve done everything the Bible says! Even the stuff that contradicts the other stuff!” : NED

Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer Simpson on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Ned was married to Maude, with whom he had two children Rod and Todd. Maude died in an accident involving a T-shirt cannon. Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer, and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.

79 Snack brand with “Classic” and “Wavy” varieties : LAY’S

Lay’s potato chips were introduced in 1938 by Herman W. Lay. Lay started selling his chips out the trunk of his car, traveling all over the US. In those days the chips were pretty much handmade, but Lay put an end to that in 1942. He invented the first continuous potato processor in 1948, and chips started to take over the world!

81 Iced coffee drink : FRAPPE

A “frappé” is a frozen, fruit-flavored dessert similar to sherbet. “Frappé” is a French word that can mean “chilled”.

87 Wild tours : SAFARIS

“Safari” is a Swahili word meaning “journey” or “expedition”.

95 Winter mo. : DEC

December is the twelfth month in our calendar but was the tenth month in the old Roman calendar, hence the name (“decem” is Latin for “ten”). Back then there were only ten months in the year. “Ianuarius” (January) and “Februarius” (February) were then added as the eleventh and twelfth months of the year. Soon after, the year was reset and January and February became the first and second months.

98 Solar wind particle : ION

The Sun’s upper atmosphere continually ejects a stream of the charged particles that have such high energy that they can escape the Sun’s gravity. This supersonic plasma consisting mainly of electrons, protons and alpha particles is referred to as the solar wind. The solar wind extends as far as the outer limits of our solar system, and is responsible for phenomena such as the Earth’s northern and southern lights, the geomagnetic storms that affect radio reception, and the plasma tails of comets.

110 Director Sam : RAIMI

Sam Raimi is a very successful director and producer. He was behind the “Spider-Man” series of films among others, and TV shows such as “Xena: Warrior Princess”. In 1993, Raimi married Gillian Green, the youngest daughter of actor Lorne Greene of “Bonanza” fame. Raimi and Greene named their eldest son Lorne, after his grandfather.

120 Part of MGM : MAYER

The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio was founded in 1924 by Marcus Loew. Loew was already a successful movie theater owner when he purchased Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919, and then Goldwyn Pictures in 1924. Later in 1924, Loew also purchased Louis B. Mayer Pictures, mainly so that Louis B. Mayer could merge all three studios and run them himself as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Down

6 Product of rendering : LARD

Fat, when extracted from the carcass of an animal, is called suet. Untreated suet decomposes at room temperature quite easily so it has to be rendered, purified to make it stable. Rendered fat from pigs is what we call lard. Rendered beef or mutton fat is known as tallow.

7 Big name in pest control : ORKIN

Orkin is a pest-control company. If you want to learn more about insects, you might want to visit the O. Orkin Zoo, a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. The exhibit has over 300 live insects, all displayed in their natural habitats.

9 Like bibimbap : KOREAN

The name of the Korean dish bibimbap translates literally as “mixed rice”, with “bibim” meaning “mixed ingredients” and “bap” meaning “rice”. Generally, the dish comes as a bowl of white rice topped with sautéed vegetables flavored with chili pepper paste. Variants often include a fried egg and sliced beef.

29 Green with the bowdlerized hit “Forget You” : CEELO

“Forget You” is the cleaned-up title for a CeeLo Green song that was released in 2010 using a title that included a more controversial “F word”.

To bowdlerize is to expurgate or censor, to remove material from a work that is deemed to be offensive. The term comes from Thomas Bowdler, an English editor who published works of William Shakespeare in 1818 that had “offensive” words and expressions removed, so that they would be appropriate for “women and children”.

38 Pulled a classic prank on, for short : TP’ED

TP’ing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota, that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California it is classed as mischief or vandalism.

40 Superman’s birth name : KAL-EL

Jor-El was a scientist on the planet Krypton who was married to Lara. Jor-El and Lara had an infant son named Kal-El whom they were able to launch into space towards Earth just before Krypton was destroyed. Kal-El became Superman. In the 1978 movie “Superman”, Jor-El was played by Marlon Brando, Lara was played by Susannah York, and Kal-El/Superman was played by Christopher Reeve.

41 Genre for Fall Out Boy : EMO-POP

Fall Out Boy is a rock band from Chicago that formed in 2001. They take their name from a character on “The Simpsons”, a superhero called “Fallout Boy”.

46 Santa ___ : ANA

Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California and takes its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city.

50 What Boyle’s law pertains to : GASES

Irishman Robert Boyle is regarded as one of the founders of modern chemistry, although his early work would better be described as “alchemy”. His name is best known from Boyle’s Law, his experimental observation that the pressure of a gas decreases proportionally as its volume increases.

51 Bar exercises : CHIN-UPS

A chin-up (also “chin”) is a strength exercise involving a pull-up to the point where the chin reaches a stationary bar held by the hands.

58 Henry who composed the theme for “The Pink Panther” : MANCINI

Not only was Henry Mancini an amazing film composer, he was a very accomplished flautist. I once heard him play the challenging “Flight of the Bumblebee” on the flute on a British talk show. Very impressive …

Apparently, some people think that the Inspector Clouseau character (played originally by Peter Sellers) is “The Pink Panther”. “Pink Panther” is actually the jewel that was stolen in the original movie. Would you believe there are eleven “Pink Panther” movies in the whole series?

75 Hefeweizen, e.g. : ALE

Hefeweizen is a wheat beer associated with the German state of Bavaria. It is also known as “Weissbier” in Germany, with “Hefeweizen” translating literally as “yeast wheat”, and “Weissbier” as “white beer”. For what it’s worth, true Hefeweizen, with strong banana-clove overtones, is my favorite beer in the world …

77 Jason’s ship : ARGO

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts set sail on the Argo from the city of Iolcos in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of a man named Argus, who designed and constructed it with the help of the goddess Athena.

80 Vacation destination in the Caribbean : ARUBA

Aruba is one of the so-called ABC islands located off the northern coast of Venezuela. “ABC Islands” is a name given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

84 Big name in frozen food : ORE-IDA

Ore-Ida frozen foods are all made using potatoes. The company is located in Oregon, just across the border from Idaho. “Ore-Ida” is a melding of the two state names.

89 Closefitting headwear, in a variant spelling : DO-RAG

Hip-hoppers might wear do-rags (also “durags”) today, but they have been around for centuries. The etymology of “do-rag” is pretty evident, i.e. a piece of cloth (rag) to hold a hairstyle (do) in place.

91 ___ Bill, folk hero who is said to have ridden a tornado like a bucking bronco : PECOS

Pecos Bill has become a character in tall tales of the Old West after having been introduced in 1917 by author Edward O’Reilly. Legend has it that Bill was traveling in a covered wagon from Texas with his family when he fell out unnoticed by the party. He was lost near the Pecos River, hence his name. He was found and raised by a pack of coyotes, but years later was recovered by his real brother. Pecos Bill grew up to be a cowboy and married a woman called Slue-Foot Sue who he met riding a giant catfish down the Rio Grande.

93 “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of ___”: Thomas Jefferson : WISDOM

Thomas Jefferson was the US’s first Secretary of State (under George Washington), the US’s second Vice President (under John Adams), and the US’s third president. Anyone interested in biographies of US presidents might like to read Jon Meacham’s “Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power”. I highly recommend it …

94 Piece of classical music : SONATA

A cantata is a piece of music that is sung, as opposed to a sonata, which is a piece that is played on some instrument, often a piano. A sonatina is in effect a sonata that has been labeled as something lighter and shorter.

101 Strongman of myth : ATLAS

In Greek mythology Atlas was one of the Titans. Famously, he supported the heavens on his shoulders, while crouched on what are now called the Atlas Mountains in Greece.

103 Soda with strawberry and pineapple flavors : FANTA

The soft drink Fanta has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (leftover from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their “imagination” (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

108 Clarified butter : GHEE

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