Day: February 21, 2025

Bill’s time: 15m 10s

Bill’s errors: 2

• NIKKI (Nicki)
• FAKIE (facie)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Sea of ___, body of water at one end of the Kerch Strait: AZOV

The Sea of Azov lies east of the Crimean Peninsula and is linked to the larger Black Sea via the narrow Strait of Kerch. The Sea of Azov is the shallowest sea in the world, with the depth never going above forty-six feet.

16 Rarest of all state birds: NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

18 Sue at Chicago’s Field Museum, e.g.: T-REX

The largest and best-preserved dinosaur fossil ever found can be seen on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The fossil is a Tyrannosaurus rex that is thought to have weighed over 7 tons when alive. It was discovered in South Dakota in 1990 by paleontologist Sue Hendrickson. The specimen is nicknamed “Sue” after Hendrickson.

21 Jewelry designer Picasso: PALOMA

Paloma Picasso is a fashion designer based in Paris. She is the youngest daughter of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso and French author and painter Françoise Gilot.

25 Utterly defeated, as n00bs: PWNED

“To pwn” is online gamer-speak for “to own, defeat easily”. It’s likely that “pwn” evolved from “own” as it is a common typo caused by the close proximity of the o- and p-keys on a computer keyboard. “Pwn” is pronounced like “pone”.

27 Elbows for a chef?: MACARONI

In many cases, the name given to a type of pasta comes from its shape. However, the name macaroni comes from the type of dough used to make the noodles. Here in the US, macaroni is usually elbow-shaped, but it doesn’t have to be.

30 Pioneer in subscription TV: HBO

Home Box Office (HBO) is the oldest continuously-operating pay TV service in the US, having launched in 1972. HBO is a favorite of mine as I really like many of the HBO made-for-television movies and original series. Among the list of original series from HBO are “Mildred Pierce”, “The Pacific”, “John Adams”, “Big Love”, “Extras”, “The Wire”, “Sex and the City”, “From the Earth to the Moon”, “The Sopranos” and “Band of Brothers”.

32 Villeneuve who directed “Dune”: DENIS

Denis Villeneuve is a Canadian filmmaker who has directed several hit movies, including “Sicario” (2015), “Arrival” (2016), “Blade Runner 2049” (2017), “Dune” (2021) and “Dune: Part Two” (2024).

2021’s epic film “Dune” is the first of a two-part adaptation of Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel of the same name. The version of “Dune” did a lot better than the 1984 big-screen adaptation of the same novel, which really flopped at the box office.

34 “Fortunate Son” subject, informally: NAM

“Fortunate Son” is a hit song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR), released in 1969. The song is widely regarded as an anti-war anthem and is often associated with the Vietnam War era. The song was written by John Fogerty, CCR’s lead singer and songwriter. He has said that the song was inspired by his frustration with the war and the fact that the sons of wealthy and influential people often managed to avoid military service, while those from lower-income families were more likely to be drafted and sent to fight.

37 Dumpster-dive, for example: SCAVENGE

Freeganism is an ideology promoting alternative living strategies that incur little or no cost by using resources that are generally discarded in the conventional economy. Notable tactics are “dumpster diving” (searching for discarded food) and “guerrilla gardening” (growing food in city parks).

39 Gun support: BIPOD

A tripod is a three-legged stand that provides stable support for an object, often for a camera. A bipod is a similar two-legged support. Bipods are commonly used to support and steady rifles and automatic weapons. A monopod is a single-legged support. Sports photographers often use a monopod under a long, telephoto lens to reduce camera shake while allowing relatively free movement to capture the action.

40 Ancient Greek city known for its ornate columns: CORINTH

Ancient Corinth was a city-state in Greece located on the Isthmus of Corinth, which is the narrow strip of land joining the Peloponnesus to the Greek mainland. Corinth is mentioned several times in the Christian New Testament as it was visited several times by Saint Paul. Paul wrote two epistles to the Christian community of Corinth that are included in the Christian New Testament as the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians.

42 “Curiously strong” mint: ALTOID

Altoids breath mints have been around since 1780, when they were introduced in Britain. The famous tin in which Altoids are sold is often reused for other purposes. The most famous use is as a container for a mini-survival kit.

43 Love letters: SWAK

“SWAK” is an initialism standing for “sealed with a kiss”. SWAK, and the related SWALK (sealed with a loving kiss), are postal acronyms that originated during WWII.

44 50 Cent piece?: RAP

Rap star 50 Cent’s real name is Curtis James Jackson III, and is from South Jamaica in Queens, New York. 50 Cent had a rough life starting out, first dealing drugs at the age of 12. He dropped his illegal activities to pursue a rap career, but still fell victim to an assailant who pumped nine bullets into him. The alleged shooter was himself shot three weeks later, and died. 50 Cent’s alleged attacker was a bodyguard and close friend of Mike Tyson.

48 Where stars are born: OUTER SPACE

The exploration and use of outer space is governed by the Outer Space Treaty that came into force in 1967. The initial signatories were the US, UK and USSR, and now 102 nations are party to the treaty. For the purposes of the treaty, outer space begins at the Kármán line, a theoretical sphere that lies at an altitude of 100km about the Earth’s sea level.

51 ___ Lewis, first recipient of the James Beard Living Legend Award: EDNA

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

54 Some October lawn decorations: TOMBSTONES

All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows’ Eve, better known by the Scottish term “Halloween”.

Down

1 Amazon nuisances: BOTS

A bot is a computer program designed to imitate human behavior. It might crawl around the Web doing searches for example, or it might participate in discussions in chat rooms by giving pre-programmed responses. It might also act as a competitor in a computer game.

2 Mozart’s “Der Hölle Rache,” for one: ARIA

Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute” (“Die Zauberflöte” in German) premiered in 1791 in Vienna, just two months before the composer died. Mozart conducted the orchestra himself that night. His sister-in-law, soprano Josepha Weber, performed the role of the Queen of the Night.

3 Pixar character described as “nothing less than the finest chef in France”: REMY

“Ratatouille” is a 2007 animated film produced by Pixar. The hero of the piece is Remy, a rat whose ambition is to become a chef. Remy was voiced by stand-up comedian Patton Oswalt. The veteran actor Peter O’Toole voiced the character Anton Ego, a restaurant critic.

4 Lead-in to cake in Southern cuisine: HOE-

Johnnycake (also “hoecake”) is a flatbread made from cornmeal that is associated with the Atlantic coast. There are claims that Johnnycake originated in Rhode Island.

5 Musical units: OCTAVES

I find that terminology in music can be confusing. My way of looking at an octave (my way … don’t shout at me!) is thinking of a piano keyboard. In the key of C, the seven notes of the octave are C, D, E, F, G, A, B (or “do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti”). These are all white keys. Most of these “white notes” are separated by whole tones, so there is room to add a “semitone” in between most of them, and these are the black keys (C-sharp for example). There is room for five black keys in an octave, and 7 + 5 adds up to 12. I assume we use the term “octave” because we often add an eighth note on the end “to bring us back to do” as the song says (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do … or … C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C). That eighth note is really the first note in the next octave up.

11 Part of a rack: ANTLER

The antlers on a deer come to points. The higher the number of points, the more prized the head of the deer as a trophy, so I am told …

22 Berry in a Playa Bowl: ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

23 Claudia Harrison’s role on “The Crown”: ANNE

Anne, Princess Royal was born in 1950 and is the only daughter of British Queen Elizabeth II. Princess Anne has been in the public spotlight for many things, including her success as an equestrian. Princess Anne was the first member of the British Royal Family to have competed in an Olympic Games. Her daughter Zara Phillips continued the tradition and competed as a member of the British equestrian team in the 2012 Olympic Games. Zara’s medal was presented to her by her own mother, Princess Anne.

“The Crown” is a historical drama produced for Netflix that covers the life of British Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For the first two seasons, Elizabeth is played by Claire Foy and Philip by Matt Smith. For the next two seasons, Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over as Elizabeth and Philip. The show finishes up with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce in the roles.

25 Cocktail served with an umbrella: PINA COLADA

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

26 Cocktail served with an olive: WET MARTINI

The term “martini” probably takes its name from the “Martini & Rossi” brand of dry vermouth, although no one seems to be completely sure. What is clear is that despite the Martini name originating in Italy, the martini drink originated in the US. The original martini was made with gin and sweet vermouth, but someone specifying a “dry” martini was given gin and dry vermouth. Nowadays we use dry vermouth for all martinis, and the term “dry” has become a reference to how little vermouth is included in the drink. Famously, Noël Coward liked his drink very dry and said that a perfect martini is made by “filling a glass with gin then waving it in the general direction of Italy”. On the contrary, adding extra vermouth results in a “wet” martini. The German-American journalist and satirist H. L. Mencken referred to the martini as “the only American invention as perfect as a sonnet”.

35 Part of a Caesarean boast: VENI

The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BCE and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

38 Instruments whose players read alto clef: VIOLAS

The viola looks like and is played like a violin, but is slightly larger. It is referred to as the middle voice in the violin family, lying between the violin and the cello.

41 Square: DWEEB

“Dweeb” is relatively recent American slang that came out of college life in the late sixties. Dweeb, squarepants, nerd; they’re all not-nice terms that mean the same thing, i.e. someone excessively studious and socially inept.

44 Its name in Botswana is the same as the word for “money”: RAIN

Botswana is an African country that is located just north of South Africa. Someone from Botswana is called a “Motswana” (yes, with an M), with the plural being “Batswana” (yes, with a B).

49 Game with numbered cards: UNO

A standard game of Mattel’s UNO can be used to play several variations of the game, such as Elimination UNO, Speed UNO and Pirate UNO. There is also a spin-off game called “DOS” that is published by Mattel.

50 Soup with rice noodles: PHO

Pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a noodle soup from Vietnam that is a popular street food. It is often ordered with a side of hanh dam, pickled white onions.