Day: February 28, 2025

Bill’s time: 10m 01s

Bill’s errors: 2

• KORS (Kers)
• OLSON (Olsen)

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Events subject to S.E.C. oversight, in brief : IPOS

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and has primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities law. The first chairman of the SEC was Joe Kennedy, father of future president John F. Kennedy.

18 Achaean strongman of myth : AJAX

Ajax was a figure in Greek mythology, and was the cousin of Achilles. Ajax is an important figure in Homer’s “Iliad”. According to Homer, Ajax was chosen by lot to meet Hector in an epic duel that lasted a whole day. The duel ended in a draw.

The ancient Greeks fell into four ethnic groups: the Ionians, Aeolians, Achaeans and Dorians.

19 Antediluvian : AGED

Something “antediluvian” is very old. The term comes from “ante” meaning “before” and “diluvium” meaning “flood”. The idea is that something really old took place before Noah’s Flood.

20 Michael of fashion : KORS

American fashion designer MIchael Kors has dressed quite a few celebrities over the years. First Lady Michelle Obama wore one of his dresses for her official portrait during President Obama’s first term. She also wore a Michael Kors dress to the 2015 State of the Union address.

22 “The Marvels” director DaCosta : NIA

Nia DaCosta was the first woman to direct a superhero movie, doing so for 2023’s “The Marvels”.

“The Marvels” is a 2023 superhero film, and a sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel”. Brie Larson reprises the role of Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers. Unusually for superhero movies, this one didn’t do too well at the box office and actually lost money after its run in theaters.

23 Some overhead expenses? : BEANIES

A beanie is a knitted, close-fitting hat with no brim. The name probably comes from the slang term “bean” meaning “head”.

26 Podcaster’s need : MIC

A podcast is an audio or video media file that is made available for download. The name comes from the acronym “POD” meaning “playable on demand”, and “cast” from “broadcasting”. So, basically a podcast is a broadcast that one can play on demand, simply by downloading and opening the podcast file.

36 Big galoot : OAF

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

39 Star with Oscar nominations in five consecutive decades : STREEP

Meryl Streep has had more Academy Award nominations and more Golden Globe nominations than any other actor, which is both a tribute to her talent and the respect she has earned in the industry. I am not a huge fan of her earlier works but some of her recent movies are now on my list of all-time favorites. I recommend “Mamma Mia!” (you’ll either love it or hate it!), “Julie & Julia”, “It’s Complicated” and ”Hope Springs”.

45 Currency depicting statesman Mufasa Kemal Atatürk : LIRA

Mustafa Kemal was a Turkish army officer who led the Turkish National Movement following the defeat and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of WWI. He then led the Turkish military in resisting Allied forces occupying modern-day Turkey, in what is now referred to as the Turkish War of Independence. Kemal founded the Republic of Turkey in 1923 and became the new nation’s first president. The Turkish Parliament granted him the name Atatürk in 1934, a name that translates as “Father of the Turks”.

49 Show with a “Point/Counterpoint” segment, in brief : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

55 Fruit harvested by the ribeirinhos : 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.

56 Subject of some grainy photographs? : SILO

“Silo” is a Spanish word that we absorbed into English. The term ultimately derives from the Greek “siros”, which described a pit in which one kept corn.

61 Work-from-home attire, perhaps : ATHLEISURE

The wearing of clothing designed for athletic activity in casual, non-athletic environments is termed “athleisure”, which is a portmanteau of “athletic” and “leisure”.

Down

1 Jubilant song : PAEAN

A paean is a poem or song that expresses triumph or thanksgiving. “Paean” comes from the ancient Greek “paian” meaning “song of triumph”.

2 Caterpillar roll fish : UNAGI

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

You might be able to order a caterpillar roll in your local sushi restaurant. It is an inside-out sushi roll topped with thinly sliced avocado.

3 “… two if ___” : BY SEA

“One if by land, and two if by sea” is the famous signal code used by Paul Revere to warn the people of Charlestown when the British army was approaching. The words “one if by land, and two if by sea”, are immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride”.

5 Party-eschewing type: Abbr. : IND

“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun”, comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

8 Kaitlin of “Hacks” : OLSON

“Hacks” is a comedy-drama TV series featuring Jean Smart as legendary stand-up Deborah Vance, and Hannah Einbender as young comedy writer Ava Daniels. The show premiered on HBO Max in 2021.

9 God of life and the afterlife : OSIRIS

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld. He was the son of Geb the Earth god, and Nut the sky goddess. His wife Isis was also his sister. Osiris was killed and mutilated by Set, his own brother. Isis reassembled Osiris and revived him, just long enough that they could conceive their son Horus.

11 Birthplace of Zoroastrianism, today : IRAN

Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster around 600 BCE, making it one of the oldest religions in the world. There are two main Zoroastrian communities today, both of whom migrated to the Indian subcontinent from Greater Iran. The Parsis migrated in the 8th to 10th centuries, and the Irani migrated in the 19th century.

12 Event with a casual dress code : PAJAMA DAY

Our word “pajamas” (sometimes “PJs” or “jammies”) comes to us from the Indian subcontinent, where “pai jamahs” were loose fitting pants tied at the waist and worn at night by locals and ultimately by the Europeans living there. And “pajamas” is another of those words that I had to learn to spell differently when I came to America. On the other side of the Atlantic, the spelling is “pyjamas”.

29 Subcompact Nissan offering : VERSA

Nissan Motors was founded in Tokyo in 1911 as Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works. The first car produced was called the DAT, an acronym formed from the family names of the investors Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama and Meitaro Takeuchi. In 1931, the company introduced the Datson line of small cars, with the model name coming from “son of DAT”. “Datson” was changed to “Datsun” two years later. Earlier, in 1928, the company started using the name “Nihon Sangyo”, with “Nissan” used as an abbreviation on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The “Nissan” name was formally adopted in 1934.

30 Staple ingredient in Japanese cuisine : MISO PASTE

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

31 Premium computers : ACTUARIES

In the world of insurance, an actuary is a person who works out the appropriate premium based on risk.

33 Sat ___ (locating aid) : NAV

A global positioning system (GPS) is known as a satellite navigation system (Sat Nav) in Britain and Ireland.

44 Ghostly image : WRAITH

“Wraith” was originally a Scottish word, one meaning “ghost, specter”.

48 Prefix meaning “straight” : ORTHO-

The prefix “ortho-” in a word can describe “straight, upright, correct”. For Example, a literal interpretation of “orthopedics” is “straightening of a child”, and a literal interpretation of “orthodoxy” is the “correctness of opinion”.

50 Iridescent material : NACRE

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which the nacre is laid down.

58 “___ Misstra Know-It-All” (1970s Stevie Wonder song) : HE’S

The great musician Stevie Wonder signed on with Motown Records when he was just 11-years-old. He was remarkably loyal to the label, recording with Motown for six decades (before launching his own So What The Fuss Records label). The level of Stevie Wonder’s success is illustrated by his 22 Grammy Awards, the most Grammys awarded to a male solo artist. Wonder was born 6 weeks prematurely, and incomplete development of blood vessels in his eyes caused the retinas to detach leaving him blind soon after birth. His mother, Lula Mae Hardaway, co-wrote many of Stevie’s songs when he was a teenager, including “I Was Made to Love Her”, “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours” and “I Don’t Know Why I Love You”.

59 Footnote abbr. : CIT

“Op. cit.” is short for “opus citatum”, Latin for “the work cited”. Op. cit. is used in footnotes to refer the reader to an earlier citation. It is similar to ibid, except that ibid refers the reader to the last citation, the one immediately above.