Day: April 24, 2025

Bill’s time: 14m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Interview With the Vampire” and “Prince of Thorns” : DARK FANTASY

“Anne Rice” is the pen name of American author of erotic and Gothic novels Howard Allen O’Brien. Her famous series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, “Interview with the Vampire”, was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don’t do vampires …

6 “Borat” and “This Is Spinal Tap” : MOCKUMENTARY

The full name of the 2006 “mockumentary” is “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”. Borat is played by a British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Not my cup of tea …

“This Is Spın̈al Tap” is a rock musical mockumentary about the fictional band Spinal Tap, directed by the great Rob Reiner. I love Rob Reiner’s work, but this movie … not so much …

16 Deferential : OBEISANT

Obeisance is an attitude of deference usually marked by gestures of respect such as a bow or curtsey.

17 Valentine’s Day sentiment : BE MINE

Saint Valentine’s Day was introduced by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …

18 More than a mere grudge : VENDETTA

“Vendetta” is the Italian word for “blood feud”, and is especially associated with the island of Corsica.

22 Noted criminal extradited to the U.S. in 2017 : EL CHAPO

“El Chapo” is the nickname of Mexican drug lord Joaquín Guzmán.

25 Locale for a cochlea : EAR

The cochlea is a spiral structure in the inner ear. Included in the cochlea are hair cells that receive sound vibrations, causing them to move. The movement of the hairs is converted into nerve impulses that are interpreted in the brain.

28 Deadpan : DRY

The term “deadpan”, slang for “impassive expression”, comes from “dead” (expressionless) and “pan” (slang for “face”).

29 “You Come ___” (Robert Frost collection) : TOO

The wonderful poet Robert Frost was a native of San Francisco, but lived most of life in New England. He also spent a few years in England, just before WWI. Frost was well recognized for his work during his lifetime, and received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also Vermont’s first Poet Laureate, a position that he held from 1961 until his death in 1963.

31 Kind of cucumber that isn’t a vegetable : SEA

Sea cucumbers are marine creatures that do resemble cucumbers, at least in shape, hence the name.

35 “Lady Bird” and “Stand By Me” : COMING OF AGE

“Lady Bird” is a 2017 coming-of-age movie starring Saoirse Ronan in the title role, a high school senior who has a strained relationship with her mother (played by Laurie Metcalf). Roman and Metcalf earned themselves Oscar nominations for their performances.

“Stand by Me” is a 1986 film directed by Rob Reiner that is based on a Stephen King novella called “The Body”. The title of the movie comes from the wonderful Ben E. King song of the same name.

39 Actress ___ Taylor-Joy : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

46 Eponymous Italian designer Mario : PRADA

Prada started out in 1913 as a leather-goods shop in Milan, one established by the two Prada brothers. One of the brothers, Mario Prada, prevented the female members of his family from participating in the running of the company as he didn’t believe women should be involved in business (!). When the sexist brother died, his son had no interest in the business so it was his daughter who took over and ran the company for about twenty years, handing it over to her own daughter. I’d say the devil loved that …

50 One of many listed on the back of a tour shirt : GIG

Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz. The derivative phrase “gig economy” applies to a relatively recent phenomenon where workers find themselves jumping from temporary job to temporary job, from gig to gig.

51 Atlanta sch. : GSU

Georgia State University (GSU) is located in downtown Atlanta. It was established in 1913 as a branch of Georgia School of Technology called the Evening School of Commerce.

58 Mythical forge locale : ETNA

Our word “volcano” comes from “Vulcano”, the name of a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. The island’s name comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans believed that the island of Vulcano was the chimney of the forge belonging to the god Vulcan. The Romans also believed that the eruptions on Mount Etna in Sicily were caused by Vulcan getting angry and working his forge so hard that sparks and smoke flew out of the top of the volcano.

65 Items that gather lather : LOOFAS

The loofah (also “loofa”, “lufah” and “luffa”, all Arabic words) is a vine, with fruit that’s very popular in Asia and Africa. If the fruit is allowed to mature, it can be processed to remove everything but the more rigid xylem structure (remember your high school botany class?) leaving a soft, sponge-like mass that is used as a skin polisher.

70 1980s New York mayor : ED KOCH

Ed Koch was a Democratic Representative in the US Congress from 1969-73, and then Mayor of New York City from 1978-89. From 1997 to 1999 Koch was a “judge” on the TV show “The People’s Court”. And in 2004, he collaborated with his sister Pat Koch, and wrote a children’s book called “Eddie, Harold’s Little Brother”, a tale about Ed’s own childhood experiences.

Down

3 CD follower : -ROM

“CD-ROM” stands for “compact disc read only memory”. The name indicates that you can read information from the disc (like a standard music CD for example), but you cannot write to it. You can also buy a CD-RW, which stands for “compact disc – rewritable”, with which you can read data and also write over it multiple times using a suitable CD drive.

4 Potato turnover : KNISH

A knish is a snack food from Germany and Eastern Europe that was made popular in the US by Jewish immigrants. A knish has a filling, often made of mashed potato and ground meat, covered by a dough that is baked or fried.

9 Josh : KID

When the verb “to josh”, meaning “to kid”, was coined in the 1840s as an American slang term, it was written with a capital J. It is likely that the term somehow comes from the proper name “Joshua”, but no one seems to remember why.

11 Like some socks and chess players : MATED

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

20 “Nice one, you got me” : TOUCHE

“Touché” is a term from fencing, one acknowledging a successful “touch” in a duel. The usage has been extended to mean that a successful criticism or riposte has hit home in a conversation.

22 Singer James : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

26 Cher’s catchphrase in “Clueless” : AS IF

The 1995 movie “Clueless” is apparently based on Jane Austen’s “Emma”, which is a favorite novel of mine. As a result, I am going to have to check out the film …

32 Food thickener : AGAR

Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science, it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

34 One-named singer who’s a former member of One Direction : ZAYN

Zayn Malik is a singer from Yorkshire in northern England who found fame with the boy band One Direction. Malik quit the band in 2015 to launch a solo career. A year later, Malik became the first male artist to hit the number-one spot in both the UK and US charts with both a debut single (“Pillowtalk”) and a debut album (“Mind of Mine”).

46 “”Downton Abbey” and “Shogun” : PERIOD PIECE

In the incredibly successful period drama “Downton Abbey”, the patriarch of the family living at Downton is Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham or Lord Grantham. The character is played by Hugh Bonneville. Lord Grantham married American Cora Levinson (played by Elizabeth McGovern). Lord and Lady Grantham had three daughters, and no sons. The lack of a male heir implied that the Grantham estate would pass to a male cousin, and out of the immediate family. The Grantham daughters are Lady Mary (played by Michelle Dockery), Lady Edith (played by Laura Carmichael) and Lady Sybil (played by Jessica Brown Findlay). Lady Sybil had the audacity to marry the family chauffeur, who was an Irish nationalist. The shame of it all …

“Shogun” is a novel by James Clavell, and the third in his famous “Asian Saga” suite of six titles. The six books are:

• “King Rat”
• “Tai-Pan”
• “Shōgun”
• “Noble House”
• “Whirlwind”
• “Gai-Jin”

51 Mixing thematic elements and tropes … or a feature of this puzzle? : GENRE-BENDING

A trope is a figure of speech. The term “trope” comes from the Greek word “tropos” that has the same meaning. The term has evolved in meaning to also describe a common or overused device or theme.

52 Dave ___, seven-time All-Star pitcher for the Blue Jays : STIEB

Dave Stieb was a starting pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. He had the second -highest number of wins in the eighties.

53 Mr. Reed, to Jane Eyre : UNCLE

“Jane Eyre” is a celebrated novel written by Charlotte Brontë, under the pen name Currer Bell. The love story is perhaps represented by the oft-quoted opening lines of the last chapter, “Reader, I married him”. There is a wonderful 4-hour television adaptation made by the BBC that I highly recommend to fans of the novel …

57 Skinny white mushroom : ENOKI

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

63 Subject of Homer’s loathing on “The Simpsons” : 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.

67 Sports org. that now includes U.C. Berkeley and Stanford, strangely enough : ACC

The collegiate athletic conference known as the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) was founded in 1953. The seven charter members of the ACC were Clemson, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina and Wake Forest.