Category: Adrian Johnson

Bill’s time: 11m 09s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Humorous nickname for a raccoon : TRASH PANDA

The raccoon is native to North America. In captivity, raccoons can live to over 20 years of age, but in the wild they only live two or three years. The main causes for the shorter lifespan are hunting and road traffic.

11 Work : OPUS

The Latin for “work” is “opus”, with the plural being “opera”. We sometimes use the plural “opuses” in English, but people do that just to annoy me …

16 Actor Russell of “Escape From New York” : KURT

Actor Kurt Russell’s career started when he was a child playing a lead role in the TV Western series “The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters” in the sixties. Russell met actress Goldie Hawn on the set of the 1984 film “Swing Shift”, and the two have been in a committed relationship ever since.

“Escape from New York” is a 1981 sci-fi film in which New York’s Manhattan Island has been converted into the nation’s maximum-security prison. Kurt Russell stars in both this film, and in the 1996 sequel “Escape from L.A.” Russell took the role in an attempt to move on from the “sugary” reputation he’d earned from a string of appearances up to that point in Disney comedies. Mission accomplished, I’d say …

18 ___ Voyage, long-running London-based holographic concert : ABBA

I am an unapologetic fan of ABBA’s music. ABBA was the Swedish group who topped the charts in the seventies and eighties. The name ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of the given names of each of the band members: Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid. Early in their careers, the four fell in love and formed two married couples: Agnetha and Bjorn, and Benny and Anni-Frid. However, at the height of their success, the relationships became strained and both couples divorced.

20 Out in public? : OPENLY GAY

Back in the 1950s, to come “out of the closet” was to admit to being an alcoholic. By the seventies, the phrase mainly referred to gay people shrugging off secrecy about their sexual orientation.

25 Difficult position, maybe : ASANA

“Asana” is a Sanskrit word that translates literally as “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

30 Big trap : MAW

“Maw” is a term used to describe the mouth or stomach of a carnivorous animal. “Maw” is also used as slang for the mouth or stomach of a greedy person.

32 ___ Tomé : SAO

The Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe is an island nation off the west coast of Africa comprising mainly two islands: São Tomé and Príncipe. São Tomé and Príncipe is located in the Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Gabon. It was colonized by Portugal after POrtuguese explorers discovered the islands in the 15th century. After gaining independence in 1975, São Tomé and Príncipe became the smallest Portuguese-speaking country in the world.

33 Evening in Amalfi : SERA

Amalfi, Italy is a coastal town on the Gulf of Salerno located about 30 miles southeast of Naples. The town gives its name to the popular tourist destination known as the Amalfi Coast.

34 Rice dishes traditionally made with saffron : PAELLAS

Paella is sometimes referred to as the Spanish national dish, but not by Spaniards. In Spain, paella is regarded as a typical regional dish from Valencia. The name “paella” means “frying pan” in Valencian, and is a reference to the shallow vessel traditionally used to cook the dish over an open fire.

38 “The virtue of the lukewarm,” per Sartre : MODESTY

Jean-Paul Sartre was a leading French philosopher, as well as a writer and political activist. Sartre also served with the French army during WWII and spent nine months as a prisoner of war having been captured by German troops. He was one of the few people to have been awarded a Nobel Prize and to have then refused to accept it. Sartre was named winner of the prize for Literature in 1964, for his first novel “Nausea”. Before his win, Sartre knew that his name was on the list of nominees so he wrote to the Nobel Institute and asked to be withdrawn from consideration. The letter somehow went unread, so he found himself having to refuse the award after he had been selected.

44 Backdrop for the 2019 film “1917”: Abbr. : WWI

“1917” is a 2019 Sam Mendes movie about two British soldiers carrying a message across no man’s land in northern France during WWI. Although historically inaccurate, the storyline was inspired by accounts of the war given to Mendes by his paternal grandfather. One remarkable feature of the film is that it was shot using long takes that were carefully edited to give the impression that it was filmed as just two continuous shots. Remarkable …

49 Useful chain for dog owners : PETCO

Petco is a chain of retail stores that sells live animals and pet supplies. The Petco logo includes the two company mascots, Red Ruff the dog and Blue Mews the cat.

57 Jared who played Morbius in 2022’s “Morbius” : LETO

Jared Leto is an actor and musician. In the world of music, he is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. In the film world, one of his most critically acclaimed roles was that of a heroin addict in “Requiem for a Dream”. Leto also appeared in “American Psycho”, “Panic Room” and “Lord of War”. He won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in 2013’s “Dallas Buyers Club”, in which he portrayed a transgender woman.

59 Festive Islamic greeting : EID MUBARAK

“Eid Mubarak” translates from Arabic as “Blessed festival/feast”. It is a greeting used by many Muslins at the two main holidays celebrated in Islam: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

62 Metamorphosing little creature : NEWT

Newts wouldn’t be my favorite animals. They are found all over the world living on land or in water depending on the species, but always associated with water even if it is only for breeding. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental stages during their lives. They start off as larvae in water, fertilized eggs that often cling to aquatic plants. The eggs hatch into tadpoles, the first developmental form of the newt. After living some months as tadpoles swimming around in the water, they undergo another metamorphosis, sprouting legs and replacing their external gills with lungs. At this juvenile stage they are known as efts, and leave the water to live on land. A more gradual transition takes place then, as the eft takes on the lizard-like appearance of the adult newt.

63 Counter offer? : FREE SAMPLE

When we sit at a counter (in a diner, say), there’s a connection with money lenders. Back in the mid-1300s, a counter was the table used by a money lender doing business. The term “counter” came into English from Latin via French, ultimately from “computare” meaning “to count”.

Down

1 Target Field team : TWINS

The Minnesota Twins baseball team was founded as the Kansas City Blues in 1894, before becoming the Washington Senators in 1901. The team arrived in Minneapolis in 1961.

Target Field is a baseball park in Minneapolis, Minnesota that has been home to the Minnesota Twins since the stadium opening in 2010. Target Corporation, which is headquartered in Minneapolis, paid an undisclosed sum to get the naming rights of the park.

3 Catalonia neighbor : ARAGON

Modern-day Aragón is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain. The region is named for the medieval Kingdom of Aragón.

Catalonia is an autonomous community in the northeast of Spain, the capital of which is the city of Barcelona. Sandwiched between Catalonia and France to the north, is the lovely Principality of Andorra that is nestled in the Pyrenees. Andorra is the country in the world in which Catalan is an official language.

4 Gathering, informally : SESH

Session (abbreviated to “sess.” formally, and “sesh” informally)

5 24-hr. retail channel : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

7 Guac and queso, at some restaurants : ADD-ONS

Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes. It is prepared by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

“Queso” is Spanish for “cheese”.

8 Virtual game described as a cross between Tamagotchi and Pokémon : NEOPETS

Tamagotchis are hand-held digital pets from Japan. They come housed in tiny egg-shaped computers, usually with a three-button interface. The Tamagotchis can be named, get hungry, and can be happy or sad. Care is provided by the owner using the interface buttons. The name “Tamagotchi” comes from the Japanese word “tamago” meaning “egg”, melded with the English word “watch”.

“Pokémon” is the second-biggest video game franchise in the world, second only to the “Mario” franchise. “Pokémon” is a contraction of “Pocket Monsters”.

9 2022 Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, for one : DANE

Back in the late 1800s, long-distance cycle races were used as promotional events, traditionally to help boost sales of newspapers. These races usually took place around tracks, but in 1902 the backers of the struggling sports publication “L’Auto” decided to stage a race that would take the competitors all around France. That first Tour de France took place in 1903, starting in Paris and passing through Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Nantes and then back to Paris.

10 Port city that’s an anagram of 9-Down : ADEN
[9D 2022 Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard, for one : DANE]

Aden is a seaport in Yemen that is located on the Gulf of Aden by the eastern approach to the Red Sea. Aden has a long history of British rule, from 1838 until a very messy withdrawal in 1967. A native of Aden is known as an Adeni. Some believe that Cain and Abel are buried in the city.

13 Some murals : URBAN ART

A mural is a painting that is applied directly to a wall or a ceiling. The term “mural” comes from the Latin “murus” meaning “wall”.

23 Shortcut key : CTRL

The Control (CTRL) key on a PC keyboard is used to modify the function of other keys. For example, pressing CTRL+C copies a selection to the clipboard, and CTRL+V pastes the contents of the clipboard to a location defined by the cursor. Control keys were introduced on teletypewriters to generate “control characters”, which are non-printing characters that instruct a computer to do something like print a page, ring a bell etc.

29 What might accompany a headlock : NOOGIE

A noogie is a childish move in which someone rubs his (and it’s always a guy!) knuckles into a person’s head to create a little soreness.

35 “Dropping a Han Dynasty Urn” artist : AI WEIWEI

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist who has been vocal in his criticism of his country’s position on human rights and democracy. Weiwei was an artistic consultant largely responsible for the look and feel of the Beijing National Stadium, commonly referred to as the “Bird’s Nest”, that was showcased during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

47 Southern Tibetan people : SHERPA

In the Tibetan language, “Sherpa” means “eastern people” (sher = east, pa = people). Sherpas are an ethnic group from Nepal, but the name is also used for the local guides who assist mountaineers in the Himalayas, and particularly on Mount Everest.

50 Things that are beside the point? : CENTS

The decimal separator in a number written in decimal form is the symbol that separates the integer part of the number from the fractional part. Here in the US, we tend to use a decimal point for that separation. In Central Europe, a decimal comma is the norm.

55 Play checkers, informally : REFS

Back in the early 17th century, a referee was someone who examined patent applications. We started using the same term for a person presiding over a sporting event in the 1820s. “Referee” is a derivative of the verb “to refer”, and literally describes someone who has the authority to make a decision by “referring” to a book, archive etc.

57 Magical item held by Aladdin : LAMP

“Aladdin” is a famous tale in “Arabian Nights”, also called “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights”. However, there is no evidence at all that the story was in the original collection. It is generally believed that one Antoine Galland introduced the tale when he translated “Arabian Nights” into French in the early 1700s.

60 Private support grp.? : USO

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

The lowest military rank of soldier is often a private (pvt.). The term “private” comes from the Middle Ages when “private soldiers” were hired or conscripted by noblemen to form a “private army”. The more generic usage of “private” started in the 1700s.