Category: Aimee Lucido

Bill’s time: 10m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Genre for Blackpink and Stray Kids : K-POP

Blackpink is a girl group from South Korea that was formed in 2016. By all accounts, Blackpink has gained more international success than any other female Korean act.

16A International footwear retailer based in Quebec : ALDO

ALDO is a chain of shoe stores that was founded in Montreal in 1972 by Moroccan-born Canadian Aldo Bensadoun. Bensadoun is the son of a retailer of shoes in Morocco and France, and the grandchild of a cobbler. A man with shoe leather in his blood …

17A Stealthiest of stealthy warriors : NINJA MASTERS

The ninjas were around in Japan at the time of the samurai, but were a very different type of warrior. The ninjas were covert operatives, specializing in the use of stealth to accomplish their missions. As they were a secretive cadre they took on a mystical reputation with the public, who believed they had the ability to become invisible or perhaps walk on water. We now use the term “ninja” figuratively, to describe anyone highly-skilled in a specific field.

19A Warren Beatty film based on “Ten Days That Shook the World” : REDS

“Reds” is a 1981 film directed, produced and co-written by Warren Beatty, who also played the male lead. The movie lays out the life and work of American journalist John Reed, who wrote about the Russian Revolution in the book “Ten Days That Shook the World”. The film’s title refers to the Communist leanings of Reed and his wife and fellow journalist Louise Bryant, played by Diane Keaton.

Actor Warren Beatty spends a lot of time in other roles in the film industry. He is the only person to have been nominated twice for an Academy Award for acting in, directing, writing and producing the same film. He was so honored for 1978’s “Heaven Can Wait” and for 1981’s “Reds”. Beatty is the younger brother of actress Shirley MacLaine, and has been married to fellow actor Annette Bening since 1992.

23A “Call Her Daddy” podcast host Cooper : ALEX

Podcaster Alexandra Cooper is perhaps best known for co-creating and hosting the podcast “Call Her Daddy”. It’s a popular podcast, so Spotify started paying her $20 million per year to continue hosting, starting in 2021. Yep, 20 million dollars …

26A “___ Just Not That Into You” : HE’S

“He’s Just Not That Into You” is a line of dialogue from the HBO television series “Sex and the City”. The line was lifted and used as the title of a self-help book published in 2004. The book was adapted into a 2009 romantic comedy film with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore and Scarlett Johansson. Haven’t seen it …

27A Activist Brockovich : ERIN

Erin Brockovich is an environmental activist who is famous for the role she played in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric for contaminating drinking water. Her story was told in a 2000 film titled “Erin Brockovich” starring Julia Roberts in the title role. Brockovich herself actually appeared in the film, as she was given a cameo as a waitress in a restaurant scene.

37A 1887 drama on which a Puccini opera is based : LA TOSCA

Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Tosca” is famous for its dramatic plot and unforgettable arias, but it’s also notable for its compressed, real-time setting: the entire opera unfolds over less than 24 hours in Rome, during events related to the Battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800. The plot centers on the tempestuous opera singer Floria Tosca, her lover Mario Cavaradossi, and the sadistic Chief of Police Baron Scarpia, who lusts after Tosca. The opera includes intense scenes of torture, attempted rape, assassination, and suicide. Be warned …

42A Composers’ rights org. : BMI

BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) collects licence fees for musicians and distributes royalties to composers whose works have been performed. ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) provides the same service.

43A Difference between a B and a C, perhaps : HALF STEP

That would be a musical scale.

45A Star of NBC’s “The Blacklist” : JAMES SPADER

Actor James Spader’s breakthrough role was the male lead in the 1989 film “Sex, Lies and Videotape”. After building a successful career on the big screen, Spader played some high-profile characters on the small screen in shows like “The Practice”, “Boston Legal” and “The Blacklist”. Spader worked as a yoga instructor while he was starting out his career, and indeed met his ex-wife while working at a yoga studio in the eighties.

“The Blacklist” is an entertaining, albeit a little formulaic, crime drama TV show starring James Spader and Megan Boone. Spader plays a successful criminal who surrenders to the FBI in order to help catch a “blacklist” of high-profile criminals.

47A TV’s warrior princess : XENA

The Xena character, played by New Zealander Lucy Lawless, was introduced in a made-for-TV movie called “Hercules and the Amazon Women”. Lawless reprised the role in a series called “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Xena became so popular that a series was built around her character, with Lawless retained for the title role. The fictional Xena supposedly came from the “non-fictional” Greek city of Amphipolis.

50A “Done!,” in geometry class : QED

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

54A ___ Hashana : ROSH

Rosh Hashanah is loosely referred to as “Jewish New Year”. The literal translation from Hebrew is “head of the year”.

56A Units equal to roughly a quarter of a calorie : JOULES

I wish we’d stop using the term “calorie”, because it is so confusing. In terms of physics, a calorie is the amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree celsius (at one atmosphere of pressure). The so-called “food calorie” is one thousand times as large, as it is defined in terms of kilograms instead of grams. In attempts to differentiate between these two definitions, the former is sometimes referred to as the “small calorie” and is given the symbol “cal”. The latter is referred to as the “large calorie” and given the symbol “Cal”, with a capital C. If only we’d use the SI system of units, we’d be thinking in just joules, instead of large and small and food calories.

61A River through Kazakhstan : URAL

The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains in Russia and flows for half its length through Russian territory until it crosses the border into Kazakhstan, finally emptying into the Caspian Sea. It is the third-longest river in Europe, after the Volga and Danube. The Ural is often cited as defining a long stretch of the border between Europe and Asia, although the exact position of that border is open to debate.

62A Sports craze of the 2020s … as seen three times in this grid? : PICKLEBALL

Pickleball is a sport invented in the 1960s that combines elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton. Originally marketed as a game for children to play in backyards, pickleball is now played on purpose-built courts by many, many adults, but mainly in North and South America.

66A Clay being of Jewish folklore : GOLEM

“Golem” is Yiddish slang for “dimwit”. In Jewish folklore, a golem is an anthropomorphic being made out of inanimate matter, and is somewhat like an unintelligent robot.

67A Troubadour, e.g. : POET

A troubadour was a composer and musician of the Middle Ages whose works dealt mainly with chivalry and courtly love. Troubadours were usually men, and a female troubadour would have been called a trobairitz, a lovely word …

68A Thomas Hardy heroine who’s described as “a pure woman” : TESS

In Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the heroine and title character is Tess Durbeyfield. Her father is an uneducated peasant and when he hears that his name is a corruption of the noble name of “D’Urberville”, the news goes to his head.

Down

2D A.L. East athlete : ORIOLE

The Baltimore Orioles (also the O’s, the Birds) are one of the eight charter teams of MLB’s American League, so the franchise dates back to 1901. Prior to 1901, the team had roots in the Minor League Milwaukee Brewers, and indeed entered the American League as the Brewers. In 1902 the Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the Browns. The team didn’t fare well in St. Louis, so when it finally relocated to Baltimore in the early fifties the team changed its name completely, to the Baltimore Orioles. The owners so badly wanted a fresh start that they traded 17 old Browns players with the New York Yankees. The trade didn’t help the team’s performance on the field in those early days, but it did help distance the new team from its past.

4D Peninsula south of California, colloquially : BAJA, MEXICO

The Baja California Peninsula lies in the northwest of Mexico. It is bounded on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean, and on the northeast by the Gulf of California. The border city of Mexicali sits at the north of the peninsula, and the resort city of Cabo San Lucas sits at the southern tip.

8D Prez on a U.S. coin : FDR

President Roosevelt was a major driver in the founding of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis. The Foundation’s most successful fundraising campaign was to encourage the public to just send a dime to support the charity, so that even before the Foundation officially changed its name, the public were already calling it March of Dimes. After President Roosevelt passed away in office, Congress passed legislation calling for a new design for the dime, one featuring the image of FDR. The Roosevelt dime was introduced in 1946, on the day that would have been the President’s 64th birthday.

9D Slugger Sammy : SOSA

Sammy Sosa was firmly in the public eye in 1998 when he and Mark McGwire were vying to be the first to surpass the home run record held by Roger Maris. McGwire fell out of public favor due to stories of steroid abuse (stories which he later admitted were true) while Sosa fell out of favor when he was found to be using a corked bat in a 2003 game.

10D Holder of the N.B.A.’s career points record before LeBron passed him in 2023 : KAREEM

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name at birth was Ferdinand Lewis “Lew” Alcindor. Alcindor changed his name when he converted to Islam.

12D Figures on DraftKings or FanDuel : ODDS

DraftKings and FanDuel are companies offering fantasy sports games and leagues.

25D Classic Camaros : IROCS

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

28D “Didn’t mean to offend you” : NO SHADE

To throw shade is to show disrespect to someone publicly using insults or criticisms.

30D Best ever, informally : GOAT

Greatest of all time (GOAT)

32D Common fixtures over fireplaces : TVS

Yeah, but the high temperature …?

33D Part of U.S.M.A.: Abbr. : ACAD

West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and as of 2018, about 15% of all new cadets were women.

37D Prez two decades after 8-Down : LBJ

President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) is one of only four people to have held all four elected federal offices, namely US Representative, US Senator, US Vice-President and US President. As President he is perhaps best remembered for escalating involvement in the Vietnam War, and for his “Great Society” legislation.

38D “I’ll answer all your questions” session, online : AMA

Ask me anything (AMA)

39D Site of a huge annual crowd : TIMES SQUARE

Times Square in New York City isn’t a square at all, but rather a triangle. When the New York Times newspaper opened new headquarters in the area in 1904, the city agreed to the name “Times Square”, changing it from Longacre Square.

The famous New Year’s Eve (NYE) ball-dropping tradition in Times Square started on January 1st 1908. The original ball was lit with one hundred 25-watt light bulbs and was dropped at one second after midnight. A fifth version of the ball was introduced in 2008 for the centennial anniversary of the ceremony. The 2008 ball was built by Waterford Crystal and was lit by 9,567 LED bulbs that consumed the same amount of power as ten electric toasters. The current ball was used for the first time in 2009, and is double the size of the 2008 ball at 12 feet in diameter. The ball now sits atop Times Square year round, so you can go see it next time you are in town.

44D Paintings on plaster : FRESCOS

A fresco is a painting created on a moist plaster, usually on a wall or ceiling. The plaster is “freshly” laid when the image is created, and “fresco” is the Italian for “fresh”.

46D Bit of food for a hamster : PELLET

The rodents known as hamsters are commonly kept as house pets. Male hamsters are called bucks, females are called does, and baby hamsters are known as pups.

49D ___ Simpson, musical sister of Jessica : ASHLEE

Ashlee Simpson is the younger sister of Jessica Simpson. They are both reality show stars. I know no more …

52D Certain salad veggies : CUKES

Apparently, scientists have shown that the inside of a cucumber (“cuke” for short) growing in a field can be up to twenty degrees cooler than the surrounding air. That’s something that was believed by farmers as early as the 1730s, at which time the phrase “cool as a cucumber” was coined.

53D Where Rudolph could first be seen in 2000, for short : SNL

Comic actress Maya Rudolph got her break as a regular cast member on “Saturday Night Live”. Rudolph’s mother was singer Minnie Ripperton, who had a big hit in 1975 with the single “Lovin’ You”.

55D Command posts : HELMS

In its broadest sense, the term “helm” describes the whole of a ship’s steering mechanism, including the rudder and tiller. In a more specific sense, the helm is the handle, tiller or wheel that is used to control the steering gear.

56D Checkers move : JUMP

“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland, the game is called “draughts”.

57D Product with a Cakesters variety : OREO

Oreo Cakesters are a soft version of the celebrated cookie, a version introduced by Nabisco in 2007.

60D Lou ___, “Mambo No. 5” singer : BEGA

“Lou Bega” is the stage name of German singer David Lubega Balemezi. He is best known, by far, for his 1999 hit “Mambo No. 5”.

“Mambo No. 5” was originally recorded by the song’s composer Pérez Prado, back in 1949. German musician Lou Bega released an insanely successful cover version of “Mambo No. 5” in 1999.

63D Speck in la Seine : ILE

There are two famous “îles” (islands) in the middle of the River Seine in Paris, one being the Île de la Cité, and the other Île Saint-Louis. Île de la Cité is the most renowned of the two, as it is home to the cathedral of Notre-Dame.