Category: Amie Walker

Bill’s time: 7m 27s

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Article that Ohio State University surprisingly managed to trademark in 2022 : THE

Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”. The school’s athletic mascot was introduced in 1965, and is an anthropomorphic buckeye nut named Brutus Buckeye.

13 Greek god often depicted with a helmet and shield : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. He united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

16 Alley-___ (basketball pass) : OOP

An alley-oop is a play in basketball in which one player lobs the ball close to the basket for a teammate who usually scores with a slam dunk.

17 Role for which James Gandolfini won three Emmys : TONY SOPRANO

Tony Soprano is the protagonist in the fabulous TV drama “The Sopranos”. Played very ably by James Gandolfini, Soprano works his way up the ranks of the fictional DiMeo crime family. The character was loosely based on real-life New Jersey mobster Vincent Palermo of the DeCavalcante crime family. Palermo owned a strip club called “Wiggles”, and Soprano owned one called “Bada Bing!”.

Actor James Gandolfini is perhaps best known for playing Mafia boss Tony Soprano in the HBO show “The Sopranos”. For my money, one of Gandolfini’s best performances was in the 2013 romantic comedy “Enough Said”, opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Sadly, Gandolfini passed away just before that film was released.

21 Start of an online address : HTTP

“http” are the first letters in many Internet links. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol. More secure and “safer” websites (like this one!) use links starting with “https”, which stands for “http secure”).

23 Kind of lane marked with a diamond : HOV

In some parts of the country, one sees high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Out here in California we refer to them as carpool lanes.

24 “___ Twist, Scientist” (kids’ book) : ADA

“Ada Twist, Scientist’ is a children’s picture book by Andrea Beaty (illustrated by David Roberts) that was first published in 2016. An animated preschool TV series with the same name premiered in 2021.

29 Cipher machine of W.W. II : ENIGMA

An Enigma machine is a cipher device developed at the end of WWI by German engineer Arthur Scherbius. The machine was used by Nazi Germany in the run-up to and during WWII. The Enigma codes used by the Germans were first broken by three Polish mathematicians who subsequently designed mechanical devices for automated deciphering of Enigma-coded messages. Polish Military Intelligence handed over the decryption technology to the French and British just before the outbreak of war.

31 Silicon Valley city whose name translates to “tall stick” : PALO ALTO

The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall and over a thousand years old.

33 “You just blew my mind,” using a modern spelling : WOAH

“Woah” has gradually become an acceptable spelling for the word “whoa”.

34 Word after G or e : -MAIL

Gmail is a free webmail service provided by Google, and my favorite of the free email services. Gmail made a big splash when it was introduced because it offered a whopping 1GB of storage whereas other services offered a measly 2-4MB on average.

40 Pioneer in arcade games : ATARI

Atari was founded in 1972, and was one of the pioneers in the video game industry. One of the company’s early employees was Steve Jobs, who was hired to work on the game design for the arcade game “Breakout”. Jobs was tasked with reducing the number of chips needed for the game and he recruited his friend, Steve Wozniak, to help with the project. Wozniak designed a circuit board that used only 46 chips, a significant improvement over the original design that had over 100 chips.

52 British Conservative Party, colloquially : TORIES

“Tory” comes from the Irish word “tóraí” meaning “outlaw, robber”. The term “tory” was originally used for an Irish outlaw and later became a term of abuse for Irish rebels. At the end of the reign of King Charles II in Britain, there was a political divide with one side being called “Whigs” and the other “Tories”. Historically, the term “Tory” evolved to basically mean a supporter of the British monarchy, and indeed was used to describe those who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. Today, “Tory” is used for a member of the British Conservative Party.

53 “Under the ___” (Oscar-winning song from “The Little Mermaid”) : SEA

“Under the Sea” is an Oscar-winning song from the 1989 Disney animated film “The Little Mermaid”. It is performed by the crab character named Sebastian.

62 What the ends of 17-, 31-, 37- and 48-Across are, collectively : CHORAL GROUP

The voice types soprano, alto, tenor and bass can be abbreviated to the initialism “SATB”.

65 One who’s always calling people out? : UMPIRE

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

66 Ken’s Mojo Dojo ___ House (redundantly named dwelling in “Barbie”) : CASA

The 2023 fantasy comedy movie “Barbie” stars Margo Robbie in the title role and Ryan Gosling as Ken. It was directed by Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote the script with her partner Noah Baumbach. I highly recommend this one …

68 About 90% of all volcanic rock on Earth : BASALT

Basalt is a volcanic rock that is created when lava cools rapidly at the earth’s surface.

69 Novelist Brown : DAN

Dan Brown is a somewhat controversial author, best known for his 2003 novel “The Da Vinci Code”. I’ve read all of Brown’s books and must say that his early ones were awful. Having said that, I loved “Angels and Demons”, and found “The Da Vinci Code” to be a great read.

Down

1 Actor Macfadyen of “Succession” : MATTHEW

“Succession” is a very popular dark comedy-drama series that premiered in 2018. It’s about a family-owned, global media company. The “succession” in question is who will get to run the empire after the passing of the ailing family patriarch. The marvelous Scottish actor Brian Cox plays the head of the company Logan Roy. Great stuff, albeit quite depressing and terrifying …

2 Like some free legal work : PRO BONO

The Latin term “pro bono publico” means “for the public good”, and is usually shortened to “pro bono”. The term applies to professional work that is done for free or at a reduced fee as a service to the public.

3 Fictional country in “The Princess Diaries” : GENOVIA

“The Princess Diaries” is a series of novels for young adults by Meg Cabot. There have been two Disney adaptations of the books, both starring Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis and Julie Andrews as Queen Clarisse Renaldi.

4 Corp. money manager : CFO

The chief financial officer (CFO) is particularly concerned about his or her company’s profit and loss (P&L).

9 Hullabaloo : ADO

Our word “hullabaloo”, meaning “commotion”, is a derivative of an older term “hollo-ballo”. “Hollo-ballo” was a word used for an uproar in the north of England and Scotland.

12 Clean air org. : EPA

The Clean Air Act of 1963 is administered by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

14 Thesaurus entry: Abbr. : SYN

Synonym (syn.)

The first person to use the term “thesaurus” to mean a “collection of words arranged according to sense” was Roget in 1852, when he used it for the title of his most famous work. Up to that point in time, a thesaurus was basically an encyclopedia. Before being used with reference to books, a thesaurus was a storehouse or treasury, coming from the Latin “thesaurus” meaning “treasury, treasure”.

18 Layer of coal : SEAM

Coal forms from peat that is subject to heat and pressure deep in the ground over millions of years. The peat is dead plant matter from former wetlands that we now refer to as “coal forests”.

25 Title for Julie Andrews or Maggie Smith : DAME

Actress and singer Julie Andrews was made a dame in 2000 by Queen Elizabeth II. The most famous roles played by Andrews were probably the leads in “Mary Poppins” (1964) and “The Sound of Music” (1965). More recently she has had a recurring role in “The Princess Diaries” (2001) and the film’s 2004 sequel. A favorite Julie Andrews film of mine is a comedy drama set in WWII called “The Americanization of Emily”, which was released in 1964.

Dame Maggie Smith is a wonderful, wonderful actress from England. Although Smith has had an extensive stage career, she is perhaps best known outside of Britain as a film and television actress. She has won two Oscars, including Best Actress for playing the title character in 1969’s “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie”. TV audiences today know her best as the Dowager Countess on “Downton Abbey”. I saw her recently in the movie “The Second Best Marigold Hotel”, a movie that I wholeheartedly recommend …

27 ___ chic (fashion style) : BOHO

Boho-chic is a style of fashion that grew out of the bohemian and hippie looks.

28 Cinco menos tres : DOS

In Spanish, “cinco menos tres” (five minus three) is “dos” (two).

30 Pickle, to a Brit : GHERKIN

Often, a dill pickle is actually a pickled gherkin, as the gherkin and cucumber are different cultivars within the same species. Here in the US, dill is commonly added to pickling vinegar or brine, but this wasn’t the case when I used to eat them back in Ireland (I can’t stand dill!). You might see jars labeled as “cornichons”, but they’re gherkins. “Cornichon” is the French word for “gherkin”.

31 Shawarma holders : PITAS

Shawarma is a popular street food in the Middle East. It is made from thin slices of seasoned and marinated meat, stacked into a cone-shaped column, and then roasted on a vertical spit. Servings are prepared by slicing the outside roasted meat.

32 Guinness of “Star Wars” : ALEC

Sir Alec Guinness played many great roles over a long and distinguished career, but nowadays is best remembered (sadly, I think) for playing the original Obi-Wan Kenobi in “Star Wars”. He won his only Best Actor Oscar for playing Colonel Nicholson in the marvelous 1957 WWII movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai”. Guinness did himself serve during the Second World War, in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve. He commanded a landing craft during the Allied invasion of Sicily in 1943.

35 Grasshoppers’ foes in “A Bug’s Life” : ANTS

“A Bug’s Life” is a 1998 animated feature film from Pixar. The storyline is based on the film “The Seven Samurai” and the fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.

41 “So adorbs!” : TOO CUTE!

“Adorbs!” is a colloquial term meaning “So cute, so adorable!”

42 One getting bent out of shape at work? : ACROBAT

An acrobat is someone who performs gymnastic feats. The term “acrobat“ comes into English via French from the Greek “akrobatos” meaning “going on tip-toe, climbing up high”.

45 Where to ride ATVs and dirt bikes : OFF-ROAD

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)