Category: Bruce Haight

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Duel unit : PACE
Take 15 paces, turn, and fire …

14. Brand name that sounds like a cheer : OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

18. Beekeeper in a 1997 movie : ULEE
“Ulee’s Gold” is a highly respected film from 1997 in which Peter Fonda plays the title role of Ulee. Ulee’s “gold” is the honey that Ulee produces. It is a favorite role for Peter Fonda and he has shared that playing Ulee brought to mind his father Henry Fonda, who himself kept a couple of hives. So if you see Peter Fonda in “Ulee’s Gold” you’re witnessing some characteristics that Peter saw in his father.

19. Marvel’s Thor, Captain America or Iron Man : AVENGER
The Avengers are a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The original lineup, which dates back to 1963, consisted of Ant-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, Thor and the Wasp. Soon after their formation, the Avengers rescued Captain America trapped in ice, and thereafter he joined the team. There is a 2012 movie called “The Avengers” that features Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor.

22. Place for une île : MER
The French would find “une ile” (an island) in “la mer” (the sea).

32. Apples since 1998 : IMACS
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated. The iMac also came in a range of colors, that Apple marketed as “flavors”, such strawberry, blueberry and lime.

35. G.I.’s address : APO
Army post office (APO)

The initials “G.I.” stand for “Government Issue” and not “General Infantry”, as is often believed. GI was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

36. Title for a Benedictine : DOM
The word “Dom” is used in the Roman Catholic Church as a title for some monks, including those in the Benedictine order.

39. Sugar suffix : -OSE
Sugars are usually named using the “-ose” suffix e.g. glucose, fructose, sucrose.

41. Beehive State athlete : UTE
The Runnin’ Utes are the basketball team of the University of Utah. The team was given the nickname the Runnin’ Redskins back when Jack Gardner was the head coach from 1953 to 1971. The “Runnin'” part of the name was chosen because Gardner was famous for playing quick offenses. The “Redskins” name was later dropped in favor of the less controversial “Utes”.

When Mormon pioneers were settling what is today the state of Utah, they referred to the area as Deseret, a word that means “beehive” according to the Book of Mormon. Today Utah is known as the Beehive State and there is a beehive symbol on the Utah state flag.

42. Verdi aria for a baritone : ERI TU
The aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

50. Midsize Nissan : ALTIMA
Nissan has been making the Altima since 1993. In 2007 the company started to produce a hybrid version, Nissan’s first foray into the hybrid market and a successful one by all accounts. Altima hybrids are even used as police cruisers by the New York Police Department.

51. Defib expert : EMT
A defibrillator (defib) might be operated by an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).

59. Explorer of kidvid : DORA
“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases.

60. Apt example of this puzzle’s theme : TYPEWRITER
All the letters in the word “typewriter” appear on the top row of a QWERTY keyboard.

64. Complain loudly : RAIL
To rail at or against something is to complain bitterly about it.

65. Some Deco illustrations : ERTES
I don’t think the artist Erte had any particular link to crosswords, but he sure does turn up a lot in crosswords. “Erte” is a classic example of “crosswordese”.

Art deco is the name given to a style of design and architecture of the 1920s that actually had its roots in Belgium and then spread throughout Europe before arriving in North America. Celebrated examples of art deco architecture are the magnificent Chrysler Building in New York City completed in 1930, and the GE Building that sits in the middle of Rockefeller Center also in New York City, with the address of “30 Rock”.

67. First name in Jellystone Park : YOGI
Yogi Bear made his debut for Hanna-Barbera in 1958, on the Huckleberry Hound Show before he was given his own series. Do you remember that collar that Yogi wore around his neck? That was a little trick from the animators. By using the collar, for many frames all they had to do was redraw everything from the collar up, saving them lots and lots of time. Yogi and Boo Boo lived in Jellystone Park, and made Ranger Smith’s life a misery.

68. Town, in Germany : STADT
“Stadt” is the German word for “city” or “town”.

Down
1. Miles of “Psycho” : VERA
Vera Miles is an American actress who has been associated with a few celebrated movies. In 1954 she played Tarzan’s love interest in “Tarzan’s Hidden Jungle” (and ended up marrying “Tarzan”, actor Gordon Scott). Plans for her to play the female lead in “Vertigo” were shelved when she became pregnant. She did get a role in Hitchcock’s “Psycho” though, playing Lila Crane, the woman who discovered the secrets of Norman Bates and his motel.

7. Iraq’s Mosque of ___ (pilgrimage site) : ALI
The Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq is a holy site for the Shia branch of Islam. The site is the final resting place of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the cousin and son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad who ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661 CE. Many also believe that the remains of Adam and Noah are buried within the mosque.

11. Stackable snack : OREO
There’s an iPhone app featuring the Oreo cookie. It’s a game in which one twists Oreo cookies apart, “licks” the cream from the center and then dunks the remainder of the cookie in a glass of milk.

17. Maryland athlete, informally : TERP
The sports teams of the University of Maryland are called the Maryland Terrapins, or “the Terps” for short. The name dates back to 1932 when it was coined by the the university’s president at the time, Curley Byrd. He took the name from the diamondback terrapins that are native to the Chesapeake Bay.

23. Mythical predator of elephants : ROC
The mythical roc is a huge bird of prey, reputedly able to carry off and eat elephants. The roc was said to come from the Indian subcontinent. The supposed existence of the roc was promulgated by Marco Polo in the accounts that he published of his travels through Asia.

26. Ham it up : EMOTE
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

29. Curie discovery : RADIUM
The element radium was first discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie, in 1898.

Marie Curie lived a life of firsts. She was the first female professor at the University of Paris, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and indeed was the first person to win two Nobel prizes (in 1903 and 1911). Most of Curie’s work was in the field of radioactivity, and was carried out in the days when the impact of excessive radiation on the human body was not understood. She died from aplastic anemia, caused by high exposure to radiation. To this day, Curie’s personal papers are kept preserved in lead-lined boxes as they are highly radioactive, even her personal cookbook.

30. Maureen Dowd pieces : OP-EDS
Op-Ed is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-Eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

Maureen Dowd is a celebrated columnist for “The New York Times” as well as a best-selling author. Dowd won a Pulitzer for her columns about the Monica Lewinski scandal.

33. Halloween haul : SWEETS
All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, better known by the Scottish term, “Halloween”.

43. ___ Maria (liqueur) : TIA
Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur that was invented just after WWII in Jamaica, using Jamaican coffee beans. The name translates to “Aunt Maria”.

53. River of Hesse : EDER
The Eder is a river in Germany, a tributary of the Fulda River. The Eder has a dam near the small town of Waldeck which holds water in the large Edersee reservoir. This was one of the dams that was attacked by the RAF during WWII with the famous Barnes Wallis bouncing bombs. It was destroyed in the Dam Busters raid in 1943, but rebuilt the same year.

54. Love letter sign-off : XOXO
In the sequence XOX, the X represents a kiss and the O a hug. Hugs and kisses …

55. Carnegie ___ (famous eatery) : DELI
Carnegie Deli in Midtown Manhattan opened in 1937, and is located next to Carnegie Hall. The restaurant is noted for the attitude of its waiters, who are deliberately surly. Carnegie Deli also serves up huge portions, and so the establishment’s motto is apt: if you can finish your eal, we’ve done something wrong.

57. Walter ___ hospital : REED
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center is located in Bethesda, Maryland on a site that was selected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938. The facility is named for US Army physician Walter Reed who discovered in 1901 that yellow fever is transmitted by mosquitoes rather than by direct contact.

61. Ming formerly of the N.B.A. : YAO
Yao Ming is a retired professional basketball player from Shanghai who played for the Houston Rockets. At 7’6″, Yao was the tallest man playing in the NBA.

62. Source of fatback : PIG
Fatback is a cut of meat from the back of a pig, although there’s not much meat as it’s mostly made up of hard fat.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Content of hate mail : VENOM
6. Duel unit : PACE
10. With 66-Across, place on a keyboard to find all the letters in 16-, 28-, 46- and 60-Across : TOP
13. Adventurously follow one’s heart, say : ELOPE
14. Brand name that sounds like a cheer : OLAY
15. Bone-dry : SERE
16. Everything you can perform : REPERTOIRE
18. Beekeeper in a 1997 movie : ULEE
19. Marvel’s Thor, Captain America or Iron Man : AVENGER
20. One working with an anchor : SAILOR
22. Place for une île : MER
23. Fowl poles? : ROOSTS
25. Prefix with liter : DECI-
28. Business owner : PROPRIETOR
32. Apples since 1998 : IMACS
34. Didn’t sit on one’s hands : ACTED
35. G.I.’s address : APO
36. Title for a Benedictine : DOM
37. Bankroll : WAD
39. Sugar suffix : -OSE
40. Rustic expanse : LEA
41. Beehive State athlete : UTE
42. Verdi aria for a baritone : ERI TU
44. Players “planted” in a bracket : SEEDS
46. Time without end : PERPETUITY
49. ___ prof. : ASST
50. Midsize Nissan : ALTIMA
51. Defib expert : EMT
53. One shouldn’t drink to this : EXCESS
55. “Is it worth the gamble?” : DO I DARE?
59. Explorer of kidvid : DORA
60. Apt example of this puzzle’s theme : TYPEWRITER
63. They’ve split : EXES
64. Complain loudly : RAIL
65. Some Deco illustrations : ERTES
66. See 10-Across : ROW
67. First name in Jellystone Park : YOGI
68. Town, in Germany : STADT

Down
1. Miles of “Psycho” : VERA
2. Mountain road sign abbr. : ELEV
3. “Fuhgeddaboudit” : NOPE
4. Occasion for amateurs to do stand-up : OPEN MIC
5. Unite : MERGE
6. D-worthy : POOR
7. Iraq’s Mosque of ___ (pilgrimage site) : ALI
8. Roller coaster unit : CAR
9. Urban renewal targets : EYESORES
10. Serves up whoppers : TELLS TALES
11. Stackable snack : OREO
12. Use a spyglass : PEER
15. Multipart composition : SUITE
17. Maryland athlete, informally : TERP
21. Songs most often played by D.J.s : A-SIDES
23. Mythical predator of elephants : ROC
24. Choose not to participate : OPT OUT
25. Prepared fancily : DID UP
26. Ham it up : EMOTE
27. Ones working with an anchor : CAMERA CREW
29. Curie discovery : RADIUM
30. Maureen Dowd pieces : OP-EDS
31. Insult kiddingly : ROAST
33. Halloween haul : SWEETS
38. Exquisite design : ARTISTRY
43. ___ Maria (liqueur) : TIA
45. Humble oneself : EAT DIRT
47. Fund-raisers’ commercials, e.g. : PLEAS
48. “That really hurt!” : YEOW!
52. Sticks in the mud : MIRES
53. River of Hesse : EDER
54. Love letter sign-off : XOXO
55. Carnegie ___ (famous eatery) : DELI
56. Slangy lead-in to “way” : ATTA
57. Walter ___ hospital : REED
58. Formerly, once : ERST
61. Ming formerly of the N.B.A. : YAO
62. Source of fatback : PIG

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