Category: David Steinberg

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Rowdydow : ADO
A “rowdydow” is an uproar or hubbub, and a new word to me …

4. Its logo’s letters have a stripe running through them : ESPN
The ESPN logo is the name “ESPN” in red letters with a white horizontal stripe going through them.

8. 2004 sci-fi film based on a 1950 book : I, ROBOT
“I, Robot” is an interesting 2002 science fiction film starring Will Smith that is loosely based on the excellent collection of short stories of the same name by Isaac Asimov.

Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”, although Asimov’s most famous work is probably his “Foundation” trilogy of novels.

15. African healer : ALOE
Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.

16. Eerie phenomenon : DEJA VU
“Déjà vu” is French for “already seen”.

19. Atom who directed “The Sweet Hereafter” : EGOYAN
Atom Egoyan is a Canadian stage and film director who is perhaps best known for directing the commercial success “Chloe”. Egoyan was born in Cairo, Egypt and was given the unusual name of “Atom” as his parents wanted to mark the completion of Egypt’s first nuclear reactor.

20. 90 degrees from N? : ZEE
The letter Z is formed by rotating the letter N through 90 degrees.

23. Flamenco shout : OLE!
Flamenco is a style of Spanish music and dance. The origin of the word “flamenco” isn’t clearly understood, but the explanation that seems most credible to me is that it comes from Flanders in Northern Europe. Given that “flamenco” is the Spanish word for “Flemish” and Flanders is home to the Flemish people it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?

24. Border : CUSP
The word “cusp” comes from the Latin “cuspis” meaning “spear, point”. The term was first used in English in astrology, but then migrated into the field of mathematics to describe the point where two curves meet.

28. Tay and Fyne : LOCHS
Loch Tay is a long and narrow freshwater lake in the central highlands of Scotlands. Loch Tay is the sixth largest lake in the country, and is the source of the River Tay that flows through the city of Dundee.

Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland, and is the largest sea loch in the whole country. The name “Fyne” translates as “vine” or “wine”, although there is no evidence of grapes growing in the area.

31. “Toddlers & Tiaras” airer : TLC
“Toddlers & Tiaras” is a reality show aired by TLC that follows contestants in child beauty pageants. Not my cup of tea …

34. Loan letters : APR
Annual percentage rate (APR)

35. Nicole Polizzi, familiarly : SNOOKI
Nicole Polizzi is quite the celebrity, known by her nickname of Snooki on the MTV reality television show “Jersey Shore”. Polizzi gets her nickname from the character Snooki in the film “Save the Last Dance”, a nickname she was given in middle school because she was the first in her group of friends to kiss a boy.

40. Place to gambol : LEA
“Gambol” is a such a lovely word, meaning “to frolic. leap about”. Sheep or other animals might gambol in a meadow or lea.

41. *Caboose : REAR END (from “rear Window”)
The word “caboose” originally came from Middle Dutch and was the word for a ship’s galley. When the last car in a train in North America was given a stove for the comfort of the crew, it took on the name “caboose”.

43. Long in Hollywood : NIA
Nia Long is an American actress, probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

46. English word derived from Tswana : TSETSE
Tsetse flies live on the blood of vertebrate mammals. The name “tsetse” comes from Tswana, a language of southern Africa, and translates simply as “fly”. Tsetse flies are famous for being carriers of the disease known as “sleeping sickness”. Sleeping sickness is caused by a parasite which is passed onto humans when the tsetse fly bites into human skin tissue. If one considers all the diseases transmitted by the insect, then the tsetse fly is responsible for a staggering quarter of a million deaths each year.

48. ___-Lo (“I Wish” rapper) : SKEE
Skee-Lo is the stage name of rap artist Antoine Roundtree who is best known for his 1995 song “I Wish”. Skee-Lo now lives in Winnebago, Wisconsin where he owns an auto dealership.

55. Palindromic emperor : OTTO
Otto I through Otto VI were all Holy Roman Emperors.

The Holy Roman Empire (HRE) existed from 962 to 1806 AD and was a territory of varying size over the centuries that centered on the Kingdom of Germany. The HRE was a successor to the western half of the Ancient Roman Empire.

57. Birth control option, briefly : IUD
It seems that it isn’t fully understood how intrauterine devices (IUDs) work. The design that was most popular for decades was a T-shaped plastic frame on which was wound copper wire. It’s thought that the device is an irritant in the uterus causing the body to release chemicals that are hostile to sperm and eggs. This effect is enhanced by the presence of the copper.

58. He wrote “Hell is other people” : SARTRE
“Huis Clos” means “behind closed doors” in French. It is the title of the Jean-Paul Sartre play that we in the English-speaking world would better recognize as “No Exit”. The play features four characters who are trapped in a room that they discover is actually located in Hell. One of the characters is Estelle Rigault, a society woman who married her husband for her money, and then has an affair that results in a child whom she murders. Heavy stuff! “No Exit” is the source for one of Sartre’s most famous quotations, “Hell is other people”, meaning that Hell isn’t found in torture or physical punishment, but in the torment inflicted by others.

60. Mauna ___ : LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

63. Acts the curmudgeon : GRIPES
Curmudgeon is one of my wife’s favorite terms to describe me. A curmudgeon is a bad-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions. I am sure she means it very affectionately …

65. 2012 software release … or a hint to the starts of the answers to the starred clues : WINDOWS 8
The Windows 8 version of the Windows operating system include many improvements designed to facilitate its use in mobile devices. There have been some criticisms though, as the interface seems less friendly for users with a keyboard and mouse. One notable complaint is the removal of the start button and start menu with which many of us are so familiar. I hear those features will be added back in Windows 8.1.

68. Understood by few : OCCULT
The adjective “occult” means “secret, beyond the realm of human comprehension”. The term derives from the Latin “occultus” meaning “hidden, concealed”.

69. Axe target? : ODOR
Axe is a brand of male grooming products. Axe is sold under the name Lynx in some parts of the world.

70. Fraternity character : ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.

72. Next word after “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” : DENY
In the balcony scene in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”, Juliet utters the famous line:

O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?

Every school kid must have commented with a giggle “he’s down in the garden!” Of course, “wherefore” isn’t an archaic word for “where”, but rather an old way of saying “why”. So Juliet is asking, “Why art thou Romeo, a Montague, and hence a sworn enemy of the Capulets?”

Down
1. Tangent starter? : ARC-
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent. Each of these is a ratio, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The “reciprocal” of these three functions are secant, cosecant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent. These inverted ratios should not be confused with the “inverse” trigonometric functions e.g. arcsine, arccosine and arctangent. These inverse functions are the reverse of the sine, cosine and tangent. For example, the arctangent can be read as “What angle is equivalent to the following ration of opposite over adjacent?”

2. “Bad Teacher” star, 2011 : DIAZ
The Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz started out her professional life as a model. Diaz’s first acting role was in the 1994 film “The Mask”, starring alongside Jim Carrey.

“Bad Teacher” is a 2011 comedy starring Cameron Diaz as a middle school teacher trying to skate by in her teaching job while she earns enough money for breast enlargement surgery.

3. “Hop-o’-My-Thumb” figure : OGRE
“Hop-o’-My-Thumb” is a fairy tale from France. The story is also called “Little Thumbling” and tells of a small boy going up against an ogre.

4. Mr. Potato Head piece : EAR
Mr. Potato Head is an enduring popular toy that has been around since its invention by George Lerner in 1949. In its original form, the toy was a collection of eyes, ears, and other facial features, that were designed to be stuck into a real potato. Mr. Potato Head also has the distinction of being the first toy ever to be advertised on television.

5. Virginia ___ : SLIMS
The Virginia Slims brand of cigarette was introduced in 1968 and was aimed at young professional women. The marketing slogan designed to attract these women was “You’ve come a long way, baby”. One has to wonder how such a slogan would be received these days … baby …

8. ___ fixes : IDEES
An “idee fixe” (a French term) is basically a fixed idea, an obsession.

11. *Area with the world’s highest tides : BAY OF FUNDY (from “bay window”)
The Bay of Fundy lies at the northeast end of the Gulf of Maine, surrounded mainly by the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The Bay of Fundy is famous for having the highest tidal range in the world, a phenomenon that may one day lead to the construction of a tidal electric power generating facility there.

12. *Bushes were once found there : OVAL OFFICE (from “oval window”)
Although there have been several “oval offices” used by US presidents in the White House, the current Oval Office was designed and constructed at the bequest of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The room has four doors: one door opens onto the Rose Garden; a second door leads to a small study and dining room; a third opens onto the main corridor running through the West Wing; the fourth door opens to the office of the president’s secretary.

18. Virginia ___ : TECH
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) has its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It was founded in 1872 as an agricultural and mechanical land-grant college. Sadly, the school will forever be associated with the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre in which 32 people were shot dead on the campus, the deadliest shooting incident by a lone gunman in US history.

22. *1965 hit that ends “My baby don’t care” : TICKET TO RIDE (from “ticket window”)
“Ticket to Ride” is one of the many hits from the 1965 Beatles album “Help!” Songwriting credit goes to Lennon & McCartney but this one was written mostly by John Lennon.

28. French composer Édouard : LALO
Édouard Lalo was a classical composer from France. Lalo’s most famous work is probably the complex opera “Le roi d’Ys”, which is based on a Breton legend.

29. *Like Linux : OPEN SOURCE (from ”open window”)
The Linux operating system was originally created by Linus Torvalds as an improvement to the Minix operating system. The “Linux” name was meant only to be a working name, short for “Linus’ Minix”, but the name stuck.

30. *Frozen daiquiri ingredient : CRACKED ICE (from “cracked window”)
Daiquirí is a small village on the coast near Santiago, Cuba that was a key location in the American invasion of Cuba in the Spanish-American War. Supposedly, the cocktail called a Daiquiri was invented by American mining engineers in a bar in nearby Santiago.

32. “The Millionairess” star, 1960 : LOREN
Sophia Loren certainly has earned her place in the world of movies. In 1962 she won an Oscar for Best Actress for her role in the Italian film “Two Women”, the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English speaking performance. Loren received a second nomination for Best Actress for her role in “Marriage Italian-Style”, another Italian-language movie, released in 1964.

“The Millionairess” is an entertaining romantic comedy film released in 1960 starring Sophia Loren and Peter Sellers. The movie is loosely based on a George Bernard Shaw play of the same name. The rather famous comedic duet “Goodness Gracious Me” was written for “The Millionairess”.

36. Rim attachment : NET
Basketball is truly an American sport. It was created in 1891 by a James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

45. Certain M.I.T. grads : EES
Electrical Engineers (EEs).

52. Hershey brand : ROLO
Rolo was a hugely popular chocolate candy in Ireland when I was growing up. Rolo was introduced in the thirties in the UK, and is produced under license in the US by Hershey. I was a little disappointed when I had my first taste of the American version as the center is very hard and chewy. The recipe used on the other side of the Atlantic calls for a soft gooey center.

53. Political commentator Paul : GIGOT
Paul Gigot is a political commentator and editor with “The Wall Street Journal”.

56. Dovetail joint part : TENON
I am not sure that “tenon” is the right term for the “tails” of a dovetail joint.

In the world of carpentry, a dovetail joint is one using a “pin” cut into the end of one piece of wood mating with a “tail” cut into another.

One simple type of joint used in carpentry is a mortise and tenon, basically a projection carved at the end of one piece of wood that fits into a hole cut into the end of another. The mortise is the “hole” and the tenon is the “projection”.

62. Palazzo Alfieri’s locale : ASTI
The Palazzo Alfieri is an ancient palace in the Italian city of Asti.

66. Like claret : DRY
“Clairet” is a dark rosé wine. Although it is uncommon today, clairet used to be the most common wine produced in the Bordeaux region of France. For centuries now, English consumers have used the derivative term “claret” to describe all red wine from Bordeaux.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Rowdydow : ADO
4. Its logo’s letters have a stripe running through them : ESPN
8. 2004 sci-fi film based on a 1950 book : I, ROBOT
14. Fix : RIG
15. African healer : ALOE
16. Eerie phenomenon : DEJA VU
17. *Some vacation travel : CAR TRIPS (from “car window”)
19. Atom who directed “The Sweet Hereafter” : EGOYAN
20. 90 degrees from N? : ZEE
21. Say inaudibly : MUTTER
23. Flamenco shout : OLE!
24. Border : CUSP
26. Will certainly receive : IS IN FOR
28. Tay and Fyne : LOCHS
31. “Toddlers & Tiaras” airer : TLC
33. Cream ___ : PUFF
34. Loan letters : APR
35. Nicole Polizzi, familiarly : SNOOKI
38. Toned : BUFF
40. Place to gambol : LEA
41. *Caboose : REAR END (from “rear Window”)
43. Long in Hollywood : NIA
44. Start of many a tale : ONCE
46. English word derived from Tswana : TSETSE
47. Seventh-century start : DCI
48. ___-Lo (“I Wish” rapper) : SKEE
50. ___ equivalent (measure of explosive energy) : TNT
51. Chicken for a chicken dinner : FRYER
53. Flips : GOES APE
55. Palindromic emperor : OTTO
57. Birth control option, briefly : IUD
58. He wrote “Hell is other people” : SARTRE
60. Mauna ___ : LOA
63. Acts the curmudgeon : GRIPES
65. 2012 software release … or a hint to the starts of the answers to the starred clues : WINDOWS 8
68. Understood by few : OCCULT
69. Axe target? : ODOR
70. Fraternity character : ETA
71. Pint-size : TEENSY
72. Next word after “Wherefore art thou Romeo?” : DENY
73. Not too smart : DIM

Down
1. Tangent starter? : ARC-
2. “Bad Teacher” star, 2011 : DIAZ
3. “Hop-o’-My-Thumb” figure : OGRE
4. Mr. Potato Head piece : EAR
5. Virginia ___ : SLIMS
6. *What makes bread rise? : POP-UP TOASTER (from “pop-up window”)
7. Natural hatchery : NEST
8. ___ fixes : IDEES
9. Fix, in a way, as golf clubs : REGRIP
10. Eye, south of the border : OJO
11. *Area with the world’s highest tides : BAY OF FUNDY (from “bay window”)
12. *Bushes were once found there : OVAL OFFICE (from “oval window”)
13. One concerned with pitches : TUNER
18. Virginia ___ : TECH
22. *1965 hit that ends “My baby don’t care” : TICKET TO RIDE (from “ticket window”)
25. Apt anagram of “Russ.” : USSR
27. Small lump : NUB
28. French composer Édouard : LALO
29. *Like Linux : OPEN SOURCE (from ”open window”)
30. *Frozen daiquiri ingredient : CRACKED ICE (from “cracked window”)
32. “The Millionairess” star, 1960 : LOREN
36. Rim attachment : NET
37. Trade-___ : INS
39. 50/50, say : FAIR
42. Nimble : DEFT
45. Certain M.I.T. grads : EES
49. Gallery supporters? : EASELS
52. Hershey brand : ROLO
53. Political commentator Paul : GIGOT
54. Sickly pale : PASTY
56. Dovetail joint part : TENON
59. Like most movies : TWO-D
61. Was behind, in a way : OWED
62. Palazzo Alfieri’s locale : ASTI
64. “Poultry in motion,” e.g. : PUN
66. Like claret : DRY
67. Rush-hour hour : 8AM

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