Category: Erik Agard

Bill’s time: 16m 20s

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Stamp collector? : MAIL

Postage stamps were first introduced in 1840 in the UK, with the first stamp sold being the famous penny black, which is adorned with the head of Queen Victoria. The second stamp followed a few weeks later, and is known as the two penny blue.

18A Opera with the shepherd’s song “Io de’ sospiri” : 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 …

20A Subject of a statue near Liverpool’s Cavern Club : LENNON

John Lennon grew up in a modest home in Liverpool in the northwest of England. Named “Mendips”, the house belonged to Lennon’s maternal aunt and her husband. Lennon was raised by his aunt from the age of five, after his mother was persuaded that the arrangement would be of benefit to young John. Mendips was purchased by Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono in 2002, who then handed it over to the National Trust, a British conservation organization.

24A Azog the Defiler in “The Hobbit,” e.g. : ORC

“The Hobbit, or There and Back Again” is a children’s fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien that was popular from the time of its first publication in 1937. Included in the early awards for “The Hobbit” was a prize for best juvenile fiction from “The New York Herald Tribune”. Tolkien wrote his succeeding novel “The Lord of the Rings” to incorporate elements from “The Hobbit”, so that the two tales are very much related.

25A Leader with a dacha : TSAR

Dachas are usually second homes in Russia and the former Soviet Union that are located outside the city limits in rural areas. Residents/tenants of dachas are often called “dachniks”.

35A Store with expensive items? : TREASURE TROVE

The term “treasure trove” comes from the Anglo-French “tresor trové“ meaning “found treasure”.

37A Brooks in Hollywood : MEL

Mel Brooks’ birth name is Melvin Kaminsky. He is one of relatively few entertainers to win the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam” i.e. an Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy (EGOT). He is in good company, as the list also includes the likes of Richard Rodgers, Sir John Gielgud, Marvin Hamlisch and Audrey Hepburn. Brooks was married to actress Anne Bancroft for 40 years, until her passing in 2005.

41A Cash flow analyst, for short : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

44A Trig fig. : COS

Cosine (cos)

48A Instrument in a bell tower : CARILLON

A carillon is a musical instrument usually found in a belfry. A carillon is a collection of bells that is connected to a keyboard.

51A Eisenhower was the first president to use it : MARINE ONE

Marine One is the call sign used by a Marine Corps helicopter when it is carrying the US president. In fact, the call sign can be used by any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the president, but usually refers to either a Sea King or White Hawk helicopter that is used routinely in transportation to and from the White House. Any Marine Corps aircraft carrying the US vice president adopts the call sign Marine Two.

53A 1997 animated movie in which John Cusack voiced Dimitri : ANASTASIA

“Anastasia” is a 1997 animated musical from Don Bluth and Gary Goldman. The storyline is based on the urban myth that Anastasia, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, survived the family’s execution by the Bolsheviks in 1918. Anastasia is voiced by Meg Ryan, although when Anastasia sings, her voice is dubbed by Liz Callaway.

John Cusack is an actor from Evanston, Illinois. John is noted for appearing in several films with his equally-talented actress sister, Joan Cusack. I think the John Cusack film that I most enjoy is 1997’s “Grosse Pointe Blank”.

Down

2D Deft : ADROIT

The French for “to the right” is “à droite”, from which we get our word “adroit”. The original meaning of “adroit” was “rightly, properly”, but it has come to mean dexterous and skillful. Someone described as “maladroit” is unskilled and awkward.

4D Canalplasty docs : ENTS

Ear, nose and throat specialist (ENT)

7D El Niño feature : TILDE

The tilde diacritical mark (~) is very much associated with the Spanish language. We use the name “tilde” in English, taking that name from Spanish. Confusingly, the word “tilde” in Spanish is used more generally to mean “accent mark, diacritic”, of which a “~” is just one. What we call a “tilde” in English is usually referred to as a “virgulilla” or “tilde de la eñe” in Spanish.

When the surface temperature of much of the Pacific Ocean rises more than half a degree Celsius, then there is said to be an El Niño episode. That small temperature change in the Pacific has been associated with climatic changes that can stretch right across the globe. El Niño is Spanish for “the boy” and is a reference to the Christ child. The phenomenon was given this particular Spanish name because the warming is usually noticed near South America and around Christmas-time.

8D “Vous ___ ici” : ETES

“Vous êtes ici” are important words to know when navigating your way around Paris. They mean “You are here”, and you’ll often see them on maps in the street.

13D Flavor of some cough drops : LICORICE

Liquorice (also “licorice”) and aniseed have similar flavors, but they come from unrelated plants. The liquorice plant is a legume like a bean, and the sweet flavor is an extract from the roots. The flavor mainly comes from an ether compound called anethole, the same substance that gives the distinctive flavor to anise. The seedpods of the anise plant are what we know as “aniseed”. The anise seeds themselves are usually ground to release the flavor.

16D Surgical tool with a namesake medical journal : LANCET

“Lancet” is another name for a scalpel. There’s a publication called “The Lancet”, which is possibly the world’s most respected medical journal. It is certainly one of the oldest, first published in 1823.

23D “Boulevard des Capucines” painter : MONET

French artist Claude Monet was one of the founders of the Impressionist movement, and indeed the term “Impressionism” comes from the title of his 1872 painting “Impression, Sunrise”. That work depicts the port of Le Havre, which was Monet’s hometown. Later in his life, Monet purchased a house in Giverny, and famously installed lily ponds and a Japanese bridge in the property’s extensive gardens. He spent two decades painting the water lily ponds, producing his most famous works. I was fortunate enough to visit Monet’s house and gardens in Giverny a few years ago. A beautiful place …

30D Born losers : CHUMPS

We’ve been using the word “chump” to mean “blockhead” since the 1880s. Prior to that, a chump was a short and thick lump of wood.

31D It’s nicknamed “Land of the Morning Calm” : KOREA

Korea was occupied by the Japanese military from 1910 until Japan surrendered at the end of WWII in 1945. While the UN was working towards a trusteeship administration for Korea, the Soviet Union managed the Korean Peninsula north of the 38th parallel and the US managed the south. The UN’s plans came to naught as the Cold War dictated the establishment of the two separate states of North Korea and South Korea. North Korea invaded the South in 1950, leading to the Korean War. After three years of fighting, the border between the two states became the demarcation line between the two military forces on the day the Armistice Agreement was signed. That line runs diagonally across the 38th parallel, and is better known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).

34D Word after Rice or Cocoa : KRISPIES

Snap, Crackle and Pop are three elves employed as the mascots for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. The trio first appeared in an ad campaign in 1933, although the phrase “snap, crackle and pop” had been used for the cereal for some time in radio ads. By the way, the elves are selling “Rice Bubbles” in Australia, and the elves have different names in other parts of the world (like “Cric!, Crac! and Ploc!” in Québec).

39D Canadian coin, informally : TOONIE

“Toonie” is the familiar name for a two-dollar coin in Canada. It was introduced in 1996, and gets its familiar name from the one-dollar coin known as a “loonie”.

42D F in physics : FARAD

The SI unit of capacitance is the farad, a unit that is named after the physicist Michael Faraday.

45D Golf’s “Slammin’ Sammy” : SNEAD

Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. Snead did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball, by teeing off from home plate. Snead’s best-remembered nickname is “Slammin’ Sammy”.

51D American Airlines Center player, for short : MAV

The Mavericks (also “Mavs”) are an NBA franchise in Dallas, Texas. The team was founded in 1980, and the Mavericks name was chosen by fan votes. The choice of “Mavericks” was prompted by the fact that the actor James Garner was a part-owner of the team, and Garner of course played the title role in the “Maverick” television series.