Category: Erik Agard

Bill’s time: 7m 47s

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4A Abolitionist Tubman : HARRIET

Harriet Tubman was not only a former slave who became a legendary abolitionist, but she was also a spy for the Union army during the Civil War. She gathered intelligence behind enemy lines, led raids that freed enslaved people, and even served as a nurse and cook for Union troops.

16A Dubai’s country, for short : UAE

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the federation known as the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The two largest members of the UAE (geographically) are Dubai and Abu Dhabi, the only two of the seven members that have veto power over UAE policy.

24A Typical People cover subject, informally : CELEB

There used to be a “People” page in each issue of “Time” magazine. This page was spun-off in 1974 as a publication of its own, which we now call “People” magazine. “People” is noted for its annual special editions with features such as “Best & Worst Dressed” and “Sexiest Man Alive”. The “Sexiest Man Alive” edition now appears at the end of November each year. The first choice for “Sexiest Man” was Mel Gibson, in 1985.

27A Edible Christmas ornament : CANDY CANE

Apparently, candy canes were created at the behest of the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany in 1672. The sweet sticks were basically used as bribes to keep children quiet during services. The choirmaster specified that the candy sticks should have a crook at the top so that they reminded the children of the three shepherds who visited the infant Jesus just after his birth.

30A Planet with the most moons (274) : SATURN

Saturn has over 250 known moons, with over 50 of them having formal names. The moon named Titan accounts for more than 90% of the total mass orbiting the planet.

38A Certain significant others, informally : BFS

Boyfriend (bf)

41A 2016 Disney movie : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people. Unlike many of the previous Disney Princess films, Moana’s story is not centered around romance. In fact, she is the first Disney Princess who doesn’t have a love interest.

46A U.S. soldiers : GIS

The initialism “GI” stands for “Government Issue”, and not “General Infantry” as is widely 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.

49A ___ cart (type of food stand) : HALAL

“Halal” is a term describing an action or object that is permissible under Islamic Law. In particular “halal” is used to describe food that can be consumed. Anything that is not allowed is described as “haram”.

50A University in western Pennsylvania, familiarly : PITT

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) was founded back in 1787 as the Pittsburgh Academy. Pitt was a private school until 1966, but is now one of four Pennsylvania universities receiving state funding.

55A 1990s-’00s sitcom starring Brandy : MOESHA

“Moesha” is a sitcom that originally aired in the late nineties starring singer Brandy Norwood in the title role, a high school student in LA. “Moesha” may be a sitcom, but it had a reputation for dealing with very real social issues such as teen pregnancy, race relations, and infidelity.

56A Rapper ___ Wayne : LIL

“Lil Wayne” is the stage name used by rap artist Dwayne Carter, Jr. from New Orleans.

63A Birds phonetically suggested by a feature of 17-, 27- and 51-Across : TOUCANS

The toucan is a brightly-marked bird with a large, colorful bill. The name “toucan” comes into English via Portuguese from the Tupi name “tukana”. The Tupi were an indigenous people of Brazil.

65A ___ Moines : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

Down

1D L.A.’s region : SOCAL

Southern California (SoCal)

2D Eucalyptus eater : KOALA

Koalas are not bears, but are marsupials, which means they carry their young in a pouch.They are known for their diet of eucalyptus leaves, which are toxic to most other animals. To cope with this, koalas have a special digestive system that allows them to break down the toxins and extract the nutrients from the leaves. Koalas are one of the sleepiest animals in the world, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. This is because eucalyptus leaves provide very little energy.

Eucalyptus (plural “eucalypti”) is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs that is particularly widespread in Australia. The species known as mountain ash or swamp gum is the tallest flowering plant in the world, with the tallest example located in Tasmania and standing at over 325 feet tall.

6D Like some R’s and oats : ROLLED

Oat cereals all start out as “groats”, toasted oat grains with the hull still intact:

• Steel-cut oats, sometimes called “Irish oats”, are groats that have been chopped into chunks about the size of sesame seeds.
• Stone-ground oats, sometimes called “Scottish oats”, have been ground into smaller pieces, about the size of poppy seeds.
• Old-fashioned rolled oats are made by first steaming the toasted groats, and then rolling them into flakes.
• Quick-cooking oats are similar to rolled oats, but thinner flakes.
• Instant oats have been chopped, rolled, pre-cooked, dehydrated and often have salt and sugar added.

11D Lorde who wrote “Sister Outsider” : AUDRE

“Sister Outsider” is a 1984 collection of essays and speeches by writer and civil rights activist Audre Lorde. The contents challenge a broad range of prejudices, including sexism, racism, ageism, homophobia, and classism.

13D What the Beyoncé title “6 Inch” refers to : HEELS

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2002, after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”. Her fan base goes by the name “Beyhive”.

28D Greek war god : 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.

29D Chances at awards, informally : NOMS

Nomination (nom.)

30D Like this: ESMCLDRBA : SCRAMBLED

“ESMCLDRBA” is the word “SCRAMBLED” scrambled.

35D Law professor played by Kerry Washington in 2016’s “Confirmation” : ANITA HILL

Anita Hill is an attorney who became a professor at Brandeis University in 2015. Hill garnered a lot of attention in 1991 when she accused US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. Judge Thomas was confirmed anyway. Many say that Hill’s testimony during the confirmation hearings launched public awareness of the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace. Within a year, complaints of harassment were up by fifty percent.

“Confirmation” is a 2016 TV film about the Supreme Court nomination hearing for Clarence Thomas, and the allegations of sexual harassment made by Anita Hill. Kerry Washington plays Hill, and Wendell Pierce plays Thomas.

Actress Kerry Washington really hit the big time with her lead performances in the political thriller TV series “Scandal” that aired from 2012 to 2108. In 2016, she portrayed Anita Hill in the TV film “Confirmation”. Back in the 1990s, took dancing lessons in the Bronx. One of her teachers was Jennifer Lopez.

39D Sneaker brand : FILA

Fila was originally an Italian company, founded in 1911 and now based in South Korea. It was started in Piedmont by the Fila brothers, primarily to make underwear that they sold to people living in the Italian Alps. The company started to focus on sportswear in the seventies, using tennis-great Bjorn Borg as their major endorser.

45D He or I, but not she : ELEMENT

Helium is the chemical element with atomic number 2 and the element symbol “He”. It is a gas, lighter than air, and is the second-most abundant element in the universe (after hydrogen). Helium was first detected in 1868 as an unknown yellow spectral line during a solar eclipse. As such, the gas was named for “Helios”, the Greek god of the Sun.

The chemical element iodine is a halogen (as are fluorine, chlorine and bromine) and has the symbol “I”. At room temperature, iodine is a purple-black solid. With heat, it melts into violet liquid, and at high temperatures a violet gas. The name “iodine” comes from the Greek “ioeides” meaning “violet-colored”.

53D Cones’ counterparts in the eye : RODS

The retina is the tissue that lines the inside of the eye, and is the tissue that is light-sensitive. There are (mainly) two types of cells in the retina that are sensitive to light, namely rods and cones. Rods are cells that best function in very dim light and only provide black-and-white vision. Cones on the other hand function in brighter light and can perceive color.

58D Follower of Attila : HUN

The Huns were a nomadic people who originated in Eastern Europe in the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.

60D Opposite of bien : MAL

In French, when things are not “bien” (good), they are “mal” (bad).