Category: Jeff Chen

Bill’s time: 17m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Economy-based calculation, for short : MPG

Miles per gallon (mpg)

14 Classic symbol of purity and grace : UNICORN

A unicorn is a mythical creature that resembles a horse with a horn projecting from its forehead. The term “unicorn” comes from the Latin “uni-” (one) and “cornus” (horn).

17 Transmitter of audio programmes : BBC RADIO

The marvelous British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is mainly funded by the UK government through a television “licence” (British spelling, as opposed to “license”!) fee that is levied annually on all households watching TV transmissions.

20 Endnote abbr. meaning “same as before” : IBID

Ibid. is short for the Latin word “ibidem” and is typically found in footnotes and bibliographies. Ibid. is used to refer the reader to the prior citation, instead of giving the same information all over again (title, author etc.).

21 Cries of shear terror? : BAAS

The sound of a sheep terrified at the prospect of being sheared.

22 Sir Georg who conducted 999 Chicago Symphony concerts : SOLTI

Sir Georg Solti was a great Hungarian-British conductor, who spent 22 years as music director of the Chicago Symphony, one of many prestigious positions he held in the world of classical music and opera. Solti was awarded 31 Grammy Awards, the most won by any individual in any genre of music. I think it’s kind of cool that Solti’s name comprises two notes in the solfa scale: sol-ti …

28 Halley’s comet, to some : OMEN

Edmond Halley was an English astronomer who lived at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1705 he declared that comet sightings recorded in 1456, 1531, 1607 and 1682 were in fact observations of the same comet returning to fly by Earth at regular intervals. He predicted that this comet would return in 1758. Hally was right, and so the comet was named after him. Sadly, Halley didn’t live long enough to see that his prediction came true.

29 ___ steak, dish lightly seared on the outside and raw in the middle : AHI

Ahi tuna is also known as yellowfin tuna and is a popular fish for sushi and sashimi. However, due to overfishing, ahi tuna populations are at risk.

37 Issa who created “Awkward Black Girl” : RAE

Issa Rae is a Stanford University graduate who created a YouTube web series called “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl”. Rae also plays the title role in the series, a young lady named “J”. “Awkward Black Girl” was adapted into an HBO comedy-drama called “Insecure”, in which Issa Rae stars.

39 Licenses, perhaps : OKS

It took me years to stop using the term “driving license” after I moved to the US. We call a driver’s license a “driving license” back in Ireland.

41 Victor’s crow : I WON!

The verb “to crow” meaning “to exult in triumph” is imitative of the sound made by a crow, perhaps as it settles over some dead animal that it has found …

44 King Lear’s middle daughter : REGAN

“King Lear” is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. Lear’s three daughters figure prominently in the story line. The three are, in order of age:

• Goneril
• Regan
• Cordelia

46 Cannabis with a high level of THC : KUSH

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive in cannabis.

49 Literary character whose name translates to “no one” : NEMO

In the 1954 movie “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, Captain Nemo goes down with his ship. In the novel by Jules Verne (1869-1870), the fate of Nemo and his crew isn’t quite so cut and dry, although the inference is perhaps that they did indeed head for Davy Jones’ Locker.

54 Pass on a wing and a prayer : HAIL MARY

A Hail Mary pass (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of success, right at the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to the thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance in Roman Catholicism.

55 Many cross words? : TIRADE

The term “tirade” describes a long and vehement speech, and is a word that came into English from French. “Tirade” can have the same meaning in French, but is also the word for “volley”. So, a tirade is a “volley” of words.

56 Like zombies and some loves : UNDYING

A zombie is a corpse that has been brought back to life by some mystical means. Our modern use of the term largely stems from the undead creatures featured in the 1968 horror movie called “Night of the Living Dead”. Now that film I haven’t seen, and probably never will …

58 Org. that checks what you don’t : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

Down

1 Movie that’s not expected to be a blockbuster : ART FILM

During WWII, a “blockbuster” was a large bomb, one capable of blowing up a city block. The term migrated into the world of entertainment in the late fifties, describing a particularly successful movie or show.

6 Ball holder : TEE

A tee is a small device on which, say, a golf ball is placed before striking it. The term “tee” comes from the Scottish “teaz”, which described little heaps of sand used to elevate a golf ball for the purpose of getting a clean hit with a club.

7 Angular movement? : CUBISM

In the art movement known as Cubism, objects that are the subject of a painting are broken up and reassembled in an abstract form. The pioneers of the Cubist movement were Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque.

8 The emperor Túpac Amaru, for one : INCA

The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Túpac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

9 Ones running the world, per Beyoncé : GIRLS

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”.

11 Evidence in a criminal case, maybe : PRINTS

Fingerprint patterns are classified into three different patterns: loops, whorls and arches.

15 Panthers’ home : CAROLINA

The Carolina Panthers are the NFL team based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

25 Compatriot : PAISANO

“Paisano” translates literally from Spanish as “fellow countryman”, but is also used to mean “pal, chum”.

A compatriot is a fellow-countryman or -countrywoman.

30 Cannabis product sometimes found in granola : HEMP

Hemp, also known as “cannabis”, is a hardy, fast-growing plant that has many uses mainly due to the strength of the fibers in the plant’s stalks. Hemp is used to make rope, paper and textiles. The term “hemp” is sometimes reserved for varieties of the plant grown for non-drug use.

35 Certain clubhouse : ELKS LODGE

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The list of US presidents that have been members of the BPOE includes Presidents Eisenhower, Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford.

42 Actor Damon Sr. or Damon Jr. : WAYANS

The Wayans family is known as the First Family of Entertainment as it is replete with actors, directors, screenwriters and comedians.

43 People of the Iroquois Confederacy : ONEIDA

The Iroquois Confederacy was also known as the Five Nations and was composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca nations.

46 Korean model hitting the scene in 1999 : KIA RIO

The Kia Rio is a subcompact that has been in production since 1999, and has undergone several updates and redesigns over the years. The Rio was designed by Kia’s chief design officer, Peter Schreyer, who previously worked for Audi and is credited with designing the iconic Audi TT.

55 Venue for many TV reruns : TBS

The tbs cable television station started out in 1967 as a local broadcast TV station in Atlanta. The station’s first call letters were WJRJ-TV, and this was changed to WTCG in 1970 when it was acquired by Ted Turner (the TCG stood for Turner Communications Group). In 1976, Turner started distributing WTCG via satellite making its programming available in other parts of the country. WTCG was only the second channel to transmit via satellite, following HBO. The difference was that WTCG was broadcast without requiring a premium subscription. The station’s call sign was changed again in 1979 to WTBS, with “TBS” standing for Turner Broadcasting System. In 1981, the channel adopted the moniker “Superstation WTBS”.