Category: Jeffrey Martinovic

Bill’s time: 19m 16s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 View from St. Moritz : ALPS

St. Moritz is a pricey resort town in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and a favorite destination of the rich and famous. “Moritz” is the German for “Maurice”.

17 Jeweler’s unit : KARAT

A karat (also “carat”, the spelling outside of North America) is a measure of the purity of gold alloys, with 24-karat representing pure gold.

22 Like Yeats, but not Keats : IRISH

Irish poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for “inspired poetry” that gave “expression to a whole nation”. Yeats was Ireland’s first Nobel laureate.

English poet John Keats died in Rome in 1821, and is buried there in the Protestant Cemetery. His last wish was that his grave be marked with a tombstone bearing just the words “”Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water”, and no name nor a date. Keats’ friends honored his request to some extent, as the words were included on the stone and no name is given. The full epitaph reads:

This Grave
contains all that was Mortal
of a
Young English Poet
Who
on his Death Bed, in the Bitterness of his Heart
at the Malicious Power of his Enemies
Desired
these Words to be
engraven on his Tomb Stone:
Here lies One
Whose Name was writ in Water.
24 February 1821

27 In the red : OWING

To be in the red is to be in debt, to owe money. The expression “in the red” is a reference to the accounting practice of recording debts and losses in red ink in ledgers. The related phrase “in the black” means “solvent, making a profit”.

28 Do-to-do delivery? : OCTAVE

I find that terminology in music can be confusing. My way of looking at an octave (my way … don’t shout at me!) is thinking of a piano keyboard. In the key of C, the seven notes of the octave are C, D, E, F, G, A, B (or “do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti”). These are all white keys. Most of these “white notes” are separated by whole tones, so there is room to add a “semitone” in between most of them, and these are the black keys (C-sharp for example). There is room for five black keys in an octave, and 7 + 5 adds up to 12. I assume we use the term “octave” because we often add an eighth note on the end “to bring us back to do” as the song says (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do … or … C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C). That eighth note is really the first note in the next octave up.

29 Joan Cusack and Robert Downey Jr. each spent one season on it, for short : SNL

Joan Cusack is a wonderful actress, I think, although she always seems to be cast in supporting roles. She is the sister of actor John Cusack, and has appeared with him in many films including “Sixteen Candles” and my personal favorite, “Grosse Pointe Blank”.

Robert Downey, Jr. is the son of the actor and director Robert Downey, Sr. Young Robert’s first on-screen role was in a movie his father directed called “Pound”, released in 1970 when he was just 5-years-old.

30 Certain court documents : BRIEFS

The term “brief”, in the context of the law, applies to a written legal document presented in court as an argument in a legal process. “Brief” comes from the Latin “brevis” meaning “short”. So, I guess those arguments were originally meant to be short, concise. And “briefs” can be carried in a “briefcase”.

36 Former senator Kennedy : TED

Ted Kennedy was the youngest boy in a family that included older brothers Joseph Jr. (killed in action in WWII), John (assassinated) and Robert (assassinated). Ted went into the US Senate in 1962 in a special election held after his brother became US President. He remained in the Senate until he passed away in 2009, making Ted Kennedy the fourth-longest-serving Senator in history. The 2017 movie “Chappaquiddick” gives some insight, albeit somewhat speculative, about the darker side of Ted Kennedy’s life. It focuses on the events surrounding the infamous Chappaquiddick incident in which Kennedy drove off a bridge, resulting in the death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne.

40 “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” for one : WAR SONG

In 1856, William Steffe wrote the tune that was eventually used for “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. Before long, it was one of the most popular tunes of the day, sung with a number of different lyrics. After the outbreak of the Civil War, Thomas Bishop composed lyrics to a famous abolitionist version of the tune “John Brown’s Body”. The words to “John Brown’s Body” became less remembered than the strident melody, so Julia Ward Howe wrote the famous patriotic lyrics that spread through the ranks of the Union forces under the title of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”.

47 Crocheting template : PATTERN

Crochet is a process of making a fabric using a hooked needle. “Crochet” is a French word meaning “hook”.

53 Montreal hockey player, to fans : HAB

The Montreal Canadiens hockey team is known by the nickname “Habs”, which is short for “Les Habitants”. “Les habitants” were the original French settlers in Quebec.

54 Check scanner, for short : ATM

Checks and checking accounts caused me some language trouble when I first came to the US. Back in Ireland (and the UK) we write “cheques” using funds from our “current” accounts.

56 A.P.R.-lowering option : REFI

Annual percentage rate (APR)

57 A.P., Reuters, etc. : WIRES

A news agency (also “newswire, wire service”) is an agency that collects news reports and sells them on to other news organizations. The big three news agencies are Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Associated Press (AP), and Reuters.

59 Hudson Bay or the Caspian : INLAND SEA

Henry Hudson was an English explorer active in the early 1600s. He is best known for his exploration of present-day Canada and the northeastern US. The general goal of Hudson’s voyages was discovery of a northeast passage to China and Asia. Though he was unsuccessful in this regard, he and his crew did map several locations now named for him, e.g. the Hudson River, the Hudson Strait and Hudson Bay. Hudson eventually fell victim to a mutiny in 1611, when he and several crew members were set adrift in Hudson Bay and never seen again.

The Caspian Sea is a landlocked body of water lying between Asia and Europe. By some definitions, the Caspian is the largest lake on the planet. The name “Caspian” comes from the Caspi people who lived to the southwest of the sea in the South Caucasus.

64 Sherlock Holmes, e.g. : LONDONER

In the “Sherlock Holmes” stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the famous detective has lodgings at 221b Baker Street in London. Holmes shares rooms with his friend and chronicler Dr. Watson. The landlady in the residence is the amiable Mrs. Hudson.

According to author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his character Sherlock Holmes was based on a Dr. Joseph Bell for whom Doyle worked in Edinburgh. That said, Bell actually wrote a letter to Doyle in which he said “you are yourself Sherlock Holmes and well you know it”.

67 The Lone Ranger, to Tonto : KEMOSABE

“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger” Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

77 Pants, informally : BRITCHES

Strictly speaking, breeches (sometimes “britches”) are a clothing item like trousers that cover the body from waist to just below the knee. We also use “breeches” as a slang term meaning “pants”.

81 Roofed porch : LANAI

A lanai is a type of veranda, and a design that originated in Hawaii. A kind blog reader tells me that the etymology of “lanai” seems unclear, but that the island name of “Lana’i” is not related.

86 Garfield’s predecessor : HAYES

Rutherford B. Hayes (RBH) was the 19th president of the US. Long before we had to endure the dispute over the 2000 presidential election, Rutherford Hayes found himself president after a disputed election in 1876. President Hayes came into office having lost the popular vote to his opponent Samuel Tilden as he was voted into office by one electoral college vote. Hayes was awarded the election in the end because of an informal deal struck between Democrats and Republicans called the Compromise of 1877. Democrats allowed Rutherford to occupy the White House in exchange for removal of federal troops occupying some of the southern states.

James Abram Garfield, the 20th President of the US, was assassinated in office. He was shot twice, and one bullet could not be found (it was lodged in his spine). Inventor Alexander Graham Bell developed a metal detector in an attempt to locate the bullet, but apparently he was unsuccessful because of interference from the metal bed frame on which the president lay. Garfield died two months after being shot.

90 Company whose name ends in an exclamation point : YAHOO!

Jerry Yang and David Filo called their company “Yahoo!” for two reasons. Firstly, a Yahoo is a rude unsophisticated brute from Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”. Secondly, Yahoo stands for “Yet another Hierarchical Officious Oracle”.

91 Steak option in northern Canada : MOOSE MEAT

The moose is the largest species in the deer family, and can stand almost at 7 feet at the shoulder. Moose are a little unusual in that they are solitary animals, unlike other deers who tend to move in herds. We use the term “moose” here in North America, but confusingly, the same animal is referred to as “elk” in British English.

93 Celebrity chef Hussain who won “The Great British Bake Off” : NADIYA

“The Great British Bake Off” (GBBO) is a television baking competition introduced by the BBC in the UK in 2010. The show was a phenomenal and perhaps surprising success almost immediately. “Bake Off” is rebroadcast in the US by PBS as “The Great British Baking Show”. There was great controversy in the UK in 2016 when the BBC couldn’t find the fund to pay the producers for the show, and so it had moved to a new channel, with a new set of hosts. The BBC hosts decided not to move with the show, saying they weren’t interested in the “dough” (their pun!).

96 Ireland, poetically : ERIN

“Éire”, is the Irish word for “Ireland”. The related “Erin” is an anglicized version of “Éire” and actually corresponds to “Éirinn”, the dative case of “Éire”.

97 Newlyweds’ booking : HONEYMOON SUITE

The concept of a honeymoon vacation only started in the early 1800s. In Britain, wealthy couples would take a “bridal tour” together after the wedding, visiting those friends and relatives who could not attend the ceremony. The etymology of “honeymoon” isn’t very clear, and may even have a negative derivation as it might suggest that the sweetness (honey) of love is doomed to wane like a passing phase of the moon. The equivalent terms in other languages are “moon of honey” (French), “honey month” (Welsh) and “tinsel week” (German).

107 Old ___, Conn. : LYME

Old Lyme is a town in Connecticut that is named for the English town of Lyme Regis. The towns of Old Lyme and its neighbor Lyme gave their name to Lyme disease, as a number of cases of the disease were identified there in 1975.

108 Supermodel with a palindromic name : EMME

Emme is the highest-paid plus-size model in the world. She was born Melissa Miller in New York City, and was raised in Saudi Arabia.

109 ___ Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first elected female head of state : ELLEN

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was elected President of Liberia in 2005, and re-elected in 2011. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in the continent of Africa. She was jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her work to protect women and women’s rights.

117 It can be quite sappy : TREE

There are two types of sap in a plant. Xylem sap is a watery solution that moves from the roots to the leaves. Phloem sap is a sugary solution that moves from the leaves (where sugars are produced) to the parts of the plant where sugars are used.

118 Half of an exchange : TAT

Tit for tat …

120 Texter’s “As I see it …” : IMO …

In my opinion (IMO)

121 Co. that introduced Dungeons & Dragons : TSR

Dungeons & Dragons (D&D, DnD) is a complex role-playing game (RPG) introduced in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules Incorporated (TSR). Dungeons & Dragons was probably the first of the modern role-playing games to be developed, and the most successful. It is still played by lots of people today, including my youngest son …

123 Black ___ : OPS

Black ops are covert operations, activities that are usually outside of standard military protocol and may even be against the law. Funding for black ops is usually provided by a secret “black budget”.

124 Margaret Thatcher, e.g. : TORY

“Tory” comes from the Irish word “tóraí” meaning “outlaw, robber”. The term “tory” was originally used for an Irish outlaw and later became a term of abuse for Irish rebels. At the end of the reign of King Charles II in Britain, there was a political divide with one side being called “Whigs” and the other “Tories”. Historically, the term “Tory” evolved to basically mean a supporter of the British monarchy, and indeed was used to describe those who remained loyal to the British Crown during the American Revolution. Today, “Tory” is used for a member of the British Conservative Party.

Margaret Thatcher served as Prime Minister of the UK from 1979 to 1990, making her the longest serving leader of the country in the 20th century, and the first woman to hold the office. Thatcher’s nickname in the press was the “Iron Lady”, a moniker bestowed on her by a Soviet journalist. The “Iron Lady” was born Margaret Hilda Roberts, the daughter of a grocer. She studied chemistry at Oxford University and worked for a while as a research chemist.

Down

2 Judge seen on a bench : AARON

Aaron Judge is a baseball outfielder who was selected as 2017’s American League Rookie of the Year. Judge is a big guy. He weighs 282 pounds, and is 6 foot 7 inches tall.

5 Constellation in the southern sky : ARA

The constellation of Ara takes its name from the Latin word for “altar”.

6 Reed or Rawls : LOU

Lou Reed was best known as a rock musician and songwriter, and was especially associated with the fabulous 1973 hit “Walk on the Wildside”. Reed is less well known as a photographer, but he published two collections of his work. The first was released in 2003 under the title “Emotions in Action”, and the second in 2006 called “Lou Reed’s New York”. Reed passed away in 2013.

Lou Rawls was an American soul and blues singer known for his smooth vocal style. With his singing career well on the way, Rawls was asked to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” in 1977 at a Muhammad Ali fight in Madison Square Garden. This performance led to him being asked to sing the anthem many, many times in the coming years with his last rendition being at a World Series game in 2005. Rawls passed away in January of the following year.

9 Color named for a famed prep school : ETON BLUE

Eton blue is the school color that has been used by the Sports teams of Eton College in England since the early 1800s.

11 What’s mined in a stannary : TIN

The Latin word for tin is “stannum”, and so tin’s atomic symbol is “Sn”. One of the ores used as a source of tin is “stannite”.

16 Did some spelling? : HEXED

“Hexen” is a German word meaning “to practice witchcraft”. The use of the word “hex” in English started with the Pennsylvania Dutch in the early 1800s.

18 Jersey-born rock icon, familiarly : THE BOSS

Bruce Springsteen is a rock singer and songwriter who is famously from New Jersey. A lot of Springsteen’s works are centered on his home state and the American heartland. His most famous album is “Born in the USA”, which was released in 1984. Springsteen lives in New Jersey, with his wife Patti Scialfa and their children.

21 “Charlie’s Angels” actress : LUCY LIU

Lucy Liu is an actress from Queens, New York. Liu’s big break came when she was chosen to play the Ling Woo character in “Ally McBeal”. I liked her in the 2000 film “Charlie’s Angels” but as I am no fan of Quentin Tarantino, I did not enjoy the movie “Kill Bill”. I do enjoy one of Liu’s more recent projects in which she plays Joan Watson, one of the two lead characters in the TV crime drama “Elementary”.

“Charlie’s Angels” is a fun action movie from 2000 that is a spin-off from the iconic TV show of the same name from the seventies. The “Angels” in the movie version are Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu, with Bill Murray as John Bosley. John Forsythe provides the voice of the unseen “Charlie”, just as he did in the original television show.

26 Charlie’s Angels and others : TRIOS

When the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” first aired in the mid-seventies, it was a little unusual in that it featured three women playing private detectives, a role usually reserved for men. The name first chosen for the show was “The Alley Cats”, then “Harry’s Angels”, before finally settling on “Charlie’s Angels”.

35 Slot machine lever : ARM

Slot machines earned the nickname “one-armed bandits” simply because they had “one arm”, the handle pulled to operate the machine. Well, they also rob your money!

39 Europe’s highest volcano : ELBRUS

The Caucasus is a geographic region lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea on the European-Asian border. The region is home to Mount Elbrus in the Caucasian Mountains, which is the highest peak in the whole of Europe.

40 Nintendo antagonist in purple overalls : WARIO

Wario is a character in the “Mario” video game universe. He is a rival of Mario, and indeed the name “Wario” is a portmanteau of the Japanese word “warui” (meaning “bad”) and “Mario”. Bad Mario …

44 First name on the Supreme Court : ELENA

Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States from 2009 until 2010, when she replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the first female US Solicitor General and the fourth female US Supreme Court justice. Kagan also served as the first female dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009.

45 Lifesaving device, for short : DEFIB

An automated external defibrillator (AED) is a portable electronic device that automatically analyzes the heart rhythm of a person who is experiencing sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and, if necessary, delivers an electrical shock to the heart to restore a normal heart rhythm. AEDs are becoming more common sights, especially as most can now be used to help a patient, even if the operator has no training. On a recent trip to Britain and Ireland, I noticed that the iconic telephone boxes are being used to house AEDs rather than remove them as public phones become unnecessary.

53 Mob enforcer : HIRED GOON

The term “goon” was coined by American humorist Frederick J. Allen in a 1921 “Harper’s” piece titled “The Goon and His Style”. The article defines a good as “a person with a heavy touch” someone lacking “a playful mind”. The term was popularized in the “Thimble Theater” comic strips featuring Popeye. The first use of “goon” to describe a hired thug was in 1938, with reference to strikebreakers.

55 Add milk to a customer’s coffee, in diner lingo : MAKE IT MOO

Diner lingo, the verbal slang used by the staff, can be very colorful. Here are a few examples:

• Adam & Eve on a raft: two poached eggs on toast
• Adam & Eve on a raft and wreck ’em: two scrambled eggs on toast
• Burn one: put a hamburger on the grill
• Burn one, take it through the garden and pin a rose on it: hamburger with lettuce, tomato and onion
• Down: on toast
• Whiskey down: on rye toast
• Cluck and grunt: ham and eggs

58 Feature of James Earl Jones’s voice : SONORITY

James Earl Jones (JEJ) was noted for some very respected stage and film performances, but also for his wonderful voice. Jones had to overcome stuttering as a child, and decades later provided the voice for Darth Vader. James was the son of actor Robert Earl Jones.

62 Some N.F.L. linemen, in brief : DTS

In football, a running back (RB) might be stopped by a defensive tackle (DT).

70 Insignificant amount : SOU

A sou is an old French coin. We use the term “sou” to mean “practically worthless amount”.

72 “___ Robinson” (Simon & Garfunkel hit) : MRS

When Mike Nichols was making the 1967 film “The Graduate” he apparently became obsessed with the music of Simon and Garfunkel, who were just coming into the limelight. Nichols made a deal with Paul Simon to write three songs that he could use on the soundtrack of his new movie. Simon and Garfunkel were touring constantly around that time, so Nichols had to badger Simon to hold up his end of the bargain. When Nichols was ready to lay down the film’s soundtrack there was only one commissioned song available, so Nichols had to basically beg Paul Simon for anything. Simon mentioned that he was finishing up one new song, but it wasn’t written for the film. It was more a celebration of former times, with lyrics about baseball great Joe DiMaggio and former First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt. Nichols informed Simon that the song was no longer about Mrs. Roosevelt, and instead was about Mrs. Robinson …

73 Cookies made with ground almond or coconut : MACAROONS

A macaron is a meringue-based cookie associated with French cuisine, although the original confection hailed from Italy. Macarons are often confused with macaroons, small cookies made from ground almonds, and often coconut.

75 Ain’t that the tooth! : CANINE

The canine teeth of a mammal are also called the eyeteeth or cuspids. The name “canine” is used because these particular teeth are very prominent in dogs. The prefix “eye-” is used because in humans the eyeteeth are located in the upper jaw, directly below the eyes.

76 Crime novelist Josephine : TEY

“Josephine Tey” was the pen name of Scottish mystery writer Elizabeth Mackintosh, who was best known for writing mystery novels. One of Tey’s more famous works is the 1949 crime novel “Brat Farrar”, the story of an orphan who impersonates the missing son of a rich family in order to wangle his way into an inheritance. Another is “The Daughter of Time”, in which a Scotland Yard inspector who is laid up in hospital takes on the mystery of whether or not King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the Princes in the Tower.

78 Skywalker portrayer : HAMILL

Actor Mark Hamill is best known (by far) for playing Luke Skywalker in “Star Wars” movies. That said, fans of “Batman: The Animated Series” will know him as the voice actor behind the Joker.

80 Elite naval groups : SEAL TEAMS

The US Special Forces unit that is popularly referred to as SEAL Team Six, is more correctly known as the US Naval Warfare Development Group (NSWDG). “SEAL Team Six” was actually the name of the unit’s predecessor, which was disbanded in 1987. The original group was created soon after the Iran hostage crisis of 1979. Two SEAL teams were deployed, and the name SEAL Team Six was used as a ruse in order to confuse the Russian intelligence services about the actual number of teams in existence.

81 Nearly succeeded … but there’s a catch! : LINED OUT

That would be baseball.

98 Elizabeth of “WandaVision” : OLSEN

Elizabeth Olsen is the younger sister of famous actresses Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who rose to fame as child stars on the TV show “Full House”. Elizabeth didn’t start acting until later in life, and has starred in several critically acclaimed films. She is also known for her role as Scarlet Witch (aka Wanda Maximoff) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“WandaVision” is a TV miniseries featuring characters from Marvel Comics. The title characters are Wanda Maximoff (aka Scarlet Witch) played by Elizabeth Olsen and Vision played by Paul Bettany. I am by no means a fan of screen adaptations of comic characters, but I might take a look at “WandaVision”. Wanda and Vision are living in suburbia, trying to conceal their superhero identities. Each episode progresses the storyline through several decades, using situations encountered in sitcoms of the day. Episodes use the format of shows such as:

• The Dick Van Dyke Show
• I Love Lucy
• Bewitched
• I Dream of Jeannie
• The Brady Bunch
• Good Times
• The Mary Tyler Moore Show
• Full House
• Malcolm in the Middle
• Modern Family
• Out of this World
• The Twilight Zone

Sounds very intriguing …

99 A.F.C. East player : NY JET

Just like the New York Giants, the New York Jets are based in New Jersey, headquartered in Florham Park. The Jets and the Giants have a unique arrangement in the NFL in that the two teams share Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets were an AFL charter team, formed in 1959 as the Titans of New York. The Titans changed their name to the Jets in 1963.

101 Ballpark figure : UMP

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

102 Cry in a laser tag arena : I’M HIT!

The name “Laser Tag” is really a misnomer as lasers are rarely used in the game. The “guns” actually send out infrared light, and not laser light, that is picked up by infrared detectors worn by the players.

106 Jedi foe : SITH

The Sith are characters in the “Star Wars” universe who use the “dark side” of “the Force”, and as such are the antithesis of the Jedi Knights. Members of the Sith use the title “Darth” before their name, as in Darth Vader. The last made of the six “Star Wars” movies is called “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith”.

109 Nonsense word in a playground rhyme : EENY

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

112 Prefix with glyceride : TRI-

Lipids are a group of naturally occurring molecules including fats, waxes and fat-soluble vitamins (like A, D and E). Sometimes we use the words “fat” and “lipid” interchangeably but fats are a subgroup of lipids, specifically a group best called triglycerides.