Category: Jem Burch

Bill’s time: 45m 14s!

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Headache helper : ADVIL

Advil is Wyeth’s brand of ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug.

13 Palate cleanser in a multicourse French meal : SORBET

“Sorbet” can mean different things around the world. Here in the US, sorbet is a non-fat frozen dessert that is made without any dairy content.

15 Source of a foul odor when wool is washed : LANOLIN

Lanolin is a greasy substance secreted from the skin of woolly animals. It is usually extracted from wool sheared from sheep for use in textiles. Medical grade lanolin is used to soothe skin in ointments. It is relatively hypoallergenic and has antibacterial properties.

16 Going after the big bucks, say : IN HEAT

The estrous cycle of mammals can be divided into four phases:

1. Proestrus is the phase when the body prepares for a potential fertilized egg. In particular, the lining to the uterus starts to develop.
2. Estrus is the phase when the female is said to be “in heat”, when she is sexually receptive.
3. Metestrus is the phase when levels of progesterone increase. The levels continue to increase if pregnancy has occurred, but fall off if there has been no fertilization.
4. Anestrus is the phase when the sexual cycle rests, before starting all over again.

17 Creature catcher in gaming : POKE BALL

In the Pokémon universe, wild Pokémon can be captured using the Poké Ball. I don’t know what that means either …

18 Position with security : STEADY GIG

Musicians use “gig” to describe a job, a performance. The term originated in the early 1900s in the world of jazz. The derivative phrase “gig economy” applies to a relatively recent phenomenon where workers find themselves jumping from temporary job to temporary job, from gig to gig.

20 N.B.A. team that shares an arena with the N.H.L.’s Stars, familiarly : MAVS

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.

22 Major Manhattan thoroughfare, informally : LEX

Lexington Avenue in New York City is famous for many things, but my favorite fact is that it was the site of the first ever arrest for speeding in the city. In 1899 a police officer on a bicycle caught up with a cab driver who was tearing down Lexington Avenue, at the breakneck speed of 12mph …

36 “Tsk, tsk,” in textspeak : SMH

Shaking my head (SMH)

37 Bug that sounds like it was in the air? : FLU

Influenza (the “flu”) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks, and other virus pandemics …

39 Port letters : USB

Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and dealing with electrical power through those connections.

40 Traditional wedding dish in southern Italy, hence its literal translation (“brides”) : ZITI

Cylindrical pasta is known in general as “penne”, and there are many variants. For example, ziti is a particularly large and long tube with square-cut ends. “Penne” is the plural of “penna”, the Italian for “feather, quill”.

42 Most Broadway theaters have two of these : AISLES

New York’s original theater district was located around Union Square, which was called Rialto, after the famous commercial district in Venice, Italy. New York theaters relocated over time to the Broadway area. However, the term “rialto” continues to be used for the city’s theater district, and indeed for a theater district in many towns and cities.

44 Fish often served tartare : AHI

Steak tartare was first served in French restaurants in the early 1900s. Back then, the dish went by the name “steak à l’Americaine”, would you believe? It was basically raw, seasoned beef mixed with egg yolk. A later version of l’Americaine, without the egg yolk and with tartar sauce served on the side, was dubbed “steak tartare”. Over time the two versions became one, and the steak tartare moniker won out. By the way, if you order steak tartare in Switzerland, I believe you are served horse meat. There are now similar “tartare” dishes made with raw salmon, or raw tuna.

45 Nickname for Time’s 2023 Person of the Year : T-SWIZZLE

That would be Taylor Swift.

47 Pole used for extending a sail : SPRIT

A sprit is a pole that extends out from a mast, one often supporting a special sail called a spritsail.

53 Rapper ___ Cat : DOJA

Doja Cat is a singer and rapper who first gained popularity with her hit song “Mooo!” in 2018. Her real name is Amala Ratna Zandile Dlamini.

62 Grumpy companion : SNEEZY

In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale called “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic Disney film “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

• Doc (the leader of the group)
• Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
• Happy
• Sleepy
• Bashful
• Sneezy
• Dopey

Down

2 “You’re tempting fate!” : DON’T JINX IT

A jinx is a charm or a spell. The word “jinx” comes from an older word “jyng” from the 17th-century. A “jyng” was a wryneck, a type of bird much used in witchcraft.

3 Goggles that aren’t meant to go underwater : VR HEADSETS

Virtual reality (VR)

6 Poster’s place : BLOG

Many folks who visit this website regard it as just that, a website. That is true, but more specifically it is referred to as a blog, as I make regular posts (actually daily posts) that then occupy the “front page” of the site. The blog entries are in reverse chronological order, and one can just look back day-by-day, reading older and older posts. “Blog” is a contraction of the term “web log”.

9 Order that comes with a wide straw : BOBA TEA

Bubble tea, sometimes called “boba tea”, is a tea-based drink from Taiwan. The “bubbles” are chewy tapioca balls that are usually added to the drink.

10 Speed skater Johann ___ Koss, winner of four Olympic golds : OLAV

Johann Olav Koss is a former speed skater from Norway, widely considered as one of the best speed skaters in history.

17 Small part of a window : PIXEL

A pixel is a dot, and the base element that goes to make up a digital image.

24 Junot ___, author of “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” : DIAZ

“The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” is a Pulitzer-winning 2007 novel by Junot Díaz, a Dominican-American writer. Díaz was raised in New Jersey, where he chose to set his popular novel.

25 Maternity ward staffers, informally : OBS

In Latin, the word for midwife is “obstetrix”. “Obstetrix” translates more literally as “one who stands opposite” i.e. the one opposite the woman giving birth. The Latin term gives rise to our modern word “obstetrics” used for the branch of medical science concerned with childbirth.

38 Letters on a bow : USS

The abbreviation “USS” stands for “United States Ship”. The practice of naming US Navy vessels in a standard format didn’t start until 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt issued an executive order that addressed the issue.

41 Site of a famous flag-raising : IWO JIMA

The Pulitzer-winning photograph “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” was taken in 1945 by photographer Joe Rosenthal. The image was used for the Marine Corps War Memorial in Washington, DC that was dedicated in 1954.

43 Head for the toilet, say? : SLANG

In old sailing ships, the toilet area for the regular sailors was located in the forward part (the head) of the ship. As a result, the term “head” has been used since then for any toilet on board a boat.

56 Southern side dish : PONE

“Pone” is another name for corn bread, and comes from the Powhatan term “apan” meaning “something baked”.

57 Barbie and Ken, e.g. : TOYS

The famous Barbie doll was created by businesswoman Ruth Handler and first appeared on store shelves in 1959. Barbie was based on a German fashion doll called Bild Lilli that was introduced in 1955. Lilli had been a German cartoon character before taking on a three-dimensional form. Prior to the introduction of Bild Lilli and Barbie, children’s dolls were primarily representations of infants.

Barbie’s male counterpart doll is Ken, and Ken’s family name is Carson. Barbie’s full name is Barbie Millicent Roberts. When Ken was introduced in 1959, it was as Barbie’s boyfriend. In 2004 it was announced that Ken and Barbie were splitting up, and needed to spend quality time apart. Soon after the split, Barbie “met” Blaine, a boogie boarder from Australia. Happily, Barbie and Ken reconciled and reunited on Valentine’s Day 2011.