Category: Joseph Greenbaum

Bill’s time: 16m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Order with four periods : ASAP

A.S.A.P.

5 Relative of mustard : OCHRE

Ocher is a light, yellowish-brown color, although variations of the pigment are possible such as red ocher and purple ocher. “Ocher” is usually spelled “ochre” on the other side of the pond.

10 Worked a reception, say, informally : DJ’ED

Disc jockey (DJ, deejay)

17 It’s often found on bow ties : PASTA SAUCE

Farfalle is commonly referred to as bow-tie pasta because of its shape. The name comes from the Italian “farfalla” meaning “butterfly”.

19 Nickname in 1950s-’60s TV : BEAV

Ward Cleaver and his wife June were the parents of Wally Cleaver and his younger brother “The Beaver”. The four family members appeared in the fifties sitcom “Leave It to Beaver”.

22 River of Hades : LETHE

The Lethe is one of the five rivers of Hades in Greek mythology. All the souls who drank from the river Lethe experienced complete forgetfulness. The Greek word “lethe” means “oblivion, forgetfulness”.

25 “___ America (And So Can You!)” (Stephen Colbert best seller) : I AM

“I Am America (and So Can You!)” is a satirical book published in 2007 by Stephen Colbert.

39 It traditionally starts with a strophe : ODE

In general terms, in poetry a strophe is a pair of stanzas with alternating form. So, a poem might be made up from a number of strophes, and twice that number of stanzas.

40 Saucer contents, for short : ETS

Disc-shaped flying objects have been reported in the sky since the Middle Ages. In the modern era, the event that launched the term “flying saucer” was a UFO sighting in 1947, which was covered widely in the media. Kenneth Arnold reported seeing nine unidentified flying objects in formation near Mount Rainier in Washington. In describing the objects, he repeatedly used the words “saucer”, “disc” and “pie-plate”. Newspapers latched onto the terminology, and we’ve been seeing flying “saucers” ever since.

42 Prefix with cortex : NEO-

The neocortex is part of the brain, the part of the cerebral cortex that is especially large in higher animals.

45 Secret ___ : SANTA

The Christmas tradition known as “Secret Santa” is often used for gift-giving by a group of friends or colleagues. Each person is randomly assigned another member of the group to whom they give a gift. The identity of the gift-giver is kept secret, hence the name of the tradition.

49 Cusps : EVES

The word “cusp” comes from the Latin “cuspis” meaning “spear, point”. In the world of astrology, a cusp is an imaginary line separating two signs of the zodiac. For example, some whose birthday is between April 16 and April 26 is said to have been born “on the cusp” between the signs Aries and Taurus.

52 Low joint : DIVE

We’ve been using the word “dive” in American English for a run-down bar since the latter half of the 19th century. The term comes from the fact that disreputable taverns were usually located in basements, so one had to figuratively dive into them. I’m a big fan …

56 Company that uses about 1% of the world’s wood supply annually : IKEA

The IKEA furniture chain was founded by Ingvar Kamprad in 1943, when he was just 17-years-old. IKEA is an acronym standing for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd (don’t forget now!). Elmtaryd was the name of the farm where Ingvar Kamprad grew up, and Agunnaryd is his home parish in Sweden.

59 Mortimer ___, famed ventriloquy dummy of old : SNERD

Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s most famous character was Charlie McCarthy, but Bergen also worked with Mortimer Snerd.

Down

1 Twitch, say : APP

Twitch is a live-streaming platform used primarily by gamers. Folks playing games can broadcast their game play live to an audience.

2 Onetime subsidiary of G.M. : SAAB

“SAAB” stands for Svenska Aeroplan AB, which translates into English as Swedish Aeroplane Limited. Although we usually think of SAAB as an auto manufacturer, it is mainly an aircraft manufacturer. If you take small hops in Europe you might find yourself on a SAAB passenger plane. The SAAB automotive division was acquired by General Motors in the year 2000, who then sold it to a Dutch concern in 2010. However, SAAB (automotive) finally went bankrupt in 2011. The assets were acquired in 2012 by NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden), a new company that used the SAAB name on its vehicles for several years.

3 Word that sounds like a plural of 1-Down : APSE

“Apse” sounds like “app”.

4 Corolla part : PETAL

The corolla of a flower is its collection of petals viewed as a unit. “Corolla” is Latin for “small garland”.

5 Decisive periods, in brief : OTS

Overtime (OT)

9 1980 black-and-white film that was nominated for Best Picture, with “The” : … ELEPHANT MAN

“The Elephant Man” is a 1980 biopic about Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who appeared in a Victorian freak show in London. Merrick is portrayed by John Hurt. Mel Brooks was one of the producers of the film, although his name was left off the credits to avoid audiences anticipating a comedy. “The Elephant Man” is no comedy …

10 Maker of the Supersonic hair dryer : DYSON

Dyson vacuum cleaners do not use a bag to collect dust. James Dyson invented the first vacuum cleaner to use cyclonic separation in 1979, frustrated at the poor performance of his regular vacuum cleaner. As Dyson cleaners do not use bags, they don’t have to deal with collection bags that are blocked with fine dust particles, even after emptying. Cyclonic separation uses high speed spinning of the dust-containing air so that the dust particles are thrown out of the airflow into a collection bin. We have a Dyson now, and should have bought it years ago …

11 England’s first poet laureate (1668) : JOHN DRYDEN

John Dryden was a highly influential poet and playwright in the late 1600s. He came from good literary stock, and was a cousin once-removed of Jonathan Swift. Dryden was made England’s first Poet Laureate, in 1668.

13 TV’s “American ___” : DAD

“American Dad!” is an adult-oriented animated sitcom. Famously, one of the show’s creators is Seth MacFarlane, who also created “Family Guy”. Personally, I cannot stand either show …

26 Secret alternative : ARRID

Arrid is an antiperspirant deodorant brand introduced in the thirties. Slogans associated with Arrid have been “Don’t be half-safe – use Arrid to be sure”, “Stress stinks! Arrid works!” and “Get a little closer”.

29 Port authority? : WINE TASTER

Portugal’s city of Oporto (“Porto” in Portuguese) gave its name to port wine in the late 1600s. Oporto was the seaport through which most of the region’s fortified red wine was exported.

34 Focus of une biographie : VIE

In French, “une biographie” (a biography) recounts “la vie” (the life) of an individual.

35 Oafish outburst : D’OH

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

36 Pro follower : … TEM

“Pro tempore” can be abbreviated to “pro tem” or “p.t.” “Pro tempore” is a Latin phrase that best translates as “for the time being”. It is used to describe a person who is acting for another, usually a superior. The President pro tempore of the US Senate is the person who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President of the US. It has been tradition since 1890 that the president pro tem is the most senior senator in the majority party. The president pro tem ranks highly in the line of succession to the presidency, falling third in line after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

46 St. Teresa’s birthplace : AVILA

Ávila is famous for the walled defenses around the old city (“la muralla de Ávila”) that date back to 1090. They were constructed out of brown granite, and are still in excellent repair. There are nine gateways and eighty-towers in all. Even the cathedral built between the 12th and 14th centuries is part of the city’s defenses, so it looks like an imposing fortress.

St. Teresa of Ávila (also known as St. Teresa of Jesus) was a Carmelite nun living in Spain in the 1500s. She is particularly noted for her writings on Christian meditation and mental prayer.

47 It means “be quick” in Hawaiian : WIKI

A wiki is a website on which users are allowed to create and edit content themselves. The term “wiki” comes from the name of the first such site, introduced in 1994 and called WikiWikiWeb. “Wiki” is a Hawaiian word for “quick”, and is used because comprehensive content is created very quickly, as there are so many collaborators contributing to the site.

50 Juul, e.g., informally : E-CIG

Juul is a brand of e-cigarette on sale in the US. Cigarette supplier Altria (formerly Philip Morris) purchased a 35% share in manufacturer Juul Labs in 2018.

51 “Soldier of Love” singer, 2009 : SADE

Singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).

54 Chi-Town airport code : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which comes from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field (OR-D).