Category: Kameron Austin Collins

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
16. Short pants? : TROU
“Trou” is short for “trousers”.

The term “pants”, meaning trousers, is an abbreviated form of “pantaloons” that first appeared in the 1840s. Pantaloons were a kind of tights named for a silly old male character in Italian comedy called “Pantaloun” who always wore tight trousers over skinny legs.

18. Thirsts : YENS
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!

19. Androids don’t use it : IOS
iOS is what Apple now call their mobile operating system, previously known as iPhone OS.

The Android Operating System is used by many manufacturers of smartphones. Google partners with several companies to produce Android One phones. The beauty of the Android One is that it runs an unadulterated version of the Android Operating System, one that hasn’t been “customized” by the likes of T-Mobile or Verizon.

20. President during the Korean War : RHEE
Syngman Rhee was born in Korea, but received much of his education in the US, including a Ph.D. from Princeton. The very much westernized Rhee returned to Korea in 1910, a Korea that by then had been annexed by Japan. Soon after he found himself President of a Provisional Government of Korea based in Shanghai, but was eventually ousted for misuse of power. After WWII, Rhee was installed as President, heavily backed by the United States. However, Rhee’s rule proved to be more like tyranny and during the Korean War his relationship with the US Government became very strained. He stayed in power until 1960 when student revolts became popular enough to force him out of office. The CIA flew him out of the country and he went into exile in Hawaii, where a few years later he died of a stroke.

21. Camp David event : SUMMIT
Camp David is the very lovely country retreat used by the US President and family. Technically, Camp David belongs to the US Navy and is known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont. The installation was originally built between 1935 and 1938 as a retreat for government agents and their families. President Franklin D. Roosevelt converted it to a presidential retreat in 1942, naming it Shangri-La. When President Eisenhower was in office he renamed Shangri-La to Camp David in honor of his father and grandson, both of whom were called David.

23. European race place : LE MANS
Le Mans is a city in northwestern France. The city is famous for the 24 Hours of Le Mans sports car race that has been held annually since 1923. The 24-hour race uses the city’s race track, but closed city streets are also used for part of the circuit.

25. Guerrilla in “For Whom the Bell Tolls” : PILAR
“For Whom the Bell Tolls” is a 1940 novel by author Ernest Hemingway that tells the story of an American fighting for a republican guerilla unit during the Spanish Civil War. The novel is based on Hemingway’s own experiences during the conflict. The title is taken from a work by metaphysical poet John Donne called “Devotions upon Emergent Occasions”.

“Devotions upon Emergent Occasions” is a work of prose by English poet John Donne, first published in 1624. A couple of famous phrases oft-quoted from the work are “No man is an island” and “for whom the bell tolls”.

27. Cough queller : CODEINE
“Codeine” is the common name for the opiate 3-methylmorphine, which is a common ingredient in cough medicines. Codeine occurs naturally, making up about 2% of opium sap, although most codeine is synthesized from the more abundant morphine. The name “codeine” comes from the Greek “kodeia” meaning “poppy head”. There is so much codeine produced that it is the most commonly consumed opiate across the world.

29. Title teen in a 2007 hit indie film : JUNO
“Juno” is a great comedy-drama released in 2007 that tells the story of a spunky teenager who is faced with an unplanned pregnancy. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The relatively low-budget movie earned back its initial budget in the first day of its full release to the public. Low-budget blockbuster; my kind of movie …

30. Literature Nobelist ___ Fo : DARIO
Dario Fo is multi-talented actor and playwright from Italy. Fo’s most famous work is probably his controversial series of one-act plays titled “Mistero buffo” (“Comical Mystery”). “Mistero buffo” is set in the Holy Land during the first century CE. An Italian TV broadcast of “Mistero buffo” was denounced by the Vatican as “the most blasphemous show in the history of television”.

32. Org. whose logo has a talon-gripped key : NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) seal was introduced in 1965 and features an eagle perched upon a key. The eagle represents the agency’s national mission, and the key represents security.

33. At an impasse : HUNG
“Impasse” is a French word for a blind alley or an impassable road, and we use the term to mean “stalemate”.

34. Point of computer technology? : PIXEL
A pixel is a dot, the base element that goes to make up a digital image.

35. Went on the fritz : DIED
The American slang term “on the fritz” means “inoperative”. There doesn’t seem to be a definitive etymology for the term, although there are indications that it has a theatrical origin.

37. Pedestal support : SOCLE
“Socle” is an architectural term referring to a plain, unadorned support or base for a pedestal or column.

38. Good, to Galba : BONA
“Bona” translates from Latin as “good”.

AD 69 was a year of civil war in ancient Rome. The unrest started with the death of emperor Nero in AD 68, after which followed the brief rule of Galba, of Otho, of Vitellius, and of Vespasian all in the same year. As a result, AD 69 became known as the Year of the Four Emperors.

41. Program that turns out ensigns, for short : NROTC
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC)

43. Green hero of book and film : SHREK
Before “Shrek” was a successful movie franchise and Broadway musical, it was a children’s picture book called “Shrek!” authored and illustrated by William Steig. The title “Shrek!” came from the German/Yiddish word Schreck, meaning “fear” or “terror”.

44. Places : STEADS
To do something “in one’s stead” is to do it in one’s place, instead of.

48. Football rival of Rutgers : ARMY
West Point is a military reservation in New York State, located north of New York City. West Point was first occupied by the Continental Army way back in 1778, making it the longest, continually-occupied military post in the country. Cadet training has taken place at the garrison since 1794, although Congress funding for a US Military Academy (USMA) didn’t start until 1802. The first female cadets were admitted to West Point in 1976, and today about 15% of all new cadets are women.

Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, was founded in 1766 as Queen’s College and was one of the nine Colonial Colleges that existed prior to the American Revolution. The Rutgers name was chosen in 1812 in honor of Colonel Henry Rutgers, a Revolutionary War hero and university benefactor.

49. Kiss ___ : CAM
The “kiss cam” is a diversion during some sporting events in which a video camera picks out random couples in the crowd, projecting their image onto the giant screen at the venue. The couples are encouraged to kiss, for the entertainment of the fans. Famously, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama kissed for the kiss cam at a basketball game a few years ago, as did former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

57. Actor whose first name is the title of a Best Picture he co-starred in, and whose last name is that film’s director : OLIVER REED
“Oliver!” is stage musical by Lionel Bart that is based on the Charles Dickens novel “Oliver Twist”. “Oliver!” was adapted successfully for the big screen in 1968. The film version won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director for Carol Reed. Leading the movie’s cast are Mark Lester in the title role, Ron Moody as Fagin and Oliver Reed as Bill Sikes.

Down
1. Co-writer of the Surrealist silent film “Un Chien Andalou,” 1929 : DALI
The famous surrealist painter Salvador Dalí was born in Figueres, Spain. I had the privilege of visiting the Dalí Museum in Figueres some years ago, just north of Barcelona. If you ever get the chance, it’s a “must see” as it really is a quite magnificent building with a fascinating collection.

3. List in an actor’s résumé, informally : NOMS
In French, an actor might have a list of “noms” (names) on his or her “résumé” (resume).

A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.

5. Italian border city : SAN REMO
The Italian city of San Remo sits on the Mediterranean, right on the border with France. In Italian the city is named Sanremo, just one word, although the spelling of “San Remo” dates back to ancient times.

9. Winner of NBC’s “America’s Toughest Bouncer” in 1980 : MR T
Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

10. Are, in Arles : ETES
The French for “to be” is “être”, and for “you are” is “vous êtes”.

Quite a few years ago now, I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and where he painted his famous “Cafe Terrace at Night”, as well as “Bedroom in Arles”.

11. Hogtie : STYMIE
The word “stymie” comes from golf, and is a situation in which one’s approach to the hole is blocked by an opponent’s ball.

The “hogtie” was first used on pigs (hence the name), and involves the tying together of all four limbs in order to render the animal immobile. On a pig, or any other four legged animal, the limbs are obviously tied in front. To hogtie a human the hands are usually tied behind the back and joined to a rope binding the ankles.

12. Detractors’ epithet for the Putin regime : KREMLIN INC
I was lucky enough to visit the Moscow Kremlin as a tourist a few decades ago. The Kremlin sits right on Red Square, along with Saint Basil’s Cathedral and the famed GUM department store. “Kremlin” is a Russian word for “fortress”.

Vladimir Putin became acting President of Russia at the very end of 1999 when Boris Yeltsin resigned. Putin was elected in his own right in 2000, re-elected in 2004, and then ran up against a term limit in 2008. In 2008 Putin was appointed by his successor, President Dmitry Medvedev, to the position of Prime Minister. Putin is a controversial figure, inside and outside Russia. On the one hand he led the country out of an economic crisis into a period of stability and relative prosperity. On the other hand he has been associated with government corruption and accused of allowing private concerns to have undue influence on government actions.

13. Setting of the so-called “Seven Islands” of Greece : IONIAN SEA
The Ionian Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and the southern part of Italy (under the sole of the “boot”). The Ionian Sea is one of the most seismically active areas on the planet.

Greece’s Ionian Islands are located in the Ionian Sea. The group is commonly referred to as the “Heptanese” (“the Seven Islands” in English), a reference to the seven main islands:

– Corfu
– Paxos
– Lefkas
– Ithaca
– Kefalonia
– Zante
– Cythera

14. Hot words? : MUST-READ
A “must-read” is work of writing that really must be read, a hot piece of literature.

24. Sneak peek sent to film critics : SCREENER DVD
A “screener” is an advance copy of a movie or TV show that is distributed to critics, awards voters and other key professionals in the film industry. Nowadays, screeners are often distributed digitally via email. In an attempt to limit the leaking of movies before the opening date, screener versions of films are usually include an onscreen watermark that includes the recipient’s email address.

26. Band whose “Appetite for Destruction” was the best-selling debut album of all time : GUNS N’ ROSES
Guns N’ Roses is a hard rock band founded in 1985 that is still going strong. The group was pulled together by Axl Rose, the lead vocalist. The lead-guitar player back then was Tracii Guns, and it was the combination of Axl and Tracii’s “family” names that led to the band being called Guns N’ Roses.

29. Rowdy joint : JUKE HOUSE
“Juke house” is Southern slang for a cheap roadhouse, and sometime is used to describe a brothel.

33. IHOP topping option : HOT SYRUP
The International House of Pancakes (IHOP) was founded back in 1958. IHOP was originally intended to be called IHOE, the International House of Eggs, but that name didn’t do too well in marketing tests …

34. Municipal mainstays: Abbr. : POS
Post office (PO)

35. The word “shies” in Morse code, entirely : DOTS
The word shies is written in Morse code as:
… (S) …. (H) .. (I) . (E) … (S)

37. Zaire’s Mobutu Sese ___ : SEKO
Mobutu Sese Seko was the longtime President of Zaire (later to be called the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Mobutu was known to be a very corrupt dictator and it is believed that he embezzled over $5 billion from his country. On a lighter note, Mobutu was the money man behind the famous 1974 boxing match between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman known as “The Rumble in the Jungle”. Mobutu was anxious to expand the image of Zaire so he used his nation’s funds to entice the fighters to have a go at each other in his homeland.

42. 13th-century B.C. king with 10 namesakes : RAMSES
Ramesses (also “Ramses”) was the name taken by eleven of the Egyptian pharaohs. Ramesses translates as “Born of the sun-god Ra”.

45. She played Adrian in “Rocky” and Connie in “The Godfather” : TALIA
The actress Talia Shire is best-known for playing Rocky’s wife Adrian in the “Rocky” series of movies. She also played Connie, the daughter of Don Corleone, in “The Godfather” films. Shire is the sister of movie director Francis Ford Coppola and the aunt of actor Nicolas Cage. Her son is the actor Jason Schwartzman.

49. City largely destroyed in Operation Charnwood : CAEN
Caen, on the River Orne, lies in the Calvados department of France in the northwest of the country. Caen is famous for the WWII Battle of Caen that left the town practically destroyed. Caen is also the burial place of the Norman King William I of England, also known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

50. One way to turn a vessel : ALEE
“Alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he or she is pointing “aweather”.

51. Rx things : MEDS
There seems to some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

55. Packed letters? : SRO
A packed theater might display a Standing Room Only (SRO) sign.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Cut the lip!” : DON’T SASS ME!
11. Take in just the highlights, say : SKIM
15. Common wear under a lei : ALOHA SHIRT
16. Short pants? : TROU
17. Rich, sweet-and-sour dessert : LEMON TORTE
18. Thirsts : YENS
19. Androids don’t use it : IOS
20. President during the Korean War : RHEE
21. Camp David event : SUMMIT
23. European race place : LE MANS
25. Guerrilla in “For Whom the Bell Tolls” : PILAR
26. Flip : GO MAD
27. Cough queller : CODEINE
29. Title teen in a 2007 hit indie film : JUNO
30. Literature Nobelist ___ Fo : DARIO
32. Org. whose logo has a talon-gripped key : NSA
33. At an impasse : HUNG
34. Point of computer technology? : PIXEL
35. Went on the fritz : DIED
36. Clears : OKS
37. Pedestal support : SOCLE
38. Good, to Galba : BONA
39. Contents of many culled lists : TEN BEST
41. Program that turns out ensigns, for short : NROTC
43. Green hero of book and film : SHREK
44. Places : STEADS
46. Attention getter : YOO-HOO!
48. Football rival of Rutgers : ARMY
49. Kiss ___ : CAM
52. Fake-out : RUSE
53. Tries to unload things quickly : HOLDS A SALE
56. Resourceful people find new ones : USES
57. Actor whose first name is the title of a Best Picture he co-starred in, and whose last name is that film’s director : OLIVER REED
58. Bother : PEST
59. Grave accents? : HEADSTONES

Down
1. Co-writer of the Surrealist silent film “Un Chien Andalou,” 1929 : DALI
2. With 28-Down, butterlike product of beef fat : OLEO
3. List in an actor’s résumé, informally : NOMS
4. Short while? : THO’
5. Italian border city : SAN REMO
6. Cough cause : ASTHMA
7. Ones with wedge issues? : SHOE ADDICTS
8. Prompt to pull over : SIREN
9. Winner of NBC’s “America’s Toughest Bouncer” in 1980 : MR T
10. Are, in Arles : ETES
11. Hogtie : STYMIE
12. Detractors’ epithet for the Putin regime : KREMLIN INC
13. Setting of the so-called “Seven Islands” of Greece : IONIAN SEA
14. Hot words? : MUST-READ
22. It’s hair-raising : UPDO
23. Thirst : LONG
24. Sneak peek sent to film critics : SCREENER DVD
26. Band whose “Appetite for Destruction” was the best-selling debut album of all time : GUNS N’ ROSES
28. See 2-Down : OIL
29. Rowdy joint : JUKE HOUSE
31. First name of 26-Down’s frontman : AXL
33. IHOP topping option : HOT SYRUP
34. Municipal mainstays: Abbr. : POS
35. The word “shies” in Morse code, entirely : DOTS
37. Zaire’s Mobutu Sese ___ : SEKO
38. Tattoos and piercings : BODY ART
40. Command : BEHEST
42. 13th-century B.C. king with 10 namesakes : RAMSES
45. She played Adrian in “Rocky” and Connie in “The Godfather” : TALIA
47. Cry of excitement : OH! OH!
49. City largely destroyed in Operation Charnwood : CAEN
50. One way to turn a vessel : ALEE
51. Rx things : MEDS
54. Accented shout : OLE!
55. Packed letters? : SRO

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