Category: Merl Reagle

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
13. Lush : BOOZER
“Lush” is a slang term for a heavy drinker. Back in the 1700s, “lush” was slang for “liquor”.

14. Greek god of bondage? : MANACLES (reminiscent of “Heracles”)
“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called Heracles.

15. Greek goddess of learning? : ERUDITE (reminiscent of “Aphrodite”)
“Erudite” is a lovely-sounding word meaning “learned, well-educated”. The term comes from the Latin verb “erudire” meaning “to educate”, or more literally “to bring out of the rough”.

As always seems to be the case with Greek gods, Eros and Aphrodite have overlapping spheres of influence. Aphrodite was the goddess of love between a man and a woman, and Eros was the god who stirred the passions of the male. The Roman equivalent of Aphrodite was Venus, and the equivalent of Eros was Cupid.

16. Greek goddess of communication? : TELEPHONE (reminiscent of “Persephone”)
In Greek mythology, Persephone was made queen of the underworld after having been abducted by Hades, the god of the underworld.

20. Had wings : ATE
There are a few stories about how Buffalo wings were first developed, most of them related to the Anchor Bar in Buffalo, New York. If you’re looking for Buffalo wings on a menu in Buffalo, you’ll note that in and around the city they’re just referred to as “wings”.

21. 23-Across and others : OTTS
(23A. Slugger’s first name : MEL)
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.

26. Does a number on : SCAMS
The slang term “scam” meaning a swindle may come from the British slang “scamp”.

27. Greek god of fertility? : GAMETES (reminiscent of “Aeëtes”)
A gamete is a reproductive cell that has half the full complement of genes needed to make a normal cell. In sexual reproduction, it takes two gametes, one from each parent, to fuse into one cell which then develops into a new organism. The female gamete is the ovum, and the male the sperm.

Aeëtes was a king of Greek mythology whose name means “eagle”. Aeëtes was king of a barbarian kingdom called Colchis, where Ares hung the golden fleece of a magical, flying ram. Jason and the Argonauts went on a quest to find the golden fleece, and Aeëtes responded by setting a series of tasks for Jason. Eventually, Jason fell in love with Aeëtes’ daughter Medea, who helped her new love to achieve his quest.

31. Greek goddess of messages? : ENVELOPE (reminiscent of “Penelope”)
According to Homer’s epic poem “Odyssey”, Penelope was the wife of Odysseus. Penelope found herself having to fend off a total of 108 suitors while Odysseus was away on his 20-year journey, but she remained loyal to her husband. In fact when Odysseus returned, he disguised himself as a beggar in order to spy on his wife and determine if she had indeed been faithful to him.

38. Sicilian’s millions : LIRE
The word “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. “Lira” comes from the Latin for “pound” and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. For example, the lira (plural “lire”) was the official currency of Italy before the country changed over to the euro in 2002.

In the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, the “boot” is the mainland of Italy, and the “ball” being kicked by the boot is the island of Sicily.

43. Title villain of a “Star Trek” film : KHAN
In the 1982 movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” William Shatner played James T. Kirk, and the evil Khan was played by Ricardo Montalbán. Leonard Nimoy didn’t want to appear in the sequel, and only agreed to do so when the producers agreed to “kill off” Spock at the end of the story (but he comes back … and back … and back …).

44. May, for one : MONTH
The month of May was named after Maia, the Greek goddess of fertility.

45. Peeping ___ : TOM
In the legend of Lady Godiva, a noblewoman rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England, basically as a dare from her husband in return for relieving the taxes of his tenants. Lady Godiva issued instructions that all the town’s inhabitants should stay indoors while she made her journey. However, a tailor in the town named Tom disobeyed the instructions by boring holes in the shutters on his windows, and “peeped”. As a result, Peeping Tom was struck blind, and the term “peeping Tom” has been in our language ever since.

46. 1940s war zone: Abbr. : EUR
World War II started in 1 September 1939 with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany. V-E Day (Victory in Europe Day) was celebrated on 8 May 1945, when the German military surrendered in Berlin. V-J Day (Victory over Japan Day) was celebrated on 2 September 1945 when the Japanese signed the surrender document aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

48. Greek god of equal opportunity? : ANTI-BIAS (reminiscent of “Antiope” and “Bias”)
In Greek mythology, Antiope was the wife of Theseus, the founder-king of Athens.

In Greek mythology, Bias was a brother of the soothsayer and healer Melampus.

53. Greek god of electricity? : AMPERES (reminiscent of “Ceres”, although a Roman god)
The unit of electric current is the ampere, abbreviated correctly to “A” rather than “amp”. It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, one of the main scientists responsible for the discovery of electromagnetism.

Ceres was a Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility, and was the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter. Our modern word “cereal” comes from the name “Ceres”.

55. Actor Ryan : O’NEAL
Actor Ryan O’Neal got his big break in the sixties on television. He appeared in the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place”, opposite fellow newcomer Mia Farrow. Then in 1970 he landed a starring role in the hit movie “Love Story”, which established him in Hollywood. O’Neal was an amateur boxer before he turned to acting, and established a respectable record Golden Gloves competitions. These days, O’Neal has a recurring role on the TV show “Bones”, playing the title character’s father.

56. Hit bonus, for short : RBI
Runs batted in (RBI)

58. Butler’s last words : A DAMN
In Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”, when Rhett Butler finally walks out on Scarlett O’Hara he utters the words “My dear, I don’t give a damn”. Most of us are more familiar with the slightly different words spoken by Clark Gable in the film adaption of the story: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” The actual last lines of both novel and film are spoken by Scarlett O’Hara:
“Tara! Home. I’ll go home, and I’ll think of some way to get him back! After all, tomorrow is another day!”

60. ___ alai : JAI
The essential equipment in the sport of jai alai is the pelota (ball) and the cesta (wicker scoop).

67. Greek god of mercy? : SPARE US (reminiscent of “Nereus”)
The Greek sea god named Nereus was the son of Pontus, the personification of the sea, and Gaia, the personification of the Earth. Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea with Doris. With Doris, Nereus fathered fifty daughters who were collectively known as the Nereids. There was also one son, named Nerites.

69. Greek god of tangy drinks? : LIMEADES (reminiscent of “Hades”)
Hades was the god of the underworld to the ancient Greeks. Over time, Hades gave his name to the underworld itself, the place where the dead reside. The term “Hades” was also adopted into the Christian tradition, as an alternative name for hell. But, the concept of hell in Christianity is more akin to the Greek “Tartarus”, which is a dark and gloomy dungeon located in Hades, a place of suffering and torment.

Down
1. Cable channel that broadcasts trials : COURT TV
truTV is a Turner Broadcasting cable network, launched in 1991 as Court TV. The name was changed to truTV in 2008.

2. Silver streaks : LODES
A lode is a metal ore deposit that’s found between two layers of rock or in a fissure. The “mother lode” is the principal deposit in a mine, usually of gold or silver. “Mother lode” is probably a translation of “veta madre”, an expression used in mining in Mexico.

3. Weapons in action films : UZIS
The first Uzi submachine gun was designed in the late 1940s by Major Uziel “Uzi” Gal of the Israel Defense Forces, who gave his name to the gun.

4. Trysted : MET
In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a prearranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting.

6. Bumpers of Arkansas : DALE
Dale Bumpers was a Governor of Arkansas in the seventies, and then a US Senator representing his state until his retirement in 1999. Bumpers also makes an appearance in the 1977 novel by Jeffrey Archer titled “Shall We Tell the President?” In that story, Ted Kennedy and Dale Bumpers are elected president and vice-president in the 1984 election. An assassination plot and love story ensue.

8. Grammys category : RAP
The first Grammy Awards Ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.

9. Lt. commander of ’60s TV : MCHALE
“McHale’s Navy” is a classic sitcom that originally aired in the sixties. The title character is played by Ernest Borgnine. McHale was a captain of a tramp steamer who now serves in the US Navy as a Lieutenant Commander. Borgnine actually served in the US Navy from 1935 to 1941, and then reenlisted after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

11. Hawaiian goose : NENE
The bird called a nene is a native of Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is imitative of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful.

12. Poet on whose work “Cats” is based: Abbr. : TSE
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s source material for his hit musical “Cats” was T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. Eliot’s collection of whimsical poems was published in 1939, and was a personal favorite of Webber as he was growing up. “Cats” is the second longest running show in Broadway history (“Phantom of the Opera” is the longest and is still running; deservedly so in my humble opinion). my wife and I have seen “Cats” a couple of times and really enjoyed it …

13. Tony Blair, for one : BRITON
Tony Blair was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom for ten years, from 1997 to 2007. Blair led his Labour Party from the left, more to the center, helped along by the phrase “New Labour”. Under his leadership, Labour won a landslide victory in 1997, and was comfortable elected into power again in 2001 and 2005. Blair stepped down in 2007 and Gordon Blair took over as prime minister. Labour were soundly defeated at the polls in the next general election, in 2010.

15. Be a ham : EMOTE
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel made up in blackface.

16. Kennedy and others : TEDS
Ted Kennedy was the youngest boy in the family that included his 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.

23. Macy’s Parade locale : MANHATTAN
The annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City has been held every year since 1924, with a brief suspension from 1942-1944. The parade was halted during WWII as there was a need for rubber and helium to support the war effort.

24. Dash units : EMS
In typography, there are em dashes and en dashes. The em dash is about the width of an “m” character, and an en dash about half that, the width of an “n’ character. An en dash is used, for example, to separate numbers designating a range, as in 5-10 years. Th em dash seems to be going out of style, and indeed the application I am using to write this paragraph won’t let me show you one!

27. Best Picture of 1958 : GIGI
In the lovely musical film “Gigi”, released in 1958, the title song is sung by Louis Jourdan who plays Gaston. My favorite number though, has to be “Thank Heaven for Little Girls” sung by Maurice Chevalier. Many say that “Gigi” is the last in the long line of great MGM musicals. It won a record 9 Academy Awards, a record that only lasted one year. Twelve months later “Ben Hur” won 11 Oscars. In the 1958 film, Gigi was played by the lovely Leslie Caron. A few years earlier, “Gigi” was a successful stage play on Broadway. Chosen for the title role on stage was the then-unknown Audrey Hepburn.

28. Rock’s Police or Cream, e.g. : TRIO
The Police was a trio formed in London in 1977, with Sting being the most famous member and the lead singer. The band’s long list of hits includes “Roxanne” (1977), “Message in a Bottle” (1979), “Walking on the Moon” (1979) and “Every Breath You Take” (1983). The Police broke up in 1986, but their reunion tour of 2007/2008 made them the world’s highest-earning musicians for the year 2008.

Cream were a “supergroup” from Britain, meaning the band was comprised of musicians from other successful groups. The band’s members were Eric Clapton (from the Yardbirds), and Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (both from the Graham Bond Organisation).

30. “Does” or “doesn’t” follower : SHE
“Does she…or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure” was the catchphrase for Miss Clairol Hair Color Bath. Clairol had been around since 1931 selling hair coloring products to salons, and then hit the big time with the introduction of a one-step hair coloring product for use at home. As famous as the product was the “does she … doesn’t she” advertising campaign. Six years after the launch of the campaign, 70% of women in the US were coloring their hair.

32. Where to see “Outside the Lines” : ESPN
“Outside the Lines” (OTL) is an ESPN show that has aired since 1990.

33. America’s only bachelor president : BUCHANAN
James Buchanan was US President just prior to the Civil War. He was the only president from the state of Pennsylvania, and also the only president who remained a bachelor for the whole of his life. As he was unmarried, Buchanan’s niece Harriet Lane acted as First Lady. Buchanan earned the nickname “Ten-Cent Jimmie” during the 1856 presidential election campaign. He was famous for his claim that ten cents a day was enough for a working man to live on.

37. Province opp. Detroit : ONT
The Canadian province of Ontario takes its name from the Great Lake. In turn, Lake Ontario’s name is thought to be derived from “Ontari:io”, a Huron word meaning “great lake”. Ontario is home to the nation’s capital of Ottawa as well as Toronto, Canada’s most populous city (and the capital of the province).

The city of Detroit’s economic strength declined at the beginning of the 21st century, resulting in a 25% drop in population between 2000 and 2010. Detroit filed for the country’s largest municipal bankruptcy in history in 2013, facing a debt of $18.8 billion. The city exited bankruptcy at the end of 2014.

39. Baba au ___ : RHUM
Rum baba (also “baba au rhum” in French) is a small yeast cake saturated in rum, and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Rum baba is derived from the recipe for the tall “babka” yeast cake that was introduced to the world by the Polish communities. The Polish words “baba” and “babka” mean “old woman” or “grandmother” in English. I guess someone must have thought that all grandmothers were saturated in rum!

40. Tombstone lawman : EARP
Wyatt Earp is famous as one of the participants in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and also in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp was also deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona where the O.K. Corral gunfight took place. Years later, Earp joined the Alaska Gold Rush and with a partner built and operated the Dexter Saloon in Nome.

41. Club aliases, for short : NOMS
I am not sure which “nom” to which we are referring here. Perhaps “nom de plume” or “nom de guerre” …?

43. Mauna ___ : KEA
Mauna Kea is a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the peak of which is the highest point in the whole state. Mauna Kea is in effect the tip of a gigantic volcano rising up from the seabed.

49. Moriarty, to Holmes : NEMESIS
Nemesis was a Greek goddess, the goddess of retribution. Her role was to make pay those individuals who were either haughty or arrogant. In modern parlance, one’s nemesis is one’s sworn enemy, often someone who is the exact opposite in character but someone who still shares some important characteristics. A nemesis is often someone one cannot seem to beat in competition.

Professor James Moriarty was the main villain that locked swords with Sir Arthur Conan Doyles’ “Sherlock Holmes” character. Moriarty is always cropping up in Sherlock Homes television and radio plays, and in movies, but if you go back to the original stories, he isn’t around very much. He only turns up directly in two of the narratives, and was primarily introduced by Conan Doyle in order to “kill off” Sherlock Holmes in a brawl at the top of the Reichenbach Falls in Germany. Both Holmes and Moriarty fell to their deaths. Well … public pressure on the author caused Conan Doyle to resurrect Holmes in “The Hound of the Baskervilles”.

51. You can count on it : ABACUS
The abacus (plural “abaci”) was used as a counting frame long before man had invented a numbering system. It is a remarkable invention, particularly when one notes that abaci are still widely used today across Africa and Asia.

52. “Boxcars” : SIXES
Boxcars is a slang term for two sixes rolled on a pair of dice, particularly in the game of craps. The idea is that the twelve pips on the dice resemble a pair of boxcars on a freight train.

55. “To Spring” and others : ODES
“Ode to Spring” is a poem by English poet Elizabeth Bentley. Here’s the first verse:

WELCOME, sweet season of delight,
What beauties charm the wond’ring sight
In thy enchanting reign!
How fresh descends the morning dew,
Whilst op’ning flow’rs of various hue
Bedeck the sprightly plain.
The artless warblers of the grove
Again unite in songs of love,
To bless thy kind return:
But first the lark, who roaring seems
To hail the orb of day, whose beams
With fresh refulgence burn.

58. Air force heroes : ACES
A flying ace is an aviator who has shot down a number of enemy planes during combat. The qualifying number of kills seems to vary, but five is common. The first use of “ace” was during WWI when the French newspapers dubbed pilot Adolphe Pegoud “l’as” (French for “the ace”) when he shot down his fifth German plane.

61. ___ mater : ALMA
The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. “Alma mater” was used in Ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

63. Emmy-winning Tyne : DALY
The actress Tyne Daly really came into the public eye playing Detective Lacey in “Cagney and Lacey”. From 1999 to 2005, Daly played the mother of the title character in the TV show “Judging Amy”.

66. String between B and F : …CDE…
B C D E F

68. “By yesterday” : PDQ
Pretty darn quick (PDQ)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Small group, as of trees : CLUMP
6. Hibernating : DORMANT
13. Lush : BOOZER
14. Greek god of bondage? : MANACLES (reminiscent of “Heracles”)
15. Greek goddess of learning? : ERUDITE (reminiscent of “Aphrodite”)
16. Greek goddess of communication? : TELEPHONE (reminiscent of “Persephone”)
17. Slogging areas : MIRES
18. “You want to go ___?” : WHERE
20. Had wings : ATE
21. 23-Across and others : OTTS
22. Wear away : ERODE
23. Slugger’s first name : MEL
25. Young ‘un : TOT
26. Does a number on : SCAMS
27. Greek god of fertility? : GAMETES (reminiscent of “Aeëtes”)
31. Greek goddess of messages? : ENVELOPE (reminiscent of “Penelope”)
33. Used bookstore containers : BINS
34. Pep rally cry : RAH!
35. Catch some rays : SUN
36. Bumpy : ROUGH
38. Sicilian’s millions : LIRE
39. Key to understanding the theme of this puzzle : REPRONUNCIATION
43. Title villain of a “Star Trek” film : KHAN
44. May, for one : MONTH
45. Peeping ___ : TOM
46. 1940s war zone: Abbr. : EUR
47. Prepares to fire : AIMS
48. Greek god of equal opportunity? : ANTI-BIAS (reminiscent of “Antiope” and “Bias”)
53. Greek god of electricity? : AMPERES (reminiscent of “Ceres”, although a Roman god)
55. Actor Ryan : O’NEAL
56. Hit bonus, for short : RBI
57. Poison indicators, on bottles : XES
58. Butler’s last words : A DAMN
59. Goad gently : COAX
60. ___ alai : JAI
62. Acting exercise : SCENE
63. Cut a rug : DANCE
64. Greek god of healthy hair? : FOLLICLES (reminiscent of “Heracles”, again)
67. Greek god of mercy? : SPARE US (reminiscent of “Nereus”)
69. Greek god of tangy drinks? : LIMEADES (reminiscent of “Hades”)
70. Goof-offs : IDLERS
71. Weapon-free : UNARMED
72. Fabric meas. : SQ YDS

Down
1. Cable channel that broadcasts trials : COURT TV
2. Silver streaks : LODES
3. Weapons in action films : UZIS
4. Trysted : MET
5. Do before, as a gift chore : PREWRAP
6. Bumpers of Arkansas : DALE
7. Common lunch hour : ONE
8. Grammys category : RAP
9. Lt. commander of ’60s TV : MCHALE
10. Frequently : A LOT
11. Hawaiian goose : NENE
12. Poet on whose work “Cats” is based: Abbr. : TSE
13. Tony Blair, for one : BRITON
14. Nothing more than : MERE
15. Be a ham : EMOTE
16. Kennedy and others : TEDS
19. Base clearers : HOME RUNS
22. Cuts in expenses : ECONOMIES
23. Macy’s Parade locale : MANHATTAN
24. Dash units : EMS
26. Disparaging remark : SLUR
27. Best Picture of 1958 : GIGI
28. Rock’s Police or Cream, e.g. : TRIO
29. Get through work : EARN
30. “Does” or “doesn’t” follower : SHE
32. Where to see “Outside the Lines” : ESPN
33. America’s only bachelor president : BUCHANAN
37. Province opp. Detroit : ONT
38. Life’s partner : LIMB
39. Baba au ___ : RHUM
40. Tombstone lawman : EARP
41. Club aliases, for short : NOMS
42. Work hard : TOIL
43. Mauna ___ : KEA
47. “Facts ___ facts” : ARE
49. Moriarty, to Holmes : NEMESIS
50. Wrinkle removers : IRONERS
51. You can count on it : ABACUS
52. “Boxcars” : SIXES
54. Performer of a banishing act : EXILER
55. “To Spring” and others : ODES
58. Air force heroes : ACES
59. Had feelings (for) : CARED
60. Sign up : JOIN
61. ___ mater : ALMA
62. Hillside thrill-ride need : SLED
63. Emmy-winning Tyne : DALY
64. Winter woe : FLU
65. “___ shocked … shocked!” : I AM
66. String between B and F : …CDE…
68. “By yesterday” : PDQ

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