Category: Natan Last

Bill’s time: 15m 01s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Nick ___, college football coach with the most national titles (seven, as of 2023) : SABAN

Nick Saban is a former NFL coach with the Miami Dolphins, and head football coach at the University of Alabama starting in 2007.

15 Current connection point : ANODE

A battery is a device that converts chemical energy into electric energy. A simple battery is made up of three parts: a cathode, an anode and a liquid electrolyte. Ions from the electrolyte react chemically with the material in the anode producing a compound and releasing electrons. At the same time, the electrolyte reacts with the material in the cathode, absorbing electrons and producing a different chemical compound. In this way, there is a buildup of electrons at the anode and a deficit of electrons at the cathode. When a connection (wire, say) is made between the cathode and anode, electrons flow through the resulting circuit from the anode to cathode in an attempt to rectify the electron imbalance.

16 ___ National Monument, landmark in New York City’s West Village : STONEWALL

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 29th, 1969. That raid triggered a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

18 Secret targets : ODORS

Secret is an antiperspirant/deodorant made by Procter & Gamble, first introduced in 1956 as a cream that was applied with the fingers (ick!). There followed a roll-on version in 1958, a spray in 1964 and the solid stick in 1978.

20 Some foreign relations : TIAS

In Spanish, a “tia” (aunt) is a member of “la familia” (the family).

24 Faints from emotion : PLOTZES

The verb “to plotz” is slang for “faint, collapse from surprise or exhaustion”.

29 Professional org. that launched the “War on Smoking” : AMA

American Medical Association (AMA)

30 Lee of film : ANG

Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, “Brokeback Mountain” and “Life of Pi”.

35 Modern form of ostracization : CANCEL CULTURE

The contemporary term “cancel culture” describes a form of ostracism in which a person is ousted from various social circles. The victims, or so-called “victims”, of cancel culture are often celebrities who have acted questionably or made a controversial statement.

The practice of ostracism, freezing out or exclusion, dates back to ancient Greece. Back then citizens could write the names of men they thought were exceptionally dangerous on tiles that were publicly posted, resulting in a banishment of ten years. “Ostracize” derives from the Greek “ostrakon”, the word for a “tile”.

36 Popular vodka cocktails : WHITE RUSSIANS

A White Russian is a cocktail made from vodka, Kahlua or Tia Maria, and cream, served in an old-fashioned glass with ice. The White Russian is similar to a Black Russian, which is the same drink without the cream. Both cocktails are called “Russian” as they are based on vodka, and both have been around since the late forties, with no one seeming to know which drink came first.

37 Norse goddess of death with an apt-sounding name : HEL

Hel is a being from Norse Mythology who presides over a realm that is also called Hel. The underworld of Hel receives many of the dead, and the term “go to Hel” is used in Norse accounts to mean “to die”.

39 Long to be in Hollywood? : NIA

Nia Long is an actress who is probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

41 Bagel shop request : SCHMEAR

The word “schmear” comes from the Yiddish word “shmir” meaning “spread”. The phrase “the whole schmear” is a relatively recent one, dating back to around 1969 and coming from the world of business.

47 Curry and others : TIMS

Tim Curry is a marvelous actor from England who is perhaps best known on this side of the Atlantic for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the 1975 movie “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”. Curry also played the title role in the original Broadway play “Amadeus”.

49 Chicken ___ : KIEV

Chicken Kiev may indeed be a Ukrainian dish, one named for the capital city of Kiev. It is a boneless chicken breast rolled around garlic, herbs and butter, breaded and deep fried. It was my Dad’s favorite …

56 Tapenade ingredient : OLIVE

The dish known as tapenade is traditionally made from olives, capers, anchovies and olive oil. The name comes from the Provençal word for capers, i.e. “tapenas”.

59 Bridge tactic : ENDPLAY

In bridge, the world’s greatest card game (says me!), an endplay is one in which a defender is deliberately given the lead by the declarer at the end of play, so that the declarer benefits by winning more tricks.

Down

4 Small drinking glass, as for liquor : PONY

A shot glass is a small glass used to measure or hold liquor. There is no standard size for a shot in most parts of North America, but it is generally 1.25 to 1.5 fluid ounces. A smaller, 1 fl. oz. shot is called a “pony shot” or “short shot”.

5 Saperstein who founded the Harlem Globetrotters : ABE

Abe Saperstein founded and coached the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team in 1926. In the early days, the team was focused on touring to play other teams, and making a little money from their share of the gate. But even back then, the Globetrotters were showmen, and liked to show off their ball-handling skills. One of Saperstein’s claim to fame is that he’s the shortest male member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, at 5 ft. 3 in.

7 Mythological name that means “awakener of desire” : ERATO

In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of lyric poetry. She is often depicted with a wreath of myrtle and roses, and playing a lyre.

8 ___ Miguel Island, one of the Azores : SAO

São Miguel Island is the largest island in the archipelago known as the Azores. It is known locally as “the Green Island”.

The Azores is an archipelago of nine volcanic islands in the North Atlantic lying about 1,000 miles west of Portugal. The Azores are an autonomous region belonging to Portugal.

9 Some Boolean operators : ANDS

Boolean logic is a logic system used in computers. The system takes its name from the man who devised it in 1854, George Boole. Boolean logic is used by many Internet search engines. Using Boolean logic in a search you can combine words into one search term “like this” by using quotation marks. You can also search for pages that contain “term one” but not “term two” by searching for “term one” – “term two”.

10 Events for bibliophiles : BOOK FAIRS

A bibliophile is a lover of books.

11 Award-winning poet ___ Rich : ADRIENNE

Adrienne Rich was a poet and feminist. Famously, Rich declined the National Medal of Arts in 1997 as a protest. She decried the Clinton Administration’s policies towards the arts, and the efforts by Newt Gingrich to shut down the National Endowment for the Arts.

12 Reserve, of a sort : NEST EGG

A nest egg is an amount of money laid down as a reserve. This is the figurative use of “nest egg” that originally described an artificial egg left in a nest to encourage a hen to lay real eggs in that spot. So our financial nest egg is set aside in anticipation of continued growth, more eggs being laid.

14 Open with a penknife, say : SLIT

Quills have been used as writing implements since the 6th century. Historically, goose, swan and turkey feathers have been the quills of choice. A bird’s feather is well suited for writing, as the hollow shaft acts as a reservoir for ink which then flows to the tip due to capillary action. Choice of feather is important. Right-handed writers are best served by feathers from the left wing, as the feather curves away from the palm of the hand when writing. The tip of the quill is sharpened using a “quill knife”. This quill knife is the ancestor of what we know today as a “penknife”.

17 Name symbolizing restoration : LAZARUS

The shortest verse in the King James Bible is in the Gospel of John; Chapter 11; Verse 35 … “Jesus wept.” The verse occurs in the context of the death of Lazarus. He arrives four days after his friend’s passing, weeps in front of his tomb, and then raises him from the dead. The longest verse is in the Book of Esther, i.e. Chapter 8; Verse 9, which has 78 words.

25 Eponymous county of Ireland : LIMERICK

No one knows for sure how the limerick got its name, although there does seem to be agreement the name does indeed come from the city or county of Limerick in Ireland. Try this one for size:

There was a young lady named Bright
who traveled much faster than light.
She set out one day
in a relative way,
and came back the previous night.

28 Typesetting consideration : FONT

We tend to use the terms typeface and font interchangeably. Technically, a typeface and font are not the same thing. A complete set of characters with a common design is referred to as a typeface (common examples being Helvetica and Arial). That typeface consists of a whole collection of fonts, all varying in weight and size. One set of Helvetica fonts, for example, might be Helvetica 14 point or Helvetica 16 point, i.e. a specific size. Another set might be Helvetica bold, or Helvetica italic. The difference between fonts and typefaces mattered a great deal when printers had collections of individual letters to make up blocks of text. Thankfully, we don’t have to worry about that these days.

31 British newspaper with the highest paid circulation (as of 2023) : DAILY MAIL

“The Daily Mail” is a tabloid newspaper published in the UK. It wouldn’t be my personal way to get the news, mind you, but it is the first or second highest-selling paper in the country.

33 Includes, in a way : CCS

I wonder if the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle? A kind blog reader pointed out to me a while back that the abbreviation has evolved and taken on the meaning “courtesy copy” in our modern world.

34 Horace’s “two-horned queen of the stars” : LUNA

“Luna” is the Latin word for “moon”, and is the name given to the Roman moon goddess. The Greek equivalent of Luna was Selene. Luna had a temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome but it was destroyed during the Great Fire that raged during the reign of Nero. She also had a temple on the Palatine Hill in which a lamp remained lit, illuminating the night.

One of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets was Quintus Horatius Flaccus or “Horace”, as we tend to know him. Horace’s most famous work is probably his collection of Latin lyric poems titled “Carmina” (the Latin for “Odes”).

35 Common fabric for bedspreads : CHENILLE

Chenille is a velvety fabric or yarn. The yarn is said to resemble a caterpillar, hence the name “chenille”, which is French for “caterpillar”.

44 Stiff fiber : SISAL

The sisal plant is an agave, the flesh of which is not generally used in making tequila. Sisal is grown instead for the fibers that run the length of its leaves. The fiber is used extensively for twine, rope, carpeting, wall coverings etc. My favorite application though, is in the construction of dartboards. Sisal takes its name from the port of Sisal in Yucatan, Mexico that was a major shipping point for sisal plants.

48 One of the Hindu trinity : SIVA

The Hindu Trinity comprises Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also “Siva”) the destroyer or transformer.

52 Dinosaur in “Toy Story” : REX

In the excellent Pixar film “Toy Story”, Rex is a tyrannosaurus, and a pretty clumsy one at that. He is voiced by actor Wallace Shawn, whose name is perhaps less familiar than his face. Shawn played the neighbor on “The Cosby Show” as well as many, many other supporting characters on TV and the big screen.