Category: Rafael Musa

Bill’s time: 14m 17s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Intellectual : EGGHEADED

Back at the start of the 20th century, the term “egghead” just described someone who was bald. By 1920, the usage had extended to describe someone deemed an intellectual. Adlai Stephenson was labeled an egghead in the 1950s due to the nature of his presidential campaign. When asked what he thought about being labeled the rare intellectual in politics, Adlai replied in Latin, “Via ovicapitum dura est”. That translates as “The way of the egghead is hard”. Clever …

15 Tantric meditation practiced while in a sleeping state : DREAM YOGA

I’ve heard it explained that yoga brings the body and mind under control in order to harmonize with the spirit. Tantric yoga on the other hand, tries to use the mind to balance the needs of the body and the spirit.

19 Prestigious octad : IVIES

The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

20 Emily ___, winner of the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel : TESH

The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.

23 Countdown occasion, for short : NYE

The beginning of a new year is celebrated worldwide with the raising or lowering of an object. Most famous is the dropping of a large crystal ball in Times Square in New York City. Here are some other objects raised or lowered at other locations:

• A peach in Atlanta, Georgia
• A stuffed opossum in Tallapoosa, Georgia
• An Indy car in Indianapolis, Indiana
• A sardine in Eastport, Maine
• A potato in Boise, Idaho
• A cheese wedge in Plymouth, Wisconsin

24 Relative of a trivet : HOT PAD

A trivet is an item placed under a hot serving bowl to protect the surface of a dining table. The term “trivet” is also used for a tripod supporting pots over an open fire. “Trivet” comes from the Latin “tripes” meaning “tripod”.

29 Aquarius is one, perhaps surprisingly : AIR SIGN

Each of the twelve astrological signs is associated with one of the classical elements:

• Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
• Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn, Virgo
• Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, Gemini
• Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces

People born between January 20 and February 18 have the star sign Aquarius, the water carrier. The water carrier represented by the constellation Aquarius is a beautiful youth named Ganymede who served as the cupbearer to the gods of ancient Greece.

31 Literally, “good word” : BON MOT

“Bon mot” translates from French as “good word”. We use “bon mot” (and sometimes just “mot”) to mean “quip, witticism”.

38 ___ Prime, protagonist in the “Transformers” franchise : OPTIMUS

The 2007 blockbuster hit movie “Transformers” was inspired by a line of toys. Toy transformers can be morphed from their mundane looking appearance as a vehicle or perhaps an animal, into a robotic action figure.

40 Gaelic language : ERSE

There are three Erse languages: Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

42 “Gossip Girl” fashion descriptor : PREPPY

“Gossip Girl” is a series of young adult novels by American author Cecily von Ziegesar. The Gossip Girl in the title is the narrator of the tale, a gossip blogger who recounts the experiences of two friends, Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen.

49 Land granted to a vassal : FIEF

In the days of feudalism, a “fief” was basically a “fee” (the words “fee” and “fief” have the same origins) paid by a Lord in exchange for some benefit to him, perhaps loyalty, or military service. The fief itself was often land granted by the Lord. We use the term “fiefdom” (and sometimes “fief) figuratively, to describe a sphere of operation controlled by one dominant person or entity.

54 Rely on audience support during a show? : STAGE DIVE

Moshing (also “slam dancing”) is the pushing and shoving that takes place in the audience at a concert (usually a punk or heavy metal concert). The area directly in front of the stage is known as the mosh pit. When a performer does a “stage dive”, it is into (or I suppose “onto”) the mosh pit. It doesn’t sound like fun to me. Injuries are commonplace in the mosh pit, and deaths are not unknown.

56 Author whose name sounds like a canine : WOOLF

Virginia Woolf was an English author who was active in the period between the two World Wars. Woolf’s most famous novels were “Mrs. Dalloway”, “To the Lighthouse” and “Orlando”. She also wrote a long essay entitled “A Room of One’s Own” in which she states “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.”

58 Flynn of old Hollywood : ERROL

Actor Errol Flynn was born in 1909 in Tasmania, where he was raised. In his twenties, Flynn lived in the UK where he pursued his acting career. Around the same time he starred in an Australian film “In the Wake of the Bounty” and then appeared in a British film “Murder at Monte Carlo”. It was in the latter film that he was noticed by Warner Brothers who brought him to America. Flynn’s non-American heritage shone through even while he was living the American dream in California. He regularly played cricket, along with his friend David Niven, in the Hollywood Cricket Club.

Down

1 Dickens’s Drood : EDWIN

“The Mystery of Edwin Drood” is an unfinished novel by Charles Dickens. The story itself is centered not on the title character, but on Edwin Drood’s uncle, a choirmaster named John Jasper.

3 Bottled spirit : GENIE

The “genie” in the bottle (or lamp) takes his or her name from “djinn”. “Djinns” were various spirits considered lesser than angels, with people exhibiting unsavory characteristics said to be possessed by djinn. When the book “The Thousand and One Nights” was translated into French, the word “djinn” was transformed into the existing word “génie”, because of the similarity in sound and the related spiritual meaning. This “génie” from the Arabian tale became confused with the Latin-derived “genius”, a guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. Purely as a result of that mistranslation the word genie has come to mean the “djinn” that pops out of the bottle. A little hard to follow, I know, but still quite interesting …

4 Word before mail or watch : HATE-

“To hate-watch” a particular TV show is to watch it, even though you actually hate its content.

5 Ones trained to administer naloxone, for short : EMTS

Emergency medical technician (EMT)

6 Actress and comedian Edebiri : AYO

Actor, comedian and television writer Ayo Edebiri gained prominence for her role as Sydney Adamu, the young sous-chef in the very successful Hulu series “The Bear”.

8 Creature in the National Audubon Society logo : EGRET

The National Audubon Society is an environmental organization that was formed in 1905. The society is named for John James Audubon, an ornithologist who compiled his famous book “Birds of America” between 1827 and 1838.

9 Destination for dermaplaning : DAY SPA

Dermaplaning is an exfoliation process in which a sharp blade, a dermatome, is dragged across the skin to remove the top layer of dead skin cells. The procedure is usually carried out on the face. Ouch …

13 Short product overview, in business lingo : ONE-PAGER

Lingo is specialized vocabulary. Journalese and legalese would be good examples.

14 Theater district where “The Mousetrap” has been playing continuously since 1952 : WEST END

The West End of London is part of the central area of the city that contains many tourist attractions and in particular a large number of theaters. The West End of London is also home to the most expensive office space in the world.

“The Mousetrap” is a murder-mystery play by Agatha Christie that opened in the West End of London in 1952. Apart from a 14-month closure during the COVID pandemic, the play has been running continuously ever since, giving it the longest run of any play in the world. I’ve seen the play several times, not only in London. Like all audience members, I have asked not to reveal the ending …

21 Hard pass? : HAIL MARY

A Hail Mary pass (also called “the long bomb”) is a desperation move in American football in which a long pass is thrown with very little chance of success, right at the end of a game or at the end of a half. The term dates back to the thirties, and was probably first used at Notre Dame. The “Hail Mary” is a prayer in the Christian tradition that is of particular significance in Roman Catholicism.

27 Traditional treat in Japanese New Year celebrations : MOCHI

Mochi is a sweet rice cake in Japanese cuisine. Special versions of mochi are produced for certain times of the year or holidays, e.g. New Year, spring time, Children’s Day and Girls’ Day.

31 Words on a statue honoring Washington : BEST ACTOR

Denzel Washington is an actor from Mount Vernon, just outside New York City. Washington’s big break came with a TV role, playing Dr. Philip Chandler on “St. Elsewhere” from 1982 to 1988.

32 Soft-topped cap : TAM

A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap worn traditionally by Scotsmen. “Tams” were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as more dyes became readily available they became more colorful. The name of the cap comes from the title character of the Robert Burns poem “Tam o’ Shanter”. A pom-pom adorning a tam is known as a toorie.

34 Lake ___, setting for “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” : SUPERIOR

Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and the largest freshwater lake in the world by area. The lake was referred to by the first French explorers as “le lac supérieur”, which translates literally as “the upper lake”. The British anglicized the name to “Lake Superior”.

36 Pronoun also known as pluralis majestatis : ROYAL WE

The “royal we” is more correctly called the “majestic plural”, and is the use of a plural pronoun to describe a single person in a high office. I suppose the most often quoted phrase that uses the majestic plural is “We are not amused”, which is often attributed to Queen Victoria. The “editorial we” is a similar concept, in which a newspaper editor or columnist refers to himself or herself as “we” when giving an opinion.

43 Something picked in a fortunetelling game : PETAL

She loves me, she loves me not …

44 Early home computer brand : AMIGA

Amiga is a line of desktop computers that was made by Commodore in the eighties and nineties.

45 “Forgotten spot in the Caribbean,” per “Hamilton” : NEVIS

Nevis is an island in the Caribbean Sea, which along with the island of Saint Kitts makes up the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis. At the center of Nevis is a volcano, called Nevis Peak. Apparently the clouds at the top of this peak reminded someone of snow, so the island was given the Spanish name “Nuestra Señora de las Nieves” (Our Lady of the Snows). The name “Nevis” then comes from “nieves”, the word for “snow”.

46 Junk : DRECK

Dreck is filth or trash. It is a word that comes into English from “drek”, the Yiddish for “rubbish”.

51 “East of Eden” role : ADAM

John Steinbeck considered his 1952 novel “East of Eden” to be his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

53 Bills’ org. : NFL

The Buffalo Bills NFL team, founded in 1959, was named after an earlier team with the same name that had merged with the Cleveland Browns back in 1950. The “Bills” name was obviously popular with fans, as the name was chosen in a public contest. The older team had been named for “Buffalo Bill” Cody. The team mascot is Billy Buffalo, and the cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills.