Category: Robert Logan

Bill’s time: 11m 57s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Like baseballs and some eyelashes : BATTED

At least as far back as the 1800s, the term “batting” was used in falconry to describe the fluttering of a hawk’s wings while on a perch or a fist, as if the bird intended to fly away. The usage of “batting” extended to the fluttering of a human’s eyelids, giving us the expressions “batting an eye” and “batting an eyelid”.

16A Flugelhorn player on the 1978 instrumental hit “Feels So Good” : MANGIONE

A flügelhorn is a brass instrument that is similar to a trumpet and cornet, but with a wider bore. As the name suggests, the flügelhorn was developed in Germany, in the early 1800s from the English bugle. The German word “Flügel” means “wing, flank”. The instrument was first used by the leaders of hunts (Flügelmeisters) to direct the hunters on the flanks of the hunting party.

17A Philadelphia university known for its professional co-op program : DREXEL

Drexel University is a private school in Philadelphia, but with a campus in Sacramento. It was founded in 1891 by philanthropist Anthony J. Drexel who was a Philadelphia financier. The school was originally known as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry.

19A Brother Joe, Kevin or Nick of pop : JONAS

The Jonas Brothers Pop rock band comprises brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas. They recorded their first song in 2005, and really achieved fame a few years later due to repeated appearances on the Disney Channel. They split up in 2013, citing “creative differences”, but came back as a trio in 2019.

25A Ball-shaped cereal : KIX

Kix cereal has been around since 1937, would you believe? Kix used to be just puffed grains, processed to give the characteristic shape. Then the decision was made to add sugar to get better penetration into the young kid marketplace. Sad really …

26A Garb for athletes in the Highland Games : KILTS

The caber toss must be the most recognizable event in the Scottish Highland Games. The tall pole is 19’ 6” long and weighs a whopping 175 pounds. The event may have originated with the practice of tossing large logs across chasms in order to cross them.

30A It’s most beautiful when broken : GEODE

A geode is a rock in which there is a cavity that is lined or filled with crystal formations. The crystals inside a geode form when mineral-rich water seeps into a cavity in a rock, leaving behind dissolved minerals that gradually build up over time. Some of the largest geodes ever discovered have been as big as a room and can take millions of years to form.

31A Vacation isle for many a Francophile, familiarly : ST BARTS

The correct name for the island we often call “St. Barts” is “Saint Barthélemy”. St. Barts is in the Caribbean and is one of the French West Indies.

35A 1, 2 and 3, in that order : TRIFECTA

In horse racing, a trifecta is a bet in which the first, second and third place finishers are predicted in the correct order. The same bet can be made in jai alai competitions, predicting the top three finishers.

39A Cousin of naan : ROTI

In an Indian restaurant, naan bread is very popular. Roti is an unleavened cousin of naan.

41A Founder of the Hawaiian Pineapple Company in 1901 : DOLE

James Dole lent his name to today’s Dole Food Company. He was known as the Pineapple King, as he developed the pineapple industry in Hawaii and founded the Hawaiian Pineapple Company, the forerunner to the Dole Food Company. Dole might have had some help on the way, as he was a cousin of Sanford B, Dole, President of the Republic of Hawaii from 1894 to 1900.

42A Saxon’s “Aargh!” : ACH!

Saxony was the name given at different times in history to states along the Elbe river in central Europe. As the various states broke up, they spawned many duchies that retained the name “Saxe”. The most famous of these duchies was probably Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two united duchies in Germany that ceased to exist after WWII. A notable branch of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House is the British Royal Family, as Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. King George V of the United Kingdom changed the name of the family to the House of Windsor in a politically sensible move during WWI.

43A Sacred space for female family members, in the Muslim tradition : HAREM

“Harem” is a Turkish word derived from the Arabic for “forbidden place”. Traditionally, a harem was the female quarters in a household in which a man had more than one wife. Not only wives (and concubines) would use the harem, but also young children and other female relatives. The main point was that no men were allowed in the area. The term “harem” is also applied to the women, children and staff occupying the quarters.

45A European brewer with over 170 brands : HEINEKEN

Heineken lager beer is named for Gerard Adriaan Heineken, the brewer who founded the brewery in the Netherlands in 1873. The label on a bottle of Heineken beer includes a red star logo. The red star was a symbol used by European brewers in the Middle Ages. During the Cold War, the red star came to have a negative connotation, an association with communism. So for several years, Heineken used a white star with a red outline as a logo.

47A It can tie up your stock : LARIAT

Our word “lariat” comes from the Spanish “la reater” meaning “the rope”.

51A What goes on goes here : CLOSET

In Old French a “clos” was an enclosure, with the diminutive form “closet” describing a small enclosure or private room. Over time this evolved into our modern usage of “closet”, describing a cabinet or cupboard.

Down

3D Silicon Valley’s holy grail : THE NEXT BIG THING

The Santa Clara Valley, located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay, is better known as “Silicon Valley”. The term “Silicon Valley” dates back to 1971 when it was apparently first used in a weekly trade newspaper called “Electronic News” in articles written by journalist Don Hoefler.

The Holy Grail is a theme found throughout Arthurian legend. The grail itself is some vessel, with the term “grail” coming from the Old French “graal” meaning “cup or bowl made of earth, wood or metal”. Over time, the legend of the Holy Grail became mingled with stories of the Holy Chalice of the Christian tradition, the cup used to serve wine at the Last Supper. Over time, the term “grail” came to be used for any desired or sought-after object.

4D Beyoncé or Selena, e.g. : TEXAN

Beyoncé Knowles established herself in the entertainment industry as the lead singer with the R&B group Destiny’s Child. She launched her solo singing career in 2002, after making her first appearance as an actor. In 2006 she played the lead in the very successful movie adaptation of the Broadway musical “Dreamgirls”. Beyoncé is married to rap star Jay-Z. She is also referred to affectionately as “Queen Bey”, a play on the phrase “the queen bee”. Her fan base goes by the name “Beyhive”.

Singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez, known professionally simply as “Selena”, was murdered in 1995 by the president of her own fan club at the height of her career. In a 1997 biopic about Selena’s life, Jennifer Lopez played the title role. Selena had often been referred to as the “Queen of Tejano” during her career.

9D Mountain range that spans 67º of latitude : ANDES

The Andes range is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world. It runs down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles, from Venezuela in the north to Chile in the south. The highest peak in the Andes is Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.

10D Many foreign aid grps. : NGOS

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

11D Corporate data manager, for short : CIO

Chief information officer (CIO)

24D It can spice up your holidays : CLOVE

Cloves are the flower buds of the tree Syzygium aromaticum. Until a couple of centuries ago, clove trees were only found in the Maluku Islands in Indonesia. Because they were a rich source of cloves, mace and nutmeg, the Moluccas were referred to historically as the Spice Islands.

26D Mayor Bass of Los Angeles : KAREN

Former social worker and politician Karen Bass took over as Mayor of Los Angeles in 2022. Prior to taking office, she had served in the US House of Representatives for eleven years. For the last two years in the House, Bass was Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

32D Device featured in Newton’s “Opticks” : PRISM

When light passes through a prism, it splits up (disperses) into differing wavelengths. It then becomes clear that white light is actually a mixture of different colors, which show up as a beautiful spectrum.

Sir Isaac Newton was one of the most influential people in history, and the man who laid the groundwork for all of classical mechanics. The story about an apple falling on his head, inspiring him to formulate his theories about gravity, well that’s not quite true. Newton often told the story about observing an apple falling in his mother’s garden and how this made him acutely aware of the Earth’s gravitational pull. However, he made no mention of the apple hitting him on the head.

36D Destroyer : Shiva :: Creator : ___ : BRAHMA

Brahma is the god of creation and one of the Trimurti, the great triad of Hindu gods, along with Vishnu (the preserver) and Shiva (the destroyer). Brahma is often depicted with four faces representing the four Vedas, the four sacred texts.

37D Nails the halfpipe, in snowboarding jargon : SHREDS

“Shredding the Gnar” is a slang phrase used by snowboarders. The term doesn’t seem to have a precise definition, but “shredding” seems to translate simply as “snowboarding”, as best I can tell. As for the “Gnar”, I have no idea …

40D George with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame : TAKEI

Actor George Takei is known for his presence on social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. He explores that presence in a 2012 memoir “Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet”.

41D Title character of a Jake Gyllenhaal cult classic : DARKO

“Donnie Darko” is a 2001 sci-fi psychological thriller that one has to describe as “mind-bending”. The title character, Donnie Darko, is plagued by disturbing visions of a mysterious figure in a rabbit suit named Frank, who informs him the world will end in 28 days. As a result, Donnie is compelled to carry out increasingly destructive and bizarre acts, and as the deadline approaches, Donnie tries to unravel the meaning of his visions and his role in the impending apocalypse. Not a romcom, I’m guessing …

Jake Gyllenhaal’s most famous role has to be as co-star with Heath Ledger in “Brokeback Mountain”, but he has also had lead roles in big movies like “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Jarhead” and “Rendition”.

43D Big acronym in purifying filters : HEPA

Air filters can be specified as “HEPA”, with the acronym standing for “high-efficiency particulate absorption”. To be given the name “HEPA”, the filter must remove 99.7% of particles with a size of 0.3 microns or larger.

44D Call off plans abruptly : BAIL

The phrase “to bail out” (sometimes just “to bail”) means to leave suddenly. We’ve been using the term since the early thirties, when it originated with airline pilots. To bail out is to make a parachute jump.

47D Closing for business? : LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) has a structure that limits the liability of the owner or owners. It is a hybrid structure in the sense that it can be taxed as would an individual or partnership, while also maintaining the liability protection afforded to a corporation.