Category: Simeon Seigel

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 50 things on the Argo : OARS

In Greek mythology, Jason and the Argonauts set sail on the Argo from the city of Iolcos in search of the Golden Fleece. Jason’s vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of a man named Argus, who designed and constructed it with the help of the goddess Athena.

5 Units equal to nine inches : SPANS

A span is a unit of measure equivalent to the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger on a splayed human hand. A span has been standardized at 9 inches.

10 Needing more salt, perhaps : ICIER

Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, and is also known as “rock salt”. It is used to melt ice, as salt water has a lower freezing point than pure water. Adding salt to icy sidewalks can therefore cause any ice to melt (as long as the ambient temperature isn’t too low). A mixture of halite and ice can also be used to cool things below the freezing point of water, perhaps to make ice cream.

15 Swiss-born artist whose name sounds like an art medium : KLEE

“Klee” sounds like “clay”.

Artist Paul Klee was born in Switzerland, but studied art in Munich in Germany. We can see many of Klee’s works in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. If you get to Bern in Switzerland, even more of them can be seen at the Zentrum Paul Klee that was opened in 2005. Klee’s most celebrated work is his pointillist painting from 1932 called “Ad Parnassum”, which is owned by the Kunstmuseum, also located in Bern.

17 *Person who persists in a hopeless cause : BITTER-ENDER

The bitter end is the conclusion of a difficult situation. The phrase “bitter end” is nautical in origin. “Bitts” are pairs of posts on the deck of a ship or on a wharf around which mooring lines are wound to secure a vessel. The bitter end of a cable or rope is the part at the extremes of the line that is wound around the bitts.

18 Destroyer of Hindu cosmogony : SIVA

Shiva (also “Siva”) is one of the major deities of the Hindu tradition, and is known as the destroyer of evil and the transformer. Shiva is also part of the Hindu trinity known as the Trimurti, along with Brahma and Vishnu.

21 Show obeisance : BOW TO

Obeisance is an attitude of deference usually marked by gestures of respect such as a bow or curtsey.

29 Porter of Broadway : COLE

Cole Porter was a little unusual amongst his peers in that he was one of the few successful songwriters who wrote both lyrics and music for his compositions. Porter was seriously injured in a riding accident in his forties and was left disabled and in pain. Despite this, he continued to work and produced his most successful work after the accident.

34 Cheryl of “Charlie’s Angels” : LADD

Cheryl Ladd’s most famous role was Kris Munroe in television’s “Charlie’s Angels”. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett-Majors when the latter opted out of the show. Cheryl was the daughter-in-law of famed Hollywood actor Alan Ladd, as she was married to Ladd’s son, David. After the couple divorced, Cheryl retained the Ladd name.

When the TV show “Charlie’s Angels” first aired in the mid-seventies, it was a little unusual in that it featured three women playing private detectives, a role usually reserved for men. The name first chosen for the show was “The Alley Cats”, then “Harry’s Angels”, before finally settling on “Charlie’s Angels”.

35 Bit of Q.E.D. : ERAT

The initialism “QED” is used at the end of a mathematical proof or a philosophical argument. QED stands for the Latin “quod erat demonstrandum” meaning “that which was to be demonstrated”.

37 Features of some stadia : DOMES

The Greek word “stadion” was a measure of length, about 600 feet. The name “stadion” then came to be used for a running track of that length. That “running track” meaning led to our contemporary term “stadium” (plural “stadia”).

38 Start of a popular saying about gravity … or a hint to completing the answers to the starred clues : WHAT GOES UP …

… must come down.

41 Big name in Russian ballet : KIROV

The Mariinsky Ballet is a company based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in the mid-1700s as the Imperial Russian Ballet, but was renamed to the Kirov Ballet during the Soviet era, in honor of the Bolshevik revolutionary Sergey Kirov. The Kirov was renamed again at the end of communist rule, taking the name of the Mariinsky Theatre where the company was headquartered. The theatre was named for Empress Maria Alexandrovna, who was the wife of Tsar Alexander II.

43 Capital on the Mediterranean : EURO

The Mediterranean Sea is almost completely enclosed by land, and is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The sea takes its name from the Latin “mediterraneus”, which means “in the middle of land”.

48 Legislative bodies : SENATES

Our word “senate” comes from the Latin name for such a body, namely “senatus”. In turn, “senatus” is derived from “senex” meaning “old man”, reflecting the original Roman Senate’s makeup as a council of “elders”. Ain’t that true …?

50 Old wide-screen format : CINERAMA

Cinerama is a widescreen format that was introduced in some theaters in the fifties. A Cinerama screen is very curved, and it takes three movie projectors operating simultaneously to provide the full image.

56 Brew designed to survive trips to the subcontinent, in brief : IPA

India pale ale (IPA) is a style of beer that originated in England. The beer was originally intended for transportation from England to India, hence the name.

59 Guardian spirits : GENII

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 …

61 *Musical appreciation? : TONY AWARD

The Tony Awards are more completely referred to as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Broadway Theatre. The awards are named for Mary Antoinette “Tony” Perry, who was a co-founder of the American Theatre Wing.

64 Deity with the raven familiars Huginn and Muninn : ODIN

According to Norse mythology, the god Odin had a pair of ravens that flew all over the world each day to get him information. The ravens were named Huginn and Muninn.

67 ___ Day (April celebration) : ARBOR

Arbor Day is a holiday each year in which people traditionally plant and care for trees. The first Arbor Day was held way back in 1872.

69 Yani , youngest pro golfer to win five major championships (age 22) : TSENG

Yani Tseng is a professional golfer from Taiwan. She was ranked number one in the Women’s World Golf Rankings from 2011 to 2013, and is the youngest player (male or female) to win five majors.

70 Score keeper? : STAND

That would be a music stand.

Down

2 Fictional character with a famous opening line : ALI BABA

In the folk tale “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, the title character is a poor woodcutter who discovers the magic phrase “Open sesame!” that opens the thieves’ den.

5 Palm starch : SAGO

When I was growing up in Ireland I was very familiar with pearl sago, which is very similar to pearl tapioca. Pearls of sago are simply little balls of sago starch used to make breads, pancakes, biscuits, or steamed puddings that we ate as kids. Sago comes from the pith of the sago palm tree. To get at the starch the tree has to be cut down and the trunk split to reveal the pith. The pith is crushed and manipulated to make the starch available, which is then washed out of a fibrous suspension. One sago palm tree yields about 150-300 kg of starch. Personally I love the stuff, but then, I am a bit weird …

6 ___ Tour : PGA

The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

7 What’s off to the side in a selfie : ARM

A selfie is a self-portrait, one usually taken with a digital camera or cell phone. A “group selfie” is sometimes referred to as a “groufie” or “wefie”. A “couple selfie” is known as an “usie” or “ussie”, although those terms are sometimes also used for a group picture.

10 Watson and Deep Blue, for two : IBMS

Watson is a computer system developed by IBM. Watson is designed to answer questions that are posed in natural language, so that it should be able to interpret questions just as you and I would, no matter how the question is phrased. The program is named after the founder of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. Today’s Watson competed in a few memorable episodes of “Jeopardy!” in 2011 taking out two of the best players of the quiz show. That made for fun television …

Deep Blue was a computer developed by IBM specifically for playing chess. In 1996 it became the first machine to win a chess game against a reigning world champion. The champion in question was the great Garry Kasparov, although he came out on top in the end by winning the 6-game competition 4-2.

13 Prima ballerinas : ETOILES

In the world of ballet, the étoile is the leading dancer in a company (male or female). “Étoile” is the French word for “star”.

The title “prima ballerina” is the second-highest awarded to a female dancer in a company. The more prestigious “prima ballerina assoluta” is only awarded to the most notable dancers.

14 Melt down : RENDER

Fat, when extracted from the carcass of an animal, is called suet. Untreated suet decomposes at room temperature quite easily so it has to be rendered, purified to make it stable. Rendered fat from pigs is what we call lard. Rendered beef or mutton fat is known as tallow.

22 ___ can, item first made and patented in Britain in 1810 : TIN

We tend to call tin cans “cans” here in the US, but they’re usually called “tins” in Britain and Ireland.

31 Boot : HEAVE-HO

“Heave-ho” is a nautical term that was used as a chant when sailors were hoisting a sail, for example. The term has come to mean “dismissal”, as in “give him the old heave-ho”.

39 Above 500 on the Scoville scale : HOT

The Scoville scale is a measure of the spiciness of chili peppers. The scale was invented by a pharmacist in 1912, Wilbur Scoville. To determine the position of a pepper on the Scoville scale, the amount of capsaicin in the chili is measured. Capsaicin is an irritant that causes the sensation of burning when it comes into contact with tissue, particularly mucous membranes.

40 Lake that’s home to Kelleys Island : ERIE

Kelleys Island is the largest American island in Lake Erie, and is located just a few miles north of the Ohio mainland of Ohio. Both the island itself and its main village share the name, which originates from the early landowners, brothers Datus and Irad Kelley, who began purchasing parcels of land on the island in 1833. The island is accessible by ferry and is a popular vacation destination.

46 Some retired faculty : EMERITI

“Emeritus” (female form “emerita”, and plural “emeriti”) is a term in the title of some retired professionals, particularly those from academia. Originally an emeritus was a veteran soldier who had served his time. The term comes from the Latin verb “emerere” meaning to complete one’s service.

47 ___ es Salaam : DAR

Dar es Salaam is the largest city in Tanzania, and sits right on the east coast of Africa. The city’s name is usually translated from Arabic as “Haven of Peace”.

48 Tap : SPIGOT

Back in the 15th century, a spigot was specifically a plug to stop a hole in a cask. Somewhere along the way, a spigot had a valve added for variable control of flow.

49 Certain mattresses : SERTAS

Serta was founded in 1931 when a group of 13 mattress manufacturers came together, essentially forming a cooperative. Today, the Serta company is owned by eight independent licensees in a similar arrangement. Serta advertisements feature the Serta Counting Sheep. Each numbered sheep has a different personality, such as:

• #1 The Leader of the Flock
• #½ The Tweener
• #13 Mr. Bad Luck
• #53 The Pessimist
• #86 Benedict Arnold

54 Bit of hybrid field hockey attire : SKORT

The garment called a “skort” is a hybrid between a “skirt” and “shorts”.

The term “field” hockey is used primarily in North America, differentiating the sport from “ice” hockey. Elsewhere in the world, field hockey is known simply as “hockey”. By the way, field hockey is Pakistan’s national sport.

60 Holm or McKellen of “The Hobbit” : IAN

English actor Sir Ian Holm was very respected on the stage in the UK, but is better known for his film roles here in the US. He played the hobbit Bilbo Baggins in two of the “Lord of the Rings” movies and two of “The Hobbit” movies, and also played the character who is revealed as an android in the film “Alien”.

Sir Ian McKellen is a marvelous English actor, one who is comfortable playing anything from Macbeth on stage to Magneto in an “X-Men” movie. On the big screen, McKellen is very famous for playing Gandalf in “The Lord of Rings”. In the UK, Sir Ian is noted for being at the forefront of the campaign for equal rights for gay people, a role he has enthusiastically embraced since the eighties.

62 Wizards’ org. : NBA

The Washington Wizards are the professional basketball team based in the nation’s capital. The franchise began playing in Chicago as the Packers, in 1961. One year later, the Chicago team changed its name to the Zephyrs. After one more season, the franchise relocated and became the Baltimore Bullets. In 1973, the team moved to Landover, Maryland to become the Capital Bullets, and then took the Washington Bullets name the following season. The final name change came in 1995, as the owner was uncomfortable with the violent images conjured up by the “Bullets” name. The Wizards name was chosen after a fan contest.