Category: Steve Overton

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
8. Brokerage famous for its “spokesbaby” : E*TRADE
E*Trade is mainly an online discount brokerage. It was founded in 1982 in Palo Alto, California, and I used to drive by its headquarters almost every day. The company is now run out of New York City. E*Trade used to produce those famous Super Bowl ads with the talking babies staring into a webcam.

16. Movie villain modeled after Ernst Stavro Blofeld : DR EVIL
Dr. Evil is a character played by Mike Myers in the “Austin Powers” series of movies. The character lampoons various James Bond villains, just as Austin Powers lampoons James Bond himself.

Ernst Stavro Blofeld is a villain in the James Bond universe. Blofeld has been played on the big screen several times by different actors. My favorite is Donald Pleasance in 1967’s “You Only Live Twice”. In the original Ian Fleming novels, Blofeld was born on 28 May 1908, which happens to be Fleming’s own birthday.

18. Home of the Red Cross : GENEVA
Genève (“Geneva” in English) is the biggest city in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. I’ve been to Geneva only once, and sadly what I remember most is how expensive it is. It is in fact the fourth or fifth most expensive city in the world.

Back in 1859, a Swiss businessman called Henri Dunant went to meet French emperor Napoleon III, to discuss making it easier to conduct commerce in French-occupied Algeria. The Emperor was billeted at Solferino, where France and Austria were engaged in a major battle. In one day, Dunant witnessed 40,000 soldiers die in battle and countless wounded suffering on the battlefield without any organized medical care. Dunant abandoned his business agenda and instead spent a week caring for the sick and wounded. Within a few years he had founded the precursor to the Red Cross, and in 1901 he was awarded the first ever Nobel Peace Prize.

26. “Was ist ___?” : DAS
“Was ist das?” is German for “What is that?”

27. Where Manila is : LUZON
Luzon is the largest of the Philippine Islands, and home to the capital city of Manila.

29. Unit of brilliance? : CARAT
The carat is a unit of mass used in measuring gemstones that is equal to 200 mg.

30. Aussie girl : SHEILA
“Sheila” is a slang term used in Australia for a young woman.

36. Mañana preceder : HASTA
“Hasta mañana” translates from Spanish as “See you tomorrow”, literally “Until tomorrow”.

38. Natl. Women’s History Month : MAR
Women’s History Month is March in the US, and incorporates International Women’s Day on March 8th.

42. Sweet, in scores : DOLCE
The musical term “dolce” instructs the performer to play “gently and sweetly”.

44. Mars, but not Earth : GOD
Mars was the god of war in Ancient Rome. Mars was also viewed as the father of the Roman people and the father of Romulus and Remus, the twin brothers who founded Rome according to Roman mythology..

46. Seltzer, e.g. : MIXER
The term “seltzer” comes from the village of Selters in Germany. Selters has natural springs of carbonated mineral water that is bottled and sold as Selters water. In English-speaking countries, the name has morphed into “Seltzer” water.

47. With 9-Down, Spanish leaders? : UNO DOS …
(9D. See 47-Across : … TRES)
“Uno, dos, tres” (one, two, three in Spanish)

49. Like “Roma,” to Romans : FEMININE
“Roma”, the Italian for “Rome”, is a feminine noun.

51. It can dirty your Windows : ADWARE
Adware is “advertising-supported software”, an application that includes ads in some form so that the developed can generate revenue. Sometimes deceptive practices can be used to entice a user to install such programs, so adware can sometimes be classed as malware (malicious software).

53. Fulminated : RANTED
To fulminate is to explode or detonate, perhaps in rage. It’s a lovely word derived from the Latin “fulminare” meaning “to hurl lightning”.

Down
5. Manitoba tribe : CREE
The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US most of the Cree nation live in Montana on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

Manitoba is the Canadian province that borders the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota. Even though Manitoba has an area of over 250,000 square miles, 60% of its population resides in the province’s capital city of Winnipeg.

6. Lab grp. : AKC
The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the organization that handles registration of purebred dogs The AKC also promotes dog shows around the country including the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

7. Famous introduction that was never actually used : ME TARZAN
“Tarzan” is the title character in the series of books created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The line “Me Tarzan, you Jane” never appeared in the books, and indeed doesn’t even figure in the movies. Apparently Johnny Weissmuller (who played Tarzan in the thirties and forties) saw Maureen O’Sullivan (“Jane”, to Weissmuller’s “Tarzan”) struggling with a suitcase in the parking lot during filming. He grabbed the bag from her, jokingly saying “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, and people have been quoting those words ever since.

8. Mystery prize : EDGAR
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (the Edgars) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America.

10. “Star Wars” villain Kylo ___ : REN
Adam Driver is an actor best known for playing Adam Sackler on the TV show “Girls” that airs on HBO. Driver’s career got a huge boost in 2015 when he played villain Kylo Ren in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”.

11. Mass number : AVE MARIA
“Ave Maria” (“Hail Mary” in English) is the prayer at the core of the Roman Catholic Rosary, which itself is a set of prayers asking for the assistance of the Virgin Mary. Much of the text of the “Hail Mary” comes from the Gospel of Luke. The words in Latin are:

AVE MARIA, gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Iesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

The prayer has been adapted as a hymn. The two most famous musical versions of “Ave Maria” are by Charles Gounod (based on a piece by Bach) and by Franz Schubert.

13. Korean compact : ELANTRA
The Elantra is a compact car made by Hyundai of South Korea. There was a long-standing dispute between Hyundai and manufacturers Lotus and Mitsubishi. Lotus contended that the Elantra name was too close the Lotus Elan, and Mitsubishi didn’t like the similarity to the Mitsubishi Elante.

21. Ginny’s brother, in the Harry Potter books : RON
Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are the principal characters in the “Harry Potter” series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling.

24. They may have images of Mozart and Cervantes : EUROS
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s image is found on the 1-euro coin issued by Austria. The image of Miguel de Cervantes is found on the 10-cent coin issued by Spain.

Euro coins carry a design on one side that indicates the country of issue (Ireland uses a harp, for example). Euro banknotes, on the other hand, lack any such indication. The banknotes all feature stylized architectural designs of bridges, arches and gateways that reflect the large number of historic structures found throughout the continent.

25. Some University of Virginia undergrads in 1969, for the first time : COEDS
The University of Virginia (UVA) was founded by Thomas Jefferson, who sat on the original Board of Visitors alongside former US Presidents James Madison and James Monroe. In fact, the original UVA campus was built on land near Charlottesville that was once a farm belonging to President Monroe.

27. 1972 top 10 hit that ran for 7+ minutes : LAYLA
Layla is one of the great rock anthems of the seventies, released by Derek and the Dominos as a single in 1971. It is a masterpiece of composition, with the first half of the song a great vehicle for the guitar-playing talents of Eric Clapton. The second half is a beautifully melodic piano coda (a coda … taking up half the length of the track!). To top things off we have the “unplugged” version recorded by Clapton in 1992, a fabulous and inventive variation on the original.

Layla, you’ve got me on my knees.
Layla, I’m begging, darling please.
Layla, darling won’t you ease my worried mind.

28. Markers : CHITS
A chit is a note or a short letter. The term tends to be used these days in the sense of an amount owed (as in a poker game). The word used to be “chitty”, which is now obsolete but was closer to the original Hindi term. I feel a tad obsolete myself because when we are at school we would be excused class if we had a “chitty”.

29. Garçon’s offering : CARTE
“Carte” is a word sometimes used in French for a menu. Menu items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately, as opposed to “table d’hôte” which is a fixed price menu with limited choice.

31. Rain forest menace : ANACONDA
Anacondas are native to the tropical regions of South America. The green anaconda is one of the world’s largest snakes, growing to 17 feet long and weighing up to 215 pounds! Anacondas are not venomous, and prefer to kill their prey by coiling around it and then squeeeeeezing …

33. Household brand famous for its infomercials : OXICLEAN
OxiClean is a bleaching agent and cleaner that was famously marketed using infomercials that featured the late Billy Mays.

34. Austin Powers’s car with a portmanteau name : SHAGUAR
The character of Austin Powers was created by the actor who plays him, namely Mike Myers. Apparently Myers came up with the idea for Powers while listening to the Burt Bacharach song “The Look of Love”.

37. Dad ___ : BOD
A “dad bod” is a man’s body that is softly rounded. Well, that’s the description I like to use …

39. Set of priorities : AGENDA
“Agenda” is a Latin word that translates as “things to be done”, coming from the verb “agere” meaning “to do”.

40. Like AB negative among blood types : RAREST
Here is an approximate distribution of blood types across the US population:

• O-positive: 38 percent
• O-negative: 7 percent
• A-positive: 34 percent
• A-negative: 6 percent
• B-positive: 9 percent
• B-negative: 2 percent
• AB-positive: 3 percent
• AB-negative: 1 percent

43. Might : SINEW
Sinew is another name for a tendon. Tendons are bands of collagen that connect muscle to bone. Tendons are similar to ligaments and fasciae, which are also connective tissue made out of collagen, but ligaments join bone to bone, and fasciae connect muscle to muscle. We also use the term “sinew” to mean muscular power.

46. Units of wire thickness : MILS
The thickness unit known as a “mil” here in the US is usually referred to as a “thou” on the other side of the Atlantic. A “mil” is actually one thousandth of an inch. I vote for “thou” …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Road movie producer? : DASHCAM
8. Brokerage famous for its “spokesbaby” : E*TRADE
14. It’ll give you a break : ENTER KEY
16. Movie villain modeled after Ernst Stavro Blofeld : DR EVIL
17. “Nailed it!” : PERFECTO!
18. Home of the Red Cross : GENEVA
19. Overplay a part : EMOTE
20. Fields of energy : AURAS
22. -1, for sine: Abbr. : MIN
23. Small drinks : NIPS
24. Unwelcome kind of message : ERROR
25. Terse refusal : CAN’T
26. “Was ist ___?” : DAS
27. Where Manila is : LUZON
28. Apple apparatus : CORER
29. Unit of brilliance? : CARAT
30. Aussie girl : SHEILA
31. Out for a week or two, say : AWAY ON HOLIDAY
34. Tie-ups : SNARLS
35. Flight attendants point them out : EXITS
36. Mañana preceder : HASTA
37. Hat features : BRIMS
38. Natl. Women’s History Month : MAR
41. Really long : ACHE
42. Sweet, in scores : DOLCE
43. Story with many parts : SAGA
44. Mars, but not Earth : GOD
45. Long-distance call? : YODEL
46. Seltzer, e.g. : MIXER
47. With 9-Down, Spanish leaders? : UNO DOS …
49. Like “Roma,” to Romans : FEMININE
51. It can dirty your Windows : ADWARE
52. Rears : TAIL ENDS
53. Fulminated : RANTED
54. “Easy peasy” : NO SWEAT

Down
1. Count (on) : DEPEND
2. Lack of oomph : ANEMIA
3. Razor sharpeners : STROPS
4. Weighs, in a way : HEFTS
5. Manitoba tribe : CREE
6. Lab grp. : AKC
7. Famous introduction that was never actually used : ME TARZAN
8. Mystery prize : EDGAR
9. See 47-Across : … TRES
10. “Star Wars” villain Kylo ___ : REN
11. Mass number : AVE MARIA
12. From on high : DIVINELY
13. Korean compact : ELANTRA
15. Not right, sarcastically : YOUR OTHER LEFT
21. Ginny’s brother, in the Harry Potter books : RON
24. They may have images of Mozart and Cervantes : EUROS
25. Some University of Virginia undergrads in 1969, for the first time : COEDS
27. 1972 top 10 hit that ran for 7+ minutes : LAYLA
28. Markers : CHITS
29. Garçon’s offering : CARTE
30. Snail trail : SLIME
31. Rain forest menace : ANACONDA
32. Chase with a drink : WASH DOWN
33. Household brand famous for its infomercials : OXICLEAN
34. Austin Powers’s car with a portmanteau name : SHAGUAR
37. Dad ___ : BOD
38. Rep. Waters of California : MAXINE
39. Set of priorities : AGENDA
40. Like AB negative among blood types : RAREST
42. Treated, in a way : DOSED
43. Might : SINEW
45. Time long ago : YORE
46. Units of wire thickness : MILS
48. “Who ___?” : DAT
50. Italian possessive : MIO

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