Category: Victor Schmitt

Bill’s time: 7m 48s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Tycoon : BARON

Our term “tycoon” meaning powerful business person was originally used by foreigners to describe the shogun of Japan. “Tycoon” is an anglicization of the Japanese “taikun” meaning “great lord or prince”.

6A “Famously friendly” pooch, per the American Kennel Club : LAB

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.

9A Mystery author Josephine : TEY

“Josephine Tey” was the pen name of Scottish mystery writer Elizabeth Mackintosh, who was best known for writing mystery novels. One of Tey’s more famous works is the 1949 crime novel “Brat Farrar”, the story of an orphan who impersonates the missing son of a rich family in order to wangle his way into an inheritance. Another is “The Daughter of Time”, in which a Scotland Yard inspector who is laid up in hospital takes on the mystery of whether or not King Richard III of England murdered his nephews, the Princes in the Tower.

17A Common sushi go-with : MISO SOUP

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

19A Marijuana component, for short : THC

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive in cannabis.

22A Only U.S. prez born in Kentucky : ABE

Abraham Lincoln was the first US president to come from outside of the original Thirteen Colonies. He was born in 1809, famously in a log cabin, on Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His family moved when he was two years old to another farm a few miles away. The creek running through the farm gave it the name “Knob Creek Farm”. That same creek gave its name to the Knob Creek brand of bourbon.

23A Letters for a sellout : SRO

Standing room only (SRO)

24A Whistle blower : REF

Back in the early 17th century, a referee was someone who examined patent applications. We started using the same term for a person presiding over a sporting event in the 1820s. “Referee” is a derivative of the verb “to refer”, and literally describes someone who has the authority to make a decision by “referring” to a book, archive etc.

25A “I had something come up,” maybe : FIB

To fib is to tell a lie. The verb “to fib” likely comes from “fibble-fable” meaning “nonsense”, with “fibble-fable” coming from “fable”.

30A 2003 Will Ferrell film : ELF

“Elf” is a comedy movie that was released for the 2003 Christmas season. It was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Will Ferrell in the title role, with James Caan supporting and Ed Asner playing Santa Claus. It’s all about one of Santa’s elves who finds out he is human and goes to meet his father in New York City. The film was adapted into a stage musical that premiered on Broadway during the Christmas season of 2010.

Will Ferrell is a comedian and comic actor from Irvine, California who got his big break as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in the mid-nineties. While appearing on SNL, Ferrell was noted for several impersonations, including President George W. Bush, Neil Diamond, James Lipton, Ted Kennedy and Janet Reno.

31A Org. that prohibits Magic 8 Balls and baseball bats : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

34A Went letter by letter, to Brits : SPELT

Both “spelled” and “spelt” are valid past tenses for the verb “to spell”, although the former is way more common on this side of the Atlantic. I grew up with “spelt” on the other side of the Pond, but its usage is rapidly being replaced by “spelled” in the UK and Ireland.

36A Brief verse from Japan / With seventeen syllables / Illustrated here : HAIKU

A haiku is a very elegant form of Japanese verse. When writing a haiku in English we tend to impose the rule that the verse must contain 17 syllables. This restriction comes from the rule in Japanese that the verse must contain 17 sound units called “moras”, but moras and syllables aren’t the same thing. Sadly, the difference is not so clear to me. Here’s an example of a Haiku:

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

39A Item seen rolling through this puzzle : DIE

The numbers on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so-called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

40A Fixes, as a piano : TUNES

What was remarkable about the piano when it was invented, compared to other keyboard instruments, was that notes could be played with varying degrees of loudness. This is accomplished by pressing the keys lightly or firmly. Because of this quality, the new instrument was called a “pianoforte”, with “piano” and “forte” meaning “soft” and “loud” in Italian. We tend to shorten the name these days to just “piano”.

41A Freddy Krueger’s locale: Abbr. : ELM ST

“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film that was released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” or “horror”, I was surprised to learn that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

Freddy Krueger is the creepy serial killer in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Krueger has a burned and disfigured face, wears a brown fedora and a leather glove with metal razors that he uses to kill his victims during their nightmares. He is played by the actor Robert Englund in all of the films.

42A Evolutionary “missing link” : APE-MAN

The term “missing link” is usually applied to the concept that there existed some form of animal that is a hybrid between apes and humans. The idea that there was some “ape-man” is discounted these days by the scientific community, who now favor the theory of evolution.

44A U.F.C. fighting style : MMA

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest promoter in the world of mixed martial arts competitions. I think the idea is that competitors fight each other in various disciplines to see who is the “best of the best” …

45A Mole, e.g. : SPY

A mole is a spy who works from within the ranks of an enemy’s government or intelligence service. The use of “mole” took off after the publication of John Le Carré’s 1974 novel “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”. The author was himself a former intelligence officer and asserts that “mole” was a term used by the KGB, whereas Western agencies used the term “sleeper agent”.

51A First receptionist on “The Office” : PAM

In the excellent sitcom “The Office”, the character Pam Halpert (née Beesly) is played very ably by Jenna Fischer. If you’ve seen the original version of “The Office” from the UK, then you’d have met Pam’s equivalent character, whose name is Dawn Tinsley.

54A T. rex fossil named after its discoverer : SUE

The largest and best-preserved dinosaur fossil ever found can be seen on display at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The fossil is a Tyrannosaurus rex that is thought to have weighed over 7 tons when alive. It was discovered in South Dakota in 1990 by paleontologist Sue Hendrickson. The specimen is nicknamed “Sue” after Hendrickson.

55A Distinctive feature of the durian fruit : ODOR

Durian is a tropical fruit that is native to Southeast Asia. It has a spiky outer shell and a creamy, custard-like flesh that can vary in color from yellow to orange. Durian is known for its strong odor, which has been described as everything from rotten eggs to turpentine. Some people love the smell, while others find it offensive. The smell can be so offensive that it is illegal to carry durian on the Singapore subway system.

57A The Big Apple’s ___ Drive : FDR

The full name of the parkway known as FDR Drive in New York City is the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive. The FDR is a parkway that runs along the East River for almost ten miles through Manhattan. A large portion of the road is built on rubble that came from Bristol, England during WWII. The rubble from the bombed city was loaded as ballast on ships returning to the US after having delivered war supplies to England.

58A Singer DiFranco : ANI

Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a feminist icon, and in 2006 won the Woman of Courage Award from the National Organization for Women.

59A Frenemy of Betty in comics : VERONICA

Archie Andrews is the main character in a comic book series introduced in 1941 by Archie Comics. Archie was such a successful character that he went on to appear in a radio series, a syndicated comic strip and two television cartoon shows. Famously, Archie got himself in a love triangle with Betty Cooper, the girl next door, and Veronica Lodge, the only child of the richest man in town.

62A Classic Asimov collection : I, ROBOT

Science fiction author Isaac Asimov wrote a marvelous collection of short stories titled “I, Robot” that were first published together in 1950. In the stories, he makes repeated reference to the Three Laws of Robotics, which he introduced in the story “Runaround”, first published in 1942. The three laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

66A Five Nations tribe : SENECA

The Seneca Native American nation was a member of the Six Nations or Iroquois League, along with the Iroquois, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Tuscarora peoples. Historically, the Seneca lived south of Lake Ontario. The name “Seneca” translates as “Great Hill People”.

67A ___ Marino : SAN

San Marino is a small enclave in northern Italy with an area of just under 25 square miles. It is the oldest sovereign state and constitutional republic in the world, and has the world’s oldest constitution (dating back to 1600). What is most impressive to me is that San Marino has no national debt and a budget surplus. One can only dream …

Down

2D Shape-shifting organism : AMOEBA

An ameba (also “amoeba”) is a single-celled microorganism. The name comes from the Greek “amoibe”, meaning change. The name is quite apt, as the cell changes shape readily as the ameba moves, eats and reproduces.

3D Like some oats : ROLLED

Oat cereals all start out as “groats”, toasted oat grains with the hull still intact:

• Steel-cut oats, sometimes called “Irish oats”, are groats that have been chopped into chunks about the size of sesame seeds.
• Stone-ground oats, sometimes called “Scottish oats”, have been ground into smaller pieces, about the size of poppy seeds.
• Old-fashioned rolled oats are made by first steaming the toasted groats, and then rolling them into flakes.
• Quick-cooking oats are similar to rolled oats, but thinner flakes.
• Instant oats have been chopped, rolled, pre-cooked, dehydrated and often have salt and sugar added.

7D Dutch bier : AMSTEL

Amstel is a Dutch beer and brewery that was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. The brewery takes its name from the Amstel river that runs through the city.

13D Scabbers, to Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter books : PET RAT

Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger are the principal characters in the “Harry Potter” series of fantasy novels by J. K. Rowling. The three are the best of friends. As the stories progress, the friendship between Ron and Hermione developed to the point that they became husband and wife and had two children together.

14D Hip-hop’s Run-___ : DMC

Run-DMC was a hip hop group from Queens, New York. The trio took its name from two of the group’s members: Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.

15D Flavoring in some fast food, for short : MSG

Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring, non-essential amino acid called glutamic acid. It is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines, intensifying the umami flavor. Whether or not MSG is harmful seems to be still under debate.

20D January and November have the most federal ones : HOLIDAYS

The US Congress created the first federal holidays in 1870, but only designated four such holidays:

• New Year’s Day
• Independence Day
• Thanksgiving Day
• Christmas Day

26D Michigan’s ___ Royale National Park : ISLE

Isle Royale in Michigan is the largest island in Lake Superior. The main island, along with over 400 smaller surrounding islands, is now part of Isle Royale National Park.

27D Cave dwellers : BATS

Bats are the only mammals that are capable of sustained flight. There are many, many different kinds of bats, and indeed they make up about 20% of all mammalian species.

33D What every “O” in this grid represents : PIP

The spots on dice are called pips.

35D The Ramones’ genre : PUNK

The Ramones were an American punk rock band. The group formed in Forest Hills, New York in the mid-seventies. The band members took on the stage names Dee Dee, Joey, and Johnny Ramone, even though they were not related. The “Ramone” name was imitative of the pseudonym used by Paul McCartney when he booked into hotels anonymously, namely “Paul Ramon”. Arguably, the Ramones were the first punk rock group, defining the genre. Something else that’s not my cup of tea …

36D Material in some eco-friendly clothing : HEMP

Hemp, also known as “cannabis”, is a hardy, fast-growing plant that has many uses mainly due to the strength of the fibers in the plant’s stalks. Hemp is used to make rope, paper and textiles. The term “hemp” is sometimes reserved for varieties of the plant grown for non-drug use.

37D Liberal arts college in Michigan : ALMA

Alma College in Alma, Michigan was founded by Michigan Presbyterians in 1886. The school has a Scottish heritage of which it is very proud. Alma has its own Scottish marching band, a Scottish dance troupe and even its own design of tartan.

38D Remark accompanied by a facepalm : I’M A MORON!

The unsavory word “moron” was used formerly by the medical community to describe someone with a degree of mental retardation. The term comes from the Greek “moros” meaning “foolish, dull”. Back in the early 1900s, IQ tests were used to classify those suffering from mental retardation into categories:

• “idiot” … IQ of 0-20
• “imbecile” … IQ of 21-50
• “moron” …IQ of 51-70

48D Writer Allende : ISABEL

Isabel Allende is a Chilean writer, and the world’s most widely-read, Spanish-language author. Isabel is related to Salvador Allende, the ex-President of Chile.

49D Gas brand that sponsors NASCAR : SUNOCO

Back in the late 1800s, Sunoco was known as the Sun Oil Company, hence “Sun-o-co”.

50D Wheat-based meat alternative : SEITAN

Seitan is a foodstuff made from wheat gluten that is often used as an alternative to meat. “Seitan” is a word that was coined in Japanese in 1961 by George Ohsawa, the founder of the macrobiotic diet.

56D Benedictine’s title : DOM

The honorific “Dom” is used in English for monks of certain orders, such as Benedictines and Carthusians. The term is a shortened form of the Latin “dominus” meaning “master, owner”.

A member of the Benedictine Order is a monk who follows the precepts laid down for religious life by St. Benedict of Nursia. The Benedictine “way” is a moderate path, considered neither zealous nor institutionally formulaic.

59D Air Force Two passengers, in brief : VPS

“Air Force Two” is the call sign used by any aircraft carrying the US vice president (and not the president; that would be “Air Force One”). The aircraft used most commonly by the vice president is a modified Boeing 757, a C-32.

60D “Fearless” or “1989,” for Taylor Swift : ERA

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a journey through her musical career, with each stage of the show representing a different “era” or album. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Lover
2. Fearless
3. Evermore
4. Reputation
5. Speak Now
6. Red
7. Folklore
8. 1989
9. Midnights

64D Musician Yoko : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono married at the height of the Vietnam War in 1969. The couple decided to use the inevitable publicity surrounding their wedding and honeymoon to promote peace in the world. They honeymooned in the Presidential Suite of the Amsterdam Hilton, inviting the world’s press to join them and to witness their “bed-in”. They spent the week talking about peace, and an end to war. The marriage and bed-in is chronicled by the Beatles in their song “The Ballad of John and Yoko”. A few weeks after the marriage, Lennon adopted the middle name “Ono” by deed poll.