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Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
1. Colo. ___, Colo. : SPR
Colorado Springs …

4. 1040 preparer, for short : CPA
Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it just will not go away …

18. Shakespeare : THE BARD
William Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English midlands.

20. National Forensic League skill : ORATION
The National Forensic League is a society with the goal of motivating high school students to learn how to better debate and speak in public.

22. Rare violin : AMATI
The first of the Amati family to make violins was Andrea Amati, who lived in the 14th century. He was succeeded by his sons, Antonio and Girolama. In turn, they were succeeded by Girolama’s son, Nicolo. Nicolo had a few students who achieved fame making musical instruments as well. One was his own son, Girolamo, and another, the famed Antonio Stradivari.

23. Royal house until the early 20th century : ROMANOV
The last ruler of Imperial Russia was Tsar Nicholas II (of the House of Romanov). Famously, the Tsar and his family were murdered in 1918 in the basement of a house in Yekaterinburg, Russia by members of the Bolshevik secret police. The Tsar’s youngest daughter was 16-year-old Anastasia and, although it is certain that she died with her family, rumors of her escape have persisted for years. The rumors grew with the help of numerous women who claimed to be Anastasia, but DNA testing has proven that all claims were false. In 2009, DNA testing finally proved that the remains of all of the Tsar’s immediate family have been found and identified.

27. Head of ancient Sparta? : SIGMA
Sigma is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and is the one used for an “ess” sound.

29. Bad occupation for Happy? : GOTH MUSICIAN
The goth subculture developed from the gothic rock scene in the early eighties, and is a derivative of the punk music movement. It started in England and spread to many countries around the globe. The term “goth” of course comes from the Eastern Germanic tribe called the Goths. Frankly, I don’t understand the whole goth thing though …

31. Bit of wear for a fop : ASCOT
An Ascot tie is that horrible looking (I think!) wide tie that narrows at the neck, which these days is only really worn at weddings. The tie takes its name from the Royal Ascot horse race, at which punters still turn up in formal wear at the Ascot Racecourse in England.

32. Hero who debuted in Weird Tales magazine in 1932 : CONAN
The character known as Conan the Barbarian first appeared in “Weird Tales” magazine in a fantasy story in 1932.

33. M.A. hopeful’s ordeal : GRE
Passing the Graduate Record Examination is usually a requirement for entry into graduate school here in the US.

34. Like Oscar Wilde’s humor : WRY
If you didn’t know Oscar Wilde was Irish, you will when you see the name he was given at birth: Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde!

37. Ruler in a robe : EMIR
An emir is prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written as “amir” and “ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

54. Mrs. Robinson’s daughter : ELAINE
The actress Katharine Ross is best known for two major roles: playing Elaine Robinson in “The Graduate”, and Etta Place in “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”. Ross is married to the actor Sam Elliott. Although the couple appeared together in “Butch Cassidy …” it was in different scenes. They never actually met during the 1969 filming and first ran into each almost ten years later in 1978, and then started dating.

When Mike Nichols was making the 1967 film “The Graduate” he apparently became obsessed with the music of Simon and Garfunkel, who were just coming into the limelight. Nichols made a deal with Paul Simon to write three songs that he could use on the soundtrack of his new movie. Simon and Garfunkel were touring constantly around that time, so Nichols had to badger Simon to hold up his end of the bargain. When Nichols was ready to lay down the film’s soundtrack there was only one commissioned song available, so Nichols had to basically beg Paul Simon for anything. Simon mentioned that he was finishing up one new song, but it wasn’t written for the film and was more a celebration former times, with lyrics about baseball great Joe DiMaggio and former First Lady, Mrs. Roosevelt. Nichols informed Simon that the song was no longer about Mrs. Roosevelt, and it was about Mrs. Robinson …

59. More than a quarter of the earth’s crust, by mass : SILICON
Technically, a quarter of the earth’s crust is made up of silicates (silicon and oxygen), and not just silicon as this clue indicates.

61. Longtime Yankee nickname : A-ROD
Poor old Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just A-Rod. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there is a perception that teams go cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding.

69. 2000 musical with the song “Fortune Favors the Brave” : AIDA
“Aida” the rock musical is based on Giuseppe Verdi’s original opera. It premiered in 1998 and is still performed today. Music is by Elton John and lyrics are by Tim Rice.

71. Some juices : ENZYMES
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva, say) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

81. Classic figure in a top hat : UNCLE SAM
The Uncle Sam personification of the United States was first used during the War of 1812. The “Uncle Sam” term was so widely accepted that even the Germans used it during WWII, choosing the codeword “Samland” to mean “America” in intelligence communiques.

86. Last word of “Finnegans Wake” : THE
“Finnegan’s Wake” is a frustrating piece of literature by Irish writer James Joyce. The language and structure used make the whole thing very difficult to get into, and so I just gave up many moons ago. As an illustration, the last words of the book are:

A way a lone a last a loved a long the

This seems to make no sense, until you take the first words of the book and tag them on, so that we get:

A way a lone a last a loved a long the / riverrun, past Eve and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs.

I am just not adventurous enough, so James Joyce just isn’t my cup of tea. Having said that, he did actually mention one of my own ancestors in one of his books, namely my g-g-grandfather’s brother …

87. ___ Canals : SOO
In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canal between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.

90. Bridge maker’s deg. : DDS
Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS).

91. Biblical mount : ASS
In the bible, there are quite a few people who use asses for transportation.

93. Singer John : ELTON
Elton John’s real name is Reginald Dwight. He was knighted in 1998, not for his music and rather for his charitable work. He founded his own Elton John AIDS Foundation back in 1992.

95. Common tattoo spot : CHEST
The word “tattoo” was first used in English in the writings of the famous English explorer Captain Cook. In his descriptions of the indelible marks adorning the skin of Polynesian natives, he anglicized the Tahitian word “tatau” into our “tattoo”.

105. Hippocampus hippocampus, e.g. : SEAHORSE
Seahorses belong to the genus Hippocampus. The genus name comes from the Greek “hippo” meaning “horse” and “kampos” meaning “sea monster”.

108. Mishmashes : OLIOS
Olio is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture, coming from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used when cooking the stew.

114. Attacked ground units, in a way : STRAFED
We’ve been using “strafe” since WWII to mean an attack on a ground position from low-flying aircraft. Prior to that, the word was used by British soldiers to mean any form of attack. It was picked up from the German word for “punish” as it appears in the expression “Gott strafe England” meaning, “May God punish England”.

118. ___-Magnon : CRO
Remains of early man, dating back to 35,000 years ago, were found in Abri de Cro-Magnon in southwest France, giving the name to those early humans. Cro-Magnon remains are the oldest human relics that have been discovered in Europe.

Down
1. Kerri ___, U.S. gymnastics star at the 1996 Olympics : STRUG
Kerry Strug is thatt plucky little gymnast who made an outstanding final vault in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics despite having an injured ankle.

4. Cave ___ : CANEM
“Cave canem” is Latin for “beware of the dog”.

6. Daily or weekly: Abbr. : ADV
“Daily” and “weekly” are both adverbs (adv.).

7. “Friends” role : MONICA
Courteney Cox played Monica Geller on the incredibly successful sitcom “Friends”. Before “Friends” she played the girlfriend of Michael J. Fox’s character on “Family Ties” for a couple of years in the late eighties. Her role in “Friends” was her biggest success, no question. She and her fellow female costars were the highest paid TV actresses up to that time, earning a million dollars per episode.

10. “___ Frome” : ETHAN
“Ethan Frome” is a novel by Edith Wharton, first published in 1911.

17. Force : DINT
A “dint” is an effort or power, as in “he made it by dint of hard work”. “By dint of” is new to me, but it has been around since the early 1300s. I must not have been in school that day …

19. Subject of dozens of Degas paintings : BATH
Edgar Degas was a French artist, famous for his paintings and sculptures. Some of his most beautiful works feature female ballet dancers, and others depict women bathing.

25. Group with the 1995 #1 hit “Waterfalls” : TLC
TLC is an American hip-hop girl-group. The trio’s name comes from the stage names of the band members: T-Boz, Left Eye and Chilli. I’d never heard of them but they are apparently the biggest-selling female group of all time. I find that hard to believe! The Supremes? The Andrews Sisters? Maybe I need to stop living in the past though …

27. Honor like a troubadour : SING OF
A troubadour was a composer and musician of the Middle Ages, whose works dealt mainly with chivalry and courtly love. Troubadours were usually men, and a female troubadour would have been called a trobairitz.

34. Like four U.S. presidents : WHIG
The Whig Party (in the US) was active from 1833 to 1856, as the opposition party to the Democrats. One of the tenets of the Whig Party was the supremacy of Congress over the Executive branch. Prominent members of the party included Presidents Zachary Taylor and John Tyler. Abraham Lincoln was also a Whig while he served a two-year term as US Representative for the state of Illinois. By the time he became President, Lincoln was a member of the Republican Party.

35. Mathematician Descartes : RENE
The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement, in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum” … “I think, therefore I am”.

36. River to the North Sea : YSER
The Yser originates in northern France and flows though Belgium into the North Sea. The Yser name is oft associated with WWI as it figured in a major battle early in the conflict. In the first three months of the war the German Army pushed almost completely through Belgium, inflicting heavy losses on the Belgian Army as the defenders were forced to fight a fast-moving rearguard action. The Germans were intent on pushing right through Belgium and across France in a “race to the sea”. But the Belgians, with the help of its Allies, decided to make a final stand at the Yser Canal in an effort to prevent the Germans reaching the French ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The 22-mile long defensive line was chosen at the Yser because the river and canal system could be flooded to create a barrier that might be defended. The plan was successful and the front was “stabilized”. As we now know, millions of lives were lost over the coming years with very little movement of that battle line.

38. Half note : MINIM
Where I grew up a “whole note” was called a “semibreve”, and a “half note” was a “minim”.

39. Novelist Calvino : ITALO
As well as being an author, Italo Calvino was a famous Italian journalist. He was a supporter of communism and so wasn’t very popular in the US nor in Britain.

42. Log : CHRONICLE
The word “logbook” dates back to the days when the captain of a ship kept a daily record of the vessel’s speed, progress etc. using a “log”. A log was a wooden float on a knotted line that was dropped overboard to measure speed through the water.

51. Jai ___ : ALAI
Even though jai alai is often said to be the fastest sport in the world because of the speed of the ball, in fact golf balls usually get going at a greater clip.

56. Become a YouTube sensation : GO VIRAL
YouTube is a video-sharing website. It was started in 2005 by three ex-PayPal employees. Google bought YouTube in 2006 for $1.65 billion. Yep, $1.65 billion … less than two years after it was founded …

64. Duo with the 2003 hit “All the Things She Said” : TATU
t.A.T.u. was a Russian singing duo formed in 1999. The duo was made up of two young ladies, Elena Katina and Yulia Volkova. The pair split up in 2011, even though they were the best-selling group in Russian music history.

65. Levi’s alternative : LEES
The Lee company famous for making jeans was formed in 1889, by one Henry David Lee, in Salina, Kansas.

Levi Strauss was the founder of the first company in the world to manufacture blue jeans. Levi Strauss & Co. opened in 1853 in San Francisco. Strauss and his business partner were awarded a patent in 1873 for the use of copper rivets to strengthen points of strain on working pants.

66. Actors MacLachlan and Chandler : KYLES
Kyle MacLachlan is an actor that I know best from the (awful) 1984 sci-fi film “Dune”, in which he played the main character.

I saw Kyle Chandler in a movie just last night, playing the police deputy in the 2011 sci-fit hit “Super 8”.

67. Serve up some ham? : EMOTE
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was deemed to have the “acting” qualities of a minstrel done up in black-face.

72. Georgia and Moldova, once: Abbr. : SSRS
The former Soviet Union was created in 1922, not long after the Russian Revolution that overthrew the Tsar in 1917. Geographically, the new Soviet Union was roughly equivalent to the old Russian Empire and was made up of fifteen Soviet Socialist Republics.

76. Overhead transports : ELS
The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. The “L” is also the second oldest, again with the New York Subway system having the honor of being around the longest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

77. Tolkien’s tree creatures : ENTS
Ents are those tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

78. Some Jamaicans : RASTAS
I must admit that I don’t really understand Rastafarianism. I do know that a Rasta, like Bob Marley, is a follower of the movement. Some say it is a religion, some not. It does involve the worship of Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia.

82. “Switched-On Bach” instrument : MOOG
Robert Moog invented the Moog Synthesizer in the sixties, an electronic device that he used to produce music. I used to own a few of his albums, including a Moog version of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”. What a great performance that was …

92. Surgical inserts : STENTS
In the world of medicine and surgery, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, so that it reduces the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

94. Big name in insurance : LLOYD’S
Lloyd’s of London isn’t actually an insurance company, but rather is a market where members can get together to spread the risk associated with policies that have been underwritten.

96. Hallmark of the Philadelphia sound : HORNS
The Philadelphia Sound is perhaps better known as Philadelphia soul. The genre had its heyday in the seventies and featured such artists as Patti LaBelle and The Stylistics.

98. Relating to the palm of the hand : VOLAR
“Volar” is an adjective used to describe the palm of the hand or the sole of the foot. The Latin “vola” is the word for both the palm and the sole.

99. Apple software bundle that includes GarageBand : ILIFE
iLife is a suite of applications from Apple for managing photos, movies and music. Components included are:

– iPhoto
– iMovie
– iDVD
– GarageBand
– iWeb
– MobileMe Web Gallery

104. “The Gondoliers” bride : TESSA
“The Gondoliers” is a delightful operetta by Gilbert & Sullivan, first performed in 1889 at the Savoy Theatre in London. Tessa is a maiden selected as a bride in a “line up” by one of the gondoliers. I last saw “The Gondoliers” decades ago, an amateur production in the small town where I was living at the time in Ireland. Great fun!

107. Lhasa ___ : APSO
The Lhasa apso breed of dog originated in Tibet and is named after Lhasa (the capital city) and apso (a Tibetan word meaning “bearded”). The Lhasa apso has been around since 800 BC and is one of the oldest breeds in the world, one very closely related to the ancestral wolf.

111. “Either plagiarism or revolution,” per Paul Gauguin : ART
Paul Gauguin was a French artist in the Post-Impressionist period. Gauguin was a great friend of Vincent van Gogh, and indeed was staying with him in Arles when van Gogh famously cut off his ear.

112. Fighters’ org. : WBC
World Boxing Council (WBC).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Colo. ___, Colo. : SPR
4. 1040 preparer, for short : CPA
7. Heartbeat : MOMENT
13. Plied with spirits : WINED
18. Shakespeare : THE BARD
20. National Forensic League skill : ORATION
22. Rare violin : AMATI
23. Royal house until the early 20th century : ROMANOV
24. Bad occupation for Sleepy? : NIGHT WATCHMAN
26. One : UNITED
27. Head of ancient Sparta? : SIGMA
28. Hardest to ship, say : BULKIEST
29. Bad occupation for Happy? : GOTH MUSICIAN
31. Bit of wear for a fop : ASCOT
32. Hero who debuted in Weird Tales magazine in 1932 : CONAN
33. M.A. hopeful’s ordeal : GRE
34. Like Oscar Wilde’s humor : WRY
37. Ruler in a robe : EMIR
41. Touch while running : TAG
42. Home of two M.L.B. teams : CHI
44. Villains in 1939’s “Stagecoach” : APACHES
48. Last ___ : RITES
50. Ones running away with the game? : POACHERS
54. Mrs. Robinson’s daughter : ELAINE
55. Having hands, maybe : ANALOG
57. Bad occupation for Sneezy? : FLORAL ARRANGER
59. More than a quarter of the earth’s crust, by mass : SILICON
61. Longtime Yankee nickname : A-ROD
62. Spot for a flame : WICK
63. Bad occupation for Grumpy? : MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER
69. 2000 musical with the song “Fortune Favors the Brave” : AIDA
70. Diplomatic, say : NICE
71. Some juices : ENZYMES
73. Bad occupation for Dopey? : ALGEBRA TEACHER
79. Grippers : TALONS
80. Spanish dish : PAELLA
81. Classic figure in a top hat : UNCLE SAM
83. It needs to be fed frequently : METER
84. Best in the market : OUTSELL
86. Last word of “Finnegans Wake” : THE
87. ___ Canals : SOO
89. Gives a darn? : SEWS
90. Bridge maker’s deg. : DDS
91. Biblical mount : ASS
93. Singer John : ELTON
95. Common tattoo spot : CHEST
98. Bad occupation for Doc? : VILLAGE IDIOT
105. Hippocampus hippocampus, e.g. : SEAHORSE
108. Mishmashes : OLIOS
109. Employee of the month award, say : PLAQUE
110. Bad occupation for Bashful? : TV PERSONALITY
112. Waldorf salad ingredients : WALNUTS
113. Sports anchor Rich : EISEN
114. Attacked ground units, in a way : STRAFED
115. Honchos : BIGGIES
116. Lands in a puddle, maybe : PLOPS
117. Accent : STRESS
118. ___-Magnon : CRO
119. ___-la-la : TRA

Down
1. Kerri ___, U.S. gymnastics star at the 1996 Olympics : STRUG
2. 45 player : PHONO
3. Pay up : REMIT
4. Cave ___ : CANEM
5. One going to market : PRODUCT
6. Daily or weekly: Abbr. : ADV
7. “Friends” role : MONICA
8. (0,0), on a graph : ORIGIN
9. Eruption sight : MAGMA
10. “___ Frome” : ETHAN
11. A picky person may pick one : NIT
12. Trailer attachment : TOWBAR
13. Bananas : WACKO
14. “Somebody shot me!” : I’M HIT
15. Questionnaire blank : NAME
16. Airport postings, for short : ETAS
17. Force : DINT
19. Subject of dozens of Degas paintings : BATH
21. Vertigo symptom : NAUSEA
25. Group with the 1995 #1 hit “Waterfalls” : TLC
27. Honor like a troubadour : SING OF
30. Bar that shrinks : SOAP
33. Miss : GIRL
34. Like four U.S. presidents : WHIG
35. Mathematician Descartes : RENE
36. River to the North Sea : YSER
37. Chapters in history : ERAS
38. Half note : MINIM
39. Novelist Calvino : ITALO
40. Like lanterns at the start of evening : RELIT
42. Log : CHRONICLE
43. Big bother : HEADACHE
45. Degree of interest? : PERCENT
46. “Voilà!” : ALAKAZAM
47. Fire : CAN
49. Convivial : SOCIABLE
51. Jai ___ : ALAI
52. Funeral song in Scotland : CORONACH
53. Cuts : SAWS
56. Become a YouTube sensation : GO VIRAL
58. Finally edible : RIPE
60. Zip : NADA
64. Duo with the 2003 hit “All the Things She Said” : TATU
65. Levi’s alternative : LEES
66. Actors MacLachlan and Chandler : KYLES
67. Serve up some ham? : EMOTE
68. Extend, in a way : RENEW
72. Georgia and Moldova, once: Abbr. : SSRS
73. Like two peas in ___ : A POD
74. Hail : LAUD
75. Is allowed (to) : GETS
76. Overhead transports : ELS
77. Tolkien’s tree creatures : ENTS
78. Some Jamaicans : RASTAS
82. “Switched-On Bach” instrument : MOOG
85. Snares : LASSOS
88. Not a great hand for raising : ONE PAIR
92. Surgical inserts : STENTS
93. Aristocracies : ELITES
94. Big name in insurance : LLOYD’S
95. [Give me the worm! Give me the worm!] : CHEEP
96. Hallmark of the Philadelphia sound : HORNS
97. Sounds of hesitation : ERS
98. Relating to the palm of the hand : VOLAR
99. Apple software bundle that includes GarageBand : ILIFE
100. Volunteer’s cry : I’LL GO
101. “Shoot!” : DANG
102. Disgruntled worker’s parting cry : I QUIT
103. External : OUTER
104. “The Gondoliers” bride : TESSA
105. Ballet bit : STEP
106. Malevolent : EVIL
107. Lhasa ___ : APSO
111. “Either plagiarism or revolution,” per Paul Gauguin : ART
112. Fighters’ org. : WBC

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