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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Scotch flavorer : PEAT

Many whiskies are noted for a peaty, smoky flavor. That taste is introduced when the malted grain is dried over a peat-heated fire.

16 It has a world-famous North Shore : OAHU

Oahu has been called “The Gathering Place”, although the word “O’ahu” has no translation in Hawaiian. It seems that “O’ahu” is simply the name of the island. One story is that it is named after the son of the Polynesian navigator who first found the islands. The island is made up of two volcanoes, Wai’anae and Ko’olau, joined together by a broad valley, the O’ahu Plain.

18 Singer in the dawn chorus : WREN

The wren is a small songbird belonging to the family troglodytidae and the genus troglodytes. Wrens are known for making dome-shaped nests. Despite their small size, they are known for their loud and complex songs. Male wrens often sing to attract mates and to establish territory, They have been known to attack much larger birds that get too close to their nests.

20 First name in country : REBA

Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007. She is sometimes referred to as “The Queen of Country”.

21 Aunt of 31-Down : SELMA
[31D TV boy who said “I’m this century’s Dennis the Menace!” : BART]

In “The Simpsons”, Marge Simpson has two older twin sisters. Their full names are Patricia “Patty” Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Stu-Simpson. Selma acquired that multiple-barreled name through a string of unsuccessful marriages.

24 Verklempt, say : TEARY

“Verklempt” is a Yiddish adjective meaning “overcome with emotion”.

34 Evidence of a past personal connection? : NAVEL

The navel is essentially the scar left behind when the umbilical cord is removed from a newborn baby. One interesting use of the umbilicus (navel, belly button) is to differentiate between identical twins, especially when they are very young.

35 Scale fourths : FAS

The sol-fa syllables are: do, re, mi, fa, sol, la & ti.

40 Coffee shop amenity : INTERNET

The Internet (uppercase letter I) is a system of interconnected networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to link devices around the world. In common usage, the word “internet” (lowercase letter I) is often used interchangeably with “World Wide Web”, although “the Web” is just one of many services and applications that uses the Internet.

45 Some hired professionals, for short : PIS

Private investigator (PI)

53 “Make ___” (catchphrase of Captain Picard) : IT SO

When I think of words spoken by Captain Jean-Luc Picard on the TV show “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, the first quote to come to mind is his catchphrase “Make it so”. The second quote that comes to mind is the introduction that is spoken during the opening credits:

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before!

This introduction comes from the lines spoken by Captain James T. Kirk in the original “Star Trek” series, but those lines have been updated. Kirk’s “five year mission” became “continuing mission”, and Kirk’s “no man” became “no one”. However, the famous split infinitive “to boldly go” was left in place, in all its glory.

54 Swimmer also known as a moonfish : OPAH

“Opah” is the more correct name for the fish also known as the sunfish, moonfish or Jerusalem haddock. I’ve seen one in the Monterey Aquarium. It is one huge fish …

57 The East, to the West : ASIA

In geographical terms there are three “Easts”. “Near East” and “Middle East” are terms that are often considered synonymous, although “Near East” tends to be used when discussing ancient history and “Middle East” when referring to the present day. The Near/Middle East encompasses most of Western Asia and Egypt. The term “Far East” describes East Asia (including the Russian Far East), Southeast Asia and South Asia.

Down

2 Actress ___ Grace Moretz : CHLOE

Chloë Grace Moretz is an actress who got her first TV and film roles when she was just seven years old. Quite frankly, I don’t think I’ve seen a movie in which she has performed …

6 British P.M. between David and Boris : THERESA

Theresa May won a leadership election to become UK prime minister in 2016, following the resignation of David Cameron immediately after the nation decided to withdraw from the EU (“Brexit”). As such, May became only the second female prime minister in the UK, after Margaret Thatcher.

7 One who can’t handle their moonshine well? : WEREWOLF

A wolf man is better known perhaps as a werewolf. A werewolf morphs from human form into that of a wolf man when there is a full moon.

8 Who soliloquizes “The path to my fixed purpose is laid with iron rails, whereon my soul is grooved to run” : AHAB

Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

9 Played smoothly and flowingly : LEGATO

Staccato (stac.) is a musical direction signifying that notes should be played in a disconnected form. The opposite of staccato would be legato, indicating long and continuous notes played very smoothly.

28 Iroquois foe in the Beaver Wars : ERIE

The Beaver Wars of the mid-1600s were the result of the Iroquois expanding their territory in the northeastern part of North America. The Iroquois were largely incited to take such steps by their trading partners, the Dutch and English, who profited from the gains in territory. On the losing side of the expansion were the Huron, Neutral, Erie and Susquehannock tribes.

31 TV boy who said “I’m this century’s Dennis the Menace!” : BART

Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. His name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

“Dennis the Menace” is a comic strip that first appeared in 1951, and was originally drawn by Hank Ketcham. The strip made the jump over the years from the newspaper to television and the silver screen. Dennis’s full name is Dennis Mitchell, and his parents are Henry and Alice (Johnson) Mitchell. Dennis’s nemesis is his neighbor, Mister George Everett Wilson. Hank Ketcham drew his inspiration for the story from his real life. When he introduced the strip he had a 4-year-old son called Dennis, and a wife named Alice.

36 App originally called Picaboo : SNAPCHAT

Snapchat is a messaging system that allows users to send photos and video clips to a limited list of recipients. The photos and clips, called “snaps”, can be viewed for only a few seconds before they are deleted from the recipient’s device, and from the Snapchat servers.

41 Italian seaport that’s home to Miramare Castle : TRIESTE

Trieste is a city-port on the northeastern coast of Italy that is almost completely surrounded by the country of Slovenia. Trieste was home for many years to Irish author James Joyce.

43 ___ Meyer, the V.P. on “Veep” : SELINA

“Veep” is a political satire sitcom on HBO that is a remake of the British show “The Thick of It” (Warning: strong, strong language!). “Veep” is set in the office of fictional US Vice President Selina Meyer, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

46 Lose the threads? : STRIP

“Clothing” might sometimes be referred to as “threads”.

47 Bill Withers hit of 1972 : USE ME

Bill Withers was working as an assembly operator while he was trying to make a name for himself in the music industry. Even as he found success with his glorious 1971 single “Ain’t No Sunshine”, he held onto his day job, worried that the music industry was unpredictable.

49 Punt, e.g. : BOAT

A punt is a small boat with a flat bottom and a square-cut bow that is used in shallow water. Punts are propelled by a punter, who uses a pole to push against say a lakebed or the bank of a river. Punts differ from gondolas both structurally and in the method of propulsion, as a gondolier uses an oar.