Tag: ABC’s realm crossword clue

Bill’s time: 14m 06s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Result of a tense build-up? : JENGA TOWER

Jenga is a relatively simple but entertaining game, one in which one stacks wooden blocks as high as possible until the resulting tower collapses. “Jenga” is the Swahili word for “to build”.

17A ABC’s realm : NATIONAL TV

The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) was formed in 1943, created out of the former NBC Blue radio network. Given the initialism “ABC”, it is sometimes referred to as “the Alphabet Network”. ABC was sold to Disney in 1996.

19A Fed : G-MAN

The nickname “G-men” is short for “government men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

20A ___ Mai, Grammy-winning R&B singer : ELLA

Ella Mai is an R&B singer from England. Mai went to high school in New York City before returning to Britain.

21A Buff : SWOLE

“Swole” is an informal term meaning “very muscular”. Yeah, I hear that word all the time …

24A Mars rover named in honor of a 19th-century activist : SOJOURNER

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and operated for over fourteen years. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today. Based on the Curiosity design, NASA’s Perseverance rover landed in 2021, along with the Mars helicopter named Ingenuity. The China National Space Administration landed its first rover, named Zhurong (after a Chinese god of fire), three months after Perseverance started its mission on the planet.

Sojourner Truth (real name “Isabella Baumfree”) was an African-American abolitionist and women’s rights activist. Truth was born a slave in New York State, and freed in 1827. She became famous for her speeches against slavery, including her most famous address “Ain’t I a Woman?” that was delivered at the Women’s Convention in Akron, Ohio in 1851.

26A Ludwig ___, post-W.W. II leader who led West Germany’s economic recovery : ERHARD

Ludwig Erhard was the Chancellor of West Germany from 1963 until 1966. Prior to taking charge of the country, Erhard had been instrumental in West Germany’s economic recovery, serving as Minister of Economics under Konrad Adenauer.

29A Agcy. tracking popular baby names : SSA

The Social Security Administration (SSA) standardized the practice of issuing SSNs to newborns directly at the hospital in 1987 by launching the Enumeration at Birth program. The SSA’s “Get Ready for Baby” portal was created for expecting parents, providing links to the necessary paperwork for registering a newborn. The website is also the government’s official baby name database, and offers a searchable index of naming trends based on federal birth records dating back to 1880.

30A Agcy. concerned with declarations : IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.

32A Parts of some high-speed rail systems : MAGNETS

Maglev (magnetic levitation) trains have two sets of electromagnets at the heart of their propulsion systems. One set lifts (repels) the train up off the track. The second set moves the train forward.

35A What Esau got in exchange for selling his birthright to Jacob : POTTAGE

Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When their mother Rebekah gave birth to the twins “the first emerged red and hairy all over (Esau), with his heel grasped by the hand of the second to come out (Jacob)”. As Esau was the first born, he was entitled to inherit his father’s wealth (it was his “birthright”). Instead, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for the price of a “mess of pottage” (a meal of lentils).

38A Disclaimer in a quote : SIC

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

44A Grammatical case in 48-Across : DATIVE
48A See 44-Across : LATIN

As we recall from English class (!), a noun is in the dative case when it refers to an object that is given “to” someone.

46A Longtime Pixar character who says “I might be old, but I still got a spring in my step!” : SLINKY DOG

The marvelous Slinky toy was invented in the early forties by a naval engineer named Richard James. James was developing springs for the navy that could stabilize sensitive instruments in rough seas. One day he accidentally knocked one of his experimental coils off a shelf and watched it “step” onto a stack of books, then onto a table and from there onto the floor where it recoiled itself very neatly. The Slinky was born …

50A Curve on a score : SLUR

In the world of music, a slur is a curved line that connects neighboring notes that are to be played smoothly, without separation.

54A Asteroids and Space Invaders : ATARI GAMES

I remember being quite addicted to the Atari video arcade game called Asteroids back in the early eighties. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as Asteroids was Atari’s best-selling arcade game of all time.

Space Invaders is one of my favorite video games. It is truly a classic from the good old days (not that I play video games anymore). When Space Invaders was first released in video arcades in Japan in 1978, it was so popular that it caused a shortage of 100-yen coins.

Down

3D Actress Lyonne : NATASHA

Actress Natasha Lyonne garnered considerable attention for her performances as convict Nicole Nichols in the show “Orange Is the New Black”. More recently, she led the cast in the show “Russian Doll”, playing Nadia Vulvokov.

4D Neighbor of Sierra Leone : GUINEA

Guinea lies north of Liberia on the west African coast. Like much of Africa, it was for many years a French Colony (as “French Guinea”). Guinea declared independence in 1958, but has suffered from autocratic rule since then, and is now one of the poorest countries in Africa.

The Republic of Sierra Leone is a country in West Africa that lies on the Atlantic Coast. The capital city of Freetown was originally set up as a colony to house the “Black Poor” of London, England. These people were mainly freed British slaves of Caribbean descent who were living a miserable life in the run-down parts of London. Perhaps to help the impoverished souls, perhaps to rid the streets of “a problem”, three ships were chartered in 1787 to transport a group of Blacks, with some Whites, to a piece of land purchased in Sierra Leone. Those who made the voyage were granted British citizenship and protection. The descendants of these immigrants, and others who made the journey over the next 60 years, make up the ethnic group that’s today called the Sierra Leone Creole.

9D Singer dubbed the “Matriarch of the Blues” : ETTA JAMES

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

10D Gun before the green, say : REV

If you’re sitting behind a car that doesn’t make a right on red, it may just be a rental car driven by someone from Europe. Speaking as someone who learned to drive over there, I must admit I held up a few people at red lights when I first visited this country. That’s because in Europe we aren’t allowed to make any move past a red light, unless there is an accompanying green arrow. So, if you’re driving overseas, take care …

12D Stellar visual effects : CORONAE

The external part of the sun is made up of ionized material at a very high temperature and a very low density. This external aura is known as the solar corona, with “corona” being Latin for “crown”. The corona is best observed during a solar eclipse, when the bright light from the sun’s main body is blocked by the moon.

14D Strands : DESERTS

To desert is to leave, without the intent to return. The verb “to desert” comes from the Latin “deserere”, which has the same meaning. “Deserere” in turn comes from “de” (undo) and “serere” (to join together).

23D First country to elect a female prime minister (1960) : SRI LANKA

The island nation of Sri Lanka lies off the southeast coast of India. The name “Sri Lanka” translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1972, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

45D Mesoamerican staple with a “hot” variety : TAMALE

A tamale (“tamal” in Spanish) is a traditional dish from Mexico composed of a starchy dough that is steamed or boiled in a wrapper made from a corn husk or banana leaf. The dough is called masa, and can include many different ingredients including meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables. A hot tamale is a kind of tamale that originated in the Mississippi Delta. It is particularly spicy, and the masa is replaced with corn meal.

Hot Tamales are a cinnamon candy made by Just Born. They look like red versions of the other Just Born candy called Mike and Ike. That’s no coincidence as Hot Tamales were developed as a way to make use of rejected Mike and Ike candy. The dark red color and intense cinnamon flavor was added to the Mike and Ike rejects, masking the original flavor and color.

Mesoamerica is a region extending from Central Mexico, south to Costa Rica. It is known as an area where societies flourished prior to the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries.

51D “Rude Boy” singer, to fans : RIRI

“Rude Boy” is a 2010 hit song that was co-written and recorded by Barbadian singer Rihanna. From what I’ve read, the lyrics are quite “rude”, just like the boy in the title.

54D Ancient symbol of royalty : ASP

We use the term “asp” today to refer to several venomous species of snakes found in the Nile region. Even though “asp” comes from the Greek “aspis” meaning “viper”, the asp that we know as the symbol of ancient Egyptian royalty was not a viper at all. Rather, it was the Egyptian cobra.

55D Test not offered in high school, for short : GED

The General Educational Development (GED) tests are a battery of four tests designed to demonstrate that a student has the academic skills of someone who has graduated from an American or Canadian high school.