Tag: Act smart crossword clue

Bill’s time: 13m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

14A Broadway great Menzel : IDINA

Actress and singer Idina Menzel came to public attention when she was a member of the original Broadway cast of “Rent”. She is known on the small screen for playing Shelby Corcoran on the musical TV show “Glee”. On the big screen, her most noted performance was as the voice actor behind Queen Elsa in the Disney hit “Frozen”. It is Menzel who sings the Oscar-winning song “Let It Go” in “Frozen”.

20A Paris agreement : OUI

The French capital Paris is nicknamed “La Ville Lumière” (The City of Light). There are two justifications cited for the moniker. Firstly, the city played a leading role during Europe’s Age of Enlightenment, in the 18th century. In fact, the French refer to the era as “the Century of Lights”. Secondly, and more literally, Paris was one of the first cities in Europe to adopt widespread gas street lighting. There were about 56,000 gas lights illuminating the streets of Paris in the 1860s.

24A Molecule with a non-unique formula : ISOMER

In the world of chemistry, isomers are two compounds with the same chemical formula (i.e. the same atomic constituents), but with a slightly different arrangement of the atoms relative to each other. The differing arrangement of atoms often leads to different chemical properties.

26A Fluorescent gemstone [4, Danish and Norwegian] : FIRE OPAL (FIRE = 4)

Fire opals are almost transparent, unlike other opals that are richly iridescent. Although almost transparent, fire opals usually have a warm yellow, orange or red color. The most famous fire opals are also called Mexican fire opals, and come from the state of Querétaro in north-central Mexico.

27A “Girls” creator Dunham : LENA

Lena Dunham is a co-star in the HBO series “Girls”, and is also the show’s creator. Dunham garnered a lot of attention for herself during the 2012 US Presidential election cycle as she starred in an ad focused on getting out the youth vote. In the spot, she compared voting for the first time with having sex for the first time.

33A Rarely visited places on earth : POLES

The geographic North Pole is located in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, although there is almost always a covering of sea ice at that location. The geographic South Pole is located on land, on the continent of Antarctica.

34A Climactic baseball event … or what the starts of 17-, 26-, 44- and 52-Across form? : WORLD SERIES

The first World Series of baseball in the so-called “modern” era was played in 1903, between the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the Boston Americans (now the Red Sox) of the American League. Boston emerged victorious by five games to three.

37A Touches and Shuffles : IPODS

The iPod Touch is a portable media player, personal digital assistant and gaming console with a Wi-Fi capability. Essentially, I think it’s a stripped-down version of an iPhone.

The iPod Shuffle was introduced in 2005 and is the smallest of Apple’s line of audio players. The Shuffle was the first iPod to use flash memory.

38A Black prom rentals : SUITS

Apparently, the style of men’s evening dress called a “tuxedo” was first worn to a country club event in 1886 in New York. The use of a dark dinner jacket without tails became fashionable at the club with the members, and the tradition spread from there. The country club was located in Tuxedo Park, New York, giving the style of dress its name.

40A Idiomatic sticking point : CRAW

“Craw” is another name for “crop”, a portion of the alimentary tract of some animals, including birds. The crop is used for the storage of food prior to digestion. It allows the animal to eat large amounts and then digest that food with efficiency over an extended period. The expression “to stick in one’s craw” is used when one cannot accept something, cannot “swallow” it.

44A Chemist who co-discovered 26-Down [8, Italian] : OTTO HAHN (OTTO = 8) 26D Atomic reaction co-discovered by 44-Across : FISSION

Otto Hahn was a German chemist, someone who vigorously opposed the anti-Jewish policies of Nazi Germany. Hahn was one of a small group of scientists who discovered nuclear fission, pointing out that uranium atoms could be split into barium atoms when bombarded with neutrons. Hahn was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944 for this discovery, although he probably got the credit for work that was actually shared with others.

48A Food spread popular in England : MARMITE

Vegemite is a spread made from spiced-up brewers’ yeast extract. I’m told that it resembles Marmite, a spread that I used to eat as a kid back in Ireland. I’m also told that Vegemite has a flavor similar to beef bouillon.

49A Levi’s competitor : LEE

The Lee company that is 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.

52A Carpe diem [16, French] : SEIZE THE DAY (SEIZE = 16)

“Carpe diem” is a quotation from Horace, one of ancient Rome’s leading lyric poets. “Carpe diem” translates from Latin as “seize the day” or “enjoy the day”. The satirical motto of a procrastinator is “carpe mañana”, “translating” as “seize tomorrow”.

55A Picasso’s “___ Demoiselles d’Avignon” : LES

“Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” (“The Young Ladies of Avignon”) is an oil painting created by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso in 1917. The painting is generally regarded as having a profound influence on modern art and is hailed as the most important proto-Cubist work. You can go see “Les Demoiselles d’Avignon” in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

60A Sidekick of Dora the Explorer : BOOTS

“Dora the Explorer” is a cartoon series shown on Nickelodeon. Part of Dora’s remit is to introduce the show’s young viewers to some Spanish words and phrases. Her constant companion is an anthropomorphic monkey named “Boots”, because he always wears red boots. Dora, full name “Dora Márquez”, also hangs out with Isa, an iguana.

Down

1D Natural remedy that’s used to treat anxiety : CBD OIL

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical extracted from cannabis plants that is used as a herbal drug. It does not contain the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is responsible for the marijuana “high”.

15D Part of a belt : ASTEROID

The vast majority of asteroids in the Solar System are found in the main asteroid belt, which is located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Four large asteroids (Ceres, Vesta, Pallas and Hygeia) make up about half the mass of the asteroid belt and are 400-950 km in diameter. The total mass of the belt is just 4% of the mass of our Moon. The larger asteroids are also known as “planetoids”.

25D David Bowie’s astronaut persona : MAJOR TOM

In early 1969, the struggling David Bowie recorded a promotional film in an attempt to reach a wider audience. The film called “Love You Till Tuesday” featured seven of Bowie’s songs in what amounted to an extended music video, with one of the tracks being “Space Oddity”. Somebody smart put two and two together later in the year and decided that a fresh version of “Space Oddity” should be released, to coincide with the Apollo moon landings. Sure enough, the BBC snagged the track for their coverage of the landings and gave Bowie huge audiences. And the song still gets an awful lot of air time on the small screen. Famously, Bowie turned down the honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. The British government tried again in 2003, offering a knighthood, but Bowie stuck to his guns and refused that honor too. Bowie did however accept the French title of Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1999.

33D Certain sports wager : PROP BET

A side bet during a game can also be called a prop bet (proposition bet).

34D Sara Bareilles musical set in a diner : WAITRESS

“Waitress” is a 2015 musical by Sara Bareilles that is based on a 2007 movie of the same name starring Keri Russell in the title role. Both stage show and film are about a waitress and pie chef who is in an unhappy marriage, and who becomes pregnant. Feeling trapped, she sees a pie contest and its grand prize as her way out of her failed marriage.

35D Clean water org. : EPA

The main legislation governing water pollution in the US is the Clean Water Act (CWA), which became law in 1972.

38D Language on the Horn of Africa : SOMALI

Somalia is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Sadly, the nation is noted today for a devastating civil war and for its use as a base for pirates who prey on ships passing through the Indian Ocean along the Somali coast.

The Horn of Africa is that horn-shaped peninsula at the easternmost tip of the continent, containing the countries Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia as well as Somalia. The Horn of Africa is also known as the Somali Peninsula.

39D Young woman, in Australia : SHEILA

“Sheila” is a slang term used in Australia meaning “young woman”.

41D Outkast or Eric B. & Rakim : RAP DUO

OutKast is a hip hop duo consisting of rappers André 3000 and Big Boi.

Eric B. & Rakim are a hip hop duo comprising DJ Eric B. and rapper Rakim. The pair started performing together in 1986, but split up in the early 1990s following a legal dispute. The duo reunited and started touring together in 2017.

53D In a chill state : ZEN

Zen is a Buddhist school that developed its own tradition in China back in the 7th century AD. “Zen” is a Japanese spelling of the Chinese word “chan”, which in turn derives from the Sanskrit word “dhyana” meaning “meditation”.