Tag: Adverb that often precedes “possible” crossword clue

Bill’s time: 7m 45s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

16 Brouhaha : ADO

“Brouhaha”, meaning “ado, stir”, was a French word that back in the 1550s meant “the cry of the devil disguised as clergy” . Wow!

19 The “N” of NDA : NON-

Non-disclosure agreement (NDA)

23 Actor Brody of “The Pianist” : ADRIEN

Adrien Brody won a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the Roman Polanski masterpiece “The Pianist”. Brody won the award in 2003 at the age of 29, making him the youngest person ever to receive the Best Actor Oscar.

“The Pianist” is a memoir of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Polish musician of Jewish heritage and a survivor of the Holocaust. The memoir was not written by Szpilman himself, but by author Jerzy Waldorff who interviewed him and became his friend. The memoir was first published in 1946 in Poland under the title “Death of a City”, but lay unnoticed for decades. It was republished in English in 1998 under the title “The Pianist”, and became widely read. Roman Polanski then directed a 2002 screen version using “The Pianist” as a title. Sadly, Szpilman died during the making of the film and never saw the great success the movie achieved, including three Academy Awards.

25 Classic Sichuan dish made with bean curd : MAPO TOFU

Mapo tofu is a dish from Sichuan cuisine comprising tofu served in a spicy-hot red sauce along with minced meat. Yep, meat and tofu in the same dish …

26 What the “Mona Lisa” is painted on : WOOD

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.

27 Speaker’s platform : DAIS

A dais is a raised platform for a speaker. The term “dais” comes from the Latin “discus” meaning a “disk-shaped object”. I guess that the original daises had such a shape.

31 Attorney general before Garland : BARR

William Barr was US Attorney General for two years in the administration of President George H. W. Bush before being appointed Attorney General by President Donald Trump in 2019. When not working, Barr is a very enthusiastic player of the Scottish bagpipes.

34 What many junk foods contain … with a hint to the initials of 17-, 25-, 48- and 56-Across : EMPTY CALORIES

“Empty calories” is a term used by nutritionists to describe processed carbohydrates, fats and alcohol. The idea is that foods high in empty calories contain calories and not much else i.e. few vitamins, minerals, antioxidants or fiber.

39 Father of a mule : ASS

A hinny is the offspring of a male horse (the “h-” from h-orse) and a female donkey/ass (the “-nny” from je-nny). A mule is more common, and is the offspring of a female horse and male donkey/ass.

40 When doubled, a Hawaiian fish : MAHI

“Mahi-mahi” (meaning “very strong”) is the Hawaiian name for the dolphinfish, which is also known as the dorado. The mahi-mahi is an ugly looking creature if ever I saw one …

48 Bite-size Mars candy, familiarly : MINI-TWIX

I remember Twix bars from way back in 1967 when they were introduced in Britain and Ireland. Twix bars made it to the US over a decade later, in 1979. The name “Twix” is a portmanteau of “twin bix”, short for “twin biscuit”.

55 2001 boxing biopic : ALI

“Ali” is a 2001 biographical movie about Muhammad Ali, with Will Smith in the title role. Among other things, the film is noted for its realistic fight scenes. The scenes were realistic because Smith was really being hit, as hard as his opponents could manage.

56 Fictional burrito on “Parks and Recreation” that “literally killed a guy last year” : MEAT TORNADO

“Parks and Recreation” (sometimes just “Parks and Rec”) is a sitcom that started airing on NBC in 2009, and is a show that has grown on me. It stars the “Saturday Night Live” alum Amy Poehler. The creators of “Parks and Recreation” are part of the team responsible for the American version of “The Office”, so you’ll notice some similarities in the style of the two shows, and some actors that have appeared in both.

60 Director Jean-___ Godard : LUC

Jean-Luc Godard is a so-called “Nouvelle Vague” (New Wave) cinematographer, making movies that challenge the conventions of both traditional Hollywood and French cinema.

61 Violet variety : PANSY

The pansy is a garden flower that takes its name from the French word “pensée” meaning “thought”. This name was chosen as the flower was often used as a symbol of remembrance. The petals of pansies have dark blotches that often appear to form the outline of a face.

62 Operating system whose logo features a penguin : LINUX

The Linux operating system uses as its mascot a penguin named “Tux”.

63 Dashboard fig. : MPH

Back in the 1800s, “dashboard” was the name given to a “board” placed at the front of a carriage to stop mud from “dashing” against the passengers in the carriage, mud that was kicked up by the hooves of the horses. Quite interesting …

64 Video chat service owned by Microsoft : SKYPE

The main feature of the Skype application, when introduced, was that it allows voice communication to take place over the Internet (aka VoIP). Skype has other features such as video conferencing and instant messaging, but the application made its name from voice communication. The app was created by two Scandinavian entrepreneurs and the software necessary was developed by a team of engineers in Estonia. The development project was originally called “Sky peer-to-peer” so the first commercial name for the application was “Skyper”. This had to be shortened to “Skype” because the skyper.com domain name was already in use.

Down

1 America’s “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 code word “Samland” for “America” in intelligence communiques.

2 Chess rating system : ELO

The Elo rating system is used to compare the skill levels of competing players in games like chess and Scrabble. The system is named for a Hungarian-born professor of physics called Arpad Elo, who was also a master-level chess player active in the US Chess Federation.

6 One might be red or yellow in soccer : CARD

A series of colored penalty cards is used by referees and umpires in several sports, most notably in soccer. The cards were first used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, after language difficulties created confusion during the prior competition in 1966. The main cards used are a yellow card indicating a caution, and a red card indicating expulsion from the game.

8 Chocolaty coffee orders : MOCHAS

A caffè mocha is a caffè latte that has been flavored with chocolate. One might also regard a caffè mocha as hot chocolate with the addition of a shot of espresso.

10 Pink vodka drink : COSMO

Like so many famous cocktails, the actual origins of the cosmopolitan are disputed. It is a very nice drink, in my humble opinion. One of the standard recipes is 4 parts citrus vodka, 1.5 parts Cointreau, 1.5 parts lime juice and 3 parts cranberry cocktail.

13 Fork over the cash : PONY UP

“To pony up” means “to pay”. Apparently, the term originated as a slang use of the Latin “legem pone” that was once used for “money”. “Legem Pone” was the title of the Psalm that was read out on March 25 each year, and March 25 was the first payday of the year in days gone by.

18 Amount of time for Kate Hudson to “Lose a Guy,” in a 2003 film : TEN DAYS

Actress Kate Hudson’s breakthrough role was Penny Lane in the 2000 movie “Almost Famous”. More recently, Hudson played Cassandra July on the TV show “Glee”. Hudson is the daughter of actress Goldie Hawn.

22 Pong company : ATARI

Do you remember the arcade video game that is like a game of tennis, with paddles moving up and down to hit what looks like a ball, over what looks like a net? Well, that is Pong. The arcade version of Pong was introduced in 1972, with Atari selling a home version through Sears for the Christmas market in 1975.

24 Venetian magistrate of old : DOGE

Doges were the elected chief magistrates of the former republics of Venice and Genoa.

25 “Pulp Fiction” studio : MIRAMAX

Miramax is a film distributor in the US noted for its focus on independent and foreign movies. Now owned by Disney, the company was founded by Harvey and Bob Weinstein in 1979. The company name is a combination of the brothers’ parents’ names: Miriam and Max.

I’m not a big fan of director Quentin Tarantino, nor his work. His movies are too violent for me, and the size of his ego just turns me right off. Having said that, I think “Pulp Fiction” is a remarkable film. If you can look past the violence, it’s really well written. And what a legacy it has. John Travolta’s career was on the rocks and he did the film for practically no money, and it turned out to be a re-launch for him. Uma Thurman became a top celebrity overnight from her role. Even Bruce Willis got some good out of it, putting an end to a string of poorly-received performances.

31 First K-pop band to perform at the American Music Awards : BTS

BTS is a boy band from South Korea with seven members. The initialism “BTS” stands for the phrase “Bangtan Sonyeondan”, which translates literally as “Bulletproof Boy Scouts”. It is the best-selling musical act in the history of South Korea.

32 Actor who plays Lieutenant Sulu in the rebooted “Star Trek” films : JOHN CHO

John Cho is an actor and musician who was born in Seoul, South Korea but has lived in the US since he was a young boy. Cho’s break in movies came in playing Harold Lee in the ”Harold & Kumar” films. He is now making a name for himself playing Mr. Sulu in the latest “Star Trek” movies.

33 The N.F.L.’s Cardinals, on scoreboards : ARI

The Arizona Cardinals were founded in 1898 as the Chicago Cardinals. That makes the Cardinals the oldest, continuously-run, professional football team in the whole country.

37 Animal that is unable to fly with its ears, regrettably : ELEPHANT

There are only three species of elephant living today, with all others being extinct. These are the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant (or “Indian elephant”). As is well known, the African elephant is distinguished from the Asian/Indian elephant by its much larger ears. The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal.

43 Mummify, e.g. : EMBALM

We use the word “mummy” for a dead body that has been embalmed in preparation for burial, especially if done so by the ancient Egyptians. The term “mummy” comes from the Persian word “mumiyah” meaning “embalmed body”.

46 Pileup, as of complaints : LITANY

We use the term “litany” in general speech to describe a sizable series of items. This meaning comes from the older religious use of the same term, to describe a series of prayers that usually involves a repeated response from the congregation.

47 Neighbor of Croatia : BOSNIA

Herzegovina is the southern part of the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is often referred to informally as “Bosnia”. The region’s name comes from a ruler of the area in the 1400s, who had the title Herzog (duke) of Saint Sava. Much later, the duke’s realm became known as “Herzegovina” (Herzog’s lands).

49 Packs (down) : TAMPS

To tamp is to pack down tightly by tapping. “Tamp” was originally used specifically to describe the action of packing down sand or dirt around an explosive prior to detonation.

50 Cause, as havoc : WREAK

Havoc is great damage or destruction. The term “havoc” comes from the Anglo-French phrase “crier havok”, which was an order given in the late 1500s to soldiers, instructing them to seize plunder.

58 Bestow knighthood on : DUB

Kneel, and a monarch might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” came to mean “give someone a name”.