Tag: Blow up crossword clue

Bill’s time: 18m 11s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

8 Freedom cry, for some : TGIF!

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF)

12 Material for a child’s necklace : MACARONI

In many cases, the name given to a type of pasta comes from its shape. However, the name macaroni comes from the type of dough used to make the noodles. Here in the US, macaroni is usually elbow-shaped, but it doesn’t have to be.

14 They’ve got their own problems : MATH TESTS

Here’s another term that catches me out all the time, having done my schooling on the other side of the Atlantic. The term “mathematics” is shortened to “math” in the US, but to “maths” in Britain and Ireland.

19 “I ___ you!” : DARE

So do I …

27 Word with hot or fly : … ROD

A hot rod is an American car that has been modified for speed by installing a larger than normal engine. A street rod is generally a more comfortable type of hot rod, with the emphasis less on the engine and more on custom paint jobs and interiors. By definition, a street rod must be based on an automobile design that originated prior to 1949.

A fly rod is used for fly fishing.

28 Flexible positions : ASANAS

“Asana” is a Sanskrit word that translates literally as “sitting down”. The asanas are the poses that a practitioner of yoga assumes. The most famous is the lotus position, the cross-legged pose called “padmasana”.

30 Modern initialism for one skimming text : TLDR

Too long, didn’t read (TLDR)

32 Theia or Rhea : TITAN

The Titans were a group of twelve older deities in Greek mythology, the twelve children of the primordial Gaia and Uranus, Mother Earth and Father Sky. In the celebrated Battle of the Titans, they were overthrown by the Olympians, who were twelve younger gods. We use the term “titan” figuratively to describe a powerful person, someone with great influence.

In Greek mythology, Theia (also “Thea”) is a goddess of the moon. Theia’s brother and consort is Hyperion, the god of the sun. Theia and Hyperion are the parents of Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon) and Eos (the Dawn).

In Greek mythology, Rhea was one of the Titans. She was the sister and wife of Cronus, and together they had six children, the last of which was Zeus. Cronus swallowed all of his children as soon as they were born, except for Zeus, who Rhea managed to hide from her husband.

33 Joe carter? : COFFEE URN

It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.

40 Peter Pan competitor : JIF

Jif is the leading brand of peanut butter in the US, and has been since 1981. Introduced in 1958, Jif is now produced by Smuckers.

42 Flavor of many Anglo-Indian chutneys : APPLE

Chutney is a typically southern Asian condiment made from spices with vegetables or fruit. The term “chutney” comes from the Sanskrit “caṭnī” meaning “to lick”.

43 1978 hit whose title is spelled out in its chorus : YMCA

“YMCA” was released in 1978 by Village People and has been adopted as an anthem by the gay community. The song was written by Victor Willis, a straight member of the mostly gay band, and he clarifies that the lyrics are extolling the virtues of the “YMCA” as a source of recreation for black urban youth. I think he might have been winking when he said that …

54 Kelley of the U.S. women’s national soccer team : O’HARA

Kelley O’Hara is a soccer player who was a member of the national team when the US won the FIFA World Cup in 2015, and Olympic gold in 2012.

Down

2 Hue made from limonite : OCHRE

Ocher is a light, yellowish-brown color, although variations of the pigment are possible such as red ocher and purple ocher. “Ocher” is usually spelled “ochre” on the other side of the pond.

3 What’s spread on a spreadsheet : DATA

Our word “data” (singular “datum”) comes from the Latin “datum” meaning “given”. The idea is that data are “things given”.

5 Baseball team announcement : ROSTER

Our word “roster”, meaning “list, register”, actually comes from the same root as our word “roast”, would you believe. “Roster” came into English from the Dutch “rooster”, meaning “table, list”. An alternative use of the Dutch “rooster” was “gridiron”, from the “roosten” meaning “to roast”. The connection is that a roster of names is often listed on a sheet of paper that has grid lines resembling the marks left by a gridiron on roasted meat. Quite interesting …

7 Game with baskets : DISC GOLF

Disc golf is also known as Frisbee golf, and sometimes even Frolf. Believe it or not, disc golf predates the introduction of the Frisbee. The first game was played at a school in Bladworth, Saskatchewan in 1926. The participating schoolkids threw tin lids into circles drawn on a course they created in the school grounds. They named the game “Tin Lid Golf”. By the way, I try to play disc golf at least three times a week. Lots of fun …

12 Land once known as the “peninsula of gold” : MALAYSIA

The Malay Peninsula is a long, thin land mass that forms the southernmost part of the Asian mainland. On the peninsula are the countries of Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and Singapore (an island nation off the southern tip of the peninsula). People of the Malay ethnic group are mainly found on the Malay peninsula.

20 Some advanced degs. : MAS

Master of Arts (MA)

22 Setting of the first panel in Hieronymus Bosch’s “The Last Judgment” : EDEN

Hieronymus Bosch was a Dutch painter who worked late 15th and early 16th centuries. Perhaps his most recognized work is his triptych titled “The Garden of Earthly Delights”.

24 Orange refreshment : FANTA

The soft drink Fanta has quite an interesting history. As WWII approached, the Coca-Cola plant in Germany had trouble obtaining the ingredients it needed to continue production of the cola beverage, so the plant manager decided to create a new drink from what was available. The new beverage was built around whey (leftover from cheese production) and pomace (left over after juice has been extracted from fruit). The inventor asked his colleagues to use their “imagination” (“Fantasie” in German) and come up with a name for the drink, so they piped up “Fanta!”

26 Part of la famille : FRERE

In French, a “frère” (brother) is a member of the “famille” (family).

30 Turnpike feature : TOLL PLAZA

Back in the 15th century, a turnpike (tpk., trke.) was a defensive barrier across a road. By the 17th century the term was used for a barrier that stopped travelers until a toll was paid. By the 18th century a turnpike was the name given to a road with a toll.

34 Online seller of specialty crafts : ETSY SHOP

Etsy.com is an e-commerce website where you can buy and sell the kind of items that you might find at a craft fair.

39 “___, I cannot be” (Emily Dickinson poem) : ALONE

On a road trip around the country a few years ago, my wife and I had a very disappointing stop in Amherst, Massachusetts intending to visit the old home of Emily Dickinson. We hadn’t done our homework and failed to note that the home was only open for tours on certain days of the week, and not the day we were there (so be warned!). Emily Dickinson wrote nearly 1800 poems in her lifetime, with less than a dozen published before she died in 1886. Emily’s younger sister discovered the enormous collection, and it was published in batches over the coming decades.

41 Like a schlemiel : INEPT

A schlemiel is an awkward and clumsy person. “Shlemiel” is the Yiddish for “bungler”, with the term coming from the German story “The Wonderful History of Peter Schlemihl”, published in 1813.

44 Disney title girl : MOANA

“Moana” is a 2016 animated feature film and the 56th animated Disney movie. The title character is the daughter of a Polynesian chief who heads off in search of the demigod Maui, hoping that he can save her people.

48 Bird with a forked tail : TERN

Terns are a family of seabirds. They are similar to gulls, but are more slender and more lightly built. Many species of tern are known for their long-distance migrations, with the Arctic tern migrating so far that it is believed to see more daylight in a year than any other animal.

50 Playground denizens : TOTS

Nowadays we use “denizen” to mean simply “resident”, but historically a denizen was an immigrant to whom certain rights had been granted, somewhat like today’s resident alien.

52 Org. offering traveler’s checks? : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operates its precheck program known as “TSA Pre✓” (or “TSA PreCheck”). Members of the program receive expedited screening at most airports. In order to become a member, a traveler must apply online, appear in person at a designated office for a background check and fingerprinting, and pay a fee for a 5-year membership.