Tag: Candy with a comic once crossword clue

Bill’s time: 7m 15s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

7. ___-relief : BAS

In bas-relief, an image projects just a little above the background, as in perhaps a head depicted on a coin.

15. Ingredient in jerk sauce : ALLSPICE

The spice known as “allspice” was given its name in the early seventeenth century as it flavor was said to resemble a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In fact, allspice is made from dried berries of the Pimenta dioica tree.

Jerk chicken is a Jamaican dish in which the meat is prepared with a hot spice mixture that is used as a marinade or a dry rub. There is a suggestion that the term “jerk” comes from the Quechuan word “ch’arki” meaning “dried, salted meat”. The same Quechuan word is the root of our term “jerky” meaning “lean, dried meat”.

17. Hall-of-Fame QB Johnny : UNITAS

Footballer Johnny Unitas was nicknamed “the Golden Arm” as well as “Johnny U”. Unitas played in the fifties through the seventies, mainly for the Baltimore Colts. He held the record for throwing touchdown passes in consecutive games (47 games) for 52 years, until it was surpassed in 2012 by Drew Brees.

18. Hit 2016 animated film with the tagline “Welcome to the urban jungle” : ZOOTOPIA

“Zootopia” is a 2016 Disney animated film about a rabbit police officer and a red fox con artist who team up to uncover a bizarre conspiracy.

21. Vice president Agnew : SPIRO

Spiro Agnew served as Vice-President under Richard Nixon, before becoming the only VP in American history to resign because of criminal charges (there was a bribery scandal). Agnew was also the first Greek-American to serve as US Vice President as he was the son of a Greek immigrant who had shortened the family name from Anagnostopoulos.

31. “___ Breckinridge” (Gore Vidal novel) : MYRA

Even today, Gore Vidal’s 1968 novel “Myra Breckinridge” is considered controversial. I haven’t read it, but I understand it addresses transsexuality and other sexual practices usually considered to be outside the norm. There was a movie version of the novel made in 1970, with Raquel Welch in the title role.

35. Church nook : APSE

The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally, apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

37. East Germany: Abbr. : DDR

The former East Germany was known officially as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), or Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR).

39. Pugilists’ org. : WBA

World Boxing Association (WBA)

“Pugilism”, another word for “boxing”, comes from the Latin “pugil” meaning “boxer”. In turn, “pugil” derives from “pugnus”, the word for “fist”.

42. Like moussaka and souvlaki : GREEK

Moussaka is a delicious dish from the Balkans that uses eggplant or potato as a base. The dish often includes ground meat, particularly lamb.

Souvlaki is a “fast food” from Greece consisting of meat (often lamb) grilled on a skewer, and sometimes served in a pita sandwich.

43. Cabinet dept. led by Ben Carson beginning in 2017 : HUD

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has its roots in the “Great Society” program of President Lyndon Johnson. HUD’s mission is to address the housing needs of the citizenry at the national level. HUD can provide mortgage insurance to help people become homeowners and also provide rental subsidies to lower-income families. HUD also is responsible for enforcement of Federal Fair Housing laws.

Ben Carson is a neurosurgeon who made an unsuccessful bid to become the Republican candidate for US president in the 2016 primaries. Subsequently, Carson became Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in President Trump’s administration. He is also a lacto-ovo vegetarian, a decision that Dr. Carson made out of concern for his health.

44. Company that created Pong : ATARI

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

48. Anne Hathaway’s role in “Becoming Jane” : AUSTEN

Actress Anne Hathaway is a favorite of mine, I must say. She starred in “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2006 and in 2007’s “Becoming Jane”, a film I particularly enjoyed.

49. Birds that lay big green eggs : EMUS

Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs.

53. One 10-millionth of a joule : ERG

An erg is a unit of mechanical work or energy. It is a small unit, with one joule comprising 10 million ergs. it has been suggested that an erg is about the amount of energy required for a mosquito to take off. The term comes from “ergon”, the Greek word for work.

54. Speakers’ platforms : ROSTRA

A rostrum (plural “rostra”) is an elevated platform, particularly one for public speaking. The original rostrum was the platform used by public speakers in the Forum of ancient Rome.

56. Things loafers lack : LACES

The loafer slip-on shoe dates back to 1939. “Loafer” was originally a brand name introduced by the Fortnum and Mason’s store in London. The derivative term “penny loafer” arose in the late fifties or early sixties, although the exact etymology seems unclear.

68. French painter Henri known for “The Sleeping Gypsy” : ROUSSEAU

Henri Rousseau was a French Post-Impressionist painter. He was self-taught, only starting to paint seriously in his forties. He worked as a tax collector until he was 49 years old, when he retired to focus on his art. Rousseau’s most famous painting is “The Sleeping Gypsy”, a celebrated work that depicts a lion standing beside a sleeping woman in the moonlight. You can take a look at it in New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

69. A political refugee might seek it : ASYLUM

Asylum (plural “asyla”) is a Latin word meaning “sanctuary”.

70. “Three up, three down” threesome : OUTS

That would be baseball.

71. Rum ___ Tugger (“Cats” cat) : TUM

Rum Tum Tugger is one of the characters in T. S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats”. Rum Tum Tugger also appears in the Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats”, the musical based on Eliot’s book. In the musical, Rum Tum Tugger’s persona was written as a homage to Mick Jagger of Rolling Stones. So, the character tends to strut around the stage a lot.

Down

2. Writer Morrison : TONI

The writer Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1993. Amongst other things, Morrison is noted for coining the phrase “our first black President”, a reference to President Bill Clinton.

3. Litmus paper reddener : ACID

The “opposite” of an acid is a base. Acids turn litmus paper red, and bases turn it blue. Acids and bases react with each other to form salts. An important subset of the chemicals called bases are the alkalis, the hydroxides of the alkali metals and of ammonium. The term “alkali” is sometimes used interchangeably with “base”, especially if that base is readily soluble in water.

5. Fastener on a manila envelope : CLASP

Manila folders and envelopes were originally made from manila hemp, hence the name.

6. Mercenary for the British in the Revolutionary War : HESSIAN

The Hessians were German regiments that fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War. They took their name from the homeland of about one third of the men, i.e. Hesse-Kassel.

7. Candy with a comic, once : BAZOOKA BUBBLEGUM

The Bazooka brand of bubble gum was introduced by the Topps Company soon after the end of WWII. Bazooka have included comic strips in the wrappers for their gum since the early to mid-fifties. The hero of the strip is Bazooka Joe, a young man who wears an eyepatch.

10. George Ferris, for the Ferris wheel : EPONYM

An eponym is a name for something derived from the name of a person, as in the food item we call a “sandwich”, named for the Earl of Sandwich.

The first Ferris Wheel was built for the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893. That wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. who lent his name to wheels built from then on.

11. ChapStick target : LIP

ChapStick is a brand of lip balm produced by Pfizer, although it is so popular that the term tends to be used generically. ChapStick was invented way back in the 1880s by a Dr. Charles Browne Fleet in Lynchburg, Virginia.

12. Verizon acquisition of 2006 : MCI

MCI was a giant telecom company that suffered a similar fate to Enron, and around about the same time. MCI’s stock price fell in 2000 and in maneuvers designed to protect the price, the company committed illegal acts. The larger-than-life CEO back then, Bernie Ebbers, is now serving a 25-year sentence in Louisiana.

16. Phaser setting : STUN

A MASER is a device that was around long before LASERs came into the public consciousness. A MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is similar to a LASER, but microwaves are emitted rather than light waves. When the storyline for “Star Trek” was being developed, the writers introduced a weapon called a “phaser”, with the name “phaser” derived from PHoton mASER.

26. With 25-Down, caution before a potentially upsetting lecture … or a hint to 19- and 59-Across and 7-Down? : TRIGGER …
(25. See 26-Down : … WARNING)

A trauma trigger is a stimulus that causes a person to recall some prior psychological trauma. The derivative term “trigger warning” describes an alert at the beginning of a work that warns of content that might be upsetting to some readers or viewers.

27. Italian resort on the Mediterranean : SAN REMO

The Italian city of San Remo sits on the Mediterranean, right on the border with France. In Italian the city is named Sanremo, just one word, although the spelling of “San Remo” dates back to ancient times.

36. Jacob’s twin : ESAU

Esau, was the grandson of Abraham and the twin brother of Jacob, the founder of the Israelites. When Esau was born to Isaac and Rebekah, the event was described “Now the first came forth, red all over like a hairy garment”. Esau is portrayed later in life as being very different from his brother Jacob, as a hunter and someone who loves the outdoor life.

58. Some Japanese-made TVs : SONYS

Sony was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The two partners met in the Japanese Navy during WWII.

60. Waikiki party : LUAU

Waikiki is a neighborhood of Honolulu, and home to the famous Waikiki Beach. The name “Waikiki” means “spouting fresh water” in Hawaiian.