Tag: Do the splits crossword clue

Bill’s time: 6m 23s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

4A Model airplane material : BALSA

Balsa is a very fast-growing tree that is native to parts of South America. Even though balsa wood is very soft, it is actually classified as a hardwood, the softest of all the hardwoods (go figure!). Balsa is light and strong, so is commonly used in making model airplanes. In WWII, a full-size British plane, the de Havilland Mosquito, was built largely from balsa and plywood. No wonder they called it “The Wooden Wonder” and “The Timber Terror”.

9A ___ de los Muertos : DIA

The “Día de Muertos” (also “Dia de los Muertos”, both meaning “Day of the Dead”) is a holiday that originated in Mexico, and is now celebrated around the world. It is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, and involves family and friends gathering to remember those who have died. Despite the somber nature, the Day of the Dead usually has a joyful tone, as family remembers the happier events and anecdotes associated with the departed.

16A “Holiday ___” (1942 film with Irving Berlin songs) : INN

The 1942 classic movie “Holiday Inn” stars Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, and is noted for the song “White Christmas”. And yes, the movie is the inspiration for the name of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels.

21A First Oscar winner to be born in the 21st century (for Best Original Song) : EILISH

Billie Eilish is a singer-songwriter from Los Angeles. She has won several awards, and is the youngest person to have won all four major Grammy categories in the same year, i.e. Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year.

23A $$$ execs : CFOS

Chief financial officer (CFO)

25A Psychic who examines lifelines and heart lines : PALM READER

In the practice called palmistry, someone might tell your fortune by interpreting the lines and other features seen on the palm of your hand. The lines in the palm have names such as life line, head line, heart line and fate line. The life line is the curve that sweeps around in an arc centered at the base of the thumb.

28A Leader of the Chipmunks, in an old novelty group : ALVIN

Alvin and the Chipmunks is a cartoon musical group that was created for the recording of a novelty song in 1958 called “The Chipmunk Song (Christmas Don’t Be Late)”. The three Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon and Theodore) were all voiced by singer Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. but with a speedy playback to create high-pitched voices.

30A “Lost” actor Daniel ___ Kim : DAE

Daniel Dae Kim is an American actor who is famous for playing Jin-Soo Kwon on “Lost”. Kim moved on to play one of the leads on the CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-O”, portraying the character Chin Ho Kelly.

“Lost” is a science fiction drama that originally aired from 2004 to 2010. The show kicks off with a passenger airliner crashing on a tropical island as it flies from Sydney bound for Los Angeles. I haven’t seen the show myself and I hear that the intriguing plot didn’t really come to a satisfying conclusion. Others may disagree …

32A Viral dance of the 2010s : NAE NAE

The Nae Nae is a hip hop dance that is named for the 2013 song “Drop that NaeNae” recorded by We Are Toonz. The main move in the dance involves swaying with one hand in the air and one hand down, with both feet firmly planted on the dancefloor. Go on, do it. You know you want to …

34A 20-ounce Starbucks size : VENTI

“Venti” is the Italian word for “twenty.” It’s most commonly known in English-speaking countries today as a size option for beverages at Starbucks. A venti-sized drink at Starbucks typically holds 20 fluid ounces.

37A “Toy Story 2” character who says “I’m packing you an extra pair of shoes, and your angry eyes, just in case” : MRS. POTATO HEAD

Mr. Potato Head (now just “Potato Head”) is an enduring and popular toy that has been around since its invention by George Lerner in 1949. In its original form, the toy was a collection of eyes, ears, and other facial features that were designed to be stuck into a real potato. Mr. Potato Head also has the distinction of being the first toy ever to be advertised on television.

44A “Don’t Tell ___” (“Cabaret” song) : MAMA

The musical “Cabaret” is based on “I Am a Camera”, a 1951 play written by John Van Druten. In turn, the play was adapted from a novel “Goodbye to Berlin” written by Christopher Isherwood. The action in the musical takes place in the 1930s, in a seedy Berlin cabaret called the Kit Kat Klub. “Cabaret” is a great stage musical, although the 1972 film of the musical isn’t one of my favorites.

47A Partner of the C.D.C. and F.D.A. : NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) organization is made up of 27 different institutes that coordinate their research and services. Examples of member institutes are the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Aging.

54A Denisovich or Ilyich of Russian literature : IVAN

Russian author Leo Tolstoy is best known for his novels “War and Peace” and “Anna Karenina”. He also wrote the much-respected novellas “Hadji Murad” and “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”.

55A “You Pick Two” bakery chain : PANERA

Panera Bread is a chain of bakery/coffeehouses. A Panera restaurant is a good place to get online while having a cup of coffee. Back in 2006 and 2007, Panera was the largest provider of free Wi-Fi access in the whole of the US.

58A QVC alternative : HSN

The Home Shopping Network (HSN) was the first national shopping network, and was launched locally as the Home Shopping Club in Florida in 1982. Its first product was a can opener.

65A One terminal on a battery : ANODE

The anode and cathode are the two electrodes in an electrical device, like a battery. Anodes “give away” electrons, and cathodes “accept” electrons. In a typical battery powering a device, the anode gives away electrons that travel through the device (like a lightbulb, making it light up). Those electrons then flow to the cathode, which accepts them, completing the circuit.

66A Catholic university whose mascot is a lion, aptly : ST LEO

Saint Leo University is a private Roman Catholic school located in the town of St. Leo, Florida. The school was founded in 1889 by a group of Benedictine monks, making it the oldest Catholic college in the state. Saint Leo was named for Pope Leo I.

Down

2D “if u ask me …” : IMO…

In my opinion (IMO)

4D Song suitable for a slow dance : BALLAD

Our “ballad”, meaning “narrative song”, came into English from the French “ballade”, meaning “dancing song”. The French term derives from the Latin verb “ballare” meaning “to dance”.

5D Legal org. : ABA

American Bar Association (ABA)

7D Part of a cattle herd : STEER

A steer is a male bovine that was castrated when young and is then raised for beef. The term “steer” comes from the Old English “steor” meaning “bullock”.

8D American Eagle subbrand : AERIE

Aerie (stylized as “aerie”) is a retailer of lingerie and general undergarments that was founded in 2006. Aptly enough, Aerie was initially a sub-brand of American Eagle. The name “Aerie” comes from “American Eagle lingerie”).

11D Margaret Mead’s subject, informally : ANTHRO

Anthropology is the scientific study of human beings, both in the present and in the past. The term “anthropology” combines the Greek “anthropos” (meaning “human”) and “logos” (meaning “study”).

“Coming of Age in Samoa” sounds like a fascinating book. It was written by American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead and published in 1928. In the book, Mead examines the behavior of youths in Samoa, making some comparisons with youths in America. One major observation she made was the smooth transition from childhood to adulthood of Samoan girls, compared to what she described as a more troublesome transition in the US. Mead followed up “Coming of Age in Samoa” with a similar work in 1930 titled “Growing Up in New Guinea”, which documented her observations of the people of the Manus Province of Papua New Guinea.

14D Reputation or Lover, to a Swiftie : ERA

Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour is a journey through her musical career, with each stage of the show representing a different “era” or album. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Lover
2. Fearless
3. Evermore
4. Reputation
5. Speak Now
6. Red
7. Folklore
8. 1989
9. Midnights

18D One of three in the Domino’s logo : PIP

Domino’s Pizza started out as DomiNick’s, a pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The store was purchased by Dominic’s founder Tom Monaghan in 1960, along with his brother. Tom bought out his brother a few months later, for the price of a used VW! The store was renamed Domino’s Pizza in 1965, and two years later the first franchise store was opened. There are now over 8,000 stores worldwide, including one in Tallaght in Ireland, the town where I lived for many years in my youth. That Tallaght store became the first Domino’s outlet in the world to hit a turnover of $3 million a year.

24D Flim-___ : FLAM

“Flim-flam” (sometimes just “flam”) is another word for a confidence trick. The term has been in use since the 1500s, would you believe?

29D California wine valley : NAPA

The first commercial winery in Napa Valley, California was established way back in 1858. However, premium wine production only dates back to the 1960s, with the region really hitting the big time after its success at the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976. The story of that famous blind wine tasting is told in the entertaining 2008 film “Bottle Shock”.

35D Land of ___ (Genesis locale) : NOD

According to the Bible’s Book of Genesis, after Cain murdered his brother Abel, he fled to the “Land of Nod”. Nod was located “east of Eden” (from which John Steinbeck got the title for his celebrated novel “East of Eden”).

36D Public radio’s “___ American Life” : THIS

“This American Life” is a radio show that is broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR). Host of the show is the much-respected Ira Glass. I was interested to learn that one of my favorite composers, Philip Glass, is Ira’s first cousin.

40D Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals : DARA

Dara Torres is a US swimmer who has won twelve Olympic medals. Torres is also the only American swimmer to have competed in five Olympic Games, and is the oldest swimmer to have made it onto the Olympic team, at 41.

43D Kylo ___, “Star Wars” antagonist : REN

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa in the “Star Wars” universe. The character’s birth name was Ben Solo. He was trained as a Jedi knight by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. However, Ben came to embrace the Dark Side, and changed his name to Kylo Ren. Ren is played by actor Adam Driver.

48D Birkin bag maker : HERMES

Hermès is a high-end manufacturer of apparel. The company was founded in 1837 in Paris, by German immigrant Thierry Hermès.

51D “The Phantom of the Opera” instrument : ORGAN

I’m a bit jaded with big stage musicals I must admit, but I will always have time for Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterpiece “The Phantom of the Opera”. “Phantom …” is the longest running musical in the history of Broadway, and deservedly so. There is a sequel, titled “Love Never Dies”, that opened in London’s West End in March 2010. But, it hasn’t been well received.

53D Emmy-nominated Issa : RAE

Issa Rae rose to prominence with her highly popular web series “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl”, which premiered in 2011. This led to her co-creating and starring in the acclaimed HBO comedy series “Insecure”, which garnered her multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. She’s also expanded into film roles and has her own media company, Hoorae.

57D Rapper Lil ___ X : NAS

“Lil Nas X” is the stage name of rapper Montero Lamar Hill. He was born and raised just outside of Atlanta. His first hit was “Old Town Road”, which is classified as country rap.

60D News website with a Latin name : VOX

“Vox” is a news and opinion website that was founded by former “Washington Post” journalist Ezra Klein in 2014. “Vox” is Latin for “voice”.

63D Snoopy or Scooby-Doo : DOG

Snoopy is a central and much-loved character in the Charles M. Schulz comic strip “Peanuts”. He is Charlie Brown’s pet beagle, and first appeared in “Peanuts” just two days after the strip’s debut in 1950. He was identified as “Snoopy” a month later, and first “spoke” (in a thought balloon) in 1952. Initially depicted as a more traditionally dog-like figure, Schulz started to anthropomorphize Snoopy in 1952, first drawing him upright on his hind legs in 1952, while ice-skating on a frozen lake.

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” is a series of cartoons produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions, first broadcast in 1969. The title character is a great Dane dog befriended by a young male called Shaggy Rogers. The character’s name was inspired by the famous “doo-be-doo-be-doo” refrain in the Frank Sinatra hit “Strangers in the Night”. Shaggy was voiced by famed disk jockey Casey Kasem. Shaggy and Scooby’s friends are Velma, Fred and Daphne.