Tag: Drill switches? crossword clue

Bill’s time: 14m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10 Fictional figure who often visits the “night-cloaked deck” : AHAB

Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby-Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

16 Company with a Brickipedia online reference : LEGO

Lego produces some wonderful specialized sets with which you can build models of celebrated structures, including:

• The Statue of Liberty (2,882 pieces)
• The Sydney Opera House (2,989 pieces)
• The Eiffel Tower (3,428 pieces)
• Tower Bridge (4,295 pieces)
• The Taj Mahal (5,922 pieces)

19 Kind of code : POSTAL

ZIP codes were introduced in 1963. The acronym “ZIP” stands for “Zone Improvement Plan”, a name indicating that mail travels more efficiently when the codes are included in the postal address.

22 Roll it : DIE

The numbers on dice are arranged so that the opposite faces add up to seven. Given this arrangement, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 all meet at a common vertex. There are two ways of arranging the 1, 2 and 3 around the common vertex, a so-called right-handed die (clockwise 1-2-3) or a left-handed die (counterclockwise 1-2-3). Traditionally, dice used in Western cultures are right-handed, whereas Chinese dice are left-handed. Quite interesting …

24 Judge at home : UMP

Back in the 15th century, “an umpire” was referred to as “a noumpere”, which was misheard and hence causing the dropping of the initial letter N. The term “noumpere” came from Old French “nonper” meaning “not even, odd number”. The idea was that the original umpire was a third person called on to arbitrate between two, providing that “odd number” needed to decide the dispute.

28 First letter of “tsar” in Russian : TSE

The term “czar” (also “tsar”) is a Slavic word that was first used as a title by Simeon I of Bulgaria in 913 AD. “Czar” is derived from the word “caesar”, which was synonymous with “emperor” at that time. We tend to use the “czar” spelling, as opposed to “tsar”, when we describe a person today with great power or authority, e.g. “Drug Czar”.

30 Form of nonviolent protest : LIE-IN

A die-in (also “lie-in”) is a protest in which those demonstrating lie on the ground and pretend to be dead. One of the more famous die-ins was held in Washington D.C. in 2007 to protest the Iraq War. There were several thousand protesters, almost two hundred of whom were arrested, including ten veterans of the Iraq War.

31 Chopin piece inspired by a dog chasing its tail : MINUTE WALTZ

Frédéric Chopin’s famous “Minute Waltz” was composed in 1847. That title is quite misleading, indicating that the piece should be played in just 60 seconds, whereas it takes about twice that time when played at the appropriate tempo. The nickname “Minute” came about because the waltz is short (minute). Prior to acquiring the “Minute” moniker, it was known as the “Valse du petit chien” (Waltz of the Little Dog).

42 Some Hanukkah servings : LATKES

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potatoes is delicious, to be fair).

45 Issa of “Little” : RAE

Issa Rae is a Stanford University graduate who created a YouTube web series called “The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl”. Rae also plays the title role in the series, a young lady named “J”. “Awkward Black Girl” was adapted into an HBO comedy-drama called “Insecure”, in which Issa Rae stars.

46 Seasonal units, for short : ACS

The modern form of air conditioning (AC) that is still used today was invented by Willis Carrier in 1902. He co-founded the Carrier Engineering Corporation in New York in 1915. The Carrier Corporation eventually moved to Syracuse, New York in 1937. Beyond the world of air conditioning, the Carrier name has been associated with Syracuse University’s famous Carrier Dome since it opened in 1980. The Carrier Dome is the largest on-campus basketball stadium in the country.

47 Sucker for a fictional story line : DUPE

A dupe is someone who is easily fooled, a “live one”, one who can fall victim to deception.

52 “The Third Man,” for one : NOIR

“The Third Man” is a great film noir produced in England in 1949, and starring Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard. A great film in itself, “The Third Man” is often remembered for the title music, an instrumental piece featuring the zither that was written and performed by Anton Karas. The screenplay for the film was written by Graham Greene.

54 Real-life sucker : VAMPIRE BAT

Vampire bats feed mostly in the blood of mammals, including humans. When they find a suitable “victim”, often one that is asleep, the bat usually lands close by and approaches its “meal” on the ground. It makes a small cut with its razor-sharp teeth and laps up the blood. The blood tends to flow freely as the bat’s saliva contains anticoagulants. Reports of bats biting the neck of humans are very rare in the real world, but the neck is the preferred location of attack in the fantasy world of vampires.

56 Tea brand with Passion and Joy flavors : TAZO

The Tazo Tea Company was founded in 1994 in Portland, Oregon. Tazo was purchased in 1999 by Starbucks, and then by Unilever in 2017.

Down

4 Miffed : HURT

To miff is to put out, to tee off. “To miff” is a verb that has been around since the early 1600s. In 1824, Sir Walter Scott described the word “miffed” as “a women’s phrase”. That should get him a slap, I’d say …

5 First name in R&B : ETTA

“Etta James” was the stage name of celebrated blues and soul singer Jamesetta Hawkins. James’ most famous recording was her 1960 hit “At Last”, which made it into the pop charts. James performed “At Last” at the age of 71 in 2009 on the reality show “Dancing with the Stars”, which was to be her final television appearance. She passed away in 2012.

6 Ennui + wealth = ___ : AFFLUENZA

“Affluenza” might be described as the obsessive pursuit of perceived wealth accompanied by debt, anxiety and waste. The term is a portmanteau of “affluent” and “influenza”.

7 Salt : TAR

8 Evil conglomerate on “Mr. Robot” : E CORP

“Mr. Robot” is an engaging drama series about an anxious and clinically depressed computer hacker. Said hacker joins an anarchic group of hackers known as “Mr. Robot” who are intent on taking down the largest conglomerate in the world. I binge-watched the first two series, and really enjoyed the experience …

9 Contractor’s project, informally : RENO

“Reno” is short for renovation.

10 Viking’s swig : ALE

The Vikings were a Germanic people from northern Europe who were noted as great seafarers. Key to the success of the Vikings was the design of their famous “longships”. Made from wood, the longship was long and narrow with a shallow hull, It was also light, so that the crew would actually carry it small distances over land and around obstacles. Longships were designed to be propelled by both sail and oars.

13 Pivotal figure in the English Reformation : BOLEYN

Anne Boleyn was the second wife of Henry VIII of England. Anne was found guilty of high treason after about a thousand days of marriage to Henry, accused of adultery and incest (probably trumped-up charges). She was executed, but perhaps her legacy lived on in her only child, as her daughter reigned for 45 very prosperous years as Queen Elizabeth I.

Thomas Cromwell was the 1st Earl of Essex, and a trusted advisor of King Henry VIII of England. Cromwell very much drove the English Reformation, the break with the Catholic Church in Rome. He was also the man who arranged for the annulment of Henry’s first marriage so that the king could marry Anne Boleyn. But, like so many of those close to Henry VIII, Cromwell fell out of favor and was executed. Cromwell’s “crime” was that he arranged Henry’s fourth marriage, to Anne of Cleves, and this turned out to be a terrible match.

27 Pieces in the game Rummikub : TILES

Rummikub is a tile-based game that was created in the 1940s by Ephraim Hertzano in Israel. Hertzano’s game combines elements of mahjong with the card game rummy. Rummikub was the best-selling game in the US back in 1977.

31 Something you might hear while you’re on hold : MUZAK

“Muzak” is a proprietary name for piped music, and is apparently a blend of the words “music” and “Kodak”. The Muzak system was developed way back in 1922 and was first used in workplaces.

32 Lion dance holiday : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

The lion dance is a traditional dance in Chinese cultures in which performers move around in an elaborate lion costume. Apparently we Westerners often mistake the lion for a dragon. The Chinese dragon dance does exist, and is similar, but the dancers perform outside of the costume and hold up the dragon on poles.

33 Its index case occurred in Meliandou, Guinea : EBOLA

The Ebola virus causes a very nasty form of hemorrhagic fever. The name of the virus comes from the site of the first known outbreak, in a mission hospital in the Ebola River Valley in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then known as Zaire). The disease is transmitted from human to human by exposure to bodily fluids. In nature, the main carrier of Ebola is the fruit bat.

36 Outerwear for an old 7-Down : PEACOAT

A peacoat (also “pea jacket”) is a heavy woolen outer jacket originally associated with sailors. Nowadays anyone wears them (they’re very comfortable and warm). The female equivalent of a peacoat is often called a Jackie O jacket, after Jackie Onassis.

37 Flora : PLANTS

The fauna is the animal life of a particular region, and the flora is that region’s plant life. The term “fauna” comes from the Roman goddess of earth and fertility who was called Fauna. Flora was the Roman goddess of plants, flowers and fertility.

39 Native of the Dutch Caribbean : ARUBAN

Aruba is one of the so-called ABC islands located off the northern coast of Venezuela. “ABC Islands” is a name given to the three westernmost islands of the Leeward Antilles in the Caribbean. The nickname comes from the first letters of the island names: Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. All three of the ABC islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

40 Cellist Pablo : CASALS

Pablo Casals was a wonderful cellist from Catalonia in Spain. He lived at the time of the Franco regime in Spain. As a supporter of the Spanish Republican Government, he placed himself in self-imposed exile in 1938, vowing not to return home until democracy had been restored. Casals never again set foot on Spanish soil, and died in Puerto Rico in 1973.

44 Heracles killed its eponymous lion : NEMEA

“The Twelve Labors of Hercules” is actually a Greek myth, although Hercules is the Roman name for the hero that the Greeks called “Heracles”. The first of these labors was to slay the Nemean lion, a monster that lived in a cave near Nemea. Hercules had a tough job as the lion’s golden fur was impenetrable to normal weapons. One version of the story is that Hercules killed the lion by shooting an arrow into its mouth. Another version says that Hercules stunned the monster with a club and then strangled him with his bare hands.

48 Go-to spot for multiple dates? : PALM

Date palms can be either male or female. Only the female tree bears fruit (called “dates”).

51 Singer/songwriter ___ Rexha : BEBE

Bebe Rexha is a singer-songwriter from New York City. Her given name at birth was “Bleta”, which is Albanian for “bee”. Folks started to use the nickname “Bebe”, which stuck.