Tag: Emotionally charged as an issue crossword clue

Bill’s time: 6m 06s

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A “Don’t love it, don’t hate it” : MEH

“Meh” is an interjection often used to express indifference, boredom, or a lack of enthusiasm. Its origin is debated, but it gained widespread popularity in the early 2000s, notably after being used in a 2001 episode of “The Simpsons” by Lisa Simpson.

9A Prickly plants : CACTI

The cactus (plural “cacti”) is a member of a family of plants that are particularly well-adapted to extremely dry environments. Almost all cacti are native to the Americas, although some succulent plants from the old world are similar in appearance and are often mislabeled as “cacti”.

16A Constellation with a belt : ORION

Orion is one of the most recognizable constellations, named after the hunter in Greek mythology. Its most prominent feature is “Orion’s Belt”, a distinctive grouping of three bright stars: Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.

20A Skewered meat dish : KEBAB

The term “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

22A “Nature of a ___” (1991 Queen Latifah album) : SISTA’

“Queen Latifah” is the stage name of the multitalented Dana Owens. The name “Latifah” is Arabic in origin and translates as “delicate, very kind”. Owens found the name and was attracted to it when she was just eight years old.

26A Grandma, in Guatemala : ABUELA

Guatemala in Central America became independent from Spain in 1821, first becoming part of the Mexican Empire, and then becoming completely independent two years later.

34A Thyme piece : SPRIG

In Britain and Ireland, thyme is listed as one of the four essential herbs. And those would be “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme”.

35A They might be sold à la carte at a Mexican restaurant : TACOS

On a restaurant menu, items that are “à la carte” are priced and ordered separately. A menu marked “table d’hôte” (also called “prix fixe”) is a fixed-price menu with limited choice. “Table d’hôte” translates from French as “table of the host”.

46A “Explosive” expletive : F-BOMB

“F-bomb” refers to the offensive four-letter word beginning with the letter F. The term “F-bomb” was first used in print in a “Newsday” article in 1988 in a story about baseball catcher Gary Carter.

61A Gunslinger Earp : WYATT

Wyatt Earp is famous as one of the participants in the gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Earp was a city policeman in Wichita, Kansas and also in Dodge City, Kansas. Earp was also deputy sheriff in Tombstone, Arizona where the O.K. Corral gunfight took place. Years later, Earp joined the Alaska Gold Rush and with a partner built and operated the Dexter Saloon in Nome.

64A Where duds are draped to dry … or a literal description of 18-, 28- and 49-Across? : CLOTHESLINE

“Duds” is an informal word meaning “clothing”. The term comes from the word “dudde” that was used around 1300 as the name for a cloak.

67A “___ sells seashells by the seashore” : SHE

The classic tongue-twister, “She sells seashells by the seashore” was first published in 1908. The subject “she” is sometimes said to be Mary Anning, an early 19th-century British fossil collector, dealer, and paleontologist who gained fame for her discoveries on the Jurassic Coast of southern England.

68A Actor Ethan whose surname sounds like a bird : HAWKE

Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke used to be married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

69A “The ___ Express” (kid-lit classic) : POLAR

“The Polar Express” is a 1985 children’s book by Chris Van Allsburg that tells the story of a young boy’s magical train ride to the North Pole on Christmas Eve. It won the Caldecott Medal and was later adapted into a popular animated film.

70A Alternative to a trowel for an archaeologist : HOE

“Archaeology” is a word that looks like it’s British English, and one might be forgiven for using the spelling “archeology” in American English. Even though the latter spelling has been around for a couple of hundred years, the former is the standard spelling on both sides of the Atlantic.

71A It’s nearly impossible to split their creme equally, per M.I.T. : OREOS

A 2022 study by engineers at MIT and Princeton, nicknamed “Oreology,” found that it is nearly impossible to consistently separate an Oreo’s wafers such that the cream sticks entirely to one side. Now that, that is some delightful research …

Down

2D “The Sopranos” actress Falco : EDIE

Actress Edie Falco won three Emmy Awards for playing Carmela Soprano on HBO’s outstanding drama series called “The Sopranos”. Falco also won an Emmy in 2010 for playing the title role in “Nurse Jackie”, an excellent black comedy.

4D Bruce Springsteen, to fans : THE BOSS

Bruce Springsteen earned the nickname “The Boss” early in his career, reportedly because he took on the responsibility of collecting money from the band after gigs.

5D Rule-making grp. for a residential community : HOA

Homeowner’s association (HOA)

7D 18-wheeler : SEMI

An 18-wheeler semi-trailer truck has eight wheels under the trailer, i.e. four on each of the two rear axles. There are 10 wheels under the tractor unit. Two of the ten wheels are on the front axle, and eight are on the rear two axles that sit under the front of the trailer.

10D Preferring platonic relationships, informally : ARO

Someone described as aromantic (“aro”, for short) experiences little or no romantic attraction. The opposite of aromanticism is alloromanticism.

11D Greek sorceress who took the phrase “men are pigs” literally : CIRCE

In Greek mythology, Circe was a sorceress who had the ability to transform people into animals. In Homer’s “Odyssey”, she turns Odysseus’s men into swine after they feast in her halls, a literal interpretation of the idea that men can be “pigs”!

12D Smash to smithereens : TOTAL

“Smithereens” is such a lovely word and I am proud to say that it comes from Irish. The Irish word “smiodar” means fragment. We add the suffix “-in” (anglicized as “-een”) to words to indicate the diminutive form. So, “little fragment” is “smidirin”, anglicized as “smithereens”.

19D Superfan, in slang : STAN

“Stan” is a song by rapper Eminem (featuring Dido) that was recorded in 2000. The title refers to a fictional Eminem fan named “Stan” who becomes obsessed with the rapper, and who grows irate when his letters to his idol go unanswered. Stan’s final act is to make a voice recording as he drives into a river, with his pregnant girlfriend locked in the trunk. One of the legacies of the song is that “stan” is now used as a slang term for an obsessed and maniacal fan.

21D Accessibility law inits. : ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)

27D Only U.S. state whose capital has a three-word name : UTAH

Salt Lake City (SLC) was founded by Brigham Young, in 1847. The city takes its name from the Great Salt Lake on which it sits, and indeed was known as “Great Salt Lake City” up until 1868.

28D Bear with a hard bed and hot porridge : PAPA

The story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” was first recorded in 1837 in England, although the narrative was around before it was actually written down. The original fairy tale was rather gruesome, but successive versions became more family-oriented. The character that eventually became Goldilocks was originally an elderly woman, and the three “nameless” bears became Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.

29D “Once ___ a midnight dreary …” : UPON

The first verse of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” is:

Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore-
While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

37D Actual shape of the Crab Nebula, disappointingly : OVAL

The Crab Nebula is located in the constellation of Taurus. It was discovered in 1731 by English astronomer John Bevis, although it appears to correspond to a bright supernova reported by Chinese astronomers in 1054.

38D Feudal underling : SERF

A serf was a member of the lowest feudal class, someone attached to land owned by a lord. Even though “serf” comes from the Latin “servus”, meaning “slave”, serfs could not be bought or sold. However, they were not free to leave the land they worked without the lord’s permission

42D High-and-mighty : SMUG

Someone described as smug is said to have a self-satisfied air. Back in the 1500s, “smug” meant “neat, smart”, and then was used to describe a particularly attractive woman. Our current usage started in the early 1700s.

53D Kind of power using rooftop panels : SOLAR

Solar panels are arrays of solar cells that make use of what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. We are more likely to have learned about the photoelectric effect in school, in which electrons were ejected from the surface of some materials when it was exposed to light or other forms of radiation. The photovoltaic effect is related but different. Instead of being electrons ejected from the surface, in the photovoltaic effect electrons move around in the material creating a difference in voltage.

54D Actor Russell whose surname sounds like a bird : CROWE

Russell Crowe is a highly successful actor from New Zealand. Understandably, he doesn’t like people to call him “Australian”, even though it was in Australia that he launched his acting career. Not too long before the 9/11 attacks, the FBI contacted Crowe to inform him that al-Qaeda was plotting to kidnap him as part of a general attack on high-profile “American” icons. For a few months the New Zealander was guarded by Secret Service agents.

59D Piggy bank opening : SLOT

The word “pig” can be used for earthenware, or an earthenware shard. From this usage there evolved the term “pig jar” that described an earthenware pot that could be filled with water for use as a bed-warmer. Crockery pots were also used to collect coins and these were also termed “pig jars”. By the 1700s, these pig jars had evolved into the first “piggy banks”.

62D “O Brother, Where Art ___?” (2000 Coen brothers film) : THOU

“O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is a 2000 comedy-drama written, produced and directed by the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan. It’s all about the three convicts who escape from a chain gang. Those convicts are played by George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson. Set in rural Mississippi, elements of the storyline are inspired by Homer’s epic poem “The Odyssey”. I hated this one …

65D Ring result, in brief : TKO

Technical knockout (TKO)

66D Grandma, in Glasgow : NAN

Glasgow sits on the River Clyde, and is the largest city in Scotland and. Back in the Victorian Era, Glasgow earned a reputation for excellence in shipbuilding and was known as “Second City of the British Empire”. Glasgow shipyards were the birthplaces of such famous vessels as the Lusitania, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth. People from Glasgow are known as Glaswegians.