Tag: End of a NASA countdown crossword clue

Bill’s time: 10m 47s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Piedmont province with a namesake wine : ASTI

Piedmont in the northwest of Italy is one of the nation’s twenty administrative regions. It is a mountainous region that is surrounded on three sides by the Alps. The Italian name for the region, “Piemonte”, translates as “foot of a mountain”. Piedmont’s capital city is Turin.

14A Title for Jane Goodall : DAME

Jane Goodall was a British anthropologist famous for studying wild chimpanzees in Africa for 45 years. Working at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, Goodall made many discoveries. She was the first to see chimps constructing and using tools, an activity thought to be limited to the human species. She also found out that chimpanzees are omnivores.

16A ___ Summer (program for Annapolis freshmen) : PLEBE

New candidates entering the US Naval Academy go straight into an intensive 6-week training program called Plebe Summer. The intent of the program is to “turn civilians into midshipmen”.

A plebe is a freshman in the US military and naval academies. The term “plebe” is probably short for “plebeian”, the name given to someone of the common class in ancient Rome (as opposed to a Patrician). “Pleb” is a shortened version of “plebeian”, and is a term used outside of the military schools.

18A Product that might feature a dandelion on the label : WEED KILLER

The name “dandelion” comes from the French “dent de lion” meaning “lion’s tooth”. The name is a reference to the coarse, tooth-like edges of dandelion leaves.

20A Spare part? : PIN

In bowling, the downing of all ten pins in two balls in the same frame is called a spare, and scores ten points. The player gets a bonus, equal to the number of pins downed with the next ball, which could be up to ten. Hence, a spare can be worth up to 20 points.

21A Melts down : GOES BERSERK

Our word “berserk” meaning “deranged” comes from the “Berserkers”, Norse warriors described in Old Norse literature. Berserkers were renowned for going into battle in a fury, and some believe that they consumed drugged food to get themselves worked up for the fighting ahead.

24A It’s -90° at the South Pole: Abbr. : LAT

Lines of latitude are imaginary horizontal lines surrounding the planet. The most “important” lines of latitude are, from north to south:

• Arctic Circle
• Tropic of Cancer
• Equator
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Antarctic Circle

31A Some repurposed cornfields : MAZES

A corn maze is simply a maze cut into a cornfield. On the other side of the pond, the same attraction is known as a maize maze … cute!

33A Small branch of Marvel Comics? : BABY GROOT

“Guardians of the Galaxy” is a 2014 film based on a team of superheroes from the Marvel Comics universe. The movie’s cast is very impressive, including Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro. I don’t normally “do” superhero films, but I found this one very entertaining, and loved the soundtrack …

35A Common adult ed. class : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL)

36A Brand whose logo has an A-shaped caliper : ACURA

Acura is a luxury vehicle brand produced by the Japanese automaker Honda. It was the first Japanese luxury car brand to be introduced to the US, in 1986. The Acura Legend and Acura Integra were the first two models released.

39A Mylar alternative : LATEX

Latex is a naturally occurring polymer made by some plants that can also be made synthetically. About one in ten of the flowering plants in the world make the milky fluid called latex. It serves as a defense against insects and is exuded when a plant is injured or attacked by insects. Latex is collected commercially and is the source of natural rubber, which can be used to make things such as gloves, condoms and balloons.

Mylar is a brand of polyester film with many uses, one of which is to make reflective surfaces. Mylar can be used to make reflective solar sails, which are a fascinating form of spacecraft propulsion. Believe it or not, reflecting photons of light each provide a small amount of thrust, and enough of them can propel an object in the vacuum of space.

42A Chaney of classic horror : LON

Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous were his portrayals of the title characters in the films “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (1923) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925).

51A Elicit the facepalm emoji, say : ERR

A facepalm is the gesture made by lowering one’s face into the palm of one’s hand or hands. It can be an expression of surprise, frustration or embarrassment. A related gesture with a similar meaning is the headdesk, the gentle striking of the forehead against a desk or a wall perhaps.

55A Leader of China? : INDO-

In the strict sense of the term, “Indochina” is a region in Southeast Asia that corresponds to the former French territory known as French Indochina. Today this region is made up of the countries of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. However, the term “Indochina” is more generally used to describe Mainland Southeast Asia, and in this usage it also encompasses Myanmar, Singapore and Thailand.

59A Characters from Crete and Sparta? : RHOS

Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”, although it is equivalent to the Roman letter R. It is the 17th letter in the Greek alphabet.

Crete is the largest of the Greek Islands, and figures heavily in Greek mythology. Zeus was born in a cave at Mount Ida, the highest peak on the island. Crete was also home to the Labyrinth where the Minotaur was slain by Theseus. Icarus and Daedalus, after having crafted the Labyrinth, escaped from the island using wings that they crafted.

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece that was famous for her military might. Spartan children had a tough upbringing, and newborn babies were bathed in wine to see if the child was strong enough to survive. Every child was presented to a council of elders that decided if the baby was suitable for rearing. Those children deemed too puny were executed by tossing them into a chasm. We’ve been using the term “spartan” to describe something self-disciplined or austere since the 1600s.

Down

3D End of a NASA countdown : T-MINUS ZERO

We’re all familiar with the expression “T-minus …” in the countdown to the takeoff of a rocket, but do we know what the “T” stands for? The common answers given are “time” and “take off”, but it turns out that neither is correct. The expression originated in the early days of the space program and was used then not for launches but as a countdown to various “tests”. So the “T” stands for “test”, but its usage carried over into the actual launches themselves.

5D “The Handmaid’s Tale” author : ATWOOD

“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a 1985 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It is set in a dystopian New England of the near future, in a patriarchal state known as the Republic of Gilead, after the overthrow of the US government. The central character is named Offred, a “handmaid” forced to bear children for the male ruling class. The novel was adapted into a highly successful TV series of the same name, starring Elisabeth Moss as Offred.

8D Cinephile’s online resource : IMDB

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) website was launched in 1990, and is now owned by Amazon.com. It’s a great site for answering questions one has about movies and actors.

9D Milky Way, e.g. : SPIRAL GALAXY

Our galaxy is the Milky Way, and the nearest “spiral galaxy” to ours is the Andromeda Galaxy. Andromeda is not the nearest galaxy, as that honor belongs to the Canis Major Dwarf Galaxy.

According to Greek mythology, our galaxy (the Milky Way) is the breast milk of the goddess Hera, wife of Zeus. The term “Milky Way” is a translation of the Latin “via lactea”, used by the Romans. The Romans used the Latin name because the older Greek term for the same phenomenon was “galaxias kyklos” meaning “milky circle”.

12D Transportation company in more than 60 countries : UBER

The rideshare service Uber takes its name from the English colloquial word “uber” meaning “super, topmost”, which in turn comes from the German “über” meaning “above”.

19D ___ green : KELLY

Kelly green is a strong yellowish green, and was given its name back in the early 1900s. Apparently, the name was chosen because green is popular in Ireland, and Kelly is a common Irish family name.

23D Request from someone who has completed all the courses? : CHECK, PLEASE!

Checks and checking accounts caused me some language trouble when I first came to the US. Back in Ireland (and the UK) we write “cheques” using funds from our “current” accounts.

28D Florida setting for “The Birdcage” : SOUTH BEACH

South Beach is a neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida that is often referred to by the nickname “SoBe”. SoBe is known for its active and vibrant LGBT community. The title of the marvelous 1996 film “The Birdcage” refers to a fictional Birdcage drag nightclub located in South Beach.

The musical “La Cage aux Folles” opened on Broadway in 1983. It is an adaptation of the French play of the same name by Jean Poiret that was first staged in 1973. I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the stage play nor the musical, but I love the wonderful movie adaptation called “The Birdcage”, which was released in 1996. The film has a very strong cast that includes Robin Williams, Nathan Lane, Gene Hackman and Hank Azaria.

30D “Elvis at ___” (classic album of Memphis recordings) : STAX

Stax Records was founded in 1957 as Satellite Records. The biggest star to record with Stax was the great Otis Redding.

31D British rowhouses : MEWS

Back in the late 14th century, the king’s hawks were housed at a specific location in London known as the King’s Mews, with a “mew” being a cage for hawks. That location was converted to the Royal Stables in 1534, with the name “Royal Mews” persisting even when the stables were relocated to the grounds of Buckingham Palace. The use of the term “mews” to describe stable blocks spread to outside of London, and indeed internationally. Early in the 20th century, stables/mews became obsolete with the growth of motorized transportation, and so many were converted into housing.

38D Fabric made from flax : LINEN

The textile known as linen is made from flax fibers. The name “linen” probably comes from “linum”, which is Latin for both “flax” and “textile made from flax”.

43D Jalapeño topper : TILDE

The tilde diacritical mark (~) is very much associated with the Spanish language. We use the name “tilde” in English, taking that name from Spanish. Confusingly, the word “tilde” in Spanish is used more generally to mean “accent mark, diacritic”, of which a “~” is just one. What we call a “tilde” in English is usually referred to as a “virgulilla” or “tilde de la eñe” in Spanish.

The jalapeño is a chili pepper, and a favorite of mine. The pepper’s name translates from Spanish as “from Xalapa”. Xalapa (also “Jalapa”) is the capital of the Mexican state of Veracruz, and the traditional origin of the jalapeño pepper. A smoke-dried jalapeño, called a chipotle, is used for seasoning.

44D Popular brand of 18-Across : ORTHO
[18A Product that might feature a dandelion on the label : WEED KILLER]

Ortho is a brand of weed killer owned by Scotts Miracle-Gro.

45D Looks below the surface? : X-RAYS

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

47D Nestlé’s bubbly chocolate brand : AERO

I must admit to having a weakness for Aero chocolate bars. Aero was introduced by Rowntree’s in the North of England in 1935. The “aero” name is a reference to the chocolate’s “bubbly” texture.

49D Certain psychedelic : ACID

The term “psychedelic” was coined in 1956 by British-born psychiatrist Humphry Osmond. He proposed the term to describe the effects of taking the drugs LSD and mescaline. He suggested that “psychedelic” be defined as “mind-manifesting”, from the Greek “psyche” (mind) and “delos” (manifest).

53D Bitumen lookalike : TAR

The asphalt surface on roads (or basketball courts) is more properly called asphaltic concrete because asphalt itself (also known as “bitumen”) is just a sticky black liquid that comes from crude petroleum. Asphalt is used as a binder with aggregate to form asphaltic concrete.