Tag: Experts in body language crossword clue

Bill’s time: 20m 27s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

18A Neighbor of Turkmenistan : IRAN

Before 1935, the country we know today as Iran was referred to as Persia by the Western world. The official name of the country since the Iranian Revolution of 1979 is the “Islamic Republic of Iran”.

The Republic of Turkmenistan is a sparsely populated country in Central Asia, and a former Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR). About 70% of the country is covered by the Karakum Desert.

19A Word with happy or half : … HOUR

I personally think that Happy Hour is best enjoyed shaken, not stirred; and with a good crossword …

25A Creative spark, in slang : INSPO

“Inspo” is an informal term describing something or someone serving as “inspiration”.

26A Avoid : ESCHEW

“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun”, comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

27A Sleepover challenge : DARE

The party game truth or dare has been around a long time. A variant from the early 1700s is attested as a “Christmas game”, under the name “questions and commands”.

33A Prefix with watt : GIGA-

James Watt was a Scottish inventor. He figured prominently in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, largely due to the improvements he made to the fledgling steam engine. The SI unit of power is called the watt, and was named in his honor.

34A “___ Miz” : LES

The 1980 musical “Les Misérables” is an adaptation of the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. The show opened in London in 1985, and is the longest running musical in the history of London’s West End. My wife and I saw “Les Miz” in the Queen’s Theatre in London many years ago, but were only able to get tickets in the very back row. The theater seating is very steep, so the back row of the balcony is extremely high over the stage. One of the big events in the storyline is the building of a street barricade over which the rebels fight. At the height we were seated we could see the stagehands behind the barricade, sitting drinking Coke, even smoking cigarettes. On cue, the stagehands would get up and catch a dropped rifle, or an actor who had been shot. It was pretty comical. I didn’t really enjoy the show that much, to be honest. Some great songs, but the musical version of the storyline just didn’t seem to hang together for me.

37A “The skin cream you’re using must be Neutrogena or CeraVe!”? : THAT’S SO NOT OLAY! (from “that’s so not okay!”)

Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1952. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

40A Hollywood’s Johnny : DEPP

Johnny Depp got his big break as an actor on television, in the eighties television show “21 Jump Street”. Depp’s first film success came when he played the title role in 1990’s “Edward Scissorhands”. He has twice been named Sexiest Man Alive by “People” magazine.

44A Baseball legend who dated J.Lo : A-ROD

Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just “A-Rod”. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there was a perception that teams went cold when he joined them and hot when he left. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding. Rodriguez was in a world of hurt not so long ago, for using illegal performance-enhancing drugs. He retired from baseball in 2016.

“J.Lo” is the nickname of singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. “J.Lo” is also the title of her second studio album, which was released in 2001.

46A Tai ___ : CHI

More correctly called “t‘ai chi ch‘uan”, which translates to “supreme ultimate fist”, tai chi is a martial art that is mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

47A Filthy, in slang : GRODY

“Grody” is slang for “disgusting”, a possible alteration of the British slang “grotty” meaning very unpleasant.

57A Richard of “Pretty Woman” : GERE

“Pretty Woman” is a great movie; a 1990 romantic comedy starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts. The film was originally written as a very dark story, with the female lead not only a prostitute, but also a drug addict. The Disney studio took up the project and demanded that it be rewritten as a modern-day fairy tale, and what a good decision that was …

62A Save the Children, e.g., in brief : NGO

Non-governmental organization (NGO)

68A ’20s architecture style : DECO

The 1925 World’s Fair, officially known as the “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes”, was held in Paris. The fair was intended to showcase the latest trends in modern decorative arts and industrial design. The term “art deco” comes from the name of the fair, and is a shortening of the words “Arts Décoratifs”.

73A HVAC measure : BTU

In the world of heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC), the power of a heating or cooling unit can be measured using the British Thermal Unit (BTU). This dated unit is the amount of energy required to heat a pound of water so that the water’s temperature increases by one degree Fahrenheit.

74A Molecule with the nucleotides G, U, A and C : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a single-stranded molecule that is made up of nucleotides. The four nucleotides that make up RNA are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U). RNA is transcribed from DNA, which means that the information stored in DNA is used to create RNA. RNA then carries this information to the ribosomes, which are the cellular structures responsible for protein synthesis.

77A The Arabian Sea’s Gulf of ___ : OMAN

The Gulf of Oman isn’t actually a gulf, and rather is a strait. It connects the Arabian Sea to the Strait of Hormuz and hence to the Persian Gulf.

78A Pickle type : DILL

Often, a dill pickle is actually a pickled gherkin, as the gherkin and cucumber are different cultivars within the same species. Here in the US, dill is commonly added to pickling vinegar or brine, but this wasn’t the case when I used to eat them back in Ireland (I can’t stand dill!). You might see jars labeled as “cornichons”, but they’re gherkins. “Cornichon” is the French word for “gherkin”.

84A Phrase on a Spanish candy heart : TE AMO

“I love you” translates into “te amo” in Spanish, “Ich liebe dich” in German, and “je t’aime” in French.

The forerunner to Sweethearts candy was introduced in 1866, with the famous sayings written on the candy tailored for use at weddings. One of the original expressions was, “Married in pink, he will take a drink”. The original candy was a lot bigger, to fit all those words! The smaller, heart-shaped candy hit the shelves in 1901. We’ve been able to buy Sweethearts with the words “Text me” since 2010.

86A ___ carte : A LA

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”.

87A Sister of Osiris : ISIS

Osiris was the Egyptian god of the underworld. He was the son of Geb the Earth god, and Nut the sky goddess. His wife Isis was also his sister. Osiris was killed and mutilated by Set, his own brother. Isis reassembled Osiris and revived him, just long enough that they could conceive their son Horus.

88A Actress Ryan of the “Star Trek” franchise : JERI

Jeri Ryan’s most famous role is the de-assimilated Borg known as Seven of Nine on “Star Trek: Voyager”. I haven’t seen that show, but I know Ryan from a supporting role on the legal drama “Shark”, playing opposite James Woods. She also plays Ronnie Cooke on “Boston Public”.

91A Like milk that isn’t worth crying over : SPILT

The milk I spilled when I was growing up in Ireland was “spilt”, whereas the milk I spilled here in the US was “spilled” …

93A Warning after a slice : FORE!

No one seems to know for sure where the golfing term “fore!” comes from. It has been used at least as far back as 1881, and since then has been called out to warn other golfers that a wayward ball might be heading their way. My favorite possibility for its origin is that it is a contraction of the Gaelic warning cry “Faugh a Ballagh!” (clear the way!) which is still called out in the sport of road bowling. Road bowling is an Irish game where players bowl balls along roads between villages, trying to reach the end of the course in as few bowls as possible, just like in golf!

100A Common forecast in Portland : RAIN

Portland is the largest city in Oregon. It was founded by two claimholders from back East, one from Boston, Massachusetts and one from Portland, Maine. Both of the founders wanted to name the new city after their hometowns, and settled the dilemma with a coin toss. Portland won …

103A Princess Leia or Hester Prynne : HEROINE

The full name of the character played by Carrie Fisher in the “Star Wars” series of films is Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan, and later Leia Organa Solo. Leia is the twin sister of Luke Skywalker, and the daughter of Anakin Skywalker (aka “Darth Vader”) and Padmé Amidala. Leia is raised by her adoptive parents Bail and Breha Organa. She eventually marries Han Solo.

The main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” is Hester Prynne. After the birth of her illegitimate daughter Pearl, she is convicted by her puritanical neighbors of the crime of adultery. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet “A” (for “adultery”) on her clothing for the rest of her life, hence the novel’s title “The Scarlet Letter”.

107A City west of Montreal : OTTAWA

Ottawa is the second-largest city in the Province of Ontario (after Toronto) and is the capital city of Canada. The name “Ottawa” comes from an Algonquin word “adawe”, which means “to trade”.

111A Loading the dishes and unloading the dishes, e.g.? : DISSONANT CHORES (from “dissonant chords”)

In music, dissonance is a combination of notes that sound unstable, clashing or harsh, creating a sense of tension. It’s the opposite of consonance, which sounds stable, pleasing or harmonious. Composers can use dissonance to build suspense and emotion, usually before “resolving” to a more stable sound.

121A Like the strawberry champagne in Bruno Mars’s “That’s What I Like” : ON ICE

Bruno Mars is a singer-songwriter from Honolulu who has been active in the music business since 2006. “Bruno Mars” is a stage name, as Mars was born “Peter Hernandez”.

122A Neuter’s partner : SPAY

Our verb “to spay”, meaning “to surgically remove the ovaries of” (an animal), comes from an old Anglo-French word “espeier” meaning “to cut with a sword”.

123A Tibetan oxen : YAKS

The English word “yak” is an Anglicized version of the Tibetan name for the male of the species. Yak milk is much prized in Tibetan culture. It is made into cheese and butter, and the butter is used to make a tea that is consumed in great volume by Tibetans. The butter is also used as a fuel in lamps, and during festivals the butter is even sculpted into religious icons.

Down

2D Love god : EROS

In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love, desire, and sexual attraction. He is often depicted as a winged youth carrying a bow and arrows, with which he shoots either golden arrows to inspire love or leaden ones to inspire aversion. His Roman counterpart is Cupid.

4D Using Tinder, Bumble, Hinge, etc. : ON THE APPS

Tinder is a matchmaking app that uses Facebook profiles. Users “swipe” photos of potential matches, either to the right (“like”) or to the left (“not interested”). Users who “match” each other can then chat within the app.

Bumble is a dating app that was founded by Whitney Wolfe Herd, the co-founder of Tinder. Bumble has been described as a “feminist dating app”. Indeed, first contact in a potential heterosexual relationship can only be made by a female user.

Hinge is a dating app that was launched in 2012. Apparently, a key feature of the app is the use of Facebook friends to facilitate introductions to potential matches.

5D “The Conners” and “The Jeffersons” : SHOWS

“The Conners” is a spin-off sitcom of the hit TV show “Roseanne”. The spin-off came about after the cancellation of the “Roseanne” reboot in 2018, following a tweet by Roseanne Barr that was viewed as racist. The spin-off show features the main cast from “Roseanne”, but drops the title character Roseanne Conner.

The very popular sitcom called “The Jeffersons” ran from 1975 until it came to an abrupt end in 1985. CBS canceled the show without even allowing a series finale that “wrapped things up”. In fact, lead actor Sherman Hemsley learned of the show’s cancellation in the newspaper.

7D “___ Lang Syne” : AULD

The song “Auld Lang Syne” is a staple at New Year’s Eve (well, actually in the opening minutes of New Year’s Day). The words were written by Scottish poet Robbie Burns. The literal translation of “Auld Lang Syne” is “old long since”, but is better translated as “old times”. The sentiment of the song is “for old time’s sake”.

9D One of two found on résumés? : ACCENT

A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.

12D Domino dot : PIP

White masks with black spots were commonly seen in the old Venetian Carnival. The masks were known as “domini”. The domini loaned their name to the game of dominoes, due to the similarity in appearance between the mask and a domino tile.

21D Something a child takes a swing at : PINATA

Piñatas originated in Mexico, probably among the Aztecs or Mayans. Today’s piñatas are usually made from cardboard that is brightly decorated with papier-mâché. Traditionally a piñata was made out of a clay pot, adorned with feathers and ribbons and filled with small treasures. During religious ceremonies the clay pots would be suspended and broken open so that the contents would spill out onto the ground at the feet of a god as an offering.

35D President in 1800 : ADAMS

John Adams was the second President of the United States. I must admit that I learned much of what I know about President Adams in the excellent, excellent HBO series “John Adams”, which is based on David McCullough’s 2001 biography of the same name. Having said that, I have also visited the Adams home in Quincy, Massachusetts several times. He was clearly a great man with a great intellect …

37D Windy City paper, with “the” : TRIB

“The Chicago Tribune” was first published in 1847. The most famous edition of “The Trib” was probably in 1948 when the headline was “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”, on the occasion of that year’s presidential election. When it turned out that Truman had actually won, the victor picked up the paper with the erroneous headline and posed for photographs with it … a famous, famous photo, that must have stuck in the craw of the editor at the time.

39D Only U.S. state whose flag features a different design on each side (the back is a beaver!) : OREGON

Oregon’s most widely-known nickname is the Beaver State. However, it is also called the Union State, the Pacific Wonderland, the Sunset State and the Webfoot State.

47D Relative of an alpaca : GUANACO

Similar to the llama, the guanaco is a camelid that is native to South America. The wool of the guanaco is valued for its soft feel, and is even more highly prized than the wool of the llama.

52D Pharmacist Lilly : ELI

Eli Lilly is the largest corporation in the state of Indiana. Founder Eli Lilly was a veteran of the Union Army in the Civil War, and a failed Mississippi plantation owner. Later in life he returned to his first profession and opened a pharmaceutical operation to manufacture drugs and sell them wholesale. Under Lilly’s early guidance, the company was the first to mass-produce gelatin capsules to hold medicines and the first to use fruit flavoring in liquid medicines.

54D Sailor’s opener : AHOY!

“Ahoy!” is a nautical term used to signal a vessel. When the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, he suggested that “ahoy” be used as a standard greeting when answering a call. However, Thomas Edison came up with “hello”, and we’ve been using that ever since.

65D Supervillain in “Fantastic Four” comics : MOLE MAN

The Fantastic Four is a team of superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. Its members are Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch and the Thing.

66D XXX-XX-XXXX ID : SSN

A Social Security Number (SSN) is divided into three parts, i.e AAA-GG-SSSS. Originally, the Area Number (AAA) was the code for the office that issued the card. Starting in 1973, the Area Number reflected the ZIP code from which the application was made. The GG in the SSN was the Group Number, and the SSSS number the Serial Number. This is all moot today. Since 2011, SSNs have been assigned randomly. Some random numbers, however, have been excluded from use, i.e. Area Numbers 000, 666 (!) and 900-999.

68D OB/GYN, e.g. : DOC

A medical doctor (MD) might be an expert in obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN).

75D Bête ___ : NOIRE

“Bête noire” translates from French as “black beast”, and is used in English to describe something or someone that is disliked.

79D So-called “Land of a Million Elephants” : LAOS

The present-day nation of Laos can trace its roots back to the historic Lao kingdom of Lan Xang that existed from 1354 to 1707. The full name of the kingdom was “Lan Xang Hom Khao”, which translates as “The Land of a Million Elephants and the White Parasol”.

91D Wrap name : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name “Saran” is often used generically in the US, while “Glad” wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

95D Pink-slip : CAN

The term “pink-slip” can be used as a verb meaning “to terminate an employee”. No one really seems to know for sure where the phrase originated, but there are lots of stories.

108D Half of a fortnight : WEEK

I had to drop my usage of the term “fortnight” when I came to the US. “Fortnight” describes a period of 14 days or 2 weeks, and is a word used in Britain and countries in which Britain has had influence over the centuries.

112D “Mean Girls” character Janis ___ : IAN

“Mean Girls” is a teen comedy movie released in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan. Tina Fey also puts in an appearance, which really isn’t surprising as Fey wrote the screenplay.

113D Jet ___ : SKI

“Jet Ski” is actually a brand name owned by Kawasaki Heavy Industries of Japan. The generic term, not often used, is “personal watercraft”. Most people use the term “jet ski” generically, although “WaveRunner” is also popular. But that’s another brand name, one owned by Yamaha.