Tag: Fan fare? crossword clue

Bill’s time: 7m 56s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 It might be L-shaped : SOFA

“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

9 Scottie in the White House in the 1940s : FALA

Fala was the famous Scottish Terrier that was ever present at the side of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for many years. The terrier was a Christmas gift to the president from his cousin, who had named the dog Big Boy while she trained him as a puppy. President Roosevelt renamed him after an ancestor of his from Falahill in Scotland, so the dog’s full name was Murray the Outlaw of Falahill. Fala lived on for several years after the president’s passing. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the gravesites of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, and Fala is buried just a few feet away from his master.

13 Brio : ELAN

“Brio” is borrowed from Italian, in which language the term means “vigor and vivacity”. “Con brio” is a musical direction often found on a score, instructing the musicians to play “with energy, vigor”.

14 Operating system developed at Bell Labs : UNIX

Unix is a computer operating system that was developed at Bell Labs in 1969. The initial name for the project was Uniplexed Information and Computing Service (Unics), and this evolved over time into “Unix”.

Bell Labs dates back to the days of Alexander Graham Bell. The first Bell Labs building was in the carriage house of Bell’s father’s house in Washington, D.C.

16 Pioneer in show recording : TIVO

TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) that revolutionized the way we watch television. The first TiVo devices were installed in homes in 1999, when they were the first consumer DVRs to hit the market. TiVo was originally marketed as a way to “pause live TV.” It quickly became known for its ability to record TV shows and movies, allowing viewers to watch them at their convenience.

18 First-string players : A-TEAM

We’ve been using the phrases “first string” and “second string” in athletics since the mid-19th century. The expressions come from archery, in which a competitor would carry a second bowstring in case the first broke.

20 Aquí, across the Pyrenees : ICI

In French, this “emplacement” (location) is “ici” (here).

22 Icelandic poet Sturluson : SNORRI

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian and poet who wrote the “Prose Edda”, an important narrative of Norse mythology. Sturluson lived from 1179 to 1241 CE.

25 Wig out : FREAK

The idea behind the expression “to wig out”, meaning “to go crazy”, is that there is so much going on in your brain that it might “lift your hair/wig”.

28 California’s Big ___ : SUR

Big Sur is a lovely part of the California Coast located south of Monterey and Carmel. The name “Big Sur” comes from the original Spanish description of the area as “el sur grande” meaning “the big south”.

32 “The Stars and Stripes Forever” composer : SOUSA

John Philip Sousa was a composer and conductor from Washington, D.C. Sousa was well known for his patriotic marches and earned himself the nickname “The American March King”. He served as a member of the US Marine Band from 1868 to 1875, and after leaving the Marines learned to conduct and compose. One of the Sousa compositions that is well-known around the world is called “The Liberty Bell”, a tune used as the musical theme for BBC Television’s “Monty Python’s Flying Circus”. Sousa also wrote “Semper Fidelis”, which is the official march of the US Marine Corps.

“The Star and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa has since 1987 been the official National March of the US. It is common for a band to play “The Stars and Stripes Forever” after the US president gives a speech in a public forum, with “Hail to the Chief” being played as the president is introduced.

41 Deborah’s co-star in “The King and I” : YUL

Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor. He was well known for his great performances, but also for his shaved head and his deep rich voice. Brynner first adopted the “hairstyle” while playing the King of Siam in the stage version of “The King and I”, and he stuck with it.

Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress who made a real name for herself on the American stage and in Hollywood movies. Despite all her success, and six nominations for a Best Actress Oscar, Kerr never actually won an Academy Award. In 1967, she appeared in the James Bond film “Casino Royale” at the age of 46, making Kerr the oldest Bond Girl of all time.

“The King and I” is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on a book by Margaret Landon called “Anna and the King of Siam” first published in 1944. Landon’s book is based on a true story, told in the memoirs of Anna Leonowens. Leonowens was the governess of the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s, and she also taught the king’s wives.

42 Many a foreign E.S.L. teacher : EXPAT

English as a Second Language (ESL)

45 Marginalia … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme : SIDENOTES

Marginalia are comments and scribbles that are written in the margins of a book.

50 Midwest sch. with 65,000+ students : OSU

Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus was founded back in 1870 as the Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College. The athletic teams of OSU are called the Buckeyes, named after the state tree of Ohio. In turn the buckeye tree gets its name from the appearance of its fruit, a dark nut with a light patch thought to resemble a “buck’s eye”. The school’s athletic mascot was introduced in 1965, and is an anthropomorphic buckeye nut named Brutus Buckeye.

55 “Toy Story” dinosaur voiced by Wallace Shawn : REX

In the excellent Pixar film “Toy Story”, Rex is a tyrannosaurus, and a pretty clumsy one at that. He is voiced by actor Wallace Shawn, whose name is perhaps less familiar than his face. Shawn played the neighbor on “The Cosby Show” as well as many, many other supporting characters on TV and the big screen.

57 Skill practiced on a health class dummy, in brief : CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

58 Longtime senator Hatch : ORRIN

Orrin Hatch is a former Republican Senator from Utah. Hatch is also quite the musician, and plays the piano, violin and organ. He has composed various compositions, including a song called “Heal Our Land” that was played at the 2005 inauguration of President George W. Bush.

59 Sees red? : OWES

To be in the red is to be in debt, to owe money. The expression “in the red” is a reference to the accounting practice of recording debts and losses in red ink in ledgers. The related phrase “in the black” means “solvent, making a profit”.

61 Part of A.P.R. : RATE

Annual percentage rate (APR)

62 Greek music halls : ODEA

In ancient Greece, an odeon (also “odeum”) was like a small theater, with “odeon” literally meaning “building for musical competition”. Odea were used in both Greece and Rome for entertainments such as musical shows and poetry readings.

64 Named, informally : ID’ED

Identity document (ID)

66 Soup served before sushi, say : MISO

Miso is the name of the seasoning that makes miso soup. Basic miso seasoning is made by fermenting rice, barley and soybeans with salt and a fungus to produce a paste. The paste can be added to stock to make miso soup, or perhaps to flavor tofu.

67 Bird in “Alice in Wonderland” : DODO

The Dodo is a character who appears early in Lewis Carroll’s novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. It is thought that the Dodo is a caricature of the author himself, as both author and character have a stutter.

Down

4 Artist who once ran a “War Is Over!” poster campaign : ONO

John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a very public honeymoon in a hotel in Amsterdam and then Montreal, when they staged their famous “bed-in” for peace. In answering questions from reporters Lennon found himself often repeating the words “give peace a chance”. While still in bed, he composed his famous song “Give Peace a Chance” and even made the original recording of the song in the Montreal hotel room, with reporters present, and with a whole bunch of friends. The song was released later in 1969 and became a smash hit. Writing credit was initially given to Lennon-McCartney, as was the agreement between John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Later versions of the song were credited just to Lennon, even though Lennon stated that Yoko Ono actually wrote the song with him.

5 Yokozuna’s sport : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

8 Guitar, slangily : AXE

In the world of music, “axe” is a slang term describing a musical instrument, especially a guitar or horn.

9 Fan fare? : FRANKS

The frankfurter sausage that is typically used in a North American hot dog gets its name from Frankfurter Würstchen. The latter is a German sausage that is prepared by boiling in water, just like a hot dog frank.

10 Lambo, e.g. : AUTO

Ferruccio Lamborghini was in the business of manufacturing tractors back in the late forties. Almost two decades later, he founded Automobili Lamborghini to produce high-end sports cars. That’s quite a target market shift …

21 Golden Ball winner at the 2022 FIFA World Cup : MESSI

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Messi has been awarded FIFA’s Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) award more times than any other player. The Ballon d’Or is presented to the player who is considered the best in the world in the prior year.

22 Kind of solution for contacts : SALINE

The concepts that underpin the technology of contact lenses date back to Leonardo Da Vinci. Although Da Vinci didn’t propose the development of the contact lens, he did write about correcting vision by submerging the eye in a bowl of water. Over a hundred years later, René Descartes made a somewhat impractical suggestion, but along the right lines, of using a glass tube filled with liquid that could be placed in contact with the eye to correct vision. The first real contact lenses were developed by German ophthalmologist Adolf Gaston Eugen Fick in 1887.

24 Haitian unit of currency : GOURDE

The gourde is the currency of Haiti, and is divided into 100 centimes. The gourde has been pegged to the US dollar since 1912, at a value of 5 gourdes to the dollar. As a result, five gourdes are sometimes referred to as a Haitian dollar, and 5 contimes as a Haitian penny.

27 County in northeastern Nevada : ELKO

Elko County in the northeastern corner of Nevada is the fourth-largest county (by area) in the contiguous US (after California’s San Bernardino County, Arizona’s Coconino County and Nevada’s Nye County).

31 Ghost of cartoons : CASPER

Casper the Friendly Ghost features in a whole series of cartoon shorts made by Famous Studios. Casper made the big time in 1995 when he appeared in his own “Casper” movie, alongside Christina Ricci, Bill Pullman and Eric Idle.

37 “___ Nacht!” : GUTE

“Gute Nacht” is a German for “goodnight”.

38 Senokot alternative : EX-LAX

Ex-Lax is a brand of laxative. That should get you going …

39 Small restaurants : BISTROS

“Bistro” was originally a Parisian slang term describing a little wine shop or restaurant.

40 Facebook co-founder Saverin : EDUARDO

Eduardo Saverin is one of the founders of Facebook, and someone who worked alongside Mark Zuckerberg while the pair were studying at Harvard. As was emphasized in the 2010 film “The Social Network”, Zuckerberg treated Saverin pretty badly, diluting his partner’s holding in the company. Facebook settled a resulting lawsuit with Saverin, so he still did okay financially, but lost out on the really big bucks. Savarin is from São Paulo, Brazil and became a US citizen in 1998. After his controversial exit from Facebook, Savarin moved to Singapore. He renounced his US citizenship in 2011, in a move viewed by many as a tactic designed to avoid payment of an estimated $700 million in capital gains taxes.

43 Toast topper : AVOCADO

Avocado toast is trendy, but delicious. My homemade version includes a generous sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper, and a splash of hot sauce. Yum …

46 Dance counterpart of the Whip : NAE NAE

The Nae Nae is a hip hop dance that is named for the 2013 song “Drop that NaeNae” recorded by We Are Toon. 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 …

49 Texas city on the Rio Grande : LAREDO

Laredo is a border city in Texas that is situated on the banks of the Rio Grande, across the border from Nuevo Laredo in Mexico.

56 Gas station that may feature a Tim Hortons drive-thru : ESSO

Tim Hortons is a Canadian chain of fast food restaurants that is known especially for its coffee and doughnuts. The chain is named for one of the founders, hockey player Tim Horton.

59 Scientist whose name is a unit, both forward and backward : OHM

The unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (with the symbol omega) named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. Ohm was the guy who established experimentally that the amount of current flowing through a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied, (V=IR) a relationship that every school kid knows as Ohm’s Law.

Conductance (measured in “mhos”) is the inverse of resistance (measured in “ohms”). The mho has been replaced by the SI unit called the siemens.