Tag: Full-body armor in science fiction stories crossword clue

Bill’s time: 16m 25s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17 Reclusive emperor who succeeded his stepfather Augustus : TIBERIUS

The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised five emperors from the families Julii Caesares and Claudii Nerones:

1. Augustus: the first emperor of the Roman Empire
2. Tiberius: the stepson of Augustus
3. Caligula: the nephew, and adopted son, of Tiberius
4. Claudius: the uncle of Caligula
5. Nero: the great-nephew of Claudius

18 Restaurateur and humanitarian José : ANDRES

José Andrés is a Spanish-born celebrity chef who emigrated to the US in 1990. In 2010, he founded the World Central Kitchen NGO in the wake of a devastating earthquake in Haiti. The organization provides meals for people affected by natural disasters.

19 Immature pigeon : SQUAB

A squab is a young domestic pigeon. Squab served as food is usually a pigeon that has been raised to a month old and then slaughtered.

20 Bonkers : NUTSO

The word “bonkers” meaning “crazy” originated in the fifties. The term might come from navy slang meaning “slightly drunk”, behaving as though one received a “bonk” on the head.

22 “Tropic Thunder” setting, for short : NAM

“Tropic Thunder” is a satirical action movie written, produced and directed by Ben Stiller. On top of all that, he stars in the film alongside Jack Black and Robert Downey, Jr.

24 Substances in culture dishes : AGARS

Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science, it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

25 Alert to prejudice : WOKE

The term “woke” can be used as a slang term, an adjective meaning “aware of issues of racial and social justice”.

27 Like many a dad joke : STALE

I tell dad jokes all the time, just to annoy the kids …

• I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!
• If you see a robbery at an Apple Store, does that make you an iWitness?
• A termite walks into a bar and asks, “Is the bar tender here?”
• Two guys walk into a bar, the third one ducks.
• What’s the best part about living in Switzerland? I don’t know, but the flag is a big plus.

34 Opposite of avant : APRES

In French, “avant” (before) comes ahead of “après” (after).

35 Make some calls : REF

Back in the early 17th century, a referee was someone who examined patent applications. We started using the same term for a person presiding over a sporting event in the 1820s. “Referee” is a derivative of the verb “to refer”, and literally describes someone who has the authority to make a decision by “referring” to a book, archive etc.

38 North ___ Sea, body of water since the late 1980s : ARAL

The former Soviet Union decided to divert the two rivers feeding the Aral Sea in order to irrigate food and cotton crops. Once the fourth largest lake in the world, the Aral Sea began to shrink dramatically in the 1960s due to the loss of water. Today, the Aral Sea is no more. Instead, there are two relatively small bodies of water labeled as the North Aral Sea and the South Aral Sea.

39 Actress Garson with seven Oscar nominations : GREER

Greer Garson was a British actress who made a name for herself in Hollywood films in the 1940s. One of Garson’s most famous roles was playing the title character in the 1942 film “Mrs. Miniver”, starring alongside Walter Pidgeon. Garson married a much younger man in 1943, actor Richard Ney who played her son in “Mrs. Miniver”. That role earned her an appearance in the “Guinness Book of World Records” for having given the longest Oscar speech ever, at 5½ minutes. After that speech, the producers of the Academy Awards instituted a time limit.

42 Double ___ : DUTCH

Double Dutch is a skipping game that uses two jump ropes that are turned in opposite directions.

43 Excel shortcut : MACRO

A macroinstruction (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

49 Dangerous place for Indiana Jones : SNAKE PIT

According to the “Indiana Jones” series of films, Indy’s fear of snakes goes back when he was a young man. In “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”, we see actor River Phoenix playing young Indie as a Boy Scout and falling into a huge pit of snakes during a chase scene.

50 Common crab covering : OLD BAY

Old Bay Seasoning is a blend of herbs and spices that is named for the Old Bay Line, a passenger ship that sailed in Chesapeake Bay between Baltimore, Maryland and Norfolk, Virginia. Created in 1939, the blend was originally named “Delicious Brand Shrimp and Crab Seasoning”.

Down

2 Theater kids, e.g. : CLIQUE

A clique is a small, exclusive group of people. The term “clique” comes to us from France, where it has the same meaning. In French, it somehow evolved in meaning from the original “clique” meaning a sharp noise, or as we would say today, “click”.

4 Places for irises : UVEAS

The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball. The outer layer is called the fibrous tunic, and the inner layer is the retina.

The iris is the colored part of the eye. It has an aperture in the center that can open or close depending on the level of light hitting the eye.

8 Ganja : GRASS

“Ganja” is another name for the drug cannabis. Cannabis is known to have been used thousands of years ago by ancient Hindus in India, and “ganja” is the Sanskrit term for the drug.

9 Winner of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2014 : LENO

Jay Leno was born James Leno in New Rochelle, New York. Jay’s father was the son of Italian immigrants, and his mother was from Scotland. Leno grew up in Andover, Massachusetts and actually dropped out of school on the advice of a high school guidance counselor. However, years later he went to Emerson College and earned a Bachelor’s degree in speech therapy. Leno also started a comedy club at Emerson in 1973. Today Jay Leno is a car nut and owns over 300 vehicles of various types. You can check them out on his website: www.jaylenosgarage.com.

The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor has been awarded annually since 1998 by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The first recipient of the award was Richard Pryor. George Carlin won in 2008, and was the only person to be awarded posthumously.

10 Condition that may be treated with cognitive behavioral therapy, for short : OCD

Apparently, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as prevalent as asthma.

11 Private rejection? : SIR, NO SIR

The lowest military rank of soldier is often a private (pvt.). The term “private” comes from the Middle Ages when “private soldiers” were hired or conscripted by noblemen to form a “private army”. The more generic usage of “private” started in the 1700s.

15 1995 crime thriller named for a line in “Casablanca,” with “The” : … USUAL SUSPECTS

“The Usual Suspects” is somewhat of a cult film now, released in 1995. The cast is amazing, including Gabriel Byrne, Benicio Del Toro, Kevin Pollak and Kevin Spacey. The title comes from one of the most memorable lines in movie history, from the film “Casablanca”. In that 1942 movie, Captain Renault (played by Claude Rains) pronounces, “Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.”

28 Leaves in the lurch : JILTS

To jilt someone with whom you have a relationship is to drop them suddenly or callously. “Jilt” is an obsolete noun that used to mean “harlot, loose woman”.

To leave someone in the lurch is to abandon them in a difficult position. The phrase comes from an old French game called “lourche” or “lurch”, which was similar to backgammon. A player left “in the lurch” was in a hopeless position from which he or she could only lose the game.

31 Zeus, Odin or the Dagda : PAGAN GOD

A pagan is someone who holds religious beliefs that are different from the main religions of the world, and especially someone who believes in polytheism. In classical Latin, “paganus” means “villager, rustic”.

32 Nocturnal flier with a distinctive screech : BARN OWL

The barn owl is the most common species of owl. It is found everywhere in the world, except in desert and polar regions.

37 Holiday character with a “button nose” : FROSTY

“Frosty the Snowman” is a song that was first recorded by Gene Autry, in 1950. The song was specifically written in the hope that it would become a follow-up hit to Autry’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” that topped the charts the previous year.

40 Anchor, e.g. : RACER

That would be the anchor leg in a race.

42 CNN anchor Bash : DANA

Journalist Dana Bash became co-host of CNN’s Sunday morning show “State of the Union” in 2021, alongside Jake Tapper. She was born Dana Schwartz, and was married to Jeremy Bash, a senior adviser in the Obama administration. She was also married to fellow CNN broadcast journalist John King.