Tag: Like some hipster T-shirts crossword clue

Bill’s time: 23m 21s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

15 Animal in the Bacardi logo : BAT

The Bacardi company is still family-owned and operated, and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. The company was founded in Santiago de Cuba and became successful by selling a refined form of rum, something new to a market that was used to a crude, dark rum. The Bacardi family opposed the Castro regime as it came to power, so the company had to relocate to Bermuda.

18 Wayfair alternative : IKEA

Wayfair is an online furniture store that was founded in 2002 as CSN Stores (from the initials of co-founders Niraj Shah and Steve Conine).

19 Egg-laying mammal : ECHIDNA

The echidna is also called the spiny anteater. Just like the platypus, the echidna is a mammal that lays eggs.

22 Admit one was wrong : EAT HUMBLE PIE (hiding a FAT “THUMB”)

The phrase “humble pie” derives from a medieval meat dish called “umble pie”. The filling in umble pie usually contained the offal (heart, liver, lungs and kidneys) of deer. The name “umble” came from the French “nomble” meaning “deer’s innards”.

26 Chemical compound in plastics and rubber : STYRENE

Styrene is a sweet-smelling, colorless liquid that is used to make the plastic called polystyrene, and the synthetic rubber called styrene-butadiene (SBR).

29 Title in a Puccini title : MADAMA

Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly” is the most-performed opera in the US. The opera that we see today is actually the second version that Puccini produced. The original version was first staged in 1904 at La Scala in Milan where it received a very poor reception. Puccini reworked the piece, breaking the second act into two new acts and making some other significant changes. The opera was relaunched a few months later and it was a resounding success.

35 Research trials using withheld information : BLIND EXPERIMENTS (hiding a FAT “INDEX”)

In the scientific procedure called a single-blind trial, the subjects do not know whether or not they are in the test group or the control group, but the researcher does. In a double-blind trial, neither the subjects nor the researcher know who is in the test and control groups, until the study is completed.

40 Genesis brother : ABEL

According to the Bible, Adam and Eve had several children, although only the first three are mentioned by name: Cain, Abel and Seth.

42 “Calvin and Hobbes” girl : SUSIE

In the “Calvin and Hobbes” cartoon strip, Calvin has a love/hate relationship with his classmate Susie Derkins. Susie is a strong female character. She often plays imaginary games in which she is a lawyer or politician, and Calvin is her househusband. The strip’s creator Bill Watterson has confessed that Susie’s character represents the type of woman that he himself found attractive, and indeed married.

45 Presentation prop : EASEL

The term “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey”, would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

48 Royal whose wedding had a whopping 1,900 guests : KATE MIDDLETON (hiding a FAT “MIDDLE”)

Kate Middleton is the wife of Prince William of the UK. Middleton is what one might call a commoner, although since her marriage she is known as the Duchess of Cambridge. She was born to parents who had worked together as flight attendants before becoming quite wealthy running their own mail-order business. As is so often the case in Britain, Kate’s ancestry can be traced back far enough to show that she and William do have common ancestors, dating back to the 1500s on her mother’s side and to the 1400s on her father’s side.

57 City that’s home to the Green Dome : MEDINA

Medina is a city in western Saudi Arabia. It is the second holiest city in the Islamic tradition after Mecca, as it is the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad.

61 Spartan queen of myth : LEDA

In Greek mythology, Leda was the beautiful Queen of Sparta who was seduced by Zeus when he took the form of a swan. Leda produced two eggs from the union. One egg hatched into Clytemnestra and the beautiful Helen of Troy, over whom was fought the Trojan War. The other egg hatched into the twins Castor and Pollux. Castor and Pollux had different fathers according to the myth. Pollux was the son of Zeus and was immortal, while Castor was the son of Leda’s earthly husband, and so he was a mortal. In the world of the arts, William Butler Yeats wrote a famous sonnet called “Leda and the Swan” in 1924, and Peter Paul Rubens made a copy of a now-lost painting called “Leda and the Swan” by Michelangelo.

62 Delivery room figures, for short : OBS

In Latin, the word for midwife is “obstetrix”. “Obstetrix” translates more literally as “one who stands opposite” i.e. the one opposite the woman giving birth. The Latin term gives rise to our modern word “obstetrics” used for the branch of medical science concerned with childbirth.

65 Month between avril and juin : MAI

In French, the month of “mai” (May) comes after “avril” (April) and before “juin” (June).

74 Like some hipster T-shirts : IRONIC

The term “hip” is a slang term that was used in the 1930s and 1940s to mean “cool, informed about the latest ideas and styles”. By the end of the 1940s, “hipsters” were “hip” people, jazz aficionados, and people who adopted the perceived lifestyle of jazz musicians of the day. In the 1960s, the term “hippie” developed from “hipster”, to describe a member of the youth counterculture that emerged in the US.

80 Gossip spreader : YENTA

“Yenta” (also “Yente”) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater “yenta” came to mean a busybody, a gossip.

81 Your wish is his command : GENIE

The “genie” in the bottle (or lamp) takes his or her name from “djinn”. “Djinns” were various spirits considered lesser than angels, with people exhibiting unsavory characteristics said to be possessed by djinn. When the book “The Thousand and One Nights” was translated into French, the word “djinn” was transformed into the existing word “génie”, because of the similarity in sound and the related spiritual meaning. This “génie” from the Arabian tale became confused with the Latin-derived “genius”, a guardian spirit thought to be assigned to each person at birth. Purely as a result of that mistranslation the word genie has come to mean the “djinn” that pops out of the bottle. A little hard to follow, I know, but still quite interesting …

85 Run out of clothes? : STREAK

People have been running around naked for an awfully long time, but the application of the word “streaking” to the phenomenon only dates back to 1973. A journalist was reporting on a mass nude run of 533 people at the University of Maryland in 1973, and used the words “they are streaking (i.e. moving quickly) past me right now. It’s an incredible sight!”. The Associated Press picked up the story the next day, and interpreted “streaking” as the term to describe “running naked”, and we’ve been using it that way ever since.

88 Humorist Bombeck : ERMA

Erma Bombeck wrote for newspapers for about 35 years. She produced more than 4,000 witty and humorous columns under the title “At Wit’s End”, with all describing her home life in suburbia.

92 Lab mice of 1990s cartoons : PINKY AND THE BRAIN (hiding a FAT “PINKY”)

The use of “pinkie” or “pinky” for the little finger or toe comes into English from “pinkje”, the Dutch word for the same digit. Who knew …?

102 Four- or six-pointer, say : STAG

The antlers on a deer come to points. The higher the number of points, the more prized the head of the deer as a trophy, so I am told …

106 O.E.D. ender : ZED

Oxford English Dictionary (OED)

107 Excuse for texting errors, jocularly … or a hint to this puzzle’s theme : FAT-FINGER SYNDROME

“Fat-finger syndrome” causes one to hit two keys on a keyboard when the intention is to hit only one, and that can cause a typo.

113 Its egg resembles an avocado : EMU

Emu eggs are very large, with a thick shell that is dark-green in color. One emu egg weighs about the same as a dozen chicken eggs. It is the male emu that incubates the eggs. The incubation period lasts about 8 weeks, during which time the male neither eats nor drinks, just lapping up any morning dew that is nearby. While incubating a clutch of eggs, male emus lose about a third of their weight.

117 Shill for, informally : REP

A shill is someone planted, perhaps in an audience, with the job of feigning enthusiasm.

119 Ingredient in a Bloody Caesar cocktail : CLAMATO

Clamato is a drink made by Mott’s that is a blend of tomato juice and clam broth flavored with spices.The drink is intended to be reminiscent of Manhattan-style clam chowder.

The cocktail known as a Caesar is reminiscent of a Bloody Mary, and so is often referred to as a Bloody Caesar. It’s basically a Bloody Mary with the addition of clam juice. The clam juice comes as part of Clamato, a proprietary blend of tomato juice and clam broth. The Caesar was invented in 1969 by restaurateur Walter Chell in Calgary Alberta. Although very popular in Canada, the drink isn’t seen very often in the US.

Down

1 Makeshift limbo bar at a wedding : TIE

The limbo dance originated on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. The name “limbo” is an alteration of our word “limber”, which isn’t surprising given what one has to do to get under that bar!

4 Marsh plant whose flower resembles a corn dog : CATTAIL

Cattails are flowering plants found in wetlands. We call them bulrushes back in Ireland …

5 World capital at the foot of the Elburz Mountains : TEHRAN

Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around a really long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital.

8 “The longest distance between two places,” per “The Glass Menagerie” : TIME

The Tennessee Williams play “The Glass Menagerie” is somewhat autobiographical. The main characters are Amanda Wingfield, a woman abandoned by her husband raising her two children. The children are Laura and Tom, with the latter character based on Williams himself. Laura is Tom’s mentally fragile elder sister. It is Laura who has a collection of animal figurines, “The Glass Menagerie”.

9 The N.H.L.’s Oilers, on scoreboards : EDM

Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. The city was founded as Fort Edmonton in 1795, with the name taken from the area in London called Edmonton. Edmonton, London was the home of pioneer John Peter Pruden who suggested the name. London’s Edmonton was also home for deputy governor Sir James Winter Lake of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

10 Bach’s “Mass ___ Minor” : IN B

Perhaps the most famous mass in the classical repertoire is J. S. Bach’s “Mass in B minor”, which was completed just before he died. It was one of the last of Bach’s compositions, although much of the music was composed earlier in his life.

11 Guitar sheet music, for short : TAB

Tablature (also “tab”) is a kind of musical notation that indicates instrument fingering, rather than musical notes.

12 Gentle breeze : ZEPHYR

A zephyr is a gentle breeze, traditionally a light wind from the west. The term comes from the Greek god of the west wind, who was called Zephyrus.

13 Vinegar, e.g. : ACID

Our word “vinegar” comes from the French “vinaigre”, which means the same thing. “Vinaigre” comes from the French “vin” meaning “wine” and “aigre” meaning “sour”.

14 Aptly named mascot of the Baltimore Ravens : POE

The name of the Baltimore Ravens football team has a literary derivation. Baltimore was the home of the writer Edgar Allan Poe, and so the team took its moniker from his most famous poem, “The Raven”. The name was selected in a fan contest. Baltimore’s mascot is a raven named Poe. Prior to the 2008 season, the Raven’s had a trio of avian mascots: Edgar, Allan and Poe.

20 Italian for “tooth” : DENTE

The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender and yet still crisp.

29 Bush Jr. is the only U.S. president to hold one : MBA

There are only two US Presidents who have two degrees from Ivy League schools. The first is President George W. Bush. President Bush holds a BA from Yale and an MBA from Harvard. The second is President Barack Obama. President Obama holds a BA in political science from Columbia and a JD from Harvard Law School.

30 Minister’s robe : ALB

An alb is a white, neck-to-toe vestment worn by priests, usually with a rope cord around the waist. The term alb comes from “albus”, the Latin word for “white”.

32 Lead-in to Clean : OXI-

OxiClean is a bleaching agent and cleaner that was famously marketed using infomercials that featured the late Billy Mays.

33 Rose of Guns N’ Roses : AXL

Guns N’ Roses (GNR) is a hard rock band founded in 1985 that is still going strong. The group was pulled together by Axl Rose, the lead vocalist. The lead-guitar player back then was Tracii Guns, and it was the combination of Axl and Tracii’s “family” names that led to the band being called Guns N’ Roses.

37 Member of the South Asian diaspora : DESI

“Diaspora” is a Greek word meaning “a scattering of seeds”. I guess I’m one of the Irish seeds …

43 “The tongue of the mind,” per Cervantes : PEN

The full name of the author of “Don Quixote” was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. As a young man in 1570, Cervantes was a soldier fighting for the Spanish Navy, stationed in Naples, at that time a possession of Spain. He was injured in battle, receiving three gunshot wounds including two to the chest. His injuries left him without the use of his left arm. After recuperating, he returned to active service, and in 1575 he was captured by Algerian corsairs, and spent the next five years in slavery in North Africa. His parents found him and bought his freedom, and brought him home to his native Madrid.

45 Duke’s address ender : EDU

Duke University was founded in 1838 as Brown’s Schoolhouse. The school was renamed to Trinity College in 1859, and to this day the town where the college was located back then is known as Trinity, in honor of the school. The school was moved in 1892 to Durham, North Carolina in part due to generous donations from the wealthy tobacco industrialist Washington Duke. Duke’s donation required that the school open its doors to women, placing them on an equal footing with men. Trinity’s name was changed to Duke in 1924 in recognition of the generosity of the Duke family. Duke’s athletic teams are known as the Blue Devils.

50 Ice on one’s head? : TIARA

“Ice” and “rocks” are slang terms meaning “diamonds”.

54 Big name in chicken : TYSON

Tyson Foods is the largest producer of meat in the world. Even though we tend to associate Tyson with chicken here in North America, the company is also the largest exporter of beef out of the US.

55 Offer one’s two cents : OPINE

To put in one’s two cents is to add one’s opinion. The American expression derives from the older English version, which is “to put in one’s two pennies’ worth”.

57 Org. that Lionel Messi joined in 2023 : MLS

Major League Soccer (MLS)

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.

60 [I know it’s wrong] : [SIC]

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

67 Assistant who handles more than 25 billion requests per month : SIRI

Siri is a software application that works with Apple’s iOS operating system. “Siri” is an acronym standing for Speech Interpretation and Recognition Interface. Voice-over artist Susan Bennett revealed herself as the female American voice of Siri a few years ago. The British version of Siri is called Daniel, and the Australian version is called Karen. Also, “Siri” is a Norwegian name meaning “beautiful woman who leads you to victory”, and was the name the developer had chosen for his first child.

72 Hermana de la madre : TIA

In Spanish, a “tia” (aunt) is the “hermana del padre o de la madre” (sister of the father or the mother).

73 Urged (on) : EGGED

The verb “to edge” has been used to mean to incite, to urge on, from the 16th century. Somewhere along the way “edge” was mistakenly replaced with “egg”, giving us our term “to egg on” meaning “to goad”.

78 When placed under high pressure and heat, it forms coal : PEAT

Coal forms from peat that is subject to heat and pressure deep in the ground over millions of years. The peat is dead plant matter from former wetlands that we now refer to as “coal forests”.

79 So-called “key of life” : ANKH

The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character for “eternal life”. The ankh wasn’t just used in inscriptions but was often fashioned into amulets and as surrounds for mirrors (perhaps symbolizing a view into another world). The ankh is also known as “the key of the Nile” and “crux ansata” (Latin for “cross with a handle”).

85 Qantas hub, on luggage tags : SYD

Australia’s Sydney Airport (SYD) is located just five miles south of the city center, and next to Botany Bay. There have been plans dating back to the 1940s to build a second airport on the outskirts of the city.

Qantas is the national airline of Australia. The company name was originally an acronym standing for “Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services”. QANTAS has featured a koala in advertising campaigns for many years, although the company’s logo is a kangaroo and the company’s nickname is “Flying Kangaroo”.

86 ___ kwon do : TAE

Tae kwon do is the national sport of Korea. “Tae” means “to strike or break with foot”; “kwon” means “to strike or break with fist”; “do” means “way” or “art”. Along with judo, tae kwon do is one of only two martial arts included in the Olympic Games.

87 Triage pros, in brief : RNS

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on the battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “sorting”.

88 Its capital is Asmara : ERITREA

Eritrea is a country located in the Horn of Africa, and surrounded by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. Some scientists believe that the area now known as Eritrea was the departure point for anatomically modern humans who first left Africa to populate the rest of the world.

Asmara is the capital and largest city in Eritrea. The same city is known locally as “Asmera”.

92 Big name in vaccines : PFIZER

Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company based in New York City that was founded in 1849 by cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. Pfizer has an impressive list of successful products that includes Lipitor (to lower cholesterol), Viagra (to help with erectile dysfunction) and Celebrex (an anti-inflammatory). Oh, and a very effective COVID-19 vaccine …

94 Robert who owns the New England Patriots : KRAFT

The New England Patriots football team was founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots. The “Patriots” name was selected from suggestions made by football fans in Boston. The team played at several different stadiums in the Boston area for just over ten years, before moving to their current home base in Foxborough, Massachusetts. At the time of the move, the “Boston” name was dropped and changed to “New England”.

95 Toon first seen on “The Huckleberry Hound Show” : YOGI

Yogi Bear made his debut for Hanna-Barbera in 1958, on “The Huckleberry Hound Show” before he was given his own series. Do you remember that collar that Yogi wore around his neck? That was a little trick from the animators. By using the collar, for many frames all they had to do was redraw everything from the collar up, saving them lots and lots of time. Yogi and Boo Boo lived in Jellystone Park, and made Ranger Smith’s life a misery.

I so remember “The Huckleberry Hound Show” from the late fifties and early sixties. As a young tot I had curtains on my window that featured characters from the show. Three regulars were Pixie and Dixie and Mr. Jinks. Pixie and Dixie were two mice, and Mr. Jinks was a cat. Mr. Jinks has a famous line “I hate those meeces to pieces!” Great stuff …

105 App with “Rides” and “Bikes” tabs : LYFT

Lyft was founded in 2012 as a ride-sharing service in San Francisco, California. The company’s original name was “Zimride” and it was focused on long-distance ride-sharing. One of Lyft’s early marketing campaigns involved drivers attaching furry, pink mustaches on the front of their vehicles. The company walked back that idea in 2015 as some riders objected to arriving at formal events in a car with a giant mustache on display.

107 Rapper ___ Rida : FLO

Tramar Dillard is better known as rapper Flo Rida. As you might have guessed, Flo Rida was born in the state of Florida.

108 Peacock’s parent : NBC

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) has had a number of different logos in its history, including the famous peacock with which we are familiar today. The first peacock logo was introduced in the early days of color television and was designed to illustrate how wonderful color television would be, so go buy one! (NBC was owned by RCA, and so had a vested interest in sales of color television sets).