Tag: Low-pitched jazz instruments for short crossword clue

Bill’s time: 22m 14s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Common sight near the entrance of a mall : MAP

Surprisingly (to me!), our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to be a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

10A Gives some heat, say : ARMS

“Packing” and “packing heat” are underworld slang for “carrying a gun”.

22A Bull in a Chihuahua shop : TORO

The city of Chihuahua is the capital of the Mexican state of the same name. The city was founded in 1709 by Spanish explorers as a village called El Real de Minas de San Francisco de Cuéllar. However, the current name “Chihuahua” predates the Spanish conquest of Mexico, although the name wasn’t adopted until 1823.

35A Director Rob : REINER

The great director and actor Rob Reiner first came to prominence playing “Meathead”, Archie and Edith Bunker’s son-in-law in “All in the Family”. Since then, Reiner has directed a long string of hit movies including, “The Princess Bride”, “Stand by Me”, “This Is Spinal Tap”, “When Harry Met Sally …”, “Misery” and “A Few Good Men”.

36A Lampshade-shaped candy piece : ROLO

Rolo was a hugely popular chocolate candy in Ireland when I was growing up. It was introduced in the thirties in the UK, and is produced under license in the US by Hershey. I was a little disappointed when I had my first taste of the American version as the center is very hard and chewy. The recipe used on the other side of the Atlantic calls for a soft gooey center.

41A Licorice-flavored vegetables [32 oz.] : FENNEL BULBS (2 LB.)

Fennel is a hardy perennial plant species in the celery family that is used as a herb. It also goes by the name “sweet anise”. Personally, I can’t stand the stuff …

57A Rumspringas in Amish communities, e.g. : RITES

“Rumspringa”, from Pennsylvania German meaning “running around,” is a period during adolescence for some Amish youth, typically starting around age 16. It’s a time when they experience greater freedom and may explore aspects of the non-Amish world before deciding whether to be baptized into the Amish church or leave the community.

58A Greeting on Talk Like a Pirate Day : AHOY!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day is September 19th every year, a “holiday” that was created in 1995. The event started out as an inside joke between John Baur and Mark Summers of Albany, Oregon, but when they shared the notion with columnist Dave Barry, he promoted the idea and it took off.

59A Word with straw or exit : POLL

A straw poll is an unofficial vote used to gauge popular opinion. The term “straw poll” may allude to holding up a thin stalk of a plant to determine wind direction, to see where the wind blows.

60A Writer Silverstein : SHEL

Author Shel Silverstein had a varied career and did a lot more than write books. He was a poet, composer, cartoonist and screenwriter among other things. One of his successful children’s books is “A Light in the Attic”, a collection of poems that was first published in 1981. Some parents have tried to get the book banned from libraries. The collection includes the poem “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes”, which encourages disobedience and making a mess. Scandalous …

62A Like a certain cartoon coyote, you might say : WILY

Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are two much-loved cartoon characters from Warner Bros. Wile E. Coyote was created first, and Road Runner was invented as someone for Wile E. to play off. I love this cartoon; it’s definitely one of the best …

73A Biohazard regulator, in brief : OSHA

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

74A Platoon or battalion : UNIT

In military terms, a platoon is a subdivision of a company-sized unit, and is usually divided into squads or sections. The term “platoon” arose in the 1630s from the French “peloton”. “Peloton” translates literally as “little ball”, and is used to this day to mean “agglomeration”. “Peloton” gives rise to our word “pellet”. Also, we use the Modern French “peloton” in English now to refer to the main body (agglomeration) of riders in a bicycle race.

Typically, a battalion is a military unit comprising about a thousand soldiers, subdivided into several companies.

75A “The Facts of Life” girl : BLAIR

The sitcom “The Facts of Life” originally aired from 1979 until 1988. It was a spin-off of the equally successful show “Diff’rent Strokes”. Charlotte Rae was the main actress common to both shows. Rae played Edna Garrett, who was a housekeeper on “Diff’rent Strokes” and a dormitory housemother on “The Facts of Life”.

83A Scientist who spent his last years under house arrest [8 qt.] : GALILEO GALILEI (2 GAL.)

The great Italian polymath Galileo Galilei made many discoveries in the world of astronomy. For example, he was the first to identify Jupiter’s four largest moons. Notably, Galileo used his telescope to confirm the heliocentric model, in which the planets revolve around the Sun. For his denial of geocentrism, Galileo spent his final days under house arrest, having been deemed “suspect of heresy” by the Roman Inquisition in 1615.

88A Tech giant based in Santa Clara, Calif. : INTEL

Intel used to be the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips, but has faced challenges in recent years, apparently “missing” the AI boom. The company was founded in 1968, and the name “Intel” is derived from the term “int(egrated) el(ectronics)”. Recognition of the Intel brand has been greatly helped by the success of the “Intel Inside” campaign that started back in 1991.

101A Buddhist riddles : ZEN KOANS

The concept of koan appears in the Zen Buddhist tradition. A koan is a story, question or perhaps a statement that is used as an aid to meditation. It often takes the form of a problem or riddle that has no logical solution and is intended to help the meditator break free of reason and develop intuition.

111A Lamborghinis, to some : DREAM CARS

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 …

117A Rock’s Nirvana, for one : TRIO

Nirvana was a rock band formed in Washington in 1987 by Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic. The band effectively disbanded in 1994 after Cobain committed suicide.

118A When mating typically occurs : END GAME

In the game of chess, when the king is under immediate threat of capture it is said to be “in check”. If the king cannot escape from check, then the game ends in “checkmate” and the player in check loses. In the original Sanskrit game of chess, the king could actually be captured. Then a rule was introduced requiring that a warning be given if capture was imminent (today we announce “check!”) so that an accidental and early ending to the game doesn’t occur.

119A Org. that collaborates with MADD : PTA

Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)

Candace Lightner lost her 13-year-old child to a drunk-driver in 1980. Soon after, Lightner formed the group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD).

120A Quirky sort : DORK

I consider “dork” and “adorkable” to be pretty offensive slang. “Dork” originated in the sixties among American students, and has its roots in another slang term, a term for male genitalia.

121A John, across the pond : SEAN

The name “John” translates into Scottish as “Ian” or “Iain”, into Russian as “Ivan”, into Italian as “Giovanni”, into Spanish as “Juan”, into Welsh as “Evan”, and into Irish as “Seán”.

Down

1D Green or black African menace : MAMBA

Mambas, most famously black mambas, are highly venomous snakes that used to be responsible for a great number of fatalities before anti-venoms became available. Mamba venom is a deadly mix of neurotoxins that attack the nervous system and cardiotoxins that attack the heart. A bite, if left untreated, causes the lungs and the heart to shut down.

2D Spider-Man, for one : ALIAS

Spider-Man is a creation of Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, and first appeared in comics in 1962. He was a somewhat groundbreaking character in that his alter ego was a teenage high school student (Peter Parker), which marked the first time that a young person featured front and center as the superhero.

3D Freak out : PANIC

In Greek mythology, Pan was a lecherous god who was part-man and part-goat, and one who fell in love with Echo the mountain nymph. Echo refused Pan’s advances so that he became very angry. Pan’s anger created a “panic” (a word derived from the name “Pan”) and a group of shepherds were driven to kill Echo.

4D Good name for an apiarist? : BEA

An apiary is an area where bees are kept, apiculture is beekeeping, and an apiphobe has a fear of bees. The Latin word for “bee” is “apis”.

5D Rocker ___ Rose : AXL

Axl Rose is the lead vocalist of the American rock band Guns N’ Roses.

6D UPS competitor : DHL

Back in the sixties, Larry Hillblom was making pocket money as a Berkeley law student by doing courier runs between San Francisco and Los Angeles. After law school, Hillblom decided to parlay his experience into his own business and set up a courier service flying bills of lading ahead of freight from San Francisco to Honolulu. He brought in two buddies, Adrian Dalsey and Robert Lynn, as partners and the three were soon hopping on and off commercial flights and gradually making more and more money. And DHL was born … D (for Dalsey) H (for Hillblom) L (for Lynn). DHL was acquired by Germany’s Deutsche Post in 2002.

7D Sends to Hades : DAMNS

Hades was the god of the underworld to the ancient Greeks. Over time, Hades gave his name to the underworld itself, the place where the dead reside. The term “Hades” was also adopted into the Christian tradition, as an alternative name for hell. But, the concept of hell in Christianity is more akin to the Greek “Tartarus”, which is a dark and gloomy dungeon located in Hades, a place of suffering and torment.

11D Chews (out) : REAMS

I must admit that I find the slang term “to ream out”, with its meaning “to scold harshly”, to be quite distasteful. The usage of the word as a reprimand dates back to about 1950.

12D Classic car that shared its name with a planet, informally : MERC

The Mercury brand of car was made by Ford from 1938 until 2011. Mercury was introduced by Henry Ford’s son Edsel Ford. Mercury vehicles were positioned as being more luxurious that the regular Ford models, and more economical than Ford’s high-end Lincoln models.

13D Postdebate areas : SPIN ROOMS

A spin room is an area where reporters can meet with candidates and their representatives after an election debate. Set up by the campaigns, a spin room is designed to influence the reporting of the debate in favor of a particular candidate. The first spin room was set up by the Reagan campaign in 1984, when President Ronald Reagan was being challenged for a second term by Walter Mondale.

14D Some old game consoles : ATARIS

Kids today probably don’t realize that we had a video game console back in the seventies, and it wasn’t a Nintendo nor was it a PlayStation. The Atari 2600 game system introduced the idea of separating out computing hardware (the console) from the game code (a cartridge). The same concept persists to this day, although cartridges have been displaced by discs and downloads.

15D ___ Gay, author of “Bad Feminist” : ROXANE

Roxane Gay is an author and contributing opinion writer for “The New York Times”. The list of her best-selling works includes the 2014 novel “An Untamed State”, the 2017 collection of short stories “Difficult Women”, and the 2017 memoir “Hunger”.

16D Fairy tale sibling : GRETEL

“Hansel and Gretel” is a Germanic fairy tale found in the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It tells of two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, the children of a woodcutter. The youngsters are abandoned in a forest at the behest of an evil stepmother. Clever Hansel hears of the plan and leaves a trail of pebbles so that he and his sister can find their way home, which they do. But the children are abandoned again and this time leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the crumbs are eaten by birds and so the children do indeed become lost. But eventually they do all live happily ever after …

17D Doofuses, north of the border : HOSERS

The derogatory word “hoser”, meaning “foolish or uncultivated person”, is apparently attributed to Canadians. That said, I just read that the term is in fact rarely used north of the border.

“Doofus” (also “dufus”) is student slang that has been around since the sixties. Apparently the word is a variant of the equally unattractive term “doo-doo”.

26D CPR pressure points : STERNA

“Sternum” (plural “sterna”) is the Latin name for the breastbone. “Sternon” is a Greek word for “chest, breastbone”.

29D Cycle at night? : REM

“REM” is an acronym standing for “rapid eye movement”. REM sleep takes up 20-25% of the sleeping hours and is the period associated with one’s most vivid dreams.

31D Core-strengthening Pilates exercises : TOE TAPS

Pilates is a physical exercise system developed by, and named for, Joseph Pilates. Pilates introduced his system of exercises in 1883 in Germany.

37D ___ gin fizz : SLOE

By definition, a cocktail known as a “fizz” includes lemon or lime juice and carbonated water. The most popular of the genre is the gin fizz, made from 3 parts gin, 2 parts lemon juice, 1 part sugar syrup and 5 parts soda water. There is also a variant known as a sloe gin fizz.

38D “Charlotte’s Web” author’s inits. : EBW

E. B. (Elwyn Brooks) White was an American writer. His most famous creations were the children’s stories “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little”, but he also co-authored the writing guide “The Elements of Style” (usually referred to as “Strunk & White”).

“Charlotte’s Web” is a children’s novel by author E. B. White. Charlotte is a barn spider, who manages to save the life of a pig named Wilbur. Wilbur is a pet pig, owned by the farmer’s daughter, Fern Arable. The story also includes a gluttonous rat named Templeton who provides some light and comical moments.

41D Online shorthand meaning “Victory!” : FTW

“FTW” is an initialism abbreviating “for the win”, a phrase meaning “being great, sure to succeed”.

49D Big name in vacuum cleaners : ORECK

The Oreck Corporation is named after founder David Oreck and makes vacuum cleaners and air purifiers. The company started out selling vacuum cleaners by mail, a new concept in 1963. David Oreck himself appears regularly as a spokesman in the company’s ads and infomercials.

53D The Bronx Bombers, on scoreboards : NYY

The New York Yankees (NYY) baseball team has the nickname “the Bronx Bombers”. The nickname reflects where the team plays (the Bronx) and the team’s reputation for hitting (bombers). The Yankees were the first team to retire a uniform number, doing so on July 4, 1939. That day they retired the number 4 in honor of Lou Gehrig.

55D Pittance : SOU

A sou is an old French coin. We use the term “sou” to mean “practically worthless amount”.

60D Barista’s flourish : SWIRL

A barista is a person who serves coffee in a coffee shop. “Barista” is Italian for “bartender”.

63D Mouthy bird? : MYNA

Some species of myna (also “mynah”) birds are known for their ability to imitate sounds.

65D Prefix with matter : ANTI-

In the world of particle physics, antimatter is made up of particles that have the same mass as particles of ordinary matter, but with the opposite charge and quantum spin. Mixing matter and antimatter causes the annihilation of both, with a release of energy equal to the mass of the particles according to Einstein’s equation E=mc².

66D One of many in the book of Job : TRIAL

The story of “the patience of Job” is told in the Book of Job in the Bible. Job exhibits great patience in refusing to condemn God after Satan was allowed to destroy his family and property.

67D Actor Firth : COLIN

Colin Firth is an English actor who came to prominence playing Mr Darcy in the fabulous television adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” that came out in 1995 (I cannot recommend that six-episode drama enough). More recently, Firth won the Best Actor Oscar for playing King George VI in “The King’s Speech”.

69D Hot French beverage : THE

In French, a “tasse” (cup) might contain perhaps “thé” (tea) or “café” (coffee).

76D Rafts : LOTS

A “raft” is a large amount, coming from the Middle English “raf” meaning the same thing.

78D Settings of many Patrick O’Brian novels : SEAS

Patrick O’Brian was an English novelist best known for a large series of books about an English naval captain during the Napoleonic Wars. O’Brian’s “Far Side of the World” gained some extra notoriety in 2003 with the release of the excellent Peter Weir film “Master and Commander”. The movie’s storyline was loosely based on the novel and starred Russell Crowe as O’Brian’s hero, Captain Jack Aubrey.

93D Gild the lily, with “it” : OVERDO …

To gild is to coat with gold. The phrase “to gild the lily” means to add unnecessary ornamentation, to try to improve something that is already ideal.

96D Email attachment type : PDF

Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format introduced by Adobe Systems in 1993. PDF documents can be shared between users and read using many different applications and platforms, making them more universally accessible than documents saved by one particular program.

99D Body parts examined for arrhythmia : ATRIA

The heart has four chambers. The two upper chambers (the atria) accept deoxygenated blood from the body and oxygenated blood from the lungs. The atria squeeze those blood supplies into the two lower chambers of the heart (the ventricles), “priming” the pump, as it were. One ventricle pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs, and the other pumps oxygenated blood to the rest of the body.

100D Big name in vacuum cleaners : DYSON

James Dyson is a British inventor and business magnate who is best known as the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner (what a great invention!). More recent inventions from the Dyson company include the Dyson Airblade hand dryer and the Dyson Supersonic hair dryer. James Dyson was a vocal proponent of Brexit, but garnered a lot of criticism in 2019 by moving his company headquarters from England to Singapore. He has made a lot of money, and owns the largest British-flagged superyacht in the world.

101D Company that owns Words With Friends : ZYNGA

Zynga is a game developer based in San Francisco. The company’s most famous product is CityVille, a game similar to SimCity in look and feel, but it is “stand alone” i.e. doesn’t require an installation on one’s hard drive and is played in a browser window. Cityville attracts about 14 million game-players every day!

“Words With Friends” (WWF) is a word game application that can be played on smartphones and other electronic devices. “Words With Friends” is basically Scrabble under a different name, or so I hear.

102D A, in Ashkelon : ALEPH

Aleph is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and bet is the second.

104D Old Scratch : SATAN

“Old Scratch” and “Mr. Scratch” are names used in folklore for the Devil. The terms appear in the writings of Mark Twain, Washington Irving and even Charles Dickens.

108D Big Apple’s bravest, in brief : FDNY

New York City Fire Department (FDNY)