Tag: Marching band crossword clue

Bill’s time: 20m 53s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A Some radio messages, in brief : APBS

An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

16A So-called “Island of a Thousand Temples” : BALI

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is known as the “Island of the Gods” due to its rich and unique culture, which is steeped in religious and spiritual beliefs.

17A Festival at the center of the classic novel “Under the Volcano” : DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

The “Día de Muertos” (also “Dia de los Muertos”, both meaning “Day of the Dead”) is a holiday that originated in Mexico, and is now celebrated around the world. It is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, and involves family and friends gathering to remember those who have died. Despite the somber nature, the Day of the Dead usually has a joyful tone, as family remembers the happier events and anecdotes associated with the departed.

20A 21-time Emmy nominee for “All My Children” : SUSAN LUCCI

Susan Lucci is perhaps the most famous actor associated with daytime soap operas, and was the highest paid actor in daytime television. She was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series an incredible 21 times for her portrayal of Erica Kane, the vixen in “All My Children”.

23A Unit on the autobahn, say: Abbr. : KPH

Kilometers per hour (kph)

The federal highway system in Germany is known as the Autobahn (plural “Autobahnen” in German). Famously, there are no federally mandated speed limits on the autobahn, although many, many stretches of the highway do indeed have posted and enforced limits. Where there is no speed limit posted, there is an advisory speed limit of 130 km/hr (81 mph). It is not illegal to travel over this speed limit, but legal liability may increase at higher speeds if that speed contributes to an accident.

24A Hwy. overseer, for short : DOT

President Woodrow Wilson was the first to propose a Department of Transportation (DOT), in 1921. However, transportation was not elevated to cabinet-level until 1966, while Lyndon B. Johnson was president.

30A Wirelessly driven toy, for short : RC CAR

Radio-controlled (RC)

37A Some prominent Mexico City murals : RIVERAS

Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter and muralist who is best known for his large-scale murals that depict social and political issues of his time. He was married four times, including to the artist Frida Kahlo, who was his third wife. Rivera was an outspoken communist and a strong supporter of the Soviet Union. This led to some controversy in his home country of Mexico, as well as in the US, where his political beliefs were viewed with suspicion during the Cold War. In 1933, Rivera was commissioned to paint a mural in the Rockefeller Center in New York City, but it was later destroyed due to its controversial political themes.

38A Rabelais character who, as a baby, was fed by 17,913 cows, “for it was impossible to find a nurse sufficient for him in all the country” : GARGANTUA

Our term “gargantuan” meaning “enormous” comes from a series of five novels titled “The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel” written in the 1500s by François Rabelais. Gargantua and Pantagruel are two giants in the tale, a father and a son.

41A Basilica setting for Bernini’s Throne of Saint Peter : APSE

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian sculptor and architect, one generally regarded as the successor to Michelangelo. Bernini’s most famous work perhaps is the design for the Piazza San Pietro (Saint Peter’s Square) that is located in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

43A C-section sections : ORS

The story that Julius Caesar was born via caesarean section (C-section) seems to be unfounded. Although such procedures were indeed carried out in ancient Rome, there are no reports of the mother surviving (and Julius Caesar’s mother did raise her child). The term “cesarean” comes not from (Julius) Caesar, but rather directly from the Latin “caedere” meaning “to cut”.

44A Menopause treatment option, in brief : HRT

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)

46A Full of hot gossip : DISHY

To dish the dirt is to talk about someone or something without regard to veracity. The phrase comes from “dish” (in the sense of dishing out food) and “dirt” (in the sense of negative information). To be dishy is to be given to gossip.

54A Erin’s onetime love interest on “The Office” : GABE

Actress Ellie Kemper’s big break came with the role of Erin Hannon, a receptionist on the sitcom “The Office”. More recently, Kemper played the title role in the Netflix comedy series “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”.

55A Attire for a ceremony at Westminster Abbey : CORONATION ROBES

The actual name for the Gothic church we know as Westminster Abbey is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. The Abbey is a favored location for coronations and royal weddings and burials.

60A Upset tummy, medically speaking : DYSPEPSIA

The prefix “dys-” comes from the Greek for “bad”. Examples of the use of the prefix would be: dyslexia (bad + word), dyspepsia (bad + digested).

Down

3D Source of some classic rock bands : AGATE

The rock-like, semi-precious stone called “agate” takes its name from the Achates River in Sicily. Greek naturalist Theophrastus first discovered the banded stones along the edge of the river (now called the Dirillo) around 300 BCE.

6D Cheese named after a Prussian town near the Baltic coast : TILSIT

Tilsit cheese was created in the mid-1800s by Prussian-Swiss settlers around the town of Tilsit in former East Prussia. Tilsit is now the city of Sovetsk in Russia.

7D Result of bad service, maybe : AD OUT

In tennis, if the score reaches deuce (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the advantage. If the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. The player calling out the score announces “ad in”, or more formally “advantage in”, if he/she has the advantage. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all of that …?

9D Ancient text whose Sanskrit title means “Principles of Love” : KAMA SUTRA

The “Kama Sutra” is renowned for its descriptions of positions that can be used for sexual intercourse, but the sutra includes many other texts that deal with various matters of a sexual nature, including how to woo a woman, the conduct of a “chief wife”, the conduct of “other wives”, how to make money as a courtesan, and much more.

10D Opposite of verbosity : ABRUPTNESS

Someone described as “verbose” is said to use too many words. The term comes from the Latin “verbum” meaning “word”.

15D Amar’e Stoudemire, for his first eight seasons in the N.B.A. : SUN

Amar’e Stoudemire is a former NBA basketball player who played with the Phoenix Suns, the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks. After retiring from the NBA, Stoudemire signed up to play for Israel’s Hapoel Jerusalem, a team that he co-owns. He is very active off the court, and has his own clothing line, his own record label and has even written a book for children.

18D Bugling game : ELK

Male elks are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elks are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elks are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.

22D Durin’s burial place in “The Lord of the Rings” : MORIA

Moria is a Middle-earth location in Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” series of fantasy novels. It is home to the Dwarf clan called the Longbeards.

28D Divinely appointed successor of Muhammad, in Shia Islam : IMAM

The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidant Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family, and favored the Prophet’s son-in-law Ali.

29D The Big Board of Wall St. : NYSE

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is nicknamed the “Big Board”.

30D Capital on the mouth of the Daugava River : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture. In fact, Riga has the largest collection of Art Nouveau buildings in the world, with over 750 buildings in the city center designed in the style.

31D Losing roll : CRAP

To crap out is to make a losing roll on the first throw in a game of craps. A losing roll (aka “a crap”) is a roll of 2, 3 or 12. The slang usage of “to crap out” describes the failing to carry out an obligation.

34D Egg maker : OVARY

The ovaries are the female reproductive organs. Most female vertebrates have two ovaries. However, only the left ovary develops in female birds, with the right remaining vestigial.

45D Pearl Jam’s debut album, which went 13x platinum : TEN

Pearl Jam is an alternative rock band from Seattle, Washington.

48D Los ____ (Mexican tourist destination) : CABOS

Los Cabos is a municipality located right at the very southern tip of Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula that has a very vibrant tourist industry. The name “Los Cabos” translates from Spanish as “The Capes”.

49D Manuscript marks : OBELI

A dagger (also “obelisk”, plural “obeli”) is a typographical symbol. The dagger is usually used to indicate a footnote, if an asterisk has already been used for the same purpose. A further footnote might be marked with a double dagger, a variant with two handles. The double dagger is called a diesis (plural “dieses”).

50D Unit equal to one weber per square meter : TESLA

The tesla unit measures the strength of a magnetic field, or more precisely the magnetic flux density. It is named for the physicist Nikola Tesla. He was born in a village in modern-day Croatia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and later moved to the US. His work on mechanical and electrical engineering was crucial to the development of alternating current technology, the same technology that is used by equipment at the backbone of modern power generation and distribution systems.

51D Fictional maker of Rocket-Powered Roller Skates and Dehydrated Boulders : ACME

The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it appears mostly in “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote is always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always leads to his downfall.

52D Participate in drudgery : MOIL

To moil is to toil or to slave away. The verb “to moil” originally applied to laboring in the mire, the swamp. The term comes from the Old French “moillier” meaning “to wet”, as in getting wet in the mire.

54D Snack in a sack in a backpack : GORP

“Gorp” is a name sometimes used for trail mix, particularly by hikers. It’s not really known for sure how this name came about, but some say it stands for “good old raisins and peanuts” or perhaps “gobs of raw protein”.