Tag: Opportunity to compare notes perhaps crossword clue

Bill’s time: 22m 51s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A Many an extra in the “Lord of the Rings” movies : ELF

In Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings”, Elves are an immortal race that inhabit Middle-earth and Valinor.

8A Like fondue, traditionally : SWISS

Fondue is a traditional Swiss dish composed of melted cheese served in a pot over a tabletop stove, into which diners dip bread. The term “fondue”, which is French for “melted”, is now applied more widely to similar dishes served in a communal pot into which a food is dipped. Traditional fondue is delicious, so very delicious …

13A Nairobi-based collection of NGOs : OXFAM

Oxfam was founded in 1942 in Oxford, England, and was originally called the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. The original mission of Oxfam was to persuade the British government to allow food into Greece during WWII in the days the country was occupied by the Axis Powers. The name OXFAM was adopted in 1965. Prior to that date, OXFAM was quite simply the organization’s telegraph address (remember telegraphs?).

Nairobi is the capital and largest city in the African nation of Kenya. The city is named for the Nairobi River, which in turn takes its name from the Maasai “Enkare Nairobi” meaning “Cool Water”. Nairobi was founded in 1899 as a stop on the Kenya-Uganda railroad, at a time when the country was a British colony.

21A Khloe, Kim or Kourtney, familiarly : SIS

Khloé Kardashian, sister of Kim, managed to parlay her exposure on the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” into spin-offs called “Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami” and “Khloé & Lamar”.

Kim Kardashian is a socialite and television personality. She was introduced into society by her friend, Paris Hilton. Kardashian’s name first hit the headlines when a homemade sex tape, made by her and singer Ray J, was leaked.

Kourtney Kardashian is a media personality who was able to parlay her appearances on the reality show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” into spin-off shows such as “Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami” and “Kourtney and Kim Take New York.”

22A Jennifer who won a Pulitzer for “A Visit From the Goon Squad” : EGAN

Jennifer Egan is an author who grew up in San Francisco. Egan’s 2010 work “A Visit from the Goon Squad” won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Usually termed a novel, “A Visit from the Goon Squad” is structured in such a way that it is sometimes described as a collection of linked short stories.

24A Weight : HEFT

The heft of something is its weight, its heaviness. The term “heft” is derivative of the verb “to heave” meaning “to lift, raise”.

26A Orange video game character who appears in “Wreck-It Ralph” : Q*BERT

Q*bert is an arcade game that dates back to 1982. In the game, Q*bert is a character who starts at the top of a pyramid of cubes, and who is then moved around the pyramid by the player.

“Wreck-It Ralph” is a 2012 animated movie from Disney. The title character is an arcade game villain who dreams of losing his bad guy image and becoming a hero.

30A Smartphone feature that debuted worldwide in 2011 : EMOJI KEYBOARD

An emoji is a character much like an emoticon, but more elaborate. The use of emojis originated in 1997 on mobile phones in Japan, and within a few years spread around the world. “Emoji” is a Japanese word meaning “picture word”.

35A Kind of acid partly responsible for sourdough’s tang : LACTIC

The active ingredient used to make sourdough bread is found in a pre-ferment (also “starter”). This pre-ferment is a mixture of flour and water that has been allowed to ferment for some time (maybe days) to grow a colony of wild yeast and lactobacilli. The starter is added to the dough used to make the final bread, with the starter accounting for about 20% of the weight of the final mixture. During baking, the wild yeast causes the bread to rise and the lactobacilli produce lactic acid, which gives sourdough its characteristic sour taste.

48A Song whose titular subject has a “dark brown voice” : LOLA

“Lola” is a fabulous song that was written by Ray Davies and released by the Kinks back in 1970. Inspired by a real life incident, the lyrics tell of a young man who met a young “lady” in a club, danced with her, and then discovered “she” was actually a cross-dresser. Superb song …

55A Titular animated dog of children’s TV : BLUEY

“Bluey” is a TV show from Australia aimed at preschoolers. The title character is an anthropomorphic blue heeler puppy whose full name is Bluey Christine Heeler. Her younger sister is Bingo Heeler. My granddaughter just loves Bluey …

57A What might add a bit of flavor to a salsa? : BONGO

Bongo drums are Cuban percussion instruments consisting of a pair of drums, one larger than the other. The larger drum is called the “hembra” (female) and the smaller the “macho” (male).

The genre of music called salsa is a modern interpretation of various Cuban traditional music styles.

58A Company bought by Tempur-Pedic in 2012 : SEALY

The Sealy Corporation makes mattresses. The company name comes from the city where it started out in 1881, namely Sealy, Texas. Sealy Corporation is now headquartered in Trinity, North Carolina.

59A W.W. II-era occupation for baseball’s Moe Berg, following his playing career : SPY

Moe Berg was a relatively mediocre baseball player in the major leagues, and known for being the “brainiest man in baseball”. He spoke several languages, and read ten newspapers a day. In WWII he worked for the OSS in Yugoslavia and Italy, mainly ferreting out information on the German nuclear program. After the war, he worked occasionally for the CIA. Sadly, he spent the last two decades of his life out of work, living off family.

Down

4D Super man? : MARIO

“Super Mario” is a series of video games created by Nintendo that features the character Mario, and his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom.

5D Quite a few characters in 2025’s “Elio,” for short : ETS

“Elio” is a 2025 animated film about an 11-year-old boy named Elio who is mistakenly beamed up to an intergalactic “Communiverse” and forced to fake his way through being Earth’s official ambassador.

11D Instrument that’s held at about a 45-degree angle from the player’s body : SITAR

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. A key feature of the sitar is its set of sympathetic strings, which are not plucked but resonate in response to the main strings, contributing to its rich, shimmering sound. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

12D Inner tube? : STENT

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

20D Gustav Klimt masterpiece : THE KISS

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter who primarily painted the female body, often producing works that were described as erotic. One of Klimt’s most famous paintings is “The Kiss”, which he completed in 1908.

26D Charlatans : QUACKS

A quack is a person who pretends to have knowledge that he or she does not in fact possess. The term especially applies to someone fraudulently pretending to have medical skills. Our modern word is an abbreviation of “quacksalver”, an archaic term with Dutch roots that translates as “hawker of salve”. Back in the Middle Ages, quacksalvers would shout out (quack) as they sold their pseudo-medical wares.

A charlatan is someone who makes false claims of skill or knowledge. “Charlatan” is a word we imported from French, although the original derivation is the Italian “ciarlatano”, a term meaning “quack”.

31D Cosmetic additive that comes from the Southwest : JOJOBA OIL

Jojoba oil is produced from the seed of the jojoba plant. The oil is used in the cosmetic industry as a replacement for the now banned whale oil. Jojoba oil is also a natural fungicide and is used to control mildew.

33D Actor who plays the title role on TV’s “Andor” : DIEGO LUNA

The TV show “Star Wars: Andor” serves as a prequel to the 2016 film “Rogue One”, which itself is a prequel to the first “Star Wars” movie, released in 1977. The title character is Cassian Andor, played by Diego Luna.

43D Flute, for one : GLASS

The narrow bowl of a champagne flute is usually preferred over the wide bowl of a champagne coupe as the smaller surface area of the wine helps retain its carbonation.

45D Prefix with marathon : ULTRA-

The term “ultramarathon” describes a race that is longer than the 26.2 miles of a traditional marathon. “Ultra running” falls into two categories. Some races cover a specified distance or route, while others last for a specified time, with the winner covering the most distance in that time.

46D Bygone recorders : TIVOS

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.

47D Grabber : TALON

A talon is a claw of a bird of prey. The term “talon” ultimately derives from “talus”, the Latin word for “ankle”.