Tag: Really involved crossword clue

Bill’s time: 15m 03s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

17A Big name in classifieds : CRAIGSLIST

Craigslist (usually written as “craigslist”) is an online network of communities that features classified advertisements organized geographically. Craigslist was started by Craig Newmark in 1995, originally as an email distribution list for his friends who lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area.

18A Sound made by a toaster? : TING

The tradition of toasting someone probably dates back to the reign of Charles II, when the practice was to drink a glass of wine to the health of a beautiful or favored woman. In those days, spiced toast was added to beverages to add flavor, so the use of the word “toast” was an indicator that the lady’s beauty would enhance the wine. Very charming, I must say …

20A Mars comes third in it : ANNEE

In French, “mars” (March) is the third month in the “année” (year).

22A Former employer of Edward Snowden, for short : NSA

Edward Snowden is a former NSA contractor who leaked several top secret NSA documents to the media beginning in June 2013. After disclosing his name as the source of the leaks, Snowden tried to seek asylum in Ecuador. While traveling to Ecuador he had a layover in Moscow. While in Moscow, the US government revoked his passport, which effectively left him stranded in the transit area of Moscow Airport. The Russian government eventually granted him annually-renewable temporary asylum.

25A Improvised onstage : VAMPED

To vamp is to improvise musically, usually on a piano. A vamp is often an accompaniment to a solo.

32A Morse code components : DITS

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements e.g. E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

34A Syngman ___, first president of South Korea : RHEE

Syngman Rhee was born in Korea, but received much of his education in the US, including a Ph.D. from Princeton. The very much westernized Rhee returned to Korea in 1910, a Korea that by then had been annexed by Japan. Soon after he found himself President of a Provisional Government of Korea based in Shanghai, but was eventually ousted for misuse of power. After WWII, Rhee was installed as President, heavily backed by the United States. However, Rhee’s rule proved to be more like tyranny and during the Korean War his relationship with the US Government became very strained. He stayed in power until 1960 when student revolts became popular enough to force him out of office. The CIA flew him out of the country and he went into exile in Hawaii, where a few years later he died of a stroke.

35A Limón who was the U.S.’s first Latina poet laureate : ADA

Ada Limón was named US Poet Laureate in 2022, making her the first Latina to be so honored. One of her more notable works is the poem “In Praise of Mystery: A Poem for Europa”, which was commissioned by NASA. It is engraved, in her own handwriting, on a metal plate attached to the Europa Clipper spacecraft that will fly by Jupiter’s Galilean moon Europa in 2030.

36A Total stranger, in slang : RANDO

“Rando” is a slang term describing a “random person”. It tends not to be used flatteringly.

38A Andrew ___, banking tycoon who served as Treasury secretary from 1921 to 1932 : MELLON

Mellon National Bank was founded by Thomas Mellon and his sons Andrew and Richard in 1869 as “T. Mellon & Sons Bank”. Andrew Mellon left his post in 1920 to serve as US Treasury Secretary under Presidents Harding, Coolidge and Hoover. Andrew Mellon remains the longest-serving Treasury Secretary in US history.

46A Volume units : SONES

In the world of acoustics, the sone was introduced in 1936 as a unit of perceived loudness.

48A Loser in certain re-enactments, informally : REB

During the Civil War, the personification of the Southern states was “Johnny Reb”. The northern equivalent was “Billy Yank”.

54A Math function : SINE

In a right-angled triangle, the sine of an angle is the ratio of the length of the side opposite that angle to the length of the hypotenuse.

55A Art form featuring performers in kishin (demon) and okina (old man) masks : NOH THEATER

Noh is a form of musical drama in Japan that has been around since the 14th century. Many of the Noh performers are masked, allowing all the roles to be played by men, including the female parts.

56A Woman of the d’Urbervilles : TESS

In Thomas Hardy’s novel “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”, the heroine and title character is Tess Durbeyfield. Her father is an uneducated peasant and when he hears that his name is a corruption of the noble name of “D’Urberville”, the news goes to his head.

57A Something pulled while walking the dog : YO-YO STRING

A common yo-yo trick is to “walk the dog”. It involves spinning the yo-yo at the end of its string, and then letting the yo-yo touch the ground. The spin then causes the yo-yo to “walk” along the ground beside you, as if you are walking a dog.

Down

1D Service org. since the 1850s : YWCA

The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) was founded in the mid-1800s about 50 years after the YMCA, although the two organizations have always been independent of each other. Having said that, some YWCA and YMCA organizations have amalgamated at the local level and often share facilities. The YWCA is quite the organization, and is the largest women’s group in the whole world.

3D Jazz site : UTAH

The Utah Jazz professional basketball team moved to Salt Lake City in 1979. As one might guess from the name, the team originated in New Orleans, but only played there for five seasons. New Orleans was a tough place to be based because venues were hard to come by, and Mardi Gras forced the team to play on the road for a whole month.

4D Kauai keepsake : LEI

Because the Hawaiian island of Kauai is one of the wettest places on earth, all the rainfall has helped to carve out magnificent canyons and left superb waterfalls. The island is often used as a backdrop for movies. The facilities at the island’s Lihue Airport reflect the pleasant climate enjoyed by the Hawaiian Islands. Check-in takes place completely outdoors!

7D German cathedral city, to locals : KOLN

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Köln” in German. It is situated on the Rhine, and has a rich history stretching back to Roman times. Its most iconic landmark is the magnificent medieval Cologne Cathedral, which was the world’s tallest building from 1880 to 1890. The cathedral, though damaged, remarkably survived the bombings of WWII that destroyed 80% of the city center.

12D Gave a faded look, as jeans : ACID-WASHED

Acid-washed denim has been washed with pumice stones and chlorine bleach, to give the fabric an aged look, so that it is almost white. The term “acid washing” is a misnomer, as there is no acid used in the process.

14D Gemstone with gold-yellow bands : TIGER-EYE

Tiger’s eye (also “tigereye”) is a reddish-gold colored gemstone made mainly from quartz that is colored by iron oxide.

25D Figures checked by nurses : VITAL SIGNS

There are four primary vital signs that are measured by health professionals:

1. Body temperature
2. Blood pressure
3. Pulse
4. Breathing rate

26D Field for the philosopher David Hume, informally : ECON

David Hume was a philosopher and historian from Scotland. One of his greatest works is the massive “The History of England”, which was published in six volumes from 1754 to 1762. The massive tome covers the nation’s history from the Roman conquest of Britain led by Julius Caesar in 55 BCE, up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 that removed King James II from the throne and replaced him with William III and Mary II.

30D Action star Michelle : YEOH

Michelle Yeoh is an actress from Malaysia who appeared in several Hong Kong action films in which she did her own stunts and martial arts scenes. Her most famous action performance was in the 2000 movie “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, although I best know her for playing opposite Pierce Brosnan in the Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies”.

36D Architect Ludwig Mies van der ___ : ROHE

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect who was routinely referred to simply as “Mies”. I am a philistine, I know, but Mies’ buildings look very plain to me. However, he did come up with two far-from-plain sayings, namely “less is more” and “God is in the details”.

37D Slow-cooked entree : BRISKET

Brisket is a cut of beef from the lower chest of the animal. The brisket muscles contain a large amount of connective tissue, so brisket can be a tough cut and needs to be carefully cooked. It is often braised and cooked as a pot roast, especially as a holiday dish in Jewish cuisine.

39D Big banks : LEVEES

A levee is an artificial bank, usually made of earth, that runs along the length of a river. It is designed to hold back river water at a time of potential flooding. “Levée” is the French word for “raised” and is an American term that originated in French-speaking New Orleans around 1720.

41D Poles can be found next to them : CZECHS

Czechoslovakia existed as a sovereign state in Europe from 1918, at which time it declared itself independent from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The country went through much turmoil through the days of Nazi and Soviet occupation, but democracy was restored in 1989 after the nonviolent Velvet Revolution that overthrew the communist government. Nationalist tendencies did develop over time, leading to a peaceful dissolution of the country in 1993, and the creation of the two independent states of the Czech Republic (aka “Czechia”) and the Slovak Republic (aka “Slovakia”).

47D Iceland is its only member that doesn’t have a standing army : NATO

Although Iceland is the only member of NATO without a standing army, it does have a military consisting mainly of the Icelandic Coast Guard and the Iceland Crisis Response Unit.

48D Alternative to naan : ROTI

In an Indian restaurant, naan bread is very popular. Roti is an unleavened cousin of naan.

49D Shangri-la : EDEN

Shangri-La is the earthly paradise in the mountains of Tibet described by James Hilton in his novel “Lost Horizon”. Shangri-La is “edenic” (perfect, like the Garden of Eden from the Book of Genesis). Frank Capra directed a wonderful screen adaptation of “Lost Horizon” in 1937 starring Ronald Colman.

50D Result of breaking the ice? : BERG

An iceberg is a large piece of freshwater ice that is floating freely after having broken away from a glacier or ice shelf. Our use of “iceberg” comes from the Dutch word for the same phenomenon “ijsberg”, which translates literally as “ice mountain”.

52D “___ Given Sunday” (1999 football drama) : ANY

“Any Given Sunday” is a sports drama directed by Oliver Stone, giving a gritty look at professional football. Al Pacino stars as the veteran coach. Miami Dolphins legend Dan Marino was reportedly offered the role of the aging quarterback, ultimately played by Dennis Quaid, but turned it down because he disagreed with the film’s portrayal of pro football players.