Tag: San Francisco organization supporting women in the arts crossword clue

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Classic sitcom streaming on BritBox, familiarly : AB FAB

“Absolutely Fabulous” (sometimes shortened to “Ab Fab”) is a cult-classic sitcom produced by the BBC. The two stars of the show are Jennifer Saunders (Edina Monsoon) and Joanna Lumley (Patsy Stone). “Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie” hit the screens in 2016. I haven’t seen it yet, but my wife did and really enjoyed it. She said that there’s a veritable cavalcade of British stars that make an appearance …

6 Cos. offering connections : ISPS

Internet service provider (ISP)

10 Jordan’s only coastal city : AQABA

The coastal city of Aqaba is the only seaport in the country of Jordan. It lies at the very northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which is off the Red Sea.

16 No longer relevant : MOOT

To moot is to bring up as a subject for discussion or debate. So, something that is moot is open to debate. Something that is no longer moot, is no longer worth debating. We don’t seem to be able to get that right, which drives me crazy …

17 Burj Khalifa’s home : DUBAI

Burj Khalifa is a spectacular skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is the tallest man-made structure in the world, and has been so since the completion of its exterior in 2009. The space in the building came onto the market at a really bad time, during the global financial crisis. The building was part of a US$20 billion development of downtown Dubai that was backed by the city government which had to go looking for a bailout from the neighboring city of Abu Dhabi. The tower was given the name Burj Khalifa at the last minute, apparently as a nod to UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan who helped to broker the bailout.

18 1850: 350,000+ words : DAVID COPPERFIELD

“David Copperfield” is the eighth novel penned by English author Charles Dickens, first published in serial form from 1848 to 1849. The novel is seen as a somewhat autobiographical work, with many characters and events mirrored in Dickens’ own life.

21 Instrument that gave rise to the guitalele, in brief : UKE

The ukulele (uke) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

23 Chevy coupes : VETTES

The Chevrolet Corvette was introduced to the world in 1953, and was named after the small maneuverable warship called a corvette. The “Vette” has legs. It is the only American sports car that has been around for over 50 years.

24 1862: 530,000+ words : LES MISERABLES

Victor Hugo’s famous 1862 novel “Les Misérables” has been translated into English several times. However, the title is usually left in the original French as a successful translation of “les misérables” seems to be elusive. Some suggestions for an English title are “The Wretched”, “The Victims” and “The Dispossessed”. The novel follows the lives of several characters including an ex-convict Jean Valjean, a fanatic police inspector Javert, a beautiful prostitute Fantine, and Fantine’s illegitimate daughter Cosette.

27 Major highway through the southern U.S. : I-TEN

I-10 is the most southerly of the interstate routes that cross from the Atlantic to the Pacific. I-10 stretches from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida. Various stretches of the route have been given different names, for example, the Rosa Parks Freeway, the Santa Monica Freeway, the San Bernardino Freeway and the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.

32 Structural supports : JOISTS

In a building, a joist is a supporting member running horizontally to support a ceiling or floor.

37 Tool : PATSY

The etymology of the word “patsy” meaning “fall guy” isn’t really understood. One colorful theory suggests that the term comes from an 1890s vaudeville character named Patsy Bolivar. Patsy always got the blame when something went wrong.

38 Thénardier and Bovary: Abbr. : MMES

Madame Thénardier is one of the villains in Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables”.

“Madame Bovary” is the most famous novel written by Gustave Flaubert. The title character is a doctor’s wife named Emma Bovary, who lives a luxurious life beyond her means and has many adulterous affairs. The novel had a rousing reception, including an attack by public prosecutors who labeled it as obscene, which I am sure later helped “Madame Bovary” to become a bestseller.

39 Princess played by Halle Bailey in a 2023 film : ARIEL

“The Little Mermaid” is a live-action adaptation of the 1989 animated Disney film of the same name. Both films are loosely based on the 1837 fairy tale with the same title that was penned by Hans Christian Anderson.

Singer and actress Halle Bailey started her singing career as a young girl on a YouTube channel with her sister, performing cover songs as “Chloe x Halle”. In 2019, Halle was given her first lead role as an actress, playing Ariel in the 2023 live-action remake of 1989’s “The Little Mermaid”.

43 Students run for it : GYM CLASS

Our word “gymnasium” comes from the Greek “gymnasion” meaning “public place where exercise is taken”. The Greek term comes from “gymnos” meaning “naked”, as that physical training was usually done unclothed in ancient Greece.

46 1957: 550,000+ words : ATLAS SHRUGGED

Russian-born American author Ayn Rand considered 1957’s “Atlas Shrugged” her magnum opus. It is a dystopian novel set in a US without a Congress or president, and instead a National Legislature and Head of State.

54 Sewing machine inventor Howe : ELIAS

Elias Howe was an American inventor. Howe wasn’t the first to come up with the idea of a sewing machine, but he was the first to develop one that was functional.

55 Third letter of Athens, in ancient Athens : ETA

Athens is the capital city of Greece and is one of the world’s oldest cities, with a history that goes back around 3,400 years. In its heyday, Classical Athens was a remarkable center for the arts and philosophical debate, and was home to Plato and Aristotle. Athens is often called “the cradle of Western civilization” and “the birthplace of democracy”. The city was named for the Greek goddess Athena.

56 Cheeky review of 18-, 24- and 46-Across : TOO LONG, DIDN’T READ

Too long, didn’t read (TL;DR)

59 1990s sitcom nerd : URKEL

Steve Urkel is a character on the TV show “Family Matters” that originally aired in the late eighties and nineties. The Urkel character was the archetypal “geek”, played by Jaleel White. Urkel was originally written into the show’s storyline for just one episode, but before long, Urkel was the show’s most popular recurring character.

60 Dark purple shade : PUCE

The name of the purple shade known as “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea!

61 Ancient region considered a birthplace of Western philosophy : IONIA

The geographic region called Ionia is located in present-day Turkey. It was prominent in the days of ancient Greece, although it wasn’t a unified state and rather a collection of tribes. The tribal confederacy was more based on religious and cultural similarities than a political or military alliance. Nowadays we often refer to this arrangement as the Ionian League.

64 Some gag Christmas gifts : COALS

Apparently, the tradition of putting coal in the Christmas stocking of a poorly-behaved child comes simply from the proximity of the stocking (hanging on the fireplace) to a source of coal!

Down

1 Performer with a concert tour titled “Straight Up Paula!” : ABDUL

Paula Abdul is primarily a singer and dancer, and someone who endeared herself even more to the American public in recent years as a judge on “American Idol”. Abdul had a famous husband for a couple of years, as she was married to actor Emilio Estevez from 1992-94.

7 Abnormally deep sleep : SOPOR

“Sopor” is a Latin word that we’ve absorbed into English. It translates as “deep sleep” or “lethargy”.

8 Eponymous youth sports organization, the largest of its kind in the U.S. : POP WARNER

Pop Warner Little Scholars (or just “Pop Warner”) is the largest youth football organization in the country. It was founded in 1929, and named for football coach Pop Warner, who made major contributions to the nonprofit in its early years.

10 Some eBay revenue : AD FEES

There have been some notable things sold on eBay over the years. For example:

• Ad space on a guy’s forehead, in the form of a temporary tattoo – $37,375
• William Shatner’s kidney stone – $25,000
• A cornflake shaped like Illinois – $1,350
• A single corn flake – $1.63
• A box of 10 Twinkies – $59.99
• The original Hollywood sign – $450,400
• The meaning of life – $3.26

14 Bolsters : AIDS

Back in Ireland I often slept in beds that had a bolster as well as pillows. The bolster was usually a long, bed-wide, stuffed cushion, harder than a pillow. It served the purpose of raising the pillows, perhaps as an aid for sitting up in bed. Our modern usage of the verb “bolster”, meaning to give a metaphoric shot in the arm, derives from this “bolster” that we used to sit up against.

25 Character in a classic whodunit : MISS SCARLET

Miss Scarlet is one of the suspects in the board game “Clue”.

32 Image file format : JPEG

The JPEG image file format (also “.jpg”) was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), hence the name.

34 Invoice unit : ITEM

An invoice is an itemized bill. The term “invoice” comes from the Middle French “envois” meaning “dispatch (of goods)”. The root verb is “envoyer”, which translates as “to send”.

38 U.S. city named for a geological formation : MESA

The city of Mesa, Arizona is in effect a suburb of Phoenix. The original settlement of non-Native Americans was founded by Daniel Webster Jones who led a Mormon group from St. George, Utah. The settlement was first called Jonesville, then Fort Utah and eventually Lehi. A second group of Mormons arrived and formed a settlement on top of a nearby mesa. It was this use of a mesa that eventually gave the city its current name.

39 Not wired, say : ACOUSTIC

The term “unplugged” is commonly used for music played on acoustic instruments that is usually played on amplified instruments, often electric guitars.

41 N.B.A. player-turned-sports analyst Rose : JALEN

Jalen Rose is a former NBA basketball player who retired in 2007 and took up a new career as a sports analyst. A couple of years before retiring, Rose earned a BS in Management Studies for himself from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

42 ___ Khan, former Pakistani prime minister : IMRAN

Imran Khan was elected 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan in 2018. Prior to entering politics, Khan was a world-famous cricket player who captained the Pakistani national team 48 times.

44 Battalion commanders in the U.S.M.C. : LT COLS

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

47 Not a straight shot : SLICE

A slice in golf doesn’t head straight down the fairway, but instead turns off to the right (if you’re a right-handed golfer).

48 Davis with the memoir “Dying of Politeness” : GEENA

As well as being a successful Hollywood actress, Geena Davis is an accomplished archer and came close to qualifying for the US archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Davis is also a member of American Mensa. She is quite the lady …

52 Gala throwaway : CORE

Gala is the second-most popular apple cultivar in the US, after red delicious. The gala apple tree originated in New Zealand in 1930, and is a cross between a golden delicious and a Kidd’s orange red.

58 Joey of children’s lit : ROO

In Australia, male kangaroos are known by several names including bucks, boomers, jacks or old men. Females are called does, flyers, or jills. There seems to be just one name for young kangaroos, i.e. joeys. A group of kangaroos might be called a mob, troop or court.