Tag: Set of notes in a seventh chord crossword clue

Bill’s time: 9m 46s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A 50, on a table : TIN

The Latin word for tin is “stannum”, and so tin’s atomic symbol is “Sn”. One of the ores used as a source of tin is “stannite”.

13A Sea creature known to mourn its dead : ORCA

Despite the nickname “killer whale”, the orca is the largest member of the dolphin family. Orcas are apex predators, and are the only known natural threat to great white sharks.

14A Long-stemmed mushroom : ENOKI

Enokitake (also known as “enoki”) are long and thin white mushrooms often added to soups or salads.

16A Medicare subsection covering ambulance services : PART B

Medicare is divided into four parts:

• A: Hospital Insurance
• B: Medical Insurance
• C: Medicare Advantage Plans
• D: Prescription Drug Plans

18A Get to the point? : TAPER

I used to think that the word “taper” was used for a slender candle because said candle was “tapered” in shape, but it’s exactly the opposite. It turns out that our word “tapered” comes from the candle. “Taper” and “tapur” are Old English words meaning “candle”. From these nouns arose the verb “to taper” meaning “shoot up like flame”. This meaning evolved into “become slender” from the idea that a candle’s flame has such a shape.

19A Half a chocolate bar : KAT

I grew up eating Kit Kat bars as a kid. The Kit Kat hit the shelves on the other side of the pond in the 1930s, but didn’t make it into US stores until the 1970s. I’ve seen new varieties of Kit Kat bars over in Britain and Ireland, such as an orange-flavored version. I’ve been told that there are even more varieties available in Japan.

22A Georgia hometown of R.E.M. and the B-52s : ATHENS

The Georgia city of Athens lies about 70 miles northeast of Atlanta. Athens might be described as a college town, and is home to the main campus of the University of Georgia. The settlement of Cedar Shoals was chosen as a site for the new university in 1801. That same year, Cedar Shoals was renamed to Athens, after the Greek city that was home to the Plato’s Academy and Aristotle’s Lyceum.

R.E.M. was a rock band from Athens, Georgia that formed in 1980. Apparently, the name “R.E.M.” was chosen randomly from a dictionary.

35A Solo pilot? : HAN

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

41A “Storage Wars” network : A AND E

“Storage Wars” is a reality TV show about buyers looking for great deals when storage lockers are opened and the contents auctioned off due to non-payment of rent.

51A Negative Nancy or Debbie Downer : NAYSAYER

“Debbie Downer” is a slang phrase describing someone who knows how to bring down the mood. There was a character on “Saturday Night Live” with the name Debbie Downer played by comic actress Rachel Dratch.

55A First Super Bowl won by the Kansas City Chiefs in 50 years : LIV

Super Bowl LIV was played at the end of the 2019 season between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers. The Chiefs emerged victorious, winning their first Super Bowl since 1970. The halftime show featured singer Jennifer Lopez and Shakira.

56A Gal on the screen : GADOT

Before becoming a Hollywood star, Gal Gadot served two years of mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) as a combat fitness instructor. She has shared that her military training helped prepare her for the physical demands of her action roles. Gadot also won the Miss Israel pageant in 2004 and represented her country in the Miss Universe competition that same year.

61A Chewy Japanese noodle : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat flour and are very popular in Japanese dishes such as tempura.

64A Mizzen, e.g. : MAST

A mizzenmast is found aft of the main mast on a vessel having more than one mast. The sail on a mizzenmast is a mizzen sail, and is smaller than the mainsail.

Down

2D Modern home of ancient Mesopotamia : IRAQ

Mesopotamia was the land that lay between two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, that flow through modern-day Iraq. The name “Mesopotamia” means “between the rivers”.

5D End of a gay pride slogan : GET USED TO IT

The police raided a gay bar called the Stonewall Inn on June 28th, 1969. That raid triggered a spate of violent demonstrations led by the LGBT community. Now known as the Stonewall riots, those demonstrations are viewed by many as a significant event leading to the modern-day fight for LGBT rights in the US. Since then, June has been chosen as LGBT Pride Month in recognition of the Stonewall riots.

8D Maker of the iconic Billy bookcase : IKEA

BILLY is a line of bookcases supplied by IKEA since 1979. As of 2017, over 60 million BILLY bookcase units had been sold. The line was named for an IKEA advertising manager, Billy Liljedahl. Liljedahl had made the request for the design of “a proper bookcase just for books”.

12D Safety devices for trapeze artists : NETS

The circus act known as the “trapeze” is so called because the shape defined by the crossbar, ropes and ceiling of the tent is a “trapezium”.

17D “Mars, the ___ of War” (first movement of “The Planets”) : BRINGER

Despite the Scandinavian-sounding name, Gustav Holst was born in Britain and was the most English of classical composers. His most famous work is the orchestral suite known as ‘The Planets”. The suite has seven movements, one for each of the planets known at the time (1914-1916) except Earth. Pluto was discovered during Holst’s lifetime, but 14 years after he had completed his masterpiece. Anyway, Pluto was relegated from the league of planets …

27D 2008 Clint Eastwood film centered around an attempted car theft : GRAN TORINO

“Gran Torino” is a 2008 Clint Eastwood movie in which he plays an angry, widowed Korean War veteran named Walt Kowalski. Kowalski’s young neighbor attempts to steal his 1972 Ford Gran Torino muscle car (hence the film’s name), but gets caught in the act. Much of the storyline is about Kowalski and the family of the young thief/neighbor developing a surprising relationship.

29D Pro ___ : TEM

“Pro tempore” can be abbreviated to “pro tem” or “p.t.” “Pro tempore” is a Latin phrase that best translates as “for the time being”. It is used to describe a person who is acting for another, usually a superior. The President pro tempore of the US Senate is the person who presides over the Senate in the absence of the Vice President of the US. It has been tradition since 1890 that the president pro tem is the most senior senator in the majority party. The president pro tem ranks highly in the line of succession to the presidency, falling third in line overall, after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House.

31D Bend it like Beckham! : KNEE

David Beckham is a retired professional soccer player who started his career with Manchester United in 1992 at 17 years old. He debuted for the England international team in 1996, and served as the team captain for six years. He married Victoria Adams, Posh Spice of the Spice Girls, in 1999.

32D BlackBerrys, e.g., for short : PDAS

The PDA (personal digital assistant) known as a BlackBerry was given its name because the keyboard on the original device resembled the surface on the fruit of a blackberry.

38D Opium product used by Anna Karenina and Victor Frankenstein : LAUDANUM

I have to admit to not having read Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”, but I did see the excellent 1977 British television adaptation starring Nicola Pagett. I also saw the 2012 film adaptation with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard and found that to be far from excellent, awful in fact. I am no Stoppard fan …

Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel has the full title of “Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus”. The subtitle underscores one of the themes of the book, i.e. a warning about the expansion into the Industrial Revolution.

47D High honors in science fiction : HUGOS

The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback, founder of the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.

50D Sacrifice in some chess gambits : PAWN

A gambit is a chess opening that intrinsically involves the sacrifice of a piece (usually a pawn) with the intent of gaining an advantage. The term “gambit” was first used by the Spanish priest Ruy Lopez de Segura who took it from the Italian expression “dare il gambetto” meaning “to put a leg forward to trip someone”. Said priest gave his name to the common Ruy Lopez opening, which paradoxically is not a gambit in that there is no sacrifice. The chess term dates back to the mid-1600s. We’ve been using “gambit” more generally for any opening move designed to gain advantage since the mid-1800s.

52D Weird Al Yankovic parody of the Kinks’s “Lola” : YODA

“Weird Al” Yankovic is a singer-songwriter who is noted for writing and performing parodies of popular songs. Of the 150 or so such songs, the best known are probably “Eat It” (parodying “Beat It” by Michael Jackson) and “Like a Surgeon” (parodying “Like a Virgin” by Madonna).

“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 …

53D Mythical lover : EROS

In Greek mythology, Eros is the god of love, desire, and sexual attraction. He is often depicted as a winged youth carrying a bow and arrows, with which he shoots either golden arrows to inspire love or leaden ones to inspire aversion. His Roman counterpart is Cupid.

57D Student center? : DEE

The center of the word “student” is a letter D (dee).