Tag: Southwestern spread crossword clue

Bill’s time: 26m 04s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 D.C. figure : POL

Politician (pol)

16 An avian abode : AERIE

An aerie (sometimes “eyrie”) is an eagle’s nest. The term “aerie” can also more generally describe any bird’s nest that is located on a cliff or a mountaintop.

17 Janis ___, main role in “Mean Girls” : IAN

“Mean Girls” is a teen comedy movie released in 2004 starring Lindsay Lohan. Tina Fey also puts in an appearance, which really isn’t surprising as Fey wrote the screenplay.

19 “For ___ is the kingdom …” : THINE

The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew, the last line of the prayer is “deliver us from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke, the last line is “lead us not into temptation”. The last words of the prayer most often used today are:

For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen

29 Trap : PIEHOLE

The term “piehole” meaning “mouth” has been in use since the early 1980s. It is a variation of the older term “cake hole” that originated with the British armed forces during WWII. “Cake hole” is still used in the British Isles, with “piehole” largely limited to North America.

33 Kidney-related : RENAL

Something described as renal is related to the kidneys. “Ren” is the Latin word for “kidney”.

35 Tuckered (out) : WORE

The exact etymology of the verb “to tucker”, meaning “to tire”, seems to be uncertain. However, it seems to have originated in New England, and at least dates back to the 1830s.

37 Places of refuge : ASYLUMS

Asylum (plural “asyla”) is a Latin word meaning “sanctuary”.

39 “Love ___,” Pet Shop Boys dance hit of 2009 : ETC

Pet Shop Boys are a pop duo from England consisting of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe. The pair originally performed in the West End in the early 1980s, because they loved London’s West End. When they decided to rename their act, they chose Pet Shop Boys simply because they had good friends working in a nearby pet shop.

41 City between Chicago and Milwaukee : KENOSHA

Kenosha, Wisconsin is a city on the western shore of Lake Michigan. Given its location, Kenosha has strong ties with both Milwaukee and Chicago. The name Kenosha is an anglicized form of “gnozhé”, the Native American name for an early settlement in the area that translates as “place of the pike”.

45 Cry while plugging one’s ears : TMI

Too much information (TMI)

48 ___ de deux (ballet dance) : PAS

In the world of ballet, a pas de deux is a duet in which the dancers dance together. A classic pas de deux has a particular structure. It starts with a short entree followed by an adagio and two variations, one for each dancer, and ends with a short coda. The term “pas de deux” is French for “step for two”, or I suppose “dance for two”.

53 Like Hitchcock’s “Curtain” : TORN

“Torn Curtain” is a marvelous Alfred Hitchcock thriller from 1966 starring Paul Newman and Julie Andrews. It’s a political/spy story set against the backdrop of the Cold War. This was Hitchcock’s fiftieth film, and apparently was fraught will all sorts of difficulties. Newman and Andrews were big stars at the time of shooting and were cast on the insistence of the studio, despite the director’s misgivings. Method actor Paul Newman clashed with Hitchcock when he was trying to establish his character’s motivation. Hitch informed his leading man that the “motivation is your salary”.

54 Passionate feeling in Spain : AMOR

In Spanish, the opposite of “amor” (love) is “odio” (hate).

59 Untrustworthy paper : RAG

A low-quality newspaper is often referred to as a “rag”. There are lots of rags out there …

60 Publication with an annual “Power 100” list : EBONY

“Ebony” is a lifestyle magazine founded in 1945 that is marketed towards the African-American community. Way back in 1957/58, “Ebony” was home to a monthly advice column penned by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Titled “Advice for Living”, he used the column to answer many of the letters that the magazine received that were addressed to Dr. King personally. Having recently read a few of those columns, I must say that they provide some fascinating insight into race relations in the 1950s …

66 Wireless network std. : LTE

In the world of telecommunications, the initialism LTE stands for Long-Term Evolution, and is wireless broadband communication standard. In general terms, LTE improves broadband speeds. As I understand it, LTE technology allows a 3G network to perform almost as well as a true 4G network, and so LTE is sometimes marketed as 4G LTE, even though it’s really “3G plus”.

75 It has thousands of openings : CHESS

It is believed that the game of chess originated in northwest India. It evolved from a 6th-century game called “chaturanga”, a Sanskrit word meaning “four divisions”. These four (military) divisions were represented in the game:

• Infantry (now “pawns”)
• Cavalry (now “knights”)
• Elephants (now “bishops”)
• Chariots (now “rooks”)

78 Ride in “Calvin and Hobbes” : SLED

The comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” is still widely syndicated, but hasn’t been written since 1995. The cartoonist Bill Watterson named the character Calvin after John Calvin, the 16th century theologian. Hobbes was named for Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English political philosopher.

83 Capital player, for short : NAT

The Washington Nationals (“Nats”) started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969, and were the first Major League Baseball team in Canada. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats.

84 “Rotten” indicator on Rotten Tomatoes : SPLAT

Rotten Tomatoes is a website that mainly provides reviews and ratings of movies, although it now covers TV shows as well. The site was launched in 1998 and takes its name from the practice of audience members throwing rotten tomatoes at an unappreciated performer on stage.

86 Eastern honorific : SRI

“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

90 There was Noah-counting for it : ARK

Genesis 6:19-20 states that Noah was instructed to take two animals of every kind into the ark. Later, in Genesis 7:2-3 Noah was instructed to take on board “every clean animal by sevens … male and female, to keep offspring alive on the face of all the earth”. Apparently, “extras” (7 rather than 2) were needed for ritual sacrifice.

92 Verse’s partner : CHAPTER

Chapter and verse

96 Gospel singer Winans : CECE

CeCe Winans (real given name “Priscilla”) is a Gospel music singer. She is part of a duo with her brother, BeBe Winans (real name Benjamin).

106 Bad way to go : APE

The US slang “go ape” is actually a cleaner version of a similar expression, and is American slang that dates back to 1955.

109 Title for Mozart : HERR

In German, a “Herr” (Mr.) is married to a “Frau” (Mrs.), and they live together in a “Haus” (house).

The Austrian composer’s full name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The name “Wolfgang” translates literally as “wolf journey”. Amadeus translates as “love god”!

115 Like the sea : BRINY

The briny is the sea, with “brine” meaning “salty water”. The term “briny” was originally used for “tears”.

117 European World Cup team, on scoreboards : IRE

Ireland (IRE)

121 Online feed letters : RSS

Many websites and blogs publish content in a format known as Rich Site Summary (RSS). The “feed” can be read using an RSS reader. The advantage of using an RSS reader is that the user doesn’t have to check the website for new content. That new material is fed to the RSS reader as soon as it is published.

122 Deep, dark hole : ABYSS

“Abyss”, meaning “deep chasm”, ultimately derives from the Greek “a-” (without) and “byssos” (bottom).

Down

1 It may run when you cry : MASCARA

Variants of mascara have been around a long time, and certainly there was a similar substance in use in ancient Egypt. “Mascara” is a Spanish word meaning “stain, mask”.

2 Cleanses, in a way : DETOXES

One might go into rehab (rehabilitation) for detox (detoxification).

4 They “don’t lie,” per a Shakira hit : HIPS

Shakira’s 2006 song “Hips Don’t Lie” broke a record soon after it was released. It became the most-played pop song in a single week in the history of American radio.

5 Tyrants / Patterns : DESPOTS / DESIGNS

A despot is a ruler with absolute power, and often one who wields that power oppressively. “Despot” is an old French term from the 14th century that is ultimately derived from the Greek “despotes” meaning “master of a household, absolute ruler”.

7 Southwestern spread : RANCHO

In Spanish, a “rancho” (ranch, farm) is a spread.

9 In and of itself : PER SE

“Per se” is a Latin phrase that translates as “by itself”. We use “per se” pretty literally, meaning “in itself, intrinsically”.

10 Snack item that’s partly foreordained? : OREO

The word “oreo” is part of “foreordained”.

11 Dessert of molten chocolate : LAVA CAKE

Molten chocolate cake is chocolate cake with a warm and liquid chocolate center. A dessert often called “lava cake”, it was invented by French chef Michel Bras, and dates back to 1981. It was popularized in the US by French chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, initially in his New York restaurant Jean-Georges.

15 Zooms with, maybe : MEETS

Zoom is a videoconferencing app that became remarkably popular in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The market deemed Zoom to be the easiest to use of the free videoconferencing apps. I’ve been using it, but really prefer Google’s Meet offering …

23 Chews the scenery : EMOTES

To chew the scenery is to overact, to ham it up.

29 Made puffier, as cushions / Very desirable job : PLUMPED / PLUM POSITION

To describe something as plum is to say that it is especially desirable, e.g. a plum job, the plum choice. We’ve been using “plum” in this sense since the late 18th century, and it is probably a reference to the particularly sweet and enjoyable parts of a plum pudding.

32 Start-up’s announcement, for short : IPO

An initial public offering (IPO) is the very first offer of stock for sale by a company on the open market. In other words, an IPO marks the first time that a company is traded on a public exchange. Companies have an IPO to raise capital to expand (usually).

38 “O ___ babbino caro” (Puccini aria) : MIO

“O mio babbino caro” is a really beautiful aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Gianni Schicchi”.

57 Actor Page : ELLIOT

Canadian actor Elliot (formerly “Ellen”) Page came to prominence playing the female lead in the 2007 hit film “Juno”. Page also played the female lead in one of my favorite films of recent time, namely 2010’s “Inception”. Elliot came out as a gay woman in 2014, and then as a trangender man in 2020.

61 Tom who hosted “Dancing With the Stars” / Brimless caps : BERGERON / BERETS

When I was growing up in Ireland, there was a surprisingly popular BBC television show featuring professional ballroom dancing called “Come Dancing”. It ran almost every year from 1949 to 1998, and in 2004 the BBC resurrected it with a new twist, adding celebrities to dance with the professionals. The new show, called “Strictly Come Dancing”, is a huge success and has become a worldwide franchise. Over here we watch the American version called “Dancing with the Stars”. It really can be fun television …

63 Second letter after epsilon : ETA

Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”. Originally denoting a consonant, eta was used as a long vowel in Ancient Greek.

70 Relative of turquoise : TEAL

The beautiful color teal takes its name from the duck called a teal, which has dark greenish-blue (teal) markings on its head and wings.

“Turquoise” is the Old French word for “Turkish”. The name was given to the blue mineral because much of it was brought into Europe from Turkey, although most of the turquoise mines were located in the Khorasan Province of Iran.

71 Capital of Yemen : SANA’A

Sana (also “Sana’a”) is the capital city of Yemen. Sitting at an elevation of 7,380 feet, Sana is one of the highest capital cities in the world. Within the bounds of today’s metropolis is the old fortified city of Sana, where people have lived for over 2,500 years. The Old City is now a World Heritage Site. According to legend, Sana was founded by Shem, the son of Noah.

72 $$$ taker : ATM

The dollar sign ($) was first used for the Spanish-American peso, in the late 18th century. The peso was also called the “Spanish dollar” (and “piece of eight”). The Spanish dollar was to become a model for the US dollar that was adopted in 1785, along with the dollar sign.

77 Fruit with a thick peel : CITRON

Most of our citrus fruits are hybrids of four original fruits: the pomelo, mandarin, papeda and citron.

78 Take potshots : SNIPE

To snipe is to attack with snide criticism, especially from a safe distance. This usage of the term is an extension of the older meaning, to take a shot from a hidden position (as in “sniper”). Such a shot was originally taken when hunting the game birds called “snipes”.

When firing a gun, a “potshot” is a “shot” taken purely to get the prey into the “pot” for cooking. The term “potshot” was coined in the 1830s, hence distinguishing between a shot taken for sport or marksmanship and a shot taken while hunting for game.

84 Tryst partner / Discharging, as a liquid : SECRET LOVER / SECRETING

In the most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a pre-arranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting. Further, a tryst taking place at lunchtime is sometimes referred to as a nooner.

91 Disputed Asian region : KASHMIR

Kashmir is a vast region in the northwest of the Indian subcontinent. It has a long and rich history, but the year that is most significant today is perhaps 1947. In that year, Britain pulled out of the Indian subcontinent. The British divided the Indian Empire into the independent countries of India and Pakistan, leaving the Maharajah ruling Kashmir and free to join either India or Pakistan. When the Kashmiri Maharajah wavered in his decision, Pakistani forces advanced into Kashmir, prompting the Maharajah to turn to India for assistance. India did indeed help, but only on condition that Kashmir accede to India. India then called in the United Nations to intercede, but no definitive solution was found that brought peace to the region. There has been conflict there ever since.

92 River next to Boston’s Esplanade : CHARLES

The Charles River runs for 80 miles through eastern Massachusetts, taking a twisting route through 23 cities before emptying into the Atlantic in Boston. That circuitous flow reflects the river’s Native-American name “Quinobequin”, meaning “meandering”. The river’s English name was chosen by English king Charles I, who named it after himself.

93 “The Divine Comedy,” e.g. : TRILOGY

Dante Alighieri (usually just “Dante”) was an Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His “Divine Comedy” is widely considered to be the greatest literary work ever written in the Italian language. Dante actually gave his masterpiece the title “Comedy” (“Commedia” in Italian). Written in the early 1300s, none of Dante’s original “Comedy” manuscripts survive. Three copies made by author and poet Giovanni Boccaccio in the 1360s do survive. Boccaccio changed the title to “Divine Comedy” (“Divina Commedia”), and that title persists to this day.

94 Weasel family members : ERMINES

The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is used for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

98 Nonbinary possessive : THEIRS

The non-binary (NB, enbie) spectrum of gender identities covers those that do not qualify as exclusively masculine or feminine.

101 Best ___ Recording (Grammy category) : OPERA

The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.