Tag: Terms of a contract? crossword clue

Bill’s time: 20m 20s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Large ___ Collider (facility in Geneva, Switzerland) : HADRON

The Large Hadron Collider is the world’s largest particle accelerator. It is located on the French-Swiss border near Geneva, in a circular tunnel that is a whopping 17 miles in circumference.

19A Family elder in El Salvador : ABUELA

In Spanish, an “abuela” (grandmother) is a “miembro de la familia” (member of the family).

El Salvador is a nation in Central America, the smallest country in the region. The capital of El Salvador is the city of San Salvador. “El Salvador” is derived from the name given to the land by the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century: “Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, El Salvador Del Mundo”, which translates as “Province of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World”.

20A Bishop’s deputy : VICAR

A vicar is a member of the clergy in several Christian traditions. In more general terms, we can use the word “vicar” for a person who acts in the place of another, i.e. a deputy. It was the latter usage of the term that gave rise to the religious usage, as a vicar in a church was considered a person acting for God.

21A Marine predator : ORCA

An apex predator is at the top of a food chain, and has no other natural predators. Examples are the orca (“killer whale”) in the oceans, the lion in Africa, and the Tyrannosaurus in the days of the dinosaurs.

23A Make a partner’s beard presentable for all the photos? : SHAVE THE DATE (save the date + H)

Save-the-date cards … another recent invention to increase the price of a wedding …

29A Increment in an elephant’s weight : TON

The gestation period for elephants is around two years, with only one calf being born at a time, and rarely two. The newborn calf weighs about 260 pounds. Female elephants become sexually mature at about nine years of age, whereas males mature at 14-15 years. Typically, elephants live to 60 or 70 years old, with at least captive male reported to have lived for 86 years.

30A Pancake with applesauce or sour cream : LATKE

A latke is a delicious potato pancake (I’m Irish, so anything made with potatoes is delicious, to be honest).

37A 1980s tennis champ Ivan : LENDL

Ivan Lendl is a former professional tennis player from Czechoslovakia. He appeared in eight consecutive US Open finals in the eighties, a record that stands to this day. After retiring from tennis, Lendl took up golf, and eventually became a scratch player. Three of Lendl’s five daughters followed their father into golf, all playing for their college golf teams.

39A Reeves of “The Matrix” : KEANU

Keanu Reeves is a Canadian actor whose most celebrated roles were a metalhead in “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” (1989), a cop in “Speed” (1994) and the protagonist Neo in “The Matrix” series of films. Although Reeves is a Canadian national, he was born in Beirut, Lebanon. Reeves has some Hawaiian descent, and the name “Keanu” is Hawaiian for “the coolness” or “cool breeze”.

The 1999 movie sensation “The Matrix” was meant to be set in a nondescript urban environment. It was actually shot in Australia, as one of the co-producers of the film was the Australian company, Village Roadshow Pictures. You can pick up all sorts of clues about the location when watching the film, including a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge in a background shot. Also, traffic drives along on the left and there are signs for the “lift” instead of an “elevator”.

40A Suffix with Caesar : -EAN

The story that Julius Caesar was born via caesarean section (C-section) seems to be unfounded. Although such procedures were indeed carried out in ancient Rome, there are no reports of the mother surviving (and Julius Caesar’s mother did raise her child). The term “cesarean” comes not from (Julius) Caesar, but rather directly from the Latin “caedere” meaning “to cut”.

44A Unagi catcher : EELER

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for” freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

48A “___ on Down the Road,” song from “The Wiz” : EASE

“Ease on Down the Road” is a song from “The Wiz”, the 1975 stage musical adaptation of the L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. “Ease on Down the Road” is used for the same sequences as the songs “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” and “We’re Off to See the Wizard” from the celebrated 1939 movie adaptation “The Wizard of Oz”.

56A Where inner truth is seen clearly? : X-RAY LAB

X-rays were first studied comprehensively by the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen (also “Roentgen”), and it was he who gave the name “X-rays” to this particular type of radiation. Paradoxically, in Röntgen’s native language of German, X-rays are routinely referred to as “Röntgen rays”. In 1901, Röntgen’s work on X-rays won him the first Nobel Prize in Physics that was ever awarded.

58A Pro ___ : BONO

The Latin term “pro bono publico” means “for the public good”, and is usually shortened to “pro bono”. The term applies to professional work that is done for free or at a reduced fee as a service to the public.

59A Start of a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” farewell : SASHAY …

To sashay is to strut along in a showy manner. “Sashay” is an Anglicized form of the French word “chassé”, a sliding step used in square dancing.

RuPaul is a famous drag queen who has developed a diverse career beyond performing on stage. He works as an actor, model, author and a recording artist. Famously, RuPaul doesn’t mind whether one addresses him as “he” or as “she” …

You can call me he. You can call me she. You can call me Regis and Kathie Lee; I don’t care! Just as long as you call me.

He currently hosts his own reality TV show called “RuPaul’s Drag Race”, which is billed as a search for “America’s next drag superstar”.

61A Airport alternative to EWR : LGA

The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).

62A Little nobodies : TWERPS

“Twerp” and “pip-squeak” are both terms used for someone who is insignificant and contemptible.

65A Pope who excommunicated Martin Luther : LEO X

Pope Leo X is remembered as the last pope who was not a priest before taking office. He was also known for granting indulgences to those willing to donate funds for the reconstruction of St. Peter’s Basilica, a practice that contributed to the revolt against the church by Martin Luther. As a result of the revolt, Leo X excommunicated Luther.

Martin Luther wrote his “95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of the Indulgences” in 1517, creating a document that is often seen as setting off the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s main argument was that the Catholic Church’s practice of granting “indulgences”, forgiveness from punishment for sins, was wrong. It was especially wrong when such indulgences were granted in exchange for money.

74A Famous “Dr.” who never practiced medicine : SEUSS

“Dr. Seuss” was the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. Geisel first used the pen name while studying at Dartmouth College and at the University of Oxford. Back then, he pronounced “Seuss” as it would be in German, i.e. rhyming with “voice”. After his books found success in the US, he went with the pronunciation being used widely by the public, quite happy to have a name that rhymes with “Mother Goose”.

75A “___ is me, to have seen what I have seen”: Ophelia : O WOE

In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Ophelia is courted by Hamlet, the man himself. She is the daughter of nobleman Polonius. Ophelia dies …

76A Mesmerized : ENRAPT

Franz Mesmer was a German physician, and the person who coined the phrase “animal magnetism”. Back then the term described a purported magnetic field that resided in the bodies of animate beings. Mesmer also lent his name to our term “mesmerize”.

83A One side of the Bosporus Strait : ASIA

The Bosphorus (also “Bosporus”) is one of the two Turkish Straits, the other being the Dardanelles. The Bosphorus and the Dardanelles lie either side of the Sea of Marmara, allowing continuous navigation from the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. The Turkish Straits also form the boundary between Europe and Asia.

93A Major lobby in D.C. : NEA

Founded in 1857, the National Education Association (NEA) is the largest labor union in the country, and mainly represents public school teachers.

94A Communication that goes without saying, for short : ASL

American Sign Language (ASL)

96A Trojan War king : PRIAM

Priam was King of Troy during the Trojan War. Reputedly, Priam was father to fifty sons and many daughters with his many wives. His eldest son and heir to the throne was Hector. Paris was another of Priam’s sons, the man who caused the Trojan War by eloping with Helen, Queen of Sparta.

99A Rugby scuffle : SCRUM

If you’ve ever seen a rugby match, you’ll recognize the scrum, in which the players designated as forwards bind together and push against the forwards on the opposing team. It’s a way of restarting the game after various types of stoppages. “Scrum” is short for “scrummage”, which in itself is a variation of “scrimmage”. And “scrimmage” has its roots in the word “skirmish”. If you get the chance, take a look at the Matt Damon-Morgan Freeman movie called “Invictus”, directed by Clint Eastwood. It’s all about rugby in South Africa after Nelson Mandela came to power. A powerful film …

106A Orthodox Jewish sect : HASIDIM

The Hasidic Jewish movement was founded in the 18th century by Baal Shem Tov, a mystical rabbi from Eastern Europe.

112A Febreze competitor : GLADE

Glade is a brand of air fresheners that was introduced in 1956.

The odor-eliminating product we know today as Febreze was developed in England in the early nineties. It is now produced by Procter & Gamble.

114A Disembodied assistant : SIRI

Siri was originally developed as a standalone app by a startup company of the same name. Apple acquired the company in 2010 and integrated the technology into their operating system.

117A Parent who foolishly wore stiletto heels to a garden event? : MOTHER IN LAWN (mother-in-law + N)

The stiletto knife was developed in Italy, and is a knife intended for thrusting and stabbing as opposed to slashing and cutting. The term “stiletto” comes from the Latin “stilus”, which was a thin pointed writing instrument used in ancient Rome to engrave wax or clay tablets. And, there are also stiletto heels on some women’s shoes, heels that are long and thin.

120A Popular 90-min. show : SNL

“Saturday Night Live” (SNL)

121A A bushel or a peck : UNIT

In the imperial system of weights and measures, a bushel is a unit of dry volume made up of 4 pecks. In the US system, a bushel is a dry volume of 8 gallons. We have used the term “bushel” to mean “large quantity” since the 14th century.

A peck is a dry measure of volume equal to a quarter of a bushel. The term can be used figuratively to mean a considerable quantity in general, as in the phrase “a peck of trouble”.

125A PlayStation maker : SONY

Sony was founded by Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo (Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation). The two partners met in the Japanese Navy during WWII.

127A Taxis, typically : SEDANS

The American sedan car is the equivalent of the British and Irish saloon car. By definition, a sedan car has two rows of seating and a separate trunk (boot in Britain and Ireland), although in some models the engine can be at the rear of the car.

Down

3D One of music’s Allman Brothers : DUANE

The Allman Brothers Band has to be one of the most unlucky bands in the business. Soon after the group had its big break with the 1971 album “At Fillmore East”, one of the two Allman brothers, Duane, was killed in a motorcycle accident. One year later, bassist Berry Oakley was killed, also in a motorcycle accident. The other brother, Gregg Allman, passed away in his home in 2017.

6D “King” Cole’s first name : NAT

Nat King Cole’s real name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. Cole made television history in 1956 when his own show debuted on NBC, a first for an African-American. Cole couldn’t pick up a national sponsor, so in order to save money and possibly save the show, many guest artists worked for no fee at all – the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Peggy Lee. The show survived for a year, but eventually Nat King Cole had to pull the plug on it himself.

8D Lady Anne, at the beginning of “Richard III” : WIDOW

“Richard III” is one of the more famous of William Shakespeare’s historical plays. A well-known 1955 version of the play was made for the big screen with Laurence Olivier playing the title role. The most oft-quoted words from “Richard III” are probably the opening lines “Now is the winter of our discontent/Made glorious summer by this sun of York”, and Richard’s plea at the climax of battle “A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!”

9D Rocker Ric : OCASEK

Ric Ocasek was an American musician of Czech heritage. He was the lead vocalist of the Cars rock band.

11D Famous “Dr.” who never practiced medicine : DRE

“Dr. Dre” is the stage name of rapper Andre Romelle Young. He is known for his own singing career as well as for producing records and starting the careers of others such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.

12D Piña colada vessel : COCONUT

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

13D Cousin of a chimp : ORANG

Orangutans (also “orangs”) are arboreal creatures, the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, and live in rainforests. Like most species in rainforests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

15D Mudslide component : KAHLUA

Kahlúa is a rum-based liqueur from Mexico that has a coffee flavor. It was first produced in 1936, in Veracruz, Mexico. The name “Kahlúa” means “House of the Acolhua people” in the Veracruz Nahuatl language.

26D Dinosaur “from our imagination” : BARNEY

Barney the purple dinosaur is the title character in the young children’s TV show “Barney & Friends”.

32D Off! ingredient : DEET

“DEET” is short for “N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide”, an active ingredient in insect repellents. DEET is most often used to repel mosquitoes by applying it to the skin and/or clothing. It is also used to protect against tick bites.

33D Real lulu : ONER

We call a remarkable thing or a person a lulu. The term “lulu” was coined in honor of Lulu Hurst, the Georgia Wonder, who was a stage magician active in the 1880s.

36D Caboose : DERRIERE

“Derrière” is a French term meaning “back part, rear”.

The word “caboose” originally came from Middle Dutch and was the word for a ship’s galley. When the last car in a train in North America was given a stove for the comfort of the crew, it took on the name “caboose”. The term has also become slang for a person’s backside.

41D Queue before Q : LGBT-

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning (LGBTQ)

45D Choral arrangement essentials : RISERS

A riser is a platform that elevates a group of people above a crowd, and so is ideal for the performance of a choir.

47D Community at the end of the line : EXURB

An extension to the term “suburb”, “exurb” describes an area beyond the suburbs at the very outskirts of a city. The related term “exurbia” is often used to denote an area inhabited by more wealthy people.

50D Starch-yielding palm : SAGO

When I was growing up in Ireland I was very familiar with pearl sago, which is very similar to pearl tapioca. Pearls of sago are simply little balls of sago starch used to make breads, pancakes, biscuits, or steamed puddings that we ate as kids. Sago comes from the pith of the sago palm tree. To get at the starch the tree has to be cut down and the trunk split to reveal the pith. The pith is crushed and manipulated to make the starch available, which is then washed out of a fibrous suspension. One sago palm tree yields about 150-300 kg of starch. Personally I love the stuff, but then, I am a bit weird …

51D Parent of Shopping.com : EBAY

Shopping.com is one of those comparison shopping websites. It allows you to compare prices for the same product at many different online retailers. It’s very useful for those of us who prefer online shopping to visiting a brick-and-mortar store.

53D Driver’s warning : FORE!

No one seems to know for sure where the golfing term “fore!” comes from. It has been used at least as far back as 1881, and since then has been called out to warn other golfers that a wayward ball might be heading their way. My favorite possibility for its origin is that it is a contraction of the Gaelic warning cry “Faugh a Ballagh!” (clear the way!) which is still called out in the sport of road bowling. Road bowling is an Irish game where players bowl balls along roads between villages, trying to reach the end of the course in as few bowls as possible, just like in golf!

55D 1099, e.g. : TAX FORM

There is a series of IRS 1099 forms used to report various types of income, other than wages, salaries and tips that are reported on Form W-2. Examples are Form 1099-INT used to report interest income, 1099-DIV used to report dividend income, and 1099-MISC used to report miscellaneous income.

60D Filibuster components : SPEECHES

A filibuster is a procedure used in parliamentary circles whereby someone extends a debate in order to prevent a vote taking place. The use of the filibuster has led to most legislation needing a 60% vote in order to come to the floor of the US Senate. At least that has been the case since 1975. The filibuster was an option in the US House as well until 1842, at which time a rule was introduced that limits the duration of a debate.

66D Young pigs : SHOATS

“Shoat” is a word describing a young hog after it has been weaned.

69D The “H” in HOMES : HURON

Lake Huron takes its name from the Huron Native-American people that lived by its shores. Early French explorers often called the lake “La Mer Douce”, which translates as “the freshwater sea”.

86D Jack on a nonfat diet : SPRAT

“Jack Sprat” is a nickname given in the 16th century to people of small stature. Jack featured in a proverb of the day:

Jack will eat not fat, and Jull doth love no leane. Yet betwixt them both they lick the dishes cleane.

Over time, this mutated into a nursery rhyme that is still recited in England:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, they licked the platter clean.

87D Awkwafina’s given name : NORA

“Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens” is a sitcom that first aired in 2020. It stars actress, rapper and comedian Awkwafina as a woman named Nora Lin who is spreading her wings in Queens, New York. “Awkwafina” is the stage name of Nora Lum.

88D Hoofed creatures that sound up-to-date? : GNUS

The gnu is also known as the wildebeest, and is an antelope native to Africa. “Wildebeest” is a Dutch word meaning “wild beast”.

91D Galore : APLENTY

Our word “galore”, meaning “in great numbers”, comes from the Irish phrase “go leór” that translates as “sufficiently, enough”.

97D Second-largest Portuguese-speaking country : ANGOLA

Angola is a country in south-central Africa on the west coast. It is the fourth largest diamond exporter in Africa, after Botswana, the Congo and South Africa. Such a valuable export hasn’t really helped the living standard of the country’s citizens as life expectancy and infant mortality rates are among the poorest on the continent.

98D Like the cheese in fondue : MELTED

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 …

101D Blue Ribbon beer : PABST

Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) is the most recognizable brand of beer from the Pabst Brewing Company. There appears to be some dispute over whether or not Pabst beer ever won a “blue ribbon” prize, but the company claims that it did so at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The beer was originally called Pabst Best Select, and then just Pabst Select. With the renaming to Blue Ribbon, the beer was sold with an actual blue ribbon tied around the neck of the bottle until it was dropped in 1916 and incorporated into the label.

102D “The Hunger Games” venue : ARENA

“The Hunger Games” is a 2008 novel by Suzanne Collins, and the first in a series of titles that also includes “Catching Fire” (2009) and “Mockingjay” (2010). “The Hunger Games” was adapted into a very successful movie released in 2012, with the sequels following soon after. Amazon.com reports more sales of “The Hunger Games” series books than even the “Harry Potter” series.

103D South Pole trailblazer Amundsen : ROALD

Roald Amundsen was an explorer of the polar regions from Norway. Most notably perhaps, he was the leader of the first team to reach the South Pole, doing so in 1911. Amundsen was also one of the first humans to reach the North Pole. He did this in an airship in 1926 with a team of fifteen. Amundsen disappeared while participating in the attempted rescue of the crew of another airship exploring the North Pole. His remains were never recovered.

105D Motorsports Hall-of-Famer Bobby : RAHAL

Bobby Rahal is an auto racing driver and team owner. Rahal won the 1986 Indianapolis 500 as a driver, and won the 2004 Indianapolis 500 as a team owner (the driver was Buddy Rice).

107D Character in “The Crown” : DIANA

Actor Emma Corrin’s breakthrough role was portraying Diana, Princess of Wales in the hit drama “The Crown”. Corrin appeared on the cover of “Vogue” in 2022, and in so doing became the magazine’s first non-binary cover star.

“The Crown” is a historical drama produced for Netflix that covers the life of British Queen Elizabeth II from her marriage to Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. For the first two seasons, Elizabeth is played by Claire Foy and Philip by Matt Smith. For the next two seasons, Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies take over as Elizabeth and Philip. The show finishes up with Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce in the roles.

108D “Crocodile Hunter” Steve : IRWIN

Steve Irwin was a wildlife expert and TV personality from Australia who was known as the Crocodile Hunter. Sadly, Irwin died in 2006 at only 44 years of age, having been stung in the chest by a stingray.

113D “__ thy father and refuse thy name”: Juliet : DENY

In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

A little later she utters the famous lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

117D Leo’s movie studio : MGM

There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until Jackie took over from Slats in 1928 that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.

118D FWIW part : IT’S

For what it’s worth (FWIW)