Tag: They might be padded crossword clue

Bill’s time: 24m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

26A Electronic music genre : TECHNO

Techno is a type of electronic dance music that originated in Detroit in the eighties. Techno involves a heavy beat in common time, and what seems to be a lot of repetition. Not for me …

33A Bottom : TUSHIE

“Tush”, a word meaning “backside”, is an abbreviation of “tochus” that comes from the Yiddish “tokhes”.

36A They might be padded : RESUMES

A résumé is a summary of a person’s job experience and education and is used as a tool by a job seeker. In many countries, a résumé is equivalent to a curriculum vitae. “Résumé” is the French word for “summary”.

38A Gift in the 2000 movie “The Gift” : ESP

“The Gift” is a film produced in 2000, written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson. The movie is a supernatural thriller starring Cate Blanchett, and is inspired by the apparent psychic experiences of Thornton’s mother.

40A Alternative fuel source : PEAT

When dead plant matter accumulates in marshy areas, it may not fully decay due to a lack of oxygen or acidic conditions. We are familiar with this in Ireland, because this decaying matter can form peat, and we have lots and lots of peat bogs around the country.

42A ___ Noël : PERE

A central figure on Christmas Day is Santa Claus aka “Father Christmas”, and “Père Noël” in French.

43A Yoga sounds : OMS

“Om” is a sacred mystic word from the Hindu tradition. It is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

44A ’60s war zone : NAM

By some definitions, the official involvement of Americans in the Vietnam War started in 1955. At that time, President Eisenhower deployed a Military Assistance Advisory Group to assist in the training of the South Vietnamese Army. American involvement in the conflict officially ended in 1973, with the signing of an agreement that came out of the Paris Peace Accords.

45A “Wicked” protagonist : ELPHABA

In the stage musical “Wicked”, Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, and Elphaba is the Wicked Witch of the West.

49A 180 : UEY

Hang a “uey” or “uie”, make a u-turn, make a 180.

59A Cartoonist Silverstein : SHEL

Author Shel Silverstein had a varied career and did a lot more than write books. He was a poet, composer, cartoonist and screenwriter among other things. One of his successful children’s books is “A Light in the Attic”, a collection of poems that was first published in 1981. Some parents have tried to get the book banned from libraries. The collection includes the poem “How Not to Have to Dry the Dishes”, which encourages disobedience and making a mess. Scandalous …

62A Took an hour off mid-day, say : HAD LUNCH

“Lunch” is an abbreviated form of “luncheon”, but the exact etymology of “luncheon” seems unclear. That said, back in the 1650s, a luncheon was a light snack eaten between regular mealtimes, as opposed to a regular midday repast.

64A Phrase cooed en español : TE AMO

“I love you” translates into “te amo” in Spanish, “Ich liebe dich” in German, and “je t’aime” in French.

66A Monk known as “The Father of English History” : ST BEDE

The Venerable Bede was a monk in the north of England in the eighth century AD. Saint Bede is mainly known as an author and scholar, publisher of “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”. In his writings, Bede struggled with the two common ways of referring to dates at that time. Bede turned to the anno domini dating method that had been devised by Dionysius Exiguus in 525. Bede’s writings of circa 730 were extremely influential and helped popularize the “anno domini” method. He is sometimes referred to as “The Father of English History”.

73A Gave a hoot : CARED

Some people don’t “give a hoot, give a darn”.

75A Website feed inits. : 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.

79A Subj. for John Maynard Keynes : ECON

John Maynard Keynes was a British economist. He argued that a country’s economy could and should be managed by fiscal and monetary policy in order to mitigate the effects of inevitable recessions and depressions. A wise man …

82A Dot in la mer : ILE

In French, an “île” (island) is “terre dans la mer” (land in the sea).

85A Windy City commuting org. : CTA

Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)

It seems that the derivation of Chicago’s nickname “Windy City” isn’t as obvious as I would have thought. There are two viable theories. Firstly, that the weather can be breezy with wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The effect of the wind is exaggerated by the grid-layout adopted by city planners after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The second theory is that “windy” means “being full of bluster”. Sportswriters from the rival city of Cincinnati were fond of calling Chicago supporters “windy” in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning that they were full of hot air in their claims that the Chicago White Stockings were superior to the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

91A Mulligans : REDOS

There doesn’t seem to be a definitive account for the origin of the term “mulligan”, which is most often used for a shot do-over in golf. There are lots of stories about golfers named Mulligan though, and I suspect that one of them may be true …

93A Big name in streaming : ROKU

Roku is a manufacturer of digital media players that allow access to audio and video programming over the Internet that is shown on television. The company was founded in Los Gatos, California in 2002 by Anthony Wood. Wood chose the name “Roku” as it is the Japanese word for “six”, and Roku is the sixth company that Wood founded.

98A North Carolina university : ELON

Elon is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina located close to the city of Burlington. Elon University is a private liberal arts school founded in 1889.

103A Good person : MENSCH

“Mensch” is a word that comes to us via Yiddish, and is ultimately derived from the German “mensch” meaning “human being”. We use the term to describe someone of integrity and honor.

104A Collectors’ org. : IRS

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was set up during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.

105A Traded for cash : IN PAWN

I remember the bad old days growing up in Dublin, Ireland, when my mother had to go to the pawnshop (bad times!). I’d wait outside with my brother, looking up at the pawnbroker’s sign, three gold balls hanging down from a metal bar. This traditional sign used by pawnbrokers is said to date back to the Medici family as the sign had symbolic meaning in the province of Lombardy where the Medici family reigned supreme. Because of this connection, pawnshop banking was originally called Lombard banking.

111A 1962 Paul Anka hit with the lyric “Kiss me mucho” : ESO BESO

“Eso Beso” is Spanish for “That Kiss”, and is the title of a 1962 hit song recorded by Canadian-born singer Paul Anka.

115A “___ bin ein Berliner” : ICH

Ich is the German for “I”, as in “Ich bin ein Berliner” (I am a Berliner), the famous words of support uttered by President John F. Kennedy (JFK) in 1963 in a speech in West Berlin. The supposed translation of “Ich bin ein Berliner” as “I am a jelly doughnut” … that’s just an urban myth. President Kennedy’s use of German was perhaps clumsy (he should have said “Ich bin Berliner”), but I am sure he was understood.

117A Goddess of the rainbow : IRIS

In Greek mythology, the goddess Iris was viewed as the link between the gods and humanity, a messenger. She was also the goddess of the rainbow. In Virgil’s “Aeneid”, Iris takes the form of a Trojan woman and incites other Trojan mothers to set fire to Aeneas’ ships, preventing them from leaving Sicily.

119A State bird of Minnesota : LOON

The bird known as a loon here in North America is called a diver in Britain and Ireland. The name “diver” comes from the bird’s habit of swimming calmly and then suddenly diving below the surface to catch a fish. The name “loon” comes from an Old English word meaning “clumsy” and reflects the awkward gait of the bird when walking on land.

122A Reason for a successful steal, maybe : LATE TAG

That would be baseball.

126A Unstable noble gas : RADON

The element radon (Rn) is a radioactive gas, and a byproduct produced when uranium decays naturally in the earth. Radon gas can collect and accumulate in buildings and rooms that are particularly well insulated with very little air exchange. The danger is very real, as radon is listed as the second most frequent cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoke.

129A French composer Erik : SATIE

Erik Satie was a French composer best known for his beautiful composition, the three “Gymnopédies”. I have tried so hard to appreciate other works by Satie but I find them so very different from the minimalist simplicity of the lyrical “Gymnopédies”.

131A Eeyore-esque : GLOOMY

Eeyore is the donkey character in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”. He is very lovable, but has a gloomy and pessimistic outlook on life.

133A Black dialect, in brief : AAVE

African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

136A Soft palate appendages : UVULAE

The uvula is a conical fleshy projection hanging down at the back of the soft palate that plays an important role in human speech, particularly in the making of “guttural” sounds. The Latin word for “grape” is “uva”, so “uvula” is a “little grape”.

140A Daughter on “Bob’s Burgers” : TINA

“Bob’s Burgers” is a cartoon sitcom that airs on Fox. Not for me …

141A Group in charge : REGIME

Quite often, the terms “regime” and “regimen” seem to be used interchangeably. In contemporary usage, “regime” is applied more generally, and “regimen” more specifically. A “regimen” is a systematic approach that one might apply to something, to exercise or diet for example. The term “regime” can also be used in such contexts, but can have additional definitions, such as “government in power”. A form of government cannot be described as a “regimen”.

145A Wet bar? : SHOAL

A shoal is an underwater ridge or bank that is covered with a material such as sand or silt.

146A Smooth with a whetstone : HONE

“To hone” is to sharpen, a verb derived from the noun “hone” A “hone” is a whetstone used in sharpening.

148A Hawk : SELL

The verb “to hawk” has a Germanic origin, and comes from the Low German word “hoken” meaning “to peddle”. A hawker is actually slightly different from a peddler by definition, as a hawker is a peddler that uses a horse and cart, or a van nowadays perhaps, to sell his or her wares.

Down

4D Guiding principle : TENET

A tenet is an article of faith, something that is “held” to be true. “Tenet” is Latin for “he/she/it holds”.

5D Morse “. . .” : 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”.

7D Play featuring a trio of witches : MACBETH

The Three Witches in Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” have some lovely lines as they boil up and evil brew and cast a spell:

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,–
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

8D Actor ___ Jackson Jr. : O’SHEA

O’Shea Jackson Jr. is an American actor and rapper who is best known for his portrayal of his own father, rapper Ice Cube, in the biopic “Straight Outta Compton” (2015).

9D State birds of Hawaii : NENES

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

10D Winfield ___, loser to Franklin Pierce for president in 1852 : SCOTT

No one seems to know for sure who the “Scott” is in the exclamation “great Scott!”. One theory is that the reference is to the commander-in-chief of the US Army during the Civil War, General Winfield Scott. Scott weighed in at 300 pounds later in his life, and was so obese that he could not ride a horse.

15D Fictional land on “Game of Thrones” : WESTEROS

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy television drama that is adapted from a series of novels by George R. R. Martin titled “A Song of Ice and Fire”. “Game of Thrones” was actually filmed in and around Belfast, Northern Ireland. I binge-watched the show’s first seven seasons, and enjoyed it. There’s no doubt that the production value of “Game of Thrones” is remarkable, but to be honest, I never became riveted by the storyline …

19D Deep split : SCHISM

A schism is a split or division, especially in a religion.

35D Likely place for a hot mic : LAPEL

One of my favorite hot-mic moments took place in 2005, when Paris and London were vying to host the 2012 Olympics. French President Jacques Chirac compared Paris and London in that context while chatting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Chirac said, over a hot mic:

The only thing that they have ever done for European agriculture is mad cow disease … You cannot trust people who have such bad cuisine.

37D Certain religious pacifist : MENNONITE

The Mennonites are a group of religious sects that originated in the Friesland region of the Low Countries. The various denominations are named for Menno Simons who was a contemporary of the Protestant Reformers who followed Martin Luther.

47D Italian lawn game : BOCCI

The Italian bowling game of bocce (often anglicized as “bocci” or “boccie”) is based on a game played in ancient Rome. “Bocce” is the plural of the Italian word “boccia” meaning “bowl”.

50D Still-life vessels : EWERS

A pitcher is a container for liquid that has a handle, mouth and spout. The term “jug” is used for the same container in other English-speaking countries. “Ewer” is an older term describing a pitcher/jug. Today, a ewer is a highly decorative pitcher, often with a base and flared spout.

53D Jacks and jennies : ASSES

A female donkey/ass is known as a jenny and a male is known as a jack, or sometimes “jackass”. We started using the term “jackass” to mean “fool” in the 1820s.

58D Bygone owner of Capitol Records : EMI

EMI was a British music company, with the initialism standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

Capitol Records is a label that was founded in 1942 by lyricist and songwriter Johnny Mercer.

60D Tier : ECHELON

We use the word “echelon” (ech.) to describe a rank or level, particularly in the military. The term comes from French, in which language it has the same meaning, although the original meaning in Old French is “rung of a ladder”.

61D Like sperm whales, among all animals : LOUDEST

The massive sperm whale takes its name from “spermaceti”, a waxy liquid that is found in its digestive system. The liquid was originally mistaken for the whale’s sperm, hence the name.

63D Slurpable noodle : UDON

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

67D Polliwog : TADPOLE

“Polliwog” is another word for “tadpole”, which describes the larval stage of an amphibian such as a frog or a toad. The term “polliwog” has been around since the mid-15th century and probably comes from the Old English words “pol” (head) and “wiglen” (wiggle).

68D With 18-Down, classic 1967 song by a group whose name is a hint to solving the eight bonus clues (see note) : BREAK ON THROUGH …
18D See 68-Down : … TO THE OTHER SIDE

“Break on Through (to the Other Side)” is a 1967 song recorded by the Doors. It was actually the first song that the band released, and was relatively unsuccessful compared to later recordings. That said, the popularity of “Break on Through” increased with the popularity of the band itself.

71D Biotech crop, in brief : GMO

A genetically modified organism (GMO) is one with genetic material that has been altered by genetic engineering. One might argue that the oldest form of genetic engineering is selective breeding, the use of animals or plants with desired traits for the creation of the next generation.

80D Atlantic food fish : COD

In Britain and Ireland, the most common fish that is used in traditional “fish and chips” is Atlantic cod. Cod has been overfished all over the world, and is now considered to be an endangered species by many international bodies. Confrontations over fishing rights in the North Atlantic led to conflicts called “the Cod Wars” between Iceland and the UK in the 1950s and the 1970s, with fishing fleets being protected by naval vessels and even shots being fired.

81D Breakfast brand with a Thick & Fluffy variety : EGGO

Eggo is a line of frozen waffles and related products made by Kellogg’s. When they were introduced in the 1930s, the name “Eggo” was chosen to promote the “egginess” of the batter. “Eggo” replaced “Froffles”, the original name chosen by melding “frozen” and “waffles”.

86D Puccini opera set in Rome : TOSCA

Giacomo Puccini’s opera “Tosca” is famous for its dramatic plot and unforgettable arias, but it’s also notable for its compressed, real-time setting: the entire opera unfolds over less than 24 hours in Rome, during events related to the Battle of Marengo on June 14, 1800. The plot centers on the tempestuous opera singer Floria Tosca, her lover Mario Cavaradossi, and the sadistic Chief of Police Baron Scarpia, who lusts after Tosca. The opera includes intense scenes of torture, attempted rape, assassination, and suicide. Be warned …

87D Ancient symbols of life : ANKHS

The ankh was the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic character for “eternal life”. The ankh wasn’t just used in inscriptions but was often fashioned into amulets and as surrounds for mirrors (perhaps symbolizing a view into another world). The ankh is also known as “the key of the Nile” and “crux ansata” (Latin for “cross with a handle”).

89D Some luxury bags : DIORS

Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped to re-establish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

92D ___ noche (tonight, in Tijuana) : ESTA

Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

95D One of 12 for Jacob : SON

In the Torah, the Israelites are traced back to Jacob, grandson of Abraham and twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons through his concurrent wives Leah and Rachel, and his two concubines Bilhah and Zilpah. The sons became the ancestors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The sons were:

1. Reuben
2. Simeon
3. Levi
4. Judah
5. Dan
6. Naphtali
7. Gad
8. Asher
9. Issachar
10. Zebulun
11. Joseph
12. Benjamin

97D Classic detergent brand : RINSO

Rinso was a laundry detergent that was first manufactured in England in 1908 by a company called Hudson’s Soap. It was introduced into the US in 1918. In America, Rinso took to radio advertising and sponsorship in the days of “soap operas”. Their most famous program association was with “The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show” in the 1940s. One of the brand’s slogans was “Solium, the sunlight ingredient”. I have no idea what Solium is, but it certainly did sell a lot of soap!

103D Stealthy aquatic hunter : MORAY EEL

Morays are a large group of about 200 species of eels found across the world’s oceans. They are carnivorous and look pretty scary but they’re quite shy when confronted and present no threat to humans. One interesting thing about morays is that they will sometimes work in cooperation with the grouper fish found in reefs, the two helping each other hunt for food.

109D “Lip Gloss” rapper, 2007 : LIL MAMA

Lil Mama, born Niatia Jessica Kirkland, gained fame with her 2007 hit “Lip Gloss”. Beyond her music career, she also portrayed Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in the 2013 biopic “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story”.

112D Stop being buds? : BLOSSOM

Blossoms are the flowers of a tree that bears stone fruit, e.g. cherries, peaches, apples and oranges. The blossoms provide pollen that is necessary for cross-pollination between individual trees.

116D Jersey boys? : CALVES

Jersey cattle were bred originally on the island of Jersey in the Channel Islands, off the coast of France. If you’ve seen Elsie the Cow, the mascot of Borden in the US, then you’ve seen a Jersey cow.

118D Google action : SEARCH

The Google search engine was originally called “BackRub” would you believe? The name was eventually changed to “Google”, an intentional misspelling of the word “googol”. A googol is a pretty big number, 10 to the power of 100. That would be the digit 1 followed by 100 zeros.

123D Just not done : TABOO

The word “taboo” comes to English from the Tongan language, specifically from the word “tapu”, meaning “sacred, forbidden”. Captain James Cook was one of the first to introduce the word to Europe after his voyages to Polynesia in the late 18th century.

125D Beau ___ : GESTE

“Beau geste” (plural “beaux gestes”) is a French term meaning “noble deed”, or literally “beautiful gesture”.

126D Bonnie with 13 Grammys : RAITT

Bonnie Raitt is a blues singer who is originally from Burbank, California. Raitt has won nine Grammys for her work, but she is perhaps as well known for her political activism as she is for her music. She was no fan of President George W. Bush while he was in office, and she sure did show it.

128D AC ___ (G.M. subsidiary) : DELCO

“Delco” is an acronym standing for Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company. Delco is often seen in the brand name “ACDelco”. The AC stands for Albert Champion, who was famous for the development of the spark plug.

132D Grab bag : OLIO

“Olio” is a term meaning “hodgepodge, mixture” that comes from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

139D Thurman who played the bride in “Kill Bill” : UMA

“Kill Bill” is a 3-part Quentin Tarantino movie (I haven’t seen it, as I really don’t “do” Tarantino). “Kill Bill” started off as one film, but as the running time was over four hours, it was split into two “volumes”, released several months apart in 2003 and 2004. There has been a lot of talk about making “Kill Bill: Volume 3”.