Tag: Things folded in the kitchen crossword clue

Constructed by: Brendan Emmett Quigley
Edited by: Will Shortz

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Today’s Theme: Let’s Play Two!

Each themed answer is a combination of the names of two games:

• 23A. Underwater mine? : BATTLESHIP RISK (“Battleship” & “Risk”)
• 30A. Get a copy of a 1965 #1 Beatles hit? : ACQUIRE TICKET TO RIDE (“Acquire” & “Ticket to Ride”)
• 50A. Rather poor ambassador’s skill? : SORRY DIPLOMACY (“Sorry!” & “Diplomacy”)
• 67A. Reason a computer program wouldn’t open? : MEMORY TROUBLE (“Memory” & “Trouble”)
• 85A. Incredibly hard puzzle? : CRANIUM TWISTER (“Cranium” & “Twister”)
• 101A. Link a quartet of supermarket employees? : CONNECT FOUR CHECKERS (“Connect Four” & “Checkers”)
• 117A. Something you’re not allowed to do in math? : TABOO OPERATION (“Taboo” & “Operation”)

Bill’s time: 17m 40s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Perpendicular to the ship’s middle : ABEAM

The beam is the widest part of a nautical vessel. Something pointed out as lying abeam is something that it is 90 degrees from a line through the bow and the stern, in other words directly off to the right or the left.

13. Larger of Mars’s two moons : PHOBOS

Mars has two moons, the larger of which is Phobos and the smaller is Deimos. “Phobos” is the Greek word for “fear”, and “Deimos” is Greek for “dread”.

21. Maines of the Dixie Chicks : NATALIE

The Dixie Chicks are a country music trio comprising sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison, along with lead singer Natalie Maines. The band hit the headlines in 2003 during a London concert that took place around the time of the invasion of Iraq. Maines expressed her opposition to the war to the general acclaim of the British audience, and the general disapproval of conservatives back in the US.

23. Underwater mine? : BATTLESHIP RISK (“Battleship” & “Risk”)

In the days of sail, a naval fleet of ships often formed a “line of battle” in the vessels formed up end to end. The advantage of such a formation was that all vessels could fire a battery of cannon along the full length of the ship. Vessels deemed powerful enough to join the line of battle became known as “ships of the line”, or “line of battle ships”. The term “line of battle ship” shortened over time to become our modern word “battleship”. The main feature of a contemporary battleship is a battery of large caliber guns.

Battleship is a remarkably fun guessing game that I used to play as a child. Back then we would play it just using pencil and paper, although these days kids are more likely to play an electronic version of the game.

Risk is a fabulous board game, and one introduced in France in 1957. Risk was invented by a very successful French director of short films called Albert Lamorisse. Lamorisse called his new game “La Conquête du Monde”, which translates into English as “The Conquest of the World”. A game of Risk is a must during the holidays in our house …

26. ___ Plus (grooming brand) : ATRA

Fortunately for crossword constructors, the Atra was introduced by Gillette in 1977, as the first razor with a pivoting head. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.

27. “Insecure” star Issa : RAE

Issa Rae is Stanford University graduate who created a YouTube web series called “Awkward Black Girl”. Rae also plays the title role in the series, a young lady named “J”. “Awkward Black Girl” was adapted into an HBO comedy-drama called “Insecure”, in which Issa Rae stars.

30. Get a copy of a 1965 #1 Beatles hit? : ACQUIRE TICKET TO RIDE (“Acquire” & “Ticket to Ride”)

“Ticket to Ride” is a 1965 Beatles song credited, as usual, to the Lennon-McCartney partnership. Paul McCartney claimed publicly that he played a major role in its composition, and John Lennon disagreed. Lennon asserted that he McCartney’s role was limited to “the way Ringo played the drums”.

Acquire is a board game that was introduced in 1964 by Milton Bradley that deals with financial mergers and acquisitions. There are several versions of the game, but most involve investment in hotel chains.

“Ticket to Ride” is truly marvelous, award-winning board game that was introduced in 2004. The original version of the game involves the building of rail lines to connect cities across the US, and derivative variations feature rail networks across much of the world. For what it’s worth, my sons and I tend to favor the “Ticket to Ride: Pennsylvania” version. Give it a try!

37. South America’s ___ Picchu : MACHU

Machu Picchu is known as “The Lost City of the Incas”, and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco in the southeast of the country. The name Machu Picchu means “old peak”. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu originates about 50 miles from Cusco on the Urubamba River in Peru. It can take travelers about 5 days to trek the full length of the trail, passing through many Incan ruins before reaching the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain. The trail was becoming greatly overused, forcing the Peruvian government to limit the number of people on the trail each day to 500. Book early …

40. U.N. worker protection agcy. : ILO

The International Labour Organization (ILO) is an agency, now administered by the UN, that was established by the League of Nations after WWI. The ILO deals with important issues such as health and safety, discrimination, child labor and forced labor. The organization was recognized for its work in 1969 when it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

41. “___ Music’s golden tongue / Flatter’d to tears this aged man …”: Keats : ERE

The quoted lines are from “The Eve of St. Agnes” by John Keats.

“The Eve of St. Agnes” is poem by John Keats that was first published in 1820. This long work (42 stanzas) refers to the superstition that a girl could see her future husband in a dream on the eve of St. Agnes. St. Agnes is the patron saint of virgins.

42. Actor Milo : O’SHEA

Milo O’Shea was a great Irish character actor from Dublin who has appeared in everything from “Romeo and Juliet” to “The West Wing”. O’Shea passed away in 2013, in New York City.

43. Minute Maid Park player, informally : ‘STRO

Enron Field, as it was known, is a retractable-roof ballpark that was built next to Houston’s old Union Station. Enron paid $100 million to get its name on the field, and then when the world found out what a scam Enron actually was, the Astros bought back the contract for the name, for a mere $2.1 million. The stadium became Astros Field for a few months, until the Coke people paid $170 million for a 28-year contract to rename the stadium Minute Maid Park. A good deal for the Astros, I’d say.

45. Formed for a particular purpose : AD HOC

The Latin phrase “ad hoc” means “for this purpose”. An ad hoc committee, for example, is formed for a specific purpose and is disbanded after making its final report.

47. Sultan Qaboos’s land : OMAN

Qaboos bin Said al Said is the current Sultan of Oman, who came to power in a coup in 1970 by deposing his own father. Qaboos has no children, and no agreed heir. His current instructions are for the royal family to agree on a successor after his death. Qaboos has also specified that should the royal not be able to agree on a successor, then the country’s Defense Council will make the decision, choosing between two names that the Sultan placed in a sealed envelope to be opened after his passing.

50. Rather poor ambassador’s skill? : SORRY DIPLOMACY (“Sorry!” & “Diplomacy”)

Sorry! is a board game that dates back at least to 1934 when it was introduced in the UK market by Waddingtons. The game itself is based on the ancient game of Pachisi, and involves players racing against each other to move their playing pieces around the board as quickly as possible. Players can cause opponents to return to the start, hopefully while saying “Sorry!” in the process.

Diplomacy is a war-based board game that was introduced in 1954. Although it is a wargame, as the name suggests, there is plenty of opportunity for negotiation and the forming of alliances. The game has had many celebrity fans over the years, including President John F. Kennedy, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, authors Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury, and broadcast journalist Walter Cronkite.

53. School in development? : ROE

That would be a school of fish.

57. Brand with an arrow through its logo : SUNOCO

Back in the late 1800s, Sunoco was known as the Sun Oil Company, hence “Sun-o-co”.

58. Grp. getting a pay cut? : 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.

59. “Roll Tide!” school, for short : BAMA

The athletic teams of the University of Alabama (“Bama”) are nicknamed the Crimson Tide, which is a reference to the team colors of crimson and white.

62. Rolled ___ : OATS

Oat cereals all start out as “groats”, toasted oat grains with the hull still intact:

• Steel-cut oats, sometimes called “Irish oats”, are groats that have been chopped into chunks about the size of sesame seeds.
• Stone-ground oats, sometimes called “Scottish oats”, have been ground into smaller pieces, about the size of poppy seeds.
• Old-fashioned rolled oats are made by first steaming the toasted groats, and then rolling them into flakes.
• Quick-cooking oats are similar to rolled oats, but thinner flakes.
• Instant oats have been chopped, rolled, pre-cooked, dehydrated and often have salt and sugar added.

66. Formerly known as : NEE

“Née” is the French word for “born” when referring to a female. The male equivalent is “né”.

67. Reason a computer program wouldn’t open? : MEMORY TROUBLE (“Memory” & “Trouble”)

Memory is a card game in which all of the cards are placed face down on the playing surface. Each player flips over two cards at each go, looking for pairs. The trick is to remember where unpaired cards are located, so that they can be used in pairs later in the game.

The board game called Trouble was introduced in the US in 1965, and is very similar to the competing game called “Sorry!” that was already on the market. Both games are in turn based on the ancient game of Pachisi. The big selling feature of Trouble was the Pop-O-Matic dice container in the center of the board. I remember it well …

70. Some touchdown scorers, for short : RBS

In football, running backs (RBs) and wide receivers (WRs) often score touchdowns (TDs).

73. Zippo : NIL

The use of the words “zip” and “zippo” to mean “nothing” dates back to the early 1900s when it was student slang for being graded zero on a test.

76. Thanksgiving serving : YAM

Although in the US we sometimes refer to sweet potatoes as “yams”, the yam is actually a completely different family of plants. True yams are more common in other parts of the the world than they are in this country, and are especially common in Africa.

77. Things folded in the kitchen : BLINIS

A blintz (also “blin”, plural “blini”) is a thin pancake similar to a crêpe although unlike a crêpe, a blintz may contain yeast.

80. “Cinderella” mouse : GUS

In the 1950 Disney animated feature “Cinderella”, the title character has two mousy sidekicks named Jaq and Gus. Along with two other mice, Jaq and Gus are transformed by the Fairy Godmother into horses that pull Cinderella’s carriage so that she can attend the ball.

85. Incredibly hard puzzle? : CRANIUM TWISTER (“Cranium” & “Twister”)

Cranium is a board game that was created in 1998 and produced by Hasbro. Plays need to exhibit various skills in order to progress around the board, including acting, sculpting and guessing.

Eva Gabor was the youngest of the Gabor sisters, all three of whom were celebrated Hollywood actresses and socialites (her siblings were Zsa-Zsa and Magda). One of Eva’s claims to fame is the unwitting promotion of the game called “Twister”, the sales of which were languishing in 1966. In an appearance on “The Tonight Show” she got on all fours and played the game with Johnny Carson. Sales took off immediately, and Twister became a huge hit.

93. Responds wistfully : SIGHS

“Wistful” is a lovely word, I think, one that can mean “pensively sad, melancholy”.

94. First name in fashion : YVES

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was a French fashion designer, actually born in Algeria. Saint Laurent started off working as an assistant to Christian Dior at the age of 17. Dior died just four years later, and as a very young man Saint-Laurent was named head of the House of Dior. However, in 1950 Saint Laurent was conscripted into the French Army and ended up in a military hospital after suffering a mental breakdown from the hazing inflicted on him by his fellow soldiers. His treatment included electroshock therapy and administration of sedatives and psychoactive drugs. He was released from hospital, managed to pull his life back together and started his own fashion house. A remarkable story …

96. Impressive hole : EAGLE

The following terms are routinely used in golf for scores relative to par:

• Bogey: one over par
• Par
• Birdie: one under par
• Eagle: two under par
• Albatross (also “double eagle”): three under par
• Condor: four under par

No one has ever recorded a condor during a professional tournament.

98. Padre’s hermano : TIO

In Spanish, a “tio” (uncle) is the “hermano del padre o de la madre” (brother of the father or the mother).

99. Prefix with pressure : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints’ in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

101. Link a quartet of supermarket employees? : CONNECT FOUR CHECKERS (“Connect Four” & “Checkers”)

“Connect Four” is an interesting two-player game in which opponents drop colored discs into a vertical grid. The objective is to make to make straight lines of discs of one color, either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Disappointingly, the player who goes first can always win the game by playing the right moves.

“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland the game is called draughts.

110. Jumpy sort, for short? : ROO

The word “kangaroo” comes from the Australian Aborigine term for the animal. There’s an oft-quoted story that the explorer James Cook (later Captain Cook) asked a local native what was the name of this remarkable-looking animal, and the native responded with “Kangaroo”. The story is that the native was actually saying “I don’t understand you”, but as cute as that tale is, it’s just an urban myth.

111. Vehicle that often rolls over, in brief : IRA

A rollover IRA is a subtype of a traditional Individual Retirement Account (IRA). The funds for a rollover IRA come from another qualified plan such as a 401(k) or a 403(b) account.

112. ___ mater : ALMA

The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. The phrase was used in Ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

115. Angry Shakespearean cry : FIE, FIE!

Here are some lines spoken by Catherine in William Shakespeare’s play “The Taming of the Shrew”:

Fie, fie! Unknit that threat’ning unkind brow
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy lord, thy king, thy governor.
It blots thy beauty as frosts do bite the meads,
Confounds thy fame as whirlwinds shake fair buds,
And in no sense is meet or amiable.

William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” is about a courting couple. The male in the couple is Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and the female is Katharina/Kate, the so-called “shrew”. As the play progresses, the “shrew” is “tamed” and becomes an “obedient” bride … a controversial storyline in the contemporary world, to say the least. Regardless, modern adaptations have been made, including 1948’s Broadway musical “Kiss Me Kate” and the 1999 romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You”.

117. Something you’re not allowed to do in math? : TABOO OPERATION (“Taboo” & “Operation”)

Taboo is a guessing game that was introduced by Parker Brothers in 1989. Players must encourage their teammates to guess a word on a card, without using that word or related words defined on the card. It’s a fun game that’s played regularly around here …

The game called Operation was invented by John Spinello and was first produced in 1965 by Milton Bradley. The game is based on the old electric wire loop game where players had to guide a loop along a winding wire without touching it. Touching the wires completed a circuit causing a buzzer to go off and/or a light to come on.

121. Mistakes : ERRATA

“Errata” is the past participle of the Latin word “errare” meaning “to err”. We use “errata” (singular “erratum”) to mean a list of errors that have been noted in some publication.

122. Bit of nonsense in a #1 Ella Fitzgerald hit : A-TASKET

“A-Tisket, A-Tasket” was a hit for Ella Fitzgerald. The song is quite unusual in that the lyrics are taken from a nursery rhyme. In 1938, Ella Fitzgerald and Al Feldman took the words of the rhyme, extended them and created what is now a jazz standard.

Down

1. Band with a symmetrical logo : ABBA

I am an unapologetic fan of ABBA’s music. ABBA was the Swedish group who topped the charts in the seventies and eighties. The name ABBA is an acronym formed from the first letters of the given names of each of the band members: Agnetha, Benny, Bjorn and Anni-Frid. Early in their careers, the four fell in love and formed two married couples: Agnetha and Bjorn, and Benny and Anni-Frid. However, at the height of their success, the relationships became strained and both couples divorced.

4. Some lawyers’ cases : ATTACHES

“Attaché” is a French term which literally means “attached”, and is used for a person who is assigned to the administrative staff of some agency or other service. The term is most recognized as it applies to someone assigned to an Ambassador’s staff at an embassy. The word was extended to “attaché case” at the beginning of the twentieth century, meaning a leather case used for carrying papers. I guess that an attache case might be “attached” to an attaché at an embassy …

5. Kind of biol. : MOL

Molecular biology (mol. biol.)

8. Irish icon, for short : ST PAT

There is a fair amount known about Saint Patrick, some of which comes from two letters written in his own hand. St. Patrick lived in the fifth century, but was not born in Ireland. He was first brought to Ireland at about 16 years of age from his native Britain, by Irish raiders who made him a slave for six years. Patrick managed to escape and returned to his homeland where he studied and entered the Church. He went back to Ireland as a bishop and a missionary and there lived out the rest of his life. There seems to be good evidence that he died on March 17th (now celebrated annually as Saint Patrick’s Day), although the year is less clear. The stories about shamrock and snakes, I am afraid they are the stuff of legend.

9. Ankle bones : TARSI

The tarsals (also “tarsi”) are the ankle bones, and are equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

17. Smelling of mothballs : OLD

The larvae of several types of moth are noted for eating fabrics made from natural fibers such as wool or cotton. Many people store woolens in cedar chests believing that the scent of the wood prevents a moth infestation. In fact, the only known effective repellent is the naphthalene found in mothballs, which might be a health concern for humans. One way to kill moth larvae in fabric is to freeze the garment for several days at a temperature below -8 degrees centigrade.

18. Part of O.S.: Abbr. : SYS

Operating system (OS)

20. Original home of Paddington Bear : PERU

Paddington Bear is a character from a series of books written by Michael Bond. Paddington is an immigrant from Peru who is found sitting on his suitcase in Paddington Railway Station in London.

29. Streetside hangouts : STOOPS

A stoop is a raised platform at the door of a house. “Stoop” came into American and Canadian English in the mid-1700s from the Dutch “stoep” meaning “flight of steps”.

32. River that rises in the Cantabrian Mountains : EBRO

The Ebro is the longest river in Spain. The river was known by the Romans as the Iber, and it is the “Iber” river that gives the “Iberian” Peninsula its name.

33. Player/coach Jason of the N.B.A. : KIDD

Jason Kidd was a point guard playing in the NBA. He finished his career with the New York Knicks, and then became head coach with the Brooklyn Nets.

34. K-12 : ELHI

“Elhi” is an informal word used to describe anything related to schooling from kindergarten through grade 12, i.e. elementary through high school.

35. Constellation between Ursa Major and Ursa Minor : DRACO

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and so was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

36. Kids’ rhyme starter : EENY

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

37. Big name in pain relief : MOTRIN

The anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen is sold under the brand names Advil and Motrin.

44. Code on a bag to Chicago : ORD

The IATA airport code for O’Hare International in Chicago is ORD, which derives from Orchard Place Airport/Douglas Field.

46. Like a space cadet : CLUELESS

The expression “space cadet” is used to describe someone who is eccentric and disconnected with reality. It may even imply that the person is a user of hallucinogens. The phrase has been around since the sixties, and may be derived from the science fiction TV show “Tom Corbett, Space Cadet” which aired in the fifties.

47. 1847 novel of the sea : OMOO

Herman Melville mined his own experiences when writing his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby-Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later and lived with natives on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate that was bound for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).

49. “Finlandia” composer : SIBELIUS

Jean Sibelius is the most famous Finnish classical composer, and shall forever be linked with his wonderful symphonic poem, “Finlandia”. Sibelius composed many lovely pieces of music right up until the mid 1920s when he was in his fifties. Despite all his efforts, he wasn’t able to produce any notable works for the last thirty years of his life.

68. Teaching positions can be part of their work : YOGIS

A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.

70. “La La Land” actor : RYAN GOSLING

Ryan Gosling is a Canadian actor who really seems to be riding high right now. He is one of a string of entertainers to graduate from the Mickey Mouse Club on the Disney Channel.

“La La Land” is a 2016 romantic musical film starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as a musician and actress who fall in love in “La La Land” (Los Angeles, i.e. “LA”). The film was written and directed by Damien Chazelle, who had found success two years earlier with the musical drama “Whiplash”. “La La Land” won a record-breaking seven Golden Globes and tied the record number of Oscar nominations at fourteen, winning six.

71. Rolls out of bed in the morning? : BAGELS

The bagel was invented in the Polish city of Kraków in the 16th century. Bagels were brought to this country by Jewish immigrants from Poland who mainly established homes in and around New York City.

72. Messy treats : S’MORES

S’mores are treats peculiar to North America that are usually eaten around a campfire. A s’more consists of a roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers. The earliest written reference to the recipe is in a 1927 publication called “Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts”. Girl Scouts always did corner the market on cookies and the like!

77. “Way to go!” : BRAVO!

To express appreciation for a male performer at an operatic performance, traditionally one calls out “bravo!”. Appreciation for a female performer is shown by using “brava!”, and for more than one performer by using “bravi!”

78. Purple flowers : LAVENDERS

“Lavender” is the common name for the plant genus Lavandula. Lavender is used as an ornamental plants, as a culinary herb and for the production of essential oils. The plant’s name might ultimately be derived from the Latin word “lavare” meaning “to wash”, a reference to the use of essential oils in bathing.

83. All-out attack : SIEGE

Our word “siege” comes from a 13th century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

86. Cry at a happy hour, maybe : TGIF!

“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that apparently originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of WAKR in the early seventies. That said, one blog reader wrote me to say that he had been using the phrase in the fifties.

88. “Well, Did You ___?” : EVAH

“Well, Did You Evah!” is a song from the 1939 Cole Porter musical “DuBarry Was a Lady”. A more famous rendition of the song was by Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra in the 1956 movie “High Society”.

95. Bolivian capital : SUCRE

Sucre is the constitutional capital of Bolivia (La Paz is the administrative capital and seat of the government). It is named for independence leader Antonio José de Sucre, who was the second president of Bolivia as well as the fourth president of Peru.

102. 0%, in the dairy aisle : NO-FAT

The fatty component of milk is known as butterfat (sometimes “milkfat”). To be labeled whole milk, the butterfat content must be at least 3.25%. Low-fat milk is defined as milk containing 0.5-2% fat, with levels of 1% and 2% commonly found on grocery store shelves. Skim milk must contain less than 0.5% fat, and typically contains 0.1%.

107. Sam who sang “Twistin’ the Night Away” : COOKE

Sam Cooke was a soul singer from Clarksdale, Mississippi. Cooke is considered by many to have been one of the founders of the soul genre. Cooke’s impressive list of hits includes “You Send Me”, Chain Gang” and “Twistin’ the Night Away”. Cooke was only 33 years old when he died. He was shot after a drunken brawl by a motel manager in what was deemed by the courts to be a justifiable homicide.

108. Corn syrup brand : KARO

Karo is a brand of corn syrup. It is an industrially-manufactured sweetener derived from corn.

113. Tiny bit : MOTE

A “mote” is a speck of dust.

114. They always come with mayo : ANOS

In Spanish, “mayo” (May) is one of the months of the “año” (year).

115. Flat-topped hat : FEZ

A fez is a red, cylindrical hat worn mainly in North Africa, and by Shriners here in the US. The fez used to be a very popular hat across the Ottoman Empire. The etymology of “fez” is unclear, although it might have something to do with the Moroccan city named Fez.

117. Keyboard key : TAB

Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the spacebar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

119. Anthem contraction : O’ER

The words “o’er the ramparts we watched” come from “The Star Spangled Banner” written by Francis Scott Key.