Tag: Timer setting crossword clue

Bill’s time: 24m 54s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

10A S.E.C. football powerhouse, 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. Bama’s mascot is Big Al, an anthropomorphic elephant.

14A 1950s hangout with a jukebox : SODA SHOP

Although coin-operated music players had been around for decades, the term “jukebox” wasn’t used until about 1940. “Jukebox” derives from a Gullah word, the language of African Americans living in the coastal areas of South Carolina and Georgia. In Gullah, a “juke joint”, from “juke” or “joog” meaning “rowdy, wicked”, was an informal establishment where African Americans would gather and for some music, dancing, gambling and drinking. The coin-operated music players became known as “jukeboxes”.

21A “The Kite Runner” protagonist : AMIR

“The Kite Runner” was the first novel by Khaled Hosseini, published in 2003. The very successful book became an equally successful film released in 2007. “The Kite Runner” tells the story of a young boy named Amir growing up in Kabul, Afghanistan. Author Hosseini is a medical doctor, but after the success of “The Kite Runner” he gave up his practice and is now a full-time writer. His second book, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, is also a great success.

26A Blue colorant obtained from the indigo plant : ANIL

“Anil” is another name for the indigo plant, as well as the name of the blue indigo dye that is obtained from it. The color of anil is relatively close to navy blue. The main coloring agent in indigo dye is a crystalline powder called indigotin.

27A Wrangler alternative : LEE

The Lee company that is famous for making jeans was formed in 1889 by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

30A Rap’s Run-___ : DMC

Run-DMC was a hip hop group from Queens, New York. The trio took its name from two of the group’s members: Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniels.

36A Input of certain mining : DATA

The process of data mining is used to extract information from a database and present it in a form that facilitates further use.

38A Montalbán who played Khan in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” : RICARDO

Actor Ricardo Montalbán had such a long career and so many roles on the big and small screens. I suppose that I remember him most playing the title villain in “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan”, as well as playing the same character on the original TV series. And of course, Montalbán portrayed Mr. Roarke on the TV show “Fantasy Island” in the seventies and eighties. His wife of many, many years was actress Georgiana Young, who was the younger half-sister of Hollywood star Loreta Young.

In the 1982 movie “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” William Shatner played James T. Kirk, and the evil Khan was played by Ricardo Montalbán. Leonard Nimoy didn’t want to appear in the sequel, and only agreed to do so when the producers agreed to “kill off” Spock at the end of the story (but he comes back … and back … and back …).

45A Mental health org. : APA

American Psychiatric Association (APA)

49A Wyoming peak : TETON

The Teton Range is located just to the south of Yellowstone National Park, and is part of the Rocky Mountains. The origins of the name “Teton” is not very clear, although one story is that it was named by French trappers, as the word “tetons” in French is a slang term meaning “breasts”.

56A Yellow avenue in Monopoly : VENTNOR

Ventnor Avenue is a property in the game of Monopoly. The street names in the US version of Monopoly are locations in or around Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ventnor Avenue is named for neighboring Ventnor City. In turn, Ventnor City is named for the coastal resort of Ventnor on the Isle of Wight in England.

60A Hard-boiled genre : NOIR

The expression “film noir” has French origins, but only in that it was coined by a French critic in describing a style of Hollywood film. The term, meaning “black film” in French, was first used by Nino Frank in 1946. Film noir often applies to a movie with a melodramatic plot and a private eye or detective at its center. Good examples would be “The Big Sleep” and “D.O.A”.

64A Dark side : YIN

The yin and yang can be illustrated using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

65A Former big name in browsers : NETSCAPE

Netscape’s flagship product was its browser, which eventually came to be known as Netscape Navigator. Navigator had a huge impact on computing, basically bringing the Net to the masses by offering an intuitive, user-friendly interface. So popular was the product, that when the company had its IPO, the initial stock price set at $14 a share had to be doubled to $28 at the last minute. At the end of the first day’s trading, the stock closed at $75, and there were a lot of very rich people as a result (at least on paper!).

67A U.F.O.-watching org. : SETI

“SETI” is the name given to a number of projects searching for extraterrestrial life. The acronym stands for “search for extraterrestrial intelligence”. One of the main SETI activities is the monitoring of electromagnetic radiation (such as radio waves) reaching the Earth in the hope of finding a transmission from a civilization in another world.

70A Kemo ___ (the Lone Ranger) : SABE

“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

“The Lone Ranger” was both a radio and television show that dated back to its first radio performance in 1933 on a Detroit station. The line “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” was a device used in the storyline to signal that a riding sequence was starting; so cue the music!

71A Sailor’s patron : ST ELMO

Saint Elmo is the patron saint of sailors. More formally referred to as Erasmus of Formia, St. Elmo is perhaps venerated by sailors as tradition tells us that he continued preaching despite the ground beside him being struck by a thunderbolt. Sailors started to pray to him when in danger of storms and lightning. He lends his name to the electrostatic weather phenomenon (often seen at sea) known as St. Elmo’s fire. The “fire” is actually a plasma discharge caused by air ionizing at the end of a pointed object (like the mast of a ship), something often observed during electrical storms.

72A Fleetwood Mac hit named for a Celtic goddess : RHIANNON

The band Fleetwood Mac was founded in 1967 in London by Peter Green. He chose “Fleetwood Mac” from the names of two friends in former groups, i.e. “Fleetwood” and “McVie”. Green did this despite the fact that Fleetwood Mac’s drummer’s name happens to be Mick Fleetwood.

81A By saying this you mean well : BIEN

In French, when things are not “bien” (good), they are “mal” (bad).

95A Guardians, on a scoreboard : CLE

The Cleveland baseball franchise started out in 1869 as the Forest Citys, named after Forest City, the nickname for Cleveland. After a number of transitions, in 1914 the team took on the name “Indians”. The media came up with the name “Indians” after being asked for suggestions by the team owners. “Indians” was inspired by the successful Boston team of the day, the Boston Braves. In 2021, the team dropped the insensitive “Indians” moniker and renamed itself to the Guardians. The “Guardians” name is a reference to four pairs of Art Deco statues on the city’s Hope Memorial Bridge known as the Guardians of Traffic.

98A Damp, mildewy quality : MUST

Something described as “musty” has a stale or moldy odor. The term derives from an obsolete word “moisty”, as in “moist”.

103A Lying faceup : SUPINE

When lying on one’s back, one is said to be in a supine position. When lying on one’s stomach, one is said to be prone.

104A ___ Park, Calif. : MENLO

Menlo Park is a town in the San Francisco Bay Area. The town was built around land previously owned by two Irish immigrants. The pair called their property “Menlo Park”, naming it for Menlo in County Galway, which is where the Irishmen came from.

105A Air : ETHER

The Greek philosopher Empedocles proposed that there are four elements that made up the universe, namely earth, water, air and fire. Aristotle later proposed a fifth element which he called aether (also “ether”). Aether was the divine substance that made up the stars and planets. We’re still using the term “ether” with a similar meaning, and the extended term “ethereal” to mean “lacking material substance” and “marked by unusual delicacy”.

114A Some pings, in brief : IMS

Instant message (IM)

In the world of computer science, a ping is a test message sent over a network between computers to check for a response and to measure the time of that response. We now use the verb “to ping” more generally, meaning to send someone a message, usually a reminder.

126A Church parts crossing naves : TRANSEPTS

A transept is a transverse section that crosses the main body of a building. Transepts are important features in many Gothic Christian churches, which often have a cross-shaped floor plan.

Down

2D “The Family Circus” cartoonist Bil ___ : KEANE

Bil Keane was a cartoonist most associated with his strip “The Family Circus”. Once Bil sketched out the text and idea for the cartoon, he used to send it off to his son Jeff Keane who inked and colored the pictures for him in preparation for publication. In the storyline itself, the main characters are based on Bil’s own family. In fact, the son “Jeffy” in the story is based on Jeff, Bil’s son and longtime production assistant. After Bil passed away in 2011, Jeff took over as the author of the strip.

4D Duke Ellington classic with the lyric “That was my heart serenading you” : PRELUDE TO A KISS

Duke Ellington was a bandleader and composer believed by many to have elevated jazz to the same level as other respected genres of music. Ellington tended not to use the word “jazz” to describe his compositions, preferring the term “American Music”.

9D Phillipa of Broadway : SOO

Phillipa Soo is an actress and singer who is perhaps best known for portraying Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton, the title character’s wife in the original Broadway production of “Hamilton”.

10D Grammy winner Erykah : BADU

“Erykah Badu” is the stage name of Erica Wright, an American “neo-soul” singer. Badu gained some notoriety in March of 2010 when she shot a scene for a music video in Dallas. In the scene, she walks to the spot where President Kennedy was assassinated, removing her clothes until she is nude, and then falls to the ground as if she has been shot in the head. For that stunt, she was charged with disorderly conduct.

11D ___ Gorman, “The Hill We Climb” poet : AMANDA

Amanda Gorman is a poet and activist who, in 2017, was the first person named as the National Youth Poet Laureate. Famously, Gorman recited her poem “The Hill We Climb” at the inauguration of President Biden in 2021.

When day comes, we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid. The new dawn blooms as we free it. For there is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.

13D Iced-tea-and-lemonade refreshments : ARNOLD PALMERS

The drink named for golfer Arnold Palmer is made from lemonade and ice tea. The drink named for fellow golfer John Daly is also made from lemonade and ice tea, but with vodka added …

17D Fast start? : ASH WEDNESDAY

In the Christian tradition, the first day in the season of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. On that day, Palm Crosses from the prior year’s Palm Sunday are burned. The resulting ashes are mixed with sacred oil and then used to anoint worshipers on the forehead with the shape of a cross.

28D Like most moccasins : SLIP-ON

“Moc” is short for “moccasin”, a type of shoe. The moccasin is a traditional form of footwear worn by members of many Native American tribes.

29D Great Dane of cartoons, informally : SCOOB

“Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!” is a series of cartoons produced for Hanna-Barbera Productions, first broadcast in 1969. The title character is a great Dane dog owned by a young male called Shaggy Rogers. The character’s name was inspired by the famous “doo-be-doo-be-doo” refrain in the Frank Sinatra hit “Strangers in the Night”. Shaggy was voiced by famed disk jockey Casey Kasem. Shaggy and Scooby’s friends are Velma, Fred and Daphne.

The Great Dane breed of dog isn’t actually from Denmark, and rather is from Germany. Great danes were originally bred to hunt wild boar, and were also used for protection and as guard dogs.

37D Keister, in Leicester : ARSE

Back in the early 1900s, a keister was a safe or a strongbox. It has been suggested that “keister” was then used as slang by pickpockets for the rear trouser pocket in which one might keep a wallet. From this usage, “keister” appeared as a slang term for the buttocks in the early 1930s.

Leicester is the county town of Leicestershire in the English Midlands. Leicester has been associated with many famous Englishmen including actor Richard Attenborough and his brother David, the world famous naturalist, both of whom grew up there. Graham Chapman of “Monty Python” was born there, and singer Engelbert Humperdinck, although born in India, grew up in Leicester. Leicester was in the news relatively recently when remains found under a car park were identified as those of Richard III, the last king of the House of York.

39D 2015 chart-topping hit for the Weeknd : CAN’T FEEL MY FACE

“The Weeknd” is the stage name of Canadian singer Abel Tesfaye. One thing that sets him apart from other performers is his preference for using the falsetto register when singing.

41D Shoe company with an iconic checkerboard design : VANS

Vans is a manufacturer of mainly skateboarding shoes. The company was founded as a shoe manufacturer in 1966 called the Van Doren Rubber Company. The business turned towards skateboarders in the seventies, and then adopted the “Vans” name in the nineties.

42D Descendant : SCION

“Scion” comes from the old French word “sion” or “cion”, meaning “a shoot or a twig”. In botanical terms today, a scion is used in grafting two compatible plants together. In grafting, one plant is selected for its root system (the “rootstock”), and the other plant is selected for its stems, leaves and fruit (the “scion”). The term scion migrated naturally into the world of family history. A scion is simply a descendant, a son or a daughter and therefore a branching point in the family tree.

47D Rabid in appearance : FROTHING

“Rabies” is actually the Latin word for “madness”. The name is a good choice for the viral disease, as once the virus spreads to the brain the infected person or animal exhibits very tortured and bizarre behavior including hydrophobia, a fear of water. The virus is passed on to humans most often through a bite from an infected dog. It is curable if it is caught in time, basically before symptoms develop. Once the virus passes up the peripheral nervous system to the spine and the brain, there isn’t much that can be done. We can also use the derivative term “rabid” figuratively, to mean extremely violent, to have extreme views.

51D Rice-A-___ : RONI

Rice-A-Roni was introduced in 1958 by the Golden Grain Macaroni Company of San Francisco. The company was run by an Italian immigrant and his four sons. The wife of one of the sons created a pilaf dish for the family diner they owned. It was a big hit, so her brother-in-law created a commercial version by blending dry chicken soup mix with rice and macaroni. Sounds like “a San Francisco treat” to me …

52D “Borderlands” director ___ Roth : ELI

Eli Roth is one of a group of directors of horror movies known quite graphically as “The Splat Pack”. I can’t stand “splat” movies and avoid them as best I can. Roth is also famous for playing Donny Donowitz in the Quentin Tarantino movie “Inglourious Basterds”.

“Borderlands” is a 2024 sci-fi action movie that is based on a series of video games of the same name. Despite the big names in the cast, including Cate Blanchett, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Jamie Lee Curtis, this one bombed at the box office.

57D Org. with its own alphabet : NATO

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

66D It has a lot of secretaries : CABINET

In the Westminster system, the Cabinet is a group of sitting politicians chosen by the Prime Minister to head up government departments and also to participate collectively in major governmental decisions in all areas. In the US system, the Cabinet is made up not of sitting politicians, but rather of non-legislative individuals who are considered to have expertise in a particular area. The Cabinet members in the US system tend to have more of an advisory role outside of their own departments.

72D Coolidge who sang the theme for “Octopussy” : RITA

Rita Coolidge is a singer from Lafayette, Tennessee. Coolidge’s second marriage was to fellow singer Kris Kristofferson. Apparently, Coolidge and Kristofferson met on a flight from LA to Memphis. Kristofferson was meant to stay on the plane, and continue on to Knoxville. Instead, he alighted with Ms. Coolidge in Memphis, and they married three years later. Seven years after that, they got divorced.

The title for the 13th James Bond film “Octopussy” actually came from an original story by the creator of James Bond, Ian Fleming. However, the movie bears no resemblance to Fleming’s 1966 short story “Octopussy and the Living Daylights”. “Octopussy” was one of the Roger Moore Bond movies, his second to last.

75D What Joe Montana was in the ’80s : NINER

Joe Montana played most of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, and the last two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. With the 49ers, Montana went to the Super Bowl four times, winning every time. In retirement one of his activities is to produce wine, so keep an eye out for his “Montagia” label.

76D A TD scores six of these : PTS

In football, a touchdown (TD) is worth six points (pts.)

80D Famed lawyer in the 1925 Scopes Monkey Trial : CLARENCE DARROW

Clarence Darrow was a prominent American lawyer known for his sharp wit and passionate defense of civil liberties, particularly in high-profile cases. He often took on cases considered controversial, including defense of the teaching of evolution in the Scopes “Monkey Trial”. Darrow’s courtroom eloquence and his commitment to social justice made him a legendary figure, so much so that he served as the inspiration for the character of Henry Drummond in the play and film “Inherit the Wind”, which dramatized the Scopes Trial.

84D Some Korean exports : KIAS

Kia Motors is the second-largest manufacturer of cars in South Korea, behind Hyundai (and Hyundai is a part owner in Kia now). Kia was founded in 1944 as a manufacturer of bicycle parts, and did indeed produce Korea’s first domestic bicycle. The company’s original name was Kyungsung Precision Industry, with the Kia name introduced in 1952.

88D Baseball slugger’s stat : RBIS

Runs batted in (RBIs)

92D Blueprints : SCHEMATA

A schema is an outline or a model. The plural of “schema” is “schemata” and the adjectival form is “schematic”.

Blueprints are reproductions of technical or architectural drawings that are contact prints made on light-sensitive sheets. They were introduced in the 1800s and the technology available dictated that the drawings were reproduced with white lines on a blue background, hence the name “blue-print”.

97D Author Zora Neale ___ : HURSTON

Zora Neale Hurston was an American author who is most famous for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.

100D Girlfriend in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” : SLOANE

The character Sloane Peterson in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” is played by actress Mia Sara. Sloane is the girlfriend of the title character.

104D Tricky pool shot : MASSE

In billiards, a massé shot is one in which the cue ball makes an extreme curve due to the player imparting heavy spin on the ball with his or her cue held relatively vertically. Some pool halls don’t allow massé shots as there’s a risk of ripping the cloth covering the table.

109D ___ four : PETIT

A petit four is a small confection served at the end of a meal, either as a dessert or with coffee. The name “petit four” is French for “small oven”.

120D Teslas, e.g., for short : EVS

Electric vehicle (EV)