Tag: What a laborer’s hands may do over time crossword clue

Bill’s time: 13m 12s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 U.S. holiday beginning in 2021 : JUNETEENTH

“Juneteenth” is a holiday celebrated on June 19th every year, a commemoration of the emancipation of slaves throughout the Confederate South. President Abraham Lincoln’s executive order known as the Emancipation Proclamation came into effect on January 1st, 1863 but it only applied to Confederate states that were not in Union hands. The order freeing the last slaves in the US was issued at the end of the Civil War, on June 19th 1865. That order applied specifically to the State of Texas. Over a decade later, in 1980, Texas became the first state to declare June 19th (“Juneteenth”) a state holiday.

15 First NPR reporter promoted to correspondent before age 30 : ARI SHAPIRO

Ari Shapiro served very ably as White House correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR) for several years. He then became a co-host of the network’s drive-time program “All Things Considered” in 2015. When he’s not working, Shapiro likes to sing. He appears regularly as a guest singer with the group Pink Martini, and has appeared on several of the band’s albums.

16 Cousin of the Spanish chirimía or Italian piffero : OBOE

The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”.

17 Bluish-gray pet : MALTESE CAT

The cat known as a Maltese is one with fur that is primarily blue or gray, regardless of breed. Such coloring was prevalent in cats on the island of Malta, hence the name.

20 Up for a drive? : TEED

A tee is a small device on which, say, a golf ball is placed before striking it. The term “tee” comes from the Scottish “teaz”, which described little heaps of sand used to elevate a golf ball for the purpose of getting a clean hit with a club.

22 Source of Manchego cheese : EWE

Manchego is a cheese made from sheep’s milk that comes from La Mancha in Spain. The term “Manchego” is used to describe things related to La Mancha.

31 Jump on board? : OLLIE

An ollie is a skateboarding trick invented in 1976 by Alan “Ollie” Gelfand. Apparently it’s a way of lifting the board off the ground, while standing on it, without touching the board with one’s hands. Yeah, I could do that …

35 Product that may be sold by the yard : ALE

A yard (of ale) is a very tall glass, one that is just under a yard (three feet) long. It holds about 60 fluid ounces of beer. I’ve tried drinking out of one, and it is extremely difficult. There is a bulb at the bottom of the glass. When you get towards the end of the drink, that bulb causes a kind of airlock and the remainder of the beer rushes to the top of the glass, splashing you in the face.

36 Org. that has more members in Africa than in the Mideast : OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded in 1960 at a conference held in Baghdad, Iraq that was attended by Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Nine more countries joined the alliance soon after, and OPEC set up headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and then Vienna, Austria in 1965. The basic aim of OPEC was to wrest control of oil prices from the oil companies and put it in the hands of the sovereign states that own the natural resource.

39 Comedian Michael : CHE

Michael Che is a standup comedian from New York City. Che had worked as a writer for “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), and then started to appear in front of SNL cameras in September 2014. One of his roles was co-anchor for the “Weekend Update” segment of the show.

46 Horror movie franchise known for both its action and slapstick humor : EVIL DEAD

“The Evil Dead” is a horror movie franchise that includes video games and comic books, all derived from a series of three films: “The Evil Dead” (1981), “Evil Dead II” (1987) and “Army of Darkness” (1992). I don’t “do” horror, so I can’t tell you anything about them …

51 Black or green grocery items : TEAS

The process for making most teas involves oxidation. During oxidation, the leaves become darker in color as chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. The oxidation step is skipped when producing green teas.

57 2018 Literature Nobelist Tokarczuk : OLGA

Olga Tokarczuk is a Polish author who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2018. She also won the 2018 Man Booker International Prize for her novel “Flights”. Her epic historical novel “The Books of Jacob”, published in 2014, is generally regarded as Tokarczuk’s magnum opus.

58 TV bar with frequent health code violations overlooked by the city’s mayor : MOE’S TAVERN

The regulars on “The Simpsons” hang out at Moe’s Tavern, which is named for and run by Moe Szyslak. The most popular beer at Moe’s is Duff Beer. The name “Duff” is a reference to the real-life Duffy’s Tavern that used to be East 13th Street in Eugene, Oregon. “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening used to frequent Duffy’s regularly, and Moe’s looks very much like Duffy’s in terms of decor and floor plan.

62 Peat sources : FENS

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 what can form then is peat. If the peat bogs get covered over with sedimentary matter, over time pressure and heat can dry out the peat forming a soft brown material called lignite. Given further heat and pressure, and time, lignite converts to coal. So, lignite is a material with characteristics between peat and coal, and is often called “brown coal”.

Down

1 One standing by a door : JAMB

A door jamb or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

2 Orenburg’s river : URAL

The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains in Russia and flows for half its length through Russian territory until it crosses the border into Kazakhstan, finally emptying into the Caspian Sea. It is the third-longest river in Europe, after the Volga and Danube. The Ural is often cited as defining a long stretch of the border between Europe and Asia, although the exact position of that border is open to debate.

3 See 5-Down : … NILE
5 With 3-Down, title setting of a 1937 Agatha Christie mystery : THE …

Agatha Christie wrote a very successful crime novel called “Death on the Nile” that was first published in 1937. That novel had started off life as a play that was never performed, one that Christie called “Moon on the Nile”. Christie then adapted the novel back into a play again, calling it “Murder on the Nile”, which opened in London in 1946.

7 Sport in which masks are worn : EPEE

The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

11 One of the Claremont Colleges : POMONA

Pomona College is a private school in Claremont, California in Los Angeles County. The name “Pomona” comes from the original location of the college in Pomona, California. The college opened for classes in Pomona in a rental house in 1888. The following year it moved to the site of an unfinished hotel in Claremont, but retained the Pomona name.

12 Props for some plays : OBIE AWARDS

The Obies are the Off-Broadway Theater Awards. They have been presented annually since 1956. The recipients used to be chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper, but now are jointly administered with the American Theatre Wing.

“Props” is North American slang for “proper respect”.

21 Walk like an elephant : PLOD

There are only three species of elephant living today, with all others being extinct. These are the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant (or “Indian elephant”). As is well known, the African elephant is distinguished from the Asian/Indian elephant by its much larger ears. The African bush elephant is the largest living land animal.

25 Senesces : AGES

To senesce is to grow old. The Latin for “to grow old” is “senescere”, from “senex” meaning “old”.

34 Shoe that can’t be 32-Across : CROC
[32A See 34-Down : LACED]

Crocs are foam clogs that were originally designed as shoes to be worn at health spas. I recently bought my first pair of crocs, and now my kids won’t talk to me …

48 Particulars, slangily : DEETS

“Deets” is slang for “details”.

52 Eponym of the world’s largest tennis stadium : ASHE

Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York opened in 1997, and is the largest outdoor, tennis-only venue in the world. The stadium was often criticized for not having a retractable dome to protect the playing surface from inclement weather. Well, that changed in 2016 when the stadium debuted its new retractable roof, a $150 million investment in the facility.

An eponym is a name for something derived from the name of a person, as in the food item we call a “sandwich”, named after the Earl of Sandwich.

54 Game introduced to the U.S. by Chinese immigrants in the 19th century : KENO

The name of the game keno has French or Latin roots, with the French “quine” being a term for five winning numbers, and the Latin “quini” meaning “five each”. The game originated in China and was introduced into the West by Chinese immigrants who were working on the first Transcontinental Railroad in the 1800s.

55 Warcraft meanies : ORCS

Orcs are mythical humanoid creatures that appear in the writings of J. R. R. Tolkien. Since Tolkien’s use of orcs, they have also been featured in other fantasy fiction as well as in fantasy video games.

World of Warcraft is an online role-playing game (RPG). My son informs me that the game is not that great. Like I would know …