Tag: What might be taken to go? crossword clue

Bill’s time: 7m 28s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

9 Hayes in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame : ISAAC

Isaac Hayes was a soul singer and songwriter. Hayes wrote the score for the 1971 film “Shaft”, and the enduring “Theme from ‘Shaft’” won him an Academy Award in 1972.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame can be visited on the shores of Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was created in 1983 and started inducting artists in 1986. The Foundation didn’t get a home until the museum was dedicated in Cleveland in 1995. I had the great privilege of visiting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago and really enjoyed myself. The magnificent building was designed by famed architect I. M. Pei.

16 ___ toast : MELBA

Melba toast is a dry, thinly sliced toast that is usually served with soup or salad. Melba toast was created by chef Auguste Escoffier for opera singer Dame Nellie Melba, for whom he also created the dessert called peach Melba.

20 Brooklyn basketball team : THE NETS

The NBA’s Brooklyn Nets were the New Jersey Nets until 2012, and were based in Newark. Prior to 1977, the team was known as the New York Nets and played in various locations on Long Island. Ten years earlier, the Nets were called the New Jersey Americans and were headquartered in Teaneck, New Jersey.

21 Shaped like grapes : OVATE

Something described as ovate is shaped like an egg, with the term coming from “ovum”, the Latin for “egg”.

23 Time away from the grind, for short : R AND R

Rest and relaxation/recuperation/recreation (R&R, R‘n’R)

24 Film cast and crew celebration : WRAP PARTY

When shooting of a film is concluded the movie is said to wrap, and everyone heads to the wrap party. There is one story that “wrap” is actually an acronym for “wind, reel and print”, a reference to the transition of the filming process into post-production. But, this explanation is disputed.

30 Secondary schools in France : LYCEES

The “lycée” is the last stage of secondary education in France.

33 Aid in making a pompadour : GEL

In the pompadour style, hair at the front is swept up and worn high over the forehead. The style was originally associated with women, and was named for the mistress of King Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour. Males began to sport a similar style in the late 1940s, popularized by rock and roll stars such as Elvis Presley.

39 [head slap] : [D’OH]

“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which became such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001. “D’oh!” can be translated as “I should have thought of that!”

40 Smooth, in music : LEGATO

Staccato (stac.) is a musical direction signifying that notes should be played in a disconnected form. The opposite of staccato would be legato, indicating long and continuous notes played very smoothly.

41 Like some writing of Anaïs Nin : EROTIC

The name of Eros, the Greek god of love, gives rise to our word “erotic” meaning “arousing sexual desire”. Eros was referred to in Latin as both “Amor” (meaning “love”) and “Cupid” (meaning “desire”).

Anaïs Nin was a French author who was famous for the journals that she wrote for over sixty years from the age of 11 right up to her death. Nin also wrote highly regarded erotica and cited D. H. Lawrence as someone from whom she drew inspiration. Nin was married to banker and artist Hugh Parker Guiler in 1923. Decades later in 1955, Nin married former actor Rupert Pole, even though she was still married to Guiler. Nin and Pole had their marriage annulled in 1966, but just for legal reasons, and they continued to live together as husband and wife until Nin passed away in 1977.

45 Adkins, for Adele : LAST NAME

“Adele” is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older. Her third studio album “25”, released in 2015, broke the first-week sales records in both the UK and the US.

51 Thespian : ACTOR

A thespian is an actor. The term derives from the name of the Greek poet of the 6th century, Thespis, who is known as the father of Greek tragedy.

52 What might be taken to go? : EX-LAX

Ex-Lax is a brand of laxative. That should get you going …

53 The speed of sound : MACH ONE

The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is its speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane travelling at Mach 2, for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1877 that even predicted the “sonic boom”.

55 Lofty abode : AERIE

An aerie (sometimes “eyrie”) is an eagle’s nest. The term “aerie” can more generally describe any bird’s nest that is located on a cliff or a mountaintop.

59 A.F.C. East athlete, for short : NY JET

Just like the New York Giants, the New York Jets are based in New Jersey, headquartered in Florham Park. The Jets and the Giants have a unique arrangement in the NFL in that the two teams share Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The Jets were an AFL charter team, formed in 1959 as the Titans of New York. The Titans changed their name to the Jets in 1963.

60 Disney princess with “a dreamy far-off look, and her nose stuck in a book” : BELLE

As of 2016, there were 11 “official” Disney princesses:

1. Princess Snow White (from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”)
2. Princess Cinderella (from “Cinderella”)
3. Princess Aurora (from “Sleeping Beauty)
4. Princess Ariel (from “The Little Mermaid”)
5. Princess Belle (from “Beauty and the Beast”)
6. Princess Jasmine (from “Aladdin”)
7. Princess Pocahontas (from “Pocahontas”)
8. Princess Mulan (from “Mulan”)
9. Princess Tiana (from “The Princess and the Frog”)
10. Princess Rapunzel (from “Tangled”)
11. Princess Merida (from “Brave”)

61 One arguing in court: Abbr. : ATT

Attorney (att.)

64 Sch. with a campus in Shreveport : LSU

Louisiana State University in Shreveport is an LSU campus that opened as a two-year community college in 1967, becoming a four-year college in 1972.

Down

1 Platforms for speakers : ROSTRA

A rostrum (plural “rostra”) is an elevated platform, particularly one for public speaking. The original rostrum was the platform used by public speakers in the Forum of ancient Rome.

4 Signature feature of a Duracell battery : COPPER TOP

Duracell is a brand of batteries made today by Procter & Gamble. “Duracell” is a portmanteau of “durable” and “cell”.

6 Fraternal group with a mammalian name : ELKS

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome. The list of US presidents that have been members of the BPOE includes Presidents Eisenhower, Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Ford.

7 Peace sign shape : VEE

One has to be careful making that V-sign depending where you are in the world. Where I came from, the V-for-victory (or peace) sign has to be made with the palm facing outwards. If the sign is made with the palm facing inwards, it can be interpreted as a very obscene gesture.

10 Largest airport in the Pacific Northwest : SEA-TAC

Sea-Tac Airport (SEA) is more fully known as Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Sea-Tac is the main hub for Alaska Airlines.

11 Ziggy Stardust vis-à-vis David Bowie : ALTER EGO

David Bowie was the stage name of English singer David Jones. Bowie adopted the alter ego Ziggy Stardust during his glam rock phase in the 1970s. Sadly, Bowie passed away from liver cancer in early 2016.

18 Dye for denim : INDIGO

The name of the color “indigo” ultimately comes from the Greek “indikon” meaning “blue dye from India”.

Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (meaning “from Nimes”) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (meaning “blue of Genoa”) gives us our word “jeans”.

22 Kilmer of “Top Gun” : VAL

Val Kilmer’s first big leading role in a movie was playing Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s 1991 biopic “The Doors”. A few years later, Kilmer was chosen for the lead in another big production, “Batman Forever”. Things haven’t really gone as well for Kilmer since then, I’d say. Off the screen, he flirted with the idea of running for Governor of New Mexico in 2010. A Hollywood actor as a governor? Would never happen …

“Top Gun” is an entertaining action movie released in 1986 starring Tom Cruise and the lovely Kelly McGillis. The movie is all about pilots training at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School. A lot of footage was shot on board the Navy’s carrier the USS Enterprise during flight operations. At one point in a day’s shooting, the commander of the Enterprise changed course as needed for normal operations, but this altered the light for the cameras that were filming at the time. Director Tony Scott asked for the course to be changed back, but was informed that a course change would cost the Navy $25,000. Scott wrote out a check there and then, and he got another five minutes of filming with the light he needed.

24 Sneaky sorts : WEASELS

To weasel out of something is to back away from a prior commitment. The association of weasels with the concept of not being trusted might have arisen from the behavior in which a weasel sucks out the contents of an egg while leaving the shell virtually intact.

26 Fashion inits. : YSL

Yves Saint Laurent (YSL) was an Algerian-born French fashion designer. 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 …

32 Latvia’s capital : RIGA

Riga is the capital city of Latvia. The historical center of Riga is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, declared as such because of the city’s magnificent examples of Art Nouveau architecture.

34 Doughnut shapes, mathematically : TORI

A torus (plural “tori”) is a shape resembling a doughnut.

35 Burger King offering : WHOPPER JR

If you were in Japan at the end of 2009 and went to Burger King, you might have ordered a Windows 7 Whopper, a promotion for the Windows 7 Operating System. The sandwich was 5 inches in height, and contained seven beef patties!

36 “Old Town Road” rapper Lil ___ X : NAS

“Lil Nas X” is the stage name of rapper Montero Lamar Hill. He was born and raised just outside of Atlanta. His first hit was “Old Town Road”, which is classified as country rap.

38 Lightweight rainwear : PONCHO

A poncho is a typical South American outer garment that has been used by Native American peoples since pre-Hispanic times. One of the iconic uses of a poncho was by Clint Eastwood in spaghetti westerns.

39 Patel of “Slumdog Millionaire” : DEV

Dev Patel is an actor from Harrow in England. Patel is best known for playing the lead in the hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire”. He also stars in a lovely 2012 film called “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” alongside an incredible cast that included Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Tom Wilkinson. Patel also had a regular role in the marvelous HBO drama series called “The Newsroom”.

The brilliant film “Slumdog Millionaire” is a screen adaptation of a 2005 novel by Indian author Vikas Swarup. A low-budget movie, it ended up winning eight Oscars in 2008. I reckon it turned a profit …

42 Moved on the tarmac : TAXIED

The terms “tarmac” and “macadam” are short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call “tarmac”.

47 “Woman With a Parasol” and “Impression, Sunrise” : MONETS

“Woman With a Parasol” is a famous 1875 oil painting by the Impressionist artist Claude Monet that can be seen at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. The work features the artist’s wife and son, Camille and Jean Monet.

French artist Claude Monet was one of the founders of the Impressionist movement, and indeed the term “Impressionism” comes from the title of his 1872 painting “Impression, Sunrise”. That work depicts the port of Le Havre, which was Monet’s hometown. Later in his life, Monet purchased a house in Giverny, and famously installed lily ponds and a Japanese bridge in the property’s extensive gardens. He spent two decades painting the water lily ponds, producing his most famous works.

48 1974 pop hit with Spanish lyrics : ERES TU

We have a big event across Europe every year called the Eurovision Song Contest. Each nation enters one song in competition with each other, and then voters across the whole continent decide on the winner. That’s how ABBA got their big break when they won in 1974 with “Waterloo”. In 1973, Spain’s entry was “Eres tú” (“It’s You”, literally “You Are”) sung by the band Mocedades. “Eres tú” came second in the competition, but should have won in my humble opinion.

50 Like Robert Mueller beginning in 2013 : EX-FBI

Robert Mueller served as Director of the FBI from 2001 to 2013, serving under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

53 Move around, with “about” : MILL …

To mill about is to move around, usually en masse, in a disorderly fashion. The term “mill” was first used in the 19th century to describe cattle circling in a group, like the action of a mill wheel.

54 First company to be valued at $1 trillion : APPLE

Apple Computers was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. The company incorporated the following year, but without Wayne. He sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak, for $800 …

55 Raggedy ___ : ANN

Raggedy Ann is a rag doll that was created by Johnny Gruelle in 1915 for his daughter, Marcella. He decided to name the doll by combining the titles of two poems by James Whitcomb Riley, “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphan Annie”. Gruelle introduced Raggedy Ann in a series of books three years later. Sadly, Marcella died at 13 years of age with her father blaming a smallpox vaccination she was given at school. Gruelle became very active in the movement against mass vaccination, for which Raggedy Ann became a symbol.