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Constructed by: Rebecca Goldstein
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 9m 02s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 AMC car known as “The Flying Fishbowl” : PACER

The AMC Pacer is an iconic car from the seventies. It has big glass windows leading to it being nicknamed “the Flying Fish Bowl” by “Car and Driver” magazine.

6 “Saltburn” studio : MGM

“Saltburn” is a 2023 comedy thriller movie about an Oxford student who befriends a fellow student and joins him at his family’s country house for the summer. The house goes by the name “Saltburn”, hence the film’s title.

14 Meaty flavor : UMAMI

Umami is one of the five basic tastes, along with sweet, sour, bitter and salty. “Umami” is a Japanese word used to describe “a pleasant savory taste”. Umami was proposed as a basic taste in 1908, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the scientific community finally accepted it as such.

15 Nev. neighbor : IDA

Idaho borders six states, and one Canadian province:

• Montana
• Wyoming
• Nevada
• Utah
• Washington
• Oregon
• British Columbia

16 Undefeated Ali : LAILA

Laila Ali is the daughter of the great Muhammad Ali and is a very capable boxer in her own right. Laila’s professional record is an impressive 24 wins, including 21 knockouts. Now retired, she never lost a fight, and nor did she ever draw. One of those victories was against Jackie Frazier-Lyde, daughter of her father’s nemesis Joe Frazier. Laila is not a bad dancer either, coming in third place in the fourth season of “Dancing with the Stars”.

17 American cheese? : POTUS

President of the United States (POTUS)

The phrase “the big cheese” doesn’t have its roots in the word “cheese” at all. The original phrase was “the real cheese” meaning “the real thing”, and was used way back in the late 1800s. “Chiz” is a Persian and Hindi word meaning “thing”, and it’s not hard to see how the expression “the real chiz” morphed into “the real cheese”. In early-20th century America, instead of “the real cheese”, the most influential person in a group was labeled as “the big cheese”.

18 Goldin of “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” : NAN

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is a 2022 documentary about photographer and activist Nan Goldin. Much of the film deals with Goldin’s battles with the Sackler family and the responsibility they have for the opioid epidemic. The movie was produced and directed by documentarian Laura Poitras, who is a longtime friend of Goldin.

19 Irish cream? : EUROS

The “punt” (also “Irish pound”) was the currency of Ireland until the euro went into circulation in 2002.

21 Long-horned grasshopper : KATYDID

The insects in the cricket family that Americans call katydids, the British call bushcrickets.

24 Captcha capture : BOT

A CAPTCHA is a challenge-and-response test that is used to determine if a user is a human or some automated program. The acronym “CAPTCHA” stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart”.

29 Actress Taylor-Joy : ANYA

Actress Anya Taylor-Joy had quite the international upbringing. She was born in Miami, and raised in Buenos Aires and then London. She is perhaps best known for playing the title character in the 2020 film adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Emma”, and the lead role in the Netflix miniseries “The Queen’s Gambit”.

31 Washington University’s business school : OLIN

The Olin Business School is the business school of Washington University in St. Louis. It was founded in 1917, and named in 1988 for John M. Olin. Olin was an entrepreneur and son of Franklin W. Olin, the founder of the chemical manufacturer Olin Corporation.

Washington University in St. Louis is a private school that was founded in 1853, and named for President George Washington in 1854. The “in St. Louis” was added to the university’s name in 1976, in an attempt to avoid confusion over the school’s location.

35 Actor Nick : NOLTE

Actor Nick Nolte got his big break in movies playing opposite Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Shaw in “The Deep”, a film released in 1976. Around the same time, he landed a leading role in the hit TV miniseries “Rich Man, Poor Man”. Off the screen, Nolte has always had a “bad-boy” reputation. He is indeed a convicted felon, for selling counterfeit draft cards in the early 1960s. He had to pay a $75,000 fine, and was given a suspended prison sentence.

36 Spanish inquisition? : COMO ESTAS?

“Cómo estas?” is Spanish for “how are you?”

39 Some charcuterie slices : SALAMI

“Salame” (note the letter E at the end) is an Italian sausage that is traditionally associated with the peasant classes. The meat in the sausage is preserved with salt, and it can be hung and stored for as long as ten years. The name “salame” comes from “sale”, the Italian word for salt, and “-ame”, a suffix indicating a collective noun. Our English word “salami” is actually the Italian plural for “salame”.

In French, a “charcutier” is a pork butcher, although the term “charcuterie” has come to describe a genre of cooking focused on prepared meats such as bacon, ham, sausage and pâté. Although these meats often feature pork, it is not exclusively so. The word “charcuterie” comes from the French “chair” meaning “flesh” and “cuit” meaning “cooked”.

53 Alfa __ : ROMEO

The “Alfa” in “Alfa Romeo” is actually an acronym, one standing for Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (“Lombard Automobile Factory, Public Company”). ALFA was an enterprise founded in 1909 and which was taken over by Nicola Romeo in 1915. In 1920 the company name was changed to Alfa Romeo.

54 “Ja” opposite : NEIN

In German, one might answer “ja” (yes) or “nein” (no).

56 Spicy sausage : HOT LINK

Link sausages are so called as they can come in chains, with each sausage being a link in that chain.

58 Lingerie buy : BRA

“Lingerie” is a French term. As used in France, it describes any underwear, worn by either males or females. In English we use “lingerie” to describe alluring underclothing worn by women. The term “lingerie” comes into English via the French word “linge” meaning “washables”, and ultimately from the Latin “linum”, meaning “linen”. We tend not to pronounce the word correctly in English, either here in the US or across the other side of the Atlantic. The French pronunciation is more like “lan-zher-ee”, as opposed to “lon-zher-ay” (American) and “lon-zher-ee” (British).

67 Daisy known as the “Rosa Parks of the North” : MYERS

Daisy Myers moved with her family in 1957 to Levittown, Pennsylvania. Levittown was a planned community built by developer William J. Levitt. By the time the Myers family moved in, there were over 15,000 homes occupied, all of them by white people. Levitt had a history of only selling homes to white families, and his organization refused to deal with the Myers. So, they bought directly from a white-European Jewish couple. After the Myers moved in, they suffered through a period of violent harassment from some fellow residents, including a cross-burning and property damage. With the help of some friendly neighbors, the family survived months of harassment, and eventually lived in relative peace for four years in Levittown.

69 Neuroscience segments : LOBES

Neurology is the branch of medicine dealing with the brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves. The study of the nervous system is known as neuroscience.

Down

1 Food with a national holiday in El Salvador : PUPUSAS

A pupusa is a thick flatbread from the cuisine of El Salvador and Honduras. It is usually served with ingredients such as cheese, squash or refried beans, and served with a fermented cabbage called curtido. It is the national dish of El Salvador, and even has its own day of celebration.

El Salvador is a country in Central America, the smallest country in the region. The capital of El Salvador is the city of San Salvador. “El Salvador” is derived from the name given to the land by the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century: “Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, El Salvador Del Mundo”, which translates as “Province of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World”.

3 Reflective effect in some gemstones : CAT’S-EYE

Cat’s eye is a semiprecious stone also known as cymophane.

4 Bird in a eucalyptus forest : EMU

Eucalyptus (plural “eucalypti”) is a genus of flowering trees and shrubs that is particularly widespread in Australia. The species known as mountain ash or swamp gum is the tallest flowering plant in the world, with the tallest example located in Tasmania and standing at over 325 feet tall.

8 Geometric designs that represent spiritual journeys : MANDALAS

The sand mandala is a beautiful creation made with colored sand in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Mandalas are elaborate designs created by monks over many, many hours. Once the design is completed it is immediately destroyed, symbolizing the transitory nature of material life.

9 Toy in the final “Calvin and Hobbes” panel : SLED

The comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes” is still widely syndicated, but hasn’t been written since 1995. The cartoonist Bill Watterson named the character Calvin after John Calvin, the 16th century theologian. Hobbes was named for Thomas Hobbes, a 17th century English political philosopher.

11 Big whiff : AIR BALL

An air ball in basketball is a shot that misses without even touching the rim, net or backboard.

26 Blowout patch, at a diner : PANCAKE

Back in the day, a blowout in a tire could be patched with a thin piece of rubber. That pancake-like piece of rubber led to diner pancakes being referred to as “blowout patches”.

33 “Top Chef” judge Colicchio : TOM

Tom Colicchio is a celebrity chef and restaurateur who turns up a lot on television. He is a judge on the Food Network reality show “Top Chef”, and he has also appeared on “Iron Chef America” and “The View”. Colicchio made it into the news in 2009 when he saved the life of someone choking, by using the Heimlich maneuver. The person choking was cookbook author and food journalist Joan Nathan.

35 Pt. of Loran : NAV

LORAN was a radio navigation system developed during WWII by the US. The acronym LORAN stood for “LOng RAnge Navigation”.

37 Prefix with economics or biology : MICRO-

Macroeconomics is the study of economies as a whole, rather than of individual markets. Microeconomics is focused on the actions of individual entities like companies or individuals, and how these actions impact specific markets.

Microbiology is the study of microscopic organisms such as viruses, algae, fungi and bacteria.

41 French press? : LE MONDE

“Le Monde” is a newspaper published each evening in France. It is one of the two most famous French papers, along with “Le Figaro”.

43 English channel? : THE BEEB

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is also known as “the Beeb”, a name given to the network by the great Peter Sellers on the classic British radio comedy called “The Goon Show”. The BBC was founded in 1922, and was the world’s first national broadcasting organization.

44 Kuwait or Qatar : EMIRATE

The State of Kuwait sits at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, sharing a border to the north with Iraq. After WWI, Kuwait was a Protectorate within the British Empire and then gained independence from the UK in 1961. Iraq annexed Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. Qatar has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry.

45 Real powerhouses : DYNAMOS

An electrical generator that creates direct current is a dynamo. A generator of alternating current is an alternator.

49 German mark? : UMLAUT

An umlaut (also “diaeresis”) is a diacritical mark consisting of two horizontal dots placed over a letter, usually a vowel. Here in the West, we are perhaps most familiar with umlauts in German, as in “Schön”.

50 Many of the founding fathers, religiously : DEISTS

Deism (from the Latin “deus” meaning god) is the belief that a supreme being created the universe, a belief based on observation and reason, and without the need for faith. Further, a deist does not accept divine intervention and rather believes that the supreme being, having created the universe, leaves the world to its own devices.