Day: July 3, 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. Stout sellers PUBS
The term “stout” was first used for a type of beer in the 1600s when was used to describe a “strong, stout” brew, and not necessarily a dark beer as it is today.

8. Archie Bunker’s wife EDITH
Archie Bunker’s wife, Edith, was played by Jean Stapleton on the 1970s sitcom “All in the Family”. By 1980, Stapleton was growing tired of playing the role and appeared in fewer and fewer episodes. When the show’s spin-off series “Archie Bunker’s Place” premiered, the storyline revealed that Archie Bunker had just lost his wife, setting the tone for the new show.

13. Its members employ hygienists: Abbr. ADA
The American Dental Association (ADA) is the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. Today the ADA is based in Chicago, but the association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York in 1859. The ADA started out as a group of 26 dentists and now has more than 152,000 members.

14. Six-time All-Star Moises ALOU
Jesus Alou played major league baseball, as did his brothers Matty and Felipe, and as does Felipe’s son, Moises.

15. Transit systems in Delhi and Paris METROS
The Paris Métro is the busiest underground transportation system in western Europe, carrying about 4.5 million passengers a day, about the same as the New York City Subway. The system took its name from the company that originally operated it: “La Compagnie du chemin de fer métropolitain de Paris”, which was shorted to “Métro”. The term “Metro” was then adopted for similar systems in cities all over the world.

The first section of the Delhi Metro transit system opened in India’s National Capital Region in 2002. Delhi Metro is now the 13th longest metro system in the world.

18. What makes a man a man Y-CHROMOSOME
In most mammalian species, including man, females have two identical sex chromosomes (XX) and males two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). As a result it is the males who determine the sex of the offspring. However, in birds the opposite is true and so females determine the sex of the chicks.

20. 1988 Tony-winning play inspired by a Puccini work M BUTTERFLY
“M. Butterfly” is a 1988 play by David Henry Hwang, which was made into a film in 1993 starring Jeremy Irons and John Lone. The storyline is inspired by Puccini’s opera “Madama Butterfly”.

27. Fan mail encl. SAE
Stamped addressed envelope (SAE)

28. Noisy bird JAY
The bird known as a “jay” is sometimes called a “magpie”, although the terms are not completely interchangeable.

30. NATO alphabet word after November OSCAR
The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. It goes Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … Zulu.

36. Disco-era group known for the starts of 18-, 20-, 54- and 57-Across VILLAGE PEOPLE
“YMCA” was released by Village People and has been adopted as an anthem by the gay community. The song was written by Victor Willis, a straight member of the mostly gay band, and he clarifies that the lyrics are extolling the virtues of the “YMCA” as a source of recreation for black urban youth. I think he might have been winking when he said that …

39. Subject of the sports film “42” RACISM
“42” is an excellent film about the baseball career of Jackie Robinson. Stars of the movie are Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, executive with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The plot revolves around the signing of Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers, making him the first African-American player to break the baseball color barrier.

40. Nemo’s creator VERNE
Jules Verne really was a groundbreaking author. Verne pioneered the science fiction genre, writing about space, air and underwater travel, long before they were practical and proved feasible. Verne is the second most translated author of all time, with only Agatha Christie beating him out.

In the 1954 movie version of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea”, Captain Nemo goes down with his ship. In the novel by Jules Verne the fate of Nemo and his crew isn’t quite so cut and dry, although the inference is perhaps that they did indeed head for Davy Jones’ Locker.

43. You, to Yves TOI
“Toi” is the French word for “you”, when talking to someone with whom you are familiar.

47. Tandoori bread NAN
In an Indian restaurant, naan bread is very popular. Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

52. Span. miss SRTA
Señorita (Srta.) is Spanish and mademoiselle (Mlle.) is French for “miss”.

54. Duracell R14’s C BATTERIES
Duracell is a brand of batteries made today by Procter & Gamble. “Duracell” is a portmanteau of “durable” and “cell”.

57. First of a planned 26-book mystery series A IS FOR ALIBI
Sue Grafton writes detective novels, and her “alphabet series” features the private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She started off with “A Is for Alibi” in 1982 and is working her way through the alphabet, most recently publishing “U Is for Undertow” in 2009. What a clever naming system!

61. Devastated Asian sea ARAL
The Aral Sea is a great example of how man can have a devastating effect on his environment. In the early sixties the Aral Sea covered 68,000 square miles of Central Asia. Soviet Union irrigation projects drained the lake to such an extent that today the total area is less than 7,000 square miles, with 90% of the lake now completely dry. Sad …

62. “Are We Done Yet?” actress Long NIA
Nia Long is an American actress, probably best known for playing Will Smith’s sometime girlfriend and fiancee Lisa Wilkes on the TV show “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air”.

“Are We Done Yet?” is a 2007 remake of the great Cary Grant/Myrna Loy comedy film ‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”. “Are We Done Yet?” stars rapper turned actor Ice Cube, and is a sequel to Ice Cube’s 2005 comedy film “Are We There Yet?”

Down
2. Pueblo homes ADOBES
The building material known as adobe has been around a long time, and has been used in dry climates all over the world. The original form of the word “adobe” dates back to Middle Egyptian times, about 2000 BC. The original spelling is “dj-b-t”, and translates as mud (sun-dried) brick.

A pueblo is a Native American village, a term used in the American Southwest. The buildings in a pueblo are usually made of stone and adobe mud, and hence are ochre in color.

3. __ Beach: Southern California resort LAGUNA
Laguna Beach is seaside resort city in Orange County in southern California. The city takes its name from nearby Laguna Canyon, and was originally known as Lagonas.

5. Stress-related ailment, possibly ULCER
Until fairly recently, a peptic ulcer was believed to be caused by undue amounts of stress in one’s life. It is now known that 70-90% of all peptic ulcers are in fact associated with a particular bacterium.

6. Physics Nobelist Niels BOHR
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist, who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life he was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project, developing the first atomic bomb.

8. Ed Asner has seven EMMYS
The Emmy Awards are the television equivalent of the Oscars in the world of film, the Grammy Awards in music and the Tony Awards for the stage. Emmy Awards are presented throughout the year, depending on the sector of television being honored. The most famous of these ceremonies are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards. The distinctive name of “Emmy” is a softened version of the word “immy”, the nickname given to the video camera tubes found in old television cameras.

Ed Asner is most famous for playing the irascible but lovable Lou Grant on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and on the spin-off drama “Lou Grant”. Off-screen, Asner is noted for his political activism. He served two terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and was very involved in the 1980 SAG strike. When “Lou Grant” was cancelled in 1982, despite decent ratings, there was a lot of talk that the cancellation was a move by the network against Asner personally. In fact one of Asner’s activist colleagues, Howard Hesseman (who played Johnny Fever), found that his show “WKRP in Cincinnati” was also cancelled … on the very same day …

9. “Gloria in Excelsis __” DEO
“Gloria in excelsis Deo” is a Latin hymn, the title of which translates as “Glory to God in the highest”.

16. Matzo meals SEDERS
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish Passover holiday, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. One of the traditions at the meal is that the youngest child at the table asks “The Four Questions”, all relating to why this night is different from all other nights in the year:

– Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?
– Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?
– Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?
– Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?

Matzo is a unleavened bread, that is very brittle. The bread is crushed, creating Matzo meal that is then formed into balls using eggs and oil as a binder. The balls are usually served in a chicken stock.

19. Big name in facial cleansers OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

25. Athenian lawgiver SOLON
Solon was an Athenian statesman and lawmaker in Ancient Greece. He gave his name to our contemporary word “solon” meaning “a wise lawmaker”.

28. Binge JAG
The word “jag” is used to describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly involving alcohol, and has been in use since the 1800s.

29. Painkiller with an Easy Open Arthritis Cap ALEVE
Aleve is a brand name for the anti-inflammatory drug Naproxen sodium.

31. Heaven’s gatekeeper ST PETER
In the Christian tradition, Saint Peter is often depicted as the keeper of the gates of heaven. This depiction arises from a passage in the Gospel of Matthew:

I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

33. Designer Mary-Kate or Ashley OLSEN
I don’t know anything about the Olsen twins, but I am told that folks believe Mary-Kate and Ashley to be identical twins. They look very much alike, but are in fact just fraternal twins.

34. Chrysler truck RAM
Chrysler put ram hood ornaments on all of its Dodge branded vehicles starting in 1933. When the first line of Dodge trucks and vans were introduced in 1981, they were named “Ram” in honor of that hood ornament.

35. __ Lingus AER
Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline called Ryanair.

I’m heading back to California tomorrow at the end of my 6-week vacation in Ireland. Sadly, I won’t be travelling with Aer Lingus …

42. Minnesota Lynx org. WNBA
The Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul has six Major League sports teams:

– Minnesota Twins (baseball)
– Minnesota Vikings (football)
– Minnesota Lynx (women’s basketball)
– Minnesota Timberwolves (basketball)
– Minnesota Swarm (lacrosse)
– Minnesota Wild (hockey)

The Minnesota Wild is the only one of these six teams that plays in St. Paul, while the rest play in Minneapolis.

44. Risotto ingredients ONIONS
Risotto is an Italian rice dish that is usually served as a first course in Italy, but as a main course here in North America.

48. Ranch measures ACRES
At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. This was more precisely defined as a strip of land one furlong long (660 feet) and one chain wide (66 feet). The word “furlong” is actually derived from the Old English words meaning “furrow long”, the length of the furrow plowed by the oxen.

51. Swift work ESSAY
Jonathan Swift was an Irish author and cleric. Swift is most famous perhaps for his 1726 novel “Gulliver’s Travels”, but we Irishmen also remember him also as the Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. Swift was renowned for his wit and satire.

53. Old Spice rival AFTA
Afta Lotion is a brand name of after shave lotion, belonging to Colgate-Palmolive.

The Old Spice brand of grooming products was introduced in 1937, originally intended for a female clientele. The first male product hit the shelves in 1938, and of course today Old Spice is completely focused on products for men.

55. King of comedy ALAN
Alan King was a comedian and satirist, famous for joking about his Jewish culture. He was also an actor, and starred in many movies over a 50-year period, including “I, the Jury (1982), “Author! Author!” (1982), “Casino” (1995) and “Rush Hour 2” (2001).

58. Electrical unit symbolized by omega OHM
The unit of electrical resistance is the ohm (with the symbol omega) named after German physicist Georg Simon Ohm. Ohm was the guy who established experimentally that the amount of current flowing through a circuit is directly proportional to the voltage applied, (V=IR) a relationship that every school kid knows as Ohm’s Law.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Close one PAL
4. Stout sellers PUBS
8. Archie Bunker’s wife EDITH
13. Its members employ hygienists: Abbr. ADA
14. Six-time All-Star Moises ALOU
15. Transit systems in Delhi and Paris METROS
17. Campfire seat LOG
18. What makes a man a man Y-CHROMOSOME
20. 1988 Tony-winning play inspired by a Puccini work M BUTTERFLY
22. Parroted APED
23. Golf course regular, often SENIOR
24. Backpacked beast ASS
26. Hard water? ICE
27. Fan mail encl. SAE
28. Noisy bird JAY
30. NATO alphabet word after November OSCAR
32. Reef material CORAL
35. Sanctuary sections ALTARS
36. Disco-era group known for the starts of 18-, 20-, 54- and 57-Across VILLAGE PEOPLE
39. Subject of the sports film “42” RACISM
40. Nemo’s creator VERNE
41. Obviously impressed AGAPE
42. Just out of the shower WET
43. You, to Yves TOI
46. Scathing review PAN
47. Tandoori bread NAN
49. Get even for AVENGE
52. Span. miss SRTA
54. Duracell R14’s C BATTERIES
57. First of a planned 26-book mystery series A IS FOR ALIBI
59. NHL tiebreakers OTS
60. Use a ring in a crib TEETHE
61. Devastated Asian sea ARAL
62. “Are We Done Yet?” actress Long NIA
63. Baseball features SEAMS
64. Pulls in NETS
65. Muddy home STY

Down
1. Where to find dates PALMS
2. Pueblo homes ADOBES
3. __ Beach: Southern California resort LAGUNA
4. Words before “the order of” PAY TO
5. Stress-related ailment, possibly ULCER
6. Physics Nobelist Niels BOHR
7. Wander online SURF
8. Ed Asner has seven EMMYS
9. “Gloria in Excelsis __” DEO
10. “__ ripoff!” IT’S A
11. Like many bright aquarium fish TROPICAL
12. Post-hospital recovery program HOMECARE
16. Matzo meals SEDERS
19. Big name in facial cleansers OLAY
21. Accessory with a suit TIE CLIP
25. Athenian lawgiver SOLON
28. Binge JAG
29. Painkiller with an Easy Open Arthritis Cap ALEVE
31. Heaven’s gatekeeper ST PETER
33. Designer Mary-Kate or Ashley OLSEN
34. Chrysler truck RAM
35. __ Lingus AER
36. Unpredictable occurrences VAGARIES
37. Complaint about blocked vision I CAN’T SEE
38. Four-footed friend PET
39. Knocks on RAPS AT
42. Minnesota Lynx org. WNBA
44. Risotto ingredients ONIONS
45. “That makes sense” I GET IT
48. Ranch measures ACRES
49. Awaiting a pitch AT BAT
50. Facial cover-ups VEILS
51. Swift work ESSAY
53. Old Spice rival AFTA
55. King of comedy ALAN
56. Lose steam TIRE
58. Electrical unit symbolized by omega OHM

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