CROSSWORD SETTER: Brad Wilber & Doug Peterson
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 16m 38s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Faux-antique décor SHABBY CHIC
Shabby chic is the name of a style of interior design. The look is very elegant, and mimics the style seen in large country house in Britain that have many word and faded furniture items. The shabby chic look is usually achieved using furniture items that have been given a faux-antique finish.
16. Malaysian Chinese shoe designer Jimmy CHOO
Jimmy Choo is a designer of handmade women’s shoes who was born in Malaysia but grew up and was educated in London. Choo sold the 50% stake that he had in his shoe manufacturing company in 2001, for 10 million pounds.
19. Cub games setting: Abbr. CDT
Central Daylight Time (CDT)
The Chicago Cubs is one of only two charter members of the baseball’s National League who are still playing, the other being the Atlanta Braves. The Cubs last won the World Series in 1908, which is a long time ago. In fact, the Cubs have the longest championship drought of any professional sports team in North America.
20. Hidden Valley competitor KEN’S
The food manufacturing company called Ken’s Foods is known for its salad dressings. As well as selling its own products, it is Ken’s Foods that manufactures the Newman’s Own brand under contract.
22. Small-screen princess XENA
The Xena character, famously played by New Zealander Lucy Lawless, was introduced in a made-for-TV movie called “Hercules and the Amazon Women”. Lawless reprised the role in a series called “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”. Xena became so popular that a series was built around her character, with Lawless retained for the title role.
24. Word in a Le Pew address CHERI
Pepé Le Pew is a very likeable cartoon character from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series. Pepé is a French skunk, first introduced way back in 1945. He is always thinking of “l’amour” and chases the lady skunks, or a black cat with a white stripe painted down her back accidently.
26. Tab alternative DIET COKE
Diet Coke is a sugar-free version of Coca Cola that was introduced back in 1982. If you drink Diet Coke around the world, you’ll receive a slightly different drink depending on where you are. Various artificial sweeteners are banned as health risks in various countries, so Coke varies its formulation to comply with local laws.
Tab was the first diet cola introduced by the Coca-Cola company, in 1963. It was produced as a competitor to the very successful Diet Rite cola that was made by RC Cola. The name “Tab” was used as the beverage was aimed at people who wanted to keep “tabs” on their weight.
29. Foe of the fictional spy agency CONTROL KAOS
The satirical comedy series called “Get Smart” was the creation of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and starred Don Adams as Agent 86, Maxwell Smart. Agent 86 worked for the spy agency CONTROL, alongside the lovely Agent 99. CONTROL’s sworn enemy was the criminal organization called KAOS. Smart’s shoe phone was a hilarious prop used in almost every episode. When Smart dialed the number 117, the shoe converted into a gun. Cool stuff …
30. Pump parts TOES
A pump is a woman’s shoe that doesn’t have a strap. Such shoes are probably called “pumps” because of the sound they make while walking in them.
33. First-aid practitioner, briefly EMT
Emergency medical technician (EMT)
34. In reality DE FACTO
Conceptually, “de jure” and “de facto” are related terms, one meaning “concerning, according to law”, and the other meaning “concerning, according to fact”. There is an example of the use of the two terms together from my homeland of Ireland. According to our constitution, Irish is the first language of the country, and yet almost everyone in the country uses English as his or her first language. One might say that Irish is the de jure first language, but English is the first language de facto.
39. Jardín occupant FLOR
In Spanish, one tends to find a flower (flor) in a garden (jardín).
40. They’re built on benches PECS
“Pecs” is the familiar term for the chest muscle, more correctly known as the pectoralis major muscle. “Pectus” is the Latin word for “breast”.
43. Yupik craft UMIAK
The umiak is a type of boat used by Eskimo people. The term “umiak” means “woman’s boat”, whereas “kayak” means “man’s boat”.
The Yupik are a group of peoples in Alaska and the Russian Far East. The Yupiks are a subgroup of the larger group of Eskimo peoples.
45. Thomas who co-created “Free to Be… You and Me” MARLO
Marlo Thomas’s most famous role was playing the title character in the television sitcom “That Girl”. Thomas is also well known as a spokesperson for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“Free to Be… You and Me” is a project sponsored by the Ms. Foundation for Women. AS part of the project, an album and book aimed at children was produced under the “Free to Be… You and Me” title. The songs and stories contained therein are designed to promote gender neutrality, individuality and tolerance. The album and book were the idea of actress Marlo Thomas, and she signed up some of her celebrity friends to participate in the project including Alan Alda, Carol Channing, Michael Jackson, Shirley Jones and Diana Ross.
46. Spanish autonomy Castile and __ LEON
Castile and León is the largest of the seventeen autonomous communities of Spain, and is located in the northwest of the country. The separate kingdoms of Castile and León were united in medieval times, but the autonomous community was constituted much more recently, in
1983.
47. Astronomy Muse URANIA
In Greek mythology, the muses are the goddesses who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. The number of muses is a subject of debate at times, but the most popular view is that there are nine:
– Calliope (epic poetry)
– Clio (history)
– Erato (lyric poetry)
– Euterpe (music)
– Melpomene (tragedy)
– Polyhymnia (choral poetry)
– Terpsichore (dance)
– Thalia (comedy)
– Urania (astronomy)
49. Stick with a spring POGO
What we know today as a pogo stick was invented in Germany by Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall. The name “pogo” comes from the first two letters in each of the inventors’ family names: Po-hlig and Go-ttschall.
50. Brief black-and-white flash? APB
An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.
53. Hunter’s companion GOLDEN RETRIEVER
The breed of dog called the Golden Retriever originated in Scotland in the mid-1700s. The breed was developed to retrieve game that had been down by hunters, whether the game was to be found in water or on land. Existing retrievers (which worked well on land) were crossed with water spaniels (which worked well in water) to come up with the Golden Retriever breed.
56. Singer of the children’s album “Camp Lisa” LOEB
The singer Lisa Loeb was discovered by actor Ethan Hawke, who lived just across the street from her in New York City. Hawke took a demo of her song “Stay (I Missed You)” and gave it to director Ben Stiller, who in turn used it over the ending credits of his 1994 movie “Reality Bites”. The movie was a hit, the song went to number one, and Loeb became the first artist ever to hit that number one spot without having signed up with a record label. Good for her!
Down
6. Dweller on the Red Sea YEMENITE
A Yemenite is a person from Yemen, and is also known as a Yemini.
8. European trio in a Christmas song HENS
There are “three French hens” in the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas”.
The fabulous Christmas Carol called “The Twelve Days of Christmas” dates back at least to 1780 when it was first published in England, and may be French in origin. The concept of twelve days of Christmas comes from the tradition that the three kings came to visit the Christ Child twelve days after he was born. This same tradition is the origin of the title to Shakespeare’s play “Twelfth Night”.
9. Soc. Sec. supplement IRA
Individual Retirement Account (IRA)
The Social Security Administration (SSA) was of course set up as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. The first person to receive a monthly retirement benefit was Ida May Fuller of Vermont who received her first check for the sum of $22.54 after having contributed for three years through payroll taxes. The New Deal turned out to be a good deal for Ms. Fuller, as she lived to 100 years of age and received a total benefit of almost $23,000, whereas her three years of contributions added up to just $24.75.
10. Rogers __: Toronto stadium CENTRE
The SkyDome is a stadium in downtown Toronto, home to the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team and the Toronto Argonauts Canadian football team. The SkyDome was officially renamed to the Rogers Centre when it, and the Toronto Blue Jays team, was purchased by Rogers Communications in 2005.
11. Cheesy stuff SCHLOCK
“Schlock” is trash, something shoddy. The term comes from the American Yiddish word “shlak”, with the same meaning.
13. Shot glass PONY
A shot glass is a small glass used to measure or hold liquor. There is no standard size for a “shot” in most parts of North America, but it is generally 1.25 to 1.5 fluid ounces. A smaller, 1 fl. oz. shot is called a “pony shot” or “short shot”.
23. “Welcome to the human network” tech giant CISCO
Cisco is a company that I really admire (in terms of innovation and management). Headquartered in San Jose, California, Cisco develops and sells products and services in the communications sector. The name “Cisco” was taken from the name of the city San Francisco.
25. “GET FIRED UP!” candy HOT TAMALES
Hot Tamales are a cinnamon candy made by Just Born. They look like red versions of the other Just Born candy called Mike and Ike. That’s no coincidence as Hot Tamales were developed as a way to make use of rejected Mike and Ike candy. The dark red color and intense cinnamon flavor was added to the Mike and Ike rejects, masking the original flavor and color.
27. Phil Jackson, for most of the ’70s KNICK
Phil Jackson is a retired basketball player and coach. Most noted as a successful coach, Jackson led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA titles and the LA Lakers to five. As such, he won more NBA titles than any other coach in history. Jackson also won two NBA titles as a player, with the New York Knicks in the seventies.
29. It may wash up onshore KELP
Kelps are large seaweeds that grow in kelp forests underwater. Kelps can grow to over 250 feet in length, and do so very quickly. Some kelps can grow at the rate of 1-2 feet per day.
35. 2010 Western remake that garnered 10 Oscar nominations TRUE GRIT
The classic 1969 western movie “True Grit” starring John Wayne is a screen adaptation of a 1968 novel by Henry Hathaway. The Coen brothers made another big screen adaption of the novel in 2010 starring Jeff Bridges in the Rooster Cogburn role previously played by John Wayne.
40. Success on a mat PIN
A successful wrestler might pin his or her opponent on the mat.
47. Jamaican hybrid fruit UGLI
The ugli fruit is a hybrid of an orange and a tangerine, first discovered growing wild in Jamaica where most ugli fruit comes from today.
49. Star of Looney Tunes’ “for Scent-imental Reasons” PEPE
That would be Pepé Le Pew, the cartoon skunk.
50. Fitness brand AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.
51. Ivy League member PENN
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn) was founded in 1740 by by Benjamin Franklin. Penn was the first school in the country to offer both graduate and undergraduate courses.
The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.
54. FF’s opposite REW
When watching record audio or video, fast forward (FF) is opposite to rewind (REW).
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Faux-antique décor SHABBY CHIC
11. Nurses SIPS
15. Words next to many 22-Down YOU ARE HERE
16. Malaysian Chinese shoe designer Jimmy CHOO
17. It’s hard to write with one NON-DOMINANT HAND
19. Cub games setting: Abbr. CDT
20. Hidden Valley competitor KEN’S
21. “Hah!” TOLD YA!
22. Small-screen princess XENA
23. Sing ballads, say CROON
24. Word in a Le Pew address CHERI
26. Tab alternative DIET COKE
29. Foe of the fictional spy agency CONTROL KAOS
30. Pump parts TOES
32. Authorizing OKING
33. First-aid practitioner, briefly EMT
34. In reality DE FACTO
36. Cutting remark DIG
37. Don’t bother LET BE
39. Jardín occupant FLOR
40. They’re built on benches PECS
41. Pretends PLAYACTS
43. Yupik craft UMIAK
45. Thomas who co-created “Free to Be… You and Me” MARLO
46. Spanish autonomy Castile and __ LEON
47. Astronomy Muse URANIA
49. Stick with a spring POGO
50. Brief black-and-white flash? APB
53. Hunter’s companion GOLDEN RETRIEVER
56. Singer of the children’s album “Camp Lisa” LOEB
57. Prevented from getting unruly KEPT IN LINE
58. Minute ITSY
59. Biological cooler SWEAT GLAND
Down
1. What collaborators should be in SYNC
2. Garment feature that’s sometimes detachable HOOD
3. Family title AUNT
4. Like some news BAD
5. Stock character? BROKER
6. Dweller on the Red Sea YEMENITE
7. Hutch contents CHINA
8. European trio in a Christmas song HENS
9. Soc. Sec. supplement IRA
10. Rogers __: Toronto stadium CENTRE
11. Cheesy stuff SCHLOCK
12. “Color me surprised!” I HAD NO IDEA!
13. Shot glass PONY
14. Bar supply available at the touch of a button SODA
18. Pretentious TOO TOO
22. Check alternatives XES
23. “Welcome to the human network” tech giant CISCO
24. Desert mount CAMEL
25. “GET FIRED UP!” candy HOT TAMALES
26. Passes out DEALS
27. Phil Jackson, for most of the ’70s KNICK
28. Early birds? EGGS
29. It may wash up onshore KELP
31. Leaving for OFF TO
34. Toots DEARIE
35. 2010 Western remake that garnered 10 Oscar nominations TRUE GRIT
38. Presently BY AND BY
40. Success on a mat PIN
42. Haunted house sounds CLANKS
44. Farm sound MOOING
46. Ton o’ LOTTA
47. Jamaican hybrid fruit UGLI
48. Act like a pig, in a way ROOT
49. Star of Looney Tunes’ “for Scent-imental Reasons” PEPE
50. Fitness brand AVIA
51. Ivy League member PENN
52. Cultivated BRED
54. FF’s opposite REW
55. Bent piece ELL