Month: October 2013

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. 2012 Ben Affleck political thriller ARGO
“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I saw “Argo” recently and recommend it highly, although I found the scenes of religious fervor pretty frightening …

13. Former Defense secretary Panetta LEON
Leon Panetta was Chief of Staff under President Clinton, and took over as CIA Director in 2009. Panetta has long been interested in protecting the world’s oceans. As an example, he wrote the legislation that created the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

15. “Mission: Impossible” theme composer Schifrin LALO
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer best-known for writing film and television scores. Famously, Schifrin wrote the theme for “Mission: Impossible”, but also for “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Mannix” and “Starsky and Hutch”.

16. Novelist Tyler ANNE
Anne Tyler is a novelist from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Most of Tyler’s novels are set in Baltimore, Maryland, where she now resides. Tyler’s most famous title has to be “The Accidental Tourist”, which was adapted into a 1988 film starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis. Tyler might be considered somewhat of a recluse in her professional life as she rarely makes personal appearances to promote her books.

17. Most populous city in South Dakota SIOUX FALLS
Sioux Falls is the largest city in the state of South Dakota. The city is named for the cascades on the Big Sioux River on which Sioux Falls is built.

19. Second-in-command in the kitchen SOUS-CHEF
The “Sous-Chef de Cuisine” is the “under chef of the kitchen”, the second-in-command.

24. Mercedes rival BMW
BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW was making aircraft engines during WWI, but had to cease that activity according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The company started making motorcycles, and then moved into automobile production starting in 1928. BMW moved back into aircraft engine manufacturing during the build-up of the Luftwaffe prior to WWII.

26. Bus. get-together MTG
Employees in a business (bus.) might get together for a meeting (mtg.).

27. Sharp ridge ARETE
An arete is ridge of rock defining the border between two parallel valleys that have been formed by glaciation. If the ridge between the valleys is rounded, it is called a “col”. However if it is “sharpened”, with rock falling way due to successive freezing and thawing, then it is called an “arete”. “Arête“ is the French word for “fish bone”.

29. Adman’s connection TIE-IN
In the world of advertising, a “tie-in” is a promotion involving the sale of two related products. For example, there may be a “book and movie tie-in”.

32. Legal thing RES
“Res” is the Latin for “thing”. “Res” is used in a lot of phrases in the law.

34. Hoops gp. NBA
National Basketball Association (NBA)

Basketball is truly an American sport. It was created in 1891 by a James Naismith at the YMCA in Springfield, Massachusetts. His goal was to create something active and interesting for his students in the gym. The first “hoops” were actually peach baskets, with the bottoms of the baskets intact. When a player got the ball into the “net”, someone had to clamber up and get the ball back out again in order to continue the game!

36. Michigan or Ontario city on the same border river SAULT STE MARIE
Sault Ste. Marie is the name of two cities on either side of the Canada-US border, one in Ontario and the other in Michigan. The two cities were originally one settlement in the 17th century, established by Jesuit Missionaries. The missionaries gave the settlement the name “Sault Sainte Marie”, which can be translated as “Saint Mary’s Falls”. The city was one community until 1817, when a US-UK Joint Boundary Commission set the border along the St. Mary’s River.

42. Yeats’ land: Abbr. IRE
Irish poet and dramatist William Butler Yeats won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for “inspired poetry” that gave “expression to a whole nation”. Yeats was Ireland’s first Nobel laureate.

44. Continental border range URALS
The eastern side of the Ural Mountains in Russia is generally regarded as the natural divide between the continents of Europe and Asia.

46. Last Supper query IS IT I?
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him that day. According to the Gospel of Matthew:

And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

52. Marlins’ div. NLE
National League East (NLE)

The Miami Marlins baseball team started out life in 1993 as the Florida Marlins. The franchise changed its name to the Miami Marlins in 2011 when it relocated to the newly constructed Marlins Park.

54. ISP option MSN
MSN was originally called The Microsoft Network, introduced in 1995 as an integral part of Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system. MSN is a whole bundle of services including email, instant messaging, and the MSN.com portal (which is the 9th most visited site on the Internet).

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

55. Indian dresses SARIS
The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

57. Canal passage connecting Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes SOO LOCKS
In the summer of 2010 I spent a very interesting afternoon watching ships make their way through the Soo Locks and Soo Canal between Lake Superior and the lower Great lakes. The name “Soo” comes from the US and Canadian cities on either side of the locks, both called Sault Ste. Marie.

59. “W is for Wasted” mystery author SUE GRAFTON
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 “’W’ is for Wasted” in 2009. What a clever naming system!

63. Gymnast Korbut OLGA
Olga Korbut is from modern-day Belarus, but was born during the days of the Soviet Union. Korbut competed for the USSR team in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games. She was 17 when she appeared in the 1972 Munich Games, and had been training in a sports school since she was 8-years-old. The world fell in love with her as she was a very emotional young lady, readily expressing joy and disappointment, something that we weren’t used to seeing in athletes from behind the Iron Curtain. Korbut immigrated to the US in 1991 and now lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.

64. Part of BYOB BOOZE
Bring Your Own Beer/Bottle/Booze (BYOB)

66. Low in the lea MOO
The cattle are lowing, mooing …

67. Betsy Ross, famously SEWER
Legend has it that Betsy Ross made the first American flag for General George Washington. However, this story only surfaced during the centennial celebrations of 1876, and although Betsy Ross was indeed one of several flag makers in Philadelphia in the days of George Washington, sadly there’s no definitive evidence that Ross provided that first stars and stripes.

68. Lodge group 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.

Down
1. “North to the Future” state ALASKA
The motto of the state of Alaska is “North to the Future”. The motto was chosen after a competition held in 1967 on the occasion of the centennial of the Alaska Purchase. The winner of the competition earned himself $300.

2. Pierre-Auguste of impressionism RENOIR
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter, very much at the forefront of the Impressionist movement. Renoir was a prolific artist, with several thousand works attributed to him. The largest collection of Renoirs is actually in the United States. You can see 181 of his paintings at the Barnes Foundation just outside Philadelphia.

5. Barack’s younger daughter SASHA
Sasha is the younger of the two Obama children, born in 2001. She is the youngest child to reside in the White House since John F. Kennedy, Jr. moved in with his parents as a small infant. Sasha’s Secret Service codename is “Rosebud”, and her older sister Malia has the codename “Radiance”.

6. “Murder on the __ Express” ORIENT
“Murder on the Orient Express” is a 1974 movie directed by Sidney Lumet, based on the great novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The story is a Hercule Poirot mystery, and it’s the only whodunit I can think of where the “unveiling” reveals that everyone did it!

8. Lone Star State sch. TSU
When referring to schools in Texas, the “TSU” acronym usually refers to Texas Southern University. The abbreviation is sometimes used for Texas State University, although the university discourages its use (presumably to avoid confusion).

10. Ristorante squid CALAMARI
“Calamaro” is the Italian word for “squid” (plural “calamari”).

11. “Good Hands” company ALLSTATE
Allstate is the second-largest provider of personal insurance in the US, after State Farm. Allstate started doing business in 1931 as part of Sears Roebuck, and indeed I can remember when Allstate offices were located in Sears stores. Sears spun off Allstate in 1993.

12. Bouquet of flowers NOSEGAY
A nosegay is a posy, a bouquet of flowers. As one might expect, a nosegay is designed to make the nose gay and joyous with the aroma of fresh cut flowers.

20. Fishing basket CREEL
A creel is a basket used for catching sea creatures (lobsters, for example). Creel is also the name given to the small wicker basket used to hold fish that have been caught by an angler. “Creel” is originally a Scottish word.

24. Neuwirth of “Cheers” BEBE
Bebe Neuwirth is a wonderful actress and dancer, very famous for portraying Dr. Lilith Sternlin, the wife of Dr. Frasier Crane on “Cheers” and “Frasier”. Neuwirth is a fabulous dancer, having studied ballet at Juilliard. In more recent years she has had starring roles on Broadway, and in 2010 played opposite Nathan Lane in “The Addams Family”.

25. Home of baseball’s Marlins MIAMI
The Miami Marlins baseball team started out life in 1993 as the Florida Marlins. The franchise changed its name to the Miami Marlins in 2011 when it relocated to the newly constructed Marlins Park.

30. Very big maker of very little chips INTEL
Intel is the world’s largest manufacturer of semiconductor chips. The company was founded in 1968, and the name “Intel” is a derived from the term “int(egrated) el(ectronics)”.

35. “Iliad” war god ARES
The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos, Deimos and Eros. The Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

The Iliad is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer, which tells the story of the siege of Ilium (also known as Troy) during the Trojan war.

36. Home to millions of Brazilians SAO PAULO
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. São Paulo is also the city with the highest number of helicopters in the world. This is partly driven by the horrendous traffic jams in São Paulo, but also by the wealthy having a very real fear of being kidnapped on the city’s streets.

39. Animated mermaid ARIEL
Ariel is the mermaid daughter of King merman King Triton in the 1989 Disney feature “The Little Mermaid”.

44. KGB country USSR
The Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti (KGB) was the national security agency of the Soviet Union until 1991. The KGB was dissolved at that time after the agency’s chairman led a failed attempt at a coup d’état designed to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.

56. Franchised supermarket brand IGA
IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance, a chain of supermarkets that extends right around the world. IGA’s headquarters is in Chicago.

60. Sit-up targets ABS
Abdominal muscles (abs.)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. 2012 Ben Affleck political thriller ARGO
5. Organizes by date, say SORTS
10. Is able to CAN
13. Former Defense secretary Panetta LEON
14. Came into play AROSE
15. “Mission: Impossible” theme composer Schifrin LALO
16. Novelist Tyler ANNE
17. Most populous city in South Dakota SIOUX FALLS
19. Second-in-command in the kitchen SOUS-CHEF
21. Demean ABASE
22. Baby goat KID
23. Legged it RAN
24. Mercedes rival BMW
26. Bus. get-together MTG
27. Sharp ridge ARETE
29. Adman’s connection TIE-IN
31. Digital camera battery, often AAA
32. Legal thing RES
34. Hoops gp. NBA
35. Superficially cultured ARTY
36. Michigan or Ontario city on the same border river SAULT STE MARIE
40. Unit of cotton BALE
41. Carry a balance OWE
42. Yeats’ land: Abbr. IRE
43. Land parcel LOT
44. Continental border range URALS
46. Last Supper query IS IT I?
50. Unbarred, to a bard OPE
51. Fall mo. SEP
52. Marlins’ div. NLE
54. ISP option MSN
55. Indian dresses SARIS
57. Canal passage connecting Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes SOO LOCKS
59. “W is for Wasted” mystery author SUE GRAFTON
62. Margin jotting NOTE
63. Gymnast Korbut OLGA
64. Part of BYOB BOOZE
65. Price COST
66. Low in the lea MOO
67. Betsy Ross, famously SEWER
68. Lodge group ELKS

Down
1. “North to the Future” state ALASKA
2. Pierre-Auguste of impressionism RENOIR
3. Take it all off GO NUDE
4. Small bills ONES
5. Barack’s younger daughter SASHA
6. “Murder on the __ Express” ORIENT
7. Ski rack site ROOF
8. Lone Star State sch. TSU
9. Gender SEX
10. Ristorante squid CALAMARI
11. “Good Hands” company ALLSTATE
12. Bouquet of flowers NOSEGAY
15. Chem class requirement LAB
18. Baby deer FAWN
20. Fishing basket CREEL
24. Neuwirth of “Cheers” BEBE
25. Home of baseball’s Marlins MIAMI
28. “You’re right” TRUE
30. Very big maker of very little chips INTEL
33. Mall unit STORE
35. “Iliad” war god ARES
36. Home to millions of Brazilians SAO PAULO
37. Half a superhero’s identity ALTEREGO
38. Switch SWAP
39. Animated mermaid ARIEL
40. Open, as a bud BLOSSOM
44. KGB country USSR
45. Take a nap SNOOZE
47. “No worries, man” I’M COOL
48. “Shame, shame!” TSK! TSK!
49. Detailed map windows INSETS
53. Recluse LONER
56. Franchised supermarket brand IGA
57. Put away STOW
58. Almost never ONCE
60. Sit-up targets ABS
61. Opponent FOE

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