Day: March 3, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Rosary counters BEADS
The Rosary is a set of prayer beads used in the Roman Catholic tradition. The name “Rosary” comes from the Latin “rosarium”, the word for a “rose garden” or a “garland of roses”. The term is used figuratively, in the sense of a “garden of prayers”.

15. Girl in a J.D. Salinger short story ESME
J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esme – with Love and Squalor”, originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

17. Jim who sang “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” CROCE
“You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” is a Jim Croce song that was released in 1972. The title character is “Big Jim Walker”, a pool hustler.

Jim Croce’s most successful songs were “Bad. Bad Leroy Brown” and “Time in a Bottle”. Like so many great singers it seems, Croce died in a plane crash. He was killed along with five others just after takeoff when the small commercial plane in which he was travelling hit a tree, possibly because the pilot had a heart attack. Croce died just a few days before the release of his latest album, “I Got a Name”.

18. Prohibition era saloon SPEAKEASY
A speakeasy is an establishment that sells alcoholic drinks illegally. Speakeasies were very big in the US in the days of Prohibition. The obvious etymology, of a speakeasy owner asking his or her customers to “speak easy” so as not to draw attention to the authorities, is thought to have originated in 1888 in McKeesport just outside Pittsburgh.

22. Chafing dish heaters STERNOS
Sterno is a very useful product, a “jellied alcohol” that usually comes in a can. The can is opened and the contents burn very easily and persistently. The brand name “Sterno” comes from the original manufacturer, S. Sternau & Co. of Brooklyn, New York.

A “chafing dish” is a portable grate used for dishes that must be cooked over a slow heat, The heat source is often charcoal or an alcohol burner. The term “chafing” comes from the French “chauffer” meaning “to make warm”.

23. Basilica recesses APSES
The apse of a church or cathedral is a semicircular recess in an outer wall, usually with a half-dome as a roof and often where there resides an altar. Originally apses were used as burial places for the clergy and also for storage of important relics.

26. John Kerry’s domain STATE DEPARTMENT
The US Department of State is the equivalent of the Foreign Ministry in many other countries, and is responsible for international relations. Ceremonially, the Secretary of State is the highest ranking of all Cabinet officials, and is the highest ranking in the presidential line of succession (fourth, after the Vice President, the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate). The department was created in 1789 by President Washington, the first of all executive departments created. The first Secretary of State was future president Thomas Jefferson.

Secretary of State John Kerry enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966 and went straight into Officer Candidate School. Kerry’s first post was as an ensign on a frigate in the Vietnam theater, mainly working on rescue missions picking up downed pilots. He requested a transfer to Swift boat duty. While serving on Swift boats Kerry was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts.

35. Stephen of “The Crying Game” REA
Stephen Rea is an Irish actor from Belfast. Rea’s most successful role was Fergus in 1992’s “The Crying Game”, for which performance he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. In “The Crying Game”, Fergus was a member of the IRA. In real life, Rea was married to IRA bomber and hunger striker Dolours Price at the time he made the movie.

“The Crying Game” is a fascinating film that made quite a splash when it was released in 1992. Although it was set in Ireland and the UK, it didn’t do well in cinemas in either country yet made a lot of money over here in the US. I think the politics of the movie were a bit raw for Irish and UK audiences back then. It’s an unusual plot, blending Irish political issues with some raw sexuality questions. I won’t tell you about the “surprise scene”, just in case you haven’t seen it and want to do so.

39. “The Wizard of Oz” lion Bert LAHR
Bert Lahr’s most famous role was the cowardly lion in “The Wizard of Oz”. Lahr had a long career in burlesque, vaudeville and on Broadway. Lahr also starred in the first US production of Samuel Beckett’s play “Waiting for Godot”, alongside Tom Ewell.

40. Little, in Lyons PEU
The city of Lyon in France, is also known as “Lyons” in English.

41. Fictional plantation TARA
Rhett Butler hung out with Scarlett O’Hara at the Tara plantation in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind”. Tara was founded by Scarlett’s father, Irish immigrant Gerald O’Hara. Gerald named his new abode after the Hill of Tara back in his home country, the ancient seat of the High King of Ireland.

42. In __ fertilization VITRO
In vitro fertilization is the process in which egg cells are fertilized by sperm cells outside of the body “in vitro”, meaning “in glass”, usually in a culture dish.

47. Tolkien giant ENT
Ents are those tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

48. Le __, France HAVRE
Le Havre is a city on the mouth of the river Seine on the northwest coast of France. The city’s name translates as “the haven”.

59. Alvin of dance AILEY
Alvin Ailey was a dancer who formed his own group in New York in 1958, the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. The most famous work that Ailey choreographed was called “Revelations”.

60. Midday NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

61. __ Reader: alternative media digest UTNE
The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. The “Utne Reader” was founded in 1984, with “Utne” being the family name of the couple that started the publication.

62. Sunday song PSALM
The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”.

63. PDA entry APPT
One might record an appointment (appt.) in a personal digital assistant (PDA) such as an iPad.

Down
1. Composer of fugues BACH
Johann Sebastian Bach raised a very large family. He had seven children with his first wife, who died suddenly. He had a further thirteen children with his second wife. Of his twenty youngsters, there were four sons who became famous musicians in their own right:

– Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (aka “the Halle Bach”)
– Carl Philipp Bach (aka “the Hamburg Bach”)
– Johann Christoph Bach (aka “the Buckeberg Bach”)
– Johann Christian Bach (aka “the London Bach”)

2. Multinational currency EURO
The European Union (EU) today stands at a membership of 27 states. The Euro is the official currency of only 16 of the 27. The list of states in the EU that don’t use the Euro includes the UK, Denmark and Sweden.

7. Psychic’s claim ESP
Extrasensory perception (ESP)

8. Iowa State home AMES
The city of Ames, Iowa is famous for holding the Ames Straw Poll in advance of most presidential elections. The poll in question is used to gauge the level of support for two or more Republican candidates, although non-Republicans are allowed to cast a vote. To vote one has to be an Iowa resident and one must buy a ticket to the fundraising dinner at which the vote is taken. The event gets a lot of coverage, so it boosts the local economy as journalists hit the town. It is a very successful fundraiser for the Republican Party in Iowa as well, but the usefulness of the straw poll in predicting the eventual winner of the nomination is less clear. There have been five straw polls since 1979, and just 2 out of 5 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination.

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is located in Ames, Iowa. Among many other notable events, ISU created the country’s first school of veterinary medicine, in 1879. The sports teams of ISU are known as the Cyclones.

10. Aries THE RAM
Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that!

11. Chestnut horse ROAN
A roan horse has an even mixture of white and colored hairs on the body with the head, lower legs, mane and tail having a more solid color.

12. Petro-Canada rival ESSO
The brand name Esso has its roots in the old Standard Oil company as it uses the initial letters of “Standard” and “Oil” (ESS-O). The Esso brand was replaced by Exxon in the US, but ESSO is still used in many other countries.

Petro-Canada started out life as a government-owned corporation in 1976. Petro-Canada is now a brand name of Suncor Energy.

19. Adoptive parents of Superman KENTS
Superman was sent to Earth in a rocket as a child by his parents who were living on the doomed planet of Krypton. On Earth he was discovered by the Kents, farmers who lived near the fictional town of Smallville. The Kents raised the infant as their own, giving him the name Clark.

21. ’60s hallucinogen LSD
LSD (colloquially known as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

24. Popeye’s favorite veggie SPINACH
The cartoon character Popeye the Sailorman is very fond of spinach, eating cans of the vegetable through his pipe and garnering great strength from it.

27. “It takes a licking …” watch TIMEX
The Timex Group, the manufacturer of watches, evolved from the Waterbury Clock Company that was founded in 1854 in Waterbury, Connecticut. The company achieved tremendous success in the early sixties largely due to an innovative marketing campaign. Advertisements featured the memorable tagline “Timex – Takes a licking and keeps on ticking”. In 1962, one out of every three watches sold in the US was a Timex.

30. Muse for a bard ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of Lyric Poetry.

31. India’s first prime minister NEHRU
Jawaharlal Nehru was the very first prime minister of India, serving from 1947-64. Nehru was basically the heir to his mentor, Mahatma Gandhi. Nehru’s only daughter, Indira, also became prime minister (known as Indira Gandhi, though she was no relation to Mahatma).

32. Fortunetelling card TAROT
Tarot cards have been around since the mid-1400s, and for centuries were simply used for entertainment as a game. It has only been since the late 1800s that the cards have been used by fortune tellers to predict the future.

38. Horace’s “__ Poetica” ARS
The full name of Horace’s work is “Ars Poetica, Epistula ad Pisones” (The Art of Poetry, Letters to Piso). The work describes the technical aspects of poetry in Ancient Rome, and the term “ars poetica” has come to mean the poetry of that period.

39. “Ditto” LIKEWISE
“Ditto” was originally used in Italian (from Tuscan dialect) to avoid repetition of the names of months in a series of dates. So “ditto” is yet another wonderful import from that lovely land …

45. Boxer “Marvelous” Marvin HAGLER
Marvin Hagler is a retired boxer from Newark, New Jersey. Hagler was the World Middleweight Boxing Champion from 1980 to 1987, successfully defending his title twelve times. “Marvelous Marvin” lost his title to Sugar Ray Leonard who came out of retirement for the fight with Hagler. Although the result was much-disputed, Hagler never fought again and turned to a career as an actor and now lives in Italy.

46. Adam’s mate EVE
Eve is named as the wife of Adam in the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. However, Adam’s wife is not specifically named in the Qur’an.

49. Roman moon goddess LUNA
“Luna” is the Latin word for “moon”, and is the name given to the Roman moon goddess. The Greek equivalent of Luna was Selene. Luna had a temple on the Aventine Hill in Rome but it was destroyed during the Great Fire that raged during the reign of Nero.

54. Actor Alda ALAN
Alan Alda had a great television career, especially of course on “M*A*S*H”. Alda won his first Emmy in 1972, for playing Hawkeye Pierce on “M*A*S*H”. He won his most recent Emmy in 2006 for his portrayal of Presidential candidate Arnold Vinick in “The West Wing”. When it comes to the big screen, my favorite of Alda’s movies is the 1978 romantic comedy “Same Time, Next Year” in which he starred opposite Ellen Burstyn.

58. Single in a wallet ONE
George Washington didn’t appear on the first one-dollar bill. Instead, the bills printed from 1862 to 1869 featured Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury who served under Abraham Lincoln.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Rosary counters BEADS
6. Fall faller LEAF
10. Long hike TREK
14. Review of business books AUDIT
15. Girl in a J.D. Salinger short story ESME
16. Wound-up fire engine item HOSE
17. Jim who sang “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim” CROCE
18. Prohibition era saloon SPEAKEASY
20. Budget accommodations HOSTELS
22. Chafing dish heaters STERNOS
23. Basilica recesses APSES
25. Spanish “a” UNA
26. John Kerry’s domain STATE DEPARTMENT
33. Flirt with HIT ON
34. Tops, as cupcakes ICES
35. Stephen of “The Crying Game” REA
36. From the U.S. AMER
37. Dwindled WANED
39. “The Wizard of Oz” lion Bert LAHR
40. Little, in Lyons PEU
41. Fictional plantation TARA
42. In __ fertilization VITRO
43. Supermarket convenience EXPRESS CHECKOUT
47. Tolkien giant ENT
48. Le __, France HAVRE
49. Rodeo rider, at times LASSOER
53. Put on an extra sweater, say GET WARM
57. Complete ninny UTTER FOOL
59. Alvin of dance AILEY
60. Midday NOON
61. __ Reader: alternative media digest UTNE
62. Sunday song PSALM
63. PDA entry APPT
64. Lewd look LEER
65. Itty-bitty EENSY

Down
1. Composer of fugues BACH
2. Multinational currency EURO
3. Big fusses ADOS
4. Absolute ruler DICTATOR
5. Increase the slope of STEEPEN
6. Tenant LESSEE
7. Psychic’s claim ESP
8. Iowa State home AMES
9. Showcased FEATURED
10. Aries THE RAM
11. Chestnut horse ROAN
12. Petro-Canada rival ESSO
13. Janitor’s janglers KEYS
19. Adoptive parents of Superman KENTS
21. ’60s hallucinogen LSD
24. Popeye’s favorite veggie SPINACH
26. Physical condition SHAPE
27. “It takes a licking …” watch TIMEX
28. Wolfed down ATE UP
29. King beater ACE
30. Muse for a bard ERATO
31. India’s first prime minister NEHRU
32. Fortunetelling card TAROT
37. Opposite of thrifty WASTEFUL
38. Horace’s “__ Poetica” ARS
39. “Ditto” LIKEWISE
41. Choir member TENOR
42. DVD forerunner VCR TAPE
44. Take exception to RESENT
45. Boxer “Marvelous” Marvin HAGLER
46. Adam’s mate EVE
49. Roman moon goddess LUNA
50. Perched on ATOP
51. “Quit it!” STOP!
52. Repetitive learning ROTE
54. Actor Alda ALAN
55. Kinfolk: Abbr. RELS
56. “Goodness gracious!” MY MY!
58. Single in a wallet ONE

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