Day: May 19, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Omega’s opposite ALPHA
“Alpha” is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and gave rise to our Latin letter “A”. In turn, alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter “aleph”.

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is the one that looks like a horseshoe. The word “omega” literally means “great O” (O-mega). Compare this with the Greek letter Omicron meaning “little O” (O-micron).

6. Hundred Acre Wood bear POOH
Hundred Acre Wood is where Winnie the Pooh lives with his friends. According to a map illustrating the books by A. A. Milne, Hundred Acre Wood is part of a larger forest, with Owl’s house sitting right at the center.

18. Glasgow native SCOT
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and sits on the River Clyde. Back in the Victorian Era, Glasgow earned a reputation for excellence in shipbuilding and was known as “Second City of the British Empire”. Glasgow shipyards were the birthplaces of such famous vessels as the Lusitania, the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth.

19. Checkers or chess, e.g. GAME
“Checkers” is yet another word that I had to learn moving across the Atlantic. In Ireland the game is called draughts.

It is believed that the game of chess originated in northwest India, evolving from a 6th-century game called “chaturanga”, a Sanskrit word meaning “four divisions”. These four (military) divisions were represented in the game:

– Infantry (now “pawns”)
– Cavalry (now “knights”)
– Elephants (now “bishops”)
– Chariots (now “rooks”)

20. Local area NECK OF THE WOODS
The expression “neck of the woods” is a colorful way of describing a certain region or neighborhood. The phrase originated with the first American colonists, to whom a “neck” of woods was a narrow stand of trees. Apparently, those early colonists tried hard to get away from traditional English names for places, such as “moor”, “heath”, “dell” and “fen”. As a result, alternative placenames such as “branch”, “fork”, “hollow”, “gap” and “flat” are much more common here in North America than in the British Isles.

23. Rapper Dr. __ DRE
Dr. Dre is the stage name of rapper Andre Romelle Young. Dr. Dre is known for his own singing career as well as for producing records and starting the careers of others such Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent.

24. B’way full-house sign SRO
Standing room only (SRO)

25. One of the back forty ACRE
In the Public Land Survey System, land right across the country is divided into townships and sections. A section is roughly equivalent to a square mile, 640 acres. It became the practice to refer to quarter-quarter divisions of a section, with a quarter of a quarter of a section being equal to 40 acres (check the math!). From this sprung phrases like “lower 40” (nominally the lowest elevation 40 acres on a property) and the “back 40” (nominally a 40 acre parcel that was undeveloped on a property, “out the back”).

26. Hangover cure, so they say HAIR OF THE DOG
The “hair of the dog” is an alcoholic drink that is taken to lessen the symptoms of an existing hangover. The expression is written more completely as “the hair of the dog that bit you”. It originated with the belief that if a dog bit someone, placing some hairs of the dog into the wound who fend off the potential of rabies. The more contemporary practise is to treat a hangover with a glass of the same alcoholic drink that caused it in the first place.

35. Fed. property overseer GSA
The US Government’s General Services Administration (GSA), as the name suggests, provides general services to other federal agencies. So for example, the GSA manages office space for the other agencies, and transportation.

36. Vogue shelfmate ELLE
“Elle” magazine was founded in 1945 in France and today has the highest circulation of any fashion magazine in the world. “Elle” is the French word for “she”.

“Vogue” magazine has been published an awfully long time, with the first issue appearing in 1892. Over the decades the magazine has picked up a lot of criticism as well as its many fans. Famously, an assistant to the editor wrote a novel based on her experiences working with the magazine’s editor, and called it “The Devil Wears Prada”.

37. Madagascar tree dweller LEMUR
Lemurs are the most unusual-looking creatures, native to the island of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa. With their white fur and dark eyes that are very reflective at night, they have a “ghostly” appearance. Indeed, the animals takes their name from Roman mythology in which “lemures” were spirits of the restless dead.

Madagascar is the large island country lying off the southeast coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The main island of Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world (after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo).

39. Fourth of __ JULY
On 11 June 1776, the Continental Congress appointed a committee of five people to draft a declaration of independence. Included in the five were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Adams persuaded the other committee members to give Jefferson the task of writing the first draft. A resolution of independence was passed by the Congress on 2 Jul 1776. The final draft of the declaration was approved by the Congress two days later, on July 4th. John Adams wrote a letter to his wife that included an assertion that July 2nd (the date of the resolution of independence) would become a great American holiday. Of course Adams was wrong, and it was actually the date that the Declaration of Independence was finalized that came to be celebrated annually.

40. Greek “T” TAU
Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet, the letter which gave rise to our Roman “T”. Both the letters tau (T) and chi (X) have long been symbolically associated with the cross.

42. Tippy boat CANOE
The boat called a canoe takes its name from the Carib word “kenu” meaning “dugout”. It was Christopher Columbus who brought “kenu” into Spanish as “canoa”, which evolved into our English “canoe”.

47. Shoulder muscle, for short DELT
The deltoid muscle is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.

52. Valedictorian HEAD OF THE CLASS
A valediction is an act of taking one’s leave, from the Latin “vale dicere”, to say farewell. An example of a valediction would be the words “yours truly” at the end of a letter. And of course, the valedictorian (here in the US anyway) is the student in a graduating class that is chosen to say the final words at the graduation ceremony, a farewell to the classmates.

56. Poli sci subj. GOVT
A subject (subj.) studied in a political science (poli sci) class would be government (govt.).

59. Tony Award relative OBIE
The Obies are the “Off-Broadway Theater Awards”. The Obies are presented annually and the recipients are chosen by “The Village Voice” newspaper.

Sardi’s is a renowned restaurant in the Theater District of Manhattan. Sardi’s is famous for attracting celebrities who pose for caricatures that are then displayed on the restaurant’s walls. After the death of actress and director Antoinette Perry in 1946, her friend and partner Brock Pemberton was having lunch at Sardi’s and came up with idea of a theater award that could be presented in Perry’s honor. The award was to be called the Tony Award.

63. Cincinnati team REDS
The Red Scare (i.e. anti-communist sentiment) following WWII had such an effect on the populace that it even caused the Cincinnati baseball team to change its name from the Reds. The team was called the Cincinnati Redlegs from 1953-1958, as the management was fearful of losing money due to public distrust of any association with “Reds”.

Down
5. Jazz combo instrument ALTO SAX
The saxophone was invented by Belgian Adolphe Sax. Sax developed lip cancer at one point in his life, and one has to wonder if his affliction was related to his saxophone playing (I am sure not!). I had the privilege of visiting Sax’s grave in the Cemetery of Montmartre in Paris a few years ago.

6. Church leader PASTOR
A pastor is a minister or priest in some Christian traditions. “Pastor” is the Latin word for “shepherd”.

8. Native Nebraskan OTOE
The Native American people known as the Otoe were the first tribe encountered by the Lewis and clark Expedition. The meeting took place at a point on the Missouri River that is now known as Council Bluff.

10. ’90s veep AL GORE
Al Gore was born in Washington DC, the son of Al Gore, Sr., then a US Representative for the state of Tennessee. After deferring his military service in order to attend Harvard, the younger Gore became eligible for the draft on graduation. Many of his classmates found ways of avoiding the draft, but Gore decided to serve and even took the “tougher” option of joining the army as an enlisted man. Actor Tommy Lee Jones shared a house with Gore in college and says that his buddy told him that even if he could find a way around the draft, someone with less options than him would have to go in his place and that was just wrong.

12. __ Club: Costco rival SAM’S
Sam’s Club is a retail warehouse club that is owned and operated by Walmart and is named after the company’s founder, Sam Walton.

Costco is the largest warehouse club in the US. Apparently Costco is also the largest retailer of wine in the whole world. The company was founded in 1983 in Kirkland, Washington. Kirkland Signature is Costco’s store brand, and you can even buy Kirkland Signature wine.

13. Number of gods in a monotheistic faith ONE
Broadly speaking, “theism” is the belief that there is at least one god. The term is also used describe the belief in just one god, what is perhaps more accurately referred to as “monotheism”. As such, followers of Christianity, Judaism and Islam would be classified as theists.

21. “Thank God” day: Abbr. FRI
“Thank God It’s Friday” (TGIF) is a relatively new expression that originated in Akron, Ohio. It was a catchphrase used first by disk jockey Jerry Healy of radio station WAKR in the early seventies.

22. Cuatro times dos OCHO
In Spanish, four (cuatro) times dos (two) is eight (ocho).

28. Ailment with a “season” FLU
Influenza (flu) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.

29. Norwegian capital OSLO
Oslo is an ancient city, founded around 1048. The medieval city was destroyed by fire in 1624 and was rebuilt by the Danish-Norwegian King Christian IV and renamed Christiania. In 1877 there was an official change of the name’s spelling to “Kristiania”, and then more recently in 1925 the name was restored to the original Oslo. Things have gone full circle as the center of Oslo, the area that would have been contained by the original medieval walls, has recently been named Christiania again.

30. “What’s Going On” singer Marvin GAYE
Marvin Gaye was a singer-songwriter from Washington, D.C. who came to be known as “Prince of Soul” and “Prince of Motown”. Some of Gaye’s biggest hits are “I Heard It Through the Grapevine” (1968), “What’s Going On?” (1971), “Let’s Get It On” (1973) and “Sexual Healing” (1982). Famously, Gaye was shot dead by his father while Marvin was sitting on his mother’s bed just talking to her. Marvin had given the gun to his father as a Christmas gift.

The classic Marvin Gaye song “What’s Going On” was written in 1969 by Al Cleveland. Cleveland wrote it for his friend Obie Benson (of the Four Tops) after Benson witnessed police brutality at an anti-war protest in Berkeley. The theme of the song reflected Benson’s position of wondering “what’s going on?” Benson gave the song to Marvin Gaye who rewrote it somewhat, and who also gave it the “What’s Going On” title. Gaye released it as a single in 1971.

31. Sampras of tennis PETE
Pete Sampras is a retired Greek-American tennis professional. Sampras was rated number one in the world rankings for six years in a row in the nineties.

32. Moisturizer brand 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.

33. Duke University athlete BLUE DEVIL
Duke University was founded in 1838 as Brown’s Schoolhouse. The school was renamed to Trinity College in 1859, and to this day the town where the college was located back then is known as Trinity, in honor of the school. The school was moved in 1892 to Durham, North Carolina in part due to generous donations from the wealthy tobacco industrialist Washington Duke. Duke’s donation required that the school open its doors to women, placing them on an equal footing with men. Trinity’s name was changed to Duke in 1924 in recognition of the generosity of the Duke family.

41. Place for cargo HOLD
“Cargo” is freight carried by some vehicle. The term comes into English via Spanish, ultimately deriving from the Latin “carricare” meaning “to load on a cart”.

42. Buster Posey’s position CATCHER
Buster Posey is a catcher and first baseman playing for the San Francisco Giants. “Buster” was born Gerald Posey in Leesburg, Georgia.

49. Kiddie lit elephant BABAR
“Babar the Elephant” originated in France, a creation of Jean de Brunhoff in 1931. The first book was “Histoire de Babar”, a book so successful it was translated into English two years later for publication in Britain and the US. Jean de Brunhoff wrote six more Babar stories before he died in 1937, and then his son Laurent continued his father’s work.

52. Vagrant HOBO
No one seems to know for sure how the term “hobo” originated, although there are lots of colorful theories. My favorite is that “hobo” comes from the first letters in the words “ho-meward bo-und”, but it doesn’t seem very plausible. A kind blog reader tells me that according to Click and Clack from PBS’s “Car Talk” (a great source!), “hobo” comes from “hoe boy”. Hoe boys were young men with hoes looking for work after the Civil War. Hobos differed from “tramps” and “bums”, in that “bums” refused to work, “tramps” worked when they had to, while “hobos” traveled in search of work.

53. Use an emery board on FILE
Emery is a very hard type of rock that is crushed for use as an abrasive. Emery paper is made by gluing small particles of emery to paper. Emery boards are just emery paper with a cardboard backing. And emery boards are primarily used for filing nails.

55. Etna output LAVA
Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy. Mt Etna is about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt. Vesuvius.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Omega’s opposite ALPHA
6. Hundred Acre Wood bear POOH
10. “And another thing …” ALSO …
14. Fable conclusion MORAL
15. With 16-Across, money to buy a car AUTO
16. See 15-Across LOAN
17. Oust EVICT
18. Glasgow native SCOT
19. Checkers or chess, e.g. GAME
20. Local area NECK OF THE WOODS
23. Rapper Dr. __ DRE
24. B’way full-house sign SRO
25. One of the back forty ACRE
26. Hangover cure, so they say HAIR OF THE DOG
31. Mail dely. compartment PO BOX
34. Vegetable oil-based spread OLEO
35. Fed. property overseer GSA
36. Vogue shelfmate ELLE
37. Madagascar tree dweller LEMUR
39. Fourth of __ JULY
40. Greek “T” TAU
41. Junky car HEAP
42. Tippy boat CANOE
43. Way things are legally viewed EYES OF THE LAW
47. Shoulder muscle, for short DELT
48. Small songbird TIT
49. Sheep sound BAA
52. Valedictorian HEAD OF THE CLASS
56. Poli sci subj. GOVT
57. Eight, on a sundial VIII
58. Hard thing to break HABIT
59. Tony Award relative OBIE
60. Util. supply ELEC
61. Throw off one’s trail EVADE
62. Type option for emphasis BOLD
63. Cincinnati team REDS
64. Less likely to be a bargain on eBay RARER

Down
1. Change, as a constitution AMEND
2. Romantic partner LOVER
3. Five dollars a pound, e.g. PRICE
4. Access illegally, as a database HACK
5. Jazz combo instrument ALTO SAX
6. Church leader PASTOR
7. “That hurt!” OUCH!
8. Native Nebraskan OTOE
9. Serious trouble HOT WATER
10. ’90s veep AL GORE
11. Weapon with ammo LOADED GUN
12. __ Club: Costco rival SAM’S
13. Number of gods in a monotheistic faith ONE
21. “Thank God” day: Abbr. FRI
22. Cuatro times dos OCHO
26. Clod chopper HOE
27. Get-up-and-go OOMPH
28. Ailment with a “season” FLU
29. Norwegian capital OSLO
30. “What’s Going On” singer Marvin GAYE
31. Sampras of tennis PETE
32. Moisturizer brand OLAY
33. Duke University athlete BLUE DEVIL
37. Like doggy bag contents LEFT OVER
38. Have a bite EAT
39. Knockout punch target JAW
41. Place for cargo HOLD
42. Buster Posey’s position CATCHER
44. On a chair SEATED
45. Moral standards ETHICS
46. Stretch the truth LIE
49. Kiddie lit elephant BABAR
50. Comment meant only for the audience ASIDE
51. Daisylike flower ASTER
52. Vagrant HOBO
53. Use an emery board on FILE
54. Even, as a score TIED
55. Etna output LAVA
56. Lump GOB

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