Day: October 4, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. 1961 Jerry Lewis film, with “The” ERRAND BOY
“The Errand Boy” is a 1961 madcap comedy film about a paperhanger who is sent to spy on the inner workings of a movie studio. The film stars Jerry Lewis, and Lewis also served as director and co-writer.

15. Peach variety NECTARINE
A nectarine is a cultivar of a peach, notable for its smooth skin (as opposed to the fuzzy skin of the traditional peach).

16. Indiana state flower PEONY
The flowering plant called a peony is named for Paean, the mythical physician to the Greek gods.

19. Activist gp. with a clenched fist in its logo SDS
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was an activist group in the sixties. The SDS organized the largest student strike in the history of the United States on 26 April 1968, with about a million students staying away from class that day. The “Students for a Democratic Society” name was revived in 2006 with the foundation of a new US-based student organization with left wing beliefs. Today’s SDS was founded by a pair of high school students from Greenwich Village, New York.

20. Super Bowl highlight, for many TV AD
The Super Bowl is used for high-profile advertising because of the high viewership numbers. For example, Super Bowl XLV (2011) had an average audience of 111 million viewers, making it the most-watched American TV program in history.

21. Heavy-duty soap brand BORAXO
Boraxo is a brand of hand soap that is aimed at workers who get their hands particularly dirty. The soap contains borax, which is powdery and grainy. The texture helps in the exfoliation of dirty hands.

22. Open court hearing, in law OYER
“Oyer” is a term used to describe the reading out loud of a document in court.

23. Monk music BOP
Thelonious Monk was a jazz pianist and composer, the second-most recorded jazz composer after the great Duke Ellington. That’s a pretty impressive statistic given that Ellington wrote more than 1,000 songs, whereas Monk only wrote about 70. Monk was a pioneer in the development of the jazz style called “bebop”, which gained popularity in the 1940s.

24. Certain NCO CPL
An NCO is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces. Usually such an officer is one who has earned his or her rank by promotion through the enlisted ranks. A good example would be a sergeant or a corporal.

25. Pacer and Medallion AMCS
The AMC Pacer is an iconic car from the seventies. The Pacer has big glass windows leading to it being nicknamed “the Flying Fish Bowl” by “Car and Driver” magazine.

The Eagle Medallion was an AMC car offered in the 1980s, which was actually a rebadged Renault 21 from France.

28. 1963 Top 10 hit for Paul Petersen MY DAD
Paul Petersen is an actor and singer, a former childhood star who played young Jeff Stone on “The Donna Reed Show” in the fifties. Petersen had a hit with the “My Dad” that he performed on the TV show in 1962.

31. Speculator of a sort DAY-TRADER
A day-trader is an investor (of sorts), one who buys securities and sells them on the same day in an attempt to make a quick profit.

33. Early business language COBOL
COBOL is one of the oldest computer programming languages, with the acronym standing for COmmon Business-Oriented Language. COBOL was developed by “the mother of the COBOL language”, programmer Grace Hopper.

35. “Define your world” online reference URBAN DICTIONARY
Urban Dictionary is a website that was founded in 1999 by a computer science student at Cal Poly. The site contains definitions of mainly slang terms, and is maintained by the site’s members.

37. ’50s-’60s civil rights activist EVERS
Medgar Evers was an African American civil rights activist from Mississippi who was assassinated by the Klu Klux Klan in 1963. A year after the murder, one Byron De La Beckwith was arrested and charged with the crime. Two trials failed to return a decision on Beckwith’s guilt as the juries, composed completely of white males, deadlocked both times. New evidence was unearthed some thirty years later so Beckwith could be retried and he was finally convicted of the murder in 1994. Back in 1963 Evers was buried with full military honors in Arlington National Cemetery. Evers had served in the US Army in France during WWII and left the military with the rank of sergeant.

38. Saturn, for one GAS PLANET
A gas planet is one that does not have a solid surface, in fact, they don’t really have a surface at all. There is usually a solid core with layers of gases surrounding that get thinner and thinner the further away the gas is from that core. So, man will never be able to “set foot” on such planets, as there is nothing really to set foot on! We have examples of gas planets within our own solar system, namely Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

39. Sched. maker IRS
Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

40. Eyelashes CILIA
“Cilia” is the Latin for “eyelash”.

42. Org. chaired by Reince Priebus RNC
The current Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) is Reince Priebus. Prior to serving as chairman, Priebus was general counsel for the RNC.

44. Year Columbus began his fourth voyage MDII
Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all to the Americas. The last of these expeditions departed from Cadiz in May 1502. Columbus’s ships were damaged in a dispute with locals in Panama, and further damaged in a storm off the coast of Cuba. The members of the expedition found themselves stranded in Jamaica for a year, before they were rescued by a team sent by the Governor of Hispaniola in 1504. The party were then returned to Spain, where Columbus died two years later, in 1506.

55. “So Much in Love” pop group, with “The” TYMES
The Tymes are a vocal soul group from America, who enjoyed just as much success in the UK as they did in the US. The Tymes topped the US charts with “So Much in Love” in 1963, although the song didn’t do at all well in the UK. On the other hand their only other big hit, the 1975 single “Ms Grace”, made it to number one in the UK, and only reached #91 in the US charts.

56. Non-profit whose corporate sponsors include Purina ADOPT-A-PET
Adopt-a-Pet.com is a non-profit website that maintains a website of adoptable pets from over 12,000 pet shelters across North America.

Purina began operations in 1894 as an operation for producing feed for farm animals. A few years later, in 1902, the Ralston name was introduced when Webster Edgerly joined the business. Edgerly was the founder of a controversial social movement called Ralstonism. Central to the movement was personal health, with RALSTON standing for Regime, Activity, Light, Strength, Temperation, Oxygen and Nature.

Down
2. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy REID
Andy Reid was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles football team for 13 years before taking up the head coaching position with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013.

4. SSTs flew over it ATL
The earliest known mention of the name “Atlantic” for the world’s second-largest ocean was in Ancient Greece. The Greeks called the ocean “the Sea of Atlas” or “Atlantis thalassa”.

The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Famously, the Concorde routinely broke the sound barrier, and cruised at about twice the speed of sound. Above Mach 2, frictional heat would cause the plane’s aluminum airframe to soften, so airspeed was limited.

5. Smart NATTY
A natty dresser is one who dresses smartly and neatly.

7. Bit BINARY DIGIT
In the world of computers, a “bit” is the basic unit of information. It has a value of 0 or 1. A “byte” is a small collection of bits (usually 8), the number of bits needed to uniquely identify a character of text. The prefix mega- stands for 10 to the power of 6, so a megabyte (meg) is 1,000,000 bytes. And the prefix giga- means 10 to the power of 9, so a gigabyte (gig) is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Well, those are the SI definitions of megabyte and kilobyte. The purists still use 2 to the power of 20 for a megabyte (i.e. 1,048,576), and 2 to the power of 30 for a gigabyte.

8. Linear, briefly ONE-D
The dimension of an object is defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify each point in the object. Therefore a line is one-dimensional, as you only need an x-coordinate to specify a particular point on the line. A surface is two-dimensional, as you need both an x-coordinate and a y-coordinate to locate a point on the surface. The inside of a solid object is then three-dimensional, needing an x-, y- and z-coordinate to specify a point, say within a cube.

9. “Roundabout” band YES
Yes are a rock band from England that formed in 1968 and were most successful in the 1980s. The bands biggest hit was “Owner of a Lonely Heart” from 1983.

12. Competitor of NYC’s Latin Quarter COPACABANA
The Copacabana of the 1979 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub.

The Latin Quarter is a New York City nightclub that has been operating since 1942. The club was opened by Lou Walters, who was the father of Barbara Walters, the TV journalist.

13. Like much of the Mariana Trench UNEXPLORED
The Mariana Trench is the lowest elevation on the surface of the Earth’s crust. The Mariana Trench takes its name from the nearby Mariana Islands in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

14. Innsbruck’s state TYROL
The Austrian state of Tyrol has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world, especially if you love the mountains. It is in the very west of the country, just south of Bavaria in Germany. The capital city is the famous Innsbruck.

22. Very hot celestial orbs O STARS
Stars are usually classified based on the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star, but I think we all know that …

23. Male cartoon character voiced by Nancy Cartwright BART SIMPSON
Bart Simpson is the main character in television’s “The Simpsons”. Bart’s name was chosen by the writers as it is an anagram of “brat”. Bart is voiced by actress and comedian Nancy Cartwright.

25. Together, musically A DUE
“A due” is a musical term meaning “together”, and literally translates from Italian as “by two”.

26. Posthumous 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee 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.

27. Phishing, e.g. CYBERCRIME
Phishing is the name given to the online practice of stealing usernames, passwords and credit card details by creating a site that deceptively looks reliable and trustworthy. Phishers often send out safe-looking emails or instant messages that direct someone to an equally safe-looking website where the person might inadvertently enter sensitive information. “Phishing” is a play on the word “fishing”, as in “fishing for passwords, PIN numbers etc.”

29. Modeling accessory DECAL
A decal is a decorative sticker, short for “decalcomania”. The term is derived from the French “décalquer”, the practice of tracing a pattern from paper onto glass or perhaps porcelain.

30. French address MON AMI
“Mon ami” is French for “my friend”, when referring to a male.

32. Shot providers, briefly RNS
Registered nurses (RNs)

33. S.A. country COL
The South American country of Colombia takes her name from the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (“Cristoforo Colombo” in Italian).

34. Suffix with electro- -LYTE
An electrolyte is a chemical that ionizes when it dissolves in a liquid, often water. One of the most commonly encountered electrolytes is table salt (NaCl), which forms sodium and chlorine ions in water.

36. Tweetbot and GoodReader IPAD APPS
Tweetbot is an app for the Apple platforms that facilitates the use of Twitter.

GoodReader is an application for Apple’s iOS operating system. It allows readers to view documents of various formats including .doc, .xls and .pdf.

40. Nasdaq listings COS
Company (co.)

The computerized stock trading system known as the NASDAQ was created in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers. NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. NASDAQ was the successor to the over-the-counter (OTC) trading system that was common at the time. OTC trading is done directly between two parties without being facilitated by an exchange.

43. Aaron’s “Breaking Bad” role JESSE
The character Jesse Pinkman in the TV drama “Breaking Bad” is drug dealer and former student who teams up with his old chemistry teacher to produce high-grade meth. Pinkman is played by actor Aaron Paul.

47. B or C, but not A or D ELEM
Boron is the chemical element with the atomic number of 5 and symbol B. It lies over to the right in Group 13 of the Periodic Table of the Elements. Uncombined, elemental boron is not found naturally on Earth. The boron that is mined is found in oxide form, not as uncombined boron.

The chemical element carbon has the symbol “C” and the atomic number of 6. Pure carbon exists in several physical forms, including graphite and diamond.

50. Nice summers ETES
One might spend the summer (été) under the sun (le soleil) in French-speaking countries.

The French city of Nice is on the Mediterranean coast in the southeast of the country. Although Nice is only the fifth most populous city in France, it is home to the busiest airport outside of Paris. That’s because of all the tourists flocking to the French Riviera.

53. Brooklynese pronoun DAT
The New York dialect of English is sometimes called Brooklynese, I believe, youse guys …

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. 1961 Jerry Lewis film, with “The” ERRAND BOY
10. In its entirety UNCUT
15. Peach variety NECTARINE
16. Indiana state flower PEONY
17. Availability indicators DIAL TONES
18. Certain candle TAPER
19. Activist gp. with a clenched fist in its logo SDS
20. Super Bowl highlight, for many TV AD
21. Heavy-duty soap brand BORAXO
22. Open court hearing, in law OYER
23. Monk music BOP
24. Certain NCO CPL
25. Pacer and Medallion AMCS
28. 1963 Top 10 hit for Paul Petersen MY DAD
30. Function opening? MAL-
31. Speculator of a sort DAY-TRADER
33. Early business language COBOL
35. “Define your world” online reference URBAN DICTIONARY
37. ’50s-’60s civil rights activist EVERS
38. Saturn, for one GAS PLANET
39. Sched. maker IRS
40. Eyelashes CILIA
41. ID’ed MADE
42. Org. chaired by Reince Priebus RNC
43. Scribble JOT
44. Year Columbus began his fourth voyage MDII
46. Corresponds AGREES
48. Bandy words SPAR
49. Mint NEW
52. Tanks, so to speak FAILS
53. Distinct DISPARATE
55. “So Much in Love” pop group, with “The” TYMES
56. Non-profit whose corporate sponsors include Purina ADOPT-A-PET
57. Words often evoking 58-Across SEE ME
58. Common reaction to 57-Across TENSENESS

Down
1. Boundaries ENDS
2. Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy REID
3. Colortrak TVs, e.g. RCAS
4. SSTs flew over it ATL
5. Smart NATTY
6. Annoyed big time DROVE MAD
7. Bit BINARY DIGIT
8. Linear, briefly ONE-D
9. “Roundabout” band YES
10. In the brain, to a Brit UP TOP
11. In proximity NEAR
12. Competitor of NYC’s Latin Quarter COPACABANA
13. Like much of the Mariana Trench UNEXPLORED
14. Innsbruck’s state TYROL
21. Hunk’s asset BOD
22. Very hot celestial orbs O STARS
23. Male cartoon character voiced by Nancy Cartwright BART SIMPSON
25. Together, musically A DUE
26. Posthumous 1987 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee MARVIN GAYE
27. Phishing, e.g. CYBERCRIME
29. Modeling accessory DECAL
30. French address MON AMI
32. Shot providers, briefly RNS
33. S.A. country COL
34. Suffix with electro- -LYTE
36. Tweetbot and GoodReader IPAD APPS
40. Nasdaq listings COS
42. They may be rubber RAFTS
43. Aaron’s “Breaking Bad” role JESSE
45. Steamed IRATE
47. B or C, but not A or D ELEM
48. Faction SIDE
49. View from behind? NAPE
50. Nice summers ETES
51. Moistens WETS
53. Brooklynese pronoun DAT
54. Appeared in print RAN

Return to top of page