Day: October 14, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Westminster landmark ABBEY
The correct name for the Gothic church we know as Westminster Abbey is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at Westminster. The Abbey is a favored location for coronations and royal weddings and burials. The last royal wedding in the Abbey was the marriage between Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011.

6. Literary captain who says “I’d strike the sun if it insulted me” AHAB
Captain Ahab is the obsessed and far from friendly captain of the Pequod in Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick”. The role of Captain Ahab was played by Gregory Peck in the 1956 John Huston film adaptation. Patrick Stewart played Ahab in a 1998 miniseries in which Peck made another appearance, as Father Mapple.

16. Freight train hopper 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.

17. Stolen pastries in “Alice in Wonderland” TARTS
“Alice in Wonderland” is a 2010 movie directed by Tim Burton that is based on the children’s novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll.

Lewis Carroll’s handwritten manuscript that eventually became “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” was titled “Alice’s Adventures Under Ground”. Carroll published a facsimile copy of the original “Under Ground” manuscript in 1886, just over twenty years after “Wonderland” hit the presses.

18. Access using force BREAK OPEN (giving “breakwater”)
A breakwater is a structure designed to reduce the intensity of wave action and hence reduce coastal erosion or provide a safe haven for boats.

23. Old-time fountain employee SODA JERK (giving “soda water”)
In the halcyon days of yore, a “soda jerk” was usually a young person whose main job was to serve ice cream sodas in a drugstore. The server would “jerk” the handle on the soda fountain to dispense the soda water, giving the job its distinctive name.

37. Buffalo’s lake ERIE
Lake Erie is the fourth largest of the five Great Lakes by area (Lake Ontario is the smallest). The lake takes its name from the Erie tribe of Native Americans that used to live along its southern shore. Erie is the smallest of the Great Lakes by volume and the shallowest, something for which nearby residents must be quite grateful. Being relatively shallow, much of Erie freezes over part way through most winters putting an end to most of the lake effect snow that falls in the snow belt extending from the lake’s edge.

Buffalo is the second most-populous city in the state of New York. The city takes its name from Buffalo Creek that runs through the metropolis (although the waterway is called Buffalo River within the city). The source of the name Buffalo Creek is the subject of much speculation, but one thing is clear, there were never any bison in the area.

38. 1954 Oscar-winning Brando film, or where either half of 18-, 23-, 51- and 61-Across can literally be found ON THE WATERFRONT
The 1954 drama “On the Waterfront”, starring Marlon Brando, told a story of violence and corruption among longshoremen. The movie was based on a series of 24 articles written by investigative journalist Malcolm Johnston and published in “The New York Sun”. The original news stories uncovered mob infiltration on the New York City Waterfront, but the location for the film was chosen as Hoboken, New Jersey.

42. Gyro bread PITA
A gyro is a traditional Greek dish, a sandwich made with pita bread containing meat, tomato, onion and tzatziki (a yogurt and cucumber sauce). The meat for gyros is usually roasted on a tall vertical spit and is sliced from the spit as required. The name “gyro” comes from the modern Greek word “gyros” meaning “circle”, a reference to the meat turning as it is grilled in a rotating circular motion.

43. Staircase pillar NEWEL
A newel is a principal upright post that supports a handrail beside a staircase. Newels are found at the top and bottom of the banister, and sometimes in between. Newels are often adorned with decorative trim to set them apart from the other posts by the staircase.

50. Justice Dept. division DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

67. Police crisis unit acronym SWAT
SWAT is an acronym standing for Special Weapons and Tactics. The first SWAT team was pulled together in the Los Angeles Police Department in 1968.

68. One of the deadly sins LUST
The cardinal sins of Christian ethics are also known as the seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins are:

– wrath
– greed
– sloth
– pride
– lust
– envy
– gluttony

Down
6. Ann __, Michigan ARBOR
Ann Arbor, Michigan was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. Supposedly, Allen and Rumsey originally used the name “Annsarbour” in recognition of stands of bur oak that were on the land they had purchased and in recognition of their wives, both of whom were called “Ann” (i.e. Anns’ Arbor)

7. “Impresario” memoirist Sol HUROK
Sol Hurok was one of the most famous impresarios of the 20th century. Horuk managed a stellar list of performers, including Van Cliburn, Isadora Duncan, Margot Fonteyn, Anna Pavlova, Arthur Rubinstein and Isaac Stern. One of Hurok’s major coups was the booking of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet for a tour of the US in 1959, with the Kirov following just two years later. However, continued tours by Soviet performers enraged the Jewish Defense League who then bombed his Manhattan office, killing one person and injuring Hurok.

8. Stein filler ALE
A stein is a type of beer glass. The term is German in origin, and is short for “Steinkrug” meaning “stone jug”. “Stein” is the German for “stone”.

9. Car that’s ready for the scrap heap BEATER
“Beater” is slang for an old car that is in poor condition, and is a term that dates back only to the 1980s.

11. Egyptian Christian COPT
The Copts make up the largest minority religious group in Egypt. Copts are Christians, with most adhered to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, and others practicing Coptic Catholicism or Coptic Protestantism. The term “Copt” ultimately derives from a Greek word for Egyptian.

24. Joke JAPE
“To jape” means “to joke or quip”. The exact origins of “jape” are unclear, but it does seem to come from Old French. In the mid-1600’s “to jape” was a slang term meaning “to have sex with”. No joke!

30. Late-night host Meyers SETH
Seth Meyers is an actor and comedian who is perhaps best-known for his appearances on “Saturday Night Live” (SNL), for which program he served as head writer. Meyers now hosts his own late night talk show on NBC.

31. Beer flavoring HOPS
The foodstuff that we call “hops” are actually the female flower of the hop plant. The main use of hops is to add flavor to beer. The town in which I live here in California used to be home to the largest hop farm in the whole world. Most of the harvested hops were exported all the way to the breweries of London where they could fetch the best price.

33. James of jazz ETTA
Etta James was best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she disclosed in her autobiography, James lived a life that was ravaged by drug addiction leading to numerous legal and health problems. Ms. James passed away in January 2012 having suffered from leukemia.

35. Path to the pins LANE
Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

52. Stave off AVERT
The word “stave” was originally the plural of “staff”, a wooden rod. To “stave off” originated with the concept of holding off with a staff. In the world of barrel-making, a stave is a narrow strip of wood that forms part of a barrel’s sides.

53. Vital blood line AORTA
The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

54. Groucho’s smoke CIGAR
Groucho Marx’s real name was Julius Henry Marx. By the time Groucho started his successful, post-Hollywood career hosting the quiz show “You Bet Your Life”, he was sporting a real mustache. For all his movies, his mustache had been painted on with greasepaint.

55. Prepared to be knighted KNELT
Kneel, and the Queen might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

62. Pocatello sch. ISU
Pocatello is a city in the southeast of Idaho. It is home to Idaho State University. The city was founded as a railroad stop in the days of the gold rush. Pocatello was named for the chief of the Shoshone tribe who granted the right of way for the railroad to pass through the nearby Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

63. Sea captain’s “Help!” SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Westminster landmark ABBEY
6. Literary captain who says “I’d strike the sun if it insulted me” AHAB
10. Natural bandage SCAB
14. Witch CRONE
15. Decide, as a judge RULE
16. Freight train hopper HOBO
17. Stolen pastries in “Alice in Wonderland” TARTS
18. Access using force BREAK OPEN (giving “breakwater”)
20. Say with certainty AVER
21. “Get off the stage!” BOO!
22. Without any slack TAUTLY
23. Old-time fountain employee SODA JERK (giving “soda water”)
25. Right-angle bend ELL
26. Amigo PAL
27. They’re earned by completing college courses CREDITS
31. Shade HUE
34. __ bear POLAR
37. Buffalo’s lake ERIE
38. 1954 Oscar-winning Brando film, or where either half of 18-, 23-, 51- and 61-Across can literally be found ON THE WATERFRONT
42. Gyro bread PITA
43. Staircase pillar NEWEL
44. Ultimate degree NTH
45. Many a rush-hour rider STANDEE
48. Drink often iced TEA
50. Justice Dept. division DEA
51. Like unabridged print dictionaries HARDBACK (giving “hard water”)
56. Less biased FAIRER
59. Wall-climbing plant IVY
60. Bump off DO IN
61. Being attacked UNDER FIRE (giving “underwater”)
63. Sudden power increase SURGE
64. Observes SEES
65. Tablet operator USER
66. In base eight OCTAL
67. Police crisis unit acronym SWAT
68. One of the deadly sins LUST
69. Kick off START

Down
1. Attend to the duties of ACT AS
2. “Well done!” BRAVO!
3. Yawning in class, say BORED
4. Catch in a sting ENTRAP
5. “Certainly!” YES!
6. Ann __, Michigan ARBOR
7. “Impresario” memoirist Sol HUROK
8. Stein filler ALE
9. Car that’s ready for the scrap heap BEATER
10. Side of a road SHOULDER
11. Egyptian Christian COPT
12. Adam’s second son ABEL
13. More than lean BONY
19. Leafy green KALE
21. Later on the page BELOW
24. Joke JAPE
27. Group of workers CREW
28. Appliance with a water reservoir IRON
29. Shade TINT
30. Late-night host Meyers SETH
31. Beer flavoring HOPS
32. Curriculum part UNIT
33. James of jazz ETTA
35. Path to the pins LANE
36. Consumed ATE
39. Ergonomic keyboard feature HAND REST
40. Second attempt RETRY
41. Hurried away FLED
46. Bucks and does DEER
47. Tongue-lashing EARFUL
49. Kidnap ABDUCT
51. Adds to the staff HIRES
52. Stave off AVERT
53. Vital blood line AORTA
54. Groucho’s smoke CIGAR
55. Prepared to be knighted KNELT
56. Make a scene FUSS
57. Once again ANEW
58. Creative spark IDEA
62. Pocatello sch. ISU
63. Sea captain’s “Help!” SOS

Return to top of page