Day: December 29, 2014

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. “Big” fast-food sandwich MAC
The iconic Big Mac sandwich was introduced nationally by McDonald’s in 1967. It was the creation of a Pittsburgh franchisee who offered it on the menu as a response to the very similar Big Boy sandwich offered by the competing “Big Boy” restaurant chain.

8. Halloween sheet wearers GHOSTS
All Saints’ Day is November 1st each year. The day before All Saints’ Day is All Hallows Eve, better known by the Scottish term, “Halloween”.

14. Prez on a penny ABE
The US one-cent coin has borne the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. Fifty years later, a representation of the Lincoln Memorial was added to the reverse side.

15. Cuba, por ejemplo ISLA
In Spanish, Cuba for example (por ejemplo), is an island (isla).

Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean. The exact etymology of the name “Cuba” seems a little unclear. Most believe “Cuba” to be derived from the Taíno terms for “where fertile land is abundant” (cubao) or “great place” (coabana).

16. Abdul and Zahn PAULAS
Paula Abdul is primarily a singer and dancer, and someone who endeared herself even more to the American public in recent years as a judge on “American Idol”. She had a famous husband for a couple of years, as she was married to actor Emilio Estevez from 1992-94.

Paula Zahn has worked as a journalist and news anchor with ABC, NBC, Fox News and CNN. She is currently the host of a true crime show on the Discovery Channel called “On the Case with Paula Zahn”. Outside of her work on television, Zahn is an accomplished cellist and has even played at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops Orchestra.

17. Philandering fellow CAD
Our word “cad”, meaning “a person lacking in finer feelings”, is a shortening of the word “cadet”. “Cad” was first used for a servant, and then students at British universities used “cad” as a term for a boy from the local town. “Cad” took on its current meaning in the 1830s.

“To philander” is “to womanize”, from the term “philander” that was used in the 1700s to mean “lover”. The name “Philander” was often used in novels and plays for a character who was a lover. The name was derived from the Greek adjective “philandros” meaning “with love for people”.

22. Pulitzer winner James AGEE
James Agee was a noted American film critic and screenwriter. Agee wrote an autobiographical novel “A Death in the Family” that won him his Pulitzer in 1958, albeit posthumously. He was also one of the screenwriters for the 1951 classic movie “The African Queen”.

27. Clock-setting std. GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.

A meridian is a line of longitude, and the Prime Meridian is that line of longitude defined as 0 degrees. The Prime Meridian is also called the Greenwich Meridian as it passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in southeast London. Of course the line of longitude that is used to represent 0 degrees is an arbitrary decision. 25 nations formally decided in 1884 to use the Greenwich Meridian as 0 degrees as it was already a popular choice. That is all except the French, who abstained from the vote and used the Paris Meridian as 0 degrees on French charts for several decades.

28. Bomb trials, briefly H-TESTS
There are two classes of nuclear weapons, both of which get the energy for the explosion from nuclear reactions. The first nuclear bombs developed, called atomic bombs (A-bombs), use fission reactions. Uranium nuclei are split into smaller nuclei with the release of an awful lot of energy in the process. The second class of nuclear weapons are fusion bombs. These devices are called thermonuclear weapons or hydrogen bombs (H-bombs). In a fusion reaction, the nuclei of hydrogen isotopes are fused together to form bigger nuclei, with the release of even greater amounts of energy than a fission reaction.

31. Iranian religion BAHA’I
The Baha’i Faith is relatively new in the scheme of things, and was founded in Persia in the 1800s. One of the tenets of the religion is that messengers have come from God over time, including Abraham, the Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, and most recently Bahá’u’lláh who founded the Baha’i Faith. Baha’i scripture specifies some particular architectural requirement for houses of worship, including that the building have nine-sided, circular shape. It is also specified that there be no pictures, statues or images displayed within a temple.

34. Wooing period COURTSHIP (giving “World Court”)
International Court of Justice (ICJ) is commonly referred to as the World Court, and is based in the the Hague in the Netherlands. The ICJ is the main judicial branch of the United Nations, and one of its functions is to settle disputes between UN member states. The US no longer accepts the jurisdiction of the ICJ, after the court’s 1986 decision that the US’s covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law. The UN Security Council is charged with enforcing ICJ rulings, and so the US used its veto power in the Nicaragua v. United States case.

37. Waterfront org. ILA
International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA)

38. Gems that come mostly from Australia OPALS
97% of the world’s opals come from Australia, so it’s no surprise perhaps that the opal is the national gemstone of the country. The state of South Australia provides the bulk of the world’s production, about 80%.

40. Secure method of payment BANK DRAFT (giving “World Bank”)
A cashier’s check (sometimes “bank draft”) is a check that is drawn on the funds of a bank, rather than on a personal account. As such, cashier’s checks are viewed as “guaranteed” funds.

The World Bank Group was formed in 1945 with the mission of making leveraged loans, mainly to poorer countries. The first loan made by the World Bank was its largest to date, a loan to France to help with post-war construction.

47. Baseball’s Cobb and football’s Law TYS
Ty Cobb was one of the richest baseball players of all times. When he retired, Cobb was a major stockholder of the Coca-Cola Corporation. By the time he passed away in 1961, Cobb had an even bigger investment in General Electric. He left an estate after his death worth about $86m (in 2008 dollars).

Ty Law is a former NFL cornerback who won three Super Bowl rings with the New England Patriots.

57. The third “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie (and where you might find the first part of 18-, 24-, 34-, 40- and 48-Across) AT WORLD’S END
“Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” is the third film in the “Pirates …” series, and was released in 2007. It had a production budget of $300 million, and is the most expensive film ever made!

60. Supermarket franchise initials IGA
IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance, a chain of supermarkets that extends right around the world. IGA’s headquarters is in Chicago.

62. Writer Ferber EDNA
Edna Ferber was a novelist and playwright from Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ferber won a Pulitzer for her novel “So Big”, which was made into a film a few times, most famously in 1953 starring Jane Wyman.

63. __ Moines DES
The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others do contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

64. “Honor Thy Father” author Gay TALESE
Gay Talese is an American author, famous as a journalist in the sixties at “The New York Times”. His 1981 book “Thy Neighbor’s Wife” is a study of sexuality in America in the early fifties. Apparently, as research for the book, Talese had sexual relations with his own neighbor’s wife for several months at a sexuality resort in Southern California called Sandstone Retreat.

Gay Talese’s 1971 book “Honor Thy Father” is about the Bonanno crime family of New York City in 1960s.

65. Nikita’s no NYET
“Nyet” is Russian for “no”, and “da” is Russian for “yes”.

66. Palindromic “before” ERE
The three most famous palindromes in English have to be:

– Able was I ere I saw Elba
– A man, a plan, a canal, Panama!
– Madam, I’m Adam

One of my favorite words is “Aibohphobia”, although it doesn’t appear in the dictionary and is a joke term. “Aibohphobia” is a great way to describe a fear of palindromes, by creating a palindrome out of the suffix “-phobia”.

Down
1. Rain forest parrot MACAW
Macaws are beautifully colored birds of native to Central and South America, and are actually a type of parrot. Most species of macaw are now endangered, with several having become extinct in recent decades. The main threats are deforestation and illegal trapping and trafficking of exotic birds.

2. Ancient calculators ABACI
The abacus was used as a counting frame long before man had invented a numbering system. It is a remarkable invention, particularly when one notes that abaci are still widely used today across Africa and Asia.

4. Attack, to Fido SIC
“Sic ’em” is an attack order given to a dog, instructing the animal to growl, bark or even bite. The term dates back to the 1830s, with “sic” being a variation of “seek”.

“Fido”, the name for many a dog, is the Latin for “I trust”.

5. Like italics ASLANT
Italic type leans to the right. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

6. “Fried Green Tomatoes” co-screenwriter Fannie FLAGG
Fannie Flagg is the stage name of American actress Patricia Neil. Neil had to change her name to avoid confusion with the famous Oscar-winning actress of the same name. As well as acting, Flagg is a celebrated author, her most famous work being the 1987 novel “Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe”. She also wrote the screenplay for the screen adaptation “Fried Green Tomatoes”, which was released in 1991.

7. Tripod for a canvas EASEL
The word “easel” comes from an old Dutch word meaning “donkey” would you believe? The idea is that an easel carries its load (an oil painting, say) just as a donkey would be made to carry a load.

8. Transcript no. GPA
Grade point average (GPA)

Here in the US, an official report from a school listing classes taken and grades received is called a “transcript”.

9. Comic Buddy who played Costello in “Bud and Lou” HACKETT
Buddy Hackett was a comedian and comic actor from Brooklyn, New York, where he was born Leonard Hacker. My favorite of his on-screen appearances is in the 1963 movie “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in which he plays alongside Mickey Rooney.

“Bud and Lou” is a 1978 TV movie about the lives of comedy double act Abbot and Costello. Harvey Korman plays Bud Abbott and Buddy Hackett plays Lou Costello.

11. Weapon in the David and Goliath story SLINGSHOT
In the story of David and Goliath, the Israelites and the Philistines faced each other in battle at the Valley of Elah. Goliath was the warrior champion of the Philistines and each day he challenged the Israelites to send out their champion to decide the battle in a one-on-one fight. No one was courageous enough to accept the challenge until young David agreed to face the mighty Goliath. David felled the giant soldier with a stone from his sling.

12. New Mexico art hub TAOS
The city of Taos, New Mexico is named for the Native American village nearby called Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began to settle in Taos in 1899, and the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915.

13. Tax form ID SSN
Social Security number (SSN)

21. Maker of the Genesis game system SEGA
The Genesis is a video game console sold in the US by the Japanese company Sega. In the rest of the world, the console is sold as the Mega Drive, as Sega couldn’t get the rights to the Mega Drive name in the US.

25. French pal AMI
A male friend in France is “un ami”, and a female friend is “une amie”.

28. Day’s 24: Abbr. HRS
Apparently the Egyptians gave us our 24-hour day, as they used a base twelve counting system, instead of the base ten system that we use today. That base twelve system may have arisen because each hand has four fingers with a total of twelve joints. The thumb can be used easily to count of those twelve finger joints.

29. DVR brand TIVO
TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

31. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly BIBI
Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu has been the Prime Minister of Israel since 2009. Netanyahu is the only leader of the country to date who was born in the state of Israel.

32. 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.

34. Tax whiz, briefly CPA
Certified public accountant (CPA)

36. Final: Abbr. ULT
Ultimate (ult.)

38. Old California fort ORD
Fort Ord was an army post on Monterey Bay in California named after a General Ord, established in 1917 and closed in 1994. The fort was in a spectacular location with miles of beachfront, and it also had that lovely California weather.

41. Major speech, as at a convention KEYNOTE
The “keynote” is the lowest note in a musical scale, as one might imagine. The term started to be used to mean a leading idea in the late 1700s, and the expression “keynote address” dates back to 1905.

43. Place for a cocktail BAR
Our word “cocktail” first appeared in the early 1800s. The exact origin of the term is not clear, but it is thought to be a corruption of the French word “coquetier” meaning “egg cup”, a container that was used at that time for serving mixed drinks.

44. “Mamma Mia!” group ABBA
The hit musical “Mamma Mia!” was written to showcase the songs of ABBA. I’m a big fan of ABBA’s music, so I’ve seen this show a couple of times and just love it. “Mamma Mia!” is such a big hit on the stage that on any given day there are at least seven performances going on somewhere in the world. There is a really interesting film version of the show that was released in 2008. I think the female lead Meryl Streep is wonderful in the movie, but the male leads … not so much! By the way, one can tell the difference between “Mamma Mia” the ABBA song and “Mamma Mia!” the musical, by noting the difference in the punctuation in the titles.

46. __ d’Arc JEANNE
Joan of Arc (also Jeanne d’Arc, her birth name) led the French Army successfully into battle a number of times during the Hundred Years War with England. When she was eventually captured, Joan was tried in Rouen, the seat of the occupying English government in France at that time. There she was burned at the stake having been found guilty of heresy. Joan of Arc was canonized some 600 years later, in 1920, and is now one of the patron saints of France.

48. Opposite of COD PPD
Prepaid (PPD)

Cash on delivery (COD)

49. Jimmy of the Daily Planet OLSEN
In the “Superman” stories, Jimmy Olsen is a cub photographer who works on the “Daily Planet” newspaper with Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

51. Zinc __: sunblock ingredient OXIDE
Zinc oxide is a widely-used compound that does occur naturally, but is mainly produced synthetically. Most of the zinc oxide produced is used in the rubber industry as it is needed for the vulcanization of rubber. It is also one of the two main ingredients in calamine lotion, which is an anti-itching agent. Tiny particles of zinc oxide are often added to sunscreen lotion as the compound absorbs UVA ultraviolet radiation.

52. Rags-to-riches author Horatio ALGER
Horatio Alger was an American writer of the late nineteenth century. Alger was a prolific writer of novels for young people and creates tales of poor children making it good in the world, achieving the American dream as it were.

54. Gillette razor ATRA
Fortunately for crossword setters, the Atra razor was introduced by Gillette in 1977. The Atra was sold as the Contour in some markets and its derivative products are still around today.

58. Caustic chemical LYE
What we call “lye” is usually sodium hydroxide, although historically the term was used for potassium hydroxide. Lye has many uses, including to cure several foodstuffs. Lye can make olives less bitter, for example. The chemical is also found in canned mandarin oranges, pretzels and Japanese ramen noodles. More concentrated grades of lye are used to clear drains and clean ovens. Scary …

59. “Can’t Help Lovin’ __ Man” DAT
“Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man” is a famous song by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein from the 1927 musical “Show Boat”.

“Show Boat” is a musical by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein, first staged in New York in 1927. It is based on a 1926 novel of the same name by Edna Ferber. The story is about a show boat called the “Cotton Blossom”. Show boats were floating theaters which navigated the rivers of the US from the 1870s to the 1930s, moving from town to town with the performers living on board. “Show Boat” was famously adapted for the big screen in 1936, with stars Irene Dunne, Allan Jones and Paul Robeson.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Big” fast-food sandwich MAC
4. Ump’s call with outstretched arms SAFE
8. Halloween sheet wearers GHOSTS
14. Prez on a penny ABE
15. Cuba, por ejemplo ISLA
16. Abdul and Zahn PAULAS
17. Philandering fellow CAD
18. Large-group legal proceeding CLASS ACTION (giving “world-class”)
20. King toppers ACES
22. Pulitzer winner James AGEE
23. Colo. neighbor KANS
24. Lens for a panorama WIDE-ANGLE (giving “worldwide”)
26. Omelet need EGG
27. Clock-setting std. GMT
28. Bomb trials, briefly H-TESTS
31. Iranian religion BAHA’I
34. Wooing period COURTSHIP (giving “World Court”)
37. Waterfront org. ILA
38. Gems that come mostly from Australia OPALS
39. Lab eggs OVA
40. Secure method of payment BANK DRAFT (giving “World Bank”)
43. Conductor’s wand BATON
45. “Certainly!” INDEED!
46. Elbow poke JAB
47. Baseball’s Cobb and football’s Law TYS
48. Craft with an outboard POWERBOAT (giving “world power”)
54. Tip-top A-ONE
55. Earnest request PLEA
56. Wheel shaft AXLE
57. The third “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie (and where you might find the first part of 18-, 24-, 34-, 40- and 48-Across) AT WORLD’S END
60. Supermarket franchise initials IGA
61. Attractive PRETTY
62. Writer Ferber EDNA
63. __ Moines DES
64. “Honor Thy Father” author Gay TALESE
65. Nikita’s no NYET
66. Palindromic “before” ERE

Down
1. Rain forest parrot MACAW
2. Ancient calculators ABACI
3. Handed over, as land CEDED
4. Attack, to Fido SIC
5. Like italics ASLANT
6. “Fried Green Tomatoes” co-screenwriter Fannie FLAGG
7. Tripod for a canvas EASEL
8. Transcript no. GPA
9. Comic Buddy who played Costello in “Bud and Lou” HACKETT
10. Power failures OUTAGES
11. Weapon in the David and Goliath story SLINGSHOT
12. New Mexico art hub TAOS
13. Tax form ID SSN
19. Catch sight of SEE
21. Maker of the Genesis game system SEGA
25. French pal AMI
28. Day’s 24: Abbr. HRS
29. DVR brand TIVO
30. Stretch across SPAN
31. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly BIBI
32. Actor Alda ALAN
33. Part of a hotel bathroom set HAND TOWEL
34. Tax whiz, briefly CPA
35. Clumsy type OAF
36. Final: Abbr. ULT
38. Old California fort ORD
41. Major speech, as at a convention KEYNOTE
42. Arid expanses DESERTS
43. Place for a cocktail BAR
44. “Mamma Mia!” group ABBA
46. __ d’Arc JEANNE
48. Opposite of COD PPD
49. Jimmy of the Daily Planet OLSEN
50. Like a neglected lawn WEEDY
51. Zinc __: sunblock ingredient OXIDE
52. Rags-to-riches author Horatio ALGER
53. Kid around with TEASE
54. Gillette razor ATRA
57. Fitting APT
58. Caustic chemical LYE
59. “Can’t Help Lovin’ __ Man” DAT

Return to top of page