Day: January 14, 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Monday Night Football regular until 1983 COSELL
Howard Cosell was one of the most popular of all sports journalists. With his high profile came a lot of controversy as Cosell wasn’t afraid to express his personal opinions. For example, he came out against professional boxing in 1982 after witnessing a one-sided fight between Larry Holmes and Tex Cobb. Two weeks earlier South Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim had died after a match against Ray Mancini.

10. Site with a “Buy It Now” option EBAY
eBay is an auction site with a twist. If you don’t want to enter into an auction to purchase an item, there’s a “Buy It Now” price. Agree to pay it, and the item is yours!

14. Mecca’s peninsula ARABIA
The Arabian Peninsula (also “Arabia”) is part of Western Asia that is located just north-east of Africa. The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the northeast by the Persian Gulf, and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is taken up by Saudi Arabia, but also included are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.

Mecca is in the Makkah province of Saudi Arabia and is the holiest city in Islam. Every year several million Muslims perform the Hajj, a holy pilgrimage to Mecca.

16. “__ Rock” I AM A
“I Am a Rock” is a lovely song written by Paul Simon that appears on the Simon and Garfunkel album “Sounds of Silence”.

18. Styled after A LA
The phrase “in the style of” can be translated in “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.

23. Jamaican genre SKA
Ska originated in Jamaica in the late fifties and was the precursor to reggae music. No one has a really definitive etymology of the term “ska”, but it is likely to be imitative of some sound.

29. Med. plan option HMO
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO)

31. “Twin Peaks” co-creator David LYNCH
David Lynch is a much-respected and lauded American film director. His most famous movies are probably “Eraserhead”, “The Elephant Man”, “Dune” and “Mulholland Drive”. Despite the positive reviews from most critics, I can’t think of one David Lynch film that I’ve really enjoyed …

34. White House maiden name between Pierce and Welch RODHAM
Hillary Rodham was born in Chicago, Illinois to Hugh Rodham (a businessman in the textile industry) and Dorothy Howell (a homemaker). Hillary was raised in a conservative home, and she campaigned for Republican candidate Barry Goldwater in the 1964 US presidential election. The following year, she served as president of the Young Republicans at Wellesley College. Our former First Lady left the Republican Party expressing disappointment at what she witnessed at the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami, citing “veiled” racist messages prevalent at that time.

Barbara Bush (nee Pierce) is the wife of former President George H. W. Bush. The couple met at a Christmas dance in Andover, Massachusetts when Barbara was 16 years old. They married four years later in 1945 while the future president was home on leave from the US Navy. George Bush was torpedo bomber pilot who flew 58 combat missions during WWII.

Laura Bush, wife of President George W. Bush, had her memoir “Spoken from the Heart” published in 2010. Born Laura Lane Welch, the former First Lady has a Master’s degree in Library Science (as does my wife, my own First Lady!). Given that background, it’s not surprising that two causes that Laura Bush focused on while in the White House were education and literacy. She established the annual National Book Festival, first held in Washington, D.C. in 2001, after having co-founded the Texas Book Festival in her home state.

37. Dr. J hairstyle AFRO
Julius Erving is a retired professional basketball player who was known as “Dr. J”, a nickname he picked up in high school. Dr. J was a trailblazer in many ways, being the first player associated with slam dunking and other moves above the rim.

39. Lone Ranger and Tonto, e.g. DUO
“The Lone Ranger” was both a radio and television show, dating back to its first radio performance in 1933 on a Detroit station. The line “Hi-yo, Silver! Away!” was a device used in the storyline to signal that a riding sequence was starting, so cue the music!

On the television version of “The Lone Ranger”, Tonto was played by the actor Jay Silverheels. In the 2013 movie “The Lone Ranger”, Tonto was played by Johnny Depp.

40. Confounded British posies? BLOOMING FLOWERS
A “poesy” was the name given to a line of verse engraved on the inner surface of a ring. The related word “posy”, meaning a bouquet of flowers, arose with the notion that giving a posy might be a message of love, just as a poesy inside a ring could have the same meaning.

44. Horner’s find PLUM

Little Jack Horner
Sat in the corner,
Eating a Christmas pie;
He put in his thumb,
And pulled out a plum,
And said ‘What a good boy am I!

48. It’s on the streets TAR
“Tarmac” and “macadam” is short for “tarmacadam”. In the 1800s, Scotsman John Loudon McAdam developed a style of road known as “macadam”. Macadam had a top-layer of crushed stone and gravel laid over larger stones. The macadam also had a convex cross-section so that water tended to drain to the sides. In 1901, a significant improvement was made by English engineer Edgar Purnell Hooley who introduced tar into the macadam, improving the resistance to water damage and practically eliminating dust. The “tar-penetration macadam” is the basis of what we now call Tarmac.

50. Flanders river YSER
The Yser originates in northern France and flows through Belgium into the North Sea. The Yser is often associated with WWI as it figured in a major battle early in the conflict. In the first three months of the war, the German Army pushed almost completely through Belgium, inflicting heavy losses on the Belgian Army as the defenders were forced to fight a fast-moving rearguard action. The Germans were intent on pushing right through Belgium and across France in a “race to the sea”. But the Belgians, with the help of their Allies, decided to make a final stand at the Yser Canal in an effort to prevent the Germans reaching the French ports of Calais and Dunkirk. The 22-mile long defensive line was chosen at the Yser because the river and canal system could be flooded to create a barrier that might be defended. The plan was successful and the front was “stabilized”. As we now know, millions of lives were lost over the coming years with very little movement of that battle line.

Flanders is a region in northern Belgium where the native people speak Dutch. The people from Flanders are referred to as “Flemish”.

51. Vinegar vessel CRUET
A cruet is a small glass bottle for holding a condiment or perhaps a dressing. The word “cruet” comes from the Old French word for an earthen pot.

62. Actor Bean of “Game of Thrones” SEAN
Sean Bean is an English actor who is perhaps best known in North America for playing Boromir in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. All you James Bond fans will remember him as the bad guy in “GoldenEye”, the character called Alec Trevelyan.

HBO’s “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy television drama that was adapted from a series of novels by George R. R. Martin called “A Song of Ice and Fire”. “Game of Thrones” is actually made in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

63. Aegean __ SEA
The Aegean Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Turkey. Within the Aegean Sea are found the Aegean Islands, a group that includes Crete and Rhodes.

65. Stock options, e.g. PERK
In the world of commerce, an option is an exclusive right to purchase something within a specified time at a specified price. One often hears about stock options, that employees can have. Such employees have the right to purchase company stock at a certain pre-determined price, within a certain time frame.

66. WWII intel agcy. OSS
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was formed during WWII in order to carry out espionage behind enemy lines. A few years after the end of the war the OSS functions were taken up by a new group, the Central Intelligence Agency that was chartered by the National Security Act of 1947.

Down
1. Prep for a marathon, with “up” CARB
The body’s main energy store of course is fat, but this is metabolized quite slowly. There is a relatively small amount of carbohydrate that is stored within the body’s muscles, as glycogen. This glycogen can provide energy very quickly, right to the muscles where it is needed. Marathon runners often “carb up” before a race, eating a diet rich in carbohydrates for a few days before the event, so that the body’s glycogen supplies are maximized.

2. N.L. Cy Young Award winner three years after Dwight OREL
Orel Hershiser is big into poker now that he has retired from Major League Baseball. Hershiser lives in Las Vegas and when he isn’t working for ESPN, apparently he is at the poker tables.

Dwight Gooden is a former professional baseball pitcher, with the nickname “Dr. K”. “Dr. K” is a reference to the standard abbreviation for “strikeout”, a “K”.

Cy Young was a pitcher in the major leagues from 1890-1911. Young is remembered for pitching the first perfect game of baseball’s modern era. Soon after he died in 1955, the Cy Young Award was created and is presented to the best pitcher in each baseball season.

3. Nordic language SAMI
Lapland is a geographic region in northern Scandinavia, largely found within the Arctic Circle. Parts of Lapland are in Norway, Sweden and Finland. The people who are native to the region are called the Sami people. The Sami don’t like to be referred to as “Lapps” and they regard the term as insulting.

4. “Voice of Israel” author EBAN
Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician, born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban in Cape Town, South Africa. While working at the United Nations after WWII, Eban changed his given name to “Abba”, the Hebrew word for “father”. He made this change as reportedly as he could see himself as the father of the nation of Israel.

5. Rory McIlroy’s milieu LINKS
The oldest type of golf course is a links course. The name “links” comes from the Old English word “hlinc” meaning “rising ground”. “Hlinc” was used to describe areas with coastal sand dunes or open parkland. As a result, we use the term “links course” to mean a golf course that is located at or on the coast, often amid sand dunes. The British Open is always played on a links course.

Rory McIlroy is an incredibly successful golfer from Northern Ireland. McIlroy is a relatively young man and the current world number one on the circuit, so folks can’t help but compare him to Tiger Woods.

6. Big name in vision correction LASIK
LASIK surgery uses a laser to reshape the cornea of the eye to improve vision. The LASIK acronym stands for “laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis”.

10. San Francisco-to-Teaneck interstate EIGHTY
Interstate 80 is the second-longest highway in the US (after I-90). It runs east-west from San Francisco, California to Teaneck, New Jersey. I-80 largely follows the route of the first road across America, the historic Lincoln Highway.

12. Iowa State city 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 six straw polls since 1979, and just 2 out of 6 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination.

22. Clumsy sort GALOOT
“Galoot” is an insulting term meaning an awkward or boorish man, an ape. “Galoot” comes from the nautical world, where it was originally what a sailor might call a soldier or marine.

36. Wire thickness unit MIL
The thickness unit known as a “mil” here in the US is usually referred to as a “thou” on the other side of the Atlantic. A “mil” is actually one thousandth of an inch. I vote for “thou” …

38. “Kidnapped” author’s monogram RLS
“Kidnapped” is a novel written by Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson that he targeted at a young male audience. The book’s full name is the most descriptive title I’ve ever seen:

Kidnapped: Being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: How he was Kidnapped and Cast away; his Sufferings in a Desert Isle; his Journey in the Wild Highlands; his acquaintance with Alan Breck Stewart and other notorious Highland Jacobites; with all that he Suffered at the hands of his Uncle, Ebenezer Balfour of Shaws, falsely so-called: Written by Himself and now set forth by Robert Louis Stevenson.

52. HP competitor EPSON
Seiko Epson is a Japanese company, one of the largest manufacturers of printers in the world. The company has its roots in the watch business, roots that go back to 1942. Seiko was chosen as the official timekeeper for the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and was asked to supply a timer that produced a printed record. This request brought Seiko into the business of printer production. The company developed the world’s first mini-printer for the 1964 Games and called it EP-101 (EP standing for Electronic Printer). In 1975 Seiko introduced the next generation of EP printers which was called EPSON, from “SON of EP”. Cute, huh?

The giant multinational called HP (originally Hewlett-Packard) was founded in 1939 with an investment of $538, in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. The company name would have been Packard-Hewlett if Dave Packard had won a coin toss!

57. “I don’t mind eels / Except as meals / And the way they feels” poet NASH
The poet Ogden Nash is well known for his light and humorous verse. Try this one for size:

Parsley
Is gharsley.

59. TomKat’s daughter SURI
Tom Cruise’s third wife was actress Katie Holmes The high-profile couple were dubbed TomKat by the entertainment media. Cruise and Holmes had one child together, a daughter called Suri who was born in 2006. TomKat divorced in 2012.

60. Lake at one end of the Niagara River ERIE
The mighty Niagara River flows from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario, and forms part of the border between the US and Canada. The river is only about 35 miles long (so some describe it as a “strait”) and has a drop in elevation of 325 feet along its length, with 165 feet of that drop taking place at Niagara Falls.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Monday Night Football regular until 1983 COSELL
7. Gobbled, as a turkey ATE
10. Site with a “Buy It Now” option EBAY
14. Mecca’s peninsula ARABIA
15. In the bath WET
16. “__ Rock” I AM A
17. Hires a new crew for REMANS
18. Styled after A LA
19. Shot up GREW
20. Confounded British illumination? BLINKING LIGHTS
23. Jamaican genre SKA
24. Walkway material SLATE
25. Meter or liter UNIT
29. Med. plan option HMO
31. “Twin Peaks” co-creator David LYNCH
34. White House maiden name between Pierce and Welch RODHAM
37. Dr. J hairstyle AFRO
39. Lone Ranger and Tonto, e.g. DUO
40. Confounded British posies? BLOOMING FLOWERS
43. First __ AID
44. Horner’s find PLUM
45. Have a strong desire (for) STARVE
46. Things to fulfill NEEDS
48. It’s on the streets TAR
50. Flanders river YSER
51. Vinegar vessel CRUET
53. Dangerous snake ASP
56. Confounded British residences? FLIPPING HOUSES
62. Actor Bean of “Game of Thrones” SEAN
63. Aegean __ SEA
64. Give one’s word ASSURE
65. Stock options, e.g. PERK
66. WWII intel agcy. OSS
67. Look through partially open curtains, say PEER IN
68. Round components ALES
69. Vague degree NTH
70. Flowed in circles EDDIED

Down
1. Prep for a marathon, with “up” CARB
2. N.L. Cy Young Award winner three years after Dwight OREL
3. Nordic language SAMI
4. “Voice of Israel” author EBAN
5. Rory McIlroy’s milieu LINKS
6. Big name in vision correction LASIK
7. Like an excited puppy’s tail AWAG
8. Takes to task TELLS OFF
9. Web business E-TAIL
10. San Francisco-to-Teaneck interstate EIGHTY
11. Round servers BARTENDERS
12. Iowa State city AMES
13. Swerve from a course YAW
21. “I’ll pass” NAH
22. Clumsy sort GALOOT
25. Citified URBAN
26. “Cross my heart” NO LIE
27. “Bless my soul!” I DO DECLARE!
28. Howe’er THO
30. Molten rock MAGMA
32. Bend CURVE
33. Car wash employee, at times HOSER
35. Excites AMPS UP
36. Wire thickness unit MIL
38. “Kidnapped” author’s monogram RLS
41. Most eccentric NUTTIEST
42. Manner WAY
47. Round components DRINKS
49. Cloth remnant RAG
52. HP competitor EPSON
54. Configure SHAPE
55. Prepared for a shot POSED
56. Texture FEEL
57. “I don’t mind eels / Except as meals / And the way they feels” poet NASH
58. Previously driven, say USED
59. TomKat’s daughter SURI
60. Lake at one end of the Niagara River ERIE
61. Final email step SEND
62. Place for a pedi SPA

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