Month: September 2015

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. Off-the-cuff AD LIB
“Ad libitum” is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage the concept of an “ad lib” is very familiar. For example, an actor may substitute his or her own words for forgotten lines using an ad lib, or a director may instruct an actor to use his or her own words at a particular point in a performance to promote a sense of spontaneity.

To speak “off the cuff” is to speak extemporaneously. The idea is that someone doing so would not be using learned lines, but rather is speaking with the use of a few notes that have been jotted on his cuffs or shirt sleeves.

17. Blanket containers CEDAR CHESTS
Cedar is used for the manufacture of some wardrobes and chests as it has long been believed that the fragrant oil in the wood is a moth-repellent. However, whether or not cedar oil is actually effective at keeping moths away seems to be in doubt.

20. Matzo meal SEDER
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish Passover holiday, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.

Matzo is a unleavened bread, that is very brittle. The bread is crushed, creating Matzo meal that is then formed into balls using eggs and oil as a binder. The balls are usually served in a chicken stock.

21. Some RSVPs NOS
RSVP stands for “répondez, s’il vous plaît”, which is French for “please, answer”.

23. “Born to Die” singer Lana Del __ REY
Lana Del Rey is the stage name of singer/songwriter Elizabeth Grant. Del Rey calls herself a “self-styled gangsta Nancy Sinatra”. Nice …

24. Caspian Sea land IRAN
The Caspian Sea is a landlocked body of water lying between Asia and Europe. By some definitions, the Caspian is the largest lake on the planet. The name “Caspian” comes from the Caspi people who lived to the southwest of the sea in South Caucasus.

26. Diamond figure CARAT
A carat is a unit of mass used in measuring gemstones that is equal to 200 mg.

29. Burrowing beach denizens SAND CRABS
Nowadays we use “denizen” to mean simply a resident, but historically a denizen was an immigrant to whom certain rights had been granted, something like today’s “resident alien”.

34. Smart guys? ALECS
Apparently the original “smart Alec” (sometimes “Aleck”) was Alec Hoag, a pimp, thief and confidence trickster who plied his trade in New York City in the 1840s.

35. Spanish tourist city AVILA
Avila is famous for the walled defenses around the old city, which date back to 1090. They were constructed out of brown granite, and are still in excellent repair. There are nine gateways and eighty-towers in all. Even the cathedral built between the 12th and 14th centuries is part of the city’s defenses, so it looks like an imposing fortress.

36. Knock on Yelp PAN
To pan something is to criticize it harshly.

yelp.com is a website that provides a local business directory and reviews of services. The site is sort of like Yellow Pages on steroids, and the term “yelp” is derived from “yel-low p-ages”. I have a young neighbor here who used to work for yelp …

39. Responded to reveille WOKE
“Reveille” is a trumpet call that is used to wake everyone up at sunrise. The term comes from “réveillé”, the French for “wake up”.

40. Former Energy secretary Steven CHU
Steven Chu is a former Secretary of Energy in the Obama Cabinet. Chu is a physicist by trade, a winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1997.

42. Hog lover BIKER
“Hog” is a nickname for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company was started up in the very early 1900s by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson, . Their first design was in effect an engine hooked up to a pedal bicycle, but the 116 cc cylinder capacity simply couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills of their native city of Milwaukee. The pair came up with a redesigned model that had a cylinder capacity of 405 cc, which the partners built in a shed at the back of Davidson’s house. In 1906, the partners built their first factory, located where the company’s headquarters is to this day, on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

45. On the ball ALERT
The phrase “on the ball”, meaning “alert”, comes from ball sports. It is a contraction of the expression “keep your eye on the ball”, i.e. stay alert!

47. Brief letters? BVD
The men’s underwear known as BVDs are made by the Bradley, Voorhees & Day. The company was started in 1876 to make bustles for women, and is named for its founders.

48. Artist’s pad LOFT
Back in the 16th century a “pad” was a bundle of straw to lie on, and came to mean a “sleeping place” in the early 1700s. The term was revitalized in the hippie era.

50. Arranged locks DOS
Locks of hair can be arranged in a hairdo. Well, mine can’t …

53. Strips on a sandwich BACON
Our word “bacon” ultimately is Germanic in origin, coming from the noun “bakkon” meaning “back meat”.

56. Frazier foe ALI
Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier had three memorable fights. The first was billed as the “Fight of the Century” and took place in 1971 in Madison Square Garden. It was a fight between two great boxers, both of whom were undefeated up till that point. Frazier won in a unanimous decision after fifteen rounds. A couple of years later, in 1973, Frazier lost his title to George Foreman. Ali and Frazier had a non-title rematch in 1974, with Ali coming out ahead this time, also in a unanimous decision. Later that year, Ali grabbed back the World Heavyweight Title in “The Rumble in the Jungle”, the famous “rope-a-dope” fight against George Foreman. That set the stage for the third and final fight between Ali and Frazier, “The Thrilla in Manila”. Ali won the early rounds, but Frazier made a comeback in the middle of the fight. Ali took control at the end of the bout, so much so that Frazier wasn’t able to come out of his corner for the 15th and final round. He couldn’t come out of his corner because both of his eyes were swollen shut, giving Ali a victory due to a technical knockout (TKO).

57. Where much classical music is heard PUBLIC RADIO
National Public Radio (now just called NPR) was launched in 1970 after President Johnson signed into law the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967. The intent of the act was to provide funding for radio and television broadcasting that wasn’t simply driven by profit. As a longtime fan of the state-funded BBC in the UK, I’d have to agree with that intent …

62. Castle in the 1914 musical “Watch Your Step” IRENE
Vernon and Irene Castle were a husband-wife team of ballroom dancers who regularly performed on Broadway at the start of the 20th century. The Castles have been credited with creating or at least popularizing the dance known as the “foxtrot”.

63. “Ciao!” BYE!
“Ciao” is Italian for “‘bye”. “Arrivederci” is more formal, and translates as “goodbye”.

64. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism EBERT
The film critic Roger Ebert wrote his final blog post at RogerEbert.com on April 2, 2013. In that post, Ebert announced that he was slowing down and handing over the writing of most of the film reviews to a team that he picked himself. He was taking what he called a “leave of presence”, necessitated by his failing health as he continued to fight cancer. Sadly, Roger Ebert passed away just two days later.

Down
1. Media Clic Ice maker BIC
Société Bic is a French company, based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

3. Help on the Hill AIDE
Washington D.C.’s designer Pierre L’Enfant chose the crest of hill as the site for the future “Congress House”. He called the location “Jenkins Hill” and “Jenkins Heights”. Earlier records show the name as “New Troy”. Today we call it “Capitol Hill”.

4. Rolex 24 at Daytona, e.g. ROAD RACE
24 Hours of Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race that has been held almost every year at Daytona Speedway in Florida since 1962. The race was shortened to 6 hours in 1972 in response to the energy crisis, and in 1973 was cancelled for the same reason.

7. Big name in organic foods EDEN
Eden Foods is the largest supplier of organic dry grocery items in the United States. Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Eden was founded in 1969 as a co-op grocery store.

10. “King of the Nerds” airer TBS
“King of the Nerds” is a reality TV show that was inspired by the “Revenge of the Nerds” series of movies. The show is hosted by Robert Carradine and Curtis Armstrong, who played two of the nerds in the films. The TV show features “nerdy” people competing in challenges to win a monetary prize, and the much-coveted title of King of the Nerds.

11. Sight-unseen buy PIG IN A POKE
“Poke” is an old term for a sack. One wouldn’t want to buy a pig in a sack, sight unseen.

18. React to a kitchen bulb, maybe CRY
One might tear up while chopping an onion (a kitchen bulb).

25. Miley Cyrus label RCA
Miley Cyrus became famous playing the Disney Channel character “Hannah Montana”. Miley is of course the daughter of country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. When she was born, Billy Ray and his wife named their daughter “Destiny Hope”, but soon they themselves calling her “Smiley” as she was always smiling as a baby, and this got shortened to Miley over time. Cute …

27. Hawaiian Airlines greeting ALOHA
The Hawaiian word “Aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

29. Leftovers preserver SARAN
What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. The brand name Saran wrap is often used generically in the US, while Glad wrap is common down under. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

31. Doofus NINNY
“Doofus” (also “dufus”) is student slang that has been around since the sixties. Apparently the word is a variant of the equally unattractive term “doo-doo”.

33. Hägar’s dog SNERT
Snert is the clever dog that belongs to Hägar the Horrible in the classic comic strip.

41. Lenovo products PCS
Lenovo is a Chinese manufacturer of computers. The company is very successful, and sold more personal computers in 2013 than any other vendor worldwide. Famously, Lenovo bought IBM’s personal computer division in 2005.

42. Munich’s state BAVARIA
Bavaria in southeast Germany is the largest state in the country. The capital and largest city in Bavaria is Munich.

47. English channel, briefly BBC
The marvelous British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is mainly funded by the UK government through a television licence fee that is levied annually on all households watching TV transmissions. Currently the fee is 145 UK pounds, about 230 US dollars.

48. Moussaka meat LAMB
Moussaka is a delicious dish from the Balkans that uses eggplant or potato as a base.

49. Facial cosmetics 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.

54. Pigged out (on), briefly ODED
Overdose (OD)

55. Ted Williams’ number NINE
As well as playing in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Ted Williams served as a pilot in the Marine Corps in World War II and the Korean War.

58. Addams family cousin ITT
In the television sitcom “The Addams Family”, the family had a frequent visitor called Cousin Itt. Itt is a short man with long hair that runs from his head to the floor. Cousin Itt was played by Italian actor Felix Silla.

59. Heavy ref. OED
The “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) contains over 300,000 “main” entries and 59 million words in total. It is said it would take a single person 120 years to type it out in full. The longest entry for one word in the second edition of the OED is the verb “set”. When the third edition was published in 2007, the longest entry for a single word became the verb “put”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-quoted author in the OED is William Shakespeare, with his most quoted work being “Hamlet”. The most-quoted female author is George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans).

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Wild hogs BOARS
6. Wild animal BEAST
11. Bird in a cage, often PET
14. Pinhead IDIOT
15. Off-the-cuff AD LIB
16. Hot feeling IRE
17. Blanket containers CEDAR CHESTS
19. Sign word often seen before “next exit” GAS
20. Matzo meal SEDER
21. Some RSVPs NOS
22. Punch source FIST
23. “Born to Die” singer Lana Del __ REY
24. Caspian Sea land IRAN
26. Diamond figure CARAT
29. Burrowing beach denizens SAND CRABS
34. Smart guys? ALECS
35. Spanish tourist city AVILA
36. Knock on Yelp PAN
37. Mall bag TOTE
38. Given (to) PRONE
39. Responded to reveille WOKE
40. Former Energy secretary Steven CHU
41. No-frills PLAIN
42. Hog lover BIKER
43. Lollipops, e.g. HARD CANDY
45. On the ball ALERT
46. Like reporters, by trade NOSY
47. Brief letters? BVD
48. Artist’s pad LOFT
50. Arranged locks DOS
53. Strips on a sandwich BACON
56. Frazier foe ALI
57. Where much classical music is heard PUBLIC RADIO
60. Spoil MAR
61. “Too rich for me” I’M OUT
62. Castle in the 1914 musical “Watch Your Step” IRENE
63. “Ciao!” BYE!
64. 1975 Pulitzer winner for criticism EBERT
65. Put two and two together ADDED

Down
1. Media Clic Ice maker BIC
2. Often emotional works ODES
3. Help on the Hill AIDE
4. Rolex 24 at Daytona, e.g. ROAD RACE
5. Parade venues STREETS
6. “That’s hogwash!” BAH!
7. Big name in organic foods EDEN
8. Furthermore ALSO
9. Isn’t active, as equipment SITS IDLE
10. “King of the Nerds” airer TBS
11. Sight-unseen buy PIG IN A POKE
12. Stretches of history ERAS
13. Lab work TEST
18. React to a kitchen bulb, maybe CRY
22. Word after go or so FAR
25. Miley Cyrus label RCA
26. Hidden problem CATCH
27. Hawaiian Airlines greeting ALOHA
28. Shoot back RETURN FIRE
29. Leftovers preserver SARAN
30. Dodge AVOID
31. Doofus NINNY
32. One creating enticing aromas BAKER
33. Hägar’s dog SNERT
38. Feign ignorance PLAY DUMB
39. One of two baseball playoff teams determined next week by a “play-in” game in each major league, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles WILD CARD
41. Lenovo products PCS
42. Munich’s state BAVARIA
44. Small point DOT
47. English channel, briefly BBC
48. Moussaka meat LAMB
49. Facial cosmetics brand OLAY
51. Clarinet cousin OBOE
52. Disparaging comment SLUR
54. Pigged out (on), briefly ODED
55. Ted Williams’ number NINE
57. Chart shape PIE
58. Addams family cousin ITT
59. Heavy ref. OED

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