Day: January 23, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Actor in four “Planet of the Apes” films MCDOWALL
Roddy McDowall was an English actor who started out in show business at a very young age in British films, before his family moved to the US to escape the Blitz. One of McDowall’s early roles was opposite Elizabeth Taylor in 1943 in “Lassie Come Home”. Taylor and McDowell became lifelong friends after working together on that movie.

The “Planet of the Apes” franchise was based on a French novel by Pierre Boulle called “La Planète des singes”. The original book was published in English as “Monkey Planet” but was republished as “Planet of the Apes” when Hollywood had made its choice for a title.

16. “A London Symphony” composer VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Ralph Vaughan Williams was one of England’s great composers, who wrote everything from symphonies to film scores. Vaughan Williams was a direct descendant of the famed potter Josiah Wedgwood, and was also the great-nephew of Charles Darwin.

18. Dutch banking giant ING
ING is a huge Dutch banking institution created via a merger in 1991. The company headquarters is in a spectacular building in Amsterdam called simply ING House. ING stands for Internationale Nederlanden Groep.

19. It may be deviated SEPTUM
In the world of anatomy, a septum is a dividing wall within a chamber or other structure. For example, the interatrial septum separates the left and right atria of the heart, and the nasal septum separates the nostrils of the nose.

20. London-born miler COE
Sebastian Coe is a retired middle distance runner from the UK who won four Olympic medals including golds in the 1500m in 1980 and 1984. After retiring from athletics, Coe went into politics and served as a Member of Parliament from 1992 to 1997. In the year 2000, he was made a Life Peer, and so Coe now sits in the House of Lords. Lord Coe headed up London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympic Games.

23. __ Werner, Best Actor nominee for “Ship of Fools” OSKAR
Oskar Werner was an actor from Austria who is probably best known for playing the character Fiedler alongside Richard Burton in 1965’s marvelous film “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”.

The 1965 movie “Ship of Fools” is a screen adaptation of a novel of the same name by Katherine Anne Porter. “Ship of Fools” was to be Vivien Leigh’s last movie, as she died unexpectedly a couple of years later.

25. Tokyo-based carrier JAL
Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier of Japan, and is an airline that has been around since 1951.

37. “West Side Story” duet ONE HAND, ONE HEART
“One Hand, One Heart” is a duet sung by the lead characters Tony and Maria in the musical “West Side Story”.

Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” is based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The musical is set in New York City and features two rival gangs: the Sharks from Puerto Rico and the Jets with working-class, Caucasian roots. Tony from the Jets (played by Richard Beymer) falls in love with Maria (played by Natalie Wood) from the Sharks. All this parallels Romeo from the House of Montague falling for Juliet from the House of Capulet in the Italian city of Verona.

38. Failed big-time MET ONE’S WATERLOO
“To meet one’s Waterloo” is to encounter a final and insurmountable challenge. The idiom alludes to Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo.

The Battle of Waterloo was fought in 1815 between the Imperial French army led by Emperor Napoleon and an Anglo-Allied army led by the Irish-born British Field Marshal, the Duke of Wellington. Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo led to his abdication and the restoration of King Louis XVIII to the throne of France. Bonaparte was then exiled to the British-owned island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died in 1821.

40. __ de veau: sweetbread RIS
Ris de veau is the French term for a dish made from calf sweetbreads. Sweetbreads are usually made from the thymus or pancreas.

44. Stein’s “The Autobiography of __ Toklas” ALICE B
Alice B. Toklas was the confidante and lover of author Gertrude Stein, whom she met in Paris in 1907. The couple stayed together until Stein passed away in 1946. Famously, Toklas and Stein hosted gatherings that were attended by authors and writers who were to be extremely influential in the modernism movement. Among the list of regular attendees were Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis and Henri Matisse.

48. Word that sounds like its last letter WHY
“Why” sounds like “Y”.

49. Saudi neighbor QATARI
Qatar is a sovereign state in the Middle East occupying the Qatar Peninsula, itself located in the Arabian Peninsula. Qatar lies on the Persian Gulf and shares one land border, with Saudi Arabia to the south. Qatar has more oil and gas reserves per capita of population than any other country in the world. In 2010, Qatar had the fastest growing economy in the world, driven by the petrochemical industry. Qatar is scheduled to who the 2022 FIFA World Cup, although the nation’s eligibility to do so is under question after a far-reaching bribery scandal was uncovered at the sport’s governing body.

54. Publication known for rankings FORTUNE MAGAZINE
“Fortune” is a bi-weekly business magazine that was founded by Henry Luce in 1930, just four months after the 1929 Wall Street Crash. “Fortune” is noted for its annual ranking of companies by revenue, especially the Fortune 500.

58. Early online forum USENET
Remember the good old days, when you read messages online in “newsgroups”? Well, that system of aggregating public messages is known as Usenet, and it’s still around today. Usenet started operating in 1980, some ten years before the World Wide Web was introduced (which system has displaced Usenet in terms of popularity). Usenet definitely played a significant part in the history of the Internet. For instance, the terms “FAQ” and “spam” were both born on Usenet.

59. Turkey, mostly ANATOLIA
Anatolia is also known as Asia Minor. It is the geographic part of Asia that protrudes out into the west, towards Europe, and is roughly equivalent to modern-day Turkey.

Down
1. Year in the reign of England’s Henry I MCVI
Henry I of England was a son of William the Conqueror. According to legend, Henry died from eating “a surfeit of lampreys”, or more likely food poisoning. Lampreys look like a cross between a fish and an eel.

2. Scott of “Hawaii Five-0” CAAN
Scott Caan is the actor playing “Danno” on the remake of “Hawaii Five-0”. Scott is the son of Hollywood actor James Caan.

4. URL ending ORG
The .org domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

– .com (commercial enterprise)
– .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
– .mil (US military)
– .org (not-for-profit organization)
– .gov (US federal government entity)
– .edu (college-level educational institution)

6. Recipe phrase A DASH
In cooking, a “dash” is a very small measure, one that is often undefined. However, you can in fact buy some measuring spoons that define not only a dash but also a “pinch” and a “smidgen”, as follows:

– a dash is 1/8 teaspoon
– a pinch is 1/16 teaspoon
– a smidgen is 1/32 teaspoon

8. Acidic LOW-PH
As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

9. Printemps period MAI
In French, the month of mai (May) is in the season of printemps (Spring).

11. Its capital is Apia SAMOA
Apia is the capital city, and in fact the only city, of the Pacific island-nation of Samoa. The harbor of Apia is famous for a very foolish incident in 1889 involving seven naval vessels from Germany, the US and Britain. A typhoon was approaching so the safest thing to do was to head for open water away from land, but no nation would move its ships for fear of losing face in front of the others. Six of the ships were lost in the typhoon as a result and 200 American and German sailors perished. The British cruiser HMS Calliope barely managed to escape from the harbor and rode out the storm safely.

12. Law enforcement tool TASER
Victor Appleton wrote a novel for young adults called “Tom Swift and His Electric Rifle”. The company that developed the TASER electroshock weapon named its product as a homage to the novel. The acronym TASER stands for “Thomas A. Swift’s Electric Rifle”.

14. __-ray Disc BLU
A CD player reads the information on the disc using a laser beam. The beam is produced by what’s called a laser diode, a device similar to a light-emitting diode (LED) except that a laser beam is emitted. That laser beam is usually red in CD and DVD players. Blu-ray players are so called as they use blue lasers.

17. Repubblica __: European country ITALIANA
The official name of the nation we usually call Italy is the Italian Republic (“Repubblica Italiana” in Italian).

22. In the style of the 1975 film “Nashville,” say ALTMANESQUE
The suffix “-esque”, meaning “-like”, came into English from Italian. The italian “-esco” in turn derives from the Latin “-iscus”, which has the same meaning.

“Nashville” is a 1975 musical drama film directed by Robert Altman. Several songs performed in the film were composed by the actors themselves including “I’m Easy”, written and performed by Keith Carradine, for which he the Best Original Song Oscar.

24. Barbecue fare SPARE RIB
Spare ribs are so called because “spare” can indicate the absence of fat.

25. One of the Jacksons JANET
Janet Jackson is the youngest of the famed Jackson family of musicians. She is a very successful musical artist (she has sold over 100 million records!) but also devotes a lot of time to acting. When she was quite young she appeared on the TV show “Fame”, and in 1993 had her first starring role in a film, namely “Poetic Justice”. She followed that up with a part in “Nutty Professor II” playing opposite Eddie Murphy. As usual, she got to sing on the movie’s soundtrack and produced a number one with the song “Doesn’t Really Matter”. Then there was the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, and a wardrobe malfunction …

27. Minor key? ISLET
A “key” (also “cay”) is a low island offshore, as in the Florida Keys. Our term in English comes from the Spanish “cayo” meaning “shoal, reef”.

28. Device with shuttles and treadles LOOM
When weaving with a loom, a shuttle is a tool that carries the thread across the weft yarn, back and forth so that the fabric “grows”.

A “treadle” is a foot pedal that is used to create motion in a machine such as a loom or a potter’s wheel.

29. Shore raptor ERNE
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle or sea-eagle.

“Raptor” is a generic term for a bird of prey, one that has talons to grip its victims.

33. Actress Patricia and drummer Jeff NEALS
Patricia Neal won her Best Actress Oscar relatively late in her career, for playing the middle-aged housekeeper in 1963’s “Hud”. A few years’ later she was offered the role of Mrs. Robinson in “The Graduate” but turned it down. Famously, Neal had an affair with Gary Cooper who was married at the time. She became pregnant with his child, but he persuaded her to have an abortion. Not long afterwards Neal married British writer Roald Dahl (of “Willy Wonka” fame) and the couple had five children together before divorcing in 1983.

Jeff Neal is a drummer and singer who played with the rock band Boston from 2002 to 2011.

34. Dos minus dos CERO
In Spanish, “dos” (two) minus “dos” (two) is “cero” (zero).

35. __ perpetua: Idaho’s motto ESTO
“Esto perpetua” is the Latin phrase meaning, “Let it be perpetual”. It is used as the motto of a number of groups, as well as the state of Idaho. The words are attributed to the theologian Paolo Sarpi (Fra Paolo), his last words, a wish for his native Venice, “let it be perpetual”.

42. Bantu language XHOSA
The Xhosa are a Bantu people who live mainly in the southeast of South Africa. The Xhosa language is the second-most common in the country, after Zulu. Among the list of notable Xhosa people are former President Nelson Mandela and retired Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu.

43. Strummed instruments LYRES
The lyre is a stringed instrument most closely associated with Ancient Greece, and with the gods Hermes and Apollo in particular. According to myth, Hermes slaughtered a cow from a sacred herd belonging to Apollo and offered it to the gods but kept the entrails. Hermes used the entrails to make strings that he stretched across the shell of a tortoise, creating the first lyre. Apollo liked the sound from the lyre and agreed to accept it as a trade for his herd of cattle.

45. Dharma teachers LAMAS
“Lama” is a Tibetan word, meaning “chief” or “high priest”.

In the context of Buddhism, “dharma” can mean the collection of teachings and doctrines of the faith. The term is also used to describe proper and correct behavior that maintains the natural order of things.

46. Mashhad native IRANI
The city of Mashhad is in the northeast of the country, and is the second-most populous city in the country after Tehran.

47. Symbol of victory for immortal Celtics coach Red Auerbach CIGAR
Red Auerbach was a professional basketball coach. When he retired, after coaching the Boston Celtics from 1950 until 1966, Auerbach has racked up a record 938 wins. He had the habit of lighting up a cigar during a game when he deemed that victory was assured. So famous was the cigar as the symbol of victory that many Boston restaurants had signs reading “no cigar or pipe smoking, except for Red Auerbach”.

50. Formic acid source ANT
Most nettle species have stinging hairs that secrete formic acid. This formic acid is the same chemical that is found in the venom injected with a bee or ant sting. The Latin word for ant is “formica”, which gives its name to the acid.

51. Actress Taylor LILI
The actress Lili Taylor had supporting roles in films like “Mystic Pizza”, “The Haunting” and “Rudy”, and she had a recurring role in the HBO series “Six Feet Under”.

53. Mendel research subject PEAS
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk, and a scientist who achieved fame after his passing when his work in the field of genetics was rediscovered. The conclusions he drew from his studies of garden peas led to him earning the moniker “father of modern genetics”.

55. It may be activated by a plunger TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

56. View from Kennebunkport, Me. ATL
Kennebunkport is a coastal town in the southern part of Maine. The port town is named for the Kennebunk River on which it sits. Kennebunkport is the location of the summer home of former President George H. W. Bush.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Actor in four “Planet of the Apes” films MCDOWALL
9. Antenna support MAST
13. Traffic report source CAR RADIO
14. Farm report? BAA BAA!
16. “A London Symphony” composer VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
18. Dutch banking giant ING
19. It may be deviated SEPTUM
20. London-born miler COE
21. “That’s a riot” HA HA HA
23. __ Werner, Best Actor nominee for “Ship of Fools” OSKAR
25. Tokyo-based carrier JAL
26. Struggle with assessments? LISP
28. Minimal complications LEAST RESISTANCE
36. Landscape brighteners ORNAMENTAL TREES
37. “West Side Story” duet ONE HAND, ONE HEART
38. Failed big-time MET ONE’S WATERLOO
39. Whimper MEWL
40. __ de veau: sweetbread RIS
41. Turning points AXLES
44. Stein’s “The Autobiography of __ Toklas” ALICE B
48. Word that sounds like its last letter WHY
49. Saudi neighbor QATARI
51. Remove LOP
54. Publication known for rankings FORTUNE MAGAZINE
58. Early online forum USENET
59. Turkey, mostly ANATOLIA
60. Wear well LAST
61. Cuts from the back SIRLOINS

Down
1. Year in the reign of England’s Henry I MCVI
2. Scott of “Hawaii Five-0” CAAN
3. Tranquilize DRUG
4. URL ending ORG
5. Distressed cry WAH!
6. Recipe phrase A DASH
7. Form opener LINE A
8. Acidic LOW-PH
9. Printemps period MAI
10. Taken __ ABACK
11. Its capital is Apia SAMOA
12. Law enforcement tool TASER
14. __-ray Disc BLU
15. “It won’t be long now” ALMOST THERE
17. Repubblica __: European country ITALIANA
21. Lives HAS A HOME
22. In the style of the 1975 film “Nashville,” say ALTMANESQUE
24. Barbecue fare SPARE RIB
25. One of the Jacksons JANET
27. Minor key? ISLET
28. Device with shuttles and treadles LOOM
29. Shore raptor ERNE
30. Freshen RENEW
31. Runs over ENDS LATE
32. Put away STOW
33. Actress Patricia and drummer Jeff NEALS
34. Dos minus dos CERO
35. __ perpetua: Idaho’s motto ESTO
41. Very bad AWFUL
42. Bantu language XHOSA
43. Strummed instruments LYRES
45. Dharma teachers LAMAS
46. Mashhad native IRANI
47. Symbol of victory for immortal Celtics coach Red Auerbach CIGAR
50. Formic acid source ANT
51. Actress Taylor LILI
52. From here __: henceforth ON IN
53. Mendel research subject PEAS
55. It may be activated by a plunger TNT
56. View from Kennebunkport, Me. ATL
57. Confusing scene ZOO

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