Day: March 19, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
11. Tag word FROM
“To” and “from” are words often seen on a gift tag.

15. Meteorological record ALL-TIME LOW
“Meteorology” is the science dealing with weather and weather conditions. The term comes into English via French from the Greek “meteoron” meaning “thing high up” and “-logia” meaning “treatment of”.

19. Longtime Parlophone record label owner EMI
EMI was a British music company, with the abbreviation standing for Electric and Musical Industries.

Parlophon was founded in 1896 as a German company, with the British branch called Parlophone Records opening for business in 1923. The biggest act to record with Parlophone was undoubtedly the Beatles, before the band launched its own label called Apple.

23. Roundup line LASSO
Our English word “lasso” comes from the Spanish “lazo”, and ultimately from the Latin “laqueum” meaning “noose, snare”.

25. Chicago mayor after Richard RAHM
The current Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, was an Illinois representative in the US House before resigning to take up President Obama’s offer to become the White House Chief of Staff.

Richard J. Daley was the Mayor of Chicago for 21 years (1955-1976), making him the longest-serving mayor for the city in history. His son, Richard M. Daley was mayor until relatively recently, and was the city’s second-longest serving mayor.

27. Start to cure? EPI-
An epicure is a gourmet, one who appreciates fine food and drink in particular. The term is derived from the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus.

28. Minnesota’s St. __ College OLAF
St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota was named for the former king and patron saint of Norway, Olaf II.

31. “The Munsters” actress Yvonne DE CARLO
Yvonne De Carlo was a Canadian-American actress with a string of appearances in Hollywood movies in the forties and fifties. In the sixties she turned to television, playing Lily Munster on the comedy show “The Munsters”.

37. City in southern Egypt ASWAN
The Egyptian city of Aswan lies in the south of the country, on the River Nile. Aswan is famous for its stone quarries, going back to ancient times. The most celebrated granite rock from the area is called syenite. Stone from Aswan was shipped northwards along the Nile and used in the construction of the pyramids. From ancient times right up to 1970, the annual flooding of the Nile was a significant event in Egypt. The flooding allowed the deposition of fertile silt far beyond the banks of the river, helping the region’s agriculture. However, the flooding was unpredictable. So the Aswan Dam was built in the sixties and from 1970 the flooding was brought under control.

38. Catnip, e.g. HERB
About 50% of all cats are affected in some way by the plant catnip. There is a terpenoid in the oil of the plant called nepetalactone that the cat inhales and that can cause anything from drowsiness to anxiety.

39. Spam, perhaps EMAIL
Apparently the term “spam”, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word Spam, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets of Britain after WWII. So “spam” is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

41. They sit on pads MICE
The first computer mouse was invented at the Stanford Research Institute in 1963, by one Douglas Engelbart. Sadly for him, his patent ran out before mice became standard equipment on computers, so he never made any money from his amazing invention.

56. Stars home DALLAS
The Dallas Stars hockey team was founded in 1967, based in Bloomington, Minnesota, and was back then called the Minnesota North Stars. The team moved to Dallas in 1993.

62. Cooking staple, to Rachael Ray EVOO
Virgin olive oil is oil produced from olives with no chemical treatment involved in the production process at all. To be labelled “virgin”, the oil must have an acidity level of less than 2% and must be be judged to have “a good taste”. Extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO) comes from virgin oil production, and is the portion with acidity levels of less than 0.8% acidity that is judged to have “superior taste”.

Rachael Ray is a celebrity chef and host of several shows on the Food Network television channel. Ray comes from a family that owned and managed a number of restaurants in the northeast of the country. One of Ray’s TV shows is “$40 a Day”, in which she demonstrates how to visit various cities in North America and Europe and eat three meals and a snack on a daily budget of just $40.

63. City on the Wabash TERRE HAUTE
Terre Haute, Indiana is a city close to the state’s western border with Illinois. The city is home to a state prison which in turn is home to the state’s death row. The name “Terre Haute” was chosen by French explorers in the 18th century to describe the location, as “terre haute” is French for “high ground”.

The Wabash River is the largest northern tributary of the Ohio River. The Wabash is the state river of Indiana, and forms much of the border between the Indiana and Illinois. The river takes its name from the French “Ouabache”, a word that French traders adopted from a Miami Indian word meaning “it shines white”.

66. Money-raising option, briefly REFI
Refinance (refi)

67. 1998 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee ERECTOR SET
Oh how I loved my Erector Set as a kid. The version we used growing up was referred to as a Meccano set, as “Meccano” was the brand name used for for the toy sold as “Mechanics Made Easy”. The original Erector Set was developed by inventor Alfred Carlton Gilbert, and first produced in 1913. Back then it was sold as “The Erector/Structural Steel and Electro-Mechanical Builder”.

The National Toy Hall of Fame was established in Salem. Oregon in 1998, but was relocated to Rochester, New York in 2002. There were seventeen original inductees, including:

– Barbie
– Etch A Sketch
– Frisbee
– Hula Hoop
– Marbles
– Monopoly

68. Old Atl. crossers SSTS
The most famous supersonic transport (SST) is the retired Concorde. Famously, the Concorde routinely broke the sound barrier, and cruised at about twice the speed of sound. Above Mach 2, frictional heat would cause the plane’s aluminum airframe to soften, so airspeed was limited.

Down
1. Saharan region SAHEL
The Sahel is a great swath of land in Africa lying south of the Sahara desert and stretching from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Sahel is the region that separates the Sahara from the tropical savanna to the south.

2. Wool source LLAMA
The wool from a llama is much softer than that from a sheep, and it is also free from lanolin.

3. Newsworthy inductee of March 24, 1958 ELVIS
Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army in 1958 as a private. Although Presley was only a couple of years into his recording career, he already had a “manic” following. While in basic training, he was quite certain that his success would be short-lived, and maybe could not recover after his stint with the Army. He used his leave to record new tracks, keeping his name “out there”. Presley did basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Friedberg, Germany. It was in Friedberg that he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he would marry after courting her for 7 1/2 years. After two years in the Army, he came back home, and to a career that was still soaring.

4. Évry summer ETE
In French, the season of “été” (summer) starts in “juin” (June).

Évry is a suburb of Paris, located about 15 miles to the south of the city’s center.

5. Elementary camera feature PINHOLE
A pinhole camera is an amazing device that can project a very clear image, without the use of a lens. In general the smaller the pinhole the sharper the image, a phenomenon we can observe ourselves by peeking through a tiny hole made with the fingers.

6. 1847 work with the chapter “Life at Loohooloo” OMOO
Herman Melville mined his own experiences when writing his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby-Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later and lived with natives on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate that was bound for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).

12. Joan Rivers’ asset RAPIER WIT
Joan Rivers was a comedian from Brooklyn, New York who got her big break on “The Tonight Show”, on which she was first a guest in 1965. She became the first woman to host a late night talk show in 1986 when she hosted “The Late Show with Joan Rivers”. Rivers passed away following routine throat surgery in September of 2014.

13. It’s beside the point ONES PLACE
The “ones” place is just to the left of the decimal point in a number.

22. Interactive party song YMCA
“YMCA” was released in 1978 by Village People and has been adopted as an anthem by the gay community. The song was written by Victor Willis, a straight member of the mostly gay band, and he clarifies that the lyrics are extolling the virtues of the “YMCA” as a source of recreation for black urban youth. I think he might have been winking when he said that …

24. Frozen dessert SORBET
“Sorbet” can mean different things around the world. Here in the US, sorbet is a non-fat frozen dessert that is made without any dairy content.

29. Lionel Richie’s “You __” ARE
“You Are” was a 1983 hit for Lionel Richie. Richie co-wrote “You Are” with his wife at that time, Brenda Harvey Richie.

Singer-songwriter Lionel Richie got his big break as a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores starting in 1968. Richie launched a very successful solo career in 1982. Richie is the father of socialite Nicole Richie, childhood friend of Paris Hilton and co-star on the Fox show “The Simple Life”.

30. Inflame FOMENT
To foment is to promote the growth of.

32. Capital east of Khartoum ASMARA
Asmara is the capital and largest city in Eritrea.

Eritrea is a country located in the Horn of Africa, surrounded by Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the Red Sea. Some scientists believe that the area now known as Eritrea was the departure point for the anatomically modern humans who first left Africa to populate the rest of the world.

Khartoum is the capital city of Sudan, and is located at the point where the Blue Nile and White Nile meet.

Sudan was the largest country in Africa until 2011, when the Southern Sudan region opted by referendum to become independent. “North Sudan” retained the name of Sudan, and the new state is called South Sudan. Sudan is now the third largest country in the continent, after Algeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

33. Tracks-covering vehicles SHREDDERS
A person wishing to cover his or her tracks might shred some paperwork.

34. Reading material? TEA LEAVES
“Tasseography” is the name given to reading fortunes by interpreting the patterns of tea leaves, coffee grounds and wine sediments that are left in the bottom of a cup or glass.

36. Western alliance: Abbr. OAS
The Organization of American States (OAS) has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. All the independent states in the Americas are members of the group except Honduras, which had its membership suspended after the country’s 2009 coup.

43. Manzo of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” DINA
“The Real Housewives of New Jersey” is the fourth in a series of “Real Housewives” shows, following “The Real Housewives of Orange County”, “The Real Housewives of New York City” and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta”.

45. It’s usually not a pretty picture MUG SHOT
A mugshot is a photograph of a person’s face, often taken for a police record.

51. __ throat STREP
Streptococcus bacteria multiply and divide along a single axis so that they form linked chains. That behavior gives the genus of bacteria its name, as “streptos” is Greek for “easily twisted, like a chain”. I had to battle with streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) twice in the past few years and it was not at all pleasant, I must say. Another species of streptococcus is responsible for that terrible “flesh-eating” infection that makes the news from time to time.

55. “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” speaker RHETT
“Take my handkerchief, Scarlett. Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” is a quotation from Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”. The line was spoken by the character Rhett Butler, and was used as written in the famous 1939 film adaptation starring Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

57. “The Giver” author Lowry LOIS
Lois Lowry is a writer of children’s fiction. Lowry doesn’t stick to “safe” material in her books, and has dealt with difficult subjects such as racism, murder and the Holocaust. Two of her books won the Newbery Medal: “Number the Stars” (1990) and “The Giver” (1993).

59. Subject of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish” ORCA
“Blackfish” is a 2013 documentary film that examines the dangers of keeping orca in captivity.”Star” of the movie is a killer whale (orca) named Tilikum who was responsible in whole or in part for the deaths of three people. Tilikum was captured in 1983 and has been a “guest” of SeaWorld since 1992. Most recently, Tilikum killed a 40-year old trainer named Dawn Brancheau in 2010.

60. ’80s-’90s tennis star Korda PETR
Petr Korda is a retired tennis player from Prague in the Czech Republic. Korda fell foul of the sport’s governing body when he tested positive for steroids after a 1998 match at Wimbledon.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Some kids’ parties SLEEPOVERS
11. Tag word FROM
15. Meteorological record ALL-TIME LOW
16. Driving area LANE
17. Can’t imagine HAVE NO IDEA
18. Available OPEN
19. Longtime Parlophone record label owner EMI
20. Edge HONE
21. Document preparer TYPIST
23. Roundup line LASSO
25. Chicago mayor after Richard RAHM
27. Start to cure? EPI-
28. Minnesota’s St. __ College OLAF
31. “The Munsters” actress Yvonne DE CARLO
33. Supplies site STOREROOM
37. City in southern Egypt ASWAN
38. Catnip, e.g. HERB
39. Spam, perhaps EMAIL
41. They sit on pads MICE
42. Flowed furiously RAGED
44. Tossed out a number ESTIMATED
46. High spirits ELATION
48. Provoke SPUR
49. __ mother DEN
50. They might be hard to crack NUTS
52. Awestruck sort GAPER
56. Stars home DALLAS
58. Caps, say TOPS
61. Satisfied sigh AAH!
62. Cooking staple, to Rachael Ray EVOO
63. City on the Wabash TERRE HAUTE
66. Money-raising option, briefly REFI
67. 1998 National Toy Hall of Fame inductee ERECTOR SET
68. Old Atl. crossers SSTS
69. Section DEPARTMENT

Down
1. Saharan region SAHEL
2. Wool source LLAMA
3. Newsworthy inductee of March 24, 1958 ELVIS
4. Évry summer ETE
5. Elementary camera feature PINHOLE
6. 1847 work with the chapter “Life at Loohooloo” OMOO
7. Marble characteristic VEIN
8. Tribal leader ELDER
9. Eggs sometimes served with grits ROE
10. Wrap up SWATHE
11. Probably not a really good show FLOP
12. Joan Rivers’ asset RAPIER WIT
13. It’s beside the point ONES PLACE
14. Touched on MENTIONED
22. Interactive party song YMCA
24. Frozen dessert SORBET
26. Doesn’t turn away ADMITS
29. Lionel Richie’s “You __” ARE
30. Inflame FOMENT
32. Capital east of Khartoum ASMARA
33. Tracks-covering vehicles SHREDDERS
34. Reading material? TEA LEAVES
35. Church music source ORGAN LOFT
36. Western alliance: Abbr. OAS
40. Edge LIP
43. Manzo of “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” DINA
45. It’s usually not a pretty picture MUG SHOT
47. Sent packing OUSTED
51. __ throat STREP
53. Breathing spell PAUSE
54. All gone EATEN
55. “Never, at any crisis of your life, have I known you to have a handkerchief” speaker RHETT
57. “The Giver” author Lowry LOIS
59. Subject of the 2013 documentary “Blackfish” ORCA
60. ’80s-’90s tennis star Korda PETR
64. Poetic preposition ERE
65. Coat part ARM

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