Day: March 29, 2016

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. IRS enforcer T-MAN
A T-man is a law-enforcement agent of the US Treasury (T is for Treasury).

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury.

10. Galaxy Tab rival IPAD
The groundbreaking iPad was introduced by Apple in 2010. The iOS-based iPads dominated the market for tablet computers until 2013, when Android-based tablets (manufactured by several companies) took over the number-one spot.

The Galaxy Tab is a line of Android-based tablet computers manufactured and sold by Samsung.

16. Indian bridal dress SARI
The item of clothing called a “sari” (also “saree”) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that is unstitched along the whole of its length. The strip of cloth can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

17. Hard-to-please diva PRIMA DONNA
The Italian operatic term “prima donna” is used for the lead female singer in an opera company. “Prima donna” translates from Italian as “first lady”. The lead male singer is known as the “primo uomo”. The term “prima donna assoluta” is reserved for a prima donna who is generally accepted as being an outstanding performer. We tend to use “prima donna” for a female performer who has an inflated ego.

21. TriCLEAN gasoline brand CITGO
The oil and gasoline company Citgo was founded in 1910 as Cities Services Company, a supplier of gas and electricity to public utilities. City Services Company introduced the Citgo brand in 1965 in its petroleum businesses. Citgo is now owned by the national oil company of Venezuela.

22. Skin ink, casually TAT
The word “tattoo” (often shortened to “tat”) was first used in English in the writings of the famous English explorer Captain Cook. In his descriptions of the indelible marks adorning the skin of Polynesian natives, Cook anglicized the Tahitian word “tatau” into our “tattoo”.

28. Penne __ vodka: pasta dish ALLA
Penne alla vodka is a pasta dish with a sauce made of vodka, cream, tomatoes, onions and sausage or bacon.

31. Former “Tonight Show” announcer Hall EDD
Edd Hall is most famous as the former announcer for Jay Leno on “The Tonight Show”. Hall replaced Ed McMahon when Johnny Carson retired from the show.

34. Like pages worth bookmarking DOG-EARED
The folded-down corner of the page of a book, a temporary placeholder, is known as a “dog-ear”. I suppose that’s because it look like the ear of the dog …

36. Pueblo-dwelling tribe HOPI
Many of the Hopi nation live on a reservation that is actually located within the much larger Navajo reservation in Arizona.

A pueblo is a Native American village, a term used in the American Southwest. The buildings in a pueblo are usually made of stone and adobe mud.

40. Pesto thickeners PINE NUTS
The term “pesto” applies to anything made by pounding. What we tend to know as “pesto” sauce is more properly called “pesto alla genovese”, pesto from Genoa in northern Italy. I love, love pesto sauce …

58. Origami bird CRANE
Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The best-known example of the craft is the paper crane. The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

59. Windy City superstation WGN
WGN America is a cable television network based in Chicago. The WGN name has long been associated with Chicago, and is the acronym for the former slogan of the Chicago Tribune: “World’s Greatest Newspaper”.

It seems that the derivation of Chicago’s nickname as the “Windy City” isn’t as obvious as I would have thought. There are two viable theories. First that the weather can be breezy, with wind blowing in off Lake Michigan. The effect of the wind is exaggerated by the grid-layout adopted by city planners after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The second theory is that “windy” means “being full of bluster”. Sportswriters from the rival city of Cincinnati were fond of calling Chicago supporters “windy” in the 1860s and 1870s, meaning that they were full of hot air in their claims that the Chicago White Stockings were superior to the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

60. Bear whose bed was too hard PAPA
The story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” was first recorded in 1837, in England, although the narrative was around before it was actually written down. The original fairy tale was rather gruesome, but successive versions became more family-oriented. The character that eventually became Goldilocks was originally an elderly woman, and the three “nameless” bears became Papa Bear, Mama Bear and Baby Bear.

64. Deadlocked EVEN
A “deadlock” is a standstill, a stalemate. The suggestion is that the term was coined in the 1779 play called “The Critic”, from the pen of Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

65. In __: with all judges present BANC
“En banc” is a French term, translating as “on a bench”. It refers to the cases in which all the judges of a court hear a case, as opposed to a case heard just by a panel, a subset of the full complement. The phrase is sometimes written as “in banc” in the US.

66. Diciembre follower ENERO
In Spanish, “el año” (the year) starts in “enero” (January) and ends in “diciembre” (December).

69. Cheryl and Diane LADDS
Cheryl Ladd’s most famous role was Kris Munroe in television’s “Charlie’s Angels”. Ladd replaced Farrah Fawcett-Majors when the latter opted out of the show. Cheryl Ladd was the daughter-in-law of famed Hollywood actor Alan Ladd, as she was married to Ladd’s son, David. After the couple divorced, Cheryl retained the Ladd name.

Diane Ladd is an American actress who was nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the 1990 film “Wild at Heart”. The lead roles in the movie were played by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern. Laura Dern is Diane Ladd’s daughter in real life, as she was once married to actor Bruce Dern.

Down
1. Llama cousin ALPACA
Alpacas are like small llamas, but unlike llamas were never beasts of burden. Alpacas were bred specifically for the fleece. As such, there are no known wild alpacas these days, even in their native Peru.

2. Ankle bones TARSALS
The tarsals are ankle bones, equivalent to the carpals in the wrist.

3. New Testament letter EPISTLE
By definition, an epistle is a writing sent by one person to a group of people, with the name “epistle” coming from the Greek word for “a letter”. The 21 epistles of the New Testament are letters from various of the Apostles to groups of Christians, with most of them being written by Paul.

4. Branch of the mil. USM
“United States Marine Corps” is usually abbreviated to USMC. The abbreviation USM (for “United States Marines”) is sometimes used, although not by the service itself, I think.

5. Cobbler fruit PEACH
The dessert called “cobbler” originated in colonial America when settlers invented it as a substitute for suet pudding as they didn’t have the necessary ingredients to make the more traditional dish. Instead, they stewed fruit and covered it with a layer of uncooked scones or biscuits, creating a surface that resembled a “cobbled” street, hence the name.

8. River under the Ponte Vecchio ARNO
The Ponte Vecchio is a famous bridge that spans the Arno River in Florence, Italy. The bridge dates back to medieval times, and indeed the name “Ponte Vecchio” translates as “Old Bridge”.

9. Federal hush-hush org. NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organization’s nickname … “No Such Agency”.

10. Sci-fi writer Asimov ISAAC
Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”. Asimov wrote three autobiographies, the last of which was called “I, Asimov”, which was published in 1994, two years after his death.

11. Cat with black fur PANTHER
The big cats known as black panthers are found in Asia, Africa and the Americas. The black panthers of Asia and Africa are black leopards. Those in the Americas are black jaguars.

13. Conk out DIE
The phrase “conk out” was coined by airmen during WWI, and was used to describe the stalling of an engine.

18. Gorilla expert Fossey DIAN
Dian Fossey carried out her famous study of gorilla populations in the mountain forests of Rwanda (NB: it was Jane Goodall that worked with chimpanzees). Sadly, Fossey was found dead in her cabin in Rwanda in 1986, murdered in her bedroom, her skull split open by a machete. The crime was never solved.

24. Hidden store CACHE
A “cache” is a secret supply. We imported the term into English from French Canadian trappers in the 17th century. Back then, “cache” was a slang term for a “hiding place for stores”, derived from the French verb “cacher” meaning “to hide”.

25. Pond plant ALGA
Algae are similar to terrestrial plants in that they use photosynthesis to create sugars from light and carbon dioxide, but they differ in that they have simpler anatomies, and for example lack roots.

33. Polynesian archipelago native TONGAN
The Kingdom of Tonga is made up of 176 islands in the South Pacific, 52 of which are inhabited and scattered over an area of 270,000 square miles. Tonga was given the name Friendly Islands in 1773 when Captain James Cook first landed there, a reference to the warm reception given to the visitors.

The term “Polynesia” was first coined in 1756 by the author Charles de Brosses, when he used it to describe all the islands in the Pacific. This was later restricted to what we now refer to as a subregion of Oceania.

35. Lab gelatins AGARS
Agar (also “agar-agar”) is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

38. “Lord, is __?” IT I
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his apostles that one of them would betray him that day. According to the Gospel of Matthew:
And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?

40. Target score in “Mario Golf” PAR
The “Mario” franchise of video games produced by Nintendo includes several games based on sports, including Mario Tennis, Mario Golf and Mario Baseball.

41. Mrs. McKinley IDA
Ida Saxton met Bill McKinley at a picnic in 1867, just before she headed off to Europe on a “grand tour”. So, the two had to wait until 1869 before they started courting. The couple married in 1871 in Canton, Ohio, Ida’s hometown. Ida McKinley developed epilepsy before her husband was elected to President of the US and became very dependent on him to provide physical and moral support. She always sat by his side at public functions, breaking with the tradition of the President hosting some of the guests, and the First Lady others. After her husband was assassinated, Mrs. McKinley could not bring herself to attend her husband’s funeral, and then withdrew from public view to her home in Canton. She passed away six years after her husband, in 1907.

43. Synthetic rubber compound STYRENE
Styrene is a sweet-smelling, colorless liquid that is used to make the plastic called polystyrene, and the synthetic rubber called styrene-butadiene (SBR).

45. Kelp, e.g. SEAWEED
Kelps are large seaweeds that grow in kelp forests underwater. Kelps can grow to over 250 feet in length, and do so very quickly. Some kelps can grow at the rate of 1-2 feet per day.

49. Law that incited a 1773 Boston revolt TEA ACT
The famous destruction of tea in Boston Harbor to protest against the Tea Act took place on December 16, 1773. The action was referred to as the “destruction of the tea” for decades, and it wasn’t until 1834 that the term “Boston Tea Party” first appeared in print.

52. Sonata movements RONDOS
A rondo was often chosen by composers in the classical period for the last movement of a sonata (or symphony or concerto, for that matter). In rondo form there is a principal theme that alternates with a contrasting theme(s). So, the original theme anchors the whole piece in between secondary digressions.

54. Master, in Swahili BWANA
“Bwana” is a Swahili word meaning “important person” or “leader of a safari”.

Swahili is one of the many Bantu languages spoken in Africa. There are hundreds of Bantu languages, mainly spoken in central, east and southern Africa. The most commonly spoken Bantu language is Swahili, with Zulu coming in second.

58. Chesapeake Bay crustacean CRAB
Chesapeake Bay is on the Atlantic coast and is surrounded by the states of Maryland and Virginia. Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the whole country, with over 150 rivers and streams draining into it.

61. “Selma” director DuVernay AVA
Ava DuVernay is a filmmaker who became the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, a feat she achieved in 2012 for her feature film “Middle of Nowhere”. “Middle of Nowhere” tells the story of a woman who drops out of medical school to focus on husband when he is sentenced to 8 years in prison. More recently, DuVernay was nominated for a Golden Globe for directing the 2014 historical drama “Selma”.

“Selma” is a 2014 film about the Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches of 1965. The film stars British actors David Oyewale as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Tom Wilkinson as President Lyndon Johnson. “Selma” was received extremely well by critics and audiences alike. That said, there is some criticism about the way President Johnson is portrayed as being less supportive of civil rights than is assumed to be the case in reality.

62. Marketing major’s deg. BBA
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)

63. “Messenger” molecule RNA
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA) is an essential catalyst in the manufacture of proteins in the body. The genetic code in DNA determines the sequence of amino acids that make up each protein. That sequence is read in DNA by messenger RNA, and amino acids are delivered for protein manufacture in the correct sequence by what is called transfer RNA. The amino acids are then formed into proteins by ribosomal RNA.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Gobbled down ATE UP
6. IRS enforcer T-MAN
10. Galaxy Tab rival IPAD
14. Memory slip LAPSE
15. Lifeboat movers OARS
16. Indian bridal dress SARI
17. Hard-to-please diva PRIMA DONNA
19. Money for the pot ANTE
20. Beast of burden ASS
21. TriCLEAN gasoline brand CITGO
22. Skin ink, casually TAT
23. Holder of odds and ends CATCHALL
25. “Bless you!” trigger AHCHOO!
28. Penne __ vodka: pasta dish ALLA
29. Hider in a haystack NEEDLE
31. Former “Tonight Show” announcer Hall EDD
32. Religious offshoot SECT
34. Like pages worth bookmarking DOG-EARED
36. Pueblo-dwelling tribe HOPI
39. Tart taste TANG
40. Pesto thickeners PINE NUTS
44. Short race DASH
47. Hubbub ADO
48. Full of pluck GRITTY
51. Bring up REAR
53. Spot to enjoy oysters and clams RAW BAR
55. Way back when YEARS AGO
57. Have OWN
58. Origami bird CRANE
59. Windy City superstation WGN
60. Bear whose bed was too hard PAPA
62. Dine together, and a hint to this puzzle’s circles BREAK BREAD
64. Deadlocked EVEN
65. In __: with all judges present BANC
66. Diciembre follower ENERO
67. Granny NANA
68. Help, as a fugitive ABET
69. Cheryl and Diane LADDS

Down
1. Llama cousin ALPACA
2. Ankle bones TARSALS
3. New Testament letter EPISTLE
4. Branch of the mil. USM
5. Cobbler fruit PEACH
6. Play the flute TOOTLE
7. Botched up MANGLED
8. River under the Ponte Vecchio ARNO
9. Federal hush-hush org. NSA
10. Sci-fi writer Asimov ISAAC
11. Cat with black fur PANTHER
12. Statues and sculptures ART
13. Conk out DIE
18. Gorilla expert Fossey DIAN
22. Famous last words? THE END
24. Hidden store CACHE
25. Pond plant ALGA
26. Poem of tribute ODE
27. Like 2015 ODD
30. Point DOT
33. Polynesian archipelago native TONGAN
35. Lab gelatins AGARS
37. Contented kitty sound PURR
38. “Lord, is __?” IT I
40. Target score in “Mario Golf” PAR
41. Mrs. McKinley IDA
42. Sign on a new store NOW OPEN
43. Synthetic rubber compound STYRENE
45. Kelp, e.g. SEAWEED
46. Gaunt from exertion HAGGARD
49. Law that incited a 1773 Boston revolt TEA ACT
50. Pull hard YANK
52. Sonata movements RONDOS
54. Master, in Swahili BWANA
56. One resisting authority REBEL
58. Chesapeake Bay crustacean CRAB
60. Cattle holder PEN
61. “Selma” director DuVernay AVA
62. Marketing major’s deg. BBA
63. “Messenger” molecule RNA

Return to top of page