Day: August 3, 2018

Bill’s time: 10m 13s

Bill’s errors: 0

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Indian state bordering Bhutan : ASSAM

Assam is a state in the very northeast of India, and just south of the Himalayas. Assam is noted for its tea as well as its silk.

Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia located between China to the north and India to the south, east and west. Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 2008, and has been ranked by “Businessweek” as the “happiest” country in Asia.

14. Fiji neighbor : TONGA

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 island nation of Fiji is an archipelago in the South Pacific made up of over 330 islands, 110 of which are inhabited. Fiji was occupied by the British for over a century and finally gained its independence in 1970.

17. Dog that loves a burger topping? : ONION BEAGLE (sounds like “onion bagel”)

The beagle breed of dog is a scent hound, one developed for tracking small game. Because of this characteristic, beagles are often used as detection dogs in customs halls around the world. The world’s most famous beagle is probably Snoopy from the comic strip “Peanuts”.

19. Mme., in Madrid : SRA

Madrid is the largest city in Spain, and is the nation’s capital. Madrid is located very close to the geographical center of the country. It is the third-largest city in the European Union (after London and Paris). People from Madrid called themselves Madrileños.

20. Blueprint : MAP

Blueprints are reproductions of technical or architectural drawings that are contact prints made on light-sensitive sheets. Blueprints were introduced in the 1800s and the technology available dictated that the drawings were reproduced with white lines on a blue background, hence the name “blue-print”.

24. Repeating : ITERANT

The verb “to iterate” means to repeat over again. The verb “reiterate” means the same thing. One might suspect that “reiterate” is one of those words that has crept into the language due to repeated (reiterated?!) misuse. Well, that’s not quite the case, but close. Back in the 1400s, “iterate” meant “repeat”, and “reiterate” meant “repeat again and again”. We’ve lost the distinction between those two definitions over time.

26. “__ Day”: chapter in the ’50s “The Thin Man” TV series : ASTA

Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb “The Thin Man” series of films starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

“The Thin Man” is a TV series that originally aired in the late 1950s. The show is based on Dashiell Hammett’s 1933 novel of the same name. The main characters, Nick and Nora Charles, were played by Peter Lawford and Phyllis Kirk.

28. Noel : CAROL

“Noël” is the French word for the Christmas season, and ultimately comes from the Latin word for “birth” (natalis). “Noel” has come to be used as an alternative name for a Christmas carol.

29. Dog that loves a winter sport? : HOCKEY PUG (sounds like “hockey puck”)

The pug is a breed of dog of Chinese origin. Our current family pet is a boxer/pug cross, and is a good-looking mutt!

36. Bearish? : URSINE

Something described as ursine is related to a bear. The term “ursine” comes from “ursus”, the Latin for “bear”.

37. “The Facts of Life” actress Charlotte : RAE

Charlotte Rae is an American actress best known for playing the character Edna Garrett on two sitcoms from the seventies and eighties: “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life”. Towards the end of the series, the Edna Garrett character operated her own gourmet food shop called “Edna’s Edibles”.

The sitcom “The Facts of Life” originally aired from 1979 until 1988. It was a spin-off of the equally successful show “Diff’rent Strokes”. Charlotte Rae was the main actress common to both shows. Rae played Edna Garrett, who was a housekeeper on “Diff’rent Strokes” and a dormitory housemother on “The Facts of Life”.

43. Equanimity : APLOMB

“Aplomb” is such a lovely word, one meaning “confidence, assurance”. It is a French word that literally means “perpendicularity”, or “on the plumb line”. The idea is that someone with aplomb is poised, upright, balanced.

Equanimity is the quality of being composed and calm. The term comes from the Latin”aequus” (even) and “”animus” (mind). “Equanimity” is one of my favorite words of all time …

49. Dog that loves to play in the rain? : MUD POODLE (sounds like “mud puddle”)

The standard poodle breed of dog is considered to be the second most intelligent breed, after the border collie. The name “poodle” comes from a Low German word meaning “to splash about”, reflecting the original use of the breed as a water retriever.

55. “Do __ others … ” : UNTO

The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

58. Bit of statuary : TORSO

“Torso” (plural “torsi”) is an Italian word meaning the “trunk of a statue”, and is a term that we imported into English.

63. Part of un giorno : ORA

In Italian, an “ora” (hour) is 1/24 of “un giorno” (a day).

64. Brown, e.g. : IVY

The term “Ivy League” originally defined an athletic conference, but now it is used to describe a group of schools of higher education that are associated with both a long tradition and academic excellence. The eight Ivy League Schools are: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale.

65. Dog that loves spaghetti? : PASTA COCKER (sounds like “pasta cooker”)

The cocker spaniel originated in the UK, where the breed was developed for hunting the Eurasian woodcock. It is the hunting of the woodcock that led to the breed’s name.

68. Born, in Brest : NEE

Brest is a port city in northwest France, and is the second largest military port in the country. Brest was an important base for German U-boats during WWII when France was occupied by the Nazis. Brest is the most westerly city in the whole country.

71. Triage ctrs. : ERS

Triage is the process of prioritizing patients for treatment, especially on a battlefield. The term “triage” is French and means “a sorting”.

72. Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred : DURST

Fred Durst is the vocalist for the rock band Limp Bizkit. Durst chose the band’s name, and he was looking for something that turned people off. Sure enough, any record label interested in the band in its early days asked for a name change!

Limp Bizkit is described as a “nu metal” band, with nu metal being a subgenre of heavy metal. Limp Bizkit has been around since 1994, and that’s all I know …

Down

2. Beethoven’s “Moonlight,” for one : SONATA

Beethoven subtitled his “Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27, No. 2” as “Quasi una fantasia”, or “sonata in the manner of a fantasy” in English. Five years after Beethoven died, a music critic wrote that the (superb!) first movement of the piece had an effect like that of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. Since then, the work has been known as the “Moonlight Sonata”.

3. Inveterate critic : SNIPER

To snipe is to attack with snide criticism, especially from a safe distance. This usage of the term is an extension of the older meaning, to take a shot from a hidden position (as in “sniper”). Such a shot was originally taken when hunting the game birds called “snipes”.

5. Hindu meditation aid : MANDALA

The Sand Mandala is a beautiful creation made with colored sand in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Mandalas are elaborate designs created by monks over many, many hours. Once the design is completed it is immediately destroyed, symbolizing the transitory nature of material life.

7. Pinocchio, at times : LIAR

“The Adventures of Pinocchio” is an 1883 children’s novel by Carlo Collodi. It is all about an animated puppet named Pinocchio and Geppetto, his poor woodcarver father. Pinocchio is prone to telling lies, the stress of which causes his short nose to become longer.

8. Arachnid’s hatching pouch : EGG SAC

Arachnids are creatures with eight jointed legs. The name of the class Arachnida comes from the Greek “aráchnē” meaning “spider”.

9. Verizon subsidiary : AOL

GTE was a rival to AT&T, the largest of the independent competitors to the Bell System. GTE merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000 to form the company that we know today as Verizon. Verizon made some high-profile acquisitions over the years, including MCI in 2005 and AOL in 2015.

12. Real estate unit : ACRE

At one time, an acre was defined as the amount of land a yoke of oxen could plow in a day. Then, an acre was more precisely defined as a strip of land “one furrow long” (i.e. one furlong) and one chain wide. The length of one furlong was equal to 10 chains, or 40 rods. A area of one furlong times 10 rods was one rood.

18. Oscar winner Kingsley : BEN

English actor Ben Kingsley won his Best Actor Oscar for playing the title role in the 1982 epic biographical film “Gandhi”. Kingsley was knighted in 2002, so if you meet him you should address him as “Sir Ben” …

“Gandhi” is a fabulous film released in 1982 that chronicles the life and times of Mahatma Gandhi. The film stars Ben Kingsley in the title role, and was directed by Sir Richard Attenborough. “Gandhi” won eight Oscars, including the award for Best Picture and Best Actor for Kingsley..

27. “Hamlet” prop : SKULL

In Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, there is a scene when Prince Hamlet holds in his hand the skull of the deceased court jester Yorick. Hamlet starts into a famous monologue at this point:

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio; a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy; he hath borne me on his back a thousand times; and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is …

The opening line is often misquoted as “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well.”

30. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty : O’DOUL

Lefty O’Doul was a baseball player and manager from San Francisco. O’Doul was instrumental in spreading the popularity of the sport in Japan both before and after WWII. In fact, the Tokyo Giants were named by O’Doul, a reference to the New York Giants franchise with whom he spent the last years of his playing career. O’Doul also owned a restaurant in San Francisco that bears his name and which still operates today (near Union Square). There’s a bridge near AT&T Park, the Giant’s relatively new ballpark, that’s called Lefty O’Doul Bridge.

31. One standing at the end of a lane : PIN

Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

32. A, in Acapulco : UNO

The Mexican city of Acapulco is on the southwest coast of the country, in the state of Guerrero. The name “Acapulco” translates from the local language into “at the big reeds”.

37. Zodiac critter : RAM

Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

38. Toon storekeeper : APU

The fictional Kwik-E-Mart store is operated by Apu Nahasapeemapetilon on “The Simpsons” TV show. Apu is married to Manjula, and the couple have eight children. The convenience store owner doesn’t seem to be making much use of his Ph.D in computer science that he earned in the US. Apu’s undergraduate degree is from Caltech (the Calcutta Technical Institute), where he graduated top of his class of seven million students …

44. 27, for Beethoven’s “Moonlight” : OPUS

Beethoven subtitled his “Piano Sonata No. 14, Op. 27, No. 2” as “Quasi una fantasia”, or “sonata in the manner of a fantasy” in English. Five years after Beethoven died, a music critic wrote that the (superb!) first movement of the piece had an effect like that of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne. Since then, the work has been known as the “Moonlight Sonata”.

48. 252 wine gallons : TUN

A “tun” is a barrel, often a large barrel used in winemaking. The term “tun” came to be a measure of volume, originally 252 gallons of wine. The weight of such a volume of wine was referred to as a “tun”, which evolved into our contemporary unit “ton”.

50. Divining rod : DOWSER

Dowsing is the practice of divining, not just for water but also for buried metals and gemstones. Often a dowser will use a Y-shaped or L-shaped rod as a tool, which can also be called a dowser. Here in the US, the tool used might be referred to as a “witching rod”, as it is usually made from witch-hazel.

53. Deep dish : TUREEN

A tureen is a deep dish used for serving soups and stews. This should not be confused with “terrine”, the name of a cooking dish made from glazed earthenware that has a tightly-fitting lid.

57. NRC forerunner : AEC

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was set up right after WWII in 1946, with the aim of promoting the peaceful use of atomic energy. Establishing the AEC was a significant move made by President Truman, as it passed control of atomic energy from the military to the civilian sector. The AEC continued to operate until 1974 when its functions were divided up into two new agencies: the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Energy Research and Development Administration (NRDA). The NRDA was merged with the Federal Energy Administration in 1977 to form the Department of Energy.

58. Food sticker : TINE

The points on a fork are known as tines.

66. Prefix with pressure : ACU-

Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints’ in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

67. Hack : CAB

Hackney is a location in London, and it probably gave it’s name to a “hackney”, an ordinary type of horse around 1300. By 1700 a “hackney” was a person hired to do routine work, and “hackneyed” meant “kept for hire”, and then “stale, uninteresting”. This morphed into a hackney carriage, a carriage or car for hire, and into “hack”, a slang term for a taxi driver or cab.