Day: February 26, 2019

Bill’s time: 4m 39s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1. Brewery in Golden, Colorado : COORS

Adolph Coors founded the Coors brewing company in 1873, in Golden, Colorado. Coors was originally from the Rhine Province in Prussia, and worked in various brewers around what is today Germany before immigrating to the US in 1868. Despite all of his success as a brewer here in America, Coors ended up taking his own life in 1929, by jumping to his death out of a hotel window.

The city of Golden, Colorado was founded as Golden City in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. A little surprisingly perhaps, the city wasn’t named for the precious metal and rather for prospector Thomas L. Golden.

14. Gelatin garnish : ASPIC

Aspic is a dish in which the main ingredients are served in a gelatin made from meat stock. “Aspic” is a French word meaning “jelly”.

15. French word of farewell : ADIEU

“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye, farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God”. The plural of “adieu” is “adieux”.

16. 24-hr. cash source : ATM

Automatic Teller Machine (ATM)

17. *Wonderland feline known for disappearing : CHESHIRE CAT

The Cheshire Cat is a character in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. The Cheshire Cat has an expansive grin, and at one point magically disappears in front of Alice, leaving just the grin visible.

Well! I’ve often seen a cat without a grin,’ thought Alice; `but a grin without a cat! It’s the most curious thing I ever saw in my life!

19. Nonstick spray brand : PAM

PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

20. “Hints from” columnist : HELOISE

Today we read the second generation of the “Hints from Heloise” advice column. The current author is Poncé Kiah Marchelle Heloise Cruse Evans (would you believe?). She took over the column when her mother passed away in 1977. The original column was started back in 1959 by Heloise Bowles. It first appeared in the “Honolulu Advertiser” under the name “Readers Exchange”.

23. Manhattan area to the right of Central Park, on maps : EAST SIDE

While there are many neighborhoods in New York City’s borough of Manhattan, there are some broader terms that are used to navigate one’s way around the island:

• Uptown: above 59th Street
• Midtown: between 59th Street and 14th Street (but sometimes 23rd Street or 34th Street)
• Downtown: below 14th Street

• Upper Manhattan: above 96th Street
• Lower Manhattan: below Chambers Street

• East Side: east of Fifth Avenue
• West Side: west of Fifth Avenue

The man most associated with the decision to develop Central Park in New York City was William Cullen Bryant, the editor of what today is the “New York Post”. He argued that the growing city needed a large, public open space, along the lines of Hyde Park in London and the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. Most of the park’s construction took place between 1860 and 1873. Much of the clearing work was accomplished using gunpowder, and it is often noted that more gunpowder was used in Central Park than in the Battle of Gettysburg.

25. __ a soul : NARY

The adjective “nary” means “not one”, as in “nary a soul”.

26. Corp. symbols : TMS

Trademark (TM)

34. “Designing Women” actress Delta : BURKE

The actress and comedienne Delta Burke is best known for playing Suzanne Sugarbaker in the sitcom “Designing Women”. Burke ending up leaving the cast in 1991 due to her poor relationship with the creators of the show.

38. Capone facial mark : SCAR

When Al Capone was a young man, he worked as a bouncer in nightclubs and saloons. He was working the door of a Brooklyn night spot one evening when he apparently insulted a woman, sparking off a fight with her brother. In the tussle, Capone’s face was slashed three times. Capone wasn’t too proud of the incident, nor the “Scarface” moniker that he was given as a result. He always hid the scars as best he could when being photographed, and was also fond of telling people that the scars were from old war wounds.

39. Prefix with dermis : EPI-

The epidermis is the outermost layer of the skin. The thickest piece of epidermal tissue in humans is on the soles of the feet and the palms, and measures about 1.5 mm. The thinnest measures 0.1 mm, and that would be the human eyelid.

42. Virus-transmitting insect : MOSQUITO

“Mosquito” is the Spanish for “little fly”. The female mosquito actually has to have a “blood meal” before she is able to lay her eggs. Mosquitoes are sometimes referred to as skeeters.

44. __ Francisco : SAN

The city of San Francisco was established in 1776, just a few days before the US declared independence from Britain on the other side of the continent. San Francisco was founded by Spanish colonists who set up a fort at the Golden Gate and a nearby mission named for St. Francis of Assisi.

54. Title savant in a 1988 Oscar-winning film : RAIN MAN

“Rain Man” is an entertaining and thought-provoking film released in 1988 starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. It’s all about a self-possessed yuppie (Cruise, appropriate casting!) who discovers he has a brother who is an autistic savant (Hoffman). Hoffman won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance, and “Rain Man” won the Best Picture award.

56. *Da Vinci’s “La Gioconda,” to some English speakers : THE MONA LISA

Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece that we know in English as the “Mona Lisa” is called “La Gioconda” in Italian, the language of the artist. It’s also known as “La Joconde” by the Government of France which owns the painting and displays it in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The title comes from the name of the subject, almost certainly Lisa Gherardini, wife of Francesco del Giocondo. Giocondo was a wealthy silk merchant in Florence who commissioned the painting for the couple’s new home to celebrate the birth of their second son.

59. Dog-__: folded at the corner : 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 looks like the ear of a dog …

63. Gothenburg native : SWEDE

Gothenburg is Sweden’s second-largest city, and is located on the west coast of the country. It was founded in 1621, primarily as a port for trading with the Dutch. Today, the Port of Gothenburg is the largest port in the nordic countries.

Down

1. Secret stash : 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”.

2. “Straight Outta Compton” actor __ Jackson Jr. : O’SHEA

Rapper Ice Cube’s real name is O’Shea Jackson Sr. Since the year 2000, Ice Cube has gradually moved away from rap music and focuses more on acting. The 2015 movie “Straight Outta Compton” tells the story of the gangsta rap group N.W.A., of which Ice Cube was a member. Ice Cube co-produced the film, and O’Shea Jackson Jr. played his real-life Dad on screen.

3. Some German cars : OPELS

Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.

4. Italian rice dishes : RISOTTOS

Risotto is an Italian rice dish that is usually served as a first course in Italy, but as a main course here in North America.

5. Religious rifts : SCHISMS

A schism is a split or a division, especially in a religion.

7. Neruda wrote one to common things : ODE

“Pablo Neruda” was the pen name, and eventually the legal name, used by Chilean writer Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. Basoalto chose the name as a homage to Czech poet Jan Neruda.

8. Layered mineral : MICA

Mica is a silicate mineral. Thin sheets of mica are transparent and are used in place of glass in certain applications. This form of mica is called isinglass, and as it has a better thermal performance than glass it is a great choice for “peepholes’ in boilers and lanterns. Mica is also used in the electronics industry, making use of its unique electrical and thermal insulating properties.

9. ’50s-’60s nonconformists : BEATNIKS

The term “beatnik” was coined by journalist Herb Caen in 1958 when he used it to describe the stereotypical young person of the beat generation that was oft associated with the writer Jack Kerouac.

12. Great Salt Lake state : UTAH

The Great Salt Lake in Utah is extremely shallow, and so the area of the lake fluctuates greatly with the changing volume of water. Back in 1963 the lake shrunk to 950 square miles, whereas in 1988 the area was measured at a whopping 3,300 square miles.

13. TV award : EMMY

The Emmy Awards are the television equivalent of the Oscars from the world of film, the Grammy Awards in music and the Tony Awards for the stage. Emmy Awards are presented throughout the year, depending on the sector of television being honored. The most famous of these ceremonies are the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Daytime Emmy Awards. The distinctive name of “Emmy” is a softened version of the word “immy”, the nickname given to the video camera tubes found in old television cameras.

18. Egyptian fertility goddess : ISIS

Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children. She was the personification of the pharaoh’s power. The name “Isis” translates as “throne”, and she is usually depicted with a headdress shaped like a throne.

22. “Mork & Mindy” planet : ORK

The sitcom “Mork & Mindy” was broadcast from 1978 to 1982. We were first introduced to Mork (played by Robin Williams) in a special episode of “Happy Days”. The particular episode in question has a bizarre storyline culminating in Fonzie and Mork having a thumb-to-finger duel. Eventually Richie wakes up in bed, and alien Mork was just part of a dream! Oh, and “Nanu Nanu” means both “hello” and “goodbye” back on the planet Ork. “I am Mork from Ork, Nanu Nanu”. Great stuff …

24. Largest ring of latitude : EQUATOR

Lines of latitude are the imaginary horizontal lines surrounding the planet. The most “important” lines of latitude are, from north to south:

• Arctic Circle
• Tropic of Cancer
• Equator
• Tropic of Capricorn
• Antarctic Circle

29. Start of Popeye’s existential maxim : I YAM

“I yam what I yam …” are words oft spoken by Popeye.

The philosophy of existentialism basically posits that the individual is responsible for his or her life. One cannot look to a higher being, accident of birth, or any other outside influence to define the meaning of one’s life.

30. Gen-__: post-boomers : XERS

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

A baby boomer is someone who was born in the post-WWII baby boom. The rate of births had been falling fairly steadily in the US at least since 1900, but this trend was sharply reversed in 1946 after WWII. The higher birth rate continued until 1964, when it returned to pre-war levels. Since then the birth rate has continued to decline, although at a slower pace. The period between 1946 and 1964 is often defined as the “baby boom”.

32. Auctioned auto, perhaps : REPO

Repossession (repo)

33. *Celtic peepers of song : IRISH EYES

“When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” is an American song of tribute to Ireland that dates back to 1912. The lyrics were written by Chauncey Olcott and George Graff, Jr., and the tune was composed by Ernest Ball.

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sure ’tis like a morn in spring.
In the lilt of Irish laughter, you can hear the angels sing.
When Irish hearts are happy, all the world seems bright and gay,
And When Irish Eyes Are Smiling, sure, they steal your heart away.

34. Champagne choice : BRUT

Sparkling wines can be classified according to sweetness. These classifications are, from driest to sweetest:

• Brut Nature
• Extra Brut
• Brut
• Extra Dry
• Dry
• Semi-Dry
• Sweet

40. Oversees, as a gallery collection : CURATES

The term “curator” is Latin and applies to a manager, guardian or overseer. In English, the original curators were the guardians and overseers of minors and those with mental disease.

41. Social outcasts : PARIAHS

“Pariah” is an anglicized version of the Tamil word “Paraiyar”. The Paraiyar are a social group of about 9 million people found in some Indian states and in Sri Lanka. The term “pariah” came to be a general term for members of the lowest caste in society, outcasts.

43. “__ Sera, Sera” : QUE

As Doris Day told us, “que será, será” is Spanish for “whatever will be, will be”. Actually, the phrase is “pseudo-Spanish”, and isn’t grammatically correct.

57. Country singer Tillis : MEL

Mel Tillis is a country singer who had most of his hits in the seventies. Notably, Tillis has a speech impediment, but this does not affect his singing at all.