Day: July 30, 2023

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Constructed by: Desirée Penner & Jeff Sinnock
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: Double Plays

Themed answers are each two song titles, by the same artist(s), placed side-by-side:

• 23A “Time to blaze a trail in frozen desserts, Ms. Lee” : GO YOUR OWN WAY, SARA
• 37A “You’ll never make it big in the toy industry, Holly Hobbie!” : DREAM ON, RAG DOLL!
• 50A “Stop tormenting the mail carrier, you mangy mutt!” : DON’T BE CRUEL, HOUND DOG!
• 73A “Whoa there, cowboy!” : TAKE IT EASY, DESPERADO!
• 88A “Stop futzing with that, Mr. Law” : HEY, JUDE. LET IT BE
• 106A “Get off the court, Ms. King!” : BEAT IT, BILLIE JEAN!

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 17m 00s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Buddhist monks : LAMAS

“Lama” is a Tibetan word meaning “chief, high priest”.

The Buddhist tradition has two major branches. The Theravada is “the School of the Elders”, and the Mahayana is “the Great Vehicle”. The Theravada is the older of the two schools, whereas the Mahayana split from the Theravada around the 1st century CE.

10 NPR host __ Simon : SCOTT

Scott Simon is a broadcast journalist who started hosting NPR’s “Weekend Edition Saturday” way back in 1985. He joined NPR as Chicago bureau chief in 1977.

20 Female kangaroos : DOES

A male kangaroo is known as a buck, jack or boomer. A female is called a jill, flyer or doe. A young kangaroo is a joey, and a group of kangaroos is a mob or troop.

22 Garden digger : MOLE

One of the more commonly known facts about my native Ireland is that there are no snakes in the country (outside of politics, that is). A lesser known fact is that there are no moles either. There are plenty of snakes and moles in Britain, just a few miles away. Over a pint, we tend to give the credit to Saint Patrick, but the last ice age is more likely the responsible party …

23 “Time to blaze a trail in frozen desserts, Ms. Lee” : GO YOUR OWN WAY, SARA

The marvelous 1976 song “Go Your Own Way” was the first top-ten hit that Fleetwood Mac had in the US. It was composed and sung by lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, with the lyrics referring to his breakup with bandmate Stevie Nicks.

“Sara” is a lovely song written by Stevie Nicks and released by Fleetwood Mac on the 1979 album “Tusk”. Nicks tells us that if she’d ever had a daughter of her own, she would have named her Sara. But, Nicks also tells us that she consciously chose not to have children of her own, due to her demanding career.

In 1935, businessman Charles Lubin bought a chain of three bakeries in Chicago called Community Bake Shops, and soon expanded the operation into seven stores. Lubin introduced a cream cheesecake that he named after his daughter who was only 8-years-old at the time, Sara Lee Lubin. The cheesecake was a hit and he renamed the bakeries to Kitchen of Sara Lee. The business was bought out by Consolidated Foods in 1956, but the brand name Sara Lee persists to this day, as does Ms. Sara Lee herself who now goes by the name Sara Lee Schupf.

26 Frigate front : PROW

Back in the 1600s, a frigate was a warship designed for maximum maneuverability and speed. In today’s parlance, the term describes a warship assigned to the protection of other warships and merchant vessels, with an emphasis on anti-submarine warfare.

28 Nnedi Okorafor genre : SCI-FI

Nnedi Okorafor is a Nigerian-American author known for her works in the sci-fi and fantasy genres. Among her best known works is the “Binti Trilogy”, a series of novellas and a short story about a young woman who leaves Earth to attend a university in space.

29 Tosses, slangily : YEETS

In contemporary slang, to yeet is to throw away, discard. “To yeet” usually implies the use of force and a general disregard for what is being discarded. As in, “I really want to yeet the word ‘yeet’ …”

30 Gibson ingredient : GIN

A Gibson is simply a regular martini (gin and vermouth) with the traditional olive garnish replaced with a pickled onion.

33 Like fancy caramel : SALTED

The confectionery product known as caramel is made by heating sugar. The process of caramelization requires slow heating of the sugar to about 170 °C. The heating causes the sugar molecules to break down and convert into the compounds that provide the characteristic color and flavor of caramel.

37 “You’ll never make it big in the toy industry, Holly Hobbie!” : DREAM ON, RAG DOLL!

“Dream On” is a 1973 song released by hard rock band Aerosmith, and written by lead singer Steven Tyler. It was to be the band’s first major hit.

“Rag Doll” is a 1988 song released by Aerosmith. Prior to release as a single, “Rag Doll” featured as a track on the bands 1987 album “Permanent Vacation”.

Holly Hobbie is a fictional character shown in a series of illustrations produced by contract artist Denise Holly Hobbie for American Greetings. Originally known simply as “blue girl”, the character was later given the name “Holly Hobbie”. In 1975, Knickerbocker Toys started producing rag doll versions of Holly Hobbie under license.

45 __ flottante: French dessert : ILE

Île Flottante (“floating island”) is a scrumptious dessert from French cuisine comprising a soft meringue “floating” like an “island” in a lake of crème anglaise (vanilla custard).

46 Brazilian berry : ACAI

Açaí (pronounced “ass-aye-ee”) is a palm tree native to Central and South America. The fruit has become very popular in recent years and its juice is a very fashionable addition to juice mixes and smoothies.

47 Bank claim : LIEN

A lien is a right that one has to retain or secure someone’s property until a debt is paid. When an individual takes out a car loan, for example, the lending bank is usually a lien holder. The bank releases the lien on the car when the loan is paid in full.

48 __Clean: laundry brand : OXI

OxiClean is a bleaching agent and cleaner that was famously marketed using infomercials that featured the late Billy Mays.

49 Hiccup : SNAG

Hiccups is a series of forced intakes of breath, the result of spasms in the muscles of the chest and throat. The most common cause of hiccups is some sort of irritation to the stomach or esophagus, usually taking place while eating. Apparently, we don’t really understand the reason why we hiccup, but a favored suggestion is that it may be something that we inherited from our ancestors of long ago who didn’t stand up quite as straight as we do. Gravity helps us swallow our food, but animals who walk on all fours don’t have that advantage as the food moves horizontally down the throat and into the stomach. Such beasts are in greater need of an involuntary hiccup should some food get stuck. Just a theory …

50 “Stop tormenting the mail carrier, you mangy mutt!” : DON’T BE CRUEL, HOUND DOG!

Mange is a skin disorder in animals caused by parasitic mites that embed themselves in the skin, perhaps living in hair follicles. The same disorder in humans is called scabies. We use the adjective “mangy” to describe an animal suffering from mange, but also anything that is seedy or shabby.

“Don’t Be Cruel” was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956. “Don’t Be Cruel” was released as an A-side, but the B-side turned out to be more successful; a tune called “Hound Dog” …

The Elvis Presley classic “Hound Dog” was a big hit, but his wasn’t the first version of the song to make it to number one in the charts. Presley released “Hound Dog” in 1956, but Big Mama Thornton had brought the song to the top spot back in 1953.

57 “Paradise Lost” figure : EVE

“Paradise Lost” is an epic poem written by Englishman John Milton. It is indeed an epic work, published originally in ten volumes with over ten thousand lines of verse. The “paradise” that is “lost” is the Garden of Eden, from which Adam and Eve were expelled by God in the “Fall of Man”.

58 Croupier’s tool : RAKE

A croupier is someone who conducts a game at a gambling table. In the world of gaming, the original croupier was someone who stood behind a gambler, holding reserves of cash for the person in a game. Before that, “croupier” was someone who rode behind the main rider on a horse. “Croup” was a Germanic word for “rump”. So, a croupier used to be a “second”, as it were.

60 Bouncy Milne character : ROO

Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”, the kangaroo named “Roo” was inspired by a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.

63 Former name on a Chicago skyscraper : SEARS

Sears made a big splash in the world’s newspapers in 1974 when it completed its new headquarters in Chicago, the Sears Tower. At 110 stories, it was the tallest building in the world, and remained so until the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur were completed in 1996. Sears moved out of the building in 1993, but had the rights to the name on the building until early 2009. Since that time, the building has been called the Willis Tower, after the new owners.

68 Geologist’s unit : EON

Geologic time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

• supereon
• eon (also “aeon”)
• era
• period
• epoch
• age

70 Arts town east of Georgia O’Keeffe’s Ghost Ranch : TAOS

The town of Taos, New Mexico is named for the Native American village nearby called Taos Pueblo. Taos is famous for its art colony. Artists began settling in Taos in 1899, and the Taos Society of Artists was founded in 1915.

Georgia O’Keeffe was an influential American artist, one who led the introduction of American art into Europe. Famously, she was married to photographer Alfred Stieglitz who helped develop her career in the early days. Georgia O’Keeffe’s last home was in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she had done a lot of her work during her lifetime. She died there in 1986, at the ripe old age of 98. One of her most famous paintings is from 1926, called “Black Iris III”.

Ghost Ranch is a 21,000-acre property in north central New Mexico that served as Georgia O’Keefe’s home and studio from 1945 until 1984. The ranch now serves as a retreat and education center.

72 High court action? : LOB

That might be a tennis court.

73 “Whoa there, cowboy!” : TAKE IT EASY, DESPERADO!

“Take It Easy” is a 1972 song released by the rock band Eagles. It was the group’s debut single, and was written by band member Glenn Frey with Jackson Browne. Two famous lines in the song are “Well, I’m a-standing on a corner / In Winslow, Arizona”. If you go to Winslow, Arizona today, you can visit Standin’ on the Corner Park and see a bronze of a male figure, the “Take It Easy” statue.

“Desperado” is a 1973 soft-rock song recorded by the Eagles, and written by band members Glenn Frey and Don Henley. Linda Ronstadt recorded a popular cover version of “Desperado” that same year.

80 Roadie’s burdens : AMPS

A “roadie” is someone who loads, unloads and sets up equipment for musicians on tour, on the “road”.

81 Moriarty of “The Boys” : ERIN

Erin Moriarty is an actress from New York City whose big break came when she landed the role of Starlight (aka AnnieJanuary) in the superhero TV series “The Boys”.

82 Ballpark fig.? : ERA

Earned run average (ERA)

88 “Stop futzing with that, Mr. Law” : HEY, JUDE. LET IT BE

To futz around is to waste time on trivial matters, to fool around. “Futz” is probably derived from a “not-so-nice” word that has been merged with “putz”.

Jude Law is a wonderful English actor, and a big name in Hollywood these days. He makes a great romantic lead, witness his performance in 2006’s “The Holiday” in which he starred opposite Cameron Diaz. He and Diaz were nominated by MTV for the best onscreen kiss that year!

“Hey Jude” was originally a song titled “Hey Jules” written by Paul McCartney. He wrote the original song for John Lennon’s son Julian, in an attempt to comfort the boy during his parents’ divorce. There’s a phenomenal coda in “Hey Jude” after the fourth verse that lasts for over four minutes.

1970’s “Let It Be” was the last album that the Beatles released as an active group playing together. The title song was written by Paul McCartney, and it is clearly one of his own favorites. McCartney says that he was inspired to write the song after having had a dream about his mother (who had died some years earlier from cancer). In fact, he refers to her (Mary McCartney) in the line “Mother Mary comes to me”. Paul’s first wife, Linda, is singing backing vocals on the song, the only time she is known to have done so in a Beatles recording. 28 years after that 1970 recording was made, Paul, George and Ringo sang “Let It Be” at a memorial service for Linda, who was also lost to cancer. Sad stuff, but a lovely song …

96 Sings like Ella : SCATS

Ella Fitzgerald, the “First Lady of Song”, made her real stage debut at the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Amatuer Night when she was just 17 years old. She had intended to perform a dance routine, but decided to sing instead after seeing a superior dance act. She won the Amatuer Night competition.

97 Nickname of the NBA star whose #3 was retired by the Heat : D-WADE

Dwyane Wade is a basketball player who started his NBA career with the Miami Heat in 2003. “D-Wade” was chosen as the “Sports Illustrated” Sportsman of the Year in 2006.

105 Pans with high sides : WOKS

“Wok” is a Cantonese word, and is the name for the frying pan now used in many Asian cuisines.

106 “Get off the court, Ms. King!” : BEAT IT, BILLIE JEAN!

Billie Jean King is a retired professional tennis player and former world No. 1. She won more Wimbledon titles (20, across singles, doubles and mixed doubles) than any other player in history. In addition to her success on the court, King was a pioneer for gender equality in sports. In 1973, she defeated Bobby Riggs in the celebrated “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, which helped to raise awareness of the issue of equal pay for women athletes. King also founded the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and served as its first president.

“Beat It” is a 1982 song by Michael Jackson that appeared on the “Thriller” studio album. Famously, the 4-minute song includes a 30-second guitar solo that Eddie Van Halen recorded as a favor to Jackson.

“Billie Jean” is a 1983 song written and recorded by Michael Jackson. Here are some of the lyrics:

Billie Jean is not my lover
She’s just a girl who claims that I am the one
But the kid is not my son

Apparently, Jackson was inspired to write the song after receiving disturbing letters from a woman who claimed he was the father of one of her twins.

108 “Bonne __!” : IDEE

“Bonne idée” is French for “good idea”.

109 Run the show : EMCEE

The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an initialism used for a Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

110 Apogee : ACME

In the celestial world, an apsis is a point in an orbit when the orbiting body is at its greatest, or least, distance from its center of orbit. The farthest and closest points of orbit are known as the apogee and perigee, when talking about bodies orbiting the Earth. The farthest and closest points for bodies orbiting the sun are known as the aphelion and perihelion.

111 __ Domingo : SANTO

Santo Domingo de Guzmán (often just “Santo Domingo”) is the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Christopher Columbus was the first European to visit what is now the Dominican Republic, in 1492. Four years later Christopher’s younger brother, Bartholomew Columbus arrived, and founded Santo Domingo, making the city the oldest, continuously-inhabited European settlement in the Americas.

112 Knight-time story : GEST

Our word “gest”, meaning “great deed or exploit”, has been around since about 1300 and comes from the Old French word “geste” meaning the same thing. These days, “geste” can also mean “gesture”.

114 Honey brew : MEAD

Mead is a lovely drink that’s made from fermented honey and water.

115 Arborist’s charges : TREES

Tree surgeons are also known as arborists. Such professionals focus on the health of individual trees, whereas foresters manage whole forests.

Down

3 Poet Angelou : MAYA

Maya Angelou was an African-American author and poet. Angelou recited her poem “On the Pulse of Morning” at the inauguration of President Clinton in 1983. Here are some words of wisdom from the great lady:

I work very hard, and I play very hard. I’m grateful for life. And I live it – I believe life loves the liver of it. I live it.

4 “East of Eden” brother : ARON

John Steinbeck considered his 1952 novel “East of Eden” to be his magnum opus. Most of the storyline takes place near Salinas, just south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Two of the characters in the story are brothers Cal and Aron Trask, representative of the biblical Cain and Abel.

5 Performs a Native American cleansing ritual : SMUDGES

The burning of sage is known as “smudging”. It is a ritual that originated with many Native-American peoples, although similar practices are found around the world in other cultures. The most common type of sage used in smudge sticks (sage bundles) is white sage, Salvia apiana.

7 Ann of “The Leftovers” : DOWD

Actress Ann Dowd is perhaps best known to television audiences for portraying Patricia “Patti” Levin in the supernatural drama series “The Leftovers”, and Aunt Lydia Clements in the dystopian series “The Handmaid’s Tale”.

11 House of cards? : CASINO

The term “casino” originated in the 1700s, then describing a public room for music or dancing. “Casino” is a diminutive of “casa” meaning “house”.

12 Snowman who says, “Some people are worth melting for” : OLAF

In the 2013 animated film “Frozen”, Olaf is a happy-go-lucky snowman who provides a lot of comic relief in the movie. He is voiced by actor and comedian Josh Gad.

13 “The Fosters” actress Polo : TERI

Teri Polo’s most prominent role on the big screen was Pam Focker in “Meet the Fockers” and its sequels. Pam is the wife of the character played by Ben Stiller. Polo also played the wife of Presidential candidate Matt Santos in “The West Wing”.

“The Fosters” is a teen drama TV show about a lesbian couple raising a blended family of biological, adopted and foster children. Originally airing from 2013 to 2018, Jennifer Lopez was involved in the show as an executive producer.

14 Org. that checks bags after check-in : TSA

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is the agency that employs the good folks who check passengers and baggage at airports.

17 Small armada : FLOTILLA

A flotilla is a formation of smaller warships, one that might be part of a larger fleet. The term “flotilla” is Spanish, and is the diminutive of “flota” meaning “fleet”, which in turn comes from “flotar” meaning “to float”.

18 Conifers with bright red berries : YEWS

The family of trees and shrubs known as yews propagate by producing a seed surrounded by soft, sweet and brightly colored aril. Birds eat the fruit and then disperse the seed in their droppings. The birds leave the seed undamaged, and so are unharmed by the potent poisons taxane and taxol that are found within the seed. The seeds are highly toxic to humans.

24 “Kills bugs dead” brand : RAID

Raid insecticide has been killing bugs since 1956.

25 Lion of Narnia : ASLAN

In the C. S. Lewis series of books known as “The Chronicles of Narnia”, Aslan is the name of the lion character (as in the title “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). “Aslan” is actually the Turkish word for lion. Anyone who has read the books will recognize the remarkable similarity between the story of Aslan and the story of Christ, including a sacrifice and resurrection.

29 Car on many “worst cars of all time” lists : YUGO

The Yugo is a notoriously unreliable subcompact car that was built by the Zastava corporation of Yugoslavia.

31 Canadian prov. : PEI

Prince Edward Island (PEI) is a maritime Canadian province. The island at the center of the province was named for Prince Edward, the fourth son of King George III and the father of Queen Victoria. PEI is the smallest Canadian province, both in terms of land area and population.

32 Word repeated in “Star Wars” introductions : FAR

Every “Star Wars” film starts out with an opening crawl announcing “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”

33 Trick-taking game : SPADES

Spades is a card game in the whist family. As such, the aim is to win as many tricks as possible, while dealing with one suit that is “trumps”. In the game of spades, the spade suit is always trump.

36 Flibbertigibbet : TWIT

A flibbertigibbet is a silly, scatterbrained person. Back in the 16th century, a flibbertigibbet was a gossip or a flighty woman.

37 Name on much farm equipment : DEERE

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

38 Lens care brand : RENU

“ReNu” is a brand name of contact lens products sold by Bausch & Lomb.

39 Meeting point : NEXUS

A nexus is a means of connection, or a center where many connections come together. “Nexus” is a Latin word meaning “that which ties or binds together”. The Latin “nexus” is the past participle of the verb “nectere” meaning “to bind”.

41 Limb lifted in a développé : LEG

In ballet, a temps développé (or simply just “développé”) is an unfolding into the air of the free leg, the leg that is not supporting the dancer.

47 Romance novelist Banks : LEANNE

Leanne Banks is a bestselling author of over 60 romance novels. She began writing when her two children were very young, and apparently hasn’t stopped since …

48 Klutz’s cry : OOPS!

A klutz is an awkward individual, with the term “klutz” coming from Yiddish. The Yiddish word for a clumsy person is “klots”.

52 Justice Kagan : ELENA

Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States from 2009 until 2010, when she replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the first female US Solicitor General and the fourth female US Supreme Court justice. Kagan also served as the first female dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009.

54 Carousel mount, to a tot : HORSY

The merry-go-round amusement park ride can be a little confusing as one travels the world. In North America, we tend to use the term “carousel” for the ride, whereas it’s a “roundabout” in Britain and Ireland, and a “hurdy-gurdy” in Australia. Yet another difference is the direction of rotation. Carousels typically rotate counterclockwise in North America, and roundabouts rotate clockwise in Britain and Ireland.

62 Spam or ham : MEAT

Spam is a precooked meat product that is sold in cans. It was introduced by Hormel Foods in 1937. The main meat ingredients are pork shoulder meat and ham. The name “Spam” was chosen as the result of a competition at Hormel, with the winner earning himself a hundred dollars. According to the company, the derivation of the name “Spam” is a secret known by only a few former executives, but the speculation is that it stands for “spiced ham” or “shoulders of pork and ham”. Spam is particularly popular in Hawaii, so popular that it is sometimes referred to as “the Hawaiian steak”.

65 Bell-bottoms features : FLARES

Bell-bottom pants have legs that flare out from the knees downwards. It is common knowledge that bell-bottoms originated as a style worn by sailors. They were standard uniform wear in the British Royal Navy starting in the mid-19th century. American sailors, however, were wearing bell-bottoms in the very early 1800s. The wide pant leg allows bell-bottoms to double as a life-saving device. Sailors are trained to remove the pants (without the need to remove shoes), tie a knot in the end of each leg, and then inflate the pants with air so that they can be used to aid flotation.

66 First aid tincture : IODINE

Tincture of iodine is a disinfectant. A “tincture” is a substance used in dyeing. Since the 1600s, “tincture” has also been used for a solution of medicine in an alcohol mixture.

67 Some low-risk investments, briefly : T-BONDS

A Treasury note (T-note) is a government debt that matures in 1-10 years. A T-note has a coupon (interest) payment made every six months. The T-note is purchased at a discount to face value, and at the date of maturity can be redeemed at that face value. A Treasury bill (T-bill) is a similar financial vehicle, but it matures in one year or less, and a T-bond matures in 20-30 years.

70 Home of Sun Devil Stadium : TEMPE

Arizona State University (ASU) has a long history, and was founded as the Tempe Normal School for the Arizona Territory in 1885. The athletic teams of ASU used to be known as the Normals, then the Bulldogs, and since 1946 they’ve been called the Sun Devils.

71 Egyptian snakes : ASPS

The venomous snake called an asp was a symbol of royalty in ancient Egypt.

75 Apply crudely : DAUB

“To daub” is to coat a surface with something thick and sticky, like say plaster or mud.

78 213 or 323 for Los Angeles, e.g. : AREA CODE

Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then, the “clicks” one heard when dialing a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 313.

89 Frequent fliers : JET SET

The jet set comprises wealthy individuals who frequent the fashionable resorts around the world. The term “jet set” was coined in 1951, and actually predated (slightly) the introduction of jet planes for commuter flights.

92 Comedian Love : LONI

Loni Love is a comedian and TV personality from Detroit. She was the runner-up in 2003 on the relaunched “Star Search” show. In 2013, Love became one of the hosts of the daytime talk show “The Real”.

98 Texas city where Dr Pepper was invented : WACO

Dr Pepper was introduced in 1885 in Waco, Texas, one year before the competing Coca-Cola was released to the market. I spent an entertaining few hours at the Dr Pepper Museum in Waco a few years ago. And, note the lack of a period after “Dr”.

99 Bibimbap base : RICE

The name of the Korean dish bibimbap translates literally as “mixed rice”, with “bibim” meaning “mixed ingredients” and “bap” meaning “rice”. Generally, the dish comes as a bowl of white rice topped with sautéed vegetables flavored with chili pepper paste. Variants often include a fried egg and sliced beef.

100 __ mater : ALMA

The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. The phrase was used in ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

102 Hawaiian honker : NENE

The nene is a bird that is native to Hawaii, and is also known as the Hawaiian goose. The name “nene” is an imitation of its call. When Captain Cook landed on the islands in 1778, there were 25,000 nene living there. By 1950, the number was reduced by hunting to just 30 birds. Conservation efforts in recent years have been somewhat successful. The nene was named State Bird of Hawaii in 1957.

103 Oscar winner Blanchett : CATE

Cate Blanchett is a great actress from Australia, and a winner of an Academy Award for playing Katharine Hepburn in “The Aviator”. Winning for that role made Blanchett the first person to win an Academy Award for playing an actor (Hepburn) who had also won an Oscar. Now that is trivial information …

104 Actress Mireille : ENOS

Mireille Enos is an actress from Kansas City. She is perhaps best known for her TV work, playing Sarah Linden on “The Killing” and for playing twins Kathy and JoDean Marquart on “Big Love”. Enos is married to actor Alan Ruck, who I mainly remember playing Cameron Frye in the great movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”.