Day: January 20, 2024

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Constructed by: Amie Walker
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 11m 18s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 “Designing Women” co-star : POTTS

Annie Potts is an actress from Nashville, Tennessee. She had roles in successful films such as “Ghostbusters” and “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” and did voice work for “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2”. Potts was lucky to survive a car crash when she was 21 years old, as she broke nearly every bone in her lower body.

6 Constellation critter : URSA

The constellation Ursa Major (Latin for “Larger Bear”) is often just called “the Big Dipper” because of its resemblance to a ladle or dipper. Ursa Major also resembles a plow, and that’s what we usually call the same constellation back in Ireland, “the Plough”.

Ursa Minor (Latin for “Smaller Bear”) sits right beside the constellation Draco (Latin for “Dragon”). Ursa Minor used to be considered the wing of Draco, and was once called “Dragon’s Wing”. The tail of the “Smaller Bear” might also be considered as the handle of a ladle, and so the constellation is often referred to as the Little Dipper.

10 “Might as well” hashtag : YOLO

You only live once (YOLO)

17 Botanical opening : STOMA

Stomata (the usual plural of “stoma”, and not “stomas”) are pores found under almost every leaf, clearly visible under a simple microscope. The stomata take in air rich in carbon dioxide. Through the process of photosynthesis, the plants generate oxygen, which is released back into the air though the same stomata.

18 Auto-graph? : CAR SELFIE

Not a good idea … well, not while driving.

19 Salmorejo base : TOMATO

Salmorejo (sometimes “ardoria/ardorio”) is a soup from Andalusia in southern Spain that is served cold. The primary ingredients are tomato, bread, olive oil and garlic.

22 German conjunction : UND

The conjunction “and” translates into German as “und”.

23 “Encanto” uncle : BRUNO

“Encanto” is a 2021 animated Disney film. It is about a Colombian family, named the Madrigals, who have magical powers that provide assistance to the people in their community (Encanto).

“We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is a song by Lin-Manuel Miranda written for the 2021 Disney film “Encanto”. The song became a viral sensation, and topped the US charts for several weeks.

25 Some peaceful protests : LIE-INS

A die-in (also “lie-in”) is a protest in which those demonstrating lie on the ground and pretend to be dead. One of the more famous die-ins was held in Washington D.C. in 2007 to protest the Iraq War. There were several thousand protesters, almost two hundred of whom were arrested, including ten veterans of the Iraq War.

30 Salt component : ION

Sodium chloride (NaCl, common salt) is an ionic compound. It comprises a crystal lattice made up of large chloride (Cl^–) ions in a cubic structure, with smaller sodium (Na⁺) ions in between the chlorides.

38 Ayesha Rascoe’s network : NPR

Journalist Ayesha Rascoe covered the White House for NPR starting in 2017, after joining the network from Reuters. She began hosting NPR’s “Weekend Edition Sunday” in 2022.

40 Informal get-together : SESH

Session (abbreviated to “sess.” formally, and “sesh” informally)

41 Pool units : GENES

The set of all genes in a particular population is known as the “gene pool”, a term coined in Russian by geneticist Aleksandr Sergeevich Serebrovskii in the 1920s. In general, the larger the gene pool, the more diverse and robust the population.

43 Langston Hughes Library designer : LIN

Maya Lin is a Chinese-American artist and architect from Athens, Ohio. Her most famous work is the moving Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lin was only 21-years-old when she won a public design competition in 1981 to create the memorial. Although her design is very fitting, sadly Lin was not a popular choice for the work given her Asian heritage. As she said herself, she probably would not have been picked had the competition been judged with the knowledge of who was behind each submission.

The Langston Hughes Library is a private library located on the Haley Farm in Clinton, Tennessee. The Haley farm was owned by Alex Haley, author of the 1976 novel “Roots: The Saga of an American Family”. The library contains a collection of books focused on the African-American experience. Designed by architect Maya Lin, the building is a very interesting “top-heavy” rustic affair.

48 Tears it up on the slopes : SHREDS

“Shredding the Gnar” is a slang phrase used by snowboarders. The term doesn’t seem to have a precise definition, but “shredding” seems to translate simply as “snowboarding”, as best I can tell. As for the “Gnar”, I have no idea …

51 Cable abbr. : SHO

Showtime (SHO) is a competitor of The Movie Channel (TMC) in terms of program lineup, although both channels are in fact owned by CBS.

62 Cliffside town west of Málaga : RONDA

Ronda is a city in southern Spain, in Andalusia. It is home to the “Plaza de toros de Ronda”, the oldest bullfighting ring in the country. Americans Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles were part-time residents of Ronda, living in the city’s old-town neighborhood. Both wrote about Ronda’s bullfighting tradition.

Málaga is the capital city of the autonomous community of Andalusia in Spain. Located on the Mediterranean coast, it is considered the southernmost large city in Europe, and lies about 80 miles north of Africa. Included in the list of notable people born in Málaga are artist Pablo Picasso, and Hollywood actor Antonio Banderas. I spent a very pleasant week in Malaga’s old-town in 2022 …

Down

2 Inflatable pilot in “Airplane!” : OTTO

The 1980 movie “Airplane!” has to be one of the zaniest comedies ever made. The lead roles were Ted Striker (played by Robert Hays) and Elaine Dickinson (played by Julie Hagerty). But it was Leslie Nielsen who stole the show, playing Dr. Barry Rumack. That’s my own humble opinion of course …

3 Ska instruments : TROMBONES

The brass instrument known as a trombone takes its name from the trumpet. The Italian for trumpet is “tromba”, and the suffix “-one” means “big”. So, “trombone” means “big trumpet”.

4 Wheat-free soy sauce : TAMARI

Tamari is a variety of soy sauce that is made without wheat, and so is often used by those on a gluten-free diet.

5 Flippers? : SPATULAS

A spatula is a tool or implement used for mixing, lifting or spreading. “Spatula” is the Latin name for the tool, and is a diminutive of the word “spatha” meaning “broad, flat blade”. “Spatha” also gives rise to our related term “spade”.

6 Women of Troy’s sch. : USC

The athletic teams of the University of Southern California are called the USC Trojans. The women’s teams are also called the Trojans, but are sometimes referred to as Women of Troy.

7 Rihanna’s “As __ as You and Me” : REAL

Rihanna performs the song “As Real as You and Me” on the soundtrack of the 2015 animated feature “Home”. She also plays a lead role in the films as a voice actor, alongside Jim Parsons.

8 Time out in the park? : STROLLER NAP

The baby carriages that we know as “strollers” over here in North America are more usually referred to as “pushchairs” or “buggies” in Britain and Ireland.

9 Barbie owner? : AUSSIE

“Barbie” is a nickname for “barbecue”, especially in Australia. Let’s throw shrimp on the barbie!

10 Fashion house co-founded by Pierre Bergé : YSL

French industrialist Pierre Bergé became romantically involved with designer Yves Saint Laurent in the late 1950s. As a couple, they launched the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house in 1961. Bergé and Saint Laurent split up in the mid-1970s, but remained business partners.

12 Cuts for Canadian-style bacon : LOINS

What we tend to call “Canadian bacon” in the US, we know as “rashers” in Ireland. One of my uncles worked in the meat trade in Dublin, and his nickname was “Rasher”.

13 News stand? : OP-ED

“Op-ed” is an abbreviation for “opposite the editorial page”. Op-eds started in “The New York Evening World” in 1921 when the page opposite the editorials was used for articles written by a named guest writer, someone independent of the editorial board.

16 Filmmaker Jackson : PETER

New Zealand director Peter Jackson is perhaps best known for writing, producing and directing the “Lord of the Rings” and the “Hobbit” trilogy of movies. I’m not a Tolkien fan, and so my favorite of Jackson’s works is the magnificent 2021 documentary “The Beatles: Get Back”.

20 Donor type, briefly : O-NEG

In general, a person with type O-negative blood is a universal donor, meaning that his or her blood can be used for transfusion into persons with any other blood type: A, B, AB or O, negative or positive (although there are other considerations). Also in general, a person with type AB-positive blood is a universal recipient, meaning that he or she can receive a transfusion of blood of any type: A, B, AB or O, negative or positive.

28 Toner target : PORE

A skin toner is a cosmetic used to cleanse the skin and to shrink pores.

33 Part of a heart-to-heart exchange : VALENTINE

Saint Valentine’s Day was introduced by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD to honor various martyrs with the name Valentine. However, the saint’s day was dropped by the Roman Catholic church in 1969, by Pope Paul VI. Try telling that to Hallmark though …

39 Performances that might earn major props? : USO TOURS

The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

46 Part of PEI : EDWARD

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.

47 Big name in salt : MORTON

Morton Salt started doing business in 1848 in Chicago, and now is the largest producer of salt in North America. The product’s logo is the Morton Salt Girl, a young girl walking with an open umbrella in the rain, while scattering salt behind her from a cylinder. The product’s motto is “When it rains, it pours”, which originated in 1914 after Morton started to use magnesium carbonate as an additive to ensure that the salt poured freely.

49 Passport producer : HONDA

The Honda Passport SUV was basically the same car as the Isuzu Rodeo. Honda desperately needed an entry into the growing SUV market in the early nineties and so made a deal with Isuzu to use their existing design.

51 Narrow peninsula : SPIT

A spit is a point of land jutting out into a body of water. The term “spit” is especially reserved for those points of land comprising sand or gravel.