Day: February 3, 2024

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Constructed by: Grace Warrington & Greg Warrington
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 11m 49s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

6 Randall Munroe webcomic : XKCD

XKCD is a webcomic created by Randall Munroe that was launched in 2005. The title is not actually an acronym or abbreviation for anything. Munroe has stated that he simply chose the letters “XKCD” because they sounded cool and were easy to remember. XKCD frequently incorporates scientific and mathematical concepts into its humor, as Munroe has a degree in physics.

14 Instant success? : RAMEN

Ramen is a noodle dish composed of Chinese-style wheat noodles in a meat or fish broth flavored with soy or miso sauce. Ramen is usually topped with sliced pork and dried seaweed. The term “ramen” is also used for precooked, instant noodles that come in single-serving, solid blocks.

16 Athletic brand that makes Scoot Zeros : PUMA

Puma is a German company that sells athletic shoes worldwide. The company is most famous for its line of soccer boots.

Scoot Henderson is a professional basketball player who was the third pick in the 2023 NBA draft, signing with the Portland Trail Blazers. He appears in the cast of the 2023 film “Shooting Stars”, a biopic about LeBron James. Henderson portrays former NBA player Romeo Travis.

21 Contamination process : OSMOSIS

Osmosis is the movement of a solvent (often water) across a semipermeable membrane. In the process of osmosis, the solvent tends to flow from an area of less concentration to an area of higher concentration. This sense of absorbing water effortlessly gives rise to the expression “learning by osmosis”.

25 Pet brand since 1946 : IAMS

Iams dog food was introduced by animal nutritionist Paul Iams. He felt that household pets were suffering somewhat by being fed a diet of table scraps, so he developed dry dog food that he felt was more nutritious and suitable for pet dogs. He founded the Iams company, now part of Procter & Gamble, in 1946.

26 “Rock’n Me” band : STEVE MILLER BAND

“Rock’n Me” is a 1976 song written by Steve Miller and released by the Steve Miller Band. Well, the Steve Miller Band was credited for performing the song when it was released in Europe, whereas crest just went to Steve Miller as an individual when it was released in North America.

32 Worked on the road : PAVED

Back in Ireland, the “pavement” is what we call the “sidewalk, footpath” (because the footpath is “paved”, often with “paving” stones!). It’s very confusing when you arrive in this country from Ireland, and a little dangerous when one has been taught from a young age to “walk on the pavement” …

34 Congressional auditing org. : GAO

The Government Accounting Office, established as a branch of the US Congress in 1921, was renamed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) in 2004. A much better name, I think …

38 __ Lingus : AER

Aer Lingus is my favorite airline! Well, the service isn’t that great, but when I get on board an Aer Lingus plane I feel like I am back in Ireland. Aer Lingus is the national airline of Ireland, with “Aer Lingus” being a phonetic spelling of the Irish “aer-loingeas” meaning “air fleet”. These days Aer Lingus can only lay claim to the title of Ireland’s oldest airline as it is no longer the biggest. That honor goes to the controversial budget airline Ryanair.

40 Actress Tazel of “Justified” : ERICA

Actress Erica Tazel is perhaps best known to TV audiences for playing Deputy Marshal Rachel Brooks on the neo-Western crime TV show “Justified”. Her first TV role was playing a dance teacher in a 2001 episode of “Sex and the City”.

“Justified” is a TV drama that originally aired on FX from 2010 until 2015. It’s about a US Marshall behaving somewhat like a 19th-century lawman, while meting out justice in his hometown in Kentucky. The lead is played by Timothy Olyphant, who also played a lawman in the HBO western series “Deadwood”.

44 Thé addition : LAIT

In French, a “tasse” (cup) might contain perhaps “thé” (tea) and added “lait” (milk).

45 Singer who never toured outside North America : ELVIS

Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army in 1958, as a private. Although he was only a couple of years into his recording career, he already had a fervent following. While in basic training, he was quite certain that his success would be short-lived, and maybe could not recover after his stint with the Army. He used his leave to record new tracks, keeping his name out there. Presley did basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Friedberg, Germany. It was in Friedberg that he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he would marry after courting her for 7 1/2 years. After two years in the Army, he came back home, to a career that was still soaring.

53 Actor who hosted “Scientific American Frontiers” from 1993 to 2005 : ALDA

Even though actor Alan Alda is the son of fellow actor Robert Alda, both were born with the family name “D’Abruzzo”. Alan is a vocal advocate for science education. He is a founder of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University, where he became a visiting professor. He also hosted the TV show “Scientific American Frontiers” for 14 years.

56 Side hustle option : UBER

A side hustle is a side job, additional employment taken by a person to supplement his or her primary income.

57 Peignoir frill : LACE

A peignoir is a loose-fitting dressing gown worn by a woman. The term “peignoir” comes from “peigner”, the French for “to comb the hair”. The idea was that a peignoir was worn by a lady while she was combing her hair before retiring.

58 __ wafers : NILLA

As one might expect, “Nilla” is a shortened form of “vanilla”. However, you won’t find any vanilla in Nilla brand cookies or wafers. They have always been flavored with vanillin, which is synthetic vanilla. Is nothing sacred …?

59 Hit with an intense beam : LASE

The term “laser” is an acronym standing for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation”. It has been pointed out that a more precise name for laser technology is “light oscillation by stimulated emission of radiation”, but the resulting acronym isn’t quite so appealing, namely “loser”.

60 First asteroid landed on by a NASA craft : EROS

Near-Earth asteroids are relatively near to the Earth’s orbit. As such, they are not part of the main asteroid belt that lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. 433 Eros was the first of the near-Earth asteroids to be discovered. It was noticed on the same night in 1898 by two different stargazers, one in Berlin and one in Nice. Rather oddly, Eros was claimed as property by one Gregory Nemitz, who fought in court for the right to charge NASA 20 cents a year parking and storage fee for a spacecraft that they landed on the asteroid in 2001. The case was dismissed …

61 Wimbledon set? : TELLY

“Telly” is a term commonly used in Britain and Ireland that is short for “television”.

Wimbledon is a suburb of London located in the southwest of the metropolis. Wimbledon translates from the Old English “Wynnman’s Dun”, with “dun” being an archaic word for “hill”. Famously, the district is home to the All England Club where the Wimbledon tennis championships are played each year.

Down

1 Con __: with vigor, in music : BRIO

“Brio” is borrowed from Italian, in which language the term means “vigor and vivacity”. “Con brio” is a musical direction often found on a score, instructing the musicians to play “with energy, vigor”.

8 Jazz singer Laine : CLEO

Cleo Laine is a jazz singer from England who is noted for her remarkable range of nearly four octaves. Laine is the only female performer to have received Grammy nominations in each of the classical, jazz and popular music categories. My favorite of her recordings is “He Was Beautiful”, which is also known as “Cavatina” and is a version of the theme from the film “The Deer Hunter”.

9 Files : DOSSIERS

A dossier is a collection of papers with information about a person or subject. “Dossier” is a French term meaning “bundle of papers”.

10 Grace under pressure : 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.

13 __ about : GADS

To gad about is to move around with little purpose. The word “gad” comes from the Middle English “gadden” meaning “to hurry”.

24 San Gabriel Valley city north of Whittier : EL MONTE

The California city of El Monte is in Los Angeles County. It was named by the Spanish “El Monte” meaning “the meadow”. Back in the late 18th century, the area was a fertile oasis lying between the San Gabriel and Rio Hondo rivers.

26 Pike, e.g. : SPEAR

A pike is a spear-like weapon that was used as early as the Middle Ages, mainly by European soldiers. It was very long, usually over 10 feet in length, and sometimes over 20 feet.

27 “Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet” memoirist : TAKEI

Actor George Takei is known for his presence on social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. He explores that presence in a 2012 memoir “Oh Myyy! There Goes the Internet”.

28 Largest subtropical wilderness reserve in North America : EVERGLADES

The Everglades are tropical wetlands that cover much of southern Florida. The area was named “River Glades” by a British surveyor in 1773, and it is suggested that poor transcription of the word “river” led to the use of “ever”. The southern 20% of the Everglades is a protected region that we know as Everglades National Park. The park is the third-largest National Park in the lower 48 states, after Death Valley NP (the largest) and Yellowstone NP.

30 Actor Jack who often collaborated with David Lynch : NANCE

Jack Nance was an American actor who worked a lot with director David Lynch. He was one of the stars of the TV series “Twin Peaks” in which he played Pete Martell, a henpecked lumberjack. Coincidentally, the Log Lady in “Twin Peaks” was played by Catherine E. Coulson, one-time wife of Nance.

David Lynch is a much-respected and lauded American film director. His most famous movies are probably “Eraserhead”, “The Elephant Man”, “Dune” and “Mulholland Drive”. Despite the positive reviews from most critics, I can’t think of one David Lynch film that I’ve really enjoyed …

36 Glitch in “The Matrix,” maybe? : PLOT HOLE

The 1999 movie sensation “The Matrix” was meant to be set in a nondescript urban environment. It was actually shot in Australia, as one of the co-producers of the film was the Australian company, Village Roadshow Pictures. You can pick up all sorts of clues about the location when watching the film, including a view of Sydney Harbour Bridge in a background shot. Also, traffic drives along on the left and there are signs for the “lift” instead of an “elevator”.

37 Rail yard piece : CROSSTIE

The rectangular supports under rails in railroad tracks are known as railroad ties or crossties here in North America. Over on the other side of the Atlantic, we call them railway sleepers.

42 Capital of Zimbabwe : HARARE

Harare is the capital of Zimbabwe, and the African nation’s largest city. It was founded by the British in 1890 as Fort Salisbury (later just “Salisbury”). The outpost was named after Lord Salisbury, who was Prime Minister of the UK at the time. Salisbury was renamed to Harare in 1982, on the second anniversary of the independence of Zimbabwe. The name “Harare” applied to the area in which Fort Salisbury had been erected. “Harare” is a local word meaning “It doesn’t sleep”, a word applied to locations with constant noise.

43 Pernicious : EVIL

Something pernicious is very harmful, causing death or serious injury. The term ultimately comes from the Latin “per-” meaning “completely” and “necis” meaning “violent death”.

47 Heimdall player in Marvel’s “Thor” films : ELBA

The Norse god Heimdall lived in Himinbjörg (“Heaven’s Castle/Mountain”) from where he kept watch for invaders. To aid him in his task, he had exceptional eyesight and hearing.

52 Buffet surface : TRAY

Our word “buffet” comes from the French “bufet” meaning “bench, sideboard”. So, a buffet is a meal served from a “bufet”.

55 Prefix with footprint : ECO-

The carbon footprint of a person, family or organization, say, is defined as the total set of greenhouse gases caused by the presence and activities of that entity. More simply it is a measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide and methane emitted by the entity.