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Constructed by: Parker Higgins
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 12m 42s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Results of unpredictable user behavior, perhaps : EDGE CASES

An edge case is a situation that occurs at, or close to, the minimum or maximum operating parameter. Examination of edge cases is something that computer programmers have to do, to stress a program that otherwise is operating as expected. An example of an edge case is running the program using an “extreme” date, especially 29th February, leap day.

10 Older daughter of Winterfell : SANSA

Winterfell is the ancestral home and castle of the Stark clan in the TV show “Game of Thrones”.

Sophie Turner is an English actress best known for her first TV role, portraying Sansa Stark on the show “Game of Thrones”. She was only 14 years old when she first appeared in the show in 2010. In 2016, she married American singer Joe Jones, one of the three Jonas Brothers.

16 Patent __ : TROLL

A patent troll is a company that owns patents and focuses on enforcing those patents rather than manufacturing products based on the patents. Patent trolls will often purchase patents speculatively from a bankrupt company, and then attempt to make money by suing another company by claiming patent infringement.

17 Branch location? : ARBORETUM

An arboretum is a living collection of trees of varying species.

23 __ splicing : GENE

Recombinant DNA is DNA made under laboratory conditions. The recombination technique (sometimes referred to as “gene splicing”) brings together genetic material from multiple sources. The sources of that genetic material might be from a different part of the same gene, or even from the gene of a different organism. The end result is a new, man-made, genetic combination.

28 Hot shots? : THIRST TRAPS

In the world of social media, a thirst trap is an attractive picture that is posted with the intent of enticing viewers sexually.

34 English scientist who coined the term “cell” in his 1665 work “Micrographia” : HOOKE

Robert Hooke was an Englishmanwho was very much an expert in a number of disciplines ranging from science and architecture to philosophy. Hooke spent part of his working life as assistant to the 17th century scientist Robert Boyle.

35 Pattern that’s often pixelated, for short : CAMO

Our word “camouflage” (often abbreviated to “camo”) evolved directly from a Parisian slang term “camoufler” meaning “to disguise”. The term was first used in WWI, although the British navy at that time preferred the expression “dazzle-painting” as it applied to the pattern painted on the hulls of ships.

36 Singer Garfunkel : ART

Singer and actor Art Garfunkel is best-known for the years he spent performing with Paul Simon, although Garfunkel had a successful solo career after the duo split up. As well as singing and acting, he is fond of taking long, long walks while composing poetry. Garfunkel walked across Japan in the early 1980s, and across America in increments from 1983 to 1997. He then walked across Europe, also in increments, from 1998 to 2011.

37 In-person appointments that require an online application? : TINDER DATES

Tinder is a matchmaking app that uses Facebook profiles. Users “swipe” photos of potential matches, either to the right (“like”) or to the left (“not interested”). Users who “match” each other can then chat within the app.

45 Knicks spot, briefly : MSG

Madison Square Garden (MSG) is an arena in New York City used for a variety of events. In the world of sports it is home to the New York Rangers of the NHL, as well as the New York Knicks of the NBA. “The Garden” is also the third busiest music venue in the world in terms of ticket sales. The current arena is the fourth structure to bear the name, a name taken from the Madison Square location in Manhattan. In turn, the square was named for James Madison, the fourth President of the US.

48 Flowering plants native to the Mediterranean : ARUMS

Arum is a genus of flowering plant that is native to eastern North America. They can be nasty plants though, as some contain oxalic acid. Oxalic acid is a compound that can be very painful if ingested and can even cause death if taken in sufficient quantities.

51 “For the love of good food” cereal brand : KASHI

Kashi is a food company that primarily produces breakfast cereals. Founded in 1984, the name “Kashi” is a melding of “kashruth” (i.e. kosher), and “Kushi”. Michio Kushi helped to introduce the macrobiotic diet to the US in the fifties.

Down

2 “Meshes of the Afternoon” director Maya : DEREN

Maya Deren was a Ukrainian-born American experimental filmmaker who was most active in the 1940s and 1950s. Her most notable work is probably the 1943 short film “Meshes of the Afternoon”, which she made with her then husband Alexandr Hackenschmied. It has been described as an avant-garde personal film. Deren and Hackenschmied wrote, directed and performed in the film together.

9 Culture writer Rachel : SYME

Rachel Syme is a writer, reporter and cultural critic from New York City. She writes the “On and Off The Avenue” column for “The New Yorker”, which deals with fashion and consumer culture.

10 Narrow channels : STRAITS
30 Landmasses with two coasts : ISTHMUSES

A strait (str.) is a narrow waterway connecting two large bodies of water. A strait might be considered the opposite of an isthmus, which is a narrow strip of land connecting two large land masses. Straits often have significant economic and geopolitical significance, as they can form choke points for maritime traffic. Examples are the Strait of Hormuz (connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman) and the Strait of Gibraltar (connecting the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea).

11 Many Maghrebis : ARABS

The Maghreb is a subregion of North Africa that includes the coastal nations of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. It is known as the western part of the Arab world. The eastern part of the Arab world, including Egypt and Sudan, is known as the “Mashriq”.

24 One with many good buds : SUPERTASTER

A supertaster is someone who has an elevated taste response compared to the average person.

29 Derby, e.g. : HORSE RACE

Our use of the word “derby” to mean a race started in 1780 with the English Derby horse race, which was founded then by the 12th Earl of Derby. Ultimately, the term “derby” derives from the old English shire of “Deorby”, a word meaning “deer village”.

31 Dowsing tool : ROD

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.

44 “Aladdin” figure : GENIE

“Aladdin” is a famous tale in “Arabian Nights”, also called “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights”. However, there is no evidence at all that the story was in the original collection. It is generally believed that one Antoine Galland introduced the tale when he translated “Arabian Nights” into French in the early 1700s.

45 “The Italian Job” vehicles : MINIS

The original Mini was a fabulous car, one that I drove all over Ireland in my youth. It had a unique front-wheel-drive layout that took up very little space, allowing for a lot of room (relatively speaking) for passengers and baggage. One space-saving trick was to mount the engine transversely, so it sits rotated 90 degrees from the norm. That engine had a capacity of only 848cc. In 1961, a Mini Cooper model was introduced, which was a sporty version. The Mini Cooper was a phenomenal hit, especially after repeated wins in the Monte Carlo Rally. The Mini marque has been owned by BMW since 1994.

The 2003 movie “The Italian Job” is fairly loosely based on a fabulous 1969 film of the same name starring Michael Caine. The 2003 film is outstanding in its own right, and a favorite of mine. It stars Mark Wahlberg, Charlize Theron and Donald Sutherland. The “job” is an exciting heist in Venice, that involves a watery getaway. There is a second heist in Los Angeles with a road-bound getaway in Mini Cooper cars.

46 Anarchist convicted with Vanzetti in a 1921 murder trial : SACCO

Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were two anarchists accused of committing murder during an armed robbery in 1920. They were arrested the day after the crime. There followed two controversial trials, guilty verdicts and several appeals that went all the way to the US Supreme Court. Despite mounting evidence that the pair was innocent, the guilty verdicts were repeatedly upheld. A lot of the public accepted that Sacco and Vanzetti were not guilty, and many protests were staged. Regardless, the two were executed in the electric chair in 1927.

49 Stirs (up) : GINS

“To gin up” is slang meaning “to enliven, excite”. The term probably derives from the older “to ginger up”. Gingering up was the rather nasty practice of putting ginger up inside a horse to make it lively and move with a high tail.

50 “Summertime Sadness” singer Del Rey : LANA

“Summertime Sadness” is a 2012 song co-written and recorded by Lan Del Ray. The song’s accompanying music video is shot like a home movie. It portrays Del Ray and actress Jaime King as a couple, a couple who both commit suicide separately by jumping from a height. Summertime sadness indeed …

53 Pastrami bread : RYE

In the US, pastrami was originally called “pastrama”, and was a dish brought to America by Jewish immigrants from Romania in the second half of the nineteenth century. The original name may have evolved from the Turkish word “pastirma” meaning “pressed”. “Pastrama” likely morphed into “pastrami” influenced by the name of the Italian sausage called salami.