Category: Annemarie Brethauer

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Constructed by: Annemarie Brethauer & Katie Hale
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 11m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Start of communications with NATO : ALFA

The NATO phonetic alphabet is also called the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phonetic alphabet. Alfa, Bravo, Charlie … X-ray, Yankee, Zulu.

9 Seacrest vehicle, familiarly : IDOL

Radio and television personality Ryan Seacrest is best known as the host of the talent show “American Idol”. He also started hosting “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” on ABC in 2005, and co-hosting “Live with Kelly and Ryan” in 2017. As a producer, Seacrest is the man behind the show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” (so, he has a lot to answer for …).

13 Baby hippo : CALF

The name “hippopotamus” comes from the Greek for “river horse”. Hippos are the third-largest land mammals, after elephants and rhinos. The closest living relatives to hippos don’t even live on land. They are the whales and porpoises of the oceans.

14 Studio Ghibli’s animated fuzz ball : SOOT SPRITE

A soot sprite (“susuwatari” in Japanese) is a black, ball-shaped being with fuzzy hair that appears in the animated fantasy films “My Neighbor Totoro” and “Spirited Away”.

17 Rhyming song that’s acted out : I’M A LITTLE TEAPOT

The children’s song “I’m a Little Teapot” was written and published in 1939, composed by a married couple who ran a dance school for children. They needed a simple tune that young ones could use to learn a simple tap routine, and came up with this:

I’m a little teapot,
Short and stout,
Here is my handle,
Here is my spout,
When I get all steamed up,
Hear me shout,
Tip me over and pour me out!

19 Fanning of “Coraline” : DAKOTA

Dakota Fanning hit the big time as a child actress at the age of seven years in the movie “I Am Sam” released in 2001. For that performance, she was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, making her the youngest nominee ever. Dakota’s sister Elle is also an actress.

20 Uber CEO Khosrowshahi : DARA

Iranian-American businessman Dara Khosrowshahi left his position as CEO of online travel agency Expedia in 2017 to take over as CEO of transportation company Uber.

24 Some shortcuts : MACROS

A macroinstruction (usually shortened to “macro”) is a set of instructions in a computer program that are abbreviated to one simple command.

32 Doner __: Turkish dish : KEBAB

The term “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

44 Shiba __ : INU

The Shiba Inu is a Japanese breed of dog that was developed for hunting. Although the exact etymology of “Shibu” is unclear, the term translates as “brushwood”. “Inu” is Japanese for “dog”.

49 Pro who worked with Magic : KAREEM

Basketball legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name at birth was Ferdinand Lewis “Lew” Alcindor. Alcindor changed his name when he converted to Islam.

Magic Johnson’s real name is Earvin Johnson. Johnson was born and grew up in Lansing, Michigan. Earvin earned the nickname “Magic” when playing basketball in high school, after one particularly great performance on the court.

51 “Memories of the Future” author Hustvedt : SIRI

“Memories of the Future” is a 2019 novel by Siri Hustvedt. It is about a woman who writes down in a notebook the ravings of a neighbor that she overhears, as well as some personal experiences. She discovers the notebook some 40 years later and muses about what she had written at the time, and what she remembers and what she has forgotten.

52 Cribbage piece : PEG

Cribbage is a great card game that originated in 17th-century England. It was a creation of the poet Sir John Suckling. One of the unique features of the game is that a cribbage board with pegs is used to keep score. Here in the US, cribbage is very much associated with the submarine service, as it is a favorite game of submariners of all ranks.

55 Figure in a Clement Clarke Moore poem : ST NICK

The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in 1823, and is better known today by its first line “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. Most scholars believe that the poem was written by Clement Clarke Moore, a theologian from New York City. Others say that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr., a poet from Upstate New York.

59 First play written by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway : A RAISIN IN THE SUN

“A Raisin in the Sun” is a 1961 film starring Sidney Poitier that is based on a 1959 play of the same name by Lorraine Hansberry. Both film and play follow the lives of an African-American family from Chicago as they struggle with the decision about what to do with an insurance payout following the death of the family’s patriarch.

62 Many a Gillian Flynn work : CRIME NOVEL

Author and screenwriter Gilian Flynn is known for her crime-mystery novels. Her 2012 novel “Gone Girl” was adapted into the hit 2014 film of the same name, for which Flynn penned the screenplay.

63 Gladys Knight, for one : ALTO

Gladys Knight & the Pips performed together from 1953 to 1989. The Pips were founded around Gladys Knight, originally featuring her brother, sister and two cousins. The group took its name from yet another cousin, a cousin named “Pip”.

64 Sardine cans : TINS

Sardines are oily fish related to herrings. They are also known as pilchards, although in the UK “sardine” is a noun reserved for a young pilchard. Very confusing …

66 With 57-Down, rom-com trope : MEET-
[57D See 66-Across : -CUTE]

“Meet-cute” is a term used since the 1930s or 1940s for a scene in a film or TV show in which a future couple have an amusing first encounter.

Down

1 Rock type : ACID

The musical genre known as acid rock is a subset of psychedelic rock. The term comes from the influence of the drug LSD (acid) on some compositions in the early days.

2 Dharma teacher : LAMA

In the context of Buddhism, “dharma” can mean the collection of teachings and doctrines of the faith. The term is also used to describe proper and correct behavior that maintains the natural order of things.

3 Barrage of criticism : FLAK

“Flak” was originally an acronym standing for the German term for an aircraft defense cannon (FLiegerAbwehrKanone). “Flak” then became used in English as a general term for antiaircraft fire and ultimately a term for verbal criticism, as in “to take flak”.

5 “Easter Parade” star : ASTAIRE

Dancer, actor and singer Fred Astaire never won a competitive Academy Award, and received just one nomination: for Best Supporting Actor in 1974’s “The Towering Inferno”. However, was presented with an honorary Academy Award in the 1949 season “for his unique artistry and his contributions to the technique of musical pictures”. That honorary Oscar was presented by his longtime film and dance partner Ginger Rogers.

“Easter Parade” is an Irving Berlin song that was first published in 1993. The 1948 musical film of the same name was constructed around the song, and starred Judy Garland and Fred Astaire.

6 Spam maker : BOT

Spambots are nasty little computer programs that send out spam emails and messages, often from fake accounts. This blog gets about 300 spam comments a day that I have to delete, almost all of which are written by spambots.

9 A Gershwin : IRA

Ira Gershwin was the lyricist who worked with his brother George to create such American classics as the songs “I Got Rhythm” and “Someone to Watch Over Me”, as well as the opera “Porgy and Bess”. After George Gershwin died, Ira continued to create great music, and worked with the likes of Jerome Kern and Kurt Weill.

11 Chiwere speakers : OTOES

Chiwere is a Siouan language spoken by the Otoe people, as well as by the Missouria and Iowa.

15 Classic Fender, for short : STRAT

The Stratocaster (often “Strat”) is an electric guitar that has been made by Fender since 1954. The company that made Fender electric guitars was founded in Fullerton, California in 1946 by Leo Fender.

23 Home of the Museum of the Future : DUBAI

The Museum of the Future is a remarkable facility in Dubai, one with a very futuristic (!) torus-shaped structure. The windows are arranged in such a way that, from the outside, they spell out three quotes about the future of the emirate. In English, one of the quotes is (translated into English):

We won’t live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone.

26 Quick dip? : GUAC

Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes. It is prepared by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

27 Princess Fiona, after sunset : OGRE

Princess Fiona is the title character’s love interest in the “Shrek” series of films. She is voiced by Cameron Diaz.

29 Mother-of-pearl : NACRE

Nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed. Cultured pearls are made by inserting a tissue graft from a donor oyster, around which the nacre is laid down.

33 Part of a full English breakfast : BEANS

A “full Irish” (also “full English”) breakfast is a ubiquitous morning offering in hotels and restaurants on the other side of the Arlantic. It usually consists of bacon, sausages, eggs, black (blood) pudding, white pudding (blood pudding without the blood), baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, fried bread along with coffee or tea. To be honest, I avoid a full Irish while in the country, opting to dig into one at Dublin Airport before flying back to the US (accompanied by a pre-flight pint of Guinness!) …

43 Symbol of Scotland : THISTLE

The thistle may be considered a weed, but Scots are very proud to have it as the national flower of Scotland.

49 Gymnast Strug : KERRI

Kerri Strug is that plucky little gymnast who made an outstanding final vault in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics despite having an injured ankle. I think we all remember her being carried off after her vault in the arms of the US team coach Bela Karolyi.

54 Late show broadcaster? : TIVO

TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) that revolutionized the way we watch television. The first TiVo devices were installed in homes in 1999, when they were the first consumer DVRs to hit the market. TiVo was originally marketed as a way to “pause live TV.” It quickly became known for its ability to record TV shows and movies, allowing viewers to watch them at their convenience.

56 “__ of Dogs”: Wes Anderson film : ISLE

“Isle of Dogs” is a 2018 animated and stop-action film by Wes Anderson. The movie has a science-fiction storyline, and is set in near-future Japan. All dogs are banished to Trash Island after an outbreak of dog flu threatens to cross into the human population. The voice cast of “Isle of Dogs” is very impressive, and includes Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono and many other A-list names.

61 Composer Rorem : NED

American composer Ned Rorem is famous for his musical compositions, but also for his book “Paris Diary of Ned Rorem” that was published in 1966. Rorem talks openly about his sexuality in the book, and also about the sexual orientation of others including Noël Coward, Leonard Bernstein and Samuel Barber, much to some people’s chagrin.