Category: Brock Wilson

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. Infielder’s statistic ASSIST
In baseball, as “assist” is awarded to each defensive player who contributes to an out, each player who touches the ball.

14. “The Tell-Tale Heart” author POE
Edgar Allen Poe’s story “The Tell-Tale Heart”, is arguably one of his most disturbing works. It is a story of cold-blooded and premeditated murder, with some dismemberment thrown in for good measure.

15. Casual slacks CHINOS
Chino is a twill cloth most often used to make hard-wearing pants. The pants have come to be referred to as chinos. Chino cloth was originally developed for use by the military, but quickly became popular with civilians.

16. __ San Lucas: Baja resort CABO
Cabo San Lucas is a major tourist destination at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula in Mexico. “Cabo” is sometimes referred to as the “Fort Lauderdale of Mexico”.

17. Frying pan spray PAM
PAM cooking oil was introduced in 1961 by Leon Rubin and Arthur Meyerhoff. The name “PAM” is an acronym … standing for “Product of Arthur Meyerhoff”. Who’d a thunk it …?

18. Dodger pitcher with three 1960s Cy Young Awards SANDY KOUFAX
Sandy Koufax is a retired pitcher who played for the Brooklyn/LA Dodgers from 1955 to 1966. Koufax is the youngest person to have been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, being so honored in 1972 when he was just over 36 years old.

22. Classic autos REOS
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom E. Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan. Among the company’s most famous models were the REO Royale and the REO Flying Cloud.

24. Blokes CHAPS
“Chap” is an informal term for “lad, fellow”, especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

“Bloke” is British slang for a fellow. The etymology of “bloke” seems to have been lost in the mists of time.

27. Prison sentence shortener PAROLE
The term “parole” is a French word that we use in English, with the French “parole” meaning “word, speech”. Of particular interest is the French phrase “parole d’honneur” which translates as “word of honor”. In the early 1600s we started using “parole” to mean a promise by a prisoner of war not to escape, as in the prisoner giving his “word of honor” not to run off. Over time, parole has come to mean conditional release of a prisoner before he or she has served the full term of a sentence.

31. Friar from Assisi FRANCISCAN
St. Francis founded the Franciscan religious order in Assisi in 1208. He died in 1226, and was declared a saint just two years later in 1228. Construction of the Basilica of San Francesco d’Assisi started immediately after the canonization, and finished 25 years later. The Basilica is now a United Nations World Heritage Site.

38. National Gallery architect I.M. __ PEI
I. M. Pei (full name: Ieoh Ming Pei) is an exceptional American architect who was born in China. Of Pei’s many wonderful works, my favorite is the renovation of the Louvre in Paris, especially the Glass Pyramid in the courtyard.

The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. comprises an original West Building and a contemporary East Building. The West Building was opened in 1941 and is a neoclassical structure that was designed by John Russell Pope (who later designed the Jefferson memorial). The East Building opened in 1978 and was designed by I.M. Pei, who later was awarded the renovation of the Louvre Museum in Paris.

39. Second film in a 2000s horror franchise SAW II
The “Saw” franchise of movies is gruesome in the extreme. I’ve only seen a few minutes of “Saw” footage (accidentally). The stories are about imprisoned victims who are faced with having to mutilate themselves to escape. Ugh …

40. Soviet news source TASS
TASS is the abbreviation used for the former news agency that had the full name Telegraph Association of the Soviet Union (Telegrafnoe Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza). When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1992, the Moscow-based agency’s scope changed along with its name. It is now known as the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS).

41. Short exercise dash WIND SPRINT
Athletes might use a series of sprints to develop breath and endurance. Each one of these sprints is called a “wind sprint”.

44. Mall booths KIOSKS
Our word “kiosk” came to us via French and Turkish from the Persian “kushk” meaning “palace, portico”.

Surprisingly, our word “mall”, meaning “shady walk” or “enclosed shopping space”, comes from the Italian for “mallet”. All of our shopping-style malls are named for “The Mall” in St. James’s Park in London. This tree-lined promenade was so called as it used to a famous spot to play the croquet-like game called “pall-mall”. The game derived its name from the Italian for ball (palla) and mallet “maglio”. The London thoroughfare called the Mall still exists, at one end of which is Buckingham Palace. Indeed, parallel to the Mall is a street called Pall Mall.

50. Hilo howdy ALOHA
The Hawaiian word “Aloha” has many meanings in English: affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. More recently “aloha” has come to mean “hello” and “goodbye”, but only since the mid-1800s.

Hilo is the largest settlement on the big island of Hawai’i, with a population of over 43,000 (that’s not very many!). I love the Big Island …

51. 50-and-over org. AARP
AARP is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

56. X-ray imaging technique FLUOROSCOPY
A fluoroscope is a medical imaging machine that uses X-rays to examine structures in the body that are in movement. The image is viewed on a screen that fluoresces in the presence of X-rays, hence the name.

59. Zodiac lion LEO
Leo is the fifth astrological sign of the Zodiac. People born from July 13 to August 23 are Leos.

60. “Put up your dukes” duke FIST
“Dukes” is a slang term for “fists, hands”. The route taken by “dukes” to become fists seems very tortuous, but might just be true. The term “fork” has been slang for “hand” for centuries (and gives rise to “fork out” meaning “hand over”). The slang term “fork” is expressed in Cockney rhyming slang as “Duke of York”, shortened to “duke”. As I said, tortuous …

62. Faux __: blunder PAS
The term “faux pas” is French in origin, and translates literally as “false step” (or “false steps”, as the plural has the same spelling in French).

63. Middle-earth creatures ENTS
Ents are those tree-like creatures that live in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth in his series of books “The Lord of the Rings”. “Ent” is an Old English word for “giant”.

Down
2. Ark captain NOAH
According to the Book of Genesis, Noah lived to a ripe old age. Noah fathered his three sons Shem, Ham and Japheth when he was 500 years old, and the Great Flood took place when he was 600.

The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

3. Blue-staters DEMOCRATS
On political maps, red states are Republican and blue states Democrat. The designation of red and blue states is a very recent concept, only introduced in the 2000 presidential election by TV journalist, the late Tim Russert. In retrospect, the choice of colors is surprising, as in other democracies around the world red is usually used to describe left-leaning socialist parties (the reds under the bed!), and blue is used for conservative right-wing parties. In election cycles, swing/battleground states are often depicted in purple.

4. Cooling units, briefly ACS
Room coolers are air conditioning units (ACs).

5. Wrinkly Chinese dog SHAR PEI
The Shar Pei breed of dog is that one with the wrinkly face and really dark tongue. The breed originated in China, with “Shar Pei” being the British spelling of the Cantonese name.

6. Trig ratios SINES
The most familiar trigonometric functions are sine, cosine and tangent. Each of these is a ratio, a ratio of two sides of a right-angled triangle. The “reciprocal” of these three functions are secant, cosecant and cotangent. The reciprocal functions are simply the inverted ratios, the inverted sine, cosine and tangent. These inverted ratios should not be confused with the “inverse” trigonometric functions e.g. arcsine, arccosine and arctangent. These inverse functions are the reverse of the sine, cosine and tangent. For example, the arctangent can be read as “What angle is equivalent to the following ration of opposite over adjacent?”

7. Prefix with European INDO-
The Indo-European languages are a large group that includes most of the major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau and South Asia. The Indo-European is the largest grouping of languages in the world.

8. Versatile beans SOYS
What are known as soybeans here in the US are called “soya beans” in most other English-speaking countries. So, I drink soy milk here in America, but when I am over in Ireland I drink “soya milk”.

10. __ diver SCUBA
The self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) was co-invented by celebrated French marine explorer Jacques Cousteau.

11. Communion bread WAFER
The Communion rite is the part of the Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition. The rite involves distribution of the Communion bread (the host, a wafer) to the faithful.

25. Oct. contest whose winner goes to the World Series ALCS
The American League Championship Series.

26. __ Diego SAN
When Pedro Fages established the Presidio of San Diego in 1769, it was the first permanent European settlement on the Pacific Coast of what today is the United States. The fort was located in an area that had already been for San Diego de Alcalá, a Catholic saint. That settlement is now the city of San Diego, California.

34. Region including the Matterhorn SWISS ALPS
“Matterhorn” is the German name for the famous Alpine peak that lies on the border between Switzerland and Italy. The Italian name for the same mountain is Monte Cervino, and the French call it Mont Cervin. “Matterhorn” comes from the German words Matte and Horn meaning “meadow” and “peak”. Cervino and Cervin come from the Latin name for the mountain, Mons Silvius meaning “Forest Mountain”.

42. Ship’s captain SKIPPER
The term “skipper”, used for the captain of a ship, comes from the Middle Dutch “scipper”, which has the same meaning. “Scip” is Dutch for “ship”.

45. Luigi’s drink with latte CAFFE
“Caffè” is Italian for “coffee”.

The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk, there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

51. India’s continent ASIA
India is the seventh-largest country in the world by area, yet it is the second-most populous and home to over 1.2 billion people.

54. Frail from the flu, say WEAK
Influenza (flu) is an ailment that is caused by a virus. The virus is readily inactivated by the use of soap, so washing hands and surfaces is especially helpful in containing flu outbreaks.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. In addition AND
4. Infielder’s statistic ASSIST
10. Mop for a deck SWAB
14. “The Tell-Tale Heart” author POE
15. Casual slacks CHINOS
16. __ San Lucas: Baja resort CABO
17. Frying pan spray PAM
18. Dodger pitcher with three 1960s Cy Young Awards SANDY KOUFAX
20. Compare prices SHOP
22. Classic autos REOS
23. Very overweight OBESE
24. Blokes CHAPS
26. Replacements for flat tires SPARES
27. Prison sentence shortener PAROLE
29. Restful resorts SPAS
31. Friar from Assisi FRANCISCAN
33. “Over here!” PSST!
37. Honors with a fancy party FETES
38. National Gallery architect I.M. __ PEI
39. Second film in a 2000s horror franchise SAW II
40. Soviet news source TASS
41. Short exercise dash WIND SPRINT
43. Charge per day, e.g. RATE
44. Mall booths KIOSKS
45. Late-night pioneer Johnny CARSON
49. Tight spots BINDS
50. Hilo howdy ALOHA
51. 50-and-over org. AARP
53. Sign of sleepiness YAWN
56. X-ray imaging technique FLUOROSCOPY
59. Zodiac lion LEO
60. “Put up your dukes” duke FIST
61. Cut while shaving NICKED
62. Faux __: blunder PAS
63. Middle-earth creatures ENTS
64. Diners EATERS
65. Cloud locale SKY

Down
1. iPhone add-ons APPS
2. Ark captain NOAH
3. Blue-staters DEMOCRATS
4. Cooling units, briefly ACS
5. Wrinkly Chinese dog SHAR PEI
6. Trig ratios SINES
7. Prefix with European INDO-
8. Versatile beans SOYS
9. Cluck of reproach TSK!
10. __ diver SCUBA
11. Communion bread WAFER
12. Degrade ABASE
13. They’re stacked in moving vans BOXES
19. “How clumsy of me!” OOPS!
21. Text messaging devices PHONES
25. Oct. contest whose winner goes to the World Series ALCS
26. __ Diego SAN
27. Dying-out sound PFFT!
28. Region AREA
29. Heated argument in public, say SCENE
30. Settled up PAID
32. Rotating cooking rod SPIT
33. Make fun of PARODY
34. Region including the Matterhorn SWISS ALPS
35. Kitchen fixture SINK
36. Little songbirds TITS
39. Rotate like a top SPIN
41. Pale WAN
42. Ship’s captain SKIPPER
43. Waterfall sound ROAR
45. Luigi’s drink with latte CAFFE
46. With 57-Down, multifunctional office machine suggested by this puzzle’s circles ALL-IN-
47. Yank out of bed ROUST
48. Flu season precautions SHOTS
49. Penniless BROKE
51. India’s continent ASIA
52. Bank holding: Abbr. ACCT
54. Frail from the flu, say WEAK
55. Minding business that’s not your own NOSY
57. See 46-Down ONE
58. NFL gains YDS

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