Category: Gerry Wildenberg

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
7. One of two N.T. books COR
The seventh and eighth books of the New Testament are the First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians.

14. 24/7 Rollerball maker PENTEL
Pentel is Japanese company that is known for manufacture of pens and markers.

15. Address for a PFC APO
APO Army Post Office(APO)

Private First Class (PFC)

17. African adventure SAFARI
“Safari” is a Swahili word, meaning “journey” or “expedition”. The term ultimately derives from the Arabic word “safar” meaning “journey”, which is also a word that we used in English back in 19th century.

20. 1954 Luis Buñuel film ROBINSON CRUSOE
“Robinson Crusoe” is a 1954 big screen adaptation of the famed novel of the same name by Daniel Defoe. The film was directed by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buñuel and starred actor Dan O’Herlihy in the title role. The producers wanted to cast Orson Welles as Robinson Crusoe, but Buñuel rejected the choice, saying that Welles was too loud and fat!

22. Eur.’s ocean ATL
The Atlantic is the world’s second largest ocean, after the Pacific. The name Atlantic is a reference to the Greek god Atlas, and so the ocean might be called the “Sea of Atlas”. The ancient Greeks believed that the Atlantic was a giant river that encircled the world.

23. Diva quality EGO
“Diva” comes to us from Latin via Italian. “Diva” is the feminine form of “divus” meaning “divine one”. The word is used in Italy to mean “goddess” or “fine lady”, and especially is applied to the prima donna in an opera. We often use the term to describe a singer with a big ego.

24. Smallish cells AAS
AA batteries are relatively small.

25. “__ Love”: Natalie Cole hit OUR
Natalie Cole is of course the daughter of Nat King Cole. Natalie’s mother was Maria Cole, a singer with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The most famous version of the hit song “Unforgettable” was released in 1951 by Nat King Cole. In 1991, Natalie Cole recorded a version that was mixed with an earlier 1961 version sung by her father, creating an “unforgettable” father-daughter duet that was made 26 years after Nat King Cole had passed away.

26. Lamarr of Hollywood HEDY
Hedy Lamarr was an American actress, originally from Vienna in modern-day Austria. Not only was Lamarr a successful Hollywood performer, during WWII she was the co-inventor of the frequency-hopping spread-spectrum method of transmitting radio signals that is still used to this day in wireless communication. Impressive …

28. Harrison colleague STARR
Ringo Starr’s real name is Richard Starkey. Before he joined the Beatles (replacing drummer Pete Best), Starkey played with the Raving Texans. It was with the Raving Texans that he adopted the name “Ringo Starr”, because he wore a lot of rings and he thought it sounded “cowboyish”. Back then his drum solos were billed as “Starr Time”.

George Harrison is often referred to as the “quiet Beatle”, although he did have a profound influence on the direction taken by the Fab Four. It was Harrison who first became an admirer of Indian culture and led the rest of the group into the Indian way of life. Harrison went as far as embracing the Hindu religion.

30. Sluglike “Star Wars” alien HUTT
Jabba the Hutt is the big blob of an alien that appears in the “Star Wars” movie “The Return of the Jedi”. Jabba’s claim to fame is that he enslaved Princess Leia and kitted her out in that celebrated metal bikini.

35. 1974 Lina Wertmüller film SWEPT AWAY
“Swept Away” is a 1974 movie from Italy that was directed by Lina Wertmüller. The film stars Giancarlo Giannini and Mariangela Melato as two castaways on a deserted island in the Mediterranean Sea. “Swept Away” was remade in 2002 with the same title and with Madonna as the female lead. Unlike the original, the 2002 version was panned by the critics.

38. Rat Pack leader SINATRA
The original Rat Pack from the fifties was a group of actors that centered on Humphrey Bogart, and included a young Frank Sinatra. Supposedly, Bogart’s wife, Lauren Bacall, christened them the Rat Pack after seeing them all return from one of their nights on the town in Las Vegas. The sixties Rat Pack was a reincarnation of the fifties version, with the core group of actors being Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin (Dino), Sammy Davis Jr., Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford.

44. Start for sphere IONO-
The ionosphere is that layer of the atmosphere that is ionized by solar radiation. One of the most important characteristics of the ionosphere is that it reflects radio waves and so is an important factor in the propagation of radio signals over long distance.

45. Moved, as a trireme OARED
Triremes were galleys used in the Mediterranean by a number of cultures, including the Ancient Greeks and Romans. The trireme was so called because there were three rows of oars on each side of the vessel. The term “trireme” comes from the Latin “tres remi” meaning “three-oar”. There was also a less ambitious version of the trireme that had only two banks of oars, and that was known as a bireme.

48. Aussie flock EMUS
The emu has had a tough time in Australia since man settled there. There was even an “Emu War” in Western Australia in 1932 when migrating emus competed with livestock for water and food. Soldiers were sent in and used machine guns in an unsuccessful attempt to drive off the “invading force”. The emus were clever, breaking their usual formations and adopting guerrilla tactics, operating as smaller units. After 50 days of “war”, the military withdrew. Subsequent requests for military help for the farmers were ignored. The emus had emerged victorious …

51. Portuguese royal REI
“Rei” is the Portuguese word for “king”.

53. PGA money winner, e.g. PRO
The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the PGA was based in New York City.

54. 1963 Peter Brook film LORD OF THE FLIES
The 1963 film “Lord of the Flies” was directed by Peter Brook and is an excellent adaptation of the chilling novel of the same name by William Golding. It’s all about a group of English schoolboys who are stranded on a deserted island. We get to see the boys organize themselves for survival, and watch the darker side of the “survival of the fittest” principle emerge.

58. Unwanted import from the East? ASIAN FLU
The so called “Asian Flu” was a pandemic that originated in china in 1956, and lasted until 1958. The virus killed an estimated 2 million people worldwide, including almost 70,000 in the US. Years later, in 1997, the financial crisis that rocked many countries across Asia was given the same name, “Asian Flu”. The crisis started in Thailand when the Thai currency collapsed, and like a virus the panic spread across much of southeast Asia and Japan.

59. Words that may precede weeping? READ ‘EM
Read ‘em and weep.

61. Word with blue or bean NAVY
The navy bean is a white bean, and is the bean commonly found in the dish known as “baked beans”. It can also be called a haricot bean. The term “Navy Bean” is used because haricot beans were a staple for sailors in the 19th-century US Navy.

62. Neurologist’s test, briefly EEG
An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a record of electrical activity caused by the firing of neurons within the brain. The EEG might be used to diagnose epilepsy, or perhaps to determine if a patient is “brain dead”.

63. Temper ANNEAL
One anneals glass or metal by exposing to a very specific temperature profile, resulting in a tougher or less brittle product.

65. Tokyo, long ago EDO
Edo is the former name of the Japanese city of Tokyo. Edo was the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime that ruled from 1603 until 1868. The shogun lived in the magnificent Edo castle. Some parts of the original castle remain and today’s Tokyo Imperial Palace, the residence of the Emperor of Japan, was built on its grounds.

Down
1. Festoons with certain tissue, for short TPS
TPing (toilet papering) is a prank involving the covering of some object or location with rolls and rolls of toilet paper. If you live in Texas or Minnesota that little “prank” is legal, but if you live here in California, TPing is classed as mischief or vandalism.

7. Hunter’s garb, for short CAMO
Our term “camouflage” 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”.

9. A.L. Rookie of the Year after Tommie Agee ROD CAREW
Rod Carew is a former Major League Baseball player from Panama. Actually. Carew is a “Zonian”, meaning that he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, a political entity that existed for decades from 1903.

Tommie Agee was a Major League Baseball player who played mainly with the Indians, White Sox and Mets. He was one of the “Amazin’ Mets”, and was famous for making two phenomenal catches in game three of the 1969 world series, potentially saving five runs.

10. Rights protection gp. ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has its roots in the First World War when it was founded to provide legal advice and support to conscientious objectors.

12. On the way EN ROUTE
“En route” is a French term that means “on the way”.

19. TV’s Oz and Gupta DRS
Mehmet Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon, and a TV personality known simply as “Dr. Oz”. Oz appeared as a health expert for several seasons on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Now he has his own “The Dr. Oz Show” on radio and television that is backed by Winfrey’s Harpo Productions.

Sanjay Gupta is an American neurosurgeon, and is best known as the CNN’s chief medical correspondent. In 2009, Gupta was offered the post of Surgeon General in the Obama administration, but he declined.

21. Barstool topper SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

22. Yellowfin tuna AHI
Yellowfin tuna is usually marketed as “ahi”, its Hawaiian name. Yellowfin tuna is one big fish, often weighing over 300 pounds.

29. “When You Wish Upon __” A STAR
“When You Wish Upon A Star” is a hit song by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington that was written for the 1940 Disney movie “Pinocchio”. In the animated film, the song is sung by the Jiminy Cricket character, with the voice provided by singer Cliff Edwards. In some parts of the world, “When You Wish Upon A Star” has become a Christmas classic due the assumption that the “star” in the title is the Star of Bethlehem.

30. Big name in games HOYLE
Edmond Hoyle was a writer, most famous for documenting the rules and play of card games. In particular, Hoyle first wrote a book on the game of whist that was very popular. Such was the success of Hoyle’s treatises that we use the phrase “according to Hoyle” to mean “according to some respected authority”.

32. Bygone Delta rival TWA
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan-Am, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the acronym TWA) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

Delta was the world’s largest airline for a while (after merging with Northwest Airlines in 2008) and is also the oldest airline still operating in the US. Delta’s roots go back to 1924 before it started carrying passengers and was called Huff Daland Dusters, a crop dusting company based in Macon, Georgia. The name Delta Air Service was introduced in 1928.

34. “Illmatic” rapper NAS
Rapper Nas used to go by another stage name, Nasty Nas, and before that by his real name, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. Nas released his first album “Illmatic” in 1994, and inventively titled his fifth studio album “Stillmatic”, released in 2001. Not my cup of tea, I would say …

36. Cajun crawfish dish ETOUFFEE
“Étouffée” is a Cajun and creole dish made with shellfish, the most famous version being Crawfish Étouffée. Étouffée is like a thick shellfish stew served over rice. The dish uses the cooking technique known as “smothering” in which the shellfish is cooked in a covered pan over a low heat with a small amount of liquid. “Étouffée” is the French word “stifled, smothered”.

43. That, in Tabasco ESO
Tabasco is one of Mexico’s 31 states, and is located in the very southeast of the country.

52. “The L Word” producer Chaiken ILENE
Ilene Chaiken was the executive producer for the Showtime drama series “The L Word”. The show deals with lesbian, bisexual and transgender people living in West Hollywood. The title refers to “the L word”: lesbian.

55. Woody Allen’s “Radio __” DAYS
Woody Allen’s 1987 movie “Radio Days” is somewhat autobiographical. On screen, Allen is the narrator of the piece, and tells how radio influenced his young life before the advent of television, during the so called Golden Age of Radio.

56. Science fiction prize HUGO
The Hugo Awards are presented annually for excellence in science fiction and fantasy writing. The awards are named for Hugo Gernsback who founded the sci-fi magazine “Amazing Stories”.

57. Collector’s suffix -IANA
The suffix “-iana” is a variant of “-ana”.

An ana (plural “anas”) is a collection, perhaps of literature, that represents the character of a particular place or a person. Ana can be used as a noun or as a suffix (e.g. Americana).

60. D.C. United’s org. MLS
D.C. United is a professional soccer team based in the nation’s capital. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) and plays home games at the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Works by future doctors THESES
7. One of two N.T. books COR
10. Mellowed, perhaps AGED
14. 24/7 Rollerball maker PENTEL
15. Address for a PFC APO
16. Traffic controller CONE
17. African adventure SAFARI
18. Buttinskies MEDDLERS
20. 1954 Luis Buñuel film ROBINSON CRUSOE
22. Eur.’s ocean ATL
23. Diva quality EGO
24. Smallish cells AAS
25. “__ Love”: Natalie Cole hit OUR
26. Lamarr of Hollywood HEDY
28. Harrison colleague STARR
30. Sluglike “Star Wars” alien HUTT
31. Map corner item, maybe INSET
33. Cross-referencing words SEE NOTE
35. 1974 Lina Wertmüller film SWEPT AWAY
38. Rat Pack leader SINATRA
40. Pizza order SLICE
44. Start for sphere IONO-
45. Moved, as a trireme OARED
48. Aussie flock EMUS
49. Benchmark: Abbr. STD
50. “For shame!” TUT!
51. Portuguese royal REI
53. PGA money winner, e.g. PRO
54. 1963 Peter Brook film LORD OF THE FLIES
58. Unwanted import from the East? ASIAN FLU
59. Words that may precede weeping? READ ‘EM
61. Word with blue or bean NAVY
62. Neurologist’s test, briefly EEG
63. Temper ANNEAL
64. Covers the gray, say DYES
65. Tokyo, long ago EDO
66. They raise dough YEASTS

Down
1. Festoons with certain tissue, for short TPS
2. Give courage to HEARTEN
3. Swathes ENFOLDS
4. Attempt STAB
5. Spine-tingling EERIE
6. Baby carriers SLINGS
7. Hunter’s garb, for short CAMO
8. Clearing OPEN AREA
9. A.L. Rookie of the Year after Tommie Agee ROD CAREW
10. Rights protection gp. ACLU
11. Has a date GOES OUT
12. On the way EN ROUTE
13. With 44-Down, setting for 20-, 35- and 54-Across DESERT
19. TV’s Oz and Gupta DRS
21. Barstool topper SOT
22. Yellowfin tuna AHI
27. Like no-nonsense questions YES/NO
29. “When You Wish Upon __” A STAR
30. Big name in games HOYLE
32. Bygone Delta rival TWA
34. “Illmatic” rapper NAS
36. Cajun crawfish dish ETOUFFEE
37. Went on and on PRATTLED
38. In a manner of speaking SO TO SAY
39. Ready to go forward IN DRIVE
41. Blocks IMPEDES
42. Attack with profanity CURSE AT
43. That, in Tabasco ESO
44. See 13-Down ISLAND
46. Before, to a bard ERE
47. Offset, as costs DEFRAY
50. It may be gross TON
52. “The L Word” producer Chaiken ILENE
55. Woody Allen’s “Radio __” DAYS
56. Science fiction prize HUGO
57. Collector’s suffix -IANA
60. D.C. United’s org. MLS

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