Category: Gerry Wildenberg

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. 10% donation TITHE
A tithe is a traditional payment of one tenth of a person’s annual income and is usually given to a church. Tithing is a practice taught in many traditions, and according to a 2002 survey, about 3% of American adults donate 10% or more of their income to a church.

6. “12 Angry Men” actor COBB
Lee J. Cobb’s most famous film roles were in “12 Angry Men” released in 1957, and “On the Waterfront” released in 1954. Cobb found himself caught up in the net cast by the dreadful House Un-American Activities Committee and was blacklisted for two years as he refused to testify. Finding himself penniless and with five children to support, he eventually did appear in front of the committee and named twenty former members of the Communist Party USA, just to survive.

The powerful 1957 movie “12 Angry Men” was directed by Sidney Lumet, and has a stellar cast of “jury members” including Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Jack Klugman and Ed Begley. If ever there is a movie that clearly was based on a play, it’s this one. Practically the whole film takes place on one set, the jury room.

10. Credit card bill nos. APRS
Annual percentage rate (APR)

14. Lucy’s landlady ETHEL
In the hit television show “I Love Lucy”, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz played Lucy and Ricky Ricardo. The Ricardos’ best friends were also their landlords, Fred and Ethel Mertz. The Mertz’s were played by William Frawley and Vivian Vance.

15. __ code AREA
Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then the “clicks” one heard when dialling a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 313.

16. Sodium hydroxide, on a chem test NAOH
Sodium hydroxide is a highly caustic salt, with the chemical formula NaOH. Because of its caustic properties, sodium hydroxide is also known as “caustic soda”.

17. 1949 Olivia de Havilland film THE HEIRESS
“The Heiress” is a 1949 film starring Olivia de Havilland in the title role, as well as Montgomery Clift and Sir Ralph Richardson. The film is an adaptation of a 1947 play of the same name by Ruth and Augustus Goetz. In turn, the play is based on an 1880 novel by Henry James called “Washington Square”. The Henry James novel was also adapted into 1997 film called “Washington Square” that has an excellent cast, including Jennifer Jason Leigh, Albert Finney, Ben Chaplin and Maggie Smith. I am going to have to rent that one …

Olivia de Havilland is an English actress, born in Tokyo. who came to live in California with her family in 1919. Her younger sister is actress Joan Fontaine. De Havilland won two Best Actress Oscars, for “To Each His Own” (1946) and “The Heiress” (1940). Fontaine won a Best Actress Oscar for “Suspicion” (1941). As a result, sisters Olivia and Joan are the only two siblings to have won lead acting Academy Awards.

19. Kathryn of HBO’s “Oz” ERBE
The actress Kathryn Erbe is best known for playing Det. Alexandra Eames on the TV show “Law & Order: Criminal Intent”. Paradoxically perhaps, her other noted role is as Shirley Bellinger in the HBO series “Oz”, a death row inmate.

“Oz” is a prison drama series that was originally aired by HBO from 1997 to 2003. The show’s title is the nickname of the fictional Oswald State maximum-security prison in New York State. The TV series used the tagline “It’s no place like home”, a play on the phrase “There’s no place like home” that was used to effect in the classic movie “The Wizard of Oz”.

24. Cold drink brand ICEE
Icee is the brand name of one of those slushy drinks. Ugh …

25. Home of the Clinton Presidential Library LITTLE ROCK
Little Rock is the capital of the state of Arkansas. The city is named for an outcrop of rock on the bank of the Arkansas River that was once a prominent landmark for travelers. The outcrop was named “La Petite Roche” by a French explorer, a name that translates into English as “The Little Rock”.

The Clinton Presidential Center, which includes Bill Clinton’s presidential library, was opened in 2004 in Little Rock, Arkansas. President Clinton’s was the largest presidential library at the time of opening, but lost that honor the following year when the Air Force One Pavilion was added to President Reagan’s presidential library. I love visiting presidential libraries …

29. White House tween SASHA
Sasha is the younger of the two Obama children, born in 2001. She is the youngest child to reside in the White House since John F. Kennedy, Jr. moved in with his parents as a small infant. Sasha’s Secret Service codename is “Rosebud”, and her older sister Malia has the codename “Radiance”.

The term “tween” is now used to describe preadolescence, the years between 10 and 12 years of age.

32. Singer Shore DINAH
Dinah Shore had a lot of success as a singer in the forties and fifties in the Big Band Era, and then in the sixties as a hostess of variety programs on television. Shore was also a big fan of golf, both as a player and a spectator. She founded the Colgate Dinah Shore golf tournament which is now the Kraft Nabisco Championship, one of the four majors on the LPGA Tour.

33. Pope of 903 LEO V
Pope Leo V was head of the Roman Catholic Church for just one year, from 903 to 904. Leo V was imprisoned by the Antipope Christopher just two months after taking office. It is likely that both Antipope Christopher and Pope Leo V were executed on the orders of Sergius III who took over the papacy in 904.

35. Van Cleef & __: French jeweler/perfumer ARPELS
Van Cleef & Arpels is a jewellery, watch and perfume company that is based in France. As perhaps one might expect, the company was founded by a Charles Arpels and an Alfred Van Cleef, back in 1906 in Paris.

40. Small sword RAPIER
A rapier is a very thin sword with a sharp point that is used to kill and maim by thrusting the point into the body, rather than by slashing,

41. Corduroy ridges RIBS
There’s a myth that the name of textile known as “corduroy” comes from the French “corde du roi” (the cord of the king). It’s more likely that “corduroy” comes from a melding of “cord” and “duroy” (a coarse fabric that used to be made in England).

42. “__ Is Born” A STAR
“A Star Is Born” is a 1937 film starring Janet Gaynor as an upcoming Hollywood actress. “A Star Is Born” was remade twice, in 1954 with Judy Garland playing the lead, and in 1976 with Barbra Streisand.

43. Double-helix molecule DNA
Francis Crick and James Watson discovered that DNA had a double-helix, chain-like structure, and published their results in Cambridge in 1953. To this day the discovery is mired in controversy, as some crucial results collected by fellow researcher Rosalind Franklin were used without her permission or even knowledge.

44. Coke and Pepsi SODAS
The first cola drink to become a commercial success was Coca-Cola, soon after it was invented by a druggist in 1886. That first Coca-Cola was flavored mainly with kola nuts and vanilla. The formulation was based on an alcoholic drink called Coca Wine that had been on sale for over twenty years. The original alcoholic version actually contained a small concentration of cocaine.

The Pepsi-Cola formulation was developed by one Caleb Bradham who made the drink at home and sold it as “Brad’s Drink”. Bradham’s aim was to provide a drink that was pleasant to taste, that would aid digestion and boost energy. Included in the formula were pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts. These two ingredients inspired the Pepsi Cola brand name that is used today.

49. Sam’s Choice, e.g. STORE BRAND
“Sam’s Choice” is a brand used by Wal-Mart that is named for the company’s founder, Sam Walton.

52. Dramatic opening? MELO-
A “melodrama” is a play or film that usually pits good against evil, with an obvious hero or heroine vying against an obvious villain. Melodrama has evolved over time, originating in the 18th century as a drama for which there was a musical accompaniment. The term is derived from the Greek “melos” meaning “music” and the French “drame” meaning “drama”.

53. Blackguard CAD
Back in the early 1500s, a “blackguard” was someone who worked in the scullery or kitchen. The term was probably of mock-military origin, referring to shoeblacks or perhaps lower-level servants dressed in black. Nowadays, a blackguard is a lowlife, a cur.

55. When, in Act III, Romeo cries, “O, I am fortune’s fool!” SCENE I
“O, I am Fortune’s fool” is a line from William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”. The words are uttered by Romeo after he kills Tybalt, Juliet’s cousin, in a duel. Romeo knows that he has made a bad mistake, and tells everyone so. Sure enough, things go downhill for him and Juliet for the remainder of the play.

57. Course for Crusoe?: Abbr. ANAG
The word “course” is an anagram of the word “Crusoe”.

62. Actor Jared LETO
Jared Leto is an actor and musician. In the world of music, Leto is the lead singer and rhythm guitarist for the rock band 30 Seconds to Mars. In the film world his most critically acclaimed role was that of a heroin addict in “Requiem for a Dream”. He also appeared in “American Psycho”, “Panic Room” and “Lord of War”.

64. Mountain ridge ARETE
An arete is ridge of rock defining the border between two parallel valleys that have been formed by glaciation. If the ridge between the valleys is rounded, it is called a “col”. However if it is “sharpened”, with rock falling way due to successive freezing and thawing, then it is called an “arete”. “Arête“ is the French word for “fish bone”.

65. Galley order STET
“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

Galleys are the metal trays into which a printer would arrange type to make up a page. The galleys had clamps that could be used to hold the loose type in place. Even in today’s world of electronic publishing, apparently the term “galley proof” is still used as the name for some version of a layout that is not yet final.

67. Outmoded PASSE
“Passé” is a French word, meaning “past, faded”.

Down
1. Shape-fitting game TETRIS
Tetris is a very addictive video game, developed in the Soviet Union in 1984. The name Tetris comes from a melding of the prefix “tetra-” (as all the game pieces have four segments) and “tennis” (a favorite sport played by the developer). Since 2005 there have been more than 100 million copies of the game installed on cell phones alone.

2. Cayuga Lake city ITHACA
The city of Ithaca sits right at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake in New York State. Named for the Greek island, Ithaca is famous as home to Cornell University, which is located just south of the city.

Cayuga Lake is one of the beautiful Finger Lakes in central New York, the longest in fact. The city of Ithaca sits right at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake.

5. Gen. Robert __ E LEE
After leading the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War, Robert E. Lee served as president of Washington College in Lexington, Virginia. The college’s name was changed to Washington and Lee University in 1870, soon after Lee’s death.

9. __ metabolic rate BASAL
One’s basal metabolism refers to just the basic processes of the body, the one’s essential to maintain life. The Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the number of calories needed to maintain that basal metabolism, sufficient energy to maintain function of the vital organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys. Excluded is the energy needed to move around, to eat, or to absorb food.

11. The president, vis-à-vis one Thanksgiving turkey PARDONER
The tradition of the US President “pardoning” a Thanksgiving turkey was only formalized in 1989, during the administration of President George H, W. Bush. The pardoned turkey is taken to a farm where is gets to live out its life. Prior to 1989, the tradition was more focused on the presentation of a turkey to the White House, and less on the fate of the bird. President Eisenhower was presented with a turkey in each year of his two terms, and he ate them all …

12. Autodialed electioneering tactic ROBOCALL
Political calls, including robocalls, are exempt from regulation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), so we can’t stop them by putting our phone numbers on the “Do Not Call Registry”.

13. Arab tribal leaders SHEIKHS
“Sheikh” is an Arabic title used by the head of a family or by the head of a Muslim religious order. The term arose in the 16th century and came from the Arabic word “shaykh”, meaning “chief, old man”.

18. Map speck: Abbr. ISL
Island (isl.)

26. Lab assistant of film IGOR
Igor has been the assistant to Dracula, Frankenstein and Young Frankenstein among others. Igor is almost invariably portrayed as a hunchback.

28. Longtime Philbin co-host RIPA
When Kelly Ripa secured the co-host spot on morning television with Regis Philbin, she was still acting in “All My Children” in a role she had been playing for over ten years. After a year of holding down two jobs, she eventually gave up the acting gig.

Regis Philbin is an amazingly popular television personality. Philbin is in such high demand and has had such a long career, that he holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera (in excess of 16,000 hours).

34. Andorra’s cont. EUR
Andorra is a small principality nestled in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Andorra is a very prosperous country, mainly due to its status as a tax haven and thriving tourist industry. We used help out the tourist industry there in the winters, enjoying a couple of skiing holidays there. Happy memories …

35. Msg. to the whole squad APB
An All Points Bulletin (APB) is a broadcast from one US law enforcement agency to another.

36. Hand-held clicker CASTANET
Castanets are hand-held percussion instruments associated most notably with Spanish music. We tend to think of castanets being used in the flamenco style of dance, but in fact this is rarely the case. The name “castanets” comes from “castaña”, the Spanish word for “chestnut”, which they resemble.

39. Gorilla observer Fossey DIAN
Dian Fossey carried out her famous study of gorilla populations in the mountain forests of Rwanda (NB: it was Jane Goodall that worked with chimpanzees). Sadly, Fossey was found dead in her cabin in Rwanda in 1986, murdered in her bedroom, her skull split open by a machete. The crime was never solved.

40. “Good Lovin'” group, with “the” RASCALS
The Rascals was a band that was big in the late sixties and early seventies. It was a “blue-eyed soul” group, which I just learned is white guys playing soul music. I am so out of touch …

45. 1998 British Open champ Mark O’MEARA
Mark O’Meara is an American golfer from Goldsboro, North Carolina. O’Meara is known as one of the American players who competes in international tournaments more than most, and has a reputation as a real gentleman all around the world.

50. Some gallery statuary BUSTS
A bust is a sculpture of the upper torso and head. We imported the word from Italy, where the word “busto” means “upper body”.

51. Summer hrs. DST
Daylight Saving Time (DST)

56. English guy CHAP
“Chap” is an informal term for “lad, fellow”, especially in England. The term derives from “chapman”, an obsolete word meaning “purchaser” or “trader”.

60. Floral chain LEI
“Lei” is the Hawaiian word for “garland, wreath”, although in more general terms a “lei” is any series of objects strung together as an adornment for the body.

61. AOL, e.g. ISP
AOL is an Internet service provider (ISP)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. 10% donation TITHE
6. “12 Angry Men” actor COBB
10. Credit card bill nos. APRS
14. Lucy’s landlady ETHEL
15. __ code AREA
16. Sodium hydroxide, on a chem test NAOH
17. 1949 Olivia de Havilland film THE HEIRESS
19. Kathryn of HBO’s “Oz” ERBE
20. Dermatologist’s concerns RASHES
21. Rowboat propeller OAR
23. “Where __ sign?” DO I
24. Cold drink brand ICEE
25. Home of the Clinton Presidential Library LITTLE ROCK
29. White House tween SASHA
31. Delightful time GAS
32. Singer Shore DINAH
33. Pope of 903 LEO V
35. Van Cleef & __: French jeweler/perfumer ARPELS
36. Bead in a necklace CULTURED PEARL
40. Small sword RAPIER
41. Corduroy ridges RIBS
42. “__ Is Born” A STAR
43. Double-helix molecule DNA
44. Coke and Pepsi SODAS
49. Sam’s Choice, e.g. STORE BRAND
52. Dramatic opening? MELO-
53. Blackguard CAD
54. Small pop group DUO
55. When, in Act III, Romeo cries, “O, I am fortune’s fool!” SCENE I
57. Course for Crusoe?: Abbr. ANAG
59. Nitpick, and what this puzzle’s circled letters represent SPLIT HAIRS
62. Actor Jared LETO
63. What NHL shootouts resolve TIES
64. Mountain ridge ARETE
65. Galley order STET
66. Sound that fits this puzzle’s theme SNIP
67. Outmoded PASSE

Down
1. Shape-fitting game TETRIS
2. Cayuga Lake city ITHACA
3. Ph.D. hurdles THESES
4. Dastardly chuckle HEH HEH
5. Gen. Robert __ E LEE
6. Train unit CAR
7. Mineral resource ORE
8. Stupefies with drink BESOTS
9. __ metabolic rate BASAL
10. “Wheel of Fortune” buy AN E
11. The president, vis-à-vis one Thanksgiving turkey PARDONER
12. Autodialed electioneering tactic ROBOCALL
13. Arab tribal leaders SHEIKHS
18. Map speck: Abbr. ISL
22. Right, as a wrong REDRESS
26. Lab assistant of film IGOR
27. Greek café TAVERNA
28. Longtime Philbin co-host RIPA
30. Took in or let out ALTERED
34. Andorra’s cont. EUR
35. Msg. to the whole squad APB
36. Hand-held clicker CASTANET
37. Current UP-TO-DATE
38. Perjurer LIAR
39. Gorilla observer Fossey DIAN
40. “Good Lovin'” group, with “the” RASCALS
43. Stop by unannounced DROP IN
45. 1998 British Open champ Mark O’MEARA
46. Declares untrue DENIES
47. Warnings ALERTS
48. “That’s quite clear” SO I SEE
50. Some gallery statuary BUSTS
51. Summer hrs. DST
56. English guy CHAP
58. Caught on to GOT
60. Floral chain LEI
61. AOL, e.g. ISP

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