Category: Jamey Smith

Advertisement

Constructed by: Jamey Smith
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 12m 38s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5 Toon canary’s foe : PUDDY TAT

“I tawt I taw a puddy tat!” is a famous line uttered by Tweety Bird, the yellow canary in the “Looney Tunes” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons who is constantly stalked by various cats.

13 NYC nabe : SOHO

The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in “SoHo Artists Association”, and the name stuck.

14 Grand Canal conveyance : VAPORETTO

The Italian word “vaporetto” translates as “little steamer”, and is the name given to the public waterbus in Venice. The original vaporetto ran on steam, hence the name.

16 Crime fiction by Jo Nesbo, e.g. : NORDIC NOIR

The phrase “Nordic noir” is used to describe crime fiction set in Nordic countries. Two celebrated examples of the genre would be the “Millenium” trilogy by Stieg Larsson and the “Kurt Wallander” mysteries by Henning Mankell. Both are great reads, and both have excellent on-screen adaptations …

17 Sushi order with avocado “scales” : DRAGON ROLL

A dragon roll is a sushi dish made from eel, cucumber, seaweed, rice and avocado. I am sure it’s delicious … without the eel!

19 Bankable vacation hrs. : PTO

Paid time off (PTO)

20 Book with “Solitude” and “The Pond in Winter” chapters : WALDEN

Henry David Thoreau is a personal hero of mine. He is best known for his book called “Walden” published in 1854. The book outlines his philosophy of life and details his experiences living in a cabin near Walden Pond just outside Concord, Massachusetts.

24 Pipe choice, initially : PVC

PVC is polyvinyl chloride, the third most widely produced plastic in the world (after polyethylene and polypropylene). PVC is resistant to corrosion from biological and chemical agents making it a favored choice these days for sewage lines, replacing the traditional metal materials. It is so chemically stable that it will be around a long, long time …

27 Dangerous nestful : WASPS

While wasps are considered a nuisance by many, they are very important to the agricultural industry. Wasps prey on many pest insects, while having very little impact on crops.

31 QB mishap : INT

In football, if a quarterback’s (QB’s) pass ends up in the hands of a cornerback (CB), then that’s an interception (INT).

32 First name in the Basketball Hall of Fame : KAREEM

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

35 River in a Best Picture title : KWAI

The river referred to in the movie “The Bridge on the River Kwai” is actually called the Khwae Yai River, and is in western Thailand. The original novel by Pierre Boulle, “The Bridge Over the River Kwai”, was published in French in 1952, and the wonderful movie released in 1957. Both tell the story of the construction of part of the Burma Railway and a bridge over the river, using prisoners of war as laborers. The film stars William Holden, Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins.

36 After-dinner talk? : WHAT’S FOR DESSERT?

Our word “dessert” comes from the French verb “desservir” meaning “to clear the table”. The idea is that dessert is usually the last course to be cleared from the table.

44 Govt. agent : FED

A fed is an officer of a US federal agency, although the term “fed” usually applies to an agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

47 G, in the key of C : SOL

Solfège (also “sol-fa”) is a teaching method used in the world of music. The technique involves the use of the sol-fa syllables for each note, and associating each syllable with a specific pitch.

53 Salsa verde base : TOMATILLOS

Tomatillos are the fruit of the tomatillo plant and are used as vegetables, particularly in Mexican cuisine. The name “tomatillo” translates from Spanish as “little tomato”. Both the tomato and tomatillo belong to the nightshade family of plants.

57 Bird that appears on the Australian $20 banknote : KOOKABURRA

The kookaburra is a bird, a large type of kingfisher, that is native to Australia and New Guinea. Kookaburras have a very distinctive call that is very similar to a human laugh, and their Aboriginal name is onomatopoeic of its call. The laughing kookaburra has a distinctive sound, and was originally known as the laughing jackass.

62 Mar liquid : AGUA

In Spanish, “el mar” (the sea) is “azul” (blue) and is full of “agua” (water).

63 Skittish sorts on TV? : SNL HOSTS

The youngest person to host “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) was Drew Barrymore, at age 7 in 1982. The oldest host was Betty White, at 88 in 2010.

Down

1 Common adult ed offering : ESL

English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

2 Cole Porter song whose lyrics mention the Kinsey Report : TOO DARN HOT

“Too Darn Hot” is a Cole Porter song written for his 1948 musical “Kiss Me, Kate”. In the original stage version, there is a line “According to the Kinsey Report”. That was altered for the 1953 film version of the musical to “According to the latest report”.

Alfred Kinsey sure did create a stir with his work and publications. He founded the Institute for Sex Research in 1947, and published the famous “Kinsey Reports” in 1948 and 1953. I enjoyed the 2004 biopic “Kinsey”, starring Irish actor Liam Neeson in the title role.

3 Mountebanks : CHARLATANS

A charlatan is someone who makes false claims of skill or knowledge. “Charlatan” is a word we imported from French, although the original derivation is the Italian “ciarlatano”, a term meaning “quack”.

A mountebank is a charlatan, a swindler. The term applies more specifically to someone who sells quack medicines to a small crowd, using tricks and exaggerated stories to convince individuals to purchase. “Mountebank” comes into English via Italian from “monta” meaning “to mount” and “banco” meaning “bench”. The idea is that the swindler would “mount a bench” from where he can address the crowd and hawk his fraudulent wares.

4 San Diego burger chain whose name comes from surfing slang : HODAD’S

“Hodad” is a slang term that dates from the fifties. It is used to describe someone who hangs out at the beach, but someone who isn’t a surfer. Hodads were mainly into cars and music.

5 Vikander’s “Firebrand” role : PARR

Henry VIII was the English King with the most wives. Well, something rubbed off on his last wife Catherine Parr. She was to become the English Queen with the most husbands! By the time she married Henry, she had been widowed twice. After Henry died, Parr married once again, racking up four husbands in all.

“Firebrand” is a 2023 period drama film based on the 2013 novel “Queen’s Gambit” by Elizabeth Fremantle. Both novel and film feature Katherine Parr, the sixth wife of King Henry VIII, as the main character. I’d really like to see this one …

Alicia Vikander is an actress from Sweden. She gained recognition with American audiences when she played the humanoid robot in the fascinating 2015 film “Ex Machina”. In 2018, she played the title character in the film “Tomb Raider”. Vikander is married to Irish actor Michael Fassbender.

7 Lacy mat : DOILY

There was a draper in London in the seventeenth century named Doiley, and he gave his name to the lace fabric that he sold. The fabric in turn gave its name to the ornamental mat that we call a “doily”. I can’t abide doilies …

8 Inspector Gadget’s nemesis : DR CLAW

In the cartoon show “Inspector Gadget”, the title character’s nemesis is Dr. Claw, the leader of the evil organization “M.A.D.”, standing for “Mean and Dirty”.

“Inspector Gadget” is a cartoon television show from the 1980s in which the title character is a cyborg detective. There’s a lot of similarity in Inspector Gadget’s behavior to the behavior of Maxwell Smart from the sitcom “Get Smart”. Actor Don Adams played the title role in “Get Smart” and also provided the voice for Inspector Gadget.

9 Craving : YEN

The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium.

10 Muscle car feature : T-TOP

A T-top is a car roof that has removable panels on either side of a rigid bar that runs down the center of the vehicle above the driver.

12 Fatty cut at a sushi bar : TORO

In a sushi restaurant, the dish called “toro” is the fatty tissue from the belly of the bluefin tuna.

14 Word in some German names : VON

“Von” is a German word meaning “of, from”.

18 “Freaks and __”: short-lived sitcom with a cult following : GEEKS

“Freaks and Geeks” is a comedy-drama TV series aimed at teens that aired in 1999-2000. The executive producer for the show was Judd Apatow, and it launched the acting career of James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and others.

20 Multimedia artist and activist Ai : WEIWEI

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist who has been vocal in his criticism of his country’s position on human rights and democracy. Weiwei was an artistic consultant largely responsible for the look and feel of the Beijing National Stadium, commonly referred to as the “Bird’s Nest”, that was showcased during the 2008 Summer Olympics.

22 Himalayan herd : YAKS

The English word “yak” is an Anglicized version of the Tibetan name for the male of the species. Yak milk is much prized in Tibetan culture. It is made into cheese and butter, and the butter is used to make a tea that is consumed in great volume by Tibetans. The butter is also used as a fuel in lamps, and during festivals the butter is even sculpted into religious icons.

24 Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play about a mathematical genius : PROOF

“Proof” is a play by David Auburn that premiered in 2000 in New York City, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2001. It was adapted for the big screen in a 2005 film of the same name starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Anthony Hopkins. I saw “Proof” a couple of decades ago. I’m afraid it didn’t work for me …

28 Structure for some Indigenous spiritual ceremonies : SWEAT LODGE

Sweat lodges are used by indigenous peoples of the Americas for a spiritual ceremony referred to in English as a “sweat”. The sweat is a purification carried out in the heated lodge. The structure itself is usually quite simple in construction, a dome-shaped hut made from saplings covered in animal skins or blankets.

30 Raga instruments : SITARS

The sitar has been around since the Middle Ages. It is a stringed instrument that is played by plucking, and is used most often in Hindustani classical music. In the West we have been exposed to the instrument largely through the performances of Ravi Shankar and some music by George Harrison of the Beatles, a onetime student of Shankar.

33 Titans’ gp. : AFC

American Football Conference (AFC)

The Tennessee Titans are a football team based in Nashville. The team relocated to Nashville from Houston in 1997. They were called the Tennessee Oilers for two seasons, before adopting the “Titans” moniker.

34 Dudes : MEN

Our term “dude” arose as slang in New York City in the 1880s, when it was used to describe a fastidious man. In the early 1900s, the term was extended to mean “city slickers”, easterners who vacationed in the West. The first use of the term “dude ranch” was recorded in 1921.

37 Takeout menu possessive : TSO’S

General Tso’s chicken is an American creation, and a dish often found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. The name General Tso may be a reference to General Zuo Zongtang of the Qing Dynasty, but there is no clear link.

38 TV journalist Lesley : STAHL

Television journalist Lesley Stahl first appeared on “60 Minutes” in 1991, after serving as moderator of “Face the Nation” for almost 8 years starting in 1983. Stahl is married to author and journalist Aaron Latham. One of Latham’s claims to fame is that he wrote the article that inspired the movie “Urban Cowboy”.

43 “One Mississippi” creator/star Tig : NOTARO

Tig Notaro is a stand-up comedian known for her deadpan delivery. More recently, she has turned to acting and has a recurring role as Chief Engineer Jett Reno on “Star Trek: Discovery”.

46 “The Cat Who … ” series writer’s first name : LILIAN

Lilian Jackson Braun was the author of the “The Cat Who” series of mystery novels. The main characters in the stories are an ex-reporter named James Qwilleran and his Siamese cats called KoKo and Yum-Yum.

48 Spots for studs : LOBES

Despite what one might read on the Internet, humans don’t fall into two categories, one with free earlobes and one with attached earlobes. Free and attached earlobes are the extremes of a continuous range.

49 Sch. based in Hyde Park, N.Y. : CIA

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York was founded in 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut as the New Haven Restaurant Institute. It was established as a training school for veterans returning from WWII.

50 MMA calls : TKOS

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact combat sport in which competitors use a variety of techniques from a variety of traditional combat sports and martial arts.

52 Eyeliner option : KOHL

Kohl is a traditional cosmetic used to enhance the eyes by lining the eyes, darkening the eyelids and darkening the eyelashes. The key ingredient in traditional kohl recipes is ground stibnite, a sulfide of antimony. Other recipes call for ground galena (sulfide of lead) or charcoal.

54 Benji, e.g. : MUTT

Benji is the main character in a series of “Benji” movies made starting from 1974. Benji is a mixed-breed dog.

55 The “A” of STEAM : ARTS

The acronym “STEM” stands for the disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. An alternative acronym with a similar meaning is MINT, standing for mathematics, information sciences, natural sciences and technology. The acronym STEAM adds (liberal) arts to the STEM curriculum.

58 Metric speed meas. : KPH

Kilometers per hour (kph)

60 Carrier to Oslo : SAS

SAS was formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System and is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden. SAS is based at Stockholm Arlanda Airport located just north of the Swedish capital.