Category: John R. O’Brien

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
4. Bullpen stats ERAS
Earned run average (ERA)

15. Consequences of most missed birdie putts PARS
Apparently the term “birdie” originated in 1899 at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey. A golfer hit his second shot on a par four that stopped inches from the cup after hitting a bird in flight. The golfer tapped the ball in for one-under-par, and his golfing buddies labeled the second shot a “bird”. The golfers started to call one-under-par a birdie, and the term spread through the club, and from there around the world …

18. __-Z: classic Camaro IROC
The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro, introduced in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

20. Pixar film in which Richard Petty had a voice role CARS
“Cars” is a 2006 animated feature from Pixar. The great cast of voice actors includes Paul Newman in his last movie role before he passed away in 2008.

Richard Petty earned the nickname “The King” on the NASCAR circuit. He is retired now and won the NASCAR Championship seven times, a record that has only been equaled by Dale Earnhardt. Richard Petty is part of a famous family of racers. Richard’s father was Lee Petty, winner of the first Daytona 500 in 1959. Richard’s son is Kyle Petty, a well-known driver, and Richard’s grandson was Adam Petty, a driver killed racing in 2000.

22. FDR power project TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has to be one of America’s great success stories when it comes to economic development. Created in 1933, the TVA spearheaded economic development in the Tennessee Valley at the height of the Great Depression. Central to the success was the federally-funded construction of flood-control and electricity-generation facilities.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”.

23. Some Iberian kings REYES
In Spanish, kings (reyes) rule.

The Ebro is the longest river in Spain. The river was known by the Romans as the Iber, and it is the “Iber” river that gives the “Iberian” Peninsula its name.

34. Dvorak’s last symphony NINTH
Antonín Dvořák was a composer from Czechoslovakia who spent three years working and composing in the United States. He was the director of the National Conservatory of Music of America in New York from 1892 to 1895. Certainly here in the US, Dvořák’s best known work is his Symphony No. 9, “From the New World”, which is often referred to simply as “The New World Symphony”.

44. “Hawaii” novelist MICHENER
The author James A. Michener won his Pulitzer in 1948 for his collection of short stories set during WWII called “Tales of the South Pacific”. The stories are based on Michener’s own experiences and on tales that he learned while stationed there during the war. The book was published in 1946, and three years later the musical “South Pacific” opened with a storyline drawn from Michener’s book.

“Hawaii” is a 1959 novel by James Michener that proceeds through the history of the islands from their creation to the dawn of the US state. There have been two film adaptations of the story. “Hawaii” (1966) stars Max von Sydow and Julie Andrews and focuses on the arrival of American missionaries to the Hawaiian kingdom. A sequel called “The Hawaiians” (1970) stars Charlton Heston and deals with the arrival of the Chinese and Japanese and the growth of the plantation lifestyle.

46. Decorative sewing case ETUI
An etui is an ornamental case used to hold small items, in particular sewing needles. We imported both the case design and the word “etui” from France. The French also have a modern usage of “etui”, using the term to depict a case for carrying CDs.

49. World waters SEVEN SEAS
The phrase “the seven seas” has been used for centuries by many different peoples. The actual definition of what constitutes the collection of seven has varied depending on the period and the culture. Nowadays we consider the seven largest bodies of water as the seven seas, namely:

– The North Pacific Ocean
– The South Pacific Ocean
– The North Atlantic Ocean
– The South Atlantic Ocean
– The Indian Ocean
– The Southern Ocean
– The Arctic Ocean

58. Hero in the air ACE
A flying ace is an aviator who has shot down a number of enemy planes during combat. The qualifying number of kills seems to vary, but five is common. The first use of “ace” was during WWI when the French newspapers dubbed pilot Adolphe Pegoud “l’as” (French for “the ace”) when he shot down his fifth German plane.

59. Patio furniture protector TARP
Originally, tarpaulins were made from canvas covered in tar that rendered the material waterproof. The word “tarpaulin” comes from “tar” and “palling”, with “pall” meaning “heavy cloth covering”.

60. Concert hall cry ENCORE!
“Encore” is the French word for “again”.

61. “Copacabana” temptress LOLA
The Copacabana of the 1979 Barry Manilow song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub.

63. Author suggested by the starts of 16-, 24- and 49-Across IAN FLEMING
James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”. There’s an entertaining miniseries airing on BBC America right now called “Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond” that details Ian Fleming’s military career, and draws some nice parallels between Fleming’s experiences and aspirations and those of his hero James Bond. Recommended …

66. Mr. T’s TV outfit A-TEAM
“The A-Team” is an action television series that originally ran in the eighties. The A-Team was a group of ex-US special forces personnel who became mercenaries. Star of the show was Hollywood actor George Peppard, ably assisted by Mr. T and Robert Vaughan.

Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tero Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

67. “A Streetcar Named Desire” director Kazan ELIA
Elia Kazan won Oscars for best director in 1948 for “Gentleman’s Agreement” and in 1955 for “On The Waterfront”. In 1999 Kazan was given an Academy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also directed “East of Eden”, which introduced James Dean to movie audiences, and “Splendor in the Grass” that included Warren Beatty in his debut role.

When Elia Kazan directed the 1951 movie “A Streetcar Named Desire”, he was already very familiar with the play as he had directed the original Broadway stage production. Marlon Brando, Kim Hunter and Karl Malden starred in the film, reprising the roles they had played on stage. Vivien Leigh played Blanche Dubois in the movie, a role she had played on the London stage.

“Desire” is the name of a neighborhood in New Orleans, a destination for a streetcar line. The name “Desire” appears on the front of streetcars bound for that neighborhood, hence the title of the Tennessee Williams play “A Streetcar Named Desire”.

69. Frosty coating HOAR
The Old English word “har” meant “gray, venerable, old”, and came into English as “hoar” (and later “hoary”) with the same meaning. The term “hoar-frost” dates back to the 13th century, and reflects the similarity of the white feathers of frost to the gray/white of an old man’s beard.

70. Cong. bigwig SEN
A senator (sen.) is a bigwig in Congress (Cong.)

Down
1. Justice Ruth __ Ginsburg BADER
Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg serves on the US Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg was the second woman to join the Court, nominated by President Bill Clinton. She was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1999 and underwent surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy. During that time she did not miss one day on the bench. In 2009 Justice Ginsburg had surgery for pancreatic cancer, and was back to work 12 days later.

4. Former times, formerly ELD
“Eld” is an archaic word meaning “antiquity, olden times”.

7. Amontillado, for one SHERRY
Amontillado is a variety of sherry produced in the Montilla region of Spain. The name Amontillado is sometimes used today as a generic name for any sherry that has a color between a fino (the palest and driest sherry) and an oloroso (darker and sweeter).

8. News gp. UPI
Founded in 1958, United Press International (UPI) was one of the biggest news agencies in the world, sending out news by wire to the major newspapers. UPI ran into trouble with the change in media formats at the end of the twentieth century and lost many of its clients as the afternoon newspapers shut down due to the advent of television news. UPI, which once employed thousands, still exists today but with just a handful of employees.

9. Acropolis temple PARTHENON
The term “Acropolis” translates from Greek as “high city” or “city on the extremity”. In English we use the term “Citadel” to mean the same thing thing. The most famous citadel bearing the name is the Acropolis of Athens. This Acropolis is a large, flat-topped rock in the city of Athens that rises almost 500 feet above sea level. The most recognizable building that stands on the Acropolis is the Parthenon, also known as the Temple of Athena.

10. Hidden treasure TROVE
The term “treasure trove” comes from the Anglo-French “tresor trové “ meaning “found treasure”.

11. Boxer De La Hoya OSCAR
Oscar De La Hoya is a boxer from East Los Angeles who won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. As a professional, De La Hoya won ten world titles in varying weight classes from super-featherweight to middleweight.

24. Autobahn auto OPEL
Adam Opel founded his company in 1863, first making sewing machines in a cowshed. Commercial success brought new premises and a new product line in 1886, namely penny-farthing bicycles. Adam Opel died in 1895, leaving his two sons with a company that made more penny-farthings and sewing machines than any other company in the world. In 1899 the two sons partnered with a locksmith and started to make cars, but not very successfully. Two years later, the locksmith was dropped in favor of a licensing arrangement with a French car company. By 1914, Opel was the largest manufacturer of automobiles in Germany. My Dad had an Opel in the seventies, a station wagon (we’d say “estate car” in Ireland) called an Opel Kadett.

30. Traffic reg. ORD
A traffic regulation (reg.) might be an ordinance (ord.).

35. “The Waste Land” poet’s monogram TSE
The author T. S. Eliot was the son of Henry Ware Eliot and Charlotte Champe Stearns, so his full name was Thomas Stearns Eliot (TSE).

Eliot wrote his poem called “The Waste Land” in 1922. “The Waste Land” opens with the famous line, “April is the cruelest month …”.

36. “… and sat down beside __ …” HER
Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet eating her curds and whey, in the popular nursery rhyme. A tuffet is a low seat or a footstool, another word for a pouffe or a hassock. When milk curdles it separates into two parts, the solid curds and the liquid whey. The along came a spider and sat down beside her.

39. Gifts for grads or dads TIES
Not for me, no way …

40. Heart chart, for short ECG
An EKG measures electrical activity in the heart. Back in my homeland of Ireland, an EKG is known as an ECG (for electrocardiogram). We use the German name in the US, Elektrokardiogramm, giving us EKG. Apparently the abbreviation EKG is preferred as ECG might be confused (if poorly handwritten, I guess) with EEG, the abbreviation for an electroencephalogram.

43. Pre-euro Irish coin PUNT
The punt (also “Irish pound”) was the currency of Ireland until the euro went into circulation in 2002.

45. Lena of “The Wiz” HORNE
Lena Horne was an American jazz singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne started out her career as a nightclub singer and then began to get some meaty acting roles in Hollywood. However, she ended up on the blacklist during the McCarthy Era for expressing left wing political views. One of Horne’s starring roles was in the 1943 movie “Stormy Weather” for which she also performed the title song.

“The Wiz”, the 1975 musical, was written by Charlie Smalls and is an African-American adaptation of Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”. The film version of the stage show was released in 1978, starring Diana Ross as Dorothy and Michael Jackson as the Scarecrow. I haven’t seen it, though. “The Wizard of Oz” scares me, as the flying monkeys creep me out. There, I’ve admitted it in public …

47. “Swords into plowshares” prophet ISAIAH
The concept of turning “swords into plowshares” is spoken about in the Book of Isaiah in the Bible. The idea expressed is to convert destructive tools into similar tools that can have useful and peaceful applications.

50. Bacteria in rare meat, maybe E COLI
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make their way into the food chain from animal fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.

51. Muse for Shelley ERATO
In Greek mythology, Erato was the Muse of Lyric Poetry.

Percy Bysshe Shelley was an English Romantic poet. Shelley had strong views on vegetarianism. He was dedicated to the cause of all sentient beings, believing that the slaughter of animals by humans for the use of food was a barbaric practice. He wrote a famous essay on the subject called “A Vindication of Natural Diet” in 1813.

52. Sleep lab subject APNEA
Sleep apnea (“apnoea” in British English) can be caused by an obstruction in the airways, possibly due to obesity or enlarged tonsils.

54. Cartoon supplier of anvils and explosive tennis balls ACME
The Acme Corporation is a fictional company used mainly by Looney Tunes, and within the Looney Tunes empire it was used mostly in the “Road Runner” cartoons. Wile E. Coyote was always receiving a new piece of gear from Acme designed to finally capture the Road Runner, but the equipment always led to his downfall instead.

56. Adopted son on “My Three Sons” ERNIE
“My Three Sons” is a sitcom that originally aired through the sixties and early seventies. The show starred Fred MacMurray as a widower raising his three sons with the help of the boys’ maternal grandfather, played by William Frawley (and later by William Demarest). In the mid-sixties, the actor playing the eldest son left the show and was written out of the story by marrying him off. The “three-sons” title was rescued by the scriptwriters when they arranged for the adoption of Ernie, an orphaned friend of the youngest son.

57. Sister of Goneril REGAN
“King Lear” is one of William Shakespeare’s tragedies. Lear’s three daughters figure prominently in the storyline. The three are, in order of age:

– Goneril
– Regan
– Cordelia

60. Scary movie street ELM
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” is a Wes Craven slasher-horror film, released in 1984. As I don’t do “slasher” nor “horror” I only learned recently that Johnny Depp was in the movie, making his feature film debut.

62. DDE rival AES
Adlai Stevenson (AES) ran for president unsuccessfully against Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and in 1956. Some years after his second defeat, Stevenson served under President Kennedy as Ambassador to the United Nations. Stevenson was always noted for his eloquence and he had a famous exchange in a UN Security Council meeting during the Cuban missile crisis. Stevenson bluntly demanded that the Soviet representative on the council tell the world if the USSR was installing nuclear weapons in Cuba. His words were “Don’t wait for the translation, answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’!” followed by “I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over!”

President Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas and given the name David Dwight Eisenhower, but by the time he made it to the White House he was going by the name Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE). Growing up, his family called him Dwight, and when “Ike” enrolled in West Point he himself reversed the order of his given names.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Humanities degs. BAS
4. Bullpen stats ERAS
8. Not exceeding UP TO
12. “__ way!” ATTA
14. Soft tissue FLESH
15. Consequences of most missed birdie putts PARS
16. Outing for four DOUBLE DATE
18. __-Z: classic Camaro IROC
19. Make beloved ENDEAR
20. Pixar film in which Richard Petty had a voice role CARS
22. FDR power project TVA
23. Some Iberian kings REYES
24. “Don’t tell me!” OH BROTHER!
26. Soak (up) SOP
28. Days gone by YORE
29. Took out for a while BORROWED
34. Dvorak’s last symphony NINTH
37. Three-part snack OREO
38. Delight ELATE
41. Work with an artist, perhaps POSE
42. Make sense ADD UP
44. “Hawaii” novelist MICHENER
46. Decorative sewing case ETUI
48. Star quality EGO
49. World waters SEVEN SEAS
53. Meet competitor RACER
58. Hero in the air ACE
59. Patio furniture protector TARP
60. Concert hall cry ENCORE!
61. “Copacabana” temptress LOLA
63. Author suggested by the starts of 16-, 24- and 49-Across IAN FLEMING
65. __ vera lotion ALOE
66. Mr. T’s TV outfit A-TEAM
67. “A Streetcar Named Desire” director Kazan ELIA
68. Quick swims DIPS
69. Frosty coating HOAR
70. Cong. bigwig SEN

Down
1. Justice Ruth __ Ginsburg BADER
2. Advice to a sinner ATONE
3. Quiet room STUDY
4. Former times, formerly ELD
5. Get through to REACH
6. Take __ at: try A STAB
7. Amontillado, for one SHERRY
8. News gp. UPI
9. Acropolis temple PARTHENON
10. Hidden treasure TROVE
11. Boxer De La Hoya OSCAR
13. Busy as __ A BEE
14. Not agin FER
17. Rodeo ring LASSO
21. Shortly SOON
24. Autobahn auto OPEL
25. Baloney TRIPE
27. Haven’t paid off yet OWE
29. Something to wrap around one’s neck … or maybe not BOA
30. Traffic reg. ORD
31. Improve, as a downtown area REDEVELOP
32. Travel plan ROUTE
33. Water holder? DAM
35. “The Waste Land” poet’s monogram TSE
36. “… and sat down beside __ …” HER
39. Gifts for grads or dads TIES
40. Heart chart, for short ECG
43. Pre-euro Irish coin PUNT
45. Lena of “The Wiz” HORNE
47. “Swords into plowshares” prophet ISAIAH
49. Dieter’s lunch SALAD
50. Bacteria in rare meat, maybe E COLI
51. Muse for Shelley ERATO
52. Sleep lab subject APNEA
54. Cartoon supplier of anvils and explosive tennis balls ACME
55. Hoses are often stored in them COILS
56. Adopted son on “My Three Sons” ERNIE
57. Sister of Goneril REGAN
60. Scary movie street ELM
62. DDE rival AES
64. “__ out!” FAR

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