Category: Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Ladybug lunches APHIDS
Aphids are called “greenfly” back in the British Isles where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids in my experience is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called ladybirds in Ireland!).

11. Handle for a chef? STU
“Stu” might be an apt name for a chef, because it the name sounds like “stew”.

16. ’60s-’70s news focus, informally NAM
By some definitions, the official involvement of Americans in the Vietnam War started in 1955. At that time, President Eisenhower deployed a Military Assistance Advisory Group to assist in the training of the South Vietnamese Army. American involvement in the conflict officially ended in 1973 with the signing of an agreement that came out of the Paris Peace Accords.

19. Old sports org. using colorful balls ABA
The American Basketball Association (ABA) merged with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1976. The ABA used a ball with the colors red, white and blue. The NBA uses a more traditional orange ball.

22. Some execs CFOS
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

23. Bedtime for bats? RAFTER HOURS (from “after-hours”)
Rafters are the sloping timbers that support a roof.

32. “__ a traveler …”: “Ozymandias” I MET
“Ozymandias” is a sonnet written by Percy Bysshe Shelley that was first published in 1818:

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed:
And on the pedestal these words appear:
‘My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!’
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

36. First Poet Laureate of Vermont FROST
The wonderful poet Robert Frost was a native of San Francisco, but lived most of life in New England. He also spent a few years in England, just before WWI. Frost was well recognized for his work during his lifetime, and received four Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry. He was also Vermont’s first Poet Laureate, a position that he held from 1961 until his death in 1963.

44. Satirist once dubbed “Will Rogers with fangs” SAHL
Mort Sahl was dubbed “Will Rogers with Fangs” by “Time” magazine in 1960.

Mort Sahl is a Canadian-born actor and comedian who moved to the US with his family when he was a child. Sahl became friends with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president, Sahl wrote a lot of jokes for the President’s speeches, although he also told a lot of Kennedy jokes in his acts. After the President was assassinated in 1963, Sahl was intensely interested in finding out who was behind the crime and even got himself deputized as a member of one of the investigating teams. He was very outspoken against the results of the Warren Commission report on the assassination, and soon found himself out of favor with the public. It took a few years for him to make his comeback, but come back he did.

50. Decisive “Star Wars” victory? ROUT IN SPACE (from “out in space”)
“Stars Wars” fans are no doubt aware that George Lucas is making “Star Wars Episode VII”, which is scheduled for release in 2015.

55. Eclectic online reader UTNE
The “Utne Reader” is known for aggregation and republishing of articles on politics, culture and the environment from other sources in the media. The “Utne Reader” was founded in 1984, with “Utne” being the family name of the couple that started the publication.

67. Landlocked African country UGANDA
Uganda is a landlocked county in East Africa lying just to the west of Kenya. Uganda was ruled by the British as a protectorate from 1894 and gained independence in 1962. Uganda is very much associated with the tyrannical rule of Idi Amin in the 1970s.

68. When some ties are broken, briefly IN OT
Overtime (OT)

71. Part of CSNY NASH
The supergroup Crosby, Stills & Nash (CSN) is made up of David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash. The band can grow to “CSNY” when the trio is joined by Neil Young. Fans have been known to call the act “C, S, N and sometimes Y”, a play on the expression that names all the vowels, “A, E, I, O, U and sometimes Y”.

Down
1. “Up in the Air” Oscar nominee Farmiga VERA
My favorite performance by the film actress Vera Farmiga was in the 2009 film “Up in the Air”, in a supporting role to George Clooney, for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

2. Aircraft pioneer Sikorsky IGOR
Igor Sikorsky was a Russian pioneer in the world of aviation. He designed and indeed piloted the world’s first multi-engine, fixed-wing aircraft in 1913. He moved to the US in 1919 and set up his own aircraft manufacturing business. In the thirties he made the magnificent flying boats that were used by Pan Am in their Clipper era. Sikorsky also developed the world’s first mass-produced helicopter, in 1942.

5. Diplomatic VIP AMB
Ambassador (Amb.)

6. Little, in Lille PEU
Lille is a large city in the very north of France sitting right on the border with Belgium. The name “Lille” is a derivation of the term “l’isle” meaning “the island”.

8. Hastings hearth INGLE
An ingle is a name for a hearth or fireplace. The word “ingle” probably comes from the Scottish word “aingeal” meaning “fire”.

Hastings, a town on the Sussex coast of England, was the site of the first battle of the Norman Conquest of England, the Battle of Hastings of 1066.

9. Tab alternative DIET RC
RC Cola introduced its first diet beverage way back in 1958, a product called Diet Rite Cola (or “Diet RC”). It’s still around today, although the formulation has been changed many times.

Tab was the first diet cola introduced by the Coca-Cola company, in 1963. It was produced as a competitor to the very successful Diet Rite cola that was made by RC Cola. The name “Tab” was used as the beverage was aimed at people who wanted to keep “tabs” on their weight.

11. Muddled situation SNAFU
SNAFU is an acronym standing for Situation Normal: All Fouled Up (well, that’s the “polite” version!). As you might imagine, the term developed in the US Army, during WWII.

12. Fife-and-drum corps instrument TABOR
A tabor is a portable snare drum that is played with one hand. The tabor is usually suspended by a strap from one arm, with the other hand free to beat the drum. It is often played as an accompaniment for a fife or other small flutes. The word “tabor” comes from “tabwrdd”, the Welsh word for “drum”.

13. It has a med school in Worcester UMASS
The University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) was founded in 1962 in Worcester, and is now one of the five UMASS campuses. The four others are located at Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell.

18. Avis adjective RARA
A “rara avis” is anything that is very rare, and is Latin for “rare bird”.

26. Snit HUFF
The exact etymology of “snit”, meaning “fit of temper”, isn’t really known. The term was first used in print in the play “Kiss the Boys Goodbye” by Clare Booth Luce, which dates back to the 1930s and is set in the American South.

28. Arabian sultanate OMAN
Qaboos bin Said al Said is the current Sultan of Oman, who came to power in a coup in 1970 by deposing his own father. Qaboos has no children, and no agreed heir. His current instructions are for the royal family to agree on a successor after his death. Qaboos has also specified that should the royal not be able to agree on a successor, then the country’s Defense Council will make the decision, choosing between two names that the Sultan placed in a sealed envelope to be opened after his passing.

29. Toy for an aspiring architect LEGO
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.

34. DOT agcy. FAA
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was set up in 1958 (as the Federal Aviation Agency). The agency was established at that particular time largely in response to an increasing number of midair collisions. The worst of these disasters had taken place two years earlier over the Grand Canyon, a crash between two commercial passenger airplanes that resulted in 128 fatalities.

Department of Transportation (DOT)

35. The “e” sound in “tandem” SCHWA
A “schwa” is an unstressed and toneless vowel found in a number of languages including English. Examples from our language are the “a” in “about”, the “e” in “taken” and the “i” in pencil.

37. Ceramic pot OLLA
An olla is a traditional clay pot used for the making of stews. “Olla” was the Latin word used in Ancient Rome to describe a similar type of pot.

41. Where to nosh on a knish DELI
Our word “nosh” has been around since the late fifties, when it was imported from the Yiddish word “nashn” meaning “to nibble”.

A knish is a snack food from Germany and Eastern Europe made popular in the US by Jewish immigrants. A knish has a filling often made of mashed potato and ground meat, covered by a dough that is baked or fried.

49. St. Petersburg’s river NEVA
The Neva is a very large river that spills into the Gulf of Finland at the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. The river forms an expansive delta as it reaches the Baltic Sea and the delta gives rise to numerous islands, with the number of islands further increased by a network of canals. The historic part of the city is built on these islands giving St. Petersburg a very Venetian feel. I had the privilege of visiting the city some years ago, and I can attest that it is indeed spectacular …

51. Comic Cheri OTERI
Cheri Oteri was the SNL cast member who regularly appeared with Will Farrell in the skit featuring a pair of Spartan cheerleaders.

59. Cóctel fruit PINA
In Spanish, a cocktail (cóctel) might contain pineapple (piña).

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term which translates into “strained pineapple”. The Piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. Yum …

61. Author who created Zuckerman ROTH
Author Philip Roth’s two most famous works are probably his 1959 novella “Goodbye, Columbus” for which he won a National Book Award, and his extremely controversial 1969 novel “Portnoy’s Complaint”. The latter title was banned in some libraries in the US, and was listed as a “prohibited import” in Australia. The controversy surrounded Roth’s treatment of the sexuality of the main character, a young Jewish bachelor undergoing psychoanalysis for his “complaint”.

Several Philip Roth novels feature the character Nathan Zuckerman as the protagonist and author. Acclaimed title’s in the Zuckerman series are “American Pastoral” (1997) and “The Human Stain” (2000).

64. Prefix with meter ODO-
An odometer measures distance traveled. The word derives from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Principal introduction? VICE
5. Ladybug lunches APHIDS
11. Handle for a chef? STU
14. “Yikes!” EGAD!
15. Bully MEANIE
16. ’60s-’70s news focus, informally NAM
17. Allowance for food, vet visits, etc.? ROVER BUDGET (from “overbudget”)
19. Old sports org. using colorful balls ABA
20. Place to play ARENA
21. PC key ALT
22. Some execs CFOS
23. Bedtime for bats? RAFTER HOURS (from “after-hours”)
27. Annual New England attraction FOLIAGE
31. Mutt CUR
32. “__ a traveler …”: “Ozymandias” I MET
33. Dolts OAFS
36. First Poet Laureate of Vermont FROST
40. Threw a tantrum at ballet school? RAGED GRACEFULLY (from “aged gracefully”)
43. You might wake up to one SNORE
44. Satirist once dubbed “Will Rogers with fangs” SAHL
45. Heavily sit (down) PLOP
46. Draft choice ALE
48. Lost it WENT APE
50. Decisive “Star Wars” victory? ROUT IN SPACE (from “out in space”)
55. Eclectic online reader UTNE
56. Slime GOO
57. Treacherous type VIPER
62. Beads on blades DEW
63. Answer to “What did people listen to during the Depression, señor?”? RADIOS, AMIGO (from “adiós, amigo”)
66. Poetic preposition ERE
67. Landlocked African country UGANDA
68. When some ties are broken, briefly IN OT
69. Clear RID
70. Grant BESTOW
71. Part of CSNY NASH

Down
1. “Up in the Air” Oscar nominee Farmiga VERA
2. Aircraft pioneer Sikorsky IGOR
3. Give in CAVE
4. Ideal world EDEN
5. Diplomatic VIP AMB
6. Little, in Lille PEU
7. Went after HAD AT
8. Hastings hearth INGLE
9. Tab alternative DIET RC
10. Play area SET
11. Muddled situation SNAFU
12. Fife-and-drum corps instrument TABOR
13. It has a med school in Worcester UMASS
18. Avis adjective RARA
22. Crooked CORRUPT
24. Awestruck AGOG
25. They might cause jitters FEARS
26. Snit HUFF
27. Maine forest sights FIRS
28. Arabian sultanate OMAN
29. Toy for an aspiring architect LEGO
30. Repeat ITERATE
34. DOT agcy. FAA
35. The “e” sound in “tandem” SCHWA
37. Ceramic pot OLLA
38. Dinner on the farm, maybe SLOP
39. Enter, in a way TYPE
41. Where to nosh on a knish DELI
42. Wire service?: Abbr. ELEC
47. Captivate ENGAGE
49. St. Petersburg’s river NEVA
50. More boorish RUDER
51. Comic Cheri OTERI
52. Single UNWED
53. Some floats SODAS
54. Essence POINT
58. “Let’s do it!” I’M IN!
59. Cóctel fruit PINA
60. They may be inflated EGOS
61. Author who created Zuckerman ROTH
63. Barbecue seasoning RUB
64. Prefix with meter ODO-
65. Carpenter’s tool SAW

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