Category: Matt Skoczen

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
6. Monopoly property after Illinois B AND O
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) was one of the oldest in the country. Construction started on the railroad in 1828 in order to offer a method of transportation inland from Baltimore. This was deemed necessary as the port city was losing business to New York City after the completion of the Erie Canal (which cheaply and efficiently moved goods inland).

The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman called Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

11. It may be pale ALE
Pale ale is a beer made using mainly pale malt, which results in a relatively light color for a malted beer.

14. It may be pale LAGER
Lager is so called because of the tradition of cold-storing the beer during fermentation. “Lager” is the German word for “storage”.

15. Old Detroit-to-Seattle hwy. US TEN
US Route 10 is a highway formed in 1926 that ran from Detroit, Michigan to Seattle, Washington, although much of its length now is taken up by interstate highway. US Route 10 notably is in two distinct sections, with a ferry providing continuity across Lake Michigan from Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

17. En masse ALL TOGETHER
“En masse” is of course a French term, which is best translated as “as a group”.

19. Rundown ender TAG
As I learned from a kind blog reader (below), “rundown” is a baseball term that also goes by the name “pickle”. A rundown is a situation when a player caught between two bases and is in danger of getting tagged out.

20. Mr. Ma YO-YO
Yo-Yo Ma is a marvelous American cellist, born in Paris to Chinese parents. Ma started studying the violin when he was very young, working his way up (in size) to the viola and finally to the cello. He has said that he wanted to play the double bass, but it was just too big for his relatively small frame.

24. Mount where Moses saw the Promised Land NEBO
Mount Nebo is an elevated spot in Jordan that is mentioned in the Bible. According to the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab in order to see the Promised Land, the Land of Israel that he was destined never to enter. According to Christian and some Islamic traditions, Moses was buried on Mount Nebo.

27. En vogue STYLISH IN PARIS
“En vogue” is a French term meaning “stylish, in vogue”.

42. Sports shoe brand AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation.

45. Honest Abe’s dad, in comics ABNER
Honest Abe Yokum is the little boy born to Li’l Abner and Daisy Mae in the comic strip “Li’l Abner” that was drawn by Al Capp. Honest Abe was born way back in 1953, after a pregnancy that lasted well over the anticipated nine months!

47. “En garde” GET READY TO DUEL
“En garde” is a French term that has been absorbed into the sport of fencing. Originally a warning “on guard!”, it is spoken at the start of an encounter to warn the fencers to take a defensive position.

51. Brief briefs? BVDS
The men’s underwear known as BVDs are made by the Bradley, Voorhees & Day. The company was started in 1876 to make bustles for women, and is named for its founders.

52. Aging issue RUST
Rust is iron oxide.

57. David’s longtime partner CHET
Chet Huntley was a newscaster who co-anchored “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” on NBC with David Brinkley from 1956 to 1970.

61. Keats subject URN
The poet John Keats is famous for writing a whole series of beautiful odes. The most renowned are the so-called “1819 Odes”, a collection from the year 1819 that includes famous poems such as “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode to Psyche”.

62. En route NOT YET THERE
“En route” is a French term that means “on the way”.

67. Subs HEROS
“Hero” is another name for a submarine sandwich. The hero originated in New York City in the 1800s among Italian immigrants who wanted an Italian sandwich that reminded them of home. The name “hero” was coined in the 1930s, supposedly by a food critic in the “New York Herald Tribune” when he wrote that “one had to be a hero” to finish the gigantic sandwich. Hero is a prevalent term to this day in New York City, reserved for a submarine sandwich with an Italian flavor.

Down
2. Composer Schifrin LALO
Lalo Schifrin is an Argentine pianist and composer best-known for writing film and television scores. Famously, Schifrin wrote the theme for “Mission: Impossible”, but also for “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”, “Mannix” and “Starsky and Hutch”.

4. Broadway, for the theater industry METONYM
A metonym is a word that is used for something that is closely associated with that word. For example, “Broadway” is a metonym for “American theater” and “Washington” is a metonym for “the US government”.

6. __ Aires BUENOS
Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, located on the estuary of the Ria de la Plata. As a port city, the people of Buenos Aires are known as porteños (“people of the port”).

7. Movie clue sniffer ASTA
Asta is the wonderful little dog in the superb movie “The Thin Man” starring William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles). In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” films.

18. Mongolian expanse GOBI
The large desert in Asia called the Gobi lies in northern China and southern Mongolia. The Gobi desert is growing at an alarming rate, particularly towards the south. This “desertification” is caused by increased human activity. The Chinese government is trying to halt the desert’s progress by planting great swaths of new forest, the so called “Green Wall of China”.

26. Skirt length MIDI
The midi skirt extends to the middle of the calf, and was very fashionable in the seventies.

27. Dry Italian wine SOAVE
Soave is a dry white wine produced in the area around the city of Verona in northeast Italy.

28. Specifically TO WIT
The verb “to wit” means “to know”. The verb really isn’t used anymore except in the phrase “to wit” meaning “that is to say, namely”.

29. __-totsy HOTSY
“Hotsy-totsy” is a slang term that means “perfect”.

30. French royal REINE
“La reine” (the queen) is the wife of “le roi” (the king), in French.

31. Mil. gathering? INTEL
The military (mil.) gather intelligence (intel.).

40. Small boys TADS
A tad is a small boy, with the term possibly coming from the word “tadpole”.

43. Wall St. figures ARBS
“Arb” is short for an arbitrageur, one who profits from the purchase of securities in one market and the subsequent sale in another, hence taking advantage of price discrepancies across markets.

55. Golden rule word UNTO
The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

56. Information unit BYTE
In the world of computers, a “bit” is the basic unit of information. A bit has a value of 0 or 1. A “byte” is a small collection of bits (usually 8), the number of bits needed to uniquely identify a character of text.

59. Mythological archer EROS
Eros was the Greek god of love, and the Greek counterpart of the Roman god Cupid.

60. 1994 Shirley MacLaine title role TESS
“Guarding Tess” is a fun film starring Shirley MacLaine and Nicolas Cage. MacLaine plays a former First Lady with a Secret Service detail headed up by Nicolas Cage. Tess is a difficult person to work with, and so hilarity ensues …

63. Some univ. staff TAS
Teaching Assistants (TAs)

64. Divinity sch. degree THD
You can study towards the degree of Doctor of Theology (“D.Th.” or “Th.D.”) at a seminary (sem.).

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Like some cooked hot dogs PLUMP
6. Monopoly property after Illinois B AND O
11. It may be pale ALE
14. It may be pale LAGER
15. Old Detroit-to-Seattle hwy. US TEN
16. Approval of a sort NOD
17. En masse ALL TOGETHER
19. Rundown ender TAG
20. Mr. Ma YO-YO
21. Words with hunch ON A
22. Calm PACIFY
24. Mount where Moses saw the Promised Land NEBO
26. Jogging technique? MEMO
27. En vogue STYLISH IN PARIS
33. Thunders BOOMS
34. Quirky ODD
35. Sleeping bag site TENT
36. Cold and damp RAW
37. Like many a social climber ELITIST
41. Keep-secret link IT A
42. Sports shoe brand AVIA
44. Walk-__ ONS
45. Honest Abe’s dad, in comics ABNER
47. “En garde” GET READY TO DUEL
51. Brief briefs? BVDS
52. Aging issue RUST
53. Took in HOUSED
56. Shuttle, perhaps BUS
57. David’s longtime partner CHET
61. Keats subject URN
62. En route NOT YET THERE
65. __ loss NET
66. Hits with force SWATS
67. Subs HEROS
68. Also TOO
69. Commencement ONSET
70. Apparel DRESS

Down
1. Coach’s call PLAY
2. Composer Schifrin LALO
3. Like some moods UGLY
4. Broadway, for the theater industry METONYM
5. 11-Down opposite PRO
6. __ Aires BUENOS
7. Movie clue sniffer ASTA
8. Last in a theoretical series NTH
9. Places for diving boards DEEP ENDS
10. Feature of many highways ON-RAMP
11. 5-Down opposite ANTI
12. Just sit around LOAF
13. Not at all calm EDGY
18. Mongolian expanse GOBI
23. Layer COAT
25. Choice word ELSE
26. Skirt length MIDI
27. Dry Italian wine SOAVE
28. Specifically TO WIT
29. __-totsy HOTSY
30. French royal REINE
31. Mil. gathering? INTEL
32. One in the lead STAR
33. Talk big BRAG
38. Encumber LOAD DOWN
39. Unaffiliated voters: Abbr. INDS
40. Small boys TADS
43. Wall St. figures ARBS
46. Bungle badly BUTCHER
48. All things considered EVEN SO
49. Most sincere TRUEST
50. Boot OUST
53. Pursuit HUNT
54. Three-part snack OREO
55. Golden rule word UNTO
56. Information unit BYTE
58. “__, kitty kitty!” HERE
59. Mythological archer EROS
60. 1994 Shirley MacLaine title role TESS
63. Some univ. staff TAS
64. Divinity sch. degree THD

Return to top of page