Category: Lila Cherry

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Part of PGA: Abbr. : ASSN
The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA) was founded in 1916 and today has its headquarters (unsurprisingly) in Florida, where so many golfers live. Back in 1916, the association was based in New York City.

5. Desert tableland : MESA
“Mesa” is the Spanish for “table” and is of course is how we get the term “mesa” that describes a geographic feature. “What’s the difference between a butte and a mesa?” I hear you cry! Both are hills with flat tops, but a mesa has a top that is wider than it is tall. A butte is a much narrower formation, taller than it is wide.

13. Chase away, as a fly : SHOO
Shoofly pie is made from molasses and is very similar to a treat that I grew up with back in Ireland called treacle tart, with molasses substituted for golden syrup. It is suggested that the name “shoofly” derives from the fact that flies have to be shooed away when they are attracted to the molasses.

16. “Queen of Country” McEntire : REBA
Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom called “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007.

18. Yemen’s capital : SANA’A
Sana (also Sana’a) is the capital city of Yemen. Within the bounds of today’s metropolis is the old fortified city of Sana where people have lived for over 2,500 years. The Old City is now a World Heritage Site.

24. AFL partner : CIO
The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded in 1886, making it one of the first federations of unions in the country. Over time the AFL became dominated by craft unions, unions representing skilled workers of particular disciplines. In the early thirties, John L. Lewis led a movement within the AFL to organize workers by industry, believing this would be more effective for the members. But the craft unions refused to budge, so Lewis set up a rival federation of unions in 1932, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO). The two federations became bitter rivals for over two decades until finally merging in 1955 to form the AFL-CIO.

25. Madrid Mrs. : SRA
Madrid is the largest city in Spain and the capital. Madrid is located very close to the geographical center of the country.

28. Tabula __: blank slate : RASA
Tabula rasa (plural: tabulae rasae) is the idea that people are born with a “blank slate”, and that knowledge comes from experience and perception.

39. Org. offering motel discounts : AAA
The American Automobile Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization focused on lobbying, provision of automobile servicing and selling of automobile insurance. The AAA was founded in 1902 in Chicago, and published the first of its celebrated hotel guides back in 1917.

40. Chat room “Here’s what I think …” : IMHO
In my humble opinion (IMHO).

41. Flappers’ decade : ROARING TWENTIES
The 1920s are often called the Roaring Twenties, a period of dynamic change across all aspects of life. Things were finally returning to normal after WWI, jazz became popular, some women “broke the mold” by becoming “flappers”, and Art Deco flourished. The whole decade came to a tragic end with the Wall Street Crash of 1929, followed by the Great Depression.

47. Salinger title teenager : ESME
J. D. Salinger wrote a short story called “For Esme – with Love and Squalor”, originally published in “The New Yorker” in 1950. It is a story about a young English girl called Esme and an American soldier, and is set in WWII.

J. D. Salinger was a very reclusive author, most famous for his novel “Catcher in the Rye”. Salinger fought in WWII after he was drafted into the US Army. He saw action on Utah Beach on D-Day, and in the Battle of the Bulge. He also spent a lot of time interrogating prisoners due to his knowledge of French and German, and he was one of the first Americans to go into a liberated concentration camp. He later spent time in hospital suffering from what was then called combat stress reaction, as he tried to deal with what he saw in the German camps.

49. “Criminal Minds” network : CBS
“Criminal Minds” is a police drama that has aired on CBS since 2005. I haven’t seen this one …

51. Bible book of 150 poems : PSALMS
The Greek word “psalmoi” originally meant “songs sung to a harp”, and gave us the word “psalms”.

63. Prefix with dextrous : AMBI-
Someone who is ambidextrous can write with both hands or use both hands with equal ease. A fairly literal translation of “ambidextrous” is “right-handed on both sides” as “dexter” is Latin for “right-handed”.

64. Allies’ opponents : AXIS
Before WWII, Hungary’s prime minister was lobbying for an alliance between Germany, Hungary and Italy and worked towards such a relationship that he called an “axis”. The main Axis powers during the war of course were Germany, Italy and Japan. However, also included in the relationship were Romania, Bulgaria and the aforementioned Hungary.

65. City that inspired van Gogh : ARLES
A few years ago I had the privilege of living just a short car-ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although Arles has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and where he painted his famous “Cafe Terrace at Night”, as well as “Bedroom in Arles”.

69. “Bus Stop” dramatist William : INGE
Playwright William Inge had a run of success on Broadway in the early fifties. Inge’s most celebrated work of that time was the play “Picnic”, for which he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The original 1953 cast of “Picnic” included a young male actor making his debut on Broadway, and his name was Paul Newman.

“Bus Stop” is a marvelous play written by William Inge in 1955. The famous 1956 movie of the same name starring Marilyn Monroe is only very loosely based on the play.

Down
1. Critters’ rights gp. : ASPCA
Unlike in other countries, there is no “umbrella” organization in the US with the goal of preventing cruelty to animals. Instead there are independent organizations set up all over the nation using the name SPCA. Having said that, there is an organization called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) that was originally intended to operate across the country, but really it now focuses its efforts in New York City.

2. Lewis with Lamb Chop : SHARI
Shari Lewis was the original puppeteer behind the PBS children’s show “Lamb Chop”. After Shari Lewis died in 1998, her daughter Mallory took over the role of puppeteer on the show.

4. Asian menu assurance : NO MSG
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is the sodium salt of a naturally-occurring (and non-essential) amino acid called glutamic acid. MSG is used widely as a flavor enhancer, particularly in many Asian cuisines. Whether or not it is harmful seems to be still under debate. I say that something produced in a test tube shouldn’t be in our food …

5. Where Moses received the Commandments: Abbr. : MT SINAI
In the Book of Deuteronomy, it is stated that Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Horeb. In other parts of the Bible the same event is described as taking place on Mount Sinai. So, many think that Horeb is an alternative name for Sinai.

6. Actor McGregor : EWAN
Ewan McGregor is a very talented Scottish actor, one who got his break in the 1996 film “Trainspotting”. McGregor’s first big Hollywood role was playing the young Obi-Wan-Kenobi in the “Star Wars” prequels. Less known is his televised marathon motorcycle journey from London to New York, via central Europe, Ukraine, Siberia, Mongolia and Canada. The 2004 trip was shown as “Long Way Round” on TV. McGregor did a similar trip in 2007 called “Long Way Down” which took him and the same travelling companion from the north of Scotland to Cape Town in South Africa.

15. Follower of Laotzu : TAOIST
The Chinese character “tao” translates as “path”, but the concept of Tao signifies the true nature of the world.

Lao Tse (also Lao-Tsu) was a central figure in the development of the religion/philosophy of Taoism.

22. __-Rooter : ROTO
The “Roto-Rooter” is an invention of Samuel Oscar Blanc. Blanc came up with the idea in 1933 after having to deal with a sewer line in his son’s apartment that was blocked with roots from a tree, a common problem. He put together his first version of the device using a washing machine motor, roller skate wheels and a steel cable. The “rotating rooter” snaked down the sewer line, and rotating blades at the tip of the cable cut through the troublesome roots. Blanc sold his machine for decades to people who set up their own drain clearing businesses. In 1980 the Blanc family sold the Roto-Rooter company to a Cincinnati concern that started buying up independent franchises that used the Roto-Rooter and cfreated the national service with which we are familiar today. Oh, and my advice is, save yourself the cost of the service call and just rent a machine. That’s what I do …

25. Hindu guru : SWAMI
A swami is a religious teacher in the Hindu tradition.

27. Pal of Porthos : ATHOS
The “Three Musketeers” were Athos, Porthos and Aramis, and their young protégé was D’Artagnan. A musketeer was an infantry soldier who was equipped with a musket. Funnily enough, Alexandre Dumas’ “Three Musketeers” really didn’t use their muskets, and were better known for their prowess with their swords.

30. Colorful marble : AGATE
Agate is a micro-crystalline form of quartz (so is related to sand/silica). Some agate samples have deposited layers that a striped appearance, and these are called “banded agate”.

34. Me.-to-Fla. highway : US ONE
US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.

36. Old-time actress Theda : BARA
Theda Bara was a silent film star from Cincinnati, Ohio. Many cite Bara as the first movie sex symbol. She wore very revealing costumes in many of her films and she often played the femme fatale character. As such, Bara’s nickname was “the Vamp”.

43. Cosmic cloud : NEBULA
In astronomical terms a nebula is a cloud of dust and ionized gases (“nebula” is the Latin for “cloud”). Many nebulae form as gases collapse in on themselves under the influence of enormous gravitational forces. Ultimately these collapses can result in the creation of new stars.

44. Catherine the Great, to Russia : EMPRESS
Catherine the Great (aka Catherine II) was Empress of Russia for 34 years, up to her death in 1796. Her long reign is considered by many to have been Russia’s Golden Age.

45. Eliot of the Untouchables : NESS
Eliot Ness was the Treasury agent charged with the task of bringing down the notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone. When Ness took on the job in 1930, Chicago law-enforcement agents were renowned for being corrupt, for being on the take. Ness hand-picked 50 prohibition agents he thought he could rely on, later reducing the group to a cadre of 15 and ultimately just 11 trusted men. That group of 11 earned the nickname “The Untouchables”, the agents who couldn’t be bought.

50. Wooden Mortimer : SNERD
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s most famous character was Charlie McCarthy, but Bergen also worked with Mortimer Snerd.

52. Pong producer : ATARI
Do you remember the arcade video game that was like a game of tennis, with paddles moving up and down to hit what looked like a ball, over what looked like a net? Well, that was “Pong”.

At one point Atari was the fastest growing company in US history, but it never really recovered from the video game industry crash of 1983.

53. Fictional salesman Willy : LOMAN
“Death of a Salesman” is a famous play by Arthur Miller, first produced in 1949. “Death of a Salesman” won a Pulitzer and several Tony Awards over the years. The “salesman” in the play is the famous character Willy Loman. The play originally opened up on Broadway and ran for 724 performances. The lead role was played by the veteran actor Lee J. Cobb.

56. New Age musician John : TESH
John Tesh is a pianist and composer, as well as a radio and television presenter.

57. Chip’s chipmunk pal : DALE
Chip ‘n’ Dale are two chipmunk characters created by Disney in 1943. The characters’ names are of course a pun on “Chippendale”, the family name of Thomas Chippendale the noted English furniture designer.

60. Natural Skin Science company : OXY
The OXY Skin Care products were developed by GlaxoSmithKline, but the brand name has been owned by Mentholatum since 2005.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Part of PGA: Abbr. : ASSN
5. Desert tableland : MESA
9. Character weakness : FLAW
13. Chase away, as a fly : SHOO
14. Plot surprise : TWIST
16. “Queen of Country” McEntire : REBA
17. A psychic may read yours : PALM
18. Yemen’s capital : SANA’A
19. With 8-Down, really simple : EASY
20. One who can talk you to sleep : CRASHING BORE
23. Pellet shooter : AIRGUN
24. AFL partner : CIO
25. Madrid Mrs. : SRA
28. Tabula __: blank slate : RASA
31. “That’s enough out of you!” : STOW IT!
33. Audible sign of hunger : RUMBLING STOMACH
38. Cruising on the briny : ASEA
39. Org. offering motel discounts : AAA
40. Chat room “Here’s what I think …” : IMHO
41. Flappers’ decade : ROARING TWENTIES
46. Present from birth : INNATE
47. Salinger title teenager : ESME
48. Court divider : NET
49. “Criminal Minds” network : CBS
51. Bible book of 150 poems : PSALMS
56. Weather event where you’d hear the starts of 20-, 33- and 41Across : THUNDERSTORM
59. It might begin, “Knock knock” : JOKE
62. Word after maternity or shore : LEAVE
63. Prefix with dextrous : AMBI-
64. Allies’ opponents : AXIS
65. City that inspired van Gogh : ARLES
66. Banister : RAIL
67. Old wives’ tale : MYTH
68. Lions’ homes : DENS
69. “Bus Stop” dramatist William : INGE

Down
1. Critters’ rights gp. : ASPCA
2. Lewis with Lamb Chop : SHARI
3. From the sun : SOLAR
4. Asian menu assurance : NO MSG
5. Where Moses received the Commandments: Abbr. : MT SINAI
6. Actor McGregor : EWAN
7. Croon a tune : SING
8. See 19-Across : AS ABC
9. At no cost : FREE
10. Grazing area : LEA
11. Middle muscles : ABS
12. Method : WAY
15. Follower of Laotzu : TAOIST
21. Throw hard : HURL
22. __-Rooter : ROTO
25. Hindu guru : SWAMI
26. Rolling in French euros : RICHE
27. Pal of Porthos : ATHOS
29. Unexpected problem : SNAG
30. Colorful marble : AGATE
32. Neglect to include : OMIT
33. __ to go: ready for action, in dialect : RARIN’
34. Me.-to-Fla. highway : US ONE
35. Intended : MEANT
36. Old-time actress Theda : BARA
37. Tree cutters : SAWS
42. Restless desire : ITCH
43. Cosmic cloud : NEBULA
44. Catherine the Great, to Russia : EMPRESS
45. Eliot of the Untouchables : NESS
50. Wooden Mortimer : SNERD
52. Pong producer : ATARI
53. Fictional salesman Willy : LOMAN
54. Boss, slangily : MR BIG
55. Photographer’s request : SMILE
56. New Age musician John : TESH
57. Chip’s chipmunk pal : DALE
58. Neck and neck : EVEN
59. Traffic trouble : JAM
60. Natural Skin Science company : OXY
61. First-aid aid : KIT

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