Category: Ryan McCarty

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Cellist’s need BOW
The word “cello” is an abbreviation for “violoncello”, an Italian word for “little violone”, referring to a group of stringed instruments that were popular up to the end of the 17th century. The name violoncello persisted for the instrument that we know today, although the abbreviation ‘cello was often used. Nowadays we just drop the apostrophe.

4. North of Colombia NORTE
“Norte” is Spanish for “north”.

The South American country of Colombia takes her name from the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus (“Cristoforo Colombo” in Italian).

9. P.T. goal REHAB
One goal of physical therapy (PT) is rehabilitation (rehab).

14. In a style resembling A LA
The phrase “in the style of” can be translated in “alla” in Italian and “à la” in French.

18. Inspiration for a chewy candy JUJUBE FRUIT
Here in the US, the “Jujubes” are a brand name of gummy candies. North of the border in Canada, “jujube” is a generic term for various gummy jelly candies. The more nutritious jujube fruit comes from the jujube plant, also known as the red date.

20. Doglike scavengers HYENAS
Hyenas have the reputation of being cowardly scavengers. That said, the spotted hyena that lives in Sub-Saharan Africa actually kills about 95% of its food and a pack of spotted hyenas are capable of driving off leopards or lionesses before they can consume their kill.

22. Bird on Australia’s coat of arms EMU
The official symbol of Australia is a coat of arms that features a kangaroo and an emu.

24. “Frasier” role ROZ
Roz Doyle is a character in the wonderful sitcom “Frasier”. Roz is played, very ably, by the actress Peri Gilpin.

28. Horns banned at the 2014 World Cup VUVUZELAS
A vuvuzela is a simple horn that produces a loud monotone note. The vuvuzela is a big hit with soccer fans in South Africa, and is now heard in stadiums all around the world after it was introduced to us in the 2010 FIFA World Cup that was held in South Africa. That said, many facilities and organizations are now banning the vuvuzela given that the noise levels produced can actually cause hearing loss.

35. Nobelist Pavlov IVAN
Ivan Pavlov was studying gastric function in dogs in the 1890s when he observed that his subject dogs started to salivate before he even presented food to them. This “psychic secretion”, as he called it, interested him so much that he changed the direction of his research and studied the reactions of dogs to various stimuli that were associated with the presentation of food. Famously, he discovered that a dog could be conditioned to respond as though he was about to be fed, just by sensing some stimulus that he had come to associate with food. This might be a bell ringing, an electric shock (poor dog!) or perhaps the waving of a hand. Nowadays we might describe someone as “Pavlov’s Dog” if that person responds just the way he/she has been conditioned to respond, rather than applying critical thinking.

37. Peruvian wool sources LLAMAS
The wool from a llama is much softer than that from a sheep, and it is also free of lanolin.

38. “Yo, how’s things?” SUP?
I think “sup?” is slang for “what’s up?”

39. Colorful island dresses MUUMUUS
A “muumuu” is a loose dress that originated in Hawaii. Many muumuus are brightly colored and made of the same material as the ubiquitous Hawaiian shirt. The word “mu’umu’u” means “cut off” in Hawaiian.

41. Game show VIPs MCS
Master or mistress of ceremonies (MC)

44. “Hometown Proud” supermarket chain IGA
IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance, a chain of supermarkets that extends right around the world. IGA’s headquarters is in Chicago. The company uses the slogan “Hometown Proud Supermarkets”.

46. It’s a wrap SARAN
What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. Plastic wrap was one of those unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

47. Yoga-inspired athletic apparel brand LULULEMON
Lululemon Athletica is a brand of athletic clothing that was founded by Chip Wilson in 1998 and is headquartered in Vancouver. The company’s name is very much associated with the activity of yoga in particular. Every Lululemon store offers a weekly complimentary yoga class.

49. Actor Piven of “Entourage” JEREMY
Jeremy Piven is an actor best known for playing Ari Gold in the HBO comedy series “Entourage”, and for playing the title character in the excellent British period drama “Mr Selfridge”.

I haven’t seen the HBO series “Entourage”, but will have to take a look one day as I am a huge fan of HBO productions. “Entourage” is the story of a young movie star from New York City learning about life in Los Angeles. The show is co-produced by the actor Mark Wahlberg and so the storyline is somewhat biographical, based on a few of Wahlberg’s own experiences.

55. Kyoto cash YEN
The Korean Won, the Chinese Yuan, and the Japanese Yen (all of which are Asian currencies) take their names from the Chinese written character that represents “round shape”.

The city of Kyoto was once the capital of Japan, and in fact the name “Kyoto” means “capital city” in Japanese.

56. Hammerheads, e.g. SHARKS
Hammerhead sharks are named for the unusual shape of their heads, which are flattened and resemble the outline of a hammer. The suggestion is that the hammerhead shape evolved to enhance the animal’s vision, allowing it to see above and below at all times.

59. Dish at a 37-Down PUPU PLATTER
In Hawaiian, “pu-pu” is a word originally meaning “snail”. Nowadays “pu-pu” denotes many different types of food that are usually served as an hors d’oeuvres. A “pupu platter” then is a selection of such foods served in a Hawaiian restaurant. The term “pupu platter” somehow became absorbed into American Chinese cuisine in the fifties, so one can order the same dish in a Chinese restaurant and get a plate of Chinese morsels.

64. Varnish resin ELEMI
Elemi is a tree native to the Philippines. The tree gives its name to the fragrant resin that is harvested from it. Elemi resin is used in varnishes and printing inks.

65. Pet problem? PEEVE
The phrase “pet peeve”, meaning “thing that provokes one most”, seems to be somewhat ironic. A “peeve” is a source of irritation, and the adjective “pet” means “especially cherished”.

66. Alias lead-in AKA
Also known as (aka)

69. Morning salmon LOX
Lox is a cured salmon fillet, finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.

Down
1. One music’s Three Bs BACH
The “Three Bs” of western classical music are Johannes Brahms, Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Johann Sebastian Bach raised a very large family. He had seven children with his first wife, who died suddenly. He had a further thirteen children with his second wife. Of his twenty youngsters, there were four sons who became famous musicians in their own right:

– Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (aka “the Halle Bach”)
– Carl Philipp Bach (aka “the Hamburg Bach”)
– Johann Christoph Bach (aka “the Buckeberg Bach”)
– Johann Christian Bach (aka “the London Bach”)

2. Maker of Regenerist skin care products OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When Oil of Olay was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.

4. Contemporary electronic music genre NU JAZZ
The musical genre of Nu Jazz is also known as electronic jazz, and combines elements of traditional jazz with contemporary electronic music.

6. Howard’s best friend on “The Big Bang Theory” RAJ
Raj Koothrappali is a character on the sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” who is played by British-Indian actor Kunal Nayyar. Nayyar is married to Neha Kapur, a former Miss India.

Howard Wolowitz is the aerospace engineer on the marvelous sitcom “The Big Bang Theory”, and is the character who flew on the International Space Station. Howard is played by actor and comedian Simon Helberg.

7. “Storage Hunters” network __TV TRU
truTV is a Turner Broadcasting cable network, launched in 1991 as Court TV. The name was changed to truTV in 2008.

“Storage Hunters” is a TV show about auctions of abandoned storage lockers. It’s yet another reality TV show that was cancelled here in the US after three seasons, but one that has a very big following in the UK apparently.

11. Swag HAUL
“Swag” is “loot, stolen property”, a term that started out as criminal slang in England in the 1830s.

12. Where Bhutan is ASIA
Bhutan is a landlocked country in South Asia located between China to the north and India to the south, east and west. Bhutan has been a constitutional monarchy since 2008, and has been ranked by “Businessweek” as the “happiest” country in Asia.

13. “Little Women” woman BETH
“Little Women” is a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The quartet of little women is Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Jo is a tomboy and the main character in the story, and is based on Alcott herself.

19. Rock genre EMO
The musical genre of “emo” originated in Washington D.C. in the 80s, and takes its name from “emotional hardcore”. “Emo” is also the name given to the associated subculture. Not my cup of tea …

25. Felipe of baseball ALOU
Felipe Alou is a former professional baseball player and manager. Alou managed the Montreal Expos from 1992 to 2001, and the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2006. Alou was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and came to the US to play for the Giants in 1955. Felipe’s brothers Matty and Jesús followed him to the US, and into Major League baseball.

26. Element in a rechargeable battery CADMIUM
A NiCad rechargeable battery is so called because the electrodes are made of nickel oxide hydroxide and metallic cadmium.

28. Travel papers VISAS
A visa is a usually a stamp in one’s passport, an indication that one is authorized to enter a particular country. The word “visa” comes into English, via French, from the Latin expression “charta visa” meaning “paper that has been seen”, or “verified paper”.

29. Soft palate dangler UVULA
The uvula is that conical fleshy projection hanging down at the back of the soft palate. The uvula plays an important role in human speech, particularly in the making of “guttural” sounds. The Latin word for “grape” is “uva”, so “uvula” is a “little grape”.

32. Timeless IMMEMORIAL
Our word “immemorial” ultimately derives from Latin, and is a French term that we imported around 1600 that means “old beyond memory”.

33. __-ovo vegetarian LACTO
A lacto-ovo vegetarian is someone who does not consume meat or fish, but does eat eggs (ovo) and dairy (lacto) products.

34. Krupp Works city ESSEN
The Krupp manufacturing interest originated with Friedrich Krupp who inherited an iron forge that the family owned in the German city of Essen. Friedrich made some not-so-clever investments designed to get the family into the cast steel business. Friedrich died quite young, and his son, Alfred, had to take over the struggling steelworks at only 14 years of age. When he took the helm, the company had five workers. At the time of his death there were about 20,000 employees, and Krupp’s was the world’s largest industrial company.

37. Island bash LUAU
Nowadays the word “luau” denotes almost any kind of party on the Hawaiian Islands, but to the purist a luau is a feast that always includes a serving of “poi”, the bulbous underground stems of taro baked with coconut milk.

43. __ Mahal TAJ
The most famous mausoleum in the world has to be the Taj Mahal in Agra, India. The Taj Mahal was built after the death of the third wife of Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal (hence the name of the mausoleum). The poor woman died in childbirth delivering the couple’s 14th child.

47. Delaware tribe LENAPE
The Lenape Native American people lived along the Delaware River when Europeans first landed in the Americas. As a result of the enforcement of the Indian Removal Act 1830, most Lenape now live in Oklahoma, with significant numbers also in Wisconsin and Ontario, Canada.

48. Presidential debate moderator Jim LEHRER
Jim Lehrer is a former news anchor with PBS for the “PBS Newshour” show. Lehrer is also associated with presidential debates and has moderated 12 such events.

50. Seminary subj. REL
Religion (rel.)

Originally, a “seminary” was where plants were raised from seeds, as “semen” is the Latin for “seed”. The first schools labelled as seminaries were established in the late 1500s. Those first schools were more likely to be academies for young ladies back then, rather than for trainee priests.

53. Select CULL
To cull is to pick out the best, to get rid of the rejects.

56. Golf great Ballesteros SEVE
Seve Ballesteros was a very entertaining golfer from Spain, once ranked as the world’s number one player. Sadly, Ballesteros died from brain cancer in 2011, at the age of 54.

57. Gorilla who learned sign language KOKO
Koko is a female Lowland Gorilla that lives in Woodside, California. The researcher Penny Patterson taught Koko to speak a modified form of American Sign Language (ASL) that she called Gorilla Sign Language. Koko can apparently use over a thousand signs.

61. Commonly used base TEN
We use a base ten numbering system, with ten digits (0 – 9). The binary system, or base two, uses just two digits (0 & 1). The binary system is used at a fundamental level in computing, because the number 0 and 1 can be represented by microcircuits being switched “on” or “off”.

62. “Ideas worth spreading” conference acronym TED
The acronym TED stands for Technology Entertainment and Design. TED is a set of conferences held around the world by a non-profit group called the Sapling Foundation. The conference subjects are varied, and the meetings are often led by big names such as Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Bill Gates and Jane Goodall. The Sapling Foundation then makes recordings of the conferences available for free online with the intent of disseminating the ideas globally. These conferences are known as “TED Talks”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Cellist’s need BOW
4. North of Colombia NORTE
9. P.T. goal REHAB
14. In a style resembling A LA
15. Make less dangerous UNARM
16. Clear ERASE
17. Hipster CAT
18. Inspiration for a chewy candy JUJUBE FRUIT
20. Doglike scavengers HYENAS
22. Bird on Australia’s coat of arms EMU
23. __-di-dah LAH
24. “Frasier” role ROZ
25. Run __: find ACROSS
28. Horns banned at the 2014 World Cup VUVUZELAS
31. Tons A PILE
35. Nobelist Pavlov IVAN
36. Visual greeting NOD
37. Peruvian wool sources LLAMAS
38. “Yo, how’s things?” SUP?
39. Colorful island dresses MUUMUUS
41. Game show VIPs MCS
42. Umpteen A LOT OF
44. “Hometown Proud” supermarket chain IGA
45. Give (out) METE
46. It’s a wrap SARAN
47. Yoga-inspired athletic apparel brand LULULEMON
49. Actor Piven of “Entourage” JEREMY
51. __ trip EGO
52. Master ACE
55. Kyoto cash YEN
56. Hammerheads, e.g. SHARKS
59. Dish at a 37-Down PUPU PLATTER
63. Electron-deficient particle, e.g. ION
64. Varnish resin ELEMI
65. Pet problem? PEEVE
66. Alias lead-in AKA
67. Crashed, so to speak SLEPT
68. Closer ENDER
69. Morning salmon LOX

Down
1. One music’s Three Bs BACH
2. Maker of Regenerist skin care products OLAY
3. Steam WATER VAPOR
4. Contemporary electronic music genre NU JAZZ
5. Weighty obligation ONUS
6. Howard’s best friend on “The Big Bang Theory” RAJ
7. “Storage Hunters” network __TV TRU
8. Bonfire leftovers EMBERS
9. Turndowns REFUSALS
10. Misspeak, say ERR
11. Swag HAUL
12. Where Bhutan is ASIA
13. “Little Women” woman BETH
19. Rock genre EMO
21. Any thing NOUN
25. Felipe of baseball ALOU
26. Element in a rechargeable battery CADMIUM
27. Hydromassage facility SPA
28. Travel papers VISAS
29. Soft palate dangler UVULA
30. Plenty, to texters ENUF
32. Timeless IMMEMORIAL
33. __-ovo vegetarian LACTO
34. Krupp Works city ESSEN
37. Island bash LUAU
39. Do-it-yourselfer’s nightmare MONEY PIT
40. Homely UGLY
43. __ Mahal TAJ
45. Start of something big? MEGA-
47. Delaware tribe LENAPE
48. Presidential debate moderator Jim LEHRER
50. Seminary subj. REL
52. Big primates APES
53. Select CULL
54. Fencing blade EPEE
56. Golf great Ballesteros SEVE
57. Gorilla who learned sign language KOKO
58. Junk food, in adspeak SNAX
60. Official at a base UMP
61. Commonly used base TEN
62. “Ideas worth spreading” conference acronym TED

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