Category: Stella Zawistowski

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Constructed by: Stella Zawistowski
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

Read on, or jump to …
… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 14m 41s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Unplanned adoption : FOSTER FAIL

When someone is kind enough to foster an animal, that temporary arrangement can become permanent. If the person fostering adopts the animal, then there has been a “foster fail”.

11 Adoption org. : SPCA

Unlike most developed countries, the US has no umbrella organization 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.

15 Intended to prevent a torrent, perhaps : ANTIPIRACY

In the digital world, torrenting is a form of peer-to-peer sharing, one that uses the BitTorrent network (hence the name). BitTorrent allows a user to download a file from several other users at the same time, and also allows the upload of a file to several users simultaneously. Torrenting makes it very easy to share files, and so is often associated with piracy of copyright-protected movies, music, games and software.

16 Name on the highest-grossing concert film in history : ERAS

“Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” is a 2023 concert movie that was filmed at three shows staged by Taylor Swift in August 2023. Swift had tried to strike a deal with major film studios to distribute the movie, but negotiations broke down. Instead, she made an agreement with AMC and Cinemark Theatres directly, a unique and unprecedented arrangement. As a result, the studios had to move the released dates planned to several of their films, so as not to go up against what turned out to be a spectacular opening. “The Eras Tour” is the highest-grossing concert film of all time.

17 Certain Central American : SALVADORAN

El Salvador is a country in Central America, the smallest country in the region. The capital of El Salvador is the city of San Salvador. “El Salvador” is derived from the name given to the land by the Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century: “Provincia De Nuestro Señor Jesucristo, El Salvador Del Mundo”, which translates as “Province of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World”.

18 Natural traps : WEBS

The silk that makes up a web is a protein fiber that is “spun” by a spider. Spider silk is about one sixth of the density of steel, yet has a comparable tensile strength.

19 Olympic badminton team, e.g. : DUO

The game of badminton was developed in the mid-1700s by British military officers in India. There was already an old game called battledore and shuttlecock, so the creation of badminton was essentially the addition of a net and boundary lines for play. The game was launched officially as a sport in 1873 at Badminton House in Gloucestershire in England, hence the name that we now use.

20 Victor Hugo’s world : MONDE

In French, a lucky person might travel “le monde” (the world).

Victor Hugo was a French writer who is known in his native country mainly for his poetry. Outside of France, Hugo is perhaps more closely associated with his novels such as “Les Misérables” and “The Hunchback of Notre-Dame”.

23 Sushi bar list : SAKES

We refer to the Japanese alcoholic beverage made from rice as “sake”. We’ve gotten things a bit mixed up in the West. “Sake” is actually the word that the Japanese use for all alcoholic drinks. What we know as sake, we sometimes refer to as rice wine. Also, the starch in the rice is first converted to sugars that are then fermented into alcohol. This is more akin to a beer-brewing process than wine production, so the end product is really a rice “beer” rather than a rice “wine”.

25 Snooty creatures? : ANTEATERS

Anteaters tear open ant and termite nests using their sharp claws and then eat up the eggs, larvae and mature ants using their tongues. They have very sticky saliva which coats the tongue hence making the feeding very efficient. The tongue also moves very quickly, flicking in and out of the mouth at about 150 times per minute.

36 Burlesque : SATIRE

The word “burlesque” came into English from French, although the word is rooted in the Italian “burla”, the word for a joke, or mockery. A burlesque is a work of literature, drama or music that is intended to amuse and cause laughter. Burlesques in the US took on a variety show format and were popular in the US from the 1860s. Over time, the variety acts started to include female striptease, and the term “burlesque” has come to be mainly associated with such entertainment. The derivative verb “to burlesque” means “to imitate mockingly”.

39 Smallest ratite : KIWI

The kiwi is an unusual bird in that it has a highly developed sense of smell and is the only one of our feathered friends with nostrils located at the tip of its long beak.

Ratites are species of birds that cannot fly. They are different physiologically than other birds in that they have nowhere on their sternum to attach the muscles needed for flight.

40 Elle King’s “Ex’s & __” : OH’S

“Ex’s & Oh’s” is a 2014 song co-written and recorded by Elle King. It was to become her first song to break into the US Top Ten.

“Elle King” is the stage name of singer Tanner Elle Schneider. She has a showbiz father, the former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Rob Schneider.

43 Subject of the 2014 documentary “Game Over” : ATARI

“Atari: Game Over” is a 2014 documentary. Believe it or not, it is about the excavation of the landfill site in New Mexico, where Atari had buried over a thousand “E.T.” game cartridges.

Back in 1983, it was rumored that Atari buried a huge stash of unsold video games in a New Mexico landfill. The game in question was called “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”, widely panned as perhaps the worst video game ever produced. Partly because the burial took place close to the site of the Roswell UFO incident, and also because Atari denied that the event ever occurred, the destruction of the games became somewhat of an urban legend.

50 Melancholy work : ELEGY

An elegy is a mournful poem or funeral song, and is also known as a dirge.

Melancholy is a dejection, depression of spirits. Melancholia was one of the body’s four basic substances of medieval science, the so-called four humors. All diseases were caused by these four substances getting out of balance. The four humors were:

• Black bile (melancholia)
• Yellow bile (cholera)
• Phlegm (phlegma)
• Blood (sanguis)

51 Salt target : ICE

Halite is the mineral form of sodium chloride, and is also known as “rock salt”. Halite is used to melt ice, as salt water has a lower freezing point than pure water. Adding salt to icy sidewalks can therefore cause any ice to melt (as long as the ambient temperature isn’t too low). A mixture of halite and ice can also be used to cool things below the freezing point of water, perhaps to make ice cream.

52 Levi’s Stadium player : NINER

The San Francisco 49ers of the NFL have been playing their home games in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara since 2014. The team moved from the famous Candlestick Park, which they had been using since 1971. Levi’s Stadium, the team’s new home, got a big boost in January 2016 when it was used as the venue for the Super Bowl. Given the sponsorship by Levi Stauss, the jeans manufacturer, the venue has the nickname “Field of Jeans”, a play on the movie title “Field of Dreams”.

53 Word with Days and Holiday : … INN

The Days Inn hotel chain was founded in 1970 by a real estate developer called Cecil B. Day. One of the features of a Days Inn hotel in those early days was an on-site gas pump, which dispensed gasoline at discount prices.

The first Holiday Inn hotel opened in 1952. The name for the hotel chain was inspired by the 1942 movie “Holiday Inn” starring Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. The Holiday Inn chain has been British-owned since 1988.

56 “Hubba hubba!” : VA-VA-VA-VOOM!

“Va-va-voom!” is an expression that turns up in a lot of places. For example, it was a frequent utterance by comic actor Art Carney, most notably while playing Ed Norton in the sitcom “The Honeymooners” from the 1950s. Carney even released a comedy song “Va Va Va Voom” in 1954.

62 Syllables in Rihanna’s “What’s My Name?” : NA-NA

“What’s My Name?” is a 2010 song released by Rihanna, and featuring rapper Drake. The accompanying music video portrays Rihanna and Drake in a romantic encounter that starts in a grocery store in New York City.

63 Moved mindfully? : TELEPORTED

Teleportation is a favorite of authors of science fiction. The hypothetical process results in the transfer of matter from one point to another, with actually crossing the intervening space. Beam me up, Scotty!

Down

3 Name on some church-run hospitals : ST LUKE’S

Luke the Evangelist was one of the four authors of the Gospels of the Christian biblical canon. It is possible that Luke was a physician from Ancient Syria. Perhaps that’s why the name “St. Luke’s” appears on many church-run hospitals.

4 Saved to watch later : TIVOED

TiVo is a digital video recorder (DVR) that revolutionized the way we watch television. The first TiVo devices were installed in homes in 1999, when they were the first consumer DVRs to hit the market. TiVo was originally marketed as a way to “pause live TV.” It quickly became known for its ability to record TV shows and movies, allowing viewers to watch them at their convenience.

5 Org. that regulates HFCs : EPA

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are organic chemicals often used in air-conditioning systems and as refrigerants generally. HFCs have replaced chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in these applications, due to the damage that CFCs do to the ozone layer. While HFCs are less harmful to the ozone layer, they still contribute to global warming. As such, HFCs are also being phased out.

8 Noted New York Judge : AARON

Aaron Judge is a baseball outfielder who was selected as 2017’s American League Rookie of the Year. Judge is a big guy. He weighs 282 pounds, and is 6 foot 7 inches tall.

10 Paul of “Hollywood Squares” : LYNDE

Paul Lynde was a character actor noted for playing Uncle Arthur on the TV sitcom “Bewitched”. He was also known as the longtime “center square” on “Hollywood Squares”, for thirteen years.

11 Compete on “Project Runway,” say : SEW

“Project Runway” is a reality show that is hosted by model Heidi Klum. On the show, contestants compete by presenting clothes designs having been given limited time and materials. “Project Runway” is now a worldwide franchise. North of the border, the show is called “Project Runway Canada” and is hosted by supermodel Iman. The show in the UK is known as “Project Catwalk” and has had several hosts, including Elizabeth Hurley and Kelly Osbourne.

12 Many a fan of “The Baby-Sitters Club” : PRETEEN

Ann M. Martin is an author of children’s fiction who is perhaps best known for penning “The Baby-Sitters Club” (BSC) series of novels. Martin wrote the first 36 of the BSC books, and retired into a quieter life leaving ghostwriters to continue the series since 2000.

13 “Willkommen” musical : CABARET

The musical “Cabaret” is based on “I Am a Camera”, a 1951 play written by John Van Druten. In turn, the play was adapted from a novel “Goodbye to Berlin” written by Christopher Isherwood. The action in the musical takes place in the 1930s, in a seedy Berlin cabaret called the Kit Kat Klub. “Cabaret” is a great stage musical, although the 1972 film of the musical isn’t one of my favorites.

14 Sue Bird’s WNBA record 3,234 : ASSISTS

WNBA player Sue Bird is one of only two basketball players, male or female, to have won five Olympic gold medals. The other is fellow WNBA star Diana Taurasi. Bird became engaged to US soccer phenom Megan Rapinoe in 2020.

21 Home of New York’s Museum Mile : EAST SIDE

While there are many neighborhoods in New York City’s borough of Manhattan, there are some broader terms that are used to navigate one’s way around the island:

• Uptown: above 59th Street
• Midtown: between 59th Street and 14th Street (but sometimes 23rd Street or 34th Street)
• Downtown: below 14th Street

• Upper Manhattan: above 96th Street
• Lower Manhattan: below Chambers Street

• East Side: east of Fifth Avenue
• West Side: west of Fifth Avenue

23 Northern __ apples : SPY

The spy apple (also “northern spy” or “king”) is a cultivar that originated in 1800 in East Bloomfield, New York. The USPS honored the spy apple by including it in a set of four stamps commemorating historic strains of apple (along with the Baldwin, golden delicious and Granny Smith).

24 Like the Chukchi people of Russia : SIBERIAN

The Chukchi are an ethnic group native to Siberia. Even though the Chukchi live in Asia, genetic studies have shown them to be extremely close relatives to peoples who are indigenous to the Americas.

32 Yona of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic,” for one : YAK

“My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” is an animated TV show that is part of the “My Little Pony” franchise. The show was targeted towards young girls, but surprisingly developed an adult fan base. Adult men adopted the name “bronies”, a portmanteau of “bro” and “pony”. Adult females went by the name “pegasisters”, a portmanteau of “Pegasus” and “sister”.

33 Media personality JoJo : SIWA

Joelle Joanie “JoJo” Siwa is a dancer and YouTube star. I move in the wrong circles, and so haven’t heard of her. I guess that’s my bad, because she made it into “Time” magazine’s 2020 list of the 100 most influential people in the world …

36 Instrument played with a bachi : SAMISEN

A samisen is a traditional Japanese instrument with three strings that is a vaguely like a banjo. It is played with a plectrum that is called a bachi.

37 Region of Chile used by NASA to test equipment for Mars missions : ATACAMA

Even deserts get rain at some point in the year, with very few exceptions. One of those exceptions is the Atacama Desert in South America, which receives no rain at all. The Atacama has such an otherworldly appearance that it has been used by TV and film studios, and NASA, to represent the surface of Mars.

41 Upturned feature of some snakes : HOGNOSE

“Hognose snake” is a familiar name used for several species of snake that have upturned snouts (hence the name). That snout helps them dig into sandy soils and humus. They are all relatively timid species, and so burrowing into leaves and sand is a defensive behavior.

45 Shard : SLIVER

A shard is a small piece, especially a fragment, of broken ceramic or glass.

47 Pirouette, essentially : PIVOT

We took our word “pirouette” directly from French, in which language it has the same meaning, i.e. a rotation in dancing. “Pirouette” is also the French word for “spinning top”.

58 “O Deus ego __ te”: Catholic hymn : AMO

The words of the hymn “O Deus ego amo te” are sometimes attributed to Francis Xavier, the Spanish Catholic missionary who founded the Society of Jesus. The first line translates from Latin as “O God I love you”.

59 Scrip spec : MED

“Scrip” (also “script”) is an informal term meaning “prescription”.