Category: Will Eisenberg

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Constructed by: Will Eisenberg
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 16m 50s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Leather accessory : CHAPS

Chaps are leather leggings that are worn when riding a horse. The purpose of the garment is to provide protection for the legs when riding through bushy terrain, perhaps a heavy thicket. The name “chaps” comes from the Spanish name for the leggings, which is “chaparejos” or “chaparreras”. The Spanish term comes from chaparro, a Spanish word that can be used for a low-growing thicket.

11 Rangers home, familiarly : MSG

Madison Square Garden (MSG) is an arena in New York City used for a variety of events. In the world of sports it is home to the New York Rangers of the NHL, as well as the New York Knicks of the NBA. “The Garden” is also the third busiest music venue in the world in terms of ticket sales. The current arena is the fourth structure to bear the name, a name taken from the Madison Square location in Manhattan. In turn, the square was named for James Madison, the fourth President of the US.

14 Cocoon fillers : PUPAE

Strictly speaking, the term “cocoon” only applies to the tough outer casing created by moth caterpillars. Butterfly caterpillars protect themselves in a hard outer skin to form a pupa known as a chrysalis. But, butterfly caterpillars don’t go the extra step by spinning a silky cocoon. Famously, silk thread comes from silk cocoons created by silkworms, which mature into silk moths.

15 Actress MacDowell : ANDIE

Andie MacDowell is an American actress who seems to turn up in quite a few British productions set in that part of the world. Most famously she was the love interest in the fabulous film “Four Weddings and a Funeral” starring opposite Hugh Grant. I also enjoyed another of her movies, “Groundhog Day”, which is a fun tale set back here in the US.

17 Ancient Greek market : AGORA

In early Greece, an agora was a place of assembly. The assemblies held there were often quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a marketplace. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

18 Fed. security : T-NOTE

A Treasury note (T-note) is a government debt that matures in 1-10 years. A T-note has a coupon (interest) payment made every six months. The T-note is purchased at a discount to face value, and at the date of maturity can be redeemed at that face value. A Treasury bill (T-bill) is a similar financial vehicle, but it matures in one year or less, and a T-bond matures in 20-30 years.

19 MSNBC’s “Inside With __ Psaki” : JEN

The very able Jen Psaki served as the first White House press secretary for the Biden administration. During the Obama administration, she held several positions including White House deputy secretary and spokesperson for the Department of State. After leaving the White House, Psaki started to carve out a new career as TV pundit and began hosting her own MSNBC talk show in 2023.

20 James Webb, for one : SPACE TELESCOPE

The James Webb Space Telescope entered into service in 2022. It uses infrared radiation to observe objects, and also produces images with higher resolution than the Hubble Space Telescope that started operating in 1990. The Webb is named for James E. Webb, the NASA administrator who served from 1961 to 1968.

24 Introduces an MGM film? : ROARS

There has been a lion in the logo of the MGM studio since 1924. The original was an Irishman (!), a lion named Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until Jackie took over from Slats in 1928 that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.

30 __ Polytechnique : ECOLE

The École polytechnique in Paris is a school specializing in science and engineering that was founded in 1794, during the French Revolution. During the reign of Napoleon I, in 1804, Polytechnique was militarized, and to this day, the school belongs to the Ministry of Armed Forces.

31 “Severance” actor : SCOTT

Adam Scott is an actor from Santa Cruz, California who is perhaps best known for playing Ben Wyatt on the hit sitcom “Parks and Recreation”. More recently, Scott has been playing the lead in the sci-fi TV show “Severance”.

33 Source of local produce, for short : CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

34 __ regia: gold-dissolving substance : AQUA

Aqua regia is a mixture of concentrated nitric acid and hydrochloric acid. “Aqua regia” translates as “royal water”. The mixture was given this name as it can dissolve the “noble” metals, gold and platinum.

35 Puffy deep-fried bread : POORI

Puri (also “poori”) is a deep-fried, unleavened bread from Indian cuisine.

38 “Black Skin, White Masks” writer Frantz : FANON

“Black Skin, White Masks” is a 1952 book by Frantz Fanon, a psychiatrist and political philosopher from Martinique (then a French colony). In the work, Fanon discusses in detail the violence employed by a colonizing power, and the resulting violence used by the colonized in an attempt to regain freedom.

39 __ mignon : FILET

The filet mignon cut of beef is taken from muscle in the back of the cow. That muscle is not load-bearing and contains very little connective tissue, which makes it more tender as meat. The name “filet mignon” translates as “tender/delicate slice”.

46 Silent nemesis in “Peanuts” : KITE-EATING TREE

Charlie Brown is the main character in the long-running comic strip called “Peanuts”, created by Charles Schulz. Charlie’s catchphrase is “good grief”. He has several persistent frustrations in his life, including an inability to fly a kite. The focus of his kite-flying frustration is the dreaded Kite-Eating Tree.

52 Smoothie option : GUAVA

The name “guava” applies to several tropical fruit species. The most frequently eaten species is the apple guava (also “common guava”). Almost half of the world’s guava is produced by India.

53 Daniel who writes the Gabriel Allon spy novels : SILVA

Daniel Silva is a bestselling thriller author from Michigan. Silva’s first novel was a “New York Times” bestseller called “The Unlikely Spy”. Silva followed up with a string of hit novels featuring his hero, an art restorer named Gabriel Allon.

55 Luthor in the Legion of Doom : LEX

Lex Luthor is the nemesis of Superman in comics. Luthor has been portrayed in a number of guises in the comic world as well in movies and on the small screen. For example, he appeared as Atom Man in the 1950 film series “Atom Man vs. Superman”, and was played by actor Lyle Talbot, opposite Kirk Alyn’s Superman.

56 Row of pawns, e.g. : OCTET

In the game of chess, the pawns are the weakest pieces on the board. A pawn that can make it to the opposite side of the board can be promoted to a piece of choice, usually a queen. Using promotion of pawns, it is possible for a player to have two or more queens on the board at one time. However, standard chess sets come with only one queen per side, so a captured rook is often used as the second queen by placing it on the board upside down.

57 Needed Advil, say : ACHED

Advil is Wyeth’s brand of ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory drug.

59 One-named rapper in the hip-hop collective Doomtree : DESSA

“Dessa” is the stage name of rapper Margret Wander from Minnesota. She is a member of the hip hop collective Doomtree that is based in Minneapolis.

60 “The Constant Gardener” Oscar winner : WEISZ

Rachel Weisz is an actress from England. I first remember Weisz playing the female lead in the excellent 2001 WWII movie “Enemy at the Gates”. She also appeared in 2005’s “The Constant Gardener”, winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Weisz married fellow actor Daniel Craig in 2011.

“The Constant Gardener” is a 2001 novel by John le Carré (author of “The Spy Who Came in from the Cold”). The story is about a British diplomat called Justin Quayle who investigates the murder of his wife, Tessa. Le Carré’s traditional Cold War setting is replaced by the world of corporate cover-ups. The novel was adapted into a movie of the same name in 2005 starring Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.

Down

1 Pro concerned with returns : CPA

Certified public accountant (CPA)

4 y=2x² plot, e.g. : PARABOLA

A parabola is roughly a u-shape curve. Parabolic mirrors have cross-sections that are parabolic curves. Such mirrors have the characteristic that light emanating from the parabola’s focal point leaves the mirror as a parallel beam, a collimated beam.

6 Gilbert and Sullivan staple : PATTER SONG

A patter song is very fast-paced, and each syllable of the lyrics corresponds to each note. A famous example of a patter song is Tom Lehrer’s listing of the atomic elements, which he does to the tune of the Major-General’s song from the “The Pirates of Penzance” by Gilbert and Sullivan. There are many, many examples of patter songs from Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. The use of the term “patter”, meaning “recite rapidly”, comes from the Lord’s Prayer (“Pater Noster” in Latin). Congregations in English Christian churches tended to rush through the prayer in Latin, reciting it in Latin.

7 Rice, for one : ANNE

“Anne Rice” is the pen name of American author of erotic and Gothic novels Howard Allen O’Brien. Her famous series of novels “The Vampire Chronicles” centers on her character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman who was turned into a vampire in the 18th century. One of the stories, “Interview with the Vampire”, was adapted for the big screen in 1994 and features Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and others in a star-studded cast. Not my kind of movie though, as I don’t do vampires …

8 K-pop star, say : IDOL

K-pop (Korean pop) is a genre of music from South Korea that emerged in the early nineties.

9 Book club? : LITERATI

Literati are men and women of letters, learned people. The Latin “literatus” means “lettered”.

11 Pitches delivered in sequence? : MAJOR SCALE

Experts, unlike me, can wax lyrical on the technical differences between major and minor keys and scales. To me, music written in major keys is very strident, often very joyful and “honest”. Music written in minor keys (usually my favorite) is more feminine, more delicate and often quite sad.

22 Berkeley, familiarly : CAL

The University of California, Berkeley (Cal) is the most difficult public university to get into in the world. It opened in 1869, and is named for Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkeley.

25 “Barracuda” band : HEART

“Barracuda” is a 1997 song released by Heart. Band members, and sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson wrote the song to express their anger over a publicity stunt pulled by Mushroom Records. The label released a bogus story suggesting that the sisters had an incestuous affair.

27 Follow up too soon, perhaps : DOUBLE TEXT

Double texting is the sending of a second text before receiving a reply to the first. The concept is mainly discussed in the context of new relationships, in which double texting is viewed by some as a symptom of being “needy”.

28 Beethoven composition for brass virtuoso Giovanni Punto : HORN SONATA

Ludwig van Beethoven composed his Horn Sonata relatively early in his career, in 1800. He wrote the piece for virtuoso horn player Giovanni Punto, and accompanied Punto on piano when it premiered in Vienna.

36 Good & Plenty flavor : LICORICE

Good & Plenty is a brand of candy that has a licorice center surrounded by a hard sugary shell. It was introduced way back, in Philadelphia in 1893, making it the oldest candy brand in the country. Until quite recently, vegans avoided Good & Plenty because the red variety was colored with a dye collected from crushed female cochineal insects. Ugh …

38 Vulcan or Agni : FIRE GOD

Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of fire. He gave his name to the volcanic island of Vulcano, located a few miles off the coast of Sicily, as the Romans believed that the island was Vulcan’s chimney. In turn, Vulcano gave its name to our contemporary word “volcano”.

Agni is the Hindu god of fire, and the conduit between humans and the gods. Burnt sacrifices are made through Agni, in order to reach other gods in the celestial realm.

39 Tool for intricate cutting : FRETSAW

A fretsaw is a type of bow saw with a thin blade that facilitates intricate cutting. The saw takes its name from its use in making intricate decorative designs called fretwork.

47 Parts of a sleeve : TATS

Sleeve tattoos cover the arm, or part of the arm.

48 Lithographer James Merritt : IVES

Currier and Ives was a printmaking concern in New York City run by Nathaniel Currier and his partner James Merritt Ives from 1834 to 1907. The firm specialized in making affordable, hand-colored black and white lithographs.

54 Wood shaper : ADZ

An adze (also “adz”) is similar to an ax, but is different in that the blade of an adze is set at right angles to the tool’s shaft. An ax blade is set in line with the shaft.