Tag: Life insurance clause specifying twice the payment for certain situations crossword clue

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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Bowler’s challenge : SPLIT

In ten pin bowling, a split takes place when the number-one pin (headpin) is knocked down with the first ball and two or more non-adjacent pins are left standing. The most difficult split to deal with is the infamous 7-10 split, where just the rear pins at the extreme right and left remain standing.

6 River in western Belgium : YSER

The Yser river flows into the North Sea at Nieuwpoort in the Flemish province of West Flanders in Belgium.

10 “Quite contrary” gardener : MARY

Mary, Mary, quite contrary, How does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, And pretty maids all in a row.

15 Paris currency : EURO

The euro sign (€) looks like a letter C, but with two horizontal lines drawn across the middle. Inspiration for the design comes from the Greek letter epsilon.

16 Singer Adams : EDIE

Edie Adams was an all-round entertainer. She worked for many years on television with Ernie Kovacs and Jack Paar, marrying Ernie Kovacs in 1954. On the big screen she had a major supporting role in “The Apartment”, and was one of the stars of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World”.

17 Bert’s Muppet roommate : ERNIE

For many years, I believed that the “Sesame Street” characters Bert and Ernie were named after two roles played in the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life”. In the movie, the policeman’s name is Bert and his taxi-driving buddy is named Ernie. However, the “Sesame Street” folks have stated that the use of the same names is just a coincidence. Aww, I don’t wanna believe that’s a coincidence …

18 Tiny bit of a min. : NSEC

“Nanosecond” is more correctly abbreviated to “ns” (as opposed to “nsec”) and really is a tiny amount of time: one billionth of a second.

19 “Bob’s Burgers” daughter : TINA

“Bob’s Burgers” is a cartoon sitcom that airs on Fox. Not for me …

23 *Fiduciary entity whose holdings are unknown to its beneficiaries : BLIND TRUST (giving “blind date”)

A blind trust is one in which those managing the trust’s funds have full discretion in regard to asset allocation, and the beneficiary of the trust has no knowledge of how the assets are allocated. Many politicians put their personal assets into blind trusts so that they avoid any conflicts of interest. Well, they used to …

26 Deli hanger : SALAMI

“Salame” (note the letter E at the end) is an Italian sausage that is traditionally associated with the peasant classes. The meat in the sausage is preserved with salt, and it can be hung and stored for as long as ten years. The name “salame” comes from “sale”, the Italian word for salt, and “-ame”, a suffix indicating a collective noun. Our English word “salami” is actually the Italian plural for “salame”.

31 Rivière contents : EAU

In French, one can find “eau” (water) in a “rivière” (river).

32 Sun-dried brick : ADOBE

The building material known as adobe has been around a long time, and has been used in dry climates all over the world. The original form of the word “adobe” dates back to Middle Egyptian times, about 2000 BC. The original spelling is “dj-b-t”, and translates as mud (sun-dried) brick.

33 Campus housing : DORM

“Dormitory” is a very apt anagram of “dirty room”. Well, sometimes it’s apt …

39 *Life insurance clause specifying twice the payment for certain situations : DOUBLE INDEMNITY (giving “double date”)

The phrase “double indemnity” is very much associated with the classic 1944 film that uses the phrase as its title.

“Double Indemnity” is a classic film noir released in 1944 and starring Fred MacMurray, Edward G. Robinson and Barbara Stanwyck. Based on the James M. Cain novella of the same name, it’s all about a woman who kills her husband for the insurance money. The title “Double Indemnity” refers to the double payout clause in the life insurance policy in the event of an accidental death. And that’s what the wife tried to show investigators, that the death was accidental.

42 “¿Cómo __ usted?” : ESTA

“¿Cómo está usted?” is the more formal way of asking “How are you?” in Spanish.

47 *Wet wooded region : RAINFOREST (giving “rain date”)

Strictly speaking, the terms “rainforest” and “jungle” are related, but different. A healthy rainforest has a thick canopy of leaves so that the ground below is relatively clear of vegetation due to a lack of sunlight. When the canopy thins, the increase in sunlight promote growth of tangled vegetation at ground level, and producing that is known as “jungle”.

A rain date is an alternative date schedule if an event is postponed due to rain.

61 Therefore : ERGO

“Ergo” is a Latin word meaning “hence, therefore”, and one that we’ve absorbed directly into English.

63 Radamès in 36-Down, e.g. : TENOR
(36D Verdi opera : AIDA)

“Aida” is a celebrated opera by Giuseppe Verdi that is based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette. Mariette also designed the costumes and stages for the opening performance. The opera was first staged in 1871 in an opera house in Cairo. In the storyline, Aida is an Ethiopian princess brought into Egypt as a slave. Radames is an Egyptian commander who falls in love with her, and then complications arise!

64 And others, in Lat. : ET AL

“Et alii” (et al.) is the equivalent of “et cetera” (etc.), with “et cetera” being used in place of a list of objects, and “et alii” used for a list of names. In fact, “et al.” can stand for “et alii” (a group of males, or males and females), “et aliae” (a group of women) and “et alia” (a group of neuter nouns, or a group of people where the intent is to retain gender-neutrality).

65 Author Roald : DAHL

Roald Dahl’s name is Norwegian. Dahl’s parents were from Norway, although Dahl himself was Welsh. Dahl became one of the most successful authors of the twentieth century. Two of his most famous titles are “James and the Giant Peach” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

66 Wild West film : OATER

The term “oater” that is used for a Western movie comes from the number of horses seen, as horses love oats!

68 French “head” : TETE

In French, the “tête” (head) is the top of “le corps” (the body).

Down

2 Lima is its capital : PERU

Lima is the capital city of Peru. Lima was founded in 1535 by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, who named it “la Ciudad de los Reyes” (the City of Kings). He chose this name because the decision to found the city was made on January 6th, the feast of the Epiphany that commemorates the visit of the three kings to Jesus in Bethlehem.

3 Fictional reporter Lois : LANE

Lois Lane has been the love interest of Superman/Clark Kent since the comic series was first published in 1938. Lois and Clark both work for the big newspaper in the city of Metropolis called “The Daily Planet”. The couple finally got hitched in the comics (and on television’s “Lois and Clark”) in 1996. One has to wonder how challenging the crossword is in “The Daily Planet” …

5 “God” prefix : THEO-

The prefix “theo-” means “god”, coming from the Greek word “theos” that has the same meaning.

6 Film in which Streisand plays a yeshiva boy : YENTL

“Yentl” is a play that opened in New York City in 1975. The move to adapt the play for the big screen was led by Barbra Streisand, and indeed she wrote the first outline of a musical version herself as far back as 1968. The film was eventually made and released in 1983, with Streisand performing the lead role.

In the Jewish tradition, a yeshiva is an educational institution focusing on the study of sacred texts.

9 Mythical big bird : ROC

The mythical roc is a huge bird of prey, one reputedly able to carry off and eat elephants. The roc was said to come from the Indian subcontinent. The supposed existence of the roc was promulgated by Marco Polo in the accounts that he published about his travels through Asia.

11 French farewell : ADIEU

“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye, farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God”. The plural of “adieu” is “adieux”.

13 Baker’s dough raiser : YEAST

Yeasts are unicellular microorganisms in the kingdom Fungi. The species of yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for centuries in the making of wine and beer, and in breadmaking. Saccharomyces cerevisiae converts carbohydrates into carbon dioxide and alcohol in the process of fermentation. When making beer and wine, the carbon dioxide and alcohol may be captured by the liquid. When making bread, the carbon dioxide and alcohol is driven off by heat.

21 Sac fly stat : RBI

That would be baseball.

22 “The Simpsons” disco guy : STU

On “The Simpsons”, the character of Disco Stu is voiced by Hank Azaria, although the original intent was for him to be voiced by Phil Hartman. Disco Stu is described as “a black, wrinkly John Travolta”.

24 Geeky-sounding candy : NERDS

Originally, a geek was a sideshow performer, perhaps one at a circus. Sometimes the term “geek” is used today for someone regarded as foolish or clumsy, and also for someone who is technically driven and expert, but often socially inept.

25 Knight’s lady : DAME

The title of Dame in the British system of honors is the female equivalent to “Sir”, as used to address a knight. In days of old, the wife of a knight was given the title of Dame. Since the 17th century, the wife of a knight has been called “Lady”. So now, anyone with the title of Dame has earned the honor in her own right and not through marriage.

26 “Smooth Operator” singer : SADE

The singer Sade’s real name is Helen Folasade Adu. Although she was born in Nigeria, Sade grew up and lives in the UK. She was the lead vocalist for the English group Sade, and adopted the name of the band. The band’s biggest hits were “Smooth Operator” (1984) and “The Sweetest Taboo” (1985).

27 Kerfuffles : ADOS

“Kerfuffle” comes from the Scottish “curfuffle”, with both words meaning “disruption”.

28 Lummox : LOUT

The word “lummox” comes from East Anglian slang , and describes an ungainly and often clueless person. The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.

29 __ The Museum: Stockholm exhibit honoring a pop group : ABBA

ABBA The Museum is an exhibition in Stockholm that opened in 2013. One of the exhibits featured in the “museum” is a self-playing piano that is linked to a piano in Benny Andersson’s own home. So, the museum’s piano reproduces whatever Benny is playing, in real time. That’s kind of cool …

30 Singer Tormé : MEL

Mel Tormé was a jazz singer, with a quality of voice that earned him the nickname “The Velvet Fog”. Tormé also wrote a few books, and did a lot of acting. He was the co-author of the Christmas classic known as “The Christmas Song”, which starts out with the line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …”

37 Editor’s “never mind that change” : STET

“Stet” is a Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” and then underscoring that change with a line of dots or dashes.

38 Jekyll’s alter ego : HYDE

Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was published in 1886. There are many tales surrounding the writing of the story, including one that the author wrote the basic tale in just three to six days, and spent a few weeks simply refining it. Allegedly, Stevenson’s use of cocaine stimulated his creative juices during those few days of writing.

40 Gateway Arch designer Saarinen : EERO

The Gateway Arch in St. Louis is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, and is the tallest monument in the United States. It was designed by Eero Saarinen, with the help of structural engineer Hannskarl Bandel. They did their design work back in 1947, but construction wasn’t started until 1963. In 1980, a daredevil took it upon himself to parachute onto the top of the arch, intending to further jump from the apex of the arch and parachute to the ground. He hit the arch all right, and slid all the way down one of the arches to his death. No comment …

46 Many “Star Trek” extras : ETS

When Gene Roddenberry first proposed the science fiction series that became “Star Trek”, he marketed it as “Wagon Train to the Stars”, a pioneer-style Western in outer space. In fact his idea was to produce something more like “Gulliver’s Travels”, as he intended to write episodes that were adventure stories on one level, but morality tales on another. Personally I think that he best achieved this model with the spin-off series “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (TNG). If you watch individual episodes you will see thinly disguised treatments of moral issues such as racism, homosexuality, genocide etc. For my money, “The Next Generation” is the best of the whole franchise …

47 Mars explorer : ROVER

There have been several rovers sent to Mars from Earth. The Soviet Union’s Mars 2 landed in 1971, and failed. Mars 3 landed the same year, and ceased operation just 20 seconds after landing. NASA’s Sojourner landed in 1997 (what a great day that was!) and operated from July through September. The British rover Beagle 2 was lost six days before its scheduled entry into the Martian atmosphere. NASA’s Spirit landed in 2004, and operated successfully for over six years before getting trapped in sand and eventually ceasing to communicate. NASA’s Opportunity also landed in 2004, and it is still going. And then NASA’s Curiosity made a spectacular, hi-tech landing in 2012 and is continuing to explore the planet today.

48 Friend of Maria in “West Side Story” : ANITA

In Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story”, the female lead character is Maria. Maria and her older friend Anita are in the group referred to as “the Shark Girls”.

49 Author Asimov : ISAAC

Isaac Asimov was a wonderful science fiction writer, and a professor of biochemistry. He was a favorite author as I was growing up and I must admit that some hero worship on my part led me to study and work as a biochemist for a short while early in my career. My favorite of his works is the collection of short stories called “I, Robot”, although Asimov’s most famous work is probably his “Foundation” trilogy of novels. Asimov wrote three autobiographies, the last of which was called “I, Asimov”, which was published in 1994, two years after his death.

50 Singer Furtado : NELLY

Nelly Furtado is a singer from Victoria, British Columbia who was born to Portuguese parents from the Azores.

58 Ballerinas dance on them : TOES

“En pointe” is the name given to ballet dancing on the tips of the toes, and is a French term. A ballerina wears pointe shoes (sometimes “toe shoes”) to perform this delightful-looking, albeit unhealthy feat (pun!).

61 NYC summer hrs. : EDT

Eastern Daylight Time (EDT)

62 Actress Charlotte : RAE

Charlotte Rae was an American actress best known for playing the character Edna Garrett on two sitcoms from the seventies and eighties: “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life”. Towards the end of the series, the Edna Garrett character operated her own gourmet food shop called “Edna’s Edibles”.