Tag: Like wrap heels crossword clue

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Constructed by: Kate Chin Park & Brooke Husic
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme: None

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

Bill’s time: 16m 59s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11 Some scanners : HPS

The giant multinational HP (originally “Hewlett-Packard”) was founded in 1939 with an investment of $538 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. The company name would have been Packard-Hewlett, if Dave Packard had won a coin toss!

15 Tender in Tehran : RIAL

The rial is the currency of Iran (as well as Yemen, Oman and Tunisia). Generally, there are 1,000 baisa in one rial.

Tehran is the capital of Iran and is the largest city in the Middle East, with a population of about 8.5 million. Iran has been around a really long time and Tehran is actually the country’s 31st national capital.

17 Survey opción : OTRO

In Spanish, when answering a survey, one “opción” (option) might be “otro” (other).

18 Brazilian city : RIO

Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Year’s Day in 1502.

19 Ballet bends : PLIES

The French word for “bent” is “plié”. In the ballet move known as a plié, the knees are bent. A “demi-plié” is a similar move, but with less bending of the knees. A fondu is similar to a plié, except that only one leg remains on the ground.

21 Mud : JOE

It seems that no one really knows why we refer to coffee as “joe”, but we’ve been doing so since early in WWII.

28 Rx overseer : FDA

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has its roots in the Division of Chemistry (later “Bureau of Chemistry”) that was part of the US Department of Agriculture. President Theodore Roosevelt gave responsibility for examination of food and drugs to the Bureau of Chemistry with the signing of the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Bureau’s name was changed to the Food, Drug and Insecticide Organization in 1927, and to the Food and Drug Administration in 1930.

34 Noggin : BEAN

Slang terms for “head” include “bean”, “coconut”, “gourd”, “noodle” and “noggin”.

35 Greek city that’s one of the oldest in Europe : ARGOS

Argos is one of the oldest cities in Greece, and indeed in Europe, having been continuously inhabited for over 7,000 years. In ancient times, Argos was a rival city-state to the powerful Sparta.

36 Mid-month day : IDES

There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed at the 15th day of a month. Actually, the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

37 Resident of the highest-altitude U.S. capital : SANTA FEAN

Santa Fe is New Mexico’s capital, and the fourth most-populous city in the state (after Albuquerque, Las Cruces and Rio Rancho). Sitting at 7,199 feet above sea level, Santa Fe is the highest state capital in the US. The city’s name translates from Spanish as “Holy Faith”. The full name of the city when it was founded in 1607 was “La Villa Real de la Santa Fe de San Francisco de Asís”, meaning “the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi”. It became the capital of the province Santa Fe de Nuevo México in 1610, making Santa Fe the oldest state capital in the US.

40 “Arthur” network : PBS

“Arthur” is an educational TV show that started airing on PBS in 1996. The title character is an aardvark who regularly introduces children to important social issues such as dyslexia, cancer and autism. “Arthur” is the longest-running children’s animated show on US television, and is the second-longest running of any animated show, behind Fox’s “The Simpsons”.

42 Way out : EGRESS

Barnum’s American Museum opened in New York City in 1841, and sadly burned to the ground in 1865. The attractions in the museum included zoo animals, waxworks as well as theater shows and “freak shows”. Famously, a sign pointing to the exit of the museum read “This Way to the Egress”. Many visitors followed the sign, anxious to see the “egress” exhibit, only to find themselves out on the street!

48 Swift album with “All Too Well” : RED

“All Too Well” is a 2012 song co-written and recorded by Taylor Swift. Swift’s fans love this song, and many regard it as her finest song. It deals with a relationship that’s over. There’s a scarf mentioned in the song a couple of times. At the beginning of the lyrics:

and I left my scarf there at your sister’s house

Towards the end of the song:

But you keep my old scarf from that very first week

Well, the scarf has become a “thing”. The assumption is the relationship is between Swift and her one-time boyfriend Jake Gyllenhall. Multiple hours of airtime have been devoted to answering the question, “Where is the scarf now?”

49 One with a clipped ear, perhaps : STRAY

Trap-neuter-return (TNR) is a controversial program used in some locations as an attempt to control the population of feral cats. Stray cats are live-trapped and then neutered or spayed before being released back into their environment. While the cat is under anesthesia, it is usually vaccinated and the tip of the ear is removed. Ear-tipping is used to identify those cats that have been processed through the program.

52 Swiatek who won the French Open in 2020 and 2022 : IGA

Iga Swiatek is a professional tennis player, and the first from Poland to win a major singles title (the French Open in 2020).

58 Rx items : MEDS

There seems to be some uncertainty about the origin of the symbol “Rx” that’s used for a medical prescription. One explanation is that it comes from the astrological sign for Jupiter, a symbol put on prescriptions in days of old to invoke Jupiter’s blessing to help a patient recover.

59 Technology swiped by millions : SMARTPHONE

Many apps on phones are now using “swipe right” and “swipe left” actions to indicate “like” and dislike”. I suppose Tinder is the most famous “swipe right/swipe left” app in use today.

61 Retro footwear made from PVC : JELLY SHOES

Jelly shoes are relatively cheap footwear made from injection-molded PVC plastic that is sometimes referred to as jelly rubber. “Jelly Shoes” was a brand name used by a company that operated in the 1980s.

Down

1 Pre-revolution ruler : TSAR

The year 1917 saw two revolutions in Russia, with the pair collectively called “the Russian Revolution”. As a result of the February Revolution that centered on Petrograd, the last Emperor of Russia (Tsar Nicholas II) abdicated and members of the Imperial parliament took control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The Provisional Government was itself overthrown in the October Revolution, which was led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolshevik party.

2 Spring celebration with colored powder : HOLI

Holi is a Hindu festival, celebrated in spring, that is also known as the Festival of Colours.

3 “Collapsed in Sunbeams” singer Parks : ARLO

“Arlo Parks” is the stage name of British singer and poet Anaïs Marinho. Parks seems to have hit the big time early in her career, with her first studio album “Collapsed in Sunbeams” garnering a lot of positive attention.

4 New Year celebrated with thit kho trung : TET

The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

Thit kho trung is a dish from Vietnamese cuisine consisting of marinated pork and boiled eggs braised in coconut juice. Even though it is considered an everyday meal, it is also a traditional offering during Vietnamese New Year.

7 Bubbly locale : ASTI

Asti is a city in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The region is perhaps most famous for its Asti Spumante sparkling white wine.

8 Demeter’s Roman counterpart : CERES

Ceres was a Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility, and was the counterpart of the Greek goddess Demeter. Our modern word “cereal” comes from the name “Ceres”.

10 Dir. from Beverly Hills to Long Beach : SSE

The city of Beverly Hills, California was named after Beverly Farms in Beverly, Massachusetts and also after the hills in that part of California.

The California city of Long Beach is home to the second-busiest container port in the nation. Anyone visiting the waterfront can tour the famous transatlantic liner RMS Queen Mary, which has been docked there since 1967.

11 Some flat caps? : HI-TOP FADES

For the haircut known as the hi-top fade, the hair on the sides is cut short, while the hair on the top of the head is grown relatively long.

13 Gin berry : SLOE

The sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn bush, and the main flavoring ingredient in sloe gin. A sloe looks like a small plum, but is usually much more tart in taste.

21 Day trip, maybe : JAUNT

A jaunt is a short pleasure trip, although back in the 1500s, the word “jaunt” described a tiresome journey. Back then, one would jaunt a horse, meaning that one tired it out by riding it back and forth.

24 Ingredient in many L’Occitane creams : SHEA BUTTER

Shea butter is a common moisturizer and lotion used as a cosmetic. It is a fat that is extracted from the nut of the African shea tree. There is evidence that shea butter was used back in Cleopatra’s Egypt.

L’Occitane en Provence is a French supplier of personal care products that was founded in 1976. The company name translates as “The Woman from Occitania in Provence”. Occitania is a historical region in Europe that covers much of the southern part of France, Monaco, and a small part of Spain and northern Italy.

25 Movement celebrated with a blue, pink, and white flag : TRANS PRIDE

The transgender community has widely adopted a blue, pink and white flag to represent transgender pride. The flag was designed by transgender activist and US Navy veteran Monica Helms in 1999. It comprises five horizontal stripes: light blue, pink, white, pink and light blue. The light blue stripes at the top and bottom are the traditional color associated with baby boys. The abutting pink stripes are the traditional color associated with baby girls. The white stripe in the center represents those who are transitioning, or those who consider themselves gender-neutral.

29 PDA part: Abbr. : ASST

Personal digital assistant (PDA)

30 Largest of a certain kitchen set, for short : TBSP

Tablespoon (tbsp.)

32 NYC hub : LGA

The three big airports serving New York City (NYC) are John F. Kennedy (JFK), LaGuardia (LGA) and Newark (EWR).

35 Hairstyle for Misty Knight : AFRO

Misty Knight is a character introduced by Marvel Comics in 1975. She has been portrayed in several Marvel TV shows by actress Simone Missick.

43 Philadelphia Flyers mascot : GRITTY

Gritty is the mascot of the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team. He is a youngster, relative to other NHL mascots, having made his debut appearance in 2018.

46 Domino’s starter? : FATS

Antoine “Fats” Domino was born and raised in New Orleans, with Creole as his first language. He made it into the big time in 1949 when he recorded an early rock and roll record called “The Fat Man”. That record sold over a million copies, the first rock and roll record to achieve that milestone.

49 “For __”: Oscar-nominated documentary set in Aleppo : SAMA

“For Sama” is an Oscar-nominated 2019 documentary set in Aleppo in Syria. The focus of the film is five years in the life of journalist and rebel Waad al Kateab. During those five years, she marries one of the few doctors left in the city due to the Battle of Aleppo, and gives birth to their daughter Sama.

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and is located not far from Damascus, the nation’s capital. Aleppo owes its size and history of prosperity to its location at the end of the Silk Road, the trade route that linked Asia to Europe (and other locations). The Suez Canal was opened up in 1869 bringing a new route for transport of goods, and so Aleppo’s prosperity declined over the past one hundred years or so. The city’s population has suffered terribly since the start of the Syrian Civil War, with the Battle of Aleppo raging from 2012 to 2016.

51 Programming language named for a gem : PERL

Perl is a programming language designed to ease the process of writing reports. Programmer Larry Wall developed “Pearl” in 1987, but discovered that there was already a programming language with that name, and so changed it to “Perl”. A common backronym for “Perl” is “Practical Extraction and Report Language”.

53 Hand-me-down piece? : GENE

The set of all genes in a particular population is known as the “gene pool”, a term coined in Russian by geneticist Aleksandr Sergeevich Serebrovskii in the 1920s. In general, the larger the gene pool, the more diverse and robust the population.

54 Truculent god : ARES

The Greek god Ares is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of bloodlust and slaughter. Ares united with Aphrodite to create several gods, including Phobos (Fear), Deimos (Terror) and Eros (Desire). Ares was the son of Zeus and Hera, and the Roman equivalent to Ares was Mars.

Someone described as truculent is aggressively self-assertive. The term “truculent” comes from the Latin “trux” meaning “fierce, rough”.

56 Financial daily, initially : WSJ

“The Wall Street Journal” (WSJ) is a daily newspaper with a business bent that is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company. The WSJ has a larger US circulation than any other newspaper, with “USA Today” coming in a close second place.