Tag: Star witness? crossword clue

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Constructed by: David P. Williams
Edited by: Patti Varol

Today’s Theme:None

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… a complete list of answers

Bill’s time: 15m 37s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Street in London home to many medical offices : HARLEY

Harley Street in London has become home to the private practices of many physicians and surgeons over the years. One of the more celebrated practices located there was that of speech therapist Lionel Logue. It was Logue who helped King George VI manage his speech impediment, as featured in the excellent 2010 film “The King’s Speech”.

7 Charles known as the “Angry Man of Jazz” : MINGUS

Charles Mingus was a jazz composer, bandleader and double bass player from Nogales, Arizona. He was as famous for his musical talent as he was for his fiery temper, a temper that would often lead to violent outbursts while onstage. This led to him being dubbed “the Angry Man of Jazz”.

13 Cold spells : ICE AGES

Ice ages are periods in the Earth’s history when there are extensive ice sheets present in the northern and southern hemispheres. One might argue that we are still in an ice age that began 2.6 million years ago, as evidenced by the presence of ice sheets covering Greenland and Antarctica.

22 Get some sun : TAN

Melanin is a natural pigment found in most organisms. In humans, melanin is the pigment in the skin, the production of which accelerates in response to UV radiation causing a “tan”. Melanin is also what is released as cephalopod ink, a defensive cloud squirted into the water by squids and octopodes.

25 Guinness order : PINT

The world-famous Guinness brewery at St. James’s Gate in Dublin, Ireland was founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness. By 1838, St. James’s Gate was the largest brewery in Ireland, and by 1886 it was the largest brewery in the world. While no longer the largest brewer of beer, Guinness is still the largest brewer of stout on the planet.

27 Large venue : ARENA

A venue is a specified locale used for an event. The term “venue” came into English via French from the Latin “venire” meaning “to come”. So, a “venue” is a place to which people “come” for an event.

28 Song birds? : SWANS

The phrase “swan song” is used for a final gesture, a last performance. The expression derives from an ancient belief that swans are silent for most of their lives, but sing a beautiful song just before they die.

29 Serious scratch : PRETTY PENNY

Lettuce, cabbage, kale, dough, bread, scratch, cheddar, simoleons, clams and moola(h) are all slang terms for money.

31 Poutine kin : CHEESE FRIES

Poutine is a dish that originated in rural Quebec in the late fifties. It is made with french fries covered in a brown gravy sauce, all topped with cheese curds.

33 Second-most populous urban area of the Tibetan Plateau : LHASA

Lhasa is the capital city of Tibet, with the name “Lhasa” translating as “place of the gods”. However, Lhasa used to be called Rasa, a name that translates into the less auspicious “goat’s place”. Lhasa was also once called the “Forbidden City” due to its inaccessible location high in the Himalayas and a traditional hostility exhibited by residents to outsiders. The “forbidden” nature of the city has been reinforced since the Chinese took over Tibet in the early 1950s as it has been difficult for foreigners to get permission to visit Lhasa.

The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest plateau on the planet, earning it the nickname “The Roof of the World”. It has also been dubbed “The Third Pole”, as it is home to vast ice fields that represent the largest reserve of fresh water outside of the polar ice caps.

34 Primary rte.? : US-ONE

US Route 1 runs from Fort Kent in Maine right down to Key West in Florida.

38 A in Kindergarten : EINE

“Kindergarten” is a German word, one translated as “children’s garden”. The term was coined by the German education authority Friedrich Fröbel in 1837, when he used it as the name for his play and activity institute that he created for young children to use before they headed off to school. His thought was that children should be nourished educationally, like plants in a garden.

39 Like some accents : ACUTE

In French, accents over the letter E can be acute (é, “accent aigu”) or grave (è, “accent grave”).

40 Adidas rival : FILA

Fila was originally an Italian company, founded in 1911 and now based in South Korea. It was started in Piedmont by the Fila brothers, primarily to make underwear that they sold to people living in the Italian Alps. The company started to focus on sportswear in the seventies, using tennis-great Bjorn Borg as their major endorser.

43 John whose Civil War trilogy was adapted as a miniseries starring Patrick Swayze : JAKES

“North and South” is a series of three novels by John Jakes set before, during and after the Civil War. The titles of the individual novels are:

1. “North and South” (1982)
2. “Love and War” (1984)
3. “Heaven and Hell” (1987)

All three novels were adapted into a set of miniseries broadcast in 1985, 1986 and 1994, each starring Patrick Swayze and James Read.

49 International understanding : ENTENTE

An entente cordiale (sometimes just “entente”) is a friendly understanding, usually between two nations. The term, which translates from French as “cordial agreement”, was first used to describe a set of agreements between the UK and France that were put in place in 1904.

Down

1 Garments similar to mantillas : HIJABS

Some Muslim women wear a hijab in the presence of males outside of their immediate family. It is a veil covering the head and chest. As part of the hijab, some also wear a niqab, which is a cloth that covers the face. Other Muslim women wear a burqa, which covers the whole body from the top of the head to the ground.

A mantilla is a traditional lace or silk shawl from Spain. It is often worn over a high comb called a “peineta”, which creates the illusion that the wearer is taller than she actually is.

2 Contacts company : ACUVUE

Acuvue is a line of disposable contact lenses made by Vistakon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

3 Sandals, e.g. : RESORT

Sandals is an operator of all-inclusive resorts for couples. Based in Montego Bay in Jamaica, Sandals was founded in 1981.

4 Mass medium : LATIN

The principal act of worship in the Roman Catholic tradition is the Mass. The term “Mass” comes from the Late Latin word “missa” meaning “dismissal”. This word is used at the end of the Latin Mass in “Ite, missa est” which translates literally as “Go, it is the dismissal”.

6 Pitcher’s aim? : YES

That would be a salesperson pitching for a sale.

7 Dank : MUSTY

Something described as “musty” has a stale or moldy odor. The term derives from an obsolete word “moisty”, as in “moist”.

9 PRISM org. : NSA

PRISM is a clandestine surveillance program operated by the National Security Agency (NSA) that allows for the collection of internet communications directly from major U.S. internet companies like Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Apple. The program was revealed to the public in 2013 by Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor.

10 Plants whose roots flavor angostura bitters and Aperol : GENTIANS

Gentiana is a genus of plants that is noted for having large flowers that are often an intense shade of blue. Gentian root is used as a flavoring for the common cocktail flavoring called “bitters”.

12 Surgical tubes : STENTS

In the world of surgical medicine, a stent is an artificial tube inserted inside a vessel in the body, say an artery, in order to reduce the effects of a local restriction in the body’s conduit.

14 Ingredient omitted from a recipe, perhaps : SECRET SAUCE

The dressing on a McDonald’s Big Mac was first described as a “special sauce” in a 1974 advertising campaign. Apparently, the “special sauce” is no “secret sauce”, as the recipe can be found quite readily online. It consists of a mixture of regular mayonnaise, sweet pickle relish and yellow mustard all blended together, with some vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder and paprika.

25 Trounced, as a n00b : PWNED

“To pwn” is online gamer-speak for “to own, defeat easily”. It’s likely that “pwn” evolved from “own” as it is a common typo caused by the close proximity of the o- and p-keys on a computer keyboard. “Pwn” is pronounced like “pone”.

“Noob” (sometimes “newb” or “n00b”) is a not-so-nice, slang term for a “newbie”, and often refers to someone who is new to an online community.

27 Corncake that may be filled with queso : AREPA

An arepa is a cornmeal cake or bread that is popular in Colombian and Venezuelan cuisines in particular. Each arepa has a flat, round shape and is often split to make a sandwich.

28 One making bank in Paris? : SEINE

The famous “Left Bank” (“La Rive Gauche”) of the River Seine in Paris is the river’s southern bank. The area south of the river was traditionally quite bohemian and was home to artists, students and intellectuals.

29 Moon unit : PHASE

The phases of the moon have been given the following names, in order:

• New moon
• Waxing crescent moon
• First quarter moon
• Waxing gibbous moon
• Full moon
• Waning gibbous moon
• Third quarter moon
• Waning crescent moon
• Dark moon

30 Dried plum : PRUNE

A prune is a dried plum. The name “prune” comes from the Latin “prunum”, the word for “plum”.

35 Midriff-baring suit : BIKINI

The origin of the word “bikini”, describing a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. One story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment …

37 Flood insurance? : GASKET

The idiomatic phrase “to blow a gasket” means “to lose one’s temper”, and arose during the 1940s as cars became more common sites on roads. A gasket is a seal, often made of rubber, that fits between two pieces of metal, especially two parts of an engine. The gasket prevents the leakage of liquid or gas. A blown gasket evokes the image of steam escaping from the engine through a ruptured gasket. A cartoon character who loses his or her temper is often depicted with steam coming out of the ears, having blown that metaphorical gasket.

40 Mountebanks : FAKES

A mountebank is a charlatan, a swindler. The term applies more specifically to someone who sells quack medicines to a small crowd, using tricks and exaggerated stories to convince individuals to purchase. “Mountebank” comes into English via Italian from “monta” meaning “to mount” and “banco” meaning “bench”. The idea is that the swindler would “mount a bench” from where he can address the crowd and hawk his fraudulent wares.

45 Org. that publishes Our Children magazine : PTA

“Our Children” is a magazine published by the National PTAS that is published semiannually.