Bill’s time: 22m 29s

Bill’s errors: 0

Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

11A John ___, personification of Objectivism, for Ayn Rand : GALT

John Galt is a character in the Ayn Rand novel “Atlas Shrugged”.

15A Code for Queens-landers? : LGA

Fiorello La Guardia was the Mayor of New York from 1934 to 1945, racking up three full terms in office. The famous airport that bears La Guardia’s name was built at his urging, stemming from an incident that took place while he was in office. He was taking a TWA flight to “New York” and was outraged when the plane landed at Newark Airport, in the state of New Jersey. The Mayor demanded that the flight take off again and land at a small airport in Brooklyn. A gaggle of press reporters joined him on the short hop and he gave them a story, urging New Yorkers to support the construction of a new commercial airport within the city’s limits. The new airport, in Queens, opened in 1939 as New York Municipal, often called “LaGuardia” as a nickname. The airport was officially relabeled as “LaGuardia” (LGA) in 1947.

18A ___ polaris : AURORA

The spectacular aurora polaris phenomenon is seen lighting up the night sky at both poles of the Earth (the Aurora Borealis in the north, and the Aurora Australis in the south). The eerie effect is caused by charged particles colliding with atoms at high latitudes.

19A Intl. group formed in 1945 : THE UN

The United Nations was established right after the end of WWII, and was a replacement for the ineffective League of Nations that had been formed after the end of WWI. The US was at the forefront of the founding of the United Nations, led by President Franklin Roosevelt. The UN’s headquarters is in international territory in New York. There are three regional UN headquarters, also located in international territory, in Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi.

26A University of Alabama rallying cry : ROLL TIDE!

The nickname “Crimson Tide” for the University of Alabama’s athletic teams originated in 1907. A sportswriter, after a particularly muddy game, described Alabama as a “crimson tide” due to their jerseys being stained red from the red clay in the field. The name stuck.

28A President’s middle name (accented on the first syllable) or California city (accented on the second) : DELANO

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was the only child of Sara Delano and James Roosevelt Sr. The Delano family history in America goes back to the pilgrim Philippe de Lannoy, an immigrant of Flemish descent who arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The family name “de Lannoy” was anglicized here in the US, to “Delano”. Franklin was to marry Eleanor Roosevelt, and apparently the relationship between Sara and her daughter-in-law was very “strained”.

31A Slanted type: Abbr. : ITAL

Italic type leans to the right, and is often used to provide emphasis in text. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

36A Dir. from St. Paul to Duluth : NNE

Saint Paul is the state capital of Minnesota, and is one half of the “Twin Cities”, also known as Minneapolis-Saint Paul. Saint Paul used to be called Pig’s Eye, named after a popular tavern in the original settlement in the area. In 1841, Father Lucien Galtier established a log chapel nearby that he dedicated to St. Paul the Apostle, giving the city its current name.

Duluth, Minnesota lies at the westernmost end of Lake Superior, and as such is the westernmost port of the Great Lakes. One has to travel 2,300 miles of inland waterway to get to the Atlantic Ocean from Duluth. The city of Duluth takes its name from the first European explorer of the region, the Frenchman Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut.

37A Guido ___, Baroque painter from Bologna : RENI

Guido Reni was an Italian painter from Bologna who was active in the first half of the 17th century. Reni’s most famous work is probably “Crucifixion of St. Peter”, an altarpiece commissioned in the early 1600s that is now on display in the Vatican.

42A How mashed avocado might be served : OVER TOAST

Avocado toast is trendy, but delicious. My homemade version includes a generous sprinkling of freshly cracked black pepper, and a splash of hot sauce. Yum …

49A PC IDs : IPS

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical label assigned to every device on a computer network. The device that you’re using to read this blog post on has been assigned a unique IP address, as has the computer that I’m using to make this post …

52A What regular customers pay less for? : GAS

The difference between premium and regular gasoline is its octane rating. This is a measure of the resistance of the gasoline to auto-ignition i.e. its resistance to ignition just by virtue of being compressed in the cylinder. This auto-ignition is undesirable as multiple-cylinder engines are designed so that ignition within each cylinder takes place precisely when the plug sparks, and not before. If ignition occurs before the spark is created, the resulting phenomenon is called “knocking”. We sometimes use the adjective “high-octane” to mean “intense, dynamic, high-powered”

53A A good Wordle starting word, by the looks of it : STARE

Wordle is a web-based word game that a Welsh software engineer developed to play with his partner during the COVID pandemic. The name “Wordle” is a play on the engineer’s own name: Josh Wardle. Wardle published the game on its own website in 2021, primarily for the use of Wardle’s family. One month later, the game had 90 players, and a month later 300,000 players. A week later, the number of daily players had grown to two million! The New York Times purchased Wordle in 2022 “for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures”.

54A When Memorial Day is observed : IN MAY

The US’s Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the men and women who fell serving their country in the armed forces. The holiday is held on the last Monday in May. It was originally known as Decoration Day and was established after the Civil War to commemorate both the Union soldiers who died in that conflict. Memorial Day is also the traditional start of the summer season, with the end of the season being Labor Day.

55A Grim Grimm character : OGRE

The Brothers Grimm (Jacob and Wilhelm) were two German academics noted for collecting and publishing folk tales. Among the tales in their marvelous collection are “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, “Sleeping Beauty” and “Cinderella”.

58A Bamboozled : HAD

It’s thought that the lovely word “bamboozle” came into English from the Scottish “bombaze” meaning “perplex”. We’ve been using “bamboozle” since the very early 1700s.

60A Symbol of the American West : SAGUARO

The saguaro is a beautiful cactus, one that is native to the Sonoran Desert in Arizona and Sonora, Mexico. Arizona is proud of its saguaros, featuring them prominently on its license plates. If you ever get a chance to visit the Saguaro National Park in southern Arizona, I thoroughly recommend it.

78A Surname for a family of fictional Kansans : GALE

Dorothy Gale is the protagonist in L. Frank Baum’s book “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”, and indeed a major character in almost all of the “Oz” series of novels. There is a suggestion that the young heroine was named for Baum’s own niece Dorothy Gage, who died as an infant.

80A One whose pride can be protective : LION

Here are some colorful collective nouns:

• A pride of lions
• A shrewdness of apes
• A cloud of bats
• A bench of bishops
• A parliament of owls
• A clowder of cats
• A waddling of ducks
• An army of frogs
• A knot of toads

81A “___ a stinker?” (Bugs Bunny line) : AIN’T I

Cartoon legend Bugs Bunny owes a couple of the iconic elements of his persona to the superb 1934 film “It Happened One Night”. In the movie, Clark Gable has a celebrated scene in which his character munches on raw carrots. He also utters the lines “I, uh, didn’t mean anything, Doc.” and “No offense, Doc.” When Bugs made his debut in the 1940 cartoon “A Wild Hare”, he was munching on carrots, and spouting the line “What’s up, Doc?”

84A Cologne conjunction : UND

“Und” is German for “and”.

Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany, and is known as “Köln” in German. It is situated on the Rhine, and has a rich history stretching back to Roman times. Its most iconic landmark is the magnificent medieval Cologne Cathedral, which was the world’s tallest building from 1880 to 1890. The cathedral, though damaged, remarkably survived the bombings of WWII that destroyed 80% of the city center.

89A Pelvic parts : ILIA

The sacrum (plural “sacra”) and the two ilia (singular “ilium”) are three bones in the human pelvis.

90A Love, in Lyon : AMOUR

The city of Lyon in France is sometimes known as “Lyons” in English. It is the second-largest metropolitan area in the country, after Paris, and is located just to the north of the confluence of the Rhône and Saône Rivers.

99A Org. for pugilists : WBC

“Pugilism”, another word for “boxing”, comes from the Latin “pugil” meaning “boxer”. In turn, “pugil” derives from “pugnus”, the word for “fist”.

101A Pizzeria in “Do the Right Thing” : SAL’S

“Do the Right Thing” is a Spike Lee movie that was released in 1989. Much of the action in the film is centered on a local pizzeria called “Sal’s” owned by Italian-American Salvatore Frangione (played by Danny Aiello).

108A Salty cheese made from sheep’s milk : PECORINO

Pecorino is a family of hard cheeses from Italy, with the name coming from the Italian “pecora” meaning “sheep”. The most famous variety here in North America is Pecorino Romano, which we often refer to simply as “Romano”.

109A Creature-friendly org. : ASPCA

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)

124A Roxane’s beloved, in classic literature : CYRANO

Cyrano de Bergerac was a French dramatist who lived in the 17th century. Paintings and drawings show that Bergerac had a large nose, although the size was exaggerated by those who wrote about his life. Reputedly, Cyrano fought in over 1000 duels, mostly instigated by someone insulting his nose. In the play written about his life, Cyrano had a famous lover named Roxane. It is thought that the Roxane character was modeled on Cyrano’s cousin who lived with his sister in a convent.

Down

3D Country with many Farsi speakers : IRAN

Farsi (also known as Persian) is a language spoken by about 62 million people as a first language, and another 50 million or more as a second language. It is the official language of Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.

4D They often have AAA backing : TOWS

American Automobile Association (AAA)

5D Colonial news source : CRIER

Town criers make public announcements on the streets, usually shouting “Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!” to attract attention. The term “oyez” derives from the Anglo-Norman word for “listen” and is used in this instance to me “Hear ye!”

6D Iconic role for Harrison Ford : HAN

Han Solo is the space smuggler in “Star Wars” played by Harrison Ford. Ford was originally hired by George Lucas just to read lines for actors during auditions for “Star Wars”, but over time Lucas became convinced that Ford was right for the pivotal role of Han Solo.

10D Iconic role for Harrison Ford : INDIANA

The title character in the “Indiana Jones” series of movies was born Henry Jones, Junior in Princeton, New Jersey. He adopted the nickname “Indiana” because that was the name of his dog when he was growing up. George Lucas, who created the character, used to have an Alaskan malamute dog named Indiana.

15D ___ Linda (San Bernardino suburb) : LOMA

Loma Linda is a city in California located not far from Los Angeles. The name Loma Linda translates from Spanish as “Beautiful Hill”.

16D Verdon of “Damn Yankees” : GWEN

Gwen Verdon was one of Broadway’s biggest stars, and an actress, singer and dancer. She is also famous for playing Lola in the 1958 movie adaptation of “Damn Yankees”, in which she sings the unforgettable “Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets”. Verdon’s second marriage was to celebrated choreographer Bob Fosse.

In the musical show “Damn Yankees”, the title refers to the New York Yankees baseball team that dominated the sport in the fifties. That said, the show tells the story of a man who sells his soul to help his beloved Washington Senators team beat the Yankees and win the pennant. So, “Damn Yankees” is yet another version of the classic German legend of “Faust”. The show was written by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, a production that turned out to be a very successful follow-up to their prior hit, “The Pajama Game”. The future was looking really rosy for Adler and Ross but, sadly, Jerry Ross died of obstructive lung disease only a few weeks after “Damn Yankees” opened on Broadway in 1955. He was just 29 years old.

32D “Holy moly!” : WOWIE!

The mild expletive “Holy moly!” is a euphemism for “Holy Moses!”

33D Before, in Bordeaux : AVANT

Bordeaux is perhaps the wine-production capital of the world. Wine has been produced in the area since the eighth century. Bordeaux has an administrative history too. During WWII, the French government relocated from Paris to the port city of Bordeaux when it became clear that Paris was soon to fall to the Germans. After the Germans took France, the capital was famously moved to Vichy.

39D Japanese beer brand : ASAHI

Asahi is a Japanese beer, and the name of the brewery that produces it. “Asahi” is Japanese for “morning sun”. Asahi introduced a “dry beer” in 1987, igniting a craze that rocketed the brewery to the number one spot in terms of beer production in Japan, with Kirin close behind.

40D Crazylegs Hirsch, from 1949 to 1957, informally : LA RAM

Running back Elroy Hirsch was famous for his unusual running style, earning him the nickname “Crazylegs”. Hirsch starred in a biopic about his life released in 1953, and called “Crazylegs”. That wasn’t his only acting role, as he also appeared in a 1957 airline disaster movie called “Zero Hour!”.

41D Greta Garbo, by birth : SWEDE

Swedish krona banknotes include the images of some famous Swedes, including Astrid Lindgren (and Pippi Longstocking), Greta Garbo, Ingmar Bergman and Dag Hammarskjöld.

Famously, Greta Garbo lived a life of seclusion in New York City after she retired from the entertainment business. Commentators often associated her need for privacy with a line she uttered in the great 1932 movie “Grand Hotel”. Her character Grusinskaya the Russian ballerina said, “I want to be alone (…) I just want to be alone”.

44D Bouncing character in “The House at Pooh Corner” : TIGGER

“The House at Pooh Corner” is the second volume of stories written by A. A. Milne about the wonderful Winnie-the-Pooh. The collection marks the first time we meet the bouncy character called Tigger.

51D Seasoning from the ocean : SEA SALT

The lobbyists have done their shameful job when it comes to the labeling of “sea salt”. In the US, sea salt doesn’t even have to come from the sea. The argument is that all salt came from the sea if you look back far enough. The politics of food; don’t get me started …

69D Printing technique that uses wax : BATIK

Genuine batik cloth is produced by applying wax to the parts of the cloth that are not to be dyed. After the cloth has been dyed, it is dried and then dipped in a solvent that dissolves the wax. Although wax-resist dyeing of fabric has existed in various parts of the world for centuries, it is most closely associated historically with the island of Java in Indonesia.

70D Garlicky spread : AIOLI

Aioli is a French sauce made from garlic, egg yolks, and olive oil. The word “aioli” comes from “alh”, the Provençal word for garlic, and “oli”, a Catalan word meaning “oil”.

71D Bear : BRUIN

Brown bears are found over much of northern Europe, Asia, and North America. They are sometimes referred to as bruins, which is a term that persists from Middle English. The biggest subspecies of brown bear is the Kodiak bear, which is the largest land-based predator in the world. Named for the Kodiak Archipelago in Alaska, the Kodiak bear grows to about the same size as the enormous polar bear.

74D Packed like sardines, say : IN OIL

Sardines are oily fish related to herrings. They are also known as pilchards, although in the UK “sardine” is a noun reserved for a young pilchard. Very confusing …

75D It’s a wrap : STOLE

A stole is a narrow shawl. It can be made of quite light decorative material, but also can be heavier if made of fur.

76D Passed, as bad checks : KITED

Check kiting is illegal. The idea behind kiting is to write a check, even though there are insufficient funds to cover the amount. The con artist then writes another check, also with insufficient funds, from another bank’s account to cover the original check. I am not sure it would work nowadays, but then I am as honest as the day is long! Oh, and I think the term “kiting” comes from the older phrase “go fly a kite”, the idea being that the bad check is floated on air (on non-existent funds).

79D Brian in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame : ENO

Brian Eno started his musical career with Roxy Music. His most oft-played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “startup jingle”, the 6-second sound you (used to) hear when the Windows operating system is booting up. Eno might have annoyed the Microsoft folks when he stated on a BBC radio show:

I wrote it on a Mac. I’ve never used a PC in my life; I don’t like them.

83D Mary ___, “The Boating Party” artist : CASSATT

Mary Cassatt was an American painter from Pennsylvania who moved to France at the young age of 22 years, in 1866. By which time she was already studying to become a professional artist. Cassatt became friends with Edgar Degas, who invited her to exhibit with the group called “the Impressionists”, who were garnering a great deal of attention at the time. Cassatt’s reputation as a great artist is perhaps built on an extensive series of paintings of mothers with a child.

85D Sweet, in Seville : DULCE

The city of Seville (“Sevilla” in Spanish) is the capital of Andalusia in southern Spain. Seville is a favored setting for many operas including “The Barber of Seville” by Rossini, “Fidelio” by Beethoven and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” and “The Marriage of Figaro”.

87D Schmooze : HOBNOB

“To hobnob with” means “to rub elbows with, associate with”. The phrase dates back to the mid 1700s and is derived from “hob and nob”, an expression meaning to toast each other in turn, or to buy alternate rounds of drinks.

To schmooze is to chat intimately. “Schmooze” is a word that comes from the Yiddish “schmusen” meaning “to chat” .

93D A score : TWENTY

Our verb “to score” meaning “to tally”, comes from the Old Norse “skor”, which is a “mark, notch”. It is likely that items such as livestock were counted by placing a notch in a stick for each set of twenty, hence our use of the noun “score” to mean “twenty”.

95D Pollster Lou or singer Emmylou : HARRIS

The market research firm known as “The Harris Poll” was founded in 1963 by Louis Harris with the specific aim of conducting polls for political candidates. Louis Harris had worked privately for the successful 1960 presidential campaign of John F. Kennedy.

Emmylou Harris is a country singer from Birmingham, Alabama who grew up in North Carolina and Virginia. She has won many Grammys over the course of her career, culminating in the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018.

97D Polar wear : ANORAK

Anoraks really aren’t very popular over here in America. Everyone has one in Ireland! An anorak is a heavy jacket with a hood, often lined with fur (or fake fur), and is an invention of the Inuit people.

103D ___ Beach, Calif. : PISMO

Pismo Beach is a California city located just 15 miles south of San Luis Obispo. The name “Pismo” comes from a Native American word “pismu” meaning “tar”, a reference to tar springs that are located in nearby Price Canyon. The tar was used by the locals to caulk their canoes.

106D Intl. group formed in 1949 : NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an international military alliance that was established in 1949. NATO headquarters was initially set up in London, moved to Paris in 1952, and then to Brussels in 1967.

111D Creature-friendly org. : PETA

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is a large animal rights organization, with about 400 employees and nine million members and supporters worldwide. Although the group campaigns for animal rights across a broad spectrum of issues, it has a stated focus in opposition of four practices:

• Factory farming
• Fur farming
• Animal testing
• Use of animals in entertainment

112D Prefix in many Ocean Spray drink names : CRAN-

The Ocean Spray brand is owned by a cooperative of growers in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, growers of cranberries and grapefruit.

117D Gamecocks’ sch. : USC

The sports teams of the University of South Carolina (USC) have used the moniker “Gamecocks” since about 1900. The name was chosen in honor of a South Carolina revolutionary war hero named Thomas Sumter. Sumter’s nickname was “the Carolina Gamecock”, as British General Banastre Tarleton once said that Sumter “fought like a gamecock”.

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