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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1 Followers of the star of Bethlehem, in the Bible : MAGI

“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, “magi” is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born. In Western Christianity, the three Biblical Magi are:

• Melchior: a scholar from Persia
• Caspar (also “Gaspar”): a scholar from India
• Balthazar: a scholar from Arabia

5 No longer working : KAPUT

“Kaput” is a familiar term meaning “incapacitated, destroyed”, and comes to us from French (via German). The original word “capot” means “not having won a single trick” in the French card game Piquet.

13 Tech giant headquartered in New Taipei City : ACER

Taipei (officially “Taipei City”) is the capital of Taiwan (officially “the Republic of China”). “Taipei” translates from Chinese as “Northern Taiwan City” and indeed, the capital is situated at the northern tip of Taiwan. The city is nicknamed “City of Azaleas” as flowers are said to bloom better in Taipei than in any other city on the island.

15 $5 bill, slangily : ABE
55 $5 bill, slangily : FIN

The US five-dollar bill is often called an “Abe”, as President Abraham Lincoln’s portrait is on the front. An Abe is also referred to as a “fin”, a term that has been used for a five-pound note in Britain since 1868.

16 *”Yuck! I’ve dated him before. Swipe left!” : OH NO! EW! HE IS MY EX

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

28 Dangerous kind of current : RIP

A rip current (wrongly called a rip “tide” sometimes) is a localized current that flows seaward from near the shore. Rip currents are dangerous as they can pull swimmers out to sea.

31 Machu Picchu builders : INCAS

Machu Picchu is known as “The Lost City of the Incas”, and it can be visited on a mountain ridge in Peru, 50 miles northwest of the city of Cuzco in the southeast of the country. The name Machu Picchu means “old peak”. The Inca Trail to Machu Picchu originates about 50 miles from Cusco on the Urubamba River in Peru. It can take travelers about 5 days to trek the full length of the trail, passing through many Incan ruins before reaching the Sun Gate on Machu Picchu mountain. The trail was becoming greatly overused, forcing the Peruvian government to limit the number of people on the trail each day to 500. Book early …

34 Certain Scotsman : GAEL

A Gael is anyone of a race that speaks or spoke one of the Erse tongues. There are actually three Erse languages. Irish, Manx (spoken on the Isle of Man) and Scots Gaelic. In their own tongues, these would be “Gaeilge” (in Ireland), “Gaelg” (on the Isle of Man) and “Gaidhlig” (in Scotland).

35 Salvation ___ : ARMY

The Salvation Army is a Christian charitable organization that is organized along military lines. The group was founded by William Booth and his wife Catherine in 1865 in the East End of London. Booth originally described his organization as a “volunteer army”, and soon changed this to a “salvation army”. William spent much of his time preaching to the poor and became known as “the General”. Catherine focused on addressing the wealthy to gain financial support, and earned the moniker “Mother of the Salvation Army”.

36 Egyptian goddess often depicted with a throne on her head : ISIS

Isis was the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, as well as the protector of the dead and the goddess of children. She was the personification of the pharaoh’s power. The name “Isis” translates as “throne”, and she is usually depicted with a headdress shaped like a throne.

46 Lake northeast of Sacramento : TAHOE

Lake Tahoe (often referred to simply as “Tahoe”) is up in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and is located right on the border between California and Nevada. It is the largest alpine lake in the country, and the largest lake in general behind the five Great Lakes. Tahoe is also the second deepest lake, with only the beautiful Crater Lake in Oregon being deeper. Given its location, there are tall casinos that sit right on the shore on the Nevada side of the state line where gambling is legal.

Sacramento, California’s state capital, was named for the Sacramento River. The river was named by a Spanish explorer, who called it “Rio de los Sacramentos”. This translates as “River of the Blessed Sacrament”.

48 Fruit that resembles a small peach : APRICOT

Although the apricot originated in Central Asia and China, the fruit is commonly associated with Armenia, where it has been cultivated for centuries. For that reason, the most common cultivar has the Latin name “Prunus armeniaca”.

57 Plethora : SLEW

“Plethora” is such a lovely word, I think. It means “a lot of”, and usually in the sense of “too much”. This usage dates back to about 1700, and before that “plethora” was a word used in the medical field to describe an “excess of bodily fluid”.

59 Multilayered cake : TORTE

A torte is a type of cake made primarily with eggs, sugar and ground nuts (but no flour).

60 Neophyte : TYRO

A tyro (also “tiro”) is a beginner or a novice. “Tyro” comes into English from Latin, in which language “tiro” means “recruit”.

A neophyte is a recent convert to a particular doctrine or practice.

Down

1 His portrait adorns Tiananmen Gate : MAO

Tiananmen Square is located in the center of Beijing, China. It is the third largest city square in the world, after Merdeka Square in Jakarta, Indonesia and Praça dos Girassóis in Palmas, Brazil. Tiananmen Square can hold up to 600,000 people, and has been the site of major protests on several occasions over the years. The protests of 1989 are also referred to as the “Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989” as 200-300 (official figures) or perhaps several thousand (unofficial estimates) protestors and soldiers were killed when the military was sent in to restore order.

3 Heirs to the boomer era : GEN-X

The term “Generation X” originated in the UK where it was the name of a book by Jane Deverson. Her book detailed the results of a study of British youths in 1964, contrasting their lifestyle to those of previous generations. It was Canadian author Douglas Coupland who was responsible for popularizing the term, with his more successful publication “Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture”. By one definition, Gen-Xers were born between 1961 and 1981.

A baby boomer is someone who was born in the post-WWII baby boom. The rate of births had been falling fairly steadily in the US at least since 1900, but this trend was sharply reversed in 1946 after WWII. The higher birth rate continued until 1964, when it returned to pre-war levels. Since then the birth rate has continued to decline, although at a slower pace. The period between 1946 and 1964 is often defined as the “baby boom”.

4 Classic Camaro : IROC

The IROC-Z is a model of Camaro that was introduced by Chevrolet in 1978. The IROC-Z takes its name from a famous stock car race, the International Race of Champions.

5 Small coastal nation bordering Iraq : KUWAIT

The State of Kuwait sits at the northern tip of the Persian Gulf, sharing a border to the north with Iraq. After WWI, Kuwait was a Protectorate within the British Empire and then gained independence from the UK in 1961. Iraq annexed Kuwait in 1990, which led to the Gulf War of 1990-1991.

6 Rosebush pest : APHID

Aphids are called “greenfly” back in Britain and Ireland where I come from. The most effective way to control aphids, in my experience, is to make sure there are plenty of ladybugs in the garden (called “ladybirds” in Ireland!).

7 One might begin “Roses are red …” : POEM

As little kids we used to taunt each other with:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
God made me beautiful
What happened to you?

We weren’t very nice …

10 Announces the big reveal in a magic act : SAYS “PRESTO!”

On a musical score, the instruction “presto” is used to indicate a fast tempo. The term is also used as an interjection, often indicating that something appeared or occurred as if by magic. “Presto” is the Italian word for “quick”.

17 Major role in the 2023 biopic “Priscilla” : ELVIS

Elvis Presley was drafted into the US Army in 1958, as a private. Although he was only a couple of years into his recording career, he already had a fervent following. While in basic training, he was quite certain that his success would be short-lived, and maybe could not recover after his stint with the Army. He used his leave to record new tracks, keeping his name out there. Presley did basic training at Fort Hood, Texas and was then assigned to the 3rd Armored Division stationed in Friedberg, Germany. It was in Friedberg that he met 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom he would marry after courting her for 7 1/2 years. After two years in the Army, he came back home, to a career that was still soaring.

18 West known for her double entendres : MAE

Comic actress Mae West can be quoted so easily, as she had so many great lines delivered so well. Here are a few:

• When I’m good, I’m very good. When I’m bad, I’m better.
• When choosing between two evils, I always like to try the one I’ve never tried before.
• I’ll try anything once, twice if I like it, three times to make sure.
• Marriage is a great institution, but I’m not ready for an institution yet.
• I used to be Snow White, but I drifted.
• Why don’t you come on up and see me sometime — when I’ve got nothin’ on but the radio.
• It’s better to be looked over than overlooked.
• To err is human, but it feels divine.
• I like my clothes to be tight enough to show I’m a woman, but loose enough to show I’m a lady.
• I never worry about diets. The only carrots that interest me are the number you get in a diamond.
• Is that a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

29 “Have a cow” or “hold your horses” : IDIOM

The phrase “don’t have a cow” originated in the fifties, as a variation of the older “don’t have kittens”. The concept behind the phrase is that one shouldn’t get worked up, it’s not like one is giving birth to a cow.

30 Entourage : POSSE

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”

32 The “D” of F.D.A. : DRUG

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.

35 Home to Iowa State University : AMES

Iowa State University of Science and Technology (ISU) is located in Ames, Iowa. Among many other notable milestones, ISU created the country’s first school of veterinary medicine, in 1879. The sports teams of ISU are known as the Cyclones.

46 Protein categorized on a scale from “silken” to “super-firm” : TOFU

“Tofu” is a name for bean curd, and is a Japanese word meaning just that … bean that has curdled. Tofu is produced by coagulating soy milk, using either salt or something acidic. Once the protein has coagulated, the curds are pressed into the familiar blocks. Personally I love tofu, but my wife absolutely hates it …

48 Ending with screen in a modern portmanteau : -AGER

A portmanteau was a large suitcase, one that could be taken apart into two separate pieces. The word “portmanteau” is French for a “traveling bag”, from “porter” (to carry) and “manteau” (a coat, cloak). We also use “portmanteau” to mean a word that has been melded together from two parts (just as the suitcase comprised two parts). This usage was introduced to the world by Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”. He explained to Alice that the nonsense words in the “Jabberwocky” poem were actually portmanteau words. For example “slithy” comes from “slimy” and “lithe”.