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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A El ___, mythical city of gold : DORADO

The original El Dorado was a Muisca chief who was covered with gold dust in a tribal ritual and then dove into Lake Guatavita in present-day Colombia. Later, “El Dorado” was adopted as the name for a mythical “Lost City of Gold” that became a quest from many Spanish Conquistadors who explored the Americas.

11A Initials often seen next to THC : CBD

Cannabidiol (CBD) is a chemical extracted from cannabis plants that is used as a herbal drug. It does not contain the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is responsible for the marijuana “high”.

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive in cannabis.

24A Decided to pay later, say : RAN A TAB

When we run a “tab” at a bar, we are running a “tabulation”, a listing of what we owe. Such a use of “tab” is American slang that originated in the 1880s.

35A Resort with a signature piña colada, perhaps : BEACH HOTEL (beachball & hotel chain)

“Piña colada” is a Spanish term that translates into “strained pineapple”. The piña colada cocktail was introduced in the Caribe Hilton San Juan in 1954, and since 1978 it has been the official beverage of Puerto Rico. The mocktail version of the drink is known as a nada colada.

41A Japanese noodle : UDON

Udon noodles are made from wheat flour and are very popular in Japanese dishes such as tempura.

45A Communication method with dits and dahs : MORSE

Samuel Morse came up with the forerunner to modern Morse code for use on the electric telegraph, of which he was the co-inventor. Morse code uses a series of dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers. The most common letters are assigned the simplest code elements, e.g., E is represented by one dot, and T is represented by one dash. When words are spelled aloud in Morse code, a dot is pronounced as “dit”, and a dash is pronounced as “dah”.

46A Martial art whose name means “way of the sword” : KENDO

Kendo is a Japanese martial art based on sword fighting. Participants wear protective armor, and use bamboo swords.

Something described as martial is suited for war. The term “martial” ultimately derives from Latin and means “Arts of Mars”, a reference to Mars, the Roman god of war.

48A So-called “Land of a Million Elephants” : LAOS

The present-day nation of Laos can trace its roots back to the historic Lao kingdom of Lan Xang that existed from 1354 to 1707. The full name of the kingdom was “Lan Xang Hom Khao”, which translates as “The Land of a Million Elephants and the White Parasol”.

49A Sharp or flat location on a piano, usually : BLACK KEY (blackball & keychain)

The traditional materials used for the manufacture of piano keys were ebony (black) and ivory (white). Ebony is sometimes still used, for both white and black keys. The white keys can be made by covering ebony with white plastic. More often than not these days, both black and white keys are made from a quality plastic.

There is a traditional type of secret ballot in which a voter selects a white ball to indicate support and a black ball indicates opposition. This voting method led to the use of the term “blackball” to mean to shun or to vote against.

61A Prefix with physical or politics : GEO-

Geopolitics is the study of human and physical geography on international politics and relations. An example of geopolitics would be US policy when it comes to the production of oil around the world, given the nation’s status as the world’s leading oil consumer.

62A Marie ___, women’s magazine : CLAIRE

“Marie Claire” is a women’s magazine that originated in France in 1937, and is now published all over the world.

63A Dye for body art : HENNA

Henna has been used for centuries as a dye, for leather and wool as well as hair and skin. In modern days, henna is often used for temporary tattoos.

Down

2D Casual musical project : MIXTAPE

Even though tapes are no longer used, the term “mixtape” still describes any homemade collection of musical tracks. The less retro term for the same thing might be “playlist”.

5D ___ Moines, Iowa : DES

The city of Des Moines is the capital of Iowa, and takes its name from the Des Moines River. The river in turn takes its name from the French “Riviere des Moines” meaning “River of the Monks”. It looks like there isn’t any “monkish” connection to the city’s name per se. “Des Moines” was just the name given by French traders who corrupted “Moingona”, the name of a group of Illinois Native Americans who lived by the river. However, others contend that French Trappist monks, who lived a full 200 miles from the river, somehow influenced the name.

6D Big bovines : OXEN

Something described as bovine is related to a cow, ox or buffalo, or indeed any ruminant in the genus Bos. “Bos” is the Latin for “cow”, and “bovinus” a Late Latin derivative term.

8D Longtime shoe sponsor for Lionel Messi : ADIDAS

The Adidas brand dates back to when Adolf “Adi” Dassler started making his own sports shoes in his mother’s laundry room in Bavaria after returning from WWI. With his brother, Adi founded Dassler shoes. The company’s big break came in 1936 at the Berlin Olympics, when Adi persuaded American sprinter Jesse Owens to use his shoes, and with the success of Jesse Owens came success for the fledgling shoe company. After WWII the brothers split, acrimoniously. Adi’s brother, Ru-dolf Da-ssler, formed “Ruda” shoes (later to become Puma), and Adi Das-sler formed “Adidas”.

Lionel “Leo” Messi is a soccer player from Argentina. Before becoming a global superstar, a 13-year-old Messi was so impressive during a tryout that FC Barcelona’s sporting director immediately drew up his first contract on a paper napkin because no other paper was available. That napkin was later auctioned off for nearly $1 million.

9D Feints, in hockey : DEKES

A deke, also known as a dangle, is a technique used to get past an opponent in ice hockey. “Deke” is a colloquial shortening of the word “decoy”.

23D Organ meats : OFFAL

The internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal are referred to collectively as “offal”. Examples of dishes that make use of offal would be sausages, foie gras, sweetbreads and haggis. The term is a melding of the words “off” and “fall”, and dates back to the 14th century. The idea is that offal is what “falls off” a butcher’s block.

25D Pear variety : BOSC

Bosc is a cultivar of the European pear that is grown mainly in the northwest of the United States. It is named for French horticulturist Louis Bosc. The cultivar originated in Belgium or France in the early 19th century. The Bosc is that pear with a skin the color of a potato, with a long neck.

27D Unit of arcade currency : TOKEN

Our word “arcade” comes from the Latin “arcus” meaning “arc”. The first arcades were passages made from a series of arches. This could be an avenue of trees, and eventually any covered avenue. I remember arcades lined with shops and stores when I was growing up on the other side of the Atlantic. Arcades came to be lined with lots of amusements, resulting in amusement arcades and video game arcades.

33D Jeter whose #2 was retired by the Yankees : DEREK

Derek Jeter played his entire professional baseball career with the New York Yankees, and was the team’s captain. Jeter is the all-time career leader for the Yankees in hits, games played, stolen bases and at bats. He is also the all-time leader in hits by a shortstop in the whole of professional baseball. Jeter’s performances in the postseason earned him the nicknames “Captain Clutch” and “Mr. November”. Jeter retired from the game in 2014.

35D ___ Gardens, Tampa amusement park : BUSCH

The Busch Gardens group of theme parks was originally envisioned as a vehicle for the promotion of Anheuser-Busch products, so free beer samples were made available to patrons (but no longer!). The Tampa location was the first of the parks to be opened, in 1959. The Tampa property has an African theme, whereas Williamsburg, Virginia property has a European theme.

36D One under Attila’s rule : HUN

The Huns were a nomadic people from Central Asia who migrated into Eastern Europe during the 4th century. Under the command of Attila the Hun they developed a unified empire that stretched from modern-day Germany across to the steppes of Central Asia. The whole of the Hunnic Empire collapsed within a year of Attila’s death in 453 AD.

40D John Deere product : TRACTOR

John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”. The Deere company that John founded uses the slogan “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”, and has a leaping deer as its logo.

42D Blow the match : TAKE AN L

Just take the L, take the loss.

43D Famous figure known for off-the-cuff performances? : HOUDINI

“Harry Houdini” was the stage name of Hungarian-born escapologist and magician Erik Weisz (later Americanized to “Ehrich Weiss”). Many people are under the impression that Houdini died while performing an escape that went wrong, an impression created by the storyline in a couple of movies about his life. The truth is that he died of peritonitis from a burst appendix. It is also true that a few days prior to his death Houdini took a series of punches to his stomach as part of his act, but doctors believe that his appendix would have burst regardless.

44D Supernatural ability, for short : ESP

Extrasensory perception (ESP)

46D Bulletproof material : KEVLAR

Kevlar is a remarkably strong synthetic fiber that was introduced by DuPont in 1965. The material was developed as a lightweight substitute for steel. Kevlar fits the bill, as an equal weight of the synthetic fiber is five times stronger than the alloy. One of the downsides of Kevlar is that its strength degrades when exposed to sunlight.

50D Marsupial that sleeps up to 20 hours a day : KOALA

Koalas are not bears, but are marsupials, which means they carry their young in a pouch. They are known for their diet of eucalyptus leaves, which are toxic to most other animals. To cope with this, koalas have a special digestive system that allows them to break down the toxins and extract the nutrients from the leaves. Koalas are one of the sleepiest animals in the world, sleeping up to 20 hours a day. This is because eucalyptus leaves provide very little energy.

58D Secretly loop in on an email : BCC

Blind carbon copy (bcc)

59D Flanders of “The Simpsons” : NED

Ned Flanders lives next door to Homer Simpson on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Ned was married to Maude, with whom he had two children Rod and Todd. Maude died in an accident involving a T-shirt cannon. Ned is voiced by actor Harry Shearer, and has been around since the very first episode aired in 1989.

60D Siesta : NAP

We use the word “siesta” to describe a short nap in the early afternoon, and imported the word into English from Spanish. In turn, the Spanish word is derived from the Latin “hora sexta” meaning “the sixth hour”. The idea is that the nap is taken at the sixth hour after dawn.