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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

1A Genre for James Brown or Al Green, informally : R AND B

Singer James Brown was often referred to as “The Godfather of Soul” and sometimes “Mr. Dynamite”. Brown was born in Barnwell, South Carolina and had a rough and impoverished upbringing. He lived for some years in his aunt’s house which she ran as a brothel, and when he was sixteen he was convicted of armed robbery and was sent to reform school. While in reform school, Brown was noticed by the R&B star Bobby Byrd, who took him under his wing. Byrd helped secure the young man an early release, and thereafter Brown turned his energies to music.

Al Green is a gospel and soul music singer. He was born in Arkansas, where he started out as a gospel singer and moved into R&B. In 1974, Green was assaulted by a girlfriend who burned him badly on much of his body by pouring boiling grits over him (and then she committed suicide). The incident changed Green’s life and he turned to the church, becoming a pastor in Memphis in 1976. He continued to record music, but never really enjoyed the same success that he had in the early seventies with hits like “Let’s Stay Together” and “I’m Still In Love With You”.

6A Biblical name for Syria : ARAM

The ancient Biblical land of Aram was named after Aram, a grandson of Noah. Aram was located in the center of modern-day Syria. Aramaic became the everyday language of Syria, Mesopotamia and Palestine.

15A “That’s ___” (Dean Martin classic) : AMORE

“That’s Amore” is a pop standard written by Harry Warren and Jack Brooks in 1952. It became the signature song for Dean Martin after he sang it (with some help from Jerry Lewis) in the 1953 comedy film “The Caddy”. “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore …”

“Dean Martin” was the stage name of singer and actor Dino Crocetti. Martin was famous for his numerous hit songs such as “That’s Amore”, “Volare” and “Everybody Loves Somebody”, as well as his film career with Jerry Lewis. Off screen, Martin was a member of the famous “Rat Pack” as he was a great friend of Frank Sinatra. Martin was always associated with Las Vegas and when he passed away in 1995 the lights on the strip were dimmed in his honor.

17A Ancient Greek marketplace : AGORA

In early Greece, an agora was a place of assembly. The assemblies held there were often quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a marketplace. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

18A Dwindled away : PETERED OUT

The verb phrase “to peter out”, meaning “to fizzle out”, originated in the 1840s in the American mining industry. While the exact etymology isn’t clear, it probably derives from the term “saltpeter”, a constituent of gunpowder.

23A Gullible one : SAP

“Sap” is slang for “fool, someone easily scammed”. The term arose in the early 1800s in Britain when it was used in “saphead” and “sapskull”. All these words are derived from “sapwood”, which is the softwood found in tree trunks between the bark and the heartwood at the center.

24A Pepper that’s two steps above poblano on the Scoville scale : SERRANO

The serrano chili pepper is native to the mountainous regions of the Mexican states of Puebla and Hidalgo. The name “serrano” comes from the Spanish “sierra” meaning “mountain”.

The Scoville scale is a measure of the spiciness of chili peppers. The scale was invented by a pharmacist in 1912, Wilbur Scoville. To determine the position of a pepper on the Scoville scale, the amount of capsaicin in the chili is measured. Capsaicin is an irritant that causes the sensation of burning when it comes into contact with tissue, particularly mucous membranes.

28A Carnaval city, informally : RIO

The Rio de Janeiro Carnaval is the largest carnival celebration in the world. The city hosts about two million celebrants on its streets for the six days of the festival.

38A Favorable starting point of an auto race : POLE

In motorsports, the car starting in pole position is the one starting in the most advantageous position on the track. In most cases, drivers earn the pole position by posting the best qualifying times. The term “pole position” originated in horse racing. The fastest qualifying horse was granted the inside part of the starting line, the one next to the pole marking that line.

43A The Farm Service Agcy. is part of it : USDA

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

46A QB’s call : HUT!

The quarterback (QB) starts each play in football with a snap (also called a “hike”). He announces to his teammates the exact moment of the snap by calling out signals, usually including the word “hut” one or more times in a prearranged sequence.

51A Offensively odorous : NOISOME

Something noisome is harmful or annoying, and often bad-smelling.

55A Noted wildlife refuge : ARK

The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat”, nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

62A Cara of “Fame” fame : IRENE

Irene Cara co-wrote and sang the Oscar-winning song “Flashdance…What a Feeling” from the 1983 movie “Flashdance”. Cara also sang the title song for the 1980 movie “Fame”, and indeed played the lead role of student Coco Hernandez.

“Fame” is a 1980 musical film that follows students at New York’s High School of Performing Arts. Irene Cara sings the hugely successful theme song “Fame”, and stars as one of the students. Cara had in fact attended the High School of Performing Arts in real life. The movie “Fame” was so successful that it led to a spinoff TV series, stage shows and a 2009 remake.

65A Enchantress of Greek mythology : CIRCE

Circe was a minor goddess in Greek mythology. The goddess of magic, she was fond of transforming those who did not please her into animals by using magical potions. In Homer’s “Odyssey”, Odysseus was given the herb called “moly” to protect him from the magical powers of Circe.

66A Popular D.I.Y. website : EHOW

eHow is a how-to website that was founded in 1999. eHow has an awful lot of content but doesn’t do a great job of assessing the value of that content. I wouldn’t recommend it …

68A Nincompoops : ASSES

The word “nincompoop”, meaning “fool”, seems to have been around for quite a while. It has been used since the 1670s, but no one appears to know its origins.

Down

1D What a fall guy has to take, with “the” : … RAP

A rap sheet is a criminal record. “Rap” is a slang term dating back to the 1700s that means “blame, responsibility” as in “to take the rap”, “bad rap” and “to beat the rap”. This usage morphed into “rap sheet” in the early 1900s.

2D Home of the Big 12’s Cyclones : 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.

4D Remains : DREGS

The dregs in wine, the sediment that settles during fermentation (and sometimes in the bottle), are also called “lees”.

5D Leader of the Sharks in “West Side Story” : BERNARDO

Leonard Bernstein’s musical “West Side Story” is based on William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. The musical is set in New York City and features two rival gangs: the Sharks from Puerto Rico and the Jets with working-class, Caucasian roots. Tony from the Jets (played by Richard Beymer) falls in love with Maria (played by Natalie Wood) from the Sharks. All this parallels Romeo from the House of Montague falling for Juliet from the House of Capulet in the Italian city of Verona. The stage musical was adapted into a very successful 1961 movie with the same title.

6D Gucci of fashion : ALDO

Gucci was founded in Florence, in 1921, by Guccio Gucci. Guccio’s son Aldo took over the company after his father’s death in 1953. It was Aldo who established the international presence for the brand and opened the company’s first overseas store, in New York City.

8D Like the accents in “déclassé” : ACUTE

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

9D Godzilla foe : MOTHRA

Mothra is a giant moth-like monster that made its big-screen debut in the 1961 film “Mothra”. Mothra turns up quite often in “Godzilla” movies.

12D Best-selling home computers of the 1980s : COMMODORES

The Commodore 64 was a home computer introduced in 1982. Up to 17 million units of the Commodore 64 were sold in all, making it the highest-selling computer model of all time (according to the Guinness World Records). Back in 1977, the “big three” of personal computers were Apple, Commodore and Tandy. Well, at least Apple is still around …

27D Pips : HUMDINGERS

A humdinger or pip is someone or something outstanding. “Humdinger” is American slang dating back to the early 1900s, and was originally used to describe a particularly attractive woman.

29D Demon of Japanese folklore : ONI

Oni are demons and ghosts in Japanese folklore. Children in Japan might play “oni gokko”, which is the same as the game of “tag” played in the Western world. The person who is “it” is referred to as the “oni”.

35D Org. for Wizards and Magic : NBA

The Washington Wizards are the professional basketball team based in the nation’s capital. The franchise began playing in Chicago as the Packers, in 1961. One year later, the Chicago team changed its name to the Zephyrs. After one more season, the franchise relocated and became the Baltimore Bullets. In 1973, the team moved to Landover, Maryland to become the Capital Bullets, and then took the Washington Bullets name the following season. The final name change came in 1995, as the owner was uncomfortable with the violent images conjured up by the “Bullets” name. The Wizards name was chosen after a fan contest.

The Orlando Magic were formed in 1989 as an NBA expansion team. A local paper was asked to run a competition to suggest names for the new team and the community came up with its four top picks of “Heat”, “Tropics”, “Juice” and “Magic”. A committee then opted for “Orlando Magic”. A good choice I think …

38D Big name in water filters : PUR

Pur is a brand of water filters and related products that was sold to Procter & Gamble in 1999, and sold on again to Helen of Troy Limited.

42D ___ Howard, Oscar-nominated actor for 2005’s “Hustle & Flow” : TERRENCE

“Hustle & Flow” is a 2005 movie about a drug dealer and pimp with ambitions to become a rap artist.

53D Traditional rice cake snack on Japanese New Year : MOCHI

Mochi is a sweet rice cake in Japanese cuisine. Special versions of mochi are produced for certain times of the year or holidays, e.g. New Year, spring time, Children’s Day and Girls’ Day.

54D Actor Zac of “High School Musical” : EFRON

Zac Efron is an actor from San Luis Obispo, California. Apparently, Efron is a heartthrob to “tweenyboppers”. His big break came with the hit Disney movie “High School Musical”.

“High School Musical” is a 2006 Disney film made for television that spawned two sequels released to movie theaters worldwide. The soundtrack to “High School Musical” ended up being the best-selling album for 2006. Apparently, the storyline is based on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

56D Singer with the 2009 #1 hit “Tik Tok” : KESHA

“Tik Tok” is a 2009 song co-written and released by Kesha. The song originally included the line “Wake up in the morning feeling like P. Diddy,” but this was later changed as sexual misconduct allegations against Sean Combs (formerly “P. Diddy”) piled up.

57D Acronym on a W-2 : FICA

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax (FICA) was introduced in the 1930s as part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal. FICA payments are made by both employees and employers in order to fund Social Security and Medicare.

Form W-2 is provided by US employers to their employees by January 31 each year. The form reports wages paid to the employees, as well as taxes withheld.

58D Bluish-purple bloom : IRIS

Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”. Many species of irises are called “flags”. One suggestion is that the alternate name comes from the Middle English “flagge” meaning “reed”. This term was used because iris leaves look like reeds.

60D Tête-à-tête : CHAT

A “tête-à-tête” is a one-on-one meeting, and a term that translates from French as “head-to-head”.