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Today’s Wiki-est Amazonian Googlies

Across

5A National sport of Japan : SUMO

Sumo is a sport that is practiced professionally only in Japan, the country of its origin. There is an international federation of sumo wrestling now, and one of the organization’s aims is to have the sport accepted as an Olympic event.

9A Posh N.Y.C. neighborhood : SOHO

The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in “SoHo Artists Association”, and the name stuck.

13A Post-it ___ : NOTE

The Post-it note was invented at 3M following the accidental discovery of a low-tack, reusable adhesive. The actual intent of the development program was to produce a super-strong adhesive.

19A Citrusy Japanese sauce : PONZU

Ponzu is a tart, savory sauce widely used in Japanese cuisine. It is typically made with citrus juice (commonly lemon, yuzu, or sudachi), soy sauce, and mirin (sweet rice wine).

20A Manipulate into doubting one’s memory or experience : GASLIGHT

“Gaslight” is a 1944 film starring Ingrid Bergman and Charles Boyer that is a remake of the 1938 play called “Gas Light”. Boyer plays an evil husband who manipulates his wife, played by Bergman, into thinking that she is going insane. We’ve been using the verb “gaslighting” colloquially since the 1960s to describe such manipulation. The verb comes from the title of the film.

28A Long-running forensics series : CSI

Something described as forensic is connected with a court of law, or with public discussion or debate. The term comes from the Latin “forensis” meaning “of a forum, of a place of assembly”. We mainly use the word today to mean “pertaining to legal trials” as in “forensic medicine” and “forensic science”.

29A Only state with a nonrectangular flag : OHIO

The flag of Ohio features a swallowtail, which makes it the only US state flag that isn’t rectangular.

33A Fairy tale opening word : ONCE

The stock phrase “Once upon a time …” has been used in various forms as the start of a narrative at least since 1380. The stock phrase at the end of stories such as folktales is often “and they all lived happily ever after”. The earlier version of this ending was “happily until their deaths”.

36A Country in Oceania named for a biblical king : SOLOMON ISLANDS

The Solomon Islands archipelago lies in the western South Pacific Ocean to the northeast of Australia. Most of the archipelago is taken up by the sovereign nation of Solomon Islands, with the balance being part of Papua New Guinea.

The part of the Pacific Ocean known as “Oceania” is roughly equivalent to the area that includes the tropical islands of the South Pacific. Oceania can be divided into the regions of Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia.

40A “Star Wars” character ___ Ren : KYLO

Kylo Ren is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa in the “Star Wars” universe. The character’s birth name was Ben Solo. He was trained as a Jedi knight by his uncle, Luke Skywalker. However, Ben came to embrace the Dark Side, and changed his name to Kylo Ren. Ren is played by actor Adam Driver.

41A ___ Wednesday : ASH

In the Christian tradition, the first day in the season of Lent is called Ash Wednesday. On that day, Palm Crosses from the prior year’s Palm Sunday are burned. The resulting ashes are mixed with sacred oil and then used to anoint worshipers on the forehead with the shape of a cross.

42A Interlocking toy brand : LEGO

Lego House is a huge visitor center in Billund, Denmark that is located near the Lego Group headquarters. It is home to several experience zones and exhibitions, as well as the Lego Museum. Inside the building, there are about 25 million Lego bricks!

43A Four-wheeler, for short : ATV

All-terrain vehicle (ATV)

47A Pet for Franklin Roosevelt or George W. Bush, informally : SCOTTIE DOG

The Aberdeen Terrier is also known as the Scottish Terrier, and is commonly referred to as the Scottie. One of the most famous Scotties in American history was Fala, the much-loved dog belonging to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Also, the Scottie is famous as one of the playing pieces in the original game of Monopoly.

Fala was the famous Scottish Terrier that was ever present at the side of President Franklin D. Roosevelt for many years. The terrier was a Christmas gift to the president from his cousin, who had named the dog Big Boy while she trained him as a puppy. President Roosevelt renamed him after an ancestor of his from Falahill in Scotland, so the dog’s full name was Murray the Outlaw of Falahill. Fala lived on for several years after the president’s passing. I’ve had the privilege of visiting the gravesites of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park, New York, and Fala is buried just a few feet away from his master.

Barney was a Scottish terrier owned by President George W. Bush and his family while they were living in the White House. Barney had a good political pedigree. His mother, Coors, was owned by Christine Todd Whitman, the former Governor of New Jersey (and a fellow Republican).

53A Competitor at an esports tournament : GAMER

Esports (electronic sports) are video game competitions. The International Olympic Committee has held meetings to consider the inclusion of esports in the Olympic Games. What about medals for crossword solving …?

59A Smartphone setting that removes all color from the screen … or a feature of this puzzle? : GRAYSCALE

Grayscale images are the digital equivalent of black-and-white images in the analog world. In a grayscale image, each pixel only has intensity information, and no information about hue. The related binary image is made from pixels that are simply black or white, with no pixels having shades of gray.

61A Currency in Chihuahua : PESO

The city of Chihuahua is the capital of the Mexican state of the same name. The city was founded in 1709 by Spanish explorers as a village called El Real de Minas de San Francisco de Cuéllar. However, the current name “Chihuahua” predates the Spanish conquest of Mexico, although the name wasn’t adopted until 1823.

64A Ruminate (over) : STEW

Ruminants are animals that “chew the cud”. They eat vegetable matter but cannot extract any nutritional value from cellulose without the help of microbes in the gut. Ruminants collect roughage in the first part of the alimentary canal, allowing microbes to work on it. The partially digested material (the cud) is regurgitated into the mouth so that the ruminant can chew the food more completely, exposing more surface area for microbes to do their work. We also use the verb “to ruminate” in a figurative sense, to mean “to muse, ponder, chew over”.

65A “A Bug’s Life” bugs : ANTS

“A Bug’s Life” is a 1998 animated feature film from Pixar. The storyline is based on the film “The Seven Samurai” and the fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.

Down

4D Age group that includes 2000s kids : GEN Z

Definitions vary, but it seems that the term “Generation Z” is reserved for the children of “Generation X”, and for the generation that follows the “Millennials” (Generation Y). Gen Zers are also known as “Zoomers”, a portmanteau of “Z” and “boomer” (as in “baby boomer”).

5D [Yes, I know that’s a typo] : SIC

[Sic] indicates that a quotation is written as originally found, perhaps including a typo. “Sic” is Latin for “thus, like this”. The term is more completely written as “sic erat scriptum”, which translates as “thus was it written”.

6D Eel, at a Japanese restaurant : UNAGI

“Unagi” is the Japanese term for ”freshwater eel”, and “anago” is the term for “saltwater eel”.

10D Last Greek letter : OMEGA

Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is the one that looks like a horseshoe (Ω) when in uppercase. The lowercase omega looks like a Latin W. The word “omega” literally means “great O” (O-mega). Compare this with the Greek letter Omicron, meaning “little O” (O-micron).

17D Heinie : TUSH

“Tush”, a word meaning “backside”, is an abbreviation of “tochus” that comes from the Yiddish “tokhes”.

The slang term “heinie”, meaning “rear end”, is probably a contraction of “hind end”.

21D Sprayable disinfectant brand : LYSOL

Lysol disinfectant gets its name from the Greek word “lysis” (meaning to dissolve or loosen) and the chemical suffix “-ol” (or Latin “oleum” for oil).

31D Single-stranded molecule : RNA

Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a single-stranded molecule that is made up of nucleotides. The four nucleotides that make up RNA are adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and uracil (U). RNA is transcribed from DNA, which means that the information stored in DNA is used to create RNA. RNA then carries this information to the ribosomes, which are the cellular structures responsible for protein synthesis.

37D Big name in applesauce : MOTT’S

Samuel R. Mott was a producer of apple cider and vinegar. In 1842 he founded his own company to market and sell his products. The Mott’s company owns brands such as Mr & Mrs T, Hawaiian Punch and ReaLime/ReaLemon.

44D “The little blue pill” : VIAGRA

“Viagra” is a trade name for the drug sildenafil citrate that is used primarily to treat erectile dysfunction. The drug was developed in the UK by Pfizer as a treatment for high blood pressure and angina, but the clinical trials showed that it induced penile erections. A decision was made to change the intended market of the drug and in 1998 it became the first orally-taken medication approved by the FDA for erectile dysfunction.

46D Branded fluffy slippers : UGGS

Uggs are sheepskin boots that were first produced in Australia and New Zealand. The original Uggs have sheepskin fleece on the inside for comfort and insulation, with a tanned leather surface on the outside for durability. “Ugg” is a generic term Down Under, although it’s a brand name here in the US.

48D Violate the Tenth Commandment : COVET

According to the Book of Exodus, the wording for the tenth commandment is:

… thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

49D Like many bodybuilders, according to B.M.I. alone : OBESE

The body mass index (BMI) is the ratio of a person’s mass to the square of their height.

50D 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”.

54D Low scorer on a pH test : ACID

As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

57D Portland college attended by Steve Jobs : REED

Reed College in Portland is known for many things, including ownership of the world’s only nuclear reactor that is primarily run by students!

Steve Jobs certainly was a business icon in Silicon Valley. I don’t think it is too surprising to learn that the brilliant Jobs didn’t even finish his college education, dropping out of Reed College in Oregon after only one semester. Steve Jobs co-founded Apple in 1976, but in 1985 he was basically fired from his own company during the computer sales slump in the mid-eighties. Jobs then founded NeXT Computer, a company focused on supplying workstations to the higher education and business markets. Apple purchased NeXT in 1996, and that’s how Jobs found himself back with his original company.