0414-10 New York Times Crossword Answers 14 Apr 10

Novelist Elias Canetti didn’t actually settle in England until he was in his thirties. He was a native of Bulgaria, and as a child also lived in England, Austria, Switzerland and Germany. He wrote in German, even though he spent much of his working life in England, eventually adopting British citizenship. Even then, he spent the last twenty years of his life in Switzerland. His book “Crowds and Power” deals with the behavior of people in crowds and mobs, and the effect of vocal leaders on “packs”. Scary stuff, I would say …

20. Actress Thompson : EMMA

Emma Thompson is one of my favorite English actresses, someone who has appeared in many of may favorite films. She probably came to fame in the US when she won an Oscar for her role in “Howards End“, which she followed up with “Remains of the Day” and “In the Name of the Father“. Perhaps my favorite production of hers is her won adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility“, which one her Oscars for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actress. Emma Thompson went To Cambridge University and was good friends with a host of successful British actors and entertainers, including her ex-boyfriend, Hugh Laurie, famous in the use for playing the title role in television’s “House“. 

Heavy Metal band AC/DC was formed in Australia by two brothers in Australia. The group is usually called “Acca Dacca” down under.

Irish poet Thomas Moore wrote “The Last Rose of Summer” in 1805, and it is perhaps best known from its musical adaptation, created by Sir John Stevenson. Versions of the song have been performed Clannad, Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church and the Irish Tenors among others. Thomas Moore also wrote the lyrics for another famous Irish song, “The Minstrel Boy”.

34. What Justin Timberlake’s “bringin’ back,” in a song : SEXY

Justin Timberlake got his break by appearing on TV’s “Star Search” from which he got a starring role in “The New Mickey Mouse Club”. It was on “The New Mickey Mouse Club” that he met his future girlfriend, Britney Spears, as well JC Chasez, who would join Timberlake in the line up of ‘N Sync.

Otto Preminger was noted for his films that pushed the envelope in terms of subject matter, at least in the fifties and sixties. Great examples would be 1955’s “The Man with the Golden Arm” that dealt with drug addiction, 1959’s “Anatomy of a Murder” that dealt with rape, and 1962’s “Advise and Consent” that dealt with homosexuality. If you’ve seen these films, you’ll have noticed that the references are somewhat indirect and disguised, in order to get past the censors.

51. ___ Mustard : COL

A frieze is an architectural feature found in many Roman and Greek buildings. Inside a room, frieze is the name given to the upper part of the wall, between the picture rail and the crown molding. Outside of a room, the term frieze is the name given to any extended decoration that is positioned above eye level. Perhaps the most famous frieze comes from the Parthenon in Athens. Over a third of this highly decorated feature was removed from Athens and taken to London in the early 1800s by the Earl of Elgin, where they remain on display in the British Museum. These famous Elgin Marbles are subject of much controversy as the legality of the removal is in dispute.

56. Princess with a blaster : LEIA

Princess Leia was played by Carrie Fisher in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Carrie Fisher has stated that she hated the famous “cinnamon bun hairstyle” that she had to wear in the films, as she felt it made her face look too round. She also had to to sit for two hours every day, just to get her hair styled. Personally, I am happy with bald …

Felipe Alou played major league baseball, as did his brothers, Matty and Jesus, as well as his son, Moises.

64. Oscar-winning “Tootsie” actress : LANGE

Jessica Lange had three children with her former partner, the great Russian dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Those must be some good looking kids …

TASS is the abbreviation used for the former news agency, the Telegraph Association of the Soviet Union (Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza). When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1992, the Moscow-based agency’s scope changed, along with its name. It is now known as the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS).

67. Comedian Wanda : SYKES

Wanda Sykes now has her own talk show (The Wanda Sykes Show) that airs on Fox. Wanda Sykes is a very successful American, comedienne and comic actress, although interestingly, she spent her first five years out of school working for the NSA.

Down

1. Book that spans 2,369 years : GENESIS

The Book Of Genesis spans the time from the creation of the world and concludes with the story of Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob.

2. Gold or silver, but not bronze : ELEMENT

Unlike gold and silver, bronze isn’t an element, but rather an alloy of copper, usually mixed with tin.

3. Like the cats in “Lady and the Tramp” : SIAMESE

In “Lady and the Tramp” the two Siamese cats were inventively called “Si” and “Am”. In an early script for the movie, dating back to 1943 during the war, the cats were depicted as embodiments of the Japanese enemy, the “yellow peril”, and had the names “Nip” and “Tuck”.

4. Clear kitchen wrap : SARAN

What’s known as plastic wrap in America, we call cling-film in Ireland. Plastic wrap was one of thsoe unintended inventions, a byproduct of a development program to create a hard plastic cover for cars.

6. Hoot and holler : SHOUTS

Clever disguise of the need to use a plural here …

7. 1998 De Niro film : RONIN

I haven’t seen “Ronin“, a 1998 action thriller about a group of ex-special forces and intelligence agents who collaborate to steal a mysterious suitcase. It stars Robert De Niro and Jean Reno, and sounds like my kind of film.

9. Google moneymakers : ADS

Google have a program called AdSense in which they act like brokers, placing ads on web sites (like this one). I give them space, and they fill that space with ads. When someone clicks on an ad, the advertiser pays Google a few pennies, and then Google pay me half. It covers the costs of keeping the Blog going.

10. Lisa Simpson, to Patty or Selma : NIECE

In “The Simpsons“, Marge Simpson has two older twin sisters. Their full names are Patricia “Patty” Bouvier and Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Stu-Simpson. Selma acquired that multiple-barreled name through a string of unsuccessful marriages.

12. Receptacle for Voldemort’s soul in Harry Potter : HORCRUX

A Horcrux is a magical object found throughout the Harry Potter series of novels, but it comes into it’s own in the final two titles. A Horcrux is a very resilient receptacle, and difficult to destroy. The evil Lord Vlodemort’s soul was divided and resides in a number of Horcruxes, all of which are destroyed by different characters using various weapons.

13. Que. neighbor : ONT

Quebec’s neighbor is Ontario.

25. Fey of “30 Rock” : TINA

I was shocked to read that Tina Fey has a scar on her face, a few inches song on her left cheek, the result of a childhood “slashing” incident. When she was just five years old, playing in the front yard of her house, someone just came up to her and slashed her with a knife. How despicable!

26. Susan of “L.A. Law” : DEY

Susan Dey played Grace Van Owen on “L.A. Law“, and the eldest daughter on “The Partridge Family“.

32. Musician Brian : ENO

Brian Eno started out his musical career with Roxy Music. However, his most oft played composition (by far!) is Microsoft’s “startup jingle”, the 6-second sound you’d hear when the Windows 95 system starts up.

34. Where to catch a bullet?: Abbr. : STA

Although rail transportation started out its life in Europe, it really came into its own across the vast United States, but it was the Japanese who developed it into the exceptional service it is today. A bullet train is any high speed train that resembles the locomotives developed by the Japanese in the fifties and sixties.

44. Place to see a flying camel : ICE RINK

54. John who wrote “Appointment in Samarra” : O’HARA

“Appointment in Samarra” was John O’Hara’s first novel, published in 1934. It deals with the last three days in the life of Julian English, describing how he destroys himself with a series compulsive acts, leading up to his suicide. Not some light reading for the plane, I am thinking …