0424-10 New York Times Crossword Answers 24 Apr 10

The name’s William Ernest Butler, but please call me Bill. I grew up in Ireland, but now live out here in the San Francisco Bay Area. I’m retired now, from technology businesses that took our family all over the world. I answer all emails, so please feel free to email me at bill@paxient.com, or leave a comment below. If you are working on the New York Times crossword in any other publication, you are working on the syndicated puzzle. Here is a link to my answers to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword. To find any solution other than today’s, enter the crossword number (e.g. 1225, 0107) in the “Search the Blog” box above.

This is my solution to the crossword published in the New York Times today …

COMPLETION TIME: 36m 25s
THEME: None
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … ADDN (ADIN!), SKLAD (SKALI)

TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
Disney The Little Mermaid Ariel & Her Sisters 8" Alana Plush Doll16. One of Ariel’s sisters in “The Little Mermaid” : ALANA
In the original story by Hans Christian Anderson (written in 1836), neither the Little Mermaid nor any of her sisters were actually named. The names came part and parcel with the Disney movie of 1989.

18. Swindle : COZEN
What a lively verb, to cozen! Apparently it comes from the Middle English word “cosin” meaning fraud or trickery.

Woody Allen on Woody Allen19. Title role in a 1983 black-and-white film : ZELIG
Zelig” is a 1983 film by Woody Allen. It tells the fictitious story, in documentary style, of Leonard Zelig (played by Allen), who has the gift of being able to change his appearance in order to better fit in with the company he keeps. He becomes famous as a “human chameleon”. The film includes clever cameos by real figures from history (like Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover and Susan Sontag), but using archive footage.

22. Annex: Abbr. : ADDN
Addition … addn.

23. “___ End” (1971 Barbra Streisand hit) : STONEY
“Stoney End” is a track on the album of the same name, released by Streisand in 1971. Streisand’s recording of “Stoney End” is a cover version of a song written by Laura Nyro and originally released by Peggy Lipton.

25. Org. with the motto “Start With Trust” : BBB
The Better Business Bureau is a private concern (nope, it is not a government agency), founded in 1912. It operates like a franchise, with local BBB’s managed independently but operating to a “corporate” set of guidelines.

Minor Prophets, The: An Exegetical and Expository Commentary28. Biblical preceder of 27-Down : JOEL
Both Joel and Amos belong to the group known as the Twelve Prophets, or the Minor Prophets. The content of these books is relatively short, compared to the books of the Major Prophets.

29. One with an ear and a small mouth : JUG
The handle of a jug is sometimes called its “ear”, because of it’s shape. The mouth of course, is the opening at the top of the jug.

33. Broadway’s “Never ___ Dance” : GONNA
Never Gonna Dance” opened on Broadway relatively recently, in 2003, even though it features the music of Jerome Kern (long since passed away, in 1945). The musical was based on teh 1936 movie “Swing Time“, starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Concorde Alpha-Delta - An Intrepid Journey (History Channel)40. One with delta wings, briefly : SST
The delta wing (triangular shaped) is often the choice for supersonic aircraft of all sizes, including the large SuperSonic Transports like the Concorde.

41. Wing: Prefix : PTER
The prefixes pter- and ptero- mean “pertaining to a wing, or a feather”, coming from the Greek word “pteron” (feather). Examples of use would be in pterosaur and pterodactyl.

47. Author Robert ___ Butler : OLEN
Robert Olen Butler is an American writer of fiction. He won a Pulitzer in 1995 for his collection of short stories called “A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain“. Each of the stories in the book tells of a different Vietnamese immigrant living in Louisiana.

Beyond Loyalty - The Story of a Kibei54. U.S.-born Japanese educated in Japan : KIBEI
By definition, a kibei was a Japanese American who went to Japan to be educated, and then returned to live in the United States. It was a term much in use in the 1940s, with “kibei” apparently translating from Japanese as “go home to America”.

55. Violent outburst : FIRESTORM
A firestorm can be a natural phenomenon, seen in large bush and forest fires. A firestorm is a fire of great intensity, such that the heat generates its own wind system, further intensifying and spreading the fire. Firestorms can also be created deliberately as acts of war, and were done so during intense fir bombings during WWII, most famously of Dresden and London.

58. Brilliant effect : ECLAT
Eclat can mean a brilliant show of success, or the applause or accolade that one receives. The word derives from the French “eclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

59. At a loss : FLUMMOXED
Flummoxed is another lovely word, meaning confused or perplexed. It is probably of English origin, derived from some local dialect.

Down
The Rough Guides' Ibiza Directions 2 (Rough Guide Directions)1. One of the Pine Islands : IBIZA
The Pine Islands is a group with two main islands, Ibiza and Formentera, in the Mediterranean. Ibiza has for some decades been a pretty wild tourist destination for European tourists with a frantic nightlife, although recently attempts have been made to calm things down and develop a more family-oriented vacation destination. Formentera is a less accessible island, and is a quieter spot, renowned for its nude beaches.

2. Like some harrows : TINED
A harrow is a farm implement with multiple prongs (tines) that even up the surface of a plowed field as it is dragged across the ground.

3. Viking poet : SKALD
A skald was one of a group of poets associated with the old courts of Scandinavia and Icelandic leaders during the time of the Vikings. The modern English word “scold” comes from the “skald”, reflecting the mocking tone often prevalent in the poetry of the time.

Harry Potter And The Half Blood Prince - Movie Poster (Regular Style) (Size: 27" x 39")5. Make out, to Harry Potter : SNOG
I never thought I’d ever see the word “snog” in a crossword! It’s equivalent to the American term “making out” as in “kissing and cuddling”, but it’s considered pretty rude in the land of Harry Potter I’d say.

9. Not lost : EXTANT
Extant … it’s not lost, it’s still in existence. It comes from the Latin “exstare”, to stand out.

11. Hydrocortisone additive : ALOE
Hydrocortisone is also known as Cortisol. Cortisol is a naturally occurring chemical, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands. In the body it is produced as a response to stress or when there is low blood sugar, and is primary purpose is to increase blood sugar levels. Cortisol also has the effect of suppressing the bodies immune response. As such, the pharmaceutical form of cortisol (usually called hydrocortisone) is used to treat allergic reactions. Hydrocortisone can calm down skin irritation if applied as a cream (usually mixed with aloe).

21. Wide receiver Welker : WES
Wes Welker is a wide receiver for the New England Patriots.

1776 (Restored Director's Cut)24. What “1776” got in 1969 : TONY
“1776” is a musical first shown on Broadway in 1969, and a winner of three Tony Awards including best musical. It is based on a book by Peter Stone, and tells of the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was made into a movie in 1972.

35. Thrice, to a pharmacist : TER
“Ter in die” is Latin for “three times a day” and is abbreviated to “TID”. Bis in die (BID) would be twice a day, and quater in die (QID) would be four times a day.

36. Friends, e.g. : SECT
Members of the Religious Society of Friends are known as Friends or Quakers. The Christian sect started in England in the 1640s, led by George Fox. The principal tenet at that point was that Christians could have direct experience of Jesus Christ without the mediation of clergy, a reflection of the increasing dissatisfaction with the established church at that time.

Autographed/Hand Signed Elio Chacon Photo37. Chacon of the 1962 Mets : ELIO
Elio Chacon was a baseball player from Venezuela, the seventh person to play in the Majors from that country. There’s a story that Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn was always running into Elio Chacon in the outfield, because he would call for the ball in English, and Chacon only understood Spanish. Ashburn started to call for the ball in Spanish “Yo la tengo!” (I’ve got it!), at which point he kept getting run down by left fielder Frank Thomas who only understood English …

39. Inimical : HOSTILE
Inimical means hostile, harmful in effect. It has the same root as our word “enemy”, from the Latin word for enemy, “inimicus”.

48. Leader who died 27 days after his election : LEO XI
Pope Leo XI ascended to the papal throne on April 1, 1605, almost seventy years old at the time. he became sick and died within a month. For obvious reasons he was nicknamed “Papa Lambo”, the Lightning Pope …

Diary of a Legionnaire: My Life in the French Foreign Legion50. ___ guerre : NOM DE
“Nom de guerre” is a French term meaning “name of war”. It describes the practice of adopting a pseudonym when in a conflict, perhaps to protect family or to symbolize a separation between one’s life in the military and as a civilian. The term originates with the French Foreign Legion, where recruits routinely adopted noms de guerre as they broke with their past lives and started afresh.

53. Black Knights’ home: Abbr. : USMA
The Army Black Knights is the name given to the athletic teams of the United States Military Academy. The name was originally “The Black Knights of the Hudson”, given as the academy’s football team wore black uniforms, and West Point is situated on the Hudson River in New York State.

57. Rescue inits. : EMS
Emergency Medical Services.