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: 6m 24s
THEME: IT’S OK WITH ME … all of the theme answers contain the “words” OK and ME i.e. coOKing tiME, brOKen hoME, pOKer gaME, smOKed MEat
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
In the 1989 Disney animated film “The Little Mermaid
16. French “a” : UNE
“Une” is the French word for “a”, but only when used with a feminine noun (like “une dame”: a lady).
21. Lure for Simple Simon : PIE
The first verse of the English nursery rhyme is:
“Simple Simon met a pieman,
Going to the fair;
Says Simple Simon to the pieman,
Let me taste your ware.”
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use it to portray something very small, as it is the smallest letter in the alphabet.
24. Persian Gulf leader : EMIR
In English, emir can also be written as amir and ameer (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).
33. Fat used for tallow : SUET
Fat, when extracted from the carcass of an animal is called “suet”. Untreated suet decomposes at room temperature quite easily, so it has to be “rendered” or purified to make it stable. Rendered fat from pigs is what we call “lard”. Rendered beef or mutton fat is known as “tallow”.
In the 1954 movie version of “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
35. Name in a family restaurant chain : DENNY
Denny’s was the first restaurant I ate at on my first visit to the US over 30 years ago. I thought I was in heaven. I’ve changed my opinion a little since then! Denny’s is famous for being “always open” (almost), something that blew my mind as a visitor from Ireland back in 1980. Denny’s was founded in 1953 in Lakewood, California, and originally went by the name “Denny’s Donuts”. The infamous “Grand Slam” breakfast has been on the menu since 1977.
37. Football scores, for short : TDS
Touchdown!
50. Gradually slowing, in music: Abbr. : RIT
Rit. (or sometimes ritard.) is the abbreviation for ritardando, the musical direction to slow down the tempo.
Sarong
53. Pastrami, for one : SMOKED MEAT
In the US, pastrami was originally called “pastrama”, a dish brought to America by Jewish immigrants from Romania in the second half of the the nineteenth century. The original name may have evolved from the Turkish word “pastirma” meaning “pressed”. “Pastrama” likely morphed into “pastrami” under the influence of the Italian meat, salami.
56. Greek liqueur : OUZO
Ouzo is an aperitif from Greece that is colorless, and flavored with anise. It is similar to pastis from France, and has a flavor like sambuca from Italy.
Spain’s Costa del Sol
61. Rope-a-dope boxer : ALI
The Rumble in the Jungle was that celebrated fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, broadcast from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The fight was set in Zaire because of financial arrangements between promoter Don King and Zaire’s President Mobuto Seko. Rope-a-dope was the term coined by Ali to describe his incredibly successful strategy in the contest. From the second round onwards, Ali adopted a protected stance on the ropes, letting Foreman pound him with blows to the body and head, using his arms to take most of the punches. He kept this up until the eighth round, then opened up, and downed the exhausted Foreman with a left-right combination. I hate boxing, but have to say, that was an interesting fight.
67. IV adjusters : RNS
Registered Nurses are qualified to adjust a patient’s Intra-Venous drip.
Down
An Ironman Triathlon
3. Treat as a celebrity : LIONIZE
The term “lionize” dates back to the late 1700s when there were lions kept in the Tower of London. The lions were quite famous, and attracted many visitors. Hence, the term “lionize” means to treat someone as a celebrity.
I don’t think Mel Ott
8. Kimono closer : OBI
An obi is a sash worn in from dress in Japan, both by men and women, although there tend to be many different ornate versions for women.
9. Hoover ___ : DAM
When the magnificent Hoover Dam was completed in 1936 it was the largest hydroelectric plant in the world, as well as being the world’s largest concrete structure. The dam is named after Herbert Hoover for his role in having the dam built when he was Secretary of Commerce, and his later support as US President. When the dam was finally put into service in 1936, the project was two years ahead of schedule. Those were the days …
Gertrude Stein was a great American writer, who spent most of her life in France. Gertrude Stein met Alice B. Toklas in Paris in 1907, and the two were life partners until Stein died in 1946. Cleverly, Stein published her own memoirs in 1933, but calling the book “The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas
28. Old Testament books labeled I and II : KINGS
The Books of Kings recount events that took place between the 10th and 6th centuries BCE. The two books were actually written as one narrative. It was when the Old Testament was translated into Greek, that the Book of Kings (and other books) was divided into two parts. Later printed versions have continued to recognize the relatively arbitrary division.
Mt. Etna is the largest of three active volcanoes in Italy, about 2 1/2 times the height of its equally famous sister, Mt Vesuvius.
35. Jeans fabric : DENIM
The name “denim” comes from the sturdy, cotton fabric known as serge, which was manufactured in the city of Nimes in the south of France. The fabric was universally known as “serge de Nimes”, and over time was shortened to “denim”. The first denim pants were made in Genoa in Italy. The French name for Genoa is Genes, which morphed into our word “jeans”.
36. Family rec facility : YMCA
The YMCA is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.
39. Many a northern Iraqi : KURD
Most of the Kurdish people live in a region known as Kurdistan, which stretches into parts of Iran, Syria, Turkey as well as northern Iraq.
“Now We Are Six
47. They help digest food : ENZYMES
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. So, for example, starches will break down in to sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva, say) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.
The Vail Ski Resort in Colorado is the largest single mountain ski resort in the whole country. The resort was opened in 1962, basically in the middle of nowhere. It was given the name Vail after Vail Pass which runs by the mountain (now also called Vail Mountain). The town of Vail, Colorado was established four years later in 1966, and now has a population of about 5,000.
59. Turkey’s currency : LIRA
The name “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. It comes from the Latin word for a pound, and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. The Turkish lira has been around since the mid 1870s.
John Keats wrote a whole series of odes in 1819, including the very famous “Ode on a Grecian Urn
