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 30s
THEME: “It ain’t hard!” … all the theme answers are colloquial ways of saying “it ain’t hard e.g. SIMPLE AS ABC and DUCK SOUP
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
6. “The Zoo Story” playwright Edward : ALBEE
Edward Albee’s most famous play is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Albee’s first play, a one-acter, was “The Zoo Story”.
I’ve seen Manx cats
The exact origins of the Siamese cat are very clear, but it is believed be from Southeast Asia. The Siamese takes its name from the sacred temple cats of Thailand (once called Siam).
The Battle of the Alamo took place in 1836 after thirteen days of siege by the Mexican Army led by President General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Only two people defending the Alamo Mission survived the onslaught. One month later, the Texian army got its revenge by attacking and defeating the Mexican Army in the Battle of San Jacinto. During the surprise attack on Santa Ana’s camp, many of Texian soldiers were heard to cry “Remember the Alamo!”.
SuperSonic Transports, like the Concorde
The hereditary title of Baron Raglan was created in 1852 as a reward for Lord Fitzroy Somerset for his service commanding the British troops during the Crimean War. It’s the raglan sleeve that gives the name to the raglan coat. A raglan sleeve extends right to the collar of the garment, a design used to fit the first Baron Raglan who had lost his arm at the Battle of Waterloo.
24. With 46-Across, “It ain’t hard!” : DUCK
46. See 24-Across : SOUP
The origins of the phrase “duck soup”, meaning anything easily done, aren’t very clear. However, it does at least date back to 1908.
25. Chop-chop : RAPIDLY
“Chop chop” is Chinese Pidgen English, and is just a reiteration of the word “chop” used in the sense of moving quickly.
26. Nadir’s opposite : ZENITH
The nadir is the direction pointing immediately below a particular location (through to the other side of the Earth for example). The opposite direction, the direction pointing immediately above, is called the zenith.
29. School time when kids aren’t studying : RECESS
The name “recess” was applied to a temporary rest from work dating back to the early 1600s. It probably comes from the concept of member of parliament recessing (going back) into their private chambers in the House.
Monica Seles
37. Source of linen : FLAX
Flax is mainly grown for its seeds (to make oil) and its fibers. Flax fibers have been used to make linen for centuries, certainly back as far as the days of Ancient Egyptians. Flax fibers are soft and shiny, resembling blonde hair, hence the term “flaxen hair”.
I suppose the most famous song released by American singer Roberta Flack is her 1972 hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”.
Roberta Peters is an American opera singer who spent 35 years working with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She made a lot of television appearances, and was the most frequent guest on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, appearing an amazing 65 times!
46. See 24-Across : SOUP
Cass Elliot was one of the four singers in the Mamas and the Papas, the sensational group from the sixties. She had a successful solo career after the band split up in the early seventies. She was performing sold-out concerts in London in 1974 when she was found dead one morning, after having a heart attack. She was only 32 years old. Eerily, she died in the same flat (on loan from Harry Nilsson) in which the Who’s drummer, Keith Moon, would die just four years later.
49. Follow the coxswain’s calls : ROW
The coxswain of a boat is one in charge, particularly of its steering and navigating. The name is shortened to “cox” particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.
“The Odd Couple” is a play by the wonderfully talented Neil Simon, first performed on Broadway, in 1965. This great play was adapted for the big screen in 1968
58. Bird on a U.S. quarter : EAGLE
The American quarter is a little unusual in the world of decimal currency if you think about it. Usually there is produced a “20-cent” coin, easier to work with mathematically. The US went for the quarter in deference to the practice of dividing Spanish Milled Dollars in eight wedge-shaped “bits”. That’s also why the quarter is sometimes referred to as “two bits”. State quarters were introduced in 1999, but prior to that the quarter had an eagle on its reverse.
59. B’way sellout sign : SRO
Standing Room Only.
In basketball, you “take a shot” at the basket.
Down
The Clio Awards
4. Guitarist’s accessory, for short : AMP
An electric guitar needs an amplifier to take the weak signal created by the vibration of the strings and turn it into a powerful enough signal for a loudspeaker.
The etymology of the tern “drag” as used in the transvestite world seems to be unclear. It perhaps relates to the tendency of a transvestites skirts to drag along the ground in days of old (although why they just didn’t hitch up their skirts is beyond me!).
The United Service Organization was founded in 1941 at the request of FDR, “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is a tour by a troupe of entertainers, many celebrities, to troop locations, often including combat zones.
The initials G.I. stand for “Government Issue” and not “General Infantry” as is often believed. G.I. was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron. During WWII, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.
The Tyrannosaurus rex (usually T. rex) was a spectacular looking dinosaur. Tyrannosaurus comes from the Greek words “tyrannos” (tyrant) and “sauros” (lizard), and the “rex” is of course Latin for “king”. They were big boys, measuring 42 feet long, and 13 feet tall at the hops, weighing 7.5 tons.
Zane Grey
Charles Lamb published a collection of essays simply entitled “Essays of Elia
28. “It ain’t hard!” : NO PROBLEMO
“No problemo” is just American slang. It has no basis in any other language (and in particular, not in Spanish).
Just before the Civil War, President Lincoln offered Robert E. Lee
31. Vice ___ : VERSA
“Vice versa” is a Latin phrase meaning “with position turned”. We always pronounce this term “incorrectly”. In Latin, a “c” is always a hard sound, and a “v” is pronounced like a “w”. The pronunciation should be something like “wee-kay wehr-sa”.
Tartan is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, word not used in the same sense outside of the country. In Scotland a “plaid” is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.
Not in mine …
39. Pertinent : APROPOS
Apropos comes into English directly from French, in which “a propos” means “to the purpose”.
The word “taxidermy
42. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame architect I. M. ___ : PEI
I. M. Pei is an exceptional American architect, born in China. Of his many wonderful works, my favorite is the renovation of the Louvre in Paris, especially the Glass Pyramid in the courtyard, albeit controversial with Parisians. I’ve never visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame building, but from pictures I can see that there are elements that are very similar to Pei’s work at the Louvre. There is a steel and glass pyramid protruding from the roof of the Hall of Fame building in downtown Cleveland.
The Amazon Kindle
Tarot cards
48. Ad-libbing vocal style : SCAT
Ad libitum is a Latin phrase meaning “at one’s pleasure”. In common usage, the phrase is usually shortened to “ad lib”. On the stage, the concept of an “ad lib” is very familiar. For example, an actor who substitutes his own words for forgotten lines uses an ad lib. Or, a director may instruct an actor to use her own words at a particular point in a performance, to promote a feeling of spontaneity.
Scat singing is a vocal improvisation found in the world of jazz. There aren’t any words as such, just random nonsense syllables made up on the spot.
The first Indy 500
