Announcement!
Although I am still making daily Blog posts, I am on vacation until August 15th. I am on an extended road trip around this lovely country, so some days I may not have Internet access and maybe late posting. If a post is missing, please check back later. Apologies for any inconvenience.
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: 7m 12s
THEME: WHAT A DEAL! … All the theme answers might cause one to respond with the words, “What a deal!” e.g. TRIPLE MILES, THREE FOR ONE
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
1. Point that marks the beginning of a change : CUSP
The word “cusp” comes from the Latin “cuspis” meaning “point”.
9. Blunder : GAFFE
Our word “gaffe” , meaning a social blunder, comes from the French word “gaffe” meaning “clumsy remark”, although it originally was the word for “boat hook”. The exact connection between a boat hook and a blunder seems to be unclear.
14. Palo ___, Calif. : ALTO
The city of Palo Alto, California takes its name from a specific redwood tree called El Palo Alto (Spanish for “the tall stick”) that is located within the bounds of the city. The tree is 110 feet tall, and over a thousand years old.
A peptic ulcer, until fairly recently, was believed to be caused by undue amounts of stress in one’s life. It is now known that 70-90% of all peptic ulcers are in associated with a particular bacterium.
17. One of 12 for the Alcoholics Anonymous program : STEP
Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935, by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio. As the organization grew, the guiding principles established by the founders was formatted into a 12-step program that was in place by the time the forties rolled round.
18. Robust : HALE
“Hale” is an adjective meaning “healthy”. Both the words “hale” and “healthy” derive from the the Old English “hal” meaning healthy.
20. Special offer at an airline Web site : TRIPLE MILES
Sanyo is a Japanese electronics manufacturer, based near Osaka, founded in 1947. The company name means “three oceans” reflecting the original aim to sell its products all around the world (across the three oceans of Atlantic, Pacific and Indian).
24. Scottish castle for British royals : BALMORAL
Balmoral Castle is a favorite summer hangout for the British Royal Family, located in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The castle and estate was originally purchased for the family in 1852 by Prince Albert, consort to Queen Victoria. When Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997, the Queen and her family, including Charles and his children, were in residence at Balmoral. It was there that she decided to stay after the loss, as opposed to returning to London and leading a public period of mourning. As we now, that decision creating a tremendous amount of public dismay.
29. Special offer at a supermarket : THREE FOR ONE
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
36. Midwest tribe : KIOWA
The Kiowa Native American tribe are presently located in Southwestern Oklahoma, but originated in the Northern Plains. Back in 1790, the Kiowa made peace with the Comanche people, and entered into a pact of mutual cooperation that benefited both tribes. They made that pact in a place that today we call Las Vegas, Nevada.
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue
46. Special offer at a diner : FREE REFILLS
50. Element with the symbol Ta : TANTALUM
Tantalum is a very rare metal, very resistant to corrosion. It’s main use today is in tantalum capacitors found on circuit boards. It is also very benign if inserted in the human body, so is used in the manufacture of body implants.
51. Rotini or rigatoni : PASTA
Rotini is the corkscrew-shaped pasta that is often used in pasta salads.
Rigatoni is a tubular pasta, relatively short, with ridges along its length.
56. Special offer at a car dealership : NO MONEY DOWN
“American Idol
64. Sir Geraint’s wife, in Arthurian legend : ENID
Enid is a Welsh name, from “einit” an old Welsh word meaning “purity”. Geraint was one of King Arthur’s knights, and Enid his wife, “the personification of spotless purity”.
65. François’s farewell : ADIEU
“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye”, or “farewell”, from “a Dieu” meaning “to God”.
66. Mission control org. : NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration was set up in 1958.
Anne, Princess Royal
68. ___ pole (Indian emblem) : TOTEM
Totem is the name given to any entity that watches over a group of people, such as a tribe. As such, totems are usually the subjects of worship. Totem poles are really misnamed, as they are not intended to represent figures to be worshiped, but rather are heraldic in nature, often celebrating the legends or notable events in the history of a tribe.
I went to a Glen Campbell
70. Corrosive alkalis : LYES
Historically, lye was hydrated potash (potassium hydroxide). Nowadays when we purchase lye it is caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). Crystal Drano was developed in 1932 by one Harry Drackett, who produced the product in his own company until it was bought over in 1965 by Bristol Myers. The crystalline form of Drano is sodium hydroxide (lye) as well as sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The product works as the lye reacts with any fats in the clog forming soap. The lye also reacts with finely divided aluminum generating tremendous heat, creating boiling and churning so that any hair or other deposits are cut by the sharp edges of the crystals. Having said that, boiling water poured down the drain is often just as effective.
Down
NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live
2. The “U” of UHF : ULTRA
The radio spectrum is the is divided up into bands based on the frequency. So, a high band would be a band with relatively high frequencies. FM radio falls into the band called Very High Frequency, or VHF. On the other hand, AM radio uses lower frequencies, and so falls into the lower bands of Low, Medium and High Frequency (LF, MF, and HF). Television signals use frequencies even higher than VHF, the Ultra High Frequency band (UHF).
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
4. Opium flower : POPPY
Opiates are the narcotic alkaloids found in the opium poppy plant, although some synthetic versions and derivatives of the same alkaloids are also called opiates. To produce opiates, the latex sax of the opium poppy is collected and processed. The naturally occurring drugs of morphine and codeine can both be extracted from the sap. Some synthesis is required to make derivative drugs like heroin and oxycodone.
6. What buffalo do in “Home on the Range” : ROAM
The words of “Home on the Range” came before the music, a poem called “My Western Home” from the 1870s written by a Dr. Brewster Higley of Kansas. The music was added by Daniel Kelley, a friend of Higley. And now, a version of the song is the state song of Kansas.
7. .45, e.g., for a firearm : CALIBER
In a gun, its caliber is the diameter of its barrel (approximately). Bullets are just a little smaller than the diameter of the barrel, so bullets are also classified by caliber. So, a “forty-five”, has a diameter of 0.45 inches.
8. Upright, inscribed stone tablets : STELAE
Stelae were used all over the world, sometimes as territorial markers, and sometimes to commemorate military victories. In later times stelae were commonly erected as commemorative markers in graveyards or other religious sites.
James Arness played the role of Marshall Mat Dillon on “Gunsmoke
10. Muhammad ___, opponent of 53-Down : ALI
Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. was born in 1942 in Louisville, Kentucky. He changed his name to Muhammad Ali when he converted to Islam in 1964. Who can forget Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame for the 1996 games in Atlanta? Ali won a gold medal in the 1960 games, which he threw into the Ohio River after being refused service at a “whites only” restaurant. He was presented with a replacement medal during the 1996 Games.
11. TV monitor? : FCC
TV broadcasting is monitored by the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC has been around since 1934, when it replaced the Federal Radio Commission.
Anwar Sadat
33. Snake that a snake charmer charms : COBRA
The archetypal snake charmer “hypnotizes” a cobra, charming it with music he plays with a flute-like instrument, so that the snake stands vertically, swaying to the music. The snake actually sways with the motion of the end of the instrument, as the charmer moves it from side to side.
34. Sixth-grader, usually : TWEEN
The term “tween” is now used to describe preadolescence, the years between 10 and 12 years of age.
47. “Shine a Little Love” rock grp. : ELO
ELO of course stands for the Electric Light Orchestra, a symphonic rock group from the north of England. Their manager was Don Arden, father of Sharon Osbourne (wife of Ozzy).
52. “What ___!” (possible response to 20-, 29-, 46- and 56-Across) : A DEAL
Sonny Liston won the heavyweight boxing championship in 1962 by knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round. Liston suffered a first round defeat himself in 1965, to Muhammad Ali. The picture of Ali standing over Liston was featured on the cover of a special “Sports Illustrated” edition featuring “The Century’s Greatest Sports Photos”.
58. Verve : ELAN
Elan: ardor inspired by passion or enthusiasm. I guess that could be “verve”.