Announcement
I am test driving a new feature at the bottom of each post. There you will find a selection of clips/trailers from movies and TV shows mentioned in today’s crossword. If folks find the feature useful/entertaining, I will continue to include it … Bill.
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: 26m 45s
THEME: None
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … ILOILO (ILTILO), TUZIGOOT (TUZIGOTT)
TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
If you believe the storyline of the “Rocky
Doo-wop developed in the 1940s, and can be described as a vocal-based R&B music. Even though the style has been around since the forties, the name doo-wop wasn’t introduced until the early sixties.
15. Septic tank resident : ANAEROBE
Anaerobic organisms are those that do not require oxygen to live. Fortunately, the bacteria working away in a septic tank are anaerobes, otherwise the tank would have to be opened up to the air.
16. Accidentally uninked embossed stamp : ALBINO
In the world of philately (stamp collecting), an “albino” is an embossed stamp accidentally left without ink. Basically this means a stamp is produced incorrectly, with the embossing process working, but no ink transfer taking place. Such a “freak” stamp rarely gets into circulation, and is highly prized by collectors.
Frederick Sheehan’s 2010 work “Panderer to Power
18. 1987 All-Star Game M.V.P. Tim : RAINES
Tim Raines is a retired left Major League Baseball player who spent much of his career with Montreal Expos. He is famous for stealing bases, and had a career high of 90 steal in the 1983 season.
22. Forward-moving occasion?: Abbr. : DST
On the other side of the Atlantic, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is known as “summer time”. The idea is to move clocks forward an hour in spring and backwards in the fall, so that afternoons have more daylight.
23. Suffer the effects of a haymaker : REEL
A haymaker is a wide, swinging punch. It is so called because the action involves using one’s weight and shoulder power to deliver the blow, with a motion much like using a scythe to cut hay.
“NYPD Blue” is a police drama that was originally aired in 1993, and ran until 2005. Esai Morales played Lieutenant Tony Rodriguez, in the latter years of the show.
31. Literary character whose first word is “‘Sblood” : IAGO
Iago is indeed the schemer, in Shakespeare’s “Othello”. Iago is a soldier who fought alongside Othella, and feels hard done by, missing out on promotion. His rival in this case is Cassio, and Iago hatches a plot to discredit him, which creates mayhem, jealousy and violence, before Iago is finally exposed for his true character.
34. Like the rarest rhino : JAVAN
There are types of rhinoceros that survive today, and the smaller, Javan Rhino is the most rare. It may even be the rarest, large mammal on the planet, thanks to poaching. Hunters mainly prize the horn of the rhino, as it is used in powdered form in traditional Chinese medicine.
An etagere
41. New Age mecca in the Southwest : SEDONA
The New Age Movement is a western philosophy that traces its roots back to the early 1800s. The movement focuses achieving the highest human potential as an individual and embraces many traditionally eastern spiritual practices, but eschews all religious doctrines.
43. Word whose antonym is its own homophone : RAZE
To “raze” is to level to the ground, unlike “raise” which is to build up again!
49. Like arroyo areas : ARID
An arroyo is a small stream, or more often, a dry riverbed.
50. Legal hearing : OYER
Oyer was the term used to describe the reading out loud of a document in court.
Eero Aarnio is a Finnish interior designer, perhaps most famous for creating in the sixties those round, plastic chairs that often were suspended from the ceiling. It was sort of like sitting inside a big ball.
53. Whit : FIG
Both “whit” and “fig” are used to describe a trivial amount, a mere trifle.
54. One of his aliases was Theo. LeSieg : DR SEUSS
Dr. Seuss’s real name was Theodore Seuss Geisel. Dr. Seuss is simply a pen name, as is Theo. LeSieg.
62. Philippine port : ILOILO
Iloilo City is the capital of the Iloilo province in the Philippines, and is known as one of the most desirable places to live in the country.
63. Occurrence after the fall : SOLSTICE
A solstice occurs twice in every year. The summer solstice is the longest day of the year (has the most daylight), and the winter solstice is the shortest.
Down
4. London Zoo opening? : ZED
The letter name “zed” has been around since about 1400, and derives from the Greek letter zeta. The spelling and pronunciation of “zee” used in America today first popped up in the 1670s.
5. His chariot was drawn by fire-emitting horses : ARES
The Greek god Ares is indeed bellicose. He is often referred to as the Olympian god of warfare, but originally he was regarded as the god of blood-lust and slaughter.
Boro Park (short for the correct name “Borough Park”), is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. It is noted for being home to the largest Orthodox Jewish community outside of Israel.
7. Extremely upscale? : OBESE
Cleverly worded clue …
8. Possible result of vitamin A deficiency : XEROSIS
Xerosis is the medical term for dry skin, from the Greek word “xero” meaning “dry”.
Darrin Fletcher is a former catcher in Major League Baseball, who played from 1989 to 2002.
10. Big name in anti-aging products : OLAY
Oil of Olay was developed in South Africa in 1949. When it was introduced internationally, it was given slightly different brand names designed to appeal in the different geographies. In Ireland we know it as Oil of Ulay, for example, and in France it is Oil of Olaz.
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.
12. National park in South Dakota : WIND CAVE
Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota was the first cave to be designated as a national park, anywhere in the world. The cave is one of the longest in the world, with about 120 miles of explored passageway. It’s “getting bigger” all the time, with about four new miles of cave being explored and mapped each year.
Robert Novak broke a story in 2003, naming Valerie Plame
28. Window shopper’s selection : PANE
I an shopping for windows … I will have this pane of glass here. Or … I am window shopping, I choose to look at the goods on display through this pane of glass. I wonder which interpretation is correct?
Very clever wording!
The SuperSonic Transports, like Concorde
34. Doe being defended : JANE
Though the English court system does not use the term today, John Doe first appeared as the “name of a person unknown” in England in 1659, along with another unknown, Richard Roe. Joe Blow is just a variant of John Doe, and Jane Doe is the female version.
One cheese that is recognized by its coating is Edam
“(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” dates way back, released by Nat King Cole in 1946. This famous old highway, now largely replaced, ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, right through the heart of America. As such, is was often called the “Main Street of America”. The road gained notoriety because of Nat King Cole’s song, but also because of the sixties TV show Route 66, that I can remember watching back in Ireland way back when.
Tuzigoot
42. Jabber in a mask : EPEEIST
A “jabber” that is usually seen wearing a mask is an epeeist, a dueler using an epee. Epee is the French word for sword.
Beethoven originally dedicated his “Eroica
54. Word often written in red : DELE
Dele is the editorial instruction to delete something from a document.
Sela Ward turns up in crosswords a lot. She played Teddy Reed in the TV show “Sisters” in the nineties, was in “Once and Again” from 1999-2002. I don’t know either show. I do know her from “House” though. She played the hospital’s lawyer, and Greg House’s ex-partner. That was a fun role, I thought.
Movies and TV shows from today’s crossword
Just select a title and press the “play” button …
Amazon.com Widgets