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: 25m 28s
THEME: The MIDWEST … the circled letters are abbreviations to the Midwest states, with the spatial arrangement in the grid approximating the geographic positions of the states, with the Mississippi right down the middle.
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
TODAY’S WIKI-EST, AMAZONIAN GOOGLIES
Across
8. Painters Frank and Joseph : STELLAS
Frank Stella is an American minimalist painter. In 2009, Stella was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Obama.
15. Its official bird is the great northern loon : ONTARIO
The great northern loon is the provincial bird of Ontario, and the state bird of Minnesota. The loon also once appeared on Canadian $20 bills. It also appears on the Canadian one dollar coin, giving the coin the nickname “the Loonie”.
The 1983 film “A Christmas Story
21. Year of the swine flu epidemic : MMIX
There was a 2009 outbreak of swine flu in humans that has be blamed on 17,700 deaths worldwide.
22. Last name in ice cream : EDY
Dreyer’s ice cream sells it’s products under the name Dreyers in Western United States, and Edy’s in the Eastern states. The company’s founders were William Dryer and Joseph Edy.
30. Canon competitor : RICOH
Ricoh is a Japanese company that started out in 1936, and by the year 2000 was the biggest manufacturer of copiers in the world.
34. Wall St. happening : IPO
Initial Public Offering.
35. Hindu noble : RANI
A Ranee (also spelled Rani) is the female equivalent of a Raja in India.
37. Kind of code : BINARY
In a binary code, test or computer instructions are represented as strings of digits, either ones or zeros.
39. Noxious : MIASMAL
The word miasma was first used for the poisonous atmosphere thought to arise from swamps and rotting matter and cause disease. Now it is just a thick cloud of gas or smoke.
42. Temper, as metal : ANNEAL
One anneals glass or metal by exposing to a very specific temperature profile, resulting in a tougher or less brittle product.
45. Silver of the silver screen : RON
Ron Silver has a long career playing relatively small roles on the big screen and television, with roles in well known films like “Mr. Saturday Night”, “Ali”, and “Garbo Talks”. Notably, Silver was the president of Actors’ Equity from 1991 to 2000.
Josef wrote some remarkably clever and amusing symphonies. Symphony No. 47 is also known as “The Palindrome Symphony” as the minuet is the two theme of the minuet are the same notes, just written in reverse!
47. Popular 1980s arcade game based on simple geometry : QIX
I don’t recall ever playing Qix, but apparently it is still around, with an improved version recently released for Xbox.
Edina, Minnesota lies just southwest of Minneapolis. The town takes its name from Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was suggested by a Scottish mill owner at the time a new village was being set up in 1888.
53. Bergdorf competitor : SAKS
Saks Fifth Avenue opened in New York City first, in 1924. The first branch store opened just two years later, in Palm Beach, Florida. The first international location opened was in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Saudis like the store, as there are now two locations in Riyadh.
58. Branch of Islam : SHIA
The largest denomination in the Muslim faith is Sunni Islam, with the second being Shia Islam.
62. Segue : TRANSITION POINT
“Segue” is an Italian word that literally means “now follows”. It was first used in musical scores directing the performer to play into the next movement without a break.
65. Halo : AUREOLE
“Aureole” comes from the Latin word “aureus” meaning “golden”.
66. What the circled parts of this puzzle comprise : MIDWEST
Down
1. Kentucky resource : COAL
The Eastern Kentucky coal Fields are the most productive in the US.
“The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe is one of the most famous poems ever written. It brought Poe a lot of celebrity within his own lifetime, as it was published not only in a collection of poems, but also in newspapers. it first appeared in the New York Evening Mirror in 1845.
The opening words of “The Raven” are, “Once upon a midnight dreary …”
5. Verdi’s “___ tu” : ERI
The aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). It tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden, during a masked ball.
8. What lawn mowers make : SWATHS
The word “swath” comes from the German “Schwad” meaning “a row of cut grass”.
9. ___ B’Av, Jewish day of fasting : TISHA
Tisha B’Av is the ninth (tisha) day of Av (the month in the Hebrew Calendar). Tisha B’Av is a day of fasting, and it commemorates the destruction of the two ancient Temples in Jerusalem. Because both temples were destroyed on the same day, about 650 years apart, Tisha B’Av is known as “the saddest day in Jewish history”.
10. Some records, for short : EPS
An extended play record (or CD) contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.
14. Milton called it “The flood of deadly hate” : STYX
The River Styx in Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between Earth the Underworld (also called Hades). John Milton in his epic poem called the “Abhorred Styx, the flood of deadly hate”.
The Mississippi River
26. Prophet who prophesied that the Savior would come from Bethlehem : MICAH
The name “Micah” translates into English from Hebrew as “Who is like God?”
27. Classic toothpaste brand : IPANA
Ipana toothpaste was introduced in 1915, and hit the height of its popularity in the forties and fifties, with sales declining in the sixties and withdrawal from the US market in the seventies. Bucky the Beaver was the “spokesman” for Ipana. Bucky Beaver’s slogan was “Brusha… Brusha… Brusha. Get the New Ipana – it’s dandy for your teeth!”
Sonny Corleone was oldest son of Don Vito Corleone in Mario Puzo’s great novel, “The Godfather”. In the movie he was played by James Caan. Sonny Corleone appears as a boy in the movie “The Godfather: Part II”, and is played by director Francis Ford Coppola’s own son, Roman Coppola.
29. Literary olio : ANA
An ana (or plural anas) is a collection, including works of literature, that represent the character of a particular place or a person. Ana can be used as a noun, or as a suffix.
31. Italian tourist destination : CAPRI
The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that is colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.
32. Whom Artemis loved and unwittingly killed : ORION
There are many versions of the death of Orion at the hands of Artemis. Orion was a great hunter, and companion of the goddess Artemis. Some versions of the tale of Artemis and Orion describe her being tricked into killing him.
37. French court event : BAL
“Bal” is the French word for a “ball”, in the sense of a grand dance.
Irvin Shaw’s novel “Rich Man, Poor Man” was adapted into a television miniseries that was first shown in 1976. The production was the first of its kind, a television miniseries of a major work of fiction. Ed Asner won an Emmy for playing the lead role of Axel Jordache, one of four Emmy Awards won by the miniseries.
47. In Bartlett’s, e.g. : QUOTED
The reference book we usually call “Bartlett’s” is properly titled “Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations”. It was first published in 1855, and is still in print, making it the longest-lived collection of quotations.
American actor Emile Hirsch’s most famous role was playing the lead in the 2007 drama “Into the Wild
52. “Another ___, Another Show” (“Kiss Me, Kate” song) : OP’NIN
“Kiss Me, Kate” is a musical written by Cole Porter first produced on Broadway in 1948. Cole Porter had a string of successes in the twenties and thirties, including “Gay Divorce” and “Anything Goes”, but found his career in decline in the forties. “Kiss Me, Kate” proved to be a dramatic come back, becoming the only one of his shows that ran for more than 1,000 performances on Broadway.
53. One way to go to a party : STAG
When a guy heads out to a party alone, he is said to be “going stag”.
55. ___ Zor-El, Supergirl’s birth name : KARA
Kara Zor-El is the Superman’s cousin, as her father and Superman’s father were brothers.
“L’Uomo Vogue
59. Got a move on : HIED
To hie is to move quickly, to bolt.
61. Memo heading : ATTN
Attention …
63. G : SOL
Sol is the fifth note in a musical scale, equivalent to G if one starts on the note C.
The iPhone is sometimes described as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).
Apple started selling the iPhone at 6 pm local time on June 29, 2007, with hundreds of customers lined up outside stores all over the world. They’ve been lining up ever since …
Movies and TV shows from today’s crossword
Just select a clip, and press the “play” button …
Amazon.com Widgets