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The full solution to today’s crossword that appears in the New York Times
The full solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword that appears in all other publications
THEME: Having Aspirations … the theme answers are well known expressions with an “H” added at the front of one word e.g. REAL MEN DON’T (H)EAT QUICHE, I THINK THEREFORE I (H)AM, DELTA (H)AIRLINES
COMPLETION TIME: 36M 22S
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Across
10. German-born tennis star Tommy : HAAS
Tommy Haas is German-American tennis player. He grew up in Hamburg and, like many promising tennis players, moved to Florida to develop his tennis skills, at the age of 13.
The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in 1823, and is better known today by its first line “‘Twas the night before Christmas”. Most scholars believe the poem was written by Clement Clark Moore, a theologian from New York City. Others say that it was written by Henry Livingston, Jr. a poet from Upstate New York.
Tatum O’Neal was the youngest actress to win a “standard” Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10, for her role in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an Oscar was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was given an honorary Oscar in 1934.
Ilsa Lund was of course the role played by Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “she paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …
23. “Winnie-the-Pooh” character : KANGA
Kanga is a friend of Winnie-the-Pooh, a kangaroo. She is the mother of Roo, who appears more frequently in the storyline.
24. Signal for a programmer’s jump : GOTO
The GOTO statement is found in a number of computer programming languages. The GOTO statement usually causes a jump from one line of code to another i.e. “go to” this particular line of code.
25. One side in the 1973 Paris Peace Accords : HANOI
Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam, and Saigon the capital of South Vietnam. After the Vietnam War, Hanoi was made capital of the reunified state, and Saigon, the larger city, was renamed to Ho Chi Minh City.
26. Macho guys like their pie cold? : REAL MEN DON’T HEAT QUICHE
From “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche”.
Bruce Feirstein wrote the best seller “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche”, published in 1982. It’s main theme is the situation in which 1980s, middle-class men found themselves after feminist attacks on traditional male roles in the seventies.
“Our Day Will Come” was a number one hit in 1963 for Ruby & The Romantics. This was really the band’s only big seller, so I guess they get filed away as “one-hit wonders”.
37. Potential cause of a food recall : E. COLI
Escherichia coli (E. coli) are usually harmless bacteria, found in the human gut, working away quite happily. However, there are some strains that can produce lethal toxins. These strains can make there way into the food chain from fecal matter that comes into contact with food designated for human consumption.
39. Name often followed by a number : MACH
The Mach number of a moving object (like say an airplane) is it’s speed relative to the speed of sound. A plane travelling at Mach 2 for example, is moving at twice the speed of sound. The term “Mach” takes its name from the Austrian physicist Ernst Mach who published a groundbreaking paper in 1877 that predicted the “sonic boom”.
41. Bad actor’s philosophy? : I THINK THEREFORE I HAM
From, “I think therefore I am”.
The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement, in Latin, “Cogito ergo sum” … “I think, therefore I am”.
The word “ham”, describing a performer who overacts, is apparently a shortened form of “hamfatter” and dates back to the late 1800s. “Hamfatter” comes from a song in old minstrel shows called “The Ham-Fat Man”. It seems that a poorly performing actor was being compared to the “acting” qualities of a minstrel done up in black-face.
47. “___ doubt but they were fain o’ ither”: Burns : NAE
The line, “Nae doubt but they were fain o’ ither,” is from the poem by Robert Burns “The Twa Dogs … A Tale”. The line translates into standard English as “No doubt but they were glad of each other”.
“The Twa Dogs” by Robert Burns is famous as the source of the pairing “a gentleman and a scholar”. He describes one of the two dogs in the poem thus:
“His locked, letter’d, braw brass collar
Shew’d him the gentleman and scholar.”
48. Org. with the motto “For the benefit of all” : NASA
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite towards the end of 1957, a development that shocked the establishment in the US. Within months, President Eisenhower had made his moves, creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA, now DARPA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
49. Fair-hiring inits. : EOE
An Equal Opportunity Employer.
A “dynast” is someone who rules by virtue of heredity.
Did you know that the official leader of North Korea is actually dead? Kim Jong-il is of course fulfilling the responsibilities of the country’s leader, but his father Kim Il-sung (d. 1994) is designated in the North Korean constitution as “Eternal President”.
53. James or Jackie of Hollywood : GLEASON
James Gleason was an actor, screenwriter and playwright. His most notable screenplay (co-written with Norman Houston) was “The Broadway Melody”, the 1929 film that won the second Best Picture Oscar ever awarded. His is a familiar face on screen as well in supporting roles. Gleason was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor for playing the boxing manager in 1941’s “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”.
56. Carrier with a frequent flier program called EuroBonus : SAS
SAS, formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System, is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Drea de Matteo is an actress that is most familiar to me for playing Adriana la Cerva on HBO’s wonderful series “The Sopranos”. She also played Joey’s sister on the short-lived “Friends” spin-off “Joey”, and the character Angie Bolen on “Desperate Housewives”.
63. Concerns of middle-aged guys in lower Louisiana? : DELTA HAIRLINES
From: Delta Airlines.
Today, Delta is the world’s largest airline (after merging with Northwest Airlines in 2008). Delta’s roots go back to 1924, before it started carrying passengers and was called Huff Duland Dusters, a crop dusting company based in Macon, Georgia. The name Delta Air Service was introduced in 1928.
71. Org. for electing candidates : PAC
A Political Action Committee (PAC) is a private group that works to influence the outcome of a particular election or group of elections. Any group becomes a PAC by law when it receives or spends more than $1,000 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of an election.
From “seven year itch”.
“The Seven Year Itch” is a 1955 movie by Billy Wilder, based on a stage play of the same name by George Axelrod. It stars Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell (as the guy with “the itch”). Perhaps the most famous scene in the film is where Monroe stands over a subway grate allowing the updraft to billow up the skirt of her white dress above her knees. It was meant to cool her down, but I think it had the opposite effect of some in the audience! The phrase “seven year itch” had been used by psychologists to describe declining interest in a staying monogamous after seven years of marriage.
76. Cpl.’s inferior : PVT
A private is inferior in rank to a corporal.
77. Presidential straw poll city : AMES
The city of Ames Iowa is famous for holding the Ames Straw Poll in advance of most presidential elections. The poll in question is used to gauge the level of support for two or more Republican candidates, although non-Republicans are allowed to cast a vote. To vote one has to be an Iowa resident and one must buy a ticket to the fundraising dinner at which the vote is taken. The event gets a lot of coverage, so boosts the local economy as journalists hit the town. It is a very successful fundraiser for the Republican Party in Iowa as well, but the usefulness of the straw poll in predicting the eventual winner of the nomination is less clear. There have been five straw polls since 1979, and just 2 out of 5 times the poll winner went on to capture the party’s nomination.
78. Bauxite, e.g. : ORE
Bauxite is an aluminum ore. It takes its name from the absolutely beautiful village of Les Baux in southern France, the home of the geologist who first recognized that the mineral was a useful source of the metal.
80. Club Meds, e.g. : RESORTS
Club Mediterranee is usually known as Club Med. It is a French company that started in 1950 with a resort on the Spanish island of Mallorca in the Mediterranean. It was originally a “club” with annual membership dues. Now it is an operator of numerous all-inclusive resorts located all over the world.
84. Way in : PORTAL
The Latin word for “gate” is “porta”, giving us words like “portal” and “port”.
89. R.E.M.’s “The ___ Love” : ONE I
The band’s name, R.E.M., has nothing to do with Rapid Eye Movement (the stage of sleep when one dreams) as is widely assumed. Apparently is means absolutely nothing.
91. Chit : IOU
A chit is a note or a short letter, and tends to be used these days in the sense of an amount owed (as in a poker game). The word used to be “chitty”, a term now obsolete, but closer to the original Hindi term. I feel a tad obsolete myself, because when we are at school we would be excused class if we had a “chitty”.
92. Put the dentures aside while gardening? : SET ONE’S TEETH ON HEDGE
From “set one’s teeth on edge”.
98. ___ Park, Queens : REGO
Rego Park in Queens was farmland up to the early 1900s. Then along came the a developer called the Real Good Construction Company, and building started. Rego Park takes its name from “Real Good”. Creative …
100. Eye parts : UVEAS
The uvea is the middle of the three layers that make up the eyeball.
On “The Simpsons” the character of Disco Stu is voiced by Hank Azaria, although it was voiced for a while by Phil Hartman. Disco Stu is described as “a black, wrinkly John Travolta”.
Lou Reed is best known as a rock musician and songwriter, especially for his fabulous 1973 hit “Walk on the Wildside”. Reed is less well known as a photographer, but he has published two collections of his work. The first was released in 2003 under the title “Emotions in Action”, and the second in 2006 called “Lou Reed’s New York”.
105. Shiites or Sunnis : SECT
The largest denomination in the Muslim faith is Sunni Islam, with the second being Shia Islam.
106. View from Catania : ETNA
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.
Catania is the second largest city on the island of Sicily (after Palermo). It has a long and rich cultural history, and today is best known as a center for technology industries earning it the nickname of the “European Silicon Valley”.
108. Starboard food fish? : HERRING ON THE RIGHT SIDE
From: “Erring on the right side”.
117. Away from the storm : ALEE
The direction “alee” is the direction away from the wind. If a sailor points into the wind, he is pointing “aweather”.
The term “beatnik” was first coined by journalist Herb Caen in 1958 when he used it to describe the stereotypical young person of the “beat generation”, oft associated with the writer Jack Kerouac. That stereotypical beatnik would be playing the bongos, rolling his or her own cigarettes, and the males sporting goatees and wearing berets.
119. Kind of theater : IMAX
The IMAX Corporation, which is behind the IMAX film format, is a Canadian company. The impetus for developing the system came after Expo ’67 in Montreal. Back then large format screenings were accomplished using multiple projectors with multiple screens, with images basically stitched together. The team behind the IMAX technology set out to simplify things and developed a single-camera, single-projector system.
122. Maine college : BATES
Bates College in Lewiston, Maine was founded back in 1855, and was coeducational from the day it first offered classes, making it one of the oldest coeducational schools in the country.
“Tess of the Storm Country” is a novel written by Grace White, and it has a very interesting history on the big screen. It was made into a silent movie in 1914 starring Mary Pickford, directed by Edwin S. Porter. Pickford then played the same role again in a remake directed by John S. Robertson in 1922. A sound version was made in 1932 starring Janet Gaynor, and the most recent screen adaption was released in 1960 starring Diane Baker.
![Tess of the Storm Country [VHS]](https://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=6305445060&tag=wesneyoticrso-20)
127. Vetoes : NOES
The word “veto” comes directly from Latin, and means “I forbid”. The word was used by tribunes of Ancient Rome to indicate that they opposed measures passed by the Senate.
Down
Niels Bohr was a Danish physicist, who won his 1922 Nobel Prize for his work on quantum mechanics and atomic structure. Later in his life, he was part of the team working on the Manhattan Project, developing the first atomic bomb.
2. “Dies ___” : IRAE
Dies Irae is Latin for “Day of Wrath”. It is the name of a famous melody in Gregorian Chant, and is often used as part of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass.
3. Content of la mar : AGUA
In Spanish, the sea (la mar) is full of water (agua).
4. Course outlines : SYLLABI
“Syllabus” is the Latin word for “list”.
5. Out of one’s mind, in a way, with “up” : COKED
A little too much cocaine (or perhaps too much fizzy soda!).
6. Vacuous : INANE
“Vacuous” and “inane” both mean “silly, empty-headed”. “Vacuous” comes from the Latin word “vacuus” meaning “empty”.
8. “Were I the Moor, I would not be ___” : IAGO
Iago is the schemer in Shakespeare’s “Othello”. Iago is a soldier who fought alongside Othello, and feels hard done by, missing out on promotion. His rival 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.
9. Loud ringing : CLANGOR
Our word “clangor” means “a loud ringing or clanging”, and comes from the Latin word “clangor” which is used for “the sound of trumpets or birds”.
11. Athol Fugard’s “A Lesson From ___” : ALOES
“A Lesson from Aloes” is a 1978 play by Athol Fugard.
Athol Fugard was born in South Africa. he became involved in the theater, writing plays that opposed apartheid, many of which had to be produced outside of South Africa given the political climate. He now lives in San Diego.
12. 1930s film pooch : ASTA
Asta was the wonderful little dog in the superb movie “The Thin Man” starring William Powell and Myrna Loy. In the original story by Dashiell Hammett, Asta was a female Schnauzer, but on screen Asta was played by a wire-haired fox terrier called “Skippy”. Skippy was also the dog in “Bringing up Baby” with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn, the one who kept stealing the dinosaur bone. Skippy retired in 1939, so Asta was played by other dogs in the remainder of “The Thin Man” series of films.
13. Portuguese-speaking island off the African coast : SAO TOME
São Tomé is one of two islands off the West coast of Africa that make up the nation of São Tomé and Príncipe.
16. Honolulu’s ___ Stadium : ALOHA
Aloha Stadium is located in the Honolulu and is home to the University of Hawai’is Warriors football team. It is a multi-use facility, used for anything from high school football games to Bowl tournaments.
27. Bearing : MIEN
One’s mien is one’s bearing or manner. Mien shares the same etymological root as our word “demeanor”.
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author. He is often referred to as the father of English literature because he established vernacular English as a legitimate language for artistic works, as up to that point authors used French or Latin. Chaucer’s most famous work is actually unfinished, a collection of stories called “The Canterbury Tales”, all written at the end of the 14th century.
Actor Dennis Quaid is the younger brother of fellow actor Randy Quaid. Dennis dropped out of college when he saw how successful his brother was, and moved to LA to pursue his own career in acting. He has had some noted performances, including a portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in 1989’s “Great Balls of Fire”. And, he is one of Hollywood’s best golfers, playing off scratch.
35. List ender : ET AL.
Et alii is the equivalent of et cetera, with et cetera being used in place of a list of objects, and et alii used for a list of names.
36. “Get ___ hence”: I Kings 17:3 : THEE
“Hence” is a lovely word I think, commonly meaning “therefore” but also more infrequently “from this place”. So “get thee hence” is just a delightful way of saying “get out of here!”
46. Seine tributary : MARNE
The River Marne runs roughly northwestward for over 300 miles, running into the River Seine just outside Paris. The Marne was the site of two major battles in WWI, one fought in 1914, and one in 1918.
Nostradamus is the Latin name given to the French apothecary and purported seer Michel de Nostredame. His book “The Prophecies” is a famous source for predictions of world events. It is so popular that “The Prophesies” has rarely been out of print since it first appeared in 1555!
![Biography - Nostradamus: Prophet of Doom [VHS]](https://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0767000048&tag=wesneyoticrso-20)
52. Soviet news group : TASS
TASS is the abbreviation used for the former news agency, the Telegraph Association of the Soviet Union (Telegrafnoye Agentstvo Sovetskovo Soyuza). When the Soviet Union dissolved in 1992, the Moscow-based agency’s scope changed, along with its name. It is now known as the Information Telegraph Agency of Russia (ITAR-TASS).
55. A Lennon : SEAN
“Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy)” is a John Lennon song, which was released on the 1980 album “Double Fantasy”, produced with Yoko Ono, the last album released before Lennon was murdered. The “beautiful boy” in the song is Sean, the only child that Lennon and Ono had together. The song contains the famous line “Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans”.
57. Xanadu river : ALPH
“Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge is my wife’s favorite poem. Coleridge wrote the masterpiece one night in 1797, after a vivid dream heavily influenced by opium.
Molière was the stage name of French actor and playwright Jean-Baptiste Poquelin. It is amazing how well the comedies of Molière, written in the 1600s, entertain us on stage today. Among his best known plays are “The Misanthrope”, “The School for Wives and “Tartuffe or the Hypocrite”.
66. Huggies competitor : LUVS
Here’s another word that I had to learn when I moved to America … diaper. What are called “diapers” over here, we call “nappies” back in Ireland. The term “diaper” is actually the original term that was used in England for the garment, where “diaper” referred to the cloth that was used. The term diaper was brought to the New World where it stuck. Back in Britain, diaper was displaced by the word “nappy”, a diminutive of “napkin”.
Well, I am not going to go into the rules of cricket here (hurrah! says you), but I will tell you that each match (game) is divided into “overs”. One over is a collection of six balls (pitches) bowled by the bowler (pitcher). After each over, the bowler is changed and the next bowler bowls in the opposite direction to the opposite set of stumps and whichever of the two batsmen (batter) is standing there. Get it?
70. MGM symbol : LEO
There has be a lion in the logo of the MGM studio and its predecessors, dating back to 1924. The original lion was an Irishman (!), a lion name Slats who was born in Dublin Zoo in 1919. However, it wasn’t until lion Jackie took over from Slats, in 1928, that the roar was heard, as the era of silent movies was coming to an end. The current lion is called Leo, and he has been around since 1957.
74. Bordeaux, e.g. : REDS
Bordeaux is perhaps the wine producing capital of the world. Wine has been produced in the area since the eighth century. Bordeaux has an administrative history too. During WWII, the French government relocated from Paris to the port city of Bordeaux when it became clear that Paris was soon to fall to the Germans. Soon after the capital was famously moved to Vichy while the country was under German rule.
Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill, and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous “error” in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals is “IV” as perhaps one might expect. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”.
80. Old touring car : REO
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom E. Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975, in Lansing, Michigan.
In Ancient Rome the classical attire known as a toga was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made of linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made of wool. The toga could only be worn by men (the female equivalent was called a “stola”) and only if they were Roman citizens.
85. Artist’s workplace : ATELIER
An atelier is an artist’s studio, as “atelier” is the French word for “studio” or “workshop”.
88. Roman square : ST PETER’S
St. Peter’s Piazza (“square”) sits at the entrance to the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. The basilica was built during the late Renaissance and has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, capable of holding 60,000 people. There is a popular misconception that St. Peter’s is the cathedral of Rome, but actually it isn’t, but is a papal basilica. The Basilica of St. John Lateran is the cathedral church of Rome.
90. Org. with a 2004-05 lockout : NHL
The entire 2004-05 National Hockey season was cancelled due a a labor dispute between owners and players. This marked the first season the Stanley Cup was not awarded since 1919. Much of the 1994-95 season was lost as well due to a similar lockout.
93. Chewy treats : NOUGATS
“Nougat” is an Occitan word (Occitania being a region of Southern Europe) which translates as “nut bread”.
95. 1976 rescue site : ENTEBBE
In June 1976 an Air France plane was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists and flown to Entebbe, the capital city of Uganda in Africa (this was during the days that Idi Amin was in control of Uganda). One week after the hijacking, Israeli Defense Forces conducted a rescue mission that was largely successful. One of the 100 Israeli commandos was killed, and 103 hostages were rescued. All the hijackers were killed, and three hostages died in the raid. 45 Ugandan soldiers also were killed and 11 Ugandan MiG fighter planes were destroyed. There was a fourth hostage in a Ugandan hospital who was killed by Ugandan army officers as an act of reprisal. The Israeli commando who died was the leader of the mission, Jonathan Netanyahu, the older brother of the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
101. Give a raw deal : SHAFT
“Shaft” is a pretty vulgar slang that dates back to the fifties. It has overtones of sodomy.
102. Third planet from le soleil : TERRE
In French, the third planet from le soleil (the sun) is la Terre (the Earth).
Sam Snead was probably the most successful golfer never to win a US Open title, as he won a record 82 PGA Tour events. He did win seven majors, but never the US Open. He was also quite the showman. He once hit the scoreboard at Wrigley Field stadium with a golf ball, by teeing off from home plate.
109. Streets of Québec : RUES
“Rue” is the French word for “road”.
110. Fleischmann’s product : OLEO
Emperor Louis Napoleon III of France announced a competition to develop a substitute for butter, something that would be more accessible to the lower classes and more practical for the armed forces. A French chemist called Hippolyte Mege-Mouries came up with something he called oleomargarine in 1869, which was eventually manufactured under the trade name “margarine”.
113. Letters of faux modesty : IMHO
In My Humble Opinion.
I watched the 2006 movie “The Queen” again not too long ago. What a great film it is
