Quicklinks:
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: IF A CLUE IS MISSING, USE THE NEXT ONE … the missing clues are “repeats” of the clue that follows, for example:
– 1A & 6A: Does yard work: RAKES & MOWS
– 15A & 16A: Summer cooler … ICEE & POOL
– 17A & 18A: Held up … BORNE & LATE
COMPLETION TIME: 21m 19s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. — (Does yard work): RAKES
6. Does yard work : MOWS
The Aar (also called the Aare in German) is the longest river entirely in Switzerland. A famous spot along the river is the Reichenbach Falls in the center of the country, actually a series of waterfalls near the city of Meiringen. The falls are celebrated in the world of literature as it was here that Sherlock Holmes fell to his supposed doom with his nemesis Professor Moriarty (in “The Adventure of the Final Problem”).
14. Deuce follower : AD OUT
In tennis, if the score reaches “deuce” (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the “advantage”. It the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. If the one of the players is calling out the score then if he/she has the advantage the announcement is “ad in” or more formally “advantage in”. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all that …?
15. — (Summer cooler): ICEE
Icee is the brand name of one of those slushy drinks. Ugh …
16. Summer cooler : POOL
17. — (Held up): BORNE
18. Held up : LATE
Enos Slaughter has a remarkable playing record in Major League Baseball, over a 19-year career. His record is particularly remarkable given that he left baseball for three years to serve in the military during WWII.
Being a bit of a French speaker, the term “bleu” cheese has always kind of irritated me. I would prefer that we use either “blue cheese” or “fromage bleu” and not mix the languages, but then I can be annoyingly picky! It’s said that blue cheese was probably discovered accidentally, as molds tend to develop in the same conditions that are best for storing cheese. The blue mold in the cheese is introduced by adding Penicillium spores before the cheese is allowed to set. And yes, it’s the same mold that is used to produce penicillin, the antibiotic.
21. Food orders sometimes prepared in toaster ovens : BLTS
The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain ham sandwich.
22. Excellence as a virtue, to ancient Greeks : ARETE
“Arete” is a word used by the Ancient Greeks to describe something’s excellence. It can apply to anything, perhaps the excellence or arete of a cabbage, or the excellence or arete of a person. It has the same root as the Greek word “aristos” meaning best, from which we get our word “aristocrat”, for example.
23. Advice for solving this puzzle, part 1 : IF A CLUE
(38. Advice, part 2 : IS MISSING, USE THE)
(49. End of the advice : NEXT ONE)
25. Kaput : PFFT
“Pfft” is an interjection used to describe something which has suddenly disappeared, gone “kaput”.
Kaput comes to us from French (via German). “Capot” means “not having won a single trick” in the French card game called Piquet.
The 1950 hit “Just Say I Love Her” (or sometimes “… love him”) is an English adaptation of an old song from Naples, Italy. It was recorded in English first by Johnny Desmond, and then by others including most famously Vic Damone.
32. There is a “super” one every four yrs. : TUE
Super Tuesday happens in February or March of a presidential election year. It is that Tuesday in which the greatest number of states hold primaries that will select delegates to be dispatched to the national conventions. Super Tuesday has become more significant over the past couple of decades as more and more states hold their primaries early in the cycle in order to increase the importance of the votes from the state.
Ron Insana is a TV commentator, reporter and host in the world of financial news programs. He made a name for himself during the days of the Bush administration as he pulled off two exclusive interviews with President George W. Bush in which they discussed the economy.
38. Advice, part 2 : IS MISSING, USE THE
41. — (Set right): EDIT
42. Set right : INDENT
44. 1980s hairstyle with a long strand in the back : RAT’S TAIL
Not for me …
Ty Cobb was one of the richest baseball players of all times. When he retired he was a major stockholder of the Coca-Cola Corporation, and when he passed away in 1961 he had an even bigger investment in General Electric. He left an estate worth about $86m in 2008 dollars.
49. End of the advice : NEXT ONE
53. — (Go quickly): SCOOT
56. Go quickly : TEAR
Sir Anthony Eden served as Britain’s Foreign Secretary during WWII, and then as Prime Minister from 1955-57. I think it’s fair to say that he doesn’t have a great reputation as a statesman. He was proud of his stance in favor of peace over war, so his critics characterized him as an appeaser. His major stumble on the world stage occurred with the Suez Crisis in 1956. Egypt’s President Nasser unilaterally nationalized the Suez Canal causing war to be declared on Egypt by Britain, France and Israel. Within a few months political pressure from the US and the USSR caused the allies to withdraw, bolstering Egypt’s national reputation. Eden never recovered from the loss of face at home, and it is felt that the stress even affected his health. Eden resigned in January 1957.
59. — (Scraps): ROWS
60. Scraps : ORTS
Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. The word comes from Middle English, where it was used to describe scraps of food left by animals.
62. — (Fancy): IDEA
63. Fancy : WANT
65. — (Dispatch): SEND
66. Dispatch : SLAY
67. Perfume ingredient : ESTER
Esters are very common chemicals. The smaller, low-molecular weight esters are usually pleasant smelling and are often found in perfumes. At the other end of the scale, the higher-molecular weight nitroglycerin is a nitrate ester and is very explosive, and polyester is a huge molecule, a type of plastic.
Down
The names Adolf (in Germany) and Adolphe (in France) are dying out, with very few babies being given the name since the days of Nazi Germany.
4. Harem guard, typically : EUNUCH
The word “eunuch” comes from the Greek words “eune” meaning “bed” and “ekhein” meaning “to keep”, so literally a eunuch is a bed-keeper. Indeed, in many early cultures a eunuch was a slave, castrated at an early age to render him “safe”, who was then given lowly domestic tasks such as making the master’s bed, bathing him etc.
5. Marie or Jeanne: Abbr. : STE
“Sainte” is the French word for a female saint, abbreviated to “Ste.”
6. Minnesota lake ___ Lacs : MILLE
Mille Lacs Lake is north of Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota, the second largest inland lake in the state. “Mille Lacs” translates from French to English as “Thousand Lakes”.
7. One ___ (baseball variant) : O’CAT
One o’cat, or more properly “one old cat”, is an abbreviated form of baseball with a home plate and just one base.
10. — (Crack): APERTURE
11. Crack : A-ONE
A tam o’shanter is a man’s cap worn by Scotsmen. They were originally all blue (and called “blue bonnets”) but as dyes became more available, they became quite colorful. The name tam o’shanter comes from the title character of Robert Burns poem “Tam O’Shanter”.
The legendary quarterback Joe Namath played most of professional football games with the New York Jets. Namath played college football with the University of Alabama but left school without finishing his degree, to play professionally. Many years later he enrolled in Alabama’s External Degree program, and graduated with a BA in December 2007, at 64 years of age. Well done, Joe!
28. C.F.O.’s concern : P AND L
The Chief Financial Officer is particularly concerned about profit and loss.
33. “Choice” agcy. : USDA
The US Department of Agriculture dates back to 1862, when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Notably, Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department”, reflecting the agrarian basis of our economy back then.
36. Left-handed : SINISTRAL
Someone or something described as “sinistral” is left-handed. Someone right-handed is “dextral”.
40. Frightful river to cross : STYX
The River Styx in Greek mythology was the river that formed the boundary between Earth and the Underworld (also called Hades). The souls of the newly dead had to cross the River Styx in a ferryboat piloted by Charon. Traditionally, a coin would be placed in the mouths of the dead “to pay the ferryman”.
King Tut is a name commonly used for the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen. Tutankhamen may not have been the most significant of the pharaohs historically, but he is the most famous today largely because of the discovery of his nearly intact tomb in 1922. Prior to this find, any Egyptian tombs uncovered by archaeologists had been ravaged by grave robbers. Tutankhamen’s magnificent burial mask is one of the most recognizable of all Egyptian artifacts.
47. — (Rank): STATUS
49. Rank : NASTY
53. Eastern holy men’s titles : SRIS
Sri is a title of respect for a male in India.
“Shanghai Noon” is a comedy released in 2000, a melding of the movie genres western, kung-fu and comedy. The stars are Owen Wilson and Jackie Chan. The title is of course a pun on the classic western film “High Noon”.
57. Volcano whose eruption was described by Virgil : 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. The Roman poet Virgil described an eruption of Mt. Etna in his epic poem the “Aeneid”.
Manfred von Richthofen was a famous WWI fighter pilot flying for the Germans, known as the Red Baron. He was credited with more kills than any other pilot fighting on either side of the conflict, recording over 80 combat victories. He didn’t survive the war though, as he was shot down near Amiens in France in 1918.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. — : RAKES
6. Does yard work : MOWS
10. Longest river entirely in Switzerland : AARE
14. Deuce follower : AD OUT
15. — : ICEE
16. Summer cooler : POOL
17. — : BORNE
18. Held up : LATE
19. Slaughter who dashed home to win the 1946 World Series : ENOS
20. Kind of cheese : BLEU
21. Food orders sometimes prepared in toaster ovens : BLTS
22. Excellence as a virtue, to ancient Greeks : ARETE
23. Advice for solving this puzzle, part 1 : IF A CLUE
25. Kaput : PFFT
27. “Just Say I Love ___” (hit of 1950) : HER
28. Fouls : POLLUTES
32. There is a “super” one every four yrs. : TUE
35. Business TV newsman Ron : INSANA
37. Roll’s partner : ROCK
38. Advice, part 2 : IS MISSING, USE THE
41. — : EDIT
42. Set right : INDENT
43. Broadcast : SOW
44. 1980s hairstyle with a long strand in the back : RAT’S TAIL
46. Baseball’s Cobb and others : TYS
48. Goes for the bronze? : SUNS
49. End of the advice : NEXT ONE
53. — : SCOOT
56. Go quickly : TEAR
58. Earl of ___ (Sir Anthony Eden) : AVON
59. — : ROWS
60. Scraps : ORTS
61. Failed spectacularly : ATE IT
62. — : IDEA
63. Fancy : WANT
64. “#@&%!,” e.g. : CURSE
65. — : SEND
66. Dispatch : SLAY
67. Perfume ingredient : ESTER
Down
1. Official traditionally seen in a black hat : RABBI
2. First name in W.W. II infamy : ADOLF
3. Service site for some veterans : KOREA
4. Harem guard, typically : EUNUCH
5. Marie or Jeanne: Abbr. : STE
6. Minnesota lake ___ Lacs : MILLE
7. One ___ (baseball variant) : O’CAT
8. Dish-washing aid : WET SPONGE
9. Call … or call on : SEE
10. — : APERTURE
11. Crack : A-ONE
12. Source : ROOT
13. In addition : ELSE
21. Like the poem “Tam o’ Shanter” : BURNSIAN
22. Org. for Joe Namath : AFL
24. Hawaiian handouts : LEIS
26. Exhibitionist : FLAUNTER
28. C.F.O.’s concern : P AND L
29. Bambini : TOTS
30. Return to sender? : ECHO
31. Twist : SKEW
32. Cake part : TIER
33. “Choice” agcy. : USDA
34. Discharge : EMIT
36. Left-handed : SINISTRAL
39. “A pity” : IT’S SO SAD
40. Frightful river to cross : STYX
45. King who gained international prominence in 1922 : TUT
47. — : STATUS
49. Rank : NASTY
50. Unmistakable : OVERT
51. Static : NOISE
52. Break in, say : ENTER
53. Eastern holy men’s titles : SRIS
54. Do programming work : CODE
55. Wilson of “Shanghai Noon” : OWEN
57. Volcano whose eruption was described by Virgil : ETNA
60. Band-Aid removal comments : OWS
61. Von Richthofen, for one : ACE