0410-11: New York Times Crossword Answers 10 Apr 11, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
20. Haitian ___ : CREOLE
Creole is the term used in Haiti to describe all of the native people, as well as the music, food and culture of the country. 80% of the Haitian Creole people are so called black creoles, descendants of the original Africans brought to the island as slaves during the French colonial days.

21. Haiti’s first democratically elected president : ARISTIDE
John-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian native. When he was 29 years old he entered the priesthood, after having studied in Italy, Greece and Israel. He served as a priest in Haiti under the brutal regimes of François “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”. Aristide became an outspoken critic of the dictators, and many times incurred their wrath. While still a priest, he was elected to the office of president, in the country’s first democratic election. Aristide was also an outspoken critic of the church, and in 1994 left the priesthood, getting married 12 months later.

22. Iconoclast : REBEL
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of society’s icons, either religious or cultural. The term applies more to a rebellious action from within a society, as opposed to an act by external forces invading another culture. As such, the term “iconoclast” has come to have a broader meaning, describing anyone who stands up against established convention.

26. Operagoer’s accessory : LORGNETTE
A lorgnette is a pair of spectacles attached to a handle on one side. They were worn more for show than they were for improving the eyesight, and were often used as a fashion accessory at the opera. They were a precursor to the more contemporary opera glasses.

28. Longfellow’s words before “O Ship of State!” : SAIL ON

Thou, too, sail on, O Ship of State!
Sail on, O Union, strong and great!
Humanity with all its fears,
With all the hopes of future years,
Is hanging breathless on thy fate!

29. Singer Sumac : YMA
Yma Sumac was a Peruvian soprano, with a notable vocal range of five octaves.

34. Mrs. Robert ___ (Mary Custis) : E LEE
Mary Anna Custis was a popular young lady, and at one time was courted by Sam Houston, who was to play such a large role in the history of Texas. But instead, Mary Anna opted to marry her second cousin and childhood friend, Robert E. Lee.

37. Chacon of the 1960s Mets : ELIO
Elio Chacon was a baseball player from Venezuela, the seventh person to play in the Majors from that country. There’s a story that Mets center fielder Richie Ashburn was always running into Elio Chacon in the outfield, because he would call for the ball in English, and Chacon only understood Spanish. Ashburn started to call for the ball in Spanish “Yo la tengo!” (I’ve got it!), at which point he kept getting run down by left fielder Frank Thomas who only understood English …

53. Wind in front of a stage : OBOE
The oboe is perhaps my favorite of the reed instruments. The name “oboe” comes from the French “hautbois” which means “high wood”. When you hear an orchestra tuning before a performance, you’ll note (pun intended!) the oboe starts off the process by playing an “A”. The rest of the musicians in turn tune to that oboe’s “A”. Oh, and if you want to read a fun book (almost an “exposé”) about life playing the oboe, I recommend “Mozart in the Jungle” by oboist Blair Tindall.

56. Crested ___, Colo. : BUTTE
Crested Butte is both a town and a mountain peak in Colorado.

58. Chairlift alternative : GONDOLA
The word “gondola” was originally limited to the famous boats that travel around the canals of Venice. When man started to fly though the air in hot air balloons, gondola was used for the basket in which the passenger(s) traveled. By extension, the structure carrying passengers and crew under an airship is also called a gondola, as are the cars suspended from a cable at a ski resort.

67. Inuit relatives : ALEUTS
The Aleuts live on the Aleutian Islands of the North Pacific, and on the Commander Islands at the western end of the same island chain. The Aleutian Islands are part of the United States, and the Commander Islands are in Russia.

70. Italian sportswear name : ELLESSE
Ellesse is a manufacturer of sportswear in Italy. The company was founded in 1959 by Leonardo Servadio, and the name “Ellesse” comes from the initials of his name, “L.S”.

75. Burial site of early Scottish kings : IONA
Although the small island of Iona lies just off the west coast of Scotland, it was the site of a monastery built in the Middle Ages by a monk from Ireland, Colm Cille (also known as Columba). Colm Cille and his followers were sent into exile from the Irish mainland, and settled in Iona, as at that time it was part of an Irish kingdom. This monastery in Iona expanded its influence over the decades, founding other institutions all over Ireland and Great Britain. It is believed that the famous Book of Kells, now housed in Trinity College, Dublin, may have been written, or at least started, at the monastery.

78. Pipe material, for short : PVC
PVC is polyvinyl chloride, the third most widely produced plastic in the world (after polyethylene and polypropylene). PVC is resistant to corrosion from biological and chemical agents making it a favored choice these days for sewage lines, replacing the traditional metal materials. It is so chemically stable, that it will be around a long, long time …

87. Extremely, in 1970s slang : MONDO
The slang term “mondo” means extremely, and was a word much in use in the seventies. “Mondo” is Italian for world, and its slang usage derived from the 1961 cult movie called “Mondo cane”, or in English “A Dog’s World”.

88. Joyce’s land : ERIN
Regular readers will know that I am unashamedly supportive of my native Irish culture, but I have to tell you that I can’t handle the works of James Joyce, although I have spent many a fine day traipsing around Ireland learning about his life. To me, his life is more absorbing than his writing. Having said that, “Ulysses” is an interesting novel in that it chronicles just one, ordinary day in the life of a Dubliner, Leopold Bloom. There’s a huge celebration of “Ulysses” in Dublin every year on June 16th, called Bloomsday. The festivities vary from readings and performances of the storyline, to good old pub crawls.

102. Steven who co-wrote “Freakonomics” : LEVITT
“Freakonomics” is a 2005 book written by the economist Steven Levitt and the New York Times journalist Stephen J. Dubner. The book is a series of articles by Levitt in which he applies the theories of economics to subject areas usually left alone by the mainstream economist. For example, one article is about the economics of drug dealing, and another is about uncovering cheating among sumo wrestlers. It’s a best seller …

103. New Guinea port : LAE
Lae is the second largest city in Papua New-Guinea (after the capital, Port Moresby). It was from the airport at Lae that Amelia Earhart departed in 1937, never to be seen again.

113. Dammed river in North Carolina : PEE DEE
The Pee Dee River takes its name from the Pee Dee tribe of Native Americans from the southeast of the United States.

114. Maurice of Nixon’s cabinet : STANS
Maurice Stans was Secretary of Commerce in the Nixon administration. He resigned from the cabinet to head up the finance committee of Richard Nixon’s reelection campaign. Famously, money raised by this committee was used to finance the Watergate crimes.

115. Region conquered by Philip II of Macedon : THESSALY
The region of Greece known as Thessaly used to be called Aeolia, and appears in Homer’s “Odyssey” under that name.

Down
1. “Back to the Future” family name : MCFLY
Michael J. Fox was the first choice to play the lead character, Marty McFly, in 1985’s “Back to the Future”. Unfortunately, the producers of his TV sitcom “Family Ties” would not release him to make the movie, so the crew started filming with a different choice for the lead, actor Eric Stoltz. Weeks into production, it was decided that Stoltz was miscast, and Fox was approached again. Eventually an arrangement was made with the “Family Ties” producers to “share” Fox, which led to an exhausting schedule. Fox worked seven days a week, filming “Family Ties” during the day and working on “Back to the Future” at night, usually till 2:30 in the morning.

3. California missions founder Junípero ___ : SERRA
Junípero Serra was a Spanish missionary, a founder of several missions out here in California. Among those associated with Serra is the Mission in Carmel, where Serra’s remains are buried, and Mission San Juan Capistrano, the chapel of which is believed to be the oldest standing building in the state.

4. Scottish poet James known as “The Ettrick Shepherd” : HOGG
James Hogg was a Scottish poet and novelist. He was born on a farm near the village of Ettrick. He didn’t have much of an education, and lived his early life in poverty, tending sheep. Hence his nickname, “The Ettrick Shepherd”.

5. Southern university that shares its name with a biblical judge : ELON
Elon is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina, close to the city of Burlington. Elon University is a private, liberal arts school, founded in 1889.

7. Sled dog with a statue in New York’s Central Park : BALTO
In 1925 there was a serious outbreak of diphtheria in Nome, Alaska. A desperately-needed supply of diphtheria antitoxin had to be transported from Anchorage by train, and then by dog sled into Nome. The team of dogs that made that last dash to Nome was led by the Siberian Husky Balto. The dramatic sled run is commemorated even to this day by the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. And you can see a statue of Balto in New York’s Central Park, and Balto was even there for the unveiling of the monument in 1925.

8. Elizabeth in the cosmetics department : ARDEN
Elizabeth Arden was the business name used by Canadian-American Florence Nightingale Graham. She built a cosmetics empire that made her one of the wealthiest women in the world at the height of her success in the forties and fifties.

9. Abbr. following op. and loc. : CIT
Op. cit. is short for “opus citatum”, Latin for “the work cited”. Op. cit. is used in footnotes to refer the reader to an earlier citation. It is similar to “ibid”, except that ibid refers the reader the last citation, the one immediately above.

Loc. cit. is short for “loco citato” meaning “in the place cited”. Loc. cit. is used in a footnote instead of op. cit. as it refers not only to a prior work, but also the same page in that work.

10. The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf. : KSU
The athletic teams of Kansas State University (KSU) are called the Wildcats. The Wildcats official “colors” are just one, Royal Purple. There are very few college teams with just one official color. As well as KSU there is Syracuse (Orange) and Harvard (Crimson).

12. 2010 chart-topper for Ke$ha : TIK-TOK
Ke$ha (also just Kesha) is the stage name used by singer Kesha Rose Sebert.

14. Old Ottoman governor : BEY
Bey is a Turkish title for a chieftain. In the days of the Ottoman Empire the term “bey” was used for many different officials, but traditionally it referred to the leader of a small tribal group. Today “bey” is used very much like “mister”.

15. Rural setting, in poetry : ARCADIA
Arcadia was a mountainous region of Ancient Greece, well known for the innocence and contentment of its people who lived a simple, pastoral life. Arcadia has been used ever since as the name of a place offering peace and simplicity.

16. Green gemstone : PERIDOT
Olivine is relatively common mineral, but is rarely found with purity that is sufficient for use as a gemstone. When the olivine is pure enough to be used as a gem, it is called peridot. Peridot is always olive green in color, with its color intensity a function of how much iron is in the stone.

17. Place in a Carlo Levi memoir : EBOLI
Carlo Levi was an Italian-Jewish painter, writer and political activist. He was one of the founders of the anti-fascist movement called Giustizia e Libertà in 1929, and his activities with the group led to his exile to the impoverished south of Italy. He wrote his most famous book based on his experiences in exile, “Christ Stopped at Eboli”.

32. “Family Guy” creator MacFarlane : SETH
Seth McFarlane is best known for creating the very successful (although they don’t get my vote!) animated TV shows “Family Guy” and “American Dad”. My kids love ’em …

39. Mr. Burns’s teddy bear on “The Simpsons” : BOBO
In the TV show “The Simpsons”, Mr. Burns is one of the real “baddies” in the cast of characters. He owns the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant where Homer Simpson works.

41. Driver’s target : CUP
When you drive that golf ball, you’re trying to get as near to the cup as you can.

45. ___’acte : ENTR
The term entr’acte comes to us from French, and is the interval between two acts (“entre” deux “actes”) of a theatrical performance. It often describes some entertainment provided during that interval.

46. ___-deucy : ACEY
Acey-deucy is a fast-played variant of backgammon. Apparently the game has been a favorite with members of the armed forces since the days of WWI.

48. Tennis’s 1977 U.S. Open champ : VILAS
Guillermo Vilas is a retired tennis player from Argentina.

49. Salon, e.g., informally : EMAG
Salon.com is a popular online magazine, one of the first “ezines” ever published. “Salon” focuses on American politics and current affairs, but also has articles about books, music and films. The magazine was launched in 1995, and managed to survive many loss-making years. Most of “Salon’s” content is free, but it does make money by offering a premium service with extra content, and by selling ad space.

56. False deity : BA’AL
Ba’al can actually refer to any god, and sometimes even human officials as it can also be used as an honorific title. Ba’al can also be known as Hada, a god of the rain, thunder, agriculture and fertility.

59. Dinner 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 left by animals.

64. Bravura : ECLAT
Éclat can mean a brilliant show of success, or the applause or accolade that one receives. The word derives from the French “éclater” meaning “to splinter, burst out”.

66. City east of the Sierra Nevada : RENO
Reno, Nevada was named in honor of Major General Jesse Lee Reno, a Union officer killed in the Civil War. The city has a famous “Reno Arch”, a structure that stands over the main street, erected in 1926 to promote an exposition planned for the following year. The city council decided to keep the arch and held a competition to decide what wording should be displayed, and the winner was “The Biggest Little City in the World”.

72. “___ dignus” (Latin motto) : ESTO
The Latin phrase “esto dignis” means “be worthy” and is the motto of the Columbian Squires. This international youth fraternity is run by the Knights of Columbus and is open to Catholic boys from the ages 10 to 18. The Squires were formed in 1925, and now there’s a sister organization for young ladies, the Squire Roses.

76. Giant of old : OTT
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958, when he was only 49 years old.

81. Mateus ___ : ROSE
Mateus is a sparkling rosé wine from Portugal. It was very popular in North America and northern Europe from after WWII, when it was introduced, right up to the eighties. At one point Mateus alone accounted for more than 40% of the wine exported from Portugal.

82. Chant syllables : OMS
Om is a sacred, mystic word from the Hindu tradition. It is sometimes used as a mantra, a focus for the mind in meditation.

90. Bordeaux brothers : FRERES
“Frère” is the French word for “brother”.

91. La Môme ___ (The Little Sparrow) : PIAF
“La Môme Piaf” (the little sparrow) was the nickname of France’s most famous singer, Édith Piaf. What a voice this woman had, and what gorgeous ballads she sang. Edith Piaf lived a life that was not without controversy. She was raised by her mother in a brothel in Normandy, and had a pimp as a boyfriend in her teens. She had one child, while very young, born illegitimately and who died at 2-years-old from meningitis. Her singing career started when she was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by nightclub owner Louis Leplée. Leplée was murdered soon after, and Piaf was accused of being an accessory to the murder but was later acquitted. During World War II she was branded a traitor by many as she frequently performed for the German occupying forces, although there are other reports of her supporting the resistance movement. Later in her life she was seriously injured in no less than three, near-fatal car accidents, including one with her friend, Charles Aznavour. While recovering from her injuries she became addicted to pain medication, an addiction that lasted for the rest of her life. When she died in 1963 she was denied a Catholic funeral mass because of her lifestyle, but the crowds that turned out for her funeral procession managed to stop all traffic in Paris, the only time that has happened since the end of WWII.

95. Trump who wrote “The Best Is Yet to Come” : IVANA
Ivana Winklmayr was born in Czechoslovakia. She was an excellent skier, and was named as an alternate for the 1982 Czech Olympic Team. She was promoting the Montreal Olympics in New York in 1976 when she met Donald Trump. Their marriage was very public and well-covered by the media, but not nearly so well as their very litigious divorce in 1990.

97. Lensman Adams : ANSEL
As an amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. He was famous for the clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed for black & white film primarily, it can even apply to digital images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final image with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

99. Dexterity exercise : ETUDE
An étude is a small instrumental composition that is usually quite hard to play and is intended to help the performer master a particular technique. Étude is the French word for “study”.

109. Filing org. : IRS
The IRS came into being during the Civil War, to raise money to pay for war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, taxation was limited to levies on trade and property.

110. H : ETA
Eta is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, and is a forerunner of our Latin character “H”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Reduces to pulp : MASHES
7. Betray, in a way : BACKSTAB
15. They’re unoriginal : APERS
20. Haitian ___ : CREOLE
21. Haiti’s first democratically elected president : ARISTIDE
22. Iconoclast : REBEL
23. Skip Thanksgiving leftovers? : FORGO COLD TURKEY
25. Early spring bloomers : CROCI
26. Operagoer’s accessory : LORGNETTE
27. Broke bread : ATE
28. Longfellow’s words before “O Ship of State!” : SAIL ON
29. Singer Sumac : YMA
30. Say “No,” “Never” and “Uh-uh”? : DO ONE’S FORBIDDING
34. Mrs. Robert ___ (Mary Custis) : E LEE
36. Make a big stink : REEK
37. Chacon of the 1960s Mets : ELIO
38. Put up with : ABIDE
41. One may be original : CAST
43. Hopelessly lost : ALL AT SEA
47. Plea for immediate absolution? : FORGIVE US THIS DAY
52. Abbr. on a cover letter : ENC
53. Wind in front of a stage : OBOE
54. Kin of fairies : IMPS
55. Not : NARY
56. Crested ___, Colo. : BUTTE
58. Chairlift alternative : GONDOLA
60. Shake : ELUDE
62. Blot with a paper towel, maybe : PAT DRY
63. Like food that’s acceptable to cattle? : FORAGE APPROPRIATE
67. Inuit relatives : ALEUTS
69. Checked, say : CHOSE
70. Italian sportswear name : ELLESSE
73. They come with turndown service : MINTS
74. Soviet ___ : BLOC
75. Burial site of early Scottish kings : IONA
77. Rents : RIPS
78. Pipe material, for short : PVC
79. Memorable theatrical performance? : PLAY HARD TO FORGET
83. Shell, e.g. : SEED COAT
86. Warning from a driver : TOOT
87. Extremely, in 1970s slang : MONDO
88. Joyce’s land : ERIN
89. Bottom-line bigwigs, in brief : CFOS
91. Head-turning sound : PSST
93. Abstain happily? : GRIN AND FORBEAR IT
99. Fairy : ELF
102. Steven who co-wrote “Freakonomics” : LEVITT
103. New Guinea port : LAE
104. Life-threatening : NEAR FATAL
107. Blow away : AMAZE
108. Is well-endowed? : CARRIES A FORTUNE
111. One giving an order : DINER
112. Declared : ASSERTED
113. Dammed river in North Carolina : PEE DEE
114. Maurice of Nixon’s cabinet : STANS
115. Region conquered by Philip II of Macedon : THESSALY
116. Mounts : STEEDS

Down
1. “Back to the Future” family name : MCFLY
2. “Get ___!” : A ROOM
3. California missions founder Junípero ___ : SERRA
4. Scottish poet James known as “The Ettrick Shepherd” : HOGG
5. Southern university that shares its name with a biblical judge : ELON
6. Form a splinter group : SECEDE
7. Sled dog with a statue in New York’s Central Park : BALTO
8. Elizabeth in the cosmetics department : ARDEN
9. Abbr. following op. and loc. : CIT
10. The Wildcats of the Big 12 Conf. : KSU
11. Attack from the air : STRAFE
12. 2010 chart-topper for Ke$ha : TIK-TOK
13. Like ___ in the headlights : A DEER
14. Old Ottoman governor : BEY
15. Rural setting, in poetry : ARCADIA
16. Green gemstone : PERIDOT
17. Place in a Carlo Levi memoir : EBOLI
18. Scout’s mission : RECON
19. David’s weapon : SLING
24. Western tribe : OTOE
28. Preposterous : SILLY
31. Once, a long time ago : ERST
32. “Family Guy” creator MacFarlane : SETH
33. Ignore, imperatively : BELAY
34. Barely beat : EDGED OUT
35. Oahu offering : LEI
38. In ___ (confused) : A FOG
39. Mr. Burns’s teddy bear on “The Simpsons” : BOBO
40. Typical cemetery enclosure : IRON FENCE
41. Driver’s target : CUP
42. Balloonhead : ASS
43. Seller of space or time, for short : AD REP
44. Showy craft? : SET DESIGN
45. ___’acte : ENTR
46. ___-deucy : ACEY
48. Tennis’s 1977 U.S. Open champ : VILAS
49. Salon, e.g., informally : EMAG
50. Accustom : INURE
51. ___-masochism : SADO
56. False deity : BA’AL
57. Baloney and then some : UTTER ROT
59. Dinner scraps : ORTS
60. Memorable time : EPOCH
61. Vintage platters : LPS
62. Kebab go-with : PILAF
64. Bravura : ECLAT
65. Cry to a mate : AHOY
66. City east of the Sierra Nevada : RENO
67. Concert stack : AMPS
68. Unexploded : LIVE
71. Made haste : SPED
72. “___ dignus” (Latin motto) : ESTO
74. Sans pizazz : BLAND
75. Chapel line : I DO
76. Giant of old : OTT
79. Gist : POINT
80. Basic first step : A TO B
81. Mateus ___ : ROSE
82. Chant syllables : OMS
84. Bear vis-à-vis the woods, e.g. : DENIZEN
85. Fails miserably : CRATERS
89. Like a hair shirt : COARSE
90. Bordeaux brothers : FRERES
91. La Môme ___ (The Little Sparrow) : PIAF
92. Sharpening devices : STROPS
93. Sword lilies, for short : GLADS
94. Send, as a check : REMIT
95. Trump who wrote “The Best Is Yet to Come” : IVANA
96. Instant : FLASH
97. Lensman Adams : ANSEL
98. Good to go : READY
99. Dexterity exercise : ETUDE
100. Like an Interstate : LANED
101. Jumps bail, say : FLEES
105. Say “What to do? What to do?,” e.g. : FRET
106. To ___ (precisely) : A TEE
108. Siamese, e.g. : CAT
109. Filing org. : IRS
110. H : ETA

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