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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
Solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword in all other publications
CROSSWORD SETTER: Frederick J. Healy
THEME: None
COMPLETION TIME: 69m 20s!
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … TINO (TITO), ARACHNE (ARACHTE)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Lush performance setting? : KARAOKE BAR
Kara-te, means “open hand”, and the related word kara-oke, means “open orchestra”.
“Lush” is a slang term for a heavy drinker.
19. Walt Disney’s record collection : OSCARS
Walt Disney was awarded a record 26 Oscars in his lifetime, winning 22 and receiving 4 honorary awards. He also holds the record for the number of Oscars won in the same year, taking away a total of four in the 1954 awards ceremony.
21. Sticker of the past : SNEE
“Snick or snee” is the name given to cut and thrust while fighting with a knife. The phrase is rooted in a pair of Dutch words, and it gave its name to a “snee”, a light sword-like knife.
23. Transkei native : XHOSA
The Xhosa are Bantu speakers who live in South Africa. Perhaps the most famous Xhosa speaker is Nelson Mandela.
26. Classic film featuring Captain America : EASY RIDER
Captain America was the character played by Peter Fonda in “Easy Rider”.
The 1969 classic movie “Easy Rider” not only starred Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper in front of the screen, but Fonda was the film’s producer, and Hopper was the director.
28. Bank security feature : LEVEE
A levee is an artificial bank, usually made of earth running along the length of a river. It is designed to hold back the river water at a time of potential flooding. The word “levee” is the French word for “raised”, and is an American term that originated in French-speaking New Orleans around 1720.
29. Target of a 1972 ban in the U.S. : DDT
DDT is dicholorodiphenyltricholoroethane (don’t forget now!). It was used with great success to control disease-carrying insects during WWII, and when made available for use after the war it became by far the most popular pesticide. And then Rachel Carson published her famous book “Silent Spring”, suggesting there was a link between DDT and diminishing populations of certain wildlife. It was the public outcry sparked by the book, and reports of links between DDT and cancer, that led to the ban on the use of the chemical in 1972. That ban is touted as the main reason that the bald eagle was rescued from near extinction.
32. Ancient Egyptians revered it : IBIS
The ibis is a wading bird, revered in ancient Egypt. “Ibis” is an interesting word grammatically speaking. You can have one “ibis”, two “ibises” and a flock of “ibis”. And if you want to go with the classical plural, you can have two “ibides”!
37. Historic French region : BRIE
Brie is a soft cheese, named after the French province of Brie where it originated.
38. One with uma auréola : SAO
In Portuguese, uma auréola (a halo) might be seen over the head of a “sao” (saint).
41. Indication to put something in : CARET
The character known as a caret was originally a proofreading mark, used to indicate where a punctuation mark was to be inserted. “Caret” is Latin for “it lacks”.
46. Foxes’ neighbors, once : IOWAS
The Sacs are a group of Native Americans, who probably originated in the northeast along the St. Lawrence River. Over time, they migrated south and west, and after a turbulent journey ended up on reservations in Oklahoma. The Meskwaki tribe is also known as the Fox, and had similar origins as the Sacs, and similar migrations. The two tribes eventually merged into the Sac and Fox Nation.
47. ___ Fresnos, Tex. : LOS
Los Fresnos is a city in the very southern tip of Texas.
48. Pike lookalikes : GARS
Th fish known as a gar is very unusual in that it is often found in very brackish water. What is interesting about gar is that their swim bladders are vascularized so that they can actually function as lungs. So many species of gar can be seen coming to the surface and taking a gulp of air. This adaptation makes it possible for them to live in conditions highly unsuitable for other fish that must rely on their gills to get oxygen. Indeed, quite interesting …
49. Riot : STITCH
The term “in stitches” has been used since the thirties to mean laughing hysterically. The idea is that one can laugh so hard one can get a stitch of pain, a pain in the side.
50. He fell in love with a fire hydrant on “Sesame Street” : ARTOO-DETOO
Artoo’s proper name is R2-D2, the smaller of the two famous droids from the “Star Wars” movies. British actor Kenny Baker, who stands just 3 ft 8 ins tall, has been the man inside the R2-D2 droid for all six of the “Star Wars” movies.
53. Home to some notable cast-iron architecture in N.Y.C. : SOHO
The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, it earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and began renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo, as in the SoHo Artists Association, and the name stuck.
55. French singer/actor Rossi : TINO
The singer and actor Tino Rossi was a heartthrob of French cinema in the fifties.
57. Indication to leave something in : STET
“Stet” is the Latin word meaning “let it stand”. In editorial work, the typesetter is instructed to disregard any change previously marked by writing the word “stet” beside the change and then underscoring the change with a line of dots or dashes.
Down
1. Duped : XEROXED
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York, originally making photographic paper and equipment. Real success came for the company in 1959 when it introduced the first plain-paper photocopier. Xerox named Ursula Burns as CEO in 2009, the first African American woman to head up a S&P 100 company, as well as being the first woman to succeed another female CEO (replacing Anne Mulcahy).
5. Home of McConnell A.F.B. : KANS
McConnell Air Force base is located just outside Wichita, Kansas. The base’s main mission is to provide air refuelling, and is home to the 22nd Air Refuelling Wing of the USAF and the 931st Air Refuelling Group of the USAF Reserve.
7. Scraps in the sticks : RASSLES
“Rassle” is a slang word for “wrestle”.
8. “Für Elise” setting : A MINOR
“Fur Elise” is a beautiful piece of music by Beethoven, also known as “Bagatelle in A Minor”. “Fur Elise” means simply “For Elise”, but sadly, no one knows the identity of the mysterious Elise.
11. City near Arnhem : EDE
Ede is a small town in the Netherlands located between the cities of Arnhem and Utrecht.
13. Fictional Prince Edward Island community : AVONLEA
When Lucy Maud Montgomery wrote her classic novel “Anne of Green Gables”, she created the fictional community of Avonlea on Prince Edward Island as the setting for her story.
20. Dish that often includes ale : RAREBIT
Welsh rarebit is a delicious dish made from a cheesy, flavored sauce served over toast. It may be that the name Welsh rarebit was originally a bit of an insult to the folks in Wales. The dish was called Welsh rabbit back in the 1700s. In those day’s rabbit was the poor man’s meat, and the implication is that in Wales cheese was the poor man’s rabbit.
24. Droids, e.g. : PDAS
The Droid is the smartphone from Motorola, noted for running Google’s Android operating system.
33. Shooting goal : WRAP
When shooting of a film is concluded the movies is said to “wrap”, and everyone heads to the wrap party.
39. Weaver of myth : ARACHNE
In Greek and Roman mythology, Arachne was a mortal woman who was a great weaver. Arachne boasted that her weaving was greater than that of the goddess Pallas Athena (or Minerva in Roman myth), and this was proven true in a contest. As a result, she was turned into a spider. “Arachne” is the Greek word for spider.
42. Ochoa who won the 2007 Women’s British Open : LORENA
Lorena Ochoa is a professional golfer from Mexico, ranked as the number one female golfer in the world from 2007 to 2010.
45. Maugham’s prostitute : SADIE
Sadie Thompson is a character in “Rain”, a short story written by the English playwright and novelist Somerset Maugham. In the story Sadie is a prostitute on a Pacific Island who becomes the focus of a local missionary who tries to convert her. “Rain” has been adapted for the big screen a few times, most recently in 1953 with Rita Hayworth playing the title role of “Little Miss Sadie”.
48. Van ___ (oil producer) : GOGH
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch post-impressionist painter who seems to have had a very tortured existence. He only painted for the last ten years of his life, and enjoyed very little celebrity while alive. Today many of his works are recognized by most of us, and fetch staggering sums in auction houses. Van Gogh suffered from severe depression for many of his final years. When he was only 37, he walked into a field with a revolver and shot himself in the chest. He managed to drag himself back to the inn where he was staying but died there two days later.
52. ___ pardo (grizzly, in Granada) : OSO
“Oso pardo” is the Spanish for “brown bear”.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Deer ___ : XING
5. Lush performance setting? : KARAOKE BAR
15. One with a neck, mouth and lip, but no eyes : EWER
16. First names : ADAM AND EVE
17. Utility bill datum : RATE
18. “Dream on!” : NO SIREE, BOB
19. Walt Disney’s record collection : OSCARS
21. Sticker of the past : SNEE
22. Kind of synthesis : RNA
23. Transkei native : XHOSA
24. Get through dull work : PLOD
25. Source of some extracts : MALT
26. Classic film featuring Captain America : EASY RIDER
28. Bank security feature : LEVEE
29. Target of a 1972 ban in the U.S. : DDT
30. Info from some captains : ETAS
31. Imitate : POSE AS
32. Ancient Egyptians revered it : IBIS
33. It may be spinning : WASH
34. Is part of the cast of : ACTS IN
37. Historic French region : BRIE
38. One with uma auréola : SAO
41. Indication to put something in : CARET
42. Risky funding source : LOAN SHARK
44. Lead : CLUE
45. Addition to the 33-Across : SOAP
46. Foxes’ neighbors, once : IOWAS
47. ___ Fresnos, Tex. : LOS
48. Pike lookalikes : GARS
49. Riot : STITCH
50. He fell in love with a fire hydrant on “Sesame Street” : ARTOO-DETOO
53. Home to some notable cast-iron architecture in N.Y.C. : SOHO
54. “Seems possible” : I IMAGINE SO
55. French singer/actor Rossi : TINO
56. Opposite of duck : MEET HEAD ON
57. Indication to leave something in : STET
Down
1. Duped : XEROXED
2. Cry after being duped : I WAS HAD
3. It’s lowered by 14-Down : NET COST
4. Flattering to a fault : GREASY
5. Home of McConnell A.F.B. : KANS
6. Trouble : ADO
7. Scraps in the sticks : RASSLES
8. “Für Elise” setting : A MINOR
9. Like a galley : OARED
10. Often-replaced part : KNEE
11. City near Arnhem : EDE
12. Support for cold feet? : BE BRAVE
13. Fictional Prince Edward Island community : AVONLEA
14. Some incentives : REBATES
20. Dish that often includes ale : RAREBIT
24. Droids, e.g. : PDAS
25. Go well (with) : MESH
27. Rub ___ : IT IN
28. Explodes : LOSES IT
31. Nuisance : PAIN
32. “The fog has lifted” : I SEE
33. Shooting goal : WRAP
34. Strong approval : ACCLAIM
35. ___-conscious : CALORIE
36. Words to a doubter : TRUST ME
37. Forwent modesty : BOASTED
38. Followed through on something : SAW TO IT
39. Weaver of myth : ARACHNE
40. “I’m ready for your questions” : OK SHOOT
42. Ochoa who won the 2007 Women’s British Open : LORENA
43. Pulls up : HOISTS
45. Maugham’s prostitute : SADIE
48. Van ___ (oil producer) : GOGH
49. In a day, say : SOON
51. Kind of hay : OAT
52. ___ pardo (grizzly, in Granada) : OSO
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