0613-11: New York Times Crossword Answers 13 Jun 11, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
10. Biblical wise men : MAGI
Magi is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, magi is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus just after he was born.

15. P.G.A.’s Isao : AOKI
Isao Aoki is one of Japan’s greatest golfers, now playing on the senior circuit. His best finish in a major tournament was runner-up to Jack Nicklaus in the 1980 US Open.

22. Pinnacle : ACME
The “acme” is the highest point, coming from the Greek word “akme” which has the same meaning.

23. With 57-Across, game that includes the starts of 17-, 29-, 48- and 64-Across : PING
57. See 23-Across : PONG
Ping-pong is called table tennis in the UK, where the sport originated in the 1880s. It started off as an after-dinner activity among the elite, and was called “wiff-waff”. To play, books were stacked in the center of a table as a “net”, two more books served as “”rackets”, and the ball used was actually a golf ball. The game evolved over time with the rackets being upgraded to the lids of cigar boxes and the ball becoming a champagne cork (how snooty is that?). Eventually the game was produced commercially, and the sound of the ball hitting the racket was deemed to be a “ping” and a “pong”, giving the sport its alternative name.

33. ___ Percé (Indian tribe) : NEZ
The Nez Percé tribe of the Pacific Northwest call themselves the Nimiipuu, meaning “The Real People”. The name Nez Percé means “pierced nose” in French, a name applied in error to the Nimiipuu instead of the neighboring Chinook tribe, that did in fact practice nose piercing.

35. Sting or Prince : ROCK STAR
The Police were a trio formed in London in 1977, with Sting being the most famous member and the lead singer.

The singer Prince was born in Minneapolis, and he lives there to this day. He took his name from his father, a jazz musician who used the stage name Prince Rogers.

36. ___-tac-toe : TIC
When I was growing up in Ireland, we played “noughts and crosses” … our name for tic-tac-toe.

41. Org. with the Wizards and Warriors : NBA
The Washington Wizards used to be called the Washington Bullets. The team owner back in 1995, Abe Pollin, had grown uncomfortable with the “Bullets” moniker due to its association with violence and crime. The Prime Minister of Israel, Yitzhak Rabin, was a very close friend of Pollin. When Rabin was assassinated, the violent act moved Pollin to change the team name for “Bullets” to “Wizards”. The downside to the change was that “Wizard” offended some in the African-American community due to the name’s association with the Klu Klux Klan.

The Golden State Warriors are our local NBA franchise out here in the San Francisco Bay Area, based in Oakland, California. The team was founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, becoming the San Francisco Warriors when they moved to City by the Bay in 1962. They changed named again (to Golden State) when they relocated to the other side of the Bay to Oakland in 1971. The state-wide name reflected the fact that the team played some of their 1971-72 season games in San Diego, so were “California’s” team.

46. Hosp. scan : MRI
A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT Scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful and that damage is cumulative over time. An MRI on the other hand (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) uses powerful magnetic fields to generate its images so there is no exposure to ionizing radiation (like X-rays). We used MRI equipment in our chemistry labs at school, way back in the days when the technology was still called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI). Apparently the marketing folks didn’t like the term “nuclear” because of its association with atomic bombs, so it’s now just called MRI.

48. Hoosier university : BALL STATE
Ball State University is located in Muncie, Indiana. The school took on the name “Ball” in recognition of the generosity of local industrialists, the Ball Brothers, who saved the institution from collapse in 1917 by intervening financially.

50. Computer acronym : ASCII
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) lists codes for 32 “control” characters, as well as the 95 printable characters (like a, A, b, B, 1, 2, etc). These binary ASCII codes are the way that our computers can understand what we mean when we type say a letter or a number.

54. Grain in Cheerios : OAT
Cheerios has the distinction of being the first oat-based cereal introduced into the market, in 1941. Back then it was called CheeriOats.

55. Pepsi-___ : COLA
The Pepsi-Cola formulation was developed by one Caleb Bradham who made the drink at home and sold it as “Brad’s Drink”. His aim was to make a drink that was pleasant to taste that would aid digestion and boost energy. He included in the formula pepsin (a digestive enzyme) and kola nuts, eventually using these ingredients as inspiration for a new name for the drink, Pepsi-Cola.

58. Word before speed or after time : WARP
In the “Star Trek” universe, warp speed is very much like our real-world Mach number. Just as a plane traveling at Mach 1 is moving at the speed of sound, a starship traveling at warp factor 1 is moving at the speed of light. Mach 2 is twice the speed of sound, and warp factor 2 is twice the speed of light. Cool, huh?

A time warp is a hypothetical concept much used in science fiction. The idea is that a distortion in the flow of time might cause events to move from one time period to another.

60. Ones said to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly …” : SCOUTS
When Lord Baden Powell was founding the Boy Scout movement in 1907, he defined the Scout Law. As originally written, the Scout Law is in nine parts:

– A scout’s honor is to be trusted
– A scout is loyal
– A scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others
– A scout is a friend to all, and a brother to every other scout, no matter to what social class the other belongs
– A scout is courteous
– A scout is a friend to animals
– A scout obeys orders
– A scout smiles and whistles
– A scout is thrifty

62. ___ Guevara : CHE
Ernesto “Che” Guevara was born in Argentina, and in 1948 started to study medicine at the University of Buenos Aries. While at school he satisfied his need to “see the world” by taking two long journeys around South America, the story of which are told in Guevara’s memoir later published as “The Motorcycle Diaries”. While travelling, Guevara was moved by the plight of the people he saw and their working conditions and what he viewed as capitalistic exploitation. He dropped out of medical school and became involved in social reform in Guatemala. In Mexico City he met brothers Raul and Fidel Castro and was persuaded to join their cause, the overthrow of the US-backed government in Cuba. He rose to second-in-command among the Cuban insurgents, and when Castro came to power Guevara was influential in repelling the Bay of Pigs Invasion and bringing Soviet nuclear missiles to the island. Guevara left Cuba in 1965 to continue his work as a revolutionary. He was captured by Bolivian forces in 1967, and was executed. Fidel Castro led the public mourning of Guevara’s death, and soon the revolutionary was an icon for many left-wing movements around the world.

67. Tribe allied with the Missouri, once : OTOE
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

68. Garlicky sauce : AIOLI
To the purist (especially in Provence in the South of France), aioli is prepared by grinding just garlic with olive oil. However, other ingredients are often used, particularly egg yolks.

71. French Impressionist Claude : MONET
Claude Monet painted the harbor of Le Havre in the north of France in 1872, giving it the title “Impression, Sunrise”. The painting is not a “realistic” representation of the scene in front of him, hence the name “impression”. It was this very painting that gave rise to the name of the Impressionist movement.

Down
2. “The Man in the Iron Mask” role for Jeremy Irons : ARAMIS
“The Man in the Iron Mask” is a 1998 movie that uses characters appearing in the Alexander Dumas novel “The Three Musketeers”. In the plot, the musketeers are getting on in years and become involved in the mystery of “the man in the iron mask”, an actual prisoner locked up in French jails with his identity hidden behind a mask.

4. Course for some immigrants: Abbr. : ESL
English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

8. Common Halloween costume : SKELETON
The name “Halloween” is a Scottish variant of the more complete name “All Hallows Eve”. That’s the night before All Hallows Day, usually known today as All Saints’ Day (November 1st).

10. Artworks made of many pieces : MOSAICS
Medieval mosaics were often dedicated the the Muses, and that’s what the word “mosaic” means, “of the Muses”.

12. Where America’s Day Begins : GUAM
Guam is a US territory in the western Pacific Ocean, the largest of the Mariana Islands. Guam is also the first territory in the United States to see the sun rise on any particular day. As such, it has adopted the motto, “Where America’s day begins”.

13. ___ of Man : ISLE
The Isle of Man is a large island located in the middle of the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Ireland. I used to spend a lot of time there in my youth, and a very interesting place it is indeed. The Isle of Man is classed as a British Crown Dependency, and isn’t part of the United Kingdom at all. It is self-governing and has its own parliament called the Tynwald. The Tynwald was created in AD 979, and is arguably the oldest continuously-running parliament in the world. The inhabitants of the island speak English, although they do have their own language as well called Manx, which is very similar to Irish Gaeilge and Scottish Gaelic. And then there are the Manx cats, the ones without any tails. I’ve seen lots of them, and can attest that they are found all over the island.

24. Patton or Petraeus: Abbr. : GEN
General George Patton was a notorious leader of US forces during WWII. He was given command of the US Third Army in 1944. That army had resounding success, liberating more territory in less time than any other army in the history of the world. Patton barely survived the war. He was killed in a car accident outside Mannheim in Germany in December of 1945.

General David Petraeus is planning to retire from the military after a very distinguished career. He has been nominated by President Obama as the 22nd Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

26. Turkey’s capital : ANKARA
Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey, after Istanbul (formerly Constantinople). After WWI, the Ottoman Empire had been defeated and the Allies occupied the Ottoman capital of Istanbul. The victors planned to break up most of Turkey, leaving native Turks just part of their country for their own. In the inevitable War of Independence that followed, the Turkish Nationalists used Ankara as their base. When they emerged victorious, they declared Ankara the new capital of Turkey.

30. Warhead weapon, for short : ICBM
An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with the range necessary to cross between continents. Being ballistic (as opposed to a cruise missile) is it is guided during the initial launch phase, but later in flight just relies on thrust and gravity to arrive at its target. It is defined as intercontinental as it has a range greater that 3,500 miles. ICBMs are really only used for delivering nuclear warheads. Scary stuff …

31. Month of the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500 : MAY
The first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875, a race modelled on the Epsom Derby in England and the Grand Prix de Paris (now called the “Prix de l‘Arc de Triomphe”). As such, it was run over 1½ miles. The American race was shortened in 1896, and is now run over 1¼ miles.

The first Indy 500 race was held on Memorial Day in 1911. The winner that day was one Ray Harroun. He had seen someone using a rear view mirror on a horse-drawn vehicle, and decided to fit one on his Marmon “Wasp” motor car. Supposedly that was the first ever use of a rear view mirror on a motor vehicle.

36. Key above Caps Lock : TAB
Like most features on our computer keyboards, the tab key is a hangover from the days of typewriters. When using a typewriter, making entries into a table was very tedious, involving lots of tapping on the space bar and backspace key. So, a lever was added to typewriters that allowed the operator to “jump” across the page to positions that could be set by hand. Later this was simplified to a tab key which could be depressed, causing the carriage to jump to the next tab stop in much the same way that the modern tab key works on a computer.

38. Salt, e.g. : CHLORIDE
Sodium chloride (NaCl) is an ionic compound, a crystal lattice made up of large chloride (Cl) ions in a cubic structure, with smaller sodium (Na) ions in between the chlorides.

40. Disconnected, musically : STACCATO
Staccato is a musical direction, signifying that notes should be played in a disconnected form. The opposite of staccato would be legato, long and continuous notes played very smoothly.

47. AOL, for one : ISP
An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is just what its name indicates, a company that provides its customers with access to the Internet. One way that ISPs differentiate themselves from each other is in the way that the end users are connected to the ISPs network. So, there are cable ISPs, DSL ISPs, dial-up ISPs and satellite ISPs. I’d go with cable if I were you, if it’s available in your area …

Founded as Quantum Computer Services in 1983, America Online changed its name in 1989. As the company went international, the acronym AOL was used in order to shake off the “US-centric” sound to “America Online”. During the heady days of AOL’s success, the company could not keep up with the growing number of subscribers, so people trying to connect often encountered busy signals. That’s when users called AOL “Always Off-Line”.

56. The “A” in NATO: Abbr. : ATL
NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (or OTAN in French, l’Oganisation du Traite de l’Atlantique Nord). NATO was founded not long after WWII in 1949, and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium. The first NATO Secretary General was Lord Ismay, Winston Churchill’s chief military assistant during WWII. Famously he said the goal of NATO was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

58. City midway between Austin and Dallas : WACO
In recent years, Waco is perhaps most famous as the site of a siege and shootout between ATF agents and members of the Protestant sect known as the Branch Davidians. Shortly after ATF agents tried to execute a search warrant, shots were fired and at the end of the fight six people inside the Branch Davidian compound were dead, as were four agents. A fifty-day siege ensued at the end of which a final assault resulted in members of the community setting fire to the compound. Only nine people walked away from that fire. 50 adults and 25 children perished.

60. Good name for a Dalmatian : SPOT
The Dalmatian breed of dog originated in Dalmatia, in the Republic of Croatia. Here in the US Dalmatians are known as “firehouse dogs”. This association dates back to the use of Dalmatians in firehouses to guard the valuable horses that pulled the fire engines.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sped : RACED
6. Bit of smoke : WISP
10. Biblical wise men : MAGI
14. Remove, as pencil marks : ERASE
15. P.G.A.’s Isao : AOKI
16. Burden : ONUS
17. Laundry that’s often food-stained : TABLE LINEN
19. Animal balancing a beachball on its nose : SEAL
20. French friend : AMI
21. Fix, as a bathroom floor : RETILE
22. Pinnacle : ACME
23. With 57-Across, game that includes the starts of 17-, 29-, 48- and 64-Across : PING
25. Catch some Z’s : DOZE
26. Assist : AID
27. Twisty highway curves : ESSES
29. How much you really earned : NET INCOME
33. ___ Percé (Indian tribe) : NEZ
35. Sting or Prince : ROCK STAR
36. ___-tac-toe : TIC
39. Ballot marks : XES
41. Org. with the Wizards and Warriors : NBA
42. Hurricane’s center : EYE
43. Ones in disbelief? : ATHEISTS
46. Hosp. scan : MRI
48. Hoosier university : BALL STATE
50. Computer acronym : ASCII
54. Grain in Cheerios : OAT
55. Pepsi-___ : COLA
57. See 23-Across : PONG
58. Word before speed or after time : WARP
60. Ones said to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly …” : SCOUTS
62. ___ Guevara : CHE
63. x or y line on a graph : AXIS
64. Lakeshore rental, perhaps : PADDLE BOAT
66. Surrender : CEDE
67. Tribe allied with the Missouri, once : OTOE
68. Garlicky sauce : AIOLI
69. Lyric poems : ODES
70. Truckloads : TONS
71. French Impressionist Claude : MONET

Down
1. Record again : RETAPE
2. “The Man in the Iron Mask” role for Jeremy Irons : ARAMIS
3. Airplane sections : CABINS
4. Course for some immigrants: Abbr. : ESL
5. Bucks and does : DEER
6. Serve, as at a restaurant : WAIT ON
7. Air purifier, of sorts : IONIZER
8. Common Halloween costume : SKELETON
9. Tree with needles : PINE
10. Artworks made of many pieces : MOSAICS
11. Brief story that might open a speech : ANECDOTE
12. Where America’s Day Begins : GUAM
13. ___ of Man : ISLE
18. Trailblazed : LED
24. Patton or Petraeus: Abbr. : GEN
26. Turkey’s capital : ANKARA
28. Putting women down, e.g. : SEXIST
30. Warhead weapon, for short : ICBM
31. Month of the Kentucky Derby and Indianapolis 500 : MAY
32. Before, to a poet : ERE
34. Gusto : ZEST
36. Key above Caps Lock : TAB
37. “Give ___ whirl” : IT A
38. Salt, e.g. : CHLORIDE
40. Disconnected, musically : STACCATO
44. Passes, as time : ELAPSES
45. Used as a platform : STOOD ON
47. AOL, for one : ISP
49. Escapes : ELUDES
51. Butterfly protector : COCOON
52. Get some air : INHALE
53. “Aha!” : I GET IT
56. The “A” in NATO: Abbr. : ATL
58. City midway between Austin and Dallas : WACO
59. Chopped down : AXED
60. Good name for a Dalmatian : SPOT
61. Line in an A-line : SEAM
65. Book that might be subtitled “A Life” : BIO
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