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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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CROSSWORD SETTER: Gary Cee
THEME: None
COMPLETION TIME: 94m 12s!!!
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
I have never tweeted in my life, and have no plans to do so. Twitter is a micro-blogging service that limits the post sent to just 140 characters. In a sense, it is similar to this blog. Here I send out a post once a day containing information that I think might be useful to folks (thank you for reading!). I don’t think I could send much of interest using just 140 characters. I believe that many people who do tweet tend to send out messages like “I’m at dinner now. I am having sushi” and “There’s nothing on TV. I’m bored”. Nope, I don’t think so!
The author Betty McDonald wrote a memoir called “The Egg and I” that was published in 1945, telling the story of her life as a young wife on a chicken farm in Washington state. The book was adapted into a film of the same name in 1947, with the lovely Claudette Colbert playing Betty McDonald, and the great Fred McMurray as her husband. Two other characters feature in the storyline, Ma and Pa Kettle. The latte characters were so well received by theater audiences that a whole series of films about them and their fifteen children was made between the years 1949 and 1957.
![The Ma & Pa Kettle Collection: The Egg and I [VHS]](https://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=630310374X&tag=wesneyoticrso-20)
Rogaine is a brand name for the drug Minoxidil. It was developed as an oral medication to treat high blood pressure, but was found to have an exploitable side-effect. It caused an increased in the rate of hair growth. A topical solution was marketed to promote growth of hair especially in balding men. The drug seems to work well, but when the application is stopped, things go back to normal in about 60 days. Wouldn’t dream of touching the stuff myself …
17. With 53-Across, classic Kipling poem ending : YOU’RE A BETTER MAN
53. See 17-Across : THAN I AM, GUNGA DIN
“Gunga Din” is an 1982 poem penned by Rudyard Kipling. The poem tells of a British soldier in colonial India and a native water-bearer who saves his life. We tend to pronounce the water bearer’s name as Gunga Din, with the “din” just as it’s written, like the loud noise. Based on the rhymes in the poem however, we should be pronouncing it “deen”.
19. Plane wing component : SLAT
In an airplane wing, a slat is a moving surface on the leading edge of the wing, primarily having the same effect as the flap on the trailing edge. With slats and flaps deployed, a plane can fly more slowly, and take off or land in a shorter distance.
The Indianapolis Colts professional football team has been in Indiana since 1984. The team traces its roots back to the Dayton Triangles, one of the founding members of the NFL created in 1913. The Dayton Triangles relocated and became the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1930, and then the Brooklyn Tigers in 1944. The team merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945, playing in Boston. The Yanks were moved to New York in 1949, and then to Dallas in 1952 as the Dallas Texans. The Texan franchise moved to Baltimore in 1953, forming the Colts. The Colts made their last move, to Indianapolis, in 1984. Whew!
22. ___ penny (very common, in British lingo) : TEN A
“Ten a penny” is a very common expression in the British Isles, meaning just that, something very common. Sometimes you might also appear the phrase “two a penny”, meaning the same thing.
23. “White Writing” painter Mark : TOBEY
Mark Tobey was an American artist from Wisconsin, an abstract expressionist, who did much of his work in Seattle as part of the Northwest School.
24. Penny ___ : ANTE
Penny Ante poker is a game in which bets are limited to a penny, or some other small, friendly sum. The expression “penny ante” has come to mean any business transaction on a small scale.
Challah is a special braided bread that is eaten by Ashkenazi Jews on the Sabbath. The bread is served to commemorate the manna that fell from the heavens as the Israelites wandered around the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.
31. Attempt to enter dead space? : SEANCE
“Séance” is a French word meaning “a sitting”.
“Swanee” was written in 1919 by George Gershwin. Gershwin was very young at the time and came up with the music in just ten minutes while riding on a Manhattan bus. Al Jolson was already a star, and he heard Gershwin playing the song at a party. Jolson made a deal to include the song in his show “Sinbad”, and then it just took off.
39. Curve creators : SINES
A sine wave is a mathematical function that describes a simple, smooth, repetitive oscillation. The sine wave is found right throughout the natural world. Ocean waves, light waves and sound waves all have a sine wave pattern.
40. Tangier location: Abbr. : MOR
The Moroccan city of Tangier sits right at the Strait of Gibraltar, so even though it is in North Africa, the continent of Europe is less then ten miles away on the other side of the Mediterranean.
41. East Coast city where tourism peaks in October : SALEM
Salem is a seaport on the Massachusetts coast. It is noted as the location of the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, an event that the city commemorates during the run up to Halloween every year in October.
Etta James is best known for her beautiful rendition of the song “At Last”. Sadly, as she discloses in her autobiography, James has lived a life that has been ravaged by drug addiction, leading to numerous legal and health problems.
Paula Creamer is a American golfer, the current US Open champion. She is a local here where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. Indeed, as her career took off we were members of the same golf club here in town. I taught her everything she knows …
50. Duke’s setting: Abbr. : N CAR
Duke University was founded in 1838 as Brown’s Schoolhouse. The school was renamed to Trinity College in 1859, and to this day the town where the college was located back then is known as Trinity, in honor of the school. The school was moved in 1892 to Durham, North Carolina in part due to generous donations from the wealthy tobacco industrialist Washington Duke. Duke’s donation required that the school open its doors to woman, placing them on an equal footing with men. Trinity’s name was changed to Duke in 1924 in recognition of the generosity of the Duke family.
52. Barneys rival : SAKS
Saks Fifth Avenue is a high-end specialty store that competes with the likes of Bloomingdale’s and Nieman Marcus. The original Saks & Company business was founded by Andrew Saks in 1867, and the first Saks Fifth Avenue store was opened on Fifth Avenue in New York City in 1924.
Barneys New York is a luxury department store chain. It was founded by Barney Pressman in 1923, with the first store opening in Manhattan. Pressman raised the funds necessary to lease that first retail space by pawning his wife’s engagement ring!
53. See 17-Across : THAN I AM, GUNGA DIN
A tonette is a small flute made of plastic, introduced in 1938. It was a popular instrument for teaching music in American classrooms, a role now filled by the recorder.
Giacomo Casanova was an 18th century adventurer from Venice. We know so much about him, and his reputation as a womanizer, because he wrote his autobiography “Histoire de ma vie” (Story of My Life). A guy recounting stories of his love life and conquests. All true, I am sure …
Down
1. Getaways that people try to get away with : TRYSTS
In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually it is associated with a prearranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting.
“The Night of the Iguana” is a play by Tennessee Williams, based on a short story that he wrote in 1948. Famously, the play was adapted for the screen in a 1964 movie of the same name, with powerful performances by Richard Burton, Ava Gardner and Deborah Kerr.
9. Apprehensive : ANTSY
The word “antsy” embodies the concept of “having ants in one’s pants”, meaning being nervous and fidgety. However, “antsy” has been used in English since the 1830s, whereas “ants in the pants” originated a century later.
“Norma Rae” is a 1979 movie starring Sally Field, a tale of union activities in a textile factory in Alabama. The film is based on the true story of Crystal Lee Sutton told in a 1975 book called “Crystal Lee, a Woman of Inheritance”.
18. Brachium’s end : ELBOW
“Brachium” is Latin for “arm”, and is used in English to refer to the upper arm, from the shoulder to the elbow.
26. Wings, e.g. : LAMES
A hunter might take shot and wing his or her prey, perhaps making it lame.
28. St. Pauli Girl alternative : BECK’S
Beck’s beer comes from Bremen in northern Germany. It is the fifth most successful brewery in the country, based on sales. The image you’ll see on the bottle, a key within a shield, is the mirror image of Bremen’s coat of arms.
St. Pauli Girl beer is brewed in Bremen in Germany. The beer gets its name from the former St. Paul’s Monastery in Bremen, next door to which was located the original brewery.
Michelle Obama grew up on the South Side of Chicago, and is sister to Craig Robinson, the coach of men’s basketball at Oregon State University. After graduating from Harvard Law School, she worked as an associate at the Chicago office of the Sidley Austin law firm. Barack Obama joined the firm as a summer associate and Michelle Robinson was assigned to mentor him, and as they say, one thing led to another …
34. Orange neighbor : SANTA ANA
Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, California, taking its name from the Santa Ana River that runs through the city.
Although there is a city of Orange in California, it resides in the more famous county of the same name, Orange County. Orange County is home to famous destinations like Disneyland and Knott’s Berry Farm, perhaps accessed via John Wayne Airport (also known as Orange County Airport).
36. Leave : FURLOUGH
A furlough is a vacation or leave, a term often used in the military.
38. Y.M.C.A. section? : YOUNG
The YMCA is a worldwide movement that has its roots in London, England. There, in 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association was founded with the intent of promoting Christian principles through the development of “a healthy spirit, mind and body”. The founder, George Williams, saw the need to create YMCA facilities for young men who were flocking to the cities as the Industrial Revolution flourished. He saw that these men were frequenting taverns and brothels, and wanted to offer a more wholesome alternative.
40. River through Toledo : MAUMEE
The Maumee River forms at Fort Wayne, Indiana and flows for 137 miles through Indiana and Ohio, emptying into Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio.
42. Strasbourg is its capital : ALSACE
Strasbourg is a really beautiful city, located in the very northeast of France. It is noted these days as the home to the European Parliament.
44. Like the language Kalaallisut : ESKIMO
Kalaallisut is the main dialect of the Eskimo-Aleut language spoken in Greenland and Denmark. It is also referred to as West Greenlandic, and has been the official language of Greenland since 2009.
45. Vt. ski resort : MT SNOW
Mount Snow is a ski area on the mountain of the same name in Vermont, part of the state’s Green Mountains.
Pratt & Whitney is a huge manufacturer of aircraft, a competitor with General Electric and Roll-Royce.
48. Miss Hannigan’s charge, on Broadway : ANNIE
Miss Hannigan is a character in the Broadway musical “Annie”. The musical was based on the Harold Gray comic strip “Little Orphan Annie”. There were two subsequent film adaptations, both really quite successful, including one released in 1982 directed by John Huston of all people. It was his only ever musical.
The Alligator Gar differs from other Gars in that it has two rows of large teeth in the upper jaw, hence its name. It is the largest species of gar, and growing 8-10 feet in length it is the largest freshwater fish in North America.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Service with many followers : TWITTER
8. Kettles, e.g. : MA AND PA
15. Hair-raising stuff? : ROGAINE
16. Where it never rains : INDOORS
17. With 53-Across, classic Kipling poem ending : YOU’RE A BETTER MAN
19. Plane wing component : SLAT
20. Pro team with a horseshoe logo : COLTS
21. Many trial subjects : MICE
22. ___ penny (very common, in British lingo) : TEN A
23. “White Writing” painter Mark : TOBEY
24. Penny ___ : ANTE
25. Quagmire : SNARL
27. Unit of fun? : TON
28. Challah form : BRAID
29. Fresh : ANEW
31. Attempt to enter dead space? : SEANCE
32. Kind of identity : ASSUMED
36. Like many gems : FACETED
37. Gershwin’s first hit : SWANEE
38. “Ewww!” : YUCK
39. Curve creators : SINES
40. Tangier location: Abbr. : MOR
41. East Coast city where tourism peaks in October : SALEM
46. “___ Is Betta Than Evvah!” (1976 album) : ETTA
47. Creamer who won the 2010 U.S. Women’s Open : PAULA
49. In case : LEST
50. Duke’s setting: Abbr. : N CAR
51. Talk, talk, talk : RUN ON
52. Barneys rival : SAKS
53. See 17-Across : THAN I AM, GUNGA DIN
56. Small, simple flute : TONETTE
57. Casanova’s first name : GIACOMO
58. At the movies, say : ON A DATE
59. “Without further ado …” : HERE NOW
Down
1. Getaways that people try to get away with : TRYSTS
2. Like some 8-Downs : WOOLEN
3. Creature in a Tennessee Williams title : IGUANA
4. Dental concern : TARTAR
5. Potential play prolonger : TIE
6. Put into 13-Down : ENACT
7. Started over, in a way : REBOOTED
8. One deserving a hand? : MITTEN
9. Apprehensive : ANTSY
10. Suffix with grape : -ADE
11. Field work that was award-winning : NORMA RAE
12. Ruling : DOMINANT
13. The way things are done : PRACTICE
14. One way to take drugs : AS NEEDED
18. Brachium’s end : ELBOW
26. Wings, e.g. : LAMES
28. St. Pauli Girl alternative : BECK’S
30. It’s between Obama and Robinson : NEE
31. Holder of eggs : SAC
32. Give a thumbs-up : ASSENT TO
33. Activate, in a way : SWITCH ON
34. Orange neighbor : SANTA ANA
35. Scored due to an error : UNEARNED
36. Leave : FURLOUGH
38. Y.M.C.A. section? : YOUNG
40. River through Toledo : MAUMEE
42. Strasbourg is its capital : ALSACE
43. Bait : LEAD ON
44. Like the language Kalaallisut : ESKIMO
45. Vt. ski resort : MT SNOW
47. Big name in aircraft engines : PRATT
48. Miss Hannigan’s charge, on Broadway : ANNIE
54. Spanish name suffix : -ITA
55. Alligator ___ (underwater menace) : GAR
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