1120-11: New York Times Crossword Answers 20 Nov 11, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. ___ World Tour (sports circuit) : ATP
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the organization that looks after the interests of male tennis professionals. The equivalent organization for women is the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

8. Comedian Nora : DUNN
Nora Dunn is a comedian best known as a cast member on “Saturday Night Live”.

18. Rank in kendo : DAN
Kendo is a Japanese martial art based on sword fighting.

19. Article’s start, to a journalist : LEDE
The opening paragraph in any work of literature is often just called “the lead”. In the world of journalism, this is usually referred to as “the lede”.

20. Former New York governor Cuomo : MARIO
Mario Cuomo was Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994. I well remember Mario Cuomo’s keynote address to the 1984 Democratic National Convention soon after I moved to America. For a new immigrant it was an interesting glimpse into American politics. Here’s a little bit of trivia about Mario Cuomo: he was the first ever guest for Larry King on his CNN talk show “Larry King Live”, back in 1985.

22. Justice Fortas : ABE
Abe Fortas was a US Supreme Court Justice from 1965 to 1969. Fortas has to resign his position on the bench due to a scandal about payments received, allegedly for favors.

25. Some harvesters : DEERES
John Deere invented the first commercially successful steel plow in 1837. Prior to Deere’s invention, farmers used an iron or wooden plow that constantly had to be cleaned as rich soil stuck to its surfaces. The cast-steel plow was revolutionary as its smooth sides solved the problem of “stickiness”.

28. The “B” of B&N : BARNES
Barnes & Noble is the oldest retailer of books in the US. The company started out in the book-printing business in 1873, and opened its first true bookstore in 1917, in New York City.

29. Lincoln ___ (L.A. neighborhood) : HTS
Lincoln Heights is thought to be the oldest neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, dating back to the 1830s.

31. “___ You Glad You’re You?” : AREN’T
“Aren’t You Glad You’re You?” is a Sesame Street album, recorded in 1977.

34. Mountain in Deuteronomy : HOREB
In the Book of Deuteronomy, it is stated that Moses was given the Ten Commandments on Mount Horeb. In other parts of the Bible the same event is described as taking place on Mount Sinai. So, many think that Horeb is an alternative name for Sinai.

36. X-ray units : RADS
The rad is a unit used to measure radiation levels, but it is largely obsolete now. It has been superseded by the rem.

49. Armored truck company : BRINK’S
The Brink’s security company was founded in 1859 in Chicago, by Perry Brink. It started out as an armored transportation service.

55. The Great Commoner : PITT
William Pitt, the Elder was the Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1766 to 1768. Although a prominent figure in British politics for many years, he refused to accept a title until he took over government of the country. For this refusal, he earned the nickname “The Great Commoner”. It is William Pitt, the Elder who lent his name to the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

56. Front of a coin: Abbr. : OBV
One meaning of the word “obverse” is “the side turned towards the observer”. This led to the use of obverse to describe the side of a coin bearing the principal image or design.

59. Aunt ___ (“Star Wars” character) : BERU
Beru Lars, née Whitesun, is the woman who takes custody of the infant Luke Skywalker in the “Star Wars” series of movies.

60. Lead-in to 1812 or attrition : WAR OF
The War of 1812 was fought between the United States and the British Empire from 1812 to 1815. There isn’t much said about the War of 1812 on the other side of the Atlantic quite frankly, as during that time Britain was more concerned with the war against Napoleon that was devastating Europe.

62. Stat that may be “adjusted” : ERA
The pitching stat, earned run average (ERA), measures how many runs a pitcher tends to give up per nine innings.

69. Suffix with malt : -OSE
Maltose, also known as malt sugar, is a disaccharide made up of two glucose units.

75. You go by one in Québec : NOM
“Nom” is the French word for “name”.

77. Season Pass offerer : TIVO
TiVo was introduced in 1999, the world’s first commercially successful DVR (Digital Video Recorder). If you don’t have a DVR, you might want to consider getting one. For those who enjoy television, it’s very liberating.

84. Singer Morissette : ALANIS
Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer-songwriter. After releasing two pop albums in Canada, in 1995 she recorded her first album to be distributed internationally. Called “Jagged Little Pill”, it is a collection of songs with more of a rock influence. The album was a huge success, the highest-selling album of the 1990s, and the highest-selling debut album by any artist at any time (selling over 30 million units).

86. 2011 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee : AGASSI
“Open” is the autobiography of tennis professional Andre Agassi, published in 2009. An amazing revelation in the book is that Agassi’s famous head of hair was actually a wig for much of his playing career. Can you imagine how hard it must have been to play tennis at his level, with a rug stuck on?

87. Bob Marley’s group, with “the” : WAILERS
The Wailers were the band, formed in Jamaica in 1963, whose most famous member was Bob Marley. The band’s name went through a few iterations, starting out as the Teenagers, then the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers, and finally simply the Wailers.

88. Vodka source : POTATO
The word “vodka” is a Slavic word, a diminutive of the word for water, “voda”. So “vodka” really translates as “little water”. Traditionally, vodka is drunk “straight up” in the countries of Eastern Europe that collectively are aptly called the vodka belt. Belt … get it?

91. County northwest of San Francisco : SONOMA
Did you know that there are far more wine grapes produced in Sonoma than Napa? Within Sonoma County some of the more well-known appellations are Chalk Hill, Anderson Valley and Russian River Valley. Personally, when I want to visit the wine country, I head for the Russian River Valley as it’s far less crowded and much more fun than Napa Valley.

95. Men in the middle of the peerage : EARLS
In the ranking of nobles an earl comes above a viscount and below a marquess. The rank of earl is used in the British peerage system, and is equivalent to the rank of count in other countries. Other British ranks have female forms (e.g. marquess and marchioness, viscount and viscountess), but there isn’t a female word for the rank of earl. A female given the same rank as an earl is known as a countess.

99. La Città Eterna : ROMA
“La Città Eterna” is Italian for “The Eternal City” i.e. Rome.

101. Trojan War figure : PARIS
In Greek legend, Paris was the son of the king of Troy. He eloped with Helen, the queen of Sparta, and this act was a major trigger for the Trojan War. It was also Paris who fatally wounded Achilles by shooting him with an arrow in the heel.

104. Veep before Spiro : HUBERT
Hubert Humphrey was the running mate of President Lyndon Johnson in the 1964 presidential campaign. Humphrey was sworn in as Vice President in 1965, the 38th person to hold the office. Humphrey went up as the Democratic candidate for president in the 1968 election, but lost to Richard Nixon.

105. Gurus’ titles : SRIS
Sri is a title of respect for a male in India.

“Guru” is a Hindi word meaning “teacher” or “priest”.

106. Oscar winner for “Cocoon,” 1985 : AMECHE
Don Ameche was such a gentleman. He starred in the fun movie “Trading Places” in 1983, and was required to use the “f-word” in the script. According to co-star Jamie Lee Curtis, Ameche went around the set before the scene was shot, and apologized in advance to everyone for having to use bad language.

108. “My sources say no” source : MAGIC 8-BALL
The Magic 8-Ball is a toy, supposedly a fortune-telling device, introduced by Mattel in 1946. There are 20 answers that the Magic 8-Ball can provide, including:

– Without a doubt
– Ask again later
– My sources say no
– Outlook not so good
– Signs point to yes

111. Years, to Yves : ANS
“An” is a French word for “year”.

114. Item to thrust : EPEE
The French word for sword is “épée”. In competitive fencing the épée is connected to a system that records an electrical signal when legal contact is made on an opponent’s body.

115. “Details forthcoming”: Abbr. : TBA
To be advised.

117. Prudential Center team : NETS
The New Jersey Nets NBA team play in the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The plan is for them to relocate to the Barclays Center that is under construction in Brooklyn, New York. The team’s name will then change to the Brooklyn Nets.

Down
3. Zithromax treats it : PNEUMONIA
Zithromax is a brand name for the drug azithromycin, an antibiotic.

4. Sitcom waitress : FLO
Florence Jean “Flo” Castleberry was a waitress in the sitcom “Alice” which aired on CBS in the 70s and 80s. Flo got her own sitcom (called “Flo”) which had a brief run in the early 80s. I saw a few episodes of “Alice”, but that’s about it. Oh, and Flo was played by Polly Holiday.

6. Awards with a “Best Fact Crime” category : EDGARS
The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (the Edgars) are presented annually by the Mystery Writers of America.

7. Will’s ex-wife on “Glee” : TERRI
Terri Schuester is a character on the TV show “Glee”, played by Jessalyn Gilsig.

The relatively new TV show called “Glee” is proving to be very popular. The storyline focuses on a high school glee club in Lima, Ohio.

8. Morse bits : DAHS
Samuel Morse was a very accomplished and reputable painter (he was engaged to paint a portrait of President John Adams, for example). In 1825 he was in Washington working on a commissioned painting when he received a one-line letter by horse messenger telling him that his wife was ill. He immediately left for his home in New Haven, Connecticut but by the time he arrived she had already died and had been buried. This single event spurred him to move from painting to the development of a rapid means of long distance communication, leading to the single-wire telegraph and Morse code.

9. Swiss canton : URI
Supposedly William Tell came from Uri, a canton in the German part of Switzerland. Altdorf is the capital of Uri and is the city where William Tell shot the apple off his son’s head, according to legend.

10. Seasonal saint : NICHOLAS
Saint Nicholas of Myra is the inspiration for Santa Claus. Nicholas was the Bishop of Myra (now in modern-day Turkey) during the 4th century AD, and was known for being generous to the poor. Centuries after he died his remains were desecrated by Italian sailors and moved to Bari in Italy. One legend has it that the relics were moved again centuries later and reburied in the grounds of Jerpoint Abbey in Co. Kilkenny in Ireland, where you can visit the grave today. I choose to believe that Santa Claus’s relics are indeed buried in Ireland …

13. Fit to be called up : ONE-A
The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System (SSS). In the event that a draft is held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objectors available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrants who have completed military service) and 4-D (ministers of religion).

15. Emperor Taejo united it : KOREA
Taejo of Goryeo founded the Goryeo Dynasty that ruled Korea from the 10th to the 14th century.

20. Video file format : MPEG
The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) was established in 1988 to set standards for audio and video compression. The standards they’ve come up with use the acronym MPEG.

24. “Dear ___ Landers” : ANN
“Ask Ann Landers” was an advice column written by Eppie Lederer from 1995 to 2002. Eppie was the twin sister to Pauline Phillips, the person behind “Dear Abby”. Eppie took over the “Ask Ann Landers” column from Ruth Crowley who started it in 1943.

35. Sci-fi series set in the 23rd century : BABYLON 5
“Babylon 5” is a sci-fi television series that ran for five seasons in the nineties. Babylon 5 was the name for a space station.

39. It was first broken in 1954 : 4-MINUTE MILE
The 4-minute barrier for the mile run was first broken in 1954 by Roger Bannister, when he finished in just over 3m 59s. The record for males now stands at 3m 43s. If you plan on running a 4-minute mile, you should probably be warned that this means you have to run the whole race at an average speed of over 15 mph (do the math!).

40. Monitor inits. : CRT
Cathode Ray Tube … there aren’t may of them around in the stores these days …

41. “Independent Lens” network : PBS
“Independent Lens” is a PBS series that introduces new drama and documentary films that have been created by independent filmmakers.

44. “Awake in the Dark” author : EBERT
Roger Ebert co-hosted a succession of film review television programs for over 23 years, most famously with Gene Siskel until Siskel passed away in 1999. Ebert was diagnosed and treated for thyroid cancer in 2002, and since then has undergone a number of surgical procedures. Sadly, he has lost his voice, but continues work as a film critic, focusing these days on the print medium.

47. ___ nous : ENTRE
“Entre nous” is French for “between us”.

48. Chi Cygni, for one : S STAR
Stars are usually classified based on the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star, but I think we all know that …

51. Italian province or seaport : BARI
Bari is a port city in Italy, on the Adriatic coast. The city is noted for being the only location in WWII to experience chemical warfare, although it was unintended. Mustard gas was released when a US Liberty ship was attacked by German bombers. The Allied leaders ordered that the incident be kept secret, and it wasn’t until 1967 that the story was widely reported. Most of the fatalities from the gas were American seamen.

60. King, for example : WRITER
Stephen King is a remarkably successful author, having sold over 350 million copies of his books, many of which have been made into hit movies. I’ve tried reading two or three, but I really don’t do horror …

61. Rock’s ___ Fighters : FOO
Foo Fighters is described as an alternative rock band, one formed in 1994 by the drummer from Nirvana, Dave Grohl. The original “Foo fighters” were the unidentified flying objects reported by allied airmen during WWII. Spooky …

65. Singer Marie : TEENA
Teena Marie is a very successful R&B singer, born Mary Christina Brockert.

66. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
Enos, as the son of Seth, was the grandson of Adam and Eve.

74. Oscar-nominated sci-fi film of 2009 : DISTRICT 9
“District 9” is a science fiction thriller from South Africa, released in 2009.

78. Ladylove : INAMORATA
“Inamorata” is an Italian term that we’ve imported into English. It describes a female lover.

79. Thiamine : VITAMIN B1
Thiamine is also known as vitamin B1. A deficiency of thiamine causes the disease known as beriberi, a disorder of the nervous system.

82. Intel interpreter, for short : NSA
The National Security Agency (NSA) was set up in 1952 by President Truman, a replacement for the Armed Forces Security Agency that had existed in the Department of Defense since 1949. The NSA has always been clouded in secrecy and even the 1952 letter from President Truman that established the agency was kept under wraps from the public for over a generation. I really like the organizations nickname … “No Such Agency”.

83. TV award discontinued in 1997 : CABLEACE
The CableACE Award was established as cable television’s equivalent to the Emmy Award. The Award became obsolete though when the Emmys started to include cable television programming, so the CableACE Award was discontinued in 1997.

85. Actor Chaney : LON
Lon Chaney, Sr. played a lot of crazed-looking characters in the days of silent movies. He did much of his own make-up work, developing the grotesque appearances that became his trademark, and earning himself the nickname “the man of a thousand faces”. Most famous of all was his portrayal of “The Phantom of the Opera” in 1925.

91. Over-the-shoulder garment : SERAPE
Serape is the English pronunciation and spelling of the Spanish word “zarape”. A zarape is like a Mexican poncho, a soft woolen blanket with a whole in the middle for the head. Most have colorful designs that use traditional Mayan motifs.

92. Sends millions of unwanted messages, say : SPAMS
I think that the oft-quoted story may be true that the term SPAM, used for unwanted email, is taken from a “Monty Python” sketch. In the sketch (which I’ve seen) the dialog is taken over by the word SPAM, a play on the glut of canned meat in the markets in Britain after WWII. So SPAM is used for the glut of emails that takes over online communication. I can just imagine nerdy Internet types (like me) adopting something from a “Monty Python” sketch to describe an online phenomenon …

96. Color whose name is French for “flea” : PUCE
The purple shade known a “puce” has a strange derivation. “Puce” came into English from French, in which language “puce” means “flea”. Supposedly, puce is the color of a flea!

97. Blood type system : ABO
The most important grouping of blood types is the ABO system. Blood is classified as either A, B, AB or O, depending on the type of antigens on the surface of the red blood cells. A secondary designation of blood is the Rh factor, in which other antigens are labelled as either positive or negative. When a patient receives a blood transfusion, ideally the donor blood should be the same type as that of the recipient, as incompatible blood cells can be rejected. However, blood type O-Neg can be accepted by recipients with all blood types:  A, B or O, and positive or negative. Hence someone with O-neg blood type is called a “universal donor”.

102. Most-quoted author in the O.E.D.: Abbr. : SHAK
The “Oxford English Dictionary” (OED) contains over 300,000 “main” entries, and 59 million words in total. It is said it would take a single person 120 years to type it out in full. The longest entry for one word in the second edition of the OED is the verb “set”. When the third edition was published in 2007, the longest entry for a single word became the verb “put”. Perhaps not surprisingly, the most-quoted author in the OED is William Shakespeare, with his most quoted work being “Hamlet”. The most-quoted female author is George Eliot (aka Mary Ann Evans).

107. Chicago trains : ELS
The Chicago “L” is the second largest rapid transit system in the US, with the New York City Subway being the largest. The “L” is also the second oldest, again with the New York Subway system having the honor of being around the longest. Note that the official nickname for the system is the “L” (originally short for “elevated railroad”), although the term “El” is also in common use (especially in crosswords as “ELS”). The L is managed by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA).

109. Kind of course : GUT
“Gut course” is a slang expression, used for an academic course of study that is undemanding.

110. CBS’s Moonves : LES
Leslie Moonves had many senior positions in the television industry, especially with CBS and Viacom. Early in his career he was an actor and played tough guy roles on “Cannon” and “The Six Million Dollar Man”. Moonves is the great-nephew of David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, and he is married to TV news personality Julie Chen.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. ___ World Tour (sports circuit) : ATP
4. Stew : FRET
8. Comedian Nora : DUNN
12. School hall feature : LOCKER
18. Rank in kendo : DAN
19. Article’s start, to a journalist : LEDE
20. Former New York governor Cuomo : MARIO
21. Like some moving estimates : IN HOME
22. Justice Fortas : ABE
23. Computer animation option : 3D GRAPHICS
25. Some harvesters : DEERES
26. Calculator symbol : PLUS
28. The “B” of B&N : BARNES
29. Lincoln ___ (L.A. neighborhood) : HTS
31. “___ You Glad You’re You?” : AREN’T
32. Fill-in : TEMP
33. Teeing off : IRING
34. Mountain in Deuteronomy : HOREB
36. X-ray units : RADS
37. Settee settings : FOYERS
39. Gourmet’s treat : DELICACY
41. Paid, with “up” : PONIED
42. Within the grace period? : PRE-MEAL
45. Thuggish sorts : BRUTES
49. Armored truck company : BRINK’S
50. Is persistent at an auction : REBIDS
51. Alternately : BY TURNS
52. Ill-gotten gains : SWAG
53. Signs : OMENS
54. Dieter’s unit: Abbr. : CAL
55. The Great Commoner : PITT
56. Front of a coin: Abbr. : OBV
59. Aunt ___ (“Star Wars” character) : BERU
60. Lead-in to 1812 or attrition : WAR OF
62. Stat that may be “adjusted” : ERA
63. How to get this puzzle’s final word : PUT NINE LETTERS IN ORDER
69. Suffix with malt : -OSE
70. You can believe it : TENET
71. Way off : EXIT
72. Furthermore : TOO
73. Burned out : DIED
75. You go by one in Québec : NOM
76. Strike down : SMITE
77. Season Pass offerer : TIVO
81. Some ninths : INNINGS
83. Rattlesnake, at times : COILER
84. Singer Morissette : ALANIS
86. 2011 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee : AGASSI
87. Bob Marley’s group, with “the” : WAILERS
88. Vodka source : POTATO
89. Not ethereal : TANGIBLE
91. County northwest of San Francisco : SONOMA
92. Traumatize : SCAR
95. Men in the middle of the peerage : EARLS
96. Takes a bit off : PARES
99. La Città Eterna : ROMA
101. Trojan War figure : PARIS
103. “I’d never have suspected!” : GEE
104. Veep before Spiro : HUBERT
105. Gurus’ titles : SRIS
106. Oscar winner for “Cocoon,” 1985 : AMECHE
108. “My sources say no” source : MAGIC 8-BALL
111. Years, to Yves : ANS
112. Word with note or case : MENTAL
113. Like some accents : ACUTE
114. Item to thrust : EPEE
115. “Details forthcoming”: Abbr. : TBA
116. Pants : SLACKS
117. Prudential Center team : NETS
118. – : LESS
119. “___ questions?” : ANY

Down
1. Make fit : ADAPT
2. Dinner date request : TABLE FOR 2
3. Zithromax treats it : PNEUMONIA
4. Sitcom waitress : FLO
5. Cardinals : RED BIRDS
6. Awards with a “Best Fact Crime” category : EDGARS
7. Will’s ex-wife on “Glee” : TERRI
8. Morse bits : DAHS
9. Swiss canton : URI
10. Seasonal saint : NICHOLAS
11. Hole in the head : NOSTRIL
12. Cap : LID
13. Fit to be called up : ONE-A
14. Fruit-flavored soft drink : CHERRY 7UP
15. Emperor Taejo united it : KOREA
16. Correct : EMEND
17. Is quiet : RESTS
20. Video file format : MPEG
24. “Dear ___ Landers” : ANN
27. Watching without being watched : SPYING ON
30. Jiffy : SEC
34. Minds : HEEDS
35. Sci-fi series set in the 23rd century : BABYLON 5
38. “Yikes!” : EEK
39. It was first broken in 1954 : 4-MINUTE MILE
40. Monitor inits. : CRT
41. “Independent Lens” network : PBS
42. Puzzler : PROBLEM
43. Come back from adjournment : REMEET
44. “Awake in the Dark” author : EBERT
46. Wasn’t lackadaisical : TRIED
47. ___ nous : ENTRE
48. Chi Cygni, for one : S STAR
51. Italian province or seaport : BARI
54. Desk chair features : CASTERS
57. Short while : BIT
58. One step up from a four-cylinder : V6 ENGINE
60. King, for example : WRITER
61. Rock’s ___ Fighters : FOO
63. Politicians’ supporters, sometimes : PODIA
64. Incorporating : USING
65. Singer Marie : TEENA
66. Grandson of Adam : ENOS
67. Send away : EXILE
68. Certain muscles : ROTATORS
74. Oscar-nominated sci-fi film of 2009 : DISTRICT 9
76. Besmirches : SOILS
78. Ladylove : INAMORATA
79. Thiamine : VITAMIN B1
80. Spanish bear : OSO
82. Intel interpreter, for short : NSA
83. TV award discontinued in 1997 : CABLEACE
84. Ardent adherents : APOSTLES
85. Actor Chaney : LON
87. Electrical worker : WIREMAN
90. Conversation stopper : GAG
91. Over-the-shoulder garment : SERAPE
92. Sends millions of unwanted messages, say : SPAMS
93. Animal crackers animal : CAMEL
94. Georgia Dome, e.g. : ARENA
96. Color whose name is French for “flea” : PUCE
97. Blood type system : ABO
98. Rise up : REBEL
100. Appraise : ASSAY
102. Most-quoted author in the O.E.D.: Abbr. : SHAK
104. #1’s, e.g. : HITS
107. Chicago trains : ELS
109. Kind of course : GUT
110. CBS’s Moonves : LES
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