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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: Vic Fleming
THEME: Personal Pronouns … all of the theme answer begin with personal pronouns:
17A. Shout upon reaching a destination : WE MADE IT
26A. “Wouldn’t that be nice” : I CAN DREAM
38A. Intro to many an adage : THEY SAY
50A. 1998 Spike Lee joint : HE GOT GAME
63A. “Well, look who’s back!” : YOU AGAIN
11D. Wicked women : SHE-DEVILS
34D. “Just my luck” : IT FIGURES
COMPLETION TIME: 11m 07s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … MARTHA (BARTHA!), MFA (BFA)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
1. Some jazz : BOP
“Bop” is a shortened form of “bebop”, a jazz style that dates back to the early 1940s.
4. Opposite of alta : BAJA
In Spanish, “baja” is “low”, and “alta” is “high”.
14. Singer with a negative-sounding name : ONO
Yoko Ono was born into a prosperous Japanese family, and is actually a descendant of one of the emperors of Japan. Her father moved around the world for work, and she lived the first few years of her life in San Francisco. The family returned to Japan, before moving on to New York, Hanoi and back to Japan just before WWII, in time to live through the great fire-bombing of Tokyo in 1945. Immediately after the war the family was far from prosperous. While Yoko’s father was being held in a prison camp in Vietnam, her mother had to resort to begging and bartering to feed her children. When her father was repatriated, life started to return to normal and Yoko was able to attend university. She was the first woman to be accepted into the philosophy program of Gakushuin University.
20. Foot of verse : IAMB
I remember hearing my English teacher drone on about iambic pentameter, but I understood none of it. I would have paid attention if I had known I needed it for my crosswords forty years later! In English poetry, an iamb is a metrical foot in a verse, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (sort of da-DUM). String five of them together and you have iambic pentameter (da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM). Iambic pentameter is very common in Shakespeare’s work in particular:
35. Basketball’s Alcindor : LEW
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name at birth was Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor. He changed his name when he converted to Islam.
36. Line to Penn Sta. : LIRR
The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) is the commuter rail service that runs all over Long Island, New York, with 124 stations and 700 miles of track. More people use the LIRR than any other commuter railroad in the US. It is also the only commuter railroad in the country that operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
37. Sandwich shop staple, in brief : BLT
The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.
42. Fayetteville campus, briefly : U OF A
The University of Arkansas is located in Fayetteville. It was founded in 1871 as the Arkansas Industrial University.
45. “Duck, duck” follower : GOOSE
“Duck, Duck, Goose” is a kid’s game, and not one that I’d heard of to be honest.
49. “The King and I” actress : KERR
The lovely Deborah Kerr was a Scottish actress who made a real name for herself on the American stage and in Hollywood movies. Despite all her success, and six nominations for a Best Actress Oscar, she never actually won an Academy Award. In 1967 she appeared in the James Bond film “Casino Royale” at the age of 46, the oldest Bond Girl of all time.
“The King and I” is a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical based on a book by Margaret Landon called “Anna and the King of Siam”, first published in 1944. Landon’s book is based on a true story, told in the memoirs of Anna Leonowens. Leonowens was the governess of the children of King Mongkut of Siam in the 1860s, and she also taught the King’s wives.
50. 1998 Spike Lee joint : HE GOT GAME
“He Got Game” is a movie written and directed by Spike Lee, released in 1998. It is a sports drama about a high school basketball player, with a father in prison played by Denzel Washington.
56. Trojan’s sch. : USC
The athletic teams of the University of Southern California are called the USC Trojans. The women’s teams are also called the Trojans, but are sometimes referred to as Women of Troy.
57. South African money : RAND
The Rand is the currency of South Africa. Much of South Africa’s famed gold comes from mines around Johannesburg in the Witwatersrand (Afrikaans for “the ridge of white waters”). The Rand currency takes its name from this ridge.
60. Popular daytime talk show : MARTHA
“Martha” is a weekday talk show hosted by Martha Stewart. If you want to see it, it’s on the Hallmark Channel.
67. Election Day no. : PCT
Percent.
70. “___, though I walk …” : YEA
Psalm 23 from the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament is oft quoted even without its religious context. One version of the full text of verse 4 is:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Down
1. David who sang “Let’s Dance” : BOWIE
David Bowie’s great hit “Let’s Dance” was released in 1983, his only record to make it to number one on both sides of the Atlantic.
2. Either “Paper Moon” co-star : O’NEAL
Father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O’Neal starred in the 1973 comedy “Paper Moon”.
Actor Ryan O’Neal got his big break in the sixties on television. He appeared in the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place”, opposite fellow newcomer Mia Farrow. Then in 1970 he landed a starring role in the hit movie “Love Story”, which established him in Hollywood.
Tatum O’Neal was the youngest actress to win a “competitive” Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10, for her role in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was given an honorary Oscar in 1934.
5. Drinks for Chaucer’s Miller : ALES
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author. He is often referred to as the father of English literature because he established vernacular English as a legitimate language for artistic works, as up to that point authors used French or Latin. Chaucer’s most famous work is actually unfinished, a collection of stories called “The Canterbury Tales”, all written at the end of the 14th century.
8. Frat. counterpart : SOR
Fraternity and sorority.
18. “Dancing With the Stars” airer : ABC TV
When I was growing up in the British Isles, there was a surprisingly popular BBC television show featuring professional ballroom dancing called “Come Dancing”. It ran almost every year from 1949 to 1998, and in 2004 the BBC resurrected it with a new twist, adding celebrities to dance with the professionals. The new show, “Strictly Come Dancing” is a huge success, and has become a worldwide franchise. Over here we watch the American spin-off called “Dancing with the Stars”. It really is fun television …
27. Like Enya’s music : NEW AGE
The New Age Movement is a western philosophy with roots that date back to the early 1800s. The movement focuses on achieving the highest human potential as an individual and embraces many traditionally eastern spiritual practices, but eschews all religious doctrines. New Age music is composed with the intent of supporting this philosophy. It tends to be very minimalistic, very tonal and harmonic. It is often used as a backdrop for relaxation or meditation.
Enya’s real name is Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin, which can translate from the Irish into Enya Brennan. Her Donegal family (in the northwest of Ireland) formed a band called Clannad, which included Enya. In 1980 Enya launched her very successful solo career. She sure does turn up a lot in crosswords!
29. Sticker inits. : MSRP
The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price.
31. Ancient Chinese divination book : I CHING
The “I Ching” is an ancient Chinese text dating back to the 2nd millennium BC. The text deals with aspects of cosmology and divination, and perhaps served as a guide for making predictions of the future.
35. Caustic substance : LYE
When we purchase what is labelled as “lye” today, it is caustic soda (sodium hydroxide). To clean out drains we might buy Crystal Drano which is sodium hydroxide (lye) mixed with sodium nitrate, sodium chloride (table salt) and aluminum. The contents of Drano work in concert to clear the clog. The lye reacts with any fats creating soap which may be enough to break up the clog. Also, the finely divided aluminum reacts with water creating tremendous heat so that that mixture boils and churns, then any hair or fibers are cut by the sharp edges of the nitrate and chloride crystals. Having said all that, I find that boiling water poured down the drain almost always does the job …
37. Outback : BUSH
In Australia, the land outside of urban area is referred to as “the outback” or “the bush”. Although, I think that “outback” can also be used for the more remote parts of the bush.
39. “J. ___,” 2011 film : EDGAR
“J. Edgar” is a 2011 film directed by Clint Eastwood that deals with much of the adult life of former FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role. I haven’t seen it yet, but it is on my list …
40. Part of N.Y.S.E. : YORK
The roots of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) go back to 1792 when a group of 24 stock brokers set up the New York Stock & Exchange Board. They did so in an agreement signed under a buttonwood tree outside 68 Wall Street. That document became known as the Buttonwood Agreement.
49. Obi-Wan ___ : KENOBI
Obi-Wan Kenobi is one of the more beloved of the “Star Wars” characters. Kenobi was portrayed by two fabulous actors in the series of films. As a young man he is played by Scottish actor Ewan McGregor, and as an older man he is played by Alec Guinness.
51. One called “hizzoner” : MAYOR
“Hizzoner” is a derivative from “his honor” that has been around since the late 19th century.
55. Dirt spreader : YENTA
Yenta (Yente) is actually a female Yiddish name. In Yiddish theater it came to mean a busybody.
60. Painter’s deg. : MFA
Master of Fine Arts.
61. Switz. neighbor : AUS
The name “Austria” is a Latin variant of the German name for the country, “Österreich”. “Österreich” itself means “Eastern borderlands”, a reference to the country’s history as a prefecture of neighboring Bavaria.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Some jazz : BOP
4. Opposite of alta : BAJA
8. Involuntary jerks : SPASMS
14. Singer with a negative-sounding name : ONO
15. Bunches : A LOT
16. Been-there-done-that : OLD HAT
17. Shout upon reaching a destination : WE MADE IT
19. Fix : REMEDY
20. Foot of verse : IAMB
21. Salon sound : SNIP
23. Give a hand : AID
24. Vote in : ELECT
26. “Wouldn’t that be nice” : I CAN DREAM
30. Exact look-alike : TWIN
32. Backs up another time, as computer data : RESAVES
33. Kind of duty or center : CIVIC
35. Basketball’s Alcindor : LEW
36. Line to Penn Sta. : LIRR
37. Sandwich shop staple, in brief : BLT
38. Intro to many an adage : THEY SAY
41. “Don’t gimme no ___!” : LIP
42. Fayetteville campus, briefly : U OF A
44. Suffix with brom- : -IDE
45. “Duck, duck” follower : GOOSE
47. Taking potshots (at) : SNIPING
49. “The King and I” actress : KERR
50. 1998 Spike Lee joint : HE GOT GAME
52. When doubled, displaying affection, informally : KISSY
56. Trojan’s sch. : USC
57. South African money : RAND
59. “Can’t help ya!” : NOPE
60. Popular daytime talk show : MARTHA
63. “Well, look who’s back!” : YOU AGAIN
65. Powered : FUELED
66. Follow : OBEY
67. Election Day no. : PCT
68. Size up : ASSESS
69. Baby naming, e.g. : RITE
70. “___, though I walk …” : YEA
Down
1. David who sang “Let’s Dance” : BOWIE
2. Either “Paper Moon” co-star : O’NEAL
3. French apple : POMME
4. Scolding word to a dog : BAD
5. Drinks for Chaucer’s Miller : ALES
6. Add one’s voice to others : JOIN IN
7. Dusty room, often : ATTIC
8. Frat. counterpart : SOR
9. Files a complaint, say : PLEADS
10. Four- or five-star officer : ADMIRAL
11. Wicked women : SHE-DEVILS
12. Foaming at the mouth : MAD
13. Pig’s place : STY
18. “Dancing With the Stars” airer : ABC TV
22. Whittles (down) : PARES
25. Knucklehead : TWIT
27. Like Enya’s music : NEW AGE
28. Where eagles dare? : AERIE
29. Sticker inits. : MSRP
31. Ancient Chinese divination book : I CHING
33. Exact look-alike : CLONE
34. “Just my luck” : IT FIGURES
35. Caustic substance : LYE
37. Outback : BUSH
39. “J. ___,” 2011 film : EDGAR
40. Part of N.Y.S.E. : YORK
43. One of 12 in the New Testament : APOSTLE
46. Circular gasket : O-RING
48. Yens : ITCHES
49. Obi-Wan ___ : KENOBI
51. One called “hizzoner” : MAYOR
53. Covered with suds : SOAPY
54. Flavor enhancer : SPICE
55. Dirt spreader : YENTA
58. Piece played by a pair : DUET
60. Painter’s deg. : MFA
61. Switz. neighbor : AUS
62. Side jobs for actors : ADS
64. Agreement with the captain : AYE
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