1218-11: New York Times Crossword Answers 18 Dec 11, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
1. Natives of the land known as Aotearoa : MAORI
Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand.

The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. They are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting some time in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing the mortal human being from spiritual entities.

6. One with eyes for a cook? : SPUD
The term “spud” used as a slang term for a potato was first recorded in the mid-1800s, in New Zealand would you believe?

22. Dislike of the son of Mary, Queen of Scots? : KING JAMES (A)VERSION
King James VI of Scotland came to power when he was just 13 months old as his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate after an uprising. Almost 40 years later he became King James I of England and Ireland when Queen Elizabeth I passed away without issue. That marked the end of the Tudor era and the beginning of the Stuart reign in England.

In 1604 King James I of England convened a conference at Hampton Court in order produce a new translation of the Bible as the Puritan sect within the church had problems with prior versions. 47 scholars made new translations for the New Testament from Greek and from the Old Testament from Hebrew. The result is the King James Authorized Version.

25. Prefix with bar : ISO-
An isobar is a line on a weather map connecting points of equal barometric pressure.

30. Suffragist Carrie Chapman ___ : CATT
Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. She was also very close to Susan B. Anthony and succeeded Anthony as head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

33. March sisters’ creator : ALCOTT
“Little Women” is of course a novel written by American author Louisa May Alcott. The quartet of little women is made up of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March. Jo is a tomboy and the main character in the story and is based on Alcott herself.

41. Southwest natives : ZUNIS
The Zuni are one of the Pueblo peoples. They live on the Zuni River in western New Mexico, a tributary of the Little Colorado River.

54. First Arab country to have sanctions imposed on it by the Arab League : SYRIA
The Arab League was formed in 1945 in Cairo, with six founding members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria. As a result of events during the 2011 Arab Spring, the Arab League suspended Syria’s membership.

56. Poet Pablo : NERUDA
Pablo Neruda was the pen name, and eventually the legal name, used by Chilean writer Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto. He chose the name as a homage to Czech poet Jan Neruda.

57. Radioactivity unit : CURIE
The curie is a unit of radioactivity, named after Marie and Pierre Curie.

62. Golf cup name : RYDER
The Ryder Cup trophy was donated to golf by Samuel Ryder, an English entrepreneur. Ryder made his money selling garden seeds in small packets. He only took up golf in his fifties but became quite the enthusiast, eventually donating the trophy in 1927, when it was valued at 100 guineas.

70. Things may be picked up with this : ESP
Extra Sensory Perception.

78. Catholic university in Philly : ST JOE’S
Saint Joseph’s University is a private Roman Catholic Jesuit school in Philadelphia. The college was founded in 1851, making it one of the oldest Jesuit schools in the country.

80. County on one side of the Golden Gate Bridge : MARIN
When you leave the city of San Francisco via the famous Golden Gate Bridge, you cross into Marin County.

87. What sweaty dancers create at an annual awards show? : TONY (A)ROMAS
Tony Roma’s is a chain of restaurants specializing in baby back ribs. The chain uses the motto “Famous for Ribs”.

92. Jewish mourning period : SHIVA
The Hindu Trinity is composed of Brahma the creator, Vishnu the maintainer or preserver, and Shiva (also Siva) the destroyer or transformer. Shiva is a Sanskrit word meaning “auspicious, kind, gracious”.

93. Dwarf with a purple hat : DOPEY
In the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale “Snow White”, the seven dwarfs were not given any names. The names were added for the 1937 classic animated film from Walt Disney called “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. The seven dwarfs are:

– Doc (the leader of the group)
– Grumpy (that would be me, according to my wife …)
– Happy
– Sleepy
– Bashful
– Sneezy
– Dopey

94. Arm part : ULNA
The radius and ulna are bones in the forearm. If you hold the palm of your hand up in front of you, the radius is the bone on the “thumb-side” of the arm, and the ulna is the bone on the “pinkie-side”.

109. Lunch inits. : BLT
The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

116. What black holes swallow to bulk up? : ANABOLIC (A)STEROIDS
A black hole in space is a region that is extremely dense and one that has an enormous gravitational field. The force of gravity is so great that not even light can escape, so all that can be observed is “blackness” giving the phenomenon the name of “black hole”. It is believed that black holes form when large stars reach the end of their lives and collapse in upon themselves.

119. “Horatio, thou art ___ as just a man …” : E’EN
“Horatio, thou art e’en as just a man” is a line from the third act of Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.

Horatio is a character in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, a friend of the play’s hero and a relatively uninterested party in the intrigue that make up the storyline. As a trusted friend, Horatio serves as a sounding board for Hamlet, allowing us in the audience to gain more insight into Hamlet’s thinking and character as we listen to the two in conversation.

122. Former Red Sox star Garciaparra : NOMAR
Nomar Garciaparra is one of only thirteen players to have hit two grand slams during a single game in the Majors. He accomplished the feat in 1999 for the Boston Red Sox against the Seattle Mariners.

124. Utopias : EDENS
According to the Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve lived in a garden “in” Eden, with Eden being geographically located by reference to four rivers, including the Tigris and the Euphrates. Some scholars hypothesize that Eden was located in Mesopotamia, which encompasses much of modern-day Iraq.

The word Utopia was invented by Sir Thomas More for his book “Utopia” published in 1516, describing an idyllic fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. More’s use of the name Utopia comes from the Greek “ou” meaning “not” and “topos” meaning “place”. By calling his perfect island “Not Place”, More was apparently making the point that he didn’t think that the ideal could actually exist.

125. Mai ___ (drinks) : TAIS
The Mai Tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but it was supposedly invented in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California in 1944. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts Orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice, and then a float of 6 parts dark rum.

Down
7. University of ___, where Andrea Bocelli earned a law degree : PISA
Andrea Bocelli is a classically-trained tenor who sings popular music, a so-called cross-over artist. He was born with poor eyesight and then became totally blind at the age of 12 when he had an accident playing soccer.

13. Material in old mah-jongg sets : IVORY
“Mahjong” (also mahjongg and mah-jongg) is the Chinese word for “sparrow”. Mahjong is a game that originated in China, and is usually played by four players. There is a myth that the game was developed by the Chinese philosopher, Confucius. The myth also suggests that Confucius was fond of birds, and hence chose the name “sparrow”.

17. Brit’s bumbershoot : BROLLY
A bumbershoot is an umbrella, a word derived from “umbrella” and “parachute”.

24. Shore bird : ERNE
The ern (sometimes “erne”) is also called the white-tailed eagle and the sea-eagle.

29. Some terra cotta : POTTERY
The name “terra cotta” comes to us from Latin via Italian and means “baked earth”. Terra cotta is a ceramic made from clay which is left unglazed. Maybe the most famous work in terra cotta is the Terracotta Army, the enormous collection of life-size figures that was buried with the Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China around 210 BC. I had the privilege of seeing some of this collection when it toured the US a few years ago, and just the few pieces on display were so very impressive.

34. What rakes may do : LEER
A “rake” (short for “rakehell”) is defined as a man who is habituated to immoral conduct (isn’t it always the man??!!). The rake is a character who turns up frequently in novels and films, only interested in wine, women and song, and not accepting the responsibilities of life. Good examples would be Wickham in Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” and Daniel Cleaver (the Hugh Grant part) in the movie “Bridget Jones’s Diary”. “Rake” comes from the Old Norse “reikall”, meaning “a vagrant or a wanderer”.

41. Marx Brothers, e.g. : ZANIES
The five Marx Brothers were born to “Minnie” and “Frenchy” Marx in New York City. The more famous older boys were Chico, Harpo and Groucho. The youngest brother, Zeppo, appeared in the early Marx Brothers movies, but the fifth son, Gummo, he went off to pursue his own career off the stage.

43. Yahoo! alternative : MSN
MSN was originally called The Microsoft Network, introduced in 1995 as an integral part of Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system. MSN is a whole bundle of services including email, instant messaging, and the MSN.com portal (the 9th most visited site on the Internet).

44. FEMA part: Abbr. : EMER
Federal emergency management has been structured for over 200 years, but what we know today as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in 1979 in an Executive Order issued by President Jimmy Carter.

46. The Tigers of the N.C.A.A. : LSU
LSU’s full name is Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College.

47. Tombstone figure : EARP
The famous Earp brothers of the Wild West were Wyatt, Virgil and Morgan. All three brothers participated in what has to be the most famous gunfight in the history of the Old West, the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona. Strangely enough, the fight didn’t happen at the O.K. Corral, but took place six doors down the street in a vacant lot next to a photography studio.

48. 2000 musical with the song “Every Story Is a Love Story” : AIDA
“Aida” the rock musical is based on Giuseppe Verdi’s original opera. It premiered in 1998, and is still performed today. Music is by Elton John, and lyrics by Tim Rice.

49. Singer Anthony : MARC
Marc Anthony is the stage name of Marco Antonio Muñiz, a Puerto Rican-American singer. Anthony has a musically-adept spouse … Jennifer Lopez.

51. 13th, at times : IDES
There were three important days in each month of the old Roman calendar. These days originally depended on the cycles of the moon but were eventually “fixed” by law. “Kalendae” were the first days of each month, originally the days of the new moon. “Nonae” were originally the days of the half moon. And “idus” (the ides) was originally the day of the full moon, eventually fixed as the 15th day of the month. Well, actually the ides were the 15th day of March, May, July and October. For all other months, the ides fell on the 13th. Go figure …

52. 40 million-member org. founded in 1958 : AARP
AARP is the official name now for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

58. Cleanup org. : EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

64. “For ___ us a child …” : UNTO
“Unto us a son is given”, are words from Handel’s “Messiah”, actually from the book of Isaiah: “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.”

George Frideric Handel was the King of the oratorio. His most famous oratorio, “Messiah” was actually performed first in Dublin, Ireland, back in 1742.

65. Rembrandt van ___ : RIJN
The celebrated Dutch painter’s full name was Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (sometimes Ryn). He is perhaps most appreciated for his portraits, and left the world a remarkable collection of self-portraits.

67. Shoe named for a cat : PUMA
Puma is a German company that sells athletic shoes worldwide, but is famous for soccer boots.

69. Romance novelist Roberts : NORA
Nora Roberts is a very successful author who has written over 165 romance novels. She writes under a number of pen names: J.D. Robb, Jill March and Sarah Hardesty.

79. Title of veneration : SRI
“Sri” is a title of respect for a male in India.

81. Justin Bieber and others : IDOLS
I saw Justin Bieber on television not too long ago for the first time, and boy do I feel old. This heartthrob from Canada was born in 1994(!), and he is recording hit after hit record. Me, I’ll stick with the Beatles …

84. Newsman Marvin or Bernard : KALB
Marvin Kalb is a journalist most famous for his 30-year stint reporting for CBS and NBC News. Kalb was the last person to be recruited by journalism icon Edward R. Murrow.

Bernard Kalb is a journalist who specialized in covering international affairs. A native of New York City, for much of his working life he was based abroad, in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Paris and Saigon. Bernard Kalb is the older brother of fellow journalist Marvin Kalb.

85. Cube creator Rubik : ERNO
What was originally called the “Magic Cube” became better known as the Rubik’s Cube, named for its inventor Ernő Rubik. It is the world’s biggest selling puzzle game, with over 350 million sold in just over 30 years.

86. When Juno and Gold Beach were assaulted : D-DAY
The most famous D-Day in history was June 6, 1944, the date of the Normandy landings in WWII. The term “D-Day” is used in the military to designate the day on which a combat operation is to be launched, especially when the actual date has yet to be determined. What D stands for seems to have been lost in the mists of time although the tradition is that it just stands for “Day”. In fact, the French have a similar term, “Jour J” (Day J), with a similar meaning. We also use H-Hour to denote the hour the attack is to commence.

The Normandy landings on D-Day in 1944 took place along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno and Sword. The worst fighting by far took place on Omaha Beach, a sector assigned to the US Army that was transported by elements of the US Navy and the Royal Navy.

97. Prepares a bow, with “up” : ROSINS
Rosin is a solid form of resin derived from plant sources. Rosin is formed into cakes that players of stringed instruments use to rub along the hairs of their bows to help improve sound quality.

100. Casting locale : MILL
Metal is cast in steel mills.

104. Writer Zora ___ Hurston : NEALE
Zora Neale Hurston was an American author, most famous for her 1937 novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. Like the author, the main character in the novel is an African American woman, a part played by Halle Berry in a television movie adaption that first aired in 2005.

105. Like much of Fire Island’s shore : DUNED
Fire Island is a barrier island on the south shore of Long Island, New York.

110. Foe in the first Indiana Jones film : NAZI
“Raiders of the Lost Ark” is, in my humble opinion, the best of the Indiana Jones franchise of movies. This first Indiana Jones film was released in 1981, produced by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg. Harrison Ford was Spielberg’s first choice to play the lead, but Lucas resisted as he was concerned that he would be too closely associated with the actor (as Ford played Han Solo in “Star Wars”, and also appeared in Lucas’s “American Graffiti”). Tom Selleck was offered the role but he couldn’t get out of his commitments to “Magnum, P.I.” Eventually Spielberg got his way and Ford was hired, a good thing I say …

113. Dutch cheese town : EDAM
One cheese that is recognized by its coating is Edam. Edam cheese takes the name after the Dutch town of Edam in North Holland. It is famous for its coating of red paraffin wax, a layer of protection that helps it travel well and prevents spoiling. You might occasionally come across an Edam cheese that is coated in black wax. This means that the underlying cheese has been aged for a minimum of 17 weeks.

114. Car sticker letters : MSRP
The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price.

118. “Three Days of the Condor” org. : CIA
I haven’t read the novel “Six Days of the Condor” by James Grady, but the 1975 movie adaptation, called “Three Days of the Condor”, is an excellent thriller. It stars Robert Redford as a relatively low-level CIA employee who gets caught up in agency politics and murders. Grady wrote a follow-up novel that was published in 1978 called “Shadow of the Condor”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Natives of the land known as Aotearoa : MAORI
6. One with eyes for a cook? : SPUD
10. Implied : TACIT
15. Silken construction : WEB
18. Pasty : ASHEN
19. Share a view : OPINE
20. Split : HALVE
21. Plant’s grain-bearing part : EAR
22. Dislike of the son of Mary, Queen of Scots? : KING JAMES (A)VERSION
25. Prefix with bar : ISO-
26. It’s hard to understand : ESOTERICA
27. Heavy metal rock? : ORE
28. Springtime calendar hunk : MR APRIL
30. Suffragist Carrie Chapman ___ : CATT
31. Catwalk no-show? : RUN(A)WAY MODEL
33. March sisters’ creator : ALCOTT
37. Threatened ferociously : ROARED AT
39. Conservative : TORY
40. Take the plunge : LEAP
41. Southwest natives : ZUNIS
42. “No introduction needed” phrase : WE MET
45. Soft-spoken prayer ending? : GENTLE (A)MEN
48. Build a publishing empire? : (A)MASS MEDIA
53. Mosaicist, e.g. : ARTISAN
54. First Arab country to have sanctions imposed on it by the Arab League : SYRIA
56. Poet Pablo : NERUDA
57. Radioactivity unit : CURIE
59. Mag space seller, e.g. : AD REP
62. Golf cup name : RYDER
63. Not just my : OUR
66. Practical joke used on squirrels? : PEPPER (A)CORN
70. Things may be picked up with this : ESP
71. Cohesion : UNITY
74. Brown, maybe : SAUTE
75. Highlighter colors, often : NEONS
78. Catholic university in Philly : ST JOE’S
80. County on one side of the Golden Gate Bridge : MARIN
83. Hauled, in a way : TRUCKED
87. What sweaty dancers create at an annual awards show? : TONY (A)ROMAS
90. Rush to get on the train? : DART (A)BOARD
92. Jewish mourning period : SHIVA
93. Dwarf with a purple hat : DOPEY
94. Arm part : ULNA
95. Mein ___ : HERR
98. Like some cookware : ENAMELED
101. “Lumber” collector in a park : BATBOY
103. Where worms don’t last long? : (A)ROUND ROBINS
106. It’s found between the shoulders : ROAD
108. Rubber man? : MASSEUR
109. Lunch inits. : BLT
110. “Consider it done!” : NO PROBLEM
115. Air pump setting: Abbr. : PSI
116. What black holes swallow to bulk up? : ANABOLIC (A)STEROIDS
119. “Horatio, thou art ___ as just a man …” : E’EN
120. “___ ride” : LET IT
121. 10E and 40 long, e.g. : SIZES
122. Former Red Sox star Garciaparra : NOMAR
123. Lines with crossings: Abbr. : RRS
124. Utopias : EDENS
125. Mai ___ (drinks) : TAIS
126. Purchase that’s canceled : STAMP

Down
1. Fashion : MAKE
2. “No guarantees” : AS IS
3. “Yikes!” : OH NO
4. Mil. unit below a division : REGT
5. Give a shot : INJECT
6. A to Z, e.g. : SPECTRUM
7. University of ___, where Andrea Bocelli earned a law degree : PISA
8. Italian article : UNA
9. Engulfs : DEVOURS
10. It may get stuck in an eye : THREAD
11. Small batteries : AAS
12. Desert and rain forest : CLIMATES
13. Material in old mah-jongg sets : IVORY
14. Common break hour : TEN AM
15. Kook : WEIRDO
16. Less stressful : EASIER
17. Brit’s bumbershoot : BROLLY
19. Neglect : OMIT
23. Trapped like ___ : A RAT
24. Shore bird : ERNE
29. Some terra cotta : POTTERY
31. Precipitating : RAINY
32. Drink for a toddler : WAWA
33. Unwanted swimming pool bit : ALGA
34. What rakes may do : LEER
35. Tilt : CANT
36. Kind of disc : OPTIC
38. Unidentified people : ONES
41. Marx Brothers, e.g. : ZANIES
43. Yahoo! alternative : MSN
44. FEMA part: Abbr. : EMER
46. The Tigers of the N.C.A.A. : LSU
47. Tombstone figure : EARP
48. 2000 musical with the song “Every Story Is a Love Story” : AIDA
49. Singer Anthony : MARC
50. Bro : DUDE
51. 13th, at times : IDES
52. 40 million-member org. founded in 1958 : AARP
55. Not so prevalent : RARER
58. Cleanup org. : EPA
60. Gigayear : EON
61. Fairly : PRETTY
63. Unseat : OUST
64. “For ___ us a child …” : UNTO
65. Rembrandt van ___ : RIJN
67. Shoe named for a cat : PUMA
68. LAX data : ETAS
69. Romance novelist Roberts : NORA
72. Geoffrey the Giraffe’s store : TOYS “R” US
73. “I suppose so” : YEAH
76. Core : NUB
77. Paid sports spectator : SCOUT
79. Title of veneration : SRI
81. Justin Bieber and others : IDOLS
82. Ponytail locale : NAPE
84. Newsman Marvin or Bernard : KALB
85. Cube creator Rubik : ERNO
86. When Juno and Gold Beach were assaulted : D-DAY
88. Think too much of : OVERRATE
89. “Look ___ hands!” : MA, NO
91. They’re often sold by the dozen : RED ROSES
93. One who works with canines : DENTIST
95. Hold back : HAMPER
96. It gets the lead out : ERASER
97. Prepares a bow, with “up” : ROSINS
99. Monastery heads : ABBOTS
100. Casting locale : MILL
101. Naked : BARE
102. Festoons : ADORNS
104. Writer Zora ___ Hurston : NEALE
105. Like much of Fire Island’s shore : DUNED
107. Decides : OPTS
110. Foe in the first Indiana Jones film : NAZI
111. Unseat : BOOT
112. Certain bean : LIMA
113. Dutch cheese town : EDAM
114. Car sticker letters : MSRP
117. Coal container : BIN
118. “Three Days of the Condor” org. : CIA
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