0102-12: New York Times Crossword Answers 2 Jan 12, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
1. Peaks of Peru : ANDES
The Andes is the longest continuous chain of mountains in the world, running right down the length of the west coast of South America for about 4,300 miles. The highest peak in the range is Mt. Aconcagua, at an elevation of 22,841 feet. Interestingly, the peak of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest point on the Earth’s surface from the center of the planet, because of the equatorial “bulge” around the planet’s “waist”.

Peru’s name comes from the word “Biru”. Back in the early 1500s, Biru was a ruler living near the Bay of San Miguel in Panama. The territory over which Biru ruled was the furthest land south in the Americas known to Europeans at that time. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro was the first European to move south of Biru’s empire and the land that he found was designated “Peru”, a derivative of “Biru”.

16. Like Odin and Thor : NORSE
In Norse mythology, Odin was the chief of the gods. His wife, Frigg, was the queen of Asgard and the deity that gave us our English term Friday (via Anglo-Saxon). Odin’s son was Thor, and he gave us the name Thursday.

20. Mascara coats it : LASH
Variations of mascara have been around a long time, and certainly there was a similar substance in use in Ancient Egypt.

22. Bollywood wraps : SARIS
A sari (also saree) is a strip of cloth, as one might imagine, unusual perhaps in that is unstitched along the whole of its length. It can range from four to nine meters long (that’s a lot of material!). The sari is usually wrapped around the waist, then draped over the shoulder leaving the midriff bare. I must say, it can be a beautiful item of clothing.

Bollywood is an informal name given to the huge film industry based in Mumbai in India. The term “Bollywood” is a melding of “Bombay”, the old name for Mumbai, and of course Hollywood.

23. Submit a tax return via computer : E-FILE
E-file: that’s what I do with my tax returns each year. I saved myself a fortune by saying a polite “goodbye” to my tax accountant five years ago and trusting Turbotax instead.

28. FedEx competitor : UPS
United Parcel Service (UPS) is based in Sandy Springs, Georgia and has its own airline that operates out of Louisville, Kentucky.

FedEx began operations in 1973 as Federal Express, but now operates very successfully under it’s more catchy abbreviated name. Headquartered in Memphis with its “SuperHub” at Memphis International Airport, FedEx is the world’s largest airline in terms of tons of freight flown. And, due to the presence of FedEx, Memphis Airport has the largest-volume cargo operation of any airport worldwide.

29. Bowler’s assignment : LANE
Bowling has been around for an awfully long time. The oldest known reference to the game is in Egypt, where pins and balls were found in an ancient tomb that is over 5,000 years old. The first form of the game to come to America was nine-pin bowling, which had been very popular in Europe for centuries. In 1841 in Connecticut, nine-pin bowling was banned due to its association with gambling. Supposedly, an additional pin was added to get around the ban, and ten-pin bowling was born.

36. “___ Croft: Tomb Raider” : LARA
Lara Croft was first introduced to the world as the main character in a pretty cool video game (I thought) called “Tomb Raider”, back in 1996. Lara Croft then moved to the big screen in 2001 and 2003, in two pretty awful movie adaptations of the game’s storyline. Angelina Jolie played Croft, and she did a very energetic job.

40. Pulitzer-winning 1920 Eugene O’Neill play : BEYOND THE HORIZON
The 1920 play “Beyond the Horizon” was the first full-length work from playwright Eugene O’Neill. The play was received very well, and won O’Neill the 1920 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Eugene O’Neill was born in a hotel room in what is now called Times Square, in New York City in 1888. That building no longer exists and there is a Starbucks on the site today, but you can go take a look at the commemorative plaque at the Northeast corner of 43rd and Broadway. O’Neill died in 1953, in room 401 of the Sheraton Hotel on Bay State Road in Boston. His last words were, “I knew it. I knew it. Born in a hotel room, and God damn it, died in a hotel room.”

44. Verdi aria : ERI TU
The aria “Eri tu” is from Verdi’s opera “Un ballo in maschera” (A Masked Ball). The opera tells the story of the assassination of King Gustav III of Sweden during a masked ball.

57. Bygone Italian coins : LIRAS
The name “lira” is used in a number of countries for currency. It comes from the Latin word for a pound and is derived from a British pound sterling, the value of a Troy pound of silver. The lira (plural “lire”) was the currency of choice in Italy before the change was made to the euro.

58. One providing nonmedical support for a woman in labor : DOULA
A doula is a person who provides non-medical support for women and their families during childbirth as well as in the period immediately following the arrival. The term “doula” comes from the Ancient Greek word “doule” which means “female slave”. Given such a negative association, “doula” is often dropped in favor of “labor companion” or “birthworker”.

59. ___ culpa : MEA
Roman Catholics are very familiar with the Latin phrase “mea culpa” meaning “my fault”, as it is used in the Latin Mass. The additional term “mea maxima culpa” would translate as “my most grievous fault”.

61. Some boxing results, for short : TKOS
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter, or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

65. “___ Man” (Emilio Estevez film) : REPO
“Repo Man” is a 1984 movie starring Emilio Estevez. It’s about a punk rocker who goes to work as a repo man, and there are lots of car chases. It has become a cult classic, although it doesn’t sound like my cup of tea …

Emilio Estevez is one of the members of the famous “Brat Pack”, having appeared in “The Breakfast Club” and “St. Elmo’s Fire”. Estevez’s father (and can’t you tell it from looking at him?) is actor Martin Sheen. Estevez decided to keep his father’s real name, and not his stage name of “Sheen”. Charlie Sheen is Emilio’s brother, and Charlie’s real name is Carlos Estevez.

67. Human trunk : TORSO
“Torso” is an Italian word meaning the “trunk of a statue”, which we imported into English.

68. The second “A” in N.C.A.A.: Abbr. : ASSN
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) dates back to the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. When President Roosevelt’s son broke his nose playing football at Harvard, Roosevelt turned his attention to the number of serious injuries and even deaths occurring in college sports. He instigated meetings between the major educational institutions, leading to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906 that was given the remit of regulating college sports. The IAAUS evolved into the NCAA in 1910.

69. Chili con ___ : CARNE
The full name for the dish that is often called simply “chili” is chili con carne, Spanish for “peppers with meat”. The dish was invented by immigrants from the Spanish Canary Islands in the city of San Antonio, Texas (a city which the islanders founded). The San Antonio Chili Stand was a popular attraction at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and that stand introduced the dish to the rest of America and to the world.

Down
2. Skin care brand : NIVEA
Nivea is a brand name of skin-care products from Germany. The Latin word “nivea” means “snow-white”.

6. Mortimer voiced by Edgar Bergen : SNERD
Ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s most famous character was Charlie McCarthy, but he also worked with Mortimer Snerd.

9. Broadband inits. : DSL
DSL originally stood for Digital Subscriber Loop, but is now accepted to mean (Asymmetric) Digital Subscriber Line. DSL is the technology that allows Internet service be delivered down the same telephone line as voice service, by separating the two into different frequency signals.

12. With full force : AMAIN
“Amain” is an old term meaning at great speed, or of great strength.

13. Smooth cotton fabric : LISLE
Lisle is a cotton fabric that has been through an extra process at the end of its manufacture that burns off lint and the ends of fibers leaving the fabric very smooth and with a clean edge.

19. Brinker on skates : HANS
“Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates” is a children’s novel written by American author Mary Mapes Dodge, first published in 1865. The novel is famous for introducing a story, told with within the novel’s own storyline, the tale of the little Dutch boy who put his finger in the leaking dike. I always thought the tale of the boy and the dike was a Dutch legend but no, it was the literary invention of Mary Mapes Dodge …

26. Statesman Root : ELIHU
Elihu Root was an American statesman, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1912 for his diplomatic work that brought “nations together through arbitration and cooperation”.

27. Ancient Rome’s ___ the Elder : CATO
Cato the Elder was a Roman statesman, known historically as “the elder” in order to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger. His ultimate position within Roman society was that of Censor, making him responsible for maintaining the census, and for supervising public morality.

30. Diane Sawyer’s network : ABC
Diana Sawyer is the anchor of ABC’s news program, “ABC World News”. Sawyer started her career in the Nixon White House where she was hired by the Press Secretary at the time, Ron Ziegler. She worked with Nixon to help him write his memoirs after he left office and helped prepare him for his famous series of television interviews with David Frost in 1977. Sawyer is married to Mike Nichols, the noted film director.

31. Aegean, e.g. : SEA
The Aegean Sea is that part of the Mediterranean that lies between Greece and Turkey. Within the Aegean Sea are found the Aegean Islands, a group that includes Crete and Rhodes.

32. Arizona senator Jon : KYL
John Kyl is the junior US Senator from Arizona (John McCain is the senior Senator, of course). Kyl is also the Senate Minority Whip. He is the son of John Henry Kyl who served as the US Representative for the State of Iowa for many years.

33. Old Detroit brewery name : STROH
Bernard Stroh was the son of a German brewer. He immigrated to the US in 1848, and set up his own brewery in 1850, in Detroit. Years later, the Stroh Brewing Company introduced a European process called fire-brewing. This results in higher temperatures at a crucial stage in the brewing process, supposedly bringing out flavor. Stroh’s is the only American beer that still uses this process. However, over the long term the company did not do well and it was acquired by Pabst in 1999. You can still buy beer that has Stroh’s on the label though.

34. ___ Beta Kappa : PHI
Phi Beta Kappa was the first collegiate Greek fraternity in the US, founded in 1776 at the College of William and Mary. The initials Phi Beta Kappa stand for “philosophia biou kybernētēs”, which translates into “philosophy is the guide of life”.

37. AIDS treatment drug : AZT
AZT is the abbreviated name for the drug azidothymidine, much used in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. AZT was originally developed in the seventies as a potential treatment for retroviruses (cancer-causing viruses), although it was never approved for use in treatment. In 1984, it was confirmed that AIDS was caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), so scientists turned to known antiviral drugs in the search for a viable treatment. Burroughs-Wellcome came up with a treatment regime using AZT, and filed a patent in 1985. The patent was challenged in court but the patent expired anyway in 2005 without any decision being made. There are now at least four generic forms of AZT approved for sale in the US.

38. ___ v. Wade : ROE
Roe v. Wade was decided in a US District Court in Texas in 1970, and reached the Supreme Court on appeal. The basic decision by the Supreme Court was that a woman’s constitutional right to privacy applied to an abortion, but that this right had to be balanced with a state’s interest in protecting an unborn child and a mother’s health. The Court further defined that the state’s interest became stronger with each trimester of a pregnancy. So, in the first trimester the woman’s right to privacy outweighed any state interest. In the second trimester the state’s interest in maternal health was deemed to be strong enough to allow state regulation of abortion for the sake of the mother. In the third trimester the viability of the fetus dictated that the state’s interest in the unborn child came into play, so states could regulate or prohibit abortions, except in cases where the mother’s life was in danger. I’m no lawyer, but that’s my understanding of the initial Supreme Court decision …

39. ___ Arbor, Mich. : ANN
Ann Arbor, Michigan was founded in 1824 by John Allen and Elisha Rumsey. Supposed they used the name “Annarbour” in recognition of stands of bur oak that were on the land they had purchased, and in recognition of their wives, both of whom were called “Ann”.

47. Form 1040 org. : IRS
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) came into being during the Civil War to raise money to cover war expenses. Prior to the introduction of income tax in 1862, the government was funded by levies on trade and property.

Form 1040 was originally created just for tax returns from 1913, 1914 and 1915, but it just will not go away …

48. Humdinger : LULU
A “lulu” or a “oner” is a remarkable person or object. The word “lulu” first appeared in an article about baseball in New Orleans back in 1886.

A “humdinger” or a “oner” is someone or something outstanding. Humdinger is American slang dating back to the early 1900s, originally used to describe a particularly attractive woman.

49. The “U” in UHF : ULTRA
The radio spectrum is divided up into bands based on frequency. So, “high band” is composed of relatively high frequency values, and “low band” of frequencies that are relatively low. FM radio falls into the band called Very High Frequency, or VHF. AM radio uses lower frequencies, and so falls into the relatively low bands of Low, Medium and High Frequency (LF, MF, and HF). Television signals use frequencies even higher than VHF, frequencies in the Ultra High Frequency band (UHF).

50. Shoes with swooshes : NIKES
Nike is the world’s leading seller of athletic shoes, based in Beaverton, Oregon just outside Portland.

I remember seeing Carolyn Davidson on the television show “I’ve Got a Secret”. Davidson created the Nike “swoosh” back in 1971 when she was a design student at Portland State. She did it as freelance work for Blue Ribbon Sports, a local company introducing a new line of athletic footwear. The “swoosh” is taken from the wing of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike. Years later, BRS changed its name to Nike, so I suppose the company should be grateful to Carolyn for both the great design, and a great company name.

53. George M. ___, “The Yankee Doodle Boy” composer : COHAN
I suppose much of what many of us know about American entertainer George M. Cohan comes from the 1942 film about his life called “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, starring Jimmy Cagney as Cohan. There is an 8-foot bronze statue of Cohan on Broadway in New York City, that was erected in 1959 at the behest of the lyricist Oscar Hammerstein.

“Yankee Doodle Dandy” is the musical biopic about the life of George M. Cohan, released in 1942. Jimmy Cagney of course plays the part of Cohan, a fitting choice as Cagney started his career as a song-and-dance man, just like Cohan. There is a palpable, patriotic feel to the film, something that is very deliberate. Production of the film was just a few days underway at the end of 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The cast and crew met soon after the attack, and resolved that their movie would be uplifting and patriotic.

54. Unconventional and then some : OUTRE
The word “outré” comes to us from French, as you might imagine, derived from the verb “outrer” meaning “to overdo, exaggerate”. “Outrer” is also the ultimate root of our word “outrage”.

55. Manicurist’s file : EMERY
Emery is a very hard type of rock that is crushed for use as an abrasive. Emery paper is made by gluing small particles of emery to paper. Emery boards are just emery paper with a cardboard backing. And emery boards are primarily used for filing nails.

56. Pee Wee of the 1940s-’50s Dodgers : REESE
Pee Wee Reese met Jackie Robinson after he was signed to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. As Reese tells the story, when he greeted Robinson it was the first time he had shaken hands with a black man. In those early days life was difficult for Robinson, and Reese made himself very visible as a friend, supporting the breaking down of racial barriers despite very vocal opposition.

62. Cul-de-___ : SAC
Even though “cul-de-sac” can indeed mean “bottom of the bag” in French, the term cul-de-sac is of English origin (the use of “cul” in French is actually quite rude). It was introduced in aristocratic circles at a time when it was considered very fashionable to speak French. Dead-end streets in France are usually signposted with just a symbol and no accompanying words, but if words are included they are “voie sans issue”, meaning “way without exit”.

63. Its capital is Boise: Abbr. : IDA
Boise, Idaho is the largest metropolitan area in the state by far. There are a number of stories pertaining to the etymology of the name “Boise”. One is that French trappers named the tree-lined river that ran through the area “la rivière boisée”, meaning “the wooded river”.

64. Boozehound : SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol, and not just foolery, in the late 1500s.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Peaks of Peru : ANDES
6. Not nice, as a comment : SNIDE
11. “Prices slashed!” event : SALE
15. One just put on the payroll : HIREE
16. Like Odin and Thor : NORSE
17. Give off : EMIT
18. Elderly, so to speak : OVER THE HILL
20. Mascara coats it : LASH
21. Vote of support : YEA
22. Bollywood wraps : SARIS
23. Submit a tax return via computer : E-FILE
24. Soon to arrive : AROUND THE CORNER
28. FedEx competitor : UPS
29. Bowler’s assignment : LANE
30. Send an invitation for : ASK TO
33. Remaining 7 and 10 pins in bowling : SPLIT
36. “___ Croft: Tomb Raider” : LARA
40. Pulitzer-winning 1920 Eugene O’Neill play : BEYOND THE HORIZON
43. Baby bovine : CALF
44. Verdi aria : ERI TU
45. All gone from one’s plate : EATEN
46. ___-Soviet relations : SINO-
48. Trio between K and O : LMN
49. Secret or illegal : UNDER THE COUNTER
57. Bygone Italian coins : LIRAS
58. One providing nonmedical support for a woman in labor : DOULA
59. ___ culpa : MEA
61. Some boxing results, for short : TKOS
62. Literal description of something that is 18-, 24-, 40- or 49-Across : SIGHT UNSEEN
65. “___ Man” (Emilio Estevez film) : REPO
66. “Please be ___ and help me” : A DEAR
67. Human trunk : TORSO
68. The second “A” in N.C.A.A.: Abbr. : ASSN
69. Chili con ___ : CARNE
70. Eyelid inflammations : STYES

Down
1. Cry to a matey : AHOY
2. Skin care brand : NIVEA
3. Gloomy, to a bard : DREAR
4. Suffix with puppet : -EER
5. Attacks vigorously : SETS UPON
6. Mortimer voiced by Edgar Bergen : SNERD
7. Like a pitcher’s perfect game : NO-HIT
8. Notre Dame’s Fighting ___ : IRISH
9. Broadband inits. : DSL
10. Reef wriggler : EEL
11. Not needing anyone’s help : SELF-RELIANT
12. With full force : AMAIN
13. Smooth cotton fabric : LISLE
14. Air up there : ETHER
19. Brinker on skates : HANS
23. Forever and a day : EON
25. Like melons in spring, e.g. : OUT OF SEASON
26. Statesman Root : ELIHU
27. Ancient Rome’s ___ the Elder : CATO
30. Diane Sawyer’s network : ABC
31. Aegean, e.g. : SEA
32. Arizona senator Jon : KYL
33. Old Detroit brewery name : STROH
34. ___ Beta Kappa : PHI
35. Tennis do-over : LET
37. AIDS treatment drug : AZT
38. ___ v. Wade : ROE
39. ___ Arbor, Mich. : ANN
41. Fender ding : DENT
42. Fabric leftovers : REMNANTS
47. Form 1040 org. : IRS
48. Humdinger : LULU
49. The “U” in UHF : ULTRA
50. Shoes with swooshes : NIKES
51. Plummets : DROPS
52. Lawn trimmer : EDGER
53. George M. ___, “The Yankee Doodle Boy” composer : COHAN
54. Unconventional and then some : OUTRE
55. Manicurist’s file : EMERY
56. Pee Wee of the 1940s-’50s Dodgers : REESE
60. Years in Mexico : ANOS
62. Cul-de-___ : SAC
63. Its capital is Boise: Abbr. : IDA
64. Boozehound : SOT

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