0625-12: New York Times Crossword Answers 25 Jun 12, Monday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. California’s ___ Woods : MUIR
Muir Woods is a National Monument located not too far from here, just north of San Francisco. It is home to enormous old growth Coast Redwood trees. The land was declared a National Monument in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The name “Muir Woods” was chosen in honor of the naturalist John Muir.

5. Equipment for deep diving : SCUBA
The SCUBA tank was of course invented by the underwater adventurer Jacques Cousteau.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau started off his career in the French Navy, aiming for a working life in aviation. Because of a car accident, he had to abandon his first career choice and instead went to sea. Famously, he invented the Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA), also called the aqualung.

10. Radio switch : AM/FM
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).

14. The “A” of A.D. : ANNO
The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

15. Kind of saw in a workshop : MITER
A miter saw is used to make precise crosscuts in a piece of wood, and to make miter cuts in particular. Back in the day, a piece of wood would be put in a miter box which guided the miter saw so that usually a precise 45-degree angle was cut.

17. Volcano output : LAVA
Our word “volcano” comes from “Vulcano”, the name of a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. The island’s name comes from Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans believed that the island of Vulcano was the chimney of the forge belonging to the god Vulcan. The Romans also believed that the eruptions on Mount Etna in Sicily were caused by Vulcan getting angry and working his forge so hard that sparks and smoke flew out of the top of the volcano.

18. Tennis great Chris : EVERT
Chris Evert is a former professional tennis player from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Evert has the best winning percentage in professional tennis history, man or woman worldwide, losing less than 10% of all her matches.

19. Exam for an aspiring atty. : LSAT
The Law School Admission Test (LSAT) has been around since 1948.

30. Apple computer : IMAC
The iMac is a desktop computer platform from Apple introduced in 1998. One of the main features of the iMac is an “all-in-one” design, with the computer console and monitor integrated.

33. The Cowboys of the Big 12 Conf. : OSU
The athletic teams of Oklahoma State University are called the Cowboys, and the Cowgirls.

40. Actress Catherine ___-Jones : ZETA
Catherine Zeta-Jones is a movie actress from Swansea in Wales. Her earlier starring roles were in films such as “The Mask of Zorro” and “Entrapment”, followed by much-lauded performances in “Traffic” (2000) and “Chicago” (2002). Zeta-Jones is married to actor Michael Douglas who is exactly 25 years her senior (the pair share the same birthday).

41. Oil change chain : JIFFY LUBE
The first Jiffy Lube service center was opened in Ogden, Utah in the early seventies by one Ed Washburn. Washburn grew the business through franchises and sold it in 1979. Jiffy Lube has been owned by Shell Oil since 2002.

49. Toothpaste-evaluating org. : ADA
The American Dental Association (ADA) is the largest and oldest national dental association in the world. Today the ADA is based in Chicago, but the association was founded in Niagara Falls, New York in 1859. The ADA started out as a group of 26 dentists, and it now has more than 152,000 members.

55. Pop music’s Bee ___ : GEES
The Brothers Gibb (hence, the name “The Bee Gees”) were born in England but grew up and started their musical careers in Australia. They moved back to Manchester in the north of England, and there hit the big time.

62. Golden arches for McDonald’s, e.g. : LOGO
The original McDonald’s restaurant was opened in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald as a barbecue restaurant. The brothers then moved into fast food hamburgers, eventually selling out to one of their franchise agents, Ray Kroc. It was Ray Kroc who really led the company to its worldwide success.

64. Nebraska city or tribe : OMAHA
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska. When Nebraska was still a territory, Omaha was its capital, but when Nebraska achieved statehood the capital was moved to the city of Lincoln.

The Omaha Nation was one of the most welcoming of the Native American tribes, never resisting the influx of European explorers and traders. The Omaha even fought alongside Union troops during the American Civil War, and have stood by the US people ever since. Regardless, the Omaha people lost most of their land and now reside on the Omaha Reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa.

65. ___ Lund of “Casablanca” : ILSA
Ilsa Lund was of course played by Ingrid Bergman in the 1942 movie “Casablanca”. I love the words of one critic describing the chemistry between Bogart and Bergman in this film: “she paints his face with her eyes”. Wow …

66. Very dry, as Champagne : BRUT
Sparkling wines can be classified according to sweetness. These classifications are, from driest to sweetest:

– Brut Nature
– Extra Brut
– Brut
– Extra Dry
– Dry
– Semi-Dry
– Sweet

67. Cicero or Caesar : ROMAN
Cicero was a very influential senator in Ancient Rome, in part due to his renowned ability to deliver a persuasive speech.

By 59 BC, Julius Caesar was a very powerful man in Rome and had just been elected to the position of consul, the highest magistracy in the Republic. Famously, he aligned himself with two other powerful men in Rome, Pompey and Crassus, forming the First Triumvirate. At the end of his year as consul, Caesar was elected proconsul (for 5 years), and was appointed governor of three provinces north of Rome (including Gaul), with control of four legions of the army. Caesar extended the reach of the Roman Republic in the Gallic Wars, and became very popular with the people back in Rome. However the Senate, led by his erstwhile ally Pompey, feared the power that could be exercised by Caesar, so at the end of his term as proconsul they ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome. Caesar agreed to return to Rome, but not to disband his army. On 10 January 49 BC, despite all warnings he marched back into Italy by crossing the Rubicon River, along with his army, plunging Rome into Civil War. Since then, “crossing the Rubicon” has come to mean “passing the point of no return”.

68. Mets’ league: Abbr. : NATL
The New York Mets baseball team was founded in 1962, a replacement for two teams that the city had lost, namely the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. For several years the Mets played very poorly, finishing no better than second to last in their division. Then of course along came the “Miracle Mets” in 1969, who beat the Baltimore Orioles to claim the World Series in a huge upset.

69. ___-Ball (arcade game) : SKEE
Skee Ball is that arcade game where you roll balls up a ramp trying to “bounce” it into rings for varying numbers of points. The game was first introduced in Philadelphia, in 1909.

70. English river through Nottingham : TRENT
The River Trent in England is one of the few rivers that flows north for much of its route. The Trent rises in Staffordshire and empties into the River Ouse in Yorkshire.

Nottingham is a city in the East Midlands of England. To outsiders, perhaps Nottingham is most famous for its links to the legend of Robin Hood.

71. 1974 Sutherland/Gould spoof : S*P*Y*S
“S*P*Y*S” is a 1974 comedy starring Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland as two men mistaken as spies and targeted by the KGB. With all those asterisks in the title, one has to assume the movie was intended to capitalize on the success of the 1970 Gould/Sutherland vehicle called “M*A*S*H”.

Down
1. Fountain treats : MALTEDS
Walgreens claims to have introduced the malted milkshake, in 1922.

4. Gray-sprinkled horse : ROAN
A roan horse has an even mixture of white and colored hairs on the body with the head, lower legs, mane and tail having a more solid color.

8. Titanic’s undoing : BERG
The RMS Titanic set off on her tragic maiden voyage in 1912, sailing from Southampton, England bound for New York City. Regulations only required that the ship have lifeboat capacity for 1,178 people, even though a full complement of passengers and crew was 3,547. When the order was given to abandon ship, the captain adhered to the traditional protocol of “women and children first”. As a result, only 20% of male passengers survived the disaster, compared to 75% of the female passengers. Perhaps more telling is that 61% of those in first class survived, and only 25% of those in third class. The crew fared even worse though, with only 24% making it.

9. Johnson of “Laugh-In” : ARTE
Arte Johnson, as well being a frequent judge on “The Gong Show”, played the German soldier on “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”. His character’s famous catchphrase was, “Very interesting, but …”

10. French city where van Gogh painted : ARLES
A few years ago I had the privilege of living just a short car ride from the beautiful city of Arles in the South of France. Although it has a long and colorful history, the Romans had a prevailing influence over the city’s design. Arles has a spectacular Roman amphitheater, arch, circus as well as old walls that surround the center of the city. In more modern times, it was a place Vincent van Gogh often visited, and where he painted his famous “Cafe Terrace at Night”, as well as “Bedroom in Arles”.

11. 1978 Rolling Stones hit : MISS YOU
Even though Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have been the driving force behind the Rolling Stones for decades, they didn’t start the group. The band was the idea of guitarist and harmonica player Brian Jones, and it was he who invited Richards and Jagger to join, as well as Ian Stewart, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts to make an original lineup of six. Jones called the band “Rollin’ Stone” back then in 1962, named for the song by Muddy Waters. Jones was the leader, manager and decision maker for the first few years until songs written by Richards and Jagger became hits and he started to lose artistic control. In 1967, Jones was arrested for drug possession, and again in 1968. When his trouble with the law prevented him from getting a US work visa, Jones wasn’t able to accompany the Stones on a 1969 US tour. That was the last straw, it seems, and Jones and the Stones parted company. Famously, one month later, Jones was found dead, at the bottom of his swimming pool.

12. Medicine-approving org. : FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was in effect created by the Food and Drug Act signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906.

21. Actress Basinger : KIM
Kim Basinger’s big break in movies came when she played a Bond girl, Domino Petachi in “Never Say Never Again” opposite Sean Connery. Basinger’s more famous roles were in “L.A. Confidential”, “9½ Weeks” and “8 Mile”. My personal favorite of her films though was the thriller “Cellular” released in 2004.

26. Class for newcomers to America, for short : ESL
English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

31. Labyrinth : MAZE
“Labyrinth” is another word for a maze, and is named after the maze in which the Minotaur was confined in Greek Mythology.

32. Enzyme suffix : -ASE
Enzymes are basically catalysts, chemicals that act to increase the rate of a particular chemical reaction. For example, starches will break down into sugars over time, especially under the right conditions. However, in the presence of the enzyme amylase (found in saliva) this production of sugar happens very, very quickly.

38. Yeti and the Loch Ness monster : MYTHS
A yeti is a beast of legend, also called an abominable snowman. “Yeti” is a Tibetan term, and the beast is fabled to live in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet. Our equivalent legend in North America is that of Bigfoot. The study of animals whose existence have not yet been substantiated is called cryptozoology.

The Loch Ness monster has been talked about for centuries, but modern interest started in 1933 when a spate of sightings was reported. Those sightings don’t seem to have stopped, with photographs really sparking the imagination.

51. Trigonometric ratio : SECANT
The secant (sec, for short) is the ratio of the hypotenuse of a triangle to its adjacent side, and is the reciprocal of the cosine, as we all remember from school …

54. 10 sawbucks make one : C-NOTE
“Sawbuck” is slang for a ten dollar bill. The term was applied to the bill as the Roman numeral X (ten) resembles the end of sawhorse.

56. Actor Hawke : ETHAN
Ethan Hawke is a Hollywood actor who made his breakthrough in a supporting role in “Dead Poet’s Society”, playing opposite Robin Williams. Hawke was married to Uma Thurman, with whom he has two children.

59. Libel or slander : TORT
The word “tort” is a French word meaning “mischief, injury or wrong”. Tort law is generally about negligence, when the action of one party causes injury to another but that action falls outside of the scope of criminal law.

60. Caesar’s love : AMOR
“Amor” is the Latin word for love.

62. Ozs. and ozs. : LBS
Ounces (ozs.) make up pounds (lbs.).

63. Home planet of Mindy’s mate in an old sitcom : ORK
“Mork & Mindy” was broadcast from 1978 to 1982. We were first introduced to Mork (played by Robin Williams, of course) in a special episode of “Happy Days”. The particular episode in question has a bizarre storyline culminating in Fonzie and Mork having a thumb-to-finger duel. Eventually Richie wakes up in bed, and alien Mork was just part of a dream! Oh, and “Nanu Nanu” means both “hello” and “goodbye” back on the planet Ork. “I am Mork from Ork, Nanu Nanu”. Great stuff …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. California’s ___ Woods : MUIR
5. Equipment for deep diving : SCUBA
10. Radio switch : AM/FM
14. The “A” of A.D. : ANNO
15. Kind of saw in a workshop : MITER
16. Tilt-A-Whirl or bumper cars : RIDE
17. Volcano output : LAVA
18. Tennis great Chris : EVERT
19. Exam for an aspiring atty. : LSAT
20. Santa Claus facial feature : TWINKLING EYES
23. Have a meal : EAT
24. Misfortunes : ILLS
25. Until now : AS YET
28. Like an idol for a teen girl, say : DREAMY
30. Apple computer : IMAC
33. The Cowboys of the Big 12 Conf. : OSU
34. Goes out with : SEES
35. Aid for night photos, once : FLASHBULB
37. “___ sorry” : I’M SO
40. Actress Catherine ___-Jones : ZETA
41. Oil change chain : JIFFY LUBE
45. First, second or reverse : GEAR
49. Toothpaste-evaluating org. : ADA
50. Doughnut shapes : TORI
51. Seed on many a bun : SESAME
53. Mess up : BOTCH
55. Pop music’s Bee ___ : GEES
57. E.R. workers : RNS
58. Drink made with crystals : INSTANT COFFEE
62. Golden arches for McDonald’s, e.g. : LOGO
64. Nebraska city or tribe : OMAHA
65. ___ Lund of “Casablanca” : ILSA
66. Very dry, as Champagne : BRUT
67. Cicero or Caesar : ROMAN
68. Mets’ league: Abbr. : NATL
69. ___-Ball (arcade game) : SKEE
70. English river through Nottingham : TRENT
71. 1974 Sutherland/Gould spoof : S*P*Y*S

Down
1. Fountain treats : MALTEDS
2. Paying no attention : UNAWARE
3. Private party attender : INVITEE
4. Gray-sprinkled horse : ROAN
5. Reeking : SMELLY
6. Well-mannered : CIVIL
7. Fork or spoon : UTENSIL
8. Titanic’s undoing : BERG
9. Johnson of “Laugh-In” : ARTE
10. French city where van Gogh painted : ARLES
11. 1978 Rolling Stones hit : MISS YOU
12. Medicine-approving org. : FDA
13. Ran into : MET
21. Actress Basinger : KIM
22. Millionaire’s boat, maybe : YACHT
26. Class for newcomers to America, for short : ESL
27. Place for a soak : TUB
29. “Yeah, like that’ll ever happen” : AS IF
31. Labyrinth : MAZE
32. Enzyme suffix : -ASE
35. Quartet number : FOUR
36. Luggage : BAGS
38. Yeti and the Loch Ness monster : MYTHS
39. ___-mo : SLO
41. Elbow poke : JAB
42. Wedding words : I DO
43. Tiredness : FATIGUE
44. Headliner : BIG NAME
46. One of two on a winter cap : EARFLAP
47. Forgiveness : AMNESTY
48. Closes tightly again : RESEALS
51. Trigonometric ratio : SECANT
52. That: Sp. : ESO
54. 10 sawbucks make one : C-NOTE
56. Actor Hawke : ETHAN
59. Libel or slander : TORT
60. Caesar’s love : AMOR
61. Fish propellers : FINS
62. Ozs. and ozs. : LBS
63. Home planet of Mindy’s mate in an old sitcom : ORK

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