1209-12 New York Times Crossword Answers 9 Dec 12, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
11. Mr. ___ (old soft drink name) : PIBB
The soft drink on the market today called Pibb Xtra used to be known as Mr Pibb, and before that was called Peppo. Peppo was introduced in 1972 as a direct competitor to Dr Pepper.

20. Old photo’s tone : SEPIA
Sepia is that lovely rich, brown-grey color so common in old photographs. “Sepia” is the Latinized version of the Greek word for cuttlefish, as sepia pigment is derived from the ink sac of the cuttlefish.The “sepia tone” of old photographs is not the result of deterioration over time. Rather, it is the result of a deliberate preservation process which converts the metallic silver in the photographic image to a more stable silver sulfide. Prints that have been sepia-toned can last in excess of 150 years.

21. Loop locale, informally : CHI
The historic commercial center of Chicago is known as the Loop. One theory is that the “loop” got its name from the cable loops in the city’s old cable car system.

22. Entry in a metalworker’s personal planner? : WELD TUESDAY (Tuesday Weld)
Tuesday Weld is an actress from New York City who was most active in Hollywood in the seventies and eighties. Her name given at birth was Susan, but her nickname was “Tu-Tu” and Weld used this as a basis for her stage name. Weld started out as a child actress, which introduced pressures in her life that she found hard to manage. She had a nervous breakdown when she was only 9 years old, suffered from alcoholism and attempted to commit suicide at age 12.

24. Roast a red-breasted bird? : COOK ROBIN (Robin Cook)
The reference here could be to Robin Cook the British politician, or to Robin Cook the American author.

Robin Cook was a high-profile politician in the UK not so long ago. Cook served for many years as Foreign Secretary under Prime Minister Tony Blair. He eventually resigned from the Blair cabinet to protest the invasion of Iraq.

Robin Cook is novelist from New York who writes thrillers dealing with medical situations. Cook’s first major novel “Coma” was made into a 1978 feature film directed by Michael Crichton and starring Geneviève Bujold and Michael Douglas. Cook is himself a physician and is currently on leave with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

28. Pounds and pence? : LONDON JACK (Jack London)
“Jack” is a slang term for “money”.

The author Jack London is a bit of a local hero in the Bay Area where I live. London was born in San Francisco, and there is a famous Jack London Square in Oakland, California that was named in his honor. London’s most famous works are “The Call of the Wild” and “White Fang”.

32. Copies from CD to PC : RIPS
“Ripping” is the process of copying audio or video files onto a hard disk. Ripping isn’t the same as direct copying as the process involves changing the format of the audio or video content.

34. What misbehaving kids must have inherited from their parents? : WILDER GENE (Gene Wilder)
Gene Wilder is a retired actor who is noted for his comedic roles. Wilder had a successful collaboration with Mel Brooks on three great films: “The Producers”, “Blazing Saddles” and my favorite “Young Frankenstein”. For a while, Wilder dated his “Young Frankenstein” co-star Teri Garr, but he was married most famously to “Saturday Night Live” star Gilda Radner.

37. Funnywoman Boosler : ELAYNE
Elayne Boosler is a stand-up comedian and was one of the first female comedians to have her act aired as a special on cable television. Boosler does have some funny lines, and here’s one that I particularly like:

“When women are depressed they either eat or go shopping. Men invade another country.”

44. Napoleon, e.g., prior to exile? : FRENCH VICTOR (Victor French)
Victor French was an actor from Santa Barbara, California. French is best known for his television work with fellow actor Michael Landon. He starred with Landon on “Little House on the Prairie” (as Isaiah Edwards) and on “Highway to Heaven” (as Mark Gordon).

52. W. Hemisphere alliance : OAS
The Organization of American States (OAS) has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. All the independent states in the Americas are members of the group, except Honduras which had its membership suspended after the country’s 2009 coup.

53. Soprano role in “Il Trovatore” : LEONORA
Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” is known in English as “The Troubadour”. It is one of the few operas with more than one version written by the same composer. Verdi wrote a French translation, with some revisions to the score, which goes by the name “Le trouvere”.

54. Fishing spear? : BASS LANCE (Lance Bass)
Lance Bass was the bass singer (pun!) for the boy band ‘N Sync. In 2002, Bass moved to Star City, Russia and there trained and was certified as a cosmonaut. Bass’s planned trip to the International Space Station was financially backed by producers planning to shoot a documentary about the event. However, when the backers pulled the plug on the funding, Bass found himself rejected from the space program.

57. Where many last names start with “O” : ERIN
The prefix “O’” in many Irish family names used to be written as “Ua”. Both versions mean “grandson” or “descendant”.

69. “___ that” : ROGER
The term “roger”, meaning “yes” or “acknowledged”, comes from the world of radio-telephony. The British military used a phonetic alphabet in the fifties that included Roger to represent the letter “R”. As such, it became customary to say “Roger” when acknowledging a message, with R (Roger) standing for “received”.

73. 1975 TV debut, briefly : SNL
NBC first aired a form of “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) in 1975 under the title “NBC’s Saturday Night”. The show was actually created to give Johnny Carson some time off from “The Tonight Show”. Back then “The Tonight Show” had a weekend episode, and Carson convinced NBC to pull the Saturday or Sunday recordings off the air and hold them for subsequent weeknights in which Carson needed a break. NBC turned to Lorne Michaels and asked him to put together a variety show to fill the vacant slot, and he came up with what we now call “Saturday Night Live”.

74. Moocher’s most valuable acquaintance? : RICH BUDDY (Buddy Rich)
Buddy Rich was a jazz drummer and bandleader from Brooklyn, New York. In his heyday, Rich was known as “the greatest drummer in the world”.

83. The Salt, in Arizona? : PHOENIX RIVER (River Phoenix)
River Phoenix was a young actor at the height of his career when he passed away at only 23 years old. Phoenix’s first big success was as a child actor in the 1986 hit film “Stand by Me”. Later in his short life he garnered favorable attention for his performances in “Running on Empty” and “My Own Private Idaho”. Phoenix collapsed and died from drug-induced heart failure on the sidewalk outside a nightclub.

85. Forum wear : TOGA
In Ancient Rome the classical attire known as a toga (plural “togae”) was usually worn over a tunic. The tunic was made from linen, and the toga itself was a piece of cloth about twenty feet long made from wool. The toga could only be worn by men, and only if those men were Roman citizens. The female equivalent of the toga was called a “stola”.

86. ___ Cassidy, 1970s teen heartthrob : SHAUN
Shaun Cassidy is a singer and actor. Cassidy played the role of Joe Hardy in “The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries” on television in the late seventies. He is the son of actress and singer Shirley Jones and the half-brother of actor/singer David Cassidy who appeared together in “The Partridge Family”.

90. Coffee from Big Sky Country? : MONTANA JOE (Joe Montana)
Joe Montana played most of his NFL career with the San Francisco 49ers, and the last two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. With the 49ers, Montana went to the Super Bowl four times, winning every time. In retirement one of his activities is to produce wine, so keep an eye out for his “Montagia” label.

94. Coxswain’s teammates : OARS
The coxswain of a boat is one in charge, particularly of its steering and navigation. The name is shortened to “cox” particularly when used for the person steering and calling out the stroke in a competition rowing boat.

100. Smarmy preprandial blessing? : SLICK GRACE (Grace Slick)
Grace Slick is a now semi-retired singer who had a long solo career after finding success with Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship and Starship. Slick is also a talented artist. She has drawings that she made of Janis Joplin, Jerry Garcia and other music greats, and has been displaying her work in galleries for the past decade.

104. California’s San ___ County : MATEO
San Mateo is a city located south of San Francisco, just across the other side of the Bay from where I live. San Mateo is Spanish for Saint Matthew.

106. Filmmaker Lee : ANG
Taiwanese director Ang Lee sure has directed a mixed bag of films, mixed in terms of genre but not in terms of quality. He was at the helm for such classics as “Sense & Sensibility” (my personal favorite), “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, “Hulk”, and “Brokeback Mountain”.

107. Official seal on a Havana cigar? : CUBAN MARK (Mark Cuban)
Mark Cuban is a successful American businessman, and is the owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. If you’ve seen the reality TV show “Shark Tank”, you’ll known Cuban as one of the investors putting up their money i.e. one of the “sharks”. If you’re a “Dancing with the Stars” fan, you might recall Cuban as a contestant on the 5th series of that show, partnered with Kym Johnson.

108. Beverage made by squeezing fruit-filled cookies? : NEWTON JUICE (Juice Newton)
Juice Newton is a pop and country music singer/songwriter.

114. Benevolent Narnia denizen : ASLAN
In the C. S. Lewis books, Aslan is the name of the lion character (as in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”). “Aslan” is actually the Turkish word for lion. Anyone who has read the books will recognize the the remarkable similarity between the story of Aslan and the story of Christ, including a sacrifice and resurrection.

115. ___ judicata : RES
“Res judicata” is a term used in the law which translates from Latin as “a matter already judged”.

116. Oklahoma city : ENID
Enid, Oklahoma takes its name from the old railroad station around which the city developed. Back in 1889, that train stop was called Skeleton Station. An official who didn’t like the name changed it to Enid Station, using a character from Alfred Lord Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King”. Maybe if he hadn’t changed the name, the city of Enid would now be called Skeleton! Enid, Oklahoma has the nickname “Queen Wheat City” because is has a huge capacity for storing grain, the third largest grain storage capacity in the world.

118. “The Christmas That Almost ___” (1966 holiday film) : WASN’T
“The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t” is a 1966 holiday movie about an old miser who wants to evict Santa from the North Pole. Can someone stop him and prevent Christmas from being cancelled??!!

Down
2. Last Oldsmobile to be made : ALERO
The Oldsmobile Alero was the last car made under the Oldsmobile brand. The Alero was produced from 1999 to 2004.

3. Conniving sergeant of 1950s TV : BILKO
Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko was played by Phil Silvers on the TV show that aired in the fifties. “The Phil Silvers Show” was hugely successful in reruns in the British Isles, even more so than over here in the US.

4. Hanes competitor : BVD
The men’s underwear known as BVDs are made by the Bradley, Voorhees & Day. The company was started in 1876 to make bustles for women, and is named for its founders.

11. Low class : PEONS
A peon is a lowly worker with no real control over his/her working conditions. The word comes into English from Spanish where it has the same meaning.

13. Soweto uprising figure : BIKO
Steve Biko was an anti-apartheid activist in the sixties and seventies in South Africa. Biko died in police custody and came to be viewed as a martyr to the anti-apartheid cause. The 1987 movie “Cry Freedom” directed by Richard Attenborough tells Biko’s story, with Denzel Washington playing the lead.

15. Ed who wrote the 87th Precinct novels : MCBAIN
Evan Hunter was the adopted name of Salvatore Albert Lombino, an author and screenwriter from New York City. Hunter had a pen name that was perhaps more famous, namely Ed McBain. As McBain he wrote a successful string of crime novels starting in 1956. As Evan Hunter he is perhaps most famous for his 1954 novel “The Blackboard Jungle”, which was made into a successful film the following year.

16. Chewing gum ingredient : CHICLE
Chicle is a natural gum or latex that can be extracted from the Manilkara chicle tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. Companies like Wrigley were major users of chicle prior to the sixties as the product was used as the base ingredient in chewing gum. Today chewing gum manufacturers use a synthetic rubber that is cheap to manufacture as a replacement for natural chicle. I am so happy I don’t chew gum!

23. It flows through Orsk : URAL
The Ural River rises in the Ural Mountains in Russia and flows for half its length through Russian territory until it crosses the border into Kazakhstan, finally emptying into the Caspian Sea.

25. “Love Train” group, with “the” : O’JAYS
The O’Jays are an R&B group from Canton, Ohio. They came together in 1963 as a band of five singers and are still performing today, although now only as a trio. The band took the name of the O’Jays as a tribute to a radio disk jockey called Eddie O’Jay who was big in Cleveland at the time they were starting out. The biggest hit for the O’Jays is “Love Train”, from 1973.

30. Tae ___ do : KWON
Taekwondo is the national sport of Korea. “Tae” means “to strike or break with foot”; “kwon” means “to strike or break with fist”; “do” means “way” or “art”. Along with judo, taekwondo is one of only two martial arts included in the Olympic Games.

31. Venn diagram sets, usually : CIRCLES
Englishman John Venn was an expert in the field of logic, and introduced the Venn diagram in his book “Symbolic Logic” in 1881. Venn diagrams are used in Set Theory, to illustrate the logical relationships between sets of variables.

35. ___ law (acronymic 1970 measure) : RICO
The RICO act is more correctly called the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The law was used largely to prosecute members of the Mafia in the seventies, and has been applied more broadly since.

36. Minor suit? : G-STRING
The origins of “G-string”, the type of revealing underwear, is unclear. However, the term “geestring” has been used since the 1800s and originally referring to the string that held the loincloths worn by Native Americans.

39. Early fratricide victim : ABEL
The story of Cain and Abel not only appears in the Christian and Hebrew Bibles, it also features in the Qur’an. In the Muslim account the brothers are named Kabil and Habil.

45. “Have You Seen ___” (1971 hit) : HER
“Have You Seen Her” is a 1971 song recorded by the Chi-Lites.

The Chi-Lites are a vocal quartet who sing smooth soul songs. The foursome got together in the early seventies in Chicago (hence the name “Chi-Lites”).

48. Certain female grouse : SAGEHEN
The sagehen is more usually known as the sage-grouse. The sage-grouse can also be called the sage cock, sage chicken or the cock of the plains.

62. Cry from Homer : D’OH!
“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which is such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001.

64. Country’s Acuff or Clark : ROY
Roy Acuff was a country music singer and fiddle player. He founded the group known as the Smoky Mountain Boys.

Roy Clark is a country musician best known as host of the variety show “Hee Haw” from 1969 to 1992.

70. Petroleum component : ETHANE
The “smaller” alkanes are gases and are quite combustible. Methane (CH4) is the main component of natural gas with ethane (C2H6) being the second largest component. Propane (C3H8) is another component of natural gas and is heavy enough to be readily turned into a liquid by compression for ease of transportation and storage. Butane (C4H10) is also easily liquefied under pressure and can be used as the fuel in cigarette lighters or as the propellant in aerosol sprays. The heavier alkanes are not gases, and instead are liquids and solids at room temperature.

79. “Girls” creator Dunham : LENA
Lena Dunham is a co-star in the HBO series “Girls”, and is also the show’s creator. Dunham garnered a lot of attention for herself during the 2012 US Presidential election cycle as she starred in ad focused on getting out the youth vote. In the spot she compared voting for the first time with having sex for the first time.

85. “Vissi d’arte” opera : TOSCA
Unlike so many operas, “Tosca” was a big hit right from day one, when it was first performed in 1900 at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. “Tosca” is currently the eighth-most performed opera in America, although I’ve only seen it once myself.

86. Loud osculations : SMACKS
An osculation is a kiss.

89. Iroquois factions : TRIBES
The Iroquois Confederacy was also known as the Five Nations and was comprised of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca nations.

93. “Benny & ___” (1993 rom-com) : JOON
“Benny & Joon” is 1993 romantic comedy starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson in the title roles.

94. Player’s trophy : OSCAR
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

98. Like Cuzco’s builders : INCAN
Cusco (also Cuzco) is a city in the southeast of Peru. Historically, Cusco was the site of the capital of the Inca Empire.

102. Fibbie : G-MAN
The nickname “G-men” is short for “Government Men” and refers to agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

103. Musician Shankar : RAVI
Ravi Shankar is perhaps the most famous virtuoso (to us Westerners) from the world of Indian classical music, and is noted for his sitar playing. Also, Shankar is the father of the beautiful popular singer Norah Jones.

104. Carpal or tarsal starter : META-
There are five metacarpal bones in each hand. They make up the framework of the palm and the back of the hand. Each metacarpal is connected to a finger and the wrist. The equivalent bones in the foot are called the metatarsals.

110. G8 nation : USA
The G6 was a group of six industrialized nations that formed in 1975 and whose governments met on a periodic basis. The founding members were France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. The membership expanded in 1976 with the addition of Canada, forming the G7. Since 1997, Russia is also represented and the group is now called the G8.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Striped pet : TABBY
6. Befuddled : AT SEA
11. Mr. ___ (old soft drink name) : PIBB
15. Variety show overseers : MCS
18. Antipasto tidbit : OLIVE
19. Simulate : FEIGN
20. Old photo’s tone : SEPIA
21. Loop locale, informally : CHI
22. Entry in a metalworker’s personal planner? : WELD TUESDAY (Tuesday Weld)
24. Roast a red-breasted bird? : COOK ROBIN (Robin Cook)
26. Gall : IRK
27. Like movies and bonds : RATED
28. Pounds and pence? : LONDON JACK (Jack London)
29. Exercised caution : TOOK CARE
32. Copies from CD to PC : RIPS
33. Distresses : AILS
34. What misbehaving kids must have inherited from their parents? : WILDER GENE (Gene Wilder)
37. Funnywoman Boosler : ELAYNE
40. Nose wrinkler : ODOR
42. They might not be on the charts : ISLES
43. Holds up : ROBS
44. Napoleon, e.g., prior to exile? : FRENCH VICTOR (Victor French)
48. Stuff : SATE
49. Suffix with fatal : -ISM
52. W. Hemisphere alliance : OAS
53. Soprano role in “Il Trovatore” : LEONORA
54. Fishing spear? : BASS LANCE (Lance Bass)
56. Verizon forerunner : GTE
57. Where many last names start with “O” : ERIN
58. Shirt front clip-on : ID TAG
60. Like superfans : AVID
61. Has a capacity of : HOLDS
63. Timid swearword : DARN
65. Bit of news : ITEM
67. Spoke to one’s flock? : BAAED
68. Small sandwich : OREO
69. “___ that” : ROGER
71. Undergo : HAVE
73. 1975 TV debut, briefly : SNL
74. Moocher’s most valuable acquaintance? : RICH BUDDY (Buddy Rich)
78. Sent texts to, in bygone days : TELEXED
80. Hard water : ICE
81. Meaning reverser : NOT
82. Claim findings : ORES
83. The Salt, in Arizona? : PHOENIX RIVER (River Phoenix)
85. Forum wear : TOGA
86. ___ Cassidy, 1970s teen heartthrob : SHAUN
87. High-flown poetry : ODES
88. Furnace worker : STOKER
90. Coffee from Big Sky Country? : MONTANA JOE (Joe Montana)
94. Coxswain’s teammates : OARS
95. It’s suitable for framing : PANE
96. Number one priority? : EGOMANIA
100. Smarmy preprandial blessing? : SLICK GRACE (Grace Slick)
104. California’s San ___ County : MATEO
106. Filmmaker Lee : ANG
107. Official seal on a Havana cigar? : CUBAN MARK (Mark Cuban)
108. Beverage made by squeezing fruit-filled cookies? : NEWTON JUICE (Juice Newton)
111. Partook of : ATE
112. Wind chime location : EAVES
113. Lagoon encloser : ATOLL
114. Benevolent Narnia denizen : ASLAN
115. ___ judicata : RES
116. Oklahoma city : ENID
117. Looked bad in comparison : PALED
118. “The Christmas That Almost ___” (1966 holiday film) : WASN’T

Down
1. Specifically : TO WIT
2. Last Oldsmobile to be made : ALERO
3. Conniving sergeant of 1950s TV : BILKO
4. Hanes competitor : BVD
5. Up to now : YET
6. Frightened, in dialect : AFEARD
7. Proctor’s charge : TESTEE
8. Debating choice : SIDE
9. “Holy cats!” : EGAD
10. More than none : ANY
11. Low class : PEONS
12. Device with a click wheel : IPOD
13. Soweto uprising figure : BIKO
14. Stock holder : BARN
15. Ed who wrote the 87th Precinct novels : MCBAIN
16. Chewing gum ingredient : CHICLE
17. Goes under : SINKS
20. Checks (out) : SCOPES
23. It flows through Orsk : URAL
25. “Love Train” group, with “the” : O’JAYS
28. Passenger ship : LINER
30. Tae ___ do : KWON
31. Venn diagram sets, usually : CIRCLES
32. Trade magazines? : RELOAD
35. ___ law (acronymic 1970 measure) : RICO
36. Minor suit? : G-STRING
37. Timeline divisions : ERAS
38. Plenty : LOTS
39. Early fratricide victim : ABEL
40. Sacred piece : ORATORIO
41. Click again, maybe : DESELECT
44. Turn signal? : FOGHORN
45. “Have You Seen ___” (1971 hit) : HER
46. Word written across a bad check : VOID
47. Central parts : INNARDS
48. Certain female grouse : SAGEHEN
49. Like biopsies : INVASIVE
50. Logical things to study? : SCIENCES
51. Busybody : MEDDLER
54. Try for a hit : BAT
55. Minor-league classification : AAA
59. Exhaust : TIRE OUT
62. Cry from Homer : D’OH!
64. Country’s Acuff or Clark : ROY
66. Ankle-length : MAXI
67. Rest area : BEDROOM
70. Petroleum component : ETHANE
72. Tick off : VEX
75. Portable diversion : BOOK
76. Longing : URGE
77. Honey : DEAR
79. “Girls” creator Dunham : LENA
83. One called upon to talk? : PHONE
84. Suspicion : IDEA
85. “Vissi d’arte” opera : TOSCA
86. Loud osculations : SMACKS
88. Private action? : SALUTE
89. Iroquois factions : TRIBES
91. Source of irritation : NETTLE
92. Timeworn : AGE-OLD
93. “Benny & ___” (1993 rom-com) : JOON
94. Player’s trophy : OSCAR
95. Lessened : PARED
97. Barrelful at a hardware store : NAILS
98. Like Cuzco’s builders : INCAN
99. Insurance seller : AGENT
101. Place to rest a guitar : KNEE
102. Fibbie : G-MAN
103. Musician Shankar : RAVI
104. Carpal or tarsal starter : META-
105. Unable to pass muster, say : AWOL
108. Refresher : NAP
109. Uppercut target : JAW
110. G8 nation : USA

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