0406-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 6 Apr 13, Saturday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Michael Wiesenberg
THEME: None
COMPLETION TIME: 66m 17s!!
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

16. Man, to Marcus : VIR
“Vir” is the Latin word for “man” and is the root of our word “virile”, for example.

18. 1960s Greystoke portrayer : ELY
Ron Ely is most famous for playing the title role in the “Tarzan” TV series in the sixties. Years later, Ely hosted the 1980 and 1981 “Miss America” pageants right after longtime host Bert Parks retired, before the job was taken over by Gary Collins. And Ely is a successful mystery novelist. He wrote “Night Shadows” and “East Beach” in the mid-nineties, both of which featured his private eye Jake Sands.

In the stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Tarzan of the Apes was actually Englishman John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke.

19. Chelsea-to-Chinatown dir. : SSE
Chelsea is a neighborhood in Manhattan, New York. The neighborhood is named for a house and estate called Chelsea that used to be located in the area, a house owned by a retired British major from 1750. At one point, this same house was owned by Clement Clarke Moore, the man who is said to have written the famous Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”.

Manhattan’s Chinatown is bordered by Grand Street in the north, Broadway in the west, Chrystie Street in the east and East Broadway in the south.

23. Label for the Bee Gees : ATCO
Atco Records is an American record label founded in 1955, taking its name from the parent company, Atlantic Corporation.

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 as youths, and there hit the big time.

25. Rajiv’s mother : INDIRA
Indira Gandhi’s father was Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India (and the “Nehru” of the Nehru Jacket). Indira herself became Prime Minister in 1966. She was assassinated in 1984 by two of her own bodyguards, as she was walking to meet Peter Ustinov who was about to interview her for Irish television.

Rajiv Gandhi was the oldest son of Indira Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India who was assassinated. Rajiv took over the office of PM when his mother was killed in 1984. In the election that followed soon after the assassination, Rajiv Gandhi led his Congress Party to victory with the biggest margin in Indian history, capturing 411 seats out of 542, an incredible majority. He remained in power until he too was killed, by a suicide bomber while on the campaign trail in 1991.

28. Victor Herbert’s “naughty” girl : MARIETTA
“Naughty Marietta” is an opera with music by Victor Herbert and a libretto by Rida Johnson Young, first performed in Syracuse, New York, in 1910. “Naughty Marietta” was adapted into a musical film in 1935 starring Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy.

29. Thomas called the Queen of Memphis Soul : CARLA
Carla Thomas is a singer from Memphis, Tennessee who is referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Carla’s father was R&B singer Rufus Thomas.

30. Long meals? : HEROS
“Hero” is another name for a submarine sandwich. The hero originated in New York City in the 1800s among Italian immigrants who wanted an Italian sandwich that reminded them of home. The name “hero” was coined in the 1930s, supposedly by a food critic in the “New York Herald Tribune” when he wrote that “one had to be a hero” to finish the gigantic sandwich. Hero is a prevalent term to this day in New York City, reserved for a submarine sandwich with an Italian flavor.

31. Hall monitors, briefly : RAS
RAs are resident assistants or resident advisers, the peer leaders found in residence halls, particularly on a college campus.

32. Like Bush Sr., religiously : EPIS
When studying the religious affiliations of US Presidents, the largest number of presidents affiliated to any one religion is twelve, to the Episcopalian faith. The earliest Episcopalian US President was George Washington, and the most recent was George W. Bush, although he later became a Methodist.

35. Quick “ha ha” : LOL
LOL is an abbreviation used in Instant Messages and phone texting, an abbreviation for “Laughing Out Loud”.

37. Sidewalk scam : MONTE
Three-card Monte is a confidence trick in which someone is goaded into betting money on the assumption that he or she can find the “money card” (usually a queen) among three cards placed face down. The “mark” who is being duped has all sorts of ways to lose and there are usually several people in on the scam, including others playing who seem to be winning.

41. Notably high populace : NEPALIS
Nepal lies to the northeast of India. Today, the state is known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. In 2008, the Communist Party of Nepal won the country’s general election. Soon after, the Assembly voted to change the form of government, moving away from a monarchy and creating a secular republic.

43. He signed 5-Down in 1940 : DORSEY
(5D. “Witchcraft” singer : SINATRA)
Tommy Dorsey was a jazz trombonist and bandleader in the Big Band era, and the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey. One of Tommy’s singers was Frank Sinatra, whom he hired from bandleader Harry James in 1940. Sinatra claimed that he learned breath control from watching Tommy Dorsey play the trombone.

44. Bark part : SAIL
A barque (also “bark”) is a sailboat with three or more masts, all square-rigged except the aftermast which has triangular sails

48. Chemical ending : -ENE
An alkene is an organic compound made up of carbon and hydrogen atoms. It differs from an alkane in that it has at least one C=C double bond. The simplest alkene is the gas ethylene, a major raw material used in the manufacture of plastics (like polyethylene).

49. London tabloid : DAILY MIRROR
The British national newspaper called the “Daily Mirror” is a tabloid. The Daily Mirror was launched in 1903 initially as a newspaper aimed at women, run by women. The name “Mirror” was chosen by founder Alfred Harmsworth as he intended it to be “a mirror of feminine life”. The following year all the female journalists were fired, and it has been a pictorial/tabloid publication ever since. TV personality Piers Morgan was the editor of the “Daily Mirror” from 1995 until he was fired in 2004.

52. Laugh, in Lille : RIS
Lille is a large city in the very north of France sitting right on the border with Belgium. The name “Lille” is a derivation of the term “l’isle” meaning “the island”.

53. 1994 Olympic skating champion : OKSANA BAIUL
Oksana Baiul is a Ukrainian figure skater, the 1994 Olympic champion. Baiul had a rough start to her life as her father deserted her and her mother when she was just two years old, and then her mother died when she was thirteen. Her grandparents had died earlier so she was left as an orphan, sleeping on a cot in her hometown ice rink.

55. Neighbor of the Gem of the Mountains : SILVER STATE
The origin of the state name “Idaho” isn’t clear at all. When the state was being founded, one of the local lobbyists claimed that “Idaho” was a Shoshone word meaning “gem of the mountains”, but later he confessed that he made up that story.

The official nickname of Nevada is the “Silver State”. The unofficial nickname is the “Battle Born State”. “Battle Born” is a reference to Nevada being awarded statehood during the American Civil War.

Down
1. Nicknames : DUBS
Kneel, and the Queen might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

4. Motor additive? : -OLA
The original Motorola is now two independent companies called Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. Motorola started in 1928 as the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago. The founder created the brand name “Motorola” for a car radio the company developed in 1930. He linked “motor” (meaning “car”) with “-ola” (meaning “sound”), implying “sound in motion”.

5. “Witchcraft” singer : SINATRA
Frank Sinatra was the only child of Italian immigrants living in Hoboken, New Jersey. Like so many of our heroes, Sinatra had a rough upbringing. His mother was arrested several times and convicted of running an illegal abortion business in the family home. Sinatra never finished high school, as he was expelled for rowdy conduct. He was later arrested as a youth on a morals charge for carrying on with a married woman, which was an offence back then. But Sinatra straightened himself out by the time he was twenty and started singing professionally.

6. Minnesota county west of St. Louis : ITASCA
Itasca County is located in northern Minnesota, and is named after Lake Itasca. Lake Itasca is the main source of the Mississippi River. The name “Itasca” is formed from the Latin words for truth (ver-ITAS) and head (CA-put).

7. Large lunar crater : TYCHO
Tycho is a large crater on the moon, named for the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe.

Tycho Brahe was an astronomer and contemporary of Galileo. Brahe lost his nose in a duel, and wore a replacement made of either silver or gold that was pasted onto his face!

8. “Live at the ___” (Patsy Cline album) : OPRY
Patsy Cline was a country music singer who managed to cross over into the world of pop music where she enjoyed great success. Cline is one of a long list of musical legends who died in plane crashes. Cline was 30 years old when she was killed in 1963 in a Piper Comanche plane piloted by her manager, Randy Hughes. Hughes and Cline decided to make that last flight despite warnings of inclement weather, and it was a severe storm that brought down the plane in a forest outside Camden, Tennessee.

9. Biblical boater, in Brest : NOE
“Noe” is the French form of the name “Noah”.

Brest is a port city in northwest France, and is the second largest military port in the country. Brest was an important base for German U-boats during WWII when France was occupied by the Nazis.

10. Colombian cowboys : LLANEROS
A llanero is a herdsman from Venezuela or Colombia. “Llanero” comes from “Llanos”, the South American grasslands. “Llano” is the Spanish word for “plain”.

11. Mocha residents : YEMENIS
Mocha is a port city in Yemen on the Red Sea and was once the principal port for the capital city of Sana’a. Mocha was the major marketplace in the world for coffee until the 1600s, and gave its name to the Mocha coffee bean.

13. Dabbler : DILETTANTE
We use the word “dilettante” for someone who dabbles in the world of art or in some particular field of knowledge. We borrowed the term from Italian, in which language a dilettante is a lover of fine arts, a connoisseur.

25. Their anthem is “Lofsöngur” : ICELANDERS
“Lofsöngur” is the national anthem of Iceland, with the name “Lofsöngur” translating as “Hymn”. The anthem has a very large vocal range, so large that many Icelandic people admit that they cannot sing it.

26. Son of Marie Louise of Austria : NAPOLEON II
Napoléon II was the Emperor of the French, but only in title. Napoléon II was the son of Napoléon Bonaparte and his second wife, Marie Louise of Austria. When Bonaparte was defeated by Britain and her allies, the coalition partners refused to acknowledge Napoléon II and his right to rule.

33. Japanese glaze : TERIYAKI
Teriyaki is a Japanese technique of cooking in which the foods are grilled in a sweet soy sauce marinade. The marinade may or may not include ginger.

34. Bikers’ mounts : HOGS
“Hog” is a nickname for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

The Harley-Davidson motorcycle company was started up in the very early 1900s by two childhood friends, William Harley and Arthur Davidson, . Their first design was in effect an engine hooked up to a pedal bicycle, but the 116 cc cylinder capacity simply couldn’t generate enough power to get up the hills of their native city of Milwaukee. The pair came up with a redesigned model that had a cylinder capacity of 405 cc, which the partners built in a shed at the back of Davidson’s house. In 1906, the partners built their first factory, located where the company’s headquarters is to this day, on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

36. Finely tempered swords : TOLEDOS
A toledo is a fine-tempered sword made in the city of Toledo, Spain.

37. Game requiring many plug-ins? : MAD LIBS
Mad Libs is a word game, usually played by American kids. The idea is that one player provides a list of words which are then inserted into blank spots in a story, usually with hilarious results (they say!).

39. Nordic flier : SAS
SAS was formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System and is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

40. Home to Liszt and Goethe : WEIMAR
Weimar is city in Germany, perhaps best known as the location of the signing of the country’s first democratic constitution resulting in the creation of the Weimar Republic.

At the end of WWII, the imperial government of Germany was overthrown in the German Revolution of November 1918. Just under a year later, a new constitution was adopted by a national assembly in the city of Weimar. The resulting Weimar Republic lasted until German democracy collapsed in the early 1930s and the Nazi Party came to power.

Franz Liszt was a Hungarian composer and a fabulous pianist. Particularly towards the end of his life, Liszt gained a tremendous reputation as a teacher. While he was in his sixties, his teaching jobs caused him to commute regularly between the cities of Rome, Weimar and Budapest. It is quite remarkable that a man of such advanced age, and in the 1870s, could do so much annual travel. It is estimated that Liszt journeyed at least 4,000 miles every year!

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer (among other things!). His most famous work is probably his play “Faust”. This epic work was published in parts, starting in 1808. The work was only published in toto after his death in 1832.

42. American Revolution’s “Mad Anthony” : WAYNE
Mad Anthony Wayne was a US Army general during the Revolutionary War. Wayne’s military exploits and wild personality led to him being nicknamed “Mad”. The alter-ego of the superhero Batman is Bruce Wayne, a name that was chosen from Scottish king Robert the Bruce and Revolutionary War general Mad Anthony Wayne.

44. Pomeranian, e.g. : SLAV
Pomerania is a region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea in Europe, divided between Germany and Poland.

45. Cantatrice’s delivery : ARIA
A cantatrice is a female professional singer, especially one who sings opera.

46. Yahoo : LOUT
Yahoos were brutish creatures introduced by Irish author Jonathan Swift in “Gulliver’s Travels”. Their savage, slovenly ways gave rise of the use of “yahoo” in English to describe a lout or Neanderthal.

47. First name in mystery : ERLE
I must have read all of the Perry Mason books when I was in college. I think they kept me sane when I was facing the pressure of exams. Author Erle Stanley Gardner was himself a lawyer, although he didn’t get into the profession the easy way. Gardner went to law school, but got himself suspended after a month. So, he became a self-taught attorney and opened his own law office in Merced, California. Understandably, he gave up the law once his novels became successful.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. What many checks are for : DEPOSIT ONLY
12. Eyebrow-raising : ODD
15. One holding the line : UTILITY POLE
16. Man, to Marcus : VIR
17. Alternative to lemon chiffon : BANANA CREAM
18. 1960s Greystoke portrayer : ELY
19. Chelsea-to-Chinatown dir. : SSE
20. Like some evidence in arson cases : ASHY
21. More likely to encounter : NEARER
23. Label for the Bee Gees : ATCO
24. Handles : TENDS TO
25. Rajiv’s mother : INDIRA
28. Victor Herbert’s “naughty” girl : MARIETTA
29. Thomas called the Queen of Memphis Soul : CARLA
30. Long meals? : HEROS
31. Hall monitors, briefly : RAS
32. Like Bush Sr., religiously : EPIS
33. Pod : whales :: knot : ___ : TOADS
34. Land animals? : HUNT
35. Quick “ha ha” : LOL
36. Apt to strike out : TESTY
37. Sidewalk scam : MONTE
38. A wide variety : ALL-SORTS
40. Went back and forth : WAGGED
41. Notably high populace : NEPALIS
42. Joins : WEDS
43. He signed 5-Down in 1940 : DORSEY
44. Bark part : SAIL
45. Bitter, e.g. : ALE
48. Chemical ending : -ENE
49. London tabloid : DAILY MIRROR
52. Laugh, in Lille : RIS
53. 1994 Olympic skating champion : OKSANA BAIUL
54. One of a pair of fraternal twins, maybe : SIS
55. Neighbor of the Gem of the Mountains : SILVER STATE

Down
1. Nicknames : DUBS
2. Terminal projections, briefly : ETAS
3. Cabinetry option : PINE
4. Motor additive? : -OLA
5. “Witchcraft” singer : SINATRA
6. Minnesota county west of St. Louis : ITASCA
7. Large lunar crater : TYCHO
8. “Live at the ___” (Patsy Cline album) : OPRY
9. Biblical boater, in Brest : NOE
10. Colombian cowboys : LLANEROS
11. Mocha residents : YEMENIS
12. Very tense : OVERSTRUNG
13. Dabbler : DILETTANTE
14. Like some nuts : DRY ROASTED
22. Punch choice : ADE
23. Has something : AILS
24. Having missed the bell, say : TARDY
25. Their anthem is “Lofsöngur” : ICELANDERS
26. Son of Marie Louise of Austria : NAPOLEON II
27. Its boring bits can be quite long : DRILL PRESS
28. Liver and kidney : MEATS
30. Has over : HOSTS
33. Japanese glaze : TERIYAKI
34. Bikers’ mounts : HOGS
36. Finely tempered swords : TOLEDOS
37. Game requiring many plug-ins? : MAD LIBS
39. Nordic flier : SAS
40. Home to Liszt and Goethe : WEIMAR
42. American Revolution’s “Mad Anthony” : WAYNE
44. Pomeranian, e.g. : SLAV
45. Cantatrice’s delivery : ARIA
46. Yahoo : LOUT
47. First name in mystery : ERLE
50. 25-Down occupy one: Abbr. : ISL
51. Landfill visitor : RAT


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