0408-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 8 Apr 13, Monday

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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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CROSSWORD SETTER: Janet R. Bender
THEME: OS … each of today’s themed answers is made up of two words, the first starting with O and the second with S:

17A. Words from Ali Baba : OPEN SESAME!
25A. Beavers’ school : OREGON STATE
37A. Windows or Unix : OPERATING SYSTEM
47A. What Jesus is said to have been born without : ORIGINAL SIN
57A. Cranberry juice brand : OCEAN SPRAY

COMPLETION TIME: 04m 56s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Former British colony in the South Pacific : FIJI
The island nation of Fiji is an archipelago in the South Pacific made up of over 330 islands, 110 of which are inhabited. Fiji was occupied by the British for over a century and finally gained its independence in 1970.

14. Melville novel : OMOO
Herman Melville mined his own experiences when writing his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later and lived with natives on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate that was bound for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).

16. Puerto ___ : RICO
Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean (in the Atlantic Ocean), east of the Dominican Republic. The name “Puerto Rico” is Spanish for “rich port”. The locals often call their island Borinquen, the Spanish form of “Boriken”, the original name used by the natives.

17. Words from Ali Baba : OPEN SESAME!
In the Arabic tale “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves”, the magical cave entrance is opened with the words “Open, Simsim”, but this mutated into “Open Sesame” in European translations.

21. Range from Peru to Chile : 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. That’s because of the equatorial “bulge” around the Earth’s “waist”.

25. Beavers’ school : OREGON STATE
The athletic teams of Oregon State University are known as the Beavers. The big rivals to the Beavers are the Ducks of the University of Oregon, a rivalry that has been dubbed “the Civil War”. The two schools’ football teams play a game every year for the Platypus Trophy.

28. Cabinet department since 1977 : ENERGY
The US Department of Energy (DOE) came into being largely as a result of the 1973 oil crisis. The DOE was founded in 1977 by the Carter administration. The DOE is responsible for regulating the production of nuclear power, and it is also responsible for the nation’s nuclear weapons.

32. Oscar winner Davis : GEENA
As well as being a successful Hollywood actress, Geena Davis is an accomplished archer and came close to qualifying for the US archery team for the 2000 Summer Olympics. Davis is also a member of American Mensa. She is quite the lady …

34. Physicians’ org. : AMA
The American Medical Association (AMA) was founded in 1847 at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The first female member was allowed to join the AMA in 1868, but the first African American members weren’t admitted until one hundred years later, in 1968.

37. Windows or Unix : OPERATING SYSTEM
I always think of an operating system as that piece of software that sits between the hardware on my computer and the programs that I choose to run. Developers of application programs don’t really have to worry about being able to “talk to” the countless different types of hardware found in the wide variety of computers that are manufactured, they just need to talk to the handful of operating systems that are out there, like Windows, MAC and Unix. The operating system takes care of the rest.

42. Europe’s longest river : VOLGA
The Volga is the longest river in Europe, and is also considered the national river of Russia.

44. Nickname of a three-time A.L. M.V.P. : A-ROD
Poor old Alex Rodriguez earned more nicknames than just A-Rod. He has been called “the Cooler” by some players as there is a perception that teams go cold when he joins them and hot when he leaves. He has also been called “A-Fraud” by teammates because of another perception, that he is over-demanding.

47. What Jesus is said to have been born without : ORIGINAL SIN
In the Christian tradition, “original sin” is the state of sin that exists in all humanity as a result of Adam’s first disobedience in the Garden of Eden. At least according to the Roman Catholic faith, three people were born without original sin: the Virgin Mary, Jesus Christ and John the Baptist.

54. Hammond ___, author of “The Wreck of the Mary Deare” : INNES
“The Wreck of the Mary Deare” is a novel by Hammond Innes, as well as a 1959 movie adaptation of the book, starring Gary Cooper.

57. Cranberry juice brand : OCEAN SPRAY
The Ocean Spray brand is actually owned by a cooperative of growers in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, growers of cranberries and grapefruit.

62. Descartes who wrote “Cogito, ergo sum” : RENE
The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement in Latin, “Cogito, ergo sum” … “I think, therefore I am”.

64. Hairdo for any of the Jackson 5 : AFRO
The Jackson 5 singing group was originally made up of brothers Tito, Jackie, Jermaine, Marlon and Michael.

65. Clothing : TOGS
“Toggery” is another word for clothing, sometimes shorted to “togs”. For example, back in Ireland we call a bathing suit “swimming togs”. The term “toggery” comes from the Latin “toga”.

66. Photocopier need : TONER
The key features of a laser printer (or copier) are that it uses plain paper and produces quality text at high speed. Laser printers work by projecting a laser image of the printed page onto a rotating drum that is coated with photoconductors (material that becomes conductive when exposed to light). The areas of the drum exposed to the laser carry a different charge than the unexposed areas. Dry ink (called toner) sticks to the unexposed areas due to electrostatic charge. The toner is then transferred to paper by contact and is fused into the paper by the application of heat. So, that explains why paper coming out of a laser printer is warm, and sometimes powdery …

Down
1. Egg ___ yung : FOO
Egg foo yung is a dish served in Chinese restaurants, and is basically an omelet. It probably takes its name from a flower called the Fu Yung.

3. Vice president Biden : JOE
Vice President Joe Biden was a US Senator representing the state of Delaware from 1973 until he joined the Obama administration. While he was a senator, Vice President Biden commuted to Washington from Wilmington, Delaware almost every working day. He was such an active customer and supporter of Amtrak that the Wilmington Station was renamed as the Joseph R. Biden Railroad Station in 2011. Biden has made over 7,000 trips from that station, and the Amtrak crews were known to even hold the last train for a few minutes so that he could catch it. Biden earned himself the nickname “Amtrak Joe”.

6. Comic O’Donnell : ROSIE
We don’t get to see Rosie O’Donnell on the screen very much these days. She had a very successful chat show that ran from 1996 to 2002. My favorite performance of hers on the big screen is in a supporting role to Meg Ryan in the 1993 movie “Sleepless in Seattle”.

7. Arboreal ape, informally : ORANG
Orangutans are arboreal creatures, in fact the largest arboreal animals known to man. They are native to Indonesia and Malaysia, living in the rain forests. Like most species in rain forests these days, orangutans are endangered, with only two species surviving. The word “orangutan” is Malay, meaning “man of the forest”.

11. Singer Ronstadt : LINDA
Linda Ronstadt is a singer-songwriter from Tucson, Arizona. Ronstadt really does have a lovely voice, and can make any song her own. In the late seventies, she was the highest paid woman in the world of rock music.

24. Heredity carriers : GENES
A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

26. Alpha’s counterpart : OMEGA
Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is the one that looks like a horseshoe. The word “omega” literally means “great O” (O-mega). Compare this with the Greek letter Omicron meaning “little O” (O-micron).

29. Work by Karel Capek : RUR
“R.U.R.” is a play written in Czech by Karel Capek, first produced in 1921. “R.U.R.” is a science fiction work and is remembered in part for introducing the world to the word “robot”. The words “automaton” and “android” were already in use, but Capek gave us “robot” from the original Czech “robota” meaning “forced labor”.

32. Funny Radner : GILDA
Gilda Radner was a comedian and actress, one of the original cast members of the hit television show “Saturday Night Live”.

33. London is its cap. : ENG
London is the largest metropolitan area in the whole of the European Union (and one of my favorite cities in the world). London has been a major settlement for over 2,000 years and was founded as a town by the Romans who called it Londinium. The name “Londinium” may have existed prior to the arrival of the Romans, and no one seems too sure of its origins. Famously, the City of London is a one-square-mile area at the center of the metropolis, the area that marked old medieval London. “The City”, as it is commonly called, has its own Mayor of the City of London (the Mayor of London is someone else), and it’s own City of London Police Force (the London Metropolitan Police are the police usually seen on the streets, a different force).

34. Coral formation : ATOLL
An atoll is a coral island that is shaped in a ring and enclosing a lagoon. There is still some debate as to how an atoll forms, but a theory proposed by Charles Darwin while on his famous voyage aboard HMS Beagle still holds sway. Basically an atoll was once a volcanic island that had subsided and fallen into the sea. The coastline of the island is home to coral growth which persists even as the island continues to subside internal to the circling coral reef.

35. Jason’s wife in mythology : MEDEA
In Greek mythology Medea was the wife of Jason, the heroic leader of the Argonauts.

38. Singer Lavigne : AVRIL
Avril Lavigne is a Canadian musician. She was the youngest female solo artist to reach number one in the charts in the UK, which she did at 17 years of age in 2002 with her debut album “Let Go”.

40. ___-Cat : SNO
The brand name Sno-Cat is owned by the Tucker company. All “snowcats” are tracked vehicles built to work in snow, famously used in expeditions to the polar regions. The modern Sno-Cat from Tucker differs from its competitors in that it has four, independently-mounted tracks.

44. Playing marbles : AGATES
Agate is a micro-crystalline form of quartz (so is related to sand/silica). Some agate samples have deposited layers that give a striped appearance, and these are called “banded agate”.

46. Washington bills : ONES
George Washington didn’t appear on the first one-dollar bill. Instead, the bills printed from 1862 to 1869 featured Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of the Treasury who served under Abraham Lincoln.

48. Event with barrel racing : RODEO
“Rodeo” is a Spanish word, which is usually translated as “round up”.

50. Pacifists’ protest demonstration : LIE-IN
A die-in (also “lie-in”) is a protest in which those demonstrating lie on the ground and pretend to be dead. One of the more famous die-ins was held in Washington D.C. in 2007 to protest the Iraq War. There were several thousand protesters, almost two hundred of whom were arrested, including ten veterans of the Iraq War.

58. Corp. money person : CFO
Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

59. D.C.’s ___ Stadium : RFK
Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium was opened in 1961 as the District of Columbia Stadium, and is actually owned by the District of Columbia. The stadium was renamed in 1969, a few months after Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Kennedy had been instrumental the racial integration of the Washington Redskins who played in the stadium for 36 seasons. As Attorney General, Kennedy threatened to oust the Redskins from the federally-owned stadium unless the team agreed to sign African American players.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Former British colony in the South Pacific : FIJI
5. Wide : BROAD
10. Whip : FLOG
14. Melville novel : OMOO
15. British truck : LORRY
16. Puerto ___ : RICO
17. Words from Ali Baba : OPEN SESAME!
19. Aware of : ONTO
20. Assassinated : SLAIN
21. Range from Peru to Chile : ANDES
22. Use a shovel : DIG
25. Beavers’ school : OREGON STATE
28. Cabinet department since 1977 : ENERGY
30. Rumple, with “up” : MUSS
31. List that goes from Appetizers to Desserts : MENU
32. Oscar winner Davis : GEENA
34. Physicians’ org. : AMA
37. Windows or Unix : OPERATING SYSTEM
41. Ave. crossers : STS
42. Europe’s longest river : VOLGA
43. Branching-out point : NODE
44. Nickname of a three-time A.L. M.V.P. : A-ROD
45. Like many a winter sweater : WOOLEN
47. What Jesus is said to have been born without : ORIGINAL SIN
52. “Wee” boy : LAD
53. Outspoken : VOCAL
54. Hammond ___, author of “The Wreck of the Mary Deare” : INNES
56. Prepare for publication : EDIT
57. Cranberry juice brand : OCEAN SPRAY
62. Descartes who wrote “Cogito, ergo sum” : RENE
63. Burning : AFIRE
64. Hairdo for any of the Jackson 5 : AFRO
65. Clothing : TOGS
66. Photocopier need : TONER
67. Twist, as polling results : SKEW

Down
1. Egg ___ yung : FOO
2. Little devil : IMP
3. Vice president Biden : JOE
4. Charged particles : IONS
5. Like tired eyes, maybe : BLEARY
6. Comic O’Donnell : ROSIE
7. Arboreal ape, informally : ORANG
8. Elbow’s place : ARM
9. Go from blond to brunet, say : DYE
10. Is the lead singer of : FRONTS
11. Singer Ronstadt : LINDA
12. Eightsome : OCTET
13. “Silly” bird : GOOSE
18. Walk, as through mud : SLOG
21. Analyze, as ore : ASSAY
22. Test versions : DEMOS
23. Clumsy : INEPT
24. Heredity carriers : GENES
26. Alpha’s counterpart : OMEGA
27. Some parochial school teachers : NUNS
29. Work by Karel Capek : RUR
32. Funny Radner : GILDA
33. London is its cap. : ENG
34. Coral formation : ATOLL
35. Jason’s wife in mythology : MEDEA
36. Change : AMEND
38. Singer Lavigne : AVRIL
39. Animated character : TOON
40. ___-Cat : SNO
44. Playing marbles : AGATES
45. Unreturned tennis shot : WINNER
46. Washington bills : ONES
47. Not concealed : OVERT
48. Event with barrel racing : RODEO
49. Sweetest part of a cake : ICING
50. Pacifists’ protest demonstration : LIE-IN
51. Trap : SNARE
55. Places to get massages : SPAS
57. ___ bran : OAT
58. Corp. money person : CFO
59. D.C.’s ___ Stadium : RFK
60. “___ you kidding me?” : ARE
61. “Man, that hurts!” : YOW!


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