0510-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 10 May 13, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
8. 1950s backup group with four top 10 hits : COMETS
The famed rock & roll singer and songwriter Bill Haley started out his career as the frontman of Bill Haley and the Saddlemen, playing country and western music. The name was changed to Bill Haley and His Comets in 1952 as the band started performing rock & roll songs. The name “Comets” was imitative of the common mispronunciation of the famous Halley’s comet (sometimes written incorrectly as “Haley’s” comet). The group recorded “Rock Around the Clock” a year later, in 1953.

14. Stars are recognized with them : OSCAR NODS
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 …

19. Scott who co-starred on TV’s “Men of a Certain Age” : BAKULA
Scott Bakula’s big break was playing Sam Beckett in the entertaining TV show “Quantum Leap” that was made in the nineties. More recently I recall seeing Bakula in another fun TV show called “Chuck”.

24. Years, in Tours : ANS
Tours is the largest city in the Centre region of France. It is said that the people of Tours speak the “purest” form of French in the whole country, and when spoken by a local it is also said to be free of any accent.

26. Oakland daily, for short : TRIB
The “Oakland Tribune” has been published since 1874, although back then it was called the “Oakland Daily Tribune”.

29. Deutschland “de” : VON
The English word “of” translates into French as “de”, and into German as “von”.

31. Phoenix setting: Abbr. : MST
Phoenix is the capital of the state of Arizona. The city started out as a farming community founded by a Civil War veteran. Key to the success of the community was the construction of canals that were really contemporary improvements to canals that had previously been built by the local Hohokam people.

33. D.C. nine : NATS
The Washington Nationals baseball team started out life as the Montreal Expos in 1969. The Expos moved to Washington in 2005 becoming the Nats. There are only two Major Leagues teams that have never played in a World Series, one being the Mariners and the other the Nats.

44. Satyajit Ray’s “The ___ Trilogy” : APU
Satyajit Ray was a Bengali filmmaker, famous for directing “The Apu Trilogy”. These were three Bengali films that were released between 1955 and 1959. They featured music composed by Ravi Shankar, and are considered to be some of the greatest movies of all times by international critics, yet they were filmed on tiny budgets.

45. Bill in a bow tie : NYE
That would be “Bill Nye the Science Guy”. Bill’s show ran on Disney for 4 years from 1993-97. I was surprised to learn that Bill Nye was married briefly to Blair Tindall, the author of “Mozart in the Jungle”. That’s a great book, if anyone is interested …

46. Tarantula hawk, e.g. : WASP
The tarantula hawk is a type of wasp. The wasp takes its name from its food, namely tarantula larvae.

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

51. DreamWorks ___ : SKG
Dreamworks SKG is the studio founded by Steven Spielberg with two partners, in 1994. The two partners were movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg and record executive David Geffen. It was the first letters in the family names of the three founders that explains the “SKG” in the company name. DreamWorks was sold to Viacom in 2005.

53. Phoenix setting? : ASHES
The phoenix is a fabulous bird of Greek mythology, which can also be found in the mythologies of Persia, Egypt and China. The phoenix is a fire spirit, which lives from 500 to 1000 years. At the end of its lifespan is builds a nest for itself (a pyre) and self-ignites, burning itself and the nest, creating a pile of ashes. A young phoenix arises from the ashes and the cycle starts all over again.

55. Jacuzzi session : SOAK
Jacuzzi is one of those brand names that has become so much associated with the product that it is often assumed to be a generic term. The Jacuzzi company was founded in 1915 by the seven (!) Jacuzzi brothers in Berkeley California. The brothers, who were Italian immigrants, pronounced their name “ja-coot-si”, as one might suspect when one realizes the name is of Italian origin. The company started off by making aircraft propellers and then small aircraft, but suspended aircraft production in 1925 when one the brothers was killed in one of their planes. The family then started making hydraulic pumps, and in 1948 developed a submersible bathtub pump so that a son of one of the brothers could enjoy hydrotherapy for his rheumatoid arthritis. The “hydrotherapy product” took off in the fifties with some astute marketing towards “worn-out housewives” and the use of celebrity spokesman Jack Benny.

57. “___ of Varnish” (C. P. Snow novel) : A COAT
C. P. Snow was an English novelist, physicist and even a minister in the UK government.

61. Chemistry test topic : ISOMER
In the world of chemistry, isomers are two compounds with same chemical properties and the same atomic constituents, but with a slightly different arrangement of the atoms relative to each other.

65. Certain Mexican-American : TEJANO
Tejano is the Spanish word for “Texan”. Tejano music is strongly influenced by Cajun culture, because of the proximity of Texas to Louisiana. The other strong influence came with immigrants from the Poland and what is now the Czech Republic. These immigrants brought with them the waltz, polka … and the accordion.

66. Where to come to grips with things? : MOVIE SETS
On a film set, grips are the lighting and rigging technicians, with the key grip being the name given to the leader of the whole team. The first “grips” were technicians that worked in the circus in its early days. The name “grip” possibly comes from the bags called grips. in which the technicians carried their tools.

Down
2. This, in Tijuana : ESTO
Tijuana is the largest city in the Mexican state of Baja California, and lies just across the US-Mexico border from San Diego. Tijuana is also the most westerly of all Mexican cities. A lot of Tijuana’s growth took place in the twenties as tourists flocked south of the border during the days of prohibition in the US. One of the many casinos and hotels that flourished at that time was Hotel Caesar’s in the Avenida Revolución area. Hotel Caesar’s claims to be the birthplace of the now ubiquitous Caesar Salad.

3. Trash hauler : SCOW
A scow is a flat-bottomed boat with squared-off ends that’s often used for transportation, usually pushed or pulled by a barge. Often a scow can be seen carrying junk or garbage.

4. Much-filmed swinger : TARZAN THE APE MAN
“Tarzan” is the title character in the series of books created by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The line “Me Tarzan, you Jane” never appeared in the books, and indeed doesn’t even figure in the movies. Apparently Johnny Weissmuller (who played Tarzan in the thirties and forties) saw Maureen O’Sullivan (“Jane”, to Weissmuller’s “Tarzan”) struggling with a suitcase in the parking lot during filming. He grabbed the bag from her, jokingly saying “Me Tarzan, you Jane”, and people have been quoting those words ever since.

5. Ancient Dravidian’s displacer : ARYAN
Today, Dravidian people and Dravidian languages are found mostly in Southern India. The predominant languages in the northern part of the subcontinent are of the Indo-Aryan group. There is a theory that Dravidian-speaking peoples were displaced in the north during a migration of proto-Indo-Aryans modern-day Europe and Iran.

6. Like Chopin’s Mazurka Op. 56 No. 1 : IN B
A mazurka is a Polish folk dance. The great French-Polish composer Frédéric Chopin was known for writing many mazurkas for solo piano.

7. Sony Reader competitor : NOOK
The Barnes & Noble electronic-book reader is called the Nook. The company sells about $220 million dollars worth of the devices every year.

12. Hometown of the band Hanson : TULSA
Hanson is a pop rock boy band from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Hanson’s biggest hit is the 1997 song “MMMBop”.

13. Party prizes? : SEATS
Political parties win seats.

16. Hershey bar : SKOR
Skor is a candy bar produced by Hershey’s. Skor is sold in Canada as Rutnam.

22. Brogue feature : WINGTIP
A brogue is more commonly called a wingtip here in the US, I think. The shoe design originated in Ireland and Scotland, and “brog” the Irish word (and similar Scottish word) for shoe gives rise to the name. The brogue/wingtip design includes decorative perforations in the leather uppers.

25. “The Moldau” composer : SMETANA
Bedřich Smetana was a Czech composer, known as the father of Czech music. Just like Beethoven, Smetana was still composing at the end of his life even though he was totally deaf.

“The Moldau” is a symphonic poem composed by Bedřich Smetana. “The Moldau” is one of six symphonic poems that form the suite called “My Country”. “Moldau” is the German name for the Vltava, the longest river in the Czech Republic.

27. Mies van der Rohe was its last director : BAUHAUS
The literal translation to the term “Bauhaus” is “House of Building”. It was a school (meaning education establishment) that operated from 1919 to 1933. It became famous for its approach to design across many disciplines, everything from art to typography.

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect who was routinely referred to simply as “Mies”. I am a philistine, I know, but Mies’ buildings look very plain to me. However, he did come up with two far-from-plain sayings: “less is more” and “God is in the details”.

29. Something needing a stamp : VISA
A visa is a usually a stamp in one’s passport, an indication that one is authorized to enter a particular country. The word “visa” comes into English, via French, from the Latin expression “charta visa” meaning “paper that has been seen”, or “verified paper”.

30. Giant giant’s family : OTTS
At 5′ 9″, Mel Ott weighed just 170 lb (I don’t think he took steroids!) and yet he was the first National League player to hit over 500 home runs. Sadly, Ott died in a car accident in New Orleans in 1958 when he was only 49 years old.

32. “Giant” events : SLALOMS
Slalom is an anglicized version of the Norwegian word “slalam” that translates as “skiing race”. There is a longer version of the traditional slalom that is called giant slalom.

35. Party label for Brit. P.M. William Gladstone : LIB
William Ewart Gladstone was the leader of the Liberal party and Prime Minister of Britain on four different occasions. Gladstone resigned in 1894. At the time of his resignation he was 84 years old, making him the oldest person to serve in the office.

36. Culture centers? : LABS
Bacteriologists grow cultures in laboratories.

37. Chuck Schumer’s predecessor in the Senate : AL D’AMATO
Al D’Amato was a Republican Senator representing the state of New York from 1981 to 1999. Outside of politics, D’Amato is big into poker and is chairman of the Poker Players Alliance, an organization that fights for the rights of poker players in the US, mainly the right to play poker online.

38. Kids’ rhyme starter : EENY

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe,
Catch the tiger/monkey/baby by the toe.
If it hollers/screams let him go,
Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, you are it!

40. Works for an editor: Abbr. : MSS
An editor has to wade his or her way through a manuscript (MS) that has been submitted.

47. Concern of I.R.S. Form 8594 : ASSET
If you’re selling or buying a business, then you’ll be familiar with IRS Form 8594. The form allocates the elements of the sale into classes of assets so that each asset can be treated appropriately.

48. Japanese sliding door : SHOJI
A shoji is a door, window or room divider in Japanese architecture. A shoji consists of translucent paper stretched over a wooden frame.

50. Head makeup : FOAM
The head of a beer is made of foam.

52. Superman’s name on Krypton : KAL-EL
Jor-El was a scientist on the planet Krypton who was married to Lara. Jor-El and Lara had an infant son named Kal-El who they were able to launch into space towards Earth just before Krypton was destroyed. Kal-El became Superman. In the 1978 movie “Superman”, Jor-El was played by Marlon Brando, Lara was played by Susannah York, and Kal-El/Superman was of course played by Christopher Reeve.

54. Hong Kong’s Hang ___ Index : SENG
The Hang Seng Index (HSI) is the most important stock market index reported from Hong Kong. The index was started in 1969 by one of the largest banks in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Bank.

56. Polynesian drink : KAVA
Kava is a plant found in the western Pacific. Its roots are used to make an intoxicating drink also called kava, which acts as a sedative.

58. Pull felt on Earth : ONE G
The force of gravity that we all feel is referred to as “one G”. As gravity is a actually an accelerating force, acceleration is measured relative to that force of gravity. So, if we are sitting in a vehicle that accelerates at 3G, then we are experiencing a force that is three times that which we feel from the gravitational pull of the earth. Zero-G is weightlessness that is experienced when in space, outside the influence of the earth’s gravity.

60. Cher’s role in “Burlesque” : TESS
“Burlesque” is a 2010 musical film starring Cher and Christina Aguilera.

Cher’s real name is Cherilyn Sarkisian, born in 1946. In her acting career, Cher was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar of 1984 for her performance in “Silkwood”. She went further in 1998 and won the Best Actress Oscar for playing Loretta Castorini in “Moonstruck”.

62. “The Natural” hero Hobbs : ROY
Bernard Malamud wrote the novel “The Natural”, published in 1952. It tells the story of a baseball player called Roy Hobbs, who gets shot early in his career and makes a remarkable comeback many years later. Although Roy Hobbs is a fictional character, the story is apparently based on the real-life Phillies player Eddie Waitkus, who was indeed shot in his hotel room by an obsessed fan in 1949. The film adaptation released in 1984 is an excellent movie starring Robert Redford as “The Natural”.

64. Former Mets manager Hodges : GIL
Gil Hodges was a professional baseball player and manager. Perhaps Hodges’ most celebrated achievement was managing the New York Mets team (the “Miracle Mets”) that won the 1969 World Series.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Finish differently, say : RESTAIN
8. 1950s backup group with four top 10 hits : COMETS
14. Stars are recognized with them : OSCAR NODS
17. Clear as mud, so to speak : OPAQUE
18. It may have pop-ups : STORYBOOK
19. Scott who co-starred on TV’s “Men of a Certain Age” : BAKULA
20. “Incredible!” : YOWZA!
21. Not just surmise : KNOW
23. Closest to zero : LEAST
24. Years, in Tours : ANS
26. Oakland daily, for short : TRIB
28. “Unfortunately …” : ALAS
29. Deutschland “de” : VON
31. Phoenix setting: Abbr. : MST
33. D.C. nine : NATS
35. It has short shortstops : LITTLE LEAGUE TEAM
41. “What, no more?” : IS THAT ALL THERE IS?
42. Places for a 35-Across : BASEBALL DIAMONDS
43. ___ other (matchlessly) : AS NO
44. Satyajit Ray’s “The ___ Trilogy” : APU
45. Bill in a bow tie : NYE
46. Tarantula hawk, e.g. : WASP
49. Band options : AM/FM
51. DreamWorks ___ : SKG
53. Phoenix setting? : ASHES
55. Jacuzzi session : SOAK
57. “___ of Varnish” (C. P. Snow novel) : A COAT
61. Chemistry test topic : ISOMER
63. Cursorily : AT A GLANCE
65. Certain Mexican-American : TEJANO
66. Where to come to grips with things? : MOVIE SETS
67. Tight : STINGY
68. Purports : ALLEGES

Down
1. Looking up : ROSY
2. This, in Tijuana : ESTO
3. Trash hauler : SCOW
4. Much-filmed swinger : TARZAN THE APE MAN
5. Ancient Dravidian’s displacer : ARYAN
6. Like Chopin’s Mazurka Op. 56 No. 1 : IN B
7. Sony Reader competitor : NOOK
8. Middle ear? : COB
9. It’s often set in a ring : OPAL
10. Serve well in court : MAKE A STRONG CASE
11. Come to : EQUAL
12. Hometown of the band Hanson : TULSA
13. Party prizes? : SEATS
15. “Shh! It’s a secret!” : DON’T TELL!
16. Hershey bar : SKOR
22. Brogue feature : WINGTIP
25. “The Moldau” composer : SMETANA
27. Mies van der Rohe was its last director : BAUHAUS
29. Something needing a stamp : VISA
30. Giant giant’s family : OTTS
32. “Giant” events : SLALOMS
34. Be overrun : TEEM
35. Party label for Brit. P.M. William Gladstone : LIB
36. Culture centers? : LABS
37. Chuck Schumer’s predecessor in the Senate : AL D’AMATO
38. Kids’ rhyme starter : EENY
39. Congress person : AIDE
40. Works for an editor: Abbr. : MSS
46. Takes orders, say : WAITS
47. Concern of I.R.S. Form 8594 : ASSET
48. Japanese sliding door : SHOJI
50. Head makeup : FOAM
52. Superman’s name on Krypton : KAL-EL
54. Hong Kong’s Hang ___ Index : SENG
56. Polynesian drink : KAVA
58. Pull felt on Earth : ONE G
59. Part of a French play : ACTE
60. Cher’s role in “Burlesque” : TESS
62. “The Natural” hero Hobbs : ROY
64. Former Mets manager Hodges : GIL

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Posted by Bill Butler
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