0519-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 19 May 13, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Canine woe : MANGE
Mange is a skin disorder in animals caused by parasitic mites that embed themselves in the skin, perhaps living in hair follicles. The same disorder in humans is called scabies.

11. Actress Hayworth : RITA
Rita Hayworth was born in Brooklyn as Margarita Carmen Cansino. Rita’s father was a flamenco dancer from Spain and so his daughter fell naturally into dancing. The family moved to Hollywood where Hayworth’s father set up a dance studio, and there worked with the likes of James Cagney and Jean Harlow. The young Hayworth had a slow start in movies, finding herself typecast because of her Mediterranean features. When she underwent extensive electrolysis to change her forehead and dyed her hair red, she started to get more work (how sad is that?). In 1941 she posed for that famous pin-up picture which accompanied GIs all over the world.

15. Evian Championship org. : LPGA
The Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) was founded in 1950 by a group of 13 lady golfers, and today it is the oldest ongoing women’s sports professional organization in the US.

The Evian Championship is an LPGA event held annually in Évian-les-Bains, France, home to Évian mineral water. The Evian Championship is one of two major championships on the Ladies European Tour and just about ties with the US Women’s Open as the richest event in women’s golf.

22. Some bookmarks, for short : URLS
Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

23. Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic? : TENNIS SERBS (from “tennis serves”)
Ana Ivanovic is a Serbian tennis player, and former world number one. As well as playing tennis, she also studied finance at university in her native Belgrade.

Novak Djokovic is a Serbian tennis player, currently the world No. 1. Djokovic is quite the character off the court it seems and he is very popular on the talk-show circuit, all around the world. It also helps that Djokovic is fluent in several languages.

27. Like steppes : TREELESS
A steppe is a grassland, devoid of trees apart from those growing near rivers and lakes. We would likely call such a geographic feature a prairie in this country.

30. Done, in Verdun : FINI
Verdun-sur-Meuse is a city in northeastern France. The WWI Battle of Verdun took place just north of the city, and lasted for almost the whole of the year 1916. The battle was fought between the French and Germans, with loss of life being about equal between the two factions, the total death toll being about 700,000 men. The Battle of Verdun was primarily an artillery engagement, and some of those overlapping artillery craters are still visible today.

31. Twiggy’s look in ’60s fashion : WAIF
“Twiggy” is the nickname of English model, actress and singer Lesley Lawson. Twiggy was a thin woman (hence the nickname) and was a modelling sensation in the mid-sixties. She had a boyish look with short, blonde hair. Some consider her to be the world’s first “supermodel”.

33. Sign for tourists visiting the Bolshoi? : BALLET PARKING (from “valet parking”)
The Bolshoi Ballet company is based in Moscow, Russia. The Bolshoi company has over 200 dancers, making it by far the biggest ballet company in the world. I am very proud to say that I have had the privilege to attend a performance of the Bolshoi in the beautiful Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia about a decade ago …

43. M.I.T.’s ___ School of Management : SLOAN
MIT’s School of Management is named for MIT graduate Alfred P. Sloan, former chairman of General Motors.

45. Cry before “Open up!” : FBI
What we know today as the FBI was set up in 1908 as the BOI, the Bureau of Investigation. The name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. The Bureau was set up at the behest of President Theodore Roosevelt. President Roosevelt was largely moved to do so after the 1901 assassination of President McKinley, as there was a perception that anarchists were threatening law and order .

51. Tropical paradise for Barbie and Ken? : BALI OFTHE DOLLS (from “Valley of the Dolls”)
Bali is the most important tourist destination in Indonesia and is an island lying east of Java. In recent years, Bali’s tourist industry has been badly hit in the aftermath of two terrorist bombings. The first one, in 2002, killed 202 people, mainly foreign tourists in a nightclub.

Jacqueline Susann’s novel “Valley of the Dolls” was first published in 1996 and was a runaway success. The word “dolls” in the title is slang for barbiturate drugs, so-called “downers” or sleep aids. The book was adapted into a film that was nominated for a number of Oscars. There have been plans announced by NBC for a new TV series based on the book, which will air as a daytime drama.

55. ’60s White House name : ABE
Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin in Hardin County, Kentucky making him the first president born in the West. His formal education was limited to a year and a half of schooling, but fortunately for us, Lincoln was an avid reader and educated himself over the years. Even though he was from a rural area, he avoided hunting and fishing because he did not like to kill animals even for food.

58. The Indians, on scoreboards : CLE
The Cleveland baseball franchise started out in 1869 as the Forest Citys named after “Forest City”, which is the nickname for Cleveland. After a number of transitions, in 1914 the team took on the name “Indians”. The media came up with name “Indians” after being asked for suggestions by the team owners. “Indians” was inspired by the successful Boston team of the day, the Boston Braves.

59. Dickens’s Uriah ___ : HEEP
Uriah Heep is a sniveling insincere character in the novel “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens. The character is such a “yes man” that today, if we know someone who behaves the same way, then we might call that person a “Uriah Heep”.

60. Common potluck dish : LASAGNA
Lasagna was originally the name of a cooking pot, but it came to mean a dish that was cooked in it. Lasagna also became the name of the flat noodle used in the dish. If you order lasagna on the other side of the Atlantic, you’ll notice the “lasagne” spelling, the plural of “lasagna”. The plural is used as there is more than one layer of pasta in the dish.

65. Let Justin take care of everything? : LEAVE IT TO BIEBER (from “Leave It to Beaver”)
I saw Justin Bieber on television a while back for the first time, and boy do I feel old. This heartthrob from Canada was born in 1994(!), and he is recording hit after hit. Me, I’ll stick with the Beatles …

74. Like Nasser’s vision : PAN-ARAB
Gamal Abdel Nasser was the second president of Egypt, from 1956 until he died in 1970. He stood alongside Muhammad Naguib, Egypt’s first president, during the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 that overthrew the ruling monarchy of Egypt and Sudan. Nasser was an advocate of Pan-Arabism, an ideology promoting unification of Arab peoples and countries. President Nasser went so far as forming the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union between Egypt and Syria that started in 1958 but fell apart in 1961 when Syria withdrew.

78. Prefix with phobia : ACRO-
Our prefix “acro-” comes from the Greek “akros” meaning “at the top”. Examples are “acrophobia” (fear of heights) and “Acropolis” (“city at the top”).

79. Vientiane native : LAO
Vientiane is the capital city of Laos, situated on the famous Mekong River. The city was originally called the “city of sandalwood” by Buddhist monks, naming after the valued trees that grew in the area. The French took the Pali words for “city of sandalwood” and rewrote it as the French-sounding “Vientiane”.

84. Passed security at the troubadours’ convention? : SHOWED BALLAD ID (from “showed valid ID”)
A troubadour was a composer and musician of the Middle Ages whose works dealt mainly with chivalry and courtly love. Troubadours were usually men, and a female troubadour would have been called a trobairitz, a lovely word …

89. Like “South Park” vis-à-vis “The Simpsons” : LEWDER
“South Park” is an adult-oriented cartoon series on Comedy Central. I don’t do “South Park” …

“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.

91. Mortar trough : HOD
A hod is a 3-sided box on the the end of a long handle used for carrying bricks (and sometimes mortar) at a construction site, usually up and down ladders.

92. NASA spacewalks, in brief : EVAS
Extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is the name given to any work done by an astronaut outside of his or her spacecraft. The term would encompass walking on the moon, as well as making a space walk i.e. floating around in space tethered to spacecraft.

93. One of three Canadian aboriginal groups : METIS
The Métis are one of the three recognized Aboriginal peoples in Canada, the others being the First Nations and the Inuit. The Métis people are descended from unions between First Nations mothers and European fathers.

96. Detroit pioneer : OLDS
The REO Motor Company was founded by Ransom E. Olds (hence the name REO). The company made cars, trucks and buses, and was in business from 1905 to 1975 in Lansing, Michigan.

104. Ghostbuster Spengler : EGON
Egon Spengler is one of the lead characters in the films “Ghostbusters” and “Ghostbusters II”. Spengler is played by Harold Ramis.

106. Seniors’ org. : AARP
AARP is now the official name for the interest group that used to be called the American Association of Retired Persons. The name change reflects the current focus of the group on all Americans aged 50 or over, as opposed to just people who have retired.

107. Stadium binge? : HOT DOG BENDER (from “hot dog vendor”)
Both “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

116. Fortunetellers’ protest demand? : SIBYL RIGHTS (from “civil rights”)
The word, and name, sibyl, comes from the Greek word “sibylla” meaning “prophetess”. There were many sibyls, but most famous is probably the Delphic Sybil.

119. Banned orchard spray : ALAR
The chemical name for Alar, a plant growth regulator and color enhancer, is daminozide. Alar was primarily used on apples but was withdrawn from the market when it was linked to cancer.

122. Wood strip : LATH
The words “lath” and “lattice” have the same root in Old French. Laths are thin strips of wood that are nailed across a frame forming a backing to which plaster can be applied to finish a wall.

123. Lunch counter orders : BLTS
The BLT (bacon, lettuce and tomato) is the second most popular sandwich in the US, after the plain old ham sandwich.

125. ___ Park : ESTES
Estes Park is a town in a beautiful part of the US, in northern Colorado. Estes Park is home to the headquarters of Rocky Mountain National Park. My fire-fighting brother-in-law was based at that park, so I’ve visited and can attest that it is a gorgeous place to live. He lives in Omaha now. A little different geography …

Down
1. Drudge of the Drudge Report : MATT
Matt Drudge came to fame along with the website he founded called the “Drudge Report”. The “Drudge Report” is a news aggregation site, mainly made up of links to stories published by the world media. The “Drudge Report” hit the big time in 1998 when it was first to report on the Lewinsky scandal, after “Newsweek” allegedly refused to run the story.

5. One of the Dionne quints : EMILIE
The Dionne quintuplets were sisters born in Ontario in 1934, the first quintuplets known to survive their infancy. There may even have been a sixth fetus at one point as the mother reported having cramps in her third month and passing a strange object.

8. Paper size: Abbr. : LTR
Like so many things it seems, our paper sizes here in North America don’t conform with the standards in the rest of the world. ISO standard sizes used elsewhere have some logic behind them in that the ratio of width to length is usually one to the square root of two. This mathematical relationship means that when you cut a piece of paper in two each half preserves the aspect ratio of the original, which can be useful in making reduced or enlarged copies of documents. Our standard size of “letter” (8.5 x 11 inches) was determined in 1980 by the Reagan administration to be the official paper size for the US government. Prior to this, the “legal” size (8.5 x 14 inches) had been the standard, since 1921.

11. Motley : RAGTAG
“Ragtag and bobtail” is a colorful phrase that’s used to describe the lowest classes, or the rabble. A “bobtail” is a horse that has had its tail cut short, a word that goes back as least as far as Shakespeare as he used it in “King Lear”. A “tag” is a piece of cloth that is torn and hanging, which was readily combined with “rag” in the original phrase “tag, rag and bobtail”. This idiom, perhaps originally quoted from Samuel Pepys in his diary in 1659, referred to the lower classes as “tag, rag and bobtail, dancing, singing and drinking”. The phrase evolved, giving us our contemporary word “ragtag” meaning ragged and unkempt.

12. “Who goes there?” reply : IT IS I
The much debated statement “It is I” is actually grammatically correct, and should not be “corrected” to “It is me”. Traditionally, pronouns following linking verbs, such as “is”, “appear” and “seem”, are written in the nominative case. Examples are:

– It is I (who called).
– It was he (who did it).
– It is we (who care).

17. Binding elementary particle : GLUON
A gluon is a hypothetical, subatomic particle postulated as being necessary to bind (or “glue”) together quarks, hence the name “gluon”.

18. They often have organs: Abbr. : ASSNS
Associations (assns.) often have organs of communication, like newsletters.

26. Slowing down, musically: Abbr. : RITARD
Rit. (or sometimes ritard.) is the abbreviation for ritardando, the musical direction to slow down the tempo.

29. Plant bristle : AWN
Awns are hair or bristle-like structures found in numerous species of plants. In some species, like barley, the awns can contain photosynthetic tissue.

34. Jordanian port : AQABA
The coastal city of Aqaba is the only seaport in the country of Jordan. The city lies at the very northern tip of the Gulf of Aqaba, which is off the Red Sea.

36. Goya’s “The Duchess of ___” : ALBA
María Cayetana de Silva was the 13th duchess of Alba. She was a favorite subject of the Spanish painter Francisco Goya. The duchess is the subject in the famous portrait known as “The Naked Maja”.

Francisco Goya was a Spanish painter, often called the last of the Old Masters and the first of the moderns. Two of his most famous works are “The Nude Maja” and “The Clothed Maja”.

41. Comb filler : BEE
A bee produces fills a honeycomb with honey.

44. Early development centers : UTERI
“In utero” is a Latin term meaning “in the uterus”. The Latin “uterus” translates as both “womb” and “belly”. The Latin word was derived from the Greek “hystera” also meaning womb, which gives us the words “hysterectomy”, and “hysterical”.

50. Soap actress Sofer : RENA
Rena Sofer came to prominence as an actor in daytime television, most notably playing Lois Cerullo on “General Hospital”. Sofa’s love interest on the show was played by Wally Kurth, and the online romance led to the pair walking down the aisle in real life in 1995 (although they divorced two years later).

52. ___ Rios, Jamaica : OCHO
If you ever take a cruise ship to Jamaica, you will likely disembark in Ocho Rios, a major port of call for the cruise lines. “Ocho rios” is Spanish for “eight rivers”.

54. “BUtterfield 8” novelist : O’HARA
“BUtterfield 8” (note the capitalization of both the “B” and the “U”) is a film released in 1960 starring Elizabeth Taylor and Laurence Harvey. The title of the movie, and of the John O’Hara novel on which the film is based, is actually a telephone number. Up to the mid-sixties, telephone exchanges were given names rather than numbers. BUtterfield 8 was an exchange in the wealthy Upper East Side of Manhattan, and dialling of BU-8 was equivalent to 28-8, the first three digits of a 7-digit phone number.

63. José, to friends : PEPE
“José” is the Spanish for “Joseph”. Friends might also refer to José as “Pepe”. Both José and Pepe derive from Saint Joseph, the father of Jesus. Saint Joseph is sometimes referred to as “padre putativo” meaning “presumed father”. The acronym “PP” standing for “padre putativo” led to the name “Pepe”.

64. Al ___ : DENTE
The Italian expression “al dente” literally means “to the tooth” or “to the bite” and is used to describe not only pasta, but also vegetables that are cooked so that they are tender yet still crisp.

66. Greek name for Greece : ELLAS
Ellas is the Greek word for Greece, the name of the country. Greece is also known as the Hellenic Republic.

67. Font option: Abbr. : ITAL
Italic type leans to the right. The style is known as “italic” because the stylized calligraphic form of writing originated in Italy, probably in the Vatican.

72. Longtime Yankee nickname : 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.

81. In ___ (archaeologist’s phrase) : SITU
“In situ” is a Latin phrase meaning “in the place”, and we use the term to mean “in the original position”.

85. Fish trap : EELPOT
An eelpot is used to catch eels. Similar to a lobster pot, and eelpot is usually box-shaped with a funnel-like entrance that an eel can swim into, but through which it cannot escape.

100. Royal robe trim : ERMINE
Ermine is another name for the stoat. The stoat has dark brown fur in the summer, and white fur in the winter. Sometimes the term “ermine” is reserved for the animal during the winter when the fur is white. Ermine skins have long been prized by royalty and are often used for white trim on ceremonial robes.

102. Chick of jazz : COREA
Chick Corea is an American jazz pianist. Corea is noted for his work in the area of jazz fusion, as well as for his promotion of Scientology.

109. She, in Salerno : ESSA
Salerno is a port city on the southwest coast of Italy. In WWII, after the Italians negotiated a peace treaty with the Allies in 1943, the King of Italy relocated to Salerno from Rome. The new Italian government was set up in the city, and for a few months Salerno was “capital” of the country.

111. Taverna offering : GYRO
A gyro is a traditional Greek dish, a sandwich made with pita bread containing meat, tomato, onion and tzatziki (a yogurt and cucumber sauce). The meat for gyros is usually roasted on a tall vertical spit and is sliced from the spit as required. The name “gyro” comes from the modern Greek word “gyros” meaning “circle”, a reference to the meat turning as it is grilled in a rotating circular motion.

114. British mil. decorations : DSOS
The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a British military award, usually presented to officers with the rank of Major or higher.

117. Chinese steamed bun : BAO
A baozi (also “bou, bao”) is a steamed, filled bun in Chinese cookery.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Canine woe : MANGE
6. Decorates nicely : GILDS
11. Actress Hayworth : RITA
15. Evian Championship org. : LPGA
19. Fundamental truth : AXIOM
20. “Coffee ___?” : OR TEA
21. Give ___ (yank) : A TUG
22. Some bookmarks, for short : URLS
23. Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic? : TENNIS SERBS (from “tennis serves”)
25. Hyperbolically large : GINORMOUS
27. Like steppes : TREELESS
28. Tour guide’s comment at the primate house? : THAT’S A GIBBON (from ‘that’s a given”)
30. Done, in Verdun : FINI
31. Twiggy’s look in ’60s fashion : WAIF
32. Wintry temps : TEENS
33. Sign for tourists visiting the Bolshoi? : BALLET PARKING (from “valet parking”)
40. Construction support : I-BAR
42. Swimming pool shade : AQUA
43. M.I.T.’s ___ School of Management : SLOAN
44. Operator : USER
45. Cry before “Open up!” : FBI
48. Yak : NATTER
51. Tropical paradise for Barbie and Ken? : BALI OFTHE DOLLS (from “Valley of the Dolls”)
55. ’60s White House name : ABE
56. Smear : DEFAME
58. The Indians, on scoreboards : CLE
59. Dickens’s Uriah ___ : HEEP
60. Common potluck dish : LASAGNA
62. On the button : SHARP
64. Pops : DADDY
65. Let Justin take care of everything? : LEAVE IT TO BIEBER (from “Leave It to Beaver”)
70. Hands out hands : DEALS
73. Some horns : ALTOS
74. Like Nasser’s vision : PAN-ARAB
78. Prefix with phobia : ACRO-
79. Vientiane native : LAO
80. Response to “Look over there!” : I SEE IT!
83. What often follows you : ARE
84. Passed security at the troubadours’ convention? : SHOWED BALLAD ID (from “showed valid ID”)
89. Like “South Park” vis-à-vis “The Simpsons” : LEWDER
91. Mortar trough : HOD
92. NASA spacewalks, in brief : EVAS
93. One of three Canadian aboriginal groups : METIS
95. German article : EINE
96. Detroit pioneer : OLDS
97. Prepare to go canoeing? : GET OUT THE BOAT (from “get out the vote”)
101. Place for a massage : SCALP
104. Ghostbuster Spengler : EGON
106. Seniors’ org. : AARP
107. Stadium binge? : HOT DOG BENDER (from “hot dog vendor”)
111. Displayed an “Oh my God” reaction : GRIMACED
115. Judge : ARBITRATE
116. Fortunetellers’ protest demand? : SIBYL RIGHTS (from “civil rights”)
118. Fields : LEAS
119. Banned orchard spray : ALAR
120. Close call : SCARE
121. Sweet, once : NEATO
122. Wood strip : LATH
123. Lunch counter orders : BLTS
124. Something hilarious : A HOOT
125. ___ Park : ESTES

Down
1. Drudge of the Drudge Report : MATT
2. Woodchopper, say : AXER
3. Near-perfect rating : NINE
4. No longer fizzy : GONE FLAT
5. One of the Dionne quints : EMILIE
6. Tongue waggers : GOSSIPS
7. Steams : IRES
8. Paper size: Abbr. : LTR
9. It’s indicated in red : DEBT
10. Band for a “Miss” : SASH
11. Motley : RAGTAG
12. “Who goes there?” reply : IT IS I
13. Salad ingredient : TUNA FISH
14. Wide-eyed and open-mouthed : AGOG
15. Trudge (along) : LUMBER
16. Certain NASA launch : PROBE
17. Binding elementary particle : GLUON
18. They often have organs: Abbr. : ASSNS
24. E-mail folder : SENT
26. Slowing down, musically: Abbr. : RITARD
29. Plant bristle : AWN
33. Ho-hum : BANAL
34. Jordanian port : AQABA
35. Plucked instruments : LUTES
36. Goya’s “The Duchess of ___” : ALBA
37. Go hither and yon : ROAM
38. Leafy green : KALE
39. Ristorante menu suffix : -INI
41. Comb filler : BEE
44. Early development centers : UTERI
45. Ran : FLED
46. Ran : BLED
47. Children’s game with letters : I SPY
49. Noses : EDGES
50. Soap actress Sofer : RENA
52. ___ Rios, Jamaica : OCHO
53. Workout target : FLAB
54. “BUtterfield 8” novelist : O’HARA
57. Kind of bean : FAVA
61. Let happen : ALLOW
62. Urban grid: Abbr. : STS
63. José, to friends : PEPE
64. Al ___ : DENTE
66. Greek name for Greece : ELLAS
67. Font option: Abbr. : ITAL
68. Plane, e.g. : TOOL
69. Something it’s against the law to jump : BAIL
70. Little bit : DASH
71. Imitate : ECHO
72. Longtime Yankee nickname : A-ROD
75. It has buttons but no buttonholes : RADIO
76. Big concert site : ARENA
77. Top of the military? : BERET
80. Logical beginning? : IDEO-
81. In ___ (archaeologist’s phrase) : SITU
82. Cut a column, say : EDIT
85. Fish trap : EELPOT
86. Rental item : DVD
87. Game of tag? : BASEBALL
88. Gal., e.g. : AMT
90. Google hit units : WEBPAGES
94. Up-and-coming actress : STARLET
96. Getting up there : OLDISH
97. Doomed ones : GONERS
98. Wrap up : END
99. Locks : HAIR
100. Royal robe trim : ERMINE
101. Definitely will : SHALL
102. Chick of jazz : COREA
103. Up, in 87-Down : AT BAT
105. Suggest : GET AT
108. Take in a hurry : GRAB
109. She, in Salerno : ESSA
110. Laughable : RICH
111. Taverna offering : GYRO
112. Converse : CHAT
113. Suffix with luncheon : -ETTE
114. British mil. decorations : DSOS
117. Chinese steamed bun : BAO

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Posted by Bill Butler
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