0528-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 28 May 13, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Dan Feyer
THEME: Finish with GE … each of today’s themed answer is a well-known phrase, with -GE added on the end:

17A. Garbage scow that docked with Mir? : SPACE BAR(GE)
20A. Swapping out Sheen for Rose? : CHARLIE CHAN(GE)
35A. Boy Scout’s reward for karate expertise? : BREAKING BAD(GE)
54A. Caveman’s injury after discovering fire? : ORIGINAL SIN(GE)
59A. Feeling when one’s voodoo doll is poked? : EVIL TWIN(GE)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 10:45
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Native Kiwis : MAORI
The Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand. The Māori are eastern Polynesian in origin and began arriving in New Zealand relatively recently, starting sometime in the late 13th century. The word “māori” simply means “normal”, distinguishing the mortal human being from spiritual entities.

Unlike many nicknames for people of a particular country, the name “Kiwi” for a New Zealander isn’t offensive at all. The term comes from the flightless bird called the kiwi, which is endemic to New Zealand and is the country’s national symbol. “Kiwi” is a Maori word, and the plural (when referring to the bird) is simply “kiwi”. However, when you have two or more New Zealanders with you, they are Kiwis (note the “s”, and indeed the capital “K”!).

6. Big name in power tools : SKIL
Skil Power Tools sold the first “Skilsaw” back in 1924, for $160. Despite almost a century of inflation, a Skilsaw can be purchased today for a fraction of that original price.

14. Extra Dry brand : ARRID
Arrid is an antiperspirant deodorant brand introduced in the thirties. Slogans associated with Arrid have been “Don’t be half-safe – use Arrid to be sure”, “Stress stinks! Arrid works!” and “Get a little closer”.

15. A, to Mozart : EINE
The composer Mozart’s full name was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The name “Wolfgang” translates literally as “wolf journey”. Amadeus translates as “Love God!”.

16. Kind of suit worn by a 21-Down : ZOOT
A zoot suit has pants that are fairly loose fitting, except around the cuff at the bottom of the leg. The pants also have a high waist. The jacket of the suit has wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. Zoot-suits were popular in the US in the thirties and forties, and were often associated with the African American, Latino American and Italian American ethnic groups. Over in the UK, the zoot suit was worn by the “Teddy boys” of the fifties and sixties. “Zoot” is probably just a slang iteration of the word “suit”.

17. Garbage scow that docked with Mir? : SPACE BAR(GE)
The Russian Mir Space Station was a remarkably successful project, with the station still holding the record for the longest continuous manned presence in space, at just under ten years. Towards the end of the space station’s life however, the years began to take their toll. There was a dangerous fire, multiple system failures, and a collision with a resupply ship. The Russian commitment to the International Space Station drained funds for repairs, so Mir was allowed to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up in 2001.

20. Swapping out Sheen for Rose? : CHARLIE CHAN(GE)
Charlie Chan is the main character in a series of novels by Earl Derr Biggers. Chan is a Chinese-American detective working with the Honolulu police department. There have been almost 50 movies made featuring the Charlie Chan character.

24. “That’s all ___ wrote” : SHE
No one seems to be very certain of the origin of the phrase “that’s all she wrote”. One popular story though is that it stems from the unfortunate “Dear John” letters that some soldiers received during WWII.

25. Actor Brynner : YUL
Yul Brynner was a Russian-born actor. Brynner was well known for his great performances, but also for his shaved head and his deep rich voice. He first adopted the “hairstyle” while playing the King of Siam in the stage version of “The King and I”, and he stuck with it.

30. Roman encyclopedist who died after the eruption of Vesuvius : PLINY
Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger were important figures in Ancient Rome. Pliny the Elder was a scientist and historian, the author of “Naturalis Historia”, commonly referred to as “Pliny’s Natural History”. Pliny died in the year 79 AD in an attempt to rescue friends during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Younger was the nephew and adopted son of Pliny the Elder. Pliny the Younger was a noted Roman statesman, orator and writer.

32. “What Do You Do With ___ in English?” (“Avenue Q” song) : A BA
“Avenue Q” is a musical inspired by “Sesame Street”, with puppets being used for all the characters on the stage. It’s an adult-oriented production, but a parody on the children’s show. Some of the characters are clearly knock-offs of “Sesame Street” favorites e.g. Rod and Nicky (Bert and Ernie) and Trekkie Monster (Cookie Monster).

33. Romanov bigwig : TSAR
Peter the Great was perhaps the most successful of the Romanov tsars, famous for modernizing Russia and expanding the country’s sphere of influence, creating the Russian Empire. He ruled from 1682 until his death in 1725.

35. Boy Scout’s reward for karate expertise? : BREAKING BAD(GE)
I hadn’t seen the AMC drama “Breaking Bad” until recently when my wife borrowed the first and second seasons from our local library. It is a very well written show about a high school teacher stricken by lung cancer who turns to a life of crime to make money. It seems that AMC have a second big hit on their hands after the success of “Mad Men”.

40. Nintendo console : WII
The Wii is the biggest-selling game console in the world.

44. Nahuatl speaker : AZTEC
Nahuatl is a group of languages mainly spoken in Central Mexico.

48. Word before “sum” : ERGO
The great French philosopher Rene Descartes made the famous statement in Latin, “Cogito, ergo sum” … “I think, therefore I am”.

50. Move hastily : HIE
“To hie” is to move quickly, to bolt.

54. Caveman’s injury after discovering fire? : ORIGINAL SIN(GE)
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.

58. 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.

59. Feeling when one’s voodoo doll is poked? : EVIL TWIN(GE)
Voodoo is a religion that originated in the French slave colony of Saint-Domingue on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.

62. Designer Marc : ECKO
Marc Ecko is a fashion designer from New Jersey. Marc was born Marc Milecofsky. In college he became a fan of graffiti and used the name “Ecko” as his tag.

64. Jungian archetype : ANIMA
The concept of anima and animus is found in the Carl Jung school of analytical psychology. The idea is that within each male their resides a feminine inner personality called the anima, and within each female there is a male inner personality known as the animus.

Down
1. “No ___!” (Spanish “Uncle!”) : MAS
“No mas!” translates from Spanish as “no more!”.

2. Dadaist Hans : ARP
Hans Arp was a French artist renowned for his work with torn and pasted paper, although that wasn’t the only medium he used. Arp was the son of a French mother and German father and spoke both languages fluently. When he was speaking German he gave his name as Hans Arp, but when speaking French he called himself Jean Arp. Both “Hans” and “Jean” translate into English as “John”. In WWI Arp moved to Switzerland to avoid being called up to fight, taking advantage of Swiss neutrality. Eventually he was told to report to the German Consulate and fill out paperwork for the draft. In order to get out of fighting, Arp messed up the paperwork by writing the date in every blank space on the forms. Then he took off all of his clothes and walked with his papers over to the officials in charge. He was sent home …

Dadaism thrived during and just after WWI, and was an anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-art culture. The movement began in Zurich, Switzerland started by a group of artists and writers who met to discuss art and put on performances in the Cabaret Voltaire, frequently expressing disgust at the war that was raging across Europe.

3. Providing hints of the future : ORACULAR
In Ancient Greece and Rome, an oracle was someone believed inspired by the gods to give wise counsel. The word “oracle” derives from the Latin “orare” meaning “to speak”, which is the same root for our word “orator”.

4. Havens who sang at Woodstock : RICHIE
Richie Havens is a folk singer and guitarist. One of Havens’s claims to fame is that he was the opening act at the first Woodstock festival in 1969.

6. Good Housekeeping emblem : SEAL
“Good Housekeeping” is a women’s magazine founded back in 1885. In the early 1900s the magazine started the Good Housekeeping Research Institute, a laboratory tasked with the testing of household devices. Any item proven to have sufficent quality and reliability is given the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

7. Soprano ___ Te Kanawa : KIRI
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa is an outstanding soprano from New Zealand who was in great demand for operatic performances in the seventies and eighties.

10. Biblical book once combined with Nehemiah : EZRA
In the Hebrew Bible the Book of Ezra was originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah, with the two being separated in the early days of the Christian Era.

11. Mrs. Woody Allen : SOON-YI
Soon-Yi Previn is the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow and pianist/conductor André Previn. After Farrow and Previn divorced, Farrow started seeing famed movie director Woody Allen. That relationship ended when Farrow discovered that Allen was having an affair with her daughter Soon-Yi. Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn were married in 1997.

12. 1986 Tom Cruise film : TOP GUN
“Top Gun” is an entertaining action movie released in 1986 starring Tom Cruise and the lovely Kelly McGillis. The movie is all about pilots training at the US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School. A lot of footage was shot on board the Navy’s carrier the USS Enterprise during flight operations. At one point in a day’s shooting, the commander of the Enterprise changed course as needed for normal operations, but this altered the light for the cameras that were filming at the time. Director Tony Scott asked for the course to be changed back, but was informed that a course change would cost the Navy $25,000. Scott wrote out a check there and then, and he got another five minutes of filming with the light he needed.

18. Cold one : BREWSKI
“Brewskis” and “cold one” are slang terms for “beer”.

21. Cool one, once : HEP CAT
The slang term “hep” meaning “cool” has the same meaning as the later derivative term “hip”. The origins of “hep” seem unclear, but it was adopted by jazz musicians of the early 1900s.

22. Garment under a blouse : BRA
The word “brassière” is of course French in origin, but it isn’t the word the French use for a “bra”. In France what we call a bra is known as a “soutien-gorge”, translating to “held under the neck”. The word “brassière” is indeed used in France but there it describes a baby’s undershirt, a lifebelt or a harness. “Brassière” comes from the Old French word for an “arm protector” in a military uniform (“bras” is the French for “arm”). Later “brassière” came to mean “breastplate” and from there the word was used for a type of woman’s corset. The word jumped into English around 1900.

23. Former Virginia senator Chuck : ROBB
Chuck Robb is a former Governor of Virginia and former US Senator. Robb is married to Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the daughter of former President Lyndon B. Johnson.

28. “Bali ___” (“South Pacific” song) : HAI
The song “Bali Ha’i” is from the musical “South Pacific” by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In the musical, Bali Ha’i is the name of a volcanic island that neighbors the island on which the story takes place.

29. Dadaist Max : ERNST
Max Ernst was a painter and sculptor, a pioneer in the Dada movement and Surrealism. Ernst was born near Cologne in Germany in 1891 and he was called up to fight in WWI, as were most young German men at that time. In his autobiography he writes “Max Ernst died the 1st of August, 1914” a statement about his experiences in the war. In reality, Ernst died in 1976 having lived to the ripe old age of 85.

33. Meditative martial art : TAI CHI
More properly called tai chi chuan, tai chi is a martial art mostly practiced to improve overall health and increase longevity.

37. Like the apparel donned in “Deck the Halls” : GAY
“Don we now our gay apparel …”

The music for “Deck the Halls” is a traditional Welsh tune that dates back to the 16th century. The same tune was used by Mozart for a violin and piano duet. The lyrics with which we are familiar (other than the “tra-la-la”) are American in origin, and were recorded in 19th century.

38. Fragrant white flower : GARDENIA
The genus of flowering plant called gardenia is actually in the coffee family.

43. Palme ___ (Cannes award) : D’OR
The “Palme d’Or” (or “Golden Palm” in English) is the highest award given at the Cannes Film Festival. The Palme d’Or goes to the director of the film selected as the best shown at the festival that year. The palm was selected as an emblem for the award as there is a palm featured on the coat of arms of the Commune of Cannes.

45. City NE of Geneva : ZURICH
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland, and is famous as a financial center.

46. “Growing Pains” co-star Alan : THICKE
47. “Growing Pains” family name : SEAVER
The Canadian actor Alan Thicke is best known for portraying the patriarch of the Seaver family on the sitcom “Growing Pains”. Thicke was also quite successful as a composer of TV theme songs. Along with his first wife, he co-wrote the theme songs to the sitcoms “Diff’rent Strokes” and “The Facts of Life”.

51. Like a schlimazel : INEPT
“Schlimazel” is a Yiddish word that is used to describe a person who is extremely unlucky and perhaps inept.

53. Egypt’s Sadat : ANWAR
Anwar Sadat was the third President of Egypt right up to the time of his assassination in 1981. Sadat won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 along with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin for the role played in crafting the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty of 1978 at Camp David. It was this agreement that largely led to Sadat’s assassination three years later.

55. The “G” in EGBDF : GOOD
In the world of music, EGBDF are the notes on the lines of the treble clef. The notes are often remembered with a mnemonic such as “Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge”.

56. Toon who plays a baritone sax : LISA
Lisa Simpson is Bart’s brainy younger sister on TV’s “The Simpsons”. Lisa is voiced by actress Yeardley Smith.

60. Maker of the Canyon truck : GMC
GMC is a division of General Motors (GM) established in 1901 that started out as “GMC Truck”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Native Kiwis : MAORI
6. Big name in power tools : SKIL
10. Educated guesses: Abbr. : ESTS
14. Extra Dry brand : ARRID
15. A, to Mozart : EINE
16. Kind of suit worn by a 21-Down : ZOOT
17. Garbage scow that docked with Mir? : SPACE BAR(GE)
19. It’s fit to be tied : ROPE
20. Swapping out Sheen for Rose? : CHARLIE CHAN(GE)
22. Fall result, maybe : BRUISE
24. “That’s all ___ wrote” : SHE
25. Actor Brynner : YUL
26. What an actor plays : ROLE
27. Excite, as an appetite : WHET
30. Roman encyclopedist who died after the eruption of Vesuvius : PLINY
32. “What Do You Do With ___ in English?” (“Avenue Q” song) : A BA
33. Romanov bigwig : TSAR
34. “Rocks” : ICE
35. Boy Scout’s reward for karate expertise? : BREAKING BAD(GE)
40. Nintendo console : WII
41. Pepper’s partner : SALT
42. Sum : ADD
44. Nahuatl speaker : AZTEC
47. Case for an ophthalmologist : STYE
48. Word before “sum” : ERGO
49. “I am so stupid!” : DUH!
50. Move hastily : HIE
52. Move aimlessly : WANDER
54. Caveman’s injury after discovering fire? : ORIGINAL SIN(GE)
58. Puerto ___ : RICO
59. Feeling when one’s voodoo doll is poked? : EVIL TWIN(GE)
62. Designer Marc : ECKO
63. Coin of Colombia : PESO
64. Jungian archetype : ANIMA
65. Slough off : SHED
66. Snare : TRAP
67. Undergo a chemical transformation : REACT

Down
1. “No ___!” (Spanish “Uncle!”) : MAS
2. Dadaist Hans : ARP
3. Providing hints of the future : ORACULAR
4. Havens who sang at Woodstock : RICHIE
5. Some intellectual property : IDEAS
6. Good Housekeeping emblem : SEAL
7. Soprano ___ Te Kanawa : KIRI
8. Consume : INGEST
9. Bloodletting worm : LEECH
10. Biblical book once combined with Nehemiah : EZRA
11. Mrs. Woody Allen : SOON-YI
12. 1986 Tom Cruise film : TOP GUN
13. Like a cold, hard gaze : STEELY
18. Cold one : BREWSKI
21. Cool one, once : HEP CAT
22. Garment under a blouse : BRA
23. Former Virginia senator Chuck : ROBB
28. “Bali ___” (“South Pacific” song) : HAI
29. Dadaist Max : ERNST
31. Was in the vanguard : LED
33. Meditative martial art : TAI CHI
34. “My goof!” : I BLEW IT!
36. Ram’s mate : EWE
37. Like the apparel donned in “Deck the Halls” : GAY
38. Fragrant white flower : GARDENIA
39. Razor feature : EDGE
43. Palme ___ (Cannes award) : D’OR
44. Likes a bunch : ADORES
45. City NE of Geneva : ZURICH
46. “Growing Pains” co-star Alan : THICKE
47. “Growing Pains” family name : SEAVER
48. V-8, e.g. : ENGINE
51. Like a schlimazel : INEPT
53. Egypt’s Sadat : ANWAR
55. The “G” in EGBDF : GOOD
56. Toon who plays a baritone sax : LISA
57. Feed, as pigs : SLOP
60. Maker of the Canyon truck : GMC
61. Consume : EAT


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