0609-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 9 Jun 13, Sunday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Insect’s feeler : PALP
A palp is an appendage found near the mouth of many invertebrates, including mollusks, crustaceans and insects. It is used to help in feeding, but can also assist in locomotion.

5. Double-platinum Steely Dan album : AJA
Steely Dan’s heyday was in the seventies when they toured for a couple of years, although the group mainly focused on studio work. The band was formed in 1972 and broke up in 1981. The core of the band reunited in 1993 and they are still going strong today.

17. Participated in a derby : RAN
Our use of the word “derby” to mean a race started in 1780 with the English Derby horse race, which was founded then by the 12th Earl of Derby. Ultimately, the term “derby” derives from the old English shire of “Deorby”, a word meaning “deer village”.

18. One of several Louises : ROI
Louis XIV is perhaps the most famous of the kings (“rois”) of France and was known as the “Sun King” (le Roi Soleil”). Louis XIV was king from 1638 to 1715, a reign of over 72 years, which is the longest reign of any European monarch.

19. ___ Lauro (hijacked ship of 1985) : ACHILLE
The cruise ship MS Achille Lauro was sailing from Alexandria to Port Said in 1985 when four members of the Palestine Liberation Front (PLF) hijacked the vessel. Two days after killing a Jewish-American passenger, the hijackers agreed to surrender the vessel in exchange for safe conduct on a commercial airliner flying . The Egyptian plane was intercepted by US fighters and was forced to land at a US base in Sicily. There followed disagreements between American and Italian as well as American and Egyptian authorities. The four hijackers were arrested, tried and convicted by the Italians.

24. Temple in Hollywood : SHIRLEY
The child star Shirley Temple made her first movie in 1932 at the age of three, then became a star 1934 in the film “Bright Eyes”. Temple retired from show business at the age of 22, but made a brief attempt to resume her career in the late fifties and early sixties. She served as a board member for several organizations, including the Walt Disney Company. She also ran unsuccessfully for the US Congress in 1874, but was appointed as US Ambassador to Ghana in 1974, and then to Czechoslovakia in 1989.

25. Colorless sort : ALBINO
“Albino”, meaning an organism lacking normal pigmentation, comes from “albus” Latin for “white”.

27. Parts of un archipel : ILES
In French, an archipelago (un archipel) is made up of islands (îles).

“Archipelago” is a name often used for a group or chain of islands. “Archipelago” is our spelling of the Italian “arcipelago”, a word that has Greek roots. “Arcipelago” was the proper name for the Aegean Sea in Greek, a word that was eventually used for the Aegean Islands.

30. Coup d’___ : ETAT
A coup d’état (often just “coup”) is the sudden overthrow of a government, and comes from the French for “stroke of state”.

34. Bette Midler, e.g. : DIVA
One of my favorite singers, and indeed all-round entertainers, is Bette Midler. If you’ve ever seen her live show you’ll know that “camp” is a good word to describe it, as her humor is definitely “out there” and quite bawdy. Early in her career, Midler spent years singing in the Continental Baths, a gay bathhouse in New York City. There she became very close friends with her piano accompanist, Barry Manilow. While singing in the bathhouse, Bette only wore a white towel, just like the members of her audience. It was in those days that she created her famous character “the Divine Miss M” and also earned herself the nickname “Bathhouse Betty”.

38. Biblical dry measure : OMER
An “omer” is a unit of dry volume that was used in Ancient Israel. It was about 3 1/2 liters.

41. Frankfurt’s river : ODER
Frankfurt an der Oder is a town in Brandenburg, Germany that is right on the border with Poland. The suffix “an der Oder” shows that it lies on the Oder River and also serves to differentiate the town from the larger and more famous city of Frankfurt am Main.

42. Like some Braten : SAUER
Sauerbraten is a traditional pot roast dish of Germany. The name “Sauerbraten” translates as “sour roast”. The cut of meat is soaked for several days in a vinegar-based marinade (hence “sour”) before cooking.

44. Lassie and Marmaduke, e.g. : PET DOGS
We owe the character Lassie to one Eric Knight who wrote a short story that he expanded into a novel called “Lassie Come Home”, published in 1940. “Lassie Come Home” was turned into a movie three years later, the first of a very successful franchise. The original Lassie (a female) was played by a dog called Pal, a male dog. In fact, all of the dogs that played Lassie over the years were males, because they looked better on camera, retaining a thick coat even during the summer months.

Marmaduke is the title character in a newspaper comic strip that has been drawn by Brad Anderson since 1954. Marmaduke is a Great Dane, the pet dog of the Winslow family.

50. Super Bowl div. : QTR
Super Bowl I was played in January 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers emerged victorious in a game with a score of 35-10. That game was officially known as the AFL-NFL Championship Game, as the name “Super Bowl” wasn’t applied until two seasons later. That “first” Super Bowl is now known as Super Bowl III and was played between the New York Jets and the Baltimore Colts. The Jets came out on top.

51. Home of Odysseus : ITHACA
Ithaca is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. Ithaca featured in Homer’s “Odyssey” as it was the home of the mythological hero Odysseus.

52. Star in the Swan constellation : DENEB
Deneb is the brightest star in the constellation called Cygnus, the Swan. The name “Deneb” comes from the Arabic word “dhaneb” meaning “tail”, as it lies at the tail of the swan.

53. ___ neutrino : TAU
Neutrinos are small subatomic particles that do not carry an electric charge. The term “neutrino” is Italian for “small neutral one”. There are three types of neutrino: electron neutrinos, muon neutrinos and tau neutrinos.

55. Parapsychological subj. : ESP
Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

60. Raw meat dish : CARPACCIO
Carpaccio can be meat or fish. It is sliced very thinly, or may be pounded until it is thin, and then served raw. Carpaccio is a relatively contemporary dish, first served in 1950 to a countess in Venice, Italy. The lady informed the restaurant owner that her doctor had advised her to eat only raw meat, so she was served thin slices of uncooked beef in a mustard sauce. The owner of the restaurant thought that the colors of the dish reminded him of paintings by Vittore Carpaccio, so he gave it the name “Carpaccio”. So the story goes anyway …

64. 95-Across who made the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week : SECRETARIAT
The thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat was rated the 35th best athlete(!) in the 20th century by ESPN in 1999.

72. Now or never: Abbr. : ADV
“Now” and “never” are both adverbs.

75. The Eagles, on a scoreboard : PHI
The Philadelphia Eagles was established in 1933 and joined the National Football League as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets, also from Philadelphia. The “Eagle” name was inspired by the Blue Eagle insignia that was used by companies who were in compliance with the National Industrial Recovery Act that was central to President Roosevelt’s New Deal Program.

77. Charlene who played Lucy on “Dallas” : TILTON
The actress Charlene Tilton is best known for playing Lucy Ewing on Dallas, the eldest daughter of Gary Ewing and who was raised by at the Southfork Ranch by grandparents Jock and Miss Ellie Ewing.

79. Stereotypical neighbors : JONESES
The phrase “keep up with the Joneses” was popularized by the comic strip called “Keep up with the Joneses” that first appeared in American newspapers in 1913. The eponymous “Jones” family never appeared in person in the strip, but were referred to constantly,

82. “Ben-Hur,” for one : EPIC
The celebrated Charlton Heston movie “Ben-Hur” is a dramatization of a book published in 1880 by Lew Wallace titled “Ben-Hur: A Tale of Christ”. The 1959 epic film won a record 11 Academy Awards, a feat that has been equaled since then but has never been beaten. The other winners of 11 Oscars are “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Rings”.

83. “Catch you later” : ADIOS
The term “adios” is of course Spanish for “goodbye”. In the Spanish language, “adios” comes from the phrase “a dios vos acomiendo” meaning “I commend you to God”.

85. Jazz trumpeter Baker : CHET
The famous jazz trumpeter Chet Baker was noted for his heroin addiction, a problem that nearly put an end to his performing career. He managed a comeback in the late seventies, mainly appearing and recording in Europe. But he never kicked the drug habit and was found dead one day after falling from his hotel room window in Amsterdam.

88. “Regrets, ___ had a few” (“My Way” lyric) : IVE
The song “My Way” has lyrics that were written by Paul Anka in 1969, but the tune itself was composed two years earlier by Claude François and Jacques Revaux. The song had been released with completely different lyrics in France as “Comme d’habitude” (“As Usual”). When Anka heard the song on television in Paris he sought out and obtained the rights to use it himself, for free. Supposedly, “Comme d’habitude” has been recorded in more languages, by more artists, than any other song in the contemporary repertoire.

98. Bold Ruler, to 64-Across : SIRE
The thoroughbred racehorse Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler out of Somethingroyal.

100. Mort who said “My life needs editing” : SAHL
Mort Sahl is a Canadian-born actor and comedian who moved to the US with his family when he was a child. Sahl became friends with John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy became president, Sahl wrote a lot of jokes for the President’s speeches, although he also told a lot of Kennedy jokes in his acts. After the President was assassinated in 1963, Sahl was intensely interested in finding out who was behind the crime and even got himself deputized as a member of one of the investigating teams. He was very outspoken against the results of the Warren Commission report on the assassination, and soon found himself out of favor with the public. It took a few years for him to make his comeback, but come back he did.

104. Morale-boosting mil. event : USO SHOW
The United Service Organization (USO) was founded in 1941 at the request of FDR “to handle the on-leave recreation of the men in the armed forces”. A USO tour is undertaken by a troupe of entertainers, many of whom are big-name celebrities. A USO tour usually includes troop locations in combat zones.

107. Bull or Celtic : NBAER
The Chicago Bulls have won six NBA championships in the life of the franchise, all of them in the nineties. They won in the 1991, 1992 and 1993 seasons (a so-called “three-peat”), and then again in 1996, 1997 and 1998 (a second “three-peat”).

The Boston Celtics NBA basketball team were founded just after WWII in 1946. The Celtics won eight league championships in a row from 1958 to 1966. That’s the longest consecutive championship winning streak of any professional sports team in North America.

108. Units of force : NEWTONS
Newtons are both units of force. The newton is of course named for Sir Isaac Newton, the English physicist and mathematician.

109. “Marry ___ Little” (Sondheim song) : ME A
“Marry Me a Little” is both a song and a musical revue by Stephen Sondheim.

110. Actress Thurman : UMA
Robert Thurman was the first westerner to be ordained a Tibetan Buddhist monk. Robert raised his children in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition and called his daughter “Uma” as it is a phonetic spelling of the Buddhist name “Dbuma”.

111. “Same here” : DITTO
“Ditto” was originally used in Italian (from Tuscan dialect) to avoid repetition of the names of months in a series of dates. So “ditto” is just another wonderful import from that lovely land …

115. Bonn exclamations : ACHS
The German exclamation “ach!” is usually translated into English as “oh!”

After WWII, Bonn was chosen as the capital of West Germany, a choice promoted by Chancellor Konrad Adenauer who was from the area. After German reunification, the capital was moved to Berlin.

Down
1. Dumbwaiter part : PULLEY
A Lazy Susan is a circular tray at the center of a dining table that can be rotated by those partaking in the meal. The term “Lazy Susan” was introduced in the early 1900s, first appearing in an article in the magazine “Good Housekeeping”. Before this designation, the device had been called a “dumbwaiter”, a term we now use for a small elevator used for transporting food from a kitchen to a dining room.

5. Name that’s Hebrew for “lion” : ARI
The name “Ari” appears in several languages. In Hebrew “ari” translates as “lion”. However, in Azerbaijani “ari” means “bee”, in Albanian it means “gold”, in German it means “eagle” and in HIndi it means “not of sin”.

8. Drs. may order them : MRIS
A CT (or “CAT”) scan produces (via computer manipulation) a three dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful causing damage that is cumulative over time. An MRI on the other hand (Magnetic Resonance Imaging), uses powerful magnetic fields to generate its images so there is no exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays). We used MRI equipment in our chemistry labs at school, way back in the days when the technology was still called Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMRI). Apparently the marketing folks didn’t like the term “nuclear” because of its association with atomic bombs, so now it’s just called MRI.

11. Yellowfin tuna, on menus : AHI
Yellowfin tuna is usually marketed as “ahi”, its Hawaiian name. Yellowfin tuna is one big fish, often weighing over 300 pounds.

15. Hybrid musical instrument with a shoulder strap : KEYTAR
A “keytar” is a lightweight musical keyboard that is worn around the neck with a strap like a guitar. “Keytar” is a slang term and is a portmanteau of “keyboard” and “guitar”. The instruments are more properly called “strap-on keyboards” or something similar.

26. Taco sauce brand : ORTEGA
The Ortega food manufacturing company has been around for about 150 years. It was founded by Maria Concepcion Jacinta Dominguez Ortega, known affectionately as Mama Ortega within the company.

39. Giants of the sky, in myth : ROCS
The mythical roc is a huge bird of prey, reputedly able to carry off and eat elephants.

44. Embroidery loops : PICOTS
A picot is a loop of thread, either for function or for decoration, at the edge of some knitted or tatted material.

46. What 64-Across won on June 9, 1973 : THE TRIPLE CROWN
The US Triple Crown horse races are:

– The Kentucky Derby
– The Preakness Stakes
– The Belmont Stakes

47. “Daybreakers” actor Willem : DAFOE
Willem Dafoe is an American actor, from Wisconsin. He was born just plain William Dafoe, but didn’t like being called “Billy”. So, he changed his name to Willem, which was the pronunciation of his name by his Scottish babysitter. Those Scots …

“Daybreakers” is a 2009 sci-fi movie set in the future when the world has been taken over by vampires. I don’t do vampires …

57. Rap stars often have them : POSSES
A rap star’s entourage is usually called his or her “posse”.

Our word “posse” comes from an Anglo-Latin term from the early 15th century “posse comitatus” meaning “the force of the county”.

59. “Jeopardy!” creator Griffin : MERV
Merv Griffin was quite the entertainer, truly a mogul in the business. He started his career as a singer on the radio during the big band era. In the sixties he hosted his own talk show, and then famously developed such great game shows as “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune”.

60. Richard of Rambo movies : CRENNA
Actor Richard Crenna’s most recognized role was probably that of Colonel Trautman in the first three “Rambo” movies. Crenna wasn’t the first person hired to play Trautman. Kirk Douglas accepted the role but walked off the set on the first day of shooting.

65. Commercial prefix with postale : AERO-
Aéropostale was a French aviation company founded in 1918 in Toulouse. When Aéropostale was founded, its focus was to be carrying mail, hence the name. The Aéropostale clothing retailer takes its name from the airline.

77. Words from a Latin lover : TE AMO
In Spanish one might say “I love you” (te amo) with flowers (con flores).

80. Certain templegoer : SHRINER
The Shriners are an offshoot of the Freemasons. One of the founders was Walter Fleming, who picked up the idea of creating a group with a Middle Eastern theme after witnessing an Arabian musical comedy in Southern France and again in North Africa. He gave the group its name, the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, or Shriners for short.

84. Academic paper? : DIPLOMA
Our word “diploma” comes from Greek via Latin, with an original meaning of “state or official document”. The Greek word “diploma” described a license or a chart, and originally meant a “paper doubled over” from “diploos” the word for “double”.

85. Game involving matching cards on the table : CASINO
Cassino (also “casino”) is a card game that was brought to North America by Italian immigrants. As such, cassino is probably a derivative of the very similar Italian game called Scopa.

89. ___ acid (food preservative) : SORBIC
Sorbic acid is an antimicrobial agent that is used as a preservative in food. Sorbic acid was first isolated as a distillate from rowanberry oil. The botanical name for the rowan tree is Sorbus aucuparia, giving the name “sorbic” acid.

90. Victory wear for 64-Across : WREATH
In the Ancient Olympic Games, the winner of an event was awarded an olive wreath. When the games were revived in 1896, the winners were originally given a silver medal and an olive branch, with runners-up receiving a bronze medal and a laurel branch. The tradition of giving gold, silver and bronze medals began at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri.

92. ___-Canada (northern gas station chain) : PETRO
Petro-Canada started out life as a government-owned corporation in 1976. Petro-Canada is now a brand name of Suncor Energy.

95. Flier to Bergen : SAS
SAS was formerly known as Scandinavian Airlines System and is the flag carrier of three countries: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

Bergen is the second largest city in Norway, located on the coast at the very west of the country. The city was the first to be occupied by Germany during WWII, falling on the first day of the German invasion of Norway.

97. Passport producer : HONDA
The Honda Passport SUV was basically the same car as the Isuzu Rodeo. Honda desperately needed an entry into the growing SUV market in the early nineties and so made a deal with Isuzu to use their existing design.

103. Ending with spam : -BOT
Spambots are nasty little computer programs that send out spam emails and messages, often from fake accounts. This blog gets about 300 spam comments a day that I have to delete, almost all of which are written by spambots.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Insect’s feeler : PALP
5. Double-platinum Steely Dan album : AJA
8. Kitten’s sound : MEW
11. Sharp as ___ : A TACK
16. Like some stimuli : AURAL
17. Participated in a derby : RAN
18. One of several Louises : ROI
19. ___ Lauro (hijacked ship of 1985) : ACHILLE
21. Fountain site : PLAZA
22. Slightest idea : INKLING
24. Temple in Hollywood : SHIRLEY
25. Colorless sort : ALBINO
27. Parts of un archipel : ILES
28. Polite helper’s question : MAY I?
30. Coup d’___ : ETAT
31. Like 64-Across, in sports annals : CELEBRATED
33. Keep thinking about, as a victory : SAVOR
34. Bette Midler, e.g. : DIVA
35. Assessor : EYER
36. Nevertheless, briefly : THO
37. Lift : HIKE UP
38. Biblical dry measure : OMER
39. Rises up on two legs : REARS
41. Frankfurt’s river : ODER
42. Like some Braten : SAUER
44. Lassie and Marmaduke, e.g. : PET DOGS
48. Circus employees : TAMERS
50. Super Bowl div. : QTR
51. Home of Odysseus : ITHACA
52. Star in the Swan constellation : DENEB
53. ___ neutrino : TAU
55. Parapsychological subj. : ESP
58. Pan handlers : CHEFS
59. Crosses : MEETS
60. Raw meat dish : CARPACCIO
63. Not duped by : ONTO
64. 95-Across who made the covers of Time, Newsweek and Sports Illustrated in the same week : SECRETARIAT
66. CD-___ : ROMS
67. They may be left by the side of the road : TIRE MARKS
69. Like marshes : REEDY
70. Pats on the back, maybe : BURPS
71. Grade school subj. : SCI
72. Now or never: Abbr. : ADV
73. Some woods greenery : FERNS
74. Move like a penguin : WADDLE
75. The Eagles, on a scoreboard : PHI
77. Charlene who played Lucy on “Dallas” : TILTON
79. Stereotypical neighbors : JONESES
80. Third base coach’s urging, maybe : SLIDE
82. “Ben-Hur,” for one : EPIC
83. “Catch you later” : ADIOS
85. Jazz trumpeter Baker : CHET
86. Lack : DEARTH
88. “Regrets, ___ had a few” (“My Way” lyric) : IVE
89. Tit for tat? : SWAP
93. Bridge feature : ARCH
94. Set pieces? : GAMES
95. Time and Newsweek’s cover description of 64-Across : SUPERHORSE
98. Bold Ruler, to 64-Across : SIRE
99. Those, to Jorge : ESOS
100. Mort who said “My life needs editing” : SAHL
101. Most peeved : SOREST
102. Out of this world? : IN ORBIT
104. Morale-boosting mil. event : USO SHOW
107. Bull or Celtic : NBAER
108. Units of force : NEWTONS
109. “Marry ___ Little” (Sondheim song) : ME A
110. Actress Thurman : UMA
111. “Same here” : DITTO
112. “Like it ___ …” : OR NOT
113. Prominent part of Mickey Mouse : EAR
114. Hardly a knockout : HAG
115. Bonn exclamations : ACHS

Down
1. Dumbwaiter part : PULLEY
2. Fit to be tilled : ARABLE
3. Less industrious : LAZIER
4. Alternative : PLAN B
5. Name that’s Hebrew for “lion” : ARI
6. Key employee? : JANITOR
7. Lowdown joint? : ANKLE
8. Drs. may order them : MRIS
9. Many a doctor’s office wait, seemingly : EON
10. Expert with locks? : WIGMAKER
11. Yellowfin tuna, on menus : AHI
12. Wearied : TIRED OUT
13. What 64-Across holds in the three legs of 46-Down : ALL-TIME RECORDS
14. One on the chopping block : CLEAVER
15. Hybrid musical instrument with a shoulder strap : KEYTAR
16. Quickly : APACE
19. “___ wish” : AS YOU
20. Smoke detector sounds when the battery runs low : CHIRPS
23. Was winning : LED
26. Taco sauce brand : ORTEGA
29. Declares : AVERS
32. Puzzle solvers’ cries : AHAS
33. Backtrack? : SIDE B
37. Straightaway for 64-Across : HOMESTRETCH
39. Giants of the sky, in myth : ROCS
40. Turns this way and that : STEERS
43. A pastel : AQUA
44. Embroidery loops : PICOTS
45. Italian or Irish : ETHNIC
46. What 64-Across won on June 9, 1973 : THE TRIPLE CROWN
47. “Daybreakers” actor Willem : DAFOE
49. Not post- : ANTE-
52. Really wallop : DECK
53. Dumbwaiter item : TRAY
54. On point : APT
56. “No sweat!” : SIMPLE
57. Rap stars often have them : POSSES
59. “Jeopardy!” creator Griffin : MERV
60. Richard of Rambo movies : CRENNA
61. Teleprompters, for speakers : AIDS
62. It needs refinement : CRUDE
64. Sorry : SAD
65. Commercial prefix with postale : AERO-
68. Cleaner : MAID
70. Some dictators’ proclamations : BANS
73. Moves like a moth : FLITS
74. Beaus : WOOERS
76. Until now : HITHERTO
77. Words from a Latin lover : TE AMO
78. “Supposedly” : I PRESUME
79. Baloney : JIVE
80. Certain templegoer : SHRINER
81. Enter stealthily : EDGE IN
84. Academic paper? : DIPLOMA
85. Game involving matching cards on the table : CASINO
87. Some bridge players : EASTS
89. ___ acid (food preservative) : SORBIC
90. Victory wear for 64-Across : WREATH
91. They’re worth something : ASSETS
92. ___-Canada (northern gas station chain) : PETRO
95. Flier to Bergen : SAS
96. “Yep” : UH HUH
97. Passport producer : HONDA
100. Rise rapidly : SOAR
103. Ending with spam : -BOT
105. Briny : SEA
106. Jokester : WAG

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