0628-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 28 Jun 13, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. Bygone sportscaster with a statue outside Wrigley Field : HARRY CARAY
The announcer Harry Caray was famous for exclaiming “Holy cow!” during baseball games, and used the same phrase for the title of his autobiography.

16. Fan letters? : XOXO
In the sequence XOX, I think the X represents a kiss, and the O a hug. Hugs and kisses …

17. They may lead to another story : ESCALATORS
Escalators have an advantage over elevators in that they can move larger numbers of people in the same time frame. They can also be placed in just about the same physical space that would be needed for a regular staircase. Patents for escalator-type devices were first filed in 1859, but the first working model wasn’t built until 1892 by one Jesse Reno. It was erected alongside a pier in Coney Island, New York, with the second escalator being placed at an entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. Soon after, Elisha Otis and the Otis elevator company purchased the necessary patents and went into the business.

18. “Popular Fallacies” byline, 1826 : ELIA
Charles Lamb published a famous collection of essays simply entitled “Essays of Elia”. Elia was actually a clerk and co-worker of Charles Lamb, whereas Lamb was the author.

“Popular Fallacies” is an 1826 essay by Charles Lamb that appears in the collection called “Essays of Elia”. In “Popular Fallacies”, Lamb listed 16 axioms that he believed fallacious, such as:

– That a bully is always a coward
– That ill-gotten gain never prospers
– That enough is as good as a feast
– That you must love me, and love my dog

22. Overzealous promgoer’s choice, maybe : TAILS
A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.

23. Address add-on : Q AND A
After a speaker gives an address, he or she might then participate in a question and answer session (Q&A).

25. Noted press conference rhymer : ALI
Muhammad Ali first used his famous catchphrase “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” before his world title fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. Back then Ali still went by his birth name of Cassius Clay.

27. Where Achilles was dipped to make him invincible : STYX
Achilles is a Greek mythological figure, the main protagonist of Homer’s “Iliad”. Supposedly when Achilles was born his mother attempted to make him immortal by dipping him into the River Styx. As he was held by the heel as he was immersed, this became the only vulnerable point on his body. Years later he was killed when a poisoned arrow struck him in the heel, shot by Paris.

31. Ochoa who was the first #1-ranked golfer from Mexico : LORENA
Lorena Ochoa is a retired professional golfer from Mexico who was ranked as the number one female golfer in the world from 2007 to 2010.

32. Waltz component : BOX STEP
In dance, a box step is a step that creates a square or box pattern on the floor. The box step features in several ballroom dances including the rumba and waltz.

36. O, more formally : WINFREY
What can you say about Oprah Winfrey? Born into poverty to a single mother and with a harrowing childhood, Oprah is now the greatest African American philanthropist the world has ever known. Oprah’s name was originally meant to be “Orpah” after the Biblical character in the Book of Ruth, and that’s how it appears on her birth certificate. Apparently folks had trouble pronouncing “Orpah”, so she’s now “Oprah”.

37. Fee on some out-of-state purchases : USE TAX
Use tax is assessed by many states on out-of-state purchases made by state residents. The use tax is a substitute for the sales tax that would have been levied should the purchase have been made within the state.

38. Bats : ZANY
The expression “bats in the belfry” meaning “mad, crazy” conjures up images of bats flying around Gothic bell towers, but actually it’s a relatively recent addition to our vernacular. The term is American in origin, and dates back only to the early 1900s. The concept is that someone who is “crazy”, with wild ideas flying around his or her head, can be described as having bats (wild ideas) flying around the belfry (head). The terms “bats” and “batty” originated at the same time, and are clearly derivative.

39. Longtime Capone rival : MORAN
Bugs Moran was a Chicago gangster, the main rival to the slightly more famous Al Capone. Moran tried twice to kill Capone. In the first attempt Moran and his gang shot at Capone from their car as their target was getting out of his own automobile. They missed Capone, and subsequent to the attack he took to driving in an armored vehicle. The second, more famous attempt (in 1926), involved Moran and a fleet of cars driving by Capone’s hotel and spraying the lobby in which he was standing. Again, Capone escaped unharmed. Three years later, in February 1929, six members of Moran’s gang were lined up against a wall and shot by order of Capone, an incident we now remember as the famous St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

41. Single mom in a 2000s sitcom : REBA
Reba McEntire is a country music singer and television actress. McEntire starred in her own sitcom called “Reba” that aired on the WB and the CW cable channels from 2001 to 2007.

45. Party to the Oslo Accords, for short : PLO
The Oslo Accords grew out of secret negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel in a residence in Oslo in the early nineties. The delegates shared the same house while they conducted 14 meetings. While eating all their meals together at the same table, the negotiators came to respect one another and apparently friendships developed.

48. South Pacific palm : BETEL
The betel nut is something that is chewed, especially in parts of Asia. “Betel nut” is a bit of misnomer, as the nut in question is actually an Areca nut from the Areca palm. For chewing, the Areca nut is wrapped in betel leaves and the whole thing is called a “betel nut”.

51. Walk ostentatiously : SASHAY
To “sashay” is to strut along in a showy manner. “Sashay” is an Anglicized form of the French word “chassé”, a sliding step used in square dancing.

59. Many a John Wayne pic : HORSE OPERA
“Horse opera” was a slang term for a western movie or show.

John Wayne was called Marion Mitchell Morrison at birth, named after his grandfather who was a Civil War veteran. When young Marion was a little boy, a local fireman used to call him “Little Duke” because he was always seen walking with his large dog called “Duke”. Marion liked the name “Duke” and so he called himself Duke Morrison for the rest of his life. That said, Duke Morrison also used John Wayne as a stage name.

Down
2. Base for Blackbeard : NASSAU
Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, used to be called Charles Town. After having been burnt to the ground by the Spanish in 1684, it was rebuilt and named Nassau in honor of King William III of England, a Dutchman from the House of Orange-Nassau (aka William of Orange). Nassau is a favored location for the James Bond series of movies. The city and surroundings feature in “Thunderball”, “Never Say Never Again”, “Casino Royale” and “For Your Eyes Only”.

Blackbeard was the nickname of the celebrated English pirate Edward Teach who plied his trade around the West Indies and up and and down the North American coast.

3. Fictional student at Riverdale High : ARCHIE
Archie Andrews was the main character in a comic book series introduced in 1941 by Archie Comics. Archie was such a successful character that he went on to appear in a radio series, a syndicated comic strip and two television cartoon shows.

5. Actors Talbot and Waggoner : LYLES
Lyle Talbot was an actor probably best known for playing Joe Randolph, the helpful neighbor on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” in the fifties and sixties.

Lyle Waggoner is a veteran of “The Carol Burnett Show”, and the actor who played the part of Steve Trevor in the “Wonder Woman” TV series. Before his stint on “Wonder Woman”, he also worked as a model and has the distinction of being the first centerfold for “Playgirl”.

6. Disney villain : SCAR
Among the group of lions at the center of “The Lion King” story, young Simba is the heir apparent, the lion cub destined to take over as leader of the pride. His uncle is jealous of Simba, and plots with a trio of hyenas to kill Simba, so that he can take his position. The uncle was originally named Taka (according to books) but he was given the name Scar after being injured by a buffalo.

7. Monopoly token : HAT
There are eight tokens included in the game of Monopoly as of 2013. These are the wheelbarrow, battleship, racecar, thimble, boot, Scottie dog, top hat and cat. The latest to be introduced was the cat in 2013, replacing the iron. The battleship and the cannon (aka howitzer, now retired) had been added to the Monopoly game as part of a recycling exercise. The pieces were intended for the game “Conflict” released in 1940, but when Parker Bros. pulled “Conflict” off the market due to poor sales, they added their excess battleships and cannons to Monopoly.

9. Pitch producer : LARYNX
The voice box or larynx is where pitch and volume of sound are manipulated when we talk.

10. Dissolved, as bacteria exposed to antibodies : LYSED
Lysis is the destruction of cells by dissolution. The cell is usually dissolved by the action of an enzyme, such as lysozyme found in saliva.

11. “Double” or “triple” move : AXEL
An Axel is a forward take-off jump in figure skating. It was first performed by Norwegian Axel Paulsen at the 1882 World Figure Skating championships.

12. Certain medieval combatant : POLE-AXER
A pollaxe (also “poleax”) is a medieval weapon. As one might expect, it is an axe on a pole. The pole could be anything from 4 to 8 feet in length.

13. Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” e.g. : EXIT LINE
In Margaret Mitchell’s novel “Gone with the Wind”, when Rhett Butler finally walks out on Scarlett O’Hara he utters the words “My dear, I don’t give a damn”. Most of us are more familiar with the slightly different words spoken by Clark Gable in the film adaption of the story: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.”

21. State with Leipzig and Dresden : SAXONY
Saxony was the name given at different times in history to states along the Elbe river in central Europe. As the various states broke up, they spawned many duchies that retained the name “Saxe”. The most famous of these duchies was probably Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, two united duchies in Germany that ceased to exist after WWII. A notable branch of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha House is the British Royal Family, as Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha King George V of the United Kingdom changed the name of the family to the House of Windsor in a politically sensible move during WWI.

Leipzig is a city in Germany located just under 100 miles south of Berlin. The name “Leipzig” comes from the Slavic word ”Lipsk” which means “settlement where the linden trees stand”. Linden trees are also called lime trees and basswood trees.

Dresden was almost completely destroyed during WWII, especially as a result of the famous firebombing of the city in 1945. Restoration work in the inner city in recent decades led to it being designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site However, in 2006 when the city built a highway bridge close to the city center, UNESCO took Dresden off the list. This marked the only time a European location lost World Heritage status.

23. Stick in a cabinet : Q-TIP
Cotton swabs were originally marketed under the name “Baby Gays”, but this was changed in 1926 to “Q-Tips”, with the Q standing for “quality”.

24. Objectivist Rand : AYN
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist born Alisa Rosenbaum. Rand’s two best known works are her novels “The Fountainhead” published in 1943 and “Atlas Shrugged” in 1957. Back in 1951, Rand moved from Los Angeles to New York City. Soon after, she gathered a group of admirers around her with whom she discussed philosophy and shared drafts of her magnum opus, “Atlas Shrugged”. This group called itself “The Collective”, and one of the founding members was none other than future Federal Reserve chairman, Alan Greenspan.

27. X-ray ___ : SPEX
X-Ray Spex (as opposed the novelty item “x-ray specs”) was a punk band from England that formed in 1976 and finally broke up in 2008. Their most famous hit was the first song they recorded: “Oh Bondage Up Yours!”

29. Chihuahua cry : ARF
Chihuahua is a state in northern Mexico that shares a border with Texas and New Mexico. Chihuahua is the largest state in the country, so has the nickname “El Estado Grande”. The state takes its name from the Chihuahuan Desert which lies largely within its borders. And of course the Chihuahua breed of dog takes its name from the state.

33. Common number of gondoliers : ‘O SOLE MIO
“‘O sole mio” is a famous Italian song from Naples, written in 1898. The song’s lyrics are usually sung in the original Neapolitan, as opposed to Italian. The title translates from Neapolitan into “My Sun” (and not into “O, My Sun” as one might expect). It’s a love song of course, sung by a young man declaring that there is a sun brighter than that in the sky, the sun that is his lover’s face. Awww …

34. Intern’s duty, maybe : XEROXING
Xerox was founded in 1906 in Rochester, New York and originally made photographic paper and equipment. Real success came for the company in 1959 when it introduced the first plain-paper photocopier. Xerox named Ursula Burns as CEO in 2009, the first African American woman to head up a S&P 100 company. Burn was also the first woman to succeed another female CEO (replacing Anne Mulcahy).

40. Mississippi site of Machine Gun Kelly’s last known bank robbery : TUPELO
Tupelo is a city in northeast Mississippi. Tupelo is perhaps best known as the birthplace of of Elvis Presley.

Machine Gun Kelly was the nickname of Prohibition era gangster George Barnes. Despite his image as a tough guy, Machine Gun Kelly proved to be a model prisoner when he was finally captured by the authorities. He spent the last 21 years of his life in jail, much of that time at Alcatraz. His less than brutal demeanor in prison earned him the new nickname of “Pop Gun Kelly”.

42. Emission of ripening fruit : ETHENE
Ethylene (also called ethene) has a gazillion uses, including as an anesthetic and an aid to hastening the ripening of fruit. It’s most common use though is as a major raw material in the manufacture of plastics (like polyethylene).

44. Actress Milano of “Charmed” : ALYSSA
Alyssa Milano is an actress who started her career at a very young age. She played Samantha Micelli on “Who’s the Boss”, the daughter of the character played by Tony Danza.

47. Marked acidity : LOW PH
As we all recall from chemistry class, a pH of 7 is considered neutral, and water is the primary example of a substance with a pH equal to seven. Anything less than 7 is an acid, and anything above 7 is a base.

48. Earl Scruggs’s instrument : BANJO
Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt are the musicians who founded the bluegrass band called the Foggy Mountain Boys in 1948.

50. The E.P.A. issues them: Abbr. : STDS
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

54. Dial unit : BAR
Dial was the first antibacterial soap introduced in the US. It was given the name “Dial” as it was touted as offering “round-the-clock” protection against any odors caused by perspiration.

55. “Encore!,” to a diva : BIS
“Bis” is the Italian for “twice” and is used on a musical score as a direction to repeat a passage. “Bis” is also used as a request for an additional performance, an encore.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Mobile home? : SNAIL SHELL
11. Made fun of, in a way : APED
15. Bygone sportscaster with a statue outside Wrigley Field : HARRY CARAY
16. Fan letters? : XOXO
17. They may lead to another story : ESCALATORS
18. “Popular Fallacies” byline, 1826 : ELIA
19. Not so apple-cheeked : ASHIER
20. “Sure, I’m game” : YES, LET’S
22. Overzealous promgoer’s choice, maybe : TAILS
23. Address add-on : Q AND A
25. Noted press conference rhymer : ALI
26. What some swatches preview : HUES
27. Where Achilles was dipped to make him invincible : STYX
28. Representer of time, often : X-AXIS
30. Part of a publicity agent’s job : SPIN
31. Ochoa who was the first #1-ranked golfer from Mexico : LORENA
32. Waltz component : BOX STEP
36. O, more formally : WINFREY
37. Fee on some out-of-state purchases : USE TAX
38. Bats : ZANY
39. Longtime Capone rival : MORAN
40. Lodging for a night out? : TENT
41. Single mom in a 2000s sitcom : REBA
45. Party to the Oslo Accords, for short : PLO
46. In the loop, with “in” : CLUED
48. South Pacific palm : BETEL
49. Business that may be a zoning target : SEX SHOP
51. Walk ostentatiously : SASHAY
52. Drop : OMIT
53. Some contemporary ads : WEB BANNERS
56. Chance upon : FIND
57. Unlikely pageant winners : PLAIN JANES
58. Muddles : FOGS
59. Many a John Wayne pic : HORSE OPERA

Down
1. Scabbard : SHEATH
2. Base for Blackbeard : NASSAU
3. Fictional student at Riverdale High : ARCHIE
4. Train track parts : I-RAILS
5. Actors Talbot and Waggoner : LYLES
6. Disney villain : SCAR
7. Monopoly token : HAT
8. Spanish occupational suffix : -ERO
9. Pitch producer : LARYNX
10. Dissolved, as bacteria exposed to antibodies : LYSED
11. “Double” or “triple” move : AXEL
12. Certain medieval combatant : POLE-AXER
13. Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” e.g. : EXIT LINE
14. Nanny’s order : DO AS I SAY
21. State with Leipzig and Dresden : SAXONY
23. Stick in a cabinet : Q-TIP
24. Objectivist Rand : AYN
27. X-ray ___ : SPEX
29. Chihuahua cry : ARF
30. Stop : STANCH
31. What a brush may pick up : LINT
32. Ices : BUMPS OFF
33. Common number of gondoliers : ‘O SOLE MIO
34. Intern’s duty, maybe : XEROXING
35. Stop: Abbr. : STA
36. Magician’s prop : WAND
38. Lightning bolt shape : ZEE
40. Mississippi site of Machine Gun Kelly’s last known bank robbery : TUPELO
41. Close again, as a change purse : RESNAP
42. Emission of ripening fruit : ETHENE
43. Ending with flag or pall : BEARER
44. Actress Milano of “Charmed” : ALYSSA
47. Marked acidity : LOW PH
48. Earl Scruggs’s instrument : BANJO
50. The E.P.A. issues them: Abbr. : STDS
51. Cogent : SANE
54. Dial unit : BAR
55. “Encore!,” to a diva : BIS

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