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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
Solution to today’s SYNDICATED New York Times crossword in all other publications
CROSSWORD SETTER: Barry C. Silk
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 15m 36s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … UH-OH! (ah-oh!!), SWUM (SWAM!!)
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
16. Plutoid just beyond the Kuiper Belt : ERIS
Pluto was discovered in 1930, and was welcomed as the ninth planet in our solar system. Pluto is relatively small in size, just one fifth of the mass of our own moon. In the seventies, astronomers began to discover more large objects in the solar system, including Eris, a “scattered disc object” at the outer reaches. Given that Eris is actually bigger than Pluto, and other objects really aren’t that much smaller, Pluto’s status as a planet was drawn into question. In 2006 there was a scientific definition for a “planet” agreed for the first time, resulting in Pluto being relegated to the status of “dwarf planet”, along with Eris.
The Kuiper Belt is similar to the asteroid belt, and is a region of our solar system beyond the planets that consists of small bodies that are remnants of the from the Solar System’s formation. Asteroids are mainly rock and metal bodies, but the Kuiper Belt is made up of frozen bodies, made up mainly of solid methane, ammonia and water.
17. Many a detective film cover-up : TRENCH COAT
The trench coat was developed primarily for the use of the military. It is a waterproof coat that extends to just below the knee, and generally has a removable lining. In the world of Hollywood we often encounter the trench coat. One is worn by Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca”, and by Peter Sellers in the “Pink Panther” movies.
18. Squire : GENT
A squire can be an escort, say one attending to a woman. A squire is also a young nobleman who attended a knight in days of yore. A fun example would be Sancho Panza who accompanied the deluded Don Quixote.
19. Lack of authorisation? : ZED
Being an Irishman, my first instinct is spell the word as “authorisation”, but now in the US I have to go with “authorization” …
Not only is Noah Webster’s name inextricably linked with his series of dictionaries, but he is also renowned as an advocate for English spelling reform. He argued that “traditional” English is hard to learn, and that it should be simplified and standardized. He published spelling books that were used in schools, and from edition to edition he changed the spelling of words in order to simplify the language. Examples are the use of “s” over “c” in words like “defense” (In Ireland we have defence and defense depending on usage), “-re” became “-er” as in center instead of centre (reversing the influence of French), and he dropped one of the Ls in words like traveler (I learned “traveller”). Mind you, he also spelled “tongue” as “tung”, but he didn’t get very far with that one.
20. “Casablanca” carrier : AIR FRANCE
Air France is my favorite airline (okay … after Aer Lingus, the Irish airline). I used to fly Air France a lot (I lived in France for a while), but haven’t done so since the company merged with KLM in 2004. Air France-KLM is the world’s largest airline in terms of revenue.
The movie “Casablanca” was released in January of 1943, timed to coincide with the Casablanca Conference, the high-level meeting between Roosevelt and Churchill. The film wasn’t a box-office hit, but gained critical acclaim, winning three Oscars including Best Picture. The signature song “As Time Goes By” was written many years earlier for a 1931 Broadway musical called “Everybody’s Welcome”, and was a hit in 1931 for Rudy Vallee. But today we all remember the Casablanca version, sung by Dooley Wilson (“Sam” in the film). Poor Dooley didn’t get to record it as a single, due to a musician’s strike in 1943, so the 1931 Rudy Vallee version was re-released that year and became an even bigger hit second time round.
22. It really stands out : LULU
We call a remarkable thing or a person a “lulu”. The term is used in honor of Lulu Hurst, the Georgia Wonder, who was a stage magician active in the 1880s.
25. Be loud at a funeral, say : ULULATE
A ululation is a high-pitched trill, a sound usually practiced by women in ritual situations. I came across the practice not too long ago as an expression of celebration at an Arab-American wedding.
26. Many 56-Across users : SHIITES
The Islamic sects of Sunni and Shia Muslims differ in the belief of who should have taken over leadership of the Muslim faithful after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. Followers of the Sunni tradition agree with the decision that the Prophet Muhammad’s confidante Abu Bakr was the right choice to become the first Caliph of the Islamic nation. Followers of the Shia tradition believe that leadership should have stayed within the Prophet Muhammad’s own family.
36. Abbr. on a sports ticker : NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) dates back to the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. When his son broke his nose playing football at Harvard, President Roosevelt turned his attention to the number of serious injuries and even deaths occurring in college sports. He instigated meetings between the major educational institutions leading to the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) in 1906, which was given the remit of regulating college sports. The IAAUS became the NCAA in 1910.
37. Topics at some religious retreats : MANTRAS
A “mantra” is a word that is used as a focus for the mind while meditating.
41. Cousin of a screwdriver : BRADAWL
A bradawl is a small hand tool that is similar to a straight screwdriver, but with a very thin blade. The bradawl can be used to make an indentation into wood, cutting across the fibres of the wood, as a preparatory step before inserting a nail or screw. The name “bradawl” comes from “brad” and “awl”, with “brad” being an Old English word for “nail”, and an “awl” being a pointed instrument for piercing small holes.
44. Largest city in the South Pacific : SUVA
Suva is the capital city of Fiji, and is located on the island of Viti Levu. Suva is the largest island in the South Pacific.
46. Six bells in the morning watch : SEVEN AM
A ship’s bell is used to indicate time on board a ship and to regulate the duties of sailors in a maritime watch system. The bell is rung at each half-hour of a four-hour watch. Once the first half-hour has passed the bell is struck once (one bell). After the second half-hour the bell is struck twice (two bells) etc.
52. Monogram of the author of “A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House” : GWB
“A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House” is a book written by then-governor of Texas, George W. Bush (with a credited ghostwriter), first published in 1999. President Bush donated the proceeds from sales of the book to charity.
55. Kind of block : LEGO
Lego is manufactured by Lego Group, a privately held company headquartered in Billund, Denmark. The company was founded by a carpenter called Ole Kirk Christiansen in 1934 and the now-famous plastic interlocking blocks were introduced in 1949. The blocks were originally sold under the name “Automatic Binding Bricks” but I think “Lego” is easier to remember! The name “Lego” comes from the Danish term “leg godt” meaning “play well”.
56. It replaced the Indian rupee in 1932 : IRAQI DINAR
When the British occupied Iraq, starting in WWI, they introduced the Indian rupee as the official currency. The Iraqi dinar replaced the rupee in 1932, when the Kingdom of Iraq gained independence.
60. Winnipeg’s ___ Franko Museum : IVAN
The Ivan Franko Museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba is dedicated to the Ukrainian writer and poet, and political radical, Ivan Franko. Franko’s direct connection to Canada is that his close friend Cyril Genik emigrated to Winnipeg, to become the first Ukrainian employed by the Canadian government.
61. Ithaca is at its southern end : CAYUGA LAKE
Cayuga Lake is one of the beautiful Finger Lakes in central New York, the longest in fact. The city of Ithaca sits right at the southern tip of Cayuga Lake.
63. His Secret Service code name was Providence : EISENHOWER
By tradition, the Secret Service code names used for the US President and family all start with the same letter. For the current First Family, that letter is R:
– Barack Obama: Renegade
– Michelle Obama: Renaissance
– Malia Obama: Radiance
– Sasha Obama: Rosebud
President Eisenhower had two codenames during his presidency: Scorecard and Providence. First Lady Mamie Eisenhower was Springtime.
Down
1. Classic name in New York delis : KATZ
Katz’s of New York City is a famous delicatessen in Manhattan, New York City. Ever since WWII, Katz’s has had a promotion called “send a salami to your boy in the army”. Katz’s has shipped a lot of salamis in gift packages to Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years.
2. Subject precursor : IN RE
The term “in re” is Latin, derived from “in” (in) and “res” (thing, matter). “In re” literally means “in the matter”, and is used to mean “in regard to”, or “in the matter of”.
4. Intro to Euclidean geometry? : NON-
I never understood non-Euclidian geometry …
Euclid of Alexandria was a Greek mathematician who was active around 300 BC, and who is often referred to as the “Father of Geometry”. Euclid wrote a famous book called “Elements” on the subject of mathematics, a book that was so enduring that it was used as the main textbook for the subject right up to the late 19th century.
8. Weena’s race, in fiction : ELOI
In the 1895 novel by H. G. Wells called “The Time Machine”, there are two races that the hero encounter in his travels into the future. The Eloi are the “beautiful people” who live on the planet’s surface. The Morlocks are a race of cannibals living underground who use the Eloi as food.
10. Big name in video streaming : NETFLIX
Netflix was founded in Los Gatos, California in 1997. Although now focused on video streaming, the company delivered it’s billionth DVD in 2007. I presume the renter wasn’t charged for that movie …
13. Coloring : TINCT
To tinct is to do just that, add a little color to something.
14. Compact first name? : ESTEE
Estée Lauder was quite the successful businesswoman, with a reputation as a great salesperson. Lauder introduced her own line of fragrances in 1953, a bath oil called “Youth Dew”. “Youth Dew” was marketed as a perfume, but it was added to bathwater. All of a sudden women were pouring whole bottles of Ms. Lauder’s “perfume” into their baths while using only a drop or two of French perfumes behind their ears. That’s quite a difference in sales volume …
21. Formation on 28-Down : RUST
(28. See 21-Down : IRON)
Rust is iron oxide.
22. About 186,282 miles : LIGHT-SECOND
A light-year is a measure of distance, not time. It is the distance that light travels in a vacuum in one year. The accepted abbreviation for a light-year is “ly”. A light-second is a lot shorter distance, about 186,282 miles.
23. Marathoner Pippig : UTA
Uta Pippig is long-distance runner from Germany. Pippig became the first woman to win the Boston Marathon on three consecutive occasions, from 1994 to 1996.
24. NASA’s Aquarius, e.g. : LEM
In the Apollo program, the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) was the vehicle that actually landed on the moon and returned the astronauts to the command module that was orbiting overhead. The third LEM built was named “Spider”, and it participated in the Apollo 9 mission which tested the functionality of the LEM design in space. The fourth LEM was called “Snoopy” and it flew around the moon in the Apollo 10 mission, the dress rehearsal for the upcoming moon landing. Apollo 11’s LEM was of course called “Eagle” and it brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to and from the moon’s surface. Another famous LEM was Apollo 13’s Aquarius. Although Aquarius never landed on the moon, it did serve as a “lifeboat” for the three astronauts after the explosive rupture of an oxygen canister in the Service Module.
32. Home of the Black Mts. : N CAR
The Black Mountains of North Carolina are part of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. The Black Mountains are the highest range in the Eastern US. The Red Spruce and Fraser Fir trees at higher elevations appear black, relative to the brown and green deciduous trees on the lower slopes. This “blackness” gives the range its name.
33. Crow relatives : DAWS
Daws are better known today as jackdaws and belong to the crow family. The jackdaw features in a famous pangram (i.e. a short sentence containing all 26 letters of the alphabet) … “Jackdaws love my big sphinx of quartz”.
38. Shrimp : RUNT
Back around 1500. a runt was an old or decayed tree stump, and by the early 1600s “runt” was being used to describe animals that were similarly old and decayed. Ultimately “runt” came to mean the smallest and often sickest in a litter.
39. Midas’s undoing : AVARICE
King Midas of Greek mythology might be termed an alchemist as he gained the power to turn everything he touched into gold … the Midas touch. Of course, the power that he was given became be a curse, as everything he touched turned to gold, including his food and drink, and even his children.
40. Katana wielder : SAMURAI
The katana is a sword worn by the samurai of Japan. The katana is sometimes referred to as a “samurai sword”.
42. Beauregard follower : REB
P. G. T. Beauregard was a general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War. Beauregard’s most notable success was leading the defense of Petersburg, Virginia against vastly superior Union forces.
43. GPS abbr. : AVE
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. The modern GPS system that we use today was built by the US military who received the massive funding needed because of fears during the Cold War of the use of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. We civilians all round the world owe a lot to President Ronald Reagan because he directed the military to make GPS technology available to the public for the common good. President Reagan was moved to do so after the Soviet Union shot down KAL flight 007 carrying 269 people, just because the plane strayed accidentally into Soviet airspace.
47. Relative d’un étudiant : ELEVE
In French, a student (un étudiant) is usually older than a pupil (élève).
51. Baseball Hall-of-Famer who played for the Giants : MAYS
Willie Mays’ nickname was the “Say Hey Kid”, although his friends and teammates were more likely to refer to him as “Buck”. When Mays was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he was asked who was the best player he’d seen in the game. He replied, “I don’t mean to be bashful, but I was.”
54. Backwoods relative : BR’ER
Br’er Rabbit and Br’er Fox are characters in the Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris. The Uncle Remus stories are adaptations of African American folktales that Harris collected across the Southern States. “Br’er” of course stands for “brother”.
57. Starting device: Abbr. : IGN
Ignition (ign.)
58. Code word : DAH
Samuel Morse was a very accomplished and reputable painter (he was engaged to paint a portrait of President John Adams, for example). In 1825 Morse was in Washington working on a commissioned painting when he received a one-line letter by horse messenger telling him that his wife was ill. He left immediately for his home in New Haven, Connecticut but by the time that Morse arrived his wife had already died and had been buried. This single event spurred him to move from painting to the development of a rapid means of long distance communication, leading to the single-wire telegraph and Morse code.
59. Publisher of World of Work mag. : ILO
“World of Work” magazine is a periodic publication of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The ILO (International Labour Organization) is an agency now administered by the UN which was established by the League of Nations after WWI. The ILO deals with important issues such as health and safety, discrimination, child labor and forced labor. The organization was recognized for its work in 1969 when it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Food item resembling an organ : KIDNEY BEAN
11. Not long-departed : LATE
15. Question after a public shellacking : ANYONE ELSE?
16. Plutoid just beyond the Kuiper Belt : ERIS
17. Many a detective film cover-up : TRENCH COAT
18. Squire : GENT
19. Lack of authorisation? : ZED
20. “Casablanca” carrier : AIR FRANCE
22. It really stands out : LULU
25. Be loud at a funeral, say : ULULATE
26. Many 56-Across users : SHIITES
29. It may have check marks : LIST
30. General exercise? : WAR GAME
31. Stretches out : EXTENDS
35. “We’re in trouble now!” : UH-OH!
36. Abbr. on a sports ticker : NCAA
37. Topics at some religious retreats : MANTRAS
41. Cousin of a screwdriver : BRADAWL
44. Largest city in the South Pacific : SUVA
45. Go back on : REVERSE
46. Six bells in the morning watch : SEVEN AM
49. Prefix with geek : UBER-
50. Hand picks? : PLECTRUMS
52. Monogram of the author of “A Charge to Keep: My Journey to the White House” : GWB
55. Kind of block : LEGO
56. It replaced the Indian rupee in 1932 : IRAQI DINAR
60. Winnipeg’s ___ Franko Museum : IVAN
61. Ithaca is at its southern end : CAYUGA LAKE
62. Be inclined : TEND
63. His Secret Service code name was Providence : EISENHOWER
Down
1. Classic name in New York delis : KATZ
2. Subject precursor : IN RE
3. Like some eggs : DYED
4. Intro to Euclidean geometry? : NON-
5. Letter abbr. : ENC
6. Casual assent : YEH
7. As : BECAUSE
8. Weena’s race, in fiction : ELOI
9. Generally speaking : AS A RULE
10. Big name in video streaming : NETFLIX
11. Five and ten, e.g. : LEGAL TENDER
12. Ticketmaster info, maybe : ARENA
13. Coloring : TINCT
14. Compact first name? : ESTEE
21. Formation on 28-Down : RUST
22. About 186,282 miles : LIGHT-SECOND
23. Marathoner Pippig : UTA
24. NASA’s Aquarius, e.g. : LEM
26. Done some strokes : SWUM
27. Routine reaction? : HA-HA
28. See 21-Down : IRON
32. Home of the Black Mts. : N CAR
33. Crow relatives : DAWS
34. Stock mover : SALE
38. Shrimp : RUNT
39. Midas’s undoing : AVARICE
40. Katana wielder : SAMURAI
41. Curt : BRUSQUE
42. Beauregard follower : REB
43. GPS abbr. : AVE
46. Cheerleader’s move : SPLIT
47. Relative d’un étudiant : ELEVE
48. Many an animal rights activist : VEGAN
51. Baseball Hall-of-Famer who played for the Giants : MAYS
52. Bother, with “at” : GNAW
53. After-life gathering? : WAKE
54. Backwoods relative : BR’ER
57. Starting device: Abbr. : IGN
58. Code word : DAH
59. Publisher of World of Work mag. : ILO
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