0803-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 3 Aug 13, Saturday

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Solution to today’s crossword in the New York Times
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CROSSWORD SETTER: Brad Wilber & Doug Peterson
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 15m 36s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Bar fixture : SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The word “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

4. Person who might suit you well? : HABERDASHER
Back in the 14th century a haberdasher was a dealer in small wares. By the late 1800s, the term had evolved to mean a purveyor of menswear, and in particular was associated with the sale of hats.

15. Start of many a “Jeopardy!” response : WHO
“Jeopardy!” first went on the air in 1964, and is another successful Merv Griffin creation. But it took the introduction of Alex Trebek as host in order to bring the show into the big times. Trebek has been host since 1984.

16. Transported : ON CLOUD NINE
I don’t think that anyone is really certain of the etymology of the term “cloud nine”, but I do like the following explanation. The 1896 “International Cloud-Atlas” was a long-standing reference used to define cloud shapes. The biggest and puffiest of all cloud shapes (and most comfortable looking to lie on) is cumulonimbus. And you guessed it, of the ten cloud shapes defined in the atlas, cumulonimbus was cloud nine …

17. Org. with an Office of Water : EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was set up during the Nixon administration and began operation at the end of 1970.

18. “Poor Little Fool” hitmaker, 1958 : RICKY NELSON
As most people are well aware here in the US (but not us immigrants!), Ricky Nelson started his career playing himself on the radio in “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriett”, starting in 1949. Soon after he starred in a feature film “Here Come the Nelsons”, and then started recording albums. Ricky Nelson was one of the long list (it seems) of singing stars that died in plane crashes. He owned his own plane, which crashed on the day after Christmas in 1985, just northeast of Dallas. Seven people were killed, including Nelson and his fiancée.

“Poor Little Fool” as a 1958 hit for Ricky Nelson. The song was written by Sharon Sheely when she was just 15 years old, and was based on the disappointing end to her romantic relationship with Don Everly of the Everly Brothers. By the time the song became a hit, Sheely was 18 years old, making her the youngest woman to pen a number one in the American charts.

19. Danny who composed the theme music for “The Simpsons” : ELFMAN
Danny Elfman is a singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. Elfman is well known for compositions used for television and films. For example, he wrote the themes for “The Simpsons” and “Desperate Housewives”.

21. Eponymous Dr. Asperger : HANS
Hans Asperger was a pediatrician and medical professor from Austria. Dr. Asperger achieved renown for his studies of mental disorders in children, but only after his death in 1980. In the eighties there was renewed interest in his work, and Asperger Syndrome was named after him.

22. Onetime Michael Jackson bodyguard : MR T
Mr. T was contracted as a bodyguard for many, many famous personalities, including Muhammad Ali, Steve McQueen, Michael Jackson, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Diana Ross.

Mr. T’s real name is Laurence Tureaud. Mr. T is famous for many things, including the wearing of excessive amounts of jewelry. He started this habit when he was working as a bouncer, wearing jewelry items that had been left behind by customers at a nightclub so that the items might be recognized and claimed. It was also as a bouncer that he adopted the name Mr. T. His catch phrase comes from the movie “Rocky III”. In the film, before he goes up against Rocky Balboa, Mr. T says, “No, I don’t hate Balboa, but I pity the fool”. He parlayed that line into quite a bit of success. He had a reality TV show called “I Pity the Fool”, and produced a motivational video called “Be Somebody … or Be Somebody’s Fool!”.

23. Benders : TEARS
Both “jag” and “bender” describe periods of unrestrained activity, particularly involving alcohol. Both words have been in use since the 1800s.

24. Sight on a “Hee Haw” set : BALE
The variety show “Hee Haw” aired on CBS from 1969-1971, and then had a 20-year run in syndication. The show was built around country music, although the format was inspired by “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh In”.

25. Hindu god often depicted with a bow and arrow : KAMA
Kama is the Hindu god of love. He is portrayed as a youth bearing a bow and arrows, much like Eros and Cupid. Kama lends his name to the “Kama Sutra”.

26. A choli may be worn under this : SARI
In the sari costume worn by women, the choli is the blouse-like garment that leaves the midriff bare.

27. “Star Trek: T.N.G.” role : WORF
in the television series “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, Mr. Worf is one of the main characters. Work is a Klingon officer on the Enterprise, and is played by Michael Dorn. Worf is a unique character in the “Star Trek” franchise in that he also appeared regularly in another “Star Trek” show: “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”.

28. Name on the cover of “Yosemite and the High Sierra” : ANSEL
As an amateur photographer, I have been a big fan of the work of Ansel Adams for many years and must have read all of his books. Adams was famous for clarity and depth in his black and white images. Central to his technique was the use of the zone system, his own invention. The zone system is a way of controlling exposure in an image, particularly when there is a high contrast in the subject. Although the technique was developed primarily for black & white film, it can even apply to digital color images. In the digital world, the main technique is to expose an image for the highlights, and one or more images for the shadows. These images can then be combined digitally giving a final photograph with a full and satisfying range of exposures.

34. “Sex is an emotion in motion” speaker : MAE WEST
Mae West was always pushing the envelope when it came to the “sexy” side of show business, even in her early days in Vaudeville. One of the first plays in which West starred on Broadway was called “Sex”, a work she penned herself. The show was a sell-out, but city officials had it raided and West found herself spending ten days in jail after being convicted of “corrupting the morals of youth”. She started in movies in 1932, already 38 years old. West used her experience writing plays to rewrite much of the material she was given, and so really she was totally responsible for her own success and on-screen appeal.

39. Empire State tech school : RPI
The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is a private school in Troy, New York. The university is named after its founder Stephen Van Rensselaer who set up the school in 1824. The goal of RPI has always been the “application of science to the common purposes of life”, an objective set by the founder. Given that, the name for the school’s sports teams is quite apt: the Engineers.

40. “Pride ___ before destruction”: Proverbs : GOETH

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; He who watches his way preserves his life. Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly Than to divide the spoil with the proud.…

42. Be uncooperative : BALK
To balk is to stop and refuse to go on. It’s not just a baseball term!

43. Showroom window no. : MSRP
The Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP).

45. European hub : ORLY
Orly is on the outskirts of Paris, to the south of the city. It is home of course to the Paris-Orly Airport, the second busiest international airport for the city after the more recently built Charles de Gaulle Airport. That said, Orly is home to more domestic flights than Charles de Gaulle.

46. Show stoppers? : TIVOS
TiVo was introduced in 1999 and was the world’s first commercially successful DVR (Digital Video Recorder).

47. Leipzig-to-Zurich dir. : SSW
Zurich is located in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the largest city in the country.

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.

48. Columnist Collins : GAIL
Gail Collins writes a semi-weekly op-ed column for “The New York Times”.

54. Avatar setting : ONLINE FORUM
The Sanskrit word “avatar” describes the concept of a deity descending into earthly life and taking on a persona. It’s easy to see how in the world of “online presences” one might use the word avatar to describe one’s online identity.

56. Image on Utah’s state quarter : GOLDEN SPIKE
“Crossroads of the West” is a nickname for Salt Lake City, and for the state of Utah. The Utah state quarter bears the words “Crossroads of the West”, and an image of the Golden Spike that marked the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

57. Baker’s dozen for the Beatles, for short : EPS
An extended play record (EP) contains more music than a single, but less than an LP.

A “baker’s dozen” is thirteen.

The Beatles released 13 extended play records, starting with “My Bonnie” (with Tony Sheridan) in July 1963. The last EP released by the Beatles was “Magical Mystery Tour” from December 1967.

Down
1. Tree also known as a sugar apple : SWEETSOP
The custard apple or sugar apple is the fruit of a small deciduous tree native to the New World. It is also called a “sweetsop” in some parts of the world. The soursop, on the other hand, the fruit of an evergreen tree related to the paw-paw, has a more sour taste.

3. Perfectly : TO A FARE-THEE-WELL
“Fare-thee-well” is a condition of supreme perfection. The term comes from the salutation one gives on leaving someone: “fare thee well, may it go well with thee”.

4. Wedding rings? : HORAS
The hora (also “horah”) is a circle dance that originated in the Balkans. The hora was brought to Israel by Romanian settlers, and is often performed to traditional Israeli folk songs. The dance is a regular sight at Jewish weddings and at bar and bat mitzvahs. At such events, it is common for the honorees to be raised on chairs during the dance.

6. Secret attachment, for short : BCC
A blind carbon copy (bcc) is a copy of a document or message that is sent to someone without other recipients of the message knowing about that extra copy.

I wonder do the kids of today know that “cc” stands for carbon copy, and do they have any idea what a carbon copy was? Do you remember how messy carbon paper was to handle?

7. South Bend neighbor : ELKHART
Elkhart, Indiana is a city located just 15 miles east of South Bend. Elkhart was originally set up as a rival town to neighboring Pulaski in 1831. Elkhart won out, and Pulaski was absorbed into Elkhart after just a few short years.

9. Dominick who wrote “A Season in Purgatory” : DUNNE
Dominick Dunne was a writer and investigative journalist. One of his more cathartic works must have been an article he wrote for “Vanity Fair” titled “Justice: A Father’s Account of the Trial of his Daughter’s Killer”. Dunne wrote this after attending the trial of John Sweeney, the one-time boyfriend of his daughter Dominique, whom Sweeney strangled in 1982. Dominique was an actress, and had just finished filming “Poltergeist” when she was murdered.

11. Conan O’Brien’s employer from ’88 to ’91 : SNL
“Saturday Night Live” (“SNL”)

Before Conan O’Brien came to fame as a late night talk show host, he was a writer. O’Brien wrote for both “Saturday Night Live” and “The Simpsons”.

12. 1899 painting used to promote gramophones : HIS MASTER’S VOICE
Nipper is the name of the dog that appeared in the RCA logo. Nipper was a real dog, actually from England. His owner, Francis Barraud, made a painting of Nipper listening to a gramophone. Barraud then approached several gramophone manufacturers in the hope they would be interested in using the image for advertising. Nipper’s likeness was indeed picked up, and around that time it was Barraud himself who came up with the slogan “His Master’s Voice”.

13. Massive, as a massif : ENORME
“Enorme” is the French word for “big” or “enormous”.

“Massif” is a geological term describing a section of the earth’s crust that moves upwards due to the action of tectonic plates. The whole massif retains its structure, with movement taking place at surrounding fault lines. The term “massif” is also used for a group of mountains formed by such geological action. “Massif” is French for “massive”.

14. National service : RENTAL
National Car Rental was founded back in 1947, a conglomerate of 24 independent rental agencies that already existed around the country.

20. Internal investigation, for short? : MRI
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.

27. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum site : WACO
The Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum is a historical center for the Texas Ranger law enforcement agency. The museum is located in Waco, Texas and it was opened in 1968.

38. Banana Republic defender, maybe : MALL COP
The Banana Republic clothing retailer is owned by the Gap.

40. Ersatz blazer : GAS LOG
Something described as “ersatz” is a copy, and usually not a good one. “Ersatz” comes from the German verb “ersetzen” meaning “to replace”.

41. Speaker of Shakespeare’s “If music be the food of love, play on” : ORSINO
The famous quotation about music being the food of love is from William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. The opening lines of the play, spoken by the love-smitten Duke Orsino are:

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

43. Calculus calculation: Abbr. : MIN
Minimum (min.)

46. Pioneer in cool jazz : TORME
Mel Tormé was a jazz singer, with a quality of voice that earned him the nickname “The Velvet Fog”. Tormé also wrote a few books, and did a lot of acting. He was the co-author of the Christmas classic known as “The Christmas Song”, which starts out with the line “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire …”

48. Mapped item : GENE
A gene is a section of a chromosome that is responsible for a particular characteristic in an organism. For example, one gene may determine eye color and another balding pattern. We have two copies of each gene, one from each of our parents, with each copy known as an allele.

49. “Marjorie Morningstar” novelist : WOUK
“Marjorie Morningstar” is a novel by Herman Wouk first published in 1955. The title character is an aspiring actress. Natalie Wood played the role in the film version of “Marjorie Morningstar” released in 1958. Herman Wouk is perhaps better known for his novels “The Caine Mutiny”, “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Bar fixture : SOT
4. Person who might suit you well? : HABERDASHER
15. Start of many a “Jeopardy!” response : WHO
16. Transported : ON CLOUD NINE
17. Org. with an Office of Water : EPA
18. “Poor Little Fool” hitmaker, 1958 : RICKY NELSON
19. Danny who composed the theme music for “The Simpsons” : ELFMAN
21. Eponymous Dr. Asperger : HANS
22. Onetime Michael Jackson bodyguard : MR T
23. Benders : TEARS
24. Sight on a “Hee Haw” set : BALE
25. Hindu god often depicted with a bow and arrow : KAMA
26. A choli may be worn under this : SARI
27. “Star Trek: T.N.G.” role : WORF
28. Name on the cover of “Yosemite and the High Sierra” : ANSEL
29. Verb suffix? : -OSE
30. Ancient scribe’s work surface : WAX TABLET
32. Treadmill runners, maybe : PET MICE
34. “Sex is an emotion in motion” speaker : MAE WEST
37. Not reliable : HIT OR MISS
39. Empire State tech school : RPI
40. “Pride ___ before destruction”: Proverbs : GOETH
42. Be uncooperative : BALK
43. Showroom window no. : MSRP
44. Discipline : AREA
45. European hub : ORLY
46. Show stoppers? : TIVOS
47. Leipzig-to-Zurich dir. : SSW
48. Columnist Collins : GAIL
49. Was triumphant in the end : WON OUT
50. Inventor’s undoing? : LIE DETECTOR
53. Mineralogical appendage? : -ITE
54. Avatar setting : ONLINE FORUM
55. Base man : CUR
56. Image on Utah’s state quarter : GOLDEN SPIKE
57. Baker’s dozen for the Beatles, for short : EPS

Down
1. Tree also known as a sugar apple : SWEETSOP
2. “You’ve got to be kidding!” : OH PLEASE!
3. Perfectly : TO A FARE-THEE-WELL
4. Wedding rings? : HORAS
5. Have ___ (be advantageously networked) : AN IN
6. Secret attachment, for short : BCC
7. South Bend neighbor : ELKHART
8. Court group : ROYAL FAMILY
9. Dominick who wrote “A Season in Purgatory” : DUNNE
10. Some Snapple products : ADES
11. Conan O’Brien’s employer from ’88 to ’91 : SNL
12. 1899 painting used to promote gramophones : HIS MASTER’S VOICE
13. Massive, as a massif : ENORME
14. National service : RENTAL
20. Internal investigation, for short? : MRI
24. Hybrid menswear : BOXER BRIEFS
25. Grasped : KNEW
27. Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum site : WACO
28. Many are blonde : ALES
30. Among : WITH
31. Enjoy the moment : BASK
33. Copier giant absorbed by the Kyocera Corporation : MITA
35. Appear suddenly : SPROUT UP
36. Track consultants : TIPSTERS
38. Banana Republic defender, maybe : MALL COP
40. Ersatz blazer : GAS LOG
41. Speaker of Shakespeare’s “If music be the food of love, play on” : ORSINO
43. Calculus calculation: Abbr. : MIN
45. Like some gruel : OATEN
46. Pioneer in cool jazz : TORME
48. Mapped item : GENE
49. “Marjorie Morningstar” novelist : WOUK
51. Got out of the way : DID
52. Head of state? : TRI-

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