0927-13 New York Times Crossword Answers 27 Sep 13, Friday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Peter A. Collins
THEME: Begin to End … today we have what’s being called a “mini-theme”. The across clues “begin” with GERMINATE and “end” with TERMINATE, and the center of the grid refers to this pair of answers:

29A. With 36- and 39-Across, go from 1- to 61-Across : CHANGE
36A. See 29-Across : ONE
39A. See 29-Across : LETTER

1A. Begin : GERMINATE
61A. End : TERMINATE

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 18m 21s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

10. Donizetti heroine : LUCIA
“Lucia di Lammermoor” is an 1835 opera by Gaetano Donizetti, which is loosely based on the historical novel “The Bride of Lammermoor” written by Sir Walter Scott.

16. Magnetron component : ANODE
A magnetron is a vacuum tube that is used to generate microwaves. Magnetrons are used in radar devices and microwave ovens.

20. Things often dropped in Harvard Yard? : ARS
The Boston accent is noted for is broad A, and dropping of the letter R.

Harvard Yard is a large grassy area at the very center of Harvard University.

21. Big name in winter vehicles : SKI-DOO
Ski-Doo is a brand name of snowmobile produced by the Canadian company, Bombardier Recreational Products. The first Ski-Doo went on sale in 1959 and was intended to be named a “Ski-Dog” as the marketing concept was that the personal snowmobile would replace the dogsleds used by hunters and trappers. A painter misread instructions and wrote “Ski-Doo” on the side of the vehicle instead of Ski-Dog, and the name stuck.

25. Birthplace of the Franciscan order : ASSISI
The Italian town of Assisi is in Umbria. Assisi is famous as the birthplace of St. Francis and as the home to the Franciscan religious order. It was also the home to Saint Clare and her order of the Poor Sisters (later known as the Poor Clares).

27. “Before My Birth” collagist, 1914 : 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 …

28. ___-yo (cold treat, briefly) : FRO
Frozen Yogurt (Fro-yo)

31. 10-year-old Best Supporting Actress : O’NEAL
Tatum O’Neal is the youngest actress to win a “competitive” Oscar. She won the Best Supporting Actress Award in 1974 when she was just 10 years old, for her role as Addie in “Paper Moon”. The youngest person to win an honorary Academy Award was Shirley Temple, who was only 5 years old when she was presented with an Oscar in 1934.

33. Robert W. Service’s “The Cremation of Sam ___” : MCGEE
“The Cremation of Sam McGee” is a famous poem penned by Robert W. Service. It tells the story of the cremation of a prospector who froze to death in the Yukon. First published in 1907, the poem became a popular reading around campfires.

37. Robert W. Service output : POEMS
Robert W. Service was an English poet who lived in Canada for many years. Service lived in the Yukon while in Canada, and earned himself the moniker “the Bard of the Yukon”.

50. Ottoman bigwig : AGA
“Aga” (also “agha”) is a title that was used by both civil and military officials in the Ottoman Empire.

The Ottoman Dynasty was named for its founder, Osman I. The term “Ottoman” comes from the name “Osman”. The “Ottoman Empire” was really established with the conquest of Constantinople, and that didn’t happen until almost 130 years after Osman I died.

51. Tan in a library : AMY
Amy Tan lives not too far from here, in Sausalito just north of San Francisco. Tan is an American writer of Chinese descent whose most successful work is “The Joy Luck Club”. “The Joy Luck Club” was made into a movie produced by Oliver Stone in 1993. The novel and movie tell of four Chinese-American immigrant families in San Francisco who start the Joy Luck Club, a group playing Mahjong for money and eating delicious food.

52. Anatomical ring : AREOLA
An areola (sometimes “areole”) in anatomy is a small ring of color, as in the areola surrounding the nipple, and the areola surrounding the pupil of the eye. “Areola” comes from Latin, meaning “small open space”, and is a diminutive of the Latin word “area”, meaning “open space”.

53. Direction de Paris à Nancy : EST
“Est” is the French word “east”.

Nancy is a city in northeastern France.

54. Vegan gelatin substitute : AGAR
Agar is a jelly extracted from seaweed that has many uses. Agar is found in Japanese desserts, and can also be used as a food thickener or even as a laxative. In the world of science it is the most common medium used for growing bacteria in Petri dishes.

58. ___ Montoya, swordsman in “The Princess Bride” : INIGO
“The Princess Bride” is a novel by William Goldman written in 1973. Famously, the book was adapted into a 1987 film of the same name directed by Rob Reiner that has become a cult classic.

59. Prefixes featured on some maps : AREA CODES
Area codes were introduced in the 1940s. Back then the “clicks” one heard when dialling a number led to mechanical wear on various pieces of equipment. In order to minimize overall mechanical wear, areas with high call volumes were given the most efficient area codes (lowest number of clicks). That led to New York getting the area code 212, Los Angeles 213 and Chicago 313.

60. Baden-Powell of the Girl Guides : AGNES
The scouting movement is generally traced back to a camp for boys held in 1907 by Robert Baden-Powell. Within a short space of time, many girls became interested in the scouting movement, but Baden-Powell deemed that girls should not be allowed in the same organization. So, he founded the Girl Guides in 1910 and put his younger sister Agnes Baden-Powell in charge of the new movement.

Down
1. One known for riding out of gear? : GODIVA
In the legend of Lady Godiva, a noblewoman rode naked through the streets of Coventry in England, basically as a dare from her husband in return for relieving the taxes of his tenants. Lady Godiva issued instructions that all the town’s inhabitants should stay indoors while she made her journey. However, a tailor in the town named Tom disobeyed the instructions by boring holes in the shutters on his windows, and “peeped”. As a result, Peeping Tom was struck blind, and the term “peeping Tom” has been in our language ever since.

4. He’ll “talk ’til his voice is hoarse” : MR ED
“Mister Ed” first aired in 1961 and ran for almost five years. It was a very successful show (and even made it to Ireland!). Mister Ed, the talking horse, was a palomino that had the real name of Bamboo Harvester. Mister Ed’s “voice” was that of actor Allan “Rocky” Lane, a star of a lot of B-movie westerns from the forties and fifties. In the show, Mister Ed would only talk to the lead (human) character Wilbur, played by Alan Young, leading to some hilarious situations. Mister Ed had a stunt double and stand-in for the show, another horse called Pumpkin. Pumpkin later played the horse that made frequent appearances on the show “Green Acres”.

5. The Who’s “___ Hard” : IT’S
The English rock band called the Who was formed in 1964, bringing together famed musicians Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. According to “Rolling Stone” magazine, the Who were the third arm of the holy trinity of British rock, alongside the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.

6. ___ Romanova, alter ego of Marvel’s Black Widow : NATALIA
Over the years, Marvel Comics introduced several super heroines named the Black Widow. The Black Widow’s alter egos have included:

– Claire Voyant
– Natalia Romanova
– Yelena Belova
– Monica Chang

7. Landmark anime film of 1988 : AKIRA
“Akira” is a 1988 animated film that is based on a manga story of the same name. “Akira” became a cult classic in Japan.

8. Many pulp heroes, in slang : TECS
“Tec” is slang for a private detective.

9. Picking up skill? : ESP
Extrasensory perception (ESP)

12. Unit charge : CONDO FEE
The words “condominium” and “apartment” tend to describe the one type of residential property, a private living space with facilities shared with others residing in the same building or complex. The difference is that a condominium is usually owned, and an apartment is rented. At least that’s how it is in the US. The word “condominium” comes from the Latin “com” (together) and “dominum” (right of ownership).

13. “&” or “@,” but not “and” or “at” : IDEOGRAM
An ideograph or ideogram is pictorial symbol used to represent a concept. A good example would be an emoticon, like a smiley face :o)

26. Drink brand symbolized by a polar bear : ICEE
Icee is the brand name of one of those slushy drinks. Yuk …

27. 39th vice president : AGNEW
Spiro Agnew served as Vice-President under Richard Nixon, before becoming the only VP in American history to resign because of criminal charges (there was a bribery scandal). Agnew was also the first Greek-American to serve as US Vice-President as he was the son of a Greek immigrant who had shortened the family name from Anagnostopoulos.

30. “The Dark Knight Rises” director, 2012 : NOLAN
Director Christopher Nolan is best known for “rescuing” the floundering Batman movie franchise. He directed “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight”.

“The Dark Knight Rises” is a 2012 movie in the “Batman” franchise that stars Christian Bale as the superhero. The bad guys that Batman battles are Selina Kyle played by Anne Hathaway and Bane played by Tom Hardy.

31. Grammy category : OPERA
The first Grammy Awards Ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.

33. “Lordy!” in Lodi : MAMMA MIA!
Lodi is a city in Lombardy in the north of Italy. The inhabitants of Lodi are known as Lodigiani.

42. Pavlova portrayed one over 4,000 times : SWAN
Anna Pavlova was a Russian ballerina who performed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Pavlova became so successful that she was the first ballerina to pull together her own company and tour the world. Her most famous role was “The Dying Swan” that she danced to the beautiful “Le cygne” from Saint-Saëns’ “Carnival of the Animals”. Pavlova eventually left Russia for good and settled in England.

44. Storied place of worship : PAGODA
Pagodas are tiered (“storied”) towers found in various parts of Asia, usually built for religious purposes.

45. Eastern lodging : IMARET
Imarets were inns or hostels used by pilgrims throughout the Ottoman Empire. The network of imarets was set up to provide food to anyone in need, so also served as “soup kitchens”.

46. “2 Fast 2 Furious” co-star Gibson : TYRESE
Tyrese Gibson is singer-songwriter and actor who is known simply as “Tyrese”. Tyrese is best known for playing the character Roman Pearce in the “Fast And Furious” series of movies.

48. Grand Caravan maker : DODGE
The Dodge Grand Caravan is long-wheelbase version of the Dodge Caravan minivan.

49. Jumbles : OLIOS
“Olio” is a term meaning a hodgepodge or a mixture, coming from the mixed stew of the same name. The stew in turn takes its name from the Spanish “olla”, the clay pot used for cooking.

50. One of Jacob’s sons : ASHER
In the Book of Genesis, Asher was the second son of Jacob, and the founder of the tribe of Asher. Asher collaborated in the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery.

53. Ser, across the Pyrenees : ETRE
The verb “to be” is “ser” in Spanish and “être” in French.

The Pyrénées are a mountain range running along the border between Spain and France. Nestled between the two countries, high in the mountains, is the lovely country of Andorra, an old haunt of my family during skiing season …

56. Piece of the street : GAT
“Gat” is a slang term for a gun that is derived from the Gatling gun, the precursor to the modern machine gun. The Gatling gun was invented by Dr. Richard J. Gatling in 1861. Apparently he was inspired to invent it so that one man could do as much damage as a hundred, thereby reducing the size of armies and diminishing the suffering caused by war. Go figure …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Begin : GERMINATE
10. Donizetti heroine : LUCIA
15. Catches up to : OVERTAKES
16. Magnetron component : ANODE
17. Relative of a spouse : DOMESTIC PARTNER
19. “Just playin'” : I KID
20. Things often dropped in Harvard Yard? : ARS
21. Big name in winter vehicles : SKI-DOO
22. Fixer, perhaps : VET
23. In the way of : A LA
24. Phony blazers : GAS LOGS
25. Birthplace of the Franciscan order : ASSISI
27. “Before My Birth” collagist, 1914 : ARP
28. ___-yo (cold treat, briefly) : FRO
29. With 36- and 39-Across, go from 1- to 61-Across : CHANGE
31. 10-year-old Best Supporting Actress : O’NEAL
33. Robert W. Service’s “The Cremation of Sam ___” : MCGEE
36. See 29-Across : ONE
37. Robert W. Service output : POEMS
38. Soothing flora : ALOES
39. See 29-Across : LETTER
41. Bumped into : MET
42. Bumped into : SAW
43. Razor target, maybe : ARMPIT
47. Pack into a thick mass : MAT DOWN
50. Ottoman bigwig : AGA
51. Tan in a library : AMY
52. Anatomical ring : AREOLA
53. Direction de Paris à Nancy : EST
54. Vegan gelatin substitute : AGAR
55. Stopgap supervisor’s duty : MINDING THE STORE
58. ___ Montoya, swordsman in “The Princess Bride” : INIGO
59. Prefixes featured on some maps : AREA CODES
60. Baden-Powell of the Girl Guides : AGNES
61. End : TERMINATE

Down
1. One known for riding out of gear? : GODIVA
2. Brings out : EVOKES
3. Sends in : REMITS
4. He’ll “talk ’til his voice is hoarse” : MR ED
5. The Who’s “___ Hard” : IT’S
6. ___ Romanova, alter ego of Marvel’s Black Widow : NATALIA
7. Landmark anime film of 1988 : AKIRA
8. Many pulp heroes, in slang : TECS
9. Picking up skill? : ESP
10. Cheerful early risers : LARKS
11. Preposition on a business-hours sign : UNTIL
12. Unit charge : CONDO FEE
13. “&” or “@,” but not “and” or “at” : IDEOGRAM
14. Restricted flight items : AEROSOLS
18. By yesterday, so to speak : ASAP
23. Indication of some oxidation : ASHES
24. Hug or kiss, maybe : GREET
26. Drink brand symbolized by a polar bear : ICEE
27. 39th vice president : AGNEW
30. “The Dark Knight Rises” director, 2012 : NOLAN
31. Grammy category : OPERA
32. What’s typical : NORM
33. “Lordy!” in Lodi : MAMMA MIA!
34. Snow job? : CLEARING
35. Been chosen, as for office : GOTTEN IN
40. One-two in the ring? : TAG TEAM
42. Pavlova portrayed one over 4,000 times : SWAN
44. Storied place of worship : PAGODA
45. Eastern lodging : IMARET
46. “2 Fast 2 Furious” co-star Gibson : TYRESE
48. Grand Caravan maker : DODGE
49. Jumbles : OLIOS
50. One of Jacob’s sons : ASHER
53. Ser, across the Pyrenees : ETRE
54. Loads : A TON
56. Piece of the street : GAT
57. ___-fi : SCI

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