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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: Zhouqin Burnikel & D. Scott Nichols
THEME: US Opens … today’s themed answers all OPEN with the letters US:
16A. Jamaican sprinter nicknamed “The Fastest Man on Earth” : USAIN BOLT
20A. Nothing daring in terms of offerings : USUAL FARE
37A. PC outlet : USB PORT
53A. Service charges : USERS FEES
60A. Heralded, as a new era : USHERED IN43D. Annual tournaments … or a description of the starts of 16-, 20-, 37-, 53- and 60-Across? : US OPENS
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 05m 48s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0
Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Scotch ___ : TAPE
Scotch Tape is a brand of adhesive tape made by 3M. “Scotch Tape” is one of those brand names that has become so used widely that it has become a generic term for the product. The equivalent brand name of product that we use over in Ireland is Sellotape. This British brand also has become a generic term, and is our equivalent to “Scotch tape”.
9. Simba’s best friend in “The Lion King” : NALA
In “The Lion King”, Nala is a lioness and the childhood friend of Simba.
The highly successful stage musical “The Lion King” started out life as a 1994 animated feature film of the same name from the Disney studio. The film is the highest earning traditionally-animated feature of all time. The animated film “Finding Nemo” has made more money, but it was created using computer animation.
13. Nyet : Russian :: ___ : German : NEIN
The English word “no” translates into Russian as “nyet” and into German as “nein”.
16. Jamaican sprinter nicknamed “The Fastest Man on Earth” : USAIN BOLT
Usain Bolt is a Jamaican sprinter who won the 100m and 200m race gold medals in both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games. Back in Jamaica, Bolt was really into cricket and probably would have been a very successful fast bowler had he not hit the track instead.
19. Polynesian kingdom : TONGA
The Kingdom of Tonga is made up of 176 islands in the South Pacific, 52 of which are inhabited and scattered over an area of 270,000 square miles.
28. Mediterranean and Caribbean : SEAS
The Mediterranean Sea is almost completely enclosed by land, and is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. The sea takes its name from the Latin “mediterraneus”, which means “in the middle of land”.
The Caribs are an American Indian people that live in the Lesser Antilles islands, part of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea takes its name from the Carib people.
30. Winter pear : BOSC
Bosc is a cultivar of the European Pear grown in the northwest of the United States. The Bosc is that pear with a skin the color of a potato, with a long neck. I always seem to use the potato as my point of reference. How Irish am I …?
37. PC outlet : USB PORT
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard dealing with how computers and electronic devices connect and communicate, and deal with electrical power through those connections.
42. Lovett of country music : LYLE
As well as being famous in his own right as a successful country singer, Lyle Lovett is known for his marriage to the actress Julia Roberts in 1993. The pair had a whirlwind romance lasting just three weeks before they eloped and were wed. The marriage was also relatively whirlwind, lasting less than two years.
43. Title beekeeper in a 1997 film : ULEE
“Ulee’s Gold” is a highly respected film from 1997 in which Peter Fonda plays the title role of Ulee. Ulee’s “gold” is the honey that Ulee produces. It is a favorite role for Peter Fonda and he has shared that playing Ulee brought to mind his father, Henry Fonda, who himself kept a couple of hives. So if you see Peter Fonda in “Ulee’s Gold” you’re witnessing some characteristics that Peter saw in his father.
44. “Dies ___” (hymn) : IRAE
“Dies Irae” is Latin for “Day of Wrath”. It is the name of a famous melody in Gregorian Chant, one that is often used as part of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass.
46. Brand of dinnerware with a Scandinavian design : DANSK
Dansk is actually an American company, founded in 1954 by an American couple in the garage of their home in Great Neck, New York. The company was set up to showcase the flatware designs of Danish designer Jens Quistgaard. The name “Dansk” is Danish for “Danish”!
48. Bandleader Glenn : MILLER
Famously, Glenn Miller signed up with the US Air Force Band during World War II, and disappeared while flying from the South of England to entertain troops that had just liberated Paris. Miller is still listed as missing in action …
51. Roger who played 007 : MOORE
Roger Moore is best known in the US for taking on the role of 007 in seven James Bond movies from 1973 to 1985. In my part of the world we remember him playing a very debonair hero called Simon Templar in a TV series called “The Saint” from 1962 to 1969. Moore’s Templar character could very easily have morphed into a great James Bond, but by the time he was offered the part I personally think that he was just a tad too long in the tooth to pull off a credible 007.
57. Apple tablets : IPADS
Apple’s iPad has really pervaded our lives since it was introduced in 2010. We probably won’t see many pilots walking around airports laid down with briefcases chock full of paperwork anymore. Alaska Airlines replaced all that paperwork in 2011 so that now each pilot carries an iPad weighing 1½ pounds instead of a briefcase weighing perhaps 25 pounds.
62. Rum drinks for British sailors : GROGS
Edward Vernon was a naval officer with the nickname “Old Grog”. In 1740, Vernon ordered that the daily ration of rum for his sailors should be watered down, in order to reduce discipline problems caused by drunkenness. The diluted rum was sweetened with sugar, and lemon or lime added to help preserve it on long voyages. This recipe, found to reduce scurvy among sailors (because of the citrus) spread throughout the Royal Navy, and “grog” was born.
64. Companion of the Pinta and Santa Maria : NINA
The ship used by Christopher Columbus that we know as the Niña was actually the nickname of a ship actually called the Santa Clara. The nickname “Niña” probably came from the name of her owner, Juan Niña of Moguer.
65. Cravings : YENS
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!
67. “General Hospital,” e.g. : SOAP
The original soap operas were radio dramas back in the fifties. Given the structure of society back then, the daytime broadcasts were aimed at housewives working in the home. For some reason the sponsors of those radio shows, and the television shows that followed, were soap manufacturers like Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Lever Brothers. And that’s how the “soap” opera got its name …
Down
1. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT
A T-nut is so called because it has a t-shape when viewed from the side.
2. Fable writer : AESOP
Aesop is remembered today for his famous fables. Aesop lived in Ancient Greece, probably around the sixth century BC. Supposedly he was born a slave, somehow became a free man, but then met with a sorry end. Aesop was sent to the city of Delphi on a diplomatic mission but instead insulted the Delphians. He was tried on a trumped-up charge of stealing from a temple, sentenced to death and was thrown off a cliff.
3. Nightspots for cocktails and easy listening : PIANO BARS
Our word “cocktail” first appeared in the early 1800s. The exact origin of the term is not clear, but it is thought to be a corruption of the French word “coquetier” meaning “egg cup”, a container that was used at that time for serving mixed drinks.
6. Baseball’s Matty or Jesus : ALOU
Jesus Alou played major league baseball, as did his brothers Matty and Felipe, and as does Felipe’s son, Moises.
7. D.C. types : POLS
Politicians (pols.)
8. “___, Brute?” : ET TU
It was Shakespeare who popularized the words “Et tu, Brute?” (And you, Brutus?), in his play “Julius Caesar”, although the phrase had been around long before he penned his drama. It’s not known what Julius Caesar actually said in real life just before he was assassinated on the steps of the Senate in Rome.
10. Fragrance of roses : ATTAR
Attar is a fragrant essential oil obtained from flowers, and the term may particularly refer to attar of roses.
11. France’s longest river : LOIRE
The Loire River is so long that it drains a full one-fifth of France’s land mass. It rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then it heads north and then due east, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes.
21. “The ___ Daba Honeymoon” : ABA
You might recognize the chorus of the 1914 song called “Aba Daba Honeymoon”. It goes:
Aba daba daba daba daba daba dab,
Said the chimpie to the monk;
Baba daba daba daba daba daba dab,
Said the monkey to the chimp.
29. Pointy part of Mr. Spock : EAR
Leonard Nimoy played the logical Mr. Spock in the original “Star Trek” television series. Spock has to be the most popular character on the show, and he keeps popping up in “Star Trek” spin offs to this day. Nimoy first worked alongside William Shatner (Captain Kirk) in an episode of “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” (I loved that show!), with Nimoy playing a bad guy and Shatner playing an U.N.C.L.E. recruit.
31. 007, for one : SPY
James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”.
33. Rush Limbaugh medium : TALK RADIO
Rush Limbaugh is a conservative talk radio host from Cape Girardeau, Missouri. “The Rush Limbaugh Show” is the most-listened-to talk radio program in the country with 15 million listeners tuning in each week.
34. Sault ___ Marie, Mich. : STE
Sault Ste. Marie is the name of two cities on either side of the Canada-US border, one in Ontario and the other in Michigan. The two cities were originally one settlement in the 17th century, established by Jesuit Missionaries. The missionaries gave the settlement the name “Sault Sainte Marie”, which can be translated as “Saint Mary’s Falls”. The city was one community until 1817, when a US-UK Joint Boundary Commission set the border along the St. Mary’s River.
38. 500 sheets : REAM
A ream is 500 sheets of paper. As there were 24 sheets in a quire, and 20 quires made up a ream, there used to be 480 sheets in a ream. Ever since the standard was changed to 500, a 480-sheet packet of paper has been called a “short ream”.
41. Structures in the Gulf of Mexico : OIL RIGS
The Gulf of Mexico is a notorious site for oil exploration. I just read that there are about 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells on the Gulf’s seabed.
43. Annual tournaments … or a description of the starts of 16-, 20-, 37-, 53- and 60-Across? : US OPENS
Golf’s US Open Championship is held on the third Sunday of every June, which happens to be Father’s Day. The first US Open was held in 1895, over 36 holes played over one day on a 9-hole course in Newport, Rhode Island.
The US Open is one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, having started out as the US National Championship in 1881. Today, the US Open is the last major tournament in the Grand Slam annually, following the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon.
45. Terrier’s sound : ARF
Most terrier breeds of dog originated in the British Isles. Terriers were developed as working dogs, with the job of controlling populations of rats, rabbits and foxes by rooting them out above and below the ground. The name “terrier” comes via Middle French from the the Latin “terra” meaning “earth”, a reflection of the breeds habit of burrowing into the earth looking for its prey.
47. Roulette bet that’s not rouge : NOIR
In the game of roulette, players can bet on red (rouge) and black (noir).
48. Hot and humid : MUGGY
Our term “muggy” means warm and humid, and comes from the Old Norse word “mugga” that describes “drizzling mist”.
49. River of Grenoble, France : ISERE
The Isère river gives its name to the French Department of Isère, located partly in the French Alps. In turn, Isère gave its name to a somewhat famous ship called the Isère, which in 1885 delivered the Statue of Liberty from France to America in 214 shipping crates.
Grenoble is a city at the edge of the French Alps. Grenoble hosted the 1968 Winter Olympic Games.
52. Minneapolis suburb : EDINA
Edina, Minnesota lies just southwest of Minneapolis. The town takes its name from Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland. It was suggested by a Scottish mill owner at the time a new village was being set up in 1888.
55. Actor Morales : ESAI
Esai Morales is best known for his role in the 1987 movie “La Bamba”, which depicted the life of Ritchie Valens and his half-brother Bob Morales (played by Esai).
58. Partner of Crackle and Pop : SNAP
Snap, Crackle and Pop are three elves employed as the mascots for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. The trio first appeared in an ad campaign in 1933, although the phrase “snap, crackle and pop” had been used for the cereal for some time in radio ads. By the way, the elves are selling “Rice Bubbles” in Australia, and the elves have different names in other parts of the world (like “Cric!, Crac! and Croc! in Quebec).
61. “Benevolent” club member : ELK
The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) was founded in 1868, and is a social club that has about a million members today. It started out as a group of men getting together in a “club” in order to get around the legal opening hours of taverns in New York City. The club took on a new role as it started to look out for poor families of members who passed away. The club now accepts African Americans as members (since the seventies) and women (since the nineties), but atheists still aren’t welcome.
For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Scotch ___ : TAPE
5. Stare dumbfoundedly : GAPE
9. Simba’s best friend in “The Lion King” : NALA
13. Nyet : Russian :: ___ : German : NEIN
14. More than some : A LOT
15. Engine : MOTOR
16. Jamaican sprinter nicknamed “The Fastest Man on Earth” : USAIN BOLT
18. Story for storage : ATTIC
19. Polynesian kingdom : TONGA
20. Nothing daring in terms of offerings : USUAL FARE
22. Ostentatious displays : POMPS
24. Sounded like a horn : BLARED
25. Washtub : BASIN
27. Indian dress : SARI
28. Mediterranean and Caribbean : SEAS
30. Winter pear : BOSC
32. Having painterish pretensions : ARTSY
36. Golf course target : PAR
37. PC outlet : USB PORT
39. Had supper : ATE
40. Firebug’s crime : ARSON
42. Lovett of country music : LYLE
43. Title beekeeper in a 1997 film : ULEE
44. “Dies ___” (hymn) : IRAE
46. Brand of dinnerware with a Scandinavian design : DANSK
48. Bandleader Glenn : MILLER
51. Roger who played 007 : MOORE
53. Service charges : USERS FEES
57. Apple tablets : IPADS
59. “Dig?” : GET IT?
60. Heralded, as a new era : USHERED IN
62. Rum drinks for British sailors : GROGS
63. Subway support : RAIL
64. Companion of the Pinta and Santa Maria : NINA
65. Cravings : YENS
66. Pig’s grunt : OINK
67. “General Hospital,” e.g. : SOAP
Down
1. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT
2. Fable writer : AESOP
3. Nightspots for cocktails and easy listening : PIANO BARS
4. Mysteries : ENIGMAS
5. Yak : GAB
6. Baseball’s Matty or Jesus : ALOU
7. D.C. types : POLS
8. “___, Brute?” : ET TU
9. Sore loser’s cry : NOT FAIR!
10. Fragrance of roses : ATTAR
11. France’s longest river : LOIRE
12. Shaped like a rainbow : ARCED
15. Teen hanging out among shoppers : MALL RAT
17. Dozes : NAPS
21. “The ___ Daba Honeymoon” : ABA
23. Brothers and sisters, for short : SIBS
26. Aristocratic : NOBLE
27. Bawl out : SCOLD
28. Place that might offer mud baths : SPA
29. Pointy part of Mr. Spock : EAR
31. 007, for one : SPY
33. Rush Limbaugh medium : TALK RADIO
34. Sault ___ Marie, Mich. : STE
35. “___-haw!” : YEE
37. Turmoils : UNRESTS
38. 500 sheets : REAM
41. Structures in the Gulf of Mexico : OIL RIGS
43. Annual tournaments … or a description of the starts of 16-, 20-, 37-, 53- and 60-Across? : US OPENS
45. Terrier’s sound : ARF
47. Roulette bet that’s not rouge : NOIR
48. Hot and humid : MUGGY
49. River of Grenoble, France : ISERE
50. Divulge : LET ON
52. Minneapolis suburb : EDINA
54. It replaced the franc and mark : EURO
55. Actor Morales : ESAI
56. Body part that’s often bumped : SHIN
58. Partner of Crackle and Pop : SNAP
61. “Benevolent” club member : ELK
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