0327-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 27 Mar 14, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Clay pounder? : LISTON
Muhammad Ali fought Sonny Liston for the World Heavyweight Championship twice. The first bout was in 1964 in Miami, and the second in 1965 in Lewiston, Maine. In the first fight, Liston failed to come out of his corner for the seventh round. On seeing this, Ali (or “Cassius Clay” as he was then) ran to the ropes yelling “I’m the greatest!” and “I shook up the world”.

14. Gobble quickly : INHALE
If one gobbles down one’s food, one might be said to inhale it.

15. Persians, to the 300, e.g. : FOE
The Battle of Thermopylae took place in 480 BC, fought between the Persian Empire of Xerxes and an alliance of Greek city-states led by Sparta. The Greeks chose the narrow pass of Thermopylae to make a stand against the advancing Persian army, as there they could minimize the advantage that the Persians had with their large army. The pass of Thermopylae was so narrow that only one chariot could pass through at a time. Famously, the vastly outnumbered Spartan forces (the “300”) held this pass with hand-to-hand combat for two full days, until a local resident showed the Persians a way around the pass so that the Greek army could be attacked and annihilated from the rear.

16. Required to serve, maybe : ONE-A
The US government maintains information on all males who are potentially subject to military conscription, using what is called the Selective Service System(SS). In the event that a draft was held, men registered would be classified into groups to determine eligibility for service. Class 1-A registrants are those available for unrestricted military service. Other classes are 1-A-O (conscientious objector available for noncombatant service), 4-A (registrant who has completed military service) and 4-D (Minister of religion).

17. Healthy spirit? : ELIXIR
An elixir is a solution of alcohol and water that is used to deliver a medicine. The term “elixir” can also be used to mean a medicine that has the power to cure all ills.

20. Best seller about shipwreck survivors : LIFE OF PI
The 2012 movie “Life of Pi” is based on a 2001 novel of the same name by Yann Martel. The “Pi” in the title is an Indian boy called Pi Patel who finds himself adrift for 227 days in small boat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

24. September through April, in a culinary guideline : R-MONTHS
There is a traditional warning that one shouldn’t eat shellfish in a month without an R i.e. May through August. That’s because these are the warmer months here in the northern hemisphere when algae blooms can spread toxins that are soaked up by clams, mussels and oysters. Personally, I only eat shellfish in months containing a Q … that would be never …

29. Sleepytime ___ : TEA
Sleepytime Teas are line of herbal teas from Celestial Seasonings.

32. Designate : DUB
Kneel, and the Queen might “dub thee a knight” if you’re lucky. “Dub” is a specific term derived from Old English that was used to mean “make a knight”. As the knight was also given a knightly name at the same time, “dub” has come to mean “give someone a name”.

36. Temple of ___, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World : ARTEMIS
The Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple located at Ephesus, now in modern Turkey. Artemis was a Greek goddess, the twin of Apollo, and she was depicted as a virginal huntress.

45. Constitution Hall grp. : DAR
In order to be a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), an applicant has to prove that she is a descendant of someone closely associated with, and supportive of, the American Revolution.

DAR Constitution Hall is a concert hall that was built in Washington, D.C. by the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in 1929. The facility was originally built to house the DAR’s annual convention as the membership had outgrown the nearby Memorial Continental Hall that had been used in prior years.

46. Patient helpers, for short : MDS
Medical doctor (MD)

47. Where to find “Yesterday” on the album “Help!” : SIDE-2
“Yesterday” is such a beautiful ballad. It was written by Paul McCartney, who also routinely performed the song as a solo piece. “Yesterday” wasn’t originally released as a single and first appeared as a track on the 1965 Beatles album, “Help!” In several polls over in the UK, “Yesterday” has been named the number one pop song of all time.

The Beatles hit “Help!” was released in 1965, as was the Beatles movie for which it served as the title song. “Help!” was written by John Lennon, and he stated that it was written as his own cry for “help” as he struggled with the band’s sudden rise to fame.

49. High note? : C-SPOT
Benjamin Franklin is featured on one side of the hundred-dollar bill (also called a “C-spot”), and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall on the other side. There is a famous “error” in the image of Independence Hall. If you look closely at the clock face at the top of the building you can see that the “four” is written in Roman numerals as “IV”. However, on the actual clock on Independence Hall, the “four” is denoted by “IIII”, which has been the convention for clock faces for centuries.

53. Tom Selleck title role : MAGNUM PI
“Magnum, P.I.” is a TV series that aired in the eighties starring Tom Selleck in the title role. The show was incredibly successful, especially during its first five years. Many big names made guest appearances including Vic Morrow, Orson Welles and Frank Sinatra.

55. Celebrity cosmetician Laszlo : ERNO
Ernő László was a dermatologist from Hungary who became sought out by celebrities for treatment of both serious and cosmetic skin issues. He founded the Ernő László Institute in New York in 1939, which soon had an impressive list of clients that included the Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

58. “The Godfather” parts I, II and III, e.g. : R-MOVIES
“The Godfather” series of films is of course based on “The Godfather” novel by Mario Puzo, first published in 1969. Francis Ford Coppola worked with Puzo in partnership to adapt his novel into the screenplay for the first film, and to write the screenplays for the two sequels. Coppola holds that there are really only two films in “The Godfather” series, with “The Godfather Part III” actually being the epilogue.

61. It might be held on a flight : BANISTER
By some accounts, a “banister” is a handrail of a stairway. By other accounts, the banister is actually the handrail and the supporting structures (called “newels”).

64. Nike competitor : AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

65. Spanish valuable : ORO
“Oro” is Spanish for “gold”.

67. Tandoori flatbread : NAAN
Naan (also “nan”) bread is very popular in Indian restaurants, as well as in other West, Central and South Asian cuisines. Indian Naan is traditionally baked in a clay oven known as a tandoor.

68. 2012 YouTube sensation : PSY
PSY is the stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang. PSY became an international star when his 2102 music video “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube. That video had over 1 billion views on YouTube in about six months, making it the most viewed YouTube video clip of all time. I am not one of the one million …

Down
3. Goes from first to second, say : SHIFTS
One might shift gear in a car from first to second.

5. Smorgasbord : OLIO
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.

A smorgasbord is a buffet-style meal that originated in Sweden. “Smörgåsbord” is a Swedish word comprised of “smörgås” meaning “open-faced sandwich” and “bord” meaning “table”.

6. Hasbro brand : NERF
Nerf is the name given to the soft material used in a whole series of toys designed for “safe” play indoors. The Nerf product is used to make darts, balls and ammunition for toy guns. “NERF” is an acronym, standing for Non-Expanding Recreational Foam.

7. Great Rift Valley locale: Abbr. : AFR
The Great Rift Valley is an imprecise geographical term that describes a trench that runs from northern Syria to central Mozambique in Africa.

8. Do-si-do whoop-de-dos : HOEDOWNS
The term “do-si-do” is actually a corruption of a French phrase “dos-à-dos”, meaning back-to-back. And parenthetically, this is just the opposite to the familiar French term “vis-à-vis”, meaning face-to-face. In the do-si-do dance move, the partners start facing each other and then advance past each other’s right shoulder, and then move to the right without turning so that they are now facing away from each other (back-to-back). They complete the move facing in the same direction, passing each other’s left shoulders by moving backwards until they return to the starting position. Did you get that …?

10. County fair organizer : FOUR-H
4-H is a youth organization in the US. The first 4-H clubs were set up at the start of the 20th century and were focused on agricultural communities. Although 4-H no longer has the rural focus, because of the organization’s history it is administered with the Department of Agriculture. The four Hs stand for Head, Heart, Hands and Health.

12. Some jeans : LEES
The Lee company famous for making jeans was formed in 1889, by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

21. See 10-Across : PI R SQUARED
48. See 10-Across : 2 PI R
By definition, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is the mathematical constant known as pi. The same constant shows up as the ratio of a circle’s area to its radius squared.

25. Daisy ___ : MAE
Daisy Mae Scragg was the vampish woman who chased Li’l Abner trying to goad him into marriage. This went on for 15 years in the cartoon strip until creator Al Capp succumbed to public pressure, and married the couple at the end of March 1952. The marriage was such a big event, that it made the cover of “Life” magazine.

30. Loire contents : EAU
The Loire River is so long that it drains one-fifth of France’s land mass. The Loire rises in the southeast, in the Cevennes mountain range, then it heads north and then due west, emptying into the Bay of Biscay at the city of Nantes.

31. One above the Lötschberg Tunnel : ALP
The Lötschberg Tunnel is a railway tunnel in the Swiss Alps. It is almost ten miles in length with the journey from one end to the other taking about 20 minutes. Cars are transported through the tunnel on rail cars, with the passengers remaining in their vehicles.

33. It wraps around a chest at the beach : BIKINI TOP
The origin of the name “bikini”, a type of bathing suit, seems very uncertain. My favorite story is that it is named after the Bikini Atoll, site of American A-bomb tests in the forties and fifties. The name “bikini” was chosen for the swim-wear because of the “explosive” effect it had on men who saw a woman wearing the garment!

38. Southernmost state : TASMANIA
The island state of Tasmania is the southernmost state in Australia, and the southernmost state in the world, I would guess.

39. Sirens : SEDUCERS
In Greek mythology, the Sirens were seductive bird-women who lured men to their deaths with their song. When Odysseus sailed closed to the island home of the Sirens he wanted to hear their voices, but in safety. He had his men plug their ears with beeswax and then ordered them to tie him to the mast and not to free him until they were safe. On hearing their song Odysseus begged to be let loose, but the sailors just tightened his bonds and and the whole crew sailed away unharmed.

41. W.W. II service member : WAC
The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) was formed in 1942, and the unit was converted to full status the following year to become the Women’s Army Corps (WAC). Famously, General Douglas MacArthur referred to the WACs as his “best soldiers”, saying they worked harder, complained less and were better disciplined than men. The WACs were disbanded in 1978 and the serving members were integrated into the rest of the army.

47. Friday and others: Abbr. : SGTS
Jack Webb played Sergeant Joe Friday on “Dragnet” on both TV and radio … and what a voice he had! Off the screen Webb was a lover of jazz, and he played the cornet. It was within the world of jazz that he met and fell in love with Julie London, the famous singer with “the smoky voice”. The couple married and had two kids together.

48. See 10-Across : 2 PI R
By definition, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is the mathematical constant known as pi. The same constant shows up as the ratio of a circle’s area to its radius squared.

50. Frog’s alter ego, in a fairy tale : PRINCE
“The Frog Prince” is a fairy tale about a princess and her encounter with a frog who magically turns into a prince. In the version that is most common today, the prince appears when the princess kisses the frog. In the original Brothers Grimm version of the tale, the transformation takes place when the princess throws a gold ball against a wall in disgust at seeing the frog. Even earlier versions of the tale, the frog changes into the prince when it is allowed to spend a night on the princess’s pillow.

56. Abba not known for singing : EBAN
Abba Eban was an Israeli diplomat and politician, born Aubrey Solomon Meir Eban in Cape Town, South Africa. While working at the United Nations after WWII, Eban changed his given name to “Abba”, the Hebrew word for “father”. He made this change as reportedly as he could see himself as the father of the nation of Israel.

57. Soap with pumice : LAVA
Lava is a brand of soap that was introduced as a heavy-duty cleanser in 1983. Unlike like soaps that are marketed using a “soft” image, Lava touts the inclusion of ground pumice that is intended to abrade grime off the skin. Pumice is found in certain types of lava ejected from a volcano, hence the name of the soap.

59. Connie ___, Philadelphia Athletics manager for 50 years : MACK
Cornelius “Connie” Mack managed the Philadelphia Athletics (now the Oakland A’s) baseball team from 1901 when the club was founded, until he retired at the end of the 1950 season, at 87 years of age. Mack is the longest-serving manager in the history of Major League Baseball.

62. Dale’s partner : ROY
Cowboy actor and singer Roy Rogers’ real name was Leonard Franklin Slye, and his nickname was “King of the Cowboys”. Roy Rogers married Dale Evans in 1947. Evans’ nickname was “Queen of the West”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Clay pounder? : LISTON
7. Sounds at spas : AHS
10. With 66-Across, back to the beginning … or a description of 21- and 48-Down? : FULL
14. Gobble quickly : INHALE
15. Persians, to the 300, e.g. : FOE
16. Required to serve, maybe : ONE-A
17. Healthy spirit? : ELIXIR
18. Diverts : REROUTES
20. Best seller about shipwreck survivors : LIFE OF PI
22. Honey pie : DEAREST
23. Airing, in a way : ON TV
24. September through April, in a culinary guideline : R-MONTHS
26. “Shall ___ …?” : WE SAY
28. Settled up : SQUARED AWAY
29. Sleepytime ___ : TEA
32. Designate : DUB
34. Hindmost : END
35. Ring : PEAL
36. Temple of ___, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World : ARTEMIS
40. Finalized : SEWED UP
42. Big laugh : ROAR
43. Tap site : KEG
45. Constitution Hall grp. : DAR
46. Patient helpers, for short : MDS
47. Where to find “Yesterday” on the album “Help!” : SIDE-2
49. High note? : C-SPOT
53. Tom Selleck title role : MAGNUM PI
55. Celebrity cosmetician Laszlo : ERNO
56. What gives? : ELASTIC
58. “The Godfather” parts I, II and III, e.g. : R-MOVIES
61. It might be held on a flight : BANISTER
63. Spheres : ARENAS
64. Nike competitor : AVIA
65. Spanish valuable : ORO
66. See 10-Across : CIRCLE
67. Tandoori flatbread : NAAN
68. 2012 YouTube sensation : PSY
69. Shows subservience, say : KNEELS

Down
1. Stay out of sight : LIE LOW
2. Queued : IN LINE
3. Goes from first to second, say : SHIFTS
4. Shirker of one’s duties? : TAX EVADER
5. Smorgasbord : OLIO
6. Hasbro brand : NERF
7. Great Rift Valley locale: Abbr. : AFR
8. Do-si-do whoop-de-dos : HOEDOWNS
9. Courted with love notes? : SERENADED
10. County fair organizer : FOUR-H
11. Green : UNTESTED
12. Some jeans : LEES
13. Hindmost : LAST
19. Like some cereals : OATY
21. See 10-Across : PI R SQUARED
25. Daisy ___ : MAE
27. “Tasty!” : YUM!
30. Loire contents : EAU
31. One above the Lötschberg Tunnel : ALP
33. It wraps around a chest at the beach : BIKINI TOP
35. Hang in there : PERSEVERE
36. Gun, e.g. : ARM
37. Gun, in slang : ROD
38. Southernmost state : TASMANIA
39. Sirens : SEDUCERS
41. W.W. II service member : WAC
44. Definite keeper : GEM
47. Friday and others: Abbr. : SGTS
48. See 10-Across : 2 PI R
50. Frog’s alter ego, in a fairy tale : PRINCE
51. Low tie : ONE ALL
52. Flings : TOSSES
54. ___-American : ASIAN
56. Abba not known for singing : EBAN
57. Soap with pumice : LAVA
59. Connie ___, Philadelphia Athletics manager for 50 years : MACK
60. “… now ___ the future” : OR IN
62. Dale’s partner : ROY

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