0402-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 2 Apr 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: David Levinson Wilk
THEME: Anagrams … today’s themed answers are anagrams of the word(s) following “… out of” in the clue:

17A. Weapon part that’s out of this world? : SWORD HILT (anagram of “this world”)
41A. Attack on a Mideast land that’s out of thin air? : IRAN HIT (anagram of “thin air”)
66A. Fisherman’s feat that’s out of character? : RARE CATCH (anagram of “character”)
11D. Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods? : WET HOODS (anagrams of “the woods”)
40D. Military laundry that’s out of harm’s way? : ARMY WASH (anagram of “harm’s way”)

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 16m 58s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … WAHOO (yahoo), NSFW (NSFY)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Miami’s county, familiarly : DADE
Miami-Dade was created as Dade County in 1836, named for Major Francis L. Dade, a soldier killed the year before in the Second Seminole War. The county took on its present name only in 1997, simply incorporating the more recognizable name of the county’s biggest city, Miami.

15. Beast in the documentary “Blackfish” : ORCA
“Blackfish” is a 2013 documentary film that examines the dangers of keeping orca in captivity.”Star” of the movie is a killer whale (orca) called Tilikum who was responsible in whole or in part for the deaths of three people. Tilikum was captured in 1983 and has been a “guest” of SeaWorld since 1992. Most recently, Tilikum killed a 40-year old trainer called Dawn Brancheau in 2010.

16. Amtrak bullet train : ACELA
The Acela Express is the fastest train routinely running in the US, getting up to 150 mph at times. The service runs between Boston and Washington D.C. via Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. The brand name “Acela” was created to evoke “acceleration” and “excellence”.

Amtrak is the name used commercially by the National Railroad Passenger Corporation. “Amtrak” comes from a melding of the words “America” and “track”.

19. Chaim who created Asher Lev : POTOK
Chaim Potok was a Jewish American author. Potok’s most famous novel is “The Chosen”, which recounts the life of a Jewish youth in New York City during WWII.

“My Name Is Asher Lev” is a novel by Rabbi Chaim Potok, first published in 1972. The story follows the experiences of Asher Lev, a Hasidic Jewish boy in New York City. His story continues in the sequel “The Gift of Asher Lev”.

20. Kurt of Nirvana : COBAIN
Kurt Cobain was famous as the lead singer of the band Nirvana. Cobain was constantly in the spotlight for the last few years of his short life. The media was fascinated with his marriage to fellow rock star Courtney Love, and continually reported on Cobain’s heroin addiction. He finally succumbed to the pressure and committed suicide by inflicting a gunshot wound to his head in 1994, at only 27 years of age.

23. Pronoun in a wedding statement : THEE
There’s a phrase used in some traditional wedding vows that goes “… and thereto I plight thee my troth”. “I plight” is an obsolete way of saying “I pledge”. “Troth” is an old variant of the word truth, and meant “truth” but also “loyalty”. So, “I plight thee my troth” means, “I promise to be loyal to you”. I am sure all of us who uttered those words knew what we were saying …

A kind reader pointed out (below) that a more familiar phrase used in a wedding is probably “With this ring, I thee wed”.

24. Paper tiger, maybe : ORIGAMI
Origami is the traditional Japanese art form of paper folding. The word “origami” is derived from “ori“ (folding) and “kami” (paper).

26. One-room home : IGLOO
The Inuit word for “house” is “iglu”, which we usually write as “igloo”. The Greenlandic (yes, that’s a language) word for “house” is very similar, namely “igdlo”.

28. ___-Ball : SKEE
Skee Ball is that arcade game where you roll balls up a ramp trying to “bounce” it into rings for varying numbers of points. The game was first introduced in Philadelphia, in 1909.

29. Sturm ___ Drang : UND
“Sturm und Drang” translates from the German into “Storm and Stress” or perhaps “Storm and Impulse”. “Sturm und Drang” was the name given to a movement in German literature and music in the latter half of the 18th century. The writer Johann Goethe was a major proponent of the movement, which took its name from a play by Maximilian Klinger.

31. Skedaddled : RAN OFF
“Skedaddle ” is a slang term meaning “run away” that dates back to the Civil War.

37. Victoria’s Secret garment : TEDDY
The item of lingerie known as a teddy can also be called “camiknickers”. The alternative name was used when the one-piece garment was introduced in the twenties, a combination of a camisole and panties (aka knickers).

Victoria’s Secret was founded in 1977 in San Francisco, California. The founder wanted to create an environment where men were comfortable buying lingerie for their wives and girlfriends, an alternative to a department store.

43. ___ Lanka : SRI
The name Sri Lanka translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

46. Protracted battles : SIEGES
Our word “siege” comes from a 13th century word for a “seat”. The military usage derives from the concept of a besieging force “sitting down” outside a fortress until it falls.

48. Lady Schick target : ARMPIT
The Schick brand of safety razors was introduced by Jacob Schick in 1926 as the Magazine Repeating Razor Company. Today, Schick products are sold under the name Wilkinson Sword in Europe.

50. “A revolution is not a dinner party” writer : MAO
According to Mao Zedong:

… a revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous.

51. Jewelry designer Peretti : ELSA
Elsa Peretti is a native of Florence, Italy who has been designing jewelry and related items for the top fashion houses in New York since the sixties.

57. Some lines on a GPS screen : STREETS
Global positioning system (GPS)

61. Anxious condition, for short : OCD
Apparently obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most commonly diagnosed mental disorder, making it about as common as asthma.

69. Cameo stone : ONYX
Onyx is a form of quartz that comes in many different shades, but most often it’s the black version that’s used for jewelry. The name “onyx” comes from the Greek word for “fingernail”, as onyx in the flesh color is said to resemble a fingernail.

72. Insect repellent ingredient : DEET
DEET is short for N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, an active ingredient in insect repellents. DEET is most often used to repel mosquitoes by applying it to the skin and/or clothing. It is also used to protect against tick bites.

73. “___ Little Tenderness” : TRY A
The love song “Try a Little Tenderness” was first released in 1932 by the Ray Noble Orchestra, and has since been covered countless times. The most famous version is probably by Otis Redding from 1966. My personal favorite performance is in the Irish movie “The Commitments”. That movie is a must-see for anyone interested in contemporary Irish culture, in my humble opinion that is …

Down
1. Places where people hustle? : DISCOS
Discotheques first appeared during WWII in Occupied France. American-style music (like jazz and jitterbug dances) was banned by the Nazis, so French natives met in underground clubs that they called discotheques where records were often played on just a single turntable. After the war, these clubs came out into the open. One famous Paris discotheque was called “Whiskey a Gogo”. In that Paris disco, non-stop music was played using two turntables next to a dance-floor, and this concept spread around the world.

3. Rock’s ___ Brothers : DOOBIE
The Doobie Brothers are a rock band from San Jose, California, and aren’t brothers at all. Apparently the band took their name from their fondness for “doobies”, a slang term for marijuana cigarettes.

5. Sierra Club founder : JOHN MUIR
John Muir was a famous American naturalist, although he was born in Scotland. He published “My First Summer in the Sierra” in 1911, describing one of his favorite places in the country, the Sierra Nevada range in California. Muir was a co-founder of the Sierra Club.

6. Mentalist Geller : URI
Uri Geller’s most famous performance is perhaps his uncomfortable failure on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson in 1973. Carson “hi-jacked” Geller on live television by providing him with spoons to bend and watches to start, none of which had been available to Geller before the show aired. Clever!

8. Singer Smith of punk music : PATTI
Patti Smith is a singer-songwriter who was a big player in the seventies punk rock movement in New York City. Smith’s most successful song is “Because the Night”, a song co-written with Bruce Springsteen and recorded by Smith in 1978. Her influence in the punk rock scene earned Smith the nickname “Godmother of Punk”.

10. Environmental transition area : ECOTONE
An ecotone is a transition area between two different types of land that sit adjacent to each other.

11. Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods? : WET HOODS (anagrams of “the woods”)
“Hood” is a slang term for “gangster”, a shortening of “hoodlum”.

12. The so-called “potted physician” : ALOE
Aloe vera has a number of alternate names that are descriptive of its efficacy as a medicine. These include the First Aid plant, Wand of Heaven, Silent Healer and Miracle Plant.

13. Box-office receipts : TAKE
The term “box office” may date back to Shakespearean times. In those days long past, patrons would deposit fees for seeing theater performances in boxes. The full boxes would be collected and placed in an office called, imaginatively enough, the “box office”.

18. 24 horas : DIA
In Spanish, there are 24 hours (horas) in a day (día).

22. Cabinet-level dept. since 1889 : AGR
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) actually dates back to 1862 when it was established by then-president Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln referred to the USDA as the “people’s department” as our economy had such a vast agrarian base back then.

25. Pachacuti’s people : INCAS
Pachacuti was a ruler of the Inca kingdom of Cusco. The famous Inca site known as Machu Picchu is thought to have been an estate built for Pachacuti. When Pachacuti took over as ruler of Cusco, it was a relatively small chiefdom. By the time that he died in 1472, he was ruling a vast Inca Empire.

27. Drink that may feature “foam art” : LATTE
The term “latte” is an abbreviation of the Italian “caffelatte” meaning “coffee (and) milk”. Note that in the correct spelling of “latte”, the Italian word for milk, there is no accent over the “e”. An accent is often added by mistake when we use the word in English, perhaps meaning to suggest that the word is French.

30. Blue wear : DENIM
Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (from Nimes) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (blue of Genoa) gives us our word “jeans”.

32. Yalta Conference monogram : FDR
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

The Yalta Conference was a wartime meeting between WWII leaders Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Held in February of 1945, the conference is most remembered for decisions made on the post-war organization of Europe. To a large extent, the three leaders made decisions carving up influence around the world that has had implications to this day.

33. Memo-heading initials : FYI
For your information (FYI)

35. Letters in a children’s refrain : EIEIO
There was an American version of the English children’s song “Old MacDonald Had a Farm” (E-I-E-I-O), that was around in the days of WWI. The first line of the US version goes “Old MacDougal had a farm, in Ohio-i-o”.

36. Ostrich cousins : RHEAS
The rhea is a flightless bird native to South America. The rhea takes its name from the Greek titan Rhea, an apt name for a flightless bird as “rhea” comes from the Greek word meaning “ground”.

39. Liechtenstein’s locale: Abbr. : EUR
Liechtenstein is a tiny European country with an area of just over 61 square miles, located in the Alps between Switzerland and Austria. Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world. The country is a winter sports haven attracting lots of visitors, and is also a tax haven with a strong financial center. There are actually more registered companies in Liechtenstein than there are citizens!

52. NBC anchor Holt : LESTER
Lester Holt is a television journalist. Holt is anchor for the weekend editions of the shows “Today” and “Nightly News” on NBC, as well as the show “Dateline NBC”.

53. Actress Dash of “Clueless” : STACEY
Stacey Dash is an actress from the Bronx, New York. Dash is best known for playing one of the lead roles in the 1995 movie “Clueless”, as well as in the TV spinoff series also called ‘Clueless”.

The 1995 movie “Clueless” is apparently based on Jane Austen’s “Emma”, which is a favorite novel of mine. As a result, I am going to have to check out the film. That said, “Clueless” is set in a Beverly Hills high school, so I probably should prepare myself to be disappointed …

56. Atlantic fish : SCROD
Scrod is the name given to fish that has been “scrawed” i.e. split open, dried and then broiled.

58. Documentarian Burns who’s the brother of Ken : RIC
Ric Burns is a documentary filmmaker, the younger brother of the more famous Ken Burns (who was behind “The Civil War”, “Baseball” and “The War”).

59. Office-inappropriate, in web shorthand : NSFW
The abbreviation “NSFW” stands for “not safe/suitable for work”. I’ve never heard of the term outside of crosswords, but apparently it’s Internet slang.

60. Suitable for induction : 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).

62. Hamlet, e.g. : DANE
The full title of William Shakespeare’s play that we tend to call “Hamlet” is “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”. It is the most performed of all Shakespeare’s plays and it is also his longest, comprising a full five acts.

65. “___ Beso” : ESO
“Eso Beso” is Spanish for “That Kiss”, and is the name of a hit song recorded by Canadian-born singer Paul Anka.

67. Manhattan ingredient : RYE
For whiskey to be labelled as “rye” in the US, it has to be distilled from at least 51% rye grain. In Canada however, a drink called rye whiskey sometimes contains no rye at all.

The cocktail called a Manhattan is made from whiskey, sweet vermouth and Angostura bitters. I make a version of a what’s called a Brandy Manhattan, using brandy, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Miami’s county, familiarly : DADE
5. Stalled driver’s request : JUMP
9. Inexperienced with : NEW AT
14. Words after pour or pass : IT ON
15. Beast in the documentary “Blackfish” : ORCA
16. Amtrak bullet train : ACELA
17. Weapon part that’s out of this world? : SWORD HILT (anagram of “this world”)
19. Chaim who created Asher Lev : POTOK
20. Kurt of Nirvana : COBAIN
21. Spanish diminutive suffix : -ITA
23. Pronoun in a wedding statement : THEE
24. Paper tiger, maybe : ORIGAMI
26. One-room home : IGLOO
28. ___-Ball : SKEE
29. Sturm ___ Drang : UND
31. Skedaddled : RAN OFF
34. Wintertime airport supply : DEICER
37. Victoria’s Secret garment : TEDDY
38. Swell place? : SEA
41. Attack on a Mideast land that’s out of thin air? : IRAN HIT (anagram of “thin air”)
43. ___ Lanka : SRI
44. Boxer’s prize : PURSE
46. Protracted battles : SIEGES
48. Lady Schick target : ARMPIT
50. “A revolution is not a dinner party” writer : MAO
51. Jewelry designer Peretti : ELSA
55. Cries of pain : YEOWS
57. Some lines on a GPS screen : STREETS
59. “And ___ word from our sponsor” : NOW A
61. Anxious condition, for short : OCD
63. Bites playfully : NIPS AT
64. Plumber’s unclogger : SNAKE
66. Fisherman’s feat that’s out of character? : RARE CATCH (anagram of “character”)
68. Happy gatherings : FESTS
69. Cameo stone : ONYX
70. Give the appearance of : SEEM
71. “Whoopee!” : WAHOO!
72. Insect repellent ingredient : DEET
73. “___ Little Tenderness” : TRY A

Down
1. Places where people hustle? : DISCOS
2. On the job : AT WORK
3. Rock’s ___ Brothers : DOOBIE
4. Steamed : ENRAGED
5. Sierra Club founder : JOHN MUIR
6. Mentalist Geller : URI
7. Mid 12th-century year : MCLI
8. Singer Smith of punk music : PATTI
9. Day care break : NAP
10. Environmental transition area : ECOTONE
11. Drenched gangsters who are out of the woods? : WET HOODS (anagrams of “the woods”)
12. The so-called “potted physician” : ALOE
13. Box-office receipts : TAKE
18. 24 horas : DIA
22. Cabinet-level dept. since 1889 : AGR
25. Pachacuti’s people : INCAS
27. Drink that may feature “foam art” : LATTE
30. Blue wear : DENIM
32. Yalta Conference monogram : FDR
33. Memo-heading initials : FYI
35. Letters in a children’s refrain : EIEIO
36. Ostrich cousins : RHEAS
38. Aromatherapy spot : SPA
39. Liechtenstein’s locale: Abbr. : EUR
40. Military laundry that’s out of harm’s way? : ARMY WASH (anagram of “harm’s way”)
42. Challenger’s announcement at a pickup game : I GOT NEXT!
45. Have a talk with : SPEAK TO
47. Purposely overlook, as a fault : SEE PAST
49. Wee hour : TWO
52. NBC anchor Holt : LESTER
53. Actress Dash of “Clueless” : STACEY
54. Inhaler user’s malady : ASTHMA
56. Atlantic fish : SCROD
58. Documentarian Burns who’s the brother of Ken : RIC
59. Office-inappropriate, in web shorthand : NSFW
60. Suitable for induction : ONE-A
62. Hamlet, e.g. : DANE
65. “___ Beso” : ESO
67. Manhattan ingredient : RYE

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4 thoughts on “0402-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 2 Apr 14, Wednesday”

  1. Although I didn't get it right in the puzzle (I took "statement" to mean "announcement" and went off in the wrong direction), I wonder if the phrase "With this ring, I thee wed" would be more familiar to other puzzlers.

  2. Hi there, Kieron

    Ah, yes indeed! I should have thought of "With this ring, I thee wed". It has been almost 28 years since I uttered those words myself, so I'll use that as an excuse. Thank you for pointing that out!

  3. 67 down: RYE. You fail to mention how Rye is connected to whiskey. Your other clue answers are so thorough, I was surprised by this minor omission. Keep up the good work!

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