0416-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 16 Apr 14, Wednesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Michael Dewey
THEME: 102 Years Ago Today … today’s themed answers can relate to the tragic events of April 16, 1912 in the North Atlantic:

20A. Post-christening event : MAIDEN VOYAGE
28A. What scientists use to predict the rates of chemical reactions : COLLISION THEORY
49A. Small part that’s visible : TIP OF THE ICEBERG
58A. Headline of April 16, 1912 : TITANIC SINKS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 8m 26s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

5. Cuddly sci-fi creature : EWOK
The Ewoks are creatures who live on the moon of Endor, first appearing in “Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi”. They’re the cute and cuddly little guys that look like teddy bears.

9. Actors Sharif and Epps : OMARS
Omar Sharif is the great Hollywood actor from Egypt, an actor who played major roles in memorable movies such as “Doctor Zhivago” and “Lawrence of Arabia”. But to me he is my bridge hero (the card game). In his heyday Sharif was one of the best bridge players in the world.

Omar Epps is the actor who played Eric Foreman on the excellent television series “House”. Prior to playing Dr. Foreman, Epps had a recurring role playing Dr. Dennis Grant on “ER”. And, in another link to the world of medicine, Epps was born in Savannah, Georgia to single mom, Dr. Bonnie Epps.

17. Nirvana seeker : YOGI
A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.

In the West we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

Nirvana is a philosophical concept in some Indian-based religions. In the Buddhist tradition, nirvana is the state of being free from suffering i.e. not experiencing craving, anger or other afflicting states.

28. What scientists use to predict the rates of chemical reactions : COLLISION THEORY
Collision Theory was proposed in the early 1900s to give a quantitative explanation of the mechanism of chemical reactions in general. The basic assumption in the theory is that chemical reagents exist in particle form and that these particles react with each other by colliding. The more collisions, the faster the chemical reaction.

32. “Winnie-the-Pooh” young ‘un : ROO
Like most of the characters in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh”, Roo was inspired by on a stuffed toy belonging to Milne’s son Christopher Robin.

33. Golf’s Ernie : ELS
Ernie Els is a South African golfer. Els a big guy but he has an easy fluid golf swing that has earned him the nickname “The Big Easy”. He has a child who suffers from autism and so Els has been very effective in raising money for charities that focus on the condition.

35. Felix of “The Odd Couple” : UNGER
In the Neil Simon play “The Odd Couple”, the character Felix has the family name “Ungar”. This spelling “Ungar” persists in the film adaptation but somehow morphed into “Unger” for the long-running television series.

“The Odd Couple” is a play by the wonderfully talented Neil Simon first performed on Broadway, in 1965. This great play was adapted for the big screen in 1968, famously starring Jack Lemmon (as Felix Unger) and Walter Matthau (as Oscar Madison). The success of the play and the film gave rise to an excellent television sitcom that ran from 1970-1975, starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. In 1985, Neil Simon even went so far as to adapt the play for an all-female cast, renaming it “The Female Odd Couple”. I’d like to see that one …

38. “Krazy ___” : KAT
“Krazy Kat” is a successful comic strip that ran from 1913-1944 and was drawn by George Herriman.

40. Hindu honcho : RAJAH
“Raja” (also “rajah”) is word derived from Sanskrit that is used particularly in India for a monarch or princely ruler. The female form is “rani” (also “ranee”) and is used for a raja’s wife.

“Honcho” is a slang term for a leader or manager. The term comes to us from Japanese, in which language a “hancho” is a squad (han) leader (cho).

44. Contra-contraband org. : DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)

46. Bloviation : GAS
“To bloviate” is such a descriptive term, meaning to discourse pompously. “Bloviate” is mock-Latin and derived from “blow”.

48. Author Umberto : ECO
Umberto Eco is an Italian writer, probably best known for his novel “The Name of the Rose” published in 1980. In 1986, “The Name of the Rose” was adapted into a movie with the same title starring Sean Connery.

55. Lead-in to meter : ODO-
An odometer measures distance traveled. The word derives from the Greek “hodos” meaning “path” and “metron” meaning “measure”.

56. ___-de-France : ILE
Île-de-France (literally “Island of France”) isn’t an island at all. It is the name given to the most populous of France’s 26 administrative regions. Île-de-France is roughly equivalent to the Paris metropolitan area.

57. Eschews nuptial formalities, say : ELOPES
Our word “nuptial” is an adjective meaning “of marriage, of the wedding ceremony”. The term derives from “nuptiae”, the Latin for “wedding, marriage”.

“To eschew”, meaning “to avoid, shun” comes from the Old French word “eschiver” that means the same thing.

58. Headline of April 16, 1912 : TITANIC SINKS
The RMS Titanic set off on her tragic maiden voyage in 1912, sailing from Southampton, England bound for New York City. Regulations only required that the ship have lifeboat capacity for 1,178 people, even though a full complement of passengers and crew was 3,547. When the order was given to abandon ship, the captain adhered to the traditional protocol of “women and children first”. As a result, only 20% of male passengers survived the disaster, compared to 75% of the female passengers. Perhaps more telling is that 61% of those in first class survived, and only 25% of those in third class. The crew fared even worse though, with only 24% making it.

69. When repeated, kind of show : LATE
Just so you know, “The Late Late Show” (the real one as far as I am concerned!) is the flagship TV show of Irish national broadcasting service RTE. It is the world’s longest-running chat show, and goes out live for two hours every Friday night, ever since 1962. It’s true, we do have the gift of the gab …

70. Dust Bowl migrant : OKIE
“Okies” was a derogatory term used during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s for farming families who migrated from Oklahoma (hence the name), Arkansas, Kansas and Texas in search of agricultural jobs in California. The road used by many of these migrant families was Route 66, which is also called “Mother Road”.

The Dust Bowl was the name given to a period in which severe dust storms ravaged the American and Canadian Prairies in the thirties. A major factor in the storms was the loss of the deep-rooted grasses native to the land that had been displaced by intensive farming. Without the grasses, the topsoil was blown away in a period of drought.

72. “Goodness gracious!” : EGAD!
“Egad!” developed as a polite way of saying “oh God!” in the late 1600s and is an expression of fear or surprise somewhat like “good grief!”.

73. Cry at a deli : NEXT!
The word “delicatessen” (or “deli” for short) came into English from the German “Delikatessen”. The Germans borrowed the word from French, in which language “délicatesse” means “delicious things (to eat)”. The term’s ultimate root is “delicatus”, the Latin for “giving pleasure, delightful”.

Down
2. One side in a close encounter : UFO
In 1952, the USAF revived its studies of reported sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in a program called Project Blue Book. Project Blue Book ran from 1952 until it was shut down in 1969 with the conclusion that there was no threat to national security and that there were no sightings that could not be explained within the bounds of modern scientific knowledge.

3. ___ wheels : MAG
Mag wheels are often used on racing cars. They are made from a magnesium alloy, giving them their name. But beware, they are flammable and have been banned in many motor-sports in the UK.

5. Sun block? : ECLIPSE
A lunar eclipse occurs when the moon passes into the shadow cast by the earth from the light of the sun, in other words when the earth is positioned directly between the sun and the moon. The more spectacular solar eclipse takes place when moon passes in front of the sun, so that the earth falls into the shadow cast by the moon.

9. Winnie-the-Pooh catchphrase : OH BOTHER
Alan Alexander (A.A.) Milne was an English author, best known for his delightful “Winnie-the-Pooh” series of books. He had only one son, Christopher Robin Milne, born in 1920. The young Milne was the inspiration for the Christopher Robin character in the Winnie-the-Pooh stories. Winnie-the-Pooh was named after Christopher Robin’s real teddy bear, one he called Winnie, who in turn was named after a Canadian black bear called Winnie that the Milnes would visit in London Zoo. The original Winnie teddy bear is on display at the main branch of the New York Public Library in New York.

10. Crèche figure : MARY
Crèche is a French word meaning “crib”. The term can be used to describe a nativity scene, a display of objects depicting the birth of Jesus.

11. Italian cheese : ASIAGO
Asiago is a crumbly cheese, named after the region in northeastern Italy from where it originates.

12. Texas lawman : RANGER
The law enforcement agency known as the Texas Rangers is based in Austin. The Rangers were formed in 1835, making it the oldest state law enforcement body in the US.

21. Godard, to Truffaut, e.g. : AMI
Jean-Luc Godard is a so-called “Nouvelle Vague” (New Wave) cinematographer, making movies that challenge the conventions of both traditional Hollywood and French cinema.

Francois Truffaut was a celebrated French filmmaker whose name is very much associated with the French New Wave. The new Wave was a movement in the fifties and sixties that moved away from making the traditional period films in favor of movies that focused on current social issues.

23. Relative of beige : ECRU
The shade called ecru is a grayish, yellowish brown. The word “ecru” comes from French and means “raw, unbleached”. “Ecru” has the same roots as our word “crude”.

24. Eleven plus one : NOON
Our word “noon”, meaning “midday”, comes from the Latin “nona hora” that translates as “ninth hour”. Back in Ancient Rome, the “ninth hour” was three in the afternoon. Over the centuries, traditions such as church prayers and “midday” meals shifted from 3 p.m. to 12 p.m., and so “noon” became understood as 12 noon.

30. Oklahoma Indian : OSAGE
The Osage Nation originated in the Ohio River valley in what we now call Kentucky. They were forced to migrate west of the Mississippi by the invading Iroquois tribe. Most of the tribe members now live in Osage County, Oklahoma.

31. Amtrak listing, for short : ETA
Estimated time of arrival (ETA)

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

36. Tokyo’s former name : EDO
Edo is the former name of the Japanese city of Tokyo. Edo was the seat of the Tokugawa shogunate, a feudal regime that ruled from 1603 until 1868. The shogun lived in the magnificent Edo castle. Some parts of the original castle remain and today’s Tokyo Imperial Palace, the residence of the Emperor of Japan, was built on its grounds.

39. Mai ___ : TAI
The Mai Tai cocktail is strongly associated with the Polynesian islands, but the drink was supposedly invented in 1944 in Trader Vic’s restaurant in Oakland, California. One recipe is 6 parts white rum, 3 parts orange curaçao, 3 parts Orgeat syrup, 1 part rock candy syrup, 2 parts fresh lime juice, all mixed with ice and then a float added of 6 parts dark rum.

41. Grand Cherokee, e.g. : JEEP
The Jeep is the original off-road vehicle. It was developed by the American Bantam Car Company in 1940 at the request of the US government who recognized the upcoming need for the armed forces as American involvement in WWII loomed. The Bantam Company was too small to cope with demand, so the government gave the designs to competing car companies. The design and brand eventually ended up with AMC in the seventies and eighties.

43. Arkansas footballers, informally : HOGS
The athletic teams of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville are known as the Razorbacks, and sometimes as the Diamond Hogs. The Razorback is a type of pig, a wild hog.

45. Mythical king of the Huns : ATLI
Atli is a character in the Volsunga Saga of 13th century Icelandic lore. It is believed that the Atli character is loosely based on Attila the Hun.

52. Give a hard time, in a way : HECKLE
The original use of the verb “to heckle” was to mean questioning severely, and for many years was associated with the public questioning of parliamentary candidates in Scotland. In more recent times, the meaning has evolved into questioning that is less polite and that is directed at standup comics.

53. Yellowstone bugler : ELK
Male elks are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elks are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elks are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.

Yellowstone National Park was the first National Park to be established in the world, when it was designated as such by President Grant in 1872. What a great tradition it started! The American National Parks truly are a treasure.

54. Globe’s place : BOSTON
“The Boston Globe” is a daily newspaper that was founded in 1972 as a morning daily. “The Boston Evening Globe” followed a few years later, although it ceased publication in 1979. Today you can read the online version of “The Globe” at Boston.com.

59. New ___ : AGER
New Age music is created to provide a relaxing and stress-free atmosphere. The New Age movement is often said to have begun with the release of an album called “Spectrum Suite” by Steven Halpern in 1975.

61. Smidgen : IOTA
Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

Iota is the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet. We use the word “iota” to portray something very small as it is the smallest of all Greek letters.

65. Maui music-maker : UKE
The ukulele (“uke”) originated in the 1800s and mimicked a small guitar brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese immigrants.

Maui is the second largest of the Hawaiian islands. Maui is sometimes called the “Valley Isle” as it is composed of two volcanoes to the northwest and southeast of the island, each with numerous beautiful valleys carved into them.

67. Vietnamese New Year : TET
The full name for the New Year holiday in Vietnam is “Tet Nguyen Dan” meaning “Feast of the First Morning”, with the reference being to the arrival of the season of spring. Tet usually falls on the same day as Chinese New Year.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Bound : JUMP
5. Cuddly sci-fi creature : EWOK
9. Actors Sharif and Epps : OMARS
14. ___ cry : A FAR
15. Kind of curriculum : CORE
16. Tackles : HAS AT
17. Nirvana seeker : YOGI
18. Brain part : LOBE
19. Pickling liquid : BRINE
20. Post-christening event : MAIDEN VOYAGE
23. Pitch tents, say : ENCAMP
26. Feedbag morsel : OAT
27. Hair goop : GEL
28. What scientists use to predict the rates of chemical reactions : COLLISION THEORY
32. “Winnie-the-Pooh” young ‘un : ROO
33. Golf’s Ernie : ELS
34. TV : SET
35. Felix of “The Odd Couple” : UNGER
38. “Krazy ___” : KAT
40. Hindu honcho : RAJAH
44. Contra-contraband org. : DEA
46. Bloviation : GAS
48. Author Umberto : ECO
49. Small part that’s visible : TIP OF THE ICEBERG
55. Lead-in to meter : ODO
56. ___-de-France : ILE
57. Eschews nuptial formalities, say : ELOPES
58. Headline of April 16, 1912 : TITANIC SINKS
62. Saw : ADAGE
63. Clump of hair : KNOT
64. Clump of hair : TUFT
68. Soda bottle measure : LITER
69. When repeated, kind of show : LATE
70. Dust Bowl migrant : OKIE
71. Floor : STORY
72. “Goodness gracious!” : EGAD!
73. Cry at a deli : NEXT!

Down
1. Noisy bird : JAY
2. One side in a close encounter : UFO
3. ___ wheels : MAG
4. Kind of instinct : PRIMAL
5. Sun block? : ECLIPSE
6. Lumber : WOOD
7. “Eat ___ eaten” : OR BE
8. Liking a lot : KEEN ON
9. Winnie-the-Pooh catchphrase : OH BOTHER
10. Crèche figure : MARY
11. Italian cheese : ASIAGO
12. Texas lawman : RANGER
13. Unyielding : STEELY
21. Godard, to Truffaut, e.g. : AMI
22. Vintners’ vessels : VATS
23. Relative of beige : ECRU
24. Eleven plus one : NOON
25. Plumbing problem : CLOG
29. Sort : ILK
30. Oklahoma Indian : OSAGE
31. Amtrak listing, for short : ETA
36. Tokyo’s former name : EDO
37. Facility often found near a port : REFINERY
39. Mai ___ : TAI
41. Grand Cherokee, e.g. : JEEP
42. Parcel of land : ACRE
43. Arkansas footballers, informally : HOGS
45. Mythical king of the Huns : ATLI
47. Fragrant : SCENTED
49. Wrecks : TOTALS
50. Cry of success : I DID IT!
51. Stew ingredient : POTATO
52. Give a hard time, in a way : HECKLE
53. Yellowstone bugler : ELK
54. Globe’s place : BOSTON
59. New ___ : AGER
60. Catch : SNAG
61. Smidgen : IOTA
65. Maui music-maker : UKE
66. Pickle : FIX
67. Vietnamese New Year : TET

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