0530-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 30 May 14, Friday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Any of the three authors of “Pull My Daisy” : BEAT POET
The group of American writers known as the Beat Generation first came to prominence at a poetry reading at the Six Gallery in San Francisco in October of 1955. Five young poets presented their work that day:

– Allen Ginsberg
– Philip Lamantia
– Michael McClure
– Gary Snider
– Philip Whalen

“Pull My Daisy” is a poem that was co-authored in the late forties by Beat Poets Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and Neal Cassidy. The poets used an unusual technique to write the piece. One person wrote the first line, and another wrote the second, another the third etc. When writing a specific line, the responsible poet was only shown the preceding line.

9. They produce minimal distortion : HI-FIS
Hi-fi systems were introduced in the late forties, and is audio equipment designed to give a much higher quality reproduction of sound than cheaper systems available up to that point. “Hi-fi” of course stands for “high fidelity”.

16. Monomer of proteins, informally : AMINO
Amino acids are essential to life in many ways, not least of which is their use as the building blocks of proteins.

17. Elicit a “T.M.I.” : OVERSHARE
Too much information! (TMI)

18. Like about 30% of 51-Across, belief-wise : HINDU
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam.

20. 1,000-pound weight units : KIPS
The unit of force called a “kip” is equal to 1,000 pounds-force. The name “kip” is a melding of “kilo” and “pound”, and so is sometimes referred to as a “kilopound”.

22. Rugby-to-Reading dir. : SSE
Rugby is a town in County Warwickshire, England. It is a market town, and is also home to the famous Rugby School, one of the oldest private schools in the country. The school gave its name to the sport of rugby, as the laws of the game were first published by three boys at Rugby School in 1845.

Reading is the county town of Berkshire in England. It is a major railroad junction, and the site of a renowned monastery and a prison. Reading Prison was where American actor Stacy Keach spent 6 months in 1984, convicted of smuggling cocaine into the UK.

23. Novel title character called “My sin, my soul” : LOLITA
Vladimir Nabokov’s novel “Lolita” has a famously controversial storyline, dealing with a middle-aged man’s obsession and sexual relationship with a 12-year-old girl. Although “Lolita” is considered a classic today, after Nabokov finished it in 1953 the edgy subject matter made it impossible for him to find a publisher in the US (where Nabokov lived). In 1955, he resorted to publishing it in English at a printing house in Paris. Publication was followed by bans and seizures all over Europe. A US printing house finally took on the project in 1958, by which time the title had such a reputation that it sold exceptionally quickly. “Lolita” became the first book since “Gone with the Wind” to sell over 100,000 copies in its first three weeks in stores.

28. Light on TV or Broadway : JUDITH
The actress Judith Light is perhaps best known for playing the female lead in the sitcom “Who’s the Boss” opposite Tony Danza.

31. Star of Bombay, e.g. : SAPPHIRE
The Star of Bombay is a huge sapphire that was mined in Sri Lanka, with a weight of 182 carats. The gemstone was given as a gift to actress Mary Pickford by her husband Douglas Fairbanks. Pickford left the Star of Bombay in her will to the Smithsonian Institute, where it can be seen today. The British gin called Bombay Sapphire is named for the stone.

33. Cousin of cumin and coriander : ANISE
Liquorice (also licorice) and aniseed have similar flavors, but they come from unrelated plants. The liquorice plant is a legume like a bean, and the sweet flavor is an extract from the roots. The flavor mainly comes from an ether compound called anethole, the same substance that gives the distinctive flavor to anise. The seedpods of the anise plant are what we know as “aniseed”. The anise seeds themselves are usually ground to release the flavor.

Cumin is a flowering plant native to the region stretching from the eastern Mediterranean to East India. Cumin spice is made from the dried seeds and is the second most common spice used in the world (only black pepper is more popular). Cumin is particularly associated with Indian cuisine and is a key ingredient in curry powder. Lovely stuff …

What we know here in North America as cilantro is called coriander in the UK and other parts of the world. “Cilantro” is the Spanish name for the herb.

40. Award with a Best Upset category : ESPY
The ESPY Awards are a creation of the ESPN sports television network. One difference with similarly named awards in the entertainment industry is that ESPY winners are chosen solely based on viewer votes.

41. Its flag includes an image of a nutmeg clove : GRENADA
Grenada is an island nation in the British Commonwealth (or Commonwealth Realm, as it now called). When President Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983 after a pro-communist coup, the UK’s Queen Elizabeth II and her government were not amused …

44. À gogo : GALORE
The term “à gogo” is French in origin, in which language it means “in abundance”.

45. Prefix with pressure or point : ACU-
Acupressure and acupuncture are related alternative medical techniques. Both aim to clear blockages in the flow of life energy through the body’s meridians. The treatment is given by stimulating “acupoints’ in the body, by applying pressure in the case of acupressure, and by applying needles in the case of acupuncture.

48. “Our Gang” girl : DARLA
Alfalfa’s love interest in “Our Gang” was Darla, whose real name was Darla Hood. Hood became quite a successful singer after she grew out of her “Our Gang” role.

51. Its flag includes an image of a cocoa pod : FIJI
The island nation of Fiji is an archipelago in the South Pacific made up of over 330 islands, 110 of which are inhabited. Fiji was occupied by the British for over a century and finally gained its independence in 1970.

52. Old Brown Dog and others : ALES
Old Brown Dog Ale is a beer made by the Smuttynose Brewing Company in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

53. Old pitcher of milk? : ELSIE
Elsie the Cow is the mascot of the Borden Company. Elsie first appeared at the New York World’s Fair in 1939, introduced to symbolize the perfect dairy product. Elsie was also given a husband named Elmer the Bull. Elmer eventually moved over to the chemical division of Borden where he gave his name to Elmer’s Glue.

56. Budget alternative : ALAMO
The third largest car rental company right now is Alamo, a relative newcomer founded in 1974. Alamo made inroads (pun intended!) into the market by popularizing the idea of “unlimited mileage”.

58. DuPont development of 1935 : NYLON
The polymer known as “nylon” was developed by Dupont in the 1930s. The first application was as bristles in toothbrushes, in 1938. The second application became more famous, for women’s stockings starting in 1940, stockings that came to be known as “nylons”. The polymer was developed as a replacement for silk, which was to become in short supply during WWII.

59. Subject that includes women’s suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment : HERSTORY
“Herstory” is history that emphasizes the role of woman. It is “her-story” as opposed to “his-tory”.

The Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was written by the American suffragist leader, Alice Paul. Although Paul was successful in her campaign to get passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution (guaranteeing voting rights regardless of sex), her 1923 Equal Rights Amendment didn’t make it to the Senate floor until 1972. The amendment was passed by the Senate, and then headed to the state legislatures for the required ratification. 38 states had to approve the legislation for the amendment to be adopted, but only 35 states voted in favor before the deadline. So the amendment is still pending, although about half of the fifty states have adopted the ERA into their state constitutions.

Down
3. Best New Artist Grammy winner of 2008 : ADELE
Thanks to a kind comment from a blog reader (below), I can point out that Adele actually won her Best New Artist Grammy in 2009, and not 2008 as stated in the clue.

Adele is the stage name of English singer Adele Adkins. Adele’s debut album is “19”, named after the age she was during the album’s production. Her second album was even more successful than the first. Called “21”, the second album was released three years after the first, when Adele was three years older.

5. Ovid’s foot : PES
The Latin word for “foot” is “pes”, the genitive singular of which is “pedis”. “Pedis” evolved into the suffix -pede, as in centipede and millipede.

The Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso is today known simply as Ovid. Ovid is usually listed alongside the two other great Roman poets, Horace and Virgil.

6. Midwest city named for a Menominee chief : OSHKOSH
Oshkosh is a city in east-central Wisconsin that was named for Chief Oshkosh of the Menominee Native American people. The word “oshkosh” means “the claw” in the Ojibwe language.

7. Potential virus sources : EMAILS
A computer virus has characteristics very similar to a virus found in nature. It is a small computer program that can copy itself and can infect another host (computer).

8. Bone preservation locations : TAR PITS
A tar pit is an unusual geological feature, leakage of bitumen from below ground to the earth’s surface creating a pool of natural asphalt. One of the most famous of these occurrences is the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.

The La Brea Tar Pits are located right in the heart of the city of Los Angeles. At the site there is a constant flow of tar that seeps up to the surface from underground, a phenomenon that has been around for tens of thousands of years. What is significant is that much of the seeping tar is covered by water. Over many, many centuries animals came to the water to drink and became trapped in the tar as they entered the water to quench their thirsts. The tar then preserved the bones of the dead animals. Today a museum is located right by the Tar Pits, recovering bones and displaying specimens of the animals found there. It’s well worth a visit if you are in town …

12. “Imagine” Grammy winner of 2010 : INDIA.ARIE
India.Arie is an American soul and R&B singer, born India Arie Simpson.

13. County seat on the St. Joseph River : SOUTH BEND
The city of South Bend, Indiana is located on the St. Joseph River. The actual location is on the most southerly bend of the river, hence the name “South Bend”.

15. Beverage brand portmanteau : NESTEA
Nestea is a brand of iced tea made by Nestlé. “Nestea” is a portmanteau of “Nestlé” and “tea”.

24. Twitter, Facebook or Instagram : APP
Twitter is a microblogging service that limits any post sent to just 140 characters. In a sense, it is similar to this blog. Here I send out a post once a day containing information that I think might be useful to folks (thank you for reading!). But, I don’t think I could send out much of interest using just 140 characters.

This blog has a Facebook page. Facebook users can click on the “Like” button at the top-right of this blog page to start receiving daily convenient Facebook links to that day’s (and the previous day’s) crossword solutions, including the syndicated puzzle. Those links turn up just seconds after I publish each new post here. Enjoy!

Instagram is a photo-sharing application, one that is extremely popular I hear. Instagram was started in San Francisco in 2010. Facebook purchased Instagram two years later, paying $1 billion. The billion-dollar Instagram had just 13 employees at the time …

27. Major cocoa exporter : GHANA
The name “Ghana” means “warrior king” in the local language. The British established a colony they called Gold Coast in 1874, later to become Ghana, as part of the scramble by Europeans to settle as much of Africa as they could. One of Ghana’s most famous sons is Kofi Annan, the diplomat that served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007.

28. Oscar nominee for playing Cal Trask : JAMES DEAN
James Dean played the character Cal Trask in the 1955 movie “East of Eden”.

In his short life, James Dean starred in three great movies: “East of Eden”, “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant”, for which he received two posthumous Best Actor Oscar nominations (the only person to do so). On a fateful day in September 1955, Dean set off in Porsche for a race in Salinas, California. While driving to the race he was given a speeding ticket. Two hours later Dean was involved in a near head-on collision and was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital in Paso Robles, California.

32. What “ruined the angels,” per Ralph Waldo Emerson : PRIDE
Here is a verse from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1847 poem “The Sphinx” …

Pride ruined the angels,
Their shame them restores;
Lurks the joy that is sweetest
In stings of remorse.
Have I a lover
Who is noble and free?–
I would he were nobler
Than to love me.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an essayist and poet who was active in the mid-1800s. Most of the essays that Emerson wrote were composed originally as lectures and then revised for print.

37. One of Time magazine’s cover “Peacemakers” : ARAFAT
Yasser (also Yasir) Arafat was born in Cairo in 1929, the son of two Palestinians and the second-youngest of seven children. Arafat was beaten by his father as a child and so did not have a good relationship with him. Arafat did not attend his father’s funeral, nor did he visit his grave. The beatings were apparently administered because the young Arafat was repeatedly attending religious services in the Jewish quarter of Cairo. Arafat’s explanation was that he wanted to “study the mentality” of the Jewish people.

38. Wily temptress : DELILAH
Delilah is a Biblical figure, the wife of Samson. Delilah was engaged by the Philistines to betray her husband by determining the secret of his great strength. Samson lied to his wife three times, but on the fourth asking he told his wife the truth, that he did not cut his hair. Delilah then convinced Samson to shear his locks and so allowed him to be captured by his enemies. Over the centuries, it has been usual to depict Delilah actually cutting off her husband’s hair, but the Bible actually says that she persuaded Samson to do the job himself.

39. Jason, for one : MARINER
Jason is a hero from Greek mythology, most noted for leading the quest for the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece is the fleece of the gold-haired winged ram. For his quest, Jason assembles a group of heroes who were given the name Argonauts, as they journeyed on the ship called the “Argo”. The vessel was called the “Argo” in honor of the ship’s builder, a man named Argus.

45. Co-worker of Kennedy starting in 2006 : ALITO
Associate Justice Samuel Alito was nominated to the US Supreme Court by President George W. Bush. Alito is the second Italian-American to serve on the Supreme Court (Antonin Scalia was the first). Alito studied law at Yale and while in his final year he left the country for the first time in his life, heading to Italy to work on his thesis about the Italian legal system.

Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy of the US Supreme Court was appointed by President Reagan in 1988. Although Justice Kennedy’s decisions are viewed as largely conservative, after Sandra Day O’Connor has retired he has been considered by many as the “swing vote” on the court.

49. Wheels of fortune? : LIMO
The word “limousine” actually derives from the French city of Limoges. The area around Limoges is called the Limousin, and it gave its name to a cloak hood worn by local shepherds. In early motor cars, a driver would sit outside in the weather while the passengers would sit in the covered compartment. The driver would often wear a limousin-style protective hood, giving rise to that type of transportation being called a “limousine”. Well, that’s how the story goes anyway …

50. Unit in a geology book : AEON
Geological time is divided into a number of units of varying lengths. These are, starting from the largest:

– supereon
– eon (also “aeon”)
– era
– period
– epoch
– age

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Any of the three authors of “Pull My Daisy” : BEAT POET
9. They produce minimal distortion : HI-FIS
14. He may have many lines memorized : LADIES’ MAN
16. Monomer of proteins, informally : AMINO
17. Elicit a “T.M.I.” : OVERSHARE
18. Like about 30% of 51-Across, belief-wise : HINDU
19. Head of communications? : TELE-
20. 1,000-pound weight units : KIPS
21. Suffered a face-plant : ATE IT
22. Rugby-to-Reading dir. : SSE
23. Novel title character called “My sin, my soul” : LOLITA
25. Cry of contempt : PAH!
26. Trip : MISSTEP
27. Appeal to : GRAB
28. Light on TV or Broadway : JUDITH
31. Star of Bombay, e.g. : SAPPHIRE
33. Cousin of cumin and coriander : ANISE
34. Arrested : RAN IN
35. Riveting piece, perhaps : MUST-READ
39. Nickeled-and-dimed? : MINTED
40. Award with a Best Upset category : ESPY
41. Its flag includes an image of a nutmeg clove : GRENADA
43. Appeal formally : SUE
44. À gogo : GALORE
45. Prefix with pressure or point : ACU-
48. “Our Gang” girl : DARLA
51. Its flag includes an image of a cocoa pod : FIJI
52. Old Brown Dog and others : ALES
53. Old pitcher of milk? : ELSIE
54. Next to : ALONGSIDE
56. Budget alternative : ALAMO
57. Try : TAKE A STAB
58. DuPont development of 1935 : NYLON
59. Subject that includes women’s suffrage and the Equal Rights Amendment : HERSTORY

Down
1. Stains : BLOTS
2. Homebuilders’ projections : EAVES
3. Best New Artist Grammy winner of 2008 : ADELE
4. One needing pressure to perform well : TIRE
5. Ovid’s foot : PES
6. Midwest city named for a Menominee chief : OSHKOSH
7. Potential virus sources : EMAILS
8. Bone preservation locations : TAR PITS
9. Reaction to a card : HAHA
10. Tag statement : I’M IT
11. Often-overlooked details : FINE PRINT
12. “Imagine” Grammy winner of 2010 : INDIA.ARIE
13. County seat on the St. Joseph River : SOUTH BEND
15. Beverage brand portmanteau : NESTEA
23. Engine measure : LITER
24. Twitter, Facebook or Instagram : APP
26. Like areas around waterfalls : MISTY
27. Major cocoa exporter : GHANA
28. Oscar nominee for playing Cal Trask : JAMES DEAN
29. Very, very : UNUSUALLY
30. Opposite of aggregation : DISPERSAL
32. What “ruined the angels,” per Ralph Waldo Emerson : PRIDE
36. Prod : EGG
37. One of Time magazine’s cover “Peacemakers” : ARAFAT
38. Wily temptress : DELILAH
39. Jason, for one : MARINER
42. “For real” : NO JOKE
45. Co-worker of Kennedy starting in 2006 : ALITO
46. Cigar box material : CEDAR
47. Words before a date : USE BY
49. Wheels of fortune? : LIMO
50. Unit in a geology book : AEON
52. ___ supt. : ASST
55. Juice : GAS

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