0513-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 13 May 14, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Tracy Gray
THEME: Weather Forecast … each of today’s themed answer can be read as a WEATHER FORECAST:

17A. 1987 Buster Poindexter hit : HOT HOT HOT
23A. 1980 Bob Seger hit : AGAINST THE WIND
48A. 1971 Bill Withers hit : AIN’T NO SUNSHINE
60A. 1977 Foreigner hit : COLD AS ICE

37A. Local news feature suggested by the answers to 17-, 23-, 48- and 60-Across : WEATHER FORECAST

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 10m 28s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … ERUCT (erupt), AFC (AFP)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Big shindig : BASH
“Shindig” is such a lovely word, I think, describing a party that usually includes some dancing. Although its origin isn’t really clear, the term perhaps comes from “shinty”, a Scottish game similar to field hockey.

5. Plaid-clad miss : LASS
Tartan is sometimes called “plaid” over here in the US, a word not used in the same sense outside of this country. In Scotland a “plaid” is a blanket or a tartan cloth slung over the shoulder.

9. Southpaw : LEFTY
A “southpaw” is a left-handed person. The term arose as baseball slang in the mid-1880s, to describe a left-handed pitcher. Back then baseball diamonds were often laid out with home plate to the west, so a pitchers left hand would be on his “south” side as he faced the batter.

14. Arab chieftain: Var. : AMIR
An emir is a prince or chieftain, most notably in the Middle East. In English, “emir” can also be written as “amir” and “ameer” (watch out for those spellings in crosswords!).

15. BP sale of 2013 : ARCO
ARCO stands for the Atlantic Richfield Company. One of ARCO’s claims to fame is that it is responsible for the nation’s largest Superfund site. Mining and smelting in the area around Butte, Montana polluted the region’s water and soil, and ARCO have agreed to pay $187 million to help clean up the area.

16. Required reading for a classics major : ILIAD
The Iliad is an epic poem by the Greek poet Homer, which tells the story of the siege of Ilium (also known as Troy) during the Trojan war.

17. 1987 Buster Poindexter hit : HOT HOT HOT
“Hot Hot Hot” is a song written and first recorded in 1982 by Arrow, a singer-songwriter from the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. “Hot Hot Hot” became a dance floor hit for Arrow, and then really took off when it was covered in 1987 by Buster Poindexter. Ole ole …

Buster Poindexter is a pseudonym used by singer David Johansen from the band called the New York Dolls. As Poindexter, Johansen had a lot of commercial success in the late eighties and nineties.

20. Tattoos, informally : INK
The word “tattoo” (often shortened to “tat”, or informally as “ink”) was first used in English in the writings of the famous English explorer Captain Cook. In his descriptions of the indelible marks adorning the skin of Polynesian natives, Cook anglicized the Tahitian word “tatau” into our “tattoo”.

22. Wall St. watchdog : SEC
The US Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) enforces federal securities laws and regulates the securities industry. The SEC was created by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The first Chairman of the SEC was Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., the father of future President Kennedy.

23. 1980 Bob Seger hit : AGAINST THE WIND
“Against the Wind” was a hit in 1980 for Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band. The song served as the title track for Seger’s 11th album, released the same year.

Bob Seger struggled as a performing artist right through the sixties and early seventies before becoming a commercial success in 1976 with the release of his album “Night Moves”. Since then, Seger has recorded songs that have become classics like, “We’ve Got Tonight” and “Old Time Rock & Roll”.

31. Times before eves : AFTS
Afternoon (aft.) comes before evening (eve.).

36. Italian monk’s title : FRA
The title “Fra” (brother) is used by Italian monks.

41. Animal that bugles : ELK
Male elk are called bulls, and females are known as cows. Bull elk are known for their very loud screaming, which is called bugling. Cow elk are attracted to bulls that bugle more often and most loudly.

42. Burp : ERUCT
“Eructation” is the process of belching.

46. Defense grp. founded in Bogotá : OAS
The Organization of American States (OAS) has its headquarters in Washington, D.C. All the independent states in the Americas are members of the group except Honduras, which had its membership suspended after the country’s 2009 coup.

Bogotá is the capital city of Colombia. Noted for having many libraries and universities, Bogotá is sometimes called “The Athens of South America”.

48. 1971 Bill Withers hit : AIN’T NO SUNSHINE
Bill Withers was working as an assembly operator while he was trying to make a name for himself in the music industry. Even as Withers found success with his glorious 1971 single “Ain’t No Sunshine”, he held onto his day job, worried that the music industry was unpredictable.

55. Patella’s place : KNEE
The patella is the kneecap.

56. Fist bump : DAP
The dap is a form of handshake, nowadays often a complicated and showy routine of fist-bumps, slaps and shakes. Some say that “dap” is an acronym standing for “Dignity And Pride”.

57. Bit of mistletoe : SPRIG
Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that grows on trees or shrubs, absorbing water and other nutrients from the host. Mistletoe is commonly used as a Christmas decoration in Europe and North America. There is a custom that a man and woman meeting under the mistletoe must kiss. The tradition back in the 1800s was that a young man could extract a kiss from a young lady under the mistletoe, and then must pluck a cherry from the plant. Once all the cherries were plucked, there were no more kissing privileges.

60. 1977 Foreigner hit : COLD AS ICE
“Cold as Ice” is a 1977 song that appeared on the debut album of rock band Foreigner in 1977.

I always think that the rock band Foreigner has a very apt name. The band was formed in 1976 by two British guys along with an American who were all living in New York City. Foreigner’s biggest hit is “I Want to Know What Love Is”.

62. Steinway or Baldwin : PIANO
Steinway & Sons is supplier of handmade pianos based in New York City and in Hamburg, Germany. The company was founded in Manhattan in 1853 by German immigrant Henry E. Steinway. One element of Steinway’s business model is to offer a “piano bank” service. Performing artists can “borrow” a particular piano from the bank for a particular concert or tour. About 400 pianos are in the bank, and are located over the world. The value of the bank’s collection of pianos is estimated at over $25 million.

The Baldwin Piano Company was founded in 1857 by Dwight Hamilton Baldwin from Cincinnati, Ohio. The Baldwin company became the largest manufacturer of keyboard instruments in the US. Sadly, Baldwin pianos haven’t been manufactured in this country since 2008, and the Baldwin brand is now owned by Gibson Guitars.

63. Not a facsimile: Abbr. : ORIG
A facsimile is a copy. The term comes from the Latin phrase “fac simile” meaning “make similar”, with “fac” being the imperative form of “facere”, to make.

65. Guitar players in rock bands, slangily : AXMEN
I guess a guitar looks like an ax(e) …

67. Sport-___ (vehicles) : UTES
A utility vehicle is often called a “ute” for short. Nowadays one mainly hears about sports utes and crossover utes.

Down
1. Brazilian state northeast of São Paulo : BAHIA
Bahia is the fifth largest of the 26 Brazilian states. The capital of Bahia is the city of Salvador.

São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil. São Paulo is also the city with the highest number of helicopters in the world. This is partly driven by the horrendous traffic jams in São Paulo, but also by the wealthy having a very real fear of being kidnapped on the city’s streets.

3. Alaskan panhandle city : SITKA
The city of Sitka is located on Baranof Island and part of Chichagof Island in the Alaska Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. Sitka used to be known as Redoubt Saint Michael and then New Archangel when it was ruled by the Russians. The current city name comes from a local term meaning “People on the Outside of Baranof Island”. Immediately after the purchase of Alaska by the US, Sitka served as the capital of the Alaska Territory until the seat of government was relocated north to Juneau.

4. Title for a princess: Abbr. : HRH
Her Royal Highness (HRH)

6. Enlightened Buddhist : ARHAT
“Arhat” is a Sanskrit word, the exact translation of which is somewhat disputed, with the various Buddhist traditions assuming different meanings. Translations vary from “worthy one” to “vanquisher of enemies”.

7. Writer Turow : SCOTT
Scott Turow is an author and lawyer from Chicago. Turow has had several bestselling novels including “Presumed Innocent”, “The Burden of Proof” and “Reversible Errors”, all three of which were made into films. He also wrote the autobiographical book “One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School”.

8. Bar habitué : SOT
Our word “sot” comes from the Old English “sott”, meaning a fool. The term “sot” started to be associated with alcohol and not just foolery in the late 1500s.

11. Little lie : FIB
To “fib” is to “to tell a lie”. The term likely comes from “fibble-fable” meaning “nonsense”, itself derived from “fable”.

12. ___ Bo : TAE
Tae Bo isn’t an ancient martial art, and rather was developed as a form of aerobic exercise in the 1990s. The discipline was introduced by taekwondo expert Billy Blanks who gave it the name Tae Bo, a melding of “taekwondo” and “boxing”.

18. Upscale hotel company : OMNI
Omni Hotels & Resorts is headquartered in Irvine, California and has properties in the US, Canada and Mexico.

22. Passover feast : SEDER
The Passover Seder is a ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish Passover holiday, celebrating the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. One of the traditions at the meal is that the youngest child at the table asks “The Four Questions”, all relating to why this night is different from all other nights in the year:

– Why is it that on all other nights during the year we eat either bread or matzoh, but on this night we eat only matzoh?
– Why is it that on all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs, but on this night we eat only bitter herbs?
– Why is it that on all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once, but on this night we dip them twice?
– Why is it that on all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining, but on this night we eat in a reclining position?

24. Part of M.I.T.: Abbr. : INST
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was founded in 1861 and first offered classes in 1865, in the Mercantile building in Boston. Today’s magnificent campus on the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge opened in 1916.

25. Spartan serf : HELOT
The helots were a population of poorly-treated slaves who served the citizens of Sparta.

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, famous for her military might. Spartan children had a tough upbringing, and newborn babies were bathed in wine to see if the child was strong enough to survive. Every child was presented to a council of elders that decided if the baby was suitable for rearing. Those children deemed too puny were executed by tossing them into a chasm. We’ve been using the term “spartan” to describe something self-disciplined or austere since the 1600s.

26. Jack Sprat’s dietary restriction : NO FAT
Jack Sprat was a nickname given in the 16th century to people of small stature. Jack featured in a proverb of the day:

Jack will eat not fat, and Jull doth love no leane. Yet betwixt them both they lick the dishes cleane.

Over time, this mutated into a nursery rhyme that is still recited in England:

Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, they licked the platter clean.

27. Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred : DURST
Fred Durst is the vocalist for the rock band Limp Bizkit. Durst chose the band’s name, and he was looking for something that turned people off. Sure enough, any record label interested in the band in its early days asked for a name change!

Limp Bizkit is described as a “nu metal” band, with nu metal being a subgenre of heavy metal. Limp Bizkit has been around since 1994, and that’s all I know …

30. “See ya!” : TATA!
An Englishman might say “tata” or “cheerio” instead of “goodbye”. Well, supposedly so!

33. George who played Sulu on “Star Trek” : TAKEI
Mr Sulu was of course played by George Takei in the original “Star Trek” series. Takei has played lots of roles over the years, and is still very active in television. Did you know that he appeared in the 1963 film, “Pt-109”? He played the helmsman steering the Japanese destroyer that ran down John F. Kennedy’s motor torpedo boat.

34. 2009 Sacha Baron Cohen comedy : BRUNO
“Brüno” is another mockumentary from British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, the man behind the 2006 hit movie “Borat”.

35. Patriots’ grp. : AFC
The New England Patriots football team was founded in 1959 as the Boston Patriots. The “Patriots” name was selected from suggestions made by football fans in Boston. The team played at several different stadiums in the Boston area for just over ten years, before moving to their current home base in Foxborough, Massachusetts. At the time of the move, the “Boston” name was dropped and changed to “New England”.

38. Shape of the British 50-pence piece : HEPTAGON
The British fifty pence coin is heptagonal in shape. Each of the seven sides of the coin are slightly curved rather than flat, and this helps the coin roll freely in a slot machine.

39. CNN’s Burnett and others : ERINS
Erin Burnett is a television journalist, the host of her own show on CNN called “Erin Burnett OutFront”. Apparently Burnett also shows up occasionally as advisor to Donald Trump on “The Celebrity Apprentice”.

40. A.T.M. supply : CASH
Automatic teller machine (ATM)

45. V-8, e.g. : ENGINE
The engine known as a V8 is configured with two rows of four cylinders mounted on a crankcase. The rows of cylinders are offset from each other around the crankshaft at right angles, or perhaps a little less. This arrangement of eight cylinders in a V-shape gives rise to the name “V8”.

49. Cousin of culottes : SKORT
Skorts are a hybrid between shorts and a skirt.

In women’s fashion, the word “culottes” is used for a garment that hangs like a skirt but is actually pants. The term was imported from French, in which language culottes were originally split skirts used for horse riding.

52. Mother-of-pearl : NACRE
Mother-of-pearl is another name for nacre. Nacre is the strong iridescent material laid down by some mollusks on the inside of their shells, and it’s also what makes up pearls. The creature lays down nacre as a defensive mechanism, protecting the soft tissue of its body from the rough surface of the outer shell. Similarly, it uses nacre to encapsulate harmful debris or a parasite that penetrates the shell, and that’s how a pearl is formed.

53. Modern pentathlon equipment : EPEES
The original pentathlon of the ancient Olympic games consisted of a foot race, wrestling, long jump, javelin and discus. When a new pentathlon was created as a sport for the modern Olympic Games, it was given the name the “modern pentathlon”. First introduced in 1912, the modern pentathlon consists of:

– pistol shooting
– épée fencing
– 200m freestyle swimming
– show jumping
– 3 km cross-country running

57. Place for sweaters? : SPA
The word “spa” migrated into English from Belgium, as Spa is the name of a municipality in the east of the country that is famous for its healing hot springs. The name “Spa” comes from the Walloon word “espa” meaning “spring, fountain”.

59. Aries animal : RAM
Aries the Ram is the first astrological sign in the Zodiac, and is named after the constellation. Your birth sign is Aries if you were born between March 21 and April 20, but if you are an Aries you would know that! “Aries” is the Latin word for “ram”.

60. Cedar Rapids college : COE
Coe College is a private school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa that was founded in 1851. Coe is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church.

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in the state of Iowa. The city is named for rapids on the Cedar River on which it is located. The river itself was named for the red cedars that grew along the river’s banks.

61. Early Beatle Sutcliffe : STU
Stu Sutcliffe was one of the original four members of The Silver Beatles (as The Beatles were known in their early days), along with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. Sutcliffe apparently came up with name “Beatles” along with John Lennon, as a homage to their hero Buddy Holly who was backed by the “Crickets”. By all reports, Sutcliffe wasn’t a very talented musician and was more interested in painting. He went with the group to Hamburg, more than once, but he eventually left the Beatles and went back to art school, actually studying for a while at the Hamburg College of Art. In 1962 in Hamburg, Sutcliffe collapsed with blinding headaches. He died in the ambulance on the way to hospital, his death attributed to cerebral paralysis.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Big shindig : BASH
5. Plaid-clad miss : LASS
9. Southpaw : LEFTY
14. Arab chieftain: Var. : AMIR
15. BP sale of 2013 : ARCO
16. Required reading for a classics major : ILIAD
17. 1987 Buster Poindexter hit : HOT HOT HOT
19. You might pick up good ones from people : VIBES
20. Tattoos, informally : INK
21. Vegetarian’s no-no : MEAT
22. Wall St. watchdog : SEC
23. 1980 Bob Seger hit : AGAINST THE WIND
28. It may be picked by the picky : NIT
29. Delete, as from an article or video : EDIT OUT
31. Times before eves : AFTS
34. Agricultural apparatus : BALER
36. Italian monk’s title : FRA
37. Local news feature suggested by the answers to 17-, 23-, 48- and 60-Across : WEATHER FORECAST
41. Animal that bugles : ELK
42. Burp : ERUCT
43. Lead-in to boy or girl : ATTA
44. Go way past one’s usual wake-up time : SLEEP IN
46. Defense grp. founded in Bogotá : OAS
48. 1971 Bill Withers hit : AIN’T NO SUNSHINE
54. 15-Across product : GAS
55. Patella’s place : KNEE
56. Fist bump : DAP
57. Bit of mistletoe : SPRIG
60. 1977 Foreigner hit : COLD AS ICE
62. Steinway or Baldwin : PIANO
63. Not a facsimile: Abbr. : ORIG
64. Went like hell : TORE
65. Guitar players in rock bands, slangily : AXMEN
66. Novel conclusion? : -ETTE
67. Sport-___ (vehicles) : UTES

Down
1. Brazilian state northeast of São Paulo : BAHIA
2. Honor ___ thieves : AMONG
3. Alaskan panhandle city : SITKA
4. Title for a princess: Abbr. : HRH
5. Newest news : LATEST
6. Enlightened Buddhist : ARHAT
7. Writer Turow : SCOTT
8. Bar habitué : SOT
9. Firecracker : LIVE WIRE
10. Draw out : ELICIT
11. Little lie : FIB
12. ___ Bo : TAE
13. QB’s stat. : YDS
18. Upscale hotel company : OMNI
22. Passover feast : SEDER
24. Part of M.I.T.: Abbr. : INST
25. Spartan serf : HELOT
26. Jack Sprat’s dietary restriction : NO FAT
27. Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred : DURST
30. “See ya!” : TATA!
31. Bowls over : AWES
32. Gal’s guy : FELLA
33. George who played Sulu on “Star Trek” : TAKEI
34. 2009 Sacha Baron Cohen comedy : BRUNO
35. Patriots’ grp. : AFC
38. Shape of the British 50-pence piece : HEPTAGON
39. CNN’s Burnett and others : ERINS
40. A.T.M. supply : CASH
45. V-8, e.g. : ENGINE
46. Keyed up : ON EDGE
47. Cruising : ASEA
49. Cousin of culottes : SKORT
50. Dark : UNLIT
51. Numbskull : IDIOT
52. Mother-of-pearl : NACRE
53. Modern pentathlon equipment : EPEES
57. Place for sweaters? : SPA
58. Fotos : PIX
59. Aries animal : RAM
60. Cedar Rapids college : COE
61. Early Beatle Sutcliffe : STU

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