0603-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 3 Jun 14, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Big A.T.M. maker : NCR
NCR is an American company that has been in business since 1884, originally called the National Cash Register Company. The company has done well in a market where new technologies seem to be constantly disrupting the status quo.

4. Part of TWA : TRANS
Trans World Airlines (TWA) was a big carrier in the US, but was perhaps even more recognized for its extensive presence in Europe and the Middle East. For many years, especially after the collapse of Pan-Am, TWA was considered the unofficial flag carrier for the US. The company started in 1930, the product of a forced merger of Transcontinental Air Transport and Western Air Express. The Transcontinental and Western Air that resulted (the original meaning of the acronym TWA) was what the Postmaster General wanted, a bigger airline to which the Postal Service could award airmail contracts.

15. One of Santa’s reindeer : VIXEN
We get the names for Santa’s reindeer from the famous 1823 poem called “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, although we’ve modified a couple of the names over the years. The full list is:

– Dasher
– Dancer
– Prancer
– Vixen
– Comet
– Cupid
– Donder (originally “Dunder”, and now often “Donner”)
– Blitzen (originally “Blixem”)

Rudolph was added to the list by retailer Montgomery Ward, would you believe? The store commissioned Robert L. May to create a booklet that could be handed out to children around Christmas in 1939, and May introduced us to a new friend for Santa, namely Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

16. Serengeti scavenger : HYENA
The spotted hyena of Sub-Saharan Africa is also known as the laughing hyena because of the sound it oftens makes, which resembles maniacal laughter.

The Serengeti is a region in Africa, located in northern Tanzania and southwest Kenya. The name “Serengeti” comes from the Maasai language and means “Endless Plains”.

17. Brand with the tagline “Established in Milwaukee 1844” : PABST BLUE RIBBON
Pabst Blue Ribbon is the most recognizable brand of beer from the Pabst Brewing Company. There appears to be some dispute over whether or not Pabst beer ever won a “blue ribbon” prize, but the company claims that it did so at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The beer was originally called Pabst Best Select, and then just Pabst Select. With the renaming to Blue Ribbon, the beer was sold with an actual blue ribbon tied around the neck of the bottle until it was dropped in 1916 and incorporated into the label.

21. Roi’s wife : REINE
“La reine” (the queen) is the wife of “le roi” (the king), in French.

25. They precede sigmas : RHOS
Rho is the Greek letter that looks just like our Roman letter “p”.

30. Garden of Eden creature : SERPENT
In the Christian tradition, the “fall of man” took place in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, against the bidding of God. As a result, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden to prevent them becoming immortal by eating from the tree of life. The first humans had transitioned from a state of innocent obedience to a state of guilty disobedience.

32. Prez on a penny : ABE
The US one-cent coin has borne the profile of President Abraham Lincoln since 1909, the centennial of Lincoln’s birth. Fifty years later, a representation of the Lincoln Memorial was added to the reverse side.

42. Best friend of Thomas the Tank Engine : PERCY
My kids really loved Thomas the Tank Engine when they were young. The Thomas the Tank Engine” television show is based on the series of books by the Reverend W. V. Awdry and his son. The TV series was remarkable in that it attracted some celebrity narrators, the first being Ringo Starr. I think American audiences might have been more familiar with George Carlin, and then Alec Baldwin. Pierce Brosnan also had a go, narrating a TV special. I remember being on a flight one time with Ringo Starr (we didn’t sit together!). When I told our kids’ babysitter a few days later about my celebrity encounter, she was marginally impressed although I had to explain that he was the drummer for the Beatles. When I added that Ringo was also the narrator for the “Thomas the Tank Engine” show, she nearly fainted with excitement. A generation gap exists …

43. Election day: Abbr. : TUE
Election Day was chosen by Congress back in 1845. The month of November was selected as it suited an agricultural society, following the fall harvest and yet not too far into winter, which could make travel difficult. Tuesday was chosen so that people had time to travel to polling stations. Monday elections might have meant that some would have to start out on Sunday, and that could interfere with Christian services.

44. Mary ___ cosmetics : KAY
Mary Kay Ash founded her skincare and cosmetics company, somewhat ominously on Friday 13th, 1963. In 1968, Mary Kay Ash bought herself a pink Cadillac, specially painted to match the color of one of her compacts. The car became so famous that she gave away five of them to her top saleswoman, a tradition that endures to this day.

45. Local’s counterpart : EXPRESS
A train might be a local, or an express.

48. Triangular sail : JIB
A jib is a triangular sail that is set at the bow of a sailboat.

51. Deli counter cheese brand : ALPINE LACE
Alpine Lace is a brand of cheese. Alpine Lace comes in American, Swiss, Provolone, Muenster and cheddar.

57. Hero of New Orleans : PO’ BOY
A po’ boy is a submarine sandwich from Louisiana. There are a lot of theories about where the name came from, and none sound too convincing to me. A po’ boy differs from a regular submarine sandwich in that it uses Louisiana French bread, which is soft in the middle and crusty on the outside.

59. Aquafina competitor : EVIAN
Évian-les-Bains (or simply Évian) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As you might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. I can’t stand the taste of Évian water …

Aquafina is Pepsico brand of bottled water. Aquafina is just plain old municipal water that has been purified.

67. Nat ___ (cable channel) : GEO
The National Geographic Society started as a club for academics and wealthy people interested in travel, founded in 1888 in Washington, D.C. The society’s “National Geographic Magazine” was first published at the end of the same year. I’ve always thought it very cool that the logo of the society (you can see it on the National Geographic cable TV channel) is simply the rectangular yellow frame that appears in the margins around the front cover of the magazine.

68. Bub : KIDDO
The term “bubba” is a chiefly US Southern slang, and is a term of address for a boy or man. The suggestion is that “bubba” is a corruption of “brother”.

69. Relatively cool red giant : S STAR
Stars are usually classified based on the color of the light that they emit. These classifications are, from hottest to coolest, O, B, A, F, G, K and M. One way to remember the order of these letters is to use the mnemonic “Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me”. The colors of these stars range from blue (class O) to red (class M). Our sun is class G, a yellow star, but I think we all know that …

Red giants are very large stars with a relatively low mass. The atmosphere of a red giant is also very inflated and extends a long way into space so the surface of that atmosphere that we see is relatively cool, which gives it a red color. Stars are classified by their spectral characteristics, basically the color of the light they emit. As such, red giants are classified as M stars. Cool red giants are of a color beyond the usual range, and are classified as S stars.

Down
1. Pickup sites? : NAPES
Some animals pick up their young by the nape of the neck.

6. Rock’s ___ Rose : AXL
Axl Rose is the lead vocalist of the American rock band, Guns N’ Roses.

Guns N’ Roses is a hard rock band founded in 1985 that is still going strong. The group was pulled together by Axl Rose, the lead vocalist. The lead-guitar player back then was Tracii Guns, and it was the combination of Axl and Tracii’s “family” names that led to the band being called Guns N’ Roses.

24. Colombian city : CALI
In terms of population, Cali is the third largest city in Colombia. Santiago de Cali (the full name for the city) lies in western Colombia. Apparently, Cali is a destination for “medical tourists”. The city’s surgeons have a reputation for being expert in cosmetic surgery and so folks looking for a “cheap” nose job head there

26. Wyeth subject : HELGA
Andrew Wyeth was known as a realist painter and “the painter of the people” in recognition of his popularity with the man in the street. His neighbor, Helga Testorf, posed for a total of 247 paintings over a 14 year period, a series known as “The Helga Pictures”. The remarkable thing is that neither Wyeth’s wife nor Testorf’s husband knew anything about the portrait sessions or the paintings.

32. Vega of “Spy Kids” : ALEXA
The actress Alexa Vega was just a kid when she played Carmen Cortez in the first “Spy Kids” movie in 2001, but now she is “all growed up”. I remember taking the kids to see “Spy Kids”. I think I slept through most of it though …

40. Honshu peak : FUJI
Mount Fuji is Japan’s highest and most famous mountain. It is an active volcano, and is located just west of Tokyo.

Honshu is the largest island in Japan, with the name “Honshu” translating as “Main Island”. Honshu is the seventh largest island in the world. As it is home to the principal cities in Japan, Honshu is also the second most populous island on the planet (after Java, in Indonesia).

41. Derby strap : REIN
Our use of the word “derby” to mean a race started in 1780 with the English Derby horse race, which was founded then by the 12th Earl of Derby. Ultimately, the term “derby” derives from the old English shire of “Deorby”, a word meaning “deer village”.

42. Second of April? : PEE
The second letter of the word “April” is P (pee).

46. Kemo ___ : SABE
“Kemosabe” is a term used by the Tonto character in the iconic radio and television program “The Lone Ranger”. “Kemosabe” doesn’t really mean anything outside of the show, and in fact was written as “ke-mo sah-bee” in the original radio show scripts. The term was created by longtime director of “The Lone Ranger”, Jim Jewell. To come up with the term, Jewell used the name of a boy’s camp that his father-in-law established called Kamp Kee-Mo Sah-Bee.

47. Sluggish creatures : SLOTHS
“Sloth”, meaning “indolence, sluggishness”, comes from the Middle English word “slowe”, the same root for our contemporary word “slow”. The animal, the sloth, is named for its slow-moving behavior.

49. 3 or 5 Series car, in slang : BEEMER
“Beemer” is slang for “BMW”.

The acronym BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke, which translates into Bavarian Motor Works. BMW was making aircraft engines during WWI, but had to cease that activity according to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. The company then started making motorcycles, and then moved into automobile production starting in 1928. BMW moved back into aircraft engine manufacturing during the build-up of the Luftwaffe prior to WWII.

53. Early year in Nero’s reign : LVI
The Roman emperor Nero had quite the family life. When Nero was just 16-years-old he married his stepsister, Claudia Octavia. He also had his mother and step-brother executed.

54. Former Celtic Danny : AINGE
Danny Ainge is a retired professional basketball and baseball player, now serving as the President of Basketball Operations for the Boston Celtics. Ainge was an outstanding athlete from an early age, and is the only person to be named a high-school All American in the three sports of football, basketball and baseball.

55. 54-Down was one : CAGER
In the early days of basketball, when a ball went out of bounds possession was awarded to the player who first retrieved the ball. This led to mad scuffles off the court, often involving spectators. As the game became more organized courts were routinely “caged”, largely because of this out of bounds rule, to limit interaction with the crowd. It’s because of these cages that basketball players are sometimes referred to today as “cagers”.

56. Belgian painter James : ENSOR
James Ensor was a Belgian painter active in the first half of the twentieth century. Endor was noted for his influence on the expressionists and surrealists.

60. Ship in a 2014 Russell Crowe film : ARK
The 2014 epic film “Noah” stars Russell Crowe in the title role, and is based on the biblical story of “Noah’s Ark”. The film was largely shot in Southern Iceland. Scenes that included the ark itself were shot in Upper Brookville, New York at the Planting Fields Arboretum.

Russell Crowe is a highly successful actor from New Zealand. Understandably, he doesn’t like people to call him “Australian”, even though it was in Australia that he launched his acting career. Not too long before the 9/11 attacks, the FBI contacted Crowe to inform him that al-Qaeda was plotting to kidnap him as part of a general attack on high-profile “American” icons. For a few months the New Zealander was guarded by Secret Service agents.

62. Acid : LSD
LSD (colloquially known as “acid”) is short for lysergic acid diethylamide. A Swiss chemist called Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD in 1938 in a research project looking for medically efficacious ergot alkaloids. It wasn’t until some five years later when Hofmann ingested some of the drug accidentally that its psychedelic properties were discovered. Trippy, man …

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Big A.T.M. maker : NCR
4. Part of TWA : TRANS
9. One turning to enter? : SCREW
14. “Now I get it!” : AHA!
15. One of Santa’s reindeer : VIXEN
16. Serengeti scavenger : HYENA
17. Brand with the tagline “Established in Milwaukee 1844” : PABST BLUE RIBBON
20. Glowing coal : EMBER
21. Roi’s wife : REINE
22. Part of the back : SPINAL CORD
25. They precede sigmas : RHOS
29. Vote of support : YEA
30. Garden of Eden creature : SERPENT
32. Prez on a penny : ABE
35. ___-mo : SLO
37. Big and cumbersome : BULKY
38. Extremist group : LUNATIC FRINGE
42. Best friend of Thomas the Tank Engine : PERCY
43. Election day: Abbr. : TUE
44. Mary ___ cosmetics : KAY
45. Local’s counterpart : EXPRESS
48. Triangular sail : JIB
50. Hardly brow-furrowing : EASY
51. Deli counter cheese brand : ALPINE LACE
57. Hero of New Orleans : PO’ BOY
59. Aquafina competitor : EVIAN
60. What Thanksgiving turkey may come with … as suggested by parts of 17-, 22-, 38- and 51-Across? : ALL THE TRIMMINGS
65. Tricks : RUSES
66. Therefore : HENCE
67. Nat ___ (cable channel) : GEO
68. Bub : KIDDO
69. Relatively cool red giant : S STAR
70. Mess up : ERR

Down
1. Pickup sites? : NAPES
2. Titleholder : CHAMP
3. Temple teacher : RABBI
4. Couch potato’s table : TV TRAY
5. Josh : RIB
6. Rock’s ___ Rose : AXL
7. Prefix with surgeon : NEURO-
8. Dirty looks : SNEERS
9. A guard may protect it : SHIN
10. Science fiction subgenre : CYBERPUNK
11. Yank’s foe : REB
12. Brian who pioneered in ambient music : ENO
13. Lacking color : WAN
18. D.C. V.I.P. : SEN
19. Hitchhiker’s need : RIDE
23. In case that : LEST
24. Colombian city : CALI
26. Wyeth subject : HELGA
27. Pleasant to the ear, say : ON KEY
28. Pig’s place : STY
31. M.L.B. stat : RBI
32. Vega of “Spy Kids” : ALEXA
33. Pats on the back, maybe : BURPS
34. Unreadable without a key : ENCRYPTED
36. Big campaign mo. : OCT
39. Vote of support : AYE
40. Honshu peak : FUJI
41. Derby strap : REIN
42. Second of April? : PEE
46. Kemo ___ : SABE
47. Sluggish creatures : SLOTHS
49. 3 or 5 Series car, in slang : BEEMER
52. Combustible heaps : PYRES
53. Early year in Nero’s reign : LVI
54. Former Celtic Danny : AINGE
55. 54-Down was one : CAGER
56. Belgian painter James : ENSOR
58. Very : OH SO
60. Ship in a 2014 Russell Crowe film : ARK
61. Him: Fr. : LUI
62. Acid : LSD
63. Acct. earnings : INT
64. Longtime record label : MCA

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