0701-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 1 Jul 14, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Dead as a doornail : KAPUT
“Kaput” is a familiar term meaning “incapacitated, destroyed”, and comes to us from French (via German). The original word “capot” means “not having won a single trick” in the French card game called Piquet.

11. Marble ___ (London landmark) : ARCH
The London landmark known as Marble Arch is located, rather oddly I’ve always thought, on a traffic island at the junction of Oxford Street and Park Lane. The arch was completed in 1833, with a design inspired by the Arch of Constantine in Rome (which also inspired the more famous “Arc de Triomphe” in Paris). It was originally located in front of Buckingham Palace, where it was used as the ceremonial state entrance. The arch was moved to its current location to make room for renovations to Buckingham Palace that were ordered by Queen Victoria. There are three small rooms inside of the arch, and these were used as a police station for over a hundred years.

15. Justice Kagan : ELENA
Elena Kagan was the Solicitor General of the United States who replaced Justice John Paul Stevens on the US Supreme Court. That made Justice Kagan the fourth female US Supreme Court justice (there have been 108 men!). I hear she is a fan of Jane Austen, and used to reread “Pride and Prejudice” once a year. Not a bad thing to do, I’d say …

17. Oscar winner Sorvino : MIRA
Mira Sorvino is an American actress, winner of an Oscar for her supporting role in the 1995 Woody Allen movie “Mighty Aphrodite”. Sorvino also played a title role opposite Lisa Kudrow in the very forgettable “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion”.

18. Appeal from Elvis, 1956 : DON’T BE CRUEL
“Don’t Be Cruel” was recorded by Elvis Presley in 1956. “Don’t Be Cruel” was released as an A-side, but the B-side turned out to be more successful, a tune called “Hound Dog” …

21. Prom attendee, typically : SENIOR
A prom is a formal dance held upon graduation from high school (we call them “formals” over in Ireland). The term “prom” is short for “promenade”, the name given to a type of dance or ball.

24. Clock-setting std. : GMT
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the time at the Prime Meridian, the meridian that runs through Greenwich in London.

A meridian is a line of longitude, and the Prime Meridian is that line of longitude defined as 0 degrees. The Prime Meridian is also called the Greenwich Meridian as it passes through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich in southeast London. Of course the line of longitude that is used to represent 0 degrees is an arbitrary decision. 25 nations formally decided in 1884 to use the Greenwich Meridian as 0 degrees as it was already a popular choice. That is all except the French, who abstained from the vote and used the Paris Meridian as 0 degrees on French charts for several decades.

25. Reassurance from the Beach Boys, 1964 : DON’T WORRY BABY
The 1964 Beach Boys song “Don’t Worry Baby” was released in 1965 as the B-side to the band’s first number-one hit, “I Get Around”.

29. “If you haven’t seen ___, you haven’t seen New York” (old ad slogan) : MACY’S
The original Macy’s store was opened by Rowland Hussey Macy in Haverhill, Massachusetts in 1851. This store, and several others that Macy opened, all failed. Macy picked himself up though, and started over again in New York City. Those early New York stores all focused on the sale of dry goods, but added departments quickly as the clientele grew. The Macy’s “star” logo has been around since the company was first established. Macy chose the star because it mimicked the star tattoo that he got as a teenager when he was working on a whaling ship out of Nantucket.

32. Tennis star Mandlikova : HANA
Hana Mandlikova is a former professional tennis star from Czechoslovakia. Mandlikova won four Grand Slam titles and then retired in 1990, at the ripe old age of 28.

33. Rapper ___ Wayne : LIL
Here’s yet another rapper (oh, joy!). Lil Wayne’s real name is … Dwayne Carter, Jr.

34. Financial adviser’s recommendation, in brief : IRA
IRA Individual retirement account (IRA)

35. ___ Paul (classic guitar) : LES
Les Paul was a guitarist, songwriter and inventor. When he was 33 years old, Paul was involved in a near-fatal car crash that left his right arm and elbow shattered. Surgeons offered him the choice of amputation or a rebuilding of the limb that would leave him unable to bend his elbow. He told them to set his arm at just under 90 degrees so that he could at least hold his guitar and perhaps play it.

39. Encouragement from Journey, 1981 : DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’
I suppose Journey’s 1981 hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” might be termed a rock anthem. Famously, it was used in the final scene of the final episode of HBO’s “The Sopranos”, and soon after made it higher in the charts in the UK than it had on its original release, and was to become the top-selling catalog track sold in the iTunes store.

45. “Modern Family” network : ABC
“Modern Family” is a marvelous television show shown on ABC since 2009. The show’s format is that of a “mockumentary”, with the cast often addressing the camera directly. In that respect “Modern Family” resembles two other excellent shows: “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation”, both of which might also be described a “mockumentaries”.

46. Business monthly : INC
“Inc.” is a business magazine that specializes in articles about growing companies. “Inc.” publishes a list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the country each year, calling it the “Inc. 500”. The “Inc 5000” is an expanded list also published by the magazine.

47. Bob Marley’s “___ Love” : ONE
“One Love” is a classic reggae song from 1977 recorded by Bob Marley and the Wailers. A ska version of “One Love” had been released by the Wailers as early as 1965, but it is the 1977 release that we all remember, I am sure.

48. Movie that introduced the line “Bond, James Bond” : DR NO
“Dr. No” may have been the first film in the wildly successful James Bond franchise, but it was the sixth novel in the series of books penned by Ian Fleming. Fleming was inspired to write the story after reading the Fu Manchu tales by Sax Rohmer. If you’ve read the Rohmer books or seen the films, you’ll recognize the similarities between the characters Dr. No and Fu Manchu.

52. Plea from the Human League, 1982 : DON’T YOU WANT ME
“Don’t You Want Me” was the biggest hit for the British group called the Human League, released in 1981 in the UK.

57. ___ mater : ALMA
The literal translation for the Latin term “alma mater” is “nourishing mother”. “Alma mater” was used in Ancient Rome to refer to mother goddesses, and in Medieval Christianity the term was used to refer to the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, one’s alma mater is the school one attended, either high school or college, usually one’s last place of education.

64. Reproach from the Buckinghams, 1967 : DON’T YOU CARE
“Don’t You Care” is a 1967 song released by the Buckinghams that made it to number six in the charts.

The Buckinghams are a band from Chicago. The Buckinghams’ big year was 1967 when they had four hits, including the chart-topper “Kind of a Drag”.

67. Capri or Wight : ISLE
The island of Capri off the coast of Southern Italy has been a tourist resort since the days of ancient Rome. Capri is home to the famous Blue Grotto, a sea cave that is illuminated with sunlight that’s colored blue as it passes through the seawater into the cave.

The Isle of Wight is the largest island in England, and lies about five miles off the south coast of the country.

71. Divisions politiques : ETATS
In French, a state (état) is a political division (division politique).

Down
1. Sneaker brand : KEDS
Keds is a brand name of athletic shoe first introduced in 1916 by US Rubber. The shoe was originally marketed as a rubber-soled, canvas-topped sneaker.

2. Sunburn relief : 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.

3. School founded by Ben Franklin : PENN
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) was founded in 1740 by by Benjamin Franklin. Penn was the first school in the country to offer both graduate and undergraduate courses.

The noted polymath Benjamin Franklin was one of the US’s Founding Fathers. Franklin was born into a working class family in Boston in 1706. He went on to invent the lightning rod and bifocals. He became the first US Ambassador to France, the US’s Postmaster General and the Governor of Pennsylvania. He played the violin, the harp and the guitar and composed a string quartet. He was also an accomplished chess player, the first to be known by name in the American colonies. The list of the Benjamin Franklin’s accomplishments seems to be endless …

5. Iconoclasts break them : TABOOS
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of society’s icons, either religious or cultural. The term applies more to a rebellious action from within a society, as opposed to an act by external forces invading another culture. As such, the term “iconoclast” has come to have a broader meaning, describing anyone who stands up against established convention.

6. Jaguars’ grp. : AFC
The Jacksonville Jaguars have been in the NFL since 1995, and play in the American Football Conference (AFC).

7. ___ favor : POR
“Por favor” is Spanish for “please”.

8. Mass of crystallized magma : PLUTON
Pluton is a body of igneous rock that formed underground by the consolidation of magma. The name “pluton” comes from Pluto, the ruler of the underworld in classical mythology.

9. ___ del Fuego : TIERRA
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southern tip of South America and is the location of the famed Cape Horn. Tierra del Fuego was discovered by the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. He saw native fires on land as he passed by and originally called the location “Land of Smoke” This was later changed to “Land of Fire”, or “Tierra del Fuego” in Spanish.

10. Certain renewable : SOLAR
Solar panels make use of what’s known as the photovoltaic effect. We all learned about the photoelectric effect in school, in which electrons were ejected from the surface of some materials when it was exposed to light or other forms of radiation. The photovoltaic effect is related but different. Instead of being electrons ejected from the surface, in the photovoltaic effect electrons move around inside the material creating a difference in voltage.

11. “I love,” in Latin : AMO
“Amo, amas, amat: … “I love, you love, he/she/it loves”, in Latin.

12. Game similar to hide-and-seek : RINGALEVIO
Ringolevio is a children’s game similar to hide-and-seek that originated in New York City. The game has been around since the early 1900s. We knew the same game as “Relievio” back in Ireland, which I believe is the name used in Canada.

13. Part of a path left by Hansel and Gretel : CRUMB
“Hansel and Gretel” is a Germanic fairy tale found in the collection of the Brothers Grimm. It tells of two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, the children of a woodcutter. The youngsters are abandoned in a forest at the behest of an evil stepmother. Clever Hansel hears of the plan and leaves a trail of pebbles so that he and his sister can find their way home, which they do. But the children are abandoned again and this time leave a trail of breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the crumbs are eaten by birds and so the children do indeed become lost. But eventually they do all live happily ever after …

19. Seaside eagle : ERN
The ern (also erne) is also called the white-tailed eagle or sea-eagle.

23. Vietnam War locale : MY LAI
The My Lai Massacre took place in the Vietnamese village of that name in March, 1968. After an investigation it was determined that at least 347 unarmed civilians, mostly women, children and elderly people, were murdered by a unit of US soldiers. It was also revealed that gang rapes and torture took place during the massacre. At least three servicemen tried to halt the killing, but they were vastly outnumbered by those participating. About two years after the massacre, 26 men were charged with crimes, but only one man was convicted. William Calley was found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor. President Nixon stepped in the day after Calley was sentenced and ordered him transferred from Leavenworth prison and placed under house arrest pending appeal. On appeal the life sentence was reduced to 20 years, and this was further cut to 10 years as an act of clemency by the Secretary of the Army. Calley was released after serving three years in total.

26. Kojak’s first name : THEO
“Kojak” is a fun police drama that had an original run on TV from 1973 to 1978. The title character was NYPD Detective Lieutenant Theo Kojak, played by Telly Savalas. Famously, Kojak sucks away on lollipops as he tries to quit cigarettes. Kojak is assisted in his cases by Sergeant “Fatso” Stavros, a character played by George Savalas, Telly’s younger brother.

30. Elvis’s middle name : ARON
Elvis Aron Presley was the younger of two identical twins. His brother was stillborn, delivered 35 minutes before Elvis. The brother was named Jesse Garon Presley. So though born a twin, Elvis was raised as an only child.

35. Classic Ford : LTD
There has been a lot of speculation about what the acronym LTD stands for in the car model known as “Ford LTD”. Many say it stands for Luxury Trim Decor, and others that it is an abbreviation for “limited”. Although the car was produced in Australia with the acronym meaning Lincoln Type Design, it seems LTD was originally chosen as just three meaningless letters that sound well together.

36. Doting affection, briefly : TLC
Tender loving care (TLC)

42. Eric who played Nero in 2009’s “Star Trek” : BANA
Eric Bana is an Australian actor who enjoyed a successful career in his home country before breaking into Hollywood playing an American Delta Force sergeant in “Black Hawk Down”. A couple of years later he played the lead in Ang Lee’s 2003 movie “The Hulk”, the role of Dr Bruce Banner. More recently he played the Romulan villain Nero, in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.

48. Groucho foil Margaret ___ : DUMONT
Margaret Dumont was an actress who became very familiar in Marx Brothers’ movies, always playing the woman who Groucho made fun of. Groucho became so fond of her that he said she was “practically the fifth Marx brother”. In turn, Dumont always referred to Groucho as “Julie”, as Julius was Groucho’s real name.

49. African country known as the Land of a Thousand Hills : RWANDA
Rwanda is a sovereign nation in central Africa that is populated by three groups: the Hutu, Tutsi (aka Watutsi) and Twa. The Tutsi are the second largest population of people in Rwanda, with the Hutu being the largest group. The bloody conflict that has existed between the Tutsi and Hutu peoples dates back to about 1880 when Catholic missionaries arrived in the region. The missionaries found that they had more success converting the Hutus than the Tutsi, and when the Germans occupied the area during WWI they confiscated Tutsi land and gave it to Hutu tribes in order to reward religious conversion. This injustice fuels fighting to this very day.

54. Almost any doo-wop song : OLDIE
Doo-wop developed in the 1940s and can be described as a vocal-based R&B music. Even though the style has been around since the forties, the name doo-wop wasn’t introduced until the early sixties.

59. Sailors : TARS
A Jack Tar, or just “tar”, was a seaman in the days of the British Empire. The term probably arose due to a sailor’s various uses of tar back then, including waterproofing his clothes and using tar in his hair to slick down his ponytail.

61. Some jeans : LEES
The Lee company famous for making jeans was formed in 1889, by one Henry David Lee in Salina, Kansas.

63. Brooks who has won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony : MEL
Mel Brooks’ real name is Melvin Kaminsky. Brooks is one of very few entertainers (there are only ten) who has won the “Showbiz Award Grand Slam” i.e. an Oscar, Tony, Grammy and Emmy. He is in good company, as the list also includes the likes of Richard Rogers, Sir John Gielgud, Marvin Hamlisch and Audrey Hepburn.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Dead as a doornail : KAPUT
6. Listings in a daily planner: Abbr. : APPTS
11. Marble ___ (London landmark) : ARCH
15. Justice Kagan : ELENA
16. Book leaf : FOLIO
17. Oscar winner Sorvino : MIRA
18. Appeal from Elvis, 1956 : DON’T BE CRUEL
20. Burden of proof : ONUS
21. Prom attendee, typically : SENIOR
22. Mine vehicle : TRAM
24. Clock-setting std. : GMT
25. Reassurance from the Beach Boys, 1964 : DON’T WORRY BABY
29. “If you haven’t seen ___, you haven’t seen New York” (old ad slogan) : MACY’S
32. Tennis star Mandlikova : HANA
33. Rapper ___ Wayne : LIL
34. Financial adviser’s recommendation, in brief : IRA
35. ___ Paul (classic guitar) : LES
36. Start liking : TAKE TO
39. Encouragement from Journey, 1981 : DON’T STOP BELIEVIN’
44. Impoverished : IN NEED
45. “Modern Family” network : ABC
46. Business monthly : INC
47. Bob Marley’s “___ Love” : ONE
48. Movie that introduced the line “Bond, James Bond” : DR NO
50. Went up : AROSE
52. Plea from the Human League, 1982 : DON’T YOU WANT ME
56. Decline : EBB
57. ___ mater : ALMA
58. Young travelers’ crash site : HOSTEL
62. Ray of light : BEAM
64. Reproach from the Buckinghams, 1967 : DON’T YOU CARE
67. Capri or Wight : ISLE
68. Art house film, often : INDIE
69. Ward attendant : NURSE
70. Relate : TELL
71. Divisions politiques : ETATS
72. Quizzes : TESTS

Down
1. Sneaker brand : KEDS
2. Sunburn relief : ALOE
3. School founded by Ben Franklin : PENN
4. Not neat : UNTIDY
5. Iconoclasts break them : TABOOS
6. Jaguars’ grp. : AFC
7. ___ favor : POR
8. Mass of crystallized magma : PLUTON
9. ___ del Fuego : TIERRA
10. Certain renewable : SOLAR
11. “I love,” in Latin : AMO
12. Game similar to hide-and-seek : RINGALEVIO
13. Part of a path left by Hansel and Gretel : CRUMB
14. Done in a rush : HASTY
19. Seaside eagle : ERN
23. Vietnam War locale : MY LAI
26. Kojak’s first name : THEO
27. Insect with a stinger : WASP
28. Ten-speed, e.g. : BIKE
29. Skirt hemmed at the calf : MIDI
30. Elvis’s middle name : ARON
31. Dive done with the arms around the knees : CANNONBALL
35. Classic Ford : LTD
36. Doting affection, briefly : TLC
37. Quaint food containers : TINS
38. Formerly : ONCE
40. Collapsible shelter : TENT
41. “It’s been real!” : SEE YA!
42. Eric who played Nero in 2009’s “Star Trek” : BANA
43. Black, to poets : EBON
48. Groucho foil Margaret ___ : DUMONT
49. African country known as the Land of a Thousand Hills : RWANDA
50. Bill line : AMOUNT
51. Save from danger : RESCUE
52. ___ card : DEBIT
53. Very heavy : OBESE
54. Almost any doo-wop song : OLDIE
55. However, for short : THO’
59. Sailors : TARS
60. Formerly, in the past : ERST
61. Some jeans : LEES
63. Brooks who has won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony : MEL
65. Small bird : TIT
66. “I’m game” : YES

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