0714-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 14 Jul 14, Monday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: MaryEllen Uthlaut
THEME: UFO Sighting … our themed answers today each have UFO hidden within:

23A. Annoyed “Hel-LO!” : YOU FORGOT ME!
31A. Japanese compact S.U.V. : SUBARU FORESTER
39A. Sandwich cookie with abundant filling : DOUBLE STUF OREO
47A. Eerie encounter … or a hint to 23-, 31- and 39-Across : UFO SIGHTING

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 4m 56s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. ___, crackle, pop : SNAP
Snap, Crackle and Pop are three elves employed as the mascots for Kellogg’s Rice Krispies. The trio first appeared in an ad campaign in 1933, although the phrase “snap, crackle and pop” had been used for the cereal for some time in radio ads. By the way, the elves are selling “Rice Bubbles” in Australia, and the elves have different names in other parts of the world (like “Cric!, Crac! and Croc! in Quebec).

9. Beer mug : STEIN
A stein is a type of beer glass. The term is German in origin, and is short for “Steinkrug” meaning “stone jug”. “Stein” is the German for “stone”.

14. Mani-___ (nail job) : PEDI
Manicure & pedicure (mani-pedi)

16. Drink often served with marshmallows : COCOA
Marshmallow was originally made from a paste from the root of the mallow plant. The mallow plant grows near salt marshes, and is sometimes called the “marsh mallow”. Hence the name of the confection. Interesting, but unexpected …

22. Milky gems : OPALS
An opal is often described as having a milky iridescence, known as “opalescence”.

28. Tit ___ tat : FOR
The phrase “tit for tat”, meaning some sort of retaliation, has been around an awfully long time, since the mid-1500s. It might be derived from “tip for tap”, meaning “blow for blow”.

31. Japanese compact S.U.V. : SUBARU FORESTER
Subaru is the automobile division of the Japanese company, Fuji Heavy Industries. The name “Subaru” is the Japanese name of the Pleiades star cluster. As a result, the Subaru logo is also a cluster of stars.

37. Disposable lighter : BIC
Société Bic is a French company, based in Clichy in France. The first product the company produced, more than fifty years ago, was the Bic Cristal ballpoint pen that is still produced today. Bic also makes other disposable products such as lighters and razors.

38. 2012 Ben Affleck film set in Iran : ARGO
“Argo” is a 2012 movie that is based on the true story of the rescue of six diplomats hiding out during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis. The film was directed by and stars Ben Affleck and is produced by Grant Heslov and George Clooney, the same pair who produced the excellent “Good Night, and Good Luck”. I saw “Argo” recently and recommend it highly, although I found the scenes of religious fervor pretty frightening …

39. Sandwich cookie with abundant filling : DOUBLE STUF OREO
Double Stuf Oreo was introduced in 1975, and it has twice the normal amount of white cream filling as the original cookie.

45. Mauna ___ : LOA
Mauna Loa on the “big island” of Hawaii is the largest volcano on the planet (in terms of volume). The name “Mauna Loa” is Hawaiian for “Long Mountain”.

46. James Bond, for one : SPY
James Bond was of course the creation of the writer Ian Fleming. Fleming “stole” the James Bond name from an American ornithologist. The number 007 was “stolen” from the real-life, 16th century English spy called John Dee. Dee would sign his reports to Queen Elizabeth I with a stylized “007” to indicate that the reports were for “her eyes only”. There’s an entertaining mini-series that on BBC America not so long ago called “Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond”. The show details Ian Fleming’s military career, and draws some nice parallels between Fleming’s experiences and aspirations and those of his hero James Bond. Recommended …

47. Eerie encounter … or a hint to 23-, 31- and 39-Across : UFO SIGHTING
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.

61. Like some Peruvian ruins : INCAN
The Inca people emerged as a tribe around the 12th century, in what today is southern Peru. The Incas developed a vast empire over the next 300 years, extending along most of the western side of South America. The Empire of course fell to the Spanish, finally dissolving in 1572 with the execution of Tupac Amaru, the last Incan Emperor.

64. Conductor Solti : GEORG
Sir Georg Solti was a great Hungarian-British conductor, who spent 22 years as music director of the Chicago Symphony, one of many prestigious positions he held in the world of classical music and opera. Solti was awarded 31 Grammy Awards, the most won by any individual in any genre of music.

65. 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.

Down
3. Mademoiselle’s goodbye : ADIEU
“Adieu” is the French for “goodbye” or “farewell”, from “à Dieu” meaning “to God”.

Señorita (Srta.) is Spanish and mademoiselle (Mlle.) is French for “Miss”.

4. Rice ___ (dish) : PILAF
“Pilaf” is a Persian word, and we use it to describe rice that is browned in oil and then cooked in a seasoned broth.

5. Caesar or Charlemagne : EMPEROR
Gaius Octavius Thurinus (often called Octavian) was the adopted son of Gaius Julius Caesar. After Julius Caesar was assassinated, Octavian came to power in Rome and teamed up with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus in what was called the Second Triumvirate. When the triumvirate fell apart, especially after Antony’s defeat at Actium, Octavian became more powerful within the Roman Republic. Several years later he wrested sufficient power from the Roman Senate to end the Republic and begin the Roman Empire. As the first Emperor of Rome, Octavian was given the name Caesar Augustus. The month of August, originally called “Sextilis” in Latin, was renamed in honor of Augustus.

Charlemagne was the first king to use the title “Holy Roman Emperor”, even though the Holy Roman Empire was not actually founded until over a century later when Otto I was crowned Emperor. Otto was the first of an unbroken line of Holy Roman Emperors who ruled Central Europe until 1806.

7. Myopic Mr. ___ : MAGOO
Mr. Quincy Magoo is a wonderful cartoon character voiced by Jim Backus. Backus is probably equally well-known for playing Mr. Magoo as well as Thurston Howell, III on “Gilligan’s Island”. Mr. Magoo first appeared on the screen in a short called “The Ragtime Bear” in 1949. His persona was at least in part based on the antics of W. C. Fields. Backus originally used a fake rubber nose that pinched his nostrils in order to create the distinctive voice, although in time he learned to do the voice without the prop. My absolute favorite appearance by Mr. Magoo is in “Mr Magoo’s Christmas Carol”, a true classic from the sixties. There was a movie adaptation of “Mr Magoo” released in 1997, with Leslie Nielsen playing the title role.

9. Like a triangle with sides of different lengths : SCALENE
A scalene triangle is one in which all sides are of unequal length.

10. Yo-yo and Etch A Sketch : TOYS
Would you believe that the first yo-yos date back to 500 BC? There is even an ancient Greek vase painting that shows a young man playing with a yo-yo. Centuries later Filipinos were using yo-yos as hunting tools in the 1500s. “Yo-yo” is a Tagalog (Filipino) word meaning “come-come” or simply “return”.

Etch A Sketch was introduced in 1960. The toy was developed in France by inventor André Cassagnes.

13. Singer ___ King Cole : NAT
Nat King Cole’s real name was Nathaniel Adams Coles. Cole made television history in 1956 when his own show debuted on NBC, a first for an African-American. Cole couldn’t pick up a national sponsor, so in order to save money and possibly save the show, many guest artists worked for no fee at all – the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Belafonte and Peggy Lee. The show survived for a year, but eventually Nat King Cole had to pull the plug on it himself.

21. Davenport : SOFA
“Sofa” is a Turkish word meaning “bench”.

The name Davenport, when used to mean a sofa, is one of those generic terms that evolved for an item from the name of a prominent manufacturer. The long gone Davenport Company sold a lot of furniture in the midwest and upstate New York, so the term is especially common in that part of the country.

25. Anglican bishop’s hat : MITRE
A mitre is a traditional headdress worn by bishops in some Christian traditions. The name “mitre” comes from a Greek word for “headband, turban”.

The Anglican Church is the Church of England and all the churches tied to it.

26. Pasta sauce brand : PREGO
The Prego brand of pasta sauce is owned by the Campbell Soup Company. It is actually based on the family recipe of one of the company’s chefs. “Prego” literally means “I pray” in Italian, but it translates in English best as “you’re welcome” when it is used after a “thank you” (“grazie”, in Italian).

27. Foot-long sandwich : HERO
“Hero” is another name for a submarine sandwich. The hero originated in New York City in the 1800s among Italian immigrants who wanted an Italian sandwich that reminded them of home. The name “hero” was coined in the 1930s, supposedly by a food critic in the “New York Herald Tribune” when he wrote that “one had to be a hero” to finish the gigantic sandwich. Hero is a prevalent term to this day in New York City, reserved for a submarine sandwich with an Italian flavor.

30. Old Russian ruler : TSAR
The term czar (also tsar) is a Slavic word that was first used as a title by Simeon I of Bulgaria in 913 AD. “Czar” is derived from the word “Caesar”, which was synonymous with “emperor” at that time.

31. Small sailboat : SLOOP
Sloops and cutters are sailboats, and each has just one mast. One major difference between the two types of vessel is that the mast on a cutter is set much further aft than the mast on a sloop.

32. Exorbitant interest charge : USURY
“Usury” was originally the name given to the practice of lending money at interest, but the term now refers to lending at excessive rates of interest.

35. Round windows : OCULI
Oculus is the Latin word for “eye”, and is used in architecture for a circular window.

43. Honolulu’s home : OAHU
O’ahu has been called “The Gathering Place”, although the word “O’ahu” has no translation in Hawaiian. It seems that O’ahu is simply the name of the island. One story is that it is named after the son of the Polynesian navigator that first found the islands. The island is made up of two volcanoes, Wai’anae and Ko’olau, joined together by a broad valley, the O’ahu Plain.

48. What follows phi, chi, psi : OMEGA
Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet and is the one that looks like a horseshoe. The word “omega” literally means “great O” (O-mega). Compare this with the Greek letter Omicron meaning “little O” (O-micron).

49. 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?

51. Dubliners, e.g. : IRISH
The city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is known as Baile Átha Cliath in Irish (“town of the hurdled ford”). The English name “Dublin” is an anglicized form of the older Irish name for the city, “Dubh Linn” meaning “black pool”.

52. Gold-medal gymnast Comaneci : NADIA
Nadia Comaneci won three golds in the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of a ten in the gymnastics competition. Comaneci published a book called “Letters to a Young Gymnast” in 2003, and now lives in the United States.

53. Treaty of ___, pact ending the War of 1812 : GHENT
Ghent is a city in the Flemish region of Belgium. The War of 1812 (between Britain and the US) was formally concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent. The American negotiating team in Ghent included Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams.

56. Marlboro or Camel, informally : CIG
Marlboro cigarettes were launched by Philip Morris in 1924 as a cigarette for women. To that end there was a red band around the filter designed to hide lipstick stains. In the fifties the brand was repositioned as a men’s cigarette, offering men a “manly” filtered cigarette as the world was becoming aware of the link between cigarettes and lung cancer. With the introduction of the Marlboro Man, the rugged cowboy riding across the west, sales rocketed from a 1% market share to become the 4th biggest seller in the country. The original Marlboro Man was model and actor named Darrell Winfield. He received loads of free cigarettes during his reign, I am sure. He died of lung cancer …

The advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes was officially known as “Old Joe”, but was popularly known as “Joe Camel”. Joe originated in the seventies, in an advertising campaign that ran only in Europe where sometimes he was depicted wearing a French Foreign Legion cap. He was imported to the US in 1988 on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Camel brand. The big controversy surrounding the use of the camel character was that a 1991 study found that 5-6 year old children could recognize Joe Camel more readily than either Mickey Mouse or Fred Flintstone. Also, soon after Old Joe was introduced in the US, the Camel brand’s share of the illegal market to underage smokers went up from 1% to just under 33%.

57. 21st word of the Pledge of Allegiance : ONE
The Pledge of Allegiance of the US was composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892 and was adopted by Congress in 1942. The actual words used in the pledge have changed over time. Here is the original 1892 version shown in comparison to the current version that was adopted in 1954:

1892: I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.
1954: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

58. Sgt., e.g. : NCO
An NCO is a non-commissioned officer in the armed forces. Usually such an officer is one who has earned his or her rank by promotion through the enlisted ranks. A good example would be a sergeant.

59. “___ Te Ching” (old Chinese text) : TAO
The “Tao Te Ching”is a classical Chinese text, fundamental to the philosophy of Taoism.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. ___, crackle, pop : SNAP
5. Shapely shade trees : ELMS
9. Beer mug : STEIN
14. Mani-___ (nail job) : PEDI
15. Breakfast or lunch : MEAL
16. Drink often served with marshmallows : COCOA
17. Stairway safety feature : RAIL
18. Web designer’s concern : PAGE LAYOUT
20. “Relax, soldier!” : AT EASE!
22. Milky gems : OPALS
23. Annoyed “Hel-LO!” : YOU FORGOT ME!
25. 65 on a hwy., maybe : MPH
28. Tit ___ tat : FOR
29. Complete : ENTIRE
31. Japanese compact S.U.V. : SUBARU FORESTER
36. In addition : ALSO
37. Disposable lighter : BIC
38. 2012 Ben Affleck film set in Iran : ARGO
39. Sandwich cookie with abundant filling : DOUBLE STUF OREO
44. Kind of fin : DORSAL
45. Mauna ___ : LOA
46. James Bond, for one : SPY
47. Eerie encounter … or a hint to 23-, 31- and 39-Across : UFO SIGHTING
54. Stop on ___ : A DIME
55. “Yay, we did it!” : HURRAH!
56. Locked up in : CONFINED TO
60. Secretary, say : AIDE
61. Like some Peruvian ruins : INCAN
62. First, second or reverse : GEAR
63. “The check ___ the mail” : IS IN
64. Conductor Solti : GEORG
65. Elvis’s middle name : ARON
66. “Don’t give me ___!” : THAT

Down
1. Hose setting : SPRAY
2. “Cool beans!” : NEATO!
3. Mademoiselle’s goodbye : ADIEU
4. Rice ___ (dish) : PILAF
5. Caesar or Charlemagne : EMPEROR
6. Meadow : LEA
7. Myopic Mr. ___ : MAGOO
8. Snoozed : SLEPT
9. Like a triangle with sides of different lengths : SCALENE
10. Yo-yo and Etch A Sketch : TOYS
11. Prefix with friendly : ECO-
12. Note of indebtedness : IOU
13. Singer ___ King Cole : NAT
19. Less funny, as a joke : LAMER
21. Davenport : SOFA
24. Roots (around) : GRUBS
25. Anglican bishop’s hat : MITRE
26. Pasta sauce brand : PREGO
27. Foot-long sandwich : HERO
30. Old Russian ruler : TSAR
31. Small sailboat : SLOOP
32. Exorbitant interest charge : USURY
33. Goes up and down, as a buoy : BOBS
34. Physically strong : FIT
35. Round windows : OCULI
36. Opposite of subtracts : ADDS
40. Singing the praises of : LAUDING
41. Fairylike : ELFIN
42. Blast from a lighthouse : FOGHORN
43. Honolulu’s home : OAHU
48. What follows phi, chi, psi : OMEGA
49. Passover feast : SEDER
50. Hazel eyes or curly hair : TRAIT
51. Dubliners, e.g. : IRISH
52. Gold-medal gymnast Comaneci : NADIA
53. Treaty of ___, pact ending the War of 1812 : GHENT
54. From a distance : AFAR
56. Marlboro or Camel, informally : CIG
57. 21st word of the Pledge of Allegiance : ONE
58. Sgt., e.g. : NCO
59. “___ Te Ching” (old Chinese text) : TAO

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