0708-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 8 Jul 14, Tuesday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: Bruce Venzke & Gail Grabowski
THEME: Two Bars … each of today’s themed answers comprises two words, each of which is a type of BAR:

18A. Like much snack food for hikers : HIGH-ENERGY (giving “high bar” & “energy bar”)
23A. Small order of greens : SIDE SALAD (giving “sidebar” & “salad bar”)
36A. Clearing : OPEN SPACE (giving “open bar” & “space bar”)
52A. Season ticket holder for baseball, basketball and football, say : SPORTS NUT (giving “sports bar” & “nut bar”)
58A. Glazed dessert : COFFEE ROLL (giving “coffee bar” & “roll bar”)
67A. Signs of cell service … or a word that can follow both parts of 18-, 23-, 36-, 52- and 58-Across : BARS

BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 8m 17s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 2 … ARROZ (arroy), EZER (Eyer)

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Safe havens : ARKS
The term “ark”, when used with reference to Noah, is a translation of the Hebrew word “tebah”. The word “tebah” is also used in the Bible for the basket in which Moses was placed by his mother when she floated him down the Nile. It seems that the word “tebah” doesn’t mean “boat” and nor does it mean “basket”. Rather, a more appropriate translation is “life-preserver” or “life-saver”. So, Noah’s ark was Noah’s life-preserver during the flood.

5. Start of some French street names : RUE DE
“Rue de …” translates from French as “Road of …”

10. 1974 C.I.A. spoof : S*P*Y*S
“S*P*Y*S” is a 1974 comedy starring Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland as two men mistaken as spies and targeted by the KGB. With all those asterisks in the film’s title, one has to assume the movie was intended to capitalize on the success of the 1970 Gould/Sutherland vehicle called “M*A*S*H”.

14. Israel’s Golda : MEIR
Golda Meir was known as the “Iron Lady” when she was Prime Minister of Israel, long before the term came to be associated with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. Golda Meir was born Golda Mabovitch in Kiev (in modern-day Ukraine), and when she was a young girl she moved with her family to the United States and settled in Milwaukee. As a teenager she relocated to Denver where she met and married Morris Meyerson, at the age of 19. She and her husband joined a kibbutz in Palestine in 1921, when she was in her twenties. Meir had been active in politics in the US, and continued her political work in Palestine. She was very influential during WWII, and played a leading role in negotiations after the war leading to the setting up of the state of Israel. By the time she was called on to lead the country, Meir had already retired, citing exhaustion and ill health. But serve she did, and led Israel during turbulent times (e.g. the massacre at the Munich Olympics, and the Yom Kippur War). She eventually resigned in 1974, saying that was what the people wanted.

15. Spanish rice : ARROZ
“Arroz” is Spanish for “rice”.

17. Calligraphers’ supplies : INKS
Calligraphy is the art of fine handwriting, and a term derived from the Greek “kallos” meaning “beauty” and “graphein” meaning “to write”.

22. Bit of gaucho gear : REATA
“Reata” is the Spanish word for “lasso”. We tend to use the spelling “riata” in English, but sometimes can use the original Spanish word.

A “gaucho” is someone who lives in the South American pampas, the fertile lowlands in the southeast of South America. The term “gaucho” is also used as the equivalent of our “cowboy”.

29. Detective’s coat, informally : TRENCH
The trench coat was developed primarily for the use of the military. It is a waterproof coat that extends to just below the knee, and generally has a removable lining. In the world of Hollywood we often encounter the trench coat. One is worn by Humphrey Bogart in “Casablanca”, and by Peter Sellers in the “Pink Panther” movies.

30. Some savings plans, for short : IRAS
Individual retirement account (IRA)

33. Shot contents : SERA
Blood serum is the clear, yellowish part of blood i.e. that part which is neither a blood cell or a clotting factor. Included in blood serum are antibodies, the proteins that are central to our immune system. Blood serum from animals that have immunity to some disease can be transferred to another individual, hence providing that second individual with some level of immunity. Blood serum used to pass on immunity can be called “antiserum”.

35. Goes to pot : ROTS
The phrase “go to pot”, meaning fall into ruin, has been around since the 1500s when it really meant “go to (the) pot”, to be chopped up and boiled for food.

39. Flowerless plant : FERN
Ferns are unlike mosses in that they have xylem and phloem, making them vascular plants. They also have stems, leaves and roots, but they do not have seeds and flowers, and reproduce using spores. Spores differ from seeds in that they have very little stored food.

46. End of a school email address : EDU
The .edu domain was one of the six original generic top-level domains specified. The complete original list is:

– .com (commercial enterprise)
– .net (entity involved in network infrastructure e.g. an ISP)
– .mil (US military)
– .org (not-for-profit organization)
– .gov (US federal government entity)
– .edu (college-level educational institution)

47. Fashion designer Gernreich : RUDI
Rudi Gernreich was a fashion designer, born in Austria. Gernreich fled Austria due to Nazi influence, and ended up in Los Angeles. He is noted for design of the monokini, the first topless swimsuit.

50. Japanese assassin : NINJA
The ninjas were around in Japan at the time of the samurai, but were a very different type of warrior. The ninjas were covert operatives, specializing in the use of stealth to accomplish their missions. As they were a secretive cadre they took on a mystical reputation with the public, who believed they had the ability to become invisible or perhaps walk on water.

54. Hoity-___ : TOITY
Believe it or not, the word “hoity-toity” has been in the English language since the 1660s, but back then it meant “riotous behavior”. It began to mean “haughty” in the late 1800s, simply because the two terms sounded familiar.

56. Ones “over there” : GIS
The initials “G.I.” stand for “Government Issue” and not “General Infantry” as is often believed. GI was first used in the military to denote equipment made from Galvanized Iron and during WWI, incoming German shells were nicknamed “GI cans”. Soon after, the term GI came to be associated with “Government Issue” and eventually became an adjective to describe anything associated with the Army.

“Over There” is a song that was popular in both WWI and WWII. “Over There” was written in 1917 by George M. Cohan, soon after the US declared war against Germany. The song’s title refers to being “over there” in Europe fighting the good fight.

57. The “H” of H.M.S. : HER
The ship prefix “HMS” is used by the warships of the Royal Navy, and stands for “Her/His Majesty’s Ship/Submarine”. The prefix “RMS” is used by ships of the merchant navy, and stands for “Royal Mail Ship/Steamer”.

61. Special seating section : LOGE
In most theaters today, “loge” is the name given to the front rows of a mezzanine level. Loge can also be the name given to box seating.

62. Back talk : GUFF
The word “guff” has been around since the late 1800s and means “empty talk”, and comes from the sense of a “puff of air”.

Down
2. Some Impressionist paintings : RENOIRS
Pierre-Auguste Renoir was a French painter, very much at the forefront of the Impressionist movement. Renoir was a prolific artist, with several thousand works attributed to him. The largest collection of Renoirs is actually in the United States. You can see 181 of his paintings at the Barnes Foundation just outside Philadelphia.

3. Duettist with Elton John on 1976’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” : KIKI DEE
Kiki Dee is an English singer, best known for her hit duet with Elton John from 1976 called “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. Kiki Dee had the honor of being the first Caucasian singer to be signed by Motown.

4. Sophs., two years later : SRS
The term “sophomore” has been used for a student in the second year of university since the 1680’s. The original meaning of the word was “arguer”. The term has Greek roots, from two Greek words that have been artificially combined in English. The Greek “sophos” means “wise”, and “moros” means “foolish”.

6. One of the archangels : URIEL
Uriel is one of the archangels in the Jewish and Christian traditions.

7. Fraction of a joule : ERG
An erg is a unit of energy or mechanical work. “Erg” comes from the Greek word “ergon” meaning “work”. A dyne is a unit of force. The name “dyne” comes from the Greek “dynamis” meaning “power, force”. Ergs and dynes are related to each other in that one erg is the amount of energy needed to move a force of one dyne over a distance of one centimeter.

James Joule was an English physicist who spent much of his life working in the family brewing business. Joule used his work in the brewery to study the relationship between heat and mechanical work. In honor of his achievements, his name is used for the unit of energy in the International System of Units (i.e. the joule).

8. Outburst from Homer : D’OH
“The Simpsons” is one of the most successful programs produced by the Fox Broadcasting Company. Homer Simpson’s catchphrase is “D’oh!”, which is such a famous exclamation that it has been included in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) since 2001.

9. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER
Ezer Weizman was the seventh President of Israel. Earlier in his career, Weizman was a combat pilot in the UK’s Royal Air Force and later rose to Commander of the Israeli Air Force. He also served as Israel’s Minister of Defense before becoming President.

10. Meat sometimes served au poivre : STEAK
The traditional French dish called a “pepper steak” or “steak au poivre” is usually a filet mignon coated with cracked peppercorns prior to cooking. The filet is mostly pan-fried, and often a pan sauce is made to cover the steak by adding cognac and heavy cream to the residue left in the bottom of the pan after the steak has cooked. “Poivre” is French for “pepper”.

11. Colonnaded entrance : PORTICO
“Portico” is an Italian word that describes a porch or roofed walkway leading to the entrance of a building.

12. You might sit cross-legged on one : YOGA MAT
In the West we tend to think of yoga as a physical discipline, a means of exercise that uses specific poses to stretch and strengthen muscles. While it is true that the ancient Indian practice of yoga does involve such physical discipline, the corporeal aspect of the practice plays a relatively small part in the whole philosophy. Other major components are meditation, ethical behavior, breathing and contemplation.

19. Loch ___ : NESS
Loch Ness is one of the two most famous lakes in Scotland. Loch Ness is famous for its “monster”, and Loch Lomond is famous for the lovely song “The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond”. Oh, ye’ll tak’ the high road, and I’ll tak’ the low road …

21. Music-licensing org. : ASCAP
ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) collects licence fees for musicians and distributes royalties to composers whose works have been performed. BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated) provides the same service.

24. Bankrupted company led by Kenneth Lay : ENRON
After all the trials following the exposure of fraud at Enron, several of the key players ended up in jail. Andrew Fastow was the Chief Financial Officer. He plea-bargained and received ten years without parole, and became the key witness in the trials of others. Even Fastow’s wife was involved and she was sentenced to one year for helping her husband hide money. Jeffrey Skilling (ex-CEO) was sentenced to 24 years and 4 months. Kenneth Lay (CEO) died in 2006 after he had been found guilty but before he could be sentenced. The accounting firm Arthur Andersen was found guilty of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of pertinent documents and deleting emails and files (a decision that the Supreme Court later overturned on a technicality). But still, Arthur Andersen collapsed under the weight of the scandal and 85,000 people lost their jobs (despite only a handful being directly involved with Enron).

25. Blimp : AIRSHIP
There is an important difference between a “blimp” (like “The Goodyear Blimp”) and an airship (like a Zeppelin). An airship is a rigid structure with an internal framework that helps maintain the shape of the airbag, whereas a blimp uses the pressure of the helium gas inside the airbag to give it shape. Also, blimps are usually heavier than air and so will sink slowly to the ground should the engines lose power. They maintain their lift with forward motion and by raising the nose slightly.

28. N.Y.C.’s Bleecker and Canal : STS
Bleecker Street runs in an east-west direction across the borough of Manhattan in New York City, and is home to many of the nightclubs in Greenwich Village. The Street is named for the Bleecker family that owned the farm through which the street originally ran.

Canal Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City runs east-west through the Chinatown neighborhood. The street takes its name from a canal that was dug along the same route in the early 1800s.

37. ___ de toilette : EAU
“Eau de toilette” (toilet water) is a diluted perfume.

38. F.D.R.’s fireside addresses : CHATS
President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a total of thirty evening radio addresses that were termed “fireside chats”. President Roosevelt had used similar addresses to further his political agenda while he was Governor of New York. In New York he faced opposition from a Republican legislature so Roosevelt appealed directly to voters to apply pressure for him.

44. Lady of Brazil : SENHORA
“Senhora” is Portuguese for “Mrs.”

45. Freddy of Elm Street : KRUEGER
Freddy Krueger is the creepy serial killer in the “A Nightmare on Elm Street” movies. Krueger has a burned and disfigured face, wears a brown fedora and a leather glove with metal razors that he uses to kill his victims during their nightmares. He is played by the actor Robert Englund in all of the films.

51. Second : JIFFY
“Jiffy”, meaning an “instant”, was originally slang used by thieves to mean “lightning”.

55. Longings : YENS
The word “yen”, meaning “urge”, has been around in English since the very early 1900s. It comes from the earlier word “yin” imported from Chinese, which was used in English to describe an intense craving for opium!

58. Special effects graphics, briefly : CGI
Computer-generated imagery (CGI)

59. Grammy category : RAP
The first Grammy Awards Ceremony was held in 1959 and focused on recognizing outstanding achievement in the recording industry. The idea of a Grammy Award came up when recording executives were working on the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the fifties. These executives concluded that there were many people in the recording industry deserving of accolades but who would probably never make it to the Walk of Fame. As a result, they founded the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. The Academy considered naming the award the “Eddies” after Thomas Edison, but then opted for “Grammy” after Edison’s invention: the gramophone.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Safe havens : ARKS
5. Start of some French street names : RUE DE
10. 1974 C.I.A. spoof : S*P*Y*S
14. Israel’s Golda : MEIR
15. Spanish rice : ARROZ
16. Warning on a highway : TOOT
17. Calligraphers’ supplies : INKS
18. Like much snack food for hikers : HIGH-ENERGY (giving “high bar” & “energy bar”)
20. “___ have to?” : DO I
21. Is for more than one? : ARE
22. Bit of gaucho gear : REATA
23. Small order of greens : SIDE SALAD (giving “sidebar” & “salad bar”)
27. Reads rapidly : SKIMS
29. Detective’s coat, informally : TRENCH
30. Some savings plans, for short : IRAS
32. Lion or tiger : CAT
33. Shot contents : SERA
34. Nerve-racking test, for some : ORAL
35. Goes to pot : ROTS
36. Clearing : OPEN SPACE (giving “open bar” & “space bar”)
39. Flowerless plant : FERN
42. Pine (for) : ACHE
43. Corn covering : HUSK
46. End of a school email address : EDU
47. Fashion designer Gernreich : RUDI
48. Rubberneckers : GAPERS
50. Japanese assassin : NINJA
52. Season ticket holder for baseball, basketball and football, say : SPORTS NUT (giving “sports bar” & “nut bar”)
54. Hoity-___ : TOITY
56. Ones “over there” : GIS
57. The “H” of H.M.S. : HER
58. Glazed dessert : COFFEE ROLL (giving “coffee bar” & “roll bar”)
61. Special seating section : LOGE
62. Back talk : GUFF
63. ___-gazing : NAVEL
64. Metal containers? : ORES
65. Tiny, to a tot : ITSY
66. Club alternative : SPADE
67. Signs of cell service … or a word that can follow both parts of 18-, 23-, 36-, 52- and 58-Across : BARS

Down
1. Surrounded by : AMIDST
2. Some Impressionist paintings : RENOIRS
3. Duettist with Elton John on 1976’s “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” : KIKI DEE
4. Sophs., two years later : SRS
5. Openly enthusiastic : RAH-RAH
6. One of the archangels : URIEL
7. Fraction of a joule : ERG
8. Outburst from Homer : D’OH
9. Former Israeli president Weizman : EZER
10. Meat sometimes served au poivre : STEAK
11. Colonnaded entrance : PORTICO
12. You might sit cross-legged on one : YOGA MAT
13. Squalid digs : STY
19. Loch ___ : NESS
21. Music-licensing org. : ASCAP
24. Bankrupted company led by Kenneth Lay : ENRON
25. Blimp : AIRSHIP
26. Curtain : DRAPE
28. N.Y.C.’s Bleecker and Canal : STS
31. In the style of : A LA
34. Obsolescent way to store music : ON CDS
35. Does another stint : RE-UPS
37. ___ de toilette : EAU
38. F.D.R.’s fireside addresses : CHATS
39. Swampland : FEN
40. Delete : EDIT OUT
41. Postelection elections : RUNOFFS
44. Lady of Brazil : SENHORA
45. Freddy of Elm Street : KRUEGER
47. Miles per gallon, e.g. : RATE
48. Car part that may have a decorative design : GRILLE
49. Accentuate : STRESS
51. Second : JIFFY
53. Eyed : OGLED
55. Longings : YENS
58. Special effects graphics, briefly : CGI
59. Grammy category : RAP
60. Egg cells : OVA
61. Smashable shot : LOB

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