0805-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 5 Aug 14, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
5. Emcee : HOST
The term “emcee” comes from “MC”, an acronym standing for Master or Mistress of Ceremonies.

16. ___ State (Hawaii) : ALOHA
The Hawaiian greeting “aloha” contains the letter sequence “alo”, which can be reversed to “ola”, a Spanish greeting.

17. “That makes three strikes for O’Toole!” : PETER’S OUT! (from “peters out”)
Irish actor Peter O’Toole got his big break in movies when he played the title role in the 1962 epic film “Lawrence of Arabia”. But my favorite of O’Toole’s movies is much lighter fare, namely “How to Steal a Million” in which he stars opposite Audrey Hepburn.

The verb phrase “to peter out”, meaning “to fizzle out”, originated in the 1840s in the American mining industry. While the exact etymology isn’t clear, it probably derives from the term “saltpetre”, a constituent of gunpowder.

19. Japanese model : CAMRY
The Japanese automotive manufacturer Toyota has been using crown-like model names for some time. “Corolla” is Latin for “small crown”, “Corona” is Latin for “crown”, and “Camry” sounds like the Japanese word for “crown”.

23. Monopoly acquisition : DEED
The commercial game of Monopoly is supposedly a remake of “The Landlord’s Game” created in 1903 by a Quaker woman called Lizzie Phillips. Phillips used her game as a tool to explain the single tax theory of American economist Henry George. The Landlord’s Game was first produced commercially in 1924. The incredibly successful derivative game called Monopoly was introduced in 1933 by Charles Darrow, who became a very rich man when Parker Brothers bought the rights to the game just two years later in 1935.

24. Shish kebab meat : LAMB
The name “kebab” (also “kabob”) covers a wide variety of meat dishes that originated in Persia. In the West, we usually use “kebab” when talking about shish kebab, which is meat (often lamb) served on a skewer. “Shish” comes from the Turkish word for “skewer”.

26. “Uh-oh, Sajak has fallen in the field!” : PAT’S DOWN! (from “pats down”)
Pat Sajak took over the hosting of “Wheel of Fortune” back in 1983 and has been doing the job ever since. Sajak had a short run as a talk show host in 1989/1990 and used to sub quite often for Larry King and Regis Philbin.

31. Ring king, once : ALI
Muhammad Ali first used his famous catchphrase “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” before his world title fight against Sonny Liston in 1964. Back then Ali still went by his birth name of Cassius Clay.

32. Lummoxes : OAFS
The word “lummox” comes from East Anglian slang (northeast of London). The term is probably a contraction of “lumbering ox”.

33. Basic training grads : 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.

35. Christmas glitter : TINSEL
The custom of decorating trees at Christmas seems to have originated in Renaissance Germany. Those first trees were placed in guildhalls and were decorated with sweets and candy for the apprentices and children. After the Protestant Reformation, the Christmas tree became an alternative in Protestant homes for the Roman Catholic Christmas cribs. The Christmas tree tradition was imported into Britain by the royal family because of its German heritage. That tradition spread from Britain into North America.

40. “Now we have Nicklaus at bat” : JACK’S UP (from “jacks up”)
Jack Nicklaus is a professional golfer from Columbus, Ohio. Nicknamed “the Golden Bear”, Nicklaus holds the record for winning the most major championships (18). Tiger Woods is in second place, having won 14 to date.

42. Good Grips kitchen brand : OXO
The OXO line of kitchen utensils is designed to be ergonomically superior to the average kitchen too. The intended user of OXO products is someone who doesn’t have the normal range of motion or strength in the hands e.g. someone suffering from arthritis.

46. Chocolaty nibble : OREO
How the Oreo cookie came to get its name seems to have been lost in the mists of time. One theory is that it comes from the French “or” meaning “gold”, a reference to the gold color of the original packing. Another suggestion is that the name is the Greek word “oreo” meaning “beautiful, nice, well-done”.

48. Shakespearean storm : TEMPEST
William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” tells the story of Prospero, who was removed from the throne of Milan and banished to a deserted island along with his daughter Miranda. Prospero learns sorcery while cast away, and eventually conjures up a tempest that drives those who usurped his throne onto the island’s shores (in particular his own brother, Antonio). On the island, Prospero is eventually successful in revealing Antonio’s lowly nature.

50. “There goes Zuckerberg, trying for a steal!” : MARK’S OFF! (from “marks off”)
Mark Zuckerberg was the principal founder of Facebook, and is now the company’s chairman and CEO. Zuckerberg’s CEO annual salary is a dollar. I don’t think he needs a big wage as he’s worth tens of billions of dollars.

55. Bellow in a bookstore : SAUL
Saul Bellow was the only writer to have won the National Book Award three times, and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1976. Bellow was a Canadian-born American writer, and among his most famous works were “Herzog” and “Humboldt’s Gift”.

56. Inkling : IDEA
Our word “inkling”, meaning “suggestion, intimation”, apparently comes from the Middle English word “inclen” meaning “to hint”.

57. Margarita option : SALT
No one seems to know for sure who first created the cocktail known as a margarita. The most plausible and oft-quoted is that it was invented in 1941 in Ensenada, Mexico. The barman mixed the drink for an important visitor, the daughter of the German ambassador. The daughter’s name was Margarita Henkel, and she lent her name to the new drink. The basic recipe for a margarita is a mixture of tequila, orange-flavored liqueur (like Cointreau) and lime juice.

64. “Fisher made it to first base!” : CARRIE’S ON! (from “carries on”)
The actress Carrie Fisher is most famous for playing Princess Leia in the “Star Wars” series of films. Carrie is the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and singer/actress Debbie Reynolds.

66. Word with Sea or Star : NORTH
The North Sea is an offshoot of the Atlantic Ocean that is located between Britain and Scandinavia.

Because the direction of the Earth’s axis moves, albeit very slowly, the position of north relative to the stars changes over time. The bright star that is closest to true north is Polaris, and so we call Polaris the North Star or Pole Star. 14,000 years ago, the nearest bright star to true north was Vega, and it will be so again in about 12,000 years time.

67. Lake in an old railroad name : ERIE
The Erie Railroad operated from 1832 to 1960, and connected New York City with Lake Erie. The Erie Railroad was largely built as compensation for the towns in the Southern Tier of New York who lost business when the Erie Canal was completed in 1825.

68. Classic soda brand : NEHI
“Nehi Corporation” was the nickname for the Chero-Cola/Union Bottle Works that introduced the Nehi drink in 1924. Years later the company developed a new brand, Royal Crown Cola (also known as RC Cola). By 1955, RC Cola was the company’s flagship product, so the “Nehi Corporation” became the “Royal Crown Company”. In 1954, RC Cola became the first company to sell soft drinks in cans.

71. Non-Derby pace : TROT
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”.

Down
1. Title for Horatio Magellan Crunch, on cereal boxes : CAP’N
The first Cap’n Crunch commercials aired in 1963, at the time the product line was launched. The Cap’n’s full name is Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, would you believe?. Crunch’s voice was provided for many years by Daws Butler, the same voice actor who gave us Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound.

2. Promise product : OLEO
The Unilever brand of margarine that we know as Promise here in the US is sold as Becel in much of the word, including Canada. Back in the UK and ireland we call the same product Flora.

4. Vacillates : SEESAWS
“To vacillate” is to be indecisive, to waver. The term comes from the Latin “vacillare” meaning “to sway to and fro”.

6. Double-reed woodwind : OBOE
A double-reed instrument is one in which two pieces of cane vibrate against each other to produce sound. In a single-reed instrument, just one piece of cane vibrates the mouthpiece. The best-known examples of double-reed instruments are the oboe and the bassoon.

8. Neon ___ : TETRA
The neon tetra is a freshwater fish, native to parts of South America. The tetra is a very popular aquarium fish and millions are imported into the US every year. Almost all of the imported tetras are farm-raised in Asia and very few come from their native continent.

9. Bub : MAC
“Bub” is American slang, a term used to address males, and is possibly a variation of bud.

10. Magic lamp rubber of lore : ALADDIN
Aladdin rubbed the lamp to make the genie appear.

“Aladdin” is a famous tale in the “Arabian Nights”, also called “The Book of One Thousand and One Nights”. However, there is no evidence at all that the story was in the original collection. It is generally believed that one Antoine Galland introduced the tale when he translated the “Arabian Nights” into French in the early 1700s.

11. The “thou” in “Wherefore art thou?” : ROMEO
In William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, the lovers discuss the sad fact that they have been born into two feuding families in the famous balcony scene. Juliet says:

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I’ll no longer be a Capulet.

Romeo’s reply includes the lines:

What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;

12. Headstrong woman, as in Shakespeare : SHREW
William Shakespeare’s “The Taming of the Shrew” is about a courting couple. The male is Petruchio, a gentleman of Verona, and the female is Katharina, the so-called “shrew”. As the play progresses, the “shrew” is “tamed” and becomes an “obedient” bride … a controversial storyline in the contemporary world, to say the least. Regardless, modern adaptations have been made, including 1948’s Broadway musical “Kiss Me Kate” and the 1999 romantic comedy “10 Things I Hate About You”.

13. Joseph who wrote the “Surprise” Symphony : HAYDN
Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G major is nicknamed “The Surprise Symphony”. Haydn was very fond of including a little humor in his music, and the “surprise” in Symphony No. 94 is the most famous. That surprise is a very loud chord at the end of a very quiet and lyrical passage in the second movement. As a result, the German nickname for “The Surprise Symphony” is “The Symphony with the Kettledrum Stroke”.

25. Persistent problems : BUGABOOS
“Bugaboo” is another term for a bogeyman, an imaginary and scary creature used to frighten children. More generally, a bugaboo is something that creates fear or worry.

27. Freudian mistake : SLIP
A Freudian slip is a error that is interpreted as being due to an unconscious wish for the same outcome. Named for psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, the “slip” is also called a parapraxis.

28. Knighted U2 singer : BONO
U2’s lead singer Bono was granted an honorary knighthood by Queen Elizabeth II of the UK in 2007. However, the title of “Sir” can only be used by citizens of the UK and the British Commonwealth. Bono is an Irishman, and Ireland left the British Commonwealth when it became an independent republic in 1949. So, it’s just “Bono”, and not “Sir Bono”.

29. Name on many a road map : RAND
Rand McNally is a company long associated with the city of Chicago. Its roots go back to 1856 when William Rand opened a printing shop in the city. Two years later he hired an Irish immigrant called Andrew McNally and the pair turned to printing tickets and timetables for the railroad industry. They diversified into “railroad guides” in 1870, a precursor of what was to be their big success, the road atlas. When automobile travel started to become significant, Rand and McNally turned their attention to roads and they published their first road map, of New York City in 1904. Rand and McNally really popularized the use of highway numbers, and indeed erected many roadside highway signs themselves, long before the state and federal authorities adopted the idea.

30. Pen name? : 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.

44. Indonesia’s capital : JAKARTA
Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and is located on the northwest coast of the island of Java. The city’s name comes from “Jayakarta” meaning “complete victory”.

49. New Testament gift bearers : MAGI
“Magi” is the plural of the Latin word “magus”, a term applied to someone who was able to read the stars. Hence, magi is commonly used with reference to the “wise men from the East” who followed the star and visited Jesus soon after he was born.

50. “Now We Are Six” writer : MILNE
“Now We Are Six” is a collection of children’s verses by A. A. Milne, the creator of Winnie-the-Pooh and his friends. It was published in 1927, and illustrated by E. H. Shepard, the man behind the illustrations for the Winnie-the-Pooh stories as well as Kenneth Graham’s equally famous story “The Wind in the Willows”. Indeed, eleven of the verses in “Now We Are Six” are illustrated with images of Winnie the Pooh. Sounds like one for the grand-kids …

51. “Hasta mañana” : ADIOS
The term “adios” is of course Spanish for “goodbye”. In the Spanish language, “adios” comes from the phrase “a dios vos acomiendo” meaning “I commend you to God”.

“Hasta mañana” translates from Spanish as “See you tomorrow”.

60. Gallery-filled Manhattan neighborhood : SOHO
The Manhattan neighborhood known today as SoHo was very fashionable in the early 1900s, but as the well-heeled started to move uptown the area became very run down and poorly maintained. Noted for the number of fires that erupted in derelict buildings, SoHo earned the nickname “Hell’s Hundred Acres”. The area was then zoned for manufacturing and became home to many sweatshops. In the mid-1900s artists started to move into open loft spaces and renovating old buildings as the lofts were ideal locations in which an artist could both live and work. In 1968, artists and others organized themselves so that they could legalize their residential use of an area zoned for manufacturing. The group they formed took its name from the name given to the area by the city’s Planning Commission i.e “South of Houston”. This was shortened from So-uth of Ho-uston to SoHo as in the SoHo Artists Association, and the name stuck.

63. Like a shrinking violet : SHY
Someone who is very shy might be described as a “shrinking violet”. The violet in this case is the flower, and not the girl’s name. The plant Viola odorata has been called “shrinking violet” because of its habit of hugging the ground as it grows.

65. One of 435 in D.C. : REP
The number of seats in the US House of Representatives has been 435 since the year 1913, although there was a temporary increase to 437 seats at the time of the admission of Alaska and Hawaii to the Union. The number of representatives assigned to each state is proportional to that state’s population, except that each state is guaranteed a minimum of one delegate by the US Constitution.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Corn throwaways : COBS
5. Emcee : HOST
9. Swampy tract : MARSH
14. Common sunscreen additive : ALOE
15. Sufficiently skilled : ABLE
16. ___ State (Hawaii) : ALOHA
17. “That makes three strikes for O’Toole!” : PETER’S OUT! (from “peters out”)
19. Japanese model : CAMRY
20. “That’s plain wrong!” : NOT SO!
21. Miscalculates : ERRS
23. Monopoly acquisition : DEED
24. Shish kebab meat : LAMB
26. “Uh-oh, Sajak has fallen in the field!” : PAT’S DOWN! (from “pats down”)
28. Spot for some local suds : BREWPUB
31. Ring king, once : ALI
32. Lummoxes : OAFS
33. Basic training grads : GIS
35. Christmas glitter : TINSEL
39. Cincinnati-to-Detroit dir. : NNE
40. “Now we have Nicklaus at bat” : JACK’S UP (from “jacks up”)
42. Good Grips kitchen brand : OXO
43. Handyman’s assignment : ODD JOB
45. Thus far : YET
46. Chocolaty nibble : OREO
47. In the past : AGO
48. Shakespearean storm : TEMPEST
50. “There goes Zuckerberg, trying for a steal!” : MARK’S OFF! (from “marks off”)
55. Bellow in a bookstore : SAUL
56. Inkling : IDEA
57. Margarita option : SALT
59. Luster for the lips : GLOSS
62. Dishonest types : LIARS
64. “Fisher made it to first base!” : CARRIE’S ON! (from “carries on”)
66. Word with Sea or Star : NORTH
67. Lake in an old railroad name : ERIE
68. Classic soda brand : NEHI
69. College applicant’s composition : ESSAY
70. Office sub, perhaps : TEMP
71. Non-Derby pace : TROT

Down
1. Title for Horatio Magellan Crunch, on cereal boxes : CAP’N
2. Promise product : OLEO
3. Like some motherless calves and foals : BOTTLE-FED
4. Vacillates : SEESAWS
5. Contains : HAS
6. Double-reed woodwind : OBOE
7. Eat noisily : SLURP
8. Neon ___ : TETRA
9. Bub : MAC
10. Magic lamp rubber of lore : ALADDIN
11. The “thou” in “Wherefore art thou?” : ROMEO
12. Headstrong woman, as in Shakespeare : SHREW
13. Joseph who wrote the “Surprise” Symphony : HAYDN
18. Cavort : ROMP
22. Things passed on the way to the White House? : STATUTES
25. Persistent problems : BUGABOOS
27. Freudian mistake : SLIP
28. Knighted U2 singer : BONO
29. Name on many a road map : RAND
30. Pen name? : BIC
34. Wild blue yonder : SKY
36. One moaning and groaning after a defeat : SORE LOSER
37. Custody sharers, often : EXES
38. Plunder : LOOT
40. Goes once or twice around the track, maybe : JOGS
41. Encyclopedia from A to Z, e.g. : SET
44. Indonesia’s capital : JAKARTA
46. Splendidly luxurious : OPULENT
49. New Testament gift bearers : MAGI
50. “Now We Are Six” writer : MILNE
51. “Hasta mañana” : ADIOS
52. Brings up : REARS
53. Aspect : FACET
54. Signal light : FLARE
58. Cut back a bit : TRIM
60. Gallery-filled Manhattan neighborhood : SOHO
61. State of vexation : SNIT
63. Like a shrinking violet : SHY
65. One of 435 in D.C. : REP

Return to top of page

The Best of the New York Times Crossword Collections
Amazon.com Widgets