0906-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 6 Sep 14, Saturday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Big chain closed on Sundays CHICK-FIL-A
Chick-fil-A is a chain of fast food restaurants that was founded in 1946 in Georgia. The corporation has a culture that is heavily influenced by the founder’s evangelical Christian faith. As such, Chick-fil-A is one of the only fast food or retail chain of stores that closes for business on Sunday. Chick-fil-A also made the headlines recently due to the company’s stated opposition to same-sex marriage.

10. Person lacking foresight? MYOPE
A myope is someone suffering from myopia, short-sightedness.

16. Point of origin for some flights AERIE
An aerie is the nest of an eagle, and is also known as an “eyrie”.

21. Ratso’s given name ENRICO
Enrico Salvatore “Ratso” Rizzo is one of the characters in the groundbreaking 1969 movie “Midnight Cowboy”. Rizzo is a down-and-out con man, played by Dustin Hoffman.

22. First name at the U.N., once KOFI
Kofi Annan is a diplomat from Ghana who served as General Secretary of the UN for ten years until the beginning of 2007. Annan attended the MIT Sloan School of Management from 1971-72, and graduated with a Master of Science degree.

24. Predigital beeper? ROAD RUNNER
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner are two much-loved cartoon characters from Warner Bros. Wile E. Coyote was created first, and Road Runner was invented as someone for Wile E. to play off. I love this cartoon; definitely one of the best …

27. Display EVINCE
“To evince” is to show clearly, to make evident.

30. Malt finisher? -OSE
Maltose, also known as malt sugar, is a disaccharide made up of two glucose units.

31. Hit Showtime show DEXTER
“Dexter” is a crime show that airs on Showtime. The title character works for the Miami Police Department as an expert in blood spatter patterns by day, but is a serial killer by night. The original series was based on the “Dexter” novels written by Jeff Lindsay. I haven’t seen this show myself, but my eldest son really enjoys it …

32. Nasdaq member?: Abbr. ASSOC
The computerized stock trading system known as the NASDAQ was created in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers. NASDAQ stands for National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations. NASDAQ was the successor to the over-the-counter (OTC) trading system that was common at the time. OTC trading is done directly between two parties without being facilitated by an exchange.

35. BBC World Service 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.

BBC World Service is an international broadcast service based in London, and is the largest international broadcaster in the world. Programming goes out in 28 languages, with English programming being aired 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The BBC World Service’s audience has been reported as between 180 and 190 million people around the globe.

36. Contact briefly electronically PING
In the world of computer science, the original “ping” was (and still is) a test message sent over a network between computers to check for a response and to measure the time of that response. We now use the verb “to ping” more generally, meaning to send someone a message, usually a reminder.

41. You might strain to produce them PUREES
A “purée” is a food that has been made smooth by straining or blending. “Purée” is a French term, which I believe is now used to mean “pea soup” (more completely written as “purée de pois”). The French verb “purer” means “to strain, clean”, from the Latin “purare” meaning “to purify, clean”.

46. Harmonica piece REED
The harmonica is a reed instrument. A harmonica contains a number of reeds that are usually made from metal, all arranged on a reed plate.

48. Use a two-digit confirmation code? PINKY SWEAR
When two people pinky swear, they entwine the little fingers of one hand to signify that a promise has been made. The tradition of pinky swearing has been around since at least 1860, when the ritual was accompanied by the rhyme:

Pinky, pinky bow-bell,
Whoever tells a lie
Will sink down to the bad place
And never rise up again.

51. Neighbor resort of Snowbird ALTA
Alta ski resort actually lies within the Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area. The nearby ski resort of Snowbird has been in operation since 1971.

53. Silver Buffalo Award org. BSA
As every little boy (of my era) knows, the Scouting movement was founded by Lord Baden Powell, in 1907. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) soon followed, in 1910.

The Silver Buffalo Award is the highest award granted by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). It is presented in recognition of extraordinary service to youth on a national basis, either within or without the scouting program.

55. “___ shall live your epitaph to make”: Shak. OR I
Here is William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 81 in full:

Or I shall live your epitaph to make,
Or you survive when I in earth am rotten;
From hence your memory death cannot take,
Although in me each part will be forgotten.
Your name from hence immortal life shall have,
Though I, once gone, to all the world must die:
The earth can yield me but a common grave,
When you entombed in men’s eyes shall lie.
Your monument shall be my gentle verse,
Which eyes not yet created shall o’er-read,
And tongues to be your being shall rehearse
When all the breathers of this world are dead;
You still shall live–such virtue hath my pen–
Where breath most breathes, even in the mouths of men.

56. Type of white wine RHINE
Most wine in Germany is produced along the River Rhine and its tributaries. Germany is the eighth-largest producer of wine in the world, with white wine accounting for about two thirds of the total production. The most respected white wines are made from the Riesling grape, whereas the most popular red wine is made from “Spätburgunder” grapes, the German name for pinot noir.

60. “Panic 911” airer A AND E
“PANIC 9-1-1” is a show airing on A&E that reenacts events surrounding actual 9-1-1 calls.

61. Tables or shelves PUTS ASIDE
These “tabling” and “shelving” idioms drive me crazy, because they are often misused. If a topic is shelved, it is set aside. If a topic is tabled, it is brought “off the shelf” and put “on the table” for discussion. But, maybe it’s just me …

Down
3. Preoccupation IDEE FIXE
An “idée fixe” (a French term) is basically a fixed idea, an obsession.

4. “Profiles in Leadership” publisher, briefly CIA
“Profiles in Leadership” is a CIA publication that’s available as a free download from the agency’s website. The publication gives a history of the CIA by profiling the 23 men who led the agency from 1941 to 2012.

5. “___ 2012” (viral video) KONY
“KONY 2012” is a short film that was released in 2012 that promoted the movement to have African militia leader Joseph Kony arrested so that he can appear before the International Criminal Court for war crimes. Kony is the leader of the guerilla group Lord’s Resistance Army that has origins in Uganda. Kony is accused of abducting tens of thousands of children to become sex slaves and child soldiers.

6. Completer of a career Grand Slam in 2009 FEDERER
Roger Federer is a Swiss tennis player considered by many to be the greatest tennis player of all time.

7. Snake River Plain locale IDAHO
The Snake River in the US northwest is the largest tributary of the Columbia River.

8. Much-used epithet in hip-hop LIL’
Lil’ is a short form of the word “little”. There are a whole slew of rappers named Lil’ something, like Lil’ Wayne, Lil’ J, and Lil’ Kim.

An “epithet” is a word or phrase, often used in a name, to describe a quality of the person or thing bearing that name. For example, King Richard I was also known as Richard the Lionheart.

9. P.R. setting ATL
Puerto Rico (PR) is located in the Atlantic (Atl.)

Puerto Rico is located in the northeastern Caribbean (in the Atlantic Ocean), east of the Dominican Republic. The name “Puerto Rico” is Spanish for “rich port”. The locals often call their island Borinquen, the Spanish form of “Boriken”, the original name used by the natives.

10. Prime piece MAGNUM OPUS
“Magnum opus” is a Latin term meaning “great work”. The magnum opus of a writer or composer perhaps, is his or her greatest work.

11. Jones YEARN
The slang term “Jones” is used to mean an intense addiction, a yen, and probably arose in the late sixties out of the prior use of “Jones” for the drug heroin.

12. Duke of Illyria, in Shakespeare ORSINO
Orsion, Duke of Illyria is a character in William Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. The opening lines of the play, spoken by the love-smitten Orsino, are:

If music be the food of love, play on,
Give me excess of it; that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

13. Final sign PISCES
The last astrological sign of the zodiac is called Pisces, which is named for the Pisces constellation. “Pisces” is the Latin word for “fish” in the plural (singular “piscis”).

14. Kid-lit character with a long face, in more ways than one EEYORE
Eeyore is the donkey character in A. A. Milne’s “Winnie-the-Pooh”. Eeyore is very lovable, but has a gloomy and pessimistic outlook on life.

21. Libido EROS
“Libido” is a term first popularized by Sigmund Freud. Freud’s usage was more general than is understood today, as he used “libido” to describe all instinctive energy that arose in the subconscious. He believed that we humans are driven by two desires, the desire for life (the libido, or Eros) and the desire for death (Thanatos). Personally, I don’t agree …

25. Stylish A LA MODE
In French, “à la mode” simply means “fashionable”. In America, the term has also come to describe a way of serving pie, usually with ice cream, or as I recall from when I lived in Upstate New York, with cheese.

33. Near CIRCA
“Circa” is a Latin word meaning “around, near, about the time of”. We use “circa” directly in English to mean “about the time of”, as well as in derivative words such as “circle” and “circus”.

37. Linguistically adventurous NEOLOGIC
A “neologism” is a new word or phrase, or a new meaning or usage for an existing word.

38. “Most seeming-virtuous queen,” in Shakespeare GERTRUDE
In William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, Hamlet’s mother Gertrude stands over the grave of Ophelia, whom she had hoped would marry her son. Gertrude throws flowers (“sweets”) on the grave of Ophelia (“the sweet”) saying:

Sweets to the sweet, farewell!
I hop’d thou shouldst have been my Hamlet’s wife:
I thought thy bride-bed to have deck’d, sweet maid,
And not have strew’d thy grave.

43. Leitmotif settings OPERAS
A “leitmotif” in the world of music is a recurring musical phrase that is associated with a particular theme or perhaps a particular person. Common in classical works, leitmotifs are also frequently used in film music. A classic example would be the strident notes played every time Darth Vader appears on the screen in a “Star Wars” movie.

44. Stereotypical wear for the paranoid TIN HAT
A paranoid person might wear a hat made of aluminum foil in the belief that it provides protection against mind control and mind reading.

57. Burn prevention stat SPF
In theory, the sun protection factor (SPF) is a calibrated measure of the effectiveness of a sunscreen in protecting the skin from harmful UV rays. The idea is that if you wear a lotion with say SPF 20, then it takes 20 times as much UV radiation to cause the skin to burn than it would take without protection. I say just stay out of the sun …

58. As QUA
“Qua” is a preposition meaning “in the capacity of”. “Qua” is a form of the Latin word for “who”.

59. Grp. with rules about carrying on? TSA
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created in 2001, soon after the 9/11 attacks.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Big chain closed on Sundays CHICK-FIL-A
10. Person lacking foresight? MYOPE
15. Version of a song that’s shorter or cleaner than the original RADIO EDIT
16. Point of origin for some flights AERIE
17. Nobody’s opposite ONE AND ALL
18. Overly talkative GASSY
19. Cause of many unwelcome lines AGE
20. “Uh-huh” YEH
21. Ratso’s given name ENRICO
22. First name at the U.N., once KOFI
24. Predigital beeper? ROAD RUNNER
27. Display EVINCE
29. Seem forthcoming LOOM
30. Malt finisher? -OSE
31. Hit Showtime show DEXTER
32. Nasdaq member?: Abbr. ASSOC
34. An early Disney cartoon had one REEL
35. BBC World Service std. GMT
36. Contact briefly electronically PING
39. Like throwbacks RETRO
41. You might strain to produce them PUREES
43. Chief Chono Ca Pe, e.g. OTO
46. Harmonica piece REED
47. Part of a funeral procession ESCORT
48. Use a two-digit confirmation code? PINKY SWEAR
51. Neighbor resort of Snowbird ALTA
52. Undergo induction ENLIST
53. Silver Buffalo Award org. BSA
55. “___ shall live your epitaph to make”: Shak. OR I
56. Type of white wine RHINE
57. One may soak a competitor SQUIRT GUN
60. “Panic 911” airer A AND E
61. Tables or shelves PUTS ASIDE
62. Position STEAD
63. Zippy FAST-PACED

Down
1. Was hoarse CROAKED
2. It can be a headache HANGOVER
3. Preoccupation IDEE FIXE
4. “Profiles in Leadership” publisher, briefly CIA
5. “___ 2012” (viral video) KONY
6. Completer of a career Grand Slam in 2009 FEDERER
7. Snake River Plain locale IDAHO
8. Much-used epithet in hip-hop LIL’
9. P.R. setting ATL
10. Prime piece MAGNUM OPUS
11. Jones YEARN
12. Duke of Illyria, in Shakespeare ORSINO
13. Final sign PISCES
14. Kid-lit character with a long face, in more ways than one EEYORE
21. Libido EROS
23. National leader? INTER-
25. Stylish A LA MODE
26. “___ not thou fear God …”: Luke 23:4 DOST
28. Ingredient in many salad dressings CELERY SEED
33. Near CIRCA
35. Opposite of contracted GREW
37. Linguistically adventurous NEOLOGIC
38. “Most seeming-virtuous queen,” in Shakespeare GERTRUDE
40. Try TEST
41. Go on PERSIST
42. Like some teeth and glass STAINED
43. Leitmotif settings OPERAS
44. Stereotypical wear for the paranoid TIN HAT
45. Connected ONLINE
49. “Ish” KINDA
50. Meets ABUTS
54. Give ___ (have any interest) A RAP
57. Burn prevention stat SPF
58. As QUA
59. Grp. with rules about carrying on? TSA

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