1001-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 1 Oct 14, Wednesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. “Take ___” (1994 Madonna hit that was #1 for seven weeks) A BOW
“Take a Bow” was a hit in 1994 for Madonna, her second number one in the US.

5. Formal, maybe PROM
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.

13. St. Petersburg’s river NEVA
The Neva is a very large river that spills into the Gulf of Finland at the beautiful city of St. Petersburg. The river forms an expansive delta as it reaches the Baltic Sea and the delta gives rise to numerous islands, with the number of islands further increased by a network of canals. The historic part of the city is built on these islands giving St. Petersburg a very Venetian feel. I had the privilege of visiting the city some years ago, and I can attest that it is indeed spectacular …

14. “Peanuts” kid with a security blanket LINUS
In Charles Schulz’s fabulous comic strip “Peanuts”, Charlie Brown is friends with at least three members of the van Pelt family. Most famously there is Lucy van Pelt, who bosses everyone around, particularly Charlie. Then there is Linus, Lucy’s younger brother, the character who always has his security blanket at hand. Lastly there is an even younger brother, Rerun van Pelt. Rerun is constantly hiding under his bed, trying to avoid going to school.

17. Genre of Verdi’s “Jérusalem” GRAND OPERA
“Jérusalem” is a four-act grand opera by Giuseppe Verdi that premiered in 1847. “Jérusalem” is one only a few of Verdi’s works that had a French libretto.

21. “Fist of Fury” star, 1972 BRUCE LEE
Bruce Lee was born not far from here in San Francisco although he was raised in Hong Kong, returning to the US to attend college. Sadly, Bruce Lee died when he was only 32 years old, due to cerebral edema (a swelling of the brain) attributed to adverse reactions to the pain killing drug Equagesic.

23. Chapter 52, formally LII
LII is the number 52 written in Roman numerals.

24. Guacamole base, in British lingo AVOCADO PEAR
I guess what we would call simply an “avocado” in North America, a British person might refer to as an “avocado pear”.

The wonderful avocado comes from a tree that is native to Mexico and Central America. The avocado fruit is sometime called an avocado pear, because of its shape, even though it is not related to the pear at all. The fruit might also be referred to as an alligator pear, due to the roughness of the green skin of some avocado cultivars.

Guacamole is one of my favorite dishes, and is made by mashing avocados and perhaps adding the likes of tomato, onion and lime juice. The guacamole recipe dates back as early as the 16th century, to the time of the Aztecs. “Guacamole” translates as “avocado sauce”.

29. Yang’s go-with YIN
The yin and the yang can be explained using many different metaphors. In one, as the sun shines on a mountain, the side in the shade is the yin and the side in the light is the yang. The yin is also regarded as the feminine side, and the yang the masculine. The yin can also be associated with the moon, while the yang is associated with the sun.

30. Cause of a blowup? TNT
TNT is an abbreviation for trinitrotoluene. Trinitrotoluene was first produced in 1863 by the German chemist Joseph Wilbrand, who developed it for use as a yellow dye. TNT is relatively difficult to detonate so it was on the market as a dye for some years before its more explosive properties were discovered.

31. Cannes showing CINE
“Cinéma” is the French for “cinema”, and is often shortened to “ciné”.

Cannes is a city on the French Riviera, noted as host of the Cannes Film Festival. The idea of the annual film festival was adopted by the city just before WWII. However, the festival had to wait for the end of the war for its launch in 1946.

36. Used a crowbar on, say PRIED OPEN
A crowbar is a wonderful tool, one that can be used to pry open things, and to remove nails. The claw at one or both ends of the tool aids in that nail removal, and it is likely this “claw” was said to resemble that of a crow, giving us the name “crowbar”. Back in Elizabethan times. the same tool was called an “iron crow”. There’s a line in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” that reads “Get me an iron crow and bring it straight/Unto my cell.”

40. ___ facto IPSO
“Ipso facto” is Latin, meaning “by the fact itself”. Ipso facto describes something that is a direct consequence of particular act, as opposed to something that is the result of some subsequent event. For example, my father was born in Dublin and was an Irish citizen ipso facto. My son was born in California and is an Irish citizen by virtue of being the son of an Irish citizen (“not” ipso facto).

42. Crime lab sample DNA
I’ve always been fascinated by the fact that the DNA of living things is so very similar across different species. Human DNA is almost exactly the same for every individual (to the degree of 99.9%). However, those small differences are sufficient to distinguish one individual from another, and to determine whether or not individuals are close family relations.

47. Spanish she-bear OSA
In Spanish, “osa” is a female bear, and “oso” is a male.

53. Robert Redford’s “great” 1975 role WALDO PEPPER
“The Great Waldo Pepper” is a 1975 movie about a WWI pilot who missed out on combat and who has a post-war career barnstorming. Robert Redford plays the title role. I hear that aviation enthusiasts love this movie …

58. Palliates EASES
To “palliate” is to relieve the symptoms of a disease or disorder, without effecting any form of a cure. “Palliate” comes from the Latin “palliatus” meaning “cloaked”.

66. Violinist Leopold AUER
Leopold Auer was a Hungarian violinist, as well as a conductor and composer. Auer wrote a small number of works for the violin, the most famous of which is the “Rhapsodie Hongroise” written for violin and piano.

69. Appalachians, e.g.: Abbr. MTNS
The Appalachian Mountains in eastern North America were once as tall as the Alps and the Rockies, before submitting to eons of erosion.

Down
2. “Apollo and Daphne” sculptor BERNINI
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist, generally regarded as the successor to Michelangelo.

“Apollo and Daphne” is a life-sized sculpture by Italian artist Bernini that can be seen in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

5. Gaza grp. PLO
The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) was founded in 1964. The PLO’s early stated goal was the liberation of Palestine, with Palestine defined as the geographic entity that existed under the terms of the British Mandate granted by the League of Nations back in 1923. The PLO was granted observer status (i.e. no voting rights) at the United Nations in 1974.

After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the boundaries of the strip of land on the Mediterranean around Gaza were fixed in the Israel-Egypt Armistice Agreement. The boundaries were specifically defined but were not to be recognized as an international border. From 1948, the Gaza Strip was occupied and administered by Egypt, until 1967 when Israel took over occupation following the Six-Day War. In 1993, Israel and the PLO signed the Oslo Accords which handed over administration to the Palestinian Authority, but with Israel retaining control of the Gaza Strip’s airspace, some land borders and its territorial waters. The intent was to further this agreement, but discussions between the parties broke down. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

6. Engraved letters? RIP
Rest in peace (RIP)

7. End of an ancient period ONE BC
The designations Anno Domini (AD, “year of Our Lord”) and Before Christ (BC) are found in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The dividing point between AD and BC is the year of the conception of Jesus, with AD 1 following 1 BC without a year “0” in between. The AD/BC scheme dates back to AD 525, and gained wide acceptance soon after AD 800. Nowadays a modified version has become popular, with CE (Common/Christian Era) used to replace AD, and BCE (Before the Common/Christian Era) used to replace BC.

8. Lexicographer James who was the O.E.D.’s first editor MURRAY
Scotsman James Murray was the first editor of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), filling that role from 1879 until his death in 1915. However, Murray never saw his work completed as the anticipated ten-year project actually took 50 years to complete.

9. ___ throat STREP
Streptococcus bacteria multiply and divide along a single axis so that they form linked chains. That behavior gives the genus of bacteria its name, as “streptos” is Greek for “easily twisted, like a chain”. I had a battle with streptococcal pharyngitis (strep throat) not too long ago and it was not at all pleasant, I must say. Another species of streptococcus is responsible for that terrible “flesh-eating” infection that makes the news from time to time.

12. Much of Arabia DESERT
The Arabian Peninsula (also “Arabia”) is part of Western Asia that is located just north-east of Africa. The peninsula is bordered to the west by the Red Sea, to the northeast by the Persian Gulf, and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean. Most of the Arabian Peninsula is taken up by Saudi Arabia, but also included are Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.

15. ___ Arabia SAUDI
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country in the Middle East and is the world’s largest oil producer, home to the world’s largest oil reserves. The Saudi dynasty started in central Arabia in 1744 when the secular leader Muhammad ibn Saud joined forces with the Islamic scholar and Imam, Muhammad ibn Abd-al-Wahhab. At the time, Saud was a ruler of a town near Riyadh and he was determined to bring “true” Islam to the Arabian peninsula. Since 1744 the fortunes of the Saudi family have risen and fallen, but it is that same family who rules what we know today as Saudi Arabia.

22. Publisher Nast CONDE
Condé Nast has a very large portfolio of publications, including “Vogue”, “GQ”, “House and Garden”, “Golf Digest”, “Wired”, “Vanity Fair” and “The New Yorker”.

25. End of a famous boast VICI
The oft-quoted statement “Veni, vidi, vici” (“I came, I saw, I conquered”) is believed by many to have been written by Julius Caesar. The words date back to 47 BC and refer to the short war between Rome and Pharnaces II of Pontus.

26. Platte Valley native OTOE
The Otoe (also Oto) Native American tribe originated in the Great Lakes region as part of the Winnebago or Siouan tribes. The group that would become the Otoe broke away from the Winnebago and migrated southwestwards ending up in the Great Plains. In the plains the Otoe adopted a semi-nomadic lifestyle dependent on the horse, with the American bison becoming central to their diet.

The Platte River used to be called the Nebrakier, which is an Oto word meaning “flat river”. Indeed, the state of Nebraska takes its name from “Nebrakier”. For a while it was also called the River Plate as “plate” is the French word “flat”. Later this became “Platte”, the phonetic spelling of the French “plate”.

35. Golden rule preposition UNTO
The Golden Rule is also known as the ethic of reciprocity, and is a basis for the concept of human rights. A version of the rule used in the Christian tradition is attributed to Jesus: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

38. “Movin’ ___” ON UP
“Movin’ On Up” is the theme song for “The Jeffersons” sitcom that was first broadcast in the seventies and eighties.

The very popular sitcom called “The Jeffersons” ran from 1975 until it came to an abrupt end in 1985. CBS cancelled the show without even allowing a series finale that “wrapped things up”. In fact the lead actor, Sherman Hemsley, first learned of the show’s cancellation in the newspaper.

41. Soap ingredient PALM OIL
Soap is basically made by adding a strong alkali (like lye) to a fat (like olive oil or palm oil). The fats break down in the basic solution in a process called saponification. The crude soap is extracted from the mixture, washed, purified and finished in molds.

46. “Star Trek” weapons PHASERS
A MASER is a device that was around long before LASERs came into the public consciousness. A MASER (Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation) is similar to a LASER, but microwaves are emitted rather than light waves. When the storyline for “Star Trek” was being developed, the writers introduced a weapon called a “phaser”, with the name “phaser” derived from PHoton mASER.

49. Shower time APRIL
The phenomenon of “April Showers” really applies to the UK and Ireland. Increased occurrence of rain during April is largely due to an annual change in the position of the jet stream.

50. Many a Taylor Swift fan TEENER
Singer Taylor Swift had one of her first gigs at the US Open tennis tournament when she was in her early teens. There she sang the national anthem and received a lot of favorable attention for the performance.

52. Tribe of the Canadian Plains CREE
The Cree are one of the largest groups of Native Americans on the continent. In the US most of the Cree nation live in Montana on a reservation shared with the Ojibwe people. In Canada most of the Cree live in Manitoba.

54. What a big mouth might have DELTA
Some rivers deposit a lot of silt at the river’s mouth, where it empties into a sea or ocean. That deposit of silt makes the river more shallow, and so the volume of water spreads out laterally, into a triangular or delta-shape.

55. Basil-flavored sauce PESTO
The term “pesto” applies to anything made by pounding. What we tend to know as “pesto” sauce is more properly called “pesto alla genovese”, pesto from Genoa in northern Italy.

59. Singer Lambert ADAM
Adam Lambert is one of the “successes” to come out of the “American Idol” machine.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. “Take ___” (1994 Madonna hit that was #1 for seven weeks) A BOW
5. Formal, maybe PROM
9. Formal wear accouterment STUD
13. St. Petersburg’s river NEVA
14. “Peanuts” kid with a security blanket LINUS
16. Build muscles, with “up” TONE
17. Genre of Verdi’s “Jérusalem” GRAND OPERA
19. Lens holders RIMS
20. “Come in!” ENTER
21. “Fist of Fury” star, 1972 BRUCE LEE
23. Chapter 52, formally LII
24. Guacamole base, in British lingo AVOCADO PEAR
27. Making the rounds? IN ORBIT
29. Yang’s go-with YIN
30. Cause of a blowup? TNT
31. Cannes showing CINE
32. Sound from a window ledge COO
34. Do some housekeeping DUST
36. Used a crowbar on, say PRIED OPEN
40. ___ facto IPSO
42. Crime lab sample DNA
43. Amt. of cooking oil, maybe TBSP
47. Spanish she-bear OSA
48. Face the pitcher BAT
51. Boorish UNCOUTH
53. Robert Redford’s “great” 1975 role WALDO PEPPER
56. Vote for YEA
57. Where you might pick fruit while it’s still green LIME TREE
58. Palliates EASES
60. Something false in the Bible? IDOL
61. Lowdown … or a hint to 17-, 24-, 36- and 53-Across INSIDE DOPE
64. Tizzy SNIT
65. “Please, I can do it” LET ME
66. Violinist Leopold AUER
67. “Hey, José!” HOLA!
68. Tire swing part ROPE
69. Appalachians, e.g.: Abbr. MTNS

Down
1. Good-looking? ANGELIC
2. “Apollo and Daphne” sculptor BERNINI
3. Warm response from a crowd OVATION
4. Decline WANE
5. Gaza grp. PLO
6. Engraved letters? RIP
7. End of an ancient period ONE BC
8. Lexicographer James who was the O.E.D.’s first editor MURRAY
9. ___ throat STREP
10. Facilities TOILETS
11. Accidental UNMEANT
12. Much of Arabia DESERT
15. ___ Arabia SAUDI
18. In need of some color DRAB
22. Publisher Nast CONDE
25. End of a famous boast VICI
26. Platte Valley native OTOE
28. Workout count REPS
33. Screwy ODD
35. Golden rule preposition UNTO
37. Bomb squad member ROBOT
38. “Movin’ ___” ON UP
39. Glazier’s unit PANE
40. Words before “… and that’s final!” I SAID NO …
41. Soap ingredient PALM OIL
44. Takes over the assets of, as a partner BUYS OUT
45. Make more inclined STEEPEN
46. “Star Trek” weapons PHASERS
47. Studious-looking OWLISH
49. Shower time APRIL
50. Many a Taylor Swift fan TEENER
52. Tribe of the Canadian Plains CREE
54. What a big mouth might have DELTA
55. Basil-flavored sauce PESTO
59. Singer Lambert ADAM
62. Little handful IMP
63. Syllable repeated after “fiddle” DEE

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