1113-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 13 Nov 14, Thursday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
15. Exercise in brevity HAIKU
A haiku is a very elegant form of Japanese verse. When writing a haiku in English we tend to impose the rule that the verse must contain 17 syllables. This restriction comes from the rule in Japanese that the verse must contain 17 sound units called “moras”, but moras and syllables aren’t the same thing. What the difference is though, is not so clear to me. Here’s an example of a Haiku:

Haikus are easy
But sometimes they don’t make sense
Refrigerator

16. Literally, with 19-Across, a Western state capital CARS(ON)
19. See 16-Across CITY
Carson City, Nevada was named for the Carson River, which in turn was named for the Kit Carson, the scout who accompanied the team of European Americans that first arrived in the area in 1843.

22. Prickly plants TEASELS
Botanically the prickly plants called teasels are collectively known as plants of the genus Dipsacus. They’re considered invasive species in the US, and you’ll see them all over waste, uncultivated land.

24. Ideology CREDO
“Credo” is the Latin word for “I believe”, and we use it in English as an alternate for “creed”.

27. Captain Morgan competitor BACARDI
The Bacardi company is still family-owned and operated, and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. The company was founded in Santiago de Cuba and became successful by selling a refined form of rum, something new to a market that was used to a crude dark rum. The Bacardi family opposed the Castro regime as it came to power, so the company had to relocate to Bermuda.

The Captain Morgan brand of rum comes from Jamaica in the West Indies. It is named after the privateer from Wales, Sir Henry Morgan, who plied his trade in the Caribbean in the 17th century.

34. Scintilla ATOM
A “scintilla” is a small amount. The term can also be used to describe a spark or a flash (as in “to scintillate”). The term came into English from Latin, in which language it means “spark, particle of fire, atom”.

37. Part of a collegian’s 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)

38. It’s north of Den. NOR
Norway has been ranked as the country in the world with the highest standard of living almost every year since 2001. Norway is rich in natural resources and has a relatively low population. The people benefit from a comprehensive social security system, subsidized higher education for all citizens and universal health care. And Norway is famous for her success at the Winter Olympic Games, having won more gold medals than any other nation in the world.

Denmark is a country in Northern Europe, and a constituent member of the European Union (EU). However, the Kingdom of Norway is a larger entity consisting of Denmark and two autonomous nations in the North Atlantic: the Faroe Islands and Greenland. Neither the Faroes nor Greenland are members of the EU.

41. Hollywood’s Howard RON
Ron Howard sure has come a long way since playing Opie Taylor on “The Andy Griffith Show”. He has directed some fabulous movies including favorites of mine like “Apollo 13”, “A Beautiful Mind” and “The Da Vinci Code”. And today, “Opie” is a grandfather …

42. Something that might be left at the scene of a crime 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.

45. Baltimore’s I-695, e.g. BELTWAY
Maryland’s Interstate-695 is a beltway the completely surrounds the city of Baltimore. The official name of the interstate is the McKeldin Beltway, in honor of former Maryland Governor Theodore R. McKeldin. Locals tend to refer to the route as the Baltimore Beltway, or simply “695”.

47. Buck SMACKER
“Smacker” is American slang for “money”, with “smackers” often being used to mean ”dollars”. It is suggested that the term might come from “smacking” a banknote into one’s hand.

50. Firm ending INC
A company that has incorporated uses the abbreviation “Inc.” after its name. By incorporating, a company forms a corporation, which is a legal entity that has legal rights similar to those of an individual. For example, a corporation can sue another corporation or individual. However, a corporation does not have all the rights of citizens. A corporation does not have the Fifth Amendment right of protections against self-incrimination, for example. It is perhaps understandable that the concept of “corporations as persons” is a frequent subject for debate.

51. Botanical opening STOMA
Stomata (the usual plural of stoma, not “stomas”) are pores found under almost every leaf, clearly visible under a simple microscope. The stomata take in air rich in carbon dioxide. Through the process of photosynthesis, the plants generate oxygen, which is released back into the air though the same stomata.

52. Toscanini and Maazel MAESTRI
“Maestro” is often used to address a musical conductor. “Maestro” (plural “maestri”) is the Italian word for “master, teacher”. The plural in English is usually “maestros”.

Arturo Toscanini was an Italian conductor of classical music. Toscanini took up the baton for the first time under sensational circumstances in 1886. He was attending a performance of “Aida” in Rio de Janeiro in the role of assistant chorus master, on a night when a substitute conductor was leading the orchestra. The substitute was in charge because the lead conductor had been forced to step down by striking performers who would not work with him. The disgruntled lead conductor led the audience in booing the unfortunate substitute, forcing him off the stage. Yet another substitute attempted to lead the performance, but he could not overcome the hostility of the crowd. The musicians themselves begged Toscanini to take up the baton, for the first time in his life, and simply because he knew the score by heart. After over an hour of mayhem, Toscanini led the company in a remarkable performance to marvelous acclaim. He had just launched his conducting career.

Lorin Maazel was a conductor born in France, but raised in the US. Maazel’s career started extremely early, as he made his concert debut at only 8 years old. He was a guest conductor for the NBC Symphony Orchestra when he was 11, and conducted major orchestras around the nation in a tour of the US when he was 12.

55. Literally, with 62-Across, longtime action star HARRIS(ON)
62. See 55-Across FORD
Harrison Ford played at least three celebrated, recurring roles in movies: Han Solo in the “Star Wars” series, the title character in the “Indiana Jones” series, and Jack Ryan in the movie versions of Tom Clancy novels. In the early days, Ford became a self-taught carpenter in order to put bread on the table while he looked for acting roles. As a carpenter he worked as a stagehand for the rock band “The Doors”, and he built a sun deck for actress Sally Kellerman (from the movie “M*A*S*H”). George Lucas hired him to build cabinets in his home, and then gave him a part in “American Graffiti”, after which I think Ford hung up his tool belt …

59. Literally, with 63-Across, distinguished chef CORD(ON)
63. See 59-Across BLEU
Le Cordon Bleu is an education institution focused on hospitality management and the culinary arts. “Le cordon bleu” is French for “the blue ribbon”.

60. Ancient region of Anatolia IONIA
The geographic region called Ionia is located in present day Turkey. Ionia was prominent in the days of Ancient Greece although it wasn’t a unified state, but rather a collection of tribes. The tribal confederacy was more based on religious and cultural similarities than a political or military alliance. Nowadays we often refer to this arrangement as the Ionian League.

Asia Minor is also known as Anatolia. It is the geographic part of Asia that protrudes out into the west, towards Europe, and is roughly equivalent to modern-day Turkey.

64. “America’s Got Talent” airer NBC TV
NBC’s show “America’s Got Talent” is part of a global franchise based in the UK. The original show is called “Britain’s Got Talent”, with the whole franchise being created by Simon Cowell.

65. “The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers” essayist ELIA
“The Praise of Chimney Sweepers” is an essay, published in a collection simply entitled “Essays of Elia”. The “Essays of Elia” began appearing in “London Magazine” in 1820, and were immediate hits. Elia was actually a clerk, and a co-worker of Charles Lamb, but it was Lamb who was the author, not Elia. The most famous of the essays in the collection are probably “Dream-Children” and “Old China”.

Down
1. Upper-crust sort, stereotypically WASP
The not-so-nice acronym “WASP”, stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. The term is used for Americans with a relatively high position in society, and who are usually of British descent.

2. Olive, to Ovid OLEA
The Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso is today known simply as Ovid. Ovid is usually listed alongside the two other great Roman poets: Horace and Virgil. Ovid was very popular in his day, but somehow he fell foul of Emperor Augustus. For a reason unknown today, Augustus banished Ovid to Tomis, an island in the Black Sea. He lived there for about ten years, until he died.

3. Narrow estuaries RIAS
A drowned valley might be called a ria or a fjord, both formed as sea level rises. A ria is a drowned valley created by river erosion, and a fjord is a drowned valley created by glaciation.

4. Between-innings feature on a Jumbotron KISS CAM
A JumboTron is a big-screen television system from Sony, often seen in sports stadiums. The brand name “JumboTron” is used pretty generically now for any big-screen system in such venues, even though Sony exited the business in 2001.

8. Dust Bowl migrant OKIE
“Okies” was a derogatory term used during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s for farming families who migrated from Oklahoma (hence the name), Arkansas, Kansas and Texas in search of agricultural jobs in California. The road used by many of these migrant families was Route 66, which is also called “Mother Road”.

The Dust Bowl was the name given to a period in which severe dust storms ravaged the American and Canadian Prairies in the thirties. A major factor in the storms was the loss of the deep-rooted grasses native to the land that had been displaced by intensive farming. Without the grasses, the topsoil was blown away in a period of drought.

9. Vegetable whose name comes from Swedish RUTABAGA
The rutabaga is a root vegetable that we call a “swede” over in Ireland. It is actually a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. The name “rutabaga” comes from an old Swedish word “rotabagge” meaning “ram root”. Very tasty …

12. Table scraps ORTS
Orts are small scraps of food left after a meal. “Ort” comes from Middle English, and originally described scraps left by animals.

13. Stage name for 2012 singing sensation Park Jae-sang PSY
PSY is the stage name of South Korean rapper Park Jae-sang. PSY became an international star when his 2102 music video “Gangnam Style” went viral on YouTube. That video had over 1 billion views on YouTube in about six months, making it the most viewed YouTube video clip of all time. I am not one of that one billion …

23. Semiarid region of Africa SAHEL
The Sahel is a great swath of land in Africa lying south of the Sahara desert and stretching from the Atlantic in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Sahel is the region that separates the Sahara from the tropical savanna to the south.

25. Big name in parks DISNEY
Walt Disney came up with the idea of building Disneyland after visiting other theme parks with his daughters in the thirties and forties. He started building the park at Anaheim, California in 1954, and the facility opened just one year and one day later. The total cost of construction was $17 million. Opening day did not go smoothly, largely because over 28,000 people visited the park compared to the 11,000 people expected at the invitation-only event. The opening day went so badly that for years Disney executives referred to it as “Black Sunday”.

27. Motel alternative, informally B AND B
An intimate inn (in the US) is a bed & breakfast (B&B). A bed & breakfast back in Ireland is more basic, and is almost always much cheaper than a comparable hotel room.

31. John who played Joshua in “The Ten Commandments” DEREK
John Derek was the stage name of Derek Delevan Harris, a native of Hollywood, California. Derek appeared in some notable films, including 1949’s “All the King’s Men” and 1956’s “The Ten Commandments”. Somewhat dissatisfied with a perceived lack of success as an actor, Derek turned to directing, and also became a recognized photographer. He also had some very famous wives:

1. Pati Behrs (1951-1957): a Russian-born prima ballerina
2. Ursula Andress (1957-1966): the Swiss-American actress and “Bond girl”
3. Linda Evans (1968-1974): the actress who played Krystle Carrington on “Dynasty”
4. Bo Derek (1976-1998): the actress noted for playing the female lead in the film “10”

44. Gobbled (down) SCARFED
“To scarf down” is teenage slang from the sixties meaning “to wolf down, to eat hastily”. The term is probably imitative of “to scoff”.

46. At deuce, say TIED UP
In tennis, if the score reaches “deuce” (i.e. when both players have scored three points), then the first player to win two points in a row wins the game. The player who wins the point immediately after deuce is said to have the “advantage”. If the player with the advantage wins the next point then that’s two in a row and that player wins the game. If the person with the advantage loses the next point, then advantage is lost and the players return to deuce and try again. If the one of the players is calling out the score then if he/she has the advantage then that player announces “ad in” or more formally “advantage in”. If the score announcer’s opponent has the advantage, then the announcement is “ad out” or “advantage out”. Follow all of that …?

48. Native Arizonan MOHAVE
The Mohave people are Native Americans who originally occupied lands along the Colorado River in the Mojave Desert.

49. Physicians’ org. AMA
American Medical Association (AMA)

51. “___ U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson hit) SINCE
Apparently singer Kelly Clarkson was the first winner of “American Idol”. I am so out of touch with today’s world of music …

52. Mobster’s gal MOLL
The slang term “moll” is a used for the female companion of a gangster. “Moll” is short for “Molly”, which is a nickname for “Mary”. In 17th century England a moll was a prostitute.

53. Bay ___ AREA
I think that the most famous “Bay Area” is the San Francisco Bay Area. Included in the Bay Area are the major cities of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose.

57. Spring bloomer IRIS
Iris is a genus of flowering plants that come in a wide variety of flower colors. The term “iris” is a Greek word meaning “rainbow”.

58. Where I-90 and I-29 cross: Abbr. SDAK
I-90 is the longest Interstate in the whole country (and one that I used to live right beside, in Liverpool, NY) and runs from Seattle to Boston.

Interstate 29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri to the Canadian border, where it connects to Manitoba Highway 75. I-29 is quite unique in that it follows state lines extremely closely. It never strays more than 40 miles from a state border.

59. Ottawa-based media inits. CBC
CBC stands for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In terms of financing and structure, CBC is akin to the BBC in Britain. But as commercial advertising is permitted, it perhaps more akin to RTE, the national broadcasting company in my homeland of Ireland.

Return to top of page

For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Get down to business WORK
5. Plum or peach COLOR
10. Straddling ATOP
14. Others, in Latin ALII
15. Exercise in brevity HAIKU
16. Literally, with 19-Across, a Western state capital CARS(ON)
17. Literally, with 20-Across, ski resort purchases SEAS(ON)
18. Swallowed a loss ATE IT
19. See 16-Across CITY
20. See 17-Across PASSES
22. Prickly plants TEASELS
24. Ideology CREDO
26. Rotten BAD
27. Captain Morgan competitor BACARDI
30. Reacted to, as fireworks AAHED AT
34. Scintilla ATOM
35. Literally, with 39-Across, head doctor SURGE(ON)
37. Part of a collegian’s email address EDU
38. It’s north of Den. NOR
39. See 35-Across GENERAL
41. Hollywood’s Howard RON
42. Something that might be left at the scene of a crime DNA
43. Common daisy OXEYE
44. Desiccated SERE
45. Baltimore’s I-695, e.g. BELTWAY
47. Buck SMACKER
50. Firm ending INC
51. Botanical opening STOMA
52. Toscanini and Maazel MAESTRI
55. Literally, with 62-Across, longtime action star HARRIS(ON)
59. Literally, with 63-Across, distinguished chef CORD(ON)
60. Ancient region of Anatolia IONIA
62. See 55-Across FORD
63. See 59-Across BLEU
64. “America’s Got Talent” airer NBC TV
65. “The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers” essayist ELIA
66. Go hand to hand? CLAP
67. Honkers GEESE
68. ___ job DESK

Down
1. Upper-crust sort, stereotypically WASP
2. Olive, to Ovid OLEA
3. Narrow estuaries RIAS
4. Between-innings feature on a Jumbotron KISS CAM
5. Took off after CHASED
6. Lead-in to cake or meal OAT-
7. More than mislead LIE TO
8. Dust Bowl migrant OKIE
9. Vegetable whose name comes from Swedish RUTABAGA
10. Bow ACCEDE
11. Shadow TAIL
12. Table scraps ORTS
13. Stage name for 2012 singing sensation Park Jae-sang PSY
21. Muff ERR
23. Semiarid region of Africa SAHEL
25. Big name in parks DISNEY
27. Motel alternative, informally B AND B
28. In agreement (with) AT ONE
29. Pinkish CORAL
30. Halt ARREST
31. John who played Joshua in “The Ten Commandments” DEREK
32. Flip over ADORE
33. One pulling strings? TUNER
36. 180 UEY
39. Graduation attire GOWNS
40. Strict EXACTING
44. Gobbled (down) SCARFED
46. At deuce, say TIED UP
48. Native Arizonan MOHAVE
49. Physicians’ org. AMA
51. “___ U Been Gone” (Kelly Clarkson hit) SINCE
52. Mobster’s gal MOLL
53. Bay ___ AREA
54. It’s a wrap ROBE
56. Capacity ROLE
57. Spring bloomer IRIS
58. Where I-90 and I-29 cross: Abbr. SDAK
59. Ottawa-based media inits. CBC
61. “___ a miracle!” IT’S

Return to top of page

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