1125-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 25 Nov 14, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
11. Emergency signal : SOS
The combination of three dots – three dashes – three dots, is a Morse signal first introduced by the German government as a standard distress call in 1905. The sequence is remembered as the letters SOS (three dots – pause – three dashes – pause – three dots), although in the emergency signal there is no pause between the dots and dashes, so SOS is in effect only a mnemonic. Similarly, the phrases “Save Our Souls” and “Save Our Ship” are also mnemonics, introduced after the “SOS” signal was adopted.

15. Bottled water with three mountain peaks in its logo : EVIAN
Évian-les-Bains (or simply Évian) is in the very east of France, on the shores of Lake Geneva directly across the lake from Lausanne, Switzerland. As you might imagine, Évian is the home of Évian mineral water, the most successful business in town. I can’t stand the taste of Évian water …

16. Granite State sch. : UNH
The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is the largest university in the state. It was founded as the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts in 1866.

New Hampshire is called the Granite State, because it has lots of granite quarries and granite formations.

17. Position of 62-Across : CENTER FIELD
The baseball legend Joe Dimaggio played center field in the majors, and indeed so did Joe’s brothers Vince and Dom Dimaggio.

19. “Masters of Sex” channel, in TV listings : SHO
“Masters of Sex” is a Showtime drama series that tells the story of the sex researchers William Masters and Virginia Johnson. The lead characters are played by Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan. This series has been well-received by the critics and by the viewing audience. I haven’t seen it myself, but must try to do so. I’m a big fan of actor Michael Sheen …

21. Castle defense : MOAT
A “moat” is a protective trench that surrounds a castle, say. The moat may or may not be filled with water.

22. Savory gelatin-based dish : ASPIC
Aspic is a dish in which the main ingredients are served in a gelatin made from meat stock. “Aspic” is a French word for “jelly”.

24. With 27-Across, record-setting achievement of 62-Across : HITTING
27. See 24-Across : STREAK
38. Duration of 62-Across’s 24-/27-Across : FIFTY-SIX GAMES
Baseball great Joe Dimaggio is perhaps best remembered on the field for his 56-game hitting streak from May to July, 1941. The 56-game streak still stands as a Major League record.

28. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” speaker : CAIN
In the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis, Cain murders his brother Abel. Subsequently, God asks Cain, “Where is Abel thy brother?” Cain replies, “I known now. Am I my brother’s keeper?”

29. Morton product : SALT
Morton Salt started doing business in 1848 in Chicago, and now is the largest producer of salt in North America.

32. Prefix with bellum : ANTE-
The Latin word “antebellum” means “before the war”, which is the sense that we use the term in English. Here in the US, we mostly use the term with reference to the American Civil War.

37. California’s Big ___ : SUR
Big Sur is a lovely part of the California Coast, south of Monterey and Carmel. The name “Big Sur” comes from the original Spanish description of the area as “el sur grande” meaning “the big south”.

42. Necessity for a doctor or taxi driver: Abbr. : LIC
Licence (lic.)

44. Before, to the Bard : ERE
William Shakespeare is known as the Bard of Avon as he was born and raised in the lovely town of Stratford-upon-Avon in the English midlands.

47. Ovine mothers : EWES
The Latin word for “sheep” is “ovis”, giving us the adjective “ovine”, meaning “like a sheep”.

49. Figure (out) : SUSS
The verb “to suss” means “to figure out”. The term originated in the 1950s as police slang, a shortening of “to suspect”.

52. With 54-Across, moniker of 62-Across : YANKEE
54. See 52-Across : CLIPPER
Baseball player Joe Dimaggio was given the nickname “Yankee Clipper” by the announcer at Yankee Stadium Arch McDonald in 1939. McDonald was comparing Dimaggio’s speed and range to the Pan Am Clipper airliner that was a real innovation at the time.

57. ___ Brown, host of “Iron Chef America” : ALTON
Alton Brown is a celebrity chef who is behind the Food Network show “Good Eats”, and the host of “Iron Chef America”.

58. Pink-slip : FIRE
The term “pink-slip” can be used as a verb meaning “to terminate an employee”. No one really seems to know for sure where the term originated, but there are lots of stories.

60. Texter’s “Here’s what I think” : IMO
In my opinion (IMO)

61. Take the gold : WIN
In the Ancient Olympic Games, the winner of an event was awarded an olive wreath. When the games were revived in 1896, the winners were originally given a silver medal and an olive branch, with runners-up receiving a bronze medal and a laurel branch. The tradition of giving gold, silver and bronze medals began at the 1904 Summer Olympic Games held in St. Louis, Missouri.

62. American athlete born 11/25/1914 : JOE DIMAGGIO
Joe DiMaggio was born not too far from here, in Martinez, California, the son of Italian immigrants. The family moved to San Francisco when Joltin’ Joe was just a baby. Joe’s Dad was a fisherman, and it was his hope that all his sons would follow him into his trade. But Joe always felt sick at the smell of fish, so fishing’s loss was baseball’s gain.

66. ___ dye : AZO
Azo compounds have very vivid colors and so are used to make dyes, especially dyes with the colors red, orange and yellow. The term “azo” comes from the French word “azote” meaning “nitrogen”. French chemist Lavoisier coined the term “azote” from the Greek word “azotos” meaning “lifeless”. He used this name as in pure nitrogen/azote animals die and flames are snuffed out (due to a lack of oxygen).

69. Conifer with toxic seeds : YEW
The family of trees known as yews propagate by producing a seed surrounded by soft, sweet and brightly colored aril. Birds eat the fruit and then disperse the seed in their droppings. The birds leave the seed undamaged, and so are unharmed by the potent poisons taxine and taxol that are found within the seed. The seeds are highly toxic to humans.

71. Sacred choral composition : MOTET
A motet is a simple musical composition based on a sacred text, usually sung without an accompaniment. The term “motet” is a diminutive form of “mot”, the French for “word”.

Down
1. Bible book after Jonah : MICAH
The Book of Micah is one of twelve books in the Bible written by the so-called minor prophets. The name “Micah” translates into English from Hebrew as “Who is like God?”

2. ___ acid : ACETIC
Acetic acid has the formula CH3COOH, and is the main component of vinegar.

3. Hyundai model with a musical name : SONATA
The Sonata is made by Hyundai. The Hyundai factory in Ulsan, South Korea is the largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in the world, able to produce 1.6 million vehicles each year.

4. Explosive stuff : 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.

7. Sports shoe brand : AVIA
The Avia brand name for athletic shoes was chosen as “avia” is the Latin word for “to fly”, and suggests the concept of aviation. Avia was founded in Oregon in 1979.

11. Mood suffusing “Psycho” : SUSPENSE
The classic Alfred Hitchcock suspense film “Psycho” released in 1960 is based on a 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. The Bloch novel in turn is loosely based on actual crimes committed by murderer and grave robber Ed Gein. When “Psycho” was making its initial run in theaters, latecomers were not granted admission, a policy instigated by Hitchcock himself. He felt that anyone missing the opening scenes would not enjoy the film.

12. Temporarily not airing, as a TV show : ON HIATUS
A “hiatus” is a break or opening in a material object. “Hiatus” is Latin for “opening”.

13. The shower scene in “Psycho,” e.g. : SHOCKER
Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 movie “Psycho” was based on a 1959 novel of the same name by Robert Bloch. In turn, the novel was loosely based on real-life events that took place in Wisconsin. The famous shower scene runs for a full 3 minutes, and is one of the most iconic scenes in cinematic history. The blood shown in the shower is actually chocolate syrup, and the sounds of the knife going into flesh are the sounds of a knife being plunged into a melon.

18. D.D.E.’s running mate : RMN
President Richard Milhous Nixon (RMN) used “Milhous” in his name in honor of his mother Hannah Milhous. Richard was born in a house in Yorba Linda, California. You can visit that house today as it is on the grounds of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library. It’s a really interesting way to spend a few hours if you ever get to Yorba Linda …

President Eisenhower was born in Denison, Texas and given the name David Dwight Eisenhower, but by the time he made it to the White House he was going by the name Dwight D. Eisenhower (DDE). Growing up, his family called him Dwight, and when “Ike” enrolled in West Point he himself reversed the order of his given names.

23. Paris : Mme. :: Madrid : ___ : SRA
The equivalent of “Mrs.” in French is “Mme.” (Madame) and in Spanish is “Sra.” (Señora).

26. D.D.E. or J.F.K. : INITS
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) was the son of Joe Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald, hence the president’s double-barreled name.

30. Dress style introduced by Dior : A-LINE
Christian Dior was a French fashion designer. As WWII approached, Dior was called up by the French military, drawing a temporary halt to his career in fashion. He left the army in 1942 and for the duration of the war designed clothes for wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators. After the war his designs became so popular that he helped reestablish Paris as the fashion center of the world.

31. Bagel go-with : LOX
Lox is a cured salmon fillet, finely sliced. The term “lox” comes into English via Yiddish, and derives from the German word for salmon, namely “Lachs”.

34. Melville’s first book : TYPEE
Herman Melville mined his own experiences when writing his novels. Melville sailed from New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1841 on a whaler heading into the Pacific Ocean (a source for “Moby Dick”). Melville ended up deserting his ship 18 months later and lived with natives on a South Pacific Island for three weeks (a source for “Typee”). He picked up another whaler and headed for Hawaii, where he joined the crew of a US navy frigate that was bound for Boston (a source for “Omoo”).

36. Language of Iran : FARSI
“Farsi” is one of the local names for Persian, an Iranian language.

46. Ruling from a boxing ref : TKO
In boxing, a knockout (KO) is when one of the fighters can’t get up from the canvas within a specified time, usually 10 seconds. This can be due to fatigue, injury, or the participant may be truly “knocked out”. A referee, fighter or doctor may also decide to stop a fight without a physical knockout, especially if there is concern about a fighter’s safety. In this case the bout is said to end with a technical knockout (TKO).

50. Faucet : SPIGOT
Back in the 15th century, a spigot was specifically a plug to stop a hole in a cask. Somewhere along the way, a spigot had a valve added for variable control of flow.

51. Jew or Arab : SEMITE
The word “Semitic” comes from the Greek for Shem, one of the three sons of Noah. A Semite is one of a large list of peoples, from the Assyrians and Babylonians to the Hebrews. The term “anti-Semite” however, almost always refer to anti-Jewish sentiment.

55. Early moon lander, for short : LEM
In the Apollo program, the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) was the vehicle that actually landed on the moon and returned the astronauts to the command module that was orbiting overhead. The third LEM built was named “Spider”, and it participated in the Apollo 9 mission which tested the functionality of the LEM design in space. The fourth LEM was called “Snoopy” and it flew around the moon in the Apollo 10 mission, the dress rehearsal for the upcoming moon landing. Apollo 11’s LEM was called “Eagle” and it brought Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to and from the moon’s surface. Another famous LEM was Apollo 13’s Aquarius. Although Aquarius never landed on the moon, it did serve as a “lifeboat” for the three astronauts after the explosive rupture of an oxygen canister in the Service Module.

58. Greek salad component : FETA
Feta is a Greek cheese made from sheep’s milk, or a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milk. The cheese is salted and cured in a brine solution for several months before it is eaten.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Sights in marinas : MASTS
6. Conventioneer’s ID : BADGE
11. Emergency signal : SOS
14. Computer screen array : ICONS
15. Bottled water with three mountain peaks in its logo : EVIAN
16. Granite State sch. : UNH
17. Position of 62-Across : CENTER FIELD
19. “Masters of Sex” channel, in TV listings : SHO
20. ___ loss : AT A
21. Castle defense : MOAT
22. Savory gelatin-based dish : ASPIC
24. With 27-Across, record-setting achievement of 62-Across : HITTING
27. See 24-Across : STREAK
28. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” speaker : CAIN
29. Morton product : SALT
32. Prefix with bellum : ANTE-
33. In good physical shape : FIT
35. Avoid work : LOAF
37. California’s Big ___ : SUR
38. Duration of 62-Across’s 24-/27-Across : FIFTY-SIX GAMES
42. Necessity for a doctor or taxi driver: Abbr. : LIC
43. Bridge : SPAN
44. Before, to the Bard : ERE
45. Med. school course : ANAT
47. Ovine mothers : EWES
49. Figure (out) : SUSS
52. With 54-Across, moniker of 62-Across : YANKEE
54. See 52-Across : CLIPPER
57. ___ Brown, host of “Iron Chef America” : ALTON
58. Pink-slip : FIRE
60. Texter’s “Here’s what I think” : IMO
61. Take the gold : WIN
62. American athlete born 11/25/1914 : JOE DIMAGGIO
66. ___ dye : AZO
67. In first place : ON TOP
68. Carrots and turnips, basically : ROOTS
69. Conifer with toxic seeds : YEW
70. Baker’s supply : YEAST
71. Sacred choral composition : MOTET

Down
1. Bible book after Jonah : MICAH
2. ___ acid : ACETIC
3. Hyundai model with a musical name : SONATA
4. Explosive stuff : TNT
5. Seattle-to-Phoenix dir. : SSE
6. Enshrouds in a mist : BEFOGS
7. Sports shoe brand : AVIA
8. Insects and seeds, for many birds : DIET
9. Guy’s partner : GAL
10. Have as a terminus : END AT
11. Mood suffusing “Psycho” : SUSPENSE
12. Temporarily not airing, as a TV show : ON HIATUS
13. The shower scene in “Psycho,” e.g. : SHOCKER
18. D.D.E.’s running mate : RMN
23. Paris : Mme. :: Madrid : ___ : SRA
25. Petty quarrel : TIFF
26. D.D.E. or J.F.K. : INITS
27. The boards, to an actor : STAGE
30. Dress style introduced by Dior : A-LINE
31. Bagel go-with : LOX
34. Melville’s first book : TYPEE
36. Language of Iran : FARSI
38. Complete, as arrangements : FINALIZE
39. “Sorry, ask me later” : I CAN’T NOW
40. Glimpsed : SAW
41. Pick-___ (refreshing drink) : ME-UP
42. Purchasing plan : LAYAWAY
46. Ruling from a boxing ref : TKO
48. Lines to be memorized : SCRIPT
50. Faucet : SPIGOT
51. Jew or Arab : SEMITE
53. Relish : ENJOY
55. Early moon lander, for short : LEM
56. Sleep in a vertical position? : ROOST
58. Greek salad component : FETA
59. Vows made “for better or worse” : I DOS
63. Single : ONE
64. Sleeve : ARM
65. Melted chocolate, e.g. : GOO

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