1122-14 New York Times Crossword Answers 22 Nov 14, Saturday

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CROSSWORD SETTER: David Steinberg
THEME: None
BILL BUTLER’S COMPLETION TIME: 24m 02s
ANSWERS I MISSED: 0

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across

1. Dated agreement? : FO’SHIZZLE
“Fo’shizzle” is slang for “for sure”, apparently. New to me, dawg …

16. Cosmetics dye : EOSIN
Eosin is a red dye that fluoresces under light, and that is used in the lab as a stain on microscope slides. It is particularly effective in staining animal tissues. Eosin is also used as a toner in cosmetics.

17. Hawk : WARMONGER
The dove is a symbol of peace, and the hawk is a symbol of war.

18. Q preceder : SUSIE
The song “Susie Q” was written by, and originally released by, Dale Hawkins in 1957. It was covered By Creedence Clearwater Revival (as “Suzie Q”) in 1968.

19. Fashion designer Saab : ELIE
Elie Saab is a Lebanese fashion designer based in Beirut. Saab also goes by the name “ES”.

20. Mexican couple : DOS
“Dos” is Spanish for “two”.

21. Something locked in a cell? : GENOME
The genome is all the hereditary information needed to reproduce an organism, in other words, all of its chromosomes. When scientists unravel the human genome it takes up an awful lot of computer storage space, and yet all of this information is in almost every cell in our bodies. Every cell “knows” how to make a whole human being.

22. Neuralgia : nerve :: costalgia : ___ : RIB
Neuralgia is a pain along the length of a nerve. Costalgia is pain along a rib.

25. Dickens pseudonym : BOZ
The English author Charles Dickens used the pen-name “Boz” early in his career. He had already established himself as the most famous novelist of the Victorian Era when he came to visit America in 1842. He was honored by 3,000 of New York’s elite at a “Boz Ball” in the Park Theater.

28. First name in design : EERO
Eero Saarinen was a Finnish American architect, renowned in this country for his unique designs for public buildings such as Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles International Airport Terminal, and the TWA building at JFK. The list of his lesser-known, but still impressive, works includes several buildings erected on academic campuses. For example, the Chapel and Kresge Auditorium on the MIT campus, the Emma Hartman Noyes House at Vassar College, the Law School building at the University of Chicago, and Yale’s David S. Ingalls Rink.

30. School basics, facetiously : RRR
Reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic …

34. Donnybrook : FRACAS
“Fracas” is a French word that we absorbed into English. In turn, the French usage evolved from the Italian “fracasso” meaning “uproar, crash”.

A “donnybrook” is a free-for-all, named after a famous historic fair in Donnybrook, a district in Dublin, Ireland. Donnybrook Fair had the reputation as a place where there was lots of drinking and fighting. I used to hang out a lot in Donnybrook in my student days and didn’t see any fighting. Lots of drinking, but no fighting …

37. Moon named after the Greek personification of terror : DEIMOS
Mars has two moons, the larger of which is Phobos and the smaller is Deimos. “Phobos” is the Greek word for “fear”, and “Deimos” is Greek for “dread”.

38. SALT signer : BREZHNEV
There were two rounds of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the US and the Soviet Union, and two resulting treaties (SALT I & SALT II). The opening round of SALT I talks were held in Helsinki as far back as 1970, with the resulting treaty signed by President Richard Nixon and General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in 1972.

40. Adèle, for one: Abbr. : STE
Sainte-Adèle is a municipality located about 70 kilometres northwest of Montreal in Quebec. The town was really built on the back of the skiing and tourism industries, with the first ski area opening up in 1914.

44. Letters at the top of a page : HTTP
“http” are the first letters in most Internet link addresses. “http” stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.

48. Fictional locale of a John Wayne western : RIO LOBO
“Rio Lobo” is a Western movie that was released in 1970, starring John Wayne. “Rio Lobo” is the third film in a trilogy that was directed by Howard Hawks, the other two films being “Rio Bravo” (1959) and “El Dorado” (1966). “Rio Lobo” was the last film that Hawks directed.

50. Eagle’s place: Abbr. : AFB
Air Force Base (AFB)

The F-15 Eagle is a twin-engine tactical fighter aircraft that has been used by the US Air Force since 1976. The F-15 Eagle is still in service and is expected to remain so until beyond 2025.

54. Something most Americans won’t take, for short : ESL
English as a Second Language (ESL) is sometimes referred to as English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

55. Destiny’s Child, e.g. : TRIO
Destiny’s Child was an R&B group active from 1960 to 2006. The trio’s lineup changed over the years, and probably the most famous former member of the group is Beyoncé Knowles.

56. Olympian Moses : EDWIN
Edwin Moses is a former track and field athlete from Dayton, Ohio who won gold medals in the 1974 and 1984 Olympics in the 400m hurdles.

57. iPhone competitor : DROID RAZR
The Droid Razr is a smartphone made by Motorola that was launched in 2011.

60. Where El Nuevo Herald is read : MIAMI AREA
“El Nuevo Herald” is a Spanish-language newspaper that is a sister-publication to the “Miami Herald”. It was launched in 1975 as “El Miami Herald” but the name was changed in a 1987 relaunch.

61. Classic sea adventure of 1846 : 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”).

62. Straight man of old comedy : ZEPPO MARX
The five Marx Brothers were born to “Minnie” and “Frenchy” Marx in New York City. The more famous older boys were Chico, Harpo and Groucho. Zeppo was the youngest brother, and he appeared in the early Marx Brothers movies. The fifth son was called Gummo, and he decided to pursue a different career off the stage.

Down
1. “The ___ the words, the better the prayer”: Martin Luther : FEWER
Martin Luther wrote his “95 Theses on the Power and Efficacy of the Indulgences” in 1517, a document that is often seen as the spark that set off the Protestant Reformation. Luther’s main argument was that the Catholic Church’s practice of granting “indulgences”, forgiveness from punishment for sins, was wrong. It was especially wrong when such indulgences were granted in exchange for money.

2. ___ acid (bleach ingredient) : OXALIC
Oxalic acid is a very nasty organic acid. If ingested, it can form calcium oxalate, which is the main component of kidney stones. Oxalic acid is used mainly in cleaning agents, and is particularly useful in the removal of rust.

4. “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” philosopher : HUME
David Hume was a philosopher and historian from Scotland.

5. Film speed letters : ISO
A photographic film’s “speed” is its sensitivity to light. That sensitivity is given an ISO number such as ISO 100 or ISO 2000. The higher the number, the more sensitive the film is to light.

6. Castle town in a 1937 film : ZENDA
The 1937 film “The Prisoner of Zenda” is based on a novel of the same name written by Anthony Hope and first published in 1894. Apparently the movie was a difficult shoot for director John Cromwell. He had trouble with Ronald Colman who really didn’t know his lines well, and co-stars Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and David Niven were always out on the town and turning up for work “under the weather”.

7. Start of something big? : ZYGOTE
“Zygote” is the name given to the cell formed when (in the case of humans) a sperm fertilizes an egg. It is the earliest stage in the development of an embryo. The term “zygote” comes from the Greek for “joined, yoked”.

8. “Hoop-Dee-Doo” lyricist : LOESSER
Frank Loesser was a songwriter who was famous for penning both lyrics and music for the Broadway show “Guys and Dolls” and “How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”. Loesser also wrote the marvelous song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”.

9. USD alternative : EUR
The euro (eur.) is an alternative currency to the US dollar (USD).

10. Writer in “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” : KESEY
Ken Kesey wrote the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Kesey was one of a group of friends who called themselves the “Merry Pranksters”, a bunch of guys who were associated with the likes of Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and Timothy Leary, all icons of the Beat Generation.

The American author Tom Wolfe started out his career as a journalist, and was very much at the center of the New Journalism literary movement of the sixties and seventies. His first book of note was “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” that tells the story of Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters. Wolfe also wrote “The Right Stuff” about the post-war test pilots and the Project Mercury astronauts.

12. Slow-cooked Italian dish : OSSO BUCO
“Osso” is the Italian word for bone as in the name of the dish Osso Buco: braised veal shanks.

13. Handy things in the game world? : WIIMOTES
“Wiimote” is an alternative name for the Wii Remote, the controller for the Nintendo Wii gaming console.

14. Exhibited sternutation : SNEEZED
“Sternutation” is the act of sneezing. The term comes from the Latin “sternuere” meaning “to sneeze”.

23. Lake catch : PERCH
Perch are carnivorous freshwater fish that are found all over the world. However, perch are particularly common in the Great Lakes and in Lake Erie in particular.

24. Stowe antislavery novel : DRED
Harriet Beecher Stowe’s first novel ended up being her most famous, “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”. Stowe followed it up with an 1856 novel called “Dred: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp”.

29. David who wrote the screenplay for “The Verdict” : MAMET
David Mamet is best known as a playwright, and indeed won a Pulitzer for his 1984 play “Glengarry Glen Ross”. Mamet is also a successful screenwriter and received Oscar nominations for the films “The Verdict” (1982) and “Wag the Dog” (1997).

1982’s “The Verdict” is an entertaining courtroom drama movie that stars Paul Newman as a struggling alcoholic lawyer. The storyline involves a medical malpractice case involving a woman in persistent vegetative state. As a bonus, if you keep a careful eye out, you’ll see Bruce Willis as an extra in one of his first on-screen appearances.

33. Art purchase : LITHO
Lithography is a printing technique that was invented in 1796 as a cheap way to publish theatrical works. In the litho process the image is drawn on a metal plate, although originally it was drawn on a stone (hence the prefix “litho-“). The image is drawn in such a way that some regions of the plate repel ink, and then when paper is applied to the plate, those areas are ink-free. A “lithograph” is a print that is made using the technique, and is often a reproduction of a work of art.

35. Grocery product with a multiply misspelled name : REDDI-WIP
Reddi-Wip is a brand of sweetened whip cream that comes out of a pressurized can. The propellant used in the can is nitrous oxide, also called “laughing gas”, which is the same gas used by dentists as an anesthetic.

36. Hematology prefix : SERO-
The prefix “sero-” represent the word “serum” in a compound word.

Blood serum is the clear, yellowish part of blood i.e. that part which is neither a blood cell or a clotting factor. Included in blood serum are antibodies, the proteins that are central to our immune system. Blood serum from animals that have immunity to some disease can be transferred to another individual, hence providing that second individual with some level of immunity. Blood serum used to pass on immunity can be called “antiserum”.

39. Jarrett of the Obama White House : VALERIE
Valerie Jarrett is a Senior Advisor to the President in the Obama administration. Jarrett also chairs the White House Council on Women and Girls and co-chairs the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. She has known President Obama and his wife Michelle a long time, since before they were married.

43. “Ain’t happening!” : NO SOAP!
“No soap” is a slang term meaning “not possible”. The term probably originated with the slang usage of “soap” to mean “money”, so “no soap” meant, “I have no money (to lend you)”. Over time, the usage of “no soap” generalized to “it’s not going to happen, so don’t ask”.

45. “Boom” preceder : TA-RA-RA
“Ta-ra-ra Boom-de-ay” is an old music hall song from the late 1800s. The tune was used in 20th century for the theme song for the children’s TV show “Howdy Doody”, using the title “It’s Howdy Doody Time”.

46. Lipitor maker : PFIZER
Lipitor is the Pfizer brand name of the drug atorvastatin. Lipitor is used to lower cholesterol levels, and in 2008 was the highest-selling brand drug in the world.

48. Taylor of “The Nanny” : RENEE
Renée Taylor is best known fro playing Fran Drescher’s mother in the sitcom “The Nanny”.

“The Nanny” is a sitcom that originally aired in the nineties and starred Fran Drescher in the title role. The show was created and produced by Peter Marc Jacobson who was Drescher’s husband at the time.

51. Product once pitched by Ronald Reagan : BORAX
Borax is also known as sodium borate, and is a salt of boric acid. Borax is a white powder that dissolves easily in water. The compound has many uses, for example as an antifungal agent and an antiseptic. Actor and future US president Ronald Reagan used to tout 20 Mule Team Borax that was used as a laundry product.

55. Disneyland sight : TRAM
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”.

57. Part of a certain cease-fire agreement, for short : DMZ
A demilitarized zone (DMZ) is usually a border between two countries where military activity is banned according to some treaty between interested parties. The most famous DMZ today has to be the buffer zone between North and South Korea. The Korean DMZ snakes right across the Korean peninsula near the 38th parallel. The centerline of the DMZ is where the front was when the ceasefire came into effect in 1953 after the Korean War. According to the armistice signed, all troops had to move back 2,000 meters from the front line on both sides, creating the DMZ that is in place today. Paradoxically perhaps, the areas on either side of the DMZ form the most heavily militarized border in the world.

58. Roman divinity : DIO
“Dio” is Italian for “God”.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Dated agreement? : FO’SHIZZLE
10. Cognizes : KNOWS
15. Comment to an unapologetic burper, say : EXCUSE YOU!
16. Cosmetics dye : EOSIN
17. Hawk : WARMONGER
18. Q preceder : SUSIE
19. Fashion designer Saab : ELIE
20. Mexican couple : DOS
21. Something locked in a cell? : GENOME
22. Neuralgia : nerve :: costalgia : ___ : RIB
23. Lightly towels off : PATS DRY
25. Dickens pseudonym : BOZ
26. Woman’s name that sounds like a repeated letter : CECE
28. First name in design : EERO
29. Turn off, maybe : MUTE
30. School basics, facetiously : RRR
32. Succeeded : REPLACED
34. Donnybrook : FRACAS
37. Moon named after the Greek personification of terror : DEIMOS
38. SALT signer : BREZHNEV
40. Adèle, for one: Abbr. : STE
41. Page, e.g. : AIDE
42. Juice name starter : CRAN-
44. Letters at the top of a page : HTTP
47. Brick, for example : RED
48. Fictional locale of a John Wayne western : RIO LOBO
50. Eagle’s place: Abbr. : AFB
52. Attacked verbally : SNIPED
54. Something most Americans won’t take, for short : ESL
55. Destiny’s Child, e.g. : TRIO
56. Olympian Moses : EDWIN
57. iPhone competitor : DROID RAZR
59. Uniform : ALIKE
60. Where El Nuevo Herald is read : MIAMI AREA
61. Classic sea adventure of 1846 : TYPEE
62. Straight man of old comedy : ZEPPO MARX

Down
1. “The ___ the words, the better the prayer”: Martin Luther : FEWER
2. ___ acid (bleach ingredient) : OXALIC
3. Old record keeper : SCRIBE
4. “An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding” philosopher : HUME
5. Film speed letters : ISO
6. Castle town in a 1937 film : ZENDA
7. Start of something big? : ZYGOTE
8. “Hoop-Dee-Doo” lyricist : LOESSER
9. USD alternative : EUR
10. Writer in “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” : KESEY
11. A follower? : NOUN
12. Slow-cooked Italian dish : OSSO BUCO
13. Handy things in the game world? : WIIMOTES
14. Exhibited sternutation : SNEEZED
21. Feels (for) : GROPES
23. Lake catch : PERCH
24. Stowe antislavery novel : DRED
27. It’s temporarily hot : CRAZE
29. David who wrote the screenplay for “The Verdict” : MAMET
31. Bad, and then some : RANCID
33. Art purchase : LITHO
34. Warm : FRIENDLY
35. Grocery product with a multiply misspelled name : REDDI-WIP
36. Hematology prefix : SERO-
38. Stool, typically : BAR SEAT
39. Jarrett of the Obama White House : VALERIE
43. “Ain’t happening!” : NO SOAP!
45. “Boom” preceder : TA-RA-RA
46. Lipitor maker : PFIZER
48. Taylor of “The Nanny” : RENEE
49. String bean’s opposite : BLIMP
51. Product once pitched by Ronald Reagan : BORAX
53. Lake catch : PIKE
55. Disneyland sight : TRAM
57. Part of a certain cease-fire agreement, for short : DMZ
58. Roman divinity : DIO

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