0526-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 26 May 15, Tuesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. First word in every Academy Award category : BEST
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) is the organization that gives the annual Academy Awards also known as the “Oscars”. The root of the name “Oscar” is hotly debated, but what is agreed is that the award was officially named “Oscar” in 1939. The first Academy Awards were presented at a brunch in 1929 with an audience of just 29 people. The Awards ceremony is a slightly bigger event these days …

5. Club in a Barry Manilow hit, with “the” : COPA
The Copacabana of song is the Copacabana nightclub in New York City (which is also the subject of the Frank Sinatra song “Meet Me at the Copa”). The Copa opened in 1940 and is still going today although it is struggling. The club had to move due to impending construction and is now “sharing” a location with the Columbus 72 nightclub.

9. Derrières : TUSHES
“Tush”, a word for the backside, is an abbreviation of “tochus” that comes from the Yiddish “tokhes”.

“Derrière” is a French term meaning “back part, rear”.

15. “Beetle Bailey” dog : OTTO
Sgt. Snorkel (“Sarge”) is Beetle Bailey’s nemesis in the cartoon strip that bears his name. Snorkel has a dog called Otto that he dresses up to look just like himself. Otto started off as a regular dog, but artist Mort Walker decide to draw him more like his owner, and soon Otto became a big hit.

16. Actor Wilson of “Midnight in Paris” : OWEN
The actor Owen Wilson was nominated for an Oscar, but not for his acting. He was nominated for co-writing the screenplay for “The Royal Tenenbaums” along with Wes Anderson.

The 2011 Woody Allen movie called “Midnight in Paris” is a real gem in my opinion. I’ve never liked Woody Allen films, to be honest, mainly because I’m not a fan of Woody Allen as an actor. “Midnight in Paris” is very much a Woody Allen script, with Owen Wilson playing the role that Allen would usually reserve for himself. Wilson plays a much better Woody Allen! Highly recommended …

17. “Michael Row the Boat ___” : ASHORE
“Michael, Row the Boat Ashore” is an African American spiritual that dates back at least to the Civil War.

18. *Removable car safety feature : CHILD SEAT (“love child” & “love seat”)
A “love child” is a child born out of wedlock.

A “love seat” is a sofa made for two people.

20. Alfred E. of Mad magazine : NEUMAN
Alfred E. Neuman is the mascot of “Mad” magazine, although the image of the smiling, jug-eared youth had been around for decades before the magazine. “Mad” first used the likeness in 1955, and young Mr. Neuman has appeared on the cover of almost every issue of the magazine since then. Neuman’s name was inspired by American composer Alfred Newman, a prolific writer of film scores.

21. Charlie Sheen’s real first name : CARLOS
Charlie Sheen’s real name is Carlos Irwin Estévez, and he is of course the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen. Charlie was the highest paid actor on television in 2010, earning $1.8 million per episode on the sitcom “Two and a Half Men”. Then of course he blew it and got fired from the show amid stories of alcohol and drug abuse and domestic violence. I bet his co-stars were pretty tweaked about the show being cancelled, and pretty happy that it was given a second lease of life …

22. *Asian soup ingredient : BIRD’S NEST (“love bird” & “love nest”)
An edible bird’s nest is the key ingredient in the Chinese delicacy bird’s nest soup. Edible bird’s nests are pricey, fetching about $2,500 per kilogram.

24. Rank of many a single-episode character on “Star Trek”: Abbr. : ENS
An extra in “Star Trek” is often an ensign (ens.).

Ensign is (usually) the most junior rank of commissioned officer in the armed forces. The name comes from the tradition that the junior officer would be given the task of carrying the ensign flag.

27. Month before septembre : AOUT
In French, August (août) and September (septembre) are months in the year.

28. Classic name in photocopiers : MITA
Mita was a Japanese photocopier manufacturer that was purchased by Kyocera in 2000.

30. Abbr. in dating : BCE
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.

33. Center of Shintoism : JAPAN
It is perhaps best not to describe Shinto as a religion, but more as a “spirituality of the Japanese people”, a spirituality that encompasses folklore, history and mythology. Having said that, “Shinto” translates literally as “Way of the Gods”. Most people in Japan who are described as practicing Shinto, also practice Buddhism.

36. Germaine who wrote “The Whole Woman” : GREER
Germaine Greer is a very outspoken Australian feminist who was catapulted into the limelight with her runaway bestseller “The Female Eunuch”, first published in 1970. Greer has lived in the UK for many years, and I see her a lot on British television news/panel shows. Apparently she also made what I would have thought is an odd choice for her, to appear on the UK version of “Celebrity Big Brother”. Mind you, she walked out of the house after just five days.

39. Beatles hit that’s a hint to both parts of the answer to each starred clue : ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
John Lennon wrote the 1967 Beatles hit “All You Need Is Love” as a commission for the BBC. It was the UK’s contribution for the first ever global television broadcast, a collaboration between broadcasters from many countries including Britain’s BBC.

42. Org. assigning PG-13 or R : MPAA
The Motion Picture Association of America’s (MPAA) film-rating system is purely voluntary and is not backed by any law. Movie theaters agree to abide by the rules that come with the MPAA ratings in exchange for access to new movies.

43. ___ nova (dance) : BOSSA
Bossa Nova is a style of music from Brazil that evolved from samba. The most famous piece of bossa nova is the song “The Girl from Ipanema”.

44. “___ and the Wolf” : PETER
As is the case for many I am sure, Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf” was my introduction to the world of classical music, as it was played for us at school many, many moons ago. Prokofiev wrote the piece as a commissioned work for the Central Children’s Theater in Moscow, in 1936. He loved the idea of the project, and wrote the story and music in just four days!

46. Vaccination muscle, for short : DELT
The deltoid muscle is actually a group of muscles, the ones that cover the shoulder and create the roundness under the skin. The deltoids are triangular in shape resembling the Greek letter delta, hence the name.

49. Dhaka dress : SARI
The city of Dhaka was formerly known as Dacca, and is the capital of Bangladesh. Dhaka is known for many things, including production of the finest muslin in the world. It’s also the rickshaw capital of the world with about 400,000 rickshaws running each day.

51. Sun. preceder : SAT
Saturn was a Roman deity, the god of agriculture and harvest. Both the planet Saturn and “Saturday” are named after Saturn the god.

54. *Classic daytime show hosted by Gene Rayburn : MATCH GAME (“love match” & “love game”)
“Match Game” is a television game show that had many incarnations. The original run was from 1962 until 1969, and it came back in varying formats four times after that. The best-known host of the show was Gene Rayburn.

In the sport of tennis, a “love game” is one in which one player fails to win a point.

In tennis the score of zero is designated as “love”. Some people believe that this usage originates from the French “l’oeuf” (meaning “the egg”). The idea is that the written character “0” looks like an egg.

60. Repeated cry in Buster Poindexter’s “Hot Hot Hot” : OLE OLE!
“Hot Hot Hot” is a song written and first recorded in 1982 by Arrow, a singer-songwriter from the island of Montserrat in the Caribbean. “Hot Hot Hot” became a dance floor hit for Arrow, and then really took off when it was covered in 1987 by Buster Poindexter. Ole ole …

63. “Tuesdays With ___” (1990s best seller) : MORRIE
“Tuesday’s with Morrie” is a novel by Mitch Albom, first published in 1997. The story is a work of nonfiction, telling the tale of sociologist Morrie Schwartz and his students, one of whom is the author Mitch Albom. Albom has frequent visits with his old professor when he discovers that Morrie is dying from ALS.

64. Science fiction author Hubbard : L RON
L. Ron Hubbard wrote a self-improvement book in 1950 called “Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health”. A few years later the concepts were used in the founding of the Church of Scientology.

65. Foes of Saruman in “The Two Towers” : ENTS
J. R. R. Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings” consists of the three volumes:

– “The Fellowship of the Ring”
– “The Two Towers”
– “The Return of the King”

“The Lord of the Rings” was written as a sequel to Tolkien’s 1937 novel “The Hobbit”.

Down
1. Lawn sport : BOCCE
The Italian bowling game of “bocce” (anglicized as “bocci”) is based on a game played in Ancient Rome. “Bocce” is the plural of the Italian word “boccia” meaning “bowl”.

2. Edith Wharton’s “___ Frome” : ETHAN
“Ethan Frome” is a novel by New York and Massachusetts author Edith Wharton, first published in 1911. Wharton started “Ethan Frome” as a composition in French that she wrote while studying the language in Paris.

4. Commuter’s cost : TOLL
Our verb “to commute”, meaning “to go back and forth to work”, ultimately derives from the Latin “commutare”, meaning “to often change”. Back in the late 1800s, a “commutation ticket” was a season pass, so named because it allowed one to “change” one kind of payment into another. Quite interesting …

5. Baby : COSSET
“To cosset” is to pamper. The verb comes from the noun “cosset” which was used for a lamb that was brought up as a pet.

7. Singer Bryson : PEABO
Peabo Bryson is a singer from Greenville, South Carolina. Bryson is noted for singing hits on Disney film soundtracks, often duets. Examples are “Beauty and the Beast” with Céline Dion, and “A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme) with Regina Bella.

9. Cooked in a clay oven, as in India : TANDOORI
A “tandoor” is a clay oven used several Asian cuisines, most notably perhaps in Indian cooking. Heat is generated by burning charcoal or wood in a fire that by tradition burns within the oven itself.

11. Move to another track : SHUNT
On a railroad, shunting is the practice of moving carriages and other rolling stock from one line to another.

13. The Eisenhower years and others : ERAS
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.

19. Logo for a pizza chain : DOMINO
Domino’s Pizza started out as DomiNick’s, a pizza store in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The store was purchased by Dominic’s founder Tom Monaghan in 1960, along with his brother. Tom bought out his brother a few months later, for the price of a used VW! The store was renamed Domino’s Pizza in 1965, and two years later the first franchise store was opened. There are now over 8,000 stores worldwide, including one in Tallaght in Ireland, the town where I lived for many years in my youth. That Tallaght store became the first Domino’s outlet in the world to hit a turnover of $3 million a year. We Irish obviously have terrible taste when it comes to pizza …

28. Architect Lin : MAYA
Maya Lin is a Chinese American born in Athens Ohio, and is an artist and architect. Her most famous work is the moving Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Lin was only 21-years-old when she won a public design competition in 1981 to create the memorial. Although her design is very fitting, sadly Lin was not a popular choice for the work given her Asian heritage. As she said herself, she probably would not have been picked had the competition been judged with the knowledge of who was behind each submission.

31. Cabot ___ (“Murder, She Wrote” setting) : COVE
“Murder, She Wrote” is a mystery television show with the lead character Jessica Fletcher, a mystery writer who is also an amateur detective. Fletcher is played by the charming Angela Lansbury. The show was created by Richard Levinson and William Link who had just failed with the TV series “Ellery Queen”, which was pulled after only one season. “Ellery Queen” was also about a mystery writer who was an amateur detective.

33. Part of a doorframe : JAMB
A door or window jamb is the vertical portion of the frame. The term “jamb” comes from the French word “jambe” meaning “leg”.

34. Pedigree alternative : ALPO
Alpo is a brand of dog food first produced by Allen Products in 1936, with “Alpo” being an abbreviation for “Allen Products”. Lorne Greene used to push Alpo in television spots, as did Ed McMahon and Garfield the Cat, would you believe?

40. One who’s fluent in both JavaScript and Klingon, say : UBER-GEEK
The original “geek” was a sideshow performer, perhaps at a circus. We use the term today for someone regarded as foolish or clumsy, but also for someone who is technically driven and expert, but socially inept.

JavaScript is a computer programming language that is mainly used as an integral part of web browsers. The language was developed at Netscape in the days of the Browser Wars with Microsoft. It was developed under the codename Mocha and the first official release was called LiveScript. The name was changed to JavaScript in a blatant attempt by Netscape to cache in on the reputation of Sun Microsystem’s Java language.

Klingons are a warrior race often featured in the “Star Trek” franchise of shows. Back in the first “Star Trek” movie, the actor James Doohan (who played “Scottie”) put together some Klingon dialogue that was used in the film. For subsequent movies, the American linguist Marc Okrand was commissioned to develop a working Klingon language, which he duly did, using the original words from Doohan as its basis.

46. Mexico’s national flower : DAHLIA
The Dahlia is a flowering plant native to Mexico and Central America. It was named the national flower of Mexico relatively recently, in 1963.

48. Graham who wrote “The Third Man” : GREENE
Graham Greene was a writer and playwright from England. Greene wrote some of my favorite novels, including “Brighton Rock”, “The End of the Affair”, “The Confidential Agent”, “The Third Man”, “The Quiet American” and “Our Man in Havana”. Greene’s books often feature espionage in exotic locales. Greene himself worked for MI6, the UK’s foreign intelligence agency. In fact, Greene’s MI6 supervisor was Kim Philby, the famed Soviet spy who penetrated high into British intelligence.

52. Vessel from the heart : AORTA
The aorta originates in the heart and extends down into the abdomen. It is the largest artery in the body.

53. Part of a steamy affair : TRYST
In its most general sense, a tryst is a meeting at an agreed time and place. More usually we consider a tryst to be a prearranged meeting between lovers. The term comes from the Old French “triste”, a waiting place designated when hunting.

56. Okla. or Dak., once : TERR
The State of Oklahoma was admitted to the Union in 1907, and comprised the existing Oklahoma Territory and the Indian Territory.

The Dakota Territory was formed in 1861 and ceased to exist with the admission to the Union of the states of North Dakota and South Dakota. The territory was split into two states in 1889 largely due to lobbying by the Republican Party, which enjoyed a lot of support in the Dakota Territory. The admission of two states added to the political power of the party in the US Senate, by adding four safe Republican seats.

57. Title for a jeune fille: Abbr. : MLLE
In French, a young girl (jeune fille) might be addressed as Miss (Mademoiselle or “mlle.”)

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. First word in every Academy Award category : BEST
5. Club in a Barry Manilow hit, with “the” : COPA
9. Derrières : TUSHES
15. “Beetle Bailey” dog : OTTO
16. Actor Wilson of “Midnight in Paris” : OWEN
17. “Michael Row the Boat ___” : ASHORE
18. *Removable car safety feature : CHILD SEAT (“love child” & “love seat”)
20. Alfred E. of Mad magazine : NEUMAN
21. Charlie Sheen’s real first name : CARLOS
22. *Asian soup ingredient : BIRD’S NEST (“love bird” & “love nest”)
24. Rank of many a single-episode character on “Star Trek”: Abbr. : ENS
25. Office note : MEMO
27. Month before septembre : AOUT
28. Classic name in photocopiers : MITA
29. “Enough already!” : STOP!
30. Abbr. in dating : BCE
33. Center of Shintoism : JAPAN
36. Germaine who wrote “The Whole Woman” : GREER
38. Rapper’s rhythm : FLOW
39. Beatles hit that’s a hint to both parts of the answer to each starred clue : ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE
42. Org. assigning PG-13 or R : MPAA
43. ___ nova (dance) : BOSSA
44. “___ and the Wolf” : PETER
45. Soccer goalie’s area : BOX
46. Vaccination muscle, for short : DELT
47. Middle-___ : AGED
49. Dhaka dress : SARI
50. Say “It’s a trap!,” say : WARN
51. Sun. preceder : SAT
54. *Classic daytime show hosted by Gene Rayburn : MATCH GAME (“love match” & “love game”)
58. Post post : EDITOR
60. Repeated cry in Buster Poindexter’s “Hot Hot Hot” : OLE OLE!
61. *Biography : LIFE STORY (“love life” & “love story”)
63. “Tuesdays With ___” (1990s best seller) : MORRIE
64. Science fiction author Hubbard : L RON
65. Foes of Saruman in “The Two Towers” : ENTS
66. A gambler may have a hot or cold one : STREAK
67. Precipice : EDGE
68. Carnivore’s fare : MEAT

Down
1. Lawn sport : BOCCE
2. Edith Wharton’s “___ Frome” : ETHAN
3. Swizzles : STIRS
4. Commuter’s cost : TOLL
5. Baby : COSSET
6. Have obligations : OWE
7. Singer Bryson : PEABO
8. Against : ANTI
9. Cooked in a clay oven, as in India : TANDOORI
10. Depletes : USES UP
11. Move to another track : SHUNT
12. There’s no place like it, it’s said : HOME
13. The Eisenhower years and others : ERAS
14. In rapture : SENT
19. Logo for a pizza chain : DOMINO
23. Like the best bonds : RATED AAA
26. Southern bloom : MAGNOLIA
28. Architect Lin : MAYA
29. Calls, in poker : SEES
30. Ink spill : BLOT
31. Cabot ___ (“Murder, She Wrote” setting) : COVE
32. Common still-life subject : EWER
33. Part of a doorframe : JAMB
34. Pedigree alternative : ALPO
35. Brand of dental rinse : PLAX
37. Take a timeout : REST
38. Took to the hills : FLED
40. One who’s fluent in both JavaScript and Klingon, say : UBER-GEEK
41. Stimulates the economy : SPENDS
46. Mexico’s national flower : DAHLIA
48. Graham who wrote “The Third Man” : GREENE
49. Manage to get, informally : SCORE
50. Bizarre : WEIRD
51. Ring centerpiece : STONE
52. Vessel from the heart : AORTA
53. Part of a steamy affair : TRYST
54. Many drivers for play dates : MOMS
55. Plenty : A LOT
56. Okla. or Dak., once : TERR
57. Title for a jeune fille: Abbr. : MLLE
59. One of 10, say, in an express checkout lane : ITEM
62. Confused state : FOG

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