0527-15 New York Times Crossword Answers 27 May 15, Wednesday

Today’s Wiki-est, Amazonian Googlies
Across
1. Fourth U.S. president to win a Nobel Peace Prize : OBAMA
President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, becoming the fourth US president to be so honored. He is the only one of the four to have been awarded the prize during his first year of office. The Nobel committee gave the award citing President Obama’s work towards a new climate in international relations, particularly in reaching out to the Muslim world.

President Theodore Roosevelt was the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906 for his role in negotiating an end to the Russo-Japanese War.

President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. He was so honored in recognition of his efforts to promote peace around the world, and in particular for the leading role he played in setting up the League of Nations after WWI (despite his failure to gain support for the organization from the US Congress).

President Jimmy Carter was the 39th President, and the only US president to receive the Nobel Peace Prize after leaving office (Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Barack Obama have also been so honored, but while in office).

11. F.D.R. energy initiative : TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has to be one of America’s great success stories when it comes to economic development. Created in 1933, the TVA spearheaded economic development in the Tennessee Valley at the height of the Great Depression. Central to the success was the federally-funded construction of flood-control and electricity-generation facilities.

14. Gore who wrote “Lincoln” : VIDAL
Gore Vidal was an author and political activist from West Point, New York. Vidal’s most celebrated novel is probably “Myra Breckinridge”. His most controversial work has to be “The City and the Pillar” from 1948, which is cited as one of the first major novels to feature unambiguous homosexuality.

Gore Vidal’s 1984 historical novel “Lincoln” is about Abraham Lincoln’s time in the White House, as seen through the eyes of several people close to the president, as well as his assassin John Wilkes Booth. The novel was adapted for the small screen as a film in 1988 starring Sam Waterston as Abraham Lincoln and Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Todd Lincoln.

16. Scull need : OAR
A scull is a boat used for competitive rowing. The main hull of the boat is often referred to as a shell. Crew members who row the boat can be referred to as “oars”.

17. Ancient marketplace : AGORA
In early Greece the “agora” was a place of assembly. Often the assemblies held there were quite formal, perhaps for the reading of a proclamation. Later in Greek history, things became less formal as the agora evolved into a market place. Our contemporary word “agoraphobia” comes from these agorae, in the sense that an agoraphobe has a fear of open spaces, a fear of “public meeting places”.

18. Singer DiFranco should heed a warning : ANI MUSTN’T (“animus” + “nt” sound)
Ani DiFranco is a folk-rock singer and songwriter. DiFranco has also been labeled a “feminist icon”, and in 2006 won the “Woman of Courage Award” from National Organization of Women.

“Animus” is strong dislike, hostile attitude, animosity.

20. Prefix with center : EPI-
The “epicenter” is that point on the surface of the earth which is directly above the focus of an earthquake.

21. Little Havana locale : MIAMI
The Miami neighborhood known as Little Havana is home to many immigrants from Cuba, hence the name. Little Havana is located immediately west of the Downtown Miami.

22. Cribbage board item : PEG
Cribbage is a great card game that originated in 17th-century England, a creation of the poet Sir John Suckling. One of the unique features of the game is that a cribbage board is used to keep score. Here in the US, cribbage is very much associated with the submarine service, as it is a favorite game of submariners of all ranks.

23. Jazz players are incapable : CATS CAN’T (“CAT scan” + “nt” sound)
A CT (or CAT, Computed Axial Tomography) scan produces, via computer manipulation, a three dimensional image of the inside of an object, usually the human body. It does so by taking a series of two dimensional x-ray images while rotating the camera around the patient. The issue with CT scans is that they use x-rays, and high doses of radiation can be harmful causing damage that is cumulative over time.

25. Winter recreation vehicle : SKIBOB
A skibob is a winter vehicle with a bicycle-type frame attached to skis rather than wheels.

29. Dukes, earls, etc. : PEERAGE
A Peer of the Realm is a member of the peerage in a kingdom. A member of the peerage is someone with a title, a member of the aristocracy. However, the ruling family is not included in the list of peers.

30. Drug ingested in “Easy Rider” : LSD
“Easy Rider” is a 1969 movie about two bikers traversing the American Southwest and the South. The bikers are famously played by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Fonda produced the film and Hopper directed.

31. Saharan stopovers : OASES
The name “Sahara” means “greatest desert” in Arabic and it is just that, a great desert covering almost 4 million square miles of Northern Africa. That’s almost the size of the United States.

35. W. never existed : BUSH WASN’T (“bushwas” + “nt” sound)
President George W. Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. President Bush shares his birthday with one of the tough guys of Hollywood. Sylvester Stallone was born on the same day, in New York City.

“Bushwa” is “rubbish, nonsense, rot”. The term originated in the early 1900s and may be a derivative of “bourgeois”.

40. Sunset dirección : OESTE
“Oeste” (west) is a “dirección” (direction), in Spanish.

41. London’s Paddington, e.g.: Abbr. : STA
London Paddington is major railway station in the British capital. Among the station’s claim to fame is that it is the terminus for the express trains from Heathrow airport. Also, the title character in the “Paddington Bear” stories was named for the station, as he was found there by the Brown family.

44. Something a tuba hits : LOW NOTE
The tuba is the lowest pitched of all the brass instruments, and one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra (usually there is just one tuba included in an orchestral line-up). “Tuba” is the Latin word for “trumpet, horn”. Oom-pah-pah …

46. Transport in an Ellington tune : A TRAIN
The A Train in the New York City Subway system runs from 207th Street, through Manhattan and over to Far Rockaway in Queens. The service lends its name to a jazz standard “Take the ‘A’ Train”, the signature tune of Duke Ellington and a song much sung by Ella Fitzgerald. One version of the lyrics are:

You must take the A Train
To go to Sugar Hill way up in Harlem
If you miss the A Train
You’ll find you’ve missed the quickest way to Harlem
Hurry, get on, now, it’s coming
Listen to those rails a-thrumming (All Aboard!)
Get on the A Train
Soon you will be on Sugar Hill in Harlem.

49. Calculus disappears : MATH ISN’T (“Mathis” + “nt” sound)
The Latin word “calculus” was originally used for a reckoning or an account, and originally applied to a pebble that was used to maintain a count. The Latin word came from the Greek for a pebble, “khalix”.

Johnny Mathis had to face a tough choice in 1956. Mathis was a talented high jumper in college and was invited to try out for the US Olympic team destined for the Melbourne Games. At the same time he was scheduled to make his first recordings, in New York. Mathis opted to go to the Big Apple.

51. Federal procurement agcy. : GSA
The US Government’s General Services Administration (GSA), as the name suggests, provides general services to other federal agencies. So for example, the GSA manages office space for the other agencies, and transportation.

54. Lord’s Prayer possessive : THY
The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christian religions, and is found in two places in the New Testament. In the version in the Gospel of Matthew the last line of the prayer is “deliver from evil”. In the Gospel of Luke the last line is “lead us not into temptation”. The last words of the prayer as it most often said today are:

For thine is the kingdom,
The power, and the glory,
For ever and ever,
Amen

55. Singer Perry opted out : KATY DIDN’T (“katydid” + “nt” sound)
Katy Perry is an American singer who grew up listening to and singing gospel music, as she was the daughter of two Christian pastors. In fact, her first musical release was a gospel album in 2001. She has branched out since then. Her first successful single was “Ur so Gay”, followed by “I Kissed A Girl”. She was married (only for a year) to the British comedian Russell Brand, until 2012.

The insects in the cricket family that Americans call katydids, the British call bushcrickets.

61. Language of Sri Lanka : TAMIL
Tamil is the main language spoken by the Tamil people of the subcontinent of India. Tamil is described as one of the greatest and oldest classical languages in the world, with Tamil literature having been around for over 2,000 years.

The name Sri Lanka translates from Sanskrit into English as “venerable island”. Before 1970, Sri Lanka was known as Ceylon, a name given to the country during British rule.

Down
4. Tomei of “The Wrestler” : MARISA
Marisa Tomei’s first screen role was in “As the World Turns”, but her break came with a recurring role in “The Cosby Show” spinoff called “A Different World”. Tomei won an Oscar for her delightful performance in “My Cousin Vinny” in 1992.

“The Wrestler” is a really hard, gritty movie from 2008, a comeback film for actor Mickey Rourke. Rourke stars as an over-the-hill professional wrestler, with Marisa Tomei playing a faded stripper, the love interest. The film received really strong reviews, but I found it to be a tough movie to sit through.

5. Eggs ___ Suisse : A LA
Eggs à la Suisse is a recipe date back at least to the mid-1800s. The eggs are prepared with Gruyère cheese, double cream and spices.

6. Who wrote “When in doubt, tell the truth” : TWAIN
Mark Twain is oft-quoted. Here are some gems:

– “Always obey your parents when they are present.”
– “When in doubt, tell the truth.”
– “Man is the only animal that blushes, or needs to.”
– “To eat is human, to digest divine.”
– “The lack of money is the root of all evil.”

8. Tamiroff of “Anastasia” : AKIM
Akim Tamiroff was a Russian actor who moved to the US in 1923, leaving the troupe of Russian actors with whom he was touring and adopting America as his home. He had a very thick Russian accent, but used it to his advantage. Tamiroff won the first ever Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor.

10. URL ender : 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)

Internet addresses (like NYTCrossword.com and LAXCrossword.com) are more correctly called Uniform Resource Locators (URLs).

11. Gift to a donor, maybe : TOTE BAG
A “tote” is a handled bag, a bag with handles.

12. Post-Impressionist with several self-portraits : VAN GOGH
Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 self-portrait is probably his last, as he died the following year. The painting was acquired by Paris’s Musée d’Orsay in 1986. I have had the privilege of viewing that museum’s fabulous collection on several occasions …

13. Much of what is auctioned at Sotheby’s : ART
Sotheby’s is one of the world’s oldest auction houses, having opened its doors for business in 1744 in London. However, the company is now headquartered in New York City.

19. Airline with ultralow fares : SPIRIT
Spirit Airlines is a low-cost carrier based in Miramar, Florida that was founded as Charter One in 1980. That said, the 1980 airline service was established as a branch of Clipper Trucking Company that dated back to 1964. Spirit started its low-fare service in 2007.

21. Mexican pyramid builders : MAYAS
The Maya civilization held sway in Central America and Mexico from about 350 AD until the arrival of the Spanish in the 1500s.

26. Clothing designer Cole : KENNETH
Kenneth Cole is a clothing designer from Brooklyn, New York. Cole is married to Maria Cuomo, the daughter of former Governor of new York Mario Cuomo.

29. Anti-D.U.I. ads, e.g. : PSAS
Public service announcement (PSA)

In some states, there is no longer a legal difference between a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) and a DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Other states retain that difference, so that by definition a DUI is a lesser offence than a DWI.

32. Nursery rhyme dwelling : SHOE
“There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” is an English nursery rhyme.

There was an old woman who lived in a shoe.
She had so many children, she didn’t know what to do;
She gave them some broth without any bread;
Then whipped them all soundly and put them to bed.

33. Female producer of lanolin : EWE
Lanolin is a greasy substance secreted from the skin of woolly animals. It usually extracted from wool sheared from sheep for use in textiles. Medical grade lanolin is used to soothe skin in ointments. It is a relatively hypoallergenic and has antibacterial properties.

35. Johnson & Johnson pain soother : BENGAY
Bengay is sold as a painkilling heat rub, to relieve aching muscles. It was developed in France by a Dr. Jules Bengue (hence the name) and was first sold in America way back in 1898.

37. Hello, in Rio : OLA
Rio de Janeiro is the second largest city in Brazil (after São Paulo). “Rio de Janeiro” translates as “January River”. The name reflects the discovery of the bay on which Rio sits, on New Years Day in 1502.

38. Ipana competitor, once : COLGATE
The Colgate company, of toothpaste fame, was started by Englishman William Colgate in 1806 as a soap and candle factory in New York City. As the Colgate family prospered, they spent decades providing financial support to Madison University in Hamilton, New York. In recognition of this support, the school was renamed in 1890 to Colgate University.

Ipana toothpaste was introduced in 1915 and was at the height of its popularity in the forties and fifties. Sales declined in the sixties and the product was withdrawn from the US market in the seventies. Bucky the Beaver was the “spokesman” for Ipana. Bucky the Beaver’s slogan was “Brusha… Brusha… Brusha. Get the New Ipana – it’s dandy for your teeth!”

41. Fare often served with wasabi : SASHIMI
“Sashimi” is thinly sliced raw fish, although it can also be raw meat. The word “sashimi” translates literally as “pierced body”, which may be a reference to the practice of sticking the tail and fin to sliced fish to identify it.

Sometimes called Japanese horseradish, wasabi is a root used as a condiment in Japanese cooking. The taste of wasabi is more like mustard than a hot pepper in that the vapors that create the “hotness” stimulate the nasal passages rather than the tongue. Personally, I love the stuff …

42. Boy in a Scrooge vision : TINY TIM
Tiny Tim is the nickname of Timothy Cratchit, the little disabled boy in the Charles Dickens novella “A Christmas Carol”. “A Christmas Carol” is such a popular book that it has not been out of print since its first publication in December 1843.

The classic 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens has left us with a few famous phrases and words. Firstly, it led to popular use of the phrase “Merry Christmas”, and secondly it gave us the word “scrooge” meaning a miserly person. And thirdly, everyone knows that Ebenezer Scrooge uttered the words “Bah! Humbug!”.

43. “A Bug’s Life” extra : ANT
“A Bug’s Life” is a 1998 animated feature film from Pixar. The storyline is based on the film “The Seven Samurai” and the fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”.

45. Jeans go-with, often : T-SHIRT
Denim fabric originated in Nimes in France. The French phrase “de Nimes” (from Nimes) gives us the word “denim”. Also, the French phrase “bleu de Genes” (blue of Genoa) gives us our word “jeans”.

49. Street hustler’s game : MONTE
Three-card Monte is a confidence trick in which someone is goaded into betting money on the assumption that he or she can find the “money card” (usually a queen) among three cards placed face down. The “mark” who is being duped has all sorts of ways to lose and there are usually several people in on the scam, including others playing who seem to be winning.

53. Often-punted comics character : ODIE
Odie is Garfield’s best friend and is a slobbery beagle, a character in Jim Davis’s comic strip named “Garfield”.

55. “Kid-tested” cereal : KIX
Kix cereal has been around since 1937, would you believe? Kix used to be just puffed grains, processed to give the characteristic shape. Then the decision was made to add sugar to get better penetration into the young kid marketplace. Sad really …

56. Drying-out woe, for short : DTS
The episodes of delirium that can accompany withdrawal from alcohol are called Delirium Tremens (the DTs). The literal translation of this Latin phrase is “trembling madness”.

57. Ice cream amts. : QTS
The unit of volume “quart” (qt.) is so called because it is one quarter of a gallon.

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For the sake of completion, here is a full listing of all the answers:
Across
1. Fourth U.S. president to win a Nobel Peace Prize : OBAMA
6. Fantasy league deal : TRADE
11. F.D.R. energy initiative : TVA
14. Gore who wrote “Lincoln” : VIDAL
15. Rose from slumber, old-style : WAKED
16. Scull need : OAR
17. Ancient marketplace : AGORA
18. Singer DiFranco should heed a warning : ANI MUSTN’T (“animus” + “nt” sound)
20. Prefix with center : EPI-
21. Little Havana locale : MIAMI
22. Cribbage board item : PEG
23. Jazz players are incapable : CATS CAN’T (“CAT scan” + “nt” sound)
25. Winter recreation vehicle : SKIBOB
28. Like rainy weather, say : DREARY
29. Dukes, earls, etc. : PEERAGE
30. Drug ingested in “Easy Rider” : LSD
31. Saharan stopovers : OASES
34. Busy time for bats : NIGHT
35. W. never existed : BUSH WASN’T (“bushwas” + “nt” sound)
37. Little big band, maybe : OCTET
40. Sunset dirección : OESTE
41. London’s Paddington, e.g.: Abbr. : STA
44. Something a tuba hits : LOW NOTE
46. Transport in an Ellington tune : A TRAIN
48. Trues up : ALIGNS
49. Calculus disappears : MATH ISN’T (“Mathis” + “nt” sound)
51. Federal procurement agcy. : GSA
52. Tap-dances, informally : HOOFS
54. Lord’s Prayer possessive : THY
55. Singer Perry opted out : KATY DIDN’T (“katydid” + “nt” sound)
57. Calls it a day : QUITS
59. Ore suffix : -ITE
60. Hardly original : TRITE
61. Language of Sri Lanka : TAMIL
62. Marked wrong : XED
63. Sometimes-branded animal : STEER
64. Unethical, informally : SLIMY

Down
1. Eggs in labs : OVA
2. 1-Across caricature feature : BIG EARS
3. Took as one’s own : ADOPTED
4. Tomei of “The Wrestler” : MARISA
5. Eggs ___ Suisse : A LA
6. Who wrote “When in doubt, tell the truth” : TWAIN
7. Charged headlong : RAN AT
8. Tamiroff of “Anastasia” : AKIM
9. Curtains, so to speak : DEMISE
10. URL ender : EDU
11. Gift to a donor, maybe : TOTE BAG
12. Post-Impressionist with several self-portraits : VAN GOGH
13. Much of what is auctioned at Sotheby’s : ART
19. Airline with ultralow fares : SPIRIT
21. Mexican pyramid builders : MAYAS
23. Mid-fifth century year : CDL
24. Salad bar cube : CROUTON
26. Clothing designer Cole : KENNETH
27. “23 red,” e.g., at a casino : BET
29. Anti-D.U.I. ads, e.g. : PSAS
32. Nursery rhyme dwelling : SHOE
33. Female producer of lanolin : EWE
35. Johnson & Johnson pain soother : BENGAY
36. Fantasy league concerns : STATS
37. Hello, in Rio : OLA
38. Ipana competitor, once : COLGATE
39. Injured, as an ankle : TWISTED
41. Fare often served with wasabi : SASHIMI
42. Boy in a Scrooge vision : TINY TIM
43. “A Bug’s Life” extra : ANT
45. Jeans go-with, often : T-SHIRT
47. Everyday routine : RITUAL
49. Street hustler’s game : MONTE
50. In pursuit of : AFTER
53. Often-punted comics character : ODIE
55. “Kid-tested” cereal : KIX
56. Drying-out woe, for short : DTS
57. Ice cream amts. : QTS
58. Like some grins : SLY

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